hey liz congrats on reaching the milestone you really deserve it!! could i get ❤️️ for a prompt, maybe bellarke in canon verse + comfort?
ah thank you zahraa! you know how much i love writing canon-verse blarke. here you go, babe! <33
right beside you
“What are you doing?”
There’s a soft echo on the cave walls, the deep tenor of his voice rumbling around her and causing her to stop in her tracks. She adjusts the pack on her back and turns, her shoulders rolled back and chin stuck out in determination. She won’t let him get in her way. Not now. Not with everything on the line.
“I’m going to get her,” she resolves and she sees him run a frustrated hand over his face, scratching at the patchy beard that’s grown there. It’s a tick she’s already grown used to in their short time back together. He’s different now, something that she expected but still hadn’t been prepared for. He’s calculated. Cautious, to the point that it does nothing but infuriate her. They’ve spent more time in their last few weeks together fighting. About Eligius. About the bunker. About Madi. They’re beyond being on different pages. They’re in completely different books.
And there’s a dull ache in heart because she had naively hoped that despite six years, they could still be Clarke and Bellamy. Leaders. Partners.
She’s been nothing but disappointed.
“Can you stop being stubborn for five seconds?” he growls and she scoffs on impulse, because Bellamy Blake of all people should never talk to her about being stubborn.
“You’re one to talk,” she argues, throwing her hand up in a wild gesture, “I’ve been patient. I’ve been waiting for you all to figure out a plan but you haven’t and I’m tired of waiting.”
He lets out another sigh and steps closer, his boots thudding against the uneven stones, “It’s not that easy and you know that.”
“Actually, it is,” she says, her voice a little higher pitched than normal, “They have Madi. End of discussion.”
“You’re going to get yourself killed!” he snaps and it knocks her back a couple of steps. She recovers quickly, the pent up anger and anxiety of it all boiling under her skin.
“I can’t just sit here while they do God knows what to a little girl!” it’s all she can think about. From the moment Eligius took Madi, all she can think about are those shock collars and whips she saw in their camp. That they used on her. They could be torturing her and every second they sit idly by, the worse it could be. The thought makes her chest ache.
“We’re going to get her back,” Bellamy huffs and once again steps closer, almost like he wants to take her by the shoulders and shake her until she believes him.
“I’m going to get her back,” she clarifies with a sharp tongue and she watches him visibly flinch from the cut of her words. She tries to step around him but he blocks her, his arm outstretched and hand gripping her elbow.
“Will you just stop?!”
She yanks herself free, “You don’t get it, do you? She’s all I had! While you all were up in space, I was here. Alone and ready to fucking die!”
He backs away as she lashes out, and she thinks maybe fifteen shock lashes might be less painful for him. She knows that it’s a sore subject, that he feels immense guilt for leaving her behind. They’ve talked about it already and he knows that she forgives him for that. She understands and more than anything, she’s happy they did. They’re all alive and that’s what matters. But now, in her anger, she’s trying to hurt him. It’s not fair, but that’s what she does. She hurts the people she loves.
(How could she love a stranger for six years? How could that feeling still clench her heart after so long?)
She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, lowering her voice and begging him to understand that she didn’t mean it like that.
“She saved my life.”
She thinks of that moment, when she had been ready to just end it all. She was alone and starving and desperate. Her weakest moment and Madi showed up and made her believe in something again. Herself and life and second chances. She gave her a new purpose and she can’t just leave her behind.
She feels something wet trickle down her cheek and wipes at it. Then it happens again and it’s then that she realizes she’s crying. She tries to turn away from him, but he’s right in front of her and his thumb is pressing against her cheek.
“Clarke,” he says gently, his other arm tentatively sliding onto her waist. It’s a closeness that they haven’t shared since the day he came home, but it’s natural. Her body relaxes into him automatically, like it knows that it’s okay to be this way. He’s Bellamy. He understands her.
“I have to get her back,” she whispers again, staring holes into his chest, “She’s all I have.”
“Hey,” his thumb moves from her cheek to her chin and lifts it up so she has to meet his eyes, “We’re going to get her back. I promise.”
He must sense that she doesn’t quite believe him because he says it again, eyes wide and voice firm, “I promise.”
She nods and she lets him slide the pack off her shoulders. Stay, the gesture tells her. He slings it over his own shoulder and keeps her pulled into his chest. I’m here. She follows him back into the open space, not bothering to find her own bedroll. Monty is snoring lightly, the small growls bouncing off the walls. She wishes she could show them the village she and Madi built together, but Eligius ruined it in their desire to get to her.
Nightblood. They wanted the nightblood girl who could survive a scorched Earth.
Her hand reaches up to her neck where a small scar puckers against her skin, evidence of her own encounter with the electric collars and sadistic group.
He must sense that she’s still unsettled, because he grips her hand and tugs her to the ground with him, settling on the old pile of blankets and tarps he had brought from space. Under other circumstances, she might feel nervous or thrown by the intimacy. But she craves it, his warmth and the comfort of just having him here.
He lays down first, adjusting the space to accommodate two people instead of one. She lays down and settles into him, her back to his chest and his arm under her head as a pillow. She feels him move uncomfortably, no doubt questioning what to do with his other hand because there isn’t much room to work with. She reaches behind her and threads her fingers into his before wrapping it around her waist and settling on her stomach. She feels him relax and his breath tickles the back of her neck.
“You were wrong, by the way,” he whispers, “You have Madi. And you have us to.”
And he doesn’t need to say anymore, because she knows what he means and she’s so grateful to have them back. They’re lucky to be here, together, and she’ll never take that for granted. But she can’t help but smile softly to herself when he nuzzles his face into her neck.
“You have me.”
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