"So when did you- you know- fall in love with her?" Thomas smirked, knowing he had him right where I wanted him, with his head in Fionaland.
"Woah," Newt defeated with his hands up, "What?"
"I may be slow to getting to know things around here, but...
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I wondered what our lives might be like if the flare never existed. I would not have existed, at least not the version of myself now. I might be struggling in a high school chemistry class right now.
I thought of a soft-handed girl with her curls. Chasing after a butterfly for joy. She'd never run from anything in her life, instead only ran towards excitement and curiosity. That girl had a smaller understanding of pain and death. When she was sad, tears were allowed to spill. When she learned something new, she rushed off to show an older woman with her same eyes, not incorporating what she had learned in a way that might save her life. She never broke any bones and she would never sip moonshine to make sleep come faster.
I envied the life I could have had. I didn't know when that innocence became only a dream, but it was too soon.
Every sprinting step I took now was to create a world where that fantasy could be possible, even if it wasn't her own.
Someone appeared out of the corner of my eye, boot scoffing on the ground. I sat up quickly, inhaling sharply and dissolving the idea into nothing but a goal for many years from now. A dream for the next generation.
"Newt, you're next." I bitterly called him over. Gally promised to save me a plate for dinner as Newt walked over.
He looked pale, I had the urge to be inside his brain. It was obvious he regretted his actions, but did he truly believe it? He sat down in front of me but I didn't pick up the scalpel yet. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders, pulling him back into me. He let his head fall back into my chest while he stared off in the distance. It seemed like more than the night was draining him.
"What's going on?"
He put on an unconvincing grin, sitting back up to give me access to the microchip. "Fine. I'm just worried about you."
I placed my hand on his neck, noticing its warmth instantly. I continued, slicing the smallest cut in the back of his neck. He grimaced in pain, but that was his only complaint. The room suddenly felt so cold; even though I was touching him, he seemed far away. For as long as I can remember. Newt had never been a good liar.
As I started to pull the microchip out, he blurted a statement I didn't see coming. "It's okay to love him too."
The shock nearly made me drop the tweezers. I took a deep breath, finishing with the ID chip before answering. The 'him' part of it was easy to figure out. Newt was jealous of Tommy and Gally in the maze; I wasn't blind to that. But here and now, Gally was back from the dead after being tragically killed while out of control of his facilities. He has the second chance only from fairy tales.
"Where is this coming from?" I swallowed hard.
His dull tone didn't provide any inkling of his emotion. He held his face emotionless. Scaring me more. Anger I could calm, envy I could reassure, but this-- He didn't want me to know how to react.
