“Wow…” I breathed, Bjorn still curled around me, his hands now on my hips. “That… That was amazing.”

                “That’s what they all say.” I could hear the smile in his voice, “When I show them how it’s done.”

                “And what might you be referring to?” I asked, turning around and finding myself pressed against Bjorn, my eyes at his chest. Tilting my head up, I glanced into his intimidating blue eyes, holding his gaze as if I couldn’t look away. In reality, I wasn’t sure if I could look away. His eyes were damn perfection. Almost no one on the Arc had eyes any colour other than brown, as it was a dominant gene.

                “This and that.” He avoided the question, leaving him more of a mystery than before.

                “So, archery is one of your skills.” I changed the subject; his perfection was making me feel so small and yet so attracted to him. “What else?”

                “I don’t want to give away all my secrets.” He grinned, “Not right before you have this arrow aimed at me.”

                “The war.” I recalled, blissfully have forgotten for a moment.

                “You should leave.” He said, “Go East.”

                “We won’t survive out there, not with winter coming.”

                “You won’t survive us.”

                “Then stop it.” I demanded.

                He shook his head, “We’ve exiled Lincoln.”

                “For sleeping with Octavia?”

                He made a face, “I think he was doing more than sleeping….”

                “It’s a euphemism for fucking.”

                “Oh.”

                “Tomorrow, you’ll be coming to kill us all?”

                “I’m an archer, I’ll be at the back. But yes.”

                It was such a weird world. Here I was, talking freely to the enemy during the short calm before warfare. Neither of us having any reason to kill each other, and yet we would soon part and be aiming at each other within a few hours. I wanted to warn him about the bridge, but I had a feeling that he would warn the rest, and they would cross early; before we were ready. At the moment, Raven was gathering the Hydrozene for the bomb that might possibly kill Bjorn.

                “We have more tricks up our sleeves, I’ll have you know.”

                The man raised an eyebrow, “Do you now?”

                I nodded, smiling lightly.

                He was still pressed close against me, and his hand lifted to my chin, tilting my neck back so that he could look down upon my face. The sun was in my eyes, so I was squinting ever so slightly. Bjorn lowered his head down and planted his lips on mine; it was gentle… much softer than I had expected from a Grounder, though I had never planned on finding out. Still, I couldn’t seem to push him away. Not because I wasn’t strong enough, but because I couldn’t move a muscle in my body; I was suddenly frozen in the kiss.

                His snake-like tongue parted my lips, and I discovered that the only muscle that would cooperate was my tongue, though it was kissing him back and thus not truly cooperating in my need to break from him. I felt a small moan slip from my lips, without my consent, as his hands gripped my ass. I hadn’t even noticed them slide down from my hips, but it was then that I pressed my hands against his strong chest and pushed away.

                He didn’t hold me there; there was nothing possessive in his actions or his expression. A simple smirk stayed on his lips as our eyes locked, as if challenging each other.

                “That’s one of my skills.” His voice sent shivers down my spine.

                “I need to get back to camp.” I said, once again being the one to end our little meeting. “My people are sick, thanks to you.”

                “Fighting with poison and illness is foul play.” He argued. He was clearly distraught about it, but his face never darkened. “It was never my call.”

                “It’s still on your conscience.”

                “You’re right.” He said, “It is. But you aren’t sick.”

                “I’ve stayed away from those who are.”

                He shook his head, “Anyone who hasn’t caught it by now won’t get it, most likely.”

                I cocked my head to the side.

                “It’ll pass by tomorrow… evening most likely.”  

                My eyes fell to the ground; if he was on that bridge when Raven’s bomb went off, he would be killed. As she had said, the shooter had to be about two hundred feet away to survive the blast; but I couldn’t spoil our plans. As much as Bjorn seemed like he could be trusted, I would not put the fate of my friends into his hands.

                “Thanks for the tips.” I said, feeling awkward as parting meant probably never seeing him again. This, of course, was not a problem. I needed no Grounders; but it seemed wrong to be so neutral with him and yet leaving to opposing sides. Regardless, the kiss had left me a bit dizzy, and I needed to leave his presence before I let anything more happen between us. The tall Grounder handed me my arrows and looked sullenly at me; the first expression aside from amused that I had seen ever.

                “Goodbye, then.” I added, before turning around and heading back to the camp. I could feel his eyes boring into my back, as if trying to turn me around. Keeping my head high and my stride confident, I neared the tall, metal walls of the camp and slipped through the gates. Even within the walls,  it seemed as though Bjorn was still looking at me.

                “You look upset.” I heard Nova say.

                I smiled faintly at her, “Half our camp is sick, dying… And we have a war only hours away. A war we cannot win.”

                “Clarke wants everyone to bunk into the drop ship; she doesn’t think the bomb will work.”

                “Her idea?”

                “Bellamy’s.”

                “That seems cowardly, but possibly effective.” I added, “All our sick are in there though…”

                “What difference does it make? Cough up our lungs and blood or be slaughtered.”

                “And they won’t be able to penetrate the steel; it survived the atmosphere and the landing.” I mused to myself.

                “I’ve been collecting everyone.” She said, “Raven left, with the bomb.”

                “Alone?!”

                “Yeah, Jasper took off after her; Finn too.”

                “She has to make it…” I said, though I wondered how true my words really were. What if Bjorn caught her on his way back? What if he killed her, stopped the demolition of the bridge, and the war came to our door step early?

                Nothing could prepare us for what we didn’t know was coming. 

It's funny, people neglect to comment for all these chapters, and boom! Suddenly start commenting when I declare that the Grounder is well loved. Should have spoken up when I posed the questions!