We meet again! Welcome to my humble abode. Enjoy this chapter!
DISCLAIMER: I don't own The 100 or its characters. However if you know where I can buy a Bob Morley online, that'd be great.
Chapter Four
There's No Peace Without War
By caggiewrites
It was now Wednesday, and Clarke was in a foul mood due to the crappy mark she'd just received on her latest paper and Finn had not returned any of her calls.
She'd only rung twice, sure, but that was once more than she really should have. And if Finn was as eager as her friends painted him to be, why hadn't he called back?
On her way home from class that afternoon, therefore, Clarke was not in the mood to talk to Abby Griffin when her mother called. After letting the call ring, she felt instantly bad because she knew what was coming up. That was part of the reason she didn't want to talk to her mom.
Clarke was so caught up in her own head she didn't notice Finn until her was about a metre away from her. Despite her annoyance, she noted how good he looked in denim jeans and a button up.
Clarke could only blink at him, "Finn? What are you doing outside my room?"
Finn looked surprised himself, but Clarke couldn't possibly think why, since he was standing literally by the wall of her door, "Hey, Clarke! I was… looking for you, of course."
Clarke frowned. For someone waiting for her, he looked odd about the fact she'd shown up.
"Okay… you wanna come in?" Clarke asked, letting herself in.
Finn immediately accepted and walked in the room. Octavia wasn't about, so Clarke just dumped her stuff on the bed and turned around to face him, fiddling with the hem of her sleeves. Finn looked around the room, and Clarke hated that the room was messy and that the silence was awkward. Was it just a couple of days ago she'd sat here in comfortable silence with Bellamy Blake?
"You didn't return my call," She blurted desperately, then cursed herself for sounding so pathetic.
Finn looked at her, "What? Oh, yeah! I'm sorry about that I was so busy these last couple days. But I was nearby and thought I'd drop in." He smiled at her, and Clarke couldn't help but return the gesture.
"It's fine, of course. What's up?" Clarke replied, attempting at casual.
"Well, I was wondering whether you were busy this Friday night." Finn's grin was now adorable and Clarke felt herself relax. "We could go see a movie or something. Dinner, drinks, whatever."
Clarke found herself nodding, butterflies whizzing around her stomach, "I'd like that." She admitted. "Drinks is a good call, then we can talk. I always find movies pretty pointless as a first date, you have to sit in silence!" Clarke reasoned when Finn laughed appreciatively. What she didn't say was that dinner meant she'd have to eat in front of him and what if she spilled something or dribbled or –
"Drinks it is, I'll swing by around eight?"
They talked a while more until Finn said he had to go. Clarke closed the door behind him with a giddy smile on her face. A date with Finn! Still with her back to the door, someone tried to swing it open with their usual gusto, and Clarke was pushed to floor.
"Clarke? What were you doing by the door? Did I just see Finn?" Octavia quizzed as soon as she stepped in the room.
From the floor, Clarke looked up at Octavia, rubbing her back, "What is it with you Blakes and blasting doors open? You don't need to demonstrate your general badassery all the time." But Clarke was smiling, and she accepted Octavia's hand.
Octavia shot her a sly smile but brushed this off, "So, what did Finn say?"
Clarke smiled deviously, and Octavia squealed, "Clarke! Did he ask you out?"
Clarke just nodded and the two girls indulged in some stereotypical femininity, jumping and screeching around the room. After they'd calmed down, Octavia said that she needed an excuse for celebration as they were going for drinks in a bar down town later. Ten minutes ago, Clarke would have shot Octavia down, but now she was feeling light hearted and had a date with Finn, so she agreed.
"It's actually the bar Bell works at," Octavia admitted.
Clarke felt a churn of mixed emotions in her chest, "What? Will he be there?"
"Yes," Octavia looked at Clarke's face carefully. "But there's a reason… I'm taking Lincoln with us."
Clarke's eyes widened at her roommate, and she launched into a flurry of worries, "Octavia, you said it yourself, Bellamy hates Lincoln! For stupid reasons, but even so. We should be keeping Lincoln away from Bellamy, not waving him under his nose so that he gets mad and in a bar, he's not allowed to drink on the job is he? Because that could just get messy."
Octavia seized Clarke's arms, "Clarke, calm down." Satisfied, Octavia slumped on her bed. "I'm taking Lincoln to the bar tonight because Bellamy can't get crazy whilst he's working. It sounds cruel, I know, but I am just really sick of separating the two of them. I really like Lincoln, Clarke, and Bellamy means the world to me, I just want them to tolerate each other at least."
It made Clarke so sad when Octavia got upset, because she was the strongest girl Clarke had ever met and she knew that was due to her past in so many ways, but now Clarke was Octavia's best friend, she would do anything to help the girl. She and Bellamy shared something in common after all.
Clarke kneeled down in front of Octavia, taking her hand, "I'm sorry, you're right. You're right and I will assist in any way that I can. I'll call all the others and make sure they come, too, just in case we need reinforcements."
Clarke was nervous about seeing Bellamy again, but she couldn't put her finger on the reason. She banished his face from her mind as she selected JASPER JORDAN on her phone and pressed dial.
The bar was called 'The Ark' and even to Clarke it seemed like a cool place. Her, Octavia, Raven, Monty, Jasper, Monroe and the guest of honour Lincoln arrived at around 9:30pm, a half hour after Bellamy was due to start working. There was a certain nervous energy amongst the group, but the way that Octavia grabbed at Lincoln's hand and squeezed it tightly powered them all onwards. From the short time the rest of them had interacted with Bellamy, they knew he had a mad temper, and none of them were too excited to be poking at it.
Inside, it was decorated kind of old school, but there was definitely a space element going on, and Clarke noted the beautiful paintings covering the walls of outer space. They chose a booth close to the bar, and it wasn't long before Monty called attention to Bellamy serving a bunch of guys at the other end.
"So, who's ordering?" Jasper asked.
The group looked around at each other. Clarke noticed Octavia watching Bellamy, almost fearfully, and seized the opportunity.
"I'll go," Clarke offered, "With Octavia. We're going to get this over with."
Octavia herself snapped out of her trance and looked at Clarke, but then nodded, steeling herself. They extracted themselves from the booth.
"You sure I shouldn't come with you straightaway?" Lincoln asked.
Before Octavia could respond, Clarke said, "No. Let Octavia explain first, and then we'll call you when it's… safe."
On the way to the bar, Octavia actually clasped Clarke's hand and Clarke smiled reassuringly at her. Telling Bellamy about Lincoln must be the equivalent of the good girl telling her father she has gotten pregnant at 16, Clarke mused.
When they reached the bar, they were approached by a man who was not Bellamy, who was wearing a beanie and also good looking. Clarke wondered if they had an attractiveness test you had to pass to work here.
"What can I get you, girls?" He asked in a friendly tone.
"Actually, could we wait for the barman over there?" Octavia said immediately, too frenzied to match his politeness.
The barman raised his eyebrows, "Got your eye on someone?" He turned around. "Wick? Bellamy?"
"Bellamy, and he's my brother, so, no," Octavia seemed to reign herself in just enough to wickedly side grin at Clarke. "I'm just speaking for myself, though."
Before Clarke could ask what the hell she meant by that, the barman spoke, "Oh, sure! Octavia, right? Bellamy goes on about you all the time. I'm Miller," The barman now with the name Miller stuck his hand over the bar to shake Clarke and Octavia's hands. "Hey, Bellamy!" Miller called, and Bellamy turned around. He looked puzzled for a brief second but then he saw Octavia and his face broke into a grin, and god, did Clarke dare admit to herself it made her heart stop for the tiniest of seconds? Perhaps it was the shock, but Clarke didn't seem to think so. She was made even more uncomfortable when Bellamy's eyes locked on Clarke and the smile didn't actually slide off his face in disgust, which surprised her. Instead, it turned into more of a 'Clarke's here. Huh.' smile that wasn't entirely unpleasant.
Bellamy motioned for Miller to swap with him and he began to walk over.
"Oh god, oh god, Clarke, don't let me die," Octavia suddenly began whispering.
Clarke turned to look Octavia straight in the eye, "Octavia. It's going to be fine, this is your brother."
Bellamy had arrived. "So, what brings you here tonight?" Good mood again, Clarke noted, perhaps they would be lucky. It made his very low voice pleasant.
Octavia was just smiling at her brother, but it was so fixed it looked demonic. Bellamy began to look suspicious, glancing from his sister to Clarke.
"Just hanging out, thought we'd check out this place," Clarke tried. "It's nice."
Bellamy slowly nodded at her, looking even more confused than before, "It's alright. Octavia told me you don't usually go out during the week."
Clarke was struck that Octavia had ever talked about her to Bellamy and even more struck by the fact that Bellamy remembered whatever she told him.
"Well, I'm a changed woman now, after Saturday night," Clarke joked lamely, but she swore she saw the corners of his mouth turn up.
"Well, any time you want to come by my work to tell me I'm hot is fine by me, Princess," Bellamy said smugly.
Clarke rolled her eyes and they shared a small smile for the smallest moment, but it lasted forever in Clarke's mind. Yet she doubted forever was long enough to sort out the mess of feelings in her head concerning Bellamy. Clarke almost forgot Octavia was there when she spoke up, and by the way Bellamy jumped, he had too.
"Lincoln's here," She blurted.
Well that was one way of going about it.
Bellamy seemed puzzled at first, but then his face cleared and turned to apprehensive, "What do you mean, he's here?" Immediately, he began to search the bar with his eyes, and Clarke saw the red flags. She nudged Octavia.
"Bell, listen to me, please. I care about your opinion, I do, but you're being kind of irrational about this whole thing. I really like Lincoln and he cares about me! Is it so bad of me to want the two of my favourite men in the same room?" She said all of this very fast.
Bellamy seemed to be trying very hard to exercise control of himself, "Octavia, you don't know anything about him, and I don't trust him. You have no idea what he is thinking."
Octavia sighed in exasperation, "He's not hiding anything, Bellamy! I should be able to go out with who I want to, not who you've proven permission of! Which, by the way, will be nobody ever and I'll die a spinster. C'mon, Bell."
He stayed silent, breathing very hard.
"Please," Octavia looked imploringly at her brother. "Meet him, just meet him. For me."
Clarke desperately willed Bellamy to say yes, she didn't understand how he couldn't see how distressed Octavia was.
"Bring him out of hiding, then," Bellamy finally deadpanned.
Octavia exhaled and scurried back over to their booth, where Clarke noticed all of their friends were watching with baited breath. When she looked back at Bellamy, she was taken aback to see him staring at her, his face unreadable. Clarke didn't break eye contact for a moment, but then she cocked her head in the direction of the booth and began to walk, and though she didn't look back, sensed him paralleling her.
Lincoln and Octavia were stood slightly away from the rest of their friends. Bellamy came out from behind the bar. There was a pregnant pause. Finally Lincoln reached out, offering his hand to Bellamy, "I'm Lincoln." He said politely.
Bellamy looked Lincoln up and down, ignoring his hand which retracted slowly.
"Bellamy…" Octavia whispered as warning.
His eyes lingered on Octavia's small hands clutching Lincoln's arm. It felt like the rest of the world had slowed down around them, and it was just Clarke, Lincoln and Octavia all watching Bellamy carefully. It seemed like Bellamy stared at Lincoln for ages, until his eyes dropped to the floor.
Finally, he said, "Did you know that I was against you seeing my sister?" His use of the possessive 'my' didn't go unnoticed by anyone.
Clarke heard Octavia swallow, and had to be impressed by Lincoln who did not falter.
"Yes." He said.
As far as Bellamy was concerned, that was his death sentence.
He swung at Lincoln before anybody could react and hit the latter man square in the jaw. Lincoln staggered back, and Octavia reached out to him with a cry. Clarke registered the bar going quiet, but concentrated on pulling fiercely at the back of Octavia's shirt so she was not in the line of fire. It was lucky she did, because Bellamy grabbed Lincoln by his shirt and muttered something before punching him again, Lincoln falling to the floor this time. Clarke was sure that Lincoln could put up a good fight against Bellamy, but he seemed reluctant to actually hit him.
Octavia pulled free of Clarke's hold and attempted to pull Bellamy off of Lincoln.
"Bellamy stop! Get off of him, Bellamy please! Lincoln! Lincoln, oh god, fight back!" Clarke was shocked at Octavia's statement but she then looked at the two men and saw Bellamy had a distinct upper hand.
It seemed all Lincoln needed was permission, and he hit Bellamy squarely in the nose, and Clarke saw the blood flow. By this time, the barmen Wick and Miller had reached them, and also attempted to pull Bellamy off Lincoln. Most of their friends had stood up in horror.
Finally, Clarke turned around and saw the whole bar engrossed in this fight. Some cheered, and some looked disgusted. They all, however, did nothing. For some reason, this angered Clarke. These two men were fighting like barbarians and all any of these people could do was watch like it was entertainment. As Clarke heard another fist connect with flesh and a grunt, she whirled around, and headed straight into the middle of the mix.
"That is ENOUGH!" Clarke shouted angrily. Everyone halted, and she was suddenly aware of everyone looking at her.
With the distraction, Wick and Miller successfully got a hold of Bellamy and pulled him away. His nose was bloody and he had a cut lip, but it looked as though he barely noticed. Octavia hurriedly helped Lincoln to his feet, already fussing over him. Bellamy still watched Lincoln with pure hatred, both breathing heavily. Octavia was crying, and hugging Lincoln to her. He wrapped an arm around her.
"I was trying to do right by Octavia," Lincoln said quietly, looking at Bellamy.
Clarke sensed Bellamy's movement a heartbeat quicker than anyone else, and jumped in front of him, hands grabbing the front of his shirt, holding him back. Wick and Miller then kicked in and restrained his arms, but Clarke didn't let go. Bellamy seethed at Lincoln over the top of her head, struggling.
"Bellamy," Clarke looked up at his face. "Stop." She said evenly.
After a few seconds, Bellamy did just that. He dropped his gaze to Clarke and it was unreadable, just like before, but he stared into her eyes and they were so close Clarke had to fight to clear her head. Clarke didn't break his gaze.
"Octavia, take Lincoln and go," Clarke said, still looking up at Bellamy, trying to will him to shut up for once. When she didn't hear any movement, however, she turned her head and looked pleadingly at her best friend. "Go."
Still crying, Octavia nodded at Clarke, and pulled Lincoln with her out of the bar. The others all trailed after them, bar Raven, who stayed in her seat. Once Octavia was out of sight, Bellamy visibly relaxed, all the fight went out of him. Clarke finally released her grip on his shirt and stepped away and Bellamy hung his head. Finally, Raven got up and addressed the whispering crowd.
"Okay, show's over! Everyone back to your little conversations!" She called to them, and they began to talk amongst themselves again, the buzz of the bar creeping up in volume once more.
"Hey," Said Miller to Clarke. "We have to get back and serve this lot. Will you stay with him?" He gestured to the forlorn Bellamy.
Her heart sunk, as she imagined she was possibly the last person on earth Bellamy would want to be with right now. But she nodded, he shouldn't be by himself.
"Thanks," Miller sighed with relief. "You can take him out back."
Clarke nodded, and moved towards Bellamy.
"I'll wait for you, Clarke," Raven offered, and hitched herself up onto a bar stool opposite Wick who had returned to behind the bar already. "So, can I get a drink on the house, or did we cause too much shit?"
Clarke heard Wick laugh as she guided Bellamy out back. Clarke decided to go outside because the fresh air would probably do both of them good. Bellamy immediately sat down on an upturned crate and Clarke leaned against the wall beside him, leaving at least a metre's distance. They were silent for a while, the only sounds the distant hum from inside the bar and their breathing outside. Bellamy's breaths gradually got slower and less heavy, until he seemed to have calmed down.
Clarke did sympathise with Bellamy to an extent. She could see why having any boy around Octavia irked him. He had always been the man in her life, the one who looked after her and cheered her up and wiped her tears. He could see himself being replaced, which although a ridiculous idea if you had seen the Blake siblings together, was understandable of him to think. Bellamy and Octavia were each other's only family, and how do you react to the only person who has always been there… moving on? Clarke wondered if he worried about not mattering. If nobody needed you, did you matter at all? It was a sad thought and for a moment made Clarke almost understand a part of Bellamy.
"Well, that was a disaster," Clarke finally said, not really sure if she aiming for light hearted or not.
Bellamy grunted in reply.
"You didn't have to hit him," She continued.
"How could I not?" Bellamy burst. "He thinks he can come around here and tell me what is and isn't right for Octavia."
"I'll tell you what's not right for Octavia," Clarke turned to face him. "Beating up her boyfriend in a bar! What were you thinking?"
This time Bellamy faced her, "What was I thinking? I was thinking about protecting Octavia, like I always am!"
"Protecting her from what?" Clarke said incredulously. "There is nothing wrong with Lincoln!"
"And how would you know that?" He spat.
"I happen to have spent some time with him! Actually getting to know him before punching him in the face!"
"Oh, of course!" Bellamy stood up now. "This was probably all you, wasn't it, Princess? Egging her on about that moron until she felt she had to go out with him."
Clarke scoffed, not believing her ears, "I brainwashed her now? God, do you even hear yourself? And don't call me Princess!"
"I know what you freshmen girls are like, all about boys and nothing else, never thinking for one second that behind that bravado there is a nasty piece of work!" Bellamy raised his voice now.
"Ha!" Clarke raised her own voice as well, marching up to him. "Bellamy, you're just describing yourself. Is that what this is about? You don't want Octavia to meet another you because you can see how poisonous and unpleasant and horrible you are!"
"Poisonous and unpleasant? You should know all about that, Princess, having the hots for Finn Collins!" Bellamy shouted furiously, his face getting closer to hers.
"Excuse me?" Clarke shoved Bellamy back by the chest, although it didn't have the desired effect as the man's a tank, he still stumbled backwards. "This has nothing to do with me and Finn! Which, by the way, is none of your damn business!"
"Sure it isn't, but even you know the way he acts sometimes is kind of odd. Tell me, why is that?" Bellamy was baiting her, and he had regain his close contact. There was but a few inches between their bodies.
"Bellamy! This is not about me and Finn freaking Collins! This is about you being an asshole!" Clarke cried.
"If I'm such an asshole, and you hate me so much, why the hell are you here, Clarke?" The use of her first name instead of the stupid nickname threw her off, and Clarke faltered. Now that she wasn't shouting, she noticed just how close they were. He was much taller than her but he had freckles scattered across his nose and his lips were slightly parted as he breathed heavily. All of these features were marred by the blood that was drying there, or in the case of the nose, still trickling out. And the question hung in the limited air between them.
Without a second thought, she spun around and went back inside, leaving Bellamy standing alone.
She didn't leave though. Clarke came back not two minutes later with a damp cloth to find Bellamy resting against the wall, head in hands. She knelt in front him.
"Hey," Clarke said gently. Bellamy hadn't heard her return and brought his head out of his hands in surprise and just looked at her face, mouth open. "That's better. I need to clean your face, it looks disgusting."
Bellamy chuckled under his breath. She began to gently clean off the blood around his mouth and nose, concentrating very hard on ignoring their once again close proximity. She could feel his eyes on her though, and when she was done, she glanced up at him to see his eyes lazily focussed on her lips. Her breath hitched, and she licked her lips nervously before standing up suddenly.
"Squeaky clean. Sort of," Clarke announced. He stood up with her.
"What now?" Bellamy said simply.
Clarke looked up at him, her eyes full of real sympathy this time, "You make it right."
A/N: Tada! First things first, for the purposes of this fic, the drinking age is 18, like it is in England because otherwise that would have brought up loads of complications with the bar and I really love Bellamy working in a bar. I hope you liked this chapter! Chapter 6 will definitely be Bellamy POV because I already have Chapter 5 planned.
Huge shout out to nolechic512, Emmie-Kai, BellaClara, HighSocks, vulnera-sapientia and Rednecks 'n Angels! Your reviews made me blush like crazy I am SO happy you are enjoying this fic! Thank you so much. Keep up that reviewing or I have no flow!
Until next time,
Caragon x
PS. So I am a crazy fast updater. I hope my grades don't show that. You're more important.
