Road to Recovery
It had been a month since Thomas had arrived at Haven.
And Thomas still wasn't happy.
Don't get him wrong, Haven was a beautiful and calm sanctuary, but it didn't remind him of home. Not that there ever was any home to him.
Scratch that, Thomas thought as he sat underneath a willow tree next to his best friend Minho. Anywhere where my friends were safe and happy, that was my Haven.
Indeed, some of his friends were safe. Minho and Brenda had both survived and living in Haven. But they were far from happy. Minho was still grieving the loss of his former lover, Newt. Thomas still hadn't told Minho that he had shot Newt. He didn't plan on doing so anytime soon, either. Brenda wasn't as depressed as Minho, but she still was very much so. She had broken up with Thomas once she realized he probably wasn't ever going to recover from what happened back in the Maze, or the Scorch Trails, or from anything else. She was now in an odd form of a relationship with Aris, who was also pining over his deceased love, Teresa. And that left Thomas alone, with nobody to love.
Even though Thomas liked both guys and girls, there still weren't many options for him. Sure, he could try to get together with Minho, but he definitely wasn't in the right state for that (and he might never be). Plus, Thomas couldn't think of ever liking Minho that way. Jorge was automatically out of the question. Aris and Brenda were together. Thomas isolated himself from nearly everybody, so there was nobody else.
He let out a loud sigh as he leaned back against the scratchy base of the tree, his shoulders brushing Minho's. Minho let out an equally sad groan.
Suddenly, loud noises were heard from above. Thomas and Minho scrambled out from underneath the tree to locate the sound. A large vehicle with rotating blades was slowly landing in the middle of the grassy field near them. The world helicopter popped into Thomas' brain as he squinted against the sunlight, watching it collide safely to the ground. The blades at the top slowly stopped spinning and the door to the cockpit opened.
A pale, tall boy with short, black hair hopped out of the door. The helicopter immediately started taking flight as soon as the boy was out. The boy waved as the helicopter zoomed back into the sky and took off to the east.
"Should we go check him out?" Minho said, bringing Thomas' attention back to him. Minho's voice didn't sound as brave and cocky as it used to, Thomas remembered. Maybe one day it would be happy again.
Instead of questioning it, he nodded and approached the man with Minho.
As soon as the boy turned around, Thomas' heart stopped. So did his feet.
It was Gally, there was no denying it. Gally's hair didn't look greasy as it used to, but much like Minho's, short and spiky, and perfect to run your fingers through. His green eyes stood out starkly against his cream colored face. His nose now didn't resemble a squashed fist, but it was now a normal, cute, button nose. They probably performed some surgery on his face, but Thomas wasn't complaining. His face was devoid of scars, except for a long one on the side of his jaw line.
What I wouldn't give to run my fingers along his beautiful- Thomas thought before noticing he was talking about Gally. Gally. His former enemy. True, he had been exceptionally nice to him recently. But he couldn't go falling for him.
He knew Gally was gay, he had heard a rumor back in the Glade that he had had a one night stand with Minho. Every time someone had brought it up Newt got extremely pissed and ended up sternly talking to whoever talked about it.
Well, he used to, anyways, thought Thomas as a guilt shot through him.
Minho snapped in front of his face a couple times, a hint of his old smile gracing his features. "Damn, you looked like you'd been shucked and gone to Heaven for a second. Until you looked like you were gonna throw up." He said, sounding as close to normal as he probably would.
Thomas let out a shaky laugh, his face heating up a bit.
Minho had noticed him gawking at Gally. And it looked like Gally had noticed it, too.
Sure enough, Gally strutted over to Minho and Thomas, a little smirk on his face. His eyes didn't look as hateful as they used to, almost teasing and playful.
"Hey, shuckfaces." He said, stopping right in front of them.
Thomas' heart hammered in his chest. He couldn't speak. It felt as if something had grabbed his heart and lungs in his chest and had punched it.
He let out a strangled squeak, causing Gally to laugh. Maybe I have been shucked and gone to Heaven, Thomas thought. Gally's laugh was beautiful and, yes, angelic. He threw his head back as if Thomas had said the funniest thing in the world, his eyes closing and crinkling at the edges of his dark brown lashes.
Minho just stood there, sending a small smile at Thomas.
Finally, Thomas snapped out of his funk. "Hi." He said, but then he immediately regretting his choice of words. What if Gally thinks I'm a loser? Why does he look so good when I look like a piece of klunk? That's not fair, I can't be in a relationship with him because everyone will be staring at him! Thomas thought urgently.
"Nice seeing you and all, Gally, but I'm gonna go see the shrine. Bye guys." Minho interrupted, winking at Thomas and sending him the Good luck making out with this shank! face.
Thomas glared back, but he wasn't all that angry. He knew where Minho was going, and he didn't need to be ridiculed before going there.
The shrine that Minho was talking about was the shrine that Minho made and dedicated to Newt. Whenever Minho would go there, Thomas accompanied him there most of the time. Thomas admittedly shed a couple of tears the first couple times, but now all he felt was pure guilt. Minho just sat there, staring at the shrine emotionless and stiff. After a couple of hours, they'd get up and silently leave. They didn't talk about it. Minho never actually thanked Thomas for coming with him, but he could tell that he meant it.
Thomas snapped back to attention as Gally called out a goodbye to Minho, who was already running halfway across the plain.
Gally moved towards Thomas, making his heart race even faster. He grabbed Thomas' wrist and dragged him back to the willow tree, then yanked him so that they were both sitting underneath it. All the while, Gally was smirking and Thomas just moved, open-mouthed and shocked.
How has Gally not insulted me? Or at the very least glared? Thomas thought desperately, trying to disperse the thoughts he was having for the boy.
"So..." Gally started, leaning over to see Thomas' face fully. His voice was still the same, a bit scratchy, but it sounded melodic to Thomas' ears. "How have you been?"
Gally holding up a conversation, and even starting it? This was shocking, Thomas internally monologued.
"I've been... Better." He said finally. Gally kept staring at him, as if expecting him to speak more. "Well... If you haven't noticed my friends aren't all here." He recovered.
Gally nodded, frowning a little bit. "Who? Sorry, the people that dropped me off here didn't tell me anything." Thomas stared at Gally quizzically, not only was Gally casually conversing with him, but now he was apologizing, too? Thomas had seen many incredible things in his life, but this might have been ranked one of the most mind-blowing.
"What, surprised I apologized?" Gally said, reading his mind and laughing. It wasn't the cackle like it used to be, Thomas remembered, just a natural, good-hearted laugh. Again, the butterflies exploded in Thomas' stomach at the sound of his laughter.
"A bit, yeah." Thomas confessed nervously.
"Um... Anyways... It was Teresa. And a lot of the others. And... And Newt..." He said, his voice cracking several times trying to complete his sentence.
"What happened?" Gally asked curiously.
Thomas stared at Gally, heartbroken. He desperately wanted to tell somebody about what happened. But could he trust Gally? True, he was chivalrous and charismatic now, but was Thomas able to put his faith in him?
"Are you gonna tell me or what, shank." Gally said teasingly, nudging Thomas' shoulder with his own. That single touch flooded Thomas' senses.
"I killed him." He said, his voice cracking again as one tear dripped out of his eye.
Gally's teasing expression turned to one of concern as he quickly scooted over and wrapped his arms around Thomas. "Why? What happened? Would you mind telling me what happened?" He asked soothingly, stroking Thomas' hair down in a comforting manner.
Thomas' tears kept falling as he furrowed his head further into Gally's arms. He tried to stop crying, but it was impossible. After about five minutes of Thomas' complete breakdown, he managed to stop crying. His eyes were red and puffy, his lower lip trembling, and a bit of snot was dribbling out of his nose. He snorted back and wiped his eyes.
"He had the Flare. And he wanted me to kill him. He didn't wanna go crazy, you know?" He said, sounding helpless.
Gally nodded and pulled Thomas further into his lap. "Then it's not your fault. Neither is it his. You did the right thing, Thomas. Don't beat yourself up for it." He said it simply, but there was a lot of emotion into his words.
Thomas looked back up at Gally. "Thanks." He said softly, gazing up into Gally's shocking green eyes.
"Just stating the obvious." Gally shrugged nonchalantly. That managed to get Thomas to crack a small smile.
They stared at each other for a couple minutes, just marveling in each other's presence. Thomas clandestinely wanted to lean up and kiss Gally on his perfect pink lips, but he restrained himself from doing so. He didn't want to be rejected, not after all the horrible things that had happened to him.
"Hey, Thomas?" Gally asked, bringing his attention to Thomas once again.
"Yeah?" He answered, happy to find that his voice didn't sound so pathetic now.
"Can I kiss you, now? 'Cause after that heartbreaking confession, I feel like it's the right thing to do." Gally smirked down at Thomas.
For once forgetting his shyness, Thomas whirled around at Gally and smashed their lips together in a heated and passionate kiss. His hands found its way into Gally's black hair and he knotted his fingers into it, pulling a bit. Gally moaned into Thomas' open mouth as they clumsily kissed each other. Gally's hands held onto Thomas' hips almost harshly. Thomas' stomach was exploding with fireworks. He felt lightheaded, as if he were floating on Cloud 9 and he never wanted it to stop.
Finally, they had to pull away, and Thomas could've sworn he heard Gally say underneath his breath, "to klunk with oxygen." Thomas laughed shakily, sucking in much-needed breaths as Gally did the same.
"God, you're perfect." Gally said, grinning down at Thomas. Thomas just smiled and snuggled back into Thomas' embrace.
A while away, Minho watched, a melancholy smile on his face and a tear running down his cheek. The way they so obviously loved each other reminded him of how he used to be with Newt.
He had heard Thomas' shocking confession, and frankly, Minho was hurt, like any loving boyfriend would be. But he couldn't change the past, especially if Newt wanted it to happen.
Minho looked up at the sky and imagined his boyfriend smiling down upon the couple from Heaven, who had gone back to heavily making out against the willow tree.
For once, Minho's life without Newt finally seemed complete.
And Thomas knew for sure that his life was now.