A Friend In Need

[Monty Green]

Things at Mount Weather had gone from bad to worse for Monty and his friends, there was a big difference between knowing that the mountain men were bleeding grounders and being strapped down and having someone drill into your bones to get to your bone marrow. Monty hadn't been in the cage for long before Jasper had arrived with President Wallace and rescued himself and Harper. Harper hadn't been so lucky, Monty didn't know how many times they'd drilled into her, but from how weak she was, he figured a lot. Now they'd been locked inside their room, he didn't know why when earlier they'd been given the all clear from the President that they could go home to their people, but whatever the reason was, they all knew that it wouldn't be good.

Monty was sitting on his bed, staring at the closed doors as if he could magically make them open, it definitely felt like they were prisoners now, even if it hadn't before. He couldn't help but feel like they should've listened to Clarke, she'd been right about Mount Weather all along but they'd foolishly thought that it was safe, that they were finally safe. Getting to his feet, he noticed that Harper was lying in her own bed, he felt a little guilty for leaving her alone, she needed rest but he'd seen exactly what they'd done to her in that room and he knew that the memories wouldn't leave her that quickly. Crossing over to one of the tables, he poured out a cup of water from the jug that was sitting there, it wasn't exactly fresh but it was still good to drink, especially when they had nothing else in the room that was fit to quench their thirst. Walking back over to Harper's bed, he reached up and put a hand on the bars as he looked up at her "I thought you might be thirsty" he muttered the words and he lifted the cup up a little to show her what his intentions were. She'd been in the cage longer than he had been and he didn't even know if they'd given her food or water whilst she was there, he doubted it and as her friend it was his job to look after her if she couldn't look after herself.

@harpermcintyre

[Deleted]

This is my Fight Song --TAKE BACK MY LIFE SONG, PROVE I'M ALRIGHT SONG Harper's eyes hurt from crying. She hadn't been crying since she had been rescued, with all the others around and in view she didn't want to look weak. Yes, she had been drilled into so many times and she had been sure that she was going to die each and every time yet she didn't want to cry in front of the others. She had cried a lot when she had been taken though, throughout the screaming and the pain and throughout a lot of her time when stuck in a cage. When she hadn't been passed out from the pain and the exhaustion, she had been crying. It had been a while since she had stopped but her eyes still felt raw and dry. It was easier to focus on that pain than the rest of it she felt. She definitely did not want to think about what had happened to her. She was happy about the fact that everyone there was ignoring her because it meant that she didn't need to think about it. No one was asking her questions and no one was expecting her to tell them much. They knew about the cages and the drilling thanks to Monty and she had been able to lay on her bed and do nothing else. In a way though, that wasn't what she wanted. She couldn't sleep knowing that they were now locked in the room with no where to go and she had no distraction from her own thoughts because everyone had been talking quietly away from her, as if not to disturb her. She lifted her head to see Monty walking towards her with a cup. She smiled at the sight of him. It wasn't much of a smile, just the corner of her lips pulling up the smallest bit. It was the best she could do with how she felt. "I am," she said. "Thank you." With a small groan of pain, she moved to adjust her pillow to prop her head up so she could drink. It sent pain down her body, flaring at the points where she had been drilled into. She did her best to hide the pain from her face. Monty Green || I actually can't imagine how much pain she'd be in. Wasn't like she had any sort of painkillers. MAKE HER HAPPY, MONTY

[Monty Green]

Monty winced as he heard the pain filled sound escape from his friend and lifted the cup to her lips so that she wouldn't have to put any effort into holding the cup herself. If just the slightest of movements caused her so much pain, he hated to think how much it would hurt if she tried to walk in her current state. "How are you feeling?" the question was stupid, he knew that she couldn't be feeling too good, especially after everything she'd been through, but that was the question that got asked whenever somebody was ill or injured. The fact that she was at least trying to smile gave Monty hope that maybe she was feeling at least a tiny bit better than she'd felt earlier. Admittedly, it was nice to see Harper smiling again, especially after what they'd done to her, Monty could still hear her screams, even though he'd like to forget about everything that had happened in that room completely.

He felt confident that physically Harper would recover if they made it out of Mount Weather alive, psychologically it might be a different story, he didn't know how deeply having her body drilled into and her bone marrow taken, had affected her but it definitely hadn't been a walk in the park. "I'd offer to get you something to eat but we're running a little short on cake now" he tried to smile, to crack a joke and make light of their situation but there wasn't a lot to laugh about, not anymore when it seemed as though every second could be their last. "Don't worry, Jasper's got a plan... We're getting out of here" making empty promises seemed like the best thing he could do at the moment, offer her false reassurance to at least ease her mind. Monty trusted Jasper, he didn't exactly know what the plan was, or even if there was a plan but he knew that he trusted Jasper and that was enough for now.

@harpermcintyre

[Deleted]

This is my Fight Song --TAKE BACK MY LIFE SONG, PROVE I'M ALRIGHT SONG Harper was thankful as Monty raised the cup to her lips so she could drink from it. After moving to prop her head up, she didn't feel like she would have had much strength to be holding the cup herself. If Monty had given her the cup, rather than helping her to drink, she would have taken it and done her best to look as if she were fine with that. However, she was happy she hadn't had to do that. The water was warm but it offered instant relief from the aching of her swollen and dry throat. She had teared it apart from her screaming. For that reason, she was surprised by the fact that she could even manage to talk. "I'm feeling great, thanks for asking," Harper said, her voice feeling stronger from the water. Even with it all, Harper was able to use sarcasm. All the pain might even make her more likely to use sarcasm, she thought. Because when something bad happened, people tended to be more likely to say stupid things. But then, she appreciated the question, not because of what it was but because it meant that Monty was trying and that he cared. At Monty's joke, Harper couldn't find herself able to laugh. It was funny, that was true, and a part of her did want to laugh but she just couldn't get herself to. Too much of her didn't feel up to it and another part of her even worried about how it might hurt to do something that used a lot of muscles like laughing did. There was also the fact that a thought ran through her head, one wondering whether she would even get another chance to eat again in her lifetime. They could die any second there, with the doors locked and no way of escaping, they would all end up being drilled into until they died. Harper felt herself freezing up at that thought, not at the one of death but at the thought of being drilled into again. The thought of having to live through that pain even one more time. She couldn't imagine living through it again, she would rather die. Harper didn't feel much confidence at Monty mentioning that Jasper had a plan. "The mastermind has another plan," she said, not sounding pleased, "Somehow I don't know how even he could get us out of here." At the end of her comment, the words got stuck in her throat and she coughed. As she didn't want to cough in Monty's direction, she tried both to turn her head and move her hand to cover her mouth. The movements caused her pain, making her wince obviously after the coughing finished. The last time that Jasper had had a plan, Harper had been put on watch duty and gotten taken. She couldn't be blamed if she didn't trust Jasper at that point. Although she knew that Monty would still trust Jasper, she couldn't imagine a scenario where Monty wouldn't trust Jasper. "More water, please," Harper said, painfully turning her head so that she was again looking at Monty. Monty Green || Hmm, she doesn't seem to be in the best mood. xD

[Monty Green]

Monty didn't appreciate Harper's sarcasm but he could understand that after everything she'd been through, she wouldn't be in the best mood. "I'm just trying to be nice" he muttered gently, it wasn't like he was purposefully trying irritate her. He was surprised that she was still awake, even he felt like taking a nap and they'd barely touched him compared to Harper, she must be tired and yet she was awake. It wasn't easy to sleep in their current situation, but when you got tired enough you could sleep pretty much anywhere, at least that's what he'd found. "You should rest..." he voiced his thoughts, hoping that she wouldn't ignore his concern, she'd be of more use to them when they attempted to escape if she was rested anyway.

Harper didn't laugh at his joke and honestly he didn't know what he'd been expecting, had he expected her to laugh? Maybe, but he didn't blame her for not laughing, Monty only cracked jokes because there wasn't much else he could do. Trying to lighten the mood and cheer people up was a start, it wasn't much but at least he was trying "It wasn't that funny anyway, I guess" keeping Harper company was usually pretty fun, she was a good friend but when she was in a bad mood sometimes it was best to avoid her, sometimes she could be a little scary if he was honest but he also wasn't going to leave her alone, he'd put up with her sarcasm and if she started with the harsh comments then he'd put up with that too. He had tough skin, he could handle it.

Monty had faith in Jasper, he trusted his friend to get them out of the mess that they were in, Harper didn't seem to trust him as much and wasn't quiet about voicing this. "Jasper's my friend, he's yours too, at least he's trying to find a way out of this" that was more than could be said about most of the other kids, they were just content to sit back and wait for somebody else to come up with the escape plan, nobody else wanted to take charge of the situation. When Harper started coughing, Monty's hand hovered over her in concern, he could see the look of pain on her face showing him that movement still caused her pain. He lifted the cup to her lips again at her request "where does it hurt?" he asked her, wishing that he had something he could give her to relieve her pain but of course he had nothing.

@harpermcintyre

[Deleted]

This is my Fight Song --TAKE BACK MY LIFE SONG, PROVE I'M ALRIGHT SONG Monty's muttered reply did make Harper feel bad. She felt like shit, there was no reason for her to be more polite about phrasing it, but she was still grateful for the fact that Monty was here and willing to be helpful in any way that he could. Her automatic sarcasm, and worse, that came with her bad moods wasn't meant to hurt other people even if they still sort of did hurt people sometimes. But she was emotional enough from everything that she felt the need to make sure that Monty knew she was grateful. Although she might have felt more like being sarcastic than doing the nice thing, if she were to be honest. "Sorry," Harper simply said, her voice quiet. If she scared Monty away in her pain, she would regret it later. She knew that, especially with how her feelings had been growing for him.  With Monty's next comment, Harper frowned. Rest was not something that she was going to get. At that stage, she felt as if she would never be able to rest again in her life. With the mountain men likely to come and take her back to get drilled again - she shuddered at that though, the movement shooting some more pain through her body - she couldn't imagine herself living for much longer anyway. It was becoming more and more difficult for Harper to find any hope. The way Monty stood strong, kind, and hopeful; Harper was partly in awe and partly wondered if the boy had lost his mind. "How could I sleep?" she asked. Her voice was clear but it dropped down at her next comment. She felt self-conscious about any of the others hearing. "We could be taken and killed at any moment. I don't want to die, Monty."  As sad as Harper felt, she wasn't going to let it be obvious to any on-lookers. It was one thing for Monty to see how she felt, another for the others. With her comment out in the open, Harper forced the frown off her lips and out of her eyes. While she couldn't find a way to really smile, she could look neutral enough and that was the best she would get with the pain that she had. Monty's joke. So, Monty's joke had been funny. At least, Harper would have normally laughed and let him think it was. If she hadn't been in so much pain. "It really wasn't." Harper tried to put some humor in her voice and she hoped it worked. It was hard to do too much positive with her face, hard to find the energy and reason to. "I'm sure if we volunteered for drilling they would give us cake." That was the closest she could get to a smile, cracking a joke herself. And she was thankful that she still had her voice. After the coughing fit, Harper was happy find Monty agreeing to her request and lifting the cup again up to her lips. She took a generous drink of the water, letting the liquid coat her mouth and her throat. It felt like it could sink down into her body and cover the pain as well, that was how good it felt to drink. The pain stayed when the cup was pulled away from her lips but her cough didn't and that was all she could expect. Feeling like she could speak again, she frowned and thought of the best way to describe her pain. "Everywhere. Like it wasn't just parts of me that were drilled but every part of me." Even as Harper said that, she felt stupid. "My leg and my side, the places where they drilled, those are the worst. But I think my body is just tired too." That sounded less stupid, she thought. And from there she went back to the subject of Jasper the mastermind. "He's our friend, yeah," Harper agreed. Harper wasn't happy with Jasper, she couldn't find it in herself to trust him but she wouldn't go as far to say that he wasn't her friend. He would have to do something to directly hurt her for her to feel like that, she wasn't in so much pain to be that cruel. Saying that, she might have even been kinder about trusting him if it weren't for the pain that she was in. And that was really just it: pain. It was all her thoughts went back to, all her senses could focus on. In every second moment it felt like that was all that existed. Harper had no idea how she would make it through whatever they needed to do to get out. "Still doesn't mean I trust him to get us out." Maybe they would be lucky, maybe Clarke would come to get them out. Maybe Bellamy would. She could hope at least. Monty Green || I feel like this post is all over the place so I hope it's fine.

[Monty Green]

Monty felt guilty when he heard her apologise, he felt guilty that he'd made her feel like she needed to apologise for what she said after everything she'd been through. There had been times in his life when he was sick and he just felt like being an asshole to the people around him because he wasn't feeling well. In a way, Harper was sick and she had the right to be completely unwelcoming if she wanted to be "No, I'm sorry... I'm not the best at making people feel better when they're sick" he wasn't the best at offering support to people when they needed it but he was trying, he wanted to have his friend back and he knew that this wasn't really her, she was just in a lot of pain. At her words he turned to face the only door in the room, it was the only thing that kept them from escaping their prison and finding their way back to their own people. "We're not gonna die" he muttered, turning back to face her again as he offered what he hoped was a reassuring smile. "We're gonna get out of here, I won't let them take you" he brought a hand up to touch her forearm gently, not wanting to cause her pain when he knew that she was probably aching all over from being drilled.

"It really wasn't" Monty chuckled at her words "I knew you didn't find my jokes funny" Harper usually laughed at his jokes but for a while he'd had his suspicions about whether or not her humour was genuine or if it was just an act to make him feel better and make him think that he was actually funny. Jasper had always been the funny one, Monty had just tagged along and tried to learn from his friend. Smiling he played along with her joke "oh yeah, totally... Why don't we go turn ourselves in now and grab a slice of cake for the road?" that cake was delicious, Monty would admit that but he wouldn't go as far as saying that he'd turn himself in for a slice. He valued his life a lot more than he valued a slice of cake. "Maybe when we get out of here we can make our own cake?" he suggested, he didn't know how to make cake and didn't think they'd have any ingredients to make a cake but it was good to talk about having a future, as if they'd get out of Mount Weather alive and find their families.

Monty hated knowing that Harper was in so much pain, the fact that she described it as being everywhere didn't do anything to reassure him either. He wanted to take her pain away but he couldn't because he wasn't a doctor and they had no medicine in their room anyway. "When we get out of here, the doctors will fix you up, they'll have something to make you more comfortable" he couldn't think of anything else to say to her regarding her pain. Nothing he could say would take her pain away, she needed proper medicine, all he had to give her was water and that would only keep her hydrated and it wouldn't take her pain away. There was reason to be concerned at their situation, the mountain men had the upper hand and they had no food, very little water and no medical supplies to help the people like Harper that were injured but Monty did believe that Jasper could get them out. He had his doubts, but it took a lot for him to give up on his friend "Well who else is there?! We have to do this ourselves" Monty didn't believe that anyone was coming for them, he didn't think that anyone would be able to get inside the mountain without help and he definitely didn't know anyone who would willingly put their community in danger by letting outsiders in.

@harpermcintyre

[Deleted]

This is my Fight Song --TAKE BACK MY LIFE SONG, PROVE I'M ALRIGHT SONG When Monty apologised, Harper felt unsure of what to do. The apology just continued to feed her own guilt and made her want to then apologise again back to him. But what good would that do? She didn't have the energy to get into a full blown argument about who should have been feeling the worst right then and she knew that it would lead to that with how generally grumpy she was feeling. Harper had all the reason to feel grumpy, she didn't have one reason to feel grumpy towards Monty. He hadn't done one thing wrong, he was just doing his best to help her. Harper did feel thankful for that and the last thing she wanted was to scare him away. There were a lot of people in that room, a lot who were her friends, but it was Monty there willing to take her snapped comments and then apologise as if it were his fault. She felt her eyes become moist and she quickly blinked, trying to get rid of the tears before they could fall from her eyes. Monty's hand on her forearm felt warm and comforting. Harper wanted nothing more in that moment than to be wrapped in his arms, warm and safe. If that were possible without causing her more pain, she would have jumped down from the bed and hugged him first. That would have to wait, however, as she could hardly move herself at all without pain. "We could die though," she simply told him back. His smile wasn't reassuring, just fake, and Harper couldn't find it in herself to believe that they would make it out of the mountain alive. There was a part of her that almost wished she had died in the last round of drilling so she wouldn't have to experience that pain again. That was what her biggest fear was in that moment: more drilling. Death seemed like an easy way out. "But thank you," she eventually said, her voice still sounding sad. In a surprising feat, Harper actually found herself giving a small laugh at Monty proclaiming that he knew about her not finding his jokes funny. Of course she would find the energy to laugh at that but not his actual joke. "Of course I find them funny, Monty!" There was nothing serious to her tone. She managed to continue a smile as Monty added on to her own joke, wishing she could stand up and start walking towards the door to make him laugh. But she couldn't, of course. It was Monty's next comment that had her smile again fading from her face and the tears pooling in her eyes yet again. Talking about things they could do once they got out of Mount Weather, Monty really held hope that they weren't going to die. If they did make it out of there, Harper was sure she would never want to eat cake again but there were definitely other things that she would want to do. Spending more time with Monty was definitely one of those things, even taking him out on a date... But Harper didn't want to think about that. She didn't want to think about the possibilities that there could be. The last thing she wanted was to get her hopes up, especially when it came to her growing feelings about Monty, when any one of them could die. Harper needed to keep her hope though so when the inevitable happened, it didn't leave her heart ripped from her chest. When Monty made the comment about how the doctors would fix her up once they got out, all Harper could think was that it was more hope. She frowned at him and found that was a lot easier than smiling. Really, she didn't need that. She didn't want that. The fact that he used "when" and not "if" said it all to Harper, told her that Monty held complete trust in Jasper to get them out. Maybe Monty wasn't the person that Harper should have been talking to. Obviously he was there trying to make her feel better, to do all he could to help her get through her pain and this situation but Harper was beginning to feel like she was going to just end up destroying his hopes and making him feel as down as she felt. He didn't need to feel like she did. As much as she didn't hold hope of her own, she also didn't want to destroy hope that any of the other's held. She wasn't that sort of person and she enjoyed seeing the others hopeful and happy in the way that she wasn't. Lucky them that they could feel that way. "I have no idea," Harper said. And she didn't. The only hope she did hold was that someone might break into the mountain to break them out but that was such a small chance, something so impossible that she could never really expect for it to happen. Monty held his hope in something more realistic, Harper held the small hope she had in something impossible. It was really no surprise that they held such differing views on if they were going to make it out alive or not. No surprise at all. Until Harper saw something practical, something that looked like it would work, she wasn't going to join Monty on the trusting Jasper train. If something practical came about that she could see possibly working, then her mind might change but for then, she was sure death was her best option in it all.  Monty Green || It's long but there isn't too much dialogue.

[Monty Green]

Monty didn’t expect Harper to be the most optimistic person in the world at that moment, she’d just been drilled into for her bone marrow and was still weak from that experience. He’d noticed that she wasn’t acting like her usual self but he didn’t expect her to be, not after what she’d been through. He just wished that she was a little more optimistic and saw that there was a chance that somebody would attempt to rescue them. If she could believe that they’d actually get out of Mount Weather alive, it might make things easier for her. Monty didn’t think she’d start to hope until she saw solid proof that somebody was planning to rescue them… If anyone was actually coming, there was always the possibility that they’d be forgotten about, thrown aside because of their crimes on the Ark, despite the promise to pardon them.

“We could die…” Monty admitted eventually, knowing that there was always the possibility that they would die “but we could’ve died when the grounders attacked us back at the dropship and we didn’t” it just seemed like everything on earth was trying to kill them. They’d managed to escape the grounders, only to end up in Mount Weather which didn’t seem as though it was any safer. “Thank you? For what?” he questioned her, confused about what she was thanking him for, he didn’t think that he’d done anything to deserve her thanks, as far as he could tell, all he’d done was do a great job at irritating her and trying to convince her that they would get out of their situation alive, even when he could make no such promise.

It didn’t matter to him if she didn’t find him funny, he was just trying to make her laugh and put a smile on her face, maybe cheer her up a little. He smiled when he heard her laughter and found that he didn’t even really care that it wasn’t as a result of his actual joke. “Sure you do, that’s why they make you double over with laughter” he joked, the sarcasm obvious in his voice. It had been too long since he’d heard her laugh and he’d rather see her laughing than watch her cry. The pain that she’d been put through had reduced her to tears and it hurt him to see her like that. If he could make her laugh, even just for a second then his bad jokes would be worth it.

“Jasper is smart, I trust him and so should you” he muttered, knowing that while his friend might sometimes act like an idiot, he was smart. He trusted Jasper with his life, Harper might not be willing to do the same, but she didn’t know Jasper like he did. “He got us out of those cages, he saved our lives, he saved your life” she wouldn’t have survived much longer if they’d continued to take her bone marrow and they both knew it. Jasper had saved them, if he hadn’t earned their trust from that, then he never would.

@harpermcintyre

[Deleted]

This is my Fight Song --TAKE BACK MY LIFE SONG, PROVE I'M ALRIGHT SONG When Monty finally seemed to agree with Harper, admitting that they could die...Harper didn't know how to feel. She had spent all that time there basically trying to convince him of her point of view, fighting back against every positive thing he said to her. Yet when she heard him say those words, her heart broke just the smallest bit. As much as she wasn't going to let Monty get her hopes up for nothing, she didn't want to completely break Monty's hopes. But Monty continued, not ending his sentence there and Harper felt a breath leave her lips, one she must have been holding. "That's true," she said quickly, in that relief of knowing she hadn't broken Monty's hope. They hadn't died back at the dropship but this was so much of a worse situation, they were trapped in a giant bunker with no way of escaping. Harper would rather be fighting grounders again. "For dealing with grumpy me," Harper told him. She had all the reasons to thank him, many more times than she already had. He was talking the hard job, the one that involved arguing against her in attempts to bring her hope. While she was normally the type of person who might actually take up that hope, she liked to be hopeful, it was near impossible with the situation she was in. Finding hope after going through the pain she went through, it was impossible. Especially with how much hope she had held in first finding Mount Weather. It had seemed like such a perfect place. "You're the friend I don't deserve," she added, a weak smile on her face. The friend she had begun to think could be something more but would probably never be. Not with this. There was hardly a chance either of them would make it out alive, let alone both of them. The topic of his jokes was something she was happy to have being mentioned. Moving out of the negative talk, not because she was sick of it but because she really didn't want to leave Monty feeling as hopeless as her. Talking about his horrible jokes was a safe subject, the worst she could do was hurt his feelings a bit in letting him know they weren't really that funny. "Maybe you don't notice but I'm always doubled over in laughter at your jokes," Harper said back, sarcasm thick in her own voice. As she smiled now, it felt a lot more genuine that any of the other smiles she had given Monty so far. A smile full of humor and playfulness, something that was more natural to her face. If only that smile could stay on her face. If only the topic of Jasper and their escape didn't pull it right back away again. Not that it would have lasted too long anyway, the effort put into it a little bit too much for how she was feeling but still, she wished it could have stayed a bit longer before Jasper came up again. "But he was also the reason for me being in the cage," Harper countered back, not able to drop the fact that if she hadn't been put on watch, she would have never been in that position at all. She would have never been put through that pain. "I know you trust Jasper, Monty," she told him, "But I can't and I'm sorry." She paused, coughing for a moment and cringing back at the pain it brought her. There was a bit of a croak to her voice as she spoke again. "I can't feel hopeful about this." Monty Green || This post is a relatively short. XD

[Monty Green]

Monty couldn’t help the smile that appeared on his face at her words, Harper wasn’t being the most positive of people at that moment but he’d seen people in worse moods. “You’re not that grumpy” he muttered in an attempt to reassure her “you’ve got a right to be grumpy, I’d be concerned if you were in a good mood after everything that’s happened” she was hurting, he wasn’t going to tell her to cheer up or say that she should be in a good mood because being happy in their current situation was impossible. He could do hopeful, but happy was something else, he couldn’t do happy when there was a real possibility that they could die. It was easy to hope for more, to stay optimistic and look at the positives but nobody was actually happy with their situation. “Everyone deserves friends” he argued when she said that she didn’t deserve his friendship “everyone deserves good friends, friends are supposed to be there for you when you need them and I want to help you get through this” he wasn’t just there because he had to be, there were a million other places where he might be more useful at that moment but Harper needed someone to be there for her at that moment and Monty wanted to be that person.

“Oh really? No, I never noticed” he chuckled as she said that she was always doubled over in laughter at his jokes, he could hear the sarcasm but he thought that continuing the joke would be better than dropping it. Now that they were talking about jokes, she was actually smiling and he’d never thought that he’d be able to get a smile out of her at that moment, not a genuine smile like this one seemed to be. “My jokes aren’t that bad, are they?” he ran a hand through his hair as he laughed at his own question. He knew that they weren’t the best, but attempting to crack a joke was better than looking at everything seriously all the time and even if somebody laughed at how terrible they were, at least they’d be laughing.

When the smile disappeared from her face, Monty felt guilty that he’d been the one to take it away from her by bringing up Jasper again, but he couldn’t stay silent when somebody was talking badly about his brother, he had to defend him. “He couldn’t have known that you’d be taken though” Monty argued “it wasn’t his fault that you got put in that cage” he couldn’t help but think that Harper was just looking for somebody to blame for the pain that she’d been through and he could understand why she’d picked Jasper to be that person but he couldn’t understand why she didn’t just blame the people who were actually responsible for it. “Fine, if you don’t trust Jasper then trust me” he told her “I told you that we’re getting out of here and I meant it, they’re not going to touch you again, I promise” it was a promise he couldn’t really keep, he didn’t know what was going to happen but he had to try and he knew that he never wanted Harper to experience the pain of the drilling again and he’d do everything that he could to keep her from experiencing it again.

@harpermcintyre

[Deleted]

This is my Fight Song --TAKE BACK MY LIFE SONG, PROVE I'M ALRIGHT SONG It was hard to say just how glad Harper was that the person who was with her right now was Monty and not someone else. He was dealing with her so well, keeping as positive as she could never be and even continuing on to lessen her guilt when she apologised. How had she come to get such a good friend? She found it hard to really believe that he was as a good as he seemed to be and in a way, she wanted to push him, to get to that point where he would fail her. Because everyone would fail her. Jasper had failed in being the mastermind, leading her into this pain. The Ark had failed her, in causing her to spend years waiting for her eventual death. Even her parents had, so unready for her existence and not able to look after her in how she had needed them to. All she wanted now was to be what people needed her to be, and all she was was injured, grumpy and unable to do anything but rest and complain. Hearing Monty say he wanted to help her get through this, knowing that he did mean it, Harper's heart swelled. Ignoring the pain that she felt, she reached out her hand to take hold of his and slid her fingers between his. His hand was warm and comforting, and she felt like she needed now, and hoped he wouldn't pull away from the touch. "Still don't deserve you," she said, but this time there was a hint of playfulness to her tone. Deep down, the words rang true, but on the surface, she wanted him there and around her and didn't want him to run off anytime soon. "Thank you," she repeated, meeting his gaze and forcing the best smile she could onto her face. Maybe as time ran on she would be able to ignore the pain and push past it to actually do things. It would be a miracle. "They aren't that bad," Harper told Monty, answering the question about his jokes. The easy topic of jokes in a conversation that had began to feel like an emotional roller coaster was something that Harper definitely needed. Her lit up as she spoke again. "I think I could tell a better joke, though," she said, having to pause before actually telling said joke as her voice croaked and failed. She asked Monty for more water and told the joke once she had drank some. "Knock knock," she began, waiting for him to reply with the expected response. These jokes were old but still they got told. "Boo." As she waited for his response, half sure he would have heard the joke before, or that he could work out what it was going to be, she still smiled. It would be a bit of humor for her either way. Humor was a lot better than the topic of Jasper and hope and trust. Because those three words shouldn't ever be put together. What Monty said was logical and it made sense but Harper didn't want to accept them. Yeah, Jasper didn't know that would happen to her but his stupid plan still was the reason that she had gotten taken. It was the reason this whole thing had happened. Now they were sitting around waiting for more of them to be taken. For them all to be killed. I don't know how you can promise that, Harper thought but she couldn't manage to say out loud. She may not have trusted Jasper but she did trust Monty, at least enough that she wanted to believe him no matter how unbelievable his claim was. He couldn't protect her, no one could even protect themselves, let alone each other. So instead of answering she squeezed his hand and met his gaze again. Monty Green