| PROJECT GRIEVER | Maze Runner | Choose Your Own

newt.

I wake up early the next morning and figure I could use the time to go wash my clothes. I get them all piled up and I head to the stream a ways into the deadheads. When I got there I took the washboard and started to grate my clothes against it. Granted this was my first time, (at least from what I can remember), of doing this sort of thing so I was having a bit of trouble.

"That's not quite how you do it love." I heard a peticular voice say and I freeze in my position.

"Don't call me that." I say dryly.

"Sorry." The voice mumbles. I continue back to my work hoping he would walk away just like he's done every other time I've seen him but, he doesn't. He just stands there. I would've waited for him to speak but Gally's special recipe was wearing off and I wasn't in a very peaceful mood. It didn't help that I felt that I was grating the crap out of my clothes other than washing them.

"Can I help you with something?!" I say raising my voice a little throwing the washboard down. "I mean really, can I? The first thing you say to me since you side with Gally is something to criticize me? Like am I missing something? Clearly nothing I can do pleases you huh?" I say standing up and getting closer to Newt. He opens his mouth but no words come out. "Oh? You have nothing to say? Typical." I say and roll my eyes turning my back to him to go continue washing my clothes and he holds my wrist back.

"Everything you do pleases me." He says quietly and I quickly turn my head around.

"Are you seriously joking right now? Is this not serious to you?" I say my voice quivering a bit.

"No. This is very serious. I just there's so much I want to say."

"Start with an apology."

"I'm sorry." And make eye contact with him. "I'm bloody sorry. I...wanted to protect you and I realize now that it was wrong of me to assume what was best for you." He says his eyes are pleading and he sounds on the verge of tears. I almost feel bad for him. Almost.

"I'm curious? In what state of mind can you think keeping me in a pit for an undecided amount of time is so called protecting me? You know what would've protected me? If my only friend at the time whom I trusted, who actually promised to not let anything bad happen to me ACTUALLY WENT THROUGH WITH HIS WORD!" I say tearing up. "If he actually fucking meant it and if he backed me up then he would've protected me instead of isolating me when I needed him most. Instead of making me more vulnerable to the pariahs." I say waving my hands around gesturing at the whole glade.

"Pariahs? You mean Gally? I've seen you two become close." He says with attitude.

"Excuse me?! No you don't ge to be mad here. Alright?! Gally actually apologized first Newt. At least he owned up to his shit before you did. And to think I thought he was my biggest threat. It turns out you were." I say letting my wrist out of his grasp and pushing one finger into his chest twice. "Just leave me alone." I say and turn away from him plopping back down into the mud to wash my clothes. After a moment he spoke.

"No. I won't."

"I'm done talking to you Newt. Leave."

"I'm not. If you don't want to talk good on that. But just listen alright." And I say nothing so he continues. "Ever since you came up in the maze there was something special about you and I'm not talking all that bloody nonsense about you being a girl. I couldn't care less about that. I'm talking about how you ran into that maze without a second thought and then after the hell you went through decided you wanted to be a bloody runner? Out of everything you could've done. I told you I wouldn't let anything bad happen to you and I meant it. When you told me you wanted to be a runner I couldn't pull you back from that because the way you were so excited and the way your eyes gleamed....Y/n I couldn't hurt you. It would be impossible too when you looked like that so I kept my mouth shut. But then you turned into that—that—thing—and I couldn't let it happen again to you. I felt tormented looking at you like that. A shell of what you were. So, I thought maybe if I kept you in that damned pit nothing would trigger it and you'd be fine but then looking at you and how hurt you were I realized my damned mistake and I'm sorry. Alright? I wish I could take it back but I can't. Instead I'm here at the crack of dawn, in the forest, talking to you, begging actually, that you'll let me redeem myself." He takes a deep breath and continues. "Please Y/n I still want to keep my promise." He said and he looked at me for a while and I didn't speak. I was going through all these emotions in my head. Part of me was yearning to forgive him quickly and get it over with because I missed him but another part of me was still hurt because no matter what the intentions were it still hurt, it hurt me.