Chapter Text
The knock on the door startles the both of them. Bellamy nearly stabs his thumb with a needle and Octavia drops a few spools of thread onto the floor.
“Who is that?” she asks, eyes wide as she already moves to get into her hiding place.
“I don't know,” Bellamy replies. He tries to keep his voice calm despite the panic he feels, he doesn't want to worry his sister anymore than she already is.
It's a routine they have mastered over the years, and it sucks that they know it so well. It sucks that it's all Octavia knows. A lot of things just suck.
Once Octavia is hidden, Bellamy takes a deep breath to calm his racing heart. His mother is usually here when someone stops by the apartment, she usually knows when someone is coming. It's not like he's never had to do this by himself, but it never gets any less terrifying.
He opens the door and sees a girl standing there. She looks nervous, but also like she's trying hard to hide how scared she is. It's a convincing mask. There's something in her face that makes his heart skip a beat. And that's almost as terrifying as the knowledge that Octavia's life is in his hands.
“Who the hell are you?” he asks.
Her face falls. She looks down to her shoes and Bellamy wonders how her blonde hair shines as bright as the sun despite the horrible florescent lights. “My name's Clarke. I know that you probably don't know me, but I need you to trust me.”
There's a split second of doubt before Bellamy knows that he does. He trusts her. But trust is a luxury he doesn't have.
“I'm sorry, but you need to leave,” he tells her, starting to close the door.
She pushes against it with surprising strength and takes a step toward him.
“Bellamy, please .”
A sudden anger strikes him as he looks at her, this girl that seems so sure of herself. It's obvious she's from a different station, the way she invades his space like she owns it.
“Look, I don't know you and I don't know why you seem to know me, but I have more important things to do than talk to you, Princess.”
Clarke laughs and looks down at her shoes again. Her hand darts to wipe at her cheek and Bellamy let's out a sigh. No matter the situation, he hates to see someone cry.
“I don't know why I thought this would be easy...” and says quietly, looking up at him with a determination that somehow seems familiar. “I know about Octavia. You'd have to trust me for me to know about her, right?”
A new form of panic grips at his heart as grabs Clarke's wrist and pulls her into the apartment.
“She's there isn't she?” Clarke asks, nodding to the very spot his sister is hiding beneath the floor.
“How could you possibly know about that?” he demands, taking a step closer so he can tower over her. He's not that much taller than her, but it's his first instinct to be intimidating when he feels threatened.
She scoffs and places a hand on his chest, “You don't scare me, Bellamy, and you haven't done so in a long time.”
“What are you talking about? A long time? I don't even know you.”
Clarke sighs and moves towards the table, moving it and the rug aside before helping Octavia out of the hole. “It's nice to meet you, Octavia. I'm Clarke and I promise your secret is safe with me. But I need your help. Both of you.”
“How did you know I was there?” Octavia asks, wrapping her arms around herself. She's shaking and Bellamy takes an unconscious step closer to her.
“I know because you told me. You weren't particularly nice about it, but that was a long time ago and everyone has forgotten about... those days.” She shrugs and takes a deep breath. “But that doesn't matter, I really need your help.”
The look she gives Bellamy nearly breaks his heart. He doesn't know what to say here, doesn't know what to do.
“I just need some time to explain. I know that- I know your mom's not here and you probably don't want her to know that I know, so come find me. Please. I'll be in engineering.”
She turns to leave and Bellamy waits until the door is closed behind her to speak. “O, go into my bedroom and close the door. Stay there until mom or I get back.”
“You're gonna go talk to her? Bel, she probably crazy or something.”
“She might be crazy, but I have to figure out how she knew about you.”
Bellamy slips out of the apartment and goes after Clarke, jogging down the hallway to catch up to her.
“Hey, wait,” he calls after her once her gets close enough.
She turns to face him, smiling as he walks closer.
“You wanted to talk. So let's talk.”
“Not here,” she says, grabbing his hand and pulling him down the hallway.
He felt... something when she took his hand. It was like a zap of electricity, a shock baton hitting his hand and spreading up his arm. For a second he smells burning wood from a fire and when he blinks he sees what looks like a snowstorm from a movie he and Octavia watched one night. He shakes his head to clear it and follows Clarke until they get to a place he hasn't been to in a very long time.
“You remember this place?” she asks. He just nods, wondering what significance it has to her. “You used to come here when Octavia was little and she wouldn't stop crying or she was having a temper tantrum. You told me that.”
“I've never told anyone that.”
“But you told me, Bel. You told me you were ashamed. That you hated that you left your mom to deal with that, but you were so overwhelmed.”
Bellamy could feel tears threatening to spill down his cheeks, but he refuses to let that happen. “Why would I tell you that?” he asks.
“Because Octavia had been gone for months and it started to snow and you were so scared. No one would let you leave camp and you said you felt as useless as you did when you used to come here.”
“I don't understand...”
Clarke sits on the floor and looks at him until he sits beside her. Bellamy feels himself tense when she wraps both her arms around one of his and leans her head on his shoulder. This time, he smells rain and swears he can feel raindrops against his skin. It's funny because he's never experienced either of those things.
“In about six months, a ship will be sent to the ground,” she explains.
“How do you know that?”
“Because I was on it. And so were you, and Octavia, and the kids in the Skybox. I know because you and I fought to keep them all alive and for the most part, we did. And last night, I went to bed in our cabin and I woke up here. Four years in the past.”
“So we’re friends, four years in the future?”
She laughs and the sound makes him feel lighter than he ever has, “I guess you could say that.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well... we're sort of married.”
“Sort of?” he asks, choosing to focus on that rather than the fact that he's married . To Clarke apparently. He could do worse.
“I mean, there's no paperwork or marriage license like there is here. But we got matching tattoos and- and we made a commitment to each other. And I don't know why I'm here or why you don't remember, but I need you to because it's been me and you for so long that it being just me is... I don't think I know how to do that.”
“Well how do we get me to remember?”
She shrugs, “I wish I knew.”
“So we live on the ground?” she nods. “What's it like?”
“Amazing. The fresh air and swimming. You taught me to swim and it's one of the most terrifying memories I have. I nearly drowned and you almost threw up because you were so panicked. But it was so fun when I finally figured it out. And then...”
“Then what ?” he smiles, looking down at her face to see her cheeks turning red.
“I mean... We did things .”
Bellamy laughs and Clarke hides her face in his neck. It’s comfortable, somehow. Comfortable in a way nothing ever has been before. Bellamy doesn’t do this, he doesn’t do intimate . It’s one and done, that’s all he’s good for. There’s only so much time he can spend away from the apartment and that doesn’t leave much time for a girlfriend. Let alone a wife apparently. Maybe four years in the future, things are different. But right now, they’re not.
That doesn’t change the fact that he never wants to leave where he is right now. It’s just a dark hallway with a window that looks out into the endless void of space, but right now it feels like home.