Maze runner x reader imagines

Earned it: last part

The Space Between Us

The desert stretched ahead, endless and suffocating.

We had been walking for hours, maybe days.

It didn't matter.

Because no matter how far we traveled, the distance between us never changed.

I kept ahead.

They followed behind.

Always watching.

Always waiting for some kind of sign that I would let them in again.

They were going to be waiting for a long damn time.

Brenda walked beside me, her expression unreadable. "They're not going to stop trying, you know."

I scoffed, kicking a loose rock in the sand. "Then they're wasting their time."

She hummed, noncommittal. "That one—Thomas—he looks at you like he's drowning."

I clenched my jaw. "Good."

Brenda didn't push, just sighed. "Must've meant something to you once."

I didn't answer.

Because once was the key word.

We stopped at nightfall, setting up camp in the ruins of some abandoned diner.

Jorge counted supplies. Brenda kept watch.

And the others?

They were waiting for me to acknowledge them.

I sat on the counter, picking at my food, ignoring the weight of their stares.

Newt sighed, finally breaking the silence. "Y/N—"

"I don't care," I said flatly.

Newt flinched, but I kept going.

"I don't want your apologies. I don't want your excuses. I don't want your guilt." I glanced up, eyes sharp. "You don't get to miss me now. You don't get to regret this now."

Silence.

Minho exhaled, rubbing his face. "Shuck, Y/N—what do you want us to do?"

I tilted my head. "Disappear."

That shut him up.

And Thomas?

Thomas, who had been silent this whole time, who had been watching me like I was the only thing keeping him breathing?

He finally spoke.

"That's not an option."

I froze.

Slowly, I turned to him. "Excuse me?"

Thomas stood, jaw tight, hands clenched at his sides.

He looked like he was holding himself together by sheer will alone.

"You can hate me," he said quietly. "You can ignore me. You can make me suffer for the rest of my life."

His throat bobbed.

"But I'm not leaving you again."

The words hit me like a punch.

He had no right.

No right to say that. No right to act like he was the one hurting.

I stood up, stepping closer, anger curling in my chest. "You don't get to decide that."