Chapter Text
CLARK
Nine. Nine whole months. That's how long Clarke had been away from her friends and family. She didn't regret going and working with Doctors without borders, but as her plane was touching down at the Arcadia airport, she realized how long she had been away from home and just how much she missed it. She knew that surprises weren't really their thing, well except for Octavia who loved anything that involved a surprise, but she couldn't help it. So that's how she found herself, at baggage claims, at 3:30 in the morning. Despite the time, and the lack of sleep, she was feeling pretty giddy about her whole plan. She couldn't wait to surprise her friends.
It had been tough keeping in contact with them over the past few months. Between the time difference, the lack of service, and mostly lack of time, she really didn't get too many chances to talk to everyone. Not even her best friend and roommate. She tried to check in with Bellamy as much as she could. He worried if he didn't hear from her at least once a week. Worry is putting it lightly, after her first month there, it had been crazy getting into the swing of things, she hadn't had time to sit down and send off a message. By the time she had gotten onto a computer and logged into her email, she had at least 50 emails from him, by the end of them he was threatening to call whoever was in charge to make sure she was alive, or he was buying a ticket and heading out there.
He could be a bit over protective and dramatic for his friends and family. It was one of the things she loved most about her best friend, even if she was rolling her eyes as she typed out a quick response to let him know, 1. Yes, I am alive, 2. Yes, I am eating (well when she took the time), 3. Yes, I promise to message once a week so you know that I am okay. This seemed to appease him enough. She still got plenty of emails telling her how all of their friends were doing, Raven was seeing a new guy named Shaw. Murphey, was busy trying to remind Emori why she liked him in the first place. Octavia was teaching self-defense and kick boxing classes at the Y, Bellamy was proud that she was doing something for others but not happy that it had to be such a violent job, but her and Lincoln were happy. Monty and Harper were teaching seminars on how to survive if the world ended. Jasper was still trying to talk Maya into going on a date with him, he'd been trying to talk the girl into going out with him for about 3 months before she left. Miller finished up at the police academy and would be working at the precinct.
Clarke loved hearing about their family, she missed them all so much, but she knew what she was doing was worth it. Bellamy was still checking in, but as the months passed, his replies got shorter and shorter, and he never really said anything about himself. She didn't like that she was hearing less from him, but figured his class was taking up most of his time. He was teaching a new class on campus, and she knew how he threw himself into his work. She started to rely on Murphey for any information.
Clarke was walking up the driveway when she noticed a car parked on the street, in front of their house. The neighbors were always having company over, so they always had people parking in front of the house. She pulled out her keys, unlocking and letting herself in the front door, as quietly as she could. She looked around, it looked just like the day she headed off to the airport. She couldn't believe she was getting emotional over a house! “Pull yourself together, Clarke,” she told herself as she wiped at her eyes, slipping out of her jacket and shoes before tiptoeing up the stairs to Bellamy's room.
Clarke knew she wasn't the quietest person, but Bellamy was a heavy sleeper, so she wasn't too worried. She twisted the doorknob to his bedroom slowly peeking into his room. He had his blackout curtains drawn closed, so it was pitch black in his room. She opened the door a little wider, to be met by a fist to the face and thrown into a headlock. Clarke could feel the blood running down her face, she was pretty sure she heard and felt a sickening crunch. Her nose was broken. She had managed to get out a small whimper before the arms holding her, tightened on her windpipe, closing off her breathing. She was scrambling to get free, as everything started to go fuzzy and black. Her ears were ringing and she started to panic. The time she was kidnapped while she was away flashed into the forefront of her memory. She heard, well what she thought, was a loud roar as a light flipped on right before everything faded to black.
"Clarke! Clarke! Wake up, Clarke!"
Someone was leaning over her, saying her name, and shaking her arms. Where was she and why did her face hurt so bad? She was dizzy, but things were starting to come into focus.
"Bellamy?" She blinked away the last of her blurred vision.
"Clarke! You're awake, how do you feel? Are you okay?" He was looking down at her, face full of concern. Clarke still didn't know what was going on, or why she was laying on the ground to begin with. She tried to sit up, but she was still pretty dizzy.
"Don't move, let me help you." Bellamy reached out, helping her prop up. She realized, she wasn't on the ground, she was on Bellamy's bed. How did she get here? The pain in her face was really starting to come in full force, she reached up to touch her face.
"No, don't do that, your face is pretty messed up right now." She looked at him confused, blinking a few times, and the recent events flooded back to her.
"Why the hell did you attack me?!" Bellamy quickly looked over his shoulder at the closed door.
"It wasn't me, I'm so sorry! You need to see a doctor; your face is already bruising and pretty swollen." He winced as he looked her over.
"I am a doctor! And, what do you mean, it wasn't you? Then who the hell was it?!" Just then, the door opened, and a very tall brunette walked in. Her lips set in a line, she looked closed off and cold.
"It was me. You shouldn't be going into other people’s homes and bedrooms late at night, if you don't want to face the repercussions."
Clarke shot a look between this woman and Bellamy, "this is my home!"
Bellamy cleared his throat, shooting a glare at the other woman, "Echo, this is Clarke, Clarke this is Echo. My girlfriend."
Girlfriend?! What? Since when Does Bellamy Blake have a girlfriend? How did she not know that he had a girlfriend, she was his best friend! He hadn't said a word about her. Well, he hadn't really said much at all lately except to check in and make sure that she was alive. But, Raven didn't say anything either. This was all too much, Clarke moved to stand up, and felt herself sway.
"Oh no you don't, you need to stay put, you took a nasty hit to the face, and the head when you fell." He again, shot a glare at Echo. From the look on her face, she didn't seem to care, honestly, she looked like she'd do it again in a heartbeat.
This was all too much for Clarke, between the throbbing pain in her face, and the headache that was getting worse by the second, and to top it off, the betrayal of her best friend, she needed out. She got up, wobbly at best, but still she was up, and shoved past Bellamy. He tried to grab, but she was able to stumble out of his grasp. Echo just stared, as she walked past her, heading for the door. She could hear Bellamy storming up behind her.
"Where in the hell do you think you are going?!"
"To see a doctor, and get out of here." She looked over her shoulder at him briefly, "surprise. I'm home.” With that, she was out the door.
Clarke pulled out her phone after she made it down the stairs, which was not easy. She could hear Bellamy struggling to get dressed and arguing with his new girlfriend. Thankfully they were arguing enough that it slowed him down, and gave her a chance to get out the front door with her bags. She had dialed Murphey, he was around the corner, and surprisingly they had gotten pretty close while she was away. He was the one to check in on her and keep her somewhat updated when Bellamy wasn't.
Murphey had picked up on the second ring, all she had to say, was come get me. Murphey was pulling up as Bellamy was just opening the front door. Clarke wasn't going to give him time to stop her.
Murphey jumped out, grabbed her bags and threw them in the open trunk, as Clarke climbed into the car, she didn't have to say anything else. He closed the trunk and got into the driver’s seat.
"Murphey! Don't you dare drive away!" Bellamy was yelling loud enough to wake the neighborhood, without any care.
Murphey unrolled his window just enough, "Sorry Bellamy, I don't have time to stay for breakfast, maybe another time."
Leave it to Murphey to be a smartass in a stressful situation. He rolled up his window, and locked the doors just as Bellamy was grabbing the door handle. And then they were on the road, with Bellamy yelling at them from behind.
Clarke knew deep down, that she probably should have stayed and talked to him, leaving the way she did was not okay, but she was in pain, she wasn't thinking clearly, and he had hurt her. He had gone on with his life, which she had expected him to, but she didn't expect him to cut her out and not let her know what was going on. She realized Murphey was talking to her. She turned to face him when she heard him suck in his breath.
Oh right her face, she still hadn't seen it, but if it looked as bad as it felt, she was afraid to see it.
"Did he do this to you?!" She laughed at the thought, Bellamy may have shut her out of his life, but he would never ever lay a hand on her.
"No, I met his new girlfriend." This calmed him down a bit.
"Yeah, Echo. Wasn't a huge fan, now definitely not a fan. We need to take you in, sorry Griffin, but your face has looked prettier." She smiled at that, well she tried, her face lit up in even more pain.
"Yeah, I think that would be a good idea.”
Murphey had taken her to the hospital, and she had been admitted. Not only did she have a broken nose, but a broken cheek bone, and a pretty severe concussion. Luckily, she had gotten Dr. Jackson, she had worked with him before she took a leave of absence to do doctors without borders. She really liked him.
"Well Clarke, you know how this goes, we have to keep you and watch out throughout the night because of the concussion, and keep an eye on those broken bones. I’m pretty nervous about your eye. Just tad bit closer and you could have some serious damage."
She let out a sigh, this was not how she was supposed to be spend her first night back home.
"Thanks, Jackson." He gave her a small smile, before heading out the door.
Murphey was still with her, sitting in the chair by the window, typing away on his phone.
"Thank you by the way, I forgot to say thank you for dragging you out of bed at this crazy hour and making sure I got here okay."
"Don't mention it Griffin. Plus, this gets me out of work for the day, so it's a win for me too. Do you want to tell me how this all played out?" He finished typing something out before pocketing his phone.
Clarke let out another sigh, "I wanted to surprise everyone. So, I took a cab home, and went to go wake Bellamy. I had no idea that I would be treated as an intruder in my own home. I opened the door and was greeted by Echo's fist, then choked out, and dropped to the floor." She motions to her face, "hence this masterpiece. When I came to, Bellamy was there. He introduced me to his girlfriend, the girlfriend I didn't even know existed." Murphey was good enough to look a little sheepish at that.
"Yeah sorry, he asked us all not to tell you. He said he wanted to tell you when the time was right."
"The right time would have been when he decided to get a girlfriend. Then all of this could have been avoided."
"Yeah we all tried to tell him that, but, he is a Blake, you know how well they listen to others."
"I know I probably shouldn't have run out of there like I did, but I was mad that he had left me out of his life, in some pretty severe pain, and..." She let the sentence hang.
Murphey was not normally one to push, unless it was to drive you nuts, but she saw the concern on his face. "And? What else Clarke?"
Her voice went quiet when she finally responded, "not everything was easy while I was away." She didn't say more, and he could see on her face, now was not the time. She wasn't ready. And just like that, she closed that all away, just in time for the door to open.
In flooded Raven, Monty, Harper, Miller, and Jasper.
"What in the world are you all doing here?!" She shot a glare at Murphey, he just shrugged his shoulders, "you wanted a surprise, so surprise!" If she had been able to reach him, she would have smacked him.
"Guys, go back to bed, we can all catch up later." Clarke sighed.
"Right, like we are leaving, we are all already out of our beds, plus do you know how hard it is to drag a grumbling Jasper out of bed? The deed has been done, no going back." She smiled at Raven.
"I've missed you Reyes."
No one else got a word out, because the door was flying open, Octavia. Clarke groaned, she honestly had no idea how this was going to go.
"Clarke! Your face! Bellamy sounded worried on the phone, I couldn't get much out of him but something about checking the hospital, so I got here as fast as I could." Her face looked more pissed off as she took in Clarke’s. "Who did this to you and why did you run leaving Bellamy in the street frantically calling me?"
"Echo." It was all she had to say.
Everyone let out a gasp and started to whisper as Octavia let it all out.
"I told Bell, I told him not to trust her! I didn't like her the first time I met her. Now look what she has done! I swear, if I get my hands on her. No not if, when." Clarke could see this was not going well.
"O, calm down. She thought I was an intruder, or at least that's what she said. Funny thing is, I didn’t even know that she exis-"
The door slammed open before she could finish as a wild-eyed Bellamy came storming in.