A/N:Fanfiction based on Aesthetic by shcdowhunter on tumblr post/117037007374/au-the-100-aesthetics-modern-bellarke-long. Special thanks to Shaina (Skyewardswan) for beta'ing. Don't own these characters.
"Bellamy, have you met the new visiting lecturer? I heard she's related to Dean Kane of the Engineering School." Octavia asks him as he walks up to the table at the café. They were meeting for their weekly Wednesday Lunch when they both had multiple hour breaks between classes. Octavia was in her second year of getting her degree in social work while Bellamy had just finished his first year of his master's program in the classical department of UNC. Ever since Octavia's senior year of high school when she was afforded senior lunch privileges of eating off campus, they met for lunch whenever it coalesced with their schedules.
Shaking his head, Bellamy looked over the menu before quickly ordering a water and BLT sandwich with avocado on it. "Not yet. She just arrived today and the teachers and Chair have been visiting with her. Her first lecture is tonight though. It's a talk of strong and leading women in the British Renaissance. Want to come?"
"Not really, Bell. I get enough of it from you and my Gen Ed requirements. I think me and Clarke will have a girls night. Call up Raven and Harper."
"You would take my girlfriend from me tonight, O?"
"When it's saving her from a boring lecture, hell yes I would."
"But the lecture is about strong women. About queens and princesses and nobles. About women in leadership positions. And the renaissance. Clarke loves the Renaissance."
"Not as much as she loves a good girl's night. Besides you know for a fact your girlfriend loves the art side of the Renaissance. Not the historical part. As much as either of us loves you, we don't want to go to a lecture with you."
Bellamy just rolled his eyes and chuckled, "Alright Octavia, I get it. So how are your finals going? You have two left right?"
"Yup, just my Statistics final tomorrow morning and my Introduction to Fiction essay is due Friday morning. Of that I just have about a third of it left to write. What about you, Bell?"
"Just watching over Dr. Wallace's final tomorrow. Making sure those undergrad freshman don't cheat on their test. It should be a relatively straightforward final. He's been hosting all sorts of extra study sessions and practically never ending office hours all of last week. I don't even know if he went home until Saturday."
Octavia smiled, "Yeah I've heard. A lot of kids really like him, since they think he's one of the only fair history professors out there for the non history majors. Plus I've heard he has one of the best looking TA's in the college." She said with a smirk.
"Whatever just eat your burger O." Bellamy just replied with a slight smirk.
"Thanks again everyone for coming. I'll be here for about a week if anyone has any questions or wants to talk. I'll also be lecturing a couple more times this week which you are all welcome to attend." Professor Vera Kane closed her lecture with a soft smile and slight bow before the lights of the auditorium turned back on, filling the room with light. Bellamy stood and clapped alongside the rest of the group from his seat in the first row.
He waited along the wall occasionally replying to a text from Clarke who had asked how the lecture went as he waited for his turn to speak with Professor Kane. The lecture had been interesting and Bellamy had loved listening to this amazing woman speak; she was truly a genius and legend in the English Historic and Classics World.
Finally, an opening. Bellamy stepped forward and offered up his hand as he caught her attention, "Hi, Professor Kane. I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed your talk tonight and look forward to your upcoming ones as well."
"Why thank you young man, I don't think I've met you yet. Are you a student here?" Professor Kane asks him with a soft smile.
"Yes ma'am. I'm finishing up my first year of my masters program in Classics and Roman History. My name is Bellamy, Bellamy Blake."
"Well it's lovely to meet you Bellamy. That's quite an impressive field to go into. What do you want to do with your masters?"
"Teach mostly. I'd love to be a professor somewhere. Though I'm sure it'd be cool to be a museum curator, one of those old people who seem to know at least something about every piece or artifact in the museum. There's so much out there and I just want to be able to share my love of history with others."
Vera observed Bellamy as he spoke and nodded with a smile when he finished. "I know exactly what you mean. Tell me Bellamy, do you have any experience as a Teaching Assistant? "
Bellamy nodded, "Yes I do. I've been Dr. Dante Wallace's Teaching Assistant these past two semesters."
"I wonder if he would be willing to share you for a few months. I'm looking for a TA for this upcoming semester back at Cambridge. I thought maybe if I met a passionate Master's student here in the classics program, that maybe he or she would be interested in joining me in England for the fall semester as a Study Abroad and work opportunity. What do you think?"
Bellamy could only look at her blankly, "Really? That's... That would be amazing. Can I have a few days to think about it?"
"Of course Bellamy. Now I must be off and I'm sure you have someone waiting for you as well. It was lovely meeting you. Feel free to find me or email me once you've come to a decision." Vera departed with one last handshake and a smile, leaving Bellamy standing shocked at the new opportunity before him.
The entire walk home for Bellamy seemed to pass in a daze. He just couldn't believe that THE Vera Kane had offered him the opportunity to be a TA for one of her classes and to basically work under her for a semester at Cambridge. It was obvious what the answer was should be, the fact that he didn't immediately say yes was a slight shock to Bellamy as he reflected on it on his way home.
But he also thought back to who he needed to talk to before agreeing to this life altering decision. Octavia and Clarke. How would they handle this? Would Clarke be willing to pursue a long distance relationship for a good half a year? Would Octavia be okay on her own for half a year? Heck could he even afford this? Yeah there were some discussions needed to be had between him and his two favorite girls.
"Hi honey, I'm home!" Bellamy calls out, the inside joke between him and Clarke ever since they moved into the apartment they share and ended up watching one of those 60's family TV shows that featured a working business man husband and stay at home wife. They both found it funny and cute how the husband always called out when he came home and so they both picked it up calling it out when they arrived home, even if the other wasn't home or if they had gone out together.
"Hey babe, how was your lecture?" Clarke called out, her voice flowing over from where she was laid out in their loveseat while Octavia and Raven were curled up on their couch. He noticed that they had one of O's favorite chick flicks on the TV and some wine and popcorn were on the coffee table and side table next to Clarke.
"It was good. Actually I have something to talk to you and Octavia about. Something big."
"And with that, I'll head out. It was great seeing you guys, see you later." Raven departs quickly, able to sense the importance and heaviness in Bellamy's words.
"Bell, what's up?" Octavia asks him as he sits in the spot Raven had just vacated, putting him next to both of them at the corner of the couch.
"It involves Professor Kane. I spoke to her after the lecture and somehow the conversation turned to a point where she offered me an opportunity to be a Teaching Assistant for her back at Cambridge for a semester. This coming fall semester actually. I'd be in another country for possibly a good six months." He explained slowly, looking between Clarke and Octavia trying to read their reactions.
Octavia's become obvious rather quickly, she beamed and hugged her brother, "That's amazing big brother. Congratulations. You did accept it right?! I mean how you could not have."
"I asked her if I could have a couple days to think about it. I wanted to talk to the two of you first before making any decisions." Bellamy told her before turning to his girlfriend who had yet to say anything. "Clarke, what do you think?"
Clarke met Bellamy's eyes and he could see pride and love swimming in them. "I think its amazing Bell. I'm so happy for you. You have to do this. It's a once in a life time opportunity. What are you even worried about that you needed to talk to O and me?"
Bellamy took Clarke's hand in his and intertwined their fingers before answering, "I guess I just wanted to make sure both of you would be okay with it. I don't want to agree to up and move to another country for half a year if you didn't want to deal with a long distance relationship or if Octavia didn't want to be all alone with me completely unreachable."
"Okay stop right there big brother. That's complete crap. You know for a fact that I would never be alone. I'd have Lincoln and Clarke and Miller and Monty and jasper looking out for me, as well as Raven and I'm sure Dr. Wallace will check in seeing as you're his star pupil and now, former TA. I can't say anything for Clarke, but I'm more than okay with this. You deserve this Bellamy." Octavia interrupted Bellamy from coming up with more reasons that seemed to be complete crap when held up against the light. Bellamy glances over to Clarke after looking to Octavia and saw that she was nodding along with Octavia's words.
"Bellamy, of course we're okay with this. As for me, we've been together for over two years, what are a few months to us. Octavia is right, you deserve this opportunity. Bellamy Blake, I love you and I'll be here waiting for you still loving you when you return home." Clarke assured her boyfriend with a squeeze of his hand.
"Are you sure?" Bellamy asked only to receive two pillows to the face as an answer from Clarke and Octavia as well as a "yes you dummy" from his sister.
"Clarke I'll leave you to convince my idiot brother to actually take this opportunity. Good night guys." Octavia departed, kissing her brother on the cheek and heading back to her own apartment a couple blocks away.
Clarke started pulling on Bellamy's hand and shifted over on the loveseat as a silent invitation. Bellamy let himself get pulled over next to her, wrapping his arm around her and allowing Clarke to snuggle into his chest. "Why are you so unsure, Bell? Is this really about me?"
"I dunno Clarke. It's such a big opportunity. Some of my concerns are of course monetary too. But mostly you and Octavia yeah." Bellamy confided in Clarke, holding her close.
"Bell, it's gonna be alright. I'm sure there's some grants you can get and your normal scholarships will cover part of tuition and I'm sure that Professor Kane will pay you for being her TA. And you have your job at the bar to save up all summer. Everything is gonna be fine Bell, I'm positive. You're going to go to England with Professor Kane and have a wonderful time and learn so much and then you're going to come back home and I'll be here waiting for you. I love you Bellamy and I will love you still eight months from now after all this is over."
"I love you too Clarke." Bellamy whispered before bending down and pressing a long, slow kiss to her lips. His arm around her shoulders bring Clarke closer while his other hand ran through her golden locks as her lips pressed against his in a familiar act between them.
Thursday, May 21st, 2015 2:30 pm
To: VKaneCambridge .
From: Bellamy_Aug_Blake .com
Subject Line: Cambridge TA Position
Dear Professor Kane,
Doctor Wallace gave me your information upon inquiry. I wanted to touch base about the TA position we discussed last night. I am very interested in learning more as this sounds like such an amazing opportunity that I'd love to be a part of.
Sincerely,
Bellamy Blake.
Thursday, May 21st, 2015 3:45 pm
To: Bellamy Blake
From: Vera Kane
Subject Line: Re: Cambridge TA Position
Bellamy,
It was great to hear from you. I would love to have you join me in Cambridge this coming fall. The semester runs from September through December, so I would need you about a week and a half before the start of semester until about finals week, so just after New Year's. I will be willing to pay whatever your wages were with Doctor Wallace or a bit more and I will be happy to help work with both schools to ease your transition from UNC to Cambridge.
Feel free to email me with any other questions. I'll always be happy to answer any of them. We will of course need to meet a couple times to finalize some paperwork. I'll email you in July when I'm back in the country for those.
See you in August,
Vera
