"i'm sorry," he said. "it's my fault this is happening to you."
"We'll find a way," she repeated.
When Thomas falls in love with an immune, will he be able to let her go and send her up to Group A?
All rights go to the brilliant author James Dashn...
"then don't push me away," he took a step towards her.
"that's what's so frustrating," she groaned. "i probably will because i have no idea who you are and you don't know who i am, but when i do i'll literally feel sick to my stomach."
she knew she wasn't making any sense, but the entire situation didn't make sense. she doubted anything in the glade would ever make sense to her.
thomas closed the distance and caressed her cheek, leaving her skin tingling. "we can get to know each other," he said. "follow me, i want to show you something."
he tugged her arm and they began to run.
10 minutes later they stood in front of a riveted metal door. thomas pulled out a key and unlocked the door, cranked the wheel-handle, spinning it until an audible clock sounded from inside, then pulled. with a lurching squeal, the heavy metal slab swung open.
"they gave you a key?" hayley asked, staring at the door in amazement. "you're just a greenie. they must really think you're special. i was stupid to think they'd ever banish you."
"they didn't give it to me," thomas said awkwardly. "i stole it."
he ran inside the room before she could reply, leaving her stunned in the doorway. she scoffed and walked inside. the dark room had a musty, wet smell, laced with a deep coppery scent so strong she could taste it.
thomas had hit a switch and several rows of fluorescent lights flickered until they came on full strength, revealing the room in detail.
about twenty feet across, the room had concrete walls bare of any decoration. a wooden table stood in the exact center, eight chairs tucked in around it. neatly stacked piles of paper and pencils lay about the table's surface, one for each chair. the only other items in the room were eight trunks, closed, they were evenly spaced, two to a wall.
"welcome to the map room," thomas said, watching her take in the room to see if she liked it as much as he did.
she grinned widely and walked over to the table to examine previously drawn pictures of the maze. "the runners drew this?" she asked, holding up a paper.
thomas nodded.
"this is amazing," hayley breathed.
thomas seemed to relax slightly. he was waiting for her to be unimpressed. he loved the fact that she thought it was just as interesting as he did.
"i'm guessing we aren't allowed in here though," she said, raising an eyebrow up at him. "who did you steal the key from?"
"minho," he said. "he was in the showering room and the key was in his jeans outside the door."
"how long have you had the key?" she asked.
"two days," he said in a quiet voice.
"thomas," she gasped. "we have to return it. who knows what minho or alby will do if they find out the two greenies have it. being banished won't be punishment enough. they'll have our heads on a stick!"
thomas's face scrunched up. "that's a horrifying image, hayley."
she rolled her eyes. "alby is horrifying."
"okay," he sighed. "we'll return it."
"you two shuck faces are the dumbest people i've ever met... and that's saying something because i know gally," a voice came from behind them.
they spun around and saw minho standing in the doorway, his arms crossed. hayley and thomas shared a panicked look.
"i, uh, i found the key," thomas stammered and held it up.
hayley grimaced. "please don't have our heads on a stick."
minho plucked the key out of thomas's hand and stuffed it into the pocket of his jeans. then as if he just now processed what hayley said, he looked at her with his eyebrows raised. "that's shucking horrifying. sheesh greenie."
thomas tried to ask questions about the map room but minho cut him off.
"only runners are allowed in here," said minho. "so only runners are allowed to know this stuff. that's why we lock the door."
he ushered hayley and thomas out the door and locked it back up, stuffing the key back in his pocket before storming off, all the while muttering how idiotic they were. hayley felt relieved and alive after breaking the rules. she knew it was wrong but she liked the feeling.
"that was amazing!" she squealed and wrapped her arms around thomas in a hug before she really knew what she was doing. she awkwardly pulled away, her cheeks turning red in embarrassment. "i'm sorry."
"i'm not," said thomas, smiling.
she didn't know what else to say, so she stood there awkwardly for a few minutes before saying, "i should go to sleep. i, uh, have to work with gally tomorrow so i need all the rest i could get."
"you're working with gally?" thomas asked, disappointment crossing his face. he was worried about her, that much she could tell. it was the same look newt had when he found out. and again, she didn't know what to say to ease their fears.
"thank you for forgiving me," she said instead and gave him a small wave before going turning around and walking back to her hammock.
"oh," she stopped and quickly turned around. "and thomas, i look forward to getting to know you."
they shared a connection for a few moments. it caused something to stir inside her. thomas watched her leave, feeling the exact same thing stir inside him.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
sorry if this needed abruptly. it's almost 4am but i wanted to finish this chapter for you guys(:
