The First Gladers

Chapter 16: Butterflies

 For the rest of the tour the boy didn't say a word. You feel bad, there has to be a better way to break the news. In an attempt to help calm him down, you send him off with Gyllen to make dinner. You sigh as you look around the Glade. It's come so far in two months. Although if they're going to keep sending more kids up you're going to have to think up a new idea for sleeping quarters. You spot Gally by the heap of wood he's collected. You make your way toward him, taking in the last few moments of sunlight.

"Hey Gally." You say.

"What's up Y/n?" He asks with a grin.

"I was wondering if you had any ideas for sleeping quarters. I assume we can't just build and additional room every month?"

Gally laughs. "Yeah, probably not. What if we asked the Creators for hammocks?" He suggests.

"You know what Gally, that's a great idea. Could you make a note?"

"Of course!"

You smile at then back of his head as he rushes off to do his new chore. Such a nice boy. You fold your arms across your chest and look out across the courtyard. Minho is stretching by the dead heads, Alby and Chris are unloading the box, and Evan is pulling weeds in the garden while Gyllen and Siggy make dinner. You realize you haven't seen Newt since you all came in form the Maze. You scan the area once more and find the tall boy huddled against a tree. Cautiously you make your way over to him. His head is buried in his knees which are pulled up to his chest. You frown, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, you alright?"

Newt jumps, startled, then looks up to see your face and relaxes.

"Oh yeah. Yeah I'm fine." He responds.

"You sure?" You ask slowly, it's not like him to sit alone curled up in a ball. To be honest it's not like anyone to do that unless something is wrong.

"Of course." He says.

You nod. You're about to get up and leave, but you halt when he begins to speak again.

"Do you every feel like there's no purpose to all this? Maybe we're all just supposed to die in here, and we're just drawing out our deaths by trying to survive. I mean seriously, all of this, the grandeur of the Maze, the box that sends supplies and more kids. Are we being punished? What could I have possibly have done to deserve this? This just seems too horrible to be a simple 'get out of the Maze and you'll get a prize' type of thing. This has got to be some sort of prison, erase our memories and put us to work on a puzzle so our deaths are more humane."

You nod your head slowly. That must be the most depressing thing you've ever heard. You want to comfort Newt, and you definitely should, but you don't know how. Words seem to have escaped you. You look at this boys face and all you see is pain, not physical, but mental, he's been thinking things. Like this for far too long. It's like he's a shell of himself, you don't know how you didn't see it before. He's broken. Broken by the Maze. The thing that hurts the worst is that he's probably right, and you have no idea how to deal with that.

 Right as you're about to start rambling about how you all should have hope, that you're sure that one day soon you'll escape, Siggy and Gyllen call everyone in for dinner. You sigh and offer a hand to Newt to help him up. He takes it graciously and the two of you walk to the kitchen silently. Oh, how you'll wish you would've cheered him up, so much pain could be prevented.

You walk up to Gyllen with a smile on your face

"Alright Gyllen, whatchya got for us today?"

"Well," Gyllen starts, "Fry Pan over here cooked up an entire fried chicken dinner. I have no idea how the kid did it, but he's talented as clunk!" Gyllen announces.

You smile wide. Everyone sits down at the picnic tables that the builders made not too long ago and eats their food. It really is incredible. Once everyone is done eating you stand up on the table, quickly gaining all the boy's attention.

"Alright you shanks, I've got an announcement to make." You reach down grabbing Siggy's hand and you pull him up to stand next to you, raising his hand in the air. "'Fry Pan' here, is now a full time chef under Gyllen! Give him a round of applause, cause that meal was phenomenal!"

All the boys stand to their feet, clapping and cheering for Fry Pan, who has turned cherry red. You look up at him with a smirk, and almost all at once he overcomes his redness and starts to soak up the attention. He bows and spreads his arms out wide, taking up every second of his praise. You laugh, you're going to like this guy.

Finally, the commotion dies down and everyone slowly makes their way to bed. Chris walks up to you with a smile on his face.

"What's gotten you so happy all the sudden?" You question with a smirk.

He simply smiles smugly in response, then takes your hand, leading you into the woods. You roll your eyes and play along, following him into the woods. He leads you to a tree and the two of you slowly climb up, stopping at the highest branch. Without a word, Chris points in the direction of the Glade. You look the way and what you see is spectacular. The whole Glade is laid out before you, glittering electric lights shine, powered from an unknown power source. It's stunning. Your jaw drops in aw as you Gaze down at the beauty of your temporary home. You feel Chris's gaze lingering on you.

"You're absolutely beautiful, you know that right?" He whispers.

You bite your lip and grin.

"What makes you say that?" You ask, Turing your head slowly to look at him.

"Nothing at all. It's simply the truth."

Butterflies fill your stomach at a staggering speed. Chris warm breath dances across your face as he speaks, causing heat to fill your cheeks. Chris moves a hand to cup your face, slowly caressing your cheek, sending more butterflies to play in your gut. You know what happens next. Chris slowly leans in until your lips meet to share a sweet soft kiss that fills your body with wonder and passion. You sink in, concentrating on every aspect of the kiss, never wanting to forget this moment, this shining wondering moment. All to soon it ends and the two of you break away, smiling like a couple of shanks.