Finally! It took longer to write this chapter than I thought it would. And I'm still not entirely satisfied with how it turned out. Hope you like it anyways! x
Sakura A. K: OMG, Thank you so much for your review, I'm so so happy to read all your good thoughts and it's helped me a lot because I was doubting this story lately and it's so lovely that you actually enjoy my writing. Can you please message me? I would love to talk about what you told me! x
Thank you so much for reading! I love you all:)
"Minho, stop that!" She screamed as she felt his fingers tickling her sides.
It hurt, in a strange way, but she couldn't stop laughing and squeaking. She wished he'd stop so she would stop sounding like a pig being slaughtered. Minho's loud laughs could be heard all across the forest, echoing around the trees. But Eleanor did not mind, she somehow knew they couldn't be heard.
Minho finally stopped digging his fingers on her sides just when she thought she couldn't breathe any longer. They both laid there, side by side on the surprisingly soft ground, panting and laughing breathlessly. Eleanor closed here eyes, enjoying the warmth of the sun on her face.
Minho rolled on his side, plopping himself up on his elbow to observe her better. She felt his gaze on her face, making her cheeks tint themselves red, a hot blush creeping up her neck. She had a funny feeling in her stomach, whether it was from his gaze or her own laughter she did not know. She wished he would stop gazing at her that way so her heart could settle back into its normal beating rhythm. When she was about to break eye-contact with the runner, his hand shot up, faintly touching her jaw-line, lighting her skin on fire. An army of tiny ants marching underneath her skin.
The soft touch prevented her from tearing her stare away, instead, she settled her gaze onto his face, exploring the intricate patterns on his almond eyes.
Their smiles were gone from their faces.
"You're shucking beautiful." Minho's whispered words made their way into her mind.
Her breath caught in her throat. His fingertips still grazing her skin, intoxicating her mind, obstructing her train of thoughts. She couldn't break free, she was long lost on the adoration in his stare, the warm chocolate that was his eyes drowning her in.
She felt herself leaning into his warmth, feeling his warmth breath on her lips. The curious feeling on her stomach multiplying, growing stronger and stronger.
Closing her eyes she touched her lips to his, lightly, slowly, and then deeper, stronger. She felt his lips responding to hers. Mouth to mouth. Breath to breath.
His hand moved slowly to the back of her neck, caressing her skin in the process. Eleanor felt herself shivering at the touch. His hand settled there, his fingers painting goosebumps as they touched her.
Then, Minho bit her lower lip, and her body came alive. Her hands came up, tangling themselves on that perfect hair he liked so much, messing it, nails softly tracing patterns. He groaned in response, grabbing her waist and in one shift movement, pressing her body against his. Her breasts colliding with his chest, their legs tangling up together.
Eleanor felt her body on fire, thinking she had never felt so much warmth inside. But then, something weird happened. She could have sworn she heard her name being called, but that was imposible. She knew they were alone.
She detached her lips from Minho's, focusing her hearing on the noises around them, trying to find out it she had actually heard something or it was just a product of her imagination. Minho didn't seem to mind, he appeared to have a found a new place for his mouth to be entretained in. Eleanor supressed a gasp as his lips grazed a sensible spot right below her ear. She closed her eyes, letting herself give in to her emotions.
"Eleanor."
Her eyes opened again. She had definetly heard it this time. She looked around trying to locate to source but they were alone. Minho seemed unfaded as he continued kissing down her neck, her knees were feeling weaker and weaker by the second.
"ELEANOR!"
Her whole body shook, as her eyes shot open. She felt as if her entire skin was on fire, the butterflies still fluttering around her stomach. Unsure of what was happening, her gazed focused onto Clint's face, hovering over her.
"Sorry for waking you up," he spoke, "I had to check on you."
She blinked slowly. Where was Minho? Why was Clint there? She started realizing she had been dreaming. But she wasn't entirely awake then either, her brain felt lazy, not being able to process the world around her.
"Huh?"
Clint chuckled slightly as Eleanor squinted her eyes against the light. She felt the palm of his hand on her forehead and frowned unsure of what the young boy was doing.
"You are still hot but not as much anymore." He said.
"What?" she asked, her voice raspy. She cleared her throat, "I'm hot?"
Clint gave up a short laugh, and she observed as a red blush started invading his freckled nose. Her mind started clearing up, and she wondered why he would blush.
"I meant- You-" He stuttered, he coughed before he spoke again, "I meant you barely have a fever anymore."
Eleanor was feeling a lot more awake now, and she started to understand that the med-jack was just checking up her state.
"Oh, okay." She said, "That's good, right?"
"Yeah,"
Eleanor thought it was cute how flushtered the younger boy was, but she prevented herself from laughing.
"How are you feeling?" He added.
He drawned back as she started to sit up, willing her body to wake up. She thought about it. Her headache had subsided over the last few days and it barely hurt anymore. She could honestly say she felt fine and not lie about it. She could now remember Jeff had finally let her sleep on her own place that night, but informed her that they would check up on her in the morning to determine whether or not she was healthy enough to work in the gardens again.
"I feel fine." She said, giving Clint a short smile. "Really good actually."
He smiled back at her, "Alright, then. I guess you can work today."
Her smile grew larger and she beamed at him. "Thanks Clint."
He gave a short chuckle as he got to his feet, ready to leave, "Alright, just come see us if you start feeling sick again."
She nodded still smiling, happy she was finally off the hook. The past three days had been extremely boring for Eleanor. Once thing came out of it though, she felt closer to the two med-jacks, specially Clint. It was a good thing, and she was surprised they hadn't pulled eachother's hair out, having to practically spend the full three days together. But Clint was a very nice boy, and extremely patient, which was a contrast to Jeff. That's probably the reason they made such a good team.
As she watched him leave, a strange motherly pride overcame her thinking of such young boys taking care of everyone and being so good at their jobs.
Suddenly, her smile fell and her eyes widened, her dream coming back to her. She was definetly awake enough now to know she had dreamed about kissing Minho, Minho. She raised her hands up to her face and rubbed her eyes with her fingers. Where had that dream come from? She had never thought about the runner in that way. They were friends, nothing more. She cursed her subconcious for putting images in her mind that weren't hers. Now, she couldn't shake how much she had liked feeling his lips against hers and his touch on her skin. But that hadn't happened, for all she knew kissing Minho could be a disgusting experience. She was sure she prefered her usual nightmares to these hormonal dreams involving her friend. Why couldn't she dream about anyone else? She would gladly dream about Ben or Will, hell even Zart, if it meant her friendship with Minho wouldn't become incredibly awkward.
Now that she really thought about it, she should've known it was a dream. Minho would never call her 'beautiful'. 'Hot' maybe, 'sexy', perhaps, but never 'beautiful'.
She willed herself to forget that dream. Telling herself it was just her stupid teenage hormones. Which actually made sense given the fact that she wa on that time of the month, an her magic pills didn't supress her adolecent thoughts. But she wish she could simply reset her mind and forget her dream. She didn't usually remember her dreams so why couldn't this be the same. Eleanor groaned, throwing herself back into the sleeping bag once more wishing she could get the image detached from her brain.
"You're doing it wrong, Eleanor." She heard Zart's voice behind her, immediately making her roll her eyes.
Newt laughed on her left at the pronouced scoff that her face had turned into. She turned around, settling her fists on her hips, her right hand still holding the large gardening knife. She looked up at the taller boy now in front of her, her face clearly stating she wasn't planning on making any friends.
"Then, how am I suppossed to do it, Zart?" She asked, raising her eyebrows at him.
Zart scoffed but seemed slightly amused, "Watch and learn." He said.
Eleanor then thought she prefered grumpy old Zart to this new cocky bossy side. She shared a look with Newt who seemed visibly amused by the whole exchange. Eleanor still hadn't gotten used to seeing the blonde smile in her presence but she very much liked this side of him. Well, it's not like they were suddenly the best of friends, but they did find themselves together in several situations now. Mostly in the gardens, which Eleanor was thankful for. Having someone to share her work with was a lot more entretaining than her usual working routine. Still, it had only been a few times but she had started growing fond of the strange older boy.
They both observed as the Keeper of the Track-hoes cut some plants by their tails in the suposedly proper way to do it. Eleanor rolled her eyes once again.
"That's what I was doing." She protested.
Zart shook his head, standing up once again, "You have to add more swing to the cut."
She took a deep breath, "Whatever." And crouched, starting to work once again on her side of the patch.
"Don't be so hard on her, mate." She heard Newt defending her, "She's doing fine."
She shot him a grateful smile but kept working. She heard her Keeper groan.
"Don't encourage her."
The blue eyed boy soon left them to check on other Glader's work. She heard Newt settle into work next to her. And just to annoy Zart she started singing, loud enough for her know it all boss to hear, knowing how much he hated it when she did it. She felt Newt's gaze on her but she kept working. Her mood had definetly improved.
When it was almost lunch time, Zart aproached them again, as they were finishing up their task. Newt and Eleanor both stood up, dusting their palms on their pants, dirt flying around.
"Eleanor please can you get the rakes from the Tool-shed?"
She shot him a questioning look but quickly realized it was a payback, from her singing. He knew she was finished and she could go to the kitchens to eat. She knew the boy too well by then to know he was punishing her. But she didn't want to give him the satisfaction of seeing her sweat.
She smiled brightly at him, "Alright, sure!"
She made her way through the patch waving and shouting out 'See you later's to the rest of the Track-hoes.
The door of the shed moaned on its hinges as she pushed it open. She had never been inside the room before but she never really wanted to, it wasn't specially an appealing place. The inside was the size of a cupboard with tools and boxes piled one ontop of the other, and scrambled around the three oposite walls. It contained too many objects to seem organized in any kind of way. The whole place smelt of rotting wood and moisture, it wasn't really inviting.
She let the door stay open letting the sunlight illuminate the room, in order to properly see the inside. Even then, it took her a while to spot the rakes within the mane of long poles. She proceeded on gathering some on her arms, trying not to drop any of the tools resting on that same wall in the process.
The sound of metal against metal muffled the sound of footsteps agaisnt the wooden floor behind her. Not until the door shut close, and the light vanished around her did she realize she was no longer alone in the small room. She turned around, arms now filled with rakes. A short gasp scaped her lips that remained slightly parted as her body collided with another. The tools were released from her hold, clattering around the floor, filling the silence.
"What the? Who's there, shank?" She heard a deep voice ask in front of her and two big hands pushed her backwards, making her collide with the close wall on her back.
Some pole dug into her back, knocking the air out of her lungs. Her eyes hadn't adjusted to the darkness yet but she did recognize the owner of the voice.
"Gally?" She questioned almost out of breath from the blow she took.
She closed her eyes tightly, wishing for the mysterious boy to deny it, say he was someone else, anyone else. But all she got was silence. When she opened her lids, her eyes could faintly distinguish some of his features, confirming her recent fears.
Eleanor thought any awkward moment she could've experience in the Glade up to date failed in comparison to that moment. Her nerves light up her insides, goosebumps covering her entire skin, alert, keeping her body on edge.
"Can you let me through?" She said softly, her mind screaming for her to get out of there, run.
She felt the familiar pang on her chest that came around whenever she was in his presence, but then it felt like it was suffocating her and she didn't think she could handle it.
He stood aside as much as his broad complexion allowed him. She walked to the door, concentrating her efforts into not touching him in any way.
She dragged her hand around the flat surface of the door, trying to find the doorknob. After what felt like an eternity, her fingers collided with something. She twisted the knob and pulled the door making use of her free hand. She needed to get out of there. When it didn't buldge she pulled harder, and harder, until she was practically hanging her full weight from the door.
After a few tries she concluded she wouldn't be able to open it and stood aside. As far from her former best friend as she could.
"I can't open it." She admited, defeated.
It came as a surprise when he didn't scoff or laugh at her. He simply walked forward and grabbed the doorknob himself. She stood aside letting him do his thing. He gave a few tries but the door did not give in.
Knowing how agressive Gally was, she found it surprising when he didn't shove the door. Instead, he opted for sitting down on the oposite wall. She stared at him, confused.
"Is it locked?" She asked him, her voice trembled and she cursed herself for being so volatile.
She watched him shake his head, "It's stuck."
"Has it happened before?"
"Yes." He spoke, "One time, Alby got stuck here for a full night."
She heard him chuckle lowly and she frowned. Poor Alby. She didn't want to follow the same fate. She desperately needed to get out of there. She had started feeling like she was suffocating. She walked forward, standing in front of the door once again.
"Don't bother." She heard him say, "It opens better from the outside."
She decided to ignore his imput. If she couldn't open the door, she would yell for help. Her fists started pounding on the door.
"Hey! Guys!" She yelled, "Someone! Anyone! Help!"
She kept yelling but no one seemed to be around. She cursed her luck, knowing it was lunch time and all the remaining Gladers were probably by the kitchens, so no one would hear them until they finished. But she wasn't about to give up. She kept pounding. She could hear the builder groaning behind her but she ignored him.
Suddenly she felt other hands on hers, dragging her away from the door.
"Hey!" she protested, quickly tearing her hands away from his hold.
His touch burned in her mind and she didn't want him to touch her under any circumstance. She shot to the opposite side of the room, as far away from him as she could. A look of hurt crossed his features but was quickly covered with his usual vacancy. But this time, she was sure she hadn't imagined it.
"Don't do that! You'll break the door!" He spat at her.
"Good." She said, starting to get angry. "Then I can get out of here."
But she didn't move. She knew Gally didn't care about many things, but his work wasn't one of them. She guessed he had probably built that very shed, and even though she was angry at him, she would respect that. If only someone would come looking for them. She couldn't relax with him there. She had to get away from him.
Seeing no way out she slid down the wall, sitting unceremoniously on the floor, in defeat. None of them spoke for a long time, both trying hard to avoid the other's gaze. Eleanor's nervs crawled beneath her skin, making her want to jump around and destroy the whole building just so she could scape the situation.
"I thought no one was here." He said after a while, his tone did not sound apologetic. "You're so... short."
In any other circumstance Eleanor would've laughed at that statement, but she couldn't believe this was happening to her. Her brain couldn't even process the fact that she was sitting in a very small and secluded room with him. She couldn't bear to look at him and see the boy he used to be now turned into hate and anger.
"What happened to you?" She said, her own tone had an angry edge to it. She felt tired of the situation.
"What?" He said confused. He seemed taken aback by her question.
She was ready to drop the subject, not wanting to make things even more awkward. But could they really get any more awkward? No, she wasn't about to back down, not this time. She deserved answers. She wanted to stop being afraid? Well, she had to start facing her fears, sooner or later.
"What happened to you when you went through the Changing?" She said boldly.
It was time she got some real answers out of him. She was tired of the not knowing, tired of the hurting, tired of the sadness. She deserved the truth and he was going to give it to her right then. Eleanor was sure of it, she would not back down so easily. Not this time.
She observed as his face turned, sadder, somber, maybe even frightened. She almost wished she hadn't asked, but she didn't. She would be selfish for once.
"Shut up." He said lowly. She imagined he meant to be menacing but he didn't fully achive the desired effect. He sounded scared, almost like a child.
But she wasn't faced, "No. You know what? I won't shut up! Because whatever it is that you remembered, whatever you saw, I have the right to know. We all do. Because you're the closest thing to knowing what the hell is out there and you don't get to keep that information to yourself! And I would very much like to know what the hell turned my best friend into a shucking ridiculous asshole that only cares about himself and treats other people like klunk. So, please, please, Gally, enlighten me!"
She expected him to be angry. She expected him to yell at her, maybe even hurt her. But he didn't do any of those things, he barely even moved. He stood still for a while. Eleanor sighed, trying to steady her breathing. Great, now he was ignoring her.
But he spoke, and when he did, Eleanor's insides twisted painfully.
"Please, stop talking."
He sounded so broken. Tears swelled up in her eyes, and she didn't try to stop them. What kind of things had he seen to maybe him sound that way? To turn his back to every one of his friends and put up a hate farçade.
"What happened to you?" She almost whispered.
He looked up at her. She could feel her tears run down her cheeks but she didn't wipe them away. She tried searching something in his face, something that could help her understand the boy in front of her. But all she saw was sadness and fear.
Suddenly, the door burst open, bathing the place with blinding sunlight. Eleanor threw her hands up, to cover her eyes.
"There you are." She heard someone said.
She blinked slowly trying to distinguish who was at the door. She watched as Zart and Newt stared back and forth between herself and Gally. She quickly dried her tears with the back of her hand, knowing they had already seen them. Thankfully, none of them said anything. She watched as Gally swiftly stood up, taller than the two other boys and left, pushing them aside, without a single word.
Eleanor sighed, trying to compose herself and got up too, accepting Newt's hand. The second in command pulled her up without a question. She left the room as fast as she could, eager to get out of there.
She willed herself to breathe normally, the image of Gally's vitreous eyes was sure to hunt her for a really long time.