Ava stood in front of the large doors to the maze as they rattled open. Her heart was beating loud in her ears as a long hall was revealed. It looked as though it went on forever, until it reached a dead end where she assumed it turned off.
"You ready, green-bean?" Minho asked her, yet she couldn't take her eyes off the inside of the maze, its giant walls. The darkness. "Greenie?" She imagined it'd be cold in there, because there was no heat, but didn't worry as she would probably be heated with running. "Ava!"
"Alright, I heard you!" She relied.
"Then what did I say?"
"I don't know, something about a map." She shrugged. Minho groaned in frustration. "I'm sorry, I'm nervous, okay."
"That's normal. You'll be running with me today so I can keep an eye on you."
"Is it normal for me to feel this sick?" She asked, placing a hand on her stomach.
"That's probably due to the fact you had a big breakfast after eating nothing for two days." He replied.
"Who's fault is that, shank?" He looked away from her. "Can we just get this over with? I feel like once I get out there, I'll be fine." Minho then nudged her.
"You're boyfriends signaling you, greenie." She glared at him before turning her head, momentarily thinking about how much she regretted the fact Minho knew. He was about the only one though, and she intended to keep it that way. Anyways, as she turned her head, she locked eyes with Newt, who looked like he was trying to tell her something.
'Be careful.' He mouthed. She smiled before replying with 'I promise.' He said one last thing, but before she had time to ask if he had really just said what she though she saw, Minho was pulling her into the maze. Yet the image was still in her mind of those words falling from his lips. 'I love you.'
-----
Her breath evened out as she steadied her pace behind Minho. He kept her with him for the day, just to be sure she knew what she was doing. Yet she just couldn't concentrate. She couldn't stop thinking about Newt. She didn't know if she'd be able to say it back. She didn't even know what it was like to love someone, much less be in love with someone. What was she to do. Suddenly, she looked up, noticing she was alone.
"Minho?" She speaks, hearing her voice echoing. "Minho!"
"What are you doing?" He said from behind her, causing her to jump. "Seriously, greenie, you can't get distracted."
"I'm sorry, I just- I'm in a bit of a dilemma and I know it's probably not a good time but I don't have anyone else to talk to about it because you're the only one who knows." She says in one big mouthful. He sighs, licking his bottoms lip.
"Is this about what Newt said to you?" He asks and she nods.
"You saw it too?" She asks egarly.
"Yeah, I saw it. Look, you have to be upfront about it, Ava. If you love him, you love him. If you don't, you don't."
"But I don't know, Minho. What do I say to him?"
"You wait for him to come to you."
-----
Ava and Minho had gotten back to the glade with time to spare. Ava saw Newt approaching her, and in panic she rushed off in the other direction, towards the map room where only runners were aloud.
"When I said 'wait for him to come to you', I didn't mean avoid him completely." Minho said, giving Ava a look. She shrugs.
"I panicked."
"Ava, this is Newt we're talking about. What are you so scared of?"
"I don't wanna say the wrong thing and ruin everything."
-----
"Chuck, why are you always picking from my plate?" Ava giggles as Chuck shrugged, stuffing food in his mouth. "So what did you do today?'
"The usual." Chuck shrugged. "Ava, I'm gonna take you to the moon one day."
"What makes you say that?" She asks.
"I don't know. I just think you and I could have fun there. If you don't wanna go to the moon, there always the other planets."
"And do you know the names of these planets?"
"Nope." Someone sist beside her, and she turns towards them.
"Hey, Newt." Ava smiles, as he absent-mindedly kisses her.
"What are you doing?" Chuck asked, staring at them both confused as they had seemingly frozen, trying to figure out what to tell him.
"Chapstick." Newt said suddenly.
"Chapstick?"
"Umm-hmm, yeah. She is wearing chapstick, and I needed some."
"I may be the youngest, Newt, but I'm not stupid." Chuck said, a smile being etched onto his lips. "Don't worry, I saw nothing."
"Ava, can we talk?" Newt asked, and suddenly, Ava felt a sinking set in in her stomach.
"Uhh, yeah. Of course." She replied as Newt took her hand and lead her away from any potential listeners. "Is something wrong?"
"No, I just- I wanted to talk to you about what I said to you earlier, before you went into the maze." He says.
"Oh."
"I want you to know that I meant it. I really meant it, but I didn't wanna put any pressure on you to say it back, is all."
"I want to." He meets her eyes. "But I don't know how to be in love with somebody. I don't know what being in love feels like." She says. He lifts a hand to her face, tucking her hair behind her ear.
"Neither did I until I met you." She smiles a little, looking down at their hands that were still interlinked with one another. "Ava, I love you."
"I love you, too." She looks back up at him. "And I think we should tell people. I can't deal with all the secrets. But I have to tell Thomas first. And I will. Tomorrow. Right now, I'm more interested in the person I see before me."
