❝ 𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀
𝗶𝗻 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀
𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻
𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗵𝗲'𝗱 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺𝗲𝗱
𝘀𝗼 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝘆 𝘂𝗻𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗿𝘆 ❞
- 𝗔𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘂𝘀

𝗔𝘃𝗮'𝘀 𝗣𝗢𝗩

I stand in the middle of camp with Finn, anxiously waiting for Clarke to arrive.

"You okay?" Finn asks in concern, grabbing my hands.

"I'm worried about Clarke" I admit.

"Well, there's something I never thought i'd hear" Finn jokes and I grin.

"I never thought i'd say them, but Clarke's grown on me I guess" I shrug.

"She's back!" I hear the guards shout and I sprint towards the gate.

"Are you okay?" I ask the blonde, grabbing her arm and she nods.

"Shut the gate!" She shouts at the guards who follow her orders.

"What's he doing out here?" She snaps, looking at Finn.

"He doesn't want to hide" I tell her.

I let go of Clarke's arm and we head over to Abby. Clarke hugs her mother and Raven comes up on the other side of me.

"What did she say?" Abby asks her daughter.

"Is there a chance for a truce?" She then asks when Clarke stays quiet.

We wait expectantly, Raven's hand grabbing my arm in anticipation.

"Yes" Clarke nods.

"What's wrong?" Finn asks.

"They want you" She tells him and my heart drops to my stomach.

"If we want a truce, we have to give them Finn" Clarke announces.

"No" I snap.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Raven spits.

"That's their offer" Clarke answers.

"That's not an offer" Raven argues.

"It's a punishment. For what happened at the village. Blood for blood" Finn elaborates.

"That's insane" Bellamy comments.

"Bell is right. They are delusional" I butt in.

"If we refuse?" Abby asks Clarke.

"They attack" Clarke replies.

"I say we give him up!" A man from the crowd hollers making me grab Finn's hand worriedly.

"Get rid of him!" Another counters as Finn intertwines our fingers.

"Easy, people" Byrne orders as the crowd starts to get riled up.

"Give him to the grounders" A man spits, walking towards us.

"Back off!" Raven snaps, pushing the man.

He tries to attack but Bellamy holds him back as Clarke grabs Raven.

"Hey, Raven! Listen to me! Nothing is going to happen to him" Clarke assures her.

"I promise, okay?" The blonde says, glancing at me and I nod.

"I'm not dying for him! Spacewalker burned 3 months of oxygen on the Ark! He should have floated a long time ago! Throw him out!" A man screams walking towards us.

My anger gets the best of me and I slip my hand out Finn's, sending my fist barrelling into the man's face.

"Back off!" I scream.

"Ava, stop!" Byrne orders as I lift my fist to hit the man again.

She grabs me and as I turn around, Raven smashes her fist into Byrne's face.

"Raven!" I gasp as she's dragged away by two guards.

I try to run after her but i'm grabbed from behind.

"That's enough" Finn scolds me and I grab his arm tight.

"I won't let them throw you out!" I argue.

"Stop" He states sternly and I frown.

"Come on" He then says, pulling me away from the crowd.

We sit down at the fire by the side of the Ark and I wrap my arms around my knees as I watch the flames dance in front of me.

"Remember when I gave you that?" Finn speaks up and I look up to see him smiling at the necklace around my neck.

"Like it was yesterday" I reply, my lips tugging up at one end as I wrap my fist around the tag.

"Who knew that 7 years later we'd be on earth fighting for our lives?" He jokes.

"If someone had told me that back then, I would of laughed in their face" I answer making him chuckle.

⇠ flashback ⇠
seven years ago

I sit in the cafeteria with a frown in my face as I pick at my food. I hear someone sit down beside me and I turn to see my best friend, Finn. His 12 year old self grins at me warmly.

"What's going on in that pretty little nugget of yours?" He asks me, nudging my shoulder with his.

"I miss my mom" I admit and he sighs.

"Come on, you can't be sad on your birthday" He whines and I lay my head on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry, i'll try to be happier" I tell him with a small smile and a smile stretches across his lips.

"Happy 11th birthday, squirt" He grins, holding out his closed fist.

He opens his fist and a silver chain dangles down. I gasp grabbing the tag on the chain to see the word 'squirt' written on it in Finn's messy handwriting.

"Thank you, Finn!" I squeal.

"You like it?" He asks hopefully.

"I love it" I assure him and he grins happily, putting it over my head.

He lifts my messy blonde curls from under it and pecks my forehead.

⇠ end of flashback ⇠

"Happy 18th birthday, Ava" Finn grins, holding out his fist.

"Finn" I sigh with a smile on my face.

He opens up his hand and on his palm I see a flash drive.

"What is this?" I ask him curiously, picking it up to see the word 'Ava' written on it.

"You'll have to watch it to see" He grins mischievously.

"Thank you" I say sincerely, pecking his cheek and popping the flash drive in my pocket.

"Hey, birthday girl" I hear a voice and turn my head to see Murphy.

"You remembered my birthday?" I ask with a smile.

"Of course I did" The boy scoffs, sitting down next to me.

"Here" He says, handing me a black switchblade with my name carved into it.

"Thanks, Murph" I smirk, putting the blade into my arm pocket with the flash drive.

He shrugs nonchalantly and Finn chuckles.

"Byrne actually gave me a gun. I guess we really are screwed, huh?" Murphy announces, showing us his rifle.

Finn's face falls into a frown and I elbow Murphy making him roll his eyes.

"Look, we kicked their asses last time. We'll do it again" Murphy assures the sad boy.

"A lot of people died last time" Finn replies and I lay my head on his shoulder for comfort.

"Hey" A deep voice says and I look up to see Bellamy and Clarke.

"We're reinforcing all defences. Doubles on the perimeter. No one's getting past that wire" Bellamy declares and Finn jumps to his feet.

"I'll see where they're thin" He offers.

"No. You should head inside. B corridor will be easier to defend. If it comes to that" Bellamy informs him.

"I'm not gonna hide" Finn argues and I huff, standing up.

"Right now, we have to think about keeping you safe. I'm gonna talk to Lincoln" Clarke states.

"Come on" Bellamy tells the boy, walking away.

"Finn" He adds when Finn doesn't make a move to follow him.

Finn takes a couple steps before turning to me expectantly.

"I wanna speak to Lincoln" I tell him and he nods.

"Be safe" I add, pecking his cheek.

"I will" He assures me.

Bellamy and Finn head off and Clarke smiles at me softly.

"Hey. Any orders for me, princess?" Murphy speaks up.

"Stay away from me" She says sternly.

"Just trying to me helpful" He argues.

"You were with him at the village" Clarke states.

"I tried to stop him" Murphy scoffs.

"Not hard enough" Clarke spits before turning to walk away.

"You know, you want to start blaming people, Clarke? He was out there looking for you two" Murphy snaps and it stings but I know it's true.

Clarke storms away and Murphy's gaze lands on me. His angry facial expression softens and he sighs.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-" I cut him off.

"Don't, Murph. You've got nothing to be sorry for. It's okay" I assure him, smiling before chasing after Clarke.

"Clarke, stop!" I groan.

"Keep up!" She chirps, making me glare at the back of her head.