The first rays of light peeked over the horizon, turning the grey morning golden, the faintest wisp of a breeze whipping up tendrils of sand. Eyes still closed, clinging to the last vestiges of sleep, Clarke reached out in front of her. Madi. She usually slept within arm's reach, or huddled together on cooler nights, but this time Clarkes hand met nothing but sand. She cracked an eye open, panic seizing her for a moment before the events of the previous day came back to her. Indeed, as she sat up to look around, a weight fell from her waist - Bellamy's arm.
Bellamy.
He stirred, but did not wake, and so Clarke took the opportunity to watch him. It was like she couldn't get enough of the sight of his face. She knew she would never tire of it. It was doing strange things to her heart to have him this close, to realise that they had slept so close, his arm draped protectively over her. For so long, she had had to be the strong one, she had had to fight for her own survival, and then for Madi's. Now Bellamy was back and she felt a tension dissipating. She swallowed the lump that formed in her throat and reached out to gently brush away a lock of hair that had fallen over his head. He was here. He was really here. She glanced up to the horizon. The others were out there hiding. The six years had been worth it. They had survived.
"It wasn't a dream then?" a gravelly voice pulled her focus back to his face, and she smiled at his sleepy eyes squinting up at Her. he rubbed them as he sat up. "You're really alive?" he reached out with his free hand to grab hers, almost as if to physically remind himself that she was.
Clarke squeezed his hand and nodded. "And you're really here." Ducking her head, she rested it against his shoulder, and his arm came around her, securing her into his side. She wrapped her own arms around his waist.
"I never want to let you go again." She whispered. He tensed, but squeezed her tight. She drew back to look at him, frowning at the conflicted frown she saw on his face.
"Clarke, I-"
"We need to get moving." She extracted herself and stood, glancing again to the horizon, her worry over Madi resurfaced. She clung to that, anything to avoid the disappointment that maybe after six years, Bellamy didn't feel as she did. Six years was a long time she reminded herself. A lot happens. People change. Bellamy stood slowly and came to face her. She tried to read his expression, but all she could really see was uncertainty. A flash of desire, maybe. Joy that she was alive for sure, but there was hesitation. Something was holding him back. Finns face floated through her mind followed closely by Lexa's and she thought she figured it out. She opened her mouth to speak again when he wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight against him, one hand cradling her head. Clarke melted into him, wrapping her own arms around him when Finn and Lexa's faces floated through her mind once more.
Wanheda.
She took a shuddering breath. Would loving Bellamy end the same? The thought froze her heart, and she slowly withdrew once more, determined to protect him from that, determined to keep her distance. She would not take that chance, not with Bellamy. She smiled up at him.
"Let's go, we've got a lot of ground to cover."