mint-dunbar[1]

Six

Cold water hit her face, and she bolted upright, now wide awake. Liam stood over her bed, smirking with an empty bowl in his hands.

"What the hell was that for?" Clarke yelled. The glare she gave him was enough to make him visibly recoil. "Holy crap, your eyes are glowing again!" He exclaimed. She quickly looked into the mirror on her vanity, shocked to see that her eyes really were green. Well, they were already a faded, pale green naturally, but they currently were the vibrancy of a highlighter. When she blinked, her eyes were back to normal. 

"Anyway, get up. I'm gonna teach you how to play lacrosse." He told her, hauling her out from under the covers. She frowned at him. "What makes you think I want to?" He grinned evilly at her, throwing a bundle of clothes at her. "Come on. We're leaving in ten minutes.

-

He made her run three miles to the school's lacrosse field. While she liked running, it was a Saturday morning and she was awake before ten thirty. It was against her religion to excersize before noon.

She fake-collapsed on the turf, laying on her stomach as he tried to show off his 'skills.' He twirled a lacrosse stick like it was a baton, and she giggled when he lost his grip and smacked himself in the face. Apparently, karma was a thing, though, because he threw a spare stick at her and it hit her in the head. 

She let out a frustrated grown, flopping back onto the grass. He laughed at her reaction and pulled her to her feet. He thrust the discarded stick into her hands.

Suddenly, the sound of sirens filled the air. Their heads whipped towards the direction of the noise; without a word, they sprinted towards the school, where the sirens were coming from. Police cars and ambulances filled the parking lot, and men in hazmat suits stood by the front doors. It dawned on her then that all the juniors, including her brother, were taking the PSAT that day.

Clarke ran up to the nearest officer, recognizing him as the deputy who arrested Violet.

"What's going on?" She asked him, out of breath. His name tag identified him as Deputy Parrish. "The high school has been quarantined. There's some sort of outbreak. I think you should go home, Clarke. You shouldn't be here." He explained, but she wasn't having it. "No! My brother is in there. Please, you have to tell me if he's okay." She was close to tears; alex was the father figure in her life for the past year since their dad died. She couldn't lose another important person.

"I think that only a few people have been infected, and none of them were your brother. Please, go home. He'll be fine." Parrish placed a soothing hand on her shoulder before walking back to the sheriff. Clarke turned to Liam, who stood behind her.

Together, they walked towards the field to collect his forgotten gear.

"You okay?" He looked up at her from his duffel bag. She rolled her eyes at his stupid question, because she obviously wasn't okay. 

"I mean, I'm fine. Sure, my best friend is a freaking werewolf, my brother and a quarter of the school could be dying of some unknown disease, I'm some sort of weird supernatural monster, and there's a damn price on my head, but I'm just peachy!" She huffed, glaring at him. He frowned as she wiped away a few stray tears and took her into his arms. She slumped against him in defeat; her hands fisted his shirt to pull him closer. While she sobbed, he held her and whispered in her ear that it was alright.

Deputy Parrish came to the field later- it could've been hours, Clarke didn't know- to tell her that everyone was being released from the quarantine. It took her two seconds to untangle herself from Liam and start sprinting towards the school. Upon reaching the parking lot, she wove through the crowd of students, searching for Alex's blond head. 

"Alex!" She yelled when she finally spotted him. They collided, and she was lifted off her feet. He was pale and clammy, but he was okay. The siblings broke apart moments later; his eyes locked one someone behind her. She turned, seeing Liam's familiar face smiling at her. 

"Glad you're okay, man." He said, and the boys did some sort of bro-hug thing Clarke didn't understand. They whispered for a few minutes. She only caught the phrase, "treat her well," before Alex put his arm around her. "How about I drive y'all hone?" He asked. The three of them walked to his beat up truck and called it a day.

-

Her dreams that night revolved around that night on the hospital roof. The scene had a different different endings, each one worse than the one before. In one, she was forced to watch Liam fall to his death. The worst, by far, involved him shoving her over the edge himself, and he smiled as she tumbled through the air.

Somehow, she woke herself up from that awful dream, rolling over to face the window. Liam's curtains were shut; she picked up her phone and sent him a text.

You up?

Sent 1:17am

It was a few minutes later when his bedroom light turned on and the reply bubbles popped up. Seconds later, a message came through at the same time that his curtains opened, revealing a sleepy-looking boy.

Am now. Do you need me? I'll come over.

Sent 1:23am

She quickly typed back a reply:

Yes please. Sorry I woke you up.

Sent 1:23am

She watched him look at his phone and haul open his window, somersaulting out of his house with newfound grace and agility. He ran across the grass separating their properties, and it warmed her heart that he rushed over when she said she needed him. Liam was at her window in seconds; she climbed out of her bed, swathed in her childhood blanket, to open it for him.

Clarke and him sat facing each other on her bed, knees touching. He took her hand in his, playing with her nimble fingers.

"Did you have a nightmare?" He asked her in a raspy voice. She nodded, the motion so slight she was surprised he noticed. "Do you wanna talk about it?"

She frowned. Just the thought of her dream made her skin prickle. "Maybe later," she mumbled. He pulled her backwards so her head hit her pillow and tucked her body under the covers, although he didn't join her. He stayed above the blankets; she shifted so they were laying parallel to each other.

Her eyes were closed as she began to speak. "Did you hate me?" She was quiet, but her voice was strong and unwavering.

"Hate you? God, no. What do you mean?" His eyebrows furrowed. She sighed, shaking her head. "Never mind. I'm being stupid."

Liam shook his head, too. "No, seriously. Do you mean when we weren't talking?" Because no, I didn't hate you. I never did. Hell, I never could. I was just confused and worried that I did something to you, and I didn't think you wanted to be around me, so I stayed away."

A smile crept onto Clarke's face.

"Goodnight, Dunbar."

"Sleep tight, Stone."

Word count without authors note: 1198

THE CLIAM IS STRONG IN THIS ONE

I've been reorganizing when the chapters end in my writing so everything is longer and its really confusing lol

Anyway, vote&comment!!

-haley