Title: To see the snow fall once again

Characters: Thomas and Minho

Disclaimer: The characters belongs to James Dashner

Notes: This is the english translation of my fic Pour voir la neige tombée une nouvelle fois. Lot of angst, but it has a happy ending. This fic will have 3 chapters. I did the translation myself so if there is any mistake, it's normal. Thank you!

Notes 2: I'm sooooo sorry for the wait! I had other projects and then school was kicking my ass, but here's the second chapter!

The pain didn't leave. It instead became an old friend, always there, always ready to be heard, always hooked.

A toxic friendship, indeed, but Minho had learned how to live with it. At least, that's what he tried to believe.

Days after the big announcement, Thomas went with the official presentation. The young Asian had met the one he despised the most ever since she stole the heart of the one he loved.

It was ridiculous, he knew it. His friend had the right to love. He had the right to live. And his pain should not get in the way of Thomas's happiness. He so did like there was nothing there. He had been polite and even had let go of his sarcasm in Teresa's presence. He wanted this first meet to go well, for Thomas.

And he had the misfortune for noticing how the young woman was perfect for his best friend. There was a link, a connection. Their love for literature had made them closer, had united them. They were laughing, stroking hands, looking at each other with so much tenderness... Everything Minho wanted to experiment with his best friend.

He knew Teresa was in love. He could see it in her eyes. He knew, because he looked at Thomas the same way. It was a look full of admiration and affection. A look of love. And even if he hated her with all his being, Minho couldn't blame her. She was the one that Thomas felt in love with and they both were happy together. Minho had always thought his best friend's happiness was more important than his. It should have been enough.

But it has not been the case.

As more time passed by, as more he felt a distance between him and his best friend. Thomas did his best not to let Minho behind and still spend a lot of time with him… He could see his efforts to keep their friendship. But Minho was suffering too much and trying to hide it was tiring, pretending nothing was wrong. It was his fault if this distance were being created, but he couldn't do anything about it.

There was always this constant reminder that he was with Teresa. She had become a shadow, following Thomas everywhere, even in the evenings Minho usually spent with his best friend.

Every day, every time he saw them together, holding hugs, cuddling, kissing … every time it broke his heart. Soon, Minho would be an empty shell, devoid of any emotion, if it weren't already the case.

"Stop it," Newt said while the Asian was watching his best friend passionately kissing his girlfriend. They had just finished their track training. Teresa had watched them from bleachers and went to Thomas after the last whistle from their coach. "It's not only jealousy or being afraid of losing him," the blond continued, "it's a true heartbreak and you're torturing yourself by watching them."

Minho grumbled as a response. He knew his friend was right.

"You have to get over it…"

As if it was possible. He was about to reply when he saw Thomas and Teresa getting close to them.

He sported his usual smirk, hoping his pain wasn't showing in his eyes. The look Newt sent his way indicated it was not successful.

"Very impressive," Teresa told him once close enough, "you're very fast."

Like every time his best friend's girlfriend talked to him, he didn't know how to react. Part of him wanted to be sarcastic and rude, in retaliation of having stolen the love of his life, but another part was telling him it would break Thomas's heart. So, he was often speechless in front of her. Which was something that usually never happened.

"H-huh…"

"Minho is our best!" Thomas started, his tone admiring. "He wins almost every competition and it's because of him that our team is one of the best in the country!"

That. That was a surprise. Those were words Minho had never heard from his friend. He didn't know Thomas thought that about him. A rush of love overwhelmed him. Which was completely ruined by Teresa's intervention. "It doesn't surprise me, after what I've seen."

She then smiled at him which felt like a bullet in his heart.

Yeah. Thomas was in love with Teresa. Not him.

The pain was too much. Newt was right, he had to get over it. But he couldn't do it if he didn't put distance between him and his friend. At least, until his feelings for him disappeared. He only hoped their friendship wouldn't suffer too much from this.

…

Summer break has begun for two weeks now. Minho has been avoiding Thomas as much as possible for more than a month and it was starting to affect his mental health more and more. He missed his best friend. A lot. His panic attacks were way more frequent, but fortunately, Newt was more present for him for the past few weeks. They were often talking and the boy often went to his house to help him clear his mind a little.

It should have worked. Maybe.

The problem—Thomas wouldn't leave him alone and Minho was running out of excuses to give him. He thought that after a while, his friend would have given up. Or that his feelings wouldn't be as strong and that he would have been able to see Thomas a little.

Not a all. He loved Thomas as much, if not more. Which did not help his case at all.

That night, Minho had refused an invitation to play League of Legends, pretending to be at his aunt's. Which wasn't true. He was instead distractingly watching a Netflix TV show, but Thomas would have insisted on coming to watch it with him if he had been honest.

Headphones on, he didn't hear his bedroom door opening.

"Oh yeah, you're so at your aunt's," a sarcastic voice said.

Minho jolted around while his heart raced fiercely in his chest.

Shit.

He was fucked.

Seeing Thomas's anger, but also his pain, Minho immediately blamed himself for all his lies. He should never have tried to distance himself from his best friend, even if that decision had been for himself. He had hurt his best friend and that was the worst thing he could have ever done in his life.

"I-I…"

He didn't know what to say, he was caught off guard.

"Is it the first time?" the brunette continued, his voice giving away his pain.

"W-what…"

"Is it the first time that you lie to me?" he insisted more firmly. "Or are you lying to me ever since you started avoiding me?"

Minho's silence gave away the answer.

The hurt appearing on Thomas's face right now got to him. He regretted. He regretted so much. But telling the truth would have hurt him too. Minho realized that even since he felt in love with Thomas, their friendship was doomed to break at some point.

A deep despair filled him at the same time. It was official. He was going to lose the person that meant the most to him.

"What did I do Minho?" Thomas asked. Minho couldn't help but notice his friend didn't call him "Min," the nickname he usually used. Which broke his heart even more. "Is it because of Teresa?"

Minho's heart skipped a beat. Thomas wouldn't have found out, would he?

"You don't like her, do you?" the young man continued, clearly saddened by the idea of his girlfriend not being approved by his best friend. "You should have told me you didn't want her to be there when we are together! But whether you like her or not, I love her and nothing will change that. It really makes me sad that you don't like her and that you're lying to m—"

"No!" Minho finally said. "That's not it…"

It was a true nightmare. Thomas would understand everything and reject him for good, saying he couldn't be friends with someone who was in love with him, and Minho would end up alone for the rest of his life.

"So, what is it?!" Thomas was starting to lose patience. "You're supposed to be my best friend Minho, but you lie to avoid me and it started when I started going out with Teresa!"

"No, no, no," Minho repeated, panicking more and more.

His breath was becoming short and things were getting blurry, signs that a big attack was coming.

"What do you want me to think Minho!? It's okay if you don't like Teresa, you don't know her well yet and—"

"NO!"

That made Thomas shut up who then realized this friend's state. His tone changed drastically and his instinct took over. He was used to deal with those situations, even if the culpability was eating him not to have seen the signs earlier.

"Oh shit Min, I'm so sorry, I didn't realize," he said while approaching to take his friend in his arms to calm him. "Come here, everything's fine, I'm so sor—"

"NO! NO! GO AWAY!" Minho struggle, trying to push the young man away.

"No Min, you're having a panic attack, everything's fine, okay? I'm here, just brea—"

"It's because of you I'm having an attack! GO AWAY!"

Thomas froze. His face broke down in an instant. He did this. He had hurt his friend. His best friend. A deep rage against himself fell upon him and he struggled to not broke down completely.

He then took one of the hardest decisions of his life.

"Okay, I'll go," he said, painfully holding back his tears.

But he had no choice, since he was the problem here.

Minho did not notice the door closing behind Thomas. He couldn't breathe anymore. Reality didn't make sense anymore. He had just lost his best friend.

He felt like dying. He was dying. His head hurt too much and air couldn't get in his lungs. He couldn't tell how many times had passed, it could have been an eternity.

He then felt arms wrapping themselves around him, and for a moment, he feared Thomas had come back. Came back to break his heart even more.

But he heard Newt's voice talking to him.

Newt.

Newt was there for him. He came. He wasn't alone.

I hope you liked this one! And don't worry, happiness is on its way for them!

Don't be afraid to leave a comment!

-Safr2n