Newt met Elizabeth at her hut after she cleaned up, still a bit concerned, still shirtless. Elizabeth didn't know what was worse: being in a room with a slightly hurt Newt from knowing he'd been lied to, or being in a room with a half-naked, sweaty Newt. While he wasn't one of the bigger, more broad-chested men, his chest was still very distracting. His skin was tan, and his smooth, lean muscles were outlined with the remaining sweat and mud from his fight. She could smell his familiar spice-and-earth scent, sweaty and all man. He was scrawny. He was tall. He was awkward.

He was hers.

"Are you okay?" he asked. The hurt look on his face had gotten worse. Without realizing it, she'd backed herself in a corner to be as far away from him as possible. Her hands were bunched in her shirt; she was shaking with anxiety. She sighed and forced herself to calm down.

"Sorry, I'm fine," she said. Lying again. The stress from the day and the letter from Thomas prayed on her mind. Her heart was beating too fast, and yet not fast enough, and her throat was so dry. She closed her eyes and turned away from Newt, feeling sick. After a beat, she felt his hand on her shoulder. She leaned back into his touch and he placed his lips on her ear.

"You're safe, now," he said. She shivered when his breath tickled her ear but didn't respond.

"Do you want me to leave?" he asked, still pressed up against her back, the heat of his shoulders on hers. She suddenly turned in his embrace and stood up and pressed her lips to his. He responded with pleasant surprise, and wrapped one arm around her waist, the other coming up behind her neck to keep her close. His mouth was hot and insistent, moving from her lips, to her neck, to her cheeks, and back to her lips again. She whispered his name and he whispered hers back, desperate.

They moved together, legs tangling, stumbling, falling sideways onto the bed. They pulled away, breathless, still clinging to one another. Newt closed his eyes and nuzzled his his nose against hers affectionately.

"I love you," he said. His voice was hoarse, "I love you, and I'm in love with you." He kissed the side of her nose, "Always."

Elizabeth sighed, moaning slightly. She gripped his shoulders and moved closer until her lips brushed against the space between his neck and the slope of his shoulders. She remembered the note from Thomas, but it was no longer on her person.

"I love you, too," she said. "I love you so much." She ran her fingers across his bare chest and he shivered against her touch and draped an arm over her waist to pull her closer. His hands traveled across her shirt, finding the buttons he never dared to touch before. She moved instinctively closer and didn't push his hands away. The corner of her shirt fell, and he moved to kiss the edge of her collarbone, his tongue lightly brushing against her skin. Her whole body felt like it was on fire. Burning. Desperate. Greedy. He whispered endearments against her skin and she returned the gesture, her lips against his chest, his neck, his arm.

I love you.

I love you.

I love you always.

---

Tyn was feeling anxious. It wasn't abnormal, he felt anxious a lot. He wasn't sure what to do to deal with the problem, and talking with Nick and Alby wasn't helping. They were discussing what to do about the problems in the Glade, and didn't seem to appreciate any of his input.

"This doesn't concern you, Tyn," Nick said angrily.

"It does. I live here, too," he said. Alby gave him an apologetic look, and glared at Nick.

"Of course it concerns you. Thanks for your help, but I think we're good here. Why don't you go check on Minho?" he said. Tyn nodded. He liked Alby, but Nick was too hard around the edges. He wasn't sure why Alby was second in command when he would so obviously do a better job as leader than Nick. He went to the Med-hut and meant to knock on the door when he heart Jeff and Clint talking in rushed voices on the other side. He wasn't usually one to eavesdrop, but he couldn't help hearing one of them mention Elizabeth's name, so he pressed his ear against the door. Despite it being thin, his glasses got in the way and some of their words were muffled, but he managed to get most of their conversation.

"When you're gone? What do...think that means?"

"...don't know. Do you know...Thomas?"

"Maybe it was someone she knew before."

"Did she see it?"

"I don't know...looked upset."

"...should talk to her about it?"

Tyn didn't understand what they were talking about, but they sounded worried. He shook his head and knocked on the door. The voices died down and after a beat Clint opened the door.

"Oh, Tyn. Did you need something?" he asked.

"I was just coming to see how Minho was doing..." Tyn replied, staring at his feet awkwardly.

"He's asleep." Clint eyed Tyn curiously.

"O-of course he is!" Tyn stammered, trying to think of a way out of this. Did Clint suspect him of eavesdropping? He pushed his glasses up his nose and wiped his hands on his pants. "I'll go find Elizabeth and see how she's doing."

"Elizabeth?" Clint's tone turned suspicious. He frowned and looked behind him at Jeff, who was also eyeing Tyn warily.

"Y-yes! I was j-just going to say hello. She went through some things today, I guess," he said, then added, "I-in the Maze, I mean! She was with Minho when he-you know..." he trailed off. Clint was still looking at him strangely.

"Ye-es," he said. "Ask her if she needs anything for any bruises or cuts. Jeff and I didn't really get a chance to talk before she ran off with Newt. She was sort of bloody so I don't know if she go hurt too."

"Oh! Oh, yes! Yes I will ask her. I'm sure she's fine, though," Tyn said. Clint nodded and closed the door, and Tyn backed away. He waited for a few more seconds, but heard nothing from the other side.

Tyn decided to keep his word and go check on Elizabeth. He hadn't seen her since she'd returned, and she was pretty shaken up over the whole thing. He knew where her hut was, but he'd never been there before. She might be sleeping, but if that was the case he'd just ask her tomorrow. It wasn't that big of a deal, but he was wondering how she was doing. Elizabeth was a good friend, and accepted people as they were. He liked that about her. She never judged him, and in fact sought him out many times to talk and laugh with him. It was easy to feel comfortable around someone like that.

He reached her hut and knocked on the door. There wasn't a response. She was probably sleeping, then. He turned to leave, but the sound of banging on the other side stopped him. For the second time that night, Tyn found himself craning his neck to eavesdrop. He didn't hear anything else other than the occasional rustling. He knocked again.

"Elizabeth? Are you okay? It's Tyn."

No response. The logical thing was probably just to leave her alone, but maybe she was having a nightmare or something. She had looked pretty upset earlier.

"Elizabeth, I'm coming in!" he said. She didn't answer. He opened the door...

...and screamed.

Elizabeth and Newt were tangled up in each other on the cot, half naked and wholly surprised. Elizabeth's shirt was ripped and hanging down her shoulders, exposing her bare shoulders. Her damp hair was like a curtain, but he could clearly see her bare stomach and her bra...oh shuck he was going to be sick!

Newt wasn't much better. He wasn't even wearing a shirt, and his hair was messier than Tyn had ever seen it. He was breathing so heavily it could have been a heart attack, and there was a strange glaze in his eyes. His pants were sliding precariously low, and if Tyn hadn't been so horrified, he might have been turned on. As it was, the two were practically eating each other like nothing decent. They screamed too when he broke through the door, and while they didn't exactly let each other go, they pulled apart and Elizabeth tried - and failed - to cover herself with the remains of her shirt.

After the initial shock wore off and they'd stopped screaming at each other, Elizabeth smiled shyly and cocked her head. Her cheeks were flushed, but not from embarrassment.

"Hiya, Tyn," she said, her voice low. Tyn covered his mouth and ran out, not even bothering to close the door behind him.

Shuck! Shuck! Shuck! He ran to his own hut, promising all the gods in the sky that he would never eavesdrop again, and would never ever open the door to someones hut without permission again.

---

Tyn avoided him like the plague for days after the incident. It didn't bother Newt in a deep way, but it was a little embarrassing. Especially since he was so obvious about avoiding them the others started asking about it. Of course Newt didn't know how to respond to all their questions. It wasn't that he was ashamed about making out with Elizabeth, it was the fact that Tyn had walked in on them that made everything awkward. It was his own fault for failing to knock, though he probably had and just assumed he could waltz right in or something.

While the bespectacled Glader refused to speak about what happened to anyone, least of all him or Elizabeth, Newt came clean to a few of the guys after it happened, including the recovering Minho and Alby. They laughed of course, but they were cool about the whole thing and stopped pestering him about it. Elizabeth was on the opposite side of the spectrum. She didn't come out with the reason behind Tyn's avoidance, but when Gally questioned her directly at dinner one night she was honest about it.

"Why the shuck is Tyn avoiding you like the plague?" Gally asked.

Elizabeth shrugged: "It's probably because he walked in on Newt and I while we were making out."

"WHAT?!" Zart shouted. A few of them almost spewed out their drinks. Will actually laughed so hard the food in his mouth ended up all over his shirt.

"Yeah, he didn't even knock!" Elizabeth's voice was teasing, but Newt could feel the heat on his face. He tried to focus on eating and pretended nothing happened.

It didn't work. Dalton clapped him on the shoulder shouting "Atta boy, Newt!" while some of the others whooped at him and started throwing pieces of their food at him and giving him air high-fives.

"Way to man up, Newtie!"

"Oh man, I'm jealous of that slinthead!"

"How long did it take you to get this far, ya stupid klunk?"

"Yeah, Newt!"

Newt slumped lower and lower in his seat. At least Tyn was at the farther end of the table. Nobody was even paying any attention to him which was unfair since he was the one who caused all of the drama in the first place.

"Aw look, he's embarrassed!" Zart cried.

"Your face is redder than a beet in the hot sun!" Snow said.

"I got some small bowls in the back," Frypan said, "we can make some ice later if it gets too unbearable for you."

Bloody hell this was torture!

"So Elizabeth," P.F. said, raising an eyebrow, "how would you rate the experience?"

More laughter and shouts. Newt groaned. He caught of glance of Tyn, who had very wide eyes and was looking generally horrified.

"Oh, a definite ten out of ten!" Elizabeth responded amiably, "He's a great kisser." Why was she still talking? Couldn't she just change the subject? Why didn't she feel as violated as he was feeling? His face was on fire.

"Bet he's not as good as I am," Chris said. Elizabeth turned on him with a glare.

"Newt, why are you so embarrassed, shank?" Minho asked. "It's natural to mess around with your girlfriend."

"I'm not embarrassed about that! I - bloody hell can't you just leave it alone?"New said, returning to his food, "It's not any of your damn business."

He expected another snarky retort, but Minho nodded and said, "You're right, it's not."

Eventually the hype calmed down and the Gladers got bored of the topic and switched the conversation.

"That was really awkward," Elizabeth said afterwards. Newt blanched.

"Awkward? Shuck, Elizabeth, you could've fooled me," he said. She kissed his cheek and he blushed under her touch. She giggled.

"Don't stress so much. Tyn will get over his little thing and we'll all move on like it never happened."

"Tyn? That's what you're worried about?" Newt raised an eyebrow and Elizabeth raised her eyebrow back at him.

"Why, what are you worried about?" Her nose wrinkled and Newt relaxed.

"I'm not worried, I'm just...kind of mortified that he's making such a big deal about it." He nudged her shoulder, "I'm glad the Glade knows we're together," he said.

"Me too," Elizabeth responded.

"They're probably all seething in jealousy, though. I'd be careful if I were you.e all men, and men are...well, men." Newt warned. She wrinkled her nose again. He loved it when she wrinkled her nose, it was so cute.

"I'm not worried. They're not all monsters; a lot of them are quite decent," she laughed, "and besides, I've got you to protect me!"

Newt felt a happy swelling in his chest. Elizabeth was not a damsel in distress by any means, but it felt really good that she looked to him for protection, anyway. It meant a lot that she trusted him that much, and that she felt safe enough to let him be the initiator in the relationship. That kind of submission was both flattering and admirable. He took her hand in his and they walked along the Wall, just enjoying being in each other's company.

After a while, when it was darker, Elizabeth squeezed his hand. "Newt, I need a favor of you."

He squeezed back, "Anything for you, Love."

She took a deep breath and pulled her hand away to wring her hands together. She was shaking slightly. Newt's eyebrow creased.

"What's wrong? You need me to do your laundry or something one day? I don't mind," he said, concerned.

"No, that's not it," she let out a small laugh. "It's, um...Newt, I just want you to promise me..." her voice trailed off. She took another shaky breath and composed herself.

"Promise you...?" Newt's own stomach clenched in fear. Why was she suddenly so nervous?

"Promise me that when I'm gone, you'll go on living your life. It's okay to be sad, but don't let it consume you."

Where the shuck was this coming from?

"Elizabeth, what are you talking about? When you're gone?"

"Promise me," she said, her voice stronger now. "I need you to live and be happy. I love you so much, and I want you to..." she broke off with a sob and he took her shoulders in his.

"Elizabeth you're really freaking me out! Why are you talking as if you're going to die? If you die..." he stopped. "Please tell me where this is coming from, I'm confused."

"It's nothing," she shook her head, tears streaming down her face like tiny rivers. "Just...don't forget-" she tried to shake him off but he was already wiping away her tears with shaky hands.

"Forget? Elizabeth there's no way in hell I'd ever forget you. Is that what you're worried about?"

"No, it's just a...feeling I have."

"A feeling? Love, you've got to give me more than that." He wasn't trying to pressure her, but if she wouldn't talk she'd make herself sick. She tended to stress out about things that she should have to stress out about. He hated this conversation, and he hated thinking about what would happen if she were to die, but in all reality he had the same chances of dying she did. They all did.

"It's just a feeling," she repeated. She leaned into his touch and cried into his shirt. He held her to him, confused and upset.

"You aren't going to die, Elizabeth. If you do, I...we'll be together, alright? We all know there's a chance of us dying, but don't think about stuff like this."

Suddenly she looked up at him, meeting his gaze with her blue-grey eyes without blinking.

"Promise me," she said. Why did she keep saying that?

"Promise me that...if I die you'll continue living and won't give up. I don't ever want you walking around hopeless just because I'm not around anymore. You have Minho, and you have Alby, and you have Gally."

"I promise." As soon as the words left his mouth she relaxed, releasing a little sigh of relief. Her shoulders no longer heaved with sobs as she leaned back into him, nuzzling her head on his shirt. "I promise I will be okay if you die."

---

*Special Author's Note*

Sorry it took so long to get this part up. Hopefully the next one won't take as long. Thanks for the comments, I love them!