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Bellamy watches as Raven’s face changes from its usual pout of distrust and defiance that she has whenever an adult is talking to her to something resembling fear. He had heard the news earlier in the week, during a council meeting, and Abby’s making her way around Camp Jaha to let everyone else know.
Camp Jaha is having its first wedding. Not a marriage, a wedding. Like the kind from before the nuclear apocalypse. One similar to what the Alpha and Agro stations could have seen in the movies that they watched on their fancy televisions. With the dresses and suits, and the ceremony, and the reception, and the mandatory dancing. Everyone is taking a day off from the wars to celebrate the union of two people in love.
After telling Raven the exciting news, Abby walks out the door of Raven’s workshop. Bellamy hears Raven sigh as she picks up the beat up wrench she was using before Abby had arrived. He looks over to where she’s sitting and notices the emptiness in her eyes as she mindlessly loosens a nut that she was previously tightening, her mind clearly in another place.
Bellamy didn’t expect her to act like this. He assumed Raven would fight back against the council’s decision. Yell about how the Grounders aren’t taking any breaks from attacking them, or complain that they need to get prepared for the impending winter weather. Instead she’s silent.
She doesn’t seem to even acknowledge Bellamy’s still in the room until he sits down across from her. Raven blinks and shakes her head a few times to clear her mind, her usual stoic features appearing back on her face.
Bellamy raises his eyebrows. He knows Raven doesn’t like to share what’s going on in her brain, unless it’s on her terms. So he waits, the smirk on his face growing as she become more and more agitated.
“Stop staring at me,” she says, the fierceness in her voice only a façade. She’s about to crack.
He shrugs as a way to say, “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” and she rolls her eyes. She sets her wrench down with a loud bang against the metal table, gesturing for Bellamy to ask whatever he’s planning on asking. He obliges in the softest voice he can muster to ensure Raven doesn’t put up any more walls. “What do you have against this wedding? Are you afraid of love?”
It’s an innocent enough question, but with what happened to Finn, Bellamy’s not sure he wants to know the answer. Raven looks confused for a few seconds before reaching across the table to flick Bellamy’s knuckles.
“You’re an idiot sometimes, you know that, right?” She says, and it’s Bellamy’s turn to be confused. If she doesn’t care about the people in love, and she doesn’t seem to care about the impending Grounder attack, why is she so afraid of this wedding? She squeezes her eyes shut momentarily before mumbling something incoherent under her breath.
Bellamy stands up and walks around the worktable, taking the seat beside Raven. She turns to look at him and he can tell she’s trying hard to not roll her eyes. “You know, I can’t hear you when you mumble.” Raven doesn’t stop herself from rolling her eyes this time.
“I said,” she exhales loudly, “I hate dancing.” Raven knows Bellamy can see right through her, he always could.
He flashes his eyebrows at Raven, his infuriating smirk growing. “You hate dancing?”
The scratch of Raven’s chair across the floor can probably be heard throughout the camp as she pushes her chair as far away from Bellamy’s as she can. “Fine,” she says with frustration clear in her voice. “I can barely walk with this stupid leg, how the hell am I supposed to dance?”
Bellamy knows Raven more than he should. He knows which buttons to push to get her to share, he knows the limitations she has with her leg, and he knows when she’s lying. Right now, in particular, he knows that she is definitely lying.
The fact that she can’t look him in the eye is telling enough.
“Do you not know how to dance, Raven?” he asks, trying to sound as reassuring as he can. Of course, Raven’s defenses go up, as she tries to protect herself from humiliation.
Raven crosses her arms against her chest. “Sorry that I’ve been too busy saving everyone’s asses from being killed.” It’s a weak argument, she knows. No one has had time to do any dancing since they’ve been on the ground. Everyone else had learned up on the Ark.
A soft smile forms on Bellamy’s face as he takes hold of one of her wrists to untangle her crossed arms, pulling her to stand up with him. “I can teach you.”
Raven’s eyes go wide and the colour drains from her face as he pulls her to an empty area in her workshop. Bellamy turns to face her with his reassuring smile and he places her left hand on his shoulder. “Is this okay?” he asks as he rests his left hand on her waist and tangles their other hands together.
Raven can only nod, the atmosphere in the room turning strangely intimate. Bellamy starts to transfer his weight from one foot to the other, moving Raven along with him. He moves slowly at first, not looking anywhere but directly into Raven’s eyes. When Raven gets comfortable with the movement, he starts to rotate them, careful of her left leg.
The new movement causes Raven to step on Bellamy’s left foot and she becomes flustered. “Sorry,” she whispers, looking down at her feet as if watching them will make them do what she wants them to.
Bellamy removes his hand from her waist and places his index finger under her chin to lift her gaze back to his. Her cheeks are pink and her lips are slightly downcast, but he smiles at her encouragingly anyway. “It’s just a toe,” he jokes, “it’ll grow back.”
They continue their swaying back and forth for a little longer, until Raven is comfortable again. When she is, Bellamy slows down, practically stopping entirely. He starts moving again, this time with bigger steps. Under his breath, he’s repeating “step, touch,” in time with their movements, keeping particular attention whenever she has weight on her left leg.
He purposely doesn’t react whenever Raven steps on his feet, but she looks back down to the ground, blush growing pinker with each fumble. He simply places his index finger under her chin, again and again, to look her in the eyes as he continues their movements.
As Raven’s dancing improves, Bellamy twirls her around, eliciting an uninhibited laugh. Bellamy watches Raven, carefree in a way he’s hasn’t seen her before. Her smile is plastered on her face, even when she’s trying to hide it. The fact that he was the person to make Raven this cheerful make Bellamy feel the closest thing to pride that he’s ever felt.
When their breathing becomes laboured from continuous movement and Bellamy notices a thin line of sweat forming on Raven’s brow, he leads them back over to their chairs to sit.
Raven’s smile is unfaltering, even as they catch their breaths. They both move their chairs closer to each other and continue looking into each other’s eyes. Raven grabs Bellamy’s closest hand and starts absently playing with his fingers. “Where did you learn to dance like that?” she asks, licking her bottom lip.
Bellamy shrugs. “I had a secret sister who lived under the floorboards,” he answers. “I needed to do something to keep her entertained.” Raven nods and then looks lost in her own thoughts, her smile slowly fading. “What are you thinking about?”
“Just…” she trails off, her hands slowing their movement around his until she stops all together and places them in her lap. “When’s the wedding?” Her smile is back, albeit a little softer than before.
He laughs, never expecting Raven to be excited for the wedding. “In a few weeks,” he answers. “Don’t worry, we still have time to practice.” She pushes him, making him falter in his chair. “Oh, and it won’t be all slow dancing. I think tomorrow I should teach you how to dougie.”
Fear is back in Raven’s eyes and Bellamy laughs again.
“Teach me how to, WHAT?”