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Clarke quickly emerged from the dropship, her head painfully jerking to the chaos that lay before her. More than half of the camp was engulfed in flames, the wind picking them up and spreading them further into the camp. People were frantically throwing snow and dirt on the flaming tents, trying to put out the fire as fast as they could. Clarke was mortified by the sight, but she quickly picked up her pace and rushed to help.
The fire was put out fairly easy, but more than half of the tents were ruined beyond repair. Apparently, the fire started because of a dumbass who thought it to be a good idea to light a fire inside his tent. After his tent caught on fire, the wind did its part and thus more than half of the camp got burned to the ground.
This was one of the worst possible moments to lose their shelter, with winter already settling in.
The dropship was full to the brim with teenagers in no time and soon enough Clarke realized that she hadn’t found a place to sleep until they could build more tents, since her tent was completely destroyed.
She quickly made her way to Octavia through the groups of teenagers.
“Octavia, hey, I wondered if I could share the tent with you. Mine got completely destroyed.” She asked, hoping to share the tent with Octavia and not be forced to sleep with some strange delinquents.
“Uh.. I’m sorry, I already said I would stay with Raven and a few other girls..” She apologized, looking sorry for the blonde.
“It’s okay, I’ll-“ Clarke started before Octavia excitedly interrupted her by grabbing her shoulders and pushing her towards a large tent.
“Oh, I think I know exactly who you could share the tent with..” She replied smugly, a grin plastered across her face. Realization hit Clarke as they approached the large tent.
“Wait, Octavia, that’s…” Clarke begun before being rudely interrupted again by Octavia’s shout.
“Bellamy!” She was still pushing a now-highly-reluctant Clarke towards his tent.
“Just a second!” His voice rang from the tent, before emerging a few moments after.” What’s the deal?” He asked them with a quirked eyebrow.
Octavia gave Clarke one more hefty push before coming to her side. Clarke opened her mouth to stop Octavia from saying something stupid but she was quickly shushed by the brunette’s finger on her lips. She then turned to Bellamy, who was still curiously watching them with and eyebrow arched up to his hairline.
“Hey, Big Brother! Clarke needs a place to sleep, since her tent was burned to the ground and I wondered if you could share your tent with her.” Octavia cheered, eyeing her brother carefully trough her sweet smile.
Bellamy raised both his eyebrows, waiting for them to burst into laughter, but he doubted it as much as he doubted that Clarke would agree to sleep in the same tent as him.
“Okay, I appreciate your offer, Octavia, but I’m gonna go find someone I can actually share the tent with.” Clarke quickly intervened but Octavia spoke up again.
“Actually… the majority of the girls are on the dropship and the rest of them are sleeping with me and Raven..” She quickly said, throwing a glance at Bellamy.
“’Aye, just so you know, I don’t mind sharing.” He said with a smirk, satisfaction seeping into his smile at her reaction.
She huffed and looked in the opposite direction biting her lip before turning back around to face Bellamy.
“..Fine. But I will skin you alive if you even try to touch me.” She warned, her expression impassive.
Bellamy lifted his palms in a mocking defensive stance before pulling the tent flap aside and gesturing for Clarke to go inside. Entering his tent, she was not
surprised by the fact that it was built better or that on his bed were stacked more furs than most other tents. She heard Bellamy enter right behind her and she quickly spun around to face him.
“I need to go and get my stuff.” She stated, exiting the tent before he could say something else. After a few minutes she came back, with a handmade backpack slung over her shoulder. She waited a bit in front of the tent.
“Can I come in?” She asked, not really wanting to intrude, even though they would be sharing the space now.
A low hum of approval came from inside and she took it as her cue to come in. He glanced at the backpack on her shoulder then returned his attention to what he was doing. He was shirtless, even though outside was colder than they have ever experienced, his shirt on his legs as he sat on the edge of the bed, carefully sewing a tear in the sleeve.
“I thought all your things caught on fire.” He pointed out, not averting his gaze from the shirt on his legs.
“Yeah, well, I managed to save some things, although not much is left.” She responded pulling a shirt, a pencil and a few pieces of paper out of her bag. She decided not to comment on his sewing skills.
“Not much indeed.” He said before getting up and grabbing a couple of long-sleeved shirts from a pile of scavenged clothing. He gave them to her, watching as she quirked an eyebrow curiously. “It’s not much, but it’ll keep you a warm.” He added, a corner of his mouth twitching in what seemed to be a quick smile.
“Better keep your only doctor warm.” She pointed out jokingly, sitting down next to him on the bed.
“Smart Princess.” He retorted as she huffed through her nose in amusement.
It was already long past dinner, and the cold win made most of the delinquents retreat to their tents as the fire and the chatter died down.
Bellamy finally finished sewing his sleeve and he put it on, testing the seams before turning towards Clarke, who was already taking her boots off, wriggling her toes trying to get the numbness out of her cold feet.
“Here, get under the covers.” He shortly said, lifting one of the blankets up. She quickly grabbed the blanket and slid under it, curling around herself, trying to preserve as much body heat as she could. A shiver climbed up from her toes to her spine as she settled under the blanket. Bellamy started taking off his boots as well, before stopping mid-action.
“What are you waiting for?” Clarke asked, looking directly at him.
“I wasn’t sure if you actually allowed me to sleep on the bed.” He responded, a hint of amusement in his voice.
“What? Of course you’ll be sleeping on the bed. The ground is cold as ice and I sure as hell won’t let the leader of these kids freeze to death.” She huffed in annoyance, still curled in the blankets, shivering ever so slightly.
A genuine smile spread on his face as he slid under the blankets, still careful not to touch her. They both fell asleep after staring for a while at the tent’s ceiling, a weird distance between them.
Bellamy soon woke to a low constant snoring. He raised his head to see Clarke snoring lightly, her lips slightly parted, breathing steadily. He gently pushed on her nose, trying to stop her from snoring without waking her up, but to no avail. He then tilted her head from side to side, getting her to finally breathe soundlessly. He laid his head back on the bed with satisfaction and huddled just a little bit closer to her, not even aware of doing so.
Although it didn’t take long for Bellamy to fall asleep again, he soon woke up with cold shivers running up his back. He turned towards Clarke and sighed in annoyance at the sight of her buried underneath all of the blankets, still sleeping peacefully. Tugging at the blankets to cover himself was to no good. Seeing as she didn’t budge, not even when asleep, the only idea that came to his sleep deprived mind was to get closer to her, being easier for him to cover himself without pulling too much on the covers. He scooped her in his large arms, spooning her from behind, finally pulling the covers over him as well, and reveling in Clarke’s warmth. She didn’t seem fazed by his action, more so sinking deeper between his arms, also enjoying the additional heat.
Clarke opened her eyes suddenly when she heard Bellamy rise from the bed loudly huffing Octavia’s name, his face a combination of fear and panic. He was drenched in sweat despite the low temperature and he was desperately gasping for air, propping himself against the bed with his arms. She quickly rose from the bed next to him, her motherly instincts kicking in at the sight of the ‘lost child’ in front of her. She cupped his cheek with her left hand and turned him toward her in an attempt to calm him down. He turned to face her, his eyes laced with the horrors of the nightmare, but a bit more awake.
“It’s okay. Octavia is fine. Nothing bad happened.” She whispered soothing words to him as he lay back on the bed, at first reluctant but then melting onto her mother-like touch. She also lay on the bed, still slowly caressing his face, mumbling calming words to lull him peacefully to sleep. He turned towards her, tightly wrapping his arms around her, deep gratitude behind the gesture. Clarke was taken aback for a few moments, but soon relaxing into his embrace, continuing to caress his face and combing through his inky curls with her fingers, wrapping her other arm around him.
She knew how painful it was to have constant nightmares and no one to reassure you that things were indeed okay. The difference was that for her it never was okay. Her father was dead and all she knew was that her best friend betrayed her. The nightmares seemed close to never ending in solitary confinement. She could only feel sorry for him, and that got the best of her. This boy was clinging to her as if his life depended on it and she knew what he was battling with inside his mind. What happened with Dax showed her that very clearly. So she held him close to her heart, comforting him as best as she could.
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Octavia was approaching his brother’s tent alongside Raven. They had questions about their bullet production, but she also wanted to see how he and were getting along. Last night Clarke didn’t seem too happy about having to share the tent with Bellamy and she hoped they at least hadn’t broke into a fight or something.
“Bell, you there?” She called out when they reached the tent.
No response came, so she assumed he wasn’t there but she still pulled aside the flap of the tent, wanting to make sure. When peeking inside, her and Raven’s eyes instantly widened in shock. In front of them, sprawled across the bed lay Bellamy and Clarke, both still asleep.
Clarke’s arms were hooked behind Bellamy’s shoulders, her head resting peacefully on his chest, while his arms were tightly wrapped around Clarke, his head rested on top of hers. Their legs were tangled together and the blankets were messily sprawled around them. They both looked peaceful and contented and Octavia couldn’t bring herself to wake them up.
She exchanged a glance with Raven and they decided they could let them have their moment of peace for a bit longer.
Clarke opened her eyes as the weak winter sunlight made its way into the tent, only for her vision to be blocked by inky curls and tanned skin. She blinked the sleep from her eyes and looked up, Bellamy’s face close to hers. He was still sleeping, his lips parted slightly to breathe.
As she recalled the night’s events and noticed their compromising position, a shiver of embarrassment crept up her back and raised the hairs on the nape of her neck. She tried to shift a bit so she could get up, but she only managed to wake Bellamy up in the process. He blinked a few times then realized with wide eyes what he was doing and let go of Clarke.
“Sorry.. I hadn’t realized …” He started, prepared for a handful of scolding but her response came calmly.
“It’s okay. It felt nice actually.” She said, standing up and smiling at him. She stretched with a yawn, and then bent down to put her boots on. He smiled back at her then followed suit. They dressed fast then exited the tent, the cold morning air whipping at their faces. They went in different directions, each of them with their own duties.
Soon enough, Octavia caught up to Clarke, a knowing smirk plastered across her face.
“So..” She said, dwelling on the letter ‘o’, “how did you get along with Bell last night?” She wiggled an eyebrow at her.
“It was alright.” Was Clarke’s only response, but she glanced at Octavia fast enough to catch her rolling her eyes.
“You know…” She begun, coming closer to Clarke’s face, “You now smell like him.” She finished with a grin then took off, leaving behind a bewildered and embarrassed Clarke.