"Sunsets & Sunrises" - a Maze Runner one-shot fanfic
by OkeeDokee
Thomas sat down and looked over the Haven. The vibrant colors of the crawling foliage. The cool shade cast by random palm trees. The small pristine stream that snaked its way through the land.
This place, this paradise, was known by its inhabitants as the Haven. An environment of safety and refuge. Thomas would have never thought that such a perfect utopia could have existed on such a desolate and ravaged planet until he stepped through the icy gray wall of the Flat Trans. There couldn't have been a more better place to start all over again.
Thomas stared at the sky as it burned up in an orange sunset. It was truly beautiful. The way that the shades of yellow, red, and orange were splattered across the landscape. The way it seemed like the cloudless skies were set on fire. He loved to sit down in this specific and special spot on many evenings to see the sun slowly disappear below the horizon.
Thomas thought back to when he had just been a very lost and very confused Greenie in the Maze. The sunsets in there had never been this alive, this bright. Those sunsets had been dim and dull, as if someone had painted over the sky with a brush that made the setting sun more muffled and quiet. Only later, had he found out that they were artificial, that the sundowns were all fake and generated.
And then she came up in the Box, just as confused and lost as Thomas had been. She changed everything, just as she had said. Soon after that, when she triggered the Ending, there had been no sunsets at all. Not even ones that weren't real. Just the seemingly eternal grayness that became the sky.
Thomas knew what her name was, the girl with a pretty face, the girl with jet black hair, the girl that smelled like a mixture of sweat and flowers, the girl that changed everything. He just didn't want to remember it. He didn't want to say or even think her name because it hurt too much. Every time he did, he just felt the force of her body slamming into his, pushing him out of the way of the chunk of the crumbling building that ended up crushing her beneath it.
He remembered looking at her face as she was dying. "I'm so sorry," he had said, apologizing for something he could never fix. "I'm so sorry."
She had tried to reply to him, but Thomas was grabbed and dragged away before she could finish her sentence. He would have done anything to know what she had said to him now.
Thomas had loved her. But he really didn't realize it until she was already gone. He guessed that it was just the way life functioned, how it worked. Taking things and lives until one day, it finally decided to take away yours. It was the price to pay if you wanted to live at all.
Thomas was jerked out of his thoughts by the sound of grass being trampled. He turned his head toward the noise and saw Brenda walking over to him with something in her hand. She came and sat down cross-legged next to Thomas and revealed what she was keeping in her hand: a cookie. She slipped one into his hand.
"They're from Sonya," said Brenda. "She's becoming quite talented in the culinary arts."
Thomas took a bite from the cookie and flavor burst into his mouth. He tasted small, sweet, and juicy berries along with some crushed nuts. The cookie tasted great and Brenda also bit into her own cookie, tasting its delicious contents. Within a few more seconds, Thomas had scarfed down his cookie. Brenda still had half of hers left in her hand.
"I will never understand how you boys eat so much so quickly," Brenda chuckled.
Thomas gave her a small smile. "Thanks for the cookie."
Brenda finished her cookie and leaned on him, placing her head in the crook of his shoulder. But as Thomas started at the setting sun that was sluggishly sinking below the skyline, he wished that it wasn't Brenda on his shoulder, but somebody else. Somebody with jet black hair. Somebody with that pretty face. Somebody that carried the comforting scent of flowers and sweat. What he wished for was for that girl to be there on his shoulder, leaning against him. He would hold her tighter than ever before. He would've never let her go.
The last few rays of sunlight finally sunk beneath the hills in the distance, the horizon turning a lavish purple. Thomas had not been keeping track of the time that had passed while staring at the sky. He lifted himself up off the luscious and abundant grass, along with Brenda.
Sometimes he wished that she wasn't so close to him all of the time. The way she touched him. The way she looked at him. Thomas had met the only girl in the Maze a long time before Brenda. Their relationship was strong, their relationship was different. Even when she had betrayed him in the Scorch, he had still found a way to love her.
Thomas felt like he belonged to to her. Their strange telepathic abilities, the fact that he was the only thing that she had remembered when she awoke from the dreary coma that she arrived in. Those things had pulled them together, made them some sort of team.
And when she was stuck in WICKED's head facility, pinned under a piece of the ceiling, seeing the life slowly drain out of her eyes. Seeing her blood trickle out on to the floor. He hated thinking back on her death and doing nothing about it. It tore him up on the inside knowing that there was a possibility that he could have done something. That he could have saved her.
Whenever Brenda knew that Thomas was pondering on the unfortunate end of that special girl, she would tell him that there was nothing he could have done about it. Tell him it wasn't his fault. Tell him that it was already too late for her. But there was always the tormenting nag in the back of his mind that told him he should have at least tried to do something for her.
Brenda glanced at Thomas and knew that something was wrong. "Is everything okay?" she asked cautiously.
Thomas just turned at her and Brenda recognized the look in his eyes.
"I just need some time alone," he responded.
Brenda nodded and walked off. She understood and respected why Thomas could use some privacy.
Thomas watched her cross over to one of her friends and they began to talk. He turned away and again, he desperately wanted to go back in to time to a place where he was actually safe and he was there with her. The girl with the mane of silky hair as dark as jet. He would tell her what he really thought about her. He would have poured out his heart to her so that she would know that he actually cared.
Thomas would have taken her here, to the Haven. He knew that she would have loved it here. He imagined her taking long walks, sniffing the colorful blooms along the way. He would have joined her on those walks, he would have held her soft hand. It would have been true paradise.
Thomas started walking in the twilight, and after a while, he eventually arrived at his destination: a small tent that he called his home. The tent was not the best quality, but it was something to protect him from the outside elements.
Thomas stepped inside and slumped down in a pile of patched sheets and blankets that was his makeshift bed. He undressed and rested his head on a fluffy pillow that smelled of fresh grass because it was stuffed with it. He pulled the blankets around himself and sleep claimed him.
In his sleep, Thomas had a dream. He dreamed of her.
They were both sitting down on the hill that Thomas always loved to watch the sunsets from. Except this time, instead of the sun sinking, the sun was rising up from the horizon, bathing the Haven in a vivid yellow and pink. The colors of a new day.
Thomas felt her rest her head on his shoulder. The soft touch of her hair on his jaw. The mix of the smells of sweat and flowers. Her shoulder leaning against his. He acted as a kind of support for her. But he noticed that he was resting against her as well, and that she was also supporting him in a way. Once more, they were a team. Not letting each other collapse by falling on one another, which held them up.
She was so close to him, it felt like it was real. Like they were not just in a dream. Like they were actually sitting on a hill, watching the sunrise. Thomas wanted hopelessly and desperately that it was real. That this wasn't just his imagination creating all of this.
Thomas allowed himself to remembered her name, to think of her name, to speak her name for one of the first times in a while. "Teresa."
She lifted her head off of his shoulder and turned to look at him. She was even more beautiful then then last time he recalled. The way her long black hair framed her face. The way she smiled and it felt like everything was going to be alright. The way she stared deeply into his eyes, like she knew exactly what his thoughts were and how he felt.
"Thomas," she giggled, like she was fine and everything was fine and she was still alive.
Thomas gave a small grin that only she could pull out of him.
"What is it?" inquired Teresa.
"I just miss you so much," Thomas admitted.
Teresa's smile faded away and she looked downward. "I miss you too." Her voice sounded distant.
"Sometimes I just feel so alone without you here," said Thomas, watching the Haven slowly brighten up and becoming vivacious with the coming of the shining sun.
Teresa lifted her head, her face illuminated in the growing light. "Thomas, you're like the moon in the night sky, surrounded by the stars. You shine so much brighter compared to them."
Thomas nodded, even though he didn't quite grasp what Teresa was getting at. He waited and listened.
"Do you ever think that the moon ever gets lonely?" Teresa asked rhetorically. "Encompassed by his twinkling friends, the stars..."
Thomas was a bit perplexed by what she was saying.
"No, I don't think that the moon gets lonely," continued Teresa, and she looked at Thomas. "I just think that the moon is just too caught up on the sun to notice the stars."
"So, you're the sun?" inquired Thomas.
Teresa chuckled a little. "I guess, in a metaphorical way, I am. You need to stop worrying about the sun, Thomas."
"How can I just forget about you, Teresa?" he said.
"I'm not saying to forget about me, I'm saying you need to move on," explained Teresa. "I'm gone and I will never be coming back. You can't just ignore the stars and dwell on the sun all the time."
Hearing her say that hurt Thomas a little. But she was right; he needed to stop letting her consume his thoughts. She had passed on and there was no point in pretending he could bring her back somehow.
Down below them, as the sun progressed upward, other people in the Haven began to wake up and move around. Thomas spotted Minho, extending his arms and stretching his muscles as he woke up. He saw Sonya and Aris, talking. He espied Brenda, pulling on a jacket to giver her warmth and protect her from the cool air of the morning.
"Those are your stars, Thomas," Teresa spoke. "They look up to you like the stars look to the moon. You shine and they see you. They listen to you. And you can't just turn a blind eye to them."
Thomas turned back to her. He didn't know what to say anymore. He hardly ever did these days.
"I have to go now," said Teresa, picking herself off of the ground and Thomas arose with her.
She glanced behind her and turned to go away. But Thomas put his arm out and grabbed Teresa.
"Before you go, what were you going to say to me when you were...dying?" Thomas forced the words out of his mouth. "I didn't get to hear it."
Teresa spun around to him. "I said that I only ever cared for you."
Thomas immediately pulled her into his arms, embracing her strongly. For a second Teresa was taken aback, but then she quickly recovered and hugged him back. She nestled her head against his neck, breathing him in for the last time. He kept her there for some time before easing his grip on her.
Teresa leaned back a little, but still in the cage of Thomas's arms. Their faces hung incredibly close to one another's. Surprisingly, Teresa moved first, closing the distance between them.
Their lips collided beautifully, pressing against each other's mouths with a gentle force. Teresa's lips were soft and welcoming, and Thomas felt a sense of wholeness when this happened. Like the missing piece in his puzzle had been found and put in its rightful place. He inhaled and he smelled the familiar scent that she always carried around with her: sweat and flowers.
Teresa placed her hands on his chest, and pushed herself away, reluctantly severing their amazing kiss. Their goodbye kiss, since they never really had one. Thomas stared into her pretty eyes while a single tear escaped slipped down his face without warning.
Teresa reached up and wiped it away with a soft caress of her thumb on his face.
"Stop chasing the sun, Thomas," she said. "Remember what I told you. Move on. And know that you're never alone."
"Okay," his voice was shaky. "I love you, Teresa." Thomas spoke her name one last time and he released her.
"I love you too," Teresa replied and turned.
She began walking off toward a palm tree and passed it, dragging her fingers across its smooth surface. She crossed over the Haven until she fell out of sight. The fully arisen sun shone brightly in the eyes of Thomas.
When Thomas awoke, Brenda was laying down next to him in his tent, curled up in the sheets and covers. His pillow was damp and wet and he knew that he had been crying in his sleep. He could still smell her perfume's scent of flowers and scent. A fresh tear slid down his already tear-stained face, as he remembered his dream. He threw the blankets off of him and stepped outside of the tent. Brenda stirred and then followed him out as well. The refreshing brisk air felt nice on his face.
Small streaks of orange light appeared on the skyline, proclaiming that it was dawn. The stars were still visible, though. Thomas looked at them, their brilliance, the way they formed mysterious constellations in such creative patterns.
Thomas lowered himself down to the lush grass and Brenda did the same. He thought about what Teresa had told him, about how he should move on. About how he should stop chasing the sun. He would put his arm around Brenda's shoulders and drew her close to him. He would move on from Teresa. He would start over. He would begin anew with Brenda. He would stop chasing after the sun and he would listen to his stars.
Together they watched the sunrise.
The End
Author's Note: In this fanfic, I wanted to strengthen Thomas and Teresa's relationship some more even while Thomas is in the Haven. It was supposed to emotional and sad in a way, but Teresa tells him to start over, that he really needs to get over her. In The Death Cure, Thomas just kind of forgets about Teresa, but in this, he can't forget about her. And Thomas finds inner strength and new will. If you liked this, please look at my profile and and check out some of my other stories. Favorite and follow, please. I am open to constructive criticism, so please tell me anything you think should be changed or if I did a good job. Thanks for reading!