The Maze Runner Imagines

Gally [3]

Gally woke up on the ground. His breathing was so ragged, his airways felt like they were disintegrating. His heart was pumping so vigorously, his chest felt like it was caving in and the noise of the blood rushing in his ears made it sound like he was beneath the waves of the ocean. Defencelessly, he strained to pry himself off of the ground, desperately trying to just get himself to his knees.

The weight of the world was a little too heavy tonight, and he completely fell apart, his body collapsing back into the ground. His upper body was now soiled, covered in the dirt which had clung to his barren, sweat covered chest.

Eventually, he got to his feet and went straight for the water to wash himself off. After managing that, he slowly shuffled over to the fire where everyone had sat at dinner. Embers still glowed slightly and emitted just enough heat to keep him warm.

Y/N had noticed Gally stumble out from the sleeping area and head for the ocean. This had become a fairly regular occurrence, where every night Y/N watched and listened for Gally waking up from nightmares when she couldn't sleep. All along, she'd been too afraid to go talk to him because no one else knew about his nightmares and she figured it might be something he wanted to keep a secret.

Tonight, however, things felt different. Gally had never seemed so incapacitated by a dream, walking around as if he was in a drunken stupor.

Y/N knew she'd never sleep anyways and was tired of trying to. Besides, what was there to lose?

As Y/N approached, Gally was shaking. His hands were over his ears and he rocked back and forth ever so slightly. Not exactly knowing how to grab his attention, Y/N crouched down in front of him, the fire to her back. She reached out and gently put a hand on his arm.

Gally immediately retracted, drawing his arm away so fast it threw Y/N off of her balance. The boys next instinctual reaction was to raise his fist and send it careening towards the person or thing who had touched him so unexpectedly as fast as he could and with the least remorse possible. Luckily, Y/N knew Gally nearly better than he knew himself and was able to stop his arm midair before it hit her face.

Y/N's body had fallen back into the sand from the sheer momentum behind Gally's swing, but her hand still held firm around his arm. Her fingers were beginning to cramp but she still held tight. It took a moment, but Gally's eyes eventually cleared from a violent mix of anger, fear and vexation to regret. His hard features softened and his eyes fluttered, evidently trying to flush out the tears which were forming. Releasing himself from Y/N's grip, he sat back against the log, pulling his knees to his chest.

"Oh, Y/N. Sorry." He mumbled, running a hand over his head and taking in a deep breath, avoiding her eyes.

Y/N looked at the boy with concern. Gally looked broken beyond repair. It wasn't like him to pull his knees to his chest and avoid looking someone in the eyes. Sure, Gally was embarrassed about Y/N finding him breaking down in the middle of the night while shirtless, but there was more to it.

As Y/N scanned him over, she noticed the patch of tough, discoloured skin over Gally's left chest. All of the memories of the moment in which Minho had pierced him with the spear came flooding back and she bit her tongue.

Yet again, she reached out and put a hand on Gally's knee, squeezing it gently. Her nose stung as she tried to hold back the tears brimming in her eyes. She felt so much misplaced guilt and had nowhere to put it.

"Gally, are you okay?" She muttered out with a broken voice.

The boy looked up and tilted his head, narrowing his eyes and pursing his lips. "I don't know, Y/N. I don't know."

His voice was high pitched and squeaky, something Y/N had never heard leave his mouth before. The girl could tell he was beginning to panic again, so she shuffled closer, grabbing his face.

"Gally, look here." She forced him to look her in the eyes. "Forget about it, okay? Just look at me."

He tried his best to do so, keeping focus on the girls eyes. Trying to align his breath with her own, he began to feel his nerves unravelling.

Y/N just looked at him, making sure his focus never left. Gally's hair was longer now, the sandy blonde mess on his head curling up in odd directions. It reminded Y/N of the times in the Glade she would cut his and the other boys' hair. His was always the hardest to cut though, since Y/N liked it when it was longer, yet he had always demanded it be as short as possible. His shoulders had gotten broader and legs longer. She wondered if he saw as much change in her as she saw in him.

"You okay now?" Y/N asked, dropping her hands from his face and placing them on her knees, where she still sat crouched in front of Gally.

"Yeah," He sniffled, rubbing his eyes. "You can go back to bed."

Y/N stifled a laugh. "Gally, I never slept after we left you that day, thinking you were dead. And now, I still never sleep because I know we left you there alive and in pain. Tonight won't be any different."

"Not sure what's better," Gally fiddled with his fingers, ignoring the topic of the Gladers having left him. "Never sleeping, or sleeping a little with the price of nightmares."

Y/N smiled slightly and sat down shoulder to shoulder with the boy against the log, except his shoulders reached far higher than hers. "I don't think either is a good option."

"Hmm, now that you say that..." He laughed a little. "I think you're right." Lightly, he jabbed the girls side and she chuckled.

Y/N sighed. "So, what do we do?"

"Mmm," He hummed. The cold night air filled his lungs and it felt like every time he looked up, the stars were getting a little closer to earth. "We could just stay here and hope that at some point we pass out before the sun rises."

Y/N pursed her lips and nodded at the suggestion. "Not a bad plan."

"Or," Gally swallowed hard. "We could, uh—see if my hammock is big enough for two?"

"Up to you, captain Gally." Y/N mocked, a smug, cheesy smile on her face. The boy scoffed.

"You're never gonna live that down, are you?" He rolled his eyes and shoved her shoulder.

"Oh, c'mon, you love it." Y/N snickered and Gally shook his head, laughing.