Experiment 101 (Aris x Reader)

5) Trust

Aris stood in a line with other kids around his age. Besides siblings whispering to each other it was dead silent. Every time another person was added he would throw a hopeful glance in hopes that it would be Y/N. It never was, but he didn't want to give up. Not unless he actually saw her being taken somewhere else.

As always his wish was granted in the worst way possible. Hearing a guard speaking to someone close, he turned to see her walking alongside him. Waiting to see where she would be, he was surprised when the guard kept dragging her up to the building.

The last thing he got was snippets of an odd conversation. She said it made no difference and that she didn't care. The guard wore a smug half smirk as he led her to the building ahead of everyone, entirely on her own.

In his mind, gut, and heart, he knew that something wasn't right about that. However, he also knew that he couldn't do anything but wait and hope that she would be okay.

Because if he ever met anyone familiar again he prayed that it would be her.

Your P.O.V

After a change of plans Aris was in my room. Neither of us spoke as he took in the information. The only words that were exchanged were directions from me as I cleaned his scrapes.

"Sorry,"I mumbled as I saw him wince. He didn't say anything as he stared straight ahead, and I didn't ask him to. "And this is probably going to sting a bit,"I warned, pouring the rubbing alcohol on a rag. Doing my best to be gentle, I lightly touched it to his skin. He didn't move a muscle as I dabbed the wound. When there didn't seem to be any leftover blood I placed a bandage over it.

"What's the point of you doing all this?"He whispered.

"What do you mean?"I asked, moving on to the next scrape.

"I mean you can't really care about me so why'd you make me come here?"

"I didn't make you do anything. I just said I would be able to help a bit."

"What's that matter to you?"

"I scraped you up so I'm helping fix it. I'm fixing my mistake. It's not so much caring as it is helping with what I'm capable of."

"Does it hurt them? When they're trapped in that room?"He blurted out. I stayed silent, because there was no answer to that. I didn't know what that was like, and as kind as it would be to just lie to him that's all people here have done. I'd rather not be one of them. Aris trusts me, and I don't want to break that. If he found out I deceived him about something else, he may decide to just ignore any guidance from me. All that would do was get him a spot next to her.

"She seemed nice,"I settled on.

"You knew her?"He whispered.

"No, but if you were her friend then she must have been someone worth being around,"I explained, wrapping up his other arm.

"She is or was. I don't really know."

"You don't have to. That was a lot."

"It was,"He quietly agreed.

"I don't want to rush you, but you need to go,"I pointed out after a minute of nothing but a ticking clock.

"Can I have my hoodie back?"

"I'll give it back tomorrow good as new,"I promised.

"Won't someone notice that you have it?"

"Nobody questions me about anything."

"I mean I just like having a hoodie. It's nice to hide in,"He admitted.

"Where we're about to go you're going to want your clothes in the best condition you can get. I'm sorry,"I explained. He dropped his gaze to the floor. "But I have some old ones that should fit you,"I offered, opening my small drawer. Pulling one that looked the closest to his old one, I tossed it to him. He caught it and slipped it over his head.

"Are you coming with?"He asked.

"Yeah. Just in case someone else shows up,"I nodded.

"I mean wherever we're going. Are you coming with me?"

"Does it really matter?"I pointed out, grabbing my key.

"It'd just be nice I guess. To not be completely alone,"He shrugged.

"In terms of survival, yes. If you're looking for a friend I can't really give you that though,"I reminded him as I peeked into the hall. When everything seemed clear I gestured for him to follow.

"If that's what you think,"He sighed.

"It's what I know. I'll talk to you about this more tomorrow. For now, get any amount of rest you can,"I recommended. Even though I highly doubted he would be able to do so after what he saw it was something he had to attempt. From here everything only gets worse. Sleeping was the bare minimum of care for himself. After all, the Scorch doesn't exactly have any beds.

Aris's P.O.V

Y/N keeps saying she can't feel things. Yet as I was laying in bed staring at the bunk above me that just seemed like another lie. You don't just clean up a stranger because it's logical.

Is she hiding something too? Does she know more about Rachel? Is that why she refused to answer my question? Can I trust her? Does she have bad intentions?

Still, it doesn't make sense. What could lying about not feeling things possibly get her?

Then again nothing here has made sense. Nothing here has been fair.

I wasn't exactly fair either. I promised Rachel that it would be okay. I don't really know why I said that. She just seemed panicked, and it was the only thing I could think of that could help her nerves. I didn't mean to lie to her.

I did though. My very last words to my best friend had been a lie.

I just wanted to help. For some reason I thought I would be able to protect her. Clearly that's not the case though. If it was she would have been sleeping in her room, and I wouldn't have just been in Y/N's getting bandaged up. We would be out of here as soon as possible. It would just be us two, but we would have found a way. We always did.

Not anymore though. Apparently, I'm as good as alone when it comes to someone I can relate to. I'm going to be out there with this random girl who you have to be very specific around and doesn't care about anything.

Would she be helping me if that was true though? Would she want to know about feeling things? And why is she so sure it's me specifically that can help her with that? How does she know it wasn't a coincidence?

Still, if she can get me out of here then I'll take it with open arms. As unconventional and possibly uncomfortable as this is going to be, she's all I have right now. Maybe she's pretty much a stranger, but she's someone. She's a person who as far as I know isn't lying, and I'm not in a position to be picky.

Although, I do think that there's a lot more to this story. I think that whether she knows it or not she feels things. If that makes whatever happens next more or less complicated is for the future to decide.