He sees all his friends sitting around a table near the bar as soon as he sets foot in the joint.
All his friends are here, because his birthday was last week and he wanted to celebrate it by going to a bar.
The last free place is between Clarke and Lincoln and he's definitely not sad about it. Octavia spots him first and jumps up to hug him.
"I'm so sorry I wasn't with you on your birthday, Bell."
He smiles and hugs her tighter. "It's alright. You were busy taking pictures for National Geographic, that's much cooler. I'm not mad. Besides, Miller and Lincoln kept me company. We did play PlayStation games for like fourhours before the others came."
She pulls back and grins. "Good to know."
Everyone stands up to greet him. Clarke's the last one and she's just as excited as Octavia to see him.
"We haven't seen each other since your little get together, Bellamy. I missed you," she says when he comments on her excitement.
He laughs into her neck and pulls her tighter, just like Octavia before. The only difference is that the hug lasts a little longer than the previous ones. No one notices it, though, so neither comments on it.
They pull apart and smile at each other before sitting down.
A waitress is already coming their way, knowing that they're ready to order.
"Hi Laura," Clarke smiles at her.
Laura, their waitress, grins and looks at everyone. "Hi guys, happy belated birthday, Bellamy. Are you ready?"
Bellamy thanks her and they all nod and order. After a few minutes she comes back with their drinks.
"Thanks so much," he replies, politely.
The waitress smiles and leaves.
"Does anybody wants to dance?" Octavia asks after about thirty minutes of conversation.
"God ahead, I'll stay here and watch all the drinks. I still can't move my foot without pain from when I tore my ligament" Raven tells them. Everybody nods and stands up besides Monty and Maya.
"We'll stay here, too. I'm not much of a dancer and you know it," Monty laughs.
Maya agrees. "Same here. Have fun, guys."
Clarke comes up to him and takes his arm to drag him along. "You're going to dance whether you want to or not."
He smirks and puts his hands on her hips to feel her movement. And maybe to feel her skin, because she's wearing a very cute crop top with jeans and this means he can touch her skin without any excuse.
"You don't hear me complaining," he tells her in a whisper the moment he moves closer. The only answer he gets is a squeeze to his shoulder and a sultry laugh.
After finding their rhythm she turns and presses her back against his chest. His hands are still on her hips to feel her every move. It's getting hot in the club. From what, he's not sure exactly. It's either her being her and his feelings are overwhelming him as she commands all his senses, or its the club itself. He doesn't care. All he cares about is her.
They've been dancing for a while now and he wants to see her face again and takes matters in his own hands. He places a hand on her stomach and turns her around. She smiles up at him and moves closer, wrapping her arms around his neck.
Both his hands are on her back, pressing her even closer to him without losing eye contact.
She's testing his restraint when she decides to press her forehead against his own, all the time looking him into the eye. Their mouths are barely an inch apart and they breathe the same air around them—he just needs to move forward to bring their lips together, but he doesn't and neither does she. They keep dancing like this for the rest of the song, breaking apart from each other after it.
"I'm beat, wanna get a drink and join the others?"
Clarke nods and pulls at her top to cool her skin. "Sounds like a very good idea. I'm thirsty."
They move to the bar and wait for their water. She's in front of him and he, unintentionally, cages her in with his arms. He's taller and her upper body is between his arms, which are resting at the bar. Having the perfect heightdifference allows him to rest his head on hers and allows him to joke with her about her height like always.
Once they get what they wanted they go back to their friends and sit down. Raven leans over to Clarke and whispers something into her ear.
"That was one of the hottest dances I have ever witnessed."
Clarke blushes, but answers. "Trust me, I know.
"I can't believe nothing happened. Someday soon something will," she smiles and leans back.
"Me neither," she whispers and listens to their friends' conversation while she thinks about what she can do to make that 'something' happen sooner, rather than later.
She feels Bellamy's arm wrapping around her shoulders and leans into him. Hey, if he's offering, she'll take it. He's smiling at her and presses a kiss on her temple, before he continues joking with Miller about something. After a few seconds Clarke joins in and soon the rest of the group are all trading funny stories between one another.
At around 3 am they all want to head home. Clarke's living with Raven and Octavia. Miller, Monty, Murphy and Bellamy share another apartment. The others have their own apartments. Luckily for them, they all don't live far from the bar and can walk. But, since the boys don't live on the same street, at some point they need to part ways. They all take turns saying good bye.
Clarke and Bellamy always say good bye to each other last. It's a tradition ever since they became friends years ago.
Their hugs become longer and longer every time they see each other and everyone knows sooner or later they'll be a couple, that's why no one tries to interfere.
Clarke moves away from his neck and looks at his face now. "I'll see you tomorrow, right?"
He smiles and nods. "Definitely."
"Good. We still need to watch the pilot of Preacher. I hear it's amazing from a lot of people. Some say it's gonna be the next big hype after Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad."
He chuckles. "I know, don't worry. We can do all the stuff tomorrow when I'm coming by."
Clarke hears Raven calling for her to let go and she yells that she'll be done in a minute.
She smiles at Bellamy again and says bye before kissing him on the corner of his mouth.
Before he can react she moves out of his arms and links arms with Octavia, who's whispering in her ear already, having witnessed what happened a moment ago.
"What was that?" Octavia asks.
"Boost of confidence?"
Octavia grins. "What will you do now?"
"I don't know yet."
Octavia lets it drop and lets Clarke enjoy the almost kiss.
Once she's in her bed she decides to write Bellamy a message to make her feelings clear. She wants tomorrow to be their beginning.
Bellamy wakes up early in the morning because he's excited for today. He's having brunch with Octavia and meeting Clarke after. He looks at his phone and sees he has a message from Clarke.
He opens the message:
I'll give you anything I've got, even if it's barely anything at all. I'll give you late thoughts, long hugs, someone to talk to, someone to care for, someone who will always be there, a hand to hold, somebody to lean on. And if that's not enough, just know you have all of me.
He stares at the message for a few more seconds until his head hits the pillow on his bed again.
After taking a deep breath he's up and puts a shirt, that's inside out, on in the hurry, but he doesn't notice it.
Bellamy grabs a croissant and his keys before he's out the door. His and Miller's apartment is only a ten-minute walk away from Clarke's so he decides to walk so he can think of what he will says once she's in front of him.
Clarke is turning over to sleep a little longer but something unidentified wakes her up. She pulls the blanket tighter around her and closes her eyes again when she hears the noise again. Someone is knocking on her front door. She groans and puts the strawberry red blanket to the side before she sits up. She grabs a navy dark hoodie and puts it over the Tweety shirt she sleeps in.
She opens the door and looks at him with a mix of curiosity and fear.
"God, Clarke," he whispers and steps closer until he's in front of her and cups her face, "You're more than enough. You're everything. You're the most passionate and loving person I know—and you've met my sister."
She cracks a smile and blushes but remains silent otherwise.
"You listen to others opinion and try to understand them. You care about everyone, even people you don't know. You don't judge, not until you know a person enough to have an opinion. You're the best friend anyone can ask for, princess. Why can't you see that?"
Bellamy ends his monologue in a whisper with his forehead resting against hers.
She smiles at him and replies. "I guess the same reason why you don't notice how amazing you are. But I guess were here to remind each other of that for a long time."
She feels him nod and meets him in a kiss. One that's the start of something great.
"As great as this is, it's seven in the morning, Bell, and I'm ready to sleep a little longer. Come on," she tells him and grabs his hand, tugging him along.
Once she's in the bedroom she gets rid of the hoodie and lies back in bed.
"I assume I'll join you and Tweety?" he asks her, teasing.
"Screw you, and yes."
He chuckles and joins her, wearing only his pajama bottoms, on the bed.
"Happy belated birthday again."
He wraps an arm around her waist and pulls her closer, his eyes already closed. The last thing he hears before falling asleep is a satisfied hum from Clarke.