Hello everyone! I think this is the chapter everyone was wondering when it was coming up, since it is, you know, the basis of the story ;) I hope you enjoy it! It's pretty long, but I'm sure NO ONE is complaining about that, because I really needed to explore different reactions properly.
Thanks to my reviewers: sydcasy, Emperor's Sister, CheriEstella, Red656, SquidaQdaloo, and JCarabaguiaz!
12 Years after Start of Project
Everyone's world basically came crashing down on the first of August of that year.
It started out innocently enough; Bellamy got home from his work shift, showered and got dressed in comfortable clothes. It had been months since Octavia had been married and gone, but you couldn't erase 17 years with someone and so he still- on occasion- turned to joke about something with her or panicked a bit when he didn't see her dark brown mop of hair somewhere in the room.
He was getting more used to it though, but Octavia moving out had for sure made him consider some options that had been under the radar for most of his life, along with how his relationship with his sister would work now that they weren't in each other's faces literally every moment of every day.
He still got to see her plenty; she'd been put in a Guard's position cautiously. While she'd excelled at apparently many things, nothing spoke to her more than the Guards position. While it was unusual for a supposed 23-year-old to enter the guard (it was, actually, strange for a 23-year-old to be entering anything) they had put her in a cadet class temporarily just to test out the water, see if she could adjust. So far, no problems. He enjoyed teaching his sister, although she wasn't too happy about that, or so she joked. It was strange that he called her 'Cadet Jordan', but as all things, he was getting more accustomed. In reality, she was becoming a fast favorite with the guardsmen there, Murphy and Miller taking her under their wing and watching out for her when Bellamy wasn't around, although not like she needed it. While Bellamy was perfect for the guard's position because of his strict adherence to rules and leadership qualities, Octavia was perfect due to her raw bravery and agility. Where he fell flat, she picked up the pieces. As siblings, he found this to be an interesting dichotomy.
In addition, she- along with Clarke- was trying to make the orphans more accessible to Ark provisions. It haunted Jaha that there was a kid unmonitored, thought dead for years, and he just missed it. Even if Octavia wasn't missed, Melody was. He was determined to try to make life easier for orphans, although ideas were slim and every good one had problems that took them eight steps back, or had someone on the council shooting it down. And, as everything was in politics, doing anything at all took forever with government parties.
His sister was continually happy for the first time in her life; he realized. She felt accomplished, even in just a couple months. She had a job, an organization helping people, a husband, a house…all things she thought she'd never get unless they made it to earth. Every day he saw her, she still looked like she had been given a million credits. He thought everyone should wake up with that much awe of life.
Octavia's sudden life changes also made him start to finally think of marriage in a real, true sense.
This relationship with Clarke…this was the end of dating for him. He wanted to marry her; he wanted to have everything his sister had with Jasper, but with Clarke. He wanted them to decorate their house in all of Clarke's drawings, re-vamp old furniture to make it their own, decorate their little space exactly how they wanted it. He wanted to be able to make Clarke a comforting meal after a long day of doctoring and make her feel better when she lost a patient. He wanted to come home to find her with sweets for him after an aggravating day of teaching bone-headed cadets. He wanted to be able to fall asleep every night and wake up in her arms.
He'd brought the idea of marriage up to Clarke once, just to see where her thoughts laid. She hardly thought about it for a second before she was nodding.
"Yeah, I imagine myself marrying you too one day. And not just in a 'my wildest fantasies' way, but like, it's something inevitable." She agreed. But, she didn't want to get married now or in at least a couple years, because she was still young so he could respect that and she pointed out if they were really meant to be that getting married three or five years from now wouldn't make much of a difference.
If Clarke came to him though, and said that she wanted to marry him tomorrow, he wouldn't hesitate for a second. He would respect her wishes, though. She was still hardly an adult and just learning to navigate and find her place in this world. He should give her time.
After changing, he went to find Clarke, like he usually did after work nowadays, since he didn't have to keep Octavia occupied anymore. Clarke was on break at the Med Bay, her hair frizzy and her forehead sweat-stained, but her smile was wide and glowing.
"I just got to sit in on a six-hour surgery!" She beamed at him, so exited to tell him that she talked with her mouth full of sandwich. She'd made one for him too, since she had just come to expect him to show up sometime and he was always famished.
She was in the midst of giving him all the gory details of the procedure when there was a figure appeared in front of them.
"Hey, Sarah." Clarke greeted, wiping crumbs from the edges of her lips, "What brings you over here?"
"I'm trying to gather everyone at the after-school room." Sarah said curtly, her dark curtain of hair obscuring most of her face. She seemed incredibly on edge, "When are you all free? Can you make it there tonight at 11 pm?"
"Yeah, that works for me." Bellamy frowned, looking to Clarke, who also nodded.
"You okay, Sarah?" Clarke questioned.
"Fine." She snapped curtly, "Do you know if Brad and Keshawn can make it?" She asked Clarke.
"Erm," She pulled out a minitablet, "Neither are scheduled to be here, but I'm not sure if they already have plans. I can pass it along to them. What's going on?"
"I don't…just be there, alright?" Sarah started out uncertainly, but switched to the defense quickly. Bellamy just frowned, studying her posture to her dilated eyes all the way down to her quivering foot. It was part of his job, as a proper guard, to see things in people before they went bad. He didn't think Sarah was going to do anything dangerous, but her attitude made him deeply concerned what this meeting was about.
"Is it really so important?" Clarke said, sounding a little dubious. Sarah looked at her squarely, and dropped her crossed arms.
"Fucking life-changing. For everyone." She said, no quiver in her voice. Clarke nodded slowly, understanding that whatever this was, it was huge.
As she began to leave, a thought hit Bellamy and he stood.
"Oh! Happy birthday, Sarah!" He remembered at the last moment. He prided himself on recalling the birthdays of everyone in their group.
Sarah turned, looking halfway between tears and halfway between unbridled anger. She gave a disgusted shake of her head. When she spoke, she sounded terrified and trapped.
"Go float yourself, Blake."
Then she was gone.
Bellamy sat back, frowning at her strange response to his birthday wish. She was known for being surly and quick to snap, but this went beyond any logical response. Also, it was uncharacteristic of her-she'd never had such a knee-jerk response against her birthday before, at least not that he could remember. What made this birthday so unpleasant that it made Sarah Helm, arguably one of the steeliest girls he knew, look venerable and scared?
"We defiantly need to be at that meeting tonight." Clarke decided after Sarah's response, eyes wide and confused. Bellamy gave a firm nod back.
They finished their sandwiches and found the two other doctors she'd questioned about.
Brad agreed to come quicker than they thought he would, since he was known to be a little insensitive at the best of times. He seemed sobered at her name, though, and frowned.
"She's been acting odd all day." He was a good friend with her, "I went to drop off her birthday gift, but she wasn't there. Her mom was all quiet about it. When I found her, I thought she was going to shove me through a wall when I gave it to her." He rubbed the back of his neck, "She's a bitch-I say that in a loving way, but not like this."
Keshawn took a little more convincing, since he'd planned to spend his one night off relaxing and catching up on sleep.
"You should have seen her, though!" Clarke argued, "She nearly cried when she told Bellamy to go float himself."
"Cry? Sarah Helm?" Keshawn scoffed, "I'm sure it was a trick of the lights."
"No, seriously." Bellamy said, "Something is really wrong."
Finally, Keshawn relented.
"Fine. But if this is stupid as hell, I expect you to take one of my shifts to make up for lost time, Clarke." He said.
"Deal." Clarke agreed without pausing, nodding, "Besides, don't you want to be there for her? What if it's something really bad?" Clarke whispered under her breath. Keshawn's sour look softened.
"I hope not." He murmured, "Hopefully she's just being dramatic."
That night, at 11 pm, everyone was sitting at the tables like they had as children, wondering what the hell this was about.
For once, no one had a good enough guess to what was happening, because even everyone's usually crazy and left-felid ones seemed almost plausible. It was more the idea she conveyed to them all, and Tom too since he'd been gathering people as well, that this would change all their lives completely. It was fine and dandy to joke about someone else's possible misfortune when your own wasn't tied to it.
Almost everyone had been able to attend, with a couple missing. Wells was going to be late, Dax got a late shift at the guard and Bellamy couldn't rearrange it, and Armin's mother was in the hospital so on one really expected him to attend.
The tension in the room only grew as the minutes ticked by and Sarah wasn't there. Neither was Tom.
"How much do you want to bet they're actually off banging somewhere?" Murphy snickered.
The conversation ceased as Sarah walked in to the room, looking a lot more composed than Bellamy had seen her mid-day. Underneath it all was anger and betrayal; it was written all over her face. Tom followed behind her, his expression unreadable.
Sarah got up on a table. She unfurled a piece of paper from her pocket and looked a little ill. Everyone was rapt with attention at this point, the room so quiet someone could hear a pin drop.
She took a deep breath, and then began to read. As she spoke, her voice quivered, almost close to tears.
"Project Iphigenia- Chartered Law by Chancellor Thelonius Jaha in the year 2136.
A matchmaking endeavor with pairs carefully chosen to fit the best needs of each child, chosen at ages ten and under and in different stations, to be betrothed and one day wed. Wedding will occur on the 22st birthday of the youngest of the pair. The pair will be given a house in the higher of the two stations, along with a stipend for their services to the Ark and two weeks paid leave from their jobs.
Due to pushing the wedding date back 5 years after the age of maturity, it is with the hope the couples have found stable footing within their individual careers and mental state. Because of this, each couple married will be required to produce a child within two years of this union and failure to do so will be thoroughly investigated by medical officials and, unless there is a medical problem, is open to severe punishment. This will concrete the union of the stations.
Divorce is strictly forbidden, unless one of the pair can prove that their partner is mentally unsuitable or abusive. These pairs were chosen over a long period of time with many psychological factors considered so we are confident your match will be beneficial and appropriate."
Sarah bit her lip, finishing, and re-rolled the paper. There was a quiet silence while people absorbed this strange law that seemingly no one had ever heard of before. And how hadn't they, most people wondered? It was something unsual, something that at least people would have talked about…but no one had.
Toby Mos looked up with a dawning of realization, switching his gaze between Sarah and Tom- who were both 22, Tom having turned in the start of the year.
"You two got hitched…you were…betrothed." He said the word slowly, like it was a wicked bug.
"Yeah, what a wake-up call today." Tom agreed, not even denying the fact. Bellamy tilted his head. They'd always been good friends and there had always been a rumor going around that they were getting it on underneath everyone's noses…yet, he couldn't imagine (even if they had) being pressured into this and not even given a choice.
"I'm married." Sarah repeated slowly, shaking her head, "Me and Tom…we're supposed to have a kid. I didn't even want kids."
"Can't you get this repealed?" Teal questioned, "This seems wrong!"
"It's iron-clad." Tom said grimly, "Don't you think we tried? It seems like the entire adult population of the Ark has known about this…everyone's wired in. It's not just Jaha." He said.
"I'm not following." Murphy piped up from the back, "Did you gather us all here to celebrate your nuptials? I mean, yeah, I guess someone in the group getting hitched is big but…" He trailed off. Other people murmured in agreement.
"You guys don't understand." Sarah slammed her fists on the table, "This affects all of us."
She was met with blank stares. She pinched the bridge of her nose, breathing in slowly. She turned around, giving a long sigh.
"Okay, remember like 12 years ago? How like all those uprisings started and then suddenly they just vanished? And like no one has a good explanation for it at all?"
A few people around her age or slightly younger nodded. Clarke had zero recollection of it other than what she'd heard. Most people swept the whole incident under the rug. Yet, she knew from being close with Jaha that those turbulent times had been the darkest times of his leadership, and her father had once made the reference that Jaha almost hadn't been sure he'd be able to fix it. He was shushed quickly and no one talked about it again, which in hindsight, should have been red flags for Clarke.
"And how we had a break from school, which has literally never happened in the entirety of the Ark's history and we've never had another again? And how after, all these strange after school groups popped up and teachers were religious about kids staying in the group they were assigned?" She said, "Just…look at this."
She went to a whiteboard and popped off the cap, quickly scribbling down everyone's name on the board- girls on one side, boys on the other.
"What about Jasper?" Someone called out when she finished, and everyone's gazes swung to Jasper. His eyes were wide, and he shook his head.
"You all forget he wasn't here originally. He snuck in and we just sort of let it happen. He's not really part of this group. He'll be thankful in a moment." She added dryly.
She stood back, and let people look over the list, waiting for the light bulb to go on.
Slowly, like a wave, a connection was made amongst the group. But no one wanted to utter it out loud, until Simon gathered the courage to say it.
"There are 44 and an even number of boys and girls. 22 pairs." He grimaced, "We're all part of it."
This sent the world into bedlam. People were shouting over each other, people were getting up to argue against this logic despite it being sound, people were crying.
Bellamy looked at Clarke and for a second, it's like the entire world slowed down. Everyone around them shouting and clambering just vanished as they held each other's stupefied gazes, both reaching the exact realization at the exact moment. Bellamy thought of their parents shoving them together not so subtlety and how strange it had all been. They just knew, without speaking, that they were one of the matched pairs. He watched the way her lips parted into a gentle 'oh' shape and in the back of her shock and fear a tiny glimmer of relief it was he and not anyone else, a feeling he mirrored as well. Then, someone shoved Bellamy while heading to the door accidentally and he was snapped out of his daze.
Bellamy was trying to control a feeling of glee, despite the circumstances. He imagined how awful it might have been if it wasn't her. How he didn't think he could go on without Clarke.
He tried to gauge her reaction now, because he knew she processed things quickly. Now she looked pissed. A second later, thinking it through and how it had been 12 years and no one had ever told them, he felt it too.
Wells walked into the situation at exactly the wrong time. His glee vanished in an instant as he came to a conclusion of his own, looking at the dark-skinned boy.
Bellamy was up out of his seat before he knew what was really happening. In a swift motion, he shoved Wells up against a wall and punched him…hard. Blood spurted between Wells nose and Bellamy shook his fist from the sting of the impact.
"Bellamy Blake!" Clarke's sharp voice brought him back to reality, and everyone was staring at them with unhinged jaws. That had shut everyone up.
Wells looked around, saw everyone's names portioned on the board and Sarah and Tom and the way his eyes widened confirmed it. Bellamy thought back to that hazy memory of the first time Wells had a party he was invited to and the knocking over of the drinks and Wells slipping into his father's office and denying that he'd found anything.
"He's known!" Bellamy found his voice, rough and deceived, "He's known since he was eight and he's never told any of us."
"Is that true?" Clarke's voice wavered. Wells looked at the ground with guilt.
"We had a right, Jaha!" Ana's irate voice carried to him, "Just like your father, should have guessed." She spat in his direction. Everyone else was looking at him with the same distrust.
Wells, instead of accepting it, snapped his head up and his eyes were burning with a fire Bellamy hadn't ever seen within him. He shoved Bellamy away from him with more force than Bellamy knew he had, so hard that he almost fell backwards.
"I'm part of this damn program too, you know?" He said, his whole body shaking, "I'm a sacrificial lamb. Do you think my dad ever asked me if I wanted to be betrothed? If I wanted this? Do you think even after I knew I didn't try to get it thrown out? I could have been anything, but I chose to be a politician with the hopes of making this all vanish before this day." He asked, and people seemed to believe him.
"Whose your match then?" Someone asked. He licked his lips, and then wiped away a bit of blood dripping onto his chin.
"Bree." He admitted softly, and his girlfriend in the room rose quietly.
"So you decided to settle for me…because you could never have her. " Bree said, not a question but a fact.
"It's not like that." His voice lowered a couple octaves, "Really, Bree…I learned to…I do love you."
He reached for her, and she backed away.
"I just need some time, please." She said, her voice breaking and she backed tracked from the room. Wells tried to go after her, but was yanked back by Marisha who was sobbing.
"That's why Harry's and I's marriage proposal was denied…twice. I can never marry him. And you…you knew and you just let me believe like an idiot we had a chance somehow."
"I'm sorry." Wells said, looking genuinely upset, "But it wasn't my secret to tell."
"That's a coward's response…" Marisha sniffled, shaking her head.
"And Marv…" Clarke connected the dots, "He found out about this. That's why he was floated." She said. Jo stiffened at the name of her ex-best friend, ex-almost lover. She turned toward Wells like a statue, shaking her head quietly, refusing to believe it. Bellamy was stunned. As he said, he'd always known there was more than what his reason said he was locked up.
"Yeah, there were other reasons, but mostly this." Wells agreed, "I tried to save him. You have to believe that. And that's why maybe I thought I couldn't tell you. If he was locked up and floating for telling, what would happen to all of you…and of you, if I were to have told?"
This placated some people, but others were still glaring hard at him.
"So cough it up, Jaha. Who are our happily ever after pairs?" Harper sneered, a dark cloud settling over her.
"I don't know everyone's. I only know a few. Tom and Sarah, because they would have been the first. My own. Bellamy and Clarke…" He shook his head, "That's all I know right now."
"Well, you'd better get on it then. You owe us that." Teal pointed out. Wells agreed.
The anger had settled into just quiet seething now, everyone quieting to contemplate his or her own futures as it was.
Clarke was stony faced, staring down at her hands. He wanted to talk to her, but not with everyone here. Miller was wiping secret tears from his eyes, trying not to be obvious about it. He and Bryan were extremely serious and now he-like many others, was facing the hard fact that they'd never be able to get married. And, he was going to be forced to be with a girl and have a kid with them, when he didn't swing like that at all. He wasn't the only one in the group facing this problem. It sickened Bellamy.
"I guess I'm getting married too, then." Monty quietly laughed to Jasper, really the only response he could think to make. Jasper gave him a sympathetic nod, but underneath it all Bellamy could see he was indeed elated to have never been an official part of the group. That would have majorly put a wrench in their plans to get Octavia out and about, had his marriage application been denied because of this.
Harper had up and left a while ago, and Monroe had followed her.
Murphy wasn't making any wise remarks or shitty comments for once. He couldn't even find a wise-guy commentary on the situation, because it hit really close to home. Bellamy would bet his life that Raven and Murphy were matched together, and they must have realized it too because Murphy couldn't even manage to make eye contact with Raven. Raven was twisting a piece of wire around and around her finger, deep in thought.
Bellamy wondered which way her mind was going; was she thinking of Murphy or of Finn, who obviously wasn't in the group? Was her response relived or heartbroken by this news? She cast a careful look at Murphy, who was just looking at his lap, and then her eyes met Bellamy's as she noticed he was watching her. She looked down again after a moment, answering none of his questions.
He turned around to see how Benny, Simon, and Ana were handling it. Ana was gone too, and he was more concerned about her since she'd had such a violent response about it. Benny looked stunned, like his whole world was crashing down around him. His days of being a carefree bachelor were, in theory, over. He was 22 and he could be getting married as soon as this year, if his match was his own age.
Simon and Uma were in the corner, heads tougher. Bellamy got up; seeing Clarke was still in the same position and knowing he had some time to check up on some of the others, to move to them.
"You two okay?" He asked softly, kneeling down by them. Uma's eyes filled with warmth at his concern.
"Are you two?" Simon motioned toward Clarke.
"We haven't talked yet. I'm letting her think." Bellamy settled down beside them, "Sorry if I'm interrupting."
"It's okay." Uma softly whispered, "At least you know. We're terrified because we don't. What if we're just imaging our childhood friendship and being pushed toward each other? What if we're matched with someone else in here?"
"How could I not hate that guy?" Simon gave a long sigh, running his hand over his face, "How could she not hate the girl? These are our friends, goddamit it, and this is pitting us against each other even before it's begun."
"We're trying to agree not to hate our matches, if it isn't us, and remain friends." Uma said, trying to put a fake smile on her face.
"It's hard to even theoretically agree to that." Simon mumbled.
Across the room, Clarke stood. Bellamy got up, and then looked back.
"We'll be okay. Worry about yourself, go." Simon made a 'shoo' motion.
Bellamy ran after Clarke.
"Hey," He caught up with her, "Are you-,"
"Fine? Are you?" Clarke finished, asking him angrily. He stood back a bit, rubbing his arms.
"Nothing much has changed between us." He pointed out, "We're still going to be together, and it's not like we're slated to get married tomorrow. It will still be at least five years, which is what you wanted." He pointed out.
"It changes a lot!" Clarke yelled, spinning on him, "I wanted to marry you, yes, and don't get me wrong- fuck, I love you Bellamy but they've taken away my choice." She started to retreat into herself, "And I just hate that so much. I can't stand it. I can't stand to look at you, think of it."
"Clarke…" Bellamy's voice broke, "Oh, Clarke…Maybe we should just go back to your place? Watch a movie on the screen and not think of anything the rest of the night?" He suggested.
"Bellamy, I just…I don't really want to be around anyone from the group right now." She scrunched up her nose, "I need time to think about this whole thing."
"Oh…" His heart dropped to the bottom of his chest. He was angry about it too, but more on other people's behalves. He was just relieved it had worked out in his favor and he hoped they could just sort of move past this, but apparently that was going to be more difficult. He felt like kicking a wall; they'd been doing so good as a couple, so happy.
"Really, it's not you. I still love you just the same." She assured, "Just…I'll see you later." She said, waving awkwardly, like they no longer knew how to act around each other, and started to retreat. Her voice didn't quite match her sentiments, though, and she hadn't kissed him.
"Clarke?" He called after her, "We're still okay…aren't we?" He asked nervously. She gave him an almost blank look, as though she was feeling too many emotions and just switched it all off. That's what terrified him the most.
"We have to be. Don't you remember, we're betrothed now."
As he walked home, Bellamy became a little bitterer about it. He thought the name of the program was horrendous, since Iphigenia was a Greek Myth about a girl who was sacrificed by her parents. She had agreed to it, thinking it was a marriage to the savvy warrior Achilles, but it wasn't until it was too late that she realized it and nothing could be done. He didn't think it meant this wasn't real, but more so what he garnered from naming it this was the idea of sacrificing one for the greater good, something that seemed to come up a lot. So it didn't bode well with how Jaha wanted it to go, if titles were meaningful at all and Bellamy liked to think so. Or Jaha just wanted a cool name and hardly knew the story. Bellamy, as a nerd, wasn't sure which infuriated him more.
When he got home, he wasn't certain what he was going to say to his mother. This was something they needed to talk about, obviously, but should he be angry at her? Happy? He wondered what Octavia would think of all this, since no doubt her husband would return home and tell her everything.
Bellamy was a little upset by the time he reached his door; all those years he spent, worrying about if he'd end up with Clarke, and that could have been so easily avoided. Moreso, he thought they were the sort of family that didn't keep secrets from each other, at least not for 12 years! When you kept big secrets like Octavia, you needed to be truthful everywhere else. That assurance was sacred to him. It was a slap in the face his mom didn't think like that.
His mom was home when he opened the door.
"What now?" She sighed, seeing Bellamy's rigid posture and his arms crossed over his chest defensively, "And should I even ask why you were out until 1 am?" She questioned.
"You know mom, actually, I think you should be congratulating me…since I'm apparently betrothed to Clarke and all."
There was a tense moment that hung in the air until his mother finally sighed, shaking her head.
"How'd you figure it out?" She asked.
Before Bellamy could answer, the door sung open and Octavia stormed through the house like a hurricane, Jasper following behind her.
"Is this serious? You agreed to marry him off to Clarke and I never knew about it?"
Bellamy threw her a confused look.
"Why would you think you would know if I didn't?" He asked. She gave a small shrug.
"Dunno, probably because mom likes me better. You didn't see her hitching me away to some random kid!"
"You know, except the fact you were, you know." Bellamy growled, looking around, "Jasper, for god's sake, shut the door."
"I'm sorry." He murmured to Bellamy, "I didn't think she'd literally run here after I told her."
"She would have found out eventually." Bellamy grimaced. In some ways, he was relived his sister was here.
Jasper closed the door and sat on the lower bunk bed. Their mother sat. Octavia paced. Bellamy sat on one of the chairs. For a moment, no one knew what to say.
"I did it because of you." Aurora finally spoke.
"For me? Or for Bell?" Octavia turned, raising an eyebrow, "Mom…when have you done something that wasn't for me? I mean, Jasper looked up the Project. It was guaranteed Bellamy would be paired with someone better than us, since we're the lowest of the low, if he was chosen. That right there was a good incentive to hopefully make our lives easier with me." She crossed her arms.
"I was thinking of him, though the added benefit of a friend in higher places wasn't not on my mind." She admitted and Bellamy clenched his jaw. He didn't like his mother admitting she was considering using this Project to get something out of someone higher up than he.
"Explain."
"If I never did this, you'd be tied to Octavia your whole life. I wanted to give you a chance at love…with someone. Give you a reason to move on with your life."
"Well, you sort of backed him into that wall…making him take care of me. How could he have left, ever, without him feeling guilty?" Octavia scoffed, seemingly more upset on his behalf than he was. He was just feeling a lot of things right now.
"I didn't want that for him. Love is the strongest form of change." She insisted, "I expected much from you, perhaps too much. I had hoped…" She frowned, "I turned out alright…"
"Except Clarke's pissed." Bellamy groaned, "I'm not surprised, but it's for sure not helping. I'm not mad, not really." He let his shoulders drop, "I just…where do we go from here now?"
"Well, I'd guess to an alter." Octavia threw out casually, which gained two hard glares and one half-choking laugh from her husband, "Kidding! Geeze…"
Across the Ark, Clarke was livid. She was shaking so hard by the time she got back to her house that she couldn't even open the lock on the door. Her tears blinded her sight, and she hadn't meant to cry, but she was so overwhelmed with angry emotions.
She slammed her door open, making an audible bang that echoed around the house. Her parents appeared quickly, taking in her red-eyed and tear streaked face, and Abby jumped toward her.
"What's wrong? Did Bellamy do something?"
Clarke was even more upset her mother had the audacity to think Bellamy would ever hurt her.
"Something's wrong, and it's you." Clarke spat, "How could you?"
Immediately, her parents realized what was going on. There wasn't any pretend that they weren't aware of what had happened today or how Clarke may have the means to figure it all out.
"Clarke, you have to understand what it was like years ago…the Ark, and it's inhabitants, they were tearing each other apart. We needed a solution."
"That solution was your children? You couldn't just figure it out like intelligent people? You had to sign away my life, my choice?" She demanded.
"I was against it from the start." Jake muttered, and Clarke almost gave him a happy look. Deep down, she knew it was more her mother's doing than her fathers.
"Oh, great, Jake. I'm the bad guy now, huh?" She turned toward him, tapping her foot, "Blame it all on me."
"It doesn't matter who did it." Clarke said, drawing her attention back, "It matters that you did."
"Clarke, we had to…for the good of the Ark, like we've always discussed. We needed to show Jaha our support and you-,"
"Me? The prettiest dog in the show or something? The prized poodle? Why me?" She asked in a strangled tone.
"Because of who we are, and thusly, who you are." Jake said quietly, "I'm sorry."
"Don't be sorry, it all worked you. You love Bellamy." Abby said, rolling her shoulders, "I don't see why you're so worked up about this when this changes nothing about it."
"Changes nothing?" Clarke stared at her, uncomprehending her words, "How can you be so…dense? Why does some government get to decide who I marry and when? That's bullshit!" She snapped, "What if we were going to break up? What if we had a huge falling out or I realized I'm really in love with Raven-oh wait, she's probably in the damn program too!" Clarke snapped.
"You had a way out." Her dad revealed with a long sigh, "If things went south…if you guys never fell in love…Jaha would break the contract, I made him promise. Only you, though."
Clarke scoffed, "Great…so I'm the pretentious princess everything thinks I am, really. I get the special treatment, how kind of you all, while all my friends are stuck in loveless unions with people they could never like. What about Miller, huh? How can his dad not feel like an awful person for making him marry a woman?" She demanded.
"Clarke, please." Abby said firmly, "You can't have it both ways. Why don't you start being an adult about this?" She questioned.
"I don't want it both ways. I wanted to be left out of this to begin with. I wanted to be asked. And, if I were an adult, I could change this whole situation, because adults have a choice. Apparently, I'm not even that anymore." Clarke raised her chin against her mother, squaring off.
"We thought at the time it was for the best. When you're a mother, you'll understand." Abby said softly.
"Oh yes, please remind me about how I'm forced to have a kid, whether I want one or not." In reality, Clarke had always wanted one, but she didn't need her mom to know that. She hoped they felt guilty, and she was glad when they both sent her slightly unprepared looks, but it was her father who looked like he got the wind knocked out of him when the words finally clicked in his head.
"What?" Her father's question was as sharp as a whip snapping in mid air, "A child…?"
"Did you not know?" Clarke asked, almost horrified but now feeling a bit relieved and hoping maybe her father would side with her, "I'm required to produce a kid within two years of my marriage."
"He can't…you don't…Abby?" Jake asked in a strangled tone, looking to his wife who seemingly was not surprised.
"Well, you didn't think it would be married and done, Jake. Even if I didn't know everything, I figured enough." She seemed impassive about it, which infuriated Clarke.
"I'm your daughter." Clarke said, tears streaming down her face, "Don't I get to chose when I want a kid, even?" She said.
"Abby, she's right…" Jake said now looking angrily at the older woman.
"It's a way to ensure these good ties remain. I thought you didn't want to be special, Clarke. I admit it's frustrating, yes, and I wish there were another way, but there's simply no better way. History has proved such." She sounded so…detached. As though Clarke wasn't her daughter but a random person, "It's for the good-,"
"Of the fucking Ark, don't I know?" Clarke shook her head, "You're disgusting."
"Clarke…" Her mother seemed to be at her wits end, "Look at it this way. Bellamy would have always been put into the program. He was too good of a kid not to mach with anyone. If it hadn't been you we put in, he would be marrying someone else right now. He wouldn't ever be yours. Perhaps you should be grateful."
This hit a particular chord within Clarke, and she felt nauseous. It was a low blow, bringing her feelings for Bellamy into this. She hated her mother was right, that the idea of Bellamy being with anyone else made her feel physically ill. She didn't want that. Instead of saying these things, giving her mother satisfaction, she swallowed hard.
"If I wasn't in this, I might have never known him at all." It was hard to admit that without tearing up, thinking she might have gone her entire life on the Ark without hearing one of his stupid jokes or having him teach her about a new constellation history or kissing him, but it was the truth.
"So are you saying you'd give your freedom in trade of Bellamy?" Her mother asked with cunning smile, knowing this was an argument she'd nearly won because Clarke wouldn't be able to answer it. That question was despicable to Clarke, personally, and she couldn't believe her mother would even ask that.
"Go float yourself." Clarke hissed before locking herself in her room, despite her mother demanding she come back and apologize and her father yelling after her.
Bellamy left his house, maybe to find Simon or Benny but maybe just to move around. He wandered near the meeting area house, but was surprised to find a figure sitting hunched over near the Earth Window alone.
He noticed it was Wells.
In one hand, the dark-skinned boy had a packet of ice, which he was pressing against his face, and in the other was a bottle of home made wine that he took deep gulps from. He turned, hearing Bellamy's footsteps. They regarded each other for a moment, neither saying a word. It was his lack of speech that made Bellamy feel as though it as an invitation to sit.
He leaned up against the viewing chair, glancing over at Wells who was staring a head.
"Didn't know you drank." He commented. Wells shot him a dark look. He realized perhaps that was merely circumstantial and all, "Ah, well, I would too." He said, shrugging.
Wells gave him a scathing look, lowering his ice pack from his bruising skin. His nose was cleaned up now, no blood left.
"I don't know what I expected to go differently, walking in there today, realizing what was happening. I sort of knew when Sarah told me to come." He sighed, looking at Bellamy's bloodied knuckles. Bellamy nodded.
"I don't regret punching you." He informed him.
"I figured."
There was a quiet silence. Bellamy eyed the wine.
"Were you going to offer me any of that?" He asked. Wells scoffed.
"Wasn't planning on it." He said, but then after a moment, tilted the bottle toward Bellamy because he was just a nice guy. Bellamy wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.
"Was that punch for Clarke's honor or your own?" Wells questioned, raising an eyebrow. In reality, Bellamy hadn't taken the time to think through whom he was punching Wells for.
"I think it was for everyone in the group." He decided, which Wells seemed to accept.
"It's shitty, I know. This situation. But they were right; they do deserve to know whom they're meant to be with before hand, even if their parents weren't going to tell them. We're all legal adults now. They might as well know so maybe they can try to figure something out, at least be civil by the time they're married…"
"Like you did with Bree?" Bellamy surmised sarcastically, recalling how destroyed she looked when she realized her whole relationship might be built on scam and settling.
"Look," Wells said in a firm tone, "When I found out, I had a choice. Pine for Clarke for the rest of my life or choose to be happy. I chose the latter. You can fall in love with anyone if you set your mind to it. My feelings for Bree are real. Who cares where they started from?" He seemed as though this was a mantra he'd been telling himself all day. Perhaps he did believe the last bit. Bellamy didn't argue that you could care about anyone, maybe not love- that one was a stretch to him- but he also did think how things begun mattered. He knew he wasn't the only one who thought that way, after Bree's icy leaving today.
"I think she does." Bellamy winced, "Are you broken up now?"
"Well, that would make things difficult, since we have to get married anyway." Wells neither denied nor agreed, "You and Clarke? You didn't seem like two peas in a pod, despite that you're already dating."
"She has a right to be angry." Bellamy defended her, "And we're fine." Even if they weren't, he sure as hell wasn't going to let Wells know that.
"You would have won even without this." Wells said so softly Bellamy thought it was almost a mistake it was said out loud.
Bellamy locked his jaw.
"Clarke isn't a prize to be 'won'." He muttered.
"You would always win her over, I'm saying." Wells amended, "Perhaps I always disliked you so much because it's so obvious…it doesn't matter where or when, but you and Clarke end up together. And any life I exist in competition with you, it's hopeless."
"Well, if the theory is out there is that there's a parallel universe out there…there's bound to be one where I was killed early on or I was just never created or…who knows." Bellamy said, considering Wells words.
He gave a grim smile.
"A lot of times, I wish I was there."
They sat in silence the rest of the time.
Clarke could feel her parents lurking outside her bedroom door, their anxiety as palpable as a heavy fog. In between waiting, she could hear sharp whispers- but not actual words- of her parents, both fighting furiously among the two of them. She felt a little pleased, but then felt bad all over again because she used to hate when they fought so much. Even so, she didn't hear any grand apologies from her father or moves to fix this, so her hopes dropped a little.
Maybe they were waiting for her to realize that they were the adults, and thusly smarter than she, and although she was nearly 18 she was actually just a child who'd thrown a tantrum.
She scoffed. That wasn't going to happen.
Fed up with hearing them scuffle quietly past her door, she slammed it open and stalked toward the hall.
"Where do you think you're going, Clarke?" Her mother demanded.
Clarke turned with a petulant frown. "Out." She spat angrily.
She heard the screech of her mom's chair as she stood, but they didn't stop her.
She didn't know where she was going but running into Finn was possibly the last thing she expected, since he wasn't tied up in this at all. For the first time, she envied him. He was free to chose when and who to marry. He was devoid of knowing his parents sold his future like a common good.
But he looked upset.
He lived with Murphy, best friends with Raven…it was silly to imagine he wouldn't know.
"How are you doing?" He asked, seeing her face. Whether he'd heard back about her and Bellamy or he was good at reading people, he at least asked.
"Shitty. I'm angry." She answered honestly.
"Well, at least it's Bellamy." He said, frowning.
"Small miracles." She gave a dry laugh.
She looked at him. He seemed equally as upset too.
"You?" She asked. He looked up, and she sort of knew.
"I could never marry Raven." He whispered, pained, finally admitting his feelings for her Clarke had known he'd had all along "Her and Murphy…at least one of my parent's sons get to marry her." He muttered bitterly, "She won't talk to either of us. I want to tell her how I feel."
"To what cause?" Clarke asked logically, "For her to feel torn her whole life? For her to mourn what she can't have?"
"But doesn't she deserve to know?" Finn questioned, his bottom lip trembling, "Don't I deserve to know if she feels the same? A small consolation if I get nothing else?"
It was utterly selfish of him, but Clarke understood. She wanted to convince him against it, but Finn wasn't a bad guy. He was good, actually, really good. Good guys supposedly won, right? And if he wasn't, he should get something? But Clarke wasn't sure how Raven felt about him. She'd never asked because Raven never offered it. She wasn't sure Raven knew how she felt about him.
"So you're parents knew about Raven in the program?" Clarke asked, feeling bitter. Did everyone on the damn Ark know except them?
"Know?" Finn gave a harsh laugh, "They signed her up. Forced her mom to hold a pen long enough to sign and well, the rest is history. I get it through. I think they were worried one day maybe they might not be around either. At least with this, she'd be protected." He said.
"But they didn't put you in?" Clarke questioned, "Even though they knew that you and Raven might one day…" She trailed off.
Finn gave her a hard look. Because, perhaps like his parents might have foreseen, they both knew that although no one wanted to say it, maybe he wouldn't have even been matched with Raven because they weren't compatible together. He seemed to be frantically denying this fact himself.
"It doesn't matter." He murmured. At least his parents gave him freedom. He couldn't have Raven, but he could have nearly anyone else of his choice. If his parents had signed him up with the far away dream he'd be with Raven, and then he wasn't, he would have been trapped too.
"Are you going to be okay?" Clarke asked him. He gave her a strange look.
"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" He questioned.
"I'm probably going to be, so, you know…no need to ask." She waved a dismissive hand, "Griffins are resilient." She paused for a moment, "I should go. I think I need to find Bellamy."
Finn gave a long sigh.
"Yeah, good luck." He looked like a kicked puppy, "It's just a lot to take in tonight." He said softly.
Clarke chuckled.
"You got that right."
She found Bellamy in one of the most unbelievable of places; sitting next to Wells, passing a beer between them. Wells saw Clarke and got up.
"Clarke." He said, nodding quietly to her. She bit her lip. She wasn't sure if she was upset with him or not. She was a bit relieved when he made himself disappear quickly and she didn't have to decide.
She sat next to Bellamy.
"What do you and Wells have to talk about all of a sudden?"
"Take a wild guess." Bellamy said dryly, "I mean, he's going through it, just like us…"
There was a quiet moment, and Clarke twiddled her fingers.
"I'm surprised you came to find me, you know." Bellamy commented, "Usually it takes you days to work through anger."
"I'm still upset, but it was never with you. There's no reason I should avoid you." Clarke said, "It's more my parents. My mother is being an unbelievable ass about the whole thing."
"I'm sorry."
"Well, I didn't quite expect differently…" Clarke clicked her tongue, "Your family?"
"Octavia is ecstatic, understandably. Gloating a little, I'm sure. My mom is…well, she's just dealing. I think she feels guilty about not telling me…" He trailed off, furrowing his forehead.
"We'll make it through this, right?" Clarke asked softly, turning to him with her eyes low and scared.
"Of course we will. There's no reason we can't." He said, and this calmed Clarke. She leaned into him and watched earth before them. She wondered if they were on the ground if things would have been simpler?
Was this what you expected? Didn't expect? Tell me you thoughts! Obviously we're pulling some strings of memories back to FARRR back chapters, huh? The entirety of it is coming together. As expected, next chapter will deal with reactions and pairs. I know sometimes I gloss over things but this is obviously too important NOT TO and I had some fun with it. You'll also obviously get to know the OCs a little better.
Also, have a Happy Halloween everyone!
