Chapter Six: Celebration
Bellamy only knows that it's Clarke's birthday because guards will be required at her party. He'd tried to be assigned to it, but all the cadets wanted to work – a chance to meet The Princess too tempting for them, and he couldn't rock the boat, not this soon after the masquerade party. He mentioned it to Octavia the day he found out, but only really in passing. She's taken that information and ran with it – making a 'Happy Birthday' banner and hanging it in the middle of the room, along with silly hats that she intends to make him wear. He tries to temper her expectations – telling her that Clarke probably won't be able to come over on her birthday, but she pays him no mind, telling him that they can celebrate whenever she can come over.
Clarke stands in the middle of the bathroom, picking uncomfortably at the dress her mother had asked (told) her to wear to the party, it's long and entirely too formal; black with a little shimmer. Avery comes up behind her and pulls at her hair as she's trying to put it up in an intricate braid, "Hey" she calls out, annoyed. He sticks his tough out, she rolls her eyes, pulling the last piece of hair in to place, and securing with a pin. She sighs, takes a step back, and looks at herself in the mirror. She's never wanted to smash anything as badly as she wants to smash the mirror, but she'd only have to clean it up and put it back together, so instead she crinkles her nose and turns away.
"You're going to be late" Avery tells her, shoving his watch in her face. She pushes his hand away and smacks his shoulder before turning the door. "Happy birthday, Clarke" he says more seriously. She smiles at him in thanks and he adds, "We're good for dinner tonight, right? You'll be able to make it home before I have to go to work?" he asks.
"I'll make it" she promises. In stark contrast to her, Avery loves birthdays, including hers.
She leaves, making her way to her mother's pod in Alpha. She'd agreed to meet her there before going to the party, so that they could arrive together. She sighs before pushing the door open, her mother's voice greeting her almost as soon as she does, "Clarke, happy birthday". She fusses with Clarke's dress a little, smoothing out wrinkles and straightening the neck line before ghosting her hand over Clarke's braided hair.
Clarke takes a half step back, "Thanks" she mumbles, tucking a lose hair behind her ear.
Abby straightens and nods, "Are you ready?" she asks and on Clarke's nod they walk down the hall to the cafeteria, her shoes click-clacking while Clark has to focus a little on keeping her balance. Her party is a lunch, and one she is required to attend under her deal with her mom. When they get to the cafeteria, she looks around at the decorations that adorn every girl's birthday party on Alpha; pink ribbons tattering at the edges and white tablecloths yellowing at the edges from too many washes.
People clap when they see her, and she forces a smile, her hatred of this event has nothing to do with them and she needn't be rude. She finds Wells easily and sits down next to him, they don't understand each other as well as they used to, but he knows how she feels about her birthday and he's still easily the friendliest face in the room. Things mostly happen around her, while she sits and chats with Wells, eating a large lunch. Until, they bring in a cake, covered with light white icing and strawberries. She forces herself to sit still while people fuss about the cake, then asks Wells to cut it for her and excuses herself.
She's going crazy, and she just needs a minute to herself, a minute to not be putting on a show. So, she walks across the hall and into an enclave that mostly hides her from view. She turns away from the crowd and presses her fingertips to her forehead, pulling in a deep breath. "Hey" she hears from behind her, she startles, jumping a little then turning to face whoever has found her.
"I'm sor-" the apology dies on her lips when she sees that its Bellamy. She smiles, breathes out a relived sigh and pulls her pinky's in a half circle under her eyes, where tears had just started to fall. "Are you working at the party?" she asks, noticing that he's in uniform.
"No," he shakes his head, his breath catching then releasing in his throat at the sight of her, statuesque in her long dress and heeled shoes, "That was a rough ticket to get – everyone wanted to see the princess celebrate" he says, reaching out to squeeze her elbow softly.
She wants to tell him not to call her princess, but with her hair braided around her head like a crown and a party happening 100 feet away in her honor, she's never felt more like one, so instead she breathes out a half smile and tilts her head a bit. "I uh," but then she sees that his hand in bandaged and grabs it, pulling it up and holding it out like a question, "Bell?" she asks, concern lacing her voice.
He looks away, embarrassed, "There was a malfunction with some of the tasers at work. It's not a big deal" he promises, stepping forward, closer to her. As they were pulling the tasers out of the cabinet at the beginning of the shift, about a half dozen had malfunctioned and activated.
She pulls his hand towards herself and turns it over in her own, "it is a big deal" she whispers and turns their hands, so she's holding his hand right below her chin and he lifts them so his knuckles graze her cheek. She turns her head and kisses his hand, her lips landing on the knuckle of his second finger. For a moment neither of them move or speak until she swallows, "You should have come to medical, I -"
"Blake" she's cut off by a member of the guard, who shouts at Bellamy from about 10 feet away. Bellamy shakes his head, mouths an 'I'm sorry' to her and turns to follow the guard. He wants to turn, at least tell her 'happy birthday' but he can't, not now, so he turns his head a little to see her walking back to the party from the corner of his eye, holding her dress in her hands as she passes over a set of stairs to keep herself from tripping.
She settles back next to Wells, who bumps her shoulder with his affectionately. People aren't focused on her – too preoccupied with their cake and each other, so Wells pulls a box out from under his chair and holds it out for her. "Wells, you didn't need to," but he dismisses her with an easy wave of his hand. She smiles and opens he box to a set of art supplies; colored pencils and charcoal lining the inside. She smiles, sets the box down and hugs him. "Thank you so much" she breathes out and he similes, dunking his head a little.
Another hour or so passes and she stands, hugging Wells again, and thanking him for the present she's putting in her bag. "Happy Birthday" he tells her again as she gathers another couple of things. She smiles, thanks him and heads off to find her mother.
Her mother is talking to Chancellor Jaha and she stands a few feet away and waits for her mother to notice her. "You're leaving" she says when she walks over, noticing Clarke's bag. "you should really stay a bit longer" It's the third time Clarke has tried to leave, her mother stopping her each time with angry words about fulfilling her promises hissed from the side of her mouth.
Clarke nods, "Avery has to work soon, and if I want to have dinner with him at home for my birthday, I have to go" Abby winces a little, hating that Clarke calls that tine pod on Factory home, but nods.
"Happy Birthday, Clarke" Abby whispers, pulling her into a hug that Clarke doesn't exactly return but doesn't shrug off either.
"Thanks, mom" she nods softly, before walking away.
The tablet that Bellamy and Octavia has does not pick up the Ark station, it's old and has been dropped a few hundred too many times, so the receivers broken and it can only play downloaded media. But Clarke left her tablet the last time she was there and the receiver on it worked just fine. Octavia has taken to using it to monitor the Ark station, which was normally just a static view of the ground from wherever they are at the moment and a monotone voice telling them of any upcoming events or dangers ('routine maintenance scheduled on Thursday, expect colder than normal temperatures' becomes the soundtrack to their lives), so Bellamy is not surprised to find her watching it when he gets in from work.
Only, it's not talking about the maintenance now, it's showing a photograph of Clarke from the party this afternoon – obviously taken without her knowing, she's facing Wells, talking and smiling brightly, the recording is informing everyone that it's her birthday. Birthdays are always announced on the Ark station, but it's normally quick and in between repetitions about maintenance, or whatever else is going on. This is like a full feature, and Bellamy supposes that it makes sense; she's the princess - assumed heir to the Medical Director throne and a spot on the Council.
"She looks so beautiful" Octavia says, pulling him from his thoughts. He hums noncommittally. She looks around at the decorations she's made and scrunches her nose, "Maybe this was a bad idea, I mean she had all that" she says pointing at the picture of the party.
"I think yours is better" Bellamy tells her and then reminds her that she has no idea how long it will be before Clarke can come over again.
"I know, I know, I'm pushing it" Clarke says as she throws her weight into the door to open it. Avery is already dressed for work, but is lounging on the couch.
"Thought maybe you were too cool for me" Avery teases, going to pull food out of the kitchenette.
"I usually am" she says, setting her bag down and sitting on the couch and kicking her shoes off. "It was hard to get away" she says, pulling her feet under her.
"No worries" he answers coming up behind her. He walks around and places a plate in front of her; mashed potatoes (her favorite) and a sweet bread with icing that she likes much better than the cake that was at her party. She doesn't know how gets the potatoes and sweet bread, but he does every year, and he always tells her that he just trades for it and gives her a smile that promises it's fine. She doesn't ask him how anymore, just makes him swear that he's not doing anything illegal to get it – she doesn't think she'd survive watching him float, especially if it was over something he did for her.
They talk mostly about her party while they eat, she blushes when he says that they covered it on the Ark Station ('just like the natural disaster you are'). They're finishing when he looks at his watch a mumbles a 'shit' under his breath. He bends his wrist so she can see the time, "I gotta go" he says standing and taking their plates to the kitchen, "Don't you dare wash these, birthday girl" he says and she rolls her eyes but hold up her hands in a 'you win' gesture.
"I have something for you" he announces and she cocks her head to the side.
"Avery" she says sternly, like a warning.
"Just come here" he says pulling out a leather-bound book.
"You and Wells" she says it like an accusation, realizing they coordinated on her gift and he laughs.
"We still talk occasionally" he says, handing it to her.
"It's beautiful" she says, running her hand over the front. He'd made it, she can tell that, probably out of scrap leather. It's bound together by stiches and 'C.G.' is engraved on the front. Inside are pages and pages of blank paper for her to draw on. She smiles, folds it against her chest and wraps her arm around him. "You really should not have, but I love it" she whispers and he chuckles against her ear.
After he leaves, she puts the book in her bag next to the art supplies and smiles. She wants to change, feels ridiculous in her dress, but it's late already and she wants to go before they'd be asleep. She half shrugs to herself, pulls her bag onto her shoulder and walks down the hall.
She knocks on the door, her rhythm lighter than usual as not to wake them if they are sleeping, it's late and she wonders if she's rude for showing up now. But Bellamy cracks the door, then opens so she can come in and she hopes that it's okay. "Were you asleep? I can go if you were asleep. I'm sorry to show up so late, but I wanted to come by since it's my…" she trails off as she looks up and around the room. Octavia has made and hung a banner that says 'Happy Birthday, Clarke' across the living room wall and there are small decorations made of paper all around the room "…birthday" she finishes in a whisper.
Octavia has come out of the back room, cheeks flushed pink in embarrassment, Clarke pulls her into a tight hug the moment she sees her. "Thank You" she breathes out and Octavia smiles. Bellamy watches the exchange with a smile. "This is amazing" Clarke says as she takes a step back from Octavia.
"It's nothing" Octavia says, pushing her hair behind her ear.
Clarke shakes her head, "It's not nothing, 'Tavia" she almost whispers, reaching up to touch the banner, rubbing the corner of the paper between her fingers. After a moment, she remembers something and goes over to her bag, pulling out a white box, "It's not a lot, but I wanted to bring you guys some" she says, holding it up.
Bellamy's "I don't think you're supposed to give gifts on your birthday, Princess" and Octavia's "What is it?" fill the room at the same time and all three of them laugh. The kitchen table has a sewing machine and fabric draped over it, so Clarke sets the box down on the coffee table and pulls the lid off, putting it on the kitchenette counter.
Neither of them have ever had cake before, most people outside of Alpha hadn't, so she'd made sure to take some from the party. Octavia licks her lips excitedly and goes to the kitchenette to grab three forks, sets them down next to the cake and sits in the arm chair by the coffee table, waiting for Clarke and Bellamy.
Bellamy's fingertips skim her spine until they touch the small of her back and his hand drops and she turns to face him, "You didn't have to," he tells her, his eyes narrow and studying her.
"I wanted to" she says, barely above a whisper, then smiles and sits on the couch.
A moment later Bellamy sits next to her, close enough that she can feel his body heat but not so close that they're touching. He tells Octavia to go ahead, and she excitedly takes a bite. "I didn't think even royalty could get real strawberries" he says, sliding his fork into the cake.
Clarke smiles, and leans back on the couch, pulling her legs up, and folding then next to her. "When I was young, maybe like ten, my father told me that the one thing that he wanted to try but was never able to was strawberries, Agro could never get more than a dozen or so of them to grow in a six month span, so he'd never had them, but he'd read about them" She swallows, smiles a little sadly, "so that year, when they asked me what kind of cake I wanted for my birthday, I said I wanted one with strawberries. I didn't really think it would happen, but with both my parents on the Council, and Jaha being their best friend" she pauses, scoffs at her own words, "On my birthday they carried out a cake with strawberries on the top" she sniffles a little, "My dad loved them" she adds almost wistfully, "Now, it's kind of a tradition" she's fiddling with the broken watch on her wrist when she's done.
Bellamy puts his hand on her knee and she gives him a half smile, before leaning her head back against the couch. As soon as she does she pulls it forward again, the braids making it uncomfortable to lean against. She reaches up and pulls the pin out of her hair, then undoes the elastic holding the rest in place, she tosses the pin and the elastic in the direction of her bag, making a face when she misses and Bellamy laughs under his breath. She runs her hand through her hair until all the braids are out, then leans back again.
Octavia is completely transfixed with her dress, she touches the fabric a few times and tells Clarke how beautiful it is. Clarke smiles and shrugs a little, "I kind of had to wear it" and Octavia nods even though she doesn't really understand why Clarke wouldn't want to wear it. (the next time Clarke comes over, she brings the dress, washed and folded, and gives it to Octavia. Tells Avery that she finally traded it at the Exchange for something more praticle, like she'd been wanting to for years. Octavia cries when Clarke tells her she can really have it.).
For a while, an easy silence fills the room, and Clarke's eyes start to drift shut, until Bellamy's wrist bumps her knee and she looks over at him. He's holding out a fork with a bite of cake on it and she smiles and takes it, watches him pick his own fork back up and take another bite after. She sets her fork back down on the table, chewing her bite, and watches Bellamy do the same, silently giving the rest of the piece to Octavia. Bellamy scoots back on the couch, settling in and Clarke watches him and Octavia for a moment, "I hate my birthday" she says quietly, "I have ever since my dad was floated, maybe even before that" she adds, looking between Bellamy and Octavia who are watching her quietly, "But this is really nice" she finishes. Octavia smiles and Bellamy keeps watching her.
Octavia puts on a movie, but they're all so tired they know they won't make it to the end, so she picks one they've all seen. She wraps herself in a blanket and stretches out in the chair, eyelids already heavy. Bellamy lets out a low laugh, watching her already struggling to stay awake. Clarke smiles and is still for a long moment, before she grabs the pillow from the end of the couch and puts it on Bellamy's lap. She lays down a moment later, her head on the newly placed pillow. For a moment, Bellamy is still and she's sure she over-stepped, but then he grabs the blanket from the back of the couch and unfolds it onto her. One of his hands rests on her shoulder and the other goes to her hair, pulling though it in an easy, repetitive motion. She lets herself breath in relief and moves one of her hands up to take his, holding it by her shoulder.
It's his still-bandaged hand and she unwraps it carefully to look at the burn like scar forming on his palm. She makes a face and presses her lips just above the mark before holding his hand lightly, taking care not to press on the wound.
By the time the movie has been on for half an hour, both the girls are asleep. Bellamy watches them as they both breathe easy and deep. He thinks that this is one of the best moment of his life; Octavia isn't in immediate danger and they have someone they could trust. Octavia had needed someone other than her brother and her barley-present mother to be around, and she had that now. And if Bellamy is being honest, he needed someone he could talk to – someone he could trust, and he had that now too. He doesn't know why she didn't turn them in, or what made her so determined to help them, even when he made it clear that her help wasn't welcome, but he is thankful she did.
Clarke adjusts in her sleep a little, turning so she's on her back and not her side, and Bellamy doesn't think much of it until she mummers something under her breath and flinches. He wonders then, if she's having a night mare. He's not sure if he should wake her, so he soothes her hair away from her face and puts his hand on her cheek. "You're okay, Clarke" he whispers, running his thumb along her cheekbone. Her eyes move beneath closed lids and he moves on hand to the top of her head and leans closer to her and says her name, trying to wake her without scaring her. She sighs in her sleep, "Hey, I've got you, you're alright" he mummers and finally, her eyes screw shut before popping open.
"Bellamy" she breathes out his name and sits up. She scoots closer to him, so they're touching and runs her fingers under her eyes – collecting tears in front of him for the second time that day. He puts one arm around her and moves his other hand to her cheek, running his thumb over her jaw to collect a tear that slid past her fingers. "I'm sorry" she whispers, shaking her head.
"Are you okay?" he asks lowly, glancing at Octavia out of the corner of his eye to make sure she hadn't woken up.
Clarke nods, "I'm okay. I'm embarrassed, but I'm okay"
He laughs, "Don't be" and waits a moment, thinking, considering, before sighing. "Look, I know it's not your birthday anymore," he says glancing at the clock by the door, telling him that it's now early the next morning, "But, I couldn't find the time to give you this yesterday" he pulls a necklace out of his pocket and dunks his head, embarrassed, when he holds it out to her. He hadn't wanted to give it to her in front of Octavia (he wasn't sure why) and he hadn't had time when he stumbled on her in the enclave by the cafeteria. He hadn't even been sure he would give it to her, but when he heard about her birthday he'd made it; a charm made of burnt and cut wood, shaped like a tree and hung on a silver chain.
Her eyes get wide and she breaths out his name almost reverently, picking up the charm in his palm and pulling to towards her, the chain dragging behind. Her eyes flick from the charm to his face a few times before she settles on him and says his name again. He looks up at her, and their eyes connect, "you draw them a lot" he says by way of explanation, she'd often sit and draw while spending time with Octavia and he'd seen many tree-filled drawings of the ground.
She smiles softly, "Yeah, I do". She turns the pendant over in her palm a couple of times, "It's really beautiful" she says quietly, then holds it out, silently asking him to fasten it around his neck. He takes it from her, and does so, his fingers brushing the skin and trailing down her arms after. She turns to face him again and pulls him into a hug, "Thank You" she whispers, her lips brushing his ear.
"Happy birthday, Princess" he whispers back.
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