A/N- Here's chapter 2! I apologize for any typos.

A week had passed since Clarke's awkward run in with Bellamy and since then their interaction had been…limited. There really wasn't much to say. He stayed in their apartment for 5 days before he found a roommate ad in the paper that didn't scream crazy, and then took his stuff and left. Besides one mortifying encounter involving her home late after a hospital shift and thinking no one was home, and his subsequent view of her drinking vodka straight out the bottle while she changed, they rarely saw each other.

She was always working and he found a new job as part of the secret service for the Governor when he was in the Capitol, allowing his military skills to transfer over nicely. When he spoke to her his voice adopted an air of cold indifference, yet beyond that he was respectful of her space and left her alone, almost to the point where she questioned if he was in the apartment or not even when she knew he was.

In all honesty, Clarke didn't know what Jasper was talking about. The other boy had invited her over to his and Monty's apartment the day after Bellamy arrived to get the low down on how awful he was, only to be genuinely shocked when she had no idea what he was talking about.

"What do you mean he's 'fine'!" Jasper asked with wide eyes. "The guy is a selfish asshole. Back in high school whenever Monty and I would go over to their house to hang with O, he would order us around while he and whatever girl he had that week got frisky upstairs."

Clarke felt a small twinge of something in her stomach at that news, but tamped it down with logic. "Jas high school was 11 years ago, no one is the same person they were."

Jasper rolled his eyes. "Look I'm not saying you have to forget the stuff he did, but give him another chance. You know how excited Octavia has been to have him back after three years, so don't mess this up for her. Sure he and I didn't exactly talk, but he minds his own business and that's fine with me."

Now, 4 days later, Clarke was singing a different tune. Did I really tell Jasper he was "fine?" Octavia had invited Bellamy to join their weekly movie/game night on Friday, the first one Clarke was able to attend in a while because of her hectic schedule. She had walked into the apartment to see Raven, O, Miller, Monty, Jasper, and Bellamy all seated around the coffee table with Chinese take-out boxes surrounding them, setting up Monopoly.

"Clarke! There you are, come sit, I got you orange chicken," Octavia beckoned.

Clarke smiled. "One sec O, let me go change out of my scrubs." Turning down the hallway that led to her bedroom. When she returned in leggings and a messy bun, she plopped down in between Raven and Monty, giving the former a squeeze on the arm in greeting. She gratefully took her food the Octavia was handing her from across the table, noticing Bellamy's eyes on her from where he was seated next to O and Miller. His gaze was unreadable in his olive button up shirt and she raised her eyebrow at him in a question. Can I help you or is there patient vomit in my hair? Getting no response, she abandoned the staring contest and picked out the top hat as her piece, putting it on Go with the others and digging into her food.

7 turns later most of the properties were bought and idle conversation broke out among the group as they rolled and collected money. Raven turned to Clarke as Octavia rolled. "So whatever happened with Jason? I feel like I haven't seen you in months." Clarke grimaced slightly and delayed answering by shoving some rice in her mouth with her chopsticks.

"Nothing really. We went out two or three times and it was fun, but then he got all clingy and wanting to talk all the time so I ended it."

Raven looked at her unimpressed, swinging her brown ponytail over her shoulder. "Mhmm and how soon was this disinterested-ness after you slept with him?" Clarke flushed slightly. "Shortly after," she mumbled looking down.

"Wow Princess, didn't take you as the hit it and quit it type," came Bellamy's cold and clear voice from across the table. All talk around the table silenced immediately, Jasper just holding the die in his hand looking alarmed. Clarke was shocked, she wasn't even aware he could hear her and Raven's conversation much less have the audacity to comment on it. Her blue eyes flashed in anger as she met his brown ones. I don't even know you jackass, where do you get off saying shit like that to me?!

"And I didn't take you as an eavesdropper." Clarke's voice was not amused. Octavia was looking at her brother like she didn't know him. Bellamy didn't flinch under the gazes of everyone at the table and continued. "I just didn't picture a Princess like you as the type to sleep around."

"Maybe that's because you don't know me. If you did you would know I'm not the relationship type." Clarke's voice rang with false sweetness. Bellamy kept his mask of indifference on but pushed forward.

"Let me guess, got cheated on? He broke your heart and now you just know that all men will break your heart so why try?" Bellamy commented snidely.

"Bell shut the fuck up," Octavia said, looking worriedly at Clarke.

Clarke ignored her, shooting a look at Raven instead. "Yup! You got it exactly right Bellamy! Just add on my mother cheating on my father with my favorite teacher, their subsequent divorce, a couple college fuckboys, and you have me pegged," came Clarke's flippant response. She stared him down until he had the decency to look minorly abashed. Yeah that's right ass, look at the ground. She truly had no idea what was up with him coming at her like that out of the blue.

Octavia clearly felt the pressure from the others at the table to remove him from the situation, shooting Clarke a remorseful look and no so gently dragging Bellamy away from the table and out the door into the hall.

Clarke, ever the parent, tried to defuse the situation by brightly saying "Monty's roll!" and ignoring the concerned looks of everyone at the table. The Finn/Raven/Clarke fiasco had only ended a year ago, and though they had adopted Raven into their group, it was still a sore subject. Jasper tried to catch her eye to say "I told you so" but Clarke avoided his gaze, not knowing how she would respond. Raven found her hand under the table and squeezed it, letting her know they were ok after their past had been brought up. "C'mon guys let's play." And with that the spell was broken and the group tried to return to having a good night albeit with some awkwardness.

By 11pm the rest of the group was leaving, all of them hugging Clarke a little too long for her liking. Geez who do they think I am? Like one asshole who I don't even know could bring all this down. I don't THINK so. Octavia returned shortly after, full of apologies but no excuses, which Clarke appreciated but did nothing to help her understand the dark haired man's behavior. She gave O a soft "goodnight" and a smile that didn't reach her eyes and went to bed. Laying on the mattress and feeling the cold air of the AC that finally worked again, she allowed herself to feel hurt, just for a moment, before going to sleep. Ok maybe more than a moment.

After that, nobody mentioned Bellamy to Clarke at all, not even Octavia, for a few days. If they did it was always brief. Internally Clarke could care less. She barely knew him, she wasn't going to let his outburst affect her. People she actually cared about had said worse. Externally, well she still acted the same. He really didn't affect her. Really. So imagine her surprise when she felt a buzz from her phone as she walked down the hall at the hospital only to check and see it was text from Octavia asking if she could give Bellamy Clarke's number. She sent back a quick "Why?" and resumed following her attending, Indra, to her patients room.

"I can take care of rounds for you if you need to stay here and check your phone, Griffin." I can take care of your face with my fist if you need to stay here and be a petty bitch, Anya. Clarke turned and looked at her fellow resident. "No thanks, Anya! I think I've got it all handled," her voice dripping with false pleasantness. "Both of you shut up," growled Indra from in front of them. They turned the corner and reached the patients room. "One of you present." Indra glared at them, holding out the chart.

Anya snapped forward and grabbed it, smirking at Clarke like she just won a race. Would you like a medal, raccoon eyes? "Charlotte Smith, age 8, diagnosed with bone cancer with tumors in the femur and left hip. Current surgical plan, excise tumors and fit titanium hip joint to replace compromised bone," read Anya in the most clinical voice possible. Indra nodded in approval before turning to the girl's father seated beside her.

"We plan for the surgery to take place tomorrow at noon, it will likely take 3-4 hours and then she'll remain here in recovery for a few days to monitor for signs of infection." The child's father simply nodded, clearly afraid for his daughter. Indra and Anya turned to sweep out of the room as Clarke waited till their backs were turned before shooting the little girl a goofy face and a wink, making her laugh as Clarke followed behind the others. The poor girl had to be scared, and it's not like her doctors were particularly calming. In fact, if Clarke were in her position she would probably be more afraid of Indra than the cancer.

Once in the hallway Indra stopped, facing the two women. "Anya, good job. Clarke, show more initiative. Anya you will be scrubbing in tomorrow and Clarke you have the task of paperwork. Now both of you go monitor my pre-ops."

Indra walked away, leaving Anya to tell Clarke she had the right wing patients and then sprint away. Probably so she can get a sticker for doing it the quickest! Clarke sighed, this was not shaping up to be a good day and she still had three hours left.

Her phone buzzed again in her pocket. 10 min ago, Text from: Octavia Blake. "He wants to apologize." Clarke frowned at her phone. That unfortunate incident was a week ago and now he wanted to apologize? She scrolled down some more to see another text from just now. "Clarke?" it read. Unlocking her phone she typed out "Sorry on rounds, yeah that's fine you can give it to him." Receiving an instant "Ok!" from Octavia, she slid her phone into her pocket and trudged towards the left wing, the sterile strip lighting doing nothing to alleviate her mood.

Clarke groaned as she sank down onto the bench in the resident locker room. Right now she was too tired to even change her clothes, let alone haul herself into the shower and wash the grime and Lord knows what else off of her. She decided it was best to just lay down on the bench for a few minutes to gather her strength, before attempting to get ready to go home. As she closed her eyes her phone rang, prompting her to let out a frustrated huff and kick her heels against the bench in annoyance. "Hello?" Wow sound more dead, Clarke. "Uh hey, is this Clarke?" The deep voice on the line sounded almost hesitant.

"Who's asking?"

"Bellamy Blake."

Clarke groaned internally. She did not have the energy for this right now. The man wasted no time, she had to give him that though.

"Hey."

"Listen Clarke. I had absolutely no right to speak to you like that and I'm very sorry. I would like to apologize in person, are you free for lunch tomorrow?" Bellamy said everything so fast she was almost tempted to ask him to repeat himself.

A bit put off guard, she gave in. "Um I actually have a surgery at noon, but I could do dinner?" Ok, so actually Anya had the surgery and she had paperwork, but she wasn't going to make him think any less of her. Not that she cared what he thought.

"Dinner's fine! I mean," Bellamy calmed his voice and coughed, "I'll see you at 7? The Ark?"

"Sure, see you then." Clarke hung up before her smirk could seep into her voice.

Suddenly she felt less tired. Whipping off her scrubs, she changed into street clothes and grabbed her purse, whistling as she passed Anya in the hallway. The other woman just glared at Clarke, making her smirk. The outside air was surprisingly cool, prompting Clarke to put the top of her red BMW convertible down and crank up her favorite song, Mr. Brightside. Sure the car had been a bribe from her mother to get her back on speaking terms, and under normal circumstances she would have stuck to her guns and refused, but ever since she was a little girl Clarke had wanted a convertible. And Abby knew this. Whatever, it has a great sound system and I still only speak to her on holidays.

"Destiny is calling me! Open up my eager eyes, cause I'm Mr. Brightside," she sang with abandon, letting her blonde hair whip in her face. If she put it in a hair band she would save herself the trouble of knots later, but what's life without a few knots?

The wind rushing past her made her feel like she could breathe again, reminding her of the times she, Wells, and Lincoln would escape in Lincoln's truck during high school and hurtle down country back roads as she stood up in the back. Wells would always peep worriedly at her using the side mirrors, as if one strong gust would blow her over and she would fly away. Wells. She missed him so much, especially in moments like these. Almost subconsciously, she slowed down extra soon as she approached the red light, as if through her actions she could take away his mistake. The mistake that cost him his life.

She shook herself out of her reverie, safely making it through the light and continuing down the highway, wishing she was already in bed.

Whatever random excitement for this dinner she had felt yesterday had certainly dissipated now. She was supposed to meet him at The Ark in 30 min, the restaurant was at least 15 min away, and she currently had on full makeup and no clothes. How exactly does one dress for an apology dinner? The Ark was not casual but it also wasn't a fancy restaurant. With a frustrated huff Clarke marched into her closet and settled on a navy sundress that brought out her eyes. This whole thing was bound to be uncomfortable, she should have just accepted his apology on the phone and have been done with it, but noooo apparently tired hospital Clarke was incapable of such logic.

Figuring she had about 45 seconds to be out the door, Clarke grabbed a pair of wedges that she would put on when she got there, kissed Octavia's cheek while the girl sat on the couch reading, and threw open the door, letting Octavia's "Try not to kill each other" fall on the clicking door.

She whipped into the parking lot with two minutes to spare, just enough time to fix her hair and put on her heels. Walking into the restaurant she was informed by the host that Bellamy was already seated, waiting for her. He stood when she came into view, his eyes widening almost imperceptibly as he took in her appearance. He stepped towards her and for a moment she thought he was going to hug her, she couldn't tell if she was disappointed or not when he reached around her to pull back her chair. Funny how now he turns into a gentleman. Wait no, that was mean, he did call to make amends. Bellamy pushed her chair in before returning to his own seat.

"Thank you for coming, I know you're busy with work."

Clarke nodded, taking a sip of her water. Oh how she hated uncomfortable situations. When choosing between fight and flight in emotional matters, she almost always took the latter. Thankfully the waiter brought by menus, giving her something to do with her hands.

"Look," Bellamy began gruffly, "I don't really do apologies so bear with me. I had no right to judge you like that or voice my opinions in something that was clearly none of my business. Octavia made it quite clear to me how important you are to her, and I would never want to do anything to put y'all at odds. So, I'm sorry." He looked at her intently, she matching his scrutiny with an eye interrogation of her own.

"I forgive you. I just have one question." Bellamy shifted in his seat uncomfortably, he already knew what she was going to ask.

"Why? It's not like you knew me or were personally invested in either person?" Clarke finished quietly. Bellamy's mouth opened and closed a few times as he searched for an answer. He sighed, defeated. "I don't really know. It was a rough day at work and I just felt worn down and I took it out on you. You're clearly someone who has their life together and I feel like I don't right now so I snapped. It was petty and selfish and you didn't deserve it."

"You had a rough day at work? That's what you're going with?" Clarke asked. Bellamy nodded uncertainly. Clarke faced an imaginary audience to her left. "Judges?" She pretended to listen carefully before turning back to Bellamy. "Weak, but I accept nonetheless," she declared, shooting him a small smile.

Bellamy couldn't help the laugh that rumbled through him as he witnessed her antics. He leaned his elbows on the table and interlocked his fingers, looked very at ease.

"For the record, what part of my conversation with Raven made you think I have my life together? Oh! Or was it you witnessing me hungover the morning you got here? Just curious so I can replicate the events to show my mother." Clarke smiled at Bellamy's smirk, feeling pleased with herself.

They paused as the waiter came to collect their orders. Once the man left, Bellamy leaned forward conspiratorially. "Oh definitely the hungover part, Princess. Anyone who can threaten a man twice her size with a lamp while still being half-drunk screams 'life-together' to me."

The boy can keep up, I will concede. "So you're saying I should write a self-help book?" Clarke teased. He chuckled lowly, dark eyes gleaming. "Princess, you'd be a New York Times Bestseller in a week."

The arrival of their food broke the banter, like they suddenly weren't sure what to say anymore. Each digging into their food, the mood was significantly more subdued.

Bellamy cleared his throat awkwardly. "So Princess, tell me about yourself. Obviously Octavia loves you so you're not crazy, but then again she is dating a boy with frosted tips," he paused, wrinkling his nose in disgust, "so her judgment is being called in to question." Finally, someone with sense.

Clarke nodded enthusiastically. "I know right! What does she see in him?" Bellamy gave her an approving look, clearly pleased she shared his disproval of Atom. "Um well you already know I'm an oncology resident, I live with Octavia, and about my family." Bellamy winced a bit at the last one.

Trying to smooth over the reference to his earlier mistake he asked "Why did you choose oncology?"

"My uh, my dad died of cancer my last year of medical school, and watching his struggle made me want to do something about it." She noticed he looked guilty for bringing it up. She ran a hand through her hair, straightening her dress. "It's fine Bellamy, really. I obviously still miss him, but I have my step-brother, Lincoln and step-mom, Callie to remember him with me." Bellamy nodded. "Your brother, are you close with him?" The way her eyes lit up before she began speaking answered the question for him.

"Linc? Super close. He's actually in the military like you. Marines." Bellamy raised his eyebrows in respect. "He's actually coming home in a month, which will be great because I haven't seen him in forever, he's been in Afghanistan," Clarke clarified. "Rough place," Bellamy muttered darkly.

"What about you?" Clarke asked. "What's your story?"

"I think Octavia has told you most of it," Bellamy looked at her for confirmation and she shrugged.

"Some of it."

"Dad was a low life and took off after O was born, and the second I was able to I began working after school and on weekends so my mom could go to night school at a community college nearby. After she got her degree things got better, we moved into a nicer house by the time Octavia was in high school, and then I joined the Navy because they would pay for my college. Now I'm out, I protect the Governor when he's in town, and say stupid things to my sister's roommate and best friend." When he finished he gave Clarke another half-apologetic smile.

That's the kind of smile he'll give me when he does something stupid like adopting a dog for us without clearing it with me first. Clarke smiled at him. Woah where the actual fuck did that come from. Simmer down crazy. "I've heard that Governor Johnson vapes in his office and throws wild parties at the Governor's mansion with imported apes. Care to confirm Lieutenant Blake?" Bellamy took in her mischievous blue eyes and her obvious attempt to shift to a lighter subject. He leaned in towards her extended hand holding an imaginary tape recorder, wrapping his large hand around hers to bring it closer to his mouth.

"Completely false Ms. Griffin," he spoke slowly, dark eyes never leaving her own. Unwillingly she felt her pulse speed up. Clarke shivered slightly as she felt his warm breath on her hand and the heat that radiated from his fingers. "The Governor would never import apes or vape," he drawled, leaning back in his chair and releasing her hand, "this obviously due to the fact that he smokes only Cuban cigars and imports Capuchin monkeys."

Clarke's eyes sparked. "Oh, obviously." They smirked at each other and Clarke felt a momentary pang of disappointment at the loss of his hand on hers. The waiter came by to take their plates, asking if they wanted dessert. Bellamy looked at her in silent question and she shook her head no. He in turn shook his head to the waiter, Clarke staring transfixed at the way his black curls bounced at the movement. I would run my hands through those all day.

The waiter put the check on the table and Clarke hurriedly reached into her purse for her wallet, wanting to pay and get out of there before she lost her mind further. What is going on with me? Yes, she would admit that the other Blake was attractive, she would be dumb to deny it, but the banter? The getting to know each other? Uh-uh, Clarke Griffin did not do that, at least not since- excuse me we do not think about him, her brain silenced her heart.

Bellamy apparently did not notice her internal battle as he was placing his card in the black bill holder and handing it to the waiter. "You didn't have to that," Clarke said as she realized she was too late to pay. He looked at her confused. "Of course I did, I asked you to dinner and a gentleman always pays."

Torn between rolling her eyes and a smile, Clarke settled for a simple "Thank you," and watched as the waiter brought him his card back. They stood up and he followed her out of the restaurant to her car, his hand on the small of her back as he guided her around other patrons. He whistled appreciatively as he took in her car.

"You know Princess, I actually did peg you as the convertible type." Now that was a compliment to her. "You sure seem to have done a lot of 'pegging' before you even knew me," Clarke said lightly. Bellamy reddened a bit, scratching at the back of his neck. Laughing at his uncomfortable motion, Clarke stuck out her hand.

"Friends?"

Bellamy looked her in the eye. "Friends, Princess," he said finally. He turned towards her car and opened the door for her, shutting it behind her after she got in. He gave her a lopsided smile before turning and walking across the parking lot to a black truck in the corner.

When Clarke turned the handle to enter her apartment she was smiling to herself, not seeing how Octavia smirked at her from the kitchen where she was eating ice cream right out of the tub. She waved at her roommate without looking at her as she walked slowly to her room. "How was it?" Octavia called from behind her.

"Good, O."

"It was good," she whispered to herself, collapsing on her bed.