You jerk upright, heart pounding. Your face is wet with tears and the memory of your dream makes you nauseous. Letting out a groan, you turn over on your bed of leaves. Only to come face to face with Bellamy's boots. You pull yourself upright, hurriedly wiping away the wetness with the back of your hands.

Bellamy crouches in front of you, head tilted in concern. You avoid his gaze, knowing that he's only worried because you're Octavia's best friend. Not for the reason you want him to be worried. Not because he likes you.

"Are you okay?" Bellamy's whisper is so low you can barely hear it.

You nod, waving him off.

But honestly, if you're being truthful, you're not. You're terrified. You're scared and hurting and worried. Scared of the Grounders, hurting because you'll never be who he wants, and worried about Jasper and Octavia and him.

He leaves, on patrol you're guessing. You watch him go, heart aching. You lie back down, missing Bellamy casting a worried glance over his shoulder at you.

You stay awake the rest of the night. You can't stop yourself from tossing and turning. Murphy, who's sleeping near you, shouts at you a couple times to quiet down. Finally, you snap back at him and he shuts up until the light dawns over the forest floor.

Murphy pretends to be waking you up when he kicks your side. You leap to your feet, letting out a growl.

"What?" Murphy sneers at you. "You have enough fat on you that that shouldn't have hurt."

You roll your eyes to show how stupid you think his comment is even though it really makes you hurt inside.

"Shut up, Murphy." You turn away, ready to get away from this conversation.

"Great comeback, Fat Girl."

You spin around, hands clenched into fists. With a fast movement that no ones expects, you slam your fist into Murphy's nose. It makes a satisfying crunch. You take a step back as he cries out in pain, his followers staring at you in shock. You give a well deserved kick to his nether regions before you march off, head held high.

You don't give any glances back over your shoulder. Anger is boiling in your stomach and it's hard for you to contain. You keep walking, head down, the urge to punch something undeniable.

"Y/N!" Octavia runs up to you, a bright smile on her face that dims when she sees your expression. "Hey, are you alright?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine." You run your hand through your hair, wincing when it throbs with pain. You look down at it, observing the swollen skin and how it's already bruising.

O grabs your hand, squeezing too tightly. You hold back a wince and she doesn't seem to notice as she narrows her eyes at you.

"Y/N."

"I know." You yank your hand away from her. "No fighting."

"Who'd you hit?" Finn comes out from behind a tree, dropping an arm around Octavia's shoulder.

Bellamy immediately appears, seemingly out of thin air. You avoid looking at him as much as you can. You tuck your hand into your pocket which doesn't go unnoticed by Octavia's sharp gaze. The two of you engage in a silent argument with your eyes.

"Get your hands off my sister."

Finn raises his hands in defense as Octavia jerks her head at Bellamy. Poor, oblivious Bellamy looks back at forth between you and Octavia. You shake your head at O before turning to look at the two boys.

"Hi, Finn. Bellamy." You nod at both of them, still avoiding eye contact with Bellamy. "I'm gonna take a walk."

You maneuver around Octavia, shoulders hunched forward as you walk. It only takes a few seconds for footsteps to sound behind you. Out of the corner of your eye, you can see Bellamy's tall frame. You continue to ignore him. You're too pissed off right now to be your normal, stuttering self around him.

You've walked about thirty feet when Bellamy grabs your arm, spinning you around. Your hands clench into fists,

"Don't fucking touch me." You growl out the words.

Bellamy, instead of backing up and leaving you alone like you want him to, he gets closer to you, up in your face.

"What the hell is going on with you?" Bellamy snarls but his face is open. Concerned. "You're acting...different."

You step back, looking down. Your chest heaves with each breath that you take. You try to calm yourself down. You breath slowly in through your mouth and out through your nose.

"Hey." Bellamy grabs your bruised hand from you had taken it out of your pocket. "What happened?"

"I punched Murphy." Your reply is short.

"What?" Bellamy's face darkens. "What did he say?"

You glance down at where he's holding your hand but he doesn't let go. He's just holding it lightly, cradling your hand in his. You can't help but appreciate that he isn't questioning whether you have motive or not. Just that Murphy deserved it. 

"Just the normal stuff," you say.

"Normal stuff?" Bellamy starts to walk off.

"Bellamy." When you say his name, he pauses, looking at you. "It's okay. I'm used to it. I just need a moment to -"

"You shouldn't be used to it!" Bellamy grabs your shoulders. "You shouldn't be used to it."

Your anger drains away with those few words. Your shoulders slump and you lunge forward, wrapping Bellamy in a tight hug. He stands there for a second as stiff as a board. Just when you're about to pull back, he wraps his arms around you tightly.

"Thank you. Thank you, Bellamy."

"What are you thanking me for?" Bellamy sounds genuinely confused.

"For saying that. For pretending to care."

Bellamy makes a pained noise as he pushes you to a distance where he can see into your eyes.

"Y/N, I'm not pretending." Bellamy has a thin sheen of tears in his eyes that scares you. "Y/N, I...I really like you."

You stare up at him with wide eyes, not believing his words. You tear yourself away from him, raising a hand to your forehead.

"Are you serious? Like, this isn't a joke?" You look around, trying to see if anyone is watching the two of you.

"I'm serious." Bellamy's voice is raspy and deep when you meet his eyes again. He leans down, inches from your face. You flinch at the proximity and start to back away but his strong hand makes its way to rest on the small of your back.

Your eyes lock on his lips that quickly quirk up into a smile. His head dips down and you close your eyes. Soft lips brush against yours. Then you deepen the kiss, slipping your tongue into his mouth, moving your hands into his thick hair. Bellamy's hand dips down. You let out a small moan into the kiss and he responds with a growl.

"I like you too." You mutter into his mouth, relishing the sound that he makes as he lifts you up and spins you around.

"Bellamy! I'm too heavy!" You laugh although you're serious.

"No, baby. You're not." He grins up at you. "Because I'll always be here to pick you up."