T H I R T Y
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When one night I saw Teresa writing in what looked like a diary, I remembered I had one too.

Not that I still had it. Of course I didn't. It was in the hands of a boy named Aiden Carter... though he most likely threw it away.

I hoped, at least.

There had been a night when we were still together. I came home from buying groceries. He sat on the couch, the black book in his hands. He wasn't smiling.

Because after every unpleasant thing that happened, I wrote the whole situation down. It was relieving, somehow. I knew that maybe I got what I deserved, but it was still relieving to tell someone... which for me was just writing it.

Except when Aiden saw, he wasn't happy. He had screamed not to leave any hints of what he had done to me.

I didn't understand.

I told him that everything would be fine if someone saw. That they would only get upset with me, because it appeared I didn't obey my boyfriend enough. He only taught me how I should've behaved, so he wouldn't get into problems. That's what I told him.

He had called me a dumb attention-seeker.

After that, I never saw the diary again. He either threw it away or hid it somewhere.

For most people that never went through the same as me, it would be weird to understand how afraid I was to go into a relationship with Minho.

And yet he seemed different. Maybe he had different... rules. Maybe I was allowed to hang out with Thomas. Go somewhere on my own, wearing whatever I wanted to wear.

Maybe.

Now I sat in the lobby of our hotel in Berlin, both Thomas and Minho in front of me. Minho seemed to be teaching the brunette Spanish.

I wondered how many languages he knew. I probably underestimated how intelligent he actually was, according to his way of working and planning... how he knew multiple languages, could communicate with people easily.

God, he was so much more organized than me.

I admired them instead of reading the paper that was in my hands. Minho kept on shaking his head when Thomas attempted to say something. Thomas was definitely teasing him.

"You come and help!" Thomas made a movement for me to come closer, which I did, having to hide a big smile.

"Do you know a bit Spanish?" Minho wondered. Thomas scooted aside so we both sat across from Minho on their couch.

"Hola, soy Dora." I said, proud.

Minho rolled his eyes, but a smile was curving on his beautiful lips. "Como te llamas?"

"Soy Thomas!" The boy replied.

"Or...?" He hinted.

"Te llamas Thomas...?"

"No. Me. Me llamo Thomas." Minho corrected before his eyes fell on me. "Cuántos años tiene?"

"Tengo... dieciocho años." I tried, squinting one eye closer to concentrate. "Is that right? I got a little bit of Spanish at school. Don't remember much."

"Yeah, that was great." He smiled at me. "Thomas... Eres estúpido?"

"Oui. Oh, wait! Sí."

"You know you just admitted you're stupid, hm?" Minho lifted an eyebrow. Thomas nodded. "Okay. Guess what I say." He looked at me again. "Soy de United States."

"You said that you're from the US." I smiled at myself. "Right?"

"Right." A thumb up. "Thomas, guess this. Tengo diecinueve años."

"You're nineteen years old."

A nod and he looked at me. "Me gusta correr."

"You like... walking?"

"I like running." He rubbed his chin. "Almost. But very well... uh, next. No tengo un hermano."

"You don't have a sister!" Thomas clapped his hands. "Or brother? Wait. It's brother. You don't have a brother."

"Perfect. Last one." Minho's eyes met mine again. "Lemme think for a second." There was a long pause. Thomas was impatiently waiting as I felt a blush spread on my cheek, only because Minho was looking at me.

"Got it." He cleared his throat. "Me gustas tu."

Both their eyes were watching me, wanting an answer. My teeth sank into my bottom lip. My mind worked hard to get the correct reply. "You like... uh... is it Tuesdays? No...? I don't know."

"Tuesdays it is." He got up from the couch fast. "Got work to do. Bye!"

And boom, Minho was gone.

"What's on Tuesdays?" Thomas frowned. "Well, I don't really care. Wanna— never mind, Newt's gonna kill me. Should we just ask if we can go out for once?"

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Finally, everyone agreed to going out for once. Thomas was obviously the most excited. The girls and I were spending a lot of time getting ready. Curling our hair, doing makeup, and deciding what outfits to wear.

"This one." Sonya held up my pink, satin dress. "I swear to god— wear it!"

I didn't even get the chance to say something and all three girls stood in front of me with puppy eyes and a pouting bottom lip.

"Okay, then... I guess." Shrugging a bit, I took the dress from Sonya, who was cheering already. The material was soft, thin. Probably cold for a night out, but I would wear it.

I put the thing on, adjusting the thin straps until they sat perfectly. Teresa begged me to stop the ponytail tradition and put my hair half-up half-down... which eventually, I agreed to.

After lots and lots of begging.

My lashes were darker and looked longer because of mascara. In the corner of my eyes sat highlighter. Powder and blush was spread over my face. Eyebrows were styled, and lips plumped.

The mirror told me I looked like a whole new person! Harriet made small waves in my hair with a hair straightener, and Teresa continued by making a bun in half of it. The dress revealed the body I most of the time hid in wider clothes.

"Minho's gonna drool!" Harriet squealed.

The other two agreed happily. Unsure, I frowned into the mirror a last time. Then there was a knock on the door.

"Get out!"

"It's Newt."

"That ain't gonna add anything up! Go away." Sonya shouted to the other side of the door.

A loud exhale. "I'm as straight as a circle anyway, just let me in!"

We shared glances, Sonya's mouth gaping open as Teresa mouthed 'I knew it'. The door opened and we allowed Newt in.

"Alright..." He stared at the mess we made. "I will just ignore that. Came to announce we changed plans a bit. We're scraping Austria off the list. Fry wanted to go to Switzerland rather than that, and Minho said he had to be home on time, because of... I don't even know. He didn't mention why."

I relaxed my tense muscles. For a second, I had been afraid something way worse was going on.

"So after this it's Switzerland, France, Spain, and Greece. Yeah?"

"Yeah. Got it."

I forced myself not to think about Greece as Newt left again. We finished the last things by putting in earrings and other jewelry, then actually stepped into the hallway.

The boys were already waiting when we arrived. My eyes noticed Minho at first. He leaned against a wall, wearing black pants, a black blouse, and some silver jewelry.

Biceps quite distract-able.

He glanced up at us from his expensive-looking watch. As he did, he straightened his back, an amazing twinkle stuck in his widened eyes. The corners of his lips didn't move up, but not down either. He just stared with a half open mouth. Stared at me.

Then he stepped forward and held out his hand. "My princess Rapunzel. Would you take Flynn to a club with you?"

I took his hand, laughing. I nearly threw my head back. "Oh, I will, Prince Flynn."

A kiss on the back of my hand. "I really appreciate that, Rapunzel. Thank you."

He didn't care about the others watching us. He never did. He just watched me from his eyelashes, his lips still close to my hands before we noticed the rest of the group was making their way to the elevator.

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A/n: If only Quinn knew Spanish better... see you in the next chapter :)) x Vera

Thank you for the Spanish idea
millie_sangster ❤️