Avery had retreated into the Dropship before she left to her tent for the night. She used the excuse of being thirsty and needing to get more water, but she was also expecting Monty to be hunched over the wristbands he had worked on for what felt like weeks.

However, there was no Monty in sight.

The girl assumed he had gone to bed, actually choosing sleep over the wristbands - which was a choice she was sure he wouldn't have made before Raven arrived on Earth. They still didn't have a radio or a communications system, but they now had Monty Green and Raven Reyes, meaning Monty could fall asleep at a reasonable time without feeling like he had to tirelessly work on contacting the Ark.

"Avery?"

Bellamy's voice came into the Dropship, closely followed by the boy himself, who was holding a flamed torch and looking quite panicked. She furrowed her eyebrows; wary of the boy who was still wary of her, and suspicious of the fact he wanted to talk.

"Have you seen Octavia?"

Bellamy was now glancing around the Dropship as if his sister was going to pop up from somewhere. He wasn't looking for Avery's reaction; too afraid that her face would show the same fear he was feeling, which would only make him panic a whole lot more.

Avery's lips curved into a frown. She hadn't seen Octavia since leaving her to follow Bellamy. Did she make it back to camp at all after that?

"I haven't." The girl responded, feeling her body be washed with a sense of anxiousness. "How long has she been missing?"

"No one's seen her in twelve hours."

Bellamy was still looking around the ship, knowing fully she wasn't anywhere there to be found, and then he finally stopped. Avery assumed he had checked the entirety of the camp and when she considered the fact he cared about Octavia so much; he had probably checked it ten times over.

"So we go find her." She said simply.

The boy stiffened up so quickly that Avery didn't notice it. And when he replied, an unknown glint appeared in his eyes that accompanied his suddenly enthusiastic tone.

"Yeah, we need to." He made his way back over to the door, glancing back quickly. "Get whatever you need and meet me outside in fifteen."

Fifteen minutes? That seems a little excessive.

But Avery didn't argue that aloud, only nodded and watched as Bellamy disappeared from the Dropship. She knew she would never be able to figure that man out.

She filled up her water bottle and then left the Dropship herself, intent on putting it away and switching out her the shoes she was wearing - borrowed from Harper - for the ones she had arrived with. She was just in the middle of sorting it all out when Jasper bounded in, his eyes wild with urgency.

"We're leaving now, what are you doing?"

Avery's face scrunched up in confusion, looking to her watch to confirm that she had another ten minutes from when Bellamy told her to head outside.

And it suddenly hit her.

Bellamy became so 'enthusiastic' about her going with him to look for his sister because he was planning on just leaving without her. That way, he wouldn't have her arguing with him about wanting to come, and he wouldn't have her annoying him whilst they were looking for Octavia.

He was still angry with Avery due to her confronting him about the radio. And he was so petty that he would have one less person searching for Octavia just because of his sudden vendetta against her.

"Bellamy's a dick." She muttered under her breath before following Jasper outside; instantly set on making Bellamy Blake's life a living hell.

It was safe to say that Avery didn't get the chance to even try.

Only a few minutes into the rescue mission, one of the girls Avery was unfamiliar with - and who she now had a reason to resent - had tripped whilst trying to get down a hill and sprained her ankle. Immediately Avery was lumped with escorting her back to camp, and although she complied, she complained the whole way back.

"I can't believe this shit." She panted, repositioning the girl's arm around her shoulder and her own on her waist so she wouldn't have to put weight on her foot. "Bellamy didn't want me looking for Octavia, and he's got exactly what he wanted."

The girl winced in pain from her ankle, glaring at Avery who was obliviously hauling her onwards towards the camp. "Don't worry," She said, her voice dripping in sarcasm. "I'm fine."

Avery faltered then, realising her own tactlessness, and muttered an apology as she helped the girl inside the camp walls. She scanned the grounds for Clarke. It was something she never wanted to do - because she never really wanted to speak to the girl - but no one else knew anything medical related.

And although she received some clarity with Clarke after their small argument, Avery wasn't on good terms with the girl. She was firm in the idea that Clarke embarrassed her in front of everyone by talking so loudly, and therefore they were well and truly back to their hatred for one another.

In reality, even though Clarke talked quite loudly about Avery's dislike for her mother, no one really overheard the conversation. But it was perfectly understandable why she wasn't exactly willing to be civil with her.

None of these things really mattered anyway, since Clarke was nowhere to be found.

According to Harper - who was lounging around in their tent - she and Raven had left shortly after everyone left to find Octavia, apparently looking for some part to fix the radio with. Avery dropped the injured girl off at her tent, earning dirty looks from her friends who were watching as though Avery had been the fault of her injury.

After a few minutes Avery stalked off, sick of explaining that she didn't push the girl down any hills and she wasn't refusing to let her see Clarke because she wanted her to suffer. The girl was starting to think there was a lot more misinformation about her arrest than she initially thought.

But she didn't know those people, so she couldn't bring herself to care.

Monty was chatting with Harper and a few others near the fire. Harper was explaining some wild story that had her moving her hands like crazy, earning laughs from a younger girl that Avery recognised as Fox.

His eyes were watching the conversation with a soft fondness, a lazy smile on his lips as he listened intently. Avery had to push away a stupid smile upon seeing the boy, forcing herself to remember she was currently upset about Bellamy and having to head back to camp.

Leaning down to tap Monty on the shoulder, she felt lucky when she only caught his attention and not any of the others. She was not in the right mindset to be chatting mindlessly with them all when she was so angry about Bellamy's grudge over the radio.

"Bellamy Blake." She said firmly, her arms folding across her chest as she huffed out an annoyed breath.

Monty turned away from Harper and the others, shooting them all an apologetic look as he got up from his seat. Throwing his hands up questioningly, he followed Avery a few steps.

"That's not my name." Monty replied, a sense of cheekiness behind his words that made Avery give him a look to say she was not in the mood for it.

The boy raised his eyebrows expectantly, having learnt that Avery would easily spill her guts out whilst he sat pretty and listened. She exhaled heavily again; her frustration obvious in the way she couldn't keep her hands still as she waited for a group of people to pass before she could rant about her least favourite Blake sibling.

"That idiot wasn't gonna let me look for Octavia with him." She shook her head, still in disbelief of it. "He really let some petty grudge over Raven's radio get in the way of me potentially finding his sister."

The girl let out a scoff, thinking then of all the things that had been pissing her off for the last few days. And of course, that always seemed to somehow lead back to the blonde girl she had a vendetta against.

"And don't even get me started on Clarke."

Monty didn't get her started on Clarke, because the girl did that well enough herself.

"She was so obnoxious when she was blabbering on about her mom, and me, and all that shit. She was asking why I hated her mom, but I know she wanted to ask why I was always hostile towards her instead."

"Why do you hate Clarke so much?" Monty wondered aloud, not entirely sure that she'd want to answer that.

Avery knew this question would come at some point. Of course, she'd seen the pointed glances and heard the one off comments questioning it, but no one had asked her straight up.

"I don't hate Clarke." She replied, switching up so quickly that it became painfully obvious she had retreated to a defence mechanism. She spoke with a little more hostility than she intended, trying to keep her voice steady as she continued. "I don't know what would give you that idea."

Monty laughed softly as she shook her head, refusing it, trying to put back up the walls he was breaking down ever so excruciatingly. The thing is, with every word she shared with him, he made it even more impossible for her to distance herself from him.

"You really do."

Avery shifted on her feet, subconsciously drifting from where crowds of people were hanging around the camp, always so wary of people hearing her talk about her emotions. They were drawing towards the wall built around the camp they called home, with Avery close enough to dart away into the woods if she really wanted.

"I don't." She replied firmly.

Monty could see right through her. Needless to say, it kind of freaked her out. No one else was able to read her that well.

"You can tell me if you want to." He spoke in such a soft tone that Avery almost melted.

But it was the way it made her feel that led her to snap instead.

"Can you just leave it, Monty?"

The second she raised her voice she regretted it.

Monty's head ducked away from her, his hand scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. He avoided her eyes as he winced in upset from her harsh words.

Avery wanted to slap herself for upsetting him.

"Monty, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have gotten angry."

"No, it's fine," He said dismissively, his eyes inadvertently telling the girl he wanted to leave. "It's okay."

"No. It's not fine."

She knew she had to apologise properly before he disappeared anywhere.

Rubbing an exasperated hand over her face, she decided that if she was going to bite the bullet and apologise to anyone; she was glad it was Monty. The only thing she hoped to achieve was that he wouldn't hate her.

"I can't open up to people very well. I was never close with my dad, my mom died when I was just a baby, and I've never had anyone there for me before: ever. I tried to care for my dad but it just- We never got along well. And it landed me in here, so..."

She could hear her voice threatening to wobble and Monty's eyes watching her carefully. She wouldn't have continued, but she knew him well enough to know he wasn't pitying her.

"I'm just not used to people caring. And you actually care about me."

The smile on his face was almost enough to make Avery grab his face and kiss him. Almost.

"I think." She added at the very end, making him chuckle softly.

"Of course I care about you." He confirmed.

Ever so strangely, an old feeling returned. One she had felt when she was being taken to the Dropship to go down to Earth.

It felt like vertigo.

Except, it was nice. Monty had that effect on her: making her feel like her whole world was spinning. And it felt like the most beautiful thing in the world.

When Monty looked at her in that gentle way of his, or spoke some of that infinite wisdom, or did pretty much anything; the feeling in her stomach overpowered any other sense of euphoria she had ever felt before.

She didn't care about the way the sunlight fell through the tree's leaves, or the wild flowers she had at her bedside from Harper leisurely picking some during her work, or the beautiful blue glow of the bioluminescence in parts of the forest at night.

Those were her favourite parts of nature, she had decided that soon after arriving on Earth. But all of it paled in comparison to when Monty even just glanced in her direction.

She was beyond whipped for the boy.

"I'm sorry I got angry. I really am. I shouldn't have lashed out. I need to learn how to deal with shit like this." She said heavily, massaging her oncoming headache with her fingertips.

She desperately tried to control the spinning sensation in her mind. Monty took a few steps towards her, a playful expression on his face.

"Did the Avery Taylor just apologise to me?" He teased, smiling mischievously as a small smile tugged at her lips. "Did that really just happen?"

"Monty!"

She whined, swatting at his shoulders and shaking him softly in a playful attempt to stop his joking. His hands fell onto hers but made no attempt to move them off of him. Instead, he just looked at her; only mere millimetres away now.

"You're really important to me Monty."

It was one of the most difficult thing she had ever admitted, but somehow, it felt like the easiest thing in the world. Monty was blinking back at her, feeling in awe and adoration, which wasn't translating too much onto his face. She had no idea how he felt.

"You're important to me too."

And yet, despite what Monty had said in return, Avery shuffled away from the boy, taking back her hands and folding them over her chest. She was too awkward for it, too overwhelmed by the adorable way in which Monty was looking at her. She shifted on her feet, not really knowing what to say next.

"You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to. Just know that if you do want to, you can."

I should tell him.

There was a small mental block at the front of her mind, restricting her words from flowing, and preventing her from opening up. And then, to destroy that mental block, she reached out and entwined her hand in Monty's.

"I told you why I ended up here, but not Abby's part in all of it."

"Abby?"

Nodding her head, she felt a lump forming in her throat. She was only being spurred on to talk by Monty's hand squeezing hers gently. He was a comfort to her and he always would be.

"She was my father's doctor. I assume he kept going to appointments after I was arrested."

The hand grasping Monty's felt like it was on fire. His thumb stroked over the back of her hand a few times, coaxing away her nerves and letting the lump in her throat disappear.

"One day, she came to see me. My dad hadn't showed up for two visitation sessions and I was getting worried. She told me he was dead."

"Avs," Monty muttered softly, his eyes filled with sympathy.

"I freaked out on her. Tried to lunge for her, it was embarrassing really. I was only awful to Clarke because of her, it's unfair, I know." She laughed harshly, shaking her head in upset at herself. "I just couldn't stop."

"Did you ever try just stopping?" He asked carefully, a smile nudging onto his lips when one appeared on her own against her will.

"I was a bitch from the moment my dad started having appointments with her mom. It was petty shit; misplaced anger about him being sick and the fact that whatever Abby was trying wasn't working. By the time I realised Clarke didn't deserve it, I supposed it was too late." She shrugged, eyes darting away from Monty's awkwardly. "And if I was to apologise, then I'd have to explain why I was so horrible. She didn't know my dad was her mom's patient. I wasn't ready to tell anyone that."

"What about now?"

Avery could feel her cheeks heating up, and she unintentionally squeezed Monty's hand awkwardly. "Well I'm telling you aren't I?"

"Maybe you should be telling Clarke this."

She knew he was right, and for some strange reason, she didn't hate to admit it. That was the thing about Monty; you could tell him any problem and he always knew the right thing to do - without making you feel like an idiot.

"She might be back now," Avery considered, and when Monty's smile lit up his whole face, she felt like she had to find her. "I have to go tell her about that girl who sprained her ankle anyway."

"Someone sprained their ankle?"

Avery waved a dismissive hand as she drew back towards the fire, feeling nerves twist in her stomach as she saw Clarke leaving the Dropship. She held so much resentment towards the girl for so long that she was terrified by the prospect of bringing up the subject to Clarke.

But when she went to approach her, something else came into view.

A large crowd were swarming the small opening they had made for leaving camp, and in the midst of it all, Avery saw Bellamy supporting an unconscious Finn in his arms. Clarke was testing for his pulse, looking on the verge of tears, and Raven was lingering back a few feet, most definitely on the verge of tears.

"Bellamy wouldn't let me take out the knife." Avery overheard Jasper telling Clarke as she neared the scene.

Spotting Octavia, she reached out and squeezed the girl's hand affectionately, telling her she was glad she was okay but keeping her eyes on the chaos that was ensuing. Finn had been stabbed. 

And suddenly, Avery was wondering if her going back to camp instead of looking for Octavia was the universe trying to save her.