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i.
Honestly, everyone was pretty shocked. The gang knew that the Griffins were exceptional people, but trusting their summer house to six teenagers? It felt like a bit much. That didn’t, however, mean that they wouldn’t take full advantage of their kindness by turning down four days of being alone by the sea only a week after graduation.
They were all was amazed by the house. How it was decorated, how open it felt with all the summer sunlight filtering through the windows by the time they got there. Instantly, they could tell they would have a hell of a vacation together.
But, as with all things inherently fun, there were rules: 1. No alcohol (not that they wouldn’t trust the kids with it. They had proved themselves many times to be trustworthy with it.), 2. No drugs (not that anyone was doing any but hey, they were parents, they had to say it anyway), 3. No beach bonfire at night, and 4. Have fun.
The house was by the sea and had an incredible view. There were two floors, two bedrooms, a guest room, a kitchen, and an enormous living room with an adjacent porch leading to the beach and the blue sea. Lovely. Peaceful. Exactly what they needed after all their exams.
It had been a couple of hours since they had arrived and everyone was settled into beds. Clarke was to sleep on her parents’ bed so that Wells and Raven could take hers and Bellamy, Octavia, and Lincoln would sleep in the guest room. Everyone was fitting perfectly.
Now they were getting ready to swim, so everyone was locked in their rooms getting dressed. Everyone, that was, except Bellamy. He found himself alone in the living room, waiting for his friends because Octavia had thrown him out of their room to get ready. It was painfully boring to wait and do nothing… Until his eyes found a photo of Clarke with her parents in what looked like a handmade, shell-decorated frame, at least.
He smiled at the picture. Clarke must have been five or six in it, and she looked downright adorable. She was still adorable, though. That was part of what he loved about her. And her kind heart. And her golden hair. And her iron will and-
“Hey, Blake. What are you looking at?” Suddenly Wells’ voice brought Bellamy back from his thoughts. And he panicked. He didn’t want his friends to catch him looking at the photo of Clarke. He attempted to hastily place the photo back down, but for some fucking reason he failed. Miserably. He let go of the photo when it’s only half-way back on the coffee table. Less than a second later, he hears the sound of shattering glass.
Bellamy’s heart was racing. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Fuck.” He murmurs.
“Wow, man. We’ve only been here for two hours and you already broke something.” Lincoln stated, appearing from at the bottom of the stairs in his swim trunks. “Not a good start.”
“Shut up, Lincoln.” Bellamy said, kneeling down to pick up the frame and a shell that had made a break for it in the fall.
“Good luck with that.” Wells said, unsuccessfully stifling a laugh. “We’re leaving before all three of us catch hands for that.” He continues as he tugs Lincoln towards the porch.
“Make friends, they said. They will be there for you and support you, they said.” Bellamy murmured to himself. “Bullshit.”
Thankfully, the girls took their time getting ready, so Clarke didn’t come down before Bellamy could fix the frame. He shuffled the pieces together as well as he could manage before placing it awkwardly back onto the coffee table from whence it came.
Soon though, the three girls walked down the stairs laughing and giggling. “Shit, I forgot my sunglasses.” Clarke stopped and turned around. “I’ll be right back!” She told her friends and ran back up the stairs.
“Okay! I’m headed out to the boys. See you there!” Raven yelled for Clarke to hear and when the girls received a quick ‘okay’ back, she opened the door. As Raven and Octavia left, Bellamy followed sheepishly, hoping his guilt wasn’t displayed on his face. If Clarke noticed the broken picture when she returned, he certainly didn’t want to be there.
Clarke grabbed her sunglasses quickly and ran down the stairs to join her friends. But having her arms out to keep her balance wasn’t a good idea. Jumping the last two steps, one hand hit her mother’s favorite family photograph, sending it toppling from the coffee table for the second time. Clarke stopped dead in her tracks. With horror on her face, she picked up the re-shattered photo, hoping she hadn’t broken anything. But it appeared that she had.
One of the shells fell to the ground at her feet. “Shit.” Clarke whispered. “Mom is going to kill me.” For a few short moments, she just stood there and stood with the photo in her hands. Finally, a smile spread across her face. “What she doesn’t know won’t hurt her.” And with that, she picked up the shell from the floor and ran back up to her room.
Clarke appeared at the beach five minutes later and, when Octavia asked her what took so long, Clarke only said that she had to search for her sunglasses.
ii.
The first day at the beach, everyone had been tired from for driving three hours. So they just had dinner and laughed together until they all felt groggy enough to sleep. The next day, the fun began.
First thing in the morning, the boys went swimming while the girls made a half-assed breakfast. That’s what happens when you lose a bet.
And, unfortunately, it looks like Bellamy had left his luck back on the Ark because even though Clarke had warned them extensively about past endeavors with her swimming mattress and the harsh wind the beach sometimes boasted, he forgot about it. That’s why he was now racing behind a pink swimming mattress as it flipped and fluttered in the angry breeze to attempt to catch before it reached the bushes on the side of the house. And, of course, he was just barely too late.
Lifting the mattress up, Bellamy could already hear the whoosh of air coming escaping from a small hole somewhere. He panned his gaze back to Lincoln and Wells and grimaced. They started to laugh.
Bellamy held the mattress between his arm and his bare side and runs back to his friends.
“Stop laughing and hold this.” He glared and handed them the mattress. “I’ll go get some duct tape and you find the damn hole. Clarke is going to kill me.”
He ran back into the house and Clarke just stepped in the living room, looking at him as his shoulders heaved lightly with the exertion of running in. Suspicion creeped over her features.
“What’s wrong?” She asked.
“I- I just came to ask when the breakfast will be ready.” Bellamy lied. “We’re starving.”
“Give us ten more minutes.” Clarke’s face relaxes as she tries not to laugh. “We’ve had some… problems.”
Bellamy lifted his eyebrows. “Okay… Something tells me I don’t really want to know about these… problems.”
Clarke nods slyly. “Definitely not.” She agreed.
“Okay.” Bellamy turned to leave but stopped. “Clarke!” He called and turned back to face her.
“Yes?” Clarke asked.
“Do you have duct tape? Lincoln wants to show us a trick.” He lied again. Not a big deal, he thought, trying not to feel too guilty for fibbing again.
Clarke nodded her head towards the stairs. “Follow me.”
The hole was covered with little hassle, Clarke hadn’t notice anything, and breakfast had been great. Everything will be okay, Bellamy thought.
Well, as luck would have it, everything wasn’t great. Because ten minutes later, Clarke grabbed the swimming mattress and ran with enthusiasm towards the sea. “Keep an eye on me!” She yelled and threw the mattress into the water, jumping on it and swimming farther away from the shore.
Bellamy couldn’t take his eyes from her. Mostly because he didn’t want to miss the point where the air may push her too far but also just to wait for the moment Clarke would realize that her mattress was losing air.
It happened in less than five minutes. Clarke noticed how water had begun hitting her side and how the beach mattress was slightly thinner. She stood up and snapped her eyes towards her friend on the beach.
When Bellamy heard her yell his name, he started running.
iii.
In the evening, the group started a conversation about their favorite moment on school. Everyone was laughing and teasing each other. The girls learned some things they never known before and the boys were just trying to cover their asses.
“I think one of the funniest days was the one when Bellamy wanted to give me a present for the first birthday we spent together.” Clarke laughed and turned to Bellamy. “Do you remember?” she asked him with a smile.
“It’s possibly it’s the only think I could ever remember five years later.” He joked. “I don’t know about you, but for me it was almost traumatic.”
Everyone look at him, confused. “What? Why…?” Octavia and Raven mused.
“Doesn’t matter.” Bellamy cut the subject off quickly and turned away. What was he supposed to say? That he had had a crush on Clarke for the last five years and at first he was too afraid to even talk to her? No, that seemed like the exact opposite of a good idea. It was better if they never knew about this.
“I still have it.” She said quietly. “Upstairs.”
“Really?” Bellamy asked, surprised. He felt his heartbeat begin to pick up. “After all these years?”
“Uh-huh.” Clarke nodded.
“I thought you lost it or something. I never saw you wearing it.” He pointed out.
“Hell no!” She said, almost offended, before reaching for his hand. “Come. I have it upstairs.”
Bellamy let her lead him upstairs to her room. She let go of his hand only to open her drawers and search for it. “I have it somewhere here.”
Bellamy walked to her desk and started searching her things too. That was when he saw it. It was hopelessly tangled with several other necklaces. He didn’t say anything, maybe because his smile was saying everything, as he tried to untangle it himself to give it her.
But all it took was one wrong pull and the chain broke away in his hand. His heart stopped and his hands froze. He couldn’t believe himself! No, how could he have done this? He had destroyed the present he had given Clarke. He had loved that necklace, too! He had messed up again. He was a total disaster.
Not knowing what to say, Bellamy put the necklace back into the drawer and closed it, turning back to Clarke.
“It’s not here.” He said. Clarke glanced at him as she closed the drawer she was searching in.
“Are you sure? Because it’s not here either. And if it’s not here, it would have to be there.” She asked and walked towards him.
Bellamy didn’t say anything. “Move.” Clarke pushed him to the side. “You guys don’t know how to search properly.”
Clarke opened the drawer again and started to rummage through it. It took her a moment or two to see it between the other necklaces and once her eyes caught it, a smile spreads on her face as she tried to untangle it herself.
Her stunning smile faded when she realized the chain was broken. “No…” She whispered, her hands holding the necklace slackened, letting it fall into the drawer.
Bellamy stared at her as her face and body seemed to physically fall, hating himself for being the cause of it. Telling the truth wouldn’t mend the necklace so, he just placed a hand on her shoulder.
“Hey, it’s okay.” He comforted her. “I’ll buy you another one.” He offered.
Clarke turned to him, “No, you don’t have to. It’s just…” She paused for a moment, contemplating how to say what she was thinking. “You never saw me wearing it because I kept it here. It was all because I didn’t want to lose it or break it, and now... I did exactly that. I’m so sorry, Bell.”
Bellamy shook his head, unable to stand knowing he was the cause of her pain. He looks away and said, “It wasn’t you.”
Clarke stared at him, confused. “I just did it.” He confessed. “While you were searching the other drawer, I found it. I tried to untangle it from the others and accidently broke it. I’m sorry.”
Clarke gave him a sad smile and then surprised him with a hug. He hugged her back, his hands moving automatically around her shoulders to hold her tight.
She let go of him first and Bellamy couldn’t miss the one tear that dampened her cheek as it cut a path through the salt of the ocean wind on her skin as it rolled. She turns her back to him to head for the door.
“You don’t have to lie, Bell. It won’t make me any less sad about it.” She said and Bellamy stood there, alone in her room, hearing the stairs creak as Clarke trudges down to the rest of the group.
i.
They had all agreed to have just one beer. But also, they had all known that was a lie. Clarke, however, had made a promise to her parents. So, she decided she wouldn’t drink too much, just to keep an eye on her friends and keep them from doing anything stupid that could end up burning the whole house to the sand.
Now she was sitting on the porch, watching her friends splashing each other on the shore and laughing, filling the dark night with happy noises. She knew she would miss them the most. They would probably go to different colleges, in different towns. It would be hard for all of them. But they didn’t seem to have any other choice.
Suddenly she felt someone sit next to her and it brought her back from her thoughts. She knew it was Bellamy.
“Hey.” He says and bumps her shoulder with his, a smile lighting up his face.
Clarke gave him a smile, too. “Why aren’t you drunk yet?” She teased, glancing at the rest of the gang on the beach.
“Who says I’m not?” Bellamy joked and shook his head, “Nah, you know me. I don’t like being wasted. I have a sister to keep from doing stupid things, you know…” He laughed and stole a peek at her. “The question is, why are YOU not drunk yet? You look like you could use a buzz.”
“I want to remember.” She only said and Bellamy looked at her, bewildered.
“Remember what?”
Clarke waited for a moment and then explained. “Our last moments together. Soon we will go to different colleges and we’ll stop talking and-”
“Hey!” Bellamy quickly cut her off and took her hands in his. “We won’t stop talking. We won’t lose each other. Yes, we’ll be separated but we’ll still talk on Skype and Facebook and we’ll visit each other all the time. You’ll see, you won’t even realize that time is passing.”
Clarke gave him a smile and let her head fall on his shoulder. “Do you promise?” She whispered.
Bellamy sighed and turned to look at her some moments later. Clarke lifted her head and looked back at him. Without thinking, Bellamy’s hand was in her hair on the back of her head and his lips were on hers, passionately kissing her.
Clarke didn’t react. She was too shocked to do or say anything. Bellamy realized that she wasn’t returning the kiss and broke it, letting his hand fall between them and his eyes lock on his lap, not able to look at her. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t-” He stood up to leave but Clarke grabbed his hand before he could take a step away.
She looked up to him, “You sure you’re not drunk?” she asked, confusing Bellamy.
“Yeah. I only had one sip from Octavi-” He didn’t get to finish his answer because Clarke jumped up, letting her body fall on his chest, her hands around his neck and her lips claiming his. Yes, Bellamy, for a moment, was surprised. As soon as he came to his senses, however, his hands came to rest on Clarke’s back and he returned the affection.
They didn’t break the kiss, even as Clarke pushed Bellamy inside the house and towards the couch. Turning them around, she fell back and pulled Bellamy on top of her. A cry escaped her lips between their kisses and Bellamy pulled back to look at her, breaking the kiss.
“Sorry, you okay?” He asked as he lifted himself off of her, looking down to her.
“No, it wasn’t you.” Clarke said and buried her hand behind her back, searching for that something that she crushed with her back. Bringing her hand back, she held a pair of glasses, missing the right lens.
“Raven is going to kill us.” Bellamy whispered and sat on the edge of the couch, taking the glasses from Clarke’s hand.
“We are dead.” Clarke agreed and sat up, too. “What are we going to do? I’m too young to die.” She teased and Bellamy laughed.
“I think I can kind fix them. I don’t think it will be permanent but it will do for a couple of days. She won’t know it was us.” He explained and placed the glasses on the table in front of the couch.
Clarke studied Bellamy as he studied the glasses and she couldn’t resist. She leaned forward, kissing the back of his neck, his jaw line, and reaching for his lips. Bellamy smiled and turned to give her a quick kiss before returning to his task.
He struggled for two minutes, until Clarke began to lose her patience. “Are you finished yet?” She asked, kissing the side of his neck.
“You’re not making it any easier to concentrate, Clarke.” He pointed out and Clarke laughed, claiming his lips for another kiss. Five minutes later, they were running up the stairs, headed for Clarke’s bedroom.