trepidation |BELLAMY BLAKE| [1]

CHAPTER 14

AVERY'S SOCKS, SHOES, AND THE BOTTOM OF HER PANTS WERE SOAKED AS SHE STOOD IN THE RIVER, SEARCHING FOR THE RADIO,

She sighed, removing her hands from the water and looking over at Bellamy, who was sitting on the bank, just staring into the water.

She quickly dried her hands on her pants and waded over to him, "You know," She grunted as she sat next to him, "Factory Station is my home, too."

Bellamy glanced at her, "You have anyone left up there?"

Avery nodded, "Yeah, my dad." She looked around, "My mom died when I was seven. She... she was a trader." The brunette girl sighed, "We didn't have much so every birthday, she took me to the big viewing window on Mecha Station and would tell me stories from Earth."

"I know that window." Bellamy smirked, "Had the best view of Earth."

Avery smiled sadly and looked over at him, "Do you have anyone left on the Ark?"

He shook his head, "Octavia's been my only family for a long time."

"That's why you would do anything for her." Avery rocked slowly, "Even attempt to kill the Chancellor."

"You're not gonna hold that above me are you, Peacemaker?" Bellamy asked, staring down at her,

"Of course not. You did what you did out of love. It was wrong, yes, but you had good intentions."

"Why are you so... open today?" Bellamy asked her, "You're not gonna cry on me are you, sweetheart?"

"No, no." Avery smiled, "Sorry, just... missing my family a bit more today that's all."

"Why?" He questioned, "What's so important about today?"

She shrugged, "It's my birthday."

"Hey. I found it!" Jones announced to everyone.

Bellamy stood, helping Avery up before walking towards the group,

Raven ran over to grab it before heading back to land, "Can you fix it?" Clarke asked,

"Maybe. But it'll take half a day just to dry out the components to see what's broken." Raven answered, looking inside the damaged radio,

"Like I said, it's too late." Bellamy stated, 

"Do you have any idea what you did? Do you even care?" Clarke questioned, glaring at Bellamy,

"You asked me to help. I helped." Bellamy argued,

"300 people are gonna die today because of you." Clarke growled,

"Hey!" Avery stepped between them and looked at Clarke, "Bellamy isn't the one who put in a kill order on those people, okay? The Council did. The Council is going to kill those 300 people."

"Hold up." Raven interrupted, "We don't have to talk to The Ark. We just have to let them know we're down here, right?"

"Yeah, but how do we do that with no radio?" Finn asked,

Raven smirked at all of them, "Flares."

Everyone got to work. Raven ordered everyone around, tearing the pod Raven landed in to repurpose its parts. 

Avery sighed, looking around the camp. It was nice to see all the delinquents working together towards a common goal. You know, besides hanging Murphy from a tree.

Soon it was getting dark and the flares were almost ready. They just had to hope it wasn't too late.

Someone grabbed her arm, "Hey, Peacemaker, come with me."

Avery followed Bellamy towards the dropship, "What are you doing?"

"Just follow me." 

The two climbed up to the top of the dropship, "What are we doing up here, Bellamy?" Avery asked as he helped her to her feet,

"Well, it may not be the viewing window on Mecha Station, but it's just as mesmerizing." Bellamy pointed up at the stars.

She stared up at the dark sky, that was sprinkled with bright white lights. The stars were brighter tonight it seemed, "You're right. It is just as beautiful." Avery smiled as she sat on the metal, "Why are you doing this?"

"Well, it is your birthday." He smirked, sitting next to her, "How well do you know Greek Mythology?"

"You mean like Hercules and stuff? Not much." 

Bellamy chuckled, "Yeah, like Hercules and stuff. One story I liked was the one of Icarus." Avery watched his eyes light up as he spoke, "There was this one guy, Daedalus, who had constructed the labyrinth, a large maze that was meant to keep in the Minotaur. Anyways, he was imprisoned in a tower on Crete with his son Icarus by King Minos so that he wouldn't reveal the true nature of the Minotaur."

"Did he ever escape the tower?" Avery asked.

He nodded, "He would collect feathers and use wax to glue the feathers together to create wings. Eventually, he made two sets of wings, one for himself and one for Icarus. Daedalus warned his son to not fly to close to the sun, otherwise, the wax would melt from the heat and the wings would fall apart."

"Let me guess," Avery smiled at Bellamy, "Icarus didn't listen."

"He was too... consumed by the wonder of being able to fly, so he flew too close to the sun, causing his wings to break apart and he plummeted into the sea."

"So the moral of the story is to listen to your parents." Avery stated,

"No, the moral of the story is to beware ambition because risks can lead to unexpected consequences." Bellamy corrected,

"Kind of like when you tried to kill the Chancellor to follow your sister down here? You weren't expecting the Chancellor to live." Bellamy gave her a look, "Sorry. You were trying to make me feel better. I appreciate it, Bellamy, I really do."

Three purple lights flew into the sky. The two watched as they lit up the area around them, "You think they can see it from up there?" Bellamy asked her,

"I think all we can do right now is hope." Avery turned to look at Bellamy's sad face, "Have you heard of shooting stars?"

"Yeah." He answered, still looking up at the purple's lights,

"Do you think these count as them?"

Bellamy looked down at her, their two eyes meeting, "I think it's worth a shot. What would you wish for?"

Avery sighed, looking back at the sky, "I would like to think that I would wish for everyone to get along. This... war we have with the grounders, I would want that to stop. I would wish the Ark wasn't failing. For peace."

"What would you really wish for?"

"To not be afraid. I want to be able to walk into those woods without worrying about being killed. I want to be brave." Avery answered honestly, tears filling her eyes, "My mom used to tell me not to be afraid. It shouldn't define my fate. But for the past year, this day scared me the most because..." The tears fell down her face, "I was supposed to die today, Bellamy. If I was up there right now, I'd be dead. Jaha would have floated me just like they floated my mother."

She looked at him, "So, I don't blame you for shooting him. And yes, you weren't expecting him to live, and at some point, he'll be down here with the rest of the Ark. But I won't let them punish you for what you did. I won't let them touch you."

Bellamy sat up, tears in his own eyes as he wrapped his arms around her smaller frame, "Thank you, Avery."