Taming Chaos // J.M // The 100

Chapter 43

Two. fucking. hours. Ethan spends yanking at the cuffs, sticking his foot out to catch the table with no success. By now his arms are trembling, pins and needles travelling from wrist to elbow.

The door handle twists. He snaps to attention.

Long, brown hair ducks through first, then Lorelai's face when she looks up and notices him.

The reaction isn't exactly what he'd expected.

Ethan knows she's bound to have changed since what happened four years ago, but don't mothers usually wish to punish those guilty of hurting their children?

Lorelai only sighs, "What happened this time?"

"Michael -"

She frowns, shutting the door. "You tried to follow your friends, didn't you?"

Ethan's fingers curl numbly into each other, "I didn't - I wasn't trying to leave."

Lorelai reaches forward, fiddling with the cuffs. "I told Michael to keep you here if he saw anything suspicious, so don't go lying to me now." Looking around, her eyes finally settle on the key.

Ethan closes his eyes when she smoothes a warm hand against his shoulder, reaching for the cuffs. "I swear, I wasn't - I wanted some water."

Her caresses don't feel like comfort, despite being heavy and warm. Not like it does with Clarke or Octavia.

"Ma, you shouldn't trust Michael."

The cuffs rattle against the metal bar when she pulls back, eyes narrowed, struggling to unlock them. "Stop it. Just because he was a guard in the Skybox -"

"It's not even that!" Ethan widens his eyes. His knees tremble under his own weight, wishing she'd unlock the cuffs already. "I didn't do anything wrong. He was the one hurting me -"

"Enough!"

Ethan flinches, ducking his head. "Sorry."

Lorelai sighs. When the key finally twists, it's done in silence. But she pats his head like he's a toddler and says, "You know I love you. Please listen to me next time."

Ethan cradles his aching wrists. He's bleeding.

The, "Love you, too." Is instinctual.

Lorelai remains by his side that night, wrapping his wrists with gauze and promising she'll talk to Michael about his actions. Ethan doesn't know if he believes her.

There's a commotion outside in the morning and only then does Ethan check the door. He pulls at the handle to find it. . . locked? He frowns, rattling it. No, it'll, but there's something blocking it from the other side.

What the hell? It's not like he's willing to leave camp with the excess guard presence at the gates.

He thought Bellamy was bad back then, in the beginning, but Michael makes Ethan uncomfortable in more ways than one.

And it's weird because things have come in full circle again, but worse. There was a time Ethan stayed in the dropship because he was scared of being jumped. Now he's scared of trying to leave the room because he doesn't want to be attacked by Michael.

But the others could be back from their scouting mission.

"Hello?" Ethan curls his hand and repeatedly knocks at the door, expecting someone - the hallway can't be that empty - to walk past. "Hey! What's happening out there?"

"Ethan?"

Said boy pauses. "Murphy?"

"What the hell?" He hears Murphy say, voice clearer the closer he gets.