Aris Jones X Reader One Shots

Words

'Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words will never hurt me.'

A phrase almost every kid has heard in their life, or in this case, knows about. If that didn't help the fact that he had escaped a Maze, fought Shades, figured out the truth about WCKD to escape again, fought off Cranks, and just gone through hell and back, should be enough to make him invincible. As a last resort the way this small group of guys meant nothing to him should mean their words shouldn't sink into his mind until he was lying awake thinking about them. 

Apparently, none of that matters though. Because he does. Mirrors are pretty much a luxury, but he's seen his reflection before in things like water, windows, and glass. He just never cared to truly look at himself. 

Now he never even wanted a glimpse. He didn't want to see if his teeth, if his smile, is as messed up as they tell him it is. He also didn't want anyone else to be able to tell, just in case it was true. Then again it seems like a pretty stupid thing to make up. 

That's how Aris came to the conclusion that his teeth were no good. Without even actually being able to know he had just decided that what they said is true. 

He never told anyone about it. He just didn't see the point of that. There's also the fact that if nobody's lives are in danger he’s a very passive person. He heard the whispers when he was at WCKD, and he never bothered to say that hearing he’s from a Maze full of nothing but girls, some of which were his friends, and all of them were missing, stung. He didn't want a constant reminder that he had nobody. 

So he definitely wasn't going to say anything about this. 

Nobody really saw it. The way he was slowly pulling away from everyone without even realizing. Everyone missed it. 

Everyone except Y/N. She knew that no matter how active he was in them, or how bittersweet they could be, he loved the bonfire nights. She knew that even if he was more of a listener than a talker, he would still know what to say. She knew that the times he did talk if you knew what to say he could go on for hours. She definitely knew what his smile, the one that was impossible not to return, looked like, and it wasn't like the one he had now. It looks forced. Like he was purposely holding back. 

She thought he was just distracted with something or stressed. Until tonight. She was at the bonfire, sitting at their usual spot and waiting for him. No matter how many times someone asked to sit there she firmly said that it was taken. 

As people started leaving though, she realized that wasn't happening. She also knew that something was wrong. Aris wouldn't just ditch her for no reason. He wasn't like that, never had been.

With a barely audible sigh she stood up and made her way to their hut. No matter what or how long it took she was going to figure out what was happening. By now all these red flags were screaming at her, and she’d be damned if she ignored them. If something happened to him, well, she couldn't even bring herself to think about it. So she won't. She'll just fix it before something does. 

“Aris?”She asked, ignoring the way her heart was thumping in her chest as she walked in. While she spotted him almost instantly, something that should have calmed her down, it made the uneasiness bubbling in her stomach worse. 

He was just laying on the couch with his knees to his chest. Still in his daytime clothes, his hair a disaster, and the way he was so still he could be mistaken for someone sleeping, it was clear that he was a mess right now about something.

“Hello my love,”She whispered, walking towards him. He didn't speak as he sat up while still almost being curled into a ball. Sitting next to him, she waited for him to say something, anything. When he didn't though, she knew that she would have to. “What’s wrong?”