I was sitting on the outskirts of the valley, pulling up the grass around my feet and letting it go, watching it blow away in the breeze. The air smelled crisp, and the wind in the trees seemed to calm my nerves. It had been week since we came to this place. This little slice of heaven. I had no idea where we were, where it was that Chancellor Paige sent us but it almost felt like heaven.
"What are you doing up here girly?" Minho asked, slowly making his way up the hill towards me.
"Watching you fail at being a leader." I joked. Minho looked down towards the valley, where we had all agreed to set up some sort of shelter. It was beginning to look just like what the boys had built in the Maze. Minho smiled a little.
"I don't think I'm doing that badly." He held his hand out for me and I looked up at him quizzically. "Let's talk a walk on the beach." A walk on the beach... There was some romantic ass joke in there somewhere. I took his hand and he pulled me up. He laced our fingers as we walked through the grove of trees, toward the fading sunlight.
When we first got here, I was amazed. Trees, a valley, the ocean. I had never seen the ocean before. I had never even seen a damn lake. This whole place seemed, surreal. In fact, I was almost certain that we had died and gone to some sort of heaven. I bumped shoulders with Minho. We still hadn't talked. Not about me. Not about Newt. Nothing. Did he even still feel something for me? He kissed me back when we left Newt behind and when we were escaping the W.I.C.K.E.D Facility but.. That was probably all of his emotions building up and washing over me. He couldn't still..
"Will you stop thinking so much." Minho said, stopping just before the sand of the beach to look at me. I caught his eye. His dark hair was blowing back lightly. It was getting a bit long, hanging down in his eyes. It looked good on him.
"What do you mean?"
"I can practically hear the wheels turning in your head. Can't we just look at a damn sunset and pretend we're normal." I blushed a little.
"We've never been normal." Minho shrugged.
"True but let's fuckin try." He walked us out onto the sand. About halfway between the waves and and the grassy field, we sat down, shoulder to shoulder. I pulled my legs up and hugged them to my chest, staring out at the ocean.
"I've never really looked at a sunset before." I murmured. "The first time I was ever really outside was in the Scorch and we weren't exactly appreciating the sun while we were there." Minho smirks.
"I still don't get why you never told me about who you were while we were out there." I put my head on my knees and look towards Minho. He's sitting cross legged, staring out at the ocean, his face illuminated by the orange, red glow of the sunset. "I understand why you wouldn't tell them but.." He looked towards me. "I thought I was different."
"You are.. And that's exactly why I didn't tell you." I murmured. "I was scared of how you would react. But I ended up making it worse." He licked his lips.
"What was I like? Before the Trials began. I don't have my memories but sometimes I dream about all of us, when we were younger. I don't know if they're memories or not though." I shrug. They could be. We'd never really been able to surprise memories altogether. They usually have a way of worming themselves back in.
"Much of the same. Stubborn, rebellious. You were just as sarcastic back then when they first brought you in and.."
"But did I treat you like a horrible person?" He interrupted. "I imagine that I did but I want to hear you say it. And don't sugarcoat it Mallory." I looked back out at the ocean.
"You weren't all horrible, not at first and some people were worse than others." I breathed in deeply. "You mainly didn't talk to me after you all found out. Even though I tried to.." I sighed.
"You tried to talk to me and I didn't say anything? Sounds about right."
"That or you'd tell me to go run back to mommy." I smiled a little and Minho reached out and smoothed back some of my hair.
"I'm sorry. I don't remember it but I'm sorry."
"It's fine. It's over." I murmured. I bit my bottom lip. I didn't want to tell him but I had to confess my feelings at some point. "I've always liked you Minho. Maybe not from the moment we met but you did grow on me. I didn't just go to your Maze because of Thomas. I went because.. I would get to see you again, not just on a screen but in person. You wouldn't remember me and I was excited. You talked to me and gave me stupid nicknames and fought with me and it was so nice and I didn't want it to.." Minho put his hand on my back as I buried my face in my knees. I was going to cry if I kept going.
"Why would you like a stupid jerk like me?" I lifted my head a little to find him smiling. "Come on." He stood, wiping the sand off his palms and clothes. I brushed at my tears before taking his hand. Minho pulled me up and wrapped his arms around my middle. I loosely put my arms around his neck, unsure of what was happening. "I like you too Mallory. Not for you person you were before the trials, but the person you are now. Okay?" I started to cry, hugging him tightly. "Only a hug? I expected a little more than that Prin-" I cut him off with a kiss.
I ran my hands through his hair, feeling how soft it was despite how the closest thing we all had to showering was jumping into the damn ocean. He had slightly pushed up the hem of my shirt and his hands were running over my bare sides and back. I almost expected someone to interrupt us, that's how it always goes but nobody did.
"Have you figured out where you want to live?" Minho said pulling back a little. I kissed his cheek lightly and shrugged. "Live with Thomas and I then." I blushed a little. "What? Is that weird?"
"A little bit. I should probably just live with Brenda but I haven't talked to her much since we got here." He took my hand again as we started to walk back to the valley. "Or maybe I'll live with Ashoka and Silla."
"How are they? Ashoka took it pretty hard when Raven..." I nodded my head slowly.
"They were both really close to her. I guess it'll just take time." Minho nodded.
"At least Silla remembers her." He murmured.
"I told you that we could.." I stopped.
"Talk about Newt, I know, but hearing everything from your point of view.. it won't seem real." He sighs. "I wish we weren't so stubborn sometimes. I wish we had gone through the procedure. At least I could remember him for how I saw him then."
"You know how he was." I insisted.
"I knew how he was in the Maze, not in W.I.C.K.E.D. Those are two different things."
"He was the same person Minho. None of you changed that much."
"But we did change." Minho insisted. I sighed. "Having your memory erased like that, getting thrown into and unfathomable situation.. It changes a person." I knew that. I knew all too well from watching them for two years. I squeezed his hand, not knowing what else to say. Bringing my hand up to his lips, Minho kissed my knuckles. "Maybe the two of us should live together. I'll kick Thomas out." I laughed as he changed the subject.
"He's your best friend." I said as Minho pulled me into him. He shrugged as I locked my arms behind his neck.
"He'll get over it." He murmured. "Besides I'd rather have you as a roommate than him. You're a lot prettier than Thomas." I laughed and he kissed me again. This time, someone did interrupt us.
"Minho! We need your help!" It was Jacob. One of the Immunes we rescued from the Maze. He was waving at us from the bottom of the hill. Minho muttered something about having to always do everything around here before he said,
"I'll be right there!" We let go of one another and Minho kissed my temple lightly. "See you at dinner." I nodded as he tromped down the hill. Aris and the rest of the food search party would come back soon. Turns out there's some random fruit trees in this area as well as some wild mushrooms and vegetables. It makes me wonder who lived here before us and why were they keeping herb gardens?
I stay out there for a little while longer, looking out at the ocean. The sun has nearly sunk in the horizon and the tide is rising. I breathe in the salt air before heading back down to camp. I pass Ashoka and Silla on the way and they both wave at me, smiling broadly. I wave back and continue towards the center of the valley.
Brenda and Thomas are talking under a grove of trees. Gally is hard at work, building the Homestead and yelling at his builders. Aris and Harriet have just arrived and are spreading out to gather everyone for dinner. They valley is filled with laughter and the noise of workers. It's calm and peaceful and we're alive and free. And I've never felt happier.
A/N:
Hello all!
How did you like the final book? And yes, this is the third and final one for my Maze Runner series. I was going to make a fourth book, one featured around Fever Code but I have not yet read the book. Before James Dashner even came out with the book, I was going to write my take on everything, how Thomas and Teresa built the Maze, the variables, and everything between but I grew bored of the idea and lost motivation so I decided to just stop the series here instead of trying to write something I didn't have my whole heart in.
I hope you at least liked what I had to offer! I'm very proud of this series and I really love Millory (Minho/Mallory) and I hope you liked them too!
I write a lot of other fanfics that you can check out on my page if you want to see more of my writing. I have a Hunger Games series and I write a lot of fanfics for 1D and 5SOS if that peaks your interest.
Happy reading! Thank you for following my series as always
Xxxx