I Know Places [Thomas The Maze Runner] (ongoing)

[36: The Party Host]

Almost half a day later, they took their second break. Teresa and Elle went to an abandoned bathroom at the city's edge.

"Can I ask you something?" Teresa wondered.

"Of course," Elle replied, happy Teresa was opening up. "What's going on?"

Teresa looked nervous. Her eyes darted around the room as she washed her hands. "Sometimes I think about going back to WICKED," she confessed. Elle stared at her in shock. "I know. Believe me, I know. But ever since I got my memories back I remember how much we wanted to help people. We really thought that WICKED was the right way to do it." She sighed. "Looking for people who are going to hide us away seems wrong when we could be finding a cure."

"I know you want to help, I do too," Elle assured her friend. "But do you really think WICKED is going about it the right way? Think about what they did to all those people in that laboratory. You should have seen it. It was--" Elle paused, swallowing harshly. "It was the most dehumanising thing I've ever seen. If we go back then those things are going to happen to our friends, our family!"

Teresa took a moment to look at Elle. "Elle," she said slowly. "Those people aren't your family. You had a family; parents and siblings. These people are barely even your friends."

"That isn't true," Elle denied. "They're not just my friends, they're my family. They're everything I have and I love them." She levelled Teresa's gaze, wondering what was going through her friend's head.

"It's not the same as real friends," Teresa disagreed. "I'm sorry but it's true. You feel close to them because WICKED forced you to. That's not friendship, that's survival. Look at you and me! We became friends because we have a connection and we have a long history together, we grew up together at WICKED. That's real friendship."

"Just because we became friends differently than I did with the boys doesn't make those friendships fake."

"What about Thomas?" Teresa challenged. "Chancellor Paige practically drooled when you got together. You don't think WICKED had any part in your relationship?"

Elle was stunned. "What?"

"She forced you and Thomas together every day, you and I sat together by chance," Teresa recalled. "What you and Thomas have, it's not love."

"Yes it is," Elle said more patiently than Teresa deserved. She knew Teresa had been through a lot after losing all the boys from her Maze, but that didn't mean she could insult Elle's relationships. "Thomas is the most important person in the world to me. He's my greatest achievement because he represents how deeply and wholly I can love another person," Elle explained. "I never thought I'd ever love someone that much, not after my whole family died. Thomas made me realise I'm in charge of my life and I get to make my own decisions. So I choose to love him." Elle shrugged. "That's real."

Teresa shook her head. "You know it isn't."

"It is. I love him, Teresa. With everything I have. I can promise you that."

"No, you don't, it's not real!" Desperately, Teresa took a step closer. "Do you know why you think you're in love with him? Hormones. Endorphins." She threw her hands in the air. "But it's not real, it's chemical! What you and Thomas have isn't real!"

"Yes, it is!" Elle shouted; her patience had worn out. Teresa looked at her friend with huge eyes. "It's not in my head, it's not something I clung to in the Maze, and it's not just because of endorphins. Loving him," Elle paused and corrected herself. "Loving any of them is the most real thing I've ever done. I feel it in my heart when I see him, and my whole body when I'm beside him." She leaned against the old basin tiredly. "Maybe love is chemical, but that doesn't make it an illusion. I'm not in love with the idea of him, I'm in love with him."