Rosie ran a finger over her chapped, scabbed over lips. The desert was taking more of a toll on all of them than they could have expected. She desperately wanted to reach for her canteen and chug its contents, but she knew she had to be smart about it. She had to preserve water and resources for as long as she could. The rest of the group seemed to be in a similar state of fatigue and longing for water.

Rosie let her eyes scan over those accompanying her on this trek, taking in the way everyone seemed to move like zombies, half asleep. The only person seeming to be moving with any purpose was Jaha. He held his head high like a king taking his people to the promised lands when in reality he was just a delusional man following a grounder woman that no one knew. Thinking of the grounder women, she searched for the head of dark black hair. While Rosie took up the rear of the group, Murphy and Emori were several feet ahead of her, but still behind everyone else. She noticed the way they were smiling at one another, talking, enjoying each other's company. The sight seemed to anger her. She wondered how anyone could flirt while practically dying in the desert.

While lost in her thoughts, Rosie hadn't even noticed her father slowing down to be by her side. He smiled warmly at her before falling in step with, walking in a quiet side by side. Every few minutes her mother would glance back at the pair, shooting them daggers with her eyes. It was honestly kind of exhausting, and Rosie couldn't figure out why her mom kept it up. There was so much more to worry about now, it had to be so tiring to exert so much energy on ensuring Rosie knew she was hated. Perhaps, if her mother were smarter, she would realize it might just be easier to ignore her. But, her mom needed to make it known to all that she didn't support her murderous daughter, and she never would.

"Hey, you know she'll come around," Her father spoke for the first time upon noticing Rosie watching her mother.

"No, she won't. She hates me." Rosie sighed. That was a fact she had known for a long time and had come to accept. She didn't need her mother's love, she had gone so long without it.

"She doesn't hate you..." Her father trailed off, sounding as though he was trying to convince himself more than her. "Once we get to the City of Light, everything will change. We can be a family again. Your mother will learn to forgive, and forget, what happened. She'll have no reason to hold onto that pain."

Rosie blinked her eyes shut, trying desperately to force away the images of that day. She saw flashes of the two men, she remembered their laughter, she remembered that room, then for better or for worse, everything goes black. She doesn't remember the murder, she doesn't remember stabbing both of them as many times as they say she did, she doesn't even remember how she did it, while so little. But, she does remember the distant sounding screams that were escaping her mouth, she remembers the blood after, so much blood, and she remembers the guards hauling her away. For months after it happened, she felt as though the blood were still there, on her skin, that no matter how hard she'd scrub, it wouldn't come off. None of it was something she liked to remember.

"You'll be able to forgive yourself, too..." Her father whispered gently, placing a knowing hand on her shoulder. He must have been able to tell from the look on her face what she had been thinking.

Rosie was filled with a wave of sudden, fleeting anger. She shouldn't have to forgive herself, she shouldn't have to feel guilty for what happened. The anger passed when she tried seeing the situation through her father's eyes and knew how it would look to him. She had killed two of his colleagues at the age of 12 and no one knew how or why. To him, she must seem insane and he's just overlooking it because she's his daughter. He probably prays that his little girl has changed, that she won't snap and hurt anyone else. As hard as everything is for Rosie, she knows it had to be hard on her parents, too.

"Maybe," Rosie muttered while avoiding the gaze of her father. Instead, she focused her eyes ahead, intent on their journey.

The sound of laughter tore through her sulky, melancholy mood. In front of her, John had made Emori laugh. She was erupting in a fit of giggles that caused Rosie to roll her eyes. John glanced back at the red-headed girl over his shoulder, smirking in triumph as he caught the last of her eye roll. He then focused his attention back on the grounder girl, intent on pushing Rosie's buttons further. As if things couldn't get worse for her, she notices a figure slowly maneuvering back towards her father and her, and she soon realizes it's her mother.

"Hey, honey," Her father said warmly, reaching out his hand for his wife to take.

She accepted his hand and interlaced their fingers, but remained silent. There was a lack of love and passion there, like she was going to him more out of necessity than want. Still, he looked at her so tenderly, so loving. Rosie studied the two, trying to remember if things were always like that. She thought that her parents were in love when she was little, that her mom was with him for more than just images. Perhaps she was wrong and was too naive to realize. Or perhaps, her crimes changed everything for the two and she didn't know.

"The grounder girl says it's only about another day's worth of walking," Rosie's mother spoke matter-of-factly. Her eyes stayed ahead, not looking at her husband nor her daughter.

"Well, that's good news," Her father said with a grin, giving his wife's hand a small squeeze.

"Yeah, if we can actually trust that savage," Her mother eyed Emori with a disgusted look. She made no effort to keep her voice down, seeming almost intent on having the grounder hear her.

When Emori and John both looked back at the family, Emori looking solemn while John shot her mother daggers with his eyes, it was clear that they had heard her. Rosie sighed at her mother's blatant rude outburst, wondering if the entire reason she started walking with them was so she could pester the grounder girl. Her father shot the pair in front of them an apologizing look, causing them to turn back around.

"Now, honey, we have no reason not to trust her. If Chancellor Jaha trusts her, so should we."

"Chancellor Jaha isn't always right," Her mother spat, finally looking at her husband with an icy glare.

Rosie figured the heat must have finally gotten to her mother. She had been so intent on following Jaha around like a lost puppy, there was no other reason her views would so suddenly change. The heat and dehydration must have been making her irritable, causing her to lash out at the person who caused her to be on this trip.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Her father questioned defensively, letting go of his hold on his wife's hand.

"You know what it means," She narrowed her eyes at the man before turning her hateful gaze toward her daughter. "He's the reason she's here,"

"What is she talking about?" Rosie looked to her father for an explanation, where he only stared stunned.

"He told us we needed to forgive you and convince you to come. Your father and I would have been completely content, scratch that happy, to leave you behind. But he convinced your dad some BS about forgiveness and family and said we couldn't come unless we got you, too," Her mother answered vapidly, before returning her gaze to her husband. "Jaha was definitely wrong about us needing her."

"So all that bull shit about family and new beginnings, that's all it was? You were just using me as your golden ticket out of Arkadia?" Rosie accused, looking past her mother towards her father. She expected nothing less from her mother, but her father had fooled her. It seemed every time she trusted someone, that would happen.

"No sweetie, he just opened my eyes. Maybe I didn't think of it on my own, but that doesn't mean I didn't still want our family back," Her father pleaded.

He crossed the distance between him and Rosie, brushing past his wife with little regard. The family of three had now stopped walking, causing the others to stop, as well. John was inching closer to them, wanting to step in if need be but not wanting to intrude where he wasn't welcome. Next, Jaha was soon nearing the family, ready to spread some fake deep mantras and keep the group going.

"What seems to be the problem," He started, keeping his voice calm as he looked over the dysfunctional family.

"She's the problem," Her mother shouted, pointing an accusing finger at her daughter. "She's always been the problem, she always will be the problem. She shouldn't be here."

Rosie shook furiously, shutting down in the way she knew so well. When emotions ran too high and things got too difficult, it's what she would do. She would clamber up and not speak, balling up her fists and digging her nails into her palms. It could only get worse if she blacked out, the way she did when she was 12, because then she couldn't control herself. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to calm down and not go to that place. She thought about Bellamy, about Monty and Jasper, and then about Murphy. She started to calm when she thought back to their fight a few days before. He was the first person she ever got into a fight with rather than just shutting down. She wondered what it was about him that gave her a voice.

"No, you're the problem," Rosie's father placed himself between his wife and daughter, angrily facing the former. "Our daughter could have died when they sent her down, and you didn't even care. You refused to talk to her when they got the radios set up, you wouldn't see her when we got down, and now you won't even give this a chance!"

"Well, excuse me for not wanting to forgive someone who doesn't deserve it," Rosie's mother stepped closer to her husband, challenging him with her eyes. She wouldn't back down. "Elijah Baker and Marco Wilson. They were our friends. Remember their names every time you think of her, because she killed them. My daughter died the day those two died. This girl here, she's just a freak."

Rosie's father stumbled back slightly, looking like he took a blow to the stomach when she spoke their names. The sound of their names, names she hadn't heard in years, made Rosie feel like she was going to throw up. She didn't know the effect hearing them would have on her until that moment, but she could feel herself going pale and verging on the blackout. It wouldn't be an angry one where she would lose all control, but rather one induced by panic. She could feel herself shaking wildly and was only pulled away from that dark place when an arm wrapped around her.

"Come on," A voice muttered in her ear, pulling her away from her spot. She could still hear her mother, father, and Jaha talking, but it seemed distant. She made no effort to focus in on what they were saying, because she knew she would be happier not knowing.

A canteen was being pressed to her lips and despite knowing she shouldn't, she gulped down a few sips of water. She heard Jaha say something about how they needed to keep going, and numbly followed with the person guiding her. Eventually, after a few moments that seemed to last forever, Rosie came too and realized the arm around her belonged to John. She was now walking in between him and Emori, and it was his water that she had drank.

"Thank you," She muttered quietly, too embarrassed to face either of them.

Emori rubbed numbly at her gloved hand, looking somewhat sick. She sent a glare in the woman's direction, one that Rosie caught and caused her to smile weakly. John looked between the two girls, an unreadable expression over his face. Once it was clear Rosie had come back to reality, he removed his arm that had rested around her, allowing her to walk on her own.

"I know what it's like to be called a freak," She revealed quietly to Rosie, referencing back to what her mother had said about her. When she was sure no one was paying attention to them, she began to unwrap her glove, revealing her deformed hand. Rosie studied it slowly, making sure to control her expression so as not to offend Emori. "It's just a word. Anyone who tries to make you feel less than you are because of it, isn't worth your time."

She was soon rewrapping up the elongated hand while Rosie studied her face. She had spent so much time being annoyed with John and her loneliness that she hadn't taken the time to speak to Emori. There was something about her that she liked, and she suddenly saw what John must have liked as well. She conceded that if her new friend liked the grounder girl, she did too. There was no time to be jealous or hurt.

"You're lucky you have a boyfriend like John to keep you away from people like that," Emori sneered at Rosie's mother one final time.

"Boyfriend?" Rosie questioned, looking between the grounder and Murphy. If she thought that Rosie and him were dating, then they must not have been flirting that whole time, after all. She wasn't sure why, but the realization sent butterflies to her stomach.

"We're not dating, just friends," Murphy reassured, causing Emori to make an "oh" with her mouth and nod her head.

"Yeah, friends," Rosie repeated warmly, letting her eyes gloss over the boy's features. She had never had someone refer to her as a 'friend' other than Bellamy. Her lips broke into a smile as she realized she did, in fact, have another friend, and that was John Murphy.