Surprise! Here is an early update to celebrate the fact this fic hit 500 kudos, 100 bookmarks, and 10,000 hits on AO3! Thank you to everyone who has read this fic – it means the world to me.

This chapter is a lot shorter than the last few ones, which I'm happy about! The shorter the chapter is, the faster it is to edit. I hope the content makes up for the length!

Warnings: minor blood/gore, coarse language

I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 25: Love is Why We Fight

Day 4 in the arena

Clarke leaned away from Octavia and sanitized her hands. She had just finished changing the bandages that covered her wound. Bellamy was hanging over her shoulder as she checked Octavia's pulse.

It was still rapid, but that was to be expected. In fact, Octavia's recovery was beyond what she had hoped for. She was a fighter, just like her brother. She was still obviously in pain, slipping in and out of consciousness, but she wasn't screaming or crying like she expected someone with an injury like that to be doing. So far, no infection had reached her – she had no fever and no warm wounds. She was doing well.

But she still got stabbed.

She wasn't going to be waking up anytime soon.

"She's too sick to move," Clarke determined, pulling back. She tucked the sleeping girl back in and turned to Bellamy. "She's okay for now. No infections. I'm just worried that if we move her, her condition will worsen." Bellamy nodded his head, looking distant. Clarke reached across and placed her hand on his forearm. "The first 24 hours are the hardest after a procedure like yesterday, but she's doing good. We'll keep an eye on her." Bellamy nodded his head again and turned back to his sister.

Clarke decided to give the siblings some space, so she shuffled over to the opposite side of the cave where her allies were sitting. Despite having spent the night with the Blakes, they were still distant. Clarke understood why, even if she wished it wasn't the case. Trust was hard to build in the arena. It was one thing that the Capitol wanted to destroy – they wanted them to have no trust, no humanity.

"We need food," Murphy pointed out, throwing the empty food wrapper to the ground. Raven glared at him and picked it up. He didn't bat an eye. "We are completely out of food and we're almost out of water." He raised his eyebrows. "Nobody wants to be the one to say it, so I will. We need to keep moving. Stop playing house."

Clarke fought the urge to narrow her eyes. "I'm not playing house," she replied, her voice tight.

"She performed an operation and helped save a tribute," Wells agreed. "Nobody's playing anything, Murphy."

"Nobody asked you," he snapped. Clarke sighed.

Recently, Wells and Murphy had started stepping on each other's toes. Now that they weren't running away from the bloodbath or dying of dehydration, they had enough energy to argue.

She shouldn't have been surprised. Since the first second they seen each other, they had been at each other's throats. Murphy loved to antagonize Wells because of who his father was, Wells loved to go against anything and everything Murphy said. They were like a spark in a room full of oxygen.

"Octavia is too sick to move," Clarke said. "We need to stay here, just a little longer."

Murphy scoffed. "Why are we waiting around for her?" His nose wrinkled. "She's a Career." Wells gave him a snide look. Clarke appreciated him standing up for the Blakes. It was nice to know someone else was on her side. Murphy caught sight of Wells' expression. "Listen, Mayor Jaha, this isn't up to you."

Wells glared harder. He was about to come up with what was sure to be a witty reply, but her knuckles brushed against the side of his arm. That seemed to break him out of whatever mood Murphy had set him in and his mouth clamped shut.

Clarke could tell they were all getting restless by being in the cave with two people they didn't trust. They were thirsty, hungry and scared. Only eight tributes had died so far – that was the least in all of the Games she had watched. Usually at least ten died in the bloodbath. It looked like they were in for a long Games.

Of course.

"We need more food," Clarke stated. Murphy was right about that. She stood up from the muddy ground and dusted off her pants. "I'm going to go forage." Wells stood up to go with her, but she leaned forward. They locked eyes. "Stay here. Watch them. They're still hostile towards the Blakes." Clarke didn't think they would actually attack them, but Murphy was unpredictable. He felt threatened and unsafe – who knows what he would be willing to do to stay safe.

Wells' eyes flicked across the cave, coming to rest on the Blakes. After a few seconds, he glanced at Clarke again. "Maybe you should take Bellamy with you?" Clarke shot him a look and he tried to hide his grin. "They won't attack Octavia, not while she's injured and not able to defend herself. But Bellamy? They'll have no issues attacking him." He lifted his eyebrow. "Plus, if I'm going to stay here, you'll need help."

Clarke chewed on her lips and her eyes flicked to Bellamy. He sat against the cave wall, his eyes closed and head resting against the rocks.

Wells did have a point. She doubted anyone would think about hurting Octavia if she was passed out, but she could almost see Murphy sucking Bellamy into an argument. Wells wouldn't be able to stop a fight if it broke out between them.

"Seriously," he stressed. "Unless you want to take Murphy." Clarke snorted. "Exactly."

She really didn't need to be convinced. "Okay." She squeezed his arm in thanks and crossed the cave to where Bellamy was sitting.

Clarke tried to hide her smile. The truth was, she was dying to spend some time alone with Bellamy. While it had only been a few days since they were last together, it felt like a lifetime ago.

His eyes opened when he sensed her presence. "Are you up for some hunting?" For a brief moment, he looked excited. Then, his smile drooped and his eyes flicked to Octavia's sleeping form.

Before he could even speak, Wells was talking. "I'll watch her. I can yell for the both of you if something happens."

Bellamy still looked unsure. Clarke knew he was worried about leaving her while she was still injured, and she knew he didn't trust her allies either. She wanted him to come with her, but she wasn't going to force him into going.

"If you aren't comfortable, that's okay," she told him. "I can go myself. I'll manage."

"You're not going out there by yourself," Bellamy said, his eyes intense. "It's dangerous."

"Come with me," she asked him again. "Octavia is stable. Wells will watch her. The alliance is getting restless being trapped in here with you. Let's get some fresh air." Bellamy stared at her for a long moment. She could sense he was torn. "If you don't want to, I won't force you. I understand why-"

"I'll come," he cut her off. He stood up and brushed the leaves from his pants. "I'm just worried about Octavia."

He had such a caring heart.

"I know. You don't have to leave her."

"I know I don't have to. She'll be fine." He turned to Wells. "You'll watch her?"

"Of course." Clarke smiled at how determined and genuine Wells looked. Bellamy must've been impressed by his response too, since he was smiling when he turned back to Clarke.

"Alright then. Let's go."

As soon as she left the cave, she took a deep breath in, letting the fresh air fill her lungs. The cave smelt of moss, mold, blood, and wet mud. It was nauseating. Being in the open air made her feel like a new person. Her shoulders instantly relaxed.

"It feels so good," she mumbled. Bellamy was standing only a few inches behind her, a hand resting on her shoulder. She couldn't stop her lips from twitching into a smile at the contact.

"That cave is the worst," he muttered. "I've never been so crammed in my life." Clarke couldn't agree more. It was a tight fit in the small cave with nine tributes stuffed in there.

Clarke and Bellamy fell inline with each other as they headed into the woods. She fought the urge to reach out and take his hand. She knew that holding hands in the middle of the arena was stupid; they'd need to be ready to fight at any moment, and being joined together slowed down their reaction time.

She tried to keep her mind off of how much she wanted to tell him how much he meant to her. She tried not to think about his lips on hers; or, how she imagined it would feel. She didn't want to think about how his warm breath ghosted across her face, nor did she want to think about his fingers brushing hair off of her cheek.

Instead, she cleared her throat and reached into her jacket pocket. "Here, you might need this." She handed him the extra knife that she carried. He took it cautiously, eyeing her suspiciously.

"You're not worried you're arming me?" She couldn't tell if he was being serious or not.

"I know you won't hurt me," she said simply. That answer seemed good enough to him. He slipped the knife into the holster around his waist. To keep her mind away from his lips, she kept talking "I expect Octavia will be stable enough to move by tomorrow. Maybe we could move to a better location then. Somewhere roomier would be nice."

Bellamy's smile fell. "You'll move somewhere different," he corrected. Clarke's heart clenched. "Your alliance won't want to stay with me. The only reason half of them agreed to stay was because of the cave." He sucked in a quick breath and slipped on a mask. She knew this reaction of his well. He was hiding his emotions. "It'll be okay though. It was nice to see you one more time."

Clarke glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. His hands were shoved deeply in his pockets and he wore an unreadable expression.

She ignored the pang of hurt in her chest. She wasn't going to lose him – not again. The more time she spent with him, the more she was sure she didn't want to separate.

"This isn't goodbye, Bellamy," she stated firmly. She was surprised by how sure her voice sounded. "I'll talk to them. I'll work something out."

His lips quirked into a half smile. "The Delinquents."

Her brow furrowed. "Huh?"

"The Delinquents," he repeated. "That's what everyone's calling you guys." She let out a surprised laugh and rolled her eyes. "I'm serious. As soon as your interview went live, people decided to call your alliance the Delinquents."

"Why? Because I'm a criminal."

Bellamy bumped her shoulder. "The baddest of them all," he agreed.

She glanced at him, a lightness filling her chest. Even while walking through the forest filled with death traps and people wanting to kill them, he managed to make her smile.

His smile faltered after a minute of walking. He couldn't meet her eyes. "You're going to have to go with your allies, Clarke. You can't abandon them." Finally, he glanced at her. The air was knocked from her chest. "I won't let you."

Her throat was tight. "Bellamy..."

"Clarke," he said softly. Somehow, that made her throat tighter. He stopped walking and she turned to face him. "They're a good group. Don't give that up."

"I don't plan to," she promised. "They're my friends." She took a step closer to him. "But that doesn't mean I'm going to give up you and Octavia either." She was aching to be in his arms again. She didn't know how much time they had left together and she didn't want to waste a second. "I... I really care about you two. You've been there for me more than anyone else."

He sent her a lopsided smile. "I care about you, too, princess." With that, they kept walking. Clarke tried to pretend that her heart wasn't racing. They'd been walking for a few minutes in silence before Bellamy next spoke. "So, what happened with you and Wells? The last I heard, you hated him."

She pulled a face at that. She doubted he would be satisfied with the answer 'it's complicated,' but it truly was that – complicated. Complicated and dangerous.

"We worked things out." He cocked an eyebrow at her.

She didn't really want to talk about it when she knew the cameras were pointed at them. If she even hinted something vague at him, the Capitol would know she told him. They would know she didn't keep her promise to be quiet. They would kill both of them. They would kill their families.

But she wanted him to know. He had been a constant support back in the Capitol and he had listened to her for hours. She wanted to confide in him – to tell him all of her secrets.

Clarke walked up to him and wrapped her arms around him. He returned the hug without hesitation. She craned her neck so her lips were beside his ear. She spoke so lowly that her lips had to brush against his skin for him to hear. "We worked things out. He told me the truth. It wasn't what I thought." She hoped whoever was watching thought they were merely hugging, not discussing secrets that would send them to the grave.

"He didn't do it?" His voice was low too. A shock went up her spine as his lips ghosted against her ear. She felt her cheeks flush and butterflies erupt in her stomach.

"No," she hissed out. "It was my mom." He pulled back in shock. He looked horrified. She sent him a look, begging him not to say anything. Bellamy blinked a few times and composed his expression.

Clarke took a few steps away from him and continued walking. Bellamy trailed a few inches behind her, deep in thought.

"I'm sorry." She could tell he wanted to say more, to comfort her. But she had been clear with her warnings; nobody could know that she told him. "I can't imagine what you're feeling right now."

"It's worse than I imagined," she admitted. She was struggling to keep her voice upbeat, to hide the truth behind her words.

Bellamy closed the distance between them and took hold of her hand. Just the smallest touch made her calmer. It made things seem clearer. It made her feel safe, no matter what happened. Just a simple touch made her heart race and her stomach flip around.

"I couldn't stop thinking about you," Clarke admitted after a beat of silence. "I wondered where you were. I wondered if you were still alive."

"I thought that too," he said. His thumb ran across the back of her hand, sending a jolt up her arm. "Octavia was dying and I had no idea what to do to save her. For the last two days, I was alone with my demons." His face was stone. "I'm glad we get a few more moments together." He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. "I wish that we could have more."

"Wouldn't that be nice?" she sighed.

They were silent for a long moment. Then, she froze in her movements, pulling Bellamy to a stop beside her. Only feet in front of them, through a thicker bush, was a blueberry bush. Blueberries were nearly impossible to pick – they would probably take hours to get enough to feed all of them – but it was better than nothing.

"Food," she said, already pulling him towards the bush. As soon as he caught sight of what she seen, he pulled her to a stop. She glanced up at him in confusion. His face was hardened and he was scanning the forest around them. "Bellamy-"

"I'll go first," he decided. "We don't know who is around here."

She wanted to argue that she could protect herself, but she needed to be realistic. He had been training with weapons for his whole life. He skills might've been enough to survive, but his were the ones that would win a fight. She reluctantly nodded her head and dropped his hand.

She watched him walk away, her heart beating rapidly. Even as he disappeared from her sight, she couldn't calm her racing heartbeat. In fact, not seeing him made her even more nervous.

She could still feel his lips brush against her ear, and she could feel the tingle of the shock it sent up her spine. She wondered if she had the same effect on him. Every time he touched her, she felt like he left a trail of fire in his wake. Her hairs would stand up in end and she would get goose bumps.

She tried to reason it out that she reacted this strongly because she had been without human contact for a year. She hadn't been touched or held by anyone in so long, and his soft touches did something funny to her heart.

Still, he had that effect on her. He made her feel like she was burning in the best possible ways.

She thought back to what Wells said the previous night, her lips quirking up. Who would've thought that Wells Jaha would be the one encouraging her to fall for Bellamy. She never would've guessed that.

"I see the way you look at him. I see the way he looks at you. Why are you holding back? Why are you trying to deny that you're head over heels for him?"

She told him that she couldn't allow herself to fall for him. There wasn't any time for love when she had to focus on survival.

Iif we can't love now, when can we love? Love is never worth nothing. Love is the reason we fight. Love is the reason we survive. Without love, we have nothing."

His last words haunted her though.

"These are our final days. Why deny ourselves the simple pleasures?"

Why deny the simple pleasure of falling for Bellamy Blake?

"Screw it," she muttered, a surge of confidence filling her.

If not now, when? Live without reservation. Live without regrets.

She was falling for him. He made her feel alive and free. He made her feel safe and at home. He was her home. There was no denying that he held a piece of her soul already, what was stopping her from giving it completely to him?

She pushed through the bush separating her from him, her mind made up and her heart racing.

Wells was right; love was why they kept fighting. Love was not a distraction. Love wasn't useless, even if she felt it only for a brief moment. Without love, they wouldn't have humanity.

She stepped into the small clearing. Bellamy's back was to her as he placed the knife back in his holster. She sucked in a deep breath and squared her shoulders.

Before she knew what was happening, her legs were moving on their own accord. As he heard her approaching, he turned around. They locked eyes.

"Clarke," he said, his face breaking into a smile. "What-"

"No denying the simple pleasures in life anymore," she told him.

She stood an inch away from him, just far enough away so they weren't touching. Bellamy closed the distance, wrapping his arms around her waist and stepping closer to her. Her hands automatically came up to rest against his chest. She could feel his heart beating steadily under her palm.

"I care about you, Bell. It's not logical and I know it'll only lead to more pain, but I care for you so fucking much." She curled her hands around the sleeves of his jacket. "I-"

She was abruptly cut off as her air got trapped in her throat. His head swooped towards hers, stopping only millimeters away. She could feel his breath across her face and she could nearly taste his lips on hers. They had been in this position before on the roof, when she pulled away.

Not this time.

She closed the gap between them, pressing their lips together. He pulled her against his body with one arm and cupped her cheek gently with his hand. Her arms wound their way around his neck and found their way into his hair. His thumb brushed against the curve of her jaw, sending chills across her whole body.

The kiss was short, but it sent her spiraling. She felt like with that one touch, she felt her reservations melt away. It was almost like she had been desperately holding on to her heart, not wanting to give any more of it to him.

The kiss changed that.

She cared for Bellamy, more than she should've for her own good. It wasn't any question. Bellamy Blake was apart of her soul.

They pulled away from the kiss panting. As soon as they parted she let out a breathless laugh. She couldn't keep the smile off her face. She clung to him tightly, her fingers tightly wrapped in his jacket. His heart was racing against her palm.

She never wanted to let him go. He seemed to feel the same way, since the arms that wrapped around her waist continued to hold her.

She had never felt more complete.

Standing there, with him in her arms, made her feel like she was home. It made her feel like someone that mattered – not just a tribute in the Games. He made her feel significant when everything in the world made her feel insignificant.

"Clarke," he mumbled. His voice was low and so full of passion, it made her heart ache. He lowered his head and pressed his forehead to hers. Her eyes fluttered closed at the contact. They didn't say anything for a long moment, just choosing to stand in each other's arms.

"We're going to die," she pointed out, her voice breathless. "We both can't live. You know that, right?"

"I know." He pulled back and smiled crookedly at her. "But I would rather have two minutes of this than a lifetime without you."

She crinkled her nose at him, a wide smile overtaking her face. "You're smooth."

He laughed at that. Before he stepped away from her, he pressed a soft kiss against her forehead. All thought vanished from her mind. All she wanted to do was stand in his arms until the sun was setting.

Finally, she pulled away. "I'm serious, Clarke." Her knees went weak from the way he said her name. He reached up and brushed a loose piece of hair away from her face. She tried not to lean into his touch too much. "We're going to die. I'd rather spend what time I have left doing something that makes me happy, even if it causes me a little pain in the end. Wouldn't you?" She felt a smile spread across her face. That was exactly how she felt.

"I would." She stepped back from him completely and swung her backpack off. "Let's get some food before Murphy bites your head off," she commented. Before she could drop to her knees in front of the bush, she turned to him one last time. "I hope you know I'm not planning on leaving you now." He looked at for like a long moment, looking like he wanted to argue.

Finally, he nodded his head. "I know. I don't plan on leaving you either."

It felt like a weight lifted off her shoulders. She wouldn't be leaving him, and he wouldn't be leaving her. They were promising to be a team for as long as possible. They were promising to stick by each other's side until they drew their last breaths.

She only hoped she wouldn't experience the pain she was so scared of; of having her heart ripped out by his death. She hoped that when he died, she was beside him.

She pushed those thoughts aside as soon as they entered her mind.

Wells' words rang in her ears; don't deny the simple pleasures.

Focusing too hard on the future – which was so uncertain and dark – would suck away all of those pleasures. Worrying would only take that him away from her faster.

WHEW! Finally a Bellarke kiss. That took a lot longer than I expected so this is my official apology for the extreme slow burn. BUT FINALLY, we have reached the point of the fic with fluff and soft Bellarke. I can't wait. The next 25 chapters or so are gonna be fun.

As I mentioned on one of the more recent updates, I've been splitting some of the chapters I have pre-written, so updates can come faster. The total number of chapters has increased, but this is just an approximation for now (I'm still working on splitting future chapters).

Also, let me just celebrate the fact that I'm currently writing chapter 43! I've been working a lot this week to finish pre-writing this fic soon, and I'm 7 chapters away from finishing the whole thing. Oh my goodness. I don't know where the time has gone.

Thank you once again for all of the reviews. I'm honestly so touched by the support for this fic – you have no idea. I'm constantly blown away by you guys. Thank you for enjoying this fic as much as I am!

The next update will still be on Tuesday! See you in a few days!

Paw