ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT, Newt had stayed by Victoria's side after hearing her having a nightmare. The truth was every time she closed her eyes, she was taken right back to that moment. That moment of weakness. That moment of losing. That moment of wishing for death.
Of course, he had a job to go to on top of being Second in Command, and Victoria was given the day off. Or as much time as she needs — as Frypan had put it. The majority of the day, she didn't move from her bed, not even for meals. Various people had offered to bring her some, but she refused and told them she wasn't hungry.
She didn't know why, but eventually she stepped out of the Homestead and made a beeline for the Pits, where Carl was being held. Crouching in front of the wooden bars, she squinted her eyes through the darkness and saw him sat there. With a black eye and a bloodied lip.
Glancing up, his blue eyes landed on the fragile brunette. "Come to gloat?" He tutted, raising a single eyebrow. The sight of him made her sick to her stomach, but she needed answers before he was banished to his death. Because nobody survived a night in the maze, right?
"What happened to your face?"
"Your good pal, Gally," He clicked his tongue and rolled his eyes, "Never liked that slinthead," And then he raised his eyebrows at her. "Why are you here, princess?"
"I just wanted to know. . ." Victoria cleared her throat and tapped her fingers against her knee due to the anxiety of being around him again, "Do you regret it? Any of it?"
Carl just laughed. He laughed, and that was what broke Victoria's heart. Inside, she hoped that there would be at least one decent bone in his body to own up to what he had done. To feel some sort of regret. But there wasn't.
"I regret nothing," He snarled and Victoria nodded, standing back up properly. "You know, I came here because I wanted you to convince me that you don't deserve banishment, I really thought that there would be some kind of goodness in that stone cold heart of yours," She explained in one breath before sighing, "Turns out I was wrong. You deserve everything that you get."
From those final words, she left Carl alone to process what she had said. She felt a weight off her shoulders. She didn't feel so guilty anymore about his banishment, because he really did deserve it. He deserved to be thrown into a situation of complete terror, just like he'd done with her.
As Victoria strode across the Glade, she spun around when she heard somebody calling her name. Chuck came jogging over to her, his cheeks rosy as he caught his breath. "Hey, Chucky. What's up?"
"I just wanted to make sure you were okay," He replied and held something out in front of her, "I made you this."
Furrowing her eyebrows, Victoria accepted the gift and examined it. It was a piece of wood carved into a lion head. "I know it's not that good, but it represents bravery and courage. And I think you're really brave after what happened," The young boy explained, and Victoria felt tears stinging the back of her eyes.
"Chuck, I. . ." She trailed off, speechless. "It's wonderful. Thank you so much," She couldn't stop herself from throwing her arms around him, holding back as many tears as she possibly could. Minus scaring the hell out of her, Chuck was one of the first people to befriend her. He held a special place in her heart.
"This is sweet n'all, but I can't breathe," He wheezed out, making her release him from her embrace and chuckle, wiping away the tears beneath her eyes. "But you are okay, right?" He double checked, and Victoria admired his kindness.
"Yes, Chucky. I'm okay."
▃▃▃▃
THE TIME HAD COME for Carl to be banished. As the Gladers gathered around the open doors, grabbing long wooden poles from against the wall, Victoria felt a few pairs of eyes glaring over at her, belonging to the group of friends Carl had forced her to hang around with.
Victoria stood behind the circle with Chuck to her left and Newt to her right. The blonde had insisted on staying by her side during the process, as her support system. Their hands were laced together and the boys opened the circle as Minho dragged Carl into the middle.
The Runner tore the ropes binding his arms together and stepped away. Turning around, Carl's eyes scanned each and every face staring back at him with judgement. "You're all delusional," He cackled with amusement, "I've been here way longer than her," He pointed straight over at the girl. "You call yourselves a family, you're a joke!"
"Poles!" Alby hollered, sick of hearing his voice. Every boy holding a wooden pole brought them down to trap the boy in the circle. As if his banishment had suddenly dawned on him, Carl grew angrier and angrier.
"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT, YOU BITCH!" He screamed at Victoria whilst the Gladers were pushing him closer and closer to the doors. Newt gently tugged her closer to his side and the familiar sound of grinding concrete echoed off the walls of the Glade. The doors were closing.
Closing her eyes, Victoria turned her head and buried her face into the crook of his neck, not wanting to watch Carl scream at her anymore, nor his banishment. Moving his arm to hook around her waist, Newt kept his eyes dead on the blue eyed boy who eventually disappeared into the maze seconds before the doors slammed shut.
"It's okay, it's over," Newt pressed his lips to her hair, feeling the faint tremble her body held. Lifting her head back up, she presented a small smile and dropped her hands down from his body.
▃▃▃▃
"YOU KNOW, I OFTEN FORGET," Victoria mumbled whilst fiddling with the daisy chain between her fingers, her head in Newt's lap as she was sprawled out across the grass. "About what?" He inquired, looking down at her. Her big, hazel eyes beamed up into his, "What I'm capable of."
"Is that a good thing?" He twirled a lock of her hair around his finger, awaiting her response. She sighed through her nose and shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know, I guess so? It's better than feeling like a freak all the time."
"Hey," Newt frowned. "You're not a freak at all. You're just different."
Noticing the bruising around her wrists, Victoria pursed her lips together at the reminder of what happened to her. She couldn't wait for them to go away, they made her feel disgusting and weak. They made her feel useless and broken.
Bringing one of her wrists to his lips, Newt delicately kissed them without taking his eyes off hers. Victoria found the gesture relaxing, and it made her feel safe. It was almost a realisation that there were good guys in the world. She was just unfortunate enough to fall into the wrath of Carl.
Keeping her hand up to his face, Victoria's fingers wound themselves into his soft blonde locks. "Bloody hell, Tori," Newt grumbled, allowing his eyes to flutter shut for a moment.
"What?"
"You just— you make me feel things I've never felt before," He confessed, opening his eyes again. Sitting up, Victoria faced him, her long curls tumbling across one of her shoulders. Opening her mouth, she didn't know what to say.
Whirlpools of lust appeared in both pairs of eyes. Their faces were already so close, they could feel each other's body heat, pulling them further and further in. Before their lips could meet, another voice caused them to jump apart.
"Yo, lovebirds! You joining us or what?"
[ Goddamn it, Minho! You couldn't have waited one more minute ]
[ PS. I made an insta especially for my Wattpad. Go follow meeee (: @jasarellawrites ]