Hey babes! Back with a new chapter! Thanks for being patient with me. I've been busy with work and school and don't always have the energy to write or update when I want to. But I'm here, and I hope you're all still enjoying the story.

Enjoy!

*September 25, 2020*

"Nice to see you repping your favorite player today."

Clarke playfully rolls her eyes at Bellamy's remark as she climbs into his car. "Shut up. I'm wearing your stupid homemade jersey because it's the best thing I have to wear for today. And you know that."

Bellamy holds his hands up and chuckles. "Hey, we both know I'm your favorite player so I don't know why you're not just admitting it."

Clarke shrugs. "Maybe it's actually Nate. Or Drew."

"If you told either of them that, they'd tell you you're lying. Because you would be. Everyone knows I'm your favorite player."

"Well," Clarke says, letting out a breath and tossing her feet up onto the dash like she usually does, "I don't think we're going to get anywhere with this debate. So let's get going before we're all late for school."

Bellamy chuckles as he slowly pulls his car away from the curb. "You're the one who took longer than usual to get out of the house this morning."

She shrugs. "I couldn't find my face paint. I need it for the game, but I didn't want to have to search the house later for it."

"So instead you risked all of us being late for school so you could find it this morning?" he asks, quickly glancing at her as he approaches the intersection.

Clarke just waves him off, turning her attention to the ten-year-old in the backseat. "Hey, O," she says, twisting enough in the seat to see the younger girl. "You ready for your brother's game tonight?"

Octavia grins and nods. "Yeah. Mom can't come because she's not feeling well, but she said she's gonna give me money for snacks from the concession stand."

"Well, that's nice of her. I might even have some money of my own to spend on snacks so you and I can pig out as much as we want while we watch the game."

"Really?"

Clarke nods. "Absolutely. It's the homecoming game, obviously we gotta go crazy."

"Just not too crazy," Bellamy gently reprimands, giving Clarke a look when she glances over at him. "She's ten, she doesn't need to be loading up on sugar. Especially that late in the evening."

Clarke waves him off again. "It won't even be that late. And it's my job as the cool, older pseudo-sister to encourage her to indulge her sweet tooth every once in a while."

Bellamy's brows furrow together tightly. "Isn't your mom a doctor? Wouldn't she be appalled at the way you're talking right now?"

Clarke scoffs, sitting back in her seat properly. "Like she's even around enough to care. She's always working."

"Our mom's always working too," Octavia pipes in, a slight furrow to her brows as she looks at them.

Clarke smiles at the innocence in Octavia's words. Aurora, being a single mom to two kids, has always had to work extra hard to keep the roof over their heads, food on the table, and clothes on their backs. For as long as Clarke's known her, the older woman has always been working. But the difference between Aurora and Abby is that Aurora isn't all-consumed by her work as a seamstress. And she always makes time for her kids whenever they need her. It's one of the reasons why Clarke spent as much time as possible with the Blake family when she was a kid, she always felt looked after and welcomed there.

Even after Marcus came into her life as her stepdad and started paying attention to her like Abby hardly ever did, she would still go over to the Blakes' because it was familiar and comfortable.

Clarke shifts in her seat, turning around again to look at Octavia as they're getting closer to her school. "Yeah, your mom does work a lot. But she's always there whenever you need her, right? She tucks you in most nights and tells you she loves you and makes you cookies sometimes?"

Octavia nods. "Yeah."

"Well, then you've got nothing to worry about because she's an amazing mom."

Octavia smiles. "Yeah, she's pretty cool." The car pulls to a stop and they both jolt a little in their seats. "You're gonna be a good mom one day too, Clarke. You're the best." Octavia sits forward quickly to kiss Clarke's cheek, then Bellamy's, and then climbs out of the backseat and hurries toward the front doors of the school. She stumbles a little as she pulls her backpack on while running.

Clarke blinks twice, then sits forward in her seat. "Wow."

"What?" Bellamy asks, pulling the car away from the school once Octavia's safely inside.

"Uh, nothing. I just sometimes can't get over how sweet of a kid she is."

Bellamy scoffs playfully. "Yeah, when she's not getting into all of my stuff and making a mess of everything."

Clarke rolls her eyes. "Okay, she was four when that happened? I think it's time you let it go."

"My stuff was everywhere, Clarke."

"And I helped you clean it up because I'm an amazing friend."

He smiles softly at her. "Yeah, I guess you are pretty great."

Clarke's heart squeezes involuntarily at the look in his eyes, but she quickly shakes it off. This is Bellamy. This is her best friend. She can't let her thoughts go there. What Finn pointed out...it was just his mind playing tricks on him. Obviously. She can't let it get to her. She can't let it warp how she sees Bellamy. Their entire friendship is on the line.

Shifting in her seat, she focuses on the view outside the windshield, flipping on the radio to fill the silence for the rest of their drive. It's a short drive, but she needs all that time to get her thoughts back on track and away from that very dangerous road. She cannot go there. Ever.

.

.

.

"Have you seen them yet?" Clarke asks Harper as they stand near the top of the stairway leading down to the gymnasium, peering through the crowd of students making their way to the assembly, trying to find Monty and Jasper. But she's having zero luck.

Harper shakes her head. "No, not yet. You?"

"No. They should be here by now. If anything, they should have gotten here before us."

"Knowing them, Jasper probably got distracted by something and dragged Monty with him."

Clarke laughs, knowing that that's most likely exactly what happened. She glances down at the time on her phone. "Well, they better get here soon."

They both get jostled by the students around them, but thanks to the fact they're interlocking arms, they're able to keep each other standing upright.

"Maybe we should just go in and find somewhere to sit," Clarke suggests. "They'll find their way here eventually. One of us can just text them to let them know roughly where we are."

"Yeah, maybe. They might not get to—oh, wait! I think I see them."

Clarke cranes her neck over the crowd enough to see Monty and Jasper making their way over. They're dressed identically, naturally, decked out from head to toe in the school's colors; black and gold (though most students just go for yellow). Complete with face paint.

"Monty! Jasper!" Harper calls, waving her hand in the air to get their attention.

They both smile wide and move quicker through the crowd, Monty no doubt muttering apologies whenever they bump into someone.

"You two certainly took your time getting here," Clarke says, watching with a smile as Monty kisses Harper's cheek and then gives her an apologetic smile when he gets face paint on her.

Jasper continues to grin. "I had to show Monty something."

Harper laughs as she wipes the paint off her cheek. "I told you, didn't I?"

Clarke nods, a small laugh escaping past her lips. "Yes, you did. Now can we get inside and find seats? At this rate, we'll probably have to sit way at the top."

"Sitting at the top isn't all bad," Jasper muses as the four of them join the crowd and make their way down the stairs to the gym. "It's perfect when you want to jump up and cheer for the team."

Clarke glances over her shoulder at him. "That's something you can do just as well from a lower seat, too, Jas."

"But it's more fun at the top," he says back, practically whining.

Clarke sighs heavily. "I'm not saying we're not going to sit at the top, just that you can cheer perfectly fine from any seat in the bleachers."

Jasper grumbles something under his breath, his shoes dragging along behind him as they all step off the last stair. They continue moving toward the gymnasium doors but Jasper's still mumbling.

"Jas," she speaks up, getting the boy's attention as she keeps moving. "I never said you weren't allowed to sit at the top of the bleachers. So what's it gonna take for you to stop grumbling about this?"

"I don't know."

She tilts her head for a moment as she thinks. And then she mentally chastises herself for not remembering sooner. "I can't believe I forgot about this." She pulls her backpack around to her side so she can open one of the smaller pockets, then reaches inside and smiles, pulling out a packaged stick of beef jerky. "Would this help?"

A quiet gasp comes from behind, and then the food is ripped out of her hand. Jasper's lanky arms wrap around her shoulders in a hug. "Thank you, Clarke."

She laughs, patting his forearm. "You're welcome, Jasper."

"Hey, Clarke, um...do you—"

She nods, stopping just outside the gym doors and reaching back into her bag. "Yes, Monty." She pulls out another stick of beef jerky and holds it out to her friend. "I have one for you too."

Monty beams and takes the stick, facing Jasper. The two friends are grinning like madmen as they simultaneously rip open the packages and dig into the food inside.

Clarke smiles, leaning toward Harper. "They're so cute at this age."

Harper laughs. "You know, if you want Murphy to stop referring to you as 'mom', then you should probably stop doing and saying stuff like that."

"I would if everyone stopped acting like children all the time," Clarke mutters, gently tugging Harper along behind her as they walk into the gym. She knows that Jasper and Monty won't be far behind, most likely debating how soon to wait before they ask Clarke for more snacks.

Once inside the gym, Clarke's pleased to see that they don't need to worry about finding a place to sit. One of their other friends, Zoe—they've known her for several years but she typically hangs out with another crowd—has saved them space. A couple of her other friends are sitting with her, but there's a spot next to her that's just enough space for the rest of them to sit.

Clarke gestures for Monty and Jasper to climb up first, taking the higher up of the two rows, which will hopefully help satiate Jasper's need to sit up at the very top of the bleachers. Clarke and Harper climb up next, carefully stepping around the other students that are already there and waiting for the assembly to start.

As she makes herself as comfortable as possible on the wooden seats, Clarke glances around the gym, pleased to see so many students in attendance and decked out in the school colors. As part of the ASB, she helped organize many aspects of the assembly, but the senior members are the ones running the show as per usual. Not that she's complaining about not having to stand up and address the entire school for however long the assembly's going to last.

Soon enough, the assembly starts, the senior ASB officers standing with microphones in the center of the gym to talk about the fundraiser they've been running all week for the local children's hospital, as well as how successful the entire Spirit Week has been. Clarke can't help but sit up a little taller with pride when they talk about it. She loved having a hand in planning the entire week's events.

Finally, they reach the reason why most of the students probably even showed up to the assembly, the introduction of Homecoming Court as well as the current year's varsity football team. Even though they've already been playing plenty of games, the Homecoming Game is always the biggest one, the one that most of the student body actually cares about and attends.

Clarke goes to as many games as she can, though, seeing as three of her closest friends are on the team. How Murphy has managed to stay on the team this long though, she'll never know.

"Are you guys ready to meet your varsity football team?" one of the student officers calls through the microphone, addressing the entire student body, though mostly facing the junior/senior side of the gymnasium. Typical.

Shouts of approval and excitement ring through the gym, the seniors being the loudest of them all, since the majority of the varsity team consists of seniors. Though, there are a handful of juniors on the team as well.

Clarke can't keep the grin off her face as she watches the football team jog out to the center of the room one by one, dressed in their football uniforms but without helmets. She and Harper cheer the loudest when Bellamy, Nate, and Murphy emerge, each of them taking a moment in the spotlight before the next player comes out.

Her smile widens when Bellamy turns around to the sophomore section and sends a wink and a smile her way. She knows it's for her. It's always for her. Her smile falters just a little when Finn's words from before creep back into her mind. But she quickly pushes them back down and puts the smile back on her face.

She waves at Bellamy as soon as they lock eyes and then relaxes back in her seat once he turns away to join the rest of his team. The smile stays on her face though.

"I know I'm dating Monty now, but I don't think it's wrong to just admire from afar."

Clarke's brows furrow as she turns her head to look at Harper. "Huh?"

"Bellamy," the other girl clarifies. She lets out a sigh and tilts her head. "Come on, Clarke. You can't honestly tell me you haven't noticed how the football pants look on him. I mean, I'm not into him like that, and I never will be, but I'd be lying if I said they don't look good on him."

Clarke shifts a little in her seat. "Um...I don't...I've never really taken the time to admire Bellamy's backside. Relatively speaking, I know he's an attractive guy, but personally, I've never seen him that way."

Harper nods. "Uh-huh. Well, Echo certainly lucked out with him taking her to the dance. Can you imagine how great he'll look in a suit?"

"Harper, you do know Echo's gay, right? Literally everyone in the school knows."

Harper waves her off. "No, I know. I'm just saying."

Clarke laughs quietly. "Right, well, if you don't mind, I think I'd like to move on to a topic that doesn't involve how Bellamy's butt looks in a football uniform."

"Pretty shapely, I'd say," Jasper suddenly interjects, leaning forward between them and resting his arms on their shoulders. "Nate's and Murphy's look pretty good too. But Bellamy's is way better."

"Didn't I just say I wanted to stop talking about this?"

Jasper grins. "Too late for that now. You have no way of making me stop."

"You sure about that?" Clarke asks with a small smile, reaching down to dig through the bag at her feet. She pulls two Go-Gurts out of her bag and holds them up.

Jasper gasps, taking both packages and leaning back. "Monty! We got Go-Gurts. They're not frozen, though."

Clarke turns just enough and raises a brow at him. "I can take them back if you don't want them."

Jasper looks affronted, pulling both Go-Gurt packages close to his chest. "No, we want them."

"That's what I thought. Now be quiet and eat your Go-Gurt."

"Yes, Mom," Jasper says teasingly, handing one of the snacks to Monty.

Clarke just rolls her eyes at the moniker, forever wanting to punch Murphy for calling her and Bellamy 'mom' and 'dad' for the first time when they were in middle school, though she can't remember the situation that led to it. Unfortunately, the moniker stuck. It's only funny some of the time.

"They really are like children," Harper muses, watching with amusement as Monty and Jasper proceed to race to see who can eat their Go-Gurt the fastest. She looks at Clarke with furrowed brows. "Why am I dating Monty again?"

They dissolve into quiet giggles, focusing back on the assembly just as it's reaching its end. A few more announcements are read, though most students aren't listening, and then everyone is dismissed to their next classes.

It takes a moment for their group to actually get out of the gym, doing their best to push through the crowd of students all trying to get to their next classes too. It's much easier to breathe once they're up on the main level of the school, the students dispersing in different directions down the various halls.

"Since I won't see you again," Clarke says, turning toward Harper, "we're meeting up at the entrance to the field for the game, right?"

Harper nods. "Yes, that is the plan. I think Monty's dad is giving us and Jasper a ride there. You're coming with Finn, right?"

"Yeah. We're bringing Octavia, too."

Harper smiles. "Oh, yay. I'm sure she's excited to watch Bellamy play."

Clarke laughs quietly. "I think she's more excited that I'm not going to stop her from eating too much junk food from the concession stand."

"Clarke…"

She shrugs. "What? Obviously, I'll cut her off if things get too out of hand, but I'm not gonna limit her to just a couple of things. That's no fun."

"Well, we all know Bellamy can't stay mad at you for too long, so it's not like you have that much to worry about."

Clarke rolls her eyes, but she knows how quickly it takes for Bellamy to get over stuff whenever he's supposedly mad at her. She doesn't have much room to talk, though, knowing it takes her just as quickly to get over being mad at him too. That's just how they've always worked. And she doesn't see that ever changing.

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!