Delirium

These weeks abroad had been the time of her life but Clarke couldn't lie. She missed being able to order the food she wanted not just what she understood on the menu. She missed actually getting what she ordered (well what she thought she ordered). She missed being able to say excuse me without having to think through the four languages of the different countries she visited. Was today pardon or excuzee? By the time she recalled, the person already shoved past her. Clarke knows they would have appreciated her saying something but her brain is always tinged with the fog of exhaustion. She misses understanding the people around her and being understood. She wished she spoke the languages but the only two in her repertoire were English and broken Spanish. Neither of which helped in France or Germany or Italy or their current country, Belgium. She hated herself for not appreciating everything about the trip and the experience learning new culture.

She was grateful to the other Jaha University students she was traveling with and had formed bonds with them not soon to be broken. How else could they get through nights of eating squid and escargot soup after thinking they ordered fried calamari without loads of laughter? And the nights when they were in a bit more sketch neighborhoods than previously realized, the boys would surround the girls and they felt safer (even though it was sexist). The experiences together sealed their friendship but no matter their closeness when ten kids in one van toured Europe with never enough sleep, they were bound to grow tired of each other.

Some of them knew each other before the trip began and that made everything worse and better. Clarke knew Wells, Jasper, and Monty since they were kids. She wasn't afraid to shoot them a sharp word when something annoyed her but that was happening pretty frequently now that they've reached their fifth week.

Everyone else was a new encounter for Clarke. Raven was the only person on the trip who seemed to come alone. She strutted up to the van on the first day in her combat boots wearing a tight top accentuating her... assets with a red leather jacket on top. Clarke immediately took a liking to her when she corrected Monty on his calculation of the gas mileage efficiency if they had taken a private plane instead. Clarke hung out with her and another spunky girl, Harper when the boys got to be too much for her. Which had become more and more often.

The Blake siblings always seemed to be on opposing pages but Bellamy looked out for Octavia. She heard him mutter the words "my responsibility" under his breath on more than one occasion. For the most part, his protectiveness was comforting in the foreign places but it often pushed Octavia to do the exact opposite of what he wanted. Clarke understood Octavia's annoyance especially now that Wells had begun mimicking Bellamy's overprotectiveness but towards Clarke. Octavia's rebellion was actually how they ended up at the current location.

They had bought their typical pregame bottles of Malibu and Jack at the liquor store by their hostel on the way back from a day of exploring. They each took a quick nap before beginning the night's preparations. Without cups, they all just took pulls from the bottles. Clarke was uncertain how the tradition began but the first to hit a chaser bought the first round at the bar. In turn by the fourth or fifth hostel of the trip, no one bothered even buying a soda or juice. The group ended up only being eight for the night with the other two choosing a long night between the partially-cleaned hostel of the eight powered through a few large swigs and were ready to head out a bit blearier eyed than they entered. Bellamy and Wells always refused to begin before they arrived safely at the bar. The group set out with a cloak of joy settled around their shoulders. The night just felt right.

Bellamy's suggestion was, Dropship, a bar next to the restaurant they went to for dinner. There really was no other choice because he was the only guide lacking inebriation. The walk began with empty streets but once they reached a more central area crowds began forming. Octavia ran free in front of the group only pausing when uncertain of direction and still ending up down a wrong road once or twice. Clarke and Raven laughed at her enthusiasm and nearly doubled over when one guy offered her his hands then spun her. Maybe they should have worried for her safety but they were still swaddled inside the comfort from earlier.