𝐅𝐄𝐀𝐑 𝐎𝐅 𝐇𝐄𝐑.
[ chapter fourteen ]

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

EVELYN WANTED TO STAY BESIDE THOMAS THE WHOLE NIGHT - there was just one obstacle. Teresa. The other girl refused to leave the stung boys side, taking dibs on the only seat in the med jack hut, her hand forced into his while she stares at his closed eyes awkwardly.

Eve spent her night in her hammock, like usual, but as soon as the sun peers over the rim of the maze walls, she makes her way over to the small hospital, shoving herself roughly through the door, slipping a knife out of her waistband, and flicking it between her fingers as a way to relieve anxiety.

She enters the small room, and without hesitation the knife whizzes past Teresa's head, causing her eyes to widen in fear at the weapon lodged into the beam beside her. She slowly turns to the door, her eyes meeting Evelyn, who's just stood there staring angrily at the new girl, her head tilted slightly while she slips her hands into her pockets.

"Get out." Evelyn states sternly, not blinking once while her eyes stay on Teresa's scared form, "Teresa." The girl warns, stepping to the side to reveal the open med jack hut door. She wouldn't dare speak to Thomas until the other girl was gone.

"What's your problem with me?" The black-haired girl stands up out of her chair, her eyebrows furrowed, "Why do you hate me so much? Is it because of Thomas? Are you jealous? Huh? Is that it?"

The way she spoke pisses Evelyn off, the girl is very clearly speaking to her as if she's some dirt on the bottom of her shoe. She spoke down to Evelyn as if she was petty and nothing but just a dumb Glader.

"Excuse me?" Eve snarls through gritted teeth, her hands clenched into fists in her pockets.

Before Teresa even has a chance to open her mouth to reply, Evelyn is already on top of her, straddling her hips on the hut's floor. She smacks the girl down, her head hitting hard against the planks, causing a loud scream to escape her lips as the other girl raises her fist, smashing her fist into Teresa's nose. A loud crack causing her to yell out again, this time for longer and louder.

Eve preps her clenched fist again to a hand grab it, stopping her aggressive movements. Her eyes raise up to her best friend's, his eyes just as wide as Teresa's while he heals. Evelyn off the girl. Minho spots something dark in her pupils, something that he had only seen once before.

"What the hell, Eve?" A blonde boy shouts from the doorway, as he rushes to help the greenie, guiding her outside and away from her attacker.

"We came to get Thomas and move him to the pit, did not expect you to be beating the shit out of her." Minho chuckles, picking Thomas up off of his bed, "Your lucky Gally or Alby didn't see. Actually, they'll probably see her broken nose and immediately know who did it."

"She pisses me off." Eve shrugs, following them out and into the open Glade, her eyes dropping onto the large group of boys crowding around the entrance, whispers about the events filling her ears, "You can all go back to your jobs. Now before I make you!"

She follows behind Minho, her jaw clenched while the anger from moments before slowly sets in her stomach. Out of her eye, she notices Jeff gently dabbing Teresa's nose with a cloth, attempting to scrub off the blood but the girl squirms in pain, smacking his hand away.

Her agitated best friend smacks her arm, shouting her name after trying for minutes to get her attention and motioning roughly towards the pit's door, instructing for her to open it. She swings it open, allowing him to gently place Thomas inside on the floor. Against her mind's protest, Evelyn jumps in after the injured boy, kneeling beside his unconscious body and staring down at his quiet face, admiring how peaceful he looked. Though she knew for a fact that he was in pain - the only reason he made such a rash decision, was because he wanted to remember his past. Not once did he think of the side effects or impact it would make on the already terrified Gladers.

Newt and Teresa arrive a few seconds later, kneeling beside the Asian and watching Evelyn's concentrated face while she gently lift Thomas' head onto her lap, her fingers running smoothly through his hair, removing a few of the knots that had taken refuge there since he arrived. The girl wasn't sure why she was being so different with the boy below her, but whatever the reason was - she liked it and a part of her felt at peace near him. The other part wanted to rip his head off and shout at him for being such an inconsiderate asshole, but after years of spending her whole time with boys, she had learnt to mostly hide her emotional side.

The girl at the entrance of the bit groans in pain, agony running up the bridge of her nose. She wasn't completely sure as to why Evelyn attacked her so brutally and with the intent to kill, but she was sure a part of it was because of Thomas. He attracted both of the girls - one of them was rough and would hurt people without regret, whereas the other was more secluded and was now terrified of Evelyn, but her love for the boy stayed the same. She would just have to find a way to get around the aggressive girl.

Thomas' dazed eyes fly open, the bright sun shooting into them and they flutter closed once more, allowing him to adjust before peering up at Evelyn again, her face covered with mixed emotions.

"You okay?" She questions, her hand still brushing through his hair, relaxing him slightly.

He smiles gently and keeps his head on her lap, his eyes not leaving hers while he takes in her beauty and how different she was acting. Not hostility, for once. He knew that deep down she wanted to punch him, but her happier side had taken over, causing her to beam back down to him.

"What the hell were you thinking?" The small boy's exclaim causes Thomas to shoot up and turn towards the pit entrance, noticing a few of the Gladers crowding around awaiting his answer.

"What- what happened?" He glances over to Evelyn in search for an answer, his eyebrows furrowed.

"Gally's taken control." Newt informs him, biting his bottom lip, "He said we had a choice. Either join him or get banished at sundown with you."

Eve laughs, throwing her head back, causing the boys to look over at her in confusion, "You guys got a choice? Pft, unfair."

Thomas chuckles lowly at her attempt to lift the mood, as he manoeuvres slightly until he's more comfortable before looking back to Newt, "And the others agreed to that?"

"Gally has everyone convinced that you're the reason all this has happened." Teresa speaks up, her face crumpling is as her nose moves as she talks.

The dark haired boy moves his gaze over to the other girl, noticing her bent nose and the dried blood running from it, usually his curiosity would get the best of him and he would be shooting questions at her. But, due to the smirk on Evelyn's face, he had a clue on what had happened.

"Well, he's been right so far." He runs his palms over his knees anxiously.

"What are you talking about?" Minho asks.

"This place... It's not what we thought it was. It's not a prison. It's a test." He side glances Evelyn for a moment, "It all started when we were kids. They'd give us these challenges. They were experimenting on us. And then people started disappearing." His voice cracks slightly at the memory, "Every month, one after the other, like clockwork."

"Sending them up into the maze?" Newt furrows his eyebrows.

"Yeah, but not all of us."

"What do you mean?"

"Guys, I'm one of them. The people who put you here, I worked with them." Thomas' eyes refuse to look at Evelyn, expecting her to be glaring at him in disbelief, "I watched you guys for years. The entire time you've been here, I- I was on the other side of it." He points at Teresa, "So were you."

"Fucking knew it." Eve whispers under her breath, her eyes trained on the floor.

"What?" The black haired girl gasps.

"Teresa, we did this to them."

She shakes her head, "No. That can't be true."

"It is." He purses his lips, "I saw it."

"Why would they send us up if we were with them?" More tears run down her pained face.

"It doesn't matter."

"He's right." Newt says, causing everyone's eyes to look to him, "It doesn't matter. Any of it. Because the people we were before the Maze, they don't even exist anymore. These creators took care of that." He licks his lips, leaning forward, "But what does matter, is who we are now and what we do right now. You went into the Maze, and you found a way out."

"Yeah, but if I hadn't, Alby would still be alive."

Evelyn rolls her eyes, smacking his knee in discipline and he glances over at her in confusion, "Maybe. But he would hate for you to blaming yourself for no reason. He would be telling you to do something to get us out, to try. He said it to me too many times when it was just us two, 'you never fail until you stop trying.' Now, I've only known you for 4 days, but I know for a fact, that you hate failing. So stand up and finish this shit."

Thomas wasn't sure whether he could count that as the nicest thing she had said to him since he arrived but he appreciated either way, her words causing a small smile to break out on his lips as he nods in thanks.

She takes in a deep breath, her fingers fiddling, "Because if we don't finish this shit, then Alby died for nothing and there's no where in hell that I'm letting that happen. So, either I do this with you, or without and I hate to say it, but I'd prefer you with me."

He nods, swallowing, "Okay. Okay, but we gotta get through Gally first."

Evelyn smirks, drumming her palms quietly against her thigh in excitement, "I have a few ideas."