Listen ~ The Maze Runner ~ Newt

6 ~ Dawn

Danielle's P.O.V

That night I couldn't sleep one bit. No matter how many times I tossed and turned, I just couldn't fall into a deep sleep. It was bittersweet in all fairness, because with the loss of sleep I didn't have to worry about the nightmares, but then there was the fact of I was already so sleep deprived that it physically hurt to stay awake right now.

I gave up trying as the sky was starting to turn a deep purple, indicating I would probably have half an hour to myself before FryPan or the others started to wake up.

~~~~~

My feet hit the cold floor of my hut, my ankle still aching a lot from the injury I had acquired last night. I push myself from the bed and stand up, waddling over to the door where my cardigan and flats were, slipping the two on as I braced myself for the cold winds that were probably going to be thrashing out there. The door is pushed open and I let myself out of the cabin, wrapping the cardigan around me a little tighter as I made my way over to the edge of the woods, where my favourite tree sat.

Yes, you heard me right. I have a favourite tree. It's this tree that has branches low enough down that you can sit on, but still have that feeling of being on top of the world. It's the place I go to whenever I need to think about things, and whenever I'm there people tend to leave me alone a little more, only Newt or Minho coming over after about 10 minutes.

The dewy grass brushes the bridges of my feet as I limp through the field, climbing up the small hill to see a figure sat on my tree, oblivious to the fact I was stood 50 feet away from them. I push up the last bit of the hill and make out the features of the person, realising it ws Eli who was sat on my branch.

"Can't sleep?" I ask quietly, limping the last little bit of the hill so I was stood beside him. Eli gives me a side glance before looking back to his hands. "Yeah... Something like that..." He mumbles, shifting over a little and patting the spot beside him. "Me neither. But don't worry, the first night is the worst. It will get better from here." I tell him, perching myself on the branch beside him.

Elijah's face twitches as he thinks, his mouth opening and closing like a goldfish, trying and failing to tell me what he wanted to say. "You can talk to me you know..." I whisper, laying my head on his shoulder. "It's nothing. I mean literally nothing. I can't sleep because I can't remember nothing." He sighs, massaging his fingers individually.

"Do you want me to make you feel better? Or tell you the blunt truth?" I ask. He takes a sharp intake of breath before letting it out slowly, "The truth." "It doesn't get much better from here. From now and for the next few weeks your head will feel hazy, like it's missing something. Like you can remember everything yet nothing at all. And then one day it just stops, and you come to terms with the fact that you are never getting them back..." I whisper, staring at the maze ahead of us as the sun licks the top of the gate.

Eli lets out another sigh and rests his head on top of mine, a sort of thankyou I think.

We sit in silence, watching the world slip into light around us as the sun rises at a quicker pace and the only sound that drops between us are the sounds of Elijah's sniffs.

"Uh- How's your ankle?" He asks, his voice thick with something I can't quite figure out. I lift my head and grip onto the branch as I lift my foot into the air, wiggling it a little so he couldn't see the blood. "It's fine now. Thanks for aski-" I say, pulling my lips into a tight smile.

My head turns to look at Eli, and I notice the small tears slipping down his cheeks. My smile falls into a frown and I reach my hand out carefully to brush them away, then grab onto his hands tightly. "Don't worry, besides the memory loss, things will get better for you. You'll make more friends, new memories that will mean all the more to you and if you swing that way, you might even find love." I tell him, squeezing onto his hands reassuringly.