You said parting was for the best

That always I'll stay in your chest

But all I know about you now

Is what media release somehow

You're in heaven, I'm on the ground

You world is never to be found

By such a normal girl like me

'cause y'stand in light far from our tree

Clarke spent her first week of holiday in her apartment, working on her song, rewriting it again and again, and at the studio rehearsing with her band. Then came the second week.

On the seventh day, January 22nd, Clarke was dozing off on her couch, Christa purring on her lap.

"I'm so booooored…" she said sighing "What can I do…" Then she remembered that it was Bellamy's day off. She grabbed her phone, and called.

Nothing.

She tried again. Two times.

"Maybe he forgot his phone at the studio again. I'll try to call Echo"

Nothing.

She tried again. Two times.

Calling three times before giving up was Clarke signature. It was "so Clarke" that every time one of her friends had three missed calls, they knew even without checking that a certain blond girl was behind it.

… Ok this is weird.

She spent ten other minutes just staring at her ceiling.

"Shit ! Fuck ! I'm bored ! I'm going out !" she yelled, standing quickly, making a sleepy Christa fall on the ground "Oh no ! I'm sorry baby are you ok !?" Christa snarled, her tail even fluffier than usual, before rushing to Clarke's bedroom. The girl followed her, and finally found her cat under her bed looking at her with her two angry blue eyes. "Sorry… Want tuna for tonight ? I'll buy you some !"

That said she put on her coat and got out of her apartment before her motivation could leave her body.

She decided to take a walk in the park. It was a beautiful day, cold but sunny. She sat on a bench, looking at people. Her eyes followed a couple, slowly walking on the other side of the lake. Then she noticed the man playing Frisbee with his two dogs on her right. Just in front of her two women passed with their kids. Then her gaze followed the couple again. For some reason they seemed… familiar.

Whatever. Probably neighbors. Let's go buy Christa's tuna !

Mrs. Christa could only eat fresh tuna when she was upset so Clarke had to walk for twenty minute just to buy some fish from Morgan, her usual high quality fish store. She made detour to stop by the cinema.

"Hi Mrs. Hoffman, been a while"

"Hey if it isn't young Griffin ! How're you ? And your mother ?"

Mrs. Hoffman was the operator and owner of the small local cinema called Jason (in honor of some sort of TV writer Clarke didn't know). She had been a friend of Clarke's mother since high school and some kind of aunt for Clarke since she was born. She was a small black woman with an incredible collection of glasses. She had one for every day of the week and some extra for big occasions.

"I'm having the biggest audition of my life in a week so I guess I'm ok" the woman raised an eyebrow "OK I'm not ok. I'm totally stressed. And because I'm in holiday I have too much time on my hands so I'm thinking too much and I get more stressed"

"And your roommate ?"

"Raven is at her Finn's apartment. She hates being anxious and my stress is kinda contagious"

"I know you'll do great"

"Thanks. You can come if you want. It's open to public. The Den, next Sunday afternoon"

"See ? You even are familiar to the place, finger in the nose !" Clarke chuckled "And I'll try to come"

"Cool. I'm sure the guys will be happy too. By the way, do you have-"

"Oh yeah I know why you're here girl. Don't worry I managed to save one for you"

"Thank you so much !" almost yelled Clarke with a wide smile.

Mrs. Hoffman disappeared behind her counter and reappeared a second later, a huge rolled poster in her hands.

"Here. It's new" Clarke took the poster with the biggest precautions to avoid damaging it.

Mrs. Hoffman hesitated but finally voiced the question she's been asking to herself for the past few years "Every time you're just taking it home without looking at it, why ?"

Clarke, surprised, opened her mouth, searched for a lie for a moment and answered "Well… I prefer looking at it when I'm home so that nothing can stain it"

The woman raised an eyebrow, not trusting the blonde's words. However if Clarke didn't want to talk about it, fine. "She's really starting to have an impressive career huh ?" she asked pointing the poster.

"Yes. I'm proud"

"Still no contact ?"

Clarke answered with a small smile "Nope ! But that's ok. I know she's doing great so it's good"

"If you say so"

"Don't worry" the girl offered her a true smile before turning to the exit "I have to go now. See you soon"

"Take care kid"

Clarke went home walking slowly. Breathing the fresh air. This little walk had given her some good energy. When she got home she went directly to her room without even taking her coat off. She grabbed a poster protection from under her bed and put the poster in it.

"Say hi to your new friends To love a Mockingbird and All Glory is Fleeting". Clarke had decided to limit the number of poster in each box to three "Just filled up the fourth box I guess. Tomorrow : shopping !" She put back the box under her bed. Then she finally returned to the entry to take off her coat. Christa, probably smelling the tuna, rushed to Clarke's legs purring.

"I know what you're doing young lady and it's really sneaky" She took Christa in her arms and kissed her "But I don't care you're too cute. Let's go cut this tuna, shall we ?"

Clarke spent her Tuesday afternoon shopping. Clothes, poster protections, a new Blu-ray collector edition of To love a mockingbird, and food. Then a thought hit her.

Miya's birthday !

Miya was the young daughter of Anya. Anya used to live in Clarke's town with her husband, her young son and Lexa. They had moved to Los Angeles and then she came back four years ago with Liyam and a really young little girl : Miya. Two days ago was the little girl's birthday and Clarke had totally forgotten. She rushed to the first toy store she could find and found the perfect present (or she hoped so). The little girl loved animals and Walt Disney movies, she'd like Clarke's present for sure.

Clarke then stopped at The warrior family. She pushed the door, ringing the bell.

"We're close, come by earlier next time" said the husky voice of the shop owner.

"Hi Anya !"

"Clarke !" The woman lifted her head from the counter, put down the towel she was using and her apron to properly hug Clarke. "It's been so long !" the woman broke the embrace, ran to the stairs in the back of the shop and yelled "Liyam, Miya, Clarke is here !"

"Sorry for not calling but I've been kinda busy"

"It's ok sweetie. How are you ?"

"I took my first holydays in two years to prepare for my next audition witch could give me the opportunity to release my first album"

"I'm so happy for you ! And the others ?"

The girl tried to talk with a smile "All happy with their lives. If we win the audition, we'll dissolve the band so that they can give more time to their works. I on another hand will quit my job at the hospital and Octavia and I will move to L.A. to make our album" Clarke added in a sigh "and seek out success"

"You'll do a great job I'm sure of it. You and Octavia have something more. I can't really say what but success will come for sure. And you deserve it" she paused "Aaaaand that is true that L.A. will surely help"

Clarke laughed and heard eager footsteps going down the stairs.

"Claaake !"

"Hey" Clarke lifted the little girl in her arms and rested her on her hips "Damn, you grew up again ! Can you tell what THIS is ?" the blonde showed Miya the wrapped box she had in her hand.

Miya's cheeks reddened in shyness and she answered with a smile, her eyes full of mischievousness "It's a present"

"Yes and you know for whom it is ?"

Miya shook her head, her smile widening.

"Don't lie, you know it's for you little monster ! Happy birthday !"

Miya wrapped her arms around Clarke's neck and kissed her on the cheek whispering a "Thank you"

"I'm a little late but you forgive me right ?" Miya nodded eagerly. "Good. Go ahead, open it" The little girl took the box from Clarke's hand and looked at her mother, waiting for some sort of approval. Anya nodded and with a smile. Miya torn the paper, opened the box, revealing the precious content.

Miya grabbed the stuffed animal, letting the poor box fall on the ground. She hugged it tightly.

"You recognize him ?" asked Anya.

She nodded "It's Bambi"

"Go show it to your brother and tell him to come down"

Clarke put the girl down.

"You remembered it was her favorite or was it just a coincidence ?" asked Anya raising an eyebrow.

"You got me here" said Clarke, one hand scratching the back of her head "I wasn't sure" the blonde added with a light laugh.

It was Liyam's turn to go down the stairs. The boy's face was covered in dry paint. "Hey little man !" he hugged her tight. She was her former art teacher. She was the one who taught him how to draw when they came back from L.A. She was the one who gave him a way to fill in the void left by his father. She was important to him and she loved the little boy with all the tenderness in the world.

"Hi Liyam. Sorry for not contacting you a lot these times. You doing ok ?" The boy nodded, his nose buried in Clarke's chest.

"I missed you"

"Me too" she said, gently stroking his hair, a tender smile on her lips. He finally pulled back to offer her a smile.

"Time for a coffee Clarke ?"

"With pleasure !"

The girl sat at one table and talked about nothing and everything. It was the kind of conversation loved ones exchanged when they reunited, the kind that meant the world.

Clarke spent her Wednesday at the studio. The whole band had taken four days off to work on their audition performance. They spent the day rehearsing. And arguing. And laughing. And Clarke was absorbing it all, engraving it in her memory.

"Hey bro, what time is it ?"

"We're on break O. please… And can't you look at the clock yourself ? I raised you and I'm pretty sure I taught you to read a dial"

"Yeah but I prefer when it's you"

Nobody argued. Bellamy sighed "It's 5:35 PM. Happy ?"

"O-ver-whelmed !" she answered with one of her sneaky, wild laughs. Bellamy smiled.

They weren't talking about it but they were sharing the same feeling : it might be the last time.

"Oh ! Right, Bellamy, where were you Monday morning ? I called and you didn't answered"

"Yeah sorry. I was outside. Forgot my phone at The Den"

Clarke frowned "Then why didn't Echo answered ? And now that I think about it… I try to call her too but nothing"

Bellamy opted for a casual tone "We were together"

Raven nearly spat out her beer, Jasper choked on his muffin, Clarke's jaw dropped.

"You were together but, like, in a groceries store or something right ?" asked Clarke, more than used to Bellamy's "girl related" jokes.

"No we went to park Jaha"

Raven, Clarke and Jasper were just staring at him with wide eyes. Then it hit her. Clarke stood from her chair, hopping and pointing at her friend like a little girl.

"The- the- the couple ! I Knew they reminded me of someone ! It was YOU !" she grabbed her hair "God how did I missed that !"

The corner of Bellamy's lips rose slowly, trading his casual face for a large smirk. He just couldn't resist anymore, Clarke was too funny.

Raven stood to reach him and slap his shoulder "You DOG !" He bit his bottom lip, and straightened his back, proud.

"Wait, Monty how are you so calm ?" asked jasper with an unusual high pitched voice.

"Well I… kinda ran into them on their way to The Den so…"

"You KNEW ? Bastard I'm your best friend how could you !" said Jasper lightly punching his smiling friend's head.

"I promised to Bell so…"

Jasper huffed "I'm disowning you !"

"Wait guys, Octavia are you ok ?" asked Clarke slightly concerned by the blank look on her best friend's face.

Octavia paused, visibly trying so process the information. Then she hit her left hand with her right fist, looking like she just had created a new vaccine "Yeah I get it now ! SHE asked you out. NOW it makes sense." She nodded, proud of her conclusion.

Bell's smirk grew even wider "Sorry lil sis', *I* asked her out"

Octavia bugged again and yelled "Damn ! When did you get smart !? And, and, and, you're with someone… And *I* am not ? What the hell ! Is that an alternative universe ?"

"Don't be jealous O. You know I'll always love you"

"Ew, gross bro. Wait… Means that… I'll be an auntie !"

Jasper leaned near his friend's ear "Hey bro, understand why she's all happy now ?" Monty shook his head.

"Don't think too much guys, we need your brains for Sunday"

"Raven, the voice of reason !"

"Not so fast Bell, don't think I'm finished with you. Remember : I'm watching you. Make her cry and I'll beat the hell out of you"

"Yes mam' !"

"Better" stated Raven crossing her arms on her chest.

The poor (/lucky ?) Bellamy spent the rest of his evening being teased, Raven, Octavia and Jasper being teasers and Clarke and Monty being good watchers.