During the five hours Bellamy and Clarke were forced to spend together before Octavia got home neither one spoke once. They decidedly avoided one another. When he saw her eating coco puffs in front of the TV, Bellamy had the sudden urge to sit on the back steps. When Bellamy was making a sandwich in the small kitchen, Clarke made the choice to have a late lunch rather than share the space with him. At precisely 2:00 in the afternoon, both sat in the living room staring at their phones on opposite ends of the couch. Every few minutes Clarke sneaked a small glance in his direction and could swear he did the same. When the doorknob finally jingled both stood up immediately and, as annoyed as she was with Bellamy, Clarke couldn't help but be warmed by the excitement on his face. He looked like a five year old on Christmas morning.

Octavia entered the house like a hurricane. She burst through the door, dropping her suitcase and purse on the ground, and rushed over to her brother. Clarke stood to the side and smiled as the two Blakes held onto each other like there was nothing else in the world.

"I'm glad you are back, big brother." Her voice was thick with emotion and his mirrored it a moment later.

"Sorry your surprise was ruined."

Octavia rolled her eyes. "Please, it was a sweet idea, Bell, but all I care about is you being here. Being safe." She kissed his cheek and hugged him again. When they parted, their eyes weren't quite free of tears. After a pause, Octavia seemed to remember the elephant in the room. She rushed over to Clarke and gave her a bone-crushing hug. "I am so, so, so sorry, Clarke!"

"Octavia," she laughed, "I told you its totally-"

"If you should be apologizing to anyone it should be me, O. I told you no when you asked but you did it anyways. I thought I said-"

"Yeah, Bell, I know what you said. But I'm almost 21, I can handle myself. We need the money and she needs the room so why the hell not?"

"Because-"

"I'm not a little kid anymore."

"I know that, O. Trust me." He huffed with annoyance.

"Then trust me when I say you are being ridiculous. Does Clarke look like she could hurt a fly?"

His dark eyes flicked over to Clarke and she suddenly felt very nervous. A second later they were back on his sister.

"What if she hadn't been the one to show up, O? What if it had been some creep-"

"I would have called Jasper or Monty."

He let out an exasperated laugh. "Really, they would protect you?"

"How dare you! You know they would." Octavia looked livid. Bellamy looked ashamed.

"I'm not questioning their loyalty, but I'm not sure they could actually-"

"Whatever, Bell. I'm not going to argue hypotheticals with you. I haven't seen you in six months and I would really love to not spend my first hours with you arguing over something as stupid as this."

For a minute Clarke thought he was going to refuse to back down. There was stubbornness in his face and his stance was one full of physicality and intimidation. However, his eyes softened and he sighed. After mumbling and apology he grabbed her bags and started up the stairs. Octavia turned her still flushed face to Clarke.

"I am so sorry. I knew he would be like this, that's why I put off telling him for so long. He will get use to it overtime."

There was an uncomfortable knot in Clarke's stomach. She loved the house, the location, Octavia… but she didn't want to come between two siblings that clearly cared so much about each other.

"Look, Octavia, I really appreciate you putting me up here but I don't want to be a problem. If it's easier I can just find somewhere else, I mean to be honest I didn't put much effort into looking before-"

"No, Clarke. He will warm up to it I promise. Bellamy is always like this."

"But-"

"No. You are staying. We have a spare room, you have spare money."

"If you're sure."

"I am." She smiled and grabbed Clarke's hand. "I need someone to back me up in arguments." They both laughed as Bellamy came back down the stairs. He rolled his eyes at them, but Clarke could swear she saw the hint of a smile playing on his lips.

"Hey Bell, have you picked up the truck from Murphy yet?"

"No, I was planning on getting it tomorrow morning when I help him with the fence." The older, grumpier Blake's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Why?"

"Do you think you could get it today, in the afternoon or something?"

"Why?"

"Um, I wanted to swing by the supermarket."

"Since when do you go grocery shopping? Plus Smith's is walking distance. I got stuff there a few days ago anyways, there is no need to go out again." He began to walk into the other room and Octavia groaned turning on Clarke.

"You need to get him out of the house at 4."

"What?"

"I have planned a party for him tonight, I called everyone after I found out he was back. It's just a little welcome home thing, no big deal. If you could get him out for, like, an hour or so I could set up and then have it be a surprise." Clarke had to give her credit, the girl wasted no time.

"Octavia, I really don't think that's a good idea."

"Of course it is, everyone loves a good party-"

"No, I mean the party is fine but I don't think he is going to agree to do anything with me for an hour." And I don't really want to have to deal with him for an hour on my own, she added silently.

"Bullshit, I'll make him."

"Octavia," she said warningly. The determined look on the brunette's face was terrifying.

"Hey Bell," Octavia called into the adjacent room, "Clarke just told me that she found an apartment she is interested in! The only problem is that if she doesn't go look at it today the opportunity is gone. She needs a ride, think you could pick up the truck and take her?"

The was total silence for a good minute. Clarke glared at Octavia, seething. In a hushed tone she admonished the girl. "How the hell am I suppose to find an apartment to go look-"

"Why can't you take her, O? You know where Murphy lives!" Bellamy's deep, disembodied voice called out.

"You are really going to let me use your precious truck?" She winked at Clarke. "He never lets anyone drive the truck except Murphy, and even that's only when Bell is on tour," she whispered conspiratorially Clarke just rolled her eyes. She loved Octavia, but it was taking all her willpower not to strangle the girl.

"Yeah," his voice was hesitant, suspicious even. Octavia's eyes widened in surprise.

"Really?"

"Yeah, take it."

"Bell, I just got back from a long plane ride and I just want to watch some shitty television. Could you please grow a pair and take Clarke to see an apartment. Isn't that what you want anyways, for her to move out?" She winced at Clarke in apology. Another moment of silence passed before Bellamy crossed back into the living room. His arms were crossed and his eyes narrowed.

"What is this really about, O?"

The dark haired girl shot Clarke a pleading look. Maybe it was guilt for what she had told Bellamy the night before, or Octavia's killer puppy eyes, but Clarke gave in.

"Its about me trying to get out of your hair. I need a ride."

He looked her up and down then shifted his gaze between both women before finally nodding.

"Fine. What time do you need to go?"

"I need to be there at 4:30 so we should leave around 3:45 to make sure we are there with traffic and all."

"Is it downtown?"

She looked at Octavia who looked pleadingly at her.

"Yes."

"Wouldn't it be easier to take a bus rather than try to find parking?"

"I don't know the bus route."

He sighed in annoyance. "Fine. We leave at 3:20. I need to get the car from Murphy first, he lives a few blocks away."

She nodded as he retreated out of the room, his shoulders slumped in defeat.

"Love you, big brother."

"Sure you do."

Octavia laughed and turned to Clarke. "Thank you so much. If he is an ass just think of all the alcohol you can use to forget about it tonight. Also, don't worry. I will give him a beating if he is a jerk."

Clarke just smiled weakly. Then she froze with a start. "Octavia, we have an hour to find an open apartment downtown."

"Oh, please. There has to be one. Come on, I'll help you look."

"Why don't you just do the party tomorrow, when you are more rested?"

"You have work tomorrow."

"How do you know that?" Clarke asked, surprised.

"Oh please, you leave those little lists you make all over the place. I found the one with this month's schedule last week."

"Why does it even matter if I am there though, I mean its not like he and I are close."

"No, but you are my friend and friends with my friends. Plus he needs to suck it up and learn to love you, I know he will."

Clarke gave her a look to demonstrate her utter disbelief that Bellamy Blake would ever love her. Or that she would ever love him for that matter. Want to jump him maybe, but love him? No.

"Oh come on. Please, Clarke." The joking was gone and Clarke could see how much this little surprise party meant to her. Octavia's voice broke as she softly added, "He has been gone for six months."

Clarke nodded at her and smiled. "We will find something, come on."

By 3:10 they still hadn't found anything.

"Oh God, why did you do this, Octavia?" Clarke groaned from her bed where she held her computer on her lap.

The younger Blake was pacing the room. "We will make it work, okay. How about this, you tell him that you know where to go but then get lost, I mean it's a big city right and you aren't from here so…"

"He would just tell me to look up the address. This is the age of smartphones, Octavia."

"Um, okay. So you leave your phone here-"

"Octavia!"

"What? We have to come up with something, Clarke!"

"Does it have to be a surprise party? Can it just be a party?"

"Yes, he was going to surprise me and so I have to surprise him." Octavia Blake looked remarkably like a three year old in that moment. Clarke groaned again. "Look, Clarke," the other woman moved over to where Clarke sat. "He means a lot to me. I mean, obviously, he's my brother. But, well, we… things were kind of fucked up when I was a kid and… we just… he just deserves something okay?"

Octavia's face was a somber, eyes wide and serious as she gazed up at Clarke from where she knelt by the bed. Clarke's throat felt a little thick as she nodded. The five-year age difference between them felt more pronounced. She felt like she needed to protect the younger woman in her moment of vulnerability.

"Okay, I'll think of something. You just get everything set up here, okay."

Octavia beamed up at her before wrapping her arms around Clarke. "Thank you so much. I will let you pick the movie for the next, like, ten movie nights."

Clarke laughed and pushed the brunette off her. "Sure you will." Octavia was a dictator when it came to movie night.

Fifteen minutes later Clarke was being ushered out the door by a very grumpy Bellamy. Octavia waved them goodbye cheerfully and winked at Clarke when Bellamy turned his back on her to descend the front stairs. Clarke just rolled her eyes for what felt like the tenth time in the past hour. The Blake siblings would kill her, she was sure of it.

She and Bellamy walked in silence for a few minutes, their only contact being the occasional brush of arms and his grunts to inform her they should turn. Soon the silence became unbearable for Clarke. She could handle it when avoiding him, but having to walk next to him was a different matter.

"Thanks for doing this."

He looked at her out of the corner of his eyes, as if trying to figure out if she was trying to pick a fight.

"Its for O, not for you."

She rolled her eyes for the eleventh time in the past hour.

"What is your problem with me anyways? I get it, you don't want a roommate. But I pay the rent; I think I'm a decent person. Why are you being such an ass to me?" She glared at him, hard. A wave a victory rolled over her when his ears turned pink in embarrassment.

He just grunted in response.

"Wow, now I really understand. Thanks for clarifying."

It was his turn to roll his eyes. They continued in silence, but he began to actually vocalize (with words, the miracle) where and when to turn. Before long they arrived at their destination.

John Murphy was not a nice person. At least that was Clarke's opinion. And Clarke's opinion was the only opinion that mattered.

He lived in a beat up house about five blocks away from Bellamy and Octavia's home. The grass was dead and littered with beer cans, the paint had chipped so much it was virtually non-existent, and there was a lingering smell of cigarette smoke. When Bellamy had stopped in front of the house, Clarke thought he was doing it just to upset her. Then he opened the gate and, like a proper gentlemen, let her go first. If she was shocked by the house, she was more shocked when Bellamy didn't bother to knock before walking in the worn front door, leaving it open in his wake for her to follow. Instead, she leaned delicately against the porch railing and tried to make the best of an uncomfortable situation.

When Bellamy remerged from the home, followed by a man that she could only assume was Murphy, he smirked at her precarious position on the railing. She felt betrayed by the warmth that spread in her belly as he raked his dark eyes up her daintily crossed legs before continuing up to her emotionless face.

"Princess," his devious grin grew a little wider, "this is Murphy." She bit the inside of her cheek in frustration at the nickname before turning to the other man and politely saying hello. Murphy gave her a flippant smile.

"Not sure why you are complaining about this one living with you, Bellamy. Look at the legs on her." She felt her blood boil as she pulled the skirt of her simple sundress down as much as she could. What an ass.

"That's because you don't live with her." No wonder they were friends, they deserved each other.

"Fuck you. Both of you." Fuming, she stomped off the porch, out the gate, and sat on the curb with her arms crossed. A few minutes later she could sense Bellamy behind her.

"Come on, Princess. Let's get this over with."

"No."

"No?"

"No. I'm not going anywhere until you apologize for what you said back there. And you better make him apologize."

"Princess-"

"No. That was out of line and you know it. I don't appreciated being talked about like an object to be ogled." After a beat she added, "And my name is Clarke." He stood silently behind her for a minute.

"Would you just get in the car."

"No."

"Fine. Stay here." She heard him retreat, a few mumbled words, and then the start of an engine. A few seconds later a beat up red pick-up stopped next to her on the road. Bellamy got out of the driver's seat, slamming the door. He opened the passenger's side and gestured for her to get in.

"Get in, Princess. We are going to be late."

"I said no. I don't care if you don't like me, you have to respect me."

He paused for a beat. "I do respect you."

"Really?"

"For fuck's sake- Murphy get your ass down here!" Murphy appeared a moment later, looking between the two of them with a slight smile on his face.

"Yah, boss?"

"Apologize to the princess."

"Clarke."

"Apologize to Clarke."

"What, you have to be-"

"Just do it."

Murphy turned to her, annoyance in his eyes. "I'm sorry." He looked back at Bellamy and held out his arms in defeat. "Happy?"

Bellamy looked at her and she nodded. He turned back to Murphy and mirrored her nod.

"Now would you please get in the God damn car?"

She got up and climbed into the car, delivering a withering glare as she passed Bellamy. Waiting impatiently, Clarke drummed her fingers against the open window while Bellamy said goodbye to Murphy and got into the truck. He started the engine and switched the radio to some old rock song, turning the volume down so the tune was faint.

They ignored each other as he drove towards the looming skyscrapers.

"So where are we headed?"

"Michigan Avenue, I think." It was the only street in the city she could think of. Bellamy raised his eyebrows.

"Little pricy there, huh Princess." She turned her head to look out the window. A few more minutes of silence passed before his gruff voice broke the pause.

"I'm sorry."

Shocked, she whipped her head around. "What?"

"Don't make me say it again, Princess." Bellamy ran a tanned hand through his short, cropped hair. "What he said was out of line and I shouldn't have condoned it. If someone had said that to O I would have decked them."

Clarke paused, trying to determine if this was a joke. Finally she replied, "Thanks." He just nodded and silence fell over them again until the old, run down houses starting to turn into small city blocks and then eventually sky scrapers.

"So what is the actual address of this place?"

"Um..." She tried desperately to think of what to say. The whole Murphy situation had distracted her from the mission at hand. It was only 3:57. She had to keep Bellamy occupied until 5 at the earliest. Octavia had asked her to try and make it 6 or even 7, but Clarke wasn't sure they could last that long without blood being drawn.

Bellamy shot her a look from the driver's side. "You do know the address don't you?"

"Yeah, no, I definitely, um… let me think..."

"Surely you can look it up on your phone?"

"Oh yeah, one second." She pretended to try to turn on her phone. "Oh, crap. I must have forgotten to charge it." Clarke had failed drama class in high school.

"Right."

"It's probably, um, just right somewhere, maybe over…"

"Princess-"

"No, I swear I remember, why don't we just drive around for a while and-"

"There's no apartment is there?"

She didn't have to answer; her wide, panicked eyes gave it away.

"Fuck, I knew O would do something like this. I just didn't think you would actually go along with it."

"I don't know what you are talking about, I-"

"Princess, you are probably the worst actress I have ever seen. I knew it the moment you said Michigan. There is no way you, or any normal person, could afford a place there."

She held her tongue. He didn't need to know that she most definitely could afford an apartment there. It didn't even matter; she wouldn't take her mom's money anyways.

"It's a surprise party isn't it? Fuck, O. I told her specifically that I didn't want any parties."

"Like you told her you didn't want a housemate?"

To her surprise she actually laughed. Not the mean, snarky laugh she had heard before but a true, genuine laugh. Clarke couldn't help but smile.

"Exactly. I guess I should be used to it. The girl doesn't listen to me at all. That ended the day she turned 10, I swear to God. She thinks she is such a sneak too, but I know exactly what she's up to. I can't believe she actually thought I would buy the whole 'beach week with the girls' thing. If I had a penny for all the times she has complained about the women at the vets office I would be a millionaire. I know she went somewhere with that boyfriend of her's." Bellamy's voice was light and full of mirth. Clarke couldn't help but laugh at how transparent Octavia was to her brother after all the girl's boasts about her many secrets. Out of all the many surprises that she had received at the hands of Bellamy Blake, this had to be the biggest surprise of all. They were actually having a civil conversation.

"You seem close."

"Oh, we are. I basically raised her. With my mom of course, but my mom passed when I was 22 and O was 14 so I got to deal with the truly shitty years."

"I imagine Octavia was quite the rebel."

"Oh you have no idea." A comfortable silence fell over them and Clarke couldn't believe how much the atmosphere in the truck had changed in only a couple minutes. "So where are we going, Princess?"

She looked at him for a moment, confused. "The apartment is fake."

"Well, duh. We just established that."

"Then why-"

"Well we can't go back now. How long does she want you to keep me occupied?"

"She said five at the earliest but preferably six or seven."

"Jesus, how long does it take to set up a shitty party?"

"She is really excited about it, Bellamy. Don't-"

"I'm obviously not going to call it shitty to her face, Princess. Contrary to her beliefs, though, I am not much of a party person. She just likes to project her own interests onto others."

Clarke snorted; Bellamy raised an eyebrow and smirked. "So what will it be, Princess?"

"Um, I'm not sure. I've been so busy at the hospital I haven't had much time to explore. Why don't you pick. This day is all about you, after all."

He scoffed and shook his head. "I'm not sure why."

"She loves you, and you have been off risking your life to keep others safe. You are a hero. Heroes deserve a day about them."

Bellamy's grip on the wheel tightened a bit and he just stared ahead, silent. Clarke could sense something was wrong, but had no idea what it could be. To ease the tension she told him about the waffle place she had been dying to go to since she saw it on the Food Network. Her lighthearted comment did the trick. Snapping out of his thoughts, Bellamy smirked and teased her about her television choices.

"Hey, say all you want but after you eat these waffles you will want to eat your words, Buddy."

"Yeah, alright."

"I'm serious."

"You always are, Princess."

In the end, he did eat his words. And four servings of waffles.

As they walked back to the parking garage a few blocks away, Bellamy checked his watch. "We still have a little over an hour and a half until 7:00."

"Well I gave you my suggestion for what to do, now it's your turn."

"Fine." He paused to think. "How do you feel about Museums?"

Clarke had to fight as smirk as her mind flashed back to Octavia complaining about Bellamy being an old man. She could practically hear the girl's fond yet sardonic voice. "Depends on the museum."

"Natural History?" She had been hoping he would want to go to the Art Institute, but natural history could be interesting too.

"Lead the way."

Clarke spent the next hour and a half listening to Bellamy go on and on about the various exhibits they saw. His vast knowledge various historical subjects was impressive, she couldn't help but feel he had missed his calling as a teacher. On the way home, she shared this thought with him.

"In another life, maybe." He said after a beat. "I did start college you know. Half way through high school I got my shit together and got into a few places. Then life happened and I ended up dropping out after a year and a half."

Despite her curiosity, Clarke didn't probe farther. The look on his face was subdued, lost in what she assumed were unpleasant memories. Instead she softly said, "There is always time to go back. Octavia said you were gonna become a cop after you leave the service, you could go back to school instead."

Bellamy just shook his head. "Nah, its too expensive. I didn't want O to get a roommate but her reasoning is solid. The house isn't cheap to keep up and I finally persuaded her to start night school in the fall, so the payments for that are gonna start soon. I mean, its either school for her or for me, and O will always come first."

Clarke was startled at how candid he was with her about he and Octavia's financial situation. She couldn't push away the knot of guilt in her stomach. It wasn't fair that someone (her) could be born with more money than Octavia and Bellamy would probably ever make. Bellamy must have picked up on her discomfort and quickly offered her a self-depreciating joke about how he would drive Octavia crazy if became a history teacher. The rest of the ride home was filled with light conversation and speculation about the party that awaited them. By the time they pulled into the short gravel patch on the side of the house that functioned as a driveway, Clarke had begun to genuinely like Bellamy. Once he lost the whole asshole thing, he could be pretty fun. If his smile was anything to go by, Clarke was pretty sure he felt the same about her.

They walked up the steps to the suspiciously quiet, dark house. Bellamy tossed Clarke a lopsided smirk and a quick wink before throwing the door open and calling for Octavia, acting as if he had no idea that a party was waiting for him. As the lights flicked on and a crowd yelled surprise, Octavia threw herself at her brother. Clarke stood to the side, smiling at how well Bellamy acted surprised as each guest welcomed him home.

A couple hours and a few drinks later, only Jasper, Monty, Miller, Murphy, and a couple girls Clarke has just met that night remained. They were gathered around the fire pit in the backyard sharing stories of their shared childhood and tossing small sticks and leaves into the crackling flames.

"We should have just gone for it, I'm telling you," Octavia was saying. "We should have done that road trip senior year."

"Yeah but LA is so far," Monty replied, pouring himself another drink.

Clarke smiled to herself as she half listened to their conversation. She was standing in front of the small fire next to Bellamy. Occasionally his large hand would offer her a leaf to throw into the flames. At one point his long fingers brushed against hers and Clarke blushed as she felt a warm heat flutter spread through her body.

"Being stuck in a car with you lot is my idea of hell," Murphy joked.

"Well you wouldn't be invited, duh. You, Miller, and Bell were already out of school," Octavia stated as if it was obvious.

"You really think Bellamy would've let you drive to LA by yourself at 17?" Miller scoffed. Clarke heard Bellamy chuckle quietly next to her before raising his beer bottle to his lips.

"He wouldn't have had a choice, I would have just gone." Octavia gave him an affectionate smirk from across the fire. Bellamy just grunted.

"No, the way to do it would be to take an RV!" Jasper slurred. He gangly boy was noticeably drunker than anyone else.

"How the hell would you have paid for the RV?" Murphy asked incredulously.

"Love," Monty replied without hesitation. Laughter spread around the circle and Clarke felt home for the first time in a while. Surrounded by such loving, caring, fun people made her feel warm. Or maybe that was the alcohol. Or the fire. Or the tall, freckled soldier handing her leaves.

"Are you trying to tell us something, Monty? Did you get a new job?" Miller joked. "Do I need to file a report?" The cop's smile suddenly disappeared as he looked in Bellamy's direction. Miller cleared his throat. Clarke noticed Bellamy's hand had frozen in the process of handing Clarke another leaf. Across the fire, Octavia's laugh had died on her lips.

After an awkward pause, one of the girls (Clarke thought her name was Maya, but she wasn't totally sure) broke the silence. "Forget the RV, the gas would cost a small fortune." It did the trick, suddenly everyone snapped back into the conversation.

"Well, that solves it. We need to do it now that we have Clarke." Octavia gave Clarke a teasing smile.

"Ah! Yes! That's genius! Clarke has a small fortune!" Monty shouted excitedly.

"Please, Monty, she has a gigantic fortune. We can do… like… a trillion road trips. We could go to the sun! Clarke can pay for a rocket ship!" Jasper looked at her like he genuinely believed Clarke could get him to the sun.

"Wait, what?" Bellamy looked around, confused.

"Oh my gosh I can't believe you don't know!" Jasper slurred, putting one hand on Bellamy's shoulder. "Claire is…Cl-Clarke is loaded! She is so much money."

"Jasper…" Clarke warned; the look on Bellamy's face had suddenly grown dark.

"We don't need Miller anymore," Jasper continued, giggling between words. "Clarke knows General Candy… no General-"

"General Kane," Monty threw in as Miller rolled his eyes. Clarke was still focused on Bellamy who had gone stiff.

"Yep, him. And the mayor of this nation's fine capital, isn't that right, Clarkey?"

"Jasper-"

"Oh and the boat, that boat!" Octavia screamed, her beer spilling over the edge of her cup as she jumped up from her camp chair. "Clarke needs to buy us a boat!"

As the rest of the group distracted themselves with a drunkenly ridiculous conversation about whether a yacht or fishing boat would be better, Clarke and Bellamy stayed silent. He no longer handed her leaves and she could feel the anger rolling off of him.

"You could have afforded it." He finally said, his voice quiet. The words were meant just for her.

"What?"

He turned to her, familiar resentment building in his eyes. "You could have afforded an apartment on Michigan Avenue."

"Bellamy-"

"No, fuck off, Princess." The fond tone Bellamy had used when saying the nickname that afternoon was gone. Instead, he spit it out like a curse. The guilt in her gut turned to anger. It wasn't her fault or her choice that her family had money any more than it was his fault that his family didn't. Why should something as stupid as family fortune matter?

"Why don't you? God, to think I actually thought that I could tolerate you today. You really are just a selfish, irrational, jackass. So what if I didn't tell you I have money? And so what if I have money? I came to Chicago to get away from that life, away from my mother and her connections. I wanted to start fresh!"

"So is that what this is?" His voice was biting.

"Is that what what is?" So was hers.

Bellamy moved closer to her, using his physicality to intimidate her. Clarke swallowed hard. "The pretty, little, rich princess is trying to 'get away from it all' and 'start fresh' because its just so damn hard to live with that silver spoon in her mouth!"

"How dare you!"

"No, how dare you. How fucking dare you use my sister to fulfill your privileged little need to 'find yourself,'" Clarke could feel the others quiet and stare and her and Bellamy, but he seemed not to notice. His dark, heated eyes were focused on Clarke and Clarke alone. "I bet you feel real fucking good about yourself, I bet its real fucking fun to play poor knowing you can always run back to mommy's money and connections. Well I have news for you, Princess; my sister and I are not your God damned charity cases. Our home is not some shithole for you to go on some bullshit discovery trip in!"

"Bellamy," Octavia's voice was quiet, but stern.

"No, O. I told you, I fucking told you not to do this." He gave Clarke one more scornful glare before stomping back into the house, slamming the sliding door so hard it made Clarke jump.

To put it simply, Clarke was livid.

"Clarke, I'm so sorry. I'll talk to him and make him…"

Ignoring Octavia, Clarke marched after Bellamy. The last time Clarke had been this angry was when she left her mother in DC. She stomped into the house with her fists clenched in rage. When she didn't see Bellamy on the first floor, Clarke took the stairs two at time. She didn't bother to knock before bursting into his mom's old room. Bellamy was pacing but stopped as soon as he saw her, once again coming in close to intimidate her with his formidable bulk.

"What the fuck are you doing here, Princess?"

"I'm not finished with you!"

"And you think I give a-"

"No, you listen to me you piece of shit!" He raised his eyebrows but didn't speak. "You don't know me! You don't know a single thing about me so don't you dare judge me! You don't know why I'm here; you don't know what I have been through! You are an ass and-"

"Oh 'cause I'm sure you have been through so much, Princess." Bellamy's voice dripped sarcasm and Clarke saw red. Before she realized what she was doing, she slapped him across the cheek. Hard. Resisting the urge to pull back and apologize, Clarke stared him down. Bellamy rubbed his cheek in shock; anger radiated from his every pore.

"You leave me the fuck alone, Blake."

He didn't say anything, but his glare spoke a thousand words.

"You don't want me here? Too fucking bad. I'm here, I'm staying. But you leave me alone." With that Clarke turned and walked back into the hall, slamming the door behind her. As she went back downstairs she saw everyone else gathered in the living room. They all tried to look busy and not like they had been listening to every word of her and Bellamy's exchange. Monty moved towards her, no doubt wanting to offer some comfort, but she shrugged him off and moved into the kitchen. After grabbing a bottle of Vodka, Clarke made herself at home on the back steps.

"To think I actually liked him for three hours," she muttered bitterly to herself. Despite their progress that afternoon, it appeared Clarke and Bellamy were just oil and water.