if you've got this book in your library or you see this notification, this probably seems really random. i haven't updated this story since 2020, i was 19 almost 20 and now later this year i'll be turning 23. a lot of time has passed since i finished this book, but recently i've had some time on my hands, which has meant falling back into nostalgic shows and movies, the 100 being one of them.
granted, i've only rewatched parts of the first three seasons, but my love for the character that is john murphy definitely hasn't gone away. he's one of my favourite fictional characters ever i think. and while i haven't been active on wattpad in a few years, i always will have a soft spot for this story and nova and murphy's relationship. so i decided to write an alternative ending because i realised just how much i missed writing them. the original ending to the story left them no longer together, which i think is more realistic. i also wanted to respect emori's character in the 100 universe, so originally wrote that with her in mind too. but there's just something about nova and murphy that i can't let go of, which is why this chapter came to be.
i don't expect this chapter to get much response as it's been a while since this story and the 100 finished, but i wanted this to be out there in the world somewhere. i couldn't just keep it to myself, so if you're reading this and you're still here, i hope this chapter warms your heart a little.
Sometimes, in very rare glimpses, the world slips away when it's just the two of them. They aren't at war, their people don't hate each other, they can live peacefully. This is one of those moments. The birds singing their morning song in the background of their laughter, the sun on their faces and the slight breeze tickling their skin. These are the days John Murphy dreamed of.
The lake perfectly meets the sun, with the rays bouncing off the gently lapping waves. It emulated calmness, something he has secretly craved ever since he was a young boy, despite his image on the outside pertaining to something opposite. The moment itself is picturesque, a painting that could be sold for millions. Little did he know, his idea of peace would come with a girl who he has met before, someone who he never thought he would see again.
"What are you staring at? The view is in front of you." Nova notices his eyes dancing all over her as she sits admiring the view, the tiniest smile forming on her lips because she can sense the effect she has on him, and continues to despite all the time that has passed between them.
Caught off guard, Murphy tears his eyes away from her and back onto the pristine water in front of them. It hasn't been long since they first reunited in Polis after six months of being apart, not knowing if each other were alive or dead. That constant feeling of dread was eating him up inside, and he wouldn't ever admit it because he's John Murphy, but there wasn't a day that went by where she didn't consume his thoughts. Sometimes not even out of lust, longing or love, but rather out of fear. He was so terrified of her not being on Earth anymore that he didn't in any possibility want to think of her as being dead. He tried so hard to push those thoughts out of his mind, but he would, for brief moments, find himself grieving for her.
So part of his mind cannot comprehend that Nova, his first love, is sitting a few feet away from him right now, at the lake she promised to take him to all those months ago.
"You know, you haven't changed," Murphy softly speaks, breaking the prolonged silence between them as he takes another glance at her. Nova's eyes flicker between the water and Murphy, scared to look into his gaze fully out of the fear of everything resurfacing.
"I can't tell if that's supposed to be a compliment or an insult." Nova stifles a laugh, sitting up on her arms slightly. They're perched on a sand bank just before the sand meets the lake, a dainty basket with all sorts of fruit sits in between them.
"Take it as you will."
Nova draws a breath. After what seems like an eternity, she turns her head to see meet Murphy's eyes. He was already looking at her, but to her, it was the sort of gaze that was home. Her home. A sweet smile appears on her face, the corners of her eyes creasing, as a slight feeling of embarrassment creeps into her mind. She can't help it, they still have so many things that are left unsaid before the mere thought of anything happening between them can occur.
"I should've known you'd end up in Polis. It's fit for a King." Nova pokes fun at his ability to somehow end up in a state of luxury, while simultaneously picking blueberries out of the basket and eating a couple.
"What can I say? I'm good at pretending to be important." Ah. There's the Murphy she knew and loved.
It was during the final battle between ALIE and what remained of the normal population that they saw each other again for the first time since Nova was banished. She had found her way to Polis after months of surviving in the woods by herself, dodging Grounders from every clan imaginable by trying to make herself as invisible as humanly possible. After months of surviving off so little, she was beginning to become frail, weak. Her bones were becoming more visible as the days went on, and she realised that if she wanted to live, she couldn't continue like this. Her only other option, the choice she didn't want to have to make, was to find Lexa.
Nova knew convincing Lexa to take her in wouldn't be the hard part, it would be avoiding the Grounders surrounding Polis. Her own people. A kill order is not taken lightly in any clan and risking her life to reach a potential safe haven was dangerous, even for her. But she had no other choice. No other choice, ironic, she thought. Unless she wanted to die out there, which wouldn't exactly be in the name of the John Murphy survivors move attitude she adopted.
It was when she got to Polis that she realised her journey into the city wouldn't be as hard as she once thought. There, by the fruit stands, she could just about make out the figure of her former best friend. The only thing that had changed about him was his hair, it had got ever so slightly longer and grown out. But it was still Harlo, and he was standing within metres of her, blissfully unaware of the girl clad in disguise behind him.
Their reunion was everything she had dreamed it to be. He never once looked at her like he didn't think she was an angel, and time didn't change that. Although, their celebrations didn't come until he had got Nova into the city and through those walls. A nagging thought in the back of her mind constantly wanted to ask Harlo about Lincoln and Murphy, to ask if they were at least okay, but she refrained. She wasn't quite ready for the truth, and she realised she never would be.
The easiest part came when she found Lexa. It was at that moment she knew she was going to be safe, that she didn't have to fight anymore. Her kill order was lifted with immediate effect, with Lexa never forgetting that she owed Nova a favour from all those years ago. The overpowering sense of relief came in the form of passing out. She needed rest, a lot of it, and Harlo was there waiting for her once she woke up.
Nova could've got used to the comfort. It was a foreign feeling at first: her own bedroom with an actual bed, a place to herself where she didn't feel threatened with her life. Eventually, she got so used to the comfort that she didn't leave the room for days, perhaps out of fear, or maybe because she didn't want to face her reality. Harlo only ever told her what she wanted to know, and at that point in time, she didn't want to know the truth.
On the ground, Nova has come to realise, peace does not last long in an environment where war is all everyone has ever known.
A singular gun shot rung out through the corridor, loud enough that it shook the very foundation of Nova's room. A sense of urgency came over her and she rushed to see the source of the violence, only to be met with a sight she swore was something out of her nightmares.
Lexa was dying in the arms of Clarke, her lover, all the while Nova's past was staring at her right in the face: John Murphy. She couldn't focus on the boy she used to share her deepest thoughts to, she couldn't for a second process that he was still alive and standing in front of her because her leader and friend was losing blood faster than Nova thought was ever possible.
Time stopped in that moment. It froze. It ceased to exist. Her ears rung with Clarke's screams and cries for help, but Nova couldn't do anything. In that moment, she was helpless as Lexa's lifeless body lay limp. There was no coming back from this.
Nothing had ever prepared Nova to be stuck in a room with Clarke, Murphy and her former leader's body. She couldn't decipher how fast or slowly time was moving, but she couldn't tear her eyes away from Lexa. Nothing felt real, except when she felt a soft hand brush up against her arm from behind her, pulling her back into a sense of reality. She didn't need to turn around to know who it was.
Nova could recognise John Murphy's touch anywhere. And she did.
Without a word being shared between them, or with barely any eye contact or acknowledgement that they were both there, he gently wrapped his arms around her fragile frame, enveloping her into a hug she had craved from the moment she left him. They stayed close to each other until the were released, still with no words spoken, only a silent agreement between them to come back together once this was all over.
And so they have.
The war with ALIE is over, and while they still face so many new threats, Nova and Murphy needed this time for themselves to be reintroduced to each other, to make up for lost time.
"Nothing ever really prepared me to see you in that room. I'd been running away from the possibility of you not being here anymore and I guess I just didn't expect it."
"Well, you know me, the self-proclaimed cockroach." He shrugs his shoulder jokingly. His natural sense of comic relief is something Nova missed as survival for her became more difficult.
"I know you're just dying to tell me about your uncanny ability to survive, so go ahead, Murphy, I'm all ears," she teases him slightly, unsure of what boundaries to cross when it comes to their situation. His signature grin makes a reappearance, and Nova knows he's the same old Murphy.
Unlike when Lexa was killed and time seemed to stop altogether, Nova feels like she doesn't have enough time with Murphy. The next couple hours are spent catching up with their lives, from Murphy going through the desert with Jaha, to being stuck in a bunker and fighting a battle within his own mind, and him struggling to find his place in the mess that became the war. He would never know this, but Nova has never met someone who she admires more than him. His determination and stubbornness that she learnt to love was the reason why she continued fighting all this time.
Their back and forth relationship of joking around, teasing one another and laughing as if they are the only people on Earth only becomes stronger as the hours tick by. Nova soon realised that this, these moments, is what life is all about. This is what she has been missing.
"Oh, how the tables have turned. I know I'm hot and all, but if you want me to take my clothes off you can just ask." His outward flirty comment makes Nova's eyes widen as she doesn't realise she's staring at him. Maybe she's not as subtle as she thought.
"Shut up, Murphy." Nova laughs. A genuine laugh. In an environment like theirs, such genuine moments are hard to come by, but everything just feels so natural with him.
After a few silent moments, Murphy says, "Happiness looks good on you, doll."
Despite the reappearance of that god-forsaken nickname, that's one of the sweetest compliments Nova has ever received. She takes a deep breath, though, knowing his words aren't entirely accurate.
"Old habits die hard I see." Nova shakes her head, trying to repress her grin, feeling somewhat nostalgic at his nickname for her.
"I guess I'm trying to enjoy the little moments in life. When your brother gets brutally murdered..." her sentence stops short as her eyes divert to the ground, "they seem to be all I have left. Otherwise I just become a shell of myself and I owe myself more than that. I owe Lincoln more than that. Happiness seems like a distant feeling that I'm not able to reach, maybe ever again, but I'm content and that feels enough right now. Apart from, you know, being in the dead brother club and all."
"Dead brother club and orphan club? Careful, Nova, you're starting to one-up me."
"I'm competitive, what can I say?"
Grief, Nova has learnt, has a weird way of removing you from the world. Life has a way of moving on without any regard of those lost. When she finally asked Harlo about Lincoln, her whole perception of humanity changed. Maybe the world is inherently evil. At first, revenge overpowered every sense of her being. How could they do that to him? Her brother, the person she owes her life to. The person who taught her what family meant. The person who deserved the world, when the world didn't deserve him.
And then the guilt seeped in. She wasn't there for him like he was for her. Running away from her problems only created more issues and the dreaded feeling that she wasn't there for his last few months on Earth tore her apart inside. That's the feeling she will have to live with for eternity.
Lincoln's legacy made Nova come to understand that violence is never the answer. Violence should not be fought with violence. That was what he believed, which he instilled in Nova from the minute he met her. Learning to live with him no longer being here will take time, maybe longer than a lifetime, but if Lincoln ever taught her anything it's that there is evil in anyone and everyone, but kindness can and always will win if you let it. He was the purest soul that she ever had the pleasure to call brother, and she won't ever let his memory be tainted by someone else's evil actions.
Lincoln was everything good about humanity, whatever is left of it.
"We, uh, me and Lincoln, we would talk about you, you know?" Murphy talks low, careful as to not say too much or too little to upset her. She looks up with glossy eyes, a hint of a hopeful expression across her face.
Nova whispers, "You did?"
"About how annoying you are, how stupidly reckless you are, how—"
"Hey!" She jokingly smacks his arm with a small smile, thankful to him for lightening the mood because she wasn't sure she would be able to.
As the smile slowly fades from Nova's face, Murphy carefully extends his arm out, inviting her to get closer to him. She can't ignore the warm fuzzy feeling in the pit of her stomach at the thought of feeling his touch, so rather than avoiding it, she leans into the feeling, letting his arm drape around her shoulders as she rests her head on his shoulder.
They stay like this for a few minutes, solely taking in being in each other's presence again after so long. She notices him gently squeezing her arm, almost as if to check she is actually there with him, as if she is really real.
Polis wasn't the safe haven Nova was seeking. Instead, her safe haven came in the form of Murphy, and all while she is savouring this physical form of connection, he says something she will carry with her forever.
"Lincoln never doubted you. Not even once. When I was all in my head about you not being here anymore, he was the one to calm me down. He never stopped loving you, Nova. We both didn't."
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"Wake up, Sleeping Beauty. It's raining."
Nova awoke to Murphy tapping her sides, light raindrops gracing her skin as the sky has clouded over and their surrounding have become dull. As she starts to get up in a dazed state to try and find cover, Murphy stops her.
"If I remember correctly, you did promise me one thing when you said you'd take me here."
Oh no. She thought maybe he had forgot, or rather she was hoping.
"Oh, really? What was that?" Nova plays dumb, half teasing him because she knows exactly what he means and that he won't let it go no matter how hard she denies it.
He pretends to ponder. "Hm. I don't know. Does skinny-dipping ring a bell?"
"No, not really. What's that?" Nova plays along, her cheeks becoming as red as the strawberries in the wooden picnic basket. She can't resist the urge to let out a laugh.
Murphy wins this one.
Without any hesitation, Murphy grabs her hand and picks her off her feet. Pretending to thrash around in his arms, she screams at him to stop kidnapping her, all the while both of them in fits of laughter as he marches her down to the lake side. Once he finally lets her down, her hair is a fuzzy mess and she's out of breath from punching him in his side in an attempt to get him to release her.
It's in that moment that Nova realises her feelings for Murphy never subsided. They may have been dormant for the time they were apart, but everything is still there. All of it.
She is quick to change her attitude, having an oh, what the hell moment as she takes her t-shirt off, followed by the rest of her clothes and runs into the water blanketed by the rain that is getting heavier by the minute, only looking back a few seconds later to see Murphy's face, completely and utterly speechless. He never actually expected her to do it.
"What, never seen a girl naked before?" Nova shouts, raising her arms up in the air with a smug glance. If she can't be herself in front of him, who can she be herself with?
"Once or twice!"
"Third time lucky, hey?"
Oh, third time lucky alright.
Murphy wastes no time in joining her. Everything in that one moment feels right, like it was meant to work out this way. The world may be fragmented into a million different pieces around them, but when it's just the two of them, Nova and Murphy, they are proof that happiness can exist on the ground in the form of fleeting moments. At least, for now. They can go back to saving the world tomorrow.