*Hello, I finished Chapter II! I saw that my first chapter got a lot of traffic and not a lot of reviews :( But I think a lot of people will like this story once I set everything up. I'm sorry for the slow build but since this if my first FF I'm trying my best to write a good story for you guys! I have no beta so there are most likely some mistakes. I apologize for that but I get so excited about uploading these chapters that I want you to read them as quickly as possible! I hope you like it!

Without further ado...Chapter II!*

Chapter II

On her way back to her apartment Clarke thought about Finn and what he and Raven were up to. She thought about maybe meeting up with them but after the emotions of the day all she wanted to do was curl up on her sofa with a tall glass of wine.

She sent a quick text to Finn to let him know she wasn't going to be able to meet up with them. He didn't reply and Clarke knew he was probably a little too tipsy to check his phone. That was Finn though, always having a good time. His carefree spirit was of the things she liked most about him even if she didn't understand it. Clarke was very serious but that's because she had to be.

Growing up in the orphanage was difficult to say the least. Ark City was one of the few cities that was safe from the carnage of the war that occurred years ago. By the time Clarke was born the world had almost turned back to normal but that didn't mean they still weren't suffering from lack of resources. There was barely enough food to go around for people with money let alone for those in the orphanage. The older children were notorious for stealing from the younger and weaker children. It wasn't right but they did what they had to do to survive. As much as Clarke tried to stand up for them it was never enough. That's when Clarke took it upon herself to make sure the younger kids were fed no matter what. Even if that meant she went hungry.

Clarke remembered the one time that she didn't eat for a week because she was rationing out her food to all the younger children but it still wasn't enough. There were so many young children dying from starvation and Clarke couldn't handle it. After one of the children that she grew to care about died, she ran into town hoping to get away from it all. Maybe she would be able to find a way to make money or maybe somebody would give her some scraps so she could feed some of the younger children. But it was to no avail. She was mourning for the child that just died and she was slowly starving to death and nothing she could do about it. That's just the way it was growing up for Clarke. It was late evening and she needed to head back to the orphanage but she wasn't ready to head back empty handed just yet.

Clarke decided to take a stroll into the park before heading back. She stopped at the playground and sat on the swing when she heard a strange noise. At first she was scared until she realized it was a sob. Her eyes followed the sound to its source. About 10 feet away was a young boy sitting on a bench with his face in his hands. She wouldn't have noticed him if he wasn't crying because he was partially hidden behind the bushes. Clarke didn't know if she should talk to him or leave him to his sorrow but before she could make a decision the boy snapped his head up and quickly wiped his eyes, staring at her curiously. The intensity of his stare, like he was seeing into her soul, caught Clarke off guard and she fell off the swing.

The boy quickly ran up to her and offered out his hand, "Are you okay?" he asked with a little sniffle after he spoke. She could still see the tear trails on his face but the sincerity of his tone made her grab his hand and nod. She was still unable to speak under the intensity of his gaze. He pulled her up and quickly released her. They stared at each other for a moment and Clarke realized he wasn't as young as she thought. He looked about 16, only two years older than her, but she knew it probably wasn't safe to be out here so she looked away and started heading in the direction of the orphanage.

"Wait," the curious boy said. He ran over to the bench he was sitting at and grabbed a bag that Clarke didn't notice before. He walked back to her while reaching into the bag, pulling something out. When he returned to where Clarke was standing she saw it was just a sandwich, not the gun she had been picturing him pulling out on her. Yeah she had been told multiple times at the orphanage that she had a wildly active imagination buy hey you could never know what's going to happen late at night in a park when a strange boy is walking towards you while pulling something out his bag. Anyway, he split it in two and offered her half of it saying, "I'll give you half my sandwich if you stay for a little bit, I really don't' want to be alone right now."

Clarke wasn't sure whether she could trust this guy or not. But when her stomach growled at the sight of the sandwich she had no choice but to accept. She nodded her head and the boy flashed a brilliant smile that made her heart skip a beat. It was strange to see since his cheeks were still tear stained but his smile radiated happiness. Clarke quickly grabbed her half of the sandwich and sat down on the swing she fell off of. The boy sat on the swing right next to her and asked,

"So, what're you running away from?"

"I might ask you the same thing," Clarke replied in between bites of the delicious peanut butter and jelly sandwich. She hadn't had peanut butter since her parents were still alive.

She looked at him out of the corner of her eye and saw him give a small smile.

"I just found out some bad news and wanted to be alone but once I was alone I realized I actually don't want to be alone. Does that make sense?" He asked in a sad but amused tone.

Clarke nodded her head, "Strangely, I know exactly what you mean. What happened?"

The boy stared for a while at Clarke as if wondering if he could trust her. He simply shrugged and said, "I thought I had everything figured out, ya know? Then life just threw this curveball at me." He stared into Clarke's eyes, "Have you ever felt like you were so happy that nothing could go wrong but then in a blink of an eye everything ended up in flames?" He said it with a soft anger that Clarke knew wasn't directed at her but left wanting to stay on his good side.

"Yeah like one second you're the happiest person in the world. With parents who love you and would do anything for you and then the next your dad is murdered and your mom disappears." Clarke responded bitterly. She didn't mean to share so much and was afraid that she scared the boy with such a horrible reply but he simply nodded, "Exactly."

Clarke never knew if he thought she was serious or just making up a scenario but something about the way he looked at her after her response was something close to kinship. His dark eyes were still intimidating but there she could see a flash of sadness that she had seen in the mirror every since her parents' death. She felt like they understood each other without having to say anything else. As they finished up their sandwich they sat in comfortable silence. Eventually the boy said he had to go and Clarke nodded her head in agreement. She knew the caretakers at the orphanage wouldn't care that she was gone but she didn't want to be locked out or else she'd end up sleeping on the porch swing again.

As she went to walk in the direction of the orphanage she heard the boy call out, "What's your name?" She turned around and yelled, "Clarke, what's yours?" She responded.

For a quick second the boy gave her a worried glance but then quickly composed his face into a strange smirk like he knew something she didn't and said, "I'll tell you next time. May we meet again." He stared at her a second more and then slowly walked into the shadows of the night.

Clarke was confused but headed back home towards the orphanage. She couldn't get this guy off her mind. Not because she liked him but she felt like he understood her and she hadn't felt that way since before her parents died. They shared something she couldn't explain and she ended up going to the park every night . He never showed up and she started to think she made up the meeting in her mind. Maybe it was just a strange daydream from the lack of food but part of her knew it was real. As the years went by she started to forget about him. But in the back of her mind she thought there was something real about those eyes and she knew she would never forget them.

Clarke was cuddled into her favorite quilt on the sofa. The T.V. was on but she wasn't paying any attention to it. She had more pressing matters to concentrate on. Will she fulfill her promise to her dad? Will she be able to avenge his death?

She quickly opened up the bottle of wine she bought on the way back from the cemetery. Craving the sour taste. She didn't like drinking it but on days like this she needed it to sleep. As she finished the last of the wine and her eyes were growing heavy her mind flashed back to a night ten years ago. The last thing she remembered before falling asleep was the intense dark eyes staring back at her.

*Hmm, who could the mysterious boy be...who knows...guess you'll have to wait for Chapter 3! Which I have already started on because I like you guys so much. The weekends are good because I don't have work so that'll be when I post most likely. But hey if enough people are liking the story I'd be happy to dedicate more time to this. Let me know what you think. Or what you hate. Or tell me how your day is. I just love hearing from you guys! Hit me up on tumblr (aesthetically-heidi or novelistically-heidi) :)*