Chapter Text
Newt couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t feel his hands that were now stained with the crimson liquid of his lover. Nothing went right, everything went wrong. The mission, Teresa, Minho. Everything has utterly gone to absolute shit, and Thomas paid the price. How you may ask? Well that bloody shank decided to take the blow that was meant for him. Thomas, his soulmate, his everything. The one person he would follow to the ends of the earth is now laying below him, lifeless.
How did it get to this point?
Well we can't just start off here, can we? Let's roll it back a bit. Because not only did I, The Creator, decide to change the outcome. I rewrote the whole story. Let’s see what would have happened if Thomas was one of the first to be part of the Glade, If he and Newt were already a thing when Teresa came and shook everything up.
How will the fate of two star crossed lovers change with a simple rewrite?
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Newt didn’t have many things in The Glade he actually liked, sure being a Keeper and basically second-in-command fulfilled the very need to live. But he didn’t actually like the idea of being stuck somewhere he doesn’t actually know, with people he learned to lean on. The Gladers were awesome, don’t get him wrong. But still he always had a nagging feeling that everything seemed..wrong.
The knot that forms in the base of his stomach just seemed to grow with each day that passed, twisting his guts.
Until not two years later, did a certain doe eye looking shank decide to join their humble Glade.
Thomas.
The one person he least expected to worm his way inside to his heart.
He loved that bloody wanker, he did. Not at first, no he thought the Greenie was stupid for running into the Maze, and for having those soft brown eyes. (he was a bloody fool not to fall in love.) but after getting to know Thomas, Newt’s world just flipped. After spending only a year in the Glade with the small tribe of hormonal boys, Thomas just seemed to flip a switch in him.
And after a couple months of underlying tension and one heated night, Newt and Thomas became a thing, a duo. They were inseparable, along with Minho as the third wheel. Never going out without the other, and being fiercely protective of one another. The Time that Gally was being an asshole to Newt over a new Greenie, Thomas jumped right in and punched Gally for getting too close. After a not so serious conversation from Alby and a glare from Gally, Thomas got off the hook and showed the whole Glade not to mess with Newt.
Now after two years of being together, the world they built came crashing down in just one night.
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Newt worried for his boyfriend, sure Thomas was strong and a fast runner, but the maze was still unpredictable.
After Thomas became a runner two years ago, all Newt seemed to do was worry. Worry that one day those stone walls would close, and Thomas would be on the wrong side of them. Minho promised to bring his boyfriend, who is a self-sacrificing shank, back in one piece. But Newt still worries. He can’t help it!
Thomas is stubborn, adorable but also reckless and stupid. Doing things that don’t necessarily help his own health. And the other thing is, everyone trusts him. After showing his bravery and strength, the whole Glade-even Gally- was glad to follow Thomas. Sure he and Alby were still in charge of everything, and people listened to them. They still wouldn’t be able to compare to Thomas. He has a natural instinct to lead, to help others.
Newt admires that, but sometimes his natural instinct overwhelms the desire to not do anything rash. And causes Thomas to do dumb shit and get hurt.
Like right now.
Newt was resting against a tree in the shade, having finished his work in the gardens, much to the dismay of a painful jolt in his knee that shoots up everytime he walks. His arms crossed over his chest with his finger tapping restlessly against his upper arm as he waits for the Runners to get back.
The others around him, Frypan and Winston keep to themselves and engage in small talk, occasionally casting glances in his direction.
He bites his lower lip, his eyes trained on the entrance to the Maze. ‘They should be back by now.’ is what repeats in his head as his eyes keep their intense gaze at the entrance of the Maze. After what seems like an eternity he sees Ben run out, followed by a tired Minho and an exhausted Thomas.
Worry pangs in his chest as he sees Thomas breathing heavily, with Minho doing the same and Ben seemingly checking them over. Newt pushes off from the tree and limps over to them, his eyebrows pinched in worry.
“Everything alright, guys?” Newt glances between all of them before his gaze lands on Thomas.
Thomas gives a tired smile, his hands resting on his knees as he’s bent over trying to catch his breath. He gives a small nod and murmurs, “A..A Griever was chasing us, came out of nowhere. Seems like they don’t just come out at night.” Newt sighs in relief before he sees the worried glance that Minho gives Thomas.
Newt scrunches up his nose and crosses his arms over his chest, leaning on his healthy leg. “Anything else you need to tell me?”
Ben, who was just standing there and has no shame, gestures towards Thomas with a stern but caring glare, “This shank, decided to try to catch the Griever and ended up cutting himself on some vines.”
Newt’s eyes snap towards Thomas’s legs, now noticing a red streak coating his cargo pants on his left leg. Worry churns inside his gut as he raises his gaze to meet the eyes of his very reckless boyfriend.
Thomas gives him a sheepish smile, his eyes crinkling up in the corners. His eyes, big and doe like along with a hint of regret and affection almost make Newt not want to be mad.Almost.
“You're a bloody idiot, Tommy” Minho snorts next to him and Ben chuckles under his breath, Thomas, being the bloody idiot he is just pouts.
“Sorry, love.” he mumbles, he stands up a bit straighter but when he puts weight on his injured leg he stumbles slightly, but thanks to Minho’s fast reaction time and pulling Thomas back with the collar of his shirt, Thomas does not fall face flat on the grass.
Newt gives him a glowering glare and places his arms on his hips. Thomas cowers under his scrutinizing glare while the other two just give Thomas a pat on the back and turn to leave too busy themselves so they don’t end up on the receiving end of Newt’s wrath.
“Tommy. I swear, I have to keep you on a short leash, you bloody idiot! You can’t just jump in front of danger! Especially when I’m not there, I can’t believe you, I swear-” Newt does not finish his rant, instead he feels soft lips connect with his own. Thomas’s soft and calloused hands cradling his face.
Newt melts under his touch and returns the kiss with equal passion. When Thomas pulls back with a dorky smile and apologetic eyes, Newt just sighs and knows he’s not winning this one. Thomas, sensing his victory smiles wider and kisses his forehead.
“Sorry, babe. I just got ahead of myself, it won't happen again.” Newt furrows his eyebrows and glances down at Thomas’s leg. Worry overcomes his anger as he steps closer, his hand coming to rest on top of Thomas’s chest.
“Let’s just check your wound and then I can yell at you for being an idiot.”
Thomas gives him a small smile and wraps an arm around his shoulders and starts to limp towards Clint and Jeff, who were just outside The Homestead.
Newt calls out to them, an arm wrapped around Thomas, who seems to be leaning just a bit too heavily on him. “Clint, Jeff! Can you get this bloody idiot bandaged up?”
Clint and Jeff turn to face his direction, their eyes then travel towards Thomas, who gives them a small but nervous smile . “Hey..Long time no see, ey?” Clint scoffs while Jeff facepalms. This idiot. “Thomas, I swear to god. What did you do this time?” Clint gives him a glare that could rival Newt’s (Not really.) and walks towards them, wrapping an arm under Thomas’s armpits so he could give Newt a break.
Newt gives Clint a thankful smile before he turns to face Jeff. “I’m going to go check on the others, make sure to tell me when Thomas is okay.” Jeff gives an affirmative nod and turns towards Clint and Thomas.
Newt, feeling as he could finally breathe, goes over to Thomas and kisses his forehead with gentle lips. “Be good, love. Stay out of trouble.” Thomas gives him a thumbs up and with Clint’s help and Jeff opening the door they all disappear into the Homestead.
Newt sighs to himself and shakes his head. “Bloody shank.” he mutters to himself, he then decides to head over to the Gardens to finish the work he had to do, but was too distracted waiting for Thomas and the others to finish their run. Grabbing a shovel he gets back to work, ignoring the pain in his knee.
After about twenty minutes, Clint and Thomas exited The Homestead, with Thomas having a small limp and bandages wrapped around his injury underneath his cargo pants. Newt spots them immediately, having been watching the door for a few minutes.
He locks eyes with Thomas, who gives him a goofy smile. Newt’s heart relaxes at the sight and he walks up to Thomas and Clint. He stops in front of them, Clint gives him a reassuring smile and pats Thomas on his shoulder. “He’s good to go boss. Can’t run for a while though, but still has his stupidity intact.” Newt snorts at that, but Thomas just gives Clint a glare.
Clint, not really caring, puts his hands up in surrender and walks away. Newt gives him a thankful smile before he turns his gaze back to his boyfriend. Thomas, having a short attention span, has taken to picking at his nails with his fingers. A tick he has for when he’s thinking or he’s just bored. Newt smiles softly and shakes his head, walking a bit closer and taking Thomas’s hands in his more slender one’s.
“Tommy. Didn’t I tell you to stop picking like that?” Newt chastises softly, giving Thomas a gentle look. He knew Thomas’s head always had thoughts occupying his mind, and sometimes he needed a breather. That breather being Newt, the more calm and calculating out of the two. Newt was Thomas’s anchor for when his mind was too much, and Thomas was Newt’s when he needed new ideas that were quite literally crazy.
Thomas glances down at their intertwined hands before he looks up to meet Newt’s. He gives a sheepish smile and mumbles an apology, “Sorry. Just thinking.” Thomas glances back down at their hands, rubbing his thumb over Newt’s soft skin. Newt smiles to himself and leans forward, tugging Thomas into a soft and delicate kiss.
They melt into each other’s embrace and Thomas relaxes under Newt’s soft touch. But they’re interrupted by the distinct sound of the Box coming up, they pull back quickly. This wasn’t supposed to happen, Chuck, the new Greenie came up only a week ago. The Box wasn’t supposed to be back until a month later.
Thomas and Newt glance at each other before they both limp thanks to new or previous injuries towards the box. Others are already surrounding the metal container, Alby and Gally off to the side with wide and skeptical eyes. Minho and Ben are close together, leaning forward to see the Box come up.
“Gally, help me open it.” Newt’s voice cuts through the tense silence, he walks forward and grabs onto the latch and with the help of Gally they open it.
And see a girl..wait a girl?
Newt’s eyes widen in surprise, he glances up at the others before he looks back down. Sparing a quick glance to Thomas before he hops down, the jump sends a bolt of pain through his leg which he ignores.
“It’s a girl..” Newt mumbles, glancing over the girl. Who objectively does look pretty, with long soft brown hair, and similar attire to Thomas. The resemblance makes Newt’s stomach churn. One of the gladers gesture towards her hand.
“What’s that in her hand?” Newt glances up before he looks back down, he bends down to get a closer look, his knee protesting at the motion. He reaches forward and grabs a piece of paper, opening it and reading the contents out loud.
“She’s the last one. Ever.” He glances down at the girl, his gut telling him all of this was wrong. He glances back up to meet Gally’s, Minho’s, and Alby’s gaze. When suddenly a gasp startled all of the gladers, Newt quickly glances down, seeing the girl take a shuddering breath in. her eyes dart all around before they land on someone. Newt follows her gaze.
Thomas.
Just as he thought that, the girl gasped his name, “Thomas..” Newt froze as soon as he heard Thomas’s name spill from her mouth. All eyes, including his, snapped towards Thomas. Who had a perplexed look on his face, though with a hint of recognition in them. Newt’s gut twisted with jealousy, though he didn’t let it show. He glances back down at the girl to see her passed out again.
With a sigh he stands up again, “Clint, Jeff. take her to The Medhut.” with the help of Minho and Gally they take the girl out of the Box and hand her over to the teenagers who they know will be able to control their hormones. Newt climbs out, taking Thomas’s hand for help. He glances at the other gladers, now taking charge since his boyfriend was somehow involvded.
“Keepers will have a meeting in twenty. The rest of you, go back to work.” Newt glances at everyone, seeing them nod and start to disperse. His gaze then goes back to Thomas, whose eyebrows are furrowed and his lips are pursued. “Thomas. Come with me.” Thomas snaps out of his thoughts at the sound of Newt’s voice, he glances up with a small frown but nods his head anyways.
Newt nods before he turns back towards the other keepers, “We’ll be back. You guys check on the girl and make sure no one else does anything stupid.”
Alby gives him a small nod, showing his appreciation for taking charge. The other keepers, Minho and Gally, give similar skeptical gazes between Newt and Thomas but both nod nonetheless.
Newt knows Gally probably has a lot of questions for Thomas, but right now he needs answers first.
Newt grabs Thomas’s hand in his, rubbing his thumb over his calloused skin. He then tugs Thomas away from the others, both of them limping off towards the side for privacy. Thomas was deep in thought, his gaze drifting towards their intertwined hands, his teeth chewing on his lips to show he’s really deep into his head.
Newt notices this and squeezes his hand, leaning forward to place a soft kiss to his forehead. They find refuge underneath a tree far away from any prying eyes. Newt takes Thomas’s hands in his, his thumb gliding across the scars that Thomas obtained from spending months working on the Maze, albeit recklessly.
“Tommy. Do you recognize her? She said your name.” Thomas glances up at him, meeting his gaze. He then looks back down and shakes his head, stepping closer to mumble in his ear. “There’s like this fuzzy memory..but it's distant. I don’t remember her though.” Newt furrows his eyebrows in worry, a distant memory? What does this girl have to do with Thomas? Why does she only remember his name?
Thought after thought barrels into his mind, Thomas notices Newt’s worried expression and kisses his cheek murmuring, “Newt. I don’t know her..i don’t know how she knows me, but when she wakes up we can find answers. For now..it’s better to focus on other issues.” Newt raises an eyebrow at that, what could possibly be more important than this?
Thomas sighs and smiles warmly, shaking his head. “Newt, you that worried about me, that you didn’t think about the fact that she’s the last one..which means the Box isn’t going back down.” Thomas’s face hardens at the end of his sentence, Newt, now realizing the dire situation of the Box not going down, lets go of Thomas’s hands.
“Bloody hell..I didn’t. We can't survive without the supplies, Tommy. What if something happens, what if you get hurt again..what-” Thomas cuts him off with a gentle hand to his face. Cupping his cheek and tilting his head to meet his intense gaze. Newt instantly relaxes under his touch and leans into his hand.
“Don’t worry. We have food and supplies to last..we just need to be cautious around the girl.” Thomas glances off towards the Medhut., his gaze steady and also thoughtful. Oh hell no. Newt glances towards the Medhut before he looks back towards Thomas.
“Tommy, No. You are not going to see her.” Thomas’s gaze snaps over to him, a small pout already forming on his face. Newt glances away as to not let his resolve crumble under those doe eyes. “Tommy, really?” Thomas can’t help the smile that creeps onto his face and he snickers.
“What, can’t handle me?” Newt throws a glare his way before he mutters, “bloody shank.” Thomas’s smile widens and he meets his gaze. His eyes, a soft and warm brown seem to make Newt melt. His hair, which was messy and tousled due to his run, seemed to enhance his appearance.
“I’ll stay away until she wakes up, okay?” Newt chews on his lips but gives a small nod. He feels his stomach twist at the thought of Thomas being in the way of harm. Along with the thoughts of the Box, what does this mean for the Glade? For everyone?
He pushes those thoughts aside and glances back up at Thomas. “Okay, I’m going to go to the meeting, you just rest up, okay?” Thomas’s smile seems to make Newt relax, Thomas gives him a small nod and squeezes his hand. He leans forward and places a soft kiss to Newt’s forehead before he glances towards the hammocks and walks away.
For the next twenty minutes the keepers of the Glade argue over what to do about the girl, what’s going to happen and how to keep everything in order.
“We need to find a way out, Gally! If that girl is truly the last one it means no more supplies, no more anything!” Minho has been yelling the same thing over and over again for the last five minutes, that they need to escape the Maze.
Gally glares at Minho, his expression is tight and intense. His body rigged with agitation and seething anger. He scowls and looks over at Alby, who has taken to sitting down on a nearby chair, just watching. “Alby, come on. You can’t seriously agree with this shank!” Minho lets out a protest but Newt just shushes him with a motion of his hand.
Alby glances over at Minho and Newt before he looks back at Gally. He sighs softly and shakes his head, “it might be our only option.” Minho smirks at that while Gally scowls and shakes his head, “Alby, really? You saw the note! That girl is the last one, and the Box hasn’t gone down! And she recognized Thomas, which means he could be dangerous, we don’t even know if that idiot doesn’t recognize her!” Newt narrows his gaze, his protectiveness of Thomas coming to the forefront of his expression.
Alby looks away while Minho whistles looking away. Newt slowly stands from sitting down and walks slowly to Gally. “What did you just say?” his voice was low, a warning edge to it. Gally looks over at him, he falters slightly before he takes a calming breath. “Sorry, man. It's just..why did she only recognize him, does that mean that that bloody shank has a connection to her or something?” Newt relaxes after Gally apologizes but the second part makes him stop and think.
Huh. Did Thomas have a connection to her?
Alby breaks the silence, his voice calm and collected. “It doesn’t matter, Thomas is one of us. As for finding a way out, I’m allowing Minho and the other runners to try to find it.” Minho smirked in triumph and nodded. Newt throws a grateful smile to Alby before he looks back at Gally.
He knows Gally means well, and that he’s just protective of the Glade and well him. From what Minho has told him, Gally seemingly is overprotective of him. Which does make him feel like a little duckling but whatever, what matters is that despite his aggression and anger issues, Gally does actually care. He looks around before he starts to talk again.
“Thomas is a Glader. no doubt about it, and we need to find a way out. But..that girl.” he bites his lip and takes a breath before he continues. “I have a bad feeling about her.” Gally and Minho both share a look and Alby’s eyebrows furrowed in concentration.
After a few tense moments, Alby speaks up. “We’ll keep an eye on her, just to be safe. For now, everyone acts normal. Minho, you and the runners try to figure a way out.” Minho glances over at Alby and nods before making his way out of the meeting room. Newt stands there for a few moments before he mumbles, “do me a favor and keep that girl away from Thomas.” he glances over at Alby, who gives a nod. His gaze then shifts towards Gally, who despite claiming to hate Thomas, gives a small nod.
Newt smiles before he too makes his way back out into the Glade, night has already come out, the fire in the distance creating an inviting atmosphere for everyone who wants to. But Newt casts one glance towards the hammocks and sees his boyfriend sleeping peacefully, his injured leg having a pillow under it to keep himself comfortable.
Newt smiles to himself and walks over to Thomas, once he reaches the hammock he tentatively reaches out and runs his hand through Thomas’s hair. Thomas shifts and mumbles something before cracking one eye open, seeing that it's Newt he smiles. He then reaches up slowly and pulls Newt into the hammock with him.
Newt makes a surprised sound but he relaxes once Thomas’s arm slings over his waist, his neck burying into the familiar blond hair all while being mindful of both their legs. Newt smiles and glances back at Thomas before he himself gets comfortable, feeling secure in the arms he has come to know, The love he has come to find, and the warmth he has come to feel.
They might have left questions unanswered or thoughts unexplored, but here together they know that everything will be alright because despite everything, they stay together. Even though Thomas might spiral or Newt might overthink things, they can always find refuge in the arms of each other and let them melt away the worries and secure their thoughts.
But who knows this might lead to their downfall, arms they once had to secure themselves might hold the key to their demise.
The question is if they will rise or fall.
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