Newt’s POV:

Minho couldn’t see my face, since it was buried in his shoulder.

If he could, he would see the frown.

He would see my eyes well up with tears.

He would see the heartbreak in my eyes.

I wanted to have a happily ever after with Minho more than anything

but. . .

I don’t know if I could.

I kept thinking of Chuck, of Teresa, of all the other gladers that died, of Alby.

Maybe I could hold on. . .

Maybe.

Minho’s POV:

Newt and I stayed there for a while. Looking out at the ocean. We probably would've stayed there if Frypan hadn’t called us, apparently he had opened up the crates that were left for us.

“Minho! Newt! Do you want food or not?”

It was about noon, so it was lunch time. Newt called back to Frypan

“Yeah, yeah, just a second!”

Speaking of, how long has it been since we actually ate?

A few days?

Something like that.

Me and Newt walked over to the group, and Brenda handed us two heaping plates of something that looked like mashed potatoes. I turned to Frypan

“Well, Fry, I can say that you cook as. . .amazing as always.”

Frypan either didn’t pick up on my sarcasm, or ignored it. He bowed

“Thank you, thank you, really.”

Me and Newt glanced at each other, and Newt put a hand over his mouth to try to hide his obvious laughter. Newt sat down on the rocky, sandy ground, then pulled me down to. As I started eating, I glanced around. The clearing was basically a gathering area, as the builders worked on houses. They had more than half of the people situated already. With our builders and group B’s builders put together, they could build fast. Harriet was working with Gally to form neighborhoods. Groups of people had formed. The girls had tight knit circles all around, while our group had only one or two groups of people.

Not like we had a lot of people left anyway. . .

Our group consisted of Me, Newt, Brenda, Thomas, Aris, Frypan, and Gally joined us sometimes. After a few minutes, everyone had eaten enough so that the edge was taken off, and we started talking. Brenda started talking around a mouthful of potatoes

“So, have any of you guys asked for houses yet?”

Everyone except me and Newt nodded. Thomas looked at us

“You should soon, so you don’t have to sleep outside again.”

Frypan shot us a smug look

“Maybe you could get a house together. . .”

Newt had just put a bite of potatoes in his mouth and choked, coughing and sputtering. My own cheeks burning, I frantically handed Newt my water canteen, and started waking him on the back. Newt had managed to stop coughing, and was now just finishing drinking water. When he put the canteen down, he turned to me

“Bloody hell, you can stop pounding my back now.”

I immediately stopped, and looked back at the others who were all laughing. Eager to change the subject, I started a new conversation

“So, do you guys like seeing the ocean?”

Thomas shook his head

“Nope, we are not changing the subject.”

I muttered under my breath

“Shuck. . .”

Newt gave me an embarrassed look

“Good try Min.”

Aris looked thoughtful

“You know, maybe you should.”

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Newt looked at Aris

“Should what?”

Brenda scoffed and rolled her eyes

“You know! Get a house together!”

Thomas was grinning

“You know, it would save materials. . .”

Newt rolled his eyes

“Thank you Tommy.”

Frypan shrugged and gave us a playful smile

“I think the lovebirds just need time to decide!”

I gave Frypan a pointed look

“Well, maybe you should let us have some time then.”

I felt pressure on my hand, and looked down to see Newt’s hand on top of mine. Brenda shot me and Newt that smug smile of hers

“Okay, fine.”

She grabbed Thomas’s arm, and started pulling him away, then turned to Frypan and Aris, still with that smug look

“Guys, c’mon, we have to give them time. They get some time right now. Then they get to tell us.”

Frypan and Aris got up and followed them, leaving me and Newt alone. I slumped my head onto Newt

“What did we do to deserve this?”

Newt half heartedly chuckled

“Existed?”

I just groaned and put my other hand on top of Newts. He put his other hand on mine. We both had no free hands now. We sat there in a comfortable silence for about a minute, before Newt spoke

“So? Should we do it?”

“Do what?”

Newt rolled his eyes

“Come on. The house.”

I took my hands back, and ran a hand through my hair.

“I- um, well what do you think?”

Newt immediately turned the most adorable shade of red.

Or. . .it was cute until my brain shoved a very unwelcome thought into my head.

The same color of the blood around his leg

I bit my lip to stop myself from breaking down right then and there. Newt was stammering, also clearly unsure of what to say.

“I-I, w-well, w-we-”

Then I had a thought. Another unwelcome one.

We wouldn’t live forever.

I mean, I guess I knew that, in the back of my mind.

Shuck, why was all the ‘back of my mind’ stuff coming so sudden and fast?

Newt wouldn’t be here forever. I wouldn’t be here forever. Newt was still trying to think of words, when I interrupted him

“We should do it.”

I said it deadpan, no emotion. I wish I could say I had no emotion in the next few things I said. Newt looked taken aback, like he hadn’t just heard me

“What?”

I took a deep breath

“We should do it. I mean, it’s just like sharing a room, it’s nothing big.”

Some of the pain of the realization I just had must have shown on my face, because Newt just looked at me

“Okay, what is it?”

I sighed

“Newt. . .we won’t live forever. . . Our happily ever after won’t last forever. . . We won’t last forever.”

Newt gave me a sad smile

“Maybe not, but we’ll last a long time. Our happily ever after will last a long time.”

I smiled. We sat together for a few more minutes, and this time I decided to break the silence first.

“So. . .should we? Get a house together?”

Newt replied almost instantly

“Yes, let’s do it.”

I lean in to kiss Newt, but he puts a hand up.

“What?”

I whined. Newt pointed, and I squinted in the direction he was pointing, and saw Brenda, Thomas, Aris, and Frypan.

Watching us.

Newt laughed

“We are being watched. Not in front of the children. They’re too immature to just see us together without shrieking about it. If we do this we deserve the teasing.”

I glanced over at them one last time, then at Newt. I muttered under my breath

“Ah, shuck it.”

Then I pressed my lips against Newts. When we broke apart, I heard cheers, and turned to see them clapping and shouting. I stood up and did a very overdramatic bow, all while Newt was covering his face with his hands, blushing furiously.

“Minho, why?”

I sat back down as the ‘children’ as Newt had joked, ran towards us.

“Because I love you.”

Brenda came up to us first, the others close behind

“Well?”

I smiled

“Well, you’ll just have to wait and see.”

Thomas groaned. Newt was right. They really were children.

We all were really.

We always have been.

We still were.

And yet, we have lost so much. . .

Newt stood up and brushed off his hands on his pants.

“We have to be going now.”

Frypan chimed in

“Is it about the house?”

I stood up next to Newt

“Like I said, wait and see”

Me and Newt walked away together, heading nonchalantly towards the builders. Gally was ordering a few others around on where to put planks and boards and such, when we arrived. Gally noticed us, and walked over.

“What’re you two shanks doin’ here?”

We had a. . . interesting relationship with Gally.

He had always been the. . .let’s say. . . control freak of the glade.

Then he came back, and he had. . .changed.

I guess you could say we were friends.

Newt looked sheepish

“Well, we’re here for a house.”

Gally nodded

“Lemme guess, you want yours to be next to each other.”

I grinned

“Well, actually Gally, we want one house.”

Gally nodded again

“Which one of you will it be for?”

Newt rolled his eyes

“You bloody slinthead, we want one house together!”

Gally smiled

“Ah, got it. Any specific location?”

Newt looked at me

“I was thinking the beach?”

So, we had the cliff overlooking the ocean, then on the other side of our relatively small island, we had an actual beach. Sonya must have told him about it. I smiled

“Yeah, that sounds good.”

Gally turned around and called to one of the group B workers.

“Hey Marie! How long do you think a house on the beach will take?”

She turned around and shouted back

“Probably tomorrow evening!”

Gally turned back to us

“There you have it folks. Tomorrow evening.”

Me and Newt smiled at each other, thanked Gally, and headed back to the others.

Maybe we could have a long happily ever after.

Maybe.