"Do you believe in fate Bell?"
Bellamy looked up at the question. He was working the counter at Blake's Music so naturally, he had his guitar on his lap, Clarke next to him, George Michael crooning in the background, and she was getting existential.
Bellamy Blake was a boy of seventeen, with wild brown curls, brawn from football, natural tan darkened by hours in the sun, with freckles scattered under deep brown eyes. He was, quite simply, a heartthrob to the girls of Arkadia High and he knew it. He had no need for fate, not right now.
He could get any girl he wanted with almost no effort, what did he need fate for? But he knew Clarke had a reason for asking. She always did.
"Why?"
The blonde next to him rolled her eyes as he went back to playing his guitar. "Because I wanna know." He looked up at her. There were four people on this earth that he could read like a damn book, and this girl was one of them. In the two years since her dad died, he has learned her inside and out. If she was asking and being stingy with the reasoning she was deep in thought but not ready to admit what exactly she was thinking.
"Okay, Princess I'll bite." He paused and grinned when her trademark scowl and eye roll flashed over her face at the nickname. "No, I don't believe in fate. Who needs fate or something to tell you that you love someone, shouldn't we just be able to tell on our own?"
"But how do you know its the right person Bell?"
He had a sinking suspicion that he knew where this was going. "You just do Clarke." She sighed, a frown marring her pretty features. Her telltale sign of distress was the furrowing of her eyebrows and the slight scrunch of her nose.
"I met a girl today." Yup. He was right. She was debating relationships in her head. Ever since her father died and she found out that Asshole Finn had made her the other woman she was hesitant with her heart. There was a time he wouldn't care, now, now he cares to much about this girl.
The tiny slip of a girl, the blonde waves and blue eyes of his best friend hadn't always been his second half. That had once been his sister, in a lot of ways O was still his person, but it was different with Clarke.
With Clarke, Bell could choose to be irresponsible, not having to lead by example. He didn't need to parent her. It was nice. It was one of the good things to come out of her dad's death.
"Oh yeah?" Clark nodded her head, "What's she like?" Blue eyes met brown, "smart, pretty. Intimidating." Her cheeks were red, but there was a sparkle in her eye that he hadn't seen in a while.
"Well Princess, I say it never hurts to try."
Clarke laughed, light and free. "Okay, well if the great musician says so then it must be true." He snorted. She was convinced he would get discovered and get famous. He thought she was far to hopeful, he was more of a realist.
He knew, rationally, that as soon as he was eighteen in a little under a year, the guitar and music would have to be put aside for college and career so that he could help his mom send O to school to.
But every now and then he let himself dream of the possibility. The what if. That was Clarke's effect on him. Her belief in him, in his goodness, his music, all of it- it allowed him to dream of a life he was certain he would never live.
One where he wouldn't have to worry about the store not making enough, about how much it was going to stretch the budget to send him to school. How hard it would be for his mom and O even with one less mouth to feed.
He listened to George Michael sing about angels and cowboys while a pretty blonde hummed along beside him and thought about her fate. He didn't know then, how much that day, that conversation, that song, would change his life.
There's a want and there's a need
There's a history between
Girls like her and guys like me
Cowboys and angels
"Come on Miller, or we are gonna be late!" Bellamy pounded on the door of the bathroom, waiting for his roommate to appear. The door was flung open to reveal a boy in dark jeans, a black henley, and a black beanie.
"Chill out diva. We ain't late." Bellamy rolled his eyes. Miller knew why he was in a hurry. This was his favorite night of the week to, neither one could deny it.
They left the dorms behind, hopping in Miller's shitty pick-up and driving out of the city. It was the best feeling, leaving the city lights behind and finding only open road and trees. It was the small town boy in him. Knoxville was great, but it was still a big city. He was used to Ark, the small town about three hours away. He had left home for school, scholarships saving them in terms of paying for it, and god did he miss home.
He skyped his sister and Clarke constantly. Except for Saturday nights. This was his night, his and Miller's. Miller had grown up in Knoxville and had brought Bellamy to the first bonfire, and he had come with every week since.
It would be to cold soon but he was enjoying it all the same. He and one of Miller's friends had even played a little at the last one and they weren't bad. It was the most relaxing night of his week.
So when his sister's number flashed across his phone he almost ignored it. Almost. Instead, he answered.
"O?"
He heard a choked sob and his heart sank. "B...Bell." Fear crushed him. His sister never cried. What the hell?
"What's wrong O?"
There was sniffles, a gasp and then muffled voices. "It's Clarke Bell." His heart stuttered at the name. "She was in an accident with Wells. He… he didn't make it. She's…." He found himself praying, as his sister had to regain control of he sobs, that she would not say she was dead.
"She's not g...good. B...bell. Please….please come...home." She was sucking in a breath to get the words out between her sobs and suddenly he could think of nothing else but being there next to her.
Like he could read his mind, Miller flipped a U-turn and headed back to campus. He shot his friend a grateful look.
"O? I will be there. I gotta get to my truck. It will take a few hours but I'm on my way."
As soon as his sister acknowledged him, he hung up and as soon as the truck stopped he threw himself out of it and into his own. Then he sped down the highway praying that she didn't die.
It had been almost a year and a half since their conversation about fate and Lexa. Clarke and Lexa had ended three months after they started, and he knew that Clarke believed that she was unlovable.
She had been quiet since then, they still talked but it was hard to get her to cheer up and he felt guilty. Now she was laying in a hospital and he prayed to any god he could think of that she didn't die because he needed her.
Clarke Griffin was his saving grace. She kept him going, gave him hope. Hope for himself, for his life, for their family- real and created.
Two and a half hours after the call he was sprinting into the emergency entrance of the hospital. There, six feet in front of him was his sister, sandwiched between Monty and Jasper. Maya was clutching Jasper's hand. Raven was pacing, muttering to herself.
She saw him first. To his horror, the Raven Reyes, the woman who cried less than his sister, threw herself at him with a cry and he felt her tears on his shirt. He held her but made eye contact with his sister.
There was no sign of Abby. He wondered if she was behind the intimidating red doors to his left. Octavia met his eyes and stood, leaving the wonder twins and coming to his side. "She's out of surgery. If she survives the night they say its gonna be okay. Abby's there."
He sighed, holding out the other arm to his sister who careened into him. As she did his mother strode into the room. Her eyes landed on him and softened. He grimaced at her over the heads of the two girls who were soaking his shirt.
He was still dressed for the night out, but it didn't matter. All that mattered now was Clarke.
"Honey, wake up." He woke to his mother's voice, soft and quiet so as not to wake the people around him.
His sister was sleeping with her head in Monty's lap. Jasper and Maya were curled up together, Raven was asleep in the chair next to his. His mother's brown eyes, the mirror of his own, were hovering over him.
He shot to standing, eyes frantic, but his mother's hand soothed him. "She made it. She's going to be okay."
He released a big breath and felt like he could breathe again. He hadn't lost his best friend overnight, and damn if he wasn't going to do his best to make sure he never did.
Just then, Abby swept through the doors, tears streaming down her face. His mother opened her mouth to say something but the doctor hardly paused. "She wants you. Them." Then she continued on.
He wondered why it surprised her still, that Clarke didn't ask for her to stay. Abby had been a great Mayor, was a good Doctor, but not a great mother. She was, after all, the reason that Jake was dead.
His mother nodded to the nurse who had followed hurricane Abby, pushing him forward. He stepped up to the woman's side, as his mother promised she would send O and Raven back soon. He was grateful he got to be first.
I've got boots and she's got wings
I'm hell on wheels and she's heavenly
I'd die for her and she lives for me
Cowboys and angels
Monitors and machines were beeping all around her but all that mattered to Bellamy the moment he entered her hospital room was that the noise meant she was alive. The sound of the monitors faded, and she came into focus.
Her blonde hair was in tangles around her shoulders, her face scratched and bruised. Her nose stitched, her arm in a cast and that was all he could see. He had never been able to learn why she had to have surgery but this sight alone was nearly killing him.
The nurse closed the door behind him and he moved to the chair at her bedside. Blue eyes opened at his footsteps and when they found him the tears welled up, but didn't fall.
"God Princess, you scared the shit out of me." His voice croaked and cracked but he didn't give a damn. She was staring at him, he at her.
"Bell…" She held out her right hand, the one free of a cast, and he took it. She tugged, with what little strength she was able to muster and he got the hint. He sat right at her side on the bed, not in the chair.
"Wells is…" He nodded. "I know." The tears started to spill and he did nothing but let her cry and feeling incredibly selfish. Somewhere Mayor Jaha was planning a funeral, he was selfishly happy that it wasn't him. Wasn't Abby.
When the tears ceased, she did nothing but stare at him. He stared right back, waiting.
"We were singing along to Panic! At the Disco. He got his acceptance letter to Yale yesterday. We…" she sucked in a breath, fighting to keep the tears at bay to finish the story, he squeezed her hand.
"We went out for ice cream. For damn ice cream. If we hadn't…" Her eyes fell closed, frustrated, before snapping back open. "Someone sped through a stop light. I remember looking over as we entered the intersection. Wells was laughing. The car hit his side first. We spun and my side hit a light post. Internal bleeding. He….he died...on impact. I…"
"Oh Princess." He wanted to cradle her in his arms. She had to watch one of her best friends die, and she survived.
He was afraid to hurt her, but she gave him the look and he could do nothing but ease himself to lay next to her, her head resting on his shoulder.
They lay in silence for a while, neither needing words to comfort the other, their presence was enough.
"Oh god, it was Saturday."
In any other situation, he might have laughed at the absolute deer in headlights look on her face, but in this one, he shook his head with a frown. "I don't care Clarke. This was more important." Tears fell all over again.
"Saturday's are the only night you get off Bell. The only night you get to play. I took that from you." She was starting to verge on all-out sobs and it looked like it pained her so he shushed her.
"Clarke, I would much rather be here. It's okay. There will be other nights."
Blue eyes met brown and she read the truth in his eyes. He knows she did because the tears slowly subsided again and she sunk back into his side with only a small hiss.
His angel was alive and for that, Bellamy was incredibly thankful.
[Chorus:]
We ride side by side
A cloud of dust, a ray of light
My touch is her temptation
Her kiss is my salvation
She's sweet, I'm wild, we're dangerous
Cowboys and angels
"I got in Bell!" His sister was screaming down the phone, no doubt standing in the middle of the store while she was yelling. He himself was grinning like an idiot in the middle of the quad.
His sister had her first acceptance letter, to Tennessee State in Nashville- she to had landed scholarships. More than him. He was so proud he almost couldn't speak but he found the words anyway.
"God O! Congratulations!" His sister let out a cheerful laugh, and he felt lighter just hearing it.
The last two years had been hard.
Clarke's accident had woken him up to a lot of things though. He had realized, after many philosophical conversations with her, that he needed to do what he loved, not sacrifice for his sister. Octavia could get there on her own. She had just proven that. His mom had the store. He needed something of his own.
The day he had gotten back from Ark, a week after Clarke's accident he had thrown himself into the guitar. He changed his major from History to Music, keeping the history as a minor. Songs had flowed out of him, and he was lighter than he had been in years, when not filled with worry for her.
Clarke herself should be deciding her future path here soon to. If O was getting her letter, no doubt Clarke would as well. He knew that she basically shared his sisters shoe-box of a room in their tiny apartment over the store. He knew that she worked there but refused pay from his mom. She just wanted to feel welcome.
Abby had never forgiven her for asking for her friends after the accident. Clarke hadn't bothered to tell her that she wasn't going to medical school. That she couldn't stand the smell or sights of a hospital, not after her father and Wells. She didn't want the fight.
Instead, she told him. He helped her fill out college applications, spellchecked essays for them both and soon he knew he would get a call from her to.
He said goodbye to his sister and continued on his way back to his apartment. His guitar case in one hand, a coffee in the other. He had a gig in a few hours, so he needed the energy boost.
He fit the key in the lock, opened his door and gave Miller and Murphy a head nod as he passed.
Murphy would be playing with him tonight. Since their freshman year, the two had been playing together, a quiet friendship born out of the sarcasm and snark.
What he didn't expect, upon walking into his small bedroom, was to find a blonde sitting cross-legged on his bed. Her head shot up at the sound of the door, and her startling blue eyes were staring at him. A grin was spread over her face.
She threw herself off the bed and at him. He had just enough time to put the coffee on the bedside table near him before he had an armful of Clarke Griffin.
Her bright laugh rang through the room when he picked her up and spun her around.
When her feet were back on the ground he found a letter being shoved under his nose. He put the guitar down, realizing it was still in his other hand, taking the letter instead.
The University of Tennessee would like to formally welcome you to the…
He stopped reading there, pulling her back into his arms. "Here? You got in here?" Clarke nodded frantically into his chest, laughing. "Here Bell!"
He was beyond excited. He wouldn't have to keep missing her. He was sure she would get other letters, but he knew Clarke, her being here, showing this to him in person, the sheer joy. UTK was what she wanted, and she had it.
"Its a partial scholarship for the art teaching program. Even if Abby freaks I think I can swing it!"
She beamed at him and he smiled right back. "Now I can watch you play again!" He laughed, low and pleased.
"Princess you can do that tonight if you want."
She clapped her hands and nodded enthusiastically. "I want!" He grinned. "Okay, we play the bar at ten."
He found her easily. The bright lights doing nothing to hide the sight of her halo of hair in the front of the crowd.
He realized it in the middle of the set. In the middle of that old George Michael classic, one of the few songs he played solo.
He loved her.
She was his angel.
He was in love with his best friend.
The fear made sense. The constant worry made sense. The immense joy at seeing her sitting on his bed that afternoon made sense. The flutter in his stomach at her bright smile and light laugh. Everything. It all made so much sense.
He had been single for a year.
He had tried. Gina was sweet, but she was more of a friend than a girlfriend. That is all they were to each other now that she had met Raven. The first time his raven-haired friend visited had been the end of them.
Echo was the last real girlfriend he had. She to was gone. Content with blood and war and unhappy that he hadn't followed her to Afghanistan and disappointed that he wouldn't wait. She didn't understand him, his dreams. She didn't get why he still played, why he was betting his future on six strings and the words in his head.
The blonde swaying along to the words in the front row- she got it, got him.
Later that night, with Clarke asleep on the couch in the boys' apartment. He wrote it. The song that he could always feel lingering around the edges of him. The one he felt whenever she was near.
His song for her.
Not sure why her path crossed mine
Accident or grand design
Ah maybe God just kinda likes
Cowboys and angels
Six months later and he was once again standing in the dorms on campus. Not for him, for them. His sister, in the end, had received an even better offer to UTK. She chose to come here, and as soon as she and Clarke both decided they were coming together there was no question of who they were staying with.
They had basically lived together for years by this point anyway so it was no surprise to him or to his mom. Aurora was smiling softly at the three of them, tears swimming in her eyes. He knew that this would be hard for her, but she was so proud of them to. He knew she loved Clarke as much as he and O did.
He had two years left in school, though it was getting hard to balance school with the giging. He had become an internet sensation a few months ago when someone posted a video of him singing Friends in Low Places by Garth Brooks.
The internet loved him and he was being invited to play a whole bunch of things around Knoxville, and finding time to do assignments was hard but he did it anyway. He loved every damn second of it to.
His sister was majoring in nursing, Clarke in Art History with a minor in education.
"I am so proud of all three of you." His mom held her arms open and Clarke and Octavia each took a side and he completed the little circle.
His mother held them tightly. "If you need anything you call. Bellamy, if you play near Ark I want to know. Octavia, I am so proud of you sweetie, I know you will be great. Clarke, the same goes for you."
They stood huddled together for a moment, his family. The three women he loved more than life held in his arms and he was content.
They pulled apart, all three women wiping away tears, the same tears he himself was fighting hard. Then his mother had to go. There was nothing else for her to do here, she needed to get back to the store so that it could be open tomorrow. She hugged them each one by one, whispering words of love as she did and then she was gone.
He soon left as well, letting his sister and Clarke get settled. He had a gig anyway.
Murphy was no longer playing with him. He had met a girl at a bar a few months ago and was surprisingly content. Emori was good for him. She mellowed his hot streak and understood the sarcastic shield he deployed.
She was a drummer. In a band. A band that Murphy was now a part of. They were good and he had understood the minute Murphy talked to him. They wanted to take their shot as much as he did. They were all supporting each other.
That night he played at the largest frat part at UTK. The house paying him plenty to sing to drunk college co-eds. His sister, Clarke and the others were all in the crowd.
It was shows like this where he got to mix old songs in with his own. He was a unique blend of old and new country styles. He played it all. It didn't matter if it was the Highwaymen, George Stright or Brett Young, he played them all.
He was playing Sleep Without You by Brett Young when Clarke caught his eye. She was grinning at something, off to her side, and his eyes followed her, even as he continued to play. When he found what he was looking at he was glad it was a brief guitar solo.
His sister was flirting with a frat bro. One he was almost certain was a senior and a friend of the president that had hired him.
He looked away when they looked as if they were going to kiss. He had no interest in seeing that. Instead, his eyes found Clarke again.
She was like his True North. When she was nearby he could almost sense where she was.
When his eyes found her, blue locked with brown and she mouthed along with the words he sang. The smile on his face grew.
When he finished playing, it was nearly one am and the crowd was drunk and wandering off. He packed up his guitar, helped some of the frat guys dismantle the "stage" they had built. One of them as also in the music department and they had borrowed a lot of the stuff and would be hauling it back tomorrow.
Clarke appeared at his elbow as he was clapping Bryan on the back. He and Miller may have called it off, but he was still friendly and he was a good guy so Bellamy didn't feel bad Their split was mutual anyway.
Miller had met Monty a few weeks ago and Bellamy knew that he had fallen hard. It was only a matter of time before those two realized it to.
"You were pretty good up there."
He smirked at her. "Only pretty good? Princess, you wound me."
She chuckled, shaking her head. "Okay okay. You were amazing Bell. Your new stuff is awesome!" He knew she meant it, and that faith- the same faith she had always so readily given him- once again coursed through him.
He tugged her into his side, the happy smile on his face spreading when she shuffled closer.
One day he would tell her, but for now, it was enough to have her here, happy and whole with him.
A month and a half into the semester and he barely recognized his life. He was a day away from signing his first record deal. He would be finishing the semester online, giging and playing shows all over Tennessee, maybe even getting picked up for a tour.
It had been such a whirlwind. He had been invited on a whim to music festival an hour or so from Knoxville, to play the bar stage between main acts. He hadn't known who would be there or anything.
He and his little family just used it as a great place to spend the fall break. They were all camping out, listening to good music and supporting him. Octavia had even made T-shirts.
Those shirts changed his life.
A record producer saw them in them, followed his rowdy and raving friends back to the packed bar stage, and sat through two of his sets.
Four hours later he was being asked to go to Nashville to meet with the label's producer and CEO. When they found out he was a student Anya had promised that Indra would come to him. He hadn't wanted to believe it.
Then he got the call.
Then he met Indra.
Now he was about to make everything official. He had an agent, a label and the start of a career.
"I told you Bell! I knew you could do it!"
Clarke had thrown herself into his arms the moment he had told her, at the start of his little crazy ride. Now she was beaming as she smoothed a tie over his button-up shirt.
It was the biggest day of his life, and her smile, her encouragement, her faith had gotten him here.
"Thanks, Princess." She smiled up at him, leaning up to place a kiss on his cheek after whispering, "you will do great Bell, I know it," in his ear.
That was something she had started doing since moving to Knoxville. The casual affection they had always shown each other doubled. A small kiss to the cheek from her, a kiss to her forehead from him. Hugs, hand holding. It was just as great as the discovery of his music career.
Octavia had taken to rolling her eyes whenever she saw them, though she was well on her way to having a love life of her own, as much as it pained him to admit. But Lincoln was good to her, and she would be taking him to meet mom soon.
Aurora had screamed when he called her with the news. She had been so profusely proud. His little hometown was all abuzz now.
Clarke pulled him from his thoughts with a small squeeze to his hand. "Go get'em, Blake." He grinned and kissed her forehead before walking away to sign his record deal.
When he walked back into his apartment two hours later loosening his tie, she was there alone. Passed out on his couch, her sketchbook in her lap, hair piled on top of her head, the TV playing old episodes of Freinds on mute.
He turned the TV off and went to pry her sketchbook from her hands. He froze halfway through the action.
There, in his hands was a drawing of him. He was on the stage at the show that had changed his life, mic in front of him, guitar in his lap. She must have been adding color to the sketch because his curls were filled in, the blue sky behind him, the neon lights hung around the stage in the process of coming to life.
Underneath it was the words I ain't never gonna want a pretty city boy, I need a fishing in the dark, nitty-gritty boy.
"It's true you know." His eyes were drawn away from the sketch at her sleepy voice.
Blue eyes were shining in the slowly darkening living room. "You're all I need Bell. You make me happy." His heart was pounding, wondering if he was understanding her. "Turn the page." The command was soft, and gentle hands cupped his own and guided him in the very action she had asked of them.
In this image, he was framed by different lights from another bar, from the night she had watched him play last year after she was accepted. Before that was a sketch of him hunched over his guitar, hair mussed, pencil in his mouth, sheet music in front of him- an intense look of concentration on his face. Another, this time him the way he had been when he rushed to the emergency room that night. Red plaid button-down open to a tear-stained white tee, ripped up old jeans, his combat boots. Panic in his eyes, the tension in his body.
There were so many, all of him. All of him with his music.
Bellamy looked up, meeting her eyes again to find something shining behind them. "Clarke I…" She cut him off with a gentle finger to his lips. "I love you, Bellamy. I needed you to know. I couldn't not say anything anymore. You don't need to say anything I…"
This time he was the one to cut her off.
He pulled her up onto her knees and placed his lips on hers. She froze for a moment but then sunk into the kiss the same way she always sunk into his hold.
HIs angel, his girl.
[Chorus:]
We ride side by side
A cloud of dust, a ray of light
My touch is her temptation
Her kiss is my salvation
She's sweet, I'm wild, we're dangerous
Cowboys and angels
The first song he released to the charts was one that Clarke picked. The one she had demanded be on his album.
After he kissed her for the first time he told he loved her to and showed her how much the only way he knew how.
He played the song he had written just for her. For them.
He called it Cowboys and Angels at her request. Before that, it had simply been Clarke's Song.
He was now driving back to Knoxville after a show. They could no longer be called anything but that. Between his internet fame and his new deal opening doors, the last year had been a wild ride.
Lincoln and his sister were happy, his mom adored Lincoln and had been overjoyed when Bellamy had told her the good news.
All of their friends were together and happy. The Delinquents, Murphy's band, had also begun to garner attention, gaining a deal of their own a month or so ago. Their rock and roll balanced his country and their friends supported them all every way they could.
His manager, Harper, was awesome. She had quickly become a part of his little family. She and O were good friends and he had heard time and again how great his girlfriend was.
He smiled every time she said it. It helped when he was gone for long stretches of time. He had made the hard decision to leave college behind, for now, throwing himself into this chance. Clarke was there with him every step of the way.
His angel, his princess, supported him one hundred percent, and he supported her.
Abby Griffin had shown up, true to form when she had found out that Clarke wasn't on the pre-med track. That fight had been nothing compared to the one he had heard about that followed a few months later.
When her mom found out about him she apparently said things that Clarke would never forgive her for. He didn't know what, just that it was bad.
It was hard for Clarke, but she already had another family, another mother who loved her, so she had begun to heal, leaving her mom and all that pain behind her.
Her teachers loved her, the students she worked with at the shelter she volunteered at adored her, and she was always covered in paint of charcoal. Finding random paint stains on the shirts she borrowed was worth it for the smile on her face.
Speaking of Clarke, he was brought from his thoughts by his phone buzzing. He grinned at her name on his screen, swiping to answer it.
Before he could say anything he heard his sister and Clarke screaming. "BELL! HOLY CRAP! BELL! YOU'RE ON THE RADIO!" Then the phone was put next to a speaker and he could hear his voice, Clarke's song, playing.
His jaw dropped, his smile miles wide. The sound of his voice faded a bit, Clarke's voice coming back. "Bell, you're on the radio!"
He laughed, long and deep. "Thank you Clarke."
"Why are you thanking me?"
He grinned.
"Without you angel, there would be no song."
There's a want and there's a need
There's a history between
Girls like you and guys like me
Cowboys and angels
Cowboys and angels
"Welcome to the Bobby Bones Show. This is you're host Bobby Bones and today we welcome up and comer, Bellamy Blake!"
"Thanks, Bobby, it's great to be here."
"So, Bellamy. Tell me how the last few months have been for you. You're first radio single, Cowboys and Angels just hit number one and you're first album, Blake drops in a week. That's a lot of big news!"
He grinned, "Oh yeah it's been wild. I'm just along for the ride. Country fans, you are the greatest. Thank you for loving that song, it is really important to me and my life."
The radio host across from him smiled. "Tell us about it. The world is dying to know what the song is about. You wrote it correct?"
"Yeah, I wrote it. Cowboys and Angels was written two years ago. I wrote it for my best friend the night I realized I was in love with her. She was the one who encouraged me to release it to the world. Before we were together she was my biggest supporter. Her and my sister are my number one fans."
"Wow, that is quite the story."
Bellamy chuckled. "Thats only a piece of it. It was them that got me discovered. My label rep was at a festival I was playing and my friends, my sister, and my girl were there, and they had made these fake merch shirts, the design of which is now used on my real concert merch, and she overheard them talking about me and their praise spiked her interest."
Bobby chuckled, "so your discovery was a team effort!"
He laughed along. "Definitely! Without them, I wouldn't have kept at music. Without the princess, I would have left the guitar behind a long time ago."
'Well then the country music fans thank her because they adore you! Tell me, you have been out on tour yes?"
"Yeah, we have been out with Blake Shelton and Luke Combs. It's been a wild ride. The guys have been really great, and its a dream to meet Blake let alone tour with the guy."
"The CMT Award for Single of the Year goes to..."
Bellamy was clutching her hand, probably to tight, but he didn't care. Neither did she, she was squeezing back just as tight.
"Cowboys and Angels by Bellamy Blake!"
He couldn't believe it. His first award. For a song, he wrote. A song on country radio.
He stood on shaky legs, but he wasn't going to get the award without a kiss from her. She was laughing into the kiss, beaming at him, clapping as he walked to the stage.
He shook Blake Shelton's hand, made eye contact with Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, got a smile from the queen of country herself- Reba. Then he accepted his award from Brett Young, the winner of the last three years.
He shook the man's hand, ran a hand through his curls, mussing them as he went, trying to find words.
"Wow, okay so first, thank you country fans, without you, this would not have happened. I was not expecting this tonight and you're love means the world!" he took a deep breath, trying to calm the nerves. He had about a minute and a half left.
"I want to thank my mom, Aruroa, who taught me to play. I need to thank my little sister who loved every little song I wrote for her, no matter how stupid when we were kids. I need to thank my friends for their constant support. That includes my team- Anya, Indra, Harper, thank you for this opportunity." He took another breath, knowing he wasn't done yet.
"Princess, this is all for you. All because of you. I wouldn't be here without you- you're love and support have gotten me through, kept my faith. You're the angel princess, and you changed this cowboy's life for the better so thank you."
He followed the others off the stage, mind still reeling. He posed for pictures, shook hands, all of it seemed like an out of body experience.
And then she was at his side. An angel in a white lace dress that Harper had picked for her. She stepped into his arms, both of them missing the flash of cameras, their eyes only for the other.
"You did it Bell."
"No princess, we did it."
"Bell, did you see this?"
Clarke showed him a magazine article two days later and there at the bottom right corner of the page was a picture of the two of them. His arms were around her waist, hers around his neck, his face the only one you can see, and he is giving her the same adoring look he always does.
He loves it.
He looks up, meeting her eyes, and from those shining blue oceans, he can tell she loves it to.
"So, Bellamy. The world want's to know her name. Cowboys and Angels is going double platinum and the fans want to know. Not to mention your co-song with The Delinquents is at number two on the charts."
He looked out a window as Harper spoke over the phone, considering it. They had wanted her to finish school first. Keep her out of the spotlight for as long as possible but it was getting harder. For her and for his sister.
His mother was known because of the store, but she had removed pictures of Clarke and Octavia, the store was so popular now that it was finally well in the black.
It was getting harder to keep his sister and Clarke out of his spotlight though and he knew that sooner or later they wouldn't be able to hide anymore.
Sure, Clarke had been his date at awards shows and things, but they hadn't been photographed that award season because he was still small fry compared to others. The only image of them to get published was the one that they both loved, and you couldn't make out anything other than her body size, type and hair color.
His album had done well. He had re-upped his contract, he was going out on tour again soon and he had another album that would soon be in the works. The girls were juniors in college now and he would hate to bring fame into their lives, but he also knew that if he didn't do this he would be going to things stag to keep them out of the light and he didn't want to do that either.
He wanted the world to know he was happily taken, but he didn't want to hurt Clarke to do it.
"I suggest you talk to her B. I don't know how much longer we can keep a lid on this."
"Bellamy! Bellamy! Mr. Blake!"
The hand in his gave a squeeze as he turned them to face the hoard of reporters.
"Is this you're sister?"
"Who's your date?"
"When does the new album, Planets drop?"
He held up a hand and the reports stopped firing questions. He looked down into the blue eyes he adored and then out at the crowd.
"This is my girlfriend, Clarke Griffin. My sister is still studying for finals at the moment. Planets hits stores next week."
With that they were ushered on, ignoring the questions being fired at their back. They had done it. Clarke had agreed to do it, but they both agreed to keep O's life her own for as long as they could. It was only fair that she lives her life, his dream didn't need to make hers harder.
"Congratulations Bellamy, Planets has just gone number one. How does it feel?"
He smiled at Bobby. "Oh, it feels great! I can't thank the fans. It's amazing to think that my second album made number one! Their support means the world!"
"Alright man, I gotta ask. Did you put a ring on it yet?"
Bellamy laughed at the question. "As a matter of fact Bobby I did. You are the first to know, publically anyway. I asked Clarke to marry me a week ago. She said yes. We are going to wait a year or so, but I couldn't be happier."
"Clarke, I promise to love you forever, through all you're ups and downs. You have been there for all the greatest moments in my life. Your faith made my dream a reality. None of this would be possible without you. I love you and I can't wait to live the rest of this life and go on this ride with you."
"Bellamy, I swear to be your faith always. You call me an angel, but really you have been mine. Since my father died at fourteen you have guided me through the darkness, reminded me to find joy and I couldn't be more happy. It is all thanks to you, and I cannot wait to see what comes next. Whatever does I promise to be by your side always."
They each then repeated the standard vows, slipping rings onto fingers, beaming smiles on their faces.
"I now pronounce you husband and wife, you may kiss the bride."
She was his angel and he was her cowboy. Together they lived and loved, fought and won, following a wild ride through a great life.
Maybe it was fate, maybe it was the music. Whatever it was it gave them the best life, and for that Bellamy would always be grateful.