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“I can’t believe you dragged me into this,” Bellamy sighed and looked at his sister in the driver's seat. She just glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and raised her eyebrows.
“And I can't believe you made up a stupid excuse so you wouldn't need to come to Lincoln's birthday dinner! You haven't even given him a chance yet. He's a great guy, you know,” she replied. Bellamy didn't look at her, but he knew she was judging him.
It's not that he wasn't a people person. He was, actually. But something about Lincoln just... rubbed him in the wrong way. Maybe it was because Octavia met him online. Maybe it was because he looked like if he hugged Octavia too tight, he'd crush her rib cage. Or maybe it was because he's six years older than his sister, the same age as Bellamy himself. The moment he thought about dating an 18-year-old, a shudder ran down his back.
“Hey!” Octavia snapped her fingers in front of his face. “Promise me you'll be nice to him?”
Bellamy looked over at her and bit the inside of his cheek.
“Yeah,” he agreed, nodding. Turning back to the passenger seat's window, he watched the streetlights pass, dipping them in soft orange light as they drove past.
Before he knew it, they arrived at Lincoln's place. Octavia stopped him at the front door, pressing her finger into his chest. He could see the muscles in her jaw working.
“I just want you to get along, Bell,” she finally said, softer than he expected, and he couldn't help the smile tugging at the corner of his lips.
“I know,” was all he could think of to say. It seemed to be enough for Octavia. She nodded and turned around to ring the bell.
Lincoln opened the door moments later. He looked even taller and bulkier in person and it took Bellamy a second to swallow down the feeling of inferiority. Nobody is inferior to anyone here, he reminded himself.
“Happy Birthday, baby!” Octavia exclaimed and threw her arms around Lincoln's neck, hugging him tightly before giving him a kiss. Bellamy looked away awkwardly. When Octavia let go off Lincoln, she slipped past him inside, and Lincoln extended a hand towards Bellamy.
“Hey.”
Bellamy took Lincoln's hand and shook it. He thought his grip would've been a lot firmer, judging by the size of the muscles in his arms.
“Hey. Happy Birthday,” he finally replied, letting go of Lincoln's hand.
“Glad you could make it,” Lincoln said, smiling slightly.
“You know O...” Bellamy whispered, raising both his eyebrows and shoulders. This made Lincoln laugh.
“Oh yeah, I know,” he said before retreating back inside, Bellamy following him.
There were quite a few other guests already there. An older man Octavia was talking to that Bellamy suspected was Lincoln's father, two women sitting on the couch, and another man with a long shaggy beard that just laughed at something Lincoln had said.
Bellamy felt overly out of place.
He caught Octavia's eye and she waved for him to come join her, so he made his way across the room.
“Bell, this is James, Lincoln's dad,” Octavia introduced him. “James, this is Bellamy, my brother.”
Bellamy extended his hand when suddenly, his phone started ringing. James shook his hand and said: “Maybe you should get that.”
Bellamy nodded and grunted, fishing the phone from his pocket. As he saw the name on the display, he quickly accepted the call. He couldn't help the smile that was already curving his lips.
“Hey Prince–”
Sobbing.
Bellamy's breath caught.
“Clarke?” he asked frantically as he retreated to a corner of the room. “Clarke, are you okay?”
“Bell,” Clarke said, sniffling. Then she took a deep breath and he heard the air fizzle out between her lips. “Yeah, I'm okay. I think.”
Bellamy sighed in relief. Suddenly, Octavia appeared at his side, looking worried. Everything ok? she mouthed. Bellamy just shrugged his shoulders.
“What happened?” he asked Clarke, still looking at his sister.
“Someone just mugged me,” she said, taking another shaky breath.
“Shit.” It felt like someone had punched the air from his lungs. “Clarke, I–”
“Can you please come and get me?” she cut him off, her voice still unsteady.
The lights in the room seemed to shine a bit brighter all of a sudden, hurting his eyes. Bellamy closed them, clenching his jaw. He felt Octavia's hand on his arm.
“Where are you?” he asked, opening his eyes again.
“Down by Lawrence and Porter,” she said and he heard the heels of her shoes click on the pavement. Bellamy bit the inside of his lip, slumping against the wall behind him. He faintly heard cars drive past Clarke.
“I didn't know who else to call, Bell,” Clarke whispered into the silence. “Mom's at work and Raven's still not cleared for driving, and I know Octavia's at Lincoln's birthday dinner…” She trailed off. Of course. She didn't know that Octavia had dragged him along and that he was at the birthday dinner too.
“Give me a second, okay?” he asked and waited until he heard Clarke's soft “Yeah”. He muted the call and turned to Octavia.
“Clarke got mugged.” Octavia's eyes grew wide. “She's like half an hour away. She asked if I can get her.” Bellamy sighed.
Without hesitation, Octavia reached into her bag, pulled the car keys from it and held them out to Bellamy.
“Go. I'd do the same for Lincoln,” she said quietly. Bellamy blinked at her. Shit.
“O, I'm not... We're not...” he stumbled on his words, but Octavia just shook her head with a understanding smile.
“You are,” she simply stated. She took his hand and put the car keys in it. “Now go. I'll explain to Lincoln. And don't bother picking me up tonight, I'll just call you tomorrow. Drive safe, okay?”
Bellamy looked at his sister dumbfounded.
“Go,” Octavia said again, insistently. Bellamy swallowed heavily, but finally nodded. Octavia took this as her cue to go.
He looked down at his phone, unmuted the call and brought it up to his ear again.
“On my way.”