A/N: Hey! This chapter's not as long as the last. Also, I'm really happy to see reviews on my first chapter, I'm glad you like it! I thought the idea might be a bit hit and miss. One reviewer asked if my name was Leia, it's not. Hope you like the chapter! :)
"You hungry?" Without waiting for a reply, Arlo passed Bellamy something flat, yellow and doughy.
Night had long since fallen and the few candles were burning low. It was a cold night, but Bellamy hardly noticed, as he was used to it by now. It didn't seem to bother Arlo much either. Bellamy wondered how often she slept in caves like this one.
Bellamy stared down at the thing she had given him.
"It's just corn bread," said Arlo, noticing Bellamy's hesitance. Bellamy didn't respond. "You are familiar with bread?" She added with consideration.
"Yes, I know what bread is."
"Just checking."
Bellamy smiled inwardly as he took above out of the bread. It was like the more time he spent with this kid the weirder she became. The bread was an unfamiliar taste. He couldn't remember if he'd ever eaten corn before.
"Why are you helping me?" He asked finally.
"Because you need it," Arlo responded simply.
"Yeah, sure. Why are you really helping me?"
Arlo gave him a look that was both challenging and considerate.
"Not everyone has an ulterior motive, Bellamy," she said.
"Well, I've learnt by now that if something seems too good to be true, it usually is," he replied in a serious tone.
"Not this time," Arlo countered. "You should be thanking you're lucky stars I've just got nothing better to do right now."
Bellamy put his hands together and tapped them on his forehead. He couldn't decide how to feel about this kid.
"Who are you?"
"No-one of great significance, I assure you," said Arlo, smiling wryly. Bellamy frowned.
"Okay, where are you from? Are you a Trikru?" he retorted, remembering what she had told him about the 'grounders' real name earlier in the day.
"I'm not from anywhere," she said flippantly, taking a bite out of her bread. "And it's not 'a Trikru'. Trikru is the clan name, so it would be 'are you from Trikru'."
"Everyone has a place where they're from, kid."
"Not me. Not anymore."
Bellamy's eyes remained level with Arlo's. Her expression was thoroughly sincere; nothing about this conversation indicated she was lying, yet he wondered why she was being so vague about herself. It was as if she had nothing to hide, but also did at the same time.
"Well," Bellamy began. He couldn't understand this girl. "Who are your people?"
"I am my people."
Tearing her eyes away from his, Arlo stood up and walked away from Bellamy, crouching on the other side of the cave next to Sterling. The resentful note in her tone made Bellamy cringe. She was making it crystal clear she no longer wanted to discuss this topic.
Bellamy sighed. He wanted to know more about this kid, but he didn't want to push her. He figured it'd be better if they got along.
"Earlier you said the grounders didn't take my friends. Do you know who did?"
Arlo lifted her head, but did not turn to look at him. "I'm not certain, but I have my theories."
Bellamy said nothing, indicating he was waiting for her to continue.
"The mountain men," she said, still with her back turned. "And before you ask, I don't know what the mountain men would want with your people, but I'm afraid I know enough about them to say it's probably not good."
Bellamy decided if she said she didn't know he'd believe her, so stopped asking her about his friends. His concern did not ease, however. They sat in silence for some time while Bellamy finished his food. Still wanting to know more about Arlo, Bellamy tried asking questions that were less sensitive.
"Do you live with Trikru?" He asked. Arlo finally turned around to look at him, her eyes narrowed in consideration. She sighed and walked back over to the rock she'd been sitting on earlier.
"I wouldn't be welcome there even if I wanted to," she answered matter-of-factly, sitting down opposite him.
"Why wouldn't you be welcome?" Bellamy replied, knowing he had been asking far too many questions recently.
"Let's just say," Arlo began, staring down at her hands before bringing them up to meet Bellamy's with a sombre expression. "I have a bad reputation."
Bellamy frowned. He didn't understand what that meant. Why would she have a reputation? They looked at each other for a moment, before Arlo inhaled sharply and turned to the candle beside her.
"We'd better get some rest, if you want to wake early tomorrow and find this boy Finn."
With that, she blew the candle out.
Arlo woke early the next morning, partially relieved to see Bellamy still fast asleep. He asked too many questions. Used to her own company, she couldn't understand why he never stopped talking.
After checking the comatose boy - Sam? She could never remember - and walking down to the creek for some water, Arlo decided she should probably wake Bellamy. It was long past sunrise and if he so desperately wanted to rescue this Finn, she'd like to get it over with sooner rather than later. Especially if they had to go to TonDC to do it.
"Bellamy," she said, poking his shoulder with a twig, "get up."
He stirred, but did not wake. Arlo frowned and kicked his shoulder with her foot.
"Bellamy, get up!"
"What?! Wh-" Bellamy woke with a start. It took him a short while to get his bearings, and apparently remember what he was doing in this cave. He looked up at Arlo lazily, rubbing his eyes and stretching. "How long was I asleep?" He asked groggily.
Arlo handed him some water in a very old, rusted tin can.
"Longer than I'd like." She picked up her bag and started rounding up the possessions she had scattered across the cave. "We better leave soon if you want to get to your friend in time."
"Yeah, okay," Bellamy replied. He seemed disbelieving of the fact she was actually going to help him with that.
Arlo straightened up, having packed her things, and looked at Bellamy seriously.
"We have two options," she said. "We can conclude young Sam is a lost cause and leave without him, or we can cart an unconscious boy about the countryside with us throughout our crusade."
"We're not leaving him here, Arlo," Bellamy responded, glancing at her wearily. "You don't abandon your friends." After some thought, he added, "and his name is Sterling."
"I've never spoken a word to that boy in my life, I'd hardly say we're friends," Arlo countered stoically. "He could be brain dead and we wouldn't know the difference."
"He could be," Bellamy simply replied, limping over to where Sterling lay. He began struggling to bend down beside him when Arlo sighed, in an overly dramatic manner, and marched over to stand beside him.
"Don't be stupid," she hissed, bending down to grab Sterling's arm roughly.
"Be gentle," Bellamy snapped.
"Why? He can't feel it, he's dead to the world!"
The arguing continued as they struggled to lift Sterling out and onto the horse.
They set off soon after, travelling far slower than Arlo would prefer, due to Bellamy's leg. They walked in silence for a while, Arlo thinking that they'd better make it by nightfall because she only packed enough food for herself, and together the pair had eaten it all yesterday.
"So, how long have you been spying on us for?"
"Since the day you fell from the sky. I saw your spaceship land and thought, 'wow, they came from outer space, I must go see them!' Lincoln and I had bets on how long you'd last. I took one look at your motley group and said, 'a month, and not one minute more'. I lost."
Bellamy smiled widely, looking down at the girl. He felt like he hadn't smiled in a very long time.
"Nice to know I exceed your expectations."
"More with each passing day," said Arlo, looking at Bellamy with a teasing smirk. "While we're on this topic, I'd just like to say I really loved the slicked-back hair you sported when you first came down. That really was a special kind of something."
"Shut up," Bellamy responded playfully. "Where are we going, anyway?"
"TonDC. It's sort of like the capital of the Trikru villages," Arlo informed. "If Tristan took your friend anywhere, that'll be it."
Bellamy nodded. Arlo watched him as he stared at Sterling, concern washing over his face. He really was something else; grumpy and caring and warm-hearted and tormented all at the same time.
"What was space like?" Arlo asked after a while.
Bellamy thought the question over for a moment.
"Pretty terrible, to be honest. Not for everyone; if you were rich and educated and privileged it would've been great, but if you weren't, you had to master the art of just scraping by. My family was poor. We never had very much. I missed out on most of my childhood taking care of Octavia and my mother."
"Why did you miss out on a childhood because of them?"
"To preserve oxygen and resources, it was illegal to have more than one child on the Ark. We had to hide Octavia, otherwise my mother would've been killed for having the both of us." He looked away before adding, "Octavia's tough, though. We managed fine."
Arlo considered this. She didn't know how to feel about it. One the one hand, it was awful and completely barbaric. However, she knew that everyone simply does what they must to survive.
Bellamy turned to face her.
"What about you? Any siblings?" He asked. His voice was gentle, like Arlo was a wild animal and he was afraid he might scare her off.
Arlo gazed at him earnestly. He answered all of her questions, so she figured it only proper she do the same. Besides, it's not like she really cared that much anyway.
"I had two older brothers, Xavier and Bray. Bray was gentle and kind; he was different to everyone else, he liked drawing and nature. He was softly spoken and always looked down when he walked, treading gently on the earth. He used to take me out to the fields near our village where the deer grazed, to see the fawns. When I was young I would wail if ever we had to eat deer. It made my father so angry he forbade Bray from ever taking me there again. Then, my father told me sometimes we had to kill others if it allowed us to live." Arlo stared at the ground as she spoke. There was a sadness in her voice that moved Bellamy. It was a haunting kind of sadness that resided deep within a person. "Xavier was nothing like Bray. He was gruff and stone-cold. He taught me to shoot things and fight people. He was exactly like my father. He lacked moral, and the basic respect for life that made Bray who he was. Compared to Xavier, father didn't much like Bray or I. No bother, we didn't much like him either." Arlo and Bellamy looked at each other. Whatever sadness had been present earlier was all but gone. "But he's dead now, so I shouldn't say that."
"I'm sorry," Bellamy said softly.
"What for? You didn't kill them."
"Maybe not, but I'm sorry all the same."
Please review, I'll update soon!
