Postcard Princess

Ch. 19

Bellamy eased his door back, closing it as soft as he could. His chest was tight with emotion as he sat back down at his desk.

He hasn't meant to stand there and listen to their entire conversation, but when Octavia said he would ruin things with Clarke, he couldn't help it. He had felt frozen in place when Clarke was describing her life.

Of course he hadn't exactly known why Clarke had been traveling, but he didn't know that she was hurting, trying to be happy.

He wanted to go talk to her, to try and comfort her. Instead, he laid down, feeling an enormous amount of guilt for standing between Octavia and Lincoln. What did he know about love or happiness? He really didn't ever get close to anyone.

Bellamy woke up and looked at his clock. Two thirteen in the morning. With a sigh, he went to grab a bottle of water, unable to fall back asleep yet.

Tip-toeing down the hallway, he saw that the television was still on. Clarke was reclined, Octavia asleep in her lap.

Bellamy grabbed a blanket and covered Clarke's legs, realizing that Clarke had covered Octavia with the blanket that was hanging on the back of the couch.

Looking at them he felt happiness. Octavia was happy, she had opened up a little. But, he felt just a small pang of fear. What if Octavia got too close to Clarke, and she bolted?

The next time Bellamy woke up, he shut off his alarm. Wiping his eyes, he stretched before heading to the kitchen, voices filling his ears. He stopped short, seeing Clarke try to teach Octavia how to crack an egg.

"Hope there's a fire extinguisher nearby," he teased, holding back his laughter as he watched Octavia dig multiple pieces of shell from the bowl.

"Hey, I'm not actually cooking them yet," Octavia laughed. She tried again, only getting one piece of shell from the bowl. The next one, no shell fell into the bowl.

"Woohoo!" Clarke yelled, high-fiving Octavia. "Hey, grab the waffles," Clarke instructed, stepping to the side and pouring the eggs into he pan.

Octavia opened the oven and took the waffles out, putting them on the table with the condiments.

Bellamy made his coffee and answered the knock at the door. It was Lincoln. "Hey, come have breakfast," Bellamy offered.

Lincoln sat down next to Octavia as Clarke was finishing up the eggs. She brought everything to the table, finally sitting next to  Bellamy. They all ate, the conversation flowing well.

When Octavia and Lincoln were leaving, Octavia reminded Clarke of a book she wanted to read. Clarke promised to find it, shocking Bellamy because Octavia hated reading.

"Thank you for breakfast," Bellamy smiled.

"No problem," Clarke nodded. "You need to eat before work and Octavia wanted to learn."

"Thank you," Bellamy started. "For last night with O. I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but thanks."

"Can I be honest?" She asked, washing the dishes.

"Always."

"Octavia loves you. She looked up to you so much you might as well be standing on the Eiffel tower. She sees you as this strong guy who works, goes to school, and protects her. But I think she's afraid you're never going to be more than that. That you're not going to fill the void you have out of fear. Lilly left, your mom got sick and passed, and she knows that. But, she wants you happy."

Bellamy forced himself to smile. "That's a lot of really amazing things coming from the run away," he tried to tease her.

"Maybe that's your daily dose of irony," Clarke shrugged. "The one who runs tells the shut out to open up. I'm not telling you to go find a date tonight, it's not my business. But, opening yourself to the possibility is better than cracking jokes about it."