Luring Finn out into the woods was the easiest part of their plan. All Clarke had to do was sneak into his cabin while he was at lunch and leave a note on his bed saying, 'Meet me at the tree house at dark, I still want to make this work.' All of the girls had agreed that the message carried just the right amount of nostalgia mixed with promise that would make it irresistible to Finn.
The only part of the plan that had actually been difficult was picking out their outfits. Octavia, Raven, and all of the guys they had convinced to help got to wear all black, and Lincoln had even supplied face paint, making them look like secret agents, or something. Of course, Clarke didn't get to do any of that. She was stuck wearing the shortest pair of shorts any of them owned, as well as a tiny bikini top that was barely covered by a loose, white crop top, hoping that she would work well as bait.
As she left her cabin with Octavia and Raven's encouragement in the background, she had to remind herself that, if everything went according to plan, the outfit would be worth it. With that in mind, she began to feel slightly better when she got to her destination, leaning against the tree and waiting for Finn to show up. She had gotten there early to ensure that everything was prepared and, upon looking up at the fort and seeing Jasper's head poke out and wave down at her, she began to believe that her hard work had paid off.
Keeping in mind that all of her friends were around, Clarke wasn't overly startled to hear somebody come walking up behind her, though she couldn't help but flinch when Finn appeared in front of her, stepping closer than necessary and leaning down for a kiss.
"Finn, I-" she stuttered before he could do anything, not having prepared for him to be so forward.
"I got the note, I thought that meant we're cool," he said, realization dawning on his face. "Unless you were just lying to get me out here?"
Clarke hadn't counted on him guessing their plan so quickly, so she took a deep breath and channeled her best acting skills before she continued. "No Finn, that's not it at all. I really want to believe that we can still be together, but we've got to talk, okay? You've got to be more honest with me."
"You're right, Clarke, I'm so sorry about all of this," he sighed, sounding too sincere for her liking. "You deserve so much better, and if you just give me a chance I'll show you. Things are complicated with Raven, but you and I have something special."
She paused there, and was just beginning to feel guilty about their plan for revenge when Jasper made his move. A malicious scratching noise came from the tree fort, making Clarke jump even though she'd been expecting it.
"What was that?" She asked, her voice sounding harsher than she'd intended, which she hoped would contribute to the overall affect.
"Probably just an animal," Finn reassured her, but seconds later Jasper started up again, this time also shuffling his feet, making it clear that whatever it was, it was bigger than most of the animals found in their forest.
"Somebody's up there," Clarke whispered, grabbing his arm and darted her gaze around sharply, hoping that Finn would mistake the excitement dancing through her eyes for fear.
"You want to head back?" He sounded hesitant, which Clarke took as a sign that their plan was working.
Clarke pretended to consider that for a few seconds, before she shrugged. "You're probably right about it being nothing- we could just keep walking?"
He nodded in agreement, and Clarke let Finn lead her the short distance back to the path before he grabbed her hand and they continued down it side by side. Just as Clarke noticed Finn starting to relax beside her a twig snapped behind them and, whether or not it was intentional, it was enough to put him back on guard. When the trees around them continued to rustle, it took everything in her for Clarke not to burst out laughing, both at her friends' antics and at Finn's response to them.
"Clarke, you hear that, right?" He looked around nervously, seemingly questioning his own sanity.
"What, the trees?" Clarke feigned innocence.
"It sounds like somebody's following us," he insisted, stopping and keeping a firm grip on her hand that he still held, forcing her to stop walking as well.
As planned, the second they stopped moving all of the noises stopped too. Clarke made a show of listening to what was going on around them, before raising her eyebrows in a way that clearly indicated she didn't hear anything, hopefully making him feel stupid in the process.
He sighed then, apparently giving up, and they were about to start walking again when a different noise filled the forest. At first it was the quiet sound of something tapping meticulously to a repetitive beat, but then it picked up, seemingly coming from all around them.
Clarke looked up at him then, hoping once again that he would buy into her fear. "What the fuck is that?"
"I don't know… It's got to be an animal or something…" He trailed off not sounding confident in his convictions but still listening intently. "It sounds like rocks or something…" He said, before realizing the implications behind those words.
"What," Clarke laughed uneasily, "You mean like in the story? Murphy's a legend- something to scare the kids with; he doesn't actually exist."
"You're right," he agreed, looking around one last time before turning back to her and going completely pale when he did. "Clarke, behind you." He stuttered, pointing to something vaguely in that direction.
Slowly twisting to look behind her, in the distance Clarke could see the silhouette of something that looked human, only much bigger. Making a show of being surprised, she stumbled into Finn, who grabbed her arms and looked down at her, as if he was waiting for direction. "RUN," she half shouted half gasped, pushing him backwards and causing him to stumble slightly, before he took the hint and bolted down the path they came, not giving Clarke a second glance in the procedd..
Clarke couldn't help but feel put-off at how quickly Finn ran form the danger and his willingness to leave her behind, but she brushed it off with a laugh, realizing that she had dodged a huge bullet.
The next part of their plan simply required her to go meet Raven and Finn at the end of the path for the final showdown, but she had figured she had a few minutes, wanting to give the two of them a little bit of time to themselves. Because of that, she decided to take the longer way back, and stepped into the forest, not particularly paying attention to anything when she ran directly into another person, who then broke her fall when they tumbled to the ground.
It took a couple of seconds for her to get her bearings, and when she did she realized that she was lying on top of the last person she had expected to see that night.
"Bellamy?" She asked, knowing that he hadn't played a part in their plan and had no good reason to be in the forest. "What are you doing here?"
"I should be asking you the same question," he hissed back, the venom in his voice stinging her more that she'd like to admit, as well as making her realize, once again, that she was still lying on top of him, in very, very little clothing.
"What are you talking about?" She treaded carefully, knowing that Bellamy could be downright mean when he was in one of his moods, which appeared to be the case.
"Nothing Clarke," he said, shaking his head and sitting up, shifting her so that she was on the ground beside him. Though his anger was obvious, she couldn't help but notice his eyes as they ran up and down her body, checking for injuries, before he once again looked at her face. Of course, their eye contact didn't last for very long, but as he stood up and began to walk away, he called out behind him, "I'm glad you and Finn sorted everything out, by the way."
"Bellamy Blake, I'm going to ask you one more time, what the fuck are you talking about?" Even though Clarke was still sitting on the ground where he had left her, Bellamy turned around at that and she realized that the ice in her own voice was likely only rivaled by the fire in his.
"You and your boyfriend got back together; I heard you guys talking. You're really stupid enough to think that he'll be honest with you? You really think he'll change?"
Clarke had been prepared to explain everything, but she forgot all of that the second he called her stupid. She saw red, and before she knew it she had moved from her spot on the ground and was standing right in front of him with a finger pointed at his chest.
"How dare you," she hissed, knowing that her murderous gaze was getting her point across, but wanting to yell at him anyways. "You eavesdrop on my private conversations, and then you come and find me just to judge me? You don't bother asking for my side of the story? What do you think I am, some stupid kid? I hate to break it to you Blake, but it's not up to you to tell me how to live my life."
"Well, somebody probably should! Jesus Clarke, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" He bellowed the last part, throwing his hands up in the air and moving so that he was even closer to her, looking down at her in a way that most people would find intimidating.
"THAT'S none of your business," Clarke laughed, honestly having no idea why they were even fighting, or why Bellamy cared to begin with, but not particularly caring anymore, instead just hoping that it would be over soon.
"LIKE HELL IT ISN'T." Bellamy grabbed her arm in a hold that was firm but not painful and spun her around, clearly having more to say to her. He took a visibly deep breath, calming down slightly before he started talking again. "Clarke, he doesn't deserve you. He's not a good guy, can't you see that? Look, if Wells or your dad were here-"
"No." Clarke said, not willing to listen to anything that came after that. "You don't get to tell me anything about them. They're not here anymore, so they don't have a say in what goes on in my life. And neither do you."
She pulled her arm out of his grasp at that, and continued to look into his eyes just long enough to see regret starting to form there, before she turned around and walked away, waiting until she was out of his line of sight before she started jogging.
Bellamy regretted just about everything he had said to Clarke, but he wasn't left alone with his thoughts for very long. Hearing something rustle in the forest behind him, he turned around to find Octavia and Lincoln coming out from behind a tree and he groaned, realizing that they had likely heard everything.
"Way to go, Bell," Octavia said with sarcasm dripping from her voice, and irritation covering her face.
"What are you doing out here, O?" He asked, not bothering to hide how tired his voice suddenly sounded, and ignoring the man beside her entirely, choosing not to acknowledge the fact that they were holding hands.
"The same thing Clarke was doing. And Raven. And Jasper, Monty, and Miller, actually," she snapped, showing her protective side.
"What are y-" Bellamy started, not bothering to finish the thought when it occurred to him just how wrong he'd been in his accusations. "Fuck."
"Yeah," Octavia said, not showing any sympathy whatsoever. "She was setting up, not getting back together with him. God, do you really think Clarke would do that to somebody?"
"I don't know, O, she sounded pretty damn convincing," he said, sounding more and more frustrated and defensive by the second. "Fuck."
"Yeah, well you had better sound pretty damn convincing when you apologize to her."
"What?" That caught him off guard. He'd fought with Clarke tons of times before, but neither of them had ever apologized- both of them were too proud for that, so they would usually spend a few days sending each other bitter glances before eventually getting over it and never speaking of the topic again.
"You really think she's going to forget this any time soon, Bell? Really? You brought up Wells and her dad just to prove your point. You fucked up," she said bluntly. "You know, I love you and all, but I'm on Clarke's side for this one."
Instead of replying to that, Bellamy took a step back and leaned against a tree, putting his hands to his face and sighing into them. When he looked back up, Octavia was leading Lincoln past them, with Octavia ignoring him completely, while Lincoln gave him a sympathetic shrug that only served to make him feel worse about the fight he had started.
NOTE- I wrote this chapter 7 completely different times and I'm still not 100% happy with it, but I figured it was about time that I moved on to the next one, so here goes nothing!
