Fearless (Bellamy Blake - Book 1)

Chapter 30

I run as fast as my legs will allow, me, almost tripping on occasion but not once do I stop and not once do I loosen my grip on Charlotte's hand.

We run through the camp and towards the only place I know she'll be safe; Bellamy's tent. I throw aside the fabric entrance and go inside, standing in the middle and bringing Charlotte in front of me, watching as tears slowly roll down her cheeks and as she catches her breath.

Barely a second passes before Bellamy storms into the tent, followed by Clarke and Finn.

"Hey," I crouch down before Charlotte, my hands on her shoulders and bring her in for a hug, "you're gonna be okay, everything's okay."

"Okay?" Clarke repeats, "Carter, she killed someone!"

"Shut up Clarke!" I yell at her, "She didn't mean to do it."

"Oh what, like you didn't mean to either?" She counters, causing me to glare at her.

"Why Charlotte?" Bellamy asks her, ignoring Clarke.

"I was just trying to slay my demons, like you told me."

I sigh quietly and squeeze my eyes shut, opening them and nodding, thinking back to the night in the cave when Bellamy told Charlotte to 'slay her demons' so she could sleep better.

"What the hell is she talking about?" Clarke demands, looking at Bellamy.

"He didn't mean it like that." I tell her.

"She misunderstood me." Bellamy says defensively. "Charlotte that is not what I meant."

"Bring the girl out now!" Murphy yells from outside, putting me on edge even more.

Murphy can't get his hands on Charlotte because he's going to want her to be punished for Wells' actual death, like he was.

I can't let that happen.

I won't.

"You were right." Charlotte focuses on me. "It didn't work, it didn't make anything better. Please don't let them hurt me." Charlotte cries. "I just wanted to be brave, like you."

"Charlotte..." I shake my head and sigh, fighting back tears as I watch her slowly unravel. "You shouldn't--you shouldn't try to be anyone else but yourself. Look, I'm not brave, okay? When I was arrested--"

"Chris."

"She needs to hear this." I say to Finn, who has a look of internal debate on his face. "Charlotte, when I was arrested I didn't realise what I did was wrong, I thought I was doing the right thing but I wasn't. When I realised that I was completely terrified, and I was alone. I had just lost my family, and my friends...I knew my friends would never see me the same way again."

I glance over at Finn briefly, who watches me intently. I swallow thickly and look up at Charlotte.

"I wasn't brave then, but I need you to be brave now, okay?" She nods and I give her what I hope is a small, encouraging smile. "I'm not gonna let anyone hurt you, and we're gonna get you out of here. We just--" I sigh and stand, putting an arm around her shoulders, and look at Bellamy, who was watching me intensely, "We just need to figure out how."

"Yeah, if you guys have any bright ideas, speak up." Bellamy looks and Clarke and Finn, who say nothing. "Now you stay quiet?!"

"Those are your boys out there!" Finn tells him, frustrated.

"This is not my fault!" Bellamy defends and indicates to Clarke. "If she'd listen to me those idiots would still be building a wall!"

"You want to build a society princess? Let's build a society, bring her out!"

Finn looks out of the tent outside at Murphy before closing the flap again.

"No! Please Bellamy." Charlotte cries and I squeeze her shoulder lightly.

Bellamy looks over at me and I nod, knowing what he's going to do. He crouches down before Charlotte and softens his voice. "Charlotte, hey, it's gonna be okay. Just stay with them."

He looks up at Finn and Clarke before standing and I take his place before her.

"Please don't leave me." She whimpers, causing my heart to break even more.

"You're gonna be fine, Charlotte. Just stay with Clarke and Finn." I give her another forced smile before standing beside Bellamy, who quickly grabs my hand before we duck out of his tent.