Reckless

Decisions

Chapter 5

5 Weeks Later......

Clarke's body moved as she reached a hand across his little sister to lightly pat Raven's leg. They were settled along the fire, each girl mesmerized in their giggly conversation. He squinted his eyes, bringing the circular disk to his tentative lips as he swallowed the creek water. It was an awful taste, really, but it was water. She flicked her eyes towards him, watching how the girl's covered their mouths after she returned her glance back to them and whispered something he could not hear. There was a specific distaste for Octavia's gossiping nature—never did he assume it was a disease, but as he watched Clarke and Raven play his sister's favorite game he was certain two of the strongest women he knew were infected.
He stepped closer because he desperately wanted to know what had the girls in such a fit of laughter. Bellamy's intentions were not to intrude or appear as if he were eavesdropping but he couldn't stop himself. He needed to hear her melodious laughter, bask in her playful words and embrace her flying hands as she explained something he could not translate. He shuffled his feet closer, snapping twigs as he moved. The girls did not seem to notice—no, their attention was shifted to a different man.
Lincoln approached them with a thin-lipped smile and a soft head nod, capturing their attention with every action he made. They gawked at him in his bare chested, warrior-toned presence as if he were god's gift to women—even his own beautiful lover. Bellamy's strides increased until he was close enough to hear Raven's inappropriate comment, "Hey handsome..." She purred, "God, I could just eat you up."
He remembered the day Raven and Finn finally ended their relationship, the way she was confident Finn would never stop wishing to covet what was not his. She ended their relationship with a slap and started their friendship with a firm handshake. Bellamy did not understand the hold Finn had on Raven but he assumed it was slightly, mildly, related to his relationship with Octavia. It consisted of one unfaltering word: Family.
"Back off." Octavia chimed, narrowing her eyes jokingly at Raven until her face morphed by the excessive laughter piercing through her curved lips. Bellamy could not process how Octavia was able to joke about infidelity. He looked at his blonde vixen, his eyes darkening at the thought of a man uttering Raven's statement and how he would react. "He's mine, Reyes."
"What do you have for me, Lincoln?" Clarke asked as he extended his arms towards her, a rusted metal box in his large hands. She hesitantly opened the container, struggling with the latch for a brief movement before it popped open with an awful sound. "Thank you." Her face was radiant, touched by such happiness and gratefulness. Her lips parted as she continued to smile up at Lincoln, "This means a lot." He wanted to know the contents of the fucking box. Bellamy extended a rough hand towards Lincoln, who accepted the handshake with immediate respect. He watched as Clarke turned her eyes up to him, unaware that he was looking at her so intently in the first place. Bellamy winked and observed as a faint blush moved up her neck. It was as if they had their own secret, private space every time a small action such as winking was preformed despite the fact that secrets were rare in their camp.
The entire camp knew of their relationship one way or another—mostly because Octavia could not resist calling Clarke "sister" over the last five weeks, partly because Bellamy and Clarke were on fire. He would lean down and kiss her ever-so-sweetly before grabbing her hand and openly leading her to their tent. And she, she was not better than him when it came to getting what she wanted. Her fingers would trail up his back, making him arch like a cat before whispering her desires in his ear. He would normally follow with a smug look. With their youthful actions, the rumors flew and people were excited with the increased morale of the two overbearing leaders.
Her concentration was broken by a painful force to her breast, "Ow!" Clarke complained, her hand gently rubbing across the area as she glared daggers towards Raven. "That fucking hurt." Clarke and Raven were becoming great friends after her public breakup with Finn. It gave each girl a specific perspective—survival and their similarities as strong women. They started to giggle, too loud in Bellamy's opinion.
He was trying to have a proper discussion with Lincoln concerning their alliance. It'd been going fairly well with limited interactions and decreased fear among their people. Lincoln was the volunteered spokesperson of the grounders, mostly because he wanted to see Octavia multiple times a week. Bellamy respected him on a political level but he did not know how to feel when it came to his relationship with his sister. "What are you going to do, put me in time out?" She arched an eyebrow, a seductive smile hinting at the curve of her lips.
"Afraid you'd like it to much..." Bellamy's voice was a soft, contemplative whisper as his thoughts started to drift towards a more creative, imaginary place. They exchanged a purposeful look before he lightly chuckled and returned to his conversation with Lincoln. Even in their fiery, compassion they knew who they really were. Leaders. They had to be leaders rather than running off to be in whatever tricky position they found themselves in.
Octavia covered her ears with her hands and started to shake her head, "Too much. Too much!" She squealed before faking a gag. It took all but a few minutes before she elbowed Raven in gut for what appeared to be the second time that day by the look on Raven's face. She frowned deeply and pinched Octavia with her tiny fingers, watching as the playful brunette pouted and rubbed her upper arm until it was stained red. "Pay back's a bitch, Raven."
"What the hell are you talking about? You started it." Raven argued, her mouth turning into a pitiful O as she stole a look towards Clarke. Clarke snorted because she was not going to be a mediator between them. "Whatever I'm so over this game." Raven stood to leave, running her eyes across Lincoln's body once more before parting to join Monty in the communications tent. Clarke crossed her arms to protect her stomach from Octavia's flying elbows, sensing she was not finished with her violent game. She moved her arm forward, fully prepared to give Clarke a taste of the torment she'd put Raven under when Lincoln cleared his throat.
"You really don't need to be hitting her like that Octavia, you might cause problems." It was odd to see Lincoln so concerned with Octavia's roughness. He sent her a look of authority mixed with a slight plea for her to stop being so childish. She pouted briefly before turning her head to Clarke.
"Whatever." She grumbled, "Your tattoo's almost healed anyway I don't know why there's such a freaking problem."
"He just saved my lunch." Clarke giggled, "He is my hero."
In response, Octavia snorted and waved her hand flippantly. "I have to conserve my strength anyway for round two with Raven." The boy's—men, really—completed their talk with another handshake. Clarke would be sure to find out every missed detail of their conversation when she was alone with Bellamy. She would have interrupted them if she weren't so keen on the idea that they needed to bond. Lincoln clearly loved Octavia dearly and that was not going to change just as Bellamy would never stop trying to protect his sister.
I'll leave you with your Queen." Lincoln smiled at his words, earning a small kiss on the cheek from Octavia. Octavia was trying to teach Lincoln the culture of the Ark and the way the teenagers behaved. Funny, really, because Octavia was truly the last person Clarke would ever recommend to teach Ark Culture and ways of life in their community—she was under the floor for almost 17 years, how much could she really know?
"You hear that? I'm a queen now." Clarke said as she stood, brushing the dirt from her pants before her eyes made contact with his.
"You'll always be Princess to me." He moved forward to kiss her forehead, his hand knotting in her hair before he released her skin, a jealous question forming on his lips. "Why is he so protective over you anyway?"
She simply shrugged, "I guess it's just part of their culture. All the leaders I've ever met are women so he might have a certain respect for me...look, he brought me antidotes for possible poisons." She opened the box to show him, the same radiant smile gracing her lips again. "Thoughtful, really..."
"As long as he knows it's my job to protect you."
"I can protect myself." She said on cue, her signature frown designed just for him meeting her face instead of the smile he cherished. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, guiding her towards the drop ship. He was spending a lot more time in the drop ship with her than he needed to, but Clarke wasn't complaining. "So tonight when we get back to the tent..."
"Yeah?" Bellamy was intrigued with her line of conversation, thinking back to their earlier innuendos. She turned away from him to hide her amusement because of his eagerness.
"I'm going straight to sleep. I am so tired."
"Tease." He mumbled before he brushed her hair away from the back of her neck and placed his lips to her skin. His fingers started to trail down her back, towards her side. It wasn't until then, that he noticed his princess was not wearing her jacket. He was going to ask where her jacket was but the sound of his name echoing off the walls of the drop ship brought him back to reality. "I swear this always happens..."