Hey babes! Back with a new chapter for ya!
Enjoy!
*October 18, 2020*
Clarke moves about the living room of her house with sheer determination as she finishes getting everything ready for her birthday party. Her friends are going to start arriving soon and while they're just going to be sitting around the living room talking, maybe watching a movie or two, she's a bit of a perfectionist. She has been for as long as she can remember, especially when it comes to her birthday party. Or any of the other parties she's planned, really. Only the best for her and her friends.
A quick knock at the front door pulls her attention and she can't help the grin that immediately takes over her face. Moving quickly, she pulls the door open and beams at Bellamy and Octavia standing on the other side, wide smiles on both their faces and gift bags in their hands.
"Happy birthday, Clarke!" Octavia shouts, stepping inside and immediately wrapping her in a hug.
Clarke smiles and hugs the young girl back, dropping a kiss to the top of her head. "Thanks, O. You guys are the first ones here."
"Of course we are," Bellamy replies, stepping into the house and pulling her into a side hug. "We only live a few houses down."
"Nate lives across the street," Clarke shoots back.
Bellamy shrugs. "Yeah, but he doesn't have a little sister who basically shoves him out of the house because she's eager to get here."
Clarke laughs with him. "Yeah, I guess that would do it." She takes a deep breath. "Well, you two can go ahead and make yourselves comfortable and put the presents down on the table in the corner. Mom's working, no surprise there, so it's just Marcus chaperoning tonight. But of course, he's agreed to stay in his office or his bedroom so that he's not really here here and we have a little more sense of freedom."
Bellamy smiles. "Sounds like Marcus."
"I'm guessing since the door's standing wide open, I don't have to knock?"
Clarke turns and throws a grin at Nate walking up to the house, a wrapped gift box tucked under one arm. "Nate."
He smiles as he steps inside and pulls her into a tight hug. "Happy birthday, Clarke."
"Thanks. Where's Bryan? I thought he was coming with you?"
Nate sighs. "He had a last-minute family thing he couldn't get out of. Otherwise, he'd be here. He really wanted to come too."
"Well, tell him we missed having him here. I was excited to get to know more about him." She tosses her arm up around his shoulders. "I want to know everything about any guy who catches your eye."
Nate chuckles. "Of course you do. Where do you want me to put this?" he asks, carefully raising the present he brought.
"Table in the corner."
Nate smiles. "Because of course she's got a designated spot in the corner for the presents. Classic Clarke." He moves into the living room, Octavia following right behind him carrying both hers and Bellamy's gifts.
Unsure of when exactly everyone else is going to show up, but preferring not to have the door standing wide open to let the cold air in, Clarke pushes it closed and then turns around to lean back against it.
She smiles softly when she sees Bellamy still standing there watching her, his hands tucked into the front pockets of his pants. "Hey."
He smiles back. "Hey. You good? You didn't seem as enthusiastic as you usually are when it's your birthday."
She shakes her head, pushing off the door and taking a few steps toward him. "I'm fine. Mostly. I just didn't have the best day yesterday."
His brows furrow tightly. "Weren't you hanging out with Finn?"
She breathes deeply and nods. "Yes. But I don't want to talk about any of that right now. However…I definitely wouldn't say no to a hug. And I mean a real hug this time, not a weak side hug like you already gave me."
He chuckles quietly but steps forward to pull her into a tight embrace.
She sinks immediately into his hold, wrapping her arms securely around his torso and burying her face in his shirt. She breathes deeply, relishing for just a moment at being in the arms of her best friend. From the day they met, no matter the situation, he's always been able to make her day better with a simple hug. Without fail.
A knock at the front door breaks through the moment and she reluctantly steps out of Bellamy's arms. She takes another deep breath and squares her shoulders, plastering on her usual party smile. Yes, she's happy to see her friends and to celebrate her birthday with all of them, but she's also still in a bit of a funk after what happened yesterday. She just hopes the next time she sees Finn they'll be able to patch up whatever's been happening between them. Because she doesn't want to lose him.
"You good now?" Bellamy asks her gently, his hands resting on her arms.
She nods. "Yeah, I'm good. Thanks."
He smiles. "Good. I'll let you play hostess now and I'm going to go make sure Octavia is behaving herself."
Clarke laughs quietly, watching Bellamy make his way into the living room to check on his sister. He's always been a great big brother, and she's been lucky enough to be witness to it from day one, even if some of the earlier days are a little fuzzy because she was so young.
Taking another deep breath, Clarke moves toward the front door and pulls it open, ready and eager to greet her next round of party guests.
.
.
.
Lounging around the living room with her closest circle of friends, Clarke can't keep the smile off her face. Hanging out with all of them, simply relaxing for a few hours, it's doing wonders for her overall mood. She hasn't thought about her disastrous date with Finn at all since the party started.
She'd been debating internally a lot the night before, about whether or not to cancel her birthday party at essentially the last minute. But then she remembered how much she enjoys being around her friends, and how excited they've all been getting in the days leading up to the party.
So she didn't cancel. Which she is now very grateful for. Spending time with her friends is a wonderful distraction from her other problems. Even if there's currently only one problem that she's dealing with.
"Anybody wanna play a few rounds of truth or dare?" Jasper asks when there's a brief lull in the conversation.
"Why the hell would we want to do that?" Murphy responds.
Jasper frowns. "Because it'll be fun."
Murphy chuckles. "Yeah, right."
"Oh, don't be like that, Murphy," Bellamy says with a small roll of his eyes. "It could be fun."
Jasper beams. "Exactly! Bellamy gets it."
"He usually does," Clarke replies from her place in one of the lounge chairs, smiling over at her best friend. He smiles back and her stomach flips. She shakes the feeling off and focuses on her friends. "I say we play it. Like Bellamy said, it could be fun."
Bellamy claps his hands together once. "The birthday girl has spoken, everybody get in a circle on the floor. Come on." He slides off his seat and sits cross-legged on the carpet.
Clarke moves from her place and sidles up next to him, laughing quietly when Jasper eagerly joins the slowly forming circle. She watches as the rest of her friends join in, though Murphy does so very reluctantly.
Once everyone is settled in a circle there's a brief moment of arguing over who gets to start the game, everyone chiming in with their reasoning for why they should be the one to start. It's ultimately decided that Murphy will start since he's, in his own words, "being forced to play this idiotic game".
Murphy's eyes track over the group, a sly smile playing at his lips. He shifts on the carpet, leaning back on his hands. "Monty."
The other boy immediately frowns. "Why?"
"Because. Truth or dare?"
"Truth."
Murphy chuckles. "So we're hoping to start off easy. Okay. I can roll with that. Before you and Harper started dating…"
"I don't like where this is going."
"Did you ever think about her naked?"
Clarke watches as both Monty's and Harper's faces go bright pink instantaneously. She offers them both a sympathetic smile.
"Murphy," Bellamy reprimands, shifting in his spot.
Murphy just shrugs. "What? Anything's fair game in Truth or Dare. It wouldn't be very entertaining otherwise."
Clarke sighs heavily, looking at Monty. "Sorry, Monty, rules are rules. You have to answer the question."
Monty shakes his head. "It's fine. It's part of the game, right?" He shifts, rubbing his hands together, casting a glance at his girlfriend. "Um, if I have to answer honestly, then...yes, but only once. It was a few weeks before we got together. We were hanging out at the pool with Jasper, and you were wearing your new bathing suit and it...it really works for you." He looks up at Harper with a sheepish smile. "Sorry."
She gives him back a small smile of her own. "It's...it's fine. No harm done."
"Well damn. That wasn't as interesting as I hoped it would be," Murphy pipes up. "Can I go again? I think I can do better this time."
.
.
.
Waving to Nate as he makes his way across the street in the darkness, Clarke waits for him to get up onto the other sidewalk before closing the front door. She lets out a heavy breath and leans forward, resting her forehead against the wood to take a moment to herself.
There's some quiet shuffling behind her and she doesn't need to look to know that it's Bellamy. He's the last one here, as always, since he doesn't need to leave as early as the others do to go home before it gets too late in the night. The same could be argued for Nate because he just lives across the street, but it's always Bellamy who stays the longest whenever given the opportunity.
"Finn and I got into an argument yesterday," she tells him without moving. "That's why I was a bit off earlier. He took me out for my birthday but he wasn't even that interested in what we were doing."
"Clarke...Clarke, look at me."
Turning around, she leans back against the door and focuses on her best friend. "What?"
"You need to talk to him," he advises. "Maybe take another day or so to get your words together and then go talk to him. Figure out what's going on."
Her brows furrow tightly. "Why are you encouraging me to fix things with Finn? You don't even like him."
"But you do. And you're my best friend. I just want you to be happy. And Finn makes you happy. You should do whatever you have to do to hang on to that."
She smiles softly at him. "Thanks."
He smiles back. "Anytime. I should get going now, though. Wish I could stay longer."
"Why can't you?" she asks, knowing that it doesn't usually take much from her to get Bellamy to stay over on a whim.
"I promised O that I'd make her pancakes in the morning. And it'll be easier to do that if I sleep at my own house."
She sighs. "Fine. I'll see you later, then?"
He nods. "Yeah. Goodnight, Clarke." He drops a kiss on the top of her head on his way out of the house, shutting the door tightly behind him.
Turning away, Clarke heads toward the stairs to go up to her room, stopping to glance into the living room where her stack of opened presents sits. She debates for a moment whether or not to take them with her upstairs right now or wait until later.
Ultimately choosing to wait until later, Clarke continues up the stairs. She receives a text from Bellamy to let her know that he's home safe as she steps into her room. She quickly texts back, wishing him goodnight, and then locks her phone and tosses it onto her bed.
She moves about her room, going through her usual nightly routine, a small smile on her face the whole time. Despite the way her birthday celebrations started, they ended well and she's starting the next year of her life off right. She's got a really, really good feeling about it.
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!