The Ivy Walls

Chapter 6

The boys spent the whole night telling each other about their lives before the maze. Jesse told him about how he is expected to take over his parent's multimillion-dollar business but he really wants to be a police officer because he just wants to help people. Dale told Jesse about his failing grades and how much angrier his parents would get with each report card sent home and how he was bullied for being gay. Dale paused and slowly looked over at Jesse, he didn't realize what he just said until Jesse replied. 

"It's ok, I understand, I'm bisexual and my parents aren't exactly the most accepting either." He said with a smile and put his arm around Dale to comfort him. Dale's eyes started tearing up as he remembered all the times he was ridiculed, bullied, and rejected just for his sexuality. He tried holding them back but it was all too much to remember at once. The tears flowed down his face and he put his head in his hands, trying to silence his sobs. Jesse hated the sight, how could anyone as beautiful as Dale feel so much sadness? He shouldn't have gone through that. 

He put his arms around Dale and pulled him into a tight embrace, tears slowly rolling down his cheeks to at the memories of the hardship he had gone through because of his sexuality, as well. The two were a sight for sore eyes indeed. They sat there in silence, tears streaming down their faces, holding each other in a tight embrace lightly trembling from the overwhelming emotions. 

After a while, the two had stopped crying and were just holding each other. Dale had fallen asleep and Jesse was playing with his hair and admiring his face. He didn't notice the small details before like he did now. The slightly darker freckles dusting his cheeks and perfectly straight nose on his well-tanned skin. His dark brown hair brushed into curtains perfectly complimenting his cheekbones and sharp jawline. His nose ring seemed to highlight the perfect shape of his nose even more. His slight smile as he slept. Jesse almost wished he was dreaming of him so that he could be the reason he made Dale smile. "God, not even a whole day I've known him and I'm already in love. What am I going to do with myself?" He thought, disappointed in his attachment to the seemingly perfect boy resting on his shoulder.

Jesse heard some rustling in the tent and knew one of the girls had woken up. Anxiety interrupted his admiration for Dale as he realized he was soon going to be face to face with one of the girls and Dale was asleep. Dale had told him about the girls and their personalities, he seemed to look up to them very much. Jesse just hoped it wasn't Teddi, he heard about her short temper and skills with a knife. The tent door flap opened and of course, Teddi was the one who walked out. She looked at Jesse and took a moment to realize that he wasn't a part of their group. Jesse gave a small grin and held his finger to his mouth, pointing at Dale. Teddi saw that he was asleep and walked over to the two, an angry expression painted over her features.

She gently slid Dale off the newcomer and leaned him against the wall behind him. She then grabbed Jesse's arm roughly and dragged him away from the camp. "Who the hell are you!?" She whisper-shouted. Jesse smiled, "My name is Jesse Campbell, I'm in the same situation as you, Dale found me running through the maze a short way off from here and questioned me too. When he realized that I'm no threat to you guys he brought me back and I stayed up with him to help guard. " He replied calmly, hoping Teddi wouldn't flip her shit. She sighed and looked down, rubbing her neck. "Well if Dale thinks you're alright, I trust his judgment, even though he isn't the smartest person in the world some of the time. " She joked. "C'mon, let's wake up the others and introduce you to Gwen, my name is Teddi but I'm sure you know all about us from Dale. " Jesse knew that Teddi was a bright girl from just one conversation with her.

The two walked back to camp and saw Gwen was already awake and snacking on an apple while she waited for Teddi to come back from where ever she went. She quickly stood up, alarmed when she saw Jesse. Her hand flicked behind her and pulled out a knife, "Don't worry, he's one of us now, he's in the same situation as us. He'll be joining our group from now on. We can trust him, both Dale and I have questioned him and he seems genuine enough." Teddi explained before she could start yelling accusations at him. Gwen nodded and sat back down, snacking on her apple again. Jesse went to go wake up Dale and Teddi sat down next to Gwen. Jesse admired Dale's features one last time before gently shaking his shoulder. "Hey, wake up. I met the girls. They didn't give me too harsh of a pat-down. " Jesse joked. "Oh, that's good," Dale said in a croaky early morning voice. Jesse cleared his throat, looking away from Dale, a light blush spreading across his cheeks. "We should get going soon. You never know when a monster could be just around the corner." He explained, walking over to the tent to help pack up for the day ahead.

Yo, this was a fun chapter. Anyways I'll shut up now.

Word count: 960