maze runner imagines.

curiosity: newt.

newt wrapped his arm around y/n's waist as their glade trailed through the city that was rumored to be full of cranks.
"you don't have to do that, you know?"
she whispered,
looking at every which direction for a threat.
newt looked down to see his arm holding her tight to his side,
though he'd done it rather absentmindedly.
protecting y/n was the only priority he had now,
and it seemed to be taking control of him entirely.
"sorry,"
he laughed,
though his hand never moved an inch away from her.
y/n didn't mind though.
she felt secure having newt pull her so close.
"newt?"
"yeah, love?"
"i love you."
newt smiled,
despite the chaos that surrounded them,
and kissed her temple softly.
"i love you, too."
"stop!"
minho yelled,
bringing the whole group to a halt.
y/n squinted her eyes to see what he saw,
but came up empty as to what the issue was.
a tug in her gut began as she eyed the towering building to her left.
she turned to explore it,
but felt newt's hand pull her back.
"what are you doing?"
"...there's something in there,"
she explained,
never adverting her attention anywhere else but the inside of the place.
"and you want to go in? alone?"
"i have to."
she unglued herself from newt and began making her way down,
hearing the crunch of gravel beneath her and newt's feet.
she turned to face him with a look of determination that seemed new.
"go back with them."
"i'm not letting you walk in there alone."
"i just...i need to do this by myself."
"why?"
y/n couldn't quite explain the feeling in words.
there was an urge inside of her that was pushing her to do this by herself.
whatever loomed in the darkness was only for her to see.
but she could see the panic in his eyes.
he cared for her so deeply.
having her walk into the face of danger alone was hell to newt.
"i just think there's something in there. can you just trust me?"
"your curiosity is going to get you killed, y/n."
the words washed over her like ice cold water,
bringing her back into reality.
whatever dream state she'd been in,
prompting her to walk down into the dark,
seemed to much of a stupid thought to be in her mind.
looking at newt now,
who was holding onto her wrist for dear life,
she then felt guilt solidify inside of her.
"i'm..i'm so sorry."
relief filled the boy from top to bottom now that she seemed back to her senses.
"hey, you're fine. just not in the mood to fight some nasty cranks. maybe tomorrow, yeah?"
he gave her a reassuring smile that warmed her.
"yeah. rain check."
newt pulled her in and kissed her cheek,
then hurried to trail back to the group.
"where did you two go?"
"yeah, where? it's pretty bad time to go off and-"
"we didn't do anything,"
y/n defended before minho could finish whatever derogatory thought he'd conjured.
"i thought i saw something."
"what did you see?"
"nothing. it was just a trick of the eye."
minho pressed his lips together,
like he often did when deep in thought,
then turned back around to face the destroyed buildings of whatever city this used to be.
"what did you see?"
"some cranks. they've been going into buildings. we think that's where they've been hiding."
"like, where they sleep?"
minho nodded and turned to face the group again.
"come on. let's go into the belly of the beast."
newt, once again, pulled y/n close to his body.
newt found comfort in the smallest of her touches,
and practically needed her by his side.
as they walked throughout the city,
trying to ignore the eerie quietness that seemed to swallow them,
newt would often find himself squeezing y/n's hand to both reassure himself and her.
"somethings wrong,"
y/n whispered to him once they walked past a tall building with each glass window shattered.
"...what do you mean?"
before y/n could give him a verbal answer,
a physical one showed out in front of them,
confirming her suspicions.
cranks were beginning to surround them,
though most of them looked perfectly normal.
aside from the weapons of choice waving in their hands,
y/n saw no faces like the ones she'd seen before.
the real danger laid in their blood,
festering inside their vitals and destroying their once perfect minds.
"minho?"
y/n whispered,
swallowing hard as the silence lingered between the two groups.
what happened next became a complete blur to y/n.
the adrenaline filled her to the brim,
and she fought like she'd never fought before.
then she began to run until her legs couldn't take another step forward.
in the moments of her blinded fear,
somehow escaping unscathed,
she'd gotten herself lost.
y/n was now stranded in a foreign city with danger crawling in every inch of it.
once she was hidden in the shadows,
she leaned against a building and allowed herself to breathe for the first time in hours.
her legs throbbed beneath her weight of standing,
and her heart was beginning to weigh on itself.
she'd felt fear like this,
but she had never been alone while feeling it.
she immediately felt the absence of both her friends and her lover,
and her legs finally gave out beneath her at the thought.
y/n felt completely selfish.
she had left them behind to fend for themselves,
and didn't bother to bring newt along with her.
for a split second,
she thought letting the cranks feast on her skin and bones was much more tolerable than the guilt festering in the depths of her insides.
y/n placed her palm over her mouth to stifle her sobs and to not draw any unwanted attention to herself.
but she knew she couldn't give up quite yet.
she wouldn't die with newt or any of her friends feeling angry towards her.
she would find them and apologize.
after her sobs died down and she could inhale again,
she climbed to her shaky feet and walked out in the darkness that seemed to be staring into her,
and began her trek to find the boy she missed horribly.
***
y/n cowered into a deserted building after having heard the low growls of the cranks,
ready to sink their teeth into her skin.
as she steadied her breathing and hid,
she began to feel the loneliness surround her.
it was almost tangible.
if she reached her hand out and allowed it to touch her back,
she would become consumed.
it was then she realized why this place felt so painfully sad.
it had been the building she wanted to explore days prior.
it was also the last place she'd been together with newt.
y/n began to tremble in the quiet of the building,
and fell to the ground.
the bits of rubble pierced her cheek,
but the pain was rather comforting.
it meant she could still feel,
she was still alive.
and living another day was a victory. 
she could only pray that newt was alive still,
searching for her as she was searching for him.
the exhaustion sucked her limbs of any mobility,
and she felt the faint temptation to give up.
she could lie here for days,
and let the hunger destroy her while she waited for death.
just as she closed her eyes,
whispering more prayers for newts safety,
she heard the echos of footsteps.
her heart raced inside of her chest,
but all she could do was lay still on her stomach,
accepting her death for what it was.
the footsteps grew closer until the body was hovering her.
tears fell from her eyes as she let her mind think of the better things in life,
more specifically her moments with newt,
so her last few moments could be somewhat happy.
"jesus, y/n, i thought you were dead."
y/n hurried to her feet to see newt staring at her,
his eyes lit with hope like hers.
euphoria washed away any feeling of doubt she felt previously.
until the guilt came and reminded her of her deed.
she fell into newt's arms,
limp from the lack of necessities and hurt,
and sobbed.
"i'm so sorry, newt, i didn't mean to leave!"
newt shushed her much like you would a newborn,
and let his hand caress up and down her back.
he tried to soothe her as best he could,
but he could barely get a word out while she continued to confess her sins.
finally,
newt forced her to face him,
and held the softness of her face in his hands.
the feeling of her warmth nearly sent tears to newt's eyes.
he had longed for her,
yearned to feel her touch against his again.
"stop your blubbering, love. i told you to run."
y/n sniffed.
"w-what?"
"i told you to run. minho and i both agreed, should anything happen, you needed to be the one to escape."
"....why?!"
"because you're our only hope, y/n. if you couldn't make it out, then what chance did we have? also, i couldn't bear to see you hurt anymore, y/n. i just needed you to go as far as your legs would take you."
y/n wiped her tears from her eyes and took in a deep breath full of heated air,
and slowly wrapped her arms around newt.
the comfort was more than blissful.
all she needed in this life was the love and ease of newt.
and now that she had it in her grasp again,
she felt a heavy burden lift itself free off her shoulders.
she buried her neck into newt's neck and let her lips brush the skin there before she spoke,
"i love you."
he held her a little closer at the words,
then whispered them back,
"i love you more."

the group, now complete with y/n back, continued their walk throughout the city to find civilization.
"i thought you were dead,"
newt spoke just barely above a whisper,
his voice full of despair.
y/n took the palm of his hand and placed it to her chest,
where he could flourish in the beating of her healthy heart.
"i'm not."
"i know. i just..i don't ever want to feel that grief again. a lot of bloody help i was to those shanks. if i wasn't crying, i was yelling at someone."
y/n leaned into his embrace,
trying to show him that they were together again.
though he couldn't quite look over that simple fact,
his sole reason for living was back in his arms again.
"how did you find me?"
y/n asked.
newt smiled at the question then shrugged.
"i was curious about the building."
"you and me both."
she laughed and looked up at him to see him smiling with what joy y/n produced for him.

y/n found irony in the idea of meeting with her lover in the same building he swore she'd be killed in.
the fear that sparked inside of them at the thought of the building,
was nothing compared to the joy they felt during their reunion in the exact same place.