Grace's POV

"Over there, we got the Builders"

Newt pointed to the group of boys who were huddled around a small table filled with half empty plates.

"Very good with their hands, but-", He tapped his forehead, "Not a lot going on upstairs"

I softly slapped his shoulder. He just looked at me, eyebrows raised in defense and a 'Don't blame me, you know I'm right' expression on his face.

Tilting my head, I mouthed a silent "Come on now"

He was right after all, but these guys were the ones who had pulled up most of the buildings, providing the rest of us with shelter.

I wouldn't want to mess with them or else they'd might force me to lay beneath the open sky while it's raining.

"Good fight you had there, Gracie!", A boy with lots of bandages around his hands and acne freckling over his face waved at us.

"That's Winston. He's the keeper of the Slicers. The ones who take care of the animals.", I explained after a short nod at the boy, "He's in a fight with puberty and losing"

"Oh, so you're allowed to make jokes but I'm not?", next to me, Newt faked an indignated expression. 

"Absolutely", I twisted my face into a worried frown, "Because you're suffering from a severe case of 'Dad-joke-ism'. We don't know if you can make it"

Ducking my head and laughing at my own dumb humor, I skipped forward a few steps to escape the blond boy's attempt of pushing me.

Now demonstratively walking next to the new Greenie, who had to play the role of a human shield, Newt scoffed and shook his head in disbelief.

"You see what I have to deal with here?"

He mocked my expression before turning towards the Greenie again, nodding to another group of Gladers and explaining what their tasks were.

Newt had insisted on showing the new boy the rest of the Glade, once my little fight with Gally was over.

If you could call that a proper fight and not just two children gnawing at each other and one of them eventually winning through sheer luck. Almost like Chihuahuas.

But no matter how amusing the thought of tiny rat-dogs was, my thoughts kept spinning back to what Gally said.

"Seems like you've been subsiding" 

I knew he was just messing around and didn't really mean it. Not like I wasn't constantly bullying him about random things. 

Because if you didn't annoy your friends, were you ever really close?

Yet I've still felt something sting in my chest when he'd said it.
He was somewhat right after all. I hadn't been strong enough to pull Ben back up by myself. 

What if Minho hadn't been there in time? I could be dead too.

Usually, when we told the other boys about our days in the Maze, we'd make sure to tell them as normal as possible. Make it funny, so that the others won't worry too much. 

But now, after Gally had mentioned it, I could feel a harsh shiver going down my spine, like somebody had suddenly dropped a bucket of icy cold water over my head.

"Hey... you okay?"

The soft voice made me snap back to reality. Newt was looking at me, a small, worried frown on his face. 

"Yeah, yeah, sure. I'm fine. Just zoned out at the thought of something ridiculous.", I shook off the stinging feeling and smiled reassuringly. 

When he raised his eyebrows in a matter of 'are you sure?', I nodded rapidly. 

"Yes, trust me. I'm just wondering what really is in Gally's drink"

To prove my point, I grabbed a glass of liquid, only to realize that it was empty. 

"Yeah, that stuff is disgusting!"

The Greenie's comment made Newt finally laugh and I was thankful for his interruption. I didn't want anyone else to worry about me more than necessary. 

Newt eventually continued to introduce the rest of the remaining Gladers.

"Clint and Jeff. Our Medjacks"

We got greeted by the two boys passing by. 

"They spend most of their time bandaging up the Slicers.", Newt explained, when the Greenie suddenly spoke; "What if I want to be a Runner?" 

The new boy stopped, so did we. 

"Have you listened to a word I just said?", Newt looked at the boy in disbelief. 

I joined his side.
"No one wants to be a Runner" 

The Greenie raised his eyebrows at my comment. 

"...Not just like that.", I added, "And besides, you gotta get chosen"

"Get chosen by who?"

Right after he asked, he got pushed forward by the boy Gally was fighting with.

He just couldn't leave it at one tussle, could he?

The new boy caught himself before he could fall down with a grunt. 

"What do you say, Greenie?", Gally had that challenging tone in his voice. 

Of course he'd want to find out what kind of kid the new guy was.

"Wanna see what you're made of?", he started bouncing from one foot to the other.

"Let's see... bones, flesh, probably a hero complex...", I whispered to Newt, who tried not to smile but I could still see his lips forming a small grin.

"Maybe he's made out of small gnomes who all form a human and we just need to kick him hard enough to knock them out of him", I mumbled with a serious expression, which made the boy next to me shake his head in confusion. 

"Sometimes I look at you and wonder what is going on inside that head of yours..."

"I have to speak out my thoughts or else I might eventually combust", I stated, which made Newt look even more bewildered.

The rest of the Gladers had formed a circle, cheering encouragingly and pushing each other to get a better view. 

"Greenie, Greenie, Greenie!" 

Must've been their lucky day. Two fights in one night. 

Through the crowd of excited Gladers, I could find Minho's figure, looking like he could not give less a shuck, only mildly interested at what was going on in the middle of the circle.
Not far away from him was Chuck, laughing and cheering, his eyes shining like only children's eyes could; filled with wonder and excitement. 

Seeing my two friends like that, both different in so many ways and yet they somehow got along, I couldn't help but smile. 

They might've both been idiots. But they were my idiots. 
My little found family.

Laughing, I gave the Greenie a small, encouraging nudge. He should be fine. And if something happened, we would still have Clint and Jeff, who were standing on the other side of the circle, craning their necks to see what was going on.

"Okay. All right. The rules are simple.", Gally started to explain, holding up his arms like a teacher trying to calm down his class.
"I try and push you out of the circle. And you try and last more than five seconds."

The crowd laughed. 

"Should we start a timer or do you think you'll manage to count on your own like a big boy?", I yelled at Gally, to which he responded with his middle finger.

"Ready Greenie?" 

But before the boy had the chance to answer, Gally had charged at him and tackled him to the ground with a grunt.

The Gladers stepped back and a collective 'ooh' went through the group. 

"Come on, Greenie.", Gally quickly got back into position, "We're not done yet" 

"You're right, only two seconds passed!", I shouted again, which made Newt next to me put a hand over my mouth.

"Stop, you're hurting his feelings", he laughed, before quickly pulling away in disgust.
"Did you just lick my hand?!"

I ducked away from him trying to wipe his hand on my shoulder, while Gally strutted in front of the new kid. 

"What's wrong, Greenie? You tired already?", he mocked.

The boy stood up, glaring daggers.
"Stop calling me Greenie"

A wave of murmuring went through the crowd.
Stepping up against Gally? Risky move. 

Gally's eyes said; 'You're on thin fucking ice'

"Stop calling you that? What do you wanna be called? Shank?" 

The others laughed and I allowed myself a grin. 

"What do you think, guys?", Gally started to circle the Greenie, pardon me, the Shank.
"Does he look like a Shank?" 

This time, the new boy attacked first, pouncing head first into Gally's stomach and tackling him like a Rugby player. If only I knew what Rugby was, other than just a random word in my brain.

The two struggled for a millisecond, but after all, Gally was stronger and had more experience than him.
He face-planted again. 

"You know what? I think I've settled on Shank." 

From the corner of my eye, I could see Newt watching, a small smile on his face. 

Greenbean attacked again, pushing Gally until he could hit his back and Gally landed on the sandy ground. Around me, I heard impressed cheering and shouting.

"Not bad for a Greenie, huh?" 

But he was a little too cocky, because Gally swung his leg and swept the boy clean off his feet, which made him hit the floor with a heavy thump. 

He coughed out a groan and I inhaled sharply. 

That had sounded painful.

Newt's POV

We held our breaths after the Greenie fell.
It was quiet when his eyes suddenly widened.

"Thomas"

A confused mumble went through the crowd after that word. The crackling sparks of the fire were the only things making a sound.  

"Thomas. Hey!", The Greenie stumbled up, slightly shaking on his feet. He laughed breathless.

I tilted my head, slowly starting to grin.

"I remember my name. I'm Thomas!" An unsure smile formed on his face.

Alby suddenly shouted: "Thomas!" 

And as if he had just made it official, the rest of us began to cheer. I laughed at the way his eyes had widened in shock for only a second, before being overrun by clapping Gladers.

Glancing down at Grace, I saw her throwing her fist up in the air, making those tiny bounces on her tiptoes. She always did that when she got excited. Her eyes were glowing from the golden fire and her grin was forming small dimples on her reddened cheeks.

I suddenly felt a fuzzy warmth stir inside my stomach. Must've been Gally's self made -I don't even know what it was– drink.

"Welcome home, Thomas", Frypan handed him a cup of the amber-colored liquid. 

He took a big sip with a frown on his face as the others cheered for him to chug it all down.

Thomas eventually gave up, spitting out the drink. After he'd handed the cup back to Frypan, he looked at Grace, his eyebrows slightly raised.

"You really think it's that disgusting, do you?", She asked with a mocking smile on her face. Thomas let out a small laugh.

"...He got his name pretty fast, huh?"

Her voice made me glance at her.

She had a subtle frown on her face as she watched the others congratulate Thomas. Something in her face even resembled jealousy.

Remembering that it took her almost four days to find her name, probably because of the head injury she had when she came up the Box, I gently nudged her shoulder.

"Yeah, but you still have the better one"

I smirked as she scoffed, but I could see her smiling. Almost instantly, the worried look on her face had been washed away.

"I appreciate your appreciation", she did a little bow.

I nodded thoughtfully.
"Of course"

We suddenly got interrupted.
Chuck had made his way next to us. 

"That was awesome!", He was beaming and the heat of the fire mixed with his excitement made his face flush red. 

Him and Grace were always close but nothing compared to when they were both ranting about something they loved, and now they were happily brabbling about the fight.

 It was one of those moments where everything was peaceful in the Glade. No worrying if we might survive another day. No fighting for our lives. I enjoyed the welcoming feeling of relaxation.

"Good job, Thomas", Gally shook the boy's hand, and they both seemed to sign an unspoken treaty of amends. Even if it was only for the moment.

As if I had jinxed it, the happy chatter was abruptly stopped by a horrifying, high-pitched screech that made all of us instantly turn towards the Maze. It sounded like a huge, unnatural bird had been shot out of the sky. 

It chimed through the Maze...through the Glade... through the bones of each and every one of us. The feeling I've had before was replaced by pure dread. 

And I wasn't the only one.
I saw how Grace had flinched when she'd turned, her arm in front of Chuck almost instantly. 

Staring at the giant stone walls, I thought of how close these bloody monstrosities actually were. An icy shiver crawled up my spine.

Suddenly, I felt a cold hand swiftly graze against mine. I glanced at Grace but her eyes were locked on the Maze. She was biting her lip again, almost making it bleed.

I slowly reached out for her, interlocking our fingers and softly brushing my thumb over the little bruises on her skin. Letting her know that I was here. That we were safe. My heart was starting to beat faster.

Her eyes widened, mirroring what was going on inside my brain.

No matter how much I hated to admit it, but I was scared mindless of the Maze. Scared of what was behind those walls. 

And I think Grace knew that too. Because as we were quietly standing there hand in hand, she started to tap her finger against my hand, a little pattern that I recognized was Morse code. I didn't know what it spelled out and yet somehow, it was reassuring.

Her eyes still on the Maze, Grace took a deep breath. Straightening her shoulders, she gave my hand a gentle squeeze before letting go. 

The soft, warm feeling disappeared and my hand felt cold and empty again. I slowly looked back at the Maze. 

But it stayed quiet. Just the wind howling in those endless hallways. Whatever had made the Griever cry out, it has passed now.

"What the hell was that?", Thomas' uneasy voice broke the silence. 

"That, my friend, was a Griever", Gally answered, his face grim.

 "Don't worry. You're safe here with us.", He faced Thomas, "Nothing gets through those walls"

He started to leave, turning away from the looming sight of the stone barriers that were towering around us like thick, impenetrable fog.

Alby eventually took over the initiative.
"All right guys. Let's tuck it in for the night. Come on. It was a good night."

He clapped his hands and the boys started to pack things up, leaving some last congratulations to Thomas. 

I turned around to find out that Grace had disappeared, and when I found her again, she had distanced herself a little away from the others, talking to Chuck.

Of course. 

The poor kid must've been scared too.

Grace had a warm smile on her lips, quietly whispering something to him. She had crouched down to have the same height as the curly-haired boy and was gently stroking his shoulders. Her look softened when Chuck finally nodded and headed off to the sleeping corner, not without giving her a little hug. 

She stood up and waved goodnight to Minho, who was just passing by to find his own hammock. Then her eyes landed on me and her lips twisted into an amused grin.

"You want a kiss goodnight too?", she chuckled, and I felt my face burning.

Grace just grinned, looking back once more before she left to her hammock.

Baffled, I shook my head.

This girl amazed me as much as she confused me.

A/N: Now that we got all the introducions, the real shit can unravel. 
*She said, as if she had any idea on what will happen*