The following year was amazing, Gally had moved into the hut with you and it was like a dream.  You had been teased mercilessly, and even though everyone knew you were together, they couldn’t help but flirt with you sometimes just to get under Gally’s skin.  You loved when he got possessive so you didn’t mind at all, knowing when you were alone, he would be yours.  The guys didn’t get why you liked him, but they saw that you were good for each other and were happy.  It didn't affect anyone’s work too much, except when Gally would get protective and try to interfere with your jobs, but you would have to calmly, and lovingly, remind him you would be okay.  Most of the time that worked and when it didn’t he would either do the job himself or be around you the entire time.  You secretly loved him being around and had to explain to the other guys that it was okay. Soon everyone accepted it, or at least didn’t say too much because Gally would fight anyone who he thought was challenging him - even if they weren’t.  The guys liked having you around because you got more than one of them out of a fight with your boyfriend.  The year was amazing.  Then a new Greenie showed up.  Thomas.

     You liked him well enough but he and your boyfriend didn’t get along at all.  You and Newt tried to talk sense to both of them but you both realized quickly that they would never see eye to eye.  He quickly climbed the ranks and you saw that he was an asset, but your boyfriend was stuck in his ways.  The traditions and consistency were what got him through the day.  Kept him going.  He didn’t like change.  This was the one thing you couldn't agree on.  And it led to more than one fight.  

“Baby, he is helping.”

“But he is breaking every rule!”  

“And he is getting punished for it.”

“Not enough!”

“What does that mean?”

“It means, I have had a tough time with him.  We used to have rules for a reason.  Now he can just break them and barely get reprimanded?  I get that Newt likes him but come on!”

“That isn’t fair you’re right, but he is helping Minho and I truly believe he is the one who will help us find a way out of here.”

“You want to leave?”  He asked incredulously.

“You don’t?”  You asked with equal shock.

“The glade is safe.  We have everything we need here.”

“Until we don’t.  What happens if they don’t send supplies?  What happens if we run out of food?  Or shelter?  What if the grievers somehow get through the maze?”

“That won’t happen.”

“What if it does?”

“How do we know that the outside world is any better?”

“We don’t Gally.  But something is out there.  And I am sick of being a lab rat.  They are playing with us and you know it.  I’d at least like to know why.”

“It doesn’t matter.  All that matters is that we are okay.”

“What happens if we are not okay?  What then?  Having another plan isn’t a bad thing.”

“We are staying here so it doesn’t matter.”

“I honestly can’t believe you right now, Gally.  I need a moment.”  You turned to leave your shared hut but he blocked your path.

“No, don’t leave.  Are you going to talk to Thomas?”

“Why would it matter?  You don’t have to be jealous of him for the thousandth time, Gally.”  That was another argument you had.  You never liked Thomas that way, in fact he irritated you a lot of the time but he was your friend.  And Gally hated that.

“I just don’t understand how you can be friends with him.”

“And the other boys still don’t understand why I am with you.”  You countered.

“And why are you with me?”  He questioned moving impossibly closer.

“Because I love you.”  You half shouted, half stated like it was the most obvious thing.  He let out a long sigh, rubbing a hand over his face.

“I just can’t believe that you do.  I know you do. I just don’t know how I got so lucky.  I don’t deserve you.  I love you so much.  If I ever lost you I don’t know what I would do.” He pulled you into him by your waist.

Since their second class, Rey and Ben had made it a habit of walking together to Green Milk. They always found something to talk about. They would make it in time so that when they arrived, she would get ready for work, and he usually stayed in the coffee house for a little while, ordering a warm drink and dessert.

Rey sighed, "I love smelling the night-blooming jasmine as we walk out of the building. It's like waiting for us or something."

Ben chuckled. "It is a soothing scent, reminds me of Naboo." He and Rey walked side by side. He looked down at Rey, seeing her have a smile on her face. It made him smile too. "My grandmother had a garden made outside my bedroom so whenever I stayed over I could walk outside or even open the window and the different floral smells would immediately make me calm and at peace, night-blooming jasmine one of them."

"That's lovely." Rey looked up at Ben. "And thank you again for your feedback. I read your other remarks online before class started and I think I'm going to change the ending."

"I can't wait to read it," Ben said. He was hesitant in asking but said anyway, "I do have a question to ask."

She raised her brows. "What is it?"

"How did you get the name, Kylo?"

"Oh!" Rey didn't expect that question. She looked at Ben and truthfully said, "It came to me as I was outlining the story, and thought it was pretty unique."

Ben nodded. "Ah. It is unique—I used to go by that name in middle and high school." He looked at Rey, meeting her stare and rolled his eyes. "I was in a phase, I guess."

Rey laughed. "Like teenage rebellion?"

"Something like that. I made up Kylo by combining my last name, Solo, and my middle name, Skywalker."

Rey's eyes widened. "Huh, what a strange coincidence."

"Indeed."

Rey looked up at Ben again, admiring his tallness; that about him made her have butterflies in her stomach, she didn't know why. She could say his large frame made her feel protected but it wasn't that—It was something else, attraction. She knew since the first day they met she was developing something for him. She hadn't been in a relationship before, so flirting or anything like that was still new to Rey. She felt at ease with Ben, talking about any subject, and then there were times she wanted to just run her fingers through his hair and trace his adorable full lips before—She shook her head. What was she thinking! He could already be in a relationship or pursuing someone. But she had to admit he never mentioned anyone else so... Rey looked ahead, smiling.

She was curious about something and asked, "So, you were skeptic on reincarnation as well?"

Ben shrugged. "Well, yeah, but I have to admit it's interesting to think about past lives--people reconnecting again. I mean maybe you and I have met before in a past life?" He stopped walking, making Rey stop.

He looked down at Rey as if he could see a part of herself that she didn't even know. His mouth parted and it was as if he was going to say something--But he closed his mouth, winked his left eye, and bluntly said, "Or not."

Rey scoffed. "You ass!" He laughed, making her even more annoyed. She was going to push him when a kid on a skateboard made a sharp turn around the corner, almost running right into them.

In seconds, Ben grabbed Rey and pulled her to him, falling to the ground. The kid rolled by and yelled, "Sorry!"

Ben was sitting down, legs open with Rey in between them on her knees, facing him, her hands on his shoulders. Their faces were close. All one of them had to do was move two inches and their lips would have touched.

They were both catching their breath as they stared into each other's eyes, seeing different and same visions, and hearing the same voices, their voices. It was like they were in a trance.

"You are a monster," Rey was heard saying.

Ben couldn't look away from Rey's eyes as he saw her in the same sand-colored costume from before, and she had what looked like a gun and was shooting at him? Red lightning bolts came out of the gun as she kept running away from him and he was following her in a forest. He felt hot, wearing something over his face as he heard something unsteady. He looked down briefly and saw a laser sword like what Rey had but a red color and it was static looking.

"Yes, I am," Ben said.

Rey's breathing was fast as she stared into Ben's brown eyes, almost a caramel color. She couldn't look away even if she wanted to. She saw black robes, from head to toe, like the costume Ben wore in the snowy forest, but he had a dark-colored mask on; it was horrific. He had a sword of some sort; it looked like some energy in the shape of a sword; it had a hilt and looked static. All she wanted to do was run, but she shot at him with what looked like a gun?

"You're not alone," Ben said in a soft tone.

Ben saw just Rey. He couldn't see where she was. She looked to be in a different costume but still wore her hair up. With the blue laser sword's light, he saw her face, her beautiful face. She looked stunned at first, seeing him, then her expression changed to relief. She stared at him as if talking to him, blinking both of her eyes with the slightest nod as if they agreed on something.

"Neither are you," Rey said, softly.

Rey couldn't see where he was, but Ben was looking intently at her as if relieved to finally see her. His hair was the same, perfectly placed. He looked as if he was just in a fight and trying to catch his breath. His bottom lip drew blood and there was blood on his left cheekbone. She was concerned and wanted to know if he was okay. He then nodded at her as if they agreed on something; she didn't know what.

Rey moved her hands away from Ben's shoulders and placed them on her thighs.

"Rey?" Ben whispered.

She looked down at her jeans and started to look up slowly, meeting his stare. His mouth was parted, his brows furrowed, and he looked at her in confusion again.

"Are you okay?" He asked. He kept staring at her, wanting to say more.  

"Ben, I have something I need to tell you," Rey said.

     You had been there a week, and had spent a few days at each job trying to figure out what you would do.  Today was the day you would be working with the builders.  You couldn’t help but be nervous, not knowing if you were any good at it but mostly hoping you would be able to impress Gally, or at least not embarrass yourself in front of him.  You had found that you wanted to impress him more than the others and though it was early, you knew you were having feelings for this particular Keeper. You knew that wasn’t a good thing, knowing it wasn’t a good idea to have feelings for any of the boys but especially this one; mainly because you knew he would never feel the same.  He was so closed off and hardly seemed to notice you even existed.  However that would change since he would be overseeing you today.

     At breakfast, you went to sit next to Newt, who quickly became your closest friend.  You realized everyone liked him and you weren’t surprised at all.

“Hey Newt,”  You greeted, sitting down across from him.

“Hey Y/N, ready to try out a new task?”  He asked.

“Not really, I feel like I will somehow mess up”  You laughed, trying to hide your nerves.  The truth was you weren't nervous about any other task, knowing if it wasn’t a fit you would find something else.  This particular task had more at stake.

“You’ll be fine, besides Gally won’t let you do anything too stupid. He is pretty good at making sure everyone stays safe.”  As if appearing out of nowhere, Gally had just shown up.

“Talking about me, Newt?”  You quickly turned to see him standing next to you.

“Yep, just reassuring your mentee that you won’t let her screw up too badly.”  You shot him a bored look.

“Nah, I’ll make sure she doesn’t hurt anyone.  Mostly worried she will hurt herself.”  You couldn’t tell if he was completely joking or not.

“Hey, I am not that bad!”  You faked being hurt.

“Guess we will see.”  Gally smirked at you.  His intense stare still had you weak in the knees and you were glad you were sitting down already.

“Guess you will have to keep a close eye on her.”  Newt said, though you were too busy to see him and Minho exchange a knowing look.

“I guess so.”  Gally said, not breaking eye contact.  

     After breakfast Gally had brought you to the worksite that was surprisingly farther away from the main area than you had expected.

“We will start with something small.  Do you know how to use a hammer?”

“Honestly, I don’t remember ever using one, but I think I have the main idea.”  You wanted to be honest, but also didn’t want to look dumb.

“Cool, well, take this nail, and hammer these two boards together.”  You grabbed the hammer.

“Are you going to watch me do it?”  You asked, when he folded his arms and stared at you.

“Yes.”  Was all he replied.  You just rolled your eyes and did as he asked.

“How did I do, boss?”  You said sarcastically, knowing you had done a decent job.  Afterall, it wasn’t rocket science.

“Just making sure you’re competent.”  He said, grabbing the hammer from you.

“Wow, with compliments like that you might make a girl swoon.”  You joked.  He just stared blankly at you.  “Geeze, tough crowd.”  You said lightheartedly.

“Follow me, we will work on something a little harder.”

“Sounds good.”  You said, following him.  You wanted to be his friend at the very least and you could tell you weren't off to a great start.  You would just stick to talking only when necessary.

     The rest of the morning went well, and you were proud of what you were able to do.  Lunchtime came and you walked over with the rest of the builders, minus Gally.  He continued to finish what he was working on.  You admired his work ethic.

“How did the morning go?”  Newt asked once he sat next to you.

“Not too bad, I haven’t created any major calamities yet.”  You joked and he laughed.

“I don’t think Gally likes me that much though.”  You confessed and he looked at you surprised.

“Why do you say that?”

“I think I am a nice person”  You started.

“Obviously.”

“But I don’t think my jokes or efforts to reach out are well received.”  Newt seemed to think about that.

“Why do you think that?”

“Well he just seems like he tolerates me at best, and seems like he can’t get away from me fast enough.  So I just decided to not talk so much.  Just do what I am told.”

“I think he just doesn’t know what to say.  He has always been a little awkward like that, but especially with a girl around his whole personality changes.  He isn’t a bad guy he just is rough around the edges and you are trying to break those walls down.. I don't think he knows what to do with that.”  You thought about that.

“I guess that makes sense.  I just don’t want him to not like me.”

“And why is that?”  He gave you a knowing look.

“What do you mean by that?”  You asked a little too defensively.

“It just seems like you are trying hard to be on his good side.”

“Well of course.  He is my boss for the day so I want to make a good impression.” You reasoned.

“Well I don’t think that is your problem.”

“Then what is?”  Before he could reply, you saw Gally walking up to the food line, subconsciously grabbing his shirt to wipe his face.  You were not upset by the glimpse of his abs he granted you with the action.

“You okay Y/N?  Looks like you got a little drool there.”  Minho teased you.  You turned red.

“Shut up Minho.”

“Oh someone is a little defensive,” he joked.

“It’s just because you didn’t give me the same show, so I had to look elsewhere.”  You joked.

“I know you are in love with me, I am sorry I am driving you into the arms of another man.”  He faked seriousness.  You gagged causing Newt to laugh.

“Aren’t you supposed to be in the maze?”  You asked.

“Yes, but Alby needed something today so I am here, lucky you.”

“You’re a runner right?”  He nodded.  “So run along then.”  You rolled your eyes.

“Sounds like you are annoying our Greenie here.”  Gally said behind you.  Shuck this boy was more stealthy than you would like.

“Nah, she can’t get enough of me.”  Minho joked.

“Not convincing.”  Gally said, sitting next to you.  You were not upset that he had taken to sitting next to you since you arrived.  At least that was what you let yourself think since you couldn’t be sure he didn’t always sit here before you arrived.

“More like I get too much of this guy.”  You said to Gally.  He smirked.

“Ouch, that really hurts.  And you just said you were in love with me.”

“When did I ever say that?”  You deadpanned.

“Well, when you were ogling Gally, you said it was only because - ouch!”  Newt hit him.  Your eyes went wide.  Gally turned to you.

“What is he talking about?”  A look of amusement on his face.

“Do I ever know what he is saying?”  You played off, not able to keep looking at him.

“That’s true.”  He said, not entirely convinced.

“Minho just saw you with your shirt lifted and tried to play it off as me looking and not the fact that he was checking you out himself.”  You joked.

“Well that makes more sense.  I knew Minho had less than honorable intentions towards me.”  You stopped and looked at him.

“Was that a joke?  Did I actually hear your joke?”  He gave a sheepish smile.

“I guess so.”

“Well I am glad that you are finally able to joke around me.  I thought I was annoying you with my sense of humor.”  You said half seriously.  He leaned over slightly.

“Not at all, I enjoy it actually.  I just don’t always know how to respond.  No one is as happy and lighthearted as you, it is something to get used to.”  You just looked at him.  “I don’t mean that as a bad thing”  He said quickly.  “I just am not a funny guy, not like Minho or even Newt.”  He said the last part a little bit harsher.

“You don’t have to be.  Then you wouldn’t be Gally.”  You smiled at him and he smiled back.  “Besides, I am just glad that I haven’t freaked you out.”

“Did you think you had?”  He asked.

“Well, kinda.  I mean, whenever I joke around, you just look at me like I have grown two heads so I thought you figured I was crazy.”  You played with the food on your plate, hoping to hide your nerves.

“There’s something different about you.”

“Well I am not a guy, there’s that.”  He rolled his eyes.

“Obviously.  Besides that.  You are so refreshing around here.  You are a light in the dark…”  He trailed off.

“You think so?”  You prodded, softly.

“You’re pretty great, Y/N.”  You took a moment to stare into his eyes.  He was so beautiful it hurt.

“But that can’t be a shock, everyone here likes you a lot.  A little too much”  He slightly frowned at the last part.

“I’m just glad you like me.”  He looked at you, trying to find a lie but he didn't and wouldn’t.

“Yea- yeah. You’re a good friend.”  He smiled and backed away slightly.  You tried to not be hurt.  You should just be glad at how much he opened up to you just now.  He may never feel the same, but at least you knew he didn’t hate you.  Progress.

     After lunch you went back to work, and you ended up helping some other builders while Gally got called away.  You found that though you weren’t incredibly strong, having smaller hands and being able to fit into tighter spaces helped in more ways than you thought.  However, that got you into more dangerous scenarios, like the one you found yourself in.  There was an old building that needed a plank fixed and there weren’t any ladders nearby.  So to help you were ‘volun-told’ to get up onto a 2x4 and reach awkwardly to try and fix the beam.  As long as you didn’t overreach you would be fine.  You wanted to help and show them that you could do whatever they could, if not more since you were the only one small enough to reach.  You took a deep breath and climbed up.  It wasn’t incredibly high, but if you fell, it would hurt.  You managed to stay focused, asking for the tools you would need from one of the boys behind you.  You were almost finished when you heard it.

“What the shuck is going on here?”  Uh oh.  Gally.

“She could fit, it needed to be fixed.”

“Not that way!  No one should be up there like that, especially her!”  You quickly finished and handed the tools back to whoever would quickly take them.  Gally came up under you.

“What are you doing?”  He half yelled.

“Trying to fix this beam.”  You told him as calmly as you could.

“Why are you on a flimsy board and not a ladder?  That shuck thing won’t hold you.  Get. Down. Now!”  He sounded panicked.

“It’s okay Gally, I am finished, I am getting down now.”  You tried to tell him reassuringly, but because you were distracted your foot got caught and you slipped.  You managed to stay right side up, holding onto the board. Shuck it, the only way down was to let go.  So you did.  You expected it to hurt, but you landed in some strong arms. Looking up you saw it was Gally.  You couldn’t appreciate being in his arms because his face was fuming.  If steam could come out of his ears it would.

“Are you shucking kidding me?”  He wasn’t really asking.

“Gally, I am sorry but I thought I could fix it quickly.”  

“I don’t need to hear excuses.  You should never have been up there in the first place.  On a flimsy board, not even tied down, no ladder.  What were you thinking?”

“I fixed it, I am okay, I-”  But he cut you off.

“You weren’t thinking.  Use that shuck head of yours, you could have gotten yourself killed!”

“I wouldn’t have died, Gally.  At worst, a broken arm or something, but that didn’t happen.”  You tried to remain calm but your patience was wearing thin.

“That’s because I caught you.  You need to think!  You are smarter than that.”  He said the last part no longer yelling.  It was at this moment you both realized that he was still holding you tightly.  He slightly released his grip but not enough to let you move away. “Are you hurt?”  He asked.

“No.  And the beam is fixed.”  He didn’t say anything, just kept looking at you with those beautiful eyes.  After a second, “Everything is fine.  The beam is fine, I am fine. You are fine, right?”  You asked after a second, putting your hand on his chest.  His heart was beating fast still, but he had calmed down slightly.

“You’re asking if I am alright?  After you fell?”  He asked incredulously.  You just shrugged.

“I could have hurt you, and you seemed pretty upset.  Just checking you are okay too.”  He couldn’t seem to process that.  He just nodded once.   “Okay, well I am going to let you calm down and put away my stuff.”  You pushed him back slightly and he held onto you for a second before releasing you.  It was quitting time and you wanted to be anywhere but there.  You didn’t know what just happened, but you didn't like being yelled at by Gally, especially in front of everyone after doing him a favor.