Oh...hey...it's been a while...
So, I would totally understand if ya'll hated me, but I'm working on something better I promise. In fact, my promise is so real, that I even released this sneak peek for you guys. This is the first scene in a long one-shot that follows Bellamy and Clarke throughout two decades of New Years Eve.
This story is gonna floor all of you. This is the first scene, full story to come in the next month. Thank you.
Say You Won't Let Go
i met you in the dark, you lit me up
you made me feel as though i was enough
i. new years eve 1995
The Blakes move to Westwood on a Tuesday, their belongings packed in a mini van.
It's raining when they pull into the driveway, a dusky, trembling sky that announces their arrival. Clarke beams, kneeling in front of her living room window. She's excited; has been excited to meet her new neighbours since Mrs. Wilson got transferred to a hospital in Seattle.
It's not that she didn't like Mrs. Wilson, or her two cats that always seemed to eat her mother's garden, but Clarke was the only kid on the street, and she was desperate for new friends.
"Daddy!" Clarke yells. She cuffs her hands against the glass. "Daddy, they're here! Come down!"
The van doors open, and two children rush out of the vehicle, shielding their hair from the rain.
Clarke smiles. Kids.
Jake walks into the living room. "Look at that, Stardust," he says, and he places his hands on her shoulders. They're shaking too much in excitement for him to hold. "You've got some new friends to play with."
The youngest one, who Clarke will learn is only five, walks tiredly towards her new home, dark bangs pasted to her forehead. She carries a cardboard box in one hand and a stuffed animal in the other, an older boy holding onto her as they walk up the porch steps.
Based on the dark complexion and darker hair, she thinks it's her brother. They look young, her age, and it's perfect.
Clarke looks at her father. "Should I go over and say hi?"
He chuckles. "Let them settle in, yeah?"
"Okay. How about after dinner?"
"Clarke."
"Tomorrow?"
"Yeah," he nods, "tomorrow."
She doesn't sleep that night. Her mind wraps in ideas on what to say and what games they should play. She decides on tag, since it's easy, and in the morning she grabs her whistle and a pen and walks over to the house next door.
The young boy answers. He has a valley of freckles that run along his cheeks. She wonders if he would let her draw them someday.
"Hi." Clarke reaches her hand forward. "I'm Clarke Rosalie Griffin, your next-door neighbour."
"Bellamy," he says. He doesn't shake her hand.
"That's a cool name."
"Thanks."
"Is it Greek?"
He shrugs. "I don't know."
"My mom tells me a lot of things come from Greek mythology, and so does my dad. He's a giant nerd." She bites on her bottom lip, looking at the empty house behind him. "You have a sister, right?"
Octavia Blake is smaller up close, her hair even darker in the shadows of their house. She stands awkwardly beside her brother after he calls her to the door, and she's just as quiet, just as shy.
Clarke smiles, and asks them to play with her in her backyard. They tell her they have to finish unpacking.
"Maybe they're just scared," her mother tells her later. She places the dish towel beside the kitchen sink. "They came from across the state. It's a new city for them." Clarke sighs, and her mother tilts her chin. "Hey, give them time. They'll come around."
But they don't, and it isn't until the following month that Clarke realizes why.
Her mother usually works late on New Years Eve, and so her and her father spend the remaining hours of the year watching the Dick Clark special with buttered popcorn and chocolate bars. It's a tradition with her father, since being a surgeon isn't exactly a 9-5 job, and Clarke is almost done her third bowl when she notices a glare from the window.
It's strong, and bright, and she leans forward on the couch. The glare is coming from the Blake house across the street.
She narrows her eyes. "Daddy."
"What is it, Stardust?"
"The Blake house," she says. "The lights are still on."
"That's okay. Maybe they're spending New Years Eve like us."
Clarke presses her lips together and looks back to the window. She doesn't see shadows, or the outline of a TV, or -
"There's no cars in the driveway."
Her father stares at her. "What?" he asks, and she points to the driveway. No cars. Not Mr. Blakes, or Mrs. Blakes. Her father curses - she never hears him swears but he does, and he gets up from the recliner and grabs her hand.
They walk to the house next door in their PJs. Octavia answers it after the third knock.
Jake smiles. "Hi. Octavia, is it?"
Octavia looks at Clarke. She nods. "Yeah."
"Nice to meet you, Octavia. My name is Jake, I'm Clarke's father." He looks inside the house, his expression strained. "Is your mother home at the moment, sweetie?"
Octavia shakes her head. "She's at work."
"And your dad?"
She shrugs. Jake swallows thickly.
"Okay." He sighs and kneels in front of her. "Why don't you get your brother - your brother is here, right?" Octavia nods at him. "Okay, good. Your mother just called me, and she wants you to get your brother and watch the ball drop at our place. That sound like fun?"
Octavia stares at him. She looks confused.
"We have the Dick Clark special," Clarke tells her. "And lots of soda."
Octavia presses on her bottom lip; looks up at them with those bright, brown eyes. "Do you have any food?"
Jake releases a breath. "Yeah," he tells her. "Yeah, we have lots of food. Come on."
Octavia nods, and that's how it happens. The beginning of her story with the Blake siblings. It's not as easy convincing Bellamy to come to the house, but he's better after, though still quiet and shy.
He eats the pasta that her father makes, and tells them things - that he's nine-years-old, into Greek mythology too, and that his mother asked the dad to watch them for the night while he was at work.
But their dad left three hours ago to get snacks, and he hasn't been back since.
Clarke is only seven, she doesn't know how to handle these things. But her father does, he's the best at it really - because he doesn't say anything. doesn't pry or dig. He only asks Bellamy about his favourite Greek God, and for a brief moment, Bellamy smiles.
A few days later, Clarke invites them over again. This time, they say yes.
aaaaaand that's the preview! there will be about 18 more of these in the full story - each telling a different story during a different New Years Eve, though it's still the same plot and characters and setting. Anyways, hope you liked it and enjoy reading the rest! Will be up within the next two weeks.
PS. I missed you guys. Xo.
