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The sun was setting on the Glade and Newt watched the sky, briefly calming himself from the turmoil of his everyday life. A few metres away, Thomas glanced at him contentedly. It was nice seeing Newt relaxed and not frowning.
Newt caught him looking and smiled, “Something on your mind Tommy?”
Thomas took a small step backwards, embarrassed that he’d been caught staring, and smiled sheepishly. “Uh-“ quickly, he thought of something to cover his tracks, “Why do you always wear that bracelet?” Thomas pointed as casually as possible at the leather strap that constricted Newt’s wrist. He had been wondering about the accessory and he smiled again with encouragement.
Newt, however, didn’t seem enthusiastic about the small talk and paled, instinctively grabbing his wrist and furrowing his eyebrows, “None of your bloody business.” With a huff, he turned on his heel and sped towards the woods.
Thomas froze, shocked about Newt’s sudden change of character, before shaking his head and staring at Newt’s back. “Wait, Newt!” Thomas forced his feet to move and called after Newt. “Newt?”
Newt ignored Thomas and continued storming into the deadheads. Thomas persisted, stumbling after Newt. “Newt where are you going?” Thomas grit his teeth and caught up with him , grabbing his shoulder and turning him around.
Newt glared at him and threw his hand away, “Leave me alone.”
“What’s wrong? Why did you run off?”
“Stop the bloody questions!” Newt’s voice sounded raw and Thomas sucked in a breath.
Newt slowed his breathing and studied Thomas’s hurt expression before staring at the floor. “I came here to be alone. Please, go.”
“No.”
Newt slowly looked up, “What do you mean ‘no’?”
A small smile tugged at Thomas’s lips, “No.” Newt huffed and retuned his gaze back to the forest floor. “Newt, what’s wrong with your bracelet?” Thomas said softly and reached for Newt’s hand.
Newt tensed and pulled away but Thomas was faster, gripping Newt’s fingers tightly. In that moment, Newt lost all his fight and stilled completely. Carefully, Thomas untied the leather bracelet from Newt’s wrist and choked when he saw what laid beneath.
Multiple lines were etched into the skin, red and blistering. “Not pretty is it?” Newt laughed but there was no humour in his voice. Thomas gently ran his thumb over the cuts and Newt hissed quietly, causing Thomas to stop immediately.
“Who did this?” Thomas mumbled.
Newt narrowly avoided the question, “It’s pathetic, I know.”
“I’m pretty sure it’s not supposed to look like that.”
“Huh?”
“They are cuts.” Thomas bit his lip as he thought.
“Its just a bad scratch. I’ll live.” Newt tried to move away but Thomas didn’t let go of his arm.
“…Why?” Thomas saw straight through Newt’s ‘tough guy’ act. Newt couldn’t bare making eye contact.
“You worry too much.” He blinked away some tears. No, no- he wasn’t going to cry in front of Thomas. But the look his friend was giving him, sadness and a need for understanding, Newt almost crumbled.
Slowly, he sunk to the floor, slipping out of Thomas’s hand, and sat down with his knees tucked against his chest. “You don’t have to tell me why if you don’t want to, just know that I’m here to talk.”
“I…” Newt didn’t know what to say. He couldn’t bare the thought of being weak and vulnerable in front of anyone, but..this was Thomas. A kindhearted soul who would never judge him.
Thomas walked behind Newt and sat down facing away from him, their backs against each other. “Is me facing away more comfortable?” Thomas asked in a hushed voice. Newt hummed in agreement.
“I did it because I had no idea what else to do,” Newt muttered, “the pain is brief but it takes away the numbness.”
“The numbness?”
“Feeling nothing, but I also feel everything sometimes- does that make sense?”
“Yeah.” The boys sat in silence for a while until Thomas spoke again, “You’ve been through a lot, too much.” He mumbled sadly and went to stand up but Newt leant against him and he stopped, “Can you stay?”
Thomas smiled to himself, “I was only going to walk around and face you , but of course. I’ll stay as long as you need.” For a couple of minutes, the boys rested against each other. Thomas wanted to ask questions but bit his tongue multiple times.
Eventually, he let one slip. “When was the last time you…y’know.”
Newt didn’t respond immediately but sighed, “I don’t keep a diary with dates.” His comment was met with silence, “T-two weeks ago.”
Thomas tensed and his brows furrowed, “That’s not normal,” he whispered and turned, picking Newt’s damaged wrist off of the floor, “it should be getting better by now.”
Newt swallowed a lump in his throat, “Oh.”
Thomas looked at Newt’s wrist for a few more moments, “That’s bound to scar.” His frown deepened and he meticulously studied the sore skin, “It’s infected. Surely that’s causing you pain?”
“I’m fine.”
“But-“
“I’m fine!”
Despite their close friendship and high level of trust, Newt was still unprepared to let Thomas know too much. He wasn’t ready to allow someone into his heart. Ripping his hand away, Newt grabbed his wrist and momentarily forgot that his bracelet wasn’t on.
The flesh twisted from the simple movement and fresh blood began seeping from the wound. Newt stared at his arm in shock. He had been alright for a few days but this new blood flow reset his efforts to ‘get better’.
After a few minutes Thomas grumbled, reading Newt’s mind. “Your wound reopened, didn’t it?” Thomas shifted his head to look at Newt and his eyes widened. “Shit, you’re bleeding more than I thought.” He crawled around from where he was sat behind Newt and knelt beside him.
“Let-“ he went to hold Newt’s hand but Newt flinched away. “I know it hurts but you need to let me take a look.”
Newt’s eyes were distant and glassy but he let down his guard and allowed Thomas to help him. “Oh…oh that is not good.”
Thomas squinted and took a rag from his pocket, “Minho gave this to me in case I needed a makeshift bandage whilst running.” Thomas talked whilst he banded Newt’s wrist. Once he finished, he took Newt’s hand gently.
“Get the med-jacks to sort you out with some disinfectant.”
“I’ll be fine-“
“Stop saying that!” Thomas briefly lost his composure, “You need to look after yourself .”
“With Alby out of the picture right now, I’ve got fifty shucking boys and a girl to look after before myself Tommy.” Newt sneered. Thomas frowned but his voice softened, “It’s one small walk, maybe a stitch or two, then back out. Just get it sorted, please?”
Newt stared at Thomas before relenting. “I will. In a bit. Right now, I want a nap and for you to quit buggin’ worrying about everything.” A small grin crept onto Newt’s face and Thomas couldn’t help copying.
“Fine.” The boys smiled at each other and all the tension that had been surrounding them dissipated. For the rest of the afternoon, the pair spent their time relaxing in each other’s company.