The Persuasion Heist

21. Minutes

Minho

Thomas died that day,

and then he didn't.

He was gone for eight minutes before he came back. He came back like he had never gone in the first place with a deep breath and a heart beat.

"When is he going to wake up?!" Minho snapped, pacing outside the door. "He's been knocked out in your damn hut for 3 weeks, Cassandra. 3 weeks!"

"Minho, you need to calm down." She said smoothly. "Thomas is strong, he will pull through."

"Yeah, Cassandra you said that, four days ago right before he up and died!" He crossed his arms over his chest and frowned.

"There's always the dark before the sunrise." She was too patient, and it pissed Minho off. He wanted her to react, to scream back at him because it wasn't her fault and she was doing her best.

"I have three friends left, Cassandra. Three. And I don't plan on that number dwindling again."

"And it won't" she replied with a raised eyebrow. Coughs emitted from the tent and Minho snapped his head in its direction. "He's not awake." She said smoothly. Minho stormed off at this. He couldn't take her calm composure, her unhinged determination and unbroken stance against Minho's anger. His butt smacked the sand soon followed by his back. He heard someone approach, walking in the sand wasn't as silent as one may think.

"I don't want to talk." He said, not looking at his new company.

"I don't remember buggin' askin." The voice replied. Minho looked up, his hand blocked the sun from his eyes.

"Sonya." Minho said slowly, covering his eyes with his elbows. Her accent had grown thicker somehow as the days carried on.

"He wants to talk to you." She said, her blond hair whipped in the ocean air. Her eyes lifted to a boy in the distance, though boy hardly described what he was anymore. He was a survivor, the only one who knew what it was like to face death and live to tell the tale. He sat on the cliff that overlooked the sea, his arm rested on one knee that had bent upright.

"I can't talk to him now." Minho replied, his gaze followed hers.

"Got a lot of plans do you?" She asked, and plopped down next to him in the sand.

"Sonya, he hasn't wanted to talk to me since he woke up, why the hell would he want to now?" Sonya rolled her eyes.

"When are you going to stop the tough guy act, huh? He's your friend. He's changed, but how could you not expect that?" Sonya said, nudging his shoulder with her own.

"He hates me." Minho replied simply. "He hates me for what happened to Thomas."

"And that's not your fault is it?" She replied with her eyebrows raised.

"He seems to think so." He grumbled.

"Well, he's never been the smartest stick out there has he now?" Minho rolled his eyes and let his arms fall to his sides.

"You two are too much alike."

"Don't see how that could be, I don't remember most of that life." She smirked.

"That is exactly what I'm talking about." He sat up and leaned back n his palms. "Let's go for a swim." He said, in an attempt to change the subject. Sonyas eyes fell to the water and her fingers pulled a few strands of hair that fell between her lips.

"Okay." She replied. "Only if you go talk to him afterwards." Minho looked at the sea, watched the waves crash to shore, the water was tempting to his skin. "Would you quit being stubborn!" She snapped, throwing sand at his chest.

"I am not, stubborn." He grumbled, but that was an obvious lie. "I think of it as more of, hard to follow." She threw her head back, allowing a beautiful laugh to escape her lips.

"I'm not seeing the difference here." She met his eyes with a smile and traced her finger across his jawline and let it rest under his chin. Her face was only inches away now and Minho couldn't stop his eyes from flickering to her lips. "So, a swim?" She smirked, her red lips full and beautiful.

"A swim." He agreed, and so they did. The water was brisk against his skin, the waves licked at his arms and the smell of salt filled his nostrils. The water was refreshing and awakening and maybe it smacked some sense into him. He looked up to the cliff where his friend sat, waiting for him.

"I thought we were swimming!" Sonya called from a few feet away, floating on her back. Minho felt the sand between his toes and he swore a fish brushed his leg. He walked toward Sonya, who stood to greet him. "So," she smiled, her t-shirt cling to her soaking wet skin, he hair stuck to her neck and on her face. "Change your mind yet?" She asked, splashing him with a gust of water. Minho acted without thinking and grabbed Sonya just above her elbow and pulled her close, his hands on each of her biceps.

"Thank you." He said, and cupped her cheek and kissed her. When he pulled back, she was smiling. Her eyes on the boy on the cliff.

"Go talk to him." She urged. "I'll still be here when you come back." She sent him a wink. "Well not here, exactly. But I'll be around. Come find me." She exited the water, leaving Minho to follow. He left the water, and snatched up his shirt he had deposited on the sand before he entered the water. One last look at the ocean, and then at the cliff, and he walked into the forest, his feet carrying him more than his mind.

His bare feet felt every step, every stick and stone and every patch of moss that crossed his path until he made it. He was face to face with his friend.

"Minho." He said, though he never turned to face him. His shirt, well not his shirt rippled in the breeze. Minho nodded in response.

"You wanted to talk." He said, though he never remembered speaking to him this way, their relationship had never been this formal. They were both silent for a long time.

"I don't blame you, for what happened." He said. "And I'm sorry for treating you like I did, it wasn't your fault. It was just hard for me to see him that way."

"Have you even been to see him?" Minho asked angrily. He looked away, back over the ocean.

"No." He replied.

"Well you should, you selfish fucking shank." He spat. "He did everything for you, and yet here you are sitting here on this fucking cliff like a monk on a vow of silence." He was silent again. "I can't believe you. I seriously cannot believe you." The boy fiddled with the bracelet on his wrist.

"I know." He replied quietly. "I can't see him like that"

"You're the dumbest shank in the whole shucking' world, dude." Minho said. "You know you could be the only to get him out of it, you could be the one to wake him up."

"I don't want to hear this, Minho." He replied, his hair flew in every direction as a big gust of wind hit the cliff.

"I don't care what you want to hear or not." He spat "he did everything for you, and this is how you repay him." Minho shook his head and turned around to walk away. "I thought you were better than this." He said over his shoulder. "But you tend to your garden and do what you shuckin want. But you know if it was you in that bed, he would be by your side." He left then, leaving behind someone he thought he knew before, and now was a stranger to him.

(A/N: milestone for a hundred reads, thank you everyone!)
I'm having the hardest time with the epilogue y'all I'm not okay D: