I Corrupt. ~ Minho (The Sequel to "For My Help")

The Unexpected Wait

It took about ten seconds for the awkward silence to dissipate once Thomas had left the room with Jorge. The other Cranks began to talk amongst themselves, which caused the Gladers to do the same. Looking around, River noticed that Newt and Minho seemed to be having a serious discussion, and she didn't really want to bother them. As she looked on, Minho glanced over at her and sent her a small, reassuring smile. 

Looking for someone to discuss the current situation with, River's eyes landed on Frypan, who had been sending anxious glares towards the surrounding Cranks.

"Hey Frypan." River walked up towards the boy as he turned and smiled in her direction. The smile was warm and welcoming, something she was glad to see.

"Hey River!" He seemed genuinely happy to talk to her.

"Weird how the Cranks just started talking like nothing was happening, huh?" She motioned to them as they continued to mind their own business. 

"Well, they are crazy." Frypan laughed, causing River to do the same.

"Yeah, well I can think of a few crazy things around here." She chuckled slightly to herself.

"Speaking of which. How are you and Minho doing? If you don't mind me asking."

"We're good," River intertwined her fingers and hung her hands loosely in front of her. "I don't hate him anymore, so there's that." 

"Yeah, you really shocked us all. Going from the whole 'madly in love' thing to that." 

"The whole thing shocked me! I honestly believed I hated him." River shook her head slightly.

"Well, it's good you don't. You were the only thing keeping him sane you know."

"Oh, you know that's not true. Minho's strong. He's brave. Sure, it may have been difficult for him but he survived in the maze for a while before I arrived." She explained, her eyes drifting over to Minho as she spoke. She almost couldn't tear them away as she finished speaking.

"Don't discredit yourself." Frypan said, his piercing eyes locking onto hers. "You did a lot of good for that boy. Some bad, sure. But all together you've been good for him." River opened her mouth to respond when she felt a tap on her let shoulder, startling her. 

"River, can we talk to you?" Newt stood behind her, his long body hunched over to accommodate River's size.  

"Yeah, sure!" She nodded towards him and turned back to Frypan. "Sorry about that, but duty calls!" She then faked a salute as she jogged up to meet her friends. 

"These cranks, we need to ditch them." Minho jabbed a thumb over his shoulder with a sharp motion.

"Yeah, but how?" River sighed. "They're going to keep an especially close watch on you after that stunt you pulled back there."

"He deserved it." Minho stiffened. 

"That may be, but-"

"Okay let's not argue about this right now." Newt cut her off, stopping what could have been quite a long bicker. "We need to figure out a way to escape. Otherwise we might not be leaving with the group that we have."

The floorboards creaked as River shifted her weight. "Well we can't leave Thomas."

"Of course not," Newt defended. "That's not what I had in mind at all."

"Then what did you have in mind?" Minho crossed his arms and cocked an eyebrow.

"Well, nothing really. Yet." Newt looked at his feet, embarrassment and shame overtaking him.

"We need something. Anything. I mean, we're in a pretty shitty situation." River darted her eyes back and forth between the two boys, looking in their eyes for any sign of an idea.

"Yeah, thanks Captain Obvious." Minho joked, and River pushed him playfully. Newt just shook his head.

"I think our only option at this point is to wait for Thomas and see what happens when he gets back. If we start a fight now, we surely won't win. If we try to sneak out, it will be too obvious. And even if we succeed in that, there's no way we can leave Thomas behind. I won't let it happen." River watched Newt's eyes as he said those words. She knew just by one look that the thought of losing his friend terrified him, and that he'd do anything to stop it from happening. 

"You're right." River agreed. "All we can do at this point is wait. We can see what kind of a deal Thomas made with Jorge, and then we can decide what to do from there. It would be reckless to do anything at this point, and we just can't afford to take that risk."

Once they had decided to wait, they sat in a comfortably uncomfortable silence. Although, it may have only been slightly uncomfortable for River. She had so many thoughts swirling in her head at that moment, it was like they were a shaken up soda bottle that was ready to burst at any second. She wanted to run her mouth for days, filling the silence with theories and feelings and worries, but she knew it would be better to just stay quiet.

She watched as Minho stared down at the floor underneath him, taking in every detail in the decaying wood, and she did the same with his face.

He was exhausted. The bags under his eyes were thriving and they made River want to ask him to take a nap right then and there. But she knew it would hardly help. She scanned her eyes over his perfect hair, still looking incredible somehow, and then back down to his hands, which were slightly shaking in his lap.

He looked so fragile in that moment and it made River feel sick. She hated seeing him this way. No more than a few days ago, she would have loved it. She would have bathed in the moment and have taken a mental picture of it, but not anymore. Now all she wanted to do was scrub her brain clean of the image. 

It's strange, she thought, how someone's feelings for someone could change so drastically in such a short period of time. And to be honest, that thought terrified her. Her emotions were coming back for Minho fast, like a wave crashing over her head. It would have had to be previous emotions from when she was in love with him, otherwise she'd be worried for her sanity. Everything was happening so quickly and she wanted nothing more than to put a stopper in it.

But whatever happened in the next little while, River knew that she wanted to protect Minho in the way that she was sure he protected her in the Glade. And she would do everything in her power to do that.

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Author's Note

Guess who's back. Back again. Marin's back. Tell a friend. 

Oh god that was so lame I'm so sorry. Sometimes I think I'm funny when really all I do is embarrass myself. Anyway, sorry x10000 for that break! I don't really have an excuse other than the fact that I didn't really have the motivation or the excitement for this story really. But in the past little while I've been getting so many kind comments that my motivation miraculously came back. So thank you guys so much for that!!!!

I'm back for good! Well, at least for the foreseeable future haha!

Thanks for continuing to read!

Marin <3