OH. MY. GOD. I am SO excited to finally post this story! I have been working on it most of the summer, and oh my God. So excited. This story will be in third person omniscient so you can get a feel for Minho and Thomas's thoughts throughout the story. The story so far is mostly through Minho's eyes, but I will try to veer over to Thomas's now and then. I hope you like it just as much as I do. R&R!

Disclaimer: If I actually did own the Maze Runner Series, it would not be as popular as it is today. James Dashner is a GENIUS and there is no way I could have come up with such a brilliant book series as this. I only own this storyline, and a few new characters along the way.

Pretty Boy

The string of the makeshift weapon tightened as it was pulled back, angling the arrow at its target. Minho's arm started to tense up, causing his hand to shake. The target looked up from its moment of grazing, as if little forest fairies whispered in its ear that there was danger lurking in the shadows.

It was now or never. Minho released his grip on the bow, and the arrow made its way to its target. It succeeded. The big beast of the forest panicked and darted away from the source of terror.
"Whoa, nice shot," Thomas said in awe.
"I know," Minho always have that sense of over confidence. He stood up. "Let's go!" Thomas and Minho ran as fast as they could, dodging trees and jumping over rocks. Minho was in front following the blood trail left by the ten pointer. Running always made him feel good. The wind ripping at his clothes, blowing through his hair. It brought him back to the Glade, to the Maze. Not that he enjoy having his past life taken away from him, ripped from his mind, to live with the day-to-day fear that he could be brutally murdered by horrifying creatures, but it brought him back to being a runner, having a purpose. He'd never felt so free then when he was running in the maze.
"There it is!" Thomas pointed at the buck Minho shot down, it was laying lifeless a few inches from the stream.
It was a good-sized buck. Minho guessed it would last them about a week.
"Alright, rope it," Minho handed him a long rolled up rope.
"Wha… I did it last time," Thomas protested.
"I...don't recall," Minho put as much sarcasm as he could into his words.
"But…" Thomas cut himself off short. He knew there'd be no chance of getting his way. He took the rope. "You're a shank. You know that right?"
"And you, still sound stupid when you use that word," Thomas stared to tie the rope around the buck's hind legs.
He replied with a "Thanks bae," which earned him a slam in the back of the head. "Ow!"
"Hurry up," Minho was already walking away when Thomas finally finished with the rope, and was dragging the buck along with him.

It had almost been a year since escaping WICKED, since going through the Flans Trans to Parades. It almost felt too good to be true, as if at any moment they'd find out they never escaped WICKED, and that the trails and variables are still to come; but they were finally beginning to feel safe. The settlement here was running very smoothly. Shacks were built for sleeping, gardens were kept, and people could hunt for game whenever. There was a big factory when they first arrived with lots of supplies; weapons, flashlights, matches, blankets. Basically all the tools needed to survive.

After everything they'd been through, after everyone they lost, Minho was glad he still had Thomas. They became good friends back in the Glade, when Thomas risked his own life to save Alby and him. Thomas was the main reason he survived that night. Thomas wasn't just his best friend anymore, he more like his brother.

There was a change in all of them, and he knew they would never fully recover from what they'd been through, but there was something off about Thomas, as if he carried an extra burden Minho didn't know about.

Thomas and Minho made it back to the settlement just as the sun made its way over the horizon, making the water of the sea glisten. They dropped the buck off at the blood house just as Brenda walked up to them.

"Hey, any luck?" Brenda had dirt smudges on her face from working in the garden, her hair wasn't looking too good either, but Thomas still thought she looked beautiful.
"Yeah," Thomas jabbed a thumb over his shoulder, pointing a Minho. "Thanks to mister macho macho over there. What would we do without him?" Brenda's smirk was followed by an eye roll. Minho just absently flexed his muscles.

A petit girl with long brunette hair approached them. "Hey Brenda," she was oblivious to the two boys standing not but one foot away. "You coming to The Falls later?" The Falls was a watering hole most of the teenagers in the settlement went to hang out and cool off from a hard day's work.
"Yeah, I'll be there." Brenda pushed a strand of hair behind her ear.
"And you guys can come too, if you want." Brenda's friend said to Thomas and Minho. Before Thomas could reply, Minho already thought of some things to say.
"Uh, I didn't realize The Falls was an exclusive venue." There he goes again with that attitude.
"Uh, I didn't say it was," the brunette responded. "But maybe it should be. How about no snooty, obnoxious pretty boys allowed."
Minho smirked at that. "You think I'm pretty?" He made it sound more like a statement than a question. The Brunette looked as if she was about to brutally beat him with a stick.
"Not in the siltiest," She said calmer than Minho and Thomas expected. She turn to Brenda. "Well, I'm going to grab something to eat before we head back to work."
"Alright, I'll catch up with you." Brenda's friend nodded as she walked away, giving Minho a hard glare.
"Who was that?" Minho used little to no effort to hind his annoyance. Brenda answered him.
"That was Brayden, the only one I know who has a bigger attitude that you." She said bluntly. "Looks like you've got some competition." Minho didn't say anything, just looked in the direction the brunette—Brayden—went. He watched her head for the food shack, where all the food is prepared. He wondered how he hadn't noticed her before.

He heard Thomas say his name and was shocked back to reality. It was just Thomas and he, Brenda must have left when he wasn't paying attention.
"Yeah?" was all he could think of saying. Thomas gave him a weird look that said he noticed what just happened.
"What were you looking at?" Trick question, Minho thought. He probably already knew.
"Nothing."
"Looking at her?" He nodded his head in the direction Brayden had gone. Minho shrugged it off.
"Pff, what?" He sounded really pathetic, and he wasn't fooling anyone. She was pretty, but it was obvious what she thought of him, she just said it to his face about two minutes ago.
"Why don't you go talk to her," Thomas said. "Apologize."
"Why do I need to apologize?" Minho started to walk toward the food shack. The smells of fresh bread and meat was getting to him. Thomas followed and walked along with him.
"Well, what you said to her was pretty mean," Minho almost felt sorry about what he said to her. Almost.
"What about her?" Minho protested. "She said a lot more mean things to me than I did to her." They arrived at the shack and were greeted by Frypan before Thomas could respond.
"Hey! Minho, Thomas, what's happenin'?" They talked with him for a good fifteen minutes, he made them both a delicious cheese and ham sandwich. They walked out of the shack, sandwich in hand. Thomas took a big bite and swallowed before saying anything.
"I still think you should talk to her." Minho barely heard what he said.

Once they sat down at a wooden table just outside the shack, he noticed Brayden sitting about twenty feet away, against a tree. She was writing on something she held in her lap. He couldn't tell what. Thomas stopped yapping a while ago, continuing to eat his sandwich.
"Maybe you're right," Thomas looked shocked, and with a full mouth he said.
"Really?"
"Yeah, um, I'll see you later." Minho got up from the table and walked up to the tree Brayden sat against. He came from behind the tree and sat down next to her. She looked up at him as he sat down. She quickly shut the brown-covered book she held in her lap. So that's what it was, he thought.
"What, you trying to hide something from me?" Minho had his head tilted and a half smirk across his face. Brayden looked away from him, setting the book next to her.

"That's none of your damn business," she scooted a little ways away from him, obviously uncomfortable with him sitting so close.
"Sorry," he muttered. "Um speaking of, I wanted to apologize. For earlier." Brayden didn't seem all that interested in the conversation they were having.
"Why are you apologizing?" She hinted nowhere that she really cared to know, but Minho decided to tell her anyway.
"Because, I'm not that snooty, obnoxious guy you think I am," Minho surprised himself at the level of sincerity in his voice. "I'm just...really bad at first impressions." He could tell she was trying to hind it, but she was just as surprised as he was.
"Ok, I guess I forgive you," she stood up, grabbing her bag and sticking her book into it. "See ya." She started to walk away when Minho jump up and walked after her.
"Wait, that's it?" She continued to walk and he followed.
"What's it?"
"Aren't you going to apologize for what you said?" He honestly didn't care, he just wanted to keep the conversation going, but he didn't know why.
"What I said was in retaliation to what you said," Brayden stopped, and dropped her bag in front of a tree, she turned and looked at him. "On a lower level, I'd call that self-defense." Minho didn't respond. Brayden walked up to Brenda, and two older men who were standing on the bed of a truck. Wooden crates were stacked up onto it, a few already on the ground.
"It's about time you got here." Brenda said, obviously joking.
"Yeah, yeah, hand me a crate," the two men pick one up, handed it to her, and she set it on the ground. Minho walked up to her.
"Need any help?"
"No, we're good," just as she said that, she lost grip of the second crate, obviously not expected it to be so heavy. Minho grabbed the other side of it just in time. He couldn't stop himself from smirking.
"You sure about that?" She didn't respond with words, just round her eyes. A small grin appeared on her face as they sat the crate down. Minho found himself staring at her, she had these pretty green eyes he hadn't noticed before. He looked away from her before anyone could notice he was staring. He helped Brayden carry the crates full of vegetables to the kitchen pantry, but that's all she let him help with.
"Are you sure you don't need my strength to help you will anything else?" He asked.
"Bye, Minho," she was already walking away when she said that. He decided not to argue and try to catch up with Thomas. As he walked away, a thought lingered in the back of his mind. He didn't recall ever telling her his name.

So…tell me what you think and the second chapter will be coming up very shortly. Thanks for reading!