from the ashes (she will rise) ➸ octaven

chapter 15

"It's been fifteen minutes," Raven leans against the windowsill, glancing outside. Lexa paces nervously around the foyer, wringing her hands together.

"Lexa, come on," Octavia, frustrated, grabs the girl's shoulders. "Why can't we call Indra?"

"We can't," Lexa shakes her head in a panic. "That's not how it works."

"You know something we don't," Raven notes, standing up and approaching the girl. Lexa immediately looks away, avoiding their eyes.

"She can't create a scene," Lexa sighs. "She says she can't ruin things for Jax and Delia."

"Who?"

"Her brother and sister."

Raven and Octavia turn to look at her, shocked. Lexa peers out the window and taps her foot anxiously.

"So he does hit her," Raven's blunt, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow at Lexa. "That's why she ran away."

Lexa swallows nervously, torn between her secrecy to Clarke, or Clarke's well-being. She keeps her eyes on the driveway, neither confirming nor denying Raven's suspicions.

"That's it," Octavia shakes her head, trying to be the voice of reason. "I'm calling Indra."

"That's not part of the plan!" Lexa cries out, flinging her hands down at her sides in frustration, taking both girls by surprise. Octavia freezes.

"What plan?"

"Stay out of trouble until she turns 18," Lexa mumbles, looking down at the ground. "Stall the court date. Lay low. Keep Jax and Delia safe."

"This is about her siblings?" Raven speaks up, looking to Lexa for answers.

"They don't know," Lexa shakes her head. "He doesn't hurt them."

"And?"

"She doesn't want to ruin their lives."

Octavia and Raven look to one another. "By getting their dad in trouble?" Octavia asks quietly.

"They'd blame her if they something happened to him," Lexa nods softly. Suddenly, the situation becomes infinitely more complex. Octavia sighs heavily and leans against the door, now not so sure if calling Indra is the best idea.

Raven speaks up for the both of them. "Now what?"

"She'll be back," Lexa nods softly. "It's part of the plan."

"I don't know if I trust this plan," Octavia mutters. Sitting around and waiting seems like the last thing they should be doing.

-----

But, sitting around and waiting is exactly what they do.

For the next two hours, Lexa paces back and forth, dragging her feet against the floor. By now, Raven and Octavia know better than to disrupt her, although her pacing doesn't exactly help to ease their nerves, either.

When the doorbell finally does ring, Lexa's there within seconds. Octavia's close behind, but when the pull the door open, Clarke pushes them both out of the way and heads straight into the kitchen. All the girls hurry to follow.

"What happened?" Octavia stands hesitantly in the doorway while Clarke digs an ice pack out of the freezer. Her lip is busted, blood running down the corner of her mouth. When she turns and notes Octavia's staring, she rolls her eyes and wipes her mouth with the back of her hand. Slumping down into a stool at the island, she presses the ice pack to her eye, right where it's started to swell. Everyone is quiet -- as if a single word could bring forth and explosion.