When it was time for dinner, Eleanor practically begged Clint to let her out of the med room. Since Jeff had made pretty clear she shouldn't get out of bed, she tried her luck with Clint. She knew out of the two he was the easiest to convince. Plus, he seemed to like her a lot more than Jeff did.

Although, it wasn't like Jeff didn't like her. He just didn't seem to take her very seriously.

"Please, please, please, please..." She begged as she tugged on his shirt sleeve. He tried to hide it but Eleanor saw the smile on his face. "Pretty please, Clint."

"You're sick Eleanor." He said, trying to sound stern.

He stole a glance at the corner of the room where Jeff was currently busy doing god-knows-what with some herbs.

"I don't feel sick. I feel fine." She tried reasoning with him.

He shook his head. His face showed he was sorry which prevented her from getting angry.

Upon his denial, she let out an exagerated sigh and plopped down on the wannabe bed.

"I need to get out of here," She said, "I'm going crazy!"

Clint laughed, but she didn't so he soon stopped.

He looked uncomfortable, like he didn't like the situation, but that didn't make Eleanor feel better. She just wanted a bit of fresh air, some movement for her legs. Apparently that was too much to ask for. She felt like a prisioner.

"Just... Okay. Hear me out..." She said seeking Clint's gaze, "We go to dinner. I stay within eye-sight from either of you and I promise that whenever you tell me to go to bed I will obey, without resistance."

She looked up at Clint with a hopeful look on her face, but his face hadn't changed.

Her hopes came crashing down. Just as she was about to give up, Jeff spoke from the corner.

"Fine." He said.

She snapped her head to look at him. He was still focused on the herbs.

A smile made its way to her face, making her cheeks almost hurt.

She wasted no time on standing up. She didn't speak any more words in fear of making them regret their decision.

She waited patiently for them to finish their work so they could all go to the kitchens because there was no way they were going to let her go on her own. Even though she felt fine, she didn't want to push her luck.

By waiting patiently she meant swaying on her toes and playing with her hair, braiding and unbraiding, until Jeff couldn't take anymore of her pacing and informed them they were leaving.

As they did so, Eleanor thought to herself she liked Jeff but he wasn't the most patient Glader around.

She couldn't blame him though, she knew she could get pretty annoying. However, she was lucky Jeff and Clint were the Med-jacks because she wasn't sure she could've handled being trapped all day with two other Gladers.

When she had gotten her food she wondered where she was going to sit. It wasn't early, so all the tables were mostly ocupied by then. She normally didn't eat inside when there were that many Gladers but she didn't want to break her deal with Jeff.

She knew where she had to go, the Runners table.

Last night had proven that the Runners were nice boys, a little full of themselves, sure, but nice non-the-less. And they weren't as intimidating as you go to know them. Getting to know them was the hard part, but thanks to Minho, she had gotten a chance to.

Minho.

How had she even befriended Minho?

It didn't really make sense to her. Minho didn't have that many friends. He was tempered and intimidating, and hard to deal with. He seemed like the total opposite to Eleanor, but somehow they were good together. And sure, he was too smug and sacrastic and too much of a pain in the ass for his own good; but he was also protective and funny, and he liked to make her laugh.

Minho. She had to apologize to him.

A lump formed in her throat as she thought about the previous night.

She knew he had just been trying to help so, why did she snap at him?

She knew Minho didn't like being confronted. He didn't have the temper for it.

She felt utterly ridiculous but she knew she had to talk to him. So, she willed her feet to move and made her way to the furthest table on her left.

A Runner named George stopped in the middle of whatever he was saying as she arrived.

She could feel every set of eyes lock onto her. Nerves crawled under her skin as the table fell into a loaded silence.

She focused her gaze on Minho, sitting across from her. She was thankful for the plate of food on her hands, otherwise she knew she would be fidgeting uncomfortably.

She wasn't sure whether it was a good idea to apologize to Minho in front of all the Runners. She knew Minho wasn't the most reasonable surrounded by a bunch of males.

It wasn't like Minho was specially reasonable, but there was something about a boy around others of his kind that made them want to be the toughest Macho man. And everyone could see Minho didn't enjoy exposing any kind of weakness. Having a heart to heart with the only female probably counted as sentimentalism in his book.

So, she opted for something else.

"Hey guys. Can I sit here?"

She stared hopeful at Minho, but his face didn't show any emotion aside from his usual cockiness. Hopefully it was a good thing, but it was definetly unerving for Eleanor. The older Runner was usually like an open book.

"Sure." Ben said, smiling.

She threw him a grateful smile and sat down as said boy and another brunette, whose name she had forgotten, moved apart to make space for her.

The silence that followed was so awkward, she thought they could all hear the gears in her mind turning, trying to come up with something to say.

"Hey Ben," She said, turning to her left to look at him. "How's your ankle?"

She heard a groan across from her and immediately knew it was Minho. She laughed along with Ben.

"Much better, thanks." The bright smile he gave her made her smile in return.

She could feel her liking for Ben growing. He was that kind of person that just oozed good energy wherever he went. He just made everyone feel better with just his presence, and he wasn't hard on the eyes either.

Shut up, Eleanor. She told herself, Don't be such a teenage girl.

The previous night, she had expected the Runners to be broody and boring. But they were actually quite cheery and fun which had been a pleasant surprise.

Soon, their chatting continued and Eleanor could breathe properly again. She started to calmly eat her dinner.

The boys tried to include her in the conversation several times, which she was grateful for. But they mostly talked about other Galders and she didn't really feel comfortable gossiping. They weren't exactly saying bad things but still, she didn't really want to talk about people that weren't there. She simply filled in with nods and smiles whenever she was adressed.

"Hey, Eleanor." Said the boy sitting on her right. She really needed to learn his name. "What's up between you and Gally?"

She coughed, bits of food flying across the table. She was too surprised to feel embarrassed. She felt a kick to her shin and a sharp pain made its way up her leg.

"Ow!" She exclaimed, looking accusingly across the table.

Minho's surprised eyes locked with hers.

Did Minho just kick her?

Judging by his alarmed face, the kick was probably not meant for her. She observed many of the boys wore annoyed expressions directed towards the boy who had asked the question.

"What?" He defended, shrugging his shoulders.

One boy cleared his throat but none of them spoke. She could feel every stare on her.

Surprisingly, she didn't fell angry or annoyed. They were just curious. Living in the Glade, they didn't have the same personal boundaries that were internalized in her mind. Whether it was from living in the Glade, from previous education or from whatever reason, she didn't know.

"Well," She spoke. She caught the way Minho's eyebrows shot up, surprised that she was answering. "Me and Gally are not friends, if that's what you're asking."

She swallowed the lump in her throat. Would it ever get easier for her to talk about him? She had expected an awkawrd silence to follow her response but, to her surprise, she heard Ben's laugh.

"Well, that's obvious!" He said, "Great right hook, by the way. You can pack a punch, greenie."

She heard words of agreement across the table.

She slightly smiled, knowing they were trying to make her feel better.

"Will you ever stop calling me Greenie?" She asked, though she didn't sound serious with the smile gleaming on her face.

They laughed.

"If you keep putting Gally in his place, we might." George said on Minho's right.

Minho smiled at her, not smirked, smiled. He had a proud glint on his eyes, like he was happy his friends liked her.

She smiled back at him. She didn't feel out of place either, which was a lot coming from her. She felt better, a lot better.

That awful day might end in a good note after all.

"I can't believe I actually slapped Gally." Eleanor said.

Minho and her were sitting against the wall of the homestead, next to her sleeping bag. That had become their meeting place, apparently.

They were alone. Well, alone as they could be.

At least, they were out of sight and out of ear-shot from the rest of the Gladers, which was good enough for her.

She had been lucky enough to be realeased by the Med-jacks. She felt fine, a lot better. Her head barely hurt anymore and she no longer felt cold.

"I can't believe you didn't do it sooner." He laughed.

She was glad Minho didn't enjoy sentimental talks. He hadn't asked her how she was feeling and she was thankful for it. She didn't think she wanted to go down that path.

"I can't believe I didn't do anything." He said. He sounded a lot angrier.

She wished he wouldn't. She didn't like that side of Minho. Even though, she had to admit, it looked good on him.

What was up with her today? Stupid hormones.

"I'm glad you didn't." She said, "I can fight my own fights."

He nodded laughing. "Oh, I saw!"

She smirked at him. She allowed herself to feel slightly proud.

Minho wasn't mad at her like she thought he would be. Maybe he was a lot more used to fighting with his friends than she was. Well, it's not like she had a lot of friends. But, maybe boys were different in that way, or maybe he was just not one to hold grudges.

Still, she had to apologize. It would bother her if she didn't.

"Min." She said softly, "I'm sorry I snapped at you last night."

He simply looked at her. "Don't be a Slint-head. There's nothing to say sorry for."

She looked back at him.

She felt then she didn't appreciate Minho enough. She wished she was more like him. More confident, less scared. She wished she wouldn't be so affected by everything.

"Thank you." She told him, trying to explain how she felt on those two words.

He scoffed. "for what?"

She smiled, but didn't reply. He didn't seem to be expecting an answer.

They sat in a comfortable silence for a while, listening to the sounds of the Glade.

"Hey."

"Hmm?"

He pointed to the white folded jacket ontop of her sleeping bag.

"Is that Newt's jacket?" Minho asked.

Her eyes widened. She had completely forgotten about it.

She didn't know how Minho knew it was his jacket, but it didn't surprise her. After all, those boys hardly changed their clothes.

"Yes." She replied, then groaned tiredly, "I have to give it back."

He chuckled. "Why do you have Newt's jacket?"

She laughed, trying to act non-chalant.

She didn't feel like telling Minho about her weird encounter with Newt, or her stupid decision to have a midnight shower. She knew he might find out. There weren't many things that stayed secret in the Glade and news travelled fast. But it was a conversation she was more than willing to avoid.

"Nevermind." She said, getting up.

She could feel Minho's stare. She knew he was confused as to why she would have anything of Newt's.

It was understandable. She wasn't exactly best friends with the guy.

She bent down to grab the jacket. She knew she had to return it, but she didn't want to. She wished she could save herself from yet another weird and embarrassing encounter with the taller boy. Specially after their confusing conversation earlier that day. But she knew she didn't have much of a choice.

Minho got up as well.

"Alright..." He said, dragging the word, clearly confused, "I'll see you tomorrow, then."

Eleanor sighed, glad he didn't question her any further.

That was one of the perks of being friends with someone who didn't care too much about anything.

"Sure." She said.

He hugged her briefly, his arms completely engulfing her.

She felt her heart skip a beat. Then, he was gone.

She shook herself out of the shock of Minho hugging her.

She told herself it wasn't a big deal. They were friends. Friends could hug eachother.

She made her way to the homestead's entrance, trying to ignore just how much she had liked that hug.

She knocked softly on Newt's door when she arrived, praying he wasn't there.

Despite all her wishes, the door swung open, revealing a tired looking Newt.

He looked surprised to see her there, as was expected.

"Eleanor, hey?" He said, making it sound more like a question than a greeting.

"Hi." She replied.

She cringed at how lame it had come out.

She willed herself to be quick and be done with it. All she wanted was to escape the awkwardness that seemed to come with the blonde boy.

She extended the jacket to him.

"Here."

He imediately grabbed it with one hand. She let it go as soon as he did.

She looked at him but he was inspecting the piece of clotthing.

"You cleaned it?" He asked.

She nodded.

"You didn't have to."

She knew she didn't, but she wanted to. After all, it was her own fault it had gotten wet and dirty. She didn't bother with answering him.

"Thank you." she said, "For last night."

"You don't have to thank me." Was his response.

He looked at her with such intensity she felt an urge to look away.

But she didn't. She held his stare.

"I do."

He sighed, shaking his head and looking at the jacket once more.

The eye contact was broken, making Eleanor blink, trying to clear her mind.

He didn't look up at her, and she observed as his fingers played with the clothing. He looked nervous which confused Eleanor.

They heard footsteps as Pablo, the new Greenie, walked through the narrow corridor. He shot them a weird look as he passed their side.

Eleanor stepped back, blushing; even though she hadn't been standing close to Newt.

Said boy cleared his throat.

"Umm..." He started, scratching the back of his neck. "Do you want to come in?"

He spoke quieter now. He stared at her, awaiting her answer.

"I don't kn-" She started.

"Please?" He said, " I want to talk to you."

His voice shook. Eleanor thought it was all kinds of odd that he was so nervous.

No matter how many encounters she had with the second-in-command she was always caught off guard.

"Okay." She said, even though it sounded a lot more like a question than she had intended it to.

He stood aside and she proceeded inside.

His room was surprisingly neat and organized. It was very small. Eleanor had gotten used to open spaces in the Glade so she felt odd sharing so little space with Newt.

She stood to the side unsure of what to do.

Newt shut the door but he didn't sit. Not that there were a lot of places to sit aside from the bed.

The tension was almost palpable as she waited for Newt to speak, his nervousness making her nervous.

"I wanted to apologize." He said, "For earlier in the Med-room."

She looked at him, really looked at him. He seemed tired. His eyes filled with an emotion she could decipher.

"You don't have to apologize." She said, "I just wish I understood, is all."

She imediately cursed herself. She hadn't meant to share that last part.

"What?" He questioned.

Eleanor sighed, "You."

She watched as he frowned, his eyebrows creased together.

"What do you mean?"

"You just confuse me." She replied.

He slightly chuckled, "You confuse me."

"Do I?" She said, and then laughed, shaking her head, "I guess we're even, then."

Newt smiled and Eleanor returned it.

She hadn't come close to figuring him out at all but she felt a lot more comfortable around him in that moment.

Maybe they weren't so different after all.