A/N: just dropping in here to say, uh wow, all of you readers are the kindest most supportive people out there. Thank you for accepting my stories as they are and just being so freaking nice. I love you alllllll
Minho was retuning to the Glade. His body was soiled with dirt and blood, all mixed with the relentless rain pouring down from overhead. A shattered heart, agitated mind and aching legs was what he was bringing back tonight, lacking any hope for a way out.
Minho was also returning without his running partner.
All of the Gladers were huddled around the maze doors this evening, awaiting the arrival of their most beloved friends. When they saw Minho limping his way down the corridor, screams of excitement and relief filled the air. The sound of joy was so overwhelming it temporarily thwarted the thunder roaring overhead. That was, until Gally's booming voice shattered everyones ears.
"Minho!" He hollered out to the boy nearing the maze entrance. "Where's Y/N?"
Everyone stopped. They hadn't even stopped to think about it. They had just assumed she'd be following right behind him, maybe just moving a little slower. Not a single person, aside from Gally, had let their minds slip to the possibility that she wasn't with him.
Breathing heavily and collapsing to his knees the moment he hit the grass of the Glade, Minho looked up to Gally who was pushing his way though the boys crowding around Minho. "She didn't make it."
"What are you talking about?" Gally snapped. "Where is she?"
"Like I said shuckface, she didn't make it. She's gone." Minho grunted as he forced himself to his feet. He began to walk away solemnly, tying to hold himself together.
Gally rushed up behind Minho and turned him around forcefully. The keeper of runners and builders were close in size, but in a moment such as this, Gally seemed to dwarf Minho. "What happened? Did you leave her?"
Minho struggled to talk without falling apart. "TELL ME!" Gally screamed in the face of the runner who was near to crumbling.
Newt tried to intervene, but he couldn't break between the boys.
"She fell." Minho forced the words out, just barely able to speak them. "Disappeared. I don't know what happened, but she's gone."
Gally stood completely perplexed, drowning in confusion and remorse. He wasn't sure what he was feeling, if he was feeling anything at all. It wasn't until he realized he was standing in the Glade, completely alone, the rain falling down around him that he'd been lost in his head for some time. It was then he decided to make his way to the homestead and try to get some sleep.
The next day passed in silence. Gally, and the world around him, was like mist. Nothing felt real or solid, he moved slowly and felt weak. It wasn't until the sun began to set and a group of boys following Alby toward the wall of names caught his eye.
Alby was obviously distraught as he fiddled with the knife in his hand as he walked. Gally caught him off guard.
"What's going on?" Gally asked.
"You know," Alby responded sadly. "It's time." He held out the knife to Gally, offering him the chance to cross her name off the wall.
"No," Gally snapped. "You can't do that."
Alby looked confused. What Gally didn't understand about someone disappearing in the maze meant, Alby wasn't sure. He truly was holding onto the fact she was alive. It was irrational and Alby, better than anyone knew, hoping someone was still alive only lead to more heartbreak.
The leader passed off the knife to someone else more willing. Just before they began, Gally lunged for the knife and stole it out of the boys hands. "You're not crossing off her name."
The keeper of the builders stood defensively, knife held out as his fellow Gladers slowly backed away. "You're not allowed to say she's dead unless we really know."
Alby shook his head. Not necessarily in disappointment, but in pity for Gally. He was only going to get more hurt the longer her held onto Y/N. But, he wasn't going to fight Gally. If this is what he wanted and needed to do, then so be it.
At least tonight the weather was pleasant, the stars were out and there was no hint of rain. So, Gally decided he was going to stay here. He was going to protect Y/N in the only way he knew how right now, which was to stick with her, regardless if she was still out there or not. She would do the same for him. She'd believe in him. Besides, he had a hard time believing she was gone. It was impossible. He was going to sleep here every night until she returned.
While he sat awake, grappling with his hurricane of thoughts in the silence of night, he saw a torch slowly making its way toward him. When he noticed it was Minho, he wasn't sure whether he should be alright with it or angry.
"Gally..." Minho sympathized. "You need to get some sleep, man."
"I will. Here. But I'm not letting anyone say she's dead by crossing off her name when they don't know if it's true." Gally explained.
"She's gone, Gally. I was there." Minho tried to enforce. "She fell off the edge when the griever was chasing us. She disappeared after that. There's no way—"
"That's it!" Gally fired. "She disappeared. If she was dead, you would have seen her laying there, or seen the griever take her, or—" He clawed at his face in an attempt to hide the tear which Minho already saw fall, thinking about all the horrible things that could have happened.
Minho sighed and handed Gally the torch gently. "I know I can't change your mind. And I appreciate you believing when the rest of us don't." He kicked the dirt. "I'm just trying to move on. It's easier to focus if I just tell myself she's not coming back."
"I understand," Gally nodded. "But nobody is crossing this name until we know for sure, alright?"
"Good that." Minho smiled sadly and wandered off into the dark.
It was nearing the end of the third day since Y/N had gone missing. By now, most of the Gladers had accepted Y/N wasn't coming back and there wasn't anything they could do. Gally was holding out but he wasn't sure how much longer he could hold hope. Like the past few nights, dinner was finished and he began to venture his way back to his spot along the wall where he defended Y/N's name.
Unfortunately, he just missed the best sight of the day by leaving dinner early.
"Bloody hell, would you look at that." Newt wasn't even really surprised. "She's back."
Boys stood in shock. There was Y/N, making her way through the maze doors, almost as if she had a bounce in her step. She looked totally fine. Maybe, even better than the last time she'd seen them. Y/N locked eyes with Minho across the Glade and they ran for one another.
"Holy shuck," Minho lifted his friend up in his arms. "I really thought you were a goner."
Y/N smiled a little. "Nah. That'd be too soon."
"What happened? How'd you get away from the griever? I mean, you fell..." Minho questioned as boys gathered around to listen.
"Can we talk about this in the morning?" Y/N pleaded out of exhaustion. "I can't even think right now—"
She paused. "Hey, where's Gally?" She looked around for the one face she really wanted to see. He, like all of her other friends, should be here. There's no way he'd miss this.
Newt sighed as he came in closer. "He's been sleeping under your stinkin' name for the past few days. He wasn't going to let anyone cross it off that wall until we knew you were gone."
Y/N laughed a little, almost surprised that of all people, it had been Gally who didn't want to believe she'd died. "I should probably go talk to him."
With that, she waved off and promised to share every detail of what happened in the morning. Right now, she cared more about making sure Gally had his sanity returned and to check in on everyone else. Sure enough, just as Newt had said, there was Gally curled up on the ground beneath the names carved into the stone wall. He looked broken.
"Hey, you can go to sleep in your own bed now if you want." Y/N spoke up gently.
Gally didn't even move from where he lay. "I told you shanks to stay away," He growled. "Don't try anything."
"Well," Y/N walked closer. "I'm not here to erase my own name, so..."
Gally rolled over with so much speed he almost over-rotated and sent his face into the dirt. His eyes were wide with fear and confusion. Was he hallucinating now? Had he fallen asleep so fast he didn't realize and was now dreaming?
"Y/N?" He muttered as he slowly stood up. He took a second to pinch his arms as hard as he could but he never woke. Was this really happening?
"Yeah, I'm okay." Y/N smiled. "Thanks for making sure they didn't erase me from existence."
"Uhm," He cleared his throat. "Uh, yeah. You're welcome." He rubbed his hands together awkwardly. "How did you get out? What happened?"
"I said I'd tell everyone in the morning," She explained. "I wanted to spend tonight just seeing my friends faces again."
Gally's face was reddening. "That's good, yeah." He rocked back and forth nervously. "I'm glad you're back."
Obviously, he had something on his mind making him look like a deer in headlights. He was holding back from something, resisting almost.
That demeanour changed immediately when he suddenly gathered the confidence to charge forwards and encase Y/N in his arms. The hug he gave her was so suffocating she could hardly hug him back.
"I think I might've gone crazy if you never came back," Gally admitted. "I need you here. My day ends when you come back from the maze and take me to dinner."
Y/N flinched a little when he brushed the hair out of her eyes. "My days don't end without you here. I can't sleep, think straight or work."
"Well, you don't have to worry about that anymore. I'm back and I may have found a clue to getting us out of here." She squeezed his arms with an honest and excited smile. "Thank you for not forgetting me so quick."