Heaven Can't Wait - Chapter 19

[jennickels]

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Chapter Nineteen - We're Not Calling Her Petunia

As they walk to the mess hall, Clarke rubs it in that he missed some real food at breakfast. Eggs and ham and spinach. He tries to look angry, but the smile on her face sets his heart fluttering, and he has to spend the entire time trying not to grin like an idiot.

A shot of energy bolts through his arm when she accidentally brushes against him.

Get a grip, Blake, the voice tells him. Before she realizes you’re a desperate fool.

Probably too late for that.

When she continues to bump into him, he starts to wonder if maybe it isn’t an accident. The flutter in his heart moves to his stomach. She grins up at him when she realizes he’s staring.

Like. A. Desperate. Fool.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

She gives him a look then ducks her head. Is she blushing?

The mess hall is much more crowded than that morning. The line for rations stretches around the room. The Grounders are bunched together at one end, looking completely out of place, while the Arkadians just look nervous. There’s an obvious line drawn, and no one is willing to cross it.

It takes nearly ten minutes to get through the line for a bowl of gruel. Er, soup. He thinks it’s supposed to be soup. At least it's not freeze-dried mystery meat. The little girl wrinkles her nose as he sets the bowl in front of her. “Yeah, it tastes about as bad as it looks.”

The expression she gives him is withering, but she picks up the spoon anyway, hunger winning over her disgust. Clarke sits on his other side, her knee resting against his. The dumb butterflies go haywire. Don’t read into it. The butterflies don’t care if it’s an accident, though. Can she hear my heart pounding? Does she know she can do this to me?

Bellamy plays with his food, suddenly too nervous to eat.

“You okay?” Clarke asks.

“Just a lot on my mind.”

She doesn’t get a chance to comment on that as Jasper arrives, slamming his bowl down with gusto and spilling a third of it onto the table. Everyone in a ten-foot radius looks up at him.

“Good afternoon ladies and gents.”

“You’re awfully cheery,” Bellamy grumbles, finally taking a bite of his food and regretting it.

“Why not? It’s another beautiful day in the neighborhood. The temperature is a steady 69 degrees, and the sky is an amazing shade of gray. Can you feel the sun on you?” He takes an exaggerated breath, face turned to the ceiling as if enjoying the weather.

Bellamy rolls his eyes. “You know Kane’s going to find your still and shut it down eventually. We can’t afford to waste the water or the grain.”

“Posh.”

“I’m serious Jasper. That’s food out of people’s mouths.”

Jasper looks at the girl who’s making a face into her bowl instead of eating it. “Yeah, that’s a real loss.”

Bellamy’s about to press the point when Clarke gently squeezes his leg, setting off another flurry in his chest. He glances at her. “Let it go,” she mouths, so instead, he takes another bite to keep from saying anything he’ll regret later.

Miller, Bryan, and Harper find their way over—Harper sitting as far from Miller and Bryan as she can get. She shoots them disgusted looks as they practically meld into one being. Guess they made up from earlier. 

“They’ve been at it all morning,” Harper says, pretending to gag.

“You’re just jealous,” Miller tells her.

Bellamy chuckles. “Speaking of—where is Monty?”

Harper blushes bright red. “Arguing with Raven about something. That girl needs to take it down a notch before she goes supernova.”

“Rations are a lot of responsibility,” Clarke says.

“And she has to fix the ship, too. Who decided she had to be chief engineer and queen of the pantry?” asks Jasper then ducks his head. “Speak of the tyrant.”

“Clarke.” Raven drops a pile of computer parts onto the table, nearly knocking the little girl’s uneaten food onto the floor. Either she didn’t hear Jasper’s comment or she’s ignoring him like everyone else.

The girl looks up, startled. Bellamy sets the bowl straight and hands back the spoon.

“Raven, I told you-” Clarke starts.

“And I told you, the numbers don’t add up. We can’t take on any more.”

“You want us to turn refugees away?” Their voices are rising, gathering attention

Jasper jumps up and throws an arm around Raven, but she shoves him away. “Please don’t fight. Impressionable ears are listening.” He moves over, placing his hands over the girl’s ears. She looks up at him in confusion. Raven huffs then storms off to wait in line for her ration.

“It’s okay little girl, the big, mean lady is gone,” Jasper says each word slowly, enunciating each syllable like that will make her understand.

Bellamy smacks his hands away. “Leave her alone.”

The girl looks back and forth between them, brow furrowed.

Harper smiles at her, wiggling her fingers. “Has she said anything yet?”

Bellamy thinks of her babbling away at the stars but something keeps him from mentioning it. He shakes his head. “Not really. Just a couple mumbled words here and there. I’m pretty sure she can talk, but it’s a lot to take in. She’ll speak when she’s ready.”

“No doubt. But what do we do with her until then? We can’t keep calling her girl or kid.”

“What about darling or sweetie pie?” Jasper suggests.

Harper ignores him. “She needs a name, and if she won’t tell us hers, we’ll have to name her ourselves.” She seems excited about this prospect.

“I vote for Princess Petunia.”

“Shut up, Jasper. We’re not calling her Petunia.”

“What about Marigold? Daisy? Chrysanthemum?”

Harper scoops up a bit of gruel and flings it at him, nailing him in the chest

Jasper slowly slides his finger through the mess then licks it off dramatically. Harper wrinkles her nose. “You’re disgusting.”

Jasper laughs.

“What about Lucky?” someone says. Bellamy looks up to see Murphy and Emori standing behind him. “You know because she was lucky to not get eaten by wolves or whatever.”

“It was a panther,” Miller says, finally untangling from his boyfriend.

The tension at the table goes up a notch. Murphy tends to have that effect on people. The little girl looks from Murphy to Miller then up at Bellamy with a frown, obviously sensing it, too. “Guys,” Bellamy says. “Can we not-”

Emori clears her throat. “Or, you could, you know, ask her.” She pulls a chair over and sits next to the girl. She starts jabbering in Grounder.

“We tried that,” Bellamy says.

The girl obviously understands Emori, but she still refuses to speak. She does smile and giggle. Emori looks up at Bellamy, eyes twinkling. “She’s adorable. She reminds me-”

“I swear to god, if one more person says she looks like me.”

“I was going to say she reminds me of my sister.”

Murphy starts. “I didn’t know you had a sister.”

Emori shrugs. “I don’t like to talk about her.”

“How come?” asks Jasper. “Was she all-” He starts flapping his hand around like an idiot.

Murphy has him on the ground in three seconds. “What did you say?”

Aw, shit.

Jasper just laughs. Even after Murphy drives a fist into his mouth, he keeps laughing. Bellamy jumps up at the same time Miller does. They each grab an arm, dragging Murphy off of Jasper who still hasn’t stopped laughing. The entire mess hall is watching now. Jasper gets up, wiping blood from his lip. He staggers closer to the table. “I think he’s a little sensitive,” he says in a stage whisper.

Bellamy tightens his grip as Murphy struggles to get loose.

“Get him out of her,” Bellamy growls under his breath.

Harper grabs Jasper by the collar, dragging him away. “What the hell is wrong with you?” she yells.

Murphy jerks his arms free and straightens his jacket. Emori has the little girl in her lap, covering her ears. She looks up at Murphy with wide eyes. “John, it’s okay.”

“Come on,” Murphy says, reaching a hand to her. “I know where we’re not wanted.”

“Finally, he figures it out,” Miller mutters.

“Miller,” Bellamy warns, setting his chair right side up.

Murphy stiffens but doesn’t say anything. Emori hands the girl to Bellamy before following Murphy out of the mess hall. Bellamy rubs at his face. He won’t have to worry about the Grounders attacking when they’re going to tear each other apart on their own.

Raven comes back then. “What did I miss?”

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