Goddamn Tragedy

V

He jolted awake.

His heart was hammering in his chest and his eyes scanned the room quickly, looking for whatever caused him to wake up in the dead of night.

He blinked and adjusted to the darkness and listened. All he could hear was the soft rattling of wind against his curtains and the rush of water in the pipes behind him in the walls.

His pulse continued it's quick beating as he tried to recall his dream. He faintly remembered the feeling of trees and dirt beneath his palms. He could smell fresh rain and lavender. He remembered the sight of blonde hair in the distance. And then he vividly remembered the piercing scream that caused him to quickly wake up.

He shook his head at his own thoughts and turned his head toward his phone. The bright light caused him to squint as he looked at the time. 3:47 AM.

He quickly locked his phone and fell back against his bed. He wanted nothing more than to fall back into a slumber but his heart still hadn't calmed down. The scream still rang around in his head.

Dreams were something he was never fond of. He mostly dreamed of his childhood. The memories were clear in his mind and the scenarios would never change. His father still left. His mother stopped caring. Octavia almost starved to death. He would avoid dreams at all costs if he could.

He closed his eyes tightly and tried to let the soft patter of wind lull him back to sleep.

He thought about what was going to happen when he officially started his day. He would have to leave Octavia money to get food for the party and whatever else she needed. He had to pull a double at work. And then he had to pick up Clarke. (He was still going to blame his dream for his still increased heart rate).

She had looked so vulnerable and scared last night. Like Octavia had looked plenty of times but on Clarke, it looked different. Mostly because it appeared to even be foreign to her.

When she had run into him, he didn't even know what to think. She was clutching her arm and her eyes were wide with something resembling fear. It had thrown him off. He wasn't sure why it had caused him to feel whatever it was that he did feel.

He wasn't good with feelings either.

He gave a soft grunt before he threw his legs over the side of his bed. He brought a tired hand through his hair and pushed it off of his clammy forehead. He took a deep breath before he stretched up and rubbed his bare stomach with his hand with a yawn.

He quietly walked out of his room and down the hallway a bit. He lightly pushed on Octavia's door and peeked his head inside. Even though she was eighteen, going on nineteen, his sister still slept with a night-light. His heart settled a bit more when he saw her dark hair peeking out from her comforter.

Just as quietly, he closed the door behind him and ventured off into the kitchen. He yawned once more as he reached into the fridge and pulled out a water bottle.

He walked over to the small table and sat down as he took a drink from the cold bottle. He was about to sigh in content when he heard the soft shuffling of feet (Octavia hadn't outgrown that either). He lowered the water bottle and watched the face so familiar to his own appearance in the dark kitchen.

"You okay?" His voice was hoarse with sleep but an ounce of sleep left him as he stared at his sister.

She nodded her head and walked toward the fridge, reaching for the half gallon of milk. "You walk heavy."

He watched her pour herself a glass and drink it all within a minute. He remembered being the one to bring her glasses of milk in the middle of the night when she woke up crying. He wondered if she did.