Thank you guys so much for your reviews! You've all been amazing :) There's only a few chapters left of this, and I'm going to be sad for it to be over :( Anyway, on with the chapter!

Bellamy had heard his sister, but the echoing silence from Clarke intimidated him. After she had helped finish unpacking everything in his kitchen she had come up to the bedroom and helped organize his bookshelf. It had just been the two of them, and every time he got even close to touching or brushing up against her, his body stiffened and his neck tensed. He didn't know if Clarke was suffering from the same mini heart attacks that he was, but there was a moment when he was getting something off the bed and she was turning back from the bookshelf and they collided face on. Clarke had gone as red as a tomato and sputtered out an apology.

Bellamy didn't mind.

It was the first proper contact they had had in weeks.

He had decided to approach things slowly, tagging her in links that he found funny, or sending her videos that he liked on Facebook. It wasn't always straight away, but he always got a response, and it made him feel stupidly happy. He was like a fourteen year old with his first crush, but he didn't care.

Octavia's twenty-third birthday was coming up and she had already said that she was planning something fancy. Usually she just did dinner and dragged them out clubbing but she must be wanting to do something nice and different because of Lincoln. So two days before his sisters birthday dinner, he went out and brought himself a brand new button down shirt and tie. Octavia had decided on a new Italian restaurant that had opened in the middle of the city. Apparently it had been getting rave reviews but the prices were over the top.

His wallet was going to be feeling pretty light once he left, but it was his baby sister, so he wasn't going to complain.

If he had to be honest, though, the reason behind the new shirt and tie to go with his suit had more to do with Clarke than Octavia. He brushed and flossed his teeth, got dressed—cursed under his breath for not being able to find a pair of matching socks—and then spent almost ten minutes trying to figure out what to do with his hair. He finally decided to leave it exactly how it was, because he had to face it; Octavia got the nice, controllable hair in the family. There really wasn't much he could do with his unruly curls except brush them.

He opted to take a taxi into town, despite the fact it cost quite a bit. There would undoubtedly be drinking tonight, and if all else failed, he could crash at Murphy and Atom's.

Bellamy arrived at the restaurant just after eight, wincing as he walked in late. He was going to take Octavia shopping next week and get her something then—he was terrible at gift giving, so at least he hadn't needed to stop on the way. He gave Octavia's name to the hostess and she smiled and lead him to a table.

A tiny table.

Set for two.

And he was the first one there.

"Uh, I think there might have been a mistake," Bellamy raised an eyebrow. "I'm pretty sure that there's meant to be more people."

"Octavia Blake?" The hostess confirmed. Bellamy nodded. "No, this is correct. Two for eight o'clock—"

"Bellamy?" Piped up a voice behind them and Bellamy looked over the hostesses shoulder, his eyes widening and jaw dropping. Clarke looked around, her expression confused. "Where' everyone else?" Then she saw the table for two and rolled her eyes. "Fucking Octavia," she muttered, giving him a narrow eyed look. "You had nothing to do with this, right?"

"No no no," Bellamy quickly assured her. The hostess was still standing between them, looking awkward and she finally cleared her throat.

"So is everything fine here?" She asked timidly.

"Yeah, we're fine, thanks," Bellamy told her and she scuttled away, looking thankful. Bellamy now got an uninterrupted view of Clarke and he had bit down on his lower lip to stop himself from giving out an audible groan. She was wearing a deep green coloured dress that finished just above her knee, and there was a plunging neckline, so her creamy cleavage teased him and made his mouth water. She had straightened her hair and it was out from it's normal ponytail with only the fringe pinned back to the side. She had quite a bit of make up on, which was unusual for her; her eyes highlighted in silver and dark eyeliner, and deep red lip lipstick painting her mouth.

Bellamy blinked as he realized he had completely zoned out and Clarke was talking to him.

"Sorry, what?" He asked. Clarke rolled her eyes, but there was a smile tugging at her lips, so at least she didn't look annoyed anymore.

"I said, are we going to stay?" She repeated.

"Hell, yes!" Bellamy blurted out, without really thinking about what he was saying. His tanned cheeks reddened as he realized how loud he had said it, and he ducked his head. Clarke let out a giggle and then went red herself. They stared at each other awkwardly before Bellamy made the first move, stepping toward the chair on her side of the table and pulling it out for her.

"Thanks," she shot him a smile and sat down. Bellamy took the seat opposite her and opened the drinks menu. He considered the whiskey and scotch options, but he wanted to keep a clear head, so his eyes flicked over to the low percentage beer.

"Can I take your drink and entrée orders?" A waiter asked, appearing next to them.

"A Corona?" Bellamy asked.

"A vodka martini," Clarke quickly said.

Clearly she had different plans.

The waiter disappeared and the two young adults buried their noses in their menus, pretending to be completely enraptured. When the waiter returned with their drinks and a plate of garlic bread, Clarke almost snatched it from his grip and downed half of it in the first gulp. Bellamy glanced at the waiter and smirked at his shocked expression.

"Can we have a few more minutes to decide on our mains?" He asked and the waiter nodded before leaving. Clarke put her drink back down on the table and laid her hands down flat. Bellamy reached across and touched her hand. "We don't have to stay if you don't want to. We can ring Raven, she'll let us know where to go to crash Vee's real birthday."

"No, it's fine," Clarke gave him a quick smile. "I've been wanting to try this place for ages but I couldn't find a good excuse to actually spend that much money on food. This is probably the only time I'm ever going to come here on my income and student loan repayments."

"Okay," Bellamy nodded, his lips turning upwards. "Then tonight, we shall feast."

He got the first laugh of the night from Clarke.

As much as Clarke hated to admit it, she was going to have to thank Octavia. She was two martini's in, sitting opposite the most handsome man she had met in her life and enjoying some damn good food. She had gone with the chicken, Chicken Al Mattone, and was enjoying every, expensive bite. Bellamy had almost finished his steak meal by the time she was only a quarter of a way through. He was clearly going to remain the sober one tonight, because after the beer he had originally ordered, he then switched to orange juice.

"Okay, what about that time you and Murphy did LCD your last year of school?" Clarke grinned at the memory, leaning back in her seat and tilting her head to the side. Bellamy winced at the memory—not one of his finer moments. He had been stupid and young and let Murphy talk him into trying a couple of pills. "You guys thought you could fly."

"Let's change the subject," he quickly interjected.

"You guys were wearing towels as capes!" Clarke laughed and stuck her tongue out at him. "It was pretty adorable."

"Shut up," Bellamy rolled his eyes at her but he was grinning.

"And then Murphy broke his leg, trying to 'fly' off the roof," Clarke leaned forward again, taking another drink of her martini. "Shit, the stuff you guys got up to."

"I blame Murphy for most of it," Bellamy muttered.

"Whatever," Clarke rolled his eyes. "You were just as bad as him. It's you Blake's in general, actually." Bellamy gave her a look of mock outrage and held a hand to his heart. "Oh, don't give me that look," she laughed. "Octavia talked me into doing so much stuff that I would never have done if she wasn't around."

"As I recall, she said it was you who talked a group of you guys into skinny dipping in the principals jacuzzi your graduation night," Bellamy smirked at her and Clarke's mouth dropped open.

"Ohmygod—she told you about that?!" She gasped and he laughed at her reaction. She groaned and dropped her head into her hands. "That's so embarrassing."

"What?" He gave a one shouldered shrug. "I think it's hot that you're happy to go completely naked in front of a bunch of other people."

"I am not," Clarke interrupted him. "I was just really, really drunk."

"I think I need to get you that drunk," Bellamy gave her a heated look. Clarke would have given him a dressing down for the comment had she not already been two vodka's in, but she just rolled her eyes and gave him a knowing look.

"Oh, yeah? Would you really want to share me being naked with anyone else?" She shot back at him and Bellamy snapped his mouth shut. "That's what I thought," she smiled at him smugly.

"Is that an offer?" Bellamy quirked an eyebrow. Clarke licked her lower lip, sucking it into her mouth as she studied him. Then she dropped her eyes and went back to her food. The moment was over but Bellamy was smiling. The waiter came back not too long later and cleared their food, asking if they wanted to order dessert. Bellamy had looked across at Clarke and she had made a face and shaken her head. "I've never known you to pass up dessert," he said as they stood up from the table.

"I don't think my bank account can deal with dessert," she made a face at him. "I brought the dress brand new as well so I've already blown my budget for the week."

"Well, if Octavia had actually told you where her birthday dinner was, and then you went out clubbing with her afterwards, that dress would pay for itself in drinks," Bellamy told her earnestly and Clarke reddened. They made their way to the front desk to pay for their meal, but as Bellamy held out his hand in front of her when she went to pull out her wallet from her purse. "I got this."

"Bellamy..." Clarke began.

"No, I got this," he told her. As he turned back to the hostess and handed over his Eftpos card, he hoped that he did have this, and that he had enough in his bank account. The card fortunately cleared and they headed out of the restaurant. "Well? What did you want to do now? You want me to try and reach—"

"Do you want to come back to my place?" Clarke asked in a rush, her words all jumbled together, but Bellamy understood perfectly. He blinked at her and swallowed hard.

"Yes."

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(By the way, have you all heard Waiting for a Superman by Daughtry? I'm kind of in love.)

(LOL and also Don't Deserve You by Plumb? Totally amazing.)