"How are you alive?" She finally blurted out.

As grateful as she was, she didn't understand how two teenagers could have possibly survived what seemed like a certain a deadly situation.

She had been so sure they weren't going to. After everything she had learned about that place, about the Maze and the horrors that awaited inside those cement walls; could it be possible that things weren't as terrible out there as she had been led to believe?

Seeing the darkness behind her best friend's eyes, the barely concealed fear she didn't recall she had ever seen in his eyes before, was enough to answer her question.

"Honestly..." He spoke, seemingly agaisnt his will. "It was Tommy."

Eleanor could tell he didn't want to talk about it. Perhaps he didn't wish to relieve it through his own words. So she bit her tongue and fell quiet, forcing her questions back inside her mind. She observed him as he closed his eyes and gave out a loud sigh.

"You don't have to tell me." She assured him, immediately feeling bad for causing her friend any amount of pain.

She was dying to know the whole story, but she would wait until he was ready. If he ever was.

"It's just..." Minho started. "Oh, nevermind. I'll have to tell all these slintheads anyway. I'd rather tell you first."

Eleanor tried to smile at him encouragingly, trying not to show how much that had moved her.

"Thomas basically saved my life." He admitted. "I thought I was done for. I-"

His voice shook. Eleanor took his hand in hers without hesitation.

He took a deep breath. "I was so scared, El. I thought I was going to..."

She squeezed his hand tighter.

"Thomas was incredible. I've never seen anything like it. He saved Alby after I left them both for dead."

He sounded ashamed. Eleanor was clearly surprised.

"How?"

"I don't even know." He admitted. "He- like- strapped him up to the vines on the walls. It's crazy. I would've never thought of that."

"Wow..." She couldn't help it.

The Greenie had just arrived and was already doing incredibly smart, although decidely stupid, things.

"That's not the craziest klunk. The stupid shank killed a shucking Griever."

"What?" She asked taken aback, so sure she had misheard the runner.

Kill a griever? Is that even possible?

"Well, we kinda killed more than one, but it was his idea."

"What?" She parroted.

How the hell was that even possible? Not only had they survived the night with their lives, which was unbelievable enough as it was. But they had killed a bunch of demonic killing machines.

"Yeah, it's crazy... Tricked them into running straight off the Cliff."

A freaking cliff?

There's a Cliff?

How come no one has told me about the Cliff?

"Yeah..." She couldn't make sense of anything these days. "I really don't know anything about this place, huh?"

He chuckled. They fell silent for a moment.

"You're so shucking brave Minho." Her eyes found his.

He still looked so pained. She hoped he could believe how true her words were, how much she admired him.

He simply shook his head, dismissing her words.

Silence.

"Are you ok?"

She knew it was a stupid question, although she had been fighting it ever since she had seen him walk out of the maze. She thought she knew the answer and she didn't know how to make it any different.

He squeezed her hand and softly smiled. And even though she knew it wasn't true she tried to smile back as he spoke.

"I am now."

"Hey, what's going on in there?"

It was almost dinner time and the Gathering was still going strong.

She had taken a few laps around the Deadheads to ease her nerves but her hunger was now calling to her. She needed them to finish the meeting so someone could explain to her what the hell they had decided to do with the whole mister-Runner-and-mister-Geenie-had-killed-a-bunch-of-monsters-and-are-somehow-still-alive.

What she hadn't expect was the amount of noise coming out of the Homestead. It sounded like a fight had broken out.

So, she did the first thing she could think of, ask the nearest person.

Chuck's eyes were wide open as he looked up at her from his crouched possition agaisnt the door.

"Order! Order!" Newt's yells reached the outside of the builing.

But the clamoring inside did everything but die down.

"Minho! Enough!"

That certainly peaked Eleanor's attention. She quickly pressed her ear to the door, as Chuck had done a few seconds prior.

A few gladers had approached too, probably to determine the source of the commotion.

"Is it true?" She barely heard Minho's voice through the wooden door. "Is it true?!"

Silence fell all around them then. Everyone seemed to be waiting for whoever had been asked to speak. Eleanor could clearly hear Chuck's accelerated breath next to her.

"Minho, I-" He didn't raise his voice but Eleanor knew that was Newt's soft tone.

She held her breath.

"Shuck!" Minho's lud cry broke the reverie.

It was followed by a strong thud that sounded like something wooden being broken. Then, loud footsteps.

Eleanor threw herself away from the door.

Chuck wasn't nearly as quick and was thrown back as the door was pushed open. He hit the floor, letting out a small sound of protest.

Minho's march halted as soon as his gaze fell on her form.

"Minho, what...?" She started to ask.

He simply shook his head, the pained expresion on his face taking her completely by surprise, and took off again. His long strides created a wide gap between them in a matter of seconds.

Eleanor shared a glance with Chuck, who sat on the floor observing the whole scene. The kid simply shrugged at her.

"I don't know what happened." He said as he tried to get up, "I think Gally said something and Minho just started shouting at him."

Without a word to the young boy, she took off towards her best friend.

"Minho! Wait!" She shouted after him as she tried to reach up to him.

"Don't, El." He said when she was close enough to hear him, but he made no attempt to slow down.

"What's wrong? What happened?"

She was nearly sprinting trying to keep up with his long strides.

"I need space right now." The tall boy stated, without a single glance her way.

She was closer then. She tried grabbing his hand to get him to slow down.

"But Min, what...?"

He tore his hand away from her touch and finally stopped to look at her.

His face was strong and his voice, rough.

"Look, I don't wanna be angry at you but I need to calm down, okay?"

His tone was final.

She stood there, taken aback.

"Okay..." She replied.

Neither of them moved for a few seconds.

Minho took a deep breath.

"I just wish I could help you with whatever it is." She said softly.

She willed her emotions not to show. How could she feel upset when she didn't even know what was happening?

"You can't. Trust me." He was speaking faintly now.

Eleanor didn't know what came next, what to say to that.

"It's all good." He added, "I promise I'll get over it."

"I love you." She could only think of saying.

She needed to say it.

"I know..."

Eleanor watched him walk away.

"Shuck, that was intense." Thomas' voice greeted her when she got back to where Chuck still stood.

Most Gladers were around. The Keepers had already left the Gathering and were lingering around. She noticed many eyes were on her.

"What the hell happened back there?" She questioned the Greenie.

"Well..." He seemed hesitant. "I'm a Runner for starters."

"What?" She replied. "Oh, okay... Congrats dude but I meant all that fighting."

"Well..." He repeated and proceeded to scratch the back of his head. "Gally wasn't happy about it."

Chuck looked uncomfortable.

Eleanor would have laughed at how bad of a liar the Newbie was if she hadn't been so annoyed and confused about the whole thing.

"Like that's new. Tell me what really happened 'cause I seriously doubt Minho was that upset about you stealing his spotlight."

She looked at Chuck for help. Then, she realised they were both gazing at her with what looked like unconcealed pity.

The rest of the Gladers' gaze still seemed to be on her too.

She was running out of patience.

"Guys, what?" She demanded. "And why is everybody staring at me more than usual."

An idea came to her.

"Did something happen with the girl?"

Chuck gulped. "A-apparently Gally saw-"

Eleanor felt a tap on her shoulder.

"Can I talk to you?"

She turned around to find Newt staring down at her.

"Um sure, what's up?

"Not here." He simply said and started to walk away.

"Okay..."

The day kept getting more and more confusing.

She turned back to Chuck expecting an explanation but he simply shrugged. Great, she apparently wasn't going to get answers around those two.

She went after Newt, whispers following as they went.

He was already seated on the high platform when she caught up with him.

"What is it?" She said, slightly out of breath. "What the hell is going on with everyone?"

She could no longer feel the burning stares of the rest of the boys, but she could still sense something wasn't right.

"Minho knows." Newt stared straight ahead and spoke without a single glance towards her.

"What?" Was that meant to make sense to her? "What does he know?"

"He knows we..."

He didn't continue.

Eleanor felt another question rising when it clicked.

"Oh, fuck."

"Yeah." Newt let out a breath. He still hadn't looked at her, "Apparently Gally saw us last night."

"Oh, fuck." She repeated.

She took a seat next to the blonde boy.

"He was very upset."

The sun was staring to set, glonden light reflecting on the green grass below them. The Gladers were getting ready for dinner.

"Yes, he was." Newt replied.

Eleanor wanted to cry. But there were no tears, only a throbbing ache in her throat that made it hard to speak.

"I'm a horrible person."

She had hurt Minho, the last thing she would have ever wanted to do.

"No, you are not." He immediately spoke, as if he had been expecting her to say that.

She looked at him for the first time.

"He was out there, fighting for his life and I was safe and sound making out with his best friend. Who does that?"

She felt the numb quiet tingle of self hate back again.

He finally turned to look at her. "You were vulnerable and upset. If anyone is a horrible person, it's me."

She scoffed.

He was being too nice, like always. He was trying to protect her.

"I kissed you." She clarified.

"And I enjoyed it." He said, imitating her tone.

She almost laughed. What was wrong with her?

"It doesn't matter." She said, looking back to the Glade. "I shouldn't have done it. I took advantage of you."

From the corner of her eye she could see he was shaking his head, but she knew she was right.

"I hurt Minho just because I was hurting, and that's no excuse. This one's one me."

Newt hesitated, probably wondering what to say to that.

He sighed. "He's not mad at you."

"He sounded pretty mad." She said.

"He's jealous. I don't blame him but he's angry with me, not with you." He stared straight ahead too.

Eleanor surprised herself as she noticed she didn't feel awkward around him, even after everything that had happened, even after what was happening.

"Then, I'll talk to him." She simply replied. "He needs to know it was not your fault."

"Eleanor, it's alright." He sounded defeated. "He has every right to be jealous."

She leaned back, her head and back resting on the wooden structure. She couldn't see stars yet but soon they would start to show.

"I don't get it. Why would he be jealous? It's not like you're my new best friend."

Eleanor watched as the tall boy stared down at the Glade. He appeared to be organizing his thoughts.

After a while, he exhaled slowly and turned to look at her.

"Minho likes you, Eleanor." He explained clearly, like she was a little kid. She knew she hadn't heard wrong. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be the one to tell you this but it's so obvious now."

She propped herself up on the palms of her hands. "You're jacked in the head. Why would Minho like me? That makes no sense."

Newt let out a soft chuckle.

"What?" She asked, slightly irritated.

"Eleanor, of course he likes you. He spends all his free time with you."

"I'm his friend." She argued.

"No, I'm his friend. He likes you."

"That's silly." She said, not believing a word he had said.

Minho didn't like her. It wasn't possible.

She sat back up. "Why would he like me?"

He smiled at her. She could tell he was fighting laughter.

"Your self-confidence is really overwhelming sometimes."

"I doesn't make any sense." Her mind could not process that conversation.

"Maybe to you... Anyone could see how he feels about you, and it's not just Minho though-"

"What? What are you talking about?" She sounded slightly panicked now.

Newt apparently could see through her because he coughed and back-tracked.

"I-I mean I'm sure many other shanks have a crush on you."

"You say that because I'm the only girl-" She stopped and corrected herself, "The only awake girl and everyone seems to think that- How did Pablo put it... Ah yes- Now that Minho has nailed me I will do it with anyone who asks."

"He said that?"

She could tell that had made him angry. She didn't want to go down that road.

"I mean, it's all those stupid rumors."

He seemed to relax a little bit, but he was still glaring straight ahead when he spoke. "Maybe that's part of the reason. But there are shanks who know those aren't true and still like you."

"Like Minho?" She scoffed.

"Like Gally."

Those words slapped her across the face.

Her eyes truned to him in an instant.

"I mean..." He said quickly, "like Gally used to."

He avoided her gaze.

She could tell he had immediately regretted the statement.

She tore her gaze away quickly, not wanting him to see her reaction.

Could she believe Gally had liked her before...? Yes, that she could believe.

Softly, Newt spoke again, "And I think you liked him too."

Eleanor could then feel his concerned eyes measuring her reactions.

She closed her eyes and willed herself to relax. There was no point on going back there, no point in revisiting the painful memories now. What did it matter if what Newt said was true or not? It didn't change anything.

"I don't even know what liking someone feels like." She admitted.

From the corner of her eye she could sense his gaze leaving her.

"I guess you just know..."

Eleanor felt so tired, how had everything become even more complicated.

"Fuck... Why is all this happening? When did the Glade turn into a freaking sci-fi soap opera? Dead Grievers, feelings... I don't know what scares me the most."

Her weak attempt at a joke barely made a small smile appear on the Keeper's face.

"I do." He said.

She exhaled. "Yeah, you're right. My problems are quite petty considering I could die any minute in this place."

"No." he corrected her, " I meant feelings."

Newt laughed as he caught a glimpse of her reaction. The sound got a weak giggle out of her. She felt emotionally worn out.

"I guess you have nothing to fear, oh mighty Second-in-command." She tried joking back.

He seemed taken aback, clearing his throat he said. "First now."

"Shuck, sorry." Eleanor, you and your big clumsy mouth. "How's that going?"

She had been so wrapped up in her own problems she hadn't even considered how bad of a time Newt must have been dealing with.

So fucking selfish...

"As well as expected." Was his reply.

She winced at his dull tone. "I guess everyone's freaking out, huh?"

As if on cue a high voice reached them from below and made them look down.

"Newt! Newt!"

Even in the dark, Eleanor could recognise Chuck's form.

"What?!" Newt yelled back.

"Med-jacks sent me. Alby's acting all crazy."

Newt was on his feet in a second.

"He keeps asking for Thomas."