I Need You

Bruises

Murphy rolled his eyes, pushing the tangled mop of blonde away from his shoulder, as to not wake her up when he stood. Something stood out on the back of her pale neck, a dark bruise. Fuck. He swore quietly and sucked in a silent breath as he stared at it, eventually gathering the sleeping blonde into his arms with a soft grunt. He was by no means very strong, but his shorter stature was deceiving. She was no lightweight, but still was far lighter than a college kid should have been. Knowing Clarke, she could make up an elaborate excuse about the bruise, claiming that she fell into something or knocked her head on a bookshelf. He hated himself for caring so much about the obnoxious, stubborn, head strong and rude blonde. However, he also begrudgingly recognized that since meeting, she had always been there for him, and likewise.

The problem was, he recognized a bruise like that. Clarke had never mentioned abuse, just that her mother seemed to hate her and her father was dead. Family wasn't something they talked about a lot, and Murphy was more than content to keep it that way. Still, seeing something like that was alarming enough that he knew the group would want to know about it. He deposited Clarke in the backseat, her head resting on a pile of towels, curled up. All he really wanted to do was just crash in his bed, but Clarke was a bigger priority, even over his beauty sleep. Murphy kept one hand on the wheel, the other quietly dialing Bellamy.

It took only a few rings for Bellamy to answer back. It wasn't really surprising, since Murphy knew he suffered from Insomnia, but it was still three in the morning.

"What happened, Murphy?" he heard the older boy's deep sleep-tinged voice answer.

"Clarke." That was all he had to say, and he heard Bellamy rustling around, probably throwing on clothing in case he needed to go somewhere.

"What the fuck happened? I swear if she's hurt-"

"Shut up, Blake. She's fine, currently passed out in the back of my truck. She fell asleep at my place and we're on our way to yours. Remember those bruises you saw a while back on her leg?" Murphy could almost hear the other man nod, and pushed forward. Might as well rip the band-aid off, right? "I found another one, on the back of her neck. Also, she's weirdly light."

A few quiet curse words floated over the phone, and Murphy couldn't help but agree. "Be there in ten, we can tell the rest of the gang tomorrow." Without waiting for a reply, Murphy hung up, casting a lazy look at the backseat to make sure she was still asleep. Which she was. Throwing off the unsettling concern he felt, Murphy focused his attention back on the road. He was used to being selfish, and he knew it. He did what he had to do to get his ass out of trouble and safe, even if it meant hurting others. But since meeting Clarke, Bellamy, Raven, and the rest of the crew, he was slowly forced to become more understanding and not so wary of friendship. Which thankfully didn't require him to act nice. Even if it made him want to vomit. Concern was.. not his strong suit by a long shot. But while driving down the empty road, concern was exactly the emotion that was nagging. And he fucking hated it.