Queen ♔ Flarke ❷ {Wattys2015}

Chapter 11: Clarke

Chapter 11: Clarke

 I hug Finn as tight as physically possible, making sure he's still here and not in the abstracted memory of several years ago. He strokes my hair softly with his rough hands, his fingers entangling themselves in it.

"Clarke, I'm here. I'm right here," he assures, but I still hold on to him. He pulls back and rests his hands on my shoulders, staring into my eyes. "Look at me."

I stare back at him, focusing as much as possible through the tears pooling around my vision.

"You can't save everyone, Clarke. No one can, and we haven't found a way to yet and we probably never will. But listen to this: you save as many goddamn people as you can, like you saved me. You couldn't save Malcolm or that girl, but you've saved triple the amount of people that have died, so remember that, okay?"

I nod vigorously, blinking rapidly to clear my view. "Okay."

"Guys?" Raven interrupts. "Come over and look at this."

I break from Finn and go and stand next to Raven, trying to see what she sees.

"What're we supposed to be looking at?" Finn asks.

"This." She points to the blood that's spouting from the girl's neck. I lean down further to get a closer look. "Her blood's bubbling."

At that moment I notice the air bubbles forming in her blood and then deflating slowly, each one quite small.

"How?" Octavia asks.

"It must be a chemical in the poison that reacted with something in her blood. And Malcolm's blood."

"What chemical?"

"I'm not sure, I could ask Jasper or Monty. I'm sure they would know."

Finn nods and pulls me into his embrace. "We should be going; we need to check up on Harper," he says.

"Oh, yeah," I answer, kissing his cheek. Raven shoots me a scornful look. "We'll see you guys tomorrow. Good night!"

Finn smiles quickly at everyone before taking my hand as we walk outside. The evening dimness casts shadows over the houses, making it look kind of like a deserted town. A sharp gust of wind blasts in our direction, adding to the empty feel.

"Are you okay now?" Finn asks, breaking the eerie silence.

I squeeze his cold hand. "Yeah, I think so," I say.

He returns the squeeze. "What came over you?"

"I just kept seeing that memory of you seizing, and the same happened when I was treating Malcolm."

"That's not going to happen again, Clarke. I'm fine, you're fine, Harper's fine. We have a family together, and everything's okay." He lifts me up into a hug and spins me around, then he kisses me gently.

"I love you, Finn," I say.

"I love you too, Clarke."

I ruffle his hair like he's a little kid. "Let's go and check on Harper."

Just as we get inside, the door to Harper's room slides open and she appears in the doorway.

"What time is it?" she asks in a raspy voice, yawning afterwards.

"Not really sure," I say, walking over to her and picking her up so she's balanced on my hip. "But it's definitely not a time for you to be awake." I tap her nose lightly with the end of my finger. "Come on, I'll put you to bed."

"I can do that if you want?" Finn proposes.

"I can do it, don't worry about -"

"You've had a hard day, it's the least I could do." He takes Harper off me and kisses me again. "I'll be with you in a few minutes."