I woke up suddenly, every thought in high definition. Even if my eyes were open, I couldn't think of why my head was pounding and my throat felt like sandpaper. Erin and Winston were sitting beside me, looking amused.
"What?"
Erin giggled as she stroked my messy (h/c) hair. "You definitely drank too much last night."
"We were looking for you last night and found you hugging a shucking log." Winston snorted, folding his arms. "You had fun gettin' all smoochy with our second-in-command?"
My jaw dropped. I felt extremely embarrassed. The headache was not helping either. I rubbed my fingers on my tempIe, groaning as I plopped myself back to bed.
"SOMEONE was really worried last night." Erin playfully poked my side as I dug myself deeper into the sheets.
"Newt and I were..uumm..we were at the lookout tower, we were talking and-"
"I don't know, Maya. Because when you're talking, you don't end up kis-"
I quickly jerked up and covered his mouth. "Winston! L-l-let's not talk about this please?"
"You really stutter a lot, man." He replied.
"yOu rEaLlY sTuTtEr A LoT, mAn. Shut up!"
Erin and Winston chortled and took turns poking my sides. I wished the blanket would just devour me this instant. Winston handed me a glass of water and I gulped it clean. Now I had to face a day with a morbid headache and worse, I had to face Newt and maybe explain why I was acting differently last night.
~
It was already late in the afternoon and I still had a head that felt like an axe was planted in it. Despite Erin's protests, I insisted on working even if I still felt unwell. It was getting sort of lame how I was usually the most useless person in the glade. Everyone had designated tasks yet I managed to slack off at times and get away with it. Alby was certainly not pleased with my behavior.
My heavy eyes struggled to cope with the late noon brightness as I fumbled inside the Blood house, trying to get work done. Frypan just happened to pass by and noticed me stumbling all over the place, unsupervised.
"Maya, you good?"
"Yeah. I think I had too much of Gally's recipe last night."
"You can say that," He chortled, "We found you getting all cozy with a log like your life depended on it."
I felt my cheeks fluster as Frypan lightly nudged my shoulder before returning to the kitchen. I hoped dinner tonight would help me feel better.
______________________________________________
'Erin's PoV:
(earlier that day)
"Be careful out there, ok?" I leaned closer to him and wrapped my hands around his neck. Ben grinned before kissing me passionately.
"Erin, you know I'm always careful. If Minho wasn't around, ya'll know I would be the keeper of the runners."
"Or me. I would make a good runner." I teased and he rolled his eyes. "Just don't do anything stupid out there, ok?"
"Of course." He kissed my cheek. "See you at dinner?"
"See you at dinner."
Watching Ben enter the maze hurt like hell. Although hanging out with Winston or Maya made me feel better, but part of me won't stop worrying about Ben.
I was on my way back to the med-jack hut when I saw Alby approach me.
"You alright?"
"Yeah." I smiled even if inside I felt like exploding. "I'm fine."
"Come on. I know you." He crossed his arms. "You gotta stop lying to me. Bottling it all up inside will make it worse."
I sighed. "I'm just worried about Ben. I know he's been doing this for a while, but I just can't help it."
Alby wrapped his arms around me and pulled me in an embrace. Despite the heaviness in my stomach, it fluttered at the feeling of his body pressed against mine. I sunk into the warmth of his side, grateful of the simple gesture.
"Alby," I whispered as I pulled away, "my dream last night; Nick was back. His eyes were red and-"
"He's long gone Erin. He'll never harm you again. There's no way he could've survived out there."
"And if he did? What if he returns?"
"Then we'll just kill him ourselves."
Over the years, I've grown and learned to live with these shanks. It felt rewarding once you see how far we've gone from the start until now. I was happy when Maya arrived, although I wished she should have never ended up here in the first place since she deserved a better life outside these harsh circumstances. But with her, I felt like I had a bigger purpose, other than bandaging clumsy shuckfaces. I had this will to protect her.
"How's Maya?" Alby asked.
"I told her to rest since she felt sick. But she insisted anyway, she wanted to help Winston. If that shank accidentally chops her fingers off, I'm not helping."
We both chuckled and for a moment, I forgot about my worries. I forgot about my dream last night. I knew I was safe, for the moment.
______________________________________________
'Maya's PoV:
(present)
Newt led me to a secluded spot in the Deadheads which I surprisingly agreed for, despite feeling a bit gawky about what happened last night.
"Newt, what the hell are we doing here?"
He looked around and when he felt satisfied with the place, exhaled deeply.
"Look, I'm really sorry about last night. If I ever scared you with what I said, I'm sorry."
"Oh. That."
Newt leaned against a tree and stooped down. The boy clearly looked tense and uneasy.
I stepped closer to him. He was definitely taller than me and I had to look up to gaze at his brown eyes.
"Hey, don't be too hard on yourself." The words just escaped from my mouth. I brought my hands around his torso and hugged him tightly. The world around me melted away as Newt's strong arms seemed protective when he wrapped around my flimsy body.
"It seems that you shanks need some privacy."
We broke from the embrance and looked around to see Gally, staring at us with a bewildered expression. Bastard didn't stay long though and left us two alone again.
"Maya, I hope you don't mind but Erin told me alot about you while you were unconscious."
Oh no.
"I knew more about you while you were bloody sleeping, than when you were awake. You really need to interract with us more."
"Am I really like that?"
Newt nodded. "Everyone here in the glade is your friend. Not just Erin and Winston."
"B-b-but the others don't mind. You're the only who keeps complaining."
"Cuz I'm probably the only one brave enough to tell you."
"You keep complaining why I'm always with Winston. You gotta problem with that?"
He shrugged once. "I'm just saying that he's not the only one you can trust around here."
"I know that, Newt." I stared at his eyes again. A smile ran across his face.
This feeling was strange yet familiar; it stretched throughout my entire body. It was distracting, yet it somehow made me feel complete.
"You're probably wondering why I keep having this kind of conversation with you," He muttered, "It's cuz I care about you. Not just as a friend but something more. I hope that makes sense."
"Wait. So you dragged me to the saddest place in the glade just to, to tell me that?"