Chapter Twenty-Five: Sweep You Off Your Feet

Bellamy knew he didn't have to hide.

After all, this was a public school open to the public for a public event. He had no reason to feel uneasy enough to hide in order to not get caught. Except that this school was Mount Weather Prep and just the smell was nauseating. How much worse and humiliating it would be if they got caught by someone who went here!

Today marked the first day of Quiz Bowl tournaments and it just so happened that Mount Weather was kicking it off this season against the Plains View Riders, which Octavia had filled him in on being a participant in the Conclave that Octavia would be fighting in come springtime.

Clarke had been a little anxious on how high they were going to have to step up their game in order to even come close to being a challenge against Mount Weather. In the few days that lead up to Mount Weather's first competition, Bellamy wore her down until she agreed to sneak in on them to watch. They had spent almost every waking moment with each other since Wells left so it hadn't been too hard to convince her.

The half hearted disguises were a little much, but Bellamy had to admit that it was fun. Clarke had a scarf looped around her head like a hood covering her curls and wire glasses at the edge of her nose. Bellamy sported thick rimmed glasses, a sweater vest, and khakis.

The hope was to look more like rich parents than middle class teenagers in order to dispel any suspicions of the other parents milling about. Unfortunately, it backfired.

Apparently the rich liked to point out the new guys, and started harping on him and Clarke in over friendly tones: "Which kid is yours?" "You both look so young! What's your secret?" "How long have you been married?" "Oh, dearie, he looks like a keeper." "Better hold onto that one, son, otherwise I might try to get a hold of her! Hah!"

Clarke had thought quick and told them that they had forgotten to bring flowers for their son (after noting that the other parents had all brought something for their kids) and that they would be out and back in a snap. She grabbed Bellamy's hand and dragged him outside to his car where they say in silence for a few seconds before erupting into laughter.

They had sat in the car, the heat blasting, for close to twenty minutes before sneaking their way back into the auditorium where they now sat in the very back. The last thing they needed was for someone to recognize them after that fiasco.

"I can't believe how hard it was to get into a public school." Clarke was hyperventilating slightly from their mad sprint across the cold parking lot. She pulled back her hood, the top of her head poking through. "God, I hate these people."

Bellamy snorted in agreement. "Can't argue with that one."

Cage was up first against a Riders' girl. He had a twisted smile on his face; the same ugly smirk he had when he sent Clarke running out of the restaurant a few weeks ago. Bellamy wanted to punch him in the nose.

The mediator pushed his glasses into place. Bellamy wondered if he was a teacher at Mount Weather because even he carried himself with a pompous air. "The first question," he said, "What chemical element gives the blood of a lobster it's bluish tint?"

"Copper," Bellamy responded reflexively under his breath. Clarke nudged him with an impressed smile.

Cage slapped his buzzer calmly, the opponent clearly stumped already. "Copper."

"Correct," the mediator said. Bellamy rolled his eyes. "One point for Mount Weather."

Emerson was up next, this time against a boy with a thick neck. "Next question: in what country did cheddar cheese originate?"

"England, duh," Clarke murmured.

The boy slapped the buzzer. "Wales."

"Incorrect," the mediator said.

Emerson took the steal. "England."

Clarke shook her head in disappointment. "Can you believe he got that one wrong?"

Bellamy shrugged. "Who would know where cheddar cheese originates?"

Clarke shoved him softly with her shoulder. "Who would know what metal makes lobster blood blue?"

Bellamy smirked at her through the dim light of the auditorium. "Guess our Quiz Bowl practices have been more helpful than we thought."

The rest of the tournament went on like that; questions were asked, many of them being answered by Clarke and himself before anyone on stage could. Mount Weather wiped the floor with the Riders, but that had been expected. At some point, Clarke had rested her head on Bellamy's shoulder and fell asleep.

The lights started to brighten as people started to get up and filter out. Bellamy shifted slightly so he could see her face. He couldn't remember a time when he'd ever seen Clarke so vulnerable and at peace. A thought of them watching a movie like this at his house crossed his mind, and then he immediately shook it out of his head.

Why would a weird thought like that invade him? It's not like he liked her.

The movement of a figure walking off the stage caught his attention. Bellamy recognized it as Cage right away. Cage glanced in their direction and for a second, Bellamy was sure that they had made eye contact.

They needed to get out of there.

Bellamy shook Clarke's shoulder, stirring her slightly but not enough to wake her up. "Clarke," he said, " we have to go. "

Clarke sat up on her own, but was still dazed. "It's over?"

"Yes." Bellamy glanced up. Cage was already moving in their direction. "Alright, time to go, princess."

In one swoop, Bellamy swept her into his arms and made a break for the exit from the auditorium. The sea of people made it a little tricky, but Bellamy shoved himself through the crowd without any worry for repercussions. These people were stuck up pricks and it wasn't like he had to worry about seeing these ever again anyway.

"Bellamy?" Clarke was fully conscious now.

"Good to see you're finally awake." He reached the door and pushed it open with his back. The nip of the freezing air and snow pierced his face right away. Clarke rolled her face into his chest to avoid the wind. "I think we're safe now—"

"Griffin? Blake?"

Bellamy whirled around at the voice. Emerson was standing in a group of people in the shadows of the school. How did he get out here so fast? Bellamy wanted to slap himself in the face. He should have ran for the car without stopping.

Emerson stepped out into the light pouring from the building windows. "So you too are rolling together now, or something?"

Bellamy instantly helped Clarke back to her feet. "No," she answered, pulling her scarf so that the curls were free. "We were just—"

Emerson laughed, waving them off. The doors swung open, and Cage stepped out wearing the same supercillious grin from before. Bellamy scolded himself again for not bolting across the parking lot when he had the chance. "Clarke!" Cage smiled vehemently. "I was expecting to see you here."

Clarke opened her mouth to protest but Cage cut her off. "Don't worry about defending yourself, Clarke Griffin. It's only natural to check out the competition when you know you don't stand a chance unless you get some sort of leg up."

Clarke scoffed, but Bellamy easily picked up on the mild anxiety that she was successfully trying to put away. "I'll admit, we did come down here to see what we'd be up against," she said coolly. "And even though you guys were good, I think you're the ones who should be worried about going up against West Arke."

Cage chuckled, bumping slightly into Emerson who also had a smirk. "Isn't that cute, Emerson?" Cage taunted, "They think that they're garbage hole of a school is worth being frightened of! Clarke, I thought you were smarter than this."

Bellamy stepped in front of Clarke, a growl escaping from the depths of his throat. The familiar feeling of wanting to fight bubbled to the surface. "Don't talk about us as if you're so high and mighty! Especially don't talk to Clarke that way." Bellamy's fist tremored at his side. He was getting ready to hit him, and not just hit, but inflict the worst kind of pain. There was only one other time when he felt this intense amount of hatred— when his mom's ex-boyfriend tried coming back to her years after walking out on them, shortly before Octavia had been born.

Clarke must have sensed that he was about to snap, because she circled herself around his upper arm and jerked him backward roughly. "Stop, Bellamy. They're not worth the trouble."

Bellamy instinctively flashed a look of anger toward Clarke for stopping him, but she maintained her grip on his arm as she pleaded with him. Her expression was still firm and strict, but Bellamy picked up on the slight tremble of her lower lip and the helplessness in her eyes. To any onlooker, she would have looked fearless.

But Bellamy knew that she was worried. She was nervous that he was going to initiate something that would get him hurt.

The adrenaline that had flowed through his veins a moment before eased away, though the aggression lingered. His fist relaxed, and he rested it reassuringly over Clarke's hands that were still firmly holding onto his arm.

Emerson and Cage were grinning like demons. "We're going to destroy this competition, and you with it," Bellamy snapped.

"Ah, Bellamy," Cage said with mock sincerity, "We're all friends here, yeah?" Bellamy had a few choice words for that comment. "No need to get violent. Trash talking is just the spirit of competition! And," he reached into his pocket, pulled out a folded piece of paper, and held it out to Clarke, "To show it's all in good fun and for no hard feelings, we'd like to invite you to our party this Saturday."

Clarke accepted the paper cautiously. "You want us to be at your party?" She turned the piece of paper over in her hands, as if examining it for an chance of foul play. All it had was an address scrawled in ugly handwriting.

Cage shoved his hands into his pockets and shrugged almost casually. "Of course. Both of you could easily be elite members of Mount Weather had you have chosen to do so. You're our kind, and I wouldn't dream of being prejudiced against our kind."

Clarke folded the paper and moved to give it back. "We don't want —"

Bellamy snagged the paper out of her hands and tucked it into his coat pocket. "We'll think about." He twirled Clarke around and walked her down to his car without allowing another word to be said between any of them.

"What was that?" She demanded. Bellamy opened her door and closed it after her. "Bellamy!" She asked again once he had slid into the driver's seat.

"Getting us out of there." Now that most of the crowd was gone, he was able to exit the parking lot quickly. "If they're giving us an in, we take the in. Friends close, enemies closer?"

Clarke crossed her arms, sinking into the seat. The glasses she had been wearing were pushed up on her head like a headband, keeping her hair out of her face and her cheeks were bright red from the cold. "I'd much rather keep these enemies an arms distance away."

Bellamy chuckled. "You an' me both."

They drove in comfortable silence for a few minutes. He was a little surprised that Clarke hadn't turned on the radio, but he didn't mind. For some reason, he had come to enjoy the soft sound of her breathing when they drove together, which seemed to be a lot these days. It had started off when Clarke's car was in the shop after Jasper trashed it, but even in the weeks after it had been repaired, she never went back to it. She always asked him to pick her up or drop her off...

Bellamy shook his head and refocused on the otherwise empty road. He risked one last glance at Clarke, noting that she was using her scarf as a blanket. "Are you cold?" he asked without thinking.

Clarke shifted slightly, her eyelids heavy but straining to stay open. "Nah, I'm okay. I know you don't like the car too warm."

Bellamy reached over, turned up the heat, and directed all of the vents toward the passenger's seat. "You don't need to my permission to be comfortable, got that? I'm fine."

Clarke narrowed her eyes at him, and he laughed softly. It was another fifteen minutes before he pulled into her driveway, but she was already out cold despite it being only ten o 'clock. He vaguely wondered if she was coming down with something.

"Clarke." Her rustled her shoulder. "Clarke, we're at your house."

She stirred slightly, making groaning sounds as she stretched. Bellamy rolled his eyes. Either she was ignoring him or she was a heavier sleeper than he thought.

He leaned back in his seat and blew out an exasperated breath. "You've got to be kidding me. Two times in one day? Don't get used to this, Princess."

She was pretty easy to lift out of the car and the walkway up to the front door was shoveled and there weren't any ice patches which took a tremendous amount of worry off his shoulders. Abby and Marcus must have seen him pull up at some point because they were standing with the door open once he reached the porch.

"Thank you for bringing her home, Bellamy." Abby smiled, but in an exhausted way.

Marcus curled his fingers, gesturing for Bellamy to come closer. "I'll take her," he said. Bellamy slipped Clarke into her stepdad's arms, careful as not to wake her. Her glasses were gone now; he'd have to find them in his car and return them to her.

Marcus disappeared upstairs, probably to take her up to her room. He hadn't even known he had been staring so long until he returned his eyes to Abby. She was smiling. Bellamy coughed, suddenly embarrassed.

"Well, I'm just going to be on my way—"

" —Would you like any some coffee or anything, Bellamy?" she asked.

"Oh, no. I'm fine, Mrs. Kane but thank you for the offer."

"Are you sure? We've got leftover cookies and lasagna from earlier."

"I'd hate to impose."

"You're not, dear." Her eyes twinkled, and suddenly Bellamy finally noticed the resemblance between Clarke and her mother. "Please. If not for yourself, at least for your sister and mother."

Welp, she got him there. How was he doing to say no to that? Not to mention, he wasn't sure if his mom would have eaten anything during the day and the least he could do is leave something out for her. At least now he could count on Lincoln to take take care of Octavia.

He ran a hand through his curls. "Okay, then."

Abby led him into the kitchen, which was about the size of the living room back at his apartment. The last time he had been in this house was the day after homecoming. "How was the tournament?" She pulled a nearly full pan of lasagna out of the freezer.

"Not bad," he said, purposefully leaving out the confrontation. "It was mostly confirming our suspicions. They're really good."

Abby slapped half of the lasagna onto a platter. "I was afraid of that, but I'm sure you'll pull through. You're a reliable bunch. Plus, I heard that Raven is is a part of your team and she's a smart girl."

Bellamy perked up slightly. "You know Raven?"

Abby laughed. "She goes to the same gym as I do." She wrapped up the plate with shrink wrap to keep it from making a mess. "Here you go, sweetie."

Bellamy accepted the plate, surprised by how heavy it was. "Thank you, again."

She smiled, eyes twinkling dimly. "Any time."

It was even colder outside now than it was when they had left the school. Bellamy put the plate in the passenger's seat of his car, but was surprised when he saw a dull shimmer on the floor. He reached over and picked up Clarke's glasses from her disguise.

He debated about running them inside real quick, but instead set them on his dashboard.

He kind of liked them there.

...

Not quite sure if I like this chapter but I'm already posting a hell of a lot later than I wanted to, so here it is!

I promise I have a lot of inspiration and ideas for chapters its just a matter of finding time...pray that I find time 😅

Hope you had happy holidays and good luck this exam season!

1/20/18