Author's Note: Happy Saturday! Things with Clarke and Octavia are starting to heat up in this chapter.
Sorry about the wait, by the way. Like I said, I had a few papers due. Anyways, thanks so much for the great reviews, follows and favorites! I can't tell you how much I appreciate it (:
Camp Jaha
Abby is glaring at Raven and Bellamy, waiting for an answer. She has been worrying nonstop about Clarke since she noticed her daughter hadn't returned from Mount Weather. She had quietly sent out a team to search for her, but they returned with nothing. Now that she knows Raven and Bellamy are cognizant of Clarke's whereabouts, she intends to get an answer.
"Raven, have you gone deaf? Where is my daughter?"
The mechanic practically shits herself out of fear, but nevertheless responds with a hint of attitude.
"Don't look at me, I'm still too injured to be harboring a fugitive!"
Bellamy can't help but laugh at this. Raven isn't one to claim that she can't do something. But when Abby shoots him a deadly glare, he immediately stops laughing and earnestly answers her question.
"Abb- Chancellor, neither of us know where Clarke is, honestly. All we know is that she's somewhere in the woods with my sister. I'm sure that they're fine."
Abigail angrily replies, "You're sure? If you don't even know where they are, you can't be sure of anything! There are dangerous creatures out there, not to mention the grounders that left our people to die! If you have any idea where they might've gone, you'd better tell me now. If my daughter dies, you will never again see the light of day."
The tone Abby is using sets Bellamy off.
"Since when do you care whether or not Clarke dies? You sent her down here without any knowledge as to if Earth was survivable! You sentenced her to death. And when Clarke didn't die, we, the 100, we became her family. She did everything in her power to keep us safe from day one. Even when we defied her, she always had our best interest in mind. Don't you dare think for one second that I wouldn't do the same for her now! Not to mention, Octavia is out there too. I wouldn't let anything happen to her—to either one of them!"
By this time, people around camp are stirring. When it comes to defending himself and his friends, Bellamy doesn't have any volume control. He and Abigail are glaring at each other intensely, so only Raven notices the forming crowd.
"Not to interrupt the two of you from murdering each other with your eyes, but I think it would be best to bring this discussion inside the Ark."
Abby breaks eye contact first and looks around at the gathering of people. Bellamy follows suit.
"I'm done with this conversation anyway. I've made my point. Raven, if you need anything, I'll be around." Bellamy doesn't acknowledge Abigail as he walks away.
In an attempt to ease Abby's mind, Raven quietly says, "Clarke and Octavia are tough—they'll be able to handle themselves out there. For now, we just have to give them time and hope they're ready to come back soon." The mechanic walks away to go tinker with something in the makeshift lab—anything to get her mind off of the current situation.
The shocked Chancellor just stands there for a moment, drowning in a pool of worry about her daughter. She knows that the only thing she can do is look for Clarke on her own, but she also knows that getting herself killed would be of no help to her daughter. For now, she will wait. Though she presently despises him, Abby has to trust that Bellamy is right and Clarke is fine.
The Bunker
Octavia wakes up first. Clarke's arm is still wrapped around her, so the brunette doesn't move. She feels Clarke breathing against her back and thinks about the night before. She kissed Clarke. Octavia doesn't really know why she did that. Sure, the other girl is beautiful and strong and caring and intelligent and Octavia is definitely attracted to her, but she didn't choose to kiss Clarke, it just happened. She's not upset about it though—she loved the way the blonde's lips felt, the way they tasted, against her own. Octavia closes her eyes and smiles at the recent memory. She's had feelings for Clarke for quite some time now, feelings that she pushed down after Tondc. But even when she wanted to hate Clarke, Octavia couldn't. She was definitely furious, and she acted like she hated the princess, but she really didn't. Something about the blonde just makes her feel…well, she can't exactly describe how Clarke makes her feel.
Octavia doesn't have any more time to think about it before Clarke yawns, signaling that she is awake. Octavia turns to face her and smiles at those grey-blue, sleepy eyes.
"What're you lookin' at, weirdo?" Clarke mumbles half-consciously.
"Not sure yet," Octavia replies with a laugh.
Clarke loves the sound of that laugh; she always had. There's something special about Octavia Blake, but Clarke can't put her finger on it. She thinks that everything about the other girl is special: her smile, her eyes, her heart, her strength, her tenacity, and damn—that jawline. But Clarke doesn't know why Octavia is so special to her. Whatever the reason, Clarke is happy. Having Octavia's forgiveness means everything to the sky princess. She may still be overwhelmed with regret, but at least now, when she is with Octavia, Clarke can escape those feelings.
"What exactly are you looking at, hm?"
Octavia's question breaks Clarke from her thoughts. The blonde has been staring for longer than she realized, so she redeems herself with a bit of Octavia-style humor.
"Not sure yet."
Both girls laugh and lie in bed for another few minutes before Octavia says what is on both of their minds.
"We stink."
"I've noticed that the wilderness does that to you," Clarke replies sarcastically.
"To the creek?"
"To the creek."
The girls pull themselves out of bed, get dressed, and grab a few towels from one of the supply bins. Octavia then puts some small objects into her satchel and the two head out of the bunker and to the creek.
"So, you're sure there aren't any man-eating snake-monsters lurking around in there?" Clarke asks when they get to the water. She sets the question as a joke, but she is hoping for a serious answer.
"Nope!" Octavia laughs playfully, but she notices the look of worry creeping onto Clarke's face and appends her answer. "I'm just kidding, there's nothing out there. Indra told me which bodies of water to avoid and which ones are safe. This is one of the safe ones!"
Clarke smiles at Octavia's assurance and then takes her clothes off, all of her clothes. A smug look appears on her face when she notices the brunette's perfectly sculpted jaw hanging open. It's a role-reversal of their first time in the water of Earth—minus a few more articles of clothing and the near-death experiences, of course. Clarke makes her way to the middle of the creek, where the water isn't any deeper than four feet.
Octavia closes her mouth when she realizes how idiotic she must look, then she takes off her clothes, grabs the items she had put in her satchel, and wades out to Clarke, who promptly splashes her.
"What the hell, Griffin?"
"I just figured, 'what better way to eliminate the awkwardness of being totally naked than by splashing Octavia,' and I went with it."
"And you say I'm a dork." Both girls laugh, and then Octavia hands Clarke a vial of liquid and a small packet of something that smells like lavender. "Soap and shampoo. I keep a supply in the bunker so nobody else steals it. Clean up, princess."
"How did you-"
"Indra taught me. Surprisingly enough, the Trigedakru value occasional cleanliness." Clarke nods at the response and starts bathing herself, and Octavia feels blood rush to her cheeks. She quickly turns around and starts washing her hair.
Clarke smiles to herself at Octavia's shyness. The brunette is usually the confident one, so seeing her blush is something new. Clarke loves it—so much so, that she decides to make the other girl a little more uncomfortable than she already is.
"The training that you did with Indra must've been intense. I mean, you are really toned. And I know that isn't preexisting from your time spent on the Ark." Clarke moves closer to Octavia and lightly brushes her fingertips across the other girl's triceps before continuing. "I'm impressed, Octavia Blake."
Octavia shudders at the touch. She feels a sudden surge of warmth at her core and instinctively backs into Clarke. The blonde begins to kiss Octavia's neck. The brunette's breathing becomes heavy, wanting.
Clarke is wrapping her arms around the other girl's toned abdomen when she hears a cry of pain. It is barely audible, but Clarke doesn't miss it. She internally punishes herself for forgetting about the bruises.
"Are you ok?" Clarke turns Octavia to face her and sees tears welling in her eyes, which is an answer in itself. She knows that it's too soon for the grounder; too soon for both of them. She consolingly rubs Octavia's arm and then finishes bathing.
When they get out of the creek, the girls dry themselves off with the bunker towels and proceed to get dressed, during which Clarke speaks.
"We're both out here because we need some time, right? So let's give ourselves that time. We'll wait on this relationship stuff until we're ready, ok?"
Octavia finishes dressing and then looks at Clarke with a sly smile. "Relationship stuff? Don't get ahead of yourself, princess."
Clarke can't stop a wide grin from appearing on her face. The name that used to haunt her has taken on a new meaning since Octavia started using it. That girl is truly helping her heal.
"Let's just find some food and get out of here, you dork."
Warmth grows in Octavia's chest upon hearing the name Clarke has recently adorned her with. She smiles back at the blonde, incapable of hiding how much better she makes her feel.
The two girls start walking, thinking about how lucky they are to have found each other.