Clarke clutched her coffee close to her chest, like it was her life line. She was tired, even if she had plenty of sleep the night before. The large coffee in her hands was more than just the caffeine jolt she needed in the morning, but something comforting. Her mother was right when she said Clarke was uncomfortable with this. She was. But she was too stubborn to admit anything. She was too stubborn to even admit what everyone else in the family knew. They didn't even talk about it, even though Clarke knew Emma wanted to.

"So when are you going to your college?"

"Well, you know the schedule as well as I do." Clarke said. "He's looking at his campus this afternoon. I have my overnight tomorrow night."

"And what are you going to do with your time there?" Emma asked.

"Get a tan. We haven't seen the sun in ages." Clarke said, looking at the dreary grey sky outside the window. "There's a pool at the hotel, and a theater across the street. I figure I'll explore the ten block radius of the hotel. There has to be a starbucks somewhere."

"You and your coffee. Just don't spend all your money there." Emma said.

"I won't." Clarke said. "But coffee." She held up her cup before taking a sip. "Mm. Yummy."

"You know, I have never liked coffee as much as you do. You have a problem."

"I know. I know." Clarke said. "But coffee is good when you're tired, or when you're sad, or even when you want to get drunk. Irish coffee and all that."

"I really don't need my seventeen year old daughter saying this." Emma said.

"But I'm almost eighteen. Which means in a year I'll be nineteen and I just need to travel a little bit north to get to Canada where I can drink legally."

"This isn't a normal mother-daughter conversation."

"But how many of our conversations are normal?" Clarke asked. "We talk about magic and about the Enchanted Forest, where I'm obviously never going to get. We talk about your lives like its fairytales…and my generation is the first that hasn't been there." She sighed. "Your lives are just stories to us."

"But they happened. They're real." Emma told her. "That's why you're running as far away as you can, isn't it?"

"I'll never have my own adventures if I stay." Clarke said. "I'll never be able to save my own world. This is my world, Mom."

"It was mine too." Emma said. "But too much happened. I realized my home is where my family is. I hope yours is too."

Clarke stayed silent. She didn't know what to say to that. "I'll figure out what I want when I have to. Until then I'm going to keep chasing what I hope to find."

"Do you want to talk about who you're running there with?"

"Not particularly, unless you brought Dad's flask."

"Are you going to lose control."

"I can't do magic outside the town line."

"We both know that's a lie. It's just harder to do." Emma said.

"Nothing's going to go wrong."

"And what would qualify as wrong?" Emma asked.

"I don't know. Getting drunk and sleeping with someone would probably count. Don't you think?" Clarke asked.

"Oh my god, Clarke. Don't say stuff like that to me. You're going to freak me out and I'll turn this car around and take you home."

"Don't worry, Mom. My legs are crossed." Clarke said. "At least to him."

Emma started laughing, sounding like she was holding it in for too long. "Well you did say two weeks ago that he probably isn't clean."

"I stand by that statement." Clarke said. "But seriously, I'm excited. I love going on planes, and I will see the sun again. It's going to be great."

"I hope it's warm enough for you to take off your coat." Emma said. "I know you like it when it's warm out."

"And living in Maine, that's a hard thing to have." Clarke said.

"I'm going to remind you that your party is at seven on Friday night." Emma said. "And please call when your flight lands, when you get to the hotel, when you get to your college, and when you get to the airport at the very least."

"I will. Or at least send a text." Clarke told her. "And you can call or text whenever you need to hear my voice. I know I'm important to you." She teased.

"Yeah yeah." Emma said. "Just let me worry about my youngest, please."

"You got it." Clarke said, reaching to rub her mother's arm. "It's gonna be great, Mom. I promise. I'm going to be fine. Everything's going to be fine."

Emma paused. "I want pictures of the campus."

Clarke smiled. "You will get so many pictures you will get sick of them." She promised.

"Good." Emma said. "But keep at least some of the stories for when you get home."

"Don't worry. I'm sure there will be a lot." Clarke said. "At the very least I will tally how many times Bellamy says I'm addicted to coffee on this arm." She held up her left arm. "And how many times he calls me 'princess' before I hit him on this arm." She help up her other arm.

"There's a pen in my bag if you want one." Emma said, smiling.

"I have a few with me." Clarke said, pulling a purple one out of her coat pocket to show her mother.

"And a sketching pad, book, and your diary." Emma added. "Oh, and your laptop."

"Wow. You know me too well." Clarke said. "I'm going to have to work on it."

"Well, we're going to have about four years for you to do that." Emma said. "Maybe you'll add something else to your airplane list."

"Or take something away." Clarke said. "I'm probably not even going to pull out my computer. I just know if I get stuck in starbucks I'm going to want my laptop for youtube purposes."

"Do not tell me you're going to take a hundred selfies with your coffee only to pick out the perfect one and send it to us."

"No, I'm only going to take fifty."

"That's my girl."

XXX

"Where is he?" Emma asked. "I thought he told you he was going to be in front of the building."

"He is." Clarke said, pointing fifty feet up the road. "He's parked right there."

"Oh, right. That thing is junk."

Clarke looked at her mother. "What car are we in?"

"My bug."

"How old is this thing? How often do we need to get it repaired?"

"Whoa, standing up for Bellamy Mills' car." Emma said. "Never thought I'd hear that from you."

"I am just pointing out the hypocrisy. But your car is cooler." Clarke admitted. "Ugh. He better let me choose the music." She said as her mother pulled up behind him.

"He better not drive off the road. There could be ice out there."

"Could be? There is ice out there." Clarke said. "We both saw people fishtailing. He just needs to get us to the airport."

"I really don't want to trust him with that." Emma said.

"Yeah well, it's been decided." Clarke said. "We'll be fine. We're always fine."

"Just magic the roads a bit." Emma said. "Keep it warm."

Clarke looked at her mother. "Mom…we both know that's not a good idea."

"Yeah." Emma agreed. "Where do you think he is?"

As if hearing Emma speak, Bellamy opened his car door and stepped out into the cold. It wasn't snowing anymore, but it was still freezing, and snow was wherever cars had not recently been.

"That's my cue." Clarke said, leaning over to kiss her mother's cheek before opening the door and getting out, swinging her backpack onto her shoulder. "Love you."

"Love you too." Her mother said before Clarke closed the door.

Clarke walked around back and opened the trunk to get her carryon out, and that's when Bellamy appeared beside her.

"Hey there, Princess." He said.

"Oh. He said it. Better mark your arm."

Clarke nodded, pulling her pen out of her coat pocket and drawing a line on her right wrist as Bellamy grabbed her suitcase.

"Did I miss something?"

"Oh yes, but that's usual." Clarke said. "Bye, Mom."

"Keep her safe, Bellamy." Emma said as Clarke shut the trunk.

They walked to Bellamy's car and he put her stuff in the trunk of his car. When they got into his car he nodded to the coffee cup in her hand.

"I see you've had your morning jolt." He said.

Clarke sighed, pulling out her pen again and marking her other wrist. "You're making this too easy, Bellamy." She told him.

"What are you marking?" He asked, sounding a bit frustrated and a bit curious.

"Oh, I think I'll wait until you figure it out." Clarke said. "It's more fun that way. And I know it's going to drive you mad not knowing something."

"Yeah, you're right." He said, starting his car. "And I might just get so distracted I'll drive off the road."

"No you won't. Think about all the girls you'll fuck in Georgia and you'll get over it." Clarke told him, reaching in her backpack and digging out her purse.

"Why do you have a bag inside your bag?" He asked.

"It's a purse. I really don't want to carry my backpack everywhere."

"That's kind of weird, Jones."

"You know nothing, Mills."

XXX

"I shouldn't have let you get a large." Bellamy said as Clarke bounced in the seat beside him on the plane. "Or another coffee."

"It's called a Venti, and I've barely touched it." Clarke said, marking her arm again. There was already six marks on it, but here was over twenty on the other arm.

"So where did the jitters come from?" Bellamy asked.

"I'm excited." Clarke said. "First trip without any of my family, okay? Let me be excited. Everything's going to change after this week."

"And how is everything going to change?" Bellamy asked.

"Well, first of all, I will have a list of schools I am going to in ranked order." Clarke said. "Second, I will be eighteen on Friday. Third, I'm going to know what I'm going to do with my life, or at least the next four years of it."

"And you get out of town for a couple days."

"And I get out of town for a few days." Bellamy said. "Are you sure it has nothing to do with me?" He teased her.

"Oh, I'm positive it has everything to do with me, and not you." Clarke said. "I can make myself happy, thank you very much. I just needed you to get me out of there."

"And blackmail me."

"Yeah, that was a perk." Clarke said.

The flight attendant came over the intercom and told them to turn off their devices, or put them on airplane mode. Clarke did so with her phone before putting in her ear buds.

"Now, if you don't mind, Bellamy. I am going to listen to some music as we take off." Clarke said.

"I forgot my headphones, or I would do the same." Bellamy said.

Clarke paused a second, before taking one of her earbuds out and handing it to him, her face still facing the window. She was the one that claimed the window seat. She could tell he was surprised, but he took it from her, and as the plane made its way to the runway, Bellamy laughed quietly.

"What?"

"Only you would listen to Defying Gravity as we take off." Bellamy said.

"Yeah. If you don't like it, you can give me back my earbud." She held out her hand.

"No." He said. "I like it."

Clarke's lips turned up slightly, but she still looked out the window, watching the snow disappear behind her. Goodbye white ground and grey skies, hello warm breeze and blue skies.

XXX

They got on the public transport to the hotel, which Clarke already had mapped out. She knew what to get, and where everything was. This is what Clarke was great at; planning.

"Okay," she said as they sat next to each other on the train, waiting for it to start moving. "We need to get to the hotel to check in so we can drop off our bags and I can chill there while you do your thing." She said. "And do you want to get dinner together or is this enough time spent in each other's presence for today?"

"No, we can grab dinner." He said. "And if you want you can come with me to Emory. I mean, if you take something you might end up taking it at Emory if you go to Agnes Scott."

Clarke gave him a weird look. "Did you look up my potential school?"

"No, I saw that apparently we both can cross register at each other's schools. Pretty cool, right?"

"Yeah, I'll be sure to meet and then proceed to fuck your roommate or best friend there. You know, like you fucked Roma, and I didn't warn her about you, so now she won't come near my family?"

"Christ, Clarke, I'm sorry. Okay?" Bellamy said. "Can't you just be civil?"

Clarke sighed. "Fine."

"So are you coming or not?" He asked.

"Well…" Clarke trailed off. "Is this an olive branch?"

"Yes, it is an olive branch." He said.

"Then sure, I'll come with you." Clarke said. "Maybe we'll even only say nice things to each other."

"That would be the dream, wouldn't it, Jones?"

"Oh, you know it, Mills."

XXX

"We have one room open, and it only has one bed." Said the woman at the front desk.

They had just arrived at the hotel, with plenty of time to get to Emory, which was about a ten minute walk away. Bellamy looked at Clarke, putting the ball in her court. She would have to answer this.

"How big of a bed is it?" Clarke asked, her lips pursed.

"King."

"Fine." Clarke said. "We'll take it."

"Great." She said. "You're on floor twenty, and your room is twenty twenty-three." She said, getting room keys for them.

"I didn't actually think you'd agree to that." Bellamy said as they walked towards the elevators, dragging their suitcases behind them.

"Yeah, well. It's one night. And you're staying on your side of the bed." Clarke said.

"Oh, I will if you do." Bellamy said. "Don't you worry about that, Princess."

Clarke sighed. "It doesn't really matter." She decided. "The woman at the front desk thinks we're sleeping together anyway."

"How do you know that?"

"She gave us the look." Clarke said. "I got it once when Dad and I were having dinner in Portland waiting for Mom to get back when she got a call from someone in her past a few years ago. It was really creepy."

"How old were you?"

"Fifteen."

"Well, when you were fifteen you looked about eighteen, so that's not unlikely."

"I did not look eighteen."

"Tell your boobs that."

"My boobs have nothing to do with it."

"Oh yes, they do."

Clarke sighed angrily, jabbing the button for the elevator rather violently. "Yeah, by the way, thanks for looking at my tits when I was underage. Class act."

"Just saying." He said.

"Yeah, uh-huh." Clarke said. "Thought so."

"You don't let anything slide with me, you know that." He said. "I helped you get here. I didn't have to."

"I was blackmailing you. Like you really have a choice."

"I could've said I was drunk too. Thought you were some girl from school." Bellamy said.

"But that's a lie, and we both know I'm more trusted than you right now." Clarke said. "Well, at least partly. My mother would believe me, meaning Dad would, and my grandfather would. Even if Snow was partial to you, she would end up agreeing with her husband in the end, meaning I have six of the elders behind me, and you would at most have two."

"You overthink things, you know that?" Bellamy asked.

"Only when I'm stressed out." Clarke said. "When I'm happy I think too little…and that's a problem." She said as the elevator rung, alerting them one had come to pick them up.

"And what usually happens when you're happy?" He asked, following her into the elevator and pushing the button for their floor.

"I guess you're just going to have to see me, unbelievably, passionately, perfectly happy." Clarke said, turning her head to look at him in the small space of the elevator. "Good luck with that."

"And who has seen you like that?" Bellamy asked.

Clarke paused for a moment. In that moment they climbed ten floors. "I have no idea." She answered. "Neal and Henry, I guess. They were with me when I got my first acceptance."

"And what did you do then?"

"I forgot how to overthink things. I just let myself live in that moment." Clarke said. "I think there were even fireworks in the air."

"Yeah, I saw them when I drove into town." Bellamy said. "But I though you said Alcohol turned off your emotions."

Clarke paused. "Depends on how I feel. I wasn't drinking that much that night. Well, after that I was. That's why there wasn't fireworks past nine."

"So then, I do have a question for you." Bellamy paused.

"Well? What is it?" Clarke asked when he waited too long to go on. The door opened. Clarke was the first to step out, the key card in her hand as they walked through the hall.

"Was I the reason you were in the hospital?" He asked as he followed her.

Clarke paused in front of the door. Once they got inside, Clarke picked up her suitcase and put it on the little chest-like piece of furniture by the TV and across from the large bed. She looked up at him, studying his face for a moment. She found herself pitying him, not so much for the expression on his face—there was none. But she also knew that look meant he needed to know. Whenever he pretended not to care was when he cared too much. She knew more about him than she cared to, and right then, she did not want to cause anyone pain, not even him.

"No." She told him. "No, it wasn't because you kissed me or anything." She paused. "I may not know why." She lied. "But I know myself enough to know it wasn't that. Something else must have happened, or something. But if you blame yourself just think the debt will be repaid after this trip."

Bellamy nodded, but he didn't look like he believed her. "Well, then. We have an hour until we're supposed to be there."

"Okay. Well, I'm going to go redo my hair." Clarke said. "Long hair is always a problem. And I'm going to change. It's really warm here, and it looks like the sun is about to come out."

"How do you know that?"

"I'm a sailor's daughter." Clarke replied. "How do I not know that?"

XXX

Clarke was right, of course. She was always right. As they stepped onto Emory's campus the sun came out, bringing out the whiter parts of her bright blonde hair, and the clear blue in her eyes. It made her glow as much as she did when he first saw her. After all the times he saw her. He wouldn't admit it, but he missed seeing her glow. He should have kissed her when she knew. Then he wouldn't have needed the reminder that she was the one for him. The only one.

Clarke just enjoyed the sun. She liked the way it warmed her skin and made her hair shine. She liked the way it burned when she was in it too long, even if she wore sunscreen. She wished they got more sun in Maine, but then it wouldn't be as special as it was when she did see it. She wouldn't have forced herself to look into the sun, or raised her arms and sighed.

"Yeah, I could come here, if this is what their spring is like." Clarke decided. "Be without snow for four years."

"Except when you go home for Christmas." Bellamy said.

"That's, like, a month tops." Clarke said. "Hardly the amount of snow we're used to."

"That's true." He said. "And then you'll still be stuck in sunshine."

"Maybe I'll get a tan for once." Clarke said. "Anyway, where are we supposed to go?"

"Admissions." He said, looking at his phone for directions. "That way."

"Well, lead the way. This is supposed to be your potential school." Clarke said, swinging her arm to the campus. "Run wild, child."

She was happy. Extremely happy. This was the first time she had felt the sun warm her skin in months, and how she loved the sun. In the summer she would do anything to be in it, even if it meant turning into a cooked lobster. It made her hair almost white, and her skin get nearly three shades darker—which was a lot for her skin. She was a pale little snow princess…about to get some real sun.

"You look happy." Bellamy mentioned as they walked.

"Yeah." Clarke said, her demeanor changing slightly. "Don't get used to it."

"I think I will."

"Be disappointed."

"Doubt it."

XXX

"Okay, that was a pretty cool campus." Clarke admitted as they walked towards a restaurant the tour guide had told them to go to. "I mean, I didn't know I could potentially go to classes there."

"Would you?" Bellamy asked.

"No idea, but the choice is nice." Clarke said. "Who knows, I might have to take Italian. I am going to need to be fluent in at least one other language, which will probably end up being a Western language."

"Didn't you take a semester of French?" Bellamy said.

"Three, actually." Clarke said. "But I need more than that, and the more languages I have, the more qualified I get."

"So I might be seeing you around campus?"

"Maybe, I don't know." Clarke said. "Depends on where you go to med school, and where I go to undergrad." She looked around, and looked at her phone, which had the map for her to see if they were in the right place. She grabbed his forearm so he could guide her. "The restaurant should be right here."

"Let's walk around the building, maybe it's somewhere."

"Okay." Clarke said. "Might as well."

"And hey, if you learn Italian, then you'll be able to go to Italy and actually have real Italian food. Not American stuff." Bellamy said.

"How do you know we don't have real Italian food?"

"A friend took a study abroad trip in Italy last semester." He said. "Apparently the food is different."

"I'll remember that when I go." Clarke said.

"When you go?" Bellamy said. "How do you know you're not going to go anywhere else?"

"I don't. But one day I'll go to Italy. One day I'll travel through Europe and hopefully Asia." Clarke said. "If I can make it to all the continents then that's the dream."

"You're going to be a traveller, aren't you?" Bellamy asked. "Never standing still."

"I've been still my entire life, I'm done with it. I have to do something." Clarke said. "If you didn't know that, you haven't been listening."

"I do know that. And I know you're going to make it. At the very least because you're annoying in all the right ways." Bellamy said.

"I'm annoying?" She asked as they turned the corner of the building. "Not as annoying as this restaurant."

"You mean the disappearing one?" Bellamy asked. "I mean, this isn't the room of requirement."

Clarke laughed. "Remember when Henry would sit us all down and read it to us when he would babysit?"

"Oh yes, and how after anything to do with snakes, spiders, or Voldemort, you wouldn't sleep alone."

"I still maintain that the Chamber of Secrets is the scariest one." Clarke said. "I still don't like sleeping alone after it and I'm eighteen."

"Do you want to watch it tonight?" He asked.

Clarke laughed without humor. "We were having a moment, and you ruined it."

"It was a joke. God, Clarke, have something on your mind?" Bellamy asked. "Anyway, you're not eighteen, and we both know it."

"Less than a week." Clarke said. "That's like, nothing."

"Or everything." He replied. "What is going on for your big birthday bash anyway? Because apparently Octavia was told to think fairytale."

"Oh, it's themed." Clarke said. "I mean, if I was in the Enchanted Forest I would probably be officially brought into society or something, and my mother didn't have it, and they want me to." She looked up at him. "It's supposed to be my birthday party, and I'm going to love it, but it's also a sort of goodbye to the town, you know? I mean, of course we both know that they're having a goodbye party for everyone going away this fall in August, but it's different. They're doing this for me."

"So you're not a part of the planning process?" He asked.

Clarke shook her head. "No. Not really. I mean, it's in the town square, and that was my idea, and I got to choose my clothes, but the rest of it's out of my control. I'm pretty sure you could get more out of them than I can."

"What are you wearing?" He asked.

Clarke paused, tilting her head slightly to the side as she looked at him with an odd expression on her face.

"What?" He asked when she didn't answer. "It's just a question."

"I'm just thinking about all the texts I've gotten with that question. You didn't say it like I thought it would be said."

"Because I'm not expecting you to say, 'nothing.'" He replied. "I'm actually interested with your clothing choice."

"You so have a sister." Clarke said, smiling.

"So are you going to answer me?"

"It's a blue dress." Clarke told him. "Since you are SO not letting it go."

"It happens." He replied. "I get stubborn." He said as they rounded the corner. "Oh, is that the place?"

"Yeah." Clarke said, rolling her eyes. "We could have walked forward, instead we walked all the way around the building."

"Looks like we're not the brightest crayons in the box."

"How the fuck did we get in good schools, then?" She asked. "Book smart not street smart?"

"Maybe…We're just lost little puppies in the real world." He played along.

"Completely socially awkward." Clarke agreed.

Bellamy held the door open for her.

"Thank you." She said as she passed through it. She got them a table for two, and they were placed by the window. The sun was setting outside now. They'd have to find their way back in the dark, but it wouldn't be that hard. They were a block or so away from the subway station, and the hotel was a few blocks from the station they would get off. It was easy to navigate to them. Especially in a rather straight-forward place like Atlanta, Storybrooke had crazier turns and dead-ends than here. No roads magically disappeared and reappeared. Straight lines were easy for them.

"So what do you think?" Clarke asked as she looked at the menu. "Pizza or pizza?"

"Well, I think pizza sounds quite nice." He said.

"I'm happy we're in agreement. I don't think I can eat one by myself." Clarke said. "You choose. I like all pizza. I don't play favorites."

"Playing favorites with pizza." He said. "Now that's one I haven't heard before."

"Are you saying you play favorites with pizza? Because if so we can't be friends." Clarke said as if it were a make-or-break decision.

"I didn't know we were friends." He replied.

Clarke looked at him. "That's true. What even are we to each other?"

"Well, if we go through Henry I am your half-brother's adoptive brother." Bellamy said.

"But if we go through Regina, you're my…" Clarke thought for a second. "step-great-uncle. Which makes me your step-great-niece."

"Is there any way we can put it?" Bellamy asked.

"Well, didn't Leopold almost marry Cora? Can we do something there?" She asked.

"I don't think so. They never actually got married…if they did then my mother would be Leopold's daughter."

"Meaning Snow would have never been born, and the world would be without her, Emma, Henry, and me." Clarke said. "God this is so weird. Our family is so weird."

"But we don't usually have big family drama." He said. "Except for us."

Clarke nodded. "Yeah, except for us."

"Do you think that's going to change?" He asked.

"We're playing nice now, aren't we?" She replied.

Then the waiter came, and they ordered drinks, including wine, which Clarke was a little surprised at. But neither of them were carded—even if they were Clarke had her fake Canadian ID Neal had gotten her. Bellamy was over twenty-one so he was fine. Clarke hid her surprise at the lack of her getting carded well, though after a full wine glass was in her hand, she hid her smile behind it.

"What would you have done if I've gotten carded?" She asked after the waiter left.

"You would have pretended to bring your wallet." He said.

Clarke pulled her purse onto her lap and then went into a hidden pocket in the side and slapped her fake Canadian ID on the table, before taking a sip of her wine. Bellamy picked it up, and raised his eyebrows as he nodded.

"Who gave this to you?" He asked.

"Neal. He has a talent with it. I think art runs in the family." Clarke said.

"You call this art?" He asked.

"Functional art." Clarke said. "It does something."

"Meaning it gets you alcohol." Bellamy said, handing it back to her. "Is that how you got the alcohol last weekend?"

"No. My parents don't keep the booze under lock and key." Clarke said, putting it back in her purse. "But that might change when we get back. There could be a lock on the cabinet when I get back after my little adventure."

"About that." Bellamy said. "Do you really not remember what caused it?"

Clarke shook her head. "Not a thing." She lied, and she would go to her grave saying it to him. She would remain ignorant, and if they knew what set her off, they would know better than to try to say it again. At the very least she knew he wouldn't—it would make him too vulnerable. He wouldn't put himself in a situation where he was on the line. She wondered how he could be her true love if it was true—which she was still fighting—he was not her other half. He couldn't be.

Yet somehow the moment they were out of town they fell into sync. It frightened her. She didn't know what changed outside the town line, but it was obvious something did. Wether it was the pressure of the town, and the constant reminder of the crush that he so ruined when he fucked Roma, her best girlfriend from Elementary though Junior year. They barely waved at each other in the halls, and there was a hundred people in their class. Partially because Roma knew about Clarke's crush on him.

She knew he was sleeping with people. She thought there was no way a twenty year old would have a crush on a sixteen year old he's known since birth. But it was a stupid crush, and she knew it. It was just fun to think about, fun to fantasize about.

And then he fucked Roma and everything went down hill.

Clarke shook her head, trying to clear her mind. It would all be easier if they didn't have a history. No, he couldn't be her true love. There was no way, but she needed to find out why everyone believed he was. If Emma did, then there would have to be something great.

XXX

"We're really not going to tell the kids about this?" Regina demanded, pacing the mayor's office as everyone stood around. "The town is dying. We need to find a way out of here."

"We could always go into the real world." Emma said. "And we have some time."

"Why can't we tell the kids?" David asked. "I mean, whenever we lied to you nothing good came of it. Maybe the could help."

"I agree with David." Snow said. "We learned from these mistakes years ago."

"They're going to college. Medical school. Don't you want Bellamy to finish? Don't you want Clarke to at least get her degree?"

"Not if it means they have to get left behind when we leave!" Regina cried. "I've fought hard for my happy ending. I didn't expect for it to end!"

"Well, neither did I, Regina!" Emma snapped. "But I'm not going to let this effect Clarke before she's able to do anything she wanted to. If we can't stop this I will tell her, but we can stop this. We've stopped it before."

"Let the kids be kids. We can deal with this." Killian agreed.

"But don't the kids deserve to know?" Robin asked. "I mean, not al of them are exactly kids anymore. Clarke's turning eighteen Friday. Bellamy is twenty-two. Neil is twenty-three."

"After Clarke's freak out we don't know what she can handle." Regina said. "I get that, but the rest…"

"Clarke had a freak-out because of your son." Killian said. "Let's not forget that."

"Actually it was because of me." Henry said. "But what does that matter?" He paused. "I agree with Emma and Killian. We should wait until it's too late. Until then…we'll figure something out. How long do you estimate we have?"

"A year." Killian said. "No more. We have to find a way back."

"Or we assimilate like Emma said." Henry said. "Get rid of the monarchy. Join society."

"That's not going to work for us." Snow said. "We're leaders. We can't just follow."

"But we have to do what's best for our children." Emma said. "They want to be in our world."

"No." Robin said. "Yours does. Bellamy somehow got into his head that she'll love him if he does the same."

"Don't blame my daughter for this." Killian replied. "She has dreams. We're not going to be the ones to stop her."

"Then you better say goodbye, because if we have to go back, the only thing we have to do it is the curse."

"We are not cursing our kids." David said.

"Of course not. But we can make the Enchanted Forest like it was that way. We can have our kingdoms, and our princesses, and princes." Regina said. "Our children will be happy."

"What if they're not?" Killian said. "How can we take away our children's happiness? Isn't that what we fought for? How dare we take it from them?"

"Then what do you propose, pirate?" Regina demanded.

"When we have no other choice, we give them the choice. It's their life, not ours." Killian said.

"Bellamy will follow Clarke anywhere." Regina said. "You're going to take my son from me."

"It's his choice." Emma said. "As Robin said, he's not a kid anymore."

They all stood in silence for a moment until Henry spoke. "Maybe we should just try to figure it out. We shouldn't call it quits until the last moment."

"We don't even know if we have to go back." Emma said.

"But if we are. We have a year." Henry said. "Let's figure this out. We'll have Bellamy and Clarke go to Georgia. We both know Clarke can't leave her family. She loves us too much."

"And what about Bellamy?" Regina demanded. "Will she always hate him so much?"

"She doesn't hate him. She never really hated him." Henry said. "She had a huge crush on him her entire life. But he slept with her friend." He paused. "What happened to Bellamy with her is his own fault. He was older. We all know the entire town lusts after him, so it wasn't that big of a choice for her, but that was when Clarke started being upset with everything he did, remember? He's on his own…but Clarke's mind changes when she sees something new is someone."

"How do you know all this?" Emma asked. "Did she tell you?"

"Getting your sister drunk isn't the first thing." Henry said. "I know more about her than anyone."

"And what is she going to choose?" Killian asked. "If we ask her. Is she going to choose this world or the one she was meant to be in?"

"She puts up a brave front." Henry said. "We all know it. But she's terrified of everything. She's going to hate either decision she makes, and she's not going to know what to do. She will do whatever she can for her people."

"And who does she count as her people?" Snow asked.

"Us." Henry's phone beeped, and he looked at it. "Regina, you're not going to have to worry about Bellamy and Clarke not getting along."

"Why?" She asked.

He showed the screen to them all. On it was Clarke and Bellamy. To Henry, it was obvious they had been drinking. But to everyone else, it wasn't so sure. Clarke had her sleepy drunk eyes, and Bellamy's cheeks were a little pink beneath his freckles. They stood outside a restaurant, arms around each other. Henry should know this. She craved physical affection when she was drunk, but only from people she liked.

"I'm thinking a spring wedding for them." Henry said. "The sexual tension is too much. They've been fighting it for too long."

"Please don't talk about this. She's not even eighteen yet." Killian said. "She's too young."

"And Bellamy isn't?" Regina replied. "You know, I wasn't happy either when your daughter started glowing."

"No one did." Snow said. "It complicates things, and there's already too many complications."

"So we don't tell them." Robin said.

"We don't tell them for now." Emma corrected. "We have some time."

"We better not waste it."

"We won't." Killian said. "But we have a plan."

"Which is?" Regina asked.

"There will be a bunch of products of true love at Clarke's party. It's going to draw the evil to it." Emma said. "We stand guard. We take care of it."

"And if no one shows up?"

"We keep trying." Killian said, as he turned toward David and Snow. "You with us?"

"Anything to protect our kids." Snow said.

"We're in." David agreed.

"We are too." Robin said. "We have to start somewhere."

XXX

Clarke snuggled into Bellamy as they laid in bed like she was a cat. His arms wrapped around her, keeping her tight to him.

"I should have cut you off after the lemonchello." Bellamy whispered into her hair. He made sure she brushed her teeth and got into her pajamas. Though they were barely pajamas. A tank top and underwear were not pajamas, especially when they were both black, and the boy shorts had lace trim. He almost groaned when she walked out of the bathroom. He could feel her breasts pressed against him an her legs twisted with his. He had imagined something like this before, but in very different circumstances.

"I'm jus' cold." She slurred. "And 'u're 'arm."

He didn't stop her. He could never stop her. He knew from the moment he saw her he was at her mercy, and now, he would just hold her and do no more. He was happy just being like this, and he silently thanked the woman at the front desk who gave them the king bed. Otherwise he wasn't sure this would happen.

He wasn't even sure how it happened, but he was happy it did. He had a chance. A real chance to have her love him back.

Even though she didn't have a choice. She already did. After knowing someone for your entire life, it was hard not to love them, even with their flaws, no matter how terrible. Love was love. And sometimes it was too strong to be stopped.