Fake Dating Blake

Chapter Four

'I always thought Bell would get married first.'

Octavia held her left hand aloft before her, staring dreamily at the square cut diamond sitting on her ring finger. She was so happy to have it back on; without it, she felt like something was missing, and she was without it so often these days that it was starting to bother her. They had good reasons, of course, for keeping it to themselves. Lincoln wanted Octavia to meet his mother without the added pressure of her knowing Octavia was going to be around for a long time, and Octavia knew exactly how Bellamy would react. Not well.

Her ring was catching the light from the window perfectly. Octavia smiled and slid her hand down Lincoln's forearm, then intertwined their fingers.

'I'm so happy,' she sighed dreamily, slouching down. Lincoln put his head on her shoulder.

'You have to tell him eventually,' he said quietly, and there was a slight edge to his tone. Octavia rolled her eyes.

'My two boys just can't get along, huh?' she said playfully, turning her gaze on the clouds outside. 'He won't be happy.'

'We're not doing this to make him happy,' Lincoln said, going back to his book. 'But you're right.'

'You only butt heads so much because you're exactly the same,' Octavia said, looking back at him and nuzzling the side of his head. She dotted a kiss to his temple. 'And you're both butt heads.'

The corners of his lips turned up but he didn't give an inch.

'Are you going to call him when we land?'

'Of course. He's a pain in the ass but he's still my brother. I just hope Clarke got her way.'

Lincoln's smile remained in place. Octavia observed him; one of her favourite Lincoln faces was that very one. Eyes glued to this book, nostrils flaring on occasion. He always looked peaceful; he was peaceful. Octavia had grown up in so much chaos; her and Bellamy's mom did her best, saved enough money to put Bell through school, and to start Octavia off; Bellamy had seen her through the past two years, and he was working hard to make sure she got to graduate. Aurora hadn't been around to see Octavia go off to college, and she'd been in another one of her dead-end programs most of Bellamy's senior year.

He'd found their mother on the bathroom floor a few months into Octavia's freshman year. Since then, it had just been the two of them. Now it would be the three of them, and all Octavia wanted was for Bellamy and Lincoln to love each other as much as she loved them; alright, perhaps not quite that much, but enough to get along for a common good. They were so alike in so many ways; Octavia was amazed they didn't see it.

Clarke was just as stubborn, she mused. Her mind wandered to where she hoped her brother was, sitting alongside Clarke on the long drive back to the Griffins in Connecticut. What she would pay just to be a fly on the window in that situation. Octavia wasn't surprised her best friend and Bellamy didn't get along most of the time, but the irony of it all was that they agreed on things a lot more than they didn't, just not to one another's face. One of them would always make a snide or sassy remark, and the other's temper would flare immediately. It was entertaining, really, but sometimes it got a little out of hand. All that tension between them, and Octavia knew the perfect way to release it. Hopefully Bellamy spending his Christmas with her family would move things along in that department...

'You've got that look,' said Lincoln.

'You're not even looking at me.'

'I know your looks.'

'Okay, clever boy. You know this is my first Christmas without Bell around?' It seemed to hit her then, and she stilled. 'Ever since Mom died it's been just us, and I just left him there.'