Newt Imagines (The Maze Runner)

Monopoly at Midnight

Every one of you is mortal, though, and in some way it's almost refreshing to know that even Newt has his lapses in character. This is only a problem to you, obviously, but even this flaw in his visage hurts like staring at the sun. You could spend your entire life revolving around him, reveling in the blindness of scorching your eyes out over his brilliance, and you don't even think he would notice once.

It is a terrible sort of ache, to be sure, but it is one that you have known for quite some time. That's why you're able to put aside your cracked and fractured heart and greet him with a charming grin when he walks through the door. Pleasantries are what Newt expects from you, and you will give them to him every time. You can keep up this act if it kills you. Especially if it kills you. Dying for him might be the best sort of nothingness, a gradual slip off into the abyss.

You'll mess up at one point, of that you're certain, but until then you can keep pretending that nothing is the matter. Newt will go on being exactly who he is– kind, more than you deserve, the best sort of boy that too few people will ever get to know– and you will push off the inevitable discovery for as long as you can. After all, if Newt were to know how you truly feel, he'd surely be disappointed.

That's why you have to keep this to yourself. You simply have no other choice. It's that or leave him behind, and that is one thing that you surely cannot do.

Newt is very grateful for tonight. Game nights are always an experience, and he has an inkling that tonight won't be an exception. Minho has been plotting this for at least a week now, which is never a good sign. Newt has already had murmured discussions with Alby over what Minho could be planning, and although they have their ideas, they won't know for sure until Minho whips out his chosen game board and seals their fate.

Until then, he gets to talk to his friends, eat snacks, and try to have a good time. School stress has been settling around his shoulders in a thick blanket as of late, choking up his movements and forcing him into a frustratingly slow existence. He needs to study, but he can't get his brain to focus for longer than five minutes at a time. He tries to get better grades, but the content seems impossible to master.

That's why he needs a night like this, a chance to think about something other than godforsaken schoolwork for a change. Newt can always count on his friends to clear his head, it's what he's done since what feels like the beginning of time and what he'll do until the day he dies.

Newt was especially glad to open the door to Minho's house and see Y/N smiling at him from across the room. Obviously, he's happy when all of his friends are around, but for some reason he seems to enjoy Y/N's company more than anyone else. Newt can't quite put his finger on the reason, but he's certain that it will come to him eventually. Everything always makes sense around her, so surely this feeling will have a name soon enough.

Until then, he'll suffer with this sensation like having a word on the tip of his tongue only to forget it the second he opens his mouth. It's infuriating, but then again, so are most things in this life. Over time, Newt has learned that the way to deal with things is to just keep moving forward, and so he does, walking into the house and greeting Y/N as soon as he can. He can banish any negative thought so long as he can just see her.

Minho ends their anticipation soon enough, announcing with a dreadful flourish of his hands that they're going to be playing Monopoly until the very end of the game. There will be no untimely conclusions for them, no sir. The group is going to play until one person is capitalist extraordinaire, and after that long-awaited moment they can all free themselves from board game exile.

They're going to have quite a long time to ponder their fate as they play, though. Minho is clearly delighted with the thought of chaining his friends to the accursed game, likely because the dark-haired boy is ungodly good at it for some reason while the rest of them are absolutely terrible. It feels like Minho's already racked up a multitude of properties after just a few turns. Newt would think he's cheating were it not for the fact that Gally keeps an eagle eye on the bank, just in case.