Clarke wakes up in unfamiliar surroundings. The room is much more decorated than any other hotel she's ever stayed in. As the fog clears from her head, she recalls the adventure of the previous night, running out of gas, Bellamy coming to her aid and offering her a place to sleep and just in general making this little road block into something better.
The room he put her in wasn't, in fact, his sister's bedroom as he had previously suggested, but their guest room. The walls were almost white, just a hint of lilac; a color his sister must have decided on. The full sized bed was extremely comfortable and there was a photo on the bedside table of a younger Bellamy and what she assumed was his mother and little sister. She could definitely see where he got his good looks from, the whole family was gorgeous.
Clarke grabbed her mobile from where she left it, next to the photo, when she tucked into bed in the early morning hours the night before. She'd woken up much later than she normally does, but still managing around seven hours of sleep. She wasn't sure if her host was already awake, but with it already being ten in the morning, she wanted to be optimistic. She wanted to see more of Arcadia than the police station and she figured it would be a good day for exploring the town before deciding on her plans for the next few days; the rest of her trip will be marginally outlined with no destinations set in stone.
She begrudgingly climbed out of the bed and went to grab a fresh set of clothes from her duffel. She settled on khaki colored denim shorts and a dark pink t-shirt to help keep her from baking in the summer heat. Bellamy had given her a quick tour of the house, a modest sized three bed, two bath home, and knowing her own penchant for long showers or even longer soaks in a tub filled with her favorite bubble bath as a teen, she was certain that having the second bathroom was a blessing when the brother and sister were growing up.
Clarke made her way to the bathroom closest to the room in which she was staying, and made sure not to abuse the hospitality she had been shown but keeping her shower to the minimum. She felt so much more refreshed and as she exited the room the scent of coffee brewing brought a smile to her face. After all, what college student didn't find themselves running on coffee when cramming for finals?
"Good morning," she said as she walked into the kitchen, towel drying her hair.
"Hey. Good morning." Bellamy replied as he looked up at her from the breakfast bar, where he was chopping up various veggies. "I'm fixing an omelette, would you care for one? I'm sure you're hungry." He's also freshly showered, his hair mostly dry except for the very ends, sporting another solid tee, this time in hunter green and a pair of well worn jeans. His motions coming to him so naturally, she can't help but feel a little jealous, she's excellent with a scalpel, but her cooking skills leave much to be desired.
Clarke smiled, granted an omelette isn't so hard to fix, but it's the thought that counts, and having this wonderful stranger offer his home and breakfast to someone who was stranded and in need of help went a long way in making her believe that there's good, honest people in this world. If the rest of the people in Arcadia are just like him, it's going to be that much harder to leave.
She confirms that his choice of breakfast is more than fine, telling him which veggies to include with the egg, ham, and cheese, and proceeds to drink a cup of coffee while studying the man in front of her. In both the lighting and the sunshine rivering through the window above the kitchen sink, his features are much more easily seen. Just like she noticed the night before, Bellamy Blake is a very attractive man. The artist in her was pleased to see the way the light and shadows played with his cheekbones, jawline and the laugh lines around his eyes. She needed to make sure she had a chance to sketch him before so moved on to her next destination. Clarke was so focused on her perusal of Bellamy that she failed to catch the continued conversation.
"...be here any moment so just try to stay relaxed. She's as tenacious as a shark smelling blood in the water when it comes to finding out the details." Just as Bellamy finished the sentence, they both jumped as the front door slammed.
"Bell! Why is there a truck with New York plates in the drive? Do you know how many people asked me about it?" A beautiful girl around her own age and height walks into the room, wearing cutoffs and a navy shirt with the words Arcadia Fire Dept. "Oh, hello. I'm Octavia. And you are?" There's no hostility in her voice, just a healthy dose of curiosity, which makes Clarke wonder about how many times Bellamy has had a woman stay over. She'd like to think if it was frequent, perhaps Octavia wouldn't be so welcoming?
Clarke smiles as she approaches Octavia and extends her hand in greeting, which the other girl accepts, "Hi, Clarke Griffin. That would be my truck." Clarke is able to see the similarities in the siblings up close, but where Bellamy has curly hair and brown eyes, Octavia's is long and straight with blue eyes; they're both blessed with great genes, as the pair grew more attractive from the time the photo in her room was taken and now.
Not one to beat around the bush, Octavia quickly keeps the conversation going, asking what brought Clarke to Arcadia, out of state plates being a huge clue she's not from around here, and more specifically, to their home. Thankfully, Bellamy provides the answers to both those questions, skipping over Clarke's embarrassing first request. At the end of his recap, he's already finished and set a plate down for both girls.
"Well look at you, big brother, knight in shining cop car. I'm just glad you were able to be in the right place at the right time, I mean, could you imagine how long the wait could have been? They didn't even call you back to tell you there was going to be a delay. That's just ridiculous." Octavia replies as she pours herself a glass of orange juice to go with her omelette. "So tell me more about this road trip of yours. I've only been as far as Mount Weather, not that it's exactly far from here."
Clarke tells Octavia the same story she told Bellamy last night while they had sat on her tailgate; about needing to get away from the pressure of having her whole life planned out, unsure about med school, and then deciding that being a doctor was exactly what she wanted to do with her life. She shares how fortunate she was that her mother is a well renowned surgeon, and that she had been teaching Clarke what she could since the girl was in middle school, making sure that she had access to the latest journals and medical texts, when all she wanted to do was focus on her art; but it was something that she was grateful for her mother's tenacity since now that she was taking the course work, Clarke was already familiar with much of the material.
Octavia goes on to share how Bellamy helped to raise her, after her mother passed away while when she was a junior in high school, so she could understand Clarke's need for independence. "Lord knows how many times Bellamy had to call Chief Kane when he'd come home and I wouldn't be here when I was supposed to, but I always had Raven, or Monty and Jasper with me. I'm just glad he never thought to get one of the ankle monitors they use for people under house arrest."
The three of them make short work of getting the remains of their meal cleaned, and once again, Octavia's friendly countenance breaks the silence. "So Clarke, any plans for the day? I would love to show you around but I'm supposed to help Raven move the last of her things back into Wick's apartment." She turns to her brother, arms akimbo, "seriously, though, I wish they'd make up their damn mind already and just friggin' get married, the back and forth is getting ridiculous. She just finished moving out of his apartment two weeks ago. If she'd waited another three days, I'd have won this time and the move back in wouldn't be so irritating."
Octavia goes on to explain how their group of friends make bets about how long it takes for the couple to move back in at each breakup, seeing as it occurs pretty frequently. Bellamy provides the occasional commentary, including side bets about anything from childish name calling to throwing around engineers versus mechanics to whether or not an unsuspecting bystander is on the receiving during the prank war.
"I wonder if she'd rent me the room she's moving out of, at least for the next few days until I decide where to go after here." Clarke said as she started to fiddle with her hands, realizing that although she's on vacation, she'd turned her trip into a schedule with a race to the finish line. Perhaps it was a blessing in disguise that she'd run out of gas where she did. She was pretty sure that if Wells had been here, there'd be less of a timetable.
"But we have a perfectly nice guest room here?" Octavia asked, sounding a bit confused. Bellamy watching the exchange quietly from where he stood, perched against the fridge.
"I didn't want to infringe on your hospitality, and assume that I could stay more than the one night. I'm still not even sure how many days I'll stay." Clarke replied as she looked from one sibling to the next.
"Octavia's right, we do have the guest room, and it wouldn't be a problem to have you stay with us." Bellamy offered, his expression and posture not giving away how he felt about the invitation his sister offered.
"If you both are sure that it's ok, I can pay you for..."
Bellamy cuts her off before she can finish offering to pay rent. "Clarke, consider yourself our guest, we appreciate your offer of rent payment, but you see, we'd feel terrible about asking a guest to pay for staying with us."
Clarke sighs and smiles, "Fine, I'm sure we can figure out some way I can pay the two of you back."
"Excellent!" Octavia shouts, her excitement over having Clarke stay more than what Clarke had anticipated. "Bell, you're not working today, maybe you can show Clarke around town for a bit? You should totally take her to the river now that all the wildflowers have bloomed, it's so beautiful with all the colors, and the water is perfect for soaking your legs on a hot summer day like this one. Be sure to take along your sketchbook. Everytime Lincoln and I go there he always finds it artistically inspiring. It's not deep enough to really swim in, but it's so peaceful to sit by or in the water and just listen to the breeze and the water flowing. But it's about time I head over to Raven's. Y'all have fun and I'll see you later Clarke. We'll have to do a girls' night, just the three of us."
The lively young woman gets up from where she's been sitting and makes her way back out of the house. Clarke turns to look at Bellamy- "Is she always this ball of energy?"
"Yep, but I wouldn't trade her for anything. I loved her from the moment mom let me be the one to name her. She makes me want to pull my hair out sometimes with her antics, but my life started the day she was born." He pauses and runs his hand through his hair. "So, what say I take you on a tour of Arcadia? Show you the sights?" He offers as he stands and stretches, the hem of his tee riding up just enough to show a sliver of skin.
Clarke tries to not let how affected she is by that little show of tanned flesh, but she can feel her cheeks heating just enough to think he can see her blushing. "Sure, I'd like that. I would love to see that river as well. If it's not too much trouble and you don't have any other plans for the day." She can't help but smile as Bellamy tells her to get ready because he's leaving in fifteen minutes. She's well aware that she's developing a crush on this man, but can't bring herself to care.
"And that's the general store, it's pretty much a regular convenience store but there's also an old fashioned shake and float bar. I can't begin to tell you how many times Octavia suckered me into bringing her for a black cow after school, especially whenever she got a gold star on a spelling quiz." Bellamy points out to her right hand side. Clarke feels like she stepped into a movie or a country song about how perfect life is living in a small town. There's a small park with swimming pool, the high school is right next to the junior and elementary schools, plenty of shops to cater to every walk of life, she's amazed that there's no name brand department stores, but they're not exactly sequestered away from civilization and unable to drive out to the city if they really need to buy a DVD at one o'clock in the morning.
"So exactly how far out is this river? Octavia didn't really say? Doesn't it have a name?" Clarke asks as she turns her body in the seat towards Bellamy. He's got one hand on the wheel and the other is resting in the open window. She knows she staring but with his relaxed posture, she's trying to take in every line and detail, committing it to memory so she can sketch it out in charcoal.
"About fifteen minutes from the house, it's actually on the edge of Chief Kane's property." He gives her some history on Chief Marcus Kane and his mother, Vera, whom had been very involved with the town's community. "When mom passed, he and his mother, helped to make sure that Octavia and I were coping well. It was hard, you know, to rely on anyone that wasn't family; mom always told me that Octavia was my sister, my responsibility. At one point, while she was still a senior in high school and going through that rebellious teenage phase, we had the biggest argument of all. Ironically, we both ended up with the Kanes. Octavia had run to Vera, and Marcus had come to find me, drunk as a skunk in guilt over the hurtful words I yelled to my baby sister. Vera had taken Octavia to the river, thinking the peaceful atmosphere would help settle her down, which it did. We've always been welcome in their household, and Octavia later took me out there to help me feel the same calm she felt that day. We went there pretty frequently and the last time Kane, Octavia and I were all there together was the day of Vera's funeral."
Clarke's surprised he's shared this with her, they barely met not even twelve hours ago. "I can't wait to see it then, it sounds like a very special place."
Bellamy smirks in her direction, "Well, wait no longer princess, cuz we're here." He parks the truck, shutting it off but still leaving the keys in the ignition, and meets her right as she climbs out her door. She feels a little guilty about not waiting for him to get the door when she realizes that he had rushed to get it for her, she's still not used to such displays of chivalry.
She's speechless at the sight before her. There's a sea of lush, green grass that's about the height of her knee, stretching from the other bank as far as the eye can see. On their side of the river, there are a few boulders placed in a semicircle in the shaded area by two big, strong oak trees, standing like watchful guardians over a small clearing. The crystal clear water is flowing just quickly enough to be heard, and it's so much more soothing than anything on those white noise generators she had to use her freshman year in college when she couldn't fall asleep. There were so many colors of wildflowers clustered, here and there. She could definitely understand why Octavia said her artist boyfriend could easily find inspiration; and she now knew exactly how she could help repay the Blake's for the hospitality and the warm welcome they extended into their home.
Clarke approached one of the boulders, taking a seat and just listening, the sounds of nature helping to soothe both the ache and the restlessness she's been feeling. The wind rustling through the grass, the sound of the flowing water, crisp and gentle, birds singing in the distance. She's not sure how long she's been sitting there, but she finds herself opening up about the past few years, sharing with Bellamy the unrelenting pressure from her mother.
Her mother, whom had already planned out med school, internships and residencies for Clarke, the two of them working side by side at the best research hospital, the mother-daughter team breaking new ground; eventually marriage to Wells, seeing as his father was already making his name in politics, the lawyer and the doctor, a fairy tale come true. A fairy tale that both Clarke and Wells considered a nightmare, their relationship, while extremely close was strictly and would only be, platonic. It created a lot of tension their junior year. They spent much of their senior year reconciling their friendship and planning the best road trip ever, excited at the thought of getting out from under the thumbs of their parents and the expectations thrust upon them. The night of prom, the two of them happy with their dates, and then the ache of losing her best friend.
Clarke couldn't stop the rush of information as it passed her lips, but with each word, she could feel the weight of the world come off her shoulders. When she finally did come to a stop, she noticed that Bellamy had taken a seat on the boulder next to her, the need for a comforting presence outweighing the need for words. They sit there, in silence, time standing still, but going forward just the same.
Bellamy is the first to speak, still unsure of his words, but he starts to share how his mother would tell him stories of Greek and Roman mythology, his fascination with the heroes and gods. When he suddenly had to be the one to take care of his sister, he regretted not being able to go to college and major in history. He joined the police department, but found ways to continue to study the history that was his hobby.
"So you're a history nerd." Clarke teases, glad that he found a way to steer the conversation to a lighter topic. "Let me grab my sketchbook. I'm feeling rather inspired." She gets up and makes her way to the truck, returning just as Bellamy decides that he might be in over his head, feeling too attached to the pretty blonde, and so quickly.
They talk and laugh, and when she finally closes her sketchbook, they take off their shoes, and he rolls up his pant legs as they stand in the river to their, well, her knees. The water is crisp and cool, a refreshing contrast to the heat of the summer sun. He's even got cute feet, she giggles, oh, you got it bad, as she kicks up water in his direction. Before she knows it, he grabs her around the waist and pulls them further into the water, just as it hits her waist, she feels herself being pulled off her feet and underwater. They both come up drenched, laughing, and gasping for air.
"No fair! You cheated!" Clarke laughs as she flicks water at him again, this time with her hand.
"Princess, never go in against an Arcadian when water fight victory is on the line." He laughs and flicks water back at her. They exit the water, feeling refreshed from the coolness of the water, the heat of the sun drying their skin almost immediately, but not their clothing.
Bellamy shakes his head, flinging droplets of water from his hair in every direction as Clarke wrings the water from her own locks. He runs to his truck and pulls out two towels, she's grateful he thought to come prepared, and they use the towels to absorb as much water from their clothes as possible, before getting back into his truck and heading back to his house.
"So, Clarke, you interested in coming with Octavia and I to Grounders tonight? Meeting the rest of the gang and experience the nonstop excitement of Arcadia nightlife?"
a/n: thanks so much to everyone that favorited, followed, viewed, and/or commented! I'm amazed at how well the first part was received. I've been extremely inspired and am glad to be able to add on to this fic a lot sooner than I originally planned. Let me know what you think!
