At the Blake's, there was an easy buzz while the gang settled into their places and made preparations. Bellamy was in the kitchen preparing snacks with Miller and Murphy while Raven set up the TV in his room and made grumbled comments on the state of his equipment. Jasper lured Monty and Harper into a small pillow fight about the best cushions for sitting on the ground. Lincoln tried to get a small last-minute nap on the couch – it was the end of the week after all – but it was pointless, really, and he happily accepted the bottle of beer Octavia gave him, making room for her.
"Bell convinced Murphy to chop some fruits and veggies", O announced. "Because, and I quote, 'we can't just eat chips and popcorn all the time, Murphy, we need to eat something healthy, too'. Murphy looked like he was gonna chop him."
Raven snorted and plopped down next to her, forcing Octavia and Lincoln to shift around to make room. "Imagine if Clarke were there with him."
"She'd give us a lecture on the nutritional pyramid", O said drily.
"Ha!", Raven made. "And made sure we'd actually eat it."
"Or feed us", Harper said conspiratorially.
"Nah, she would rather force us to eat it, Bell would feed us", O grinned.
They burst into laughter and Monty used Harper's diverted attention to steal a particularly soft pillow. Raven passed various bottles of beverages around and Jasper asked loudly:
"Where the hell is Clarke anyway?"
"She had to meet with her lab group and comes a bit later!", Bellamy shouted from the kitchen.
It was silent for a moment. Then Raven muttered to Octavia: "Why the heck did she tell him and not us?"
"Well, Rayes …" Murphy waltzed into the room with two bowls and sat down on Bellamy's bed. "I don't know how to tell you but ..." And he made a saucy face.
"There is definitely something going on between those two", Harper said conspiratorially, balancing on an impressively huge pile of pillows.
"Murphy", said Octavia. "You know Bell's bed is off limits."
Murphy stretched all over the bed. "And why is that?", Murphy said flatly.
"Everyone knows that his bed is Bellamy's hallow." Miller had come into the room with a tray full of delicious things. And fruits and vegetables.
Octavia sighed and looked at the bed longingly. "He chucks everyone off who dares to sit on it. Even me." She whispered: "It's so damn comfortable. It's like the heaven of beds."
"Oookay", said Lincoln. "Maybe turn down the drama a bit."
Octavia just shrugged and cuddled into Lincoln. "Just trying to prevent it."
Jasper, Monty and Harper announced a truce (or Harper winner, but interpretation of events really depended on the perspective) and built a pillow sea with enough space for Miller, too.
Bellamy came into the room with a bowl of popcorn and as soon as he saw Murphy laying there, he growled: "Get off my bed."
Murphy revolted. "Damn, bro, every other place is taken!"
"Move", Bellamy said. He stood over him and suddenly was three feet taller than normal. The air was thick and O rolled with her eyes.
"They really can't talk like normal people, can they?", she muttered.
"It's their way of showing their love, I guess", Raven said and took a sip of beer.
Bellamy and Murphy stared each other down. Then, Murphy sharply said "You're completely nuts!", and glided off the bed.
Jasper and Lincoln went for the snacks, starting to update each other on their weeks, and Bellamy settled down on his bed satisfied.
Clarke arrived a few minutes later, out of breath and with deranged hair. "I'm so sorry but my lab group can be complete shit sometimes."
Her friends greeted her with cheers and she gladly accepted the bottle Miller handed her.
"Don't worry, we haven't started yet", Monty said.
She quickly let her eyes roam over the pile of bodies, pillows, bottles and snacks that had arouse in Bellamy's room and found some free space next to Bellamy. She dropped down and continued ranting. Her friends watched her with concern. "Seriously, we argued full fifteen minutes about who should write which part."
She took a sip and their faces were still alarmed. "I know, right? It was so childish, for god's sake. And we didn't even start proof-reading yet."
But they weren't really concerned about Clarke's group project. Rather, they expected Bellamy to throw her off his bed, too. But he only opened his mouth to ask her when the project was due.
"We have to hand it in next Wednesday and I just hope that everyone makes a good job and that I don't have to re-write tons of shit on Tuesday evening."
Bellamy still didn't make a move to push her away. Slowly everyone realised it would very likely never happen at all.
"I'm working together with complete idiots", Clarke grunted and took another sip.
Murphy wasn't going to accept it, though. "Aren't you gonna chuck her off?"
"What?", Clarke asked confused. Murphy gestured towards her and Bellamy on the bed.
Bellamy said matter-of-factly: "It's the only free spot and I'm not gonna be rude."
Half of the group caught their breaths, the other half dropped their glances. Harper smirked at Monty and mouthed "Told ya". Lincoln cleared his throat quietly and Murphy muttered "For fucks sake". Bellamy had make it clear that this wasn't going to be discussed any longer.
Clarke decided to ignore whatever it was that had just happened and pointed to the pile of DVDs in the middle. "Did you guys make any decision yet?"
"No, not really", Jasper said.
"We wanted to wait for your artsy indie film", Bellamy teased her, right in the moment when Clarke put Lost in Translation on the pile.
Her surprise and his sparkling eyes sidetracked her for a moment, until Jasper demanded their attention again. "Actually, we all waited for this wonderful piece of horror film which we should definitively watch."
"This looks like trash", Raven said shortly.
"But Jupiter Ascending isn't trash?!", Jasper snapped back.
"It's good trash!"
"I'm for Dark Knight, actually", Octavia said. "Or Gladiator."
Bellamy winced. "I will not watch this flawed thing again! Lucilla actually – wait, who put The Princess Diaries onto the pile?"
When Monty suddenly was very interested in his nails, Clarke couldn't help but grin into her bottle. Bellamy started to chuckle next to her, too, and their eyes found each other. She caught his face for the first time that night properly. Warm light coloured his skin and his dark eyes sparkled in the shadows under his curls. She tilted her head back and grinned. His lips curved into this huge smile with these laughter lines and Clarke felt really protected and confident. They chuckled again and slowly turned their attention back to the room.
Raven let go a deep sigh and mumbled to Harper: "Whatever just happened … I'm already one hundred percent done with them."
In the end, they watched Jasper's horror film, decided by lot.
"Have the characters in a horror film ever seen a horror film?!", Octavia whined afterwards. "I mean, it's common sense that you shouldn't go into your basement during a power blackout and ignore any weird noises, for god's sake."
Monty laughed so hard at that that he had to hold on to the wall while putting on his shoes.
"We'll see each other next Friday again?", Murphy asked. Bellamy grunted.
"I have to work next Friday, sorry", Miller said.
"Is it game night then?", Raven asked.
"Yes, game night!", Jasper shouted. "I'll bring Monopoly and dare anyone of you wanting to use the barrow!"
"How can anyone be so enthusiastic about Monopoly ...", O said.
"Don't worry, I'll bring some cards with me", Raven said.
"Will you also bring that Shawn guy with you?", Clarke asked her.
"Oooooh!", Monty made. "We have to meet him!"
Raven grimaced and put her jacket on. "It's Shaw."
"That sounds more like a last name?", Lincoln said.
"Yeah, he used to go by his second name, Zeke, but now there are some legal issues with his name at his work."
"Legal issues?", Bellamy asked.
"With his name?", Clarke asked.
"… at his work?", Monty asked.
Raven groaned. "Look, just ask him yourself next week, okay?"
Harper smirked. "So you'll bring him."
Raven looked at her grinning friends and pulled a face. "Fine."
A/N: Fun fact: There apparently has really been a problem with Shaw's name on the show. I also uploaded a floor plan of the Blake apartment in my story tag for reference.