XX

[PREVIOUSLY: Octavia runs into a grounder during her escapade from the tunnels. She gets captured before she can get very far but then Bellamy and Jasper come to the rescue. The three of them start walking back to the drop-ship which is a few days' distance away].

"Are you sure you're feeling okay, O?"

At the sound of my brother's concerned tone, I glanced up at him from my reclined position by the fire and nodded. "I'm fine, Bell. Stop worrying, okay?"

Bellamy gritted his teeth and averted his eyes from me as he shrugged. "I'm your brother, O, it's my job to worry."

I chuckled lightly and slapped him playfully on the knee. "Relax, Bell, we're safe now."

I leaned backwards, my eyes landing on Jasper's sleeping form as I did so. I smiled to myself as I reached over and adjusted the thin cotton blanket that was wrapped around his still body.

As I turned my gaze back towards the dancing flames of the fire, I heaved a deep sigh of contentment.

Bellamy, Jasper and I had exited the vicinity of the grounders as quickly and as silently as possible. We knew we were being watched, in fact, I even saw a few shadows moving throughout the trees as we walked. Why they did not attack us, I will never know. They must've been under orders that were not be disobeyed. I was just glad that we made it out of there in one piece.

According to Bellamy, it was only after everyone had returned to the drop-ship did they realise that I was nowhere to be seen. Of course, this got Bellamy extremely worried. Without waiting for further advice from Clarke, Bellamy selected ten of his most trusted cohorts and organised them into search parties.

While Raven, Finn and the others were busy devising a solution to let the Ark know of our existence, Bellamy and his crew scouted the woods for miles in every direction. However, everyone reconvened back at the drop-ship by dusk, unsuccessful and empty-handed.

By this time, Bellamy was frantic with worry. He refused to give up and get some sleep like the others were willing to do. He continued to search and call for me all night long. During his long and lonely night-time trek, Raven finally completed her plan for communing with the Ark.

Bellamy didn't explain it very well because he wasn't fully aware of the details. All he knew was that Raven had managed to devise some launchers from the rocket blazers that were on the pod that she'd come down in. They shot straight up into the sky and flamed and sparked off in hues of all different colours once they hit the atmosphere. Bellamy didn't doubt that everyone within a hundred mile radius could've seen them. But that was the idea. They were supposed to be seen by the people up in the Ark; to let them know that we were alive, all one hundred of us.

Bellamy had no way of knowing if the warning worked or not, but at least he and the others could rest in the fact that they'd tried to the best of their ability.

When morning broke over the land, Bellamy was rejoined by another band of ragged, defeated searchers, Jasper among them. Contrary to Bellamy's inclination, they all gave up and returned to the drop-ship. Jasper, who had only just recovered from his grievous infection, volunteered to accompany Bellamy as they pressed on in their desperate search.

Dusk was falling when Jasper finally suggested that the two return to camp. They had wandered a long way from the drop-ship and had no way of knowing if they were in grounder territory or not. Then, Bellamy let out one last heart-broken cry. That's when I responded and Jasper managed to find me.

We had nestled ourselves in a crook of an overhanging knoll that was a few miles away from the tunnels. I couldn't go any further and Bellamy didn't want to push his luck, especially since it was dark. He set up a trip wire around our camp so we would know if an unwelcome intruder was trying to approach us. He retrieved a dead rabbit from his rucksack and lit a small fire over which he roasted the meat before distributing it to us.

Jasper had fallen asleep almost immediately afterwards. I was pretty exhausted too, but I was fearful of falling asleep and enduring a surprise attack at the hands of the grounders. I needed to stay awake and make sure Bellamy remained safe.

"Thank you," I whispered softly, trying to cover the fact that my voice was cracked and dry. "I - I didn't realise ... I didn't know that you were searching for me this whole time! I ..."

"Hey," Bellamy rested a gentle hand on my shoulder. "I would do that again and worse ... for you."

I opened my mouth to respond, but a massive lump formed in the back of my throat, choking my words before they could come out.

Suddenly Raven and Finn, locked in a tight embrace, were standing right in front of me, looking lovingly into each other's eyes.

"I'd do more for you and worse," Raven whispered as she trailed a hand down Finn's chest. "Just like you would for me."

"O, are you alright?"

The figures of Raven and Finn disappeared as Bellamy's voice snapped me out of my reverie. My eyes widened as I turned to him. "Y-yeah ...?"

"You kinda zoned out," he said. "You better get some sleep, O, you look awful."

I rolled my eyes and lifted my hand to scrape my fingers through my matted mess of hair. "Geez, thanks, bro. W-what about you though?"

Bellamy shook his head. "Forget it, O. I'm fine. Just rest. You need it."

I smiled sleepily at him as I settled down to rest, laying my head on Bellamy's outstretched legs. "G'night, Bell."

"Goodnight, O."

It felt like I'd only just closed my eyes for a mere second before someone was stooping over me and shaking me awake. With a groan, my eyes flittered open, only to be pierced with the bright, glaring light of the sun.

"C'mon, Octavia," Jasper was saying. "We better get an early start if we wanna make it back to the drop-ship sometime today."

With some help from Bellamy, I managed to get to my feet and limp clumsily after him as we started off.

As we walked on and on, I began to notice things about Jasper that I'd never even seen before. He was tall and muscular, his thick hair fell across his forehead in waves, his thick tinted goggles were fastened tightly onto his forehead and whenever I spoke to him, he was so happy he smiled his cute, dorky smile. He was so adorable. He was so brave.

I bit my lip to suppress my grin as I gazed at him. Suddenly, Bellamy dug an elbow into my side and hissed into my ear, "Is it just me or does nerdy Jasper have a wee crush on you?"

"Shut-up!" I giggled as I gave his shoulder a playful shove. "So what? Your sister's hot, Bell."

"Wow. If you do say so yourself," Bellamy muttered, shaking his head in disbelief.

I laughed outright at this.

It was dark by the time we came into sight of the drop-ship. I was so thoroughly exhausted and my body was so weighted down with pain that I nearly collapsed on the way up the hill. Bellamy called Jasper over and together, they carried me the rest of the way.

Everyone greeted us with cries of relief and excitement. I was taken straight to the drop-ship where Clarke cleaned and re-bandaged my wounds. Bellamy propped me up against the wall with pillows and piled a heap of blankets on me so I didn't get cold.

Atom was lying straight across from me. A huge white bandage was wrapped around his head and his arms were bound up in slings. A shiver ran up my spine as I stared at him. He looked way too peaceful, way too ... dead. I exhaled shakily as I bounced my eyes. I nearly forgot ... my brother did that to him.

As Bellamy and Clarke were conversing in low tones across the room, I watched as a timid, nervous Jasper scooted over towards me and inquired if I needed anything.

An idea suddenly popped into my head. I nodded at him as I replied, "Come closer and I'll tell you."

Jasper willingly complied until he was sitting so close I could feel his breath fanning my neck. I turned my head so I could look at him and then smiled as I whispered, "Thank you. Thank you for saving my life."

Before Jasper could form the words to respond, I leaned over and placed a quick kiss on his lips. "Your reward," I hummed as I pulled away.

Jasper blushed so hard I thought his head was going to explode from the amount of blood that was running through it. He gazed at me and his mouth curved into a wide smile. "I - I gotta go," he stuttered as he slowly got to his feet.

I nodded at him as he started walking off, casting long side glances towards me as he did so.

A low giggle resounded in the back of my throat as I watched him disappear. He was just way too cute.

"I hope that wasn't the kiss of an enemy, Octavia."

Surprised, I glanced up to see Clarke coming towards me, a stern look on her features.

I stared at her as she drew closer and knelt down beside me. "W-what did you just say?"

"I hope that wasn't the kiss of an enemy, you know, taking advantage of someone even though you don't have feelings for them?" Clarke shrugged carelessly as she repeated her statement. "Everyone knows you're upset after being so ungracefully dumped by Finn but seriously? Jasper? C'mon."

"What do you want, Clarke?" I spat out angrily.

"Nothing," Clarke straightened up and gazed down at me, a hint of malice in her sky-blue eyes. "Just don't let us down again, Octavia. You have no idea how important you are."

With that, Clarke whirled around and stalked off.

I stared after her in amazement.

What on earth was she talking about?

Gif: Octavia as she stands up to Clarke.

XX