I should've asked you how to be;
❛ POISONOUS CURE ❜
❝ You're the only person in here with some hope in her eyes ❞

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Cleo woke up on the ground next to Chuck's sleeping bag. She was surprised by the lack of sunlight surrounding her and frowned when she noticed rainy clouds. A bad feeling instantly hit her. She only remembered it raining once in the Glade. It was during her first day.

She chose to push her gut feeling to the side and pushed herself off the wooden column that she was sleeping against the entire night.

Cleo cracked her neck and her back, cringing at the pain. She sighed and looked down at the sleeping boy next to her. He seemed to be sleeping all right which made the pain worth it.

Chuck was having nightmares since he arrived at the Glade and they stopped after the first two weeks because Cleo always ended up talking or singing him to sleep. He had another one the previous night so she didn't want to leave his side. She knew it was because of Ben's banishment from the day before.

It was nothing unusual. All of them had nightmares. Some were about the deaths that they have seen. Some were about getting stung or others getting stung. Some were about the lives that they could never remember.

More often than not, Cleo dreamed of the same boy. His warm eyes were the only memory that those bastards never managed to take away from her. Still, that didn't mean she would be able to recognise him if she saw him. She knew nothing about him. Not even his name.

"Cleo?"

The blonde was startled by the sound of her name. She turned around to see Thomas looking at with wide eyes.

"Yeah, Tommy?" She asked. Her smile was sheepish and the look in her eyes was tired as she rose to her feet and rubbed her dirty hands on her pants.

"Where's Alby?" Thomas tilted his head. "He's supposed to show me some jobs after breakfast."

Cleo looked at the maze over his shoulder and saw that it was already open. Her shoulders fell and she let out a heavy sigh. She was hit with the reality of Ben's death once again. "He's in the maze with Minho. They're going to bring back Ben's body so we can bury him." She told him.

His face dropped and his face became pale. He also seemed to forget what happened the previous day. "Oh..." He muttered, his mouth open in shock.

"Don't worry." Cleo plastered on a fake smile. "You can stick with me today. We'll see if you're any good at being a doctor and then I'll pass you off to Newt if you accidentally kill someone."

Thomas could not help but chuckle at the teasing tone in her voice. He nodded. "Great. I'll try not to. I'd rather stick with you than work in the gardens the entire day." Cleo's smile became more genuine at his words and she felt her face grow hot. Thomas' eyes widened once he realized that he, once again, spoke without thinking. He rushed to change the subject. "Um... why were you sleeping here? I thought you had a hammock?"

Cleo shrugged. "I do. I just... I didn't want to leave Chuck alone. He's too young to handle all of this on his own."

Thomas stared at her in surprise and awe, his eyes narrowed.

"Your friend died." He blurted out without thinking. "I mean... Ben was your friend and you are more worried about others than yourself. You're obviously hurt too."

Cleo was stunned by the observation. She never had anyone consider her feelings other than Newt. She was always way too worried about everyone else to even care.

"I guess it's my coping mechanism. Helping others grieve is an easy distraction. It's hard to admit how weak you feel when you are in a situation like this. It's easy to at least pretend like I'm not bothered and have hope so the others keep believing we have a chance to get out of here." Cleo admitted and looked down.

"You don't think we have a chance?" His eyebrows furrowed.

She huffed. "Maybe we do. Maybe we don't. But any mentally stable person would lose hope after trying for three years."

"I think we can make it out." Thomas said confidently. He had a newfound look of determination in his eyes.

Cleo let out a breathy chuckle. She found his confidence and naiveness endearing. "Sure, Tommy. Maybe we can."

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Thomas was no help in the med-shack. He poorly bandaged a builder's hand and then stared off into the distance until lunch.

Cleo thought it was a good thing that only two people needed some actual help. It was a slow day and everybody was still on edge so they didn't do anything most of the day, anyway.

She sent Clint and Jeff off to eat and started cleaning up the med-shack. Thomas insisted on staying behind with her. That time, he actually tried to help.

"You doing okay, Tommy?" Cleo asked him after a couple of minutes that they spent in silence. "You've been quiet this morning. You usually can't shut up." If it weren't for the teasing tone in her voice, he could tell she was joking from the small and harmless smile on her face.

"Is Alby going to go back to where Ben was stung?" Thomas blurted out, surprising her with his question.

Cleo let out a heavy sigh, her smile fading. "Alby knows what he's doing. He's our leader for a reason. He knows better than any of us."

Thomas's eyebrows furrowed. "What does that mean?"

"Every month, the Box sends up a new arrival." Cleo started. She set down the medical equipment and crossed her arms over her chest. "But someone had to be first, right? That was Georgie. Alby came second. George was the one who spent an entire month here alone. I can't imagine how hard that was. He proved to be capable and smart enough to lead us. He built this place from scratch with Alby's help. Alby was the second in command until George..." Cleo swallowed. She couldn't bring herself to say the words. "Anyways, Alby is in charge now. He knows what he's doing. We have to trust him because trust is the only thing that keeps us going these days."

Thomas nodded and stayed silent for a couple of moments. As usual, he could not help but ask. "What happened to George?"

Cleo's breath hitched and she immediately looked away from him. No one talked about George. It was an unspoken rule.

Maybe it was because of the grief that they all still felt or maybe it was a sign of respect. Maybe they knew how hurt George's closest circle was when he died.

Cleo was hysterical. Alby didn't trust her around patients for a week. She barely ate and kept to herself most of the time. She did not even sleep because the only picture she could see when she closed her eyes was George's face when he died.

None of the gladers wanted to think about that time again. Everyone was silent for days. Nobody dared to speak during meals. They worked, ate and slept. All fun and hope had been drained out of them.

"He got stung." Cleo whispered. She swallowed and added, "He attacked me in the similar manner that Ben attacked you. He started screaming at me, unprovoked." This is all your fault! Foolish girl who trusts too easily! Traitor! She still heard his voice in her head clear as day despite the fact that she barely remembered his face anymore. It made her sick just thinking about it. "Alby killed him. He hit him too hard to knock him out and he ended up killing him so he wouldn't kill me. It's not Alby's fault, though. Georgie would be dead anyway."

George went into the maze just like Alby had that same morning. He went to find Henry's body and bring him back. But he went alone. Instead of finding Henry's body, he came back in the middle of the day and attacked Cleo behind the med-shack.

"I'm sorry..." Thomas cupped her hand hesitantly. After seeing her reaction to the story, he felt like an idiot for bringing it up and making her talk about it. "You two were close?"

He did not even have to ask. He could tell.

"He took care of everyone." She shrugged like it was not a big deal. (It was.) "He was everyone's big brother. We all respected him but he was one of my best friends. I could handle losing everyone else but him dying was something I never saw coming. He got through so much and I always expected him to be there at the end."

Thomas ran his thumb along her knuckles. "He'd be proud of you. You didn't give up. You're the only person in here with some hope in her eyes."

Despite the tears in her eyes, a genuine smile made its way to Cleo's face. "Thanks, Tommy."