Her Step Brother

Early Party

Clarke left the school with Raven in the passenger seat. They had the windows down and the radio up, yelling and singing along to song.

Clarke turned down her street, her heart beginning to pound against her chest. She jerked the car into the driveway, barely throwing it in park before opening her door.

The front door opened, her dad jogging with a grin.

"Dad!" She wrapped her arms around him, allowing him to spin her around before placing her feet back on the ground.

"Happy Birthday!" Her mother and Marcus shouted.

Clarke laughed. "Thank you."

"Come on!" Marcus urged.

Clarke hurried into the house with her father and Raven, grinning from ear to ear. She hadn't expected to see her father for two more weeks on Halloween.

"Happy birthday!" Maya and Finn yelled.

Clarke wrapped her arms around Maya, squeezing the girl. Next Finn wrapped her in a bear hug.

"What are you guys doing up here?!" Clarke asked.

"Well, your mom called your dad to surprise you, and he invited us along for the ride," Maya chuckled. "Oh! You must be Raven."

Raven introduced herself, every one gathering at the big table. Finn sat next to Clarke, her father on the other side. Raven, Maya, and Marcus all sat, the seat across from her still open.

"I guess I'm late to the party."

Clarke whipped her head around to see Bellamy in the doorway, carrying a bag. She rubbed the watch on her wrist.

She hadn't seen him in a week. Since he surprised her..

"Oh, this is Bellamy?" Maya asked. "It's really nice to meet you."

Bellamy gave her a polite smile. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Maya"

Finn stood, extending his hand across the table. "Hey, man. I'm Finn."

Bellamy shook his hand, a glintin his eyes that made Clarke's stomach turn with anxiety.

"Bellamy, I've heard a lot about you," her dad spoke.

"I bet," Bellamy chuckled. "I've heard a lot about you and Maya."

"Bell," Clarke tried to smile. "Would you please pass the salt?"

"Of course, Princess," he spoke with too much sugar.

"Princess?" Finn asked.

"Oh, she didn't tell you?" Bellamy asked. "Yeah, it's my little nickname for her."

"Honestly, it doesn't fit," Finn said, starting to get defensive. "She's not high maintenance or snobby. Maybe you just don't know her well."

"Or, I've just known her longer," Bellamy shrugged. "See, I gave her that nickname, what would you say Clarke? It was when we had Pike's class together. You were fifteen, right?" He grinned.

Clarke shot daggers at him with her blue eyes.

"How was the drive up here?" Marcus asked, unaware of what Bellamy had just plainly insinuated.

"It was good, really good. We drove straight away this morning, " Jake, her father spoke. "It was very kind of you both to invite us up here into your home."

"Well, we just wanted Clarke to have a good day," Abby smiled.

"Yeah, Princess needs a good birthday. You're eighteen now. No one can tell you what to do, right?"

She swallowed her tea, meeting his eyes, pleading him to stop.

"Yeah," she forced herself to chuckle.

Finn put his arm on the back of her chair, Bellamy's eyes narrowing slightly.

Oh, no...

"Then again, no one has really controlled you much, huh? I mean, your mom didn't take it well when this kid over here deflowered you."

"Bellamy!" Marcus, Abby, and Clarke yelled in unison.

"Oh, not good dinner conversation? Yeah, you guys are right. Well, Clarke. Why don't you open your gifts? I mean, I am sorry to say two of your gifts were already given to you, in privacy of course, but I did get you something for the party."

"Yeah," Abby said cautiously. "Clarke, you can go ahead and open yoir gifts if you'd like."

She stood, her back stiff. Reaching over, she grabbed the one from Maya first. "Maya! Are you serious?" Clarke laughed, holding the hoodie and a pair earrings. "How did you even remember I wanted this hoodie?"

Maya just shrugged. "Well, I bought it awhile ago and saved it. I was going to come over at Halloween, but here we are."

Marcus had gifted her with several gift cards to stores restaurants. Her mother gave her shirts, jeans, and a new pair of boots. Raven gave her sports bras and a membership to the local gym so they could work out together.

Her father gave her the title to her car, signing it over to her. He also gave her art supplies, books, and money.

Next, she grabbed the box that Bellamy had brought in. She opened it, smilimg widely. "Bell!" She laughed, holding up the Seinfeld dvds. He gave her a rock from the waterfall that she had no idea he saved, a bandage reminding her of scraping her hand, flavored honey sticks, a bunch of movies and five boxes of Red Hots. "Seriously, this was the most thoughtful gift. I love it, along with my watch." She wrapped her arms around him, briefly.

"Mine next," Finn announced.

She accepted the bag, opening it up to find a ticket to a concert. "No!" She gasped.

"Yes," Finn laughed, pushing his long hair behind his ear. "It's not front row, but you introduced me to them and got me hooked. So, in return you should get to see them play live."

"Finn, holy shit!" She chuckled. "This is so cool."

Finn hugged her. "Well, I remember what you love."

"Everyone, seriously thank you so much for coming and for everything I got. This means the world to me," Clarke announced.

"We're staying in town tonight," Finn said. "Why don't you show us around town?"

"That's a lovely idea," Abby agreed. "You can show them the town, take them where you go to hang out."

"Well, not everywhere," Bellamy spoke. "I'd leave a few places from that tour."

"Like what?" Finn demanded. "You know, I've thought about moving up here."

Bellamy was fucking pissed at that comment.

"Well, just as her ex, surely you don't want to see the places she spends time at with another guy," Bellamy shrugged. "Then again, what do I know?"

"Bell," Clarke warned.

"Tell me something Finn, what do your parents do? Just out of curiosity." Bellamy crossed his arms.

"My Dad's the principal at my school," Finn answered.

Bellamy burst out laughing, leaning over a little as he continued. "Oh. My. God! Are you serious? Princess, you are the most predictable girl I've ever met. Let me guess, your target this year is someone else exactly like Wells? The one that got away, huh?"

"Bellamy, shut the fuck up!" Clarke demanded. "You've been playing that broken record so long, it's not cute anymore. Wells was my best friend, that's it!"

Bellamy stepped towards the kitchen. "No one else stands a chance, huh? Princess for life?"

Clarke picked up her glass and chucked it at Bellamy, missing by a foot and smashing against the wall into pieces.

"Clarke! What the hell has gotten into you?" Her mother demanded.

"I hate you, Bellamy! I fucking hate you!"