They had been arguing when it happened. They always argued. It was as easy as breathing for them.
Raven Reyes was his best friend, though, and now she was hurt, and it was all his fault.
It had been a Friday night, and they were on the way home from bar-hopping. Neither of them had been drunk, although they'd both had a couple of beers. They had gone out in hopes of finding someone to take home, but neither had had much luck.
Murphy was driving his beat-up SUV, and Raven was yelling, as per usual.
"You just don't know how to talk to girls, Murphy. That's why you always end up going home alone! You have to be nice, tell them they're beautiful or that you love their laugh. You can't just ask them to bang!" She huffed, criticizing his ability to woo girls.
"Why should I lie to them though? They aren't beautiful. Hell, half of them look downright scary with all the makeup you guys like to wear when you go out. I'm not looking for a wife, Reyes. I'm looking to get laid. I'm not one for spinning goddamned fairytales." He retorted, speeding down the road.
"Slow down, before you get us killed. And that's besides the point! Girls aren't looking for a husband, they're looking for someone who makes them feel fucking important; and you're just incapable of doing that." Her voice had a tinge of venom to it, and she didn't know why. Murphy wasn't a nice person, that's why they got along so well. But lately, the barbs and insults he'd thrown her way upset her more than they should.
"What's your fucking problem? I don't know why the way I treat girls pisses you off. God knows I'm not trying to get in your pants." He sneered. He usually wasn't this rude, but the alcohol he'd consumed had loosened him up and he was trying to ignore the way her miniskirt had ridden dangerously high on her tan legs. Alcohol always made him angrier and hornier. He was oblivious to the nerve he had hit with his insult, oblivious to the tears she quickly blinked away.
"You know what? Fuck you Murphy. Fuck you."
He looked over at her, barely registering the pain and anger in her eyes, eclipsed by the headlights behind her, of the truck that barreled into the side of his SUV seconds later.
His eyes blinked open, blinded momentarily by the bright fluorescent hospital lights above him. He heard a faint beeping, and registered a blossoming pain in his neck and right side. He looked over, seeing his friend Bellamy in the chair next to his bed, flipping through a magazine.
"What the fuck happened?" He choked out, throat dry. Bellamy shot up at the sound of his voice.
"Hey buddy. How are you feeling?" He asked, eyes full of concern.
"Like shit. What happened? Where am I? Raven- shit, where the hell is Raven?!" The memory of the car ride seeping back into his brain. He tried to sit up, but grimaced as pain lanced through his side. Bellamy put a hand on his shoulder, stilling him against the bed.
"Whoa. Sit still, Murphy. Your ribs are pretty bruised up. It's Saturday afternoon. We're at Mt. Weather General. You and Raven, there was an accident last night. You guys were hit by a truck that ran a stoplight. You just have some bumps and bruises. The truck hit Raven's side though, she got rocked pretty hard. Clarke said she's got a broken leg, a couple broken ribs, and a decent concussion. They're monitoring her right now to make sure there's no bleeding on the brain. Clarke's been keeping me updated." Clarke was part of the friend group, Bellamy's fiancee, and a nurse practitioner at the hospital. Murphy felt dread fill his stomach. He tried to get up again, slower this time.
"I need to go see her. Help me move this damned thing." He muttered, motioning at the pole that held the fluids and medicine streaming into his IV. With Bellamy's help, they made their way to Raven's room, which was on the same floor. Murphy had to hold back from swearing loudly. She was asleep, like Bellamy had said, but she looked awful. The right side of her face was swollen and bruised, like she'd been in a bar fight. Her right leg was in a huge cast, and he couldn't help the nauseous feeling that overcame him as he realized it was his fault. That was his best friend, the only one who tolerated his shit, and there she was, unconscious and bloodied, because she had been riding in his stupid car. He shuffled over and sat in the bedside chair, and the look on his face told Bellamy he wouldn't be moving anytime soon.
"I'll go find Clarke. She might be able to unhook you from all of that. I brought you some clean clothes, too. I'll be back." Bellamy turned to go find his fiancee, who was an RN at the hospital, and Murphy was glad for the moment alone. He was also glad to hear Bellamy had brought clothes from his apartment (Bellamy and Clarke lived in the same building), knowing Murphy wouldn't be a fan of the thin hospital gown he was dressed in now. He focused his attention on the girl in front of him, studying her features as he thought about the last conversation they'd had. Had he really been that mean to her? Now that he was sober, it was easy to see what she had really been talking about.
He wasn't sure when they'd become such good friends. It had to have started in college, he figured. She had been Clarke's roommate and he had been Bellamy's roommate, although he and Bellamy had grown up together. He had seen her around school, Ark University was a pretty small campus. But after Clarke and Bellamy finally got together, she came around more often. She had been the only one who didn't make him feel like a charity case; he loved Bellamy and Clarke, but sometimes he felt like he got added to plans out of pity. Raven never made him feel like that, and over time they had become inseparable. They'd seen each other through everything, from when that douchebag Finn had cheated on her, to when his parents passed away. She was basically his rock.
She was beautiful, even in her injured state. He noticed her clothes from that night on the table by her bed, and he remembered how sexy she had looked. A miniskirt and a low-cut sequined top, with black stilettos (she hated heels, but loved how she looked in them). He recalled the twinge of anger he'd felt every time he saw a guy dancing with her or talking her up. He had chalked it up to just being overprotective of the feisty mechanic, but seeing her in that hospital bed tugged on his emotions in an unfamiliar way. Bellamy and Clarke returned, drawing him from his thoughts as Clarke hugged him gently and removed his IV and told him about the medicine and things he needed to take. Bellamy passed him a bag of clothes, which he took absentmindedly.
"She's gonna be fine, Murphy. The doctors aren't very concerned about bleeding, so she should be waking up in a few hours. You can go home today, but she probably won't go home 'til Monday." Clarke said gently, watching the relief that washed over Murphy's face at the mention of Raven waking up. He stood slowly, walking to the bathroom to change. He looked at Clarke, thanking her with his eyes, but an edge in his voice as he said, "If she doesn't go home until Monday, than neither do I."
Clarke nodded as he closed the bathroom door, before checking Raven's vitals and looking at Bellamy. She had guessed his response would be something like that.
"When do you think he's gonna admit to himself that he's in love with her?" She murmured as they started walking from the room. Bellamy chuckled, his arm circling around her waist.
"Hopefully soon, his brooding is getting old."
Raven woke slowly, disoriented and groggy, and very aware of the pain in various parts of her body. One of her eyes was swollen as she opened them, and the first thing she registered was the figure in the chair next to her, his head and arms resting on her bed as he slept. She reached out and poked him lightly, jostling him from his nap. A smile flashed across his face briefly, before his features resumed a sullen expression as he regarded her. She noticed the large cast on her leg, and opened her mouth to ask every question that had come to mind, but Murphy cut her off, explaining her injuries and what had happened.
"If you've been discharged, why are you still here?" Raven wondered, taking in the scrapes on his face and his clean set of clothes.
"I thought I'd wait until you could go home too." He mumbled, shrugging his shoulders, avoiding eye contact and missing the smile that flashed across her face.
"Thanks for sticking around, Murphy. You might have a heart somewhere in there," she joked, not in an unkind way, as she winced, her ribs screaming every time she moved. She looked at Murphy, who wore a twinge of worry under his usually emotionless face.
"Don't worry," she consoled, "I'm sure I look a lot worse than I feel."
"You do look pretty fucking awful." He quipped, smirking at her slightly as she stuck her tongue out at him. He was happy her mood hadn't been affected by her injuries. Soon after, the nurse came in to talk to her, and he zoned out watching some awful crime show on TV
"Hey, if you're waiting, would you do me a favor?" Her voice jarred him from his thoughts. He looked up, meeting her eyes, and nodded. "Would you go to my place and get me some clothes, too? My key should be in my bag." She motioned to the stack of belongings he'd been eyeing earlier. He looked through her clutch, finding her key.
"Yeah, sure. Do you want anything specific?" He wasn't bothered, he had been to Reyes' apartment plenty of times.
"Shorts, please. I'm not sure how well pants would work with this thing" She chuckled and motioned to the cast, and he smiled, nodding his obvious agreement.
"You got it, Reyes. I'll be back." He called over his shoulder before hailing a cab to her place.
He walked into her apartment and switched the lights on, looking around the empty space before heading to her bedroom. She kept the place relatively clean, but it definitely had a lived-in feel to it. He made his way to her dresser, past the unmade bed with clothes scattered here and there. Suddenly he was acutely aware that he was in her bedroom, alone. He pulled the top drawer open, and sucked in a deep breath as he took in the sight of her bras and panties, most of which were bright and lacy. Raven Reyes was a habitual tomboy, only dressing up occasionally to go out, but apparently, she was very girly under her clothes. He could feel himself blush as he realized he didn't know what to bring back for her. He settled on the first bra he saw, a black one with purple lace, and a pair of black boyshorts. As he was pulling the underwear out of the drawer though, his hand hit something hard. As he pulled the object out, the room seemed to get hotter, and he felt an erection start to grow in his jeans.
He was holding a bright pink vibrator.
Part of him wanted to chuckle at the idea that she was human like the rest of them, but instead he found it difficult to swallow as he suddenly pictured her using it, and wondered who she thought of when she got herself off. He shook his head to clear it, letting out the breath he hadn't realized he was holding. He put the sex toy back where he found it, and hurriedly gathered the rest of the things she would need before practically running out of the apartment
Raven was watching TV when he got back to her room. "Damn Murphy, it took you long enough. What were you doing, trying to find my diary?" She joked.
Oh, that's not nearly as good as what I did find… He thought, but shook his head, passing her the clothes. "You know I don't give a fuck about what you journal about, Reyes. It's probably just fantasies of me, anyway." He replied flippantly, knowing she didn't really have a diary. She laughed, relaxed from the pain medicine she'd been given.
"For sure, Murphy. All I do is daydream about fucking you." She shook her head, missing the look that flashed across his face.
The watched TV together for the remainder of the night, before she passed out and he napped uncomfortably in his chair, once again half passed out on her bed.
The next morning, she received her discharge papers and the nurse helped her dress before loading her into a wheelchair. He appraised her in her pitiful state before an idea struck him.
"Reyes." He said, trying to get her attention. She looked up at him, her face looking less swollen already. He cleared his throat before speaking, "Let me stay with you."
"What? Why do you wanna stay with me?"
He looked her up and down before raising his eyebrows. "Come on, you won't be able to get anything done. You practically need me." He drawled with a smirk, pulling his hands from his pockets before pushing her in the direction of the elevator. She mulled over the idea.
"I guess you're right, I will be out of commission for a bit...my couch folds out into a bed, you can crash there. Okay, deal. But I get to choose what we watch on TV." She declared, crossing her arms determinedly.
"Uh huh, sure, you can choose." He lied. There was no way he was gonna end up watching a shit ton of reality TV.
The first day went fine, filled with TV and takeout. The second day was where things got interesting.
"Murphy, I need your help." Raven said from where she was laying next to him on the couch, leg propped up. Murphy glanced over at her, confused.
"With what?"
"I uh, I need to take a shower." She stated, avoiding his eyes as he realized what she was asking. "I just need you to help me put the bag over my cast, and then help me in and out, and help me put pants on. I'll stay covered with a towel, so I don't blind you. I just don't have a very big range of movement." She finished sarcastically, nudging him with her elbow, before motioning to her bandaged side and cast. He coughed a little before answering, "Yeah sure, better than smelling you." He wrinkled his nose in fake disgust before helping her up and towards the bathroom. He gathered what she would need, avoiding the side of the drawer he knew held her uh, special toy. He turned his back as she stripped her top and pushed her bottoms down, wrapping herself in a towel and telling him it was safe. He knelt beside her, pulling off the shorts and underwear gathered around her ankle, trying not to think about where they just were. He noticed she had left her sports bra on.
"Now what?" He tried to keep his voice even, trying not to think about her near nakedness under the fluffy white towel.
"Will you help me pull this bandage off? I can take it off now but I can't twist to get ahold of it." She lowered her towel, still covering her bottom half, but leaving her side exposed.
"Yeah, sure," he said, crouching so he was eye-level with her bandaged side. He noticed how in shape she was, Raven was an avid runner and boxer and it clearly showed. He ran his fingers along the edge of the bandage, gently pulling it off, before he had to choke back an onslaught of emotion. "Holy fuck, Raven," he grimaced as they both took in her side, which was cut up and insanely bruised. "It doesn't hurt as bad as it looks like it would, I promise," she lied, eager for the focus to be on something else, as his fingers barely brushed over her injured side before he knew he was touching her.
"I need you to help me pull this trash bag over the cast, so it doesn't get wet." She pointed at the bag sitting by his leg. He nodded, picking up the bag and pulling it on her injured leg, up to where the cast ended and her skin began, the same tan and toned legs he'd been trying to ignore in that miniskirt. His fingers grazed her exposed skin, even though she could get it from there and didn't need his help. He stood, clearing his throat as she tied it, helping her hobble onto the bench in her shower. He closed the shower door as she pulled her bra over her head slowly, turning to leave.
"I'll uh, just wait in your room, Reyes. Just call or whatever when you're done." He said, raising his voice so she could hear him over the water. "Okay!" She replied nonchalantly, as he left the bathroom door cracked behind him. He sat on her bed, falling back and rubbing his face, trying not to think about the gorgeous latina in the shower, or the pain she was in but obviously hiding. His thoughts were replaced with ones of her on the bed he was laying on, vibrator in hand, moaning his name. His cock strained against his pants, and he fought the urge to stroke himself while thinking of her.
In the shower, Raven was happy to be washing her hair and cleaning up after being as the hospital, but her mind kept drifting back to Murphy, how his fingertips had brushed her thigh and side, and she wondered if he had meant to. Probably not, she reasoned. He didn't find her attractive, he had told her so. But she allowed herself to indulge in the idea of him, the thought of him going down on her. He has to be good with his tongue, she thought, wishing she had her vibrator with her as her hand massaged her own breasts, teasing her hard nipples, which had small silver studs pierced through them. She wondered what he would think of her body jewelry. John Murphy was the star in most of her fantasies, but she would never admit that to him. detaching the shower head and using it to rinse her hair and back, but letting the stream linger on her nipples before trailing down in between her legs, holding back a whimper as the water hit her throbbing clit. She knew they were just friends, but damn, did she want him. She held the shower head there, her hand teasing herself as well, trying to contain the moans that threatened to spill from her throat as she neared her climax, thinking of the man that sat in the next room. She found her release, a small noise escaping her throat as the waves of pleasure rolled over her. She was surprised, she had never come that quickly before. She tried not to chalk it up to her current situation.
Murphy was jarred from his thoughts when he heard a noise from the shower. Not sure what it was, he poked his head through the door.
"You okay?" He questioned warily, willing his erection to go away. Raven jumped, not realizing he had heard her. "Yeah, I'm fine!" She replied a little too suddenly, replacing the shower head and turning off the water. "Give me just a second." She wrapped the towel around herself, opening the door. "Okay, I'm ready," She said, cheeks still flushed from her orgasm.
Murphy came over, helping her up, trying not to think of how good she smelled or her wet body leaning against him. He helped her sit and she began toweling her hair off, freezing for a moment when she felt his hands on her leg, undoing the bag that covered her leg, his hand lightly gripping the back of her thigh as he pulled the bag off. His eyes met hers briefly, but she could have sworn they were darker than normal. She fought the flush that creeped back up her cheeks as he touched her, and tried to ignore the heat that pooled in the bottom of her stomach.
'Fuck, this is not good' was the only thought to cross her mind.
Murphy helped her dress quickly, fighting the urge to lay her back and make her scream his name. He stood and waited for her to finish in the bathroom, and the only thing he could think was, 'fuck, this is so not good.'
