Chapter 8:

Nathan Miller stormed the drop ship as if he were going into a perpetual battle against a fire breathing dragon. Immediately, she tossed the ration pack she'd been ogling for the better part of the afternoon on the table before biting her lip. They waited in silence, her eyes challenging his repeatedly until their grand leader made an appearance. As expected, Bellamy was angry and entertaining his infamous charade of Rebel King in the presence of his far-too-willing disciple. If she did not know him, if she could not see past the infinite amounts of camouflage he'd perfected after years of education, solitary, and just life—she would continue to hate him for every ounce of his compiling worth. But, behind his dark eyes she could see the hidden compartment in which he kept his rawest form. There were deep scratches, all her own doing so she could penetrate the barrier but the lock remained for now—and she vowed she would open him up and consume him like the finest delicacy her tongue could ever touch.

But for now, she could put on her own mask—equally perfected by injustice, solitary, and her newfound struggle. Her eyes could shift from sparkling ocean tides to hauntingly dangerous waves of destruction in an instant. For now, she could recognize that Miller was in the room, soon followed by Atom and Murphy and she needed to be on her best behavior. Her glare was almost steeled but a little head darted through the room with a bucket of water before their built-up, tension-fueled match could take place. She imagined they were going to discuss the grounder and the best way to handle it. They would also speak on the guns that had yet to be retrieved but ultimately would be once the chaos ceased, or at least quieted down.

"Raven said that if you look like you're going to pass out again, that I should hit you with water." Charlotte claimed, which caused Clarke to frown. Raven was probably attempting to make Charlotte feel better but her advice was deluded. If Clarke got into one of her heated moments again, throwing freezing water on her could send her into shock. "So, I'm going to take care of you like you take care of me." Clarke's lips wiggled as she tried to fight back and smile. It wasn't because of Charlotte, but Murphy and Atom—they really couldn't know her obvious weak points. There were some definite trust issues in the entire scheme of things.

Even if she did not want to seem weak, she found herself speaking to Charlotte. "That's really sweet of you, Charlotte but I feel fine now. Plus, as much as I love Raven…she's wrong. If you throw water on me when I'm…well, if something like earlier happens again, I could go into shock and…" Don't say die. "that wouldn't be good for anyone." As she watched Charlotte's face fall, she felt the need to go overboard with affection. "But really, thank you for taking care of me."

Charlotte locked her in a hug, "I thought you were going to die."

She found her jaw tensing because she could feel Bellamy's eyes burning holes into her head. Thankfully, Murphy cleared his throat and started in on his dick speech. "Well, I hate the break up the motherly love and everything but we have grown up matters to discuss so beat it, kid." Murphy started to chuckle, "So kiss mommy goodbye and leave." He ordered Charlotte after the girl barely budged. Clarke was fairly certain she shot Murphy the bird as she walked out of the drop ship, leaving her bucket behind, and Clarke was also fairly certain a smug grin broke out on her face after Charlotte left.

Atom opened his mouth, probably to scold Murphy on being such an ass but Bellamy interrupted him. "Everyone out!" He barked and the boys seemed to straighten up at his orders. "And Murphy…stay the fuck away from Charlotte or I will hang you from a tree."

Murphy nodded although he seemed quite pissed.

Soon, they were alone.

"Clarke…" He almost croaked, the worry in his eyes so desperate and so filled to the brim with concern and confusion and massive amounts of stress. "You were sick and you didn't tell me?" Hurt. There was also a significant amount of hurt in his eyes. "I—uh—are you okay now, really or were you trying to get her to leave you alone?"

Clarke sighed, "I'm fine. I was just overheated earlier…I wasn't going to die, Charlotte just worries because I'm practically her guardian. There's nothing to be worried about. I was just hot." He stepped closer, gaining her undivided attention when he pressed his thumbs against her temples and curled his fingers in her hair. Shattered; it seemed like the only appropriate word to use to describe his current facial expression. He was somewhere between annoying jackass and overprotective untitled significant other. "Now, Bellamy Blake…don't get emotional over a little morning sickness and my sensitive skin."

He pulled her closer, pressing a wet kiss to her forehead before he wrapped his arms around her upper back. "I can't lose you, Clarke…I can't lose you or this baby so I need you to take care of yourself. I need you to tell me when things like this happen."

"There are tho—"

"Holy shit!" Clarke furrowed her eyebrows when someone's feet started to make contact with the second floor ladder. Monty looked between her and Bellamy with the wildest expression. "You two? Oh my—this is great, this is better than great. This is—" Bellamy was still holding her as if he needed to protect her from Monty's mad scientist appearance. "—holy shit, I can't believe you two are a thing. And…and I guess congratulations? Dude, you knocked Clarke up. Good job?" He offered his hand out to Bellamy who glared at it. Clarke thought she heard him growl but she wasn't exactly confident in her approach to addressing that hot sound so she let it go.

"Monty…" Clarke warned as she broke away from Bellamy, "You can't tell anyone about this. This is a secret. If I find out you've told anyone at all…" She had to think of the best possible torture, "…I will make you bunk with Murphy until this baby is born. Got it?"

"M-Murphy?" Monty asked with obvious disappointment, "That's just cruel and unusual punishment right there…it's not like people aren't going to notice. You're really filling out and stuff and—" He stopped himself from continuing, eyes widening as he met Bellamy's eyes. Clarke arched an eyebrow but found herself stealing a glance down her shirt. I am not filling out…god, am I? Am I getting fat? Oh my god…I'm going to get fat. I'm going to look like a…a…what the hell were those things in the ocean? Fuck, think…whale! I'm going to look like a goddamn whale! Her thoughts were interrupted by Monty's sputtering, "N-n-not that I've been looking at her chest or anything, Bellamy…I really haven't….stop looking at me like that, man! I was just stating the fact that you can't keep this a secret from the next how many months. Speaking of, for future reference a possible bets—how long has this been going on?"

Bellamy's fist were balled so Clarke knew she had to step in. "It's fine, Monty…you're right, we can't keep this a secret forever but I think we need time to sort everything out."

"Well, I mean you're pregnant so you're obviously in love." Clarke hissed and Bellamy winced. Monty looked like he just found out one of those pre-war holiday figures were fake. Like, Bellamy and Clarke simultaneously destroyed everything he knew about relationships, love, and pregnancies in one short minute. "Oh, what the hell—you really did knock her up!"

"Hey!" Clarke objected, "I really don't want that to be the phrase people use around the camp so cut it out. You don't need the details of conception, Mont." She used his nickname because he really looked like he needed a hug or a pat on the back or something. "But, Bellamy and I didn't decide to have a baby because we were just dying to start a family together. Just because we aren't in love with each other, doesn't mean that this isn't…isn't…c'mon, Bellamy don't just stand there glaring daggers—help me out!"

"We care about each other a lot, okay? We've known each other for a month, sorry we aren't busting at the seams with confessions, roses and paper mache." Bellamy informed them both of how he really felt. "No, this pregnancy wasn't planned but it is obviously accepted and we're happy with it. Now, if you don't keep your mouth shut until Clarke decides to tell people, your tent in which you will bunk with Murphy will actually be a tree. You can be punishment buddies."

Monty processed the information and eventually nodded his head and smiled, "This is just so great!"

And Monty is the first person to KNOW but he's not the first person to be TOLD.
Review! Review! Review! I loooove the feedback! I honestly never expected this story to be so widely accepted and liked but it makes me feel so happy every time I read the reviews so keep them coming. I tried to add a little humor to this but we warned, this is not the end of the "Clarke-didn't-tell-Bellamy" event.

-BROOKE