Chapter Text
“You’re doing great,” Wells reassured, linking his arm with Clarke’s. She let out a sigh, before taking another sip of her drink. It was a mistake coming here. She knew it when she agreed to attend. She knew it when she asked Wells to be her moral support. And she knew it as the ship took off, immediately counting down the minutes until she could get off this damn thing.
“Then, why do I feel like shit?” she muttered, still keeping her forced half-smile on her face.
“Because, you decided to attend the engagement party of your ex and the woman he was seeing at the same time as you?” Wells said, eyebrows raised. He had asked her over and over again if she was sure she wanted to come to this. But, she reassured him that this was the right decision. She needed to see Finn one last time, as if to remind herself that she was better off without him. Otherwise, she’d spend the rest of her life wondering.
“Clarke!” Jasper shouted, before jogging past a few guests over to her. He pulled her into a bear hug, which she reluctantly gave into. “What the hell are you doing here?” he asked with a huge smile on his face.
“Finn invited me,” she said, without offering any other explanation. Jasper narrowed his eyes slightly, but luckily, did not press the subject. “Oh, Jasper, this is my best friend Wells. Wells, this is Jasper, a good friend of Finn’s.”
Wells reached out his hand, and Jasper pulled him in for a hug. She looked over at a few of the guests, who were whispering and looking at Jasper. Ah, Clarke realized, Jasper was drunk again.
“I’m so glad you two are here,” Jasper said, blinking a little too much to be sober. “Literally all of Raven’s friends are so stand-offish and none of me and Finn’s friends could make it. I’m so bored.”
Clarke rolled her eyes, genuinely smiling for the first time since she got on this boat half an hour ago. Then, she spotted Finn and Raven out of the corner of her eye. Finn spotted her immediately, widening his eyes as he recognized her, causing Clarke to feel her stomach drop. He probably didn’t think she would actually show up. Or worse, he hoped that she would.
This was Clarke’s first time seeing Raven in person, and she hated to admit that she was just as beautiful as she seemed when Clarke stalked her repeatedly on social media. She was wearing this beautiful flowing green dress, that just looked amazing on her, and Clarke tried her best not to seethe with jealousy.
She took a deep breath, before downing the rest of her drink. Wells waved one of the waitresses over.
A dark-haired girl dressed in black pants and a white button down handed her another glass.
“Thank you,” Clarke said, with a pleading expression on her face. The girl furrowed her eyebrows, glancing around the party and seeing Finn staring at Clarke. She turned back to Clarke, rolling her eyes.
“You can do better,” she said, and Wells started chuckling.
“Oh, I like you,” he said, raising his eyebrows at her.
“I’m Octavia,” she answered, since he was clearly fishing for her name. Clarke patted Wells on the back, reminding him that he was there as her date, and didn’t need to be picking anyone else up tonight. “And that guy over there is a royal douchebag,” she muttered, gesturing over to where Finn was standing with his arm slung around Raven’s waist. The girl turned around again, and another waitress, this one blonder and paler than Octavia, gave her a warning look. Clarke liked her. A bit unprofessional, yes. But, she told it like it was, and she could appreciate that.
Clarke avoided the people that she knew as much as she possibly could. She knew that Raven had no idea who Clarke actually was, only that she and Finn briefly knew each other while working on a fundraiser for the hospital. She didn’t want to start any conversations with Finn’s friends that would reveal too much about the nature of their relationship.
That’s how Clarke found herself listening to this couple’s vicious fight.
“Well, maybe if you hadn’t been drinking so much, you would have remembered check in for our flight when you were supposed to,” the man muttered, trying to keep his voice down. Clarke was standing with a man who went by Wick, watching these two go at it awkwardly.
“Maybe I didn’t want to. It forced us to sit in different places, so I don’t see why you’re complaining,” she snapped, glancing over her shoulder to make sure no one could hear them arguing. He pressed his lips together, before forcing a huge smile and looking over at Clarke.
“Did you have a nice flight here?” he asked, with semi-threatening undertones.
“Roan, leave her out of this,” the woman muttered, and he put his hand up to remind her to shut up.
“I actually drove. I don’t live too far from the docks,” Clarke said shyly, shooting a glance at that Wick guy, begging for any kind of help here.
“Must have been peaceful, driving all by yourself to this damn thing,” he muttered into his drink, and the woman slapped his arm.
“You can go home alone, and then maybe pack a bag for when you leave,” she said before storming off.
“Echo,” he groaned, before quickly following after her. Wick shot Clarke a look, before grabbing two shot glasses a waitress’s tray.
“They sign the divorce papers next week,” he explained, handing Clarke a shot. She took it without hesitating, wondering why the hell those two would still come to this party together when they were getting a divorce.
“Probably for the best,” Clarke muttered, the back of her throat starting to feel on fire from the shot. She went to grab a glass of water, to soothe her throat.
“It should have happened months ago. Literally every event they go to is just like this,” he groaned, and Wells walked up then. He reached out his hand to introduce himself to Wick, and Clarke turned her attention to the rest of the party. Raven was busy talking to a bunch of what looked like her friends, but she didn’t see Finn anywhere. She let out a sigh. That was probably for the best. She didn’t even know what she would say to him if she had to.
The alcohol started to catch up with her, so she left Wick and Wells talking so that she could go find the restroom. She stepped downstairs, walking past the dining room and bedroom. She stepped into what looked like a living room, assuming there would be at least one restroom down there.
All of the engagement presents people brought onboard were in this room, and Clarke had to refrain from rolling her eyes. She imagined they all had cards that talked about how hard and rewarding marriage is, about how it’s a commitment to another person. God, she hoped Finn and Raven could be happy together. But, it’s hard not to be cynical when Finn is in the equation.
Then, as if thinking about him too much summoned him, Finn marched in, apparently for the expressed purpose of seeing Clarke.
“What do you want, Finn?” she asked, crossing her arms.
“You never answered my calls,” was all he said in response, furrowing his eyebrows at her.
“I had nothing to say to you,” she replied curtly, turning her head away from him, looking back over at the stack of presents.
“I need to explain, Clarke,” he said, stepping toward her and grabbing her hand.
“There was nothing to explain. You had a girlfriend, and now you have a fiancée, and I’m very happy for you,” Clarke said with a forced smile, yanking her hand away from him quickly.
Then, thanks to some higher power, the door swung open, causing Finn to jump away from her.
“Uh, Mr. Collins, I believe you are needed upstairs,” a man said, narrowing his eyes at Clarke. Her face turned red, wondering what this stranger was probably thinking about what he walked in on. Nothing had happened, but it probably didn’t look good to have the groom all alone with a woman who was not the bride-to-be.
Finn let out a sigh, shooting Clarke an apologetic look, as if him leaving was somehow hard on her. She struggled not to roll her eyes at how stupid he was, not realizing that him leaving would be the greatest relief she had all night.
“Thank you, Captain Blake,” Finn said, nodding to the man before walking out the door. The man, which Clarke now knew was the captain, stood there, not leaving the room, and shutting the door behind Finn.
“Are you alright?” he asked, narrowing his eyes at Clarke. She let out a breath, staring at the floor, away from his intense gaze. She nodded. They stood there in silence for a few moments, before she finally looked up at him. He was clenching his jaw, looking toward the door Finn just walked out of. He had dark curly hair, that was probably a little long for a man who was apparently a captain. He was much taller than she, which didn’t say much since she was pretty short.
“Well, Miss…?” he said finally, catching Clarke off guard as he looked at her with raised eyebrows.
“Griffin,” she answered, swallowing slightly out of nervousness.
“Miss Griffin, if you need to get away from… anything, tonight, ask any of the staff on board to see me. I have a few places where you can be left alone,” he said, before nodding and walking out the door. Clarke let out a breath, before following him out the door.
Captain Blake had already started powerwalking down the hallway, looking tense even from behind. Clarke let out a sigh and headed toward the stairs.
“Ontari, what the hell are you doing?” she heard him yell as he walked into a room, and Clarke flinched. He had been so calm just moments ago, and was suddenly so angry. It was a bit unnerving.
She finished climbing the stairs and rejoined the party, even though it had a weird atmosphere. Finn and Raven seemed annoyed, as they continued greeting their guests. Clarke scanned the area, looking for Wells, but couldn’t find him anywhere.
She saw Roan, chugging a glass of champagne and slamming it down on the table, before flagging over Octavia to get another. Octavia looked, well, tense, and Clarke had no idea why. The girl probably did a million parties like these every year, she thought to herself.
Clarke couldn’t figure out what it was, but something was very off about this party.
A couple members of the staff powerwalked past her, and she started following them.
“Murphy, slow down,” one of them ordered, grabbing Murphy by the arm. Murphy snapped around and slapped the other guy on the arm.
“Fuck off, Miller,” he muttered, before storming down the stairs. The one that was still there, quickly turned around and brushed past Clarke. She let out a breath, reminding herself that this was none of her business, and forced herself to go back to the party. She was just reading into things so that she didn’t have to think about how horrible she felt being stuck on this boat with Finn, she reminded herself.
She found herself in the back of the boat, alone, which was how she preferred it. The sun was starting to set, and she only had another hour of this damn party to put up with. She took another sip of her champagne, when suddenly she heard the music from the party stop. She put her drink down, confused as to why there was no longer any noise.
Then, there was too much noise. Clarke jumped up as she heard people running, and screaming. She forced herself to take a deep breath before powerwalking over there. Then, she was sprinting.
Finn came rushing to her, dragging her by the hand toward the stairs.
“Wait, where is Wells?” she yelled, refusing to take another step. Finn let out an exasperated breath.
“He’s fine. Come on!” he yelled, pulling Clarke further down the stairs.
“What is going on?”
“There’s a fire,” he explained, as he dragged her toward the lifeboats in the back of the boat, and Clarke looked around frantically. Suddenly, she could smell the smoke.
“Faster!” a man who Clarke had never seen before yelled, gesturing for her and Finn to get on the boat.
“Where is Raven?” Clarke asked Finn, as he pushed her onto the boat.
“She’s on another boat, probably with Wells,” he explained as he climbed in. The other man jumped in behind them.
Then, they heard the sound of glass shattering upstairs and someone screaming. Jasper gripped Clarke’s hand, and she could feel the tears start to flow down her face.
Miller started sprinting down the walkway to the lifeboat, before climbing in.
“Can we not start lowering ourselves?” Finn asked frantically, and Miller started shaking his head.
“We’re still missing three,” he said sternly, and Finn threw his hands up in the air. Clarke forced herself to take a deep breath, and Jasper seemed to be doing the same thing. Everything was going to be okay, she reminded herself. Wells was safely on another other lifeboat, along with everyone else at the party. They were all going to survive. It’s just a little fire, she kept telling herself, hoping that she would eventually start believing it.
The heard the other lifeboats hit the water, which made Clarke’s chest ache with anticipation. They needed to get going, but Miller wasn’t going to let them budge.
Then, three people started coming toward them. One was a man Clarke didn’t recognize, but he was one of the staff. The other two were Captain Blake and that Octavia girl. He was carrying her and she looked badly cut up. It suddenly clicked in Clarke’s head that it was her screams that they heard.
“Monty, is this the rest of them?” Captain Blake asked, as he placed Octavia onto the lifeboat. She immediately slid over to Miller, who started checking her wounds.
“Yes, I just finished the final sweep. Everyone else made it safely off the boat,” the man, apparently named Monty, explained, as he stepped on. Captain Blake turned around to look back at the boat, and let out a sigh, before getting onto the lifeboat and lowering them down.
Jasper was hyperventilating, and Finn had his head tucked between his knees.
“Hands above your head, Jasper,” Clarke whispered, and he reluctantly listened. “In through your nose, out through your mouth. In,” she said, gesturing for him to breathe. “Out.” Finn snapped his head up, following Clarke’s breathing instructions.
Miller and Captain Blake starting steering the lifeboat away from the ship, which Clarke could now see was now almost completely in flames. Her eyes widened, until she remembered that she was the only thing keeping Jasper and Finn from losing it. She focused back on them. “In,” she continued, as it sounded like Jasper was calming down. “Out.”
She turned her head around, looking at Octavia who had several cuts all over her body. “Can I?” she asked, and Octavia started nodding intensely, eyes wide as she watched the ship.
Behind her, Captain Blake was arguing with Monty and Miller, mostly saying things that Clarke couldn’t make sense of. She chose to ignore it, and to focus on the only things she actually knew how to do.
“Octavia, all of these cuts are pretty surface-level,” she reassured, tearing the bottom of her own dress to make a makeshift bandage for the larger cut on her upper arm. “I don’t think the glass did any permanent damage.”
“You sure you know what you’re talking about?” the man Clarke didn’t know snapped.
“Lincoln, Clarke’s a fucking doctor. Chill,” Finn snapped, and Lincoln’s eyes widened.
“You’re Clarke?” he asked, with a slight growl in his tone. Clarke looked back at Finn with a confused expression, and he started shaking his head.
“Enough!” Captain Blake yelled, causing everyone’s head to snap in his direction. “Miss Griffin, is my sister going to be okay?” he asked, slightly gentler, and Clarke let out a breath and nodded, turning her attention back to wrapping the fabric around Octavia’s arm. “Then, let’s get back to the task at hand,” he muttered, before spewing off a few orders to Monty and Miller.
“Thank you,” Octavia whispered, and Clarke tried to force a smile.
“I can’t see the other lifeboats,” Jasper said quietly, and Clarke looked up. There was too much smoke to really see anything clearly, which wasn’t exactly ideal if they were going to be rescued. Octavia turned her head as well, but in the opposite direction, furrowing her eyebrows. Clarke followed her eyes to the sky behind her, looking at the dark clouds that were moving toward them.
“Bell,” Octavia said with a warning tone.
“What?” he snapped, turning around. Then, they all looked over at the clouds in silence for one moment.
“Captain, what do we do?” Miller asked, and everyone held their breath as they waited for a response.
“Brace yourselves,” he practically whispered, before launching out orders to Miller and Monty. “Miss Griffin, keep him calm,” he ordered, pointing to Jasper.
Jasper started hyperventilating again, and Clarke rushed back over toward him, reminding him to take deep breaths. Lincoln and Finn jumped up to help the others. Octavia joined Clarke in holding Jasper’s hand, and Clarke could see a few tears stream out of the girl’s face. She looked out into the water, wondering where Wells’ lifeboat was, and if everyone else had gotten to safety in time. She wondered if the crew radioed for help before they jumped onto the lifeboat.
And she wondered if she was going to die on this lifeboat.