Arthur let out a long groan of frustration as Alby left before shifting, his bandages digging into his side. "You gotta be nice Artie, You'll set a bad example." Newt rubbed his thumb over Arthur's knuckles, dusting over each individual creasing.
"I...
Minho and Arthur stood face to face, the former hosting a growing smile as Arthur spoke. While he was listening he was more planning how to thank the boy.
"Let me be clear, stick with me when we are in there okay?" He let out a sigh before continuing with a half-hearted smile. "You have to be careful-" He was cut off by a swift hug that nearly took him off his feet if a pair of hands had not caught him.
Arthur was stunned into silence, his train of thought completely fading as Minho wrapped him into a hug, trapping his arms and making him unable to move freely. He had begun muttering a mantra of thank you's that caused Arthur to bite his lip to stop him from crying.
Arthur looked up while he was trapped in the embrace, but the feeling was unlike the one he had when he first discovered he was trapped in the maze. This feeling was warmer, felt more like home, whatever that was. His eyes were watery and his breath silently shakey as he regulated his breathing before looking down at Minho and watching as he pulled away still chanting the two words. He fell silent however when he saw Arthur's face.
"Shit sorry Arthur, are you okay?" Minho watched the normally composed boy's wall slowly crack. He debated going to go get Alby to come help him as he knew Arthur a bit better than him and might have been more use.
Minho wasn't sure what he had done and he was panicking a bit at the thought of having made the boy cry.
"No, it's okay." Arthur's voice had cracked but it was as convincing as he was going to get. Minho looked at Arthur with concern evident in his face as he slowly worked out what was the cause. "Can we do that again?"
'Ah.' The other male had thought as he slowly nodded and brought Arthur into a hug. Despite this being his own first time hugging, he still had an idea of how to hold other people but Arthur, Arthur was hesitant and shaky, although that might have just been from the silent crying.
Minho was worried he was going to hurt the crying boy as he held him gently. He understood what Alby had said when they had spoken now.
"Alby?" Minho looked at the male with curious eyes as he called out to him, desperate to know what Arthur had said to him about going into the maze.
