Long time, no see.

or

Miss me?

or

So, how was your summer?

Any of those would have been a good, typical tongue-in-cheek Bellamy reply in this type of situation. After all, he had always thrown those kinds of quips around, always ready with one sarcastic remark or another. It was part of who he was, an essential part of his devil-may-care persona.

But now, standing in the middle of Camp Jaha, Bellamy Blake was, for perhaps the first time in his life, utterly speechless.

This was due to the simple fact that standing before him was the person who had haunted his recent thoughts and dreams, the person he'd realized he'd become far too dependent on during his time on the ground, the person he'd begun to fear he'd never see again, the person he'd been longing to see again more than he'd ever admit.

"Clarke."

Finally, speech returned to him, albeit in a shaky exhale of breath. But it didn't matter, because Clarke seemed as shocked and unsteady as him, her legs wobbling as she started to move towards him. Bellamy's legs began to move of their own accord, meeting her halfway. They paused not even a foot apart, eyes frantically searching the other's face as if trying to reassure themselves that this was real and not some sick trick their minds were playing on them.

"Bellamy," Clarke sighed, the sound of his name from her lips so familiar and warm.

Her arms were flung around him a moment later, his own lifting to wrap around her waist. His hands clutched at the material of her jacket and his face buried in her neck, breathing her in. He'd forgotten how tall she was, coming up to just above his shoulders; and how her eyes were the blue of the clearest morning sky and her hair was the golden color of the first rays on sunlight touching the earth; and how she smelled, like soil and plants and hope.

"God, Clarke. I never thought I'd see you again," he murmured into her hair, eyes squeezed shut.

Her answering laugh rumbled against him. "I thought you were dead," she admitted, pulling back just enough to face him as he opened his eyes to meet her soft gaze.

Bellamy's hands slid up over her back, shoulders and neck to cup her face. His thumbs idly stroked her cheeks, and he quickly took inventory of the cuts and bruises littering her face.

"What happened?" he asked softly.

"It was the mountain men," Clarke said. "They took us all to their bunker in Mount Weather, and everyone thinks it's paradise there, but those people are not who they claim to be. I escaped, but the rest of our people are still in there." She sighed sadly, eyes distant for a moment before snapping back up to meet his. "What about you? How did you survive? I saw the bodies outside the drop ship; they were burned beyond recognition. No one could've survived that explosion."

Bellamy shrugged. "Finn and I ran like hell and managed to get out of the blast radius in time." He noticed the flicker in her eyes at the mention of the other boy, and Bellamy quickly added, "Don't worry-Spacewalker's alive and well. He's actually out right now searching for you still."

Clarke nodded slowly. "I felt so guilty afterwards, about shutting the door on you guys. I kept holding on to the idea that you were still alive out here, even though everyone said it wasn't possible. I don't think I even really believed it myself, but I just...I couldn't accept that you were gone." Her hands gently squeezed his shoulders.

"I couldn't accept that you guys were gone, either," Bellamy said. "I just...I mean..." he trailed off, trying to find the right words, finally blurting out, "I really missed you."

Clarke barked out a short laugh, a smile stretching her face. "I really missed you, too. We need each other; I realized that more than ever when I didn't have you there with me in Mount Weather."

"We're better together," Bellamy pointed out, "and we're together now."

Clarke nodded in agreement. "But most of our people are still in that place."

Bellamy grinned, his eyes lighting up. He moved his hands down to Clarke's arms and gave them a gentle squeeze.

"Well then, let's go get them back." He raised his eyebrows. "Ready to be a badass, Clarke?"

Now that was more like it.