Stolen [The Maze Runner Fanfiction]

XXIII. Yours

Minho's POV

"You ok?" Newt asks, when he finds me alone and staring out into the maze. Sky has been out for two days now, and according to the med-jacks it isn't looking good. I don't know what I'll do if she doesn't make it.  My resolve to not give up disappears every time the imagine of her face pops into my mind. I haven't slept much or ate much for that matter, since she passed out.

"What do you think?" I growl. Newt should know better than to ask stupid questions. How does he think I feel, knowing that the one person I care most about might not live? He doesn't answer, just takes a seat beside me, folding his legs beneath him. We sit in silence for a while, staring into the maze that nearly Stole Skylar from me. My hands clench in to fists, I will kill them all, the creators, every single one of them, for what they did to her.

"You love her don't you?" Newt asks, breaking the silence. At first I'm surprised, then I can only nod, I've denied it for weeks now, but after all that has happened, I can't shake the way I feel about her. Like the feeling that her dying would somehow kill me too, or knowing that given the chance, I'd trade places with her in a heartbeat. I would do anything to get her back, I would die for her. I've never felt this way, never knew what it meant to love someone.

"So the heart of stone finally cracked?" Newt says forcing a laugh, trying to lighten the mood. He's right though, before Sky, I didn't care, about anyone or anything. I had built a solid stone wall around my heart, because here, caring is dangerous. Don't care about anything and they can't hurt you, but the second you care about someone, they have a weapon. When so many people are lost, you can't afford to feel it, or you'd go crazy. I'm not afraid to die, which before Sky, made me fearless. I had nothing to lose, now, I have everything.

"Ya.... And it's shucking terrifying." I admit. Although I'm not sure why, usually my feelings are kept strictly to myself, .....unless I'm angry, then everyone knows about it.

"Hmm, feelings are bloody scary things when you've never had them eh?" Newt teases.

"Not what I meant slinthead, I'm just afraid of losing her, afraid of how much I care if I lose her." I say trying to explain it, although that doesn't even begin to explain how it feels, and losing her is a very real possibility in this horrible place, people die all the time.  I just hope she isn't one of them.

"I can't believe you were the first one to break." Newt says shaking his head. "Never in a million years would I have guessed you to be the first one of us to fall for someone."

"Neither would I, if you'd have told me three months ago that I'd love some girl, I'd have laughed in your face and told you to get lost." I reply, and it's the truth. I would have never imagined caring this much about someone, didn't even know it was possible, but that was before I met Sky.

"Although I'm not sure I was the first." I say thinking of Clint. I've seen the way he looks at Kate.

"No, maybe not." He answers. "And I don't think you were the last." He laughs, looking down.

"The greenie?" I ask. I've noticed him being extra nice to Mallory, but I just figured it was because she was scared, and had seen Sky get stuck on only her second day. Now I wonder if there was more to it.

"Maybe." He shrugs.

"What happened to us?"  I say shaking my head. Here I thought I was invincible, and all it took was a pretty girl with some killer knife skills. But now she is so much more than that. She's my reason, my reason to escape. Skylar gave me hope, that maybe, just maybe if we make it out, I could have a normal life again. She gave me a reason to want to get out.

"Shucking girls." Newt huffs, rolling his eyes. I laugh, but I can't bring myself to be mad at Sky for messing everything up. She is both the best, and worst thing to ever show up in the glade. She is my perfect paradox.

Suddenly I catch a glimpse of none other than Mallory, sprinting full speed towards us.

"Minho." She says breathlessly, and instantly I know it has something to do with Sky, otherwise, she would have spoken to Newt. I stand quickly, kicking myself for being out here pouting instead of being with her. "It's Sky." Well duh, I figured that one out what's happening? I think, seconds away from just going to see for myself.

"I think she's awake, well not like awake, awake...But I think she can hear." Mal explains, gasping for breath. She would make a horrible runner, out of breath after such a short sprint. Thinking of running makes me think of Sky, which brings me quickly back on track.

"Really?" I say, not waiting for an answer as I turn and sprint into the homestead.

"Sky...?" I say hesitantly when I enter.  I see her, laying still on the bed, her red hair framing her sleeping face. She looks tiny and weak, totally opposite from the strong, fearless girl I know. At least she's alive I remind myself, walking over to sit in the chair next to her bed. I push a piece of hair away from her face,  brushing her cheek in the process; her skin is pale and cold. I wrap her small hand in mine, wondering if she can even feel it.

"Um Mal said you can hear?" I say awkwardly, not sure if she can actually hear, or if she can, how to have a conversation with someone who can't answer. Instantly she squeezes my hand, and I almost jump backwards in shock. For the first time since she passed out, she is showing signs of waking up. I gasp, she can hear me. Again I get mad at myself, I should have been here.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I should have been here." I apologize, wondering how long she's been conscious. I haven't even visited her since the first day, it was too painful, but now I feel guilty.

"Sky I need you to wake up." I tell her honestly. She doesn't 'answer' and I think that maybe she's gone to sleep. Or worse, maybe she's awake and she's mad that I never visited her. I wait a minute before standing to leave. I have every intention of coming back, but I decide that Kate and Newt should probably know, and I might as well do it while she's sleeping-or ignoring me- either way.

I start to let go of her hand, when she squeezes it again. I stop in my tracks before turning back to her. "You want me to stay?" I ask hesitantly, not sure exactly what she meant by it, for all I know she could have been saying goodbye. She squeeze my hand again, harder this time, and I smile; She does want me to stay. "Of course." I answer her unasked question. Although I can picture it, how it would go if she was awake, her shyly asking if I'll stay, nervous that I won't, when in reality she has absolutely nothing to worry about.

"I'll stay till the end of the world." I tell her, and I mean it. In this place, you never know which day that might be.