*Shout out to my readers from New Zealand! One of my best friends lives in Auckland, he runs a company called Beercycle, you should definitely check it out if you're old enough to drink haha! I can't wait to go visit him, it'll be my first time in New Zealand! Thanks for reading and please favourite/follow/review!*
Evening fell and Gustus' body was removed and prepared to be buried the next day. Clarke didn't see Finn again, and she knew that it was her conscience's way of forgiving her.
After very little interaction with the grounders, the sky people found themselves sat around a fire, occasionally talking, but mostly they were silent, lost in their own thoughts. After a while, Clarke left her seat next to her mother and moved to sit next to Bellamy, who was watching as Octavia and Lincoln talked, lost in each other, oblivious to the world. He wished that he and Clarke could afford to be like that more often, instead of constantly fearing for their lives and the lives of their friends.
She sat next to him, dropping her head onto his shoulder, as Lincoln's voice carried across the circle.
'How did you know it was Gustus?' He asked Bellamy curiously.
'He'd do anything to protect her. It just makes sense.' Bellamy's deep voice was solemn, and as Lincoln glanced down at Octavia in understanding, he pressed a kiss to the top of Clarke's head, taking a minute to breath in the scent of the shampoo she had used since the Ark had landed on the ground, the smell of berries filled his nose and he felt the remaining tightness around his heart relax. The day was almost over, surely nothing else could go wrong.
'Look at the thanks he got.' Remarked Octavia, and Bellamy frowned.
Their contemplative silence was broken by Raven's shout, 'Guys!'
'What is it?' Bellamy stood up as Raven walked over to the camp, Clarke did the same.
'Listen to this.' Raven held the radio in her hands and they could hear a voice standing out from the background static.
'This is Jasper Jordan, we need help. Forty seven of us are trapped inside Mount Weather. They've taken Harper, she may already be dead. We don't know how much time we have left. Please hurry.'
'It's repeating.' Raven told them, looking up at their amazed expression.
'They're alive.' Breathed Octavia, surprise mingling with joy in her voice, but Bellamy had gotten over the initial joy at finding that they definitely were alive, and was now focusing on the actual message. They were in serious trouble.
'We need to do this now.' He said firmly, looking at Clarke. 'We've got the alliance, now is the time to use it.'
Clarke nodded and looked at Bellamy meaningfully, her eyes asking him to come with her. They walked away from the group together, coming to a stop in a deserted corner of the camp. Silence fell as Bellamy waited patiently for Clarke to talk, and after a while, she did, just as he'd known she would.
'When Lexa spoke to me earlier, standing over the ashes of Finn's body, and the bodies of those he killed, she told me that love was weakness.' Her voice was quiet.
Bellamy frowned at Clarke, unsure whether he wanted to find out where she was going.
'What if she was right?'
'Clarke…'
'Everyone I've ever loved has died.' Suddenly she was blinking back tears. 'My father, Wells, Finn. And that's not even mentioning the dozens of lives we lost down here. Charlotte, Atom, Sterling…' Clarke trailed off, realising that tears were falling silently down her face.
Bellamy hand reached out and brushed them away before moving to tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
'Your mother,' his voice was gentle, 'she's a survivor. She came down to earth in the Ark after you, in a journey that probably should have killed her. She became chancellor and then broke the law, just so she could find you. She's taken on grounders and her own people, in order to do what she thinks is right. She's a fighter, and so am I.'
'I would be putting you in danger.' Clarke's voice trembled with emotion.
'You would be rescuing our friends.'
'Lexa was right,' Clarke cried, 'my love for you makes me selfish, it makes me want to keep you, our best chance at rescuing our friends, to myself. That's weakness.'
'Your love for our friends makes you strong - strong enough to trust me to rescue them, and come back to you. And my love for you makes me determined to come back alive. Lexa's wrong.'
Clarke's voice was no more than a whisper. 'I can't survive the pain of losing you. I can't Bellamy.'
'There won't be any pain because I'm not going anywhere, I won't leave you, I promise.'
Closing her eyes, Clarke nodded once in acceptance and Bellamy folded her against him, his strong arms wrapping around her as she cried, knowing she had made the right decision.
After a few minutes Clarke's sniffling slowed, and the stopped. Bellamy loosened his hold on her slightly and she wiped the tears from her eyes before reaching up and entwining her arms around his neck, pulling his mouth to hers. He returned her kiss, and they stayed, wrapped up each other for what could have been minutes or hours. They finally broke apart, breathing heavily, and Clarke looked up at Bellamy, her eyes honest and afraid.
'You all come out of there alive ok?'
'Ok.' Bellamy pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead and they pulled apart, walking back to where the rest of their people were in the camp.
When they arrived the told the others of their plan, and preparations began. Lincoln offered to take Bellamy through the reaper tunnels, and despite Octavia's protestations, it was agreed - they needed someone who knew their way around. Raven took Bellamy aside to go over the radio and getting in contact once he was in Mount Weather, leaving Clarke free to begin talks with Lexa.
In the early hours of the morning Clarke left Lexa's council tent, happy that their plan of attack on Mount Weather would work. As she stepped out into the camp, barely lit with the dying embers of a few fires, she was surprised to see Bellamy, faintly illuminated, sat by the closest one.
Glancing up at the movement, Bellamy smiled when he saw Clarke walk out of the tent.
'You waited up for me?' She grinned, crossing to where he now stood.
Linking their fingers together Bellamy tugged her along playfully as he began to walk through the camp to the collection of tents they had been allocated. 'I told you I wasn't going anywhere didn't I?'
Clarke grinned again, looking up at him.
Glancing down, Bellamy saw Clarke looking at him with a smile playing round her lips and he stopped abruptly.
'What-?' But before Clarke could finish her question Bellamy had rounded on her and crashed his lips to hers, capturing her mouth in a passionate kiss. Surprised, Clarke returned the kiss, and they tumbled into a tent together.
'Octavia's staying with Lincoln, we were supposed to share this tent.' Bellamy said against Clarke's lips and she swallowed, desire shooting through her.
Kissing him again, Clarke's heart raced as she pushed his jacket from his shoulders, letting it drop to the floor, before shrugging out of her own. Next, she ran her hands down the hard planes of Bellamy's chest, down to the hem of his shirt, before gripping it and pulling it over his head, breaking their kiss for a moment before their lips found each other again.
She had seen Bellamy shirtless before, but the breath still caught in her mouth as attraction coursed through her, almost causing her to moan out loud. She brushed her hands over his defined muscles, before gripping his shoulders as his arms moved to grip the material of her shirt, bunching it in his hands before pulling it swiftly over her head as well, throwing it behind him.
Bellamy's rough hands skimmed the sides of her waist gently before he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her flush against him again, skin on skin, the way only they could fit together. She reached up and tugged her hands through his hair, pulling him closer still, as they kissed wildly.
She felt his hands move up her back, coming to rest at the clasp of her bra, he neatly undid it and slid it from her shoulders, dropping his mouth to trail soft, hot kisses from her shoulder, up her neck and back to her lips, pulling her bottom lip into his mouth and nibbling on it, making her moan against his mouth.
Pressing her palms against his chest she walked him backwards until his legs hit the edge of his bed, and then she gently pushed him to sit, slipping her shoes off and climbing on top of his lap, a leg either side of him. One of Bellamy's warm hands gripped her waist again, the other brushed her hair back from her shoulder, and she leant her head down to press kisses along his jaw.
Bellamy's eyes drifted closed and he was struck by a sense of how exactly right everything was in that moment. Clarke lifted her head again to look at him and as he met her eyes, both their pupils dilated with lust, he was struck by how beautiful she looked in that moment. Her golden hair loose across her shoulders, her cheeks flushed and her blue eyes shining, even in the shadows of the dimly lit tent, she looked every inch a princess.
Reaching up a hand he brushed his thumb across her cheekbone, kissing her gently, and then they were kicking off the rest of their clothes and sliding under the covers, together.