Planned All Along (A Bellarke Story)

Chapter 8

(C)

Clarke hung out with Octavia and Raven for a while after Bellamy left. She tried to be tuned into the conversation but inside, the only thing she could think about was him. Why did he leave so suddenly? Did she say something to upset him? She had no idea what was going on.

"Earth to Clarke" she heard Raven say.

"Sorry um what'd did you ask?" she replied.

"We didn't ask anything," Octavia said laughing and giving Raven a knowing look.

"Anyways..." Raven said, "We were thinking of going down to the poolside restaurant and getting some food".

"Sounds good" Clarke replied.

"Let's go tell the others then" Octavia chimed in.

The three of them went to get the rest of the group. Half the group, including Bellamy, said they weren't all that hungry, leaving Clarke and her roommates, as well as Monty and Jasper. Clarke had to admit she was bummed and it definitely didn't calm her thoughts at all.

All throughout dinner, Clarke tried hard to shut off her spinning thoughts. At one point in the conversation, she mentioned her and Bellamy's thought earlier.

"We were thinking that we should make a pact to come back here, a year or so from now.".

"That's a great idea, Clarke! Relive all the fun!" Jasper replied.

"We should for sure do that." Monty agreed.

The group continued eating and chatting until it was pretty much dark out. They decided it was probably time to go join the rest of the group. Heading back up, Clarke realized how tired she was but figured her thoughts would most likely keep her awake for a while.

She was right. The rest of her friends had gone to bed and were sound asleep but she was sitting on the deck, her thoughts a jumbled, incoherent mess.

(B)

Bellamy felt bad about not going to dinner. He had thought he needed more time to process what had happened earlier without seeing her. He quickly realized it wasn't working. He had to see her. Even though the rest of the group had gone to bed he figured she might still be awake.

He shot her a quick text: Still awake?

She replied within seconds: Yeah

He responded: Can't sleep?

Yep

Me either. Feel like getting out of here?

Sure. I'll meet you outside the rooms

He slipped on some shoes and went out to meet her.

"Hey Princess" he greeted her quietly.

"Hi Bell", she said, matching his tone.

"I was just going to go walk or sit on the beach, see if it makes me more tired".

"That sounds great," Clarke said.

They walked down the beach. The moon was full and cast a silvery glow on everything it touched. Including Clarke. Great, as if he needed to be any more attracted to her.

After walking for a little bit, he pulled out a blanket from the hotel and spread it on the sand. They both sat down and stared out to sea. Bellamy and Clarke stayed in comfortable silence for a good bit.

"You missed a fun dinner." Clarke suddenly blurted, breaking the silence.

"Oh right yeah. I just uh wasn't feeling like it" Bellamy replied rubbing his neck.

"They all agreed to make that pact we talked about earlier.".

"That's great!" he said, "It's been an awesome trip.".

They proceeded to talk and talk and talk, not paying attention to anything except each other. It was one of the nights, where two people talk about anything and everything, from the simple and mundane to the deepest, most existential. It was one of the best nights she had ever had. It seemed to go on forever. Time passed and passed. Eventually, at a lull in the conversation, he checked his watch.

"Holy crap! It's 2:45!" he said startled.

"Wow. We better get some sleep before hiking tomorrow!".

"Yeah," he said and stood up.

He reached out his hand to help her up too and tried hard to ignore the sparks her touch sent through his body. He picked up the blanket and they walked back up to their suites.

(C)

When they reached the rooms Clarke wasn't sure what to do. Say goodnight? Hug him?

"Well, that was fun. See you tomorrow Bell," she said as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Goodnight Clarke," he said right into her ear in a way that made her shiver.

As they released, she gave him a tentative smile, then walked into her room. She shut the door and leaned against it smiling. It was one of the best nights she had ever had. He was so cute, especially with the thick-rimmed glasses he only wore at night. At this point, she wondered if it was even possible that two people who are "just friends" would do that. As much as she wanted to process that, exhaustion took over and she decided to finally go to bed. She was too tired to even see that Raven saw her come in the door.