washed away — newt
Pairing: tmr!newt x reader
Summary: As a storm brews, your hopes of being left alone are dismantled by a pale boy with a strong urge to protect you.
Warning(s): Boys being annoying (?)
Author's Note: Reinvesting in the same interest as my 13 year old self has led me here.
Clouds swirled poetically yet strategically over the glade.
After nearly three weeks without rainfall, the gardeners had begun to worry for their crops and what they could do to save them. But alas, a storm brewed just in time to prevent the plants from withering away from dehydration. Some would call it a miracle, others may say it was foreseeable.
Why wouldn’t it be?
It had always rained when they needed it to.
Blue skies had quickly faded to a darkening grey, rain slapping harshly against every surface, turning dry land into swampy mush. Everyone had run for cover from the rain, gathering under tents and huddling together to avoid being alone during the storm.
But not you.
Seconds before the rain dropped against your skin, you had been the target of the boy's relentless teasing and scrutiny. It started small, a joke that could be laughed off and long forgotten, but they just couldn’t let anything be. They added more jabs, and it shifted from being part of the joke to becoming it. They weren’y always like this⸺the boys were normally protective and mindful when it came to you. If you were being honest, it could have been anyone, they had a knack for teasing and joking around with each other, not shying away from taking things too far, especially when the days were long or the nights were dull.
You’d also be lying if you said that you never participated in these same activities but on the otherside. You, too, had chuckled at the teasing jokes made about Winston or throwing in a jab or two at Gally to see how red in the face he’d get before he’d charge at the nearest boy to him.
However, this was different. Multiple restless nights of tossing and turning. Worry settling in your chest over some sort of looming doom that steadily crept its way to your mind. Something was coming, something big, something different⸺but you didn’t know when, or what, or who.
It was making you more irritable than usual. The lack of sleep, the constant anxiety of the unknown, and the absence of rain had you on edge and the relentless jabs were encouraging you to take a running leap off of it.
You had tried to distant yourself from the boys, continuing your work in the garden and attempting to ignore them, but your annoyance was louder than any words you could’ve spoken. It’s what fueled the boys further, chuckling, laughing, and adding on to previous jokes. You turned your back to them, looking as though you were busying yourself, but truly you were trying to hold the tears that lined your lashes back from escaping and revealing your vulnerability.
You knew that if they saw the tears, more teaisng would ensue. Names like crybaby, whiner, and moaner would be fast from their lips in mocking tones, hyena type laughs would be sure to follow and you’d earn a new reputation and nickname for the rest of your life here in the glade.
You had nearly lashed out at the boys as they started picking up small rocks and broken sticks and tossing them at your back. Hoping to get a reaction⸺trying to pull it out of you so they could continue on with this version of entertainment.
It was small droplets of water that fell haphazardly from the sky that hushed their laughter and chatter. You turned to them briefly, looking down at your arm that had been hit with rain before following their gaze up in the sky where the clouds were beginning to roll in.
Within seconds, the small droplets turned to sheets of rain freefalling from the sky. The boys all took off running to find shelter as you remained in your spot, closing your eyes and letting the rain soak through your clothes and cling to your hair. Licking your lips, you roll your eyes as the boys all screamed like women and took cover.
Were they not just calling you the weakest link and comparing your strength to their own?
You gathered your things and stomped through puddles to take cover from the rain alone in your own hut instead of going with the masses. You couldn’t bare the idea of being stuck in a place with the same people who were just taunting you, so you chose silent isolation over potential continued mockery.
Your hut was small, but it kept the rain from drowning you like the grass just outside. You shook your hands and rubbed them against each other to warm them from the sudden chill, your eyes searching for dry clothes. It felt useless to put on the dry clothes as your wet hair dampened your new dry top, but you were at least dryer than you had been. However, your annoyance over the feeling of a wet patch growing on your back and shoulders caused you to start wringing your hair out with more force than necessary.
The sheet that covered the threshold whipped against the wind and was pulled to the side, the sound of rain growing louder before quieting again as the cover was tucked into the creases of the hut, “I could’ve sworn I told you that you needed to tie this down or else the wind would take off with it.”
Pausing briefly in your movements, your eyes looked over your shoulder to find the boy with an accent inspecting the cover on your hut to ensure that it would stay put. Letting your hair go, your face tightens at the uninvited company, “What are you doing here?”
The attitude in your voice was easily detected by the pale boy, his eyebrow raised at your tone as he turned his body to look at you, your hair oddly tangled against your shoulders and an almost unnoticeable amount of water clinging to your skin, small patches of wetness on your shirt catching his attention, “It’s raining—stroming, really.”
“I’m aware.”
“And yet you’re alone,” It had been an unspoken rule in the glade that no one should ever be left alone for safety reasons. They boiled it down to there being strength in numbers, but it was only rain. It wasn’t like they all stepped into the maze, it was just water from the sky, yet Newt’s face remained serious as he spoke, “There’s potential danger in that.”
Newt had once believed that the rule was silly as well, of course he stood beside the rule and followed it. Never letting anyone remain alone and staying with the masses for protective purposes, but he never fully understood it until you showed up. He realized now that he never wanted you to be alone and potentially get hurt without someone near you to aid you or save you. He selfishly wanted it to always be him, but he never thought about that for too long, fearing that if he thought it then you might discover it.
Rolling your head in annoyance, your voice dripped with sarcasm as a tight smile stretched across your face, “Oh, well, I hope the rain doesn’t up and wash me away.”
The boy hummed humerously, a smile toying at his own lips at your sarcasm. He had always been so entertained by you. Setting the pan he used as a makeshift umbrella by the entrance, the boy walked further into the hut and closer to you, eyeing your face with a playful smirk, “So you’ve come in here to pout alone, eh?”
“I’m not pouting.”
You were betrayed by the huff that followed your statement, causing you to roll your eyes and Newt to grin at the sound. Feeling his eyes on you, you begin to move around your hut to look for things to start a fire in the tiny pit. With your back turned to him as you gathered things into your hands, you persisted, “I’m not.”
Newt takes notice of the things you had and immediately begins to help you gather more dry sticks and grass for the pit. Walking up to you, his hands softly caress your own as he takes the things from you to build the fire for you. You try to ignore the warmth that sprouts from his touch, the warmth that always flashed through you when his hands touched yours or your arms brushed in passing. There were times when even his eyes would cause a pang of heat in your chest, causing you to never hold his eye contact for too long.
As he squats down to start the fire, the boy looks up at you with a sly look, “Well, you should tell that to your extended bottom lip.”
He was teasing you, it was light hearted, you knew it was, but the tone still sent frustration rolling through your veins. You had come here to be alone, to be free of the teasing and now here Newt sat, doing exactly what you tried to avoid. Clenching your jaw, you tried to calm yourself down as you turned your back to him to attempt to make yourself look busy, “I just wanted to be left alone.”
The playful look on Newt’s face dropped as his eyes looked up from the fire and realizing he could only see the back of your head. Why had you turned away so suddenly? Standing up and brushing his pants off, the boys eyebrows furrowed, “Are you alright?”
“If I had wanted to continue to be teased, I would have joined the others,” You spoke quickly as tears began to form in your eyes. The burning sensation only made you more frustrated. Why must you cry when you were angry? It didn’t make sense to you, yet you always did it.
“The others were teasing you?” Newt questioned with a laugh attempting to escape his throat, “Thats what’s upsetting you? You know they’re all a bunch of lousy shanks.”
When you didn’t answer, the boy slowly began to approach you, tempting you to turn around and look at him, “Come on, we’ve all been a victim of it and we’ve all participated in it. Is that really what’s upsetting you?”
His tone was full of amusement, not fully understanding the weight that had been on your chest for the past week and a half. He knew that you usually were able to hold your own when it came to the others teasing you. Hell, you had even been a leader in the teasing against Gally just a few weeks prior, finding the freckled boys frustration to be a hilarious sight. He didn’t understand why something like this would set you off.
When you still didn’t turn around to face him, Newt placed his hand on your shoulder, “Hey.”
You turned your head and looked down at the boys hand, from this angle, the light from the fire reflected off the tears that shone in your eyes which caused the pale boys heart to drop. His smile was swept off of his face and he tugged slightly on you so that you were fully facing him. Your eyelashes were wet and just below your eyes were small puddles of tears. Searching your eyes frantically, the boy tried to push down the sudden fire that unleashed inside of him, “I’ll tell ‘em to lay off. I’ll tell ‘em right now.”
Newt turned on his feet and headed toward the cover, picking up the pan off of the ground as he began to untire the knot he made so that the cover wouldn’t blow away with the storm. Following closely behind him, you grab at his hands to stop him, “No, Newt, don’t–.”
“–No, they’re being too mean to you. They shouldn’t be making you cry. You shouldn’t be crying.”
“They didn’t! I’m not! I just–I’m just tired. I haven’t been sleeping very well.” You rub your hands over your face and wipe at the tears before grabbing Newt’s hands and pulling him back into the center of your hut and closer to the fire. You sit down and look at up at him with pleading eyes. Already understanding, the boy slowly sits down beside you. He nods for you to continue, letting you know he isn’t going anywhere and that he’s there to listen to you.
“I’m not sure why or what’s happening. I just–something doesn’t feel right.”
Shifting slightly to face you, Newt leans forward at your tone. He could tell by your frigid body that whatever you were going through, whatever you were feeling was real and frightening you into insomnia. He didn’t say aloud that he had noticed teh fire in your hut being lit throughout the night, or that he had heard from the others that you had been the first one up every morning and helping others with their work before they’re day had even started, “Feel right, how?”
“I just feel like something’s coming. Something big and I don’t know what it is. But it’s scaring me.” Your last statement came in a hushed tone, it was something that you were almost ashamed to admit. That something that you couldn’t see or feel or even truly know could scare you. You let your face fall causing your hair to shield you from Newt’s soft and empathetic eyes.
Hesitantly, Newt raises his hand and brushes your fallen hair from your face, his thumb lingering behind to softly trace lines into your cheek. Your eyes look up to meet his, even though you both sat next to the fire, goosebumps travel up your arms and your breath gets caught in your throat. His voice drops into a hushed promise, his accent dripping in honey to coat the fears of your own shaky voice, “You know I’d never let anything or anyone hurt you.”
He wasn’t asking if you knew, he was telling you what he knows. You search his eyes and only find a truthful and beautiful gleam shinning within them. Newt’s thumb pauses under your watchful gaze. The light from the fire caressed the other side of your face and allowed the boy to see every dip and curve, all your freckles and moles, and the shine in your eyes. His words had been nothing but the truth. He’d never let anything hurt you. He’d do anything to protect you. Even if it was from a little bit of rainfall. Even if it was keeping the wind from taking your tarp. Even if he had to tell the others to watch the way they spoke to you. Even if he had to run from the others in the middle of a storm and risk getting sick from the rain to make sure you weren’t alone.
“Newt,” His name dropped from your lips like sand between fingertips, so velvety, and so quiet. Eyes sliding from your lips to your eyes, the boy leaned forward just slightly, his voice just as soft and seemingly as out of breath, “Yeah?”
There was nothing left to say. Only the gravital pull between the two of you that you’ve long ignored raged forward in the small hut. Your lips brushed at first, almost cautious that something would happen to pull you two apart. But only soft sounds of rain persisted outside and lolled into the background as your hearts pounded loudly against your chests. After a second of soft touches between lips, you pushed yourself forward to deepen the kiss. Newt fell back slightly, shocked by the action, but quickly straightened his back and brought his hands to cup your face. The fire in the room didn’t burn nearly as fiercely or as bright as the longing within the two of you. Something that had always been unspoken now turned into a free forest fire of affection and security.
The kiss is slow, yet full of unuttered confessions. How long had the two of you danced around one another? How many times did he fall naturally beside you in a group setting? How many times did you go to him with any and all questions even if you knew someone was more equipped to answer it? How many times had your hands ghosted over each others skin? How many soft touches and longing looks were shared between the two of you? It couldn’t have been a coincidence, not all of those times, not any of those times.
Pulling back breathlessly, Newt rests his forehead against yours, he can’t help the smile that spreads across his face. Lifting his face, he scanned the features on your face, letting his thumb trace over some of them. Turning toward the door, the boy smiled, “It stopped raining.”
You look up and listen closely, only hearing the birds and the boys outside now. Smiling softly, you put a hand over Newt’s, bringing his attention back to you, “Thank you for making sure I wasn’t alone during the storm.”
Newt smiled and tilted his head humorously, “Yeah, well, I couldn’t let it wash you away now could I?”
The two of you smile at each other as the clouds in the sky blow away with no water left to give. All that remained from the storm was the damp ground, hydrated flowers, and wet clothes. The rain washed away debris, dead leaves, and waste, but never the unbroken promise of Newt never letting anything or anyone hurt you for the rest of your time in the glade.
