Octavia hadn't seen or heard from Lincoln since she broke him out of the drop ship. It was seriously starting to upset her not knowing if he made it or not. Even she had to admit her behaviour was a bit stupid, it's not like he could send her a postcard or anything. Just as Octavia had given up and decided to leave the butterfly clearing and head back to camp she noticed something sitting at the bottom of one of the trees. It was a wood carving, beautifully done. The shape looked like two people entwined so you couldn't tell where one began and the other ended. Octavia had never seen anything so beautiful in her life. It must be from Lincoln, who else would leave such a lovely thing in the middle of the forest. Octavia walked the entire way back to camp lost in thought and came dangerously close to walking into more than a couple trees.
The next day Octavia was restless waiting for a time when she could sneak out to the butterfly clearing in the hopes that Lincoln had left her another token. It wasn't until just after dusk that Octavia finally got her chance, Bellamy was too busy policing some of the more aggressive males of their camp to take notice of her leaving. Octavia swiftly and quietly climbed through a gap in the fence then went to the butterfly clearing at a dead run. Under the tree there was another wood carving, this time it was a tribal design on a circle disk. Octavia gently ran her hands over it.
"I wish I could see you again, not just receive these beautiful gifts," she said not expecting that anyone would hear her. She headed back to camp both happy that she got the gift and sad that she couldn't see Lincoln again. She understood why, her brother would kill him if he ever saw Octavia with him.
For the second night in a row Octavia was waiting for Bellamy to be distracted so she could sneak out again but it was not really working out for her.
"Why are you so distracted O?" her brother questioned from his seat beside her around the fire. It was the third time he had tried to start a conversation with her. Octavia still couldn't quite forgive him for his treatment of Lincoln. Octavia was sickened every time she thought about it. She would never have thought Bellamy capable of such blatant cruelty.
"Bellamy I really don't want to have a brother/sister heart to heart with you right now. I'm still having a hard time just looking you in the eye," Octavia said with her eyes lowered. It was true it hurt her just to look at Bellamy right now.
"Octavia, I did what I had to do for the protection of the people of this camp."
"Oh. Really," Octavia said while rolling her eyes, "what exactly did this camp gain during the torture? A cure for Finn, oh no that was me. Information on the grounders? Nope he didn't say a thing. So really we gained nothing but possibly even more people who want to kill us. Yup I would say that was definitely needed. I was beginning to think we didn't have enough problems down here anyways," with that Octavia got up and walked away. She heard Bellamy call after her but she just kept on walking.
She ran into a girl she had seen around camp and tried to recall her name. Hope, Holly, Hanna, Harper! Her name is Harper.
"Hey Harper wait up." She called as she ran up to the girl. When she turned she realized that this was one of the girls she had seen leaving Bellamy's tent. Perfect. "My brother is a little upset since we are still fighting and I am not willing to forgive him yet. But I love him so I was wondering if maybe you could try and cheer him up a little." Octavia said as she tried to appear innocent.
"Oh. Hey Octavia, Sure I'll go see him and I won't mention this since you probably don't want him knowing you were looking out for him." Harper answered with a smile.
"Thanks Harper I really appreciate it." Octavia watched as Harper walked away and approached Bellamy at the fire. She had to admit the girl clearly knew what she was doing as they were on the way to Bellamy's tent in less than five minutes. Octavia smiled to herself, well that should take care of her brothers' attention for the rest of the night.
Octavia snuck under the fence again and returned to the clearing. She was running by the time she got there excited to see what may have been left for her tonight. At the bottom of the tree there was a single white flower. Octavia wasn't sure what kind of flower it was but it was lovely. As she raised it to her face to smell it Octavia noticed there was another on the ground not far from where she stood. She went and collected the flower and then noticed yet another just a little ways off. Not pausing to think about what she was doing Octavia followed the flowers, when she picked up the last flower she looked up and her breath caught in her throat. Standing not twenty feet from where she was standing was Lincoln. Octavia ran to him not even slowing down as she threw herself into his arms. Lincoln caught her without a single falter in her step and just held onto her.
"I am so happy to see you. I was so worried that you might not have made it. That maybe something in the forest got you before you got someplace safe. I mean I knew my brother didn't get you because he wouldn't have been able to stop himself from," Octavia was cut off by Lincoln pressing a gentle finger to her mouth.
"I'm fine Octavia." He looked down at her with an expression of tenderness.
"Okay. Sorry. I babble when I'm emotional." She said still staring into his eyes, "I liked the flowers."
"I heard you last night. I wanted to see you as well and not just from a distance. Come." Lincoln said as he broke their staring contest and started heading a little north. Then he pulled up a door and Octavia realized the flowers had led to another cave. Lincoln hopped down then held his arms up for her to follow. Octavia slid into his arms without the slightest hesitation. She knew he wouldn't harm her. She followed him deeper into the cave until she spied the glow of a fire. She took one look around the spacious and realized this was where Lincoln truly lived. There was a very distinct homey feeling to the room.
"It's nice in here. Is this where you normally stay?" she asked.
"Yes. I have always preferred to me more on my own then to stay with the rest of my people." Lincoln answered. Octavia wandered away from him looking around the space. He had so many odds and ends scattered around the room, he even had a couple books that looked like they had seen better days. As she was examining a small statue Lincoln came up behind her and rested his hands on her shoulders.
"I wanted to bring you here when I found you hurt in the forest but I didn't want anyone to find this place." He said quietly.
"Thank you for sharing it with me." Octavia said softly as she turned to face him. Octavia stared up into his intense eyes and felt a pull deep within her. She raised herself on her tiptoes so she could be closer to him.
"Octavia." Lincoln said in a tone of voice that made her whole body warm up. He reached up to cup her cheek in his hand as he very slowly lowered his head to hers. He gave her ample time to move if she wished but she had no intention of going anywhere. When Lincolns lips finally met hers she sighed into his mouth. He was gentle, sweet so much different from the desperation of the kiss he gave her when he was leaving the drop ship. This was so much more, like a promise.
Octavia reached up to hold his head close to her as his mouth continued to move over hers. Lincolns hands travelled down from her face to run the length of her back finally settling just under her shirt. Octavia never wanted the kiss to end but eventually Lincoln pulled back from her not loosening his grip.
"Octavia it is late your brother will be looking for you." Lincoln said softly.
"He won't be looking for me for hours yet. Can we just not talk about him right now?" she asked.
"Is there something else you would like to talk about then?" He asked.
"No. right now I want you to kiss me again." She said as she pulled his face back down to hers. They kissed again a little more urgently then the first but still with a sense of sweetness to it. When they ended the kiss Lincoln led her to his pallet of furs in the corner and sat down with her next to him.
"I want you to tell me about your life. About you." Octavia said to him.
"Okay. But only if you also tell me of your life and about you. You can start by what you meant about freaking out about being locked in a cave because of how you grew up." Lincoln said seriously. So Octavia told him all about the ark, the one child rule, her brother and anything else she could think of about her life before earth. In turn Lincoln told her of his preference for a solitary life, life within the forest clan and the hardships of life on earth for their people.
They talked until almost dawn when Lincoln finally said it was time for her to go back. Octavia agreed she had to leave but she was not happy about it. She wanted nothing more than to stay within this cave with Lincoln. Lincoln walked her back as far as the butterfly clearing.
"Will you come back tomorrow if I leave a path for you?" He asked.
"Yes. I will always come if you leave a path for me." Octavia stated with no hesitation. She knew all of the dangers that their relationship posed. Not the least of which being that Bellamy would kill him. But she had to pursue this. Deep down Octavia knew Lincoln was it for her and she was going to fight to keep that. They shared another kiss just as the sun was rising and Octavia left for camp and Lincoln went back to his cave with only the promise of tomorrow to keep them both going.
So I don't know whether I should continue this or not. For now it is just a oneshot for a prompt on the writing challenges and prompts forum I started. Please head over there if you like this story and check it out. Feel free to leave me a review and let me know what you think.
