It has been a month since I returned and so far, the safe haven has progressed.
Mrs. Tram was now the head cook of the place with Frypan as her trusty apprentice. Mary was of course the head doctor with Clint and Jeff assisting as well. The medhouse was now bigger and more convenient even if there wasn't that much injuries to take care of if that excluded the elders constantly dropping by regarding their back aches and shoulder pains.
The village had a little solar-fueled electricity thanks to Beau's expertice. Major Lonn, Edwin, and Papa scouted the island everyday to check for threats or find other possible materials and stuff that could be of use. Gus was already constructing a bigger garden and orchard with a variety of crops and veggies.
Quantum built their own guild house at the far end of the village, with the help of Gally and the builders. Although I had my own room, but at night I seldom slept there. It was an alternation of either sleeping at Newt's hut, Thomas' or even at Frypan's which always smelt like fried onions so the rest of the gladers and I frequently sleep there. Finn on the other hand, accompanied Papa on their daily ventures so he was rarely at the village during the day.
Papa and the rest of Quantum became acquainted with the gladers and the rest of the immunes. Finn was happy to finally meet other people his age. He became good friends with Newt and Quantum frequently made fun of their accents but not in a rude way. They would call them Brit boy #1 and Brit boy #2. Maybe Newt found it annoying but he had the kindest heart in the world.
I was standing alone by the shore, inhaling the brine, letting my feet burrow in the sand and allowing the waves to soak them. I was staring at the glistening sea, contemplating about a lot of things.
A sense of nostalgia flows through my body. As much as I was happy here, but thoughts of my dead friends were always present. Although I did say I regret going in the maze before, but if I was given another chance, I would do it all over again without hesitation. I could save Alby, Ben, Jack, Chuck, Erin, Winston and all of the gladers that never made it to paradise. I missed them. If only they were here with us to enjoy this lovely place.
"Imma disturb your peace."
I spun around and saw Minho approaching. He smirked and stood beside me, glancing at the waters and inhaling the salty scent as well.
He spoke again. "Still trying to get used to this?"
I nodded my head.
"It's nice, isn't it?" I nodded again.
"You know, I never told you this but I'm really glad that you came back."
I stared at his face for moment, completely taken aback by his unexpected confrontation.
"Really?" I crossed my arms. "Cause I remember back at the glade, you kept telling me I was annoying."
"You are. Even until now," He snickered, "Although this new life won't be complete without you."
"Oh. Thank you? Wait, is something wrong, with you?" I squinted, still suspicious to see this side of him. To be honest, I was starting to feel uncomfortable.
"You should've received a freaking medal for being the weirdest shuckface in the glade," He smirked, "But I have to admit, you had your moments."
I rolled my eyes. "I'm confused. Are you complimenting or insulting me?"
He shrugged his shoulders. "I'm glad you have Newt. I don't know any shank that can take care of you better than he can."
"Yeah. He really is the sweetest, nicest boy I've ever met."
"I respect Newt and all cause he's my brother. But that son of a bitch really do be getting on my nerves when you were "supposedly dead"--Minho emphasized the air quotes--"He turned into this completely different person; probably the worst shuckhead ever."
"He was a handful. Thomas told me that."
Minho scoffed. "Atleast Thomas was asleep all the time. Me and Gally barely had a break cause we had to watch over Newt like he was some baby. He wouldn't eat, wouldn't help around, wouldn't talk, or shower!"
"You guys didn't even shower that much back in the glade. Everyone stank like rotten cheese." I pretended to gag.
"There was this time that Newt got so mad when we forced him to eat. He threw away this really yummy stew that Frypan made. What a waste of good soup."
"Newt demanded we didn't leave for the haven just yet. He tried to sabotage anything just to delay the departure. Because he said you were still out there. Vince really wanted to leave him and his stupid accent behind because to be honest, everyone was done with Newt's bullshit."
Thankfully, the way Minho recalled these memories, he did not sound angry at all. More like, petty because he was Newt's babysitter for a while. Minho still laughed at times while complaining. Probably because he did not want to make me feel so guilty for causing distress to one of the closest friends in his heart.
"Well, I'm here now. So no more of that version of Newt." I giggled nervously, patting Minho's arm in a way of apologizing that since my absence was the sole reason of why my boyfriend had spiraled down into an absolute mess.
"But all's good. Newt apologized. He's finally back to being adorable." He added, still smiling.
"I just can't believe I made him go through all that," I exhaled deeply, "I thought he'd be alright."
"Trust me, he was never alright."
"I'm so sorry, Minho. And thank you, for being there for him always."
"Nah, don't worry about it. I'd probably be doing the same shit if I was him."
"Highly doubt that. Highly!" I reacted, making him chuckle.
"For the record, I'm just saying this just to get it out my system, but if Newt wasn't around, I might've had a shot. Maybe."
I was waiting for another giggle from him, thinking he was just messing around to make me blush. But as I fixed my eyes on his, he seemed to be pretty serious about what he just confessed.
I recalled that night we got stuck in the maze--Minho mentioning he wanted to kiss me after I scolded the sissy out of him. I hadn't really thought of it that time cause my only goal was to survive the entire night. I thought he only said that because of the adrenaline.
"Minho, I didn't know that.... I mean, y'know.... I wasn't expecting...."
"Look, we were stuck in a glade full of shucking guys for a while, alright? Everyone in the glade had a massive crush on Erin at some point. So you can't expect Newt to be the only one who had a stupid crush on you."
"Awww, you had a crush on me?" I cooed while elbowing his side, teasing him, "That's so sweet!"
"Hey, don't flatter yourself, ok?" He tried to push me away, "It was only like, two days, then I moved on."
I dramatically clutched my heart like I had just heard the most devastating news, making him roll his eyes and shake his head.
"But like, I'm the most handsome shank in the glade," He continued, "Still am, here in this island."
"I didn't know that you like, LIKED me. But y'know, just saying, the two of us would have never worked out...."
"Yeah, right," He replied, "But we can never tell."
I giggled before staring back again at the horizon. It fell quiet for a few seconds.
"I haven't been in your life that long," I spoke again to break the silence, "I wasn't, wasn't expecting you to feel that way."
"Well, both of us have been through hell."
"You just say that b-b-because I'm a girl."
"Of course not!" He defended, "It's not like I wanna get in your freaking pants or something."
I smiled as he wrapped an arm around my shoulder and pulled me close, ruffling my hair.
I imagined a future were Minho was the boy I fell in love with. I wondered if I would still do the same thing for Newt when it came to finding a cure. Or would I still end up in the maze?
I liked Minho. He was outspoken and decisive but I was pretty sure our personalities wouldn't go along so well. Even Newt and I had a hard time figuring out our feelings for each other. But if Newt wasn't around, maybe, just maybe, things would have ended differently between me and the ex-runner.
We heard someone clear his throat from behind and we turned around and saw Newt, crossing his arms.
"The shuck? You crying?" Newt mocked, trying not to laugh.
Minho sniffled before replying. "No. The salt just got in my eyes, genius," He scoffed while he unwrapped his arm, "Anyways, I'm leaving so you shanks can suck faces." He spoke before leaving me and Newt alone.
I looked back at Newt. "Bastard told me I was weird."
"Well, I won't really argue with him on that. Cause you really are."
I rolled my eyes and leaned on Newt's chest, wrapping my arms around his waist. He nuzzled his face on my hair, taking a loud whiff. "You smell really good."
"Thank....you? Why would you say that?"
"Makes me just wanna eat you!"
I quickly detached from him, brows furrowed. "The hell?"
"I'm kidding." He laughed and ruffled my hair.
"Hey, don't joke about that," I playfully scolded, "That won't be funny if I....if I actually turned into a crank and bit your face off."
Newt only pouted in response so I stood on my toes and was about to kiss him when someone coughed and interrupted our moment together.
"Minho!" I groaned, "What happened to leaving us alone?"
He scratched his head. "I changed my mind. Also, Thomas wants to talk to us at his ugly hut so....."
~
That night, after changing into my comfortable sleeping attire, I told papa that I would be sleeping at Minho's hut tonight.
"Can't you just sleep in your room?" Papa grumbled.
"I will. But not now."
"That's why it was built. For you to sleep in. Not so that you could sleep on other people's houses."
I smiled innocently. "Good night!"
"No funny business, ok?" He reminded before I headed outside.
Newt was already waiting for me at the door. Minho's hut was located between Thomas' and Newt's on the other side of the village. Tonight, Thomas, Newt, Fry, Gally, Jeff and I decided to sleep on Minho's hut despite him protesting at first and not wanting anyone to invade his privacy. But we insisted until he just gave way. Clint was sick so he had to rest at the medhouse.
They laid a large mat on the wooden floor and began claiming their positions. But unfortunately, these buff boys occupied the entire mat, leaving no space for me.
"Love, why don't you sleep on Minho's bed." Newt said.
"Uh, excuse you, but my bed is off limits." Minho reacted, slightly shoving Thomas further from him so he could have more space for himself.
"Or you can sleep on top of Gally's eyebrows." Jeff pointed. Gally sneered and smacked him on the back.
Ignoring Minho, I slumped on his bunk and draped the blanket over me while he scowled in disbelief.
"Ew, Minho," I sniffed, "Your pillow smells like dead feet."
"I swear, if one of ya'll kick me in the face while I sleep, I will set this room on fire." Frypan complained.
"Jeff! Stop squirming!" Minho scolded.
Jeff retorted by elbowing Minho's side, the latter groaning and raising a fist to punch him.
"Can everybody just stop wriggling and moving?"
"Shut up, greenie!" Gally replied, "It was your shucking idea to gather us all here in this tiny hut. Why are we even here in the first place?"
Thomas exhaled loudly and sat up, eyeing everyone. "Look, sorry I didn't tell you guys. But I just wanted to have everyone in a place. Together."
"Why?" Gally questioned.
"Clint's not even here," Jeff complained bitterly, "Dude's probably enjoying a room all to himself tonight." Minho quickly placed a finger on Jeff's mouth to shush him.
"I just, wanted to tell you guys, that since we're now living a new life, it's probably best if we stop bringing up memories from the glade," Thomas admitted sadly, "So that we can move on. We can heal."
"Maybe we can still talk about our old life, as a group, for the last time, tonight." Newt smiled softly.
The boys were silent for a second or two, not knowing how to react to Thomas' proposal. Newt did tell me a while ago that he still had nightmares of the maze, and sometimes he refused to close his eyes, terrified that WCKD would manifest in his dreams.
Everyone had their own ways of coping and trying to adjust with this new life. But the memories would always be there. We just needed time until we could fully recover.
"Yeah, remember when Frypan fed us expired milk?" I spoke.
The rest of the guys chuckled. We all exchanged stories and jokes to pass time. Gally kept talking about this chic he befriended at the gardens and Fry was complaining that a bunch of immunes kept raiding the fridge. It's been awhile since we had these types of conversations and this just reminded me so much back at the glade.
While it was true that life before the Safe Haven was full of trauma and fear, but it was also what made us who we were today. It pushed us to our limits. To fight. To survive.
It was difficult to let go of such huge parts of our lives. But Thomas was right. We had to move on. So we could enjoy this new chapter.
A few hours later, they fell asleep and began snoring their hearts out.
Newt then transferred to where I was so the both of us could cuddle. Minho's bunk was just enough to fit the both of us. Newt's warm hand moves around my torso, as he pecked kisses on my forehead. In seconds, his body was molded to my own, sharing body heat. I rolled to my front and rested my head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat.
"You comfy?" Newt asked while running his fingers through my hair. I hummed in response before planting a kiss on his cheek. He let out a soft groan of disappointment so I leaned closer and kissed him on the lips. His finger began to trace circles on my back as the kiss became more passionate.
"Seriously?" Minho complained as he sat up, looking at us with irritation. "In my bed?"
"You two are noisy kissers." Thomas mumbled, not even bothering to open his eyes as he dug his face deeper into his pillow.
"I don't wanna shucking hear that in my sleep." Gally added.