One By One: A Maze Runner Crank Love FanFic

Chapter 15: Regrets and Rewards

The sound of cold metal hitting the hard ground rang out through the silence.
Newt released Minho from his grasp and raised to his feet, facing Thomas with a glare in his eyes.

"How dare you?!How dare you?!" Newts voice came out in ragged gasps. His eyes were unable to tear away from Thomas' hands, Thomas' fingers, the same fingers which had just a few minutes ago held the potential to kill, murder, Minho.

"I wasn't... I wasn't actually..." but Thomas couldn't finish the sentence because the truth was he was actually and completely prepared to pull the trigger.

Minho was still kneeling on the ground suffering the after effects of the crank out and the spontaneous kiss. The gun that Thomas had dropped had conveniently clattered to Minho's side. His eyes were stuck staring at the guns trigger and Minho couldn't help but feel sorry for himself. Did his life really become so fucked up that someone had to carry around a gun in case he completely lost his mind?

It made him angry. Not in the mental way it had not so long ago that he wanted to destroy and rage on everything around him, no, this anger was like a silent agreement with himself.

Look what you did. Got everyone's asses worried about you. You got the boy you love and what now? You're just gonna let yourself go crazy for him to watch? You're better than this. Take matters into your own hands.

Thomas shouldn't be the one to worry about taking care of me.

"I would've done the same, for you, both of you." Minho looked up slowly at the two glaring boys. he recognized something familiar in Newts eyes as he watched Thomas' tears track down the side of his face. It looked something deeper than sadness, like broken love, broken trust. Like you had trained a bird to fly and when it jumped off the ledge it didn't even bother to spread its wings.

It reminded him of the look Alby had given Newt after he jumped off the maze walls.

"What I mean is that if I had gotten any rougher with you, Newt, he would've done the right thing by pulling the trigger. The last thing I would've wanted is to hurt you," Minho looked deep into Newts dark eyes and saw his reflection and the alley behind him that led back to the other gladers. His friends. His family. "I wouldn't want to hurt anyone..."

" I'm so sorry. I don't know what came over me...and...I just didn't want someone to get seriously hurt and there didn't seem to be any other option and...." Thomas rambled on, his dirt caked hands running back and forth through his equally as dirt caked hair.

Minho walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder. Thomas' dark eyes with their peculiar hint of green laid their intensity on Minho.

You've broken him. He's snapped. You know what you need to before you break everything and everyone else around you.

"That's the problem with breaking," Minho sad softly, his hand still on Thomas shoulder, his words so quiet and intense it gave all three boys chills, even Minho himself. "Sometimes you're breaking so hard that you don't notice that everyone else is breaking along with you."

Minho removed his calloused hand away from Thomas and went to go stand in front of Newt giving him a subtle nod and old style Minho wink before the frown and stressed brow that seemed to be living on Minhos face returned.

"That's why I'm not coming with you to Wicked. I'm too much of a risk for you guys and your plan, Thomas. I'll gather my stuff and, if you don't mind, take a gun and be on my way."

He moved around Newt and headed back down the alley. Nobody stopped him and Minho knew it was because they all understood it was the right choice. Sometimes the hardest choices were the only ones.

He was a few a few meters away when he heard the sound of Newts crumpling body and wracking sobs consume all silence around them.

He kept walking until he was sure the sound of cries were his own internal tears.