Okay, so wow. Last night I went to bed with the content feeling that I had over 50 views. Like, that's pretty awesome and more than I thought I would have...

... And then when I rose from slumber I had over 100. I am incredibly easy to please and when I saw that I was literally over the moon. Well, not literally but you get my point.

By the way, thank you TeaganHoran for voting:3

Bold= Swedish

N I N E | A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A CRIPPLE

The chattering of her own jaw was driving her crazy. The choice of ripping and ditching her sweater became more and more regrettable by the minute. Carter hugged her arms around her chest with the hope that it would warm her up.

"You know, if you're cold you should just go in th-"

"-Don't even say it." Carter shook her head vigorously. She looked up to meet Finn's oh-so-annoying concern filled gaze and huffed. "I was in that thing for two days straight. I refuse to go back in there just to stare at the same damn walls and listen to the same damn moans." She suddenly backtracked on her words. "I didn't mean that, it's just... I'm sick of it Finn, the drop ship, not Jasper."

"It's been two days since you did that," Finn pointed down to the poorly bandaged foot. Octavia asked Carter if she could practice patching people up on her. Carter was bored so she had no objections to being Octavia's test subject. She also found out a lot about her, like she actually wasn't the bitch Carter assumed her to be. In fact, she was oddly sweet in her own weird way. "No one expects you to make a full recovery in a little over forty-eight hours."

"I expect to make a full recovery," Carter retorted, pointing to her chest. "I can't just sit around and wait for the stupid thing to heal, there's stuff that needs to done."

"For once, would you please just relax? I'm pretty sure everyone's got everything covered."

"I have been out here since midday and not one person as gone to the roof to fix wires and the satellite panels." Carter pointed out. "If I could climb a freaking ladder, I would be able to that."

"Sometimes, I think I would get a better response from a brick wall..." Finn mumbled under his breath.

"What was that?" Carter swivelled her head accusingly at her best friend with a curved brow.

"Nothing." Finn held up his hands in mock surrender, "I said nothing."

"Anyway, thanks for the crutches," Carter abruptly changed the subject, unintentionally. Her eyes caught sight of the makeshift wooden crutches that were at her sides. Finn presented them to her earlier that day, he joked about how much he couldn't handle her whining about not walking so he made them for her. She couldn't recall a time she had ever been excited to walk. Well, hobble. "They've saved my sanity."

"You lost that a long time ago." Finn teased. Carter rolled her eyes and felt her jaw go on another round of chattering. The bitter night air wasn't even enough to get her to go back in that drop ship though.

"Finn!" A familiar voice hollered from behind them. Carter turned her head away from the fire to the figure of Clarke, who was just outside of the drop ship. "I need your help!"

"Yeah I'll be right there," Finn called back then looked down at Carter with a smile. "Duty calls."

"You better go anyway, your presence is annoying me." Carter waved him off with a playful smile. He ruffled the top of her hair and bidded her goodbye.

Most of the Hundred were already in bed, leaving just her around the burning fire. She didn't mind though, it allowed her to look up at the stars without looking like a weirdo. Carter got caught doing it once before, by some girl and the girl decided to rudely point out that they lived with the stars, so why would they want to look at them from down on the ground? Carter merely shrugged in response, not feeling the need to explain herself to some girl.

She breathed the crisp air in slowly through her nose and exhaled through her mouth, relishing in the tranquility that surrounded her. Everything looked so pretty from the earth, even the stars. Up on the Ark, she got bored of seeing them float outside the small port windows. But on the ground? They looked beautiful, tiny gleaming dots that scoured across the sky in particular patterns.

She even found a set of stars that made a stick man.

Suddenly, her world was temporarily enveloped in darkness as something was chucked on to her face. It took her a few short seconds to realize she hadn't passed out and took whatever it was off her face. She held it out in front of her and raised her eyebrows upon working out that a jacket was the thing that was rudely thrown at her. It was dark fabric and a size or two bigger than her, it also looked mildly worn out. Her eyes shifted from the jacket to the culprit that aimed it at her face.

Bellamy.

"Your jaw was getting on my nerves," He vaguely explained. "You probably need it more than me."

"Uh..." Carter trailed off. The spontaneousness of what just happened had rendered her into a confused silence. Talk Carter, you look like an idiot. "I don't need it." She lamely replied, internally face palming herself.

Bellamy quirked an eyebrow and took a step closer. Since the last time he saw her, she had got a lot more color back in her face and didn't look like she was about to pass out from blood loss. "Has everything got to be an argument with you?"

"Occasionally," Carter shrugged nonchalantly. She held out the jacket. "I'm fine, I don't need it."

He looked her up and down, noting on how much her body was shivering, even though she tried to stop it. She was just sat there in a black tank top, skinny jeans and one combat boot (the other was in the drop ship trying to be fixed by Monty,) it was clear she was going to be cold. Besides, he had another jacket back in his tent, it wasn't like he was sacrificing his own body warmth for her. "It's not up for discussion." He told her sternly.

"Usually I will stand my ground until I win but right now, I can't be bothered," Carter sighed. She gave the jacket one more glance over before shrugging it on. It smelled woodsy and... something she couldn't quite place, but she was surprised at how pleasant it smelt. And oddly comforting too. She hugged herself, trying not to take a deep breath of the jacket when she caught Bellamy's smug look. "This doesn't mean you win."

"Sure," He nodded sarcastically, desperately trying to swallow his smile." Uh, listen, I never actually thanked you for, uh, saving my life." He scratched the back of his head awkwardly. Carter didn't need three guesses to know that he didn't usually express his gratitude, so she stayed quiet for a few beats, allowing her ego to relish in that fact.

"I don't expect a thanks," Carter looked back up at him with a furrowed brow. "If I was in that situation I'd want to know someone had my back too. I mean, I'm not gonna make a habit of saving your ass but... hey, I guess we can call it even."

"Even?"

"Yeah. You stopped me from bleeding out through my foot and I stopped you becoming an oversized cat's chew toy. Even," Carter shrugged, turning her gaze back to the fire. "I meant what I said, Bellamy, back when I thought I was dying-- about you not being as bad as I thought. Don't get me wrong, you're still a dick, but you're not as bad as I thought you would be."

His eyebrows raised into his hairline. "Did you just compliment me?"

"Stop, you're making me all squirmy," Carter shifted on her seat suddenly uncomfortable, her eyes fell to the ground so he couldn't see the sudden blush that attacked her. "Yeah I did. But don't get used to it, I still kind of dislike you for getting me stuck on this planet,"

"I didn't do that," Bellamy shook his head. "You did that by eavesdropping on a conversation that wasn't meant for you."

"Oh believe me, I have learned my lesson." Carter replied distastefully. She knew it was unfair to take all her frustration out on Bellamy, especially since it was actually Shumway who initiated plan 'send-her-to-earth-so-I-don't-have-to-stuff-her-body-in-a-closest'. But she was still cautious of Bellamy. He was still an attempted murderer, whether he made a point to shoot the Chancellor where he wouldn't die or not.

"How's your foot?" Bellamy asked gruffly, his eyes trained on the terribly bandaged foot. Carter followed his gaze and sighed.

"I still can't walk on it, which is why I have to use these," She explained, gesturing to the crutches with her head. "It sucks. There's so much I want to do, but I can't." Suddenly, a blood-curdling moan sounded from the drop ship and Carter grimaced. She would hate to be in the pain that Jasper was going through.

"He isn't going to make it." Bellamy sighed, glaring at the flickering flames of the fire.

"You don't know that." Carter pointed out. He looked to her face which had dancing light highlighting certain parts from the glow of the fire, her pastel green eyes had darkened from the shadows that casted around them.

"I don't need to know that," Bellamy retorted. "It's obvious. There's nothing they can do to help him, it's better if they just put the kid out of his misery."

"You just need to have a little hope." Carter mumbled.

"When you've had the life I've had, you kind of give up on hope." Bellamy looked down to the fire and it was for a fraction of a second that Carter could see the vulnerability in them and it shocked her.

"That's a lie," Carter kept his steady gaze, which was now guarded. "The fact that you're still alive and fighting proves you have hope. I don't know everything that you've gone through, and nor do I expect you to tell me, but from what I do know... it's clear to me you're a fighter, Bellamy. And you snuck on the damn drop ship to protect your sister, that meant you had hope that the earth was survivable. You can pretend you don't have it, but I know you do." She finished and Bellamy blinked at her, completely thrown off guard. He couldn't muster a sentence to say back to her, and he knew she was right. It seemed with every day that passed, she had another characteristic that surprised him.

"Bellamy," an unusually high-pitched male voice interrupted their conversation, not that Carter was bothered, she had a feeling the conversation would have turned awkward quickly anyway. And strangely, she didn't actually believe that feeling no matter how much she wanted to. Bellamy looked up and saw Murphy emerge from the dark treeline. "You're on watch!"

"You better go before he starts slashing at you with a knife as well," Carter mused, looking back up at Bellamy. His face turned from an annoyed frown to an amused smirk.

"He can try," He retorted, turning on his heel and striding towards Murphy. As soon as he was out of sight, Carter looked back down at the fire. The words from her nightmare two days ago emerged from the darkness of her mind, And that goes for everyone that's done wrong by you. You can't continue to live holding grudges. Even if she didn't realize it, Carter was slowly letting go of every grudge she had against people. Even with Bellamy. All except one. Her father. She knew it would take a hell of a lot more time to forgive him, but she was trying and that was the best she could offer.

"Carter?" A sudden voice called from the darkness, making her jump. She snapped her head towards the sound with wide eyes.

"Holy shit," She breathed with relief as soon as she identified the voice. "Charlotte, you scared me."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to," Charlotte apologized as she walked up closer to Carter. As much as Carter hated to admit, the kid had grown on her. When Carter was forbidden to move, Charlotte often came in to ask her how she was and talked to her for a while. The more Carter got to know her, the more responsible she felt over Charlotte. It made her uncomfortable at how easy it was the kid to worm her way into Carter's trust-- something she wasn't fond on giving.

"What are you still doing up?" Carter asked. "Nightmares again?"

"Yeah," Charlotte nodded sleepily. "I can't sleep with the boy screaming either." Carter nodded her head in understanding and pursed her lips. She stayed quiet for a few beats before heaving herself up on her good foot, the crutches supporting her weight. She looked Charlotte up and down before smiling weakly.

"Come with me, I wanna show you something." Carter didn't wait for a reply, instead, she began to hobble towards the woods. Charlotte hot on her tow.

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see," Carter grinned as carefully hopped over a small tree that must have fallen down when the drop ship landed. It was a lot harder navigating herself in the dark than during the day. At least in the day she could tell what was a tree and what was just tangled vines. In the dark, she couldn't even tell where the trees were, much less if she was walking into vines. But as soon as she saw the dim green glow, she knew exactly where she was. "I would say close your eyes but it won't make much difference."

"Where are we?"

Carter stopped and turned around, squinting at Charlotte's small silhouette.  "So, what I'm about to show you is super secret that stays between us, okay? If you do tell anyone, I may just have to kill you... that was a joke, I won't actually kill you. But you have to swear you won't tell a single soul about this place."

"I swear," Charlotte giggled lightly. It was the first time Carter had actually heard her resemble anything close to a laugh. It made her smile. She turned back around and walked forward, the sound of rushing water filled their ears. Carter awkwardly nudged her way through the shrubbery and came to a slow stop as her eyes rested on the waterfall she found the first day they landed.

It took her breath away at how amazing it looked with the glowing green plants that set a subtle tone around the water. Carter heard a small gasp from behind her and turned her head to see Charlotte staring with wide eyes at the scene.

"Wow..." She breathed, taking tentative steps across the moss covered ground. Her eyes ate up the scene and she turned back around to Carter with a star struck smile. "This place is beautiful."

"I know, which is why it's got to stay a secret," Carter replied, slowly lowering herself beside the water. It was a darker blue than during the day, but it's ripples were still crystal clear. "It's a really beautiful place and the last thing it needs is horny teenagers frick-fracking in the waters."

"Ew," Charlotte scrunched up her nose in disgust and Carter laughed.

"You're not supposed to know what that means,"

"I do. And it's gross."

"You got your head screwed on," Carter smiled, leaning back on her elbows. "You're right. Sex is gross." Not that Carter knew. Charlotte grimaced and sat beside Carter, letting her hands slide through the water below, leaving ripples in her path. They both delved into a comfortable silence and Carter rested her head against the soft moss, gazing up at the stars with a lazy smile.

She found it near unbelievable that she trusted Charlotte so much that she took the girl to her ultimate hiding place. She had no idea how Charlotte managed to earn Carter's trust and care so easily, but she did it without Carter having any doubt.

"You know that big star there," Charlotte pointed up at the sky, towards the largest light. Carter nodded her head to coax her to continue. "Clarke said that's the Ark."

"Clarke would be correct." Carter nodded. It seemed like a lifetime ago that she was up there, aimlessly walking through the halls waiting for her life to finally start. She would never have thought it would start on a planet that had been festering in radiation for three generations. Her smile widened. For what it was worth, she didn't regret overhearing the conversation between Shumway and Bellamy. If she didn't, she would still be aimlessly floating about, completely oblivious to the potential danger of her home.

Now she was in a world where they were surrounded by dangers, but they were free. There was no rules, no unnecessary executions and there was no restrictions as to how they could live. Even though she needed an aid to help her walk, she had never felt more alive.

"Carter?" Charlotte's small voice broke Carter's trance.

"Yeah?"

"Can we stay here for tonight please?" Carter sat up a little and smiled. Charlotte was still looking down in the lake, her index finger hovered above the water, watching as it dripped from her finger back into the water, making circular ripples.

"Of course we can," Carter finally answered stifling a yawn. "We need to be back by morning though, otherwise I'm going to get bitched at for not telling my 'carers' where we got to." Charlotte nodded her head and grinned, her eyes resting on the small waterfall ahead of her. Carter watched with a tiny smile and turned on her side, wrapping the jacket closer around her body and inhaling the deep scent on it. "Night Charlotte, and remember what I said about the nightmares. As long you know they can't hurt you, they won't."

"I will, goodnight Carter."