"And open." Thomas said gently, as he slowly tipped the glass of water towards Newt's open mouth. Newt hungrily gulped down the thin sip of water that ran slowly down the glass's edge.
"Can I have more?"
"Sorry Newt," Thomas replaced the glass on the nightstand. "You're not supposed to overdo it."
Newt flopped his head back onto the pillow, his eyes trained on the ceiling, as if contemplating something.
"Tommy, I've been thinking…"
"Yeah?"
Newt took a deep breath, and raised his eyes to meet Thomas's. "I think I forgive Teresa."
"What? Newt, are you serious? You told me yourself, she's the reason that Minho was taken! She betrayed us for WCKD, and you want to forgive her?"
"Hear me out. I don't forgive her for what she did. I think she was a right bloody git, and I can't trust someone who would betray my loyalties like that. But...Tommy, I literally almost died. Twice. I was thinking about it, and I realized that life's too short to hold grudges. And she was my friend...once. And I think you should forgive her partly as well."
Thomas stood up, and ran his hands through his hair. "Wow. I can't believe this. Do you not remember what she did?!"
"Of course I bloody remember! I was there! And if I didn't nearly die, I'd still avoid her like the plague. But she also saved my life, remember? I wouldn't be here if she didn't figure out the serum was used on me."
Thomas remained turned away from Newt.
"You were in love with her once."
"Yeah, well, I'm not anymore. I like someone else." Thomas mumbled, heading for the door.
"Oh yeah? Who?" Newt's teasing tone made Thomas turn around, to find a coy smile spreading slowly across his face. Thomas realized his slip of the tongue, and he could feel his face getting hot.
"I'll see you later," he muttered, opening the door.
"Hey Tommy? Think about it, yeah?"
Thomas turned to leave, but jumped slightly as there was standing right outside. The person jumped as well, and it looked to Thomas like she had been gathering her courage to knock on the door.
"Hey Sonya."
"Hey," she said quietly, trying to peer around Thomas to see Newt. "Is he...I mean, can I…"
"Go on in." Thomas stepped to the side to let her pass, and she cautiously slipped by him and stepped into the hut.
"Hey, Newt."
"Hi, Sonya, right?"
Thomas half-smiled as he gently shut the door behind him, not wanting to disturb any of the obviously hard conversation that was about to begin. He tiptoed away from the hut, jamming his hands in his pockets, and moved seamlessly into the crowd of people.
He used to be able to pick Teresa out of a crowd easily.
Now, he actually had to look.
He eventually found her, sitting by herself on a log, looking miserably into her mug. He stood staring at her, concealed behind the passerbys, taking in her sad eyes, her ragged hair, and her slouched posture. Suddenly, her face brightened, and her eyes grew hopeful as somebody approached in front of her, a golden-brown haired boy whom Thomas didn't recognize. He didn't even give Teresa a second look as he passed by her to refill his mug, a stone cold expression on his face. Teresa's face crumpled even more, and she ducked her head even more, possibly to conceal now falling tears.
Thomas slowly turned away.
He had run the Maze with her.
He had worked in WCKD with her.
He had fought the Cranks with her.
And even though she betrayed them, she also saved his life. Had she not pulled him out of that WCKD building in the Last City…
And she figured out Newt was alive.
And he had been in love with her once.
Maybe Newt was right.
Ever since she betrayed them in the Scorch, Thomas knew he could never fully trust her again. But maybe Newt had the right idea. Life is too short for grudges.
WCKD had taken so much, but he'd be damned if they ruined his friendships as well.
His mind made up, he turned back and weaved through the crowd.
"Teresa?"
She looked up, and his heart broke a little at the pure misery on her face.
"What's up Thomas?" she tried to sound casual, but her voice was thick with tears.
"Can we talk?"
She nodded, a little hesitatingly, but got to her feet, and followed Thomas through the crowds to the desolate stretch of rocky beach. He gestured for her to sit, though she never took her uncertain gaze off of him as she did. It suddenly occurred to Thomas that he had no idea what he would say. No idea what he really wanted to tell her.
"How's Newt?" Teresa interrupted the awkward moment.
"He's good. He's awake, alert, more like himself."
"That's good."
"Yeah."
The conversation trailed off again.
"Hey, so-"
"Listen-"
They both started talking at the same time, and stopped, both waiting for the other one to continue.
"You know what, I'm going to start this time." Thomas adjusted his position, and turned so he was half facing Teresa, and half facing the distant compound. "Look, just before I start, you need to know that I'll never be able to trust you completely, okay? You really hurt me when you betrayed us."
"Okay."
"But...I was talking to Newt. And he told me to forgive you. He told me...well, he basically told me to get my head out of my ass and realize when to forgive and forget. You saved my life in the Last City, you saved Newt's life, and.." Thomas shrugged. "Life is too short to hold grudges."
"So what are you saying?"
"I'm saying…" Thomas took a deep breath. "I want to try and be friends with you again."
Teresa's head snapped upwards. "Are...are you serious?"
"Yeah. I wanna try."
"I-I want to, too."
Teresa moved as if she was going to hug Thomas, but thought better of it, and awkwardly shifted her hair behind her ear. She half smiled and extended her hand, which Thomas shook.
Sonya sat perched in a chair at the foot of Newt's bed, her hands folded and her feet tucked under the chair, a nervous expression on her face.
"So...what's up?" Newt asked, shifting around in his cot. "You wanted to talk to me?"
"Yeah." The blond girl looked back at her hands, rubbing one thumb along the back of her other hand. "Do you remember anything from before the Maze? Anything at all?"
Newt set his lips in a grim line. "Well, I know I must have had one. A life, I mean. Just have no bloody clue what it was like. Scared me to no end."
"Me too."
The hut fell into silence.
"But did you ever, y'know, ever feel like something was missing? No pressure, you don't have to answer, I just...I'm just trying to figure something out." Sonya hurriedly tried to take some of the weight off of the question.
"Well, now that you mention it, yeah. I assume it was just the loss of memories though."
"But not, like, the loss of a family?"
"Let's not jump to any conclusions, for all I know, they all died from the Scorch or the Cranks or the Flare, or some other monstrosity in this bloody world." Newt's voice hardened.
"But what would you do if, say, you found out you had one? A family, I mean."
"Why do you care?" Newt's frown and narrowed eyes challenged her.
"Because...well, Teresa told me, and she would know, because she remembered and it makes sense but I don't really remember but I kind of do, and now I'm just babbling, so I'm going to come right out and say it…" Sonya took a deep breath and calmed her hysterical tone. "I think...you're my brother."
"So, who was that guy you were looking at?" Thomas asked as they walked back towards the compound.
"Why, you jealous?" Teresa teased, bumping him lightly with her shoulder.
"No, I'm just curious," Thomas said smiling. "I could take him if I wanted to."
"His name's Graham." Teresa kept her voice casual, her hands shoved loosely in her pockets. Thomas looked expectantly at her to continue, then moved his hand in a quick circle to annociate it. Teresa smiled, but kept her gaze trained ahead of her.
"We met through Adris, but he dumped me when he found out I worked with WCKD."
"That sounds like a dick move."
"Well, WCKD kind of killed his younger brother, and I lied to him, so, he kind of has a reason…"
"Still, if you like him, you should talk to him, you know? Tell him you're sorry?"
"Considering that only worked with you until now, that might not be the best plan."
"Whatever, just trying to help."
"I appreciate it. But what about you? Anybody you've got your eye on?"
Thomas flushed and rubbed the back of his neck self consciously. Teresa laughed as they re-entered the compound.
"Hey, I'm going to go check on Newt. Catch up with you later, alright?" Thomas said as they separated.
"Hey Thomas?"
Thomas turned back to look at her. "Yeah?"
"Thank you."
Thomas returned her smile with one of his own. "Now go talk to that Graham guy, okay?"
"I'm your what?"
"My brother."
"No, I heard that, I know the word, I'm just not comprehending the context here. How could you even come up with that?"
"Well, Teresa told me-"
"And her word is law?" Newt's disbelief mixed with anger, creating a disturbing temperament.
"She'd know better than anyone, since she got her memories back." Sonya's voice grew cooler. "If you think back, don't you remember anything?" Her voice suddenly got smaller. "Don't you remember me at all?"
"Do you remember me?" Newt asked incredulously.
Sonya nodded slowly. "I think so. Flashes, mostly. But the more I try, the more I think I remember. But for some reason, I seem to recall you said the word "bloody" a lot. Just your voice, always saying 'bloody WCKD' or something like that. Is that true?"
Newt's expression turned into one of astonishment, his eyes growing wider and his mouth hanging slightly open.
"So it's true?" Newt's voice cracked. "You're really my little sister?"
"I think so."
A pregnant pause consumed them, filled with a thousand unnamed emotions.
"Well, what are we supposed to do now?" Newt looked helplessly at her, his eyes filled with raw guilt. Sonya moved to the side of the bed, and tentatively wrapped her arms around him, which he awkwardly reciprocated. The hug was slightly uncomfortable, as neither one felt a strong bond with the other, but it was a start.
"I don't really know you, y'know. Not anymore." Newt said softly.
"You want to work on that?" Sonya asked with a small smile. She dragged her chair closer to his bedside, and propped her chin up on her hands. "Whaddya wanna know?"