BQ: What do you think of the new covers?

Q: Who's going to see Mockingjay Pt. 2?

Vote, comment, whatever you wanna do.

xoxo

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Thomas tries to look away. Lori sighs, resting a hand on each side of his face, and turning him to look at her. "You need to stop worrying, and be the leader I know you can be."

They sit in silence, shock cloaking Thomas' face.
"Lori," he stutters. "I- I don't, I-"

But he stops talking.

Mainly because he doesn't have a choice.

Because Lori is pressing her lips to his.

Thomas' eyes go wide at first, but after a moment he relaxes. He rests one hand on her hip, the other behind her head, not pulling away.

Lori isn't exactly sure what was going through her mind at that point. As soon as she kissed him, everything just went fuzzy.
Her head is telling her that it's the right thing to do, so she doesn't stop herself.

By the time they need to catch their breath, Lori has her arms wrapped loosely around his neck, his around her waist. It was just them. No Scorch. No Flare. No WICKED. No Trials. No Brenda. No Teresa. And no Newt.

Just them.

Lori opens her eyes, to see Thomas studying her carefully. His eyebrows are creased in confusion, as he asks quietly, "Why did you do that?"

The strawberry blonde doesn't answer straight away. The reason for this being, that she, herself, didn't really know the answer as to why she did what she did.
"I- um- I don't really know, to be honest." She attempts to laugh as she awkwardly pulls her arms away, but it ends up as more of a choked sob. "I'm sorry, that was a dumb idea. I shou-"

"No!" Thomas says a little too quickly. "I mean, it isn't you who should be apologizing. I should be. I know you lost your memories of Newt, but that doesn't mean there isn't something there. I shouldn't have allowed it to happen. I'm sorry."

He sounds so formal. Maybe he's trying to be a gentleman or whatever. Either way, there was something there. I know he felt it too. I can't have been the only one.

"You're right," Lori concedes. "But you're also right when you said that I don't have any memories of him. How can I love someone I can't even remember?"

Thomas chuckles, "You'll find a way. You two always seem to end up together one way or another. You always found each other in the Maze. Shuck, I wouldn't be surprised if you two had been together before the Maze."

Lori's jaw tightens at the thought, knowing how wrong Thomas was.
"What? Do you know something?"

Over the past week or so since she had arrived in the Scorch, she had received some of her memories back. Not all of them, but enough to piece together part of the story.

She turns to look at him, his eyes wide in intrigue at what she has to say.
"He, uh, he dated Clara before the Maze. That fight we had before the escape, was about that. She had taken him to the Deadheads and told him what she remembered from her past. Their past. They were a couple. They spoke, and then she kissed him."

He runs a hand through his hair, before resting it on her shoulder. "I think I've said this to you, like, one thousand times already since you found me, but I'm sorry."

Lori can't help but laugh at the boy. He smiles, and they sit there for a moment in silence, just taking in the peacefulness which is sure to be stolen from them, among with everything else.

"We can't tell Newt," Thomas says quietly.

Unfortunately for him, Lori did not hear what he had said, and asked him to repeat himself.

"Newt. He can't know. He's one of my best friends, and if he found out what I just did . . . Well, I don't want to imagine."

"Why would he do anything?"
Lori was confused as to what the hell Thomas was going on about.

The boy shakes his head, his dark hair shifting from the movement. "Bro code. You don't kiss your mate's current or ex girlfriend."

She rolls her eyes noticeably, a smirk coating her mouth as she shakes he head. "You're ridiculous, Tommy."
He raises his hands in mock surrender, as if to say 'I didn't make the rules.'
"Fine, no one has to know. But you have to tell me something first."

His demeanor droops instantly, knowing this will end bad for someone. Who, however, he does not know yet.
"Okay, what am I telling you?"

"Promise me you'll be honest?" She asks, not wanting to embarrass herself any further than what she is about to. Thomas drags a hand lazily across his chest, drawing an 'X' over his heart.
"Alright. When we kissed, did you feel what I felt. I don't want to put you on the spot, but I need to know."

Thomas' figure seems to constrict, showing how uncomfortable he is. "I don't think so. Maybe it was a little one-sided, Lori."

Flashing back to how he held her, and the way he kissed her, she replied with a bit of venom, "It sure as hell didn't seem one sided to me, Thomas."

He looks down at his hands, as if ashamed. Lori stands up and walks over to the door.

Before leaving, she turns to look at the boy who remains seated in his bed. "I'm not going to tell Newt. We can pretend it didn't happen, but I'm not going to forget. And I'm betting, that neither will you. It's too hard to forget something like that."

"Maybe not, you forgot Newt pretty easily," he mutters.

Lori hits the wall, turning back to him. "That wasn't my decision! None of this was my decision! You think I wanted them to screw around with my head, Tommy? Do you think I wanted them playing operation up there? No, I didn't! So why don't you take a second, to imagine your self in my position. Just one second.

"Imagine you wake up, to find you've forgotten one of your friends, who you were apparently 'more than friends' with. Imagine having to feel guilty every time you saw their face, because you know you can't return how they're feeling, because you don't remember!" She collapses to the ground in defeat, letting her misery overcome her.

By that point, Thomas was out of the bed, and kneeling beside her. He pulls her into his lap, and she rests her head on his shoulder. "God, I'm such an idiot. Please forgive me, Lori. Shuck, I shouldn't have said anything."

Lori takes a moment. She had had basically that same argument with Newt before she had been taken. Why did she have to be so bitter?

Towards WICKED, that's fair; but her friends?

"No. No, you're right," she sniffles a little. "Even if I don't remember, he does, and it's obviously just as hard for him. I'm only making it worse by being a complete bitch and ignoring him."

"You're not a bitch."

"No I'm worse. And then I went and kissed his best friend! God, what is wrong with me! Why am I like this?"

Thomas doesn't reply, because he doesn't want to make the situation worse. However, the wheels continue to spin in Lori's head, trying to put the pieces together.

WICKED. Everything that goes wrong, leads back to WICKED.

Reaching up and running a finger along the back of her neck, Lori's stomach drops. The Deceiver.

"I'm this way, because they made me this way" she gasps beneath her breath.

"What are you talking about?"

"WICKED!" Lori exclaims, sitting upright. "Don't you see? Everything that I have done has benefit them in some way, shape, or form. And my tattoo; the Deceiver? Thomas, they're using me in their plans. I'm like a pawn or something! Everything about me is written on a blueprint, because that's all I am. I'm nothing more than a Variable. You don't remember 'cause of the whole memory loss thing, but you told me that before I even met you."

"Lori-"

"No," she stands up shaking her head. "No, no one can know about what happened. That's what they want. They want to cause a rift between us all. That's probably why I felt something and you didn't. They're making me feel like that so that Newt will be heartbroken. They said that they want me to break him. Break the Glue."

She heads towards the door, ignoring Thomas' pleas for her to stop.

"No. I'm not going to help them hurt anyone else."

/\/\/\/\/\

*+Lucinda Whyte+*

"She's figured it out," Lucinda hisses as she walks into the conference room. "She wasn't supposed to figure it out!"

Janson sighs, turning his computer screen off. "I can assure you, we did not intend for her to find out about herself begin a Variable. We weren't aware that Thomas had informed her of this."

"Well, this could screw everything up. Could you make her forget?"

The devil of a man shook his head, "No. It would be to risky at this point Ms. Whyte. Taking memories from her at this point may cause total memory loss. For all we know, it could put her in a coma. Or kill her. We wouldn't want that, would we now?"

Lucinda's jaw tightens, her eyes narrowing. She couldn't help but want to punch him in the face and break his ugly nose. This man is so infuriating!
"No. Of course not. Her Killzone is too important."

"Exactly. Subject A2 and A6 will be released back into the Scorch in less than thirty minutes. If you want to speak to her, now is your last chance."

Lucinda nodded curtly, wanted nothing more than to leave, so that she could be free of him. She turned on her heel, walking out the door of the control room, and making her way to where they are keeping her daughter.

When she arrived and looked in the window, she was shocked to see, that the room was empty. Quickly unlocking the door, she enters the room, making sure she isn't hiding from her, or something just as absurd.

Unfortunately, she is no where to be found.

Lucinda doesn't waste any time going to Thomas' room.
As soon as she walks in, she asks "Where is she?"

"Who?" Thomas questions back, a small smirk set upon on his lips.

"Don't be smart with me, boy" she hisses. "Where is my daughter?"

Thomas shrugs, raising his eyebrows, "No idea, ma'm."

Lucinda sets her jaw, narrowing her eyes at the boy. He know where she is. But he will never tell me.
The woman turns on her heel, walking out the door, slamming it shut behind her.

Lucinda rubs her eyes wearily, frustrated that she wont get to see her daughter, before she is taken away from her once more.

/\/\/\/\/\

*+ Lori +*

The door shuts behind the she-devil dressed in white, as Lori comes out from the medical closet in Thomas' room. "Thanks," she mutters beneath her breath.

"Anytime. You should probably get back to your room though. They're taking us back to the Scorch soon."

Lori nods, before giving Thomas a hug, and leaving his room. She creeps back down the halls, and back into her room.

Where her mother sits waiting.

"I am no fool, my dear."

She sits on the edge of the bed, back straight and both feet on the floor, so that she doesn't wrinkle her pantsuit.

"That's debatable, mother," The young red head hisses.

Lucinda sighs, patting the bed. But, to her dismay, Lori shuts the door, and leans against it.
"What do you want from me?"

"I want you to be careful."

"You should have thought of that before you signed my death certificate." Lori runs a hand through her hand, sighing in frustration.

Her mother gulps, not quite sure how to continue along this conversation. "I don't know how many times I can apologize to-"

"I'll let you know when you get there," she cuts her off.

The woman stands up, patting down her pants. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have came here. This was a bad idea. I just wanted to say goodbye to you, one last time, before they sent you back. I didn't want to risk never seeing you again, and not saying anything beforehand."

"Well, you've said your piece, so you can leave now." Lori steps away from the door, yanking it open to wait for her mother to leave.

Lucinda walks through the doorway, and turns to face her daughter. "I apologize for everything I have done."

"Well don't," Lori growls. "Don't bother, because it will never be enough."

And with that, she slams the door in her mother's face.