Happy Friday!
There is only one chapter of season 2 after this one! YIKES.
I'm scared. We should ALL be scared. I can't really get far on season 3 until it ends. I'll probably do a bit of Murphy's POV and like some stuff that will happen within the three months between season 2 and 3.
Wintxrfxll is still the best, and if anyone wants a sneak preview of the next chapter, I'll be posting it on Murphiley monday on my tumblr. User handle rileyparkerneedstoshutup, link in my profile.
Waking up in Murphy's arms was the best feeling in the world. It didn't matter that is was getting hot out in the desert, and he was making it feel even hotter. Whenever I was in his arms I felt like the world couldn't get to me.
My hair was starting to take a dreadful turn in the sand. I had never put my hair up, and that fact was starting to catch up with it. When I woke up, I considered putting it all up and out of the way. But then Murphy ran his fingers through it, helping me get the knots out of it while he gave me a quick kiss on the top of my head. I had realized at that moment I had always kept it down partially because he seemed to like my hair down. Not to say that I didn't like my hair down, because trust me. I definitely did. Nobody puts up with this much hair unless they like it.
We were all a little groggy that morning, and for the most part in the beginning we actually stayed with the group. Not to say that the group liked that, because they definitely didn't seem to.
Murphy had tried to keep his distance, but failed miserably after one of the group member's named Harris tried to strike up a conversation with me. Or I don't know, decided to be that one guy who's a fucking creep.
I had been walking, minding my own business as I tried to wake myself up, thinking about how Murphy had ran his fingers through my hair, considering messing it up more so he would do it again, when suddenly I had felt a hand on my shoulder. Which had really scared the shit out of me because everyone who was on the 'is allowed to touch me' list was walking in front of me. (Refer to Murphy and June.)
"Hey." I said extremely loudly, trying to shrug his hand off of my shoulder. "Stop." I said even louder as I tried to lift his hand off my shoulder, getting even more freaked out by the way he was smiling at me. I really needed to learn how to socialize with people, because I'm sure he was trying to be friendly, probably.
As if on queue, Murphy turned around and didn't even pause as he stepped back towards me lividly. With one swift motion he punched Harris' elbow, knocking Harris's hand off my shoulder.
"Hey!" Harris barked, withdrawing his arm to his body as he stared at Murphy. "What was that about?"
"Don't you fucking touch her again or I will rip your arm out." He hissed, looking at Harris like if he tried it again he was going to definitely do it.
"John!" Daddy Jaha scolded, stopping his walking to look at Murphy.
Without another word from Murphy he quickly grabbed my hand and lead me far away from Harris to walk with him instead. After a moment the rest followed, and as I walked past June and Breton she raised a brow as if to say 'I told you so.'
It didn't even matter to me, though. It probably should have, but it didn't. I hadn't wanted Harris to touch me, and Murphy had solved that problem for me. Not really the best way to solve a problem, but still. If Murphy hadn't been there, I'm sure I probably could've fixed the problem myself. But it was nice, being able to rely on someone to protect you. Having someone on my team.
"Do you have a 'Riley needs to be rescued' alarm in your brain or something?" I asked Murphy as he finally slowed down, having made enough room between us and the group.
"Why is it that you are consistently in trouble?" Murphy rebutted as he let out a deep breath, looking at me from the corner of his eye.
"I have been wondering that exact same thing this whole time we've been on earth." I admitted, shrugging and looking out in front of us. "Do you think Harris meant any harm by putting his hand on my shoulder?"
"I really don't fucking care if he did or didn't." Murphy admitted, his grip on my hand tightening. "He shouldn't have touched you, regardless."
"Man, we are both so weird." I finally admitted as I let out a deep huff, tilting my head down slightly to let hair fall into my face, just to swish it out of my way. Hair is so much fun, I can't believe I had thought about putting it up.
"What do you mean?" Murphy asked, and I could feel his eyes on me.
"I mean, I should theoretically be like, mad at you or something, right?" I started, turning my head slightly to look at him.
Damn, Murphy was beautiful. Even covered in sand, and with his hair nearly in dreadlocks it was so dirty. Whenever his intense blue eyes stared at me, it felt like he could see right through me.
"Like, I should be like 'Hey, I had it.' or 'You didn't need to do that, he wasn't doing anything.' But, honestly, I'm happy you did it." I said as I shrugged at him, failing miserably at stopping a smile from creeping onto my face as I looked at him. "Because I know that's how you show that you care about me."
Murphy let out a deep sigh, looking away from me. "It's probably not the best way to show I care about you though, right?"
But I wanted his eyes back on me, so without even worrying about the consequences, I brought my free hand up to his face, resting my hand on his cheek and gently pulling his face back to look in my direction. Murphy looked blankly at me, waiting for me to speak.
"It isn't the best way, but I definitely like it." I admitted, smiling at him as I watched a smirk grow on his face. I let go of his cheek, satisfied with the new expression on his face.
"You like the idea of violence?" Murphy teased, letting go of my hand slightly to let our fingers intertwine together as he continued smirking down at me.
I shrugged, "Theres something about violence, I just get pumped." I said, smiling at him before feeling the blush slowly tinge my face as I added, "It's like my fight of flight response around you gets messed up, because when you get mad I want to get mad at what you're mad at, and then kiss you."
"Well," Murphy let out a chuckle as he yanked my arm, pulling me closer to him to whisper in my ear, "If it makes you want to kiss me, I'll have to do it more often."
My breath hitched as his face lingered close to mine, as I hesitantly turned my head towards his. I couldn't help but look down at his lips, that were only inches away from mine. As my eyes worked their way back to his, I noticed his eyes on my lips as well.
Murphy quickly brought his lips to mine, and although the kiss was so short we didn't even need to stop walking, I savored it. But, I savored every moment I had with Murphy.
"K-I-S-S-I-N-G." June sang from behind us, and I couldn't help but let out a snort as Murphy lifted his head away from mine. I turned around slightly to see Breton and June walking behind us, and Breton rolled his eyes before quickly nudging her in the side. "What?" She asked Breton as she looked at him offendedly.
As usual, I had no clue what Breton had said, but I can only assume it was along the lines of, "Let them be teenagers, June."
Because she let out a deep sigh before rolling her eyes at him and then looking back at me and muttering, "Sorry."
It was nearing mid afternoon when things actually got a little more interesting. I had fallen behind a bit up another dune, and Murphy had lagged behind with me. At the top of the dune, Jaha stopped, looking around.
"Sir, you recognize anything?" Caspian, one of the members Jaha had recruited asked.
"The tent was near here, I'm sure of it." Jaha said confidently, slowly walking down the dune behind June and Breton.
The rest of the crowd stopped at the top, and Murphy and I quickly maneuvered around them.
"What's a matter, you guys got some place better to be?" Murphy taunted as he started descending down the dune. We reached up to Jaha, Breton and June fast, which I found to be a relief. The more distance between us and those others, the better. They certainly didn't like us, and Murphy's taunts and threats were not helping.
Jaha stopped, looking in the close distance. I followed his gaze to see a cart. I raised a brow as we all stopped around him, looking at it.
"See anyone?" Murphy asked, and Jaha shook his head before starting to walk again.
"Stop!" Breton hissed, and we all stopped dead in our tracks, looking back at him nervously. He motioned for us to stay still as he quietly started walking towards the cart, drawing an arrow quietly.
That man was like the definition of stealth. He made no sound, and the first noise I actually had heard from his direction was when he released the arrow. A thud came from behind the cart, and Jaha ran to see what had happened.
We all quickly caught up, and I looked around the cart hesitantly. I hadn't expected to see the body of a woman. She must've been a few years older than me. Well, not anymore at least. She had died instantaneously, Breton had shot an arrow through her head.
"Remind me not to piss off Breton." Murphy whispered to me, looking at Breton warily.
"Was that really necessary?" Jaha asked, sounding like a complete dad as he frowned at Breton.
Breton grunted, putting away his bow as he nodded. "That tattoo on her face. She was a thief. She would've tricked us into helping her, and then robbed us blind. We must hurry, I doubt she was alone."
Damn. Breton knew his shit. Breton turned to head away, not even bothering to see if we were following. Jaha was the first to follow, and then Murphy.
June and I shared a glance before we started walking, and I couldn't help but ask, "Is Breton always this uptight about strangers?"
"Mostly." June said as she shrugged. "But I trust his decisions. He's lived here his whole life, he knows who we can and can't trust." June continued as we caught up to Murphy and Jaha, whom were only five feet behind Breton.
"He also knows the way to the city of light." Jaha added, flashing a smile back at us. Man, Jaha was creepy sometimes. A creepy dad.
Breton let out a deep sigh before saying, "I said I had a general idea." Breton slowed down, letting us catch up with him. "I grew up on stories about the city of light. In every story they'd say you had to follow the north star to find it."
June smiled at Breton, quickly jumping away from my side and next to his. She grabbed his hand, and I could tell they were both smiling at each other. What dorks.
"Well, stories are enough for me, I guess." I mumbled as I watched the two of them.
"Better than the 'nothing but fate' Jaha was going to lead us on" Murphy whispered, surprising me when he brought his face close to mine to whisper it in my ear. His face lingered by mine until he saw a smile on my face.
Murphy then grabbed my hand like he had always. It felt significant now, and I started realizing every little thing we had done as kids was almost like foreshadowing. I mean, besides the fact that I hadn't known I'd go to earth. Although, I had hoped when we were kids that we'd get married. But that's just dumb kid stuff.
After a few minutes of comfortable silence, we fell into step with June and Breton. June smiled at me, and I smiled back. Murphy on the other hand rolled his eyes, and looked at Breton.
"So, I gotta ask," Murphy began, "What really made you ditch your home for us?"
I couldn't deny it, it was a good question. It had definitely been on mind the past day, but I would never admit that after I had seen Breton with that bow.
Breton let out a deep sigh. "My whole life I've been told I had to be a monster to survive."
Ouch. I had always assumed growing up as a grounder must've been rough, but that sounded intense. Even after all the stories last night, he had never mentioned something like that.
"I guess meeting June made me realize that wasn't true." Breton finished, and damn. I had never guessed that Breton would be the master of smooth talking, but after I had heard him say that I understood why June loved him so much.
Breton wasn't afraid to tell us the truth, even if the truth meant he revealed something most people wouldn't admit to anyone. Like the fact that he was supposed to become a monster and ended up wanting to be in love instead.
The walk grew quiet, and although it was a comfortable quiet, I still had wanted to break it. I had so many new sorts of questions to ask Murphy, and as Breton was forced to speed up to talk to daddy Jaha, I found the perfect time to.
"So, were there any girls in your section of the skybox?" I asked quietly, but not quiet enough for June to not hear.
She muttered something in grounder, and quickly jumped ahead to join Breton and Jaha. Well, that fixed that problem.
Murphy chuckled as he watched June fall into step with Breton. "There was only one girl in our section." He said, his eyes flickering towards mine for a moment as he squeezed my hand. "And after your story about Reed's previous roommate, I have a feeling that was the girl that had been brought to my section."
I had never realized that they would do that. That all it had taken for me to see Murphy again would've been to cut my mattress open and nearly slit someone's throat with a spring. Not to say that's a sane thing to do, or anything.
"Hey." Murphy mumbled, yanking my arm to get my attention. "I know where your mind is going, but you wouldn't have wanted to get yourself in my section."
"Don't tell me what I would've wanted." I mumbled back. "I had nightmares every night for the past year when I was on the dropship. Ever since you had turned 17 last year, and I realized your next birthday would be your last. I would've done anything to see you again."
"We never celebrated my birthday." Murphy said changing the topic slightly, "Then again you had been kind of busy recovering from intense brain swelling when I had my birthday. Your birthday will be in a couple months, though."
"Should I have gotten you a gift?" I teased. "I'm sure I can find something. Maybe a nice rock?"
Murphy chuckled, and I watched as he shook his head. His thumb stroked the back of my hand. I could tell there were plenty of things he wanted to say, but instead he just smiled at me before shaking his head again and looking out in front of us.
"How many friends did you have in the skybox?" Murphy asked after a long drawn silence.
"Reed, and I guess Monty and Jasper." I admitted, shrugging. "I didn't really hang out with Monty and Jasper as much as Reed did, though. But you know me, I've never really been a social butterfly. I could've had a lot more, though. Finn, Octavia. They were all in my section. But I never bothered to talk to them. A couple times Finn talked to Reed, and I had been sitting next to her when he did. That pretty much sums up most of my social interactions. Monty and Jasper were fun to be around, though. The second Reed laid her eyes on Monty I know they were going to be more than friends."
I forced myself to stop talking, worried that I would cry. Murphy's hand squeezed mine, bringing me back from my memories.
"Tell me more about Reed." Murphy said, and I raised a brow at him.
"I've told you everything about her." I reminded him, my heart feeling tighter.
"It's good for you to talk about her." Murphy said, shrugging and throwing me a half smile. "And I highly doubt you've told me everything."
I let out a deep sigh, feeling my breathing quiver slightly. God, why was Murphy always right?
"Reed loved reading, when we were in the skybox. Those first few weeks, I had been a mess." I looked away from Murphy, and out in front of us. "I had just realized I wouldn't see you again, and I was just depressed. Once Reed had realized I wasn't going to stab her with a mattress spring, she would climb up to the top bunk and read to me. Her favorite thing to read me was Lord of the Rings." I couldn't help but smile at the memory of her changing her voice for every character.
Murphy squeezed my hand, and I looked at him. He smiled back, nodding his head for me to continue. I let out another deep sigh and looked back in front of us. My heart clenched again, and I inhaled a sharp breath. I really didn't want about Reed anymore, because I could feel myself close to shaking.
"Let's talk about you." I said, my head turning to him as I gave him a hopeful smile.
"No, you're not winning that easily, Riley Parker." Murphy said, smiling as he shook his head, dismissing it.
"Fine." I hissed back, squinting my eyes at him as he smirked back. "I'll just talk about things about Reed you're really not. Going. To. Want. To. Hear."
Murphy laughed, shaking his head before raising a brow. "Try me."
"Reed and I synced up periods so fast. Did you know she has a very heavy flow? She was also very prone to yeast-" I said, watching the color drain from Murphy's face as he tried to look away for a moment to recover.
"Rhy-" Murphy started, but I raised an index finger to silence him.
"She would only wear pads. We used to share bras. She would tell me these sexy dreams she had about-" I continued, trying to continue being serious, but failing miserably as I saw the incredulous look on Murphy's face.
"Shut up, Riley." Murphy grumbled, giving me an uneasy glance.
"She would fart only at night. Her farts smelled so badly, too. It was probably all those beans they fed us. Sometimes, she'd warn me by saying 'incoming'. She also could fall asleep in literally any position. Ass in the air, it didn't matter. One time I came into the room and found-" At this point my whole face was red, I was laughing so hard. I could barely breath, I hadn't laughed like that in so long.
"I know you're saying this stuff to prove a point, Rhy." Murphy said, "But you're just proving my point."
I stopped walking, and Murphy looked at me as he squeezed my hand. "What?"
Murphy let out a deep sigh before smirking. "I was trying to have you talk about her and laugh, and think about the mundane times. Cherish them. And even though you were trying to piss me off by talking about weird girl shit, I still got you to laugh. More than laugh, really."
Murphy was right. For a few minutes, I got to laugh about the weirdest memories about Reed. Stuff I hadn't told anyone, for so many more reasons than one.
With Murphy right there, smirking at me, waiting for me to get mad at him, I couldn't help but do the opposite. Sure, I was kind of pissed. But, I was also happy. Insanely happy. He had been right, I did need to talk about the weird little things.
So, it was my turn to close the space between us. I let go of his hand, and then wrapped my arms around his neck, pushing his head down towards mine. I could always feel a different emotion coming from Murphy whenever we kissed. Sometimes he seemed greedy, like he needed the kiss to survive. Other times, like this time, it seemed to take him by surprise, and I could feel how much he cared about me as his lips gently glided against mine.
But, as usual on the journey to the city of light, June's voice stopped us from continuing.
"You can't get mad at me every time I want to embarrass them!" June yelled, and I broke away from Murphy to look at her.
She wasn't even being serious. I don't even understand what she was doing. She was apparently annoyed at Breton because he told her to not do exactly what she ended up doing.
As I let go of Murphy, he let out a small chuckle as he quickly pressed a kiss on my forehead and then grabbed my hand again, dragging me to catch up with an equally embarrassed June and Breton.
As the sun neared falling, I started to get a little bit energized. I mean, I had walked all day so I was exhausted, but as the cool air swept in I found myself wanting to run, and jump around. Murphy had let go of my hand some time earlier, so there was really nothing holding me back.
"What's up with you?" Murphy asked from beside me as he could tell I was wanting to jump out of my skin.
"I want to run." I admitted, shrugging. "I have never ran on sand before." I added as we started to reach the base of another dune.
"Fine." Murphy said, shrugging. But before I could even start I felt him push me back slightly. "I'll beat you to the top."
"Hey!" I yelled, quickly recovering and following him. Running in sand was even harder than running on dirt. Every time you took a step, your foot sunk in a bit. But I was determined to win. If there was only one thing I could say I was at least good at, it was running. I was able to pass him, and I heard him groan as I did.
"Slow down." I heard him yell from behind me, but all I could do was laugh and continue running.
Getting to the top first was exhilarating. I had beat him by a landslide, in my opinion. Once he noticed I got to the top he slowed his pace in defeat. I looked down at everyone as they made their way up the dune, and I couldn't stop myself from jumping up and whooping.
Murphy looked back up at me, a smile spreading over his face when he saw how happy I was. Like when I had ran around the forest, us making our way back and forth to get Monty's still.
And then Murphy looked behind me and all the color and happiness drained from his face. I hadn't even had time to look around me when suddenly a man grabbed me, bringing a knife to my neck.
For the third fucking time on earth, I found myself with a knife to my throat. That couldn't possibly be a normal occurrence for people.
"Riley!" Murphy yelled, and everyone's attention was brought to me, and the man holding a knife at my throat. They all stopped dead in their tracks as the man pushed me a bit, making me walk down the dune in front of him back towards the group.
"Hand over your food, guns, and water." The man demanded. He had a raspy voice, and maybe it was because he had a knife to my throat, but I had a strong feeling he was ugly.
Murphy looked like he wanted to murder the guy behind me. And to be fair, after our conversation a few nights before when he had mentioned he would hurt anyone who hurt me, he probably did want to kill the guy. I certainly wanted the guy dead.
"We don't want trouble." Jaha said as he raised his hands.
"Then hand everything over." The guy hissed back.
It had felt like an hour went by while this guy demanded oddly specific things. He wanted everything in a bag, he wanted everyone to then back up. He wanted me to grab the bag. He wanted everyone to stay where they were while we backed up, all the way up the dune as everyone was forced to watch from half way down. Right when we got at the top I had started to really worry. Not to say I hadn't been nervous before, but for all I knew he was going to kill me, or steal me.
What he had done wasn't the nicest thing, but was most certainly my favorite of the all the possible outcomes. He withdrew the knife from my neck so fast I didn't even comprehend it, and then he whacked me over the head with the blunt end.
Something was wrong with my life. How was it that things like having knives to the throat, and being knocked unconscious were actually repeated offenses?
Everything went black for me, and by the time I finally came to it was dark outside. Someone had carried me down to the base of the dune, and that someone was hovering super close to my face.
It was Murphy. Relief washed over his face as my eyes opened and I groaned. He quickly brought his face closer to mine, placing a kiss on my forehead before sitting back up.
"There, she's up." Were not the first words I had wanted to hear, let alone how rudely Caspian had said them.
"Damn." I groaned, and Murphy started helping bring me to my feet by grabbing my arms and pulling. "Why am I always the one who gets hit over the head unconscious?" I grumbled.
"Are you alright?" Murphy asked as he finally brought me to my feet. He gently brushed my hair, moving it away from my face.
Before I could respond Caspian butted in again, "If she's not, we're leaving her here." Which honestly was a dumb thing to say with how angry Murphy already was.
"Say that again and I'll end you." Murphy spat, and Caspian's mouth dropped. Everyone seemed to stop breathing for a moment, their eyes on Murphy. "In a noncriminal way." He quickly added, giving Jaha a very very slightly apologetic glance. We were supposed to be acting like noncriminals, not like insane kids. And that was his second outburst of the day.
"I'm fine, thank you very much." I said to Caspian, under my breath adding, "Dickweed." Only Murphy had heard it and his eyes met mine and he smiled.
"It's time to go home." Caspian said exasperatedly.
"And where exactly is that?" Jaha asked as he turned away from Murphy and looked at Caspian.
"Sir, I know you're trying to take us to a better place, but look around." Caspian said as he motioned around us, "We've got no food, no water, and we're following some story a grounder heard growing up."
"His name is Breton." June snapped, anger flashing in her eyes as she looked at Caspian. She had been the second closest to me after Murphy, most likely also worried about my wellbeing.
"You need to choose your battles June." I whispered to her, and she turned her head for a moment to glare at me. "Correcting Breton's name shouldn't be one right now." June rolled her eyes and looked back at Caspian.
"We can't be far." Breton spoke up.
"Why should we trust you?" Caspian asked as he looked at Breton, crossing his arms over his chest.
The moment those words came out of his mouth I knew trouble was near happening, and without even thinking I jumped to June, holding her. "Let go of me so I can punch his fucking face off." June hissed to me, trying to wiggle free. We were one outburst away from getting kicked out of the group.
"Wrong battle." I whispered back, holding onto her tighter.
"Breton," Jaha saying Breton's name calmed June a bit, and she stopped fighting me to listen to what he had to say. "If you're wrong all of us will die. If we turn back now, we live."
June tensed again at the idea of Breton being wrong, and I let out a groan.
"So that's it, we've reach the point of no return?" Murphy asked bitterly, taking a step closer to June and I.
"I didn't say that." Jaha replied.
"You pretty much hinted at it." I said under my breath, slowly letting go of June to test if she would try to run again. She didn't, and I let out a sigh of relief.
"John," Once again, hearing Jaha call Murphy 'John' was just weird. "That is the north star." Jaha said, walking closer to us and pointing at a star up above us, towards the dune I had nearly died on. "After you."
I looked over at Murphy and he nodded at Jaha before looking at me. I smiled at him as I turned towards him and walked to him. He smiled at me and then looked behind to June, who sighed deeply before looking at Breton. Breton nodded, and with that we all started heading towards the north, blindly following a star.
"I believe this is what they call a leap of faith." Jaha said confidently as he followed behind us.
I snorted, shaking my head. "Nah, we just really have nothing better to do."
Which was the truth. What else would we have been doing, and what would we have done if we had given up and gone back?
Murphy took a step closer to me as we walked, quietly whispering to me, "I could think of a million better things we could be doing right now." I looked at him exasperatingly. He had that smirk on his face that made my heart do back flips. Still not a good reaction for a heart.
"Really?" I whispered back, rolling my eyes. "I just had the lights knocked out of me. Now is probably not the time for the smooth talking."
From beside me I heard Murphy chuckle before getting even closer to me to whisper, "If you insist." He then stepped away and picked up speed, walking in front of us to lead.
I could feel myself finally blushing as I watched him walk away. In all honestly I had no clue when a right time would be, but I had hoped it would be soon. And as Murphy turned his head, giving me another smirk before looking back to the north star, I realized we both wanted it and needed it to be soon.
I also realized just how important this journey was to him. The group treated us all like criminals, but him more importantly. Not to say that him acting out wasn't the reasoning behind it, but still. Some part of Murphy needed a city of light. So, all of me wanted him to get it.