chapter eleven
SEE YOU AROUND
"and he'll race for miles through the night,
he runs because he knows he cannot hide."
"Welcome back."
Evelynn's eyes flickered up to Miller who was tossing his beanie from hand to hand, sitting a few feet away from her, near the Grounder.
She moved her gaze to the Grounder, still tied up and bloody, looking immensely tired.
She began to sit up and noticed Bellamy who was still holding her. He yawned and stretched as she sat up, "Sleep well?"
She eyed him, "You obviously didn't."
He ignored her comment and moved to examine her arm. A cringe crossed his face as he looked at her wound. It was red and puffy, some blood still covering the damaged skin, new stitches cascading her upper arm, "We should have bandaged this earlier."
Evelynn shooed him off, "It's fine."
He shook his head, still focused on her wound, "It's not fine."
He turned his attention to Miller who was on Grounder-watch, "Miller, go and get some water, I'll get some bandages."
He then turned to Evelynn, "You stay here." Bellamy then eyed the Grounder suspiciously, "And watch out for him."
Evelynn rolled her eyes, "I'm sure I'll be fine."
Bellamy stood up and placed a hand on her head, "I'm serious."
"I am too."
Bellamy hesitated for a second before nodding to her and turning to leave, motioning for Miller to follow him. They both left the floor without another word, clattering down the ladder.
As soon as they were gone, Evelynn jumped to her feet and went to a bucket with fabric they kept in a corner.
She wanted so badly to help the Grounder they brutally tortured in anyway she could.
The water and the makeshift bandages were all bloody already, but using it to clean the Grounder up was better than leaving him as he was.
Evelynn felt pained as she looked at him. He was a human. A man. A real person. Not the monster or animal that everyone likes to believe.
As she walked towards the Grounder, he began grunting and trying to back away. Evelynn was afraid of him, he was very intimidating, but he was afraid of her too.
"I'm not going to hurt you." She told him quietly. She didn't know if he could understand her, but she spoke anyway, "I'm going to help you."
She reached into the bucket of water and picked up a rag, shivering as she felt the Grounder's eyes on her as she began to wash off a cut on his arm.
Evelynn sucked in her cheeks as she washed the wound, the Grounder still staring at her intensely, "I'm sorry that they did this to you."
She didn't know if she was talking to the Grounder or herself, "Being on the ground has been hard on them. I mean, we're just kids, and now we are making life or death decisions before we're even adults."
Evelynn rung out the rag as she eyed his hand with a screw through it, "I'll need to get Clarke to take that out."
The Grounder began to back away from her, grunting again. His hand clamped over the screw and his eyes trembled with fear.
Evelynn was shocked, she took a tiny step closer to him, "You can understand me?"
She watched him closely, he really was comprehending her words. She smirked, "And you don't like Clarke very much, do you?"
The Grounder's face lit up for a split second. Evelynn smiled at him, "I'm guessing you don't like Bellamy either?"
The Grounder shook his head without hesitation. This made Evelynn laugh, "Yeah, I didn't like him at first either."
She let her smile stay on her lips as she watched the man in front of her watch her wearily.
"My name is Evelynn, by the way."
His mouth opened and closed a couple times, as if trying to form words, but wasn't sure if he wanted to speak.
Evelynn tossed the bloody rag back into the bucket of water and then moved to sit, the Grounder's eyes following her as she crossed the room.
They watched each other, a sort of mutual sympathy, a bond made through their eyes.
Evelynn was struck with a pang of guilt.
They captured him, tied him up, and tortured him, but he was just as much human as they were.
"You're going to be okay. I won't let them kill you."
»»————- ★ ————-««
Bellamy left the dropship and walked through their camp which was nearly done being rebuilt. He weaved his way through delinquents and stations, shouting orders every so often.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw someone stumble and drop a pile of firewood. He spun around to yell at them, but realized it was Evelynn.
"Why are you on firewood duty?" He demanded. Clarke was hesitant to let her even help around camp with her healing wound, but she made it very clear that she wasn't supposed to carry anything.
"So I can build a fire before we all freeze," Evelynn rolled her eyes at him, gathering the wood back into her arms.
Bellamy smirked as he took the firewood from her arms. Evelynn attempted to protest, but Bellamy ignored her and brought the wood to the fire pit for her.
"You need to be resting you arm, not using it."
Evelynn let her head fall back dramatically as she groaned, then she looked to him and pouted, "I just wanted a fire. It's so cold."
Bellamy nearly facepalmed. Evelynn stood in front of him in her tank top, her arms completely exposed, other than her bandaged left arm. Her whole body was shivering and her lips were turning blue as her teeth chattered profusely.
"Where's you jacket, dumbass?"
"Language." Evelynn jokingly chastised, like he liked to do to her.
"Fine." Bellamy gloated, "Where's your jacket, crazy?"
Evelynn placed her hand on her hips, "It was ruined and covered in blood. Ring a bell?"
Bellamy nodded to her remembering the other night, her blood soaked jacket falling to the ground.
He couldn't get the image out of his head.
Bellamy then leaned forward, removing his own jacket and handing it to her, but Evelynn shook her head, "Bellamy, no. It's getting too cold for you to not wear a jacket."
"Look who's talking."
"I'm not taking your jacket again. I will not be responsible for you dying of hypothermia." Evelynn stubbornly continued to protest.
"Ev," Bellamy chided, "I think you're forgetting that I'm the king. I have plenty of extra jackets."
Evelynn scoffed and grudgingly shrugged on his jacket with a sigh, jokingly rolling her eyes again, "I hate you."
Bellamy gave her a sly smile and turned on his heel to go back to his tent and retrieve an extra jacket for himself.
"You're welcome!"
»»————- ★ ————-««
Evelynn sat in front of her tent listening to music from her music box in a vain attempt to distract herself from the dull, throbbing pain from her healing arm.
Finn limped past her with Raven helping him walk, his hand hovering above his healing stab wound. He smiled, turned away, and did a double take.
With confusion etched all over her face, he walked in front of her. Evelynn pulled out her ear pieces anticipating a conversation.
"Is that—" he paused looking at her for a second longer, "Is that Bellamy's jacket?"
Evelynn glanced down at herself, Bellamy's jacket wrapped closely around her. She looked back up at Finn. Now she was the confused one, "Uh, yeah. Why?"
Finn blinked a couple times before speaking again, "I don't know, I just didn't think you two were close. You're so sweet and caring and he's so...Bellamy."
Evelynn shook her head at him with a faint smile, "Bellamy's a good person."
"Oh come on, Bellamy doesn't care about anyone but himself. We've known that since day one."
Evelynn rolled her eyes placing one of her earbuds back in her ears showing him she was done talking, "He's not that person, Finn."
Finn scoffed at her, realizing her care for him, "You can't be serious."
Evelynn rolled her eyes, "I am serious. I trust him."
Finn looked to Raven who just shrugged, he turned back to Evelynn, "Just don't get attached, okay? I'm just looking out for you."
»»————- ★ ————-««
Evelynn concluded that Raven was a genius. She somehow managed to hook up the radio to a screen, creating a video chat, a video chat between the Ark and Earth.
One by one, each of the delinquents got chance to speak with their family, and all day Evelynn waited patiently for it to be her turn to talk.
She made her way over to the dropship, hoping that somehow if she was closer, it would be her turn.
She came to the entrance of the dropship and wiped away some ice and frost that was beginning to cover the cold metal. Then, she sat and waited.
Evelynn jumped as someone burst through the sheets and down the dropship door in a hurry. It was Bellamy, he didn't turn back, obviously doing something important.
A few seconds after, Clarke came out of the dropship and looked down at Evelynn sitting in front of her.
"Lynn, have you seen Drew? His mom is the last in line to talk, it's his turn." Clarke asked, scanning the camp.
Evelynn quickly scrambled to her feet, "Wait, he's the last one?" Clarke turned to her with a nod.
Evelynn felt her hope drain, "He's really not coming. I get sent to Earth, and my dad won't even talk to me."
Clarke scoffed, "I can't say I'm surprised."
Evelynn snapped her head to her friend in disbelief, "What's that supposed to mean?"
Clarke scoffed playfully, "I didn't think you'd be offended, Lynn. But you know that your dad doesn't care about anyone but himself."
Evelynn's stomach dropped the truth of her words striking her hard. Evelynn clenched her teeth and spoke sharply, "Take that back."
"No." Clarke snapped. She didn't know why her emotions exploded. Maybe it was the stress from Finn's condition. Or Raven and Finn's relationship. Or maybe it was her mother. The mother who betrayed her and her dad.
"Your dad has always been terrible to you, and you act like he isn't! I have always been there for you. Not your dad. Me!"
Evelynn turned her back to Clarke, tears now pricking her eyes, threatening to spill.
"I was the one who stuck by your side when your mom was in the hospital. I was the one who shared her rations with you when your dad sold yours for moonshine. I have always been there for you! So stop crying over him!"
Evelynn felt her blood boil, tears now streaming down her face as she turned to look at Clarke straight in the eye, "I don't care if he abandoned me. He's my dad, Clarke! He's my blood and he's all I have left!"
Clarke slammed her jaw shut at Evelynn's statement and watched as she slowly sunk to the ground, pulling her knees to her chest.
Clarke walked a few steps her footsteps feeling heavy against the moist soil. Before leaving, she turned to glance at her friend, her voice gentle, "I may not be your blood, but you will always have me."
Evelynn sat in complete silence staring blankly at the cold metal door she was sitting on as Clarke walked away. She let her mind wander from the frost and the cold to the way her mom would love to be there, regardless of the paralyzing oncoming winter. The way her mom would hold her when she was younger when she was sick and felt cold. The way her dad would wrap his arms around her and her mom to make them both feel safe. The way her dad drank himself apart from her and her mom. The way her dad abandoned her alone on Earth after her mom died.
The way she was completely and utterly alone of this freezing, radiation-soaked planet.
Bellamy walked towards her slowly. He was looking for Clarke when he accidentally overheard their conversation.
He hesitated before he spoke up, "Are you okay?"
Evelynn's head snapped up to Bellamy peering down on her, his eyes watching her cautiously. She quickly brushed the tears off her face and stood to face him, "I'm okay."
"You're crying—"
"I'm okay." She attempted to end the conversation, her voice abrupt. She stood and tried to walk away from him.
She expected Bellamy to drop the topic, but he surprised her. Before she knew what was happening, he reached for her and carefully pulled her in a hug.
For a second she stood motionless, feeling his body radiating heat against her, his strong arms holding her gently. She softened, melting against him, bringing her arms around his waist and nested her head into his chest.
She felt his voice vibrate in his chest against her ear as he spoke into her hair softly, "It's okay not to be okay sometimes, Ev."
Her breath hitched.
Don't get attached.
Bellamy began to release her, but he felt her grasp linger, her fingers begging for him to hold onto her for a little longer. To stay.
Everyone left her.
Her mom died, she was locked away for years, and her dad was hardly in the picture. She's scared of being abandoned.
Scared to let anyone in because they would leave her.
She's quick to forgive everyone because she's too afraid to be left alone again.
He felt a pain in his chest when he realized he had to leave. He wanted to stay. Stay for Evelynn, to be the person who would be there for her. Stay for Octavia, to protect her. Stay for his people.
But he had to leave. The Ark would be down soon and they will kill him.
Evelynn stared up at him with her bright green eyes and he smiled. He brushed a few strands of hair out of her hair and pushed it behind her ear.
He hesitated, not wanting her to know he was leaving, but at the same time, trying to drink in her features for the last time and make it a goodbye.
His voice began to falter, but he steadied it as he reluctantly let his hand fall to his side, "I'll see you around, Ortega."
»»————- ★ ————-««
A day trip. Evelynn tried to convince herself. It's just a day trip.
But she wasn't completely sure that was how Bellamy thought of it. She secretly glanced over her shoulder and watched him eye everyone around him suspiciously as he shoveled giant handfuls of rations into his backpack as if preparing for a hike across the planet.
She turned around back to the work in front of her as if not to let Bellamy know she was watching him. She huddled between Monty and Jasper as they all packaged super sweet nuts they found for rations.
Clarke walked up a few feet away from Evelynn and approached Bellamy, "That's a lot of rations. You realize this is a day trip."
"A lot can happen in a day."
Evelynn glanced at him quickly, catching his eye, his deep brown eyes watching her wearily.
She ignored his stare, Finn's words from earlier echoing through her brain.
Clarke and Bellamy then turned to leave camp without another word. Bellamy swung his head around as they made it to the gate and looked around at what he was leaving behind.
He felt nearly unfazed by the fact that he was leaving everything behind. The only person who he would miss was Octavia, his sister he was supposed to protect for his whole life.
But as he watched her glaring at him from the dropship, he knew that she didn't need him around anymore. She didn't want him around anymore. He was always in her way. He was the problem.
She was the only person who ever knew him. She was his whole life. His responsibility.
But she doesn't want him anymore. There was no one else who needed him. No one else he needed.
He began to walk backwards still facing the camp watching it get smaller and smaller until he stopped dead in his tracks.
His eyes landed on Evelynn standing between her friends with that lopsided grin on her face. She was wearing his jacket, the sleeves rolled up a few times so that her hands weren't covered. Her eyes sparkling as she spoke, her infectious laugh bubbling from her tongue. The way she tucked her hair behind her ear when she listened to her friends talk.
She knew him. The real him. The person he wanted to hide from the world, and yet she saw under his skin and didn't hate what she saw.
They had slowly grown closer than when they landed on the ground and he cared for her more than he cared to admit.
He thought there was no one he cared about leaving behind.
But suddenly he didn't know if that was true.
A hand found his shoulder, gripping him and pulling out of his thoughts. Clarke's stern tone echoed in his head.
"Ready to go?"
»»————- ★ ————-««
"He left." Evelynn fumed, an unexpected anger rising in her chest, "He actually left."
Jasper elbowed her gently while poping one of the nuts into his mouth, "Stop pouting over that jackass, Lynnie. He's gonna be back later."
Evelynn scrunched up her face, "See that's where you're wrong. He's not coming back, Jasp."
"Who cares?" Monty asked, nonchalantly.
Evelynn paused, a frown forming on her face. No one knew Bellamy like she did. No one else cared. It stung.
I care. She thought.
"What's she pouting at?" A voice broke Evelynn out of her daze as Octavia stood in front of them.
"She seems to think your brother abandoned us all." Monty said, tying off a bag of nuts."
Octavia scoffed, "Good riddance."
Evelynn grimaced, "You don't really mean that. He's your brother."
Octavia's face fell as her eyes landed of Evelynn, but all four became distracted when a boy named Drew behind them dropped a log of wood on Monroe's back.
Monroe instantly began to scream at the boy which caused a bunch of other people to join in the screaming.
Soon, all the people on firewood duty were defending Drew while the rest of the camp began to gather and defend Monroe.
It was complete chaos.
"What do we do?" Jasper shouted over the yells of the delinquents.
Monty, Jasper, and Octavia turned to Evelynn as if expecting a solution from her.
"Why are you looking at me?"
"Didn't Bellamy and Clarke make you a leader too?" Monty spoke loudly, hands hovering over his ears.
Evelynn hesitated, her voice felt like it was trapped in her throat, "Yes! But—"
"Then step up!" Octavia shouted, grasping her arm and pulling her closer to the riot, "You're in charge now! Control your people!"
Evelynn stood helplessly watching the quarreling delinquents in front of her, the kids becoming more and more chaotic by the second. She glanced back at her friends who nodded her on encouragingly.
She wished Bellamy was there. He always knew what to do.
What would Bellamy do? She repeated the question over and over in her head.
The answer struck her and she jogged back towards her confused friends and the ration's stations.
Before anyone could question her, she brought her fingers to her lips and created a loud whistle sound that made everyone stop what they were doing.
The camp was silent and all eyes were on her.
She immediately grabbed a packet of rations and held them above her head and spoke with the confidence of a leader.
"Who's hungry?"