LIMERENCE ﹐ the maze runner.

38

Thomas refused to talk to anyone for the rest of the day.

"Hey, Thomas!"Clara called and ran up to him. "What's going on? You feeling alright?"

"No, I'm fine,"he brushed it off. "I'm just not feeling good."

"Tom,"Clara told him. "Don't talk crap to me. I know you. What's really going on?"

Thomas sighed. He wanted to tell her, but was worried that she would try to stop him. He had convinced himself that getting stung by a Griever was the right thing to do. The only thing to do. But, nevertheless, he asked her in a hush whisper,"Do you trust me?"

Clara looked into his eyes for a moment, trying to read what was going through his mind. "Yeah, yeah, of course, Tom. I trust you more than anyone."

"Okay, good,"he said. "Because I need you to trust me, okay? I'm... I'm going to get stung by a Griever."

"What?"Clara asked, her eyes widening in fear as she grabbed Thomas's hand. "No, Tom. You can't. What if something happens to you?"

"We need memories, Clara,"he told her. "We're both gonna die if we don't get out of here. And I can't have that."

Clara blinked, trying to register what she had just been told. "Fine,"she finally said. "I don't like this, though. But, I told you - I trust you."

"You do?"Thomas asked in surprise.

"Yeah,"Clara said, blinking back tears. "But, Tom, what if something happens to you? If you die, I don't know what I'll do."

"I won't die, okay?"he told her, moving his thumb across her cheek to dry the tears spilling out of her eyes. "I would never leave you here alone."

Clara nodded, trying to smile as the single tears rolled down her cheeks. "I'll be right there with you. The whole time."

"I, uh,"Thomas said. "Thanks."

And then he wasn't in control anymore. He placed one hand on Clara's back, and the other in her hair as he pulled her closer and brought his lips down to hers. He hesitated, but when Clara placed her arms around his neck and whispered,"Kiss me, Tom.", he pressed his lips to hers.

Clara was lost in the moment. Thomas ran his hands through Clara's red hair as he pulled her closer to him with the hand on her back. Clara stood on her tiptoes as she moved closer to Thomas.

Clara could feel her heart beat faster, and it felt as if it was pounding so hard it was going to shoot out of her chest. She felt like she was having trouble breathing, and felt goosebumps running up her arms. The kiss, soft and gentle, almost made her forget all about her other problems.

"Clara,"Thomas whispered against her lips as he pulled away slightly.

Clara smiled against his lips, and it made Thomas's heart skip a beat. "We should probably get going. To the homestead."

"Yeah,"he agreed.

The two walked to the Homestead together, Thomas's arm around Clara's shoulders. Clara noticed that the Builders had boarded up the gaping holes left by the monsters who'd carried off Gally and Adam. The end result looked like an army of drunk guys had done the work, but it was solid enough. Newt and Alby, who finally felt enough to walk around again, his head heavily bandaged, insisted on a plan for everyone to rotate where they'd slept each night.

Thomas and Clara ended up in the large living room on the bottom floor of the Homestead with the same people they'd slept with two nights before. Silence settled over the room quickly, though Thomas didn't know if it was because people were actually asleep or just scared, quietly hoping against hope the Grievers didn't come again.