five; I'M REESE

eighteen years earlier

"Don't tell your father."

Reese heard that phrase often come from her mother's lips in the four years she had been alive, but it was only ever about one thing in particular because while Marcus Kane had fought his way to Alpha Station and the council where he was looking for votes to be the Vice-Chancellor, he wasn't from there, but it was as though he had completely forgotten that neither he nor his wife had been born to Alpha.

Elizabeth Kane never forgot her roots and wished to share them with her daughter and three times a week, they made the trip to Factory Station to do what they could for those that lived there and she knew that her husband would never approve, especially to taking their daughter as well, so it was the only secret she withheld from the man she loved.

Reese was always so excited to go with her mother because they would stop by both of her grandparents' homes and then they'd go to the Hub to help trade and there were always kids there who didn't care where it was that Reese was from, only that she was kind and helpful and would play the games they created, the children from Reese's home were mean and didn't like playing with her because their parents had warned them away from Marcus Kane's daughter.

Reese had long since let go of her mother's hand and wandered the Hub, watching the trades and the helpful nature of some of the adults and it was her wandering eye that caused her to bump into something solid and hit the floor hard.

She let out a whimper of pain when her elbow connected with the floor and quickly sat up and found herself face to face with a young boy who had been rubbing his head with a scowl on his face.

"What were you're go–" He started to say before he glanced up at the girl and blinked in surprise, "Oh, I'm sorry."

Reese stared at him in confusion.

"You started to yell at me and then you said sorry." She murmured, her face scrunching up when her elbow twinged, "Why?"

"I thought you were an adult." He replied, still rubbing his head, "Turns out you're just a really strong little kid."

Reese huffed at him, "I'm not little."

The boy grinned brightly before he pulled himself up and held out his hand for Reese to hesitantly take and he pulled her back to her feet.

"You look pretty little to me." He declared with a large smile, "I'm Bellamy."

Reese stared at him with annoyed eyes before she spoke, "I'm Reese."

He scrunched up his nose in confusion, "Reese is a boy's name."

Reese scowled at him, "And so is Bella."

She could practically hear her mother scolding her for saying that but her defence was that he had made fun of her name first and she wasn't about to back down.

"Bellamy." He corrected as though he'd done so quite a lot.

"Still has Bella in it," Reese replied, a small smile tugging at her lips.

Bellamy raised his hands in defence and another smile lit up his face, "Okay, fine. I'm sorry."

Reese giggled at him before she looked over his shoulder and saw her mother waving at her.

"Ooh, I have to go." She exclaimed with a smile, "But it was nice to meet you, Bell."

As she skipped off passed him, Bellamy called after her.

"It's Bellamy."

"Make a friend?" Elizabeth asked as she grasped her daughter's hand.

Reese smiled up at her.

"I think so."

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i was originally going to make this the start of the next chapter but i liked it better on its own.

thanks for reading!

~r