Fallen Angel [Bellamy Blake]

Chapter 29: Shots Fired

THE MAJORITY OF THE HIKING TRIP WAS spent in silence.

Not the easy kind, either. The kind that sits between two people and refuses to move.

Bellamy would occasionally glance at me from the corner of his eye—quick, just making sure I was still there. I pretended not to notice, keeping my gaze fixed ahead, counting steps, watching where my boots landed. The longer we walked, the more I felt it: something coiled tight beneath his calm, like he was bracing for something that hadn't happened yet.

I tried not to take it personally. Tried not to assume that tension had anything to do with me. And the fact that he was forced to go on this trip with me.

"You know," I finally say, breaking the quiet for the first time since we left camp, my voice sounding louder than I intended in the stillness, "the first dropship is coming down soon. You can't avoid Jaha forever."

The second the words leave my mouth, I regret them.

Seriously. This is probably why he hates me.

He pops a nut in his mouth and licks his lips, gaze fixed somewhere ahead, jaw tight. "I can certainly try."

I exhale through my nose, tugging absently at the drawstring of my jacket. "You never know... maybe he'll be lenient." A beat. "A lot of us would vouch for you. I would."

That gets his attention.

"Thought you hated me, Kane." There's a dry edge to his voice, but it's lighter than before. "That's why Clarke picked me to go on this little expedition with you."

"I don't hate you," I say quickly—too quickly. The words tumble out before I can stop them. I force myself to slow down, eyes dropping to the path. "I mean... I used to. But to be fair, you were kind of a selfish dick." I glance at him, just for a second. "Still are sometimes."

A pause.

"Now, I just tolerate you."

For a moment, there's nothing—and then he laughs.

Not the sarcastic, under-his-breath kind I'm used to. A real one. It catches me off guard enough that my head snaps toward him, a smile pulling at my lips before I can stop it.

Bellamy actually has a nice laugh.

"You and O seem to be getting pretty close," he comments.

"You and O seem to be getting pretty close," he says once it fades, tone softer now.

"Yeah." My expression warms without thinking about it. "She's... she's really sweet. But tough, too. And I really care about her." I hesitate, then add more quietly, "She's deserves a lot more than what she's gotten."

He nods, once. "That's good."

I don't know why he brought her up, but I notice the shift immediately. His shoulders stiffen again, his gaze drifting somewhere far past the trees, like he's seeing something else entirely. He tosses another nut into his mouth, chewing slowly, and we fall back into silence.