EVIE STOOD IN FRONT OF THE JAR OF
water again. "NEWT!" she screamed repeatedly as she felt herself being dragged away. "Hey-. HEY Evie. Pull yourself together!" The voice of a young boy said.
"How could you Thomas?!" Something was different from the last time she had this dream. She now could see the face of the boy named 'Thomas' very clearly in front of her. As if she had really seen it before. "There was no other way. I swear I had no choice." he told her.
Evie saw a blonde woman in front of her. Her lips were exaggeratedly red and her gaze was stern. "Well done." She heard her voice.
"WCKD is good!"

-
The blonde girl startled up when a hand covered her mouth. She looked into Newt's brown eyes. He looked at her for a moment, confused. Then he put a finger to his lips, signaling her to be quiet.
He took his hand away from her mouth and gestured for her to follow him. Evie got up and ran after the blonde. They walked side by side in silence for a while. It was still early in the morning and fresh. The other gladers were still asleep, which made it quiet and peaceful. Goose bumps spread across Evie's skin.

Who was this Thomas? Who was this woman? And who was WCKD?

"What were you dreaming?" Newt suddenly asked. Evie looked at him, startled by his sudden question. She quickly regained her composure and tried to look as calm as possible.

"I wasn't dreaming anything. " she replied, shrugging her shoulders.
The blonde boy stopped, causing her to stop as well.
He looked at her insistently, just like the night before.

"Weird." he then said, without taking his eyes off her.

"Because you whispered my name." She looked at him in shock.

Shit.

"Did I?" she asked and raised an eyebrow, just like he always did. She tried to hold his gaze but failed and looked away to the huts.
Newt left it at that point as they kept on walking in, now uncomfortable silence.
Evie didn't like the feeling of being uncomfortable so she broke the silence.

„Where are we going?" she asked.

„You'll see."
After a few minutes, they came to a certain part of the wall. Evie scanned it with her eyes.
There were countless names carved in the cold stone. She recognized a few:
-
Alby, Clint, Jeff, Gally, Minho.
-
She recognized even more names, but she didn't know their owners nor could she place them.
Some of the names were crossed out.

"What about the ones that are crossed out?" she asked, although she already suspected the answer. She felt a shiver run down her spine as she thought of the cemetery Alby had told her about.

"There were times in the glade." the lanky blond said, stepping up beside her.

"That weren't as peaceful as now." His voice was so tender and soft, Evie could hear sadness and regret in it.
She realized that the subject made him uncomfortable and didn't ask any more questions. She also didn't want to think about it either.

With so many boys in a glade where you can't remember anything and the only purpose is to work and run into the maze to find a way out, you could well imagine that there were disagreements and even wars.

This place drove people crazy.

Newt put a knife in Evie's hand, which made her focus all her attention on him.

"And now that you're one of us." he said, pointing at the walls.

"You too have to put your name on that wall." She took the knife in her right hand and was also given a stone by Newt. She walked towards the wall and started working with the knife and stone. She tried to carve her name as best she could and then tried it with the stone but it was harder than she thought.

"Wait." Newt said, after watching her struggle for a while. He stepped behind her, gripping her hand that held the knife with his.
She felt his breath on the back of her neck. Goose bumps ran over her and she had to make an effort to stay focused. He lifted her hand with his.

"Like this. Use that angle." he said close to her ear. His closeness made her nervous, which he sensed.
He took a step back and let her do it. After a few minutes, she had immortalized her name under Jeff's name.
Now she was officially a glader. She had already  thought that the evening before, but now it was official.

—

The gates to the maze were still closed in the morning, when Evie found Minho and Ben before it.

"Why are you up so early?" The black haired asked.

"Got my name immortalized in the wall." She said with a smile. Minho nodded.

"And how was it with Newt yesterday?" Minho asked after a short while of silence. This question was so unexpected to Evie that she just looked at him in shock. He laughed.

"N-nothing, we talked." she then managed to get out. He continued to laugh and she punched him in the arm.

"Stop it, you idiot. You didn't have to leave me alone with him yesterday!" she said indignantly. The runner continued to laugh mockingly.
The sound of the gates opening interrupted them.

"You okay Ben?" Minho turned to the blonde boy who looked a bit tired.

"Yeah." He said and Evie smiled at him encouragingly.

Evie didn't like that sound at all. She wished her friend and his companion good luck and watched after them until they ran around the corner.

—

After breakfast, Evie went to the medics to start her job. Jeff, however, sent her to the forest to collect mushrooms as her first task.

So the blond girl entered the forest, which made her feel uneasy. She was annoyed that she had to do the work that neither of the two medics wanted to do.
In the middle of the forest, she knocked aside a branch that was in her way, only to have it whipped into her face the next moment.

"Ah! Shit!" she cursed in annoyance and put her hand over her face. She looked straight ahead, her vision blurred as she made out a figure. She blinked a few times until her vision cleared.

"Ben?" The named boy was staring at her. His head hung slightly to one side and his figure stood limply in one spot. Evie didn't know if it was the light that made his skin look so pale and unnatural or if it really was that unhealthy.

"What are you doing here? I thought you're in the maze." she asked, but got no answer.

"Ben?" She eyed him, his hectic breathing worsened and his eyes were cloudy, which made him look like a madman.

"Dude are you okay?" Evie tried again when he started growling.
He didn't look healthy at all which made her seriously worry.

"I can take you to the medics! Come on." She tried to take him by the arm but he pushed the girl away. She fell forward and hit the ground.

What was that for?!

"Let's go to Jeff!" she said and added in a mumble.

"Something's wrong with you."

A cry made her flinch.

"LIAR!" he yelled at Evie and pushed her to the ground again. This time her face hit a root. Groaning, she turned onto her back and grabbed her nose, which was aching and bleeding now.

Shit!

"Damn it Ben. That hurt!" She hissed, getting only a yelp in response. Evie became uncomfortable. She scrambled to her feet.

"I'm going now." she said and walked away briskly. But she didn't leave without constantly looking over her shoulder.
As if struck by lightning, Ben ran off, towards the girl.

Instinctively, Evie ran away. This time she wasn't being chased by some idiot, but by what she thought was her friend.
She hadn't talked to Ben that much, but he was a friend of Minho's and she had always found him nice.

Evie was quickly out of the woods and looked behind her. Ben was a lot faster than Dylan and had quickly caught up with her. He pulled her to the ground and held her by her shoulders on the cold uneven ground below. A branch pressed uncomfortably into Evie's back, causing her pain.

"Damn it Ben! stop!" She shouted. The girl tried to push the boy off but could barely move.
She could see boys working in the distance.

"Hey!" She shouted and felt Ben's growl in her ear. Her heart began to race.

"HEY!!!" she screamed louder and also more panicked and the boys raised their heads.

"Help!" she shouted and they came over. But instead of helping, Evie heard their amused laughter.

"Oi Greenie, someone's got you down there." they approached slowly. Ben shook Evie's shoulders so that her head hit the floor.
She groaned and the boys' laughter died.

"TRAITOR!" Ben screamed.

„LIAR!"

The boys then finally realized that something was off and approached the two of them in quick steps.
Ben grabbed Evie's neck and choked her aggressively and the girl tried desperately to push him off.
The boys finally pulled him off her and she gasped for air, struggling to breathe. Her head was filled with pressure as if it was about to explode.

A loud sound could be heard, as someone hit the back of Ben's head with something that sounded like metal. Evie felt his hands becoming loose on her throat, when he fell off her and was grabbed by the other boys.

The boy tried to fight back and screamed, so that the other gladers became aware of what was happening too.
Evie pulled herself to her feet. She suddenly felt dizzy and black dots appeared in her vision. She staggered back and fell into the arms of Jeff. He reacted immediately and held her tightly.

She then saw newt, letting a shovel fall too the ground and running towards Ben, to help hold him down. He also must have been the one who had hit Ben with the shovel.

"What happened now?!" Alby approached the scene.

"What's going on here?" He asked, looking back and forth between Ben and Evie.

"He attacked her. Something's wrong with him!" Said one of the boys holding Ben. Newt looked at Ben, who was still struggling.

"Bloody hell, Ben! What's gotten into you?! calm down!" The blond hissed, but Ben didn't even think about calming down. He wriggled his body again and again to free himself from the other boys' grip. They pulled him to the ground so that they had more strength to hold him down.

"Ey, pull up his shirt!" Alby demanded. They pulled up the beige T-shirt of Ben and gasped the next moment.

A black hole appeared in his stomach, from which purple-black veins ran out and spread across the boy's lower torso. Evie felt like she was going to throw up. Her legs were shaking and she felt terribly dizzy.
Everyone drew in a sharp breath. Ben began to whimper.

"No.. please.." Tears started rolling down his cheeks.

"I didn't mean it!" He whimpered and sobbed.
Evie felt sorry for him, even though this feeling was pushed aside by her disgust, when she looked at his stomach.

"Take him to the big house!" Alby ordered and then came over to Evie. She was still being held tightly by Jeff, clutching at his shirt as her own legs probably couldn't hold her.
Her body was trembling and her breathing was still hectic, especially after what she had seen.

"Are you injured Greenie?" She heard Alby ask. His voice suddenly seemed far away. Black dots appeared on her vision again and the darkness caught up with her.

—

Evie opened her eyes. Her head ached and the stuffy air in the hut made her sweat. She looked around and saw Jeff.

"You're awake," The boy said from the corner of the room where he was sorting some medication. Then he came up to her and scanned her with his eyes, critically.

"What happened?" the girl grumbled, clutching her head. She tried to sit up, but Jeff stopped her by putting a hand on her shoulder and pushing her back down.

"You need to rest. You knocked out after Ben's attack." he said in a gently tone.

Ben.
Now Evie was wide awake.

"What's wrong with him?! What was this thing on his stomach?!" she asked Jeff and the boy lowered his eyes as if he was ashamed.

"He was stung." he said, his eyes fixed on the floor. Kneading his hands, he suddenly sat slumped in his chair.

"By what?" Evie asked, although she could already guess the answer.

"Griever."

The girl paused, remembering the monstrous creature she had seen.

"I thought they only came at night?" she then asked. The idea of Ben being stung by something like that made her want to forget the thought right away.

"Yes, that's what we thought too, and it's always been like that," Jeff said. She stared at the floor for a while.

"And what's going to happen to him now? Is he going to die?" she asked.

"He'll be banished," Jeff said. You could tell he was trying to hold back his emotions. He ran his hand over his face. Evie drew in a sharp breath.

"What?! Can't he be healed?" She asked and Jeff shook his head.

"When?" she managed to say shakily. Jeff didn't look at her.

"Soon. I don't know. Newt doesn't wanna give up on him so they'll leave him in the main building and try to find a cure." Evie sat up.

"I need to talk to Newt." She quickly slid down from the bed. As she stood on her feet, dizziness overcame her for a moment. The girl braced herself against the doorframe right next to her and hobbled out of the small cabin before Jeff could stop her.

She ran walked over the glade, when she recognized the blond hair.

"Newt!" she called out as she recognized him. He turned around and came toward Evie when he saw her.

"Feeling better?" he asked, eyeing her critically.

"Ben. Where is he? You can't banish him!" Newt shook his head.

"I don't intend to, for now. He's in the big house, the main building." He narrowed his eyes suddenly, as if Evie were the sun and blinding him.

"And access beyond the common room and the bathroom is forbidden. Don't get any ideas Gre-" he interrupted himself.

"Evie." he mumbled, and she nodded in satisfaction.
She crossed her arms and shifted from one foot to the other, not quite sure what to say. She looked cautiously at Newt, who was standing there in silence. He seemed to be in his own thoughts.

"He's not gonna get better," she said, fixing her eyes on him. Newt was torn from his thoughts and looked at the girl.

"There is no cure. Am I right?" Evie nodded her head. Newt inhaled loudly, then exhaled in frustration.
She looked down at the floor. Out of nowhere, tears gathered in her eyes. The girl had reached the point where she could no longer be tough and emotionless.
She put her hand over her mouth and stifled a sob. Newt noticed it anyway and she heard him sigh softly.
The girl then felt him put his arms around her shoulders, pulling the girl into a hug. Evie let herself go and relaxed in his arms.

"This is so fucked up. So fucking screwed up." She wailed into his shirt, which must have once been white. Newt stroked her back and said nothing. She could hear him agreeing with her inside. He was probably already used to hugging and comforting people, as he had told her.

—

When Evie woke up, she didn't know where she was until she recognized the desk with the names on it and the closet right next to it. She sat on Newt's bed and looked down at herself. She felt disgusting and dirty, she really needed to take a shower.
The showers the gladers used were really not the best, but they were enough.

"Good, you're awake, you have work to do." Her head jerked up to the door where Newt now stood. She nodded.

"I'm serious. Alby doesn't make exceptions anymore. Get ready, then you're going to the medics." Newt said sternly, yet kindly, and was gone again.

Suddenly Evie wondered how she had gotten into Newt's room. It suddenly made her uncomfortable to think that she had slept in his bed and had been completely vulnerable.

The girl went to take a shower next to the common room, luckily the door could be locked by simply placing a chair under the handle. She let the water splash over my body and reviewed the previous day.
She thought a lot about Ben, whether he would survive. Whether they would find him a cure.
She then got ready, staring at herself in the mirror most of the time, and then went to the sanis, where she welcomed Jeff.

"You good Greenie?" he greeted her, then explained everything she needed to know. By lunchtime, she had even taken on a few cases. They weren't difficult ones, just cuts, mostly from the builders. Sometimes she had to stifle a laugh at how snivelling they were.
Clint and Jeff were fun to work with. They made jokes, goofed around. They were probably glad to have someone to help them and Evie was glad to be with people she halfway liked. Either way, Clint, Jeff and Minho were the only ones who wanted anything to do with her. She didn't feel like a stranger with them.

"How about you hurry up? I still have to finish." one of the builders said bitchily and Evie pulled the bandage a little too tightly around his hand, which made him hiss.

"Done." she said that and winked at him. He got up and walked out of the cabin. She turned to Clint, who seemed to stifle a laugh and then looked at Jeff.

"What?" she asked, amused. Jeff shook his head.

When Minho and the other runner, who Evie didn't know, came back from the maze, she met and greeted them.

"Where were you yesterday? I was looking everywhere for you," Minho greeted the girl.
She didn't want to tell him that she had slept at Newt's. Minho would misinterpret it completely.

How long had she been asleep anyway?

She couldn't remember anything that had happened after she had cried in Newt's embrace.

"Minho." A familiar voice called out. Minho's gaze flew to the british boy that was approaching them.

"Did you sleep at Newt's?" Minho asked, looking at Evie with a grin and wiggling his eyebrows.

"No!"
"Yes."

The 'no' came from her, the 'yes', unfortunately, came from Newt, at the same time. The blond boy came to a halt beside them and crossed his arms.
Minho, whose hair looked good even after a run through the maze, now looked back and forth between the two of them in confusion. Evie gave Newt an angry look and he returned it.

"I'm going to the map house." The black-haired then mumbled, who didn't know what to do while Newt and Evie had a staring duel.
The girl decided to just go and leave Newt standing, she was really hungry and not in the mood to argue with the boy.

After lunch, there wasn't much going on in the medic-hut, so they sat on the couches and talked for a while until Alby entered the hut.

"I need to talk to you," he said towards Evie and they listened to him attentively.

"About Ben. What exactly happened?" the leader asked, his eyes fixed sternly on the girl.

"Don't leave out any details." Evie was about to start talking when Newt and Minho entered and joined them. Newt looked at her briefly. He stood close to the girl and Evie exhaled her pent-up air in annoyance. She took a step away and  crossed her arms in front of her chest.
Jeff and Minho watched the whole thing with a grin.
Evie looked at Alby, waiting for his signal so she could start talking. He nodded and she began to tell the story of how she went into the woods and met Ben.

"Well, there's nothing we can do. It just happened," said Alby.

Just happened? A boy got stung by a monster that hunts a maze around them, how could he ever say it just happens.

"How's Ben?" Evie pushed her anger and confusion aside, not wanting to turn the conversation into an argument. Alby grimaced. It was a mixture of sadness, disgust and regret.

"Shank, How do you think he's doing?! You think he's dancing around in a dress and drinking water from the toilets?!" he snarled and glanced at Blondie next to her. They presumably had something to discuss again, so the leader walked out with stomping steps.

Minho also left, but not without looking back and forth between Evie and Newt. Jeff also noticed the tense atmosphere in the room and left her alone with Newt.
For a while, the two of them engaged in an eye duel. Neither of them averted their eyes, both of them crossed their arms. At some point, Newt sighed and gave up. Just before the exit he wanted to leave, he turned around again.

"Please come to my room tonight," he said and was about to leave, but he turned around again.

"If you don't come, I'll come to you and believe me I'll find you." Then he left for good.

Was he serious?!

Jeff came back in. He looked at the girl questioningly, but she just looked away and suddenly found the wood of the hut much more interesting. She sat back down on one of the couches and Jeff sat next to her.
She sighed and rested her head on his shoulder.

Towards the afternoon, a few more builders arrived, who had injuries somewhere on their hands or arms. Evie tended to them, Jeff complimented her and gave her helpful advices.
——

When the evening arrived, Evie was exhausted and went to the big house as planned. She walked slowly inside, to the hallway and then up the creaky stairs. She arrived at the top and ran through the doors. She stopped at the third door when she heard a strange noises coming from it.
She looked through the gap of the ajar door and saw a figure. She recognized straps and ropes on the emaciated boy's body, against which he was struggling violently. Evie felt sick at the sight, but she couldn't take her eyes off him.

Ben.

Out of nowhere, she was jerked around by her shoulder and wanted to scream out in shock, but immediately felt a hand pressing down on her mouth. She looked at the arm the hand belonged to and slowly followed it up to the owner's face.
Newt didn't say a word, he raised his index finger to his lips, then slowly removed his hand from her mouth and pulled her along.
They both arrived at his room as he pushed her inside.

"What did I tell you about not going there! Why the bloody hell do you always do the opposite of what I say?!" Newt hissed as he closed the door and then walked towards her.

"HOW WOULD I KNOW THAT'S BEN DAMN IT?!" Evie hissed back in exactly the same way, only with a touch of more dramatic flare.

"Besides, who wanted me to come to him ey?!" she added, crossing her arms in front of her chest. Newt had leaned down towards her. His gaze darted back and forth between her eyes and his brain seemed to rattle as he searched for a counter argument.
With a flourish, he stood up straight again and turned his back to Evie. He ran his hands over his face and then looked up at the ceiling.

"You're unbelievable, you know that?" Evie looked at him, confused. Newt looked at her again.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" The girl broke the awkward, but somehow also pleasant silence between them, in which they had only looked at each other. Newt sighed.

"You're doing the trial week." he said.

"The what?" The girl asked confused.

"You do a job every day like any other Newbie. Alby doesn't want to make exceptions for you anymore. You're treated like everyone else." Newt explained.

And he summoned her to his room just for that?

"Mhm." she just said and thought.
She liked her job as a medic and certainly didn't want to go to the slaughterhouse.

"Or is that not good enough for you now? You wanted the same opportunities. Here you go!" Newt now said a little too dramatically for her taste. She opened her mouth and then closed it again.

"I wanted to be a runner. That's what I wanted, that's what I WANT!" she said, looking at the floor.

"Well then you'll have to prove yourself." He said. She looked at him before running past him and heading for the door.

"And I should come here for this? Tz!" she eyed him.

"Waste of time." She opened the door.

"I just want to help you Evie." she heard his voice, but she didn't respond at all.

Fortunately, she didn't care what he wanted.

——
When Evie went to the medic hut the next morning, Clint was helping a boy and Jeff was making some kind of herbal concoction.
He was definitely not going to be a cook.

"Hey can I help?" Clint turned to the girl and gave her a quick smile.

"You can help Jeff with his.. whatever that is." he said, looking at the mixture in disgust.

"It's an ointment!" Jeff said indignantly, stepping towards the boy who was being tended to by Clint.

"It soothes the inflammation, I made it myself!" he said proudly and began to spread the 'ointment' on the boy's arm.
The boy grimaced in disgust.

"I can see that." Clint said, which earned him a punch in the shoulder. We laughed.

"Clint, you're destroying his confidence. He's trying so hard." Evie said.

"mhm!" Jeff said, responding to her joke and pouting his lower lip.
Her stomach was churning.

"Are you going to frypan for breakfast?" she asked.

"Sure, I'll come," Clint said and they walked to the kitchen together. They talked for a while, ate their breakfast when a guy stood in front of Evie.

"Newbie. I'm Winston, you're working at the bloodhut today. Come on!" he said with an accent. Evie looked at Clint, who seriously pulled himself together not to laugh at her.
Evie got up and followed Winston to the cabin that had made her uncomfortable from the start.

————
When the day was finally over, the blonde girl refused to swallow even a morsel of food. She knew she would never forget the things she had seen.

Winston surely had told her, she had done well. He let her cut up a pig and she was actually good with it and seeing the blood wasn't her problem. But everything else she had seen sent shivers down her spine. After sitting around the campfire for a while with Minho, Jeff, Clint, frypan and Newt, she got up and went to her hammock.

——
"Evie." a voice hissed. She opened her eyes and looked directly into Newt's.
He pulled her up so she was sitting.

"Newt what the-" He put his hand over her mouth. It had to be the middle of the night by now, she could hear Chuck snoring next to her.

"Shhh! You'll wake the others!" She nodded as a sign that she had understood and he took his hand away from her mouth again.
Then he straightened up and took Evie by the hand. He pulled her away from her sleepingspot and the girl followed him wordlessly.
As soon as they were a little way from the sleeping area, she stopped and cause Newt was still holding her hand, he had to stop with her.

"Where are we going?!" Evie asked, shaking her head.

"To my room." He wanted to pull her further, but she snatched her hand from him and kept standing.

"Why?" She asked again. He turned around and sighed.

"Can't you just do what I say?" Evie shook her head simply without hesitation.

"Come on." Blondie said, annoyed. She still stood stubbornly and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"I've been working all day at the damn bloodhut, won't you give me one night of sleep?" she hissed in a whisper.
Newt groaned in annoyance, came up to her and picked her up. She gave a startled squeal as he threw her over his shoulder.

"Newt!" Her arms were no longer crossed and she was clinging desperately to his shirt.

"Put me down right now!" But he didn't even think about it. Fighting back was useless. He carried Evie up to his room and only let her down by his bed again.
As soon as he had put her down on it, she sat up.

"That's called kidnapping." She said. He just laughed again and sat down next to her on the bed.
Newt grinned broadly, as if he was amused that she was upset.
She exhaled loudly and stood up.

"I'm going back now." As she turned to walk toward the door, she felt two hands around her stomach, pulling her back.
She lost her balance and finally landed on Newt's lap. She tried to get up quickly, but Newt held her down.

"You can sleep here tonight. If you want to." Evie pressed her lips tightly together as his breath brushed the back of her neck.

"No, thank you," she finally managed to get up.
He didn't hold her back this time, but stood up with her.
She turned around so that she could look directly at him.

"Why?" she asked.

"Why are you really carrying me here like this? You didn't just want me to sleep here, why would you? So why did you do this?" Newt looked at the girl, seeming to consider. Then he sighed heavily again.

"Gally's been spreading things." he said and sat back down on the bed.

"Things?" Evie asked, raising an eyebrow.

"That you know what's going on, that you've been sent. That you can remember and he wants to confront you, so that you'll tell him about what you know." Newt had put his head in his hands, ran his hands through his hair and then looked at her suddenly with an really exhausted expression. She recognized the dark circles under his eyes that had eluded her before.
She digested what he had said and thought about it. There was silence between them for a long while.

"So you discussed with Alby that I would be treated like the others. That was your idea with the trial week. You didn't want me to stand out anymore, did you?" Newt looked up, then looked thoughtfully at the floor.

"I wanted you with me, that's why I wanted you to sleep here," he said, looking at Evie again.

"You're not making any sense." she said.
Newt didn't answer.

"I can take care of myself." Evie said in a calm tone. Newts gaze staying on the ground.

"Got it?" She then asked, not expecting an answer from him. She stood up.

"Good night." She said and then left his room.
The truth was that she would have liked to stay with him. However, if anyone found out she was with him for the night again, rumors would start and that was the last thing Evie wanted.

Authors Note:
Oh how I love enemies to lovers!
By the way don't forget to check out my pinboard on my acc if you want to have some serious and fun comments about basically anything that's going on. Sometimes I also talk abt serious topics like feminism, racism, MMIW etc.. feel free to stop by and ask questions <3

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