the world as we know it -- bellarke au

chapter ten - experimental

c l a r k e   g r i f f i n

For the first time in what felt like eons, I breathed in the smell of the outside air. 

No sense of imagination could quite replicate it --- the feel of the breeze, the glow of the sun, the grass beneath our feet. 

"We need to get back out here," Raven said, staring up at the blue sky. It was a perfect day. 

"Get on one of the patrols," Bellamy suggested. "I start my training tomorrow."

"Stupid President Wallace won't let me on a patrol until I'm eighteen," Octavia complained. 

"He's not wrong," Bellamy said. 

We sat around a checkered picnic blanket, which was adorned with a wonderful spread of brunch foods. Clearly, Octavia had taken a while to prepare it --- there were sliced croissants, cubed cheeses, jars of jam and peanut butter, other foods I'd never eaten in my entire life.

"I made a friend who works in the kitchen," Octavia said. "Georgia. She's awesome."

"Evidently," Jasper said appreciatively, picking up a croissant and breaking it open in front of his nose. 

Raven was standing at the peak of the hill, still staring up at the sky. I left the others to finish setting up and squeezed her shoulder. "Where were you last night?" I asked. 

"Oh, sorry," Raven said. "I was with Murphy."

I stared at her. 

"Not like that," she corrected quickly. "We were just talking, and time sort of got away from me. Wasn't Octavia there?"

"I was with Lincoln," Octavia said, slinging her arms around our shoulders. "Which means Clarke spent the night with my brother."

"Ew," I said. "Why d'you have to say it like that?"

"Because it's kind of funny, if you think about it," she said. "You two hated each other, now you're practically best friends."

"Oh, shush," I said.

We sat and ate for a while, laughing and talking about memories from our time on the ground. Part of me wished we could take a trip back to the dropship --- I missed Wells. It felt like we had abandoned him all over again. 

"Hows your boyfriend, Clarke?" Raven asked out of nowhere. 

I threw a cube of cheese at her. "He's not my boyfriend. We went on one date."

"Did you make out?" Octavia asked, raising her eyebrows. 

"Octavia," Bellamy said, elbowing her. 

"No," I said, hiding my face in my hands. 

"Did you kiss?" Harper tried. 

"Guys," I groaned. "It's not a big deal."

"So you did kiss?" Harper asked excitedly. 

"I really feel like we shouldn't be here for this," Monty said. 

"We didn't kiss," I said. "We ate dinner, and then we left. That is it."

"Boring," Raven said under her breath. 

I lifted my chin. "Why don't you tell us what you were up to last night, Raven?"

Murphy hadn't been invited to our little picnic, so only Raven and I knew what I was referring to. 

"Shut up," she said, eating the piece of cheese I'd thrown at her.

---

When we were brought back inside the decontamination area, it was my turn to make fun of Bellamy.