CHAPTER 3- Questions

Bellamy stood in the centre of camp, watching where Clarke's retreated form had been.

"Fuck." He murmured to himself, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand. Bellamy was speechless, a rarity in itself, as he made his way back to his tent.

As he entered his tent Bellamy saw he wasn't alone. A tall, willowy brunette was draped across his bed. Not sparing the girl a second glance he mumbled, "Not tonight" to the girl.

The girl huffed and stomped out of his tent leaving the leader alone. As Bellamy lay in his bed he felt strange, his body ached. Could it be longing? Or disappointment? That the girl that lay in his bed was brunette and her limbs were sinewy and angled instead of blonde waves and soft curls. Bellamy groaned and turned off his makeshift light waiting for sleep to take him from his racing thoughts.

As the morning light streamed through Clarke's tent her thoughts raced to the night before. Her bold words and brash promises haunted her. What if Bellamy didn't really like her and just saw her as an easy fuck? Fuck. She liked him. Her tent felt too big and her body felt cold as she realised that she missed him. Clarke missed Bellamy, his mop of brown curls and dappled freckles. She missed the way his arms had encircled her, making her feel safe.

Clarke went about her daily routine. She worked in the med bay, tending to the cuts and scrapes that were results of working on the wall, she sewed the injuries that came from adolescents handling weapons and she threw herself into the welcome distraction. Later in the afternoon she spotted the familiar face of Miller. Jogging up to him she offered to cover his guard shift as she could use the extra time alone.

Clarke climbed the ladder to the platform high in the trees, from this position she was hidden from the rest of camp. Sitting here she wasn't camp medic or co-leader and she could finally relax. Revelling in the quiet Clarke began to slip into sleep when she was interrupted by a shout.

"Miller!" Somebody called up her tree.

"Miller?" The voice continued. Clarke, wanting to keep her peace, turned away from the noise and nestled back into her spot.

The voice grew louder and Clarke heard footsteps accessending the ladder to the platform.

"Miller?" The voice was quieter now as they neared Clarke, still hidden from camp. "Miller have you seen Clarke?"

Clarke recognised the low velvet undertones of the voice and poked her head into sight and was met with the sight of a flustered Bellamy.

"Clarke?" Bellamy remarked surprised, "What are you doing here?"

"I took Miller's shift, is something wrong?" Clarke answered.

"Yes something's wrong. You've been avoiding me."

Clarke snorted. "I'm not, I'm just not ready to have that conversation."

"Well, me neither, but we should. So that's why I bought this." Bellamy said and pulled out two cups and a flask out of his side pouch. "Thought we could use a little liquid courage princess". He smirked.

Clarke laughed and rolling her eyes said, "What did you have in mind?"

"We are playing Questions" Bellamy replied.

"How do you play that?"

"You drink and ask each other questions, that's it." Bellamy replied and smirked at Clarke's deadpan expression. "I'll go first then, start off easy. What's your favourite thing to draw?"

Clarke drank and answered "Faces." And Bellamy could've sworn he saw a faint blush appear on her cheeks.

"My turn, why did you call your sister Octavia?" Clarke could've sworn that it was Bellamy's turn to blush as he sheepishly told her about his childhood love of roman mythology and history. Bellamy turned red even faster when Clarke laughed teasingly.

"Okay, okay. Time to step it up a notch" Bellamy said, eager to hide his embarrassment.

"Why did you sleep with Finn?"

Clarke coughed and spluttered on the shot that was about to pass her lips. She smacked Bellamy and downed the drink, and another before pausing and answering. They'd already progressed so much why shouldn't she tell the truth? She trusted him. Clarke trusted Bellamy, not just with the camp but also with herself. With her own feelings. Clarke took a deep breath and turned to Bellamy,

"To feel something. For so long all I've felt is anger, at the Ark, my mom, Wells, even you. Finn distracted me I guess." Looking up she saw Bellamy's intense gaze, but Clarke had more to say.

"On the Arc I was somebody, I had an apprentice, a family, friends but they all disappeared one by one. Down here I'm a medic, useful. I don't have feelings down here. Finn made me feel something other than the loneliness of Earth."

"Clarke you're more than a medic." Bellamy replied, attempting to stress her importance to their survival. His survival, his happiness. "You keep this camp grounded but more importantly you make us happy. I've never seen Octavia smile so much and for that you have my gratitude."

"I don't want your gratitude Bellamy, I.."

"You what, princess?" Bellamy yearned to know what his princess was thinking.

Clarke's eyes welled up and she blinked in an attempt to hide her tears.

"Next question, please." Her voice thick with emotion.

"Do you regret last night?"

"No! I mean, no." Clarke hurried to put Bellamy's insecurities at rest. Looking down she asked, "Do you?" Clarke prepared herself for rejection; fearful of his silence she willed her eyes to meet his. But she wasn't prepared for the intensity or dare she say longing? That she found there.

"I don't regret it Clarke. You're stubborn, you've got a bad sense of humour, we argue over everything but I like you. I find myself wanting to make you laugh. For god's sake I missed you today!" Bellamy spat out, exasperated.

Clarke whispered, "I missed you too." She moved closer to his face and pulled him down to her, placing a soft kiss on his mouth. She filled the kiss with all the emotions she was too scared to say. Finding courage from Bellamy's ardent response she moved her mouth to his ear.

"I want to be with you." She pulled back and held his face in her hands.

"And not because I'm drunk but because I'm falling for you. Hard" Before she was barely finished Bellamy had pulled her closer to him and was trailing kisses along her jaw to her ear and whispered.

"I'm falling for you too."