CHAPTER 1 CLARKE

His lips were soft. She wasn't expecting it, she never thought of the word when she thought about him. Strong, dependable, loyal, hot headed, those are words that describe Bellamy Blake. Those are the words that she's depended on for so long with him that the concept of soft confused her. Clarke Griffin stumped over Bellamy Blake? That'll be the day hell freezes over.

"What?" he asked after pulling away, studying Clarke's face.

"That's not what I was expecting."

Bellamy's thumb stroked her cheek, "What do you mean?"

"All the girls you've brought around over the years, they've all told me the same thing."

He nodded, his touch slipped from her cheek as he looked at the floor. Clarke knew better than to think Bellamy's ashamed, she's known him too long to believe that. "What did they say?"

Clarke smirked, "You want to know your reputation?"

"I want to know what you think of me," Bellamy said so seriously, staring into Clarke's eyes that she scoffed before she could formulate a response. Their relationship wasn't simple, they're not roommates but she lives in his apartment to hide from Finn who knows exactly where she is and still practically stalks her a year after their break up. Clarke gives Bellamy's one night stands a cup of coffee for the road, listening to them gush over how rough and dirty he was but it's none of her business so she kept quiet, not caring. They're brutally honest with each other so she doesn't know how to answer his question, what she thinks of him now after the sweet, soft, lasting but not possibly enough kiss or since they met? She's currently confused as hell about the former so she chose the easy road of the latter.

"I think you're a tool," Clarke said, short and honest.

"Because I've slept with a number of women?"

Clarke shook her head, "Because you use them and throw them away. Don't worry, I gave them coffee for the road."

"Coffee? How—why?" he grimaced.

"They deserved something for their troubles."

Bellamy scoffed, "Troubles? You are aware that this is my apartment. You're squatting here. Hiding from Spacewalker when he already knows you're here, it's idiotic."

"That's your plan? Kiss me then call me idiotic? Smooth. I'm totally going to sleep with you now," Clarke smirked and pulled away, she grabbed a cup from the drying rack and poured herself a glass of water, taking a sip.

"I didn't call you idiotic, Princess. I'm calling you a squatter."

"A squatter that feeds you, that's a new one."

"Clarke," Bellamy groaned.

"No, Bellamy, you want to starve? Live off ramen? Go right ahead, but don't come crawling back to me once you realized how good you had it when you made this promise to Octavia."

"I'm convinced you're using me of my generous hospitality."

"The two most common words used to describe you, generous and hospitable."

"You're a pain in the ass, Griffin," he grimaced and Clarke remembered the first months that she knew the infamous Bellamy Blake.

They were camp counselors at Camp Jaha, a sleep away camp in the Adirondack Mountains in upstate New York. Clarke had never been out of Virginia before but she needed practice being away from home and her mother, especially after her father's accident. Clarke was a completely different person then.

She was at the camp five minutes, not knowing the difference between the counselors and the campers and quickly took charge. She was then yelled at by a certain tall, dark, and broody who's worked at the camp for three years and "knows how to run a tight ship."

So Clarke was head female counselor and Bellamy was her male counterpart. She led with respect and fervor while he led with fear. Clarke quickly realized that Bellamy Blake wasn't a counselor you could lead without him having an ulterior motives and that the way to sway him was to use his camper sister, Octavia. He took the job to get her away from their neglectful mother and her abusive boyfriend. It's honorable, Clarke gave him that but he's still an ass and that'd never change.

Octavia Blake was the complete opposite of her brother. Kind, sweet, and caring, they—Finn—lost Jasper on a hiking trip on the second day and Octavia was the first one to be upset about it. They found him after a couple of hours with a twisted wrist and some scrapes and bruises. Octavia waited on him hand and foot all night until he was better. A heart of gold, that Octavia.

After a few nights of getting to know her fellow counselors, Clarke realized that they all go to Polis University and she'll have classes with a few of them. Harper, a perky blonde, is an education major. Nathan Miller, everyone calls him Miller, is an English major and Bellamy is, surprisingly, a history major, he reads the Iliad to his campers before lights out.

The junior counselors, Murphy, Fox, Finn and, Roma are all going to be seniors in high school, getting college credits on top of the AP classes their schedules are jam packed with the next year so they'll start college with enough credits to be considered sophomores.

Clarke got to know Finn better than anyone else besides Octavia. They bonded over art, she sketched and worked with charcoals and Finn sculpted metal, he showed her pictures on his phone. He kissed her during the first week, they tried to keep their relationship a secret but eventually Octavia found out and told Bellamy, who for some reason had it out for Clarke and told the rest of the counselors and eventually the campers. They didn't let their relationship interfere with work, it even aided in them catching campers sneaking off to make out on the trails after lights out.

At the end of the summer, Finn promised they'd see each other all the time, he lives across town but was taking an art class after school on campus. They saw each other on Fridays, Clarke had a job in the book store and they've been slammed on the weekends. She saw Octavia more than she saw Finn.

They made it through the semester and Clarke flew home for the holidays. As per usual since her father's accident, Clarke and her mother fought and Clarke left early. She was going to surprise Finn at his apartment. She turned onto his street and was three doors down when she saw him walking out of his building hand in hand with another girl, tan skin, long brown hair, super model gorgeous. Clarke felt her world collapse around her, first her father and then Finn? She ran to Octavia's and didn't look back.

Now, at the end of her sophomore year, she's still at Bellamy's. she didn't know why she felt so safe at his apartment but she did. It's a staple in her memory of her college years and she'll never admit it but Bellamy is her closest friend next to Octavia. The Blake siblings are so different yet so similar, it's startling, but Clarke wouldn't change them for the world.

You're a pain in the ass, Griffin, she remembered. "That's how you like me, Blake," she smirked. What the hell did that damn kiss mean? she wondered as Bellamy just stared at her. She grimaced, checking the cock behind him on the stove and realized she had five minutes before she had to leave for her shift at the coffee house. "I have to go. Figure your shit out," she grimaced at him and walked into his guest room and changed into her uniform. When she walked out to leave, Bellamy was nowhere in sight. Of course he's not around, he's not the sentimental type.

Clarke left and arrived at work with a few minutes too spare but saw Finn's supermodel brunette standing at the door.

"Clarke," she said as Clarke passed by, trying to walk inside and deciding to ignore it. How does she even know her name? "I know it's you, I saw the pictures in his phone."

"Who?" Clarke asked playing dumb.

"Finn's," she said.

"Finn? Um, the high schooler that I had an art class with like three semesters ago? What about him?"

"He's been seeing you."

"I haven't seen him since the class final over a year ago."

"When you two were having sex."

"Look, I don't know what you want from me but I'm late for my shift."

"I just wanted to meet the girl he's obsessed over for the past two years without me knowing."

"Whatever Finn does isn't my problem, it never was. I have to go," Clarke turned back to the door of the coffee house and walked in as supermodel told her that her name is Raven.

"You're late," Lincoln said when he spotted Clarke walking to the back to punch in.

"Long story, you'll probably get a kick out of it," Clarke grimaced before disappearing through the burgundy curtain that separated the shop from the back rooms.

"So?" Lincoln asked when Clarke came out with her apron on.

"So..?"

"Why were you late?"

"I tell you and you do not tell Octavia."

"Sure," Lincoln lied.

"Well, Bellamy kissed me and it was nothing like I expected," Clarke said, pushing the memory to the back of her mind, she didn't need it now with Lincoln here.

"You've thought about kissing Bellamy?"

"No, I wondered what all the girls he's slept with saw in him."

"You don't have to stay over his apartment all the time, you can stay with me or I'm sure O's dorm mate wouldn't mind permanently switching if you ask nice enough."

"I know how strange this is going to sound but Bellamy is my best friend."

Lincoln choked on his coffee, "Are we talking about the same Bellamy Blake that was going to kill me for seeing Octavia?"

"You're twenty-six and she's eighteen, yes," Clarke laughed at the asinine question.

"He's three years older than you."

"Yes, three, not eight and you started seeing her when she was seventeen. He had a reason."

Lincoln shrugged, he knows he can't win this argument with anyone so he gives up. "So why'd he kiss you?"

"I don't know, but the weirdest part of it all and what really made me late was Finn's girlfriend stopping me outside to talk about his feelings for me. I haven't seen him since the end of the fall semester last year. It's been eighteen months, he should be over it."

"You're Princess Clarke Griffin, who could get over you in eighteen months?"

"Lexa, a few weeks," Clarke deadpanned.

"Mistakes happen and honestly, the strangest part of your morning wasn't Finn's girlfriend wanting to talk to you, it was Bellamy kissing you."

"Gee, thanks," Clarke grimaced, before plastering on a smile for the customer that just walked in the door.