Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Clarke stood in the gallery taking in the atmosphere, there were large paintings hanging from the walls, people in gorgeous evening dresses and suits drinking champagne while waiters circled the room with oeuvres. Clarke adjusted her belted midnight blue dress and took a glass of champagne before walking towards the nearest painting. It was a simple piece done in shadow then starling arranges of green, it was the statue of Lincoln but drawn as if it had been neglected over time and the green of the forest growing over the statue. Clarke smiled it was her favourite of Lincolns works.

She had agreed to come to Lincolns Gallery opening as a favour, he was her friend, her mentor he was her people and as much as being here dressed up reminded her of the life she left behind she was here to support him. He was becoming a big deal in this town and she was happy for him, he deserved all the accolades he got. She moved went to move onto the next piece, a portrait of the Greek ruins when she felt someone sidle up beside her

“This will be you one day”

Clarke smiled and turned to face Lincoln “Hey big shot” She shoves him lightly in the shoulder, he is not big on physical contact “Congratulations”

“I am serious Clarke”

She looks back to his painting and shrugs one shoulder “Maybe”

The continue to stand there in a comfortable silence looking at the piece before a commotion draws their attention, a bunch of people in black suits and dresses are talking animatedly

“Artist Managers” Lincoln comments

“Well I guess it is your time to shine then” Clarke smiles at his reassuringly “I will be fine, go on”

Lincoln nods at her before turning and heading over to join the group. Clarke glances around the gallery again looking for anyone she might know, there were a couple of photographers taking photos for the culture section in the paper and she made a mental note to stay far away from them. She did not need her mum seeing pictures of her in the paper.

She moves towards the bar to get a new drink, she couldn’t help but feel a bit out of place. She got her drink and took a sip turning around to look at the room again. As she does a pretty brunette in a strapless emerald green dress walks up taking a drink and stands beside her

“Are these things always this stuffy?” as she takes a sip of her drink

“Apparently so” Clarke replies “Clarke” she offers her hand

“Octavia” They shake and look around the room again

“So, how do you know Lincoln?” She asks Octavia

“Oh, I am his girlfriend” Octavia beams at her “And you are Clarke the artist right? Lincoln talks about you, he thinks you are going places”

Clarke drop her head to look at her feet “Lincoln exaggerates”

Octavia raises and eyebrow at that “Both you and I know that is not the case”
Clarke shrugs her shoulders in response

“Ok” Octavia takes a sip of her champagne “Let’s do this thing” She links her arm with Clarkes and faces her

Clarke puts her game face on “Let’s do it”

Clarke and Octavia spend the next hour or so talking, drinking and exchanging tales about Lincoln. The man himself comes and joins them a few times looking a little uncomfortable at the situation which only makes them laugh harder.

“So how did the two of you meet?” Clarke asks Octavia

Octavia beams at Lincoln who extracts himself to speak with someone about one of his paintings

“He was brought in to consult on a film I was working on”

“So you’re an actress?” Clarke asked, Octavia certainly had the looks for it

“Oh no, I do stunt work, mainly swordfights and battle scenes occasional body double work if required , though my brother does not like me doing that part of the job” Octavia glanced around the room “Speaking of, he should be here somewhere”

Clarke takes a sip of her drink and turns back to the painting they are standing in front of, she has a pleasant buzz from the champagne not to mention the fun she had been having talking to Octavia and Lincoln

“Clarke, give me your phone” Octavia snapped her out of her thoughts and she handed over her phone and watching as she programs her number into Clarkes phone and sends herself a message “Your awesome and fun, message me whenever you get sick of Lincoln and want to hang out”

Octavia hands Clarkes phone back and holds onto it for a second “I’m serious, I could use a friend who is female” she rolls her eyes “too many males in my life”

“Noted” Clarke nods to Octavia and smiles

“Now that’s dealt with. More drinks!” Octavia declared raising her glass in the air, Clarke met Lincoln’s eye from where he stood across the room and he gave a small smile. As Clarke and Octavia move back over to the bar.

//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//

Clarke and Octavia were well and truly drunk by the time 11pm came around; Octavia had been telling Clarke about the time she was being a body double for a high profile actress which had Clarke in stitches she was leaning on Octavia trying to control her breathing when she hears a deep voice behind her

“Sorry I’m late O”

Octavia’s face lights up “Big Brother!” she launches herself at the person behind Clarke

Octavia pulls back and turns to Clarke “Clarke this is my big brother, Big Brother this is Clarke”

Clarke looks to the person besides Octavia, He is tall with a head of curly black hair, wearing a suit that fit him like a second skin, his dark eyes were looking her over and Clarke got the feeling she was being judged.

His eyes met hers and she gave him a small smile and held out her hand “Nice to meet you”

He looked at her hand then back to her before turning to his sister “So what have I missed?”

Clarke moves her hand back to her side and turns to face the bar; well the brother is a delight. Octavia sidles up next to her “Sorry about that, he can be an ass sometimes” Octavia picks up a drink and turns around. Clarke turns to join Octavia facing the room, she can see her brother shaking hands with Lincoln and he gives him the same cold detachment that he gave Clarke

“He takes on too much” Clarke looks at Octavia as Octavia continues “He works a lot, he always has. Now they are all trying to bring him down”

Clarke looks back at Octavia’s brother who is now taking to the Managers around Lincoln; he is all charm and flirting now. It is like a different person that she met a few moments ago “What does he do?”

Octavia looks at her with a confused expression “You don’t know who he is?”

Clarke shakes her head

“He’s Bellamy Blake, star of the Mount Weather movies” Octavia tell her with sarcasm and a roll of her eyes

“I haven’t seen them” Clarke studies him for a moment “But you are right your brother is an ass”

Octavia laughs at her comment “I knew I liked you”

She and Octavia continue to talk until Bellamy comes over to them “Hey O, Lincoln asked me to take you home he is going to be here for a while now”

Octavia throws back the last of her drink before turning to Clarke “Are you alright to get home?”

Clarke nods “Yeah I am just going to catch the train”

“No you won’t” Octavia objects “Not this late, Bell will drop you home won’t you Bell” She looks up at her brother with what Clarke would describe as doe eyes

He sighs “Sure O” They all turn to walk towards Lincoln to say goodbye. As Octavia is saying goodbye to Lincoln Bellamy discreetly puts his hand on Clarke’s lower back. Clarke is shocked by the action; he leans in close to Clarke’s ear

“Just because I’m giving you a lift home does not mean that you are getting anything else from me”

Clarke looks up at him slightly shocked at his presumption, Octavia returned to them and they walk towards the coat check. There is no way that she is going to let someone speak to her like that.

Bellamy helps Octavia with her coat and then turns to help Clarke with hers she looks over her shoulder at him leaning in closer and says “Who says I want anything else from you?”

She finishes putting her coat on and smirks at him which causes him to smirk back “Well, shall we?”

They all head out to his car and he proceeds to drive them home, they pull up in front of Clarkes building and Octavia reminds her to call her or text or just make some form of contact. She thanks Bellamy for the lift and he just grunts in response.

She lets herself into her building waving as she watches them drive away, she lets out a sigh of relief as she makes her way up the stairs to her apartment. Well that is all done and dusted, she has never been more happy that she left that part of her life behind.

//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//

Clarke woke the next morning and immediately remembered why she stopped drinking champagne. She rolled over rubbing her eyes and looked at her alarm clock it was barely 11am and she had nothing on for the rest of the day, Clarke smiled as she stretched she had a painting she was working on and she could turn her phone off and spend all day blasting music and painting.

Clarke got up and walked across her studio apartment to the kitchenette, she put the kettle on to make some tea and grabbed her phone off the bench where she had left it to charge. She had a few missed calls from Raven and Wick and a message from Octavia. She quickly shot off a message to Raven to let her know she was having what Raven has termed an ‘Inspiration day’ she put her phone down when the kettle went off turned and poured the water into the teapot (she invested in a cheap 2 litre teapot which will keep her going all day) She switched off her phone and took her teapot and cup over to her easel. She turned on the radio and sat down to paint

She was mid-way through trying to fix the shading of the dark sky in her picture when her front door slammed open; she jumped at the noise and whipped her head around to see Raven march through the door with Wick casually strolling in behind her.

“Why are you not answering your phone?” Raven demands picking up Clarke’s phone and checking it

“Hey Clarke” Wick adds while opening her fridge on the hunt for god knows what (there is never anything in her fridge)

Raven and Clarke had met under Original circumstances to say the least. Clarke met and started dating Ravens long-time boyfriend while Raven was working offshore. When she returned it was clear that both Clarke and Raven did not know of each other’s existence the band together and both threw him to the wolves, and as they say a beautiful friendship was born. Wick came along about a year later and made Ravens life a living hell (according to Raven) before she folded and they had been together since.

“You turned it off!!” Raven exclaimed turning her attention back to Clarke

“Inspiration Day” Clarke gestures to her easel, her paintbrush still in hand “Hi Wick”

“So you are telling me you have not spoken to anyone today?”

“Not until you barged through my door, you know that key is for emergencies Raven not just for whenever you feel like coming over”

“It’s totally not for that and you know it”

Raven walks over to Clarke and looks at the painting, Wick somehow has located a tub of yogurt and has taken up residence on her couch turning on her tv.

“Alright I am just going to show you this and try not to freak out” Raven types something in her phone and holds it out to Clarke. Clarke places her paintbrush down on her pallet and takes the phone.

She gasps when she sees what is in front of her. There is a photo from the opening last night, she thought she had avoided all the photographers but they appeared to have spotted her. She scrolls down to read the snippet of an article underneath:

Bellamy Blake star of the Mount Weather movies spotted with a mystery blonde at a Gallery opening Friday night, sources say the couple where quite affectionate and left the opening together. The blonde (name unknown) was seen drinking and talking with Bellamy’s sister Octavia who also left with the couple. Could this be the girl to change Womaniser Bellamys ways or is she just another notch in his bedpost?

The photographer has seemed to catch the moment Bellamy pulled her aside as he is standing beside her with his arm on her back whispering in her ear. There is also another photo when he was helping her with her coat, the photo makes it look like she is completely melting into him her head is angled up to his and his head is down near her shoulder it does look remarkable intimate.

“Shit” Clarke looks up at Raven and back to the phone “Shit, Shit, Shit”

She stands up, gives Raven back her phone and marches to the kitchen to grab her own. She paces while she waits for her phone to turn on. Raven taking a seat next to Wick who is watching on animatedly

“On the bright side they did not name you” Raven reasons with her

Clarke drops into her armchair as her phone finally finishes loading she looks through her phone. She has a message from Octavia

I am so sorry, and so is Bell

Don’t worry is not your fault

Clarke checks her missed calls there she finds 10 missed calls from her mother

“It may not name me, but you can still recognise me” She shows Raven her phone “My mum has been calling”

“Shit Clarke, I’m sorry”

Clarke shrugs

“So have you been holding out on us Clarke?” Wick asks “How did this all happen?”

“Nothing happened; I literally met him last night for like 2 seconds and he was a complete ass”

“He has a nice ass” Raven adds quietly

“Hey!” Wick exclaims with fake hurt

“His sister is nice though” Clarke adds

“Nice as in friendly nice or nice, I want to jump her nice?” Raven asks

“By the looks of those photos he was the one you wanted to jump” Wick comments

Clarke chuckles “Friendly nice, she is Lincoln’s girlfriend”

Clarke throws her legs over the arm of the chair

“Look they did not name you, so it doesn’t matter it will all blow over” Raven flings her legs over Wick outstretched legs, feet on her coffee table “No such no talking tv”

Clarke smiles at her friends and she feels her phone go off again, it is a message from Octavia

Regardless we are sorry, coffee tomorrow?

I don’t drink coffee but sure, there is a place near me called Dropship. Tomorrow at 1 sound good?

All good we will c ya then

We? Clarke thinks looking at her messages before shrugging and turning towards the tv, content to spend the day veg out with her friends.

//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//

Clarke walks into the Dropship at 1 on Sunday, she looks around for Octavia but she doesn’t appear to have arrived as yet. There are not many people in the Dropship surprisingly for that time on a Sunday. She walks up to the counter where she sees Harper working. Harper is the nicest girl ever and Clarkes favourite barista

“Hey Clarke” Harper greets her “Don’t normally see you here on a Sunday, you want the usual?”

“Yeah, thanks Harper” Clarke looks around again “kind of quiet for a Sunday isn’t it?”

Harper shrugs “its lunch time we are generally quiet around now because we don’t serve super lunchy dishes”

“Fair Point” Clarke turns back to Harper “Can I get a Chocolate Brownie also, please”

Harper rings up Clarkes order and tells her is will be out shortly, Clarke takes a seat in her favourite corner table and pulls out her phone flicking through it waiting for Octavia to arrive. Just as Clarke was debating buying a new set or brushes that she didn’t really need she hears someone calling her name, she look up to see Octavia rushing towards her

“Clarke!” Clarke stands as Octavia crushes her in a hug making Clarke laugh

“Sorry we are late; I hope you have not been waiting long”

“Not at all” Clarke shakes her head sitting down again
“Have you ordered?” Octavia asks, Clarke nods in response

“Cool I will let Bell know and I’ll be right back”

“You will let who?” Clarke begins to ask but Octavia had already turned and was walking over to the counter where she stood next to someone, Octavia turns to walk back and Clarke can see who it is one Bellamy Blake.

Bellamy and Octavia take a seat at the table, Octavia sits in front of her so Bellamy is forced to sit beside her .Octavia is basically bouncing out of her seat while she tells Clarke how Lincolns opening went, apparently there are a lot of people interested in his work and there is currently a bidding contest on one of the pieces which is why he couldn’t be there with them.

“Anyway” Octavia continues “Bell has to say something to you”

Clarke looks his way with a raise eyebrow he had been sitting there quietly drinking his drink which had been delivered by Harper to their table while Octavia was talking

“Bell” Octavia commands and Clarke hears a thump from under the table quickly followed by Bellamy sending a glare in Octavias direction.

Bellamy meets her eyes “I apologise for my behaviour last night”

“And” Octavia prompts

“What O? I apologised it’s not like they named her or anything”

That more than anything makes Clarke laugh, which causes both the siblings to turn and look at her

“You are kidding right?” Clarke feels her heckles rising “Just because they didn’t list my name does not mean that justifies your behaviour or that behaviour had on my life”

“What could have possibly happened in your life that has injured you so badly overnight?” He comes back at her matching her intensity

“You don’t know my life Bellamy Blake”

“And you don’t know mine, Clarke. You don’t know what we have been through what we have done just to get here and now they are trying to take it all away”

“Bell” Octavia tries to calm him down

“No O, I’m out of here. I will meet you in the car”

Bellamy gets up and with a last look to Clarke as he walks out of the door, Octavia and Clarke watch as he walks down the street kicking a lamp post as he goes before turning towards the car park. Clarke looks to Octavia and Octavia sighs

“I’m really sorry about that Clarke” Octavia looks down at the table in front of her “I should probably go”

“It might be a good idea” Clarke mutters

Octavia stands up “I’ll text you ok, I’m really sorry Clarke” Octavia walks out the door leaving Clarke sitting alone at the table.

//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//

After that day Clarkes life continues in a familiar fashion apart from one text Raven had sent her with a screen shot of some gossip website with a grainy photo of Bellamy and herself with Octavia at the dropship, the whole Bellamy Blake saga seems to be over. She texts with Octavia though the week and quickly comes to realise that Octavia really does not have any female friends, she is surrounded by her brother and his friends and if Clarke knows what the brother is like she can only imagine what the friends are like.

Clarke works as a tour guide at the Museum of Modern art during the week, that was she can pay her bills as well as being around art which she loves, it also inspires her in her own work. She had a particularly slow Wednesday when she gets a text from Octavia

What up bitch?

Clarke has quickly come to learn that Octavia like to refer to everyone a Bitch

Not much, slow day

Clarke glances around no-one is near the tour station so she looks back to her phone

What are you doing on Friday night?

A whole lot of nothing, why?

Linc and some others have been invited to a party at grounders on Friday night, u want in? u can bring whoever u want

Will your brother be there?

Not as far as I know

Count me in then, better add Raven and Wick also

Awesome! C u all at 9 on Friday night bitches!

Clarke smiled at her phone, It has been months since the gallery opening and she could really use a night out and she knew parting with Octavia would be fun.
 

Chapter Text

“Bellamy, this needs to stop” Marcus Kane, Bellamys manager said while pacing around his lounge room, Bellamy sat slumped on the couch with his head in his hands “Your temper, The endless line of women. You act on emotion Bellamy; you need to learn how to control it”

Bellamy looked up “It should not matter what I do in my personal life Kane, when I am on set I give 100%”

“I know that and you know that, but honestly Bellamy you need to rain it in” Kane pulls his phone out of his pocket and checks the time “I have to be off, but Bellamy, talk to Octavia, talk to someone, anyone and sort it out”

As Kane walks out the front door Bellamy collapses back into the couch and closes his eyes. He knows Kane is right, but he has spent so long looking after Octavia and worry about everything that he should not have to had worry about that now she is settled and fending for herself he should be able to enjoy himself right? Kane may be right he might have a temper but he is just trying to get by.

He was still deep in thought when Octavia walked into his house

“What was Kane doing here?” She asked him walking into the lounge and flopping down on the couch next to him

“Lecturing, you know the usual”

“What about this time”

He raises his eyebrow at her “Do you really want to know?”

“Big Brother you can tell me anything, you know that”

Bellamy sighs and looks at Octavia “It’s nothing I can’t deal with”

Octavia looks at him with a raised eyebrow “You do know you don’t have to look after everything yourself, I can help you”

Bellamy nods and stands up to walk into the kitchen to get himself a drink “So what’s up with you O?”

“Not a whole lot keeping busy, got some studio work on a tv show coming up, we are going to Grounders on Friday night, Linc was invited to some party”

“Yeah I think I heard something about that for Anya right?” Bellamy walks back into the room, drink in hand

“Yeah I think so. Are you going?”

Bellamy shakes his head “I don’t think that would be a good idea O. I think I will lay low for a while, put some space between Kane’s lectures”

Octavia walks over and takes the drink out of his hand and takes a sip “Well you know where we will be if you want company” She smiles up at him and puts the drink back in his hand “Now make some popcorn and lets watch Troy so I can look at some attractive men and you can bitch about how historically inaccurate it is”

Bellamy laughed at that “Sounds good”

That’s how he ended up spending the rest of his day chilling out on the couch with his sister eating popcorn and bitching about historically inaccurate movies. It is like the old days no pressure, no expectations just them

//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//

When Friday night rolls around Bellamy find himself home alone. He wonders around his large house aimlessly. It is too big and too quiet when he is there by himself, it used to be easier when Octavia lived with him but she moved out a couple of months ago to live with Lincoln. Not that it would make a difference as she was out at Anyas thing at Grounders tonight.

By 10pm he could not take the isolation any more, he grabbed his jacket, keys and wallet and head out for Grounders. He arrived at about 10.30 and there was a long line outside the Club. He pulled up at the entrance, the Club was so popular it had a valet service; he had been here a number of times it was a good place to pick up women. He jumped out of the car and gave the keys to the valet before heading inside.

Once inside he headed straight for the bar to see his Murphy working the bar. Murphy and Bellamy met when Bellamy was broke and working as many jobs he could find to support Octavia and get her though college. It was only by chance that Bellamy was spotted one night by a casting agent and his career path changed practically overnight. It didn’t mean that he didn’t work equally as hard as he had before hand, if anything he worked harder he had more to prove, more to hold onto, more to lose.

“Sup man” Murphy greeted him “Octavia said you wouldn’t be in tonight”

“Yeah, changed my mind”

Murphy slid a drink over to him which he contemplated wearily

“Alright?” Murphy questions him while whipping down the bar

Bellamy looked up at him from his still untouched glass he didn’t even need to say anything for Murphy to nod

“OK just one of those days. Octavia is on the floor if you wanted to say hi”

Bellamy nods in thanks, picks up his still untouched glass and head onto the dance floor, dodging people left and right until he spots Octavia in the middle of the floor dancing with Monty and Jasper a couple of techs she met working on sets. The boys deal will all electronic and pyrotechnic technical issues on sets which is where they met both Octavia and himself, as a stunt person they tend to work with Octavia more often and the three of them became close friends. She is also dance with two other girls a blonde and a brunette that he doesn’t immediately recognise.
He manages to catch Octavias eye and he raises his glass to her. She smiles and pushes her way through the crowd to hug him.

“You came!” She yells in his ear “Lincoln and Wick are over there” She points over to where booths are lined up again the wall, he looks to see Lincoln talking to a scruffy blonde guy she doesn’t know. He nods to her laughing she is clearly drunk but happy. He lets her go and starts walking over to the booth. He shakes Lincolns hand sitting down next to him he puts his glass on the table

“Didn’t think you would be here tonight” Lincoln asks him

“Changed my mind” He turns to the Blonde man and introduces himself “Bellamy” He sticks his hand out to shake

“Wick” They shake

“What brings you here tonight Wick?” Bellamy asks

“The girls wanted to dance so here I am” Wick gestured to the girls dancing with Octavia

“How to you know them?” He asked making conversation

Wick looks at him with a surprised and slightly puzzled expression, this cause Bellamy to glance at Lincoln who is looking at him with a bemused expression

“Uh” Wick began getting Bellamys attention again “Well Raven there is my girlfriend, she is the brunette and the blonde is Clarke”

Bellamy nods and looks at the girls to place their names to their faces “And who is Clarke?” he asks Wick turning back towards him

Wick looks at him with that puzzled expression again and looks to Lincoln so as to ask his help. Lincoln laughs “Bellamy you have met Clarke”

Bellamy looks to the blonde again taking in her appearance she was wearing skinny jeans showing off her nice curves, a blue top and had her blonde hair down. He watched as she laughs and dances with the group.
He notices as some random guy sidles up behind her and places a hand on her hip. He feels the instinctive need to protect grow inside him however before he can move she has turned to face the guy giving him what for and the guy backs away with his hands in the air. He can’t help but respect this tiny blonde she does not need anyone to rescue her. Unfortunately for him as she turns back to the group she catches him looking at her. She now glares at him; clearly he is now her new target.

“Shit” Bellamy muttered and looked away it was the girl Octavia befriended at Lincoln Gallery opening, the one he may have been a bit short with. He had a rough day that day.

That in turn caused both guys to laugh

“Remember her now?” Lincoln asked

“She is Ravens best friend since you asked” Wick commented “I’m going to move into the safe zone before world war three starts” He slid across the seat and stood. Bellamy glanced over to see Clarke walking determinedly if not slightly wobbly towards him.

“I wish you all the best” Wick said before making his escape over to the group dancing

Bellamy looked to Lincoln pleading with him “I am really not up for this tonight”

“Tough” is Lincolns only response “Now move I want out as well”

Bellamy moves over and lets Lincoln out of the booth just as Clarke reaches him

“You” she looks up at him and pokes him in the chest “Are a jerk”

Bellamy sighs as he sits in the booth sliding himself and his still untouched glass over towards the wall. He expects her to sit across from him but much to his surprise she slides right in beside him, he turns to slightly face her, immediately realising that was the wrong decision as she starts poking him in the chest again.

“You have no idea what I have had to do to get where I am, I don’t need any handouts and I never needed nor asked for your help, nor Octavias. So how dare you imply that I was just using you for your name, your money or your body”

He takes in her face, she is strong and certain of herself even in her drunken state and she is looking at him to dare to challenge her.

“Look I can’t really deal with this tonight so if you don’t mind” he gestures towards his drink

“Hey!” she exclaims pulling his shoulder back so he is facing her “you don’t get to turn away from me”

“Well seeing as I don’t answer to you, can I at least enjoy my drink?” he says sarcastically turning away again and picking up his drink he swishes it around in his glass watching the liquid move. He is waiting for her to leave him be again but instead she just sits next to him. He is still looking at his glass when he hears her ask

“Are you actually going to drink that or just look at it all day?”

He looks at her and she is looking at him with an eyebrow cocked, he sighs and puts down the glass

“I guess not” she comments making herself more comfortable. She looks him over as though she is reading him, that more than anything unnerves him. She looks up at him with her big blue eyes “Do you want to talk about it?”

He sighs looking down at the table and back to her again “You don’t want to hear it”

“Try me” she reaches over and takes his drink taking a sip from it and grimacing which makes him grin

“Not a whisky drinker?”

“I guess I am now” she shrugs “Now what’s eating you?”

He shrugs one shoulder and looks around watching Octavia and her friends dancing together, he looks back to her as she grimaces again having taken another sip of his drink “you don’t have to drink that you know”

She shrugs at him in return “I’m not passing up a free drink. Now stop stalling”

“It just gets a bit much is all, I know it sounds like winging but sometimes it is overwhelming, everyone expecting so much of me. Having to shoulder all the responsibility by myself. Did you know I practically raised Octavia on my own?”

She shakes her head acknowledging what he is asking but leaving room for him to continue

“Our mum died when Octavia was little, we have different fathers but neither of them were ever in the picture. We were lucky enough that I was old enough to get custody of her when mum died but it was rough I worked all time to keep food on the table, the rent paid and Octavia in school. I just always thought that once I made it, once money was not an issue, not that I ever imagined that would be the case, but now that it is the pressure would ease up and I could enjoy life a little”

She nods at him taking another sip of his drink wiggling in her seat until her head was leaning against the back of the booth looking at him

“But it is still just as bad, just different. I have the paparazzi after me all the time, I tell you they will be outside right now waiting for me, I have my manager on my case about being a perfect person all the time, and I am not Clarke, I am not a perfect person not by a long way”

He looks down to the table ashamed, he has just spilled his guts to this near complete stranger after she just had a go at him, he is so selfish.

“You know I came from money right?” He shakes his head at her admission and looks over to her meeting her eye line

“I gave it all up to follow my dream, I am an artist, well I’m trying to be an artist. That’s how I know Lincoln. Met him at a lecture I went to and he took me under his wing”

Bellamy smiles that is exactly the type of person Lincoln is. Clarke moves in her seat again this time leaning her head on his arm. He lifts it to accommodate her, he knows better than trying to refuse a headstrong woman especially when she just let him unburden himself to her. She places her head on his shoulder and he wraps his arm around her to hold her to him as she continues

“My mother wanted me to become a doctor; she is a world recognised surgeon herself so it is in the family. I did a couple of years of med school before I realised though I was good at it and I understood it, it was not what I wanted to do. I wanted to do what made me happy, so I dropped out of med school got a job at the art museum and started taking the occasional lecture. My mother didn’t agree with my choices, when I didn’t return to med school like she wanted she cut me off completely. Now I don’t have much but I am happy”

She looks up to him with sleepy eyes “So I understand”

He looks down at her and nods, she closes her eyes for a brief minute and he watches her. He looks over to their friends who are still having fun, Octavia sees him and raises and eyebrow and he shrugs, well as well as he can with someone half asleep on one shoulder.

He looks down at her again “I think it might be time for you to head home”

She opens her eyes and looks at him and nods a little before closing her eyes again
“Do you want me to get Wick?” He asks

She shakes her head and whispers “Can you take me home?”

“Of cause” he brushes his hand through her hair before tapping her shoulder encouraging her to sit up. She sits and grabs her bag from where it was on the table sliding out of the booth. He slides out behind her

“I’m just going to go to the bathroom” She tells him

“Will you be ok?” he checks and she nods “I’m going to let them know where we are going and I will meet you at the bar”

She nods again and walks off, he makes his way through the thinning crowd, it must have been the early hours of the morning by now before reaching their group.

He pulls Wick to the side and lets him know he is taking Clarke home, he lets Octavia know the same before pulling her in for a hug and promising to call her the in the afternoon “not morning Bell” she declares “or I will have to kill you, you know I can do it” He waves goodbye to them all before heading to meet Clarke at the bar. He says goodbye to Murphy before collecting Clarke and heading towards the door.

He asks the bouncer to get the Valet to bring around his car, throwing a hefty tip at them both (he knows what it is like to work those jobs) before turning Clarke to face him.

“Clarke” He says getting her wavering attention “I need to apologise in advance if there is any paparazzi out there, just hold onto me and keep your head down and I will get you to the car” He remembers saying the same thing to Octavia when his name was starting to get out there and she would call to be picked up from clubs, she has Lincoln for that now.

Clarke nods her head and he wraps his left arm securely around her, she wraps her right arm around his waist and her left grabs a hold of his jacket. The bouncer lets him know that his car is there so he starts walking towards the door, he feels as Clarkes hold tightens as they walk. They hit the cold air he feels her press her head towards his chest. He sees the flashes of the paparazzi as they ask if he had a nice night and who the girl was, he keeps his head down and tightens his hold on Clarke before reaching the passenger side door, he opens it for her and helps her in, before nodding to the paparazzi and climbing in the car himself and driving away.

He stops the car a couple of blocks away and turns to Clarke “Are you ok?”

She smiles at him “Yeh I’m fine, that is crazy though. Worse than when I had to go to events with my mother”

“Good” he nods at her then rubs his hand behind his neck “So you are going to have to remind me where you live”

She laughs brightly at that which in turn causes him to smile. She gives him her address and they head off.

//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//

They arrive at Clarkes building and she is all but asleep in the seat beside him, he pulls up and turns off the car and turns to her

“Thank you for listening to me tonight”

She shakes her head “It’s fine, I understand. Sometimes you just need someone to listen to hear you instead of lecture or try and fix you”

He nods at her statement “Well thank you all the same. Are you ok to get inside” he gestures towards her building

She moves to get up before falling back into the seat then looks at him with big doe eyes. He laughs at her before unbuckling his seatbelt and getting out if the car, he goes to the other side and opens her door, she sticks her hand out and he helps her out of the car shutting it behind her. He follows her to the door of the building he motions for him to follow her inside, so he locks his car and head in. He has to help her on the stair a couple of times before they make it to her door which she unlocks and walks in leaving the door open behind her.

She flicks on some lights and throws her bag on to the couch before heading to the only other door in the place which must be the bathroom. He shuts the door behind him and looks around her house, it is a studio apartment with a bed in one corner, a kitchenette in another a small kitchen table and living area and in the furthest corner from him a easel with a painting on it. Her apartment was not huge but it was homely and felt lived in as opposed to his house which to him just felt big and empty.

He moved towards the easel to take a closer look at what she was working on, she was really talented he loved the dark colours and shading she used as well the bright lights of the stars. He could really relate to it

“I am having some trouble getting the shading right” she said from behind him

He turn to see she had now changed into some loose pyjama pants and a tank top, he looked back to the painting “I think it is amazing”

He smiled as he looked back to her and she blushed. He moved towards her causing her head to tilt up to meet his eyes

“Thank you for everything tonight Clarke, I would really like it if we could be friends”

She smiled at this “As long as you keep your jerkiness in check I think we can do that”

He nodded at her statement “Well I will see you around then princess” he walked past her heading for the door

“Princess?” she enquired behind him

He turns back to face her “Well yeah only princesses exit vehicles as you did”

She laughs at this and he wishes her goodnight before heading back downstairs and into his car heading home. It was not a bad evening in the end, he made a new friend.

Chapter Text

Being friends with the Blake siblings is interesting. Octavia is an absolute doll; a sword wielding could beat you up without breaking a sweat doll, but a doll all the same. It is very clear that she is starved for female friendship as very quickly Octavia demands they have tea together once a week at Dropship and she messages Clarke every day. Bellamy on the other hand is a harder nut to crack, even though it was his idea to become friends they simply tend to butt heads about things. After another initial round of ‘Who is that blonde girl?’ in the gossip sites Bellamy starts to text her occasionally, mostly with random history facts which she responds with random photos of what piece she is working on. She does not see Bellamy much due to both of their work schedules and also the fact Bellamy does not want her face spread around the gossip pages or her name dragged through the mud. That at one thing she has learnt about him over the months he is fiercely protective of his family and friends to a point.

The first time the actually hang out is about a month after they begin texting each other. Clarke was having a particularly bad week her mum was in town for some big medical convention which she was speaking at, which means she had been calling Clarke non-stop trying to meet up and reconcile with her and then Raven started in on her, Clarke had had enough. She picked up her phone and asked Bellamy to meet her at Dropship.

He frowns when he sees her face and sits down across from her at her favourite table. They sit in silence for a while before she looks up to him

“My mum has been calling me”

“Ahh” and picks up his cup of tea, she had learnt that like her he prefers tea over coffee though he will drink black coffee sometimes on set which he complains about fiercely

“And Raven is on my back about calling her; I just don’t know what to do”

He puts his cup down “Clarke, why me? Why did you call me?”

“I don’t feel like being around anyone I actually like”

He looks a bit taken aback at that

“But you are my friend right?” she asks him and he nods in confirmation “Well this is what friends do”

She smiles at him and they end up sitting and talking for the next two hours.

After six months of catching up with Octavia and occasionally messaging Bellamy, Octavia tells her they are going to start weekly movie nights at Bellamy’s

“Bell and I used to do it all the time growing up and I miss it, his house is huge so it can fit us all”

“I have never been to Bellamys house before, are you sure he would want me there?” Clarke questions

“I want you there, he can deal with it”

Apparently that means it has been decided and before Clarke realises it is Sunday night and she, Raven and Wick are driving up to Bellamys for lack of a better term Mansion. They pull up to the gate and hit the intercom; Clarke looks out the window from the back seat and can see someone pulling up on the side of the road. The intercom is answered by it sounds like Octavia she asks who it is and before Wick (who is driving) can answer Raven yells “Your worst nightmare”

They hear a laugh come from the income before the gate opens and they drive in. They pull up next to three other cars and they pile out of the car and Bellamys front door swings open and Octavia comes flying out hugging them all

“Come in! Come in!” she links her arm through Clarkes and leads them through the door. They walk into the foyer which is more of a raised area that leads down a couple of steps to a large lounge room; Lincoln is current sitting on a large grey U shaped couch the is a coffee table in the middle Monty and Jasper are sitting on the floor around it with a bottle of something in front of them and ten shot glasses.

Clarke waves hello to them all before Octavia reintroduces everyone to each other

“I’m so excited” Octavia is practically beside herself “It has been too long since we all hung out together and now we can do it every week” She jumps over the back of the couch to sit next to Lincoln “Bell and Miller are in the kitchen” Octavia nods in the direction of another door.

Clarke moves to go into the kitchen as Raven and Wick take a seat on the couch next to Lincoln and join in that conversation. She pushes open the door and can here two male voices she looks around the door to find Bellamy and his friend Miller talking around the kitchen island. The movement of the door catches their attention and Bellamy looks over and smiles “Hey there Princess”

She smiles “Hey there jerkface”

He laughs as she walks over to join them at the kitchen island, standing next to Bellamy bumping his shoulder in greeting.

“Princess, this is Miller. Miller the Princess”

“Clarke” She holds her hand out to Miller giving Bellamy the raised eyebrow at his introduction

“Nathan, but I generally go by Miller” He shakes her hand and Clarke smiles at him, She notices there is an easy comradely between them that she had not seen Bellamy have with anyone but Octavia

“So how do you know this lug?” She elbows Bellamy in the side and looks at Miller

“We have known each other since we were young, now he just keeps me around to try and keep him in line”

“Well that must keep you busy, knowing how much trouble he can get himself into”

That causes Miller to chuckle softly

“Ok” Bellamy slaps his hand on the island “I’m going to bring the popcorn out into the lounge room, you two enjoy your gossip”

Clarke and Miller watch as he walks to the microwave taking out a bag of popcorn and pouring it into a bowl before walking back into the lounge. Clarke looks to Miller “so which one of us is in the bad books you or me?”

“Just give him the doe eyes, That always works for Octavia” Miller advises her and together the walk back into the lounge room.

There was a new person there that Clarke recognised but could not place his face.

“That’s Murphy” Miller advises her before he goes to sit next to him. Murphy had taken the corner seat closest to the tv with Miller next to him, Raven and Wick sitting directly opposite them. Bellamy was sitting in the middle of the couch next to Octavia so Clarke was left with the option of sitting in the corner between Miller and Bellamy and the floor, She picked the lesser of the two evils and climbed her way over Bellamy to sit cross legged next to him.

His jaw clenched as she sat down beside him, she searched his face for a moment before he stood up suddenly

“Are we ready to do this?”

Octavia cheers from her seat

“Just a minute” Jasper interrupts him “first everyone take a shot, and we shall toast with the best of Montys moonshine to the first Sunday family movie night”

All ten of them pick up a shot each and down it before relaxing back into their positions on the couch Bellamy makes his way through the everyone to his massive tv “So” he begins “O decided we are going to watch all the marvel films, in order”

“That way” Octavia cuts him off “Bell can’t bitch about the inaccurate details, like he does in any form of period film”

Bellamy shoots her a glare before he puts the disk into the dvd player and makes his way back to the couch. Octavia turns off the lights and hits play as the first Iron man starts playing.

Clarke is only half watching the film the rest of the time she is watching Bellamy. He is still as tense as he was when he left the kitchen she inches towards him a little and he pulls away, she furrows her brow and tries again and he pulls away again. She looks around to see if anyone has noticed but they are all focused on the, she looks at him and he still doesn’t acknowledge her. That’s it she has had enough

“I need more popcorn” she announces to the room “Bellamy come with me to the kitchen”

She climbs over him to get out of the corner and grabs his arm and drags him into the kitchen. As soon as they are in the room she lets him go and turns on him

“So what exactly is with you tonight?”

He just grunts at her in response

“A grunt is not an answer”

He turns and starts rummaging through the cupboards before pulling out the popcorn and puts it in the microwave before turning back to her

“I don’t like people talking about me behind my back”

“I was talking to your best friend about you, how is that behind your back exactly?”

He just huffs in response

“You know I am not a journalist, you know I am not going to tell anyone your secrets. We have been known each other for what six months or so now Bellamy and the only people who know that is in that room right there” She points back to the lounge room

“Now get out of your funk and enjoy the movie, don’t ruin movie night”

She leaves him in the kitchen then making her way back to her corner of the couch. Octavia caches her eye and raises an eyebrow in concern, Clarke nods he head to reassure her everything is ok.

Bellamy walks into the room a few minutes later, placing the popcorn on the table. He sits down and throws his arm along the back of the couch behind her; she moves slightly to settle closer to him. She knows that is that is all the thanks she will get.

The problem Clarke has when watching a movie is she is a squirmer, she finds it hard to sit still for entire movie. After changing sitting position third time Bellamy turns to her

“What is the problem?” he whispers

“Can’t get comfortable”

“For cripes sake” He mutters before he is tugging her legs over his knees from where they were bent in front of her and pulls her into his chest

“Can you sit still now?”

She takes a deep breath and his scent fills her nostrils and her head making her light headed she can just nod in response, shaking herself out of her reverie she should not be thinking like that.

When the movie finished Clarke is still all wrapped up in Bellamys heat her head is on his chest and his arm is wrapped securely around her, his fingers tracing aimless patterns on her bac, She feels safe and warm in his embrace hidden from the world.

Octavia gets up and turns all the lights back on, there is a mass groan across the room which snaps Clark out of her revere. She pulls herself out of his embrace before anyone had really noticed. He gets up of the couch and starts collecting all the glasses and rubbish to take into the kitchen she quickly joins him in his task, While everyone else starts stretching and slowly coming back to life.

“Bell leave it you can deal with it in the morning” Octavia comments from behind the couch

“It’s fine O” they take everything into the kitchen leaving the rest of them packing up their stuff in the lounge room

“You didn’t need to do that Clarke” He comments

“I don’t mind helping, can’t leave all the cleaning to you” She smiles at him “Unless you have like a cleaner or something”

He shakes his head “I am pretty self-sufficient, just a person to come in once a month and go over all the spare rooms and stuff”

Clarke picks at the cheese platter that she had just brought back in the kitchen “This is some good cheese”

He nods in agreement as he starts packing the dishwasher, He gestures towards the Platter “You done with that?”

She takes some more cheese of the platter before nodding that she was “Serves me right for not eating dinner tonight”

“Clarke, did you not eat dinner tonight?”

Clarke gestures at the food they were cleaning up “I ate”

He shakes his head “If you have not had dinner let me know and I will make you something”

She shakes her head “You don’t have to do that”

He looks at her dead in the eye “I would not offer if I didn’t want to, you have to eat Clarke, so let me know”

With that he closes the Dishwasher and gestures for them to head back in the lounge room. When they walk through the door they appear to have entered into the middle of an argument

“We all good for The Incredible Hulk next week?” Octavia checks with everything

“Really that one?” Jasper complains

“According to Wikipedia it counts so it is in” Octavia responds

Jasper looks ready to retaliate when Clarke cuts him off

“So are we all heading off?” There is a consensus around the room and they all collect their stuff before heading towards the door

“Monty” Bellamy calls handing him a bottle “You can take the moonshine with you”

Bellamy walks everyone to the door and outside where they all shake hands and hugging everyone goodbye. They all moving into the cars and Bellamy pulls Clarke aside and hugs her tightly

“I am serious Clarke message me if you need dinner, or anything”

She pulls away from him fraction and he keeps his hands on her arms

She nods to him and he squeezes her arm briefly before letting her go. She climbs into the car the Wick has idling by and they take off down the driveway into the street. As she leaves she thinks she still sees the same car sitting on the side of the road but thinks nothing of it as they head home.

//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//

The weeks go by and the Sunday movie nights continue, they are making their way through the Marvel movies and it seems like it was a good decision all round by Octavia. Clarke normally comes down with Raven and Wick but had started coming down earlier more recently and having dinner with Bellamy. Since he discovered that she is not the most reliable in the kitchen which sometimes results with her skipping meals he has taken to cooking for her, and if she is not there to have dinner with him he sends her home with a meal.

At some point in those weeks Jasper and some of the others have taken to calling them mum and dad, in return Bellamy calls him his little delinquent.
They had just finished watching the third Iron Man, Bellamy was cleaning up with Wick somewhat assisting and the rest of them were chilling on the couches not ready to go home yet, Clarke was is her usual corner with her legs flung over Millers lap (he and Bellamy had gotten quite used to her throwing herself around until she found a comfortable position) Octavia had her head in Lincoln lap and her feet in Clarkes the everyone else were just comfortably sprawled out on the floor or the couch.

“So we are nearly done with these only a couple to go. What should we watch next?” Jasper asked from his position on the floor

“Should we move onto the DC Movies next? Hit up both Batman sagas?” Murphy asked from his place next to Miller. Murphy as she had come to know knew Bellamy when he was younger and has just kind of hung around since then.

“Then we could move on to both Spiderman sagas” Jasper added “Why are they even looking at making another one?”

“Well actually, we might need to hold off a couple of weeks” Lincoln interrupts getting everyone’s attention “A small gallery owned by a friend of mine contacted me the other day. They are looking for a new artist to exhibit and I recommended Clarke”

Clarkes eyes snapped to his

“And they picked her, The opening will be one month from tonight”

Clarkes jaw fell open “What?” she asked in shock

Octavia sat up “Oh my god!” She grabbed Clarke in a tight hug “Oh my god! Clarke that is amazing!”

Clarke waited for Octavia to release her before scrambling up. It was too soon, she was not good enough she needed to get out of that room. She was about to make her way through the door when Bellamy and Wick came through it making her stop dead. They looked around the room taking in the sudden change of atmosphere

“What’s going on in here” Bellamy asked

“Clarke is going to get her own exhibition!” Octavia exclaimed

Bellamy and Wicks head snap to her both have massive grins on their faces. Bellamy gets one look at her face and his smile dulls a little

“Congratulations Clarke” Wick exclaims and hugs her tightly

“Thanks” She mutters to Wick her eyes never leaving Bellamys hoping that he can see that she is begging him to rescue her from this room

Wick pulls back and heads back to the couch. Bellamy moves towards her “Congratulations Princess” He pulls her into a one sided hug and leans down to check if she needs to leave the room, she nods to confirm and he announces he they are going to get a bottle of bubbles to celebrate and drags her into the kitchen.

He turns to her with concern “Are you ok?”

She looks to him with big eyes “It is too soon, I am not good enough”

“Hey” He stops her rambling “You are an amazing artist Clarke, and you deserve this after everything you have been through to get to this point. Enjoy it”

She smiles up at him, steps forward and wraps her arms around his neck in a tight hug “Thank you”

He squeezes her back before letting her go checking her face “Now let’s get that wine, we have some celebrating to do”

They go back and join the rest of their friends they all drink and celebrate, and Clarke thinks in One Month she will be standing in a gallery with her own exhibition and all these wonderful people will be right there by her side.

Chapter Text

Clarke was nervous as she passed the room of the Gallery checking over all her pieces for the third time. It was her first exhibition, it was her chance to land herself an agent or manager and it gives people a real chance to get a look at her work. There was a table in the middle of the room with oeuvres on it and she nodded to the two waiters with trays of champagne on them.

She quickly went into the bathroom to give herself a last once over, she was wearing a purple pencil dress with capped sleeves and a sweetheart neckline. Octavia and Raven had come over to help her with her hair and make-up before they went to get themselves ready, so her hair had been curled in romantic curls and pinned into a up do, her make up tame and elegant, She took a deep breathe running her hand over the simple silver pendent she was wearing calming herself before heading back out there to face the public.

She walked back into the main room to locate Nyko, the gallery owner. Who she found standing next to the entrance talking to a photographer. He turns to her as she approaches and introduces her to the photographer explaining the always has one there for openings for his records, as well as the case any high profile agents take a liking to her or the off chance it makes it to the society pages.

Nyko places his hand on her shoulder attempting to calm her “Are you ready to do this”

“I don’t know if I will ever be ready to do this”

“You will be fine” She hears from behind her, turning to see Lincoln there with Octavia on his arm.

Lincoln steps to the side and shakes hands with Nyko giving Octavia the change to pull Clarke into a tight hug, the type she is coming to know well from the Blake siblings.

“You look fantastic, and you are going to totally rock this” Octavia tells her grinning. Octavia loops her arm through Clarkes “It’s time to greet your public”

//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//

The night seems to be going well; Clarke has had a number of Agents introduce themselves to her and Nyko has told her he has had a number of enquiries about her paintings which is good her for getting her name out there in the art world let alone her bank account.

She is grateful to all her friends there with her, they had made sure they had rotated being by her side all night so she would have some support when working the room and when she wasn’t working the room they tugged her into their large group and made her laugh. The photographer had been around a couple of times taking a couple of photos before moving on.

Clarke had been in the middle of talking to an agent about one of her paintings when she felt an arm wrap around her waist, she turned to see Bellamy Blake is all his suited glory beaming down at her

“Congratulations Princess” He wraps her in a hug “This is amazing”

He pulls away from her slightly before turning to the agent, apologising and introducing himself. Clarke watches him charm the agent effortlessly occasionally sending glances and smiles down to her. She had not seen this side of him before , the side that was all charm and flirting, the one that would have people following and kissing his feet in a heartbeat. She could not help being swept up in it. It was not until he turned to her and said something that she had even realised the agent had left.

She shook her self out of her daze “Sorry”

“Do you want to show me around?” He asked Smiling at her and gesturing to the room

She smiled at him and looped her arm through his and stated showing him her pieces.

He was making a joke about one of her pieces leaving her beaming when the photographer approached asking for a photo, she blushed thoroughly when Bellamy agreed and pulled her close, she felt her heart speed up as she looked up to his face he was so close and he felt so solid beside her and he smelt incredible musky and earthy and just manly. She really should not be thinking of her friend like this, it must be the champagne.

He turned and looked down to her and smiled, she beamed back at him as she noticed a flash out the corner of her eye they both whipped their heads around smiling as the photographer took some more photos.

They had managed to make their way back to their friends and the loud group managed to take all the nerves she still had remaining away, and it had absolutely nothing to do with the man beside her.

The night comes to an end and is a rousing success according to Nyko, but now they had to wait and see who is the success would continue the following week. That was when Clarke would really find out if she would be able to take the next step towards being a Professional Artist

//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//

Monday morning finds Bellamy down in his personal gym, no matter what he gets up to the previous night he is up at 6am going through is morning workout. He needs to keep at the top of his game to stay relevant at the moment as much as his may despise it. He finishes his last set wipes down the machine, runs the towel over his face throwing it over his shoulder as he heads for the Kitchen.

Bellamy starts getting ingredients out of the refrigerator. He has always enjoyed cooking; creating something out of little and something he was able to control. He starts whipping himself up a mushroom omelette. He plates up his omelette and heads into the lounge room, flipping on the history channel he sits on the couch and starts eating his omelette, he still has a few hours until he needs to be anywhere.

He settles back into the couch and his mind flicks back to the previous night, He is so proud of Clarke he was in awe watching her last night, so confident as she mingled with all the manager, agents and guests at her opening. He knew she was nervous, who wouldn’t be but she handled it with such class, more than he could have anyway.He checks the time and decides he has time for a quick shower.

He is drying his hair when he come back downstairs to find Kane sitting on his couch

“Did we have a meeting today? It’s a little early” Bellamy asks taking a seat on the couch, Kane is not normally at his house before midday

Kane looks up at him “We need to talk about the girl”

Bellamy looks at him in confusion, what girl? He has not been going out recently; he has been staying in controlling his temper. He has no idea what Kane is talking about

Taking Bellamys silence as a hint Kane thrusts some photos in Bellamys hand, Having no idea what he could possibly be seeing he looks down to see the photo of He and Clarke leaving the club. He looks back up at Kane

“These are over six months old” he gestures at the photos

“Keep going” Kane commands

Bellamy looks back to the photos and there are photos of Clarke pulling into his driveway, hugging him. There are photos with all of their friends also

“Where did you get these?” Bellamy points to the photos “These are taken on my private property!”

“Bellamy you know what the paparazzi is like, one just happened by your house one Sunday and has decided to stake you out every week. I did not think much of it until these came across my desk this morning”

Kane hands Bellamy another lot of photos. Bellamy takes them and takes a look, they are the photos from the Gallery opening last night.

“They will be up on the gossip websites by now”

Bellamy flicked through the photos, there are plenty of photos of the group of them but then there are other photos that don’t look so innocent, photos of him with his arm around her, her staring up at him while he is talking and smiling. One of her holding onto his arm as she told him about a painting and then the photos he actually knew were taken. They are standing next to each other he has her pulled into his side, the first they are both smiling at the camera, the next he is smiling at the camera and she is looking up at him and the last one they are both looking at each other smiling. He runs his finger over the her before looking up to Kane

“Ok” he starts “So what are we going to do?”

“Well this” Kane checks a piece of paper in front of him “Clarke Griffin, what’s her deal?”

Shit, Bellamy thinks, the photos were taken at her Exhibition opening that means they have her name now which means sooner rather than later the paparazzi will find her

“She is a friend”

“Just a friend” Kane questions

“Yes” Bellamy snaps “You said the photos will be up by now?”

“As far as I understood”

Bellamy grabs his phone, he has a ton of twitter notifications, he opens the app and the first thing he sees one of he photos of Clarke and himself at the exhibition last night, the one where they are both gazing at each other smiling

“Shit, not again”

He quickly messages Clarke hoping she is still home and not working today.

“Ok, what are we going to do” Bellamy asks Kane

“Well I have a couple of Ideas…” Kane begins as Bellamy stares at his phone praying for Clarke to call him back.

//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//--//

Clarkes phone was ringing ‘damn it!’ she thought, she had taken the Monday off working after the gallery open having expected the late night and on the off chance Nyko needed to see her. Her phone started ringing again

“Alright, Alright” he said to herself, getting up and going to the kitchen to get her phone looking at the time 8am before answering the phone

“Hello”

“Clarke it is Nyko, I need you to come down to the gallery”

“Is everything ok?”

“Clarke my answering machine is full and they phone is ringing off the hook, everyone is asking about you”

“What? What do you mean?”

“Clarke there is all but a bidding war, I have agents and managers wanting you. I need you down here”

“I’ll be there as soon as I can”

Clarke hangs up the phone confused, there was not that many people at the opening last night, how do so many people know about her exhibition? She knows she should not turn her nose down at it but it seems out of the blue. Before she even has the chance to put her phone down it rings again. She answers without looking at who it is

“I’m on my way Nyko”

“Clarke, It’s not Nyko”

“Bellamy?”

“Yeah Princess, I need you to come over to my house something happened”

“What happened? Is Octavia ok?”

“O is fine”

“Well I kind of need to get to the gallery Nyko is run off his feet apparently things are blowing up from last night” She tries to explain

“That’s kind of the reason Clarke” As soon as she heard him use her name she stopped, he only called her by her name when he was mad or serious about something

“What happened” she ventured

“Some of the photos for last night made their way to the gossip sites”

“OK…”

“The photos of you and I Clarke”

“Oh” She is stunned for a moment
“Can you please come over?” He asks, practically begs of her

“I’ll be there in about half an hour”

“I’m sorry Princess”

She hangs up the phone stunned, they have photos of her in the gossip sites again but this time they were taken at the Gallery, at her exhibition so they have her name. She looks down at her phone in a daze; she calls the first person she can think of

“Raven, I need you to take me to Bellamys. They have my name”

She agrees and says she will be at her place on 15 minutes

Clarke picks up the phone and calls Nyko

“Hey Nyko, It's Clarke”

“Hey Clarke, are you on your way?”

“Not yet, I think I may no why you are getting so many calls. Some of the photos from last night got onto the gossip sites. Can you please hold off telling anyone anything about me until I call you back?”

“Sure Clarke, but I don't know why the photos would get onto gossip websites”

“I do, I will fill you in later Nyko. Thank you”

She hangs up the phone and quickly throws on some clothes to meet up with Raven.
He phone alerts her to a message from raven telling her to wear a hat and sunglasses, she grabs them before heading out the door and down the stairs.

When she reaches her foyer she can see why Raven asked her to bring the hat and sunglasses, there was a couple of photographers outside her building clearly waiting for her, she puts on the hat and sunglasses before heading out to Ravens car, just as she gets to the car door she hears the sounds of a camera snapping at her and people yelling

Is that her?

Clarke, Clarke how was your night?

Clarke where is Bellamy?

How did you meet?

She jumps in the car and tells Raven to drive.

The ride over to Bellamys is quiet but Clarkes mind is racing, they have her name which has now drawn attention to her which could be a plus and a minus from a business perspective it helps her get recognition in regards to her work she could sell more, but would that just be for her work or for her association with a Celebrity?

She is still in her thoughts when the pull up to Bellamys house, she has been there many times now but has never seen people camped outside his house before, as Raven pulls up to the gate the the cameras start up again, the gate swing open and Raven drives in to the compound and parks.

Raven turns to “You ok?”

“Yeah lets just do this”

They both get out of the car and walk straight into Bellamys house.

They find him sitting on his couch hair dishevelled like he had been running his hand through it in agitation, he looks up as they enter and immediately he stands and rushes over to them

“Are you ok?” He asks her holding her shoulder and running his eyes over her looking for signs of injury

“Confused but fine” she admits

She looks around and sees a man she does not know standing next to the couch, he notices her distraction and he turns to see what she is looking at

“Clarke, Raven this is my manager Marcus Kane. Marcus this is Clarke and her best friend Raven”

He walks them around to the couch where they both shake hands with his manager. They all take a seat before Clarke starts

“So what exactly is going on?”

Kane takes this as his turn to talk “It appears the photographer from last night recognised Bellamy and sold some of his photos to the gossip sites”

Bellamy passes her a stack of photos from last night, photos of the group and then photos of them, photos that look more than innocent.

“So this is just one lot of photos” She says handing the photos off to Raven who is sitting next to her before looking to Bellamy for confirmation

“In addition to those photos” Kane continues “There are these that came across my desk. By themselves it is not much but together it makes quite a story”

He hands her another lot of photos, ones of her coming and going from his house, she shows Raven

“We are friends, this is how friends act” she waves one of the photos of him hugging her in the air

“Bellamy?” she gets his attention, he is being uncharacteristically quiet “What’s your thought on this?”

“I told him we were friends”

“Friends don’t look at each other like this” Raven pipes up holding up the photo of them looking at each other, there is a tenderness there that neither of them want to address

“My point exactly” Kane adds “From what I see we have a couple of options here. Now I don't doubt that the association with Bellamy here means Miss Griffins name is now in the spotlight drawing more attention to her, and in doing so her work”

“Nyko, the Gallery owner did call and say they phone was ringing off the hook with people asking abut me” Clarke admits

“The options are as I see them, The first we just ride this off as the truth you are both just friends, he was there to support you etcetera the calls and attention will die down and you will continue on with your lives. The other option which I am leaning towards is that we announce that you are dating, you do a few public events together. Miss Griffin gets ongoing publicity for her artwork and Bellamy gets a stable name in the industry again”

“I don't like it” Bellamy mutters

“Wait Bell, I see where he is coming from” Clarke reasons

“I thought you didn't want any of this Clarke, you promised me!” Bellamy stands at this and marches into the kitchen

Clarke apologises and follows him finding him leaning with his hand clenched on the kitchen island

“Bell” Clarke approaches him putting her hand on his shoulders. His body visibly relaxes under her touch

He sighs “I tried to keep you out of this Clarke”

“I know you did” she comforts him “but they have my name now, we need to think of a way to deal with this. We either deny or we play their game”

He turns and looks at her at this “I never wanted to drag you into this, I don't want you to think your success is only due to you knowing me”

“Well some of it defiantly will be, I just have to accept that. The most important thing I need to do is find myself a good Manager to sort out the fake from the genuine people”

He nods at this “You should call Lincoln”

She smiles “That is exactly what I was going to do”

She nudges him in the side “you ready to go back in?”

He nods and they re-enter the living room and take their seats again

Clarke looks towards Kane and starts “The first thing I need to do before anything is fin myself an artist manager. I am sure you understand I need someone to field the sudden attention that has been drawn to me”

He nods at that “I would like to give a statement as soon as possible about this”

“I understand” Clarke continues “I need to speak to a few people, can you give me a couple of hours?”

Kane nods at that and starts packing up his folder “I will let you keep the photos, I have copies in the office”

He nods farewell to them all before letting them know they will hear from him later and he exits.

“So what are we doing?” Raven asks

“We need to call Lincoln, I need to speak to him about getting a manger” Clarke responds going into business mode

“You can do everything here” Bellamy offers “I have an office and it is easier to get privacy”

Clarke nods at this and she and Raven move to phone Lincoln.

Within an hour Clarke has an Agent, Anya (whose party she had been to many months ago) is ruthless and exactly what Clarke needs to get through the circus. Anya immediately gets in her car and comes over to Bellamys where Lincoln has also joined them. Anya has been Lincolns Manager for years so she knows who is the real deal and has the ability to deal with all the media as well.

Kane comes back and meets with everyone to nut out the arrangement, Bellamy and Clarke are to confirm via social networking they are a couple, they are to make a couple of public appearances and when things settle and Kane can get Bellamys name in good graces and Anya can get Clarke working completely off her own name they will have an amicable separation

“I still don't like it” Bellamy mutters to her

“It will be fine” Clarke reassures him “Were friends what's a couple of dinners and holding hands? We already do most of that”

“If you are sure” Bellamy looks at her seriously “Because once this is in motion the is no pulling the pin”

“It will be fine” She repeats and grabs his phone “Lets do this”

She snaps a selfie of the two of them and apparently the deal is done.