Us (Bellarke Fanfic)

[chapter twenty five - clarke]

The decision to go see my mom kept me up half the night, and now I'm waiting for Bellamy in the car while trying not to fall asleep on my backpack. 

I'm probably forgetting something. I have my phone, my charger, a change of clothes, a box of tissues... the snacks Octavia made me pack. 

I'm hungry. And exhausted. 

I lean my head against the dashboard, sighing loudly. Why am I even doing this? 

Because I need to know the truth. I need to meet this guy, make sure he's good enough for my mom. I could just fall asleep, right here. I'll tell Bellamy to wake me up when we get to Washington. 

Bellamy taps on the window, jolting me awake. I look up at him, and he rolls his eyes, smiling. He jogs around the car and opens the drivers side door. 

"This is why I'm driving," he says, climbing in the front seat and closing the door. He sets a bag at my feet and a travel cup in the cup holder of his door. 

"You're also driving because Octavia kicked you out of the house for the day," I remind him sleepily.  

"She thinks I don't know she's spending the day with Lincoln," Bellamy says, fastening his seat belt. He leans over to check mine, and I push him away. 

"I know how to do up my seat belt, Bellamy," I say, hugging my backpack to my chest. 

"You're basically sleeping right now, I just wanted to make sure."

"Because you think you're gonna crash the car?" I ask. "That's why we have seat belts. Because unsafe drivers crash cars. There didn't use to be seat belts."

"I'm not-" he starts, then he shakes his head. "Just-" he tries again, sighing. "Your seat belt is on, right?"

"It was a few seconds ago," I mumble, checking the strap. Sure enough, it's still fastened. I don't even remember doing that up. "I feel kinda dizzy," I say, frowning. 

"You sure you want to drive for three and a half hours?" he asks. 

"I can just take a taxi, actually," I say, reaching for the door handle. "You don't have to be stuck in the car, you've got plenty of other friends to hang out with-"

"Clarke, I'm driving you to Washington. I literally have nothing else to do," Bellamy says, a hint of bitterness in his voice. I turn to look at him. Should I say something? I don't know if he wants to talk about it. 

"Okay," I say timidly. "Sorry."

"Don't apologize," he says, rolling his eyes and turning on the car. 

"Sorry," I say again. "Whoops. I blame that on the dizziness."

Bellamy sighs, grabbing his cup from the door. "Drink this."

"Is it drugged?" I ask, taking it from him. "It smells like coffee. Is it a coffee flavored... drugged thing? To knock me out? So you don't have to deal with me?"

"What else could it be?" Bellamy asks, raising an eyebrow. Was that a legitimate question? 

Oh, wait. Coffee. Duh. Am I really that tired? 

"Thank you," I mumble, taking a sip. 

Bellamy pulls out of the driveway, and I take another gulp of coffee. 

"So," I say, setting down the coffee. "What do you wanna talk about?"

"What makes you think I want to talk?" he asks. Good question.