AN: Thanks for sticking with the intro! Now onto the Bellarke.

And why leave when I got you, baby?

It's a risk but babe, I need the thrill

I never said you'd be easy

But if it was all up to me

I'd be no trouble, hey, we're in trouble

I said ooh, ooh

You got me in the mood, mood

I'm scared

But if my heart's gonna break before the night will end

I said, ooh, ooh we're in danger

Sleeping with a friend

Sleeping With a Friend- Neon Trees

"I'm sorry— what?" Bellamy Blake looked down at Clarke who was standing in front of him with a nervous expression that was clearly asking him to 'please not do this'. She shifted her weight uncomfortably and was turning a delightful shade of pink but she maintained steady eye contact. Whatever negative things he had ever thought of her he would never begrudge the fact that the girl had guts.

"You know," she said and lifted her hands to preform an obvious and vulgar hand gesture involving her thumb and pointer finger in a circle and the pointer finger from her opposite hand.

Bellamy gave a choked exclamation and shoved her hands down to her sides, pinning them there in fear she would return to her explicit pantomime, "Yes Clarke I know what sex is thank you," he said and he could feel his own cheeks beginning to heat up. "What I'm struggling to understand is the part where you walk up and say that you think we should do it."

Bellamy studied the girl in front of him, finally setting her wrists free so she could redirect some of her nervous energy to fidgeting with the ends of her blonde hair.

He had been having a perfectly unremarkable day, boring even, by the standards that had been set so far in their new life on the ground, and then Clarke Griffin, co-leader and increasingly close friend, had walked right up to him and stated that they should have sex. Bellamy had been of the opinion that he was a fairly difficult guy to rattle but in this moment he was utterly dumbfounded.

It wasn't as if he hadn't considered it. He did with an almost obsessive frequency at this point to be honest. He was a man and Clarke was a definitive bombshell, but she was also second only to Octavia when it came to essential people in his life and he had never let himself seriously consider something that would jeopardize that status.

"I'm distracted," Clarke said haltingly, "And you and I both know that distracted could be dangerous here on the ground."

Bellamy felt something that he hadn't noticed rising, suddenly drop in his chest and he refused to let himself consider that it had felt suspiciously like hope. Of course Clarke was treating this with the same logical decision-making process that made her the effective leader she was, not giving into some uncharacteristic emotional whim.

"Distracted," Bellamy repeated, still playing dumb though he now had a pretty clear idea of where this was going.

"There hasn't…. been anybody," she continued, looking even more embarrassed and now a little sad as well, "since Finn," she finished, a small frown screwing up her pretty face. "And no offense but I haven't exactly seen the same steady stream of girls slinking out of your tent since that first month. They finally catch on to your game?"

"Something like that," Bellamy responded, shooting her a glare. She was right that there hadn't been anyone for quite a long time but it wasn't because of a lack of offers but more so that he just hadn't found any that was particularly appealing anymore.

"I just figured it would be better for both of us if we could relieve a little," she floundered briefly for a word before settling on "frustration".

Bellamy was now the one to shift uncomfortably and did his best to casually position the jacket he was carrying in front of him to hide the quickly evolving situation in his pants. If the mere suggestion of sex with Clarke left him with a raging hard on he could only imagine what the actual act would be like. If they fucked like they had fought it was sure to be mind-blowing.

"Interesting theory. But why me, Princess?" he finally replied with what he hoped was at least a semblance of his usual snarky drawl. "I'm sure you know the entire camp is pretty much yours for the taking."

Clarke's eyes flashed with something that looked a lot like the old anger that had been directed his way daily when they first came home to Earth but that he saw more and more infrequently as of late. Bellamy realized he definitely did not miss being the recipient of that glare.

"You know what, forget it," she snapped but the initial ire was slowly fading into an embarrassed frustration. "I shouldn't have assumed the attraction."

As shocked as he had been up until that point he was floored to learn there was a new level of surprise that could still be layered on top of that. She thought he was rejecting her because of a lack of attraction?

It hadn't just been a transparent attempt at flattery, Clarke genuinely could take her pick of literally any man on Earth and a goodly portion of the women as well. Clarke Griffin was something like a force of nature in his mind. She was fierce and loyal. She was brilliant and dynamic. All of the verbal sparring that was the basis of their early relationship, and the exciting edge to their current friendship, stemmed from the fact that she was as strong and independent as he was, it was the fault of being too compatible rather than the opposite that had caused them to butt heads. She was a leader. And all of that was wrapped up in just about the sexiest goddamn package he had ever laid eyes on. Sparkling blue eyes, her perfect complexion that was too frequently the canvas for her battle scars, an amazing rack, and that cornsilk blonde hair that made him wonder how he ever thought he had a preference for willowy brunettes.

She wasn't conceited but Clarke had always seemed to possess an easy self-confidence as she presided in her role of Princess over the 100. Bellamy felt like the biggest ass in existence for being the cause of her self-assurance faltering for however brief a moment, for being the reason for the doubt in her blue eyes.

Bellamy reached out and grabbed Clarke's wrist as she turned to stalk away and yanked her back towards his body. Clarke let out a small "oh" of surprise and Bellamy took pleasure in startling his equally unflappable co-leader. He shifted his hand to the small of her back and pressed until their lower bodies were flush against each other, "Does it feel like attraction is an issue Princess?" he growled in her ear.

Bellamy nearly groaned at the flare of an entirely new type of heat that was suddenly naked on her face, pupils dilated and breath coming in shallow pants. He had a crazy few seconds when any of the thousand misgivings he had about this situation didn't exist, entirely replaced with a sort of feral need.

A loud clatter sounded to their left and Clarke jumped out of his half embrace, looking guiltily to the nearby woodpile where a spaced out Monty was attempting to re-stack what he had just jostled over. Bellamy scrubbed a hand over his face suddenly very aware that he had nearly fucked the 100's mother figure right in the middle of their camp.

Things had changed drastically since their days spent at the drop ship. Their people were home from Mt. Weather but it hadn't come without a cost, Finn was just the first of many heartbreaking casualties and though it had been many months they were all still laying low and licking their wounds. The adults were on the ground and Clark and Bellamy, while still de facto leaders in the eyes of the remainder of the 100, were no longer holding the entirety of the colony's fate on their young shoulders. The mom mantle, however, had proven hard to shake.

Said mom was currently staring at him with a look of utter confusion, color still high in her cheeks and the heat still simmering just under the new mask of puzzlement.

"It's a bad idea Clark," he said lowly, accurately identifying the source of her look.

"Probably," Clarke said honestly, reigning in her breathing and emotion further so that they almost appeared to be having a casual conversation once more. "It's just that Jasper and I were out looking for some herbs to treat that infection Murphy picked up in his leg after his dumb ass fell out of a tree last week. He almost walked right off a cliff and I didn't even notice. I was distracted and someone I care about almost got hurt."

Bellamy couldn't fight off the teasing grin despite the solemn turn Clarke's mood had taken, "Princess, I didn't know you and Jasper had that sort of…. connection."

Clarke looked confused again but quickly realized the implication of her story. She screwed up her face in what he thought was a particularly adorable manner and punched him rather hard on the arm, "Bellamy Blake!"

"You are the one who indicated it was sexual frustration that was distracting you," Bellamy drawled, the teasing flirtation no longer an act, "I just connected the dots."

"There are no dots," Clarke replied, shaking her head adamantly, "you are dot-less."

Bellamy raised an eyebrow and Clarke began to turn that alluring shade of pink again, "It wasn't Jasper I was thinking about," she mumbled and for the first time she was unable to meet his eyes.

Bellamy felt his smile turn wolfish and couldn't help but pursue this course of conversation as far as she would allow, "Clarke Griffin, were you fantasizing about me?" He had to tease her to keep that primal reaction he had just barely quelled earlier from resurfacing.

"I didn't say that," Clarke said sharply but there was a look in her eyes that made him think he might not be wrong. "It's just hormones and it's stupid and I can't be putting people around me at risk."

"You could try putting the world down once in a while and allowing yourself to have a human moment," Bellamy chided, with more concern than anything else.

Clarke rolled her eyes and some of the intensity fell from her, "So profound, Blake."

"I'm not the person you need for this Princess," Bellamy said, bringing the conversation back to its origin once more, "I break things."

"Bellamy," Clarke said softly, stepping back into his personal space. Bellamy shook his head and backed up a couple steps. Her pity was the last thing he needed.

Clarke held up her hands in a show of surrender, she wouldn't try and talk him out of his masochism but she wasn't going to be a willing participant either.

"I'm not looking for a relationship," she said instead. "I just want…. a release." Clarke looked embarrassed again, she was strong enough that she was ok with showing weakness but even so, he was sure this was a difficult request for her to make. "I just- I thought that maybe since we're friends now… we could help each other… scratch that particular itch. I trust you."

Bellamy clenched his fists, he wanted desperately to take her up on this, play out the fantasies that were becoming more in more prevalent in his dreams both day and night but he also knew how much he stood to lose. Her affirming her trust in him only reminded him of that.

Bellamy respected women, his life could be cataloged by its procession of strong capable women from his mother, to his warrior of a baby sister, to the princess whose side he chose to serve by now. He had seen the way that men had treated his mother, the way they used and then discarded her and he had vowed to never be one of those men, to be better, to be worthy of women like the lady-Blakes and his stalwart partner. He wasn't a saint, and casual sex was pretty much his M.O. but that was only with the consent and understanding of the other party.

Clarke was a horse of a different color entirely. While she appeared to be giving this willingly he could foresee so many ways this could go wrong. There was also a fairly large part of him that couldn't bear the thought of tarnishing this bond they had forged with something as inconsequential as casual sex.

The boy he had been when he stepped off the drop ship was still somewhere in him having a conniption at the prospect of him willingly passing up seeing those tits in their full, unfettered glory but too much had changed and that boy was only a very small part by now.

"I can't lose you Princess," he said, worried that he might be revealing too much, saying things that he himself hadn't even really taken the time to consider fully. He was repeating her own words back to her from their walk before Mt. Weather. "We," he began, stressing the pronoun, "are too important for me to fuck this up over a physical thing."

"I'm pretty sure I'm the one who propositioned you," Clarke said.

"Yes but I'm one who is going to ruin this if we start," Bellamy replied, allowing himself to reach out and tuck a lock of hair behind her ear. He was fascinated by those golden strands and would take any opportunity he could to run his fingers through them.

"I really don't think you give yourself enough credit," Clarke said with a touch of sadness in her voice, "you are a good man."

Bellamy sighed, ready to deflect her misguided empathy once more but she stopped there.

"And you're a better friend. You're right," she eventually continued, "I don't need to sabotage my friendships over something stupid like this. I'm really sorry for putting you in this situation."

Bellamy winced, he hadn't wanted an apology and it made him almost sick to think she felt like she had to say sorry for acknowledging natural human needs.

Clarke saw his reaction and gave him a wry smile, "Come on Blake, my ego can take the rejection. Like you said…. I've got options."

The sharp pang of jealousy that coursed through him with that simple teasing phrase was rather unexpected. He was beyond the point of being able to ignore his physical reactions to Clarke but jealousy was something born from a possessiveness he wasn't allowed, he had no claim to her.

He hid the troubling emotion behind a joking leer, "And a lucky man they will be," he drawled. "For the record though Princess," he started, his voice dropping to a deep whisper as he moved his mouth next to her ear, "We would've been amazing."

Clarke could feel his hot breath on her ear one second and the next she was watching his back as he strolled back to his tent on the other side of camp. She cursed him internally for his casual unburdened stride while she stood there feeling shaken to her core.

Clarke hadn't been sure how Bellamy would react to her proposition but of the number of scenarios she had envisioned the kind refusal on the basis of their friendship was not among them. It made her feel like some sort of sex-crazed slut that he, for all of his sexual innuendos and random bedfellows, was the one who was sensible about their situation and put the value on their shared leadership duties over a mindless tryst.

His broad shoulders having finally disappeared into the crowd of people going about their daily activities in the middle of camp Clarke rubbed her face wearily and let some of the pride drain out of her face. She was exhausted. The memory of Jasper stepping out into thin air rather than planting a foot on solid ground was more than nagging her even if the lovable goofball should be capable of watching his own step.

She hadn't been sleeping well, tossing and turning and feeling feverish, when she did drift off to sleep it was to seriously troublesome dreams involving her and a certain dark haired sex god sans clothing. It was one of such dreams that she had been embarrassedly fretting over when she had to pull Jasper back up over the lip of a cliff just in time.

She supposed it might be a case of Spring fever. The weather was warming and things were finally beginning to stabilize and a society was taking root here on Earth. People were feeling secure and with that and the pleasant weather hormones were running rampant through Camp. Clarke had walked in on more half-clothed, red-faced couples in the past month than she had ever desired to. It seemed to be across the board too, adults and teenagers alike, going at it like rabbits. Even her mother was sending much more obvious sex eyes at Marcus Kane these days. Clarke knew enough biology to understand that being around all of that, the hormones and the provocation, was enough to inspire some level of arousal in her.

She had played it off cooly enough to him that hopefully Bellamy thought that her sexual frustration was a generalized aura and not a highly directional one as was the reality. Sure she was going through a dry spell but that wasn't a completely untenable situation. The real reason for her distraction was very easily identifiable as her handsome partner.

It wasn't like Clarke had been completely ignorant to the fact that Bellamy Blake was an attractive man before. She wasn't new to the idea that he was handsome or even new to the occasional practice of admiring those good looks. What was new were the disturbingly graphic sex dreams and the consequent distracted bleed over into her waking life. Previously she could be intrigued by that small scar on his top lip, now she had a memory of those lips ghosting down her torso on their way further south. At one point she had been able to appreciate his body for its objectively attractive tan and muscular glory, now she had visions of raking her nails down his back and holding onto those broad shoulders while she straddled his lap.

Since Lexa's death in the attack on Mt. Weather, Octavia had risen in the Grounder ranks and made her home at one of their camps with Lincoln rather than returning to the crashed Ark with Clarke and her brother. The choice had clearly torn Bellamy up and Clarke had been sure for a period of time that he was going to choose to go with her rather than settle permanently with the rest of his friends. It had been an obvious struggle and she had listened to him outline the various pros and cons around many late night fires. Eventually, and with only minimal encouragement from Clarke, he had come to the realization that his baby sister was no longer the little girl who needed his constant hovering protection and he had let her go to gain the independence she had so lacked the majority of her life. This of course meant that Bellamy made at least monthly trips over to the Grounder settlement ostensibly to visit his sister but also to keep an eye on their still new allies.

Bellamy had returned from such a trip the day before and Clarke had sat across from him at breakfast, as they always did when both were around, so he could give her a quick debrief before they moved onto more social topics. It took Clarke nearly the full 5 minutes of Bellamy's account of his trip for her to realize she hadn't comprehended a word that he said. Instead of eating her breakfast she was staring at the spray of freckles across his impossibly high cheekbones and instead of listening to the important information he was conveying she was instead just squirming over the effect that his deep voice had on the state of her underwear.

Distracted had been an understated assessment if she was being honest with herself. He was keeping her awake and drawing her attention away from her very important duties and it just wasn't sustainable anymore.

She had thought for a second about just distancing herself from him but realized that was not an option. Not only would Bellamy immediately realize that something was up he would likely demand to know exactly what was wrong and harass her until it was rectified. They were close friends and spent large amounts of time in each other's company, everyone would notice if she suddenly started ignoring him. On top of that there was the fact that she didn't think she was even capable of avoiding him. They were both high ranking members of the community and even though they no longer held official co-leader roles there were definite expectations of both of them. Just because they weren't in charge didn't mean they no longer needed the other to balance them out. It was why they had taken the joint positions in the first place. Bellamy's hot-head and charisma perfectly complemented her logic and loyalty. It was together that they were most effective. Despite the fights and disagreements that marked their first few weeks they had always been drawn to each other and she wasn't sure that even her most concentrated efforts could fight that connection.

Clarke had finally come to the conclusion that she just had to get it out of her system. She wasn't the most sexually experienced girl in camp but there had been a couple boys up on the Ark and then her one night with Finn and she knew that having those needs met could positively benefit her state of mind. The only thing she had to decide was whether she should just find some stand-in to do the deed with or if only the genuine article would do.

Two minutes into some awkward flirting with Miller told her that she was woefully out of practice when it came to seduction. She didn't want to risk her friendship with Bellamy but it was quickly obvious to her that he was the only she was comfortable launching into something like this with. They were friends and no matter what happened she trusted him implicitly. She made lists like those Bellamy had made over potential relocation with the pro side dominated by her handsome partner's physical attributes and the con side summed up by the potential risk to their friendship.

She still hadn't been completely decided when she saw his mop of curly black hair from across camp but then he had turned to her and she didn't really have a choice.

Bellamy Blake was very stingy with his smiles. He wasn't humorless, the opposite in fact, and she had seen every variety of sneer, leer, and lascivious grin curve those full lips but a true, pretenses down, smile of honest happiness was a rarity. It was a goddamn tragedy too because the man had an absolutely amazing smile. At first it had only been O that had been able to charm a full-wattage smile out of him but recently she had been able to elicit a few on her own. Not just the closed mouth grin that he would duck his head charmingly to hide in their early friendship but a real smile that said that he was as happy to see her as she was to see him.

It was one such smile that he had turned on her just minutes before that had completely eroded all of her defenses and made the cons on her carefully constructed list a moot point. The warmth that filled her chest at the sight of such a smile should have made her wonder if a 4-letter L-word other than lust was more appropriate to the situation but she was still far too closed off to begin to entertain those kind of thoughts.

She hadn't even managed to be eloquent about it. She had just walked right up and blurted it out as though afflicted with Tourettes.

"I think we should have sex."

The look of utter shock on his face would have been hilarious under other circumstances but she was too uncomfortable to be amused when she was putting herself on the line like this.

"I'm sorry—what?" he had asked in that deep voice of his that made her toes curl.

Clarke was fairly certain she had made some sort of obscene hand gesture but in all honesty she was pretty sure she blacked out briefly from embarrassment. Miming had really not been in the game plan for this conversation. Fortunately Bellamy had the presence of mind to consider the fact that they were out in public and pinned her arms to her side before she could do anything else

"Yes Clarke I know what sex is thank you," he said and though his tone was getting increasingly agitated and he still appeared to be half in shock, she thought she could see something that looked like attraction rising in him as well.

Now that it was all over Clarke had no idea how to think or what to feel. He had pulled her against him and looked for a minute like he wanted to take her right there on the ground and there was his sincere affirmation of their friendship which she couldn't help but feel warmly about, but for all intents and purposes she had just been shot down. It would be a lie to pretend it didn't sting rather fiercely. Even though she had obligations most centenarians couldn't claim for the sum of their life, she was still just shy of 20 and being rejected sucked.

In none of her musings did this result ever occur to her. She had reacted so poorly to Bellamy's backhanded complement about having her pick of the camp because of the uncomfortable reality of it. Sure it had been a bit of an exaggeration, there were any number of men who thought that she didn't know her place and found her strength to be abrasive, but outnumbering them were the ones who either wanted the status of being paired with someone of her rank and the others (probably worse) who just had the hots for her as a young blonde.

She hated having to rebuff would-be suitors, especially those who really were nice and had the best of intentions. She hated even more, the underhanded plays for her that she couldn't outright reject because they could claim innocence and make it seem like her ego was getting the best of her. Either way, she got enough attention to know that she was desirable, and she knew from their early days on the ground that Bellamy was not incredibly discerning when it came to who warmed his bed at night.

Clarke had thought she might be met by teasing or even shock but she always assumed he would say yes in the end. Instead he had turned her down in one of the most chivalrous manners possible. Bellamy Blake of the revolving bedroom door had declined her offer of no strings attached sex in deference of their friendship.

Clarke twisted her hair up off her neck, tying it in a knot at the back of her head. She still felt like her skin was on fire from the brief period of contact in which Bellamy had pulled her flush against him. Her heart was thudding and a pool of warmth persisted in her stomach. If Bellamy Blake wasn't going to finish what he started it was very clear she was going to have to find someone else who would.

Clarke collected herself and walked purposefully over to Raven's tent. They were in the process of building actual houses and they hoped to be done by next winter but for now they were content to spend the spring and summer in their airy tents. Clarke poked her head in and saw her friend fiddling with some sort of complex electronic equipment. Even Raven's hobbies required Mensa level thought processes.

Raven looked up and a genuine smile crossed her face. It had taken a long time, longer than Clarke would have liked, but the two girls finally had the kind of friendship they should have from the start. Finn's death had erased the simmering resentment over his infidelity and time had finally given Raven the perspective to see Clarke's act for the mercy it was and Clarke the ability to forgive herself. With Octavia gone from Camp Jaha the majority of the time, Raven was her closest female friend.

"What's up buttercup?" Raven asked, the initial smile slowly turning into her usual wry grin as she continued to work on whatever electronic was in her lap.

"It's going to be a speaker," Raven said, seeing her eyes on the device, "I'm trying to throw a couple together quickly before tonight. The CD players and that sort of stuff from Mt. Motherfucker are good but we could use some amplification if we wanna make this a real party." Raven waggled her eyebrows and Clarke rolled her eyes both at the brunette's nickname for Mountain Men's installation and her commitment to a good party.

It had been 2 years since the 100 had been sent to Earth. 2 years since the drop-ship and the bracelets, 2 years since she met these people who she now considered family, who she had risked her life to save before and would do so again in a second. The adults in camp, those who had been adults when they came to Earth anyway, since so many of the 100 were now of legal age though they had been emotionally ancient for even longer, didn't feel comfortable participating in this particular celebration. It felt crass to celebrate the day that they had sent 100 teenagers to their likely death no matter what the actual outcome had been. For the remaining members of the 100 though, it was an anniversary deserving of a party, it was their independence day. All of the young adults and teenagers had been hard at work all day getting ready for the evening festivities. Clarke had been out with Jasper gathering some last minute additives for a special batch of moonshine when he had nearly stepped off the cliff.

"Raven," Clarke said with mock seriousness, though she did feel a small twist of worry in her stomach, "the time has come."

Raven dropped the speaker and looked up at Clarke expectantly, "THE time?" she asked excitedly.

"Raven Reyes, the time has come to get me laid," Clarke laughed as her friend launched herself up and pulled her into a hug.

"Yes!" Raven shouted, "Fucking right it has!"

Clarke rolled her eyes again but she couldn't keep the fond smile at bay.

"MONTY!" Raven shouted out of her tent, "Get over here! We've got a mission!"

Bellamy's mood had been slowly deteriorating all day. It had started off with him snapping at a few of the younger kids who had bothered to seek his opinion on their party preparations (If you think I give a shit about flower arrangements you are sorely mistaken) and devolved into him glaring and growling at anyone who tried to talk to him at all. It had only been made worse when Clarke had failed to show up for their usual pre-dinner run and he had to drag Miller along instead.

He wasn't sure why he was in such a foul temper, a beautiful girl had confessed to wanting him and he had turned her down of his own free will. This wasn't a reason to glare and shout at anyone who crossed his path. The problem was that being aware of this and being able to fully control his reactions as a result were not the same thing.

Bellamy had rinsed off the sweat from his Clarke-less run and pulled on his clothes, still in an angry pout, before trudging out into the middle of camp where the celebrations were already beginning around a bonfire. He wasn't feeling especially festive, he was, however, feeling a strong desire to get drunk.

Clarke had seemed to understand his position and hadn't appeared to take it personally when he had turned her down. He thought he had made her understand that it had nothing to do with not wanting her and everything to do with respect.

The truth of the matter was that Bellamy didn't entirely trust himself with her. Clarke was their leader and had been their savior several times over in the 2 years they'd been on Earth. She was strong and sexy but she was also good and honorable and there was a part of him that thought he might sully that. Whatever good he had done and changes he had made since they first met, he knew the monster that he was capable of being and knew that the Princess deserved better.

It would be one thing if he believed that he could just have sex with Clarke and walk away but he was in far too deep for that. He didn't just want to see Clarke come, to unravel at his fingertips. He wanted to see her smile, make her laugh, support her when she needed it, and talk to her about his day. He knew what his sister would call this sort of devotion he was feeling towards his blonde co-leader. Fuck, what most everyone in camp probably called it behind his back. But he also knew Clarke and her limits and the last thing he could bear would be to push her away with his stupid fucking feelings.

It was humiliating to seem like the man who was pining away after a woman with no interest in him and he knew that was the impression around camp. Fortunately the only person who didn't seem to be in on his wretched crush was the object of it herself and he was damned if he was going to let what they did actually have be ruined because he couldn't keep his emotions in check post-coitus. He was sure that 1 minute inside Clarke Griffin would be enough to wrench all of his secrets from their hiding places.

He was fucked.

Bellamy grabbed a cup of the special-batch moonshine Jasper was loudly touting to be the greatest and more importantly strongest beverage ever made and took a seat next to the fire. Under normal circumstances he would have expected Miller or one of the others to join him but he knew news of his mood had made its way around camp so they were keeping their distance. He had spent a mostly solitary life on the Ark with his sister and mother, not really having many friends for fear they might be suspicious of why they couldn't visit, or that he might accidentally let slip some hint of Octavia as soon as they felt close. On the ground though his friends were his family and he cared deeply for all of them. He could feel his mood darken even further as the guilt set in over how he had treated all of them throughout the day.

He was just so used to having Clarke around. When he began to get agitated or over-emotional she would reign him in with logic and common sense just like when she buried herself in guilt and obligations he would crack wise and lighten the load. They didn't spend every waking moment together or anything overbearing or cliche like that, but they did share meals and check in on each other regularly throughout the day as friends tend to do, and Bellamy had been very aware of her pointed absence since their conversation.

He had hoped to see her out among their friends at the party already but so far there had been no sign of her. Bellamy was beginning to think he had an exaggerated impression of her level of understanding and that maybe the Princess was actually mad at him however well intentioned his rejection had been.

He continued to drown his ill temper in berry flavored moonshine which was definitely stronger than usual but he wouldn't attest to its 'best-ness'.

"Jasper!" A familiar voice called from behind him, "Three drinks, pronto."

Raven ruffled his hair as she brushed by his seat at the fire on her way over to Jasper and his vat of alcohol. Bellamy was pretty sure he heard her whisper something along the lines of 'brace yourself handsome' and watched her with confusion as she continued her way around the bonfire. She had made more of an effort with her appearance than was usual for the typically very low maintenance Raven and Bellamy could see a decent amount of male attention tracking her progress with less of his friendly confusion and more 'want, take, have' hunger.

Jasper stumbled into a handsy hug with the engineer, having been "testing" his home brew all afternoon already and handed her 3 cups filled to the brim. Raven balanced these precariously over to the other side of the fire and motioned her companions over with an awkward twist of her shoulder.

Monty came bounding across the clearing and eagerly drained half a cup of the moonshine, his lanky frame blocking Bellamy's view of the third member of their trio.

"Hot damn," the man on the seat next to him breathed and he heard similar reactions echoing all around.

Jasper's already prominent eyes seemed to bug out even further and he dropped the ladle he was serving with into the vat.

"My lady," he said in only partially mock reverence as he threw himself to the ground in front of Monty. Monty stepped back to give Raven a satisfied high five and Bellamy was finally able to see the girl who had been avoiding him all day.

Clarke had clearly given herself over to Monty and Raven's efforts since the most he had ever seen her do for herself was wind her hair into a haphazard braid or ponytail. Her long blonde hair hung in loose waves that were significantly less dirty and snarled than usual so it practically glowed white gold in the light from the fire. It had always astounded him how naturally pretty Clarke Griffin was, with natural pink to her cheeks and long black eyelashes framing those intense blue eyes, but tonight she had put on some actual makeup. It was light, he expected that Raven had reigned in Monty's heavy hand in this regard, but he could see a smoky eyeliner and bronzed cheek. And was that a fucking dress?

Mt. Weather had been hell ten times over but in the end it had provided them with a number of electronics and clothes that hadn't survived the Ark's crashing descent to Earth. With the battle in the mountain nearly a year in the past now it was easier to enjoy the spoils of it without being plagued by the painful memories associated with them.

Bellamy could hear his throat click painfully as he swallowed with his suddenly dry mouth. Those were Clarke's legs in a dress. A sinfully tight dress that hugged every inch of her that was covered so closely that she might as well not be at all. A dress that was made for a girl with a significantly less generous chest so that hers appeared to be actively trying to escape. A short, tight, low cut dress that was blue. Bellamy spent a great proportion of his self control trying to ignore the effect the girl across the fire pit had on him but 2 years had given him enough experience to know that when she was wearing blue not even his most concentrated efforts were enough. Clarke's blue eyes were captivating on a bad day and when she wore any shade of blue they became goddamn hypnotic.

Clarke had taken the other cup from Raven's outstretched hand and was smiling over the rim of it at something the snarky brunette was saying. Monty and Jasper stood by grinning foolishly, seeming happy to just be seen associating with the two stunning women. Bellamy debated getting up and joining his friends but for the second time that day Clarke had created a situation for him which could make standing in the open embarrassing. He also didn't want to push her, if she had made the effort to avoid him all day it was in his best interest to wait until she came to him.

Bellamy took several steadying breaths and kept his eyes trained straight into the fire to avoid looking at the blonde across it. When the tension in his pants had lessened, and his eyes were almost burning from the dry heat of the flames, he forced himself to stand and seek out friends who were wearing less distracting clothes.

"Christ, Blake have you seen the Princess?"

So much for avoidance.

Bellamy glared at Ryder and he swore he might have growled if not for the calming hand Miller lay on his arm.

"She's kinda hard to miss tonight," Jones responded but his tone lacked the lecherous tone of his companion so Bellamy found it easier to let it slide.

"I'm just sending thanks to the universe for whatever material that goddamn dress is made of," Ryder said, still seemingly unaware of his friend's bristling anger.

"Reyes doesn't look half bad either," Miller deflected, dropping his hand from Bellamy's arm. Bellamy for his part just swallowed the remainder of his drink and glared angrily into the bottom of the empty cup.

"Is that right?" Harper asked sneaking up behind Miller and looping her arms around his waist, "Do I need to go assert my claim? Because I can take a bitch down."

"I mean, I can't say the mental image I have of that right now is exactly unappealing," Miller teased dropping a kiss on his girlfriend's exposed shoulder. Apparently all of the young women had raided the dress up bin for the night.

"Yeah I need another drink," Bellamy said sourly, heading the long way around the fire to avoid his friends and grab another full cup of moonshine. He spared a glance over to where Clarke had been standing and saw she had moved over to a nearby table where she had been drawn into a drinking game involving washers and cups. He had thought it would be better with her back to him so he no longer had to avoid catching sight of her eyes or her nearly as mesmerizing cleavage, but it turned out the dress hugged her ass in a way that pretty much ruined him as well.

He was so fucked.

He downed the second cup standing right next to the vat and filled it again before walking back over to Miller, Jonesy, and Ryder. Miller was fairly distracted by Harper but Jones and Ryder were setting up cups for beer pong and Bellamy figured some competition was just what he needed to get his mind off a certain blue dress.

Miller's distraction quickly proved to be a hinderance and Bellamy scowled at his partner as Jonesy and Ryder drained shot after shot. He held his own but not much could be done to make up for the smitten Miller who spent every other shot turned around in conversation with his severely inebriated girlfriend who was getting increasingly more hands on.

Two pretty embarrassing defeats were all Bellamy could stomach and he excused himself back to the bonfire after filling up his cup once more. He was more than a few drinks in and despite a fairly high tolerance he could feel a tingly buzz setting into his joints.

He couldn't help the way his eyes automatically began to seek out his erst-while co-leader. He was startled to see her sitting on a log a quarter of the way around the fire from him deep in conversation with a very serious looking Monty. She was clearly still learning the ropes of formalwear as she sat bow legged on the log, her feet out at awkward angles like a baby gazelle in an attempt to get comfortable and still conceal her underwear. Even the most affluent residents of the Ark didn't have a particularly extensive wardrobe. It was late May and the humidity of summer was beginning to set in so, despite Monty's best efforts, her formerly tamed hair was starting to curl around her face. Whatever the put-together beauty who had entered the party had done to him, this was a thousand times worse because this girl was looking more like his Clarke.

He didn't know if she had felt his eyes on her or if it was purely coincidence but she looked up and immediately met his gaze. Whatever Monty seemed so serious about it must have been amusing because Clarke's blue eyes were sparkling with barely contained humor. She smiled across the several seats between them and shot Bellamy a small wave. Bellamy nodded back unable to help the smile of his own and held his cup up in cheers.

"CLARKE!" Harper came stampeding around the side of the bonfire at the same time several loud speakers crackled to life around the clearing blaring out some loud bass-heavy electronic music. Bellamy winced and took another drink. He loved music but to say that 'dance floor favorites' wasn't exactly his genre of preference would be an understatement.

He watched Harper and Monty drag Clarke to her feet and saw her stumble slightly, maybe the sparkle in her eye had more to do with the alcohol than he had realized.

"We're dancing," Harper demanded and Raven appeared at her shoulder nodding emphatically. The normally serious leader seemed to have adopted a brand new devil may care attitude and she didn't even seem to protest as she was lead a little ways from the fire to an empty patch of ground on which a dance floor was quickly assembling. Bellamy sensed it was a bad idea to watch but couldn't seem to help himself.

Harper was way too drunk to have anything resembling coordination and resorted to just draping herself over Miller who to be fair didn't have much more even being the more sober half of the couple. Jasper and Monty were obviously a lost cause as they just threw themselves around to the beat and stared at any girl that twirled through their field of vision. Raven had a sort of lithe grace as she flitted around the group, slowly dancing closer and closer to the blonde engineer, Wick, that Bellamy knew she had something going on with. Clarke was in the center of it all and after laughing delightedly at Monty and Jasper's antics was finally coerced into dancing on her own.

She moved in time to the music, her hips, arms, and feet all seeming to be synched to the beat. Clarke Griffin could dance.

He was so beyond fucked.

Bellamy watched her curves gyrating between the press of bodies on the increasingly crowded dance floor and cursed every noble impulse in him that had made him turn down the chance to be with her. He watched enraptured for several minutes before he slowly started to draw himself back to reality.

Apparently the other men in camp had been similarly in awe at first but were now coming out of it as person after person approached his blonde Princess. Bellamy was too far away to hear what any of them were saying over the thump of the music and he was way too distracted to try and analyze if it was a bad thing that she had become 'his princess' in his internal monologue, all he knew was that whatever he had known about jealousy before that moment had just been utterly demolished.

Bellamy sat seething for almost 5 full songs, watching men approach her, dance with her, touch her, whisper in her ear before he finally snapped.

Ryder had abandoned his reign at the pong table and made his way onto the dance floor and dangerously close to Clarke. He made a pretense of dancing with Fox off to her right for barely 30 seconds before turning to Clarke who had just ditched yet another partner. Bellamy saw the tall blonde man put a hand on her arm and leaned his mouth down to hear ear so he could be heard over the music. Clarke smiled, she actually fucking smiled, and nodded, allowing him to wrap his thick arms around her waist and pull her close.

Bellamy didn't even register the act of getting up and crossing the distance to the dance floor. He barely noticed the people around him actually moving out of his way as he torn a path to his small group of friends, murder obvious on his face.

It was only Jasper's hand on the back of his t-shirt and Jonesy's emphatic head shaking to the side that kept him from laying out his so-called friend who was still wrapped around Clarke's petite form.

Bellamy clenched his jaw and forced his hands to relax out of the fists that were clenched at his sides, "Clarke," he managed to grind out, pretty sure she wouldn't be able to hear him over the pounding music.

"Bellamy!" Clarke greeted, pulling herself easily away from Ryder and almost skipping the distance over to him.

"Can I talk to you for a minute Princess?" he asked lowly, still not confident in the emotional stability of his voice.

"Of course," Clarke chirped, a tipsy smile on her face as she began to weave through the crowd beckoning for him to follow.

Bellamy pushed behind her and stalked ahead as soon as they were out of the press of dancing bodies hoping she would take the hint and come behind. She did and they were soon alone in the half light between the skeleton of the fallen Ark and the tents claimed by the 100.

Bellamy turned and faced her, hoping that his expression was much more controlled than he felt.

"What's up?" Clarke asked, concern obvious on her face, the two lines that lived between her eyebrows when she was stressed looked even deeper in this shadowed portion of camp. Whatever thoughts of carefree conversation she might have thought they were going to have had been quickly banished by his serious stare and the clear need for secrecy, "Is something wrong?"

Bellamy watched her closely, "How drunk are you Princess?"

Bellamy was staring at her with such an intensity she immediately forgot about all of the small insecurities that had been plaguing her all night. The concern that she was actually going to fall out of the top of this dress, the slight twinge of envy over the way Raven's slim hips made her look like a double wide in comparison, the uncomfortable feel of anonymous hands on her while she danced, the sweat that was pooling in her bra and causing her hair to frizz around her face, even the deep thrum of alcohol in her system was erased the second she looked into his wide brown eyes.

"How drunk are you Princess?"

There was that commanding voice, deeper even than usual just as it had been on the dance floor, and despite what it did to her libido in everyday conversation, tonight it was scaring the shit out of her. They had such a period of peace since everything that had gone down at Mt. Weather. It had been wonderful and refreshing and had finally gone on long enough for most of them to start to feel comfortable but Clarke still felt like she was always waiting for the other shoe to drop. They were well overdue for something terrible to happen.

"I'm not," Clarke said quickly, "drunk on atmosphere more than moonshine, what's wrong?"

Bellamy seemed slightly relieved by this news but none of the intensity left his dark gaze. If anything a more intense heat seemed to creep into it

"Good," he said and suddenly Clarke's personal space was full of Bellamy, he was toe to toe with her and all she could smell was pine and rainwater and sweat and all she could see was tan skin and full lips and freckles. "Because I need you to be completely you for this."

Then his lips were on hers and his hands were tangled in her hair and any rational thought she had about anything was gone.

Kissing Bellamy Blake was like opening a door to a whole new level of experience. He kissed the same way he did everything else in his life with a sort of single minded attention that made her feel like the center of the universe.

She spent the first few seconds in shocked stillness before her body responded almost of its own accord. Her lips moved against his and one hand was tugging at his neck to pull him closer, the other at his shirt to reduce the distance between their lower bodies.

Clarke felt one of his hands move down her side, grazing breast on the way down to cup her ass lightly and she moaned. Bellamy took the opportunity to slip his tongue past her lips and deepen the kiss. Clarke felt like she lost her mind in the eager tangle of tongues and limbs but lack of oxygen was becoming an increasing problem and she forced herself to pull away. Bellamy shifted the hand in her hair so their foreheads were pressed together and their panting breath mingled between them.

"I thought this was a bad idea," she choked out. No part of her wanted to bring that conversation up. All she wanted to do was dive her hands back into Bellamy's tousled black curls and press her basically exposed chest against his hard muscles, but he had planted a seed earlier with his words about friendship and losing each other and it had taken root even in the middle of the pain of rejection. It wouldn't just hurt her if this caused them to implode but the entire camp would suffer. Sure the responsibilities were shared among a larger number of people now but the remainder of the 100 still deferred to the original duo and they needed each other to level out, if they were out of synch everyone else was going to be as well.

Bellamy moved his head down to the crook of her neck and began laying alternating kisses and nips to her shoulder and collar bone, hands still roaming up her sides and around her back, "I'm starting to think I can be convinced otherwise," he said and Clarke was struck immediately by the almost helpless quality of his voice. If there was one thing Bellamy Blake never was it was helpless.

Clarke could feel her own hands exploring the smooth planes of muscle across his back and chest, fingers brushing over abs that she couldn't lie to having checked out more than was appropriate as as platonic friend. She felt him shiver under her touch and a strangled moan forced its way out of him as he desperately pushed the straps of her blue dress off her shoulders. Hearing that sound come out of the man that had been scandalizing her dreams for months now, the way he appeared completely undone by her was more than enough to push her over the edge of control. Someone could have told her that this would kill her and she still would be helpless to stop.

"Yeah, fuck it," Clarke heard herself gasp and she pulled his head up from his attentions at her chest for another searing kiss. Bellamy hooked a muscular arm under one of her legs and Clarke took the cue to boost herself up, wrapping both legs around his slim hips. The short dress hitched up around her waist and it was her turn to gasp as she was suddenly against him in nothing but a pair of panties.

Clarke had enjoyed sex in her still rather short history with it but it hadn't been a necessity to her. The deed wasn't even done yet, it was only just beginning, and she could already tell that Bellamy was going to be a completely different breed of partner. She was drowning in him.

Whatever illusions Clarke might have had about fucking Bellamy into the ground and getting it out of her system in one fell swoop were shattered when he reached between them with one hand and his fingers dipped inside the thin fabric of her panties. She should have known the man would have talented fingers.

No, Clarke thought as Bellamy blindly navigated them to his tent, her legs wrapped around his waist, their mouths still fused together. One time wasn't going to be enough.

Clarke had a second to think that she was totally and completely screwed before they stumbled into his tent, she was deposited on his makeshift bed, and her head was filled with nothing but Bellamy Blake for the rest of the night.

TBC... Please take a second and review if you can!