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Clarke Griffin always sticks to her word.
Exactly a week later, she and Bellamy are sat side by side in Jaha’s office, pitching the LGBTQ society. It had been a mutual decision that the two of them would lead it, mostly because they were the most likely to be able to speak coherently to Jaha without him murdering them both. As far as she can tell, the meeting is going to plan, and she’s learning that Murphy had done an alarmingly close impression of Jaha in their practice earlier. She’ll have to ask him about that at some point.
“In conclusion-”
Jaha cuts her off. “I’m happy to accept your proposal, Clarke. You’re welcome to use room 411 on Tuesday lunchtimes for your meetings.”
Bellamy grins at her in delight, and she smiles back at him. She had been so worried about starting here and not fitting in or having anywhere to go, and this is the final proof she needs that she belongs at this school, with these people. They thank Jaha and fly out into the lobby.
“Thank you for helping me,” Clarke says to Bellamy, and then throws caution to the wind and hugs him hard. He freezes in surprise for a second, and then she feels his arms around her.
Chat: octavia blake and the criminals
clarke: tuesday lunchtimes. room 411
clarke: BE THERE
octavia: AHHHH
raven: YASS CLARKE
murphy: she actually fucking did it….
murphy: how…..
jasper: today is tuesday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
clarke: ah crap I haven’t planned anything
monty: no problem
monty: guys bring snacks and yourselves
monty: also anyone who got hot over the summer
lincoln: Are allies welcome?
octavia: what kind of loser society would exclude lincoln?
bellamy: ^^ yes lincoln
Clarke beams at her phone. “This is great. Your friends are honestly the best.”
Bellamy squeezes her shoulder in response. “Our friends, Clarke. You’re one of the gang now and I’m not sure it’s something you can escape.”
Clarke smiles, a warm feeling sinking into her bones as she follows Bellamy to their History classroom for third period.
When they get there, Jasper is lying flat on his front on a desk. Monty is leaning over him, arms folded.
“He didn’t do his homework,” he explains.
“Kane is gonna kill me,” Jasper says, muffled. “I’m gonna die.”
“You’ll be fine, you’re acting worse than Bellamy,” Monty mutters.
“I resent that,” Bellamy grumbles. “But yeah, get up. He’s not gonna kill you.”
The rest of the class files in slowly. Nobody pays attention to Jasper – his behaviour seems to be an accepted regular occurrence.
When Kane enters, he rolls his eyes. “Get up, Jasper.”
Monty flicks him and he gets up begrudgingly, sliding into his seat next to Clarke.
“Right, projects.” Kane clicks his fingers. “Hand them over.”
Jasper looks seconds from panic when Monty suddenly shoves a pile of papers into his hands, and mouths zipping his lips before taking his seat and adopting a supremely guilty ‘forgive me’ expression.
Kane starts to move around the classroom, collecting papers. Jasper, meanwhile, has realised what’s in his hands and is starting at it, gobsmacked. Clarke leans over and sees the title of the project neatly printed on the cover. She stares at Monty, who is studiously not looking at them.
When Kane reaches him and holds out his hand, Monty looks up.
“I’m so sorry, sir. It completely slipped my mind.”
Kane looks surprised, then annoyed. The rest of the class is staring now.
“Monty, speak to me after class. This isn’t like you. Very disappointing.”
Monty bites his lip and looks down at his hands. Jasper looks over at Clarke with his mouth open, and she doesn’t have time to say anything before Kane reaches them. Silently, Jasper hands over Monty’s papers. Kane flicks through them for a few seconds and frowns. He turns to look at Monty and raises an eyebrow, clearly considering saying something. The whole class is waiting and Clarke thinks Harper might have been holding her breath for a little too long, because she’s starting to look a little flushed.
Kane quietly thanks Jasper, who nearly melts into his seat.
“I’m on my last chance with Kane,” he hisses to Clarke. “I need to pass the course this year or I can’t take it anymore. Monty just saved my ass.”
Monty turns around and winks at them, although his face is very pale.
Clarke gives Jasper a sympathetic pat on the shoulder, but it doesn’t help the mortified expression on his face. He spends the rest of the lesson avoiding eye contact with anyone and he’s the first out the door when the bell rings.
“Is Jasper okay?” Monty asks, concerned, as he and Clarke head towards their fourth period French class.
“You gave him your entire project and you’re not even pissed that he bolted out the door without thanking you,” Clarke responds.
Monty shrugs. “We’ve been best friends since forever. He would do the same for me. I’d rather know he was okay. He bolted pretty fast and he usually walks me to fourth on a Tuesday.”
“I’m sure everything is fine, Monty. You’ll see him at lunch.”
Monty nods, albeit hesitantly, and ducks into their French classroom. Clarke sighs. She hopes its nothing, that Jasper makes a joke at the meeting and everything returns to normal.
“Okay, Green,” Murphy sighs when they arrive at room 411. “We all know you’re literally the nicest person alive and that your weird dedication to Jasper knows no bounds. How much trouble are you in?”
“I’m not sure,” Monty admits, sitting down at a desk and picking at a bit of his salad. “Kane asked me like five times if I was sure I hadn’t done it. Then he asked if I helped Jasper on his, and then he wanted to know ‘if everything was okay at home’. I denied everything. Now I have to go to detention on Fridays for three weeks. Except he apologised for that bit.”
Murphy winces. “You didn’t have to do that, y’know.”
“Yeah, I did,” Monty sounds resigned to his fate. “It’s Jasper, I have to look after him. That’s my job.”
Clarke wonders if there’s a story there, but decides not to press. Miller slides some extra chocolate cake onto Monty’s plate, and Raven starts talking about a controlled explosion she’s planning that makes Monty’s eyes light up. Jasper doesn’t show. Clarke is slightly concerned for his whereabouts until Bellamy shows her his phone.
Chat: Harper
harper: jas is with me and monroe in case you were worried
harper: he is SHOOK AF
bellamy: abt this morning?
harper: he’s not paying much attention to us but he just ate his whole cake and then started on monroe’s
harper: they may kill him so I guess that would solve the problem???
harper: apparently he doesn’t want monty to find him tho so keep this to yourself blake
harper: also SORRY we are not at the meeting we have sworn solidarity to sweet baby jasper and will be there next week
Clarke shoots a worried look at Bellamy. He shrugs uselessly.
With no other ideas of what to do, she gets out the brief agenda she’d scribbled during Calculus when she got bored. “Okay, I thought we could do a round of names, pronouns and sexualities, if you’re comfortable with it-”
She’s cut off by Miller, who turns to Monty. “But why did he bolt? You did a nice thing.”
“I don’t know, Miller. I wish I did.”
“Guys, let’s stay on task,” Bellamy says, voice a little sharp. “Clarke was starting the meeting.”
“It’s okay, Bell,” she responds quietly. “I think this probably takes priority today. We can start properly next week.”
“I don’t want my fight with Jasper to get in the way of the club, Clarke.” Monty looks at her sadly.
Bellamy puts an arm around his shoulders. “You’re not fighting. Neither of you are mad. It’s just miscommunication. And hey – it’s you and Jasper. How long can you really be apart for?”
“Once we went on a school camping trip that Monty couldn’t come on, and Jasper called himself Monty twice,” Octavia says, and Monty sorts.
“Was that the one last year?” Miller joins in. “Monty used to bring me tea in the mornings because he kept making two by accident.”
“Jesus Christ,” Murphy breathes. “See! Can’t keep you two apart.”
Bellamy squeezes his shoulder. “Things will figure themselves out.”
“Jasper is just a bit freaked out, Monty,” Lincoln says. “Don’t beat yourself up about it.”
“We love ya, Monty,” Raven adds.
“Thanks.” Monty smiles at the people sitting around the room. “I love you guys too. I just don’t get why he’s upset. It doesn’t make any sense to me.”
“It doesn’t make any sense, period.” Murphy sighs. “This is Jasper, he doesn’t do things by other people’s logic. He has his reasons, sure, but they’re stupid.”
“Thank you, Murphy, for those wise words.” Miller snarks, and Murphy mock bows.
The rest of the meeting consists of more cake, recapping the various times Raven and Monty have blown stuff up, and Bellamy tracing comforting circles on Monty’s shoulder with his thumb. It’s obvious how much his friends mean to him, Clarke notes.
“You know,” Octavia comments, likely in an effort to cheer Monty up. “This may become a group meme.”
“What?” Monty looks up from his cake.
“A reaction meme,” Murphy agrees. “I’m Jasper when he freaked out and didn’t speak to Monty for 24 hours.”
The room can’t help but laugh a little, attempting to make light out of a more difficult situation.
“I bet he’s looking for apartments in France,” Bellamy grins slyly, and Murphy cackles.
“I feel like I’m missing something here,” Clarke comments.
“Ah Clarke, let us enlighten you about the wonderful Finn Collins-” Raven starts, but Clarke cuts her off.
“Wait, wait, wait. Finn Collins? As in the one that moved to a school in Paris?”
“What the fuck,” Miller deadpans. Everyone is starting at Clarke in shock.
“I was dating him for a bit last year?” Clarke frowns. “Met him at a party. Then it turned out he was using me to cheat on his girlfriend. He moved to Paris to avoid her killing him.”
“I’m the girlfriend,” Raven says slowly. “That’s not a reaction meme, I was actually the girlfriend.”
“What? Oh my God,” Clarke shakes her head. “You’re the girl he used me to cheat on?”
The room is silent for a moment as everyone clearly tries to gauge whether there’s about to be a fight.
Clarke snorts. “Incredible. What the fuck was he doing, cheating on someone as gorgeous as you?”
Raven grins. “Finn was never that bright.”
“I still have Finn’s number somewhere. Only because I can’t be bothered to delete it.” Octavia scrambles for her phone. “Clarke and Raven, I am begging you to let me send him a photo of you two together.”
Clarke can't help but laugh a little, still half in disbelief. Octavia is physically on her knees, hands clasped.
“It’s like a fucking movie,” she continues. “Who here saw John Tucker Must Die?”
“I did. It was awful.” Monty is scrolling through his phone. “Oh, I have Finn’s number too!”
“Monty! Why did you keep that?”
“In case there was an emergency!” Monty says defensively. “What if you got shot or something, and only Finn knew your blood type?
“My blood type is A. Never contact Finn,” Raven deadpans, posing for photos with Clarke as Octavia cackles.
The meeting continues in a similar, chaotic fashion, and whilst it’s not what Clarke had in mind, it’s pretty much perfect. The only thing that somewhat brings down the mood is Jasper’s absence.
“He’ll come round eventually,” she says to Monty, as the bell goes for afternoon classes. “Like Bellamy said.”
Monty nods and heads down the corridor with Raven. Bellamy sighs, turning to Clarke as they walk to Geography.
“This is unlike Jas-”
He’s barely managed the words out when his phone buzzes impatiently. It’s not uncommon and it’s usually Octavia yelling about something, so Bellamy moves to turn his phone off. Clarke stops him.
“It could be Jasper,” she notes, and he sighs and pulls out his phone. Clarke peers over to read the messages.
Chat: jasper
jasper: BELLAMY
jasper: BELLAAMY I NEED YOUR HELP
jasper: skip geog and come here plz
jasper: BELLLLL
jasper: bring ur girl crush if u must
Clarke narrows her eyes at the phone. “Girl crush?”
Bellamy barks out a a short, loud laugh. “You know what Jasper’s like. No one can talk to anyone without there being a love story. But he probably means you.”
She ignores the flush in her cheeks and decides not to push the topic right now. “Where is he then?”
Chat: jasper
bellamy: where are you???
jasper: my room :(
bellamy: rooms are off limits during lessons
jasper: i KNOW that mini kane
jasper: pls just come
Bellamy shakes his head and pockets his phone. “Best go check he’s okay.”
Clarke agrees, worried that Jasper’s eccentric behaviour may not be as fun as it usually is at this point in time. She’s never been in Monty and Jasper’s room before and is not surprised to find it is apparently lit entirely by lava lamps.
Jasper is sprawled across a duvet with frogs on it, holding his phone to his chest. His head dangles off the edge of his bed and he’s wearing ski goggles.
“Oh, Jas!” Bellamy takes a seat next to him and gently pulls his head back onto the bed. “You’ll pass out doing that.”
Jasper takes his goggles off to look at them. His eyes are red and gleaming, and Clarke is fairly certain it’s not just the lava lamps.
“I’m not mad at Monty,” he says, before either of them can ask. “I’m a lot of things at Monty, but definitely not mad.”
Bellamy glances over at Clarke over Jasper’s head, and she nods.
“Jasper?” Bellamy asks. “What are you at Monty?”
"I don't know exactly!" he moans, falling back onto his bed. Clarke draws the curtains back to let some natural light in, and Bellamy sits down next to Jasper, combing his fingers through the boy's hair in what Clarke assumes is a comforting gesture.
"That's not helpful," Clarke points out. "Jasper, he's worried."
"I don't want him to be," Jasper responds, voice muffled by the duvet from where he's curled into Bellamy's side. "He just freaked me out this morning."
"How exactly?" Bellamy frowns.
"He covered for me."
"Jas, he spends his entire life covering for you."
"Exactly!" Jasper sits up, leaning against the headboard. "And now my stomach feels fluttery and I don't like it."
Clarke grins, raises an eyebrow and turns to Bellamy, who lets out a breathless laugh. "Finally."
Jasper just looks confused.
"Bud, we're going to let you figure this one out," Bellamy says. "You've got this."
He gets up, gesturing for Clarke to follow him. They make it halfway down the corridor before Bellamy's phone buzzes.
Chat: jasper
jasper: SHIT
jasper: SHIT SHIT SHIT
jasper: BELLAMYYYYY
Bellamy rolls his eyes, heading back, and opening Jasper’s door again. Jasper is sat bolt upright, the only time Clarke has seen him not slouching, and is staring at them in panic. “I can’t like Monty! Not like like!”
“You need to talk to him, buddy.” Bellamy nudges his shoulder. “We don’t want him to think he’s done anything wrong.”
“I can’t talk to him!” Jasper shrieks, making Clarke wince. “He definitely has a crush on Miller, how do I compete with that!”
“Jas, I don’t think-” Clarke starts.
“No, he does! And who wouldn’t! Miller’s all tall and broody and muscular, but he’s so nice! And he’s got the damn mysterious vibe going for him!”
“Monty does not have a crush on Miller. Although I’m starting to think you might.” She shakes her head at him.
“Whatever. What the hell am I supposed to do?” He grabs a giant Pikachu toy from the floor and rests his chin on its head, staring at the two of them like a puppy. “How did you guys tell people you’ve dated that you like them? And is it different if you’ve basically been obsessed with them you whole life?”
“Don’t tell him you’ve been obsessed with him for your whole life,” Clarke says right off the bat, and Bellamy laughs.
“As if that’s not mutual," he says.
“What if it’s weird and we stop being friends? I can’t lose Monty, I’ll go mad!”
“Now you’re just being silly. First of all, you’re already mad, and secondly, Monty would never in a million years stop being your friend.”
"He might," Jasper says sadly, and Clarke is seconds from tearing her hair out.
"Listen," she says. "I've known both of you for a week, and I can already see that the bond you have isn't just going to go away. If Monty didn't like you - and I'm pretty sure that's not the case - it's not going to impact your friendship."
She looks over to Bellamy for help, but he just nods lightly and smiles, as if to say that she's got this.
She continues. "It will be fine, Jas, and if it's not, you can come to my room and we'll watch 80s comedies and eat comfort food. We've got you."
Jasper bites his lip and looks up. "Really?"
"Of course," Clarke says, her voice softening at the vulnerability visible on his face. "Now go get your boy."
Jasper nods and pulls himself up, grabbing his phone and typing what Clarke assumes is a text to Monty. They follow him out and down the corridor, and Bellamy gives him a hug as they begin to part ways.
She and Bellamy start to walk towards the mess hall when they hear a voice.
"Wait!"
It's Jasper, and he's running at Clarke. He stops short in front of her, before enveloping her in a hug.
"Thank you," he says, voice muffled by her shoulder. "You're the best."
Bellamy grins widely at her over the back of Jasper's head, and she smiles back.
She's feels like she's home.