Secrets | TMR | One

3:8

After witnessing the squabble between Gally and Adeline earlier that morning, the leader was in the best of moods. 

Not because the builder had, yet again, upset the girl that Nick was so fond of, of course. But because of the events that followed after.

Like the way the builder grumbled and groaned as he kicked a stray chair in the dining area, or the way he looked as though he was about to spontaneously combust when he saw the leader waving at him.

Nick would admit, it was not his finest choice of reaction, but by God did it feel good to do. After all, Gally had done that exact same thing to him the night he had argued with Adeline.

Adeline.

A girl who he had only just realised was one of the main components to his happiness within the Glade. 

Obviously he was well aware of the role she had played in his life here... or at least, he thought he was. But after that day, the boy is not entirely sure.

Of course, Nick has seen her injure herself plenty of times. It is no secret that Adeline is not the most... graceful of people.

However, he remembers the feelings coursing through his body at the sight of the girl, stood over the sink, with blood gushing from her hand. 

Fear, worry, the panic at the thought of her being injured. The heartache and grief of seeing her shaking figure clutching onto her wounded hand as she tries to steady herself. Anger, fury, hatred over the thing that had caused her so much pain.

Which, as it turns out was nothing more than a stone - that is besides the point.

But, above all, despite every emotion that was picking away at his insides, like a parasite chewing on every organ, or an infection destroying every blood cell in his body, there was one that seemed to rip away more than the rest. 

The hopelessness of not being able to do anything about it, like having the ability to rewind time and save her from situation before it even occurred. 

Nick sometimes wishes he could. That it would be nice to have the power to set time back, even if only just by a few days - or months, in this case.

Although, the more time he spends pondering what life would be like if he could turn back the clock, the more he thinks that, perhaps it is a good thing he cannot. 

Maybe, just maybe, everything that happened was supposed to happen? For if it had not, Adeline and him may have never shared that moment. 

That moment, that seemed to change the dynamic of their friendship completely.

That one second that caused him to look at Adeline in a way that he never has done before.

But how does she feel about it?

Nick believes that there is something there for her too. He saw it in the way her cheeks flushed when he winked at her this morning.

Which, by the way, is not something even he expected himself to do.

The leader has never winked at a girl before... or at least, he cannot remember ever doing it.

It was as though his eyelid had a mind of its own. Fluttering shut on its own accord, without waiting for the command from his brain.

As soon as it happened, the boy had spun his body around and practically ran into his bedroom out of sheer embarrassment.

However, he still noticed her reaction. 

A small snippet of her rosy red cheeks, and the tiny shaking of her head - something that she has always done as a ways to get her hair to cover up her shyness.