A/N: And now I present to you... BONUS CHAPTER. Since the American Thanksgiving holiday is approaching next week -albeit with strict restrictions and considerations, I decided to share two chapters this week. This is partly because I do a bulk of my writing while at work in my down time -shhh, don't tell anyone, and since I'm taking the last of my vacation days to have the week off that won't be available. And because, the holiday itself is a day I do literally nothing (traditionally I'd be with family, but you know...) so here you go. The length of this chapter is shorter than average, but I decided to give us some relationship development to hold us over until next time!

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or plot to The 100

The celebration that followed the intense and almost artistic ceremony was anything but that. It was loud and full of life! The main hall was decorated in colors and the feast that was prepared was divine! Clarke only felt a smidge guilty for indulging with the knowledge that the majority of her people were still living off of rations and whatever else they could find. Bellamy also seemed to enjoy himself as he stretched out and relaxed his body next to hers. His arm rested on her shoulders and his foot kicked at hers under the table every so often. She did her best to not appear put off by the dramatic shows of affection. Obviously, nobody that had attended the ceremony was under the guise of their match being a love match. She scanned the room to find her friends and watched on as they mingled with other clan members that surrounded them. She felt her body relax just a little bit and lean into Bellamys' as she noted Wells in the far corner with Murphy as they chatted with some warriors from clans she couldn't recognize. He took a glance at her, but otherwise, didn't pause his conversation with Marcus or Roan.

Zoe was with Miller and the pair seemed to stand back and observe more than interact. Miller looked tired with deep bags under his eyes. For the last two days he's been on constant vigilance and then in a show of faith he assisted with Lexas' guard as an extra set of eyes. All he knew about anything came from either Zoe or one of the other boys, but never from Clarke and she felt out of sorts with that. For a while, Miller was her partner, they led together and they made decisions together. Now it felt as if they were on two different pages or in two different stories all together! Clarke wanted to excuse herself, but every time she turned towards her new husband (that was going to take some getting used to) he simply passed her the chalice and insisted she drink. With a roll of her eyes she would do so and then she would go back to picking at her meal -completely stuffed after just a few magnificent bites, or scanning the crowd.

She tore the piece of loaf that was on her plate to little pieces. She hadn't even realized until Bellamy reached over to her hand and pulled it away; "Princesses don't play with their food."

She glared, "How would you know? Or are you just making assumptions based off of archaic stereotypes and fairy tales?"

"Takes one to know one," his eyes twinkled as he teased her, but before she could start a real argument he shuffled some of the food from his plate to her, "you need to eat more."

"I'm full."

He raised his eyebrows and then looked at her plate, "Make more room then, because you're eating what's on this plate before the end of the night."

She huffed, "You're not the boss of me!" and while she thought it sounded as a great rebuttal in her head, it only infuriated her when he laughed at her and then turned back towards his ongoing political discussion. "I was talking to you."

"And I was done talking, now eat Princess."

She bristled and turned to fully face him, "Listen here asshat, we're married, but you aren't going to just push me around and-"

"Princess I need you to eat, because the wine you've been drinking is extremely potent. It's a traditional wine saved for the married couple and is only served to them. Now," she rolled his eyes at his sarcastic tone, but nodded along anyway, "I don't want to start this relationship off with you accusing me of taking advantage of you after you demonstrate how poorly you can handle your alcohol and try and jump me."

Her mouth drops open, "You… you think that I would what? First off, I can drink and hold my alcohol just fine, thank you. Secondly to just assume that I'm going to throw myself at you is absolutely-"

She stopped short when he shoved a piece of meat in her mouth. She fumed, she could feel the anger bubble up and rise through her chest. Her new husband didn't seem bothered at all, in fact he smiled at her with satisfaction written all over his face. It was probably because she chewed the meat and then grumbled about it being tasty, but regardless, he had no right to treat her like a child! And she would have had more to say, but Miller and the other boys had made their way over to share their congratulations. Well, Murphy grumbled about it, but she hadn't expected any real emotion from him. She was so delighted to see Miller that she basically threw Bellamy off balance -while seated, she may add proudly, to stand up and hug her friend. Marcus waved in greeting of the boys and then Clarke motioned for them to sit.

"Are you guys enjoying yourselves?"

"Free food, free alcohol and the knowledge we get to go home tomorrow? Best night ever." Murphy stated plainly and then smirked over at Clarke, "The knowledge we get to go home tomorrow and you get to face your mother? Priceless."

"Please," Clarke said with an eye roll, "there's not much she can do and it's rude of you to get enjoyment in my own personal strife."

Murphy kicked back and gestured towards himself; "It's what I do, enjoy other peoples' struggles."

Miller knocked him back further and then laughed as he fell. Then he smiled back over to Clarke, "You did it! I don't know why you keep sacrificing yourself for what you think is the greater good, but somehow you were right once more."

"Thanks Miller, your faith in me is astounding."

"I'm just saying that if anything happens to you, I don't care how many treaties I break, I'll go to war."

Bellamys' ears perked up at that and he watched the interaction between friends. He wasn't terribly concerned about war with the sky people, no they were Skaikru now, but he had to appreciate a solid threat. It was clear that Clarkes' people admired her greatly. Wells was a perfect example of that with his display earlier in the day. Bellamy watched as their conversation continued and noted the way Clarkes' smile softened, or her eyes lit up. He didn't particularly care for the girl -he didn't even really know her, but it still left a slight twinge in his chest. When Roan dismissed himself and Marcus followed a few moments later, Bellamy was left with no choice but to join in the conversation that his wife was involved with. He was determined to have an enjoyable discussion, but it was incredibly fun to push her buttons.

"Wells, enjoying yourself?"

The dark skinned man nodded, "The company could be a little better." he points his thumbs behind him to Murphy who was attempting to get the attention of one of the servant girls, and failing.

"Yeah I know what you mean."

Clarke glared at him, "I'm awesome, thank you. Miller, tell Bellamy how awesome I am."

"You're awesome Clarke, nobody needs to be told that. Bellamy is just messing with you."

Bellamy lifted an eyebrow; "How would you know?"

Miller smiled, "Because you heard my comment about fighting for her and you aren't stupid. You have no idea how to handle Clarke, do you?"

Bellamy shrugged, "I wasn't prepared to handle Clarke, I was prepared to handle Wanheda."

"Aren't they the same?"

For a second Bellamy feels like it's a test, but then Clarke is silent beside him and he wants to punch the one they call Miller. She was happy and she was almost, almost, care free enough to enjoy herself and more than half the plate was now empty! Which was saying something, from earlier in the evening. And Bellamy got it, okay? He understood from the moment she left the room earlier that morning and had Marcus looking at him and pleading that things were desperately not alright with Clarke. He understood that her choosing him, for whatever reasons which he will figure out later, was the only thing she had any real control over since she decided to eliminate an entire population of people. He doesn't want to be overly difficult, but he doesn't trust the Sky People, Skaikru, and he certainly doesn't trust Roan. And from the moment he saw her in the room being told to choose he knew Roan had something to do with it. Another thing he was going to figure out later.

He spent a few seconds just looking over at his new bride. He knew absolutely nothing about her, nothing substantial and everything worth knowing that he found it came from Wells. "No," he finally settled on, "not even close."

If there was one thing Bellamy would probably never forget about his wedding day, it was the way Clarke smiled over at him in total shock and happiness. He didn't notice the way Miller noticed or Wells or even the loud mouth one -Murphy, and he certainly didn't see the way that Zoe nudged the closest of her companions in eagerness. For the rest of the night he noticed very little about the well wishers and noble guests. It was only at the end of the night that he began to catch on to the looks that surrounded him. First it was ambassadors wishing him a fulfilling wedding night -with Clarke playing a drinking game amongst some other grounders and her friends Bellamy was almost positive the only fulfilling aspect of the night would be her stomach into a bucket. Then it was Wells and the remaining members of Skaikru winking at him as they tossed a drunk Clarke to his side. His face reddened at their implications. Now Bellamy was far from a virgin, but he wasn't ever the relationship type.

Back in Azgeda the constant fear of losing his sister kept him on high-alert all the time. Add that in with the beck and call lifestyle he lived for Nia meant that relationships took the back burner. It was always much easier for him to find a physical outlet and move on from there. For a while it was different girls from around his village (that only got awkward within two weeks) and then it was Echo. A fierce warrior and strong confident of the queen that was taken by the mountain men during one of the expedition trips that she had been assigned to with Roan. She was always vague on the details. He knew she was up to something, but by time Roan returned they were at war with Trikru. In the blink of an eye things changed all around him and Echo was gone and the people fell from the sky and, and, and… there was always something else.

His current situation was proof of that.

None of it really started to hit him until it was Lexa that was approaching their seats. The commander always looked angry, maybe angry wasn't the word, perhaps stern was better. She was no nonsense and made clear and concise decisions that ultimately met her goal in the most timely manner. And her eyes softened as they landed on Clarke -who was arguing adamantly with Bellamy that she was not drunk, just having fun. See, the thing was, Bellamy was trained to be hyper aware of everyone around him. Their voices, their movements, their gazes, all of it! The slightest release in tension in Lexas' shoulders and briefest of smiles was enough for him to piece it all together. His awkward level almost doubled in those moments, but his time to reflect on it was limited as Titus swooped in to talk to Clarke (if he could) and then Lexa was motioning for him to join her.

He shouldn't have been shocked by her immediate greeting of "I assume I don't have to tell you how lucky you are." but he was. So instead he stuttered out a response and had to deal with her judgmental eye roll in return. "I'm talking about Clarke."

"Oh," he stopped and swayed on the balls of his feet, "I mean yeah. It's an incredible honor to have had Wanheda choose me as her husband. I intend to honor our vows and protect her…" he let his statement drift off from there.

"Wanheda is a myth." She made direct eye contact with him and waited until he nodded once before continuing. "You're about to have your work cut out for you Bellamy, but I have no doubt you'll do the job well. Clarke is about to enter the snake pit, so to speak, and for now we're allowing Links' rebellion to think things are going according to plan."

"Roan already briefed me on all of that, I understand."

Lexa nodded and then stared just beyond his shoulder and he didn't have to guess at what -or who, she was looking at. "She was the brains behind the Mount Weather mission. It was always admirable, the lengths she would go to protect her people. Have you heard any of the stories from the survivors of Mount Weather?"

He thought of Echo and the way her ribs and spine protruded, the way her eyes appeared bubbly because her cheeks were so sunken. Her skin lost its natural tan hue and she looked sickly. For at least a month following the fall of the mountain Echo could barely eat. She gulped water down like it was her only lifeline, never left her room and could barely stand on her own whenever Bellamy had gone to visit. She never talked about what happened inside the mountain, but there were scars, physical and mental. Sometimes she would seek comfort from him, but in her exhausted state it wasn't anything exciting, just a simple cuddle session on her bed or him holding her hand. It took a long time, but one day it was like something snapped inside of Echo. She became determined, started to train herself physically in the privacy of her room, gain muscle back. She'd eat more and more each day, take more steps, stand up longer. The day that Bellamy saw her in Nias' main throne room was easily one of the best days of his adult life. And then when she offered to train with him in the sparring ring? He was ecstatic!

Things were far from okay though and he wasn't so naïve as to believe that Echo would magically be better just because she returned to her normal life. She had a moment, attacked Octavia without warning, and when she was pulled off of his sister all he could see was red like the hand prints around O's neck. Bellamy was sickened by the bruise that rested on his sisters' skin, but more so by the lack of remorse that Echo showed whenever he was around. Still she pursued him as if nothing was wrong, but only on her terms. Long gone were the nights of physical reassurance and gentle touches. Despite that, Bellamy felt connected to the fierce warrior. It was something he couldn't shake! Even when he was leaving for this particular mission she saw him off and wished him safe travels, she trailed her hand down his chest and smirked as she pulled away, but that was how she did things these days. The details of his mission were kept quiet, almost too quiet, so he was positive that if she had known that he could have ended up -did end up married she definitely would not have let such a brazen display be so public.

All of which was too complicated to answer for his commander so instead he shrugged and played it off. "That's not really my expertise."

"Well you should make it such." Lexa snapped back at him with venom on her tongue and Bellamy felt himself stand taller. She may have been his commander, but he was not going to be bullied by her jealousy. Lexa must have felt the tension change between them because she exhaled and then muttered a quick apology, "What I meant to say is that you should want to take an interest. You're going to need to know what the survivors went through, it's the only way that you'll understand my decisions involving the sky people."

"So this is you feeling guilty over your past actions."

"I do not regret making the decision to put my people above all else, in the end Clarke made the same call for her people." Which Bellamy felt was fair, though he still stood with his arms crossed in judgement while looking down at the commander. "I bring this to you in hopes that you and Clarke will develop a stronger bond, but not at the risk of losing her."

He nodded once, "You have feelings for her."

"I think I've proven that my feelings do not matter in this situation."

"But you still have feelings for her, you still want her." At that Lexa didn't have a witty remark or even a simple reply, but it was enough that she refused to meet Bellamys' eyes. She stood like a child that had gotten scolded. It confirmed enough for him and it did send a surge of possessiveness through him. "If you interfere with the marriage that you forced upon both of us then your position as commander won't matter to me, I will not let you toy with that girl over there."

Lexa scoffed, "Please, as if you care about her. She chose you because Roan influenced her decision, because he trusts you to do what is right. I trust Roan to want the best for his people and that is all."

Bellamy shook his head, "You want to know why Clarke chose me? Because the night that I met her I didn't know who she was and I didn't care when I found out." Which was a lie, because he definitely felt the Earth shift under his feet when she stuck her hand out in front of him in that congested meeting room and it changed his perspective of the girl from the garden, but he wouldn't let Lexa know that. "You don't want to wish me well or offer me words of advice, you want to stake your claim and make it known that at the earliest sign of trouble you're going to swoop in to take what you think is yours."

"These are bold assumptions and disrespectful to your commander."

"You're the commander because the voices in your head tell you so, because you were able to slaughter your friends that you grew up with in battle. You're no more miraculous than she is, you're human just like me and Titus and everyone else in this room! You tell yourself that every decision you've made has been for your people and you're hoping that will justify the consequences of those choices. And now you've realized that the one thing you can't undo is betraying the original alliance between you and Clarke. You can justify it and be at peace with it, but you can't live with it and that's not on anyone else in this room, that's on you." Bellamy didn't realize his voice was raising until he paused and then gathered his composure. He hadn't even been sure where any of this, whatever this was, was coming from. All he knew was that he couldn't stop until Lexa understood exactly where he stood. "You have to let her go Lexa. If you want what's best for her, if you want her to be happy again, if you want her to trust you again… you need to let her go."

Lexa blinked up at him with narrowed eyes, "Nobody has ever spoken to me that way before and lived."

He lifted his arms open wide in invitation to her threat, but she just rolled her eyes and softened her tone. "For what it's worth I was going to start off with well wishes and perhaps a bit of advice, but you're right. Clarke deserves the opportunity to move on from everything that's hurt her, but if you add yourself to that list I won't be so agreeable."

He let out a bark of laughter in return, "I've been threatened at least four times in the last twenty-four hours, but yours is the least of my concern. No offense. Now if you'll excuse me it looks like my wife has exhausted herself."

Bellamy did not wait for Lexa's acknowledgement. It would probably get him in trouble one day, the apathetic way he handled the commander. She was arrogant and pushy though and he just didn't have the time to pretend he respected someone like that. Although he did appreciate her honesty; even if it seemed so irregular of her to be so open and raw with someone. He suspected the life of a commander was probably lonely and cold. His thoughts changed direction as he approached Clarke from behind and placed his hands on her shoulders. She jumped, but within nanoseconds her posture relaxed again. He excused himself for the interruption in her conversation with Marcus, Titus and some others and then he leaned down closer to her ears to murmur, "I think it may be time to put the Princess to bed."

She pouted up at him, "I'm not ready for that just yet."

He ruffled the top of her head, thus nudging her crown to the side and messing up the intricate braids, because she scolded him about it and then he extended the same hand to her from the side. "Come on now, you're drunk and exhausted."

"I'm not drunk." she responded, even as she swayed backwards while he hoisted her into an upright position. She ended up colliding with his chest so she wouldn't fall. "We need to take this paint off… are you sure it's time for bed?"

His warm breath blew out over the now loose strands of hair as he reassured her, then he wished everyone around them a goodnight and ushered her away. He kept his arm firmly around her waist as she drug her feet and ignored her mindless rambling. She seemed hellbent on delaying sleep and he just couldn't figure out why. "What if you get upset that I'm not what you expected?"

At that he turned his face towards her in confusion, "Come again?"

"You know Bellamy…" she puffed her cheeks out and then exhaled, "like what if you're expecting some kind of sexual prowess and I'm just regular ol' me and awkward?"

"I'm not expecting anything sexual!" He barked at her in utter shock, although maybe it shouldn't have been that shocking. His outburst was the wrong direction though because in an instant she was fighting mad again and demanding to know why not. As he pinched the bridge of his nose he sighed and then backtracked to better explain; "Princess," she huffed at that, so he tried again, "Clarke, I'm just trying to get you to go to sleep. I have no intentions of taking advantage of you like this. And if we decide to have sex, it's going to be because we want to, not because it was expected because of our marriage alliance."

"Oh." she sighed out in relief and then thanked him, actually thanked him for his consideration. It took a hell of a lot in him to not demand to know what made her -or any of her people for that matter, feel as if basic courtesy was a novelty among the grounders. And alright, after he got her rinsed off and changed (with the assistance of two servants assigned to them) and then tucked under the blankets in the bed he was able to reflect some more. It wasn't surprising to him at all that his people responded the way they had. On Earth, anything unknown was a danger.

He had just started to drift off into sleep, dozing really, when he felt Clarke shift closer to him. He remained on top of the covers, just to soothe her worries, but also turned when he heard her soft greeting. She didn't wait for him to inquire what was wrong or to ask what she wanted, instead she just jumped right into it. "I don't like sleeping," she paused, but only long enough to yawn, "I won't get offended if you don't want to share a bed with me. I'm restless and I'd hate to wake you up and I promise I won't run off."

His response was to turn on his side, towards her, and bring a free hand up to smooth out the crease on her forehead. When he was positive that she was soothed back into a light sleep he said, "Go to sleep Princess."

A/N: Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate! I hope you enjoyed this short little plump chapter. I'll be back in two weeks!

PS; I'm lying and I probably will be working on other pieces over the course of my stay-cation, but Thursday is still a do nothing day.