You scanned around at all your friends gathered around the bonfire, cherishing the genuine happiness that could only surge after everything you've all been through, from the Maze to the Scorch, to WICKED headquarters, and now finally, to the Safe Haven.
The place wasn't anything more than a village near the beach, and you recall vague memories of always wanting to live in a place like that. Naturally, you couldn't have been happier.
Well... except for one thing.
There was always so much running around, escaping danger, being on the brink of death that there was no time at all for simplicities. And you never really felt the need for them because your mind was always so occupied with worries and constant fear. And now that survival was finally reached, your mind now had time to wander into the longing desire of adolescent euphoria.
Fulfilling the whole journey alongside a bunch of boys wasn't easy, and most of the time it made you want to bang your head against the Maze walls. But that also meant that you were exposed to vigorous young guys who were not only attractive, but also insanely brave and enduring. It would be easy to fall for any of them.
But you had eyes for one in particular.
He was constantly treated as a madman who only acted upon a situation without even thinking once about his decisons, and who only got you guys into more trouble. And sure, he was reckless as heck, but he was also one of the main reasons why you all made it alive. You admired his bravery, and his immeasurable intellect. He always found a way out of things, and how he did it was completely and utterly beyond you.
Thomas was cackling at something Newt was saying, and you didn't even hear what the joke was; you were simply caught up in that adorable display of pure glee, continuing to gush over the Runner.
You were certain Thomas was always nicer to you in particular, but you didn't want to jump to conclusions and quite literally embarrass yourself in case he didn't feel the same way.
Inadvertently, Minho shot up from his seat and raised his mason jar filled with the newer version of Gally's recipe—which wasn't much better in taste than the original. "Guys, I wanna play a game," he blurted out. "I wanna play a game or I'm out."
"Alright, goodnight then," you joked, waving your hand at him. This made everyone laugh and Minho's face was priceless.
"I'm trying to bond with you guys now that we have time, sheesh," Minho rebuked. "What a party-pooper."
"Fine," you said, rolling your eyes. "What game?"
Newt scrunched his eyebrows and looked up at him. "If it's that bloody Truth or Dare game you've been bugging about for the past week, then I'm going to bed."
You and the rest of the Gladers burst out laughing, knowing full well Newt had hit the spot.
Minho scoffed at him. "Do that and I'll dare someone to drag you right out of bed."
You weren't personally a fan of the game, but doing just about anything that involved Minho was crazy loads of fun in reality. Maybe you'd give the game a shot.
"Thomas, what d'ya say?" Minho urged him, and you turned to Thomas, silently begging he would accept.
Thomas thought about it and gave Minho an amused smile. "That game's so boring, you shuck-face, where do you even get these lame ideas from?"
Your face fell with disappointment at Thomas's words. He needed to lighten up a little, and you were so looking forward to see him enjoying himself after everything he had been through.
"Come on, man, don't be such a slinthead to me. I saved your pony-loving butt multiple times; you owe me," Minho retorted.
Thomas snorted. "My pony-loving butt and I are grateful, but unless you spark my interest, I'll follow Newt right out."
Teresa sat down next to you and nudged your shoulder. "So... any progress with the man?" she whispered, wiggling her eyebrows.
Your eyes widened and you motioned to her to be quiet. "No," you whispered back.
Teresa was always by your side, knowing your deepest secrets, and for that you were grateful. But you were also afraid that she would forget you guys only talked about this in private and expose your feelings for Thomas.
"Seems like you'll lose your chance if someone doesn't spice this up somehow," she told you, giving you a warning look.
"You heard him, though. He doesn't wanna play the game," you reminded her in a sad tone.
"That's 'cause Minho's an idiot," Teresa whispered again, trying to hide her laughter. "And I'm tired of seeing no progress with you and Wonderboy."
"I always thought you had a crush on Thomas," you randomly blurted out, and Teresa looked like she was about to explode with laughter.
But she contained herself and put her hand on your shoulder. "He makes a great friend. Besides, you know I'm in love with––"
"Don't you dare leave, Newt!" Minho started yelling, and you and Teresa turned to see the blond boy begin to walk away from the bonfire, probably heading to bed.
You didn't think much of it until Thomas stood up after Newt.
You turned to Teresa in a panic, and she gave you a firm stare, as if to reassure you that she had a plan in mind.
She suddenly stood right up—no warning or anything. "Alright, people, listen up! We're gonna play the stupid game to satisfy Minho's fetish, and then we won't ever play again—but, we'll tweak things up a bit."
Newt and Thomas stopped right in their tracks and turned around to stare at Teresa with wide eyes, and quite possibly with their interest sparked. People started laughing as soon as she shouted that.
Your jaw was on the floor as you stared at her, but she turned to you and gave you a wink.
"Hey, that's not a fetish," Minho argued.
"You sure act like it is. Sorry, shank," you added, and Minho glared at you.
"Alright, shut up and tell us your idea since obviously no one listens to me anymore," said Minho in a very sour tone.
Teresa smirked. "It's truth or dare..." she paused, for what you assumed was a ridiculous attempt at adding dramatic effect, "...the awkward version."
"Isn't it already supposed to be awkward? That's the whole point of the game, genius," said Gally bursting out in laughter.
You gave Teresa a look to try to get her to stop embarrassing herself.
She barely even hesitated and just kept going. "Yes, exactly! This is the ultimate, super-ultra, extreme awkward version, of course."
Everyone simply looked at each other, all of you utterly confused.
"Just listen," Teresa continued, much to your dismay. "You'll play with only one partner the whole time, and your questions and dares better be awkward-worthy. Then whoever of the two can't stand the awkwardness anymore, they can opt to leave and the pair will lose. Whoever is the last pair left in the game wins."
Where did Teresa come up with this? You didn't know. You didn't know half the crazy things that girl had in her mind, but it seemed to work this time because everyone agreed to play, including Newt and Thomas.
"Can we choose our partner?" asked Thomas, and your heart started beating faster. You knew Teresa wanted to pair you up with him, but what if Thomas didn't want to?
"No!" Teresa yelled. "Because I know full well you'll choose Newt since you both will just goof around until you win. We want a whole delivery of awkward here. I'm choosing for everyone."
"If I get paired up with you, I'm gonna be the one going to bed," Minho told her.
"It wouldn't work out for the same reason Newt and Thomas won't be paired together," Teresa sneered at him.
"Then who's choosing for you?" Newt asked her, and he had a point. "If you choose for us, you get to pick your own? That's not fair."
"Of course not," you butted in with a smirk, and Teresa turned to you in fear. "As her best friend, I must choose for her." You knew exactly who she was in love with, and you were ready to make it awkward for her since she was so invested in getting you and Thomas together. "Winston, you and Teresa are partners."
Teresa's cheeks turned a deep shade of red as Winston's eyes widened. He was ready to partner up with her, however; you knew he wouldn't turn down the opportunity since he wasn't very good at hiding his feelings either.
Everyone else was partnered up according to Teresa's liking until there were only a few of you left, including you and Thomas. The rest decided to pass on the game, leaving you and Thomas alone among the group, awkwardly glancing at each other.
"Great, and now you two are a pair by default, I guess," said Teresa, as innocently as she could.
I will murder you, you thought.
***
Thomas looked a bit fidgety, but he surprised you by going for it first. "Truth or dare?"
You gulped, hoping you could survive this mess somehow. "Truth."
"What..." he paused, trying to think of something. "What is the most embarrassing thing you've ever done?"
Okay, not so bad.
This one was easy. "I was carrying my dirty clothes in the Glade, and I remembered something funny Minho told me, so I wound up laughing so hard that I face-planted right into my dirty clothes... and I kept laughing and laughing. I stayed on the ground for a full twenty minutes, and everyone kept looking at me like I'd lost my mind."
Thomas started laughing a bit timidly, but then he just full-on cackled, making you blush and start laughing as well.
"Wait, how come I don't remember this?" he asked, trying to calm down.
"You hadn't come up yet," you replied, your laughter dying down. "Okay, my turn. Truth or dare?"
"Dare," he said confidently.
"I dare you to... do the splits as far as you can."
Thomas looked at you with fear in his eyes, but he went for it anyways. You watched as he slowly descended to the floor, parting his legs as far as he could go—which wasn't very far.
He kept that position until his eyes widened, he looked down, and then he gasped before scrambling back up and clasping both hands in front of himself.
You gave him a strange look, but then Thomas went for his turn before you could even ask him what happened.
"Truth or dare?" he asked, a bit flustered.
"Dare," you said, immediately regretting it when you saw his face.
"I dare you to tell Teresa to end this stupid game right now," he said, his voice trembling, and you could see the sweat beginning to form on his forehead.
"Um, are you okay?" you asked him, taking a step toward him.
"Do your part and tell her I'm done playing," he said a bit more sternly.
Confused, and a bit hurt by the way he spoke to you, you trudged over to Teresa, getting her attention by pulling her arm roughly.
"He dared me to tell you to end the game," you complained. "I knew this wasn't gonna work—why'd you convince me into this?" you demanded.
She frowned and quite literally stomped her way over to Thomas, but when you both got to where he was standing a few minutes ago, he was already gone.
Teresa suddenly cupped her hands around her mouth. "Alright, everybody stop! Change of plans! I dare all of you to find Thomas wherever he is!"
Confusion spread across each face, but no one questioned it, scattering around to go look for him.
It didn't take long before you and Teresa found him, though. Everyone else sort of gave up after a couple of minutes because they were already pretty drowsy from the amount of liquid they ingested.
Teresa told you to follow her behind a bush while you both listened to a conversation between Thomas, Newt, and Minho.
"Okay, Thomas, you've been rambling and rambling, but you still haven't told us why you just left her standing there," said Minho.
"Yeah," added Newt. "It was your idea anyway."
What?
"Yeah, but I didn't expect it to go like this," Thomas complained.
"Well, I made myself look stupid proposing this game, and now you're the one who left everyone hanging, and then you dared her to tell Teresa you were done," Minho scolded him. "Real smooth of you."
"Well, what else was I supposed to do? I panicked," Thomas continued.
"Why for?!" Newt raised his voice.
"Because I... well Teresa made it so obvious and I didn't want to embarrass myself even further," Thomas explained. "I mean, she told me to do the splits, and my freaking pants ripped—I had to go change!"
"You're stupid, man," said Minho before he burst out laughing. "You would've made her laugh at least."
"What do I tell her though? I feel bad for leaving just like that."
"That you've had a crush on her for like... ever? I don't know," Minho suggested bluntly.
You and Teresa were fighting the urge to laugh, but it was getting so difficult.
With a surge of confidence, you stepped out from behind the bushes and said, "Well, Thomas, you still owe me a game of Truth or Dare."
Startled, the three boys turned to you and Teresa as she followed behind you. Thomas almost passed out.
"You... you heard that?" he asked, mortified.
You chuckled, feeling the heat rise on your cheeks. "Only every word."
"Well, you heard her, Tommy," Newt blurted out. "You still owe her a round of the game."
Then Teresa, Minho, and Newt left the two of you alone, giving each other a high-five. You looked at Teresa with shock as you realized this was all planned out from the start with everyone in on it, and she gave you a wink.
You turned back to Thomas shyly. "Truth or dare?"
"Um... truth," he said, clearing his throat.
"Is it true? What Minho said about you...? You know..."
Thomas took a deep breath. "Every word," he replied almost inaudibly, but you still heard him. He took a step closer to you. "Truth or dare?"
"Truth."
"Do you feel the same way?" he asked, and somehow, having this conversation in game form made it easier to confess what you hadn't confessed in months.
"Of course I do," you whispered. "Truth or—"
"I—I have a followup truth question, hold on," he cut you off, not knowing what else to do with his hands, so he put them in his pockets. "Would you kiss me if I dared you to?"
You smirked, but on the inside, you were doing summersaults. "Only one way to find out."
"I dare you to kiss me," he said, finally smiling at you.
You bit your bottom lip and grabbed him by the shirt, pulling him closer until your lips were inches away from his. Thomas didn't even wait for you and simply shortened the distance, kissing you gently and passionately.
–––––––––––
~A/N: I'm sorry this one kinda sucks lol