CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
• bold gestures •

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Thomas ran towards the exit, pulling on Evonys wrist as he did everything in his power to get the two of them to safety. He was about three feet from the door when he heard the loud rumble sound from around them, indicating that the walls were now closing. Thomas' dream self then dropped the girl's hand and sprinted to the Glade at full speed. No more than a minute later he squeezed through the walls just in time before they finally shut. It was then that he turned back to see the now sealed stone, the realization settling in that he had left her alone in the maze to die.

THOMAS WOKE UP from his dream with a racing heartbeat. The fact he had only been imagining it wasn't residnating with him at first which made him shoot up from the floor with startled. He glanced over to the bed next to him, looking to make sure she was still safe and unharmed.

At first everything had seemed okay until he looked over to the part of her leg that wasn't covered by the blanket. There he saw a couple drops of blood dripping down the bare skin.

His body moved before his brain, hastily getting off the ground and moving to hover over where she laid. With eager shakes he began to attempt to wake her up from her slumber. Her name left his mouth, him muttering it over and over again in a desperate need of seeing her eyes open.

"Evony," he said, placing his hands on the sides of her head, "Evs."

The girl groaned, and Thomas felt a bit of himself relax. He retracted his hands from her face, moving them down to the blanket so he could pull the remaining part of it off her body. At the chill from the cold air, Evony pushed herself up off the bed and began to fight to bring the fabric back over her legs.

That action only allowed for more of her sheets to be exposed, and now he could see the blood stain on the part where her leg was.

"Evs, you're bleeding," he exclaimed, and finally with those words the girl had shot awake.

She pulled up her knee, her eyes drifting towards where she could feel the substance moving down her leg. He watched as her nose scrunched, and then in a swift movement she tossed the blankets to the side and stood off the bed.

Her hands latched onto his, scanning his concerned face, "Are you okay?

He realized she was still worried about him waking up from the nightmare; it was funny how quick that left his mind the moment he found something was wrong with her.

Thomas' eyes glanced down to where there was blood running down her leg, "I'm fine, what's going on? Are you hurt?"

"No," she quickly responded, "did you have a dream? Was it the same thing as before? Was-"

"Evs," he cut off, his eyes widening even more, "You're leg, it's bleeding."

"I know, it's fine," she reassured even though the point wasn't getting across, "I'm Making sure you're alright."

His mouth gaped open, his mind spinning with confusion. "Fine? There's blood on you!" he said, releasing one of their hands so he could point down to what he was talking about. He wasn't understanding how she was able to be so calm when seeing that red substance on her. Blood never meant anything good; usually it meant someone or something was hurt or in pain.

Evony went to back away; however, she turned around once more to grab their hands. "You promise you're good?"

Thomas nodded, his eyebrows drawn but yet still speaking the truth. The nightmares effect had washed off of him the moment he saw that she was still alive. Sure, the blood was complicating things, but at least he knew she wasn't hurting and that he hadn't been the one to do it.

After his words of approval, Evony fully turned around and walked to the other side of her hut. Thomas watched from a distance as she grabbed a set of clothes and quickly rushed towards the doorway.

"Follow me," she insisted; Thomas did just that, questioning her on what was going on the entire time as they walked to the bathroom.

It's normal she kept saying, but he had the least amount of a clue what that meant. Normal? He'd never bled out of nowhere before.

The trek to the bathroom didn't end up being that long, mostly because Evony was keeping them going at a fast pace. He could tell there was something that was bothering her as they walked; she seemed more tense than usual. Once they had made it to the bathroom, she headed over to a storage closet that was placed in the back of the room. He watched her grab another sheet and blanket from the closet.

She handed him the items; Thomas accepted them but still shook his head, "Can you explain, I'm still really confused."

He didn't get an answer though, because she had already ducked away into one of the shower stalls. Once he heard the sound of the water hitting the floor, he became even more worried that she had been hurt in some sort of way. Due to her wishes however, Thomas stayed quiet and waited for her to be finished just like she said.

It was only about five minutes later when the water suddenly stopped and she emerged from the stall fully clothed and free from blood. A towel was wrapped around her head which she undid to reveal her hair which was still completely dry.

A smile painted her face as she grabbed his hand to lead them back outside. He stumbled along with her, confused on how she was able to act completely unfazed to the blood. The blood which he realized was gone now. There were no questions asked, though; he knew that if she wanted to tell him she would, so he didn't pressure her.

Back at her hut, Evony stripped the bed down until just the hay stacks were shown and refixed both the sheet and the blanket onto it. Then finally-with a sigh-she sat down in front of him, her hand patting the space next to her as an invitation.

Thomas rushed to her side, grabbing her hand to focus her attention onto himself. He glanced down at her legs-which were covered with sweatpants-and stared at the area where the blood had been. However, just before he was able to say anything, he felt an arm wrap around his waist.

"Was it the same dream?" she asked softly as her head laid over his shoulder. The same hand that was around him began to rub up and down the side of his body, and while he knew she was still providing comfort for the sake of the nightmare, he still felt that he should be the one comforting her.

"Yeah, it was," he brushed over what happened, "is everything alright with you. I feel like there's something going on that you're not telling me."

Evony lifted her head from its place on his shoulder while also retracting her hand from his waist. The faintest laugh left her lips, and she tried to hide it by swerving her head to the right.

Thomas sank from where he was sitting, not liking how he didn't understand what was happening around him.

"I'm sorry," she chuckled, "It's sweet how much you care-it really is-but I swear what is happening to me is normal. On the other hand I really want to make sure you're okay."

"I'm okay," he told her truthly, "It just takes me a couple minutes when I wake up to realize it was all fake."

Evony nodded, her face holding a solemn expression. "Is there anything I can do to help"

Thomas' eyebrows pinched together, indicating he was thinking up an idea. His eyes turned to the ground, his fingers twirling around each other in her lap. "Do you," he paused, trying to slow his heartbeat, "do you think we could be closer. Like closer together so when I wake up I can know you're there instantly."

There was a long pause-which probably wasn't that long, but to him it felt like forever. What he had really wanted to ask was if he could hold her while they slept; if anything was going to help it would be to know she's safe in his arms. But he knew if he was that straightforward it would be a clear giveaway of his feelings towards her, and the last thing he needed was for their friendship to get messed up because he couldn't get a good night's rest.

"Sure," her voice quickened, pointing to the bed, "Do you want to sleep up here with me."

Yes

"Sure," he shrugged, regretting the action immediately after seeing the smile on her lips fall blank.

"You don't have too."

"No, no," he panicked, tucking up his legs and sliding them under the covers, "I want to."

Evony smiled then got into the bed herself, keeping about a foot's distance away from him. They both laid on their back, the blanket covering them as they sat in a comfortable silence. He wasn't sure how long it was that they stayed like that-not talking-but it had been the whole time while Evony tossed and turned on all sides.

Thomas would be moments away from drifting off when he would hear her shuffle next to him, switching the position she was sleeping. At first he thought that maybe it was a couple of times thing, something she did to get into the most comfortable spot possible, but as the hour went on he couldn't help but wonder what was causing the movements. Stress would be an obvious answer, but he was pretty sure she fell asleep quickly the first night he stayed in her hut.

So finally he decided to ask. "Okay, Evs. What's wrong; I know you don't think it's important but please if there's anyway I can help-"

"Thomas," she spoke, stopping him from continuing his ramble. She let out an audible sigh, "Look, it's something that happens to girls every month that gives them some blood and some cramps. That's all. I appreciate your concern-I really do-but I really just want to go to sleep."

Thomas was by no means satisfied with that response as it still didn't answer the question of how he could help. Evony had already turned onto her sided, though, facing away from him so he couldn't see her face.

In a split second decision-well, not even a decision more like an impulse-Thomas slid himself closer to the girl so his chest was only about an inch away from her back. He saw Evony turn her head back to get a look at him; the action ending up with both of their faces flushing while they ducked away with giddy smiles.

He came closer to her, taking his arm and putting his hand on her hip. "Is this okay?"

She hummed a yes, relaxing into him contently. The smile on his face never left; this being exactly how he had wanted to fall asleep for a while now. His pathetic daydreams were becoming a reality. All because he was able to take one small risk to get closer to her.

"Is this helping?" he whispered slowly, his words muffled from his face being stuffed into her hair. She answered yes, but he could still feel the tension that flooded throughout her body. He tapped her arm, "Where does it hurt?"

"Thomas it's-"

"Fine, I know," he muttered, "just tell me where it's hurting, please."

She paused again, making the room go silent. "It's my stomach," she confessed, and with that Thomas fully wrapped his arm around her figure, his hand placed on her stomach. He began to slowly rub his thumb around in a circle, hopefully releasing some of the tension that came with the cramps.

Evony curled her knees father to her chest, "Was this how close you wanted to be?" She asked, giving a quick laugh before falling silent once more. Thomas didn't even feel the need to respond; he was sure she could feel the smile on his face from where he was pushed against her neck.

He was still quite clueless to what she was really going through, but he knew how much it hurt when he got a cramp while running. Most of the time he had to force himself to continue so he wouldn't get left behind. Now add blood into whatever she's going through and he couldn't imagine how painful that would be.

It wasn't long until after that he felt himself going into a daze. His body became floaty as he let sleep start to drift him away.

It was just before his mind finally shut down that he felt the girl in his arms begin to squirm. He could feel her shifting back over so she could face him. His face subconsciously lowered to hers until the point where their foreheads touched; with that he felt the return of fingers threading through his hair.

He was so at peace that he almost missed the next thing she did, but luckily for him he was able to stay awake just long enough to feel her soft lips press against his nose.

Finally then he fell asleep, and surprisingly enough he didn't have another nightmare for the rest of the night.

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"And that's when you kissed him?" Frypan questioned. Him and Evony were currently sitting on a log out by an old tree stump that was needing to be cut down. After last night-and the entire day of running-she had pulled away from Thomas and told him she needed to go do something alone. Of course she made sure there was someone to look over him-that person being Minho-to make sure he didn't dare try anything that could harm himself.

They didn't know much about the nightmares, but so far nobody had been able to put together a pattern on when they happen. It seemed that the three Gladers had all committed at different parts of the day.

So with no pattern and no way to be able to tell just when and how Thomas or Alec could try to kill themselves, Evony and Newt had agreed on making sure someone was watching over them at all times. Hint why the boy was now sleeping in her hut. It was simply for her to make sure he was okay and safe at all times. Maybe in some eyes that was possessive, but she thought of it as more or a thoughtful gesture.

Another thing that had recently differed from normal was the way a couple of the Gladers had been acting. Some of the ones who usually picked on Alec or made fun of Thomas had started to show signs of sympathy. She could see in their eyes everytime they walked by either of them. They were looking at them with the visible expression of he's going to die.

Sometimes she felt like she did the same; she really hoped she didn't, though. Both Alec and Thomas deserved anything but to have their lives end in this twisted way. Them being constantly reminded wouldn't help either, and she couldn't help but feel awful every time someone looked at them the way they did.

Evony sighed, twirling the hilt of a knife on the log, "On the nose," she recalled, making sure it was clear to him that her and the boy hadn't actually made contact on the lips.

Frypan only seemed disappointed, pursuing his lips and shrugging in defeat. "And what's so bad about that?"

"Nothing!" she exclaimed, "Nothing except for the fact that it was way too obvious."

The chef then laughed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he rocked back and forth. Evony looked to the ground, still feeling subconscious from her past actions. She didn't really know why though; Thomas had been just as bold last night when he put his arm around her waist.

Maybe that was the problem; he wasn't usually like that and now it had taken the opportunity to mess with her head.

"Evy, I love you, but your sense of attraction is way off," Frypan explained, resulting in slanted eyebrows from the girl. "If your counting that as obvious then you might as well count all the hand holding and nicknames and-"

"Woah," she stopped him right there, "You're saying I'm obvious?"

Frypan shook his head, "I'm saying both of you are obvious. Think about it, you call him pretty-boy and he calls you a special nickname that is reserved for only him. That's a pretty clear indication that you have a thing for each other!"

Evony opened her mouth to speak but was momentarily stunned from the way she had been called out. What her friend was saying was true; her and Thomas did have special nicknames for eachother, and yes they did hold hands a lot and spend a lot of time together.

It was starting to seem more and more realistic that there could be a possibility of him reciprocating her feelings.

"Okay, so if he does-"

"He does."

Evony shot him a look, "If he does like me then how should I tell him?"

Before he could answer another pair of footsteps ran up behind them, making both of the teens turn to look for who it was.

Chuck ran up quickly to her, holding something small in his hands. Instantly Evony knew what it was and a smile began forming on her face. "You finished them?" she asked with an open mouth. The little boy nodded his head vigorously, opening his palm to show the items.

"You did a really good job making them; I just smoothed them out a bit," Chuck told the older girl. The smile never left her face as she held the gifts in her hand. About a week ago she had come to the boy to ask for a favor-to ask if he could teach her how to craft things out of wood. He agreed and told her the tips and tricks to carving small objects. A couple days later she had made the perfect gift to give Thomas for Christmas.

Evony wrapped him in a hug, "Thank you so much. Is there anything I can help you with?"

Chuck glanced to the sky for a moment in thought; however, after coming up with nothing he shook his head. "Nope, but I'm excited to see his reaction when you give them to him."

"Me too." She let out a nervous chuckle; unsurprisingly she was extremely nervous to give him his gift for Christmas-which was tomorrow-for the small reason that she was going to try to attempt confessing her feelings by giving him the objects.

"There you go," Frypan said, "Just tell him you love him when you give him those."

Love.

She didn't deny his statement, because it was true. Somehow over the past week she had finally come to terms with the fact that she had fallen in love with the brown haired dumbass. She blamed the realization on the fact that the thought of him not being with her anymore made a terrible ache shoot throughout her body. But honestly she was well aware that she had fallen for him a long time ago; it had just taken getting past her mental walls for her to admit it.

Loving someone only made the pain worse when they left. She had learned that back when Nick sacrificed himself while trying to find a way out of the Glade. Evony still hadn't gotten over his death, and at this rate, she doubted she ever would.

But it was too late now, because she had fallen and she wasn't getting back up.

"Wait, is this about Thomas?" Chuck perked up "You love him?"

Evony flushed a deep red, nodding her head along with a smile. Both boys exchanged grins while Fry made the point of saying finally. After that the three of them started to argue about little things-mostly concerning what gifts that were going to get eachother-and spent the next hour talking and laughing.

On the other side of the Glade, two boys strolled past the huts towards where the box was placed. Both of them were fairly comfortable with each other-knowing they were in the same situation helping for the bonding-so they had agreed to go with each other to ask the creators for help.

Was it technically asking for help, no, but if anything they were going to try to ask for gifts by sending down a request on a piece of paper.

Thomas and Alec made it to where they were standing on the edge of the box and together they hopped down the crates until they reached the bottom. "So," Thomas started, trying to pick up a conversation, "Do you have something special you're asking for?"

"Huh," Alec turned around, his face tight and lips drawn together. "Oh, you mean for Newt."

"Yeah," Thomas nodded, moving to dig through the crates until he found the pencil and paper that was usually left sitting around. "He's your boyfriend, right?"

At the mention of Newt the boy gained a bit more confidence. "Uh- yeah. Yeah he is."

Thomas offered him a smile before leaning his head back down to grab the parchment that was at the bottle of the box. Two of his fingers were just long enough to grab the edge of it and bring it up enough for him to pull it up. Once he had done that, he searched the next crate over and found a pencil sitting on one of the leftover stacks of hay; he grabbed that too.

"Okay," he spun around and tore off a sheet of paper to hand to the boy with him, "Here you go."

Alec took the item out of his hand along with pulling out a spare piece of charcoal from his pocket. "So what are you getting her?"

"Her?"

"Evony?" Alec mentioned, his face showing confusion from Thomas' confusion.

"Right Evony!" he exclaimed, already feeling his body heat up, "Well-uh, you know I wanted to get something- actually I don't know how- it's a secret."

"A secret?"

"Yeah," Thomas stated more firmly, "You'll find out tomorrow."

Alec couldn't look less unbothered, "Okay."

"Okay."

The two turned their back, beginning to write down their requests on the sheets of paper. Scribbling down the words he had memorized, Thomas began to imagine what her reaction would be when he gave her the gift. He hoped she would be thrilled; say it's the best thing she'd ever gotten. When that happened he would be sure to confess his feelings. That had been his plan for the past month.

He snapped from his thoughts to ask the boy a question, "Hey, Alec."

"Yeah."

"What are you getting Newt?"

Alec's face stayed blank, and with a teasing smile he answered the question. "It's a secret."

Funny enough Thomas laughed, though nonetheless he was surprised that the quiet boy had made a comedic joke. The two then folded up their pieces of paper-addressing it to those who put us here-and placed the slips into the designated request box.

Now all there was to do was wait for tomorrow and hope the events would play out just as he imagined.

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MAE's FUN NOTES
hello people!!! I hope you are
all doing well <3 I hope you
enjoyed this fluffy chapter
bc this is one of the last ones
y'all are gonna get...ikik

anyway any predictions for
what the gifts are 🤭 if so
I'd love to know what you
are thinking