The whole Glade was in an uproar. Confused, Alby made his way over to where the Gladers were all gathered. The Box. "Newt?" Alby asked when he was close enough to be heard, making the blond jump slightly. "What is going on?" Newt gestured down into the Box as if he was unable to form a coherent sentence. Alby got closer to the Box and peered inside. Gally was down in there, trying to coax the new Greenie out. That was when he saw you.

Wide (e/c) eyes looked up at Gally in fear. Now Alby could see what the fuss was. A girl. There had never been a girl in the Glade before and it looked like Gally was scaring the klunk out of her. "Gally," Alby said quietly, making Gally look up. "She won't come out," Gally replied with a shrug. With a jerk of his head, Alby silently ordered Gally out of the Box.

For a moment, you just stared up at him and Alby stared back at you. His mind was bouncing back and forth. How was he supposed to talk to a girl? He couldn't remember and that irritated him. "Are you going to come up or are you going to starve in there?" he asked gruffly. You lifted your head and stuck your chin out. "I'll come out when I'm good and ready! If that idiot up there hadn't scared me, I'd be out already." Alby scoffed and turned away. "Newt, get her out of there. Get her some food and bring her to me." With that, he walked away.

He spent the next hour or so trying to figure out how he should talk to you. It wasn't like you were one of the boys. One wrong word and Alby knew you could make life in the Glade far more difficult than it already was. Finally, he saw Newt approaching the Tower with you following close behind. Sighing, Alby prepared himself for yet another tour of the Glade and more questions than he wanted to answer.

"Go on up, love," Alby heard Newt say. A moment later, you appeared at the top. "Sit down," Alby ordered. You arched a brow, but did as you were asked. "We call this the Glade," Alby started on his usual spiel, but you stopped him. "Why am I here? Why am I the only girl?" Alby couldn't stop the groan that escaped him. "I don't know. No one knows. Now slim it." You cocked your head to the side and giggled. That was new. No one ever laughed when Alby snapped at them. It confused him. "You know what? I think I'm gonna have Newt give you the tour instead," Alby muttered before calling out to the second-in-command.

*time skip*

Alby was still confused. You'd been in the Glade for a few weeks now and had found your job as a Med jack, but Alby still hadn't figured out how to talk to you. You easily bantered with Newt, Minho, and even Gally on occasion. You'd tried to talk to Alby, but the young man just continued to come off as gruff and grumpy. That wasn't the only thing that confused him. What confused him more was the fact that you didn't seem at all fazed by it.

It wasn't until Alby got hurt that he actually had a real conversation with you. "Hey, Y/N, I've got to get Winston patched up. Can you handle Alby?" Jeff asked outside the Medjack's hut. You hummed and entered the room. "Off to an early start this morning, aren't you Al?" Alby narrowed his eyes. He hated that nickname and you knew it. "Sorry, Alby. What happened?"

"Was trying to fix the hole in the wall of the Homestead." You snorted. "You know we have Builders for that, right?" Alby rolled his eyes and watched you work. You moved with slow, careful movements which slightly annoyed Alby. It wasn't because he didn't appreciate you doing your job. He just hated being alone with you. It was far too awkward.

"Could you hurry?" he asked, the question coming out a lot snappier than he'd intended. You stopped what you were doing, put your hands on your hips, and glare. "Excuse me? Do you want an infection?" you snarled. Alby grumbled something and you groaned. "What is your problem?" Alby opened his mouth to argue but you held up a hand to stop him. "You know what, I don't care. Just sit down and slim it so I can finish and get you out of here since you seem so desperate to get away from me."

With a huff, you went back to nursing Alby's wound. "Why are you so grumpy all the time?" you asked suddenly, your voice much softer than it had been. "I'm not." You looked up at him. "You are to me. I get that I'm not exactly one of the boys, but I don't appreciate you treating me like a Griever." Alby laughed at the comparison. He definitely didn't see you that way.

One laugh turned into a series of chuckles and you couldn't help but join in. When he finally stopped laughing, Alby had to wipe his eyes. "You're right. You're not one of the boys. That's why I have such a hard time talking to you." Your brows furrowed and Alby sighed. "I don't know how to talk to you the way Newt does."

You shrugged. "You aren't Newt, Alby. Just talk to me the way you would talk to Newt or Minho, but don't snap at me. It won't get you anywhere." You placed your hand on his, making Alby's heart beat faster in his chest. That was another thing he hadn't counted on. His attraction to you. It was wrong. You were the only girl and it wasn't fair for Alby to feel this way. Not when there were dozens of other boys.

You cleared your throat and pulled your hand away. "You're good to go. Just let the Builders do their jobs. Good that?" Alby nodded and replied, "Good that." He left and you let out a sigh. That was the first time you'd ever been that close to Alby and you wanted to be that close again. "You like him," Clint said when he stepped inside and saw you standing there. "Alby?" you asked and he nodded. Smiling softly, you breathed, "Yeah, I do."

Outside the hut, Alby grinned. You'd just admitted that you liked him. He walked toward the Homestead with a new spring in his step. Now that he knew how to talk to you, Alby was certainly glad you weren't one of the boys.