Chapter 6

With everyone distracted by the notion that the Grounders were coming into camp, Clarke moved easily through the crowd without notice. Those around her were fraught with anxiety and tension, speaking sporadically to each other in worried murmurs. Obviously the Council had not been forthcoming about their plans for the Grounder meeting, and as such, those around Clarke were not quite sure what was happening. Someone needed to tell them what was going on, and on any other day Clarke would have taken it upon herself to do just that. However, right then she needed to focus on finding her friends.

"Oh, excuse me," Clarke said when she accidentally ran into an elbow. As she looked for the person that she bumped into, she found herself staring at a tan face and a pair of dark brown eyes. "Hey!" she said, happy to have found someone familiar.

Bellamy Blake did not look so happy to see Clarke though, but she just brushed it off to his annoyance of the unorganized crowd. "Hey," he responded.

"Have you seen Raven or Octavia?" Clarke asked, peering around Bellamy to see if either girl was with him. When she saw that they weren't, Clarke stood up on her toes and rotated around in a circle. As Clarke scanned the tops of heads she explained, "I just wanted to check up on them after last night."

When Clarke didn't recognize anyone she stopped turning and faced Bellamy again. He had a confused look on his face. "Last night?" he questioned.

It dawned on Clarke that perhaps no one had mentioned to Bellamy what had happened with Raven. She knew that Octavia had promised the guards to keep the secret from Abby Griffin, but Clarke had assumed that Octavia would still have told her brother. She bit her lip and pressed on, avoiding Bellamy's eyes. "So you haven't seen them? I'm going to keep looking."

Clarke spotted an opening between people and went to squeeze between them, but a firm hand pulled her back. "Bellamy, it wasn't a big deal. Really!" Clarke groaned, but when she looked over, Bellamy's face was clouded with a concerned expression that made her pull her arm back quickly. This obviously wasn't about her seeing Raven and Octavia. "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong?! You tell me Clarke," Bellamy said, crossing his arms across his chest, waiting for an answer.

But Clarke didn't have one. She remained silent, not understanding what was making Bellamy act so strange.

"We need to talk about what happened with Finn," Bellamy clarified. His eyes never left hers, never blinked, as he waited for her to say something. He opened his mouth again, when Clarke spoke.

"No we don't," she said firmly, as if that was the final say in the matter.

Clarke's heart began to thump rapidly in her chest as a look of anger flashed across Bellamy's face. "Of course we do!" he yelled, and Clarke glanced around to see if anyone was watching them. Thankfully everyone was too focused on the arriving Grounders to notice.

Clarke stubbornly shook her head, and when Bellamy realized that she wasn't going to give in, he looked away furiously.

Still a little confused, Clarke took a hard look at him.

His shoulders were rigid and his mouth was pressed into a firm line. He definitely wasn't acting the same as he had before. Bellamy and Clarke hadn't always gotten along, but in the last few weeks they had tried to put aside their differences to work together as a team. Clarke thought they had even started to become friends. The way he was acting then though was definitely not friendly.

Clarke's thoughts spun back to what Bellamy had said to her a moment ago, about needing to talk about Finn. Suddenly it all made sense. What Clarke had first thought to be annoyance, she now realized was pure anger and frustration. But not with the crowd. With her. Clarke realized that Bellamy was angry at her for killing Finn. She took a step backwards.

Bellamy must have sensed her withdrawal from him at the realization, for he shifted flinched. Clarke couldn't believe it. She had thought that Bellamy of all people would have understood. After all, he had only come to be with the 100 after trying, albeit failing, to kill someone himself. He knew that sometimes you were forced to do terrible things to protect those you love. He had said as much in those first few days after they landed.

Bellamy wouldn't even look Clarke in the eye now though, making her think that maybe she had misjudged him. Bellamy had killed several people in the time since Clarke had known him, but never someone he had loved or cared for. Perhaps that was where he drew the line. Maybe killing Finn was one thing that Bellamy Blake could not overlook.

The thought made Clarke sick to her stomach. If Bellamy, who had done so many wrong things himself, couldn't look her in the eye, that just further confirmed what Clarke already felt- what she had done was unforgivable.

So there's the introduction of Bellamy! Probably not the happy reunion that a lot of you had in mind.

As sort of an explanation for my method of storytelling- I'm a fan of mystery and suspense. As a by-product of a Nancy Drew and Scooby Doo-filled childhood, you will see a lot of cliffhangers at the ends of my chapters. I want to keep you guessing. I dislike reading stories that give away everything all at once and the rest is just fluffy drabble. I may change my mind someday, but for now that's just not the direction I'm heading in. So basically what I'm saying is- don't take everything at face value. The plot is not always going to play out how you first think.

Side comment: I've had a few tell me that they'd prefer longer chapters. The only thing is, if the chapters are longer, I will be posting them much less frequently (every 2 to 3 days). For now posting more often with shorter ones is keeping me motivated so I'm going to stick with that. Sorry if that makes anyone unhappy.

Either way, everyone's comments have been so positive and I really appreciate the feedback! Favorite, follow and review letting me know what you think!