𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐄─𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐤𝐞¹ (𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠)

78. down

I spent the rest of the day hidden away with Raven in the tech room. The rest of the camp, along with the Grounders were outside training, but I had no interest in that. Instead, I opted to contribute by watching Raven work, and trying to help whenever I could. Mostly, I just stared at the radio, waiting for Bellamy to call.

Raven looked up from what she was doing, glancing at me before turning back to her work, "Haven't you ever heard the saying 'a watched pot never boils'?"

I huffed as I sat back from intently staring at the small device, "Why hasn't he radioed yet?" I wondered. I had been a ball of anxiety awaiting his call. It hadn't even been a day, but it felt far too long.

"They probably aren't even in yet." Raven reassured. She fell silent for a moment before she stopped working, "You really care about him don't you?"

I felt a small blush rise to my cheeks as I looked down at my hands, "Yeah," I whispered, "I really do."

She walked over to me, pulling me into a bone crushing hug, "I love you, Avery. You know you're my little sister, right? Forever."

I smiled as I wrapped my arms around her in return, "I know. And I love you too, and will always be your annoying little sister."

We both broke into laughter, it was the first time I had laughed since Finn.

The remainder of the day was spent laughing with Raven, recalling memories we had from when we were younger, memories about Finn.

I felt better than I had earlier in the day as I made my way to bed that night. There was still the looming worry that Bellamy wasn't okay, but I felt somewhat less stressed after spending the day with Raven.

My stress returned, however, as I walked into mine and Octavia's shared tent. She was sitting on her cot, her head was down, but even then I could see the bruises that littered her face and upper body.

I rushed towards her, my heart dropping, "Tavia, what the hell happened to you?" I demanded, sitting down beside her.

She looked over at me, "Nothing," she muttered.

I scrunched up my face in confusion, "What do you mean nothing? You're covered in bruises. Who did this to you? Because I swear to-"

She let out a small sigh,  "Aves, I'm fine! It was part of training. I-I wanted to prove myself to Indra, to the Grounders and I met my match...that's all."

I froze as I stared back at her, "You wanted to prove yourself to them?" I felt myself getting angry again, "Why would you need to prove yourself to them?"

Octavia stared back at me in shock, "Avery, come on. You can't seriously be getting mad at me for this."

I stood from the bed throwing my hands up, "They killed my brother Octavia, they tied me up and tortured me for something I didn't do, they-"

She cut me off, her eyes darkening at my words, "Your brother killed a whole village of their people."

My face fell as I felt my emotions getting the better of me, "Guess I know who's side you're on." I whispered, tears filling in my eyes, "Have fun with your new friends."

With that I turned on my heel and marched off down the hall. I could hear Octavia calling after me but I didn't stop. I knew deep down that I was being irrational, however I couldn't force myself to see Octavia's side of things, not now at least.

---

The next morning I was back with Raven as she worked away. I had spent the night in one of the common rooms, not wanting to spend the night with Octavia. The longer I went without speaking to her, the worse I felt about how I had treated her. However, I wanted to give her her space, so I decided to wait it out just a bit longer.