The Kanes

1

Octavia stood on the doorstep of her new house. She wished that she had her brother with her. She wished he didn't have to work. But she knew he was just trying to make enough money so she wouldn't have to stay with the strangers for long. 

Mr. Jaha rang the doorbell and they waited. Octavia didn't want to go in. Her heart was racing. 

The door swung open.

"Welcome! You must be Octavia." The man smiled. She hid behind Mr. Jaha.

"Give the girl a little space Marcus." A woman came forward and pushed him out of the way. "It's good to see you Thelonious. Come on in." Mr. Jaha entered the house taking away Octavia's human shield. "Hi Octavia, I'm Abby. Come in and I'll show you around." Octavia took a deep breath before stepping inside. "I'm sorry about Marcus, he's really excited."

"It's okay." Octavia forced a smile. 

"I'll give you a tour and let you put your stuff in your room before I introduce you to the kids." 

"Sounds good." Octavia nodded. She wished she could be as enthusiastic as the Kanes but she couldn't stop thinking about Bellamy. As much as she needed him, he needed her too. A part of her felt like she was abandoning him. If she started to actually like these people it would be a betrayal to the boy who had raised her.

"Marcus make Thelonious some coffee. The poor man looks like he hasn't slept in a week." Marcus took the hint and left the two alone. 

Abby showed Octavia around the house before bringing her to her new room.

"We can add anything you want. We didn't know what you liked so we wanted to keep it simple." The purple colour of her new comforter was something she would have picked out for herself. It was scary that they knew before even meeting her. 

"It's okay. I'm hoping I won't be here too long, no offence." Octavia confessed, avoiding eye contact. The room was nice and suited her well but she knew it would never feel like home.

"None taken. You have every right to want to leave. We just want to make sure that you're comfortable while you are here." Abby explained with a warm smile. Her hand rested on Octavia's shoulder and the whole exchange felt very motherly, something Octavia hadn't experienced since her mother died. 

"Thanks." 

"Now do you want to meet the other kids or do you want some time to yourself?" Abby was being very welcoming despite Octavia's closed-off attitude. Octavia knew it wasn't their fault that she was pulled away from Bellamy and she was starting to feel bad for the way she was treating them. 

"I'll meet the kids." She offered a smile and Abby was relieved for the small progress that she was making with Octavia already.

Octavia followed her foster mom into the basement where the kids were all hanging out. Octavia looked around. They weren't kids at all. There were three teenagers lounging around on a series of couches playing video games. There were two girls and a boy all around Octavia's age. 

"So the blonde is Clarke," Abby introduced before mumbling to Octavia, "her father named her."

"Hey!" Clarke playfully glared at her mother from her spot on the couch. She paused the game and stood up to meet Octavia. "It's nice to meet you." The other two stood up to join them, the boy jumping over the back of the couch in the process.

"Murphy." He introduced pushing between his sisters. 

"And I'm Raven." She smiled. "Nice to meet you."

"Mom gave you the tour already?" Clarke asked. Octavia nodded in response.

"She's too quiet." Murphy pointed out shocking Octavia with his bluntness. 

"You're too loud." Raven retorted. 

"Sorry about Murphy. He's an ass." Clarke explained to Octavia while Murphy and Raven bickered. Octavia giggled and Clarke smiled smugly. 

"Language Clarke." Abby scolded. 

"You can go upstairs with Kane now." Clarke hinted. "I'll make sure Murphy doesn't corrupt this one like he did with the last." 

"HEY!" Murphy and Raven exclaimed tuning back into the conversation.

"Will you be okay here with them? I know they can be a lot."  Abby chuckled as her three kids ended up in a new conversation. 

"I'll be fine," Octavia assured her. Abby went upstairs leaving Octavia with her new foster siblings. As Abby made her way upstairs, Murphy turned to face their new house guest.

"You like fighting games? We are playing Mortal Combat." Octavia nodded and joined them on the couch. After a few rounds, Octavia was beating all of them so they decided to call it a night.

"How on earth did you learn how to play like that?" Raven asked as they put the controllers away. 

"My brother taught me. We used to play all the time while our mom was at work." Octavia looked at her hands and Raven could tell that the memory had struck something in the younger girl. The three siblings exchanged glances, all picking up on Octavia's emotions.

"You're stuck with me at school on Monday. I hope you don't mind." Clarke offered a small smile, changing the topic.

"I think I'll be able to manage." Octavia retreated back to her room and decided to text her brother.

Hey Big Brother

She was prepared to wait for his response but it came almost immediately.

Hey O, how's the new place? Are they nice? Do you like it there? Will they take good care of you? Do you need me to come get you? Is everything okay?

Octavia laughed. Her brother's overprotective side was coming out. Although most of the time it annoyed the crap out of her, now, it reminded her how much he cared. It made her miss him even more.

The new place is good. Yes, they are nice. I don't mind it here but I would rather be home with you. They will take good care of me. No, you don't need to come get me. Yes, everything is okay.

Good. If anything happens, I'll be there in three minutes flat.

I love you Bell. 

I love you too.

Can we plan a visit for some time this week? I'll talk to the Kanes about it.

I'll set it up. I'll come by and talk to them about how they want this to work.

You sure that's a good idea? I can handle it.

I'm sure. I want to get to know the people who are taking care of my sister. Despite everything, You are still my responsibility.

Okay. I should get to bed.

Goodnight O.