As often, I'm sitting next to Evie during lunch while Thomas greets the trillion friends he has.

We're quietly talking. About Minho, in fact. I asked her if he has done anything else yet.

"He asked if I read the letter," she replies. "When I said 'yes', he asked if I forgive him. I told him to go fuck himself."

Ah.

Minho never mentioned that.

"And then he started begging, which was awesome to watch." A grin forms on her face. "I admitted that the letter was the beginning of a good apology, but that I expected more. So he asked what he needed to do. I said 'anything, might as well get on your knees and beg'."

She did mention that before, yeah.

"Will you actually forgive him if he does that?"

"It will be very embarrassing for him to get on his knees and Minho never wants to get embarrassed. So if he embarrasses himself for me, then yeah, I guess I will. Means he's not kidding." A pause. "Or he's actually just a fucking player and—"

"He isn't," I say fast. "He can be a little shit and test someone's limits, but he's not a player. Not really, at least." I frown to myself. "Not anymore. He really likes you and I know he means everything he said in the letter. Otherwise, he wouldn't have asked Thomas, Newt, and our brother Finn for advice."

Her head tilts to the side; she's considering things. "Do you think I should forgive him?"

"Forgive but not forget. Give him a last chance." I shrug. "He'll do better this time."

"I'll punch him if he doesn't."

"I won't stop you," I answer. She gifts me a little smile, then we scoot closer to the rest of the group.

Minho is included in that group, by the way. Ever since he walked away from his old friends, he never returned. He dropped them, luckily.

Newt also sits with us, as always. I feel kind of bad about the fact he was a really great friend of mine at the time I didn't talk to Thomas much, and now that I'm talking to Thomas again, I have kind of... neglected him. I should ask him if he wants to hang out sometime again.

Or is that wrong to do, now that— never mind. Newt's gay.

And besides, Thomas hung out with me while he was with Teresa. She accepted it. As long as we tell each other who we're hanging out with, it's okay, isn't it?

Other than that, it's Brenda and Sonya sitting with us, Ben, and a few more boys from the changing room. Sometimes, Gally joins. And Sonya often brings her friend Harriet.

"Hi." The second Evie and I look at them, Minho turns around. I bet he has been watching the whole time, waiting for the right moment to start speaking.

"Hi," Evie replies, a bit snappy.

"Do you like movies?" He asks.

This boy.

He's going to ask her to go to the cinema with him, I can already tell. Why the hell would she say yes?

Ready to get embarrassed for him, I watch Evie reply, "Depends on the movie. Why?"

"Do you like action and comedy, with a bit of romance?"

She sighs. "I guess. Why?"

"Doyouwanttogotothecinemawithme?"

"Why would I want to go to the cinema with you?" Evie snarls, the 'you' as if he's some kind of creature.

He's going to say 'because I'm a really hot guy and no one can resist me' and that is the most horrible sentence he can reply w—

"Because I bought two tickets already and I saved some money to get all the snacks you want and if you want me to sit twenty feet away from you, I will and all I really want is just for you to forgive me," he says, so quickly that I have trouble understanding.

She blinks for seconds that feel like an eternity. I guess Minho said the right thing. Now I'm too curious about what will happen next.

I think she has no idea what to say.

"Please?" He adds.

"Is this a joke?" She adds carefully.

Offended, Minho crosses his arms. "No, of course not."

"You mean it?"

"Yes."

"Prove it."

I think he has done a little something to her trust.

"How?"

"I don't know. Find a way."

He reaches for his phone. "Do you want to see the tickets—"

"No. How do I know you won't pull another dumb trick again? That you won't run to another girl?"

With a bit of a helpless look on his face, Minho looks around the table. "Uhm."

"Get on your knees," Ben blurts out.

Oh, lord.

"Hm." Evie leans backwards. "Yeah, that sounds like a good way to prove you'd do anything for my forgiveness and that there are no other girls."

Minho sighs below his breath before he slowly moves off his chair. One knee on the ground, then the other one.

What the hell. Minho definitely likes her a lot.

"Oh, Queen Evie, please take my forgiveness. I'll do anything," Thomas mimics, his eyes twinkling. I automatically smile at the sight of his amused face.

With another sigh, he repeats, "Oh, Queen Evie, please take my forgiveness. I'll do anything."

Even though his words don't sound very willingly, he did actually say it.

She lifts her chin up. I can see that she's judging this— which is absolutely crazy; judging how well a boy got on his knees for you.

A few laughs come from the rest of our group. Once they've faded, everyone is back to watching, as curious as I am.

"Please go to the movies with him," Ben adds.

"Yeah," Thomas says. "He means it."

Newt gives a heavy nod. "One last chance."

"Shut up. I can't think like this."

A silence that again, feels like forever.

"Fine," she eventually says. "One chance."

Minho's face falls in so much surprise that I'm convinced he never expected her to say yes. "Really?"

"Don't make me regret it."

"Yes, yes—" he hurries off the ground, onto his chair with a dazzled expression. "I'll pick you up tonight. Around nine."

"Okay."

My eyebrows raise at Thomas, who shrugs, smiling lightly. "That worked," I tell him.

"Yeah." He kisses the side of my head. "Glad it went quite easy with us in the end."

"I guess." I smile again, leaning against him. "What're we doing this weekend?"

It's Friday, my favorite day of the five school days. I have the least periods and after that, I get to celebrate having weekend.

He rubs his chin, thoughtful. "We're definitely not going to the beach."

"Yeah," I mutter. All the memories come back to me. "Which god is next?"

"Zeus. The king of the gods."

"He's the god of the sky, isn't he?"

Thomas nods.

"How do you think the next murder will go?"

He shrugs a bit. "Maybe a tornado or storm, but there isn't any bad weather planned the following weeks. I already checked."

"No lightning either?"

"None."

"We should be starting to prevent these murders, Thomas," I say quietly. "We need to think of ways people can be killed and tell the police."

We went to the station a while ago, telling them about the book. They said they would keep it in their minds, though they didn't sound very convinced.

"Sabotaging?" Thomas wonders. "Power boxes can explode during a storm, can't they? Perhaps the killer will cut some wires. It'll somehow still be connected to the weather. Or someone gets killed further away from here, where bad weather does happen."

"Smart," I comment. "I can't think of anything other than that."

☀︎︎

Tonight, Thomas is staying at ours because we are desperate to know how Minho's... date (?) will go. I'm excited for them both. As long as Minho doesn't mess up, at least. Thomas being around makes the waiting a bit more bearable.

When my phone buzzes and we see 'MINHO ❤️' on the screen, both of us jump off the couch with a loud yelp. I reach for my phone the same time Thomas does, and it plops onto the carpet. "Thomas!" I hiss. We spend the next minute trying to get ahold of the phone together. In the end, I'm holding it.

MINHO ❤️

SHE'S NOT SITTING TWENTY FEET AWAY FROM ME.
SHE IS NEXT TO ME.
AND SHE LAUGHS A LOT.
PROBABLY AT THE MOVIE BUT STILL.

PUT YOUR GODDAMN PHONE AWAY ON A DATE.

OKAY. TALK TOMORROW. DON'T YOU WAIT FOR ME CUZ I DON'T WANT MY NIGHT TO BE RUINED BY YOUR FACES

WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!

With a chuckle, Thomas stretches out on the couch. "Tomorrow, then." I can see a slight tiredness in his eyes.

I pick up the empty bowl of snacks and put it in the dishwasher. "Hi, Aris. Hi, Finn," I greet them both. They're sitting at the lighting table, eyes on a book. "What're y'all doing?"

"Aris asked for some help with school," Finn replies.

"Ah, alright. I'll leave you two alone then. Good night."

"Night. And please don't scream over a phone again. It's disturbing."

"Yes, yes. G'night."

I return in front of Thomas, who's fidgeting with his hands a bit, as always.

"Wanna go to bed?" I ask, plopping down beside him.

He looks up. "Or we can watch a movie. Unless you're tired—"

"I thought you were tired."

"A bit. But it's a Friday night and I don't have to wake up early tomorrow."

"Okay." I grab a blanket and spread it over our bodies before reaching for the remote, at the same exact time as Thomas.

It doesn't fall like my phone did. We're both just holding it now, and neither of us move. It gives me some kind of flashback to the days where we weren't a couple yet, and I felt sparks every time he touched me. I'm feeling them now, too.

His eyes match the fluttering in my chest. Then he leans in—surprising me—to press his lips against mine, so tentative yet so nice that my heart begins to race.

I kiss back. Lean closer as the world narrows down to just the two of us— that's what it feels like. Soon, we find ourselves wrapped in each other's arms. His hand is stroking my back, up and down at the same pace of our lips. Still so very gentle that it tickles a bit, and I smile against him.

"Can y'all do that somewhere else?" Finn calls from the kitchen. Just like that, the bubble around us snaps.

"It's just a kiss," I defend.

"Kisses don't last that long."

Both of us roll our eyes at the same time before we lean close again, our lips colliding for another few seconds. Then we turn the TV on, snuggled against each other below the blanket.

☀︎︎

A/n: To be honest there are only two things I planned that are left to happen except they're still quite far away

So I don't know what to do now. I should make more stable plots.

Lol, lots of fluff?? Idk, sometimes I feel like it can get boring.

Maybe deep talks, but also with characters like Newt. I can start fixing the whole issue with his parents 'cause I don't want to force all the solutions in the last few chapters you knowww?

Maybe more ships/subplots. Finn and someone? More of Teresa? More about the changing room gang??

Oh, Zeus and lightning by the way...

Minho LOVESSS lightning doesn't he