A/N: This is another shortish chapter, So read and review! I might post the next chapter tonight, but I haven't decided yet. This story is far from over! Thanks for reading!
They are getting ready to leave. I don't know what I want to do. If I go back with them, there will be people there who won't welcome me. Won't accept me. There are people there who will hate me for the things I did as leader of the delinquents. I am not ready to own up to that kind of responsibility. The weight of those actions falls on my shoulders.
But my people will. They already have. What about Octavia? What if she can't forgive me? What if she won't tolerate being around me? What if she wants Bellamy to choose either me or his only family member? I panic at the idea. I can't make Bellamy choose between his sister and me. That isn't right. He wouldn't ask that of me, so I could never do that to him. I wish I could be selfish and have him all to myself, but I can't. I guess I could find a way to get split from th-
My thoughts cut off when a firm hand is on my shoulder, I look up from where my gaze was glued to find deep brown eyes watching me, filled with concern.
"That stick must be really interesting. What's on your mind?" He asks, putting his other hand on my other shoulder. I had no escape. I would have to tell him.
"I can't face them. Octavia won't forgive me. I- I can't make you choose! I wo- won't do it! My mother- she hates what I did!" I am crying. Sobbing. His hands are off of my shoulders only for his arms to collect me, and I am in the comfort of his embrace, and he strokes my hair.
"Don't think O will mind. She probably would deal with anything if it means I am not going to be moping around camp anymore." He murmurs into my ear.
" Are you sure? After Tondc...she hates me. I can't..." His hands are cupping my face now, his breath tickling my nose and eyes.
"Absolutely, princess. I... I was a wreck without you... I-... Was all work and barely anything else. I know I worried the others, but couldn't get myself to care. I put so much into the hard labor and the heavy lifting, I enjoyed feeling my muscles ache… but I barely slept. I needed reminders to eat...I didn't talk unless it was necessary. I was in a bad place. I think Octavia will be relieved to have you around if it means I'll stop being pathetic." He murmurs to me, so softly that I can barely hear. His eyes have darted to the side, avoiding my gaze.
My heart aches for the pain I caused him. How my leaving made him suffer at camp, even if it was his own doing. And what his soft voice does to my heart strings. I would go to the end of the earth with him if he needed me to, so why is going to camp so different?
I decide to go along right then.
"Bellamy?" His hands have dropped, but he looks up.
"Yes, princess?" He asks his eyes filled with a childlike hope.
"I'm coming along. I need you as much as you need me. Without the purpose of burying the mountain men, I don't think I would have lived much longer... I was ... Listless. And numb. I got stung by a wasp of some sort, and didn't realize... I didn't feel it. I only found it when I took a shower, finding most of the back end of the body still attached to the stinger..." As I said this, I pulled him into my arms and by the end I'm sure my speech was lost in his shoulder. He holds on to me so carefully.
I break our embrace, and put my hands comfortable at my sides.
"I don't think you know how much that means to me, Clarke." He said my name. Not princess. I smile up at him, and he places a kiss on my cheek.
"Better get going, princess. That is if you wish to be back before sunset." He says, bowing with a garnish of his hand, offering it to me.
"My lady?" He asks with an elegance that must be rehearsed or copied. This is not the rough and tough Bellamy Blake I know and love. I giggle, and accept his hand, giving a little curtsy.
" Of course." I say in my best princess impression, slipping my hand into his, and he kisses it like in those films from the archives on the Arc. I can feel my cheeks burning when he looks up at me, and he smiles one of those rare smiles.
"Where did that come from?" I ask my voice full of curiosity.
"I used to watch old movies on the Arc when I could. Sometimes I'd watch a girly one so I would have a new bedtime story for Octavia. That little bit there is from one of my favorites. This rough and tough thief gets the princess in the end." He says with a half smile. I smile at the thought of big tough Bellamy watching a movie intended to entertain little girls, if only to tell his sister about them. I mused that he would make an excellent father one day. We walk to the head of the group, ready to get things started and get back to Camp Jaha. I'm not excited about returning to the rest of the people, but with him at my side, I feel a little better.
I'm going home.