Chapter Text
Waiting for Octavia to get off of work so she and Bellamy could meet up with Lincoln for introductory drinks was exactly what he didn’t want to be doing. There were so many other things he’d rather do, books he could read, blondes he could take out. But when that one, particular blonde sent him a text, he smiled. It was just a simple text asking if they were still on for the following night, but seeing her name pop up on his screen made him genuinely happy.
He sent her a quick text back, saying yes, they were on, and that he couldn’t wait. He almost fell out of his seat when he heard someone’s phone ding behind him. He was sitting at a table in the café with his back to the door and there was Clarke, reading his text with a small smile on her face as she moved toward the front of the line without paying much attention to her surroundings.
Bellamy stood up as quietly and carefully as he could, getting right behind her as she typed out her response. “Who are you texting? Is he dreamy? I bet he’s dreamy,” he said, leaning toward her and she nearly dropped her phone in surprise—and terror. The look on her face was priceless until she realized who was whispering in her ear and then, she laughed.
“Oh my god,” she said, turning toward him to slap him in the chest. “You’re an ass.”
“I know,” he shrugged, grabbing her wrist before her hand could fall back to her side. “And how are you?” His voice fell an octave and she stepped closer to him. He almost kissed her right then, but he stopped himself, not sure if they were at that point.
“Tired,” she sighed, fingers clutching the shirt on his chest as her eyes moved over his outfit. “You look good in your teacher clothes.”
“They’re the same as my normal clothes,” he laughed and she shook her head.
“You have a tie on,” she pointed out, bringing her other hand up to run her fingers over it. Bellamy sucked in a breath. “Anyway, how are you?”
“I’m okay,” he shrugged and she tilted her head in a silent question. “I’ve got to go meet Octavia’s boyfriend.”
Clarke nodded in understanding and he finally let go of her wrist to scratch the back of his neck, but she didn’t take her hand off of him. He didn’t hate it. “That will be fun. You going out for drinks?”
“Yeah,” he nodded and she smiled before looking over her shoulder. Bellamy followed her line of sight and they both noticed Octavia watching them with amused interest. “Ignore her,” he said and Clarke laughed before dropping her hand.
“Well, I should let you go,” she said, tucking her hair behind her ears. “She looks like she’s ready to leave and you’ve got places to go and boyfriends to intimidate.”
“That I do,” he smiled and she laughed again. As Octavia walked from behind the counter, Clarke stood on her toes and pressed a kiss to his cheek.
“Have fun,” she said softly and he nodded, smiling.
“Come with us,” Octavia said and Bellamy shot her a look. “We’re just going for drinks. You should come.”
“That’s okay,” Clarke promised, looking down at her scrubs and sensible shoes. “I’m beat. Plus, your brother’s seen enough of me the last few days.”
“Believe me, he likes it,” Octavia said and Bellamy sighed, grabbing her wrist to pull her toward the door. “We should hang out sometime, though. The four of us.”
“There’s only three of us,” Bellamy corrected her and she rolled her eyes, earning a laugh from Clarke.
“Lincoln, idiot,” Octavia said and he sighed again. He’d forgotten about him for a second.
He looked at Clarke with one hand on the door and the other still around his sister’s wrist. “I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?” He said and she nodded happily.
“Can’t wait,” she promised and he smiled before he and Octavia were on the sidewalk.
“You didn’t tell me you were seeing that girl,” Octavia accused him, wrenching her wrist out of his grasp.
“We went out last night. I didn’t know she’d be here. I was going to tell you tonight since the two of you really seemed to hit it off the other day in my absence,” he promised and Octavia smiled.
“I like her,” she said.
“Yeah, I do too.”
--
On her way down to the lobby of her building, Clarke stopped at a mirror near the stairs and checked her hair and makeup. She’d had a long day and when she got home from work, she looked like a mess. After a hot shower, she had to reapply and restyle. She looked better, she felt better, and she was excited to hang out with Bellamy again. Seeing him for the sixth day in a row was kind of crazy. She hadn’t even seen her friends that much since she’d started med school. But it was only their second date; every other day was just coincidence.
He was waiting inside this time, looking down at his feet while a new doorman stared him down. She smiled first at him, felt in her pocket for the note from her dad, and then continued her walk toward Bellamy. He looked up with a smile when he heard her coming and she stopped in front of him and kissed him.
She could tell he was surprised, but his hands found purchase on her waist and he pulled her closer as his lips began to move against hers. Clarke was slightly disappointed the night before when she ran into him and he didn’t kiss her. She understood it—they’d only been on one date and they hadn’t quite reached that level—but she wasn’t going to let him get away with it again. And he didn’t seem to mind as his hand began to roam lower around her back until it almost slipped into the back pocket of her jeans. It was then she knew she had to pull away before they went any further and the doorman got an eyeful.
“Hi,” he breathed when she dropped her hands to his shoulders and took a step back. He licked his lips and she almost catapulted herself against him again.
“Hi,” she smiled and he let out a deep breath. “Sorry about that.”
“Don’t be,” he said quickly and she laughed. “Seriously. Never apologize for that.”
“I just really wanted to do that,” she admitted. Her hands drifted lower to rest on his chest and her eyes ran down his face to pause at his lips before moving lower until she noticed what he was wearing. “Nice tie,” she quipped and he laughed, licking his lips again.
“Well, I aim to please,” he said and she smiled, stepping back from him completely.
“I appreciate that.” She offered him her hand and he took it with an easy smile. They walked outside together and she led them down the sidewalk. “How was Octavia’s boyfriend?”
“Annoyingly perfect,” he seethed and she laughed, looking over at him.
“Isn’t that a good thing?” She asked. He sighed and shrugged. She reached for his bicep with her free hand and pulled herself closer to him. “Do you want him to be terrible?”
“I just wanted a reason to hate him,” he admitted. Clarke laughed, shaking her head, and he rolled his eyes. “I didn’t find one other than the fact he’s dating my sister.”
“The more you talk like this, the happier I am I’m an only child,” she teased and he finally smiled. He nodded and Clarke could tell he knew just how he sounded.
“So, where are we headed?” He asked, thankful for a valid excuse to change the subject, she was sure.
“Well, I was going to take you back to the bar, but Monty and Jasper are there and you really dodged the bullet the other night,” she promised. “They ask a lot of questions. Don’t get me wrong, they mean well, but it’d be a lot for a second date.”
“Okay,” he laughed. “Then where are you taking me instead?”
“It’s called a surprise, Bellamy,” she sighed playfully. She was hoping answering his first question by not answering it at all would be enough. She should have known. He was smarter than that.
“Fine,” he laughed. He kissed her temple, just like he had during their first date, and she breathed contentedly. She could get used to the small moments of affection, the strong hands wrapped protectively around hers, and the feeling she got in her stomach when he looked at her.
She stopped in front of her favorite art museum. It was one of the smaller ones in the city and she always felt so at peace when she was inside. She’d been dying to go see their newest exhibit—art depicting Ancient Rome—and she knew Bellamy would appreciate it even if he wasn’t a fan of art.
“Okay, color me surprised,” he said blandly and she shoved him away with her hip before turning toward him and pulling him closer. “Are you here to murder and then skin me?”
She laughed and shook her head. She knew what he meant. The museum was just a small, white brick building. There was no window in the door, no name above it; all there was were a set of numbers for the building’s address. “I promise,” she said and he nodded, looking back at the building behind her. “You ready?”
“Whenever you are,” he said, eyes falling back on her with a smile behind them. She smiled triumphantly and pulled him inside.
She was never good with planning dates. It was one of the reasons she hated dating so much. She’d much rather just sit at a bar and get to know someone without any pressure or makeout with them on her couch. It was easier that way. But, she had to admit, she felt pretty good about her date with Bellamy. Since he’d planned the first one, she’d agreed to plan the next one, and she’d actually been excited about it ever since.
She let go of his hand and let him wander ahead of her once they entered the wing where she wanted to take him. It was right off the entrance, so the walk was short. His eyes widened as he looked around them, taking in the paintings and sculptures. There was a painting of Augustus and Octavia that took up almost an entire wall and his eyes traveled over it so carefully as he blindly reached back for Clarke’s hand. She gave it to him and he pulled her to stand next to him wordlessly.
She looked at him rather than art—something she’d never done before in her life. If she was in an art museum, her eyes never left the pieces. She typically ignored whoever she was with and walked silently from room to room and wing to wing. Not this time, though. She was consumed.
“What do you think?” She asked quietly even though there was a group of people behind them talking loudly and animatedly. She still felt like it was just her and Bellamy.
He answered her with a kiss, letting her hand fall so he could cup her cheeks softly and bring her closer. She smiled against his lips, standing taller so he didn’t have to bend so far, and wrapped her arms around his neck.
--
As far as second dates went, Bellamy and Clarke’s was one for the books. After he had kissed her in front of that painting—one he’d studied on his lunch break a few days before—he couldn’t stop talking her through the rest of the exhibit. She took it like a champ, way better than Octavia would have. She looked at him and the pieces with a certain mixture of amazement and fondness.
He had no doubt a woman like Clarke knew everything he was telling her already, but she listened happily. And when they were through with that wing and he was all talked out, she led him to her favorite part of the museum. He listened as she went deep into the details and flow of the piece. He watched as her fingers twitched to touch the marble of certain statues. She loved what she was showing him and he could tell that she knew what she was talking about.
“So, what? You’re like an artist and a doctor?” He asked once they walked out into the dark night. His arm was around her shoulders and hers was tucked across his back and they’d just spent the last twenty minutes tangled like that as she spoke about her favorite piece in history.
“I’m not an artist,” she laughed, pushing her hair behind her ear. He didn’t believe her for a second. She couldn’t talk the way she did, knowing what she did, without having some background.
“Not at all?” He asked and she shook her head, avoiding his eyes. “Not even a little bit?”
“I paint,” she conceded finally and he thrust his fist in the air triumphantly. She laughed and pushed it back down to his side and he kissed her temple with a smile. “But I am not an artist. I’m a doctor. I made my choice.”
“Who said you needed to choose? Doctors can’t paint in their free time? Do they lose their medical license?” He asked and she laughed again, wrapping her fingers around his that hung over her shoulder.
“I don’t have much free time,” she admitted. “And if you want to get to a third date, I wouldn’t push me to do anything else that could take up what little time I do have. But I really do paint.”
“Well, I would love to see something you’ve painted,” he said into her hair. “Maybe for our third date… Or our fourth.”
“Oh, wow,” she laughed. He could feel it down the side of his own body and he squeezed her hand in return. “You’re getting a little ahead of yourself aren’t you? A fourth date?”
“And then a fifth,” he confirmed smugly. Without looking at her, he could see her headshake from the corner of his eye. “We could just lump our third date in with this one? I’m starving. You?”
“Oh my god, yes,” she said, untangling herself from him so they stopped walking. “But, I think that would still make this our second date. Dinner and drinks on Sunday counted as one, so museum and dinner on Tuesday would count as one. Right?”
Bellamy sighed, tilting his head in thought, and shrugged. “Whatever you say,” he told her and she narrowed her eyes.
“Good, you get to plan the third date,” she smiled and he nodded. “At least the first part.”
“That’s only fair,” he agreed and her smile widened. She looked genuinely excited, but there was something else showing on her face. Nervousness, maybe. “Let’s go eat.”
He took her hand and dragged her around the corner to a small little Italian restaurant. It was a little later, so it was pretty slow and they were able to get a table immediately. She ordered a glass of wine and he ordered a beer and then they were left alone to their own devices until the server came back for their food orders.
She told him about one of her patients that would be leaving the hospital soon. He could see how proud and happy she was about that. He told her about drinks with Lincoln the night before. And she kept a comforting hand on his while he complained again how great he actually seemed. She didn’t laugh at him when he pouted. He appreciated that.
“Can we go back to talking about the third date for a second?” Bellamy asked her and Clarke asked after the server took their food order.
“Um, sure,” she laughed, taking her hand back to run her fingers through her hair. “What about it?”
“Well, my last day of school is Thursday,” he told her and she nodded, crossing her legs under the table. The toe of her shoe ran against his calf and he tried hard to move past in—instead of leaning across the table to kiss her hard like he wanted to. “So, I’m going to be free for a while. What night works best for you?”
“Friday night works for me,” she said with an easy smile and he felt his own lips curling up. “What did you have in mind?”
“It’s called a surprise, Clarke,” he teased her, using her own words against her.
“You are kind of an ass,” she decided, scrunching her nose in fake disgust. “I knew there was a reason I yelled at you in the café.”
Bellamy scoffed with a shake of his head as the server came back with their food. “So what do you do with your free time?” She asked him.
“Hang out with you,” he smirked and she rolled her eyes. “Okay,” he laughed, pulling his chair closer to the table. “Other than reading, which you already knew, I spend a lot of time with my friends, just hanging out. We play cards and, um, watch football. I run when I have time. I hang out with O as much as I can,” he shrugged and she smiled.
“What’s your best friend’s name?”
“Nate Miller,” he said, turning his glass between his hands. “He’s a cop. And who is yours?”
“You met her the other night,” she told him and he remembered the bartender from their first date. “Raven is going to work for NASA one day, I swear. She’s getting her PhD in mechanical engineering and bartending at night. And I told you about Monty and Jasper earlier. They’re crazy, but great. You would love them. All of them.”
“Well, if they’re friends with you, they can’t be terrible,” he said and she bit her bottom lip.
“You say all of the right things. You know that, right? You may hate this dating thing, but you’re surprisingly good at it. I mean, you’re even wearing a tie.”
“I’m only wearing a tie because you mentioned how good I looked in them yesterday,” he laughed and she looked down at her pasta, embarrassed.
“So, you listen, too.”
“I try to,” he said and she nodded. She put her chin in her hand and looked over his face. “What are you looking at?”
“How did you just pop up out of nowhere?” She asked slowly, still looking him over.
“What do you mean? I live around the corner from your apartment. You regularly go to the café where my sister works,” he shrugged. He had to admit, it was weird to him too. Maybe the two of them had passed each other every day over the year he lived in his apartment and he just never noticed her. Once he did see her, though, that was all he saw.
“It’s just really weird that it’s been something like six days and I’ve seen you every day,” she laughed. “And it’s weird that I kind of like it and I like… you.”
“That’s not weird,” he promised. “It’s kind of great. Plus, I liked you too.”
Clarke smiled, biting her lip again, and he finally stood up to lean over the table to kiss her soundly.