Hey babes! Got a brand new fic for ya! Been working on this one for quite a while, and think I've finally got it to a good enough place that I feel comfortable starting to post. This has really been a labor of love, writing this fic (well, transforming it since it started out as a fic for another ship) and shaping it into something that I hope people will want to read.
I'm excited to finally have this out for everyone to read, so I hope you all love reading it as much as I loved writing it.
Enjoy!
*July*
Staring out the car window, Clarke watches as all the trees and houses pass by in one big blur. She lets out a heavy sigh and presses her face further against the glass, the remnants of a day's worth of tears still evident on her face. She doesn't bother wiping them away. She's upset, she's angry, she's sad, she's mad.
"Are you doing okay back there, Clarke?"
She turns her narrowed eyes on her mom in the front seat. "No."
Her mom sighs heavily. "I know you're still upset, sweetheart. But you—"
"Why aren't you?" Clarke asks sharply.
"What?"
"Why aren't you upset about Dad? He's dead! Why aren't you still crying?" she shouts angrily, more tears spilling from her eyes. "And I don't wanna move! I wanna stay with Wells! I don't wanna leave him! He said I could stay with him!"
Her mom sighs again. "I'm not having this conversation with you right now, Clarke."
"You never do." Letting out a huff of air, she crosses her arms across her chest and leans back in her seat, sinking down some. She continues to sulk the whole rest of the drive, letting her eyes drift back to the view outside her window.
Everything's different now and she doesn't like it.
A week ago she had a dad and was excited to start kindergarten soon with all of her friends including her best friend Wells. Now her dad is dead, she's moving to a new town where she doesn't know anyone, and her mom isn't even acting sad about any of it.
Clarke just wants everything to go back to the way it was before.
Eventually, they reach their new house, an off-white two-story home with a nice enough front yard and a porch that extends the length of the front of the house. It doesn't look anything like their old house, and that just makes Clarke cry more.
Once the car comes to a stop in the driveway, Clarke silently unbuckles herself and pushes open the car door, stepping onto the pavement. She reaches back inside to grab her backpack off the seat, then shuts the door and walks around to the back of the car to stand by the trunk and wait for her mom to open it.
"Do you need some help?" her mom asks as she shuts the trunk once Clarke's picked up both of her suitcases.
"No." She turns and slowly makes her way up to the front of the unfamiliar house, struggling a little to drag her suitcases behind her.
Once the front door is open, she steps inside and drops her bags because they're starting to hurt her hands from how heavy they are. But she was determined to do it herself because she's almost six, she can do things on her own without help.
"Alright," her mom says, stepping in after her and setting one of her bags down on the hardwood floor, "why don't you go upstairs and take your things to your room? It's the first door on the left-hand side. When the moving truck gets here we can start putting your room together the way you want it."
Clarke frowns. "I want my old room."
Her mom sighs. "I know. But this is our home now, Clarke. This is where we're going to live and where you're going to go to school in the fall. Now go put your things away."
"Fine." Clarke takes a deep breath and grabs both of her suitcases, dragging them behind her up the stairs to the second floor of the house. She doesn't know this house, she doesn't like it. Her mom told her that it used to be her house when she was little, that it's where she lived before she moved away. And now they're going to live in it because Clarke's grandparents are traveling all over the world so they don't need it anymore. Clarke wishes they could just stay in their old house, but her mom says that they need a fresh start, that she doesn't like the way people look at them back home anymore.
Clarke just wants everything to go back to normal. She just wants to play outside in the pool with Wells and eat popsicles until their tongues change color and then fall asleep in the backyard in their sleeping bags.
Pushing open the door to her new bedroom, Clarke crosses the carpet to the bed. She lifts her suitcases onto it, one after the other, followed by her backpack, then sits on the edge of the unfamiliar bed and looks around the room, taking it all in. Four plain white walls stare back at her and a window with ugly white blinds is behind her.
There's a small, two-drawer nightstand and a three-shelf bookshelf on the wall to her right. A closet with two sliding doors is directly across from her, the doors pushed all the way open. The wall next to that one has the door to her room and a small table with a chair.
Sighing heavily, Clarke fights back the tears that are trying to spill out. She unzips her backpack and pulls out the sketchbook and colored pencils her dad gave to her for her birthday last year. She tucks her legs up underneath her body, sitting criss-cross applesauce, and starts drawing. Anything to keep her mind busy so she's not thinking about her dad.
Halfway through her picture, Clarke frowns. She doesn't like the colors she picked. Something about it doesn't look right.
Tossing her sketchbook to the side, she slides off her bed and shuffles across the carpet to go back downstairs. Even if her mom is busy, maybe the TV is working and she can find something to watch.
Passing through the front room of the house, Clarke sees her mom in the kitchen with her cell phone pressed against her ear as she paces, talking animatedly to someone on the other end. No surprise there. Her mom is always busy. Except for this past week. That's the only time.
Stepping into the living room, Clarke quickly finds the remote control for the TV, though it takes her a moment longer to figure out how it works. It's not the same one they had at their old house. Just another thing that's different.
"Clarke? What are you doing?"
She looks up to see her mom in the doorway to the living room. "I wanna watch TV."
"Not now. I think I heard an ice cream truck outside a second ago. You can grab a couple of dollars out of my purse to get something."
Clarke sighs heavily, tossing the remote onto the couch and crossing to where her mom's purse sits on the side table just inside the door. She's not in the mood for ice cream right now, but her drawing was making her sad, and her mom said she couldn't watch TV. And she doesn't know anyone here yet, so playing outside with anyone isn't an option. And none of her toys have arrived yet.
Grabbing two one-dollar bills out of her mom's wallet, Clarke pulls open the front door and makes her way down the front steps toward the sidewalk. Right in time to see an ice cream truck pulling around the corner.
Quietly and slowly pulling open the front door of his house, Bellamy takes a tentative step forward, ready to cross over the threshold when a voice speaks up behind him, making him freeze mid-step.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Turning around, he looks up to find his mom towering over him, one hand on her hip and the other resting underneath her pregnant belly. She has a stern but gentle look on her face, though she looks really tired too.
He gives her a sheepish smile. "Um...hi, Mommy."
"Hi. What are you doing?"
He shuffles on his feet, glancing down at the floor with a frown. He doesn't like it when his mom is mad, especially since she's carrying his little brother or sister. He knows it's not good for the baby if his mom is too upset with him. He doesn't want something to happen to them. Especially since he's the man of the house since his daddy isn't around and neither is the baby's daddy.
"Bellamy."
He looks up. "I'm sorry. I wanted to go to Nate's house. He's got a new game he wanted to show me."
His mom sighs, kneeling as best she can in front of him, running a hand over his head and smiling softly. "I know, baby. But you can't just leave the house without telling me first, okay? If I look up and don't see you then I'll get really scared and worried. Does that make sense?"
He nods. "Yeah. I'm sorry. But can I still go to Nate's?"
"Not right now, baby. Nate's dad already told us that they're going to be out of town for a few days, remember?"
Bellamy's brows furrow together tightly as he thinks about that. Then he sighs. "Yeah. I remember."
"Okay, so you can't go to Nate's house today. But give me ten minutes to finish up the dress for Ms. Hansen and then maybe we can go down to the park for a little while. If you want to, of course."
He beams, bouncing a little on his feet. "I want to!"
His mom smiles. "Okay. So go do something to keep busy for ten minutes and then we'll go. Sound good?"
He nods, smiling. "Yeah. I'm gonna set my timer."
"You do that. And then come get me if I'm not done yet when your timer is."
"Okay." He steps forward and hugs his mom tightly around the neck, pressing a kiss to her cheek. "I love you, Mommy."
She hugs him back just as tightly. "Oh, I love you too, my sweet boy." She presses a kiss to the top of his head and then lets him go, giving his back a gentle pat as he goes.
Moving as fast as he can back down the hallway to his bedroom, Bellamy jumps up onto his bed to grab the timer he uses when he does his school reading, and sets it for ten minutes. He puts it back on his nightstand and then grabs his favorite book, lying back against his pillow and opening it to the page he was on last. He reads aloud to himself while he waits for the ten minutes to be up. He needs all the practice he can get with reading so that he can read stories to his baby brother or sister after they're born.
Ten minutes later, his timer goes off. He puts the bookmark in between the pages and closes the book, silencing the timer as he slides off his bed and hurries out the door. He can't keep the smile off his face the entire way.
"Mommy!" he calls through the hallway as he goes. He eventually finds her in her sewing room, sitting in front of her machine. "Mommy," he says, stopping in the doorway. "It's been ten minutes. It's time to go to the park."
His mom looks up at the clock on her wall and then over at him. "So it is. Go get your shoes on and I'll be right there."
"Okay." He rushes out to the living room and immediately sits down to pull his shoes on, struggling for just a moment to tie the laces correctly. But he gets them tied and then continues to sit there waiting patiently for his mom. Well, not very patiently, actually. Because he really wants to go to the park.
A few seconds later, his mom emerges from the hallway all dressed and ready to go, sliding her purse onto her shoulder. "Alright, who's ready to go to the park?"
Bellamy jumps up to his feet, grinning. "Me!"
She smiles. "Then let's get going."
He eagerly takes her hand and pulls her toward the front door. He waits once they're outside so his mom can lock the door and then he grabs her hand again to help her down the porch and toward the park.
"I think I'm gonna try the monkey bars," he tells his mom as they walk—well, he's skipping down the sidewalk while his mom walks.
She smiles at him. "Do you think you can do it this time?"
He nods determinedly. "Yeah. I'm gonna do it. Then I can show all my friends."
"Well, I'm excited to see you do it."
He smiles to himself as they continue walking, thinking about everything he's going to do at the park. He wishes Nate could be there too because Nate's his best friend, but he knows he can still have fun at the park by himself. His mom always says he has a big imagination.
A second later he lets out a quiet gasp. "Mommy."
"Yeah?"
He stops walking and turns sharply toward her. "I heard the ice cream truck. Can I get one please?"
His mom tilts her head. "Hmm. I don't think I have any money for ice cream right now."
"Yes you do," he insists. "Mommies always have money for the ice cream truck."
"Oh, alright." She digs into her purse and pulls out a few dollar bills for him.
He grins. "Thanks, Mommy." He takes the money and hurries down the sidewalk toward where the ice cream truck is parked. He gets in line behind all the other kids who are waiting, bouncing a little on his heels. He really wants ice cream.
He steps forward when the girl in front of him does, not even bothering to look at the pictures of ice creams and popsicles on the side of the truck. He already knows what he's gonna get too; a chocolate Crunch bar. They're so yummy.
"Sorry, little miss, but you're seventy-five cents short for your ice cream."
Bellamy frowns when the girl in front of him sniffles.
"But I didn't even wanna get an ice cream," she says to the ice cream man. "My mommy told me to come get one when she heard the ice cream truck and now I wanna get the Spongebob one."
"You can have one of my dollars," Bellamy speaks up, getting the girl's attention.
She turns around to look at him, tears coming out of her blue eyes and rolling down her face. "What?"
"You can have one of my dollars," he repeats, holding the dollar bill out to her.
She glances down at it and then back up at him. She wipes the back of her shirt sleeve across her eyes. "But...but you won't have enough to get any ice cream."
Bellamy shrugs. "That's okay. You look sad. Ice cream might make you not be sad anymore. I'm not sad so I don't need one."
She gives him a tiny smile. "Thanks." She takes the dollar from him and then turns to give it to the ice cream man.
Bellamy watches with a smile of his own as the blonde girl gets her ice cream from the man and then a quarter in change. He takes a few steps away from the curb, letting the girl have some more space and for the next kid behind him to get an ice cream.
"Here's your quarter," she says, holding it out to him.
He shakes his head. "You keep it."
She smiles at him, no more tears on her face. "Thanks. I'm Clarke."
"I'm Bellamy. Why were you crying?"
Clarke's smile turns into a frown and Bellamy realizes that maybe he shouldn't have asked. She shuffles on her feet. "Um...I don't...um…"
He sees her face scrunching up like she might cry again so he reaches out to put a hand on her shoulder like his mom does for him sometimes. "It's okay. You don't have to tell me if it's gonna make you cry again."
"Okay." She's quiet as she starts eating her Spongebob ice cream.
"Bellamy, baby, did you get your ice cream?"
He turns around and smiles up at his mom. "No. I gave one of my dollars to Clarke because she didn't have enough money to get one and was really sad. I think the ice cream will make her feel better."
She smiles at him. "Well, that was very sweet of you. Do you still want to go to the park?"
He nods and then glances behind him to where Clarke is still standing alone eating her ice cream. He looks back at his mom. "Can Clarke come? I think going to the park will help her feel better too. She's my friend. I think. Can she come with us?"
"She'll have to ask her parents first."
"Okay." He moves away from his mom and over to his hopefully new friend. "Clarke?"
She looks up at him, her eyebrows furrowed together. "Yeah?"
"Um, do you wanna come to the park with me? My mom says it's okay but you hafta ask your mom and dad first."
Clarke tilts her head. "You want me to come to the park with you?"
He nods. "Yeah. If you want to. I'm gonna try to go across the monkey bars."
"I like the monkey bars." She's quiet again, taking another bite of her ice cream. "I live up there," she says, pointing to one of the houses nearby. "I'm gonna go ask my mom."
"Okay."
Clarke eyes him carefully and then turns around to walk toward one of the houses and disappears inside.
Bellamy waits on the sidewalk, watching the front door of Clarke's house. He knows that other people used to live there and they didn't have a little girl. So maybe Clarke is new. Or she's just staying with them for a little while. He'll have to ask her.
Clarke walks out of the house again, her ice cream halfway gone, and joins Bellamy on the sidewalk. She's wearing shoes now and she's smiling. "My mom said I can go."
Bellamy smiles. "Cool. Mommy!" he shouts, turning around. "Clarke's mom said she can come with us to the park."
His mom approaches them and smiles softly at Clarke. "Well, we're happy you can come with us, Clarke. I'm Aurora, Bellamy's mom."
"Hi. Um…thanks for taking me to the park."
"Of course, sweetie. Now, should we get going before it gets too much later? I heard there's a set of monkey bars that desperately want to be conquered."
Bellamy beams, looking at Clarke and holding out a hand to her. "Come on."
Clarke smiles back at him, taking his hand and holding it tightly.
Without another word, they begin making their way down the rest of the sidewalk in the direction of the park. Bellamy can't wait to tell Nate about his new friend Clarke.
*September*
"I don't wanna go to school," Clarke says out of the blue while she and Bellamy are playing together at the park. Today is chillier than the last few days so they're both wearing light jackets while they run around. She didn't want to, but her mom made her promise to keep it on.
"Why not?" Bellamy asks, following after her as she climbs to the top of the play structure.
Clarke stops moving and leans against the paint-chipped railing. "I miss my daddy. He was gonna walk me to my classroom but now he can't 'cause of the accident."
Bellamy frowns, moving closer and placing his hand on Clarke's shoulder. "I'm sorry. Your dad sounds really nice. But...but I can walk you to your classroom if you want. And maybe Nate can too."
"Really?"
Bellamy nods. "Yeah. We're all best friends. You're gonna love kindergarten, Clarke," he tells her as he moves to swing around one of the nearby poles. "It's so much fun. I only went in the morning too so I got to come home at lunchtime and see my mommy again for the rest of the day. But now I'm gonna go to school all day like the other big kids."
"I think, um, I think I'm going in the morning," Clarke tells him, shuffling along the wooden suspended bridge, jumping a little to make it shake. She giggles and then frowns. "But I'm not gonna know anyone 'cause none of my other friends are here in my class. Me and Wells were gonna be in the same class. What—what if I don't make any friends?"
"You're gonna make friends," Bellamy tells her in a matter-of-fact tone. "You're awesome. People like being friends with people who are awesome."
Clarke smiles. "You're awesome too."
Bellamy smiles back at her. "You know what awesome people do? They have sleepovers. We should have a sleepover. And I can tell you all about kindergarten so maybe you won't be scared anymore. We can watch movies too and eat lots of popcorn and candy."
"That sounds fun."
"Yeah. Do you wanna do it? We can have it tonight."
"Tonight?"
Bellamy nods enthusiastically. "Yeah."
Clarke shifts on her feet. "Um, I have to ask my mom first."
"Me too. But I have to ask my mom. Not yours. Come on." He grabs Clarke's hand and pulls her down the play structure and then over to where his mom is sitting on one of the benches. He skids to a stop in front of her. "Mommy! Can me and Clarke have a sleepover tonight?"
Aurora raises an eyebrow. "Tonight?"
"Yeah. Please?"
"Well, it's a little short notice, but I'm sure we can figure something out. But we should probably call Clarke's mom first and ask her." She pulls her cell phone out of her pocket and dials the number, holding it out to Clarke.
Clarke takes the phone and presses it against her ear, waiting for her mom to answer.
"Hello?"
"Hi, Mommy."
"Clarke? Is everything okay?"
She shifts on her feet. "Um, can I…can I have a sleepover with Bellamy tonight?"
"Tonight?"
"Yeah."
"Clarke, we're going to my work function tonight, remember? Everyone is very excited to meet you."
"Please? I really wanna have a sleepover."
"Give the phone to Aurora."
Clarke sighs heavily. "Fine." She pulls the phone away and hands it to Aurora. "Mommy wants to talk to you." Clarke waits for Aurora to take the phone and then turns to Bellamy. "She said not tonight 'cause we're busy."
Bellamy frowns. "Oh."
"But I wanna have a sleepover instead."
"Me too."
They're both quiet as they listen to Aurora's conversation. But they can't hear the other side of the phone so they don't know everything and Clarke just wants to have a sleepover with Bellamy.
"Okay," Aurora says as she hangs up her phone. "How do you both feel about having your sleepover next weekend? It'll be right before school starts. One last summer hurrah."
"So we can have a sleepover?" Bellamy asks excitedly.
Aurora smiles and nods. "Yes, you can."
Bellamy and Clarke look at each other with wide grins. "Yes!"
Clarke reaches out and taps Bellamy on the shoulder. "You're it!" She turns and runs off across the pavement toward the grassy field, laughing the whole way. Bellamy's laugh follows her as she runs, the sound of his feet ponding on the grass getting closer and closer. So she runs a little faster.
"Bell, sweetheart, I think you've rearranged the room about ten times now."
Bellamy drops the end of the sleeping bag and smooths it out with his hands. "It has to be perfect, Mommy."
"I don't think Clarke will care about how you've arranged the living room, Bell."
Bellamy huffs. "I care."
His mom smiles. "Okay then."
Bellamy continues to arrange things in the living room, making sure it's just the way he wants it to be before Clarke shows up. He told her he'd plan everything for their sleepover so he really hopes she likes it.
A knock at the front door pulls his attention away and a wide grin instantly appears on his face.
"I got it!" he yells, jumping up from the floor and running past his mom to the front hallway. He pulls the door open and beams when he sees his friend standing on the porch, already dressed in her pajamas. They're purple with butterflies all over them, and she has a backpack on and a sleeping bag in her arms. "Hi, Clarke."
She beams back at him. "Hi, Bellamy. I like your pajamas."
He looks down at his pajamas, dark blue with spaceships all over them. "Thanks. I love space. It's so cool. Mommy!" he shouts over his shoulder. "Clarke and her mom are here."
His mom appears and smiles politely. "Abby, it's good to see you again."
Abby returns the smile and gives a small nod. "Aurora. Clarke's been talking non-stop about tonight."
"So has Bellamy."
"Mommy?" Bellamy speaks up. "Can me and Clarke go in the living room now?"
"Of course you can, baby."
Bellamy grabs Clarke's hand and pulls her behind him into the living room.
"Bye, Mommy!" Clarke calls, stumbling a little before catching herself and following Bellamy into the other room. She drops her things on the carpet as soon as they get there. Her eyes go wide. "This is so awesome. I brought some movies too."
"Cool. Mommy said we can order pizza for dinner and watch movies and have lots of candy. As much as we want. She never lets me eat in the living room, but she said we can tonight. But we can't make a huge mess or we'll have to clean it up."
"Okay."
"You can put your sleeping bag next to mine," Bellamy tells her, sitting down on top of his and crossing his legs. "We're gonna have so much fun."
Clarke unrolls her sleeping bag and sets it down on the carpet next to Bellamy, sitting on top of it and taking her backpack off. "What book is that?" she asks, gesturing to the book sitting on the couch cushion near them.
Bellamy looks at it and smiles. "That's one of my favorites. I read it to my baby sister sometimes. She's not born yet, but Mommy says she can hear me so I like to read to her to practice for when she gets here and can really hear me and I can read it to her more."
"Can you read it to me?" Clarke asks, sitting criss-cross applesauce. "It can help you practice."
Bellamy smiles. "Okay, but after dinner and movies—before we go to sleep."
"Okay." She tilts her head a little, playing with the hem of her pajama pants. "Bellamy?"
"Yeah?"
"Um, we're best friends, right?"
Bellamy smiles and nods. "You're one of my best friends in the whole wide world. Nate's my other one, but you are too. And also Murphy too, kind of. I don't know if you'll like him, though. He can be mean to girls even though I tell him not to be."
"Okay. You're always gonna be my friend, right? No matter what?"
"Yeah," Bellamy tells her. "We're always going to be best friends."
Clarke holds her pinky out to him. "Best friends forever?"
Bellamy smiles, wrapping his pinky around hers and holding tight. "Best friends forever."
So? What did you think? Let me know in a review down below. I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Until next time,
Jellybean96 out!