five times Newt and Thomas had to comfort each other through a nightmare + one time they didn't have to

one.

    Thomas felt his heart pounding in his chest as Newt hummed and curled into him more. Ever since Newt started sneaking into his room at night and falling asleep with him Thomas had felt weird. At some point in the night Newt would flicker back to visible, usually around when he started making little sleeping noises that Thomas discovered he really liked listening to. Thomas never fell asleep until Newt was visible, maybe it was just weird that he was basically cuddling with something he couldn't see, but it made him feel better when he could see that Newt was there.

Thomas felt himself getting more tired, his eyes were burning and it was getting exhausting looking at Newt. Thomas gently ran his fingers through the longer strands of Newt's hair that was falling onto his chest. His hair was really soft but sometimes he didn't brush it and it got tangled or when he slept it got really messy.

Thomas knew Teresa was supposed to be his girlfriend, but he couldn't sleep when she was in his bed. She always had to be touching him in weird ways and she took up too much of the bed. It was different with Newt, he always just curled up into Thomas' side or sometimes shifted across his chest and he was so warm it just made Thomas feel safe. Newt made him feel safe.

Thomas' eyes were fluttering shut, his hand coming to rest on Newt's back as sleep threatened to take him. He focused on the soft snores Newt was making and felt himself drifting off. Just as he was about to fall fully asleep Newt twitched, jamming his knee into Thomas' thigh.

"Ow Newt," Thomas mumbled as he tried to shift.

Newt started breathing heavier and he flinched again, letting out a little groan.

"Newt?" Thomas whispered yelled in the dark.

Newt let out something that sounded like a choked sob and thrashed again.

Thomas gently shook his shoulder. "Newt, wake up." Thomas felt the panic bubble in his chest. He'd never seen Newt have a nightmare before and he was terrified of creating something horrific from it.

Newt squeezed his shirt and whimpered into it. He started muttering incohesive words which just freaked Thomas out more.

"Newt, come on," Thomas prodded again as he shook the boy harder.

Suddenly Newt's eyes flew open, he shot up and just screamed.

Thomas' blood ran cold as he sat up quickly. "Newt what the fuc-"

Newt's head snapped around, his eyes were wide and brimmed with tears but he hesitated for a moment when he saw Thomas.

"I-,"

"It wasn't real," Thomas said softly.

Newt blinked, causing a tear to slowly roll down his cheek. "I felt it."

"Are you okay?" Thomas asked as he hesitantly put his hand on Newt's back.

Newt shook his head and practically slammed his face into Thomas' chest. He threw his arms around his neck and pulled their chests together.

Thomas' eyes widened but he carefully wrapped his arm around Newt's back.

"Don't leave me Tommy," Newt sobbed into his shoulder. "Please, don't ever leave me."

"I won't," Thomas said as he rested his forehead in the crook of Newt's neck. "I promise Newt I won't."

Newt's body shook as Thomas just held him.

Thomas found his fingers in Newt's hair again which seemed to calm the other boy better than anything else did.

"Your hairs long," Thomas mumbled against his shoulder.

"Don't stop doing that," Newt slurred as he wrapped his legs around Thomas too. "And don't tell Teresa about this."

Nope. Thomas definitely wouldn't tell her about the way he could feel his heartbeat all over his body when Newt nuzzled against his neck. Nope. He definitely wouldn't tell her how badly he wanted to kiss him.

two.

    Thomas woke up to the sound of Newt cursing. Then the smell of fire hit his nose and his eyes flew open.

His heart was pounding from the awful nightmare he was stuck in before but suddenly it was all forgotten when he saw the curtains on fire.

Newt was dumping half filled plastic water bottles on the curtains as he cussed softly under his breath.

"What the fuck?!" Thomas asked because that was the only thing he could bring himself to say.

"Fuck sorry, I wasn't trying to wake you."

"Newt the curtains are on fire?!"

"Yeah you did that in your sleep again," Newt said as if it was the most chill thing in the world as he dumped more water. "It's almost out."

Thomas could barely comprehend what was going on in his half asleep state so he blinked a few times at the curtains to make sure he wasn't imagining it. "I was dreaming again wasn't I?"

Newt nodded. "It's okay, I'll steal new ones from Walmart or something."

Thomas hated that it happened but he could feel his lip quiver and his eyes started filling up with tears.

Newt grinned proudly as he put out the fire and went back to crawl into bed. He stopped when he saw Thomas crying. "Hey now what's that all about?"

"I'm sorry."

"Tommy, stop with that," Newt said softly as he sat next to him and pressed a soft kiss to his forehead. "Come on, you know it's not your fault."

Thomas couldn't say anything because the tear slipped down his cheek and he felt stupid.

Newt laughed lightly and wiped his face. "Come on, you're okay. No need to be a drama queen all the time."

"I-I'm sorry," Thomas croaked out.

"Sorry for what pretty boy? That you burnt those ugly curtains or that we're now awake but we can't have sex because you're crying?"

"Do you only think of sex?" Thomas lightly pushed his shoulder.

Newt shook his head as he wiped another tear off Thomas' cheek. "Course not, you should know by now that all I really think about is you."

"Sap."

Newt smiled. "You tell anyone and I'll kill you."

Thomas huffed out a laugh but wrapped his arms around Newt. "Your secret is safe with me."

"You know it's okay right?" Newt asked softly. "The fire, it doesn't matter."

"I'm afraid of hurting you."

"You're not gonna hurt me."

"You don't know that." Thomas huffed.

"Yeah I do," Newt mumbled as he nuzzled his face into the crook of Thomas' neck.

"You don't."

"You're not kicking me out of this bed, I know that's what you're getting at, but I'm quite comfortable so don't get me wrong, I quite like your mouth but I'd prefer if you closed it right now."

"Okay," Thomas whispered softly.

"It was just a nightmare Tommy," Newt mumbled. "You're gonna be okay."

three.

    Thomas woke up in a cold sweat. He was breathing heavily and his chest hurt. He could feel the tears spiking at his eyes and he clutched his blanket tightly to his chest.

Just a dream. It was just a dream. Newt's fine.

Newt hadn't slept with him that night. He was with Minho late and Thomas had fallen asleep before he could even get back into the room. It wasn't that they spent every night together, it was just that Thomas preferred having Newt there.

He had a stupid dream about Newt getting hurt, on some mission. It wasn't even possible, Newt wasn't on a mission. Maybe it was just one of his own fears manifesting in his head. Thomas decided he couldn't sleep until he confirmed that Newt was okay so he got out of his bed, cringing at how cold the floor was.

He wrapped his arms around himself, totally disregarding the fact that he was only in boxers and pushed out of his room. He creeped quietly down the hall, he knew X would kill him if he found him out of his room this late. When he got to Newt's door, he carefully pushed it open.

"Newt?" Thomas whispered loudly in the dark. He could see the outline of the boy laying down on his bed but he was definitely sleeping.

Thomas awkwardly shifted into the room and closed the door behind him. "Hey Newt?" He asked again louder.

That worked because Newt jerked awake and nearly fell off the bed. "Bloody fucking hell is that you Tommy?"

"Uh yeah?" Thomas replied lamely.

"Fuckin- what's wrong? You okay?"

"I had a nightmare?"

Newt exhaled softly. "Again?"

Thomas nodded. "I had to make sure you were okay."

"I can promise you I'm fine," Newt said as he turned on his bedside lamp and rubbed his eyes. "You gonna stay here?"

"Can I?" Thomas asked softly.

"Course you can, come on." Newt patted the empty bed space next to him. "Can never say no to cuddling you half naked."

Thomas slid in next to him and let himself melt against the frame of the other boy.

Newt's eyes were barely open but he still wrapped himself around Thomas and hummed happily. "Hey, you single?"

Thomas laughed softly. "Not at the moment."

"Damn whoever is tappin that is quite lucky."

"You're an idiot," Thomas smiled.

"Your idiot."

Thomas hummed as he wrapped the blanket tighter around them.

"Kiss me so I can go back to sleep." Newt blinked at him.

"You can't sleep without a kiss?"

Newt shook his head. "Well I can, I just prefer not to."

Thomas pressed a soft kiss to his lips, feeling his stomach twist at the way Newt smiled against his lips.

"Better?" Thomas asked as Newt curled impossibly closer to him.

"As long as you are too."

Thomas was quiet for a moment as he let his fingertips trail down Newt's back. Newt was already asleep by the time he had formulated an answer, but he'd always be okay if Newt was there with him.

four.

    Thomas was eating a bagel with El in the library, sitting on the floor between the shelves debating on if star wars or star trek was better when Minho came slamming into the isle.

"Holy shit Minho what is going on?" Thomas asked as he watched some books fall to the floor.

"Newt is freaking out and he's like- he's glitching!" Minho shouted. "I think you need to get there please."

Thomas was standing before Minho could even finish his sentence. "Yeah let's go."

Thomas practically ran to Minho's room, Minho told him that he'd never seen Newt like that before and it was freaking him out.

Thomas busted the door open and felt his chest clench when he saw Newt on the floor. He was curled in on himself and he looked like he was flashing from visible to not.

Thomas immediately dropped to the floor and crawled over to him.

"Hey, Newt can you hear me?" Thomas asked softly as he knelt in front of him.

Newt jerked his head with Thomas took as a nod.

"Can you tell me what's wrong."

"Lizzy," Newt croaked out. "I-I killed her."

"You didn't kill her," Thomas said softly as he gently put his hand on Newt's knee. "Baby I promise you didn't kill her okay?"

Newt let out a sob and dug his face farther into his knee caps. "I killed them all Tommy, they're all dead, all of them because of me."

"Newt you didn't kill them."

"I did Tommy!" Newt shouted as he lifted up his head. His eyes were red and swollen with tears. "They're dead because I ran, because WICKED was looking for me and I have to relive it every time I close my damn eyes!"

Thomas shook his head. "You didn't kill them Newt, I swear on my life you didn't kill them."

Newt flickered again as he cried harder. "I-I can't stop seeing it when I sleep Tommy. I-It won't leave me alone."

"Did you fall asleep?" Thomas asked softly.

Newt nodded. "I didn't mean to."

"You have to calm down, it won't get better if you don't calm down."

Newt stretched out his arms and wrapped them around Thomas' shoulders, burying his face in his neck. "I'm so tired Tommy, s-so tired."

"I know," Thomas said softly as he kissed the side of his head and guided him into his lap.

"I wanted them to meet you."

Thomas heard the door click which he assumed was Minho leaving.

"They know I'm taking care of you," Thomas said as he held onto Newt like his life depended on it.

He slowly flickered back to visible and his breathing evened out. "You know I have no one out there right? Just you and Minho and Kis and El. I just have you guys."

"Me too," Thomas admitted as he pushed Newt's hair from his face. "We have each other, it's okay."

"They would have loved you Tommy," Newt said as he yawned and rubbed his eyes. "Would have loved you more than I do."

Thomas smiled softly. "Fair trade, because I love you more than they do."

"Can we take a shower?" Newt asked quietly.

Thomas nodded as he kissed his head. "Of course, let's go get towels."

Newt grabbed his hand as they stood up and Thomas made a mental promise to his family that he'd take care of Newt forever.

five.

    When Thomas woke up he couldn't breathe. His head was pounding and his throat was tight. His room wasn't destroyed which was a shock but there were a few new small holes in the wall. He felt the tears prick at his eyes and one blink was enough to make them run down his cheeks.

He couldn't stop seeing it. The look on Newt's face when he shot that sheer power through his chest. The way he kissed him for the last time like his life depended on it, in that moment it really did. He couldn't stop seeing the way that Newt's body fell or the way that the life drained from his eyes.

Newt was dead and it was his fault.

Thomas let out a choked sob and grabbed Newt's sweatshirt that he slept with every night. The smell of him hadn't worn off yet, when it did he had others. He wouldn't let X touch Newt's room. Sometimes Thomas slept in there, when he missed Newt a lot. He was able to use the smells to usually place him in one of his dreams. They were never good dreams but he got to see Newt. He got to tell him how sorry he was because he loved him, he really really did. He loved him and he killed him.
Thomas clutched the sweatshirt to his face as if it was some sort of lifeline. It was the only thing that could make him feel even the slightest bit better.
Minho was gone too, he missed him like crazy. He couldn't even walk past his room.

He missed Kis too, that one took a huge toll on El. El was almost as fucked up as he was missing her.

Thomas sobbed into the sweatshirt, feeling his stomach twist. Everything in his body ached when he missed Newt and he determined there was no worse feeling in the world.

Thomas cried until his eyes ached and his chest hurt. He just wanted it all to stop. He wanted Newt to hold him and tell him it was going to be okay because even though it wasn't, Newt could make him feel like it was.

What Thomas didn't know was X was passing by his door at that moment. The professor got hit with Thomas' wave of emotions. He himself couldn't even stop the tears from running down his cheeks. The man gently placed his fingertips on his temple and closed his eyes.

Thomas froze as he felt light fingertips on his arm. He raised his face from the sweatshirt and bit his lip. Newt was there on the bed with him.

"H-hey," Thomas stammered.

"Hey pretty boy."

"You're not actually here."

Newt shook his head and Thomas wanted to cry. "No, but I'm here to help you sleep."

"You're gonna hold me?" Thomas asked pathetically.
Newt smiled and nodded. "Course I am Tommy."

Thomas practically melted into his arms and it felt so real, it all felt so real. He grabbed onto Newt like his life depended on it.

It was the easiest Thomas had fallen asleep in months.

"I love you Thomas," X mumbled from outside the door, seemingly making the same words come out of fake Newt's mouth. Once he was sure Thomas was asleep he let out a soft sigh and Newt disappeared.

When you sleep, you don't hurt.

+1

    Newt woke up to kisses being pressed all over his face. He groaned softly and tried to push the offender off.

"Get off me you heathen," Newt grumbled as another wet kiss landed on his cheek.

"But you're just so cute."

Newt swung again blindly. "I'll be just as cute in twenty minutes when I'm awake."

"But I want kisses now." Thomas was grinning over him as Newt slowly opened his eyes. "Good morning."

Newt rolled his eyes but pulled Thomas down for a kiss anyways. "Sleep okay?"

Thomas nodded as he flopped down next to him. "Slept great, you?"

"Good," Newt said as he placed Thomas' hand on his stomach so he'd rub it.

"We can add another tally to our board, another night no nightmares." Thomas grinned as he let his fingertips lightly run over Newt's bare stomach.

"What are we up to now?" Newt hummed as he let his eyes flutter closed again.

"I think two months!" Thomas exclaimed happily.
Newt smiled lazily. "I haven't had a nightmare since we started living here."

"Me either. Moving out was a good idea for us."

"I agree." Newt rolled on top of him and smiled down as he settled his legs on both sides of his hips. "Minho's coming over for dinner tonight, don't forget."

"How could I forget?" Thomas asked as he smiled up at him and let his hands trail up his thighs. "We better child proof the house."

Newt laughed. "Yeah figuring last time he came over, he fell down the stairs."

Thomas laughed too, only stopping when Newt leaned down and kissed him.

"I love you," Thomas mumbled against his lips.

"I love you too nightmare."