A/N: so it's been a while...I'm really sorry for not updating sooner but there are some really serious things going on in my personal life right now and I didn't have a lot of time to commit to this story. Also once I was done my lovely beta Mandy was extremely busy and didn't have time to edit the chapter for a bit. So I'm sorry to say the for the near future updates will be random and probably not very often, but I will try my best.

I'm very excited to announce that this is the longest chapter yet! Yay! It's also my personal favourite. I've had this one planned out from the start and I'm really happy to be able to post it finally

Chapter Six:
Moonlight

"Moving too fast,
Moon is lighting up her skin
She's falling,
Doesn't even know it yet"

Clarke woke up with a start, her soft sheets strewn around her bed in what could only be described as delicate chaos. What was that? She had been dreaming...about him. About Bellamy Blake and his stupid smile and his fluffy hair and that odd cut on the bridge of his nose that hadn't quite healed yet. She found herself intrigued by it. Where did he get it? How did he get it? Princes were not supposed to be scratched, especially on the face. She had lied to him the other day, he was definitely not what she had expected at all. Mind you, he knew that.

Bellamy had started taking over her thoughts and she was extremely disappointed in herself. And since when had he become Bellamy?

She sat up, slowly and meticulously smoothing her loose hair down her back, trying to clear her mind. She didn't understand why she found him so fascinating, she still barely knew him and she wasn't even sure if she actually liked him or not. He was just so different. Clarke was positive that if she had seen him out in the market she wouldn't have looked at him twice. He looked so unassuming, yet if you took the time to see, it was quite clear that he was an important person, especially in the lines of his face.

She shook her head. This was the exact opposite way to clear her thoughts. Looking around her extravagant bedroom, Clarke's eyes widened as they focused on the full-window doors to the balcony. Very slowly, as though she were afraid of disturbing the possibility of a dream, she climbed out of bed and walked to the windows, placing her hand on the glass. She gently pushed open the door and stepped outside.

Uncaring of the chill on her bare feet or the wind blowing through her thin nightdress, Clarke put her arms out and slowly turned in a circle, quietly laughing in joy. The entire world was white. She closed her eyes and breathed in the crisp, winter air, feeling the snowflakes dance across her skin. Clarke loved snow. Adored it. It was so magical, the entire world sparkled and shone in the sun while icicles hung from tree branches like leaves of crystals.

Grinning, Clarke ducked back inside before she caught her death and began frantically scurrying about her room, retrieving various articles of clothing. Despite having handmaidens, Clarke was very capable of dressing herself, and dress herself she did before snatching her winter cloak from her trunk and hurrying out the door.

Rushing through the halls, dodging roaming guards and tray-bearing servers, she quickly made her way to her final destination: the front doors. In her hurry, Clarke almost missed the tall figure standing by the floor to ceiling window in the entry hall. She all but skidded to a halt before approaching him.

"Prince Bellamy?"

He seemed to startle slightly at her words before turning to her with wide, childlike eyes. "It's...snowing."

Clarke blinked. "Yes..." And then it dawned on her. "You've never seen snow, have you?"

Of course he hadn't. The Griffin Castle was halfway up a northern mountain, the Blake Castle was not only in a valley, but was also at least a two-day's journey south on horseback...and that's if you had excellent weather...and a fast horse.

Clarke beamed as an idea struck her. "Follow me."

Bellamy followed Clarke through the winding halls, quickly losing his way. They had entered a part of the castle he had never visited and the Princess was moving so fast he barely had time to take in his surroundings of dimly lit wall sconces and long forgotten tapestries.

"Where are we going, Princess?" He questioned.

Clarke just threw a smile over her shoulder and breathlessly announced that he would see shortly.

And see shortly he would. He almost smacked into Clarke's back as she suddenly stopped in front of a pair of extravagant dark wood doors. Bellamy watched with curiosity as she pushed them open and stepped into a clearly abandoned room. Dust had settled in a fine layer over everything and had obviously not been disturbed for some time.

"This was my father's study," Clarke explained. "I just need to fetch something."

Bellamy took in the room. The desk her father must have sat at everyday, the couch he probably lounged on in the evenings, perhaps Clarke had sat there with him.

"Princess, what are we doing here?"

He had spoken to her back, and his eyes widened when she turned around and carried a warm winter cloak towards him.

"My mother put all of his things in here when he died, this will probably fit you."

He was oddly touched, she was trusting him with something of her fathers. Again he realized, thinking back to the day she had tossed him the beautiful Mortuary sword.

"I can't wear your father's cloak..."

Clarke chuckled a little before all but shoving it into his hands. "Don't be ridiculous, Bellamy, of course you can. It's not getting any use in here and you'll freeze if you go outside without one."

It took Bellamy a moment to respond. She had used his name, just his name. Had she even noticed? He decided not to mention it, instead he smiled and said, "Thank you, Clarke."

Clarke blushed lightly on the walk down to the front doors, she hadn't meant to use his first name but it had come so naturally. She found that she rather liked when he called her by hers.

She turned around in front of the doors and held out her hand towards the Prince. "Are you ready?" She smiled.

Bellamy stared at her hand for a moment before gently grasping it in his and smiling back.

Clarke couldn't stand waiting a second longer, she reached behind her and opened the door, revealing the grounds in all their frosted glory. Walking outside slowly, for the first time in her life Clarke did not look at the grounds in wonder of the first snowfall, nor at the brilliantly blinding white sky. No, Clarke looked at Bellamy. She watched his cautious footsteps as he stepped outside and into the fluffy snow for the first time. She watched his face as the chill reached it and stained his cheeks pink. She watched as he held out his other hand and caught a snowflake from the sky.

Not wanting to disturb the moment, Clarke whispered her question. "What do you think?"

Bellamy's beaming face turned towards her in awe. "It's like magic."

It's like magic...that's what she had said the first time she had seen snow, what she said every winter when she saw it again.

"Yeah, it is..."

They stared at each other for a moment before a slow smirk grew across Clarke's face. She dropped his hand and took a few steps backwards, into the untouched snow of the grounds.

"You know what else it is?"

Bellamy's eyebrows scrunched together in confusion. "What?"

"Cold!" She yelled as she quickly ducked down, gathered a ball of snow in her hands and hurled it at him.

It hit him square in the face and Clarke doubled over laughing only to be abruptly disturbed by the extremely unpleasant feeling of snow sliding down one's back. Bellamy had recovered and pulled her cloak away, exposing the back of her dress, and dropped a handful of snow down her back. She looked into his laughing face with shock.

"You're dead now."

She darted away before he could grab her and started running through the field towards the safety the greenhouse walls would provide her.

"We'll see about that, Princess!" He called after her, laughter playing in his voice.

Clarke had the advantage of having the experience of maneuvering the tall mounds of snow on the pathways before they had been cleared. She rushed daintily towards shelter. Once she had ducked behind a wall she poked her head around the corner to find her opponent, but she couldn't see him. She pushed her body further around the edge, her blue eyes scanning the grounds until she felt something hit her square in the back.

She turned around and saw Bellamy standing not five feet away from her, nonchalantly tossing a snow ball back and forth between his hands. He casually raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Clarke opened her mouth in playful shock as she considered the situation. Bellamy already had ammo, so she couldn't bend to gather her own because he'd attack. She had to surprise him.

Without warning, she rushed him. In his surprise, Bellamy tried to throw the snowball but managed only a pitiful blow to her arm before she knocked him to the ground. Gasping at the shock of the cold snow against his flushed skin, he tried to defend himself. Reaching to the side he grabbed a handful of snow and unceremoniously dumped it on her head.

Clarke immediately pushed herself off of him as she felt the unpleasant wetness trail down her face, rolled over onto her back, and ceased all movement, save for the heavy rise and fall of her chest. Turning her head, she saw Bellamy mimicking her actions, already looking at her. His face was pink from the cold and exertion and his brown hair was wet and tangled, pressed against his face in odd angles. Without thinking, she reached out and touched the fading cut on the bridge of his nose.

"Where did you get this?" She said softly, as though afraid a sudden noise would send him running.

It took him a moment to respond, and when he did speak the movement caused Clarke's finger to move slightly.

"I was in the village with my sister. Octavia," He added, although he knew she would have heard of her. "I don't like to be treated like...well, like myself, so I usually dress in common clothes so I am free to wander without interruption. There was a man making eyes at my sister. You must understand I had no intention of interfering until he put his hands on her." Clarke watched his eyes harden at the memory, causing him to look much more like a man than a boy. "I punched him, but he was strong and we got into a fight. Octavia was...furious, saying she could handle herself, but it was too late by then. He ended up decking me right here," He tapped Clarke's finger where it still rested above the cut. "Almost broke my nose."

"That doesn't sound very Prince-like."

She watched the corner of his mouth turn up into a sideways grin before he answered. "Yes well, despite what you may think, I don't exactly make a habit of punching people in the middle of the market."

Clarke pushed herself into a sitting position and looked at the Prince's disheveled appearance.

"Well, you've probably never been this messy in your life."

She watched him sit up as well as his eyes took on the glassy look of a distant memory.

"I used to play in the rain with Octavia. Sometimes mud was involved so, yes Princess, I have definitely been this messy."

She smiled. The fondness in his voice when he talked about Octavia was something she had never heard from him before. "She sounds nice, your sister."

"I think you'd really like her, she reminds me of you."

"Why didn't you bring her with you?"

His eyes shifted to the ground before he looked at her again. "I wanted to come alone to meet you, not that she didn't put up a fight...I told her she could come next time."

Clarke playfully raised her eyebrows. "Next time?"

He threw a cocky grin her way. "I had high expectations."

"Well...your sister will be very welcome here."

"Thank you. I'm sure she will be very excited to hear that."

They shared another silent look and Clarke realized that these quiet moments were becoming increasingly less awkward. She cleared her throat and stood.

"We should go inside, we'll freeze and we should probably change." She hadn't realize quite how wet she was, her hair was literally dripping and her clothes clung to her body.

She heard him stand behind her as she started walking back to the castle.

"As you say, Princess."

Later, Bellamy looked out his window at the full moon, watching it's light sparkle through the castle grounds, bathing everything in a warm, white glow. He did a double take when he saw a figure sitting by the small pond in front of the main greenhouse. On second look, he quickly recognized the startling blonde hair of the Princess. With a split-second decision, he grabbed the borrowed cloak hanging by the door and made his way through the halls and outside.

He watched her come into view as he approached her from the other side of the pond. The moon was shining on her skin, making her complexion match the surrounding snow, causing almost a glow about her person. As he got closer he realized she had a book in her lap. She was writing...no, drawing. It amazed him how close he got before she noticed. She glanced up just as he started around the edge of the water.

"Bellamy."

"I'm sorry if I'm disturbing you, I saw you from the castle and I just..." He trailed off with no proper way to finish his sentence. I just wanted to be with you? I just wanted to ask you if-

She patted the seat of the bench beside her, interrupting his thoughts. "No, no you're not disturbing me at all."

She went back to her drawing as he sat beside her. "That's beautiful."

And it was. Clarke had somehow managed to perfectly capture the moonlight reflecting on the frozen surface and the snow sparkling at the water's edge.

He saw her blush slightly but smile. "Thank you."

"Clarke..." He started.

She turned to him, eyebrows raised, attention at the ready.

"I'm going back home tomorrow and I thought you might like to accompany me."

He internally winced as her eyes widened. "Just for a visit like my own. You could meet my mother and sister and see my home, it would be a three-day journey and you could experience the terrain down south...Of course, you don't have to but I-"

She cut him off with a gentle hand on his arm. "I think...I would like that."

Bellamy didn't even try to hide his surprise. "Really?"

She nodded, drawing long forgotten. "I've always wanted to see the south and your sister sounds lovely. I am sure your castle is beautiful as well."

This was not the answer he had expected. It was however, the answer he had hoped for. "I'm leaving tomorrow morning after breakfast."

Clarke instantly jumped to her feet. "Oh! Well I'd better go pack and inform my mother of my plans, I'm sure she won't mind, she'll probably expect me to come back with a ring on my finger." She had been joking, but Bellamy heard her swallow loudly and clear her throat. "I'll...see you tomorrow morning then." She spoke before turning and quickly fleeing to the warmth inside the castle.

Bellamy followed behind not minutes later and made his way to his rooms. That night he dreamed of snowflakes and moonlight and laughing blue eyes.

A/N: wow okay so this is one of the chapters that I've been dying to write, I know there's no Octavia and I know Raven hasn't been around a lot but I really wanted to use this chapter to 100% focus on Bellarke. Everyone will be back next time :) The lyrics at the beginning are from Night Changes by One Direction

I also want to give a heads up that my beta is having a really busy time at uni right now so chapters might take a bit longer for her to edit. (I also want to thank her even though she's crazy for asking to do this)

Another important thing I'd like to mention is that I've decided to stop responding to most of the reviews. I want you all to know that I truly, truly appreciate every single one of them, even if it's just a quick "hope you update soon" or "loved this chapter". I appreciate all of them so so much but it takes a lot of time to personally respond to every one of them so from now on I'm only going to respond to reviews with either questions, or something obviously very thought out and long.

I really hope you guys enjoyed this chapter as much as I liked writing it!

Until next time...

- Lauren