Sapphire Stones

✨💖Tommy💖✨

Venus's POV~

Clint and Jeff are the only two boys waiting for us when Newt, Gally, and I all enter the Gathering hut. 

"Where are the other Keepers?" Gally asks, his eyebrows furrowing. My heart thuds against my chest. I know full well where they are. 

"That's the bloody problem, isn't it?" Newt snaps, running a hand through his hair. He sighs, leaning up against a pole connecting the roof of the hut to the floor.

Gally leads me with him to sit down, his hand still tightly holding on to mine. I give Clint and Jeff a small smile as I sit. Jeff returns it, but Clint's face is set in a serious expression.

"Who's missing?" Gally asks.

"Minho, Zart, Winston, Frypan, and Tommy." He replies, counting them off on his fingers as he lists out the names. I can't help but smile at his nickname for Thomas.

"Tommy?" I ask, raising my eyebrows, an amused look on my face. Newt's face turns pink.

"Shut your bloody shuckin' mouth." He mutters. I grin, but drop the subject.

"I bet you they went out into the fucking Maze." Gally mutters, running a hand over his face. 

"We can't just jump to-"

"Yes we can, Newt! You know damn fucking well where they are!" Gally snaps, cutting Newt off. I try to calm the Builder down by squeezing his hand in mine, but he just gently slides his hand out of mine. Hurt passes through my body, but I don't let it show. I just place my hands neatly in my lap, trying to conceal my now anxiously fiddling fingers. 

"Frypan, Winston, and Zart would never leave the bloody Glade." Newt tries to reason, but Gally just shakes his head.

"But they did, Newt. They did and now they should face the consequences."

"And what are those?" The blonde inquires, raising one eyebrow.

"Either the Slammer or Banishment."

"Banishment?!" I shout suddenly, jumping up from my spot next to Gally on the bench. I take a few steps back, putting some space between us.

"Venus, we're not allowed to leave the Glade if we're not Runners. It's a rule and it's been a rule since we first came up in that Box." Gally tries to explain, but I just keep shaking my head. "We have to follow the rules. They keep everyone safe and in order. They're what keep us alive."

"I hate to break it to you, but if we ever wanna escape this damn place, we're gonna have to break a few rules." I snap, tossing my long hair over my shoulder.

"We don't ever have to leave here, Ven. We've survived this long. Who's to say we can't just stay here forever?"

"The fact that, oh, I don't know, there are giant, man-eating monsters out there and we're running out of supplies?! That ring a bell?!"

"Honestly, I don't know why we're talking about this." Gally says, ignoring me and turning towards Newt. "We don't have a choice. If Alby was here, you know he'd agree with me."

I look over to Newt, my arms crossed as I raise an eyebrow. Newt looks from Gally to me, his jaw clenched.

"How's he doing?" He finally asks, his voice soft as he looks at Clint, Jeff, and I. We all make eye contact before Jeff sighs, looking down at the ground. He runs a hand over his hair before letting it drop back to his side, looking at Newt.

"He's bad." His voice is soft and full of pain. "He's gettin' worse."

Silence falls over all of us. We're all waiting for Newt to give us orders. Finally, he does.