A/N: I'm not hugely happy with this fic, but it's rare if I go a week without posting any Clarke/Bellamy fics and I'm going through withdrawal – not pretty. Plus I am currently trying to write three stories and getting nowhere with any of them (or at the rate of a snail). But we should all celebrate because THERE ARE OVER ONE THOUSAND FICS on the site! Finally!

Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed it. I'm not sure whether I like the fic or not, but I've written it so…


DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own The 100 or any of the characters; I also do not own any quotes or song lyrics used


Open Your Eyes

"Open your eyes
And know you're free to come alive
You've got to live it while you can
We only get one life."

One Life, Boyce Avenue

Later, when historians record the days of when the "Sky People" first landed on Earth, they will tell you about the struggle to find food, the constant battles and attempted negotiations with the Grounders, the freezing cold temperatures that led to deadly colds that you just didn't have the medicine for. What they won't tell you is that, sooner or later, you just stop sleeping. Insomnia stalks the camp like an unfriendly poltergeist, infecting everyone. And well, how would you be able to sleep? Never mind the lack of proper bedding and dropping temperatures; there was the worry that any minute a new enemy would be lurking from the shadows. At least, that's the reason Clarke doesn't sleep.

It's been dark for hours now – in fact they're closer to morning – but most people are still awake. Some are huddled by the fire, playing a game of "I Never" with leftover moonshine. The more diligent members are getting chores that they will have to do in the morning over with now. Others are on guard duty. Some are having sex. Octavia is either in her tent dreaming about Lincoln or actually with Lincoln. Jasper and Monty will be playing some crazy game of their own making, talking about girls or things that she's glad she's not there for.

Finn will be asleep. Clarke can see a shape in his tent, moving slightly. Those with clean consciences sleep easier. She wishes she could.

Raven isn't there. She is practically an insomniac now, working on weapons against their enemies. Perhaps her determination stems from reasons that are more emotional than practical, but nowadays Raven is constantly at her desk. In fact the only people who sleep less than Raven does are her and Bellamy.

She walks into his tent and sure enough he's up, peering over the map of the area. He doesn't even look at her when she comes in. She observes him, the way his shoulders hunch over and his eyes move blearily. He's exhausted.

"Hey," she says quietly, so she doesn't startle him.

He lifts his head up and it takes a moment before his gaze settles on her. "Hey Clarke," he says, and she knows something's wrong then because Bellamy always uses the opportunity to call her princess, sarcastic git. "What's up?"

There is silence. "I don't know."

"Huh?"

Shaking her head she lets out a squawk of laughter. "I can't remember why I came in here."

Bellamy's eyes move over her, just like she did with him, and she can tell he's not pleased with what he sees. "Bed's over there," he says, gesturing. "You should have five minutes."

"I can't."

"No one's ill Clarke," he points out. "You might as well sleep before someone gets sick."

"I can't."

"For God's sake Clarke, it's only five minutes!"

His tone is fierce, sharp like a knife. If she had been getting enough sleep it wouldn't have bothered her. See, she knows Bellamy doesn't mean it. Just like he knows she doesn't mean it when she snaps at him. Like it or not, they are the only ones who can run this place, which means they have the weight of the world on their shoulders. Sometimes Clarke looks at Bellamy, eyes screwed up and frowning, and thinks he's the only one who understands how she feels.

But right now she is tired, and the second the words leave Bellamy's mouth she bursts into tears.

"Clarke?" His voice is beyond confused, and when she wipes the tears from her eyes she can see shocked face. If she wasn't feeling so awful she would laugh, because she knows that between a crying girl and an army of Grounders, Bellamy would take the Grounders without hesitation.

She tries to apologise and to laugh it off, but her throat feels so tight that she can only gasp. People outside the tent will think she's choking. She tries in vain to clear it, but it only makes her tears come faster.

Bellamy stands there perhaps a little longer than he should, as if he's hoping she'll snap out of it. Slowly she feels him approach her, and then he cautiously puts an arm round her shoulders. When she finally manages to clear her face she sees him looking down at her, his brown eyes large and worried.

She's always liked brown eyes. Safe eyes, warm eyes, burning eyes.

"Clarke, I'm sorry," he is saying. "I didn't mean to snap at you-"

His apology has her shaking her head. "No," she finally manages to say. "I'm sorry Bellamy. It's not you, it's just-" She sniffs. "When I say I can't sleep, I mean that every time I close my eyes all I can think about is how many people are dead – Atom and Wells – and whether our people will make it down, and then I keep thinking if we'll actually reunite any of the kids with their parents or whether they'll be killed by Grounders and-"

There's an onslaught of fresh tears, and she has to stop.

Then Bellamy does the last thing she would expect:

He hugs her.

It's a proper hug, one where he puts his arms round her body and almost squeezes her to death. He pulls her into him, her nose brushing against his chest. She can't even move. Normally she would return by putting her arms round the person hugging her, even if she's caught off-guard, but all she can think is this is Bellamy and the fact in this position she can hear his heartbeat.

He doesn't tell her she's being silly. He doesn't try to calm her fears. He simply holds her and she doesn't know why the simple gesture touches her so much, but he could say a thousand reassurances and it wouldn't make her feel as safe as this.

"You need sleep," he finally says after minutes of silence. He pulls away from her, and he must see something in her expression because he says, "I'll stay with you."

They climb on the bed together. There is only a solitary blanket but they manage to get it to cover the both of them. She would think she would feel uncomfortable about lying next to Bellamy, but they're touch and for some reason it feels like the most natural thing in the world to fall asleep beside him.

And she does. For the first time in God knows how long, she falls asleep without nightmares or worries. It's the type of sleep that makes your body completely relax, where you can actually feel yourself healing. She doesn't even wake up in the middle of night with her heart hammering, a scream caught in her throat. No, she sleeps all the way through until she hears her name.

It's whispered low in her ear, tickling her skin. Surprisingly she finds it easy to open her eyes; not the struggle she usually has when she thinks just five more minutes, please God.

Bellamy is the first thing she sees. His outline is a little blurred at first, but that's probably more to do with the bright sunshine that is battling its way through the tent. "Hey," he whispers softly. He looks better too. The circles under his eyes seem to have brightened a bit, and his face has a tinge of restfulness to it.

"It's just gone dawn," he explains, the quietest time in camp (usually everyone has just fallen asleep by then). "I thought you might want to see it."

Clarke's eyebrows scrunch together. He laughs at her, a high childish laugh that sounds so wrong coming from him and yet unbelievably right. "C'mon princess."

He drags her out to a quiet camp. There is no one outside their tents. Usually this is the time that Clarke manages to get some sleep, even if it is for a measly hour, so she's never actually seen the place so still. By the look on Bellamy's face though, it's his favourite time of day.

He leads her past the guards who wave tiredly at them, and up to the hill. She wonders if Bellamy knows this is where she and Finn sat after they had slept together. Funny, she and Finn first came here after they slept together; and that's where she and Bellamy go after they've spent the night in bed with each other.

"Bellamy, we don't have time for this-"

He pulls her down so she is sitting next to him. She slips, curses as she slides in the mud (though in truth they stopped caring about getting muddy a long time ago).

"Bellamy-"

"Princess, we're only going to be here for a five minutes. They can look after themselves for five minutes."

She gives him a look, because she remembers when they went on a day trip and the entire camp got high on some of the nuts they had found. He must remember it too, and there's a faint blush on his face when he says, "Five minutes, okay?"

So they sit side by side on the top of the hill, watching. With Finn they held each other, revelling in the newness of another's body. With Bellamy she wraps her arms round her legs, refusing to touch him again.

(Because there was definitely some touching when they were sleeping.)

The sunrise is slow at first, the sky just a plain white colour that Clarke kinda hates (she's an artist, she likes colour). She almost suggests to Bellamy that they go back. But then she would have missed the burst of the sunrise: the pinks that lit up the sky, a colour that she could barely imagine until now; the deep blue that is the very essence of sleep; streaks of gold that remind Clarke of nothing but a feeling of belonging.

By the time she sun has risen they have sat there for an hour. At some point Clarke looks over at Bellamy, who is smiling, and she wants to cry again because after all this time Bellamy Blake is finally giving her a smile. "Why?"

"Because we only get to live once princess, and these days, you'd best make the most of it."

She replies with the first smile she's had since Raven jumped into Finn's arms.


A/N: I also thought the title of the fic would work with Bellamy and Clarke and their relationship i.e. "Would you two just OPEN YOUR EYES ALREADY?"


Hours to make. Seconds to comment.

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