❝thank you, alcohol.❞

-april ludgate, parks & rec

♛

A TAP ON MY SHOULDER causes me to turn around. Clarke stands just behind me with an expectant expression on her pale face, which is illuminated in an orange glow from the fire that I'm sitting in front of. "You want to do the honor of getting Bellamy?" she questions. "Or am I gonna have to?"

My eyes widen and I immediately stand up from the log bench. "You mean it's actually happening?"

"Jaha's thinking about it," Clarke responds slowly after some thought. "Don't get too excited. It's a pretty big maybe."

I rub my face, wincing at the ache it brings about. The cuts from our battle with Dax haven't faded at all since they formed a few hours ago, and the scorching heat of the fire has caused me to momentarily forget about them. I drop my hands and let my eyes drift until they land on Bellamy.

He's talking to Octavia, who has one of the new orange blankets wrapped around her as she leans against the trunk of a tree. They seem to be getting along pretty well considering the Grounder had escaped. No one knows how, because apparently almost everyone at camp had been hallucinating. Monty even said he'd eaten a pinecone because it told him to.

"Bellamy!" I call to him, causing him to turn his head slightly. "Jaha's ready to speak with you, and you better come now before he changes his mind."

He nods and takes a few steps forward before looking back at Octavia. "That Grounder escaping... was that you?"

"I had nothing to do with it," she responds, her voice so quiet from where I am that I can barely comprehend her words. "Thanks for the blanket."

Clarke leads the two of us inside one of the larger tents where Raven had set up the communications system. There are four pairs of giant headphones, which she hands to us with slightly trembling fingers. She, like myself and Bellamy, is incredibly nervous.

A small rectangular screen sits on the only table in the tent, complete with a light behind it and a camera. Chancellor Jaha's face appears on the static-filled screen. He looks the exact same as I remember- dark brown skin, close-cropped hair, and gravelly voice that had always twisted my nerves until now. I'm pardoned for my crimes and have no reason to feel guilty at the sight of his face anymore. However, knowing that Bellamy might not be pardoned for his makes this meeting ten times worse.

"Mister Blake," Jaha begins the second we've all put our sets of headphones on and taken a seat in front of the camera. "I've wanted to talk to you for some time now."

"Before you do, I'd like to say something," Clarke says, quickly glancing at Bellamy, who sits on the opposite side of me and therefore she has to lean forward a bit to see him. "When you sent us down here, you sent us to die, but miraculously, most of us are still alive."

"And a large part of that is thanks to him," I add with a small grin on my face. Out of the corner of my eye, I see watching me as I speak. "He's gotten us through a lot. His knowledge of weapons is going to help us tremendously since we discovered guns in the depot. We can't make it anywhere without Bellamy, and though he's a real pain in the ass sometimes, he's one of us, and he deserves to be pardoned of his crimes as well."

"Clarke, Fallon," Jaha replies, a glitch in the audio causing his voice to change pitches due to the bad reception, "I appreciate your point of view, but it's not that simple."

"It is," Bellamy affirms to my surprise, "if you want to know who on the Ark wants you dead."

For a second, I think I see the Chancellor's lip twitch as if he might smile, but the expression fades as his dark eyes flicker down to the table below the camera. He leans forward on his elbows and takes his time in letting his gaze return to us. "Bellamy Blake, you're pardoned for your crimes."

A huge breath of relief I didn't know I was holding comes flooding out at Jaha's words. A grin forms on Bellamy's face, still battered and bruised from the brawl, but it still lifts my heart.

"Now," Jaha continues sternly, "tell me who gave you the gun."

--

"UNITY JUICE!" Jasper screams as he comes running out of the dropship with a giant jug over his head. "Who's thirsty?"

Most of the campers around shout in excitement and swarm him, nearly swallowing the poor boy up in the crowd. Technically, the Chancellor is still giving us the annual Unity Day Speech, but none of us really care all that much since we've been hearing it our whole lives. We're all thankful for the distraction from the story about how our nations joined together and formed the Ark.

"And as for you, Miss Fallon," Jasper says breathlessly, effectively snapping me out of my thoughts as he bounds forward with a second, smaller jug tucked beneath his arm. "Dunno how he did it, but Monty made some coffee and wanted you to be the first to try it."

I instantly jump and wrap my hands around the warm metal container. I unscrew the lid, letting the steam escape into the air and drift up to the clouds. Without wasting any time, I take a tiny sip. The piping-hot liquid nearly singes my tastebuds. The coffee tastes extremely bitter due to it being absolutely plain, but I can feel the caffeine dripping into my bloodstream and heightening my nerves.

I smile at the bouncing boy in front of me. "It's perfect."

Jasper lets out a "Woooo!" and turns back toward the eager crowd that's still awaiting their share of Unity Juice. I chuckle and roll my eyes, taking another sip of the bitter coffee. It tastes absolutely horrible, but if it's the only think that's going to keep me awake, then so be it.

It's already late afternoon, but the sun is hiding behind a sheet of grey clouds. The air is more frigid than usual. I can smell the sharp scent of alcohol as well as the autumnal leaves that are crunching beneath people's feet. Luckily, I have the warm drink and some fingerless gloves to keep me warm. I had stolen them from Raven; she didn't seem to care.

By the time I finish half of the large thermos, I begin to notice a burning sensation in my throat that isn't from the heat of the coffee. The liquid is cool enough that it doesn't scorch my mouth anymore. The container falls from my hands and spills the coffee onto the dead grass at my feet. I stumble, suddenly realizing my lack of balance.

With my hands shaking, I bend down and pick up the leaking thermos. One whiff of the scent causes me to crinkle my nose in disgust. It smells of coffee, alright- and Monty's Moonshine.

"Monty, you little shit," I mumble with a smile on my face. The effects of the liquor are causing my veins to buzz inside of me, and my head seems more clear than it has been in days. Elation fills me. I had learned from my time stealing alcohol in the Ark that I'm nowhere near being a lightweight, but that's only when there's something stopping me from embracing the full effects of the drink. I actually want to forget my troubles for a little while, and what is there to lose? Nothing.

I close my eyes and let myself get lost in thought. The sky seems to get darker more quickly than it usually does, but that may be just because of the lack of sun. Before I know it, people are lighting torches in order for us to see. The flames light up the camp with their warm glow. I never realized how much I like the color orange before.

I wipe the dirt from the container and down a few gulps, cringing at the god-awful taste and dropping the now empty thermos. My senses are alive, not blurred, and the voices of those around me seem a little louder than they had been before. That's probably why I jump when Bellamy calls my name.

"Fallon!"

I immediately turn and raise my eyebrows at him. Bellamy is eating something, but I'm not sure what, and I can't stop staring at the stupid smirk that's curving up his lips. He walks toward me from some corner of the camp like he had been watching everyone else for whatever reason.

I step forward, surprisingly sturdy on my feet, and stop right in front of him. My hand is reaching up even though I'm not telling it to. My fingers brush his cheek and he tenses, going completely still. I tilt my head to the side as my hand cups the side of his face. He really is a work of art. Even with the cut right across the bridge of his nose, the remaining blood he hadn't been able to completely get rid of, and the oil dotting his olive-toned skin, my eyes still linger on him longer than they should.

"You okay, Amazon?" he questions with a crease between his eyebrows. He had barely moved his lips when he asked that, and I still can't tear my eyes away from his.

"You have a nice face," I blurt out before my brain can say no. Instantly, my face reddens with a hot, red color and my eyes get really big. "I mean, no. Well, you do, but I didn't mean to say that--"

Bellamy cuts me off with a laugh. He takes my wrist and moves my hand from his cheek as gently as one would handle a toddler. "You have a nice face, too."

My eyes light up. "Really?"

I can sense another person behind me, and I turn around to see Clarke standing there with her hands shoved in her pockets. "The coms are still dow--"

"Clarke!" I exclaim loudly, throwing my arms around her neck in a hug. I haven't seen her all day. "Where have you been? I missed you!"

It takes her a second to hug me back, probably because nothing can compare to the hugs I give and she doesn't want to be embarrassed or something. "I've been trying to see why all of our communication systems suddenly aren't working."

Bellamy chuckles. "I wouldn't use those big words around her. She's drunk off her ass."

As if to test what he had said, Clarke asks, "Fallon, are you drunk?"

I contemplate this question for a moment before pulling back from our hug and letting a smile take over my face. A laugh bubbles out. "Yup!" I turn around and start to walk back to the rest of the people, but my foot snags on a root and suddenly I'm falling. "Woah!"

A hand grabs onto my arm before I can hit the ground. "Yeah, you need some rest."

"But I don't want rest," I protest in a grumble. "I want to party. It's Unity Day!"

Bellamy shakes his head, and I see he's the one who caught me. That's not very surprising at all considering Clarke's so slow. "No. I'm your chaperone for the party tonight, and I'm here to tell you that you are done for today and you're going to get some sleep."

"I just drank a whole thermos of coffee and Moonshine," I tell him as he starts to lead me around the groups of people, still keeping the grip on my arm. "I'm not gonna sleep anytime soon."

My feet stomp on the ground, crushing the blades of grass as Bellamy leads me to wherever we're going. Everything looks the same in the camp. The fact that it's night doesn't make it any better at all, and I have to squint to see in the dim lighting.

Eventually we reach a tent that's a little bit farther away from the rest. Bellamy bends down and holds the flap open for me. "In you go." Instead of taking a step inside, I completely lose my balance and crumple to the ground. "Or you can do that, too."

"I'm fine right here," I tell him. My mind is beginning to fog even more, the effects of the alcohol outweighing those of the coffee. Maybe I am getting a little tired.

"You can't just lay on the grass," Bellamy sighs. "Here." I feel his arms go around my middle as he awkwardly lifts me up and takes a few steps into the tent. It's a nice one, spacious and complete with a cot that's basically just a mattress and several blankets. He sets me down on it and drapes a blanket over me, encasing me in warmth.

"You'll stay here, right?" I ask. My voice is muffled by the pillow and I wonder if he can even hear me.

But he responds, and that leads me to the conclusion that yes, he can hear me. "Of course. I'll stay right here."

"Don't lay on the grass," I advise almost as an afterthought. "It's not very comfy."

Bellamy chuckles. "Goodnight, Fallon."

And I'm out like a light.

---------

drunk fallon is me okay

i completely renovated the playlist, if anyone wants to check it out. head over to my 8tracks!

-kristyn