Chapter 6

The 100 – solstice

Ok first thank you to all the people have paid my fic attention since I last posted a chapter second sorry it took me longer to post again a lots been going on with me recently. Also proof reading this chapter proved to be a real challenge but I'm hoping to get the next one posted much sooner. Finally as always I hope you enjoy this chapter and please comment with your thoughts.

Bellamy

Giving a slightly resigned sigh Bellamy looked up from the book he had been examining to crane his neck slightly and eye the neatly stacked pile of books next to him, he still had a lot to get too sadly. He was in his last year of college so a few months ago Bellamy had started actively looking for work which he had been lucky enough to find working here in the library of the private museum that was being set up by the Light-bourns. His job was to catalogue new books the library bought and wright reports on them so his boss could decide what to do with them, it was good work and it could be fun but it could also be rather repetitive.

Giving another sigh Bellamy looked around the mid-size reading room that was currently a mass of deserted desks, there were other people who did what he did but there were only two of them and he didn't see them much. While he considered whether or not he should tell his boss about how laxed his colleagues were becoming Bellamy found his mind drifting to the other mage frustration in his life right now, the princess.

It had been two weeks since he and Clarke had decided to start over and they hadn't seen each other since which had proven to be a strangely frustrating fact for Bellamy. They had connected on Social media so it wasn't like they were avoiding each other, they had chatted, they had shared things with each other like sharing their shared love of books or the band imagine dragons. It just didn't feel like enough for him for some reason though, and that was what had him frustrated, he barely knew this girl, true she was an Omega but even with that Bellamy didn't understand this desire he had to be close to her.

It's because she could be yours Bellamy's inner Alpha whispered in his mind as he thought about this you could be the one to teach her how to be a real Omega. 'No,' Bellamy hissed under his breath quickly as this thought popped in his head pushing that desire away, they might have things in common as it turned out but they were also really different people. They had both been razed in very different cultures and he might not agree with some of the choices Clarke was making but he did believe they were her choices to make, even with how ridiculously far she was taking things it was up to her.

Clarke was a real princess, she was a girl who held herself to an impossible standard but it wasn't Bellamy's place to try and do anything about that, the last thing he wanted to be was like his grandfather when it came to people like Clarke. He and Clarke believed in some things differently that's all this really was, Bellamy chose to trust in the path destiny had laid out for him Clarke chose to go against it which was unadvisable but again it was her choice to make.

Maybe destiny wants you to save her Bellamy's inner Alpha said in his head but he just ignored it this time turning his attention back to the book in front of him. Bellamy was kind of glad Solstice was over it was a very fun time of year with the three days of celebrations but it was also a difficult time of year for him with his Rut so often getting kicked up and in turn making it difficult to manage things. At least it would be like two months now before he needed to suffer through another Rut, his body wasn't exactly a clock but he had never been as regular as a female Prime Alpha would be.

The book Bellamy was currently examining was thankfully decently interesting so it proved to be a good distraction from his current train of thought around Clarke, the book was an early addition of Darwin's The Descent of Man and his casts which was in good condition so it was able to draw his attention. How humans had evolved to have the casts was a real mystery, one people had been trying to figure out for generations and still had trouble with, thankfully this wasn't one of the more racist texts that were out there Bellamy always hated cataloguing those. People had really come up with a lot of just crazy ideas to explain the casts in the past most of which had since been disproven hardly any of them were still taken seriously anymore, by people who weren't racist at any least.

The idea that Darwin put forward was that early humans had through selective self-breeding accidentally created the casts, Bellamy didn't spend much time thinking about this kind of thing but as far as he was concerned he'd heard crazier ideas. As he made a note of several worn patches on the page where Darwin talked about this Bellamy began to sense movement around him so he looked up and he saw Shumway who was in charge of the library and there for his boss moving towards him.

His attention diverted now Bellamy moved into a proper upright sitting position so he could look at the man directly as he reached him, he and Shumway weren't exactly close but they didn't exactly dislike each other either so Bellamy showed him a certain degree of respect. Giving Shumway a once over Bellamy noticed he was wearing one of his t shirts that showed off his family markings, Shumway really was a beta who liked to show his heritage, this wasn't what really drew Bellamy's attention though. He could see that Shumway was chewing something and knowing him if he had to guess he would guess it was probably catnip, Bellamy couldn't say he approved but this really wasn't the place to say anything.

'I see you're hard at work Bellamy,' Shumway smiled leaning over the table slightly.

'That's me, mister hard work,' Bellamy shrugged deliberately playing that off, he was unsure what Shumway was getting at so that seemed like the best cause of action.

'I understand you will be graduating soon,' Shumway nodded still smiling 'I was wondering if you've thought much about your plans for the future.'

'Well I hope to keep working here if that's what you're getting at,' Bellamy said beginning to feel like he knew where this was going now.

'I'm glad to hear that Bellamy,' Shumway nodded 'it would be hard to replace you and if you really are committed to staying here we can talk about you taking on a few more responsibilities if you like.'

'Really,' Bellamy smiled pleased to be hearing this.

'Yeah,' Shumway said affirming this point 'that's all I'm going to say right now but you have a future here Bellamy if you want it, I just wanted you to know that.' Having said this Shumway looked around the room briefly and then back to Bellamy 'you know what, finish up what you're doing then you can go home, it's getting late.'

'Is it,' Bellamy responded surprised looking around at the rooms windows and at the darkened sky visible beyond them, he hadn't noticed it had been getting late. All the stuff he had going on in his head around a certain Omega princess must really be getting to him he thought turning back to Shumway to brief him on what books he had managed to catalogue.

Clarke

Sitting at what had become her preferred table in the café Octavia had introduced her too Clarke looked up from her college work and yawned, it was getting late now but she much preferred working here to working back in her room. She had since come to understand Octavia was a rather disordered person and Clarke wasn't, so it was kind of difficult for her to work in there room when Octavia's side of the place was in Clarke's mind a mess.

Turning her attention back to her work Clarke continued to read through the texts Callie had given the class on various evolutionary theories and highlight parts of interest. She had only had Callie as a professor for a few lessons now but Clarke had already started to get a sense of that unconventional reputation she was known for. There was the fact she got people to call her by her first name for one, which wasn't unusual but there were also a dozen other things like how she had gotten the class looking at advanced texts like the ones Clarke was studying now after less than ten lessons.

Clarke wasn't complaining she liked how things were going but cast bio certainly was her most out there subject, it was the one that really kept her on her toes. Interestingly it did feel kind of normal now though, everything did, Clarke had only really just started college but it all already felt normal to her, this was her life now and it was that simple. She had her classes studying medical and art stuff some of which she shared with Harper and then she had her new friends and it all just felt ordinary, she was still getting to know people but that was coming along fine, especially when it came to Harper and Octavia.

Clarke and Octavia had found a good balance as roommates helping each other out when they both needed it and her and Harper had started helping each other develop their art. Harper's photography did have the tendency to be a little on the risky side for Clarke's comfort but Harper had helped her figure some things with colours out with a few paintings she was doing so she was trying to be ok with it. Harper's photography and the fact Octavia was still trying to pull her along to things had concerned Finn when she had talked to him about it but Clarke wasn't worried, now that she had gotten to know them a bit she knew neither girl was actually a bad influence they were just different from her.

There was one issue though one part of her new life at college that didn't feel normal and that part was named Bellamy Blake, things might be different between them now but there were still issues Clarke felt. There was the bet for one which Clarke could tell people were still wondering about and what exactly Bellamy was going to do in regards to her but more than that her inner selves were sparking a lot of other issues when it came to Bellamy. As a result of her condition she was no stranger to internal conflict, the different aspects of Clarke's psyche often caused conflicting thoughts to voice them self's in her mind in spite of her desire for them not too but ever since meeting Bellamy there had been a lot more conflict within Clarke than she normally had to deal with.

Thankfully though she had been able to avoid talking to Bellamy directly over the last few weeks only connecting with him through social media instead and Clarke thought that had helped with her issues in part. This in turn meant she and Bellamy had been able to share a bit without there casts getting in the way which was something that Clarke had enjoyed, not having to deal with annoying smells or pesky unwelcome thoughts had meant the two of them were able to share things with each other. They had been able to freely talk about shared tastes in music and books which was nice; apparently they were both fans of Margaret Atwood as a writer which had led to some interesting conversations online. Sadly though as much as Clarke might like connecting over social media none of this felt normal which was another reason why Bellamy was the source of the issues she was dealing with at college.

Maybe it was for the best that her and Bellamy were keeping their distance though, Clarke thought as she highlighted part of the page of text she was reading she could only imagine what her mum would think of Bellamy, not just an Alpha but one that was unapologetic about that fact. Ever since Clarke had suffered through her first and only heat when she had presented and her Apex Omega diagnosis not long after that her mum had always worried about Clarke and what her cast and everything else would mean in regards to her life. But especially so when it came to men, as far as her mum was concerned Clarke was going to marry a nice Beta one day and that was that. It was probably why her mum liked the fact she was dating Finn so much, him being a Beta, so Clarke could guess she wouldn't like her connecting in any real way with Bellamy.

As she thought about her mum in regards to Bellamy Clarke heard the café door open but she paid it no mind, however when she started to smell the sent coming in her direction she felt her stomach titan slightly and her inner Omega whispered Alpha in her mind. Looking up now Clarke saw his back and dark denim jacket first as he paid for a drink at the counter but as Bellamy turned around she saw his face and the smile he was sending her way. Whatever her feelings might be in regards to the distance her and Bellamy had been keeping between them Clarke knew it was about to end and it was as simple as that.

Bellamy

He had smelled her the moment he walked in, Clarke's Omega sent of vanilla that showed up through the wood and lavender Beta smells she tried to hide it under was a very distinctive sent but Bellamy had made a point not to react. As calmly as he could he had walked to the counter bought a coffee and then turned around only allowing himself to lay eyes on her then, and the moment he did he couldn't help but smile. Looking at her now Bellamy felt lighter somehow more at ease, he could feel his inner alpha stirring within him but he paid it no attention deciding to just enjoy this strange happy feeling at finally seeing Clarke in person again.

Walking over to her Bellamy really took her inn drinking in every detail of the princess; for starters she seemed to be doing college work so she was really the hard worker she had so far seemed to be. She was wearing another one of those baggy jumpers Clarke wore to keep cool while at the same time not dressing like an Omega, it was a really nice light blue colour though so Bellamy didn't really mind this time. Clarke didn't say anything but she was looking at him in a slightly concerned way as he approached, however Bellamy's inner Alpha pushed him forwards in spite of this so without a word he sat down next to her without saying anything himself.

Bellamy knew that was a little bit of a bull headed thing to do but his Alpha assertiveness was starting to come out in a big way for some reason so it was proving a little difficult to not given in to his Alpha desire to take charge of a situation. As he sat down Clarke shot Bellamy an annoyed look clearly not liking this Alpha behaviour he had just engaged in, giving a slight sigh he tried to push this part of himself down and asked about the work she was doing hoping to avoid arguing.

'It's going fine,' Clarke sighed seemingly deciding to except this diversion 'it's just some evolutionary theory stuff.'

'Really,' Bellamy nodded thinking back to the books he had been looking at earlier today 'you enjoying it?' Clarke only shrugged as way of a response so Bellamy changed the subject again 'you seem to be making friends with people well enough princess, how's all that.'

She scowled slightly at his use of his nick name for her but then Clarke smiled slightly 'well I guess you could say that Bellamy,' she said in a slightly more relaxed voice now.

'That's good,' Bellamy said smiling himself happy that Clarke was giving into their conversation now, which was finally a face to face kind of thing.

'Yeah,' Clarke nodded a pondering expression spreading across her face now 'by the way I've been meaning to ask what is it with Raven's boyfriend, it seems like people are really weird around him.'

'O, yeah, Mr Right,' Bellamy chuckled realising what Clarke was getting at.

'Yeah,' Clarke said jumping on this, 'stuff like that, why do you and Octavia call him Mr Right?

'Well,' Bellamy shrugged a little unsure where to begin 'you see none of us have actually ever met the guy but Raven is really head over heels for him so we mock her, it's all good natured really,' he added quickly not wanting Clarke to get the wrong idea.

'But you must have seen pictures of him and stuff,' Clarke asked curious 'like on social media and stuff.'

'Mr right doesn't like social media apparently,' Bellamy frowned, the fact he knew next to nothing about this Finn guy really bothered him 'he won't even let Raven post anything with him in it.'

'Finn's like that,' Clarke nodded reading the frustration in Bellamy's face and clearly understanding the emotion 'that can be really annoying I know, he always says he wants to be real or something like that but it's not like I'm not real.'

'Exactly,' Bellamy smiled liking that he and Clarke were on the same page about something. It occurred to him briefly it was odd that Clarke and Raven's boyfriends both had the same name but Bellamy soon pushed that thought to one side, it was just a coincidence that was all. 'Are you still sure about not telling people the bet is off,' Bellamy asked changing the subject 'people are acting sort of weird around me so I'm sure there acting weird around you.'

'Yes,' Clarke said quickly an unmistakable note of determination in her voice that a certain part of Bellamy that he was trying to ignore right now really appreciated, he didn't respond though, he deliberately remained silent choosing to only raise an eyebrow and wait for the princess to expand on this. It took a minute but eventually Clarke gave a frustrated sigh and continued talking 'look I get it,' she sighed 'people are being weird, but wouldn't they be more weird if we told them.'

Bellamy wanted to challenge that but before he could there was the sound of a clearing throat to the side of the two of them which distracted him, turning he saw the guy who had been behind the counter standing next to him and Clarke with a slightly impatient look on his face. 'Something wrong,' Bellamy asked politely trying not to let his Alpha instinct to command the Beta in front of him get the better of him, he really did not want to be one of those walking hashtag Alpha's that ended up on YouTube.

'Were closing,' the Beta said a little too forcefully for Bellamy's liking but he ignored it 'I suggest you two take your little study date somewhere else.'

Bellamy couldn't help but smirk at that inference but he did as he was asked gathering up his stuff and then helping Clarke with hers. All the while he kept smiling, for some reason the idea that it had looked like he and Clarke were on a sort of date really pleased him.

Clarke

Getting outside of the coffee shop with Bellamy Clarke breathed in what was now the cool night air glad to have something to separate herself from Bellamy's aggressive Alpha sent which had been becoming a bigger and bigger problem for her inside. There was just something about Bellamy that seemed to cut through her meds which should make this sort of thing easier to manage and left her needing to rely on just her will power not to do the things her inner Omega wanted her to do.

As Clarke thought this looking at the closed book shop that was across the street from the coffee shop she sensed movement to the side of her, turning automatically she saw Bellamy moving away from her in the direction of the small carpark she knew was close. 'You want a ride back to campus princess,' Bellamy asked turning back around to face her as he walked smiling that annoying grin of his.

'Thanks, I'd like that,' Clarke smiled moving forward to follow after Bellamy in spite of her internal conflict, following the direction of her inner Omega in this moment. She didn't much like the idea of being shut up in a car with Bellamy and his, well everything, that said though she didn't much fancy walking back and it would probably be a short drive anyway.

Walking around the corner that led to the carpark with Bellamy Clarke followed him to his car, she then stopped in her tracks though as she watched him walk to the driver's side seat of an undoubtedly vintage car. Clarke knew next to nothing about cars but she knew enough to be able to tell that the car Bellamy was apparently driving was vintage and not the sort of car that someone Bellamy's age would be expected to own. She opened her mouth to ask about this but Bellamy razed a hand stopping her before she could 'I'll explain it,' he smiled sensing her question 'but let's get out of here ok.'

'Fine' she shrugged doing as she was asked moving around to the passenger side seat and getting into the cars noticeably plush interior as Bellamy got in as well.

'Ok,' Bellamy began starting up the car and moving them out of the car park 'I know it's a bit odd someone my age driving a Shelby ford around princess but you see me and Octavia's dad restored this car when I was a kid, it was this male bonding sort of thing.' Bellamy paused here to concentrate as he turned out at a junction but then he kept talking 'after he died my grandfather took it, everyone in the family always knew Uncle Huxley wanted me to have it though so when I passed my test I got this car.'

Bellamy smiled at Clarke as he finished explaining this and she smiled back but she didn't say anything at first because his answer to this one question of hers had ended up posing a whole load more questions. 'Octavia's Dad,' she said slowly after a minute or so drawing attention to Bellamy's strange use of words, 'Uncle Huxley,' she added buttressing her inquiry in to his choice of words.

'O yeah,' Bellamy said actually chuckling as he drove them down a long stretch of road 'we haven't explained that to you yet have we Clarke.'

'Explained what,' Clarke pushed really wanting to get to the bottom of this now; her attention was so focused in fact she barely registered the sent that was on everything inside this car.

'Well you see Clarke,' Bellamy smiled 'me and Octavia are actually only half siblings, same mum but different dads and in addition to that we are also cousins, our dads were brothers you see.' Clarke didn't say anything in response to this she was a little too shocked to speak so Bellamy just continued explaining 'my dad died when I was five you see Clarke and a few years after that my mum and my uncle got together, probably could have worked out too but he died just before Octavia turned two.'

'I'm so sorry Bellamy,' Clarke said automatically, shocked by the amount of death Bellamy had apparently experienced in his life.

'Its fine Clarke,' he said nodding slightly in her direction as he spoke 'sadly that isn't the end of the sordid story that is mine and Octavia's family so I'm used to it.'

'Really,' Clarke said a little taken aback by this statement, she wanted to ask about it if just to keep distracting herself from Bellamy's Alpha sent that was making her feel really hot and sweaty but she felt like it would be wrong to push so she cast her mind around for something else. 'I take it your mum and dad weren't mated then Bellamy,' she observed after a minutes thought feeling like this should be a relatively safe and secure talking point for the two of them.

'They were actually,' Bellamy shrugged 'in fact my mum often said I was the result of their mating.'

'Wait,' Clarke frowned 'how's that possible, if your mum was mated to your dad it would have been impossible for her to have another man's baby.'

'I think your forgetting about medical science there princess,' Bellamy laughed 'Octavia is a test tube baby, my mum may have still have been mated to my dead dad but she did love my uncle and she wanted to have his baby so they went to a clinic.'

'O, sorry' Clarke said embarrassed that she hadn't thought of that, having a relationship after the death of a mate was rare but it wasn't unheard of and she knew all too well how such couples could be helped in this day and age so she really should have thought of that.

'It's fine, you're not the first person to make that mistake,' Bellamy said seemingly unbothered by Clarke's mistake. 'Me and Octavia's Dad didn't get along at first Clarke,' he continued after a minutes pause 'but doing stuff like restoring this car together changed things between us and then when Octavia was born, well we were a family and he might not have been my Dad but I wanted him to be proud of me.'

'Ok,' Clarke said slowly nodding her head feeling like she was getting a sense of an aspect of Bellamy's character here, in relation to his sister at least. She could tell Bellamy was over protective of Octavia she had seen that since the beginning on everything but she was starting to understand why now, he felt an obligation almost to Octavia's Dad so he did everything he could to care for his little sister. This sort of behaviour was a big thing for Alpha's as it was, they were all supposed to feel this desire to protect those they sore to be a part of their pack but from the sounds of it Clarke suspected Bellamy had other reasons to feel this way.

It might just be her inner Omega talking which was being spurred on by Bellamy's intense Alpha sent but Clarke did see how that kind of behaviour could be appealing to people. It could be nice under certain circumstances to be protected, to have someone looking out for you, it wouldn't necessarily mean you were weak or anything it would just mean sometimes it's nice to have someone help you out. As Clarke thought about this she looked out the side of the car as Bellamy turned them on to a road that led back to campus at the trees that lined the road, they were one of many patches of green the made the city be more in tune with nature.

As Clarke looked out the window continuing to think about all these warm and fuzzy thoughts it occurred to that Bellamy was confiding in her about a lot of things, a lot of personal things, it occurred to her that the things he was telling her meant he trusted her. Sure he knew one of her secrets that being the fact she was an Omega so Bellamy had reason to believe that she wouldn't tell anyone about the things he was telling her about himself, chief amongst them being his sub cast condition, but even still it felt like there was something more here and the best word to describe that would be trust. Bellamy trusted her for some reason and Clarke couldn't understand why; she hadn't trusted him with the knowledge of her own sub cast condition so why would he choose to trust her?

'Destiny doesn't always direct us to the things we might have expected,' Bellamy began all of a sudden breaking the silence that had lasted for a few minutes now 'but if we trust destiny it doesn't lead us wrong and that's what happened with my uncle I think.'

This statement immediately drew Clarke's attention 'you believe that,' she asked rather pointedly her scepticism unintentionally finding its way into her voice. Clarke's mum wasn't religious she believed in evolution and all that stuff, so even if she approved of certain Abrahamic traditions she had always told Clarke the beliefs around things like the casts or in this case destiny were simply not true and more or less Clarke agreed with her. Ever since she was young Clarke had always hated the idea that people from Bellamy's back ground believed in, the idea that there was some force laying out a path for everyone to follow just made her uncomfortable Clarke liked to believe she was in control of her life plain and simple.

'Yes,' Bellamy said slowly his voice hardening slightly now 'I take it you don't then princess.'

'No,' Clarke said firmly her inner Alpha pushing her now to make this point 'I believe in freewill Bellamy, I believe we are all in control of our own fates, I don't believe there is some all-powerful force making our decisions for us.' Clarke knew she had laid that on a little fic, her inner Omega was now shouting at her to apologise because of that but she wasn't going to back down. She knew all too well the sort of things people said was the destiny of an Omega and she was going to have none of that.

Bellamy just gave a frustrated sigh though 'you're just like Octavia princess,' he said shaking his head 'it's not that I don't believe in freewill Clarke, it's just I believe there is a force out there that has a design and if we follow that design we will be led down the right path.'

'And who decides what that path is though,' Clarke countered 'still not convinced, a lot of people have used destiny as an excuse for traditions of keeping Omegas down throughout history.'

'That's not fair Princess,' Bellamy practically growled stopping the car in front of Clarke's building 'the belief in destiny has led to a lot of good in the world, way more good than bad.'

'I'd say that's debatable,' Clarke shouted back 'I can list a fair few atrocities that have happened throughout history because people believed destiny was laying out some magical path for them.' Clarke's voice became slightly mocking as she said this last part and it occurred to her she should stop there but Clarke's inner Alpha spurred her on making her ignore the voice of her inner Omega as well as her common sense. 'That hasn't stopped either,' she mocked 'I have to hide what I am because of what people believe about my destiny, but I imagine that doesn't mean anything to you, because destiny right, bet your mum always said it was your destiny to claim an Omega like she was claimed.'

The moment she said this last part Clarke saw something snap within Bellamy 'Omega stop,' he snarled commending her as an Alpha making her powerless to say anything else, however riled up she might be in this moment she was still an Omega so her inner Omega immediately took over the instant Bellamy commanded her. 'Now get out and go to your room,' Bellamy growled real anger and hurt in his voice; it was a command so Clarke's body reacted before she could really even think about it moving her out of the car. 'O and princess,' Bellamy added as she stepped out of the car and started walking towards her building 'if I was the kind of Alpha my grandfather wanted me to be instead of the one my mum wanted me to be this would have ended very differently.'

With that Bellamy pulled her door shut and then sped away, even though he was gone Clarke continued to do what she had been commanded to do. Moving inside the building all kinds of thoughts clouded Clarke's head, she had started out defending her position on destiny but she could tell things had gotten out of hand and she had certainly struck a nerve within Bellamy. She wasn't sure it gave him the right to command her like that though whatever she might have said to hurt him it wasn't OK for him to just command her, an Alpha command was something that wasn't really ever ok to just use out of nowhere like that.

It was a little surprising it had even worked one of the pills Clarke took was supposed to suppress the instinct but it hadn't worked so Bellamy must have been really pushing it when he commanded her. It was kind of scary he had been able to do that, Clarke knew what an Alpha command was but this was the first time she had experienced one and it did not feel good doing what Bellamy had commanded her to do and being powerless to do anything else. This was part of the reason her mum had always tried to shield her from Alpha's and having experienced one of the things her mum had warned her about Clarke was starting to really understand all her mums fears around Alpha's, maybe it would be better if her and Bellamy just stayed away from each other.

Ok I can imagine that isn't the way any of you wanted this chapter to end but trust me it will work out, Clarke and Bellamy need to get on the same page and to do that requires a bit of pain sadly. They both come from very different cultural back grounds as well so it just makes sense really there would be tension when certain subjects get brought up if you think about it. You probably have a lot of questions as well about all kinds of things this chapter but don't worry I plan for there to be a lot of answers next chapter.