Admit Defeat (TMR fic 2)

Chapter 26

Thomas is clearly upset. I've never seen him run like this, all desperation and speed and... anger. He's mad about something, and I think I know him well enough to guess. He's upset that he left Teresa.

Even if she was being used against him, he hates having to leave her. The idiot. WICKED could dig their claws into him so deeply... no wonder they got him to help build the Maze.

We're all run ragged trying to keep up with the boy. I can tell Minho is furious that we're burning through our energy so badly, but we can't stop. Not if we want to keep up with Thomas.

Eventually he drops to the ground, unable to run any further.

We catch up within a few minutes, and Minho wastes no time before scolding him.

"You seriously couldn't explain anything? We just sprinted for hours after you, do you realize that? What the hell happened in there?"

"I'm sorry," Thomas says. "I'm sorry."

They press him for answers, but he won't say anything beyond the fact that Teresa was in the hut, and that WICKED was controlling her.

We all drop to take a rest, knowing that we can't go farther until morning, when we've gotten some rest.

"Ash, why are you mad at me?" Newt sits beside where I'm trying to sleep.

"I'm not," I say, closing my eyes.

"Really."

I sigh. He's clearly hurt by the fact that I've been avoiding him. "It's not your fault, Newt."

"Then what is it?"

"I can't tell you." I can't. Not if I want to hold to my resolve to push him away. If he knew why I was holding back, he'd try as much as possible to convince me that being in love is worth the risk of WICKED's manipulation.

And, terrifyingly enough, he might persuade me.

"Alright then," he says in a soft and shattered voice. "Get some sleep."

I feel a single tear sneak out of the corner of my eye, and I let it linger as I fall asleep.