"Bell, it's ready"

Bellamy turned away from the window as Raven called down the corridor. As much as he wanted to run at the news, he forced himself to walk slowly and really take in the corridors of the ARK for the last time. He would never come back to this cold world in the sky again; he would let himself die before he would ever return. As he approached the airlock and the dropship he eyed his companions all paired together, either holding hands or standing annoyingly close to each other. Clark's voiced echoed in his head has it had for the past 6 years 'love his weakness'. He had survived without a companion for 6 years up here, and he would survive the drop down alone as well. He climbed into the metal ship first and started to buckle in. The rest of the group followed suit and click by click they were all harnessed in and ready to go.

Raven's voice broke his thoughts

"Okay guys, we only have one shot at this, we are aiming for the green spot on the other side of Mt. Weather from our original camp, If we land in the deserts I am not sure if we could survive" her eyes drifted to Echo as she spoke and reached for her hand.

"We survived this trip once, under worse odds and more doubts. We will be fine." Bellamy's voiced boomed in the small space of the dropship. He nodded at Raven and without any further acknowledgment; she slammed her hand onto the launch button.

The dropship lurched forward, and the group could do nothing but let gravity do its bidding. Bellamy leaned his head back and tried not to grunt in pain as his head repeatedly hit the back of the seat. It became hot as the ship hit the atmosphere, then with a sudden stomach aching pull, the parachute caught them and drifted them safely to the ground below.

When it stopped the group gathered their nerves and took a few deep breaths before Monty spoke,

"It has been 6 years almost to the day since we were on earth, the radiation should have subsided enough to be fine, but truthfully we have no actual data..." Bellamy was the one to interrupt,

"If the air is toxic we all die anyway" and suddenly with just a few words it was like they were kids again and the last 6 years never happened. The ground was their only option for survival, and just like before Bellamy was the one to release the door.

2,199 days since they all took a breath of truly fresh air, and with the release of the air pressure to the outside the group of seven took one massive breath. Bellamy took another sad breath as he remembered Octavia being the first on the ground last time, as a Blake he felt he should still lead the pack. He climbed from the ship and let his eyes adjust to the light as his feet hit the soft and bouncy soil below. He said nothing as he cleared the latter and allowed the others down behind him. He knew this was an incredible experience for all of them, he didn't want to ruin it for anyone else with words.

He heard a sudden loud sob and turned to see Echo collapse to the ground pulling the soil and leaves onto her body, face and hair. He knew that space had been the hardest for her, even as Asgeda she had never experienced a cold as biting or an environment so hostile and unwelcoming as space. Raven let her have her moment back on earth, tears of joy streaming down her own face as she looked on. As usual Murphy and Emori somehow managed to turn this into an appropriate moment to kiss and nip playfully at each other's necks. While Monty and Harper could do nothing but blink and stare at the trees around them.

Bellamy, always the protector, took it upon himself to survey the surrounding landscape and get a bearing on where they were. Although they did not think there would be any survivors on the surface, they had made that deadly mistake already once before. Miraculously they had landed in a little meadow, with very little trees surrounded by what appeared to be a dense forest. He closed his eyes and listened for any sounds of life, and just to his right he heard the familiar sound of running water. Bellamy couldn't help but break out into a huge smile at the thought of fresh water again. The others were still celebrating as he moved on his own little mission of water; he walked past the dropship towards the dense forest and then about three minutes until he saw the river.

Bellamy leaned over the water's edge to see if he could see any signs of life within, but all he saw were red rocks and pebbles. He moved slowly along the river, and just as he was about to label this river as a dead zone, a fish he had never seen before darted out from its hiding place, and then immediately disappeared again. Bellamy leaned down to get a closer look and realized that the red rocks he saw were not rocks at all, but fish and algae. Monty would be pleased, and he has to hand it to Raven for picking such an incredible spot to land. They had decided to take an extra year planning their trip to the ground, making sure they created enough solar panels and water filters to last them a few years, even the decision of where to land was looked at critically. Everything they didn't have time to prepare for on their last journey to the ground was taken care of.

Bellamy inched a hand closer to the water, he knew better than to touch the water without further testing but damn he wanted nothing more than to dive in. With a deep exhale he stood and took the three-minute walk back to camp only to find the others had already started pulling supplies from the ship and setting up tents. Seven people, four tents and what Bellamy knew were more nights alone. He envied the simple intimacies of his companion's lives, a brush of a hand here, a calming word there, anything to help the loneliness in his head.

Two hours after he returned to camp to help set up it was almost pitch black, Four tents surrounded a large fire and sensors had been placed around the edges of the meadow. If anything bigger than a mouse came across the tree line they would know. As the others retreated to their tents Bellamy continued to look up at the stars thinking about the ARK and how much his life had changed. Just as he was drifting off into a restless sleep the felt the buzz of the silent alarm near his head. He tensed and waited for the others to poke their heads out of their tents as he grabbed his gun. He looked at the sensor and turned his body to the direction of the triggered parameter. Within seconds all seven of them had gathered around the fire and pointed their guns at the tree line.

Slowly a shadow approached the group; it was hard to make out the exact shape. The group was collectively tense as the shadow turned into a human-like figure, and then suddenly, like the breakthrough of the sun on a cloudy day, her face was all he could see. The whisper that came from Bellamy's lips did not feel like his own,

"Clarke"

His heart raced, he didn't know what to do so he just stood there staring at her blankly. He could feel the others around him shifting to look at him and then her. It was Raven who reacted first, running as fast as he had ever seen her move straight at Clarke.

"Clarke!"

Raven collided with the blonde and threw her arms around her neck. Clarke paused and then slowly hugged Raven back. She looked up at the rest of the group and everyone ran to her and threw their arms over Raven and Clarke, embracing each other in a big group hug; everyone except Bellamy.

Even in the middle of her big group hug, Clarke could only look at him. Bellamy seemed frozen where he was, he could not comprehend the sight in front of him. He had watched as the radiation wave devoured the earth below him, he had cried and mourned her death. He had accepted that he would never see her again and learned how to lead without her beside him. Staring at her now he could not comprehend how he could have done any of it at all.

How did he so callously assume she was no longer on Earth? He was the one that convinced the others to spend an extra year planning the drop down: all because he could not picture an earth without her on it. He had formed his solo leadership skills in the confines of the ARK, he was unprepared to try to lead earth without her. Now, here she was, standing in front of him, he had left her here alone for an extra year because he was scared. How was he going to tell her?

"I thought I would never see any of you again, when you didn't come down last year I just assumed something had happened" her voice cracked and Bellamy felt a shiver run down his spine at the sound of her voice. Her eyes never left his face, and as the others pulled away from her, she slowly began to walk to him. As she approached she put a hand on his cheek and he stiffened, physical contact on the ARK had been limited and hand burned on his face.

"Bellamy" she said his name in a whisper for the second time. Her eyes bore into him, like they always did, daring him to make the next move. His arms moved by themselves and put one hand over the hand on his cheek and the other on her waist, bringing her close to him. He brought his forehead down to rest on her head took a deep breath, she smelled like Clarke. It was like her scent pushed him over the edge he pulled her to him in a deep hug, pulling her off the ground closer to him.

"How are you alive? What have you been doing down here?" said Echo breaking the silence around them. The group had surrounded them, making their private moment into a group ordeal. Bellamy placed Clarke back onto the ground and his hands lingered on her waist before he let her go, his fingertips tingled from lack of contact.

"The Night blood injection worked, although I caught the front of the initial blast I managed to make it back to Becca's lab before it the brunt of it hit me. My body healed itself in about 3 days, and after that I stayed inside till the fires outside stopped." She spoke in a whisper, like she hadn't spoken in a long time and had forgotten how to project. Bellamy's chest constricted at the thought of her being alone all this time.

"What about Octavia and the others in the bunker? Have they emerged yet?" Monty spoke this time, and Bellamy perked up at the sound of his sister's name. They all glanced at Clarke expectantly.

"I tried…" her voice caught and her eyes hit the ground "I tried to dig them out by myself, but the tower collapsed on top of the entrance hatch. There has been nothing but radio silence on their end. I haven't seen any signs of human life in 6 years" She finally looked up at them, scanning each ones face before landing on his. Their eyes held for a second longer than she had with everyone else, and his chest felt tighter.

"This patch of green is my home; it seems to be the only place within a few days walk that was spared by the wave. It was a miracle I found it; it was hidden behind the mountain opposite Becca's Lab. The water is spring fed so it has been radiation free since day one. I am assuming I was correct that it is the only piece of green for days, since you landed here" she looked at the group expectantly

"It is the only patch of green for a month's walk actually" Monty said

"This was the only place we could have landed to get access to the bunker, it's why we chose it" Raven said gripping echo's hand tighter. Clarke glanced at the two girls hands and her face broke into a huge smile.

"Wait are you two?" Clarke pointed a hand between the two and everyone broke out into laughter. They all gathered around the fire exchanging stories of the past 6 years, some funny and some gut wrenching. The sun started peeking out from behind the horizon and the couples slowly headed to their tents until it was just the Bellamy and Clarke sitting in front of a dying fire. Without the rest of the group, silence eventually fell until all they could hear were birds chirping in the early morning breeze. Bellamy broke the silence first,

"Wana go for a walk Princess?"

His voice made her jump, but her nickname made her smile. She nodded and the two stood up and Clarke led them silently into the woods. Within minutes they were at the stream Bellamy had found the day before. The morning mist was still hanging in the grass around the edges when they walked to the water front. Clarke dropped down and cupped the water in her hands bringing it slowly to her mouth to drink. She took her fill and splashed some of the water on her face and neck. She was becoming aware of Bellamy staring at her intently. She looked up at him

"I don't know what say, I haven't spoken to anyone in so long I don't even know how to start a conversation" she said and her confession, like so many previous made him uncomfortable. He did this.

"Sometimes you don't have to say anything" he said staring at her and leaning in. He put his hand on her waist and gave her his most famous smile. Bellamy then leaned sideways and let himself fall straight into the water, pulling Clarke in with him. She didn't scream but she stiffened up at the sudden drop. Bellamy let himself sink to the bottom of the river, letting the water run through his hair and lift his clothes off and around his body. Six years since he had a real soak like this and he was going to enjoy it. As he was letting the water rush over him, he suddenly felt two small hands grab his shirt near his shoulders and yank him up.

"Bellamy! Are you okay, did you hit your head?" Her hands were in his hair searching for a bump, as they dragged along his scalp he couldn't help the moan that escaped his lips. This of course did nothing to relive Clark's worries. As somehow she lifted him out of the water and onto a rock nearby. "Where did you hit it? I don't see or feel anything?" Her voice was getting more worried so he cut her off

"Relax Clarke, I didn't hit my head I was just enjoying my first experience being in a body of water in 6 years" her eyes lightened and a smile broke out on her face

"Oh good, I was worried you had gotten hurt, sorry please don't let me stop your fun" She looked at him anxiously and with the most serious face he could manage he sunk down into the water and started blowing bubbles. Clarke tried to hold back her laughter as best she could but she suddenly broke out into a loud laugh. The laugh carried down the river and enveloped the two old friends.

"I told you that you didn't need to say anything, there is more than one way to break the ice Princess" with those few words she knew he was right, the tension was gone, like they had been together the whole time. Clark let herself lean back and float. For the first time in a while she was enjoying herself, the sun had risen enough that it was hitting her face and warming the water. She closed her eyes and listened to Bellamy drinking and splashing the water.

Bellamy stood from the river, pulled off his boots, shirt and pants and laid them on a dry piece of grass in the sun. He looked at Clarke floating in contentment, he smiled at her ease. Her trust in him to be her lookout and protector had not faded. This thought brought great guilt to his heart. He moved over to her, blocking the sun.

With the sun suddenly out of her face Clarke looked up to see Bellamy above her, she brought her feet to the river bed and looked at him.

"What?" she said looking at him.

"Clarke, I will never forgive myself for leaving you down here" his eyes lowered to the water and his hand went to rub the back of his neck." We could have come down a year ago and I convinced everyone to wait to create and gather extra supplies, I didn't know… I didn't think" his breath hitched and looked into her eyes "I didn't want to come back to an Earth that didn't have you on it. I didn't know how we… how I was going to do this again, much less without you. I haven't given myself a moment to be truly happy in six years and all of that changed the second I saw your face. I thought you were dead, and I thought it was my fault. I can't expect you to forgive me." His confession floated between them on the water. His eyes left hers and he refused to meet her gaze again. She took a step closer to him and put her hand on his heart dropping her head to capture his eyes.

"There is that big heart I told you about, always worrying about other people. Bellamy, I should be dead and you had every reason to think that I was. I will never blame you for what happened; it was my choice to fix the tower. I wanted to save you, and everyone else I love. Your big heart better let you understand that, interestingly enough I think this might be getting in the way this time," she brought her hand to his head, placing her palm on his temple

"That's why I have you" he said and lifted his hand, placing it on hers "You are the head to my heart. I am surprised I didn't crash land the rest of the ARK without you, I don't know how I did anything without you" she chuckled at his statement and looked into his eyes

"You could save the world without me Bellamy Blake" his fingers laced into hers bringing it back down to his chest leaving it there and he stepped closer. His hands brushed her hair away from her face while pulling her closer. He rested his forehead on hers breathing in nothing but Clarke. In their last few weeks on Earth, something had shifted between them. Never in his wildest dreams did he think they would have the opportunity to act on those previous feelings. Clark stepped up on her toes and pushed her nose into his gently.

He opened his eyes and saw her; she was leaning in eyes closed waiting for him to make the next move, the move of the heart. Bellamy moved the last few inches and captured her lips in one solid kiss.

XXX

For a friendly slow ending, please go to Chapter 3. For the sexy ending we have all been wanting please go to chapter 2.