Secrets | TMR | One

2:4

Hours after she is released from the medhut with nothing more than a bandage covering her injury, Adeline finds herself in her second most visited spot in the Glade.

The kitchen.

Nick had pulled one of the chairs into the cooking area for the girl to sit down on. While he chats with Frypan, Adeline sits on her backside in the corner, quietly munching on a bowl of fruit that the cook so kindly provided her.

Gally comes trailing into the the small space, twitching his head up as he greets the three of them.

Nick and Frypan pause their conversation to return the greeting, but Adeline does not even notice the boy coming in, too busy chomping down on an apple to give any thought to anything happening around her.

"Addy?"

The girl whips her head up to find Nick and Frypan looking at her expectantly, their bodies turned to face her while Gally stands at the other end of the counter, his palms flat out on the surface while he looks at her with his brows raised.

"What?" she questions, although the sound is muffled due to the food that has just been stuffed into her mouth.

"Nothing" Nick states, letting out and airy chuckle and shaking his head at the girl before turning back around to look at Gally. "She tried to make bunkbeds with Minho... that's why the bandage is on her leg."

"Wait..." the builder starts, drawing his head back and furrowing his brows, "she tried to do what?"

"Bunkbeds" the leader repeats, nodding his head slowly while tapping his fingers against the counter. "Her and Minho came up with the brilliant idea when they were having a sleepover with the other runners last night."

"Surprised you didn't hear her, she was screaming about how Clint was gonna amputate her leg" Frypan chimes in. He rests his lower back against the edge of the sink, crossing his left arm over his chest. Bringing his right hand up, he turns it over, his palm facing the ceiling, curling every finger except his index one and pointing towards Nick. "What was it she kept saying we'd call her?"

"Addy the amputee"

"That's it!" Frypan states, clicking his fingers and chuckling as he looks back to Gally. "Addy, the amputee. So dramatic."

"Very dramatic" the leader adds in. He leans on the counter, the sides of his forearms touching as his hands curve around his elbows. "You want to know what all the screaming what about? Nothing."

"What do you mean?" Gally questions, stretching his arms out as his palms rest on the edge of the counter.

"I mean that, although the stick managed to scrape away a lot of her skin, the cut itself is not that deep. There was only so much blood because of how bad the scratch was" Nick informs, "but the fact that she also hadn't eaten all day didn't help matters."

The builder shifts his head to the side, furrowing his brows and casting a quick glance over to Frypan, only to see that he carries the same expression. "So what you're saying is, the only reason she freaked out so much... was because she was hungry."

"Nah" Frypan cuts in, pulling his lips into a thin line and shaking his head. "It must have been the shock from falling."

"No, it wasn't" Nick responds before turning around to face Adeline. "Addy, how do you feel now that you've eaten?"

"Better" she mumbles, not tearing her eyes away from her fruit.

"Do you feel like you overreacted a bit earlier on?"

"Yes."

The leader turns back to face the two boys, his jaw clenched and his eyes closed as he releases a small huff. "I rest my case."

"I knew I wasn't a weak bitch" Adeline mutters from behind him.

"She knew she wasn't a weak bitch" the leader repeats, standing up straight and extending his hands out to each side with his palms facing the ceiling. "You see what I have to deal with?"

Dropping his arms back down to the sides, he shakes his head before continuing, "I literally have to keep her next to me so that she doesn't hurt herself. I'm babysitting. The leader of the Glade, just a glorified babysitter for complete numpties like her."

"What about Alby?"

"No, Alby just winds her up" Nick starts, letting out a huff as he throws his arms back onto the counter, "they are children. Literal children. I feel like their parent half the time!"

At that moment, Adeline steps beside him, stretching her arm out and dropping her bowl on the table next to him, causing the leader to flinch to the side in surprise.

"Don't sneak up on people like that!" he exclaims, holding his hand against his heart as he does so.

"I hardly snuck up on you, don't be such a baby."

"Oh, says the one that literally just eats and sleeps all day" Nick scoffs.

Adeline picks a grape out of the bowl on the table, chucking it into her mouth and using her tongue to stuff it to the right hand side. "Shut up."

The girl stuff some more grapes into her mouth, chews them up a bit, and flashes the leader a big toothy grin.

"You're truly disgusting" he mutters, scrunching his face up in disgust and pushing himself away from her.

Adeline merely shrugs her shoulder in response. "You knew this when we became friends."

She walks around the counter, slowly strolling towards the open Glade when Nick calls out to her.

"Where are you going?"

"To find Alby."

"If I find you in the medhut later on, Addy, I swear to god!"

At this words, Adeline spins herself around, drawing her hand up to her mouth, blowing a kiss towards her friend before turning back around and limping out of the kitchen.

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A/N - I know this chapter is super short but it would be too long if I added it onto the last chapter, and I also didn't want to just leave it at "she was stabbed" ya know?