XX

[PREVIOUSLY: Octavia proves her worth by killing the cougar that tries to attack her brother. Once the search party returns to the drop-ship with Jasper, Bellamy exerts his influence by convincing everyone to take off their wristbands in exchange for food. Meanwhile, Octavia and Finn grow closer].

It'd been two days since we found and rescued Jasper ... and he's still sick. Thrashing around, moaning, sweating profusely; the poor guy hasn't had a break.

Clarke reckons the spear used on Jasper was poisoned. She's tried every antidote and every dole of medicine she could lay her hands on, but nothing's changed. Jasper's still sick. In fact, he seems to be getting worse. And that's what's worrying me.

In the two days that have passed, more of our rations have been used up and we are edging closer and closer to starvation. With Clarke busy looking after Jasper, Bellamy has put his new-found authority to good-use. He has separated everyone into groups with certain ones scavenging for food and water and others for much-needed supplies and timber. He is in the middle of trying to build a wall, a wall that will surround us and the drop-ship. As if that's going to keep the grounders out, but you can only try.

Murphy is Bellamy's second in command and man, that asshole does my head in. He struts around like he owns the place, bullies people into doing what he wants and uses others. I'm sick and tired of the way he bosses everyone around, as if he's the leader around here. I just wished Bellamy could look past Murphy's innocent loyal facade and see what truly lies beneath.

Bellamy's other right-hand man was Atom, a dark, handsome and particularly good-looking bloke. All the girls swooned over him and had bets and competitions to see who'd be lucky enough to land him in their bed.

As for me and Finn? We steered right away from all the cliche crap that was going on around the camp because with no adults to keep them accountable, everyone had gone a-wall: sleeping around, making out, partying. They should've been preparing themselves, preparing themselves for the fact that one day we'd have to face those grounders ... but they weren't.

Bellamy was wrong. We didn't stand a chance against the others who were out there. Why? Because we weren't prepared. True, we had guns and knives and acted all tough and superior on the outside, but on the inside? We were just kids.

To be honest, I was surprised the grounders hadn't attacked us as of yet. We were in our most vulnerable stage. Maybe they were just having too much fun watching us all and making fun of how we were all acting. I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case.

For the first time in my life, I was beginning to doubt whether Bellamy was actually doing the right thing. One morning, I had walked into his tent and caught him in the act of screwing with some girl. I was so disgusted I just walked straight back out again. I stayed in the drop-ship with Finn, Clarke, Monty, Bryce and Dustin for the rest of the day. At least they were still sane.

On the dawn of the third day, Finn and I were watching Jasper while Clarke went for a walk with Monty to stretch their legs. As I stared at Jasper's feverish chest, heaving up and down, I couldn't hide the tears that had began to sting my eyes.

"Hey, Princess, what's wrong?" Finn queried. His voice was one of jest, but I could tell that he was concerned.

I swallowed hard and rubbed at my eyes. "Sorry. Y-You weren't meant to see that."

Finn chuckled as he reached over and stroked my knee with his thumb. "Hey, it's okay, Princess. I understand how upset you must feel over Jasper. He's a good guy. He'll be lucky to have you ..."

"Oi!" I shouted, shoving Finn away playfully. "I - I don't like him like that!"

Finn burst out laughing when he saw the incredulous expression on my face. "Oh ... my ... god," he wheezed. "Y-You are too easy, way too easy, geez."

I rolled my eyes. "It - it's not Jasper I'm worried about."

"Well ... who is it then?"

"Bellamy."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. He's turned into such an ass, Finn. It's kinda sad. He never used to act like this and now? He - he's changed. He's different. I don't know what to do, I don't know how to help him," I shrugged helplessly, trying to keep the tremor from showing in my voice. "I always used to know how to make him feel better ... Now he's treating me like I'm some sort of pesky annoyance that he hates being around."

For a moment, Finn didn't answer. Then, he spoke up, softly and gently, "Princess, listen to me. You are not an annoyance. You are not a pest. You're amazing and if Bellamy doesn't see that, then there's something wrong with him."

I laughed lightly, shaking my head and trying to brush Finn off. "Yeah right. You're only saying that to make me feel better."

"No, I'm not," Finn whispered, his breath fanning my ear. "I mean it, Princess, I really do."

Surprised, I turned to glance at him. My eyes widened when I realised how close he was. His knee was brushing against mine. His fingers were mere millimetres from my own. His face, the strong jawline, the deep brown eyes, the rich chocolate coloured locks, it was all barely a widths breath away from me.

"F-Finn ..." I stuttered, staring at him as he shifted closer to me.

His eyes flickered down to my lips. "Princess," he whispered.

I inhaled sharply as he leaned over and brushed my lips with his own. He glanced up into my eyes and smiled before intertwining his fingers with mine. Then, he bent his head and was closing in on my mouth again when we were suddenly interrupted by Clarke's heated voice, "Well, don't let me interrupt you."

We both gasped and jumped away from each other, each flushing with embarrassment at the fact that we'd just been caught making out.

Clarke was standing in the drop-ship doorway, tapping her foot on the floor. Her eyebrows were raised and her arms were crossed. She looked anything but impressed.

She huffed and shook her head before whirling about on her heel and storming off.

"Wait ... Clarke!" I called out after her as I started to my feet.

"No, stay, I'll talk to her," Finn told me as he hurried out the door after Clarke.

I groaned and sagged back against the metal wall behind me. Great. Just great.

"Uh ... what's going on?" Monty suddenly appeared, looking after Clarke and Finn's retreating figures in confusion.

I whacked my forehead with the palm of my hand and sighed. "How am I supposed to know?"

Monty frowned at me as he walked over to where I was sitting. "Please, don't do that."

"Do what?"

"Hit yourself. It's kinda creepy."

"Ohhh, what did I miss?" Bryce's mischievous voice sang out as he clambered into the drop-ship after Monty.

"Only some sort of argument between Clarke and Finn," Monty shrugged. "No big deal."

"Hey, can you two stay and watch Jasper for a bit?" I asked as I stood up and brushed off my pants. I gazed at the distant forms of Finn and Clarke through the open doorway. "I - I'll be back in a sec."

Without waiting for a response, I leaped from the drop-ship door and jogged over to where Finn and Clarke were standing on the outskirts of camp.

"You can't keep calling the shots like this, Clarke!" Finn was exclaiming. "You can't just tell me who I can or cannot like. Octavia's special. I - I really like her ..."

"Speaking of which," Clarke pressed her lips into a hard, thin line as she looked over Finn's shoulder towards me.

Finn turned around, his face brightening up upon spotting me. "Princess, hey."

I gave him a quick smile before turning to Clarke. "Look, I'm sorry. I don't know what I did to upset you but I hope you won't be mad at me for too much longer. I - I guess ... well, Finn's right, Clarke. You can't control fate."

"Yeah, well I guess he was right about the fact that you also can't control who you do and don't like," Clarke spat out, staring at me with an ugly expression on her face. "Maybe if you weren't so caught up in yourself, Octavia, you'd actually notice when other people have feelings. I - I liked Finn too ... but you never gave me a chance to show it ..." gritting her teeth together, Clarke brushed past me and stormed back towards the drop-ship.

Finn and I gazed after her in amazement.

"Well, who knew the Princess of the Ark actually had feelings?" Finn mumbled.

"Aw, you love it," I teased as I punched him in the shoulder. "You have all these girls drooling over you, including Clarke, and that's saying something."

"Yeah, but I don't care about them," Finn grabbed me by the shoulders and turned me around to face him. "Not how I care about you. I - I love you, Octavia Blake."

A heated flush began to crawl up my neck when I heard the words. A happy smile tugged at my mouth as I slung my arms around his neck and replied, "I love you too, Finn Collins."

Finn grinned as he moved his hands from my shoulders to my waist. "That settles it then." He drew me close to his chest, so close I could feel his breath blow across my forehead and tickle the loose strands of my hair.

I ran my hands through his thick dark locks before pulling his head down towards me. I stepped up on my tip-toes and pressed my lips to his.

It was my first proper kiss. And I was glad that I got to do it with Finn.

Gif: Octavia shares a kiss with Finn. * They're FINALLY together, hahaha, yay. All the girls start fangirling. *

XX