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It was just like any other Monday evening for Clarke at Polis Memorial. She’d had a busy early afternoon that led her to getting behind on her charts and other assorted paperwork, so she had secluded herself in an on-call room to catch up before heading home for the night. Clarke had been so absorbed in her work that she had been startled out of her concentration when two men walked into the room.
Thelonious Jaha was a man who commanded any room he set foot in. He was also Chief of Medicine at the hospital. She’d be intimidated by the doctor if he hadn’t been her own godfather. Due to his close relationship with both her parents, Clarke had only ever known him as Uncle Thelonious. His son, Wells, was like a brother to her. Point is: they are close.
“Clarke!” Thelonious loudly announced to just the two other people in the small room. “I was hoping to catch you before you left! There’s someone I’d like to introduce you to!”
Clarke quickly closed the folder she had been working on and turned her full attention to her godfather. What she saw caused her face to flush just a tiny bit. Next to Thelonious was one of the most beautiful men she’d ever seen! 6 foot 4 inches of beautiful, lean perfection. Dark hair with just a little bit of white in the front. Dark eyes that captured her utmost attention. Dark skin that looked soft to the touch. Clarke was in absolute awe.
What pulled Clarke out of her stupor was Thelonious still talking.
“Doctor Santiago, this is Clarke Griffin! She is one of our star third year medical students! Clarke, this is Doctor Santiago, our new surgical resident all the way from Prime General in Sanctum.”
“Hello, Miss Griffin,” he softly spoke. “Call me Gabriel.”
Clarke quickly stood and held out her hand to shake his with a small smile on her face. “Well, Gabriel, then it’s only right for you to call me Clarke! Welcome to Polis Memorial!”
Matching her smile and taking her hand, holding it in his firm grasp, he responds, “The pleasure is all mine, Clarke. I look forward to working with you.”
Drawing both of their attentions back to him and causing them to let go of each other’s hands, Thelonious proclaims, “Doctor Santiago starts his first shift tomorrow, but I figured I’d get some of the introductions out of the way tonight. I won’t hold you up too much longer. I know you want to get home to Bellamy, so we’ll be on our way. Have a good night, Clarke.”
“I’ll see you around, Clarke,” Gabriel uttered. His brown eyes staring deeply into her eyes, as if to memorize every single detail. “It was nice to meet you.”
Kind of dazzled by the intense eye contact, Clarke almost didn’t get a chance to respond while the two men were leaving the on-call room. Belatedly, Clarke breathlessly whispered, “You too.”
And just like that, Clarke had developed a crush.
***
An hour and a half later, Clarke is opening the door to the apartment she and her boyfriend, Bellamy Blake, share.
She sees the tastefully messy curly hair of her beautiful, wonderful boyfriend lounging on their couch, grading tests from his students.
Hearing her enter the apartment, he looks up from what he’s doing and with a soft smile on his face says, “Hey, Princess. Long day?”
Chuckling just a little bit, Clarke chucks off her shoes by the door and makes her way around to the front of the couch. Dropping her coat and bag on the ground along the way, she gracelessly lands on top of her boyfriend and the papers he was marking. “What gave it away?”
Letting out an indignant noise, he scoops up the papers and his red marking pen and moves them to the coffee table in front of the couch. He proceeds to wrap his arms around his girlfriend and kiss the top of her head. “Well, it’s 7:30 on a Monday night and you worked all weekend.” He smirks just a little bit. “Call it an educated guess.”
Bellamy and Clarke had started out as tentative friends after meeting at a party for their mutual friend, John Murphy, and getting into a minor disagreement over something so miniscule and unimportant, they don’t even remember what it was about. Then they became best friends. At the end of each day, the only thing that made them feel better and complete was talking to each other in any way, shape, or form. It naturally progressed into a pretty serious relationship and they have officially been together for about a year. They got their own place 3 months after becoming official. Some people (Abby Griffin, if we’re being specific) thought it was too much too soon, but Bellamy and Clarke know they are “It” for each other. Part of what makes them work so well together is the fact that they took the time to become the very best of friends before they finally got over themselves and started dating. To be perfectly cliché, they are soulmates.
One of Bellamy’s hands that was resting on Clarke’s back moves up and through her hair to massage her scalp. If there’s one thing she loves about Bellamy, it’s definitely his hands. Her eyes start drooping and she buries her face into his broad chest. They are the picture of content in each other’s arms.
After several minutes of basking in the quietness of their apartment, Bellamy takes his hand out of her hair and starts rubbing his hands up and down Clarke’s back. “You should get some food in you,” Bellamy utters. “I made lasagna earlier and left some in the oven for you.”
Clarke does a full body stretch against Bellamy and stands up in an attempt to fully wake up. “You’re the perfect man.”
Barking out a laugh, Bellamy states, “Wish you thought that when I’m trying to get you to do something that’s good for you.”
“Can’t help it if what you think is good for me is to go running and watch boring documentaries on ancient civilizations,” Clarke grumbly replies, helping herself to the lasagna in the kitchen.
With a playful glare in his eyes, Bellamy indignantly responds, “That stuff is good for your body and your brain and I will not hear a negative word about it!”
All Clarke can do is smile at her ridiculously soft boyfriend.
***
Clarke got Tuesday off, so the next time she sees Gabriel, they’re both on their lunches on Wednesday in the hospital cafeteria. Gabriel is sitting by his lonesome, just browsing through his phone when Clarke sees him from where she’s in line to pay for her food.
Internally wondering if she should go sit with him, the decision is made for her when Gabriel looks up from his phone and recognizes her. His face lights up and waves at her. She smiles back and, after paying for her food, she moves to his table and sits down across from him.
“You all settled in just fine, Doctor Santiago?”
“Please, Clarke, call me Gabriel. And, yeah. Everyone’s been super nice and helpful. I think I’ll like it here.”
“Good,” Clarke responds with a small smile. “I’m glad.”
They settle into a bit of an awkward silence as Clarke takes a bite of her sandwich and Gabriel plays around with the pop socket on his phone case.
“So…Sanctum, huh? What made you come all the way to Arkadia?” Clarke wonders.
A bit of an uncomfortable look crosses his face and Clarke is quick to add, “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. It’s just…quite a distance.”
“No. No, it’s fine, Clarke. Nobody just uproots their life and moves halfway across the country for no reason. Umm…” Gabriel starts to say. He pauses to take a drink of his water. “Actually, I kind of had a bit of a bad break up and, I know that’s kind of an extreme thing to do; moving away like this, but she wasn’t exactly handling it well, so I felt it easier for me to just leave.”
“Oh! Oh my gosh. I’m so sorry!” Clarke really wasn’t expecting to hear that. Her face flushes bright pink. She didn’t mean to dredge up a potentially traumatic experience. Gosh darn it, Clarke!
“It’s okay, Clarke. You didn’t know,” Gabriel kindly interrupts her internal self-scolding with a charming close-lipped smile. “We actually broke up nearly a year ago. It just took some time for me to get everything together and organized. I’m over it. Over her.”
He’s kind of pointedly staring at Clarke and she can feel her heart beat just a little bit faster. It's been a while since she’s flirted with someone who wasn’t Bellamy.
“So, you must be kind of lonely. You’re in Arkadia by yourself, aren’t you?” Clarke asks.
“Yeah. It’s okay though. I don’t think I’m going to be too lonely for long,” Gabriel responds.
Oh.
In a spur of the moment decision, Clarke decides that, one way or another, she won’t let him be lonely. She’ll introduce him to Bellamy. They’ll all be friends. Or maybe more.
“You know...” Clarke starts. “If you want to, my boyfriend, Bellamy, and I would love to have you over to hang out this Friday night.”
A startled look crosses Gabriel’s features. “Boyfriend?”
“Yeah. We’ve been together for about a year now, but we’ve known each other for years,” Clarke needlessly babbles.
“I am…so sorry, Clarke. I had no idea. I just assumed we were kind of flirting and—”
“Gabriel, stop. It’s fine! There’s not a person in this hospital that doesn’t know about me and Bellamy,” Clarke lightly laughs, cheeks still flushed all pink. “I just assumed somebody told you and I shouldn’t have done that. I’m sorry.”
“Still, Clarke. If I made you uncomfortable in any way, I am so terribly sorry.”
“Gabriel, I’m serious. It’s fine. Please consider coming over this Friday. I can’t imagine how lonely you must be feeling in this new place. We would love to have you over,” Clarke makes a mental note to discuss with Bellamy later that night. “That is, if you aren’t busy or anything!”
Chewing on his bottom lip, Gabriel appears to think it over. “I think I’d like that, Clarke. Really. That’s—that’s very nice of you.”
They’re both just giving each other small, friendly smiles, albeit Gabriel’s seems tinged with an almost sadness. It’s only when Clarke’s pager goes off that their stares are broken.
“Well, I should get going.” Clarke starts to organize her garbage and grab her things. “I’ll see you around, Gabriel!”
“Yeah, Clarke. Thanks again for the invite!”
***
When Clarke gets home, she is greeted with the sight of Bellamy pulling a homemade pizza out of the oven, wearing a “Kiss the Cook” apron.
“Oh. Perfect timing!” Bellamy declares while placing the pizza on the counter and grabbing the pizza slicer to cut up the slices. Clarke finds herself coming up behind him and wrapping her arms around his waist as he puts the slices on plates. She quickly kisses him between his shoulder blades and releases him so he can place the plates on the coffee table for them.
After placing the plates down, he turns to her and gives her a proper greeting. A quick peck on the lips later and they’re both seated right up against each other on the couch, stuffing their faces with pizza and filling each other in on their day.
It’s during a slight lull in conversation that Clarke decides to bring up Gabriel.
“So, I may have made a new friend today,” is what she decided to start with. “I may or may not have decided to invite him over on Friday night to hang out. He’s new in town and he doesn’t know anybody else too well yet.”
“That’s great, Clarke! I’d love to meet your friend!”
“The thing is though, Bell, he may have initially been flirting with me and thought I was interested in him. I just wanted to talk to you first.” Clarke moves to hold his hand and, in turn, Bellamy threads their fingers together and gives her a reassuring squeeze.
“Are you?” Bellamy asks.
“Am I what?”
“Interested in him?” Bellamy’s tone doesn’t indicate that he’s upset. In fact, it’s almost the exact opposite. He’s teasing her.
Clarke coyly responds, “Maybe.”
The thing is, ever since becoming exclusive and official, they’ve found that there was no need for any sort of jealousy in their relationship. They are in this life together, for better or worse. In fact, they’ve occasionally invited a third into their bed. It didn’t happen a lot because it wasn’t ever something that was necessary, but they had fun. Roan was a fun partner. Raven was another. They’re all friends, so it was never awkward and again, there was no need for any jealousy.
“Well, babe,” Bellamy’s smirk slowly spreading across his face, “sounds like we might be having some fun on Friday.” He wraps his arm around her shoulders and gives her a kiss on her forehead.
“It might be more than that, Bellamy.” Clarke starts to struggle for words. “He’s just. He seems so lonely, Bell. I want him around for a long time.”
Bellamy appears to reevaluate what his girlfriend could possibly be trying to say.
“It’s absolutely nothing against you, Bell. If this isn’t something you could want, that’s fine. This discussion ends here and we don’t have to have anything more than a simple friendship.”
“Clarke, stop.” Bellamy firmly stated with a slight smile on his face. “You like him. I want to get to know him. I’m not promising anything, but—" he pauses. “I’m open to it if it’s something you want to try.”
Clarke just stares at her boyfriend, full of wonder. What did she do to deserve someone so loving and accepting?
“I have never been more attracted to you than in this moment.”
It’s Bellamy’s face that darkens with a flush this time. He tucks his head down and smiles.
***
The next time Clarke sees Gabriel again is Friday morning in the main floor staff lounge, struggling with the coffee machine.
“You know, the staff lounge on the surgical floor has the better coffee.”
Gabriel jumps slightly and turns to greet Clarke with a laugh. “Yeah. I figured that one out pretty quickly. I was actually hoping to run into you.”
“Oh? You’re not looking to get out of tonight, are you?” She pauses. “It’s totally okay if you are. I don’t want to overstep or anything.”
“No!” Gabriel exclaims. “I actually realized we never exchanged numbers and that might be kind of handy to have.”
“Right! Oh my gosh. You’d kind of need that, wouldn’t you?” They hand each other their phones and enter their contact info. For good measure, Clarke also enters her address too, for later. “Bellamy’s looking forward to meeting you. It’s not often we meet new people. Our friend group is pretty close-knit.”
“I’m looking forward to meeting him too, Clarke. Really.” Gabriel starts awkwardly playing with his phone case again after they swap phones back. “Umm…did you happen to tell him about the, umm, flirting?”
Clarke takes a breath. What she says next could either make or break whatever it is they could have.
“I did and that’s part of the reason he’s looking forward to meeting you.”
Gabriel’s eyes kind of bug out.
“Not—" Clarke starts. “Not in a bad way. Gabriel, so far of what I know about you, I like you. I think we could have something special. Bellamy, he shares those thoughts. He’s open to it, if you are.”
Gabriel contemplates what it is she’s saying. “I’ve never done anything like that before. I don’t—”
“You don’t have to decide anything right now,” Clarke says, reassuringly. “We can just have a fun movie night tonight. Get to know each other. No pressure.”
Gabriel takes a calming breath. “Okay. I’ll see you tonight. Is 7:30 okay?”
“7:30 is perfect!”
***
Clarke had actually managed to get out at 5:30 for once. It was a miracle! She raced home to help Bellamy prepare the apartment for company. He was making nachos with a homemade buffalo chicken queso dip. They had wine and beer on hand and Netflix was ready for a selection to be made. Just as Clarke was changing into leggings and one of Bellamy’s university sweatshirts, there’s a knock on the door.
Clarke comes out of their room and she and Bellamy exchange a glance. She moves to the door and looks through the peephole. Gabriel’s early. It’s only 7:15.
She unchains the door and swings it open. “Hi, Gabriel! Thank you so much for coming over!”
“Thank you for the invite, Clarke. Looks like you have a nice apartment.”
“Thank you. You can take off your shoes here and hang your jacket there.” Clarke points to where he can place his belongings. “Let’s go introduce you to Bell. He’s in the kitchen.”
Together, they make their way from the front hall and into the kitchen where Bellamy has just pulled the queso dip out of the oven.
Bellamy takes his hand out of the oven mitt and goes to shake Gabriel’s hand with a smile. “You must be Gabriel. It’s nice to meet you. Clarke’s talked a lot about you.”
Gabriel shifts his eyes between Clarke and Bellamy and returns his handshake. “It’s nice to meet you too. Thank you for having me over.”
“Yeah, no worries. Clarke was very excited to have you over,” Bellamy shares with a teasing smirk at his girlfriend.
Clarke huffs. “Like you weren’t looking forward to this too, Bell.”
“You’re right, Princess. I have been looking forward to this.” He turns to Gabriel and gives him a long glance over. “Really.”
Gabriel takes a sharp inhale. His pupils grow and his eyes darken. He definitely likes what he’s seeing, too.
Clarke bites her lip as she takes in the scene in front of her. She loves Bellamy. She likes Gabriel. It seems like they all like each other. She lets out a breath she didn’t know she was holding.
“Well, I’ve got Netflix ready to go and the buffalo chicken queso dip is best served hot. Come on, Bell, Gabriel. Let’s go into the living room. Would you like something to drink, Gabriel? Wine? Beer?”
“I’ll have a beer, thanks.”
“Awesome. You two go sit down and I’ll bring the drinks.”
Gabriel heads out into the living room with the nachos and Bellamy grabs the dip. Before heading into the other room, he pulls Clarke into a short, heated kiss and settles his forehead against hers.
“I like him, Princess.”
“I knew you would, Bell.”
They separate and make their way into the living room.
Food and drinks are all placed on the coffee table. Gabriel settled himself onto one end of the couch, so Clarke takes the initiative and sits in the middle, with Bellamy sitting on her other side. They all agree on watching something light-hearted and mindless. With the energy that was exhibited in the kitchen, they might not be watching for long. Parks and Recreation is pulled up and they all settle in together.
***
After about 3 episodes, all the food is gone and they’ve had a couple of beers each. They’ve settled into some comfortable, relaxed chatter; getting to know each other and liking what they’re learning. Clarke had settled into Bellamy’s side with his arm wrapped around her. While Clarke and Gabriel are chatting about some hospital gossip, Bellamy starts running his fingers lightly up and down her arm, watching the two of them. His eyes go dark.
Meanwhile, Clarke starts getting goosebumps from the attention she’s getting from Bellamy. His fingers and his eyes on her are doing a number on her. She turns her head back for a quick peck.
Well, it was supposed to be a quick peck. Bellamy holds her head in his hands and deepens the kiss. When they break apart for some air, they turn to Gabriel, who had been watching them.
“Gabriel,” Clarke’s voice is hoarse from the full effect of Bellamy’s kiss. “I think I speak for both Bell and myself when I say we would like you to join us tonight. We think you would like that, too.”
Gabriel stares at the two of them for a minute.
“I would really like that.”
Clarke moves away from Bellamy and closer to Gabriel on the couch. She slowly sits herself in his lap and cups his face with her hands. Very softly, she kisses him.
They quickly lose themselves in the kiss. Bellamy moves closer to the two of them. He leans in to kiss Gabriel’s neck.
The feeling of Bellamy’s stubble on his skin has him breaking away from Clarke’s kiss and reaching out for Bellamy to show him some attention, too. His hands winding up in Bellamy’s dark curls.
Sitting back on Gabriel’s lap, watching the two of them, Clarke starts to smile.
Hating to break up the serenity of the moment, she whispers, “How about we move this to the bedroom?”
Gabriel and Bellamy break the kiss and turn to Clarke, who had started to stand and pull on their hands.
“How does that sound, Gabe? Do you want to spend the night with us?” Bellamy asks.
Gabriel looks between the two of them and swallows. “I think I’d like to stay much longer than a night. If you’ll have me?”
Clarke and Bellamy look at each other and then back to Gabriel. Clarke moves closer and wraps her arms around Gabriel’s neck as she responds with, “We’d like that too.”