I do not own The Maze Runner or any of its characters

Chuck: *to Winston* How'd you get these bumps? You got echzema?
Winston: I got what?
Chuck: You got echzema?

Lauren
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"Will you please tell me what's in your drink?" I was back at it again trying to get Gally to tell me his most trusted secret.

"No."

"Frypan knows, right? I'll just ask him!"

"He does, but you won't get it out of him." Gally started walking towards the Kitchen.

"And now you're walking away. I'll get it someday!" I called.

"You're never going to get it. We've all been trying for two years. What makes you think you'll get it now?" Peter came up behind me.

"The power of persuasion. And I'm just like that."

"Oh-kay. You're going to win the match against Minho, right? I've got a lot riding on this."

"Oh, dear Peter. Do you not have faith in your friend?"

"Yes, why would I bet on you if I didn't have faith?" Peter was confused.

I just laughed. "Sometimes stupid people do stupid things." I patted him on the arm and left.

"Did you just call me stupid?!"

"Hey, kiddo. How'd your Tour with Alby go?" I sat down beside the kid and watched as the guys stacked more firewood for the fire.

"I think it was good. I didn't say anything or ask any questions."

"Was he nice to you?"

"For the most part, yeah. He kept looking at me funny."

"He was probably waiting on you to say something so he could yell at you for it. Alby's just like that." For some reason, the Greenie and I found the whole wood-stacking process fascinating.

"Oh." We stared at the wood.

"You got any questions though? I could answer them. Contrary to popular belief, I actually have some knowledge about this place." I broke the silence.

"Why're you here?"

What a question to ask. I gotta give credit to him, he was smarter than he looked.

"Well, that's a great question that I don't have an answer to. I guess the people in charge, we call them the Creators, decided they wanted to spice things up a bit." I tried.

The silence came back, although it wasn't actually silent. There were voices all around us, and I started to people-watch.

Peter was talking to some of the other Builders and it looked like a fun conversation. There were lots of hand movements and smiles and it made me homesick. I didn't want to eavesdrop, so I decided to try to lip-read. I'm not very good at it, and it was definitely good entertainment.

I moved on to the Runners. They were boring. I switched to a different group.

Newt and Alby were deep in conversation, and I imagined they were talking about how Grievers repopulated.

The Greenie was very confused when I started laughing.

People watching was fun. But it had to come to an end. The sun had set, and some guys were passing out tiki torches.

"All right, kiddo. Get ready for your first bonfire!" I stood up and went to go find Peter with the kid in tow.

"You never answered my question." According to Peter, the fact that I never answered him was in line with treason.

"Really? Right as they're lighting the fire?" I shot back.

"What are you guys talking about?" The Greenie asked.

"Peter thinks that I called him stupid, and the fact that he's never figured it out proves my case." I informed him.

"So you do think I'm stupid."

"No, no. I worded that phrase very carefully to where I neither confirmed nor denied the facts of your question."

"Double negative!" Peter pointed out.

"You guys are weird." The kid commented.

"Three, two, one!" The bonfire had started.

"Woohoo!" I cheered along with the rest of them. That's when I figured out that this wasn't for the Greenie. It was for us. We were celebrating the fact that we've survived another month. We drank for our fallen comrads, and cherished the ones that were still there. The Greenies didn't need this. It was their first day. The people that were already here for a month, two months, a year, two years needed something to celebrate.

I needed a drink.

"Peter, do you think that the Greenie needs to get properly acclimated with the ways of the Glade?" I looked up at Peter.

"Yes, Lauren, I think he does."

We both looked down at the Greenie.

"What are you guys doing?" I took his hand and dragged him over to Gally.

"Three cups, please."

"You really think that's a good idea for him?" Gally looked down at the kid.

"Just do it. He doesn't have to finish the thing."

I handed a cup to the Greenie, and took one for myself. "On three. One, two, three!" Peter and I started drinking.

The kid took a sip and spit it out. "Ew, what's in this?!" He set the cup back on the table.

"No one knows." Peter took another swig.

Looking around, I decided to people-watch again. The guys were chatting, drinking, laughing, and just having a good time in general. I accidentally locked eyes with Minho, and he lifted up an eyebrow and gestured over to the sand pit.

I shrugged. Might as well get it over with.

"All right!" I shouted. The chatter stopped. "I'm guessing a lot of people have been waiting on this, because I was just informed a little bit ago that there's a betting pool." I made my way ot the sand pit. The boys parted, and slowly, a crowd formed.

Minho finished his drink and walked towards the sand pit as well.

"Woo! Minho versus Lauren, match two!" Frypan yelled.

That's when the cheers started.

"What's going on?" I heard the kid ask.

"When Lauren first came up, Minho, that guy over there, challenged her to a fight. She ended up winning with a hard punch to the nose." Peter explained.

"Ouch."

"Yeah. And now they're doing it again, and everyone's excited. Lauren put two guys in the hospital since then, but Minho's really competitive. Now shush, and cheer for Lauren. I don't wanna clean the toilets."

Oh. So THAT's what he wagered. Nice going, Peter.

"Are you gonna allow nose punches, Princess?" I asked Minho.

"Let's go with no, shank." The crowd jeered.

"Aw, he doesn't wanna get his precious nose hurt!" I laughed.

"Alright, so no headshots then?" Minho questioned.

"Okay." We shook hands, much firmer than we needed to, and then started circling each other.

I'd say the crowd was pretty evenly split. I could hear Zeus and his friends very heartliy cheering for Minho, but I seemed to have a fanbase as well, including Peter, Frypan, Clint, Jeff, and, I was shocked to hear his voice, Gally. Alby seemed to withdrawal from cheering for anyone, and Newt was just enjoying the show.

"I'm ready when you are." I said, cocking my head.

This time, Minho took the bait.

It's much easier to fight someone when you A) knew them personally, and B) had already fought before. Minho was very much an offensive fighter. I needed to play defense.

Since headshots were out, and I would never result to the groin, I decided my best course of action was to wear Minho down. Ugh, that meant I needed to dodge.

He threw a nice punch to my shoulder, which I side-stepped, and I saw an opening to get him in the stomach. But he managed to block it.

Finch, this was going to be a long fight.

I stumbled and luckily I got my footing before Minho decided to throw another punch.

We went on like that for a bit, trading punches and dodging. He got me good in the shoulder-why does everyone go for my shoulder? And I managed a punch to the gut.

I could tell the crowd was getting restless. I could also tell Minho was getting tired. He, unlike me, had ran the Maze all day while I just took it easy.

One final punch.

Dear Lord, let me pull this off.

Minho threw a nice right hook, but I caught it, grabbed hold, and judo-flipped him.

"You tapping out?" I had the dude pinned.

He sighed. "Yeah."

I helped him up, and clapped him on the back. "You did good, but I did better."

"We're doing this again. And that time, I'll make sure you run the Maze." Minho informed me.

I just laughed. Then I faced the crowd. "I just wanna say to anyone who doubted me, finch you, and make sure you do a great job on those toilets!" I raised my arms, and some guys cheered, while others gave me a dirty look.

"Yes! I knew you wouldn't let me down! And that flip!" Peter gave me a big hug.

"Oh, stuff it." I pushed him away. "I'm all sweaty, you don't wanna hug me."

"Good job." Gally handed me my cup.

"Why thank you." I bowed. "Did you bet?"

"Keepers weren't allowed." He seemed upset by this.

"But Gladers were, and I don't mind one bit! I heard Zeus wagered a lot on Minho." And then Peter did a very uncharistic thing. He giggled.

Now I've heard Peter laugh, and I've heard him chuckle. But never, in my entire month of being here, have I heard Peter giggle.

Gally and I exchanged looks.

"Hey." I snapped my fingers in front of Peter. "Hey, Peter? How many cups have you had of Gally's drink?"

"A few."

"How many is a few, Peter?" Gally asked.

"Ten."

"Shuck."

"And he was supposed to show the Greenie where to sleep." That's when I noticed that the kid was nowhere to be found. "Where's the kid?"

"Who?" Gally questioned.

"The Greenie, the kiddo, the Newbie, the Blondie, for shucks sake." Oh no. I was slipping into Glader slang.

I shook my head. This was no time to have a crisis.

"Gally, try to guide Peter to bed. If you see the Greenie there, well, find me in the Deadheads. I'm gonna try to find the kid." I pushed my way through the crowd, trying to avoid all of the congrats and the thank yous I got on my way.

I spotted Frypan near the edge and managed to stop myself before asking for his help. He'd probably be more intoxicated than Peter.

When did I sign up for babysitting?

Grabbing a tiki torch on my way to the Deadheads, I silently cursed kids. I was going to be single forever if I made it out of here. They didn't seem to be worth the hassle.

|~^-^~|

"Kid?" I called. "Where you at?"

I didn't want to venture too far into the forest, in case Gally already found him, but he seemed nowhere to be found.

Even with the torch, the forest swallowed all the light. I managed maybe twenty steps in before I couldn't even see the Bonfire.

I'll admit it. The Deadheads gave me the creeps at night.

"Small human? Greenie? Hello?" I tried again.

"Here."

"Child-" I got myself ready to yell at the kid.

"It's Chuck."

It was astounding how fast he disarmed me. "What?"

"My name. It's Chuck. I remembered it." He was sitting down on the floor, and it looked like he'd been there for awhile.

"Oh. That's great!" I didn't have to call him 'kid' anymore.

"Sure." He didn't echo my enthusiasm.

"What's the matter?"

"Do you remember your parents?" Chuck had a talent of making me think that he was going to go in one direction, and then completely switching gears.

My mind went to the first time I saw the blue music player.

"Hide, Zara!"

"No." I lied.

"I miss mine. It was easier when I couldn't remember my name."

I was confused.

"But know I know it. Why would this memory wipe let me keep my name but not my parents? They're as big a part in my life as my name is." He looked close to tears.

"I don't know, Chuck." I admitted. "It's stupid, and I hate it as much as you do. But when we get out of here, I bet they'll be waiting for you."

"Yeah." He stood up. "We should probably go back."

"Probably."

We headed back to the Glade. I returned the tiki torch, and then walked Chuck to the sleeping area. Peter was already passed out, but I found Kenny and asked if he could get help the kid.

After I was done with my parenting duties, I finished off a cup and turned in for the night.

But I had to make a small detor.

"Knock knock."

Gally opened the door.

"Do you ever think of your parents?" It was a weird question, but Gally had memories like me.

"No. Why?" He seemed confused.

"Well, Chuck asked me about it, and,"

"Who's Chuck?"

"The kid. He remembered his name."

"It's weird name."

"You're getting me off topic. And it's getting increasingly harder to stay upright." I was leaning up against the doorframe at this point.

"Sorry."

"Thank you. Chuck asked me about mine, and I wondered if anyone else thought about theirs. You'd think we'd have some inkling of an idea about our parents. They're really big parts in our life, right?"

"Sure."

"Which made me think. Do you think that the Creators took us at a small age? Like, really small? To where our parents are just a blip in our life?"

"It'd make sense with the memory 'bout Minho. He looked younger then." Gally looked thoughtful.

"And maybe Chuck was taken later. That would explain why he's more focused about his parents than we are." I slipped off the doorframe.

And into Gally's arms.

"Aaand that's my cue to go to bed." He helped me upright.

"Do you need me to walk you down?"

"The stairs have handrails! Night, Gally!" I waved.

"Night, Lauren." The door shut.

It took me a minute, but I was able to go down the stairs without falling.

I collapsed into bed without a second thought about the whole parents thing.

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Drunk!Peter! And Chuck! And conspiracy theories! Yea!

This chapter was actually really fun to write. Except for the fight scene. It's pretty short, but I was told many times to write what you know, and literally the only thing I know about fights is what not to do when you make a fist. (Pst, don't put your thumb under your fingers)
So summarizing! And judo flips! Yea!

It was SO fun to write Gally and Lauren as tired parents trying to keep their chirren in line. AND I HAD SO MUCH MORE DRUNK!PETER BUT I HAD TO CUT IT OUT. *sobs* This chapter was supposed to be on the shorter side, but I guess it makes up for the last one.

Questions!

-How many of you thought Minho was gonna win this fight?

-How many of you liked Gally and Lauren as the Parents of The Group?

-Are you guys people-watchers?
(I literally stared at people when I was younger. But I was cute, so they let it slide.)