Sometimes he really hates living with a bunch of teenagers.
It's unbelievable how dramatic they can be. And of course he, like an idiot, always believes their rumors and their panicky stuttering. So when he overhears some girl….who is named after a flower he thinks, complaining about getting a busted knee stitched up by Octavia (who does have really terrible bedside manner) because Clarke has quarantined herself in her tent and "must be about to die or some shit" he almost loses his fucking mind.
By now these kids know how he is. They might not actually know him, but they do know how he is and that's probably why they all dart out of his way as he stalks across camp and stands outside of the drop ship with his hands on his hips. He yells his sister's name until she comes out, and she's furious when she does because being in charge doesn't mean he can't climb a fucking ladder and come talk to her in an inside voice.
"Clarke has quarantined herself?" he asks.
She looks at him like he's grown two heads "Uh, yeah. That's what we're supposed to do when we get sick. Honestly Bell don't you listen when she talks? It seems like lately you've been too busy staring…"
"Don't you think the co-leader of this camp being sick is something I should know about?"
"Hey, don't start screaming at me. If you have a problem take it up with Clarke."
"This is so fucking typical."
"If you would just calm the hell down, Raven was about to go check on her in a few minutes, give her some water and see if her fever is down and all. I'll send Jasper with an update…"
"No, I'll do it." He says it so quickly that Octavia's eyes narrow. "What?"
"What is it with you two? Did you fuck or something?"
"O, just don't."
"No I'm serious Bellamy. You've been acting crazy. Both of you have. Monty said it was pent up sexual tension and I laughed in his face but honestly…"
"Is there some kind of medicine or some shit I can take her?"
"Awee, are you worried about your girl Bell?"
"Am I worried about the person that takes half of the responsibilities of this camp off of my shoulders? Yeah I am."
"Yeah, okay that's all it is."
"Octavia, what does she need?"
Five minutes later he's standing outside of Clarke's tent where she's had someone crudely carve 'quarantine do not enter' on a piece of wood. He kicks it over out of spite as he marches through the flap. Clarke is sprawled out on her bed in her underwear. It's so hot in there he knows she has a fever, but he figures maybe she was lucky enough to break it (he also knows that he should be concerned about catching whatever it is she has…..but somehow he's not). She seems to be out cold, and it's horrible that he has to seriously resist the temptation to crawl into the bed just so he can wake up next to her again. They've shared a bed a few times since the night after her brawl with Finn, but it's been very platonic. They silently agreed that whatever happened that night happened because they just needed it. There was no reason to talk about it. Did that annoy Bellamy? Of course it did, but he wasn't going to push Clarke. They could be partners without having a romantic relationship. Really, that was fine with him, except for the hundred or so times a day when he gets distracted by the sound of her laugh or a particularly cloudless sky that seems like the same color her eyes are. He seriously can't believe it's come to this. They're trying to make a functional society out of a bunch of horny rambunctious teenage delinquents, how the fuck can they get anything done if he starts acting like one himself? So as of late he's decided to put an extra bit of distance between himself and Clarke. When she does get in one of those moods, when her eyes start to droop and she tries to wrap her arms around his neck, he usually has a pre-prepared escape plan. The problem is that whole thing isn't working for shit.
She's at his side almost constantly every day, but he still misses her.
"Rise and shine Princess." He says as loud as he can.
Her eyes flutter open, and panic flashes through them like it usually does when he calls for her out of nowhere.
"What's…"
"What's wrong is that I hear around camp that our doctor has quarantined herself."
She shakes her head and sits up "That's a bit of an over exaggeration. I thought I had a cold. I didn't want to start an epidemic and make the next few days hell for myself."
"There's a sign outside of your tent Clarke….or there was."
She rolls her eyes "Why are you here anyway? Just to yell at me for being cautious?"
"I'm not yelling at you for being cautious. I'm yelling at you for not telling me. You know how you make me tell you everything that was said in every fucking conversation I have all day? Yeah, that goes both ways. If I have to describe in detail Monroe's progress in archery training and Miller's crush on Raven than you have to at least tell me when you're sick."
"Did Miller talk to her yet?"
"Are you fucking joking?"
"Oh stop Bellamy. It's not a big deal, you had other things to worry about."
He stares at her "I swear to God it's like talking to a fucking wall with you."
She mumbles her agreement, which is really her way of saying 'I'm not in the mood to argue with you go yell at someone else.'
"I should probably get up," she says, but he steps in front of her so she can't stand up from the bed.
"Take the day off, we can't risk you infecting the masses."
"Oh, so as long as I have your approval it's okay?"
"As long as I know it's not serious before I hear about it from someone else who nonchalantly mentions that you might be dying."
"What did I tell you about worrying?" she's smiling now, just a little bit and it does really stupid and girly things to his stomach. He watches her hand start to move towards his own and rips it away.
"I know what you're doing."
She yawns and rolls her eyes at him "What am I doing?"
"Turning into Clarke the fucking cuddle monster."
He's so determined to talk himself out of collapsing into her arms that he isn't even embarrassed at the look of sheer shock and amusement on her face. "Did Bellamy Blake seriously just use the phrase cuddle monster?"
"That's not important, what is important is that I came here to yell at you, make sure you were still alive, and bring you water. So….stop doing things behind my back, keep breathing, and here's your water."
He tosses the bottle onto the bed next to her and she raises her eyebrows "Bellamy what are you doing?"
"I'm leaving before this turns into something more than it needs to be."
She waits a few seconds "It doesn't look like you're leaving."
He's fighting with himself, and it's more frustrating than any argument he's ever had with her. "This is a bad idea," he finally says, it sounds like he's made up his mind but he takes a step closer to her.
"Why?"
"Because this isn't us, this isn't what we are out there."
She falls back against her bed with an exasperated sigh and he is suddenly reminded that she's only wearing her underwear.
"Seriously? Don't you think you're overreacting? What they don't know won't hurt them."
He shakes his head "Yeah okay Ms. Pragmatic , this is clearly your illness talking. You're the one that always lectures me about professionalism and setting a good example."
"I'm asking you for five minutes." She says "Five minutes where we can just be two people…two friends… hiding from the same thing. I've been alone in this tent all day Bellamy is it so surprising that I want company?"
"That isn't all this is though is it?"
She looks him dead in the eye and smiles "No."
He feels the smile slip onto his face against his will. "This is unfair."
"It is not, just come here and stop complaining. I swear in five minutes you can march back out there and stomp around and scream all you want. Can I just have my Bellamy until I fall back asleep?" Her voice has started to lose its confidence. She sounds like she's honestly afraid he'll say no, which is fucking ridiculous because how can he?
"Your Bellamy?"
She blushes "You know what I mean."
Dear god this is it, this is how he's going to die.
"Can you put a shirt on please?" He makes a conscious effort to make the words seem like they were born out of disgust or discomfort but really they come out the same as when he asked her to pull the nail out of the bottom of his foot that time they found an old, barely discernible barn on a hunting trip.
She raises her eyebrows "No. Everything that should be covered is covered and besides it's nothing you haven't seen before right?"
"Clarke,"
"I know you really enjoy arguing with me but seriously we have a limited time before someone cuts something off or sets something on fire. We both know you're not going anywhere. Please come here."
It's embarrassing how quickly he follows her orders (although to be fair this was what he wanted all along), and maybe she's embarrassed by the huge smile on her face. He purposefully crawls over top of her so she can complain about him "crushing her", then places his hand on her forehead and mumbles about how she was probably faking it anyway. She laughs and picks up his hand when he settles next to her, and then starts to scold him for biting his fingernails down to the skin like she usually does. He kicks off his boots and her hands slip under his shirt, probably just for warmth but really she should be more considerate of his struggle with his own self-control.
"Five minutes." He says when her eyes start to close.
"Ten." Her hand is tracing the muscles of his stomach.
"Seven."
"Thirteen."
He grabs her hand before she can cross into dangerous territory and nudges her onto her side so her back is to his front. She doesn't complain, but she does pull his arm tight around her waist. He lays his head down next to her ear "Go back to sleep Princess."
When he wakes up three hours later and it's completely dark outside, he's informed by Miller that a few kids had been spreading word that he and Clarke were dead. Octavia has such a smug look on her face that he avoids her for the rest of the night.