A/N: So, I reread the first chapter, and my writing isn't what it used to be, but hopefully this chapter will be a little better. This chapter is also a little longer than the last one. I really hope you all enjoy my work, and if you would like to review it, I really would love that.

Clarke

The sun was heading towards the horizon when I walked out of the dropship. Shit, how much of the day have I missed? It was well into the afternoon and Bellamy woke me up around dawn. No wonder I was so tired, I barely slept the night before, or the nights before that, getting 4 hours a night, at most. Most of the camp was winding down for the day, having something to eat or just sitting down, relaxing. All the hunting and scouting parties who ventured outside the gates had returned not long ago. I spot Octavia near the campfire in the middle of camp; she's patching up Monroe, who looked like she'd seen the bad side of some of Earth's not so friendly plants.

"Hey Octavia, Monroe." I smile at both girls in turn, settling on Monroe, last. "Monroe, you alright? Why didn't you just come by the med bay if you're hurt?" Monroe broke eye contact, and looked down at her shoes.

Octavia answered for her, "Well, you know when Bellamy dragged me off earlier? To ask about Miller?" I nodded my confirmation, "Yeah, well he told me to keep everyone clear from the med bay so you could concentrate on Miller. He said to use the excess medical supplies you keep in your tent to attend to anyone injured from other hunting trips." She finished the bandage on Monroe as she spoke to me. She turns to Monroe, "All done; now you know what poison sumac looks like now, without all the pretty little flowers." She laughed, getting a smile from Monroe as she left. As I watched Monroe walk away, I could feel my anger rising. I turned back to Octavia.

"Doesn't your brother trust that I can keep my shit together under pressure and not get distracted by the others? Am I that incompetent?"

"Of course he doesn't think that," her tone placating, my expression only hardens at that and she backtracks, "Seriously, Clarke, he doesn't think that. He told me that he just thought that you didn't need the extra pressure. He knows how run off your feet you are and with Miller in the condition he was… He thought after you finished with him, that you should get some rest instead of patching us all up 24/7. I agree with him, Clarke, you're exhausted. You can barely stay upright now."

She had a point; I was starting to sway as she spoke to me. I sat down in the spot Monroe had vacated and Octavia handed me a ration pack. She was quiet while I ate some nuts and berries from the last gathering expedition made a few days ago, sneaking glances at me as if to check that I had calmed down. With the food in my stomach, my anger at her and Bellamy now seemed irrational, and I was embarrassed over my outburst.

"I'm sorry, Octavia, I know you didn't mean anything bad by it. You or your brother. I guess I'm just tired…" Octavia gave me a superior smile, almost as if she was saying I told you so.

"Go get some rest, Clarke. I can handle these crazies for a while, but if anything major comes up, I'll get you." She lays a hand on my arm, a silent promise, and then she looks me over. "Hmm, on second thought, you might want to go wash up before you do anything else."

I look down and see myself covered in Miller's blood. How had I not noticed it all? It was everywhere. I laugh, "I think you have a point. I know the perfect place to wash up." I think of the creek Finn and I found when looking for Jasper. It is close by and has easy access and isn't deep enough for me to need to know how to swim. There was just one problem. I turn to Octavia, but I don't have to tell her anything. She read my expression and deduced the problem.

"How far away from camp is it?"

"Close, but not close enough that I could go alone, let alone sneak past the guards." I look over towards the wall and see several kids along the perimeter with guns in their hands, watching the outside like hawks. Eyes just as sharp and weapons just as deadly.

"Well, luckily for you, you have me on your side. I know the perfect place to sneak out from." I turn to her and smile. So she has been sneaking out of camp, I knew it.

"And will you cover for me with your brother if he asks?" Not that I expected Bellamy to be keeping tabs on me, but there was no harm in having a back-up plan, in case he decides to be his control freak self, needing to know where everyone is at all times.

"Of course I will, just follow me, my dear, and I'll have you out of here in a flash." She gave me a quick wink.

We both get up and walk towards her tent, but instead of going inside, we go behind it, to the wall. But this part, guards didn't frequent, because of the proximity of the tents. Clearly, Octavia had used this to her advantage. She pried open a section of the wall to let me out.

"Okay, as long as you travel straight out in this direction until you get out of their eye line, and you do it quickly and quietly, you should be safe from them seeing you. It'll be harder now, since it's still light, but I reckon you've got this. Be careful of the tripwire, hit that, and you'll probably get shot if you don't call out quick enough." She handed me a flashlight to use when it got darker. "Good luck." She looks me over again, "I would hug you, but you're all gross right now." We both laugh, and she hugs me anyway.

"Thank you, Octavia. I owe you big time."

"Damn right you do." She laughs again while ushering me out the wall.

I venture outside the wall alone for the first time in a while. I had been so couped up in the med bay, rarely leaving the camp at all. The freedom felt amazing. I gave Octavia a quick wave before she shut the makeshift gate. I sneak past the tripwire and out of the eye sight of the guards within a couple of minutes and head towards the small lake. The walk is invigorating, I haven't felt so alive in so long. It's hard to remember this kind of freedom. I certainly never had it on the Ark. Sure, everyone jokes that I'm the Princess who grew up wanting for nothing, not having to know what real hardship is, but it's not true. Having that much pressure on you to be perfect all the time. I was a puppet, I had no control; I had no life. Here, on this godforsaken planet, is the first place that I can actually be free to do what I want. Bellamy, with his whole, "Whatever the hell we want", philosophy understood that, as crazy as that sounds. Unfortunately, that is no way to live. No way to build a civilisation.

I look up and take in my surroundings, to realise that I've made it to the lake already. My distracted thoughts of Bellamy and my old life blurred my senses and I didn't notice the time passing at all. The lake is exactly how I remember it, small waterfall cascading into a spacious lake, not overly deep, with crystalline waters. Trees in every direction, providing a beautiful sight at the same time as offering some shelter from prying Grounder eyes. Not that they wouldn't know if I was here if they were actually looking for me. It dawns on me how stupid this little expedition was. I could be killed at any moment, just so I could escape reality for a little while. I shouldn't have left camp alone.

I scan the trees around me as these thoughts bounce around in my head, surprisingly, with Bellamy's voice. He's practically screaming at me how dangerous and stupid this is. Funny, this is exactly the sort of thing he would have done in the beginning. So much has changed, especially in him. I stop my thoughts right there. Why am I thinking about Bellamy so much? I've got to get a grip. There's no point in going back now, I'm already out here, and if Grounder's want to kill me, they can damn well wait until I was clean.

I contemplate taking off my blood stained clothes, but decide against it at the moment. I removed my shoes and socks and waded into the water. It was so refreshingly cool that I nearly collapsed into its watery embrace. The water flows around me as I scrub Miller's blood from my skin and clothes, tinging the water with red. I relax like this for a while, just enjoying the feeling of the water, washing away the dirt, grime and blood, but also washing away my worries and fears. I feel perfectly safe in my little paradise. I float on my back and look up at the sky, noticing how dark it was getting. Fuck, how late was it? Octavia must be getting worried by now, and other people would have noticed I was gone. Unless they thought I was sleeping. I rushed out of the water. Yes, they'll think I'm sleeping, Octavia will cover for me, I know she will. But what if Miller gets worse? Bellamy will certainly look for me then… I'm so screwed. I clamp down on my thoughts. Okay, first things first, get back to camp.

With all these thoughts rushing through my head, I don't notice the trap at the side of the lake until I triggered it. A cold trickle of fear went down my spine as I made contact with the tripwire and fell to the ground. I waited for the pain, yet nothing happened. I breathe a sigh of relief and hoist myself up. I walk a couple of steps forward when I was hit in the chest by something. A shriek of pain was wrenched from my throat as I was hurled down the bank of the lake and into the water.

Everything hurts. Where am I? I open my eyes and I can't see anything. It's practically pitch black and the sky too covered with clouds to allow much light from the moon or stars, only the tiniest amount filtered through to allow for me to make out shadows of the things around me. Why does everything hurt? I take in a haggard breath and my chest screams with fire, and suddenly my throat burns with it to. Make it stop. That's when I notice the wetness that hadn't subsided. I was still at the lake. Fuck. Octavia would be going out of her mind with worry by now. Surely she's dobbed me in to Bellamy. Please make it stop. Shit, fuck, damn it! At least they'll be looking for me; I won't be stuck out here. I try and move out of the water, but I'm stopped by the force of the pain. It causes me to cry out. I move my right arm slowly towards my chest and touch something solid that wasn't my flesh, the minutest vibrations causing me to shout in agony. I'm begging, please, I can't take it.

That's when I hear a vague sound in the distance. The pain, it doesn't end. It's not a rustle of leaves, or the breaking of a stick. It's not the sound of an arrow being notched in a bow, or a knife being pulled from its holder. It sounds like a voice. Put me out of my misery.

"Princess! Clarke! Please! Where are you? Clarke!" Bellamy. I had to let him know where I am. Wait, he shouldn't be calling out to me like that, the Grounder's might hear him. Idiot, he's given away our position. Well there's nothing I can do about that now.

"Bellamy!" My shout sounds weak to my ears, but the scream of pain from moving makes up for it. Kill me. All is silent, before the sound of someone running gets closer and closer, the breaking of sticks, and the rustling of leaves. The sounds all threaten the approach of someone. Friend or foe. I hope it's Bellamy. It hurts, everything hurts, make it stop. Please.

"She's waking up, again!" Jasper? Why does everything hurt?

"Damn it, Clarke! I'm probably already gonna screw this up; don't make it harder by moving! Please, god damn it!" Octavia? Why is she crying? Why am I not allowed to move? Everything hurts so much.

"Clarke? Princess? Can you hear me? Don't move, okay? You're hurt really badly. Just stay still." Bellamy. He's squeezes my hand as he speaks. The size of the hand enveloping mine and the callouses that graze my skin tell me it's his hand.

What happened? How did I get here? My chest… Oh no. The lake.

I remember right as I black out again.

"Clarke? Wake up. Please, wake up. Do you have any idea how hard it is to run this camp full of delinquents without you? Fuck. Just, please, wake up. I'm the one who needs you now." His voice breaks and he sounds like he's sobbing. I feel pressure on my hand. He's still holding on, squeezing my hand, and willing me to wake up. No, he shouldn't sound like that because of me, he's not allowed to. He needs to know I'm okay, that I can hear him. I force my eyes open a millimetre at a time. I see his face, blurred at first, but he's looking down at our clasped hands and doesn't see that I'm awake. Crap, guess that means Plan B, then.

"Bel… Bellamy?" my voice is croaky and nearly inaudible; I can barely make out what I'm saying, yet he seems to have heard me and his head shoots up immediately. His eyes meet mine, and in that moment, I could see all the worry, fear and pain he was feeling, but also the amount he cared for me that I had never noticed before.

"Oh, thank god." He holds my cheek in the palm of his free hand, "You had me worried there for a minute, Princess." I try to say something but he cuts me off. "No, don't try and talk, you've probably lost your voice. You've been out for a few days and I've barely been able to get you to drink anything."

The look of concern in his eyes makes my stomach do a little flip. "Octavia told me everything, just so you know." With that, my stomach plummeted. There goes my good mood. "I can't believe you went outside the gate by yourself and not tell anyone! She came to me so scared; worried out of her mind that something had happened to you when you hadn't returned and I was the same as soon as she told me. It didn't get any better when I actually found you. You were crying out in pain, with several pieces of wood sticking out of your chest, and you telling me to kill you. It half drove me mad, right then and there." His expression was one of pure anguish. What have I done to our fearless rebel leader?

I squeeze his hand back and he looks down at our hands again. "Who knew it would take you nearly dying for me to actually do something like this, hold your hand that is, even though I've wanted to for so long, now." He lets out a nervous laugh, which brings a smile to my face.

"Well who knew it would take me almost dying to realise that I wanted you to." My voice was still off, but better. He looks up at me in shock, eyes wide, mouth gaping. The sight made me laugh.

"You're not actually suggesting that you have feelings for me, right? Cause that's what I just took from that, Princess."

I roll my eyes at being called Princess, just like I always do, but then I answer him, "For a guy so smart when it comes to people, you really are quite obtuse. Yes, Bellamy Blake, that is exactly what I'm insinuating."

I barely had time to finish speaking before he was kissing me with passion so intense, it would have given the fiery pits of hell a run for its money. His lips were soft, yet demanding. Like a drowning man, deprived of air until this very moment, and he wasn't going to waste it.

We broke apart, both of us breathing heavily, me entrapped in his gaze, "Well that's more like it," I mutter. This brings his trademark smirk to his face as he leans down to kiss me again, gently this time.

Who knew nearly dying would almost worthwhile?

A/N: And that's it for Clarke's perspective! Did you all like it? Feel free to tell me what you think in a review. Next up is Octavia. I should be publishing that in a day or two, depending on how crazy life gets. I'm also gonna finish some of my old fanfictions that I wrote a few years back and putting them up for you all to see, check them out on my page. The first one is up already, it's a Hunger Games/Harry Potter crossover.

Well until next time, stay awesome, readers! x