T R U S T [The Maze Runner || Newt || Book 2]

Chapter 17

"I don't know, really. I- I think seeing Winston die, it was... it was like a slap in the face. I realized I could lose you, any of you, at any point."

"And you thought shouting and getting angry at me was the right way to deal with it?"

"Yeah, yeah, you've made your point. I was an arsehole. I'm sorry."

"It's okay." She smiled and looked down at her hands, her smile faded almost as quickly as it appeared, thoughts of Winston, Chuck, Alby, and Gally filling her mind again.

"Are you okay?"

"Uh, not really. No. You?"

"Definitely not. It's, uh, kind of hard to be okay when you find out the person you cared about more than anyone else, who you thought you lost forever, turns out to be alive. You never actually told us how you managed to get out of the maze."

"It's a long, long, story."

"I mean, I think we've got time." He said, nodding over to the rest of the group. Half of them were asleep and the other half were either eating or talking. Clara noticed Theodore and Teresa in their own conversation again and she felt her suspicions rising again, wondering why they were spending so much time together.

"Clara?" Newt asked, pulling her attention back to him,

"Yeah, sorry." She took a deep breath before she started again,

"Well, after I jumped on the griever it went a little bit wild and it basically slammed me into the wall and I thought that was it. I passed out and I- uh woke up in Wicked, and my mother was there. Then you guys found me and, well, you know the rest of the story" She trailed off and looked at Newt, he was just staring back at her. She tried not to focus on how close they were sitting, how his legs brushed against hers, or how their shoulders bumped every time she moved.

"And here we are now," Newt mumbled,

"Here we are now."

Newt looked down at Clara's hand where she was fiddling with her bracelet and suddenly his eyes grew wide. She tilted her head at him,

"What?" She asked, and he gently picked up her hand, looking at the bracelet.

"You kept it?"

"Of course." She whispered. She noticed again how close they were sitting and looked up into his eyes. His gaze dropped to her lips for a split second before he leaned forward, closing the gap between them, and pressing their lips together. She froze for a second before she kissed him back, her hand reaching up and curling into his hair as he moved to cup her cheek. Suddenly she stopped and pulled away, moving her hand down to Newt's shoulder and pushing him back slightly.

"What's wrong?" He asked, his hand still cupping her cheek, gently brushing over it.

"I- I can't. This... thing with us, it can't work."

"Wait, what?"

"I can't trust myself, Newt. You can't trust me."

"What are you talking about?"

"You- you just can't" She mumbled, quickly standing up and walking over to the fire. She lay down under one of the trees, turning her back away from the rest of the group. A few minutes later, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Newt laying down on his back next to her. She closed her eyes as tears trailed out of them, the tiredness suddenly overwhelming her

"Shoot him."

"No." She spat, throwing the gun to the floor and crossing her arms. An action she regretted immediately as another wave of excruciating pain flooded her body and knocked her down to the floor. Once again pulling and tugging at every single nerve in her system, almost electrocuting her. A few seconds later it subsided, and she lay on the floor once more, recovering. Janson pulled her up and shoved the gun back into her hands, twisting her around so it was aiming at the man.

"Do it." He hissed, not letting go of her shoulders.

"No."

Another wave of pain, this time she couldn't fall over as Janson held her upright, forcing her to bear the brunt of the pain.

"Shoot him!"

"No!"

More pain, at this point it wasn't a surprise anymore, but it still hurt as much as the first time.

"SHOOT HIM!"

"No!" Clara shot up, sweat dripping down her face as she frantically looked around her, trying to remember where she was.

"Clara? Are you okay?" She heard Newt ask from next to her and she twisted around to face him as tears streamed down her face. His eyes went wide when he saw her face and he shuffled closer to her, wrapping his arms around her as she buried her head into his shoulder, clutching at his shirt and sobbing softly.

"It's okay. You're okay." He whispered, softly stroking her hair. A few seconds passed before she pulled away, letting go of his shirt to rub her eyes, which were stinging from the tears. She felt a hand on her chin, gently tilting her head upwards so she was looking at Newt.

"Clara, What aren't you telling me?"

"It- it's nothing. Just a nightmare."

A few seconds of silence passed as Newt looked her up and down, trying to figure out what she was thinking before he spoke again,

"The scar, on your back. What is it from?"

Clara subconsciously reached up and brushed her finger over the scar on her back, from where Janson had cut her during her training days at Wicked. She'd kept it pretty well-hidden from everyone else, or so she'd thought.

"How- how did you know about that?"

"I saw it when you lay down. Is it from Wicked?"

Clara nodded, unable to say anything else as she felt that familiar lump forming in her throat. Newt didn't pry, he softly wiped away her tears and lay down, bringing her down with him. She lay next to him, her back against his chest, and he wrapped his arms around her as she shifted closer, grateful for the warmth emanating from his body.

"I trust you, Clara. No matter what." He whispered into her hair, causing goosebumps to rise all over her body.

Everything was confusing her, she felt terrified. Terrified of what would happen the next day, of what the future might hold, of the horrible creatures that plagued the world, of Wicked.

But the thing that scared her the most was lying right next to her, somehow making her feel safer than she'd ever felt in her entire life.