Disclaimer
Monty: Jasper! Clarke is missing help us find her
Jasper: yeah but like. . . Maya
Monty: what? Jasper did you not—?
Jasper: Maya.
Grace: Jasper wtf
Jasper: *leaves to find Maya*
✦
✦
Grace's pencil moved across the paper smoothly. She drew the small nose first, then the outline of his face. The dip in his chin; the freckles; the curls; the chocolate brown eyes; the plump lips. A dot of water drops onto the paper and her brows furrow. She glances up to see if a pipe had bust but then realization dawns on her and she brings a hand up to her face, wiping away at the few tears that dripped down her face. When did she start crying?
"Miller!"
"Look who finally got released," Jasper mutters with a small grin. Grace looks up, all tears forgotten as she places the book beside her and hops off of the top bunk.
She stalked forward, placing her arms around him gently despite the large part of her telling her to hug the stitches out of his wounds. "Hey, G."
"I missed you," she mumbles into his neck, sighing in relief as she realized he really was in front of her.
"I missed you too."
"Miller," Clarke's voice comes from behind them where she laid on her bunk. Grace drops down from his grip and sends Maya a small smile and wave before returning her attention to Clarke. "I'm glad you're okay."
"Yeah. Only took, what, three surgeries?" Miller turns to Maya who nods in confirmation. He sends Clarke a small smirk. "I hear you're fitting right in."
Grace couldn't help the small smirk that made it's way onto her face as Clarke sends Maya an annoyed look. Maya bites her lip and looks away for a moment, then she hands a bottle of pills over to Miller. "Twice a day. Don't forget. You'll be okay in a few days."
"I'll keep him in check," Grace grins, poking the boys chest lightly who just shakes his head in amusement. "My bunks there. I already called top, I saved the bottom for you. Sorry, we all know how much you love being top."
Miller shakes his head in amusement. "Well, I'm sure we can say the same about you. Oh, wait—"
"Don't you dare," Grace shoves him, squinting her eyes slightly. A laugh leaves his mouth as he throws his bag onto the bed.
"Grace," Maya buts in, waiting for the girl to return her attention to her. "Here," she hands Grace a bottle of clear pills. "Two a day, max. For the pain."
Grace fiddles with the bottle unsurely. "Thanks, Maya."
"No problem," she replies as she begins to walk away with Jasper.
Grace turns back around to see Miller staring at her open sketchbook with a sad smile. "It's really good," Miller clears his throat as his voice cracks. Grace's heart breaks for the boy. She wasn't the only one who had lost him. "Um, yeah. Really good."
Grace steps towards the boy, sighing as she does. "Thank you," she takes the notebook in her hands, beginning to trace the side of his face. "It's weird, I know. It just— it just helps me cope, I guess. I miss him. I miss him so damn much it hurts."
Grace's watery eyes meet Miller's. He nods his head. "Yeah. I get it."
Grace sniffles, wiping at her eyes slightly. She almost forgot that Miller had also lost his boyfriend— not that Bellamy was Grace's boyfriend, but he was something special to her, something she didn't understand but felt in her bones. Grace grabs Miller's hand and sends him a soft smile. "Let me take you to breakfast. I'll bring my sketchbook. You can tell me what he looks like, anything you can remember. I can't guarantee anything, but I will try my best."
Miller sends her a small smile. "Yeah, okay. I'd like that."
"Great," Grace smiles. "Let's go then."
The sound of an alarm blaring stops them in their tracks. They both wait for a moment, then watch as Clarke, Jasper, and Maya all rush out of the room. Miller's brows furrow. "You going to follow them?"
Grace shakes her head. "No, I'm sure they have it covered. Let's go."
✦
"Oh, and he has this adorable button nose! Did I already say that? I feel like I already said that."
Grace grins at the boy in front of her, enjoying how he talked eagerly about his boyfriend. The wide smile on his face as his hands moved around in excitement. "No, Miller. You didn't already say that," Grace muses, knowing full well that that was probably the tenth time he's told her since they arrived at the mess hall an hour ago. They had finished eating almost forty minutes ago, but never made any move to leave.
Her constant drawing stops suddenly, her green eyes moving up to meet his confused ones. "What? Not enough description?"
"Definitely not that," Grace grins, laughing as he leans forward and smacked her arm. "Kidding, kidding! Mostly," she mutters the last part and he smacks her again. "Alright, alright. I got an injured arm here, Miller. Chill."
"Yeah, whatever," Miller rolls his eyes playfully, but his eyes soon land on the back of the sketchbook. "Did you finish?"
"Yeah," Grace nods her head, handing him the book. She watches as his happy face falters and he lifts a hand to touch the page. Worry surges through her. "I'm sorry. I tried my best—"
"It's perfect," Miller mumbles, the corners of his lips lifting up. He raises his eyes up to meet the girls relieved ones. "Thank you."
Grace takes the book from him, ripping it out before he could stop her. She hands it to him, making sure not to crumple it. "Here," he sends her an incredulous look. "Seriously, take it. I can always make another one."
Miller nods. "Thanks."
"Of course," Grace grins.
"Is this the famous Miller?" A semi-familiar voice comes from behind Grace and she turns around, raising a brow. Isaac walked around her to stand next to Miller, holding out a hand to the confused boy. "I've heard a lot about you. I'm Isaac."
"Hi." Miller sends Grace a befuddled look as he shook his hand. Grace laughs lightly at her best friend.
"Everyone's been talking about you since Maya told us you were here but we weren't allowed in to see you," Grace explains. Miller nods his head, his hand dropping onto the table beside his drawing.
Isaac's grin widens. "Did you draw that?" The question is directed towards Grace as she snaps her sketchbook closed.
"Yeah," she mumbles. "Thanks for getting me the sketchbook. I missed drawing."
"Course," Isaac smirks. "Anything for you, sweetheart."
Grace visibly tenses at the nickname, sucking in a breath. Isaac's smile drops instantly. "Sorry, I didn't mean anything by it."
"It's fine," Grace mutters. Miller reaches across the table to squeeze her hand comfortingly. "I just. . . hate that nickname." Grace drops her gaze to the ground. "I'm going back to the dorm to lay down," she sends them both a quick close-lipped smile but keeps her gaze on the ground. "Didn't get much sleep worrying about your ass, Miller."
The redhead grips the sketchbook in her hand and jogs out of the room with her heart dragging behind her.
✦
Grace Parker never knew how much she needed the silence until she got it.
It was just before breakfast the next day. Grace was in the dorm by herself, just enjoying the complete and utter silence as everyone else was in the mess hall fooling around and waiting to eat. She's never had silence before.
She used to sit with Monty in the second level back at the dropship, and even then it was filled with that constant static sound. On The Ark she had her cell, of course, but that had that damned air vent that never stopped squeaking. This place, however, was completely silent. If she closed the door, there were no footsteps or laughing heard from the hall or the mess hall. It was perfect.
Was.
"I've been looking for you," the familiar voice was back again, followed by the thud of his large boots hitting the floor. "I wanted to say sorry for earlier."
The footsteps stop beside her bunk but she doesn't open her eyes. "You say sorry a lot."
"I say a lot of stupid things."
"Not your fault," Grace opens her eyes to look at the boy. "I heard some people are born like it."
A chuckle as Grace's eyes close again. A pause. A tremor of pain through her fists. A sigh of annoyance as her eyes snap open again. She swings her legs off the side of the bed, narrowly missing Isaac. He watches her curiously, his gaze dropping to her purple and yellow knuckles. She messages them, biting back a hiss. Her fingers move to the bandages on her wrists, rolling her green eyes when she saw that the bandage had shifted up and was dangling on a stitch, successfully irritating it.
"I can get Maya— hey!" Grace cuts him off when she merely pulls the bandage away and rips it away from the other stitches. It produces her wound to them both. Nothing had ripped, as she had expected, but that didn't seem to stop Isaac from worrying. "I should bring you to medical."
Grace's eyes snap up to Isaac's. "Yeah, I'll pass," she mutters, jumping down beside Isaac. "Trust me, this is not as bad as how I actually got it."
Isaac's brows furrow. "You know I'm still going to have to take you to medical, right?"
"Yeah," she sighs. "Why? The bandages are irritating and look—" Grace points at the wound that was already moist. "It needs air."
"Can you at least let me bring you to Maya?" Isaac asks, uneasily. Grace rolls her eyes.
"Whatever."
✦
"Maya!"
Maya and Jasper turn around almost immediately, seemingly flustered. Grace raises a brow at the two, moving to cross her arms when Isaac grabbed her forearm and showed it off to Maya. "Should I bring her to medical?"
Maya takes her hand gently, bushy brows furrowing in concern. "Why'd you take off the bandages?"
"They were irritating me," Grace states, watching as her eyes snapped up to hers in astonishment.
"Seriously?" Jasper buts in.
"It could get infected," Maya chides.
"Yeah, right," Grace scoffs. Seeing the discomfort on her face, Grace took her hand from the girl and offered a gentle smile. "It doesn't look infected and I feel fine."
"Fine," she gives off a close-lipped smile. "But if you feel any discomfort at all, come see me. And take those meds."
"Yes ma'am," Grace smirks, stepping back to whisper to Isaac. "Told you it was fine."
Before he can respond, Monty emerges from the dining hall. "Jasper, Grace, have you seen Clarke?"
"Uh, no."
"Nobody has," Monty nods at both Maya and Isaac. "Hi."
"Hi," they both say in unison. They share an amused look.
"Um, you guys should—" Jasper is quick to cut Maya off.
"No, no. We're having breakfast," he says firmly. "Gonna meet you in line?"
Maya nods and Isaac clears his throat awkwardly. "I'll just, uh, follow her."
The three friends watch as they walk into the mess hall and out of sight before they move closer together, speaking in hushed whispers. "I've got a bad feeling," Monty confesses.
"Look, I'd love to talk to you about Clarke, any time in my entire life other than right now, okay?" Jasper shoves past Monty but the boy is quick to grab his shirt.
"What if she's in trouble?"
"Trouble," Jasper huffs. "It's Clarke. Whatever she's up to, I'm sure she can handle it," Jasper turns and walks away.
"I can help you look?" Grace suggests, placing a gentle had on Monty's bicep. He just shakes his head.
"No, it's fine. We should go eat," he whispers.
"Monty," Grace sighs.
"No, Grace. I said it's fine," Monty snaps, tearing his eyes from the spot where his best friend once stood. "It's fine."
✦
Monty pokes at his waffles unenthusiastically as Grace picks her pancake apart with her hands. She hasn't applied the syrup stuff yet so it wasn't like it was sticky or messy. Monty glances behind the two of them, searching for Clarke. The clinking of a plate against the table is what brings them out if their trances. They look up to see Jasper, both visibly deflating.
"You know it isn't polite to eat with your hands," Jasper jokes. His smiles drops when his friends don't even crack a smile. "Nice to see you, too."
"Sorry," Grace mutters, picking up another piece of her pancake and ripping it apart.
"We were hoping you were Clarke," Monty explains, leaning back into his seat and letting his arms fall to his sides in defeat.
"You still haven't seen her?" Jasper quietly asks. Grace sighs, finishing her massacre of pancakes and beginning to add the syrup from a saucer on the table.
"No," Monty leans forward to whisper to his friend. "I don't think she slept in her bed last night."
Grace clenches her jaw. Every night there was a delinquent or two crying out in their sleep and every night Grace stayed up to hold them until they felt better or fell asleep again. Last night, it was Fox. So, Grace wasn't really thinking about Clarke last night. She was a bit preoccupied tending to their people and making sure they were okay while Clarke was running wild around the mountain in search of an escape they didn't even need.
Jasper sits down in front of Monty, watching as Grace let out an angry huff. Her chest was beginning to move rapidly and she found herself running her hands through her hair. Her foot tapped against the floor as her leg bounced up and down.
"What do we do?" Monty whispers.
Letting out a sigh, Jasper moves his gaze across the room to where Maya was reading. "Maya has access to everything through her job. Maybe she could snoop around. If Clarke is in trouble she can find out."
"I don't know," Grace mumbles, her nails digging into the skin on her palm as she itched it in irritation. "I mean, I could try and ask Isaac."
"I don't know," Monty whispers, pulling Grace's hand from the other one, his brows furrowed in concern as he took in her red palms. "Clarke doesn't trust them. What if she's right?"
"We can trust Maya," Jasper whispers, his eyes dropping down to Grace's hands. "At least I think we can. Besides. . . what choice do we have?"
Grace tugs her hand from Monty's grip, beginning to scratch at it again before her hand reaches up to run through her hair. Her leg stops bouncing as she stands suddenly, slamming her palms against the table and gaining unwanted attention from a couple of the residences. She catches Miller's worried gaze from where he sits talking to Isaac, but she quickly looks away.
Monty and Jasper stand as well, Monty making sure not to touch the girl as he asked, "TGM?"
"TGM." Grace confirms, moving away from her seat and shoving it back into the table in one quick movement.
"Grace," Miller is standing next to her suddenly. "I'm going to grab your bicep, alright?"
His tone is incredibly gentle as the girls chest tightens. She nods quickly, feeling his hand wrap around her bicep and begin tugging her out of the room. She could vaguely remember the last time she went TGM and one of her people touched her without her permission. She wasn't sure what it was, but she immediately panicked and threw a right hook.
Poor Derek had a bruise on his face for a couple days after that.
Miller stops her a few feet away from the dorm room. It was vacant right now but he could tell she was going to run any second.
"Hey, is she okay?" Isaac whispered. "What the hell is TGM?"
"Nothing," Miller says, quickly. He glances back at Isaac. "You're on the guard, right? Where do you train? Do they have a track?"
Isaac nods. "Yeah but it's restricted to anybody that's not—"
"Listen, if she doesn't run soon than this mountain is going to have a much bigger problem," Miller panics. "Hey, Grace, look at me."
Grace squeezes her eyes shut tightly. "I want to go home, Miller. I want him to come back. I need him."
"Fine, I'll bring her up now," Isaac says. "Follow me."
✦
The gym was on level six. The wait in the elevator was absolutely treacherous and the slight jog felt even worse. She just needed to run, needed to forgot about everything for a little while. She didn't understand why, she just got like that sometimes. She once— yes, this actually happened. Yes, it was Shumway's fault— snuck out of solitary on The Ark. It obviously didn't get her very far but even the small run down the hallway away from the guards was enough to make her feel better. She'd always been like it.
Miller had not left her side since they left the mess hall. His hand was still wrapped tightly around her bicep, just in case she got a bit too excited. It kind of reminded her of how Bellamy used to tug her back by her bag or her jacket when she wandered up ahead too far. The thought made her need to run even worse.
Only a couple moments later and Isaac stopped in front of a door marked 604, his keycard immediately being lifted up and held in front of some sort of scan. It flashes green and he pushes open the door quickly, ushering the two inside. Miller immediately lets her go, his eyes on the extremely wide track that wrapped around the gym.
Grace slips off her flats, immediately beginning to run around it. She passes Isaac and Miller not even a moment later, flashing the two a grin as her hair whipped past her face. "This is awesome!" She yells excitedly, actually enjoying the burning against the bottom of her feet as they slapped against the gym floor.
She could hear Isaac and Miller's laughs as she passed them again. The redhead felt herself relax as she continued around the track, her breathing ragged from the exertion. She immediately felt the stress of the past few days begin to melt away.
✦
"Okay, so you're telling me Clarke Griffin, badass Clarke Griffin, had a psychotic breakdown and ripped out all of her stitches?" Grace asked incredulously, staring at two of her best friends. Jasper nods, beginning to play with his hands. "Can we go see her?"
Monty shakes his head. "She's in the psych ward. I already spoke to President Wallace. We can't see her until she's better."
"That's bullshit." Grace mutters, already getting up to go and speak to the man herself. Monty immediately pulls her down.
"I already talked to him. There's no way we're getting in there yet," Monty whispers. He turns to look back at some of the others and for the first time, Grace saw how nervous they looked now that Clarke was gone. Grace stands up and makes her way over to them, making sure her tone is soft and reassuring when she speaks.
"Clarke is fine," Grace tells them. A few of them sigh in relief. "She was just scared, you know? She was feeling overwhelmed. We were constantly in danger before, and now we're safe. It's hard to comprehend."
The others nod their head. Max, who was among the group, takes a tiny step forward. "Can we go see her? Just to be sure she's okay."
Grace shakes her head softly. "I know we all want to see her. Believe me, I do. But we can't all go and visit. It won't help her with this, she just needs to be alone. Jasper and I will visit her everyday and bring you all updates, but besides that, we should just leave her alone, okay?" Grace places a hand on Max's bicep, her other hand moving to grip Fox's hand. "I just want you guys to talk to me if you ever feel like her, okay? I don't want you guys to ever feel like she did. Okay?"
Fox steps forward and wraps her arms tightly around the girl, the others following. It wasn't long before almost everyone in the dorm was wrapped their arms around them, the two directly in the middle. Grace let's out a small laugh, her heart swelling with emotion.
Even though they had lost people, even though they had lost two of their three leaders, they were there for each other. They were all family now, blood or not.
And they were going to survive whatever happened in this mountain; together.
^^^^^^^^^^^^
Hey, so that was a strange ending.
I have a few questions! Please answer them, I'm kind of worried about how you guys are feeling about Grace's character right now.
1. Do you guys think she is acting like she should be?
2. Do you guys like Isaac? Do you trust him?
3. Who's your favourite BROTP/OTP/Platonic OTP?
4. Do you miss badass Grace? Because I do and I'm seriously considering just adding in some of that later on for the hell of it.
5. Do you care when she swears? Because in my head Grace swears a lot but when I go and edit it, I take it out because some people hate when people do that. I know I should just do what I think is best, but I don't want everyone commenting on my story and hating on my character because of it.
Also, next chapter is going to be kind of confusing and kind of emotion. As you know from watching the show, there's no appearances of Mount Weather or what is happening there in Season Two; Episode Four; Many Happy Returns, but, there is a two-three day difference between Clarke leaving as Dante tells Jasper that he has been visiting psych in search of Clarke for 'these past couple days'.
Next chapter will be sort of like a mix, I guess? I will state whether or not it's the first day or second day in the chapter to prevent as much confusion as I can. Sorry for this, I don't even know if I'm going to do this yet, I may just reference what happens when I go with the storyline in Episode Five. I don't even know yet. All I know is that it might happen.
Alright, that's the end of my long ass Author's Note.
Vote, comment, and may we meet again.
Gif | Grace in her TGM mode (even though it's actually slightly worse than what it's made to look like in the gif)