I'm a Keeper (Gally and Thomas Fanfic) [#Wattys2016]

Chapter 8

"Rise and shine, Greenie."
Annabel slowly woke from a deep, dreamless slumber. She opened her eyes, and saw Newt standing beside her, grinning. She groaned, and fell back in her hammock. It was way too early to be up and running, she needed more sleep. She closed her eyes again, instantly letting memories from the night before flood her mind. She realized she was missing something. She sat up again and looked around. Where was Thomas?
Newt saw her worry, and quickly explained the situation. "Tommy's already mapping the Maze with Minho. They always go before everyone else wakes up."
Right. Annabel nodded in understanding, but couldn't help but wonder why Thomas didn't wake her up. Stop worrying about it, she thought, but that was obviously easier said than done.
"Let's go get you some breakfast when you're ready," Newt said, looking a bit impatient.
After a few seconds, Annabel finally found the strength to hop out of the hammock, and she followed Newt to the kitchen.
They sat together at a table, eating in silence. Annabel had always enjoyed tranquillity, so she enjoyed it while it lasted. Which wasn't very long, because after a couple of minutes, Chuck suddenly showed up.
"Hi," he said merrily. "You're the new Greenie, right? Name's Chuck. Pleasure to meet ya." He stuck out his hand.
"I'm Annabel," she said, while she sent him a smile and shook his hand, making Chuck grin from ear to ear. When Annabel let go of his hand, Chuck kept standing at their table, looking awkwardly from Newt to Annabel.
"Shouldn't you go to work, Chuck?" Newt asked casually, but Annabel could hear an impatient undertone.
"Oh, um, right," Chuck mumbled, and he quickly scurried off.
Annabel let out a small laugh, before returning to her breakfast.
"Are you ready for your first day of work, Greenie?" Newt asked when they were almost finished eating.
Annabel looked at him in surprise, she didn't know she already had to work today.
"Alby didn't tell ya?" Newt asked when he saw Annabel's surprise.
Annabel shook her head.
"Well, then you know now. You're going to do a different job every day, until you've done all of them. Then we'll decide which job fits you best."
Annabel opened her mouth to tell Newt that she already knew which job she wanted to do, but she quickly shut it again when she realized it wouldn't be such a good idea. Instead she just nodded, while standing up. "Which job will I be doing today?"
"Today you'll work together with Manon at the builders."
"But Manon is-"
"I know, but she only had to stay there for a night, so we can let her out now."
"And what about Gally?"
"He can leave as well, and since he's the Keeper of the Builders, you can go with him."
Annabel felt her stomach churn. This was going to be an interesting day.

When they arrived at the Slammer, Newt kneeled in front of the box where Manon and Gally had spent the night. He snickered softly and motioned Annabel to come over.
Annabel kneeled beside Newt and gasped incredulously. There, in the arms of a snoring Gally, lay Manon, sound asleep. Annabel couldn't quite believe it, this wasn't the Manon she used to know. At least not with Gally.
"What do we do?" Annabel whispered to Newt.
"We wake 'em of course. If they don't show up at work today, they will be in even more trouble, especially Gally."
Annabel shrugged, Newt had a fair point there, seeing as the Glade thrived on clear rules and order. But she couldn't help but somehow feel bad for both of them. Especially now they seemed to have found each other.
Newt opened the lock that connected the door to the right wall, and the door creaked open, waking Gally in the process.
He drowsily opened his eyes and they instantly found Newt's. His eyes widened in shock. He tried to get up, but Manon prevented him from doing so, as she was still laying on his chest. It took Gally a moment to process this, probably due to his grogginess, but when he finally realized what was going on, he growled and pushed Manon roughly off of him. The sudden movement awoke Manon and it took her, unlike Gally, only an instant to analyse the whole situation. She saw Newt and Annabel gape at them, while Gally looked at her with slightly red cheeks and a flash of realization crossed her face.
"S-sorry," she muttered and at that Gally stood up and crawled out of the Slammer.
He would've stomped off to work if Newt hadn't stopped him, gripping him by the wrist. "These two are with you today."
Gally rolled his eyes and sighed heavily. He turned around and sent Manon, who just climbed out of the Slammer, an irritated glare. "Follow me," he said gruffly.

"I don't understand," Manon said, while her eyes were fixated on something in front of her.
She and Annabel were leaning on a fence they made earlier. Gally had dismissed them for a short break and they were enjoying the sun while it lasted, because thick, black clouds were packing above the Glade. Gally had been yelling at Manon the whole day, which eventually resulted in a bad mood for Manon.
"I don't know what's gotten into him either, I'm sorry. But I'm sure everything will turn out fine." Annabel said, placing a reassuring hand on Manon's shoulder.
Manon shrugged, changing the subject. She probably didn't want to talk about it anymore. "But tell me more about us, apparently we're best friends?"
Annabel nodded. "Yeah, we definitely were."
"How come you still know this and I don't?"
"I have no idea," Annabel replied. It was the truth, she didn't have a clue.
"What were we like?" Manon asked, not hiding her curiosity.
Annabel smiled. "We were crazy. We used to have fun all the time. Literally. We laughed at the smallest and stupidest things, everyone around us thought we were out of our minds."
"Aren't the best people?" Manon asked, a huge grin across her face.
Annabel giggled. "True."
"And-" Manon started, her face suddenly showing a serious expression. "What about Gally? Did I know him before the Maze? Were we friends as well?"
Annabel bit her lip. She wanted to tell Manon everything, but since Gally knew almost as much as she did, Annabel thought it would be better if he told her himself.
"It's just that he said something yesterday," Manon continued when Annabel didn't respond right away. "About me hurting him. At first I thought he was talking about the punch, but then he said something about us being friends. I just know he wasn't telling me the whole story, there was certainly more to it."
Annabel closed her eyes for a moment, weighing her options.
"You do know more, don't you?"
Annabel slowly locked eyes with Manon. "Yeah, you were friends."
"And?" Manon obviously didn't believe that was the whole story.
"There was something else, but I think it's better if you'd talk to Gally about it."
"Are you mad? Haven't you seen how he constantly yelled at me today? He'll never tell me anything!"
"Manon, please. I really can't tell you."
Manon looked defeated. "Okay, fine."
"But you like him?"
Manon looked unsure. "I-I'm not sure. But every time I see him I feel uneasy, and I start questioning myself whether I look good."
"I think you should talk to him, tell him how you feel."
Manon shrugged. "I think we should get back to work, from the look on Gally's face."
Annabel sighed heavily. "Yeah, we should."
"Ya don't want to be a builder?"
"Nah, I'd-" Annabel bit her lip. "Rather be a Runner."
"Then go talk to Minho and Thomas."
Annabel was surprised at how determined Manon suddenly sounded. A smile spread across her face. "Deal, if you're going to talk to Gally."
Manon's eyes widened, but after a couple of seconds that same determination came back. "Deal."

~

A slightly longer chapter!

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*Mentally slaps herself*
I'm not good at author's notes.