A/N: SOME EMBARRASSED NEWT FOR YOUR FRIDAY EVENING :D (at least where I am lol)

 "Newt! Y/N!" Alby's panicked hollers blasted right through their sweet and quiet conversation in the gardens. The second they heard him storming their way, they broke a few more feet apart and tried to make themselves look busy. If they were being honest, the past couple hours hadn't been very productive. "We've got a problem."

Newt and the girl dart their eyes between one another and then back to Alby. Were they in trouble or was this going to be something entirely unexpected? They were really hoping for unexpected.

"Alright," Newt shift his weight nervously. "Wanna tell us what's going on?"

For some reason, Alby seemed suspicious of the two and their strange behaviour. But, he had things to worry about right now other than the pairs relationship. "Frypans sick and can't make dinner tonight. It's on you two now."

"What?" Newt yelped. The second he heard his squeaky, alarmed voice he wanted to bury his head in the dirt. He knew he had to make a quick recovery. "I mean—that's fine, I'm sure we can manage. Is Frypan alright, though?"

Alby raised a brow and scanned Newt's flustered face and tense shoulders. "Yeah...he'll be alright." He answered, but not without a hint of suspicion. "You sure you're doin' alright?"

Newt took in a sharp breath and squeezed the shovel in his hand. He could quite literally now feel the heat in his cheeks and knew his face was only reddening further. Not only was he still frantic about having to spend a completely unplanned evening with Y/N in close quarters, but he knew Alby was going to be onto him.

"Yeah," He swallowed hard and quickly to looked to Y/N who was already staring at him in concern. His vision snapped back to Alby quickly. "The heat is just getting to me."

"Right, well," Alby pressed his palms together and point over toward the kitchen. "Good thing it'll be nice and cool over there! Get to work!"

Alby head off and Newt heard Y/N toss her shovel down into the dirt, then grabbing his right out of his hands and placing it down. She rubbed her hands on her pants in a haphazard attempt to rid them of the dirt they were coated in. "Do you honestly believe Alby thinks we can pull this off or did he just pick us because he knew we wouldn't argue with him?"

Newt just barely caught Y/N's question. Frankly, he was far too distracted by all the thoughts stampeding through his mind about all the different places this evening could lead. Granted, it wouldn't get anywhere if he never got himself together and managed to calm his nerves. "Probably because he knew we wouldn't argue, but I think he has some faith in us." He let out a nervous laugh.

"Let's hope he's right," Y/N grabbed Newt's shoulders and started pushing him forward through the Glade. It was probably only a few seconds but it felt like years until she finally let go and started walking at his side. He felt so idiotic not even being able to look at her right now. And, to be honest, he wasn't even sure what had come over him. Days could be comfortably spent talking and laughing in the gardens, but the second the context of their interaction was out of his hands, he panicked.

Luckily, once they got to the kitchen, he had something to focus on. Making dinner. The pair began scouring around in search of anything they could use to magically conjure up a dinner that wouldn't be overly difficult or time consuming. After a while, Y/N thunked something down on a table.

"Well, we've got rice...and some vegetables. Looks like that's what we're working with tonight." She shrugged. "Plus, there is no way I trust us to properly cook any meat, so that's out of the picture."

Newt put his hand on the table and leaned a little. Instantly, he regret it. What was he doing? He probably looked like an idiot. Clearing his throat, he straightened back up and grabbed the bag of rice. "Yeah, I agree with you on that one. Let's try to keep this food poisoning free." He pat the bag in his arms so it wasn't covering his face entirely. "Rice and vegetables seems pretty safe. I'll get started on this if you get on the veg?"

"Sure can do!" Y/N smiled wide and immediately got to work. That was just one of the thousands of things Newt found himself admiring about Y/N. She just did what had to be done and tried to make the best of it. This entire situation could be a miserable mess, but because of her, it was a chance to do something fun.

He was trying really hard, but the longer he waited to talk to her, the worse it was probably going to make things. Newt was desperately trying to just get his head back on his shoulders. Alby had really thrown him off of his feet earlier and he couldn't seem to get himself back on the ground. All he wanted was to be able to talk to Y/N like he did when in the gardens. He wished he could be his same confident and friendly self while in any other situation with her.

Standing here watching over his work, Y/N stood just a few feet away, busy in her own little world. Maybe, he wondered, if she was just as nervous as he was. Or, maybe she was completely unbothered. He just wish he knew if she had as difficult of a time speaking up as he did.

"Okay!" Y/N tossed everything she had cut up into a separate bowl and then looked over to Newt. "Ready to add them in?" She asked.

"Uhm—" Newt snapped his eyes away, realizing he had already been staring when she looked his way. "Uh, yeah." He nod.

Y/N walked over with a confused look on her face. Unsure, he tensed a little. Then, that was when he realized. He hadn't even put the pot over the fire. He'd been staring at it for at least fifteen minutes and had neglected to put it over the fire to boil. Sure, cooking rice over an open fire was no easy feat, but he'd missed the first step to begin with. How did he not realize?

The girl lift the lid off of the pot sitting beside the fire. Sure enough, the rice and water were both still in there, totally uncooked. "Ahh..." She tilt her head in question before looking up to Newt and giggling.

Newt closed his eyes in embarrassment and covered his face with his arm as he turned away. "Bloody hell—" He muttered gruffly, his entire being now being raked with shame.

"Hey," Y/N couldn't stop herself from laughing a little about the situation but knew Newt was embarrassed. "Hey, it's okay." She tried to console him, but when she reached out to turn him around, he broke from her touch.

"God I'm so stupid," He retorted. "What the hell was I doing?"

"...not cooking rice, that's for sure." Y/N knew it might take him a minute to come around so she got started on it herself. She put the pot on the fire and stirred it gently before placing the lid back on.

Y/N then looked over and Newt still stood there with his face covered, muttering things to himself. Wanting to break the cycle of his self-deprecation, she reached out, grabbed the sleeve of his shirt and pulled it toward her. "C'mon."

Newt shyly obliged, lowering his arms to reveal his reddened face as he stood beside her. Y/N scanned his face and then jabbed his shoulder.

"It's okay, you know? Laugh it off. You're just tired." She told him, and though very convincing, he knew it wasn't because he was tired that he'd messed this up.

"Still embarrassing." He admit. "Don't tell Minho."

"Ahhh...no promises." She laughed.

Newt felt Y/N lean into his side a little as she smiled.

In that moment, his heart steadied. His mind even cleared a little. Why was he so nervous about spending this time with her when he didn't even have to wonder whether or not Y/N enjoyed his company? Someone who didn't want to be here with him wouldn't act like she did. She was kind to him, patient and liked to tease him. If that didn't indicate a good relationship, he wasn't sure what did.

Now, his confidence was back, just like how it was in the gardens. He watched at the girl leaned down to stir the rice before covering it back up and standing beside him. When she stood, her shoulder brushed his. There was no mistake there, he'd just stepped a little closer while she was busy.

"Do you think..." He hesitated a little. Y/N looked up and met his eyes. "Do you think before all of this, we knew each other?"

Y/N scrunched her nose and contemplated for a good moment. "Yeah, I think we did." She kicked the dirt and let out a soft laugh. "I think we were probably good friends."

Her response caught him off guard a little. She seemed even more confident than he did that their relationship extend beyond the memory wipe and time in the maze. How she reacted to all of this may have boost his confidence a little too much.

"Do you think we were more?" He asked. "More than just friends?"

Y/N was quiet for a moment. "...are you hoping we were?"

He faltered. Did he? Well, he already knew the answer to that. He was just afraid to admit it. "I—"

"OH SHIT!" Everything got derailed by water sizzling on the fire suddenly. Newt reacted quick and managed to get the pot off of the fire before it completely overflowed and spilled everywhere.

Standing there over the pot, breathing heavily, having just evaded disaster, he broke out in laughter. He knew he hadn't laughed this hard in a long time because his stomach hurt within seconds. He felt Y/N drape herself across his back as she joined in his laughter and he tried to keep his knees from buckling.

In that moment, he had his answer. This felt too familiar. In that moment, he knew more than just a friendship extend beyond the memory wipe.

"Ok—Ok," Y/N tried to catch her breath. "Let's finish this and dish it out before something else goes wrong."

Quickly, they were able to turn the mess of rice and vegetables into something that was at least edible. It taste just fine to them, so they ran with it and gave it to the rest of the Gladers. Once everyone grabbed their food, Y/N and Newt head off to eat with some others.

No one was dead by the time everyone finished their meals, so the pair took it as a success. Now, they just had to clean up the mess they'd made.

"A bloody good team we make." Newt threw his arm over Y/N's shoulder and laughed as he pulled her into his side.

"You're cute, I'll give you that." Minho shoved his bowl against Newt's chest so he'd take it. "But you're awful cooks."

"Your standards are too high, Minho! You're comparing us to Frypan!" Y/N took Minho's bowl from Newt and dropped it in the tub of water to be washed.

"And you, Y/N, your standards are far too low." He let a sneaky grin escape before racing off.

Y/N looked to Newt in confusion. His face was red again. "What does he mean?" She laughed.

"Who knows," He shrugged and knelt down to help with the washing. "It's Minho. Talking nonsense like usual."

"I'm kidding," Y/N splashed Newt with the water. "I know what he meant."

Newt felt the panic finally making a reappearance after being gone for hours. His insecurities returned. His mind began drifting. "You do?"

"Yeah," She made sure to meet his eyes and ensure he saw her smile. "He doesn't know what he's talking about."

All of Newt's worries and doubts left him. He thought back to earlier today when he feared how the day would end and what would happen. Never could he have imagined it ending this well.