Clarke fidgeted, not knowing what do do with her hands.
Currently, they were twisting themselves into a tangled knot of nerves. This was an absolutely terrible idea.
Glancing at the clock and going for another walk around the nearest line of chairs, she considered just leaving.
If she walked away, no one else would have to know.
No one except the only person that mattered.
Just as she took a deep breath and resolved to stay, a voice announced that Flight 481 had landed and passengers would be exiting through Gate 5.
Ten minutes early. Clarke hadn't anticipated that. She'd thought that if anything she'd have extra time to prepare, not less.
Out of habit, her right hand slipped into the pocket of her denim jacket and she fingered the worn piece of folded paper there.
It was the last letter she'd gotten from him, two weeks ago. Flight 481. 11:15 AM.
The letter was drastically less formal than their first correspondence. Gone were the stiff comments about the weather and in their place were secrets and jokes, and genuine affection and maybe even…
"Clarke?"
Clarke froze at her name, the voice questioning and hopeful. She looked up to see a face only seen previously in a photograph.
"Bellamy?"
Her own voice cracked even though she'd promised herself she wouldn't cry in front of her 5-month pen pal. But she felt the hot tears anyway, running down her cheeks.
"I wasn't sure you'd come," he said softly.
She wanted to laugh and tell him she almost hadn't. Instead, she said, "I'm really glad I did," and walked into his open arms, landing on a chest of standard Army camo.
As those same arms wrapped around her, Clarke thought about how she never knew how right a hug could feel.
Slightly edited from the version I posted on Tumblr for the contest.
Let me know what you think! The original was about twice as long and the 300-word limit had me editing out some unnecessary details, but also some parts that I really liked. I need to get better at working with constraints. Any tips?
Check out the rest of the submissions on Bellarke Fanfiction's Tumblr or the collection on Ao3.