Back with the new chapter! Thanks for all your reviews and love, people. On with the update...
The next day, it was Bellamy who begged off work early. Murphy looked a little grumpy, apparently he had wanted to go out Emori, but Lincoln had rolled his eyes and gruffly said that Murphy had been bailing all week and it was time for Bellamy to go off and do his thing tonight. Murphy had narrowed his eyes suspiciously at that and asked Bellamy what exactly he was going off early to do, but Bellamy had just said it was none of his damn business and headed off.
He had thought about going straight to his destination from work, but it was a hot afternoon, and he was covered with oil and grime, and his hair was a little damp from sweat, and that wasn't exactly the way he wanted look and smell like when he confronted the blonde after their little run in at the beginning of the week. So he headed home, and showered, and changed into a clean shirt and pair of jeans and then hopped back in his car and headed toward her tattoo parlor. Lincoln had given him the address, so that he hadn't had to ask Octavia or Murphy and tell them what he was doing, and he trusted that the other man wouldn't say anything.
That was what had drawn Bellamy to Lincoln in the first place.
When he had first joined the army, he was a loud mouthed kid. Sure, he was smart and easy going, but he was also far too cocky for his own good and had no brain to mouth filter. Lincoln was naturally the strong, silent type, and after Bellamy had gotten in trouble one too many times, with other soldiers and also with his superiors, he had taken it upon himself to try and smother Bellamy's bad habits.
Bellamy was damn grateful for it, and that was why when it was announced that Lincoln and Octavia were officially dating, he didn't go out and buy a sniper rifle and take the man out, like he would have done if it had been Murphy.
On the way over to Clarke's shop, he felt his stomach clenching uncomfortably and he shifted in the drivers seat, trying to rid himself of the feeling. He didn't know what it was about this girl, but she had the ability to make him feel like a nervous teenager—and he had never even been a nervous teenager! He had always fund it ridiculously easy to have talk and charm girls. He parked a few shops down from her place, glancing down at his watch as he got out of his car. It was almost six, and he was a bit worried that she was going to be closed.
Normal closing time for places, especially on a Friday, was around five, but Lincoln had assured him that she would still be there. He reached the parlor and then raised his eyes to look up at the sign. Inked—in simple black, block letters. He pushed open the door and walked inside, surprised when he saw how spacious it was. He had been into a lot of tattoo parlors, and most of them were cluttered and smelt strongly of disinfectant or cheap body spray, but this was completely different. It smelt nice, like maybe some kind of incense, but not overwhelmingly strong, and there was music playing from the speakers in the corners of each of the room, some kind of rock music that he recognized. There was a familiar buzzing coming from behind the wall that separate the main shop from the work room, where he was guessing that Clarke was at the moment.
"We're not open for any more business today!" Came a call from the back room, confirming his suspicions, and Bellamy felt his throat tighten at the familiar sound of her voice.
"Uh, Clarke?" He called out, taking a step toward the door at the back of the shop. "It's Bellamy." The buzzing stopped, and he chewed down hard on his lower lip as he heard the muffled sounds of someone speaking and then Clarke appeared in the doorway, looking unfairly gorgeous. Her face was a little flushed, her blonde hair pulled back in a thick braid that fell down her back, with her typical dark eye make up surrounding her azure eyes. She was wearing a loose, white tee-shirt which was hanging loosely off her curvy torso and a pair of denim cut off shorts. The only thing that was different was that she didn't have multiple rings on her fingers, including that family ring that she was usually wearing. "Hey," Bellamy forced a smile at her.
"Hi," Clarke tilted her head to the side questioningly. "What are you doing here?"
"I came to see you," Bellamy began.
"Well, yeah," Clarke smiled slightly, teasingly. "I kind of gathered that. Given this is my shop, and all." She seemed so completely at ease, which was the complete opposite of how Bellamy was feeling right now. "So, Bellamy?" He realized that he had gone completely silent for a couple of long moments and probably looked like a total idiot.
"Well, I..." Bellamy licked his tongue along his lips, nervously. "I just wanted to talk." Clarke looked at him, narrowing her eyes at him before nodding silently.
"I'm still working, might still be another twenty minutes or so—"
"That's fine!" Bellamy interrupted and there was another pull at the corner of her perfect lips.
"Okay," she nodded. "Just chill out here, then," she shrugged and turned around, heading back into the back room. The buzzing sound of the needle starting again and Bellamy shoved his hands deep into his pockets. He walked slowly around the room, starting at the walls closest to the front door. There were big, open windows, and above the window frames there were splatters of paint and pictures that were sketched, presumably by Clarke. As he continued around the room, there were more sketches, and a photos pinned to the walls. Most of them were of people with freshly done tattoos—damn good quality ones as well—and then some were just of Clarke with her friends, giving the place an intimate feel. There were a couple of tables along the walls with knick knacks on them, thick binders filled with more sketches and photos as Bellamy flipped through, and a couple of old magazines that were torn and crinkled with ages.
Twenty minute stretched into half an hour, and Bellamy was trying not to let his nerves get the better of him, but by the time the buzzing stopped, and he could hear Clarke and her client talking to each other, he was drumming his fingers rapidly against his thighs. A tall, red-headed girl who already had tattoo's up and down her arms, and over her shoulders came out from the back room and she flashed Bellamy a smile. Clarke followed out behind her and went behind the counter beside the door.
"So we want to finish it off next Wednesday, right?" Clarke confirmed and the girl smiled at her with a nod.
"Fuck yeah," she agreed and Clarke grinned. She typed something into her computer, and then the girl passed over her debit card and paid for the work done. "I'll catch you next week, Clarke."
"Sure thing," Clarke waved absent-mindedly as she went back to looking at her screen, finishing off whatever she was doing. The pretty red-head gave Bellamy another smile before walking out the door. Bellamy waited until Clarke finished typing and then she started putting on her rings, which were on the counter, before nodding toward the door. "You wanna lock that? I was meant to be closed ages ago."
"Yeah, sure," Bellamy nodded and closed the front door, flicking over the lock and then turning back toward Clarke, who was now walking out from behind the counter. "Do your appointments usually run late?"
"It was meant to finish about an hour ago, but you can't rush art," Clarke shrugged. "And I've done pretty much the rest of Claire's tattoo's as well, she's cool. I don't mind running late for her." She looked over at him through her eyelashes, an easy smile on her face. "So..."
"Right," Bellamy clenched his jaw and rubbed the back of his neck. He looked over at her, one of her arms loosely by her side while the thumb of the other hand was hooked in her pocket. She wasn't trying to be intimidating, but there was just this confidence that she exuded, the way she was completely comfortable in her own skin, that made him feel nervous just to stand in her presence. "Look, I don't like the way that things went down the other night. I wasn't really thinking and..." he had gone over exactly what he was going to say to her in his head on the way over here but it was all going out the window now. "It comes down to this; I'm not in the position to be judgmental, especially with a girl that I think I really like." That comment caught her by surprise, her blue eyes widening and straightening up a bit. "I haven't felt this way in a long time and I really want to see this through."
"Bell..." he didn't know what it was that she was going to say, but he was going to risk her saying 'no' before she had heard him all out.
"Look, I know we just 'officially' met," he continued. "But it's not as though we knew nothing about each other before then, our history is a little more complicated than your normal persons, and I think that maybe it works? For us?" He shrugged and took in a deep breath through his nose, trying to gauge what her reaction was, but she was giving nothing away, even though her eyes were wide and her kissable, pink lips were parted. "I just—I haven't really felt this way before. And I want to take you out on a date and, well, you know..." he could kick himself right now, but he settled for keeping his mouth shut.
He had said his part and now the ball was in her court.
"So you're here to ask me out on a date?" Clarke clarified, her eyebrows doing that thing again, arching so high they were almost reaching her hairline.
"Uh," Bellamy frowned before jerking his head in a nod. "Yeah."
"And that's after you hack my police records and insult my family?" She continued, a twinge of disbelief in her words.
"Uh," Bellamy felt his heart drop. "Yeah." Clarke was quiet for a long time and Bellamy was certain that he had blown his chance with her, but he forced himself not to move, and to meet her gaze steadily. Finally, she shrugged and dropped her chin in a nod.
"Next Friday, I'll make sure I finish work by four," she began. "Pick me up at my place at five."
"Wh—so that's a yes?" Bellamy asked.
"That's a yes," Clarke confirmed, and a grin spread across his face. "Oh, yeah, and Bellamy? Don't bore me," she shot him a wink and Bellamy met her smile.
Now! My music obsessions since my last update! Actually, heaps of old songs have resurfaced on my iTunes. There's Thinking It Over by Dana Glover, seriously this song makes my heart ache like every time I hear it. I think I obsessively listened to it when I was a teenager when I went through a break up, melodramatic child that I was. Then there's Pony by Ginuwine. LOL. Don't know what's got me so into that one all of a sudden. And the third one is Bring Me Back To Life by Extreme Music. Seriously, the Shadowhunters show has a pretty great soundtrack, I think I've fallen in love with every song I've discovered through there!
Oh gosh, aaaaaaaand there's this cover of a Jesse McCartney song, Beautiful Soul, by SoMo. I watched a Stydia fan video to the song, and I'm now just completely in love.
Oooooh, and in the post the other day, I got my Stilinski 24 hoodie. Can you tell I'm obsessed with Teen Wolf just a little bit? Yes? No? Maybe? LOL.
As usual, please feed my obsession with songs and reviews :) It'd make me very happy, and I'll send you a preview xxx