There was no stopping the crowd as they tied Murphy's hands behind his back and put a gag in his mouth, kicking him into a thick pile of mud. Clarke fought against some of the people beating him, but it was no use. The delinquents had already made up their minds about Murphy's fate. I was getting flashbacks to when my father was floated for a crime he didn't commit. No one fought for him except me. I hated Murphy, but I didn't think he had been proven guilty. So, finally, as they led him towards a tree to be hanged, I decided to step in.  

I grabbed Conner's shoulder as they put a bucket under Murphy's feet, "This isn't right. You can't hang him without giving him a fair trial."

"It's too late, Harley," he turned to everyone. "This is what the people want!" Everyone cheered.

"Well, the people are idiots," I replied.

Indistinct yelling and cheering blurred in the air as they tied the rope around Murphy's neck. It was complete and utter blinding chaos. Bellamy stood behind me with Octavia as Clarke shoved through the crowd that was encouraging the unrest. She tried to get to Murphy as Conner held her back. 

"You can't do this!" She exclaimed with desperation. 

"Conner, this is crazy!" I yelled over the crowd, but I knew deep down, this ship had sailed. Murphy was already strung up, fighting to keep his feet on the bucket. There was no way to stop this.

Clarke turned around, shoving Bellamy back slightly, "You can stop this! They'll listen to you!" I was beginning to realize that maybe I shouldn't have let Bellamy take control over the past week. 

Conner's attention focused on Bellamy, "Bellamy, you should do it!" I knew by 'it' he meant kicking the bucket from underneath Murphy's feet, which would take all the air from his lungs. My eyes found Bellamy, as he looked at Murphy, who was shaking his head, trying to defend himself, but the gag made it impossible to understand him. What was Bellamy going to do? 

The crowd started chanting Bellamy's name, "Bel-la-my! Bel-la-my! Bel-la-my!"

Clarke stepped closer to him, "I saw you in the woods with Atom. I know you're not a killer!" Bellamy looked from Clarke to me, and then back at Murphy. "Bellamy, don't do this. Don't do this!"

He took a step towards Murphy as the chanting grew louder and louder. I grabbed his arm, "Bellamy, please listen to us. You can't do this!"Bellamy looked passed me, walking right in front of Murphy as I tried to grab his arm again.

He held me back as Clarke yelled over the crowd, "No! Don't!"

I watched in horror as Bellamy pulled back his foot, and kicked the bucket with force. Murphy struggled to breathe as everyone cheered. I shook my head, running my hands through my hair in frustration. I looked to Bellamy with anger, shoving him roughly.

"You just had to give in didn't you!" I shouted. "When are you ever going to learn that all these people are stupid and have no idea what they're talking about!"

Clarke joined me, giving Bellamy an equal amount of anger. He pressed his lips together in a hard line, "This is on you, Clarke. I told you to keep your mouth shut!"

"What are you doing?!" A shout came from the edge of the crowd. I spotted Finn trying to shove through the myriad of people as he pointed at Murphy, "Cut him down!"

He made it to me and Clarke, but Conner grabbed him, pulling out a knife and holding it to his neck to stop him from cutting Murphy down. Everyone was shouting, people were shoving each other; was this what we had come to? 

Then, to everyone's surprise, a voice called out, "No! Just stop okay!" I turned my head to left, seeing Charlotte looking around at everyone. "Murphy didn't kill Wells. I did!"

I stood in shock as Clarke reached for the ax on Bellamy's belt, "Oh my God," she let out as she ran over and cut the rope. Finn hurried over to Murphy as my eyes stayed on Charlotte. 

The anger in my gut surfaced again as I clenched my jaw. Why would she kill Wells? How could she even do that? She was just a kid. That wasn't an excuse though. She was twelve not three; old enough to know murder was wrong.

While everyone was still caught up with Murphy as they untied the rope around his neck, Bellamy and I grabbed Charlotte, taking her back into camp and into Bellamy's tent. All kinds of thoughts were ricocheting through my mind as I paced in the tent, unsure of what to do. 

Clarke and Finn came in about ten minutes later, and I heard the murmuring of a crowd outside. Both of them had concerned looks on their faces as Charlotte stood beside Bellamy. 

"Bring out the girl Bellamy!" I heard Murphy yell. He wanted revenge, which definitely wasn't a surprise to me. 

Bellamy turned to the girl, "Why Charlotte?"

"I was just trying to slay my demons like you told me!" Slay her demons?

I raised my eyebrows, "Wow, talk about taking things a little too literal." 

Clarke ignored my comment as she looked at Bellamy, "What the hell is she talking about?"

"She misunderstood me," Bellamy answered. "Charlotte that is not what I meant."

"Bring the girl out, now!" Murphy yelled again from outside the tent.

Fear covered Charlotte's face, "Please don't let them hurt me!"

This was insane. Charlotte, a twelve-year-old girl stabbed Wells in the neck. I shook my head, running my hands through my hair as Bellamy turned to Clarke and Finn with frustration.

"If you guys have any bright ideas, speak up." Silence fluttered in the air as Clarke gave Bellamy a look that said 'i have no idea what to do'. "Now you stay quiet?"

Finn shot him a look, "Those are your boys out there."

"This is not my fault!" Bellamy fired back. He motioned to Clarke. "If she had listened to me, those idiots would still be building the wall!"

"Everyone just calm down!" I spoke up as I glanced between the three of them. "Bellamy and I will handle Murphy and his gang of asshats. You two get Charlotte out of here."

Murphy's voice rang out again, "You want to build a society, princess? Let's build a society! Bring her out!"

"No!" Charlotte had tears in her eyes. "Please, Bellamy."

Bellamy turned to Charlotte. He leaned down and placed her hands on her shoulders, "Charlotte, it's gonna be okay," he said. "Just stay with them," he looked to Clarke and Finn as he stood up, nodding slightly.

I followed him outside the tent, immediately greeted with Murphy in the front of the crowd. His face was bloody and covered with mud. There were marks from the ropes all around his neck. I could feel the tensions boiling as I crossed my arms over my chest, standing beside Bellamy with determination in my gaze. I wasn't sure how I exactly felt about Charlotte at that moment. I just knew that continuing down this path of murder wasn't going to solve anything, and letting Murphy get to her was a mistake.

"Well, well, well," Murphy said as he looked between Bellamy and me. "Look who decided to join us." His eyes landed on me. "Oh, you brought your little girlfriend too, huh?"

Okay, now I was pissed off, "Shut the hell up, Murphy."

Bellamy watched Murphy as he approached us, "Dial it down and back off." 

Everyone watched intently as Murphy stood a few feet in front of Bellamy, "Or what? What are you going to do Bellamy? Hang me?"

"I was just giving the people what they wanted."

"Yeah," Murphy answered, taking a slight step back. "Yeah, that's a good idea. Why don't we do that right now?" He turned to everyone else surrounding us, raising his voice. "So who here wants to see the real murderer hung up? All in favor," Murphy raised his hand, and of course, his few minions coped his action, but no one else moved an inch. He glanced around. "I see. So it's okay to string me up for nothing, but when this little bitch confesses, you wanna let her walk? Cowards! All of you are cowards!"

"Hey, Murphy! Murphy!" Bellamy yelled in a deep voice as he walked up to Murphy. He faced him, looking right into his eyes with a threatening gaze. "It's over."

A beat of silence hung in the air between the two, and then, Murphy backed away with a nod, "Whatever you say, boss."

Bellamy gave him one last look before turning around, beginning to walk back towards me. My eyes widened when I saw Murphy leaning down to pick up a short log from a pile on the ground beside him. 

"Bellamy!" I yelled as Murphy hit him on the back of the head.

"You son of a bitch!" I heard Octavia yelling with Jasper holding her back. Murphy punched Jasper right in the face as Octavia ran to her brother.

Murphy turned to me next as I stood between him and the tent, hoping that Clarke and Finn had left with Charlotte already, "Come on let's get the girl," he said to his four minions. All of them stood in front of me. "You really think you can fight all five of us, Winters?"

I turned my head to the tent for a moment, "Sure. I've been wanting to kick your ass the second we got down here, Murphy."

Murphy let out a small scoff as he looked to two of the tall guys beside him, "Keep this bitch out of my way."

They didn't hesitate to come towards me, and I kneed one of them in the gut, getting a punch in the face in return. That one was gonna bruise. It would match the purple bump on the side of my head.

 A third person came up, grabbing my arm as another one put his hands around my waist to hold me back as Murphy went into the tent. I stomped on someone's foot, elbowed another one in the jaw, and spit in the other one's face, getting free seconds later. I ran into the tent after Murphy, grinning when I saw his angered expression.

Charlotte was gone along with Clarke and Finn. 

Murphy faced me with rage, "Where are they?"

I shrugged, "No clue."

Murphy shoved past me, walking back outside, "Charlotte!" He exclaimed. "Charlotte, I know you can hear me, and when I find you, you are gonna pay!"

――――

Sitting outside the dropship on top of a small box with Archie, I had a wet piece of cloth against the side of my cheek. The sunset was waning as Murphy and his asshats grabbed torches to go out and look for Charlotte. I still had a hard time wrapping my brain around the fact that Charlotte murdered Wells. How could someone just do that? She killed him because of something his father did; not him. It was awful. I felt the gut-wrenching ache of his loss eating at my chest again. I shut my eyes tightly, stopping any tears from falling. There was too much to deal with right now. I needed to make sure Murphy didn't find Charlotte. 

I opened my hazel eyes and set down the cloth. I stood up, causing Archie to hold out his hand in protest, "Whoa, hold on. You took a hit the face, and you still have a concussion."

"Minor concussion," I corrected. "I'm fine, Arch."

"Harley, I don't know how many more hits your brain can take," Archie replied as he looked at me with concern. "Maybe you should sit this one out. You're not fully healed yet."

"I have to do this for Wells," I answered. "If he were here, he'd be out there with Clarke and Finn trying to protect Charlotte."

"He would also want you staying here to rest."

I rolled my eyes, "Look, I can't let this violence continue. It's not what Wells would want. I have to do this for him. Please understand, Archie."

A few moments passed, and then, he let out a hesitant sigh, "Alright. You were just going to go no matter what I said, anyway."

I smiled, "You know me so well."

Murphy and his gang of idiots had already left, but I knew I could move quicker than them. I gave Archie one last glance before I started walking towards the gate. The night air was cool, a calm breeze whispering through the trees as I stepped outside camp. Then, before I started my long trek to find Murphy, a low voice spoke up.

"I thought you were out."

I turned my head to see Bellamy standing against the gate, "I am," I replied as I turned away from him to start walking again, "but I can't let Murphy murder a child."

I heard his quick footsteps catching up to me, "You know everyone looks up to you right?"

"I never asked for that," I replied.

"The best leaders never do."

I shot him a quick glance as we walked in the dark, "I don't want to be a leader, Bellamy, okay? So, you can just give up on trying to convince me to change my mind."

"Believe me, I know trying to convince you of anything is useless," I felt a smile in his voice. "You have to figure things out for yourself."

He was definitely right about that. Deep down, I knew I couldn't stay away from responsibility because so many people in camp respected my opinions and asked for them, but I just wondered why it had to me? At first, I only tried to grab the power because Bellamy pissed me off, and I wanted to prove my point. Now, people were looking up to me and wanting me to make decisions. I didn't care for any of it, especially after Wells's death. 

People in charge never got the same amount of time to grieve and feel things normally like everyone else. They had to keep moving; to make sure the people around them were okay. My dad went through that as a Council member, and I didn't want to have to be like that. 

As Bellamy and I walked deeper into the woods, hearing Murphy's shouts for Charlotte every so often, we kept our eyes peeled for any movement around us. We had grounders to worry about too. 

Light footsteps close to us brought me to a stop, "Did you hear that?"

Bellamy nodded as we ducted behind a tall bush. I watched as I spotted Charlotte running towards where we were at. She stopped a few feet away from the bush, and Bellamy jumped out quickly, causing her to let out a sudden scream.

He covered her mouth with his hand, "Shh, shh. It's okay."

I walked out from behind the bush, "Where are Clarke and Finn?"

"I left them," she stated as she breathed heavily. "I don't want them to get hurt because of me."

"We won't let Murphy hurt anyone," I answered her as Bellamy nodded.

"Harley's right. We'll protect you."

Distant shouts caught my attention as I looked to Bellamy, "We have to keep moving. Murphy's close."

We moved quickly through the trees in the darkness, keeping our steps light. Charlotte did not come easy. She was protesting the whole way. Bellamy was practically having to drag her along with us. What was her problem? She should be grateful to us for protecting her. After all, she was still a murderer.

"Let me go!" She exclaimed as she tried to rip her arm out of Bellamy's strong grasp.

Bellamy stopped, pulling her towards him, "Hey, I'm trying to help you."

"I'm not your sister!" She fired back. It made sense that Bellamy wanted to protect Charlotte. He saw a younger version of Octavia in her, and it was his natural instinct to make sure she stayed safe. "Just stop helping me!"

My eyes widened when Charlotte broke away from Bellamy and started running away from him, "I'm over here!"

Bellamy and I rushed up to her as he grabbed her again, "Are you trying to get all of us killed?"

"Just go, okay?" she glanced between me and Bellamy. "I'm the one they want."

Bellamy looked at her with determination, "Okay, Charlotte. Listen to me. I won't leave you."

"Please, Bellamy," she said in a quiet voice. Then, she tried to break away from him again, but this time, Bellamy just picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. She yelled out again, "Murphy! I'm over here!"

"Shut up!" I snapped as we kept moving. 

A bad feeling hit my gut when we came out the woods into a clearing that ended with a huge cliff. We had nowhere to go as Bellamy put Charlotte down, and I could hear Murphy and his group growing closer to us with every passing second. I could see the light of their flickering torches inching closer.

"Damn it," Bellamy let out as he turned to me with heavy breaths. I could read his eyes. What now?

Light raindrops had started to sprinkle from the sky. My face had a light coat of water as I looked over the cliff. It was so dark, but I could hear the sound of a rushing river. 

My head turned back to the trees when the firelight of Murphy's torch appeared in front of us. I saw him and his four minions standing there ready to fight. I clenched my fists.

"Bellamy," Murphy said. "You can't fight all of us. Give her up."

Bellamy glanced at me quickly. I knew he didn't want me in danger, but it looked like both of us were about to have to fight our way out.

"Maybe not, but I guarantee I'll take a few of you with me."

"Bellamy, stop!" I heard a voice call out from the treeline. I spotted Clarke and Finn running towards us, stopping when they were beside Murphy. Clarke turned to him with a pleading look in her eyes. "This has gone too far. Just calm down and we'll talk about this."

Murphy didn't seem too convinced with her words. He only looked even more enraged than before. I didn't think we could talk our way out of this. Murphy was too insane.

I tensed up when Murphy grabbed Clarke and turned her around. He placed his knife right against her neck. 

"Murphy, no!"

I started to jump towards them, but Bellamy grabbed my arm, giving me a look that said not to lunge at Murphy like I wanted to. 

"I'm sick of listening to you talk," Murphy let out with anger lacing his tone. 

"Let her go!" Finn yelled.

"Back off!" Murphy threatened, tightening his hold on Clarke. "I will slit her throat."

"No, please!" Charlotte pleaded from behind Bellamy, who put his arm in front of her protectively. "Please don't hurt her!"

"Don't hurt her?" Murphy asked as he looked at the girl. "Okay, I'll make you a deal. If you come with me right now, I will let her go."

"Don't do it, Charlotte," Clarke pleaded intently with the knife still pressing dangerously against her throat. 

My heart pounded in my chest, not knowing how any of us were going to make it out of this situation. 

Charlotte started to try to go over to Murphy, but Bellamy held her back. She thrashed around in his hold and screamed for him to let go. "Don't do it, Charlotte!"

"No, I have to!" She screamed.

Bellamy let her arms go. He stood between Charlotte and Murphy. I gave him a wary look as he turned to Murphy, "Murphy, this is not happening."

"I can't let any of you get hurt anymore," Charlotte spoke up with tears rolling down her cheeks and hopelessness taking over her dark eyes. "Not because of me; not after what I did."

The next few seconds happened almost in slow motion; Charlotte's first step, Clarke's cry for her, and Bellamy's arms as they reached to grab her.

But, all efforts to catch her failed, and before any of us could stop it, or process it, Charlotte jumped off the cliff. Shock raked my entire body as I ran over beside Bellamy and watched hopelessly as the girl's body fell. Somewhere in the chaos, Murphy had let Clarke go and she joined Bellamy and me as we looked over the cliff.

Tears were falling down Clarke's face. I didn't even have to look at Bellamy to feel the absolute rage fuming off his face. I felt failure consuming me; failure to save someone that I wanted to keep alive; failure to stop more people from dying. I let my head hang as a single tear fell from my eyes. 

Then, as Bellamy slowly turned his head, I felt the tension rise one hundred degrees. Bellamy went to his feet, facing Murphy with his fists clenched tightly, and Murphy knew what was coming.

"Bellamy..."

I watched as Bellamy charged with full force at Murphy, knocking him to the dirt. He began punching him over and over mercilessly, and at first, no one stopped him. I hated Murphy and didn't care for Bellamy to beat him to a pulp, but would that be what Wells wanted?

"Bellamy, stop!" Clarke exclaimed as she finally got up. "You'll kill him!"

Finn was finally the one to reach forward and pulled Bellamy off of Murphy, "Get off me!" Bellamy yelled as he trashed away from Finn. Bellamy turned to Clarke and me as we stood before him, he pointed an accusing finger at Murphy. "He deserves to die!"

"No! We don't decide who lives and dies!" Clarke yelled back, matching his tone. "Not down here!"

Bellamy, breathing heavily with anger, looked down at Murphy, whose face was covered in blood as he coughed, still dazed from all the hits.

 "So help me God, if you say the people have a right to decide-"

"No, I was wrong before, okay!" Clarke exclaimed. "You were right. Sometimes it's dangerous to tell people the truth, but if we're going to survive down here, we need rules. We can't just live by 'whatever the hell we want'."

"And who makes those rules, huh? You?" Bellamy asked with emotion filling his tone.

I glanced at Clark as she looked between me and Bellamy, "For now, we make the rules, okay?"

We?

I shook my head, "No. No, I can't."

"You have to, Harley," Clarke insisted. "You're someone people actually listen to and respect. We have to make sure everyone survives. It's what Wells would want."

I knew Clarke was right. He would want me to make decisions. He always knew I had the brain to be in charge, and he knew so many people valued my opinions. My desire to take a step back and just be normal like everyone else still clouded my mind, but I couldn't be like everyone else. I needed to be more than that, and it was time to stop running from that fact.

"So, what then?" Bellamy asked, still breathing heavily. "We just take him back to camp and pretend like this never happened?"

"No," Clarke glanced back at Murphy with contemplation in her eyes. "We banish him."

Bellamy looked down at Murphy, who looked to be only half-conscious. Rage still filled Bellamy's chesnut eyes. 

He walked away from beside me and roughly  grabbed Murphy's shirt, "Get up!" He pulled Murphy off of the hard dirt to his feet and dragged him over to the edge of the cliff.

"Bellamy, stop!" Clarke yelled.

He leaned close to Murphy, "If I never catch you near camp, we'll be back here," Bellamy said with hatred and threat in his masculine tone. "Understand?" Murphy barely managed a nod as he looked at the ground. I watched as Bellamy turned around with Murphy, throwing him back against the dirt. His eyes went to Murphy's four minions. "As for the four of you," he said."You can come back and follow me, or go off with him to die. Your choice."

Then, without another word, Bellamy stormed away angrily into the woods. I watched as Murphy's once-loyal crowd turned their backs on him without a second thought. I shook my head at him, walking past him as he laid on the ground with disdain in my eyes. 

And then, he was left alone to fend for himself. 

――――

Back at camp, Bellamy, Clarke, and I spent a long time explaining our decision to everyone. We told them why we banished Murphy and that there were going to be some changes happening around camp. There was no more 'whatever the hell we want'. There were going to be rules that everyone had to follow because things were just getting too chaotic. 

No one protested. Once we were done, the crowd dispersed without even a grumble of disappointment. Maybe they weren't idiots after all. Maybe they actually had some sense and saw the flaws involved with absolute chaos. 

As for me, well, I was back on the leadership train. Unfortunately. While taking a very brief break was relaxing, I knew that I was needed as a leader. Responsibility like that was scary, and I wasn't sure why I was one of the people everyone looked up to. Seriously, I had no idea, but as Bellamy said, most leaders don't choose to be looked up to. It just happens when you prove yourself.

Speaking of Bellamy, I saw him standing by himself at the gate. I could see sadness radiating from his face as I walked up to him, knowing exactly what was on his mind.

"It's not your fault, Bellamy."

His eyes flickered to mine, "I know. I just wish I could have done more to help her."

"We all should've done more," I answered. "She was lost. She was never going to come back from killing Wells."

He let out a small sigh as he turned to me, "Are you doing okay?"

I nodded, "As good as I can be."

His gaze moved to my cheek, noticing the dark bruise that covered a small speck of my skin. He stepped closer to me, his finger gently brushing against the bruise.

"You're hurt."

His touch sent electric waves coursing through my body as I looked at his concerned face, "It's just a bruise. I'll live."

His finger lingered against my cheek for a few more seconds. When he dropped his hand, I immediately missed the small gesture of affection.

"It's been a long night. You should get some rest."

I nodded, knowing he probably wouldn't even try to sleep, "So should you." His eyes caught mine again as I smiled. "You watch out for everyone so much that you forget to take care of yourself," I saw him slightly step closer. "I guess that means I have to watch out for you, Blake."

He laughed lightly, "I guess so."

We were caught in one another's stare for a long time, and I wondered if it was possible to drown in the overwhelming sea of his deep eyes, but then, he seemed to pull himself back into reality. He cleared his throat and stepped back. 

I peaked another glance, "Promise me you'll get some sleep?"

He nodded, "I promise, Princess."

"Good," I gave him one last smile before turning around and walking away, but the warm feeling of his gaze stayed with me the rest of the night. 

――――
sorry this took so long. i hope you all enjoy!