I Run to You

Chapter 17

Clarke woke to Bellamy's gaze, warm and loving. She had always loved his eyes, the dark brown orbs reminding her of two identical pools of dark chocolate- sweet and tempting.

"Morning," she mumbled.

"Morning," he said, his voice utterly delicious and groggy.

"Mmm, how are you feeling this morning?"

"Like I got whacked on the head with a 2x4," Bellamy said with a chuckle.

"I'm glad you find it humorous! Nearly gave me a heart attack," Clarke grumbled burying her face in his chest.

As she breathed in, her senses came alive with Bellamy Blake's scent. He always smelled good, woodsy and masculine. She sighed, her lips curving in a grin.

"Do you think we should make them wait, or should we just go and get it over with," Clarke said, her voice muffled.

"Might as well get it over with," Bellamy said quietly.

They both got up- Clarke pulling one of his sweatshirts over her t-shirt, the hem hanging nearly to the tip of her shorts, before making her way out into the living room.

She found Octavia and Lincoln sitting on the couch, both of them turning to stare in her direction. She breezed by them without a second glance, knowing that if she and Bellamy were going to dig up the past then they needed coffee.

Clarke measured the dark grounds, spooning them into the filter, adding the water, and flipping the switch. Soon, the happy gurgling of the coffee maker filled the kitchen as she put some frozen biscuits in the oven.

She heard her bedroom door shut, and then saw Bellamy disappear down the hall. She grinned to herself, remembering that the eldest Blake was not human until he'd had his morning shower.

She continued to busy herself in the kitchen, cleaning up the mess from supper the previous night. Her thoughts wandered to the first morning she'd spent in the Blake house after moving in.

Clarke had taken over the guest bedroom, her door parallel to Bellamy's. She woke up, expecting to be disoriented but the room had long ago become familiar.

In the past two years she'd spent more time in this little bedroom than she had the room at her mother's house. She'd filed the paperwork to be emancipated two weeks after her father's murder, convincing the judge that she could handle her life on her own without the needless parenting of her mother.

So, now she found herself here. Employed at a local diner and driving a junky little white car she'd purchased just last week at a used car lot. Bellamy had gone with her, inspecting every vehicle until he finally gave her the ok on the tiny bucket of bolts.

"She may look rough, but she won't leave you stranded," he'd said.

Technically, Clarke had been living with them since the day after Jake Griffin's death, but the fight with her mother solidified the fact that the move was permanent. She would go and gather any necessary belongings later in the afternoon, officially becoming a member of the Blake household- as if she wasn't already.

She lay there for a moment, listing all of the things she needed to get done when her stomach rumbled. She'd eaten little at dinner the previous night and now she was starving.

Clarke got up, throwing on one of Bellamy's old high school hoodies that she'd swiped over her tank top and sweats before making her way down stairs. The first floor was quiet, Bellamy and O still asleep upstairs.