I'd gone into the next room over to change, Newt following me. He had tried to talk to me; tried to ask me about what exactly it is that Teresa had done at WICKED to make me so violent towards her, but I'd refused to talk. Now, he stands a few feet away from me, our backs turned to each other as we change into our WICKED uniforms. 

I hear someone enter the room, but I couldn't care less about something as silly as them seeing me in my underwear anymore. Too many things have happened to me to make me self conscious about something like that now, so I continue to change. I slip off my shirt, discarding it carelessly to the side, leaving me in my old, worn bra.

Newt clears his throat rather loudly. "Your uniforms on the chair," he says to the person behind me. I turn around and meet Gally's eyes, which are darting around the room, refusing to look at me. He rubs the back of his neck nervously, muttering a quiet thanks to Newt. I meet the blonde's eyes, who shrugs and goes back to changing. I notice how skinny he is; how pale his body looks. I force myself to look away.

Gally walks over to the chair and grabs the uniform. He slips off his shirt and I can't help but watch, noticing the way his muscles flex as he places his shirt over the back of the chair.  He hesitates, turning back towards me, uniform in hand. Our eyes meet and he offers me a tiny smile. "Hey," he says softly.

I let my eyes travel down his chest, my throat tightening when I see a large, jagged scar slightly off center. It stands out among the rest of his scars, the most prominent, raised one on his skin. I remember how I used to trace the many scars on his chest with my fingers, the way they'd delicately trail over his skin, the way I used to pepper kisses across them when we lay together in bed, the moon providing the only light from the carved out square of wood in my small hut. I see Gally laying before me in a pool of blood, a spear protruding from his chest in the exact spot that the scar is in now. I avert my eyes from it quickly, swallowing thickly.

I simply nod in response. I turn my back on him and slip off my pants, throwing them on top of my shirt. The sound of zippers and clothes rustling fills the silence that falls between the three of us. 

"I, uh... I wanted to talk to you," Gally says into the silence. I turn around to face him, his eyes immediately focused on the wall behind me. I stare at him blankly, eyebrows raised as I cross my arms over my chest.

He rubs his arm for a moment before running a hand over his hair, clearing his throat. I wait for him to speak, glancing over at Newt, whose eyes are focused on us. He simply shrugs, eyes darting to Gally before back at me. 

Finally, Gally says, "I'm sorry about the other night. I really... I didn't know seeing that paper would make you so upset. I wouldn't have shown it to you otherwise."

"It's alright," I reply shortly before slipping on the uniform pants, which seem to weigh a ton. 

I turn back around. I fight my way into the top portion of the armor. It's difficult, but after a minute or so of struggling, it's on. Gally lets out a loud sigh before saying,

"Six months and twenty-three days."

I turn back around, staring at him. "What?" I ask, my tone sounding sharper than I'd intended. Gally stares back at me, his sapphire eyes meeting my gray ones. It's jarring. It's the first time I've really looked into his eyes and been able to hold contact like this.

"I told you I looked for you. That's how long."

A beat of silence falls between us. I can feel Newt's eyes on us, but I can't seem to tear mine away from Gally for the life of me. For once, I can't look away from him. His eyes capture me; hold me frozen in time for God knows how long.

Six months and twenty-three days. The sentence echoes in my head.

"I... what am I supposed to say to that?" I ask after a moment. Gally's lips part and I can see that this wasn't the reaction he'd been expecting, but what reaction had he been expecting? Did he expect me to jump into his arms and tell him how much I love him? Did he expect me to smile and forgive him? Did he expect me to tell him that I'm not angry with him for his actions or the decisions he'd made leading up to that day; the decisions that had gotten him, from what I'd presumed for almost a year, killed?

"You made your choice. You could've come with us that night instead of staying behind and following after. You wouldn't have had to look that long if you had chosen to come with m- with us."

"I know," Gally replies, his voice calm. "Trust me, I know. I regretted the decision I made every day after. I still regret it. What I said and did... I'm not proud of it. But I was young. I was scared, Venus."

"So was I!" I cry, throwing my hands in the air. I run my hands roughly through my hair, clutching at my skull for a moment as the tension inside of me grows. "God, Gally, I was scared too! We all were! But we didn't let our fear stop us from choosing freedom! We didn't let it tear us apart! I tried so hard to change your mind! I stood in front of you with a fucking gun pointed to my head! I begged to come with us!"

"I know," he repeats, swallowing thickly as I continue.

"You made your choice! You chose the Glade! You chose your need for power over us, then followed us into the Maze and tried to kill Thomas! You killed Chuck! God, do you know how fucked up I was after that?! Do you even know how much what happened to you affected me; affected all of us?! None of us were the same after that!" 

Gally's silent. I know that it's unfair for me to be throwing this in his face once again, but I can't seem to help it. When something makes me upset, I can't help but pick a fight. I didn't used to be that way. I was stubborn, sure. I argued, yes. But I would've never said the shit I've said to people now back in the Glade. I would've never done the things I've done, either.

"Fucking hell, Gally! We're not the same people we were in the Glade! You can't just say shit like that and expect it to make things okay again between us! You can't just expect me to forgive you because you counted the days that you looked for me! You can't do that! You can't... I can't..." I trail off, my voice cracking. I swallow thickly, forcing my emotions down. "I can't do this right now," I finally say.

Minho needs me. Newt needs me. I can't lose sight of what's important. I need to do whatever it takes to save them. Whatever it takes.

I grab my helmet off the ground beside my discarded clothes, clenching my jaw. I walk out of the room, feeling both the boys' eyes on me as I leave.

🪐🪐🪐

Grabbing a gun off the table, I stand next to Thomas. Fry, Gally, Thomas, and I all stand in WICKED uniforms, Teresa sitting on a chair mere feet away, her head down and her hair covering her face. 

One gun is distributed to each of us. "Ready?" Thomas asks, looking at each of us. We all nod. I walk over to Teresa before anyone can say or do anything.

"Get up," I snarl, looking down at with all the hatred I can muster. Teresa doesn't budge, looking up at me with a pleading look in her eyes. "I said get up," I repeat.

"Venus-"

"Get on your fucking feet," I snap, cutting Newt off. Teresa reluctantly stands up, her eyes locked on mine. I stare back at her, my grip on my gun tightening. 

Teresa's mouth opens, but no sound comes out. She glanced down at the gun in my hands. She hesitates, her eyes flicking to the boys behind us. "If you would just give me a chance to expl-"

"You had your chance," I reply sharply. "You made your choice. You chose them." I lean slightly closer to her, saying through gritted teeth, "you're lucky I haven't killed you yet."

"Back off, Venus," Newt says from behind me. He places a hand on my shoulder, pulling me away from Teresa slightly. I look up at him and he shakes his head sharply, his jaw clenched.

"We don't have time for this right now, guys. We need to leave. Now," Thomas says in an authoritative tone. Gally steps forward, grabbing Teresa's arm tightly. 

"Let's go, then," he says, starting out of the room with Teresa. Thomas looks over at me before following, Newt and I right behind him.