If someone had come to you a year ago and told you that you would be a co-leader to the remaining people of the Ark on the ground, you probably would have laughed and punched them in the face. But, standing on top of the watch tower now, overlooking Arkadia, it wasn't much of a crazy idea. If someone had come to you a year ago and told you that you would be a respected citizen and guard, you probably would have scoffed and wrapped a cord around their neck. But, holding the gun in your hands and wearing the Ark guard uniform proudly, it wouldn't have been far off from the truth. If someone had come to you a year ago and told you that you'd be in a healthy relationship with Clarke Griffin, you probably would have raised an eyebrow and stabbed them in the heart. But now, looking down to the ground where she stood staring up at you with that loving smile, it was the best thing in the world.

"Hey, you," she called up, not needing to cup her hands around her mouth as it had been pretty quiet over the past few days.

"Hey, Griff." You leaned over, grinning widely.

"See much?" She asked, referring to outside the gate.

"Oh, I'm seeing a lot." You smirked at her, noting that she rolled her eyes. "A lot of trees," you concluded, watching as the smile on her face widened. "You thought I was going to say something else, didn't you?"

"Maybe just a little bit."

"Would it make you feel any better if I told you I was thinking about it?"

Clarke laughed. "Not in the slightest."

"Good, because I wasn't."

"You're not a very good liar."

"Let's agree to disagree, shall we?" You watched as Clarke laughed again, shaking her head. "Need me from anything?"

"Not yet, I'll find you later though."

"Aye, aye, captain." You saluted before leaning back, standing in the original position you had taken up before.

"Dude, you are so whipped," Miller joked as he shook his head.

"Not as much as you are with Bryan," you argued.

"Let's agree to disagree, shall we?" He echoed.

"Ha, funny." You tore your gaze from him and stared back out towards the trees.

-

By the time your watch was done, it had gone dark, the fires were lit as more people were out. You placed the gun on your shoulders using the strap, and climbed down the ladder, glad to be wearing gloves as the metal would have been frozen from how cold it was. You jumped down the remaining steps and turned around, flinching when you saw Kane standing there. Kane merely chuckled at your response, you, on the other hand, breathed heavily, standing up straighter. If someone had come to you a year ago and told you that you would be on good terms with the councilman who wanted to float you, you probably would have sneered and lunged at them. But now, shaking hands with him like you were old friends, smiling at each other with pure respect, it felt like it was simply a dream.

"Marcus," you greeted.

"I was wondering if we could take a walk?" He asked.

With the nod of your head, you both began walking at a largo pace towards the remnants of the Ark. "Everything okay? Something wrong?" He could detect the hint of worry in your tone as you glanced at him.

"No. No. Everythings... as it should be, I suppose."

"That's... good?"

He nodded. "I'm actually here on behalf of Abby," he started.

"Is she okay? Should I get Clarke?"

"No. No. She's... fine. She's completely fine," he reassured you. "She's busy working right now and couldn't find the time to talk to you. I volunteered, mainly because we have the same question to ask of you."

"Which is?"

"About Clarke."

"Meaning?" You clenched your jaw, tightening your grip on the gun. They had both been questioning Clarke's ability to lead, after everything that happened in Mount Weather, to Finn, to Lexa... They assumed that she would be unstable and lacking the ability to lead as a leader should. But you knew otherwise. There was no one else that you'd rather see leading the Sky People, and equally, the Grounders. It had been nothing less than a privilege to work hand-in-hand with Clarke throughout it all. After seeing the way she handled certain situations with grace and morality, you knew that there was no one else more qualified than herself, especially as she knew Earth in a way that no one else did, not even yourself.

"It's just... Abby's worried that Clarke is letting her feelings and emotions get the better of herself, making her lose sight—"

"I'm going to have to respectively stop you right there, Sir." You stopped walking, holding your hand up to him. "If you're going to stand there and disrespect the one person who has done everything in her power to keep us all alive and help us move into a better tomorrow, then I'm going to walk away from you, with good intent too. Now, I may be a low-life criminal from the Factory Station, but I have seen things on Earth that not even you could imagine seeing. I've seen the way Clarke—who was just a child herself, mind you—handled herself and everyone else who you, and Abby, and the rest of the Ark, sent down here to die, and not in a quick way, might I add. We've all done things, things that were not proud of, sure, but we have all moved on to try and better ourselves. Clarke is no different. I know you have no reason to trust someone who has no control over their own anger and emotions, such as myself, considering it's the reason why you wanted me floated, but how about you trust someone who can. Like Clarke Griffin. This may just be a bunch of rambling nonsense to you, but to me, it reminds me of why I'm proud to follow and lead beside Clarke, why I'm more than happy to walk straight into hell for her, why I would gladly lay down my life for just her, why I have fallen in love with her, and why I will, and always shall, defend her until I breathe my last goddamn breath on this planet... Sir." You sucked in a deep breath, keeping your gaze on him, hard.

Kane, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, simply couldn't hide the smile that was growing on his face. "I can see how much you have changed."

"Damn right I have." You nodded.

"You know, watching you grow up on the Ark, I've never once seen you show so much passion, commitment, zeal, or fervour in something or someone as you have with Clarke."

"Sir." You nodded, wholeheartedly agreeing with him.

"Do you really feel that way?"

"I wouldn't have admitted to killing myself for her if I didn't, Sir."

Kane nodded. "Okay," his voice was light, clearly happy with your answer. "I'll let Abby know." Kane lowered his head at you before walking away, his hands locked behind his back as he walked.

A relieved sigh escaped you and you lowered your hands to your knees, bending over as your felt your heart race. Sincerely believing that he was going to ask for your gun and jacket before throwing you in a cell for speaking to him in that way. A breathy chuckle left your lips as you turned your head back to where Kane had been walking, fully expecting yourself to have hit him for even considering the idea that you would have spoken about Clarke in any incriminating way that would have benefited himself or Abby. You shook your head, standing back up straighter to go look around to see if you were needed elsewhere.

"Like I said," you jumped hearing Miller as he walked out from behind the side of the tower, out from the darkness, with his arms crossed. "You're so whipped." Miller grinned. "But, uh, in a good way."

"Don't you have anywhere else to be?" You asked as you felt your pulse relax more.

"Yeah, but this seemed more fun."

With the roll of your eyes, you motioned your head towards the Ark. Miller nodded and began walking beside you, towards the chairs outside where people were serving Monty's leftover Unity Day juice. You sat down at a table with himself and Bryan, holding the cup in your hand before you heard someone running up behind you, wrapping their arms around you tightly. You turned your head and saw Clarke's blonde hair. She pulled her head back, she looked like she had been crying.

"What happened?" You stood up quickly, knocking over your cup and you placed your hands on her cheeks, rubbing her tear stained cheeks.

"Thank you," she murmured before hugging you tightly around your waist.

"Uh, you're welcome," you replied, hugging her back, looking towards where she had been before, noticing both Kane and Abby smirking at the two of you. It would be the moment where you told her you loved her, but you had never said it out loud before, so you simply settled for hugging her tighter, resting your head on top of hers.

-

That 'silence' around camp didn't last very long. You were on the way to go to the tower when you noticed a small fight emerge between two of the younger members of the camp. A crowd gathered around them so it was harder to push your way through. Clarke was standing on the other side of the circle as you managed to get to the middle. She looked at you from across the way with a deflated expression. Your jaw clenched as you stepped forward, another guard doing the same. It was difficult to get the two of them to separate and let go of one another, but you held onto the kid's shirt tightly, glaring at the both of them.

"What the hell is going on?" You yelled at the two of them.

"He started it, I was just ending it," the kid you were holding onto spoke as he spat at the ground, at the feet of the other kid.

"Really? 'Cause it looks like I'm the one ending it." Your hard glare caused him to calm down slightly, staring down at the ground. "Whatever the hell it is that you two have out for each other, pack it in! Act your age." Your grip tightened on his shirt as you got close to his face. "You think I wasn't like you? That I'm just a privileged kid who doesn't know what it's like? Huh?" You glared at him. "You're from Agro Station, right?" The kid looked at you with shock, not expecting you to know. He nodded his head. "I'm Factory Station, through and through. I know what it's like to be an underdog, alright? But I didn't get to where I am today acting out on every single little issue I had. I might have done, had I not been sent down here to die, but I wouldn't be a guard if I did. But that's just the way life is. If you want someone to respect you, earn it, don't beat it out of someone. So, I don't want to see either of you at each other's throats again, or I'm going to have to take action and throw both of your asses in a cell. Clear?"

They both nodded. You let go of the kid's shirt and nodded to the other guard, who let the other one go. The crowd soon broke off after seeing the two boys shake hands and apologise—you knew it was mainly just for show. Clarke crossed her arms over her chest as she watched you breathe deeply, controlling your anger, having noticed the signs and your old habits since the start when you first arrived on Earth. She waited before you closed your eyes and breathed out once more before opening your eyes again.

"I've got to say, you never fail to surprise me," she comments as you look up at her.

You sent her a nervous smile. "Is that a good thing?"

"Yeah. I was expecting a few fists to collide, but you handled yourself pretty well."

After turning your face to the side slightly with a smile and small shake of your head, you shrugged. "I let a lot out at Mount Weather and the Grounder war, what can I say?"

Clarke couldn't hide the fact her smile widened as she uncrossed her arms and stepped closer to you. "I'm proud of you."

"Don't give me all the credit, you gave me a reason to control myself."

She hummed. "Okay... I'm proud of us."

"So am I."

-

Clarke had just come back from Polis when she caught sight of you yawning, leaning against the wall, not holding your gun for once. You noticed her fairly quickly and pushed yourself off the wall, walking over to her. She pressed a quick kiss to your lips as she wrapped an arm around your waist, while you wrapped one around her shoulders.

"How'd it go?"

She looked up at you. "Would have been better if you were there."

"Your mum wanted me to have an evaluation, said something about my shoulder, or the way I did something, I don't know."

"You alright?"

"I think so, she didn't keep me there, which is a good thing, I mean, I can only assume it is."

"You'd tell me if you thought something was wrong, right?"

"I have no reason not to." You looked down at her. "You're the first person I'd go to."

She nodded her head. "How's the anger?"

"Bottled up," you joked.

Clarke slapped your chest. "I'm serious."

"Fine. It's under lock and key." She raised an eyebrow. "I'm controlling it, is all I'm saying."

"Good."

"Did you want to do something?"

"Yeah, go to bed."

You laughed quietly. "Long day?"

"Extremely."

"Okay, well, we can go to bed."

"We?"

"Your mum told me to rest."

"When?"

"A few hours ago."

"Let me guess, you didn't listen?"

"I may have... ignored certain elements of her prescription."

"You're unbelievable."

You hummed, laughing to yourself. "I've heard nothing closer to the truth all day."

-

You had both fallen asleep when you got back to the room you both shared, Clarke was using you as a leg pillow, not that you minded, and you also had your left arm under her head. You had lost feeling in your arm a few hours ago. Clarke began to stir awake and opened her eyes to see you looking at her, smiling tiredly.

"How long have you been awake?" She asked, yawning.

"A few minutes," you answered.

"Sleep well?"

"Yeah. You?"

"Yeah." She stretched, taking her leg off of you, allowing you to turn and face her properly. "Have I ever told you that I'm proud of how far you've come?"

"Every day." You smiled at her. "Beats me trying to kill people in their sleep, right?"

Clarke simply nodded, clearly still tired. "Have I ever told you that I'd be terrified to do this on my own?"

"I see it in your face, I might be the only one, though."

"Have I ever told you that I love you?"

There it was. You stayed silent for a brief moment, just taking her in. "No," your voice was quiet.

"Well, I do, and I want you to know that I do." Clarke turned back to look at you. "How do you feel... about me?"

"That, if I could, I would have asked your father if I could have married you. Like they did before, you know, old fashion style. But, in a few years, of course, we're still young."

"Really?"

"Yeah, Clarke. I've been in love with you for a while now, so..."

She smiled, moving closer to lay her head on your chest. "Thank you, for being by my side."

"There's no place else I'd rather be."