dandelions || 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘩𝘰 (COMPLETED)

xvii - admiration

"but no, there's nothing. don't worry." he finished. lyn let out a breath.

soon after, every plate on the table was clear and all the gladers all cleared off to bed hastily — lyn, on the other hand, was to spend the night in the slammer.

newt and gally walked her over to the dug-out 'jail' of sorts, but gave her a blanket and a pillow to make her as comfortable as possible. minho had promised to come and see her after dark, so she had that to look forward to.

"we'll come and get you at sunrise." gally reassured her, patting her shoulder.

"sorry about this by the way, lyn," newt began. "if i could have it any other way i would, but we need to set an example for the others. and besides, consider yourself lucky you don't have to suffer listening to zart's snoring all night." he wasn't wrong, she thought. zart was very noisy.

as the two boys locked the door and left her, she huddled herself in the rough blanket and hugged the pillow to her chest. she felt beyond lonely there by herself. even with the tiny light she'd been given, the darkness was still unsettling. random thoughts clashed and argued inside her brain once again, and she felt as though she was going to explode. until she heard minho's voice, like calm in a storm.

you okay, lyn?

yes. bit cold, though.

don't worry, i'm on my way now. and remember, you said we could sneak out the other day. still up for it?

i'm locked up, idiot.

i've got a plan.

• • •

"lyn," minho whispered through the darkness. "lyn!"

the girl hurried to the opening of the little cell and touched his hand. he held up a lantern and pulled a key out of his pocket, before fiddling with the door, trying to get it to open.

when the lock finally gave way, he pulled lyn up so she was pressed against his chest. his face was in her hair, which oddly smelt of strawberries (not that he was sniffing her hair on purpose or anything).

"how are you doing? i'm sorry for taking so long, i just couldn't let us get caught." he told her.

"i'm happy you're here now," she spoke into his chest. he grinned down at her, despite the fact she couldn't see it. "thanks for letting me out."

"no problemo, shebean."

"can you even call me that now? with the new girl?" the mention of her wiped the smiles off of both of their faces. lyn pulled away and looked up nervously at minho.

"obviously. you'll always be my shebean." he winked, though it was missing the usual 'minho flair'. after a short pause, he continued, "you're smart." she snorted at this. "why do you think she got sent here with the same note as you?"

lyn thought about this for a second. "i think — i think maybe it was a mistake. or they did it to confuse us."

"which they've done a damn good job of! i can just imagine the bastards now. 'oh, how wonderfully our plan worked, fitzwilliam!'" he teased in a shrill voice, with an accent that sounded very much like a mocking and amplified version of newt's. this lured a laugh out of lyn.

"indeed, elizabeth, absolutely marvellous if you ask me," she replied between bursts of giggles, in a similarly ridiculous voice.

"but anyway," minho began once the fits of laughter faded away, "tonight we don't need to think about that. tonight is a night just for us lyn, so forget about everything and everyone else. okay?" she nodded, eager to see what the boy had got planned for them. "that is," he added, "until we get near the homestead, when you should please remember newt and how scary he will be if he catches us sneaking around. because i don't know about you, but i wouldn't really like to be chased round the glade by that shank tonight," he joked. then he stood up and took her hand, pulling her up to stand beside him.

"where first, m'lady?" he asked, and (still with her hand in his) led her away from the slammer and towards the kitchens.

~

"honestly, you wouldn't believe how funny gally can be sometimes. he's a bit uptight a lot of the time, but give him some of this," minho held up a tankard of gally's famous drink, "and he loosens right up. i'm pretty sure it's alcohol, but he'll never tell anyone exactly what's in it. oh well. want some more?"

lyn and minho were sat on the wooden floorboards of the kitchen together, having been laughing and joking for hours already. they'd raided the store of gally's drink and, to put it simply, lyn was feeling a little dizzy and couldn't quite walk straight when she'd tried.

"you know what?" she said, her words slightly slurred, "being here isn't half so bad as i thought it'd be when i came up out that box."

"oh yeah? and why might that be?"

"hmmm... let me think about that..." minho raised an eyebrow at her as she feigned racking her brains for a second. "the stew," she announced decidedly.

"and not the handsome, hilarious and kind-hearted boy she met when she arrived? that is a real shock."

"thomas?" she teased, "because you're right, it was a toss-up between him and the stew actually."

laughing, minho shook his head at her.

she placed her head on his shoulder and they sat in silence for a while. then lyn spoke again. "minho, i need to tell you something."

"is it that you are very sorry for mistaking the hunk in front of you's name for thomas? because if it is, you're forgiven — just about."

she rolled her eyes at him, and said, "you're not funny." she was lying.

"i am."

"if you insist. but anyway... i think — i think that i love you, minho."

"yeah, yeah, tell me that when you're sober." he smirked cheekily at her.

"you won't say it back?" she questioned, looking at him and doing an over-the-top impression of being hurt.

"tell me again tomorrow." he winked. "but now, shebean, i think it's your bedtime. you're falling asleep on my shoulder!"

~

minho walked lyn back to the slammer and helped her clamber back in. after tucking her under the little blanket (and, of course, leaving his jacket with her), he kissed her forehead and was about to turn and leave when she stopped him and asked, "can you stay with me for a while? please?"

"of course."

and they spent the night curled up together, keeping each other warm and safe in their arms. but their contentment would be short-lived.