Greyhound Bound for Nowhere

Bound for home

It felt like a lifetime had passed before the bus finally pulled into the station in Lancaster. I took in a deep breath when the doors opened, it smelled like home. It smelled like cows and grass and there was a hint of rain the air. I couldn't stop smiling as I stretched my arms. I was home and I was with Bellamy.

Once the bus stopped I got nervous. It was real, I was really back. A few months gone and I had forgotten how wonderful home was, how peaceful it felt to have all the familiar things around me. My hands were on my lap, the bus turning into the station and circling for a place to let us off at. Bellamy watched me, his smile bigger than mine as my leg started to jump up and down.

"Sit still princess," Bellamy's hand came to rest on my knee, making my leg stop bouncing. I looked at him, feeling butterflies for more than one reason.

I couldn't sit still because I was a bundle of nerves. I was home, I was back where my mom and the ghosts I tried to run from where waiting for me. There were so many things that could happen, so many things that worried me. What if my mom decided to show up at the station? What if she beat Octavia and forced me away from the happiness I had found on the way home? I didn't want to deal with her, I wasn't ready for that just yet. When I called Octavia earlier, when we passed the sign for Lancaster, she had promised me she would be the only one there.

"Sorry," I sighed finally looking up at him, "I just haven't been home in so long. I'm nervous. What if it's changed? Wait stupid question," I held up my hand, "you haven't been home in a lot longer than me."

He smiled, that smile that could make me calm down without any words passed between us. He squeezed my knee reassuringly, "then you'll adapt to that change. I doubt you're the same person you were when you left here," his deep voice was soothing. I loved when he tried to make me feel better.

I knew he was right. Bellamy had been gone for ten years and he wasn't the same preteen who left this town. He was mature, he was a solider. He held himself with a grace I never thought was possible. The boy who used to terrorize us was gone and in his place was a man who we never knew was there. He was stronger, more sure of himself than he was when he left us.

I wasn't the same broken girl who ran from her father's death, her mother's words. I was stronger, I had survived not one but two losses. And somehow through that I had found my way to someone who cared more than they should. I had found my way home to this town and to Bellamy. Both were unexpected, and equally impressive.

My heart hammered in my chest. I smiled as I looked back at him, the bus stopping in line waiting until we could be first. Bellamy looked at me with big eyes. Someone once told me that when a woman is in love you can see it in her smile. But when a man is in love you can see it in his eyes. Bellamy's eyes were beautiful and sparkling, and I could only hope it was because he was in love with me too.

"You know how you told me you think you love me?" He nodded his head slowly. I hadn't answered him, but that didn't mean I didn't hear his words. They had taken me by surprise and I was a little afraid of them. They made me feel more alive than I had in the days after my dad's death, "I think I might be in love with me too."

I laughed, watching him realize I didn't say what he was expecting. His face fell, but then he heard my laughter. He smiled, shaking his head. He bit his lip and reached for me, "you're so funny Princess."

I giggled, moving away as he tried to tickle me. I dodged his hand and grabbed it before he could make me squeal. The laughter died down slightly as I kept my eyes on his, feeling my heart pull as I took in a breath, "what I meant to say was that I think I love you too, Blake."

His smile was even more beautiful than I ever realized in that moment. He leaned in, filling the gap between us and kissed me softly. We were still caught up in our own little world on that bus, and I didn't want to get off. I was afraid the spell would be broken once we found our way back into the lives we had left behind.