She stepped outside of the tent to see Raven sitting outside. She smiled. She'd missed these people, her people. "Hi," she breathed out, the smile still on her face. Raven's face lit up and she stood up and hugged her friend.

"I've been waiting out here all night," she said. They pulled away after a moment and Clarke looked down noticing a brace on her leg. She glanced up at her.

"Raven…"

"Sucks, but I'm dealin with it," she told her.

"Open the gates!" They heard someone shout. They both turned and Clarke's breath caught. She thought she'd lost him. She thought he was dead, that she would never see him again. Her heart clenched up.

"Bellamy," she breathed out relieved to finally see him alive and real in front of her. She looked back to Raven.

"Go," she said. "I'll catch up." Clarke gave a grateful smile.

"Okay." She turned and started walking towards him watching her mother take an injured girl back to medical then realized why the hell was she walking towards the guy she's missed so much? She broke into a fast sprint smiling as wide as her cheek bones would allow her to. She leaped up and hugged him as soon as she reached him and felt him fall back a little but still clung to him. Her arms were wrapped tightly around his neck and she buried her face in his shoulder. Bellamy froze. She would've been worried she had overstepped because they never hug but she was so relieved she didn't care a single bit. She finally felt him exhale a relieved breath and he wrapped his strong arms around her tightly and clenched his eyes shut. They stayed like that for a few moments until Octavia said, "Now there's something I thought I'd never see." Bellamy laughed a bit into the crook of her neck. Clarke finally pulled away from him and just looked at him for a second exchanging reassuring looks. She turned to Octavia and pulled her into a hug as well.

"I'm glad you're okay," she whispered. Clarke smiled.

"You too." She pulled away as Raven caught up to her as promised.

"How many are with you?" Bellamy asked. It killed her to see hope in his eyes that she was going to have to kill. She smiled trying not to let the sadness show.

"None." And she watched as the hope left his eyes as quickly as it had appeared. She glanced around and noticed another face was missing.

"Where's Finn?" He had to be here. He had to. She looked to Bellamy for an answer as did Raven. His face hardened a bit as he replied, "looking for you." Her face dropped as did her heart. He could get himself killed trying to find her.

She was sleeping peacefully. She could now that Bellamy was with her. She felt eyes on her and opened her closed ones to see Bellamy watching her intently. He looked back at the fire after a second before speaking.

"Last time I saw you," he started, "you were closing the drop shift door." He looked over at her again. She couldn't get a read on his expression. She didn't know if he was angry or not. Now it was her who looked away. A wave of guilt hit her all over again.

"Had to be done," she heard him say. She looked back up at him to see he wasn't angry. She smiled sadly. She sat up.

"Did you get any sleep?"

"It's okay. Ill sleep when we find Finn."

She looked at him.

"You haven't seen him, Clarke. Losing you, the others, the war, it changed him. He executed the grounder that drew us the map. Pulled the trigger without even blinking and walked away."

She shook her head looking down. "…that doesn't sound like Finn."

"No," he said. "It doesn't. I saw what he was capable of and still let him go with Murphy and two automatic rifles." She looked back at him and saw the pain and guilt hidden there.

"I'm sure that had to be done too," she said. She didn't know why she said it. Bellamy and her don't comfort each other. That's not how they work. Then he looked at her almost thanking her silently. Her breath caught again and it wasn't out of relief this time it was because of how he made her feel. Suddenly it all clicked. She cared about Bellamy. He challenges her everyday they're together, he protects her, he makes her a better leader, he makes her heart beat speed up and she didn't know why. She didn't know why but she could tell with her time away something had changed.

"When I got back to the drop shift and no one was there…I assumed it was the grounders," he finally said. She knew how he must have felt. Like it was his fault, like he should have known somehow. She tilted her head. She felt bad for the guy. Suddenly she felt the need to comfort him and make sure he was okay. No one deserves to feel that pain and guilt especially not alone. She stood up and sat down next to him. He didn't say anything about her movement thank god.

"Of course you did," she said gently. He looked up at her. "You couldn't have known it was the Mountain Men. No one could have." He looked down again slightly, unconvinced. She put her hand on his arm. "Bellamy, hey, it is not your fault. No one knows everything. Not even the best leaders," she teased lightly. He half smiled. Progress.

"Careful, Princess. That almost sounded like a compliment," he warned jokingly. She chuckled a bit.

"That was the point..but seriously. Don't beat yourself up about it. The kids at Mount Whether are safe as long as they don't find out about the draining and caged people. That's the only reason I really was in danger. I tried to tell Jasper what I saw but luckily he didn't believe me. Although he didn't need to call me insane. We'll get to them and save them. Together. After we find Finn."

"Clarke, what exactly happened that made you find it all?" She sighed.

"Well when I first got there, I woke up, didn't like being stuck without information, broke out, made quite the entrance, and pretty much just went downhill from there. I found Jasper and Monty. I thought- I thought you and Finn might be there, but…they told me you didn't make it. I got suspicious because it was all too good to be true. It was perfect. And perfection isn't realistic, not for us at least. So I started snooping around and cut my arm so they'd put me in medical again. While I was there I had a need in my arm but it was coming from somewhere above us so of course I investigated only to find our people and the grounders' people being caged up and harvested, drained upside down of their blood until they were dead. I didn't understand until there was a radiation breach. Everyone exposed was affected except us. They were using our blood so they would be more tolerant to radiation. I got outta there with Anya. We jumped the cliff and swam out of the river then walked back together practically trying to kill each other until we arrived and made peace, agreed on an alliance. She was on her way back to her people when our guards killed her and knocked me out."

"Clarke, I'm—"

"I'm not done. Then I saw my mom and she told me Finn was alive, that you were alive and I felt like I could breathe again. Bellamy, I was so worried. I thought I'd never see you again, that I killed you by closing the drop shift door," she said quietly, voice full of emotion. Her eyes watered but she tried not to cry in front of him.

"Hey, don't worry princess. I'm pretty damn stubborn if you haven't noticed. You're not getting rid of me that easily," he said putting his arm around her as she naturally rested her head on his shoulder.

"Good. You may be a total ass half the time but I need you," she said repeating her earlier confession which seemed like forever ago.

"Nah, you're a strong, brave princess all on your own. You don't need me."

"I do. I have logic but you are the heart, the spirit that keeps us alive. Even if I didn't need you, I still want you to stay. You challenge me, push all of us to do our best every day. Bellamy, I missed you," she couldn't take it anymore. She wrapped her arms around him, hugging him again. "I missed you so much. I thought you were dead.." she let a tear slip. He hugged her back again and again she felt safe. But this time when she pulled away she accidently acted on impulse. Without thinking. She leaned in and brushed her lips against his and felt him freeze. So she moved her hands up his arms and let one rest on his shoulder while the other dropped to roam his chest stopping on his heart. He seemed to relax and then just when she was going to apologize and break away when he started moving his lips against hers and pulled her even closer with his arms still wrapped around her. She could feel his heart and it was real and beating right under her palm—it was also beating very fast which made her smile against his lips. She kissed him once more before gently pulling her face from his but keeping her hands where they were for the moment at least.

"I missed you too, princess. I'm sorry you had to go through all of that alone, Clarke. I wish I was there to protect you," he saw her face and smirked. "Not that you need protection, but it's always good to have backup and I just wish I could've been there to help you." He said looking closely at her. She smiled up at him and dropped her head to it's original resting place on his shoulder.

"You have helped me get through there. I jumped off that cliff knowing that I would have a chance to get back to our people, to you again. And getting back to you was motivation enough for me to make it out of there."

"There wasn't a single day that I wasn't worried about you. You know that right? I'm so sorry I—"

"Stop. Bellamy stop. Its not your fault. You need to know that. I wouldn't have wanted you in danger there. You would've been at risk too." They stayed silent for a while. Surprisingly peacefully. She was almost asleep with her head in his lap when

"Clarke?" She heard him whisper.

"Mmm?"

"Why did you do that? Why did you kiss me? We're going to find Finn and you—" She sat up a little.

"It had nothing to do with Finn. It sounds like Finn has changed from everything and so have I. We all have. I did it because…because I think—um I think its you. I don't want to be with Finn. I want you. It's always been you that's had my back despite all of our differences. I'm sorry if I overstepped. I know this isn't usually how we operate but—" It was her turn to be cut off.

"Change is good. And you didn't overstep although I will say you definitely caught me off guard. For the record, princess, I want to be with you I just don't want Finn to lose it completely. And I've wanted you for quite some time now so its about damn time you came around." She laughed and fell back asleep on his chest with a smile on her face. Bellamy was sound asleep short after her, stroking her hair until he was out, hand on her head. And Octavia grinned having seen the whole thing.

"Never thought I'd see the day."

Please review! This is my first fanfic so let me know what you think please!