Disclaimer: The Maze runner trilogy and/or the movie does not belong to me – wow, I was blown away by the responses on the first chapter, truly astonishing, so thank you to I am a Fire-jay, gossamermouse101, Guest, ellie and ptl4ever419 for reviewing, you are all amazeballs :)
Caroline sat there at the end of her bed, head in her hands, body shaking, eyes welling up with tears, expression blank as she stared out at the empty and windowless walls, whole body in turmoil. She was completely shocked, so totally mind-struck and to put it simply... completely and utterly terrified. How could this happen? How did it happen?
Okay... she wasn't an idiot, they may have taken her and all the others before they hit teenage years but she knew about the birds and the bees – she remembered Thomas' gentle kisses, his soft touches, his gaze that never left hers as he trailed his hands down her body, causing her to shiver in delight.
"If you want to stop, we can" He had whispered in a husky voice, "Just say the word Caire..." And Caroline had bit her lip and glanced down at his bare chest, her fingers already curled around the waist band of his sweat pants.
"I don't want to stop" She had replied in a hushed whisper, peeking up at him through her eyelashes, "I... just kiss me" She mumbled, skimming her hands around to the small of his back and pulling him down so their chests were touching, foreheads pressed against each others.
"Now that I can definitely do" She remembered him replying with a cheeky smile, his lips smothering hers before she got the chance to slap him playfully and tell him to 'shut up'.
Now, two months on, she was sat there in turmoil, waiting for Thomas to come back from his normal routine of testing, dreading telling him, not even sure if she could get the words out – she was still shell shocked, her breathing laboured.
"They just get rougher every time" She heard him grumble, rubbing his sore wrists as he came through the door and into the blank and small room, "It's like they-Caire?" He cut off his own sentence with a shocked out burst of her name as she looked up at him, tears running freely down her face, "What's wrong? What happened? Did they hurt you?" he rattled questions off at one hundred miles per hour, racing forward and kneeling in front of her, "Caroline... tell me what happened" He pleaded, eyebrows furrowed in worry, "Please Caire" And she looked up at him, her stomach dropping, dreading saying those two little words with so much weight and responsibility behind them.
"Thomas..." She muttered, wringing her hands together as he gently took them in his grasp, his skin warm to touch, "Please don't be mad" She whispered, fearing the worst – even though it was half his fault too, she was fearful he may be mad at her.
"I won't be mad" He promised, a hand tilting her chin up to stare at him in the eye, "I could never be mad at you Caire" He said quietly and Caroline just nodded, hearing the sincerity coated in the velvety softness of his voice, giving her a boost of confidence even though her whole body was quaking with nerves.
"I'm-" She started off saying, voice breaking, "I'm pregnant" She admitted in a meek voice, gnawing on her bottom lip in worry as Thomas lost all the colour on his skin, his eyes going comically wide, body frozen in shock.
"W-W-W-What?" He stuttered, complexion pale, "Y-You can't be" He stated, "It's impossible"
"How can it be impossible if I am?" She shrieked, already scared that this would send Thomas running for the hills, "I'm having a baby... we're having a baby" She emphasised, making sure Thomas heard the sincerity in her voice and knew and believed her without a doubt that he was the dad – because he was, that wasn't up for debate.
Thomas just gaped at her, a bead of sweat running down his forehead, eyes glazing over as he slipped into a medusa-statue type state, breathing loud and jilted.
"We're... we-we're... what?" He stumbled over his words as he stood up, running a hand through his tousled brown hair, spinning around on the spot, as if unsure what to do, "I don't... how can... I just-by god" He muttered, beginning to slip into full blown panic mode but Caroline just gaped at him, her own panic attack settling in.
She knew it was a bad idea to tell him! She knew he would just freak out, she knew, hell she was freaking out too and he was supposed to be her rock, someone she could always talk to and here he was looking ready to bolt and never come back.
"Nevermind" She mumbled tearfully, standing up and wiping the tears from her cheeks, "You obviously don't care Thomas... just leave me alone" She muttered, pushing past him and making her way to the door, but before her hand could grasp the door handle his hand curled around her upper arm and spun her arund, despite his protests.
"Caire... don't go, please" And she just gulped, stomach churning, "I just... just give me a minute" He added, looking like he was feeling physically sick – well touche Thomas, she thought with a bitter chuckle, "I just need a minute"
So she stood there for a minute, and then five minutes, and then ten minutes, watching as a range of emotions swirled across his face before he finally met her gaze, looking at her intently.
"I'm here... I'll always be here" He vowed eventually, his hand landing on her cheek, thumb stroking her flushed skin, "For both of you... I promise"
Caroline bit her lip, looking up at him, trying to see if he was lying, if he was just saying that to keep her happy and she would find him gone in the morning, but no, she actually thought she saw a faint glimmer of happiness in his brown orbs.
She suddenly burst into tears, unable to stop herself because, holy frigging god...she was pregnant, she was sixteen and pregnant and stuck in an experimental lab with no family and nothing short of torture sessions to go through everyday... how did this happen?
"Hey, it's okay, don't cry" Thomas immediately soothed, bringing her into the circle of his arms as she buried her face in his chest, "Everything's going to be fine – I promise... I'm here..."
If only Caroline had known that just five weeks after that he would show up in her room all stoic and hard faced, telling her that it was for the best if they just parted now, before things got worse... that it was the best option... for everyone involved.
Well... damn him, damn him so very much.
When Caroline woke up she was sprawled out on the bed in the infirmary type place, a blanket thrown over her body and a cold wash cloth pressed against her clammy forehead, strands of hair sticking to her face.
"Alby, Newt... greenie's awake" A cautious voice spoke up, pulling Caroline from her day dream as she pushed herself up on her elbows, blinking around in confusion, a headache already forming.
"Which one?" A humorous voice asked, obviously trying to look on the bright side of things and Caroline blinked a couple of times as she saw Newt, the belonger of the second voice, sit down next to her, Alby folding his arms and standing behind him.
"How you feeling?" Alby asked in a gruff voice, giving her a quick once over as Caroline just narrowed her eyes defensively, pushing herself back so she leaned against the wooden wall behind her.
"Like I got hit by a double decker, and you will too if you don't stop looking at me like that" She snapped, an arm wrapping around her torso.
"I'm not looking at you like anything greenie" Alby replied, cocking his head to the side, "I'm just... concerned" He supplied, sharing a nervous glance with Newt, "About what this means"
"Do you know what it means?" Newt asked in a think British accent, raising his eyebrows at her.
"Haven't a clue" She supplied shrugging, not remembering anything about the real world – she had fragmented memories of those god awful scientists testing them, testing them all, memories of her time with him and Theresa, memories of these boys being practically borderline tortured and Caroline not able to do anything about it and a vague sense of guilt... like she was at least partly responsible for this god awful place.
"You seem to remember though" Newt pointed out before nodding his head to just the side of her, "You remember that other greenie" And Caroline gulped, glancing to the side of her and seeing Thomas lying haphazardly on the other bed, an arm thrown over his torso, breathing even.
"I wish I didn't" She said bitterly, eyes narrowing – she was just angry was all – everything was fine up until five months ago, she wouldn't trade in those memories for anything, no matter how mad and betrayed she felt.
"Great... domestic troubles, this is going to be full of laughs" Newt commented sarcastically as Caroline narrowed her eyes at him before wincing loudly, screwing her eyes shut as the baby kicked her ribcage, the little foot no doubt bruising her ribs and, ow... why couldn't this pregnancy just be over and done with already?
"Should we-should we get the medjacks back?" Alby asked, his hard demeanour slipping as he began to look uncomfortable as Newt leaned away in the chair, like her pregnancy was contagious – idiots.
"No" She ground out, agitated, "I'm fine" She breathed, slowly rubbing circles on her expanding bump.
"You don't look fine"
And Caroline really wanted to slap Newt silly by this point.
"Yes, I know, it's called being pregnant" She snapped, hormones going crazy as she glared at him, "How would you like it if your ankles were swollen so much you could barely walk? Or your back felt like it was constantly being broken? Or how you felt nauseous all the bleeding time? Or maybe we'll raise the bar a bit higher and just put a ticking time bomb in your stomach that could literally go off at any moment? Or better yet, see how you like it if you were going to have to push something the size of a melon from your vagina?" She screeched, seeing red, "So no, idiot, you're right, I'm not 'fine' so stop pointing it out" And after her rant she took in a deep breath, the kicks in her stomach slowing down.
"Uh... okay" Newt supplied, sharing an 'oh shit' look with Alby as they all heard Thomas groan, awakening from his slumber, "How about we leave you two love birds to it?" He continued to suggest in a sarcastic way, standing up and beginning to leave with Alby, "I'll see if Frypan can sizzle something up for the three of you"
Caroline just nodded, calming down slightly as Newt referenced 'three of them' in an almost fond way and that made her more at ease – at least it didn't sound they were going to banish her at any rate – though something about him did feel familiar... Newt that was, and not because she had seen them experimenting on him, testing him, no... before that... it was like there was memories trying to press themselves forward but Caroline already had a headache and that feeling of familiarity disappeared into the darkness.
The door shut, closing her and Thomas off in one small space as Caroline struggled to her feet, crossing her arms over her chest as she glared at Thomas as he shot bolt upright in the bed, gasping for breath.
"W-What... what happened?" He asked, looking around hazily before meeting her gaze, "C-Caroline?" He asked hesitantly, "I don't... What?"
"Shut up Thomas" She dead panned, pushing down the love and affection she felt for him, instead focusing on the hurt and bitterness, "Just because we're stuck here it doesn't mean I'm going to talk to you, let alone forgive you" She explained, watching as his face fell, "You made quite sure of that"
"Wh-What did I do?" He asked helplessly, standing up too, "Tell me what I did"
"You were a complete jackass" She explained furiously, "You got what you wanted and when you had enough you left" She told him, a hand resting on her stomach, "You left us"
Thomas' eyes widened in realisation, like he was seeing her for the first time, his jaw slackening as he took in her stomach and Caroline faltered, her features softening – he hardly remembered anything, he didn't remember much of her, probably only a sense of familiarity, he couldn't remember leaving them, he couldn't remember anything.
"I-I'm sorry... I'm so sorry" He whispered, eyes pooling with tears, "I don't know why-why I would... especially when-" He nodded his head to her stomach, gulping noisily, "Caire-"
"Don't Thomas, don't call me that – please" She interrupted, heart tearing in two as he used his nickname for her that rolled off his tongue so easily, like he was one hundred percent completely used to saying it, "I can't deal with it, I can't" She added helplessly, turning on her heel and striding away, tears collecting in the corners of her eyes as she held them back determinedly, chest aching with loss and hurt, heart sparking with love at the same time.
It was all very confusing to say the least.
A/N) Well, I thought I should put in a memory, explain some more things, and I will probably do some more memories too – anything you would like to see? Explained? Stuff like that? And also the familarity Caroline feels for Newt will be explained in upcoming chapters – any thoughts? Ha! I hope you liked this chapter and it lived up to your expectations so please review and let me know – thank you :) x