EPIPHANY ? newt

It was funny, I'd never kissed someone before - at least to my knowledge, but if I had to guess... this was perfect. Newt pulled away from me a few seconds later, both of our cheeks flushed as he searched my eyes for any sort of reaction, not letting go of his grip on me. "May I?" he asked breathlessly, and the sound of his low voice was almost enough to send me to the grave at that very moment. Without replying, I pulled the boy closer again.

It felt unreal, emotions I hadn't even known existed till now seemed to burst in my mind turning everything inside my head to a bright golden as I kissed the boy before me with a passion I didn't realise was possible. We may have been sitting there for a few seconds, or hours, I wasn't sure - time seemed to stop when we held each other that way. I only moved back, taking a second to catch my breath when I heard chatter coming from near the campfire far behind us.

Newt giggled as he grabbed hold of my hand, not ready to let go yet. And I couldn't help grin, resting my forehead on his shoulder as he laughed almost uncontrollably. I had never seen him like this - so carefree. I loved it. In that moment, everything felt perfect. And as much as I couldn't help fear for what might go wrong next, I tried not to think of it, savouring that moment as best as I could. Sure, maybe we'd go through some more shit situations, but we'd get through them - together. If we could survive the maze, the scorch and WICKED, we were ready to face anything.

"Come on, Newt, we have to go catch up with the others." I said lightly, unable to wipe the smile off my face as I stood up, feeling lighter than I had in ages as I grabbed Newt's hand playfully, pulling him up off the rock, ignoring his complaints as I dragged him back to the campsite.

I quickly learnt that Thomas was still unconscious, but Mary assured us that he was going to be fine once again. I noticed she didn't take her eyes of Newt and my intertwined hands as she checked over the boy once again, nodded. "Well, you're clinically in perfect health. You should be fine, Newt."

I could hear the boy sigh in relief from next to me, the two of us moving to the seats around the campfire once Mary was done with Newt. "Minho?" I will admit, I teared up seeing Newt run over to the boy, the two of them embracing in a tight hug, holding onto each other in a sort of bittersweet hug. I couldn't imagine what it felt like for both of them - finally being here, safe, after everything they had been through.

Speaking of... I whispered to Newt that I would be back in a moment, walking over to where Sonya, Aris and Harriet sat. I sighed, resting my head on the blonde girls shoulder as I sat down beside them, giving up on resting and moving slightly closer to the fire after a few seconds, the winds too cold. Sonya laughed as I moved away - and my heart skipped with joy seeing the girl so carefree. "How are you doing?" I asked softly.

She shrugged, brushing away her hair from her face as she moved closer to the fire as well. "I'm alright. After all, I have all of you guys with me - and we're here. At the safe heaven, finally. There's nothing left to really... be scared of. Gosh, it feels strange, almost. Like, don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining one bit that we get to relax, and I'm not trying to jinx it or something. But it feels almost strange not to be running from something or the other." I understood what she meant exactly. It was hard to explain, and Sonya seemed to have put it into words the best way I could think of.

Aris smiled, "I could say the same. I have my friends around me, a safe place to sleep - a future... I don't know, I think I could get used to this. Plus, at least here I don't have to be around fifty girls at all times." He yelped, scrambling off the bench as Harriet started chasing him around the area, threatening to spear him if he didn't apologise, the both laughing hysterically the whole time.