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

|chapter•thirty•five|

The following days went by quite normally, weirdly enough. (M/n) found himself exchanging smiles and waves with the Sloppers more and more often, and whilst they weren't friends, they were on good-ish terms, and thankfully, it seemed like Lucas was able to understand his perspective, as he had completely changed his behaviour and had been trying to be a good guy.

Which continued to weird (M/n) out whenever it happened.

But thankfully, as these few days went by, (M/n) felt, for the first time, like he belonged in the Glade and was treated as another dude stuck in this place and he was glad.

One thing he had been able to do pretty easily was become closer to Ty, who had become Chuck's friend. He got to know the guy and realized he was actually a nice dude and quite on the younger side, which explained why he got along with Chuck easier than with the rest, and why it was hard for him to stand up to Stan and the others.

Ty had apologized to him for lying about having seen him hurting Peter, but (M/n) understood it wasn't his fault and explained how he didn't have any kind of grudge against him.

And now, on the next Box day, (M/n) was sitting outside on the grass, enjoying a small break while Chuck and Ty played for a while. Gally was gone for the moment, he had something to discuss with Alby apparently, and well, (M/n) wasn't a Keeper so he wasn't allowed to know, at least not yet.

He was mindlessly petting Bark, who had made himself comfortable on his lap and basked in the warm sunlight for a while, when Ty and Chuck approached them, chuckling and drying the sweat off their faces, it seemed like they had fun which brought a smile to his face, and watched as they sat down in front of him.

"Had fun?" They nodded and their hair bounced around at how effusive they were about it, "Here," he reached for his water bottle, which was in the shade and handed it over to them, who drank over half of it as if it was oxygen. (M/n) chuckled and shook his head from side to side.

"(M/n), can I ask you something?" He looked at Ty, who stared back at him with curiosity-filled eyes.

"Sure, what's up?"

"Why do you look different than the rest of us?" Well... That was the question he least expected, "Did something happen to you?" (M/n) stayed quiet as he wondered how to explain this in a way that made sense and wasn't too difficult to comprehend.

However, he found himself mumbling his response, "I guess I was just... Born in the wrong body, Ty," was all he could say.

He watched as both guys in front of him frowned, and Ty seemed to be analysing his words.

"Like... A guy trapped in a girl's body?" He showed them a small smile, and nodded slowly, muttering a quiet 'yeah...' in response, "Can you go back to your real body?"

Ty's question sounded so genuine and innocent, that it made his smile grow, "Unfortunately, I can't, I'm stuck with this body until the day I die," Chuck looked at (M/n), a pout forming on his lips as he crawled closer and wrapped his chubby arms around (M/n).

"I'm sorry you have to live like that, (M/n)," his words made a knot grow in his throat, his eyes filling with tears, the ones he blinked away and tried to ignore the feeling in his chest, making breathing slightly more difficult than usual.

"It's okay, Chuck."

//////

A couple of hours later, the small bonfire was being lit, and like always, (M/n) was sitting by the fire, Gally glued to his side, his arm wrapping around his shoulders.

They were sitting on the grass, their back resting against the logs while staring far into the darkness of the Glade, facing away from the bonfire.

Everything felt nice. The sounds of their friends eating and joking around behind them, the subtle chirp of crickets, the crackling of the wood in the fire as it burned, the slightly chill breeze brushing their skin, it all felt relaxing and made them feel at peace.