2.
Jasper finds him leaning against the wall listening to Miller explain the new guard rotation.
"Bellamy," he says and he looks a bit terrified so Bellamy knows whatever it is it's going to piss him off. "We need your help."
"Why?"
"It's Clarke."
He kicks off the wall and follows Jasper all the way to the drop ship where he finds a nervous Monty and an irritated Octavia arguing over a semi-conscious Clarke.
"What the fuck happened?" He sees that they aren't panicking and there's no blood so he tries to mask the dread and concern with anger. Judging by the way Monty jumps it works.
"I've been working with a few herbs we found growing outside the wall, trying to make an anesthesia that works better than moonshine and Clarke…well she wanted to try it."
"What?"
"She...she wanted to try it first to make sure it was safe and I…didn't stop her in time I guess. I don't know! It all happened so fast."
"This is a nightmare." Octavia says with a shake of her head before she turns around and starts trying to wake Clarke.
"So you're telling me that you experimented on our only doctor?!"
"She's okay Bell," Octavia says "all her vitals are fine, she's just sleeping."
"Well thank God for that, otherwise I'd be hanging you two over the wall by your fucking feet!"
"Me?!" Jasper yells "I didn't do anything!"
"Come on Bellamy, you know Clarke! When she sets her mind on something you can't stop her. She wanted to make sure it was safe."
"I don't care! Next time she decides to pull some life threatening bullshit for the greater good, you hold her down and come get me!"
"We did come get you!"
"AFTER SHE'D ALREADY FUCKING PASSED OUT!"
Apparently Monty's "special tea" wasn't strong enough to drown out the sounds of Bellamy's screams echoing around the room. Clarke begins to stir, Monty rushes to her side with a giant sigh of relief.
"Hey Clarke! Hey, wake up now. I need you to tell Bellamy that you're okay. You're okay right?"
"Of course I'm okay." She says in a strange voice that doesn't even sound like her own "You did it Monty, you are such a smart little man."
Monty's eyebrows crease, he was probably considering whether to be offended, and then Clarke grabs his arm and pulls him down to hug her. Bellamy tells himself that he pries them apart so he can see that Clarke is okay for himself and get back to everything he was supposed to be doing that afternoon, and sure that's a great reason and all, but there's a selfish, childish part of him that wants to put himself close enough so she'd grab onto him. It was nice to get reminders that Clarke was still alive and breathing by his side, reminders other than the daily arguments and constant disagreement.
"Clarke what the hell were you thinking?"
"Oh God Bellamy your voice. I just can't right now….could you just take it down please."
"Clarke…."
"I'm okay. I'm just taking a while to wake up…perfectly normal."
"And what if you would have poisoned yourself? What then?"
Clarke raises her eyebrows and pinches the bridge of her nose like she's trying to prevent the progression of a headache. "Stop being so dramatic. I can't even see straight right now."
Bellamy finds it a bit disturbing how quickly he becomes annoyed with her. He knows it would be wrong to yell at her when she's like this, when she barely knows where she is, but he can't stop it.
"Everyone out." He says.
"Bell…" Octavia gives him a warning look, but he glares back until she takes the hint and drags Jasper and Monty with her.
Bellamy takes a deep breath and sets his hands on Clarke's table, leaning forward and dropping his head to stare at the floor. "I cannot believe you would risk killing yourself like this."
She doesn't answer him. He thinks maybe she's fallen back asleep but when he looks up she's staring at him. Her eyes are still blue but they look vacant, like she hasn't really come back to herself. "You're far away." She says.
He rolls his eyes "This is ridiculous Clarke." But he steps closer anyway, and he certainly doesn't say anything when she reaches one of her hands up and touches the side of his face, brushing his hair away from his forehead. Of course he's trying not to think about how comforting the gesture is because that's just stupid. He does wonder if she's having some sort of trippy vision, maybe his hair is turning different colors or his face is spinning around. She's looking at him the way she looks at her drawings when she thinks no one can see her. She's looking at him like she knows he has some deep confession to make, like she knows there's something in him that she's missed and well…..she's not wrong.
"You and Octavia," she says "you're so beautiful."
He knows she's not fishing for compliments so he doesn't know what to say to that. He should go back to yelling at her, but she's starting to smile now and her hand is playing with his ear and he has to make a conscious effort not to close his eyes. "Even when you yell at me you're beautiful."
"Clarke…"
"I don't mean beautiful like a girl, Your eyes are strong."
He sighs. Her hand slides down his face again. Her thumb traces his bottom lip and that should be his cue to leave; but he doesn't want to break eye contact with her because goddamn he spends too much time wondering about this woman and she never looks at him the way she is now. So instead he lets his lips part slightly, kissing her thumb so gently that he could deny that it ever happened if he wanted to. She seems satisfied. Her hand moves away and ends up running down his arm before she lays it back down at her side.
"I'm still very tired."
"Well that's what happens when you drug yourself."
"It worked though."
"Princess, don't….don't ever do something so stupid again alright? You've managed to make it through battles and viruses and I'll be damned if I'm gonna lose you to a science experiment."
She closes her eyes "You don't understand."
"You? No I don't." he laughs and she pats his other hand.
"Stop worrying so much Bellamy."
He coughs loudly "Excuse me while I choke on the hypocrisy."
She laughs but keeps her eyes closed "I like you Bellamy Blake." she says in something a little less than a whisper.
He swears he can feel her thumb against his lips again. "I don't think you know what you're saying Clarke."
"I couldn't say it if I didn't think it. Don't you know how a brain works?"
No, not really because his has only been semi-functional for the duration of this conversation. He wants to tell her that he likes her too, that's she's grown on him, maybe even that he needs her the same way she claimed she needed him, but Octavia pokes her head in and clears her throat.
"Miller needs you."
When he looks back at Clarke she's breathing deeply, her eyes totally shut. He pushes himself away from the table and tries to look angry again. Maybe putting the fear of God in Monty will be enough to push that encounter to the back of his mind so he can function the rest of the day. Or maybe he wishes he was lying down on that exam table next to her and he is seriously and royally fucked.
AN: There should be about 5 chapters in this particular story. I'm working on a few other things that sort of sprung from this one, so look out for those. :) Thanks again for reading and reviewing!