PEACE IS TEMPORARY

By the time it came to it's end, she felt drained. Her throat felt raw and she was gasping for breath. Yet she felt her shoulders loosen, even with the threat of the grounders looming over them, even with the potential death of a fellow criminal.

She felt like the weight had been taken off of her shoulders.

She couldn't help it. A bubble of laughter escaped her, and it evolved into full blown laughter. When she imagined being on earth, she never pictured herself screeching aimlessly at the sky. Now it felt like her entire life had led up to this one moment - with her freeing herself of the world for just a moment.

"Wells Jaha," Cassie breathlessly remarked, tentatively placing a hand on his shoulder. "I thought I was meant to be the one protecting you?"

"How can you help someone else when you can barely help yourself?"

Instead of becoming a whirlwind of anger like she would've done before the relief, she just stared at him. "I think that's why I wouldn't make a good Mother Teresa."

A moments silence passed between them.

"Thank you, for this." Cassie gestured to the space around them. "Turns out that you're the one who's protecting me, huh?"

"I think we protect each other."

Cassie snorted, smacking Wells' arm again. "Don't get sappy on me. I can barely deal with people, yet alone feelings." Silence ensued again. "We should get back, the rumours are probably already flying about how we got down and dirty."

He shook his head, leading the way back to the camp. He walked with a confidence Cassie didn't have - she honestly had no idea how Wells knew where he was going, the path looked the same to her. His oozing confidence made her follow in his footsteps.

"How do you know the way so well?" Cassie inquired, turning to Wells. He kept his head down, his eyes averted.

"Gut instinct."

His short reply struck fear into Cassie. Immediately she stopped. "Are you saying that you brought me all the way out here without even knowing how to get back? Are you trying to get us killed?"

Her hands found her jacket pocket, fumbling for the knife she had there. It wasn't there. Sudden realisation hit her - she'd left it in the drop ship when she slept. They were defenceless.

"Don't panic."

Cassie scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Yeah I mean it's not like we just screamed at the top of our lungs and alerted every grounder where we are. No need to panic."

Wells didn't reply, only shoving his hands in his pockets and soldiering on.

"Hey, jackass! I'm talking to you!" Cassie pushed his arm, but this was nothing like before. Instead of it being playful, it was full of malice. "If the grounders find us, we're both dead! I don't know how you feel but I feel rather attached to my beating heart."

He kept true to his silence, marching on.

"I see, you can't think of anything useful to say. Talking or not talking - either way you're going to piss me off." Cassie ranted on, vein on her neck close to popping. "Maybe Clarke is right not to-"

She forgot everything she was going to say. Before them, the camp walls rose up valiantly and pathetically, the hustle and bustle of the delinquents sounding like a dinner bell. Wells turned to Cassie, with his eyebrows raised.

"You're gut is a very good compass," she commented, staring him directly in the eyes. Even gut instinct couldn't have gotten them back as well as he did - he must do it often. Cassie didn't mention anything about it, giving the teenager a quick goodbye and jogging towards the drop ship. As she got to the top level, the moans from Jasper became almost deafening. She shook it off, opening up the hatch and making her way through. No one paid her much mind as she snatched up her make-shift knife from the corner.

Dusting herself off, Cassie prepared to leave. Octavia's voice broke the silence, catching Cassie's attention. "Cassie, can I have a word?"

Cassie immediately frowned. The brunette had shown nothing but distaste towards her, so why was she talking to Cassie voluntarily? Reluctantly she nodded. Octavia sighed, nodding her head in the direction of the hatch. "Jay was up here a while ago, asking for you? He didn't seem like his usual self, a lot quieter. I tried to talk to him but he left before I could."

"Why didn't you follow him?" Cassie demanded instantly, voice rising an octave. Octavia opened her mouth to reply but Cassie's waving hand cut her off. "You know what? Forget it. He needs help, and you're clearly too busy with your boyfriend to even ask him if he's okay."

Before Octavia could retort back an equally fiery comment Cassie was out of the drop ship, rushing in the direction of the home made tent in the furthest corner of camp. It was pitiful, with a sheet over the top that barely protected them from the rain; it was good enough. They hadn't died from exposure yet anyway, so that was a good sign. The beds were uncomfortable; it let them get some rest.

It was a series of compromises, based on whether or not you wanted to survive.

Getting closer, staggered breathing could be heard from the inside. Cassie's heart ached. Taking a moment to compose herself, she then thrust her way into the tent, a small smile dancing across her face.

"Hey Jabber Jay."

He didn't react the way he usually did. His smile didn't turn cheeky and he didn't tease her for being more than 'allies' with him. This was the first warning sign. The second was the fact that his eyes were red, and his cheeks were tear streaked. She felt an overwhelming urge to strangle the person who made him feel this way - Jay was innocent and never provoked anyone.

Jay stayed silent, fiddling with a torn seam on his jeans. He didn't acknowledge her with a lengthy greeting of his own which, if the two other warnings hadn't indicated as such, immediately told her that something was wrong. Gulping, she hesitated, standing awkwardly over him.

"So," she looked everywhere but him, hoping he didn't take notice of her clenched hands. Cassie could feel the fury burning her veins, threatening to burst out. She bit her lip instead. "Who do I need to kill?"

He sniffled, wiping at his nose with the back of his hand. Cassie was going to offer him a tissue; she then realised that the earth wasn't exactly stocked up on them. "They've killed them all."

Her eyebrows bunched up. Who killed who? And how many is 'all'? If it had been all of the teenagers in camp Jay wouldn't be around to tell the story.

Jay's body slumped, his hands cradling his face. A muffled heaving erupted from him, his frail form shaking in response. Cassie shifted on her feet, watching the boy fall apart right in front of her. It was then that her eyes caught sight of it.

His naked wrist. And a thin stream of blood running down either side.

Her knuckles turned white under the sudden pressure, and her jaw ached from how hard she'd clenched it. Cassie's voice held little softness as she spat, "Who did this to you?"

"Murphy."

"That fucker!" Cassie shouted suddenly, spinning on her heel. She was ready to propel herself forwards to find the dick who'd done this to Jay when a familiar weight fell onto her arm. It was the same one that grabbed a hold of her as they shuddered their way down to the planet they were on now.

His small voice nearly made her collapse. "Please don't leave me alone again."

Just like that all ideas of hitting Murphy so hard that when he finally fell down, he'd fall into his own grave vanished. All she could do was stare through blurry vision at the hand loosely hanging onto her arm.

I didn't protect him, she thought to herself solemnly, I can't protect him. The film of tears covering her eyes got heavier, and she did nothing to hide it. I can try - I'm not letting anyone hurt him, not again.

Before she could think it through, she gently peeled his hand off of her, holding it in her hands as though it was glass. She patted it, the only comforting thing she really knew to do. Cassie recited something she'd long ago learned, a mantra in a way to brighten up her darkest days. "As the Sun and the Moon pass by, they wave goodbye, for what could possibly be the last time."

Jay's crying halted only for a moment, just long enough for him to squeeze out words between breaths. "You know poetry?"

"Of course I do!" Cassie laughed, looking at her friend softly. "That very poem used to help me sleep at night, I figured you might like it too."

He lifted his hands away from his face, revealing his puffy eyes and streaming nose. "I do. Very much." Jay's eyes drifted to where Cassie was patting his hand. He couldn't look her in the eyes, knowing he'd burst into another fit of tears. "Those bastards pried off my wristband without my consent and... And now my parents and Luke..."

Jay took in a deep breath, stabilising himself. Cassie sat down next to him, noticing how close Jay was. She shifted slightly in place, creating a gap. "You don't have to talk about it you know. Sometimes talking makes it worse - it only makes people look at you with pity and makes the weight on your shoulders heavier."

"Is that your discreet way of telling me to shut up?" He let out a shuddering laugh. "I know you hate my chatting but that's insensitive."

Cassie gasped, swivelling her head so hard she was surprised she didn't break her neck. "I didn't mean it like that!"

Jay chuckled, shaking his head. "I know you didn't."

Even though he'd stopped crying, he still wasn't the same. His voice had a distance in it that made Cassie think he wasn't there physically. He didn't speak as much too.

"Get it out kid," Cassie urged.

Jay paused. "Are you sure?" He carried on without seeing her nod. "I never was very close to my parents. I mean I love them, and it would hurt knowing that they were dead but, I don't know. I just don't find myself worrying about them as much as I do about Luke."

Cassie's mind instantly went to her own parents. Constantly she was thinking about them, with them invading her dreams and lingering in the back of her mind during the day. She couldn't put herself in Jay's shoes but she nodded along anyway, trying to understand.

He continued, his voice slightly stronger yet weaker at the same time. "Luke is everything to me. The moment he came up to me at that masquerade ball I knew that I was screwed. His long, wavy hair that frames his face perfectly, his chiselled jaw, his perfect lips." His voice grew distant, his eyes glazed. He snapped back to attention a moment later. "I've loved him from the moment he took me to the tree on the Ark, and I've never stopped. I just wished I told him."

Cassie was at a loss for words. What could she say to that? She fumbled for the right thing to say, finally deciding on one thing. "You will. I'll make sure of it."

"Thanks, Cassie." He leaned over, his head resting on Cassie's shoulder. She froze. "You're a better person than you give yourself credit for."

Her lip wobbled involuntarily. She found it difficult to swallow; she still managed some words out. "Thank you for being my friend."

His body shook, hers absorbing the impact. "And at last she admits it."

She joined in his laughter, letting the moment carry their joy. Their was no threat, no death, no bleeding. It was just them sitting side by side, talking as old friends do, holding onto each other to anchor themselves to an ever spinning world.

Like all peace, it must be disrupted for you to know the meaning. 

-

hey guys! now that i only have a few more chapters to write i figured that i would start updating twice a week!

anyways hope you're all doing well and enjoyed the chapter, see you guys soon!

-thirdwheelchurchill