I laid there, staring at Bellamy's back. He was asleep but I wasn't. His back would always lift so slightly whenever he breathed and this little thing made me smile. I softly kissed his shoulder.
"I love you." I whispered.
"I love you too." I heard Bellamy say back.
My eyes widened in surprise and my lips parted. Bellamy rolled over and stared at me, a small smile playing on his lips.
"You're awake." I said.
"Have been for a while now." He informed me.
Before I could say anything else, Bellamy softly and delicately pressed his lips to mine. I melted at his touch, snaking my hand up behind his neck and gripping onto his hair. Bellamy wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling me even closer to him, and making me smile into the kiss. God I loved him so much.
Bellamy pulled back and looked at me sadly. "I'm sorry."
I looked at him, genuinely confused. "About what?" I asked.
"Harley, wake up." A voice said.
My eyes opened and found myself staring at the ceiling. Confused, I looked beside me and saw that Bellamy was gone. I frowned, realizing that it was simply just a dream. I was really hoping that everything that happened last night wasn't real, and that Bellamy didn't actually leave me. Apparently not.
Reality sucks.
"Harley?" Someone called again.
I sat up, rubbing my eyes groggily, and saw Clarke crouching next to my bed.
"Yeah?" I asked shaking my head, trying to get the dream out of my head.
"We have a meeting with Lexa and the grounders. She's requested your presence." Clarke said.
"Well, I'm flattered. Let me just get dressed."
Clarke nodded her head. I waited for her to leave but she didn't. She looked upset, wringing her hands in front of her. I knew that she wanted to say something, and was trying to find the words to do so.
"Is there something else you'd like to say?" I prompted.
Clarke stood up and moved herself so that she was sitting next to me on my bed. Since I was taking up most of the space, I scooted over.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry for sending Bellamy away even though I knew it's dangerous. I know how hard this must be for you."
"Thank you, for your apology. It's just so hard, because I might lose the only person I've ever loved more then you or Wells. And as much as I want to blame you, I can't. He wanted to go. He could've asked to stay. If anything, I'm more mad at him then you." I said, pausing for a moment and letting out a sigh.
"What? What aren't you telling me?"
"I broke up with him. Well, technically we're on a break but it's the same thing."
"What, why?"
"I told him that I couldn't do it. I couldn't wait for him. It'd be too hard. He understood. But it still hurts, you know?"
Clarke was silent as she wrapped an arm around my shoulder. I breathed heavily, leaning my head against hers. I never knew that heartbreak could cause this much pain, and while a part of me thought I wouldn't feel this way if we were still together, I knew deep down that the pain would have been much worse if we were.
"Remember on the Ark? Didn't you think you'd grow up, get married and that'd be it?" Clarke asked quietly.
"I wish things were that simple." I said.
"Then again, if we had never come down here, you never would have met Bellamy."
"Bellamy is causing me too much heartbreak. Maybe I'm better off without him."
"You're the only thing he loves, Harley."
"Octavia -"
"-She doesn't count. She's his family, he has to love her. But you, that's all his choice."
I paused for a second before pulling away, and staring at Clarke. I gnawed at my bottom lip, and she looked at me with a raised brow, knowing that I wanted to say something.
"And you never would have met Finn." I said. The minute the words came out of my mouth, I could see Clarke's guard go up. She straightened up, a blank expression on her face. "How are you doing?"
"I'm fine. I'm over it." She lied.
"Clarke -"
"I'm fine. You better get dressed. Meeting starts in ten minutes."
She got up, and walked out of the tent without another glance. I sighed as I got up, putting on my clothes. I noticed that Bellamy had left a few of his shirts behind, and I picked one up in my hands. I brought it close, inhaling the shirt and felt myself become calm when I recognized his scent. I slipped the shirt on, before throwing my jacket on over top. This was the next best thing to having him here with me. Once I was dressed, I turned around to leave but halted in my steps when I saw Finn standing there.
"Holy... Finn! Don't do that!" I whisper shouted. I sighed and shook my head. "So you're still haunting me, huh?"
Finn nodded his head.
"Are you haunting Clarke?"
He shook his head.
"Guess I'm the lucky one, huh?" I sighed. I paused for a second, and glanced at the ground, suddenly feeling a little awkward. "Thank you, for helping me yesterday. It meant a lot."
Finn showed the smallest sign of a smile.
"Now, I've got a meeting to go to. You can come, if you want."
Finn shrugged his shoulders, in a maybe-so manner.
"Okay, I'll maybe see you there."
I walked out of the tent and over to the grand hall. I descended the stairs and saw everyone already there. Clarke's eyes met mine, and I saw her glance briefly at my shirt. A guilty look passed over her face and she looked back down at the table. I knew that no matter what I said, she would hold herself responsible about Bellamy.
"Harley, glad you could make it." Lexa said.
I nodded my head and took my spot next to Clarke. For the next while, we all started arguing about how we should deal with Mount Weather. The grounders wanted to attack head on and kill everyone inside that mountain. Clarke and I were trying to find a safer way that wouldn't get everyone, including ourselves, killed.
"This argument is a waste of time! It is simple. They can't breathe our air. Why not just open the door and be done with it?" Quint demanded. "Let them burn!"
A chorus of 'burn them' went around the table.
"No, because they have a containment system, multiple airlocks just like we had on the Ark. Our inside man can shut that down." Clarke argued.
"If he gets inside." Quint snapped.
"What if we shut it down from the outside?" Lexa suggested. I looked at her curiously. "You say the dam gives them power. Let's take that away."
"That dam withstood a nuclear war, Commander. I highly doubt -"
Clarke got interrupted when Quint slammed his fists down on the table, rattling it.
"All they offer are no's."
"Quint." Lexa said warningly, staring him down.
"Apologies, Commander, but the biggest army we've ever had waits for us to give it a mission. The longer that takes, the more of our people die inside that mountain." Quint said.
"It's the same for all of us." I said, speaking up for the first time and narrowing my eyes at him.
"We've lost thousands. How many have you lost, girl?" Quint asked, directing his question towards me. I stayed silent. Compared to him, we've lost nothing. "They say they have a plan. I say waiting for one man to get inside, is not a very good one."
"I agree with Quint. We have an army. Let's use it."
"We will after Bellamy lowers their defences, turns off the acid fog. I don't care how many men you have. If you can't get to your enemy, you can't win." I said. I had enough faith in Bellamy that he could do this.
"You are the enemy." Quint said.
"I'm sorry. Have I done something to offend you?" I demanded. I was becoming royally pissed off.
"Yes." Quint said, taking a few steps towards me. "You burned my brother alive in a ring of fire."
I took a few steps towards Quint, standing so that we were almost chest to chest. I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at him.
"He shouldn't have attacked my ship."
"You're very brave under the Commander's protection, aren't you?"
"No, I'm not. I don't need her here to know that I could kick your ass."
"Is that a challenge?"
"Nou mou." Lexa said.
"Ai can't be in an hukop kom emo kru." Quint said before backing away from me.
Lexa picked up the drawn map of Mount Weather and stared at it.
"Quint is right. Waiting for Bellamy is not a plan. It's a prayer, one that's not likely to be answered." She said.
I was becoming increasingly frustrated as I looked around the room. I understood that the grounders wanted revenge, hell we did too. But they weren't thinking clearly, and they didn't understand the amount of work it would take to defeat them. For once, they couldn't just go in, weapons blazing and attack. It was more difficult then that, and there were other factors to be considered.
"Excuse me. I need some air." I said.
"Are you -" Clarke started, reaching out towards me.
"-I'm fine." I said, stepping away from her.
I quickly walked out of the room. When I walked outside, I noticed that not a lot of people were in the village at the moment. Most of our people had gone back to Arkadia, except for a few. Raven was back there, trying to work on the radio to get in contact with Bellamy. I had wanted to go back with her, but I knew that I had a job to do here and I couldn't leave. I walked towards the edge, where the trees borderline the village. I took a deep breath, and closed my eyes for a brief second. When I finally opened them again, Finn was standing right in front of me.
"Hi Finn." I said. "I didn't see you at the meeting."
Finn shrugged.
"Don't you talk? I'm getting very annoyed of this."
Finn opened his mouth but nothing came out. He seemed frustrated at the fact.
"I guess that's a no? Keep working on it."
"Excuse me?" At first, I thought it was Finn who spoke. But after a moment, I realized the voice came from behind me. I turned away from Finn and came face to face with a grounder. "Who are you speaking to?" He asked.
The boy seemed to be around my age, maybe a little older. He had dark brown hair, almost black. His eyebrows were scrunched together in confusion, his green eyes full of curiosity. I glanced at Finn quickly before I smiled at him.
"Uh, no one. I'm Harley."
"I'm Julien."
"Nice to meet you."
"I've seen you before." He said.
"How? I don't believe we've met." I said.
"We haven't. I, uh, saw you the day our village was attacked."
My face softened towards him. "You were here?" I asked.
Julien nodded his head, "I was in the pit. I watched you and your friends storm in and stop that man." I turned my head slightly behind me, to see that Finn was no longer there. I pulled my lips into a thin line as I placed my attention back onto the boy in front of me. "I don't know what would have happened if you guys hadn't showed up." He admitted.
"I'm surprised. Shouldn't you hate us?"
"I'm not like everyone else. Why blame all of you for something only one of you did. Besides, there was another man with the shooter. He was trying to get him to stop. You can't all be bad."
"That's probably the nicest thing I've heard all day," I muttered. Julien smiled and I couldn't help but smile back. He seemed different from everyone else and I liked that. He reminded me of a younger version of Lincoln. "How old are you?" I asked.
"Twenty." He said. "You?"
"I pretty much just turned eighteen."
Something about that made me pause. I was only eighteen, yet I've seen more in my lifetime than anyone. I've watched my friends die, I've been attacked and hurt, and I've killed hundreds of people. I was so young, yet I've experienced more pain and heartache than I wish I had. Everyday was a new challenge, and I found myself longing for the days on the Ark, when Clarke, Wells and I would run around, being troublemakers and having fun.
"You're the leader of the sky people, right?" Julien asked, pulling me from my thoughts.
"Co-leader." I corrected. "I lead with my friend Clarke and uh," I didn't know what to call Bellamy. We broke up but are we friends? I'd assume we are. "My other friend, Bellamy."
"The boy who left with Lincoln to go save us." He said, more as a fact than a question.
"You seem like you know a lot." I laughed.
"Oh, I do." Julien grinned.
"Well, I'm going to go for a walk. You're welcomed to join me if you like." I said.
"I can't, I've got a job to do. Maybe I'll take you up on that offer another time."
I smiled at him before walking off into the woods. As I walked further into the forest, I really took in the beauty of it all. I never really had the time to admire it because I was always scared of the grounders but now that we have an alliance with them, I don't need to be afraid of every corner I take. The trees formed a canopy over my head, and the sunlight was barely peaking through.
I heard a rustling come from behind me, and I turned around to see Quint, standing far away. He was watching me, and I noticed that he had a bow and arrows gripped in his hands. I kept walking, doing my best to remain calm and unbothered.
"Not so brave, are you now, Sky girl?" Quint taunted.
I stopped walking and looked for Quint, only to find that he was nowhere in sight. Suddenly, I heard the sound of something flying through the air, and I jumped back just in time to watch an arrow zoom right past me in a land in a tree. Seeing as I had no weapon, I decided to run. For once, the forest didn't hate me as I was able to maneuver around roots and fallen logs. Eventually, I stopped to catch my breath.
"Isn't really a fair fight, now is it?" I shouted. I heard a rustling and whipped in that direction, letting out a breath of relief to find that it was only Byrne. "Oh, Byrne, thank god. Quint --"
I stopped when I saw that Byrne's arm was missing. I stared at her, not masking the terror from my face.
"Save yourself." She managed to say, before tumbling down the hill.
With that in mind, I ran like hell. I didn't run for long before I was side tackled to the ground. Quint landed on top of me, whipping out a knife and holding it above my head.
"For my brother!" He shouted.
My hand reached for anything it could find, and I felt my hand touch a rock. I grabbed the rock and smashed it into Quint's head. His disorientation distracted him long enough for me to punch him in the face, and roll him over so that I was straddling him. Quint had released the knife he was holding when I hit him and I grabbed it. Without a moments hesitation, I plunged it into his shoulder. He cried out in pain, and I stood up before placing my boot against his throat.
"What were you saying again about needing the commander's protection?" I quipped, raising a brow at him.
"Harley!" I heard a voice yell.
Without taking my eyes off Quint, I shouted, "over here!"
I heard the sound of footsteps and took that chance to look behind me. Clarke, Lexa and another grounder were running towards us. Once they reached us, I removed my foot from Quint's throat.
"What happened?" Clarke asked with wide eyes, looking at the scene in front of her.
"Son of a bitch attacked me." I said furiously.
"Jomp em op en yu jomp ai op." Lexa said. She looked at me. "Where's your guard?"
"He killed her." I said.
"Em ste spichen." Quint said. He looked truly surprised when I accused him. He must be a good actor. "Ai gonplei kamp raun em en nou mou."
"Yu gonplei ste odon." Lexa said. A phrase I knew all too well. "The kill is yours, Harley."
I looked at Quint, and he held true fear in his eyes. I couldn't do that, I couldn't take another persons life. Sure, I've done it before but I couldn't now. Quint acted out of mourning, not because he was a bad guy. It was like when Finn massacred the village. Was it wrong? Yes. But he was doing it out of fear, and while I will always resent him for that moment, he wasn't a bad guy.
Suddenly, a loud roaring sound echoed in the distance. We all snapped our heads in the direction of the noise, and I didn't bother masking the look of confusion and fear on my face.
"What is that?" Clarke whispered.
"Pauna." Lexa said. She grabbed the sword from her holster and swung it into Quint's leg. He screamed in pain. "Run!"
I grabbed the bow and arrows Quint dropped before I ran. I didn't exactly know where we were going, but all I knew was that we had to get away from whatever that thing was. I pushed myself harder, making sure that I was keeping up with the ground.
"We need to hide." Lexa said.
"This way. I found something." Clarke said.
We all followed her, stopping when she pulled aside a circular metal crate, that reminded me of a sewer door. We ran in the tube until we emerged on the other side. I looked around, noticing that we were in some sort of pen and that human remains scattered the floor.
"What is this place?" I asked in horror.
"It's her feeding ground." Lexa said.
Another road echoed throughout the forest.
"Let's go." Clarke said, as she started mounting the rocks.
We all followed her. Once we reached the top, we stopped, and heard another roar rung throughout the forest, but closer this time. The roaring turned into growling, and I watched as a few trees were knocked over before a big, black thing came jumping into the pen. It landed on the grounder and started bashing him in, before proceeding to throw him against the wall. My eyes were wide in horror, taking in the grounders lifeless body.
Clarke whipped out her gun and shot it in its side, which only upset the beast as it threw a piece of stone at the wall. It shattered to pieces around us, and we all ducked and covered our heads. Clarke fired three more shots and the beast fell. It was silent for a moment.
"Is it dead?" I whispered, afraid to speak any louder.
We all moved closer to the edge, just as the beast popped up and roared.
"Run!" Lexa screamed.
We all turned around and ran, only stopping when we reached a ledge with a railing. We were a few feet up in the air, and I noticed that there was a door to the side. Taking a deep breath, I climbed the railing and jumped off. I landed softly on my feet, like a cat. I turned and watched Clarke jump off. She landed oddly on her ankle, and I didn't hesitate to wrap my arm around her waist and help her to the door.
I heard a scream of pain, and I whipped around to see Lexa on her side. She must've fell on the way down. I left Clarke, trusting her to get inside, and ran back for Lexa. I pulled her up and practically dragged her to the door. I crawled inside, Lexa right behind me. But before she could get inside, the beast grabbed her leg. She reached out, holding on tightly to the bar as the beast tried to drag her away.
"Ah! Leave me!" She shouted.
"No way." I said.
Clarke tossed me her gun and I shot the beast a few times. It reluctantly let go and I pulled Lexa inside before kicking the door shut. There was another door inside of this room, and Clarke kicked it open as I helped Lexa inside. While I helped her take a seat, Clarke grabbed the sword from Lexa's back and used that to lock the door.
We all turned to face each other, breathing heavily.
---------------------
Song: out of the woods
Artist: Taylor swift
T swift, my homie!!
Everyone say hello to my new character, Julien. He isn't in the show, and he's basically gonna be Harley's new grounder friend. I really wanted Julien to mention how Murphy tried to help when Finn was massacring the village, because it always bothered me that no one acknowledged him for that.
Teaser: Faith and strength
Kisses