Fast As A Bullet {Maze Runner}

t h i r t y f i v e

"You didn't get a letter?"

•••

"I'M SCARED, DEEDEE."

"You don't need to be scared, Isla." Deedee smiles over at her. "I might not always be there with you physically," Deedee takes Leanne's hands and places them over her heart. "But I will always be here." Deedee moves her hands from Leanne's heart to Leanne's shoulders. "Now, you have to wake up, Isla." She shakes her shoulders softly. "Wake up."

"Wake up, Leanne." Hands on her shoulders shake her gently as a weight settles itself next to her on the bed. Leanne opens her eyes slowly to see Thomas sitting on the edge of her bed. "Hey." He says softly, pressing his lips together. "You were talking in your sleep." Leanne sits up quietly, glancing over at the empty cot across from her. Thomas follows her eyes. "I was already awake." He explains, rubbing his neck awkwardly. "Do you want to take a walk with me?"

Leanne nods slowly. "Sure."

Thomas stands from the bed, and walks over to the door. "I'll wait outside." He says quietly.

Leanne nods, then gets up. She pulls a sweater over her tank top and brushes her hair away from her face before walking out to Thomas, who stands in the grass a couple of meters away from the hut. They begin to walk further into the small village they had built. "I wanna make one stop." Thomas says nervously to her, wiping his sweaty palms against his pants.

Leanne frowns. She had never seen him nervous like this. "Okay?"

Thomas nods, but doesn't say anything. They walk a couple more feet before Thomas begins to turn left. Leanne follows him slowly, then realizes where they were walking; towards the large stone in the middle of the camp.

Leanne subconsciously stops in her steps. "Thomas." She says slowly. "Why are we walking over here?"

Thomas turns around to watch her carefully. "Well, I thought that since you and Teresa- well, you were sisters, so..." He walks back to her, stopping in front of her hesitantly. "I thought you should be the one to put her name up there."

Did she want to put Teresa's name up there? She wasn't sure. A part of her didn't want to. Teresa wasn't Leanne's sister, Deedee was, and she had already placed that name upon the rock. Teresa was who everyone else knew, but Deedee was hers. Deedee would only live on in Leanne's memory.

The more she thought of it, Leanne realized that Deedee wouldn't live on in her memory, she would live on in Isla's memory. It was just a question of if Leanne wanted to unleash Isla or keep her to herself just like Deedee. The girl from before the outbreak, who would tease Isla, and paint her nails, and stay up late together on Friday nights when their mom was taking a shift at the hospital, she was all hers. And that's all that mattered to her.

"Lea?" Thomas calls out after a minute of silence.

"I don't want to put her name up there, Thomas." He almost does a double-take when she says this. "You can do it."

Teresa was his memory of her. It was all he would ever know of the first girl he loved. So, Leanne thought it was right that he was the one to put her name up there.

Once he was done, Thomas turns back to look at Leanne. She wasn't watching him; she was admiring the water. She looked so calm and at peace that Thomas didn't walk towards her. Instead, he just admired her. His first love was Teresa, but he had those memories wiped clean. He couldn't remember loving her; not fully. He couldn't remember her like he remember Leanne, because he made new memories like those with Leanne. After he stung himself, he got his memories back. He could remember his times with Teresa, but they were in fragments. Everything was so broken up that he couldn't understand how he felt anymore. Not about Teresa, at least.

How he felt about Leanne was easier to understand. It was simpler, and it felt more powerful, but it was also different. Falling for Teresa had been long, over a period of years. But falling for Leanne had taken the air out of his lungs. Everything had been so quick; they were always rushing. Thomas couldn't even remember when he realized he loved her. Maybe it was when she let him leave the Maze without her, or when she was taken from him. Maybe it was even when he got her back from WICKED, off that train. He couldn't remember when, but it didn't matter. It didn't matter because he did love her now.

Thomas calls her name softly and she joins his side, walking down the beach slowly. The sand was cool between their toes as the waves washed up on the beach calmly. Everything was quiet; no one was awake, not even the birds.

Leanne enjoys the silence between them. It wasn't anything awkward, it was just calm. There was a sense of understanding between them. They would both handle Teresa and Newt's deaths in different ways, they would both long for them, but they would heal. They would come back from it, they would be better. Together.

Leanne didn't want to long for that anymore, though. She would miss them -those they had lost- but she knew that Newt wouldn't want her to hold herself back.

"You didn't get a letter?" Thomas asks suddenly. Leanne looks over at him, frowning. "From Newt?"

Leanne shakes her head. "I don't need one." And she didn't. It was the truth. "I know what he would've wanted." She shrugs softly, slowing her pace a little.

"And what's that?" He slows down to match her pace. Now, they were further out from the small village.

Leanne breathes in deeply before looking up at Thomas. It was now or never. "Well, first of all he'd want us to tell each other how we feel."

"And how do we feel?" Thomas stops walking beside her and looks down, grinning.

"I don't know, Thomas." She smiles, grabbing a handful of his shirt and pulling him down so his face lines up with hers. "How do we feel?"

Thomas' eyes roam from her eyes down to her lips, then back up at her eyes. Leanne takes the initiative, pulling the boy even close to place her soft lips on his.

This kiss was different from their first one back on the rocky beach what felt like ages ago. Although this kiss was just as slow and sweet, this one made Leanne's head spin as stars appeared behind her closed lids. She had to grab onto Thomas' arms so that her knees wouldn't buckle under her weight.

When Thomas did pull away from her to rest his forehead on hers, his eyes wandered over her face. They were full of warmth and passion, and something else she couldn't put a finger on, so much so that Leanne felt her skin flush bubblegum pink in embarrassment. She didn't pull away, though, for she knew her eyes were filled with just as much warmth and passion. Everything felt right. God, it felt so right. Leanne was happy. She could feel the warmth spreading through her chest and she thought she might combust under his touch; everything felt like it was exploding and it was supernova. Stars danced through Thomas' eyes as he watches her in admiration.

Words couldn't fathom explain how much love he held for the girl in front of him. This girl, she was his life. She was everything he held dearest and he was never going to let her go. He didn't want to let her go and she didn't want him to do so either. "I love you." He whispers quietly, a hush over the washing waves in the nearby distance. He lets the words drip over her skin like sweet honey, and she absorbs it all.

There wasn't a moment with Thomas that Leanne would come to regret; not now, and not ever. A smile tugs at her lips and she can't look away from his eyes; this was everything she'd ever wanted. "I love you, too."

Leanne wanted to lean back in for another kiss so badly, but instead she closes her eyes and relishes in the feeling of him. The smell of salt and oranges washes over her and she hums in happiness. She didn't need to lean back in for another kiss, for she knew that she would be able to do it again and again, forever and ever.