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The Glade never changes. The sky is always the same unnatural shade of blue and the sun always shines, never once obscured by a cloud. There's no wind either, no rain, no season, always an eerie sunny day until everyday, at the same time, the sky turns dark.
The Maze, however, changes every night. Inside the four massive walls, you can hear concrete scrapping at night, the inside remodeling until morning. At dawn, one of the 4 doors creaks open and the Maze swallows the Runners for a day, spitting them out before it closes again at dusk. Or not. Sometimes they don't come back, consumed by the horrors hidden deep in corners.
Ellie always comes back though.
☆. ｡
You don't talk much.
You did once, when you first woke up in the Glade, coming up in a metal box, gasping and looking around disoriented. Well, more like, you shouted, cursed at everyone who tried to touch you, even the one who wanted to help you out of the unstable metal box. Jesse still says you packed a mean punch. There were only 10 people at the time, but you're sure there used to be more. When you asked Riley about it, she mentioned 'an accident' and left it at that. You never pried further.
They gave you a job, said you were good with your hands. Now you're a builder, you like it really. It's slow, methodical, just enough to keep your brain busy and your thoughts at bay, offering a bit of satisfaction anytime you managed to make something that didn't fall apart. You like being useful, it gives you a sense of self.
Now, almost everything in the Glade has been either designed, repaired or built by you; the Keepers' cabin, the out-house that you have to repair every 3 weeks because someone keeps clogging it and nobody else dares get near it, even some of the spoons Frypan uses for cooking.
Riley used to nag you about becoming Keeper of the Builders, you refused, having no interest in yelling at people to do their job all day, (and really, you're sure half of the sweaty guys would have ignored your ass anyway), content with simply, mindlessly building, leaving the yelling and commanding to Gally.
Now Riley's gone, but nothing has changed much. Everyone is still stuck in the middle of four walls (except you're not 11 anymore, there's 40 of you), the Maze still a mystery yet to be solved. And you're still just a builder.
Ellie hasn't changed much either, she still watches you work on days she doesn't run the Maze, observing you like you're the best distraction there is. Which, frankly, couldn't be far off from the truth, there's not much to do in this place, especially when she's been here for almost 3 years. And on days she does run, when she comes back with dirt on her boots and scrapes on her knees, she 'taps you out', hands you her flask while you press a water bottle in her palm, muttering a 'good work today'.
"Missed me ?" she asks every time, even when she's only been gone for 5 hours tops. Some days you miss her more than others. Nowadays, it's a lot.
☆. ｡
It's almost dusk by the time Ellie comes back, the doors closing just a few minutes later.
"You always take such good care of me" she smirks as you hand her a water bottle. "How sweet of you."
"Don't want you dying of dehydration and stinking up the Glade."
She snorts. "That's what love sounds like to me"
You roll your eyes, throat tightening a little.
"I'm spent" she sighs, stretching her arms, and plops on the grass next to you, smiling when you hum in response. "Long day for you too, right ? Saw you already working when I left this morning".
" 'Am working on a new chair design " you grumble, frustrated at the way your blueprint was turning.
"New design ? I think you're over-engineering this, the old ones are just fine, they're just chairs. If you can sit on them, isn't that enough ?" She raises a brow.
"You said your back was hurting in these." you shrug.
If that night, Ellie had trouble sleeping because you consumed her every thought, well, it was between her and the fake sky.
☆. ｡
You didn't dislike bonfire nights per se, it was just … too loud, everybody too drunk to function correctly, Gally fighting anybody who dared open their mouth; celebrating a Greenie, you honestly, couldn't give less of a shit about, oh and don't even get me started on these stupid beer pongs games (it's not even beer, it's this disgusting liquid that Jesse concocted that tastes undrinkable)- okay maybe you did dislike bonfire night. You liked your routines! Sticking to what you know, alcohol made people less predictable, and the day after was always a mess, puke everywhere and half the Glade having a hangover just isn't fun.
You keep showing up anyway, staying alone in your bunk while everyone partied sounded even less appealing. So, you just sat through it, some days, Ellie and Riley used to join you. Now Ellie spends every bonfire with you. On rare occasions, she even manages to drag you to these stupid beer pong games, swears she'll drink every one of your cups if you play with her. You accept more often than not, not without feigning reluctance (seeing her smile and laugh so freely is worth any game, not that you'll ever tell her that, she wouldn't let you live it down).
☆. ｡
You're sitting on your usual log when Ellie comes toward you, sipping the weird liquid Jesse last came up with. He says it's a secret recipe, but it's always just fermented fruit and lots of regret.
"Up for a game tonight?" she asks as she flops next to you, thighs pressing against yours, stealing your cup so she can take a sip before grimacing.
"Do I really have a choice?" you groan. You'd never tell her you were waiting for her to ask.
"No" she smiles, dragging you towards the table where the others were already waiting.
Tonight's game was especially challenging, Ellie called it 'the ultimate match', you called it an annoyance. You played against Dina and Jesse, the self-proclaimed 'beer pong experts' (Ellie could not let that slide, you two were the best of the best !), you won, of course, the way Ellie would grip your shoulder with a smug smile every time you scored made a pretty good motivation. And maybe, the fire wasn't the only reason your skin felt too hot.
She did have a lot to drink though, Dina packed a mean throw, and Jesse gets better the more he drinks (surprisingly). So, you end up accompanying her to her hut, making sure she doesn't give up half-way through and sleeps against a tree, it happened one too many times.
The moment she set foot inside, she collapsed on her bed, snoring almost immediately. You snort, amused, making sure to take off her shoes and wipe her face before leaving to your own bed, feeling lighter and giddier than usual.
☆. ｡
Today, both you and Ellie had an off day. And over the years, you two developed a ritual, Ellie lets you sleep in more than usual, waking you up with your favorite fruit stolen from the Garden, followed by a walk around the forest, listening to her yapping about the latest gossip in the Glade, there's more than you think, trust me.
Comes afternoon, you both end up in her hut. She shows you her latest sketches, one of the goats from the pen (named Pot courtesy of Dina), the only pear tree in the whole Glade, diverse plants, insects and then you. Multiple sketches, some of your profile, others from the front. You stare at her, mouth agape at the sight, last time you checked you didn't look this … ethereal, hell you always looked dirty, with dirt and sawdust everywhere.
"You’ve got the kind of face that makes me wanna draw." She said it so naturally, you could feel your face heat up. "What can I say, you just look … cool I guess."
You blink. "You think I look cool ?"
"Well yeah, you’re just, so nice and collected all the time. Yeah, just, really cool.” She blushes as she says it. If that night, you were the one who couldn't sleep, it was none of her business.
☆. ｡
You don't really know when things started to shift. When she started to touch you more, casual but there, an arm over your shoulder when she talked to you, a pinky hooked into your belt loop when you walk side by side, a hand on your lower back when she slips past you. Always casual, too casual for your tastes. You share food more often, she sits next to you during meals instead of across like she always did.
The shift becomes more noticeable after a random sunny day. She comes back early that day, covered in grime, sweat and blood, holding her injured right arm and limping slightly, but most noticeably, she comes back alone. Without the new Greenie she was supposed to train, a new guy, no older than 14, filled with hope, and nowhere to be seen.
☆. ｡
Other Gladers crowd her, it’s not everyday Ellie of all people comes back wounded, but she ignores them all, she’s holding back you can tell. Her face is scrunched up, torn between a flurry of emotions you can’t quite decipher and then she stops in front of you, face twisting further.
“You should go see the Medjack.” You suggest, voice softer than usual. Ellie shakes her head in response, gripping your shirt until her knuckles turn white. Sighing, you take her arm, leading her to her hut, she follows you, dragging her feet and breathing heavily.
You make her sit on her bed, taking the few medical supplies she has in her cabinet. Ellie is quiet, eerily quiet even, when you ask her how she is, she insists she’s fine. She’s not, but you let her pretend.
Getting on with cleaning her wounds, you clean the scrapes on her knees and look at the deep gash on her bicep, bandaging it to the best of your abilities. At some point she lets out a shaky breath, then leans into you, tucking her face in your shoulder, breath warm against your neck.
“I tried I swear, I really tried to-“ she takes another breath, tears in her eyes “to save him too, but it was too late. And I ran like a coward. Couldn’t even see his fucking body”
You don’t say anything, you were never good with words anyway, but you take her hand before awkwardly hugging her. She clings immediately and you let her.
She goes back to running the next day like nothing happened, never speaking about it to anyone ever again.
☆. ｡
One night, a few weeks later, she gets into a fight with someone, you don’t really get the details, just that her arm injuries reopened and she’s punished from running duty. So, of course, she follows you all day like a lost puppy.
“Cat wants me to fix up the watchtower, you coming ?” you ask her one morning, getting up from the grass where you’ve been sketching some blueprints. “Said it’s leaning too much and it’s blocking part of the garden from the sun.”
Ellie grunts from where she’s flopped on the grass, sketchbook open next to her. “We should let it fall, maybe it’ll land on Gally”, you kick her foot “Ow ! I was joking alright, I’m coming.” She grunts. “So what’s your plan ? How are we fixing this thing ?”
“Let’s go up first, I’ll fix the walls then the beams.” You help her get up, looking at her sketchbook to see various sketches, they’re darker lately, and one of them looks a lot like the Greenie she lost in the Maze. “Ellie… It’s not your fault you know. We didn’t even know the Maze could change during the day, he fell, there’s nothing you can do about it.”
“Jeez, thanks.” She sighs, groaning as she gets up “Listen, I don’t want to talk about it. It’s been weeks, I’m over it. It happened, that's all.”
“Yeah sure. Seems like it really. “ You huff as you go up the watchtower ladder.
“You- Whatever. “ She groans, letting herself fall back when she reaches the top of the tower. You follow suit, shoulders knocking with hers, heads side to side.
It's silent for a while, just the two of you existing next to each other. If you pretend hard enough, you're not stuck in a Maze with no way out, you're somewhere else, free. But the daydream doesn't last long before you break the silence.
“You know, when you got back all bloody I was scared, but also relieved. Because you came back.” You mutter “I don’t know what I’ll do if you don’t.”
Ellie stares at you then, her mouth opens and closes, unsure how to answer. So she doesn’t, she just kisses you. It’s soft, much more careful than you’ve ever imagined, her hands stroking your cheeks tenderly. It’s short and clumsy, there’s not a lot of kissing experience to get in the Glade.
“Uhm, well.” She’s bashful, hand scratching her neck like she wasn’t the one who initiated the kiss. “We should do that again. Sometimes.”
“You’re awkward.”
“And you aren’t ?! Come on!” She jokes, shoulder bumping yours. “Cut me some slack alright, your face makes me stupid”
“Uh uh, must be my fault.” She kisses your cheek in response, then your brows, then your whole face. “Was so scared I wouldn’t come back and die without doing that at least once.”
“Don’t jinx it.”
Safe to say you didn’t get any work done this day.