PLEASE READ AUTHOR'S NOTE AT THE BOTTOM!
Part 6
"He's gone!" Miller hollers as he emerges from the drop ship. "The Grounder's gone!"
People all around camp start whispering and panicking about what this could mean.
"What if he bring other Grounders back?"
"They'll kill us all!"
"Or worse!"
"Let the Grounders come," Bellamy demands as he and Clarke walk back into the camp carrying supplies that they salvaged from the depot. "We've been afraid of them for far too long. And why? Because of their knives and spears? Well, I don't know about you but I'm tired of being afraid." Bellamy turns towards where Clarke is standing beside him and they exchange a look and pull the bags off of their shoulders to reveal to the others what they found.
"These are weapons," Clarke says. "Okay, not toys. And we have to be prepared to give them up to the guard when the drop ships come. But until then, they're gonna help keep us safe."
"And there are plenty more where these came from," adds Bellamy. "Tomorrow we will start training. And if the Grounders come, we're gonna be ready to fight."
Whispers can be heard around the crowds of people, everyone wondering what's going to happen next.
Bellarke – Bellarke – Bellarke – Bellarke – Bellarke
Octavia is standing but the wall of the camp, looking outside when Bellamy comes up and wraps one of the blankets that he and Clarke brought back around her shoulders. She pulls in in closer, loving how soft it feels. Octavia turns to give her brother a look as if to say thank you before turning back to face the dark forest that surrounds their camp.
There is a moment of silence before Bellamy finally speaks up. "I don't expect you to forgive me," he pauses. "So, you'll have to find a way to live with me, 'cause I'm not going anywhere." It was the events today with Clarke that made Bellamy realize that he didn't want to leave. He was going to stay, stay for Octavia and for Clarke and everyone else in camp. Clarke helped him see just how much they needed him here and, in turn, made him realize how much he needed to be here, needed her and his sister.
"Bellamy," Clarke calls his name breaking him out of his thoughts and he turns to face her as she says, "It's time."
He goes to walk over to her but faces Octavia again.
"That Grounder escaping, was that you?" he asks curiously.
"I had nothing to do with it. Thanks for the blanket." He knows that she's lying about the Grounder but chooses to ignore it and makes his way over to Clarke and gives her one of his signature smiles, something that wasn't seem very often on the face of Bellamy Blake. Clarke felt special being in the receiving end of his grin, it made her feel like she was floating, and not the kind of floating that they used for execution on the Ark but real feather-like floating.
He reaches over and takes her hand, locking their fingers together, without a care if anyone sees them and they make their way to the radio where they are going to talk to Jaha.
Bellarke – Bellarke – Bellarke – Bellarke – Bellarke
"Mr. Blake," the chancellor begins, his face on the screen serious. "I've wanted to talk to you for some time now."
Clarke's voice jumps in before Bellamy can respond. "Before you do, uh, I-I'd like to say something," she tells him while exchanging a look with the man her right. Clarke turns to face the screen again but she can still feel Bellamy's eyes watching her and has to hold back her smile. "When you sent us down here," the blonde continues speaking with Jaha. "You sent us to die, but miraculously, most of us are still alive. In large part, that is because if him," she gestures with her head towards Bellamy. "Because of Bellamy."
His eyes are on her again and she turns to face him and gives him a small smile before, once again, turning back to the communication screen. "He's one of us and he deserves to be pardoned of his crimes, just like the rest of us."
"Clarke, I appreciate your point of view but it's not that simple."
"It is," Bellamy speaks up. "If you wanna know who on the Ark wants you dead."
The chancellor pauses for a minute to take their request into consideration. Bellamy and Clarke exchange another look and he feels her hand brush up against his. He grabs a hold of it and slides his fingers in the spaces between hers as they wait for an answer. Bellamy doesn't even care what the answer is at this point because, for now, he's got Clarke and that's all he could ask for.
"Bellamy Blake. You're pardoned for your crimes."
At those words, Bellamy can't help but smile and he squeezes Clarke's hand. Everything is going to be okay now. He said before that everything would be okay as long as he had Clarke, but this just made his life so much better. Bellamy didn't have to worry about needing to run and hide anymore.
The chancellor speaks up again, "Now, tell me who gave you the gun." And that's exactly what Bellamy did.
Bellarke – Bellarke – Bellarke – Bellarke – Bellarke
"I need to check this," Clarke tells Finn, referring to his bandaged side as she kneels down next to him.
"Guns, really?" Finn asks in a belittling tone as if Clarke had no idea what she was getting herself into.
"With the Grounder escaping, we have to expect retaliation. We have to be prepared."
"Yeah, our ancestors wanted to be prepared so they built bombs!"
"Rifles are not the same as nukes," Clarke defends.
"In Bellamy's hands they are!" Okay, Clarke had enough of Finn's constant bashing of Bellamy. Sure, they haven't always seen eye to eye on certain matters but today she learned to expect the unexpected. She liked Bellamy, probably more than she should but she was tired of denying it and she was sick of Finn constantly judging Bellamy for things that happened in the past. "Clarke, come on! You can't predict what he's gonna do."
"There's no perfect answer, Finn." Her answer was heated, putting meaning behind it so then maybe he'd stop being such an ass.
"The Grounder saved Octavia's life and Bellamy brought him back here and tortured him!"
"Yeah, but if he hadn't brought him back here, you'd be dead! I trust him, Finn! I like him! Quit being such an ass about Bellamy!" She scolded coldly before storming out of Finn's tent and practically running right into Bellamy. Clarke feels her face flush and wonders if he'd heard anything that she'd just been saying in there. The smile that Bellamy was giving her right now hinted that he had heard it, at least part of it.
"Did you mean it?" he asks.
Clarke was just about to ask him what he was talking about but she knew that there was no point in playing dumb with Bellamy.
"Yes, I meant it." Her words came out as a whisper but Bellamy was close enough that it didn't matter. He heard her.
Without a second's hesitation, Bellamy's mouth descends upon her's and the feeling of his lips against hers causes her to gasp. His arms wrap around her waist and her arms move up around his neck. He makes no move to deepen the kiss, content with being able to hold her in his arms like this. Clarke wanted more, she wanted so much more, so she continued to kiss him. She kissed him until neither of them could go without breathing anymore. He put his forehead against hers and gave her a lazy smile that made the butterflies in her stomach come alive again. Clarke felt like she belonged. She felt like here, with Bellamy, that's what home is supposed to feel like.
A/N: So, this is the end. I'm actually really excited that I finished this because I'm really bad with multi-chapter stories. They just don't really work for me when I write them because I'll start with an idea and I'll get the first few chapters written and then I get stuck and don't know where to go with it so I don't work on it. There is another story plot that's been poking around in my mind and I'd like to know how many people would be interested in me posting a preview of it. It's a Bellarke AU story that was inspired but a prompt I found on Tumblr and I don't have a lot of it written right now but I'm still working on it. Please leave a review and let me know what you thought of this chapter, this story, and/or if you'd like me to post my preview. Thanks for the support on this story! You guys are awesome!
- Mal
P.S: I'm also really excited that this story has gotten 3,594 views! There have only been 10 reviews but I understand why there aren't more. I really hope that you will all come back when I post my next story.