She had made a promise to Alby very long ago. So long ago in fact, she herself somedays forgot about it. A conversation so far in the past and buried in their memories that it rarely crossed either of their minds. However, they both on some subconscious level, always knew it was there. It gnawed at the back of Y/N's mind every night without her even realizing.

All that time ago, Y/N had promised Alby nothing short of her own life. He asked that when they needed it most, or should the day ever come that there was no one left, she became a runner at the drop of a hat. She promised that whenever Alby called upon her in need, she'd give all she had to find a way out of the maze.

One might wonder why if Y/N had been so willing to be a runner for Alby, why wasn't she one already? It was because Y/N knew that the day might come where everyone would lose hope. She herself believed that should that day ever come, she wouldn't have given up yet. She knew she could hold out. So did Alby. She, in their most desperate time, would be their last jolt of energy.

When Ben got stung, Y/N knew her life was going to be changing within a matter of hours. Just as expected, the runners quit one by one until no one was left but Minho and the ambitious Greenie, Thomas. Y/N counted the seconds down until Alby came to find her.

She sat under one of the trees in the Glade, mindlessly listening to the cries of Ben in the distance. Right now, she didn't know what to do or how to distract herself from what she knew was coming. It was like waiting for a call to the electric chair. There was no escaping it and nothing to think about because destiny was already set.

"You alright?" Newt's voice sounded as he sat beside her.

Y/N looked up with vacant eyes. "Yeah, thanks." She muttered. "Not sure how we're going to recover from this."

Newt picked some grass. "I don't either. We need a miracle."

It was strange. She knew the Glade needed her now. They needed someone dedicated to finding a way out when the odds seemed completely against them. But, she was more hesitant than she thought. She was getting used to the Glade and wondered if finding a way out was worth it. After all, could they even confirm there's anything out there beyond the walls? No, they couldn't.

Until dinner was called by Frypan, Y/N and Newt sat in silence beneath that tree, thinking. Both in their own worlds as the contemplated the collapse of the one they were currently living in.

Sure enough, before dinner as she and Newt walked toward the tables, Y/N felt a hand on her shoulder. It was too familiar. It gripped with grief. The girl stopped walking and so did Newt. With eyes downturned and tense shoulders, she took in a sharp breath. Newt watched her change in demeanour.

"...What's going on?" He asked nervously. "Alby?"

"We need to talk." Alby said coldly. "I think it's time Newt hears about this as well. C'mon."

The three Gladers walked slowly and quietly to the council hall. Alby and Y/N, to Newt's surprise, actually had their own secrets. Whatever this was, he'd never heard about it. So, it must've been something fairly serious.

As they dropped down into the hall, Minho was already sat in one of the chairs with his head in his hands. Thomas was wandering around the room in boredom.

"Alright," Alby sat down. "I think we all know where this is going. Ben is going to have to be banished, the runners are quitting and Gally is at his wits end and about to kill Thomas."

"Huh?" Thomas whipped his head around in confusion from the wood on the wall he was tearing apart.

Alby groaned and turned back to the others. "So we—"

"Why is Y/N here?" Minho suddenly jutted straight in between Alby's words.

Sighing, already knowing where this was going, Alby leaned forward and pressed his hands together. "When we all first arrived, Y/N made me a promise. That when we needed it, she would become a runner. Our last resort."

Minho scoffed. "You think we need a last resort? Thomas and I can get out of here ourselves! We're not sending her in there, especially not now!"

Newt's eyes darted around, hesitating to speak. Alby was staring right up and Minho who was eyeing him down with murderous eyes. "Listen man, the more people we have to try and find a way out the better. With the way things are going, we're short on time. You know that better than anyone else."

"Are you stupid?!" Minho shouted, moving now to face Newt. "Out of your shuck mind? She's not going in!"

Everyone was silent. Minho had a temper. He was bold and outspoken. Never before had he turned on his friends like this. His words and actions were so violent and harsh that everyone questioned if he by chance was stung himself.

"Minho, I promised Alby this a long time ago. I can help." She spoke up.

With narrow eyes and furrowed brows, Minho shifted his attention to Y/N. He was angry. But, above all, Y/N could see he was afraid. He was hurting. "No." He seethed.

Y/N sat a little straighter. "I doesn't matter what you want right now. This is about trying to keep our friends alive and getting them to safety. There's no one else who will run except for me."

Minho and Y/N's eyes were locked, both so uncertain and on edge. Y/N tried to bite her tongue but couldn't. "Whether you like it or not, I'm coming in with you two tomorrow and we are finding a way out."

Minho's lip curled and everyone knew he wanted to lash out. He looked like he was ready to hurt someone. That wasn't something his friends were used to seeing.

Before he could say anything, Minho bolted for the door. He slammed through it like a bull and ran for the deadheads. Minho was thankful for a pair of legs able to carry him away fast. If he'd left just a few seconds later, his friends would have seen him break. They would have seen his expression falter, shifting from anger to absolute panic. His eyes were now red and watering.

He was afraid of losing what he loved. Afraid of losing what he worked so hard to protect all these years. Y/N. Of course, he loved and wanted to keep the rest of his friends safe as well, but it was Y/N his mind was always set on.

He had yet to work up the confidence to ever tell Y/N his true feelings. Things were easier just as close friends. Besides, what was the point? This place was destined to fall apart someday. Either one of them could disappear within seconds. That would only cause more heartbreak. He could love her without her having to know.

Minho barricaded himself in the maproom. He had a plan and couldn't have anyone bothering him until sunset. Was it a stupid plan? Maybe. At this point though, he didn't care. All that mattered was that Y/N never went in that maze. There was a way to stop that.

Y/N knew Minho needed his time. So, she waited until later in the evening to go searching for him. First, she stopped to check the maproom. All she found were map drawings scattered all over the floor, chairs tossed around like the place was hit by a tornado. His pack was missing from its infamous spot on the wall.

Confused, Y/N quickened her pace as she head over to the gardens to find Newt. He'd be the next best person to ask, seeing as he somehow knew of everyones whereabouts all of the time.

"Hey, you seen Minho? I can't find him and the maproom was a mess." Y/N asked. She must've been letting her nerves show because Newt's eyes went wide.

"No, I thought he was with Alby?" He responded, dropping his shovel and rubbing his dirty hands on his pants. "We should go find him. I'm worried."

As Newt began to approach Y/N, his eyes moved over her shoulders and his expression fell. Y/N panicked. She whipped her head around to see exactly what she feared most.

Minho was racing for the maze doors which had just begin to shake and scream. She knew, in that moment, he'd timed it perfectly. There was no way she would be able to catch him. She could run as fast as she wanted and there was no way she'd make it before those doors shut.

"MINHO!" She shrieked.

Even though she knew she couldn't catch him before he reached those doors, maybe she could change his mind from a distance.

To Y/N and Newt, it may have looked like her cry hadn't been heard or it hadn't phased him. However, it had nearly stopped him dead in his tracks. It was like her scream had strung a rope around his neck and pulled straight back. His blood froze and guilt cut his skin. But he couldn't stop. He'd already decided.

Just before those doors closed, sure enough, there was Thomas trodding right after Minho. He waved goodbye to Newt and Y/N as he disappeared into the corridor. A stupid move? Probably. But he wasn't losing the opportunity. Besides, he knew Y/N and Newt might have a reason to hope for their return in the morning if Minho wasn't out there alone.

"He—" Newt began, baffled. In a frenzy, he began to jog off. "I need to find Alby."

Y/N stood motionless. Minho had left. He'd planned this. Did he believe that brining Y/N into the maze was a bigger risk than spending the night inside of it alone? Did he hate her so much that he'd rather risk his life than work alongside her? Or, was it all the opposite? Was he more afraid of brining her into the maze than staying there alone all night? Did he care so much that he'd rather risk his life than have her join him?

Mindlessly, she made her way to the maproom. There was nothing she could do. Minho had made his choice and so had Thomas in following him. She wouldn't get answers until the morning, if it ever came and if Minho ever returned. She might just be left wondering why he'd really done it the rest of her life. That was something she tried not to think about.

Unknowingly, she sat in that room all night. She stared blankly at the empty space on the wall where Minho always hung his running vest. Instead of trying to face the reality that he might never return, her mind chose to simply shut down. Thinking of nothing was a lot easier than thinking about life without him.

She wanted to blame herself. But, she knew she couldn't. The promise made to Alby was something unavoidable and she couldn't control how Minho chose to react.

Newt was the first to find her at dawn. He approached her slowly with dark bags under his eyes and withered skin. If Y/N had to guess, he'd also been up all night. "The doors will open soon, want to come?"

Y/N looked up slowly and struggled to focus her vision on her friend. "Yeah." She rose her stiff body from where she sat.

The pair made it across the Glade in record slow time. Alby and many of the other boys were already situated in front of the doors, waiting for the rumbling to begin. Once they did, Y/N stood with her head down and eyes closed. She didn't want to see those doors open and not have anyone behind them. But she also didn't want to not be there if they did return.

As the earth shook and stone wailed as is scraped against itself, Y/N tried to slow her thoughts. There were only two outcomes here. Either they made it back or they didn't. The chances they didn't much higher than the possibility they did.

There were gasps when those doors finally opened all the way. Y/N couldn't tell if they were good or bad.

She waited.

Minho, from a few metres away, stopped walking. He passed off the device in his hands that they had taken out of the griever to Thomas. His chest caved in. Guilt was swelling in his guts. He'd had a lot of time last night to think about what he'd done and knew it wasn't right. Y/N took the force of his decision, clearly distressed as she stood there, refusing to look up and shaking.

Knowing he needed to do something and not run again like the coward he'd been last night, he pushed through his friends to Y/N. Once he made it there, he put his arms around her and slowly began to hold tighter. Beneath his grasp, he felt the girl loosen. She knew who it was. Soon enough, her arms found their way around him too.

"Hey," Minho stepped back with his hand on Y/N's shoulder and bent his knees a little, lowering himself down and trying to look in her eyes. He couldn't catch them. "I think we need to talk."

Those words stung Minho's lips as they left. He was admitting to his mistakes. Y/N's only response was following him when he began to walk, guided by the hand on her shoulder. Minho sent a blank look to his friends which told them to leave him alone for a while.

After walking, Minho sat with Y/N in the grass behind some of the tall vines in the gardens. It was just about the most privacy you'd get around here. Sat cross legged and face to face, Minho just wished she'd look at him.

"Y/N—" He tried to say something. Anything. But he didn't know how to tread forward in this sort of scenario. All he could do was try to explain. "I didn't want you to go in the maze. I thought if I found a way out overnight, you would never have to go in there except for the day we all got to leave."

The girl finally raised her chin. "That's something we could have talked about."

Minho closed his eyes tight as he tilt his head. "I tried—I wanted to—"

"You got angry and ran off. That wasn't talking." Y/N said.

"I had a plan that seemed like it would solve everything. So I went with it." He cringed a little, knowing he should have seen how wrong it was in the moment.

Y/N eyed him as if he should know better. "A shoddy plan. You could've gotten yourself killed and then I would have ended up in the maze anyways. Without you."

Minho grumbled. It was like with every single thing Y/N said to him cut him a little deeper. It was all truth and he knew it. But he was so conflicted. "Ok. It was stupid." He agreed. "I just—if I lose you, I'm done. If you're gone, I don't have a reason to run anymore. We'd all be stuck here."

"So then we do this together." Y/N responded forcefully. "We can't ignore the fact that I have to go into the maze one way or another. But we can stick together and find a way out. I know we can."

Sighing a little, Minho nodded weakly.

"The Glade needs both of us right now. We either make it out together or we go down finding a way out together." She put a hand on his knee.

"Sounds alright to me," Minho snickered a little. "But, if we die together, does that mean I'm stuck with you forever?"

Y/N pursed her lips and shook her head in disbelief. Half of Minho's existence and being was sass.

"Hey, don't get saucy. I wouldn't be mad if we had to spend forever together." He raised his arms in defence.

"Well, I would be." Y/N laughed and stood up, holding her hand out to Minho.