Don't Take Me Home

Chapter 4

They had laid on the ground for what felt like forever, which in reality it was only a couple hours, but still. When Hope had finally sat up her back ached and her throat felt weird from not talking in a while. When she stood up she felt grass drop from her back, and she quickly brushed the excess off her.

She stretched her arms out to the already darkening sky, and pushed herself off of her heels. She took a deep breath of the 'wilderness' around her, it kind of smelled like burning wood.

Hope turned around, facing Clarke. She put her hand down offering to pull him up. Clarke, looking a little tired, pushed himself up and took her hand. When their hands touched, Hope quickly dropped him, eyes widening, as she felt a feeling of warmth travel up her arm.

She lifted her hand to her face, looking back and forth between her and Clarke. "What was that?"

He looked just as startled as her, but he quickly shook out of it. "Malivore, it's supposed to be n endless pit of loneliness. So, when in contact with another person, it's comforting to the mind when it realizes it's not alone. Which is why when I touched you, we felt 'that'."

"But I touched you earlier when I was healing you?" hsked him, confused.

"Yeah but weren't you technically putting heat into me, to heal my wound?"

She guessed she was, she had used the energy around her to heal him. Considering most of the energy was heat, it had made sense to her that she would feel that.

Nevertheless, she stuck her hand out for him again, this time putting her sleeve over her hand. Clarke looked at her hand and frowned a little, but he took it again anyway.

When he stood up he brushed the grass of his back just as she did. Taking extra care to pick all the little stickers that pierced through his shirt, almost touching his skin.

"Hey, can you come help me carry some wood? I'm gonna make a fire for us," Hope asked.

"Yeah sure, but can't you just use your magic and carry the wood by yourself?"

She let out a sigh, "I could but it would take a lot longer because my energy is already drained, meaning my magic is a little dried out. I just want to replenish it."

"Huh, so I guess Malivore still sort of acts like Malivore. You can do magic just not as much as you could up 'there'," Clarke stated, mostly talking to himself.

"I guess," Hope says as she picks up a big piece of wood.

They walk together in silence, each of them stopping for a quick second to pick up more pieces. The sun had already started to set a little bit, a hot pink lighting up the sky. Hope had been paying less attention to the ground and more to the sky, when she lost her balance.

Hope dropped the branches that were in her hands, struggling to remain upright. Her legs swished back and forth between her as she begged herself not to fall. With a couple more seconds of her trying to remember how to stand up again, Clarke wrapped his hands around her waist, steadying her.

His hands brought a strong sense of warmth through her body, making her want to relish it but also pull away. Although it made her body feel like it was on fire, she still shivered from the feeling that went up her spine.

Hope quickly pulled away, bending down to pick up the wood that she had dropped. When she stood back up she looked towards Clarke, who had stepped back to his place beside her, with a tint of pink on his cheeks.

"Sorry I forgot about that," he said as he cleared his throat.

"It's okay, at least I didn't fall on my face," Hope said with a small laugh.

They walked back towards the open space that they were in earlier, and Hope paid extra attention to the ground. Once they had reached what seemed like the middle, they dropped their firewood into a small pile on the grass.

Hope murmured a spell underneath her breath, cause the objects in front of her to catch aflame. She sat down on the ground and reached her hand close to her fire.

"You know if you wanted to keep warm you could've just asked me."

She let a small smile come across her face before shaking her head and ignoring him. The sky was a bright orange and purple color, and you could see the moon trying to force its way into the spotlight.

"We should take turns sleeping, just in case another dragon tries to kill us while we're sleeping."

"Okay. I'll take first watch, you said it yourself you need to replenish your magic," Clarke said to her while looking towards the sky.

Hope hesitated a little bit before replying with an okay. He may be the only thing keeping her from going crazy, but that didn't mean she trusted him yet. "Wait come here."

He looked at her, eyes squinted in confusion, before walking over to her and sitting down. She lifted her hand up and nodded her head, signaling to put his hand against hers. As soon as there hands touched she felt the same exhilarating pound of heat rush through her body, and she let out a content sigh.

Clarke looked at her, questioning what she was doing. He was curious but he also looked somewhat relaxed. His usual tense shoulders had dropped down closer to his side.

Hope closed her eyes and whispered a spell that linked him to her. She let her hand drop and she looked towards the sky again. They were now connected with a metaphoric red ribbon. It made it to where he couldn't go a certain distance without her knowing, and he also couldn't get hurt without a jolt being sent to let her know.

She laid her head back onto the ground and watched the sky turn fully black. She closed her eyes trying to get her full magic abilities back up. She heard Clarke stand up and walk a little ways away before a small thump sounded when he sat down, his back against a tree.

With the thought of him in her mind, she felt the small sense of warmth that was still in her bones. She could admit that she liked the way it felt, but it scared her. To touch someone and feel anything close like that. She had never felt that with Landon, but she knew it wasn't with the same circumstance.

Just the mention of Landon into her mind, made her feel sad and she winced inwardly. Her last thought before she drifted off the sleep was the brown-haired boy who played the guitar and struggled to come up with a complete thought to voice.