Bellamy is absolutely thrilled whenever Octavia asks him to babysit her five year old son. He's always loved kids and he doesn't have any of his own, but a nephew is almost as good for the time being. He's only thirty, he still has time to find someone and have his own.
Octavia and Lincoln are going away for the weekend to a wedding of a friend of Lincoln's, so Bellamy is on babysitting duty. He's got Tobias in the back seat, driving home from picking him up from Octavia's and Tobias is very intent on pointing out everything he can see out the window.
"And there's the trees, I 'member them," the five-year-old says, though there's nothing that special or interesting about the trees. But Tobias apparently remembers them, and it makes Bellamy grin.
"Yeah? You like those trees?" he asks.
"They're okay," Tobias shrugs. "I like the ones at home better." Bellamy laughs.
"And there's the letterbox," Tobias continues. It's not even Bellamy's letterbox, just a random neighbour. Bellamy pulls into his own driveway. "And there's the lady with the cats!" Tobias says excitedly. Bellamy glances out the window to his neighbour, Clarke Griffin, watering the pot plants in her front yard. He probably shouldn't be so amazed that Tobias remembers her, though he'd never actually introduced his neighbour to his nephew. He'd just mentioned last time Tobias was over that Clarke owns cats. Tobias loves cats. Clarke sees Bellamy look over and waves at him. Bellamy's stomach flips over and her bright smile and he waves back, trying to keep his own smile at a normal level of face coverage. So he likes her a bit, okay? He's got it under control.
"That's the lady with the cats," Bellamy agrees with his nephew.
"Can we see the cats?"
"Maybe later," Bellamy says absently, watching Clarke as she goes back to watering the plants. She looks gorgeous, as usual, and Bellamy can't seem to take his eyes off her.
"Are we staying in the car forever?" Tobias complains, jolting Bellamy from his thoughts.
"Is that what you want?" he jokes.
"I want to see the cats," Tobias says matter-of-factly. Bellamy just laughs as he unbuckles his seatbelt and gets out of the car to open the door for Tobias. His nephew runs for the front door as Bellamy grabs his things from the boot.
"I'm hungry," Tobias tells him, though he'd only just eaten breakfast before Bellamy picked him up. But he knows his uncle always buys a treat for him when he comes over. Bellamy smirks, shaking his head.
"You just had breakfast," Bellamy reminds him. "I think you can wait until lunch time."
"Aww," Tobias says forlornly as Bellamy unlocks the door and lets him inside.
"How about we go and play outside for a while?" Bellamy suggests. He's glad his sister's kid loves the outdoors more than computers, if only because Bellamy doesn't understand technology at all. Octavia teases him enough when he has to ask his five year old nephew to help him with his phone.
Tobias responds to Bellamy's suggestion with an enthusiastic whoop, before running towards the back door. Bellamy laughs as he dumps Tobias's bags by the door. That kid is excited by everything. Bellamy quickly follows Tobias outside, not wanting to leave him alone for too long. Tobias has a habit of wandering off when he sees something interesting.
"Hey, it's a cat!" Tobias points towards the fence separating Bellamy's yard from Clarke's, where there is indeed a cat ducking through the small hole in the fence, back into Clarke's yard. Her cats often spend time in Bellamy's yard, although he can't say he minds. He quite likes their company. "Can we follow it?"
"I don't think you'll fit through the hole," Bellamy says feigning seriousness. His phone rings then, and it's Octavia so he figure he better answer it. "Hey, O," he says when he picks up.
"So Lincoln's an idiot," she sighs. "The wedding is actually next weekend. So can you take Tobias then too? I can come and get him now if two weekends in a row is too much."
"No, it's fine," Bellamy assures her quickly. "I'm happy to have him."
"Great!" Octavia sounds relieved. "He loves being at your place anyway. You spoil him."
"Except I haven't gotten him a cat yet," Bellamy points out.
"Well, neither have we," Octavia laughs. "His birthday is coming up though, so maybe then."
"He won't ever want to visit me then," Bellamy complains.
"I'm sure he'll get bored of it soon enough and find a new obsession," Octavia laughs. Bellamy glances back to check on Tobias only to find he's not standing where he last saw him.
"Uh, O, I've gotta go," he says looking around the backyard to see if he can see where Tobias has disappeared to. "I'll talk to you later." He hangs up then and heads inside. He's not too worried yet, Tobias can't have gotten far, he's only got small legs.
"Tobias!" Bellamy calls. No answer. "Tobias! Do you want some ice cream?" Still no answer. Bellamy walks back outside, still calling his nephew's name, but still receiving no answer. He starts to get a little worried now, and he picks up his pace, his calls getting a little more frantic.
"Looking for this?" Clarke's voice startles him, and he looks over at the fence to see Tobias's head poking over the top. He can't actually see Clarke's head, because the fence is too high, but he's confident it's her.
"Thank god," he says. "Tobias, you can't just run off like that!" he scolds, though the boy has been told a hundred times but refuses to listen. This time isn't going to be any different.
"But the cats," he pouts, and Bellamy sighs.
"I'll come over and get him," Bellamy tells Clarke as Tobias's head disappears from view.
"See you soon!" Clarke calls, and Bellamy shakes his head at his adventurous nephew's antics. He's exactly like his mother. Except more obsessed with cats.
Clarke opens the front door for him before he's even stepped onto the porch, but she doesn't have Tobias with her anymore.
"What happened to him?" Bellamy asks.
"He's with the kittens," Clarke tells him, somewhat apologetically.
"Kittens?" Bellamy repeats dumbly. Clarke nods, beaming at him.
"Come and see," she beckons him into the house and he hurriedly wipes his shoes on the mat before following her inside. She leads him straight down the hall and to her laundry, so he doesn't get to see much of the inside of her house. Not that he wants to, that would definitely be creepy.
Bellamy can't help the way his face lights up when he sees the scene before him. Tobias is sitting on the floor of the laundry next to what is probably supposed to be a dog bed, but is instead inhabited by a sullen looking black cat and four matching kittens. Tobias has the fifth one in his arms, and it looks like he's trying really hard to be gentle with it, which is sweet.
"Look, Uncle Bell, the cats!" he says, grinning from ear to ear. He kisses the kitten he's holding on the top of its head.
"Oh my god," Bellamy laughs, delighted. Kittens.
"You like cats too, huh? I guess this one gets it from you," Clarke smirks.
"Yeah," Bellamy breathes still staring in wonder at the kittens. "He's my nephew," Bellamy feels the need to clarify. "His name is Tobias."
"Good to know," Clarke chuckles. "He was so focused on asking me about the cats I couldn't get him to tell me anything else. You can hold one too, if you like," Clarke offers, gesturing towards the kittens. Bellamy does his best not to look too eager as he crouches down to pick up one of the kittens.
"How old are they?" he asks Clarke as he sits on the floor beside his nephew, kitten cradled in his arms. Their eyes are open but he guesses they can't be too old.
"A couple of weeks now," Clarke says, and Bellamy looks up at her from where he's sitting cross legged on the floor. She's looking at him with fond amusement, and it does something to his heart. He thinks he might like her even more than he likes the kittens.
"Why don't you have a cat, Uncle Bell?" Tobias asks him.
"Uhh…" Bellamy thinks. He doesn't really have a good reason for not having a cat, just that he never thought to actually go out and get one. "I don't know, bud," he finally responds.
"If you marry the cat lady you can have all these kittens and then they'll be my kittens too," Tobias informs him. Bellamy feels himself turning a little red and he looks up at Clarke apologetically. She just continues looking amused though, and she even gives Bellamy a wink that somehow manages to give him butterflies but also squash any feelings of awkwardness he has about Tobias's comment.
"I'm going to give them away when they're old enough," Clarke tells him, sitting on the floor beside him, picking up a kitten of her own. "Do you want one?"
"Can I have one?" Tobias asks before Bellamy can even consider the offer. Clarke grins at the child.
"You'll have to ask your mom," Bellamy tells him. But he's pretty sure Octavia won't be too hard to convince.
"And you?" Clarke turns back to Bellamy.
"Yeah, I'd love one," Bellamy agrees, and he knows he made the right choice because Clarke looks extremely pleased. "We should go now, though," he says. He doesn't really want to go, but he feels like they've imposed on Clarke long enough. He puts the kitten back in the basket and stands up and Clarke does the same.
"You can stay if you like," she offers quickly. "I can make you a coffee while Tobias plays with the kittens." Bellamy hesitates, glancing down at Tobias who shows no signs of ever wanting to leave the kittens. He glances back at Clarke, and her face is hopeful, and how the hell can he say no?
"Sure," he agrees. "Tobias, Clarke and I are just going to the kitchen, okay? Call out if you need anything."
"Okay," Tobias says, not looking up from his kitten. Clarke screws up her nose, endeared by the child before leading Bellamy to the kitchen. Bellamy sits on a stool at the counter while Clarke gets to making the coffee.
"I should've invited you over before this," Clarke says.
"It's really fine," Bellamy assures her. "You shouldn't have to go out of your way just because some random guy moves in next door."
"Yeah, but it's been, what, four months now?" Clarke shakes her head as if she's ashamed of herself. "Not very neighbourly."
"You really should have baked me a cake or something to welcome me to the neighbourhood," Bellamy jokes.
"Trust me, you don't want anything I bake," Clarke laughs. "I can make coffee and spaghetti and that's the extent of my culinary prowess."
"Well, maybe I'll have to make you a cake sometime," Bellamy suggests. "Or dinner," he adds, then waits with baited breath for her response. It doesn't have to be a date. But he really wants it to be. Clarke's eyes flick up from the coffee mugs and she watches him, trying to gauge whether or not he's asking her out or just being friendly.
"I like dinner," she says cautiously.
"Just to clarify, I am in fact asking you on a date," Bellamy says trying to sound calm though he's nervous as hell. But Clarke beams again, and he knows he had nothing to be nervous about.
"I'd like that a lot," she says and Bellamy is pretty sure his whole face lights up with her response.
"This week sometime?" he suggests.
"Tomorrow?" Clarke says eagerly.
"Sounds great," Bellamy laughs and Clarke hands him his coffee. Tobias was into the kitchen then bringing a kitten with him.
"I want this one and I'm naming him Mailbox," he says.