Something cool was running down his arm. Bellamy glanced to the side slightly and looked. Blood covered his arms, it was pooling all around him. He looked at his hands and they were covered in blood. He looked to the right. Clarke wasn't breathing. This was her blood, he had killed her. It was his fault.

"No! Please don't be dead! Please don't be dead!" Bellamy pulled Clarke's body into his embrace and rocked back and forth as more blood covered his hands. He continued to sob. It was his fault, all his fault. He had failed her.

Bellamy jerked awake and immediately regretted it. His neck screamed in pain from the awkward angle. Rubbing the back of his neck, he looked to Clarke who was still pale, but her chest lifted up and down barely. It was just a dream. He looked at his arm. It was outside the lip of he cave and the rain was starting to pour. That's why I dreamed of blood running down my arms.

Raking his hands over his face he sighed. Just a dream. The fire had died down to just embers. Bellamy checked Clarke's pulse. She had taught him that not so long ago. It was a little slow, but steady.

Looking at her face he could see the outline of sweat. She had a fever. Infection. His mind whispered in a dreadful voice. Clarke may have not been dead, but he was still failing her.

There wouldn't be any new firewood now, it would all be soaked with the new rain. Bellamy stuck his hand out, just rain, not black rain. Clarke and he would need to drink something to stay hydrated. He pulled out a small baggie from one of the pouches on his cargo pants. He opened the bag and laid it outside the cave. It would collect a little water. Waiting until it was full he closed the bag and set it aside. The rain wasn't going to be letting up anytime soon and he needed to get Clarke up and drinking some water.

He scooted behind her so she was laying in his lap rather than on the cold cave floor. He gently shook her shoulder, "Clarke?" His voice was rough and dry. It felt like he swallowed bugs while sleeping. I'm surprised my snoring didn't wake her up. He thought while looking at her face. She looked so peaceful, but he knew better. Behind those blue eyes that were closed was someone who made the tough decisions. Someone who didn't flinch at the thought of doing what needed to be done.

"Clarke, wake up. I need you to drink this." Bellamy cradled her neck gently and poured some of the water into her mouth. Clarke didn't move but reflexively swallowed the water. He smiled and poured a little more past her her lips.

Clarke's fluttered slightly, "Clarke can you hear me?" Bellamy's voice was soft.

"What happened?" She asked, her voice like gravel.

"You passed out. I cauterized the wound and sewed it up, albeit not my best job." Clarke pulled up her shirt at his words. The stitch work was rudimentary and a little zigzagging, but it would hold nicely.

"Not bad for an asshat." She whispered and a ghost of a smile whispered across her lips.

Bellamy smiled, "Feel up to eating a little something?"

Clarke leaned back against his arm and nodded. Bellamy tore a piece of jerky off of the larger piece and placed it at her lips. She accepted it and chewed slowly. Wrinkling her noise she looked at him, "Salty." She complained.

"You need the protein, and it's all we've got." Clarke nodded slightly and kept eating while he took a couple of bites. She noticed his bites were more like nibbles and hers were full pieces. She didn't have much strength, but she wasn't going to let him starve to death. He had a better chance of surviving than her, if he didn't kill himself. She took the piece he gave to her and broke it into two pieces.

Bellamy shook his head when she reached toward his mouth. He pushed her hands away and tried to feed both pieces to her, "You need to eat too, Bellamy." She said.

"You need it more." He argued. She shook her head and took the piece and placed it at his lips.

Giving up a fight he knew was futile, he opened his mouth and she pushed the jerky forward. She wasn't fast enough, his lips caught the edges of her fingers. Her breath caught in her throat as he didn't move an inch. They both stopped breathing and time seemed to stretch into forever.

She tried to pull her fingers back, but Bellamy caught her wrist and held it in place as he swallowed the food and placed a kiss on her fingertips. It shouldn't have mattered, but it did. Bellamy had figured Clarke would make the logical decision and eat as much as possible to gain strength, but instead she had made sure he hadn't gone hungry too. It mattered and that was why he had fallen so hard for her. She acted all tough and brave like she was made of the hardest stone, but she had such a big heart hidden underneath all that bravado. A heart of glass that shattered for people who suffered and for her friends.

Clarke couldn't breathe, and it wasn't from the stomach wound. She had never seen Bellamy this vulnerable, this open with himself. He was as closed off as she was. He was just staring at her, his dark onyx eyes focused solely on her.

His hand on her skin felt like fire and it was such a chaste touch.

"Thanks Clarke." He whispered and released her wrist. Whatever spell that was there was gone with one breath and the next. Clarke nodded and tried to sit upright a little more. He helped her lean against the wall of the cave.

"No problem. How long has it been raining?" She asked and stretched her arms.

"I'm guessing a couple of hours. I passed out after I stitched you up." Bellamy explained.

Clarke nodded. Bellamy watched a she inspected her wound. He noticed that her leg was awfully close to the embers of the fire and she didn't even flinch, more concerned with the wound.

"Clarke?" Bellamy moved her leg away, but Clarke didn't help him, her leg a dead weight.

"Bellamy don-" she began.

Bellamy was horrified, Clarke's legs were dead weight, she didn't even twitch when he moved her legs. "Can you feel this?" He asked and gripped her knees. Clarke turned her head away and didn't meet his eyes, "Clarke, answer me!" He demanded.

"I'm not paralyzed, if that what you are worried about." She explained.

"Then what's going on? Why can't you move your legs?" Bellamys voice was panicked and filled with dread.

"I lost too much blood. There may be nerve damage." She explained.

"So you are paralyzed?" He countered.

"Not permanently. It's probably just temporary." She said in a small voice.

"Probably? Did I do this? Did I not lay you down right? Are you making this blood loss thing up to cover for me?" Bellamy asked afraid of the answer.

Clarke snorted and rolled her eyes, "Of course not. If you had paralyzed me, I'd kick your ass. It's just from blood loss, jackass." She growled and shifted her hips to get into a more comfortable position.

"How far are we from Arkadia?" She asked looking out into the rain.

"I'd estimate around 12 miles from the gates. I got a little turned around earlier carrying you, but I recognize the area," She nodded at his assessment.

"Might as well be two hundred miles if I can't walk," she thought aloud.

"I can carry you 12 miles." Bellamy rolled his eyes and snorted.

"Not to diminish your abilities or anything Bells, but 12 miles isn't a walk in the park. And I'm dead weight. At best, you might be able to drag me. But that would involve making something to drag me on. And I'm not seeing much brush or branches around here to use." She said looking out into the rain.

Bellamy wondered what was going through that head of hers. Whatever it was he had a distinct feeling he wasn't going to like it.

"The only option is for you to go get help." Clarke said after a minute of silence.

"Fuck that. I'm not leaving you." Bellamy argued while shaking his head.

"You can't carry me 12 miles. And there is no way to drag me without leaving an obvious trail. This is the only option." Clarke said. Her gaze still drawn out to the rain outside.

"I am not leaving you." Bellamy growled.

"Then we both die here." Clarke said with dismissiveness. The clinical tactician always, she could speak of them dying like a mathematical problem. "Eventually, we will run out of supplies and sepsis will set in without antibiotics. Right now, I'm dead, but if you can get help I and bring them back, I might just survive," she said all this looking at the rain and never at him. She couldn't look at him, she would feel that fear setting in. If she could get him to decide to leave the cave and run for help, he might survive, he would have a chance. If she didn't force him to see the reasoning behind this choice, he would stay next to her and die right along with her. She had seen his loyalty, he led with his heart, not his head, but this was the better option.

"You won't survive here without me to help." He argued.

Clarke sighed, she wasn't going to survive either way, but he needed hope, "I might. I've got enough water if I ration to last me a day, two at most. And it wouldn't take you more than one day to get back to Arkadia. Half a day to get back? I could make it." She explained and ate a piece of fruit leather and chewed it slowly.

She could see the gears turning in his head. She was starting to win him over, but she couldn't let him overthink, "Of course that's only if you leave now. Even with the rain you could still make decent time, but only if you leave right away." She mentioned while chewing.

Bellamy nodded and steeled himself as he stood up. She was right, he had to get her help. She caught his arm as he crouched beside her near the entrance to the cave.

"Stay safe, okay Bells? Don't take any stupid chances." He smiled and pulled her into a deep hug. Clarke returned the embrace and tucked her her head into the crook of his shoulder. More desperately than anything she wanted to be able to walk out of this cave with him, but she knew it to be an impossibility. I don't want to die alone. She thought frantically. That other voice inside her, the voice that could compartmentalize came forward. We all die alone, but not all of use have to die today. She took that voice and held it close. It was right, she might have to die, but Bellamy didn't. Bellamy gripped her hair and made her look at him.

"That goes double for you. Stay near what's left of the fire. Keep hidden and I'll be back with help. I promise." He whispered and hugged her tightly again.

Clarke nodded against him and pushed him to get going. He descended down the hill on light steps. She watched him maneuver around the trees with ease.

He'll be alright. Bellamy will live. She thought. She looked down at the arrow wound. Putrid fluid was already leaking from underneath the stitches. Small red streaks were burrowing from the wound under her skin. She didn't have long. She leaned her head back against the cave's wall and thought back to the feeling of his lips on her fingertips. Since I'm dying…. She thought. She gave into the temptation and imagined what those lips would've felt like against other parts of her body. How her friend's large and calloused hands would've felt holding her tightly, not like a friend, but something more. She smiled as the fever took her under.


Sorry for the short chapter guys. Tell me what you think. Please review.