who are you, really?
bellarke | explicit | enemies to friends to lovers | angst with a happy ending
chapter seven: hate to see your heart break
For the first time Clarke can remember, walking the street in a tank top is a leisure she can afford. The turning point of spring coaxes her out of her jackets and long sleeves, and her practice with Bellamy dares her to take to the crowded sidewalks with her walls down and arms exposed. Strangers brush by, and Clarke hardly spares them a thought.
Bellamy’s smile is downright radiant, as warm as the rays of fading sunlight on Clarke’s skin. Together they wander the golden-soaked streets of Arkadia without pretense or a destination.
Originally the idea was to plan for ways to track Charlotte as well as a coming mission over dinner at Bellamy’s place, but the open window brought a warm breeze neither of them could ignore. When Clarke looked at Bellamy to suggest going out, he already had a matching spark in his eyes.
Clarke gets shouldered a few times in the foot traffic, but she’s more enthusiastic than irritated. It’s been so long since she could go outside without worrying about staying in her own head; trips into the city have always exhausted her, becoming something to avoid unless Wells stole her off her couch. Now it’s nearly second nature.
But she still needs practice, if the prickle behind her right eye is any indication. Or water. It’s entirely possible she’s just dehydrated.
Clarke pushes the twinge aside and follows Bellamy down the sidewalk, making a show of knocking her shoulder against his for the sake of it. He responds with a good-natured shove of his own and one of Clarke’s favorite smiles—the light-hearted kind that answers her goofiness: endeared and fake-annoyed all at once.
Still, the prickle in Clarke’s head crescendos to a full throb as they walk. Another block and it’s a stabbing pain.
They pass a lounge/club-type building with music bleeding through each swing of the door despite the early evening hour. Several bouncers loom on either side.
Clarke’s vision goes white.
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