The Ground : Part One

six : remember that night

We are all gathered around the fire, getting to know each other. I'm sitting next to Bellamy and Murphy.

"Bellamy, who's your favorite person in the world?" Some girl asks Bell.

"Well, Octavia of course." He answers nonchalantly.

"Who's second?" The same girl asks. I think she likes Bellamy. She's twirling her hair around her finger. They would be cute together.

"Briar." He says nonchalantly once again.

"Who's that?" The girl asks.

"Well, she's real annoying and-"

I elbow him in the side. He laughs.

"No, she's actually really caring, sympathetic, tough, and-" He explains, but the girl interrupts him.

"Yeah, but who is she?" The same girl asks.

"It's me. I'm Briar. Nice to meet you." I answer and wave.

"Oh." She gives me the stink eye.

"What's your name?" I ask, trying to be polite.

"Gianna." She answers.

"Oh I like your name. It's pretty." I reply, actually liking her name.

"I couldn't say the same about you." She replies rudely.

I scoff and stand up.

"I'm going to sleep. G'night everyone." I ruffle Bellamy's hair as I walk off.

I go in the dropship and lay down. I fall asleep almost immediately.

I'm walking through the halls on the way to the Blake's room.
I knock on the door and walk in.
"Hey Bri. How you been?" Ms. Aurora asks me as I walk in.
"I've been doing just fine, Ms. A. How've you been?" I return the question.
"I'm doing good." She answers and gives me a warm smile.
"Hey, Briar Rose." Bellamy comes up and hugs me.
"Hey, Bell." I reply and hug Octavia.
We all sit down and start talking.
"What's your birthday wish, Tavia?" I ask, eager to hear.
"Umm. I think that my 11th birthday wish is... to be able to go outside." She says while looking down.
"Honey, you know you can't go out. It's too dangerous!" Ms. Aurora says.
"I know. I just wish." She says gloomily.

"Bri. Briar!" I hear someone whisper-yelling my name. I turn and see Bellamy.

"What?" I say with a raspy voice.

"Shh! Come with me." He grabs my hand pulling me up. He drags me outside.

"Bellamy, it's still dark. What time is it?" I complain.

"I don't know. Early. Come here. I gotta show you something." He keeps pulling me until we are in the middle of the forest.

"Bellamy. Where are you taking me?" I ask slowing down.

"Just...trust me. It'll be worth it." He says convincing me to keep following.

"Okay." I keep following him.

He stops in front of a body of water. I stand beside him. The sun is just rising over the horizon with beautiful orange and pink colors. I hear a waterfall close by. I feel the breeze going through my hair.

"Oh my gosh. Bell, this is..." I trail off. He looks at me. "Gorgeous." I finish.

He takes his shirt off and starts treading into the water.

"You coming in, Shorty?" He teases.

"Yes I am, old man." I tease back as I take my shirt off. Then, I take my pants off and trudge into the water.

"Oo. This is kind of cold." I say and laugh a bit. "Do you come out here every morning?"

"No, I came out here yesterday and found it. I decided I would bring you out here before I got in. To make sure it was safe." He explains.

"What, so if there was something it would come for me?" I accuse.

"Yeah." He laughs. I start laughing with him. We laugh for like 10 minutes at stupid things.

"Ok, Ok. Serious question. That girl, Gianna, are you and her a thing?" I ask while he's trying to stop laughing.

"What? No way. She's a jerk." He stops laughing and replies seriously.

"Oh. I thought maybe you were because she was drooling over you yesterday." I say while he treads closer to me.

"No. I don't plan on having a relationship until we can figure everything out down here. You and Octavia are my first priorities right now." He explains.

"But you can still have fun. It's not like we are your children." I say while he looks at me.

"Well, obviously, but I still have a responsibility to make sure you don't die." He says cupping my face with his hands.

"I can take care of myself. Thanks to you." I say trying to convince him to live a little.

"Yeah, but Octavia can't." He says, trying shut me down.

"She's tougher than you think, Bell." I say, still trying to convince him.

"I know, but she's my sister. She's my responsibility." He explains and backs away. I just look at him, wondering what's going through his head.
"Mom taught me that. She told me that O was my sister, my responsibility. I've held myself to that by not ever letting her out of my protection for long." He explains and then puts his head under the water. When he comes back above he shakes his head making his hair splash me with water.

"Hey!" I say while laughing. He laughs, too. I splash him with my hands. He laughs harder and splashes me again.
We splash each other back and forth, laughing the whole time.

Eventually we stop splashing each other and get out of the water. We are laying down on the ground looking up at the clouds.
"Remember the night that we laid on the floor of my room and stared at the ceiling? We acted like we were on the ground looking at the sky." Bellamy brings up a good memory we have.

"Yeah. It's a dream come true." I say looking over at him. He looks at me.

"Yeah. It is." He replies with a smile on his face. I smile back and close my eyes.