Sapphire Stones

Burn marks and scars😭

"Can I ask you something?" I ask, a memory suddenly occurring to me as we lay wrapped up in each other's warmth. Gally nods. "Two bonfires ago, Winston and I were watching you fight and he made a comment about you liking to show off your strength because of what happened to you as a kid." I pause, watching Gally's face fall and his eyes darken. "What did he mean?"

"I knew I shouldn't have told him." He mutters, his arms loosening around me as he runs a hand down his face. He sits up, bringing me with him. I move to sit across from him so that I can see him better.

"Gally, what's wrong? What happened?"

"I should've known that he'd fucking tell someone." Gally groans, running his hands through his hair.

"Gal, what's wrong?" I ask softer this time, taking his hands in mine and rubbing gentle circles on the back of his thumb.

"I hate Winston, that's what." He snaps, his eyes meeting mine.

"What happened to you, Gal? Please tell me." He groans, looking at the ground.

"Can we go somewhere else?" He asks.

"Yeah, sure. Where?"

"Anywhere. Your hut. The Meeting hut. Whichever one you want." I nod and we make our way down the ladder and towards my hut. Once we walk into the hut, I sit down on my bed and Gally begins pacing around the room.

"Did Newt ever tell you that I went through the Changing?" He asks suddenly, looking me straight in my eyes.

I shake my head slowly.

"Well, it was about two weeks after I'd arrived. I was scared and had no hope and decided to go explore the Maze one day. I didn't make it three feet into the damn Maze before a Griever appeared and stung me. Clint says I was out for about three days before I woke up. Well, you know what happens during the Changing. You regain memories."

I nod as Gally pauses, running a hand through his hair.

"Well, unfortunately for me, I remembered my jackass of a dad and my deadbeat mother." He pauses to stop pacing, running a hand over his face before continuing his pacing. I notice that he touches his face and hair a lot when he's anxious.

"Gal, what happened?"

"He was an alcoholic, son of a bitch who beat his fucking kid! That's what fucking happened!"

My hand is over my mouth, my eyes wide. I'm barely even comprehending what he just told me when he suddenly says,

"He called it love. He said he was doing it to me because he loved me. Because he wanted to prepare me for the real world. He told me the world was cruel, so he was gonna show me just how cruel it can be."

His voice cracks, the built up pain of all these years ago finally unleashing.

"I mean, look at what he fucking did to me! His son!"  Gally rips his shirt off in an instant, unable to look at me. I slowly stand up and walk over to him, my eyes wide as I take in his body. I guess I'd never looked close enough to notice the hundreds of scars running across and down his back. His flesh has been ripped apart countless times, over and over and over again.

Gally turns around then, revealing a couple circular scars on his chest and collarbone, but these scars look different. They look as if they've been burned into his skin. I gently run my hand over them, my fingers smoothing the textured skin. 

"You can touch them, but be gentle. They still hurt sometimes. They never stop hurting." He mumbles that last bit under his breath, but I feel a pang in my heart when I hear it.

I hear Gally's breath hitch in his throat when I move around him and run my fingers gently down his back.

"How did I never notice them before?" I ask as I continue touching the scars gently. My eyes are wide in horror, but I can't tear them away from his skin.

"Clint's been helping me keep them covered."

"And that day when it was hot outside and you didn't have a shirt on?"

"Clint. He has some sort of scar cream or whatever the hell it is. It's supposed to help them heal, but all it did was kinda cover them for a bit. We ran out a few weeks ago." He trails off, staring at nothing in particular. I walk back around to face him.

"What are these?" I ask, running my fingers over one of the circular scars on his chest.

"Cigar burns."

"And the others?"

"Belts." He replies shortly, avoiding my gaze entirely. I gently grab his face in my hands, pulling it down so he can look at me.

"It's not your fault, okay? It's not your fault." I whisper, pressing a soft kiss to his lips. He nods into the kiss. I feel something wet hit my face and can only assume that he's crying.

He slowly sinks to the floor, me following suit as we break away from each other. Gally wraps his arms around my hips, his head falling into my lap. I hold him close to me, shielding his body with mine. I can feel his body begin to rack with violent sobs as he shatters, breaking to pieces in my arms.

All I can do is try desperately to hold him together.

And in this moment, I make a promise to myself.

If we escape this Maze, I will find all the demons that ever laid a finger on him. All the ones that tormented and tortured him all those years ago. The ones that twisted his stars into shadows. The ones who loved with total hatred in their hearts. Told him lies. Told him that what they were doing was out of love. The ones who believed that to love was to have. To have was to claim. The ones who hit him and cut him and belted him and marked him with their burnt out cigars.

If we escape, I'm going to find the people who were Gally's worst nightmare.

I will become theirs.