welcome to my new fic. i'm trying this new multimedia type thing with it, so i've created a tumblr page dedicated to this fic, just type ' .com' into the searchbar and it should come up. it just has like aesthetic posts and playlists and stuff if anyone's interested and i'm just gonna experiment with this and see how it all goes. hope you enjoy what i've posted so far, and stick with me as a figure this all out.
"we're breaking and rebuilding and we're growing, always guessin' never knowing. it's shocking but we're nothing. we're just moments. we're clever but we're clueless. we're just human; amusing and confusing. but the truth is: all we've got is questions, we'll never know." - never know, jack johnson
chapter one.
The crisp morning sunlight spills into the dark, windowless staircase as Clarke finally manages to shove the heavy reinforced-steel door to her apartment building open. Third time lucky, she thinks as she barges the door shut behind her. Her head starts with a dull throb as she ascends the narrow staircase to her third floor apartment, she starts to fully realise the effects of her hangover now that she's almost home. Outside her apartment door it takes her three more tries to get her key into the lock, fingers still numb with that 'cusp-of-fall' kind of morning air.
"Goooood morning, sunshine! See you're up bright and early," a smug voice calls out just as Clarke manages to close the door and toss her keys into the bowl. She doesn't even need to look over to know it's Bellamy.
"What the fuck are you doing here?" Clarke groans, as she stumbles out of her heels and over to the kitchen to put on some coffee.
"Meh, the usual. Worked late downstairs, rain made it next to impossible to get a cab home, Raven let me in and I crashed on the couch. However, had I known you would be... otherwise engaged for so long, I would've taken your bed." She turns to glare just in time to catch the tail end of his smirk as he stretches and sprawls himself even further across her couch with her blanket draped over his midriff. Clarke's eyes slit even further. She knows he knows it's her blanket because last time he stayed over, he used the same blanket and it started another classic Blake-Griffin argument that ended up with her kicking him out of the apartment. His smirk only intensifies as he watches her realising he used it on purpose. Prick.
"Don't make me even more nauseous than I already am," she responds, undoing the buttons of her coat.
"So, how was it? Did the two of you manage to get through every single one of your vows of undying devotion to each other in one night? Did you recite sonnets to each other and pledge your everlasting and eternal love with a blood oath before she left this morning? I'm dying to know," he teases and sits up, half his hair flat against his head where he slept on it last night.
"Lexa's only going to study abroad for a semester not shipping off on a fucking crusade, drama queen."
"Really? Could have fooled me. The way you two were going on about it last night it sounded like-"
"Stop. Stop whatever mildly-witty pseudo-intellectual metaphor I'm sure you've got lined up right there. I need to piss, I don't have time to put up with your bullshit right now," Clarke snipes a she pads over to the bathroom and slams the door. Five seconds later Bellamy hears a yelp and the door whips open again.
"Jasper! How many times have I told you, stop fucking falling asleep in my fucking bathtub when you get back from the bar! This is the second time this week, it's getting ridiculous!"
"Ooh yeah, that might be on me," Bellamy winces. "He said he needed some toothpaste so I let him in and then he just never left the bathroom and I guess I forgot about him. Huh."
Clarke opens her mouth, no doubt to berate him further but Raven interrupts. Poking her head out of her door, her eyes squint as she groans. "What the fuck is going on out here?"
"Jasper fell asleep in your tub again," Bellamy replies passively.
"Seriously? That's it? What fucking time is it?" Murphy asks, pushing Raven's bedroom door wide open and stalking over to the kitchen. Clarke gives Raven a semi-glare to which Raven responds with a shrug.
"It's eight-thirty," Monty announces from the armchair next to the couch. The revelation is met with a chorus of groans.
"Who the fuck let you in?" Clarke asks, unzipping her dress and heading for her room.
"No-one. Spare key, remember?" Monty responds, wiggling it around in his hand. Clarke makes a frustrated groan and pushes her bedroom door closed.
"Oh, well. You were supposed to give that back, remember?" Raven replies with about as much sass as a hungover 21-year old can muster at the crack of dawn on a sunday morning. She puts her palm out and he reluctantly drop the key inside.
"Eight-thirty? Really, Clarke? You gotta wake up the whole household at eight-thirty? On a sunday? Even old ladies going to church don't wake up this early today," Jasper responds, shoving Bellamy's legs over to make room for himself on the couch.
"Wouldn't have had to if you hadn't been staring at me whilst I was getting ready to piss, Jasper!" Clarke shouts from her room. Jasper shrugs as she emerges in sweats and gives him a glare as she heads back over to the bathroom and shuts the door with a poignant slam.
"Okay, well. Since it's clear we aren't getting any more sleep today. Coffee?" Raven asks. A chorus of groans respond and she has Murphy hand out mugs. Clarke re-emerges from the bathroom, now with a good 90% of last night's make-up off, and heads toward the kitchen. She slams the cupboards causing everyone to wince, again, and spins around. "Okay, last time I checked we had a total of six mugs, and three people living here- well, that's down to two now that Harper's moved out. Now, I'm no math expert like half the people in this room but it just doesn't seem to work out that there's only glasses left in the cupboard and that means I don't get coffee when I'm the one that started making it. Nope, don't think so. Not this morning. Hand it over, Blake."
"Wh- Murphy doesn't live here either. Neither do Monty and Jasper. Take their mugs," Bellamy grumbles. Jasper hugs the novelty 'Hard Rock Cafe: Jamaica' mug closer to his chest and gives Bellamy a protective glare.
"Jasper and Monty are honorary roommates, they practically spend more time in our apartment than they do their own and Murphy wasn't acting like a dick this morning when I got home heartbroken and hungover, mocking my misery while he lay there, draped across my couch like fucking Rose from Titanic."
"Rose from Titanic? Are you sure that's the reference you want to go with?"
"Uh oh, here we go again," Monty mutters, curling up further into the armchair.
"It's a fucking mug. Do you realise how childish this is? Drink your coffee out of a bowl, or a measuring cup or even a fucking shot glass. Or better yet, get off my couch and drink your own coffee in your own mug in your own fucking house," Clarke scowled, holding her arm out impatiently.
"Jesus christ," Bellamy murmurs as he hands it over and Clarke flops down onto the rug.
"Hey, yeah I forgot about that. Lexa left this morning, didn't she. How do you feel?" Raven asks, as Clarke pours herself some coffee from the pot being passed around.
"Like I wanna cry and listen to sad Taylor Swift songs for the next four months 'til she gets back."
"Taylor Swift? Really?" Bellamy smirks and Clarke flips him off.
His smirk turns to a scowl when she passes him the coffee pot and he has to pass it right on again to Jasper because he's now receptacle-less.
"Right, okay. And you're still cool with... what we talked about last night right?" Raven asks tentatively. Clarke vaguely remembers Raven bringing up some proposition to her but she waved it off and said it was a good idea so it can't be too damaging.
"Yeah, of course. Why wouldn't I be," Clarke responds oblivious.
Raven shrugs, "No reason. So... did you guys decide what you're gonna do while she's gone?"
"Yeah, we're gonna stay together. Y'know, try the whole 'long distance' thing- I mean, it's only four months right?" Clarke sighs and takes a sip of her coffee.
"Are you sure? Because like I said, last night yo-"
"Okay, no. I can't hear any more from you this early with this kind of pain in my head and this little coffee. Does anyone have any Advil?"
"I'm on it," Bellamy replies, tossing Clarke's blanket into Jasper's lap and wandering over to the kitchen.
"You know where the Advil is? Even I don't know where the Advil is and I'm one of the two people present that actually live here," Clarke asks, bemused.
Jasper chuckles, "Yeah, Bell. You crash here so often you might as well start paying rent." Raven perks up.
"Jasper, this is the second time this week you've fallen asleep in their tub. I hardly think you can be cracking jokes like that," Murphy snarks, rolling his eyes.
"You're one to talk Murphy, half your fucking closet is moved into your 'good friend' Raven's room," Jasper clumsily retorts. Murphy opens his mouth to respond, but Raven rests a hand on his shoulder to calm him, and he resigns himself to sulking into his mug instead.
Raven's eyes light up, pupils set on Clarke. "Actually," she starts, turning to Bellamy, and Clarke groans because she suddenly realises where this is all headed.
Now she remembers that 'little proposition' Raven mentioned last night. Before the drunken rendition of 'Africa', but just after her terribly high pitched rework of 'September', Raven had 'oh-so-casually' brought up the notion of offering Harper's spare room to Bellamy... And, since it was Lexa's last night in New York and Clarke couldn't think about anything else but memorising every shade of green in Lexa's eyes so she could paint them later, she'd absently told Raven it 'sounded like a great idea'.
Basically, she'd just agreed to live with someone she'd not-so playfully nicknamed 'the devil incarnate'. Brilliant.
Clarke glares over at Raven, but Raven just gives Clarke a smile and continues. "Since Harper moved out, there's a spare room available. And I really don't think Clarke and I can afford to split the rent by two for another month..."
"So, what are you saying?" Bellamy asks slowly, tracking back into the living room Advil in hand. Raven gives Clarke a look which tells her she has to be the one to ask, so Clarke takes a deep breath and pinches her nose before she responds. She exhales as Bellamy passes her the Advil and sits back down on the couch.
"Well, what Raven's saying is... you're basically here every time you have to work late anyway and y'know there's a spare room just five metres away from our sofa that you seem to love so much, so... it would seem logical and reasonable enough, for you to take the spare room and a share of the rent," Clarke forces out, almost pained. She knows Raven's right, they only managed the last few months alone because it was summer and they had full-time jobs but school's starting again now and they're back to part time. Even with savings they couldn't last much longer with just the two of them. But just because it makes sense doesn't mean she has to like it.
Bellamy smirks and sits back, draping his arm lazily across the back of the sofa. "And you're okay with this?" he asks tauntingly.
Clarke sucks in a breath and turns to look at Raven, who's mouthing 'yes' as Jasper enthusiastically nods his head up and down beside Bellamy. "Couldn't be more thrilled," she manages through gritted teeth and a frosty smile.
"Well, it makes sense," Bellamy says, pretending to mull it over in his head, "of course, I'd have to leave Miller on his own but I heard Luna's looking for a better place than the studio she has at the moment so I could set that up... And I'd save a shitload on travel costs... This place is around 20 minutes closer to my lectures than mine... And it's obviously right above my workplace… And if Clarke's really okay with it..."
"Stop dragging this out longer than it needs to be, are you in or are you out? Your choice." Clarke snipes, and he chuckles at her lack of patience.
Bellamy pauses a moment (because he's that much of a fucking drama queen). Jasper quietly chants 'neighbour, neighbour' from next to him on the couch, Raven clasps her hands together in anticipation, Murphy's still sulking and Monty doesn't even bother to look up from his phone. He takes one last look at Clarke's even stare before responding. "Sure, why not."
Jasper and Monty high-five as Raven clasps her hands in relief and Murphy even perks up a little. Clarke doesn't even blink.
"So," Bellamy asks, turning his head toward Raven in a business-like fashion. "When can I move in?"
aaand, that's it for the first short little snippet of this story. hope you enjoy what i've posted so far, and stick with me as a figure this all out. let me know what you think of the multi-media type thing? is it working? is it a big fail? i have no clue, and stay tuned for the first real chapter! :)