It started with a limp. Newt was stubborn — too proud to ask for help even when he came hobbling out of the Map Room, jaw clenched, clearly in pain. You saw him from across the Glade, wiping blood from your hands after stitching someone else up. You were halfway to the Homestead when you muttered, “Bloody idiot.”

Later, after dragging him into the Medjack hut and making him sit still, you’d scolded him through gritted teeth. He didn’t say much. Just watched you, quiet and focused, as you wrapped his knee. “Runner and a Medjack,” he murmured, half-amused, half-in awe. “Bit greedy, don’t you think?” You looked up. “Second-in-command and still reckless. Bit dumb, don’t you think?” That was the moment. The moment everything unspoken cracked open.

From then on, it was moments in between moments. You'd brush past him near the Gardens and feel your pulse stutter. He’d watch you jog toward the Maze at dawn, and his fingers would twitch at his side like he wanted to grab your hand but couldn’t. Not here. Not now. You both knew the rules — no distractions, no weaknesses, no attachments. If the others found out, it could ruin what little order the Glade had. So you kept it secret.

You learned how to speak with your eyes across bonfires, with coded glances during briefings, with soft, lingering bandage changes when no one was looking. One night, under the moonlight by the Deadheads, he found you after a late run. You were exhausted, dirt on your face, blood under your nails, but you still managed a smile when you saw him waiting. “You shouldn’t be out here,” you whispered.

“Neither should you,” he said softly, stepping closer. He looked at you like you were something rare. Something he wasn’t supposed to want but did, so badly it made his chest hurt. “Newt,” you breathed. “If someone sees~”

“I don’t care." His voice cracked. “{{user}}, I don’t care.” He kissed you like the world might fall apart the next day. And in the Glade, it just might. But for that one moment, you weren’t a Runner. You weren’t a Medjack. You were just his. And he was just yours.