𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐄─𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐤𝐞¹ (𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠)

31. target practice

Not long after we had seen the explosion, Finn and the others had made their way back into camp. Their arrival elicited a fleury of excitement among the members of camp. The small group's arrival didn't bring all good things however, as Finn entered camp with a clearly ill Raven by his side.

Clarke had whisked the two of them off into the drop ship and Fin hadn't emerged since. I was itching to speak with him, mostly apologize for being such a brat earlier, but I knew he would want to be with Raven for the time being.

So, with Finn preoccupied with Raven and Octavia out of camp, presumably visiting Lincoln, I was left alone, well alone up until Bellamy joined me by the fire.

"Hey." I smiled as I looked up at him.

He gave me a small smile as he scratched the back of his neck, something he seemed to do a lot, "Are you busy?"

I let out a small laugh at his question, "No, I'm not much help to anyone right now." I was still too weak to help fortify our walls more for the attack that we were still convinced would come eventually and Clarke had ordered me to stay out of the drop ship and get some fresh air.

Bellamy cracked as grin as he held up the gun he had been holding, "Wanna learn how to shoot?"

---

The two of us stood outside of camp. Not too far away that it was dangerous but enough so that no one would be put in danger.

Bellamy had set up some cans on a partially rotting log and had drawn Xs on the tin cans to give me a clear target.

"I'll demonstrate first." He announced, lifting the gun and effortlessly firing one shot that hit the target dead on.

I stared at him as he turned to me with a smug grin, "See? It's easy."

I rolled my eyes as he handed me the gun, "Stop showing off Bellamy, it's only me here."

He let out a laugh as I lifted the gun, resting it against my shoulder as I aimed at one of the tin cans and fired. The loud bang of the gun caused me to jump slightly. I looked to the target I had fired at and winced. I had hit the tin can but missed the X.

I turned to Bellamy as I exhaled, scrunching up my face in disappointment which caused him to chuckle, "Try again." He encouraged.

I lifted the gun once again, aiming and then firing. An exasperated sigh flew from my lips when I missed the target completely this time, "I suck." I groaned, turning to see an amused looking Bellamy.

"Here," he said, moving so he was standing behind me. He placed a hand on my shoulder as he locked the other under my elbow, "Hold it a bit higher." he mumbled, lightly guiding the gun so it sat further up against my shoulder.

My heart was racing at the proximity between the two of us. Usually I would be disgusted at even the thought of Bellamy being this close to me but for some reason I wanted nothing more than for the two of us to stay like that.

"Now spread your feet shoulder length apart" he instructed, causing me to let out a shaky sigh as I moved my feet.

His hand dropped from my arm as he cleared his throat, "Now shoot."

I did as he said, I pulled on the tigger and watched as the bullet drove itself directly into the middle of the target. My mouth fell open slightly as I let out a small squeal, turning around and wrapping my arms around Bellamy, "Did you see that!"

His strong arms wrapped around me as he let out a laugh, "I saw it, looks like I have some competition."

It was when he spoke that I realized what I was doing...I was hugging Bellamy Blake? I had no idea what drove me to do it, more importantly I had no idea why I wasn't letting go.

"Bellamy, Avery!" At the sound of Octavia's calling, the two of us broke apart so quickly I swear we ended up on opposite sides of the forest.

Octavia made her way through the trees, as she approached us she let out a huff. If she had noted how close Bellamy and I were just moments ago she thankfully chose to ignore it, "I need to talk to you two." she announced, her eyes moving between the two of us.

Bellamy and I shared a look, my face was still burning with embarrassment as Bellamy spoke, "What's going on?"

Octavia turned to look into the forest for a moment, "I went to see Lincoln and he's not happy with our decision to blow up the bridge."

I had finally calmed myself down enough to speak without my voice cracking, "Well obviously he's not happy, he is a Grounder after all."

Bellamy let out a small laugh as Octavia shook her head, "No, he was talking about some Mountain Men, he said they would come for us all."

"Mountain Men?" Bellamy echoed.

Octavia nodded, biting down on her lip, "He said they'll be furious and that we should get out of here."

Bellamy shook his head in disbelief, "Get out of here? Where are we going to go Octavia? He's just saying that to get us out of the safety of our walls, it's a trap."

"No," Octavia argued, "Lincoln wouldn't do that. If he's worried about these Mountain Men then maybe we should be too."

I let the information Octavia had given us roll over in my mind, I was starting to believe that whoever these other people were, they might actually be a threat to us, "Maybe Octavia's right, Bellamy. We need to be prepared for anything."

Bellamy turned to look at me for a brief moment, seemingly not wanting to meet my eyes for too long, "We already have enough to deal with with the Grounders, there's no need to start worrying over a non-existent threat, end of discussion." he shut mine and Octavia's worries down, not saying another word before turning and stalking off back to camp.

Octavia and I stared at each other once we were alone, neither one of us saying a word until she cracked a small grin, clearly moving past Bellamy's dismissal. "So, do you want to tell me why you were just hugging my brother?"

I felt my face flush as my eyes grew wide, "You saw that?"

Octavia laughed, "Yeah, I saw it Avs. I must admit, I've never seen Bell hug anyone but me and my mom."

My cheeks were burning as I tugged at my fingers, "I was just excited about hitting the target and- I don't know, I wasn't thinking."

Octavia smirked as she wrapped an arm around my shoulder as she steered us back towards camp, "Okay Avs, whatever you say."

-an-

okay this chapter is so cheesy and Im sorry for that but I kinda felt that we needed a cute flirty moment between avery and bellamy

let me know if you liked this chapter! :)

-maddy xoxo