not the same

not a calm chat

okay one more chapter after this and we're done :0

the pack and the gladers, plus derek. sat on opposite sides of the room. tension so thick you could cut it with a knife.

no one spoke for a long time, it felt like hours although could have only been a few minutes. 

eventually jackson spoke up.

"you gonna answer our questions right?"

he got nods in response and continued

"what's the maze and why is it spray painted everywhere"

a couple of the gladers stifled a laugh. thomas smiled at him.

"it's where we lived when we were kidnapped. a second home of sorts... okay not really a home. the people made it better."

scott went next.

"how come you're no longer weak?"

thomas rolled his eyes exaggeratedly getting a teasing nudge off newt.

"what can i say,  i'm a runner... and i had to get stronger if i wanted to beat gally. minho was no match

gally tsked and minho snorted with laughter.

"took ya long enough shank"

thomas stuck his middle finger up in retaliation.

"that's another thing"

scott began, irritation in his voice

"you use these odd words. what do they even mean??"

they all looked at one another sadly.

"we had more gladers, one of them called chuck. we used those instead of cusses before so he didn't pick up on them."

"chuck?"

thomas and gally bowed their heads. the rest followed suit. sadness rolled off them all in waves.

"a dear friend"

many of the pack seemed guilty for brining the memory up. after another long beat of silence lydia went next.

"so... stiles. how come you lost your carefree attitude?"

"it's thomas and, we all saw a lot during that time. way too much"

many nodded and agreement, newt grabbed Thomas's hand and squeezed it softly.
he shot him a reassuring glance although he didn't feel that confident himself.

"have you killed people?"

isaac asked, nervousness laced in his voice

"yes"

even dereks eyes widened at that. no one took stiles for a killer, then again he wasn't stiles anymore.

"how many?"

scott growled, visibly upset.

"not answering that"

scott threw his hands up in irritation. the anger was rolling off him in waves.

"why not? how high is the number?"

thomas glared at him and squeezed newts hand tighter.

"it's none of your shucking business. any other questions or are we done?"

no one spoke for a moment until isaac raised his hand. thomas nodded to him and he timidly asked.

"uhm, two things- why is your name now thomas and what do you mean by runners?"

thomas rubbed his neck nervously.

"i didn't remember my name when they put me in. runners were people who were fast enough to sprint round the maze to try and find an exit"

isaac nodded in understanding and averted his gaze.

"why couldn't you walk? like what stopped you from just finding the exit slowly?"

minho and thomas shared a look.

" there were  grievers. their sting a mutated version of the flare"

he got more quizzical looks.

"all you need to know is the flare was a terrible virus type thing that... we almost lost newt to"

a lot of the gladers gave newt small pats or little punches of acknowledgement. then silence once again encased the room.

thomas slapped his thighs like a middle aged man and stood up.

"well this has been fun, but we've had our fair share and we are done here"

scott blocked the door.

"how many people have you killed"

thomas rolled his eyes.

"look it's best if you don't know"

scott didn't budge. thomas glared at him in frustration. there wasn't much else they could do, they answered their questions in a dignified manner so that should be the end of it. why did scott insist on being difficult.

derek pushed past thomas and shoved scotf out the way, he gestured for the rest of the gladers to leave which they did, cussing under their breath as they went.

they all piled into the jeep, a few in dereks car and scott jumped out the door.

"you're gonna tell me stiles. you have to"

thomas stuck his middle finger out his keep door and yelled.

"no i don't."

he careened down the road and out of sight of the pack house. once home the gladers gathered in the lounge.

"so... what now?"

brenda asked nursing a bottle of cider.

thomas took a swig of his own and thought hard.

he swallowed and set it down.

"well... we really don't need an education anymore, we know all that we need to. this town feels so small and after being trapped in places for what felt like our whole life. i think we should move. go somewhere new, i don't know where but i don't think i care"

smiles broke out all over the group and they cheered in response.

the rest of the night was treated as a goodbye party for themselves. filled with visiting the best parts of town. throwing eggs at the school, stealing shopping carts and riding them down hills with makeshift sails. thomas bought six packs of cigarettes and they smoked any time they saw a no smoking sign like a group of young teenagers. after running for so long they deserved to live that life.

okay one more chapter guys. sorry i didn't update in forever that was my bad.