World on Fire | J. Saltzman - Legacies [4]

S I X T E E N

Faith winces at the carnage they arrive to at Clarke's girlfriend's house. He scrambles out quickly to assess his possessions just half-hazardly left on the side of the road while Faith watches Hope. The woman stares for a moment before meeting her gaze.

"Something you want to say?"

Faith shakes her head.

"Stay in the car." Hope climbs out, running her hand along the hood. "You know, I gotta hand it to that girl. She moves fast."

"Her name's Trudy," Clarke replies. "And after what you did, I don't blame her."

A soft breeze brushes against Faith's cheeks from the open window like an outreached hand. A shiver runs down her spine as she sinks into her seat, clenching her hands into fists.

"Unbelievable," Hope scoffs. "You're finally free, and you're just gonna go back? I thought I convinced you how much being a human sucks—"

"I know it sucks. It's hard and disappointing and some days you hate it. But I have wanted a normal, boring family for as long as I can remember, and as crappy as some of it is, well, I think Trudy is one of those people who loves with their whole heart immediately. I wish I was more like her, so make fun of my life all you want. It's more than I've ever had."

"That's pathetic."

Faith can't help but agree.

"Weird," Clarke says. "I was just thinking the same about you. You know, I used to be jealous of you and your friends. The way you had a home, the way you always stuck together. Never thought you'd be stupid enough to just throw that all away."

"Right because I'm really worried about what you think, Ryan."

Clarke shakes his head. "No, actually, I think you are. We both know you could've compelled me to come with you, but you didn't. I don't know what you're holding over her, but she is here of her own free will, right?" His eyes dart to Faith. "You're doing this because you want us to make the same choice you did, because we're not the people you were really trying to convince which means that somewhere in there, some part of you knows what you're doing is wrong."

"It's not wrong," Faith says. Both Hope and Clarke look at her, but she doesn't care about the attention. "Wrong and right, it doesn't matter. She is doing what she wants. Being strong like she is, she gets to do that. That's what power is."

Something in Hope's gaze changes as she says, simply but with a hint of danger, "Faith, stop talking now."

It's like a switch in her mind. She simply goes silent.

"Don't open the book," Clarke says softly. "Just go home before you do something you can't come back from."

As Clarke walks towards the door, Faith hears what Hope says. She hears the small break in her voice, the vulnerability hidden there that Clarke will never be able to hear. "Too late," Hope whispers before she climbs back into the car.

Faith stays silent as they pull away from the small town. She stays silent until Hope says, "You know you can talk now, right?"

"Yeah, I know."

"But you're quiet."

"Guess I'm tired."

"That's a lie," Hope chuckles. "About what you said. About the strong doing what they want. What were you talking about?"

Faith shakes her head.

"Come on. You don't have to tell me, but we've been stuck in this car for two days and you never stop talking. What's going on?"