Archive of Our Own ^beta

“I’m so proud of you. Clarke, your father would be so proud of you too.”

“Don’t talk about him.”

Bellamy stopped at the bottom of the ladder. The blonde didn’t seem to notice him, and he figured she likely wouldn’t like him eavesdropping, but he couldn’t bring himself to leave.

“Clarke? Baby, I know something else is wrong. Please tell me what it is.”

Clarke sniffed. Bellamy could see the way she was shaking, like she was about to fall apart at the seems.

“Dad’s dead because of you. You turned him in. I know it. Wells told me everything before he-“

Even though she was facing away from him, he could hear the tears in her voice. That first day on the ground, he never could have imagined anything like this. Clarke was always so in control, the voice of reason, reigning them in.

“He let me believe that he did it, so that I’d hate him instead of you,” she cried, hands gripping the table for support.

“Clarke- Clarke, I want you to listen to me. That was never supposed to happen. Jaha was supposed to talk him out of it.”

“No I’m done talking to you!”

The older Blake watched Clarke turn off the radio, her breath coming out sharply. He knew that she was in solitary, but he never really considered the implications of it. He’d grown up knowing that Clarke Griffin was ‘the Ark Princess’. Daughter of Councilwoman Griffin and one of the Ark's leading engineers.

She backed into the table where Finn lay unconscious, hand over her mouth to muffle her sobs. Both of them were all too aware of the nearby teens taking refuge from the storm above.

When he moved forward, her teary blue eyes snapped to him. She visibly tried to pull herself together, but when he simply crouched down in front of her, Clarke collapsed to her knees, allowing him to hold her as she sobbed quietly. She buried her face in his shoulder as their metal refuge shook under the storm's onslaught.

"Shh, it's alright. You're okay, Princess."

He didn't even really know what he was saying at this point. When his mom was floated, he'd felt an overwhelming guilt and knew that nothing anyone said would make any difference. He knew better than to try and genuinely 'fix' the problem, but he liked to think his muttered platitudes helped a little.

"How long did you know?" he asked, once she had calmed down some.

She didn't sit up, instead choosing to lean against him more, hands fisted in his jacket.

"Wells. He was the only person I told, so I assumed he told his dad. For over a year, I have hated my best friend. I think I didn't want to believe that she- that she could-" she took a moment to breathe. "He admitted to me a few hours before he died that he was willing to let me hate him if it meant I still had my mother."

His arms tightened around her, getting a small chuckle from the camp healer.

"I'm sorry, we have more important things to deal with right now."

"Hey, it's okay to take a breather, Clarke."

She moved enough to meet his eyes, seemingly unbothered by the way he still had his arms around her. In fact, she almost looked comfortable.

"We are struggling to survive, and I am currently the only person with any level of proper medical experience. I don't have time to adjust my worldview or have a breakdown or take a breather. I need to be strong for these kids. If I am uncertain or upset, it has an effect on them."

They sat there in silence on the cold metal floor of the dropship.

"I know what you mean," Bellamy said, finally breaking the silence, "but you aren't the only one they turn to. You don't always have to be strong. If you try for too long, you'll break."

"So, what do you suggest."

Bellamy hesitated. He and Clarke had gotten off on the wrong foot and his continued attempts to cut them off from the Ark hadn't helped, but as they started working together on issues, he liked to think they had gotten closer.

"You can come to me. We are supposed to be equals in this. If we can't trust the rest of them, we should be able to trust each other. You don't have to be strong around me."

He held her gaze, trying to prove that he was sincere.

"I believe you. I trust you. I only have one condition."

"And what would that be?"

"That this... arrangement, it goes both ways. Neither of us are equipped to handle everything alone, and we both know it. We're partners here, Bellamy. You need to talk to me."

His mind went to all he had done. Shooting the Chancellor, removing the wristbands, breaking the radio resulting in the Culling aboard the Ark. He had done so much wrong over the past few weeks, and it was slowly eating away at him.

"You've got a deal, Princess. For now, just breathe."

The pair stayed there, strangely comfortable together. They had tortured a man, a joint decision that both of them wished they hadn't made despite the gravity of the situation. Now here they were, choices made. No turning back.

"My mom killed my dad."

As she broke down again, Bellamy held her, supported her. Yes, he had his own issues, but they could wait. Clarke may have been born the Ark's Princess, but she had become the ground's Queen. He would stand beside her for as long as he could. Because if they had to be strong for everyone else, the least they could do is be transparent with each other.

On the second level of the dropship, the other delinquents huddled together as they waited out the storm. Raven was about to head down, rejoin her boyfriend on the main level, when Monty and Jasper stopped her.

"What?"

The duo exchanged glances before Monty decided to speak first.

"You might want to hold off on going back down there."

"Yeah, mom and dad might be fighting again, and no one wants to hear that. Trust us."

Raven's stomach sank. She had noticed something between Clarke and Finn but didn't want to accept it.

"Oh. You really think Finn's awake?"

"Finn? No, Bellamy went down a little while ago," Monty said.

"Yeah, I think Octavia keeps waiting for one of their fights to end a little more intimately, if you know what I mean."

Monty snorted, elbowing his friend.

"Don't let them hear you say that."

Something in the mechanic eased. There was still tension that she didn't know how to deal with, but maybe she could handle it.

"So, you guys think there's a little romance brewing with our fearless leaders?"

Both boys grinned at her.

"Oh, you have no idea."

"I'm all ears."