In My Veins - Newtmas

Chapter 3

While the world fell into pieces all around them, Thomas was only relieved that Newt was the one thing he could hold together. And so, he did; he clung to Newt, keeping him locked in an embrace so tight you'd have thought Newt might be his lifeboat. In a way, he was.

He remembered the first time they met, remembered looking up and feeling nothing but fear at the crowd of boys staring down at him. Even Newt didn't look comforting. But it only took one conversation for Thomas to know that he would become the most important person in his life; someone he would do anything for. And right he was.

Just then, Thomas felt movement beneath his chin, then under his arms as Newt started to wake. He quickly pulled back, holding Newt at arms distance to inspect him.

"Newt, Newt!?" Thomas said frantically, giving Newt a light shake. He opened his eyes, set them on Thomas, and gave him a pained grimace before breaking into tears and falling back into Thomas's arms.

"I'm so sorry Tommy" he mumbled between sobs, almost inaudible against Thomas's chest.

All this pain, all this suffering to keep Newt alive, just for him to wake and yet again greet the face of death.

"No, no, I'm sorry Newt" he choked out, falling tears instantly soaked up by Newt's shirt. He was too exhausted to answer, as was Thomas, so they just sat there in silence listening to what was supposed to be a safe haven turn into assumed hell.

They sat there, enveloped in each other, simply shutting out all that they could, finding bare comfort in the other's breathing. If he was going to die, it might as well be with his best friend.

Ready to accept the end, Thomas closed his eyes and let his head fall, resting on Newt's sweat-drenched head, until he heard the familiar sound of propellers.

"Thomas!" he heard faintly, then, again and again, each time getting louder as the propeller sound grew closer. He knew that sound all too well as a WCKD jet, but not having the strength to care, the strength to run anymore, he just sat and wondered.

"How are any of them still left, we set their fucking building on fire" and "where will they take us, they've got nowhere to go" floated across his mind.

And then he heard the closest yet, "I think I got em'!" followed by "Thomassss!" this time loud enough to make him turn his head. Expecting to see random men in black suits, he was stunned to take in the familiar faces of Brenda, Jorge,

and was that... MINHO?!

"Come on man, hurry!" he heard in the tone of Minho's voice.

Oh, shit, we need to go.

Newt hadn't stirred beneath him during any of the yelling, so after convincing himself they needed to get up, he had to convince Newt as well. This proved much harder. Pushing him back once more, Thomas rapidly shook his shoulders, earning a groan from Newt.

"Come on buddy we've gotta go, we have to go right now" the building beneath them started to shift, he could feel it. Evidently, Newt could too because it seemed to perk him up just enough to open his eyes and register what lay on the line. They could stay and die, or move and live, so move it was.

Thomas stood up, stumbling as he tried to gain his footing. Newt followed but his attempt failed, and he fell back onto his knees. He had begun to gain some of his energy back because of the cure, but not enough.

"Tommy, I don't know if I can" he whispered, his words strained and containing an ocean of pain. "I don't... I don't think..." he trailed off, slumping further onto the ground.

Everyone in the jet screamed and called out to them, urging them to move faster but they didn't make a difference.

Something else entirely urged Thomas on. It gave him a final surge of life, a flash of adrenaline at the need to survive. No, not just to survive, to live. None of this was fair, they'd been dealt a shitty hand and lived shitty short lives where all they did was fight and run. Thomas wanted to live, and he wanted to enjoy it. The need to experience a life worth living was overwhelming. And Newt, oh Newt, they hadn't had enough time together, they just...

needed more time.

"Nope, no time for this man, I'm not leaving you and I'm not dying, c'mon".

He reached down and grabbed under Newts' arms, turning around and shuffling backward as fast as he could to drag them both to the edge where the jet sat in wait. Reaching the edge, the yells from the jet had grown louder as pieces of the building started tumbling inward.

"You need to get closer!" Thomas yelled over the engine.

"We can't, it's too unstable. You're gonna have to jump!" he heard Brenda call out. He knew what he had to do.

"Newt, I'm gonna help you jump alright I need you to stand for me," he said, pulling Newt into a standing position. Newt answered this gesture with some newfound stability in his legs. He stood on his own as Thomas removed his arms.

Giving Newt a pat on his shoulders, Thomas called out, "See, look, you can do this! I'm gonna help you, you're not dying tonight, you understand?'' Newt lifted his head at this. "I won't let you" Thomas finished, voice breaking.

Their eyes met and while they stood, eyes locked on each other, they heard rumbling, this time sounding less forgiving.

Breaking eye contact, they both swiveled their heads, in horror, to see the building collapsing towards them, falling in on itself to reveal an abyss of destruction in the background.

They were out of time.

"Alright, I'm gonna give you a push on three" Thomas called. "One, two"

"NO" Newt yelled.

"We do this together or not at all."

And with that, Thomas felt his hand being taken into Newts. He held Newt's fingers tightly, keeping a strong interlocked jumble.

"One, two, three" and they jumped. No thinking, they just pushed their remaining stamina into their legs and in a millisecond felt their torsos meet the heated metal ramp of the jet.

The last thing Thomas remembered was being dragged by his arms until he was fully laid out on the ramp, and with one last turn to look at his best friend, he felt content enough that Newt was safe to close his eyes and drift peacefully into darkness.