the world as we know it -- bellarke au

chapter twenty - from the kitchen

c l a r k e   g r i f f i n

We were not fine. 

For the next couple days, every time I saw Bellamy, I could hardly focus on whatever I had been doing. I was doing my best not to avoid him --- I missed him too, though I didn't want to admit it. Whatever I was feeling, it didn't change the fact that we were best friends. I couldn't exactly cut him out of my life forever. I didn't want to. 

One night, when my thoughts were getting too much to take, I went to see Luke. At least with him, things made sense. I liked him. A lot. He wasn't my boyfriend yet, but I had decided that if he asked, I would say yes. The truth was, I needed a distraction, and he was a good one. 

He greeted me at the door of his room, his dark hair messy and a half smile on his face. "I was wondering when I'd see you again," he said. 

"I saw you yesterday," I reasoned. I didn't need another person thinking I was trying to avoid him. 

Luke shook his head. "Yesterday is too long ago. Come in."

I had been in his room only once before --- when I went to collect him for one of our dates, after getting myself ready way too early and not having anything else to do. The walls were a dusty shade of blue, and a collection of photos were framed on the wall across from his bed --- his family, his friends, and one of us, which I still found quite surprising. 

"To what do I owe this unexpected visit?" Luke asked, closing the door. 

I didn't quite know. "Is seeing you not enough of a reason?"

Luke grinned, taking a few steps towards me. "On the contrary, I think that's the most perfect reason there could be."

Before I knew what was happening, he'd pulled me into a kiss, and I kissed him back. I was going to prove Octavia and Raven wrong. I was going to kiss him until we had the perfect kiss everyone seemed to be insisting I needed, and then I would keep kissing him, because I was dating him and I didn't have any reason to stop. 

I slid my hands into his hair, and his hands slid lower until they were resting just below my hips. We stepped backwards in sync until the backs of my legs hit the bed. Luke pulled away for a moment, and when I didn't stop him, we slowly sank into the mattress. 

---

After about twenty minutes of making out, it was time for dinner. I slipped my shirt back on and caught a glance of my reflection in the mirror. Aside from my hair looking a little worse for wear, I didn't look too unkempt. I ran my fingers through some of the more messy parts of my hair, then turned back to Luke. "You coming?" I asked him. 

"I have a shift," he said, sliding out of bed and pulling his own shirt over his head. "Maybe I'll see you later?"

I nodded, then excused myself to go eat. 

---

I sat with Raven, Octavia, and Lincoln at dinner, which was a potato stew that smelled vaguely like pine. 

"Your room is done being decontaminated," Raven told me, tapping her spoon against the side of her bowl. "Which means you should be alright to sleep there tonight."

"Alone," Octavia added. 

"Like the rest of you are sleeping alone," I said, looking pointedly at Lincoln. He took a bite of his stew, a small smile on his face. 

"Well, would you look at that," Raven said, her eyes wandering over my shoulder. "Bellamy's finally found someone new to occupy his time."

I turned around to find Bellamy approaching our table, accompanied by a girl with long blonde hair and a smattering of freckles.