Chapter Summary: Three times Clarke encounters Bellamy Blake.

Notes:

I am pretty sure someone, somewhere, sometime before me, might have had this or a very similar idea. Hell, maybe I've even read that story, but. I am just gonna pretend that this one's mine brainchild.

I don't like pet names. Well, not entirely true, but I have never called or been called by my other by babe, baby, bunny, squirrel, cupcake or similar. I don't want to invalidate these names, it is just not me.

To be fair, in some fics I really enjoyed Bellarke calling out 'babe' on each other, and a guilty pleasure of mine when Raven is calling Clarke 'babe' (in a friendly context, though. Sorry folks, I am hardcore Bellarke.)

[EDIT 31-03-2016, So, I had to get back to this chapter, because I felt odd about some parts. No changes plot-wise, I was simply not 100% satisfied. As a result, this chapter is like 1/3 longer. I hope I also managed to make it better.]

Chapter 1: Princesssss

i. Princesss [sarcastic, with a sneer]

The first time Clarke sees Bellamy Blake, she is fourteen.

She is heading to her afternoon yoga class - already running a little late - and that is when she sees him sneaking into the janitor's closet, with a girl.

She is fairly new in town; they moved to Ark in August, when her mother got a new job as head of surgery in Ark Medical. Her father is a freelance engineer, designing those neat big buildings, like theaters, museums, office space and shopping malls. He is not specifically requested to be at a given town or locked into an office; he can do his job with a laptop, from a chair. Given there is a plug with running electricity around.

They all moved to town before the new school year rolled in.

She doesn't know a lot of people so far, but she knows him. She's heard of him, he is popular.

Later she learns that the girl's name is Roma.

Roma is one of the popular girls in the school, part of the cheerleading squad and everything. She is in fact, wearing her practice uniform, a short and flashy red and white and blue dress, Ark High written in big letters on the back - her skirt hardly covering her ass.

She is not jealous - she is satisfied with what she's got; she's inherited quite good genes from her parents. She thinks boys equally like blondes and brunettes and Wells said her beauty mark above her lip was cute. The better parts of her body are still to develop, she is still only fourteen. But looking at Roma in that tiny dress, hearing the girly giggles she makes, and seeing how carefree she looks, now, that does make her feel something akin to jealousy.

And then there is Bellamy.

He is well known within Ark High. He is eighteen and half, started high school a year late, out of here by the end of the year, and he is gorgeous. There is really not a better word to describe him. Greek God, maybe.

Well yeah, he is in the school's swim team; he's developed all those lean muscles by the regular exercise over the years. Those nice veins running along his forearms and his neck are very much visible whenever he is wearing a simple t-shirt. Which, she noticed is quite often, he seems to like them. He looks great in them. (Her favourite colour is the deep blue.)

He is popular with the girls of course, teachers included. It seems like every female in a 3 mile radius is under his spell.

His broad shoulders and his mesmerising smiles are just amplifying all that effect Bellamy Blake is. And to top it all, he has freckles, like all over his face. She's never really liked her own freckles on her own face, but on him - freckles look good.

He also looks great in swimming trunks - she's seen him heading to swim practice in that clingy piece of garment on more than one occasion; she's also seen all the enlarged photos in the hall of fame, where the trophies of Ark High are displayed. It is not unusual to see people linger around those photos. The photos, which are mainly capturing the winner team, in a state when water is still glistening in their hair and trailing down their body, as they are holding their trophy; or a close up from the winner biting on their medals. There are quite a lot pictures of Bellamy. (He is the hero of the butterfly.)

And, she is not blind. Maybe she's imprinted on him a little, so what. As crushes go, he is a great choice. First crushes don't last long anyway, it will pass.

This is his last year, it is common knowledge, so really, she should just enjoy this time while she can. She's heard he'd already secured a good spot via scholarship at Ark University nearby; rumour has it he is smart and a loving brother, and not only a good looking body you just cannot not notice at first sight.

All in all, he has a pretty good future ahead.

The first time they have some sort of an eye contact is several months into the year. Although, seeing him sneak around is not the only thing she does. She overhears him. Them.

She passes by the janitor's closet, like her usual Tuesday routine - late from her class again -, and he is… having fun? There is either torture or sex going on in that room. She is fourteen, not stupid; she's heard about sex and she's had 'the birds and bees' talk with her mother - she knows what sex is.

It is definitely the latter.

She hurriedly passes by, although she is tempted to linger a little; she is a curious teenager, after all. But no. She has somewhere else to be. She is strong. And, she is already late.

She is just about to round the corner, when the door opens behind her back and Roma steps out - lips all plump and shiny from spit, still a little flushed and breathless from whatever was going on in there, her tiny uniform askew.

She is soon followed by Bellamy himself. Rumpled clothes, flush on his handsome freckled cheeks, his black curly hair is even more messed up than his usual dishevelled style. He looks exactly like Roma - well except, he looks so much better.

She really doesn't want to look, but the universe is clearly against her when he meets her eyes/gaze. A telltale heat is climbing up her neck, which is sure very much visible on her creamy skin, and he smiles. Maybe it is about her clear embarrassment for being caught staring, maybe it is just a default Bellamy thing, she doesn't know. But that smile quickly turns into a smirk, so yeah. She is so busted. In top of that he winks at her in passing. And then, as if nothing just happened here or a moment ago in that closet, he is rounding the corner, bypassing her and he is gone without a word.

When she turns her head to say something to Roma - something really, like a quick sorry, I didn't mean to stare; and it doesn't help that she is still feeling red and hot all over her face -, but Roma is already gone, too.

She meets Octavia Blake in the spring.

She is a class under her, and she needs tutoring in History. Clarke is pretty good in History if she dares saying so - watching all those documentaries with her Dad and gorging her way through their parents' science mags has clearly paid off. So when the word is out for tutors, she volunteers to be one of them.

Being a tutor will also look great in her applications for college, she thinks. She is growing up, she is old enough to be practical about things like this.

That's how she ends up working with one Octavia Blake.

(What Clarke doesn't think of is that it might bite her in the ass before long.)

Octavia is something else. She is gorgeous, of course.

Her first observation about the Blakes is that they have these perfect genes that make you stop in your tracks for a moment to stare and get lost in their beauty. All that, without being too much ashamed about it, or at least not for too long.

If she weren't already crushing on her brother, she could definitely crush on Octavia.

The second trait of the Blakes is their admirable, on occasion fiercely protective, big brother/little sister vibe.

Octavia is talking about him in awe, which makes her jealous of their connection in an instant. Yes, she is jealous of their love for each other.

She knows she is being jealous.

The closest she's been to someone like that was Wells, until they moved away and until he ruined them with admitting his stupid crush. But the way Octavia is talking (and smiling at the mere mention of him) about Bellamy is making her heart ache for that connection - for something she's had once but something she's lost.

Octavia is smart, although easily distracted.

They are in the middle of their tutoring session when a group of older boys are passing them in the school's library. The change is imminent in Octavia's behaviour. She goes into that all-in flirty girly mode: she is smiling wider, her greenish hazel eyes are lit up with excitement, she flicks her hair back and more often than not, she is twirling a long brown curl around her fingers. It is like a stupid girl movie is playing out in front of her eyes.

She swears she also sees her freckles glowing on her cheeks.

She is the most flirty with Adam. Or Aron, or something?

(She learns later the boy is, in fact, Atom, and a year above her class. He is also in the swim team, with Bellamy. As she learns further on, sibling love or not, but Octavia likes to mess with his brother like every good little sister does.)

She has to clear her throat a few times to get her attention again, which snaps Octavia out if it. She has the decency to blush a little while muttering a quick excuse before they carry on.

Later, when they are finished with their session, she asks her about it. There is a sly smile on Octavia's face, something very similar to what she's seen on Bellamy's before, when she admits that all her flirting is due to her brother being a little bit too protective of her and this is her way of a rebellion. "What he doesn't know, won't hurt him" she says.

Apart from these minor interruptions, Octavia is doing fine. She is smart, if she pays enough attention.

They soon outgrow the tutor-pupil relationship, and develop a genuine friendship in no time.

She offers her to call her O before their second library date.

The first time she actually talks to Bellamy, he is spitting her name viciously at her face while she is screaming his head off.

This is not how she imagined their first 'chatting included' meeting would go.

She doesn't remember how this particular argument started, to be honest. He came onto her. It may be a weird coincidence that it is a Tuesday afternoon, again, and that she is on her way home out of school, after her yoga class. She is being all sweaty and smelly, hair sticking to her neck, but per usual, she decided to take a shower at home. Public bathrooms are just yuck.

This is when she runs into him.

Literally runs into him.

He smells… good. Like heaven, she thinks.

Her left palm is resting on his chest, in an attempt to steady herself following the bump. His broad muscles feel nice under her fingers, and his earthy fruity smell makes her head a little dizzy. She doesn't have time to process anything beyond that, though, and it's then she realises he is speaking to her.

He is speaking, but without the accompanying flirty smiles and winks she's seen him directing to her or the other girls before. He snarls, no - he hisses.

The way he speaks that word "princesssss", hissing it through his lips like a snake.

Princesssss. Princesssssss. Princessssssssss.

There, there is that extra accent on the letter 's', which is rubbing her all the wrong way. The sounds he is making are making her blood boil and adrenaline rush through her veins, and not in the good way like before.

Not at all.

She quickly comes to realise, he is mocking her.

It is not even about the stupid nickname. It is a stupid nickname, and somewhere deep down she understands why he picked exactly that - she is a top of the class student, president of the chess club, daughter of Ark's head of surgery. She is Clarke Griffin. She is used to people judging her by her name first, before knowing the real her.

But, how can someone with such a beautiful face be such an arrogant asshole at the same time? It's beyond her to understand.

How can he be so fierce about this, about her; visibly picturing to rip her head off?

Spitting those offending words onto someone he doesn't even know?

Practically they have not even been properly introduced. Yes, they've seen each other, but always by passing. He even winked at her following the Roma incident. Winks are good, or so she thought before.

This is a mystery.

She may have wanted to solve the riddle Bellamy Blake was before, well, not anymore. All that magic and fondness, she may have had for him before this, are gone.

All gone.

It was just a physical reaction, anyway. His hair looks stupid today. His freckles are even stupider!

It is clear as day now - all his good looks and charming smiles and sweet-talking she caught on to, is only his public persona to hide his true personality. Like the siren's song before attacking their prey.

He may be Octavia's flesh and blood, and she may be talking about him being the most loving brother on earth, he is still an ass.

They are in the middle of a screaming match, in the parking lot. At the school. In bright daylight. People are still lingering around, although the ones paying attention are clearly all slack-jawed. And she still doesn't know the why - why is this all happening? Why this is happening to her - not today, not yesterday, or the other day.

So she does, what Griffins do: she doesn't back off.

It doesn't help that she's made friends with said asshole's one and only precious little baby sister, Octavia Blake. Thanks to that, they see each other practically every day; at the school, at the library, on her way to yoga class, on the corridor, in the shopping mall, or very rarely at the Blakes' house, when the library has unexpectedly closed for the day.

They try not to run into each other actively, though. If nothing else, their encounters always end up in a grunt. Or a sneer, or a hiss. Princesssss.

Or Braaaave Princesssssss, when the run-in turns into those eye to eye, nose to nose moments.

Until one of them catches up being way too close, only millimetres apart. (Until one takes a careful step back.)

Or until they can feel the other's breath or spit on their face.

Sometimes he has the guts to wink at her - he actually winks! - with the sole purpose of riling her up, even more.

The arrogant, above-everyone-else asshole.

And so it goes.

Clarke Griffin meets Bellamy Blake and they disagree. About anything and everything.

A snide comment here or there, and they snap. Sometimes the wrong facial expression or a twitch of an eye is enough to ignite an argument.

The thing is, she doesn't know what Bellamy's problem is. She used to wonder in the early days of their new-borne "relationship" what she could have done to deserve a treatment like this. This hate.

His insults are curling around his tongue so naturally and so easily that she's given up on trying to understand the reason behind them.

Whatever it is, she is not willing to back down now. She is not. He is the ass here.

Instead, she narrows her eyes and focuses on the dimple forming in his chin. Maybe, that will leave him speechless a little.

She could count the freckles on his face from this angle, but she figures that not keeping eye contact is a better bet right now. It may seem a cop out, a coward's way to deal with things, but it's worth a try. After all, he is not able to read her eyes.

A moment passes, he sounds to be frustrated; the sneering has definitely stopped. A hardly audible huff is leaving his lips while he's furrowing his brows, and seemingly contemplating his next move. It takes him longer than usual to react. This is it. This is her cue to snap her eyes back right into his, this is her time to confuse the hell out of him, if that is possible at all.

And he just stares at that. His eyes are almost burning a hole into her head, his lips are slightly parted - he is clearly on the edge of sniping something at her.

There is that confused question of what the hell is happening now? unsaid still visible in his eyes; he only settles on saying an "Are you listening to me?" instead.

Nice, she's slowly but surely figuring him out. He is one to thrive on attention.

"Nope." She replies with as much indifference as she can muster, and then walks away.

He doesn't say anything more, nor does he follow her that time.

Clarke Griffin is not a big fan of Bellamy Blake, especially when it's pretty clear that she cannot do anything to change his opinion about her.

It doesn't matter anyway.

He goes away to study at Ark University next fall. Just a few more months, she reminds herself again, and again, like a mantra of sorts.

But of course, that is not gonna be the end of it. She is still friends with Octavia Blake.

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End notes: Let me know what you think. I don't bite.