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Hi! Like I said a while a ago, I've been trying to write more reasonable-lengthed chapters. Anyway, here you go! xo


Someone is shaking my arm. I open my eyes and groan, putting a hand to my head. My hairline is sticky with dried blood and the cut across my forehead throbs painfully.


"(Y/N)," the person says and I realise it's Newt.


"Hey," I say, sitting up, "what time is it?"


"I don't know, but Tommy's been plaguing me to let Teresa out and I need your keys."


I groan again, sitting up and accidentally pressing down on Minho, collapsed on the floor beside me.


"What's he doing here?" I ask, snatching my hand back as he grumbles and opens his eyes.


"I was sleeping, until you so rudely poked me awake." He retaliates, sitting up. His eyes widen slightly when he sees my cut, it must look bad. "(Y/N) your cut, it's-"


"Bad?" I say and he nods. "I'll clean it up later, we better get the Greenie his girlfriend huh?"


Thomas is standing impatiently outside the door, waiting for us. He stares at my head when I come out and I touch it self-consciously.


"That looks nasty," He says as we walk outside, "you feeling ok?"


I nod.


We reach the slammer, where Thomas leans against the window, his hands pressed against the bars.


"Teresa?" he says, then jumps backwards her face pops up at the window, her bright eyes glowing in the dimness.


"Thomas!"


"You can be downright spooky," he says as I unlock the door, holding it as she walks out. She nods thanks, then notices my head.


"Oh my god," she says, "what happened to you?"


"Got hit in the head, I'm fine." I mutter. Suddenly I feel bad for the way I treated her yesterday.


"You need to clean that up and get a dressing on it, it's pretty deep."


"Thanks Teresa," I say, turning away.


Newt and I make out way back to the homestead, I need to use the small bathroom and change my shirt, and he says he's going to check on everyone.


I grab a new top from the supply closet, taking it with me into the bathroom. I pull the old one over my head and wet it at the tap, dabbing at the cut. There's a lot of blood crusted around it, and the cut itself runs across my forehead above the eyebrow, about three inches long. I can see why people were worried. I wash all the blood from my hairline and face, then give the rest of my body I quick wipe. Some of the blood had dripped onto my neck, so I scrub that off.


I'm about to put on the clean shirt when I hear the open and see Newt behind me in the mirror. I stand up, not turning around. He limps towards me, putting his hands around my waist from behind, tickling my bare skin. I look down, biting my lip.


"You know," Newt whispers, his breath tickling my neck, "I realised something just before."


"What's that?" I ask.


"Even covered in blood with a gash across your face," he says, "you're still the most beautiful thing in this Maze." He kisses my neck, and I hold in a sigh. I turn to face him, my breath catching in my throat. I touch his face lightly, running my hand across his cheek and down his neck, tracing his lips with a finger. He swallows, taking a shaky breath in. His voice is husky when he speaks.


"(Y/N) I-"


"Shh..." I say, reaching up and kissing his lips, my fingers brushing the strands of hair that rest on the back of his neck. He kisses me back, pulling me hard against him. He turns, taking me with him and kicks the door shut with his bad leg, pushing me against the wall and bracing himself with one hand. He lifts me up, pinning me to the wall with his body and sliding his hand around my waist. I gasp, pulling back for breath then kissing him again, my mouth curving up at the corner as he moans slightly, the pressure of my kiss parting his lips. I wrap my legs around his waist, my hands moving from his face down his neck and over his muscular shoulders.


"Woah..."


We break apart, turning to face the door where Minho stands, his cheeks flaming.


"Minho what the-?" I say breathlessly.


"When you're done, there's something important for you to see. I'll wait out here." He casts a look between us, then backs out, closing the door behind him.


"We should..." I say, turning back to Newt.


"Right," he agrees, backing away and gently setting me on the ground, "yeah." He turns around, awkwardly looking at the ceiling as I slip the fresh shirt I left resting on the sink over my head.


"Ok, let's go." I say, and he leads the way out.


As promised, Minho is waiting outside, shuffling his feet in the dirt. As we exit the bathroom he looks up and blushes again, making me and Newt flush too.


"First off," he says as we approach, "can we pretend I didn't just walk in on you two making out?" We both agree heartily. "Ok," he continues, "we went to check on Alby and, well, it's best you see for yourselves."


We head towards the map room, a sense of foreboding growing in my chest.


First, I smell the smoke. I break into a run, rushing to get to the maps room, and almost miss the body on the ground. I crouch, but I already know who it is.


Alby lies on his back, blood crusting around a deep dent on the side of his head. His dark skin has a grey-ish tinge to it and I can see that he's dead. A sob threatens to choke me, but I can't cry, not now, not with other people around. I have to stay strong.


"(Y/N)," Newt says, limping rapidly towards me, "what- oh." He puts a hand on my shoulder, but I can't do anything, I just sit there.


It's clear what killed him. There's a large, dark smear of blood on the table nearby, and scuff marks in the dirt of the floor.


"Gally." I whisper. "It was Gally." There isn't really anyone else it could have been, everyone was in the homestead and it must have happened last night while he was out here.


I stand up, Newt pulling me into his side. I try to hold back the tears, I really do, but I can't, and they escape me, leaking down my face.


I don't know how long exactly I stand there, Newt's arm around me and tears streaming down my face. At some point, I turn away from Alby and wipe my eyes, going over to Minho.


"Thankyou," I choke. Thankyou for telling me, thankyou for not trying to do anything to make it better when it's not, thankyou for staying. I give him a quick hug and he pats my back, letting go pretty quickly.


The baggers can put him to rest later on, but it's only mid-morning and we have things we need to get done.

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