#tom-uary

You were just beginning to surface, enjoying the summer break you were getting for college, and happy to spend the summer in your own place. It was quiet, your roommate getting ready to go home, and you would have the apartment to yourself for weeks. Squeezing the pillow in your arms tighter to you, you froze, the bedding beneath you rising as it took a breath, and you jumped back.

Sitting up in your bed enough to rub your eyes, you growled a little as you recognised the chuckle that sounded, opening your eyes to find your best friend staring at you, his phone in hand as he slumped across your bed.

“Mornin’ angel.”

“What the fuck are you doing in my bed? You scare the life out of me, and it’s-” You twisted, picking up your alarm clock, one that had been promptly turned off seeing as it was summer break, to check the time, “-eight in the morning? Really, Tommy?”

“Did you know that you cuddle in your sleep?” He ignored your question entirely, and you sat up in the pillows beside him, the bedding still covering the lower half of your body as you covered a yawn, realising that you weren’t going back to sleep any time soon. “It was cute. Like, the second I got myself all comfy here, you put your head on my stomach, and a leg over mine, holding on for dear life.”

“Thomas-”

“Also, continuing with the cute cuddling thing, if I play with your hair while you sleep, you get this sleepy little smile, a-”

“Thomas!” His jaw snapped shut, turning to look at you, honey brown eyes catching flecks of the sunlight pouring in through the now open curtains, and it was no wonder you’d woken so early of your natural self, his lips pursed as he stared at you curiously. “Tell me what you’re doing here so early in the morning, right now.”

“Only if you tell me whether or not you knew that you cuddle in your sleep, first.”

“No, I didn’t know that. I’m not really a sleep-cuddler, I’m very picky about positions.” His jaw dropped, a cheeky look flashing over his features, and you held up a finger, shaking your head and shutting down the innuendo he was about to release. “Sleeping positions.”

“Just me, then? That’s adorable.” He tapped the tip of your nose, before swinging his legs over the edge of the bed, standing up and stretching a little, the edge of his shirt lifting to reveal a sliver of his stomach, your eyes diverting. “You have a very comfortable mattress, is that memory foam? Anyway, the reason I’m here.”

“Finally.”

He shot you a mock glare, rolling his eyes at you. “You have to get up, because I want to go for a run.”

“And I want to go back to sleep, so that's gonna’ be a hard pass on the physical exertion. Thanks for the offer, but I’m going to keep being lazy.” He frowned, and you grinned, rolling over onto your other side and turning your back on him, and he scoffed a little. A second later, the covers that you had wrapped yourself up in were being tugged back and out of the way, a groan on your lips. “No, Tommy, let me sleep! If you’re really my best friend, you’d let me sleep.”

“No, if I was really your best friend, I’d carry you all the way back from the club on a Friday night after you called with your head in a toilet bowl because you got spiked, and stay by your side all weekend until I was sure you were okay.” He tapped his chin for a second, your stomach twisting just at the memories. “Oh, wait, I already did that.”

“That was low.”

“If you were really my best friend, you’d come on a run with me so I have company while keeping in shape for my track return in the fall.” He grabbed onto your ankles, pulling you down the bed toward him, and you yelped at the action, half of your bed hanging off of the mattress as you stared up at him in shock, his hands on his hips as he smirked. “C’mon, please? Minho is out of town, and I hate running alone.”

“Fine, but only if you buy me a smoothie fro-”

“From Annie’s Café? Blueberry, yoghurt and a dash of lime?” He reached over to the nightstand, a paper cup you’d failed to notice, and you sat up, reaching for it as your body moved closer to his, and he handed it to you. Peeling back the lid, you found it was perfect, the scent of the mixed fruits being a perfect combination. “I already got it on the way over here.”

“Okay, fine.” He cheered loudly, watching as you took a sip of the drink you had, humming happily at the taste that was exploding over your tastebuds. “Go get me some clothes.”

“You’re the best.” He held your face, peppering your cheeks with

You waved a hand in the vague directions of your drawers, knowing that he was familiar with where your things were, having helped you pack and unpack over the last few years, much like you had him, your final year of college bringing around a friendship that had lasted since the first day, and you crossed your legs on the bed, waking up a little more as you sipped your drink.

He dug through the drawers, chucking a pair of leggings in your direction, a sports bra following it, and some socks, and he stared at you inquisitively for a second, eyes scanning down along your body, licking over his lower lip. “Do you wear panties to bed?”

“Thomas!” You threw the empty smoothie cup at his head, and he ducked, laughing loudly as he avoided the assault.

“It’s a practical question! So, I know what to pass you!” You rolled your eyes, scooping up the clothes and looking over the bundle.

“Where’s my top?”

“I passed you one!” He paced back over, picking up the pink and grey undergarment, and waving it before your face. “See?”

“That's a sports bra! I need a top!”

He raised a brow, and you didn’t realise your poor choice in wording, his playful mood taking over. He moved back over to you, hands finding the edge of the bed, and he crawled up toward you as you edged back toward the pillows, placing a foot on his chest to keep him away as a smirk took over. “I could be your top.”

“Quit it, you perv!”

“Oh, so you wanna’ be on top?” He rolled onto his side, head propped up on his hand, wiggling his brows, and you scoffed, standing up with the bundle of clothing, and moving to the bathroom to get changed, his laughs echoing behind you as you went.

Shutting the door, you rolled your eyes at the muffled sounds of him moving around your bedroom on the other side of the wood, your face splitting in an uncontrollably wide grin, cheeks warm to the touch with a blush.

Brushing your hair and pulling it back into a style enough to run with, you turned on the taps, toothbrush first as you scrubbed at your teeth to clean them, drifting into your thoughts. Thomas had been your friend for a long time, the two of you having met on your first day in a freshman biology lecture, and even when you’d switched your major a few months later, he still stuck by your side. He’d been someone you could rely on and depend on since your very first day of real independence and adulthood, and so he had embedded himself permanently in your life.

You cleaned your face too, feeling refreshed as you went, before swapping out your clothes, folding your pyjamas up neatly, and unlocking the door again. Thomas had pulled the sheets on the bed neatly done, sitting on the edge, and smiling at you as you emerged.

“Ready to go, pretty lady?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be for exercise at the crack of dawn.” He looked like he was going to correct you, but your mock-glare made his lips zip back up again, standings and brushed himself down. Grabbing your keys, and locking up the apartment as you went, you let him take the small piece of metal, tucking that into his pocket too, and placing a hand on your lower back to guide you through the halls. “Just so you know, I haven’t done exercise in years. I’m going to make it, like, a mile. That’s it.”

He turned to look at you, nothing judgemental, just a fond smile as he held open the main door of the building for you to pass through first, the busy streets of the early morning crowding around you suddenly. “How about, we just go and jog around the park over there, huh? It has those nice trails through the woods, too.”

You glanced out, a hand shielding your eyes from the summer sun, a park you’d rarely had time to venture into, once on a picnic with Thomas and his friends last summer, but that was about it, and so it would be nice to explore it a little more.

Tightening your hair as you approached the edge of the grass, choosing one of the trails from the sign at the entrance of the park, quickly settling on a short one with plenty of scenery through the trees. The pace started slowly, and Thomas was happy to fill the silence with chatter as you went along, breaking out in a sweat long before he did, the sun beating down and your heart pending in your chest, throat growing dry, but you were willing to just push through it.

It truly was beautiful, the early morning sun was something you rarely go to experience, either locked up in class or the library, or catching up on much-needed sleep, and Thomas had always been the opposite of you in that respect, He was good with the mornings, the athlete in him woke him up when the sun rose, sometimes even beforehand, while you preferred late nights and the dark hours of the day.

Sunlight filtering through the trees, dogs playing in the grass of the main park before you got too far away, the rustle of leaves underfoot and the gentle breeze, the smell of flowers in the air. It was a memory you’d forgotten even having before getting caught up in college and stress, shutting yourself off as you buckled down for your education and career.

The first half-hour or so was a breeze, despite the sweat you broke out in and the pounding of the blood in your veins, you became accustomed to it, listening to Thomas talk. You held up your conversation, the two of you making plans for the summer before you returned to classes for your final college year, and you planned to make the most of it since you’d both have such unlimited time together.

In the second half an hour, the pace picked up, Thomas going quiet, occasional smiles that he gave you, before his skin began to shine from the exertion too, and you were swallowed thickly. Hair matted to his forehead, tanned skin only enhanced with veins that crawled along his forearms, blood pounding much like your own, and he was working at a faster pace than you as you became tired, only just having passed halfway around your set, jogging before you.

You tried to control yourself, but his shirt was stretched across his shoulders, the muscles in his back standing out, shifting under the thin cotton that was damp with patches of sweat, every movement of his arms making it clear, and you had to try and focus, almost swerving off of the path and tripping a couple of times as you failed to pay attention to the forest floor under your feet.

In the final third, everything went to sit. The tree covering thinned slightly, moving toward the centre of the day as the sun shone in the sky, almost directly overhead, and the temperatures were shooting up. Thomas had slowed to meet you again, growing slightly tired himself as you felt like you were dragging dead limbs along, sure you’d be achy and unable to move tomorrow, and at some point, as you’d dipped your head, you’d noticed the bounce.

It wasn’t your fault, your eyes were just drawn to the movement, almost choking on your own spit as you realised just what was bouncing under the thin basketball shorts, your eyes squeezing shut for a second and trying to clear the image from your mind, your brain going hazy and the rubbing friction between your thighs suddenly becoming prominent to you as you ran, wanting to squeeze them together.

You kept going, swallowing the lump in your throat and shaking your head clear. But then his arms were flexing, reaching behind his neck to tug his shirt away from his body, and your mind went blank. Shining abs, the smattering of dark hair between toned pecs and down to his happy trail making your mouth water, sweating skin glistening in the sun as he moved, muscles bouncing, like some kind of Baywatch audition, and you couldn't be held responsible.

Your feet got caught, a loud popping sounding before searing hot pain radiated up your leg, a cry leaving your lips as you hit the ground, rolling to as top, before splaying out in the dirt, a little dazed and confused. Thomas popped into view, concern written all over his features as he talked a mile a minute, so fast you could barely understand what he was saying as his hands found yours and he pulled you up, your eyes sweeping over him. Oh, right half-naked secret crush. That’s right.

“What the hell just happened?”

“I fell.” He let out a weak laugh, worry still holding his brows furrowed, though, and you reached out to him, smoothing your thumb over his forehead to rub away the creases in a way you’d done so many times before, particularly before exams. His features softened as you did, and he let out a little sigh, standing himself and pulling you to your feet. As you put pressure on your ankle, it gave way, and you wanted to scream, possibly even die a little, as you tumbled forward into his chest, his arms wrapping around you. “Nope, no. Ankle says no thanks, no today.”

He grinned, scooping you up under your legs, and carrying you over the grass at the edge of the pathway, luscious and thick green as he set you down, finding shade under a large tree, hidden by some bushes to shield your eyes, before he was kneeling before you. His fingers skimmed along your calf, your leg twitching as he did, before he was pulling up the edge of your leggings to get a look at it.

He hissed a little, fingers running over the patch, registering where the skin was already going hard, and the way you cried out and jerked at the touch, pain coursing through you, and he apologised each time, a sigh on his lips. “I don’t think it’s broken, just a bad strain. It’ll take a while to heal, though.”

“So much for our summer plans.” You whispered, his eyes finding yours, and you swallowed thickly, embarrassment creeping in. “I’m sorry, Tommy.”

“What the hell are you sorry for? It’s my fault you’re hurt.” it was your turn to be confused, his head dropping and eyes hidden from yours. “You could still be tucked up safely in your bed, totally not injured, but I made you come for a run.”

“Thomas, look at me.” He didn’t, still adjusting your leggings back over your ankles as he undid and retied your laces, tighter to keep pressure on the injury for now, and you hooked a finger under his chin, forcing him to look up. “Tommy, I know I complained, but I was having a  good time. I always do when we hang out, even if we are running ourselves to death.”

His lips flicked up at the joke, but he still looked guilty. “I know, but I should have just worked out alone.”

“But you don’t like that, so I was happy to come with you. Stop beating yourself up.” He sighed, trying to let the tension go, and nodding his head. “Besides, I don’t get all gross and sweaty like this for just anyone, so cheer up, that’s how you know I wanted to be here.”

“You’re pretty no matter what. Sweaty, all dolled up, glitter in your hair at a club or all breathless and sweaty on a run, you’re breathtaking.” His hand came up to sit on your cheek, a thumb smoothing over your skin. “When I wanted you to fall for me, this isn’t quite what I meant, though.”

You stared at him for a second, eyes narrowing, and his usual cheeky grin flashed up, but there was something deeper in his gaze that you’d never taken long enough to notice before. “Did you just flirt with me?”

He looked taken aback for a second, wide eyes and parted lips, before a disbelieving sound left him, and he shook his head lightly “I’ve been flirting with you since the day I met you, but thanks for finally noticing.”

“You have?”

“Uh, yeah.” He deadpanned, your head emptying once again, and you watched as he twisted his body, sitting down on the grass with his legs spread out before himself.

“You took your shirt off.” He paused, looking down at himself, and his cheeks were tinged pink when he looked back up, confused. “You took your shirt off, and my mind just sorta’ went blank, and the next thing I know, I’m on the floor in pain. I’ve been into you since, like, last year. The whole system just short-circuited as you did.”

You waved a hand up and down yourself, and he frowned, not exactly the reaction you were expecting, the fear of rejection racing through you. “So, it was my fault you got hurt?” He looked totally distraught, lips in a pout as he stared at you, and you couldn't take it anymore. “I’m really, really so-”

Pushing forwards, your lips met his, his back finding the grass as your body crashed into him, a groan spilling from him as his brain caught up. One hand sought your waist as you lay atop him, the other lacing messily into your hair and tangling the strands as he kissed you back deeply and passionately, lips gliding with yours. You held yourself up over him, the pain in your ankle disappearing as he kissed you just as eagerly, an exchange that was long overdue.

It was frantic, and needy, his mouth working against yours until the breath was stolen from your lungs and your lips were stinging, desperate for breath but never wanting to part from him, a whine leaving you as he pulled back, gasping for breath much like you were. He pulled away, staring up at you as his head fell to the grass, a finger smoothing over your face as the tomb of the other rubbed circles into your hip, tucking under the edge of your shirt to find bare skin. “We should have done that a long time ago.”

“Yeah, definitely.” You rolled your lips together, licking the taste of him from them as you stared down at his flushed face, whiskey eyes twinkling as he stared up at you. “Wanna’ do it again?”

“Fuck, yeah, I do.” He leaned up halfway to meet you, neck craned and he hummed happily, this kiss a little slower and calmer, testing the waters as the initial shock and desperation died down, and he rolled you over, your back meeting the ground as he settled above you, your back coming down to rest in the soft grass. “Been dreamin’ ‘bout kissing you for years.”

He mumbled the words into your lips, one hand finding your shoulder, sliding down a little lower over your arm, pausing a little as he found your ribs, thumb brushing just under your tits through your clothing, your breathing hitching in your throat. His kisses shifted, trailing along your jaw lightly and your hips bucked up, a groan on his lips as you brushed over him, shy heat flushing your face once again as he paused.

“I meant it, y’know. I realised not long after we met that you weren’t going to return my flirting, but I liked you so much but then, and so I decided I’d rather have you in my life as a friend than not at all.”

His teeth continued to tease your skin lightly, and you shivered under him, his hips dropping down to press against you more firmly, and your eyes slipped closed.

“Pure torture, though. All your pretty dresses, movie nights where we’d cuddle, and you’d wear my jumpers when you came over, looking so cute that all I wanted to do was kiss you until your mind was empty, and wake up to you on lazy Sundays. I want you to kiss before exams and whisper good luck in my ear, before we get to celebrate late at night. God, I’m so fucking in love with you.”

“You are?” It was a startling realisation, your body jerking a little in shock, and he grunted as your core shifted against him, his lips bucking up to you in return this time.

“You don’t have to say it back, but it’s true.”

Your hands came up to find his face, bringing him close enough that your noses bumped and breath was shared. “I love you too, Thomas.”

He whined a little under his breath, nose playing with your own, and you tugged him in closer, until his body was pressed up to yours. The temperature was rising between you, making you feel suffocated as the gaze you were being fixed with by the man set you on fire from the inside out, and you pushed him back, breath caught as you looked at him.

Your hands moved to the hem of your shirt, skin itching to be rid of it as you felt like every nerve within you was speaking with electricity, tugging at it as it was trapped between your bodies, and he moved to help. Peeling your shirt up and over your head, it was a flurried collection of movements, sports bra revealed to him once again, and you sighed a little as your back met the crisp and cooler strands of grass again, his body covering yours as he followed you back to the ground.

One solid hand came up to your thigh, hitching it up onto his hip so that he could settle between your thighs, and as the hardening cock in the thin shorts he wore pressed up to your core, you both let out soft sounds of pure bliss at the friction. Dragging a hand down along his chest, your nail scraped over bare skin, sweat and slick from all his exertion, the dips between pecs and toned muscles twitching and clenching under your fingertips, and he let out a breath sigh into your mouth as his lips found yours once again.

Wet and passionate, his tongue teasing over your lip until you parted them for him once again, and he moaned as your tongue dared to come out and play with his own. You dared your hand lower, fingers brushing across the trail of dark hairs below his navel, until a single finger was tracing over his cock, and he whimpered needfully at the feeling, his bucking up into your touch as your hand was crushing between your bodies, the noises he made making your head spin.

Cupping him fully, you squeezed tightly, and his arms over you buckled a little as you did, his lips leaving yours so that his forehead could press to your own, hot washes of quickly panted breaths coming over your face. “Sweetheart, if you keep that up, I’ll fuck you right here in the park.”

“Sounds naughty. Sounds fun.” You mumbled, a slightly tighter grip as you rolled your hand over him, and he groaned a little under his breath, dipping down for a desperate kiss. Supporting all of his weight on one hand, the other coming down to peel your touch away from him, and pinning your wrist to the warm grass over your head, shaded by the tree the two of you were partially hidden behind, a growl on his lips.

“I’m not kidding.”

“Neither am I.” He pulled back, eyes finding your own as he evaluated your words, finding no joke in your eyes and a dark look crossed over his features, rolling his lips before they twisted up into a smirk.

“You know, I always pictured something romantic for our first time together.” Your breath hitched in your throat, the tip of his nose nudging at your jaw as his lips brushed over the sensitive skin of your neck, tongue brushing as he licked at his lips, and you keened up into him. I” figured it would be after a couple of dates, when I finally manned up enough to tell you how I felt.” He pressed a delicate kiss to your skin, and again, nothing rough about it, not at all what you’d expected, and you lifted a hand to lace into his hair. “I’d take you home, strip you down slowly, kiss every inch of your body until you were breathless, and then I’d make love to you for the whole night.”

“Big promises, think you can last that long?”

“Probably not, you drive me crazy with everything you do, but I’d give it my best go.” He laughed gently into your skin, teeth grazing over the spot where your neck met your shoulders, and he gifted one hand again, to land on your jaw to turn your face to the side, his teeth biting own roughly on that spot, and a loud moan left you as you felt him do so, not enough to break the skin, but enough that there’d be a mark, and your eyes rolled back a little.

His lips sealed over that spot, sucking harshly, and you whimpered a little under his touch, swipes of his tongue thrown into the mix, slow and torturous over your sin, and there would be a large bruise you’d be unable to hide for days to come. “Tommy..”

“I know, sweetheart,” He dipped down a little further, lips working over your skin until he was kissing down toward the edge of your sports bra, the tip of his nose dragging over a perky nipple beneath the elasticated material, and he chuckled into your skin at the needy noise you made. Hot and wet kisses, placed along your stomach, until he had reached the hem of your pants, humming under his breath, his fingers latching into the sides. “Are you sure about this?”

“The sex, or the sex in public?”

He lifted his head, a laugh flailing from his lips, cheeks flushed with warm pink as he stared up at you, an adoring look in his eyes that shone right through his amusement. “Both, I suppose.”

You collapsed back into the grass, feeling his finger twitch where they waited in your waistband, before nodding your head. “I’m pretty damn sure, Tommy.”

He didn’t waste any time, pulling your pants down just far enough to fall under the rise of your ass, bunched around your upper thighs, before your hips were falling down once again, a loud giggling falling from your lips as you did, squirming a little against the floor, and his fingers paused in their motions along the bare skin of your thighs that had been revealed as his brows rose. “What’s so funny, angel?”

“The grass is tickling my ass.” You mumbled, and he paused, your head lifting to look at him in the silence, and his face was split in a wide grin, trying to choke back his laugh as he stared at you, shaking his head.

“You totally just ruined the moment.”

“I did not!” You grinned, giggling as you spoke, before sitting up and moving to your knees, spreading your legs as far as you could with the stretchy material still around your thighs to kneel before him. Taking his hand in yours, you pulled it down, watching as he swallowed thickly, eyes still locked together, and his breath hitched as the back of his palm brushed over your yoga pants. The tips of his fingers traced over your sodden folds, your teeth caught prisoner between your teeth as his jaw dropped, and he took control then. “See? Totally not ruined.”

“You will be,” He mumbled, a threat that had your head spinning, and he was firmer in his movements now, a single digit swirling through your wetness and dragging up until he was bumping against your clit, a sudden cry leaving you as he did, and your fingers dug into the skin of his wrist. “So wet, sweetheart. That all for me?”

You nodded, eyes fluttering shut as he began to trace slow circles onto the small bud, and he hummed under his breath.

“Thought about this so much, the way you’d look when I touched you, how you’d sound moaning my name, the way you’d feel as you came around my cock. You’ve been all that’s on my mind for so long.”

“Tommy..” You sighed his name out, pushing him a little further, and a dark chuckle left him as you tried to get more, feeling that sam wet pad brush over your entrance. “Please?”

“Use your words, I want to hear you say it.” His other hand came up, cupping your jaw, and you could feel his eyes burning into you, voice becoming raspy as he spoke low and quiet, words for only you to hear as the two of you tried not to draw too much attention to yourselves. His thumb brushed over your chin, dragging your lower from where it was held to press on them, stinging slightly from the scrape of your teeth, before you were parting them, allowing his thumb to press to your tongue. “I want to hear everything that this dirty little mouth has to say, go ahead and drive me wild, angel.”

You hummed around the finger in your mouth, hips bucking up into him as he circled your hole, never dipping inside but make sure to rub across you just enough to catch, making you absolutely desperate, feeling your juices flooding down onto his hand and smeared between your thighs as he kept this up. Sucking tightly on the finger in his mouth, he let out a broken moan, pushing his finger in further to keep you quiet, before one long finger was dipping into you, as far as he could reach.

The teasing, the build-up, everything had been overwhelming, all too much for you, and your whole body trembled at the simple addition, feeling him still as you acclimated to the invasion, before he was curling his finger to press at your walls lightly. “Nothing to say, so soon? I was hoping I’d at least get my cock in you before you were fucked senseless.”

He pulled that wet finger back, smearing over your china s your gasped for breath, and you opened your eyes to look at him. “You really want to know what I think about?”

“I really do.” He pulled back, beginning to set a slow rhythm with his finger, pumping in and out of you slowly, and you needed more. “You ever thought of me while touching yourself like this? I’ve thought of you, when my hand was wrapped around my cock, thinking about how much better it’d feel if it was you. Your hands, your mouth, this sweet little cunt, always you, though.”

Your hands ran up his shoulders, coming up to sit over his neck lightly, feeling the erratic throbbing of his pulse under your hand. “I think about your mouth, all the fucking time.”

Pink lips formed a smirk, his finger being joined by another and beginning to stretch you out picking up pace, and you could feel the knot within you beginning to wind up tight, pulling and twisting as you felt butterflies begin to explode for action inside. “Yeah?”

“Yeah, you don’t know how much you mess with it. You’re always licking your lips, and making these little smirks, and your cute little smiles, You rub at your jaw, and oh God, don’t even get me started on your hands.” You let out a gasp as the tips of his fingers found your sweet spot, exploring within you as he learned what made you tick, what made you moan.

“Right there?”

“Right there!” You confirmed, breathy exclamation of the words, and he focused his attentions on that, your mind going blank as pleasure raced through every vein in your body. You’d wanted this for so long, this kind of intimacy with your best friend.

You were close, close enough that he had a key to your apartment and stated over frequently, close enough that he’d seen you in your underwear before and close enough that you’d shared a bed, cuddling on nights when you were stressed before exams, showing up at his place in sweatpants with tearstained cheeks, and he’d bring you inside without a word.

This was what you wanted though, you wanted his lips on your own, kissing away every sound you made as it became more frantic, a wet sound filling the air, smacksmatchinging of your lips and the atrociously dirty sound his finger s made as they thrust in and out of your wet channel, a peak like no other beginning to take you over, even from the simple foreplay, purely because it was him. “I’m close..”

Your words were mumbled against his lips, and he only groaned under his breath, the palm of his hand brushing over your clit with every movement, the sparks of electricity it created were running along every nerve you had, and you rolled your hips down into his hand, searching for more of that friction as you chased your high right towards the edge. “I can feel you, baby, squeezing my fingers so good. Can only imagine how good you’ll feel milking my cock.”

“Thomas!” He recessed down roughly on your g-spot, nails brushing over your walls lightly each time he pulled back, a combination of filthy sensations that made tears line your eyes as it all became too good. “Tommy!”

“C’mon, baby, come for me. Make a mess on my fingers, like I know you want to.”

His words threw you over the edge, deep voice and dark tone, your face pressing into his neck as you cried out his name, muffling your sounds in his skin as you came, juices washing over his digits as he pumped you through it, shushing you lightly, a mixture with praises, telling yo how goo you were dong, and it made heat crawl along our skin to your cheeks as you realised how much you liked it.

You’d always been independent, relying only on yourself, and then Thomas had stepped into your life and forced you to depend on him just as much, and as he coaxed you through your climax, mumbling sweet whispers about how good you were for him, you crumbled to nothing under his touch. “Feel better, honey?”

“So good.” You whispered, walls fluttering as his hand pulled back, and you retracted yourself from his body long enough to watch him stick his fingers into his mouth, one eye dropping in a lazy wink as he licked the clean. Your hands slid from his shoulders to his chest, letting out a contented sigh as you looked at him. “God, you’re so fucking hot.”

His chest puffed up a little under your touch and at the compliment, your finger moving in feather-light patterns over his chest, making him shake a little as you moved. He moved you, back, laying you down in the grass, slow and intimate, his body covering yours, kneeling between your thighs and moving to peel one leg free of your leggings, your shoe dropping off at your foot and skin raising with goosebumps at the summer breeze washing over flushed skin cooling you down immensely. His hands were supporting him on either side of your head another question about whether you were sure, but this one was unspoken, a look in his eyes said it all.

Dragging your hands along the bare skin of his back, you found the shorts he wore, basketball style, thin and silky under your hands, and you pulled on them, inching them down and far enough over his ass for his cock to spring free, wet and dripping with precum, bumping against you sodden folds, and you took a sharp intake of breath at the feeling.

His hips thrust up, instinctually as he twitched, the swollen head of his cock pumping to your clit, and the both of you let out soft whines at the feeling. Reaching between your bodied, your fingers wrapped around him, his lips parting and eyes sliding shut as you gripped onto his shaft, a few test strokes as he fucked up into your fist, before you were nudging his cock down, lining him up perfectly.

Sinking into you, his hands gave way at the bitten-off cry of your name that he made,  dropping from his hands to his elbows, bodies pressed flush together as your hips sat snugly together, his throbbing length encased within your walls.

“I feel like I just went to heaven.”

You giggled, the movements making you tighten around him and he groaned at the feeling. When you were both ready, you circled your hips against him, rocking up into him slowly, and he reached down to latch a thigh up onto his waist again, no obstruction as your bare leg came up to his body, wrapping and holding him tighter.

“I promise, next time, it’ll be after a date. Something fun and romantic, and when we get home, we’ll be all alone, and I’ll take you apart piece by piece until you're crying my name, but not right now.” His lips brushed over yours, his head tipping to the side a little, before you could fee his cheeks twitch in a smirk. “But right now, I just want to fuck senseless.”

“So do it.”

“I intend to.” He pulled back, almost all of the way out of you, before he was slamming back into you, no warm-up or time to adjust, you back arching up from the grass as you met him, and you barely covered a loud moan with your hand before he was repeating the motion, a grunt on his lips as he did.

Your nails raked over his back, tearing welts into the skin as he picked up to an earth-shattering kind of pace, and just as promised, you were left speechless, absolutely fucked senseless. It was pleasure like none you’d ever felt before, stretched out around his length, long and thick and your breath was punched form your lungs as you gasped for breath with every thrust that he delivered to you. Leaning up, you caught his lips with you own, a kiss that he was eager to return as he let out a soft sound at the connection, lips puckering immediately to return the love, and you smiled against him.

Shifting your hips up to meet him, skin was clapping against skin, drowned out by the sounds of fresh water and birds chirping around you, distant chatter from the other sides of the bushes and trees that you were hidden behind. It was scandalous, the thrill that anybody could simply walk around this side and catch you, half-naked with your loved ball-deep inside of you,  hand over your mouth as you tried to quiet your screams, you weren’t sure what you’d do.

Slipping your other hand between your bodies, you found your clit, rubbing patterns on it to match his thrusts, the high within you building up to reach cosmic peaks. Locking your legs around his waist, you flipped him over, a grin on his face as he found his back pressed into grass, your centre sliding along his length as you sank back down, seated across his thighs.

“Oh, so I take it that you’re feeling better.”

“I’ll probably regret it later,” You whispered, a jolt of pain sparking along your body as you caught your ankle at an odd angle, face screwing up lightly, and Thomas sat up to meet you. Wrapping your legs around his waist at a more comfortable angle, you let out a little sigh, his hands on your hips helping you to move. “That’s better.”

“Mhm, I’m glad.” He whispered, and you whimpered, hands coming up to wrap around his neck as you leaned in, close enough that your lips brushed, heads pressing together softly, and he circled your hips slowly. It was special, breath shared, and while it may be risky and erotic because of where you were, heated circumstances throwing your hormones into overdrive, you knew it wasn’t a mistake, it was the first step through the doorway you’d both been lingering outside of without realising the other was there. “I’m close, sweetheart.”

“I know, me too.” You whispered, picking up your motions and rocking yourself down into his body, every pulse of his cock making stars flash behind your eyes. Slipping a finger between your lips, he brushed the pad over your tongue, waiting for you to soak the digit before he was pulling it away, his mouth closing over your own, hand slipping between your bodies. He tweaked at a nipple through your sports bra, chuckling in the kiss as you whimpered his name, before he was finding the swollen bud between your legs. “Fuck, Tommy!

Rubbing lightly, he had barely begun, before you were tumbling into orgasmic bliss in his arms, locking up around him, body going rigid and your heart feeling like it stopped in your chest as you came undone. He held you tightly, your bodies pressed together, fingers laced into his hair, mouths sliding together in sloppy kisses as you tried to keep yourself somewhat quiet.

Only moments after you came, he was chasing right after you into your peak, his eyes rolling back in his head, tone raising just a little as he moaned your name, cracking slightly and you felt like you’d broken just hearing him say your name in such a way. Ribbons of hot cum filled you, making you shudder as you felt chilled from the outside as he pumped you full, and you felt tears line your eyes. “Oh, fuck.” You whispered, words dragged out as you felt your heart race in your chest, beginning to come down from your high. “That was incredible.”

“That’s an understatement.” He mumbled, lips moving along your jaw in sweet kisses, pressing gently as you waited to catch your breath, sweaty skin now even slicker, the run having had nothing on this kind of activity, as you came down, he flipped you over pressing you back into the grass so that your legs could unwrap from his waist, letting him pull away from you and collapse down onto the sun-warmed ground beside you. Tugging his shorts back up, you stared down at your one bare leg, your shoe metres away, and you groaned, trying to sit up.

A cringe was on your lips as you felt arousal still leaking from your core, and he chuckled, lifting a hand to brush lightly over your skin, watching as you tried to readjust yourself without putting too much pressure on the ankle that was still injured.

“Do you want to get a pizza?”

“What?” You turned to stare at him incredulously, snickering slightly as you reached for your shoe, and bringing back the shirt he’d dropped long ago as you did. Lacing up your shoe once again, you turned to face him, finding him still staring at you.

“Movie night. Me and you. A date. Pizza or Chinese food?”

You grinned, plucking your shirt from the bush-branch it had landed on after being flung away, trying to turn it the right way out once again. “Pizza works for me.” Your words were whispered out, a light sigh as you realised it was officially, and Thomas sat up upon hearing the crack in your voice. Settling a hand over your cheek, he pulled you down to his lips, a smile pressed between you as he gave you a simple kiss.

“I meant it, y’know. Everything I said, about how much I care for you, and how into you I am. I honestly do want us be a couple, have for a while.”

“I’d like that, too.” You mumbled, accepting the hands he was holding out to you, pulling you to your feet before letting go to tug his shirt back on over his head, a wisecrack on his lips about not wanting to cause any more injuries, and hide the marks you’d made on his back. As you stood up and balanced with weight on your ankle, you tested a first step, sighing a little. “Still hurts.”

“When we get back, I’ll get an icepack for you, and let you put your feet in my lap while we watch movies.” You huffed, his arm wrapping around your waist to help you go, and you twisted to look up at him a little.

“I’d rather be in your lap myself.”

“Yeah?” He grinned, turning to press a kiss to your temple. “That works too.”

“I should hope so. Your lap belongs to me now, girlfriend rules.”

“Alright, well that means that cute little butt belongs to me. Boyfriend rules.” His hand slipped down, pinching at your ass lightly, and you jumped, swatting at his hand as you steadied yourself and rebalanced on your feet, wincing at the pain on your swollen ankle.

“You are going to injure me even more.”

“It is not my fault that you can’t keep your eyes to yourself.” You gaped, shoving him with your elbow as he snickered. You continued on you walk, moving in slow and cautious steps as you began to make your way back to your apartment, hoping your roommate wouldn't be home to witness the messy state you were in, grass stains on your pants and Thomas’s knees, because she’d put it all together in seconds. The hand on your waist squeezed lightly, pulling you out of your thoughts and back to the moment. “I’m joking, you have o idea how many times you’ve distracted me.”

“Now you can do something about it.”

There was another meeting, discussing all the usual topics, but Thomas seemed more pissed off than usual, which is saying something as of late. He’s been nothing but a pissy bitch since the search for his raven-haired friend had turned sour and unwilling. The meeting was held in a moderate-sized room, big enough to hold the handful of people permitted. Thomas was leaning on both hands over a table with Newt at his hip, what a surprise. They were combing over a map with Vince and Jorge, arguing about a last city or something. Y/N was sitting in the corner, rolling her eyes at practically every other word, a sad image of men and boys arguing over nonsense around the circular table. 

Newt would look up every once in a while and give her a sympathetic smile to let her know she wasn’t forgotten in the exchange of emotions and words. She liked Newt, he had always been kind to her when most of the other boys treated her like she was fragile and delicate in the maze. He never doubted her or underestimated her abilities despite what was between her legs, well, until that little shit popped up and out of the ground. Motherfucking Thomas, the angel, the savior, the one who will lead us to paradise. Yeah right, more like the one who will lead everyone to their preventable deaths.

“Look! He was there, okay? I know it. Minho was there!” The vein in Thomas’ neck was protruding and defined from the strain he was putting on his words. He was desperate. “We grabbed the wrong container!”

“Thomas, there was a 50/50 chance and we made a choice of which one to grab. Not to mention the odds of him being in either train car, to begin with, were small.” Vince was calm and collected, he always managed to keep a cool head.

“Yeah, but he was there! If I had just..” Thomas was quieter now, but no less desperate.

“You didn’t pick the wrong one, Mate. We saved at least 100 people from WCKD today. I wouldn’t call that a failure. We didn’t find Minho, but I have faith we will. He’s still out there, I know it.” Newt looked up at Y/N when he finished, and she couldn’t help to give a forced smile. Leave it to him to be the voice of reason, but also the one to egg on the bumbling buffoon everyone seems to eagerly place their faith in.

“Newt, I get that, but he was there, he was right there! If we hadn’t been so pressed for time I could have-”

Y/N jumped up, utterly pissed at this point and tired of hearing these idiots run round and round in the same circles. “You could have what, Thomas? You could have picked the ‘right’ container? Hmm? Why don’t you go tell that to Sonya? Or Aris? I’m sure they’d love to hear that you saving their lives, along with everyone else in that box, wasn’t your goal and you’d gladly trade them for the single life of Minho.”

Everyone in the room fell silent and it was filled with the light of the moon shining through the missing part of the ceiling. The flames from the lanterns danced on everyone’s shocked faces. Y/N was never one to prance around the daisies when it came to stating the obvious. Thomas looked almost ashamed and it was honestly annoying. She was tired of his pitiful ’I didn’t ask for this’ routine.

“You know that’s not what I meant.” Despite the guilt that raged in his stomach, he used it to fuel his anger towards Y/N, which was to be expected. He took most of his negative emotions out on her, his own personal punching bag, but he could never land any punches because she honestly couldn’t care less. She rolled her eyes and placed her hands on her hips, shooting knives at him and his nostrils flared under her eyes. An unknowing battle of spiteful gazes between them.

“Well, as entertaining as it is to watch you two practically have hate-sex with each other, we need to discuss our options.” Jorge obviously chose his words to jolt the two out of their staring contest and it worked. They both made faces like they had tasted something sour, scrunching their noses at the idea of actually wanting each other. Well, I mean, it’s not the first time Y/N had thought of it, but just because he had the body that could rival a god doesn’t mean she was ignorant of his pea-sized brain.

“There’s nothing to discuss. We’re not risking anyone’s lives to go to the last city, if it’s even real.” Y/N couldn’t help but sights the relief of Vince seeing reason.

“I’ve heard things over the years, that it was a last resort for WCKD, their place of operations. I’ve never managed to make it that far north, but it’s one of the safe heavens that were put into place when things went to shit.” Y/N huffed in annoyance, thanks, Jorge. Great job at giving the little shit ideas.

“Look, we could make it there with a small team in a week and then be back with Minho in no time.”

“No, Thomas. I’m not risking any more lives to save one person. This is a suicide mission. If it’s anything Jorge says it is, the city will be a fortress. Not to mention the road to get there, riddled with the infected. We don’t have the people or the resources to take on a fight like that.” Vince was tired of arguing with him, so he was standing his ground and that would be the end of it. Thomas may have been the leader in the glade and the scorch, but here he was allowed the privilege to have a say by Vince.

“I don’t need an army, just two or three-”

“Thomas, no!” Vince was done with these petty arguments and put his foot down. “The ship is almost done. We’ll be ready to sail in less than a week. There are casualties in war, and in this world, the life of one doesn’t out way the lives of the many. We’re not going and that’s final.”

Thomas grunted and threw his arms up in rebellion, stomping off to brood somewhere by himself. 

Y/N couldn’t help the small smile of satisfaction that crept onto her face from seeing him so pissed off. She strode over to where Newt was standing and crossed her arms, leaning her back against the table to face him.

“He’s hurting you know? He blames himself. He blames himself for everything honestly.” The smile melted away just as easily as it appeared. There goes Newt, always defending his puppy.

“He should! I told him not to trust Teresa!” Newt let a small shudder roll over his body at her name and Y/N couldn’t help but feel empathy and guilt for mentioning it.

“We all trusted her, except for you, of course. You never let us forget it, but we had no reason not to. She helped us, she helped Thomas. Maybe you were just jeal-”

“For the love of God, Newt, if you say I was jealous, I’ll break your other leg.” He chuckled at the threat, knowing it was empty and mostly a joke. It made her smile a bit, seeing him smile and laugh. He was always like a brother to her and she missed seeing him so happy. A lot of them haven’t been able to feel that way for a while now. Not since Thomas showed up and shucked it all up, anyway. 

“He understands why you hate him.” Y/N was caught off guard, lost in her own head when Newt broke through.

“I don’t hate him, I just…” There wasn’t really a word for it. It was like Thomas was made specifically to boil the blood in her veins and ignite a fire in her stomach that was begging to rage. He knew exactly how to get under her skin and press her buttons, and most of the time he wasn’t even trying.

“You two are a lot alike actually.” Newt let out a chuckle and ignored the hard stare directed at him. “You’re both stubborn as bulls, reckless too. Jumping into things without thinking clearly. You’re guided by emotion rather than logic, but there’s nothing wrong with that.” He turned his head to face his friend and curled up the corner of his lip. “Go get some sleep, we’ve all had a long day.” Newt patted her shoulder and limped off, leaving her alone in the room that now felt huge.

Y/N wasn’t really that tired, so she decided to go around to her favorite spot by the water that she found when they first arrived. The way the moonlight danced on the water in the darkness created the illusion of twinkling lights and reminded her of looking up into the sky in the glade. She hopped down from the ledge onto the sand and trotted through the thick and moist beach towards the large rock that always managed to be warm despite the sun. When it finally came into view, she halted in her tracks.

Of course, Thomas would fucking be there, laying on her rock in her secret spot. A low grumble resonates in her chest as she clenched her fist and stomped towards him. He heard and sat up hazily, having been lost in the limbo of sleep and consciousness.

“What? Who’s...oh. It’s you.” He laid back down, resting his head on his arms that were raised over his head.

“That’s my spot.” Y/N spoke through gritted teeth and clenched fists, trying not to punch him.

He lifted his head slightly and opened one eye, looking Y/N over and then let his head fall back down. “I don’t see your name on it.”

Y/N’s jaw went slack as she let out a small whine of protest, which seemed to put a shit-eating grin on Thomas’ face. Despite being pissed as hell, she couldn’t deny that his smile, with the crescent eyes and the way the moon illuminated his face, was...beautiful. No. No no no no. She’s mad and he’s an annoying little shit that gets everybody hurt or killed. Okay, good. She couldn’t stand the thought of actually being attracted to him.

“You know, Newt says-” Thomas was cut off by her.

“Newt says a lot of things.” Despite being so close to him, Y/N still couldn’t help but feel the rise of annoyance as she rolled her eyes.

Thomas sat up on his elbows and looked over at Y/N. The way he looked at her, and the light of the night with the waves crashing, for some reason it made her feel vulnerable. She moved her arms that were crossed on her chest down to wrap around her stomach. Thomas tilted his head in the most quizzical of ways like he was trying to decipher her. She was a puzzle he couldn’t quite solve, but so terribly wanted to. 

Tired of being gawked at, Y/N took the few steps between them and leaned against the large boulder, her back mostly facing Thomas. She looked up to the sky that was mostly black and empty and let out a sad sigh. She missed the stars, but since they left the maze they seemed to have all died out.

“I know, I miss them too.” Y/N shot a look over her shoulder at Thomas who was looking up. She couldn’t help but linger her gaze on him, he looked so...broken. He must have felt her stare because the muscles in his arms flexed under his weight as he shifted uncomfortably. His jaw clenched, but he still kept looking up, searching for something they both knew he’d never find.

“Why do you want to save Minho so bad?” He broke his lock on the sky and looked at her like it was the stupidest of questions, which it was. “I mean, I know why, but he’s probably dead. We haven’t heard anything about him in months and-”

“He’s alive.” Thomas laid himself back down flat against the rock. “I know it, I can feel it in my gut.” He spoke like it was the truth, something factual rather than the simple feeling that it really was.

“Yeah, but what if he’s not? Are you willing to risk our lives, your life, for someone who may not even be alive?”

He sat up fully and his eyes were dark and full of emotions she couldn’t quite decode. His posture changed to confidence and purpose. “Minho would do it for me.” He looked out to the ocean and crossed his legs, letting his elbows rest on them, placing his cheeks between his hands.

Y/N couldn’t argue with him there. She had known Minho longer than Thomas, and if there was one thing he’d never do, it would be leaving a friend behind. Thomas scooted over and patted the hard surface next to him. She examined the spot and looked up to him, questioningly. He gave her a small smile and she climbed up next to him. There was silence between them, not having much to say, as they shared the space and took in the sea and its illusion of stars.

“I’m going,” Thomas spoke softly as he continued to stare out at the water. They could hear the waves lapping against the stone as his words echoed. Y/N wasn’t entirely sure what he meant. Was he going now? Going to sleep? He looked up and his lips turned down, eyes full of sadness and it hit her. He was going to the last city, alone.

“What!? You can't go! Did you not hear Vince? It’s a suicide mission!” Y/N surprised both of them at her exasperation to get Thomas to stay. I mean, sure she didn’t like the guy, but it’s not like she wanted him dead.

He looked at her and pulled his knees to his chest, wrapping his arms around them. “I don’t care. I have to at least try.” The look in his eyes was pitiful and unrelenting. The decision was made, and once he made his mind up on something, there was no use arguing with him.

“If you want to die, that’s fine, I won’t be a part of it.” Y/N hopped down from the rock and started to walk away hurriedly. “But I’m telling Vince.” 

Thomas’ eyes grew wide and he jumped from the rock and chased after her. “No! You can't say anything!” He grabbed her arm and she reactively spun around, landing a solid punch in his gut. Thomas grabbed his stomach and took a step back, grunting in pain. She rolled her eyes and turned to continue walking when Thomas ran up behind her and tackled her to the ground.

“What the fuck, Thomas!?” She struggled but managed to spin around, her back to the sand and Thomas hovering over top her, caging her in with his arms as they held her wrists down over her head.

“I can't let you tell anyone before I leave!” His hot breaths were huffing into her face, a contrast to the cold breeze that had chilled the air.

Y/N looked up at him in frustration and confusion, but mostly at herself. Her eyes flitted down to his lips for the slightest of seconds, but she had to throw those thoughts from her mind. Sorry, Thomas. She slammed her head up into the boy’s nose and he let out a shout as he flew back, grabbing his face and releasing his grip on her arms. She wiggled out from under him and stood up to keep going, but a hand wrapped around her ankle and she face-planted into the hard earth and let out a groan, rubbing the sore spot on her head.

Thomas climbed up on top of her, straddling her waist from behind. He held her wrists to her side this time, avoiding the possibility of her bucking her head back and hitting him in the face again. She writhed underneath him and fought as best she could, but he was stronger than her. It didn’t help that he had the advantage either.

“Are you jacked!? Let me go you little shuckface!” She let out screeches and shouts as she struggled, but it was no use. She gave up and relaxed under him. “Well, you can't hold me down forever! What’s your plan here slinthead?”

Thomas didn’t reply, obviously trying to make this shit up as he went along. He pinned her arms behind her back and stood up, making a grunting noise as he pulled her up with him. “Oh, now he’s the quiet brooding type. Couldn’t get you to shut up for the life of me in the glade, but now you got nothing to say?”

“Shut up.” He grunted through his teeth as he pushed Y/N forward a bit, jerking her around as they walked. He still had her arm pinned behind her back and it was getting kind of painful now.

“Where are you taking me? Are you gonna kill me? Didn’t think you’d have the balls. Well, actually with all the people you’ve killed over the last year, it probably won’t be that hard.” Thomas threw Y/N up against the wall of one of the buildings as they passed through the camp and her head bounced off, now throbbing in two places. She slammed her eyes shut and grabbed the back of her skull as Thomas slammed his hands into the wall on either side of her face. His body was pressing into hers and she could feel every muscle tense as he gritted his teeth and flared his nostrils.

Their faces were inches apart as he growled at her. “I’m getting fucking tired of you reminding me how many mistakes I’ve made!” She has seen him angry like this before, and it was intense, but to have it directed at her, if she was less of a stubborn mule, she probably would have klunked her pants. Thomas was like a raging sea when he was truly angry, everything in his path swallowed up and demolished. He had so much anger, so much hate towards WCKD and himself that when he reached a tipping point it would all spill out like an erupting volcano, and Y/N just happened to be in his path.

“You walk around, talking shit about me to everyone and I can’t take it anymore! You think I don’t carry those people with me, that I don’t know the lives I’ve cost!? I didn’t want any of this! I never asked for it. I didn’t want to be the leader! That’s Minho’s job, but for some God-forsaken reason, everyone but you thinks I’m some savior. I just want to save my friends! I just want to get as far from WCKD and this fucking place as I can! The last thing I need is you reminding me how royally I’ve screwed up every five seconds!” He pulled her off the wall, she was mostly shell shocked from his burst of fury. He gripped her bicep tight enough to leave a bruise as he guided her further through the camp. “But first, I’m getting Minho.”

They traveled the rest of the way in silence which was preferred by Thomas since he was trying not to wake up anyone anyways. They made it to the small building that Thomas had claimed as his own and he shut the door behind them. He pushed Y/N down forcefully on his excuse for a bed and she sat there, still and silent. Thomas paced and ran his fingers through his hair as his mind raced a million miles a minute.

Y/N gulped and wasn’t entirely sure what to say to keep him from exploding again. It wasn’t that she feared he would hurt her, she knew he wouldn’t, but she feared to see him like this. Seeing him like a rabid dog biting at the ankles of anyone who caught his eye. Thomas grabbed a shirt from the floor and ripped off a piece and grabbed her arm, pulling her up the bed.

“Are you serious? You’re tying me up?” Thomas glared at her and then proceeded to tie her wrist to the post of the bed. “Kinky.” Her words were meant to antagonize him, and it worked as he visibly clenched his jaw in vexation. He got up and started to walk around the room when Y/N cleared her throat and waved her hand at Thomas. “Well you’re not very bright, are you?” He looked at her with bewilderment and she rolled her eyes. “My other hand. What’s to stop me from untying your sad excuse for a knot?” Thomas growled under his breath, mostly at himself for not thinking about that possibility. He ripped off another strip of cloth and tied her other wrist to the opposite bedpost.

She wasn’t entirely sure why she was helping him, but she was starting to find this entertaining. Seeing him sputter around in an attempt to get himself killed and digging himself into a deeper hole. Y/N watched him with enjoyment as she crossed her ankles and relaxed against the headboard. He was scurrying around the room like a squirrel, trying to find things and stuffing them into a bag.

“So you’re just gonna leave me tied up when you leave until someone finds me, huh?” Thomas looked over his shoulder and huffed as he continued to rummage through his belongings. “Don’t forget your jacket, might get a little chilly.” He stood up from where he was squatting and threw his bag down hard on the ground and curled in his lips with impatience.

“Keep talking and I’ll gag you!” 

“Ooo, promise?” Thomas shot daggers as he glinted his eyes and growled. Y/N just smiled and wiggled her head in triumph. “If you wanted to get me into bed, all you had to do was ask.” Thomas rolled his eyes and turned to keep packing. She was getting bored of the silence and made an attempt to rile him up again.

 “Some of the boys in the glade used to talk, you know?” Thomas ignored her as she rambled on. “Apparently you weren’t very quiet when you used to, you know?” Thomas turned to her with curiosity. Since her hands were, tied she couldn’t make the motion, so she thrust her hips up twice, but he got the idea. His eyes went wide and he froze in place. Y/N couldn’t help but laugh at his discomfort. “I overheard Jeff telling Zart about how they accidentally saw you in the woods rubbing one out and when you came you said my na-”

“SHUT UP!” Thomas grabbed what was left of the shirt from the end of the bed and shoved it into Y/N’s mouth. She just laughed through the fabric, her enjoyment muted. His cheeks were so pink that they looked like they were hot to the touch and it was almost adorable how flustered and embarrassed he looked. He was sitting on the side of the bed, his back mostly facing Y/N and his head hanging low in shame.

Finally, his cheeks turned from pink to red and he looked to her as he stood. “Well, what do you expect with you prancing around the glade in those short shorts and spaghetti-strap shirts!?” Y/N’s face went from amused to resentful. She tried defending herself through the cloth but all that came out was stifled noise. Thomas threw his arms up and huffed in annoyance, then grabbed the shirt from her mouth.

“I said, you fucking misogynist, that it was fucking hot out while I was working, unlike you who avoided his duties like the plague! Besides, how is it fair for you to fucking say shit like that about me when you paraded yourself around in those pants that clung to your ass while you were shirtless? Do you think I liked staring at your abs as sweat rolled down them?” Both of them were stunned into silence, Y/N realizing what she said and Thomas just amazed that she even thought about him like that. 

They both stared at each other, Y/N turning flushed and Thomas trying to hold back his smile. “Shut up!” She pushed her leg out to the side as she kicked him as hard as she could in the leg. He shouted at the impact and bent over to grab the spot that now throbbed.

“You’re such a violent little shit!” He hollered at her, referring to their brawl earlier.

“Yeah? Imagine me in bed.” Her words were sultry and aimed at being intimidating, but Thomas just smiled the most devilish grin. 

“I already have.”

Y/N rolled her eyes and blushed as she turned her head against her shoulder in the opposite direction of Thomas in protest. After a moment she looked back since he was so quiet and he was still standing there, looking at her with hunger and gnawing on his bottom lip. She narrowed her eyes and couldn’t help but look down and noticed the bulge in his pants. Her eyes went wide and she gasped as she went to kick him again. He yelped and swatted her foot away. “What the fuck, Thomas?”

“What!? You’re the one who said to imagine you in bed!”

“Jesus fucking Christ, you’re such a whore!” Thomas had a smile of amusement at being called a whore like it was a funny joke. Y/N just huffed and turned her eyes up in annoyance. 

“C’mon, you haven’t thought about me?” Thomas sat on the edge of the bed, keeping distance between them in case she wanted to kick or headbutt him again.

“God no!” Her words were firm and strong, but she was betrayed by her face. His lips went dry at the lie and she licked them unknowingly as her eyes darted to his. She blushed and looked away quickly to avoid any further incrimination, but Thomas grabbed her chin and turned her back to face him. His face was so close to hers now, them only needing to whisper to communicate.

“Tell me, what did you imagine? Do you think about my thick cock while you had your fingers inside yourself?” She shuddered at his words and her mouth was like a desert, begging for water. Her lips were parted and she couldn’t gain control of her tongue as she searched his eyes, full of need and hidden desire. He licked her bottom lip with the tip of his tongue and a chill coursed through her. He pulled away and her face followed, but was she restrained by the ties on her wrists. She let out a small whine at the loss of his mouth. Thomas bit his lip and chuckled. “If that’s how your lips taste, I bet the rest of you tastes just as amazing.” His hand rested on her bare calf and trailed its way up her leg until it reached her thigh where the hem of her shorts began.

Her hot, panting breaths were mixed with his, their lips nearly touching. She wanted desperately to close the minuscule distance between them, but couldn’t make her body move, frozen under his touch. Thomas went in, but just before their lips connected he tilted his head and collided his mouth with her neck. She let out a gasp at the sudden feeling of his warm lips against her chilled flesh. He kissed and sucked at the spot just below her jaw as she leaned back, giving him more access. He worked his way down to the pulse in her neck and bit down, then licked over it to alleviate the red marks. The mix of pain and pleasure, hot and cold, had her rubbing her thighs together in search of friction. Y/N let out a small moan into Thomas’s ear and his hand made its way further up her leg. He continued to lick and nip at her neck, leaving marks and right before his hand reached her core he pulled away.

Y/N let out a whine of protest at the loss of his warmth as he stood up and started to walk away. She was finally able to find her voice, but just barely. She croaked out in a pant, “You can’t just do that.”

“Can’t I?” A smile crossed his lips and the asshole had the nerve to wink. She pouted and huffed in retaliation and Thomas was now standing at the end of the bed, his legs touching the mattress, directly vertical to her. “I’m not going to just give you what you want. You have to work for it, Princess.” Y/N’s eyes went wide, seeing him like this, so domineering. The last thing she ever expected was for him to be authoritative in bed, let alone letting herself be subdued by him.

Thomas was such an arrogant little shit, he got into crevices that she didn’t even know she had. Working his way through her walls and made her squirm. She tugged at the cloth around her wrists, digging into her flesh and creating a pleasurable sting, wishing she could jump on him. She’s not entirely sure if her desire is to jump his bones or beat his ass though. He laughs and leans over her feet, placing his hands on the mattress. “Come on, baby girl, beg.” He took his time saying the last word, allowing the ‘g’ to bounce off his tongue.

“I don’t fucking beg!” Y/N spit at Thomas and the wet hit his chin. He grinned and stood up as he wiped it from his face with his finger, then placed it in his mouth. He sucked on it and let it out with a pop. Even if her tongue wouldn’t beg, her eyes sure did. “Fucking Christ…” she mumbled under her breath, but he still heard and chuckled.

Thomas places his hands on her ankles and slowly slid them up the length of her legs, maintaining eye contact. He placed his knees on the bed and was straddling the lower part of her body. When his fingers reached the waist of her pants, he curled his fingers into the band and looked her in the eyes. His digits against her flesh were thrilling and like fire coursing to her core. He searched her eyes for protest, but Y/N bit her lip and gave him the slightest nod. He smirked and looked down as he dragged the clothing off her hips. The tug pulled her down slightly, now resting on her tailbone instead of her ass. He pulled her shorts all the way off with her shoes and let them drop to the floor.

Y/N crossed her legs, feeling vulnerable, but Thomas leaned in and forced them apart by her knees. She dragged her legs up, placing her feet flat on the bed as Thomas’ fingers trailed up her thighs, leaving a trail of fire. He leaned down, his heat breaths against the inside of her legs. He kissed and licked at the warm skin and left bruising marks as he sucked into it. His mouth made its way up painfully slow to her sex when he blew cold air across it. A shiver radiated up her spine and left her feeling dizzy at the mix of everything.

Thomas kept licking and sucking everywhere around her core, the place where she so desperately wanted him to be. Her hips bucked up uncontrollably whenever he got agonizingly close, but he would always move away. “Thomas..” His name was breathy and needy, a plea for him to stop being such a tease. He moaned at the sound of his name on her lips and it reverberated through her skin as he continued to kiss and she felt it in her core. The stimulation causing her to whine. 

“Tell me what you want, Princess.” His words vibrated against her flesh as he refused to release his lips. 

Y/N let out a couple hearty breaths when she finally panted out, “Fuck me with your tongue, you prick!”

Thomas dove into her core without hesitation and the sound that came from her was somewhere between a screech and a gasp. His tongue lapped up around her entrance, licking up all the wetness he caused. He hummed at the taste and it sent shivers through her body and down to her toes. “God, you’re so fucking wet.” He licked a stripe up to her clit and clamped his lips around the nub as he sucked hard. The pressure around it was inciting, but then he started to flick his tongue across the bundle of nerves. The two sensations mixing together sent a warm thrill down to her bones as her back arched up slightly. 

The noises coming from Y/N were a mix of moans and gasps as his tongue worked on her fervently. He let go of her clit and replaced it with the pad of his finger, rubbing circles into it. He traced the ring of her entrance with the tip of his tongue until her hips bucked up and he penetrated, just like she had said she wanted him to. He thrust his tongue in and out, drinking up the dampness she was producing for him. “So wet. Taste’s so good.” The words vibrated through her core and a deep long moan was released. 

“Fi..fingers.” She struggled to get the word out, but Thomas knew what she needed. He placed his mouth around her nub again, sucking and flicking while his finger traced the place his tongue had been. He looked up at her through his eyelashes and watched as she writhed under his torment. She looked down at him and whined, so he gave in and pushed a finger inside her. He slowly pumped it in and out as she let out soundless gasps. He wiggled his finger, stretching her out and slid a second one in. He pumped as he sucked at her clit and her moans were constant now. Her body, unable to keep still, was beyond her control and fully reacting to everything that Thomas was doing.

He scissored his digits, widening her for his cock. “Are you gonna come on my fingers, baby?”

“Mhmmm” That was all Y/N could manage with all the sensations she was feeling. That fire building in her stomach was overflowing and begging to spill out. She was such a wreck that she felt like she was being torn apart. Thomas curled his fingers and pumped them vigorously as he kept his mouth to her bundle of nerves and hit that spot that triggered everything. His digits brushed across it once, twice, three times, and then the coil broke.

Thomas watched as Y/N let out a silent scream and threw her head back. He smiled at his victory and hummed around her clit, causing her body to spasm through her orgasm. He licked around his fingers, taking in all she had to offer. Pulling his fingers from her, she went limp on the bed, panting with her eyes shut and her wrists red from tugging at the ties around them. He licked his digits, eating up everything he could and couldn’t help but be smug at how well he unraveled her. “Oh, I’m not done with you yet babygirl. If I made you come that good on my fingers, I can’t wait to see you on my cock.” 

Thomas started to rub the all too obvious tenting in his pants and Y/N opened her eyes, panting, and looked at him in awe. He pulled off his shirt and, dear God those abs and his chest. He wasn’t chiseled or defined, but you could still see the muscles easily. There was a patch of hair between his pecs that spread down and across to his nipples that were hard pebbles. Y/N licked her lips as she thought about running her tongue across them. Her eyes found the thick brush of hair just below his belly button that led down to the band of his pants that hung low on his hips, showing off the ‘v’ that disappeared into his waistband. 

Y/N gulped as she rubbed her thighs together, becoming aroused again just by the sight of the man. He reached a hand down his pants and started rubbing, as she poked his legs with her foot. “Take. Them. Off.” Thomas smiled and did as he was told. His pants fell around his ankles as he stepped out, kicking off his boots. He pumped his cock, the flesh around his swollen head begging to be tasted.

He crawled onto the bed, his heavy dick hanging between his legs as he hovered over Y/N. She was licking her lips so much they were bound to become chapped. He laid his body on top of her, his cock resting against her pelvis. He reached a hand under her top, pulling the hem up to reveal her breast. The rough pad of his thumb brushed over the sensitive and raised peak, making her close her eyes. She let out a hot breath and Thomas took advantage of her open mouth. He plunged his tongue between her lips and swirled it around, filling her with her own taste.

Their lips smacked against each other, creating a dance of tongues filled with moans and whines. Thomas released her mouth and trailed suckling kisses across her jaw and down her neck until he reached her nipple. He took it into his mouth and thrust his hips forward, rubbing his shaft against Y/N’s all too sensitive clit. She shuddered and met his hips as she bucked up against him. He let out a deep groan at the friction he’d been craving so frustratingly and lightly bit down on the flesh next to her nipple in response.

“Untie. Me. Now.” Y/N huffed, trying to keep herself coherent enough to speak.

“Not yet.” Thomas purred into her ear and licked a long stripe from her jaw up to behind her ear that left chills on her skin as the cold air hit the wetness. She grunted in revolt at not being untied but was distracted as Thomas thrust his hips up again and she let out a hitched breath. He zoned in his focus on her nipple, sucking and nibbling until Y/N was writhing beneath him.

Thomas started to kiss her passionately in a chaos of lips, teeth, tongues, and saliva as he lifted his hand not preoccupied with her nipple to untie the fabric around her left wrist. She pulled her arm away at the freedom and immediately wove her fingers through his hair. He gave her other nipple equal attention when he switched hands to release her other wrist. It went for his ass without hesitation. She drew her leg up over his thigh as her fingers dig into the flesh on his behind. He moaned into her mouth at the feeling of her touch, not realizing how sorely he needed it.

His hips bucked up against her core rhythmically now as they deepened their kiss in a flutter of groping and tugging of flesh. “Fuck me.” Y/N spoke into his mouth and Thomas growled in response. He leaned up, pulled her shirt over her head and lined his cock up with her cunt. His head and shaft were already slick with her wetness from gliding across her core. He pressed the tip against the entrance and slowly pushed the head in. Y/N let out a moan as she felt him move deeper inside her, inch by agonizing inch. Halfway, he easily slid in until he bottomed out.

He kept still, taking in her heat around him and allowing her to adjust to his size. She whined when he was still for too long and the look in her eyes was all the answer he needed. He hiked her leg over his hip for a better angle and slowly pulled out until she was almost empty. He slowly pushed back in until their pelvis’ met again. He repeated this excruciating movement until she couldn’t take it anymore. She gripped the back of his head, intertwining her fingers in his hair and pulled his face to her. She kissed him hard and pulled on his lip with her teeth letting it bounce back with a plop. He let out a rumble in his chest and thrust into her hard. A small yelp escaped her chest and she dug her other hand into his shoulder. “Fuck.”

Thomas pulled out slow again, but rammed into her hard. He did this a few more times until he couldn’t take it anymore himself. He started to quicken his pace and Y/N’s head fell back as she clung to him. Her moans and grunts unrelenting, littered with profanities and his name, egging him on. “Oh fuck.” She forced out her words with each breath as he pushed into her like there was no room for them with him inside.

“Fuck, baby girl. You feel so fucking good.” Thomas let his head fall into the crevice of her neck as he pulled her other leg over his hip, the heels of her feet digging into the bottom of his ass. He mercilessly thrust into her, over and over, moving the bed along with them and they were both practically screaming now. “Christ, princess you’re so tight.”

Y/N couldn’t answer, her mind too wired and out of control, just like her body. She let out noises she couldn’t decipher and felt that heat in her abdomen start to boil like a hot white flame. They were both covered in sheens of sweat, and she watched as a bead dripped down Thomas’ temple. The vein in his neck was defined and strained, pulsing visibly. “I’m so fucking close.”

Thomas reached down between them and started to vigorously rub circles on her clit, he shifted his pelvis and with his next thrust hit her g-spot perfectly. “Holy..” She gasped out as the build-up reached its peak, the split moment of feeling lighter than air, her stomach jumping. “FUCK.” Her dams burst and she let out a long and gruff breath, exhaling hard as she came around his thick cock, her eyes and head rolling back.

Thomas could feel her clenching around him and the hot pressure sent him over the edge as he came inside her, letting hot spurts coat her walls. He took his fingers from her clit and wrapped his hand around the base of his cock as he milked out every last bit of his orgasm into Y/N. He collapsed down onto her, their bodies a mess of sweat, saliva, and come. They both panted and sighed as they let their bodies catch up to the moment, exhausted from what just happened.

Thomas got up and grabbed a cloth, dousing it in water, then cleaning up the mixture of come from Y/N. He cleaned off his limp cock and let it drop to hang between his thighs. He laid back down in the bed next to her and wrapped his arms around her as she curled up next to him. He reached over and played with the ends of her hair, examining her face. “I’m still leaving, you know.”

Y/N laid flat on her back and sighed. “I know.” She turned back into his side and looked up from his chest. “Let’s go get Minho, together.”

“I know, and I’m keeping that promise. Get dressed..I’m getting you out of here Mikayla.” He spoke quickly as he shoved the clothes into her hands. Standing up, Tommy walked out of the room and to his desk in the lab as he grabbed another backpack from the drawers. 

“Thomas, you can't just take her away. We need her,” Teresa said as she tried to stop whatever the boy was doing. Tommy quickly shrugged off her attempts before looking at her. 

“No YOU need her. This isn’t right, none of this is,” he hissed back. Tommy always felt like something was off with WICKD from the moment they started experimenting. Once they figured out that some batches of DNA held the antidote to the Flare, they started experimenting. Some subjects were sent into the mazes...and some they just ended up running more tests on here. Tommy was Mikayla’s handler for the past few months, but he couldn’t do it anymore, not after other things came to light. Moving his sleeves up, Tommy reached for something else on his hand when Teresa grabbed his wrist.

“What is that?” Her voice was low and Tommy looked down at what she was staring at and stilled. He forgot that the crossed arrows were still on the inside of his left wrist. They had just appeared in the last week and it was then that he knew what he needed to do for Mick. Yanking his hand back, he grabbed his jacket and started back over to where the other girl was. 

“It’s nothing. Leave it alone.” He didn’t even bother to look at her as he walked to where Mikayla was standing. “Come on, put this on...we need to go before they switch shifts.”

Mick just stared at him with hard eyes. Only eight hours before he had been participating in torturing her and now he was helping her? “I don’t get it..why are you so intent on getting me out of here now?” She spent so long hating him to get through everything that him trying to save her was throwing her off. 

“Can you not argue for once in your life and just trust me?” Tommy asked quickly. “Please.” He held his hand out to her as he watched Mick deliberate if she wanted to take it. It felt like an eternity had passed before he felt her warmth and folded his fingers around hers. It was almost like a jolt of electricity went through them. It was the first time he had ever touched her bare skin without wearing gloves of some sort. Mickayla looked up at him with wide eyes but before they could say anything they heard voices. Tommy looked around and noticed that Teresa was gone and cursed as he gripped Mikayla’s hand tighter and ran to the side door of the lab with her. Running down the hallway, they could hear the guards shouting into their radios that someone was missing from their cell and to start shutting off all corridors. 

“Tommy...we aren’t going to make it!” Micks voice wasn’t above a whisper but he could still hear the hysterics in it. Running down a hallway, he pulled her into an alcove as they tried to wait for guards to pass. Her body was pressed close to his and he could feel her shaking as his arms wrapped around her. Mick attempted to slow her breaths with the techniques she used when being tested on. 

“Mick..I will get you out of here, I swear.” He whispered looking down at her face. Moving the hair from her eyes he pressed a quick kiss on her forehead and looked around. “I promise..I’m not leaving you here to die.” 

 The kiss shocked Mikayla more than anything. More so because she didn’t expect the rush of emotions to follow from it. Looking down she noticed the symbol that appears on her right wrist appeared on her left. Having symbols on your wrists wasn’t unusual, it meant that you found your soulmate. But only if it was on your left wrist...if it was on your right then that meant it was your enemy. And Mick hated Thomas..or so she thought. 

Before she could process what was going on, Mick felt Tommy grab her hand and drag her down the corridor. There was a door at the end and for a second she thought that they would actually get out of there alive. That hope was dashed when it opened and three guards came through. 

Tommy grabbed Mick and shoved her behind him as the guns pointed their way. More guards poured in behind them and the sound of clapping echoed through the hallway. Tommy turned around and noticed Jansen walking slowly towards them, applauding them as a grin spread across his face. 

“Well done, Thomas. You have managed to break even the lowest standards that we held for you,” he said as he stopped a few feet away, hands behind his back. Tommy made sure that Mick was out of Jansen’s line of sight but it didn’t help. “What did you think would happen? You would escape and by some miracle be able to be free for the rest of your lives?” The rat faced man shook his head as he motioned to the guards behind the pair. “You should know by now that it doesn’t work that way. Besides, Mikayla there is part of the cure. She can help save us all.” 

“Or how about you go to hell and let us be on our way?” Tommy spat out as he shrugged his shoulders. His attempt to look like he didn’t care that they were surrounded was failing. Feeling Mick slipping from his grasp, Tommy quickly turned and noticed her being dragged away in a feeble attempt to fight back. He knew that she didn’t have the strength, the amount of blood they took from her that day made sure of that. “LET HER GO!” He yelled as he headed straight for them. Tommy reached his hand out and almost had Mick’s in his when he felt a blow on the back of his neck causing him to go down. 

“Tommy!” Mick yelled. She tried so hard to fight, but the running had sapped whatever energy that she had left. She felt a man’s arms wrap tight around her as another one stepped up and drove a needle into her neck. Whatever was in it worked quickly as the girl started to slump down in the guards arms. Tommy watched in horror from his spot on the ground as someone threw her over their shoulder. He tried to get up to run to her when he was knocked down again, this time Jansen was right over him. His boot dug into the middle of Tommy’s back as he pushed him back down. “This is the last time you disobey us, Thomas.” He whispered in his ear. When Tommy tried to struggle more, Jansen saw the mark on his arm. Pulling the boy up, he shoved him into a guard who incapacitated him as the older man walked over to the girl that was passed out. Lifting her arm up, a sinister smile spread across his face once more. 

“You were right Teresa, he did let his feelings get involved.” 

Tommy’s head popped up at the name and noticed the girl walking over to the group. Her eyes were red rimmed with tears as she avoided his. “Teresa, why? You know this isn’t something that we can continue,” Tommy yelled. 

“I’m sorry Tommy,but WKCD is good.” The words fell from her lips and Tommy felt nothing but rage. 

“Take her away! Burn the mark off her arm before she wakes up, I don’t want her remembering anything that happened.” Jansen said as the guard walked away with Mick. 

“And who’s this?” You asked, gesturing to the group of boys in front of you. Of course Sonya would bring a rag tag group of boys to you.

“They’re my new friends.” She explained with a nervous smile. You had to keep from rolling your eyes. “They need our help. I figured if anyone could do anything for them, it’d be you.”

“We all need help, Sonya.” You commented before sighing heavily. Your eyes scanned the group and you found one to stand out. He was a bit taller, dark brown hair that fell across his forehead. Hazel eyes that looked at you with hope, admiration even. It made you feel something that you didn’t like. “A group of boys, huh?”

It felt like there was a word on your lips. You could taste it. His name, maybe. You felt like you knew him. But you knew no one.

“Standing here like I'm supposed to say something?” You asked the pretty one. You had decided to call him Pretty Boy from here on out. “Don't hold your breath, I never said I'd save you, honey.” You shook your head and he nearly smiled. “You can stay, I guess. You’re gonna have to help out if you want any of the benefits. No one’s here for free so don’t expect to sit on your asses and if you even look at my girls sideways, I will not hesitate to-” Your warning voice was cut off by one simple word.

“Y/N..”

The name rolled off his tongue with ease. He didn’t even have to try to figure you out. It felt like he had known you for his entire life, even though he only remembered the past month or so of his life. You were the only thing that seemed familiar, that seemed comfortable. He felt whole when you looked at him, as if he was missing a piece missing until he saw your eyes, heard your voice. It felt so natural for your name to fall from his lips, a name it seemed like he had said a thousand times over. A name he had whispered when you two were alone, a name he had shouted when they took you from him, a name he had moaned in the nights you snuck out of your room to see him. A name that had been plaguing his mind for days but he just couldn’t figure out. But now, now it all made sense.

Your body ran hot, every nerve suddenly on fire. Hearing your name come from his lips, it sent a sensation down your spine that you couldn’t place. You wanted to hear it again, and you wanted to punch him right in his pretty face. You felt some sort of connection to him, some sort of want to be near him. But you also felt a strange violation. This boy, the beautiful stranger, knows your name made you feel like you didn’t even really own your name.

“Excuse me?” You stepped closer to him. Your head tilted back slightly to look him in the eyes. His were wide with shock, maybe even fear. You glared heavily, waiting for him to answer you. “Who told you that? Where did you hear that name?”

“No- No one. I didn’t hear it from anyone, I swear.” He stammered. “I just... guessed?” He lied.

“Guessed?” You scoffed, poking a finger into his chest. “Nobody guesses that spot on, you moron. Just keep your guesses to yourself from now on, alright? I don’t know you. You don’t know me. And we’re going to keep it that way. So shove it and let’s try to stay alive.”

“I’m Newt.” The blonde one spoke up, an accent tinted his voice. Well, he was cute too, but he wasn’t the one you were looking for. You didn’t step away from Pretty Boy, and you noticed he didn’t step back either. You were holding your ground. You had no idea what he was up to, but two could play games. “That there is Thomas.” He pointed to the one who called you out. You liked Pretty Boy better, but for some reason, you could imagine yourself whispering his name at night, panting his name on other nights, or happily saying his name. You buried the thought and kept moving. “This is Minho. We just left the Ma-”

“The Maze.” You finished, nodding slowly. You thought you felt fingers graze the back of your hand, your fist clenching slightly but you kept composure. “Yeah, same here. You must be Group A. We’re Group B. We’re just like you, but smarter. And switch the genders. I’m Y/N, like your friend said. That’s Sonya, the one who brought you here. Back there is Harriet.”

“Do you know what’s out there?” Minho asked, nodding towards the wide open desert.

“Could be anything.” You said casually, waving a hand for them to follow as you headed back to your girls. They all looked surprised at your casual demeanor. “But it could also be nothing… Don’t seem so shocked. Stick around, you'll see you're not the only one who's hopeless. They’re not all as bleak as I am. Go on, introduce yourselves and make friends… It’s gonna be a long ride.”

Days passed after the boys joined the group. They got along well enough with your girls, some more talkative than others. The boys brought out some sides of the girls that you had never seen before, some a little flirtatious even. Good for them.

 As much as you hated to admit it, having boys around was helpful. They were willing to do the work that took more effort, carrying your supplies and keeping watch at night. You weren’t their biggest fan, but you had to admit it made the Scorch more bearable.

“Y/N?” The boy asked as he ran to walk next to you. You had been walking a few feet ahead of the group, making sure that no one could hear if you began to question yourself and to ensure you could keep an eye out for anything dangerous. You sighed to yourself before turning your head, not breaking stride.

“Sorry, what was your name again?” You teased.

“T-Thomas. My name is Thomas.” He stammered nervously.

“Hmm.” You nodded. “Is there something you need from me or are you just here to be nosy?”

“I just wanted to say…” He trailed off. You glanced over, noting Newt and Minho whispering between themselves and pointing to Thomas. You figured they forced him to come talk to you.

“Yes?” You said simply.

“I never got the chance to thank you.” He said with a shy smile.

You felt a slight heat climb your neck so you adjusted the collar of your jacket as casually as you could. It was strange, talking to Thomas. He felt so familiar, but so foreign. Like the only piece of your past life that was still intact. But there was no way. WICKED destroyed your past. You had no past. But that couldn’t erase the fact that some part of you wanted to keep him around. 

“It’s nothing.” You waved him off. “Having you guys around has taken some of the load off my girls so, I guess I should be thanking you.” You shrugged easily, even though the words made your stomach tighten. “Besides, they enjoy having you here. I was out-voted either way.”

“Do you?”

“Do I what?”

“Do you enjoy having us here?”

“Sure.” You shrugged, thinking of a bigger picture. “Like I said, you help my girls a lot.”

“I think there’s something more to that.” He teased, a knowing smirk on his face.

“Are you insinuating something?”

“I saw the way you looked at us, at me.” He clarified, now facing you. When you didn’t look back, he stepped in front of you. You stopped your steps, glancing over your shoulder to see the group had stopped a few feet back. There were whispers of shock, wondering what either of you would do. “Tell me you don’t feel anything. Tell me this is all in my head, and I’ll leave it alone.”

You took a step closer to him, several of your girls gasped. You couldn’t tell if it was from concern as to what you’d do next or excitement as to what you’d do next. Thomas licked his lips slightly, trying to keep his coy smile down. You crossed your arms in front of your chest and quirked an eyebrow.

“Is there something you want to say to me?” You asked in as sultry a tone as you could muster. If Thomas wanted to play games, you could play too. “Because as far as I’m concerned, you’re just a pretty face in a desert wasteland.” You winked with a smirk.

“Y/N, you might not remember it now but I’m your-”

“No, I know exactly who you are.” You cut him off, his eyes went wide with hope. “You’re a teenage boy who got a look in the mirror for the first time that he can remember and you know that you’re good looking.”

“You think I’m good looking?”

“You think you can come here, take advantage of the fact that I don’t remember my life before this, and con me into something. So what, you want me to sleep with you? Want me to help you feel something?” You pressed, inching closer. Thomas hadn’t even realized he had leaned in towards you. “Not. Gonna. Happen. You pull your weight or you’re gone.”

“No one’s here for free, right?” He said softly, using your words from when you first met him.

He knew there was something there, something between you two. Before he saw you, during his last few nights in the Glade, he was having dreams of a girl. Dreams where she would hold his hand, laugh at his jokes that weren’t all that funny, sneak out of her room to see him at night. He dreamt of the words she would tell him, a certain softness in her voice that only he heard. And call him crazy, but he heard that same softness in your voice, even if your words were sharp.

You simply rolled your eyes and kept walking.

“Did you remember anything?” He asked suddenly, mentally kicking himself. You looked at him quickly, eyes narrowed and mouth pressed in a fine line. “When you came up in the Box, I mean.”

“No, and what does it matter to you?” You carefully lied. Thomas could tell that was a lie. The girl he dreamt about, her eyes would flick to the floor and back when she lied. He only knew this because he remembered a time when they had gotten in trouble. It was his idea and she took the blame. Your eyes had done the same thing. You paused for a moment before sighing heavily, knowing Thomas was waiting for an answer. “Only my name and basic English.”

“Oh.” He replied. “I didn’t even remember my name… It came to me a while later.”

You nodded silently, hoping that would end the conversation. It didn’t.

“How long were you in your Maze?” He tried to get to know you. “I was the last one, right before Teresa.”

“I was the third one in.” You replied, all feeling in your voice suddenly gone. “The two before me, they died in the Maze not too long after I got there… Spent the better half of a month in that place alone.”

“I’m sorry..” He said genuinely. He wondered if that’s why you seemed so closed off, so tough.

“Don’t worry about it.” You shrugged again reclaiming your neutral demeanor. “Just gave me a reason to get out, I guess.”

“It always felt like there was something to come back to.” Thomas said with misplaced hope. “Or someone, maybe.” He hinted. “But no one was there...”

“And this is what the universe gave us instead, which isn’t really a fair trade, but no take backs.” You gestured to the wide desert in front of you, buildings looming in the distance. It was still a day’s walk away. “A word of advice, Pretty Boy.” You said suddenly, not even being sure of why you did.

Thomas blushed wildly, drawing a smirk from you. You rubbed your mouth quickly, covering your expression and recovering quickly. You didn’t understand what this boy was doing to you but maybe the universe had given you something good..

“Be sure to put your faith in something more.” You said, nudging him with your elbow, almost teasing him for his rosy cheeks. “I’m just a girl.”

“And you're not as alone as you feel.” Thomas added quickly before processing your words.

His steps faltered as he looked at you with slight shock. Thomas couldn’t believe it. Were you just nice to him? You kept stride as if nothing happened, a knowing smirk on your face. Thomas was determined after that, determined to get you to admit that you knew him. To admit that he mattered to you.

You would never say it to Thomas, but something about him was so familiar. It was welcoming, almost like home. A small part of you was ignited with hope, hope that your lost love wasn’t so lost after all. But you couldn’t jump to any conclusions. Nothing until you knew for sure. So until then, you had to keep him just close enough that you could figure it out but not too close that you’d get hurt.

The following day, you reached the city. You had set up camp on the third story of a tall building. You wondered what it had been used for. Fancy business executives that stayed late to finish paperwork by absurd deadlines maybe. You sat by a nearby window as everyone else slept. Newt and Harriet offered to take first watch, but you knew they were far too exhausted. You told them to rest, that you’d put them on second shift. Reluctantly, they agreed, which left you and someone of Newt’s choosing on first watch. Of course he’d choose Pretty Boy.

“There was a girl.” Thomas told you when he came to sit near you. He sat on the other side of the window, leaning against the wall and facing the sleeping crowd. 

“Hmm?” You hummed, having lost yourself in the open sky. The stars were bright that night.

‘Did you know that street lights blocked out stars? When there was street lights, at least.’ He had told you one night when you were looking through a small window in your room.

‘And how did they do that?’ You had laughed. ‘Stars are brighter.’

‘Yeah, but the street lights were closer to your eyes, right? So when the light from stars got to Earth, you were already seeing street lights.’

‘Interesting… But I doubt that’s the science behind it… You know, I like stars more than street lights. And the moon, I like the moon. It’s so pretty, you know? And peaceful.’

‘Sure. But you’re prettier.’

“Before all of this. I dream about her a lot...” His voice was soft, full of longing and a deep connection. “When I saw you, it made me think of her. I guess I had hoped you were her. I’m sorry if I came on too strong or made you uncomfortable.” He confessed.

You admired him subtly as he spoke. He looked so young, so innocent that it made your heart soft. You sat quietly and listened, noting the way the moonlight illuminated his side profile. The sharp angle of his jaw. The distant look in his eyes and how they glimmered in the moonlight. The shape of his nose, the curve of his lips. He propped a hand up on an upraised knee, and you watched the way his fingers moved. Flexing and counting something only he knew. His long, slender fingers casting new shadows. When he turned to look at you, you knew you were caught. You simply looked down at the ground, pressing your lips together in a line to hide your embarrassed smile. What you didn’t see was the small smile that Thomas had.

You almost felt sorry for him. You knew how empty that feeling could be, longing for someone you didn’t know. Longing for their memory. The thing about missing someone you didn’t remember was that you didn’t know what you were missing. It was just a constant lonely feeling, like a part of yourself was missing. But then again, when all your memories are taken, you always feel like something’s missing. But that other person, they could be enough to give you a full feeling. You could make new memories with them.

“It’s alright.. We’re all hoping for something good to come out of all this, right? You remember her name?” You asked, not feeling up to giving him a hard time and hoping he wouldn’t give you one either. The walk was long and boring. Your legs were achy, your shoulders tired from heavy backpacks. Despite it all, your mind wouldn’t let you sleep. You had finally gotten to somewhere relatively safe. You had to make sure everything was fine, at least for one night.

“No..” He said sadly. You wondered if he was telling the truth, and something about the tone he used made you think he was lying. “I just remember stuff about her. At least I think it’s about her.”

“Luckier than most.” You shrugged. After a moment of silence, you sighed and pulled your knees to your chest, crossing your arms over the top to lean your chin on. You could feel him looking at you expectantly so you answered briefly. “There was someone for me too, before this. At least it seems that way… Sometimes it feels like he’s just someone I imagined, to get me through all of this. Through that alone time.”

“Does he have a name?” Thomas nodded to you.

“Not one that I could tell you.” You smiled sadly, your heart aching at the thought of your seemingly lost love. “What do you remember about your girl?”

Thomas let out a long breath and shrugged slightly. “Oh man. She was.. the best.” He decided. He turned his body so he could lean sideways against the wall but look at you. “Always looked out for others. Prettiest thing you’d ever seen too. It was like nothing could take her down. She was invincible, honest but respectful. And humble. No matter what I told her, she’d laugh like it wasn’t true. I remember she would sneak out of her room just to see me. We would get into so much trouble.” He shook his head with a smile. “Like I said, you remind me of her.”

You noticed a softness in his eyes as he talked about his mystery girl. Your fingers itched to hold his hand, to gently run your fingers through his hair and hold him close. You discreetly pinched yourself, trying to push the thoughts away.

“There is something I remember… Something small, but it’s something.” You said slowly, thinking of the memory that haunted your sleep every night. You realized that was the first time you had spoken about him. None of your girls even knew about him. It hurt too much to think about, but with Thomas, it seemed so much more vivid but it didn’t seem to hurt as bad. “The last time I saw him, I think… It was really brief and I can’t remember what he looked like. But he said that when he saw me again - He was so sure he’d see me again - that everything would be okay. He told me that we would both know it…. That was before I went into my Maze, and now we’re out and there doesn’t seem to be any sign of him.” You took a deep breath to steady your chest and keep your sadness at bay. You couldn’t cry in front of Thomas.

“Maybe he’s here.” Thomas said with a reassuring smile, almost a knowing smile. “He could’ve been sent to my group.”

“That’s what I had hoped.” You shrugged, looking over to everyone sleeping. “But it doesn’t seem that way. When Sonya brought you all to me, I looked… And nothing seemed familiar.” Except maybe Thomas.

“Don’t give up yet!” Thomas said quickly. Too quickly, he realized. “I mean- Maybe he just doesn’t remember yet. You probably just need more time.”

“Or he’s dead, which is more likely.” You corrected, leaning your head on the wall behind you. Thomas looked at you in shock, seemingly surprised that something so bleak could come from your mouth. That definitely wasn’t the Y/N he remembered. “WICKED probably knew what we meant to each other, and decided to take it away. Permanently…” You paused, noticing the way he was looking at you. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“That was kind of dark.” He said softly.

You shrugged. “We all got problems, don’t we?” He shrugged lazily in response. “We all need heroes, don’t we?” You laughed bleakly.

“That’s what they see in you.” He admitted. “Your girls and my boys. Something like a hero..”

“But rest assured there’s not a single person here who’s worthy.” You shook your head, ignoring his attempted compliment. “I’m not a hero, Pretty Boy. None of us are meant for that.” You paused, leaning forward a bit. “Look, it’s just life now. I know that you're afraid to let all the dark escape you. But that’s really all that’s left nowadays.”

“But we could let the light illuminate these hopeless places.” He tried to cheer you up, looking to the moonlight that entered through the window.

“Sure, whatever you say, Thomas.” You shrugged with a small smile that you hoped he couldn’t see with your face hidden in the shadows. But he saw. Thomas always saw you, before the Mazes, even when you thought he wasn’t looking but especially now. “It’s, uh- it’s almost time to switch. You wanna get Newt and I’ll get Harriet?”

Thomas nodded silently and made his way across the group. It upset him to see you so hopeless. He knew that you were talking about him, but he also knew that you didn’t, or that you weren’t sure at least. He figured by the morning, you’d be back to your tough no-nonsense attitude. But seeing you the way you were tonight, it reminded him that you’re just as young as he is. It reminded him of why he loved you. He decided in that moment that he was definitely going to get you to remember him. There was no way you’d believe him unless you remembered it for yourself.

The building turned out to be the best place for you all for the few days you were there. You were high enough that you could see any incoming threats and be as loud as you wanted. There was enough space for everyone to relax, stretch their muscles, and act like kids. You almost convinced yourself that you all could stay there.

“We’ve gotta keep moving.” You said to the group early one morning.

“And go where?” Minho asked in disbelief. “You said it yourself when we joined you. There’s nothing out there.”

“WICKED will find us if we stay here too long.” You shook your head. “And if they do, we’re as good as dead.”

“No, I think she’s right.” Thomas agreed with you. You almost rolled your eyes. “We’ve gotta go.”

“And go where?” Newt repeated Minho’s question. “Tommy, this place is a bloody wasteland. We’re as good as dead no matter where we go.”

“Well then you can stay here and end up back at WICKED and be experimented on.” You began packing your stuff. “I’m not gonna be a lab rat anymore. Whether there’s anything else out there or not, I’m not gonna let myself get caught up in anything anymore. They’ve taken enough from me and if they want me again, it’s gonna be over my dead body.”

“Wait, Y/N.” Thomas placed a hand on your shoulder. “You’re just gonna leave? They need you. I-” He paused, almost regretting the next words. “I need you.”

You laughed dryly, gently pushing his hand away from you. Even though those words sparked something in you, you couldn’t explain it so you didn’t act on it. “You know, it’s such a long and awful lonely fall down from this pedestal that you keep putting me on.” Even though you meant the words, you felt bad for saying them. Some strange part of you was saying that you were being cruel to Thomas for no reason, that you could let yourself get attached to Thomas. Another said that you were being cruel so you didn’t get attached. 

“He’s right, Y/N.” Sonya added carefully. “We won’t survive without you. You got us out of the Maze. If there’s anyway to get out of the Scorch, we’ll need you to do that too. Please.”

You sighed, knowing that she might be right. “There’s a resistance group in the mountains. I heard some of the workers back at WICKED talking about it.” You explained slowly. “They’re called the Rightight Arm or something like that. That’s where I’ve been trying to take you all. It’s not necessarily a guarantee but it’s something.” You shrugged.

“And you want us to follow you out there with that Flare thing going around for that? For mountain people?” Newt mocked.

“If it’s okay, a little grace would be appreciated.” You sneered. “I didn’t have to take you boys in. I could’ve left you all out there for the Cranks. Hell, now I’m thinking that maybe I should’ve. But I didn’t. Besides, dipshit, if we were going to get the Flare, most of us would’ve by now. Didn’t you pay any attention in that compound before you got out? We’re immune.” You paused. “Well, most of us are at least.”

“What does that mean?” Minho asked, suddenly standing.

“It means any one of us could turn Crank overnight and there’s nothing any of us can do about it. Not here at least. If we could get to the mountains, that’s the best chance we have.”

“I’m in.” Aris said, causing everyone except you to look at him like he was crazy. “I don’t want any of us to die and I trust Y/N to get us out of here more than I trust you guys.”

“Much obliged, A.” You gave a slight nod.

“This is insane.” Newt shook his head.

“I’m not asking any of you to come with me. I’m not even sure there’s anything to go to, but you’re all welcome to come.” You shrugged. You snuck a peak at Thomas, wondering if he would come or stay, and you found him looking at you with wide eyes. A small smile graced his lips and you quickly turned away.

“What are we waiting for?” Thomas asked loudly. “Let’s go.”

“I’m not going.” Minho argued.

“You’re really going to throw a fit?” Harriet laughed. “You gonna cry too? I’m with Y/N, all the girls are.”

“It might be suicide.” You laughed with Harriet as Thomas and Newt joked with their friend. But Thomas’ words caught your attention.

“Aw, don’t cry, alright?” Thomas teased.

‘Don’t cry, alright? I’ll see you soon.’

‘But how will I know it’s you? They’re taking our memories. I can’t- I can’t lose you. Not after everything that’s been taken already. They can’t take you too!’

‘You won’t. Hey, they won’t, alright? You mean everything to me, Y/N. You’ll know it’s me when you see me. Trust me.’

‘I love you so much.’

‘I love you too.’

‘Be safe, T-’

“What did you just say?” You turned slowly.

Thomas looked at you with wide, confused eyes. You grabbed his wrist and pulled him with you. You pulled him around the corner and away from the rest of the group, who were chattering in confusion about your sudden actions. You didn’t want to make a scene, but the way Thomas said those words… It was all too familiar, like deja vu.

“Is it you?” You asked simply, knowing your eyes betrayed the desperation you felt. You pushed him by his shoulders, hoping to get some sort of response from him other than those damn puppy dog eyes. “Dammit, Thomas. Are you him?” Your voice broke.

“Am I?” He asked you carefully. He glanced down and saw you had two fingers hooked around his, the same way you did after WICKED had punished you two for holding hands. He chuckled slightly at the memory. “You tell me, Y/N.”

You paused, thinking for a moment. If it was Thomas, he would tell you. He promised you’d know when you saw him. There’s no reason to hide it from you. Unless he really didn’t know either. Maybe it was just a coincidence that Thomas lost a girl, and you lost a boy. You shook your head slightly, your tongue pressing into your cheek.

“Huh.. I guess not.” You scoffed, feeling a bit deflated. You pushed past him to join the still  arguing group. He was dead. And you had to accept that.

“It is me, Y/N.” He said when you were gone, the ghost of your touch still lingering on his hand. “You just have to tell me you know.”

You were all maybe a mile from the building when you heard the whirl of the engine. You stayed in front of everyone, your head on a constant swivel. You looked around every corner, down every alley, into every doorway to make sure it was safe to keep going. But the deep rumble from the sky behind you made you stop and turn. The helicopters were getting closer.

“Everyone go!” You yelled, the fear running through your veins in a hurry. “Get somewhere safe.” You ordered, gently pushing them as they ran past you.

“What about you?” Sonya asked, stopping in front of you as everyone else ran for cover in the nearest building.

“I’ll find you.” You answered quickly, watching the helicopters. “Keep heading to the mountains and I’ll find you. I promise.”

“Y/N-” She tried to argue.

“Dammit, Sonya. Go!” You shouted, pushing her by her shoulders. You offered a pleading look and she nodded slowly. “Keep them safe.” You said quietly.

The building you had spent the last few days in was now emitting white smoke. You heard gunshots echoing through the empty streets. You flinched and turned to make sure your group had gotten out of harm’s way. You saw the faint silhouette of forms running and you let out a sigh of relief.

When you turned back to see the building, it was collapsing. Harsh explosions sounded from the ground level, kicking up dirt and smoke. You stood frozen, fear tightening every muscle in your body.

You couldn’t go back to WICKED. They’d erase all of your memories again, force you to be compliant again. If you were lucky, they’d kill you. You saw the outline of soldiers leaving the debris, some dropping from the helicopter. You watched them turn slowly, red dots scanning the area until one landed on your chest. You closed your eyes and let out a deep breath. If they took you, your friends would be safe. Sonya, Aris, Harriet, Newt, Minho, Thomas.

Suddenly, you were yanked to the ground as the bullet zipped by. You heard it cut through the air and land in the dirt. You looked up and saw Thomas kneeling beside you with furrowed brows. He flinched when the second bullet hit near his feet. Without a word, he grabbed your hand and pulled you with him. You didn’t fight him. Instead, you grabbed his hand tightly and ran.

You two ran for what felt like an eternity before entering a dimly lit fallen building. Stepping carefully, the ground collapsed under you two. You both fell into the building’s basement, but you simply gasped to avoid alerting the soldiers. Thomas had grabbed you once he felt the ground go limp, pulling you close to him in an effort to keep you from getting hurt. You landed on top of Thomas and before he could comment on it, you covered his mouth with your hands.

Thomas laid there, rather content given the circumstances. He knew there people chasing you two, trying to capture you if not kill you. You were separated from your friends, stuck in the basement, practically trapped. But he couldn’t find it in him to be scared. He was too distracted by the feeling of your hands on his mouth, the pressure of your body on top of his, the slight squeeze your legs had on his hips. He was too lost in the way your hair fell over your shoulder and tickled his cheek, the way your head was tilted up and exposed your jaw, the way your eyes were darting. He hadn’t realized his hands had placed themselves on your hips, his fingers gripping you slightly.

“I think they’re gone.” You said quietly after an eternity of silence. You slowly leaned back into a sitting position, not fully processing that you were straddling Thomas, who did his best to silence his groan of pleasure at the new pressure on his hips. He knew you’d most likely punch him when you realized your position so he simply swallowed hard and bit his lower lip. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” He breathed with a nod. “I’m all good.”

“You’re bleeding.” You noted, leaning down slightly to get a better look at the cut on his forehead. You gently pushed his hair off his forehead and using your thumb, you brushed the dirt away from the cut. “I have some supplies in my bag to use as a bandage.”

“I’m okay, Y/N.” He took your wrists in his hands and held them close to his chest. “I promise.”

“If you say so.” You sighed, giving a half smile and a chuckle. “You landed pretty hard though. Any dizziness? Headache? Blurry vision?”

“All good.” He grinned.

“Okay then.” You smiled a little wider. “Now, how are we gonna get out of here?”

Thomas propped himself up on his elbows, careful not to move you too much. He knew that any movement from you, or your hips specifically, and he’d lose his cool. He raised his eyebrows in acknowledgment, waiting for you to speak. He figured this would be the time where you started to talk out a plan to see what made sense and what didn’t.

“There’s gotta be stairs around here somewhere, or maybe this room leads somewhere.” You aimlessly spoke, sitting up on your knees to try to get a better look around. You placed your hands on Thomas’ shoulders for support and when you saw nothing but shadows, you sat back to where you were originally.

A small groan sounded from Thomas and you pressed your lips together as a devilish idea crossed your mind. You knew exactly what you were doing, exactly what position you were in. But as much as you knew you should get off, keep moving, pretend nothing happened, a loud voice in your head was screaming to do something. You gave in to your screaming thoughts and shifted your weight again, a smirk sliding onto your face when Thomas tensed.

“Y/N..” Thomas tried to talk, deciding it wasn’t the right time. As loud as his hormones and teenage mind was, he knew better.

‘Y/N.’ He had said when he pulled you into his room. ‘What are you doing?’

‘Well, the plan was to do you but if you don’t want to…’ You had teased.

‘And if we get caught?’ He had teased before he gripped your hips and pressed your body against the now shut door.

‘I won’t tell if you won’t.’ You had winked before he lifted you up so you could lock your legs around his waist. You had giggled as he carried you to his bed.

You leaned forward slightly, hands sliding up his chest and to the back of his neck. Your lips grazed his ear as you spoke. “I won’t tell if you won’t.” You said in a low, sultry voice.

“We shouldn’t.” Thomas reasoned, more to himself than to you. He wanted you. He wanted you in every way someone could want another person. He wanted to let his hands feel the familiar curves of your body, let himself hear the familiar moans and pleads leave your mouth, let himself give in. “Our friends..” 

“That’s what you’re thinking of?” You teased, your lips trailing down his jaw.. A familiar tingle moving down your spine and between your legs. “Come on, Pretty Boy. You know, you’re giving yourself away.” You chuckled.

“Wha-” Thomas started when he realized what you meant. He was hard. It wouldn’t have been the first time that thoughts of you had driven him crazy. But now, your gentle touches and flirty voice was pushing him faster than any day dreams of you had done before.

“I thought you hated me.” Thomas teased, a coy smile on his face as he gave into his desires. At least momentarily.

“That doesn’t change the fact that you’re so damn hot.” You flirted, rolling your hips slightly. “And familiar..” You admitted, hoping it would get Thomas to let go of his hesitations.

“So you do know who I am?” He asked, sitting up fully and putting his hands on the small of your back to keep you pressed against him.

“I do..” You nodded, leaning in slightly. “You’re an idiot.” You smirked.

“Come on.” He shook his head with a chuckle. “I’m serious.”

“Thomas, honey.” You tilted your head slightly. His pulse jumped at the way you said his name. “Isn’t this what you wanted?”

“Of course, Y/N.” He nodded eagerly before pausing and glancing between your eyes and your lips. “Just… not here.” He shook his head, understanding that you didn’t remember him just yet. He sighed slightly, taking you by your hips and removing you from his lap. He stood and offered you a hand.

You nodded slightly, annoyed that Thomas had turned you down. It was easy to ignore the persistent thoughts of your lost love, to ignore the possibility that Thomas had meant something to you in the past. But the intrusive thoughts of sleeping with Thomas were harder to ignore, especially when you had just been straddling him. You gathered as much of your composure as you could as you stood, ignoring his outstretched hand. You two met eyes for a minute, a silence settling over you two. He could feel the annoyance radiating off you and opened his mouth to explain himself.

“Like I said, I won’t tell if you won’t.” You shrugged, heading in the direction of a very faint light. You pulled a flashlight from your bag and illuminated your walk.

“How are we gonna get back to the others?” He asked, pretending like nothing had happened.

“Relax.” You said simply, your voice lacking any emotion. “I’ll get us out of here.”

“I didn’t mean it like that.” He said quickly. “I just meant-”

“I don’t care what you meant, Pretty Boy.” You replied, keeping your eyes straight ahead. “Let’s just find a way out of here.”

Thomas walked next to you in silence, stealing glances occasionally. He wished he had given in. He wished he had taken the time to do anything and everything with you, but he knew it wasn’t right. It wouldn’t have meant the same thing to you as it did to him. Maybe it was selfish, but he didn’t care. He didn’t want you to regret anything, especially anything like that with him.

“Can you come down here and help me with this?” You commented from your kneeling position. There was a grate that lead to the sewer system. That was the light you saw.

Thomas snapped from his thoughts and helped you lift the grate. He hopped down first, ready to help you land if you needed it. You followed him down, landing unevenly and falling into Thomas. He caught you easily, arms wrapping around your waist. You pushed him off once you got your feet under you and kept walking.

A screech echoed down the tunnel and you stopped. You subconsciously reached out and grabbed his hand. Thomas laced his fingers through yours and squeezed slightly.

“That doesn’t sound good.” He said quietly.

“It’s probably not.” You swallowed. “I guess they’re full term down here… The Cranks.”

“It’s alright.” He said softly as he tugged you behind him. “We’ll get through it.”

You two carefully wandered the tunnels, keeping your light in front of you. You constantly checked behind you, hearing low groans and screams echoing through. You stayed close to Thomas. It felt safer being with him, and you silently thanked him for keeping a hold of your hand.

“So you think the Right Arm is real?” Thomas asked after noticing your hesitant steps. He thought that if he could keep you talking, he could keep you focused on him.

“I think they needed something more than that building.” You said slowly. “You saw WICKED take that building… Hope is a dangerous thing. It’s taken more of my friends than the Maze and the Scorch combined. But they needed something.”

A few minutes of walking later, you came across what looked like vines on the tunnel walls. It reminded you of the Maze, the thick Ivy that coated the massive concrete structure. These vines were black, seemingly dead. They stretched as far as your light could show you and it sent an eerie feeling down your spine. A mouse crawled out of a nearby opening, which caused you to jump and grab onto Thomas.

He chuckled slightly as you clutched his jacket and leaned into him. You kicked the rat away and let go of Thomas.

“You tell anyone about this and I’ll kill you.” You threatened when you regained your composure.

“I won’t tell if you won’t.” He smiled, offering you his hand again.

Just as you were about to take it, a sudden tear of the vines and squeak of the mouse stole your attention. You saw a humanoid figure erupt from the vines and bite the head off the mouse. Another broke free, a monster like sound coming from them.

“Thomas?” You whispered, reaching for his hand and finding it quickly. You began backing away as another fell from the same place the mouse came from.

“Let’s get out of here.” He answered in the same hushed tone.

You two turned and quickly broke into a sprint. You kept pace with Thomas, never letting go of his hand. Your boots slipped on the slick surface, but Thomas was there to catch you and keep you moving. The sickly groans and screams followed you. It was as if you could feel the Cranks breathing down your neck. You gripped his hand a little tighter, silently pleading for him to keep you safe.

It was that moment where it clicked. The feeling was all too familiar that you couldn’t avoid it any longer. Substitute the grimy tunnel walls for the sleek design of WICKED’s compounds and it’s the same. Holding his hand, running from something that had the potential to kill you. The way you naturally fell into stride with each other. You knew then that if you and Thomas made it out alive, you’d have to tell him that you just fell in love with him all over again.

Thomas stopped suddenly, causing you to hit the brakes as soon as you could. You had reached daylight, but the end of the tunnel was a free fall. One more step and you two were plummeting to the bottom of a gravelly pit. You quickly looked around, processing a new plan.

“We’ve gotta go up.” You said suddenly. You pulled him with you and only let go of his hand to begin climbing. You two waved through the debris, narrowly avoiding losing footing and slipping. The rubble crumbled around you two as you made your way into a fallen building, Cranks still following you.

Thomas kept pushing your forward, encouraging your climb. The higher you got, the less stable the rubble was. Every step was sketchy at best but you had to keep pushing. It wasn’t safe yet and any hesitation would get you both killed. Just when you were about to get breathing room, your footing slipped and you fell. You fell straight onto a thick paned glass window.

“Y/N!?” Thomas called out. “Are you okay? Hang on, I’m gonna find a way down.”

“I’m alright.” You groaned, ignoring the throb in your head and the warm, wet sensation sliding down the side of your face. You stared through the glass, noting just how high the fall was. You pressed your hand against the glass, causing small cracks to spider through.

“Don’t move, Y/N!” He called out, causing your attention to shift. “Don’t move, alright? You’re gonna be okay. I’m coming down.”

You turned back to the glass, slowly shifting your weight to your knees. You carefully pushed yourself to your feet, muttering words of caution to yourself as if that would keep the glass from shattering beneath your feet. You and Thomas could hear the glass cracking painfully slow beneath you. Thomas had made his way down to you and he was reaching for your hand.

“Come on, Y/N.” He said with a nod.

“I can’t.” You shook your head, fear paralyzing your body once again.

“Grab my hand, Y/N.” He pushed. “You’ve taken my hand a million times before, alright? It always works out for you when you do. Do it one more time.”

Your fingertips grazed his as a Crank came barreling down, knocking you back into the glass. Your back his hard, the Crank on top of you. You kicked him off and scrambled to try to reach Thomas. Your foot was yanked back just before you could get to him. As you were fighting off the Crank. Thomas slid down to the glass. He grabbed your arm and broke the glass under you. The Crank plummeted to the ground as Thomas kept a firm grip on your arm. You reached up and held onto him with both hands, offering a pleading look.

“I got you.” He panted, pulling you up and out of harm’s way.

You were silent as you two made your way out of the building and back to the streets. Your body was still shaking from your near death experience, and you would’ve thought you’d be used to nearly dying. But it humbled you every time.

“Hey..” He said suddenly, nudging you slightly. “You okay?”

“I owe you.” You said carefully. “You saved my life.”

“No one’s here for free, right?” He tried to joke.

“I’m serious, Thomas.” You stopped, grabbing his arm so he’d stop with you. “You could’ve left, saved your own ass, but you risked your life for me… Thank you.”

“And I’d do it again.” He offered a small smile.

You threw your arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. He stumbled back slightly before hugging you back, tightly putting his arms around your waist. You held him so tight you thought you’d fall apart if you let him go. His warmth was so comforting. It made you feel whole, like the piece you had missing was brought back.

“I guess I owe you an apology.” You said with a shy smile as you picked up walking again. Thomas had hooked two fingers around yours as your steps continued.

“For what?”

“For being an ass.” You replied. “It wasn’t fair. I just… didn’t know yet.”

“Didn’t know what?” A bubble of hope rose to his chest.

“I didn’t know you...”

You two walked in a comfortable silence until you met up with the rest of your group. They had found a man named Jorge and a girl named Brenda. They were also looking for the Right Arm and said a man named Marcus would know where they are. So you agreed to follow Jorge because it was the best lead you had.

You stayed out of the room as Jorge interrogated Marcus. You could hear the groans of pain and the sounds of punches connecting. After everything you had went through that day, you just wanted some sense of comfort, and watching torture wasn’t going to do it. Thomas followed you out, telling his friends he wanted to check on you. You had whispered to Thomas that you wanted to talk to him as you left, and you wondered if he’d actually follow.

“What did you wanna tell me?” He asked from behind you, causing you to jump slightly.

“I remembered something when we were down in the tunnels… I remembered the boy, running down the halls with him at WICKED… I remembered nights when I would sneak into his room and I remembered the feeling of my hand in his, the way I trusted him with my life without hesitation…” You began admitting.

“All of that came in the tunnels?” He quirked an eyebrow.

“In the tunnels and in the basement.” You waved a hand. “The point is I remembered all of that when I was with you.” You paused, and his silence urged you to continue. Thomas wanted to kiss you right then but he a larger part of him wanted to hear you say it. “I remembered you, Thomas.”

He grinned widely before pulling you close to him. He held your face with both hands as his lips came down to meet yours. Your hands fell on his forearms as you turned to jelly under his touch. It felt like fire wherever his skin made contact with yours, and a feeling of relief rushed through your body. Your hands moved to his chest and you gently pushed him away.

“What the hell?” You asked with a nervous laugh when you pushed him off, unable to describe the sensation that just hit you. He stared at you softly, a small smirk playing on his lips as you stared at him in shock. He could see everything coming together in your head. Every kiss playing back in your mind and it made your heart beat just a little bit faster.

His lips were too familiar to ignore, the way your body ignited when he held you close. The way his hands held you perfectly, the way your bodies aligned. The fact that you didn’t want to pull away. 

“Try it again.” You said suddenly, acting as if you needed more confirmation. And if Thomas wouldn’t say it, then you’d make him show it. “Kiss me.”

“No.” Thomas said quietly, shaking his head with a small chuckle.

“Kiss me.”  You demanded, stomping your foot like a child throwing a tantrum.

“No.” He said again and you huffed in annoyance. A moment passed, a smirk graced his lips as he got an idea. “You kiss me.”

You stared at him incredulously for a moment. He had kissed you once- more like a thousand times. Why wouldn’t he kiss you once more?

“Screw it.” You sighed, your hands finding the back of his neck. You pulled his lips to yours quickly, meeting in a messy way. But you kissed him. You kissed him. You kissed him. You kissed him. You kissed him. 

His hands instantly found your waist, pulling you closer to him. You stood on your toes, Thomas still leaning down. Your fingers slid into his hair and he relaxed under your touch. You felt him smile against your lips so you pulled away to breathe. His cheeks were red, lips slightly swollen. A dopey grin fell upon his face and you bit back your own smile.

“Did you know the whole time?” You asked softly, softer than any voice he had heard you use before and it made his heart beat a little faster. “That I was the girl you dreamt about.”

“Pretty much from when I first saw you, yeah.” He shrugged slightly. “I just wanted to make sure you knew for yourself cause when I tried to tell you, you wouldn’t believe me.”

“I still can’t believe you’re alive.” You whispered, more to yourself than to him. “After all this time.”

“I missed you.” He kissed you quickly. “I’m just glad you’re here, with me.”

“Yeah..” You nodded happily, standing on your toes to hug him tightly. “Me too. I love you, Pretty Boy.”

Placing your foot up on the dashboard, your body swerved to the side as Newt flung around a corner, and you cursed loudly, turning to look at him as you held onto the laces of your shoes. “You know, for an ambulance driver, you drive like you’re trying to kill me.”

“I would never.” He gasped falsely, and you continued trying to tie up your laces, before swapping over to the other foot, and doing that one too. “I promise, I would never hurt you.”

The tone in his voice made you groan, rolling your eyes at the snickering boy beside you as he chuckled away to himself, and you reached out to flick at him roughly on his side. He yelped, swerving a little as he drove, before he was chastising you for your behaviour and following the bright red fire trucks ahead of you.

“Oh, c’mon, you’re seriously going to keep pretending like something wasn’t happening there?”

“I’m not pretending, because nothing was happening!” You huffed your words out a little, placing your foot back onto the ground of the van and adjusting yourself in the seat. The inner city was beginning to grow around you, shorter buildings that formed houses growing in size and stature, towering over you now in a concrete jungle as you approached the large city building you’d been called to.

“I know my best friend, okay? And I like to think that I’m getting to know you, too.” His words held a slightly teasing air to them, woven into his tone subtly, and you sighed at him.

“You’ve been saying this for a week now, but nothing happened!” He shot you a look, taking his eyes off of the road for only a second, but one of his brows was raised, and there was a smirk on his face that made your head fall back into your seat, and you realised you were fighting a losing battle. “We were talking about the argument, and agreeing to start over, without bitching at one another, I thought you’d be happy about it!”

“So, where did holding hands factor into that equation?”

“We weren’t holding hands! We were shaking hands!” A laugh left him, disbelieving and unconvinced and he began to slow down, pulling up in front of a very professional looking building, a large logo printed across the glass of the lower few floors, all of which were blacked out and reflected the light of the sun brightly. “It was just some stupid thing we did. Like, reintroducing ourselves, or whatever. Starting again.”

“And you just happened to be backed up into the kitchen counter, huh? I have a pair of eyes in my damn head, love, I saw those longing glances and the whispered conversation, and the holding of hands between you both.” He scoffed, pulling the truck up into park, and turning to look at you for only a second, speaking his next words before hopping out of the van; “Shaking hands, my arse.”

Hopping down front heaven yourself, Newt grabbed his go-bag, swinging it onto his shoulders and so you left yours where it was, simply grabbing your jacket and pulling it up your shoulders as it got a little cooler. Taking place beside him on the pavement, you nudged Newt with your elbow, before crossing your arms. “The only things you were seeing is what you’ve made up inside your head.”

He hummed under his breath, seeming to accept the statement for now, and you watched as the teams both began to unload from the fire trucks. They grouped on the pavements, staring up at the building, not bothering with any equipment except for their coats themselves, names printed across the bottoms as you all stared up at the height of the skyscraper.

The call had stated a broken elevator shaft, three people trapped inside, and in need of rescue, and so you and Newt weren’t facing much of a task. It was simply a challenge to the teams, you and Newt would patch up a few cuts on bumped heads and be there to check for concussions, but you didn’t face much of a task.

Glancing over the group, you caught honey-brown eyes, offering the man a smile in return when his lips flicked up at the sides for you, his head tipping as he offered you a soft nod of acknowledgement. The stare lingering for only a moment longer, before he was turning to check over his team, and you turned back to your partner. Newt was already staring at you, a single brow arched and a smirk on his face. “Oh, yeah, I’m totally seeing things.”

“It was just a smile. Will you drop it? We’re friends.” You scoffed, and he shook his head but let it go for now, and you set off to follow the firemen as they headed into the building. Following them inside, there was already a  group of people beginning to gather, the elevator doors being pried open and pinned that way with a chair, the purpose of which, you weren’t exactly sure, because if the elevator was on the ground floor, it wasn’t exactly an emergency, and you really hoped nobody was stupid enough to stick their head inside and take a look.

As you approached, a man came forwards, an older gentleman with a receding hairline that was shining with a layer of sweat, stress you presumed, and you made a mental note to check over him as his hand trembled while he came forwards, a hand pressed over his heart, and Newt shuffled beside you, tugging his bag a little further up on his shoulder.

“Oh, God, I’m so glad you’re here.” He sighed, voice more like a wheeze, and you winced, taking another scan around the crowd and relaxing just how angry they all looked, minorly put out of their way as they were forced to take the stairs or be turned away, and there was an angry group of less formally dressed citizens around the reception desk, the phone to the room echoing front he marble floors and glass walls, and you realised they must all be being turned away for appointments.

The elevator on the other side of the lobby seemed to be working perfectly, the sign above signalling for staff only, and there was a scanner beside the door, flashing from red to green as you watched a woman in a smart pencil skirt and matching blazer swipe her ID across it, before stepping inside.

“The elevator itself is stuck at the twelfth floor.”

“It’s not a problem, we can just pry the door open and bring everyone out.” Thomas shrugged, and the man let out a sigh, shaking his head a little, and wiping a hand over his forehead, and you glanced over at your partner, your brow raising a little as you subtly dipped your head towards the panicked man who’d greeted you all, and he nodded in response, agreeing that he could do with taking a quick time out to catch his breath and take his heart rate back down. “That’s the problem, you can’t get at the elevator from the twelfth floor.”

“What does that mean, exactly?”

“This is a block of private offices. Only certain floors are open to the public, you have to have an ID for the elevator to get to the others, that elevator only stops and opens at certain floors.” He looked like he might collapse at any moment, and you wandered away from the group, searching for a chair around the room, and finding a row of neatly set, leather-lined seats on the opposite wall, a coffee table with magazines stacked on in a makeshift waiting room, and you picked one up.

As you made your way back over, to him, placing the chair down behind him, the firefighters were grouped up, and Newt was knelt on one knee before the man, checking over him carefully, with two fingers recessed over his wrist and the other two to his neck.

“What’s happening?”

The blond looked up at you, a frown on his lips, and he rolled them together, considering his words carefully, and glancing at the manager who was practising deep breaths and counting along upon your partner’s instructions to bring his heart rate back down. “The elevator is trapped on the twelfth floor, but the closest entrance to it is the twenty-fifth?”

“Did you just say the twenty-fifth floor?” A strike of cold fear ran through you, the math being done in your mind within an instance, and you swallowed thickly. “How far did it drop from?”

“It got stuck around about the fifteenth floor and dropped about three floors, not too bad, coulda’ been worse. The brakes kicked in, but they’re not holding up so good.” Newt stood to his feet, brushing dust from his knees, and tucking his hands into the pockets of his jacket. The firemen you worked with were already beginning to separate into groups, and Thomas was twirling an ID card in his hand anxiously,  a hand rubbing over his jaw as he continued to divide up the squad team, Gally already having headed back outside to start finding equipment.  “We should head outside, we probably want to grab some emergency stuff, a board, maybe, the stretcher for sure. Three neck braces, and a monitor.”

“We can call it in while we’re out there, just in case they need to head over to Med.”

“Okay.” You rubbed a hand over your forehead, your mind spinning a little as you hung on the situation, and you let out a sigh, shaking your mind clear and nodding. “Yeah. You’re right. Boards, stretcher, all that, let’s go.”

His eyes narrowed on you for a second, before you were following after him, trailing back out to the ambulance, and you were biting on your lower lip until it was raw once again, finding yourself getting lost in a spiral of your own thoughts once again.

Gally passed you by, a lazy wink to tease you with as he held up the ropes slung over his shoulder, and your stomach churned a little as you looked at it, knowing that he was trying to lighten the mood, but it didn’t help at all. Newt opened the back of the van, the ramp folding down and clanging against the road as he unclipped the bolts on the wheels, rolling the stretcher down towards you for you to receive, and you positioned it in front of you, turning it longways and beginning to undo the straps that held the cushioned padding down, to be able to thread on the blackboard for security too.

“Seriously, what’s up with you?”

You turned to look at your partner, realising you’d drifted again, grabbing onto the solid yellow plastic board he was holding to you, balancing it on the stretcher to create a table to place everything else on top of. “Nothing, just a bit apprehensive, I suppose.”

“For what?”

You pulled a face at him, moving to grab your own go-bag and pull it up your shoulders, making sure it was comfortably settled onto both arms this time, and beginning to unload equipment with him as you forced your mind to be occupied. “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe it’s just the abseiling down into the abyss of an elevator shaft that’s freaking me out.”

“Well, it’s a good thing you don’t have to do it then, huh?” You paused, turning to look up at him, confusion evident on his features, and he hopped down onto the tarmac before you, hair flopping into his face for a second, before he was blowing it away, and reaching for the ramp once again. “It’s my turn, right? You took the plunge last time, so it’s only fair I go this time.”

His tone was light, making a joke out of the situation you were both looking at, but the truth was resting strong between you in a thick layer of tension as he locked up the van, hands locking on either side of the head at the top of the stretcher, ready to push it along, and waiting for you to take the feet, but you placed a hand on his forearm gently, bringing his attention back to yours. His gaze was curious, sparkling a little as he stared at you, before the gaze was softening, flickering between remorse and pity, before finally settling on acceptance.

“It’s my turn.”

He whispered the words, and you shook your head a little, your gaze flicking down, the toes of his shoes touching against yours as he turned to face you a little more, and his shoulders slumped as he looked back up. “We both know I’m the one going down there.”

“It’s not fair, it shouldn’t have to be you. My physiotherapist cleared me; I can do it.” He sighed, flexing the knee of his injured leg subconsciously, and you chuckled a little, squeezing his arm softly.

“Just because you can do it, doesn't mean you should have to. I know that it makes your leg ache when you hold heavyweights for too long, and just because you can take the pain, you shouldn't have to. I wouldn't be a very good partner, if I let you do that, would I?”

He sighed, staring at you for a moment longer, before the edges of his lips were flicking up in a smile, and he gave in, something like disappointment making itself known on his face as he tried to hide it. “You know I love you, right?”

“You’ve known me for, like, four months.”

“Ouch, the harsh sting of rejection.” He gasped, holding a hand over his heart as he faked a wound, before stepping forwards and knocking the trolley into action, prompting you to take the foot of it and guide the way. You stepped ahead of him, a hand finding the cool metal and beginning to lift it up and over the curb to the sidewalk, heading back inside of the building. There was an ache on the inside of your cheek, your teeth biting down to contain your smile, the affection shown to you by your coworker making you heart race a little, and you glanced back at him over your shoulder.

You didn’t have to say it back, you hoped it was evident simply in the actions you took, the texts you shared and the jokes that were given in hushed laughter between you both, that you did love him too. You weren’t ready to say that to anyone yet, even if it was just a friend.

Jeff was holding the door open for you both in the staff elevator, helping you to gather everything inside, and as soon as the door clicked shut, you swallowed thickly, the numbers on the panel above the door beginning to click up. It felt wrong, to be riding in a contraption that on the other side of the building was broken, and endangering the lives of three people. Your fingers messed nervously with the straps of your backpack, listening to the men behind you shuffle as they sorted through the belongings on the stretcher, and as the box dinged and the doors laid open, you were walking through them and onto solid flooring one again, a somewhat relieved breath slipping from you.

Glancing around the scene, it had all already been commandeered, and you barely had time to process it all over the noise that was being made by the bustling teams. Gally was anchoring weights into the ground, the marble flooring cracking a little as the metal was drilled into place, before he was pushing his feet against it to test the weight, and ropes were being threaded around the beams of the upper ceiling. It was impressive, it truly was, but none of it was making you feel any better.

A collection of harnesses was laid out on the floor, an even more complex pair abandoned on the floor by the doors that were being held open by a thick rod of metal, denting from the clams wrapped around them, and you sighed, nails digging into your palms from the fists you were holding just to contain the shaking of your hands.

Staring down at the straps and bondings on the floor, you were completely lost, nudging it a little with the toe of your sneakers as you took it all in, and a deep chuckle sounded in your ear, making you jump, before you were watching a familiar head of dark brown hair dip down, picking up one of the harnesses, and picking it up, showing it to you.

“You’re gonna’ want to lose the backpack, for now, we’re wearing full-body harnesses.”

It made more sense, there hadn't been nearly this many clips and straps on the one you'd worn last time, and you let your bag slide down your arms clattering on the floor loudly. Picking it up and mimicking the way the lieutenant before you was holding it, he crouched won, spreading it out on the ground before himself, waiting for you to mimic the actions, and it began to look less like a pile of fabric scars and more like something slightly reassuring the more you adjusted it.

Four circles became evident, adjustable straps on them, and a belt that would clip around your waist with a set of match straps that would all connect elsewhere over your body. He stepped into the first two, and you took a deep breath, every action taking you closer into literally throwing yourself down into an elevator shaft with nothing but a rope to keep you alive.

Matching him, you placed your feet inside of the circles, before reaching down to the ground behind yourself to find the other two circles, holding onto them tightly and beginning to inch the contraception up your body The gem of your trousers caught for a second, and you shook your leg, adjusting it all back down comfortably, before you were hooking your first arm through the strap, the band on your right coming up to sit on your shoulder, and the buttons of your shirt were catching on the fabric, stiff and uncomfortable work shirt, and you cursed a little under your breath at the restriction of movement that ti wall offered you.

Dropping the edge of the harness, it hung loosely at your waist, and you were thankful that you’d chosen to wear more than just a tank top under your shirt today, the chill in your apartment having promoted a long sleeve shirt, and you undid the buttons on your uniform shirt, dropping the crisp material to the ground, and trying again to adjust the harness on your arms.

Once it was on both, it was hanging limply on your body, unadjusted and unfastened, but the thick strap of material running up your back and pressed between your shoulder blades did feel strong, and make you feel a little more secure, and you tried to let your worries go, watching Thomas’ fingers fly smoothly over his front as he did up all of the clips and straps, no struggle as he was trained to do the equipment up, and you lifted each side of the belt, clipping it over your stomach, and struggling to tug the loose material through to tighten it around your waist to hold tight and secure.

“Struggling a little, there?”

“Just a bit.” You mumbled, and he grinned, lifting a hand up to take a hold of the straps on your shoulders, adjusting it better on your arms to sit comfortably and not dig into you, yet holding snugly to your skin as he fastened it all up, fingers flying over the bolts to tighten them. Hands smoothed down over your sides, checking each point of weakness, and your breath hitched a little in your throat as he did, before the backs of his fingers were smoothing over your hips, downs the fronts of your thighs, and he took a hold of each strap, the final material sitting loosely.

Gripping one in each hand, he tugged harshly, your body jerking forwards a little closer to him, a gasp as you did, before the material was tight along your thighs, and he smirked a little, eyes finding yours as his gaze trailed along the harness to make sure it was all done up correctly. “Tight enough?”

“Mhm..” You swallowed thickly, head nodding on a second’s delay, and he grinned, taking a step away from you as he reached away for the first rope. Looping or through both of the hooks on the front of your body, sealed over your ribs as he brought it all together, hooking it into the carabiner and screwing the clip up tightly. Giving it a test tug for security, you huffed a little as your body was jerked forwards towards him again, and you glared up at him weakly as he simply grinned in response to you tripping over your feet, a cheeky look on his features. “You did that on purpose.”

“What can I say? You’re just falling for me already.”

“I think I want to go back to hating you.” You grouched, and he laughed a little, doing up his own ropes, and firemen around you were putting their kit on. You knew he was distracting you, and you appreciated it, but as he pulled on a piece of headgear and adjusted the torch on top, it only made it all a little more real. Nearing the edge of the elevator shaft, you peered inside, unable to even see the box that had fallen, it was so far down, and you let out a shaky breath. “I’m not feeling so good about this whole height thing.”

“You’ve already down this once, you’ve got it this time, too.”

It was supposed to be reassuring, and you felt him come up to stand beside you, but you only scoffed, shaking your head. “Thomas, that was, like, fifteen feet down. This is more like one hundred feet.”

“It’s one hundred and thirty, actually.” You turned to look at him, a grimace passing over his features as pale skin over his cheeks turned a little pink, and he shook his head at himself. “I don’t know why I said that, it didn’t help, at all.

“No, it didn’t.”

“I admire you, though.” He turns you around, the two of you standing only a couple of metres away from the gap, backs to the gap as you watched the team finally be prepared, and while you knew only a few minutes had passed in this whole amount of time, with your stress, it somehow managed to feel like both seconds and hours all in one. “I know you’re scared, and you’re doing this for Newt to save him the pain. I think that’s really brave.”

“I suppose so..” Your words were whispered, and he nodded his head, adjusting your hands on the rope attached to your waist as it no longer lay slack on the ground. Brenda was anchored to the ground before you, holding onto your rope as she wore her own harness, feet pressing to the metal on the ground as she took a seat. Behind her was Gally the two offering you and Thomas a nod, and Minho and Fry took up place on his side, the signal telling you that it was time to go. You grabbed your bag, lifting it onto your shoulder as Thomas pulled on his backpack, and with that, you were holding the breath your lungs as nerves took over.

“They won’t let anything happen to you, alright?” Your attention was drawn back to Thomas, and as you looked up at him, he offered a smile. “Just keep your eyes on me, alright? We’re just going to walk backwards slowly, keep your eyes on me, and as we go over the edge, keep your feet on the ground.”

You nodded your head, nothing but honesty and compassion in his eyes as he made you a silent promise to keep you safe, and your hand twitched a little as you felt fingers smooth over your palm. His hand took yours, squeezing tightly as his fingers wrapped over the back of your hand, and you held onto him tightly, before following his guidance, and taking a step back.

You did as told, keeping your eyes locked with his, slow and cautious steps, and your breathing only picked up in rent as the feeling dragging your body down changed.

Your feet were teetering on the precipice of the shaft, wobbling a little, and you snapped back to look at Brenda, everything suddenly feeling unsafe again, and you froze up. “Hey, hey, c’mon! Look at me, eyes on me, remember?”

You choked up, feeling the squeezing around our hand, and you looked down, fingers wrapped warmly around your hand, and you wondered if he could feel how hard your blood was pumping through your veins and how fast your heart was racing right now. Looking back up to him, honey-coloured eyes were fixed on you, and he squeezed again, nodding his head.

“Just look at me, okay? You’ve got this.”

His brows raised a little, and you force yourself to take a breath, following after him and lifting one foot, placing it at an unusual angle as your leg bent, foot pressing flat to the wall on the inside of the elevator shaft, and as your other followed, you let out a soft sound, something between fear and relief at taking the first step.

“You’re doing so good.” His words were whispered, a few more steps being taken as you began to inch your way down into the darkness, slowly gaining a pace as you began to gain confidence in your movements.

The further down you got, the darker it got, surrounding you as you began to lose your vision. Slowly, it all faded away, until you could barely even see the rope in front of your face, and you couldn't hold the gaze of the man beside you anymore, the darkness shrouded around you. The elevator shaft above you that was the only thing that now connected you to everyone else was simply a sliver of light, and the temperature had dropped rapidly within the cold metal tunnel, making you shiver a little as only your undershirt remained on your body.

The hand wrapped around yours loosened, and you held on for a second, before he was tugging it back, your movements coming to a halt for a second as you hesitated, before releasing him, and your hands fumbled to find the rope in front of your body, wobbling a little bit as you searched for something else to hold onto, your breath hitching in your throat as your food scraped a little against the wall, and you fell forward.

Catching yourself against the wall before you smashed into it too solidly, you grunted, a slight spark of pain running along your wrist, and you winced as bright light filled your vision, Thomas messing with the head torch on his forehead, lighting up the small bubble of air around the two of you.

“Whoa, whoa, relax. It’s alright, just needed some light.” The radio on his shoulder crackled, checking whether he was okay as the two ropes stopped lowering you both down, and he looked below himself, the metal of the elevator reflecting back to you, only thirty feet or so from you now, and he looked back up, raising his brows. “Look how close we are, you’ve come so far, look at that.”

You swallowed thickly, not daring to look down, shaking your head adamantly as you hung in the air, gripping onto the rope, lips pursed and blood running cold. The radio crackled again, and he lifted his hand, pressing the button on the side to continue lowering you down slowly, and you opened your mouth to protest, fear washing over your once again as the ropes jerked, but you were being shushed slowly.

“Do you remember what you said to me the day you ran into that burning building?”

“Not really. I remember a lot of yelling, that's about it.” You mumbled, a tremor in your voice, and Thomas chuckled, his hands finding your ankles and lifting them up, placing your feet flat against the wall, and forcing you to take the proper stance once again.

“Well, I remember. I was yelling at you, being scary, and you told me that we saved a life. You didn't take any of my shit, and then you called me out on it all, but you made me look past our actions to the life we saved. Sometimes I forget to do that, and you made me realise.” You huffed, the joke he’d slipped in there making you roll your eyes, and you took a step with one foot, regaining your momentum again as one of his hands smoothed over your clasped palms, holding onto your hands tightly as he used one on his own rope. “We’re going to go and save some lives, you’re going to save some lives, and I’m just here to help you. You need to be brave for me, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Yeah?” He grinned, the sparkle in his eyes coming back as you dared to look up at him, catching his gaze in the brought light for only a second, before he was nodding his head. “When we get down there, it’s going to be a little scary again, alright? I need you to stand on the top of the box while I open the hatch, and I’ll go down first. I’ll help you inside, but the rope is going to go slack, because they’re going to give you enough space to move around. You think you can handle that?”

“I can do it. I’ll be okay.” You took a deep breath, not quite having faith in yourself yet, but forcing your heart rate to calm down with every deep breath to steady your nerves, before you were finally beginning to trust yourself. The elevator became clearer, the staining on the wall of an old set of numbers, a faded ‘12’ on the wall, before you were stretching your legs out underneath yourself and finding the metal of the elevator to land on.

Just as Thomas promised, he gave your hands a final squeeze, before he was stepping back and tugging on the rope to let them know that you’d both landed. Just like that, the pressure of the pull holding you up went slack, extra rope pooling around your feet, and it only looked to be around ten foot worth of material.

“Not a lot to work with.”

He glanced up, looking at the rope that had gone spare as you were suddenly dependent on your own two feet without support, and he indeed his head. “Ropes are one hundred and fifty feet, but they need at least ten foot of rope to work with up there, and we’re close to a hundred and fifty feet down.”

You shuddered a little, that fact along bringing panic surging back, and your arms wrapped around yourself. The torchlight was overwhelmed by the flickering light on the inside of the elevator when the hatch came loose, the panicked crying of a young girl and the shushing from her mother sounding out, before Thomas was switching off his headlight.

“Hey, sweetheart, it’s alright. We’re going to get you out of here, okay?” You watched, the ay her face peeled back form recessed into her mother’s shoulder, tear-stained cheeks and red-rimmed eyes, but the badge on Thomas’ uniform and the smile on his face made her trust him, the soft nod she gave him being enough to get them to step back towards the edges as he lowered his feet inside.

The cage shook as he landed, a sharp intake of breath that made your head spin as you panicked for just a second, before Thomas was calling out to you, and you were taking tentative steps over to the edge of the hatch. The lieutenant was staring up at you, nodding his head, and reaching up to tap at the edge of the hatch.

“Legs first, I’ve got you, just drop down.”

Choking down the lump in your throat, you tried to blink away the thin line of tears you held, knowing you needed to be brave for the people on the inside of the elevator. This was your job, you were saving lives, you were inspiring a young girl, and you were damn well going to be proud of yourself for it.

Taking a seat carefully, your legs swung over the edge, shuffling a little until your hands were pressed to the opposite side, and his hands were wrapping gently around your calves, stopping your legs from the swinging motions they’d been taking. You focused on that, on the touch of his fingertips into your muscle instead, the way he was holding onto you tightly, reassurance, instead of the way you were risking dropping down into a metal deathtrap over a hundred feet down from where you were being held up by just two people and a metal anchor.

Inching forwards again, you lowered yourself over as the metal under yourself slipped away, those same hands smoothing a little further up your body, until you were lowering yourself down by your upper arms. Smoothing over your hips, his hands found your waist, burning hot through the thin material of your shirt, and lowering you down until your feet found the ground, a small sigh slipping from you as you took a minute to control your fears.

“I told you, I got you.”

Your eyes cracked open, looking up to find honey-brown eyes fixed on you, and you offered him a small smile, taking a deep and calming breath, before turning to face the family before you, and his touch fell away. “Okay, let's get you all checked out, huh?”

The little girl nodded, and you peeled your backpack from your arms, placing it down and crouching beside it to open it up, watching as the child, who couldn't be any older than ten sank to her knees before you. As she did, the front of the mother was relieved to you, large and swollen, a pregnancy that was early third trimester or late second, and your actions paused as you tried to assess the next course of action.

Thomas had brought spare harnesses, and yet there were no spare ropes, you could hear him behind you as he worked, setting up the next set to be equipped, but there was no way that you would be able to carry a woman that far along in a tandem harness without posing a risk to the child. Turning back to look at him as you snapped on a pair of rubber gloves, his brows raised at you, pausing what he was doing for a second to look over, and his jaw dropped a little, the anticipated addition clearly bringing his mind to a short-circuited halt.

Your focus went back to the young girl, the mother now with a hand resting over her stomach, and the father was sitting in the corner, popped up against the wall, eyes a little half-lidded and a cut on his forehead, but he was lucid, and so you knew he’d be alright to wait until his family was checked out.

“Okay, this light is going to be a little bright okay, I just need you to follow it with your eyes for me, can you do that?” She nodded, and you put on the best smile that you could, before clicking the light on the end of the torch and lifting it up. Dragging it slowly from left to right across her vision, you monitored the speed at which her pupils flexed, and how capable she was of tracking the source. Returning it the other way, you watched for the same signs. Up, and down, she was alright, and you ran your fingers gently over her head for signs of bleeding or bruising, feeling under her hair for swelling. “You’re doing so good! You’re even braver than I am!”

“I cried a lot, I’m not brave.”

She sighed sadly, her mother reaching out to place a comforting hand on her head and brush her hair out of her face gently, and you leaned in a little closer, offering her a smile. “That’s okay, I wanted to cry on the way down here, too. But, you see the firefighter behind me?” She glanced over your shoulder, her eyes flicking over him for a second, before she nodded. “He’s great at this, he’s the bravest, and he’s going to get you back up to the top, okay? He’ll help you put a harness on, and then you’re going to do some climbing, think you can do that?”

She hesitated, before a look of determination was passing over her face, and she stood on weak and unsteady legs, before rounding to him. His voice faded into the background, deep and soothing as he began to get the young girl roped up, and she would undoubtedly be fastened to his chest, so that he could climb back up with her, brushing your knees off a little as you stood to talk to the mother.

“How are you feeling? Any unusual headaches, blurred vision, whiplash?” She shook her head whispering her ‘no’ on a hoarse through, and you felt awful for what she’d had to endure today, the rhythmic pattern of her hand rubbing circles over her stomach, soothing you both, and she traced the flashlight with her eyes just as commanded, and there was no delayed reaction in her responses either, all showing up with a good sign. “How about the baby, anything you want to ask?”

“No, I know my little one is alright.” She cracked a smile now, and you raised a brow at her, the hand on her stomach leaving her bump to take your wrist, pushing her cardigan out of the way until just a cotton t-shirt was covering her, and she placed your palm flat over her skin. You waited for a second, before a sharp jolt pressed to your palm, and she winced a little, the hard kick from within making you chuckle. “He’s doing just fine. If anything, he’s mad he didn’t get his lunch yet, we had reservations that we’ve missed.”

“Well, you’ve got a little fighter in there, huh?”

“You can say that again.” She teased, wrapping herself back up warmly, and you did a quick scan over what of her you could see.

“My boy is going to be a football star with energy like that.” The father grinned, wheezing a little on his words as he pushed himself up to sit a little straighter, and your attention turned to him. Before you could move onto him, though, a hand was wrapping around your forearm, tugging you back slightly, and you turned to face Thomas. He pulled you aside, to the edge of the elevator, as much privacy as you were going to get, but his back was to the family, leaning down low, and voice barely a whisper;

“We’re not going to be able to get her in a harness. You’re going to have to climb back up on your own with the mother and the girl, and come back to me with the harnesses.”

It was a reasonable decision, but the longer you waited, the more at risk of a concussion the father was growing to, the cut on his had needing attending to as blood beaded along his hairline and dripped in a single steady path along his skin, a red trail left in its wake before it was sliding down his neck and into the fabric of his shirt, his head leaning a little to the side.

“No, I think you have to be the one to go.”

He shook his head, a frown taking over his lips. “No, no, absolutely not. I can’t leave you down here witho-” Your hand found his wrist, wrapping around it delicately and squeezing a little, bringing him to silence as he glanced down, before his eyes were searching through yours as he tried to understand. “You’re terrified, though.”

“I know, but I’m saving lives, remember?” The edges of his lips flicked up a little, a sigh through his nose as his jaw clenched, before he was looking over his shoulder to the father as you nodded your head a little. “He needs medical attention, and you need to take the girl and the mother back up. I’ll wait right here, and you just get back to me as soon as you can.”

“I don’t want to leave you here alone.”

“I’ll be fine, I swear.” He didn’t look convinced, watching as your hands went to the straps of your harness, beginning to undo them as you looked down, trying to work them all out. He sighed, his own hands moving to begin undoing the clips and seals quickly, helping you to loosen the safety equipment, until it could drop down your arms and pool at the floor. Stepping out of it, you gave a final squeeze to his arm, nodding your head. “I got this.”

“I know you do, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

You grinned a little, stepping away from him, and the mother looked between you both, worry in her eyes, and you let Thomas do the explaining once again, as he loosened all of the straps and adjusted the harness to be able to take her weight securely without harming the baby she was growing.

As soon as she was fastened into it, he was pulling on her rope, fastening his hands and crouching down to be able to give her a boost, lifting her up to be able to climb out from the hatch and onto the roof of the elevator. Her footsteps were loud and clanging for a moment, before they were gone, and she was clearly on her way of climbing up back to safety, taking your only escape route with her, and you felt like you were going to suffocate on your fears.

Thomas’ gaze caught yours, worried and unsure, his jaw dropping, but there was nothing he could say, knowing that this was the best way to go about it, and instead, he dropped his head in a single nod.

“I’ll be back for you real soon, alright?”

You gave him the most convincing smile you could muster, before he was telling the little girl to jump up, lifting her until she could sit on the edge of the box, and he followed as soon as she was clear, her legs out of the way. As he jumped, the box creaked a little, the force of his movements making it shake, and your eyes went wide, body tensing up, fear once again surging through your system, before Thomas was disappearing too.

The pair lingered for an extra few moments, and you knew that he was making sure the girl was properly attached to him, all secures done up tightly, before their footsteps faded too, and you were left alone, nobody to catch you this time.

Taking a seat on the floor beside the father, his eyes studied you for a tense moment, before he was offering you a supportive smile. “Don’t worry, kiddo, I’m just as scared as you are.”

You offered him the most reassuring look you could, trying to use it for your own relaxation too, and you started by running your hand gently along the back of his neck, a hiss leaving his lips as you did, and you paused all movements.

“Sorry, your hands are cold.”

“You’re lethal, do you know that?” You mumbled, lips quirking up at the sides, and you shook your head, your fingers twitching against his neck as you got back to work, and he let out a weak chuckle. “No more noises like that unless you’re in pain, or you know something wrong, alright?”

He closed his eyes, head barely moving in a nod, but it was enough to secure his confirmation, and you began the movement of your fingers along his neck once again. He didn’t make those sounds, keeping his promise, but he did wince and pull the occasional faces as you moved, the swelling frowning around the tissue and the tense feeling under the tips of your fingers being slightly concerning, but not enough to be an immediate concern. When you were finished, you placed a palm on the back of his neck, cupping carefully and lifting your thumb to press into the back of his head.

Pulling his head forwards, you placed the softly cushioned support of the neck brace behind his head, the plastic holding strong as you lay his head back into it and as you released him, finding it holding secure, you brought the front around carefully. The straps hung loose, and you adjusted it under his chin, holding his head up at the correct angle, and just like it always did with patients, a small sigh of relief left him he was no longer tasked with holding up the weight of his own head.

Placing it over his shoulders, you tightened the straps, fastening them correctly, and letting out a little sigh as one job was checked off of your list. You moved onto testing his reactions next, and bringing up the flashlight to look into his eyes, studying him. His reactions were slower than you would have liked, his pupils dilating with a paused reaction and it was sluggish in his movements, but he was able to clearly react to the light, tracing it in all dimensions, and to read the title of the notice on the other side of the elevator clearly, no blurring present.

Lifting your gaze to the cut across his forehead, you pushed back the slightly blood-matted hair of his fringe, dirty-blonde hair going a murky red-brown at the tips, and you lifted it out of the way, tucking it back in hopes that it would stay, the strands sticking up unevenly.

Pressing around the edges, and watching the consistency and speed of the blood flow, it wasn’t too bad, slow and somewhat clotted as it tried to repair itself, darker in colour as the fresh blood under the surface began to flow the way it should, and it was simply a laceration.

“Skin wound, nothing too serious. I’ll get it cleaned up for you, won’t even need stitches. Looks way worse than it is.”

“Stings like a bitch, though.”

“Well, you’re not going to like this, then.” You warned him, holding up the small foil packet with an antiseptic wipe sealed inside of it, and tearing it open. Letting the wrapper flutter away to the floor, a loud groan left his lips, ones that tails of into a whiny noise as you wiped over his skin, his hands becoming fists by his sides, before he bit down on his tongue to try and contain the noises, lips sealing shut, and a grunt rounding it out. “I’m sorry, Mr, uh..”

“You can just call me Clint.”

“I’m sorry, Clint. It’s not all that fun, but it’s a hell of a lot worse than a skin infection, that’s for sure. You’d hate it if this thing got gross and had to be scraped clean.” He grimaced a little at the idea, and you knew the feeling. On more than one occasion, you’d been called out to a call for a person who hadn't called for an original injury, and were now at risk of collapsing, passing out and omitting and sometimes even spasming when the infection got too bad. You hated those trips, when you arrived and tried to work out what was wrong, only to find a finger on one hand completely discoloured and flowing with pus from a simple cooking accident, or a scratch from a pet that hadn't been cared for and was now oozing and bruised. “All done, now, okay?”

You cleared down along his skin, doing the best you could to wipe the dried blood away from his skin and help him to feel a little bit cleaner, and he mumbled a ‘thanks’ as you did. Putting down the wipe and searching through the small plastic box on the floor that you had open, you found the half-empty and folded tube of cream to apply to it, squeezing some onto the tip of your finger, and warming it by rubbing it between your thumb and forefinger to warm it, before smoothing the healing solution over his skin.

Just as you were screwing the top back on, you flinched, pausing for a second as you tried to listen out to see whether you’d heard correctly, and much more clearly this time, your name was bouncing from the walls of the elevator shaft.

Peeling your gloves from your hands and dropping them down to the floor in a ball, you studio up, brushing the dust staining your pants away from your knees, and moving to stand underneath the hatch in the elevator roof.

“Thomas?”

“Yep, that’s me.” You squinted as bright light flashed in your eyes, the light swinging a little from side to side as Thomas moved, but as you peered out into the darkness, you couldn't see anything except for the swinging little spot of the torch. “How’s he lookin’ in there? He going to be able to get in a harness?”

“It’s not ideal, but I think if we climb carefully, we’ll be just fine.” Your voice cracked a little with the sudden shout, but you offered the man a small smile, turning to look at him. “We’re good, right. Clint?”

“We’re great, kiddo.” He mumbled, holding up a weak hand with a thumb stuck up, and you grinned, a reassuring nod for both of you.

“Glad to hear it.” The torch disappeared from your sight once again, and you figured he was looking up, back to the elevator shaft entrance that was obscured from your view, and you twisted your head away as he looked back, the light catching your eyes again, stinging at your retinas. “You’ve both done real good today, we’re almost through with it all. I just need you to come out and grab the harness that Brenda is lowering down beside me, so you can drop it through the hatch.”

“Uh, come out as in on top of the elevator?”

“Can you handle that? I’m only two or three floors away, but if you can get yourself roped up first, it’ll save a lot of time.” It made sense, it was logical, and you didn’t want to be down here any longer than necessary, because, despite the bravery taking you over, you were still in a broken metal box that was hanging precariously at thirteen floors above where it should be, with no safety measures in operation.

“I can do it.”

He gave some kind of reply, something you didn’t catch as you stared up at the entrance of the hatch, the sighs around you becoming clearer as you began to notice the grungy grey walls that were coming into clarity as Thomas’ silhouette got closer and closer to you. Lifting your hands up, you were only a few inches shy of the roof, and pushing off of the floor, the elevator creaked a little in a way that made your stomach twist, but you gripped onto the edge, and you were able to hold on.

As you swung in the air, it wasn’t too much to handle, but your arms trembled as you tried to pull yourself up, not having enough strength to do so, and you dropped back down, the box around you rattling as you did, a grunt leaving your lips as a shock ran along your leg, a jolt of pain at landing on it awkwardly, a flash of heat following it.

“What did you just do?”

“I tried to climb out?” You shouted back, not understanding the rushed sound to his voice, before there was a loud screeching sounding out, and the ground beneath you moved by a few inches, before coming to another solid stop, your arms flying out around you in a panic.

“Don’t move, okay? Don’t move even a step!”

“I’m not! I don’t think I could, even if I wanted to at this point!” There was a shake in your voice, nausea filling you once again and your entire body was tensed painfully tight, fear taking over again. “What’s happening?”

“It shifted. The movements made it come loose, but it's alright.” He was closer, voice no longer needing to shout as much as he near you, and you could now pick out the colours on the logo of his shirt, and the outlines of his features, close enough now that you could speak without shouting. “Just stay real still, and it’s going to be just fine.”

“Okay.” You took a shaky breath, running your breathing routines in your head as you tried to calm yourself down, and you turned on your spot, slowly and carefully to face your patient. “We’re okay. We’ll be fine.”

“Yes, we will.” He sounded just as scared as you, but the fatherly-instinct within him was prompting him to calm you, even though that was what you should be doing for him, and you hummed.

What couldn't have been anything longer than a minute passed you by, before the box you were in was creaking again, a shudder running under your feet that travelled along your spine, chilling your blood instantly in your veins, and your head snapped up. “Thomas?”

“It’s moving again, I’m ri-”

The box shifted, dropping once again, and you felt bile rise in your throat as your feet left the ground for a moment, feeling the air whipping around you.

There was no sound, you couldn't even muster a scream, the entire event happening so quickly that you barely even had time to process it as the fear in your body made you feel like you were blacking out. Your grip on everything slipped away, the lights inside of the box flashing, and then, just like that, you were finding gravity once again.

You collided with the floor roughly, the side of your body aching as you hit against it, the side of your head throbbing angrily only a split second later, and your vision was spotting. It was like a weight sitting on your chest, unable to breathe, fingertips digging into the floor as you tried to support yourself, and push yourself up to sitting up. Your ears were ringing a little, your hand coming up to smack at the side of your head as you knocked yourself back to consciousness and forced your senses to realign, shaking off the dizziness to look around.

Clint had keeled over, eyes wide as he now lay on the floor, his eyes searching for yours, and a groan left you as you rolled over onto your hands and knees, gasping and spluttering for breath as your head spun, an array of different aches raising along your body, and you made your way over to him. Kneeling back and sitting on your heels, you adjusted him carefully, laying him on his back and thank your earlier self that you’d already applied a neck brace to the man, keeping him safe there, and he lay out, staring up at the dimly flickering lights.

“Thomas?” Words came out croaky, your throat sore and dry, the pain of holding in tears as you tried to be the strong one making it painful to talk, and you cleared your throat, trying again to call out to him. “Lieutenant?”

“Oh, thank fucking God. Are you okay?” There was a panicked rush to his voice, and you patted yourself down a little, running your gaze over the man before you, and licking at dry lips to stop them from cracking.

“We’re both still in one piece.” He was far away once again, the light dimmer and his voice more distant, and it only scared you more, making you feel alone, and like you were sitting on a ticking time bomb. “How far did we drop?”

“Uh..” He paused, the lights flashing around the tunnel for a moment, before it was disappearing again. “You’re somewhere between the sixth and seventh floor.”

“Okay, how long until you get to us?”

“I can’t.” The silence was thick between you, the tone in his voice conveying exactly how he felt, and it matched your own mood exactly. Helpless, scared, alone, frustrated, the list could go on, and you pressed down roughly with your nails into your palms, hands shaking as you tried to hold it together. “The ropes can’t get that far down. “Minho and Fry are going to pull me back up, Newt is on his way to the sixth floor, and so are the rest of the truck and squad team. We’re going to have to pull down the wall, okay? They’re already on their way.”

“What am I supposed to do?”

“Just hold on, and be brave. Can you do that? For me?” You absolutely could not, everything inside of you was rattled and terrified, and you were barely holding it together, but you didn’t want him panicking either, and so you held the trembling in your body off long enough to give him a smooth response;

“Yeah. I’ll manage. Just hurry, okay?”

There was a soft chuckle, empty and weak but it was there, and he agreed, the sound barely reaching your ears as it made its way down the dark elevator shaft. “I’m already on my way to come and get you, I promise.”

Looking back down and around you, the possessions from your bag were scattered around, and you lowered yourself down to the hands and knees, inching your way down slowly until you could reach out around yourself, scarcely crawling at all when you needed to, until you were beginning to gather up the possessions that belonged there. Packing away the kit, you sealed it all up, making sure you didn’t construct any sudden movements, and beginning to pack up your bag.

There were muffled voices on the other side of the wall, what you assumed would be loud shouts was almost a whisper through the layers of metal, concrete and scaffolding, but the cracking and splintering of drywall soon followed it, and you let out a sigh of relief. Packing away the various containers and boxes inside of your bag, you zipped it up, pushing it over to sit in the corner beside where the doors would open, and rocking back to sit with your legs folded before you, hands holding you up.

A hand felt out along the floor, a calloused palm patting the back of your hand gently, before settling over it to squeeze, and the dam inside of you broke. A sob left you, loud and freeing as the tears you’d been blinking away finally formed fully, and leaked along your cheeks in large droplets, a shake moving along your entire body as you did.

He squeezed once again, sitting with you quietly as you gasped for breath, letting out the terrifying mixture of emotions with you. He was shushing you quietly, and you wanted to laugh at how the roles had been reversed, how it as supposed to be you comforting and helping him, but you couldn't help him, breaking down with the overwhelming terror of the situation you were trapped in.

The sounds outside of the elevator were getting louder, voices becoming clearer, and you could hear the clattering made by chunks of the wall being ripped away and scattered across the tiled flooring of the executive building, but you didn’t care, because you had been keeping everything bottled up for so long that you were unable to hold it back any longer, and your body shook with the intensity of your emotions.

Your lungs were once again burning for breath, head spinning and heart racing and you took gasping intakes of air, swallowing down only to splutter and hiccup as you tried to exhale, and the man beside you never said a word, his hand rubbing soothingly over yours beside you on the floor as he tried to remain steady, much in the same way you were.

“I’m so sorry.” Your words were broken up and stuttered, and you tried to get a grip on yourself, wiping at your cheeks and hating how your eyes were stinging, throat raw, feeling like you’d swallowed a ball of fire from the burning within, and you felt like claustrophobia might be a fear you now had to add onto your list, the walls of the box seeming to get smaller and smaller.

Like some kind of blessed relief, there was banging against the doors of the elevator, a tap of a knock, and Chuck’s voice was ringing through to you loud and clear, asking if you were alright. Leaning forwards and pressing your hand to the cold metal, a chuckle of ecstatic relief was released.

“We’re okay, Chuck. You guys planning to get these doors open for us soon?”

There was no verbal response, but instead, a second later, the doors were cracking open, the slight humming of the set of spreaders as it was cracked open, a sliver of natural light piercing through from the lobby, and you caught sight of is flushed cheeks and darker brown curls, a worried face that was trying to ease you by smiling. “Soon enough for you?”

You nodded your head, before he was being pushed aside, blonde coming into view, and as the gap widened enough, you could make him out. His brows were furrowed, a guilty look on his face as he met your gaze, and you shook your head. “Don’t do that to yourself, Newt.”

You could see the cogs turning in his head, one of his hands slipping up to rest on the edge of the elevator, his head at the same height as yours when you leaned down, only the bottom third of the elevator actually making it onto the sixth floor, the rest still raised above. Reaching down and resting your hand over his, he frowned even further, the gap almost wide enough for you to get to work, but the elevator was shuddering a little again at the action, and you pushed Newt’s hand away, just in case, squeezing it before letting go.

“Just so you know, I love you, too. You’re the best friend, like, ever. Even if sometimes I hate it.” His lips flicked up at that, and he nodded his head, before you were glancing away just for a second, he whispered conversation only needing to be shared between the two of you. Grabbing your med-bag and pushing it through the door gap, he took it, accepting it and dropping or down. “I’m going to need the board, and you need to be ready to go. As soon as he’s out, get to the ambo’, okay?”

“You’ll call once you’re out too, right? So I know you’re okay?”

“Yeah, I will.” You swore it, and he backed away, preparing the blackboard to be slid up to you, holding it over his head as the gap finally became wide enough, and you backed out of the space to be able to receive it. As you rolled out of the way, the elevator creaked again, dropping a couple more centimetres, and you swallowed thickly, annoying the straps as quickly as you could.

There was so much commotion going on outside of the elevator, your mind spinning as you tried to focus, and you heard Brenda and Gally arriving, clearly having pulled out their anchor and received their ropes, and you laid the plastic board out carefully beside Clint.

“Okay, there’s normally two of us for this, so I’m going to need your help here, okay?” He hummed, his eyes finding yours, a look flashing through that told you he understood, and you placed a hand flat under his shoulder and hip. “I’m going to roll you, and I need you to tense up, hold it for as long as you can, and I’ll push the board under you, then, when you roll back, try to shuffle onto it, okay?”

He did as told, his body going tense, despite the pain it caused as he winced, and you rolled him over onto his side as much as you could alone. Freeing one hand from his body, you pushed the board under him, and as he rolled back down, he groaned, but the shuffle had worked, because he sat squarely in the middle of the bard where he should be, and you wasted no time.

Pulling the first strap over his waist tightly, you did it up, sealing him down, and moving to the one over his chest. Once there were secure, you wrapped one over the top of his head grinning a little as he stared up at you, holding his head still, before you were tracing along his feet and arms, doing up every fasten you could think of for his safety. “You ever been crowd surfing, Clint?”

“Can’t say that I have.”

“Well, there’s a first time for everything.” Your joke was well-received, barely a second of silence before he was letting out a pained chuckle, and you looked back to the door. Gally and Winston were first, stood on either side and ready to receive the board, lifting him carefully above their heads to lower him down, and Newt had raised the trolley up as high as it could go in order to collect him.

You held in your grunt of pain at the exertion of sliding the board across the floor, hearing the scraping of the plastic along the ground, before the elevator was shaking again. Their hands sealed around the end, and the pressure was taken off of you as it began to inch out further and further again, letting them pull it as more bodied came to join, more hands stabilising the mix, and the movement at the end of the hall caught your attention.

The opposite elevator opened up, carrying the final three bodies; Minho, Frypan and Thomas. You could at least breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that the rest of your team were all safe, with their feet flat on the ground and not dangling precariously hundreds of feet off the ground. The former two raced forwards, each hooking onto the stretcher board and helping to pull it the rest of the way out, and then, he was disappearing from your sights, strapped to the stretcher and ready to be wheeled away.

A final glance from Newt, a nod of your head, and then honey-coloured eyes were filling your vision as Thomas popped up in front of you. The sudden change it weight and all the added movement was making it unstable once again, his jaw dropping, mind seemingly going blank, and you gripped onto the edges of the doors as it trembled, tipping a little to one side as metal ground against concrete, the ropes on one side of the elevator beginning to give way and snap, the subtle sounds of the metal fraying sounding in your ears as small cables began to tinker on the metal roof as they fell free.

“You need to get out, like, now.”

You could only nod, trying to adjust yourself on the tilted angle to swing your legs through the gap, and you got one out, before the lift was jerking again, dropping down to become even, and the metal was caving under its own weight. “Oh, fuck it.”

A large hand found your ankle, tugging you forwards, your body jerking at the motion and the lift moved too, but before it could drop away, another hand was finding your waist, tugging you free, and you tumbled forwards enough to stumble as you dropped down the gap, but you never landed on the ground. That same hand dragged along your body as he fell back a little from the impact, holding you up the hand from your calf found your back and the hand from your hip was circling under your arms to hold onto you tightly, staggering backwards and away from the danger.

When your feet found the floor again, your toes were brushing against it, before your entire body was sagging into Thomas’, knees going weak, and you were relying upon him to hold you up everything seemed to go numb all at once. Your head fell forwards, too heavy to even hold up as your eyes fluttered closed, and your forehead pressed into his shoulder as you let him support you entirely, legs buckling underneath you.

The arms around you only tightened, the one under your arms relaxing to simply hold you, fingers spreading as his hands sat between your shoulder blades, and he rubbed slowly, the hug unexpected, but exactly what you needed, and your hands moving around him too, bunching in the back of his shirt as you took a shuddering breath and held on for dear life.

“Told you I was coming to get you.”

You could only laugh, a pathetic sound that barely made itself known in response to the words he’d whispered in your ears, but it didn’t matter, because you were soon being pulled back, Thomas’ hold on your dropping down to simply having a hand settled on your lower back as Brenda cupped your cheeks, wiping away any residual wetness sphere with her thumbs, before shaking her head.

“You scared the shit outta’ me.”

“Yeah, I wasn’t all that fond of the experience, either.” You muttered, a wave of laughter going up around you, from the other team members, and you jumped a little at the creaking of metal once again, the box dropping a foot or so further down. Reaching behind your back, to the hand that was still rubbing motions that were barely detectable into your skin, you took his wrist, pulling it away from you as he paused upon the contact.

You couldn’t keep up with the conversation around you, questions and observations about it all being thrown at you, but you could focus on the way Thomas had been able to calm you down so well before, and how you needed a little more of that now. Taking his hand in your own, just like he had done when you’d still been in your harness, you breathed a sigh of relief as his fingers wrapped around your palm in welcome return.

Closing your locker door, it was with a mildly relieved sigh as you did, the shift coming to a close, and you were ready to just relax. It wasn’t a hard day, in fact, since talking to Thomas and clearing things up between you both, these last few shifts had been better than ever.

You no longer felt like you were walking on eggshells with someone who hated you and may blow up at any moments, but instead, you were simply dealing with the usual precarious balancing act that came along with not quite fitting into somewhere, being a hexagon trying to fit into an octagon-shaped hole. Almost the right number of angles and edges, but not quite. No, this shift had just been particularly tiring because you’d been required to walk up eleven flights of stairs to get to a patient in an apartment building where the elevator was broken, you were wearing new work shoes that were pinching just a little, and your bra strap was digging in just slightly.

You couldn't wait to get home, actually.

Your legs ached, your shoulders felt chafed, and if you didn’t get these shoes off soon, you’d have blisters. As others moved around the locker room, you bid soft goodbye’s to them all when they voiced their own to you, your eyes finding Chuck on the way out, and watching as he scrolled through his music choices to set up his next playlist for the walk home.

Your jaw dropped, intending to call out to him, but Brenda was soon sidling up by his side, the two sparking a conversation, and you didn’t bother, not wanting to interrupt the pair as their chatter began. You were reaching the open doors to the bay, looking out to the roads as you prepared to round the building and find the carpark, when your name was being called out, loudly, echoing around the walls of the garage and causing you to halt in your steps, turning around to see Minho.

Newt was by his side, the blond waving a little as he disappeared back into the station or finish up whatever he was doing, and you waited for a second as the darker-haired man caught up to you, grinning through the pant his short jog had created, one hand coming up to adjust the bag on his shoulder as he stopped by your side.

“Hey, can I walk you to your car?” You raised a brow at him, looking out at the scarcely fading daylight of the day shift coming to an end in the early evening, and the minimally short walk it was to the parking lot, which you could already see through the thin lining of trees. “We can chat, I have a question for you.”

That made more sense, and you nodded your head, taking a step in that direction as he matched your space, your feet meeting the cool concrete outside of the firehouse. “You know I can’t give you drugs, right? Wish I could, but it’s totally illegal, and very unethical. You’ll have to just drink away your sorrows like the rest of us.”

He scoffed, staring at you for a second, before letting out the laugh that he was holding in, his shoulder bumping a little against yours. “Damn, and here I was planning to build my pharmaceutical black-market empire solely on your cooperation.”

“Damn, if only I didn’t have a moral compass.” You sighed, gravel crunching under your feet and his as the two of you crossed over the pathway marking the official property, and the parking lot, only a few cars left from your team, all the others belonging to the new rotation who had just arrived. “So, what’s up? You got an injury, or something?”

“No, nothing like that.” He shrugged, following you along as you neared your vehicle, and he considered his next words carefully, it seemed. “I’m having a little get together tonight. Just a squad night, and I remember Chuck saying something about a movie night, I figured we’d just pick that back up. It’s going to be at my place, most of the team are coming.”

You reached your car, silence falling between the two of you as you unlocked it, and dumped your bag down onto the passenger seat. You thought about it all, who might be there, and the implications of actually going over to someone’s house. That was personal, to invite someone into your home, and you weren’t sure you were ready - or if you ever would be - to have someone from the team over to your apartment. In fact, you couldn't remember the last time you’d had a friend over to your place. Then, it clicked a little, remembering the conversation you’d witnessed taking place before Minho had joined you. “Did Newt put you up to this?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, did Newt tell you that you had or invite me to this?” You repeated, and he bit on his lower lip for a second, his eyes dropping from yours.

“No, not technically. I brought up the idea of doing something with the team, and he said ‘well, you’re inviting (Y/N) and Chuck too, right?’ and I absolutely was already planning on inviting you.” Your eyes narrowed on him a little, and an honest look flashed over his features, where cheeky and teasing expressions normally lay. “I swear it.”

You considered it for a few seconds longer, but you knew that if you turned this event down, even if the idea of seeing your colleagues outside of work still made you anxiety spike high, that you’d never be invited to anything again if you didn’t accept, and so you gave in. “Sure, text me your address?”

“Great, come by anytime after seven, we’ll probably start Chuck’s movie at about eight.”

He gave you a thumbs-up as he backed away to his own car, and you wondered for a second whether he even had your number, but he was walking away, already busy texting at his phone again as he left, and you figured he would simply get it from Newt if need be. Settling down into your car and starting it up, the radio came on in a loud blast, making you jump slightly and fumble to turn it down, shaking the shock from your body before setting off into drive.

As you drove along, you couldn't help but let your mind wander to who would be there. You knew Minho had mentioned Chuck, and you desperately hoped the young boy would be there because he was the first of the team who had welcomed you, and was so far the person who made you the most comfortable of them all, because you felt as though you fitted in with him the best. He understood you, despite your differences. You were a girl who’d had too many houses, and he was a boy who had barely seen one yet, and so the struggle of being outsiders seemed to match up perfectly.

He was funny, and reliable, and you knew you’d feel at least slightly better if he was there. You hoped Brenda would be, too. Something along the line between camaraderie and friendship had been growing between you both, and you definitely didn’t want to be the only chick there, because then they’d want o have guy talk, and you’d end up sitting silently and trying to slip away mentally to your happy place as you died on the inside a little.

Of course, Newt would be there, but he was one of the most sociable people you’d ever met, and so you couldn't exactly rely on him to spend the entire evening by your side just because you still felt like you were in a room full of strangers when your anxiety got the better of you. Even if you were certain he would if you asked him to.

Pulling out onto the highway, your music clicked off, your ringtone taking over a second later through the car’s speakers, and your brows furrowed as you looked down, a number you didn’t recognise, and you freed up one hand from the steering wheel to click accept on it once you were comfortably within a line.

“Hey, girl!”

“Hi, Gina Linetti.” You scoffed, hearing the chuckle of your coworker through the phone, and making a note to save Brenda’s number to your phone. “What do you need? I’m not turning back around to the fire station. I’m, like, five minutes from home. If you’re not dying, it can wait until next shift. Or, go to the hospital, I’ll text Derek and let him know you’re on your way.” You snickered at your own joke, and you gasped a little.

“Who’s Derek?”

“The doctor from Aaron’s case.” You flicked on your indicators, moving across the lanes slowly toward the exit as it began to near, and you waited as she thought on it, before gasping.

“You mean the hot doctor?”

“I guess.” You shrugged to yourself, before realising she couldn't’ see you, and before she could ask more, she was cursing loudly at someone else on the roads, clearly having called you from her car, and your eyes widened a little at the road rage she exhibited, trying to curb your humour in an attempt not to laugh.

“Fuckin’ idiots on the roads.” She huffed through the crackly speakers, and you grinned a little peeling off down an exit road and following the path you’d learned well toward the place you were now calling home. “Anyway, I figured I could come pick you up for Minho’s later? You’re drinking, that's not up for debate, and so you can’t take your car and try to drive home afterwards.”

“I didn’t know this was a drinking kind of thing.”

“It’s Minho’s event, of course, it’s a drinking kind of thing.” She spoke the words as thought you were supposed to know that, as though you knew him well enough, or had hung out with him for long enough that you’d know what a gathering hosted by each member of the team would be like. She seemed to sense the tension, clearing her throat to brush over it. “You don’t need to bring anything, just dress comfy for a night of movies and snacks, that’s it. I’ll pick you up in, like, two hours?”

“You’ll need my address for that.”

“Then you’d better give it to me.” She teased, making your roll your eyes fondly, and the streetlights around you were just beginning to warm up as dusk began to fade into the sky, muted shades of pastel purples and pinks coming in as the sun set, setting an iridescent backdrop for grey clouds. “Text it to me, and I’ll see you soon.”

“Cool.”

She hung up after that, the music clicking back on, and as the conversation ended, you couldn't help but feel like you’d somehow been conned into something, Brenda having had you agreeing to carpooling and drinking and a longer night than planned before you'd even known it, smooth and subtle to get her way, leaving your head spinning. As you pulled into the underground parking lot of the apartment building, you sat in the seat for a second, staring out in confusion at the other cars as you wondered what the hell had happened.

Less than an hour ago, you’d been planning to come home, make some pasta, have a bath and maybe do some reading, a night spent by yourself was the normal, all you had planned, and yet somehow, you now had plans to get tipsy and watch a movie with your team, and you were unprepared. The smell of vomit was still lingering on you from your latest patient and had greasy hair, the wash load you would have done later tonight or tomorrow for your next shift a couple of days would now be crammed into two hours; you had to wash up, make sure there was money in your wallet for a taxi later, find some alcohol from somewhere, get your uniform into and out of the washer to dry, all for plans you didn’t know you had until now.

You bit your lip, shaking your head, snatching your keys from the ignition and getting on with your preparations. You had a lot to do.

The second that you were pushing the door open with your shoulder, you kicked off your shoes, leaving them abandoned at the side of the door as you pulled back and took in the apartment. It wasn’t too messy, but it was another chore you’d been intending to get done tonight, so that you could make the most of your day off, and you let out a heavy sigh as you took it all in. Your first stop was your shower, bag dropping from your shoulder to the floor much like your shoes, abandoned to be sorted later, and you stripped of your clothes as you walked, shirt being unbuttoned and belt loosened, until you were standing in your underwear in the laundry room and stripping it all off in front of the washing machine.

It wasn’t ready to be set off yet, but you needed to shower first, and so your first call was there, tugging the band loose from your hair and running your fingers through it as your ponytail finally came loose, strands sitting awkwardly and messy atop your head in their fixed position. A text on your phone caught your attention, and you were tempted to ignore it, before realising it was probably Minho texting his address across, and it reminded you to send Brenda your own.

Switching on the warm water, you darted from the room, letting it warm up behind you as you searched for your phone, locating the device on the counter and saving his number to your contacts, replying with a simple ‘thank you’, before sending your own address across to Brenda. She, in turn, replied with a series of smiley emojis that made you laugh a little under your breath, not bothering to respond and putting the phone down.

As you stepped back into the bathroom, you were rubbing at your eyes tiredly and suppressing a yawn, shaking yourself down in an attempt to shake away the work fatigue in order to attend the plans you now had, and make the most of them.

The steam was tempting you in, the heat coming from the water was calling out to you, and as you stepped over the edge of the tub, one leg under the water, before the second was following, pulling your body under the spray and letting the what spread over your skin, a sigh slipping from you. It was relaxing, to be able to physically feel the grime slipping from your skin and down the drain as you cleaned yourself off.

The smell of bile on your skin was replaced with that of fresh and sensual smells from the creamy body wash on your side, perfume style and floral scents, something much more comforting and relaxing and you found your muscles loosening under the spray. You didn’t get to stay in the water as long as you wanted, only long enough to rinse off your hair and settle into a more comfortable state of mind. You were tempted to call it all off, to run a hot bath and put a bathbomb in it, something that would leave your apartment smelling great for hours, but you couldn't, you knew you’d already agreed, and you still had so much to do before Brenda got here.

Hopping out, with a towel wrapped around your body and another around your hair, you didn’t get to spend as long pampering yourself as you wanted to, the sheet mask on your counter that you wouldn't get to use tonight, and your favourite sets of moisturisers next to it, but instead, you had to rush through your routine, making sure your skin was taken care of, before combing through the lengths of your hair and leaving it untangled around your shoulders.

With a basket under your arm, you dashed throughout the apartment, trying to scoop up all of the old laundry that you had to try and get through, not wanting to start with chores on your day off when you’d intended to use the evening to do it all, and so you were rushing to get it at least started now. Dropping your collection in front of the machine, you sorted through it all, dividing it into piles and making sure your uniform was on the first collection, absolutely ensured to go through.

There was some basic cleaning up to be done, setting off the washer and pulling the door to the laundry room almost shut, hands on towel-covered hips as you stared around the main room, a lived-in mess that wasn’t out of control, but somehow, the time had slipped so far past you that you felt as if the clock was spinning at double speeds, less than an hour left until your friend was due here, and you let out a loud groan.

You figured that getting dressed might be a wise place to start, drying off damp strands of hair before choosing the most relaxed but still reasonably appropriate outfit that you could. Something that wouldn't make you feel embarrassed or insecure, but also met the requirements of ‘comfy and cosy’ for a night of drinking and snacking. With dry hair that wasn’t bothered to be pulled back, phantom pains along your scalp just at the mere idea of being slicked back once again, you were left to try and get some tidying done before it was time for you to leave.

You skidded around a little on the polished wood floors under you, socks making them slippery, and you started in the kitchen, shoving all the pots and plates that you’d neglected to take care of into the dishwasher, and setting it off on an extra-long cycle to get at the tougher spots that would usually require scrubbing if you did it in the sink.

While it ran, you plugged your phone in for some last-minute charging, your favourite songs beginning to emanate around the room and fill the house with sound, letting you sing along quietly under your breath as you fold your blankets, straightened out the couch cushions, and wiped down the later of dust that was beginning to build. A lamp lightbulb needed replacing, and so did the canister in your air freshener, but your phone was repeatedly chiming from the kitchen counter you'd left it on, and the sound of a car’s horn came from the street outside of your house a moment later as you realise your friend must’ve arrived.

Peering out of your window, your suspicions were confirmed, catching her head moving as she made to get out of her car, pulled up haphazardly onto the sidewalk to wait for you, and you decided that everything else could wait until tomorrow. A quick wash over room spray over it all, and the rest of your tasks needed to be left. You hadn't managed to rustle up any drinks from your cupboards, or nothing appropriate to take with you, anyway, but you were certain you’d be able to swing by a store on the way, or you’d share whatever Newt had brought and send him half the money for it.

Tugging on a pair of sneakers and cursing under your breath as the horn sounded again, your phone still chiming, you hopped around a little to pull the shoes on, grabbing a hoodie to pull over your t-shirt from the coat hooks by your door, the first jumper your hand found, and bringing it over your head. Snatching up your phone, keys, and wallet, you flicked at the lights and left the building, the catch on the food locking your apartment up nicely.

The light had faded since you had gotten home, a crisp night chill began to seep in, even more so in the main lobby as you stepped out of the elevator, seeing her parked up front, and your jaw dropped as you took her in. She looked up, sensing the movement, and grinned at you, your eyes canning along her body, before you were scowling a little.

“Bren! What the fuck?”

“What the fuck; what? Hurry up!” She leaned down and pressed the horn again, only making you scowl at her more, as she assumed that was what had you all wound up.

“You said to dress casual and comfy!” You hissed, nearing her and crossing your arms over your chest as you felt a little uncomfortable now in a hoodie and some soft cotton pants, something that was a cross between leggings and sweatpants, and you couldn't remember what they had been called.

“This is what I wear to be comfy!”

“That is what I would wear to a club!” You stared at her, the cropped tank top and the skinny jeans and the heels that were over her knees, and you let out a huff. “Hey, I can’t be held responsible. Have you seen my ass? I gotta’ flaunt it while I still got it. Get in the car, you look fine, everyone else will be the same.”

“If they’re not, I will legitimately go home.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” She grinned, slamming the passenger door as you got inside, grinning at you through the window before making her way around to the driver’s side, and something about her attitude was already making you regret your decision. She seemed like a hugely reckless driver, and you fastened your belt up quickly, and held onto it as she peeled away from the sidewalk of your building. “We have to go to the store too.”

“Why?” You question, slumping in your seat as she picked up the speeds a little more, and with her swerving in traffic and swearing lowly at other drivers who were actually following the speed limits, your suspicions were confirmed.

“Because all Minho ever has in is guy things for team nights. It’s always nachos and beer and pretzels, and pickles. Now I have another chick, we can get good snacks and I have someone to share it with.” Your brows furrowed, thinking back on a conversation you’d had with Thomas only a week prior, before disappearing to find your team, who’d already claimed a table at the bar, and all of your questions had been washed away.

“Wasn’t the paramedic before me a chick, though?”

Brenda’s face screwed up into a grimace, and she checked her mirrors, searching around the parking lot of the store, and you yelped with a little shock as she spun the car and a jerky angle into a parking space, reversing in line with the other vehicles on either side. “Teresa? Yeah, but she didn’t come to these things much. She did once she started dating Thomas, but even when she was there, she wasn’t really there, y’know?”

“So, they were, like, a thing? Serious, and all that?”

Brenda paused for a second, the engine still running, but a look you didn’t recognise crossed over her features as she stared out of the glass, watching others go by for a second and nibbling on her lip. You undid your belt, twisting in your seat a little, and wondered whether you’d crossed a line. “It’s not my place to say.”

Definitely crossed a line, then.

You had no idea how to backtrack, or get out of that situation, gaping a little, before she seemed to sense your discomfort, resetting herself and turning to face you. “I’m thinking white wine, what do you normally drink.”

“Not wine.” You teased, and she scoffed, rolling her eyes a little and killing the engine, before she was getting out of the car and stretching a little.

“Well, you’re gonna’ have to learn to love it, because as my only female friend, you’re the only person I have to do my girly-bucket list with. Like go to fancy cocktails bars and go to a wine tasting event in a fancy dress.”

“I like vodka and mini-golf. Work with what you’re given.”

She beamed, her arm linking through yours as the two of you made you way through crisp evening air toward the doors of the store. “Don’t worry, a few weeks around me and I’ll have you sipping Rioja and getting your nails done, and you’ll never even notice the change.”

“Uh-huh.”

You could fight it all that you liked, but the truth was, you were elated just to know that she considered you a friend close enough to want to do these things with, and that you might be able to finally have an out-of-work friend, too.

You never had anybody to go to nice restaurants with when you drove past them, or concerts when your favourite bands were in town, or even just someone to talk to on a lonely night. You wanted friends to buy Christmas presents for and birthdays other than your own to celebrate, and someone to be thankful for at Thanksgiving, and despite how much you’d resisted at first, with every passing week, it seemed more and more like Firehouse ‘21 and the team there were making themselves into that for you, breaking past your defences without even realising they were.

Brenda grabbed a cart from the line-up, the warm air washing over you both as the doors hissed open, and you paused at the entrance, staring around it all in mild awe as you tried to decide where to start.

“Wanna’ get that wine first, then?”

“Yep. The boys’ snacks can wait, I just saw a deal on Twizzlers.” She bolted ahead of you, leaving you in the dust for only a second, before you were forcing your feet into action, and following after her, all but stumbling as you went. She was in the candy aisle when you caught up with her, a packet of strawberry Twizzlers in one hand and raspberry in the other, seemingly weighing out the pros and cons of each one. “Which do you prefer?”

“I like both.” You shrugged, and she turned to look at you, a perfectly done brow raising at you.

“Yes, but which do you prefer?”

You grinned, taking the raspberry ones from her hand, waving it at her for a second, and you dumped it in the cart. The offer was getting a second one free to match, and so she dumped a matching packet of raspberry ones to follow, the two items sliding about in the base of the cart as she pushed a few metres further down the aisle.

“So, I’ll let you pick the wine, since we are having wine. Or, I’ll pick the wine, and you can drink beer with the men.” She gagged a little at the idea, and while neither would be your first choice on drinks, wine was infinitely better than beer. At least it tried to have flavour and be fruity, as opposed to beer, which you felt was more like a bitter assault on your mouth. She added a packet of Hershey’s Kisses to the cart, as well as some Reece’s Pieces and M&Ms. You weren’t sure where the two of you were supposed to put all of this, listening to her talk about snacks all the way around, until she was adding two tubes of Pringles and three packets of potato chips to the cart, placing all her hopes on Minho actually owning the rest of the ingredients to make nachos, and something within you doubted that he would, and so you slipped a jar of salsa dip in there too.

When you finally made it to the drinks aisle, you were staring up at the bottles on the shelf, information underneath like ‘dry’, ‘crisp’, ‘spiced’ and ‘aromatic’ that meant absolutely nothing to you, they all seemed exactly the same, just with different labels. You were relying on her for advice, brushing your hand over various bottles, to see which way she perked up in, up and down, left and right, as you searched for her favourite.

You felt like you were getting somewhere, subtle and discreet ways to find what she really wanted as you had no idea what to pick, when her phone rang, and you paused, turning to look at her as she fished it from her pocket, bringing the screen up to take a look, before answering the call.

“Hi, Min.”

You raised a brow, stepping away from the shelf for a second and trying to offer her a look as though to ask whether something as wrong, your heart dropping a little in your chest at the idea of it being cancelled, because in the short spell of time you’d been shopping with Brenda, you’d found yourself quite looking forward to the evening. Your question seemed to be conveyed well enough, because she shook her head, a small smile on her lips as you waited.

“We’re at the store. We’re, like, twenty minutes late. Relax.”

You were certain that you weren’t, you’d only been here for about twenty minutes, but as you searched for your phone, you found the time to read almost an hour later than when you’d entered, your jaw dropping a little as the time had flown past without you even noticing. The pair of you had bickered playfully all the way around, mumbled girl-talk as you wandered the store, and it wasn’t the same kind of forced conversation you were oh-so-used to providing, but it had been a genuine conversation that you’d enjoyed.

Brenda was chatting with Minho now, a softer smile on her face as the words went hushed, and your lips pursed, trying to hold in your smile as you watched the interaction, the bashful look on her face where she was normally so confident. You instead managed to busy yourself with looking back at the drinks again, trying to work out what any of the words staring back at you meant, and eventually, you settled on a bottle of rosé.

It felt like a middle ground, a compromise between red and white, couldn't be too far wrong, and it promised to be sweet and fruity, and that was probably the bet you were going to get out of the whole situation, so you placed a bottle on it down into the cart. The clinging of glass on metal caught her attention, and she turned around, glancing down at your selection before making a face, that was something you were going to take as mild approval, a mental pat on the back awarded to yourself, and she reached for a second bottle, your laugh muffled behind your hand as you watched her do so.  

“Yeah, okay, we’ll be there in, like, fifteen minutes. Tops.”

She hummed a little longer, Minho still talking on the end of the phone, before she finally hung open, putting away her phone, and pacing her hands on the edge of the cart. “Everything okay?”

“Totally, he just wanted to know when we were going to get there, everyone else has already arrived.” She shrugged it off as you grimaced, guiding the two of you towards the checkouts, and you eyed up all the available spots as you went, trying to decide whether or not it was appropriate for you to mention the little something you’d noticed in that call between her and Minho.

You felt like you were still nothing more than a coworker, but everything about the evening so far had suggested that you were a friend, and that was definitely a friendship kind of topic.

You would never know if you didn’t try, and if she shut you down on it, then you knew where you stood with her, but if you never bothered to try, then you’d never have any friends at all.

“So, you and Minho, huh?”

Her jaw dropped, turning to look at you for a second, before a smirk was taking over her features, and she was staring back ahead, setting herself up on the nearest conveyor-belt and beginning to unpack the groceries, with your help. “That’s nothing particular. We just.. hook up sometimes.”

You gasped, turning to look at her, your hands on your hips as she unpacked the last few items. “You scandalous little thing! With a coworker, no less!”

She feigned the same energy, placing a hand over her heart and the other over her forehead, letting out a heavy breath. “I know, practically sinful, whatever will I do?” The pair of you giggled, the cashier not paying any attention to either of you as the young boy began to check out the items, taking the tag from the bottle of wine and scanning each item through, the two of you trying to pack it all into paper bags before it piled up, keeping up with his speed. “Seriously, though, what do I do?”

“About Minho?”

“Yeah.” She whispered, and you nibbled on your lower lip, watching her punch her PIN into the card machine as she paid for the shopping, one bag in your arms and one in hers as you held onto everything. “It’s been going on or a while, and it’s casual, but, I kinda’ like being around him, all the time.”

She grabbed the receipt, the two of you turning to the door, and only a few steps later, stepping back out into the cold air, headed towards her car. “You like him in a date him kind of way?”

“Maybe.” She sighed glancing over at you for a second, a smile on her lips. “I mean, maybe that’s just the whole post-sex glow thing, and it’s always so normal at work. Normal in a totally-never-seen-you-naked kind of way, as if it never happened, and that feels right, too. I’m a little confused, I guess.”

“Well, maybe, you should just spend some time with him and work it out.” She gave you a look, waving the bag of groceries in her arms, before trying to find her keys to open up the vehicle as you neared it, and you scoffed. “I meant time alone, like, not with the whole team in the same room.”

She rolled her eyes a little, cheeks turning slightly pink as she thought about it, and the conversation seemed to end there, taking the bag from you and placing it into the trunk of her car. As you settled yourself back into the driver’s seat, she was a little more pensive, pulling out of her parking space and setting off on a drive you figured she knew well on her way to Minho’s house, the music of the radio playing to fill a comfortable silence.

It was an area of the city that you were unfamiliar with, not being much of an adventurer, spending most of your time at home when you could, because you never really had a reason to go out. You had nobody to visit, and no friends to take out anywhere, and so you didn't fern explore anywhere that wasn’t in the immediate couple of blocks to where you lived or worked, but now, you felt a little more like you had a reason to be curious about your city.

“He invited me to stay over, tonight.”

You perked up a little bit, shifting in your seta to look at her, and she kept her eyes on the road, but there was a sheepish smile on her face. “Yeah? What did you say?”

“I haven’t decided. I packed a few things in a bag, in case, but I’m not sure.” You glanced into the backseat, not having noticed the small back stashed beside the shopping until now, but a change of clothes and a phone charger was within, presumably with some other things, and you tried to cover up your excitement, bursting with joy for the woman beside you as she possibly took a step towards her happiness.

“You totally should.”

“Yeah?” She muttered, pulling up towards a fancy-looking apartment block, stopping at the barricade displayed underneath and punching in the code, before the barrier was lifting up, allowing you inside. Your building didn’t have that kind of measures on the parking lot, and you were a mix between excited and anxious to see where Minho lived. “What about you, though, how are you going to get home?”

“Not with you, that was for sure. You’re drinking, and you’re already a wild driver.” You teased, hearing her scoff, one hand freeing up to smack at your arm lightly, only furthering your amusement.

“I’m a great driver.”

“Yeah, for Formula One racing, maybe.” She hummed under her breath, rolling her eyes and making a point of swinging in a particularly fast and wide movement into a parking spot, making you squeal as you feared she was going to bump the car on each side or crash the car, and yet somehow, she managed not to do either of those things.  “You’re insane! I was planning to get a taxi, anyway, but now it’s confirmed.”

“I don’t want you getting in a cab alone.”

“I’ll be fine.” You shrugged, and she only stared at you a moment longer, her gaze seemingly getting more intense, and you squirmed a little bit, unclipping yourself and getting out of the car. She followed you, both doors slamming shut, before she was offering you a shopping bag, and changing her tactic from judgemental glares to puppy dog eyes, and you huffed, letting her lock the car and waiting for her to guide the way. “Would it make you feel better if I shared a cab with one of the boys on my way home?”

“It really would.”

“Then, I will. Just for you.” She beamed, blowing you a kiss from a few feet away as she rounded the car, and came up to your side to direct you to the building. There was a simple tune playing in the elevator as you rode up, the metal on the door shining and clean, the walls on either side of you were mirrors, and once you stepped out, the corridor was classy. Not the slightly tacky and vaguely 80’s looking carpet that most apartment buildings bought to line the halls because it as the cheapest option available on mass, but this was sleek, a dark grey colour to match pale grey walls, decorated with soft blue flowers along the way, and dark mahogany doors with golden lettering along each one.

Minho was number fifty-four, and you weren’t even sure which floor you were on but it was high up, you could tell from the view at the window near the end of the hall, and you were almost certain that the price of this apartment must be double the price simply because of the view. The door swung open only moments after Brenda had knocked, because Minho was standing before you both, and you groaned a little as you took him in.

“Do neither of you understand what comfy clothes means?”

Minho looked shocked for only a second, glancing down at himself, a pair of skinny jeans and a jumper that looked like it cost more than your entire outfit did, and he shrugged, making you feel a little insecure in your battered old hoodie that had a hole for a thumb and some loose threads. “This is comfy, thank you very much.”

“Yeah, sure it is.” You mumbled, adjusting the groceries in your arms, and he held the door open for you a little further. Brenda already knew her way around, that much was obvious from the way that she marched straight into the house, loud cheers from somewhere within lighting up from the rest of the team, a chorus of loud shouts and hollers of things along the lines of ‘finally!’ and ‘about time!’ making you grin a little at the group finally being complete. “You want me to just put these in your kitchen, then?”

“Yeah, sounds cool. Just, um, dump your shoes wherever, or keep them on if you want, and I can give you a little tour so you don’t get lost.”

“Your place is that big?” You grinned, stepping inside and toeing off your shoes to join the pile of assorted sneakers, boots and scattered slides that were on the floor. Before you were wandering along after Minho. The place really was that big, it was huge, actually, polished wooden floors along the corridors, and your place was almost entirely open plan, only a few doors, and yet Minho had walls to divide with real doors and low lighting that was intimate and fancy and it was all very impressive. “How the hell do you afford this place?”

“Only fans.” He sighed, glancing back at you over his shoulder, before snickering, and leading you into the large kitchen. An island in the middle, marble countertops and a shining coffee machine that looked like it belonged in a Starbucks sat in the corner, and you placed your bag down on the counter to match with Brenda’s, but had no idea where she’d gone. “I’m kidding, it’s not mine. It’s my grandma’s, she lives out of the city. I’m basically Monica Geller.”

“You went with Monica instead of choosing to be Ross? The guy?”

“Who the fuck wants to be Ross we-were-on-a-break Geller?” He teased, beginning to look through the bags, gasping a little as he pulled out the items stacking them up neatly, and grinning at the packet of Skittles he found that was clearly intended for him. “Thanks for coming, I’m glad you’re here.”

“If I’m being totally honest, I wasn’t going to.”

He looked up, raising a questioning brow at you as he prompted you to continue, and he tore open the packet of candy, tipping a few out into his hand and emptying them into his mouth from his palm, chewing as he waited for your answer.

“I feel like I’m invading. Like, you know when you’re having family dinner and your sibling invites their friend to stay without telling anyone and then nobody has any fun because you really want to eat a third bread roll and burp out loud but you can’t because you don’t want to embarrass your sibling and so everyone is on their best behaviour and it sucks?” He stared at you for a second, amusement flickering over his features, before he was nodding his head. “Well, I feel like the sibling’s friend who senses how uncomfortable it all is and knows they’ve messed everything up and now wishes they’d just gone home for their own dinner.”

“Well, I don’t think you’ve messed anything up, and I promise, if you burp out loud then I will burp as well so that you’re not alone.”

“You can’t just burp on command, but thanks for the offer.” You teased, watching as he turned to reach for two glasses, shining glass that made you fear touching it just in case you smashed it.

“Uh, I absolutely fucking can, wanna’ see?”

“No, not reall-”

He cut you off, a loud burp echoing aloud the kitchen, and you grimaced at the sound of the belch before he was making it again. You gagged falsely, turning your face away from him, and he did it again, laughing around himself, before he was continuing to go on, and you scoffed at him.

“Stop it! You’re awful, that is disgusting.”

“You asked for it!” He shouted back, belching again, and you groaned loudly, Chuck entering the kitchen right as Minho let out yet another loud burp.

“Chuck! Make him stop!”

“I just came in here for a drink.” He raised his hands in a surrender, and you rolled your eyes at the pair of them, watching as Chuck open the fridge, searching around for the bottle opener as he pulled back two fresh lagers, condensation forming on the glass as soon a they met the warm temperature of the room, and you worked on the cork in the top of your wine bottle until it came out with a ‘pop’.

“Are you even old enough to drink?”

Minho laughed, loudly, and Chuck scowled at you as he released the metal sealing from the glass, and the other, and you lifted the first glass to begin to fill it with wine. “Yes, I am old enough, thank you. I’m twenty-two in a few months.”

“Aw, cutie.” You teased, pinching at his cheek and he smacked your hand away, diverting to the other room, and leaving you to fill the second glass. You did happen to notice that Chuck was wearing a normal person’s version of comfy clothes, though; a pair of baggy sweatpants and a t-shirt, and you sighed a little in relief. At least Minho and Brenda would make the world’s most stylish couple when together. “Alright, Minho, you promised me a tour of your fancy bachelor pad.”

“Bachelor pad? I like that!” He grinned, and you grabbed the two glasses of wine, sticking a packet of raspberry Twizzlers into your pockets before the two of you were setting off, and he was guiding you through the halls. He didn’t need to show you much, just vaguely pointing to what was behind each door, an office he used as a home gym, the laundry room, his bedroom - to which you didn’t fail to spot Brenda’s bed sitting out on the covers, but did resist mentioning - and then the bathroom.

Guiding you back through, large double doors that slide along the wall were pulled open, revealing the group inside. Brenda grinned as she saw you, lounging on a large chair, big enough for multiple people, and Minho took one of the glasses from your hands as he made his way over to her, offering up a glass of wine and sitting down in the chair alongside her, and she grinned at you a little bashfully as she remained calm. You liked being in on a little secret with her, on knowing something the other’s didn’t it made you feel a little less like you were on the outside but instead like you were being brought into the warmth from the cold.

There were several seats you could choose from. Cushions and blankets were laid out along the floor, the coffee table pushed aside, and you could sit between Fry and Newt on the floor, leaning back against the couch with plenty of space available to you, or you could find a seat beside Chuck, who was sitting cross-legged in front of the TV, a stack of DVDs beside him, but your back was already aching at the thought of sitting up straight for so long.

The final seat was on the cushions of one couch beside Thomas. He was leaning at an angle, Gally on his other side, a space between them both and you immediately felt your walls shoot back up at the mere idea of sitting with him, but the couch looked so inviting, and there was space, and you did want to try and make headway on that truce that the two of you had called, so you gave in. Making your way over to him, you made sure to ruffle newt’s hair as you passed him by, avoiding the way he was slapping at your hands and growling a little mid-conversation there, before he was returning to what he was saying.

Pausing in front of the man who was slumped over and texting on his phone, and you cleared your throat a little. “Can I sit with you?”

His eyes flicked down to the space that he was half-leaning over into, before nodding his head, and you sat down as he moved, feeling the tension building once again. Taking a tentative sip of your wine, you found that the drink wasn’t all that bad, while it may not be your favourite choice you certainly weren’t hating it, and you took another gulp to try and drown out the tension.

Leaning down and balancing your glass on the floor, out of the way of anyone that might get in the way, you moved onto pulling the packet of Twizzlers from your pocket, you tore it open, pulling one out and placing it between your teeth to take a light bite from it. Holding up the packet, you tried to be friendly again, the plastic crinkling as you lifted it. “You want one?”

He glanced, eyes flickering over the packet, before licking his lips, flicking up minutely at the sides. “Uh, yeah. Thanks.” You nodded, letting him pluck one from the packet, before he was looking back down to the phone screen, and taking a large bite out of it, and you sighed a little.

You took a breath, preparing an attempt at making conversation once again, but he didn’t even look up, not even a flinch for you, and so your jaw snapped shut again, turning away to eat your candy as you gave up on even trying at a tenuous alliance with him, the possibility of week friendship seeing to fly out of the window.

Crossing your legs underneath you on the couch, you pulled the sleeves of your hoodie down over your hands, rubbing at them anxiously as you looked around.

“I like your hoodie.”

You jumped a little, entirely startled by his voice beside you, and your head twisted back to look at him, brows raised slightly as he actually spoke to you, and you glanced down at it, the faded blue and orange logo across the front barely visible anymore, you’d had it so long. “You’re a Mets fan?”

“Long suffering.” He shrugged, sitting up a little further, and he clicked his phone off, pushing it into the pocket of his sweatpants. “You know, maybe one day, we’ll be fortunate enough to catch a full game without getting interrupted for a call.”

“What, with our houses’ luck? You’re swinging big there.” You teased, and he grinned, a small laugh leaving him, before he was reaching over to the packet sitting in your lap and taking two more of the soft candy-sticks from within, and offering one to you, before tearing a large chunk from his own with his teeth.

“Go big or go home, right?”

“I suppose so.” You sighed, chewing on your treat as he sat up a little more, his eyes sweeping over your face, and down over your shoulders, and you felt a little nervous under his gaze.

The armour of professionalism that was usually so securely constructed around you was crumbled down. Uniform and tight ponytail made it easy to frown and put up walls and treat everybody like strangers because they knew no other side of you, but now you were exposed, like an open wound. It was all traded for soft hair that fell around your shoulders and a small smile from the joy of the evening so far, clear skin and comfortable clothes and nothing that helped you man the defences, and so you hummed subconsciously, his gaze snapping back to your own as you made the sound.

Leaning down again, you collected your glass, bringing it to your lips and taking a sip, swirling the contents around in the glass as you swallowed, because you couldn't stand the scrutinising gaze he was putting you under, fear creeping in.

“You look nice.”

It wasn’t what you’d been expecting, your sights finding him once again, soft brown eyes fixed on yours as he shrugged a little, the pink on his cheeks from the warmth of the room growing a little darker, but he smiled nonetheless.

“Y’know, with your hair down and everything.” His fingers came up, wrapping lightly around the tips of a strand of hair, playing with it for a split second, before his hand and his gaze was falling away once again, and you flushed with heat as you felt yourself at a loss for words, unsure how to approach him as a regular person, and not as the Lieutenant who hated you, and it seemed that honesty was the best way.

“You’re not as scary when you’re not in uniform.”

“You thought I was scary?” He echoed, an indiscernible look passing over his features, and you nodded your head, the truth undeniable.

“Absolutely terrifying.” You downed what was left in your glass, wishing you had gotten more as it came up empty, and you were going to need more alcohol to get you through this conversation and this night, because the slight buzz you were barely beginning to feel was doing nothing to help your nerves.

Getting to your feet, you excused yourself, headed back towards the kitchen to find a refill, and as you locate the bottle sitting in the fridge, someone clearly having put it away at some point, you brought it back out, pouring double the contents of your original potion into the glass, taking a large drink from it and topping it back up. As another pair of footsteps entered the kitchen, you jumped, almost dropping the glasses in your hands with shock, and turning to push the fridge closed, still holding the bottle.

“Jeez, Thomas, you scare the hell out of me.”

“You were scared of me?” He questioned again, arms crossing over his chest, and your eyes flicked down to them, the tone in his voice taking on the same flat and commanding aspect that it did when he was in the field and making calls, and he seemed to take the hint, his arms dropping again and shoulder slouching. “I thought we just argued. Now I feel even worse.”

“It’s not your fault. Well, it is, but-” He frowned as you spoke, and you only continued to fumble with your words. “Look, I was being a bitch, alright? And you were being a bitch too, but it’s different. I was a bitch who needs a second paramedic to lift the stretcher bar onto the frame when it had someone on, you were a bitch who can bench press, like, two hundred pounds and can kick in a front door. Big men scare women, it’s just a fact.”

That didn’t seem to help, he only seemed to slump down a little further, and you sealed your lips into a thin line.

“If it makes you feel any better, I’m not scared of you now. It’s just.. tense.” He sighed, reaching out and taking the glass of wine from your hands, before taking that to his mouth, and chugging a good half of the glass, before hanging it back, and grimacing a little.

“I hate wine.” You only laughed a little under your breath, the back of his hand travelling over his mouth as he wiped it clear. “I don’t want you to be scared of me, and it really sucks that you were, because I’d never hurt you. Or anyone, really.”

“It was more scary in an I’m-being-yelled-at-by-someone-twice-my-size way, not that I thought you’d ever.. do that..” You sighed, placing the bottle and the glass down on the counter, and leaning back against it, your head dropping to rest in your hands. “I fucked it all up again, already.”

You heard him move, the thought that he may just leave crossing over your mind, but fingers wrapped around your wrists, pulling them away from your face, and stepping back as your hand dropped to your side. He only stood a couple of feet from you, staring down at you with wide eyes that were full of nothing but sorrow, and you felt terrible for having put that emotion there in the first place.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to ruin the night.”

“I’m sorry for yelling at you on the first day, and making you scared about working with me.” He shrugged, silence falling between you both again. “For the record, you are worth it.”

Your breath hitched in your lungs a little, the compliment meaning more to you than he could possibly know, yet he seemed to sense it, moving forwards by a fraction of an amount as he deemed it safe and acceptable to do so.

“I know what I said on that day was unfair, and you’ve proven me wrong, countless times.” A large hand found your shoulder, slipping down until he was squeezing at your forearm lightly, and there was a burn in the back of your throat threatening tears if you weren't careful. “You’re great at your job, and I think you’re a real asset to the team, and we’re lucky to have you.”

“Well, shit, now I feel bad for tricking you into saying you have a small dick.”

He laughed, loudly, and the sound you let out to match cracked a little bit, but it gave you a second’s reprieve to sniff away your emotions, choking them down as you tried to get it under control. “I got deep with you and that’s what you want to say?”

“I’m not good with the deep stuff!”

“Clearly!” He sighed, his hand dropping from your arm to wipe over his face as he looked more entertained than upset now, and you shrugged. “Okay, how about this. Let’s just start over, alright? You don’t need to feel tense around me, and I promise that you never have to worry about me hurting you. I wouldn’t do that.”

You paused, staring up at him, searching for any hint of a lie, before giving in, and raising your hand between your bodies. His palm slipped against your own, shaking it as though the pair of you were meeting for the first time, and he cracked a grin at the action. Your name fell from your lips, introducing yourself to him, and he followed suit, offering his name in return, and you felt like the past was truly being washed away this time, something you could let go of, watching it float away downstream in water under the bridge.

“Hey, you two gonna’ come join us for movie night, or are you going to spend the evening holding hands in the kitchen?”

Newt tapped his hands on the doorframe, a wicked grin on his face, and you were about to protest, before realising your hand was still clasped in Thomas’, and your mouth was dry as you found yourself at a loss for words. Dropping his hand, you grabbed at the bottle you’d left and the glass, deciding to just take both with you, and Thomas laughed a little as he followed behind, hand shifting to sit on your lower back as he fell into step behind you.

Newt flopped back down into his seat on the floor in front of the couch, and as you moved to navigate through the hoards filling the floors, a hand grabbed your wrist, bringing you to a halt, and you stumbled a little as Thomas crashed into you from the sudden pause, finding Brenda looking up at you with a grin and holding her glass out, half of the content missing.

The man beside you moved past, going to take his seat once again, and you topped her glass up, your own following, before clinking it against hers and grinning at the loud ‘cheers’ she let out as you did, before taking a sip to match her.

“Told you I’d have you converted over to wine in no time.”

“I chose this bottle, don’t you forget.” You winked, backing up a little bit as she settled back into the cushions, her shoulder pressing up to Minho’s side, and you smiled softly at the causal interaction between them both.

“Yeah, well, next time it’ll be me picking, and I’ll have you drinking the good stuff!”

You scoffed, knowing her insult in your taste was a joke, and probably well-founded, because you had no idea what ‘good wine’ consisted of, choosing instead to wander away and take your seat, trying not to spill your drink on anyone as you went.

Gally shuffled up the couch a little further as you approached, and Newt was blocking your seat, and when you nudged him with your toes, his only response was grinning up at you cheekily as he stretched his legs out in front of himself on the carpet; clearly a refusal to move as you were challenged with clambering past him to get to the cushions.

Thomas chuckled, holding his hands out for the bottle and the glass you held as he placed his own down on the table beside the end of the couch, what looked like whiskey in a tumbler, with a couple of half-melted ice-cubes floating in the liquid that matched the colour of his eyes. You handed them off to him, watching as he placed the bottle down on the counter, holding your glass in his other hand as one arm stretched out along the back of the couch, an amused look on his face as you tried to step past Newt.

Each time you lifted your foot up, blocking you off again, and you stumbled a little, trying to hold your balance and not fall into the crowded mass around the floor as you went, a collection of laughs beginning to bubble up as you became the centre of attention. Chuck was fiddling with the remotes on the TV, and Gally had offered a stabilising hand out to you, the fingers of one of your hands was wrapped around his forearm as you giggled, trying to simply sit down.

“You gonna’ take a seat so we can watch, or are you just going to stand there?”

You glared at Newt, unable to hold the smile off of your face for long, before you were bursting with giggles once again, almost falling, and clinging to Gally for support. “Well, if someone would get out of my way, I’d be able to!”

“I’m not doing anything!” Your blond partner insisted, crossing his arms over his chest and sitting back down normally without blocking any space off, and you thought you’d finally get away with it, and you lifted a leg to step over him and try and fold a leg against the cushions to sit down. Once you were balanced on one foot, though, he acted, raising up to pinch at the back of your knee, the leg still on the floor going weak, and you fell.

You toppled forwards, half landing against Gally and half in the cushions as you tried to swerve, a yelp being cut off as you hit the couch, and he continued to pinch at your leg, making you jerk the limb away from him and crawl up the couch, snatching it back from him as the contact tickled, until your back was pressed to Thomas’ side and you were kicking at Newt’s hand, the laughter in the room fading away as you swiped at your friend.

“There we go, now was that so hard?”

“You are the devil, Newt.” You hissed, lunging for him a little as he stuck his tongue out at you playfully, and you placed a hand behind you, one pushing on the couch cushions, the other on Thomas’ knee as you pushed forwards, an arm wrapping around your waist to hold you backwards as Newt cracked up, and your own laughter came bubbling up.

Yanked back down into your seat, Thomas slipped his arm free, letting it spread back out along the couch, and handing you the glass of wine. Your face was flushed with warmth, energy fizzling through you, and you took a sip, cooling yourself with the cold drink. You mumbled your thanks to Gally for his support, the opening credits of the movie loading up, and you settled back, still slightly pressed into the side of your new allegiance as you tried to catch your breath.

Stretching out a little, your leg fell over Newt’s shoulder, crooking at the knee, and he reached a hand up to sit on your ankle, squeezing a little in comfort before the room was falling quiet, Minho dimming the lights down, and Chuck began to explain the movie he was watching.