❝ 𝘄𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗵𝗼𝘀𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘀
𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗲
𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗸𝘆 ❞
- 𝗔𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘂𝘀

𝗔𝘃𝗮'𝘀 𝗣𝗢𝗩

A couple hours into my slumber i'm awoken by a loud and familiar scream.

"No!" Charlotte cries.

I start to open my eyes but Bellamy shifts from under me and leans up to the frightened girl. I watch him from my place, but he doesn't even realise that he's woken me up.

"Charlotte, wake up" He whispers.

"I'm sorry" She sighs and I frown sympathetically.

"Does it happen often?" Bellamy asks her and she sighs.

"What are you scared of?" He then asks, taking her sigh as a yes "You know what? It doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is what you do about it"

"But...I'm asleep" She replies in confusion.

"Fears are fears. Slay your demons when you're awake, they won't be there to get you when you sleep" Bellamy explains to the girl.

"Yeah, but...how?" Charlotte questions.

"You can't afford to be weak. Down here, weakness is death, fear is death" He states and there is a short silence.

"Let me see that knife I gave you" He adds and she pulls it out.

He takes it out of her hand and she listens to him carefully, hanging onto his every word.

"Now, when you feel afraid, you hold tight to that knife and you say, 'Screw you. I'm not afraid'" He tells her and she takes the knife back from his hand.

"Screw you. I'm not afraid" She says in a small timid voice.

She looks at Bellamy and he must give her a look that tells her to try again because she shuts her eyes and grips the knife tight.

"Screw you. I'm not afraid" She repeats but this time louder and with more confidence behind her words which makes me smile.

"Slay your demons, kid. Then you'll be able to sleep" Bellamy assures her, tapping her knee and she nods, shutting her eyes.

He turns to me and stops when he sees me looking at him.

"You're good with her" I whisper.

"It's nothing" He shrugs nonchalantly, laying down next to me and wrapping an arm around me.

"It's not nothing. It's cute" I tell him, laying my head on his chest for warmth.

He chuckles softly, making his chest rumble and I smile up at him.

"Get some sleep, sunshine" He murmurs and I nod, closing my eyes.

"Goodnight" I mumble.

"G'night" He replies.

╳°»。 ∾·⁙· ღ ➵ ⁘ ➵ ღ ·⁙·∾ 。«°╳

I'm woken up to my nose being flicked and then I hear giggling. I open my eyes sleepily and see Bellamy smirking at me while Charlotte tries to hide her giggles.

"All right. Which one of you flicked me?" I groan, pushing myself off Bellamy's chest.

"Was it you?" I ask Charlotte who looks at Bellamy for help.

I grab the girl, making her squeal and I start tickling her which causes a burst of giggles to erupt from her throat. Suddenly I'm grabbed from behind and Bellamy throws me over his shoulder.

"Bellamy!" I squeal and I hear him chuckle "Put me down!"

He lifts me off his shoulder and places me on my feet, His hands lingering on my waist for longer than needed. I look at our close proximity and start to panic a little.

"We should go" I mention and Bellamy nods, letting go of me as if i'd burned him.

He pulls his jacket on and walks to the cave entrance. I turn to Charlotte who holds out my jacket to me and I smile gratefully, taking it from her grasp and slipping it on.

"It's all clear" Bellamy's voice says and we both follow him out the cave.

"Anybody out here?!" He shouts loudly.

"Jones?!" He adds, calling on one of the guys.

"We're here!" Jones yells back and we all look in the direction his voice came from.

We take off in that direction and find the trio easily.

"Lost you in the stew. Where'd you go?" Bellamy asks them.

"Made it to a cave down there" Jones replies.

"What the hell was that?" He adds.

"I don't know. Where's Atom?" Bellamy asks and I realise Atom is in fact missing from the group.

Jones shrugs and I get a bad feeling about the situation.

"He can't be far" I speak up.

"Ava's right. We'll split up and cover more ground" Bellamy adds and walks off.

Around ten minutes into looking around the forest I hear screaming that belongs to Charlotte and I race through the trees to where I find the girl screaming. I pull her close to me and Bellamy appears on the other side of me.

We look at each other and then down to Atom who is laying on the forest floor completely covered in blisters and burns.

"Son of a bitch" Bellamy mutters.

"Atom!" He yells, racing towards the boy.

I follow him and kneel down on the other side of Atom. He struggles to breathe and Bellamy leans down to hear what he's trying to tell us.

"Kill me" He whispers and my heart breaks at his words.

The others find us and Bellamy stands up to his feet as Charlotte approaches him. Atom coughs up blood and splutters painfully.

"Hey" I whisper and his head turns to me.

My breath catches in my throat when his pale milky eyes meet mine, his vision blinded by the acid fog.

"I- can't- breathe" He chokes out and I frown, looking up just in time to see Charlotte hand Bellamy the knife he gave her.

Bellamy looks at her in surprise and she looks from the knife down to Atom, telling Bellamy to kill him.

"Don't be afraid" She tells him.

Bellamy lets out a sigh and turns to the others with a stern look.

"Go back to camp!" He yells and they run back "Charlotte, you too"

She hesitates, looking at me for confirmation and I nod at her.

"Go" I tell her and she nods back at me before heading away.