Chapter 7

Bellamy

I awoke early. Earlier than usual. Way earlier than usual. The sun was barely up in the sky, the morning mist painting everything in shades of grey. Everything on this planet was so beautiful. And none of it stagnant. On the Ark there was nothing to suggest whether it was night or day other than how many lights were on. But here, on earth, everything changed. Different weather, different times of day, even each day from one another. Nothing was ever the same. And that was beautiful. I turned over, trying to go back to sleep but I suddenly found that despite how tired I was, I was wide awake. Peeling open the flap of my tent, I glanced at the watch on the arm of the girl beside me in bed. 4:30 in the morning. I groaned. You have got to be kidding me! I was exhausted. And yet I was wide awake. Almost on edge. That's right Bell, you're on edge. Why is that? There it was. That annoying voice inside my head who…wait what? Why am I on edge? Because I most definitely was on edge now I thought about it.

Oh no. Something was wrong. I leapt to my feet and pulled on my pants and struggled to get into my shirt as quickly as I could. Jacket in hand I all but ran out of my tent and hastened over to the shelter Octavia shared with Jasper and Monty (not that I approved of this arrangement but at least those idiots told me when she ran off to meet that Grounder in the middle of the night – something I most definitely did not approve of). Pulling back the flap I sighed in relief. There she was, snuggled up in her blanket, safe, sound and a small smile playing on her lips. I stopped to slip my jacket on now. If she was safe then I had a moment to breathe. What was the matter with me? I was freaking out now. It was because I wasn't getting enough sleep. I made my way back towards my tent, shivering to shake off the early morning chill. That was when I saw her. I froze.

She sat alone, perched on one of the logs we'd set out around the main fire ring. She wore a thin tank top and my first thought was that she must be freezing. (My second may have had something to do with how beautiful she looked in it but that wasn't the point.) There were bags under her eyes as though she too, was sleeping poorly, she was thin, too thin and she kept glancing nervously between the drop ship and each of the tunnels out of our camp. Beautiful she may be, but she was also a wreck. I walked over and plopped myself down beside her. She jumped, nervously before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath.

"God, Bellamy, you scared me."

"Brave Princess? Afraid? Never." She rolled her eyes as she had a thousand times but there was no hint of amusement in them. "What are you doing up so early?" She shrugged.

"Wishful thinking I guess." She muttered, seemingly not wanting me to actually hear her.

"What does that mean?" She blushed at my question and shook her head quickly, surprised that I had caught on, perhaps?

"Nothing!" I snorted out a laugh.

"Yeah. Because that sounded like nothing. Come on Princess, what's with you lately? You're freaking my sister out." Again she shook her head quickly. Too quickly. My heart was beating fast, as though I was anxious. Over what? Nothing was happening! Everything by all accounts was just fine! And yet my guard was up, something inside of me knew that something was very wrong here.

"They're just mad I didn't tell them that Murphy and I were together." A sharp pain echoed through my chest as she said the words. I paused, not sure I wanted to dig deeper. What the hell, Bellamy. You're already this far. Might as well jump off the cliff, yeah? I sighed.

"Since you brought it up, what is that all about? Why didn't you tell them? They're your best friends. It's weird." In an odd combination of events, she went from frowning, introspectively to giving me the first genuine smile I'd seen on her face in a long time.

"If you were seeing Murphy would you tell anyone?"

"Aha, the Princess is joking now?" The smile on her lips grew, though still soft. "I see your point. It's not exactly your finest moment." Hmm. Interesting. For a girl who was supposedly into this guy and was seeing him regularly, the fact that she didn't so much as bat an eye when I insulted him was a bit odd. Test the theory perhaps? "I mean he's an ass and what's more? He's a complete idiot and not worthy of Her Majesty's attentions." I mock bowed to her. The smile was gone but she wasn't defending him. "And not just kind of an ass, I mean-"

"Save it, Bellamy. I mean you're 'kind of an ass' too, don't you think? It's a bit rich for you to be throwing out that kind of insult."

"There's a difference." I protested.

"How so?" She challenged. Damn. How did she not get it? I was an ass, yes. I knew that. Especially to her but I was an ass because I- No. No. I couldn't say that to her. He was an ass because he was an idiot and just plain cruel. And he- ugh! I don't know.

"I know I'm an ass. But he's…"

"He's what exactly?" It wasn't her voice this time that interrupted me. I spun around to see Murphy standing with a glare behind us. We were all silent as the two of us stared one another down. Finally, he broke eye contact but my victory was short lived as Clarke stood up and walked to his side, hugging him. He smirked at me as she held him and I knew that I was shaking in anger.

"Come back to bed sweetie. It's cold up there without you." My hands were balled into fists at my sides and I longed to hit something until it broke. Preferably Murphy's face. But Murphy's face was no longer in proximity to me. Instead he and Clarke had disappeared back into the dropship, his arm wrapped territorially around her. So I settled for a tree.

I didn't break the tree.

I did break my hand.

Clarke

Damn. Damn it all to hell. My gut was in a constant state of agony, my limbs were tired and sore. My head pounded and all I wanted to do was eat and sleep. But I couldn't sleep. Because I was being forced to sleep beside him. And with the smell of him so close at hand, I couldn't stop thinking about him. And the more I thought about him, the more I thought about what he and his friends might to my friends if I didn't do as he said. To be fair, he found a way to keep relatively clean and it wasn't as though I wanted to vomit from the smell – no my wish to vomit in his proximity had to do with something else entirely.

At least this morning I had managed to sneak out without him waking up. I hadn't been able to sleep very heavily so a few snores from him and I was wide awake. I had gotten out from underneath his arm and crept away from him as slowly and silently as I could manage. He hadn't woken up. I had gotten out of the dropship and he was still asleep. No one was around, I could sneak out of the tunnels and find some food. And if he finds out what you've done? No. I'm starving. I need this. What will he do to you if he finds out? What will he do to your friends if he finds out? Are you really thinking clearly Clarke? Am I really thinking clearly?

I had begun to exhibit some of the warning signs of both starvation and sleep deprivation and it terrified me. What if, in my unwell state, I did something stupid that he took as disobedience and then he hurt Monty and Jasper? Or went after Raven. Octavia was safe. Bellamy may be an ass that was enforcing the rules to keep me and a few of the others from eating, he may fully support what Murphy was doing, but he did love his sister more than anything. And he would protect her. This much I knew was true. But Raven. She and I hadn't had the opportunity to grow close but I admired her greatly. I knew that if the situation was different, we would become friends. She would be smart enough to figure out another way. She could save her friends without having to sacrifice herself. She could keep them safe and she would still fight back. She was better than me.

Out of nowhere a large body all but threw itself on the log next to me. It took everything in me not to scream.

"God, Bellamy, you scared me."

"Brave Princess? Afraid? Never." I felt as though his words mocked me. Not afraid? I was afraid of everything. Now more than ever. "What are you doing up so early?" I shrugged in response.

"Wishful thinking I guess." I murmured under my breath, realizing too late that I'd said it out loud. God I hope he didn't hear that.

"What does that mean?" Damn. He had. I just shook my head.

"Nothing." I insisted as he laughed.

"Yeah. Because that sounded like nothing. Come on Princess, what's with you lately? You're freaking my sister out." Great. Octavia knew something was up. As in the girl who lived over a decade under the floor and never quite figured out the whole 'reading other people' thing knew that something was wrong. I was shit at this. Or maybe not. Maybe they were just pissed about Murphy? I could work with that.

"They're just mad I didn't tell them that Murphy and I were together." After a pause that seemed to take an eternity, he pushed forward.

"Since you brought it up, what is that all about? Why didn't you tell them? They're your best friends. It's weird." Why did he care? He didn't care about me and that was fine. We worked together to protect the hundred. That didn't make us allies of any sort. He'd made that clear when he kept me and mine from eating. He'd made that clear when he'd laughed at Murphy's "conquest" – AKA me, (something I'd learned from Murphy himself as he gloated annoyingly to me). Did he just want to be amused? There was nothing amusing about this. Well…actually…a joke (albeit a rather stupid one) popped into my head and I spoke before I could think about it.

"If you were seeing Murphy, would you tell anyone?"

"Aha, the Princess is joking now?" Huh. I guess I was. "I see your point. It's not exactly your finest moment." Maybe not. But I was protecting my friends. And of that I could be proud. "I mean, he's an ass and what's more? He's a complete idiot and not worthy of Her Majesty's attentions." So that was it. He was here to mock me. He brought joy in belittling me. He'd laughed at the so called 'conquest' of my virtue to Murphy and now he wanted to make me feel shit for it. "And not just kind of an ass, I mean-"

"Save it Bellamy." I cut him off before he could finish. "I mean, you're kind of an ass too don't you think" It's a bit rich for you to be throwing out that kind of insult."

"There's a difference." Oh, yes, Bellamy Blake. Go on. Explain to me how making me feel like shit and being a complete bastard is somehow more high and mighty than the lowly disgustingness that Murphy portrayed.

"How so?"

"I know I'm an ass. But he's…" he trailed off, unsure of the ending to that sentence.

"He's what exactly?" Murphy. He'd woken up. Well, I guess it's a good thing Bellamy sat down or you might have gone off into the woods and Murphy would have caught you. And now? Well fuck. Now they'd fight and if Murphy had the camp backing him it would be hard for Blake to protect Octavia. I couldn't have that. I shook off the voice before it said something about how I wanted to protect the male Blake as well and I leapt to my feet. I walked over to Murphy and wrapped him in a hug. I leaned forward and whispered in his ear.

"If you want to improve your standing around camp beating on everyone's favorite dipshit isn't going to do that." He paused and my heart jumped into my throat as I waited for him to make his move. Finally, after what felt like half a life time he spoke.

"Come back to bed sweetie. It's cold up there without you." I sighed in relief and followed him back to the drop ship. His arm wrapped around me and he leaned in to whisper. "Good call, Princess. You're finally getting the hang of this."

"Maybe I'd be getting the hang of it faster if I wasn't starving." We'd just stepped through the dropship door and the moment the words came out of my mouth he pushed me up against the wall.

"What was that?"

"Come on Murphy. I'm starving. Literally. Please."

"Shut it, Princess. You can manage."

Not two hours later Bellamy Blake was sitting in the med bay with a blue and purple hand.

"It's not broken, just bruised to hell and back." He grumbled something I couldn't understand. And didn't try to. I was getting dizzy. I couldn't focus. My head was pounding. Damn. This wasn't good. I felt myself swaying and the world around me began to fall. Two strong arms swept me off my feet.

"Clarke!" Bellamy's deep voice sounded like it was echoing through the tunnel. "Clarke what's wrong." I tried to shake my head, to brush him off.

"Just tired. See Monty about your hand. He'll help you out."

"Clarke, something's wrong with you. What's happened?"

"Bell….so tired."

"Monty!" his voice was loud, frantic in my ear. "Monty! Come quick! Something's wrong with Clarke!"

"I'm fine…" I tried to reason with him. "I'm fine…just…put me down. Your hand...you shouldn't be…"

"Bellamy. What the hell are you doing, holding my girl?" Fuck. Murphy. That was the last thing I heard before I passed out.

Thoughts? I am working on the next chapter presently and will have it up soon! I promise that the real action is going to start soon! Thanks to everyone for all your reviews! I love you all – XOXO – E