Hey babes! Back again with a new chapter! Hope everyone's enjoying their breaks from school/work if you get one for this holiday season.

Enjoy!

*December 21, 2020*

"I don't think there's anything I love more than Christmas vacation."

"Dude, you say that every time we have a break from school. Thanksgiving break, Spring break, semester break, summer vacation, even weekends."

"Because I love each and every single one of them since we don't have to be at school. Is there something wrong with that, Nathaniel?"

"Okay, first of all, Johnathan, you know that's not my actual name. And second of all—"

"Enough!" Bellamy snaps, finally looking up from his phone and glancing between Nate and Murphy with a hard stare. "Why are you two like this?"

Murphy shrugs, pointing at Nate. "He started it."

"Oh, that's such a load of sh—"

"I said stop. Seriously. You two act like children. Constantly."

"I mean...technically we are still children," Murphy points out.

Bellamy narrows his eyes at his friend. "You know perfectly well that's not what I meant. Quit arguing, the whole thing is pointless to argue about."

"Ooh. Someone made Dad mad. Good thing Mom's not here."

Bellamy turns his gaze on Jasper, the lanky boy approaching their table at the mall food court with Monty right beside him, both boys carrying trays of food for everyone. "Look, you guys know I have no problem coming to the mall with you. But what I do have a problem with is when any of you start arguing for no reason at all. It doesn't help anything."

Jasper sits down next to him and claps him on the shoulder with a big grin. "Don't stress out about it, Bellamy. Just ignore them and focus on helping all of us pick out the perfect Christmas presents for everyone."

"Still don't know why Bellamy's the one who came with us instead of Clarke," Murphy remarks as he grabs his food off the tray and sets it in front of him to begin eating.

Bellamy sighs, rubbing his hand over his forehead. "I already went over this with you. Clarke woke up pretty sick this morning and it hasn't let up, so she's staying home. Harper's staying to keep her company while I'm here with you guys helping you pick out Christmas presents because, apparently, you're all incapable of doing it yourselves."

"Hey," Jasper speaks up, pointing a limp french fry in Bellamy's direction, "we are not completely incapable. Clarke just has a really good system set up for us that makes it easier."

Bellamy nods, looking down at the multiple sheets of paper lying on the table in front of him. "I know. She wrote it all down for me before I left. She tried to explain it too, but I'm still lost."

Murphy reaches across the table and snatches up one of the papers, giving it a once over before setting it back down. He shuffles through the papers for a moment, then grabs another one and leans back in his chair with a satisfied smile. "Clarke set up a system for each of us to buy presents for each other. It's all been carefully cultivated over the years or whatever, and I'm not going to bother explaining it, because I know it won't make much of a difference to you."

Bellamy blinks. "Okay." He looks down at the papers, his brows furrowing slightly as he shuffles the papers around again. "So everyone has their own page, then?"

"Indeed we do," Nate says, glancing at the tops of the papers and then grabbing one. "Murphy and I can handle shopping on our own, but you'll want to keep an eye on Monty and Jasper. They tend to get distracted if someone isn't keeping them on track."

Bellamy glances over at the two boys across from him to see them having some sort of scuffle over something that he doesn't care to find out about. He sighs heavily again, nudging Jasper's leg under the table to get the boy's attention. "Quit playing and eat your food," he says, gesturing to the burger and fries. He gives a pointed look at Monty. "Both of you. Once you're done we'll go do some shopping and you can find gifts for everyone."

"Can we get ice cream after?" Jasper asks eagerly, bouncing a little in his seat. "Clarke usually lets us get ice cream after."

"Stop lying, no she doesn't," Murphy counters and then looks over at him. "Bellamy, he's trying to deceive you."

"Shut up, Murphy. Clarke's not here and I want ice cream."

Murphy rolls his eyes. "And you know Bellamy will just end up telling her anyway and she'll be mad at you for tricking him."

Bellamy groans as he closes his eyes and rubs at his temples, doing his best to drown out the sounds of Murphy and Jasper arguing. He sinks in his seat and leans his head back, wishing more than anything that he was anywhere else. Or that Clarke was there to mediate the situation better than he knows he can.

His phone starts ringing a second later and he doesn't even bother checking the caller ID as he answers it. "Hello?"

"Whoa. Everything okay over there?"

"Hey, Clarke." His mood immediately improves just the slightest at hearing Clarke's voice, though he's still mostly irritated. "No, everything's not okay. Murphy and Jasper are arguing because Jas wants ice cream after we're done at the mall, but according to Murphy, you don't usually let him get ice cream after."

"Murphy's right. Jasper always asks for ice cream but he's either too hyper or too exhausted from shopping to actually get ice cream."

"Got it." He lets out a quiet groan. "Honestly, Clarke, I don't know why you do this with them every year. And the week of Christmas too."

"Because during the school year, it's hard to find time in between all the extracurriculars to take all of them shopping until break. Which always falls during the week of Christmas. Don't blame me, blame the education system."

"Oh, believe me, I will." He lets out a heavy breath. "But how are you feeling right now? Are you having fun with Harper?"

"As much fun as I can have when Little Bean is making me puke all the time. I swear, they should change the name of this to all-day sickness."

Bellamy cracks a smile. "And I'm sure you're not the first pregnant woman to suggest that. But it'll pass eventually. I know it sucks right now but it will get better."

Clarke sighs heavily on the other end of the line. "I know, I know. I just wish I could be there with everyone."

"Yeah, so do I. And I'm sure they do too. Mostly because I have no idea what I'm doing with all of this. Nate said that he and Murphy will be fine on their own but that I should stay with Jasper and Monty."

"Yes. Monty and Jasper, though mostly Jasper, tend to get a little...distracted from time to time. You just have to keep them on task and it should be fine. And don't let Jasper convince you that he needs to buy anything for himself. This trip is specifically for them to get presents for everyone else. And they know that."

Bellamy nods, running a hand through his hair. "Okay. I think I can do this. I can definitely do this."

Clarke laughs quietly on the other end. "It's just Christmas shopping, Bellamy, not rocket science."

"It might as well be with the way you handle things. But I will do my best to manage this and not let you down."

"I have every faith in you. Always do."

Bellamy smiles. "Glad to hear it."

"And hey," she continues, "just think of it as practice for when Little Bean is older and you take them Christmas shopping."

He raises a brow even though she can't see him. "Oh, is that so?"

"Yes, it is. I can't exactly be the one helping my kid pick out my Christmas present."

Bellamy chuckles. "No, I guess not. Alright, I will be Little Bean's helper whenever it comes to buying presents for you." He lets out a heavy breath. "As much as part of me does not want to, I should probably go so the rest of these guys can start their shopping. But I'll swing by when I'm done to check on you."

"You don't need to do that. I have Harper here and she's fantastic company."

"Are you doubting my friendship skills, Blake?" Harper's voice rings through the phone.

Bellamy chuckles. "I would never. But can you blame me for wanting to check on Clarke myself?"

"I suppose not. We have to protect our girl."

Bellamy smiles. "Don't I know it."

"Okay, since you two are having so much fun talking about me like I'm not here and incapable of taking care of myself, I think I'm going to end this phone call."

"Sorry, Clarke," he says. "Have fun with Harper, and I'll see you when I'm done here. If I survive it."

She laughs quietly on the other end. "You'll be fine. Bye, Bellamy."

"Bye." Ending the call, he sets his phone on the table and runs a hand down his face, letting out another heavy breath. He pushes himself up on his chair so he's sitting up straight, finally digging into his food.

Jasper's mumbled voice pulls his attention and he looks up with furrowed brows. The gangly boy is looking at him eagerly, his mouth moving as he chews and tries to talk.

"Quit talking with your mouth full," Bellamy reprimands his friend, looking back down at his food and taking another bite.

"Better?" Jasper asks a second later.

Bellamy glances up and nods once. "Yeah."

"Great. Why don't you have a list too? Clarke makes a list for everyone but you don't have one."

Bellamy shrugs. "I don't know. Probably because she knows I don't need one. I always get my presents for everyone far enough in advance that I don't have to scramble to get stuff."

Jasper grins. "Ooh! So does that mean you already got Clarke a present?" His eyes go wide. "Wait! That means you got me one too, right? What'd you get me?"

"You're gonna have to wait until Christmas to find out, just like everyone else."

"Can you at least tell us what you got for Clarke?" Monty asks, leaning forward to look at him from Jasper's other side.

Bellamy shakes his head. "No. Once I give Clarke her present, if she wants to show you guys, then that's up to her. But I'm not telling any of you because I don't trust you to not accidentally let it slip what I got her."

"Is she at least going to like it?" Nate asks him.

Bellamy looks at his friend and lets out a breath. "I really, really hope so."

"Should have known you were actually going to come over."

Bellamy raises a brow as he steps inside the bedroom. "I told you I was going to." He nudges the door closed behind him and crosses the carpet to the bed.

Clarke lets out a breath as she rolls over and looks up at him. "I know. I just figured this would be the rare occasion when you don't follow through."

He smiles down at her. "Not a chance. You know I'm always going to check on you if you're not feeling well. Just like you do with me."

"And we wonder why our friends call us 'Mom' and 'Dad'," Clarke grumbles as she pushes against the mattress so she's sitting up.

Bellamy just chuckles at her words, sitting down on the edge of the mattress.

"So how'd it go?" Clarke asks him.

He shrugs. "About as well as it can go when I'm trying to keep an eye on Jasper and Monty at the same time in the middle of a mall."

Clarke winces. "Yeah. I don't think I prepared you well enough for that. Sorry."

He waves her off. "It's fine. They needed someone there, and you weren't going to be there for obvious reasons."

"I know. I'm just sorry you had to deal with all of them like that. It's not for the faint of heart."

Bellamy smiles softly. "Yeah, well, you've always been pretty amazing." For a moment he thinks he sees her blush, but he just passes it off as her being a little too warm from not feeling well. That's all it probably is. Because he's called her amazing before and she's always just smiled or laughed and told him that he's great too. But right now she isn't saying anything and he's trying very hard not to read too much into it. That won't do him any good.

A gentle hand on his arm pulls his attention and he looks down to see Clarke watching him with slightly furrowed brows.

"Hey, you okay in there?" she asks with a tiny hint of a smile. "You disappeared for a minute."

He clears his throat and shifts on the bed, shaking his head a little. "Yeah. I'm good. Just thinking."

"About?"

He laughs quietly. "About your Christmas present and how excited I am for you to see it."

Clarke smiles, shifting closer to him. "Any chance you'll give me a hint about what it is?"

"Well, seeing as I didn't tell the guys what I got you, I think the chances of me giving you a hint are very slim."

Clarke sighs heavily. "A girl can dream."

Bellamy smiles, shifting a little more on the bed. "So, I'm assuming you had a good time with Harper?"

Clarke nods. "Mm-hm. We mostly watched movies and stuff but it was still fun. Until Little Bean made me feel like I was puking up my entire insides."

Bellamy frowns, reaching out a hand to rest on her leg. "I'm sorry you're going through this. I wish there was more I could do."

She smiles softly, resting her hand over his. "I know. But seriously, you being here is more than enough."

"If you say so."

"I do say so." She lets out a breath. "Now, are you going to keep sitting there, or are you going to lie down with me and tell me all the crazy things that happened while shopping with the guys?"

Bellamy laughs quietly, scooting up on the bed so he's sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with Clarke. His smile widens just a hair when she leans into him and lets out a small sigh.

He doesn't waste any more time, immediately launching into the details of what happened at the mall earlier, and how he vows to never take Monty and Jasper shopping again. At least not by himself.

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!