Chapter 2:

Clarke sat in the temporary holding cell, her hands bound by actual handcuffs. She sighed heavily because she was exhausted…She could feel the dried blood under her nails, lining her skin. She thought about Miller and Harper—she thought about how it was nice that she had someone on her side during these times.

She wanted to be happy like everyone else but there were too many things wrong with the situation presented before her. She had so many questions that remained unanswered… such as, why did they never contact the Ark? Why don't they have a relationship with the grounders? Why didn't they share their resources with the grounders? Why did they choose to share resources with the Ark survivors? Why are they being so nice?

Her thoughts were interrupted by the loud beeping noise associated with her release. Clarke thought she would have to awkwardly stare at her mother but instead, she met those familiar brown eyes. "Octavia." She said aggravated, "What part of go home and don't leave did you not follow?"

"The part where you expected me to let you sit in jail for a party I threw." She said, "You're my best friend. I'm not leaving you behind."

Octavia's words made Clarke think of their previous situation. Was it weird to say she missed it? Clarke nodded because she was exhausted and Octavia's actions were already completed. "So, you told Bellamy?" Clarke looked down at her feet while she talked, crossing her arms. Was it weird to say that she missed him? She never saw him anymore. Ever. She never thought she needed him by her side but the more she walked through this place, the more she wished for the openness that she once called home.

They walked down the white hallways in conversation, noting how the hallways shifted. Clarke had the entire place memorized.

"Tell my overprotective, jackass brother that I threw a party and got you arrested?" Octavia shook her head, "I don't have a death wish."

"I doubt he would care about the latter part."

Octavia frowned, "Still haven't talked to each other?"

"No." She said, a little too much disappointment seeping through her voice. "I don't know what I expected, Octavia. Like, I really don't…its Bellamy, I mean it wasn't like we were best friends."

"No, you just put your lives in each other's hands for a month while simultaneously running a camp full of morons." Octavia said sarcastically, "Of course you weren't best friends."

Clarke sighed heavily, "I'm going to check on Miller." Her finger pointed towards the medical wing. Octavia nodded and followed. "You can go home now, O."

"I've got nothing to do at home." She said, "It's boring and I don't like to sit there and think." About Lincoln.

Clarke nodded before grabbing the arm of Dr. Tsing as she hurriedly walked across the hallway. "Nathan Miller?" Clarke realized she wasn't being too kind, "Please where is he?"

"Third room to the left." The doctor said monotonously. Clarke and she didn't have a good relationship even if Clarke had to deal with her on a daily basis alongside Abby. Octavia nudged Clarke when the doctor walked away.

"You need to work on your bedside manner." She joked, "You can't be cold towards these people forever."

Clarke shrugged as she reached the door, "He saved my life tonight. What do I say?"

"Thank you?" Octavia suggested, "I mean it's Miller…It's his job."

"It was his job, Octavia." Clarke said, "His position faded along with the rest of our jobs when they came down here." She wasn't trying to sound completely bitter but she was. God…she was so bitter. She finally pushed open the door and faced her hero. "Hey, Nathan…" She said before she spotted him in the corner of the room.

"Hey." Miller said, straightening up. "What are you doing here?" He looked over at Bellamy with wide eyes before looking back at her. Octavia cleared her throat, waving at Miller. "Damn." Clarke didn't know why Miller was being so secretive because Bellamy was asleep.

"You saved me tonight." Clarke said, "Your blood is literally on my hands."

He shrugged, "Any time. Can't have the princess dying on my watch, can I?" Clarke swallowed hard when she recalled her words right outside a few moments ago. She held her hands up and darted towards the sink to clean them. The sound of the water hitting the metal in the sink caused Bellamy to jolt awake. "Hey sleeping beauty."

Bellamy didn't respond. She felt his eyes on her. God, what has it been…couldn't just be days, could it? No…it'd been weeks. It'd been weeks since she'd seen him, weeks since she'd talked to him last. "Hey." He directed it towards her.

She looked up, "Hey." She returned to her hands, scrubbing between her fingers before hitting the anti-bacterial soap a couple of times.

"I don't have any diseases." Miller said jokingly. Clarke faked a smile and looked up at him. "You okay?" He seemed to forget Bellamy was sitting beside him. He seemed to forget that he wanted to hide the part from him.

"Ask me tomorrow." Clarke said, "Seriously, Nathan…" She said not remembering when it became Nathan rather than Miller. Maybe when Princess became more of a nickname rather than her position in camp…

Bellamy furrowed his eyebrows, "What happened?"

"Nothing." Octavia said, trying to save her own ass. Bellamy looked at her, "Okay, fine. Clarke, you tell him."

"Nathan-"

"Miller." Bellamy said almost too quickly. His eyes burning holes into her eyes when he talked directly to her. She felt the flutter in her throat before she could continue.

"Miller." Clarke rolled her eyes, "Took a bullet for me tonight." She smiled towards Miller, breaking the connection between her and Bellamy.

"Not really a bullet for you, Clarke." He said modestly, "I did tell the asshole to shoot me."

"Only because he was going to shoot me." Clarke said, "That was incredibly brave, by the way."

Bellamy stood up, taking back his crown of alpha-male. "You put yourself in a situation to get shot?" His question wasn't directed towards Miller—the person who actually got shot. Hold on…people might start to think you care… Clarke thought before she opened her mouth to speak.

"Clarke got arrested!" Octavia jumped in because for some reason she thought going to jail outranked almost getting shot. Clarke then realized how drunk Octavia had been hours ago. "Yeah."

"Arrested?" Bellamy said, "Damn Princess you've been busy."

She didn't think before she said, "You have no idea."

XXX

Bellamy and Clarke walked out of the medical room a little after 2:00 AM. Octavia had retired at that point and Miller had succumbed to the drugs keeping his pain at ease. "You saved Octavia tonight." Bellamy said sleepily while they walked around. "Thank you."

"Bellamy Blake says thank you and I don't have any way to prove it." Clarke giggled, "You look good." She blushed at her words when he glanced over at her. "I haven't seen you since we got here and you look clean." She elaborated, "I didn't mean good-looking. Of course you're good-looking…it's you."

Her fumbling words caused him to laugh, "You look good, too." He bumped into her playfully. "Where are you staying? I'll walk you to your place."

"And a gentleman." Clarke opened her mouth in an 'O' to fake shock. "Who are you?"

"Shut up, Griffin." Bellamy said, "I'm allowed to make sure you get home safely."

Clarke shook her head, "It's not home." She didn't realize she was voicing her thoughts until Bellamy grabbed her arm and stopped her.

"What do you mean?"

She tried to correct herself, "I mean it doesn't feel like home."

"Oh." Bellamy said, continuing to walk with her. "I like it here. I feel…"

"Safe?" She suggested with a sigh, "Yeah. You're right, it feels safe."

"Clarke says I'm right…damn, this is a night of extraordinary events." He mused, "I meant it when I said you look good…" She heard the change in his voice, felt the way his hand extended towards her lower back…she said nothing. She didn't fight it, she didn't pretend to be shocked about it. This was Bellamy… "Where do you live?"

"Next story." She said.

"Apartments?" He said with a twinge of something across his face. "You share with your mom?"

"No." Clarke said, "I know you have an apartment."

"Yeah but I'm—"

"You're what?" Clarke asked, "Older?"

"Yeah." He replied with a smirk across his lips. "I'm older."

Clarke shrugged, finding the stairwell railing. She started to walk faster than him once she reached her floor. She nearly skipped to her door, placing the key from her pocket in the lock. He caught up with her, his hand finding her waist three seconds before his lips found her neck. She felt him pressed behind her—not knowing exactly how to react she opened the door, welcoming the space before her. She slipped out of her jacket before turning to him. Her face felt like it was on fire while she motioned for him to take off his boots.

He did so before he opened his mouth, "Clarke…about these last few weeks."

She put her hand up, "It's no big deal." She was lying because it actually was a big deal that the only person she trusted—her partner—had abandoned her. She didn't want to think about that right now. She didn't want to think about her suspicions and her pain…she didn't want to think about the fate of Lincoln or the fate of her people or how this god-forsaken place made her feel like she was an animal trapped in a cage. She wanted to think about the superficial Bellamy Blake that stood before her. She wanted to think about sex… and then she wanted to think about absolutely nothing.

She closed the distance, pressing her lips to his in a quick manner to test the waters. He responded immediately, wrapping his arms around her waist and leading her towards her bedroom. She assumed the layout to his apartment was similar because he knew exactly where it would be. He was quick, she would give him that. Their clothes lined the metal floor that chilled her feet after moments of passionate kisses and soft moans. She went to pull away to check her surroundings but his teeth clamped gently down on her lip before her body hit the mattress.

For a second, she took in the way his cold feet mingled with hers as he placed delicate kisses on her collarbone before coming back up to her neck and returning to her lips. His tousled hair and lightened cheeks were also a sight as the motion sensor on her night light illuminated the bedroom. "You have a nightlight?" He joked while she blushed. "How cute."

"Just shut up." She said, her hand gripping his neck and pushing his mouth onto hers. His fingers ran down her sides to her calf before he took a strong hold of her leg and wrapped it around his back. She counted the seconds before he slipped himself inside of her.

One… Oh my god I'm a total fucking idiot.

Two…What the hell is Octavia going to think about this?

Three… What the hell am I going to think about this?

Four… What is he waiting for?

Five… Those have to be the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen.

She moaned loudly while he thrust into her. His composition completely shattered as his face became heated with his every action. Every now and again he'd lose control and let small groans escape his lips. Those groans were the only thing that told Clarke that she was doing it right…that the movements of her hips and the way her hands trailed up and down his back meant something to him. His neck was buried into her neck as his thrusts became tauntingly slow as if he were trying to savor the moment rather than expedite his own personal release.

She looked at him, her hand extended towards his cheek so he would look back at her. She wanted to see his eyes-how dumb was that? She just wanted to see the raw emotions in his eyes while he fucked her. On some level, that had to be insane.

And even when things became a hot white tingle she was still thinking about those eyes and the way he smiled down at her before he closed them again and kissed her lips before he started panting. He called her name in a low groan before he finished and sub-sequentially rolled off of her, his legs partially tangled with hers.

She begged her breathing to return to a state of normalcy. Literally, begged. "Clarke…" He started, causing her to close her eyes. This is just a one night thing…probably a mistake…Her thoughts prepared her for the speech he was setting up in his head.

"You don't have to say anything, Bellamy." She said coolly when she was finally able to become a rational person again. "I know how this works."

"Do you?" He said, head deep in her favorite pillow.

Clarke nodded, "Yeah. So let's not waste time, okay? I have to check on Nathan tomorrow, do a bit of medical training and you probably have other things to do. God knows you've been really busy." And there it was… all the pain she was covering up with her lie earlier resurfacing. "Don't worry about locking the door." She turned over to her side, away from him, detatching their legs in the process. He exhaled, getting out of the bed and grabbing his clothes.

She heard the door close and that's when she cried.

Hot tears falling down her cheeks like rain drops over…what? Because she couldn't possibly be crying over Bellamy Blake. That's not what it was...it was the pressure, right? The pressure of being demoted and having to live this normal apple pie life when a few weeks ago it was this adrenaline dream. Right? She was upset because she'd given up so much and she was tired—that was also why she was crying—had to be because she was tired…

She was not crying over Bellamy Blake—at least that's what she kept telling herself.

But, she was crying over Bellamy Blake and those damn brown eyes.