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

|chapter•twenty•one|

Days in the Glade went by, and soon, two weeks had passed since Lucas' threat, and (M/n) no longer cared about that, mostly because he kind of forgot about the whole ordeal.

Lucas had completely stopped talking to him, he didn't flirt and not even a single Slopper bothered him anymore, which was suspicious a while back, but now? (M/n) was grateful for that.

His bruises were completely gone and he had been enjoying his time in the Glade like he never thought he would be able to. His book collection grew with a few more books, they got sent some more clothing and he spent his days with Gally.

(M/n) was sure he couldn't have a bigger crush on him than he already had, but every day he was proven wrong, he could love Gally more, and it was scary sometimes, although he couldn't say he disliked how he felt whenever he saw Gally from afar or nearby, maybe simply just talked to him or heard his voice. It felt nice, and (M/n) got used to living day by day with the giddy and nervous feeling in his chest and tummy every time anything Gally-related occurred within witnessing range.

Some time the past week, (M/n) had a little talk with Gally regarding the incident of him getting beaten up. Alby had been helping Gally find the culprits of his attack, when (M/n) told him to simply forget about it, which upset Gally deeply.

"What do you mean just forget about it? (M/n), you were attacked, thankfully they were just bruises, but what if it wasn't? What if it was something more serious?" (M/n) could understand where Gally was coming from, and sometimes he also had those kinds of fleeting thoughts, and he didn't like to think about how the situation could've turned out to be worst if Newt hadn't shown up, but it wasn't like that, and Gally had to understand his point as well.

"Just listen, okay? If they think they are safe from punishment, just because we actively stop looking for them, they will lower their guard and probably slip up again," Gally frowned and crossed his arms over his chest, he didn't like to admit it but (M/n) had a point. But it would be most likely at his expense that they would lower their guard.

The Sloppers were pretty damn good at protecting each other, they would fight with nails and teeth for anyone of them, they were like an iron wall. Unbreakable. Only for a short while though.

"We just have to be patient and wait, alright? Believe me, I wanna beat the shit out of them too, big guy," he patted Gally's shoulders and started walking out of the blond's room, "But now is not the time."

And that settled it.

Besides, they had other stuff to focus on. Like the new greenie coming up the next day.

//////

-Greenie Day-

With the new shank coming up later in the day, a fair amount of Gladers had come to realize how similar (M/n) had become to Gally in the past two months he'd been around.

He looked tough at first glance, having picked up on a few of Gally's habits, like frowning and crossing his arms whenever he was standing alone with nothing to do or waiting. It didn't help that (M/n) had grown a few inches and was taller than half the Glade now, but was still shorter than Gally.

However, all that tough demeanour would fade away whenever he was with his friends, making them feel glad and relieved that everything was just a mask to protect himself from anyone that might want to stir his waters and cause problems, and they watched how, at the end of every day, (M/n) went back to being the same idiot they knew and loved so, so much.

(M/n) sighed as he walked out of the Homestead, a cup of cold water in hand, and he watched around the Glade, making his way to the swing. Lunchtime had already passed and they were waiting for the Box to come up, in the meantime, they had to keep themselves busy.