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“What is this?” asked Clarke when Bellamy pulled himself off of the ladder through the entrance of the top compartment of the dropship. His eyes wandered from her face to the purple flower in her outstretched hand.
“It’s a flower,” he said with a small smirk. “They grow in the ground, sometimes we humans give them as a gesture. Is this why you called me here, for a botany lesson?”
Clarke frowned. “I know what it is.” His amusement was so annoying, and even worse it made her feel small. He was the only one who could make her feel that way now.
“Then why did you ask?” He crossed his arms, eyebrow raised. His gaze made Clarke flush, and she hardened in defense.
“Don’t play games with me, Bellamy; I don’t have time for it.” She closed the gap between them and shook the flower in his face. “Just tell me the meaning of this.”
“You might want to ask the person who gave it to you,” he said quietly in her ear.
Clarke shoved him away. “I know it was you, and all I want is an explanation, okay? I don’t have the time or energy for any of this, Bellamy. Romances are the absolute last thing on my mind right now, because I need to think about all of us making it through this war, and I would appreciate not being tempted everywhere I turn!” She fumed, and the expression on Bellamy’s face made her want to punch him.
“I tempt you?” he asked.
Clarke gaped at him. “That’s really your take-away from that? God, you are so infuriating!”
“For all this talk of me wasting your time, you sure are taking up a lot of mine with this nonsense. You got a flower, big fucking deal. I agree about romances; they’re useless. As far as I can tell, this thing between us, whatever it is, is entirely your problem--”
Before he talked long enough to make Clarke actually punch him in the face, she kissed him. Hard. It had been a moment’s decision, and she planned for it to last just long enough to prove her point, but when he returned her touch with a fire of his own she couldn’t stop. Clarke wrapped one arm around his neck and let the other climb up beneath his shirt, touching along his firm chest and settling against his back. He hissed when she dug her nails into his shoulder and began kissing and biting at her neck, making her gasp at the immediate warmth it caused in her groin. When his hands found the hem of her shirt she didn’t stop him, but also didn’t stop kissing him. His touch felt amazing on her hips, and in that moment she wanted him to touch every inch of her.
Clarke pulled away for just a second to pull off Bellamy’s shirt as well. The sight of his naked torso filled her with an intense desire, but in that moment without her lips against him she was able to think clearly. It had been a mistake. Kissing him had been a mistake. Now she just wanted more, and now he knew it.
“Clarke?”
Shit.
They both turned to the entrance in the ground, where Finn was still perched on the ladder, eyes as wide as saucers. She looked back to Bellamy, searching for the words, but nothing was there. Finn glanced between them, then started to climb back down the ladder.
“Finn, wait!” Clarke ran to follow him, then realized she was shirtless. “Shit.” She fell to the ground and grabbed her shirt, fumbling to get it on. Before she could get it over her head, she felt a hand on her arm.
“You can’t just leave without telling me what the hell that was,” Bellamy said.
Clarke met his gaze firmly. “Evidence.” She hated how stupid that sounded, now that it had done more harm than good.
Bellamy let go and laughed. The sound was foreign to her, and felt strange. “Your evidence just ran away, Princess. I didn’t leave you that flower, but I would bet everything that he did.”
“Finn is with Raven,” said Clarke, smoothing out her shirt and standing up.
“Well, that was true. I hear they broke up. Probably over you.” Clarke shook her head, not wanting to believe that. If that was true… “Finn broke up with his girl for you, only to find you all over me, of all people. That’s got to be rough.”
“You kissed me back,” she snapped.
Bellamy threw up his hands. “I’m not denying that. If you need to blow off some steam again my door is always open. But you were the one who said it first: we don’t have time for anything that gets in the way of our mission. Energy spent on useless drama will cost us lives. You might want to tell that to loverboy.”
He was right. Clarke sighed and pulled herself onto the ladder, dreading the conversation to come. Whenever she talked about them with Finn he looked at her like a kicked puppy. She hated feeling like a villain even though she was right.
When she was at the bottom of the ladder she heard Bellamy call down to her. “Don’t forget, my door is open!” With him unable to see her face, Clarke let herself smile despite the knot in her stomach.
She might have to take him up on that.