A Quiet Moment

Disclaimer: all characters and copyright belong to Stephanie Meyer.

A/N-thank you for the awesome reviews. Nikki :)

Part Ten

Twenty four hours later;

Clarke forced her eyes open; they felt like lead weights. She regretted it as soon as the harsh light which shone between the hangings covering the entrance to the drop ship, hit her retina's. She blinked a couple of times, finally becoming aware of her dry throat and lips. What the hell had happened? The last thing she remembered was sealing Bellamy's wound with the knife before lapsing into unconsciousness. How long had she been out of it? Clarke twisted her head to the side and saw another figure lying on a makeshift bed not too far from hers. The person was lying facing away from her, but by the spillage of black hair lying across the blanket which was being used as a pillow; Clarke guessed it was Bellamy. Was he alright? Had the wound healed?

"Bellamy?" She rasped. She coughed as her throat burned.

"Clarke? Thank god." Another voice made her head twist around in the other direction. She saw Finn hovering by her bedside, a relieved smile all over his face.

"Finn? How long?" Clarke couldn't get anymore words out.

"You've been out of it for about two days now. You had us all seriously worried." Finn stroked her hair back from her forehead.

"Two days?" Clarke whispered. She couldn't believe it. Her whole body ached, but at least the constant ponding in her head had subsided. "Bellamy, is he okay?"

Finn frowned. "Yeah, he's over the worst." He muttered.

"Is something wrong?" Clarke heard the bitterness lacing his voice.

"No, nothing. You need to keep resting. Do you think you could eat something?" Finn asked.

"I'll try. I could use some water though." Clarke tried to sit up but her head whirled and she fell back.

"Stay still. I'll get you something." Finn leaned down and kissed her hair before leaving.

Clarke sighed as she tried to sit up again. It took considerable effort but she managed it at last. Her eyes drifted over to Bellamy. "Hey...hey." She called over to him.

Bellamy flopped onto his back and opened his eyes. "Nice of you to join us sleeping beauty." He quipped as he grinned at her lazily.

"Nice to see how worried you've been about me." Clarke's lips curved up into a half smile.

"Next time you want to take a nap for two days, princess, give us all a little warning." Bellamy rolled onto his side and then carefully sat up, one hand clutching his abdomen.

"Is it still sore?" Clarke went straight into her doctor mode. "Let me check that the wound is healing." She gestured for him to come over so she could examine him.

"Princess you've just woken up after driving us all crazy with worry for two days." Bellamy's grin had faded; his dark eyes showed his underlying anxiety that he had tried to keep hidden from her. "I think checking me over can wait."

"But it could be infected." Clarke's usual stubbornness kicked in. She forced her legs to move and placed her feet on the floor.

"Princess, don't you dare?" Bellamy warned her as he watched her rise unsteadily to her feet. Clarke ignored him and tried to take a step forward, but her legs were too weak to support her. Bellamy stood up too quickly, pulling on his wound, as he tried to stop her falling. He caught her around the waist before they both tumbled to the ground.

"Dammit." Bellamy cursed as he rolled onto his back. He heard Clarke echo his sentiment. They both lay side by side on the floor of the drop ship, breathing heavily.

"That wasn't my best move." Clarke began to laugh, which turned into a cough as her dry throat closed up.

"You can say that again, stubborn princess." Bellamy turned his head to face her, his dark eyes dancing with amusement.

That's how Finn found them, lying side by side on the floor, staring into each others eyes.

Raven was packing up her stuff in the tent that she shared with Finn, not that there was much. She stared around for a moment, her eyes moist with tears as she hefted her backpack on her shoulder. Before she had a chance to leave Finn himself came striding into the tent, a fierce expression on his face.

"Unbelievable." He muttered as he threw himself on top of the makeshift bed.

Raven turned her head so he couldn't see her tears. "What is?" She mumbled.

"Bellamy." Finn said his name like a curse.

"What has he done now to get under your skin?" Raven asked.

"He forced Clarke to check his damn wound. I found her collapsed on the floor. Of course she denied it. You know how selfless she is. I started to lay into Bellamy and she ordered me out. I can't understand how she can defend that guy." Finn put his hands behind his head as he glared up at the roof of the tent, not looking Raven's way at all.

"Because she loves him that's why." Raven stated bluntly. She watched as Finn finally looked directly at her.

"Where the hell do you get that idea?" He demanded. "And why have you packed up your stuff?" He stared at her backpack.

"It's written all over her face whenever she looks at him or argues with him. I'm not the only one who has noticed it. You just refuse to see it because you are in love with her yourself." Raven replied bitterly.

"Raven, we've been through this." Finn scrambled to his feet as he tried to reach out to her. She stepped back from him.

"It's over Finn." She said dully.

"Don't do this." Finn pleaded, a guilty light shining in his eyes.

"Let me have some dignity." Raven snapped. She tore the necklace off that he had given her when they had first become lovers. She threw it on the floor at his feet. "We're done." With those parting words she left.

Octavia watched in amusement as she listened to her brother and Clarke exchange their usual insults. They had even argued a little, which showed that they were both well on the way to recovery. Octavia helped Clarke eat a little soup. Her hands had trembled too much when she had tried to spoon the thin liquid into her mouth and it had ended up dribbling down her chin. Bellamy had sighed in exasperation and told Clarke she had reverted to her baby status.

"Well at least I grew out of my toddler stage." Clarke retorted. "Unlike you. You've been regressing for years."

"Says the princess with dribble down her chin. Hey O,pass the little madam a bib." Bellamy was lying on his back, grinning.

Clarke stuck her tongue out at Bellamy which made him laugh. Octavia passed Clarke a clean cloth so she could clean herself up a little. "I thought Finn would be here." She said.

"He was but the princess here ordered him out." Bellamy's smile widened.

"Why?" Octavia was astonished. "Finn has been by your side constantly for days." She pointed out to Clarke.

"He started yelling at Bellamy." Clarke bit her lip as guilt began to form in her chest. It had been an instinctive reaction when Finn had laid into Bellamy unfairly. She shouldn't have been so hasty. She pondered why she had acted in such a way.

"What did you do now, big brother?" Octavia raised her eyebrows at him.

"What can I do?" Bellamy shrugged dismissively. "He takes things the wrong way."

Octavia spooned some more soup into Clarke's open mouth. "Only because you goad him, Bellamy." She glanced at him as he turned his face away from her. "And we all know why."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Bellamy put his hands behind his head and refused to speak after that.

Octavia smiled to herself as she helped Clarke to finish eating.

It didn't take long for the news to spread around the rest of the camp that the two leaders were well on the road to recovery. Much to Clarke and Bellamy's chagrin it became business as usual as the others began to drift into the drop ship in one's and two's, already armed with a list of worries and complaints. Bellamy had to retreat to his own tent and hold an emergency meeting with his followers as they wanted his advice about patrolling the borders and organizing the next food run. Clarke was forced to lay on her bed in the drop ship as a parade of people came to ask her advice about their minor ailments. Octavia had to shoo them away in the end when Clarke began to tire.

"I can't believe them." She said hotly as she closed the drapes.

"They're just worried." Clarke lay her head down and closed her weary eyes.

"You've just got over a major illness. They are being selfish. You shouldn't let them take advantage." Octavia warned her.

"Maybe." Clarke agreed grudgingly.

The drapes parted again and Finn came inside. His eyes strayed right to Clarke. Octavia glared at him for a moment before leaving them both alone. She could sense a serious talk was about to take place. Raven had confided in her that she was going to end things with Finn.

When Octavia was gone, Finn approached Clarke and knelt beside her bed. He took her hand in both of his own and gazed at her, the love he felt for her showing clearly in his eyes. Clarke swallowed thickly. She couldn't deal with this right now.

"Raven and I have parted ways." Finn told her. "She knew as did I that things weren't the same. She knew I loved you."

"No Finn..." Clarke pulled her hand away.

"Why?" Finn implored her. "You love me, I love you. There is nothing stopping us from being together now."

"I don't trust you. I'm sorry." Clarke turned away from him. "You lied to me, I can't get past that."

"Clarke..."

"No. Not now. Please I need to rest." Clarke felt tears prick at her eyes as Finn stood back up.

"I'm not giving up." He whispered before he finally left her alone.

A/N-thanks for reading!