Fall was firmly in the air. The truck had been frosted over every morning for the past week and the stores were hawking more Halloween decorations than anyone would ever want to buy. The trees had exploded into their autumn splendor, leaving the entire Hudson Valley bathed in fiery reds and vibrant yellows. The first school break had come and gone and Octavia had managed to avoid detention or suspension for a month straight.

Overall, Bellamy felt things were finally falling into place. His job at the rink was now confortable like an old sweater and he'd finally begun putting some of his monthly income into a savings account. O's frame had grown broader and her cheeks held a healthy flush he'd never seen before. They were doing alright.

The aftermath of regionals had dissolved into frantic preparations for sectionals, to be hosted in Boston. He'd seen Clarke a handful of times and exchanged words a few times, but she was always running off to train and he was always reminding himself of his priorities, which did not involve the very attractive, blonde ice princess. So the weeks had passed and they'd fallen into a comfortable acquaintance that kept his life blessedly stress free.

He finished loading the Stop and Shop groceries into his car, wincing at the bag of chocolates that Octavia had begged him to buy. They'd never had the money for trick or treaters before and O was dead set on making up for all those years.

"Hey!"

Bellamy turned to find Wells Jaha leaning against the side of his truck. They'd spoken briefly over the past few months, but Wells didn't tend to go out of his way to talk to Bellamy, especially not at the supermarket.

"Can I help you?" Bellamy knew his voice was a little too gruff, but he didn't care.

To his credit, Wells didn't hesitate a beat. "The Thanksgiving charity game is coming up and I'm hoping you'd be willing to play. A lot of the Arkadia players are going down to the city for the holiday weekend, so we have a few more spots open than usual. I was going to ask Murphy too. Coach Pike promised he'd take whoever we asked. It's against the Gounders, from…" Wells trailed off, realizing Bellamy damn well knew what school the Grounders represented, considering he'd Attended West Arkadia High himself.

Bellamy decided to forgive him the misstep. "No age limits? I'm a bit more of an old man than you high schoolers these days."

Wells' lips twisted into a small smile. "No age limits, we're not entering as a school team and neither are the grounders. We'll probably go coed too, so we can have Raven kick all of their asses."

"Good call." He'd only seen Raven in action a few times, but what he'd seen had been impressive and downright intimidating when combined with the story of Finn's fractured jaw. He licked his lips, considering the offer. He hadn't been on the ice in years, but a few rec sessions and he'd have his feet under him again. "Okay, you're on."

"Great!" Genuine enthusiasm lit up Wells' face. "I think we're going to have a few informal practices before the event. Sectionals are the week after Thanksgiving, so we can't steal too much ice from Clarke and Finn, but I'm sure we'll work something out."

Bellamy nodded to him and turned back to the truck door as Wells sauntered toward his X5. He wasn't particularly sure he wanted to be back on the ice, but one game in the name of charity probably wasn't going to kill him. Unless Echo was playing. He winced, teeth digging into his bottom lip. Damn. He'd nearly forgotten about his on again, off again girlfriend from West. She'd somehow kept playing on the girls' travel team through high school and had kicked his ass during the few pickup games they'd played at the pond just outside of town. Last he'd heard Echo ran her own tattoo parlor and still scared the shit out of everyone she met.

They'd gotten into their fair amount of trouble together, which had been all in good fun until Echo had careened his truck into a homeless man off of 1st Street. He'd only suffered a broken leg, but that had been the end. The veil of Bellamy's anger had lifted enough for him to realize that Echo was absolutely no good for him. She only fanned the flames and he was damned if he was going to let her burn him to ashes. So they'd broken up and Echo's bricks shattered his mother's windows, but eventually hostilities had ceased and Bellamy had forgotten she existed.

He swallowed thickly and put the truck in gear. In all likelihood she'd stay as far away from the charity game as possible. It wasn't like her to want to do any good anyhow.

"So you're actually doing this?"

O's face was a mixture of confusion and thinly veiled humor. He rolled his eyes at her. "Yes, O. Jaha asked and I figured what the heck."

"You haven't been on skates since high school." She narrowed her eyes, her probing gaze searing over him. "And you vowed never to skate again, very loudly and proudly I might add. What gives?"

He stared back at her, schooling his features to what he hoped was ambivalence. "I just figured what the hell, you know?"

A dangerous smile spread across her features. "No, that's not it at all, is it? You're willing to get back on the ice for her."

"Her?" Bellamy sincerely hoped he didn't know where she was going with this. Octavia just glared at him. "What, O? I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Yes, you absolutely do, big brother." She gave an exasperated sigh, "But if you'd rather live in denial, I suppose I'll let you. So what's the practice schedule like for this thing?"

Bellamy's shoulders relaxed, tension melting from his frame. "I think we've negotiated Tuesday and Thursday evening. Clarke and Finn weren't exactly happy about giving up ice, but we managed to convince them that two hours out of twenty wasn't going to make that big a difference. Plus that lets the rec skate session still pull in all the holiday season cash."

"Murphy playing too?"

He sighed, but nodded. "God help us all."

O snorted. "I actually think he's pretty good, Bell."

"I have no doubt that Murphy has some skill, but I fear he's just as likely to break my nose as someone from West's." He wasn't particularly inclined to ever turn his back to Murphy for too long.

Octavia was silent a long moment before asking, with more reserve than before, "Are you sure you're okay playing, especially against West?"

He settled further back onto the couch, his fingers tracing the zigzags of the blanket flung across it. Was he ready for this? When he'd quit, shortly after the Echo snafu, he'd been sure he'd never walk into the rink again. But here he was, dedicated employee of both the Griffins and the Jahas. If you'd told his younger self, he'd have died of laughter, deeming such an event impossible. But then again, tragedy made impossible things happen.

O wasn't wrong to suspect that one blonde ice princess might have something to do with is decision, but not in the way she assumed. Watching Clarke Griffin skate had made him yearn to be on the ice again, to feel the cool whip of air and the sharp hiss of his blades. Yes, something unexplored lurked between them, but that wasn't why he felt drawn to his skates for the first time in half a decade. She'd lit the fire within and he was helpless to its call. So ready or not, he was getting on that ice Tuesday and finding that lost portion of his soul.

"Yeah," he finally replied, "I'm ready."

She eyed him a moment longer. "Even against West?"

"It's not like I have a particular allegiance, O."

Octavia blinked slowly then stared at him as if she'd never seen him before. "You are kidding, right? Mom and I listened to you bitch about those rich Arkadia assholes for years. There is no way you're okay playing with them, especially against your own school."

Bellamy couldn't help the scowl that tugged at his lips. "A lot has changed, O. I have grown up, or haven't you noticed?"

"But you hate them!"

"I don't hate them, O. At least not anymore." He paused, drawing a hand through his disheveled curls. "Look, a lot has changed since mom… since she…"

"Died."

He nodded gratefully at her. "I used to be really angry that we didn't get the same opportunities as people like Wells Jaha, but I lost sight of what was really important. You and mom were the world to me and I didn't figure that out until mom was dead and there wasn't a damn thing I could do to save her. So yeah, whatever crap I used to say, that's in the past. There's no point in being angry at the world, O, it just passes you by."

His sister was silent for several long moments, her throat working around silent words. Finally, she clasped his hand, her small fingers lacing through his. "I get that. I know I haven't been the easiest to deal with and I'm not really sure what's going through my head most of the time, but I get that."

Bellamy slid his hand from hers to pull her firmly next to him. "We're going to be okay."

"Yes," she echoed, "We are."