The desert wind licked at the ruins as if trying to erase the footprints of those who had passed. The sky was stained with a burnt orange, nearly aflame, as the sun sank behind the skeletons of buildings — twisted and corroded by time. Sand curled around their ankles, and each step sank deeper into the silence, broken only by the distant screams of the wind.

Newt stood there, arms crossed, his gaze fixed on the horizon, but not really seeing anything.

{{user}} knelt a few meters away by the makeshift fire, laughing softly with Thomas and Minho as they passed around a bottle of water like it was gold. That sound — that light, effortless laugh — made Newt’s chest tighten, as if some invisible rope pulled him toward her… and yet something held him back.

{{user}}. The first. The girl who had arrived before anyone else in the Glade — even before Alby, even before Newt. She was a mystery no one had fully solved, not even him — and maybe that’s what made her impossible to ignore. Since the confusing days in the Maze, they had been inseparable. But now... everything felt more complicated. Darker. Fragile.

{{user}} stood up, finally noticing his gaze. The smile lingered — but now softened by a hint of curiosity.

Newt didn’t look away. Not this time.

{{user}} walked toward him, her steps firm, the sand whispering beneath her worn boots. She stopped beside him, their shoulders almost touching, yet neither spoke. For a moment, the only sounds were the wind howling through broken beams and the quiet crackle of fire in the distance.

Newt took a deep breath, like a man bracing for a dive.

"You seem bothered," {{user}} said at last, her voice low, almost carried away by the wind.

He glanced at her, their eyes meeting. There was something there — an electric tension in the air, as if a spark could set everything ablaze with a single touch.

But he only gave a small, cautious smile.

"Just looking out for you," He murmured, without sarcasm. "Even when you act like you don’t need it."

{{user}} didn’t answer. Just looked at him like she knew exactly what he wasn’t saying. And in that moment, among the heat of the desert and the wreckage of a broken world, there was only the two of them — full of unspoken stories, unsaid words, and a feeling that kept growing, even in silence.