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He could tell she was absolutely exhausted. Not enough eye makeup on the Ark could have covered the bags under her eyes. Her shoulders were shrugged forward and she was walking sluggishly around camp. All of the healing, fighting, leading, and lecturing had tired her out. Apparently, she had been spending some of her energy arguing with Finn, because Finn had approached Bellamy asking him to convince Clarke to get some rest instead of speaking with Clarke directly.
As if Bellamy didn’t have enough to do–with being a co-leader and hunting and managing 90 plus juvenile delinquents and dealing with grounders. But sure, he could take some time out of his very busy day to babysit Clarke Griffin.
(Although he wouldn’t admit it, he needed Clarke to be on the top of her game.)
And so here he was, walking toward the drop ship where he had seen her trudge off toward earlier, wondering how the hell he was going to get the most stubborn girl on Earth to take the rest of the day off. She would probably say no simply because he was the one suggested it.
The more he thought about how how he was going to pull this off, the more he realized how exhausted he was. A nap actually sounded nice–he yawned as he entered the drop shop where they’d set up a makeshift medical center.
“Bellamy?” Clarke asked. “What are you doing here? Are you okay?”
He raised his eyebrows. Clarked excessively worrying about him? She must have been out of it. But her obvious concern gave him an idea. Clarke Griffin was never one to turn down helping someone else.
“I need your help with something. Come with me.”
Everything must have been okay in medical because Clarke followed him to his tent.
“What are we doing here?” she asked as he ushered her inside.
“I need to get some sleep.”
“I can get you something from Medical that will help.”
“Medicine isn’t going to cut it. I don’t sleep well alone, that’s the problem. You’re exhausted, I’m exhausted…” he trailed off, motioning towards his bed.
Clarke stared at him, mouth slightly ajar.
“Take a nap with me, Clarke.”
“What?”
He stepped closer to her, leaving only inches between them.
“We can’t lead these people if we’re dead on our feet. We both need to rest.”
“We have to find food and build more shelters, train everyone to fight–and you want to take a nap?”
She continued to stare at him.
“I don’t sleep well,” she said, and he felt slightly victorious that it wasn’t a direct no.
“I have nightmares,” he said, surprising himself with his own words. “That’s why I sleep better when I’m not alone.”
Wordlessly, Clarke removed her jacket, followed by her shoes and a few more layers–stripping down to her pants and a tank top. Her eyes widened in surprise, but he followed suit removing his shirt and shoes. He climbed in first, her immediately after.
At first they laid a few inches apart–an impressive task in a small bed–but soon he pulled her close. He wasn’t sure why he did it, but a feeling of warmth came over him as she settled against him.
Her head rested on his chest, her arm across him. He wrapped one arm around her, resting his hand on her hip. His free hand was in her hair, running his fingers through her blonde tresses. She sighed and he closed his eyes. Maybe this was a good idea after all.
Clarke fell asleep first. Bellamy continued to play with her hair as he started to drift off. He pressed a kiss to her hair gently before nodding off.
He awoke suddenly to his tent being opened and someone calling his name. Clarke sat up so quickly he worried she had whiplash. He sat up as well, instinctively wrapping an arm around her as if to protect her.
Fortunately, there was nothing to protect her from, as it was Finn who barged into the tent. Apparently, Finn had forgotten about the task he’d given Bellamy (or assumed he had failed).
“Bellamy! We need to send another patrol and–”
Finn stopped suddenly at the sight in front of him.
“Um, I’m sorry. I’ll come back later,” he said, backing out of the tent.
Bellamy quickly looked down at Clarke, worried she would be upset. Instead, she started to laugh. She leaned against him, his arm still around her. He joined in her laughter, glad she had a minute to not worry about everything. While it could be argued that both of their entire lives had been a battle, these past few weeks had been the most difficult thus far. They both needed to relax, and feeling her laughing, her back pressed against his chest, was the most relaxed he’d felt in a long time.
After their laughter subsided, she turned to face him.
“Thank you,” she said softly. “How long did we sleep for?”
“Maybe an hour,” he responded. “You still look tired, you should get some more sleep.”
She got up from the bed, and moved to put the rest of her clothes.
“I have some things to take care of. But maybe tonight get can get some more sleep? You look like you could use it, too.”
Bellamy nodded, but this time he was the one left with his mouth ajar.