December 25, 2031
14 years old

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EVONY STOOD WAITING outside Thomas's door, a small parcel hidden behind her back. She rocked back and forth as she waited for the boy to emerge from the other side. Several years had gone by, and meeting like this late at night in the dark, had become a common occurrence. The two had mastered the art of sneaking out, thanks to Thomas getting an upgraded position which allowed him access to the security cameras.

The doorknob twisted and her friend appeared in front of her only seconds later. She ran towards him, engulfing the boy in a hug. Stumbling back from the force of the girl, he soon relaxed into the gesture wrapping his hands around her waist. "Merry Christmas." He muffled through her hair. He began rubbing his fingers through the tangled strands.

Her arms were still wrapped around his neck. Seeing that the two were finally about the same height, Thomas actually being a smidge taller, she was able to look him straight in the eyes when she pulled away. "Merry Christmas to you too."

Something that did change between the two were how they felt about each other. Evony had denied it for as long as she possibly could, but when she found her dreams consisting of the familiar face, it was like she was trying to deney common knowledge. Thomas on the other hand had been smitten with the girl for so long that he'd known what that feeling was. Though, he was fairly certain he had grown accustomed to her from the moment she took his hand on that train.

She felt his hands drop from her waist. The lack of warmth was upsetting, and it took everything in her to not reach out and put them back on her hips. "We're going to the closet right?" She asked. Thomas nodded his head, "Yeah, we should probably go."

After a couple of minutes of tiptoeing around the halls of WCKD, the pair found the abandoned broom closet and snuck inside. Taking a seat in front of each other, they sat in silence admiring one another. Even though they were able to see each other a lot more in the past year than they'd been able to before. It still was rare that they got to spend such time alone. Possibly once a month, and that was if Thomas was busy with his latest project.

Neither of them broke eye contact for a long time. If Evony hadn't remembered she had a present for him, she wasn't sure how long they would've stayed like that. It seemed that any time she would look at him she fell under some sort of trance. Like a spell that wouldn't allow her to do anything but admire the boy in front of her.

She blushed, tearing her gaze away from him. "I got you something."

Her words pulled Thomas out of his own trance, making him jolt and reach back for his own gift. "Me too." He grinned, passing the small box over to her. She passed him her own gift, then just like that the two were once again met with silence. The star crossed lovers falling right back into the spell by one simple glance.

"You go first. She insisted. Evony gestured to the wrapped square in his hand. Diligently she watched as Thomas unfolded the colorful paper she had gotten from her art class earlier in the week, and pulled out a thin piece of parchment. Shifting her eyes between his, she tried to read his body language to see if he liked it. In anticipation, she twirled her thumbs-a habit she may or may not of picked up from all of her time spent with the boy.

Thomas's mouth gaped open, but closed shut just as fast. His expression softened as he scanned over the object in front of him for a second time. "You drew us." He said, his voice barely above a whisper.

He still hasn't looked up at her, and Evony's mind was starting to get anxious about if he liked it or not.

"It's was all I could think of-they don't give us much, and I wanted to do something special-if you don't like it that's-"

"Shut up."

Evony looked up in shock.

"No I didn't mean it like-what I meant was-" He rambled. Taking a breath he managed to get out a complete sentence. "What I meant to say was that it's beautiful."

And they were back in silence. Only for a little while this time, as she broke the intense staring so she could open his present. He gently grabbed her hand, placing the box in her fingers. "Open it."

So she did, and what she found inside was something more than she could ever imagine. She had only gotten him a piece of paper with a sketch on it, and he-he had gotten her a necklace.

Evony had never actually owned jewelry before. The whole being trapped at WCKD and not being able to do anything made sure of that. So, when she pulled out the thin gold chain out of the box, it was like someone had handed her the moon.

The necklace itself consisted of a gold chain, with a small star at the end of it.

There were no words she could throw together to express how she was feeling at that moment. Happiness, joy...both not strong enough words to describe the intensity of the moment.

But there was one word that came very close.

She continued staring at the piece of jewelry in front of her, not meeting the boy's eyes as she spoke. "How-how did you get this."

When she did look up she saw him grazing his hand along his jaw, not meeting her eye like how she had just done. "I-I asked one of the head workers." He sounded unsure of himself.

"And they just gave you a fancy necklace? Like no questions-just here you go?"

Thomas licked his lips in thought. How was he supposed to say that he had practically begged Janson to get him a simple gold necklace that he could give someone for Christmas. How was he supposed to tell her that he had said it was for Teresa and not her? What was he supposed to say if she asked him why he had gone through such measures to get her a gift like that. 'because I love you'. Yeah right, she would laugh in his face.

"Yep." He nodded, "You want me to help you put it on?"

With exchanging any words Evony spun around so he could delicately loop the chain over her head and clip it behind her head. While he was doing so, she found herself already absentmindedly playing with the star at the end.

"Do you like it?"

Evony thankfully didn't make a sound. She knew that any type of laugh would've ruined the moment. "Thomas," She said, turning back around towards him, "I absolutely love it."

She looked at him, really looked at him. She took in all of his features. His eyes, which weren't quite amber, but also weren't a normal shade of brown. The little moles that were plastered on his face, like one of the constellations that she liked to trace on the rooftop. His fluffy hair, which was shorter than the last time she saw him, allowed her to see more of his forehead. There was no working around the fact-Thomas was a very pretty boy.

Then something overtook her.

"Can I kiss you?" She blurted out.

She expected to feel regret, to feel taken back and want to retract her words as soon as they left her mouth. But no bad feelings washed over her. Instead emotions like passion and admiration overtook her system, and she knew that she truly did want what she was asking of him.

He didn't answer, but instead stole a glance to her own lips. It was like he was processing what was going to happen if he said yes.

"I'm going to kiss you."

And she did.

Was it too cliche for her to say that sparks flew? To say that time stood still as the twos lips met, closing any distance they once had between them. Because if all of that was cliche-she wanted to be cliche more often.

Thomas kissed her back, his heart pouring out to hers by that one simple action.

A kiss.

One. Simple. Kiss.

It meant everything to them.

All of the built up love and intimacy they had for one another over the past ten years seemed to fuel the kiss, making it that much more exciting for the two of them.

It wasn't rushed-it was slow and lingering. It was everything and more the two had imagined it to be.

His arms wormed around her back, pulling her closer until she was practically on top of him. The kiss lasted as lost as the two could go with oxygen-then, only then did they pull apart.

Backing away she hovered over his face, strands of hair falling onto his, which he pushed away with his fingers

"You kissed me," He cooed. A giddy smile played on his lips.

She felt herself begin to blush, "Yeah..." She let out a nervous laugh. "Was it...uh okay?"

Then she felt his arms wrap around her waist again, and suddenly she was met with his lips on hers. If she thought that the first kiss was extraordinary, then there were absolutely no words to describe how amazing this one felt. And even though this one was shorter in time, it felt like it went on for minutes. Hours. Days even.

Evony frowned as he pulled away, and quickly leaned in to go for a third time. Much to her demise Thomas dodged her attempt, holding her back by placing his hands on her cheeks.

He sighed, "As much as I would love to do that again-and again, I-"

"Alright then lets-"

"No-I mean yes later, but I want to tell you something first." He stumbled over his words. Was this it? Was this when he was supposed to tell her that he was head over heels for her. That whenever he was around her his heart practically leaped out of his chest. Should he tell her just how much he loved her?

In the end, he didn't. He had just kissed her, and he didn't want to drive her away by saying three little words. It was crazy to think about how much a single sentence could impact the two of them.

"I...like you." He said as if he was confused by his own words.

Evony cocked her head, "I mean I would hope so, we did just kiss-twice."

"Like I really like you." He drawled, extending the third word. Maybe she would get the hint.

"I really like you too." She crawled over next to where he was sitting and placed a hand over his own. "Like I really really like you."

"And not in a friendship way?"

She chuckled, "Thomas, do you usually kiss your best friends?"

"I mean-no, but as of today, yes."

Pleased with his answer, she let her head rest on his shoulder. "Do you have to go back tonight?"

He moved, making her lift up her head. "I don't want to get in trouble."

"Right, can't mess up that golden child status of yours." She joked. She always teased him about how he tried to be such a goody two shoes, when in reality he broke more rules than herself.

He looked at her with sad eyes. "I really don't-"

"What about this," Evony cut him off. "Let's weigh the options."

A perplexed expression crossed his face, but before he could ask, she had already put a dainty finger under his chin, making him freeze.

"Either you can go back to your boring wizards layer," She caressed his jawline with her pointer, staring at him with pleading eyes. Thomas knew what she was doing, and it was working. She had him in a chokehold-and all she had done was place one measly finger on his face.

Evony dropped her hand, letting it meet with the other one to place them on the boy's chest. Softly she pushed, causing him to lean back toward the floor.

"Or," She smirked, sliding her body so it was next to Thomas's. Holding her head up with the palm of her hand, she began to play with the ends of his brown strands. "Or you could stay here, with me. And we could cuddle all night."

"Cuddle?"

She didn't say anything, but instead let her head lay down on his chest, and listened to the fast paced rhythm of his heartbeat. Then she used her free hand to wrap around his waist, effectively locking him in.

"Don't you want to stay here and hold me?" She mumbled into his shirt.

"Of course I do-I want that more than anything."

"Then don't go." She begged once more. For extra measures she snuggled herself in closer, if that was even possible.

His reply was almost instant. "I won't."

And with that she felt his arms wrap her in a firm embrace, one around her body and the other rested on his own chest. The two layed like this for the rest of the night, as they talked about everything that had happened since the last time they saw each other (that being since last week). One of the many topics of conversation landed on a certain project Thomas had been working on for a while.

"Grievers?" She asked, such a word didn't exist in her vocabulary. His hand laced over hers, giving it a tight squeeze.

He subconsciously rubbed the pad of his finger over the back of her hand. "Yeah, apparently that's what they're called. Though I think giant hairy mechanical beasts would do just fine, too."

She laughed at this, burrowing her head into the crook of his neck.

A sudden thought then surfaced, a pretty frequent thought. "Why are you guys making a maze?" Her voice was monotone. Flat.

"They won't tell me anything." Thomas mumbled. It was the truth though. The adults wouldn't tell him, and apparently they had told Teresa to keep quiet as well.

Evony nodded, or at least she thought she did. Things were starting to get hazier by the moment, as she felt herself slipping into the darkness.

"Goodnight." She muttered, giving Thomas's hand one last squeeze-letting sleep take her away.

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MAE's FUN NOTES-
-I KNOW IM GONNA GET YELLED
AT FOR NOT MAKING HIM SAY I
LOVE YOU BUT THATS RESERVED
FOR WHEN THEY ARE IN THE GLADE

anyway this is the last happy chapter
for the before the maze sections :D