Title: Night

Characters: Thomas and Minho

Disclaimer: The characters and universe belongs to James Dashner.

Notes: This is the compilation of my entries for Thominho Week 2020 on tumblr.

Notes 2: This is for day 1, with the prompt "Night". It's canon-compliant, taking place after The Death Cure.

Nights

It was cold. Too cold. It woke him up.

He was in the small cabin he shared with Thomas ever since they started building small houses for everyone in the Safe Haven.

And it was way too cold.

Minho realized, after coming out of his sleepy haze, it was because the body supposed to be in his arms wasn't where it was supposed to be. He sighed. It happened again.

He saw Thomas, sitting by the end of the bed, curled up in a ball, looking through the window. Getting out of the covers, the Asian went to his boyfriend to wrap himself around him. The brunet barely acknowledged him, just putting his hands on Minho's arms and relaxing into the embrace. It was natural for them. An old routine.

When they arrived in the Safe Haven, the two runners quickly discovered that they couldn't sleep without the other. At that time, their feelings for each other weren't as clear. But without the other boy next to them, they just couldn't sleep at all.

Soon, the nightmares started coming. It was not really a surprise, after everything. Thomas, particularly, had hard times with them. If he had one, he never was able to go back to sleep. It sorts of became a habit for Minho to wake up during the night and stay up with the youngest, cuddling with him in bed, until morning.

The night became theirs. It was those moments where they were just the two of them, talking about everything, or sometimes not talking at all. It was those moments where the Asian felt the closest to the younger boy. He felt like Thomas was the only one to truly understand him. They've been through so much together and he knew he couldn't go on without him.

The feelings he had for that boy ever since he went into the Maze to help him started to grow more and more every night they spent wide awake together, tangled in each other. Having the brunet in his arms, all for himself, was just too much sometimes, yet, he wanted more.

After a while, he just couldn't keep it to himself and Minho admitted to Thomas that he wasn't joking, back in Denver, when he told the boy he loved him.

To his surprise, his Runner told him he felt the same. He wasn't as sure of his feelings back then, during the trials. However, he admitted that ever since their first meeting, he was somehow drawn to his Keeper. He wanted to know him better, to be around him. Soon enough, he started considering the older boy as his best friend, as the most important person in his life. He just couldn't do it without Minho. In the Safe Haven, he realized that he had always been in love with the Asian. The feelings were always there. They just had that special bond, and Thomas loved it.

It wasn't a surprise for anyone when the two of them started hugging, kissing and overall being affectionate towards each other. Everyone knew that it was going to happen one day. Frypan had even screamed "FINALLY" when he first saw them kissing and started rambling about how he was tired of seeing the two of them dancing around each other for so long.

Since then, the nights spent wide awake because of another nightmare were now sometimes filled with make out sessions, a lot of caresses and intimate moments. It was just perfect.

Tonight however, Minho knew that Thomas needed comfort. He wiped the tears on his lover's cheeks with concern. The brunet rarely cried after a nightmare.

"What happened this time?" he whispered softly while caressing the boy's face with his fingers.

The Keeper never asked what the nightmares were about. He didn't have to, he had the same. But this time, he knew something was wrong.

Thomas didn't reply right away. He just took his lover's hand in his in a way that was painfully soft, as if it was the most precious thing in the world. The boy looked so broken, Minho felt like his heart was being ripped out of his chest.

"You died" he finally said after a while, "You died a-and…"

His voice cracked and soon he started sobbing softly. The older boy immediately pulled him closer, putting his hands on his head while Thomas nuzzled his neck.

"Shh… it's okay, I'm here… I'm here…" he whispered in hopes of calming his boyfriend while stroking the brown locks. How he hated seeing him like that.

"I-I couldn't save you…" he cried.

"Shh, it's okay…"

Minho continued his caresses and words of comfort, feeling helpless. His heart was hurting so much right now. He could only imagine how the boy in his arms felt.

He decided to lay him down, the brunet's head still on his chest, his arms tightly wrapped around him. Thomas was squeezing the older boy so hard, as if he was going to disappear. The Keeper pressed light kisses on the brown hair and went to stroke his lover's back, knowing he secretly loved it. It was one of his soft spot, along with the back of his ears which always made him shiver in pleasure when Minho kissed him there.

But what Thomas loved the most was cuddling and snuggling with his boyfriend. He craved it, as if he was making up for years of lack of affection. Minho didn't really mind as they both discovered that he was actually pretty affectionate and preferred to show his love that way.

It was having the Asian close to him that always calmed him down. His nightmare was starting to fade away and the comforting caresses on his skin felt so good, reminding him that the most important person in his life was here and alive.

After what seemed like hours, Minho moved to face Thomas, tracing his cheeks covered in moles while looking deep into the hazel eyes.

"I love you shuck-face".

Thomas smiled, a rare sight. However, every time he did, his Keeper always seemed like he was the reason for that smile.

"I love you too" the brunet replied. Yes, he loved that man so much.

Minho kissed him softly on the lips, so delicately as if afraid to break them. In respond, the youngest tightened his grip on his boyfriend. He wanted to be as close as possible to him. It was really the best thing in the world.

Morning eventually came few hours later. Thomas and Minho were still tangled in each other, wide awake and happy to be together.

Hope you liked it! Stay tuned for the other days!

-Safr2n