𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐓𝐈𝐂━━━john murphy

𝖎𝖛. the hunter's paradox

CHAPTER IV ‎ ‎ ‎ ✷‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ the hunter's paradox 

WHEN NOVA WAS ELEVEN, Bellamy was her first crush.

It was so long ago that she had all but smothered any remnants of it, but she remembers it well, the innocence of the time. It was more than simply having a childlike infatuation for a boy that made her reminisce. It was when she was still balancing delicately on a tightrope of fragmented trust for her father, the veil of adoration thinning with every passing day, because she would see how others would act around their parents and wonder why her home was never like that; it was far before she even thought to retaliate, before the Tree of Life, and before her ultimate arrest; and it was just shortly before Murphy descended entirely into his spiraling chaos and left her forever, still finding time out of his day to spend it with her because he genuinely enjoyed her company. In that time, Murphy knew all about her wistful obsession with Bellamy and he would tease her playfully, nudging her whenever Bellamy walked past, snickering whenever he would innocently say hi to them and leave her flustered.

In a lot of ways, Bellamy used to remind her of young John Murphy, but she could never imagine Murphy paying attention to her in the way Bellamy had once upon a time (or, maybe, she was just never really looking).

Sometimes, the three would find themselves running amok on the Ark, easily shifting into a group of friends because, when you're a child, everything seemed easier and simpler and making friends was never an issue. Somewhere along the way, Bellamy had taken a liking to Nova, but it only seemed to heighten when Nova accidentally discovered the girl under the floor. She had been inside Bellamy's quarters one afternoon when his mother was out, waiting patiently for him to spend the day with her and Murphy, when out from the floorboards emerged a timid and curious girl who had all of the best Blake features painting her countenance ━ dark unruly hair, prominent cheekbones, piercing eyes ━ that Nova was quick to decipher, surely, that was his sister. The only reason she had poked her head out of the ground was because she hadn't known of Nova's presence in the room and the sudden surprise was enough to startle all three; and, Nova, still taken aback from the mystical figure, had rounded on her heel to run off. Bellamy had sprinted after her, begging her not to tell anyone, claiming wildly that the girl, Octavia, was his sibling. But no one has a sibling, Nova had replied naively.