Bellamy woke the next morning to find Clarke propped up on her elbow watching him.

"What are you doing?" he smiled sleepily, rolling onto his side to face her.

"Waiting for you to wake up," Clarke replied, returning his smile.

"What's the time?" Bellamy asked her.

"About quarter past nine," she informed him. Bellamy nodded in response. "Bellamy," Clarke whispered hesitantly.

"Mmm?" Bellamy replied.

"Raven nearly figured it out. She realized we hadn't slept together," Clarke said worriedly.

"Shit," Bellamy swore, more awake now. "I thought she might have."

"We'll have to act better," Clarke said, still keeping her voice low.

"I don't know if I can, Clarke," Bellamy whispered back reluctantly.

"Sure you can. Just treat me like you would if I was really your girlfriend. We both know it's not real so it won't be weird," Clarke assured him.

"Okay," Bellamy agreed. She was right, in a way. It wouldn't really be weird. It would be absolutely perfect, and at the same time heart wrenching to know it was all just pretend.

"Let's practice," Clarke said decidedly.

"How do we practice?" Bellamy asked, deciding to humor her.

"Pretend you love me," Clarke told him. Pretend. What a joke.

"So we're in love, are we?" Bellamy chuckled.

"Deeply," Clarke replied seriously.

"Okay," Bellamy nodded, matching her tone.

"Good. Alright, tell me I look beautiful," Clarke commanded.

"You look beautiful," Bellamy whispered, brushing a strand of hair from her face as he gazed into her sharp blue eyes.

"Now tell me I'm perfect," Clarke instructed him next.

"You're perfect," Bellamy obeyed, his voice thick.

"Now tell me you love me," Clarke said quietly. Bellamy paused before granting her request. Maybe it would have been easier if it wasn't true. If he hadn't spent so long forcing himself not to say those three words.

"I love you," Bellamy said, his voice wavering just a little. A lump had formed in his throat and he swallowed, trying to steady his breathing.

"Very convincing," Clarke smiled, a little sadly.

"Clarke…" Bellamy started, only to be interrupted by Raven throwing open the door and banging a pot with a wooden spoon. He supposed he owed Raven one for stopping him from saying things that he wouldn't be able to take back. Clarke and Bellamy sat up to glare at Raven.

"You guys did it!" Raven congratulated them, throwing confetti over the bed. On second thoughts, he owed Raven nothing. He scowled at her as she continued to bang the pot. "How was it?" she asked as she ceased the banging finally.

"Where did you even get confetti?" Clarke asked exasperatedly, clearly annoyed at having been interrupted.

"It's for the party," Raven grinned.

"What party?" Clarke questioned.

"Ummm… the party tonight? To celebrate Jaha's award?" Raven informed them.

"There's a party?" Clarke groaned, flopping back down on the bed.

"Didn't your mom tell you?" Raven asked.

"Nooooooo," Clarke whined. "I didn't bring anything to wear to a party!"

"I think your mom brought you something," Raven said, sitting down on the bed.

"Great. Just great. Did she happen to bring anything for Bellamy? Or did she purposefully not tell us so that he'd look out of place?" Clarke said acidly.

"Uh, I'm not sure," Raven replied biting her lip. Clarke threw back the covers of the bed dramatically and jumped out of bed, storming out of the room. Bellamy glanced at Raven and the two of them quickly followed Clarke to the biggest living room, where preparations were being made for the party. Clarke marched up to her mother and folded her arms.

"Why didn't you tell me about this party?" Clarke spat angrily. Bellamy and Raven stood in the doorway, ready for the showdown.

"I thought it would be a nice surprise," Abby responded. "I even bought you a new dress."

"Really?" Clarke said disbelievingly. "Did you happen to bring something for Bellamy too?"

"Well, no, but I'm sure Wells has something he can borrow," Abby glanced at Bellamy and Bellamy met her gaze stonily. He wouldn't really have cared except that, like Clarke, he suspected Abby had done it on purpose in order to humiliate and alienate him further.

"Of course," Clarke said flatly. She turned on her heel and marched back through the door past Bellamy and Raven who followed her hurriedly.

"I can't believe she would do this," Clarke said hotly after the three of them were back in Clarke and Bellamy's room. "Well actually I can. Which makes it worse!"

"It doesn't really matter, Clarke," Bellamy assured her.

"It does!" Clarke cried. Bellamy was annoyed at Abby too, sure. The woman was making it pretty obvious she didn't approve of him. But he couldn't figure out why Clarke was so upset about it all of a sudden.

"Why?" Bellamy asked.

"Because it's my mom! I want her to try to make an effort to like my boyfriend. Is that so much to ask?" Clarke's voice was fast becoming hysterical.

"Hey, hey," Bellamy said soothingly, gripping her shoulders. He noticed Raven silently slink away, obviously thinking it was her time to go. "Your mom loves you, okay? She just doesn't know how to show it," he assured Clarke as she looked up at him helplessly. He wrapped his arms around her then and she buried her face into his chest as he gently rubbed her back reassuringly.

"Let's not go to the party. That will show her," Clarke mumbled into his chest.

"Or we could just show up in the most casual clothes possible," Bellamy suggested with a mischievous grin. Clarke pulled her head back to smile back at him.

"Perfect," she agreed.

To Bellamy's relief, Clarke wanted to avoid her mother for the rest of the day. They managed to achieve this goal by going down to the beach for the morning, consequently also managing to get out of helping set up for the party. Bellamy was surprised Thelonius hadn't just hired people to do the whole thing for him.

Raven and Wick joined them on the beach, which meant Clarke was in full "convince them we're really a couple" mode. She got him to rub sunscreen on her back, and then she put their towels together and lay on her back, using his chest as a pillow. The weird thing was, it didn't feel weird the way it did when she was trying to piss off her mom on that first day. It was just like she really wanted to trace circles on his palm while she read a trashy romance novel. And when he chased her into the waves and fell over each other and he nearly forgot himself and almost kissed her, he could have sworn she had been about to do the same. If he hadn't known it wasn't real he would have been convinced it was. And Raven and Wick were definitely fooled by the act.

"You guys are so cute!" Raven laughed as Bellamy piggy-backed Clarke back to their towels. Neither of them could bring themselves to answer her.

Unfortunately the four of them were forced to face the rest of the household when they were called inside for lunch by Wells.

"I would suggest just staying out here, but I'm starving," Clarke said in annoyance.

"I'm sure it will be fine," Bellamy assured her with a confidence he didn't feel. Clarke slipped her hand into his as they entered the main dining room cautiously, not sure how Abby was going to be acting. As it turns out they needn't have worried as she wasn't even in the room, though there was obviously a seat reserved for her next to Kane. Thelonius, Cage, Lorelei and Wells were also seated around the table.

"Bellamy, why don't you come and sit next to me?" Marcus offered. "I've read a bit of your novel."

"Yeah, sure," Bellamy nodded. He glanced at Clarke who nodded encouragingly and let go of his hand to go and sit across the table from him. She grimaced at Bellamy as she sat down next to Cage Wallace. Bellamy gave her a sympathetic look but there wasn't really anything he could do to save her from the smarmy prick.

"So you said you'd read some of my book?" Bellamy prompted Kane.

"Yes, I've read about fifty pages. I like the premise and you're actually a fairly talented writer," Marcus complimented.

"Thanks," Bellamy grinned.

"Talent schmalent," Cage scoffed from across the table.

"You're just jealous because you don't have any," Clarke told him.

"I'll have you know I'm extremely talented at golf and plenty of other things. In fact there's nothing really I'm not good at," Cage bragged. Bellamy rolled his eyes and Clarke returned with a smirk and shake of her head.

"That's funny, I seem to remember beating you at golf just last week," Thelonius interjected with a low chuckle.

"You had an unfair advantage, I'd never played there before," Cage protested. Everyone at the table gave each other knowing looks and eye rolls. It soon became apparent that Cage was a known excuse-maker and sore loser. "Where's Dad? He'll vouch for me," Cage scowled, noticing the looks that were being thrown around. As if on cue, Dante entered the room, followed by Abby.

"We've just finished displaying Dante's painting in the foyer," Abby smiled. She faltered when she saw Bellamy sitting in what was obviously her spot but she recovered smoothly and took a place next to Raven.

"Maybe we can display something of Clarke's next time," Thelonius suggested.

"Great idea," Abby agreed, and oddly enough she seemed to be genuine.

The food was soon brought out by the house keeper, or maybe it was the cook, or the butler Bellamy wasn't really sure how many staff the Jahas actually employed here.

"You want to know what I think?" Cage announced out of nowhere. No one did want to know what he thought but everyone nodded politely anyway. "I think the world would be a better place if everyone just drove nicer cars."

"What kind of car do you drive?" Raven asked, much to the disappointment of everyone at the table.

"Well, it's not really just a car, it's a Rolls Royce after all," Cage replied snootily.

"Pretentious fuck," Bellamy muttered under his breath, but Cage caught it.

"And what do you drive, Blake?" Cage sneered at him.

"I don't have a car," Bellamy replied. He didn't really need a car and he didn't want to waste money on the upkeep and petrol.

"Figures," Cage smirked.

"Bellamy actually just really cares about the environment, so he prefers to ride a bicycle," Clarke told Cage. It wasn't a complete lie, though Bellamy wasn't really that concerned about the environment.

"It must be really romantic when he comes to pick you up on a date on a rusty old push bike," Lorelei said dryly, sipping her chardonnay.

"You know what's weird?" Cage mused, and Bellamy knew he wasn't going to like whatever Cage said next, and not just because he disliked everything that came from Cage's mouth. "Just last week your mom was begging me to date you, not that I would have, of course. And yet here you are now with a boyfriend. Odd, isn't it?"

"My mother doesn't really know anything about my life so it's not that odd at all," Clarke said through gritted teeth, shooting a glare in Abby's direction.

"How did you two get together, anyway?" Raven asked. "I keep forgetting to ask." Bellamy cringed inwardly at the question and glanced at Clarke. They hadn't bothered to discuss this part, and although Bellamy was glad Raven had managed to shut Cage up finally, he had also been dreading this particular conversation. From the look on Clarke's face, she had been too.

"Well, it's not that interesting…" Clarke started.

"How about I tell it, babe?" Bellamy offered. He was, after all, the one who was supposed to be a writer. He should be able to spin an interesting tale. Except, when Clarke nodded her assent and he began to speak, he found himself not making something up at all, but recounting a day that had happened a few months ago. A memory of a day he wished had ended differently.

"It was about a month ago," he began, okay that part was a lie, "and Octavia, that's my sister, invited us on a picnic with her and her boyfriend and some of our other friends. Octavia has pretty much always known about my gigantic crush on Clarke," he grinned at Clarke sheepishly and she smiled and raised an eyebrow at him. He knew she must remember that day, it wasn't really that long ago, but he figured it didn't matter how honest he was now. He could say anything and she would just think he was making it up for the story.

"So anyway, Octavia suggested that I should show Clarke this old tree Octavia used to love because it had these beautiful purple flowers. So we walked there and then Clarke started picking random flowers off and trying to string them together. And she told me she was trying to make a flower crown and I laughed and told her she was doing it all wrong. So of course she challenged me to do better, but little did she know I spent hours learning to make flower crowns for Octavia when she wanted to dress up as a wood nymph for a costume party once. So I presented Clarke with the most beautiful flower crown imaginable-,"

"It wasn't that good," Clarke scoffed with a smile.

"The most beautiful flower crown imaginable," Bellamy repeated. "And she put it on and said 'how do I look?' and I said, 'like the most enchanting woman I've ever had the pleasure of laying my eyes on,'" he said in almost a whisper. That was what he wished he could have said. In fact what he'd actually said was, "you look like a huge dork" and then Clarke had thrown the crown at him.

"Gag," Raven snorted. Bellamy ignored her. He'd kind of forgotten he was supposed to be telling the whole table the story of how and he and Clarke became a couple, and not just telling Clarke how he wished that day had gone.

"And then I kissed her until sunset when Octavia came looking for us," Bellamy finished. Clarke was staring at him wide eyed, her cheeks a little red, and he wondered if it was too obvious how much he really wanted that to happen. Hr glanced away before she did, unable to continue to look at the dazed expression on her face, when he couldn't figure out what she was thinking.

"What a nice story," Cage said sarcastically. "I need a drink."

"Me too," Clarke agreed with Cage for probably the first and last time ever.

"I'll get them," Bellamy said, standing up. After telling that story he thought he might need a drink too. He headed into the kitchen and pulled half a bottle of wine out of the fridge and then reached up to the cupboard to grab three wine glasses. He considered not getting one for Cage but then he decided that he would be the bigger man. When he turned around he found Abby standing behind the island bench staring at him.

"Do you want one too?" he asked politely.

"Sure," Abby nodded, and Bellamy grabbed another glass. "That was some story you told," Abby mused.

"Just the truth," Bellamy shrugged.

"I feel like I should apologise," Abby stated as Bellamy poured the wine.

"Go ahead," he replied. If she was going to do it, she could do it properly.

"I know you think I'm a horrible bitch, but I really do just want what's best for Clarke," Abby explained. Bellamy put the now empty bottle of wine down and stared at Abby. Was the woman serious? "I can see you don't believe me. But I just can't bear to watch her throw away years of study for a career path that might not ever work out. But then, you know, if she was with Wells or Cage they'd have enough money for her to do what she loves. And if you'd known Finn or Lexa you'd have seen that they didn't really love her."

"I did know them," Bellamy told her. And Abby was actually right, neither Finn nor Lexa did really love Clarke that much from what he could tell. Finn was already in a relationship with Raven and Lexa seemed to still be in love with her ex.

"So you know then," Abby nodded. "I assumed you'd be the same." Bellamy paused for a second, analyzing Abby's words.

"Are you saying I'm not the same?" he clarified, still slightly confused.

"That's what I'm saying," Abby nodded. Bellamy continued to stare at her. "It's pretty obvious that you're in love with my daughter and that she's in love with you. I'm sorry for how I've acted this weekend. I was out of line," Abby apologized.

"Thank you?" Bellamy said. He was too stunned to say anything else.

"Do you happen to have a suit? I don't want you to feel out of place at the party tonight," Abby continued.

"I do, at home," Bellamy told her. Fat lot of use that would be. Plus he had kind of been looking forward to wearing shorts and a singlet to this cocktail party.

"Maybe your sister could bring it to you? She could come to the party. It's only a few hours drive," Abby suggested. "She can stay here tonight as well."

"Maybe, but she'd want to bring her boyfriend," Bellamy said. He knew there was no way Octavia would come without Lincoln. She hated rich people even more than Bellamy himself hated them.

"He can come too," Abby nodded.

"Okay, I'll call her," Bellamy agreed.

"Great," Abby beamed. She picked up two of the glasses of wine and headed back out to the dining room while Bellamy marveled at the woman's complete one eighty.