A few days later, Ada tiptoed along the outskirts of the forest, trying her best to not ruin the only pair of shoes she had in the place. She had coated them in mud a few times before, and it took her hours to scrub away at them with a small bucket of water and a sponge to finally get them clean again.

She wasn't going to make the mistake of getting them dirty again.

Frypan had sent her out to the forest to find some sticks for a fire to toast marshmallows. Minho had pushed Newt to put in a request to the Creators for a packet of marshmallows, and they actually obliged.

Leaning down carefully, she began to bundle logs up in her arms, moving slowly due to her fear of the muddy ground. She didn't notice the sky above her visibly darkening, or the chill in the air, despite the fact she only wore a t-shirt.

And then Ada felt something drop onto her head. For a moment, she thought something small - like a blueberry - had been thrown at her. She scolded herself in her head for thinking so stupidly, because whatever touched her just vanished - almost like it melted.

And then it clicked in her brain: It was rain.

Another droplet hit her head, and she glanced up at the sky, letting one hit her forehead. She involuntarily laughed at the feeling, the water trickling down her temple and then her jaw, as many more began to pour down on her face.

The sky had grown a dark grey, storm clouds looming over the Glade threateningly as the rain continued. She thought nothing of it, of course. It was the first time it had rained since she was there, but it's rain. From what she could recall in her memory deprived brain, it was normal.

And from what she could vaguely figure out, she knew it was her favourite weather.

When she looked back down, clothes already drenched from the heavy droplets, she could see Newt's face. He was as pale as a sheet. Immediately her grin vanished, and she found herself reluctant to approach the distraught boy as he frowned up at the sky.

Glancing around, she caught sight of all of the boys around, all with similar expressions but none as intense as the blonde boy's. Her brain was screaming for her to ask one of them, but her heart was telling her there was something very, very wrong with the whole thing.

Apprehensively, she jogged over to the entrance of the Homestead, where Frypan was stood leaning against the wooden structure and warily watching the gloomy scene of the Glade. The mood had seemed to have dropped when the rain started and the whole thing seemed so unexplainable to her.

She noticed that the ones looking downcast and noticeably sending glances towards Newt, were the ones that she knew had been here longer. Chuck, herself, the other boys who had arrived more recently, were all looking around with their mouths firmly shut in anxious confusion.

Approaching Frypan, she stopped with her arms folded across her chest. Frypan, like Newt and the other more senior Gladers, looked deeply upset. She was nervous to ask, but knew that the curiosity gnawing away at her stomach was far too great to leave it alone.

"Fry," He startled, his head snapping towards her like a deer caught in headlights. "What's going on? With Newt? A-and everyone?"

He turned away again, his gaze softening on the blonde boy still working in the rain that was only getting heavier by the second. Letting out a heavy sigh, the cook straightened up and tilted his head inside the Homestead to signal her to follow. He led her towards the end of the dining hall, where they always sat to have chats about other boys in the Glade that they didn't want anyone to hear.

That should've been the first sign to tell Ada that this was not good.

"So?" She asked, more impatient than she intended. "I thought it was just rain, right?"

As Frypan leaned forwards on the table, his expression darkened, and he opened his mouth to explain. However, just as he did, in walked Alby. Frypan immediately silenced at their leader's presence, who looked more grumpy than usual.

"What the shuck are you two doing?"

They scrambled up from their seats at Alby's tone, immediately moving back towards the kitchen guiltily. Before she could go in after Fry, Alby caught her arm. Upon close inspection, she could see that - for once - Alby also looked distressed.

"Minho just got back, can you go get him a glass of water please?" He asked gently, and she nodded with what she hoped was a reassuring smile.

Making her way across the Glade with the glass - her hand covering the top - Ada could see that the rain hadn't faltered in the slightest. The boys still working away were getting soaked, but because of the rules of the Glade, they were forced to carry on.

If this goes on any longer, the Med-Jacks are gonna have a busy day tomorrow of boys showing up with pneumonia.

How do I remember what pneumonia is?

Minho was stood in the entrance from the Maze, looking wildly different from usual. His hair was flattened on his forehead, and his eyes were wide as he frantically looked around the Glade.

"Hey Minho." 

She greeted him, but she didn't get a word in return as Minho snatched the glass and gulped it down in one. He wiped off his mouth and shoved the glass back into her hand as he began to move past her already.

"Where's Newt?" He sounded hurried, as if in a panic.

Grabbing his arm, she managed to get him to stop. She regretted it a little, after he fixed a mean glare on her, but knew for a fact that it would do him good to calm down.

"Minho." She used a stern tone, and this caused him to do a second take. "What's going on?"

His face drained of colour, and Ada's heart dropped as she noticed that it looked like he was about to cry. And then she started to piece it together: Newt's reaction, everyone's glances to him, Minho's instant panic. 

What happened to Newt? And what does it have to do with the rain?

Luckily for her, it looked like Minho was actually going to explain. He found where Newt was slaving away in the Gardens and kept his eyes there, and despite the fact he was looking at the blonde boy he adored, his gaze didn't soften.

"It's only rained once before." He cleared his throat and quickly glanced away from Newt and to the ground, as if it was too painful. "Years ago, after the incident."

"The incident?"

Minho swallowed and blinked quickly, blinking away the tears that Ada noticed had welled up in his eyes. For his pride - and his pride only - she didn't mention it. She knew that he'd put up walls she wouldn't be able to break down if she did.

"Newt. Back when he was a Runner. He was running the Maze and he-" Minho's voice broke off and Ada could tell by his clenched fists that he wanted nothing more than to comfort Newt right now. "He fell. I found him. Stupid shank got all- all tangled up in the ivy, and shucked his leg. I dragged him back in the rain."

Ada wasn't really sure if she liked the rain that much anymore. Not now, when she know the traumatic event that occurred during its first time appearing in the Glade.

Minho hadn't made it obvious, but the girl put the pieces together of what had happened. 

Ada felt a lump forming in her throat as she tried to find something, anything, to say. Of all the people in the Glade, she wouldn't expect to Newt to have wanted to give up. On the surface, he seemed like an optimist, cheerful, friendly. Probably more so than anyone else in the place. But clearly, she didn't know him all that well yet.

Before she could form the right words, Minho had taken off in a jog across the Glade towards the blonde boy. Newt noticed him from a few feet away, letting his shovel drop to the floor as he took a few steps forwards before Minho engulfed him in a hug that nearly knocked him over.

Ada may not have known a lot, but she knew that the embrace the boys shared was one to say they were grateful to both be there at that moment. She also knew that Minho was harbouring a world of unspoken feelings towards the boy. And she was confident that Newt felt the same way.

"Right, you lot! Homestead! Now!" 

Alby's voice cut through the Glade's icy atmosphere like a knife, causing Minho and Newt to reluctantly break apart. The leader's eyes softened at the pair, hesitating for a moment, before beckoning them inside too.

"Is work cancelled?" Chuck asked a fellow Slopper confusedly, but Alby was close enough to him to catch the question.

"It is, Greenie." Alby said begrudgingly. Clearly, it was a tough decision that he didn't want to make, but the rain made it far too hard for anyone to get anything done. "If it goes on for as long as last time, we're gonna have to all move into the Homestead for the night."

Minho, whose arm was tightly wound around a still pale Newt, bounded over in forced high spirits. It was clear he wanted to uplift the blonde boy and as hard as he was trying, it wasn't working.

Newt's mind was racing through everything. The vague memory of Minho hauling him back to the Glade, the searing pain shooting up from his foot and spreading up his leg that never fully faded, the looks on his friends faces when he finally awoke from unconsciousness days later.

"Sleepover?" Minho jolted Newt, interrupting the spiral of thoughts he had begun to fall into.

Alby glared at the now actually excited Runner, who fixed him with a hopeful gaze. He scowled for a split second before straightening up again as he beckoned more boys inside the wooden shack.

"No, Minho." He answered tiredly. "If you have a room in the Homestead, you can just sleep there. I guess for the other boys-"

"-Oh shuck rooms!" He interrupted, squeezing Newt's shoulder and earning a tiny smile from the boy. "Let's have a sleepover Newtie."

It wasn't like Minho and Newt didn't have sleepovers already - considering they shared a room - but the smile that infected Newt's face was more than enough to prevent anyone from mentioning that. Alby refrained from glaring, instead choosing to give Newt a tight-lipped smile of approval.

And with that, the black haired boy dragged the second-in-command into the building, already talking his ear off, which was lucky for Newt since he was the only one who seemed to enjoy Minho's rambling. Ada stared after them for a moment, mesmerised by their oddly pure relationship, and then snapped back to Alby.

"Ada?" 

She jumped a little at her name, and realised that Alby must have said it a few times - if his death glare was anything to go by.

"Sorry, what did you say?"

He scoffed loudly, rolling his eyes, but Ada just waited patiently. She noticed he did that sometimes; made his frustration really obvious for everyone to see, in order to see how they'd respond. 

And she learned that just politely going along with it earned the best response from her leader. It irritated him to not get an angered response in return - but not enough to provoke him to snap at her, because she was being kind to him. She found it hilarious.

"I asked you if you felt comfortable sleeping down here, with all of the boys."

Her eyebrows furrowed for a moment before she clicked on to Alby's insinuation - that someone might try something inappropriate. She straightened up with a smile and patted the boy's shoulder reassuringly.

"I trust everyone here." She said, earning an unconvinced glance in return. She was far too naïve and Alby knew it. "Okay fine, I'll sleep next to Gally."

That way, the Builder could just beat up anyone trying to touch her.

Alby caught onto her thoughts and ushered her inside. The Council room, where everyone had already begun to gather with blankets and pillows, was fully packed with boys. It looked quite cosy, Ada found herself thinking.

Newt and Minho were set up near a wall, a little distance away from the rest of the boys, which everyone was respecting for the silent acknowledgement of the incident. Newt was sat with knees brought up to his chest and his chin resting on them, watching Minho roll out their sleeping bags and chatter away nonsensically. 

Scanning across the room, she found Gally propped up near another wall, chatting with a few friends. She felt her stomach twist in nerves as she realised she'd have to awkwardly interrupt their conversation to tell Gally she wanted to sleep next to him.

Not that I want to, it's just safer. 

She reminded herself firmly in her mind that it was necessary to sleep next to Gally, as she tried to work up the courage to cut into the Builders conversation. She found the others scary. They were mainly quiet around her, only exchanging glances with each other if there was ever a situation they were in together. But they seemed like they were loud and boisterous around the other boys, especially with Gally, and that freaked her out.

Realising she had been stuck to the spot for a few minutes, she spun on her heel, immediately backing out of her plan of interrupting the Builders. Instead, she jogged up the Homestead stairs to where her room was.

She went about the room: pulling on a hoodie for warmth, grabbing a blanket and a pillow, and a bottle of water. Inevitably, the boys of the Glade would be drinking Gally's awful concoction, but considering what she thought of it last time, it was smart to grab herself a drink. 

Stopping beside her bed, she could see out of the rain splattered window. The rain still hadn't ceased, and puddles were starting to gather around the Glade.

The mud in the forest is only going to be ten times worse now.

She quickly made her way back downstairs and into the Council room again, where everyone in the Glade was now gathered. It was a strange sight to see. 

Even at breakfast, lunch, and dinner, not everyone got together. Breaks were taken at different times, the Runners left too early in the morning, errands had to be completed in the evenings. But now, everyone was finally together. It seemed to be the one positive thing the rain was bringing.

Ada weaved her way through the obstacle course of boys lounging around, towards Gally, who was still engrossed in conversation with the Builders. As she made her way over, she firmly decided that she wasn't going to say a word. 

And she didn't.

Gally trailed off midsentence as she settled herself down beside him, rolling out her blanket and throwing down her pillow just a foot over from his. His jaw was slacked, and his fellow Builders stared between the pair in awe as she made herself comfortable. Once she was satisfied, she tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear and smiled sweetly at the group of them.

"Don't mind me. Please, carry on." She urged Gally, fixing him with an innocent expression. 

She saw the ghost of a smirk pass the boy's lips as he paused for a second before continuing whatever he was talking about. Ada's attention drew away from him and across the room to where Minho and Newt had actually moved to join the rest of the Gladers.

Then, Minho got to his feet, and cleared his throat dramatically. "Newt and I have been discussing what we could do to pass the time, and it was then that we realised we only have one option."

Ada caught Newt's eye across the room and raised her eyebrows. He shook his head with a smirk, as if to confirm that Minho was a complete drama queen.

And somehow the Gladers all shared the memory of the strange game that got them whispering in excitement as Minho posed the question, "Truth or dare?"