"The worst day of my life was when I got the call that Octavia was in foster care, and when I thought they weren't going to release her to me. The case worker tried to talk me out of it three separate times. She said that a twenty four year old shouldn't have to worry about a fourteen year old, and, for a minute, I thought about killing her. I'd just found out that both of my parents died, and my little sister, the only person in the entire fucking world that I gave a fuck about, was stuck in a house with six other kids while she waited on me to fly in from Iraq. I took care of her, her entire life, up until I left to join the army when she was eleven, and I hated myself for it. I sent every paycheck home to her. Not to Mom, to her. So she would have food and clothes and school supplies. And it was my fault she was blowing it on pot and booze, because I never taught her how to do anything else.
"I wasn't a great teenager. I fucked around a lot, I was shit at school, and the only thing I took seriously was making sure Octavia had food. I never even thought about the fact that I was setting an example for her. The wrong fucking example. Not until I got back and signed all the papers to be her guardian. The best day of my life was when Octavia was born," Bellamy finished gruffly, not looking over at his sister, even though her fingernails were digging into the back of his hand.
"What do you want to do from here?" Jasper prompted as if they hadn't all watched the ritual twice before.
"I want to get my associate's degree. Show O that we can conquer the whole damn world. I want to apologize to the people I did wrong when I was a stupid, angry teenager. I want to move out of that shitty apartment we're living in. I want to take Clarke on a date. I want to look into the future and see a life where I'm not some sad bachelor working in an auto shop. I want a life worth waking up to."
"So do you really like my mom?"
"Jasper!" Monty hissed. "That's not how we do things!"
"It's fine," Bellamy cut Monty off. "Yeah. I like Clarke. A lot. I'm not saying I want to marry her or anything. But I want to take her on dates, and I want to be a part of her life. As more than the asshole who got in trouble for interrogating her son."
"Oh. Well, we promised we'll help you with your goals. That's the whole point of the spirit quest. We can get Mom to go on a date with you," Jasper said with a shrug.
"No, no, absolutely not. I want Clarke to go on a date with me because she wants to go on a date with me. And I'm definitely not dragging you guys into it. That just screams something that she will string me up for."
"That's a fair point. But we can at least give you our blessing for it," Jasper said solemnly.
"Thanks. Now what's the next step of the spirit quest?"
"One more round with the alcohol, and then we walk back home and have hot chocolate and cookies."
The eight of them stumbled back into the house, trying to be quiet and sober, but it only took one look from Clarke to have the seven kids giggling while Bellamy stared at her solemnly, trying to look ashamed. She sighed, "All of you go warm up. Damn delinquents."
But her voice was too warm for any of them to take the growl seriously. Jasper swept her up in a crushing hug that lifted her feet off the ground and sang, "Thanks, Mom."
He released her, just so the rest of the delinquents could follow in his footsteps, hugging her tight before lumbering off to the living room. It was just Bellamy left staring at Clarke and she opened her arms with a laugh. "Come on. The rest of the delinquents did it. You might as well."
He scooped her up in a hug and lifted her high off the ground, spinning her around before he put her back on her feet but kept his arms looped around her waist. He kissed her softly on the forehead and she smiled before ordering, "Alright, Bellamy Blake. Because you let the kids get drunk, you get to help me finish making cookies."
"Even if I'm tipsy?"
"Especially since you're tipsy."