"It'll hurts a little at first but I can promise you once it's off you'll be surprised at how good it feels."
Lydia had no idea how she'd gotten herself into such a situation, one moment she'd been sat inside the dropship with Octavia watching over Jasper, and the next she was shrouded in the safety of Bellamy Blake's tent after making the hasty decision to have her wristband taken off, she didn't know what had come over her. Perhaps after all she had just wanted to be closer to Bellamy.
"It'll hurt?" Her eyes widened, "I don't know if-"
"You know I wouldn't ever make you do anything you didn't want to do."
"I want it gone Bell, please just help me here."
"Why do I feel like me helping you carries a lot more weight than it should?"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You're hiding something from me." The man explained, his elbows came to rest on his knees and his hazel eyes fell upon the shaking girl, "Tell me."
"My god father is Marcus Kane. He was part of the council that decided to float my mother for trying to save my father's life, and he made the call to put me in lock up and send me down to earth..." tears began to sting the young girl's eyes but she kept her head down knowing that if her eyes were to meet Bellamy's then she'd break into a thousand pieces, "I remember how he used to smuggle things into lock up for me, notebooks, colouring pencils, anything I wanted, but now I see the only reason he did it was to keep me on his side. That man... my god father is the reason half of our people are down here."
"Jesus, I had no idea."
"No one does, just Monty, Murphy and Clarke know. And now you."
"So he's the reason you're doing this?"
"I want him to feel the same pain I felt when both of my parents died, and you're the only person I trust to help me."
"I'll help you, but only because I want him and Jaha to pay too." Bellamy grit his teeth, forcing himself to stay calm, "But you have to be sure you want me to take this off because once I do there's no going back."
"Do it."
"Okay doll, whatever you want."
For a moment, it was quiet in Bellamy's tent the only noise being his fumbling around searching for something to use to remove the girl's bracelet, and Lyds quiet crying. Finally his fingertips brushed the end of his knife beneath the makeshift bed and he brought it into his hands with a triumphant smile.
"I'm going to use the handle to force it off, it's gonna hurt-"
"I know, you said that already."
"Squeeze my hand if it gets too much."
And Bellamy set to work. With one hand enveloping the freckled girl's and the other clutching his knife, he began to force the handle of the weapon beneath her band pressing down harder and harder until it showed signs of giving. He hated to do it really, he saw the way she winced and gripped his hand in her own but it had to be done, if it was going to make Lyds happy again that was.
"Almost there..." And just like that the chunk of metal fell away from her skin and cluttered to the floor of Bellamy's tent, and just as the man had said it did feel good to be free of it. "How'd you feel?"
"Better. Thank you Bellamy, you're a good friend."
"So we're friends now?" he rose an eyebrow, "You do keep using that word."
"I'd like to think we are, yes."
"Me too, princess. Now go get some rest, you're probably gonna need it."
"Thanks Bell, goodnight."
"Goodnight."
With that, Lyds climbed to her feet and left the tent and Bellamy sat alone asking himself why hadn't he just asked her to stay?
***
It was almost sunrise when Atom stumbled into Murphy's tent, knocking everything in his path to the floor and forcing the boy awake from his dream filled sleep. It was strange to say the least since Murphy was pretty damn sure he didn't share a tent with anymore, especially with Atom of all people.
"Dude, wake up!"
"I'm already awake asshole, could you be any louder-"
"You'll never guess what I just heard."
"Oh please enlighten me." John huffed, before he turned and faced his friend in the pale glow of the moonlight
"Your girl was in Bellamy's tent and-"
"Wait a second, Lyds was alone in Bellamy's tent? They weren't-"
"Hooking up? God no! He was taking off her wristband I think, but some of the stuff she was telling him was crazy!"
"I probably already know everything you're about to tell me, but go ahead."
"Her god father is Marcus Kane!"
"Already knew that one."
"He's reason why you and I, why everyone is down here..."
"Could've guessed it." John shrugged, growing angrier and angrier as the seconds ticked by
"And whilst she was in lock up he used to smuggle stuff in for her, whatever she wanted."
"How the fuck do you know about that?"
"I told you, I was eavesdropping on her and Bellamy." Atom explained once more, "Kane is probably the guy who she got all of her stuff from, that backpack she has, her notebook. All of it. She got special privileges whilst the rest of us had to suffer, we gotta tell the others, something has to be done-"
"You keep your mouth shut alright?" Murphy hissed, his fists wrapped up in Atom's shirt, "You tell anyone and you're dead."
"Why? Scared your girl is gonna get her ass beat? She has Bellamy to protect her now. I couldn't touch her even if I wanted to."
"Hasn't stopped you with Octavia, right?" Atom's blood ran cold upon hearing John's words, how could he know? They'd kept it so quiet. "Bellamy's already coming for you Atom, you tell anyone and you won't just be punished, you'll be dead by morning."
" Got it." He swallowed the lump in his throat, "I'm sorry I brought it up."
"Good, now go back to whatever hole you crawled out of."
His whole demeanour seemed to drop and Atom ran from Murphy's tent like a wounded animal. For the rest of the night Murphy lay awake, asking himself over and over again, how could she have lied to him? She told Bellamy about the special privileges, about everything, and refused to tell her best friend, truthfully it hurt, more than hurt, but John wasn't willing to admit that but he had to hit her where it hurt too. He had to prove to his best friend he wasn't a force to be reckoned with, whatever it took.
***
The sun had only just began to rise when Lydia Greystone woke that morning, she got out of bed, stretched, combed a hand through her hair and headed outside beneath the rising sun. It seemed no one else was awake as of yet which meant she was alone with her thoughts for a little while, but no matter how long and hard she thought her mind kept going back to Bellamy.
It was obvious to anyone that the pair had grown close in only a matter of days, he'd helped her in ways no one could begin to underarms and despite his ways of brutality, Lydia still trusted him more than anyone. More than Clark, almost just as much as Murphy.
It was strange to think about considering their age difference, Bellamy's violent mannerisms and Lydia's lack there-of but they worked well together whether that meant as friends or something slightly more than that.
"Penny for your thoughts?"
"Hey Monty." she smiled fondly, "How's Jasper doing?"
"He's in pain, but better, a lot better. Thanks for watching over him last night, I know you had better things you could've been doing."
"I'd like to say that you and I are friends Monty, so that means whatever is important to you is important to me too, so there's nothing better I could've been doing than taking care of Jasper."
"Not even hanging around with your boys?"
"You mean Murphy and Bellamy?" she let out a laugh, "They're not my boys, far from it. Yeah I love Murphy, he's my brother, and Bell is my friend but that doesn't mean I agree with them on everything."
"I'm glad to hear it, you're too smart to be a delinquent like those two anyway."
"Smart? You seem a little too sure of that."
"Come on Lyds, I've seen everything you do around here, make weapons, take care of everyone, there's got to be something in that head of yours."
Lydia couldn't help but break out into a smile, one of the first real ones she'd felt since making it to the ground but it immediately fell from her face upon seeing Bellamy march over to her, his eyes filled with an emotion that she couldn't quite describe.
"Beat it." He stared down upon Monty
The boy let out a sigh before shooting one final smile at his friend and fleeing from the scene. Bellamy instantly took his place on the patch of grass where they'd been sat, his eyes didn't dare to meet hers as he spoke.
"What you told me last night..." He began, "I've been thinking about it a lot and I want to tell you the reason why I'm down here too."
"I thought you were a guard, and that you came down for Octavia."
"I did come down for Octavia, but I wasn't a guard. I was a janitor." he almost laughed at the sound of it, oh how times had changed
Bellamy himself wasn't quite sure why he'd made the decision to tell Lyds the truth of what he did, especially with so many people beginning to move around camp, but he truly did trust the girl and that was something they shared now. She trusted him too, she'd told him everything and considering their newly formed bond it only felt right to confess to what he'd done. Even if it did change the way she looked at him.
"A janitor? I didn't see you as the type Blake."
"We all had to make a living somehow, right?"
The blonde girl could only nod.
"What I'm about to tell you, what I did to get in the dropship, it's going to change your opinion of me and I just need you to know-"
"Bellamy, it's okay." Her arms came to rest around his shoulders and the Blake boy was immediately filled with comfort at his friends touch, "Nothing you could do now will change what I think of you."
"Get your hands off, I have a reputation to uphold." He tried to joke despite the situation, despite what he was about to tell her.
"Seriously Bellamy, what is it?"
"I shot someone." He admitted his eyes filled with pain unlike any Lydia had ever seen before. For a moment, the man had to stop himself so tears wouldn't meet his skin, he had to bite his tongue so the words wouldn't spill out, the truth of what he'd done.
Just as Bellamy opened his mouth to speak once more he was interrupted by a yelling voice on the other side of camp. At first he thought they were yelling for help but then he and Lyds both realised who exactly is was calling for attention.
"Attention delinquents!" Murphy yelled out, moving to stand on top of a log so he was above everyone who'd began to crowd around him, as if he was their leader. "I have an announcement! The truth is finally going to come out ladies and gentleman!"
"Murphy!" Bellamy called out as he forced his way over to the boy, dragging Lyds alongside him,"What are you doing? Get down-"
"There she is! The star of the show everyone!" His eyes fell upon his best friend and for the first time in years they were filled with nothing but anger and hate, "Do you wanna tell them? Or should I?"
"Murphy, I'm warning you-"
"Stop trying to protect her Bellamy! She's been lying to all of us, and you knew! That's right everyone your leader and his little friend have been keeping secrets!"
"Bell, what is he talking about?" Lydia whispered, her hand clasped around his as she desperately pulled at his arm but Bellamy only stood still, his hand grasped at hers tighter than before.
"He knows. He heard everything last night, or at least someone did."
"What am I talking about, my best friend?" Murphy let out a sickening laugh before he dropped down from the log and found himself face to face, "I'm talking about back up on the Ark, while the rest of us were in lock up suffering and crying out asses off, Marcus Kane's god child- that's right Kane! Was living like a god damn queen."
"No I wasn't. It wasn't like that-"
"What was it like then Lyds? Were the special privileges not good enough for you? That's where you got that backpack of yours and your special notebook from, right?"
"Why are you doing this?"
"Drives you crazy, huh? When your best friend, your family lies to you!" His voice began to crack with a mixture of pain and anger, "You told him first. You chose him over me, so this is what you get Lyds."
"It wasn't like that asshole!" Before she'd even realised what she'd done, Lydia had brought her arms forwards and shoved Murphy to the ground, his landing at the feet of those watching in anger at the girl who had lied.
Quickly, Murphy was on his feet and his hand wrapped around the girl's throat as he forced her backwards, the both of them falling to the ground once more. Bellamy could only watch on in disbelief.
"You lied to me..." he hissed, his body hovered over hers and his hand grew tighter around her throat as the seconds ticked away, "You lied!"
Suddenly, Lydia broke free and somehow managed to pin Murphy beneath herself where she landed a punch upon his jaw, "I am done defending you!"
"That makes two of us!" and he threw her to the side. The girl's head collided with the log of wood Murphy had once been stood on and for a moment she lay there dazed, until a pair of hands pulled her back and she found herself wrapped in Finn's arms.
"Back off!" Finn yelled as Bellamy forced himself in the way of Murphy
"Take a walk Murphy!" Bellamy hissed before his eyes fell upon the blue eyed girl and the blood cascading her cheek, "Get her to Clarke, now!"
***
"How are you feeling?"
It was quiet in the medical tent when Lydia woke from unconsciousness, she couldn't quite remember what had happened when she eventually came around, only that she'd had a fight with someone. But upon seeing Murphy sat across from her, all at once, everything came rushing back.
"Clarke? Why is he in here?"
"You're not the only one who needs cleaning up after our fight, baby." Murphy let out a harsh laugh, his eyes never defeating him for a moment, "But I have to admit you look just as bad as I do."
"Yeah, the log really did a number on her. I can't say the same for yourself." Clarke glared as she cleaned the cuts upon the criminal boy's knuckles.
"Stay out of this princess, this is between me and my sister."
"I'm not your sister." Lydia spat, Murphy's facade instantly faltered upon hearing her words that stung him like daggers, she couldn't mean it, "Not after this."
"You don't mean that shit-"
"I do."
"You're just about done here Murphy." Clarke cut in, "You can go."
"No, no, I'm not done here-"
"Yes you are Murphy." Bellamy's voice rang out across the room and the three teens were immediately brought to a stop, "Get out of here, Clarke go with him... I got this one."
"You sure?"
"Trust me, I know my way around a first aid kit. Go ahead."
"Okay, get some rest okay Lyds?" Clarke smiled her lips pressed against the top of the younger girl's head, "And don't listen to Murphy."
"I wasn't planning on it."
Hesitantly, Clarke left the room with an anger filled John Murphy in tow and finally Lyds and Bellamy were alone together once more, just as things were supposed to be.
"How are you doing?" He asked, his face pleading with her to lie to him, to tel him that she was okay even if she wasn't, just so he wouldn't have to worry and fight Murphy too.
"I'm better now. Thanks."
"You don't have to lie to me, you know? Where does it hurt?"
"My head hurts a little but apart from that, I'm okay, honestly."
"Look Lyds, that's not the reason i'm here... I want you to come to me if Murphy bothers you again."
"Why should I? I can deal with-"
"Just let me handle him."
"Let me guess, I'll owe you something in return if I let you do me this favour"
"You won't owe me anything, nothing you're not willing to give."
"And what's that supposed to mean?"
"We're the same Lyds, you might not think it now but soon you'll understand." He was ready, he was finally going to tell her what he'd done to end up on the dropship, even if it meant losing her for good.
"And until then?"
"I want you to come scavenging with me tomorrow. We can talk more then, without so many people."
"Okay it's a deal, a day of scavenging in exchange for a day of Murphy protection."
It was quiet for a few moments as Lydia sat upon the makeshift table her eyes trained on the older man while his head fell to rest in his hands. It was clear whatever had happened outside had affected Bellamy more than it had Lyds, it couldn't be explained without sounding crazy but seeing her that way terrified him all because he hadn't been able to stop it.
"I'm gonna kill him..." He hissed, "If he lays a hand on you again-"
"I forgive him Bell, it's okay."
"Why? Why should you forgive him after what he's done?"
"Because, he's all I have. He's my family, even if he is an asshole."
"You have me." the Blake boy outburst before he'd even realised what he was doing, "You have me, Lyds."
"I know Bellamy, I'm sorry I didn't mean it like that-"
"You don't need him."
"No." She spoke her hands rested upon his shoulders, "I don't need him, but I choose him."
"Why?"
"He's not a good person, I know that and I accept that, but I choose him for the same reason that I choose you Bellamy, because I have you, and you have me too."
"Wow." a tainted smile painted itself upon the boy's lips, one he couldn't resist.
"What?" She smiled back, just as hard, just as unresistant.
"It's just..." He paused for breath, eyes falling upon her, "There is no one like you."