Tasha's POV

I watched the sky quietly as dusk came. The fresh air used to always be the same in the glade, but tonight it felt different. It felt dull. Like all of the life had been taken from the breeze and left with it was a hot wave of nothing.

I had a love-hate relationship with the maze. I loved to run through all the different paths, but ever since I got injured I didn't feel safe. I felt like I was being watched. Even in my nightmares of the maze it was all warped. Maybe I was just paranoid, but it wasn't just the maze anymore. Sometimes I would hear that woman's voice while doing mundane things around the glade. It's like a memory without the vision - only spoken words. I couldn't even make out the voice, it was morphed somehow. I just knew it was her.

Whoever she is.

A part of me was relieved I didn't have to go back into the maze. Maybe the nightmares would stop if I stayed away.

Maybe.

Nothing was for certain. Nothing ever is. No one can risk something happening to me again in the maze — I had nothing I could do other than try to enjoy staying in the glade.

Watching Minho run into the maze with Ben made me feel like someone had punched me in the gut. I would never have that feeling again; the rush of knowing you might find the key of freeing all of us, the beauty that running is. But deep down, I knew that I would be okay now. Maybe not entirely — but mostly. I was free from the pain the maze had brought me.

The next morning I woke up feeling refreshed. For the first time in months I had slept straight through the night. No waking up, and better yet; no nightmares.

The first day working in the gardens was as good as it could've gone.

The start of the day consisted of me waking up, earlier than Newt, standing by the homestead to watch the walls open. I watched as Minho and Ben ran into the maze, a blank look coming to my face as I felt Newt's arm wrap around my waist.

"You okay?"

I smiled slightly, leaning my head against his shoulder. "I will be. C'mon, take me for breakfast."

Working with Newt came easy. I enjoyed the gardens — other than being a runner, or a Medjack, it was the only thing that brought me joy. Mainly because I got to be with Newt for hours on end.

But all good things come to an end.

"Hey Newt."

I glanced over to my partner for a moment before continuing my own work, trying to ignore the pit that had arisen in my stomach.

"Hey Alby. What's up?"

"We need to have a council meeting." Alby replied, no doubt looking at me. I ignored him, humming quietly as I continued to dig into the dirt.

I heard Newt let out an annoyed sigh, "What — Now? Alby, I can't leave her —"

"I'll be fine Newt."

I looked up at the boys, forcing a smile. "Go talk with Alby. I'll be fine here."

The truth was I wasn't okay. But I didn't want to come of as needy, so I continued to lie.

Newt knelt down in front of me, grabbing my hand to intertwine our fingers. I looked up at him with raised eyebrows as he gazed down at me with a worried look.

"Are you sure you'll be okay?"

I forced a small smile at Newt, "Yeah, I'll be okay, darling. Just come back when you can, okay?"

Newt leaned in and gave me a kiss on the forehead. "Come get me if you need me, okay?"

I nodded to him, humming softly as I kissed his cheek, watching with a frown as he walked away towards the council hall.

I managed to get a decent amount of work done, but whenever I had a water break I couldn't stop looking towards the maze. I'm a failure. I can't even do my proper job.

"Hey Shebean."

My negative thoughts were interrupted as a shadow formed in front of me.

I looked up to the boy who was smiling at me, and was taken aback. For Gally, that wasn't a usual thing to see — it suited him, though. I wish he'd smile more often — he's actually kind of cute when he's happy.

"Oh hey Gally."

"Where's your boyfriend, Tash?" Gally asked as he leaned against a shovel. "Get tired of his klunk?"

I laughed, continuing to dig into the ground. "Alby called him away. He's been gone for a while."

"Are you doing okay?"

I looked back to Gally, before turning back to the walls. "Considering? Yeah, I guess. I'm not really sure how to feel about it, to be honest."

Gally sat next to me as I continued to dig into the dirt. "I know sometimes I'm not your favorite person—"

"You aren't?!"

He rolled his eyes, "You can talk to me, if you—" He rubbed the back of his neck. "You know, wanna talk."

I looked at Gally with raised eyebrows, a smile on my lips. "I think that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me, Gally."

He looked at me, a small smile on his face. "I know how much you love running. I just don't want you to feel alone now that you have to stay in the glade."

"Thanks. It's good to know you have my back." I stopped digging, wiping the sweat from my forehead. "Damn it's warm out today!"

Gally laughed, standing on his feet and reaching his hand out to me. "I think you deserve an early break."

"Are you kidding! Alby would kick my ass."

"Don't worry, I got your back, remember?"

I let out an over dramatic sigh, grabbing his hand. Gally pulled me off the ground in one swift motion, causing me to stagger. I grabbed onto his arms for support, letting go once I regained my balance.

"Gally, can I ask you something?"

He didn't reply, but gave me a small nod.

I sighed, putting my hand out to stop him once we were in the middle of the glade. "Why are you so mean to people? I just, I don't understand."

Gally stared at me a moment, his eyebrows furrowing. "It's what I do."

I rolled my eyes, putting my hands on my hips, which was something I usually did when I was annoyed. "But why? You're nice to me! Most days."

Gally's cool demeaned faltered as he laughed at me. "I bug you because I like you. It's fun to watch you get angry and frustrated."

I narrowed my eyebrows as him, but a smile danced along my lips. "But you're still nice to me."

"I'm nice because I like you."

My cheeks heated up slightly as I looked away from the boy, continuing to walk towards the kitchens. "Well, I like you too, Gal. When you're not being an ass."

He nudged my shoulder when we walked into the hut, making me push his arm. We laughed at each other, both reaching for the same plate of food. He held it out to me as a peace offering, but I rolled my eyes, leaning past him and grabbing my own, my body brushing up against his slightly.

"What's your problem?"

My eyebrows were raised as I looked at Gally, who was staring at me with the weirdest expression.

"N-nothing — c'mon, Shank."

Gally and I sat together, and we actually had fun. We joked and talked about the other gladers, the maze, and each other. It was nice — a good distraction for my first day away from being a runner.

After a while I noticed Gally looking behind me before leaning in towards me, "Don't look now — your lover boys at the door."

I looked over to the door where Newt was standing, looking at me. "Saved you a seat!" I called to him, smiling.

Newt didn't return the smile, which was unusual, but I ignored it as he took the seat beside me. Maybe his meeting with Alby didn't go good.

"Your hair is a mess, Gal."

He reached forward, grabbing my hair and flipping it between his fingers. "Mine? Your hair is always tangled everywhere."

"Uh— no it's not! It's not my fault I have long hair."

"I mean I can cut it if you want." He snickered, pulling on my hair causing me to slap his hand away.

"Don't be mean, Gal. You know you like my hair."

Gally rolled his eyes as he hit onto a piece of meat. "Fair enough."

I looked over at Newt who was staring down at his plate, his hands holding tight to his utensils, his knuckles white. I raised my eyebrows, "How was your meeting with Alby?"

"It was fine." Newt muttered, taking a bite of his food.

He was being standoffish, which for Newt meant something was up. I let out a sigh as I looked away from him, my attention back on Gally who was also looking at Newt with a weird expression.

"You know, Tash, some of us have a bet going on."

I raised my eyebrows at him, "Do continue, Gally."

"We're betting to see how long you stay with this Shank." He pointed to Newt who was still chewing on the same piece of food he had been a minute ago.

"Hmmmmm, well let me see," I jokingly pondered, indulging his fun. "I don't think there's anyone else nearly as good looking as Newt."

I had hoped my words would make him smile, but Newt continued to glare at his food, not looking at either of us.

"Are you sure, Tash?" Gally snickered, "I'm sure there's a better guy here that could treat you properly."

I snorted at his words, rolling my eyes. "Oh yeah, who?"

Before Gally could respond, Newt stood up from his seat causing me to look over at him. "Are you right, Newt?"

Newt let out an exasperated sigh, "I'm not hungry." He stood, tossing his plate on the counter before storming out of the hut.

I bit my lip, pondering his cool responses before turning back to Gally who was staring at me. "Is it just me or was Newt pissed?"

Gally shrugged, "He has a stick up his ass."

I rolled my eyes, taking a sip of water. "Funny. Seriously though, I wasn't imagining that right?"

"Tash, you're the one dating Newt." Gally sighed deeply, "Yeah he looked pretty pissed off."

"I know that you're used to being pissed off 24/7, " I joked, shoving his shoulder playfully, "but that isn't Newt."

Gally sighed, "Maybe he didn't like us joking around."

I hummed softly as I stood, "Maybe, but usually us joking around doesn't phase him — I mean , it's Newt we're talking about — he jokes as much as we do."

As we both cleaned our plates off, Gally grabbed my hand. "If you need me to straighten him up, let me know."

I rolled my eyes, which was definitely my usual response to Gally, tugging my hand away from his grasp. "I'd rather my boyfriend not hate me, Gal. No wonder you're single."

Gally hummed quietly as we walked out of the hut, "I'm single because the one girl here has a boyfriend."

I laughed, wrapping my arm around his as we walked through the glade. "That's cute. Trust me, dating me isn't all bunnies and rainbows — just ask Newt," I nodded my head over to the boy who was glaring at us.

I sighed, pulling away from Gally. "I better get back to work and figure out what's up with Newt. Thanks for everything, Gally."

He smiled at me, pushing my hair away from my face. "I'll see you later, Shebean."

When I got to the gardens, I went over to Newt who was raking the dirt. I wrapped my arms around his waist, hugging him from behind. "I missed you."

Newt grumbled something, pulling away from me. I narrowed my eyebrows as he walked away from me, moving to the other side of the gardens with Zart. I shook my head in frustration. Maybe I should let him simmer down before talking to him.

After working for a while I noticed Newt was glaring over at the Builders hut where Gally was working, his shirt wrapped around his waist.

How I envy the boys being able to work shirtless. Nothing would get done if I did that.

"Newt."

Newt ignored me — or didn't hear me, but at this rate I was 99% sure he was ignoring me. He continued to glare off into the distance.

"Newt!"

He still didn't look at me, his arms crossed against his chest. "What?" His voice was cold and distant. "What do you want, Tasha?" He spat.

"What's wrong? You've been giving me the cold shoulder all afternoon. Not to mention being a complete ass when I've tried to talk to you."

"I've been working all afternoon." He snapped, not looking up from his rake.

I was taken aback by his tone, but I tried to ignore the pain in my heart from his cold vibes, "Why are you mad? What happened, Newt?"

He sighed angrily, letting go off his rake. I raised my eyebrows as he walked by me, not taking one glance at me. I stood there for a moment, dumbfounded by his attitude.

I took a deep breath before turning to follow Newt, who with his limp hadn't gotten very far. It only took a few moments of sprinting to catch up close enough to get his attention.

"Newt!"

He kept walking.

"NEWT!"

Still walking.

I let out an angry groan, reaching out to grab his arm, making him stop in his tracks. "What the hell is your problem?!"

Newt didn't look at me, but continued to glare off towards the Builders Hut, where Gally and his friends were working — but now watching us talk.

"You know what, I'm not chasing you around the fucking glade. You've been ignoring me all afternoon and being a complete ass to me for no reason and I'm fucking sick of it." I let go of his arm, anger fuelling me as I trudged past him, walking towards the deadheads. If he's going to be a jerk, he can be a jerk to someone else.

I leaned my side against a tree, staring off into the woods. The silence was like a knife stabbing into my heart. This was my first day back in the glade, and already I wanted to run back into the maze.

Oh how tempting that would be.

I sighed in annoyance as I heard twigs snap behind me. "Oh, so now you want to talk to me?"

I was met with silence, causing me to roll my eyes as I continued to face away from the figure behind me.

"Do you like Gally?"

It had to have been minutes until Newt spoke, and when he did confusion struck me. "What?!" I turned to look at Newt, who had his arms crossed across his chest. "Gally's my friend, Newt. You know that."

"I saw you with him today."

His face showed little emotion, anger mainly present on his face though through it I could see the pain he was in. Why does he care that I was with Gally? He was there too!

My brows furrowed, "I didn't know it was a crime to hangout with my friend. Last time I checked you were sitting with us, you dork!"

Newt rolled his eyes, "Don't play dumb! I saw you with him! He had his hands all over you earlier!"

"You... you're jealous?!" I exclaimed, stepping towards him. "Gally was helping me adjust to being in the Glade all day — you were with Alby, I wasn't going to come pull you away from your duties — and Gally came over and took me to break early."

Newt continued to look away from me, his expression unreadable.

I groaned in frustration. "God damn it, Newt! This is my first day being back in the glade! This is my life now! I gave up running — something I love — because it wasn't safe — and you know what? I'm not okay! I fucking hate it here sometimes! Working with you — it's different. It helps. It makes everything better, Newt. You — you make everything better. But you weren't there. Gally was — I didn't think it would upset you — me hanging out with him. I've done it before..." I trailed off, rubbing the back of my neck. "Nothing's going on between me and Gally, Newt. Nothing ever would."

Newt looked at me, his gaze softened. "When I came back, I just— you weren't in the gardens — and I got worried. When I saw you with him..." newt sighed, "and he was leaning into you — I—"

"Newt, you don't need to be jealous. One, I don't like Gally like that! — and to make it clear, I don't like ANYONE here like that. Except you, dork. And two, Gally doesn't like me like that either, so you have nothing to worry about."

Newt let out a little laugh. "Are you blind?! Gally is in love with you, Tasha!"

I rolled my eyes, "That's not funny, Newt."

"I'm not joking."

I was close enough now that I could reach out and grab his hands. "He doesn't like me! And even if he did, I don't like him, not like that. Trust me, Newt."

He let go of my hands, wrapping his arms around my waist. "I do trust you. I just, the thought of you being with anyone else—"

"I love you." I leaned up, giving him a chaste kiss on his lips. "Don't be jealous okay? You're the only guy I have the hots for. Or do I need to remind you of that."

Newt smiled slightly, "Oh, I think I could use a reminder." He pulled me closer to him, leaning his forehead against mine. "I love you, Tash, and I'm sorry I was a complete arse."

"Complete? No. Partially? Yes." I giggled, kissing him again. "Just, talk to me next time, okay? Don't shut me out. I'm having a hard enough time adjusting."

Newt nodded, kissing my forehead. "And you're positive you don't like Gally?"

I rolled my eyes, "Newt, I love you! I am a billion percent positive I don't like him. Gah, just thinking about him like that makes me feel weird."

Newt laughed, pulling away to look at me. His brown eyes gazed into mine. "I'm the luckiest guy here."

—

"Newt," I started as we began to walk back to the glade, "I can quit hanging around Gally, I mean if it makes you uncomfortable —"

Newt pulled me to a stop, smiling, "No way, Tash. He makes you happy — somehow you became friends with Gally, and while I'm not particularly fond of him, I just want you to be happy. And if being his friend makes you happy, then, love, I'm happy."

I leaned up, giving him a chaste kiss on the lips. "Have I told you I love you?"

Newt nudged his nose against mine, "Have I told you I love you?" Newt's smile turned to a small frown as he interlocked his fingers with mine.

"How do you feel? And be honest, please."

I looked up at Newt for a moment, pondering his question.

"Besides you being pissy,—" I laughed, then frowned, "I don't know, Newt. I won't lie, seeing Minho and Ben go into the maze today was — hard, but I just try to think of it like this: I get to spend all day with you. I'd give up running any day for that."