Hayden sits in the kitchen with Fry the next morning, watching the bacon to make sure it doesn't burn. It's her 5th day in the Glade and she can say that she's slowly getting used to it. She's not getting comfortable— she never will be— but she's finding her place, just like Fry said she would.

She tries to focus on what Fry says to her but all she can focus on is the ache in her gut. Ever since her fear has lessened, her pain has become more intense. The leg pain isn't too bad, it's merely sore. But the pain in her stomach— which she found out is caused by a long, healing horizontal cut— is overwhelming. She has a few theories on what may have happened, the most possible one being the one she wants last. A hysterectomy of some sort seems the most plausible but she really doesn't want that to be true. Guess she'll find out within the month.

"Good morning, bud!" Fry exclaims, smiling at Gally who walks into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes.

"Whatever." He grumbles as he pulls up a chair.

"Couldn't sleep?" Hayden asks, looking at the clock on the wall, it being just past 5:30.

He grunts in response, "Clint and Jeff snore. I can hear them through the walls of my hut."

"Well I was up showering and Fry was preparing breakfast, thank you for asking."

Fry chuckles while Gally looks up, "Why were you showering at 5 in the morning?"

"It's the only time of day I know where everyone is." She responds, slightly trying to build up pity points so he'll say yes when she asks him her question later.

He holds an unrecognisable expression on his face, "We could get you a lock, you know? At least we could get someone to stand guard."

She shrugs, not wanting to admit that she doesn't really trust anyone to that extent yet. She'd rather wake up and get a good start on the day. "How's your wrist doing?"

At the mention of his injury, he raises his hand like he's inspecting the wound, "It's fine. Doesn't bother me."

Fry snorts but Hayden ignores him, "That's good."

"You guys want food before everyone else wakes up?" Fry offers, breaking the eye contact they were having.

Both nod, looking back at him, saying please. They eat in silence before Hayden excuses herself, walking back over to her hut. She sits on the floor for a while then about 20 minutes before everyone is supposed to start working, she finds Gally.

"What are we doing today?"

"Building your hut." He responds simply.

Hayden frowns. She figured out that she needs to break his shell a bit so she's hoping he'll open up a bit more. She's using Roman's tactic of talking. She needs him to think helping her is worth his time.

Gally leads her over to where the wood is stacked up at the wall.

"We've got to carry all of this?" She looks at the massive pile with her hands on her hips.

"Yup."

"Where are the rest of the Builders?"

"It's their day off."

"It's not your day off?"

"I don't get days off." He says.

She sends him a look, "That's sad."

Gally forces himself to roll his eyes. He's trying so hard to keep up his unbothered and mean facade when in reality, he wants to melt into the palms of her hands. He's got one mantra repeating in his head, reminding him that this isn't what he wants it to be. This isn't my Hayden, this is just a Hayden.

They start carrying the wood towards the foundation of Hayden's hut, Gally being able to carry twice the wood Hayden can. She tries to find the best time to start a conversation but he isn't the most welcoming and cuddly person.

She realises that they probably aren't going to be friends so the questions she asks are the ones she wants the answers to but doesn't want to bother anyone by asking.

"Hey, can I ask you a question?"

Gally picks up a piece of wood, handing it to her before picking up triple of the amount for himself. "I have a feeling you'll ask no matter what I say."

"What do I look like?"

He scoffs, planning on not answering. Then he sees her expression. He internally collapses. He'd tell her anything she wants.

"You've got dark brown hair, blue eyes. You're short—"

"Short in general or short for you 'cause you're a giant?"

"Short." He replies, "You've got freckles but they aren't that noticeable. You're pale but your nose and cheeks are always sorta pink. You've got... a smile? I don't know, Hayden."

"Am I pretty?" She asks, "Like do I look good?"

He sighs, turning to look at her. "If I answer, will you go back to work quietly?"

"Yes."

Neither of them believe her words.

"Then, yes. You're very pretty."

She smiles triumphantly at his words. Gally's face looks a little flushed but she can't tell if it's from working or their conversation.

"Now let's go." He says, turning to keep walking, "Your hut isn't going to build itself."

———

"You should stay away from him." Says Ben. Him, Hayden, Roman and Newt sit at a picnic table, eating lunch, talking about how her morning went working with Gally.

Hayden shrugs, looking at Gally who stands not too far away with Fry, the chef laughing at something Gally said. "He doesn't seem so bad."

"Hayden, his reputation isn't good." Newt adds, "He's not a nice person."

"Is anyone?" She replies, "Maybe he just needs someone who doesn't leave him... someone who's nice and hasn't formed an opinion on him yet." Guess Hayden has a thing for losing dogs.

"You're very committed to this plan." Roman says, not looking away from Gally who bids goodbye to Fry, heading towards Hayden.

"He just seems... like there's more to him."

Newt and Ben stare at her blankly, Roman hides his grin.

Hayden's just about to defend herself when Gally calls out to her, "Greenie! Let's go."

She sends him a thumbs up, turning back to the group. "Could you guys take my plate to the kitchen?"

The 3 boys nod, Newt yelling out as she walks away, "Be careful."

She sends him a glare over her shoulder. She jogs up to Gally, "How was lunch?"

"Fine." He grunts. Hayden absentmindedly rolls her eyes. 

As they start walking back over to Hayden's hut-in-progress, she decides to bite the bullet. Everytime she talks to him she feels like she's talking to a wall. She wants to know if all of this was for nothing, "I need a favour."

"No."

She huffs, "You don't even know what it is yet."

"I don't want to know."

"I need you to teach me to fight," Hayden says simply, "To protect myself. Roman says you're the best fighter in the Glade and I may be speaking too soon but I don't think you'll do anything to me... and I have to trust someone."

"That's against the rules." Gally responds, not looking at her.

"Yeah, but me getting attacked is also against the rules and I don't think that's going to stop anyone." She motions to the 10 different Gladers who watch her in the near proximity. Gally looks up, seeing men, all taller than Hayden, staring at her like she's a piece of meat. It makes an unfamiliar feeling grow in his stomach. Well— not unfamiliar. He just hasn't felt it in a long time. He hasn't felt this angry or protective since before the Glade.

Still trying to hold up his rough demeanour, Gally says, "What do I get out of it?"

Hayden sighs. She didn't think he'd even think about it. She looks up at the sky while thinking before turning to look at him quickly, "Hear me out. When my hut is done, Roman's will be empty. Then you guys can swap. You say you can't sleep because of snoring and Newt says Roman is a very heavy sleeper, snoring won't affect him. So you move into Roman's hut, meaning you're in between Newt and I. I don't even hear Newt entering or leaving his hut so he'll be quiet and I think I'm a silent sleeper. There's no way for me to really tell."

He sighs, looking at her for a moment, "And what? Roman will agree to this?"

"I can ask him," She replies, "If he says yes, will you do it?"

Gally doesn't respond for a second, only double checking the studs for the framing. He then looks at her. She crouches across for him, a hopeful and almost pleading expression on her face.

He nods, "Yeah, fine."

Hayden grins. He looks away.

———

"You're late."

"No I'm not!" Hayden replies, stepping over logs and sticks to reach Gally who stands in the middle of the forest the next morning.

He looks down at his watch, "4 minutes."

"In my defence, you told me to meet you in the woods by the lake. How the fuck was I supposed to figure out where that was in a timely manner?" She stops in front of him, her hands on her hips.

"You can't swear."

Hayden looks at him blankly. The Glader language was mostly made to accommodate the younger Gladers but Hayden doesn't see the point. 'Shuck' is a swear word with a few extra letters. "I don't see any children around."

Gally huffs, "Get into the habit."

She scrunches her nose. A memory pops into his head. 11 year old Hayden now stands in front of him in a white hallway. He just told her what was on the menu for dinner that night. She hates fish—

"Gally!"

He snaps back into focus, looking at Hayden who looks at him confused. "Huh?"

"Lost you there for a second."

Gally mumbles an apology. Hayden shrugs it off, looking at her surroundings. She hasn't been into the woods yet, for obvious reasons. She thinks it's quite pretty, especially this part. There are thick trees all around, with an opening in the middle, where the teens stand. Beside them is a large lake with crystal waters. She finds it funny how the most beautiful part of the Glade is the only thing left alone. Apart from a wooden dock that extends into the water, the lake is untouched.

"We've got an hour before your role meeting starts." He says, "Before I teach you to actually fight, I'm giving you other options. Like running. You're fast. Only use fighting when you need to."

She nods, "Trust me, fighting is my last resort. My first resort is avoiding everyone all around."

He hums, "Good plan."

The 20 minutes is Gally teaching her the basics of defence. The idea of using your arms to shield your head. Then he moves to offence, the thing she'll actually need. He starts with telling her to use her instincts, and that they are stronger than she may believe. He knows they are. She came to their compound fully trained in fighting a few years back. He just needs to help her realise her full ability.

He knows he will be the punching bag for most of these practices so he tries to get her more comfortable with hitting him. Gally tells her to punch his hands and arms, trying to show how it won't hurt him. She lands a few punches into his palms, Gally trying to politely heckle to push her farther.

"Come on! Put some effort in."

"I don't want to hurt you." She responds.

"Hayden, you aren't going to hurt me." He sighs, "I've got a very solid pain tolerance."

Hayden sends him a look, "Fine."

She puts more power into her punch, still holding back slightly.

"Harder."

She punches him again.

"Again."

Hayden presses her lips into a thin line, hitting her fist into his palm.

"One more." He says, "We aren't moving on until my hand is tingling. Me feeling it in my hand will knock out like 60% of the guys in this Glade. They may be tall but they're skinny and weak."

She sighs but knows he's probably right. When you look at each guy individually, the most intimidating feature of them isn't their height, weight or strength, it's simply the fact that they are a man. She can't pick out what scares her most about them, only what they represent. So yes, she believes Gally when he says her 50% effort punch will scare of some of the guys because they aren't exactly fighters. Gally, however, is.

Now, Gally would never admit this to anyone but his hand is starting to get a bit sore with the repeadative punches but he isn't going to stop her anytime soon. His stupid weakness isn't going to be the reason she gets hurt. If he stops, restricting her chance of clueing in on her strength today, that's 23 hours until their next practice that she'll spend scared. Then he's got another chance tomorrow, and the day after. But that doesn't matter. Because his instability will not be the cause of her vulnerability today. Or any other day.

By the time the hour is up, Hayden is feeling at least a bit more comfortable hitting Gally. As they walk back towards the Glade, heading towards the council hall, Hayden looks at him. He walks with his hands in his pockets, looking ahead with his jaw clenched.

She only looks away when a wolf whistle sounds from across the Glade. Hayden grimaces, already knowing who it is. She just keeps walking, keeping her head down. Gally— however— stops in his tracks, glaring at Dane who jogs towards the council hall.

"How long has he been doing that?"

Hayden shrugs, "Day or two. Ever since I worked with the Bricknicks."

He keeps walking only because she never stopped, "Did you tell Alby?"

"No." Hayden responds, "As long as he stays away from me, I don't care."

"Hayden?"

She hums.

"You'll tell me if he comes close?"

She meets his eyes. He's already staring at her. Hayden nods— for once not lying, "Yeah. I will."

———

AUTHOR'S NOTE—

completely forgot about this i'm sorry :'((