Hello guys! I hope everyone is doing well. Thank you so much for your reviews, they really encourage me to keep writing! This is actually the first fic in my life that has gone this long. I'm so excited! Your favorites and follows give me determination to write, and they've helped a lot.

Anyway, this chapter is a bit shorter than others, but it's got lots of goodies in it. So I hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 6

Octavia leans against the outside of the dark grey concrete and wood building where Lexa's power room is. Her face is contorted and she seems annoyed, Bellamy thinks. She crosses her arms with a scowl, not afraid to show the disappointment in her eyes and she musters a glare for Bellamy. He approaches her with that swagger that is just, his, and he knows she's about to complain about something. The ridiculous situation they have found themselves in will be blamed on him, and he knows it. 'At least it'll give us a chance to talk things out with the commander,' Bellamy decides. And this under better circumstances than before. They've got a common enemy again.

"Don't go in there yet. I need to say something…" She stops him with a hard hand on his chest and pushes him back a couple of steps. Bellamy mirrors the annoyance on Octavia's face and waits for her lecture. It seems funny to him that just a few months ago, he was the one lecturing her.

Octavia hesitates, and Bellamy sees a crack of guilt in he façade, but she puts up that hard wall of bravery back up in an instant.

"I thought I'd be happy to find her. I thought I'd be glad…" Octavia pauses as some of Lexa's clansmen pass by them, clad in armor. They are standing behind the two story building that backs up into the warriors' barracks. The wind picks up a bit, and Octavia pulls her vest and furs closer around her. Bellamy looks at her expectantly and Octavia hesitates again. For the first time in her life, she feels at loss for words. Her fingers clench on the fur lapels of the vest and she closes her beautiful eyes to get her thoughts straight.

"Well?" Bellamy insists. Octavia opens her eyes to show Bellamy how much anger is buried in the green orbs.

"She left you."

"That's not news." He says with a scoff, grinning with irritation. "She left all of us. Octavia… you helped me find her, you can't complain now."

"I know Bell, but… Goddammit Bellamy, look at you!" She gestures to him with a swat of her hand, and continues to speak. "You're so damn miserable. She broke your fucking heart and you're still after her."

"She was in trouble." He explains, looking to the ground and refusing to admit the truth about his heart. Nights had passed back at Camp Jaha were he spent the whole night drinking Monty's moonshine and wondering when it was that Clarke began to mean so much to him. He remembered her smiles, her scowls… the way her golden hair fell over her eyes when she was working, mending an ankle, or helping Raven build bombs.

"So what?" She demands, burying her scalding gaze into his.

"It's not like you to leave someone behind, O." Bellamy shakes his head, incredulous.

"You don't know what she did at Tondc. She made you go into Mount Weather, and while you were in there, she was Lexa's little play-thing. And then on top of that, she abandoned all of us."

"I don't care what she did, O. Whatever she did, she did it to free her people. And no one made me do anything," he said, and Octavia already knew all of this, especially that her brother would not be coerced into any kind of situation he was not already willing to go through, but she was just so angry. Livid. And seeing his hands on her face, seeing the vulnerable look in his eyes when he laid his eyes on her… well, it just set her off. She respected Clarke, but blood is most definitely thicker than water.

"She's going to leave again," protested Octavia, jutting her chin forward defiantly, "and this time, I'm not going to help you find her."

Bellamy flinched at her words, and Octavia saw the pain reflected in them. She felt sad for him, but she couldn't find it in herself to offer him comfort.

Clarke watched as Octavia headed around the building and she kept her distance, examining Bellamy's face as he watched his sister leave. He sighed, and looked down at his boots, moving to follow his sister into the commander's quarters.

Clarke dried her tears and followed suit.

Clarke found that her authoritative voice still worked after weeks of disuse, and she used it while talking to Lexa. "You're willing to sacrifice more people." Clarke said flatly.

"We must save our lands, Clarke. We cannot give in to the Ice Queen." She replies.

"Well, I am not going back to Camp Jaha to order men and women who have finally built a home somewhere to surrender, that's for sure. But I'm not willing to lose more people, either."

"The council needs to be told about this." Lexa demands, and she meets Clarke's defiant eyes.

"And it will be our job to let them know," Bellamy interrupts. "Our people don't take kindly to being betrayed." He eyes Lexa disdainfully and she meets his eyes with a stony stare that is more than expected. She turns her eyes on Clarke, and the two have a stare down. He remembers the look of distrust in her eyes when one of her people were poisoned in original talks and remembers how he stepped in front of Clarke as a shield. It wouldn't take much for him to repeat the action.

"I expect to hear your response within the week." Lexa commands, because she does not know how to ask kindly.

"You'll have it." Bellamy replies. They nod to each other, and Lexa exits the room, Sasha and two others trailing behind her. Bellamy turns his gaze on Clarke, who follows Lexa with her eyes keenly; it makes a pang of pain slash through his chest.

She was Lexa's little play-thing.

Clarke shifts her eyes to him, and they soften immediately. "Can I have a word?"

Bellamy looks behind him, at Octavia, who rolls her eyes with a huff and leaves the room. Clarke looks down and steps closer to Bellamy.

"She has to know I'm not in a position of power." Clarke says, in hushed tones.

"You don't have to be on the council to have a say, Clarke." Bellamy evens his volume to hers. He's sure no one can her them, they are so close.

"My words will mean nothing once we reach Camp Jaha. Our people have lost their faith in me by now." She says, and there's not hesitation in her tone. She knows, or at least she thinks, they don't trust her anymore.

"Hey," He says, and she looks up at him. "You had to take care of yourself. We get it."

Clarke frowns and says "You get it, maybe. But Octavia is right, I left all of you."

Bellamy deflates and closes his eyes when he realizes she must've heard their discussion.

"Clarke-"

"She's right, Bellamy. You and I both know it." Clarke says with finality. "You have to get back and tell them what's going on. The Ice queen, whoever the hell she is, is coming to take our lands, and we've fought too hard to let her."

"I have to get back?" He says incredulously. Suddenly, there's fire in his veins when he considers the possibility that she won't go back with them.

She opens her mouth to protest, but no words make it out.

"Dammit, Clarke-" He says. But he's too frustrated to form any words, and he grabs her hand and pulls her out of the room, across camp, and back to his tent, while every grounder they pass raise their eyebrows and shake their heads.

Damn sky people.

She doesn't fight him, whether it's because she's too exhausted or because she wants him to change her mind, she doesn't know. The walk into his tent and she finally protests. His back is to her and he's looking up, breathing heavily and she assumes he's trying not to say something he'll regret.

"What the hell, Bellamy?" She mutters. He turns around slowly and faces the ground beneath him. Clarke examines his face and falters when she sees fresh tears at the top of he's cheeks.

"We said together." He states. Clarke's knees go weak once again, but she refuses to give in to gravity.

"I know that, Bellamy."

"We said together, and I still mean it." He said, and bore his gaze into hers, causing the damn of her feeling to fissure, crack, crumble. "Do you?"

Clarke's eyes fill with tears and she sees how much pain she's caused him, how on edge he has been, but she also sees his willingness to put it all behind him, to continue on their journey together, and hold her hand for the rest of the time they have on this damned earth.

As if his words had opened a brand new door, Clarke begins to believe that maybe she can move forward, that maybe, although she may not be the good guy, no one is. And that he can help her like he always has.

She nods, teary eyes and all but runs into his arms, which instantly open for her, welcoming and warm. Bellamy buries his face in her hair, and she buries hers in his neck. Her lips touch the sliver of skin between his jaw and the collar of his shirt, and she smells calm and security.

She can't help it; before she knows what she's doing, Clarke kisses Bellamy's neck. Chastely, but all the same surprising. Bellamy runs his hands up from his back to her face, and he pulls them apart slightly, wanting to look at the seas in her eyes. He kisses her forehead with closed eyes and then she looks up at him as she moves her hands to his chest; and for a quiet moment, they breathe into each other before he gently slants his lips over hers. She breathes in sharply, and pushes back on his mouth softly. They stay for a mere second, relishing the moment neither of them knew they would live for, and then they pull back slightly, touching their foreheads with each other's.

"Don't leave me again, Clarke." He says, without opening his eyes. She studies his face and nods tenderly. "I don't think I could do without you again."

"I won't." She whispers, and kisses him again, so soft, that it feels like a slight flutter. He breathes her in, moves his lips to her forehead once again, and she wraps her arms around him.

I'll stay.

As always, this chapter/story is completely unbeta'd so, I'm sorry for any mistakes.

I hope you liked it. Let me know?