Gally threw a fellow Glader down into the dirt, just like he always did on bonfire nights. The crowd churning around the fight ring hollered out at his victory like they hadn't seen him do the same thing hundreds of times before.
Fighting in the ring used to be fun for Gally. It was his way of connecting with the other Gladers in a neutral environment when he otherwise struggled to do so during the normal beat of the day to day. But now, it wasn't so fun anymore. No one was really a challenging fight. Not to say he saw himself as better or entirely stronger than everyone else. It's just that he always knew what his opponents were going to do before they did it.
It was beginning to feel like he was more of a piece of entertainment. A circus animal. A show of brute force others only liked to watch. No one actually wanted to be around him, they simply enjoyed watching him pummel others.
Standing there, breathing heavy, feeling lost and out of place, something caught Gally's eye. Across the glade, sneaking her way through the dark, was Y/N.
She always disappeared on nights like this. Went off on her own and melted into a silent place in the Glade. Being the only girl, he couldn't image how hard it would be to be in a place like the Glade. It seemed she felt out of place and alone. Better than anyone else though, Gally knew what that felt like.
Tonight, he decided to break routine. He decided to step out of the ring.
Someone asked him where he was going and what they were supposed to do when he was away.
Gally turned and shrugged. "I don't know, entertain yourselves for once." He muttered, putting a hand on Zart's shoulder. "Zart's in charge. Maybe you can fight him and his shovel."
No one seemed to know how to respond and Gally didn't stick around to wait for them to say anything. He was off to find Y/N.
She wasn't such an easy find. He checked he homestead, the medjack hut, and the maproom. All the quietest, most comfortable places she might have gone to hide away. But she wasn't in any of them.
The only other place he could think of was the builders hut--a small space with one table and a couple rickety old chairs. Really, just a sun shade and a place to draw blueprints and store materials that needed to stay out of the sun and rain.
No one went in there besides Gally. That was a rule no one seemed to tamper with. It was off limits for no reason other than that Gally didn't want anyone bothering him while he worked. And, of course, didn't want anyone touching his stuff.
He snuck up towards the builders hut quietly. He wait outside, just a few metres away from the entrance, trying to peer inside. It was tricky, and he couldn't listen for noise inside because the voices from the bonfire overpowered any small creaks from inside. But he could see a faint light coming from underneath the door and a shadow that moved ever so slightly.
Of course this was where she'd be. It was a rule that no one ever entered this place and so no one would think to look for her here. Undeniably, it was a good hiding place. Well planned, Gally would give her that.
Not sure if he was capable of being quiet enough, Gally pressed his palms to the door and gently shoved. It was so against his nature to act so slowly and cautiously.
Opened just a sliver, Gally could now see Y/N. She was sat at his desk with a book under her arms and a pencil in her hand. Though, that pencil was hardly being held between her loose fingers. He noticed her head was rest down on her arms and she was asleep.
A little less carefully now, Gally stepped inside and slowly closed the door without a creak. Y/N didn't show any signs of being awake.
Standing there, he wondered how often she did this? How long had his work space been her sanctuary and he hadn't had a single clue about it? Should he leave her be and let this secret remain her own? Or, should he reach out? Help?
Gally chose to stay.
There were many nights he sat somewhere, alone, in plain sight. And all he'd ever hoped was that someone would stay with him. It never happened. But maybe, he could be that person for someone else. Broken people often patched themselves and became the ones to help others when no one else would.
Gally pulled up a stool beside Y/N at the workbench. She'd elect to stick to the right side of the bench and so he dragged out one of his blueprints to the left and began sketching away at her side.
Y/N react quickly to the sound of pencil on paper. Her eyes opened wide and Gally saw her look up and scan his face. He didn't shift his focus away from the paper.
The girl shift slightly. Made a small noise. She was obviously trying to make sure Gally knew she was awake.
"So, this is where you've been hiding out?" He asked.
Y/N, still leaned forward with her head down and arms crossed on the work bench, turned her head away from Gally. She looked to the opposing wall. "Sorry." She said quietly. "I should have asked. I just figured no--"
"No one would find you here?" Gally stifled a laugh. "Most wouldn't, so you were right about that."
Y/N sighed. "But you did."
Gally wasn't sure if she was disappointed, angry, or trying to tell him to leave her alone. Normally, he might fire back to something like that. Saying well nice to know you're happy to see me!
But he didn't. Y/N wasn't the person he wanted to fire back on.
"I know what it's like to not fit in," Gally brushed his hand across the paper, dusting away remnants of graphite. "To hide."
He eyed the girl and she remained where she was, head turned away from him. Closed off.
"There's a reason I built this place and told people to stay out." He explained, standing up from his stool and holding up his blueprint to the wall above the desk. He tacked it to the wall. While standing up, he looked down. From this vantage point, he could see what was in the book Y/N had beneath her arms. It was all drawings. In fact, drawings of faces he recognized. Gladers. He was amongst the faces of drawings.
Gally sat back down and rest his arms on the desk, leaning down onto them, just like Y/N. He stared at the back of her head, just wishing she'd turn around.
"Always the odd one out. No one wants me around unless it's to entertain them or because they need something from me." He lament, almost allowing for a passing moment where he felt bad for himself. "It's easier to escape than to break in somewhere new...with people."
He was hoping that would pry her open a little. Earn her trust. But she didn't respond. So, now he was willing to push harder.
"Your book is full of drawings of the other Gladers." He said flatly. "Obviously, you want to be a part of it all, but instead, you're stuck on the outside. Watching."
That struck a nerve with Y/N, just as Gally had hoped it would. The girl shift and her head now rest on her arms, facing him. Her tired eyes bore into him, begging him to just leave her alone. But Gally also saw the longing look he new exist on his own features. The buried want for someone to stay.
"I've tried." Y/N looked past Gally toward nothing. "I'm just--I don't fit. It never feels right. It's better this way."
"What?" Gally shoved her elbow with his slightly. "Better hiding out in this stinky old shack waiting for something to change?"
That earned a small smile from Y/N. She seemed to ease up a little. "Well, feels better in here, alone, than everything feeling wrong out there. At least I can do this and not worry." She made a small, weak nod to the book she was resting atop of.
Gally raised his brows playfully. "Yeah, cause it's creepy." He jabbed.
Y/N rolled her eyes. "It's not--"
"I'm joking." He knew she already knew that, but he wanted to say it anyways. "You telling me you don't think the others would enjoy it if you came to bonfires and sat drawing people? They'd love it."
"Oh yeah," Y/N agreed sarcastically.
"Especially Minho. Anything to satisfy his ego." Gally laughed.
Y/N scanned Gally's face. She'd never seem him joke so freely. It was like in here, just with her, she was talking to an entirely new person. Not that she'd ever been close with Gally, but she'd always felt a little more seen by him than the others. She'd just never reached out to him. "And have my drawing turn out like the fighting ring? The only thing people know me for and a piece of entertainment?"
Gally shrugged. It was true. The fighting ring on bonfire nights was what most people knew him for and it was a piece of entertainment. Somedays, it bothered him. Other days, he chose not to worry about it. "Better to know you for that than nothing at all, right? At least you'd start some kind of connection with the others, no matter how small. It's how I've got by all these years. I don't fit either, and the only time the others don't run away is when I'm in that ring and they know its all just for fun."
To Y/N, Gally just seemed to get it. After all, if he didn't, there was no way he would have ever found her here. "What a pair that makes us, huh?" Y/N mumbled.
"A good one, maybe." Gally leaned closer and nudged her. She may have seemed cold and standoffish, but he could see past that. He was the same. "We might never fit in here. Might always be on the outside. But we do have..." He hesitated. "We do have each other."
Y/N finally lift herself off of the desk and looked at Gally. He had never felt so afraid after what he'd just said. It was a bold jump. But, if his instincts were right, deep down he knew that's all Y/N had ever wanted to hear from someone. Because, it was all he would want to hear, too.
Y/N then looked up to this blueprint. Gally watcher her scan it inquisitively. "Yeah, we do." She admit. "And we also have a blueprint that could use some work. Wanna keep hiding?"
Gally chuckled and tried to hide his face by lowering it. He rarely, if ever, smiled so freely. But here and now, it was breaking through with ease. It made him self-conscious.
"For now, at least." He agreed, taking down the blueprint and laying it out on the workbench. Y/N scoot closer to Gally and hand him a pencil. For as distant as Y/N had always seemed, right now, she felt very close to him. He also didn't feel so far away.
Even if it was always just the two of them. Even if they never managed to break into the normal social circle of the Glade. They did have each other. Someone who understood. Gally felt far less invisible now. With one person, he could be himself, and that alleviated a massive weight on his chest.