Clarke stirred, warm and cozy under her bedding. It was the perfectly engulfing warmth that you never wanted to get out of but know you had to. It took her longer than she thought to peel the blankets back and expose her bare legs to the cool air in the room. She whined at the brisk change of temperature as she padded around her desks and to the closet, shrugging on the first sweater she could find. It was oversized and covered the tank and shorts she had on. A soft ambient glow came in through the window, denoting that the sun hadn't even woken up fully yet. Clarke wondered if she should go check on Bellamy or wait as she walked down the stairs and found herself standing in the kitchen while the Keurig rolled to life. She put in a k-cup for green tea and let her mug fill. Once on the sofa with the mug in hand, she flipped on the news out of habit, to see if anything new was happening in the world. Most days, she didn't want to know. There was always something new and horrible. As she sipped her tea, she thought about Bellamy and wondered if he was up and waiting for help, or if he even got sleep since he slept most of the day. Try as she might, she couldn't not think about him and it wasn't even seven in the morning.
It didn't take all of forty minutes for Clarke to make her mind up that she should go check on Bellamy. She sat there thinking about him as her tea got colder and colder, only a few gulps even consumed. Clarke slid the cup into the sink before finding herself sliding the backdoor open. The air outside was frigid and all but smacked Clarke in the face. She withdrew into herself immediately, wrapping her arms around herself. The pavement beneath her feet was painfully cold and once she opened the gate she crunched through the frosty due drops that blanketed the grass. Somehow in her need to check on Bellamy, she failed to put shoes on and her bare feet were freezing and soaked by the time she landed on his doormat where she hesitated. Should she knock, or let herself in. Her knees pulled up keeping her feet off the ground like she was marching in place while she decided. Ultimately, she decided she needed to knock. A little rap of her knuckles on the door, very soft.
"Yeah." To her surprise, Bellamy responded. He was just as quiet as she was with her knock but how early in the morning it was, it could be heard. Grabbing the extra key from it's hiding spot, she let herself in to find Bellamy in the recliner, wrapped up in a blanket but his feet sticking out.
"Morning" she quietly said, moving to the back of the couch. She was shivering and rubbing her feet up against her legs for friction.
"Morning." His voice was soft, tried, and shaky. He looked cold and for a reason; The room was just as cold as it was outside. The TV was on, very quietly playing in the background. It was like a movie scene where the temperature of the room was indicated by a color, well Bellamy's whole house was cast in a pale blue with how cold it was.
"Why is it so cold in here, Bellamy?" She rubbed her hands over her arms. He shrugged, unmoved by the temperature. Though he looked pale and cold.
"Why the hell don't you have the heater on? Or something." She moved quickly around the couch. "Where is the thermostat?"
"Around the corner, on the right." Clarke quickly moved to find it and moved the little needle to up to 65. It took moments for the heaters to hum to life, water filtering through the pipe that ran the baseboards of the house. It emitted a familiar sound and smell of burning dust.
Standing in the threshold between the kitchen and living room, Clarke rubbed her shoulders. "Last I checked, I left you upstairs. How'd you get down here, and why? Are you alright?" She pressed.
"Wake up around two, couldn't sleep anymore. Came down to watch TV and here we are." He explained. "Before you lecture me about the stairs, grab a blanket, and warm-up." He pointed to the linen closet next to her. Of course, Clarke obliged and pulled out a blanket to wrap herself in. She moved to sit in the corner of the couch and curled up into herself.
"You know you shouldn't be walking around like that on your knee, right?" She asked.
"Just about as dumb as you running across a frosty lawn in what, only a sweater?" He poked back softly. She realized how right he was and how inappropriately she was clothed.
"I have on clothes under the sweater you know." She said, matter-of-factly. He grinned at her awkward declaration and took pride in messing with her. It made her huff and roll her eyes.
"Did you actually sleep?" He asked, curious given how early it was, surely. She nodded. "Good."
Clarke gnawed on her lip a little bit and watched the quiet TV. "Do you want me to make you something to eat or something?" She finally asked.
He shook his head. "I never eat this early. I'm actually really tired." He yawned.
"Oh, I can go and let you get back to sleep. I just wanted to see how you were doing." She reasoned as she began to stand. He waved her off to stop.
"I don't mind the company" was all he said. She wanted to protest and make sure she heard that right. He was inviting her to stay and hang out with him? She tried to not read into it but she did. Something was clearly wrong with her brain in the last few days. Bellamy made her uneasy and analytical of everything. While in thought, she was randomly hit with something that made her aware again. He had tossed her the remote.
"Dealer's choice." He smiled.
She flicked through a few channels before offering up the Smithsonian channel. He nodded when she looked toward him for approval and they enjoyed watching Aerial America and made light conversation that slowly but surely dithered out into nothing. They both nodded off, Clarke first. She was nestled into the corner of the couch and wrapped comfortably in a blanket. Bellamy fell asleep after her, admiring how comfortable and sweet she looked curled up on his couch. That is what he saw behind his closed eyes as he fell asleep.
A knock on the door pulled Clarke and Bellamy out of their peaceful slumber, the room was warm and quiet. He cleared his throat and went to get up and get the door, an automatic response. Clarke waved him off. Taking the blanket with her, she stood up and went to answer the door. To her surprise, her daughter stood on the other side of the closed screen door.
"Mads?" She was confused and hazy but it took seconds to realize Madi was coming home today and she must have slept through the morning.
"Uh." Madi looked confused seeing Clarke standing in a blanket in Bellamy's house.
"Oh. Oh!" Clarke realized what it looked like and was quickly embarrassed. She pulled the blanket off of herself to make sure Madi knew it wasn't what it looked like. Though she realized she was wearing a baggy sweater over her pajamas which looked even worse. "Come in." Clarke let her in and moved aside. Madi stepped inside and her eyes found Bellamy, a blanket over his legs and his bare chest. She smirked to Clarke's horror.
"Madi, it's not what it looks like." Clarke reasoned, not knowing what was on her kids' mind.
Madi raised her arms and said nothing.
"Why are you home early?" Clarke asked, assuming she was early.
"Abby was called in and had to drop me off early. When I got home and couldn't find you, I saw the gate open and figured you were over here. This is new." The girl explained, wiser than she should be for her age.
"This is nothing." Clarke quickly explained.
Bellamy sighed and rubbed his face, a chuckle escaping him. "Madi quit messing with her. I got hurt yesterday and Clarke has been checking up on me." He came to rescue the conversation and it made Clarke calm down ever so slightly.
"What, how did you get hurt?" Madi helped herself to sit on the side of the couch closest to Bellamy. Clarke came over to take the girl's jacket.
"Pull-bar above the door betrayed me." He smiled loosely.
"You know you're supposed to screw those in, right?" Clarke laughed at her kids' audacity. It was exactly what she had told him and Bellamy rolled his eyes.
"So I've been told. I'll take the advice for next time kiddo." He chuckled.
"What time is it?" Clarke looked around the room not seeing a clock anywhere. Bellamy tapped the remote and it showed the time. It was just part nine-thirty. She realized she had been there for a few hours.
"Have you eaten Madi?" Clarke asked, moving to the doorway between the kitchen and living room. The girl shook her head and got comfortable.
"How about I make us breakfast?" She offered the two she looked over to.
"Clarke, you don't have to-"
"No one asked you." She jokingly dashed him off while looking at her daughter. Madi laughed and nodded.
"Eggs?" Clarke asked, now looking at Bellamy. He nodded letting her know they had them.
"There is turkey bacon in the fridge and sausage links in the freezer." He added in case she wanted any of that. Of course, Madi spoke up and let them know she expected sausage to go with her eggs. Clarke couldn't ignore that heed.
"So Clarke told me you were off on a fun weekend, how did it go?" Bellamy asked as Clarke smiled from the kitchen threshold. She found it charming to watch how Bellamy interacted with Madi and took interest in her weekend. Her smile remained as she turned back into the kitchen and went about making them breakfast.
After they ate and enjoyed conversation for a little while, Clarke took Madi home and let Bellamy rest.
"He's nuts about you." Madi suddenly said as they went to sit on their own couch. Clarke was taken aback and it was clear because Madi couldn't help the smug smile that crossed her face.
"You're nuts." She finally replied, poking her kid in the side and eliciting a giggle.
"I'm just saying." Madi defended herself and Clarke was quick to quip back.
"Yeah, you're saying too much. Mind your own business." She leaned against her daughter playfully and they enjoyed the rest of their day being lazy. Eventually, they went about being productive, showering, cleaning the house, and making dinner. Madi brought it over to Bellamy this time, letting Clarke stay home. Of course the moment she was alone with her thoughts she let them run wild.
In the course of three days, today included, Clarke had nothing but Bellamy on her mind. Part of that was obviously because she had been his caregiver yesterday and this morning but also because the day before that they had an explosive exchange. One that left her full of thought and feelings to fight with. He had the gall to confess his feelings to her after fucking with her by hanging her panties out of his window and how they were playing house while she took care of him. It was overwhelming, to say in the least. She could appreciate the latter kind of snuffing out her rage from the former situation but it felt like things were unsaid or better stated, unfinished. It made her mind reel and now it was driving her nuts.