Bellamy jumped up from his seat and quickly scanned the list before he reached his sister's name "Octavia Blake - Lincoln", he tore the list from the wall and stormed out of the room so blind-sighted by rage that he ignored Clarke's calls to calm down completely. She followed him swiftly out of the room and despite her attempts to talk to him and gage his feelings he stayed silent as he walked quickly to Doctor Griffin's office.
Clarke's mom was sat behind her desk looking through files when Bellamy slammed the button to open the automatic door.
"Why is my sister on that list?!" He asked full of anger, putting the list on the desk in front of her with a crash.
Abby calmly closed the file and placed it on her desk before turning to the 2 teenagers who stood in her doorway. She had obviously been expecting this.
"Clarke would you please close the door?" She spoke to her daughter, "Bellamy, take a seat"
"I'm not taking a seat until you tell me why my 16-year-old sister is on that list" He lent against the desk, trying to look intimidating but Clarke just saw a boy full of terror.
Abby sighed deeply before beginning to explain,
"You more than anyone know how dangerous the Grounders can be when they're against us and currently they have no desire to negotiate for peace but we are lucky that they don't seem to be planning a war either." Bellamy, content that he was going to get his answer sat down as Clarke took the seat beside him. "We are also lucky that we have a Grounder living peacefully in Arkadia, showing that we can live in harmony and one day we will have to reach peace with each other, whether that is during our lifetimes or your children's or your great-grandchildren's it will have to happen eventually and the Chancellor and I decided that the time of peace is likely to arrive a lot quicker if we and the Grounders produce the next generation together and Octavia volunteered to procreate with Lincoln due to their pre-existing relationship. I promise that this is not something we decided lightly."
The anger left Bellamy's face and was instead replaced with a look of confusion,
"So my sister has to have a baby to protect the camp, don't you think that's a lot of pressure to put on a 16-year-old?"
Clarke saw by the look of her mother's face that there was something she wasn't telling them but she wasn't going to give in easily.
"Look, I think it's best if you talk to Octavia, she more than anyone understands what's happening and I think the only way you'll be at peace is if she explains it." Abby rose from her seat, not wanting to continue the conversation, " Mr Blake, you are tired, you had a long patrol last night, get some rest. Miss Griffin, get to medical, you have a lot of training before your exam, I'll be there soon." She raised her hand gesturing to the door and they both stayed silent as they exited the room.
Clarke didn't know what to say. She had seen Bellamy upset before but this was different, he was terrified and this was the first time he had let her see it. They stood quiet for a few seconds before Bellamy exhaled deeply and turned to face her before smiling and turning to walk towards their dorm. Clarke hadn't noticed the look of exhaustion that was on his face until that moment.
She made her way towards medical, hoping to have enough work to do so that she would be able to skip the skills workshop again. She arrived and saw all of the new workers getting a presentation on how the monthly health checks would work, they were up to how to read a pregnancy test result. With a deep sigh, Clarke began to walk over, mentally preparing herself to sit through a presentation about stuff she had learnt on the Ark, before she reached an empty seat a chart was placed in her hands by a nurse who only said, "Curtain two" before walking away. Clarke felt relief wash over her, as she abruptly turned and walked towards the more private rooms of the clinic. She pulled the curtain back, taking a pen out ready to begin her chart and said her usual,
"I'm Clarke, I'll be your doctor today-" She stopped as she looked up and saw Octavia sat on the gurney. The younger teenager let out a faint smile as Clarke quickly drew the curtain back around and placed the chart down next to her. "Octavia, are you okay? What happened?"
Octavia stayed silent for a moment as Clarke quickly looked up and down at her trying to see any obvious problems, she looked fine.
"I'm guessing you saw the list" Octavia said in a hushed tone that varied dramatically from her usual harsh and bold way of speaking, "And the fact that Lincoln and I are on it."
Clarke just nodded allowing her to speak.
"It wasn't exactly a choice."
"How do you mean?" Clarke asked, perching on the bed beside her.
"I came to your mom a few days, before the project was announced and told her that I think I might be pregnant" As she spoke, tears began to fill her eyes and Clarke took her hand as she continued to speak, "She went to the chancellor to ask what to do, and he suggested that Lincoln and I be put on the list, if I'm not pregnant then nothing changes, if I am then I'm the first and it might encourage others, no one wants to go first after all." Octavia looked down, not making eye contact as Clarke attempted to comfort her.
"Did you do a test?"
Octavia shook her head,
"The chancellor said we should wait until after the list is posted so then it looks like the system has worked even if the dates don't exactly line up" Octavia chuckled out of disbelief.
"So that's why you're here?" Clarke understood the situation now and why Octavia looked so scared, she had seen both of the Blakes with the same expression today, Clarke couldn't get over how similar they were at times.
"I asked for you if that's all right. I trust you and besides with you and Bell being whatever you are now, you're basically family" Clarke couldn't help but hug her, she had struggled to reconnect with her mother after they had reunited and Clarke had felt like the only family she had was the Genesists, but to be except as one of the Blakes made her beyond happy.
Clarke handed Octavia the test kit and informed her on how to use it before leaving the room with instructions to get her when she was ready. When she finally came to get her Clarke noticed obvious tear stains down her face. The idea of having kids was scary enough for Clarke and it was only hypothetical for her but it was potentially directly in Octavia's future. Clarke took the kit and added the appropriate chemicals before waiting to see the results.
"It's positive, you're pregnant Octavia"
Tears began to run down Octavia's face yet again and Clarke resisted the urge to take her in her arms, knowing that she likely needed time to process.
"You need to tell Lincoln and talk to your brother, even if you don't tell Bell today. We will look after you and your baby, you'll have a weekly check to make sure everything is safe, we don't have the same equipment we had on the Ark but I promise you will both be okay and if you need anything you know where I am." Clarke said with a smile before giving Octavia a gentle hug.
The rest of the day went by as usual, medical was quiet which meant she had to sit through pediatric first aid with the new intake before she was dismissed for dinner. Clarke made her way to the mess hall passing by several people who appeared to be moving stuff from one dorm to another, it seemed that many of the new couples had decided to move in together. When she finally arrived she was glad to see an empty seat next to Bellamy as most of the tables were quickly filling up. As she walked up to the table Clarke noticed that Bellamy was laughing at something that Finn had said,
"Hey" he said through chuckles as he finally noticed her. As she sat down she noticed Octavia pulling Lincoln away from the crowds and she tried to focus on what was happening at the table to distract herself.
"What's so funny?" Clarke said, trying to join the conversation.
"Murphy" Finn answered laughing before he realised who had asked and he returned to deathly silence.
"I'm sure she's lovely, I just don't even recognise the name" Murphy said chuckling, Clarke was confused and turned to Bellamy.
"Murphy was just telling us that he still hasn't spoken to the girl he's coupled with." He had a massive grin across his face and Clarke was thrilled to see him like this but wondered how long it would last.
"Hanna…" Murphy said suddenly, "Not a clue" before returning to his food.
"Well you'll have to find her sooner rather than later, all the good dorms will be gone if you take too long to find her and then decide if you're living together" Jasper said through mouthfuls of rice. "I'm glad Collette found me quickly means she can move in tonight and we can talk for a bit"
"I'm sure talking is all you'll be doing" Raven said quietly from the other side of Bellamy, Clarke noticed that she was still sat away from Finn, they obviously hadn't made up.
"I was so worried about not getting along with whoever I was paired with but thank god I'm already friends with Harper, it makes it less awkward." Monty quickly kept the conversation on course, "And I'm kinda relieved she wants to live separately at least for the first few months, there's less pressure."
They spoke for a while after dinner had finished, Clarke hadn't seen much of her friends since the project was announced and had missed lots of updates, Monty and Jasper were working in agriculture as they had been on the Ark and the rest besides Raven were new members of the guard. Clarke spoke to Raven about working on new equipment or a device to work as an ultrasound machine for the coming months and she promised to see what she could do. As they all went their separate ways, Clark and Bellamy began to walk back to their dorm.
"I've been thinking all day about ways to get O out of this or at least delay it a couple of years, we could…" He began to explain to her Clarke let out a deep sigh before she began to speak but she suddenly stopped in her tracks as she saw Octavia waiting outside their dorm, "You two need to talk, I'm gonna go see if there's any spare tea in rations for us" She gave his hand a squeeze before walking away and leaving them to talk.
The mess hall was now almost empty as people settled into the new way of living, most of the Genesists having new dorms or new roommates, the only people left were the cook and Finn who sat on his own drinking what looked like Monty's moonshine. Clarke was determined to ignore him and walk straight past but instead, she felt drawn to sit down and talk to him.
"I'm done tiptoeing around you, so what's wrong so I can get my friend back?" Her stark approach had startled him.
"Nothing's wrong Clarke, go away" He took another big gulp of his drink.
"You've been pissed at me for weeks and now you won't talk to Raven and I-"
"I won't talk to Raven?!" He raised his voice, "Wrong way round, she won't talk to me"
"But why?" She deliberately brought her voice down to counter his.
"Because she knows-" He sighed, "She knows that I wish I was him. I wish I was Bellamy. For 17 years I imagined having a baby with Raven, it was always a case of 'when' not 'if', and then you happened and I started seeing you where Raven had been and I thought you felt the same but then I started to see Bellamy where I had been and I couldn't stand there and watch you fall in love with him as I fell in love with you so I removed myself. And now this damned project, I have to start a family with Raven who won't even talk to me whilst I watch him raise a kid that should've been mine"
Clarke looked at him for a moment, taking in every word he had said,
"You broke my heart, you can't blame Bellamy for helping put me back together, he was there when you weren't, no romance, no love involved he was just there. No one wants to be in this situation, I never asked to be told to have a baby with Bell I wanted to figure out on my own if that's what I wanted but that's not a choice anymore. Raven needs you, your kid will need you to be their dad and not sit here wishing you were someone else's."
Clarke stood up and left him to think before collecting some teabags and slowly walking back to her dorm, she was cautious upon reaching the door, not wanting to walk in on a sensitive moment but upon looking into the room, Bellamy was on his own. She knocked not wanting to startle him, to which he looked up.
"I'm guessing you know" His voice broke as he spoke.
Clarke just nodded.
"She's a kid Clarke, she can't-, she's not, she won't-" He tried to get out the words, any words.
"She'll be okay, she has Lincoln, she has us, she has you and that baby will adore you."
Clarke took him in her arms and held him tightly, he wasn't crying although she could tell he wanted to. Octavia had been right, he was her family now.