Twilights Last Gleaming.

CHAPTER FIVE , GRIEVING WITH A SIDE OF GRATITUDE

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Flashback.

"Why do we have different color hair?"

Aiden looks away from the stars and looks at her sister whose head was in her lap.

"Science or something." Aiden shrugs.

Charlotte pulls her brows together, "Or...something?"

Aiden gives Charlotte a tight-lipped smile and nods her head.

"Did you not pay attention in class?" Charlotte asks.

"I did, just not a lot." Aiden sighs. "Dad taught me everything that I needed to know--"

"Except science," Charlotte grumbles.

Aiden frowns, "You're kinda mean."

"So were you." Charlotte retorts.

Aiden frowns, "I was just blunt."

"Blunt schmunt."

Aiden laughs softly. "Okay, I will explain the entirety of the chromosomes and genetics."

Charlotte raises her brows and smiles, "Really?" she quickly sits up and looks at her sister.

"One day. Right now I just want to sleep," Aiden says.

Charlotte pouts, she holds her pinky finger out. "Promise?"

Aiden interlocks their pinkies, "Promise."

Charlotte then pulls her brows together. "You don't really know how to explain genetics. Do you?"

Aiden raises her brows and purses her lips. "Mmm nope. Not at all."

Now.

Aiden just wanted to sleep forever. That's what she's been trying to do. She didn't sleep underneath the tree anymore. Just seeing the smaller divot in the dirt where Charlotte used to sleep was hard.

Octavia was kind enough to offer her a place in her tent. Bellamy would check in on the blonde every now and then, his own guilt about Charlotte's death looming over him. He swore to himself that he would look after Aiden. Get her anything that she needs. Monty and Jasper would try their best to put a smile on her face, some days it would be easy. Others it would be rough.

Today was rough.

Jasper and Monty pop their heads into the tent. "Hey, Aiden!"

Aiden keeps her eyes on the tent flap. Jasper and Monty look at each other. "Wanna hang out with us?"

"I'm good, thanks though," Aiden says, pressing her lips together.

"Do you want to know the story about Octavia kissing Jasper?" Monty offers.

Aiden's brows slightly raise. She sits up. Monty and Jasper bump their fists. Aiden runs a hand through her hair and shrugs.

"I mean, if you're really offering to share the story then I'm down to listen." Aiden scratches the side of her nose.

Jasper and Monty pile into the tent.

"Okay, how are you?"

Aiden slumps her shoulders, "You're supposed to be telling me the story about Octavia kissing you."

Jasper shrugs a shoulder, "Thought I'd try and get you to open up before I got into it."

Aiden arches a brow and Jasper slightly opens his mouth.

"Anyway..." Monty starts. "I finished working on communicating with the Ark by the wristbands."

"Monty let me have the honors of activating it. But it didn't...turn out the way we exactly wanted it to." Jasper looks at the floor. "I fried all the wristbands."

Aiden cranes her neck forward. "You...? So..." she blinks. "There's no way to contact the Ark? At all?"

Monty shrugs, "Dunno--Anyway back to the story!"

"Then Octavia called me brave and a hero! And she said bravery is always rewarded and planted one on me." Jasper finishes.

"Why did you rush it?" Monty nudges his elbow into Jasper's arm.

"Ow...I was just trying to get Aiden distracted again instead of her worrying about the lost communication with the Ark." Jasper explains.

Aiden watches Jasper and Monty argue back and forth. A small smile forms on her lips. She then manages a chuckle.

Jasper and Monty turn to the blonde. "Aiden, are you--"

She wraps her arms around their necks and they look at each other.

"You guys are really awesome, you know that?" She whispers. "How did I get so lucky?"

"You let us touch your boobs."

"That was rhetorical, but...sure."

☆

Flashback.

The door slides open and Aiden flinches. "Prisoner 420."

Aiden looks at the door and sees a blonde woman standing there. Relief runs through her, "Spencer." She exhales.

Spencer chuckles, she closes the door behind her and walks over to Aiden. "Hey, kid. You got mail."  She holds it out to the girl.

Aiden knits her brows together. Who would send her a letter? Her parents were dead and Charlotte wasn't supposed to have any contact with her whatsoever.

Aiden stands up from the cold floor and steps toward Spencer.

"My arm is getting tired." Spencer sighs.

Aiden hesitantly grabs the letter and slowly opens it, causing the guard to sigh. Spencer watches Aiden rush to open the envelope. She opens the folded letter and reads it.

Spencer notices Aiden's eyes become teary and her lips along with her hands were shaking.

Aiden sniffles, she looks at the the woman she considers family and her mouth slightly opens.

"Oh, I'm sorry..." Aiden hands the letter to Spencer.

The woman tilts her head and grabs the letter. "Must've been some really intense stuff in this letter, huh?" She asks.

Aiden doesn't reply, she just walks over to the wall and slides down to the floor. "You should go check on Charlotte."

The guard peaks at the letter and knits her brows together. A whistle leaves her lips and Aiden looks at the woman.

Aiden's eyes widen, "H-Hey!" She stands up.

Spencer looks at Aiden.

"I only peaked." The woman shrugs.

"It's not yours to look at!" Aiden snaps. She inhales a deep breath trying to control her anger.

"What exactly can you do if I didn't stop reading this?" The guard leans against the doorframe and waves the paper back and forth.

Aiden unscrunches her brows, she slumps her shoulders in defeat and exhales through her nose.

"It was a joke, Aiden." Spencer says. "But imma continue to read it."

"This is..." Spencer stops chuckling as she sees the condescending and harsh remarks written across the paper.

The guard looks back at Aiden who was staring off into space.

"So...those scars weren't from you hurting yourself?" Spencer questions.

Aiden tries her best to keep her tears in. Her entire body slowly starts to shake.

"Some of them are..." she chokes out.

The guard looks shifts her eyes to the scars on Aiden's wrists.

The guard looks back at the letter and runs her tongue over her teeth. "Who wrote this to you?" She asks, practically growling.

Aiden doesn't reply and the woman tenses.

"Aiden--"

"I don't need you to fight my battles for me." Aiden cuts Spencer off.

"Well, who else is gonna do it?" Spencer asks. "You're in lockup."

"It was my fault..." Aiden whimpers. "I shouldn't have told him. I say I love him and yet...I forced him to keep a secret like that."

"You can't blame yourself for this dick's problems." Spencer says.

"That's the thing, Spencer. Nolan doesn't have any problems anymore." Aiden pulls her knees toward her chest. "I was his only problem. But I'm going to die in a few years so...what does it matter, right?"

"No, I won't let you--"

"Yes. You will." Aiden's voice was strong. It was one of the only times Spencer had heard that.

"If you help me escape. You get floated...and we're on a ship. Where would you hide me?" Aiden motions around.

Spencer knits her brows together. "Shit. Why did I forget that?"

"Somebody needs to be here for Charlotte." Aiden shrugs. "Might as well be the one who can make her smile."

"She smiles at you all the time." Spencer states.

"Yeah, when I talk about earth." Aiden replies. "She's getting older. And She's understanding that Earth is an impossible dream."

☆

Now.

Aiden wakes up to Octavia shaking her arm.

"Aiden, come on!"

The blonde pinches the bridge of her nose and stares at the brunette.

"Huh?" She sits up and follows Octavia out of the tent.

Everyone was standing outside, staring at the sky. Aiden squints her eyes at the pod coming down to earth.

"They're coming to help us."

Aiden's chest tightens.

"Now we can kick some Grounder ass."

The blonde walks back to the tent and Octavia notices.

"Wait--where are you going?" Octavia jogs over to Aiden.

Aiden looks at the brunette, "Back to sleep."

"Sleep? But Aiden, we're finally being saved." Octavia says.

Aiden nods her head, "I know, and I'm relieved about that."

Octavia cranes her neck forward. "But...?"

"But...some of us aren't even here to finally be saved." Aiden states. "So...I'm gonna go back to my side of the tent and sulk about it."

"Just like you have been doing for a week," Octavia says.

Aiden inhales, "Well, when someone you love more than your own life dies...kinda makes you not want to go on anymore, y'know?"

Octavia's chest tightens. "Aiden, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. I'm just worried about you."

Aiden presses her lips together. "I get it. Thank you." She motions her head towards the group of delinquents. "You guys should go and find out what's in that pod. I'm tired."

Aiden turns away from Octavia and goes back into the tent. Octavia sighs quietly, she turns around and looks at Jasper and Monty.

"You guys'll watch her, right?"

"Always." The two boys chorus.

Octavia smiles, she kisses Jasper on the cheek then Monty.

☆

Spencer rushes through the halls of the Ark with her tablet in her hand. Her eyes were glued to the video playing on the screen while she aimlessly made her way to the designated room.

The metal doors open in front of her and she lifts her head, meeting Marcus Kane's face. "Sir, have you been on the network?" She stands beside him.

Kane exhales, "No."

Spencer holds the tablet out to Kane and he grabs it, his eyes on the video of Jake Griffin.

"The Ark is dying. This city in space that has been our sanctuary." Kane rises to his feet with urgency.

"It's playing everywhere, sir." Spencer informs him. "Tech's trying to shut it down."

Kane rushes out of the room, "We should never have let her out of the cell."

Spencer follows close behind him. The woman wanted nothing more than to praise Abby in her efforts to inform the people of the truth. But she also knew that the truth could cause unnecessary chaos. Maybe even harm.

"Commander Donavan. I want you to lead a freak to Abby's room."

Spencer tenses, "A whole team? Sir, I could go by myself. Abby's—"

Kane stops in front of the woman which forces her to stop in her tracks. "Abby. Is a menace who has done nothing but stop us from doing our jobs since those kids were sent to the ground."

"With all fuel respect, sir. But her daughter is down there." Spencer states.

"So are yours, Donovan." Kane tilts his head. Spencer's jaw goes slack. "I know you think of the Chase sisters as your own and yet you're not breaking any laws."

"No, sir."

"Everyone has a chance to make the right choice." Kane nods. "Abby hasn't."

Spencer swallows the lump in her throat. Abby was her friend. She had so much respect for the doctor. Able to take Aiden in and even help her gain experience in the Medical field. It left a bitter taste in her mouth having to do this. Nevertheless, she had a job to do.

Spencer's gaze hardens, "Yes, sir."

...

"You've taken an impossible situation and made it worse." Thelonius seethes.

Abby doesn't break her cold yet confident expression. "Good. Maybe we need one."

Spencer walks over to Kane, Thelonius, and Abby. "Guards are double-strength and on alert station-wide. I've posted riot teams in all public areas."

"Any reports of unrest?" Thelonius inquires.

Spencer shakes her head, "Not yet, but people are gathering. There's a crowd of 400 strong right outside."

Kane looks at Abby, "That's what you've done."

"All we can do now is determine our best option." Thelonius states.

Kane looks at the Chancellor. "Options? We have no options. We need time, or everyone on this station is going to die. Either is an uprising or by suffocation. Those are the options she's given us."

One of the guards walks over to Thelonius. "Sir. They sent an emissary to speak with Abby."

Thelonius turns to Kane, "The people outside are sending someone in to talk." He then looks at Abby. "To you."

The doors open and a man walks in. Abby raises her brows, "His daughter's a patient of mine." She walks over to the man with Spencer, Kane, and Thelonius not far behind.

"Hey, doc. I saw your video thing. Crap news. It sounds like." The man sighs.

"I'm sorry, you had to hear it like that."

"No good way to hear it, right?" The man inhales a breath. "Anyway...I'm here to volunteer, I guess you'd call it."

Spencer pulls her brows together and she exchanges a look with Kane.

"Volunteer? For what?"

"Section 17, sir." The man states. "Anyway you do the math, some of us are gonna have to jump ship if everyone's gonna make it, so...I'm gonna jump."

"You'd leave Reese without a father?" Abby asks.

"This morning, you told me my daughter was going blind and there was nothing I could do to help her." The man's eyes water. "Turns out there is."

"Count me in." He then walks out of the room.

Soon, one by one, civilians walk in setting their badges on the table and walking out. All volunteering to give their lives for the many.

"Jake was right." Thelonius speaks. "It would bring out the best in us."

Spencer couldn't stop her eyes from burning with tears.

☆

"So, Bellamy screwed up and now we're paying for it?"

Monty sighs, "Yeah, basically."

"And that is...?" Aiden looks at the brunette.

Monty follows her eyes. "Raven. She just came down in the ship Bellamy ripped the radio out of."

Aiden frowns and nods her head. "So, he killed 300 people." She tightens the screws on the pod.

"Not. If we get these flares up and running."

Aiden turns her head and meets the girl's gaze. The blonde raises her brows as the girl smiles. "Raven Reyes. Mechanic genius."

Aiden slowly nods her head. "Aiden Chase. No genuine here...I don't think."

"Unearthed potential. I like it." A smile forms on Raven's lips and walks away from the blonde.

Aiden frowns and returns to tightening the screws. After Aiden was done, she walked away from the group of delinquents helping with the flares. As much as she was okay with helping little by little, Aiden couldn't be around them. Especially the four that were ready to follow Murphy on his mission to kill her Charlotte. The situation made her stomach tighten with fear. God, were they all truly capable of such heinous acts?

Before she could get too deep into her own mind, Clarke cautiously made her way over to the girl. "Aiden?"

Aiden turns and looks at her friend. She honestly didn't even know if her and Clarke still were friends. All Aiden did was stare at her. Clarke slightly opens her mouth, "I...you and Bellamy were right." She croaks. "I should've never confronted Murphy. Then they wouldn't have tried to hang him and he wouldn't have been so vengenful toward Charlotte—"

"I don't..." Aiden shakes her head, a large lump formed in her throat. Clarke watched as Aiden tries to speak through her grief. Aiden swallows and pinches the bridge of her nose. "I don't want to hear this, right now." She sniffles. "Thank you, but I can't."

Clarke's eyes burn but she nods her head. "Yeah, of course. I'm sorry for bothering you." She softly lets out.

Aiden quickly retreats to her and Octavia's shared tent. She sits on her side of the tent with her breathing ragged. Aiden grips her chest as tears fall down her cheeks.

☆

"Ew, she's drooling!"

"Wait--do you have a marker?"

"Yeah, yeah. Here."

Aiden snorts awake, "Wha...? What are you...?" She rubs her eyes and focuses on Monty and Jasper's faces. Their eyes were wide, but they weren't moving.

Aiden deadpans, "Guys, just because you don't move. Doesn't mean I can't see you." She grabs the marker and tosses it to the side.

Aiden wipes the drool off her mouth then she places her hands on the floor of the tent and leans back. "What's up?"

"A girl came down here in the pod with a radio," Monty says.

"Bellamy took it, so they made rockets!"

Monty and Aiden look at Jasper, who had such enthusiasm.

Jasper's smile drops. "Sorry."

"So, why are you telling me?" Aiden rubs her eye.

"We're about to watch them go up," Monty says. "Wanna join?"

Aiden exhales through her nose. "Guys..."

"Aiden, if you really don't want to go. That's fine, but...we think this'll be good for you."

Aiden shifts her gaze between the two boys. She lets out a sigh of defeat. "Okay, fine."

"Yes! Let's go!" Monty and Jasper grab both of her wrists and pulls her out of the tent.

Aiden grunts, "Jesus!"

Monty and Jasper point at the sky. Aiden looks at the sky and his jaw goes slack. "Holy shit..." She whispers.

The sky was bright with lights.

Jasper looks at the blonde and sees the small smile ghosting her lips. He and Monty look at each other and send thumbs up to each other. They both throw an arm over her shoulders. Aiden looks at Jasper then Monty.

The blonde-haired girl looks at the sky and blinks her tears away.

"Aiden."

The Chase girl turns to Bellamy. "Bellamy, hey." She greets him with a soft tone. She wipes her tears away and Bellamy's eyes soften.

"Uh...that night with Charlotte. When she..." he trails off his sentence and swallows the lump in his throat.

Aiden's chest tightens and she looks at the ground. "When I tried to grab her, her necklace came off and..." he opens his hand, revealing the locket.

Aiden's mouth slightly opens, looking at the locket. "Oh..." she slowly reaches out for the locket. But she stops and her hand starts to shake.

"Is it okay if I...?"

Bellamy blinks, he was slightly taken aback by her question. His gaze softens, "Yeah. Aiden, of course."

Aiden swallows and grabs the locket from Bellamy's hand. She looks at the locket and opens it, revealing the pictures of her parents inside. Aiden's lower lip starts to tremble and she sniffles.

"Thank you, Bellamy." She chuckles softly, a tear sliding down her cheek.

Bellamy gives Aiden a soft smile. He wishes he could do more to help her. God, Bellamy couldn't help but sympathize with Aiden. He knows what it's like to give everything to protect your sibling. To sacrifice your own freedom. But that's where his similarities with Aiden stop. Because his little sister was still alive. He couldn't imagine losing Octavia. It hurt far too much for him to even think about.

Grateful for what Bellamy has done for her, the grieving girl wraps her arms around Bellamy's neck. Bellamy wraps his arms around her waist and pulls her close.

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author's note.

Aiden and Bellamy brotp <3

words : 3220