The night was somewhat bittersweet. Y/N reunited with her friends and was told all of the stories she missed while away. However, there was also an underlying feeling of disappointment and betrayal radiating from many of the boys. Y/N knew it would only be a matter of time before things settled, but it didn't make the burden on her shoulders weigh any less. There were things she couldn't tell them. Not yet, at least.

Just as she was about to head off to bed, Gally grabbed her hand. His eyes were locked on her hand in his own, face flushed, slightly sweaty from the days heat. Either she'd remembered wrongly, or there were less freckles scattered across his face now than there was a couple weeks ago. Y/N felt a wave a shame knowing that it was likely due to her disappearance that Gally hadn't been spending the same amount of time out in the open sun. He'd probably been hiding away the past while, hence the faded freckles. The callouses on his hand tickled Y/N's ever so slightly and it made waiting for him to speak nearly impossible. The boy was held back by something. A kind of nervousness Y/N had never really seen from him.

"Can we...?" Gally began, fighting past his throat which was ceased, trying to keep his words held down. The blonde shifted awkwardly, blinking fast for no apparent reason. His skin itched uncomfortably. "Can we—can we go back to homestead? To talk?"

Y/N furrowed her brows slightly, still perplexed by the fact that Gally didn't seem to hate her inside and out for what she'd done. "Yeah, of course."

Ever so carefully, she helped Gally up off of the ground with a soft smile which was luckily returned by him. Despite it being a somewhat foreign feeling, Gally held onto Y/N's hand gingerly as they walked back towards the homestead. In no way, shape or form did he have the confidence to speak, but her touch was enough to settle his racing heart. He knew he and Y/N had never made themselves out to be anything more than friends, but since they'd grown closer over time, he didn't feel as though friends quite encompassed how he felt. He knew deep down she thought the same. But here in the Glade, it almost didn't seem worth it to put any kind of name to things. All that would ever do was make things worse if at any point something went wrong.

Gally figured the fact that he had even let her into his life in any capacity spoke enough for itself about how he felt.

Y/N didn't fully realize how much she'd missed the Glade until she entered Gally's room. It was just how she'd remembered. Warm, cozy, far tidier than the rest of the boys' rooms despite it being a rickety haphazard disaster. Which, seemed to be the opposite of what it should be just based off of how Gally presented himself on a daily basis. His window faced out to the deadheads, trees blowing softy in the wind.

"I'll be back in a minute," Gally snuck behind the door, eyes flickering between the girl and the floor a couple of times before he left.

While he was gone, Y/N rummaged through a small box of clothes she'd always left in his room. Back when she was in the Glade, she had to hide them in here so that they'd be safe from the rest of the boys. If they were left out beside her hammock, her clothes would go missing one by one until she had nothing left. No one wanted to mess with Gally or his personal space, so she could always ensure her things would be safe in here. The memories made her smile, and so did the thought that Gally had kept them in here all this time. Inside she found a set of old, worn clothes. At least they were clean, unlike the clothes she was in right now, muddied from a mix of sweat and dirt from the maze.

The way she was thinking in the moment made it seem like she'd been gone years. It surely had felt like an eternity, but it was only two weeks. Had it seemed that long for him, too?

Just as she finished changing, Gally retuned with a small box of supplies and a canister of water. He quietly shut the door behind himself after saying goodnight to Alby. Sitting down on the bed, he patted the spot beside himself shyly. Y/N sat cautiously, and after a few seconds of staring at the floor she felt an odd sensation tugging at the ends of her hair. She jerked back to find Gally's fingers in her hair, a sheepish look on his face. Before she left, it had been one of Gally's favourite things to attempt to detangle the girls Y/H/L, Y/H/C hair whenever he had a chance. Y/N wasn't quite sure why, but she didn't ever question it. Maybe it was because it was something mindless to do with his hands that let the boy clear his mind of his thoughts.

"Are those new?" Y/N asked, looking over to the rickety, haphazard table at his bedside. On it were a few drawings, ones similar to the one she had brought with her and kept of the two of them. Gally tugged her hair ever so slightly, cursing himself under his breath for having done it.

"Yeah," He sighed. Out of everyone in the Glade, one might expect Gally to be the last person to be a gifted artist. And yet, he was able to draw with the same detail and skill as he built with. Unfortunately, it was something he did his best to keep as a secret. "Had to draw some new ones since I'm pretty sure you were the one who stole the last one."

Y/N forced herself to swallow. "You know I didn't want to leave you, right?"

"I try to remind myself of that." He admitted. It was difficult for Gally to believe something like that when he often thought so lowly of himself. He'd always ask himself why Y/N would leave him if she really had cared that much about him. Or why she wouldn't send him a sign that she was still alive if she really was his best friend. Self-doubt consumed him far too often, even despite how often Y/N would affirm him.

"It's true." Y/N grabbed Gally's hand and turned around, making him drop his arms in sheer shock. His hands were shaky and clammy. "I never would have left, but I had to to protect the others. I—" The girl faltered.

Gally was now the one trying to catch her gaze. "You what?"

"I didn't want to come back until I found a way out, too. Because I wanted to get you out—everyone out. It's been three years, Gally."

Gally felt like his chest had caved in, completely collapsed, the foundations holding him together being swept away by a flood of emotions. "You should't feel like it's your job to get me out of here." He stifled a sad laugh. "Because I am happy. As long as you're with me, I'm happy. There might be a real world out there. But what's wrong with what we have here? We're safe."

Y/N stared blankly at him. To avoid furthering the awkwardness of the situation, Gally reached into the basket to grab water and a cloth. Carefully, he began wiping away the dirt and blood which caked the girls face.

"Inside the maze, or out in whatever world there is left, I'll be happy as long as you're with me."

No matter how many times Gally ran the cloth over Y/N's face, his efforts seemed futile. She'd been out there so long in the hot sun, busy searching for a way out, she hadn't taken the time to wash up. Understandably, since Y/N was such a determined and unwavering person. Her mind was set on finding a way out and protecting the others, so the thought of looking after herself was the last thing on her mind. That was part of what Gally loved so much about her.

That was their one difference, though. Their one point of conflict. Gally was okay with what they had here. If this was where he lived out the rest of his life, he didn't care all that much. Y/N, on the other hand, had always been dead set on getting out. She knew there was something better out there.

"And that's why the past couple of weeks have been so hard—" He croaked, blinking away his glassy eyes. "Because you weren't here. I haven't had anyone to even talk to. I felt like I was going crazy."

"Hey," Y/N grabbed his face gently and made him look at her. "I'm here now, and I won't leave you again."

"Can you promise that?" His expression tightened in uncertainty. Yet, he rest the heavy weight of his head in her hands. Two weeks was more than long enough to make him realize how much he missed her touch.

Y/N nod weakly. "As long as it's in my control, yeah." She smiled. That wasn't the most promising of statements and Gally knew it. Most things were out of her control. Anything that might cause her to get hurt or go missing again weren't something she had the power to dictate.

Suddenly, at now of all times, the nervousness Gally felt around Y/N disappeared. Things felt like they were back in place. Gally was relieved to have her back. Deep down though, he wasn't sure how long this feeling of security was going to last.