Bellarke One Shots Book 1

46) Rely a Bit Too Heavily On Alcohol and Irony

The first time Bellamy Blake meets Clarke Griffin, it's at her (and, more relevantly for him, his sister's) graduation party, and she's making out with a very tall, very hot brunette. But the brunette's a girl, so he files her away as off-limits and goes to hang out with Octavia instead of asking her to dance. Since she's Octavia's friend, she was already off-limits, so her being into girls is probably good, because apart from those two things, she would really be his type.

He figures it won't come up much anyway, but it turns out she and Octavia are planning to move in together, which means that she's going to become a fixture in his life whether he likes it or not.

(Various people have attempted to tell him that it's not really normal to hang out with his little sister as much as he does; his response to that kind of criticism tends to be cutting those people out of his life. He has plenty of his own friends too, but Octavia is his sister, and that's more important than anything. He's not interested in hanging out with anyone who doesn't get that.)

He's pretty busy these days, of course. He's getting his masters' and working a couple part-time jobs, but one is at a bar, which means he's guaranteed to see Octavia every time he works, because she knows she'll get at least two free drinks, and the girl can prioritize. The first time Clarke comes along, it's four months after they graduate, and Octavia all but shoves her onto a barstool. "You remember Clarke," she tells him, like there's no way he couldn't. To be fair, she's right.

"Hi," he says. "Nice to meet you again."

"Hi," says Clarke, not making eye contact. She looks a little worn out. It's not particularly encouraging, but Octavia doesn't care about stuff like that. She just grins.

"Great! Rum and Coke for me, vodka cranberry for her, Bell." Bellamy mixes up the drinks; O downs her in one gulp. "I'm going to go dance. Clarke's going to relax and be social. You got this?"

Bellamy can't help smiling at that. Trust his little sister. "Sure, I got this."

Octavia disappears into the crowd, leaving Clarke looking down at her drink now, clearly uncomfortable. They didn't talk much at graduation, just basic introductions, and he helped them move into their new apartment, but it's not like he and Clarke are really friends. But he'd be a pretty shitty bartender if he couldn't socialize with people he doesn't know.

"So, what did she do?" he asks.

Clarke looks up at that, puzzled. "What?"

"Octavia," he says, jerking his head in the direction she went. "To convince you to come out. It doesn't sound like your scene. Blackmail?"

"Oh," says Clarke. "Nah. The usual Octavia." Her fond smile when she says it instantly improves his opinion of her, not that it needed the help. "A lot of guilt about how med school is consuming my life, I'm not relaxing enough, I can't leave her without a wing man, I haven't taken any time to get to know you..." She laughs. "She really laid it on thick."

Bellamy laughs too. "Yeah, that's O for you. So tell me about med school."

*

It gets easier. Clarke is a little prickly, slow to warm up to people, but surprisingly sharp and funny once she settles in. Bellamy tends to be a little prickly himself, so he can relate, and it's probably broadly good that Clarke is same-sex oriented, because he needs absolutely everything he can get to remind himself that she's off-limits, with her showing up at the bar in low-cut tops twice a week.

(It would honestly help if she was more same-sex oriented. Aside from the graduation party, he hasn't seen her hook up at all. She spends all her time talking to him, even when he tells her hot girls are checking her out. It's not good for his mental health.)