Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Thomas, I don’t have a good feeling about this.” Chuck looked at the school in front of them. Thomas knelt down to be eye to eye with his younger brother, “Chuck no one has a good feeling about middle school, but today will be fun since we are just setting up my classroom.” School wouldn’t start for another week, so Thomas was hoping while he set up his classroom he could let Chuck wander the halls and get used to the new environment. Thomas knew that starting a new middle school after his 6th grade experience would be good for Chuck, but still wouldn’t be easy so maybe this would help calm his nerves. With a sigh as a response from Chuck, Thomas stood back up and looked at the building in front of him “Welcome to the Glade” read a big green and gray banner in front. Thomas felt his brother take hold of his hand and the two walked towards the entrance doors.
After buzzing into the building the Greenes are immediately met with two unfamiliar faces, one being a dark-skinned man with short-cropped hair and face clean-shaven; the other is pale, tall, and muscular with shaggy blonde hair. Thomas thought that blonde one could have been an actor or a model, he wasn’t gay or anything he just was thinking objectively. “You must be Charles Greene, I’m Dr. Albert Washington the principal. Welcome to the Glade.” Albert stretched out his hand to Chuck first, who quickly let go of Thomas’s and shook it. Albert then reached out and shook Thomas’ hand, “But you can call me Alby. Then here is the Glade’s vice principal.” The blonde beside Alby smiled and looked over to Chuck, “Hello, I’m Mr. Isaacs. I’m glad you’re here. What name do you go by mate?” A smile washed over Chuck’s face, “I go by Chuck, I only get called Charles when I’m in trouble.” “Well then, I don’t think I’ll ever have to call you that,” Mr. Isaacs then looked over to Thomas, “And what name should I call you?” Such a simple question, yet when these eyes looked at him it felt like time stopped. Fighting himself mentally all he got out was, “Thomas.” Alby then stepped over to the side of Thomas, “Alright, so I’m going to show Thomas around. While Mr. Isaacs and Chuck go figure out a school schedule and we will meet back later.”
Before Chuck left with Mr. Isaacs, he gave Thomas a quick hug, leaving Alby and Thomas alone in the foyer of the school. As soon as the two disappeared into the office Alby’s face dropped into what looked like a permanent scowl, “Alright, Thomas. We are going to go through a few questions. I normally do this during the interview but since the superintendent placed you here I didn’t get to.” Thomas’ died a little at the mention of the superintendent, he wasn’t a fan of Ava Paige but when he said that he was going to move so Chuck could start over she pulled strings and got him this job so he wouldn’t have to hunt for a new teaching job. “Of course, it makes sense you’d want to know who is here working for you.” Alby then started walking down the hallway, “So Thomas, why did you become a teacher?” Thomas followed behind Alby, “I like helping people and science, and I think kids really need people in their lives that actively care about them. And by seeing adults that are passionate in their career, that will make them want to learn more.” “Why did you choose middle school to teach?” “Because elementary school means I’d have to teach the kids everything, and I don’t think I’m fit to teach history. Before this job I did teach high school, and I did enjoy that but it’s hard to get kids passionate about something that they’ve never cared about before.” “Why are you a good fit for the Glade?” “I am a very curious person, probably to a fault, but I will ask questions until I understand. Which may come off as annoying, but I really want to learn and that is good for any environment. I also am quick to act, if you need a teacher chaperone, I am going to be there. If you need someone to stay late, I will do that.” “Is this job going to be your top priority?” Thomas hesitated for the first time, “In all honesty sir, no. My top priority is Chuck, and he is going to stay my top priority.” Alby finally stopped walking and smiled, “I’m glad to hear that.”
“Well, thank you for playing along and answering my questions. This right here is going to be your classroom.” Alby gestured towards the science lab in front of him. Stepping into the room Thomas felt an overwhelming feeling like he had been here before, and like this lab was his life purpose. Alby and Thomas then went over all of the safety procedures, and all of the boring paperwork.
About an hour and a half later Thomas had started putting up all of his classroom posters promoting lab safety, and he then realized he hadn’t heard anything from Chuck and Mr. Isaacs. At the thought of Mr. Isaacs Thomas’ face started warming up without Thomas’ knowledge. “I wonder why he moved to America?” Thomas’ thought to himself, since he didn’t know much about England but he assumed that there are probably just as many teaching jobs there as there are here. As if right on cue Thomas heard a familiar laugh outside his door down the hallway, he then peaked his head out his door. Chuck stopped laughing momentarily, “I’m never going to be able to open this thing! The lock is above my head!” Thomas saw Mr. Isaacs and Chuck standing in front of a set of lockers, the lockers are stacked on top of each other and Chuck had the top locker which was hilarious to see. “Maybe you can grow in the next week?” Mr. Isaacs broke out in laughter. Then for the second time today, Thomas’ entire world stopped in place; he didn’t know why but that laughter was angelic and Thomas never wanted to stop hearing it. “That’s so unfair! I’m never going to grow that fast! How am I supposed to do that!?” Thomas then walked out of his room and went over to the duo. “Thomas! Look at this!” Chuck gestured towards the lockers. “Well maybe you should listen to Mr. Isaacs and grow a bit. You’ve got a week to do it.” Thomas said while joining in Mr. Isaacs laughter. Chuck let out a dramatic breath and walked towards the bathrooms.
“It’s Newt by the way,” Thomas looked over at the blonde speaking, “Only the kids call me Mr. Isaacs, well and Minho sometimes but that’s because he’s a shank.” “He’s a what?” Newt chuckled, “Shank. Sorry, the staff isn’t allowed to curse so about two years back a bunch of the staff made up their own curse words. I know it sounds ridiculous but it’s actually pretty catchy.” Thomas smiled at that, it was good to know that cursing was off the table but learning what certain words meant was going to be an experience. Thomas and Newt stayed in a comfortable silence for a moment before Chuck came back, “Thomas! So, Mr. Isaacs and I got my schedule all made and he said that I couldn’t have you for science. But he did make it where I am in band class again! Then, he showed me where all of my classes are. This school is so small compared to my school last year, so I don’t think I’m going to get lost on the first day like then.” Thomas smiled, “That is great to hear, and I told you before we came that you weren’t going to be able to be in my class. Cause then you’d be extra embarrassed when I show your baby photos to everyone.” “Thomas! You can’t do that! Right Mr. Isaacs! That can’t be allowed.” Thomas looked over at Newt who was smiling at the brothers, “Well mate, nothing in our rules says it isn’t allowed. But I’ll keep a close eye on Tommy here-” Newt kept talking but Thomas heard nothing else past “Tommy”. He’d never been called that before, he was actually quite happy with the name Thomas and didn’t even like it when his best friend Teresa called him Tom; but something about the way Newt says Tommy just makes sense for some reason.
“Oh! I meant to ask,” Thomas suddenly was pulled out of his trance by Newt’s words, “Do you need any help setting up your classroom?” In all honesty Thomas did not need help, all that was left was to put up his massive poster of the periodic table of elements. “I actually could use your help if you don’t mind.” Newt smiled and the group walked into the lab. Newt looked around the room, “Wow, it actually looks like someone teaches here.” Chuck tilted his head, “What’s that supposed to mean?” Newt looked over towards the small boy, “Nicolas was the old teacher in this lab, but he didn’t ever put up signs or posters. He didn’t really like being a teacher, so it’s nice to see Tommy here actually putting up posters and things.” Chuck’s face scrunched up as he looked around the room, processing this new information. “Well, unlike this Nicolas I really love decorating if you couldn’t tell. I just have one thing left to hang up,” Thomas then walked over and unfolded his last poster. The periodic table of elements poster was 54” by 35”, and was a moving present from one of his old coworkers. “I’m going to put this up right over here, but I’d have to stand up on the lab table to do so. It would be nice if you could tell me if it’s straight or not, that way I don’t have to hop up on it and back down to adjust it.” “That poster says we weren’t allowed to stand on tables in the lab.” Chuck pointed out one of the lab's safety to Newt. “It’s fine Chuck, I’m a professional.” Thomas then stepped up onto the table.
It took Thomas about three times to get the poster straight, every time he messed up he’d get a snarky comment from either Chuck or Newt. Once he was done he leaned back to get a better look at it, which made him lose his balance and start falling backward. “Thomas!” Chuck yelled out as Newt placed his hands on Thomas’ lower back to keep him from falling, “Maybe you should follow the bloody rules of the lab and not stand on tables!” Newt was joking but his voice showed he was worried. Thomas let out a slight laugh, “So there is a reason for that rule, that’s good to know.” Thomas then hopped off of the table as Alby walked into the lab. “Everything alright here?” Without any hesitation Newt answered, “Yeah, Tommy was just showing us what a true science professional does.” Chuck started laughing at this, and Thomas felt his face once again heat up. “It’s just from being embarrassed, nothing to do with who’s talking and the nickname.” Thomas told himself. Alby nodded his head then let the group know that it was time to head out of the school for the day.
As the Greenes started walking out of the building Thomas heard a British voice calling for him, turning around he saw Newt limping while fast walking towards him. “I meant to give this to you before you left, here’s my number,” Newt handed over a bright pink sticky note, “That way if you need to reach out to me and ask anything you can.” Thomas grabbed the note from Newt and felt his heart racing, he had always been the one to give girls his number in the past and could only wonder if this is what they felt like when he did. “Thanks Newt, I’ll be sure to text you later so you can get my number.” Newt smiled and looked over to Chuck, “And you know where my office is and can come in any time. Even if it’s just to complain about your brother, my door is open.” Chuck’s face lit up and he gave Newt a hug, after which everyone went their own way.
On the way back home Chuck wouldn’t stop talking about how excited he was for school, which for the past two years Chuck dreaded school so it was a nice change. Once they got back home the two made a list of all of the school supplies they needed to get Chuck, since they didn’t know his classes before today they couldn’t have done that any earlier. The entire time Chuck wouldn’t stop talking about when Mr. Isaacs and him hung out. For some reason Thomas was slightly jealous of his younger brother’s time with Newt, but he just brushed that off as him wanting to be Newt’s friend and didn’t like that he didn’t get that alone time with him. Thinking about that Thomas pulled out his phone and typed in an unfamiliar number.

T: Hey this is Thomas from work/school
N: So your phone does work, I was starting to get worried if it did or not

Thomas laughed and texted an apology for not actually texting Newt when he got home, the two ended up texting back and forth until school started the next week. Thomas had learned that Newt went to college in America, and after he was done he just stayed here for work. He had also learned that once school started on Monday to be mentally prepared to get a prank done to him from the gym teacher. He also learned that Newt didn’t have his driver’s license, and because of that had to get rides everywhere. However, for whatever reason the more Thomas learned about Newt the more he felt like it wasn’t enough. He keeps wanting to know more and more about Newt, which wasn’t a feeling Thomas had ever felt about anyone before.

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Newt wasn’t sure if he was excited or terrified to go to work today; it was the first day of school which made him excited, but today he also had to deal with Gally and Minho at work where they would definitely bring up a certain new science teacher. Newt had made the mistake last week of saying that he met the new science teacher and his friends asked questions about Thomas, Minho of course asked what Thomas looked like and the way Newt talked about Thomas made the other two realize Newt was forming a crush on the new coworker. After that Gally and Minho started teasing Newt about the whole situation, which is why Newt made the decision to not tell the other two he had been texting Thomas non-stop since meeting last week.
Currently Newt was outside his apartment complex waiting on Gally to meet him outside, but while waiting he heard his phone buzz.
T: Okay so I have an idea…
T: But I don’t want to get in trouble on my first day
T: I would love your insight
Newt smiled at his phone and quickly responded.
N: I don’t know, do you want to go to the principal’s office on your first day?
T: No, but I wouldn’t mind going to the vice principal’s office

“Alright Newt, ready to go?” Gally emerged from the apartment complex, which made Newt yelp and jump out of his skin. Gally bursted out laughing, “Jesus, I needed that. Today is going to be rough, come on let’s go.” Newt followed Gally to his car, he would let Gally think that’s what made him freak out and that it definitely wasn’t what Thomas said to him. As soon as they got into Gally’s car Newt went right back to his phone.

N: So what is this idea?
T: You said the gym teacher is going to try and prank me today
T: But what if I pranked them first?
T: Would they report me to Alby? Would I get into any trouble for this?
N: Minho wouldn’t report you, so don’t worry about that
N: It’s a brilliant idea, but I doubt you could pull a prank on him Tommy
T: You said he’s a gym teacher, it can’t be too hard
T: Plus, I’ve already got everything ready
T: I just gotta put my plan in action
N: Are you good at running?
T: I am, why???
N: If you need to distract Minho literally just talk about running or track. That man can go on for hours about them, but just be aware if you start that conversation it might never end.
T: Good to know, thanks Newt

“Newton!” Newt looked up from his phone towards Gally’s yelling, “What is so damn important that you’re glued to your phone?” Newt let out a slight cough, “Oh it’s nothing, just texting Lizzy.” Gally looked away from the road and gave Newt a death stare. “What is it?” “You’re a terrible liar.” “Anyway, what's your prediction for today?” This was something Newt and Gally did every morning, it was started by not knowing what to talk about together but now it was just a habit. “I’m guessing, two fights today and no runners.” Gally was the school’s security guard, so most of his job was breaking up fights and catching kids that were trying to slip out of class. “Really? Two fights? It’s the first day, what do they even have to fight about?” Gally snickered, “My guess is someone did something over the summer and this is the first time they are seeing each other. The other is going to be over something really stupid, like two shanks wearing the same outfit or something.” “Well, my prediction is a handful of students are going to get lost, a staff problem, you losing your bloody temper, and at least three kids come into my office to avoid class.” “Why would you say I’m going to lose my temper? I am fucking great at controlling my temper at work. Thank you very much. And if maybe you lost your temper you’d have less kids bothering you in order to skip class.” The two kept talking until they got to the school. They were there two hours before school would start and an hour before the majority of the staff would get there.
Once they got to school the two went about their morning separately for about 15 minutes, which is when Minho arrived with morning coffee but today he had an extra one for some reason. The three sat in the office talking like they did every morning, however it was quickly ruined by the arrival of Thomas and Chuck. “Who’s that walking up here?” Minho looked over at Gally. But before Gally could say anything Newt spoke up, “Oh, that’s Mr. Greene and his brother Chuck who is a new seventh grader here.” Minho’s face lit up with a smirk, Newt knew Minho picked up an extra coffee today for Thomas but with the look on Minho’s face made Newt realize this wasn’t an act of kindness but Minho trying to prank Thomas first thing in the morning. Gally watched the brothers scan into the building, part of him hoping the card wouldn’t work and he could put this science teacher in his place. “Mr. Issacs!” Chuck called out with a smile as he walked into the building. “Hey Chuck! How are you feeling about today?” Newt noticed that Chuck’s smile was contagious, because he couldn’t help but smile at the younger boy. “Good! Thomas said I’d have to check with you first, but since I’m early, is it okay if I walk around and try to find my classrooms on my own?” Newt nodded and the boy quickly ran off, which made Gally yell out a quick “No running in the halls!” at Chuck. Newt then looked over at Thomas, who had walked in directly after Chuck but he was holding a coffee holder with 4 cups in it. “I don’t think he heard you,” Thomas said to Gally, “But I’ll have a talk with him later. I’m Thomas by the way, the new science teacher.” Thomas smiled at Minho and Gally, which Minho smiled back but Gally looked like he was planning a murder. “I’m Minho, the gym teacher and this is Gally the Glade’s resource officer.” “Nice to meet you all, I actually brought in some extra coffee today to see if you all would want any.” Minho’s expression deflated; there went his plan to prank Thomas by giving him a cup that was actually coffee warmed up from three days before. “Minho already brought us some, so that was useless.” Gally’s voice was flat and monotone, Newt had no idea what was up with him. Thomas nodded, “That’s alright! I’m sure some other teachers will enjoy it.” It suddenly hit Newt that Thomas must have also planned to do something with the coffee, cause he remembered when Thomas and him were talking Thomas mentioning he preferred hot chocolate than coffee. “Well Tommy, I would actually love another cup. And it’s funny you brought this, since Minho actually brought you a cup as well.” “Actually, if you want we could just exchange drinks then.” Minho was clearly thinking while speaking, “You know then that neither of us have a wasted present for the other.” Newt watched as Thomas’ smile got bigger as the two exchanged drinks.
“Here’s some creamer for your drink, I brought it from home just in case.” Thomas handed it over to Minho. “Thanks man, I hate black coffee so that works out great,” Minho smiled at the other. Then practically at the same time Thomas took a sip of old coffee as Minho put in “coffee creamer” that was actually crushed up alkalizer tablets, which resulted in Thomas almost puking his coffee back into the cup and Minho’s coffee starting to erupt like a volcano. The two started laughing at the situation and Thomas helped Minho clean everything up, as they were doing that Alby came in and Newt quickly left with Alby.
“Dude Thomas, you’ve gotta tell me how you knew what I was going to do.” Minho smiled at the other. “Well, I might have had an insider who helped me with it.” “Is that what Newt was doing in the car this morning?” Thomas had honestly forgotten that Gally was even here until he spoke up. Thomas and Minho’s faces broke out into confused looks, both for very separate reasons. Minho’s face was because he didn’t know where this was coming from, but Thomas’ was because he didn’t know what was up Gally’s ass. Gally then annoyingly turned around and left while mumbling nevermind. “So he hates me, do you know what I did?” “I have a slight idea, but sadly I can’t say anything yet. Not until it’s more concrete.” Minho said that while putting his arm over Thomas’ shoulders, “But until then why don’t we work together on a new prank, you put in the science for it and I’ll make it happen. How about it Tommy boy?” “Don’t call me Tommy and I’ll be on board.” Something about the way hearing someone that isn’t Newt calling him Tommy felt wrong. Minho laughed and the two exchanged numbers so that they could work on some master plan, and shortly after they went to their own classrooms to get ready for the day.
Thomas’ first period went great, he has these two students named Aris and Rachel that Thomas couldn’t help but think that Chuck would get along great with them. Once the first period was over Thomas stepped outside his classroom to help lost students, however right outside his door he was met with a taller blonde boy. “Fancy seeing you here Tommy.” Thomas smiled wide, “What are you doing here Newt? Am I in trouble with Alby because of the morning?” Newt laughed, “Of course not, Dr. Washington was too distracted by a vice principal that was very worried about a new student that was potentially lost in the halls to even know what was happening. Which meant I scared the bloody klunk out of Chuck, but the two of us have a deal now so he doesn't hold a grudge. I am actually here because I figured that with you being new, giving directions out to students wouldn’t help a thing.” Thomas acted like Newt’s words physically stabbed him through the chest, “Ouch, that hurt Newt. I am the world's best at giving directions through this school, so the jokes on you.” As soon as those words came out of Thomas’ mouth a girl named Beth from his first block asked for directions, which Thomas gave her the complete wrong directions and Newt corrected him and helped her get on her way. This happened two more times until it was time the 5 minute break between classes was up. “I guess that means it’s my time to leave,” Newt said and started turning around to leave. Thomas quickly grabbed Newt’s hand, “If you are free do you mind coming back next break to keep correcting my directions?” Thomas’ brain froze, he has zero idea where this was coming from. Sure, he was terrified of getting a kid lost and either Alby or Gally yelling at him for; but didn’t he mean to ask Newt for help, he was just going to figure it out as he went and pray for the best. Newt’s face lit up, “I’ll see you then Tommy.” Thomas’ smiled as he let go of Newt’s hand and turned to get into his classroom, since sadly he was there to teach and talking to Newt between classes was just an added benefit.
Thomas’ classes went great all day, it didn’t hurt that he kept starting class right after talking to his new friend first. Now his first day would soon be over once the bus dismissal was over, but for the first time all day when Thomas stepped outside his classroom when the bell rang there was no handsome vice principal waiting for him. This for some reason hurt Thomas; he realized that during the school day Newt wasn’t able to go anywhere else, but now school was over and Newt took the option to leave. Before Thomas could start overthinking everything Beth once again showed up to Thomas’ classroom door. “Hey Mr. Greene! So, I’m a little lost… again. Can you walk me to the bus please?” Beth awkwardly laughed at the end. Thomas quickly left a note on his dry erase board for Chuck then went to the bus loop with Beth. The entire time the girl wouldn’t stop talking, and Thomas just nodded along with it all while he was also searching to find this girl's bus. Much to Thomas’ luck he saw a familiar face at the corner of their U bus loop that was holding a clipboard. “Soon cross country will start back up, so the bus- Mr. Isaacs!” Beth grabbed Thomas’ hand and dragged him to Newt. “Hey Newt, do you mind telling us where bus 18 is?” Thomas said while also giving Newt a look for help while quickly glancing down towards Beth, hoping that Newt would understand that he was very uncomfortable with this girl holding on to him. Then Newt’s face smiled and started telling Beth where the bus is but Thomas couldn’t pay attention, he didn’t like this new smile; this one was forced and artificial, Thomas wanted the smile he’d seen all day that was lopsided and real. Beth then let go of Thomas’ hand and ran off in the direction Newt had sent her. Now the two were surrounded by students catching the bus, but also they were now alone amidst the chaos just like all of their hallway visits. “I really appreciate the help,” Thomas paused, contemplating if he is close enough with Newt to ask him if there was anything wrong without it coming off weird. Newt smiled then slightly tilted his head and looked at Thomas, waiting for him to continue what he was saying. Thomas decided that thinking was overrated and said his thought out loud, “And I really want to ask you what’s wrong, but I don’t want that to come off as weird.” “How would that be weird?” “Because we don’t know each other all that much yet, but I can already tell that this smile is fake. And when I saw you right after the 3rd block you had a real smile, which would mean something happened. Or I’m reading way too much into this and you’re just tired and want to go home.” Newt’s face broke out of the fake smile into his real one as he chuckled, “Bloody hell Tommy, how come you can already read me better than Minho or anyone else can?” Thomas smiled, he liked that he was right about Newt’s smile change but he really liked that he can read Newt better than anyone else. “Right after the 4th block started we had a fight, it was over something between students from the summer. Then right after the bus bell rang we had another fight with two girls, which I don’t even know why that one happened.” Thomas nodded as he listened, “Are you upset because of the fighting then?” Newt shook his head from side to side, “Every morning Gally and I have a bet on what is going to happen at school, and over the course of the school year we keep a tally of who’s winning. Those two fights made it where Gally’s prediction officially came true, and I am only one thing away from winning. But now that the day is over I’m just going to lose, and I know it’s childish but I’d at least like it if we tied and I didn’t flat out lose on the first day.” “When does the game officially end? Because if it’s the dismissal bell then maybe that other fight didn’t count.” Newt smiled, “No, it ends when Gally and I leave for the day so that definitely counts.” “So you still have time to do your last thing?” Newt nodded and Thomas kept talking, “Alright, what is this last thing?” “Gally losing his temper, that is my only prediction that didn’t come true. The only thing that really gets Gally to the point of exploding are the troublemaker kids, and now they’re all on the bus so that’s not happening.” Thomas thought for a moment before a lightbulb went off in his brain, “Does he have to lose his temper over a student?” Newt was clueless on where this was coming from, “No, but he’s really friendly with the staff so I’ve never actually seen him lose his temper here over someone who wasn’t a student.” Thomas’ face broke out into a smile, “I’ve got to go! I’ll text you later!” With that Thomas started running down the bus loop towards the school building.
Thomas quickly peaked his head into his science lab, expecting to see Chuck but much to his surprise he found a note:
“Walking friends to bus, won’t die -Chuck”
Thomas was happy to hear that Chuck had made friends, and then started searching the Glade for Gally. He knew that the plan in his head probably wasn’t smart, since logically he shouldn’t annoy the school’s resource officer that already hated his guts. However, emotionally he knew this was going to get Newt to smile and that made it all worth it. Thomas also knew that he had zero idea of what Gally found annoying, so making him lose his temper was going to be pretty hard. He then arrived at the Glades gym to see Gally and Minho talking, before entering Thomas quickly sent Minho a text:
T: Heads up, I’m going to try to make Gally lose his temper.
T: I’ll explain later
He then waltzes into the gym, trying to be as loud as possible without it being too obnoxious. “Tommy!” Minho calls out across the gym. Thomas’ face scrunches up in disgust, “I told you it’s Thomas, not Tommy or Tom or anything else just Thomas.” Gally looks like he’s making a mental note of this. Minho sighs, “So should I tell Newt that? Because during cafeteria duty he only called you Tommy” This time when Minho says “Tommy” he doesn’t say it normally, instead he does a horrible British accent while saying it. Thomas spoke while approaching the two, “Newt’s an exception, I like it when he calls me Tommy but it just sounds wrong from anyone else.” “That makes no fucking sense.” Gally’s tone was venomous, “You don’t even know him, so how come it sounds wrong from any other shank.” Thomas quickly realized making Gally lose his temper was going to be easier than he thought. “How come you think I don’t know him? Maybe Newt and I go way back and you just never heard of me.” Minho had a laugh stuck in his throat at that, and Gally lost his mind. “You are the dumbest shank I’ve ever met. You want to know why I don’t think you fucking know him? Because I’ve known Newt since he moved to America, I was the one picking up his scrawny ass from the airport. I am the one that was fucking there when that klunk-head Nick broke his heart. And you just showed up last fucking week and now all the sudden you’re the Newton expert. I don’t know what game you’re trying to play here shank, but I’m not going to let it happen. So just fucking move on,” Gally then shoved Thomas’ shoulders back as he angrily stormed out of the gym. It was quiet for a moment before Minho spoke up, “What the klunk was that man?” Thomas smiled and pulled out his phone and showed Minho the text he sent him. “Look, Newt told me about this prediction game Gally and Newt play together, and Newt was pretty bummed out that he was going to lose-” Before Thomas could finish Minho spoke over him, “The last thing was Gally losing his temper. Of course that shank would predict Gally losing his klunk.” Minho then started laughing.
Newt wasn’t looking forward to the ride back to the apartment complex, he knew Gally was just going to gloat about winning. However, much to Newt’s surprise Gally was pissed the second he stepped into the car, “I need fucking answers Newton.” Gally slammed his door closed, “Because all today has shown me is that Thomas fucking Greene is a egostical shank that has only gotten this far because of luck. So I need answers on how the fuck you even enjoy talking to someone who has their head that far up their ass.” “Okay? I’m glad to answer that, but do you mind if I ask why you’re upset?” Newt was treading carefully, he knew Gally had a tendency to vomit angry words but he also knew that there was always a trigger for his rants. “Oh you’ll love this, so Minho and I are minding our own business after dismissal and Thomas comes into the gym. Minho then calls out to him but calls him Tommy, which Thomas does not like being called-” Newt’s brain froze, he had no idea why he started calling Thomas “Tommy” but it just happened and Thomas never asked him to stop so he figured it was okay. It hurt him a little to know that his new friend didn’t tell him he didn’t like the nickname though, but Newt pushed that feeling away and continued listening to Gally. “Then Minho brings up the fact that you call him Tommy,” Newt then made a mental note to kill Minho, “And Thomas then says how he only likes it when you call him Tommy and no one else is allowed,” Hearing that made Newt’s stomach spin and his face tried to break out of the listening look to a smile, but luckily Gally was too busy venting to notice. “Then I tell him how that’s stupid since you two don’t know each other,” Newt made another mental note but this time to kill Gally, “Then he got all cocky and said something about the fact that the two of you might be super close friends and you just never mentioned him.” This part took Newt by surprise, he didn’t know all that much about Thomas but he never thought he would say something like that. “Then I fucking lose my shit-” Everything then clicked in Newt’s brain and he started laughing, which annoyed Gally but he didn’t seemed pissed, “What’s so funny?” “I’m so sorry! I was pouting in the bus loop and Tommy asked me what was wrong. I told him about the prediction game and how I was going to lose today.” Gally’s face dropped, which made Newt die of laughter, “Are you telling me that Thomas did all of that in the gym just to piss me off so we’d tie? Oh, I’m going to kill him.” The rest of the ride was mostly Gally explaining how he was going to kill Thomas, and Newt explaining how Thomas would escape which attempt. Once back at the apartment complex the two went to their own apartments, and Newt checked his phone:
T: So I think Gally hates my guts, but it was totally worth it
T: As long as you aren’t mad
N: It was hilarious, thank you for that
T: No reason to thank me, I did it out of pure selfish intentions
N: How so?
T: I figured winning would make you happy, so that’s why I did it
N: Now how is that selfish?
T: Because I really like your smile
T: And not that fake one, I mean your actual smile

Newt’s face was a hundred shades of red and smiling so hard it hurt, he was embarrassed about his face’s current coloring but he didn’t know if he was capable of being embarrassed of his smile anymore.

Chapter Text

The rest of the few weeks went pretty well, at least that's what Thomas thought. He spent his time trying to not get any further on Gally’s bad side, something about him made Thomas think if Gally could lock him up in a slammer for a month he would. Thomas also realized that Alby wasn’t his biggest fan, which he had a hunch about but Minho accidentally confirmed it when they were joking around. Minho and Thomas had actually quickly became best friends, something about his sense of humor lined up with Thomas’ which was nice since at his last job his only friend was this girl named Teresa who he still stayed in contact with but things had gotten complicated. All throughout the week Newt had arrived at Thomas’ door every class change, it had gotten to the point where a few other teachers would arrive at Thomas’ door looking for Newt. Thomas wasn’t annoyed whatsoever with Newt being at his door, in all honesty he looked forward to seeing him and even helped with bus duty at the end of the day just to spend more time with him. One of the few things that annoyed Thomas was his student Beth who had a tendency to come and bother him at any given moment in time. The other is the fact he has people coming over to his house and Chuck is still fast asleep in bed not helping him last minute clean the house.

For whatever reason Thomas thought that it was a great idea to have a few friends over for a game night, at 2 o’clock on a Sunday. It wasn’t unusual for Chuck to sleep in this late, and Thomas never fought him on it because he remembered their mom yelling at him for sleeping and how much it irritated him. Thomas did decide it was time to do a breath check, he wasn’t going to wake him up but he did want to make sure the kid was still alive. When he got to Chuck’s room he lightly knocked on the door, and much to his surprise he heard Chuck’s voice telling him to come in. “What are you doing?” Thomas asked while stepping into the messy room, that was another thing that Thomas wouldn’t yell at Chuck for because this is Chuck’s space so it doesn’t have to be up to someone else’ standards. Chuck was sitting on top of his desk with his laptop, “I’m trying to finish this stupid paper before everyone comes over. What kind of teacher assigns a paper during the first week of school, it makes no sense!” “Which class is this for?” “English, we have to write about how last summer went. Which I can do no problem! The problem is talking about my problems for two whole pages!” Thomas laughed, “Who’s your English teacher?” “Ms. Isaacs.”

Oh. For some reason those words made Thomas’ stomach sink, he felt like he was either going to puke or cry. He didn’t know why, but it hurt to hear that Newt was married. It made sense the more Thomas thought about it, when he worked at Icers Middle School he worked with a few married couples so this wasn’t that different. Plus, Newt was nice and funny so of course he’d be married. No matter how much thinking Thomas put into there being a “Ms. Issacs” it still hurt, but it was helpful being he ended up hyper fixating on this and finished cleaning the house. Then just like clockwork, there was a knock on his door.

“Hey come on in!” Thomas greeted Minho and Gally as they came in the door. Minho of course went in for a hug and Gally death stared at Thomas. “Oh dude I meant to ask!” Minho talked while taking off his shoes, “Are you cool if Sonya comes?” Sonya? That name rang zero bells in Thomas’ head, he felt like he heard it before but couldn’t place it. “Yeah totally, the more the merrier.” Gally scoffed at that which resulted in him getting smacked on the back of his head by Minho. “Thomas! I’m going to drop out of school! This is it!” Suddenly came from the hallway, Thomas told the two to sit wherever and went to check on Chuck. While heading towards Chuck he heard a knock on the door, and figured Minho would get it.

“What’s up?” Chuck looked up from his laptop, “I’m dropping out of school.” “No you’re not.” “Yes I am.” Thomas let out a massive sigh, “You can’t drop out because then I won’t be able to embarrass you in front of your new friends.” Chuck thought for a moment, longer than Thomas preferred then shut his laptop, “Okay.” That word single handedly terrified Thomas, “What’s going on?” “Nothing, I’ll just finish this essay later.” Chuck’s voice was monotone and he got up and walked right past Thomas leaving his room. “Chuck.” No response. “Chucky.” Chuck was entering the living room now. “Charles.” With that Chuck slowly turned around and smiled at Thomas.

Thomas went into the living room to see Newt on his loveseat, and Gally and Minho on the couch with two random girls. One had dark brown skin with short hair and the other had very pale skin with dirty blonde hair. When Thomas walked into his living room though he had completely forgotten what was happening with Chuck, his brain focused on the fact that Newt was in his living room. He also noted the fact that instead of wearing his usual work clothes he was wearing a black shirt with a green button up (that had barely of it’s buttons done) and a darker jacket over it (look up Thomas Brodie-Sangster’s outfit for Queen’s Gambit), which wasn’t an outfit he very thought someone like Newt would wear, but Thomas knew he would never complain about any of it. However, he was brought back to reality by seeing his younger brother struggle to grab a familiar scrapbook. “Chuck! Don’t you dare,” The group hadn’t really noticed the younger boy’s presence until Thomas spoke. “Oh no Thomas, what are you going to do? Tell mom?” Chuck said teasingly then turning to Minho, “Mr. Lee, has Thomas shown you what he used to look like?” Both Minho and Chuck started smiling devilishly, “Now that you mention it I don’t think he has, but I would love to find out.” After hearing that Thomas rushed over to Chuck and tried grabbing the scrap book, Chuck saw that coming and threw the book to Minho. Thomas looked into the eyes of his new found best friend, “Minho. If you have ever respected me as a person-” Minho then stopped listening and immediately opened the book.

“Oh. My. God.” Was all that came from Minho’s mouth, then right after Gally started bursting out laughing. Thomas then looked to his brother, “You’re so dead, later.” Chuck started laughing maniacally. “You think it’s funny now Chucky boy, but just wait when I’m done with you you’re going to finally meet my dad.” Chuck then immediately ran back to his room. By now the two girls on the couch had also seen some of the photos and Thomas watched as both of their facial expressions changed. “Tommy, should I be scared of whatever is in that book?” Before Thomas could answer Minho was yelling no while Gally was yelling yes. Thomas however wanted to curl up into a ball and die, but he didn’t want to give Chuck that validation. “Maybe? It’s easier to just say I was a very different person back in high school and early college years.” Thomas then sat beside Newt on the lovesaet. Minho looked over at the duo, “Dude, you’ve got to check this out.” Newt shook his head no, “Honestly, I’d rather not see it under these circumstances. If Lizzy tried pulling something like Chuck did I would rather my friends be mature and not give in.” The blonde girl then spoke, “Come on Newton, you know you want to see it.” There was a tone in her voice Thomas couldn’t place, it was like hearing an inside joke you weren’t a part of. Newt glared at the girl then moved his whole body towards Thomas, it made the loveseat feel very crowded but Thomas didn’t seem to mind. “Ignore her, you aren’t the only one with little siblings here. So what games are we going to be playing?”

With that the group started playing a few Jackbox games, Thomas learned that the girl Newt referred to as Lizzy/his sister was the same girl that Minho had referred to as Sonya. Then the girl beside her was named Harriet, she was Sonya’s fiance and also turned out to be a god at Quiplash. After a few rounds of games Thomas had gotten up to get out some drinks and there was a knock on his front door, Minho took it upon himself to go and open it. “Tom- Who are you?” A familiar voice spoke, it was a voice that Thomas had been avoiding since starting up at the Glade. “I’m Minho, a friend of Thomas’. who are you?” “I’m Teresa.”

Chapter Text

Newt had watched Minho open the door, he didn’t know what he was expecting but this wasn’t it. The other side of the door was this woman that looked younger than him; she was very beautiful with burning blue eyes and silky tar-black hair. “I’m Teresa.” Newt’s stomach dropped, he had never heard this name mentioned before but the way she acted like he should have heard her name before hurt. Newt turned his attention to Thomas, he had stopped right in his tracks and looked like he was going to be sick. But just as Newt caught on to Thomas’ left the drinks on the counter and immediately went to the door, “Thanks Minho, I’ll be right back” Thomas then sled between Minho and Teresa and shut the door. Gally leaned over to Newt, “Ever heard of this chick before?” Newt’s eyes didn’t move from the door and he responded with silence to Gally. “Look Newt, I told you the guy is bad news. No one just waltzes into the Glade with some kind of connection to Ava Paige and isn’t bad news.” Newt had already heard this from Gally and didn’t want to hear anymore of it. Minho then started leaning his ear up against the front door, “Minho, what the hell are you doing?” Minho smiled and whispered, “Apparently this Teresa chick wasn’t invited over.” Sonya and Harriet perked up at this. Newt however wasn’t on board, “Minho! Stop that! That’s extremely rude!” Minho then started doing an impression of Thomas’ voice, “Teresa, this isn’t the time or place.” Minho then said in a high pitched voice, “Well how was I supposed to know that? You haven’t bothered to respond to me in weeks Tom!” Newt was still against Minho doing this, but he would be lying if he said it wasn’t entertaining listening to Minho’s retelling. “Don’t call me Tom. And I have responded to you because I haven’t wanted to. I made myself perfectly clear last time I saw you Teresa, I don’t want you anywhere near me or Chuck for a very long time after that stunt you pulled.” Newt now had so many questions, the biggest one being what was about the history of Thomas and Teresa. He also knew that he wasn’t supposed to know any of this so he got up from the love seat and left for the bathroom.

Newt stared into the mirror in the bathroom, he hated the fact he was getting so upset over something so small. Him and Tommy were new friends, so of course he didn’t know everything about him. Newt didn't like that, he didn’t like that he still doesn’t know what was so embarrassing in that notebook, he didn’t like this mystery lady showing up at Thomas’ house, and he really didn’t like that he both felt at home and alone at the same time. The second Newt walked into the house he felt at home, which was unsettling since he had never been here. Something about Thomas and him sitting on the loveseat together just felt natural, and now he is alone in a bathroom with Tommy outside talking to a gorgeous girl that assumes everyone has heard about her. Newt took a deep breath in, trying to calm himself down, then he washed his hands and left the bathroom.

Right outside of the bathroom was a bedroom door that was ajar with Chuck standing in it. Newt put on a fake smile, “Hello, Chuck.” Chuck smiled brightly, “Mr. Isaacs! Can I borrow you for a second?” Newt slowly nodded yes, and Chuck gestured for him to come into this room. Newt followed and entered a trainwreck of a room, there were clothes everywhere and the bed had so many stuffed animals on it he couldn’t tell where the mattress was. “What’s going on?” Chuck said in a quiet voice. Newt responded with the same volume, “Oh, a woman named Teresa arrived at the door, Tommy is talking to her now.” Chuck sighed, “That sucks, I wish she’d just leave him alone. But that isn’t what I meant! I mean what’s going on with you and my brother.”

“Where is the nearest wall? There’s got to be some wall nearby I can climb up and hop off of.” Newt thought to himself. He knew he wasn’t really being secretive with his crush since Gally, Lizzy, Minho, and Alby all figured it out, but he didn’t think it was noticeable enough that the little Greene would piece it together. “What?” Was all Newt could get out. Chuck’s face looked annoyed, “What’s going on between you and Thomas? Because before you Thomas never let anyone call him anything other than Thomas. Before you the only thing Thomas liked about work was teaching. Before you Thomas kept to himself and would tell me it was us against the wicked world. Before you Thomas only had one friend who is now outside of our door instead of inside because Thomas wants her out of his life. Before you Thomas wasn’t nearly as happy as he is now.” Chuck finally took a breath, “So what’s going on between you and him? Because I really like seeing Thomas like this and I don’t want Thomas to get hurt.” Oh. That’s what this is about. Newt felt a smile creep up on his face, “Oh, Chuck. Nothing is going on between me and Tommy, we’re just friends-” Chuck cut Newt’s sentence off and started speaking up, “Bullshit. You’re wrong. I know that Thomas is just friends with Minho, but you’re different so don’t lie to me.”

Newt knew that Chuck was smart, since Lizzy had mentioned that when Chuck started her class. With that in mind he knew that there was also no way of avoiding any of this conversation, it was either have this talk now or have it some time at school. “Alright Chuck,” Newt’s voice was low, “It’s true that your brother and I are sort of not friends, and honestly I’d prefer if he and I were a bit more,” Shit, why did he say that? “But I believe your brother only sees me as his friend, and I am perfectly comfortable with that because I also don’t want to see him get hurt.” Newt’s words stopped but not his brain, was he really comfortable with this? Without knowing what Thomas thought of him? With this feeling of being at home when he isn’t? Chuck just smiled, “Thanks Newt, Thomas might be a genius but he’s pretty stupid when it comes to some things. If it helps I think that-” Before Chuck could finish his sentence he was cut off, “Chuck! What are you doing?” “Talking to Newt, why?” Chuck yelled back. Then Thomas quickly appeared in the doorway of Chuck’s room, “Hey Newt, sorry I thought you left with everyone.” “Left with everyone?” “Yeah, Minho and everyone left about five minutes ago.” Newt sighed, “I was unaware of that, I’ll get an uber to come get me so you can go about your day.” Chuck jumped into the conversation, “Or! The three of us can hang out for a bit, then Thomas can take you home! We don’t have any plans for the rest of the day.” Newt looked over at Thomas, who seemed to agree with what Chuck said, “Sure, what should we do?”

The three played card games together for a while, to Newt everything about this felt so natural. Something about the way they sat around the coffee table arguing about rules and listening to the brothers bickering felt like he had done this all before. “No uno!” Thomas yelled at Chuck. “That’s not fair! We didn’t agree on that rule!” “You don’t have to agree on the no uno rule because it’s always in place! Come on Newt back me up on this!” Newt chuckled at the two, “Well any time Lizzy and I play we play by the official rules, and according to that saying uno before someone else means you have to draw two cards.” Thomas smiled at Newt and Chuck growned, “Fine, I’ll pick up the cards… Wait, who’s Lizzy?” “Oh that’s my younger sister, but you would know her as Ms. Isaacs.” After saying this Thomas looked like he had been hit by a truck, “Wait, so you’re not married?” Newt’s face of absolute distaste was the only response Thomas needed before he continued to talk. “Oh my god, I had heard Chuck mention her before but I just figured you were married, and since the English and science hallways are so far apart I had never seen Sonya until today. I am such an idiot.” Newt and Chuck both started laughing at this, “You’re not an idiot Tommy, you just did the math wrong.” After this the trio finished their game of uno and then Chuck left to go finish up his english paper.

“Are you cool with pasta for dinner?” Thomas looked over at Newt, it was 6:30 by now and Newt had no idea when time started flying so quickly. Newt nodded his head and then as Thomas started making dinner he went and started cleaning up the mess the group had made earlier. After some time he was almost done cleaning up, there was only one blanket left on the couch to fold. Picking up the blanket sent a book falling to the ground, Newt picked it up to see it was the scrap book that Chuck had pulled out earlier. Newt stepped into the kitchen, “Hey Tommy, where do you want me to put this?” Thomas looked up from the boiling noodles and groaned, “I totally forgot about that stupid thing, if you just put it on the counter I’ll hide it later so Chuck never finds it ever again.” “Well if it makes you feel any better, not everyone looked inside so your secret isn’t totally revealed.” Thomas smiled, “By not everyone you mean yourself, which I do appreciate.” He then walked over to Newt and the book, “And it’s not like it’s this big secret, I just don’t like who I used to be,” Thomas then opened up the book. Newt looked into Thomas’ eyes rather than the open book,“Tommy, you don’t have to show me this. You-" "I know that, but I trust you and everyone else knows so you should too.”

Newt looked down at the scrap book, it had a much younger version of Thomas in it. However, this Thomas looked nothing like the one in front of him. This Thomas had bleached blonde hair with poorly grown dark facial hair and was wearing a neon orange shirt. (Look up Dylan’s fit in Not Okay, and this is that without the tattoos). In one of the pictures was Thomas in a Beacon Hills school uniform. Newt knew of that school since he almost took a job there, it was a highly gifted school that was practically impossible to get into and taught kindergarten through high school. “You went to Beacon Hills?” Newt looked up at Thomas. Thomas looked amazed, “Really? That’s the first thing you notice?” Newt laughed, “Obviously not, the bleach blonde drug dealer looking version of you was.” Thomas pretended like Newt’s words actually hurt him, “Ouch, come on Newtie. You really thought I looked like a drug dealer?” Newt nodded his head while laughing. Thomas continued while going back to cooking, “Well, I did go to Beacon Hills, I transferred there half way through second grade.” Newt had finally stopped laughing by now, his stomach still hurt from it though, “How bloody smart are you Thomas Greene?” Thomas shrugged, “I’m not all that smart, I’m just a good test taker.” Chuck at some point came out of his room and was in the hallway, “Don’t listen to him, Teresa said his IQ was 184.” Thomas gave his brother a death glare, “Teresa is a liar so don’t listen to a word she says, and dinner is ready.”

Dinner went well, Newt noticed that Thomas had been in a weird mood since Chuck’s interruption though. After dinner Thomas asked Chuck to clean up while he drove Newt home. Newt told Chuck goodbye and then went to Thomas’ car, “What’s wrong Tommy?” Newt asked the second they were in the car together. “Nothing’s wrong.” Thomas quickly responded with a half smile. “Don’t give me that klunk, I can tell that there’s something bothering you. So what is it?” Newt had turned his body in the car so it was fully facing Thomas. “It’s just,” Thomas sighed, “I know things are going to be weird now and I don’t want them to be.” “Why would anything be weird?” “All my life people have treated me differently because of some stupid test that claims I’m smart, and I really like how things are going between us and now all of that is going to change.” Newt reached out and placed his hand on Thomas’ shoulder, “Thomas, that doesn’t change a thing. You might be smart but you’re still a bloody idiot in my eyes.” That made Thomas laugh, “Thanks Newt.” With that Thomas turned on the car and left for Newt’s house.

Turned out that Newt and Thomas only lived about five minutes apart from each other, which made for a short car ride that was filled with them talking. Thomas pulled up to Newt’s apartment building and parked right by the entry door, “Well, we’re here.” To Newt it almost sounded like Thomas was sad about that. “I really appreciate the ride Tommy.” “It was my pleasure,” Thomas said as Newt stepped out of the car. “Make sure you text me when you get home so I don’t send a search party for you.” Thomas smiled, “Will do, I’ll see you tomorrow.” Newt then headed inside to go to his apartment, he noticed that Thomas didn’t leave until he was inside. Once he got into his apartment he crashed out on his couch only to be met with several dog kisses from his black lab named Bark. He then noticed a note on his coffee table in Gally’s handwriting, “Took bark out around 6, sorry for leaving you it was Minho’s idea”. Of course it was Minho’s idea, no one else would have done that to him. Then it hit Newt that Chuck is also now a person that would do that to him, after that stunt he pulled back at his house he wouldn’t be surprised if Chuck tried to “parent trap” Thomas and himself.
Newt took Bark out for a walk, as he did he got a text from Thomas:
T: No need for a search party, I made it home
N: That’s good to hear, thanks again for dinner and everything
T: I should be the one thanking you, I would have had a painfully boring night if you weren’t there
The two kept texting like they weren’t even apart. At some point in the conversation Bark got brought up, and Thomas said that the next time he drops off Newt he’s going to come in just to meet the black lab. “So there’s going to be a next time?” Newt whispered to himself, he felt like an idiot because of the fact that the idea of a next time gave him butterflies. The two continued texting back and forth until Newt fell asleep, which was later than he normally slept because he didn’t want to stop talking even though he knew he’d see Thomas tomorrow at school.

Chapter Text

“Chuck if you don’t get your ass moving we’re going to be late!” Thomas yelled down the hall, the two wouldn’t actually be late to school but Chuck was making him late since he was cutting into his morning time with his friends. Chuck then appeared out of his room, “We aren’t going to be late!” Thomas picked up his school satchel, “Fine, we are going to be later than I’d like but not officially late. Are you happy?” Chuck mumbled a response under his breath, Thomas couldn’t make it out “Now what was that about Chuck?” “Nothing.” Chuck answered quickly. “Nothing? What did you say? Are you not that brave anymore, Chucky?” Thomas knows he should be the bigger person and not fight with a seventh grader, but it was too early to care about that. “I said that you only want to go in early so you can see Newt!” Chuck yelled at Thomas. “Yeah? I go in this early to see Newt and Minho for a bit before the buses come in. Why is that mumble worthy?” Chuck looked like he was going to hit Thomas, “We only go in early so you can see Newt, this has nothing to do with Minho.” Thomas took a breath in, “I don’t only go in to see Newt, he’s cool and everything, but I like arriving early so I can see both of them” Chuck was now getting mad, “You’re such a liar, I’m starting to think that Gally is right and your head is filled with klunk.” “I’m not a liar-” Thomas took a deep breath in before continuing, “Can we just get in the car then you can explain why I’m lying.”

The entire car ride to the school was filled with Chuck yelling at Thomas, which Thomas had no idea where any of this ever came from. Lucky, they arrived at the Glade where Chuck got out and slammed the car door before rushing inside. Thomas just put his forehead on the wheel and took a breath, after which he then pulled out his phone. He didn’t really know what he was doing, but he wanted to complain about his brother and his hands went to Newt’s number by force of habit.
T: I know we are about to be together at work all day, but jesus chuck woke up on the wrong side of the bed today
N: Funny you say that, Chuck just told me the exact same about you.
T: What.
T: I’m going to kill him
T: I’m about to be an only child again
T: And he called me a liar this morning
N: You aren’t allowed to kill him, eventually he’ll grow out of this and you two will be the closest family you’ll have
T: You say that, but this morning he was yelling at me and told me that Gally was right and my head is full of “klunk”

After that message Thomas was left on “read” for the next few minutes, so he put his phone back into his bag and went inside. Walking inside there was just Minho in the normal morning hang out spot, “Hey Minho, what’s up?” Minho smiled, “Oh nothing much, just hanging around. Oh, but your brother did come in here and took Newt and told me to stay put since according to him you are being an idiot and need a wake up call.” Thomas groaned and ran a hand through his hair, “What is wrong with that kid?” Minho laughed, “He seemed pretty sure of himself, maybe you did need a wake up call.” “Alrighty then, why do I need a wake up call Minho?” I’m glad you asked,” Minho then wrapped his arm around Thomas’ shoulders, “Before I jump to conclusions, what were you and Chuck talking about?”

Thomas explained the entire morning, how Chuck woke up and during breakfast asked how Thomas slept. Thomas hadn’t slept well, since he was up far too late texting a coworker. This led into Chuck getting upset and purposefully talking forever to leave for school, and all while he was explaining this Minho kept chuckling and smiling like a little kid. “It’s not funny! He is now actively trying to destroy my friendships, first it was the stunt he pulled this weekend, then this morning, and now with him kidnapping Newt.” Minho tried to stop laughing and failed horribly, “Ok Greene, so all I’m hearing is that little Chucky is upset that you’re spending so much time with Newt. Not me apparently though, he’s just getting a bit jealous of Newt.” Minho then collected himself and seriously said, “Wait, did something happen between the two after I left game night?” Thomas shook his head sideways, “Nothing I can think of, the three of us just played games then had dinner then I drove Newt home.” Minho looked disappointed at this answer as he was processing this information. Thomas kept talking, “Also, how the hell did you all just forget about Newt? I had a great time with him, but you all leaving him is pretty klunky. You guys should really think about apologizing to him because I really think you hurt his feelings.” Minho smiled, “So nothing happened during game night, but you had a great time with him. You even stayed up all night texting each other, which leads into this morning where Chuck is upset at you for saying Newt and me are both your friends. Then you also go and tell me this morning that I need to apologize for hurting Newt’s feelings?” Thomas’ nodded his head, “Yeah that about wraps it up.” “Your brilliance astounds me, Greene.”

“Okay class, that about wraps up everything for today. Are there any questions?” Thomas asked his first period. The room went silent, “Alright then, why don’t we take the last ten minutes to do the homework that’s due tomorrow. Or anything else you’d like to.” After that his class went back into their usual talkative groups, but he did notice that Aris gestured for him to come over. “Hey Aris, what can I do for you?” The shy boy looked over at his phone and started reading, “Tell me shuck faced brother that he is a stupid idiot and he needs to reflect on his life.” Aris then looked up from his phone and spoke freely, “Chuck texted me that half way through class, and I told him I wouldn’t say that to my teacher but then he offered to help me with something outside of school and I had to give in. Sorry, Mr. Greene.” Thomas shook his head and told Aris that it was okay. He was glad to see that Aris and Chuck were starting to become good friends, but he wasn’t glad that Aris was in his first period which meant he had to deal with things like this on a daily occurrence. Soon enough the bell rang and Thomas dismissed his class and met up with a familiar blonde outside his door.

“Hello Tommy, long time no see,” Newt smiled. Thomas smiled back and went to give the blonde a hug, he normally did this with everyone when he arrived in the mornings but with Chuck’s disruption that didn’t happen. “What the hell did Chuck do this morning?” Newt laughed, “He came in and told all of us that you lack intelligence and have your priorities mixed up. Him and Gally then talked for a while about their theories on what your brain is filled with. During that I got a text from you, which Chuck was not happy about. So, he told me to stop responding and follow him, which is what I did because I had never seen that boy so motivated.” Thomas was happy to know that he was left on “read” for a good reason, something in him felt better knowing that Newt wasn’t just tired of him. “Then what happened?” Newt then pretended to zip his lips and throw the zipper down the hall, which Thomas immediately jumped and pretended to grab the fake zipper and reached over to Newt so he was a few inches away and acted like he was unzipping his lips. Newt started laughing and his face turned slightly pink, “That was an amazing performance, but I was specifically asked not to tell you.” Thomas scrunched up his face, “Okay, what if I guess different things and you tell me if I’m warm or cold?” Newt only smiled at that so Thomas took it as a yes, “Was it about me?” “Half warm.” “Was it about this morning?” “You’re warm but you’re also cold? Ask a better question.” “Well, Minho said he thinks Chuck is jealous of me and you. Is that it?” “In the ballpark of warmth but you’re ice cold.” “So Chuck is jealous?” “You’re bloody freezing.” “Then, it’s about you and me?” “You’re warm now.” “Is it-” Thomas then was cut off by the sound of the bell. Newt smiled, “Out of time Tommy. I’ll see you next break.” Thomas huffed, “I’ll see you then Newt.”

Thomas’ second block was taking a test, so a lot of his class was spent with him trying to do work on his computer but failing because he couldn’t stop thinking about what Chuck could have said to Newt. He kept running the entire morning over in his mind, right now he was stuck on what Minho had said earlier about Chuck being jealous. Thomas knew that Newt said that was completely wrong, but maybe Minho’s guess was just a little off. Chuck seemed really upset when he compared Newt and Minho, he also made it this morning where he had to spend time with Minho and not Newt. Then it hit Thomas that maybe Chuck was mad that Thomas didn’t spend time with Minho, and being mad isn’t the same as being jealous. Chuck had made it clear that in his mind he only went there in the mornings to see Newt and not Minho, so maybe in Chuck’s mind Thomas was being a bad friend. He then started comparing his relationship with Minho and Newt, he talked to Newt more but he saw Minho as his best friend. When he was annoyed with Chuck this morning he immediately went to text Newt, not Minho. Anytime Minho and Thomas planned a new prank Thomas made sure that Newt wasn’t going to be the victim of it. Minho and Thomas are differently close, but Newt and Thomas are just a different version of close. That didn’t mean that Thomas viewed Minho any less, he was still his best friend. That did mean though that Thomas viewed Newt as something completely different, it wasn’t a strictly professional relationship the two had, in Thomas’ mind they simply just existed perfectly together and he couldn’t piece together the reason for that.

When the second block ended Thomas stepped outside his room, much to his surprise the blonde wasn’t there. Thomas felt his chest sink, Newt said he’d be here so where was he? Before Thomas could get worked up over that he saw the british boy down the hallway with two drinks. “I was starting to get worried I got stood up,” Thomas said as Newt approached him. “I would never stand you up, I did try to bring you coffee and by doing so make myself late for the bell. So you don’t need to worry anymore.” Thomas smiled and he took the drink from Newt who looked overwhelmed, “Are you alright Newt?” “Right now everything is a train wreck, because during last period Mr. Smith told me that he doesn’t want to be a part of spirit week. Which means now I have to find someone else that will take over his job and no one wants his bloody job. So now I’m trying to convince Alby or Lizzy to take over and neither will.” Thomas nodded along, “What’s his job during spirit week?” “He did athletics, which means on Wednesday of spirit week the kids can all buy tickets to a volleyball game, and the game is staff versus students. Then on Friday set up for the student obstacle course and compete in that against staff and students, every year Minho wins that and makes a shank of himself.” Thomas shrugged, “Would it help if I said I could do that? As long as someone watches over my class when it’s time to set up things.” Newt’s face lit up, “You would do all of that? Really? I didn’t take you as a ‘getting publicly humiliated in front of middle schoolers’ kind of guy.” Thomas laughed, “Normally I’m not, but if it will help you out I’ll do it. And I’ll even beat Minho in the obstacle course just to knock his confidence down a few notches.” Newt’s face now had a huge smile on it, “Then I’m going to hold you accountable for that Tommy.” Then just as always the bell rang and classes got started.

Thomas’ third block had to take the same test his second block did, but unlike this last period he was actually able to get some grading done while they were working. Once class was over he went outside to see the blonde at his door, the two started talking together about all of the chaos that happened during the lunch periods of the third block. Hearing all of the stories from Newt about lunch duty made him really happy that his planning period was during fourth instead of third. The two had only been talking a second or two when Chuck came up to both of them, and smiled at Newt and then dropped the smile when he looked at Thomas. Thomas was about to say something to his brother but as soon as Thomas was opening his mouth Chuck ran off down the hall. Watching all of this made Newt start laughing, “Stop laughing! Don’t give him that satisfaction!” Hearing Thomas say this actually made Newt laugh more, so Thomas crossed his arms and shook his head as if he was disappointed. “You know when you laugh you’re just being an instigator.” Finally catching his breath from laughing, “I’m so sorry Thomas, but that was bloody brilliant on his part.” “How was that brilliant!? It’s only brilliant if he accomplished something, which he did not!” Thomas said exasperatedly. “Oh but he did accomplish something,” Newt paused and coincidentally the bell rang, “He managed to get you annoyed.” Newt then turned around and started walking down the hall, Thomas was about to accept that and go teach but then he remembered this was his planning period.

Thomas quickly jogged over to beside Newt, taking Newt by surprise. “I have planning right now so don’t worry. But I need to know why he’s trying to annoy me, and you clearly know so spill.” Newt shook his head, “Can’t do that, I told you earlier I told Chuck I wouldn’t out right tell you.” Thomas then thought back to the hot cold game, there were a few things Thomas already knew because of then. Chuck apparently: isn’t jealous and it is about Newt and Thomas. “Is Chuck mad at me?” Newt thought for a moment, “You’re warm, but like how you think a frozen food is warm until you bite into it and then it’s freezing.” “Is it about Minho?” Newt looked at Thomas like he just said he was pregnant, “Ice cold.” Thomas scrunched up his face, “Is it only about us?” Newt nodded his head. “Is it about something from game night?” “Getting warm.” “So it’s about us and game night?” “Warm, but not quite hot.” “Then it’s about us and game night just had an effect on it?” “Getting hot.” Thomas paused and shook his head, “Well, that’s as hot as I’m getting. I’ve got no idea what that kid is going on about.” Newt laughed and they had gotten to Newt’s office, “Don’t give up Tommy, you’re so very close.” Thomas rolled his eyes and looked at the office door in front of them, “Fine, but only because you asked.” Newt smiled at that and Thomas gave Newt a hug as he spoke, “I’ll see you at the bus loop.” “See you then Tommy,” Newt said as he walked through door 250 to his office.

Chapter Text

Newt sat in his office working, which he successfully did for about five minutes before his brain started drifting back to his conversation this morning. He truly doesn’t think Thomas will pull it all together, he knows that Thomas is smart with facts but emotions are a totally different story. Which is why Chuck was so mad at him, Chuck said this morning that Thomas needs to learn the difference between his friends and Newt.

The fact that the younger Greene was so much more involved in Thomas’ love life than Thomas is made him laugh. He understood where both were coming from, back when he was in high school it was painful to watch Harriet flirt with Lizzy and his sister had no idea, then when Nicolas started flirting with him he had no idea until Lizzy told him. It was nice for once to be the one that’s aware of the situation and not have a younger sibling coming for your throat over it.

Newt then shook his head around like a wet dog, to try to clear his thoughts. Now wasn’t the time to be thinking over all of this, now was the time for his job that he should be doing. That’s exactly what Newt started doing, even though he wished he wasn’t.

By the time Newt was done with everything it was time for him to go to the bus loop and help kids find their “missing” buses and potentially have a talk with a really pretty science teacher. He then stood up from his desk and walked over to his office door, before he could reach the doorknob there was a knock on his door. Newt tilted his head as he opened the door, not knowing what to expect. On the other side of the door were three familiar faces, there was Minho, Gally, and Chuck. Now any combination of two out of this group of three would make sense, but all three of them at once was weird. “What can I do for you gentlemen?” Newt said as he stood beside his open door. Gally and Minho stared at each other before walking into Newt’s office and sitting down in the chair’s across from his desk. Chuck gestured for Newt to go inside, so Newt did as heard the office door close.

Newt sat in his office chair looking at the quiet three before him, clearly something was going on and Newt wasn’t going to say a word until they did. Lucky for Newt, Chuck spoke up, “So you’re probably wondering what’s going on, and why we are here. We can’t tell you.” Newt was about to speak but Minho cut him off, “Don’t bother asking, we aren’t going to let you know. All you need to know is that this is for your own good.” Newt was now starting to get irritated, he didn’t like this idea of this group knowing what’s good for him. “Well, I need to know something, because if I know nothing then I should be leaving for bus duty.” Minho shook his head, “Nope, we got Sonya to cover that.” The second the name Sonya left Minho’s mouth Chuck’s eyes went wide and Gally smacked Minho on the back of the head.

Taking in everyone’s reactions, it was obvious that Newt wasn’t supposed to know Lizzy was working bus duty today. Which was odd because honestly staff could do bus duty, so her doing it wasn’t anything worth getting in trouble about. “So everything is taken care of! No need to worry about anything, so you can’t just stay in here!” Minho was trying to cover for mentioning his sister, but had now exposed more things. The bell rang and Newt nodded his head, “So just to make sure I am on the right track; I’m not allowed to leave my office because of something that’s worth worrying about and Lizzy is working bus-” Newt stopped his words as he had a realization, he always did bus duty with Thomas. This trio and Lizzy are all aware of his painfully obvious crush on him, which means that something has been set up. He heard Chuck mumble something under his breath before he started speaking with a hint of anger in his voice, “What are you all planning?”

Minho and Chuck had the same look of deer in headlights at this, whereas Gally cleared his throat and spoke. “Look, you remember this morning when Chuck went on his little rant.” Newt nodded his head and Gally continued, “Well, apparently when Chuck was in Sonya’s class today he asked her to cover bus duty for you because of that all. Then little Greenie here didn’t know how to make sure you wouldn’t leave for bus duty so he got Minho and I to help his cause.” Newt nodded his head in response, everything Gally said made totally sense. However, he knew it was a lie because of the fact Minho’s face showed that he hadn’t heard this story before. Quickly Newt decided that he would go along with the lie, it was believable and this way he could maybe get Minho or Chuck to slip up and tell him something else. “Oh, why didn’t you all just bloody say that to begin with?” Chuck smiled at this and then after a brief moment of silence the group started talking amongst themselves.

Taking the opportunity of no one watching him, Newt pulls out his phone and texts Thomas.
N: Heads up, we’ve been ambushed. Your brother is in my office and Lizzy is at bus duty.
*Thomas is typing*
Before Newt has the chance to see what Thomas sent back his phone is snatched out of his hands, he barely manages to lock the phone before it’s gone. “Whatcha got there Newton?” Gally says with Newt’s phone in hand, he goes to look at the phone and is clearly disappointed it’s locked. When Gally speaks again Minho and Chuck go silent as they’re listening, “Why is your phone locked?” Newt just smiled in return, Gally goes to unlock the phone and fails. “Newt, why can’t I unlock your phone?” Newt’s smile doesn’t budge watching as Gally tries to get into Newt’s phone again. Minho reaches over and grabs the phone from Gally and also fails to unlock it, “Dude, when did you change your password?” Newt smiles harder and answers, “Don’t bother asking, I’m not going to let you know. All you need to know is that this is for your own good.” Gally punches the side of Newt’s desk and makes an angry yell. Chuck then chimes in cautiously, “What’s going on?” Gally looks at Newt’s face, “I’m going to kill you Newton. Only chance of life is if you tell me your password.” Newt keeps smiling, and Minho responds to Chuck. “So Newt here was just on his phone doing something, and by the way he isn’t telling us what he did or his password probably means he either has sent Principal Alby an sos message or he texted your brother. I really don’t know which one is the better option.”

In hindsight, maybe he should have texted Alby, Alby would have come and saved him from whatever is going on. But instead of texting his best friend his brain went to texting Thomas a heads up message, and he stays trapped in his office by two muscle heads and a seventh grader. Chuck nods, “Well, what have you tried for the password?” Gally hasn’t stopped staring daggers into Newt, “Newton Isaacs. Tell me it, right now. If not, you're walking home.” Newt tilts his head like he’s thinking then snaps his fingers, “You know what Galileo, it’s alright I can just text someone and they’ll give me a ride home.” Gally hits Newt’s desk again, clearly hoping for an intimidation response, but Newt knows Gally’s game so he doesn’t feed into it. Minho then looks over at Chuck, “The passwords I tried were his birthday, Sonya’s birthday, and Nick’s birthday.” Hearing the name Nick made Newt’s smile drop into disgust, but before Newt could say anything Gally had turned around and started going off. “Why would it be that asshole’s birthday? Why would you even try that?” “Because I know it used to be that and I figured maybe Newt hadn’t changed his password.” “Minho they fucking broke up over a year ago! And shank was so fucking abu-” Gally’s angry rant was cut off by Newt’s hand over his mouth. Newt kept his hand on Gally’s face and spoke, “In case you two klunk heads forgot, we have a bloody student in the room so watch what you're saying.”

Gally ripped Newt’s hand off of his mouth and started glaring at Minho, clearly not happy with not finishing his rant. Newt looked over at Chuck who was still processing this all, he didn’t know what to say to the kid. He really wished that he would have shut up Gally sooner, so that Chuck wouldn’t have heard so much of it. Chuck though looked over at Gally and asked as if nothing had just happened, “What passwords did you try?” Gally exhaled deeply, “The date he came to America, his graduation year, and when he got his citizenship.” It’s funny because Minho was right in thinking his password was a birthday, and Gally is on the right track of it being something meaningful that he put work into, but it’s actually the date he got Bark.

The group sits in silence after Gally speaks, everyone waiting for a realization of what the password is but nothing happens. Not until there’s a knock on the door, and the door opens right after that. There’s Sonya and Thomas standing on the other side of the door, Thomas looks bewildered and Sonya is just smiling as always. Newt takes this chance and leans over his desk and gets his phone back, he also notices that while doing so Gally is glaring at Thomas.

Sonya smiles, “Alright boys, I am ready to get out of here and I told Harriet that Newt would come over tonight. So, I’m going to go ahead and kidnap my brother so that my fiance can talk to someone about a dumb video game.” Newt quickly packed up his things and scooted out from behind his desk on his way out he told Minho and Gally bye, then ruffled Chuck’s hair while saying bye. Once Newt was out in the hallway he got a hug bye from Thomas, which was unexpected since normally the two just say bye not hug those were normally just once a day in the morning. Not that Newt minded, doubling up on his normal amount of Thomas hugs was a bonus in his eyes.

Lizzy and Newt were silent the entire time on their way to her car, once inside the car his sister spoke up. “So, I think I might have freaked Thomas out a little bit, and I’m really sorry for that.” Newt’s face went wide, “What did you do?” Lizzy tapped on the steering wheel, “Well I was just asking him some questions and it escalated from there.”

Chapter Text

New Message from: Newt Isaacs :)
N: Heads up, we’ve been ambushed. Your brother is in my office and Lizzy is at bus duty.

Thomas read this as he was about to leave his room for the bus loop, a part of him didn’t even want to go out to the buses. He knew that wouldn’t work, it would only delay the inevitable of whatever was planned. So he let out a deep breath and responded to the message,

T: Well that’s great, thanks for the heads up
T: Hopefully, after this chuck will get off of whatever high horse he is on

With that he headed out to the loop, and he saw Sonya just a bit up ahead. Newt must have drawn some short straw, because Thomas would much rather spend his time with an actual adult rather than a seventh grader. “Hello Sonya,” Thomas smiled as he stood to the side of her. “Oh! Hey Tommy!” Sonya devilishly smiled, Thomas didn’t even wait a second to realize the nickname was a trap. “It’s just Thomas actually.” Sonya chuckled at that, “That’s funny, because Newt has only referred to you as Tommy and you don’t correct him.” Sonya turned her body so it was facing Thomas instead of the bus loop, and she then started staring at Thomas. “Well that’s because I’m fine with him calling me that,” Thomas now realized that maybe he was the one that drew the short straw and tried to dig his way out of whatever he was in, “It’s like how he calls you Lizzy, but no one else does.” Sonya snickered at that, “A major difference between us is that he’s my brother and he is your-'' She stopped speaking for a moment and tilted her head in thought before continuing, “Well, Thomas. What is he to you?”

Thomas answered matter of factly, “He’s my friend.” Sonya nodded, it was clear she expected this answer, “And Minho is also your friend, right?” Thomas didn’t like her tone, he felt like he was falling into a trap but he nodded anyway. “But you don’t let him call you Tommy, even though you’re friends with both of them?” Thomas just nodded his head yes again. Why was this so complicated for everyone? He’s friends with both Newt and Minho, but he only lets one of the two call him a nickname. “So, why do you let one call you Tommy and no one else?” Sonya was truly showing off the fact she was the youngest, with all of the probing questions. Thomas let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding in, “I don’t know Sonya, why are you asking all of these questions?”

Sonya rolled her eyes, “Do you want the honest answer Thomas?” That was a stupid question in Thomas’s eyes, of course he wanted the honest answer so he nodded his head. Sonya looked around, by this point of the school year most students knew where their bus was and by this late after dismissal most students had already gotten on their bus. She then stepped closer to Thomas, “I think the reason you let Newt call you Tommy and you don’t let Minho call you anything else is because you like Newt.” Thomas rolled his eyes and before he could say anything Sonya kept talking, “I don’t think you like him as a friend, I think you like him as something more.” Thomas stopped Sonya before she could keep talking, “What does that even mean? You think I like him as my best friend? Is that what this is all about?”

“How are you this stupid Thomas?” Sonya was clearly frustrated and Thomas had no idea why, “No, I don’t mean as your best friend. I mean I think you like Newt in a romantic way. I think…” Sonya kept talking but Thomas had stopped listening, something about the idea of liking Newt romantically threw him off. He thought back to the first time he saw Newt, he thought that he could have been an actor or model, when Newt originally asked him for his name he struggled to get his name out, then he heard Newt’s laugh and time froze. Thomas then went and started thinking of when he went and irritated Gally simply to make Newt smile, he wouldn’t do that for a lot of people. He would do that for Minho now, but he wouldn’t have done that for him then. Thomas really liked Minho, but he never sent his heart racing when he was handed a piece of people with a phone number on it.

“Thomas!” Sonya waved her hand in front of his face, “Were you even listening to me?” “What?” “I said that I think that you-” Thomas nodded his head viciously, “Yes, I heard that. You don’t need to say it again.” Sonya’s face of frustration melted away into one of realization, “What a second, did you not know you liked him until just now?” Thomas failed to think of any form of response which resulted in Sonya’s laughter, “You’re telling me, that since this school year started you’ve been flirting and you’ve had no idea. That’s insane. I can’t wait to tell-” Thomas immediately put his hands onto Sonya’s shoulders, “Sonya. You can’t tell anyone. I need to figure everything out before I screw everything up.” Thomas’ voice was serious and flat. Before Sonya even could say anything Thomas kept talking. “Sonya, I’m being serious. You can’t tell anyone. Do you remember the girl that came to my house during game night?” Sonya nodded, “Her name was Teresa, right?” Thomas kept his hands on Sonya’s shoulders but his eyes were on his shoes, “Yes, she is- was my best friend and is why I came to the Glade. We worked together and became friends, and then one day she told me she loved me. I thought I felt the same but it didn’t work out and everything went horrible and I don’t even like being around her and I can’t have that happen with him.” Thomas took a breath, he was speaking faster than normal to the point it was all on the same breath. He finally looked up at Sonya, “I don’t want to make him feel the way I feel around her. I just need to figure everything out. So, please don’t tell anyone.”

Sonya reached in and hugged Thomas, “Of course, but if it helps I don’t think you could ever make Newt feel like that.” Thomas smiled, in all honesty he really didn’t like the hug. Something about it felt foreign and made him uncomfortable, but in hindsight maybe that’s how he felt about everyone. He never really thought about it until right now, he liked hugging Newt in the mornings but he was always tired then. After pulling out of the hug Thomas just nodded and smiled at Sonya, “Thank you, we should go find our brothers.”

Sonya and Thomas walked in silence together back inside the school, and they then found themselves outside of office door 250. Sonya reaches over and knocks on the door and immediately opens it after that, inside there are several boys all staring at the two. Sonya smiles, “Alright boys, I am ready to get out of here and I told Harriet that Newt would come over tonight. So, I’m going to go ahead and kidnap my brother so that my fiance can talk to someone about a dumb video game.”

Newt’s face gave away the fact that he was unaware of these plans but he started packing up his things and walked out of the office. Newt said goodbyes to Minho, Gally, and Chuck then when he went to say goodbye to Thomas, but Thomas decided he needed to figure things out so he went in for a hug. This hug was so much better than the one with Sonya, something about hugging Newt felt different than anyone else and it was good to have the confirmation he likes hugging him even when he wasn’t tired.

After the Isaacs left the room everyone else quickly left as well, then soon enough Chuck and Thomas were together in the silent car. After a moment Thomas spoke up, “So, can we talk about today?” Looking over at Chuck, who remained silent so Thomas started the engine. Once they had started driving back home Chuck finally spoke, “I’m not sorry for anything that happened today, so if you want an apology it’s not happening.” Thomas shook his head, “I don’t want an apology. I would love an explanation, but you don’t have to do that if you don’t want to.” Thomas was trying to be careful with his words, he remembered his mom always making him feel obligated to do things and he didn’t want that for Chuck.

Chuck sighed and looked out the window, “I am just irritated with you, and I was hoping that after today you would know why.” Thomas nodded, “I think I finally get why you’re irritated,” Chuck immediately turned to face Thomas, “You don’t like that I keep saying Newt is my friend, when I keep acting like he’s more than that.” Chuck’s face broke out into a smile, “Finally! Thank you for using your klunking brain.” They both laughed after that then fell into a comfortable silence until Chuck spoke again, “So when are you going to ask Newt out?”

Thomas debated crashing the car to get out of this, but that could hurt Chuck so that wasn’t an option. “Dude! That’s none of your business, actually nothing about any of this is your business and you should stay out of it,” Thomas looked over at his younger brother who was giggling like a maniac. “Seriously Chuck, I am a grown adult and I don’t need my 13 year old brother playing matchmaker for me!” This just made Chuck keep giggling, and Thomas didn’t mind. It was nice that Chuck was back to being a menace instead of being an angsty middle schooler. Once they got back home Chuck went off into his room, and Thomas figured without peering eyes around he could go on his phone.

*New Message*
N: Hey Tommy! I wanted to see how you are doing, Lizzy told me she thinks she freaked you out, but won’t tell me what happened. I’m really sorry for her actions, she can be such a child sometimes. If you need me to beat her up just let me know.

Thomas laughed at the idea of Newt trying to fight Sonya, Newt is so scrawny and Sonya seems to be a drama queen.

T: Everything is fine! No need to beat anyone up
T: You were the one trapped with a literal child, so I should apologize for that
T: I’m actually doing good, chuck and I finally talked and that makes things a lot easier
T: How are you doing?

After hitting send Thomas started rethinking everything, has he always sent this many messages? Is that going to annoy Newt? Should he fix his grammar? Does Newt think he writes like a middle schooler? Now there’s no response, does this mean Newt hates him?

T: How are you doing?
N: Alright, Lizzy will live to see another day. No need to apologize for Chuck! If anything Minho is more of a child than him. I’ll be alright, right now I am stuck at Harriet and Lizzy’s praying they’ll eventually let me go home.
T: Well I don’t have any plans, if you want I could come pick you up
T: No pressure! I know this is out of nowhere
N: That would be wonderful, but you really don't have to! I just like complaining, it’s really not that bad.
T: I don’t mind picking you up!
T: I can’t be out all night because I don’t have anyone to watch Chuck, but I can be out for a bit
N: *fancy address that is differently real*
N: Thank you Tommy, that's Lizzy’s address if you want you can call me when you’re close. That way you don’t have to come in if you don’t want to.

Thomas smiled, something about just going to pick Newt up made him happy. The two hadn’t spent any alone time together in a while, sure they hung out at work but that was work. The last one on one time was when he took Newt home from game night, so he was excited for this.

Chapter Text

“Newt, I know I give you a lot of shit for liking men,” Harriet spoke while playing her game, “But honestly Link is making me debate that maybe I’m bi.” Newt sent a message to Thomas then responded, “You’re not bi if you only like fictional men, you have to like real life ones.” Harriet sighed dramatically, “Well then that’s that, the only man I’ll ever love will never love me back. Newt just smiled at that and went back to his house, which Harriet noticed and she paused her game and looked over at her almost brother-in-law. “Excuse me, where is the famous Newt Issacs comment about how men in real life suck?” Newt looked up from his phone, “Sorry, what did you say?” Harriet laughs, “Oh my god, what’s gotten into you?” Newt shook his head, “Nothing! I was just getting a ride to come get me.” The second he spoke he heard that his lie was obvious. Harriet’s face went wide, “Sonya! Get your ass in here!” Newt groaned as he slid his phone into his pocket.

“Your brother is being suspicious and tried to cover it up by lying to my face.” Harriet shouted down the hallway. “Did you know that before I liked you a whole lot more before you started dating my sister?” Harriet just responded to Newt’s grumpy comment with a smile. Sonya walked from out of the hallway, “Newt, you know better than to lie. You’re horrible at it,” Sonya kissed Harriet on the cheek and turned to her, “What’s he doing suspiciously?” Harriet linked her arm around Sonya’s waist, “Well, he didn’t make a depressing joke when it was right there for him, and he wouldn’t stop smiling at his phone. Then to cover it up said he was ordering a ride.” Sonya shook her head, “Come on Newton, we have driven you enough places to know you don’t trust those rideshare apps. So, what’s going on?” Newt sighed dramatically and threw his head back, “I don’t need to be explaining myself to my little sister and-” Newt was caught off by the phone ringing in his pocket. He got it out to see a gray screen with white lettering spelling out “Tommy Greene”, which meant Thomas was almost here to pick him up. “Sorry, this conversation will have to happen later. I am going home now, see you two later.”

Newt stepped outside and picked up the phone, “Hey Tommy!” “Hey Newt! I’m about to pull into the driveway now.” Newt watched as Thomas’ car appeared at the end of the driveway, “You should probably stay at the end, it’s easier to back out that way.” “Works for me, see you soon.” Thomas then hung up the phone, and Newt quickly walked over to the car. Truthfully, it wasn’t hard getting out of the driveway but he didn’t want a little sibling trying to spy on him to have an easy time. Newt got into the car and buckled up, then Thomas and him talked comfortably together about random things that were nothing important. Then an odd feeling came back to Newt, just like when he was with Thomas for game night he got the feeling of being home. Something about the car smelling like Thomas’ cologne and the two falling into conversation so easily just reminded him of that night. Newt questioned why he was like this and why he can’t just hang out with Thomas like a normal person.

“What’s on your mind?” Thomas asked out of nowhere. Newt looked over at him, “Nothing in particular. Why do you ask?” Thomas’ eyes were on the road, but Newt could tell he wanted to look at him. “It just seemed like you were somewhere else, and I care about you so I asked.” Hearing that made Newt’s chest flutter, he did his best to ignore that while he spoke. “Well you weren’t wrong, there is something on my mind but it’s nothing important.” Thomas half laughed, “Well you are wrong, if there’s something on your mind that means it’s important. Or else it wouldn’t have been on your mind in the first place.” Newt chuckled, “I never looked at it that way, I like that.” Newt felt a pair of dark eyes trying to watch him and the road, so he gave in and kept talking. “Just thinking about how we don’t hang out often, but when we do it feels normal. Which probably sounds bloody insane-” Thomas cut him off, “It’s not insane! I- I mean it just means we click well together, so you’re not insane or if you are I am too.” Thomas’ voice was rushed and it was clear he was trying to say something more than he let on, and Newt noticed and appreciated it. “That’s great to know Tommy,” he said while starting to laugh at the whole situation. Thomas smiled at the sound and sighed, “Mr. Isaacs, we are now at your destination.” Newt looked outside the car and there they were right outside of his apartment, he was so focused on their conversation had no idea that they were even close to it.

Newt stepped out of the car, then had an idea so he turned towards the driver. “If you still have some time before you have to be back home, you could come in and meet Bark if you like.” Newt paused and smiled for a second then spoke again, “But I totally get it if you need to go back! I know there’s Chuck and we’ve got work tomorrow and you’ve probably-” Newt’s spiraling was stopped by Thomas shutting off the car and unbuckling his seat belt. “I’d love to come in,” Thomas smiled and it made Newt’s brain pause. How was it possible that he could go from rambling to speechless in a matter of seconds? He would never understand, but what made it worse was that after the car doors were shut Thomas lifted his elbow to escort Newt inside. Newt started laughing again, but he took the offer and the two walked in towards Newt’s apartment.

Chapter Text

Newt moved away from Thomas to unlock his apartment door, and now that he has been walking arm in arm with him he realized he missed the closeness. Thomas had no idea what he was doing, this morning he thought that Newt was just a friend and now Thomas is missing his touch. As Newt started to unlock the door there was a dog that started barking aggressively, “That would be Bark, he’s really nice!” Newt smiled and opened the door, and Thomas returned it with his own smile as the two went inside the apartment.

The first thing Thomas noticed in the apartment was the giant black lab that kept barking at him until Newt told him to stop, which the dog amazingly did. After barking the dog then ran to Newt, who was squatting down right beside Thomas, Newt smiled as Bark started giving him kisses and ferocity wagging his tail. Newt looked up to Thomas, “Tommy, this is Bark. Bark, this is Thomas.” Thomas lowered himself to the floor, still in front of the door, and let the black lab smell him. “Nice to meet you Bark, I’ve heard lots of good things about you.” Thomas said half jokingly, he knew the dog didn’t understand him but it was the thought that mattered. After this Bark warmed up to Thomas very quickly, and the funny thing is that other than when he entered into the apartment this dog didn’t bark at all.

Newt’s apartment was nice, it was small and pretty empty overall but still felt like Newt. The main thing that kept throwing Thomas off was that the place smelled like Newt. Maybe since his own house always smelled like a mixture of his cologne, failed dinners, and whatever was going on in Chuck’s room, is why it threw Thomas in a loop. Maybe Thomas was expecting the entire place to smell like Bark and dog food, but none of that really mattered. Right now, the only thing that mattered was the fact that Thomas finally got alone time with Newt; sure, it wouldn’t be a lot of time since Thomas had to go back home to Chuck, but it was still time alone where no younger siblings or friends could interrupt.

Thomas had been on the floor with Newt and Bark for a few minutes, until Newt left him to go change out of his work clothes. Thomas didn't mind, Bark and him were doing great on their own, but when Newt came back out he was in loose flannel pajama pants and a black tank top and Thomas suddenly did mind. He understood that this was Newt’s apartment, it was night time, and Newt could wear anything he wanted; but the second he saw Newt in that his brain froze and that’s why he minded. “Sorry that took so long,” Newt ran his hand nervously in his hair, “I couldn’t find my bloody shirt. I was just about to give up on finding it when I found it. I’m convinced that Minho…” Thomas’ brain was suddenly fuzzy, he was listening to Newt but not a word registered in his brain. Instead his brain fixated on the idea of Newt shirtless, how was it Thomas didn’t realize his feelings sooner?

“Minho actually told me this morning, he comes in here at night just to take your shirts so you think you’re crazy,” Thomas joked looking up at Newt who was standing petting Bark. Newt chuckled and his smile crept up higher, “I bloody knew it, him and his stupid pranks. He’s lucky he’s a good runner, or else Alby would have kicked him out of the Glade years ago.” Thomas laughed and Newt sat down beside him as he kept speaking. “By the way Tommy, I just wanted to say thank you for agreeing to help with spirit week.” Thomas turned his head away from the black lab and looked at the golden blonde beside him, “No need to thank me, I did it out of selfish intentions.” Newt’s head turned towards Thomas, “You’ve used that line before Tommy. Are you running out of smart remarks?” He gently shook his head no, “Nope. I still just like doing things to see you smile.” Newt’s face started turning shades of pink, and he ran his hand through his hair again. “Was you foolishly saying you’re going to beat Minho in the obstacle course also just to see me smile?” Thomas laughed at that, “Yes and no. Yes, because when I win you’re going to smile while Minho cries dramatically. And no, because I really meant it.” “Tommy,” Newt made direct eye contact with Thomas, “No one has beaten Minho at that thing for the past two years, I don’t know if you’ll be able to win.”

Thomas scoffed at that, “Okay then why don’t we make this more interesting. If I lose the course I will be your personal taxi service for a month.” Newt seemed intrigued by the idea, “Okay, but what happens if you manage to win the bloody thing?” Thomas’ brain went blank and he started thinking about the possibilities, then after a bit of silence Newt started speaking again. “I can’t drive you anywhere,” Newt was rambling as he was thinking, “It’s not like I can offer to take over your lunch duty, but I could make you something or give you something.” Thomas lit up at that, he would love anything from Newt. “But you would have to tell me what you would want now, Tommy. In order for me to agree to this deal.” Normally, Thomas would have actually been able to think of something to agree on but for some reason when Newt called him Tommy his brain went fuzzy again. Instead of thinking, he kept looking at the way his friend spoke, specifically the way Newt’s mouth moved as words came out of it. “Tommy?” Newt said softly while waving his hand in front of Thomas’ face. Suddenly aware of his surroundings Thomas’ brain snapped back into existence, “Sorry, I zoned out for a second.” Newt smiled and rested his hand on Thomas’ shoulder, “It’s alright, I know it’s getting late. But I said that we need to agree on the full terms of the deal now, that way we can’t try to pull something later. So, what exactly do you want from me, Thomas Greene?” “A kiss.” The words fell out of his mouth while Thomas was not thinking, and he had said it so quietly that if the two weren’t only inches apart the other wouldn’t have heard. He then was surprised by his own words and quickly realized what he had just said, “I’m sorry! I didn’t- Well, I kind of did- But I didn’t mean to say-” Thomas was stumbling over his words as he also stumbled to his feet. Thomas was still by the front door where he had met Bark, so he quickly opened the door, “I’m sorry!” He said as he quickly left Newt’s apartment and rushed to his car.

The next moments are a complete blur to him, one moment he is leaving Newt’s apartment the next he is in his car that is already running. Thomas slams his head into the steering wheel, and leaves it resting there. He’s too busy screaming at himself to do anything else, he wasn’t sure if he was more mad at himself for saying what he said or for running away like a coward. Before he could come up with an answer the passenger side door opened up, “Tommy?” Thomas kept his head on the wheel and looked over at the blonde, “Is it alright if I sit with you?” Thomas nodded his head, he didn’t trust himself to say anything. He was also dreading this conversation, it’s the one where you explain that the feelings aren’t mutual when he learns everything is one sided and he made a complete idiot of himself. The two sat in silence for a while before Newt spoke softly, “I’d agree to that deal.” Thomas quickly lifted his head up, and now was watching Newt’s face as the other boy looked out the windshield, “Sorry for running away like that. I wasn’t thinking.” Thomas said as softly as Newt had spoken earlier. Newt chuckled and leaned the top of his head against the headrest, “I don’t blame you, I’ve wanted to say that for a while but kept running away just at the idea.” Thomas smiled, “So, I didn’t completely screw up everything?” Newt moved his head to face Thomas, “Not at all.”

Seeing Newt’s face this close to his was unreal, so much so that Thomas had to double check he wasn’t hallucinating so he reached out and placed his hand along Newt’s jawline. “What are you doing Tommy?” Thomas smiled, “Making sure this is real, that you’re real.” Newt smiled, “Do you want me to help you with that?” Thomas but before he could Newt was leaning over the glove compartment and putting his hands on the sides of Thomas’ face. Then as Thomas’ heart started racing his lips met Newt’s, it wasn’t rough or rushed but it was reassuring and needed. As the two were together Thomas felt as Newt’s fingers started messing with the hair at the bottom of his neck, it made Thomas forget about the rest of the world. As far as he was aware right now there were only the two of them in all existence and Newt was the reason he existed.

Newt slowly pulled his head away from Thomas, “Does that help clear everything up?” Thomas laughed and put his forehead against Newt’s, “If I lie does that mean we can do that again?” Newt’s smile started to break out as he bit his bottom lip to suppress it, “You’re going to be the bloody death of me.” The two chuckled and stayed like this, with Newt’s fingers still exploring Thomas’ hair and Thomas watching Newt’s face trying to memorize every bit of it.

“What are we going to do now?” Thomas asked quietly, he was terrified to ruin the moment, but the question kept circulating in his brain. Newt smiled as he spoke, “I was wondering the same thing. What would you want to do?” Thomas looked into Newt’s caramel eyes, “In a perfect world I would want us to be able to figure this out just between us, no friends or little siblings interfering. But I really don’t mind any of that as long as I’m here with you, so what about you? What would you want to do?” Newt froze for a second before speaking, “Right now, I’d want this all to stay just between us, then that way we can figure it out together. I also want it to stay between us because I am terrified of what could happen and if it’s only us there’s a lot less ‘what-ifs’.” Newt spoke very quietly, in a way that made Thomas wonder why he was so hesitant to answer. “Alright then if you’re comfortable with it, this will stay just with us until we decide together to change that,” Thomas said while putting his hand back onto Newt’s face. “I’d like that very much Tommy.”