Bellamy groaned as he felt the lick of his dog and rolled over. He knew he shouldn't have gone out with Miller and Jackson last night. He hadn't seen them in over a month and he knew Miller would have dragged him out of his apartment if he didn't. Losing Gina was harder on him than he'd realized and he'd pushed away all his friends and his sister.

He thought getting a dog might break him out of his funk, going out and walking Agamemnon, talking to other dog owners. But then there are the late nights with friends, getting drunk and somewhat forgetting that he has a bullmastiff at home that will wake him up at seven in the morning regardless of him stumbling in the door at two-thirty, so he's either still drunk or hungover which won't make him a pleasurable person to walk into but he ignored Agamemnon's wake up calls before and he swore he would never do it again because the mess was astronomically disgusting. He couldn't do that again.

He stumbled out of bed and changed his clothes, pushing his wire rimmed glasses on his face before telling Agamemnon to get his leash (he's well-trained) while he pulled his boots on.

Stepping out onto the street, Bellamy yawned and looked at the coffee cart to the right but turned left towards the park. He hates this part of owning a dog and wishes he lived in the fucking suburbs where Agamemnon has a fenced in backyard and let himself out while Bellamy slept his hangover away, not walking the streets of Brooklyn at seven in the morning to the dog park four blocks away because it's the only place Agamemnon will go to the bathroom aside from the living room when he's desperate and hates Bellamy for not walking him.

He loved Agamemnon, but he also knew that if he didn't tire the dog out, he's not going to be able to do any work if he doesn't so the moment they got into the park, Agamemnon did his business and Bellamy cleaned it up and threw it in the trash before taking off in a brisk jog before it turned into a sprint and they didn't stop for another half hour when Bellamy was out of breath.

"Um, excuse me?" he heard a gentle voice say behind him and he turned around, still out of breath.

A little girl stood behind him with a Jack Russell running around her. She reminded him of Octavia when she was a preteen but with blue doe eyes that haunted his past. He shook the thought away.

"Hi," he smiled weakly as Agamemnon sniffed the smaller dog that wagged his tail while sniffing him back.

"I'm lost."

"How old are you?"

"Ten."

"And who's this little guy?"

"Jack," she smiled but it faded fast. "I'm bad at names and he's a Jack Russell. I'm Madi."

"Well, Madi, I'm Bellamy and this is Agamemnon. I'm really into history and really good at directions. Do you know where you live?"

She grimaced, thinking uncertainly, "I think it's Shore Road."

"I can work with that. We can walk down it until you recognize your building."

She nodded and started walking, Jack moving with her as though they were in sync. "I moved here yesterday, I don't really know what it looks like, but I'll try."

Agamemnon trotted after them happily.

"Where are your parents?" Bellamy asked following her.

"I'm used to being alone," she shrugged.

Bellamy grimaced, he didn't know her life, he didn't know anything about Madi but just like him she was alone as a kid. She's looking after Jack but that's not like looking after Octavia since she was born when he was seven. It's a dog and she's ten.

"I know how that is."

"Do you… do you have a girlfriend?"

"No, not for a while now."

"Oh, sorry. I've just been thinking about it and I left my best friend moving here and I miss him and hated saying goodbye."

"The pit in your stomach and the pressure in your throats, I… that feeling sucks but it goes away and you make new friends."

"Or girlfriend?" she added looking over at him.

"Or girlfriend," he smirked. "You hungry or thirsty? I need a coffee."

"And a shower."

"Hey, I was going to get you a cocoa."

"I take it back."

Bellamy chuckled, "Uh-huh."

They walked down the street to the coffee shop he always went to after running with Agamemnon, they allowed dogs and give out free biscuits and Bellamy loves their coffee.

"Go on," Bellamy nodded holding the door open for her and she walked in, awe striking her face.

"This is for dogs too?" she asked looking around at all the walls with pictures of dogs hanging everywhere, Agamemnon was up there somewhere. They had a lot of dog décor and Bellamy grimaced when he first walked in, he didn't have a dog and he thought that having dogs in a restaurant was unsanitary and he still thinks that but he's also witnessed the dogs in the café and they're well behaved and nowhere near the prep area and they have an A rating so he's good with it. Honestly, even if it were dirty as hell the coffee was so good that he wouldn't care.

"Yeah, it's amazing too. You want a chocolate croissant too?"

"Really?" she asked stepping in line behind a woman with a Pomeranian in her purse.

"Yeah, then we'll go find your mom."

"She's my foster mom actually. She's twenty four."

"Oh, okay," Bellamy nodded, remembering Madi's used to being alone. "We'll find her still."

"Cool. What's Agamemnon?"

"He's Greek. He was the prince of Argos, not the heir so he wasn't going to be king, that was his brother, Menelaus, but when they were children their older cousin overtook the kingdom and they fled to Sparta where they found refuge and married the king's daughters. His brother became king of Sparta as a result and Agamemnon went back to Argos and took back his father's kingdom and exiled his uncle and cousin. And then there was the battle of Troy and a lot more drama. The Greeks were really into drama."

"I hate history."

"Well, you probably never had a teacher that made it fun and interesting."

"I had a teacher that had us playing Jeopardy."

"You're in fifth grade and they had you playing Jeopardy?"

"In third grade. In Buffalo. I hated Buffalo, there were no snow days! Everyone went to school every day on snowmobiles."

"Not going to lie, that sounds awesome, but snow days rule! That's why I'm a teacher!"

"Really?"

"College professor, but it still counts because I still get snow days."

"You don't like kids?"

"I love kids, but I just finished raising my sister so adult children are what I'm looking for."

"Bellamy," Harper smiled when they stepped up to the counter. "Who's this?"

"This is Madi and Jack. They're lost and I thought that while I helped her find her apartment, we could be drinking some coffee and cocoa and eating some of your amazing chocolate croissants."

"You are too sweet to me, Blake," she smiled before telling Monty and Jasper what the order is. "So Madi, what drew you to our elusive Bellamy?"

"Uh, he was the first person who didn't scare me, though his beard is a little weird."

"I told him that last week and he told me if he wanted a girlfriend, he'd have one. I didn't see the correlation."

"Because you think I need someone! You've been pushing me to date for months, I'll do it when I feel like it."

"No time like the present," Harper sang and kissed Monty's cheek when he dropped their to-go cups and bag of croissants on the counter, nodding to Bellamy before getting back to work.

"He okay?"

"Miller," she shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't take sides. And you're his girlfriend so whatever's going on between them should concern you."

"It does, it's stupid and about Jackson, Raven, and Echo. I don't want to know but he vents to me and Jasper all the time."

"Girlfriend duties," Bellamy smirked. "I should get her home."

"Yeah, it's on the house today, guys and don't expect this all the time Blake, it's because you brought a cutie with you. Welcome to the neighborhood, Madi," Harper smiled.

"Thank you!" Madi smiled back.

Bellamy handed her her cocoa and the bag of croissants then grabbed his coffee and a biscuit for each of their dogs, leading them out the door.

"Shore Road, right?"

"Yes, it has the park and water across the street."

"Okay, come on," he nodded in the direction they're headed and grabbed his croissant from her and she grimaced.

"Why is there a third?"

"Your foster mom is going to be extremely worried about you so it might lighten her up so she'll go easy on you."

"She's not like that. I mean, she does worry, but she'll be happier that I'm okay than anything else. She also hates carbs."

"Every woman over the age of eighteen hates carbs, it's a requirement of becoming a woman. It happened with my friends and my sister too."

"Harper?"

"She's a friend and yes, it happened to her," he laughed. "Jack, want a biscuit?"

Both dogs perked up and looked back at Bellamy excided.

"Yes, Aggie, you get one too," he chuckled. "Now sit." Agamemnon sat. "Paw." Agamemnon gave Bellamy his paw. "Good boy," Bellamy laughed, giving him a biscuit before turning to Jack who's head was cocked to the side questioning the whole interaction.

"I hadn't gotten to training Jack yet," Madi admitted. "Mom thought that having a pet would make the move easier for me."

"That's okay, it's all about repetition. Just like studying and learning you keep trying until you get it right."

"Can you teach me?"

"Um, right now, yes, but after I get you home, that's up to your mom."

"She'll allow it as long as you don't try kidnapping me."

"If I were going to kidnap you, I wouldn't have brought you to Harper's café, I would have just taken you back to my apartment filled with occult objects. I shouldn't be teaching you that," he sighed taking a sip of his hazelnut coffee brewed to perfection, Monty is a coffee genius.

Once they got to Shore Road they walked and talked, Bellamy told Madi about his sister and his roommate Miller. She asked about the girl that broke his heart and his mind momentarily flashed to when he was twenty three and a kid, not Gina who broke his heart six months ago. He told her about Gina because he should be over the girl from six years ago, reminding himself that he's the one that left her behind. That even if he did tell her how he felt, she'd never reciprocate, he couldn't live like that any longer.

"Are you okay?" Madi asked and Agamemnon watched him warily.

"Yeah, just thinking about my life before Brooklyn. I rarely think about it anymore but sometimes it's difficult. The only easy part was my sister, she's what made everything worth it."

"What happened?"

"I fell for a girl that didn't fall for me and I couldn't stay knowing that I can look at her and talk to her all I want but I'll never be with her. She was my best friend."

Madi didn't say anything for a minute as they walked down the street and he watched her warily as she ate the chocolate croissant.

"You had that feeling about her? And when you left?"

"Every second I was around her," he smiled. "And the six months after I left."

"Six months?"

"Yeah, I had to move on. I choose it so I have to deal with the repercussions of my choices and actions and I stopped feeling that. I made friends, some friends came here for school so I had them. I had them for support. You have your foster mom and me. I'm pretty sure Harper likes you too so you and Jack have a safe haven at the coffee shop when you need it."

"You think so?"

"I do, but I also hate the thought of you walking the streets alone."

"You're… That's it!" she pointed ahead at a brick building—they're all brick—with white balconies. And she looked up at him with a huge smile.

"Do you like the apartment?"

"It's nice, better than our last one, she got a new job and Buffalo isn't the nicest place in the world."

Bellamy nodded, "The building looks nicer than mine."

"I'm allowed to do whatever I want to my room."

"You couldn't before?"

"The landlord didn't want any paint other than white."

"Wow, that's… harsh?"

"Not a big fan of white, it reminds me of the group home and that place was depressing and murderous."

"I've been there. My mom left us for a week when I was thirteen and we were in a group home for three months while she had to prove herself to the state to get us back."

They climbed the three steps of the stoop and she pointed to the buzzer with no name and Bellamy pushed it.

"Madi?" a hectic, worried voice came through a moment later.

"Yeah, I found her. She didn't know how to get back," Bellamy said and Madi grabbed his hand.

"Bring her up, 5C."

She buzzed them up and Madi dragged him inside and up the stairs, Agamemnon and Jack running ahead happily.

Madi pushed the door open, still dragging Bellamy inside when he saw a flash of blonde hair that swept Madi up in a hug before letting her go after a good minute and looked up at Bellamy.

"Bellamy?"

He blinked and took her in, her short blonde hair with a red streak. Her blue eyes sparkling. And the cute birthmark on her upper lip. Insanely beautiful.

"Clarke?"