Tragedy ✧ John Murphy

• Chapter 21 •

Third Person's POV

The next morning, Julia had gotten up and looked around for Murphy before finding him at the meat shack. He had been inside, working with Octavia, but met her outside when he saw her approaching.

"Did you hear the news?" He asked her with a smile and she shook her head. "No, I haven't. I just woke up. What's happening?"

"Bellamy and Clarke told me this morning that I can stay." Murphy told her and Julia almost couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Are you serious? That's amazing, Murphy!" Julia broke out into a grin and Murphy pulled her into his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he brought his arms around her back, picking her up off the ground as they hugged. He grinned at her excitement.

That's when Bellamy walked beside them, slowing down as he passed.

"I'm assuming you just told her?" Bellamy asked Murphy, whose grin faded into a more neutral expression as he placed Julia back on the ground. Murphy nodded at him.

Julia turned to face Bellamy. "Thank you, Bell." She spoke and he shook his head. "Don't thank me. It was Clarke who decided, not me."

Julia just nodded disappointedly and looked towards the ground. She really thought that maybe this was a step in the right direction for Bellamy and Murphy, but it didn't seem like Bellamy cared about that at all.

Bellamy saw the look on his sister's face and sighed. "But since you're staying, I guess we should probably try and put aside our differences. For Julia's sake." Bellamy said and held out his hand for Murphy.

Julia was shocked and she couldn't decipher the look on Murphy's face as he looked at the outstretched hand in front of him. After a moment, Murphy reached out and shook Bellamy's hand, nodding in agreement with what he had said.

Bellamy glanced at his sister, who was smiling warmly at him. He pulled his hand back from Murphy and laid it on Julia's shoulder, squeezing it once before letting his hand fall back down and walking away.

That's when Octavia walked up to them from inside the meat shack.

"Oh hey, Julia, you're up now. Wanna come help out here? It's riveting work." Octavia asked sarcastically and Julia laughed.

"Haha, yeah, sure." Julia said before following Octavia and Murphy back into the meat shack, ready to help out.

~~~

Just a bit later in the day, it was dimmer out than usual thanks to the dark clouds that hung above the camp. The sisters and Murphy were still inside the meat shack working when it suddenly all went up in flames.

Murphy's first thought was Julia and rushed over to her. He put one arm around her back and held the other one up protectively, trying to shield them both from the flames as he led her out of the shack.

Once they exited and got a few feet away, Julia collapsed to the ground, coughing. Murphy was pulled down with her and placed his hands on the sides of her head, concerned for her.

Octavia let herself fall down beside them as Bellamy rushed over. "Are you guys okay?" Bellamy asked his sisters as Julia managed to stop coughing.