Quiet is Violent {Newt | The Maze Runner}

17. Friend or Foe

Newt came back from the Med-Jack tent looking tired and tense, his hair a mess and an exhaustion that made the lights around him grow dark. "I don't know what to think anymore, Tash." He sighed, his voice quiet and intimate as he slumped into a seat beside Tasha. He still didn't want the other Gladers panicking, but Tasha was his rock and he needed to talk to someone. She had been eating dinner quietly by herself at the far end of the set of tables, most of the Gladers had opted to take some of Frypan's trademark soup, but she had bypassed it to make herself a sandwich, her appetite small despite the exertions of the day. She raised her eyebrows and wrapped her arm around him, pulling him closer and letting him lean on her. "That bloody Greenie... He's saved Alby, you know?" Tasha made a noise of surprise and offered him some of her sandwich, which he took a bite of. "And I just... there's things happening Tash, everything's chaos and I have to set it right." His thoughts flew back to Alby, shivering and gasping on the bed; Newt wasn't sure he would make it through the night, but he had to hope. He wasn't second in command anymore, not while Alby was out of order, he was in charge.

"Not on your own." Tasha offered, simply, her voice cutting through his bitter words. Newt's eyes were downcast, gazing at his fingers where he played with the strap of his pack absentmindedly.

"Not on my own." He parrotted forlornly. Newt let out a sigh, moved out of Tasha's embrace. She let him go without a fuss, but he started when she suddenly put her hand in his.

"Tonight's a bad night to be on your own." Tasha mumbled, and Newt lifted his head, looking at her curiously, there was compassion in her eyes, something he rarely ever saw, but it was there. "Can I stay in your bunk?" She asked and Newt didn't even hesitate to nod. It wasn't the first time they had shared a bunk, if they were being quite honest, it was almost on a weekly basis at this point, on the nights when being alone was bad and being together was good. They would just lay there, hearts beating in time, breathing quietly with only the sounds of the Glade to listen to... Those nights were not good nights to be alone, but they were nice together. "I love you." She muttered, kissing his cheek, before pulling her hands away and stepping over the bench they sat at. "I gotta go speak to Thomas." She told him. Newt nodded, knew the solidarity Tasha felt between Runners, it was the reason they had even become good friends in the first place, and didn't question it. She smiled at him, before making her way quietly over to the wooden jail they had built in the corner of the Glade. She had seen Chuck leave over half an hour ago and the place was shrouded in darkness. Tasha sat by the entrance, uncertain of what to say, waiting quietly.

"Thomas." She said, finally. Her voice neutral and devoid of inflection.

"Holy crap! How long have you been there?" He cried, and she could hear him scampering around in the dark. Tasha mentally berated on herself at her lack of forethought. No matter how the Greenie acted, he still was new, and she was still very weird. She should have given him warning.

"A few minutes. Maybe ten." She admitted, finally, her wince hidden in the darkness that surrounded them.

"Maybe ten?" He replied, his voice a mixture of confused and angry. "Are you a freak?" Tasha was hurt; it certainly wasn't the first time someone had called her that, and she was willing to bet it wouldn't be the last, but it still hurt.

"Maybe." She managed, quietly. They were engulfed in an awkward silence for a while longer before Tasha spoke once more, finally breaking into what she had come to say. It took her a moment, trying to choose her words, but it didn't happen as gracefully as she would have liked.. "People don't like me, Thomas." She spat out, Thomas snorted with laughter.