Hey babes! Back again with a new chapter for you all! Hope you're all ready for this one. The penultimate.
Enjoy!
*October 9, 2020*
"I still can't believe you're not coming to the party tonight," Clarke says to Harper over FaceTime as she applies eyeliner, leaning closer to her full-length mirror to get a better look. She's sitting cross-legged on the carpet in front of the mirror, her phone propped up against it so she can see her friend.
Harper sighs. "I know. But I've got a family thing I can't get out of. Otherwise, I totally would. I think Monty and Jasper are still going, though."
"Murphy is too, which is only slightly surprising. Apparently, he was invited personally by Josephine because she has a thing for him now which is beyond weird and I don't know if I actually believe it."
"It's not that weird for someone to like Murphy."
Clarke laughs quietly. "Theoretically, I guess not. But this is Murphy, we're talking about. He's a pain in the ass on a good day. I'm sure he's got some redeeming qualities somewhere, but I have yet to see one."
Harper lets out a breath. "Well, either way, I don't think he'd go for her. She's a little too high-maintenance for him in the long run."
"Yeah, you're probably right." She finishes the last of her makeup and then focuses on the video call. "Okay, what do you think?" She purses her lips a little, grabbing the phone and holding it up closer to her face and twisting so the light hits her just right.
"You look hot. Any special reason for it?"
Clarke stands and moves to her bed, sinking onto it and leaning back so she's lying against her pillow. "Well, if you must know, Finn's coming to the party too, and I thought it would be a good chance for us to get back on track. It feels like he's been growing distant lately and I want us to…reconnect."
Harper frowns. "Please don't tell me you're going to try and use sex to hold your relationship together. Because I think most sane people would say that's not the healthiest option."
Clarke rolls her eyes. "No, that's not the plan. I just want us to spend some time together and hopefully figure out what's going on with us. If it goes further, I'm not going to stop it, but that's not the initial plan. And it's not like this will be our first time or anything."
"Still. Don't do anything too reckless, okay? Think before you act."
Clarke smiles. "This is me we're talking about, Harper. Or are you forgetting when everybody referred to me as the 'Queen of Planning' for almost an entire year?"
Harper laughs. "No, I haven't forgotten. I just want you to be careful. I've heard stories about what can happen at one of Josephine's parties. She's not popular because she makes smart decisions."
"Trust me, I know. I've heard the stories too. I'm just surprised she's inviting more than just her friends to the party. She basically invited the entire school."
"Yeah, I think that's mostly because of Gabriel."
Clarke's brows furrow. "Gabriel Santiago?"
Harper nods. "Mm-hm. I think he broke up with Josephine recently for whatever the usual reason always is, but she still loves him or something. So I think her inviting the whole school to the party is supposed to be some kind of grand gesture to him. At least, that's what I've heard around school."
"How is it that I'm sophomore class president yet you seem to know more about this kind of stuff than I do?"
"That is because you are more focused on the day-to-day stuff and less worried about the gossip that goes around."
"Hey, I knew about Maya being new to the school, didn't I?"
Harper laughs. "Only because I told you first. Which is perfectly fine for you to not have your ear so close to the ground. Some of the things that people say should not be heard."
"I'm sure that's true. I'll let you go, though, so you can get back to your family thing. I should probably finish getting ready too before Finn gets here."
"Okay. Send me a pic of your outfit as soon as you've got it on."
Clarke smiles. "I will. Bye."
"Bye."
Ending the call, Clarke plugs her phone in and then turns her music on shuffle as she finishes getting ready for the party. All she has left to do is fix her hair and then get into her outfit for the evening. It's nothing too crazy, since she doesn't know if there's any kind of unspoken dress code, but she still wants to look nice. She has a feeling things will be a bit more casual, though. So she goes for a pair of her nicest dark blue jeans, one of her button-up blouses with a floral pattern, and then a pair of dark flats to pull the whole look together.
She snaps a quick photo for Harper, striking a goofy pose in front of the mirror for added effect, and then finishes gathering together what she'll need.
A quick ping from her phone draws her attention, finding a new text from Finn letting her know that he's outside waiting. She shoots him a quick reply, telling him she'll be down in a minute, and then takes one more look at her appearance in the mirror. She looks hot, just like Harper said.
Grabbing her things, Clarke hurries out of her room, shutting the light off as she goes, and bounds down the steps. She stops when she reaches the living room, hanging off the frame as she leans inside. "Marcus," she says, gaining her stepdad's attention and smiling when he looks over at her. "Hey, I'm heading out now to that party I told you about. I'll probably be home late."
He nods. "Okay. You know where you're going?"
"Yeah. I've got the directions on my phone, Finn's driving."
"Alright. Just let me know when you get there and when you're on your way back, please."
She smiles. "I will. Bye." She doesn't wait for a response, pushing off the doorframe and moving toward the front door of the house. As soon as she steps outside she nearly skips over to Finn's truck waiting against the curb, the engine still running. She leans in through the open passenger window and smiles brightly. "Hey."
He turns and smiles at her. "Hey. You ready to go?"
"Yeah." She climbs into the cab of the truck and pulls the door closed behind her, buckling herself in and letting out a breath.
"We're not picking up anyone else, right?" he asks her as he slowly pulls away from the curb and back onto the road.
She shakes her head. "No. Harper's got a family thing, I think Nate has a date, and Maya's parents won't let her go. Bellamy's going, and he's picking up Murphy, Jasper, and Monty. I think Zoe's going too, but she's getting a ride from one of her other friends. So it's just you and me."
He smiles over at her, one hand on the wheel and the other falling to rest on her knee. "I am perfectly okay with that."
"Me too." She leans over to kiss his cheek and then pulls her phone out to input the address and get directions to the cabin. It's not too far of a drive, but it is a little more secluded and can be hard to find. At least, that's what she was told when she was given the address.
Setting her phone in the right spot for Finn to be able to see and hear it well enough, she leans back in her seat and makes herself as comfortable as possible for the lengthy drive ahead.
.
.
.
If it weren't for the music blasting from the inside of the cabin, Clarke's positive that it would have taken them a lot longer than it did to find the house. It's hidden amongst a bunch of trees, a barely visible gravel pathway being one of the few indicators that they've arrived at the right place.
There are dozens of cars parked in varying spots across the massive front lawn, red solo cups littering the ground while students linger among the cars, talking and drinking. The music blares from the house, the front door standing wide open with people coming and going through it as they please.
As soon as Finn finds a place to park among all the cars, Clarke is out of the truck and heading toward the house. She winces at the volume of the music as she gets closer, stumbling when she trips over an empty bottle of alcohol.
Finn catches up with her and she grabs his hand as they make their way up to the front door, stepping inside and taking a moment to look around. The front room is filled with people that Clarke recognizes from school, most of them she's only briefly talked to in the halls or had one or two classes with. Others she's known since elementary school.
"Wow. I don't think I've ever been to a party like this."
Clarke smiles at her boyfriend. "That's because you've never been to a Josephine Lightbourne party. Granted, neither have I, but I've heard that things can get pretty crazy at one of these."
"I'll take that as a compliment."
Clarke turns toward the voice, finding Josephine striding up to them with a red solo cup in one hand, a bottle of alcohol in the other, and a smile on her bright red lips. She's momentarily stunned, but shakes herself out of it quickly. Yes, she was slightly attracted to Josephine when she first met the other girl, and she still thinks Josephine is gorgeous, but her seemingly overly fake personality turned Clarke off pretty quickly.
"Josephine," she says, pulling her lips into a tight smile. "Thanks for inviting us."
"Of course. Booze is in the kitchen, help yourself to whatever you'd like, the DJ is taking requests in the living room, and the party ends whenever you want to leave. Have fun." She shoots them a grin as she saunters off into another part of the house, shouting for someone over the boom of the music.
Taking a deep breath, Clarke turns to face Finn and smiles. "So, what do you want to do first?"
He shrugs. "I don't know."
Her smile falters. "Come on, Finn. Tonight's about us, about reconnecting. I didn't want to say anything, but I feel like we've been kind of drifting apart lately and I was hoping that tonight could help with that."
Finn steps closer and smiles, reaching up to brush some of her hair behind her ear. "Really?"
She nods. "Yeah. I love you, Finn. And I want us to get back to a good place."
"Okay. Let's go get some drinks, then. Maybe see if some of your friends are here."
"You really want to talk to my friends?" she questions with a slightly raised brow, knowing that he's usually a bit more hesitant whenever she suggests hanging out with her friends.
He shrugs again. "You want us to get along, right?"
She closes the space between them with a kiss. "You're amazing, Finn."
He just smiles and then tugs on her hand to pull her in the direction of the kitchen. She follows willingly, jogging just a little so she can fall into step beside him.
Clarke smiles and waves to some of the other students she passes by on her way to the kitchen, offering quick 'hello's' and brief hugs. She's sure most of them are surprised to see her there since it's not usually her scene.
Once they're in the kitchen, Clarke breaks away from Finn to scope out the various drinks lying about. There are multiple opened bottles of alcohol sitting on the counter, as well as a keg of beer on the floor in the corner. Stacks of red solo cups are set out among the alcohol, and a rowdy game of beer pong is happening at the dining room table.
No surprise, Murphy is among the players. He's probably one of the few people she knows that can get extremely drunk but still operate like a mostly functioning human.
"First time drinking?"
She looks up to see a tall boy with short dark hair and a sweet smile standing near the drinks. "Is it that obvious?" she asks with a nervous laugh.
He chuckles. "If it'll make you feel better, I can say 'no'."
She smiles at him. "That's okay. Any recommendations?"
"Well, I'd definitely stay away from the hard liquor. Trust me when I say you don't want to go down that route right off the bat. Beer's probably your safest bet, we've got the keg over in the corner. Or we have some lighter beer in the fridge if you'd prefer that."
"Thank you…" she trails off, realizing she never got his name.
He smiles. "Gabriel. Gabriel Santiago."
"Clarke Griffin." Her brows furrow. "Wait. You're Josephine's ex, right?"
He sighs heavily and nods. "Sometimes it sucks that that's one of the only ways people know me. But yes, I am Josephine's ex-boyfriend."
"Sorry, it's just...my friend was talking about you earlier. She said that Josephine invited the whole school to her party for you. To get back in your good graces or something."
He chuckles. "Is that the story that's going around? Well, I can't deny that there is an element of truth to it. Josie and I have a…complicated relationship. We've known each other forever, been on and off since our freshman year. She drives me crazy when we're together, and sometimes I consider ending things altogether and finding someone new to be with, but I can't help but love her."
"True love?" Clarke suggests with a smile.
Gabriel smiles. "It might be. Some people might think we're too young to know for sure, but love's different for everyone, right?"
Clarke smiles and nods. "Right."
A throat clearing behind her makes her jump. She glances over her shoulder to find Finn standing with a tight smile and his hands in the pockets of his jeans.
Her eyes go wide. "Oh, sorry." She grabs his hand and tugs him forward, turning back to Gabriel with a smile. "Gabriel, this is my boyfriend Finn. Finn, this is Gabriel Santiago."
"It's nice to meet you, Finn," Gabriel says with a polite smile and a dip of his head.
Finn just nods. "Yeah, you too. You have beer here, right? I'm not much of a hard liquor kind of guy."
Gabriel gestures to the corner of the room where the keg sits. "Help yourself."
"Great. Clarke, you want any?"
She hesitates. "I don't know."
He flashes her a smile. "Come on. One drink isn't going to hurt. If you don't like it, you don't have to drink all of it."
She smiles back. "Okay. I think I can do that."
He presses a kiss to her cheek and then grabs two solo cups, moving over to the keg to fill them.
"Is that true love too?"
She turns back to Gabriel and shrugs, the smile still on her face. "I don't know. We've been together for almost a year, and I love him, but I don't know if it's true love."
"Well, whether it's with him or someone else, I hope you find true love. It can be maddening and crazy and take you completely by surprise, but when you find it, you've got to hold onto it."
Seconds later, Josephine stumbles into the room, the liquid in her cup sloshing over the side as she drapes herself over Gabriel, a frown on her lips. "Do you still love me?"
He smiles sweetly down at her, one arm wrapping around her waist and the other hand brushing some of her hair back out of her face. He caresses her cheek for just a second. "You know I do."
She hiccups. "Will you take me back? Please?"
"Don't I always?"
She wraps both her arms around his neck, her cup falling to the floor and spilling the alcohol inside it. "I love you. So much."
He presses a kiss to her forehead. "I love you too, Josie." He looks back at Clarke and smiles. "I mean it. When you find true love, don't let it go." He gently guides Josephine out of the kitchen and into another room, whispering in her ear as they go.
Clarke smiles as she pulls her phone out to shoot a quick message to Harper to let her know that Josephine and Gabriel are back together. Her friend responds in a matter of seconds with a dizzying array of emojis and Clarke just laughs quietly to herself.
A red solo cup appearing in her peripheral has her looking up and pocketing her phone, smiling at Finn. "Thanks," she says, accepting the cup from him and then taking a small sip to test the liquid. She grimaces at first, not entirely sure that she likes the taste of it.
"Claaarke!"
Before she can even turn around at the call of her name, a pair of long, lanky arms wrap around her from behind and barely manage to lift her off the ground.
She laughs quietly, patting at the hands clasped together in front of her stomach. "Hi, Jasper." She turns around when he releases her. "It's good to see you too."
"Oh! Clarke, I wanted to tell you! I thought of an awesome theme for my birthday party this year! Do you want to hear it?"
"Maybe later," she responds, glancing past him to Bellamy who's approaching with Monty at his side. "What's going on with him?"
Bellamy lets out a heavy breath, gently grabbing the hood of Monty's sweater when he tries to wander off. "He's hopped up on sugar right now. He was eating it when I picked him up. The drive over here was...excruciating to say the least."
"Is Monty hopped up on sugar too?" she asks, her eyes darting over to Monty who's only standing next to Bellamy because the older boy still has a hold of his hood.
"No. He's just Monty. Jasper, get over here."
Jasper responds immediately, moving back to Bellamy. "Yeah?"
Bellamy looks pointedly between the two teens. "Please don't get into any trouble."
"We won't," Monty replies, grabbing Jasper's arm and leading him through the house.
"Did you guys just get here?" she asks Bellamy once Monty and Jasper are out of earshot.
Bellamy nods, shifting on his feet. "Yeah. Murphy got a ride with someone else but apparently forgot to tell me until I was at his place waiting for him. He dodged a bullet, though. He probably would have strangled Jasper if he had to be in the car with him the whole time."
Clarke laughs, nodding. "Right. Well, it's great to see you, but I think I'm gonna go spend some quality time with my boyfriend."
"Of course. Don't let me keep you. If I don't see you the rest of the night or the rest of the weekend, I'll see you on Monday." He smiles at her and then turns to make his way into another part of the house, greeting some of his teammates who welcome him with excited grins and open arms.
Turning around, Clarke approaches her boyfriend and drapes one arm around his neck, leaning into him with a smile. "Now then, I think it's time for us to go and find something to do."
Finn smiles, wrapping his arm around her waist to pull her close. "Yes, I think it is." He closes the space between them with a deep kiss.
Clarke smiles against him, rising on her toes just enough to deepen the kiss as she pulls him closer with her arm. She can't seem to get close enough to him.
It could be the brief sip of beer she had that's starting to make her feel a little tipsy—if that's even possible—but she doesn't care too much that other people are around. She just wants to be as close as humanly possible to her boyfriend. It's been too long, longer than she would have liked, since they've been this close. She misses him.
As if he's reading her mind, Finn breaks away from kissing her lips to instead kiss along her jawline. He takes her cup, sets it down somewhere, and wraps both of his arms around her waist, his own cup now forgotten as well.
Clarke turns into him more and loops her arms around his neck, her eyes slowly fluttering closed at the sweet sensation of his warm lips against her skin.
"That feels great," she says breathlessly as Finn kisses his way down her neck, nipping gently at her skin as he goes. Her head tilts back automatically to allow him more access, her fingers tangling in his dark hair and tugging hard on it when he hits a particularly sensitive spot.
"How does this feel?" he asks as he reaches her pulse point, biting down roughly on the skin.
Clarke lets out a sharp gasp, her eyes opening quickly before fluttering closed again. "Yes." She grips his hair tighter, biting her bottom lip between her teeth and letting out a throaty moan.
Finn's hands roam down over her hips until he reaches her legs, grabbing one thigh and lifting it until it's wrapped around his waist. He kisses her deeper, turning them and pressing her back against the closest surface.
Clarke responds eagerly, using their new position as the perfect leverage to hoist her other leg up around her boyfriend's waist. Once she does, she locks her ankles together around his lower back, pulling his head back up to meet her lips and grinding her hips against his, making him moan.
"Bed, please," she says quietly but firmly. "There has to be a bed here somewhere."
"I think I saw one down the hall," Finn replies, kissing down her neck again.
She just nods silently, ducking her head to kiss his lips once more.
Finn wraps his arms around her waist to hold her up as he guides her to one of the back bedrooms of the cabin. No one stops them on their way, most of them too preoccupied with their own partying to pay anyone else too much attention.
As soon as they're inside the room, Finn pushes the door shut with his foot and then carries Clarke over to the large bed on the opposite side of the room.
He leans down so that Clarke's back is lying against the mattress and runs one of his hands up underneath the front of her shirt, his fingertips brushing the underwire of her bra. He kisses slowly and hungrily along her jawline.
"Finn. Please." Clarke whimpers involuntarily as Finn's other hand moves lower down her body, stopping when he reaches the hem of her jeans.
Finn smiles in response and attaches their lips again, his hands continuing to roam over her body.
Ignoring the loud music coming from the other room where the party is still going on, they quickly get lost within one another, clothes being shed and tossed aside haphazardly. And Clarke couldn't be happier with the way things are looking up for them.
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Until next time,
Jellybean96 out!