The Reason

Time Together

The next box day came faster than she expected it to, and the boys were more excited than usual, talk going around the glade about the chance of getting another girl. Nikola half hoped there would be another girl so she'd have someone to bear part of her burden with her, but that seemed a cruel hope to have. As it was, their greenie was a very young boy, according to Gally he was the youngest boy they'd ever gotten.

The poor thing was frightened out of his mind, Newt and Nikola spent a good hour or two just calming him down enough to get him out of the box. They tried to give him a tour but he just wasn't up for it and spent most of the day crying. He was fast asleep by the time the bonfire started and Nikola had to leave him to get some dinner, talking Frypan into setting something aside for the kid for when he woke up. She was soon found by Gally who seemed more interested in hanging out with her than in fighting in the circle that night. That meant other boys were having a blast in fair fights that changed opponents on both sides more regularly.

"What is that stuff anyway?" She asked Gally, nodding to the cup in his hand as he sat with her by the fire.

He shook his head with a tight-lipped smile. "I don't even know."

"But you make it," she laughed.

"Which is why I'm telling you now that you should never ever drink any of it."

"Yeah, Newt already warned me," she said, hugging her knees as she sat against the log. "Are you not going to fight tonight?"

He shook his head. "Nah, not in the mood."

"Are you ok?" she asked, leaning her cheek against her knee as she turned and looked at him.

He got a quick glance of the fire light dancing on her skin and looked back into his cup before shrugging. It struck him as odd, her question. No one really asked anyone if they were ok, it was usually phrased more like 'what's the matter with you?' Even if you found another glader crying you just pretended they weren't. It gave the distinct impression that she was worried about his abnormal behavior, and he didn't know how to deal with someone caring about him. What would he do? Tell her every little stupid thought in his head?

"What are you two being so serious about over here?" Newt asked as he came and sat on her other side, spilling a bit of his drink in the process.

Minho also showed up on Gally's side absolutely bewildered by the fact that Gally wasn't sparring on bonfire night for the first time in years.

"Tonight was the night I planned on finally kicking your butt!" Minho complained, bringing a hand down on his shoulder.

Nikola snorted, knowing no one could get the better of Gally.

"You don't stand a chance!" Newt scoffed. "Nikola is the only hope we have."

She spun around and looked at him in surprise as he sipped his drink, pulling a face as it burned his throat. "Me?" She squeaked, drawing her brows together in confusion.

"Absolutely," Newt nodded. "You're scrappy. I can tell just from looking at you."

"If I had money, I'd pay to watch that fight," Minho said with a far off look in his eye like he was trying to imagine it.

"What do you think?" Newt asked as he leaned in closer to her and eyed the very quiet builder in their midst. "How would you take him down?"

"Why would I do that?" She asked him. "Gally's nice."

Gally almost choked on his drink and Newt and Minho fell to laughter. Out of all the things Gally had been called, 'nice' was not one of them. He wondered what the shuck he had done to give her that impression. Even now she was looking reproachfully at Newt and Minho for laughing. Gally's face felt hot.

"Shut up," She rolled her eyes and lightly shoved Newt away from her.

"No, no, seriously," Newt said as he calmed down from his fit of laughter. "I just want to know that you can handle yourself if you have to. Come here."

Newt got up and beckoned her and Gally to play along. Gally wasn't planning on going along with anything until he saw Nikola get up, brushing the dust from her jeans. Begrudgingly he followed, setting his drink safely beside the log. He'd been having a pleasant time before Newt and Minho showed up.

"Alright now, face each other," Newt said as he had a hand on each of their shoulders.

Gally seemed to fixate on the fact that Newt was touching her. Not only that but she seemed ok with it.

"Alright, so if this was coming at you, what would you do?" Newt asked her as he gestured to Gally, towering a whole head taller than her.

"Look busy," She answered with a small smile, earning the smallest of smirks from Gally.

"Oh, for Pete's sake," Newt groaned. "Alright, imagine I'm coming at you ready to shake the ever-loving tar out of you for being so annoying."

She giggled at his choice of words. "First I'm going to whack you in the throat," she answered, giving a light sideways karate chop across his Adams apple. "And when your hands go to your throat, I'm going to break your nose." She used the heel of her palm in an upward motion, just grazing Newt's nose. "And while your eyes fill with tears I will run away!"

She turned and jogged around to the other side of the bonfire, hidden from their view, for a moment before coming around the other side. Newt and Minho were whooping some nonsense about her being just as scrappy as they thought, but her eyes had locked on Gally's and she barely heard them. He seemed to have this half smile on his face as he looked at her and his brows were relaxed. He looked less serious and maybe even a little bit happy.

"I think I need another drink," Newt announced after he calmed down. "The new greenie had me feeling bloody sad today."

Nikola noticed that most boys seemed more drunk than they were at the last bonfire and felt a bit uneasy. Gally seemed to notice this as well. He waited for Newt and Minho to get a bit farther away before he looked back at her.

"Um, whenever you're ready to go, just let me know and I'll... I'll make sure you get to your room safely," he told her as he shoved his hands into his pockets.

"Yeah, I should probably turn in before they get too rowdy," She agreed.

They found themselves walking slower than usual together as the light and the noise died down behind them.

"So, what do you think of my technique?" She asked him. "Is it effective?"

He chuckled. "It could do in a pinch, I think. Do you want to practice it?"

"I don't want to hit you!" she repeated.

"You won't really hurt me," his smile gleamed even in the low light. "Come on I'll show you."

They spent almost an hour in the dark together, Gally holding his palm in front of his throat and having her hit it instead, showing her what to do if he were to try and block her. He held up his fist for her to pretend was an assailant's nose, her tiny palm ramming into it over and over again. At one point they were getting kind of goofy and it was hard to see in the dark. Nikola missed his hand and accidentally karate chopped him on the chin.

"Oh no!" she cried. "I'm sorry! Are you ok?" She asked even though he was chuckling at her.

He felt her hands cup his chin and her fingers brush by his bottom lip. It was a simple touch, just out of concern that she'd hurt him accidentally, but it set off a jolt of electricity through his whole body. The only time anyone touched him outside of trying to clean his clock in the circle were the med jacks who patched up any injuries he got. Very few times had he been touched in a way that didn't cause pain. He was so surprised he couldn't even answer her question, he just stared down into her eyes as they shined in the faint light. She realized what she was doing and slowly slid her fingers from his skin, releasing him somewhat reluctantly.

"Sorry," She whispered again.

It's ok," he told her.

He walked her to her room after that, waiting in the hall until he heard the lock slide into place, and then he leaned against the wall and quietly released a sigh as he slid down to the floor. He was shucked.