Title: Of Broken Hearts and Letting Go

Summary: Thomas and Minho have arrived safely in Paradise - but without their best friend. In Paradise, they grow closer, but as Thomas and Minho are falling in love with each other, Minho is having a hard time letting go of Newt, his dead lover. Thomas tries to help. Post Death-Cure

Rated: T

Pairing(s): past Minho/Newt, past Thomas/Teresa, one-sided Thomas/Brenda, Thomas/Minho, one-sided Thomas/Gally, implied past Ben/Gally, Gally/Jeff, past Jeff/Winston, mentioning of one-sided Jeff/Clint, Brenda/Jorge

Genre(s): Romance, Angst, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Drama, Suspense

Warning(s): Angst, mentioning of death, violence, cursing, intense kissing, implied sex

After a while of sitting with Brenda on the cliff, Thomas said, "I'm gonna go see if Min needs my help."

Brenda's brown eyes flashed with jealousy, which made Thomas curious. What did she have to be jealous of? "Okay," she agreed. "Ask if there's anything I can do to help."

"I will." Thomas kissed her on the cheek and got up, leaving Brenda alone on the cliff. He went down to where they were building a new life in the woods. Gally was instructing his remaining Builders on what to do, what to build. They were working like a team.

"Hey," Thomas said to one of the Builders. "Have you seen Minho?"

The boy grinned at him. "He went in the woods over there." He pointed.

"Thanks."

"Have fun!" the boy called after him, giggling.

That was weird, Thomas thought to himself as he entered the woods to find his best friend. After only a minute or so of walking, he found Minho with a piece of rock, carving it into the shape of a - a headstone? - with his knife. "Min," Thomas called out.

"Hey," Minho said as Thomas approached him. "Where've you been?"

"Nowhere," Thomas said, feeling his face heat up. Thank goodness it was getting dark so Minho wouldn't see his blush. "Just sitting on this cliff." Well, it wasn't a lie.

"With Brenda?" Minho waggled his eyebrows at Thomas and offered the younger boy his trademark smirk.

Minho knew him so well. "Caught me," Thomas said, laughing softly. He moved closer to Minho and asked, "What's with the headstone?"

The former Keeper of the Runners swallowed, his smirk disappearing. "It's for Newt," he said. "I guess I feel like it'll be less easy for everyone to forget him if we have a memory of him set in stone - literally."

Thomas' heart ached. "Hey," he said gently, wrapping an arm around Minho's shoulders. "I think I can speak for all these shucks when I say that we won't ever forget Newt. Ever." Thomas rubbed his back soothingly.

Minho smiled through his tears, allowing himself a small laugh. "Still funny to hear you use Glader slang."

Thomas smiled back, blinking away tears of his own. Then his smile disappeared and he asked, "You and Newt...you were lovers, weren't you? I saw how close you were and how badly you were hurt at the Crank Palace."

Minho wiped away his tears and sniffled. "Newt and I were lovers," he confirmed. "We had been ever since..." He trailed off, as if he'd said too much.

"Ever since Newt tried killing himself," Thomas predicted.

The Asian boy looked surprised. "He told you about that?" Thomas nodded. "I'm surprised. He said he never wanted you to know. I wonder what made him change his mind."

Guilt overwhelmed Thomas instantly. That was one question he knew the answer to. Minho didn't know his lover was truly dead, that Thomas had shot him.

He wondered how Minho would react, and the thought made him shudder. "You okay?" Minho asked.

That didn't help his guilt. He didn't deserve Minho's kindness, his concern, the smile he saved only for Thomas, when they were alone. "I'm fine," Thomas lied.

Minho nodded. "Wanna help me finish up this headstone?" he asked.

"Of course," Thomas agreed.

About an hour later, Thomas and Minho had carved a beautiful headstone for their best friend. It read:

IN LOVING MEMORY OF NEWT, AN AMAZING BEST FRIEND AND PARTNER

THE GLUE THAT HELD US TOGETHER

"Shuck, Minho," Thomas breathed. "This is beautiful." His voice broke and his throat was too tight for him to talk.

Minho opened his mouth to respond, and to Thomas' complete astonishment, burst into tears. Thomas rushed to his side immediately and held him tight, not caring who saw. Thomas' heart broke as Minho's sobs filled the woods, and he knew that there was no way he could ever make up for what he'd done to Newt.

AN: Please review and tell me what you thought, I would love to hear your thoughts and constructive criticism but NO FLAMES PLEASE. Updates soon :)