Dylan's pov

"Has fame gone to your head yet?"

Tyler's voice buzzed through my headphones, and I smiled, instantly comforted by his familiar voice. "Hi to you too, Tyler Posey," I replied, rolling my eyes in exasperation.

Tyler faux-squealed through our skype call, forcing me to pull out an earbud with his sudden loudness. I raised an eyebrow at him through our fuzzy connection, silently asking why he found it necessary to give me a heart attack. In response, he started fanning himself with his hand, saying in mock excitement, "Oh my gosh! A real life celebrity knows my name!"

I offered a cheeky grin, and then without hesitating, I ended the skype call on him.

I waited a few moments, glancing around the small coffee shop in which I sat. It was a cute, family-run bakery-type thing, with potted plants and creepy pictures of cats hung around the walls. I took a cautious sip of my coffee, dipping my tongue in slowly to test if it was still too hot.

The skype call began to ring in my headphones again, and I immediately accepted Tyler's call. When his picture popped up, he looked severely unamused by my response to his teasing. Then he deadpanned, "Okay, just because you're a celebrity now does not mean you can hang up on me, bitch."

I smiled cheerily, clicking the "end call" button again.

This time Tyler called back immediately, grumbling under his breath about "actors gone rogue". I giggled in my seat, again sipping my drink. I watched him fidget with something to his right, before the lights flew on behind him.

"So, what did Thomas do now?" was the first thing Tyler asked. The smile on my face immediately dropped as I gaped at my best friend in surprise.

"Wait--how did you--what?" I stuttered.

Tyler rolled his eyes. "It's not that hard to figure out, Dylan. You've called twice in the past two weeks, once to vent about how dreadful the poor bloke is, once to complain about the awful words he said at the restaurant."

My mouth fell even wider, "I wasn't complaining--"

"Keep tellin' yourself that, Mr. Denial." Tyler rotated in his chair, obviously content to just be able to talk to me. I relaxed back against my own seat, slightly peeved at my best friend (mostly because he was right). Then he added in afterthought, "But you have the distracted-by-Thomas' face on, again."

I shook my head, but chose not to reply. "Well, anyways," I began, annunciating the last word to show I was moving on, "Thomas apologized to me."

Tyler froze in his seat. He turned towards me slowly, like the villain in a horror movie facing his victim. "Repeat that, please. There was too much bullshit in that sentence for me to understand it."

"I'm dead serious, man!" I said loudly. I glanced up to see if anyone was bothered by my exclamation, before I turned back to the screen. "He apologized, and I accepted it."

"Okay, hold up." Tyler sat up in his seat. His hand raked over the black stubble protruding from his chin, and he looked deep in thought as he said, "Thomas Sangster, the 'Bad-Boy-Thomas-Sangster-That-Never-Apologizes-For-Anything' said sorry?"

I nodded, and Tyler shook his head in disbelief. "What the hell? Why? Did he give you a bad blowjob or somethi--"

"Tyler!" I exclaimed, cutting him off. "No!"

My face was beet red and I was sure Tyler noticed, but at least he didn't say anything. "Then what happened?"

I launched into the story, intentionally keeping my voice low. I knew I wasn't exactly famous enough to have people recording my every move, especially in the middle of nowhere of Louisiana, but I still wanted to be cautious. The last thing I wanted for both Thomas and myself was for this to get out to the press, where the story of our hatred would blow up in a matter of days. Just by logging onto Twitter I could tell people already knew there was something going on between us, though most thought it to be some type of secret romantic relationship. As if.

I made sure to clearly explain my new relationship with Thomas, because it was helping me figure it out as I said it aloud. I was sure Thomas was a decent enough guy now that he had apologized, and I was willing to give him a chance. I didn't want to be more than acquaintances, however, because I still couldn't trust him. I definitely didn't want him constantly by my side, but at least right now I would tolerate his presence.

"Okay, okay. So just to be sure," Tyler said after I finished my story, "Thomas didn't give you a bad blowjob?"

"What--Tyler, no!" I said, feeling disgusted by his proposal.

"So it was a good blowjob?" he edged.

I groaned, wiping at my eyes as if I could wipe away the compromising images of Thomas that Tyler had planted in my mind. "Tyler, there were no blowjobs within the last two weeks."

I looked up as an old man shuffled past me just as I said that, and I blushed a deep crimson when his stare lingered on my face.

"I wasn't--I'm not--I didn't have any types of sex within the last two weeks, sir!" I blurt out as he hobbled past. It was instinctual and I was trying to defend myself, but Tyler's laughter informed me that I was just digging myself a deeper hole. This time I blushed harder, mentally applauding myself for the sheer, utter failure that is my life. The old man looked confused, slightly disgusted, and more than anything, concerned.

He patted me on the shoulder as he walked past my table, saying loud enough that Tyler managed to hear, "That's really none of my business, sonny."

Tyler was still laughing and I was still red when we hung up the call half an hour later.

______________________________________________________________________________

Thursday arrived in a blur.

All week, I had been a mix of both dread and excitement for today, as we would finally shoot our first scene of the movie. Which also meant it was my first scene ever as a professional actor, and let me tell you, that shit is scary.

My heart was already pounding when I stepped on set. Today we would be inside--thankfully, as it was (once again) raining outside. The building looked like a warehouse from outside: typical brown paint and large walls that towered over me, making me feel smaller than I already am. Inside, however, the building was alive; people scattered in every direction, carrying strange objects, speaking into wireless microphones, or looking as if they might cry. Workers rushed from point A to point B, and already I felt as though I couldn't keep up with the fast pace this business brought.

But, I reminded myself that I was determined to make it in this industry. So yes, my heart was beating faster than a hummingbird's and my stomach churned like a brewing storm, and honestly, I might throw up, but I am Dylan O'Brien, and I will not be knocked down.

Just then, a flustered worker came barrelling around the corner, crashing into me with enough force to knock me to the ground. The irony.

She picked up her belongings, and without apologizing, got to her feet and dashed off. I grumbled, about to stand, when a hand extended down to me. My eyes rose, meeting the deep brown eyes of Thomas Sangster.

"Watch it, klutz," he said, pulling me to my feet. His rude words didn't match his face, where a small smile was already forming on his lips.

"I didn't even see her coming," I said, dusting myself off.

"Yeah, that happens," Thomas smiled. Then he asked, "Are you nervous for your first day?"

I let out the breath of air I had been subconsciously holding. "Of course not!" I lied, my voice raising an octave at the end.

"Are you sure?" Thomas asked, raising an eyebrow. He stepped closer to me, ignoring the annoyed huffs of workers that had to step around us. I stepped back, not quite comfortable having him so close yet.

My shoulders slumped. "Of course I'm nervous," I admitted, albeit reluctantly. "How'd you know?"

Thomas glanced away. When he answered, his two eyebrows were now scrunched together, a frown carefully crafted into his features. "I remember my first day too." Then he turned towards me, the familiar smirk already replacing his frown. "And also, your hands are sweating profusely."

My immediate response was to tell him that his hands weren't exactly crafted like angels either, but I bit my tongue. I can't insult him anymore--that's only ever led to problems, and anyways, I hadn't been lying when I said I accepted his apology. I really did forgive him, and I would stay true to my word and remain professional and friendly. Besides, Thomas was being nicer than he used to be, so I guess he planned on laying loyal to our promise as well.

"Dylan O'Brien?" an authoritative voice asked from behind me. Instead of answering Thomas, I turned, facing an African American woman. She flashed me a quick smile, before saying, "You're needed in make-up."

She rushed off before I could thank her, leaving me stranded with no idea where the make-up department of the building lay. I glanced around, before turning back to Thomas. I gave him a look that blatantly read, "help me please", so he smirked, nodding his head to our left without a word.

I was just starting to think he wouldn't make fun of me for my lack of experience in these matters when he said over his shoulder, "Follow me, Dilly-Dally!"

______________________________________________________________________________

My makeup artist decided to put only a light layer of makeup on, as Wes wanted the actors to all appear as natural as possible. My hair had been cut previously in the week (RIP my cute hair) so I was basically ready to film.

I was ushered out of the room and down a long hall, surrounded by an entourage of people. After following them for an absurd amount of time, the hallway finally opened up into the warehouse I had imagined from the outside. I was surprised to find most of the cast in here, for as far as I knew, we were about to shoot the box scene, or the opening scene in the movie. I was the only actor in this scene so why were they...?

My thoughts were answered as Kaya's curly black hair came bouncing towards me. "We came to support you!" she said as if she had read ny thoughts. "We know it's your first scene, so we wanted to make sure you were comfortable."

My face softened. I didn't say anything at first, watching as the rest of the cast came creeping up behind her with goofy grins. Then my face lifted too, and just as I was considering getting super cliché and calling a group hug, Wes hollered my name. I thanked them all, sounding as sincere as possible, before scuttling away towards the sound of Wes's voice.

Wes guided me to a metallic grate in front of all the cameras. As he walked, he explained the exact complications of the scene, down to my very last move. I didn't bother mentioning that I was already aware, as I had meticulously scanned the script, absorbing every last note like a sponge absorbs water.

Before I knew it, Wes was calling 'action', and I was submersed in a world completely separate from reality. My fears and original hesitancy had melted, likely because I knew the people watching wouldn't laugh at me if I messed up. I was a brand new person, comfortable in myself, my skills, my actions.

I followed the script as easily as if I had done so a million times. I shouted and slid and groaned, and made just about every possible sound that could make the situation believable. I threw every part of myself into the scene, so caught up in my acting I forgot about reality.

"Cut!" Wes's voice broke through the scene, and I was grounded again, back into my own body. I shook myself, ignoring the sharp pain in my back from slamming into the metal grate too hard.

I heard clapping, and my head shot up. I couldn't help but smile as my castmates cheered me on, even Thomas. They exchanged a few glances, and I hoped to every divine force that that was a good sign.

"That was pretty good Dylan, let's do it a couple more times!" Wes called from behind a stack of screens. I nodded, scooting over into my original position, ignoring the wolf whistles and catcalls my friends were making from behind the cameras.

Wes called action again, and then I was disappearing back into the world of The Maze Runner, but not before it dawned on me that I would be just fine in this industry.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Thursday passed faster than I could blink, and then Friday was gone, and all of a sudden, Saturday and Sunday were but distant memories. Yet for some reason, Monday could not come fast enough.

When I was younger, Tyler and I had spent far too much time staring through the display window at the plastic guns and ammunition in almost every toy store. Both of our parents had agreed that the toys, no matter how small they were, would lead us down a negative path once we grew up. Though I disagreed with them then, and I still disagree with them now, it didn't stop the fact that unlike almost every boy my age, I never owned a Nerf gun.

Until today.

When the cast had noticed that our schedule let us all out by five o'clock on Monday, we quickly schemed up some ways to pass the time. Our friendships were only growing, and by this point, we hardly wanted to spend more than ten minutes away from each other. This is precisely the reason we decided that tonight would be the perfect night to have a "Nerf Battle".

As soon as I was dismissed from set, before all the others for once, I rushed to the nearest Walmart to pick up my materials for the war. I scanned the rows quickly, until my eyes fell on one particular Nerf gun different from all the rest.

Perfect.

______________________________________________________________________________

Thomas was standing in the lobby of the hotel when I arrived with my big gray bags. His eyes widened when he saw how much I was holding, and as he opened his mouth to comment, I shoved him into the elevator, making him squeak in surprise.

"What is that?" he asked as the doors closed behind us. I sighed in relief; I wanted my new weapon to be a surprise to the group.

I smirked, and in reply to his question, I pulled out the Nerf gun I had just purchased. His eyes widened again when he took it in, his jaw falling slack.

I grinned. I glanced down at my weapon of choice, being a two-feet long, basic machine-gun plastic gun. Thomas was certainly amused, and when he finally looked back up, all he could manage was a weak, "This is going to be nuts."

The statement couldn't have been more true. When the elevator landed on our floor, Thomas and I split apart, opting to meet up later with the rest of the group.

I was basically bouncing with excitement when six p.m. finally rolled around. We had agreed to meet in my room, so slowly but surely, the cast trickled in. I had hid my master weapon beneath my bed, pretending like I was only armed with a regular hand-held Nerf gun like everyone else.

"Alright, everyone!" Will spoke up when the entire group had arrived. "We're splitting up into two teams, fair? The rules are simple: you get hit by a Nerf pellet, you're wounded and must return to your base to be rescued by a teammate. If you get hit by a grenade," Will paused to hold up a plastic ball, "you're dead, meaning you're out for the rest of the round. Questions?"

Nobody said anything, so Will and Ki Hong began to evenly divide the teams up. I was placed on the same team as Ki, Kaya, and Thomas, surprisingly, among a few others. For a moment, I felt bad that I'd be catching the other team so off guard with my weapon choice, but after a glance in Thomas's direction, who was already knowingly smirking at me, my guilt vanished without a trace.

The entire hotel was deemed fair play, and then we split. As soon as everyone had left, I reached under my bed, pulling out our secret weapon.

Immediately, my friends exploded in laughter. With this weapon on our side, the other team stood absolutely no chance. I shushed them, not wanting to draw any lingering attention back to our base.

We set out as soon as we were allowed, spreading out in search for the other team. Kaya and I went together, her with a sleek blue plastic weapon, me with a smaller gun in hand, as I had chosen to leave the machine gun back in the hotel room for now.

"I can't wait to see their faces when you pull that thing out," Kaya said absentmindedly, she glanced around a corner before stepping around it fully, like a secret agent in a movie.

"Out of context, that statement is extremely sexual," I noted, not really paying attention either. I could practically feel Kaya's glare on the back of my head, but I just smirked and kept walking.

"Boys," she huffed behind me. She pushed me out of the way and stepped in front of me again, rounding another corner.

And before she could even react, a foam Nerf ammo struck her directly in the stomach.

"Kaya!" I shouted, as if the soft bullet would actually harm her. In hindsight, it wasn't among my most brilliant of ideas, but when I rushed forward, there was nobody down the hallway anyway. She gasped as if she were actually dying, and I held her in my arms in the same way.

"Don't leave me, Kaya," I pronounced in the most dramatic way I could.

Thankfully, she went along with it, saying softly, "Dy...Dylan?"

I "sobbed" holding her closer to me. "Don't die on me now, Kaya!"

Kaya weakly coughed. Then she said faintly, "Tell my mother...I--"

"What the hell are you two doing?"

I spun, dropping Kaya to the ground. She "umphed" as she collided with the hard surface, and I felt bad for a split second.

"My wife here is dying and I was trying to be dramatic about it," I huffed at Thomas, who stood next to a very confused Ki Hong. They both glanced at each other, before slowly backing away, mouthing "okay" at me and Kaya like we were crazy.

I helped Kaya to her feet once they were gone, and we made our way back to the room as per the rules, since Kaya had been shot. She stepped inside and I immediately tagged her back in, standing just outside the doorway.

I watched Kaya get a glass of water, calling to her, "Alright, so now where do you want to--"

"Dylan, duck!"

I reacted immediately, falling to my knees. I heard the grinding sounds of plastic that came with the reload of a gun, so I sprinted down the hall, diving to the right at a crossroads in the hallway.

To my surprise, Thomas was already sitting there, taking refuge. I landed directly next to him, so close our legs were touching. He looked just as shocked as I felt with my sudden appearance, and I couldn't quite force out any words within our close proximity.

"Hi," I finally breathed out, feather light and barely audible.

"Hello," Thomas answered, voice soft as well.

His tone separated me from the battle behind us, and suddenly I felt enclosed in our own little bubble. My eyes flickered back and forth from eye to eye, all too aware that if I could see the slight difference in color around his pupil, I was much too close to him. Everything was all too intimate, but I couldn't make myself pull away and break it. We were in our own little safehaven while a storm cracked around us, but we were so close that the only thing I could begin to focus on was Thomas.

"Would you two stop making love-eyes and help us fight?"

I wasn't even sure who shouted it, but it was enough to get me to jump back in surprise. Thomas was staring at me with wide eyes, and I briefly wondered what was flitting through his head right now. He looked like a deer caught in the headlights, and I was sure my face mirrored his.

Before I could contemplate my next actions, I felt a squishy object hit my skin. I glanced down, seeing the Nerf bullet. In my haste, I had stepped right into the enemy's line of fire.

I stumbled back to our base, mind whirling like a tornado. Thomas and I had finally found peaceful ground; what if that encounter made it awkward between us?

I shook my head. I'd worry about it later. I stood at the base, but I had to wait a few minutes for the other team to recede before I could be tagged out by my teammates. My mind kept drifting back to the blond boy though, no matter how many times I mentally scolded myself.

Turns out, it was actually Thomas that high-fived me to get me back in. He did so with a half-grin and a, "You might want to not get hit next time."

I mocked him in a high-pitched voice, and a few people laughed. Then I unknowingly let out a breath of relief, because clearly Thomas didn't want any awkwardness either.

The next two hours continued much like the first hour. There were a multitude of face-offs, Kaya kept getting shot, and Thomas kept high-fiving me back in. The stress I had been feeling from the past week finally fell off my shoulders, and I found that I couldn't stop smiling no matter how hard I tried.

Eventually, the final battle came. Our team loaded into the elevator, and I held the master weapon in my hands, treating it like it was made of pure gold.

Our team traveled down, down, down to the lobby of the hotel, where the other team's base was located. When we reached the bottom floor, Ki Hong turned to us, as he was at the front of the elevator.

"Alright, team," he said. "It's make-it or break-it time. Don't let me down."

The elevator doors opened, and we all scampered out, shouting and hollering like mad-men. Thomas, Kaya and I brought up the rear, ignoring the complaints of the manager as we ran.

We met the other team right in the front lobby, and it became war. Shouts and curses hurdled through the air just as often as the actual Nerf bullets did. People hid behind plants and chairs in an attempt to stay safe. There were no friends anymore; we were enemies.

As people got shot, the playing field thinned, until finally only Will, Aml, Thomas, Ki Hong and I remained. Everyone slowly stood but myself, stepping closer for the ultimate duel.

"Call your forces back!" Ki Hong ordered the other team. Damn, he was just as into this as Kaya and I had been.

"In your dreams," Will responded back, his British accent thicker than usual.

From behind my plant, I watch Thomas and Ki Hong look at each other. Then Thomas drawled slowly, so as to up the tension in the room, "I didn't want to have to do this..."

I took that at my cue. Bouncing up with a scream, every eye in the room turned to me in terror. My finger clenched on the machine gun, shooting off dozens of Nerf bullets all at once. I hear gasps and "what?" but I ignore it as I focus on basically destroying my chosen target, Will. He dramatically falls to his knees once my firing ceases, crying out "Whhhhhyyyyy?" In a long, sullen voice.

Everyone is laughing at Will, and I turn to high-five Thomas and Ki Hong. I spin again, and freeze.

Aml is standing there, smirking, completely unscathed. Somehow he evaded every single one of my bullets, so the game wasn't over yet. I hope Ki and Thomas have something in their guns, because I'm completely out. Aml, on the other hand...

Aml has the plastic grenade in his hand.

I turn to Thomas to warn him, when a sudden shout warns me of "Incoming!"

My eyes fly forward, and I'm completely frozen as the grenade comes directly towards me. I don't bother moving, planning on making a humorous death when the grenade hits me. However, I seemed to have severely misjudged both the location of the impact on my body and the weight of the ball, because it lands a bit too far south for my liking.

My eyes grow so big they could have fallen out as the "grenade" finally reaches its crash landing.

Directly on my groin.

I see stars and I know for a fact that I gave a high-pitched girly scream, and you know what--I have every damn right to do so. Pain rippled through my body so severe, I doubled over, squeaking out a, "Holy noodles," before I quite literally collapsed onto my side.

I vaguely heard the sound of outrageous laughter emanating from the cast, but I was in so much pain it was all I could focus on. I squeaked again, then groaned in great contrast, "Holy fuck!"

I opened up my eyes, not remembering having closed them, seeing that half the cast had quite literally fallen to the ground in hysterics. I managed to note that Thomas no longer stands next to me, but has vanished somewhere else. I still writhed in pain, spitting out colorful curses, and with every pained movement I made, my friends laughed even louder.

"Motherfucking fairy lights!" I rolled over onto my side, clutching my balls like that would take away the agony. "Jesus Fucking lamps!" I shouted just about anything I could to try and convey how much pain I was in, but my response was actually making people cry of laughter. Finally the pain became too unbearable, and I settled on simply wheezing and gasping for air instead.

I'm almost crying at this point, though I can't tell if it's due to the pain or the situation. Either way, my thought are too clouded and my body too numb for it to be healthy, and I must mumble something incoherent, because another of bout of laughter erupts.

All I can do is wheeze in thanks when Thomas, with tears in his eyes from laughing so hard, returns to my side with a bag of ice. As I practically shove the ice onto my aching groin, he falls to the floor laughing just like everyone else, hunched over and grasping at his stomach.

And then, very suddenly, while my body reeled in pain, Thomas brushed against my arm. Light, unintentional, barely even noticeable, but my mind is clearly distracted for a split second, and for that fleeting moment, my pain eased.

And just as suddenly, just as unintentional, I realize that maybe I actually like having him at my side.

//

A/N

Dammmmmnnn Daniel, updating a long chapter after a week? Whhaaatt??

Yes, hello, hey, hi. It me. tbh this would have been up even sooner if I hadn't accidentally fallen into the pit of Maze Runner youtube videos, but ITS CALLED RESEARCH

ANYWHO, why do ducks fly south 800 miles?

because they're not gonna walk that far

that was awful I'm sorry

love you, and you, and you, and you.

Happy earth day!

//sam\\