CHAPTER TEN

"You did this yourself? Can I have your autograph? Or just like, a hug?" 

***

As soon as I got back to camp, a sharp pain pricked my wrist. I winced as the wristband detached from my skin, falling into my other hand. I stared down at it, before growling and throwing it as hard as I could at the nearest tree, pushing past Monty and into the Drop Ship. 

***

"Nate!"

 I jumped, blinking in surprise as Octavia burst into the Drop Ship. I didn't know why she was here, but didn't ask. Instead, I leaned my head back against the hard metal of the Drop Ship, closing my eyes. "What?"

 "You need to see this!" She reached down to grab my arm, and basically drag me outside. I grumbled my complaints, frowning as I observed the scene in front of me. All of the remaining one hundred were gathered under the stars, staring at something streaking through the sky. 

 It appeared that they were observing a streak of light through the dark sky. It was light, and admittedly breathtaking as it plumetted towards Earth. 

 "Is that a pod?" I asked, squinting my eyes at the falling debris from space. "Like, from the Ark?" 

"Yep." Bellamy appeared from beside me, and I immediately felt my heart lurch and my face heat up when I saw he wasn't wearing a shirt. I looked back at the sky. Stupid Bellamy. He may be slightly asshole-ish... but he was undeniable super hot, which made me mad. 

 "They're coming to help us!" Jones exclaimed happily, almost bouncing up and down. The parachute on the pod deployed, slowly the impact. "Now we can go kick some Grounder ass!" 

 "Please tell me they brought down some shampoo." A girl dressed in nothing but a blanket said. I rolled my eyes. 

 "Hopefully." 

 She gave me a odd, sideways look. I mocked her look. "What? You're not the only one who has fabulous hair." I jokingly flipped mine, which was hard since it really wasn't that long. 

 "We gotta find out where it landed." Octavia pointed out, and I nodded in agreement. "That could be someone with food, weapons." 

 "Or shampoo." 

***

When I first saw Bellamy sneaking out of his camp, fully geared. I was suspicious. Just so you know, suspicious in Nate's Vocabulary means curious. So naturally, I got up and followed him. I didn't have much better to do, I have been brooding for so long that Monty and Jasper have been telling me their worst jokes, and it was beginning to qualify as a form of torture. 

 The cold air bit at my face, making the cuts sting slightly. Clarke looked me over the other day, and said that nothing was serious, but my face would look like hell for a few days... which sucks because my face is my prized possession. 

  "Hey Blake!" 

 Bellamy jumped, turning around and looking like a deer in headlights. He clutched something to his chest, and looked behind him, and then back at me. "Nate?" 

 "That's my name." I grinned, although I wasn't particularly fond of the situation. "Now, mind explaining to me why you're going out looking for the pod in the middle of the night, after you told everyone not to?" 

 "Um-" His voice faltered. "I, uh, I shot the chancellor." 

 "You shot the- what the fuck?" 

 Okay, yeah that was not what I was expecting him to say. I was expecting maybe a 'it's not safe out here at night.' But not that he shot the chancellor. That's like, the most serious crime you could commit. No wonder he didn't want them to come to the ground. 

 I guess my face fell, because he walked forward, holding out his hands as if willing me to stay quiet. I inhaled sharply, my face turning red as I tried to process his words. I couldn't really comprehend it. 

 "What the hell!" I yelled, running my hand through my hair in a distressed frenzy. "What do you mean － you shot Jaha?"

 He looked at the ground shamefully, looking back up at me and taking a step forward. "Yes., but-" 

 "What-" I put a hand on my head in confusion, cutting him off. "Why would you-" 

 "I had to protect Octavia!" He explained, his voice rising an octave with hysteria. "And if they come down here, they'll kill me!" He grabbed my arm, his fingers digging into my arms as his eyes widened, gesturing with his hands as if it would calm his heartbeat. 

 There was a long pause, which we used to have an intense, slightly incredulous, staring competition. I cleared my throat, asking the question nagging at my mind. "Did you kill him?" 

 He furrowed his eyebrows, like that was the last thing he expected to hear from me. "I think." 

 "Okay, wait no!" I shook my head. "No! That's not okay! You can't jeopardize the lives of this entire camp just because you made one dumb-ass decision!" 

"You killed the chancellor?" 

 "Exactly!" I pointed behind me, before realizing who it was and spinning back around. Octavia stood a few feet behind me, staring at Bellamy like he had grown two heads. When she spoke, her voice an octave higher than usual, which was apparently a Blake thing for when you're distressed. She repeated her words. "You shot the chancellor?" 

 I was tempted to clear my throat and sing 'awkward', but getting stabbed really wasn't on my agenda today, so I decided against it. The Blake siblings stared at each other for what felt like an eternity. 

 "Octavia... he floated our mother. He locked you up, he locked you up!" He turned to point at me, and I raised my arms, "I would appreciate it if you didn't get me involved in this." 

Bellamy turned back to his sister. "He deserved it." 

 "I didn't ask you to do this..." Tears welled in Octavia's eyes, and mine softened as I remembered all of the shit this girl had gone through. She had been imprisoned for being alive... for the crime of taking her first breaths and having a heart that pumped blood; she was sentenced to death. 

 "I know. I made the choice, and whatever they send down I'll take care of it." 

 "You can't just let them kill you!" I snapped, but Octavia didn't seem to hear my words. 

 "I didn't ask for any of this!" She cried, before turning and sprinting into the woods. I turned to Bellamy, shaking my head softly to show how disappointed I was. 

 "I'm not letting them kill you... but that doesn't mean I'm not pissed off." 

And with that, I gave a dramatic flourish and stalked into the darkness of the forest, back to camp. 

***

"Bellamy's stupid." 

 "Why?" 

 "Reason not up for the press." 

 I slumped down in between Jasper and Monty, crossing my arms like a little kid. Monty wrapped his arm around my shoulder, and I leaned into his side like we were a weird straight couple of twelve year olds. 

 "I have survived a spear to the chest, I would like to think I am all-knowing." Jasper grinned, leaning onto my shoulder so we were both stacked on Monty, who is not known for his strength. 

"Yeah, tell us your problems." 

 "You're not gonna be my therapists." I rolled my eyes. "But you can just be my friends." 

 "Of course." Monty began. 

 "Because we are squad goals." Jasper continued, his hair all messy and making my face tickle. 

"Yeah, there is Jasper, the wise-" Monty began, grinning like a child, "Nathan, the sassy, and I, Monty, the incredibly good looking." 

 "I do not agree with that statement." I shook my head slightly. 

 "Yeah, Nate's not sassy, he is just outspoken." 

 "And Jasper is kinda dumb." 

 "See-" 

 We all began giggling like a group of little girls, making Monty fall, and all of us pitch to the side. Monty grunted as he was crushed under the combined weight of Jasper and I. "Ah, get off!" 

 "I'm comfortable." I relaxed, closing my eyes and feeling my face get mushed into Monty's shoulder. Jasper jumped over to jokingly kiss my cheek. 

 "Me too!" 

 Monty groaned as I closed my eyes, relaxing for the first time since we got to this planet. "I hate you guys." 

 "We love you too, Monty."   

***

It  seemed like mere seconds before  I was shaken awake. It was Clarke, and she looked as if she couldn't decide whether to question why I was lying on Monty in a tent, or... not. 

"Clarke?" Monty asked, rubbing his eyes as I slumped onto the ground. "What's going on?" 

 "A lot. You need to come now." Clarke grabbed my arm, and I grabbed Monty's as she dragged us into the woods. "We found the pod, a girl was in it, hoping to contact the Ark, but Bellamy threw the radio into the river. I was hoping you could chew him out, since you have a way with making people feel bad without even saying anything." 

 "Cool." I clenched my teeth. Bellamy The Idiot strikes again. I was looking forward to yelling at him, and God knows that I have a lot of things to say now that my mind has cleared. 

 It didn't take us long to find the river. People were everywhere, all in the river, sifting through the mud to find the broken radio. A girl in a poofy red jacket approached us. She had a certain Latina look that made her eyes stand out. She was... and this is coming from a gay guy, pretty freaking gorgeous. 

 And I didn't recognize her. 

 "You must be Nathan, I heard that you might be able to make Blake at least try to fix this." 

Nathan, the nickname caught me off guard. It was mainly Clarke who called me that, so I presumed that she was the one who had spoken to this girl before. "Um, yeah." I rubbed the back of my neck nervously. "You, um, you came from the Ark? How did you get this pod?" 

 She grinned, seeming pleased that someone had asked, crossing her arms. "Fixed it up myself." 

 "Wow." My mouth dropped open. She fixed up at pod herself? That is some really complicated shit, and she didn't look much older than me - 

Wait, how old even was I? There was no way to tell the time in prison, but I was certain that it was only days before I got floated before I was sent to Earth. Does that make me eighteen now? Did I someone manage to live past my excecution date?

Of course, I didn't say any of that. I just smiled sheepishly, "You did this yourself? Can I have your autograph, or maybe just like, a hug?" 

 She gave me a look, and reached forward to pat my shoulder. "I'm Raven Reyes." 

 "Nate Masteron." 

 "Go do your thing." 

A/N: Thank you guys if you got this far! Some pretty interesting stuff will happen in the next chapter... also, Monty and Nate are like, one of my number 1 BROTPS! 

 (The others being Raven and Nate, and Octavia and Nate... wow I have a lot.) 

 Thank you for reading!