Because of You

Returned

"Come on," I said to Octavia as gently and lax as I could muster. My skin crawled as my insides burned. "It'll just take a sec"—

I was cut off by the sound of footsteps and I barely had enough time to look over my shoulder before Bellamy rounded the corner.

He still wore that hard, anxious expression, but when his eyes first landed on Octavia and then me, and finally on Jae, it slid from his features. He came to a complete stop, so suddenly that his bag lost its purchase on his shoulder and slipped down his arm. It fell to the ground with a muffled thump. His face read only shock for a moment. And then, it rearranged into one of pure, ardent, fury.

He was over to our small group in just a few strides.

His hands were balled at his sides and they shook with silent tremors. His otherwise tanned face had gone pale, but it was clear to me Jae should've been the most intimidated. Because looking up at Bellamy, he must've realized his mistake; that the little boy he'd used to beat had grown up, into a bigger man than him.

Bellamy inserted himself between Octavia and their father—between me and their father, until I could only see his leathered back and a bit of his profile.

No one said anything but I could feel the heat rolling off of Bellamy. All the times I'd seen him mad before were virtually nothing compared to this. That had just been anger. Perhaps fury. But this...this was rage. And I wondered how Bellamy was maintaining such control over it.

"Maureen will be here to pick you up. Go wait for her," he said, in a voice composed of steel. It took me a moment to realize he was speaking to his sister.

She cast a glance first at him and then at me, as if I had any jurisdiction here.

"But"—

"I said go." he told her, and this time, Octavia heeded the warning in his voice and scurried down the hall.

Only when she was gone did Bellamy force his attention on the other man. But Octavia's absence only seemed to fuel the fury and I saw Bellamy's control slipping.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, his words slow like they were taking an effort in themselves alone.

Jae shrugged. Looked away from Bellamy. Met his eyes again. He displayed all signs of discomfort and shoved his hands in his pockets. I'd seen Bellamy do that over and over and I hated I found a similarity between the two of them.

"A father's got a right to see his children," said Jae tilting his head up in an attempt to make himself just a little taller.

A strained breath came from Bellamy and I saw his shoulders tense even more. "You think you have a right to that title after everything you've done?" he growled, hands shaking and shaking and shaking. "You aren't a father," Bellamy said. He took a small step forward. "You're a coward, who decided the only way to see his little girl was to sneak up on her in school. In public. And now that you have, it's time for you to go."

From around Bellamy, I watched Jae stare back at his son, and though shorter and weathered, it was clear this man was bullheaded. Like a rock lodged in ice. Try to remove it, and the whole surface breaks.

"I'll go," he said. "But I'm not leaving for good. This isn't the last time you'll be seeing me, Bellamy. You'd do best to get used to the idea of having me around again."

I felt the heat build in Bellamy. The fury and hatred, pent up like Pandora's Box.

On instinct, I stepped out from behind Bellamy and planted myself in between them, just enough that if he planned to try anything, he'd have to push me out of the way to deliver it. I couldn't stand the thought of him getting in trouble at school, not after all the work he'd done to get where he was. I couldn't stand the thought of Bellamy losing anything more to this pitiful person who'd already taken more than anyone had the right to.