The Space Between Us

Chapter 5

I spent the rest of that day thinking about Bellamy and Murphy's fight. Why did Murphy care that the truth be exposed? And more importantly, what was Bellamy hiding?

As the sun began to set, we all began to make our way back to the dropship to regroup. We all watched quietly as the sky illuminated color. Pink, yellow, orange, purple. We had never witnessed such beauty. I sat in silence next to Wells, feeling an overwhelming sense of peace. As the colors slipped away into dark, Bellamy situated himself in front of us all, standing with great posture that demanded our attention. We all turned to him instinctively.

"Now, surviving down here will not be easy, but under my leadership, I know we will make it."

Everyone began murming, yet no one stood or objected. Wells turned to me, appearing a bit worried, but he said nothing. I said nothing. We turned back to Bellamy to await his next words.

"Our first priority tomorrow morning is food and water. I would love to have a group of about 5 volunteers that would be willing to lead a search in such necessities."

Moments later, Finn stood up, introducing himself, offering to lead the search. "I'm also a pretty good tracker, so I think this is something I'll thrive in."

"Thank you, Finn! We will collect the rest of you tomorrow. Go see Finn when you first wake up if you're interested in attending the search."

"The rest of you will be working with me and Murphy on building ourselves a shelter of some sort around the dropship. Now does anyone have any questions?"

"Yeah! Who put you in charge?!" someone shouted from the back of the group. Others began shouting in agreement, standing up and yelling.

Bellamy seemed offput by the disturbance, but to my surprise, Wells stood up slowly. "Hey! Listen!"

The crowd calmed, sitting down and silencing. They respected Wells; they looked up to him. "Strong leadership is essential to survival. Did any of you pay attention in Earth Skills?" he said, half-jokingly.

Everyone laughed, feeling better already with Wells' calm words of reason. "We will all work together. We will make decisions together... I don't know about you, but for now, I think it seems as if Bellamy has our priorities straight, wouldn't you agree? So how about we trust him to make the right decisions for us for the time being. You have questions? Ask. You have suggestions? Share them. We'll get through this together."

Wells returned back to his seat next to me, and I gave him a reassuring squeeze around the shoulders. "That was the hardest thing I've ever done - defend that punk." I laughed. "You did good, Jaha."

Not long after Bellamy finished his speech, all of us made ourselves comfortable for a night of sleep. Some delinquents made their way back into the dropship, while others slept outside, starring at the stars. Bellamy, Murphy, and a few of their friends took shifts throughout the night to keep watch.

In the middle of the night, I tossed in my sleep, finally waking up. Bellamy was on watch. I looked to my left to see Wells sleeping peacefully beside me. I carefully stood up and walked over towards Bellamy.

"Bell..." I whispered.
Nothing.
"Bell!" I tried again.

He turned around quickly, appearing frightened. "Clarke? What the hell do you want?"

I was taken aback by his harsh tone. I hadn't seen him in what felt like so long, let alone spoken to him.

"Bellamy, what are you doing here?"

"What does it look like, Clarke?" he spat, "I'm keeping watch."

I rolled my eyes. "No, Bellamy. I mean here - Earth."

"What's it to you, Clarke? I'm here for Octavia. I'm here to protect her. I'm not here for you."

His words were sharp. They pierced my heart. "I didn't expect you to be here for me Bellamy... I know we're not- "

"Not what, Clarke? Not dating? Not friends? You can say that again. Now go away... and stay away, why don't you?"

I didn't know what to say. My throat was tight, and I felt as if I couldn't breathe. I knew he was angry at me, I knew we hadn't talked in ages, but I didn't realize how much he hated me. I guess he had his reasons... accidentally or not, I ruined his life.

Author's Note: So yeah, I'm alive. Here's an update for anyone who's still reading! :)