Hey babes! Back with a new one for ya! Hope you like it! :)

Enjoy!

*December 2, 2020*

Grabbing one of Bellamy's carrots from his lunch and ignoring his half-hearted protests, Clarke leans over in her seat toward her other best friend. She lightly taps the other girl's shoulder to get her attention. "Hey, are you busy this weekend?"

Harper shakes her head as she pops a French fry into her mouth. "I don't think so. Why? What's up?"

"I was wondering if you wanted to come shopping with me," she says, and then bites into the carrot with a sharp snap. "I need to get some new pants. Possibly some shirts too, but I might be able to get away with what I have right now for a little while longer. I seriously need some new pants, though. It's getting harder to wear what I have."

Harper's brows furrow slightly. "Really?"

"Yeah. I'm using a ponytail holder right now to keep my pants closed." She lifts the hem of her shirt and leans back to show Harper the makeshift clasp she's been dealing with for several days. "Thank goodness for internet hacks."

Harper lets out a breath. "Wow. So this is gonna be your first time going shopping for maternity clothes?"

Clarke nods, dropping her shirt and sitting upright again. "Mm-hmm. I'm thinking about asking Aurora to come with me because she's done this twice before so maybe she'll have some advice I didn't read about online. And trust me, I have done a lot of research online." She lets out a heavy breath and leans back in her seat once more, taking another bite of the carrot and letting her other hand subconsciously fall to rest on her stomach.

"That's smart," Harper responds. "You don't want to ask your mom, though? It could be a good bonding experience for you two."

"I would if we were talking."

"Is she still being weird?"

Clarke scoffs lightly. "Weird is a bit of an understatement. I swear she's around even less since I told her that I'm pregnant. Sometimes I wonder why Marcus is still with her when she's hardly ever around. I mean, you think someone would want to be home with their family as much as possible."

Harper smiles. "I think your impending motherhood is starting to affect you."

Clarke snorts. "Come on, we both know this is nothing new."

"No, I know. I just think it's possible that all your feelings about your mom have been elevated since you found out you're pregnant and decided to keep the baby."

Clarke shrugs. "Yeah, well, I don't know. I just get so frustrated with her because she's not around, but I don't know how to talk to her about it. Because she's never home. And when she is home, she usually goes straight to bed or locks herself away in her office." She takes a deep breath and sits up in her chair. "But I really don't want to keep talking about my mom right now."

Harper nods. "No problem. Let's talk about something else." A grin slowly grows on her lips. "Like all the cute maternity pants we can find for you. And maybe a few shirts too, because I guarantee you we'll find some."

Clarke lets out a breath. "That's the hope. If I don't find anything that I like I might start having to steal some of Bellamy's shirts and make them work with some of my leggings. But with how cold it's been getting, I'd prefer to not have to wear leggings every day."

"Smart. And don't you already have a couple of Bellamy's shirts lying around your room somewhere that you can wear? We both know you've been stealing his clothes since forever."

"What about my clothes?"

Clarke turns her head to find Bellamy watching her with slightly furrowed brows as he takes a drink from his water bottle. She has to force herself to look at his eyes instead of his lips, shaking the impending thoughts away.

She leans over to grab his last carrot, biting into it with a smile. "Harper and I were talking about going shopping for maternity clothes this weekend."

He nods slowly. "Ah. Sounds fun. You took my last carrot, you owe me one."

She shakes her head. "Nice try. If I can't find anything I like at the store I may have to borrow some of your old shirts."

"Don't you do that already?"

She shrugs. "Yeah. But now it's actually for a good reason. And if you tell me no, everyone will shun you for denying a pregnant girl what she needs."

He sighs heavily. "You're gonna play this pregnancy card for as long as you can, aren't you?"

She grins. "Absolutely."

"I guess that makes sense. Do you need me to drive you to the store when you go shopping?"

"If your mom can't go with us, then yes. I still have to ask her, though."

"I'm sure she'll say yes. Mom loves you like a daughter, you know that."

Clarke smiles at the thought. "Yeah, I guess so. Considering how much I'm at your house."

Bellamy laughs. "Yeah, because that's the only reason why."

Clarke's heart skips when she hears Bellamy's laughter, one of her favorite sounds for as long as she can remember. It's been getting more and more difficult lately for her to ignore all the little things she loves about Bellamy, all the things he says and does. She's sure her pregnancy and heightened hormones are to blame for the extra attention she's been paying to him recently. She just hopes she can keep it under control.

*December 5, 2020*

Meandering slowly through the maternity section of a local clothing shop, Clarke runs her hands half-heartedly over the racks of shirts and pants, nothing catching her eye just yet. She appreciates Harper's attempt to help by finding various clothing items she thinks Clarke might like and piling them all together in one place. It's a sweet gesture, but Clarke's not entirely sure if her heart's even in it anymore. Yes, it was her idea in the first place to come shopping, but after the looks some of the sales ladies have been giving her since she walked in, she's not feeling up to it anymore. But Harper's enjoying herself so she doesn't want to end the trip just yet.

Also, Aurora seems to be having a good time too, finding clothes for Clarke to eventually start wearing as her belly continues to grow.

"Clarke?"

Turning around, Clarke's brows furrow when her eyes lock on the older girl walking toward her. "Echo? What are you doing here?"

"My cousin's having a baby. I got roped into helping her find maternity clothes."

Clarke nods. "Oh, that's cool. Have you found anything yet?"

Echo shrugs. "I don't know. This isn't...this isn't really my area of expertise."

"Mine either," Clarke replies. "But I'm doing my best to find at least a few pieces. Harper's helping me, and so is Bellamy's mom."

Echo nods slowly. "Right. I remember hearing about that a few weeks back. I meant to say something, but…"

Clarke shakes her head as the other girl trails off. "It's okay. We're not exactly best friends, I wasn't expecting you to start taking an interest in this. In fact, I think this is probably the longest conversation we've ever had since we met."

Echo nods. "I think you're right. How are you feeling, though? With everything?"

Clarke takes a deep breath. "Honestly, I don't know. I'm getting more and more excited as the days go by, but I'm still beyond terrified about actually having the baby and then raising it."

"I think that's natural at any age. My cousin is in her thirties having her fourth kid, and she's still worried that she's going to screw up. So it's not just you."

Clarke blinks. "Oh. Well, that's nice to know, I guess."

"And you've got all your friends to help you out," Echo points out. "I mean...I'm assuming they will. I don't think I've ever known a group of friends as tight-knit as yours."

Clarke shrugs. "That's what happens when you've all known each other basically forever and always hang out together."

"Right. Well, you're lucky to have them. Especially Bellamy. I'm going to assume that he's the first one you told and he promised to always be by your side through this."

Clarke blinks again. "How did you…"

Echo shrugs. "I notice things. And I know how close you and Bellamy have always been. He's a good person. Not just any teenage guy would agree to go to a dance with a girl as a cover so she can be there with who she really wants to be with so her aunt doesn't find out."

Clarke smiles at the memory of the homecoming dance. "Yeah, he's pretty special like that. I honestly don't know what I'd do throughout this pregnancy without him. He's been my rock since the day I found out."

Echo nods slowly. "Uh-huh. And do you plan on telling him you're in love with him before or after the baby's born?"

Clarke's eyes go wide as she stares at the older girl, her heart beating a little faster inside her chest and her breath catching in her throat. She swallows thickly. "What? Why would you think that I..." She shakes her head. "No, you've got it all wrong."

Echo raises a perfectly shaped brow. "Do I?"

"Bellamy and I are just friends," Clarke tells her. "Best friends."

"I know," Echo says with a small nod. "But sometimes best friends can turn into something more if both parties feel the same way. You may not want to believe me, Clarke, and we hardly know each other so I don't blame you, but I'm just telling you what I see. And what I see is two friends who look at each other like the other one hung the moon but are so far in denial of their feelings for each other and are worried about ruining things that they won't say anything. Do with that what you will."

Clarke blinks and swallows. "Um...okay."

"I should get back to my cousin before she comes looking for me. But it was nice seeing you, Clarke." Echo gives her the tiniest hint of a smile and then turns around to make her way to another part of the store.

"Was that Echo?"

Clarke turns slightly as Harper joins her. "Uh, yeah. She's here with her cousin."

"Oh. What were you two talking about?"

"Not much. She wished me luck with the baby, though."

"That was nice of her."

"Yeah." Clarke takes a deep breath and turns fully to face her friend, letting a smile pull at her lips. "Okay, now, I'm sure you've found some possibilities for me so let's see what you got."

Harper beams. "Awesome. I piled everything up over here."

Clarke can't help but smile wider at Harper's enthusiasm in all of this. Even if she's still feeling a bit wary about her impending motherhood, it's nice to know that her friends are all behind her. That's the best thing she could ask for.

So? What did you think? Let me know in a review down below. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Ahaha, getting called out on feelings again. We love to see it. :)

Until next time,
Jellybean96 out!