Rupture | Bellamy Blake ² [Discontinued]

❉| chapter twenty-two

❝the water hears and understands. the ice does not forgive.❞

-leigh bardugo, six of crows

♛

AS WE ALL SUSPECTED, possessed-Raven's threats had been bullshit. This is evident in the way she apologizes after everyone has calmed down, and because she grabs Caleb's face and kisses him the moment her mouth has been cleaned of her blood.

It's expected but also not expected, so when Raven yanks his shirt collar and pulls him down to her, everyone wears expressions of mild shock. Nobody is sure where to look. Jasper finds interest in his shoes, Sinclair begins deactivating the EMP, and Octavia rolls her eyes with the shake of her head. I, for one, feel a swell of joy for them. Caleb had told me that their first kiss had likely been when Raven was already possessed, and now they're having the chance to have a real one.

"I didn't mean a damn word I said," Raven whispers almost breathlessly. Her voice is desperate in an I-need-you-to-believe-me kind of tone, her eyes pleading as they search his.

But Caleb only smiles, his eyes a little pained. "I know."

There isn't much time to spare afterward. Sinclair and I busy ourselves by packing up the Rover with our minimal supplies, but I do it more to focus myself on something. My hands need to do anything concrete to keep them from trembling. Raven's words still lurk in the back of my mind like a sharp nail prodding at somewhere in my mind.

"You okay?"

I realize I've been brushing dirt off of the bench in the back for five minutes, which definitely isn't how long a simple task like that should take. Sighing, I turn to see Clarke standing a short distance behind me with both amusement and worry etched on her pale face. It startles me to see her. With all the chaos that had been going on for the past few days, it still hasn't fully sunk in that she's here.

"Yeah," I reply in a half-lie. My gaze drifts from her, though, and I notice her pressing her lips in a line in my peripheral vision. She knows I'm not telling the truth.

"You did good," Clarke assures me. She doesn't mention my outburst from earlier, doesn't even seem upset with me for it. "Really. You handled it well."

"Things have been shit," I respond in a nonchalant tone, shrugging and dusting my hands off on my black jeans. "Just another bump in the road."

Clarke opens her mouth as if to say something, but is cut off by Sinclair announcing, "Alright, everyone. Let's load up."

"We need to move," Bellamy adds from out of nowhere. He suddenly appears as if materializing from thin air, lightly touching the small of my back to get my attention. "Can you drive?"

I nod. "I'm good to go."

Clarke casts me a knowing glance that I dutifully ignore as I retreat from the back doors and climb into the front seat. In the side mirror, I can see Caleb carrying Raven from the trading post. Monty follows along somberly. Octavia is one of the last to leave, and I notice she's wearing new clothes.