The sun had been beating down on the Glade relentlessly all day. A few Gladers came down with heat exhaustion before Alby finally called it quits and told everyone to take the rest of the day off and to hide in the shade.

I decided to go for a swim. I had been hoeing dirt for a good part of the day to lay new seeds so I was sufficiently covered in sweat and soil. I was the first to know about half day so Alby instructed me to inform the builders about their break on the way to the river in the deadheads. I realized as I approached that I was the wrong person to send to release them. They had removed their shirts, clad only in their shorts and shoes as they worked. Gally had his back to me as he lifted a particularly large log over his head so that a few other builders could tie it into place. His back and shoulder muscles were flexed and I was caught in a trance.

A builder cleared his throat, "Ada, is there anything you need or are you just going to gawk at Gally's back all day?"

"I…uhh just came to tell you that Alby gave everyone the rest of the day off due to the heat. Okay bye now." I started walking to the deadheads again ignoring the snickering aimed at me before a hand caught my arm and pulled me to a stop.

"Ades, where are you going?" I turned to face a still shirtless Gally who had literally left his post in the hands of another Glader. I looked down at his chest and then to the grass blushing deeply. Minho's body was far nicer than Gally's in terms of how fully fit it was but I was much more attracted to Gally and his wide shoulders, broad chest, and strong arms. "You going to answer me Greenie or just blush all day."

"Oh my God." I bit my lip in embarrassment and looked back up at Gally who was smirking down at me with pride. "I'm going for a swim."

"Mind if I join you?"

After a few moments I was able to mumble out a sure why not, which only made me more uncharacteristically embarrassed.

"Great, let's go." He was still holding my arm and used it to lead me towards the Deadheads. "Finish that last lashing and then you guys are done!" He called over his shoulder to his builders never once stopping until we reached the river despite the howls and whistles that followed us beyond the tree cover.

"Are you done embarrassing me now?" I grumbled taking my shoes off.

"Hey you did that all yourself Miss tomato face. And you deserved that after what you did to me in the ring the other day."

"Gally what are you talking about?"

"Oh you know Ada." Gally had taken off his shoes and was pulling his pants down to his boxer briefs.

"What the shuck Gally!" I adverted my eyes feeling my face burn up again. "What Ada? It's nothing new you share a room with Alby and Newt you see them like this all the time."

"But I am expecting it with them, you just started stripping and you're all sweaty and glistening from working in the sun and oh my God what am I saying." Gally raised an eyebrow cockily at me a smirk slowly spreading across his face.

"Sweaty and glistening? Interesting." He took a few steps towards me before I regained my confidence. If he wanted to play this game I would win.

"Yeah, sweaty and glistening. Kind of like me, but not as nice." With that I lifted my top off to reveal my bra. This caught Gally by surprise, his eyes hungrily traveled down my chest before his face twisted with concern and he brought his hand out to my abdomen delicately tracing the pink scars from the branding.

"I haven't seen it since the first day." He whispered his eyes never leaving 'Property of WICKED'. "Does it hurt?"

"Not anymore."

He didn't respond instead he traced every single letter with sadness in his eyes. "You were covered in blood, so much blood. Yours and someone else's."

"I know it's the first thing I remember."

"How could they do this to you?"

"Maybe I was a slave, or a traitor or maybe I was a product. Who knows."

"I hate them for hurting you."

"But what if the other person's blood was someone I killed? Maybe I deserved this."

"I doubt that Ada."

"But it's a possibility." I grabbed his hand with mine and he intertwined our fingers and he looked down at me. It felt so natural, so normal to be in his embrace.

"Did you know that the day you came up was my three-year anniversary of coming up in the box?"

"I did not."

"You're like my three-year anniversary present."

"That's disgusting."

"It just means I have a better claim over you than the other guys."

"Claim? I'm not meat Gally, you said that yourself."

Gally laughed dropping my hands and easily scooping me up into his arms. "That's not what I meant." He smirked slowly walking towards the water.

"Gally I swear if you throw me in with my shorts on I will kill you in your sleep."

"I can't hear you."

"Gally, don't you dare!" IClung to his neck letting out a pathetic scream digging my nails into his back as he jumped into the river. When we surfaced I jumped on Gallys shoulders pushing his head underwater with a war cry.

"You slinthead!" I growled, pulling my shorts off underwater and slapping them onto a rock nearby. Gally looked at them and then back to me a blush creeping onto his cheeks.

"why Gally? Is the great Builder embarrassed?"

"no."

"Sure Gal." I splashed him leaning back to look at the sky as I floated. We swam in silence for a while enjoying the water and each other's company.

"What's your favorite part of the Glade?" I reached down and pulled a bit of mud from the river bank and rubbed it on my face and shoulders as I talked.

"What?" Gally looked up at me confused, he had been silently knotting together pieces of river grass for a while lost in his own world.

"What do you love most about the Glade?"

He chuckled placing the loop he had knotted on the rock near my shorts. "Depends."

"On what?"

"Who's asking."

"You slinthead give me a better answer then that."

"First tell me why you are covering your face in mud."

"Fine." I took another handful and began gently spreading it onto his face. "It has lost of nutrients, it's really good for the skin if you wash it off. This river is naturally clay based." Gally watched my face as I talked, standing waist deep in the cold water only inches from him. "Now why would you answer be different depending on the person?"

"I guess I would just say it differently if you vs one of the guys asked."

"So what's your answer?"

"Well I think some parts of it are really beautiful." He smiled at me softly. This was my favorite side of Gally. The soft, caring, gentle side of Gally the one that he really was. His aggressive side was his 'I don't know what to do with all my anger' side, but this way he was peaceful, he was wonderful. "It's the only home I've ever known."

"Don't you think about the outside?"

"Sometimes. But what if it's worse? It works here, life here is constant, we're safe."

"We think we're safe. I think there's hope out there." I pointed to the maze walls.

"And that's why I like you."

Thankfully the mask covered my blushing cheeks and I was able to recover from a near heart attack. It was slowly getting harder not to fall for Gally. I felt magnetized to him like a force somewhere was driving us together. "You can take the mask off now." I said removing the tension, dunking my head underwater and rubbing my face and shoulders gently to remove the mud. When I resurfaced Gally had done the same. Slowly I climbed out of the river and onto a large flat stone shaded from the sun perfect for laying down. Gally followed suit hovering above me his arms trapping me. I had been pinned under Gally while fighting before and it never made me flustered, but now we were both practically naked and alone.

"I made you a crown."

"A crown Gally?"

"A crown!" He presented me with the loop he had been knotting. "A crown for the queen of the Glade. Allow me." He gestured for me to sit up causing our faces to be a few inches apart as he placed the crown on my head, his breath trailing down my neck. I looked down at his lips they were close, so close I only had to move a half a hair to close the gap. I slightly leaned forward his mouth ghosting over mine.

"Shall we lay in the sun until we dry off?" I could feel his lips move ever so slightly against mine as he spoke before he pulled away and rested his forehead on mine.

"Sure." He laid down next to me and put his arm out.

"Come here"

"What?"

"Come here, you can lay on my chest its better than the rock and more comfortable." I did as I was told placing my head on his chest throwing a leg over his midsection. He wrapped his arm around me his hand landed on the small of my back where his thumb rubbed circles. He buried his other hand in my hair and I drew circles on his chest until we fell asleep.