Alive and Whole

It wasn't possible, and Clark probably wouldn't even believe it if he wasn't standing in front of her eyes, whole, and alive.

It had been a week since in her attempt to seal her heart off from the world, she had knowingly sent Bellamy on a death quest, and four days since it had been assumed that something had gone very, very wrong and that Bellamy had either been captured and/or killed.

She had regretted the words the moment they slipped out of her mouth, but it was too late to take them back; too late to say she didn't really mean it. But she couldn't prove to be weak; not now after everything that had happened last time.

Octavia had given Clarke a piece of her mind after Bellamy had left in the shadows of the night, and rightfully so. It was only after seeing the pain in Clarke's expression that she had backed off and pulled her into a tight hug.

Four days ago, Lexa had said they couldn't wait anymore. That they were putting their trust and faith in Bellamy, and that it wasn't worth it anymore. And that they needed to charge Mount Weather within the week.

So today had been the day that they had done so. They had taken the mountain by force, storming several different points to cause radiation to leak in as a distraction while another group had been tasked with going in and extracting the remaining of the original 100 members.

It hadn't been easy, but they did it. They saved their people.

And now here he was, standing in front of her, alive and whole. He had bruises and a few cuts on his face, and scattered over his body, but overall he looked fine.

"Princess," he greeted her in a gruff voice as he gave her a hard smile. And she didn't blame him; not really.

"I'm sorry," she said, as something inside of her just broke. "I'm sorry," she repeated. "I never should have told you that it was worth the risk."

"Clarke-" he tried to say, but she shook her head.

"It wasn't worth the risk," she said, stopping him from speaking. "But Lexa insisted that love was weakness and that I was letting it cloud my judgement. I was trying to make the pain of Finn's death stop hurting. He killed all those people because he was in love with me. And if the rest of our people died because I couldn't let you go, I don't know if I could have handled that. And I know it seemed like I was saying that your life was worth risking, because it's not. I care about you too much to lose you too," she said, trembling slightly.

He pulled her into a tight hug and wrapped his arms around her back. She leaned into his chest; taking comfort in his warmth as he held her.

"It's okay, Clarke," he said softly. "We're all safe now."

She didn't say anything, and she knew he could tell she didn't believe him.

"I forgive you, Clarke. It hurt when you said that it was worth it, but I knew what you meant. And I'm not going anywhere anytime soon. You're stuck with me, Princess," he told her caringly as he continued to hold her against him.

She relaxed slightly into him at that and she pulled away enough to look into his eyes.

"And for what it's worth, I care about you too," he said delicately, as he pushed a strand of her blonde hair out of her face.

She wasn't quite sure who initiated it; perhaps it was both of them in a way. But their lips were pressed against each other's tenderly. She grabbed his shirt tightly as she pulled him in for more, needing to feel his touch.

His strong arms continued to hold her as their tongues began to battle for dominance.

She was breathless when they finally pulled away, "What does this mean?"

"Nothing," he said, "Or everything. It can mean whatever you want. I wasn't lying when I said I cared about you, Princess. But I won't be a replacement for Finn."

She shook her head, "He loved me," she said softly. "I cared about him, but I couldn't love him. Not after he lied about Raven. We were barely here a week when he decided to move on with me. I could never be with someone who cheated on his girlfriend."

He seemed to understand that, "Good. Because I want this to be just us, without any other person influencing us."

She closed the space between them as she cupped his face.

Clarke had her doubts going into a relationship; what with ninety percent of earth trying to kill them and all. But she trusted him, more than she ever had trusted another soul. She hadn't realised just how much she depended on and needed him until they were separated for the first time, with her trapped in Mount Weather and him possibly dead. And when it was him in turn gone, and once again possibly dead, she realised that she cared for him more than just an ally or a friend.

"I want that too," she said softly, as she pressed her lips back to his.

He grinned slightly and she couldn't help but melt at the sight. On Earth they didn't have a lot of reasons to smile or laugh due to the serious nature of what they dealt with, but Bellamy Blake's smile was definitely one she needed to see more of.

A few hours later, while Bellamy was fast asleep, Clarke couldn't help but run his fingers over his naked chest. She was wearing just his shirt and he just his boxers.

"Unless you intend to follow through, you should stop," Bellamy said in a low voice. "Couldn't sleep, Princess?"

She nodded slightly, "I'm afraid you won't be here in the morning; that all of this would have been a dream and you're still at Mount Weather." Or worse.

"I'm not going anywhere," he promised.

"Please don't," she said in a scared voice. "Don't leave me alone like that again. Not unless it's absolutely necessary."

He pulled her into his body and she rested her head in his chest. "I promise. The two of us work best when we do things together, so that's just how we'll do it from now on; as a team."

She smiled slightly as she closed her eyes and took comfort in his warmth. His breathing grew shallow and she followed suit and fell fast asleep within seconds.