9 Months Later...
"Caroline would not let me go this morning, that' why I'm late." Clarke told Bellamy as she rushed into the hair and makeup trailer. "She had my leg in a death grip and was refusing to let me go. My mom literally had to rip her off of me."
Bellamy laughed, "When was the last time you left her?"
"The cast party." Clarke said.
"Do you actually do anything?"
"I went to LA with your sister for two weeks, but I took Caroline with me." Clarke told him, closing her eyes for the makeup person, Amber. "You didn't see the paparazzi pictures? They were all over the internet."
"Oh, I saw them. Nice bikini." Bellamy said in a joking manner.
Clarke smiled and stuck her tongue out at him, "Glad you liked it."
Octavia soon joined them, Clarke looked over to her, "I'm so glad I wasn't the last to arrive."
"Shut up, Clarke. My alarm didn't go off and the traffic was terrible."
Clarke shook her head slightly, trying not to mess up the girl who was curling her hair. "Excuses, excuses."
Lincoln popped his head in the door, "Clarke, they're ready when you are."
"Thanks, Lincoln. I'll be there in a minute." Clarke said. Amber finished her hair and Clarke ran back to her trailer to change into her outfit for the day. Finally, five minutes later she was on set with Lincoln and Anya. The scene was pretty easy and only took a few takes thanks to Clarke sneezing three times and Lincoln cracking up over Anya's terrible pronunciation of a grounder word that our characters spoke fluently.
For the next scene Lexa was sitting with the director behind the monitors, this made Lincoln try his best to straighten up, but he lost it when Clarke sneezed again in the middle of the line. Octavia had joined them for this scene and she was now laughing all because Lincoln was.
Clarke sneezed once again during the same line and now Anya, Lincoln and Octavia were doubling over with laughter. Clarke rolled her eyes at them, holding back her own laugh, "Seriously guys, it's not that funny."
Literally everyone in the room was laughing, most of them just couldn't help it, the laughter was contagious, Clarke even saw that Lexa was laughing, something she'd never seen her do before.
"Guys, if we don't get through this scene, you're not gonna get lunch," The director called.
Lincoln, Anya, Octavia and even Clarke only laughed harder, Clarke sneezing mid-laugh. Lincoln was wiping tears from his eyes at this point and Octavia and Anya were leaning on each other for support to keep from collapsing to the floor with laughter.
"We would be done already if Clarke would stop sneezing in the middle of her line every damn time." Lincoln said. Clarke sneezed once more and was met with a chorus of bless you's.
20 minutes later, with Clarke only sneezing twice, they had finally managed to get through the scene and were onto the final scene before lunch. Clarke, Octavia and Harper were in this one and Lincoln warned Harper of the demons that were being released in the air and that that she should be careful around Clarke.
While the makeup people were fixing up Clarke's hair and makeup, Lexa walked by, "Are you gonna make it through one take without sneezing so we can go to lunch?"
Clarke rolled her eyes mentally, "I'll do my best."
Clarke watched the smile on Lexa's face as she walked back to her spot next to the director.
Clarke had made it almost the entire seen before she sneezed in the middle of what was supposed to be the second to last line of the scene. Octavia threw her hands up in defeat, "Dammit, Clarke! I'm hungry and I'm supposed to be meeting someone."
The next take went smoothly with no sneezing occurring until right after the director calling cut. Clarke was walking off set and sneezed so hard she stumbled, but kept her footing and made it back to her trailer to change. Clarke changed quickly so she could get back home for lunch with her mom and Caroline. She was so busy texting her mom as she left her trailer that she ran right into Lexa who was also in her own world.
Clarke felt her face go hot, "I'm sorry, god, I should learn to watch where I'm walking."
Lexa just laughed, "I wasn't exactly paying attention either. You seem in a hurry though."
"I'm hungry." Clarke said.
Lexa laughed again, "Well, then you better go get some food. Maybe that'll help with you sneezing in the middle scenes."
"Is that all I'm going to hear about from now on?"
Lexa shrugged, "I don't know. I guess you'll find out."
Clarke watched as Lexa walked off, she totally enjoyed Clarke's embarrassment and wasn't afraid to show it.
***
"It's been nine months and I still haven't taken it off.' Clarke told her mother over lunch as she stared down at the engagement ring that was still on her finger.
"Honey, it's ok to keep it on. I didn't take mine off for a year and a half." Abby told her daughter.
Clarke looked to the chain around her mother's neck with her and her dad's wedding rings hanging from it. Clarke felt like taking off the ring was a sign of her moving on and she definitely wouldn't be doing that any time soon, or ever for that matter. She didn't care if she wasn't engaged anymore or what the paparazzi came up with, if she wanted to keep the ring on, that's what she would do. If she was ready to take it off, she would, but how could she ever be ready for that.
"Clarke, I see that look on your face. If you take it off, it doesn't mean that you're moving on and if you keep it on, it doesn't mean you're living in the past. You'll know when you're ready to take it off, but until then, leave on. It's nobody's business but yours." Abby put her hand on Clarke's watching the tears well up in Clarke's eyes.
