Ethan Beckett craves fun and chaos over the nuisance of rules and demands. But when disagreements begin on the ground, he's surprised to say he sides with the people who don't want chaos to be all they are.
Chaos is a drug. But death is something y...
The beautiful @musicalpr0situtE made this mood board for Ethan + Murphy and it's literally the most awesome thing ever ;-;
Thank you so much @musicalpr0situtE!
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0o0
"Ethan!"
He whips around, one hand going to Murphy's shoulder. His body deflates like a paper bag when he recognizes Miller, hidden under a few scraps of fabric thrown messily over his head. Gone is the boy with innocent eyes, mindlessly following the first person he sees fit, here and now is the soldier. Alert, dangerous.
Ethan grabs Miller's arm when he slides down beside them, searching for a crack in his focused expression for details. "What's wrong?"
Miller flips up the fabric and looks him in the eye, "Ice Nation blame us for the City of Light fiasco-"
"Of course they do." Ethan deadpans.
"-and the King's unconscious. His people are deciding our fate for him. We're getting out of here before shit goes down, come on." He flips the fabric back down and tugs at his arm.
"Alright, times up." Ethan tells the others, grabbing Murphy's hand in turn.
Emori hesitates to follow, "Are you sure?"
Murphy ducks back down and looks her in the eye, "Yes. Now come on." He nudges her forward, and she gestures for her brother to follow.
They track Miller back to the Flamekeeper's basement and shove through the door with a group of civilians in tow. Ethan notices the shiver that darts down Murphy's spine when they enter. He sticks close to him, and they dart through the quietening crowd for Clarke and Bellamy.
She finds him, and sighs in relief the second she swings by his little clique, "There you are." Clarke takes his arm and huddles in close, glancing only suspiciously at Emori and Otan, before tilting away from them so only he - and Murphy by association - can hear. "I need you and Harley to lead the others back to Arkadia."
Bellamy joins halfway, his eyes never leaving their precautionary wonder over the murmuring crowd, "We don't know what Echo's planning." He exhales slowly through his nose and eventually makes eye contact with Ethan. "Get together the fighters you have and ready our defenses."
Who the heck is Echo? Is this coming to another war? Where's Octavia? Fights for attention in his head, but Ethan forgoes those questions in order to ask the most important one. "What about you guys?"
A body behind him gets too close, and Ethan's shoulders go taught on instinct. His focus snaps to the hand resting smoothly on his back, but panic is replaced by a sense of security when he recognizes the familiar drag of twisted twine on a scarred wrist.
He flicks his eyes briefly over his shoulder. Murphy isn't totally focused on their conversation, but on the crowded room, making sure nobody gets too close to them.
Attention back to where it's supposed to be, Ethan raises a pointed brow at the question that's still left unanswered. Because instead of talking, Clarke is watching him with squinted eyes. She doesn't see the hand that Murphy rests on his back, but it's hard not to notice how close they stand.
To say Clarke didn't expect this thriving friendship would be an understatement.
Ethan tilts his head and moves a bit closer to catch her attention, "Clarke."
Blinking, she snaps out of her curiosity and exhales roughly through her nose, attempting to answer the question in a way that doesn't leave Ethan too worried. "We've got a plan." She shares a look with Bellamy when he zones back in, "We need to wake up Roan, he's the only one with the power to keep his promise. We will be part of this coalition again."
"Right. Okay." Ethan kneads his fingers together by his side, his heart beating erratically against his ribcage. ". . .don't die."
He can't afford to be reckless with this. He just needs to get the injured back home. He can do that. He can leave the sickening feeling of not knowing what'll happen to his friends for later.
Ethan sticks two fingers between his lips and lets out a shrill whistle. It gathers the attention of the slowly filling room, and he quickly decides on his first approach, directing the fit to fight to Harley by the exit. They help the injured through first.
Catching Clarke's arm, Ethan looks her in the eye. "Stay safe." He doesn't smile. "Think smart."
She tries to reassure him with a purse of her lips, but it turns into a grimace. She hugs him instead. "May we meet again."
"We will." He squeezes her back.
Bellamy receives a nod and returns it with a short smile that doesn't reach his eyes. Scoping the room, Ethan looks around one more time for Octavia. No luck. He frowns.
It's a different body that moves purposefully into his line of sight. His mother, her lips parted like she wants to speak, feet shuffling nervously on the concrete. It feels good to see her stumped on what to say. On how to make things right again.
But he can't listen to the excuses. Knows she'll feed him lies.
Ethan swallows thickly. He lifts his chin and steps back, sinking into the mass of people like a shroud of shadow.
"Let's wrap it up," Harley calls out as he makes his way to the front, circling one hand in the air sharply.
They move on his signal.
With the night cascading darkness over their moving figures, they escape into the woods and don't look back. Harley clicks his flashlight on at a safe distance from the city, and numerous soldiers throughout the line of bodies follow his example, lighting the way.
"It's weird having them on our tail. Usually, we're the ones running and they're the ones chasing." Ethan huffs a laugh, his head turned over his shoulder to watch the people walk in their footsteps.
"Clarke did say you were in charge."
Ethan turns his head back in incredulity, "No, she said we lead them back home, but Harley's doing all that." He tilts his head forward to see around Murphy, "Aren't you, Harley?"
The former soldier stubbornly holds his head forward. "I've no idea what you're talking about."
"You do this shit for a living. Not me." Ethan glances behind them at the people they have left. "I can't lead. Not like Clarke."
A second passes. Both their heads turn to Murphy, passing on the mantle. But Murphy looks between them and snorts in answer.
Ethan huffs a laugh.
When he looks behind him again, reality hits. All these people. . . relying on them to survive. His jaw clenches.
Harley glances between the two boys. Still young, too young. Taking on the responsibility for so much already that it's becoming survival over living. His eyes lose their sharpness, for a moment, and he lowers his voice.
"We'll figure it out."
0o0
For those of you who don't know, I've had to make a Book 2 in order to post more chapters because Wattpad won't let me edit on the app anymore (apparently a bug with stories that have many chapters)
So I will be ending this one here, but Book 2 will continue very soon, it's not an actual end or anything. Keep an eye out on my profile, as I'll post on there when I release it.
Hope you enjoyed the chapter and sorry it took so long, I've been trying to work out how to actually get into my chapters without Wattpad crashing.
