Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was a quiet day in the Glade, the Gladers sat around a campfire late in the afternoon, chattering with each other about the day.

The runners had arrived not long ago, nothing new as usual, just a long day of running. Minho recited a close encounter with a wall deciding to shift right as he was running through. He was explaining in great detail -and lots of hand motions- how he narrowly escaped being crushed. The gladers all followed along excitingly, giving Minho crazed looks.

Newt kept tabs on Minho's story, not pointing out clear faults and parts where Minho was certainly exaggerating. Newt said nothing, deciding to let Minho tell his tale, though he poked Tommy every once in a while to laugh about it.

Thomas was lying on the bench, his head resting in Newt's lap. His face seemed peaceful most of the time, but Newt could see the frown lines appearing ever so often. Newt resisted the urge to smooth down the lines -something Thomas would usually welcome- but every time Newt would rub his thumb along Thomas’s forehead, Thomas would flinch, so Newt stopped, figuring he was in deep sleep.

Minho reached the climax of his story, explaining to the Gladers with hand motions and real-time action that he had to slide underneath the changing wall. Newt snorted silently from his position on the opposing bench and ruffled Thomas’s hair, hoping to laugh with him about the clearly wrong tale.

Thomas flinched hard as soon as Newt touched his head and Newt retracted his hand quickly, peering down at his boyfriend.

That was odd. The frown lines Newt could understand -Thomas was always a little jumpy when it came to people touching his face- but the hair? Thomas had never flinched when Newt ruffled his hair, not even when he was having nightmares.

Newt scooted backwards so he was sitting upright and studied Thomas closely. The light from the fire revealed that Thomas was shaking, his hands clasped together but visibly moving. Newt reached over and grabbed Thomas’s hands in an attempt to stop them from shaking, but Thomas just flinched again. Newt decided that something was definitely wrong and tried waking Thomas.

“Tommy,” Newt said, almost quiet.

No response

“Tommy,” he said again, this time shaking Thomas ever so slightly

Thomas awakened with a jolt, swinging his head back and forth and muttering “where am I” frantically.

Newt grabbed Thomas’s hands, “Tommy,” he said, snapping him out of his daze.

Thomas whirled around to face Newt, a look of relief flooding his face.

“Newt,” he said, collapsing into his boyfriend's arms

“I’m here,” Newt said, clutching Thomas

Thomas silently cried into Newt's arms for a few minutes before sniffling and righting himself.

“What was that?” Newt asked, concerned

“Just nightmares,” Thomas reassured him

Newt was not convinced, but right as he opened his mouth to confront him a loud ‘bang’ sounded.

The Gladers looked up from their positions, still huddled around Minho, who was mid story. They all looked at each other before starting up towards the Box, Newt, Thomas and Minho in the front of the pack.

Thomas got to the Box first, with Newt close behind and Minho next to him. Thomas peered down into the Box before turning around and giving Newt a questioning look.

“There’s nothing there,” He said quizzically.

The other Gladers exchanged glances before one by one starting to clear out, heading back to the campsite. Minho had just turned around to leave when a loud ‘clang’ sounded again, followed by the ‘whoosh’ of the Box as Thomas peered over the edge again.

Newt lunged forward and grabbed Thomas’s hand, yanking him backwards just as the Box sped upwards at an alarming speed. It lurched when it reached the top and seemed to bounce, as if it was hitting an invisible ceiling, before it settled.

The Gladers had since turned back towards the Box and were now trying to peer into it. It was an unusual time for the Box to come, late in the day. It usually arrived early in the morning.

Minho stuck his head down the shaft and stared at the unmoving girl at the bottom, giving Newt a worried glance. Newt was about to jump down when all of a sudden Thomas hurdled down in the box, dislodging his arm from Newt's grasp.

“Be careful Tommy,” Newt called after him, his hand still reaching into the empty space

Thomas just nodded slowly, a look of confusion and shock on his face as he turned the girl over.

A collective gasp went up from the surrounding boys and they clamored to see her face. Newt squinted his eyes and shoved several boys back as they tried pushing to the front. Minho yelled for every boy to go back to their jobs and let them handle it. The Gladers grumbled but obeyed

Thomas rolled the body over, revealing a thin girl with dark black hair. She appeared to be dead, other than the steady rise and fall of her chest. Thomas gently picked her up and began handing her to Minho.

Minho lifted the girl out from the box and set her down carefully on the ground as Thomas climbed his way up, grabbing Newt's outstretched hand. Newt pulled Thomas out of the Box and reeled him in for a small kiss on the cheek before they both knelt down in front of the girl. Jeff and Clint rushed over from the med tent and started assessing her before taking her to the med tent, with the three boys following close behind.

“You guys can go now,” Clint said, not turning from his position by the table, “it’ll be a while before she wakes up so you might as well get some sleep.”

Minho shrugged and said goodbye to the others before jogging to his bunk. Newt began walking toward him and Thomas’s, stopping when he realized that Thomas wasn’t behind him. He sighed as he walked back into the tent.

“Come on Tommy,” Newt grabbed Thomas’s shoulders, squeezing slightly, “she’ll still be here when you wake up.”

Thomas allowed Newt to drag him from the building and into their bunk, where Newt proceeded to take a shower while Thomas sat on the bed, staring out into the Glade.

Newt stepped out of the shower around 20 minutes later to find Thomas sitting in the exact same spot, still staring at the Glade. Newt sighed and walked over to him, sitting down and resting his head on Thomas’s shoulder.

“Whatcha thinking about?” Newt asked, digging his head into Thomas’s neck

Thomas grinned a little and wrapped an arm around Newt's shoulder, kissing him on the head.

“Nothing,” he replied

Newt looked up at Thomas with a defiant look.

“Lies,” he said sleepily, adding a yawn, “you're thinking about the girl.”

“Teresa,” Thomas said

“What?” Newt looked at Thomas, puzzled

“Her name is Teresa,” Thomas said, still looking out into the Glade

“And you know that how?”

“I- I just do.”

Newt sniffed a very defiant sniff and yawned again.

“It’s late, we’re all tired,” Newt said, clearly ignoring what Thomas said, “Let’s just go to bed,” Newt stood up and grabbed Thomas’s hands playfully, tugging at them.

Thomas sighed, a very deep sigh -a slightly annoyed sigh, though he’d never admit that to Newt- before allowing himself to be dragged into their bed. Newt flopped himself down and snuggled against Thomas, his head resting on Thomas’s chest and one hand resting above Thomas’s heart. Thomas curled an arm around Newt's shoulder and played with a strand of Newt’s hair before drifting off to a restless sleep.

——————————————

Newt rolled over and flung an arm out to where Thomas should have been, only to find empty space next to him. Newt groggily sat up in the bed, rubbing his eyes and looking around. Thomas was not in the bed, nor was he in the room. 

“Thomas?” Newt said, expecting him to peek his head out of the bathroom, which he did not.

Newt groaned and rolled over, looking at the clock; 12:36 am. ‘am?’  He thought, ‘That's weird’

Newt rolled off of the bed and threw on a pair of pants before stretching and slowly walking out of the room. He headed towards the med tent, not entirely shocked to see Thomas sitting by the girl again, eyes closed, with frown lines etched across his face. 

Newt sighed loudly, hoping to get Thomas’s attention, to which he failed. He walked over to where Thomas was sitting and placed a hand on his shoulder. Thomas jumped at the sudden contact and frantically opened his eyes.

“Tommy,” Newt said softly, wrapping his arms around Thomas’s neck, “it’s like 12:30, what are you doing up?”

Thomas settled a little at the warmth of Newt, “Couldn’t sleep,” he replied

Newt sighed, “She’s not going anywhere Tommy,” he said, kissing Thomas’s head

Thomas didn’t respond, instead wrapping his hands around Newt's arms and leaning back against his chest.

“Can you come back to bed now?” Newt asked, rearranging his arms instead to be rubbing Thomas’s shoulders before gently lifting him up out of the chair and towards the door

Thomas gave a sidelonged glance at the girl and shook his head, mumbling something about ‘promises’

Newt ignored Thomas and reeled him in by the hands, wrapping his arms around Thomas’s waist and staring deep into his eyes. Something about the way Newt looked at him made Thomas blush.

“Just for a little while,” Newt whispered in Thomas’s ear, his face dangerously close 

Thomas blushed, “You know I won’t be able to sleep,” he pointed out

Newt grinned, “Who said anything about sleeping?” He said, kissing Thomas.

Thomas grinned and kissed him back, “I like the sound of that,” he said as they tripped and stumbled their way back to their bunk, still kissing.

Chapter Text

Newt opened his eyes for the second time that morning to find Thomas gone, again. He sighed a very annoyed sigh before getting up for the day. He took a shower and got changed before setting off for the med tent.

Minho walked out from the tent right as Newt arrived, giving him a somewhat concerned look. Newt just smiled tiredly and asked how the girl was doing.

Minho shrugged, “about as well as you can be waking up here. Says she doesn’t remember anything other than her name, Teresa.”

Newt cursed under his breath -which Minho caught but said nothing- giving Newt a confused look.

“It’s nothing, Thomas just said something about a Teresa yesterday,” Newt said

Minho opened his mouth to say something but Newt cut him off

“Speaking of Thomas, he in there?” Newt asked

“Yeah..” Minho said slowly, right as Jeff stumbled his way out

“Great,” Newt said, pushing his way into the tent

“Thomas?” Minho mouthed after Newt was out of earshot. Jeff just shrugged

Thomas was sitting in the same spot as earlier, this time with his eyes opened and talking to Teresa in a somewhat low voice. Newt didn’t catch much before they noticed his presence. Thomas just smiled warmly at him and beckoned him closer.

“Teresa this is Newt,” Thomas said, pointing to each of them in turn, “Newt, Teresa.”

“Pleasure to meet you,” Newt said, extending a hand

“The pleasure is all mine,” Teresa said, smiling as she shook his hand, “I’ve heard so much about you.”

“Oh you have?” Newt replied, not sure what to feel

Teresa laughed, “don’t worry, it’s all good stuff.”

Newt relaxed a little, giving a small chuckle.

Teresa continued, “Tom says that you were one of the first people to really talk to him when he first came here, other than Chuck.”

Thomas’s face dropped at the mention of his old best friend and Teresa reached a hand out to him, to which Thomas took in his own. Newt stiffened at the sight of them holding hands, trying to convince himself it was platonic.

“Tom says that you were there when it happened,” Teresa said quietly

‘And what’s that supposed to mean?’ Newt thought angrily

“Yeah..” he said instead, “I was. It was awful.”

Teresa nodded sympathetically, closing her eyes for a moment. Newt noticed that Thomas had tears in his eyes by the time she opened hers. Newt almost reached a hand out, desperately wanting to hug his boyfriend, but instead just nodded along with Teresa.

Thomas sniffled before finally opening his eyes and gave Teresa’s hand one last squeeze before dropping it. He excused himself for some air, holding up a hand when Newt went to follow him. Teresa just smiled and went back to chatting with Newt.

“You must be a pretty good friend,” Teresa said.

Newt stiffened, ‘Friend?’ He thought, opening his mouth to correct her 

“He talks about you a lot,” She continued before Newt could correct her earlier statement

Thomas walked in before Newt had the chance to say anything, giving them both a small smile before sitting down in his chair. He and Teresa shared a moment of silence, their eyes closed, before Thomas stiffened slightly -something only Newt noticed- before opening his eyes and giving her a bright smile. Teresa gave a small chuckle.

“Thomas,” Newt broke the silence, announcing his presence, “Can we talk?”

Thomas seemed unfazed, “Sure, one second Teresa.”

Teresa just nodded and turned to Clint, who was examining a wound on Teresa’s left arm.

Thomas followed Newt outside the tent, seeming unaware of the anger that Newt was radiating.

“So,” Thomas said as they reached a corner of the tent, “what’s up?”

“You know what’s up,” Newt said angrily 

Thomas sighed and ran a hand through his fingers, “Look, I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you I was leaving, I just didn’t want to disturb you.”

Newt glared at him, “no, you just didn’t want me to know,” he retorted, “and is that really why you think I’m mad at you?”

Thomas dragged a hand down his face, “She needs help Newt, I can’t just leave her there.”

Newt gave him an exasperated look, “She’s Fine Thomas!” He practically shouted, crossing his arms.

Thomas gave him a wounded look, “we both know that’s not true,” he said, taking a step towards Newt and reaching out his hand.

Newt backed away from him, “You really don’t get why I’m mad do you?” He huffed

“Your calling me Thomas so it’s obviously more serious than I’d realized,” he said, half-joking

Newt just glared at him, “Well your friends call you Thomas so it’s only fair,” he retorted sharply.

Thomas recoiled like he’d been slapped before heaving a deep sigh, “Im sure it was a mistake,” he said finally

“One that you should have corrected.”

“Well why didn’t you just do it then?”

“Because I shouldn’t have to!” Newt shouted, “You should have told her.”

“Why me?!” Thomas asked angrily

“Because you're the one who’s always around her!” Newt replied, “You’ve been with her enough time to tell her I’m your fucking boyfriend!”

Thomas opened his mouth to say something but Newt kept going.

“I practically had to drag you to bed last night for you to turn around and come back here, twice! You didn’t even care enough to leave a note or something, or at least check in so I didn’t worry my bloody ass off wondering where you were! You’ve barely just met this girl and already she’s more important than me!” Newt was shaking now, shouting at Thomas with the fury of a thousand Grievers, “What does that say about you? About us? About this whole fucking relationship, if the second a girl arrives you throw me away?!”

Thomas stood there, speechless. He looked Newt up and down before looking away, not knowing what to say. Newt crossed his arms and shook his head in disbelief.

“Great, now you’ve got nothing-”

“We can communicate,” Thomas interrupted him, “telepathically.”

Now it was Newt's turn to stand there speechless. He stared at Thomas, his brain working like gears trying to piece stuff together.

“You- you what?” He settled for, stepping ever so closer to Thomas.

Thomas dragged a hand down his face and sighed, “we can communicate inside our heads,” he said, looking anywhere but Newt.

“That’s how you knew,” Newt said, “You knew her name before she was even awake.”

Thomas nodded, “she was speaking to me way before she even arrived.”

Newt heaved a big sigh, yesterday's events finally started to make sense. The way Thomas flinched when Newt touched him, the silent sitting by Teresa’s bedside, the looks shared between them and the moments of silence where they both seemed deep in thought.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Newt said finally, quiet

“I didn’t want to make things weird,” Thomas said, still looking anywhere but Newt's eyes, “I thought it would.. I don’t know.. disrupt things, make you mad.”

All at once the reason for Newt's anger came crashing back and he snorted loudly.

“Well look at where that got you,” he said snarkily

Thomas looked hurt, “I meant to tell her, I really did.”

“Yeah, sure you did,” Newt snapped, “right after you were done telling her what a great friend I am.”

“Newt that’s not fair,” Thomas said, crossing his arms, “I never said you were a friend, she just assumed.”

“How is that any better Thomas? She assumed and you still didn’t say anything.”

“Well what do you want me to say?!” Thomas threw his hands up, “‘hey Teresa so that cute blonde boy that you assumed was my friend is actually my boyfriend and he’s really pissed at you now, sorry’”

“That’s exactly what I want you to say,” Newt replied, “But it’s not Teresa I’m mad at.”

“Really? Cause it sure seems like it,” Thomas snapped

“Fine, I’m a little mad, but not for the reason your thinking.”

“Then what reason? Are you jealous or something?”

“Is there a reason I shouldn’t be?”

“You're seriously jealous of her?”

“I’m not jealous of her,” Newt snapped, “I’m jealous of how you treat her, and how apparently she means more to you than your boyfriend.”

Thomas stayed silent, glaring at the ground.

“Seriously? You're not even going to deny it?” Newt snorted, “how-”

“We’re not supposed to be together!” Thomas shouted

“…” 

Newt stood there, dumbfounded, staring wide eyed at Thomas. Thomas ran an agitated hand through his hair and paced around.

“We’re not supposed to be together Newt,” Thomas repeated, “They-”

“They who?” Newt interrupted 

“I don’t know, ok?” Thomas said, “whoever sent Teresa down, whoever is controlling this damn maze. They send Teresa down here for me, for us to be, I don’t know a power couple I guess.”

“So you’d throw this all away because of some stupid people?” Newt asked

Thomas dragged a hand down his face, “I- I don’t know? Ok?”

Newt stiffened, then pointed a finger at Thomas, “Tell Teresa,” he said, poking Thomas in the chest with his outstretched finger

“Seriously Newt?” Thomas gave him an exasperated look, “after everything I just told you that’s what you're concerned about?”

Newt just crossed his arms, “you tell her or I will,” he gave Thomas a pointed look before turning away, “You have one week,” he called as he walked away.

‘And then what?’ Thomas thought grimly

Chapter Text

Thomas stood outside the med tent, watching Newt as he walked away. Every inch of his body was telling him to sprint after him and hold him until he forgave him, but his head, or rather, Teresa, was telling him not to.

Clint says I can be released today

Thomas heaved a sigh and put on a smile, though he was sure that even Jeff would notice it was fake. And he was right. As soon as he stepped in Clint and Jeff exchanged glances and quickly shuffled out of the room. Teresa was as oblivious as ever and just smiled back as she carefully sat up on the bed and reached a hand out to Thomas, pulling him closer. Thomas could do nothing but let her pull him in, close enough that he could feel her breath on his face and it made his skin crawl.

“You should give me a tour,” she whispered, her breath hot on Thomas’s cheek.

Thomas flinched ever so slightly before giving a strained nod and disclosing himself from her grasp. He smiled a fake smile as she stood up and he led her out towards

 —————————

Thomas finished showing Teresa around by the time dinner began. Newt was nowhere to be found so Teresa gladly helped herself to his usual seat, which caused the Gladers to give each other —and then Thomas— looks of confusion. Thomas brushed them off and just listened to Chuck, who was excitedly telling Teresa about the Glade.

“Where’s Gally and Ben?” Thomas asked through a mouthful of food, trying to distract the gladers from Newt's absence.

Minho shrugged, “probably making out behind the bathrooms again,” he snorted

Thomas gave a small chuckle before excusing himself to go find them. He padded around the Glade, more so looking for Newt rather than the obvious couple. He checked the kitchen, and behind the kitchen. He checked the gardening spot, which Newt typically hung around when he needed space or to calm down, he wasn’t there either. Thomas dreaded checking the bunks, but he couldn’t check the bathrooms yet because he knew Gally and Ben were there, and he had to at least pretend to look for them. He heaved a sigh and trudged towards his way over.

Newt was hunched over in a hammock, seemingly writing on something, a piece of paper perhaps. The hammock was technically Chucks, but since Chuck wasn’t here it wasn’t a big deal. It was the farthest from the door, perhaps to hide the piece of paper better. Thomas creeped closer, part of him wanting to see what he was writing, the other part just wanted to admire Newt from afar.

“You can stop creepy around Fry,” Newt said suddenly without turning around, “you're not very stealthy.”

“I am very stealthy,” Thomas said, hoping to gain a laugh 

Instead, Newt whipped his head around and glared at him.

“Oh. You,” he said, clearly annoyed, “get out.”

“Newt,” Thomas protested, “that’s not fair,”

“It’s plenty fair,” Newt replied, “out.”

Thomas heaved a sigh, reaching a hand out at Newt before he gave up and walked out.

“You can’t be mad at me forever,” He said as he left.

“It’s a good thing you only have a week then,” Newt replied without turning around.

Thomas puzzled over this as he walked towards the bathrooms. What did he mean by only a week? It was the same thing he’d said when he gave Thomas the “ultimatum” but that didn’t mean anything, right?

Thomas was still pondering over it by the time he reached the bathrooms. He pounded on the side of the building and got a yelp in response. Gally peeked his head out from behind the wall, completely shirtless and glaring his usual glare.

“What is it, Greenie?” He practically snapped

“It’s dinner,” Thomas replied, raising a very Gally worthy eyebrow

Gally just sighed and pulled his head back, later coming out fully clothed with Ben in tail.

“Took you long enough,” Gally snorted

Thomas shrugged, “figured I’d give y'all a little more time,” he said

“Give us more time or look for Newt?” Gally said as they walked

Thomas tried to hide his expression with an eye roll, in which he didn’t succeed. Gally raised an eyebrow but said nothing, instead he quickened his pace, pulling Ben along by the hand. Thomas rolled his eyes for real this time and jogged back to the table. The Gladers were laughing at what seemed to be Ben and Gally, and Minho kept pointing at something on Gally’s neck, in which Gally tried desperately to cover it up with the collar of his shirt.

Thomas sat down at his spot next to Teresa as the banter and teasing died down, picking at his food. He loved Frypans cooking, but something made his stomach feel like shit and he didn’t really want to eat. It must have been noticeable because Frypan raised an eyebrow, to which Gally shot him a look. Fry just nodded and said nothing, instead asking Gally if he wanted anything else, hinting at the jug of mystery juice in front of him. Ben actually snorted out his drink before dumping it in the grass while Gally attempted to wrestle the jug out of Frypan’s hands.

Newt joined them a little while later when everyone had calmed down and sat down at the empty spot, —as far away from Thomas as possible— despite the Gladers pointing him towards an open spot next to Thomas. Newt sat down without a word and began eating his food in silence. The Gladers all shot each other a look of shock and confusion. It was rare for Thomas and Newt to ever be apart, especially at dinner. They always sat together, stealing food off of each other's plates and holding hands beneath the table. Frypan gave Thomas a very pointed look, to which responded with a shrug. Fry gave him a look of we will speak later and went back to eating.

After dinner, Thomas sneakily avoided Fry by leading Teresa to where she would be sleeping. There weren't enough hammocks for her so Thomas let Teresa take his old one, forgetting about the argument between him and Newt. Teresa climbed in the hammock, almost falling out. Thomas managed to catch her as she spun and she flashed him a grateful look. Looking to the side he could see Zart and another Glader acting out the scene. Zart pretended to fall while the other boy caught him. Zart gave the boy the most dramatic smile he’d ever seen and they both collapsed, giggling.

“Where will you sleep?” Teresa asked as she climbed in the hammock for the second time, managing not to fall out this time.

Thomas’s face fell, remembering what Newt had said. He gave a sheepish smile and said he slept with Newt in a different room. The glades gave each other looks and someone had the audacity to snort, to which Thomas responded by chucking a pillow in the general direction of the noise. Teresa didn’t notice the scuffle, instead she gave Thomas a weary smile.

You sleep with Newt? She asked

Thomas debated on what to respond with. Should he tell her that they sleep in the same bed or just the same room? Would this be a good time to tell her they were dating?

Tom? She asked again

Sorry, he said, just in the same room

He winced as he said it. While he’d managed to avoid not lying to her about him and Newt's relationship, this was a flat out lie. He and Newt certainly didn’t just sleep in the same room. Honestly Teresa was pretty damn close with the first thing she said. They absolutely slept together. Though for the love of him Thomas couldn’t remember the last time they did. Was it a month ago? Two weeks? Longer?…

Teresa smiled and said goodnight, snapping Thomas out of his spiraling and rolling herself over in the hammock, curling a blanket around her shoulders. Thomas murmured a quick ‘night’ and walked towards him and Newt's room. He stood at the door for a solid five minutes before peeking his head in. Newt was lying on his back, writing on the piece of paper again. Upon Thomas’s entry his head snapped up and he gave a slight glare.

“There uh.. wasn’t any open hammocks,” Thomas explained sheepishly

Newt heaved a sigh before waving his hand, allowing Thomas to enter the room. Thomas placed a hand on the bed, ready to host himself up. Newt snapped his head around and shook it, pointing towards the floor.

“Newt-” Thomas started

“My room, my rules,” Newt shot back, tossing a pillow and a blanket down.

Thomas sighed and fluffed the pillow a bit before lying down and pulling the blanket. He rolled to the side facing the bed, debating his next words.

“Night Newt,” Thomas said sleepily.

Not even a minute after he spoke those words he was passed out on the floor, drooling slightly. Newt leaned over the bed to put his pen and paper in the drawer before turning off the light. He glanced down at a sleeping Thomas and gave a slight chuckle.

“Night..

Tommy..”