"Happy Birthday to you!" The redhead froze in the spot, placing her cup down on the side before turning to face the singing group. She had just been getting the breakfast session ready and prepping the rations for everyone when the singing had started.
She caught sight of a beaming Kyra as she sang her little heart out. Jimmy went for the yelling approach with Samson copying him as they stood together. Gwen ushered the older kids forward towards Nora, all smiling up at her.
"Happy Birthday to Nora! Happy Birthday to you!"
Looking over their heads she saw Gwen, Belle and, volunteer, Martha smiling and singing along. "Hip hip hooray!"
Octavia was right; they were a family, the best kind of family.
One member was missing that morning, Bellamy had a shift to work. She hadn't told him it was her birthday, she preferred the less fussy route of downplaying her birthday every year. When you become an adult, birthdays tend to lose that same spark of excitement, but somehow the kids managed to bring a bubble of happiness and excitement back to her in that moment.
"Make a wish, Nor!" Kyra yelled, Nora looking over to see Gwen holding the only ration that resembled a cake, with a skinny birthday candle on top. The small flame flickered as she thought quickly of a wish.
I wish...
Blowing the candle out in one puff, she dropped down as the kids wrapped their arms around her. This was the only family she would ever need. "Come on, let's eat some breakfast!" She yelled and the kids cheered, sprinting for the table and their chairs. Rising up, she shared a tight hug with Gwen, "thank you."
"Happy Birthday, Nora." She said, rubbing her back tenderly like a mother. "I hope you get everything you wish for this year."
"Let's hope it's a good one."
"You'll make it a good one." Gwen nodded, handing her the sugary ration, the closest thing to cake they had. Wrapping one arm around the redhead, the older woman walked them both over to the kitchen to ready the rations for breakfast service.
That afternoon, they made time for lots of play time, putting on special story telling shows, making them run off any energy they had before dinner and bed. Nora and Gwen took out the older kids on a walk, or an expedition as the kids now called it, thanks to Bellamy.
She never saw Bellamy during the expedition, even when she found herself looking around the corridors for him.
It wasn't until they were serving up dinner rations for the kids that someone whispered in her ear, "happy birthday."
Nora would recognise that voice anywhere now. Turning quickly, she came face to face with Bellamy. She froze at the close proximity of his smiling face, their noses grazing.
"Sorry." He pulled back sharply, his eyes glancing down to her lips immediately.
She smiled, her voice quiet. "Good shift?"
"As well as any shift can go when you're unblocking toilets."
She winced, "Shit, sorry." Bellamy shot her a look that said 'seriously?' and she burst out laughing, realising what she had said. "I didn't mean it like that!"
"Sure you didn't."
"I swear!" Nora tried to control her laughter.
"Yeah, yeah, it's all funny when you're not the one doing it." Bellamy reached out and ruffled her hair.
She swatted him away, "I hope you washed your hands."
He gave her another look before launching for her, wrapping an arm around her neck. Her laugh grew louder, shrieking as he put his hand on her face.
"No, I saved that for you."
Another shriek as she tried to push his hand from her.
"Children." A strict voice was heard and the pair froze and looked across to see Martha, an older volunteer at the centre, giving them a look. Slowly, they detangled from each other and stood straight. Shaking her head, Martha turned around and returned back to where the younger children were.
Nora turned to look up at Bellamy to find him smiling back at her.
"Go wash your hands." She shoved him to the side, dodging his swat as she followed the path to the kitchen.
Bellamy rolled his hands and followed after her, washing his hands clearly in front of her as she took another sip of her drink.
He shook them out before drying them off, "better?"
"Much."
"So you off duty tonight?"
"Yep, Gwen's putting them to sleep and obviously you've seen Martha's arrived for an evening shift." Nora gave a small eye roll to the older woman. As lovely and caring as she was, she didn't have much patience in the evening.
Bellamy just nodded, his dark hair falling into his eyes as he did. "You fancy heading out then?" Her eyes widened, expecting to just have a lazy evening with nothing to do but stare out the window and fall asleep between Jimmy and Kyra later. "There's a moon rise happening tonight, if you're up for it?"
A smile pulled her lips up, "yeah, I'd like that."
Warm fuzzy feelings spread through her stomach when Bellamy smiled back at her. It was feelings like this that made those friendship ideals slip away and she started to see the man before her in a different way.
"Cool." He nodded, more hair falling into his eyes and Nora had to fight the urge to just reach across and push it back. "We'll head out after the kids have gone to sleep?"
"Yeah, sounds good." Nora nodded, watching as Bellamy slipped out and returned to go see Jimmy, where he was listening intently to a story. Nora leaned against the doorway, watching after him as he greeted the boy. Jimmy waved him over, before meeting him in a high five and sitting down next to him.
The fuzzy feelings returned tenfold whenever she saw him with the kids, he had such a natural connection with all of them. But Jimmy had always been enamoured by him. Her feet moved without her thinking when he glanced back at her over his shoulder at her, his hair flying about and a cheeky smile on his face.
Charging forward, she swooped down to pick Kyra up, the 6 year olds giggle putting a smile on her face. "To your seat, missy." Her giggle grew louder, until Nora lifted the girl into her seat.
Their feet dangled over the high bridge, their eyes glued on the large expanse of glass in front of them. The moon was slowly moving into their line of sight, the brightness illuminating the room.
"Jimmy said today he wanted to join the Guard when he was older." Nora said, her voice giving away no emotion, just neutrality.
Bellamy had his arms outstretched behind him, supporting him. The former guard looked over at the redhead, her arms leaning over the railing, her eyes forward.
"Probably not the birthday present you wanted."
She scoffed, shaking her head, "nope. I mean, on one hand I'm proud of his ambition, but on the other, I want to wrap him in cotton wool and keep him far away from a life in the guard."
Leaning forward, Bellamy reached out and rubbed her back, small up and down strokes. Nora turned to him and rested her cheek on her hands on the railing. "He's only 9, he'll grow out of this phase."
"Not when he wants to be like you."
"He said that?" Bellamy fought back the grin. He always had a soft spot for the young boy, he was so full of life, enthusiasm and personality. He definitely saw a bit of himself in Jimmy, especially with the way he watched out for the younger, Kyra.
"Yup. 'Nor I wanna be like Bellamy when I'm older, be a guard and learn how to protect people and other cool stuff!'" She imitated his cute little voice and Bellamy couldn't help the full blown smile that took over his face.
"Did you tell him I'm a janitor now?"
"He doesn't care!" She blurted out, sitting upright. "He still thinks you're this badass guard."
As his hand dropped away from her warm body, he puffed out his chest and smirked. Nora backhanded him across the chest, he immediately deflated and chuckled. "I was a badass guard."
"That's what you like to think." Nora challenged him with an eyebrow raise and a smirk of her own. Shaking his head, Bellamy leaned back and reached behind her to a loose side panel. "What are you doing?"
He grunted in response, Nora moving to the side to help him lift the panel further while he reached inside to grab something.
"I stashed this here the other day."
"For what?"
"For your birthday, you idiot."
She blushed pink, "and you just assumed we'd see a moonrise tonight?"
Grabbing what looked to be a small, fabric bag, Bellamy pushed the panel back into place. "Well yeah, what else is there to do around here?"
"Very true. I feel too old to go to dances now."
"Well you are 21 now."
"Shut up. Don't remind me."
"I'll get old first, don't worry."
"Warn me about things before I go old and grey?"
Bellamy rolled his eyes, "Yeah, sure."
"So what's in the bag?"
He looked up at her, a mischievous smile on his face. "Well you can't have a birthday without..." He reached inside
"Cake!"
He chuckled at her excitement, her body fully turning to him with wide eyes. "Or as close to it as we can get." The Blake sibling said as he pulled out the suction wrapped packet and tore it open and then reached into the bag to pull out a small box and a candle.
"I already made a wish today."
"Well now you get two wishes." Bellamy placed the candle in the cake and set it down on the bridge floor before opening the small box to pull out a match and strike it. It lit quickly and she couldn't contain her smile as she beamed up at him. "Happy birthday, Nora. Now make a wish."
The redhead paused, her smile never wavering as she thought of a wish, different from her first wish this morning and a bit more farfetched, but it was her birthday and she could wish for whatever the hell she wanted.
With a quick blow the candle was out and he split the "cake" in two. Reaching back into the bag, he pulled out a small canister and two small cups. "And to toast, the Ark's finest moonshine."
He planned all of this... Nora thought as he handed her a cup and poured some golden liquid in. "This would have been one lonely little pity party if I was busy tonight."
He just shrugged, "more cake and moonshine for me."
Nora quickly went to take her half of cake before he could even think of going for it. "Not happening tonight."
The cups nudged together in a cheers, before Nora took a swig and promptly pulled a sour face, feeling the burn of the moonshine as it went down her throat. She quickly took a bite of the cake to cover up the taste. "Where the hell did you get this moonshine?"
Bellamy coughed at the taste, "some kid on Farm, this was the last of it they had."
"Are you sure it's moonshine and not acid?"
"Hey, it's not that bad on the second go."
She hesitated, he nodded her on to do it, and instead of a swig, she went for a small sip. Only a small shudder went through her body. "I guess the more you drink, the drunker you get and the less you notice it?"
"Something like that," he said, taking a big bite of the cake. She leaned against the side panel, her eyes returning to the large expanse of the bright moon and the craters that sunk into it.
"Thanks, Bell." She cast him a small smile and he just nodded, his mouth full of cake. "I know this must have been one of your rations you traded in."
"It's worth it."
She blushed and smiled, before looking away and willing her cheeks to return to their normal pale colour.
With small sips of moonshine and fuller stomachs of food, they filled in the silences with small talk, and occasionally returning to a comfortable silence as they took in the moon.
Nora was never one to believe in the power of wishes, but she hoped this year would be different. Maybe she would make the effort to think more positively this year; she was a positive person already, but she had doubts and worries that often took over her mind. Maybe now was the time to wipe some of those away... believe in the good for once and hope for better times to come.
"If you could be anywhere right now, where would you be?"
Nora paused, taking another sip and not feeling the burn any longer. She closed her eyes for a moment and it didn't take long for the first place to come to mind, "Earth." She opened her golden eyes, looking over at him, his arms dangling over the railing like her. "By a real fire. I want to smell it, feel the warmth. But then again, I also wish I could be up one of those huge buildings they used to have, y'know the ones in the cities?" Bellamy nodded. "What did they call them?"
"Skyscrapers?"
"Yeah, I wanna go to the top of one and look out at the city below. I wonder if Earth still has them or if they were wiped out." She said wistfully. "Or maybe swimming, I'd love to learn how to swim. I mean, bit impossible and not so practical for on the Ark, but to feel weightless..." She led off, a hopeful look in her eyes. "Where would you be?"
"Swimming sounds good." He agreed, nodding, "Octavia would love that too. But I'd say probably anywhere with O and you is good to me." He nodded, happy with his answer that gave no location or environment ideas.
"Would those plans include feeding me birthday cake?"
His face broke out in a smile, reaching out and wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her in. "Yeah, feeding you cake I guess we could include in that" he laughed.
"That sounds like the life." Nora let herself lean into him, the moonshine relaxing her muscles and letting her worries float away. The moon slowly reached its highest peak, lighting up the bridge and the room below. Not many people had flocked to it tonight, it was surprisingly quiet. Nora was grateful for that at least, no prying eyes found them on the bridge, despite their sometimes dangling limbs.
As Bellamy went to pour her another cup, she pulled her cup away and shook her head. "I've gotta be good for the morning."
"It's your birthday!"
"Only for like two more hours! You have another." She said, finishing off the last of what was in her cup.
"Next time?"
A smile pulled her lips up, "yeah, next time."
As Bellamy poured himself another small one, he put the lid back on the bottle before shoving it in the bag and back behind the panel. For the time they were sat together, they didn't speak about duties or responsibilities. Nora rambled on for the most part, the moonshine always made her a little loose lipped and chatty. Meanwhile Bellamy was just grinning away.
They seemed to walk even slower back to the centre, their feet not quite ready to return home, but Nora said she couldn't stay out all night. Only as the doors loomed closer, did Bellamy speak up, "so did you have a good birthday?"
Nora couldn't help but smile, remembering her day. "Yeah, I have. It's been one of the best actually."
"That's because of me, huh?" He nudged her with a cheeky smile and she burst out laughing.
"No, not just because of you, Mr Ego." She shoved him to the side, before stopping all together not far from the doors. "But maybe a tiny bit because of you. I mean, if I had stayed in, I definitely would have just gone to bed with Jimmy and Kyra snoring in my ears."
The corner of his mouth quirked up, her eyes drawn to the simple action. His cheeks were rosy and pink, she guessed they had the moonshine to thank for that. But as she found his eyes, they were shining bright with happiness and she never wanted that to disappear. He looked so full of life for the first time in so long.
"You deserve a special birthday."
"Thanks. Got a lot of pressure now to make your birthday special."
"Nah, just another birthday."
"Noo, you can't just say that!"
"I don't care about them."
"I care though." She said, her voice sincere and honest. He cared about her, that much she could tell by tonight and how thoughtful he was with her, and she would return that tenfold when his birthday came around.
"I know you do." His voice lowered an octave, becoming suddenly heavier. He stared down at her, his eyes floating around her face. Nora could feel the butterflies in her stomach. They swarmed her so suddenly. The space between them had closed quickly, their bodies gravitating closer. She saw the way his jaw clenched intermittently; it was something he did was he stressed or worried. Why? he had nothing to be worried about?
Looking back up at his dark eyes, Nora saw Bellamy lean down just a fraction and it was enough to turn the butterflies to storming rhinos. She did nothing to push him away, or shut him down; she didn't want to. She had wanted this, she just never knew that he did.
As her lips parted and Bellamy leaned down, a door behind them burst open, "Nora?"
At the mention of her name, she pulled away so quickly to see the young dark haired girl pause at the door, with sleepy eyes.
"Kyra, come back here now."
Nora couldn't help but laugh, "I'll be right there, Ky."
As the girl went back inside, she knew the moment was over. There would be no birthday kiss. She hoped she wouldn't have to wait until her next birthday though for it to happen again.
"Sorry." She mumbled, pushing her hair back from her face and blushing.
"Don't worry." Bellamy brushed it off and she couldn't read his face for what he was thinking.
She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his middle, "thank you for tonight." Her face was pressed into his warm jacket. He radiated warmth like a hot water bottle and she never wanted to let go. Hugging her tightly to him, his hands lingered on her back before letting her go, "I'll see you tomorrow?"
"Yeah." Bellamy answered her, not being able to bite out anymore than that.
As Nora disappeared through the centre doors, he heard the locks click into place and he dropped his head. "Shit."
He had missed his chance.
A/N: A nice long chapter for you! Ground is getting closer. I promise. Just a couple more… But what did we think of this one in the mean time? :)
