Ice ~ Bellarke

Chapter Five

"Alright, let's do this," Bellamy skated towards the bench. "I'm gonna nail the layback spin today, I can feel it."

Clarke glided out to meet him and placed a hand on his chest.

"Not today, okay?" she said and shook her head no.

"Clarke, please," he insisted. "I am sick of twizzles, just let me work on cool shit just this once and then we'll go back to your boring Mr. Miyagi methods."

The corner of her mouth quirked up slightly but she shook her head again.

"It's not that," she said, "I just- I want to skate on my own today, okay? We'll work on spins tomorrow."

Bellamy cocked his head slightly and leaned down to look at her.

"Just you?" he asked. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah," she nodded and squeezed his arm. "Just take a break today, alright?"

"Alright," he agreed. He ghosted a hand over her hip as he skated past her and hopped back over the boards to sit on the bench.

Clarke didn't even wait for her music to begin before she started skating. She pumped her legs and raced down the ice, quickly gaining speed and launching herself into the air. She landed on one foot and whipped around, her blades cutting into the ice with a slicing sound that silenced the chatter on the bench. She drew her arms into her chest and threw herself into a spin at full-tilt, her body a blur. She lacked all of her usual precision and elegance and instead opted for a sort of fierce, aggressive skate that saw her crashing around all over the ice. What she lost in refinery she made up for with sheer power- she reached speeds and heights that she hadn't reached all season. By this point, both the members of the skate team and the hockey team were all watching Clarke from the bench with their mouths hanging open.

With her program song coming to an end, Clarke cut across the ice and threw herself into a jump. She spun in the air once, twice, three times- a triple salchow! In that moment she seemed to float above the ice as everyone awaited her landing with bated breath. Despite practicing for weeks, she hadn't landed the trick all season. Her blades touched down on the ice, and she glided away smoothly, causing the bench to erupt with cheers. The skate team jumped up from the bench and all of the hockey players thumped their sticks against the ground. Bellamy only watched with a frown.

When her music came to an end, Clarke stepped off the ice and yanked her skate guards on before walking over to the bench. Several of the boys slapped her on the back and pawed at her hair with gloved hands before heading onto the ice to scrimmage. She smiled tightly in response and sat down next to Bellamy, squirting a line of water into her mouth. He leaned his elbows against his knees and drummed his stick against the ground.

"Alright?" he asked and nudged his shoulder into hers.

"Mhm," she hummed and took a giant gulp of water.

"Alright," he stood to his feet and knocked his stick against her skate.

"Hey," she said suddenly and grabbed a hold of his forearm. "Can I study at your place tonight?"

He looked down at her searchingly, his brow puckered.

Blue eyes blinked up at him through blond lashes.

"Please," she implored softly.

His clumsy, gloved, fingers pressed against her hand.

"Of course."

After practice, Clarke and Bellamy piled into the truck and waited for it to heat up enough to drive.

"Bell?" Clarke asked.