Well today was not the best day, but I got one chapter written. I was going to wait to post it until I had the other one written, but I decided to go ahead and update. Thanks for all the reviews, follows, and faves! :)

Chapter 31

Clarke woke with a start, one of her hands moving to her aching head. She opened her eyes, an urgent need to see Bellamy swelling in her chest. She turned her head, expecting to see him sitting at her bedside.

Instead, Octavia sat there staring back at her with worry in her dark eyes.

"Where's Bell", Clarke groaned.

"Um, I think he said he had something at the shop to take care of. I'm so glad you're awake. We were so worried about you, Clarke."

All Clarke could concentrate on was that Bellamy had gone to the shop. She knew exactly what that meant. She sat up with the assistance of the little remote, the mattress squeaking as the bed inclined.

She looked around the room dazedly, taking in the odd colored curtains and strange vinyl covered furniture. Her nose burned from the pure oxygen passing through the little clear tubes at her nostril.

She reached up, pulling the oxygen hose off of her face with a weak tug. Her hand fell back to the mattress, the little bit of activity draining her strength.

"Did he say what he needed to do", Clarke asked, eyes closed once again.

"No, he just said business."

Clarke moaned, "O could you get me something to drink. I'm parched."

"Sure, Clarke. I'll be right back."

Clarke listened as Octavia left the room, before opening her eyes and swinging her legs over the side of the bed. She shivered as her bare feet came in contact with the cold industrial tile.

She looked down at the IV taped to the back of her hand. She gently peeled back the tape before pulling out the lead. She winced, a small drop of blood pooling on her skin.

She reached for the heart monitor patches, but before she could remove them Octavia came back into the room.

"Wait, sweetie, what are you doing", O said in alarm.

"I've gotta get to the shop", Clarke said, her hands working to rip away the sticky patches on her chest.

"Bell is fine, Clarke. You don't need to go to the shop."

"O, Bellamy is going to commit murder if I don't get down to the Silver Fox right now", Clarke all but yelled.

"What? He looked so calm when he left, said he just had a little business to attend to and he would be back."

"O, you know your brother and you know that he can hide his thoughts from everyone!"

"Except you", Octavia said quietly, "Bell's never been able to hide from you."

Clarke smiled, and pulled in a steadying breath as she prepared to stand. She stood on shaky legs, her hands reaching out to grasp Octavia's forearms to steady herself.

"Where are my clothes", Clarke asked, staring into her friend's anxious face.

"You're not going to back down, are you?"

"Nope."

Clarke watched as Octavia made her way to the couch on the opposite wall and grabbed a stack of clothes.

"I went home and got you a pair of yoga pants and a t-shirt. Bell, left his sweatshirt for you too."

The blonde dressed as quickly as her tired body would allow her. She pulled the sweatshirt over her head, reveling in the warm scent that enveloped her. She buried her face in the material, drawing comfort from the softness of it. Then she looked up, her gaze meeting Octavia's.

"Ok, O. You've got two choices here", Clarke said swaying slightly on her feet, "You can drive me yourself, or you can hand over your keys."

Octavia stared at her friend, eyes wide and mouth ajar.

"Clarke, you're not going anywhere! I'll go check on my brother myself."

"No, Octavia. You said yourself that Bell can't hide from me. I'm discharging myself, and you are going to drive me to the Silver Fox."

Clarke followed Octavia out of the hospital room, leaning heavily on the wall as she walked. She was zapped, and her tennis shoes felt like they were filled with lead.

Just as they gained the lobby, Abigail Griffin came sailing through the automatic glass doors.

"Clarke", she said rushing towards her daughter.

Clarke stood still in stunned silence as her mother enveloped her in a bone-crushing hug. She did not have the time or patience to deal with the woman at the moment.

"Let me go. I'm not doing this with you here", Clarke said tiredly.

"Clarke, you look terrible. What happened?"

"I said I'm not discussing this with you here or now. I have to go. I'll talk to you later."

"How much later, huh? Another five years", Abby yelled.

"Tonight, Mom. I'll be back in my hospital room by tonight, just go and wait for me there", Clarke said, once again stumbling towards freedom.

She leaned heavily on Octavia, her breath coming in quick little gasps. When she got back she was going to sleep for a week, and Bellamy Blake was going to be giving plenty of foot massages!

The drive to the shop was quiet, and when the car finally came to a stop Clarke's fears were realized. She hopped out, staggering to the shop entrance to find Bellamy standing over a bloodied Finn Collins.

She could guess what had happened. She'd seen Bellamy fight plenty of times to know exactly what went down. For some reason, her exhaustion-fogged brain chose that moment to dig up old memories.

Clarke sat on the front steps, her scrawny tan legs stretched out before her. It was the summer she'd turned fifteen, and she was waiting for O to come home from her day at the pool so they could go and have their weekly ice cream date.

She looked up from her book when she saw a strange pickup truck pull up. Bellamy was in the kitchen making himself a sandwich, so she hollered through the screen.

"Hey, Bell! I think you should get out here!"

He must have picked up on the fear in her voice because he was crashing onto the porch in five seconds flat. His hair fell across his forehead in those endearing dark curls, and his frantic gaze flew to the strange vehicle.

"Get inside, Princess", he growled.

"Bell, you better hurry. O's gonna be home in less than thirty minutes."

"I'll get it taken care of. Go in the house, Clarke."

Clarke quickly got behind the screen, but didn't close the heavy oaken door. She watched as Bellamy walked across the front yard, his strides confident and slightly swaggering.

She saw a guy get out of the pickup, and lean against the side of the truck. He and Bellamy talked for a minute, and then his gaze swung to the porch and a lazy smile curved his lips.

All of the sudden, Bellamy grabbed the guy bringing his gaze back in a flash. The younger man said something, and the next thing Clarke knew Bellamy had him down on the grass. Fists were flying, but Bell was getting in most of the good hits. The other poor guy just got in a lucky shot every now and then.

Clarke didn't interrupt; she simply waited for Bellamy to shove the intruder into the truck before walking out to join him on the now rumpled front lawn.

"That was quite a show. What did he say?"

"Nothing for you to worry about, Princess", Bell said with a grin.

Clarke grabbed his arm, drawing his dark eyes to her lighter ones.

"What did he say?"

She felt Bellamy's sigh, his hot breath ghosting across her cheek.

"He asked if you were…", Bellamy said, a faint blush creeping up his neck.

"If I was what", Clarke asked in confusion.

Bell's eyes flew to the white fluffy clouds above. "He asked if you were mine."

"Yours? Your what?"

"Princess, don't you get it! He was asking if you and I are sleeping together", Bellamy said with a frustrated sigh.

Clarke felt her face heat. "What did you say?"

"I figured that was obvious, Princess", Bellamy growled.

Clarke stared up at him, a light bruise forming on his jaw and his nose slightly bloodied. She smiled, one of her hands moving to brush a lock of dark hair off his forehead.

"Well come on Bruiser let's go get you cleaned up before O get's home."

She led him inside, her hand gripping his. She motioned to one of the kitchen chairs, and watched as he sat down heavily. She got a rag out of the drawer, running it under cold water before returning to where Bellamy sat in silence.

Clarke tenderly cleaned away the blood; one hand cupping his jaw while the other performed the task. Her eyes flitted from his lips to his eyes, a blush creeping up her neck.

"There, all done", she said when she'd finished.

She moved to the sink, rinsing the blood from the rag under warm water. She felt a presence beside her, and turned to find Bellamy leaning against the counter.

"You shouldn't have seen that, Princess", he said quietly.

Clarke turned to stare at him, taking in his contrite expression.

"Bell, it's not something to be ashamed of. Actually it makes me feel better."

The little blonde giggled at the astonished expression that colored his features. He spluttered, words jumbling on his lips as he fought to express himself.

"What do you mean", he asked finally.

"I mean that knowing that you can handle yourself makes me worry a teeny bit less, Bell."

"Good", he breathed in relief.

"Now, you'd better go get cleaned up. I think I just saw O coming up the walk."

Clarke watched as he raced up the stairs, and shook her head. Since that night a little over a year ago, her life had never been the same. However, Bellamy Blake made it all worthwhile.

Clarke stumbled into the shop, falling on her knees a few yards away from where Bellamy stood. His chest heaved from the exertion of the fight, a trail of blood dripping down his chin.

"Bellamy, don't, Clarke begged.

Thanks for reading! Please review and tell me what you thought! :)