Clarke pulled up to Octavia and Lincoln's farm in early afternoon on Friday. She'd received a text from Octavia demanding that she show up early before all the boys so they could have some decent girl time. Even Harper was going to spend some time with them before she had to go in to work. Clarke was trying her best to be nervous and afraid of the consequences that being here should invoke, but she honestly didn't feel any of that. All she felt was excited and looking forward to some drinks and an evening with people she definitely considered friends.
Octavia and Lincoln's house was exactly what she'd pictured a home in the woods to look like. It had a wide porch that spread the length of the single story house from one end to the other complete with a porch swing on one end and rocking chairs at the other. It had cute shutters and planter boxes with colorful flowers. Sitting next to the house was a large barn. Beyond that she could see a large corral area where she assumed the horses were used.
"Clarke! Glad you found the place," Octavia stood on the porch in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. She had her hair up in a ponytail and looked completely relaxed.
"Bellamy gave me great directions," Clarke climbed the steps and accepted the hug Octavia offered.
"Come on in," Octavia opened the door and showed her inside. "Raven and Harper are out on the back deck."
Clarke followed her out to the deck and accepted the beer she offered from a cooler that was sitting outside the sliding door. Raven had a beer in her hand while Harper was just drinking a soda to which she adamantly reiterated did not mean she was pregnant, just that she had to work later.
"We're just teasing you Harper," Octavia jumped up to sit on the railing of the deck and took a sip of her beer. "Unless you have something to confess."
"No way," Harper shook her head. "I'm so not ready for that part of my life yet."
"Good cause we aren't ready for babysitting duty yet," Raven teased.
Clarke found herself relaxing the more time she spent with the girls. They were purposely including her in the conversation without asking about her past or mentioning what they'd seen at the festival between her and Bellamy. Clarke even found herself joining in when the girls were teasing Octavia about her latest speeding ticket which she swore she didn't deserve. About two hours later, after they'd made it through half a case of beer already, Lincoln arrived followed by Wick, Monty, Miller and Jasper.
"Ugh I have to head out," Harper stated as she checked her watch. She reached for Octavia and pulled her into a hug then did the same with Raven and Clarke. "Thanks ladies. I needed some girl time."
Clarke was sad to see Harper go, but was also glad as well although she'd never say it out loud. Harper leaving meant Bellamy was soon to arrive and the beer in Clarke's system was lowering all of her inhibitions. Octavia cleared her throat and met Clarke's eyes.
"What's up O?" Clarke raised her eyebrow and took a sip of her beer as Bellamy's sister came and stood next to her against the rail of the deck.
"He should be here in about 45 minutes or so," Octavia smiled knowingly at Clarke. "He'll probably go home and shower and change first. He'll want to make sure he cleans up for you."
"Stop Octavia," Clarke said as she felt her cheeks blush. She tried, but couldn't keep the anger out of her voice. She honestly was looking forward to seeing him. "There's nothing going on. I'm still new here and I have a lot going on. My house is a disaster and I'm still trying to get the people here to accept me."
"That house is a disaster," Octavia sarcastically replied. "When Bell told me you'd bought that old place I was shocked. I didn't know you were up for such a challenge."
"You want the honest truth?" Clarke asked. "I didn't think I'd have this many friends so quickly. I thought I'd be spending most of my time alone so the challenge didn't seem like that big of a deal."
"Joke's on you," Octavia teased then went to go greet Lincoln.
Clarke smiled as Octavia jumped into her boyfriend's arms and wrapped herself around him in greeting. She spent the next 45 minutes speaking with Raven and Wick. She tried to promise herself she wouldn't look at her watch until Bellamy arrived and to her surprise she didn't. The two were so hilarious together that she found herself getting lost in their company. So when she felt a pair of hands grab her hips she jumped a mile high.
"Shit!" Clarke jumped and turned to find Bellamy behind her grinning. She smacked him on the arm. "You scared me!"
"Sorry Princess," He wrapped an arm around her shoulder in silent apology. Then he slid his hand down her back, leaving a line of fire in its' wake, making her shiver. Just when she thought he'd keep his hands to himself he hooked his right thumb in her right back jeans pocket and rested his remaining fingers against her hip. Clarke looked up to find Octavia grinning at her to which Clarke rolled her eyes and tried to play it off.
Bellamy didn't spend too much of the evening away from her side. He also kept a firm hand on her somewhere too whether that be a hand on her hip, an arm around her shoulder or a hand on her back. The only time he spent away from her was when they decided to play a game of touch football and they'd ended up on opposite teams. Clarke narrowed her eyes at Bellamy and smirked.
"You're going down Sheriff," She stood toe to toe with him with hands on her hips.
"We'll see," He smirked back then turned to join his team which consisted of Octavia, Wick, and Miller. Clarke's team consisted of Lincoln, Raven, Monty, and Jasper. Clarke joined the huddle where it was decided that both girls would act as wide receivers while Monty would be the running back and Lincoln the quarterback. The defense had to count to 10, with "Mississippi" in between, before they could rush the quarterback and Lincoln was confident they'd be able to win with both girls on their side. He already knew from past experience that Raven was fast and Clarke had assured them she was too.
At the first spike Clarke and Raven took off on both sides of the yard. Bellamy followed Clarke while Miller took off after Raven. Somehow Clarke knew Bellamy would be the one to cover her and she'd purposely gone slower than usual to start out. Just when she thought he felt comfortable with their proximity she turned on the jets and flew further past him just in time for Lincoln to launch the ball in her direction before Wick could rush him. In his surprise at her speed, Bellamy stopped altogether giving Clarke the opportunity. The ball landed in her arms perfectly and she took off towards the end of the yard where they'd set up the end-zone. She could hear her team screaming along, Raven the loudest. Right before she reached the end-zone Bellamy finally caught up to her and grabbed her hips to stop her progress. He collided with her back gently, but didn't let go of her hips.
"Damn Princess," He finally let go and bent at the waist to suck in air. "Where'd that come from?"
"100 yard dash state champ 4 years in a row," She teased. "Fast is the only speed I know."
She rushed to join her teammates in the huddle, very aware he was staring at her back. She was shocked at the comment she'd just made. The alcohol must be curbing her ability to keep her thoughts to herself - sexual or otherwise. The more alcohol she consumed the more she thought about how beautiful his dark eyes were or whether his curls were as soft as she pictured them to be.
It turned out that Raven and Clarke made a great team. They were both fast and could read each other like they'd played together for years. With their tag-team effort they crushed Bellamy's team much to his annoyance. They all agreed that next time they decided to play football Clarke and Raven would be captains so they wouldn't be able to beat their opponents so badly. After the game, Clarke and her teammates were sharing a celebratory drink together on the back deck.
"Here's to Clarke and Raven and their total destruction of the competition," Lincoln held his drink up in a toast. He had an arm around Octavia who was trying her best to be a sore loser, but was too excited for her friends to be fully annoyed.
They all cheered and clinked their beer bottles together. After the toast the group dispersed and Clarke started to notice the absence of her favorite opponent. She wandered into the house and couldn't find him inside anywhere. She finally caught a glimpse of him through the front window out on the front porch in the porch swing. She smiled as she pushed her way through the front door.
"Are you pouting out here?" She teased.
"No," He replied with a chuckle. He slid over to give her room to sit down next to him. She sat down and brought her legs up to rest next to her on the swing. Bellamy wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "I love sitting on this thing. It's peaceful out here."
"It is," Clarke rested her head against his shoulder. "This place is amazing. Octavia seems to have done well for herself."
Bellamy nodded in agreement. "After the shitty childhood we both had it's amazing she's done this well."
Clarke looked up to find Bellamy's jaw clenched. She reached up and ran her fingers gently over his jaw trying to soothe whatever pain was running through his head. He smiled down at her and kissed the back of her hand.
"Our mom was a mess. She was from Portland and got pregnant in high school," Bellamy gently started pushing the swing back and forth with his foot. "Her parents kicked her out. She made her way here and got a job as a waitress. She was ok the first year or so after I was born so I've been told, but not long after I turned 2 she started getting into drugs. She'd go on and off, but she never completely stopped. By the time she got pregnant with Octavia I was making my own meals, getting myself to and from school, and taking some of her cash for clothes when I needed it. To this day we don't know who Octavia's father is. My mom made her extra drug money by being a prostitute on top of everything else. He's probably one of those jerks."
Clarke didn't know how to respond to that. What they'd been through as kids made her problems seem like a bad day. Instead of trying to come up with platitudes she placed her hand over his heart and snuggled closer. Bellamy pulled her legs over his and wrapped his arm around her.
"My teenage years were spent trying to keep Octavia alive really. Our mom lost interest in us after Octavia was about 5. It was like we were roommates in our home, not a family. O and I went about our lives and our mom went about hers. When I turned 18 I asked Miller's dad, who was a deputy at the time, to help me figure out how to sue my mom for custody of O. With his help I got full custody and we moved in with Miller and his dad. They helped me go to school for criminal justice at night and work during the day."
"I'm glad you had them in your life," Clarke slid her hand from his heart to wrap around his waist. "What happened to her?"
"My first year as a deputy we got a call about a woman who'd fallen from the bridge on the other side of town," He rubbed a hand down the arm she had wrapped around his waist. This was an important part of who he was although he didn't normally share it with too many. Most people in town had lived to see it anyway and knew at least the basic details. Clarke was making it easy to tell and easy to cope with. "I got there and finally breathed a sigh of relief when I saw it was her. That took me a long time to forgive myself for feeling. I just wanted her to be at peace and she finally was. She'd been on a bender and had fallen and hit her head."
"I'm sorry you both had to go through that," Clarke looked up into his eyes. "You're amazing. You know that right?"
"I don't know about that," He shrugged. "We were just trying to survive."
"You stepped up for Octavia when she needed someone the most. You were an adult long before you should have been," Clarke was amazed at this man and his continual modesty. It was becoming a trait she'd noticed and that made him all the more appealing. "Not many would have survived what you did plus save your sister in the process."
He leaned down and pressed his lips against hers gently. When he pulled away there was nothing but respect in his dark eyes. "Thank you Princess."
"Hey guys," Jasper's voice carried from the house right before he came through the front door. "Oh sorry. We were going to pull out a board game. You guys coming?"
"We'll be right there Jasper," Bellamy chuckled when he heard Jasper yell to the others that he'd found them in a compromising position.
Clarke said goodnight to Bellamy later that evening at her car with another kiss and felt her insides do a flip. Bellamy smiled down at her as she climbed into her car. She was done resisting this man, this group of people. They were special. Bellamy most of all.