So, this is the longest chapter I've ever posted on fanfiction for literally ANY fanfiction...just over 30 pgs. I guess I could have split it in half but it's everyone finding out about who they're getting married to in short little snippets so it's something you can easily stop at certain places...and it just didn't feel right cutting it off anywhere since certain snippets tie into each other and without it you might be TOTALLY confused or wondering where someone came from or whatever. So, yeah, here you all go...over 15,000 words of a chapter XD

Obviously this chapter has A LOT of characters thrown at you. I'm gunna try to post the link for the Photobucket here again but if it's being a jerk and just not working, go to the A03 version of this story and go to the newest chapter because that site lets me link websites. Here goes nothing (take out the spaces): s61 . photobucket user / frostedgemstones22 / library / Project % 20Iphigenia

This was an interesting chapter to write, mostly because I feel it's like those episodes in like Scrubs for example where the main character disappears and you get this episode completely from the POV of other characters...I felt like this was on a sitcom while I was writing this...hehe...

Thanks to all my reviewers! There's one that's not showing up although I know I have a new one because the reviews are glitching, so that's why if I missed thanking you, that's why: Emperor's Sister, Red656, Heidi1245401, CheriEstella, SquidaQdaloo, JCarabaguiaz, SydneyRaine, and Guest.

Guest: How much longer did you think they should have waited? It's been 13 years! XD


13 Years after Start of Program

It took Wells five months to convince his father to let him procure the couple's and who they were matched with. Some already had a fair inkling of it, demanding their parents told them. Some kids already knew, and apparently had known for years- Cadence, Al, Atom, and Karl.

"We were told it was like the Easter Bunny or Santa Claus…" Karl said quietly after the harsh backlash of realizing some people had known, "Although we knew the truth it wasn't fair to ruin it for others."

"But it's not like we knew everyone here was in on it. We just knew there were other kids somewhere on the Ark that were in the same boat as us." Cadence said and the other three nodded in agreement, which made everyone, feel a tiny bit better.

Al and Cadence hadn't even known their matches. Their parents had just told them that they were betrothed to someone and when they were 'old enough to know' they'd find out. Cadence said her parents were waiting for Jaha to drop the bomb on her wedding day. Al was pretty sure his parents just forgot to tell him one day.

Karl had known he was promised to Felice since he was eight. He hadn't told her, and she was a little upset, but they were hardly friends- even if he had known- so it wasn't like they had previously spent a whole lot of time together. Even now they were still jilted and awkward around one another, unsure of what to say or how to start a friendship built on eventual marriage.

Atom had known he was going to marry Roma since he was thirteen. He'd accidentally told her when they were both 14. She'd kept her mouth shut for a couple more years, but like most, she couldn't have guessed the faces she saw everyday were all a part of it.

The group tattoo now held a whole new meaning. To some, it was a reminder of a burden and they did the best to hide it. To some, it was a comfort that no matter how shitty they felt their situation was, there were 44 other kids going through the exact same thing.

When Wells did get the pairs, he was careful to put them all in individual envelopes and write the names of the recipient across the top. Clarke wondered about all the secrecy since everyone was getting matched to someone anyway, but Wells persisted.

"They at least should get a macron of privacy. The couples should be allowed to tell everyone on their own terms. Some of them might be hard to swallow." He said, frowning. Clarke bit back a nasty comment that he just liked being the only one that knew it all, that politicians thrived on power. She knew he wasn't like that, but she almost said it anyway.

So, he gathered everyone and handed out those envelopes one by one. Clarke had never felt such an anxiety looming in the air.

Some people tore at it like crazed animals, some did it carefully as though there was poisons inside that if they didn't open it right would sprout up and kill them, and some refused to look inside at all.

Bellamy and Clarke didn't get one. They already knew. They'd been dealing with it.

Wells didn't give one to Bree. They were still on rough terms.

Sarah and Tom obviously didn't get one. Sarah had almost come to terms with it.

"You know, he's been my best friend forever. I never looked at him in a sexual way, I guess, but if I had to marry someone from the group…or anyone, I'm glad it's him. Maybe they do know what they were doing. Inexplicably, we really work as a couple." She said, "So…when you guys find out, give it a chance." Many spat at her words.

And lastly, Brad and Zahira didn't get an envelope either since Zahira's birthday had been only two months after Sarah's and Brad's had happened early in the year and they were unceremoniously hitched just like their friends. They seemed to be doing just fine, but who really knew anything, Clarke considered.

"Maybe we should leave." Bellamy offered with a long sigh, "We can't do much here. If people need us, they know where to find us. Besides, Jasper and Octavia invited us over to dinner. Apparently, they have something to tell us." He said.

Clarke tore her gaze away from the faces of her friends. She nodded. She, more than anyone, understood that sometimes with this sort of news you needed to be alone.

Wells and Bree

Wells finished handing out the envelopes. He cautiously approached Bree, sitting alone. She looked almost longingly out onto the group, but longing for what he didn't know. He'd only just been learning how to read her shutout looks but they hadn't been 'a couple' since the news. They were two people that knew each other and knew they would be something in the future, and it was a rough place for him.

"I'm sorry." He whispered again, and he would for the thousandth time if it made her believe him.

"You'll need to say it just a thousand more times. Then I'll consider looking at you." She said stiffly. She'd grown so much from the terrified, shivering doe like girl his father had introduced him too all those years ago. She was still quiet, but there was strongness underneath it, a secret and violent current running through her body that made her formidable. When she fixed her chocolate gaze on you and scowled, it was hard not to give a shiver.

"I love you, really. I've never lied about that."

Was it so crazy for her to imagine that despite it all he had fallen in love with her? He loved the way she wrung her curls around her fingers when she worked on a project. He loved the way her nose crinkled when someone said someone stupid and she was trying to be too nice to say anything. He loved how when she slept she looked sort of like an ogre, because most of the time she was so perfectly put together (he'd never tell her that one though, he wasn't stupid).

Did he still love Clarke?

He wasn't sure. He still yearned for her, his heart still hurt when she smiled or when he saw her kiss Bellamy. If she one day broke up with him or came to him asking for a friend or a friends with benefits- and Bree was still acting like such- it would be hard to deny her.

What he felt for Bree was so much more though and he didn't know how he could get her to understand that.

"Don't say that now." Bree turned, her eyes smoldering, "Even if it is true, you don't get to say that now." She said sharply. He nodded in understanding.

"When?"

"When I decide." She said cagily, and pointedly turned away from him. He gave a long sigh but he knew he'd just have to keep trying.

Miller and Harper

Miller sat with his head in his hands. Until now, he'd almost wanted to not believe it. He'd put himself in a box, pretending like this was a really bad and long dream and he wasn't going to have to marry a girl and make a kid with her when the thought turned him off like nothing else. He pretended that he wasn't going to have to tell Bryan about it and they could still get married just like they'd always planned and would adopt some orphan and be parents like that. He pretended he wasn't so betrayed that his father and mother could have ever considered this since apparently they knew he was gay since he was 6.

There were a lot of truths he didn't want to face today, but was.

The envelope lay unopened on his desk.

Someone porously came and sat next to him; Harper. It didn't take a rocket scientist to put the two together about why she'd sat next to him.

"So, it's you." He said numbly. He took the paper and opened it, almost half-hoping it wouldn't say her name and it would at least be another guy. It wasn't.

He didn't dislike Harper, on the contrary, he found her to be within his close circle of friends. She was rough around the edges, took no shit from any guy, and had a ridiculous laugh that always made him laugh too. But she was almost like one of the guys- and not in a way he could fall in love with- and now he looked upon her face and all he could see was 'wife' stamped across her forehead.

"I'm really sorry." Harper fidgeted, almost looking like she wanted to reach out and touch his shoulder, "What does Bryan think?"

"He doesn't know." Miller muttered sourly, "I've…I haven't found the words to tell him. I have to now."

"Or not really." Harper said bluntly, "Look…I get it. You like the D where I have a V. It's an uncomfortable situation. I don't expect you to turn straight for me nor do I want to take what I know is love away from you. It never said in our contracts that we have to be one hundred percent faithful, just that we can't divorce. You can still be with Bryan, in fact, please still be with Bryan. And when it comes time to babies and that shit, well we know Clarke and of course there's way for artificial insemination…we'd never even have to…ugh, this is so bad." She said, cradling her head in her hands, "And I'm totally rambling."

"And I'm not really saying much of anything." Miller admitted, turning toward her. He gave a small hopeful smile, "Thanks. You're free to be with whomever you want too. I'll try to be a good husband though, whatever that means."

"I know you will." Harper gave an assuring nod, "After the moment of horror on your behalf about seeing your name, admittedly, I was relieved. You're one of the good guys." She whispered quietly.

"I still should tell Bryan. And let him decide." Miller said flipping the paper in his fingers, "Want to come with me? I could use a friend."

Harper gave a quick nod. "Yes, a friend." She agreed.

Murphy and Raven

"Well, it's nothing we already don't know." Raven said, flinging her paper reading 'John Murphy' across the table his way.

"Finn will be pissed." Murphy muttered under his breath. Raven didn't quite catch it. She looked up, tilting her head with question, "Nothing." He decided to sigh. Finn hadn't told Raven that he was so obviously in love with her. Maybe he would never do it now since this was so official.

"We've been dealing with it since we found out. This hardly changes things." Raven continued, playing incessantly with a piece of wire. It was little things like that to let him know how absolutely terrified about the whole thing she was.

"It changed everything, Raven." He said, feeling a little embarrassed, "We haven't spoken nearly as much since…"

He dropped off, looking away to hide his steadily reddening face. After the announcement last year, he'd been so angry. And he'd blown off steam by finding going and flirting with some hot girl from Human Resources that had been flirting with him for the past year. Raven had found them, and maybe he'd wanted her to find them, but nothing had happened between them yet. And instead of ending up with that blonde girl, him and Raven had had a fighting match ending up with sex. It wasn't hate sex, but it wasn't love sex either. It was just anger, unreleased need and steam, and a pinch of passion that both of them were denying. It had been his first but not Raven's.

And neither really knew how to talk about it after.

"Well, at least it was good. Really good." Raven said flippantly, which he thought was her way with dealing with it finally, "If we have to do that for the rest of our lives, I won't complain."

Murphy was usually the more forward sexual one, but he couldn't stop imaging Raven shoved up on that table and his mouth nipping down her neck. He was a little mad at himself that he somehow couldn't act like it was anything else. If he was being honest, it wasn't. It was Raven. He'd never explicitly told her, but out of everyone on the ark, she was the sole reason he was alive today in more ways than one. He didn't know how he could ever repay her for that.

"We have to face it eventually, John." Raven said sharply, "Look, I get it. It meant nothing. It didn't have to. We both needed a release."

He bit his lip. She was really wrong. It meant a whole lot to him, and not because he was sentimental about his virginity (it was, rather, an unfortunate weight previously) but because he was more than a little bit glad it hadn't happened with that blonde.

"We have years." He said quietly, "Before we are forced to get hitched." He said in a rough voice, "We can face it later rather than sooner. I just want to go back to friends. Is that too much to ask for?" he said angrily, but that wasn't the whole truth. He just wanted Raven to stop prying like this when he wasn't ready to admit things to himself. But he did want her, sexually and emotionally, but he'd be damned if he said that out loud.

Raven's face crumpled a little, but she nodded.

"I guess you're right." She echoed in a hollow tone, "We can figure it out later." She gave a forced smile, "Hey…I hear that they have red velvet cake in the cafeteria. We should go get some." She said, and got up before he could respond.

He gave an inward groan. John Murphy did again what he seemed to be really good at doing; fucking up perfectly fine situations.

Monty and Monroe

Monroe watched Monty sitting at the table. The envelope was open, so he obviously knew just as well as she did that they were…going to be married. The thought had a bitter taste to it, one she did not welcome. She hadn't really thought about marriage. She supposed one day she would, girl or boy, but it wasn't on the forefront of her mind. Now, quite unfortunately, it was.

He was looking with longing the spot Harper and Miller had vacated. It must be like getting the wind kicked out of you to see both the people you had a crush on being matched together. That was some kind of torture Monroe almost understood, because she loved Harper. Not enough to want to marry Harper, but enough to have her be her girl experiment back when they were younger. Harper was pretty much straight, which Monroe was okay with, because they'd never really used a label amongst themselves. Did they even need one?

She turned and left the room. Monty hadn't sought her out. He clearly needed to be alone. She did too.

She went to the guard station, laced up her fingers, and practiced her punches on the worn out punching bag.

Monty had been her guy experiment, way back when, at Wells' Unity Day Party. She had been harboring a tiny crush, but it hadn't come of anything, and she was okay with that. She'd always been rather casual with her flings, she hardly got attached.

It wasn't soon after he and Harper had started dating…hard. It was pretty secretive, only she and Jasper had ever known. They didn't want to bring it to the open, and she'd never gotten a clear answer why- maybe because Monty was still almost pining for Miller and wanted to keep that open or maybe because Harper didn't want it to be a big thing but they'd dated up until two months ago. All she'd known from Harper's side, although she was the one to break it off, was that her best friend had been devastated. How was she going to feel now that Monroe was going to marry him and have his kid.

She kicked the punching bag hard enough that her foot felt like she'd broken it.

"So, you're with Monty." Ana slid up next to her, "News travels fast. I'm curious." She said, and Monroe scowled at her. She went back to punching that bag.

"Hey! I mean, he could be worse. He's quiet but a nice guy. Real smart." Ana popped a gum bubble. Monroe wondered faintly where the hell she managed to get gum?

Monroe gave a harsh laugh, "That's like saying at least he isn't a serial killer. What a consolation." She said softly, "He's in love with my best friend, or she's in love with him."

Ana gave a low moan, "Tough break. You in love with anyone?"

"No. I'm not in love with anyone." Monroe replied testily.

"High five, girlfriend." Ana said, but Monroe didn't give one. She put it down with a scowl, "Makes things easier, then, right?"

"Makes what easier?"

Monroe and Ana whipped around to see Monty standing in the doorway, looking a little lost, "Uh…I guessed you might be here." He eyed the punching bag warily. Did he think she was going to punch him.

"I just remembered I have this totally important thing. See ya." Ana popped out, leaving them alone.

"We kissed years ago." Monty said first, spilling out.

"Uh-huh."

"It wasn't awful."

"Nope."

"But then I started dating Harper." He said after, "I didn't even ever…"

"No, I didn't want something. And she loves you."

Monty's face contorted, as though surprised. He looked so deeply wounded for a second, "Loves?" He repeated, shaking his head, "I love her too."

Monroe ran her hand over her face.

"Well isn't this a shit show?"

Dax and Trina

Trina scowled at the name on her paper. She wasn't even sure how to react to this news.

All she knew is that Fox was never going to let it go, and that she wasn't sure she was ready to handle.

If she was being honest with herself, she'd found Dax attractive for a couple years. Not 'in love with him' attractive, but in the sort of way she was with at least five other guys in the group and ten outside of it. If she had to marry and have a kid with someone, thank god it was a person she already had a physical attraction to.

Fox didn't like him, which was fine since she obviously wasn't matched with him. Always said there was something unnerving about him, but Trina didn't see it at all. Dax had been nothing but courteous to any of them and although he was quiet he wasn't strange. Or it he was he was good at hiding it, which at least showed that he knew he was strange and that was something Trina could work on.

So in all, her day could have gone much worse. She could have been matched with Al or with Sterling, who in her mind looked like a twelve-year-old.

She just wondered what she'd tell Pascal, her on-again-off-again boyfriend, now that there was a paper with their names together and it was sort of real and everything. Or, since he was in the Sky Box as of two weeks ago maybe she wouldn't tell him at all…and just stop visiting. It wasn't an honorable thing to do, heck it wasn't even nice. But Trina was still very much a child (she realized; she didn't care) letting the situation just gently fade away was such an easier option.

She locked eyes with Dax across the room. She let out a breath of air; this meant she probably had to talk with him, didn't it? Fox's eyes were bugging out across the room as she realized that they were matched, and she was making 'abort' signals with her hands. Trina rolled her eyes, what was the worst that could happen with him? Besides, they had to talk at some point considering they were to be wed for the rest of their lives.

Dax almost seemed shy and he waited for Trina to make the first move.

"Hey, Trina…" He nodded, "So…hi." He was unbelievably unprepared to deal with this.

"We should probably…talk." Her words came out as a little less than a hiccup. Not an encouraging way to begin.

"At some point, yeah." He agreed. She stood around for a moment more, waiting for something else. He gave a long breath and cussed, "I'm not really wooing you, am I?" He questioned.

"Well, since we're already engaged, I don't think you have to." She said, hopping on one foot, but she was pleased all the same he even thought of that part of it. She wanted to like him. She didn't want to be miserable in her marriage the rest of her life.

But they could take baby steps. They didn't interact much before, so at least now they could start that process. Maybe this was all she needed today.

"I'll see you tomorrow then, yeah?" She questioned, "Maybe have you over for dinner to meet my parents soon?"

"Yeah, that would be nice."

And that's where they left it. As she reminded herself, the greatest of love stories happened gradually.

Fox/Sterling

Fox watched helplessly as Trina strode confidentially across the room to greet Dax, who was undoubtedly her match.

"Tough break for Pascal, huh." Sterling commented, scaring her out of her skin.

"Jesus, Ster!" Fox hissed, "Give me a hint or something, and wear a bell."

"Wonder if she'll even tell him." Sterling said glumly. Pascal had been a good friend of his and he'd been a little down since Pascal had been caught stealing food; and not just a negligible amount, but he'd literally tried to steal an entire cow. If Sterling hadn't come down with a cold, he could have been thrown in the Sky Box too. It was a shitty plan, but Fox never claimed that any of them were smart.

"She won't. We know Trina." Fox said giving an agitated growl. She loved her best friend but often being the more mature of the two left her feeling like she was mothering her over being her friend. It was inevitable to do it a little, though.

"I came over here to ask if you wanted to open it together." He said, waving his envelope about. She hadn't touched hers either.

"What, you scared?" She teased, fingers tracing the taped edges.

"No, just wary. This is literally life-changing, don't you know." He said matter-o-factly.

"It was bound to happen for most people; the whole shebang…it's just the partner that changes." Fox pointed out, but more so that she liked to contradict Sterling whatever chance she got. It was funny to see his face turn red and his mouth gape around as he tried to form an argument.

"Kidding." She said, "It's hard for me to keep a straight face. I'm in this too." Fox admitted. The jokes only went so far, this was a little hard to deal with.

"On three? Open each others?" He said, taking hers from her hand placing his where it had been before.

"Okay…one…two-hey!" She said, because he'd already torn it open at about one and a half. She ripped his open too to catch up.

"You know I'm shit at following directions." He said and slid out the paper. She did too. She held back a snort of laughter as she read her own name. She looked up and was pleased to see the same amount of humor on Sterling's face too.

"Well, should we even be surprised we were matched?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Probably not." Fox agreed.

"The two youngest of the group. Seems right, I guess." He agreed, continuing with his 'logic' of their match.

"We get along swimmingly, you know. At least we don't hate each other."

"Other than moving in together, eventually having sex with one another, raising a kid…what really changes between us?" Fox questioned.

He realized it was half irony, but at the root of it, some of it was true. Being married didn't have to erase friendship, but hopefully made it stronger. He threw his arm around her, a familiar motion and to her credit she didn't flinch back at all, knowing now that each touch between them would start to mean a little bit more and more. But in this moment, he was glad that she took it in stride. Her nonchalant attitude made him feel a bit better, because in all honesty, what 17-year-old guy wouldn't be freaking out about this whole thing? He let out a long sigh, and even as he imagined them together- her helping their kid with his or her homework while he cooked dinner before they sat down to watch a movie and he realized he wasn't disgusted- he wasn't totally all there yet.

"You're right Fox, we don't have to change a bit."

Atom/Roma

Atom and Roma split pretty quickly after they got their envelopes. There wasn't even much of a need to open it. They'd been discussing it for years now, openly, with their families.

They thought about sticking around to console their friends, but then Roma pointed out after she found out the last thing she wanted was sympathy because there wasn't anything that could be done and they weren't in the mood to be punched by anyone.

"I'm glad it's not us." She sighed, looking at Atom, "That we knew."

"If I hadn't found you kissing Grennon a couple years back, it might have been."

"Yeah…" Roma winced, recalling. They'd been at the Unity Day party like 3 years ago, and it was a year after his parents had told him. He'd been focused hard on Roma after that, trying to reconcile that this was his future wife…and she was just so care free, she didn't know. They were already friends, but he hadn't really planned on telling her…until he decided that he was going to try and kiss her that night-his first kiss- and came around the corner to find her and Grennon awkwardly kissing (as all young teen kisses undeniably were).

They'd fought, he'd gotten angry, she'd asked why he cared so much that she was kissing Grennon and he'd blurted out 'because you're betrothed to me'. He was instantly horrified, of course, and Roma asked what 'betrothed' meant and Grennon unhelpfully supplied the definition while Atom just wished a hole in the ground would swallow him up.

Yeah, that was a rough start.

But at least they were past it now.

"I'm glad you told me." Roma said, as they walked the familiar paths they took often, back to her place. On one hand, neither wanted to muck up their friendship by acting hard on it, but now…from her calculated looks toward him, she seemed to be thinking he same.

"This is defiantly happening, the marriages. Two couples have already been married." He said, which of course was common knowledge, but he still felt the need to say it out loud.

"Uh huh." Roma agreed, "It's not just magically vanishing. So maybe…" She turned toward him firmly, "We're getting married and having a kid. That's for sure. So do you think-,"

"We should kiss?" Atom asked out loud and he blushed, looking away. He saw Roma seemed just as embarrassed, but not uncomfortable. More just…shy. This was a small relief to him.

"Yeah, basically. We are going to cross that bridge eventually, apparently five years from now or sooner, if we choose. We might as well…"

Atom turned toward her, taking her chin under his finger and lifting it softly as he leaned down to kiss her, gently and chastely. She'd done more, he'd witnessed her French kissing with Grennon on that fateful night, but something about this…he felt the need to do it right, it seemed. Innocently. He didn't want to make it about the fact he did think she was pretty and he wasn't dreading the idea of marrying her. He hoped she wasn't expecting something more, but luckily she leaned back, and watched as a smile grew on her face.

"That was a good start." She said decidedly and then tentatively took his hand in her own and they continued their walk.

Sarah/Tom

Sarah and Tom sprawled out on their ratty lawn chairs-an engagement gift from Sarah's parents and clinked their glasses of ale together with a light tap.

"To us, and not having to go through this BS all at once." Tom said, crossing his legs and chuckling.

"To an actually okay marriage so far too." Sarah agreed, and chuckled, "Are we soul mates? Don't know if I believe that anyway, but I think we're okay together."

"Yeah," Tom agreed, "Maybe it will get better with time?" Sarah shrugged.

"Even if not, I think what we have is more than some people ever do."

"And, it's not like we had other choices." Tom said, "Was the last guy you dated…Tobias?" He questioned.

"Yeah, a whole three years ago. And last girl you dated…stars, I can't even remember."

"Let's get one thing straight," Tom snorted, "What I did wasn't 'dating'. It was just physical."

"Exactly. Even if we had a choice, I think, and we just had to get married by our 25th or something we might have come to the choice of choosing each other anyway." Sarah gave a dismissive wave of her hand, "By logic."

"I considered that too." Tom agreed, "Love is cool, I guess, by mutual respect and understanding goes for a lot as well, if you can't have love."

"Oh! Tom, look there." Sarah said excitedly, pointing through their sort of hidden vantage point, watching Dax leave with a giggling Trina behind him.

"Oh, well then." Tom winced.

"What? You think that match was a mistake?" Sarah questioned.

"I just don't like Trina." Tom said, scrunching her nose, "Have you ever heard her laugh? It sounds like a dying cow."

"And…?"
"Just her laugh."

Sarah let out a breath. "I guess I've hated people on less." She said, since her and Tom had agreed to have a zero-shade relationship with each other. If one had a problem with the other, they were going to say it out right instead of doing the idiotic dancing around thing that people in love did. Also, they happened to be two judgmental people and they were going to tear apart the entire world but never each other. They'd realized that within three days that even if they were best friends it would never last if they didn't put down ground rules like that.

The biggest point of contention between the two of them, and they were still trying to work that one out, but it wasn't something that could be fixed easily if they tried, was that Sarah was agnostic and Tom was firmly planted in religion. They'd sat down and at least discussed their moral boundaries with each other, tried to find common footing between what they believed- devoid of religion- and so far this worked. But if they were going to be married and have a kid one day, they couldn't ignore it forever. But, Sarah wanted to leave that for another day, not now, when they were almost thriving in this relationship…whatever form it actually was.

"What are you two doing?" A clipped voice asked. Sarah looked up, shading her eyes as though they were sitting on a beach in the sun instead of a dingy space ship.

"Ah, hello Zahira. Where's Brad?" Tom greeted with an overly friendly tone.

"What does it look like we're doing? Watching the parade." Sarah waved a hand in front of them. Zahira gave Sarah a confused look.

"The couples or people coming out, after reading their envelopes, of course." Tom clarified, "Better than TV."

"Making judgments about the couples, how long they'll last, how long it will take them to bone…you know, normal stuff." Sarah finished.

Zahira looked caught between giving them a disapproving look and looking slightly interested.

"That's not…guys…" She gave a small whine.

"Who are we hurting? We might as well enjoy this shit show." Sarah pointed out, "And rejoice in the fact that we're past this stage. Would you have wanted to find out today, if say you were both younger, and then have your problems brushed aside because everyone else is going through it too? See, the good thing about getting our matches sprung on us is that we- and you two did as well- got oodles of sympathy and such. No one will get this now, not so many." Sarah said.

"I didn't want sympathy." Zahira sighed, and then sat between their chairs, "How do you know when a person is a couple?" She asked, watching a group of four leave at once.

"Guessing, a lot. We could be wrong on some."

"For every couple we write down and get right, we're going to spend extra money on nice meals. You know, justify it a bit." Tom said.

"How many of these couples so far do you think will last?" Zahira said, taking the list and looking over it carefully, "How much of this do you think the council might have known what they were doing?"

"Worried about your own marriage?" Sarah asked quietly, dropping her usual abrasive personality once she realized her best friend was troubled.

"A little." Zahira's lip twitched, "We knew each other as good friends before, all of us, we were a group." She pointed out, "But what if that's not enough? What if we're not all that compatible, when it comes down to it? It's like I'm just living with a roommate right now."

"Well, have you two-,"

"No!" Zahira's eyes flashed, "Why, have you two?"

Sarah and Tom looked at each other and shrugged; to them, they'd agreed to at least try each other out once before making choices. It was easier with no emotions, and they were more like extremely-close-friends-with-benefits living together.

"I think that might be part of the problem. You obviously want love in your relationship. I don't know if you two will fall in love, but you're defiantly not going to get there by holding out on each other." Tom said, "Go big or go home. Throw everything into this or none at all."

"Hey, that was actually good advice, Haggar." Sarah nudged him, "Poetic."

"I try."

"I don't know how to initiate anything. What does Brad like? You're his best friend…you must know what sort of things he finds sexy." She turned to Tom.

"You." Sarah snorted, and Zahira looked a little whiplashed, "It's not like he's been hopelessly in love with you, but I mean you're on his list of the girls in the group he finds the most attractive. I don't think I'd worry."

"Do you know how to make him fall in love?" Zahira asked, and Tom chuckled.

"If I knew how to make love magically appear," He said, looking up at Sarah, who knew where he was going and was nodding, "Don't you think we'd be trying to make that happen?"

Felice/Karl

"I still can't believe you never told me." Felice was angry all over again looking at that piece of paper.

"When was I supposed to do that? We don't have the same friends; you're two years younger than me. Was I supposed to weirdly approach you at the lunch table, tell you right there, 'hey-we're getting married one day' in front of everyone because your friends sure as hell wouldn't let you wander off somewhere strange with a guy who hardly talks to you? Yeah, that would have been much better." He snorted, getting real tired of being blamed when it's not like he asked for any of this.

"You could have made an effort." Felice argued, "Waited for me after class, or something or-,"

"Stalked you?" Karl gave a humorless laugh, "That would have gone over really well, sweetie."

"Don't call me sweetie." Felice said sharply, "It's obviously condescending. Childlike." She scrunched up her nose.

"You're only 16. You basically are a child." He said, running his hands down his face, "I'm a glorified babysitter right now, god damnit."

"You're only 18. Please, get off your high horse. Back on Earth you might have JUST only been an adult. And as it is, you're only newly one…if you're this arrogant all the time…" She threw her hands in front of her, "I seriously like can't do this."

Karl shuddered, "Slang is awful." He muttered.

"I don't see how we could be matched, literally." Felice said slowly, shaking her head.

"Usually, I have faith in certain things, such as I did when my parents assured me that they spent months deciding this pairs." He looked at Felice with a locked scowl, "But now I'm not so sure."

"I couldn't agree more." She said, stalking away.

"Where are you going?" He called after her with exasperation.

"The hell away from you!" She responded, and he scowled, walking away the opposite direction too. He didn't really want to talk to her either, but he was trying to be a nice future husband. Clearly, he'd just stop trying right now.

Toby/Ana

Ana took little ceremony in opening her package. Toby Mos. She looked across the room with an appraising gaze. If she'd been asked to pick someone out of the room to marry one day, she doubted Toby would have been on that list. She knew little about him, but then again, did anyone? He rarely spent time here as it was, after it was required, and who were his friends?

At least he wasn't a loner-loser. He just was…artistic, she decided. And he knew how to dress himself properly for a guy, which was appreciated. Well-dressed men were a plus to Ana.

She was pretty sure he did something utterly boring and safe in theories or calculations or something. What a snooze. She hoped he would be a more exciting person in reality than in his career.

She got up from the table, grabbed his arm, and drug him from the room. The first empty classroom, she pushed him in and closed the door.

She began to take her shirt off.

"What in the hell are you doing?" Toby asked, squinting at her, but didn't seem terrified of boobs or women. If she was put with a total virgin…she shuddered at the very thought. He just seemed, confused. She could work with that.

"I think it's obvious. We should have sex." She said.

"Like…now?" He looked at the chairs, "In here?"

"Well, is your house open? Mine isn't." She said, shrugging off her bra.

"No. But why?"

"Do you not want to?" She asked, raising an eyebrow, and Toby remained quiet, "Do you have abs under there?" She wondered out loud, "I mean, we're going to be married. I've never done it with you, and I want to know where we stand. Am I actually going to be satisfied the rest of my life. Girls care about this shit, obviously." She said.

"They say you're blunt." He muttered under his breath, "This is how you want to get to know each other, then?" Now there was a lilt of amusement to his voice.

"Yeah. Do I have to do everything, Mos?"

"Hey, I'm a straight guy-,"

"Thank you for confirming."

"-And no straight guy would turn down sex usually, but here? A quickie?" Toby gave her a hard look, "If you're going to be my future wife, shouldn't we do this right?"

Ana perched on a desk, scowling. "Who cares about 'right'? Ugh, don't tell me you're the emotional type."

"Hardly." Toby ran a finger across a dusty desk, "Just maybe somewhere a little less…childish."

Ana tilted her head, "What are you thinking?"

"Well, we might as well ring in a shitty situation right, I figure." He said, chuckling and showing all his teeth in an almost feral smile, "Somewhere…interesting."

"I'm all ears."

Toby turned to her, laughing. "Have you ever done it on the council table?" He questioned.

"How in the world do you suggest we do that?" Ana said, putting back on her shirt, "You're joking."

Toby shrugged. "I have friends in high places."

"Thank god, you actually do have friends." She said, "I like the way you think, Mos." She said, slapping his arm, "Tonight, then?"

"Midnight." He agreed.

"Well, as far as it's going so far, I have few complaints." Ana said, nodding to him before heading off.

Brad/Zahira

Later that night, the night after everyone else found their matches, Zahira watched Brad cook dinner while she tended to their many plants about the house. One of the basil plants looked like it was beginning to wilt, which upset Zahira, since it had taken years of working at her job to be allowed to take such a plant home. All her other plants were flowers-more here for their loveliness instead of actual use. A basil plant was extremely valuable, though, since it was used for cooking.

"So what? Our pasta is a little less appetizing." Brad said, seeing her concerned face.

"You know it's more than that, Bradley." Zahira groaned, having used to dealing with this less pleasant side of Brad since marrying him. She had gotten good at reading between the sings of him; such as when he really did care about something was being an ass because that's all he'd ever been or when he really didn't care about something. He might not care for her basil plant in particular, but she could tell he cared about her and her own feelings about this plant.

"Yeah." He agreed, but that's all he said. They were…working on it. Opening him up. Showing him how to use more than just nasty jabs to make connections. How to emphasize with people, something he was really not good at. She knew that he was still looking at her like she was crazy, since plants were nowhere near on his list of importance.

"It would be like if someone you were working on in the Medical Bay was dying for some unknown reason and you couldn't save them at all, even though you'd begged to be allowed to work on that case." She said finally, seeing him still furrowing his eyebrows.

He paused mid stir, and then gave a more understanding nod.

"That would really suck." He agreed.

Zahira let the plant go and sat at the table, since she saw dinner was nearly ready. She'd have to bring it into her supervisor tomorrow. She feared that it wasn't getting enough attention here since all she could afford was one small heat lamp. Perhaps she just had to realize that all the best things she wanted in her house, regarding plants, couldn't ever be there because it just wasn't the greenhouse.

"Although, you know, it's still just a plant. If it dies, meh…now a person-,"

"You were doing so well, Brad." Zahira said dryly. He winced.

"Should of kept my mouth shut?" He guessed. She nodded.

"Sarah and Tom think we should sleep together." She said casually, and watched his expression change. Unexpectedly, it hardly did. She got the feeling perhaps they'd told Brad this shortly after she left today, or maybe another day entirely, "You've heard it too."

"They think it's strange, since it has been months." He agreed, "In normal circumstances, I might agree…"

"These are not normal circumstances." Zahira finished, which had been much of her own thoughts.

"And if we did, I'd just fuck everything up." Brad said softly, and gave a smile, but she could tell from the way that his smile didn't quite reach his eyes that he was trying to swallow sadness.

"Why?"

"You know me…" For the first time ever, he looked unsure of himself, less confident, almost venerable, "I'm an ass in real life, think of how I am in the sack. There's a reason most of the girls I'd been with didn't want a repeat with me."

"What, you're selfish in bed too?" Zahira gave a little laugh, but then saw his face. Damn, that's exactly what he meant, "Couldn't you try to be, I dunno, more accommodating?"

"I wouldn't know how?" He said honestly.

"I could…stars," She ran her hand down her face, "teach you?"

There was a moment of silence before Brad let out something between a laugh and a choking sound.

"How sexy."

"So what, we're just never going to have sex because you don't want to mess…what up, exactly?"

"Our friendship." He said uncomfortably. Zahira felt a little whiplashed. What friendship? They were 'friends' but only in the most basic, of senses. They'd hung out in a group of kids their age in the friend group, but until they'd been married, Zahira wouldn't have picked him to do friend things with likely ever. They were civil to each other, true, and it warmed her but still terrified her a little to think that how he was to her he considered to be so vastly different from everyone else, because as far as she was concerned he was still pretty shitty.

"We have to eventually." She finally found words, "We have to make a kid."

Brad flinched visibly.

"I'll probably fuck that up too, you know." He said, "Look…I'm going to go to bed. Can you clean up?"

"Sure." Zahira agreed, watching him leave with a frown. Well, at least she knew that he didn't hate her, which she wasn't sure about until today. Did it change much? Not really at all.

Benny/Stasia

"I'm very perturbed to be matched with you, you know."

That was the first thing his future wife said to him. Benny, in every situation he'd been imagining, could have never guessed that.

"Why? I've literally done nothing to make you hate me. We haven't even ever done anything." He said, raising an eyebrow. Stasia blew a strand of hair from her face.

"That's exactly why!" She said, throwing out her arms. Benny stared at her blankly. Well, not completely blankly. He was thinking that his teenage self would have been thrilled at his match. His adult self was still sort of thrilled, but it was concerning him that he wasn't as excited as he thought maybe he should be. Stasia was a bombshell, a sex goddess (according to many guys) and what sort of guy wouldn't want that? So why didn't he?

"You and Bellamy are the only two guys in this entire group I've never gotten any sexual favors from; actual sex or other things. Having two out of a number, fine, I can live with that. But obviously now I have to have sex with you and that will leave just one person I've never had and that is pretty much failure." She explained.

Benny snorted, "Does kissing him against his will count?"

Stasia threw him a hard look. "Kissing? What are you five? Obviously, no!"

"Well, I guess you'll have to learn how to deal with that, huh?" Benny smirked, "Since yeah, you'll never get him."

She simmered, "Why didn't I ever have you until now?" She asked. Benny shrugged.

"Bellamy doesn't like you much. You know that. I'm his friend. You might be hot, but you're also sort of poisonous." He said. She looked genuinely hurt.

"I don't mean to be poisonous." She said quietly.

"I guess it comes with the territory." Benny said, but felt little sympathy for her, "So what happens with you now? That you're getting married. You never seemed like the type to settle."

"Neither did you." Stasia huffed, "If we compare numbers, I'd say we're evenly matched for conquests." She pointed out, to which Benny agreed was a fair comment, "But I'm not cheater. I guess I continue up until our wedding date, and then I'm done. I have some morals."

"Well," Benny said, leaning far back on his chair, "We pretty much never interacted until now, I don't see much of a reason to continue until our impending nuptials." He said.

Stasia just raised an eyebrow.

"We continue our lives, enjoying as much of it as we have left."

"Someone who understands." Stasia muttered under her breath with a sigh of relief.

"And, a bet, maybe." Benny said, "From today on, whoever bangs more people before our marriage get to…name our kid. Whatever they want."

"I would do it just to beat you in a bet." Stasia laughed, "What counts? Does it have to be our opposite gender?"

"If you can get a girl, sure. Intercourse for a full point, hand jobs or blow jobs for half points. Can only count each person once. Deal?"

"Oh, you're so on, Edl." She said.

"Great." Benny said, standing, "Well, I'll see you at the wedding. May the sexier win."

Armin/Jovana

Jovana did her damn best to avoid the situation entirely, and she managed…for nearly a day and a half. But apparently Armin was determined and he actively sought her out. They clearly had two different ways of dealing with things.

She'd done a lot of thinking since she'd found his name looking back at her. That's basically all she'd done, and all she expected to do. She was the queen of over thinking situations.

Mostly, she was upset that Marv had to die…for this. This was the secret that was so awful that he was ultimately floated. It seemed so stupid. It seemed so unfair. The more she considered it, the more she got angry. The more she wanted to hit Armin (although it was just as much his fault as her own, meaning exactly zero) but she wasn't in control of her body's actions completely right now, so best if she avoid him.

In the illogical part of her mind, she hoped if she never acknowledged this again the situation would simply dissolve away.

That wasn't happening.

Her parents had been unending about it, trying to get her to open up. It was times like these she almost wished she had a dad, instead of two moms, because then at least one parent might just ignore it all and continue reading the paper instead of hovering with her feelings (that's how she thought dads were…weren't they?). Instead, she had two mothers witch meant that they both came to her alone to try to get heart to hearts, which Jovana just clearly wasn't in the mood for.

She was pretty much set with being alone forever, or at least until the wedding.

Armin had different thoughts.

"Jovana?"

She dragged a hand along her face, sighing in resignation.

"Jo." She corrected, "Call me Jo. Anyone that's close to me wouldn't call me my full name…and we're apparently pre-engaged, so…" She said.

Armin's face flushed, "Right, Jo…" He tried it out. It sounded strange, her extremely personal nickname coming out of his voice. She hoped time would smooth the jagged way it rolled out of his mouth, "I wanted to talk to you. I'm not unhappy with the match."

"Are you telling the truth?" Jo gave a harrumph, "I know what they call you- The Great Liar."

"It's unavoidable sometimes." Armin admitted, "I just lie without thinking a lot of the times."

"Well, that won't work." Jo snapped, "Not if we want to be something more than just two people together in a house, hardly speaking. You remember Marv, my best friend, who was floated?"

"Course. We were all… yeah." He said.

"Well, they warmed him not to tell me about this, about our match, about anything. He could have gone along his merry way and never spoken of it, not until this day came when we were matched, and he'd still be alive. But the truth between us was more important than his life. So if you can imagine, truth and honesty is pretty damn high on my list of what I wanted in a guy. If you can't be 100% truthful with me, then we aren't gong to ever be more than passing acquaintances." She said, holding his gaze, and then finally sighed, "A truth from me; I don't want that. I want to imagine one day we'll realize why we were matched and be happy. Do you want that."

"Yes. I swear, on my honor." He said, crossing his hands over his heart. Jo gave him a hard look, "I'm not mocking you. You'll have to trust me."

Jo scoffed.

"I want it too. I have trouble with lying, but I will try my best to not lie to you. And if you really wanted to know, which I guess is important for you since you're going to be my wife, my tell is that my jaw clenches when I lie, unconsciously. You'll always know."

"Tell me two truths and a lie." Jo demanded, studying his face. He looked at her like she'd gone crazy.

"This isn't one of those ridiculous girlfriend tests, right?" He murmured uneasily.

"No, oh," Jo realized, "Lie once, now. I want to make sure the tell wasn't a lie. Or lie on all thee. I don't know."

"Fine…I'm a Sagittarius, my mother loves me more than she loves pretty things, and if I were an animal I'd be a puma."

His jaw tensed twice.

"Not a Sagittarius?" She said, tilting her head.

"Nope, Taurus."

"And the second…?" She was almost afraid to ask. He gave a humorless laugh.

"See, this is how you'll just…know. I want to believe my mom loves me over material things. I try to make myself believe she wouldn't' sell me for a rusted, but still almost shiny, bracelet if she could. But I can't lie to what I know deep down. I said the second with every drop of sincerity I had and it wasn't enough. Convinced?" He stared her down. Jo swallowed hard, being slammed with a lot of personal stuff about him all at once, a little heavy for their first meeting.

But it had done its job. She believed him. Believing a liar was almost like believing the devil, but despite it, if she didn't she'd never be happy.

"I am." She agreed, "So…are you a virgin?"

"Of course not." Armin sneered, but his cheek twitched. She giggled and he turned red a second later. She was beginning to see the better aspects of this newfound knowledge. Maybe she could have a little harmless fun…

Simon/Uma

"On three?" Simon asked, turning around to face Uma, looking into her terrified eyes.

"On three." She agreed, nodding slowly. Both of them were shaking so hard you'd think the Ark was experiencing a random and impossible earthquake.

"Before we start, whoever you end up with, I'll try not to kill him. I'll tell him everything you like, all your favorite songs and silly romance novels." Simon said quietly, painfully trying to imagine anyone else listening to Uma read to them or singing along to the radio with her when her parents were being awful.

"And I'll try not to be nasty to the girl and tell her everything she needs to know about Charlotte to get her to approve because your sister is the most important thing." It equally pained him to imagine anyone else interacting with his sister outside Bellamy or Clarke in the way Uma did. She'd just gotten visitation rights this year and Uma was an instant favorite.

"You'll still have to visit her. She likes you far to much for you to just vanish." He whispered softly.

"Of course." Uma looked horrified at he thought she wouldn't, "She's my sister too now."

"On three." Simon repeated, and Uma nodded. She counted off. On three, they both ripped open their envelopes and Simon almost cried with relief when he saw Uma's name written on the sheet.

"Oh, thank god…" Uma said, using the rarely used phrase to express her utter relief, and threw herself against Simon so hard he fell backwards onto the ground.

She kissed all over his face, not even caring how much PDA they were exhibiting on the ground of the grimy meeting room, not caring that other people around them were opening these envelopes into what seemed like the end of their lives where for them it was merely the beginning.

"You, get a room." Murphy nudged them as he passed, but Simon looked up with a wide grin on his face to see Murphy nod to them, a tiny sign that he was relieved at least someone was happy. He wasn't as much of an ass as everyone thought he was after all.

"Maybe we should." Uma said in his ear, her arm snaking around his waist, "I think it's rightly appropriate…" She bit on his neck softly and Simon shivered.

His whole body went rigid at her soft touches, and he wanted nothing more than to throw her over his shoulder and carry her to the nearest empty classroom, but he resisted the urge of making such a big spectacle. Instead, he grinned, and stood while offering her his hand.

"Maybe some champagne too…This for sure calls for a celebration of the best kind."

Kieran/Matt

"So…K…"

"This is a bloody inconvenience!" Kieran said, reading Matt's mind before he asked the question. About how she was dealing with this, and all, "Marriage isn't exactly a great pick-up device for chicks, you know." Kieran muttered.

"We don't have to tell people we're married." Matt said comfortingly, "I don't expect you to."

"Like people won't know." Kieran sent him a scathing look, "Sorry, I don't mean to snap at you. I'm just so…arg!"

"Yeah, I feel you, K. Hey, look it at this way. We can go out and be each other's wingman…or women. Compare girls. Work as a team."

Kieran gave an emotionless chuckle. "You seem a bit more excited about it than I do."

"I'm optimistic. There are worse people I could have been put with. Even if you and I will never get along sexually, we get along everywhere else. I didn't think I'd get everything in a perfect marriage. To me, like 9/10 of the points ain't bad. And, I'll find that 10 percent I don't get other places. Did you ever think that people could be simply compatible without putting sex into the equation?" He asked, looking at Kieran, "That soul mates don't have to be romantic?"

She was giving a small, pensive smile. "I like that idea."

Cadence/Grennon

Four days after finding out he was matched with Cadence, Grennon was sitting through what might be the most awkward dinner of his life. He usually was under the impression that a situation wasn't awkward unless you chose to find it awkward, but then again, he'd never been where he was now.

His parents and Cadence's parents had thought a joint dinner between the two families would be a splendid idea and now the six of them sat in the cushy Alpha station apartment that Cadence lived in, eating pork chops and drinking wine.

It was uncomfortable because, firstly, he'd never seen such extravagance before. It was uncomfortable because his parents and Cadence's parents were chatting away, in their own little world, as though they've been best friends for years. It was awkward because none of their parents seemed to notice that their daughter or son had hardly spoken a word to each other and would be anywhere else- even the Sky Box- right now if given the option.

Cadence looked like she'd sucked on a lemon the entire time.

Finally, Cadence glared at him.

"I don't get it." It was the first time she'd really acknowledged he was even there. He didn't care much, he wasn't too fond of her, "We are…complete opposites. What was the council thinking? How could I ever be matched with someone like you."

He knew exactly what the 'I' and the 'you' were referring to, and it was thoughts he'd had too. Cadence was prim and strict within her rules. Her father had once been on the council, her mother currently was, and Cadence was being groomed and prepped to be a perfect little political figure one day- likely take her mother's place when she retired. She had probably never broken a rule in her life and found those who considered rules to be non-existent uncouth.

Grennon, on the other hand, was pretty much the other side of the spectrum. If there was a rule somewhere, he'd probably broken it at least once. The only reason he hadn't been caught and thrown in the Sky Box yet was because he wasn't dumb. It was like something he read in an old book once about the murders back when earth was still a thing; only the dumb murders got caught. Not that he'd murdered anyone…there were some rules that he hadn't broken, for the record. Murder, torture, rape…those things were't even rules to him, they were guidelines about being a decent human being, and so it's not like he was out to break those.

But he digressed, where Cadence was going to spend the rest of her life doling out floating or Sky Box sentences for smoking unauthorized weed or distilling moonshine and distributing it without a permit, Grennon was going to spend his free time doing exactly that. And then Cadence would have to question if it was worth it to turn in her husband, the father of her future kid, just to be 'good'.

Watching her squirm made him a little bit okay with the situation.

"I used to be a goody two shoes, you know. Back when I was like five, around the time we were matched. I was the star pupil of my class. Perhaps that's it." He said, thinking back to the days where he never turned in a late assignment, never skipped school, thought weed would kill you or lying was the worst thing you could do.

"What happened?" Cadence turned her big eyes on him, looking at him curiously now.

Grennon smirked. "I got intelligent." Cadence scowled.

"I think it's smarter to recognize that certain rules are in place for a reason and aren't suggestions." She said icily.

"Well, we both know I have the smartest IQ of my grade, and it's only slightly below Raven's- who is the smartest person in the group- and we both know she's not a perfect person either, so tell me…why would we both come to the same conclusions if we're so smart? Rules are for those that need guidance in their life. I'm not one of those people." Grennon leaned back on his chair, placing his arms crossed behind his head.

"You're delusional."

"You gunna turn me in?" Grennon mocked, looking right at her, and when she shifted uncomfortably and didn't answer, he nodded, "Of course you won't. Because if I get floated for being such a deviant then people will start to wonder how in the world you got matched with me, if it really is about compatibility, and that would ruin your political and social standings, huh?"

"I've never actually seen you break rules. I just know you do it." Cadence snapped back, but from the fire ignited in her eyes he knew he'd guessed at least along the lines of the truth.

"So you're just going to pretend it doesn't happen, or wait to catch me in the act. If that's the case, you never will." He said with assurance, "I don't fancy dying."

"Fine, if that's how we have to make this work, then whatever. You do you, but you don't let me know about it. I'd have no choice, you know, to turn you in." Cadence warned.

"You'd have a choice. You'd just be unable to keep your pride if you didn't." Grennon shook his head, correcting her, "But, deal. For all you know, I'll be the most perfect rule following little husband."

Cadence gave him a look of disbelief.

"I'll believe it when I see it…"

Leslie/Hendrick

"Well, hello, Soulmate." Hendrick said cheerfully, directing his comment to Leslie as he sat next to her.

"Hello, future-perfectly-curated-spouse." Leslie replied with just as much brightness. Brad, who was also at the table, made a gagging noise.

"Your adorably half-sarcastic half-happy greeting is cringe worthy, you know?"

"What?" Leslie asked with wide, innocent, and also extremely mocking eyes, "You don't greet your wife like this?"

"Shove off." Brad muttered, pushing her gently.

"Yo, hands off my love muffin."

"Thank you, Cuddlebum."

Brad made a bigger choking noise. "You've known about this for what, ten minutes?"

"Yeah, but we guessed ages ago." Leslie shrugged, "We're trying to be the most obnoxious we can be."

Brad cringed.

"Well, it's working." He said.

"Oh, come on." Hendrick said, nudging him, "You gotta laugh about it a little? Otherwise we all, what, sit here and sulk about it?"

"You won't be laughing when you're actually married next year." Brad said, "It's not a laughing matter then!"

"We have a year to figure it out." Leslie said with a shrug.

"Hey, Leslie." Fox said, leaning over from another conversation with Sterling, "What do your students think of this?"

"Oh, they're delighted, you know? Think it's funny. It's where I got the idea to take it with a grain of salt, be able to joke about it. You know, after the whole crying in my room response ended."

"Do they know its Hendrick?" Sterling asked.

"Not really, but they have a poll on the side of the board. No one guessed him, which I'm surprised since he brings me lunch once a week and I bring him another day every week. Apparently, Kane is the number one contender."

Brad nearly spit out his drink.

"Kane?" He said, shaking his head in horror.

"Well, I never claimed third-graders were intelligent, or logical, but whatever. I mean, he isn't married and theoretically if they were doing this politically…I guess it's not the worst guess. Better than one lone kid's guess of Chancellor Jaha."

"Ew…" Sterling said.

"Remember when Kane showed up like three weeks ago for his annual teacher drop ins?"

"Stars!" Leslie looked mortified, "Yeah, I had to explain to him why his name- along with Jaha's and like five other people from this group, were on the board with a percentage by it. He didn't find it quite as funny as my children did." She said dryly.

"I'd imagine. Has that guy ever even smiled?" Hendrick pondered.

"Heck if I know." Leslie said, "All I do know is that ninety-two percent of the class will very disappointed they're missing out on getting a cookie for not guessing Hendrick."

Marten/Caylie

Out of everyone in the whole group, Jaha did a bang up job of picking the singular person that Marten wasn't too keen on getting. It was the one person that he hadn't spoken a word to, not for a long time, and even if he did it probably wasn't anything other than a passing apology as he bumped into her. He could hardly be blamed; they called her the Ice Queen. Clichéd, obviously, but at least no one minced words with her stony exterior.

She made her intentions toward others well known; she'd never had a best friend, she scorned most away from every trying, and he's pretty sure he's never seen her crack a smile…just ominously calm.

Caylie Gottlieb…what the hell had the people making these matches been thinking? He knew she'd laughed at his nervous, shaking leg or his wandering attention more than once and that right away rubbed him the wrong way. If she had ADHD, perhaps she wouldn't be so quick to make such comments.

And she just seemed so…juvenile. He was five years her senior and although it was the same age gap between Bellamy and Clarke, Caylie just seemed infinitely younger and stupider than Clarke. He forgot all the time Clarke wasn't even all too old, and he forgot (when he took time to think of her, on a rare occasion) that Caylie wasn't all that young.

Even now, she sat, the letter tucked into her back pocket and unopened, not a care in the world. She was reading, alone, the way she supposedly liked it. No one came to ask her about her match. The only person who interacted with her regularly was Clarke, because Clarke was nice to everyone, but she and Bellamy had split pretty much right away.

He stood, trying to find the words to say to his future wife as he strode over to her. Yet, feet from her back, arm almost out to tap her shoulder, he paused. It didn't take long for him to decide to turn around and leave her sitting still alone and for him to head back home.

He couldn't find anything to say to her even if he had tried.

Marisha/Keshawn

Marisha pulled back her tears. She'd cried the day her marriage application was rejected, that first time. She'd cried when she found out she was going to be married off to an intangible someone, but someone here, and not Harry. She'd cried when she confronted her mom about it, who was sorry but alas nothing could be done. Her mom loved Harry; it had hurt her too to remember she'd been put through this.

She opened her letter slowly, trying to decide if she was truly ready for this.

She glanced up. About half of the people in the room were gone. Had people left without looking? Had pairs gone to discuss things? Were the people left all she had to choose from?

The letter was in her hand before she could think, and she glanced down and saw the name without even trying to read it.

She swallowed back some bile.

Keshawn Hill.

He had a good enough job, a doctor. He was intelligent. He wasn't unattractive. There wasn't an outwardly reason to dislike him, other than the fact he wasn't Harry. But she knew him. They were only a few months apart, but he was a year younger. Yet it was close enough and he had enough 'friends' within her year that she saw him at parties or other places…if he came out, ever. Usually Brad goaded him into it.

It was his…personality.

He had an air of arrogance about him, which she supposed when you were chosen to be a doctor- one of the hardest jobs- wasn't unexpected. Yet it was that he was arrogant about everything, and if someone misspoke even a little about a detail, he's swoop in from wherever he was eavesdropping with a grand, "Well…actually…" and thusly. And in general, he was sort of unfriendly. If he had a friend, the people that broke through his exterior, he was apparently a nice guy. She wasn't sure she believed it.

She sucked in her gut and walked over to him.

"Hey, Keshawn…" She started quietly. How does one talk to their match? Is it casual? Proper speak? Do you pretend like you've been married forever or like it's a first date? Would he take her on a date? Would he try to romance her at all? A thousand questions poured into her mind, ones she hadn't wondered until now.

He was working on some things for his job, and gave a small grunt; the only indication that he even acknowledged her presence. She sat down with a pout; her finger nails tapping against the table.

"We're matched." She stated, in case he wasn't aware. He nodded quietly, but he was still working on his papers. She waited a pause, "Shouldn't we talk about it?"

He finally looked up, surprise filling his eyes, also a flash of something unexpected. Clearly talking to his future wife wasn't one of the things he thought he should be doing right now.

"Is this a bad time…if you're really swamped…" She began, because she didn't want to be a nagging wife.

"Not at all. More of a menial distraction." He said, but didn't stop. His answer was curt, and she was sure that she could extract more about him from his shirt than what he was telling her verbally.

There was an extremely long pause and finally he looked up, frustrated. With her? Maybe.

"My birthday is in two weeks. Since you are older, I expect that's when we'll be married." He said, and then turned back to his work, leaving Marisha with her mouth hanging. She wanted him to comfort her about this absolute bomb of knowledge, but he seemed like he'd said what she apparently had been bothering him into saying and that was done.

It was almost three whole minutes before she realized that he wasn't going to continue talking to her, at least not today, and she had enough pride to leave before she got angry.

"I suppose I'll see you then." She said evenly. He didn't even make a notice.

Walking on unsteady legs from the meeting room, it all hit her in a tremendous rush. She was getting married to a stranger, practically, in less than a month. She was going to give up everything, give up Harry for good, in a month. It was unreal.

She sucked in a harsh sob.

"Are you okay?"

She turned, unaware someone else had come to the secluded area near the meeting room and she felt embarrassed someone had seen her in such a state, until she realized it was someone familiar.

"Want to sit?" The person asked, "I uh, my mom gave me some wine…I think it was an apology."

"Yeah, I do." Marisha said, and sat beside Benny Edl.

"Who are you matched with?" She asked.

"Stasia." Benny said, and she searched for his opinion within his singular answer. She found she couldn't find one.

"Oh, well…that's…she's…at least the sex should be good, or what I've heard." She kicked herself mentally. That was a pretty bad thing to say, but it's not like her mind could produce much else. Benny chuckled, nodding.

"Yeah, so I hope. I've never been with her. Wasn't going to. Guess the universe is intervening, or something. But it's not like I'm a virgin either." He said, turning a dark stare on her.

"I know." Marisha snorted, "Maybe putting the two most sex-crazed people together wasn't a bad thought."

"We'll see, I suppose." Benny said, "Are you okay…? Who are you with?"

"Keshawn…I feel like I'm marrying a brick wall." Marisha said, furious, "In two weeks I'm going to be marrying a guy who won't speak two words with me, and not for lack of trying. I'm being forced to give up Harry for this guy?" She threw out her hands and chugged some of the wine. Benny's eyes widened.

"But you and Harry…it never said anything about infidelity…" He sputtered, "We all love Harry."

"Harry doesn't want to be with someone who's going to be married to another, no matter if I don't love the guy. Besides, he broke up with me as soon as he learned about the project. He didn't want to be tied to someone who, as he put it, was almost like dying or something."

"Oh, geeze…"

"I gave my whole teen years to him. And in the end, he still sort of turned out to be a scumbag. I thought he really loved me. But I can't blame him. Maybe it would be too hard for me too, if we were switched."

She paused, sliding the wine bottle back to him.

"Do you want to talk about it more?"

"No, not at all. It's actually the last thing I want to think about, much less talk about." She said sternly, "By the way, I just…I never have gotten a chance to tell you, but I'm glad you stopped dying your hair. I like the red. Reminds me of my dad."

"Yeah, I think black was good for my 'self-loathing-teen' vibe, but It's expensive and so much less of a hassle…and your dad had red hair? I thought you were-,"

"Half black." Marisha rolled her eyes at him, "Mum's black, Dad's pretty much 100% Irish, or so he claimed- that's probably BS with the lines of Irish people actually left on the Ark and all- but, yeah. Recessive vs dominant genes and all."

"I didn't know that." Benny's eyebrows furrowed, "I'm sorry about him, by the way. I can tell you really loved him."

"I did." Marisha whispered, "But it's been five years since he died. I don't' even think about being sad anymore. Or, I didn't. I do wish he could be at my wedding though, whether it be to Harry or Keshawn or a three-legged monster."

"He's there, in spirit." Benny said confidently, "He wouldn't miss it for the world."

Marisha blinked back tears. "I'd really love to believe that, Benny."

Al/Teal

"Whatcha listening to?" Al slid up next to Teal, and she frowned before taking off her headphones.

"What?"

He looked uncertainly at his hands, tapping his feet. "I asked what you were listening to." He repeated, "You know…"

"Oh." Teal seemed a little taken aback, and almost looked like she didn't want to answer him, then figured she might as well begin to form a bond with her future spouse, "Like a Stone by AudioSlave."

Al's eyebrows furrowed, "I've never heard of it."

She gave a toothy grin. "That's why I like it. Everyone knows certain songs here on the Ark, the ones used at all the parties, the ones parents sing- like all those Beatles songs. Classics. I enjoy the eclectic things. The stuff the original grounders had on their personal ipods that not everyone enjoys."

"I guess you could say that's a mirror to your personality." Al observed, raising a knowing eyebrow.

"I know what they say about you and what they say about me." Teal stiffened, "So what do I care about what other people say. As long as your feelings don't get hurt at every comment I make, we'll get along okay."

"I know what they say about you too." Al's eyes narrowed, "And if you can stand to act like we're out of high school, I'll get along with you."

Perhaps if anyone else had said that to her, Teal might have decked them. But something about the confidence Al had going about it made her just laugh.

"So, you really had no idea it was me, but you knew." She questioned.

"My parents told me when I was five, told me I didn't need to know. Like I said, I think they just rather forgot. But I never did, I just never asked again, thought I had to reach a certain age…" He paused, frowning, "I've spent as long as I can remember, staring at every girl I passed, wondering if she was the one. It drove me mad."

"Did you ever look at me?" Teal asked.

"Every girl, Teal, literally every single one six or so year on either side of my age. Even if it wasn't long, I know I must have, at one point."

"And do I match up?"

"I wasn't expecting anything." Al threw his arms onto the table, "I couldn't even begin to. So, yeah," He chewed on her question, "I guess you do. You can, or will."

Teal nodded quietly, and then, in an act of a truce of something, or a start of a friendship offered him her headphones for just a moment.

Jezelia/Lazurus

Jezelia decided to make a game of it, sit back and let her soul mate come to her. Or, see how long it took. See if they did at all. If she were a responsible person, which her mom told her often she apparently was not, she might open that little letter and go seek him out herself.

She wasn't afraid, far from it. She was buzzing with anxious excitement to find out. She wasn't much into dating, but knew she wanted to settle down eventually, so this whole deal wasn't the worst thing in the world for her. She'd often wished they still had those antique dating 'sites' that the earth used to have, where you plugged in a couple things about yourself and viola, it gave you a match that apparently fit 'you'. This was that, but she hoped more precise. Honestly, it was perfect.

She watched people leave, some angry, so happy, some without emotions. She was dreadfully curious to know everyone else's couples, although she supposed soon enough they'd know. She saw her best friend, Felice, fighting with Karl to the side and tilted her head. Were they matched? She couldn't be sure. Felice wasn't read for all this yet, though, Jez knew. She was woefully immature. Luckily they were both in the youngest age group so it would still be years before they'd be forced to wed. Felice needed that time. If her spouse allowed it, Jez might be fine with marrying sooner rather than later. She enjoyed her job as a chef, creating food for the lower station masses or sometimes catering to higher station families, but it was luckily a job that could allow her to come and go, have a child soon. She wasn't all too concerned about her career as it was.

Slowly, with two hours, the room emptied. Eventually, it was just her and one other person- Laz.

She chuckled, waving to him across the room. He waved back. He was four years older than she was, but she knew him enough to have decided he was a really cool guy. He had an award-winning smile and always made the people he was with laugh. Something about him was just pulling, it always had been.

He took the initiative and sat with her.

"What are you still doing here?" He questioned.

"Sitting, waiting for my soul mate I guess." She shrugged.

"Me too. Wanted to just wait it out, I suppose." He stretched back and then mid way he almost fell out of his chair.

"What?" She frowned, "You okay?"

"You don't think…" He asked, eyeing her envelope.

"That because we both just sat here waiting for the other person that means we're matched? Maybe our significant others, both of them, just don't want to deal with us right now. Maybe they hate us."

"Well, isn't there only one way to find out?" He asked and slid his own envelope to her.

"I'd almost rather just wait."

"Too bad." He said, because he'd already taken hers from her hands and opened it. He chuckled. She frowned, leaning over, but he waved it away from her.
"Oh, it's Keshawn." He said.

"What?" Jez almost choked. He was sort of a jerk, and not really the talkative type. That was her soul mate. She tore the his paper open to see who Laz was matched with, hoping it was equally awful, and found…her own name. His laughter lifted over the paper.

"You jerk, it says your name, doesn't it." She said, rubbing her hands over her eyes, "Why'd you give me a heart attack?"

"Couldn't help it!" He was bending over giggling at her response.

Jez took the papers from their hands, throwing them on the table. "Does this mean you're going to use an awful pick up line on me now?" She asked.

He stopped laughing, "My pick up lines are not awful." He frowned, and in that moment, she realized he truly thought they were good. It was known around the ark that Laz's lines were the worst, borderline charmless, but he had such a funny attitude the rest of the time it was forgivable.

"Eh, stars, I can't believe no one has ever told you but buddy, they suck."

Clarke/Bellamy

"I hope everyone's okay. Maybe we should-,"

"Clarke, just for a second stop mothering." Bellamy said, "They'll find us when they're ready. Do you remember how you didn't want to talk to anyone after we found out?" He reminded her. She frowned.

"Yeah." She sighed through her nose; "I just…I wish Wells had given me a list beforehand. Prepared me. I could have helped, done more…"

Clarke was feeling incredibly guilty about the whole affair. She'd gone right to Jaha after finding out, since she usually had a fair amount of pull with him. He often had a hard time saying no to Clarke, expect, apparently, now. While he felt terrible that some of the children, such as Miller, had developed other likings he firmly stated that he couldn't back out of such rules now, because there were factions that already thought he was a weak and spineless ruler. It told her more than he probably should have been telling a nineteen-year-old girl, but it didn't make her sympathetic. She'd tried to get around the rule in every way, such breaking her own contract (since she could) and marrying Bellamy anyway, but then felt guilty that she'd be the only one not bound to it and couldn't do that to her friends. She was only really going to go down that route if she freed everyone. She thought maybe if she bothered Jaha enough, then he'd relent. That was her next idea. So far, that had come up useless as well. It was just so awful all around and she rarely felt so helpless.

"Clarke, there's nothing you can do. If there's nothing Wells or Candice can do, there's certainly nothing you can." Bellamy's voice was pained, but accepting. He didn't like seeing one of his best mates pushed into a completely loveless marriage more than Clarke, but he understood better than Clarke did how the riots were starting up again, making ripples under the surface. He understood, although he didn't like it, how Jaha had to stand up and appear strong instead of caving. He wished things were different. He wished that more often that Clarke knew.

"And if Simon and Uma aren't together, I swear to god, I'll riot." Clarke added. Bellamy sent her a look.

"They'll be together. Thery're like you and me." He said confidently, "That much I can know."

They approached where Octavia now lived, and found her sitting in a common area chatting and laughing with a couple other girls.

"O." Clarke said, unable to call her Melody in public, but since her name was Melody, no one really had ever questioned it.

"I'll see you later guys, I'm hosting these lovely people tonight." Octavia waved goodbye to the girls.

"Bye Mel! Love you!"

"See you tomorrow, Jordan, have fun tonight!"

The chorus of love notes came and Bellamy couldn't help but give a wide smile.

"Who were those?" He asked as they walked back to her place.

"Oh, just some new friends. We're all brides that married at the age of 20 or younger. You know, we all understand what it's like." She shrugged casually, "Not that I don't love your friends, but these are mine alone. Plus most of yours are grumpy lately, you know, not that I can blame them."

"They got their matches today." Bellamy agreed.

"What?" Jasper heard as they opened the door, "They heard…do you know who Monty's matched with?" He asked, ringing his hands nervously.

"No, I'm sorry. We didn't stick around. He probably is just opening it now."

Jasper looked torn, and Octavia patted his shoulder. "We'll find him tomorrow. We should let him deal with it himself. Or he'll come to us tonight." She said comfortingly, "I'm worried about him too."

"If it's not Harper…" Jasper and Octavia shared concerned looks.

"Harper?" Clarke couldn't help but blurt in confusion.

"They've been dating under the radar for years. They broke up but he's still so in love with her." Jasper said.

"And she with him." Octavia jumped in, "It's obvious if you know how to look. And since it's all female/male matches, he can't have Miller, he likes Miller, you know-."

"Yeah, we knew that one." Bellamy said, "That one was clear."

"Anyway, we hoped it was Harper…" Jasper gulped and then trailed off, "Nevermind. We have an awesome dinner cooked for both of you. And we should just enjoy tonight, and all." He said. Octavia nodded enthusiastically.

"We did tell you we had news, after all." She said, "Come sit down! I made it."

"Oh, god, you made it? Thank god I have a doctor here with me." Bellamy joked. Clarke hit him.

"She's getting better." Jasper said, "I mean, I helped though…"

Octavia sent him a half-glaring, half-amused look, "Way to insult me, bud. You could have just let them think I'm actually getting better."

"You know I love you."

"The food?" Bellamy said.

Octavia held up a finger and came back from the kitchen a second later with a warm pot of gourmet mac and cheese.

"Six different kids of cheese…" Jasper sighed contently, "With bacon!"

"Yum, I'm down." Clarke said, and her stomach growled.

"You know, I think this might be one of the best meals ever." Bellamy agreed, taking a totally heaping portion. Everyone did, really, since none of them were particularly small eaters. Octavia though, was just scarfing it down.

"You're going to choke, sis." Bellamy said, "Slow down. God, that's two helpings already!"

"You're not mom." O said with her mouth full, giving him the finger, "Plus I'm eating for two."

There was a shocked silence. Bellamy froze mid bite, Clarke covered her moth with her hands, and Jasper just rolled his eyes, then Octavia burped. "Well, I was going to come out with that more tactfully, but yeah, that's the news- I'm pregnant."

"We had this whole speech." Jasper sighed, "It wasn't meant to be as…you know." He made a hand motion, wincing, "So far, you're the only two that know. Oh, besides your mom," He pointed to Clarke, "But doctor-patient confidentiality and all. We just found out yesterday, for sure."

"Oh my god!" Clarke shot out her seat, coming around to hug Octavia, "That's so exciting! Bell, you're going to be an Uncle!"

"And you an aunt, don't forget." Octavia nudged Clarke, "You're a part of the family too."

"We weren't…planning it." Jasper said, because Bellamy was staring him down like he was trying to smite him, "But we also weren't…not planning it."

"And since my birth control was faulty as fuck, well, yeah. Abby promised after this obviously they'd try a more surefire method because honestly I just forget to take the pills all time, which is sort what led to this." She pointed to her stomach. Bellamy just groaned into his hands.

"Bell, be happy for her!" Clarke chastised. He finally looked up.

"I am, I just, you're so young…." He winced.

"I'm also married, you ding-dong." She said, putting her hands on her hips, "And what, did you think we were celibate?"

"A guy can hope. Anyway, you need to be taken off the guard right away."

Octavia snorted. "No way. I'm not dying, I'm not fragile, I'm pregnant. Up until women normally leave work, I'm staying. I'm not even in real danger for a long time. This kid is like a month old at most."

"O…" Bellamy whined.

"You and Jasper are both insufferable! It's not like I'm even all that far along!" She turned to Clarke, "You're a doctor. Am I fine to continue work."

"Well, yes. But obviously try not to spar, since we don't want anyone hitting your stomach, and don't do anything reckless. And once my mom tells you to take time off, you stop working."

"Aye-aye, Doctor Clarke." She turned to her brother and husband, "See?" Both just gave half-hearted grumbles of acceptance.

"Are you excited?" Clarke asked, and Octavia nodded.

"I wasn't sure I'd ever have kids. Up until I married Jasper, I don't know if I ever contemplated it. I don't think I had contemplated it really until now. But it's coming, and I already do love it…boy or girl. And this life…it's so good. I don't feel as bad bringing a kid into it compared to if I was still in Factory Station."

Bellamy nodded in slow agreement with her statement. "I think you'll make a…interesting mother."

"Bellamy, oh geeze." Clarke rolled her eyes, "Don't listen to him. I think you'll both make great parents." She said, turning to Jasper as well.

The rest of the night was finishing the rest of the large pot, followed by chocolate cake for dessert, followed by a loud game of Clue. It was basically impossible to play a board game with both Bellamy and Octavia without them ending up screaming at each other over something stupid.

When they left, Clarke noticed that Bellamy was extremely quiet.

"What do you think, of that?" She asked.

"I'm just still reeling a little." He murmured softly, "My baby sister…pregnant. I mean I knew it might happen one day, but…it feels too soon…"

Clarke licked her lips. "Does it make you upset that we haven't…" She coughed, "And you're sister apparently as enough to make herself pregnant? You know it's not that I don't want to, stars, do I but…"
"It's a strange situation that my sister that's so much younger is married and with a kid before me." He said, "But no. I get it. We just don't have the time, between my mom now working from home all the time and your parents never away long enough…and you said it before, you don't want your first time hurried in a broom closet."

He was quiet for a second, "If we got married, we'd have space alone. And it's going to happen anyway so…"

"No." Clarke said quickly, and then winced, "Fuck, it wasn't supposed to sound like that." She drew in a long breath, "When we marry within two years we have to get pregnant. I'm not ready to be a mom by the age of twenty, or even by twenty-two. I had a plan, Bellamy. I had my entire life all worked out before this stupid law. I was going to marry you at the age of twenty-five. I'd be far along as a doctor to be able to leave and such for a honeymoon and to be able to see you instead of getting awful hours. I was going to have a kid at twenty-six, preferably even twenty-seven. Old enjoy to feel like I might know how to raise a kid, young enough to be able to see them grow up completely, meet my grandkid and maybe great-grandkid one day. I had a plan."

"And now…" Bellamy finished for her, "We get married when you're twenty-two, latest you can have a kid is twenty-four."

"Which is a whole year before any of that was supposed to start! I would have been fine marrying you at twenty-one, I decided a while ago. Even then, I still wouldn't have wanted to try for a kid until I was twenty-five. I just don't feel…I feel so young, still. How can I had a kid when I don't even know how to deal with simple things yet?" She questioned angrily.

"I don't know." Bellamy echoed, "Hell…"

"I'm sorry." Her voice broke, "I know you want to marry me, I know that we both want more, I know that…I just…"

"Clarke, shush. Don't ever apologize for that. It's not your fault. It's fine." He pressed his lips into her hair, quietly comforting her, "Clarke, I love you, that will never change. Whether I marry you a day from now or five years, if that's what you want. And I could never force you to carry a kid before you're ready. I get it."

"We'll get there." Clarke whispered, "Just not today." Bellamy grinned wide, and seeing him smile made Clarke feel better.

"I intend to make sure of it."


WHEW If you read all that in one sitting I commend you and you should get a medal. Hope you enjoyed it. What couples are you liking the best? The least? Any that surprised you? Any that scare you? I'm seriously dying to hear your thoughts!

In exciting news, a reviewer wants to translate this story into French! I've never had any of my stories translated and that's a huge honor for me, so you know who you are, and you're the best :)

I've been writing A LOT lately, so for those of you that read other stories of mine I'm almost done with new chapters of Prota and Green Games.

And O is pregnant! So, I sorta have some headcannons about her and Jasper's ahem married life if you'd like to hear them, because I'm not writing it from their POV

*I think that since there's no rush to the relationship now she wouldn't have sex right away on their wedding night. She's never really been able to have a relationship before and the most her and Jasper I think could do was fondle a little bit. I also think the fact that on earth she was doing those sorts of things right away was a little unreasonable, since we can assume the first time she's even KISSED a guy was Atom when they got to earth. I can sort of excuse it because everyone thought they were dead anyway, she was sort of in rebellion against Bell, and everyone else was doing it so peer pressure a bit. But I think if she didn't have those factors she'd want to take it slower, which in no way do I think means she loves Jasper or whatever, I think it makes their relationship ultimately stronger.

*Jasper obviously never pressured her, but I don't imagine they were all giggly and hesitant around each other. When they did things, and basically everything but actual sex until probably two months before this chapter, they were both passionate about it. They're just those sorts of people

*I like to think that one day they were having a couple's dinner with Raven/Murphy and Monty/Harper and Jasper was making a joke and turned and smiled at O and she was just hit with how much she loved him and it was just surreal for her for a second that she could be here safety and her life had turned out so good and she just knew she wanted to jump him that night. She probably was a little vixen so underneath the table started running her hands up Jasper's leg to make him choke on his food and such. Monty, since this is of course his best friend, knows when his BFF is turned on and knew what O was trying to do and got very uncomfortable. Harper, Raven, Murphy had no idea and wondered why Monty suddenly looked like he wanted to dig his eyes out. O spent the rest of dinner totally casually talking and such, like nothing was up, seeing how long it would be before Jasper couldn't take it anymore and made some harebrained excuse to get them back to their room. ;) If Bellamy knew any of this, he'd vomit and eat some bleach immediately.

So, please review! Hope you liked the chapter and my little headcannons there lol.