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I
Clarke pushed herself closer into Bellamy’s side as he walked them around the crowd. Their moms had given them permission to get ice cream from the stand a couple of yards from the park where they were spending the afternoon. Bellamy looked down at the toddler and reached to straighten the vanilla – and sprinkles, thank you very much – scone that was slowly slipping from her grip. He sent a small smirk to his friend before gripping her free hand.
“Don’t worry, Princess. I got you.”
Now that Bellamy was older, Abby and his mom gave him more liberties but also more responsibilities. He could go farther from them than he used to but he had to watch out for cars if he crossed the road and had to make sure neither Clarke nor his sister got away if they were going with him. Bellamy always felt like a superhero when he could walk around without his mom even if he knew she was still watching him most of the time. Even more so when he oversaw the girls’ safety. It was a challenge to adapt to their clashing personalities. While Octavia tended to run around, explore and talk to every stranger she saw (even if everyone told her not to), Clarke was shy and got scared more easily. Bellamy had heard Jake tell his mom that he would make a good teacher one day and he loved the sound of that.
Bellamy was about to take a bite of his threat when someone bumped into him, sending most of the ice cream one the ground. The surprised of the impact made him removed his hand from Clarke’s. He quickly made a move to grab it back but only found air when he tried to. Panicking, Bellamy turned around to look for his friend. It took a few seconds but he located the mop of blonde hair a couple of feet away. She had her back to him and was obviously looking for him. He screamed her name and started running toward her.
“You were gone.”
She let out a little whimper as Bellamy bent down to her level. Bellamy slowly wiped her teary eyes but it only made her burst in ugly sobs.
“I know. I’m so sorry. I’m here now, we’re gonna go back to the blanket, is that okay?”
Clarke nodded and raised her arms, reaching being Bellamy’s neck. He flinched when he felt melting ice cream felling down his back, directly on his new shirt, but only lifted the toddler up and started walking toward their moms. The blonde buried her face in Bellamy’s shoulder as her sobs slowly calmed down.
As much as he was dreading telling Abby what happened, the boy hurried to get back to his family.
“What’s wrong?” asked Abby reaching for her daughter when she noticed them. “What happened, sweetie?”
She pulled Clarke from Bellamy’s arms and as the three years old’s cries turned to hiccups, he explained to the women how he lost Clarke for a minute. He then turned to his mom and hugged her. He felt like crying too and he needed reassurance. Octavia raised from her spot on the blanket to curl her arms around her brother’s leg.
Bellamy smiled down at her and then turned to face Clarke who was now completely calmed down. She was still hanging on her ice cream scone but more loosely than before as exhaustion took over her.
Bellamy spent the car ride back home looking at Clarke’s sleeping form. She was holding onto her favorite teddy bear and was hanging out of her car seat. Usually, the girls’ need to nap was annoying him (Couldn’t they sleep at night like everyone?) but today he was just happy Clarke wasn’t still lost in front of the ice cream stand.
II
After walking up and down too many flights of stairs to count, Clarke’s legs were starting to hurt. It didn’t help that the dress she was wearing kept getting stuck everywhere making her stumbles every couple of steps.
“C’mon, Princess! We don’t have all night,” said Bellamy has she tripped once again.
“Yes, Clarke. Hurry,” added Octavia barely turning around to look at her friend, eager to get more candies. “The best candies will be gone!”
“It’s okay, I’ve got enough.”
Octavia let out a gasp at her friend’s words. At 6, the girl couldn’t even imagine how many candies were enough.
“Just go without me, I’ll stay with your mommy.”
Picking up the plastic sword from her belt, Octavia pretended to threaten Clarke.
“Okay, Princess Clarke, but if you want my candies later, know that a pirate never shares.”
Aurora patted her daughter’s head before pushing her gently to the next house telling her to stop bothering Clarke. Bellamy glanced at the blonde to make sure she wanted to stay and, at her nod, followed his sister through yet another flight of stair.
Clarke leaned slightly into Aurora’s side and let herself put more weight against the woman when she put her arm around her shoulders. The Blake’s mom then reached for Clarke’s bag along with her wand before the little girl could drop them in the middle of the sidewalk.
“Are you okay to walk, sweetheart?”
Clarke only found the energy to nod once. Aurora chuckled before following her children who were already walking toward the next house.
Half an hour later, houses were starting to shut down, out of candy. The streets emptied leaving less and less costumed people in the way. When her mom announced that it was time to go back home, Octavia gave her the bag full of candies before raising her arms up to get picked up. Clarke untangled herself from Aurora’s side and let herself fall against Bellamy.
“Not easy being a princess, huh?”
“Don’t be mean, Bell. ‘M tired.”
“Okay, Princess. Come here.”
Bellamy opened his arms and Clarke didn’t waste a second before putting her arms around his neck. She loved when Bell picked her up, she felt safe and it was useful when she was tired and her feet were hurting.
The girls fell asleep before they even made it home. Clarke’s hands gripping Bellamy’s too long hair and her dress taking too much place in his arms.
III
He was going to kill them. Or maybe he wouldn’t but. Fuck. Taking care of two 15 years old wasn’t always easy. Especially not when you were 19, that Bellamy Blake could tell you.
The girls would argue that he doesn’t need to take care of them but Bellamy had grown up doing it and it’s not because they were now in high school that he would stop. Plus, now he had proof that they needed someone to look after them.
Because Bellamy was currently driving to get to some house in the middle of nowhere, at least another twenty minutes away, after he had received a call from a moderately drunk Octavia telling him he needed to pick them up.
--
He spotted them the moment he turned on the right street. Clarke heavily leaning against his sister who, herself, was fighting to keep her balance. Bellamy quickly parked the car before walking toward the girls. He felt like his long strides weren’t fast enough.
“What the hell, Octavia!?”
She at least had the courtesy of looking ashamed of herself. It’s not like she didn’t know she wasn’t allowed to drink when Bellamy wasn’t there. Especially not at some college kids’ party when she was supposed to be sleeping at Clarke’s place.
A little cry made him lose his focus on his sister. Clarke had definitely just noticed he was there judging by her eyes. When they had been sad and looking at the ground a few moments ago, they now shone with amusement.
Clarke made a move to get off Octavia and walk to him. She managed to take two steps before falling hard against his chest.
“Hi!”, she cheered.
Bellamy chuckled and carefully placed his arms around her to hold her up. Sure, he was still mad at them for making him worried but at least now that he knew they were both safe, he could laugh at the situation. Plus, Clarke looked pretty cute with her rosy cheeks and sparkling eyes.
“Hey. Don’t ever do that again.”
Octavia gripped his shoulders.
“You’re no fun, Bell.”
He shot his little sister a look before guiding the two girls to his car. Bellamy carefully laid Clarke down on the back seat and secured her with the two belts. She fell asleep almost immediately.
Octavia quietly settled down in the passenger seat. Bellamy took a moment to watch her before starting the car. She was paler than usual and her hair was sticking to the sides of her face.
He started the car and slowly engaged in the street, making his way back to his flat. No way he would be the one bringing a very drunk Clarke to her parents. As much as they loved him, they wouldn’t be happy to see him like this.
“What happened, O?” His voice was harder than he meant it to be. Octavia winced a little before answering.
“Clarke had a rough week. She found out Finn had a girlfriend. She’s back in town and Clarke walked in one them.”
“Fuck.”
Bellamy made a point of staring at the road ahead of him. Octavia drummed her fingers nervously on her thighs.
“She wanted to get drunk and I didn’t want her going there alone.”
“Listen, I get it. But next time you guys wanna get drunk tell me.”
She nodded a little before closing her eyes. They drove the rest of the way in a tense silence.
--
Bellamy parked the car and turned to look at Clarke. She was still knocked out, and hopefully, she’d stay that way until the morning. The siblings got out of the car and opened the backdoor to have access to Clarke.
Octavia bent down to unbuckled the first belt but quickly got up again, a hand against her mouth. She looked at Bellamy in panicked and he helped her sit down.
“Just breath. You moved too fast.”
He watched as Octavia took in deep breathes, staring far ahead of her to fight through the nausea. Bellamy quickly got Clarke out of the car, carefully cradling her to his chest. He slipped a hand under her neck, raising her head so it rested on his shoulder.
He turned to Octavia.
“I’m gonna get her inside, you okay? Do you need me to come get you after?”
“No, no, I’m good. Make sure she’s okay.”
Bellamy nodded once before making his way to the door. He struggled a little to get it opened but managed after a minute.
He walked slowly toward his bedroom. Normally Clarke would sleep in Octavia’s bed when she slept over but Bellamy didn’t want two hungover teenagers in the same bed the next day.
He set Clarke down on his bed before removing her shoes and her socks. He thought about removing her pants for a second but they seemed comfortable, the stretchy kind, so he didn’t touch them. He removed the comforter from under her delicately and chuckled as she turned to her side and immediately cuddled into his pillow.
Bellamy brushed away hair getting in her face. Little noises came out of Clarke’s throat. He turned to leave only to be stopped by a hand around his wrist.
“Thanks, Bell. You’re the bestest,” she muttered.
“No problem, Princess.”
Clarke let out a content sigh and nuzzled her face deeper into the pillow. Her fingers lost their strength around him quickly and he carefully guided her arm back onto the bed.
He left the room to go get advils and a glass of water. And probably a bucket too, just to be sure. He could hear small snores coming from Clarke already.
Bellamy found Octavia in the bathroom, brushing her teeth. He raised his arm over her to open the cabinet behind the mirror.
“You good?”
The brush muffled her response. She spitted, rinse her mouth and turned to face him.
“Yeah. Thanks for coming pick us up. I’m sorry I worried you.”
“I’m glad you called. Don’t do it again, okay?”
“I won’t”
“Good. Go to sleep now.”
She smiled up at him and left the bathroom.
Bellamy sighed and follow her out. His girls were going to be the death of him.
IV
“Bell! Where are you?”
“I’m here! I’m sorry I’m late, my students had questions after class and kept me at school longer than I expected.”
Bellamy ran toward the door, quickly showing his ticket to the teenager on door duty and directly went to the room where he knew the graduates were waiting. Sure enough, his little sister was waiting next to a vending machine, dressed in her black toga, her mortar secured on top of her head. Bellamy stopped dead in his track. He hung up and put his phone in his back pocket before advancing to his sister.
“O,” His voice cracked under the emotion. He enrobed her into a hug. “I’m so fucking proud of you.”
Octavia pushed him away playfully.
“Thanks, Big brother. I need to go back inside but I’ll see you after I walked the stage, yeah?”
Bellamy nodded and hushed her with the others. He left to gain his seat, shooting the room full of excited chatter a last glance.
--
After hours of watching hundreds of graduates walk the stage and finally throwing their mortars as high as they could, Bellamy made his way to the front door. His head was hurting from all the noise and the lack of food. It’s not that Bellamy wasn’t happy to be there, no, he was overwhelmed with pride for his two favorite girls. But things quickly got old considering Blake and Griffin were announced pretty much at the beginning of the ceremony. Plus, since he was so late, there wasn’t any spot near Clarke’s parents and his mom. He had to keep all his snarky comments for himself.
“Bellamy!” The man turned around to face the voice. Jake was waving his hand and walking toward him.
“Hey, Jake!” The two of them hugged briefly as Aurora and Abby made their way through the crowd.
The women barely had time to kiss Bellamy’s cheeks before a blonde storm collided into his chest. His arms acted by themselves, curling around Clarke’s waist and lifting her off the ground. He kept her there, crushed to his chest and squealing for a long moment before he set her down. He kept his hands on her hips prohibiting her to get too far away from him.
Clarke was beaming up at him. Her hair was even more curly than usual and little braids were forming a crown around her head. She had heavy eye make up that was a little smudged from the heat. Bellamy wasn’t used to seeing her like this even after twenty years of friendship. He was used to her bedheads when she crashed in Octavia’s room, to her in sweat pants and huge shirts covered in paint. But here she was, wearing a blue dress that reached just above her knees.
Bellamy knew he was in love with Clarke Griffin. And he knew that he had been for a little while. But seeing her like this, proud and happy and beautiful made him fall for her all over again.
“Can you actually believe it!?”
Bellamy blinked twice before he realized Clarke was looking at him. He could tell she was expecting an answer.
“Hm. I missed that sorry.”
“I’ve been talking for at least two minutes, Bell. What are you even thinking about?”
“I’m just proud you guys graduated and all. It’s so weird. Plus, you’re both gonna have awesome careers now. A child psychologist and an art teacher.” Bellamy could feel his eyes filled with tears as he talked. At least he found an excuse as to why he wasn’t listening. He choked a little on his worlds as he continued. “You both worked so hard to get this.”
“Thanks. You know you worked a lot to get your degree too, right? If you could do it, of course Octavia and me could.” Clarke’s tone is teasing but her eyes shined with tears. “Anyways. As I’ve been saying-”
That’s when Octavia decides to emerge from wherever she was.
“Did you tell them?!” she screamed, hugging her friend from behind.
“I was about to!”
Bellamy looked at Clarke expectantly. She still seemed happy and proud so whatever she had to tell them; it must have been good.
She turned around to get their parents’ attention. They excused themselves from their conversation and quickly noticed Octavia standing next to them. They exchanged hugs and congratulations with the girls before Octavia hushed them to give Clarke the spotlight.
“I got an internship starting next September at Arcadia High. I may not have a master like Bell does but they agreed to take me considering I double majored!”
Excited chatter started once again. Bellamy was frozen in place while his family hugged in front of him for a second time. Clarke turned to him. She was crying a little but her smile was the brightest he had ever seen.
“At Arcadia High?”
She nodded biting her bottom lip.
“You’re going to teach with me?”
Clarke nodded again. He teeth were pushing hard into her lip like she was actually worried he’d be mad about having the chance of seeing her everyday.
Bellamy had to force himself not to do something stupid. Like kissing her. That would be very stupid. Instead, he made two long strides to get to her and raised her from the ground. Like earlier, he turned on himself a few times making Clarke’s legs fly around them. They nearly hit Octavia in the process but Bellamy didn’t manage to feel guilty about it. He was so happy. His best friend was going to teach. In the same school as him.
Instead of setting her down like he should’ve do, Bellamy moved his hands from Clarke’s waist to under her thighs. She responded automatically, curling her legs around him and resting them on his hips. Her arms tightened around his shoulders.
Clarke hugged him again. She buried her nose into the creek of his neck, running it across his skin softly, making him shiver. Bellamy mimicked her; his face hidden into her hair he whispered:
“I’m so fucking happy for you Clarke. You’re the best.”
“You are too.”
Bellamy chuckled and pulled back a little to see her properly. In their position, her face was leveled with his. Restraining himself from kissing her was even harder now that her lips were a couple of miserable inches away.
“You know, it’s been awhile since I carried you.”
Clarke hummed a little. She turned her gaze to the space between their chests. Her hands made their way from his shoulders to his hair. Her fingers played with his curls for a moment before she answered.
“You could start doing it again. I wouldn’t mind.”
Bellamy’s words died in his throat. Was she flirting?
“C’mon guys! I’m hungry!”
Octavia’s cry broke the moment and soon Bellamy was letting go of Clarke much to his chagrin. The air was somewhat awkward between the two of them for a split second before Octavia slipped between them and put her arms around their shoulders. She had to raise one of her arms considerably higher than the other to get around Bellamy’s but her little struggle was enough to set the best friends back into their usual easiness.
Bellamy and Clarke shared a smile over Octavia’s head before the blonde turned to his little sister and started chatting with her. Bellamy looked behind him to see the Griffin and his mom walking with them to the exit. His eyes caught Jake’s and the older man looked between him and his daughter before sending a wink in Bellamy’s direction. Bellamy could feel his cheeks turned red and hot. He turned his attention back to the newly graduates.
He knew he was in love with Clarke but he wasn’t ready for other people to know just yet.
V
To be completely honest, living with Clarke was a mess. She seemed to always forget to take out the trash and do the dishes, her things would get literally everywhere leaving paint strikes on their way at least half the time, the bathroom caddy was overflowing with the many bottles she apparently needed and her cat never understood the concept of privacy.
But the worst part, Bellamy found out, was that she had a problem with clothes.
“They get in the way, Bell!” Clarke had argued the first time he had mentioned it. “I don’t see why I have to wear pants in my own house.”
Which, to be fair, was understandable. Bellamy himself tended to avoid shirts when he could but. Fuck. Seeing her half naked around the house made it too easy for Bellamy to pretend that they were more than just best friends.
Too easy to pretend he could just walk to the sink where she was currently standing and put his arms around her waist and kiss her neck.
Instead, he moved to the fridge and drank large gulps of milk straight from the carton. He looked at the closed door far too long before taking a breath and turning toward her. Bellamy forced his eyes to stay on her face but he couldn’t help but glance at her bared legs a couple of times. He growled out a curse when Clarke caught his stare and smirked.
“Like the view?” her tone was teasing but it didn’t stop Bellamy from feeling ashamed.
“Sorry,” he mumbled, blushing. He closed his eyes and shook his head slightly.
Bellamy heard Clarke putting down the plate she was washing into the drying station. He heard her turned off the water. Heard her taking a few steps toward him after a moment of complete silence.
But he felt more than heard when she whispered a single sentence against his chin. Her breath tickling his neck and smelling fruity like the tea she liked to take in the mornings when she had a day off.
“Do you like it, Bellamy?”
The way she said it, low and hopeful, made him open his eyes again. He let roamed on her body, pretending to analyse it. Half of it was the make fun of her because of course he liked the view, who wouldn’t. The other half, well. If he was allowed to check her out, he wouldn’t miss his chance.
Clarke’s blonde hair was a mess, half of it pulled away from her face and holding up by a paintbrush. Her eyes were sparkling, there was some blue paint near her ear and some more near the mole above her lips.
She was wearing an oversized white shirt with a too big collar and a few colorful spots due to fresh paint. Now that she was facing him, he could read the few words written on it. “NO PANTS ARE THE BEST PANTS” it said in bold black letter. How fitting, Bellamy thought as his gaze fell on her bare thighs.
He was still looking at her feet, his eyes stuck on her bright pink nail polish when he felt her damp hands rest on his cheeks. Clarke pulled him up slowly until his eyes were leveled with hers. She tilted her head to the side, silently asking for an answer.
“Yeah,” Bellamy growled out. His voice was lower than he expected it to be. “Yeah, I really do.”
“Good.”
He felt Clarke’s lips on his before he realized what was happening. He felt her tongue push against his lips, impatient, when he took more than a few seconds to react. Bellamy started moving instantly.
His mouth opened and his tongue fought with Clarke’s for a moment before letting her win. His hands flew to her hips and squeezed the soft flesh. She let out a soft sigh and curled her arms around his shoulder and let her fingers curl into his hair. She pulled a little and Bellamy answered by moving his hands lower, high on her thighs, and pushed her up.
His original plan was to get her to sit on the counter and to stand between her legs. But Clarke’s legs circled his waist and the impact made Bellamy loose balance. He took a couple of steps back and soon he was stuck between Clarke and the fridge. Her body was completely pressed against his and he never wanted to move again.
Clarke pulled away first, gasping for air. She moved back a little like she wanted to have a better view of Bellamy. It gave him the opportunity to observe her. Her eyes were bright and huge, analyzing him the same way he was analyzing her.
After a moment, the tension between the two of them broke and they started laughing softly. Clarke let her forehead fall against Bellamy’s shoulder. He kissed her hair, still smiling.
“You know, as much as I love carrying you, I would much rather lying down right now.”
“You just got up, Bellamy. You don’t need to sleep just yet.” Her tone was teasing but she was biting her bottom lip, anticipating.
“Yeah, no. Not planning on sleeping. If that’s good with you.”
She gave him a quick peck.
“Definitely good with me.”