A Quiet Moment

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The storm crashed loudly; lightening piercing the darkening sky. The clouds above were dark, floating fast across the sky in a chaotic dance with the wild wind. Rain pelted down heavily, obscuring everything in it's path, drenching both animal and plant and any other form of life that had dared to brave the electric storm. Two such beings were now crouched low under the cover of some of the larger trees. They were not getting much shelter, the rain was too harsh for that. The soggy leaves and branches they were sheltering under fell on top of their soaked bodies, chilling them further.

"We can't stay here." The girl's voice was carried away by the wind so that the older boy who was kneeling by her side could barely hear her.

"I figured that." He snapped in reply as he pushed his fringe out of his eyes. His hair was slick to his head as was the girl's.

"I told you we should never have attempted this crazy plan." The girl complained, her blue eyes icy as they glared at him.

"You were the one who complained that we needed to scout further afield for food, Clarke." The older boy matched her glare.

"Maybe so, but I wanted to wait until the morning at least, Bellamy." His name was once again torn away from her lips as the wind picked up and the rain lashed down on them both.

Bellamy gritted his teeth. He had learned not to push Clarke when she was in this type of mood. There was no getting through to her. She was just tired and exhausted like he was. She knew how serious the group's situation had become. They had to leave straight away, besides them there were three other scouting parties that were roaming other designated areas in search of more supplies. Finn was with his girlfriend Raven and Jasper had accompanied Octavia. Bellamy frowned as he thought about his sister. He just hoped that she would listen to the more cautious Jasper and not do anything reckless.

As if she could sense his fears, Clarke reached out and put a hand on his shoulder. "Octavia will be fine." She whispered softly.

Bellamy frowned as he pushed his long fringe out of his face again. He wished that he could believe that. He glanced at Clarke, her hand was warm on his shoulder but he could see she was shivering violently with the cold. Her long, blonde hair had come undone from it's plait and the wet tendrils of hair framed her face. He liked her like this, she seemed softer somehow, more open. He knew she kept a lot hidden, especially the ambiguity of her relationship with Finn. Bellamy didn't like to dwell on that. He knew if he brought it up, Clarke would shut down. Instead he put his hand over hers gently and squeezed it. "We need to move."

A soft sigh escaped Clarke's lips as she removed her hand and stared out into the darkness. "Where? I can't see two feet in front of me."

"I know, but staying here is doing neither of us any good either." Bellamy pointed out. He shrugged off his thick jacket and slipped it over Clarke's shoulders.

"No, you need it." Clarke was both surprised and touched by his gesture. It wasn't something Bellamy had ever done before.

"I'll be fine." Bellamy shrugged nonchalantly, a teasing half smile on his lips. "Just don't tell the others."

Clarke returned his smile wryly. "They wouldn't believe me anyway."

"Perhaps not." Bellamy grabbed hold of her hand and pulled her up with him as he stood. "Come on let's move."


They stumbled across the cave quite by accident. Bellamy whooped loudly as he dragged Clarke after him. Her steps were faltering, her exhaustion causing her to trip constantly. A feeling of relief washed over her at the fact that they were now free from the constant driving rain. They could still hear the crashing thunder, and the lightening lit up their new found shelter, giving them time to find the most comfortable spot.

Bellamy dropped their bags on the cold floor and sat down himself, shaking his head and running his hands through his thick hair to get the worst of the wet out of it. Clarke fell down beside him, drawing her knees up to her chest and hugging them. She had to infuse some warmth into her body somehow. She couldn't feel her fingers or her toes. She rocked back and forth, clenching her teeth so they wouldn't chatter.

"Pity we didn't have something to make up a fire with." Bellamy said regretfully.

"Not unless you fancy going back out there." Clarke shivered.

Bellamy looked at her in concern. He could see her shoulder's shaking. He was frozen himself but not to the extent she was. "Are you going to be alright?"

Clarke nodded her head, although she didn't believe it. She was sure she was coming down with something. She hadn't been feeling too well when they first left camp, but as always her stubborn streak refused to let her say anything. She was beginning to regret her hastiness now. Bellamy wasn't convinced by her performance. He rummaged through their wet bags and pulled out some water. He passed it to her. Clarke took it eagerly and held the bottle to her lips. The cold liquid quenched her thirst but it made her feel colder than ever. She handed it back to Bellamy and watched as he drank some too.

"We should conserve as much as we can. We don't know how long this storm is going to last." Clarke's voice shook as she spoke.

"I know." For once Bellamy didn't argue with her. He glanced outside and felt a sliver of fear. This was the worst storm they had experienced since landing back on earth. He thought fleetingly of his sister and the others. Hopefully they would have all had the sense to find shelter or return to camp if they were close enough.

"Octavia's lucky to have you looking out for her." Clarke said unexpectedly.

Bellamy stared at her in surprise. It was unusual to get praise from her. "I don't think she always sees it that way." He replied ruefully.

"She does. She just doesn't show it. I wish that I had a brother or sister." Clarke sighed. Living on the Ark meant that it was a crime for a couple to have more than one child. Octavia was an anomaly. She had been hidden all her life; Bellamy and her mother looking after her in secret until she was discovered and their mother lost her life for concealing the child.

Bellamy blinked a couple of times to get the moisture out of his eyes. Thoughts of his mother saddened him. He glanced at Clarke, he saw her wipe away a tear discreetly. He guessed she was thinking about her dead father. "I guess even though O and I argue we do have each other."

Clarke smiled weakly. "Yeah, never forget that."

"No." Bellamy saw more tears pour out of Clarke's eyes. He had never seen her quite like this. It was if her exhaustion had let her guard down and she was showing him a side to herself she rarely let others see, anyone except Finn maybe. His eyes became stormy as he thought about Finn.

"What's wrong?" Clarke's teeth were chattering. She had given up trying to hide it anymore.

"You have Finn." Bellamy studied her reaction. A red blush coated Clarke's cheeks and she averted her eyes from him.

"Finn has Raven." She muttered.

"What happened between you two?" Bellamy dared to ask.

"Nothing." Clarke shut down immediately like he guessed she would. "Anyway you're the one who sleeps around."

Bellamy laughed bitterly and shrugged. "It gets cold at night."

"Right." Clarke said in disgust.

"You're cold now." Bellamy was looking at her intently again with his expressive dark eyes. Clarke wasn't sure, but was there some kind of double meaning behind those words?

"We're both cold."

"Yeah, so maybe we should do something about it." Bellamy's eyes were hypnotizing.

Clarke swallowed nervously. "What do you mean?"

"I mean come here." Bellamy smiled at her in amusement. He knew exactly what she was thinking. It was written all over her face. He slipped an arm over her shoulders and pulled her close so that they were sharing body heat. He felt her stiffen for a moment before relaxing against him. "Better?"

Clarke's blue eyes danced with mirth. He had been gently teasing her and managed to pull her out of the funk she had been in. Perhaps it wasn't so bad being stranded with the bad boy. Anyway he wasn't all that bad, he could be a gentleman when he chose to. "Better." She agreed grudgingly.

Bellamy laughed and put his other arm around her, tugging her nearer. Slowly Clarke began to warm up and she felt her eyes begin to close. It was a moment before Bellamy noticed that she had fallen asleep. Her head rested on his shoulder, her drying blonde hair spilling around her face. She seemed peaceful, the worry that was constantly on her face was missing for once.

"You sleep." He whispered as he kept watch for the rest of the night.

A/N-thank you for reading. Review if you like.