So began yet another redundant day in the miserable glade for the blonde haired second-in-command. Waking everyday was like drowning at sea, knowing someday he would succumb to the waves, knowing his lungs would give out. And then, out of the corner of his eye as if a rescue siren had wailed in the distance, an all familiar Y/H, Y/H/C haired girl walked passed his hammock. Her hair shone against the dreary morning sun and emitted a warm glow that gave Newt the fortitude he needed to push up from his hammock. He followed closely behind her towards the kitchen, watching as she threw her arms over her head, stretching. Still half-asleep, Y/N failed to hear someone approach her from behind, the hood of her sweater suddenly flipped over her head.

"G'morning." Newt put a hand on her shoulder just to feel her warmth and smiled down as she struggled to removed the fabric from her eyes.

"Mmm." She mumbled back. They finally made it to the kitchen and just about all of the boys were waving for her to sit with them. This morning, Newt hoped she might just sit with him. But, per usual and to his avail, she ambled off towards the table of runners. She'd taken quite a liking to the greenie, Thomas. Newt hated it because he figured Thomas might just drag her back into the maze. She used to run with Minho everyday until she fell from one of the walls while scouting and damaged her leg.

Breakfast passed at its usually dreadful pace and once he was finished, Newt rushed off towards the gardens. Newt was constantly torn apart. He wanted to spend time with Y/N, talk with her. But he also was too afraid to. Afraid he'd grow too attached.

"In a rush are we?" A familiar voice piped up, breaking him from his haunting thoughts. "You alright?" She furrowed her brows, looking to the distressed boy with sympathy.

"Yeah. Just... didn't sleep I guess." He admitted, rubbing the back of his neck and huffing. Y/N nodded and sent him a soft smile which he knew meant 'if you want to talk, let me know.' She wasn't one to talk much herself, but Newt figured it was just because she was too busy focusing on her own thoughts. But, when she did start talking freely, all Newt could do was listen.

When lunch finally came around, Y/N was no where to be seen. This was usual for her. For the first few months, Newt had followed Y/N all over the glade just to see where she went off to. Somedays, she would go climb a tree, sit in the watchtower, hide in his or Minho's room. Or, like most days, she lay beneath the large oak at the edge of the gardens taking in to cool breeze. And surely enough, there she was. Eating her lunch peacefully, picking at the grass beneath the looming tree was the Y/H/C haired girl. Just as Newt gained the confidence to go say hello, Alby's voice rang out across the glade. He was calling a meeting in the council hall. Newt grumbled to himself and cursed at Alby under his breath for ruining his chance. He was temped to go and help Y/N up, walk with her to the council hall, but he had to be one of the firsts there.

Boys filtered into the hall one by one, the keepers standing in a circle at the bottom of the building and the rest of the gladers sat up on the stairs carved into the earth. As keepers filtered in, they picked up a thin wooden board with a piece of paper attached and a pencil to take notes. But, just as her mischievous nature would suggest, Y/N snuck one of the boards into her arms as she entered the hall. Newt was the only one who noticed and a small smile tugged at his lips as he watched her prance off, proud of her thievery. She seemed to live just for the little bouts of innocent adrenaline she got from small things like that. Just behind her was Minho, who began complaining about a missing board. Alby shushed him as if he were a child and told the keeper of the runners to carry on anyways. Y/N sat at the top corner of the stairs and pulled out the pencil she took, beginning to sketch on the paper.

"What are you doing?" Thomas scooted up against the girl and stared at the paper as she worked away.

"Drawing." She said back, making Thomas roll his eyes. 'Obviously' he thought. He took a closer look and realized that it was all of the keepers she was drawing. Gally with his wicked eyebrows, Minho's face was scrunched in frustration, Winston and Frypan seemed like they could care less and Zart looked as if he had just eaten some sort of mushroom that shouldn't be growing in the gardens.

"Gimme that." Thomas insisted and Y/N handed him the pencil just as she finished the sketch of Newt who leaned against a pillar with a light smirk plastered on his face. Thomas wasted no time in drawing down some devil horns and a tail onto Minho.

"Hey!" Y/N forcefully whispered, whacking Thomas' shoulder. He jolted back a little and giggled, handing her back the pencil.

This caught Newt's attention. Up at the top, Y/N and Thomas hovered over something in her lap and giggled, poking at one another playfully. He wanted to yell up at the the dark haired boy and stop him. But Y/N seemed happy. She was smiling, and her smile made Newt feel at ease. The blonde had to keep forcing his eyes away from the pair as the meeting continued, all he wanted to know was what was on that paper. As the meeting dragged on, the boy couldn't help but gaze up at Y/N who kept her eyes glued on the paper, Thomas hovering right over her. At one point, their eyes met and Newt's cheeks immediately flushed, feeling as if a grenade had gone off in his heart.

When the meeting ended, Newt pretended to be busy so he could see out the last person from the meeting. That said person being Y/N. She always left last. Newt kept his head down, kicking at the dirt as he held the door open. Just as Y/N brushed passed, Newt grabbed her arm and pulled her back, closing the door.

"Give it." He held out his hand, raising his eyebrow, attempting to be as intimidating as possible.

"Give what? I took more than one thing." She grinned mischievously and Newt sighed. "You watched, and let me take it." She reminded him.

"The pencil and paper board." He said, this time emphasizing his held out hands. Y/N smiled a little and gave up the materials in defeat.

Immediately, Newt turned the board around to get a better look at the paper. It was drawings of all of the keepers, including him who was located at the centre of the page. His heart nearly exploded when he saw that his eyes were directed up, as if he were looking at her. In that moment, he knew she'd caught him staring.

"You're really good, you know?" Newt scoffed a little and set the board down with the others. "But, I've also got to warn you about stealing materials." He cocked an eyebrow and shied her eyes away.

"Right. Sorry." She mumbled, afraid to look up to her friend. The pair shared a strange relationship. They went all the way back to the day Y/N came up in the box. Newt was the first voice she heard, first pair of eyes she met, and the first hand she held. There was this unspoken, underdeveloped connection that both of them were too fearful to explore.

"Well... can I go? It's dinner." She asked, breaking Newt from his daze.

"Uhm-Right. Yeah." He tried to clear his throat as he opened the door and let her through. Just as he were to ask her to join him, two strong runners came rushing towards her.

"Y/N! We need your help, c'mon and eat with us!" Minho said excitedly, waving for her to follow before turning on his heel and sprinting back to the kitchen. She may have had a limp, but she was still fast, trailing just behind Minho and Thomas. Dinner was just nearly as painful as the meeting was. Y/N had Minho and Thomas on either side of her as they fawned over a map, smiling and laughing. Amidst their conversation, Newt noticed Y/N hadn't touched her food once.

"Why don't you just talk to her? You work with her all day, everyday. But instead, you choose to stare at her during meal times." Zart piped up from beside Newt who refused to touch his food.

"It's not that simple." The blonde grumbled and his fellow gardner set down his fork.

"Newt. Yes it is. Just, like, twenty seconds of bravery and boom, you've spoken to her." Zart was tired of always watching Newt gaze at the girl hopelessly during meals and work times. Newt sucked in a deep breath and rest his head in his hand, shying his eyes away from her sheepishly. When Zart had left, Newt pulled out a folded piece of paper from his pocket and opened it up. He had taken her drawings, wanting to keep them as it was the only piece of her he had. His lips were pursed, deep in focus as he examined the carefully placed stokes of lead on the paper.

Per usual, the sun was falling behind the maze walls and a small fire was lit. Some boys sat around it, taking in its warmth and others had already head off to their hammocks to sleep. But one piece of the glade was missing. Y/N was no where to be seen and neither were Thomas or Minho. Newt figured they must all be hanging out in the map room without him. Although Newt was best friends with them, the runners seemed to be a tight knit group. Like every other night, Newt knew sleep wouldn't come. So, he continued to work in the gardens until the light of the sun completely disappeared and left him unable to continue working. The tall blonde boy slowly ambled his way around the glade in hopes the walk might just clear his conscience. He made sure all of the boys were in their hammocks and the fire was out. But, there was one vacant sling of fabric. The one beside his.

Curious, Newt took the maroon hoodie which lay in it and went off to find it's owner. The glade wasn't all that large, but it was easy enough to hide in if someone didn't want to be found. Unfortunately, Y/N took advantage of this all too often. Newt checked his room first and dropped off the drawing before heading out. Although he had a bed and privacy, he still preferred to sleep in a hammock with everyone else. Out in the distance, deep in the woods, Newt could see the faint flicker of a torch. As he made his way closer he could very easily make out the frame and Y/H/C hair of Y/N. She was peering into the foggy glass which opened to the maze, a perfect spot to see the grievers pass by. Every so often, she'd shift over and take down a few details on her paper.

Newt approached cautiously, and despite his efforts, he snapped a twig under his foot. Almost immediately, the torch went out and the forest fell black. He could hear her scurry around and he strode forwards, hoping to catch her. To his surprise, she tackled him to the ground violently and hit him straight in the jaw with a force he didn't know she had.

"What the shuck?!" Newt hollered out, trying to calm the girl, his voice radiating through the whole glade. She held him down and stuck his face again. For someone so small, she was strong and carried a good punch, Newt had to admit.

"Hey!" Alby's deep voice bellowed out followed by a few a few other boys carrying torches. When Newt's face was finally illuminated, Y/N jumped back and clambered off of the boy.

"Oh my god, Newt! I'm so sorry!" She tried to help him up but he just shook his head, trying to regain his vision.

"What are you two doing!?" Alby may as well have screamed.

"I-I was sketching the grievers and Newt came but I thought he was Gally! So I punched him! Gally said if he ever caught me out here again he'd banish me so..." Y/N trailed off, giving up. She already knew her punishment.

"And, you, Newt? What were you doing out after curfew?" He looked to his second-in-command disapprovingly.

"I came to give her a bloody sandwich!" He reached behind him and held up a smooshed peanut butter sandwich. "She didn't eat dinner!" He exclaimed and Alby crossed his arms frustratedly as Minho snickered. Newt sent the runner a nasty glare.

"One night in the slammer, both of you!" Alby motioned for Minho to pick Newt up.

"Alby! He didn't do anything wrong!" Y/N complained and Alby gripped her small arm, dragging her out of the forest.

"He was out after hours, just like you. It's just one night shebean."

Alby and Y/N had always gotten along. Sure, her mischievous demeanour and constant disappearing got on his nerves, but she was the only girl in the glade and brought a much needed light and perspective to the glade. He was awful protective of her and Newt really hated it somedays. The pair were thrown down into the pit of the slammer and Newt slumped down against the wall, grumbling.

"I'm really sorry, Newt..." Y/N sat down in front of him, crossing her legs. "It's just I was afraid you were Gally and I really didn't want to get thrown into the maze again..." She trailed of sadly and the last bit hit Newt close to the heart. "And I've gotten you in trouble when all you were doing was coming to give me a sandwich..." She stifled a laugh as Newt held out the squished bread and she shrugged.

"It's still edible if you're hungry." He admitted, giggling lightly. Y/N took it from him thankfully and split it in half, handing a piece back to him.

"You didn't eat dinner either." She raised an eyebrow and Newt could barely see her dimly lit features.

"How'd you know that?" He tilted his head in question.

"Because I saw?" She said back. Newt didn't even bother finding out more, munching down on the sandwich, not realizing just how hungry he was. Just a few moments after she finished, Y/N's stomach grumbled, making Newt laugh.

"Let's break out and go make more." Y/N jumped up on the dusty ground and pulled Newt up with her.

"And how do you suggest we do that?" Newt stood just a little closer to her, taking in the warmth she radiated.

"I have a plan!" She said as if he should've known. "

A good plan?" He asked doubtfully. Y/N pondered for a moment and reached for Newt's hand, guiding him towards the slammer opening.

"I have a plan..." She insisted again.

Suddenly, Newt was giving her a hand up and she reached her arm through the wooden fixture, reaching around to the makeshift lock.

"You're insane. You know that?" Newt muttered as Y/N kept shifting her feet around on his hands. She was light, but her weight was finally beginning to atrophy his arms.

"Obviously." She mumbled back. For a couple more minutes, Y/N persistently muttered to herself and sighed whenever the knot wouldn't budge.

"Talking to yourself now, love?" Newt asked mockingly. Y/N just kicked her leg back in response, bumping his chest.

"Yes. It's the only way I can be sure of intelligent conversation around here." She forced. Finally, the leather knot that held the door came undone and Y/N pushed it open. These cells weren't made for someone like small arms like her. Y/N clambered out excitedly and held out an arm to Newt.

"You know this is against the rules, yeah?" Newt had a little bit of fear apparent in his voice now.

"Not if we don't get caught." Y/N shrugged and grabbed his arm, tugging him across the glade. They headed roughly in the direction of the homestead and just before they reached it, Y/N jolted back straight into Newt. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders in shock.

"Just a bird..." Y/N whispered, letting out a deep breath of relief. She struggled her way out of Newt's arms that gripped her tightly and she continued to lead him into the kitchen. The boy figured she must've done this plenty of times before because within three minutes she had made the sandwiches without a sound and exited the homestead without waking a single person. Sneakily, the pair rushed their way back to the slammer and tied it back up before digging into their sandwiches.

After that night in the slammer, Newt had to admit, he'd willingly take a few punches to the face and a smooshed sandwich if it meant spending that much time with her.