Clarke wound the bandage tightly around Bellamy's leg, slapping away his hand when he tried to take over. "That should do it. Plus a week of bed rest."

His frown was fierce. "Like hell."

"One week."

A staring contest ensued.

"Fine." Bellamy's surrender was a grumpy one.

She knew that really meant he would wait 24 hours and then sneak out. Coincidentally, that would fulfil her actual prescription for bed rest. Clarke knew that if it were anyone else giving the order, he would have been on his feet the second the words crossed their lips. The two of them had an unspoken agreement not to lie to each other anymore. And yet here they both were, lying to each other. Like so many times before, today she could package a benevolent lie with a painful truth. "I have something to tell you."

"Go on."

"Do you remember that couple that you rescued from that weird cave a month ago?"

"The one with the pregnant woman?" His eyes were wary.

"Mm. See, that's the thing-"

"Did she lose the baby?" He was staring down at his bedsheet, so she couldn't read his expression, but she could make a pretty good guess. Fear. Anger. And guilt. There was always guilt.

"No, no. The baby's fine. A healthy baby boy." She smiled to show that she meant it.

"Then why are you treading on eggshells? Out with it. What's the crisis?"

Apparently the smile was unconvincing. "You named Octavia, right? How did you decide on a name?"

"Clarke…" It was practically a growl. He could obviously sense where the conversation was leading.

"They were really grateful for the rescue."

"I see."

"You can't make them take it back. They've been calling him Bellamy for days now. And you know that the odds of survival were depressingly slim. The mum was braced for heartbreak, and she's still really fragile."

Bellamy looked at her accusingly. "How could you let them do that? Why?"

"I wasn't at the birth. I was in a surgery all day and I didn't hear about it until it was over. I'm sorry. I would have talked them out of it. You know I would have."

"Clarke, I can't-"

He choked on the words, but she knew what he meant. "You can. It's just a name. It's just letters, arranged in a certain order."

"After everything I've done… Are they delusional? Or just stupid?"

"Neither. On that day, you were their hero. You gave them a future with their kid."

"How much of a future? A week? A month? I wouldn't bet on anything more than that for us, let alone for a baby."

"I would." She reached for his hand and unclenched his fist. "Because he'll have you in his corner. He'll have all of us. Naming him after you was actually a really strategic move. Every single person in this camp will be watching that kid like a hawk. No one will want to face your wrath if something bad happens to him."

He shook his head wildly. 'I don't deserve-"

"It's not about what you deserve. It's about what the baby deserves. A good name. And it is a good name."

He jabbed a finger at her shoulder. "If the shoe were on the other foot-"

"If the shoe were on the other foot, you would tell me to shut up and get over it. To let the family enjoy their happy ending in peace. Someone should, and we both know it isn't going to be us."

He sighed and let his head fall back to the pillow with a bang. "Two Bellamys. We're all doomed."

Clarke shrugged. "What else is new?"

W hen they visited the baby together two weeks later, Bellamy had a smile on his face for the family. It was 90% fake, but there was a tiny part of Bellamy, deep down, below all the layers of trauma and bullshit, that was genuinely happy to meet his namesake. Even when the baby greeted him by throwing up goo all over his favourite shirt.