Disclaimer: I do not own TMRS.

"I'm not gonna lie for your sake. I still think going into the Maze will be for the best. Once we finally come up with the right blueprints for the Cure, we'll have all that freedom we could only dream about now. Imagine that. We could build homes for ourselves. You and me. We'll be next-door neighbors or something."

Alex smiled and rested her head on his arm.

"I like that. I like that very much."

"Hiya, neighbor!" Cole greeted him with an annoyingly toothy grin. He walked past Minho carrying a burlap sack full of belongings and made his way to the cabin right next to the one Minho's room was in. The lead navigator's eyebrows flew up to his forehead when he saw Alex, Millie and Bill already standing in front of the cabin's entrance chatting excitedly amongst themselves.

He turned towards the front door of the cabin he shared with the other boys and saw Sonya standing by the porch with her arms crossed over her chest. She had a blank expression on her face but he knew her long enough to know that inside she as already fuming.

"Did that bastard just call me neighbor?" he asked as he made his way towards her. He gave her a quick peck on the lips.

"Mmm-hmm," she replied acidly. "They got their job assignments today and have proven themselves vital members of the community." She turned to look at Minho, scrutinizing his poker face. "So they were rewarded with a place of their own, right next to your little home. Joy!"

"Sonya, c'mon," he sighed. He wasn't in the mood to deal with her catty remarks. He was too spent and exhausted.

The couple turned to look at their new neighbors and saw a pair of vivid green eyes staring back at them. Its owner was hugging an oversized knapsack on her chest. Upon meeting their gazes, she narrowed her eyes at them and cocked her head to one side.

Cole walked behind her and tugged at her ponytail, causing her to look at him and smile.

"It's rude to stare sweetheart," he said. "Let's go."

"Did he just call her sweetheart?" Minho asked.

Sonya shrugged. "Affected much?" she glanced sideways at him. "Sweetheart?"

"It was a simple question Sonya," he shot back.

"As simple as my question for you, Minho," she retorted.

They glared at each other for a long time. Finally, it was Sonya who broke the spell. She huffed at him and went back inside their cabin. "Whatever."

As Alex looked at the duo, she couldn't help but wonder what Clint meant earlier. Just as she had asked, he had told her about how their lives were like back in the Glade.

He mentioned names of strangers he swore she was close friends with.

He mentioned a Jeff and an Anton.

He mentioned mazes.

He mentioned attackers being thrown in Mazes.

He mentioned ugly hair and long days spent in a room much similar to the one they had been staying in as they waited for Millie's draining to finish.

None of them rang a bell. She didn't have the heart to say it out loud.

"To be honest, I'm not the right person to ask. If you want to know more, ask Minho. He knew you way more than I ever did."

Alex was surprised. She had yet to get over the raven-haired boy's image that was seared in her mind. It was an image of pure rage that nearly killed her dear friend. And now Clint was telling her to talk to him? Why Minho? Of all the boys in the Glade, she had to be linked to that arrogant, hot-headed, shuckfaced shuck.

When she said this to Clint, the latter merely chuckled. "You two have so much more in common than you think."

She studied him from afar and noticed how he looked at her with so much recognition in his eyes.

Minho. Who were you to me?

After months of wandering and sleeping underneath the skies, the four of them were more than happy to finally find a place they could call their home. It was a small cabin that they shared with Jorge and another guy in construction but that barely bothered them. Bill and Cole shared one room. Alex and Millie shared another. It was more than they had hoped for.

Alex and Millie were fixing up their new place when Cole's head popped in from the door.

"Did you see that asshole's girlfriend? Jesus, she's hot!"

"I know," she gushed, putting what little extra clothes they had away in one corner of the room. She added," Pretty face, perfect body, mile-long legs, plus I heard she was one of the queen bees in Maze B. Lucky bastard."

Cole gave her an odd look. "And you're okay with it?"

She replied with another odd look. "What?"

"I heard you and Minho go way back. And when I say way back I mean the dating kind."

Something erupted at the pit of her stomach. She quickly pushed the uneasy feeling away. "I wouldn't know. And if we did, that was before. They look happy now."

"In fairness to him, he has leveled up his taste of the female species."

Alex placed her hands on her hips. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"That girl is a bombshell. And you...you're a midget. You've got curves, sure but those are nothing compared to Sonya's-" He was cut off mid-sentence with a blanket on the face.

"So much for being a friend," she growled. "Millie, let's kill him!"

Alex and Millie were too busy wrestling Cole down the floor that none of them noticed the young man looking at them front the other cabin's window. With a sad smile and a heavy sigh, Minho closed his curtains.