Chap 3
Clarke arrived at the station ten minutes earlier, so she sat on one of the benches near their meeting point and waited.
"hey!" someone tapped her on the shoulder giving her a fright "I'm sorry! Didn't mean to scare you!" Octavia smiled apologetically
Clarke giggled nervously "No, I was just surprised" She held up the book she had been reading "And completely sucked in the world in here"
Octavia smiled knowingly "My brother's the same.. Anyway this is your shirt" she said handing her a bag
Clarke grinned and handed her another "And this is your blouse"
Octavia took it and smelled it "God, it smell so good, Please let me buy you a coffee?"
"I have a feeling that you're not going to let me go until I say yes, right?"
"Absolutely."
Clarke smiled shaking her head "Fine!"
"So you're a writer.."
Octavia took a sip from her cappuccino and nodded "Yeah, I graduated from my local Uni and got a job with a couple of minor magazines here and there, worked well for a while, but then I realized I wanted more, and now I'm working for Vanity Fair!"
Clarke beamed "Your folks must be very proud of you"
Octavia smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes "My mom died when I was 16.."
Clarke gasped "I'm so sorry.."
"My father.." the other girl paused "Well, he's out of the picture.. It's only me and my brother.. He's pretty much the only reason why I came this far.. He dropped out of college so that he could take care of me" Now she smiled brightly "He is very proud"
Clarke smiled kindly "It's beautiful. I don't have siblings but if I had I would probably aspire to have a relationship like yours"
"Yeah, we're pretty close.. I used to feel guilty over the fact that he had to give up his dreams to keep mine from sinking, but now he's living one of the two so I'm pretty proud myself now"
Clarke hummed smiling taking a sip from her mocha
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry, I kept talking about my life, I blame it on the writer streak, apparently once I start talking I can't stop, it's like I have verbal diarrhea, It's a prob- oh, I did it again.."
Clarke burst out in giggles "My God, you and I are more alike than I thought"
Octavia grinned "Probably.. So what do you do?"
They talked and talked for hours until Clarke received an instant message from Raven
WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU!?
YOUR DAD WILL BE HOME SOON
GET YOUR ASS HERE
NOW.
"Oh, gee"
"Something's wrong?" Octavia asked watching her carefully
"I have to go.. It's my dad's birthday and we're having this little surprise party" Clarke said getting up
"Oh, of course!" Octavia shot up and offered her hand again "It was a pleasure to meet you, Clarke"
Something moved inside her and she had a sense of déjà-vu. She stared at the other girl wide eyed
"Are you okay?" Octavia asked her with a worried frown
Clarke blinked and shook the memory of the train away "Yeah, just.. Nothing" she squeezed the other girl's hand "It was very nice meeting you too.." She let go of the hand and turned to the door
She frowned looking at the exit and then turning back at the other girl said "I really like you Octavia, I genuinely think that you're a good person and.." she made a face "This may sound creepy, but apparently my brain can't find a way to tell it in another way, so.. I just want to keep in touch and be like.. Friends"
Octavia smiled brightly "I'd love that, really"
"Oh? That's great!" the blonde exclaimed delighted "I have your number and you have mine, talk to you soon then" she said walking backwards to the exit
Octavia smiled nodding "Absolutely!"
"Is he back?" Clarke asked as soon as she was home
Raven came running to her and pulled her to the living room "Not yet, but he'll be here soon. What took you so long? I thought you were only going to give the blouse back"
Clarke looked at her contritely "Yeah but then we got coffee and-"
"Hey Knobby!" Raven rolled her eyes at the stupid nickname their friend used to call Clarke
The blonde looked around with her eyes wide "Wells?"
"I'm on the side table, I think.."
She sighed when she saw the laptop and walked over it "You know, it would be nice to see you in the flesh.. It's been like six years! You do know that's a lot, right? How can I know if you're real or a.. Hologram or something?"
"Mhm yeah, I could be a shape-shifter" He joked wiggling his eyebrows
Clarke huffed looking at Raven that just shook her head amused "I'm serious, Wells"
He sighed "I know, can we just not do this today?"
Someone ranged the bell and they all held their breath until Abby's voice greeted their neighbours
Clarke looked at the camera "Looks like your dad's here"
She got up and went to greet them.
After a tense exchange between father and son on skype, it was only a matter of minutes before they all heard the key being turned. They hurriedly switched off all the lights and waited in the darkness.
"Hello?"
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" They all screamed as soon the light was back on.
Jake laughed with a hand over his chest "You guys gave me a heart attack"
Abby laughed and went to kiss his husband "Well come back"
After hugging Clarke he looked over at Raven "Well, now that I have my engineer buddy back I won't feel so lonely when these two"-he said pointing at mother and daughter-"go on full crazy medic stuff" Clarke and Abby rolled their eyes while Raven laughed going to hug him
"Happy birthday mate, we're getting old huh?"
Jake snorted "Maybe you, not me!" he pointed at himself "There's a child that never grows up in here"
"Happy Birthday Mr Griffin!"
Jake looked around confused until his friend pointed at the side table "Oh, Hello there! Thanks!"
After they all had a piece of cake (chocolate of course) it was time for the presents. Clarke gave hers last
"Oh kid, it's beautiful" her dad breathed in wonder staring at it
"You say it every time I show you a new one" Clarke smiled rolling her eyes
"On no, this one is even better than freckles, I'm definitely going to frame it!" He exclaimed enthusiastic
Raven laughed and muttered under her breath "You should frame your one too.. freckles?"
Clarke blushed and elbowed her friend making her giggle.
Later when the party became a little too old for Clarke and Raven, they decided it was time to leave the fun and go to their rooms.
Clarke's hand was itching for a pen for some reason. She couldn't wait to write.
Hey Bellamy!
I'm probably grinning like a weirdo right now, but I'm just.. So Happy.
I feel great. It's one of those perfect days when you feel that the planets are aligned, the stars are brighter than the usual and all is going to be great.
I met with Octavia today, to give her shirt back and we talked so much, it felt like we'd known each other for ages, I also had this weird moment when she said something to me and I completely spaced out because she reminded me of you.. Crazy right? Anyway we'll keep in touch, so that's great. And..
Today was my dad's birthday. We surprised him with a little party and it was wonderful. I felt like when I was younger when all of us were home, the only bugger was the absence of Wells (my other best friend). He's a year older than me so he left school a year before I did and that also means that it's been six years since I saw him in person.
I used to feel sad about it, but now every time I think about it, I get so mad I want to punch him in the face.. Okay, this is turning in an angry letter very fast, so let me stop right here.
Her laptop lit up with a Skype call from Wells
Talk of the devil.. He's calling, I gotta go..
I hope you're having a great time in the USA,
Love,
Clarke
Clarke put down the pen and accepted the call "Hey"
"Hey, how's the party going?"
"For them great I think, but for me and Raven it moved too much in Adult-over-50 territory so we left early"
"Ow, did they had too many beers and start playing at 'Who am I?'"
Clarke cracked a smile "You got it"
Wells laughed shaking his head
"Wells, why are you not here?" Clarke asked point-blank
"What?"
"You heard me."
He sighed "I told you, I don't wann-"
"Well that's too bad Wells, because I want to have it. What is it? It's like Edinburgh so much better that you don't want to come home at least once in a while?"
"No! That's no-"
"Then why? Six years, Wells. And don't use the stepmom bullshit excuse, cause I had the possibility to know her and she's not half as bad as you think. Did something happen?"
"No! Yes, oh god" Wells nervously rubbed his face and sighed
"Wells.."
"I can't tell you Clarke" He said after a moment of silence
Clarke lost all her anger and looked at the screen hurt "You don't trust me?"
"Clarke.. I just.." He sighed again closing his eyes
"Wow," She swallowed her hurt and looked directly at the camera "I thought that even if six years had passed since we last saw each other, we were still best friends. You used to tell me everything. But now, I see.. it's not like that anymore, is it?"
"Wells?" someone called her friend from the other end of the line
"I have to go.." Wells looked at her though the screen sadly
Clarke nodded, her eyes wet "Okay, don't bother to call next time"
"Clarke, wai-"
"Bye" she ended the call and rested her forehead on the desk, squeezing her eyes shut.
Did I just said goodbye to my oldest friend forever?
"Hey.." Clarke turned towards the door where the voice came "I heard angry noises, was it Wells?"
She nodded and then her face crumpled "I lost my oldest friend"
"Oh Clarke" Raven came over her and hugged her "I'm sure that's not true, something's happened and he's just too boneheaded to admit it"
Clarke nodded pulling back "But why? He knows I'd never judge him"
Her friend shrugged "I don't know, maybe's something too big" she considered leaning on the desk
Clarke thought over Raven's words,
What would be so big that he couldn't tell me of all people?
"Uh, is that a letter?" her friend asked walking over the other side of the desk
"huh?" Clarke asked dumbfounded
"You're really writing him!" He friend exclaimed overjoyed but frowned as soon as she glanced down at the drawer where the other two letters were, she picked them up "You put the address and all but you didn't send them.. Why?"
Clarke opened her mouth but closed it again "Please, don't be mad, I jus-"
"Clarke, I'm not mad, I just wanna know why.." she said with a little smile
Clarke sighed "I don't know.. I'm stalling I guess.. As soon as I send them they'll become real, and if he doesn't reply.." she pinched the bridge of her nose and got up "Just leave them there, I'm gonna go to bed"
Raven nodded "Okay, good night" her friend left the room and she threw herself on the bed and fell asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow.
That was awfully too easy..
Was the first thought that came through her mind.
She frowned opening her eyes, she looked at the time 09:48. She hadn't slept-in since ages and it felt an odd mixture of incredibly resting but at the same time unsettling. She was starving.
When she got up from the bed she remembered her first thought of the day and with her eyes wide open she ran to her letter-drawer.
It was empty.
She stood up and looked on the desk. Nothing but her laptop and her usual stuff, until she saw the note
Don't hate me. I'm doing it because it's the right thing.
I know you know it too.
I'm just giving you a push, like always.
Xx Rey
Hello Lovely readers! I just wanted to thank you guys for your support, it really means the world for me, and reviews give me an incredible boost when it comes to write, so THANKS.
Also, wanted to warn you 'cause shit's gonna go down soon.
Just throwing it out there..
I love you all.
xx El
