Newt always hated his locker. It was so very far from the classrooms he had to go to and it was all the way to the back of the hall. He trudged towards it in a huff and grudge with passion. Whoever assigned him to this locker should be gelded or spayed, whichever is more fitting. As he neared his locker, he felt a hand touch his shoulder, effectively stopping him.

"Hey, Newt." The oh-so-familliar voice spoke to him. Newt only took a deep breath and before turning slowly towards the we go again.

"Hey, Thomas." Newt half-heartedly said, giving the brunette a small smile. Thomas looked handsome as always, with his gray henly, dark tight fitting pants, perfectly styled hair and a stupid, but adorable, smile on his face. Goddamn, he was so attractive.

"Algebra?" Thomas asked, his hands on his pockets, smiling at him curiously. Newt should not be even surprised that Thomas already knew his schedule. After persistent efforts of asking Newt out, he was bound to memorize his daily subjects.

"Yep." Newt shortly answered, "Was about to go to my locker to fetch my notes."

"I'll come with." Thomas offered, walking beside Newt. Thomas was acting different today. Usually, he would be all smiles, confident and flirty but today... Today he was acting timid, nervous and a little gloomy. He turned to the guy beside him, eyeing him a little and noticing the almost detached look on his face. He placed his hands on Thomas' shoulders, smiling at him reassuringly.

He knew this was the reason Thomas kept on asking him out even though he always said no. He always gave the brunette mixed signals, that he knew, but, who could blame him? He wanted to be friend with Thomas and there was nothing wrong with giving these kinds of gestures, right? It was Thomas who kept reading his actions wrong. "So, it's Friday tomorrow..."

Newt just nodded with an awkward smile, "Yeah. I just bought this new book and I'm very excited to read it tomorrow." He plainly said.

After days of outright saying "No" to Thomas, Newt kinda mastered the art of blowing someone off indirectly, but the hurt expression on the brunette's face still stayed and Newt hated that.

"So, there's no chance of us having dinner tomorrow evening?" Thomas whispered, a sad expression on his face, not really looking at Newt and more to the ground.

Alright, to be honest, he liked Thomas too, really. The brunette was funny, smart, witty and popular, and that was the problem. Thomas was popular at their school. That would mean he has friends that were exactly not like him. Thomas was kind to everyone but most of his friends were jerks, too self-absorb and like to bully some of the other kids. It was even confusing to Newt why Thomas would even hangout with people that were so opposite to him. But, nonetheless, they were a close group of people and supported each other, as far as Newt knew.

He really wants to say yes every time Thomas asks him out, but he was just afraid that all these efforts from Thomas was just a prank, that one day he'll say yes to him and his friends would pop out of nowhere and start berating him for falling for it and actually thinking that Thomas was actually interested in him.

He was just looking out for himself. Besides, he never gets anything nice and Thomas was just too good. Newt was just silent, awkward and lanky.

"Sorry." Newt whispered as they came to a halt in front of his locker. Thomas' face resembled a puppy who just got kicked. What happened to the jokingly retracting of the offer after Newt rejected him with funny hand gestures?

"Can I ask you a question?" Thomas said. This time, for the first time this encounter, looking him straight in the eye without hesitation. Newt nodded and Thomas stepped closer to him. "Is it me?"

Newt did not understand the question. What was Thomas implying?

"Do I annoy you or something?" Thomas asked, his voice shaking. Newt was gonna say something but Thomas cut him off again. "Am I in over my head to be asking you out? I know you're out of my league but, I really like you, Newt. Like, so much." Thomas said, his voice almost faltering and his gaze dropped to the ground again.

"Out of your league?" Newt asked, eyebrows raising. Why was Thomas suddenly acting like this? Newt's not used to it and, to be honest, it does not suit Thomas.

"I-I meant that in a good way!" Thomas defended for a moment before slouching again. "I just meant that, um... Newt, you voluntarily work in an animal shelter. You take your sister to school everyday even though you're running late. You have straight A's in every class-"

"You're smart too, Thomas." Newt said, but only to he ignored by Thomas who kept on talking.

"- and you tutor some of the students who come to you for help. You're always kind to people even though some of them aren't too kind to you. You are awesome, Newt, and that's why you're out of my league."

Newt can't help but stare at Thomas. He can't believe Thomas was telling him all this. What brought this on? Newt was out of his league? What a bunch of crap! If anything, it was Newt who should be hiding in shame that he even considered the possibility that this was all true. Thomas was every girl's (or guy's) dream guy! Newt would be lucky, so very lucky, to be able to date him. He must have been staring too long because Thomas just gave him a sad smile and started backing away but before Thomas was able to turn away after apologizing, Newt grabbed his arm.

"Yes." Newt blurted out, instantly blushing. He was just hoping in the heavens that this wasn't a prank because his heart won't be able to take it. His heart was beating like crazy. Hearing Thomas say all of those things flicked something inside of him.

"Wh-What?" Thomas asked, a rather confused look on his face.

"I'll go out with you." Newt confidently (well, tried) said, "Tomorrow."

If Thomas' smile was compared to the sun, it would be as blindingly warm. The brunette looked so happy and giddy all of the sudden and the look in his eye told Newt that he was very excited and satisfied. "O-Okay. Um, I'll p-pick you up at 7?"

"Sure." Newt smiled back at him, letting go of Thomas' arm.

"Yes." Thomas said, walking backwards, "Okay. Tomorrow then. See you!"

He watched Thomas walk away, all jumpy and skipping, randomly yelling "YES!" quite loudly, throwing his arm up, and managing to startle some of the student's passing by him. Newt chuckled at the brunette's antics. The brunette kept cheering as he made his way to his class and Newt suddenly remembered why he was here in the first place. He turned to his locker and made his move to get ready for his next class.

As he was sorting through it all, his dark thoughts suddenly grabbed him by the neck and shook him:

'Thomas might be happy because he finally got you to say yes, but for the wrong reasons. He might be happy because he won a bet and would be getting a prize.'

'This is all a prank, Newt. You'll see tomorrow when he takes you to a somewhere suspicious and his friends will show up and who knows what they'll do to you.'

'You're just a trophy, dumbass. To see if Thomas can ask a guy like you out.'

'You never get nice things, Newt. What makes you so sure that Thomas would be an exception? You're just really stupid.'

'Thomas is too good for you.'

Newt slammed his locker shut and leaned his head on them, trying to make his brain to stop thinking so negatively but, it was natural. He was never optimistic and he somehow knows, or predicts, that this was all a cruel joke to break him even more.

"Fucking hell." Newt wheezed out. "Why did I say yes?"

Thomas' face was gonna fall off at some point if he keeps on smiling, but he just can't help it. After 2 months of persistently asking Newt out, the blonde finally said yes! He had been in a good mood all day since and he can't deny that it feels so good. It feels so good that maybe, just maybe, Newt might feel the same way about how he feel towards the blonde.

"Did 'Blonde Angel finally said yes?" He heard from the passenger seat and turned towards it and seeing Teresa, grinning at him smugly.

"I did not call him that exactly." Thomas said, completely aware that his cheeks were burning red. He should tone it down whenever he was describing Newt to his best friend. Teresa was a smug bastard and would use anything to embarrass him. "And yeah. He did." He added with a stupid smile of his stupid face. Ugh, I'm acting like a lovesick fool.

"FUCKING FINALLY!" Teresa shouted, effectively surprising him, "I was so close to shooting you if I had to deal with your rejected ass."

Thomas sighed in annoyance. He knew telling Teresa was a bad idea but, deep in his mind, he knew that, at some point, she will find out. Teresa was a great best friend and she supported him in every way but, not in this.

No, not because she's homophobic or something. She just doesn't like dealing with Thomas' brooding whenever Newt's rejects him again and again and again. But, nevertheless, she listens to him. She knows it's important for her to listen.

"So," Teresa said, a curious look on her face, "Where are you gonna take him?" Thomas just shrugged and kept his eyes on the road. It was already 6 PM and they were driving home. A perk with living in a house right beside your best friend's is that it saves gas.

"You haven't thought about it, have you?" Teresa deadpanned, rubbing her forehead vigorously. "So, you're telling me that after months of trying to ask your precious princess out, you haven't even thought about what to do if you finally forced him into going?"

"I did not force him, you minx." Thomas defended, eyeing her darkly. He did not force Newt, right?

"Yeah?" Teresa countered, "Then what was up about the act this morning? All gloomy and shit? Wasn't that a tactic to make Newt feel guilty?"

"Wha-" Thomas started but, suddenly, Teresa's words caught up to him. Did it come off like that? Did he look like he tried the guilt-trip road? Oh my god, maybe that was why Newt finally agreed. The blonde felt sorry for him! Not because he liked him back but because he felt sorry!

To be honest, it was not like that at all. When Thomas woke up this morning, he felt all kinds of wrong. He started thinking about everything and when he saw Newt walking towards his locker, he felt even awful. Thomas knew that he looked like a pathetic fool, running after a person that wasn't even interested in him in that way. But, Newt was always nice to him. He touched him and that always made him feel warm inside. It was so good. He then decided that if, this time, Newt would reject him, he would stop trying. Stop trying to ask out the first person that made Thomas' heart truly flutter.

"It was not like that." Thomas whispered, his smile vanishing from his face, "I just woke up on the wrong side of the bed. It hurts being rejected all the time, you know."

Teresa eyed him carefully, taking note of how Thomas' mood dropped dangerously low. Wow, he really do like this Newt guy. "Okay. I believe you. But let me ask something."

Thomas only nodded, taking a right turn and finally seeing their houses.

"You've dated others before, right? But you never acted like this with them. What's so different about Newt?" Teresa asked.

Despite what Thomas knew, she noticed her best friend's lingering stares at Newt and how he pined after him. And that was months before Thomas decided to ask him out. Thomas liked Newt long ago but was afraid of doing anything about it, which was confusing because he usually never backs down when he likes someone. His attraction to Newt was different though. His smiles at the blonde were different. How he acts around the blonde was different. How he talks about him was different. Thomas was nervous, affectionate and genuinely happy when Newt was involved. It was intense.

If Teresa wasn't careful with her words, she might even say that Thomas is in love.

"Everything." Thomas replied, thinking too hard based on his expression, "I just really like him, T. It just happened."