Chapter Two
They'd been walking for roughly five hours and it was peaking midday. It was a long hike to the reservoir.
"So what was it I saw you whispering to Miller before we left?" Bellamy asked, scrambling over a fallen tree.
"I don't know what you mean." He gave Clarke a pointed look as he turned around to help her over, his rifle slung against his back.
"Clarke." He raised an eyebrow.
"Seriously, what?"
"I know you're up to something Princess so you should just tell me now and get it over and done with...we both decided no secrets between us a long time ago. Remember?" Bellamy looked at her directly in the eyes. He knew how to melt Clarke's resolve in seconds, could practically get her to admit to anything if he needed to, not that he ever exploited that talent...too much. What could he say? ...the man knew her too well.
"Fine, I give." She admitted defeat and they kept walking. "I may have said we'd be gone a few days longer than you originally thought."
"What, why?" Bellamy stopped walking to face Clarke again.
"Well I didn't want the camp to freak out when we didn't come back on schedule?"
"No, Clarke, why will we be gone longer than planned? The reservoir is a days' walk away, we'd be gone for one night at most." She didn't say anything. "Clarke..." He scalded her.
"Oh my god, don't 'mom' me Bellamy...I'm not a child."
"So tell me, why I shouldn't put you in a time out right now for omitting the truth."
"Ugh...seriously?"
"Seriously."
"Jeez, fine." Bellamy waited, expectantly. "I wanted you to come with me specifically because, honestly, you looked like you could use a break."
"A break?"
"Yes, a break."
"Clarke, last year we lost four of our people to pneumonia and you want me to take a break!" He yelled.
"Yes!" She yelled back equally as loud, they were both breathing heavily. "You're exhausted Bellamy and everyone can see it." She said quietly, eyed glazed over. "I will not have you be so run down that you get sick and die too so I am taking you to find these hot springs that Octavia found in Lincoln's notebook. End of discussion." She trudged past him.
It took Bellamy a moment but he soon went after her.
"Clarke, I'm fine..."
"You're not fine Bel!"
"I am..."
"What did you eat yesterday?"
"What did I..." He struggled to think if he had eaten yesterday but come to think of it he hadn't seen Clarke eat either. "What did you eat yesterday?!" He retaliated. "You've lost weight Clarke."
"That's because I'm too busy worrying about you..." He voice went all squeaky. "You spend all day lifting heavy timbers...sawing wood down to size...hammering pegs into holes to make sure we all have somewhere warm to sleep when the frost comes but Bellamy you are killing yourself to get us there!"
"Miller, Murphy and everyone else on construction is doing the same thing..." He argued.
"Miller and Murphy stop to eat! Miller and Murphy get more than four hours of sleep a night Bellamy, that's not healthy..."
"You're one to talk Clarke...two months ago, when our water supply got contaminated and everyone was sick and at risk of dying you didn't sleep for three days! I had too..."
"Yes you had too...you had to drag me out of the med-bay to get me to sleep...you told me to make sure I was ok so that I could physically take care of everyone else without killing myself. You gave me a well deserved kick in the ass because I seriously needed to snap out of it. Well, this is me Bellamy, telling you to take care of yourself so that I can get some sleep at night and so that we can take care of our people together...as a team!" Clarke breathed heavily and Bellamy groaned, his face in his hands, attempting to rub away the bags under his eyes. "I know that you want to take care of everyone and I know that you'll believe me when I say I understand where you're coming from, I'm worried about how quickly it's become so cold this year too but I need you, I need you, first and foremost, to be ok...and if you are then I can deal with all the other crap that comes along. I can see that you physically ache right now, Bellamy, from hard labour and lack of sleep and I just want you to just take a day or two just to be...ok. Okay?" Clarke finally finished. Bellamy hadn't said anything for a while but then he took a few steps closer to his partner and pulled the blonde in to a fierce hug.
"Next time you drag me on a spa getaway weekend it would be nice to know beforehand." Clarke nodded vigorously, blinking away the tears that had built up and hugged Bellamy back tighter. "I could've packed my good swim shorts..." He grinned and she half-heartedly chuckled, wiping away stray tears.
"I'm sorry." She said, looking up at him and then all over sudden both of them realised how tired they actually were.
"The same goes for you too, you know." Bellamy said pulling back. "Look after yourself as well. You really have lost a lot of weight recently, though now it appears that might have been my fault but if you're ok, then, I too can deal with all the crap that follows. It's cheesy as fuck Clarke but you're my best friend, okay. Don't die." He rubbed her arms in a comforting gesture.
"Likewise, Bellamy."
"Come on...we should keep going." Clarke nodded and they continued their trudge through the green, side by side.