Chapter Text
Today was Clarke Griffin’s 18th birthday. That meant she would be paired with a suitable husband. The youngest men she could be paired with were 23 and the oldest could reach into the 50s. Clarke was nervous and angry that she was being forced to marry someone she didn’t know or want.
“Clarke, It’s time,” her mother, Abby, said.
“I’m ready,” Clarke said pulling at the hem of her white shirt.
“Oh honey, it’s going to be okay,” Abby said and smiled at her. Clarke’s parents had gotten lucky when they were matched together. They had fallen in love with each other almost immediately, but Clarke had a feeling she wouldn’t be so lucky. Clarke gave her mother a small smile before leaving the flat and heading toward the marriage room. The marriage room was reasonably sized as it had to hold all the 18 year olds and suitors. Clarke slipped her personality test into the machine at the door before proceeding to take a seat with the other girls. She knew all of them of course, but she had never really been friends with any of them. They had called her weird and a freak because she was interested in medicine instead of what new fabrics they could find at the exchange.
After everyone had arrived it only took a minute before the personality tests were scanned and matched by the machine. When they were done the Chancellor would read out the matches. When the match was read the man could either accept or reject the girl. If he rejected a new match would be made for the girl. Clarke watched as each girl was matched with a man. By the time they got her name there was only one man left that could possibly be around her age. She recognized him, but didn’t actually know him.
“Clarke Griffin and….. Bellamy Blake,” Chancellor Jaha announced. Clarke sighed with relief as the young man she had recognized rose to his feet and met her in front of the podium. Bellamy presented her with the customary simple gold band to put on her finger, then they signed some papers and they were officially married. Jaha made a brief speech and the next name was called.
Each new couple was presented with a flat to start their new lives. Bellamy and Clarke’s was much smaller than she was used to, but much bigger than he had ever lived in. Clarke didn’t mind though. She liked the coziness of her new flat and smiled. Bellamy stared at Clarke as she toured their new flat. When she was done she stopped in front of him, looking up at him expectantly. He raised his eyebrow at her.
“Uh…” he stuttered.
“I’m Clarke Griffin…. Er Blake now I guess. I’m an intern at the medical facility. You’re Bellamy Blake. You’re a janitor,” She said, but not in a condescending way, “Well now the introductions are out of the way. I have to go get some things from my mom’s flat if you’d like to come with me.” She exited the flat and left the door open for him to follow, which of course he did. Bellamy’s mouth hung open when he walked into Clarke’s mom’s flat. It was absolutely huge, the main living area was probably equivalent to their whole flat.
“Clarke?” Abby called from somewhere down a hall.
“Yeah mom, it’s me,” Clarke said.
“Who’d you get paired with? Is he handsome? What’s his job? What’s he like?” Abby asked coming down the hall, but her questions stopped when she entered the room and her eyes landed on Bellamy. Bellamy crossed the room in a few long strides to stop in front of her and extended his hand.
“I’m Bellamy Blake,” He said. Abby took his hand and shook it.
“My, you did get lucky, Clarke,” Abby said “have a seat.”
“I’m going to go get my stuff,” Clarke said as Bellamy took a seat on the plush couch.
“Do you need help?” He offered Clarke.
“Umm, yeah probably,” Clarke said thinking it best not to leave Bellamy with her mom for too long. Bellamy rose from the couch and followed Clarke into an equally large bedroom. The room was simple, but looked comfortable. The pictures on the walls were what really drew his attention. They were hand drawn pictures and every one of them was of Earth. Unlike everything in the room, they were not simple. They were intricate and detailed and everything he had ever imagined Earth to be like.
“Did you do these?” He asked pointing to one of a tree. Clarke looked up and nodded.
“They’re beautiful,” He responded.
“Thank you,” She said with a light blush showing on her face. He moved on from the drawings onto some photographs sitting on a wooden dresser. Only the most important people could afford to have photographs taken. Clarke had three. One photo was of her mother and a man who he assumed was her father. The other two photographs were of the three of them together. Clarke came over to stand next Bellamy. She smiled fondly at the photographs.
“Where is he?” Bellamy asked, although he already suspected he knew.
“He was floated about a year ago,” Clarke replied with a hint of sadness.
“Why?” Bellamy asked.
“Treason. What about your family?” Clarke asked trying to change the subject.
“I never met my father. He was out of the picture before I was born and my mother never spoke of him. My mother was also floated about a year ago,” Bellamy said.
“Why?” Clarke asked as she picked up one of the photographs and put it in her bag.
“She broke the population law. She had a daughter. I’m not sure who the father is, but I suspect it’s one of the higher members of the guard,” Bellamy said through gritted teeth.
“You have a sister?” Clarke asked. She was fascinated, no one on the Ark had a sibling. It was only something Clarke had read about in books.
“Her name is Octavia,” Bellamy said with a smile, finally something he was happy to talk about. Clarke finished packing her small bag of clothes and started to pick it up off the floor, but before she could Bellamy picked it up and slung it over his shoulder.
“Lead the way, Princess,” He said and gestured toward the door. She glared at him then turned to lead the way out of her mom’s flat. Abby must have been called to the medical bay because the flat was now empty. Clarke didn’t seemed surprised and just shut the door behind him. Clarke swiped her ID card at the entrance of their much smaller flat and Bellamy felt a stab of guilt as he would never be good enough to give her what she had grown up with. He set her bag down on the bed.
“Do you want to go get your stuff?” Clarke asked.
“Uh… no… it’s okay. I can get it later… or tomorrow when I get off from work,” Bellamy said.
“Don’t be ridiculous we’ll just get it now,” and she was out the door before he could argue with her.
“Clarke,” He said catching up with her.
“Yes?” She replied. She had never been to the section of the Ark where Bellamy had grown up and she was very excited to see it.
“Really I can get my stuff later,” Bellamy repeated.
“We’re already half way there. We’ll just grab your stuff and come back. It’ll take no time at all,” Clarke said. They had reached the door that led to the steps that descended into the area of the Ark where the less privileged lived, and that was putting it nicely.
“Okay, but I’m leading,” Bellamy said opening the door and starting his way down the steps. The stairs ended and opened into a hallway where the living quarters were. The lights flickered above them and sketchy looking people milled about. Clarke slipped her hand into Bellamy’s suddenly thinking he was right and should have let him go on his own. It was quite a long walk to Bellamy’s old flat and every person they passed stared at Clarke as they passed.
“What’s a pretty girl like you doing with a rat like him?” one man called after them and cackled. Clarke squeezed his hand tightly and he pulled her down the hallway quickly.
“Bellamy,” She whispered feeling slightly frightened.
“Hey girly. Will you slum around with me too?” an older man asked and pulled on Clarke’s arm. Clarke’s hand slipped out of Bellamy’s and she let out a little yelp as the man began to roam his hands over her body. She punched him in the gut, but that did little to help her.
“Hey, let go of my wife!” Bellamy bellowed, surprising both her and the man. Bellamy yanked Clarke from his grasp before punching the guy hard in the eye.
“Bellamy!” Clarke yelped. The man fell backwards onto the ground and didn’t make any attempts to get up. Bellamy turned his back to him, grabbed Clarke’s hand and pulled her down the hall and finally into his flat. He pushed her gently into the room and closed the door behind him quickly. He let out a sigh of relief.
“Are you okay?” He asked Clarke. Clarke nodded.
“Thank you,” She whispered.
“Anytime, Princess,” He said back gently. He led her into his small bedroom, barely big enough to fit a bed. His clothes were stacked in neat piles on the floor beside the bed, he had no closet or dresser. He didn’t have a lot clothes, just a few pairs of pants, shirts, and his work uniform. Clarke felt bad for Bellamy. She hadn’t realized it was this bad down here. She wondered how many times he had gotten into fight with other residents. He exited the bedroom and lifted up a floor board. Underneath it contained two pairs of what looked like girl’s shirts and pants, a small stuffed bear, and a red ribbon.
“Where did you get this?” Clarke asked picking up the stuffed bear.
“I didn’t steal it,” Bellamy said.
“Oh, no! Bellamy, that’s not at all what I meant. I just meant I had always wanted one, but they were cost so many ration points,” Clarke said and stroked the soft bear tenderly.
“I found it on one of my trash routes. There are so many rooms in Mecha and Hyrda station that no one ever goes into. I found the bear in Mecha station,” Bellamy explained. She handed the bear to Bellamy and he put it in his bag. He zipped up the bag and led Clarke to the door. He looked back at the flat he had grown up in one last time. Tomorrow there would be a new occupant. He sighed and shut the door behind him.
He had only known her for about two hours, but he already felt an overwhelming need to protect her. He pulled her close to him as they walked through the halls, but this time no one made a move for either of them. They reached the stairs leading back up to Alpha station and he could breathe a little easier. They emerged onto the Alpha deck and he sighed with relief.
“We should drop off your stuff and then head to lunch hour or we’ll miss it,” Clarke said. Bellamy nodded and they walked to their flat in silence. He dropped is bag just inside the door and then they headed to the cafeteria.
Bellamy was a janitor and only received enough ration points to eat one meal a day, Clarke was a medical intern and earned enough points for three meals a day. He hesitated before scanning his finger and receiving his meal. Clarke did the same and they stood looking for a seat. Usually Bellamy ate alone and was about to head over to an empty table when he heard someone call Clarke’s name. It was Wells Jaha, the chancellor’s son. Clarke led Bellamy over the table and they sat down with Wells and some of the other teens of Alpha station.
“Oh my god, Clarke! I cannot believe they paired you with him! You definitely should have been paired with someone from Alpha!” A girl at the table said. Bellamy grit his teeth and kept his mouth shut. From his experience it was better to stay quiet than to try and defend himself.
“How is he going to provide for you?? You’ll starve to death! Oh my god, you’ll have to get a job!” The girl continued and Bellamy rolled his eyes. “He’s so dumb he can’t even talk! Do they even go to school?” Bellamy had heard enough. He got up from the table, grabbed his apple off the tray, and dumped the empty tray into the bucket.