Red Lighter ✧ John Murphy

XXXIV - So Have You

March 14th, 2016

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MA BESTIE ANNAQUEEEEEEEE

I'm sorry guys. I know you're gonna hate me, but just bear with me for a while, okay? :')

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Chapter Thirty-Four

I hadn't spoken to Murphy since that night, not that he really even noticed.

He was getting closer with Emori, and was drifting away from me. It seemed that our promises to each other at the lighthouse and at ALIE's mansion had long since been forgotten. At least, his promises had been.

Murphy was spending time with Emori and stealing from locals, who were in turn searching for them. That didn't matter to me, though. It was their fault if they got caught. I stayed back at the cave we had found and made into our shelter, making weapons and making fires and doing everything that those two seemed to think was above them.

Murphy's feelings for me seem to have faded, and quite frankly, so have mine. My opinion of a person can change on a dime depending on their actions, and right now, he was not the man I knew. He was not the man I fell in love with.

Thoughts of leaving had crossed my mind more than a few times. The two of them certainly wouldn't miss me, so what was holding me there? Even though I didn't feel as much for him as before, I knew that it was Murphy.

I still cared about him. I wanted to keep him safe, even if he didn't feel the same way anymore.

Sometimes flames die out, and sadly, that was what was happening to us. I couldn't help it. I would like to say I wasn't at fault, but maybe I was. I was the one that wanted to leave with Emori. I jumped at the chance to get back to Bellamy and Octavia and Raven and Jasper and Monty, and I completely forgot about what Emori had done and tried to do to me. To us.

As the days went by, the thought of returning to Arkadia became more and more appealing. So did the thought of leaving Emori and Murphy and not having to see their love begin to blossom.

So, after a week of being with the two of them, I decided to leave and spare myself the heartbreak. When they returned, I would be gone. And they would be happy without a third wheel.

*

The closer I got to Arkadia, the faster I ran. Images of Bellamy, Ocatvia, Clarke, Raven, Jasper, and Monty all ran through my head the closer I came. They were my friends, and I was finally going to see them again.

Beads of sweat formed on my face while I jumped over fallen limbs and stepped over tree roots as I ran. I almost dropped the bag I had taken from Murphy and Emori's camp, but I held onto it as tightly as I could. It held things in it, important things. One of which was the red lighter.

I was near Arkadia when I suddenly heard loud groaning. Then I heard gunshots.

Arkadia were the only people with guns. I knew that. The grounders didn't have any, and the Mount Weather was gone. There weren't any more people that had firearms. What were they doing? Did they need help?

I found myself at the edge of a clearing, where I saw a group of people with bullet-proof vests covering their torsos and handguns and automatic rifles in their hands. They were coming down a hill. I didn't recognize any of them from afar, until I got a little closer. I saw two that I recognized, but only one was truly important to me. He had his back to me, but he would know who it was. I knew he would.