Archive of Our Own

When Bellamy first started calling Clarke ‘princess’, he did so as an insult. He wanted to get under her skin in the same way that she got under his, something she accomplished with her mere presence.

Clarke was Octavia’s college roommate, even though she was a year above Octavia. The first time Bellamy met her was when he was helping O move into the dorm. He’d instantly taken issue with her perfect blonde hair, stunning blue eyes, and that cute little beauty mark above her lip. In hindsight, Bellamy was willing to admit part of why he had taken such an issue with Clarke was that he was attracted to her and didn’t deal with it very well. He could admit that.

Part of it though was that she seemed like she came from money. Clarke was already set up in the dorm when they were moving O in so Bellamy had full view of a shiny new laptop, brand new textbooks, and copious amounts of new school supplies. It made Bellamy self-conscious about the fact that he had only been able to afford to get Octavia used textbooks and give her his old, beat-up laptop that still worked perfectly but didn’t look as chic as a brand new MacBook.

Bellamy knew that he was projecting a lot of his own insecurities onto Clarke but he couldn’t help it. Finding out that Clarke’s mother was the dean of the school had solidified his distaste for her. He couldn’t make himself entertain even the slightest thought that Clarke had gotten into the school for any other reason than the fact her mother was the dean.

Bellamy could still picture the way Clarke’s face had soured the firs time he had called her ‘princess.’ Part of the reason he continued to do so for so long was that he liked aggravating her. She didn’t take his shit, instead she gave it right back to him. If he wanted a fight she would give him one.

It had taken a while but eventually things had cooled between the two. There wasn’t a specific, single moment that Bellamy could pinpoint as being the one where everything changed. One day he’d noticed that calling her ‘princess’ had lost its edge; he didn’t say it to bother her anymore, instead it had morphed into an affectionate term.

After a while, Bellamy wasn’t able to hide it from himself anymore. He finally had to admit that he continued to call Clarke ‘princess’ because he wanted her to be his princess. Somewhere along the line, he had fallen for the very woman he had fought with for years after their initial meeting.

Now that he wasn’t using the nickname as a way to get under her skin, he would stop using it if she asked him to. he wasn’t sure whether or not Clarke knew that the name had changed in meaning for him, but she had stopped protesting his use of the nickname. Either she’d just gotten used to it or she didn’t care, the jury was still out on that one. Bellamy couldn’t for the life of him figure out a way to ask her about it without revealing his feelings, so he just left it.

Until one night it was taken out of his hands, and he finally got his answer.

Everyone was meeting at the bar to meet Clarke’s new boyfriend, Finn. Bellamy was the last one there, having gotten caught up with work.

“Sorry, princess,” Bellamy huffed out, giving Clarke an apologetic look when she shot him a glare. “My boss caught me on my way out, I couldn’t get out of it.” Bellamy slid into the booth next to Octavia, giving her a kiss on the cheek in greeting.

Clarke immediately lost her glare and shrugged sympathetically, she hated Bellamy’s boss even more than he did. “No worries, we were just about to get some drinks. This is Finn, by the way,” She said, gesturing to the pretty boy sitting next to her. “Finn, this is Bellamy. He’s Octavia’s brother.”

“Nice to meet you,” Finn drawled out, reaching over to shake Bellamy’s hand. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Likewise,” Bellamy lied, not wanting to admit that Clarke hadn’t really talked about her new boyfriend very much. Usually he was the person she told everything to but lately she’d been distant.

“Alright,” Raven said, clapping her hands. “Now that everyone has been introduced, let’s get some drinks!”

Bellamy stood up to grab the drinks from the bar, as was the customer for whomever got to the bar last for their group outings. He was, however, surprised when Finn made to get up as well.

“I’ll give you a hand.”

Bellamy was about to protest when he saw the pleading look Clarke shot him. He sighed. “Yeah, that would be great, thanks.”

They walked up to the bar together and placed the order. While they were waiting for the drinks, Finn suddenly turned to Bellamy. “So, is there a reason you call Clarke ‘princess’?”

Bellamy felt himself stiffen. This had been a problem with a majority of Clarke’s previous partners as well, something that Clarke was surprisingly oblivious to.

“Oh, that. It’s just a nickname from college,” Bellamy tried, acting as nonchalant about it as possible. “It doesn’t mean anything.”

“Oh,” Finn said, not looking like he really believed Bellamy but their drinks arrived before he could say anything else.

Finn was quiet as they walked back to the table and as they passed around the drinks. Clarke didn’t seem to really notice the awkward tension between the two men as they returned to the table, as she was paying attention to Raven’s girlfriend, Gina, who was telling a story about a shitty customer she had had earlier that day.

Finn seemed to relax as the night went on and everyone was getting along well enough. Bellamy was still on the quieter side, not finding Finn to be all that interesting. He spent most of the night trying to figure out what exactly Clarke saw in the guy.

What did Finn have that Bellamy didn’t?

A few hours and multiple rounds later, Finn and Bellamy were once again returning to the table with more drinks. Bellamy didn’t understand why Finn felt the need to accompany him again, he was more than capable of bringing over a tray of drinks, but he shrugged it off. He didn’t want to say or do anything to upset Clarke tonight, and if that meant forcing himself to get along with her new boyfriend, then so be it.

“Thank you,” Clarke said as Finn handed her her drink.

“You’re welcome, princess,” Finn replied, mimicking Bellamy’s earlier words when he had been the one to hand Clarke her drink.

The table went quiet and Clarke almost choked on her drink. “Uh, no, don’t call me that, please.”

Finn felt himself flush. “What? Why not?”

“Only Bellamy can call me that,” Clarke said firmly, not seeing, in her tipsy state, the way this made Finn flush even further.

Bellamy, on the other hand, felt a thrill of possessive satisfaction go through him and had to stop himself from smirking. Seconds later, Octavia nudged him to let him know he wasn’t doing a very good job of wiping the smirk off his face.

Everyone else at the table buzzed with an awkward tension. No one but Bellamy had ever tried to call Clarke ‘princess’ before. They had all seemed to realized it was something strictly between Bellamy and Clarke.

Finn huffed. “Clarke, I’m your boyfriend. Not Bellamy. He shouldn’t be calling you pet names like that.”

Bellamy opened his mouth, ready to tell Finn off. No one told Clarke what to do. But before he could get a word out, Clarke was rounding on Finn.

“Excuse me?!” She asked, looking incredulous. “Princess is Bellamy’s name for me, no one else’s. It’s always been like that. If you have a problem with that, you can leave.”

A shocked silence followed Clarke’s proclamation.

Bellamy stared at Clarke, surprised that she would jeopardize her relationship for a nickname he hadn’t been all that sure she even liked.

Finn huffed, his face getting increasingly red. “Can we talk about this privately?”

“What’s there to talk about? All I’m asking for is that you don’t call me by Bellamy’s pet name for me,” Clarke reaffirmed, taking a large gulp of her drink.

“Clarke,” Finn hissed, looking embarrassed as the rest of the table continued to stare at the two of them.

Clarke groaned. “Fine, let’s talk privately.”

The two of them got up from the table and Clarke stumbled slightly but caught herself. They walked over to a quieter corner of the bar and Bellamy watched as they proceeded to have a fight.

“Well, this is awkward,” Octavia said, pointing out the obvious. “Let’s get another round, I’m not drunk enough for this.”

Raven and Gina offered to get the drinks this time and Octavia slid over into a chair opposite Bellamy so she could look at him as they talked. “You must be loving this.”

“Loving what?” Bellamy asked, most of his attention still on Clarke and Finn. Clarke had her arms crossed and was looking at Finn resolutely while Finn used an increasing amount of hand gestures.

“The fact that your crush just told off her boyfriend because he tried to call her by your name for her,” Octavia said, rolling her eyes.

Bellamy forced his attention onto his sister and away from Clarke. “I don’t have a crush on her!”

Octavia stared at him. “Are you joking? Like are you actually joking right now?”

“What?” Bellamy replied defensively, staring into his beer instead of meeting his sister’s eyes.

“Bellamy Blake, you are head over heels in love with that woman; you have been for years. Why don’t you do something about it?” Octavia exclaimed, throwing her hands up in frustration.

“Octavia, she is literally dating someone else right now, there’s nothing I can do.”

Octavia snorted. “Bellamy, Bellamy, Bellamy…you idiot. If Clarke got even the slightest impression that you were actually interested in her she would drop everything and everyone to be with you. You could ask that woman to marry you and she’d say yes in a heartbeat.”

Bellamy stared at her in shock. “What are you talking about?”

“Bell, that girl has had just as much of a crush on you, as you have had on her these last couple of years,” Octavia explained, looking at her brother with pity. How he could be this oblivious was beyond her.

“What are we talking about?” Raven asked, as they handed out the fresh drinks and settled back into the booth.

“Just how Clarke is as in love with my brother as he is with her,” Octavia said nonchalantly, nodding in thanks for the new drink. Bellamy almost choked on his drink at the ease in which his sister just blurted out the secret he thought he had done a relatively good job at hiding for years.

“Oh, right,” Raven agreed.

“Wait, you guys think she has feelings for me too?” Bellamy asked, looking between Raven and Gina in surprise.

Raven and Gina stared at each other for a moment before looking at Bellamy. “Um, yeah?” They said in unison.

“What?!”

“We thought it was obvious!” Raven said, looking dumbfounded. “You do everything together and you’re definitely each other’s best friend. Anyone and everyone with eyes can see the way you two look at each other.”

“Plus, you call her princess and she lets you,” Gina piped up. “Clarke hates pet names.”

Bellamy was more confused than he had been in a very long time. “Clarke hates pet names?”

“Yup,” Octavia said, popping the p. “Princess is the only pet name she accepts and it’s purely because you’re the one calling her that. No one else can call her that, just look at how she reacted when Finn did.”

Before Bellamy could say anything else, Clarke plopped back down at the table. She reached over and stole Bellamy’s beer, draining the glass while everyone stared at her.

Clarke placed the glass back down on the table and said, “Well, that’s over.”

“Clarke, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have called you that with him around. You didn’t have to break up with him,” Bellamy apologized, feeling horrible for the fact that his heart literally skipped a beat at the prospect of her being single again. Maybe this was his chance.

Clarke shrugged. “It’s fine, it was probably going to end soon anyway.”

“Here, babe,” Octavia said, pushing the drunk the girls’ had gotten Clarke towards her.

Clarke scrunched up her nose as she accepted the drink. “No pet names, O, you know that.”

Clarke gulped down the new drink while Octavia gave Bellamy a pointed look. Bellamy ignored her but he filed the new information away for later.

A couple hours later, everyone but Bellamy was decently drunk. It was almost midnight and they decided it was probably time to get going. Lincoln dropped by to pick up Octavia, and Raven and Gina got themselves sorted with a cab.

Waving them goodbye, Clarke turned to Bellamy. “Well, I guess I better get a cab too.”

“No way, princess,” Bellamy said firmly, shaking his head as she started to protest. “You’re not going home alone drunk like this. You can crash at my place and I’ll give you a ride home tomorrow.”

Clarke tilted her head, swaying slightly in place. She thought about protesting some more but Bellamy only lived a block away from the bar and given that everything was a bit fuzzy right now, it was probably best that she didn’t go home alone.

“Okay,” She said, leaning against him. “Can we have pancakes tomorrow?”

Bellamy rolled his eyes. “Sure, princess. I even have some bacon we can cook up.”

Clarke cheered. “I love bacon!”

“I know you do,” Bellamy replied, flagging down a passing cab. He had originally planned to walk but seeing the way Clarke was swaying, he figured it would just be easier to grab a cab.

They made it back to his place in no time and Bellamy sent Clarke into the bathroom with a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt to change into while he got her a glass of water and some aspirin. He changed quickly into his own pair of sweatpants and t-shirt while Clarke was still in the bathroom.

He was gathering a pillow and some blankets for himself when Clarke exited the bathroom. She had washed off her makeup with some of the stuff Octavia kept laying around for when she slept over and her hair was tied up in a messy bun. She looked at him with a soft, sleepy grin and Bellamy was struck by just how beautiful she was.

Bellamy shook himself out of it and nodded towards the bed. “You can have the bed, I’ll take the couch. There is water and aspirin on the nightstand.”

Clarke yawned. “Thanks, Bell. You know you don’t have to sleep on the couch, though. We can share.”

Bellamy chuckled. “You wouldn’t be saying that if you were sober, princess. I’m fine on the couch.”

Clarke shrugged and stumbled her way into bed while Bellamy made his way towards the door. He hesitated in the doorway, though, and after a brief battle within himself he turned around. “Clarke? Can I ask you something?”

“Hmm?” Clarke groaned from her place under the covers.

“Why do you let me call you ‘princess’ if you hate pet names?” Bellamy asked, holding his breath as he waited for her answer.

Clarke was quiet for a moment before she slurred out, “Because I want to be your princess and it makes me feel like I am. I know you say it to annoy me but I like it.”

Bellamy was speechless. That was the last thing he had expected her to say. He was about to respond before he noticed she had nodded off. He turned off the lights and whispered, “Goodnight, princess.”

Bellamy’s head was a mess as he collapsed onto the couch. Tonight hadn’t gone even a fraction of how he had expected it to. He just hoped that Clarke remembered all of this in the morning. They clearly needed to have a talk.

Clarke roused from sleep with a groan. There was a persistent pounding in her head and her mouth felt extremely dry. Making herself sit up, Clarke took stock of her surroundings, noticing the glass of water and gulping it down gratefully. She took the pulls that had been set out for her with the last of the water and placed the empty glass back on the nightstand.

The room was mostly dark with only the slightest bit of morning light coming in through the window. If she had to guess, she would say it was probably around 5am.

Clarke stretched, registering that she was in Bellamy’s room. The spot beside her was empty and didn’t look at all slept in, so Bellamy must have taken the couch.

Clarke pouted slightly, although she was not surprised. Whenever Bellamy let her crash at his place he always took the couch and made her take the bed. Every time, Clarke longed to just ask him to share the bed but never actually worked up the nerve.

Until, that is, last night, apparently. Memories rushed back to her and Clarke groaned as she replayed the previous night’s events. Okay, so she’d snapped at Finn for calling her ‘princess’ and then broke up with him; that wasn’t so bad, she had been looking for an easy way out of that relationship anyway. That probably didn’t mix well with her bringing him to meet her friends but he had been so insistent about it and she had run out of excuses.

The thing weighing most heavily on her mind, though, was the question she remembered Bellamy asking her before he left the room. Why did she continue to let him call her princess when she didn’t even like pet names?

Clarke put her head in her hands as she remembered her reply. “Because I want to be your princess and it makes me feel like I am. I know you say it to annoy me but I like it.” Fuck. She’d given everything away and she hadn’t even been sober for it. Of course the first time she admitted her feelings to Bellamy it would be while she was drunk. That was just her life.

Clarke sighed. She might as well get up and clean herself up a little bit. Throwing back the covers, Clarke left the warmth of Bellamy’s bed and made her way to the bathroom. She decided to take a quick shower; she had taken off her makeup and brushed her teeth last night but she still felt gross. She always craved a hot shower after a night of drinking.

There was a clean towel left on the countertop that Clarke knew Bellamy had put there for her. There was also a pile of clean clothes that Clarke recognized as Octavia’s. They would fit fine but Clarke wanted to get back into the clothes Bellamy had lent her. They were comfy and they smelt like him.

Clarke stepped under the hot spray and closed the shower door behind her. She was careful not to get her hair wet as she didn’t feel like going through the process of drying her hair right now. It was too early and she wanted to go back to sleep.

The hot water felt good and Clarke just stood there for a moment, contemplating her next move. She could pretend that she didn’t remember anything from last night and plead ignorance. It wouldn’t be the first time she didn’t remember things after getting drunk so it would be believable. Things could go back to normal, hopefully.

But the question was…did she want things to go back to normal? Did she want to go back to hiding her crush, as she had for so many years?

She really didn’t. Now that she had admitted it to Bellamy, even if she had been drunk, she didn’t want to take it back. Clarke knew that she could tell Bellamy she wanted to forget the whole thing and he would respect that, but she wanted to tell him again. Sober, this time. It had been so long, it was finally time to just shoot her shot.

For the rest of her shower, Clarke ran through possible scenarios of what could happen when she admitted her feelings to Bellamy. She didn’t want to ruin their friendship, he was her closet friend. That was one of the reasons she had put off telling him for so long in the first place. The timing just hadn’t been right and she didn’t want to lose him. But keeping this from him wasn’t doing her any good anymore. It was getting harder and harder not to say something. Clarke decided it was finally time to just put her cards on the table and see what happened.

She stepped out of the shower, feeling warm and clean. Wrapping herself in the fluffy towel, Clarke thought about what she was going to say to Bellamy while she dried off and got redressed. Saying Hey, I’m completely in love with you, wanna get married? probably wasn’t the way to go about it.

When Clarke left the bathroom she was no closer to knowing what she was going to say. All she knew was that she wasn’t going to go one more day without telling Bellamy how she felt.

She tiptoed into the living room to see if Bellamy was still asleep, taking a minute to check the time and see that it was 6am now. The room was quiet expect for Bellamy’s gentle snoring. Seeing that he was still asleep, Clarke was about to turn around and go back to bed, but, and maybe she was still a little bit drunk, instead she decided to curl up with him on the couch. There was plenty of room for her, Bellamy had gotten a couch that was prefect for sleeping on, knowing that when Octavia came to stay he would always give up his bed.

Before she could second guess her decision, Clarke found herself lying down beside Bellamy, warmth radiating off his large frame. Almost immediately, in a way that made Clarke think he was actually awake, Bellamy’s arm curled around her, as if sensing her presence. He tugged her against his chest, nuzzling his face into her hair. Clarke could feel his heartbeat against her back and it was slow and steady, his breathing even. He was still asleep.

Clarke smiled to herself, snuggled closer to him and closed her eyes.

When Bellamy woke up a few hours later, it was to the sensation of something warm and solid snuggled against him. His eyes blinked open sleepily and the first thing he noticed was blonde hair, and lots of it.

He came around slowly, feeling more comfortable than he had in the longest time; something that had nothing to do with the plushness of the couch or softness of the pillow under his head. It had everything to do with the fact that at some point during the night, Clarke had woken up and come to sleep with him.

The weight of her body against his was incredible. She fit perfectly against him, as he had always known she would.

Bellamy wasn’t one hundred percent sure he wasn’t still asleep and dreaming, but it was proven he was wide awake in the next minute when Clarke groaned and stretched, arching her back against him. Now he was very much awake and he could feel himself stirring.

“Fuck, princess, stop moving or this is going to be embarrassing,” He mumbled out, his voice hoarse from sleep.

Clarke yawned and pushed back against him again, this time with intent. Bellamy tightened his arm around her, stopping her from moving. He loosened his hold when Clarke made to turn over, moving so she was facing him.

“Hi,” She whispered, stifling a small yawn.

“Hey,” He said softly, unable to stop from grinning at her cuteness. “How’s your head?”

“It’s okay,” Clarke replied. “The aspirin helped.”

“Good,” Bellamy smiled. “We clearly have a lot to talk about, do you want to talk before or after I make the pancakes I promised you?”

Clarke’s face turned serious as she considered her options, making Bellamy roll his eyes fondly.

“Let’s eat then talk,” Clarke decided, her growling stomach making the choice for her.

Bellamy nodded and they got up, Clarke instantly regretting any choice that made her have to move away from Bellamy’s solid warmth.

They moved into the kitchen, where Clarke hopped onto the counter to sit while Bellamy started pulling out the ingredients for pancakes. As much as he complained that she never helped when they cooked together, the second she tried to help he would get territorial. They had figured out the best way for them to cook together was for Clarke to just pass him things and taste test when needed, which was her favourite part.

Clarke swung her legs, the hells of her feet hitting the cabinets lightly. The silence was comfortable but she desperately wanted to talk. She was worried that if they didn’t talk now she would lose her nerve.

“Okay, I changed my mind,” She declared, and Bellamy looked over from where he had been reaching for a mixing bowl. He raised an eyebrow at her, motioning for her to continue. “I think we should talk first.”

“Okay,” Bellamy agreed easily, putting the bowl off to the side with the rest of the ingredients. “Do you want to start or should I?”

Clarke took a deep breath. “I’ll start,” Clarke could feel her heart speeding up but it was now or never. Time to tell him how she felt. “Okay, so last night obviously didn’t go according to plan.”

Bellamy snorted. “That’s putting it lightly.”

Clarke glared at him playfully before continuing. “Anyway, so I just think there are some things I said and did last night that we should talk about. There are also some things I need to say now that I’m sober.”

Bellamy nodded nervously, his body tensing in anticipation. This was either the part where she admitted she had just been drunk and didn’t mean anything she said last night, or this was the part where Bellamy got everything he had wanted for the last however-many years.

“Alright, I’m just going to put this out there: I’m in love with you,” Clarke blurted out, biting her lip nervously when Bellamy’s eyes widened. She felt herself start to ramble, cutting off anything he might have been about to say. “I’ve been in love with you for years. I should have told you much earlier, if only so we could have acknowledged it and moved on. Sometimes I think you might feel the same way and I work up the courage to tell you but then I lose my nerve at the last minute and I’m back at the beginning. Last night, though, you asked my why I only let you call me ‘princess’ and why I do so when I hate pet names. I told you that I let you because it makes me feel like I’m your princess and that’s true. I feel special when you call me that,” Clarke breathed out, showing no signs of slowing down now that she was finally talking. “I know you started it as an insult but then it became affectionate, or at least it did to me. I hadn’t really thought about it all that much until last night when Finn called me that and it just felt…wrong. It was more than just him calling me a pet name and me not liking it, it was like…he was doing something that’s only for you. It’s our thing and I don’t want anyone else involved and—”

Clarke was cut off by the feeling of Bellamy’s lips on hers. She startled for a second before realizing what was happening and threw herself into the kiss. Clarke felt Bellamy make to pull away and reached up to curl her arms around his neck, pulling him back in.

Eventually she let him pull away but she kept her arms locked around his neck. Bellamy’s hands were a solid weight on her hips and he didn’t seem like he was going to be letting go anytime soon.

Clarke kept her eyes closed for a minute, savouring the moment. “So, uh, does that mean you feel the same way? Or did you just want me to stop talking? Because if it’s the latter, first of all, rude, second of all, feel free to use that technique anytime.”

Bellamy laughed, one of his hands leaving her waist to tuck her hair behind her ear. “I’m in love with you, Clarke. I have been for years.”

“Thank fuck,” Clarke mumbled, pulling him back towards her and recapturing his lips. They stayed like that for what seemed like eternity but in reality was only a few minutes before Bellamy pulled away again.

“Also, I really love that I’m the only one allowed to call you ‘princess’,” Bellamy admitted, although that was already pretty obvious. “I’m a possessive bastard and I want you to be mine.”

Clarke smiled softly. “I’ve been yours for years, Bell.”

“We should have done this a lot sooner, princess,” Bellamy said in between kisses.

“We’re doing it now, though.”

“You’re right,” Bellamy acknowledged. “Better late than never. But let’s go make up for lost time.”

Clarke laughed loudly as Bellamy scooped her up off the counter and into his arms. She tightened her legs around his waist, even though she knew that he would never drop her. “I guess breakfast will have to wait.”

“I have something better than pancakes anyway,” Bellamy said as he dropped her gently onto his bed. Clarke giggled as she bounced slightly before raising an eyebrow at him.

“Better than pancakes, eh? That’s a lot to live up to,” She teased, making him roll his eyes. “Prove it.”

Later, when they were both sweat-soaked and exhausted, Clarke turned her head to look at him and said breathlessly, “Okay, yeah. That was better than pancakes.”

“Told you,” Bellamy smirked, pulling her against him. “Nap now and then I’ll make you breakfast? Or I guess it’ll be brunch at that point.”

“Sounds amazing,” Clarke replied, her eyes already starting to droop as she pressed as close to him as possible.

Feeling Bellamy’s arms tighten around her as she dozed off made Clarke more than happy with how the last 24 hours had turned out. Who knew that the nickname that had bothered her so much in the beginning would eventually get her everything she had ever wanted?