Summary: Everyone is born only seeing black and white, it's not until they first touch their soul mate that the world bursts into colour. Bellamy never gave much thought to soul mates; but now as he watches Clarke help lift Jasper down from the tree he knows he would never go back to a life in shades when she gave him all the colors in the world.

A/N: So 3x02 has given me this idea now that it is officially canon that Clarke loves Bellamy. This is my second bellarke fic, If you guys want me to write more of these long one-shots leave a comment/ review! -BB

Touch

I

It happened so fast Bellamy could never predict it. One second the world is in shades and he's following after the princess eyes locked on her wristband. The next she's fallen through the earth.

Bellamy just reacted, thrusting his hand over the edge and grabbing onto her arm. He felt his muscles scream in protest but it doesn't matter. Because in that one second that his hand wrapped around her wrist the entire world bloomed into colour.

Bellamy can see it all. The blue sky and the green trees, even the brown dirt has appeal to him. But than his eyes are pulled to hers, and brown meets blue. It's like his entire center shifts. Instead of gravity holding him to the Earth it's her, in just one second she has become his everything. Clarke is staring up at him her eyes filled with wonder; he knows she feels the same way.

Her lips are parted slightly and he thinks she's about to call out his name when he feels hands on his back helping to pull Clarke up. Just like that their moment is broken. Clarke's feet hit the grass and he lets her wrist drop. He wants to talk to her, to touch again. He wants to feel her smooth skin against his rough hands. He wants her close. He wants her everywhere.

But than he hears Jaspers quiet moans and knows they have a job to do, someone to save. Bellamy never gave much thought to soul mates; on the Ark Octavia was always his first priority, he was fine living a life of black and white if only to see her smile. But now as he watches Clarke help lift Jasper down from the tree he knows he would never go back to a life in shades when she gave him all the colors in the world.

II

"There's a bunker further in the woods that could be filled with supplies for us to use." Clarke tells him, her voice impassive.

Bellamy knows her real reason for going to the bunker, she needs to get out of camp, it's like being a caged animal. So he agrees to go without hesitation, no chance in hell he'd let her go alone. Plus the idea of her going with spacewalker makes him want to barf. If he gets one more day to look at her, to be near her it might make the leaving easier for him. It would give him a small memory to hold onto when he's alone.

The walk to the bunker is fairly quiet, they don't say much but it doesn't feel awkward. Bellamy observes the woods as they go. He marvels at all the colors of the trees and the flowers, it's like one petal or leaf can contain a thousand different shades of green or blue or any color in between. He thinks about how without Clarke these trees and flowers would look no different to him than the cold grey walls of the Ark. He loves her for that, even if she won't talk to him. He still knows it's true.

He likes being with her, even when she's mad at him. He knows she has every right not to even look at him after what he did. All those lives that ended because of him, because of his stupid mistake.

Now he knows what he really has to do. He knows what's really best for O and for Clarke. He has to leave. That way the people of the Ark won't hurt them when they come down. He can't have them hurt because of him. He can't. He won't.

He's standing in front of Clarke as she tries to climb over a fallen log. Her left leg gets caught and she stumbles towards the ground. Clarke grabs at Bellamy's hand out of reflex at the last second to stop her fall.

Bellamy smirks, "Easy there, princess." He says as he helps her stand back up.

If she's annoyed by the nickname she doesn't say. Clarke also doesn't let go of his hand as they continue to walk. Bellamy's pretty sure his smirk has turned into an all out grin at this point.

When Bellamy tries to drop her hand, Clarke responds by lacing their fingers together. Bellamy gives her a sideways glace and squeezes her hand back in response. He's pretty sure she's forgiven him. His smile grows.

They reach the bunker only a short ten minutes later, Bellamy helps to pry open the entrance hatch while Clarke stands guard.

He takes her hand again as they descend into the dark dusty bunker. It smells heavily of mold and mildew. Bellamy figures no ones been down here in almost 100 years. Once they enter the main floor of the bunker Clarke begins going through some the stacked boxes. She pulls out blankets and pillows, which are all helpful but he'd wished there'd been some weapons stored down here.

Bellamy tries not to look disappointed for Clarke, who grins more and more with each new blanket she piles into his arms. She's talking about preparing for winter when he sees the big black barrels near the back wall of the bunker. He puts the blankets down and directs Clarke towards them. With her help they push over one of the heavier looking barrels revealing:

"Guns." Clarke whispers in awe. There were enough to arm half the kids back at camp; they might actually have a chance.

"Do you know how to shoot one?" Bellamy asks coming up behind Clarke to rests his hands on her shoulders; she shakes her head in response. He can't leave until he's sure Clarke can properly look after herself.

"Here let me show you" Bellamy places Clarke in the middle of the bunker while he sets up a sheet as a makeshift target.

"Ready to be a badass, Clarke?" He asks as he hands her a gun from the barrel.

Clarkes smirks, "I was born ready."

When Clarke fires her first shot it hits the mark perfectly, thanks to his directions of course. Clarke turns around to give him the purest smile he's ever seen. He laughs along with her, because he couldn't deny her anything even if he tried. His smile is bittersweet but it's still there.

He's still so blinded by her smile that he doesn't even notice how close they are. Her face is less than an inch from his; he can feel her breath fanning over his cheeks and nose.

They've never been this close before. Never. Since their first touch, they'd remained in close proximity to each other, there had even been the occasional hug or hand holding but never kissing, never this intimate. Bellamy didn't realize until just now how much he desperately wanted to kiss her. How much he wanted to feel her lips moving against his, how much he wanted to run his hands over every part of her forever.

Bellamy wants to- oh god how he wants to. But he has to make sure she's ok with it first. He moves his eyes up her face to meet hers. God- oh god those eyes are screaming for him to do it. All pits of blue and silver swirling around him, and pulling him in like a fisherman answering to the call of a siren. He's a god damned goner because he can't for the life of him pull away from her, not even when it's whats best for her. Because even then he's selfish, he wants her and that's all that matters to him.

So he crashes his lips against hers, and for a moment she doesn't respond. Bellamy's just about to pull back and apologize when he feels Clarke's fingers tug at the hair at the nape of his neck. Then they're both consumed by the raw passion of their emotions, lips moving together, fingers exploring different patches of skin.

Clarke feels goose bumps rise on her skin as Bellamy's hands slip under her shirt and press against the hollow of her lower back, pulling her even closer to him. Bellamy pulls back slightly to lift his shirt over his head, than his hands are on her again and she never wants him to stop touching her. She lets herself explore the hard plains of his chest while he leaves a trail of hot heavy kisses down her neck and onto her collarbone. It's like he's lit a frenzy in her she just can't get enough of him, his hands, his lips, his skin. He's everywhere all at once, it's both exhilarating and exhausting. Everywhere he touches leaves her skin burning and at the same time wanting so much more. Their kisses become hot and lazy, filling her up until she feels ready to burst.

Bellamy slowly walks them back towards a wall, when Clarke feels her foot push something to the ground. She can hear its contents scatter across the cement floor. She pulls away from Bellamy to get a better look. It's food packets, the ones the Ark sent down with them in the drop ship. There's dozens of them pouring out of Bellamy's backpack. She's about to ask him when everything becomes clear.

"You're leaving us aren't you?" Clarke steps out of Bellamy's arms, pushing them away when he tries to pull her back.

"I've done some bad things Clarke. I can't let you or Octavia be hurt because of me, because I'm a monster." Bellamy looks at the ground when he speaks, and Clarke thinks she's never seen anyone look so defeated in all her life.

"That's not fair Bellamy Blake." Clarke's glaring at him now.

"You're not allowed to do that to me! You can't do that. You can't kiss me like that and than disappear out of my life." Clarke surges forward and pushes Bellamy until he stumbles backwards. Her voice is hoarse and coming out in staggering breaths by then end of it, like she's trying her best not to cry.

Bellamy doesn't put up a fight. He lets her push him, and push him, and push him backwards until he feels his back hit the opposite wall of the bunker. Clarkes openly crying now, her head falls against his chest in defeat.

"Clarke" He whispers, his hand coming up to cup the back of her head.

"No! You can't leave me. I won't let you." Bellamy just sighs down at her, she has ruined him and changed him all at once.

"If you want forgiveness. I'll give that to you. You're forgiven." Her words are muffled in his chest, but they ring clear in his ears.

"We never would have survived this long without you Bellamy. You are not a monster you could never be. Not to me. Not ever." Clarke strokes his cheeks while she speaks, her eyes pleading for him to understand. There's determination there too, Bellamy can feel it. No way in hell Clarkes letting him walk away after this.

"Come on," she says, "We're going home."

Clarke pulls back and laces their fingers together. Bellamy feels like his entire body is buzzing from their contact. He feels them in sync too, their hearts beating as one. In that moment he thinks he loves her because she has saved him when he couldn't even try to save himself. He's so thankful that he can see the icy blue of her eyes and the slight tilt of her pink lips when she smiles because if she wasn't his gravity he knows for sure he'd float away.

III

Bellamy glared at Finns back. In that moment he hated the longhaired boy.

"Why is he always following her around?" Bellamy's tone is vicious and cold. If looks could kill poor Finn would already he six feet under.

"Calm down Blake, spacewalkers just helping her sort through some herbs. We all know she's your girl." Miller said barely looking up from the piece of wood he'd been chopping. Although Bellamy didn't miss the smirk Miller sends him.

Having a camp of almost 100 people meant needing a lot of supplies. Bellamy and Miller had been chopping wood for the past couple of hours while Clarke had been picking herbs in the woods. Bellamy had been anxious and unfocused the entire time. He hated it when she went into the woods alone. He'd told her a thousand time not to, but she'd only glare at him and say she didn't need to be protected. Bellamy couldn't agree more but having her out of sight made his hands shake. The logical part of him knew that as long as he could still see the colors she was alive, but he didn't trust the grounders and he certainly didn't trust what could be lurking in the woods.

Now she was back, every nerve in his body wanted to rush over to her and pull her against his chest. But he couldn't. There was work to be done that would have to wait till later. When they were alone in his tent.

Bellamy was fine with waiting he really was until bloody spacewalker decided to follow Clarke around like a lost puppy. Bellamy slammed his axe down harder against a piece of wood.

Spacewalker was putting his arm around Clarke while she opened up her backpack. Bellamy grunted and slammed his axe against another log; Miller raised his eyebrows but didn't comment. Finns face was much to close to Clarkes. Bellamy's hands tightened around the hilt of the axe. He was going to do something really bad in five seconds if Finn didn't move away from her. Right. Now.

Clarke was trying and failing to remain focused. She was supposed to be counting the herbs she'd collected. But Bellamy was across camp swinging an axe while shirtless with the late afternoon sun glistening off his back. Thank god Clarke was sitting down or the sight in front of her might make her faint.

Clarke's eyes roamed over his tan back. Even from a distance Clarke could make out each one of his small freckles. She had spent many a night tracing them with her fingertips. It's what she imagined doing now, running her hands lightly down his back connecting each tiny freckle like it was a piece to the map of him she kept in her mind.

Clarke was so entranced by her vision of Bellamy she barely noticed how close Finn was. She didn't even register that he'd put an arm around her shoulders or that his lips were mere inches from her cheek. It was like she had tunnel vision only able to focus on Bellamy. Before she could comprehend her movements she was up on her feet walking quickly across the yard towards him. She wanted to touch him- no she needed to touch him.

Bellamy turned around in surprise when he felt a small hand rest against the lower part of his back. There she was in front of him and smiling like he'd just saved the world. Bellamy dropped the axe, instead wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her flesh against him like he'd envisioned only minutes before. Clarke tipped her head up so that their foreheads were resting against each other's. Bellamy could hear Millers footsteps in the corner of his mind as he walked away.

"Hey." Bellamy whispered, a small smile pulling at the corners of his mouth

"Hey." Clarke echoed him. Her cheeks were tinged pink from the sun and her hair was falling in large strands from her braid but Bellamy thought he'd never laid eyes on someone so beautiful in all his life. Clarke sighed and closed her eyes relaxing into his chest, her face pushed into the crook of his neck breathing in his scent.

They didn't speak, and they didn't need to. Bellamy knew Clarke just needed to be held by him, to feel him- his skin against hers. He needed that too. A day apart felt like a lifetime, which scared him too. This girl had become his life in such a short amount of time, what would he ever do without her? How would he ever survive if she were to be taken from him?

The sun lit up the sky above them in a kaleidoscope of colors. Blazing orange and burning red filled the horizon; they fueled a fire inside him. It was breathtaking to be under this sky, to experience the colors. The sky faded into softer pinks and purples and blues.

"It's beautiful." Clarke whispered with her head looking up at the faint stars as they had begun to appear. Bellamy wondered if she was talking to him or to the sky itself.

"To think that if you'd never grabbed my wrist neither of us would be able to look at this right now. Can you imagine that?" Clarke reached her hand up to the sky, as though to wipe some of the blazing colors onto her fingertips.

Bellamy smiled down at her, "I like to think that even if I hadn't caught you from falling then and someone else had, we'd still end up here at his point." Clarke locked her eyes with his waiting for him to continue.

"You and me. We were inevitable, fate, destiny whatever. We're always going to end up together." Bellamy whispered into Clarke's hair, his lips brushed lightly against her forehead.

Clarke kissed him slowly, deeply, and completely. Bellamy's lips moved to the hollow of her neck, sucking on the tender skin until it became raw. Marking her as his. Clarke let out a light moan as Bellamy pulled away from her.

"Always together" She whispered into the air between them, their breaths mingling together.

V

"Clarke!" Octavia yelled from somewhere in the crowd Bellamy was desperately trying to calm.

He turned just in time to see Clarke crumple to the ground gun still in hand, she had tears of blood pouring out of her eye sockets.

Finn caught her just before her head slammed against the drop ship door. Bellamy was there in a second, taking Clarke from Finn and picking her up bridal style. She was his and he'd be damned if some sickness took her from him. He laid her gently onto the drop ship floor keeping his hands under her head. Her forehead was very hot; the fever meant she was entering the worst stage of the sickness.

"Clarke you're going to be okay." He whispered to her, but it sounded more like a prayer for himself.

Murphy moved from the hammock he'd been occupying indicating for Clarke to take his place. Although Bellamy hadn't forgiven him for Charlotte, he was thankful to the boy in that moment.

Bellamy carefully laid Clarke down on the flimsy hammock making sure she wasn't going to fall out. He could hear the shouts from the crowd outside, but he couldn't bring himself to leave her. He can't lose her. Bellamy brushed a curl of her blonde hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear, his fingers shaking slightly. Please. Clarke didn't open her eyes, Bellamy took a shaky breath.

"Go, I'll look after her." Octavia said as she placed a hand lightly against his back. Bellamy was suddenly struck by the memory of Clarke doing the same thing only over a week ago.

The noise from the crowd outside grows, and Bellamy feels his resolve give. He knows Clarke would tell him to go, he knows that's what she would want him to do. They're leaders and their people need them. But he can't bring himself to move. His feet stay rooted in their spot, his hands curling into Clarke's hair. He feels tears begin to pool at the edges of his vision.

Octavia is still standing next to him, with a concerned look on her face. Bellamy knows he has to trust someone else with Clarke's life, he has to let someone else take care of her, and it scares the shit out of him. But he nods his head slightly.

"Okay." He nods his head again, this time more assured.

"I can't lose her O." Octavia gives him a sad smile before pushing him slightly towards the drop ship door.

"She's going to be fine." Octavia tells him.

Bellamy thinks that's the first time his sister has ever lied to him. He places a final kiss on Clarke's forehead before leaving. Bellamy picks up Clarkes dropped gun, and holds it in his hands to keep them from shaking.

VI

He's not going to make it.

"Bellamy!" He hears Clarke scream from the drop ship door.

He doesn't turn around. He can't because if he does, he'll never be able to look away. He'll never be able to stand the betrayal in her eyes when she understands that he's not going to make it into the drop ship.

"Bellamy" She screams again. This time her voice is pleading with him, begging for him to turn around and look at her. Just one last look.

Another grounder is on him and he's fighting again. He has to give her time to close the door. Their people come first, it's their job as leader to do what is best for their people. He knows Clarke will understand. She may never forgive him for it, but eventually she will understand.

There's so much violence around him that he's barely aware of how many seconds have gone by. He finishes one grounder as two more spring on him. It's a never-ending battle. He knows he can't win. Then the last person he thought he'd see is pulling one grounder away from him and blocking another attack.

Finn doesn't say a word; he just gives Bellamy a slight nod in between punches. Bellamy knows they have an understanding, protect Clarke at all cost.

Behind them he hears Miller call out to Clarke. Close. The. Damn. Door. Eventually she does.

He hears the metal hydraulics begin to pull the door up. It's both a victory and a crushing defeat. She's safe.

He thinks of her soft lips and the colour of her eyes as the world around him bursts into flame.

Clarke startles awake momentarily disoriented. She remembers the battle and the cans of smoke and…Bellamy. At first she's terrified that he's dead, that she's killed him. But she can still see the colors; she lets out a shaky breath.

He's alive. Bellamy's alive. She repeats those two words in her head like a mantra. Somewhere out there he is alive, and she is going to find a way back to him. Even if she has to blow the entire world up and pull him from the ashes, she will see him again.

Clarke doesn't hesitate when holding the broken piece of glass up against the young girls throat. She doesn't have anything to lose.

"Where's Bellamy?" She screams at the poor girl who looks as lost as she feels.

Clarke sat in Dante Wallace's office watching as he replayed the surveillance video over and over again.

"Who's Bellamy?" Clarke gives him a defiant stare. He wasn't going to get anything out of her.

Dante chuckled, "Miss Griffin if you won't tell me I can just get one of your people in here and we can have a nice chat with them."

Clarke didn't want to know what his idea of a nice chat was.

"He's my co-leader." Her voice portrays none of the desperation she showed in the video. Clarke isn't a good liar, and she knows Dante can see right through her.

Dante shakes his head, "Let's not lie to each other Miss Griffin", he leans forward over his desk bringing his pale face too close to Clarke's for comfort.

"Now who is this boy really to you?"

Clarke considers lying again, but she doesn't want him to make honest on his threat to her people.

"He's my soul mate." Her voice is open and honest, daring Dante to say anything against it.

Dante raises his eyebrows in surprise, "You sky people really are different from us aren't you? You're like an entirely different breed of human."

"What are you talking about?" Clarkes not sure if she wants to know the answer.

"All children born in the mountain are able to see colour. Maybe it was the radiation or something else but we all lost the soul mate gene." Dante says this with a small little smile on his lips, like he considers this to be strength over Clarke and her people.

Clarke can't help but feel pity for these people born without soul mates. They will never know true love or pure joy. They live half-lives and actually consider themselves luck for it.

"Clarke!" Bellamy lets out a strangled scream. She there right in front of him. If he reaches out his hand he can almost feel the soft skin of her cheek.

Bellamy's eyes snap open. It's not Clarke's face above him but Finn's. Finn steps away without a word. Bellamy's thankful for that. He's thankful that Finn doesn't comment on how his hands shake sometimes when he see's a flower or watches a sunset. He doesn't comment on Bellamy's nightmares or the times he runs wildly into the woods because he swears he heard her laugh. He doesn't comment on how Bellamy's eyes get watery when he wakes up and see the colour of a tree or a blade of grass, letting Bellamy know Clarke is still alive out there. She's still fighting. So he must fight too.

VII

She's talking to Raven when the front gate to Camp Jaha opens. She looks over in midsentence and sees him. He looks as beat up and bruised as she does, but he's alive. He's right there.

"Bellamy." She says his name like it's a prayer she'd only dared to hope for.

"Yeah go. We'll catch up later." Raven says, but Clarke barley hears her as she takes off towards him running like she's finally returning home.

She has tears in her eyes when she reaches him, wrapping her arms around his neck, and pushing herself as close to him as she can. For so long he had been a dream and now he's here, he's real. Clarke inhales his scent, he smells like pine and sweat and dirt and home.

"Clarke" He whispers into her hair as his arms come up around her, pulling her even tighter against him. She's full on crying now, and she thinks he is too. They hold each other, and the world is right again for that one moment.

Clarke pulls back, but Bellamy takes her face in his hands and kisses her. True and strong and desperate. Clarke loses herself in his lips, melting back into him. She thinks she hears Octavia say something sarcastic, but it's all lost in her head, the feel of him against her is overpowering.

This time it's Bellamy who pulls back first. He tilts her head back up to look into her eyes. His are brown and gold; they make her feel safe and warm. He mouths her name again, unable to really accept that she's standing in front of him.

"I love you" The words tumble out of her mouth before she has the power to stop them.

They've never said those words to each other. Clarke had felt it, she knew he loved her. But she'd never said them out in the open before. All those days locked in Mount Weather that's what weighted on her the most that she hadn't told him. He didn't know, and it killed her inside.

Now that she had said them she doesn't think she has ever heard truer words spoken before. She loves him. It's the raw honest truth. She loves him so much it hurts and now he finally knows.

Bellamy laughs as he picks her up by the waist and spins her around. Clarke laughs too. She really laughs; free and innocent because in that moment they both get to act like teenagers in love for the first time.

"I love you too." Bellamy says later once they're alone in his tent.

"I know." Clarke responds, and for hours after she can't keep the smile off her face. She wants everyone to know that she loves this boy, and he loves her back. The world is only ever right and perfect when she has him by her side. And the colors are only ever brightest when he holds her hand or kisses her lips.

VIII

"May we meet again." She tells him.

Bellamy feels like a weight has dropped in his chest, pulling him down. It's crushing him, he can barely breathe. He can't move he can't even speak. All he can do is stare after her helplessly as she walks away from him. The skin where her lips pecked his cheek burns like hot coals over a fire.

He stands at the gate and watches for hours. Than hours turns into days and she doesn't come back. The pain is so much worse than the first time, when Mount Weather had taken her. At least than he knew Clarke was taken forcibly, this time she chose to leave him. She had chosen to walk away from them- from him.

At first Bellamy is angry, how could she do that to him? Than he's numb, for weeks he feels nothing at all. He thinks the colors begin to fade because she's been away from him for too long. That thought scares him more than the idea of losing her. The colors are all he has left of her now, they were the first things she gave to him and now they're the only things she left behind.

Part of Bellamy hates them- the colors. They are like a huge reminder of her. Everywhere he looks, he can only think of her. Of her blonde hair and her blue eyes, of her smile and her frown. She is everywhere, in everything. He is blinded by her and by the colors that dominate his vision. But part of him also loves them because they prove that what him and Clarke had was real. They prove that no matter what the universe decided they belonged together, and they will always find their way back again. Always.

IX

He follows the blood trail to her, his heart beating heavily in his chest. This is the moment he's dreamed about for weeks, and equally dreaded for months. He loves her, and he never stopped loving her.

He see's her hands first, they are tied to a pole using some type of wire. Bellamy doesn't even bother checking for danger as he rushes over to her. He can only picture holding her again, to feel her lips on his. To hear her whisper his name and run her hands through his hair. It makes his mind go numb.

Than he's around the pole and he can see her. She has a gag over her mouth and her hair in matted tangles from being in the woods alone for three months. She has scratches and dirt caked all over her face, neck, and hands but she's alive and she's looking at him with hope again.

Every other part of her may have changed by her eyes have stayed the same. The swirling pits of blue and silver still call to him, and he obediently follows them. He has so much to say to her, so much he wants to show her- to tell her. She looks like she has taken her first breath of clean air when he smiles at her.

Bellamy tucks a strand of her blonde hair behind her ear as he whispers her name. He feels it curl over his tongue and tumble out of his lips. Nothing has ever sounded so sweet in his ears; no word has ever tasted so good in his mouth. Clarke. He says her name breathlessly again. For a moment he lets himself live in the calm quiet of staring into her eyes, with her name falling from his lips over and over again.

He feels someone tackles him to the ground from behind. The man- no grounder- has a sword pointed to his throat. Than Clarke is screaming at the grounder.

"Please!" she pleads with the grounder, "Don't kill him. I'll do anything. I'll stop fighting. Just please don't kill him!"

Her voice is so desperate it actually makes the grounder pause and look over at her. Whatever he sees in Clarke's eyes makes him remove his sword. Bellamy lets out a relieved breath that turns into a gasp of pain as the grounder slams the sword into his leg.

He passes out from the pain, and when he wakes up Clarke and the grounder are gone. He's lost her again. When Monty and Kane find him he's trying desperately to hop after Clarke and her kidnapper. Monty makes him stop.

"Bellamy you're hurt." Bellamy ignores him, instead looking towards Clarkes trail.

"We-we can't lose Clarke! I can't lose her not again." His voice is filled with so much pain that Monty can't even look him properly in the eye. But the Asian boy does nod in agreement.

Bellamy makes a promise to himself, he will find her and he will kill whoever tries to take her from him. She won't escape him, never again.


A/N: So how'd I do? Leave a review if you liked it or if u hated it. Thanks for all the support guys. -BB