𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐄─𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐤𝐞¹ (𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠)

84. safety

The drill, voices, talking, yelling,

Dozens of noises filled my head as I drifted in out and out of consciousness. My leg was in excruciating pain and it felt like every ounce of energy had been ripped from my body. I had been thrown to the side onto another table, clearly posing no threat in the condition I was in. Abby had been placed on the table instead of me, and I could hear Kane begging Cage to stop all of this.

My head felt like it was being crushed by a boulder meanwhile the rest of my body ached like I had been repeatedly been thrown off a cliff. I wasn't entirely sure what death felt like, but I thought I might be close.

I struggled to open my eyes, desperate to know what was going on. Were the rest of our people here? We were winning? Was it over?

It was only when a loud alarm filled the room that I forced myself to open my eyes. Nausea washed over me as the bright lights assaulted my vision.

Get up.

Those two words repeated in my head over and over as I managed to roll to my side slightly, and push myself up onto one elbow in order to see what was happening.

My people had done it, we'd won, but in a way that I'd never imagined. As I looked around the room, almost every Mount Weather person began gasping for air, their bodies quickly becoming covered in blisters. Radiation poisoning.

The sense of nausea I had felt moment before came again, but this time even worse. These people were all dying right in front of me and it was because of my people. I knew that what Cage and his men were doing were horrible, but I also knew that if the people in this room were exposed, it almost certainly meant that the rest of the level and a portion of the population had been exposed as well. My heart dropped at the thought of children, and innocent people, people who had helped us dying this horrible death.

I was ripped from my thoughts as someone came stumbling toward me. I felt myself jump as I looked up to see Landen, his entire body covered in angry red blisters, staggering at me. I let out a small cry as I pushed myself as far back on the table as I could, my entire body screaming in pain as I did so.

Landen reached out to me, trying to say something, but before he had the chance he had collapsed into a heap on the floor.

It was then that I fell back against the table, my body too exhausted from trying to hold myself up. The cool metal of the table pressed against my skin as my eyelids became heavy. I had to stay awake, afraid of what would happen if I let my eyes close.

"Aves!"

I all but pried my eyelids open, my vision being overtaken by the face of Octavia Blake. She wasted no time in helping me up into a sitting position, pulling me into a hug, "You're okay." she promised, "I've got you."

I let my head rest on her shoulder, fatigue washing over me once again, I was afraid I was going to pass out as I spoke "Is he-"

I didn't have a chance to finish my sentence as someone else called my name. It was him.

Octavia had barely managed to take a step away from me before Bellamy had me in his arms. Tears of both joy and sadness sprung to my eyes as I collapsed into him, shoving my face into his chest as my body racked with sobs.

"I'm here." he promised, "You're safe."

---

The walk back home was a haze. Bellamy had carried me, like he had done that day after the attack on the bridge. However, now my body was so weak I was unable to keep my eyes open long enough to get out of Mount Weather. The minute Bellamy had taken me into his arms, I had slipped into unconsciousness, my head pressed against his chest.

When I had awoken, I was back in Bellamy's tent, my leg and wounds covering the rest of my body were bandaged, a blanket laid overtop of me.

Bellamy was there too. He was seated at the end of the bed, his head in his hands.

I winced as I pushed myself up slightly, "Bell?"

He turned to me in a hurry, his eyes widening slightly, "Are you okay? What's hurting?" he questioned, moving so he was closer to me.

I gave him a small smile as I shook my head, "I'm okay." I promised, taking a hold of his hand, "Are you?"

Bellamy sighed as he studied my face, seemingly deciding whether or not he wanted to tell me what was going on. When it seemed like he had finally decided, his grip on my hand tightened slightly, "Clarke's gone."

I felt my heart drop, automatically assuming the worst when I heard the word gone. I didn't think I had been out for long, but maybe I missed something.

Bellamy noticed my panic and shook his head, "Not like that," he assured, "She left."

My worry subsided somewhat, but I was still in shock, "Where did she go?" I questioned. We couldn't do this without Clarke, we needed her.

Shaking his head slightly, Bellamy let out a low sigh, "I honestly don't know."

I remained silent for a moment as I watch Bellamy's face. He was hurt, upset, conflicted and it was obvious.

"What happened in there?" I asked quietly. I almost knew what happened, but maybe having Bellamy say it out loud would alleviate some of the guilt he was harbouring.

Bellamy stared down at our interlocked hands, his voice coming out as almost a whisper, "We tried to find another way but-" he cut himself off, his eyes coming up to meet mine, "When I saw that they had you, and that they had gotten Octavia too, there was no way I was going to let anything else happen to either of you." His eyes were full of a mixture of regret and anger.

He glanced down at my leg, "But look what they did to you anyway. I promised him I would protect you, and then I let them do something like that to you."

"You promised who?" I questioned, shifting slightly so I was more comfortable.

Bellamy lightly rubbed his thumb over the top of my hand, "Your brother. That day in the dropship, he asked me to look out for you if anything were to happen to him. But he didn't need to... that's what I had set out to do since I met you, Avery. I don't want anything bad to ever happen to you, I'm serious." he paused, trying to read my expression, "That's why I hate seeing you like this, I wish I could have been there, I should have-"

I leaned forward pressing my lips to his, "Stop," I whispered, my face still hovering near his, "I'm okay, we're here now, and we're both okay."

Bellamy stared back at me for a moment, his eyes holding an expression I couldn't quite decipher. The words that he spoke next made my heart stop momentarily as my breath caught in my throat. Words I had longed to hear my entire life.

"I love you, Avery".

-an-

oop there it is. the words we have all known were there the entire time were FINALLY spoken. we are officially done season 2! what a crazy ride that was.

I just want to thank you guys for all the support on this story so far. I know updates are always sporadic and I have lost a lot of readers over time but thanks to the ones who have stuck by, love you all.

also, I made a playlist for this book and will link it below or you can search my profile name on there-paradiseearth :) comment any songs that make you think of this story and or bellamy

-maddy xoxo

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3ekoyCWWdu9SYTMwZxRb5y?si=jgYOwfEWSQijlm55A5kTiw