"What?" I gasped, shocked and absolutely dumbfounded.

I was being banished?

"You heard me," Nick clapped once, as he stood from his chair, "Alright, that about wraps up our meeting. It's dinner time, so Keepers you are dismissed."

I was being banished.

Everyone began leaving. They left the room as though they hadn't just scheduled my death.

How could they do that? I couldn't look at these people. They disgusted me. I didn't even want to look at Newt.

"What about Brianne?" I heard Newt ask amongst the commotion of Nick's dismissal.

"Someone will come back for her later." Nick answered, the sound of his voice getting farther and farther away, "Newt."

"Yah?"

"Come on, you must be starving." And with that, the light was flicked off and the door was closed. Everyone was gone.

I was alone, once again.

I felt like crying.

Okay, I take that back.

I felt like sobbing. Nick had just pronounced my death.

Tomorrow. It was happening. I was going to die.

But oddly enough, I didn't cry. I was currently in a state of shock. I didn't physically have tears to cry at the moment. They'd come eventually, though; I was sure of it.

So I guess this was it.

24 hours.

I didn't even know what to do with myself. Do I silently sit here and count down the minutes? Or am I supposed to be happy that this torturous life will soon be over?

I wonder what Victoria will say when she finds out? Or Clint and Jeff? I wonder how Newt feels?

Maybe this is a good thing. Rid everyone of my annoying personality. Obviously, nobody likes me. They voted to banish me.

But who cares, right? It's not like I'm going to miss anyone here.

Lies. Lies. Lies.

I'll miss Victoria's sarcasm. And Jeff's stupid jokes, and Clint's sweet spirit. And Minho's sass. Oh god, I'll miss the sass.

And I'll miss Newt. I repeated that statement over and over in my head. I was going to miss Newt more than anything else.

And that right there was going to kill me faster than the grievers ever could.

~~~~

~~~Third Person Pov~~~

"This isn't right." Karen stated, eyes glued to the screens.

"Don't worry."

"Don't worry? So she's just gonna die?"

"It seems so." Janson answered, passively.

"That's it. All of the work, all of the hours, all of the money spent on that girl; and we're letting her die?" Karen spewed, absolutely furious.

"Yep."

"Newt hasn't changed. Yes, she's given him hope, but he isn't in love and neither is she."

"The plan was never for them to actually fall in love." Janson corrected her.

"I know, but we can't seriously let them banish Brianne this quickly!?"

"We knew she was going to cause trouble, but she doesn't deserve to be put out of the trials, yet," John said.

Janson laughed sarcastically, "Do you people honestly think that I'm going to let some children ruin our experiment?"

"No-well, I don't know."

"Of course not! Nick's time as leader is almost over, he's the only threat."

"What about subject A-25?"

"Amelia?" Janson asked.

"Yah, she's pretty apt on getting rid of Brianne."

"She's controllable," Janson remarked with little concern.

"So, what I'm getting from this conversation is that we're saving Brianne?"

"No, course not."

"We're letting her die, then?"

"You people don't catch on very well, do you?"

"I'm sorry?"

"We aren't going to save her, but I think I know someone who will." Janson looked up at the screen, his eyes landing on a very distressed looking 16 year old boy.

"Newt."

~~~~~~~

~~~Brianne's Pov~~~

I was too deep in thought to even question why the light to the council room had turned on, but when the sound of the door closing echoed throughout the space, I came back to focus.

I raised my head in that direction, my eyes adjusting to the sudden light.

"Here to take me to my cell?" I asked Newt as he took a few careful steps into the center of the room.

"Nope, I'm here to talk."

"Talk? What? But I'm dangerous! Innocent people like you, shouldn't dare to speak to criminals like me."

"Fine, then I came to bloody make out with you," Newt laughed. He grabbed a chair and pulled it over to where I was. He sat down across from me, "but on a serious note, I'm so shocked- I- I just don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything," I tried to gesture to my tied up hands, "The jury has already spoken."

"They're wrong. This- It just isn't right? I don't understand."

"Me neither," I sighed, "but yet, here I am being ban-" I couldn't finish the word.

"But Banishings, they're always horrific and gruesome. The person being banished is clawing at the ground, wailing and screaming, begging and pleading for mercy. It's terrible. The people we banish are insane," Newt took a deep breath.

I bit my tongue to hold back the tears.

"But with you, I don't know what's going to happen. You're not crazy. You don't need to be pushed into the maze. You probably don't even need a harness," I shuddered, "Nick's out of his mind to banish someone like you. I really don't get it."

"Me neither." I swallowed down some of my nerves.

"So, that's why, you, my dear, aren't getting banished."

"But, Newt, everyone's agreed on banishing me-"

"Yah, but I have an idea."

"Newt-"

"I just need time!"

"You have 24 hours."

"That's plenty-"

"You don't have to do anything. It's okay. I'm getting what I deserve."

"No, it's not okay. I can't let you go, Brianne," Newt leaned forward in his chair, "You're the only thing I like in this glade. I can't give up yet."

"Okay."

Newt stood from the chair, "You'll see! I can make a petition and everyone will sign it. And I'll persuade Nick into setting you free! Brianne, I am going to get you back into our circle of trust, don't worry!" Newt ran over to the door, but before he left, he looked back. His eyes studying me. The smile on his face fading away, "I'll see you tomorrow, okay? You- you're gonna be fine, I'm sure of it."

"Newt, you really don't need to help me. I deserve to die."

"Nobody falsely accused deserves to die." Newt said, as he left the council room.

~~~

Eventually, after my talk with Newt, somebody came and took me to the slammer.

The next morning, the activity in the glade had been reduced to a bare minimum. Nobody even guarded the slammer anymore.

It was peaceful out there as far as I could see. But it was the farthest thing from peaceful, in my cell.

I was starving, literally starving, even though Newt had sneaked a piece of bread to me late last night.

I'd cried enough tears to flood the whole entire world and I'd given up on leaving the slammer.

And holy crap, I was so exhausted. I'd barely gotten any sleep last night. Between the stress and sadness, sleep seemed to be the last thing my brain wanted.

So here I sat. Depressed? Maybe. Angry? Heck yah. Disappointed in my friends? A little.

I mean, I hadn't seen or heard from Victoria in over a day. She obviously didn't care. I hadn't spoken to Jeff or Clint in a while either. Maybe they too, didn't care. And Newt. I hoped he no longer cared.

I internally craved care, but I was set on telling myself that I didn't need it. When someone cares about the dying, it ruins both the cared for and the careful.

Nobody should ruin themselves for me. I wasn't worth it.

With that thought, the door to the slammer opened. It closed quickly, only leaving enough time for one person to enter the room.

"Victoria!" I jumped up and ran over to her.

"Brianne!" She pulled me into a quick hug.

I wiped away the dried tears on my face and attempted to brush through my hair, "What're you doing in here?"

"Same reason you are." She smirked to herself.

"False accusations?"

"Okay, maybe we're not here for the same reason. I'm here for an hour." Victoria sat down, looking too relaxed.

"What'd you do Victoria?" I asked, preparing myself for the worst.

"Nothing."

"Victoria."

"I might have kicked Nick." She mumbled.

I closed my eyes, "Why would you do that?"

"Because, I heard about what he's done to you. I couldn't just let him get away with it. So, I kicked him in a special spot." She laughed. Surprising even myself, I laughed too.

"You can't do that!"

"I did, and I got an hour in the slammer for it. Trust me, it'll be worth every second I spend in this cell."

I rolled my eyes, "Thank you."

"It's nothing, you shouldn't even be in here, much less alone," Victoria placed her hand on my back, "You look awful."

"I can only imagine." I sat down on the ground.

"Have you eaten?"

"Newt snuck food in here last night."

"He's doing all he can to get you out of here, ya' know," Victoria raised her eyebrows, "He refused to go to work today."

"What?"

"Yah, played sick. I was sent to his aid early this morning, like four, to sit with him until his health returned. I ran over only to find him pacing back and forth, perfectly fine. He told me everything that happened with you in the meeting and now here I am."

"Newt's gonna get himself in trouble." I sighed. I don't want people to fight for me like this. Victoria in the slammer, Newt refusing to run.

"He won't care. He told me that he didn't plan on eating, sleeping, or running, until you're confirmed innocent."

"He doesn't have to do that."

"Try telling him that. I mean, I love you too, but I ain't letting go of food and sleep," Victoria laughed, "Sorry."

"What does Newt plan on doing?"

"He plans on negotiating with Nick. I don't know how though."

"Negotiating? Are you kidding? Thats gonna get us both in a crap load of trouble."

"Newt's really determined to clear your bad name," Victoria smiled, "What'd I miss?"

"What do you mean?"

"When did y'all get so close? I missed it, I guess."

"We aren't close." I mumbled.

"Sure, but I won't fight you on it, right now, seeing your situation, but Newt. Holy crap, he's whipped."

"That's not something you should tell the dying."

"What?"

"I don't want people to care about me."

"Why?"

"Because tomorrow, I won't be here. But you will. Newt will. I'll be gone, but to people who care, I really won't be gone."

"So what?"

"So, I'll be persistently hurting everyone who cares."

"You make me laugh, Brianne." When I looked over at Victoria, she was hysterically laughing.

"I'm telling you my darkest fears and you're laughing?"

"Yah, because you're so delusional. Just so blind," Victoria mumbled.

"Now you're insulting me. Great."

"It's too late, Brianne."

"What's too late?"

"I care. It's too late to stop that. We're best friends, if you get banished, I'm gonna be buggin' upset," Victoria looked away from me. I'm not sure but I think I saw tears in her eyes, "It's too late. I'm gonna miss you."

I took a deep breath, fresh tears gathering in my eyes, "There's no 'if'; I'm being banished tonight."

"And then there's Newt," Victoria bit her lip. She still wouldn't look at me, "He told me a secret."

"What?" My voice cracked.

"He loves you."

"No, he can't-"

"He does, Brianne. He's out there fighting for you. He cares. He's been begging Nick to let you go all day. He's made some kind of a petition for you not to be banished. He cares a lot, okay? I don't know when he started caring this much, but, my god, he cares about you more than he cares about himself."

"Okay." I whispered, tears rolling down my cheeks.

"Ya' know what Minho said earlier?"

"No." Why was she telling me all of this, right now?

"He said that out of everyone in this glade you're his favorite. Which is more or less true, but he wouldn't eat either and he didn't take his backpack into the maze this morning, meaning that he doesn't intend to map his run today.

"And then there's Clint and Jeff. Clint was crying all night and Jeff hasn't said anything to anyone all day. Alby; I haven't seen him since the news spread about the meeting. I don't know if that has anything to do with you, but still.

"Then there's Sam. She came up to the medics room, crying. She's only known you for a day, Brianne, and she already cares about you."

"Why are you telling me all this?"

"So you can get up off your butt and fight. You gave up the very second Nick pronounced you guilty, but us, Brianne, we're right here with you, fighting. I don't know if there are greater powers in this world, but if there are, then they gave you 24 hours. You were given 24 extra hours to save yourself. You still have time, Brianne."

"I wasted it all. I only have like three hours now?"

"That's still 180 minutes."

I wiped away the tears from my eyes, but to no avail, "I just don't know what to do. Everyone shouldn't care."

Victoria wrapped her arm around me, "Sorry, but we do. I know, Brianne, love sucks."

"Nick won't change his mind. I'm gonna die."

"You're right, maybe he won't change his mind, but you can't say that without putting up a fight."

I sobbed. Loudly? Maybe. Obnoxiously? Maybe. But it was okay.

I cried with Victoria, until I couldn't form a coherent sentence. I cried until the world was blurry and I was numb. I cried until someone came into the cell and told Victoria it was time for her to leave.

I stopped crying once I was alone, though.

Eventually, I stood up and slowly walked over to the door of the slammer.

The glade was empty. Literally empty.

I didn't see people working in the gardens like I normally would.

Nobody was out there.

So where'd everyone go?

~~~~~~

~~~Newt's Pov~~~

"Look, I just want to talk to you one more time." I huffed, leaning across the table.

"Fine, but this is the last time I want to see you until tonight," Nick looked at his watch, "Actually, the Banishings in less than an hour, so have a seat." He smiled, thinking that he would once again win our debate.

The council room was full of gladers; all of them just as upset as I was. Everyone was fighting against Nick. Nobody wanted to banish Brianne.

I sat down, "I know that I've been pleading for Brianne to be pardoned all day, but this time I want to negotiate."

"Go ahead," Nick looked at the crowd, "Everyone shut up!"

"Okay, so ya' know how you planned on tracking down that griever?" The gladers gasped.

"That was a secret," Nick mumbled.

"Not anymore. That mission is dangerous right?"

"Sure," Nick rolled his eyes.

"Well, why don't you bring bait along with you."

"I know where you're going with this and no."

"But, Brianne could go with you! You wanted her to go in the first place. Think about it; she goes out first, she brings the grievers to you."

I hated throwing Brianne's life on the line like this, but my idea would buy us more time.

I'd been running around all day trying to find people to sign a petition and I'd been in and out of Nick's presence at least 30 times, proposing different ideas that I thought would save Brianne. None of them worked. Nick was still adamant on banishing her.

"Keep talking."

"Brianne isn't insane. She'll listen to your orders if her life is in jeopardy. Nick, I'm not asking for her to be spared of punishment, I'm just asking for mercy."

"Mercy." Nick scoffed.

"Nobody wants to do this. Quite frankly, I'm shocked that the keepers even voted to banish Brianne, because I asked every one of them how they felt and they were all shocked."

"Hey, Brianne killed Stephan. The keepers were just being honest," Nick leaned back in his chair, "I mean, who wants to tell the young naive boy that his girlfriend's crazy? I sure don't."

"Brianne's sane and innocent and I have full confidence that I can convince you of that."

"Oh, Newt, if only you had more time."

"I have plenty of time." I looked down at my watch; 30 minutes. Okay, I didn't have plenty of time.

My mind searched for something else I could say; something else I could do. But, I'd said everything; I'd done everything.

"Really, because time seems to be ticking away rather quickly. Newt, you're done, admit it," Nick stood from his chair, "See this people? This is what we've resorted to here! Pleading for criminals to be set free. If I were to let Brianne go, then I might as well not be leader, anymore. We need structure in our glade. We need order. Blood for blo-"

"Let me take her place." I said, standing up, also.

Everyone turned to look at me. And I swear, you could've heard a pin drop in this place.

This had never been done before. Nobody in there right mind, had ever volunteered to take someone's place at a banishing.

"What?" Nick asked, staring at me.

"Y'all buggin' heard me. Let me take Brianne's place. I'll do it, I promise. Spare her and I'll leave the glade." It took every ounce of my care for Brianne to say these words. But I meant them. I'd rather it be me. Brianne has so much life ahead of her. I don't.

But It's okay. It's okay. It has to be okay.

"Newt." I heard Minho say from the crowd.

"Sacrifice for Sacrifice. Stephan volunteered for you at the boxhole, so I'll volunteer for Brianne, tonight."

"That isn't good enough."

"It has to be. I'm begging you, Nick. I want to do this. I'm trouble too. Let me switch places with Brianne."

I glanced at my watch again; 20 minutes.

"We have to go, Newt," Nick turned to the crowd of watching, anxious gladers, "Begin preparing for Brianne's banishing." Pretty quickly the room emptied.

"Nick," I begged, tears gathering in my eyes.

Nick looked up and for only a split second I saw his strong facade falter. He felt bad for me. He felt bad for Brianne.

"Please." I mumbled, a tear rolling down my cheek. I wiped it away, quickly. My head screamed for me to stop talking, to let go. My heart, though, it knew what it was saying. I was willing to die for Brianne.

"I'm sorry," Nick said, shaking his head, "Between you and me, I'm really sorry."

"Nick, let me take Brianne's place. Nobody will question your leadership. If anything, you'll look stronger."

"I-I can't."

"But, you can! Just let me be banished. Please, I don't care if I sound insane. You can't banish Brianne."

"She's guilty-" Nick started.

"Look, nobody bloody cared about Stephan's death until yesterday."

"That's not true-"

"Yes, it is! Nobody cared, until Amelia convinced everyone that it was all Brianne's fault. Who even knows if the kitchen was burnt down because of Brianne. I mean, what would she gain by burning the kitchen down?"

"Nothing. I guess, she wouldn't gain anything."

"Exactly! That's why it wasn't Brianne! And we all saw the terror on Brianne's face the night that Stephan died. Who can say if that was her fault either?"

"I don't know."

"And when it comes to Brianne disobeying you; she's been in the slammer long enough."

"Newt-"

"I'm gonna lose my mind, Nick! Pardon Brianne or let me take her place, it's your choice."

"You really like her, don't you?"

"I care about that girl a lot, okay? I know it's weird and I can already see all of the jokes, but please, Nick."

"It's time, Newt."

"That's all you have to say?" I muttered.

"I'll let you say goodbye?"

"Leave," I said, pointing at the door, "Go, Nick. Go. I just hope you feel guilty some day."

"I'm sorry." Was the last thing he said before he left.

10 minutes. 10 bloody minutes until the doors to the glade closed.

10 minutes until Brianne was pushed into the maze.

I kicked over a chair, and cried out in anger. Tears rolled down my cheeks and- I know I'm over reacting.

So, I picked the chair up.

Why'd I do that?

I kicked it over again, this time hearing a crack. Good, maybe it broke.

I have to save Brianne.

My mind frantically searched for a last resort, again.

But there was literally nothing I could do.

I'd done everything.

"This can't be it." I cried, falling to my knees, "There has to be something I can do."

I cried because this was it. I cried because I had only spent a little over two weeks with Brianne. I cried because I was losing the only thing that mattered to me.

I cried because Brianne was the only hope I had.

I cried because I was falling apart and quite honestly, without Brianne, I don't know how I'll ever pull myself back together.

~~~~~~

~~~Author's Notes~~~

I really really really didn't want to end this chapter here. Like I wanted to include the whole banishing part in this chapter, but honestly it would take too much time to write it.

So, I'm leaving y'all with another awful cliffhanger. SORRY! I didn't have a choice. I had to update today.

I hope this chapter flows right. I feel like it doesn't. BUT OH WELL!

ANYWAY! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

2015... I can't believe it. I just want to thank y'all for reading, voting, and commenting on "To Love." Every single read means the world to me. 66K in all!!!!!!???

I hope the new year blesses each and every one of you, because y'all deserve it.

ILY GUYS AND I'LL SEE YOU IN THE NEXT UPDATE!!!