Till The World Ends // Gally x OC

{Ch. 6} The Rose

Dressed in our new Dauntless clothes, all of the initiates and I joined the rest of the Faction in a big cafeteria-like room.

The metal tables were lined with big plates of food in the center, so we all took a seat. I sat between Christina and Gally while Thomas and Ben sat across from us.

"This is... luxury. I don't even remember what any of this tastes like," I scoffed, scanning my eyes over the plates.

Burgers stacked on one and steamed vegetables on the other. Next to it was a plate with a pile of hot and crispy French fries.

The three boys immediately dug in, as well as Christina. But I had a sick feeling I couldn't push away. This is my first meal without Newt.

When am I going to see him next? Is he okay where he is? Is he safe? Is he settling in and comfortable? Has he made any new friends?

Gally nudged me. "Hey. You should eat something. Initiation starts tomorrow."

I placed my chin on my hand. "I can't. There's too much up here."

"Spill, and in the meantime, eat," Chris grabbed a handful of fries and put them on my plate. I smiled at her and started nibbling on the food.

As soon as the soft, warm potato inside the fry hit my tongue, my stomach growled and I'd gained my appetite back.

"I don't know. It's just- I know it's not even been a full day yet. But I miss my brother so much, even though I just saw him this morning. I don't know how I'm going to handle never seeing him again if I'm already struggling this much the first day."

"I don't think you'll never see him again. Sometimes the Factions help each other out or meet up from time to time for different reasons. Abnegation does a lot of charity work for the Factionless and Dauntless monitor it to ensure everyone's safety. So I bet sometime soon you'll see him again," Ben explained. "Never seeing him again is a stretch even for different Factions."

I nodded as I felt my worries settle. It was quiet for a little bit as we all ate. But a peaceful quiet, like we'd all found happiness and were just soaking it in.

It wasn't quiet for long though. Everyone around us started banging empty metal cups against the metal tables. The loud sound quieted the crowd.

Above us, a dark skinned man leant over the railing of a catwalk bordering the top frame of the giant cafeteria.

"Initiates- stand," He ordered. He seemed like one of the big deal guys in charge so I definitely didn't hesitate to stand up with everyone else. "You all are here because you chose Dauntless. Now, it's our turn to choose you. Your initiation training starts tomorrow. Do us proud."

Everyone started cheering and before I had a second to sit back down, a bunch of older Dauntless came to our table and picked all of us up. We crowd-surfed with giant smiles on our faces, Gally reached out and grabbed my hand, laughing.

Oh that boy's smile.

Later that evening, all of us initiates were settled down in the big bunk room in bed.

I turned over to face Gally's bed, noticing he was still awake, staring up at the ceiling. He had his arms crossed over his chest and looked like he was thinking super hard about something.

"Can't sleep?" He asked when he noticed me looking at him. I blushed and sat up a little.

"Yeah. I don't know why," I sighed deeply. "I think this bed is too comfy compared to the hammocks we had in the Glade."

"I miss the ones at the hotel. Those were nice," Gally remarked, deciding to turn my way.

"We talk about me a lot. What about you? What's your deal? What are you thinking?"

"Of everything? Well," He sighed too. "I mean I'm skeptical of all of this. You made a valid point at the hotel. Something isn't right about these guys."

I nodded. "Do you ever wish we could've talked to the scientists who put us in the Maze so we could get our memories back?"

"No," Gally answered quickly. "Because I think if we got our memories restored we'd grieve the old life we had. This way it's kind of a restart. A new lease on life."

I smiled softly. "That's a great way of thinking about it. What do you miss most about the Glade?"

"Simplicity. Predictability," Gally replied. "You woke up and knew what to expect. Everyone did their jobs. Everyone had the same rules to follow. Same meal rotation. It was solid. Settled. Now, we're stuck in a variable system. We don't know anyone here or what their motives or intentions are or what's coming next."

"Yeah," I frowned a bit. "I kind of miss it too. But only because of how simple it seemed. Granted, there was always something happening to me. Between random guys flirting with me, that incident with the tree- I still don't know who gave me that rose."

"I did," Gally admitted bluntly. His cheeks turned red. "I gave you the rose. But I thought you'd just think it was Minho."

"No, no, I asked him and he had no idea either. He did say he wanted to beat up whoever did though," I snickered. "Lucky he never figured out it was you."

"Yeah," He smiled a little too. "I didn't think you'd make it. Or that you'd knocked out all your memories again. You fell from really high up."

I rubbed the back of my head at the memory. "Yeah, it wasn't fun. But um... thank you. For the rose. It was pretty."

Gally smiled once again. "Yeah. I also might have thrown in a note to the creators to send up those cherry tree seeds. I wish they would've grown before we left. They're beautiful trees and I know- trees are kind of your thing."

I shook my head. In absolute disbelief of the total softie in front of me.

"Gally," I scoffed, smiling impossibly big. "You did all of that for me while I was with Minho?"

"Yeah," He chuckled, scratching the back of his head. "Didn't get me anywhere though. That enough is obvious."

We shared a soft smile.

"Y'know, Gally," I sighed a little. "Maybe if you'd shown a little bit of this softer side in the Glade, you'd had a chance."

Gally shrugged with a laugh. "Well. The Glade is old news now. Maybe we could start over?"

I blushed and smiled, nodding. "I would really like that."

He grinned. "Okay. Now you get some sleep. I'll stay up a little later to make sure none of these shanks try messing with you."

"Okay. You rest too. At some point," I told him. "Goodnight, Gally."

"Goodnight, Elsie."