Two Weeks Later
Clarke rolled over. Her hand fell to the empty indentation beside her. She half expected Bellamy to be there, but he wasn't. He sneaked out early that morning. Winter was coming soon, and he had led several hunting groups outside of the camp walls.
She pulled her shirt over her head and slid her pants on. She sat back on the ground and pulled her boots on her feet. About a week after their chat in the bunker, she had finally forgiven him.
They were going to give themselves a real chance as a couple while still keeping their relationship a secret. She looked down at her father's watch on her wrist. Bellamy said he had something planned for them tonight. He seemed all too excited, but she was all too nervous. She needed to talk to him. She needed to tell him.
Clarke placed her hand over her stomach. She couldn't pinpoint the exact date, but it was sometime before they broke things off about a month ago. She had just found out the day before when she met with Lincoln, and she had had her suspicions.
She stepped out of her tent and made her way to the fire to boil water for tea. She sat on a wooden log and stared into the distance contemplating the many ways to tell Bellamy.
Clarke wondered if she should tell him outright or if she should make a huge ordeal. Frankly though, she was leaning towards sitting down with him. A baby was a huge deal for anyone— especially for someone their age and in their situation. They were a camp of delinquents all of whom were between the ages of twelve and eighteen except for Bellamy and Raven.
There were grounders and reapers and radiation and winter. There were so many reasons to not have a child, but Clarke couldn't help but want the child. She wanted to know the joy of having a tiny human that believed she hung the moon. She wanted to feel the love of a child and wanted to give the love and security that she had once felt. Clarke wanted to be a mother.
She wasn't sure when started wanting this, but now it was all that she could think of. She wanted a miniature version of herself or Bellamy running around the camp. She knew she wanted a family.
She was pulled from her thoughts as the fire erupted in steam. The water had boiled over, and she began to make the tea.
She raised the makeshift cup to her mouth and immediately set it down. Her legs swiftly carried her to their secret camp exit. There, she leaned against the walls of the camp and emptied her stomach.
"Clarke."
"Lincoln, hey," Clarke's head snapped in the direction of his voice. She wiped her sleeve across her mouth and stood up straight.
"You need to drink the tea," Lincoln said, "It will help your nausea."
"I will, but I can't stand the smell of —," Clarke gagged and leaned back over. She looked up and Lincoln held out the cup she left by the fire. She was slightly embarrassed that Lincoln was seeing her in this condition, but she honestly couldn't care.
"Drink," Lincoln said. Clarke gave in and slowly drank it. She placed her hand over her mouth as she felt it rising up her throat. "Breath, Clarke."
She inhaled and exhaled through her nose, and her wave of nausea finally passed.
"Thank you," Clarke said, "I'm sorry you had to see that."
"It's fine. You could not help it," Lincoln said. "This is not my place, but have you thought about telling him?"
"I don't know. Maybe. I want to, but I need to find the right time," she explained, "Just promise me you won't say anything to Octavia. She'll tell Bellamy, and I have to be the one to tell him."
"I promise," Lincoln said. He looked around. The woods were silent, and silence was either good or bad. They had been outside of the camp walls for too long, and if they stayed much longer that some form of danger could arise. Lincoln knew if he managed to survive whatever killed or hurt Clarke, then he wouldn't survive Bellamy's wrath.
"Thank you."
"Now, you need to be back inside of these walls. It is dangerous out here, and Bellamy would kill me if something happened to you and this baby. I think he is finally starting to approve of me, and I'd lose that and my life if something were to happen to you or this child."
Clarke laughed aloud at Lincoln's accuracy.
"Yeah, he's very protective. From what I've gathered, I think he does approve. He just won't admit it because he's overprotective of Octavia. She's the only family he's got left," Clarke assured, "A second child on the ark is illegal, and their mother was killed for having Octavia, you know."
"She did not tell me that. Here, it is rare because of Praimfaya's radiation, and it is considered a blessing," Lincoln said. They turned and he followed her back towards the hidden entrance.
"Thank you, Lincoln," Clarke stopped before walking in. "For what it's worth, I think you're good for her." He smiled.
"I think you and Bellamy will make wonderful parents, and you are his family too with or without this child." Clarke smiled back, and they walked in.
The two parted ways, and Clarke walked towards the dropship. Maybe she was his family. She knew this child was his family biologically, but she had never considered herself to be a part of his family.
She looked around at the delinquents in camp and smiled. These people—they were her family now. They had been through so much together. They were all friends or extended family.
Her eyes immediately went to Raven. She honestly liked Raven and wished she could have been friends with her, but Finn somehow screwed over any chance of that. Maybe they could be, Clarke thought. She walked into the dropship after Raven.
"Can we talk?" Clarke said. Raven ignored her and busied herself with whatever she was already working on. "I wanted to apologize."
"Save it," Raven mumbled.
"Raven, I didn't know he was with you, and believe me, the moment I saw him kiss you that day, I knew I had to end it. I did end it. I hate that I was a home wrecker. I hate that I was that girl. He was my first, and I was too stupid and naive," Clarke said. She noticed Raven stop to listen. "I hate that I fell for him, but I swear there's nothing else that has been going on with him. I've moved on. I'm with someone else. Finn is not even in the picture anymore."
"Okay."
"Okay? So we're good?" Clarke asked eagerly. Raven turned around to face Clarke.
"We will be," Raven said with a soft smile, "and for the record, it was really hard to be mad at you. You didn't know; so, I can't really blame you. I'm definitely still pissed off at him though."
"Oh me too," Clarke said. She sighed in relief. She wasn't sure what made her felt so nervous around Raven. "I just got back together with Bellamy after the topic of Finn started a fight," she rambled. Clarke caught herself only after she let her relationship with Bellamy slip off her tongue.
"Bellamy? You're hooking up with Bellamy Blake? I thought you two couldn't stand each other."
"Yeah, well, we were, but we're giving this relationship thing a chance," Clarke said smiling. "And please don't tell anyone. We're trying to figure this out without everyone else in our business."
"No, I won't," Raven said. She paused as if she were thinking, " I do need to tell you something though."
"What?"
"I may have hooked up with Bellamy when I first got here., but it was after I found out about you and Finn," Raven said. She watched Clarke's face carefully.
Honestly, Clarke didn't know what to say. She wasn't mad because it in the past, but she wasn't thrilled either. Instead, she laughed.
"What?" A confused look came across Raven's face.
"I guess that makes us even," Clarke said. She had hooked up with Finn, and Raven had hooked up with Bellamy. Raven laughed.
" I seriously didn't even realize that, and I guess we've only ever had sex with the same two guys. Looks like I need to hook up with someone else. That's an odd bond for a friendship," Raven said. Clarke smiled. "What?" she asked.
"You said friendship? We're friends?" Clarke asked. She didn't have many friends on the Ark or on the ground. Clarke had always told herself it was a part of being a leader.
"or whatever," Raven said smiling.
"Since we're friends 'or whatever'," Clarke made air quotes, "can I tell you something?"
"Sure."
"I've had no one to talk to about this, and I'm really nervous about—" Clarke was cut off be the sounds of yelling. It wasn't excited yelling. It wasn't argument yelling. It was fearful yells that echoed throughout the camp. She looked over at Raven. "Stay here, hide, and radio Bellamy," Clarke said. Raven grabbed the radio from the table and hid as Clarke ran out of the dropship.
Clarke looked around at the men in hazmat suits. These people weren't the grounders or the reapers, so who were they? Her heart was beating through her chest as fear washed over her. Her people were frantic and terrified. What was happening?
The guns they carried were larger than the ones she and Bellamy found in that other bunker. Suddenly, the air around Clarke and the others turned red. She watched as the others fell around her. Clarke turned to run into the dropship, but she collapsed and was unable to move. Her head was spinning, and she fought to keep her eyes open. Where was Bellamy? she thought as her vision slowly went dark.