Secrets | TMR | One

5:6

"I fucking love it" Adeline says, not looking at any of the boys as her eyes travel around every inch of the brace.

The girl stares in amazement at the object, and although her smile is the widest one her face has ever harboured, it still does not adequately reflect how much she appreciates all the time and effort these boys have put in to create such a wondrous thing... just for her.

Just for little old Adeline.

She truly has never felt more loved.

"Well, what are we waiting for then?!" Alby exclaims, bringing his hands up and firmly rubbing them together. Standing up, he shifts himself around the table and crouches down in front of the girl, reaching up and taking the brace from George as he does so.

Nick leans forward on his chair until his mouth is so close to Adeline's head she can feel his breath gently brushing against her ear. "Are you sure this is a good idea right now?" he asks, "after what happened with your leg earlier on?"

Alby stops what he is doing immediately, his hands still elevated in the air with one holding onto the girls leg, and the other clasped around the fabric of the brace. "What happened earlier?" he questions, his head whipping up to face the two Gladers.

"Nothing!" Adeline exclaims, her upper body jolting on her seat. "Absolutely nothing. I, uh, fell out of bed again, is all."

The leader furrows his brows and flickers his eyes to the side of the girls face, pulling his head back a few inches so her appearance is no longer blurry from their close proximity. "But-"

"No, Nick, I just fell" she cuts in, smiling brightly at the second-in-command while turning her head slightly to look at the boy next to her. She widens her eyes at him, silently begging him to keep quiet about the incident with her leg.

Alby holds a skeptical expression as he looks at her, but it only lasts a second before he pulls his lips into a thin line and shrugs his shoulders. "Okay" he says, glancing back down to her leg and continuing on with the chore of trying to fit the brace on.

"So who's gonna help me?" Adeline questions, quickly changing the subject and turning her head to look at each boy individually.

"I will!" George all but shouts in response, his heels bobbing up from the floor and his hand shooting up to the ceiling.

"I think I'm gonna miss this one out" Henry chimes in from the other end of the table. "Don't think Gally will like it if I take another day."

"Fuck Gally" Adeline scoffs, scrunching her face up and shaking her head for a moment before re-focusing her attention on the builder. "If he says anything to you, I'll deal with him."

"Yea, and have you spend a night in the slammer for fighting?" the second-in-command chuckles, "don't think so. If he says anything, tell him to come see Nick and me."

"It's not that. You all know I'm more than capable of dealing with that shank. It's just... I'm in no mood, you know? These past couple of weeks have been nothing but klunk, and I don't have the energy for an argument."

I don't have the energy for anything, Henry thinks to himself.

Although it has been a number of days since the discovery of Tim, the builder still cannot seem to divert his mind from the image of the boy, laying on the grass with a blade hanging from his temple, and a puddle of blood pooling around his head.

It is the only thing Henry's brain can focus on. He fixates on it. Like a snipers aim, that small red dot remains firmly pointed towards those moments. Those... seconds when he rushed around the back of the bloodhouse after hearing George scream.