That awkward moment when your asshole friends corner you.
It was so late that most of the delinquents had done something they rarely did, they had gone to bed.
Well, not all of them.
Bellamy shifted, sitting on one of the large logs placed around the fire. Laughter made the air around him spark, as his friends went back and forth with arguments and jokes.
Bellamy smiled as he looked around, and saw that he was surrounded by the people in this universe he loved the most.
Clarke was sitting next to him on his left, her golden hair framing her face as she laughed. Somehow, over the course of the evening, they had drifted closer. Bellamy didn't know if he'd slid over to her, or she'd slid over to him, or if it was both of them, but now they were sitting so close that their thighs touched, and their shoulders brushed constantly, sending tingles down his whole torso.
On the log positioned at an angle next to them, there was Miller, Monty and Jasper, who kept shoving Monty so hard that Miller went shooting off of his seat, something that sent everyone into hysterics, even Monty, who most likely ended up covered in bruises.
On the log placed opposite Bellamy and Clarke, Octavia was stretched out on her side, propped up on one elbow, dark hair falling across her face as she leaned forward with a sly grin to hear whatever Jasper was whispering.
Since Octavia took up a whole log, Murphy had protested that he deserved a whole one too, and was lying on his back, turning his head to face everyone. One long leg was stretched out and the other bent at the knee as he lay opposite Jasper Monty and Miller.
Bellamy felt Clarke shiver next to him, and he turned and looked her up and down. "You cold?" He asked, absently chucking more wood on the fire, which flared and spat.
She nodded. "Freezing, actually." She said, wrapping her arms around herself and pulling her legs up.
"Here." He said, shrugging off his heavy jacket. "Take this." He said, lifting his arms to drape it over her shoulders.
"Oh no, I can't Bell, you'll get frozen!" She said, beginning to hand it back.
He placed his hand over hers, electricity tingling up his arm as she stilled.
"I'll be fine. " He said, his voice hushed as he looked into her eyes.
She stared right back, breathing slowly.
"I'm not feeling the cold right now." He said, shrugging as the contact gained intensity and he was forced to break his hold on her.
She frowned, stuttering before shaking her head visibly. "Yeah... uh, okay, but if you get sick, I'm going to kill you."
He smiled at her as he leaned forward closer to the warmth of the fire, his elbows resting on his knees.
"I have to go get my flask." Clarke said, standing up and pulling Bellamy's jacket tighter over her and zipping it up. "I could do with a little moonshine."
Bellamy watched her go, unable to hold back a grin as he saw how tiny she looked, the jacket hanging down almost to her knees.
He turned back to face the rest of his friends, only to have the smile slip off of his face as he saw the now silent group of teenagers staring at him, all with identical expressions of raised eyebrows.
Bellamy shifted awkwardly, their heavy looks wearing him down.
"...what?" He exclaimed defensively.
There was a short silence before Murphy snorted and Jasper replied with an amused "nothing. "
They stopped staring after that and Bellamy relaxed, looking down at the fire and being quickly lost in his wandering thoughts. He was so distracted that he only just noticed Octavia lightly hit Jasper's shoulder.
He thought nothing of it until Jasper cleared his throat and leaned forward.
"Uh...so." he began, pushing messy hair out of his eyes. "I'm, like, I think, I know that James is totally into Cassie." He said, referring to two of the other delinquents.
"Why do you say that, Jasper?" Octavia said instantly, and the flat tone of her voice gave Bellamy a feeling she knew this conversation was coming.
"Well, he always keeps an eye on her. She barely notices half of the time, and he thinks he's being totally subtle about it, but everyone can see but her."
Bellamy froze, not daring to look up from the fire. Maybe if he stayed still for long enough they would think he was dead and leave him alone.
"And he's super protective of her. That, he isn't subtle about at all." Jasper's voice got louder at the end of the sentence.
Bellamy tried to keep a smooth poker face, hoping he could pretend he wasn't listening.
"And he gets all funny when she's around, like his heart is on his sleeve. He always gives her these special smiles and shit, and they always stare at each other for ages."
Bellamy considered jumping into the fire.
"And he always teases her, he has a nickname for her and everything. It's sickeningly cute."
Octavia nodded. "Yes, Jasper," she began, and Bellamy withheld a groan at the tone in her voice. "I know exactly what you mean." She carried on. "Have you also noticed the way he gets when she's not around, like he's going insane, but the second she's back it ends? He gets really annoyed and worried and everything, and acts like his life is over."
Bellamy stayed perfectly still, not even blinking.
"And he gets all lovey dovey when she's around. I mean, the heart eyes, the fucking heart eyes!" She said, and agreeing groans rose up from the rest of the group.
There was silence for a few seconds and Bellamy wondered if it was safe to look up, and he doubted it was, but he bit the bullet and glanced around anyway.
The entire group was staring right at him.
Again.
For the second time that night.
"He should just totally tell her already." Octavia said, staring into Bellamy's eyes and tightening her voice. "It's really fucking obvious, and she likes him back. "
Everyone nodded and Bellamy squinted angrily at them, looking down.
Clarke suddenly appeared, sitting down next to him and patting his leg, flask in hand, making him jump.
"What?" She said energetically, her bright eyes looking around at the silent group of teenagers, a rare sight, who were all glaring at Bellamy. "What'd I miss?"
Murphy started to speak and Bellamy cut him off immediately, still looking at the ground. "I have no idea what they're talking about. " He said loudly, and everyone groaned.
But when they ended up being the last two left around the dying fire, the fading light illuminating only the contours of her beautiful face, and she was leaning against him, with her head on his shoulder, and his arm around her waist, he turned his friend's words over in his mind, and nervously decided to go for it.
When they later stumbled backwards into his tent, one of her hands up his shirt and resting on his muscular chest, and the other wound in his dark hair as they kissed like the world was ending, like two people deprived from oxygen their whole lives who had only just been given a mask, he guessed that the assholes had been right.
