| The Rejected | The Maze Runner; Gally Fic [x reader ver.]

|chapter•thirty•four|

With a chuckle and feeling his face warming up, (M/n) stepped away from Gally and began making his way to where their friends were busy getting the bonfire ready. The weekly bonfires weren't as big as the greenie bonfires were, so there wasn't much to be done, however, the Builders always found a way to get distracted when they weren't working, so it took a while to get them to set it up.

However today seemed to be a different occasion as it did look like a greenie bonfire.

Approaching Alec and Mikah, he looked around for what he could do and spotted the chopped logs scattered nearby, so he crouched down to pick them up, but a foreign hand did it for him instead.

"What...?" Looking up, he saw Gally bending over to pick up those logs, glancing at him for a moment, "Really?"

"You're still recovering, you're not lifting heavy stuff yet, bean," (M/n) huffed and looked around them for a moment, noticing how the guys around immediately went back to what they were doing, making it too obvious that they were paying attention to what was happening between them.

"Clint said I'm okay, Gally, I can help," Gally stood straight once more, and (M/n) saw him reaching his hand out to him, which he took and stood next to the tall blond.

"Hm," Gally hummed with a sceptical expression as his green eyes looked at (M/n) up and down for a few seconds, "Yeah well... I'll be the judge of that, bean," and like always, he ruffled (M/n)'s (curly/wavy/straight) hair, chuckling at the sound of him huffing.

Crossing his arms, he watched how Gally walked toward the bonfire and began placing the logs in place. (M/n) sighed and made his way to one of the logs, sitting on it and watching his friends with a smile on his face. This situation has happened quite a few times, so he knew that arguing with Gally about being able to do work around wouldn't have a different result, so he gave in and simply watched.

Plus, he got to watch him playing around while doing some lifting, it was a win in his book as far as he's concerned.

///////

The Glade was buzzing with energy as dinner was served and everyone gathered around the fire, talking and laughing with each other.

Gally had made some of his non-alcoholic drink and was sitting with (M/n), telling him about his day.

He was rambling about how he got to play with Chuck and Bark for a while, before continuing to teach him some more wood carving and why keeping the wood chips was helpful around the Glade. (M/n) listened attentively and stared at him.

He looked so happy, his smile was wide and he was so cheerful, it made (M/n) melt internally, to him, there was nothing better than hearing Gally happily ramble about his day and seeing him smiling so brightly.

Gally continued talking for a while, until he realized the way he was being stared at, which made him stop abruptly, looking down slightly ashamed, "Uh, sorry... I talked too much..."

At that, (M/n) reached to hold Gally's hand, and maintained eye contact with the blond, "Don't apologize, big guy, actually... You can keep going," Gally looked at him, slightly puzzled.

"What... What do you mean, bean?" (M/n) chuckled and smiled at Gally.

"I like it when you're happy, Gally, and rambling looks good on you," he watched how, under the warm glow of the bonfire, Gally's face began turning slightly pink, but he turned away, feeling his stomach tingling and his heart beating faster.

"Oh... That's nice to hear..." He mumbled with a shy smile and a quiet giggle.

"Alright, everyone," the sound of Alby's grumbly voice caught everyone's attention as he stood up from his spot. Suddenly, the Glade was quiet, only the sound of the wood burning as it crackled was heard, accompanied by the occasional cricket chirping, "It's been a week since some of y'all did something incredibly stupid and immature," he looked at the Sloppers and the twins, who avoided Alby's stare, "Thankfully, we didn't lose anyone because of that, but I hope that this would serve as a lesson, a reminder... Of why the Glade changed and became what it is now."