I Never Meant To Fall

19. A Proposal pt.2

Clarke:

She pushed back the blankets silently, sneaking to the zipper and slowly opening the tent, every sound making her wince.

She crouched through the small gap and set off at a run.

His tent was accross camp now, everything had been moved.

The ground was covered in fresh snow and Clarke was barefoot; all she was wearing was a thin vest and trousers and yet she couldn't feel the cold. Heat rushed through her as fear and anger consumed her.

How could her mother do this? how was she supposed to Marry a stranger?

Clarke saw broken tents, a pile of spears and guns. She saw the guards around the gate. She swallowed and kept running, picking up the pace.

She arrived at his tent and, just as he had once barged into her tent unannounced, she walked right in.

She stumbled inside and Bellamy, who had been lying down on his back jumped up. His hair was a mess and he had on a woolen jumper and boxers.

"Clarke!" He exclaimed, running to her as she heaved in breath. "Clarke you're freezing and you're barefoot!" He cried, pulling her over to his bed and setting her down.

Clarke wasn't panting for lack of breath. She was panicking. This couldn't be happening.

She vaguely felt Bellamy drape a blanket around her and he even put some socks over her feet.

He bent down before her with a concerned look in his brown eyes. "Clarke? What is it?" He asked gently and Clarke calmed down a little, fighting the urge to cry.

"You..." she said, unsure of where to start. What if he laughed? What if he congratulated her? What if he knew?

"Yes, me" he said lightly but Clarke couldn't bring herself to laugh.

"You and I...we...you asked what we...what we are" Clarke stammered, thinking back to the beach. "And...and I don't know what we are"

Bellamy was shaking his head. "Clarke you ran all the way here to tell me that? Princess we can talk about this in the morning." He said but she caught his hand before he could stand up.

"No. No I need to tell you something." She was beginning to think he was ignorant to the situation. That comforted her. A little.

"Okay, well, just take your time." He said, sitting down heavily beside her.

She took a deep breath and stared at the tent wall. It seemed an age before she could bring herself to speak.

She must have thought the situation over in her mind at least 10 times. Maybe more and the sadness enveloped her. Hopelessness. That's what was clawing at her skin.

She took a shaky breath and looked down, "Aaron" Clarke began and Bellamy looked up.

"Did he do something to you? I swear if he hurt you-" Bellamy cried, anger flaring in his eyes but Clarke shook her head and he seemed to sense it was something worse.

"Aaron's going to propose. To me." Clarke said slowly, meeting Bellamy's eyes with her own. They were wide with horror and disbelief. Clarke bit the inside of her lip.

"He....he what?" Bellamy asked, his voice breaking.

"My mother thinks a wedding will keep the peace." Clarke explained, looking away and it was all too silent for all too long. "I thought you should know" she said timidly and Bellamy scoffed.

"Well this is madness!" He cried and Clarke watched him cautiously. "You can't marry him, you're mum's crazy!" He said. "Keep the peace?" He spat, "I don't...I don't understand" he continued weakly and Clarke felt sick as he shifted from disgusted, to shocked, to angry, back to shocked, finally settling on defeated and confused.