A big thank you to my beta LuxeLisbon and also to Lisa vas normandy for giving me some advice on the story. Hope you guys enjoy the chapter, sorry it took so long. And a special thanks to those who took the time to leave a comment, they always brighten up my day!

I still couldn't get over how much my life had changed over the past few months. Clarke had invaded every single part of my life, but what was most surprising was the fact that I was happy about these changes. In the past girls were only good to satisfy my needs. I was convinced that the reason I went from one girl to the next was because I didn't want to commit, but the truth was that none of them had held my attention long enough for me to want to stay with them. It was different with Clarke; she challenged me and pushed me to be better. My grades had done a complete 180 and most of my teachers we're commending me for all my hard work. There was an actual chance that I could get into a good school and make something of myself.

My mother was extremely pleased with me; I had never seen her so proud as when she had to sign my latest report card.

"I don't know what's gotten into you Bell, but whatever it is keep it up." I wasn't sure how my mother would react if I told her Clarke was the reason I was doing so well.

My mother wasn't the only one that noticed the change; my friends were starting to ask questions and I had no explanations to give them. When I had finally mustered up the courage to tell Clarke that I had feelings for her, I was sure that no matter what I didn't want anybody at school to know about us. Of course Clarke had assumed the worst and believed it was because I was ashamed of her. But Clarke being Clarke gave me the benefit of the doubt and agreed to go along with it. I kept justifying the secret by telling myself I was protecting her, that if it came out we were together things might get harder for her at school. Truth was I was scared that the opposite would happen, that people would accept her and someone would realise just how great she was and take her from me.

Between Miller's continual comments on how hot Clarke looked and Murphy's firm belief that rich people like her deserved to be taught a lesson, lunch had become the worst time of the day for me. I had to spend the entire time ignoring the inappropriate comments they were both making towards my girl, while watching her from afar. At least I took some comfort in how well she and Octavia were getting along. It was nice to see them happy whenever they hung out together, even if often they teamed up against me. Octavia was angry with me for keeping our relationship a secret, but since I refused to do anything about that she eventually stopped mentioning it, sending me death glares from across the cafeteria whenever she caught me staring at Clarke.

"Seriously Blake, whatever is happening you can tell us we'll help you. You need to get out of this funk."

"I'm not in a funk, sorry if I don't want to end up graduating with no prospects."

"In all the time I've known you you've never cared about that, who is she?" Shit, Octavia was right I was acting too differently for them not to eventually catch on.

"Who's who?"

"Don't play dumb Blake the only reason any man has to change is if a girl has him wrapped around her finger. You've got a secret girlfriend, that's the only thing that would explain your recent behaviour and the fact that you never have time for us anymore." Wow I had always assumed Murphy was too dumb to notice anything, turns out he wasn't.

"I don't have a secret girlfriend, Murphy chill, I told you I don't want to end up working a dead end job." There was no point to continuing arguing with them, they didn't understand, I got up and threw out the rest of my lunch. It was true Clarke was a huge part of the reason I was changing, but I also wanted to make something out of myself so I could be proud. Clarke was right I could be so much more if I believed in myself, having her in my corner was great motivation, but if I was ever going to make it I also needed to believe in me.

As I was walking towards my locker I didn't notice the blonde the came rushing towards me, she kissed me as she slowly pushed me towards the janitor's closet. Clarke and I had found ourselves in this position multiple times over the past few months, but this was the first time Clarke had initiated anything at school. Despite being still angry that I didn't want to take our relationship public she had been very good at keeping her distance from me whenever there were people around us. Honestly I was impressed with her self-control, cause I struggled everyday trying to keep my hands off her.

"The key, get the key it's in my pocket." Fuck what was she doing to me, in the most sensual way imaginable Clarke reached into my front pocket to retrieve the key to the closet. Making a copy of this was probably the smartest thing I'd ever done. Once the door was open Clarke practically shoved me through it, resuming her kissing as soon as the door closed behind her.

"Not that I'm complaining princess but what brought this on?"

"I don't know, I was watching you during lunch and you seemed a little sad, I was hoping this would cheer you up. Are Murphy and Miller still on my case?"

"Honestly I don't even remember why I'm friends with them, they don't understand that I'm trying to prepare myself for the future. They think its about a girl." Clarke raised her right eyebrow at me.

'Ok maybe it's a little bit about a girl. This smart, pretty and very sensual girl that I'm so into I don't know what to do."

"Oh Bellamy you're such a charmer, but seriously don't let them get you down, I know how hard your working to make sure you get into a good college. You can do anything you want, don't let them convince you otherwise."

"Thank you, princess."

"For what?"

"For believing in me, no one's ever seen past my background and less than stellar attitude, I would still be wasting my time if you hadn't given me a push."

"Yes you can be quite an ass when you put your mind to it, but Bell I wouldn't have been able to see there was more to you if you hadn't let me in. When you let go of the carefully built defense you have to keep people away you are quite an amazing person." Truth was she had destroyed those walls in a matter of seconds, having Clarke in my life had redefined everything. I loved her, I couldn't deny it any longer, she made my heart full and I couldn't imagine my life without her. I needed to change the topic before I ended up spilling more about my feelings than I was ready to.

"So, are you doing anything special with your mom over the Christmas break?" Clarke's entire body suddenly stiffen and she looked down in shame. I knew Clarke had a difficult relationship with her mother; I hated the way she always needed to be guarded around her not able to be herself and tell her mother her hopes and dreams.

"Actually no, no plan, she leaving for a medical conference and won't be back till after New Years."

"She's leaving you all alone during the holidays, what the hell?"

"She thinks women of science like us shouldn't be sentimentally attached to such nonsense like Christmas. It's fine; you don't need to worry about me. It would probably be worse if I actually had to spend my two weeks off with her. She's still on my back about picking the perfect college, so it will be nice to not have to worry about that for a couple of days." She was trying to act like it didn't bother her, but I knew her, knew when she was upset even when she tried her best to hide it. To have lost a parent and have the second one so emotionally detached it must be incredible painful.

"Clarke you are not spending Christmas by yourself, you'll come to my house and spend it with my family."

'Bell I can't impose on you guys, what would we even tell your mother?'

"The truth that my girlfriend is coming over." I might not be ready to admit my feelings to Clarke, terrified that she might not feel the same way about me, but I knew this was the right thing to do. The idea of her all alone in that big house I couldn't stand it.

"Bell." She looked up at me, with those big blue eyes, like I was her entire world. For a second there I was hopeful that maybe she could love me too.

-:-

Octavia was thrilled when I announced to mom that I was inviting my girlfriend over. My mother of course immediately started bombarding me with questions about who this mysterious girl was. I decided to tell her as little as possible, I wanted her to meet Clarke in person and make her own opinion of her before she learned that she came from the wealthier side of town.

Octavia announced that if I was bringing over someone, so would she. Apparently I wasn't the only one that was hiding a relationship. It turns out she had started to see this guy from her class, but she didn't really elaborate. I made a mental note to ask Clarke about this, since she had attended the class with Octavia she must have met the guy.

Since Clarke's mom was away I spent most of the holiday just hanging out at her place. It was nice to have so much time just the two of us. The guys had dropped by my place a few times, but my mother always sent them away claiming not to know where I was.

No secret girlfriend, ya right. Whatever Bellamy, just be sure you come to the big new years party this year.

Murphy's texts had decreased in volume once he realised I wasn't planning on answering anytime soon. However, as the New Year approached he started hounding me again with renewed enthusiasms. I didn't see how I was going to get out of attending that party without him finding out about Clarke. I knew Clarke was planning on going to the party with Octavia, but it simply wouldn't be the same as spending the evening cuddled together. So much for me being a player, in a matter of months Clarke had completely redefined what I considered having a good time.

"We might not be able to kiss at midnight, but at least that way we'll be in the same room."

"Are you guys sure you want to come? It's mostly people from school."

"Well be fine don't worry so much, plus Lincoln will probably come with us, nobody's going to bother us."

"Lincoln who's that?"

"Shit."

"Clarke?"

"He's your sister boyfriend, but I promised not to say anything to anyone."

"By anyone, she clearly meant me. Why doesn't she want you to tell me about this guy? He's coming for Christmas, it's not like I'm not going to meet him? Tell me, what's wrong with him, why has she been hiding him for this long? His he a drug dealer?"

"Of course not, your sister has pretty high standards for herself. There's nothing wrong with him, he's just not what I expected. Like you said you're going to meet him at Christmas so you can make your own opinion of him. I'm staying out of this."

"Oh Clarke unfortunately for you I know your weakness so you will tell me what I want to know." I slowly approached her, my hands hanging in front of me ready to attack.

"No Bell, you know how ticklish I can be, stay away please!" She started running away, but I was hot on her tail and in no time had her pin down on the bed tickling her everywhere as she called for mercy.

"Fine! Fine! I'll talk just please stop." She managed to get out between fits of laughter.

"There's nothing wrong with him, he's just a little older than her."

"What do you mean older?"

"Well he's not a student in her class, he's the assistant teacher."

"What the hell?" Clarke how could you not tell me, this guy's clearly taking advantage of her, how old is he like 30? Oh my god I'm going to kill him and then Octavia for being so stupid.'

"Ok Blake calm down you're overreacting." Clarke pushed me down on the bed straddling me so I couldn't rush out the house to talk some sense into Octavia. It was hard to concentrate on my sister with her standing over me like this.

"First you're not going to say a word until you met him officially because I promised Octavia and you wouldn't want to cause any problems in our friendship would you?" I begrudgingly agreed, as much as I didn't want to wait I knew Octavia could hold a serious grudge and I didn't want Clarke to be on the receiving end.

"Second, he's only two years older than her. He's in his first year of college. He's a good guy Bellamy, I wouldn't have kept this from you if I didn't think Octavia was in good hands with him."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, he respects her. I don't see him doing anything that would cause her harm. You'll see when you meet him."

"I guess I can try and make an effort, Octavia's been so good to us."

"Thank you."

"No thank you princess, for trying so hard to get along with Octavia and keeping her safe."

"She's great, probably my best friend, well she's actually my only friend, but I'd like to think if I had others she would be the best." Of course if it weren't for me she would probably have tons of friends.

"Don't give me that look Bell it isn't your fault ok. You've got to stop thinking that the whole school hating me is because you've got some kind of hold over everybody's opinion. They would probably still think that I don't belong there, even if you hadn't made such a big scene on my first day. You have got to stop feeling guilty about that. I'm fine. We're fine. Now do you want to leave the house and go confront Octavia or would you prefer if we moved onto more pleasant activities."

All thought of Octavia disappeared as Clarke took off her shirt giving me a wonderful view of her breasts from my current position.

-:-

I was a mess, Clarke was coming over in a few minutes and my palms were so sweaty that I couldn't touch anything without leaving marks everywhere. Lincoln was already here, and Clarke had been right he seemed to be a good guy despite their age difference. Octavia was surprised at how civil I was acting.

"You can thank Clarke; she made me promise to give him a chance before I started acting like the awesome big brother everybody knows I am."

"Are you sure she said that second part."

"Ok I may have added that bit. But seriously O, don't get mad at Clarke she gave me the heads up for Lincoln so I've had time to mentally prepare myself. I can't say that I like that he's older, but he seems to genuinely care for you, so I'll let it go. But so help me god if he does anything to hurt you."

"He won't" a huge smile spread across her face "oh my god thank you Bellamy I was afraid that you would kick him out."

"Hey I'm not that big of an ass."

"Actually you were, before you met Clarke. She's good for you, don't keep her hidden for too long, you might end up losing her. And I'm warning you if you do, I'm siding with her."

The doorbell interrupted us; this was it there was no going back once my mother met Clarke.

"She'll love her Bell don't worry."

Octavia had been right; my mother took to Clarke right away. When she asked about her parents, Clarke remained silent. I wasn't sure what she was most reluctant to discuss; the lost of the father she adored or her wealthy mother who couldn't bother to spend Christmas with her only child. But when she did get the courage to talk about them my mother offered simply condolences and moved on to another topic. Clarke's mother wasn't brought up again, and I notice my mom send looks filled with fondness towards her during the night. I don't know why I was so nervous at the start of the evening. I should have known better, that my mother would never judge Clarke based on her parents wealth or status.

Clarke and Lincoln were in the kitchen doing the dishes, they had insisted since my mother had been so generous at having them over. It took some arguing, but my mother eventually relented. Octavia was in there with them, probably claiming to be supervising so she didn't have to do any of the work.

"I like her son, and she's clearly part of the reason you've been keeping out of trouble lately, why did you keep her hidden for so long. It's clear from the way you act around each other that this isn't new."

"I don't know mom I guess I was being stupid. I was afraid you wouldn't think we should be together because she comes from the wealthy side of town. I've heard you say crap about these people for years and I didn't want Clarke to feel unwelcome."

"Oh Bell, yes most of the people I work for are self-entitled asses, but that doesn't mean everybody that has money is like that. She's a good girl, you look good together."

"Thanks mom."

"She can stay the night if she wants, spending Christmas night alone can't be very thrilling, just remember the walls are very thin."

"Mom!"

"I'm not an idiot son."

"This is so embarrassing, can we not talk about my sex life."

"If you're mature enough to sleep with someone you're old enough to talk about it, I just want to make sure you're both safe."

"We are mom, I promise." Thankfully Clarke, Lincoln and Octavia came out of the kitchen putting an end to the conversation. I could understand why my mom was worried, she had given birth to me when she was pretty young and had gotten pregnant with Octavia son after. She loved us to death, but I think part of her would have wish she had waited before having kids.

"Well I'm going to head to bed, you youngsters have fun."

"Thank you so much for having me over, I haven't had such an enjoyable family meal in a long time."

"You are very welcome Clarke, you can stop by any time, you're part of the family now." Clarke blushed at my mother's comment; I could tell my mom's words meant a lot to her. Lincoln also thanked my mom, before she left for her room.

"Well it's just us now, what do you guys want to do?"

"How about we watch a Christmas movie?"

"Sounds like a plan, O you pick something me and Clarke will be right back." It might not be the smartest idea to leave Octavia in charge of picking the movie, I had a feeling I was going to be subjected to watching Love actually again, but I wanted a few minutes with Clarke.

"So my mom said you could stay here tonight, I think she doesn't like the idea of you being alone at home." The blush was back; if I had known the affect bringing Clarke home would have on her I might have considered doing it sooner.

"Your mom is incredibly sweet. You're lucky to have someone in your corner that cares so much about you." Tears were forming in her eyes and I knew she was thinking about her dad.

"Hey princess, I know you miss him, but I'm here if you want to talk about it."

"Thanks Bell, it's so hard because he made our home a home and without him it's become this empty shell. I can't remember the last time me and my mother sat together for a meal because we wanted to spend time together. I'm trying to make her happy, but nothing seems to be enough."

"Clarke I know how difficult it is with your mother, but maybe distance is just her way of dealing with her grief. Have you tried to talk to her about it?"

"No, not really I guess I could try, it couldn't really be worse than the way things are now."

"You feeling better?"

"Yes."

"Good, now how about we put you in something more comfortable, not that I don't love the dress your wearing, but you'll be more comfy watching the movie."

"And what exactly did you have in mind mister Blake, I didn't bring any clothes with me." I was grinning from ear to ear; I had the perfect outfit in mind for her. I got out a pair of sweat pants I knew they would be a little big on her, but if we rolled the waste they should be able stay on her hips. The shirt was an old soccer jersey, but the best part was that it had my name written in the back. The idea of having Clarke wear it was a real turn on.

She smirked at me, when she noticed the writing on the short. I feigned innocence, claiming I had no idea that was on there.

"Ok now leave the room while I change."

"Come on Clarke it's not like I haven't seen it before."

"True, but can you guarantee me that you will be able to keep your hands off me while I slowly undress." She was right. I hesitated before walking out of the room, what was I going to talk about with this Lincoln dude. I wanted to keep my promise to Clarke but at the same time I needed to make sure he was good enough for O.

Well here goes nothing.