The Best Kind of Neighbour

Disclaimer: I do not own any of this.

Her apartment was tucked away in the corner of the building, up three additional stairs after the ten levels before. Clarke was pretty pleased with it; the area was nice, most of the people friendly and her place was clean and spacious. It wasn't a bad set up after practically running out from under her mother's roof.

The only problem was that her apartment wasn't the last apartment. That special spot belonged across the narrow hallway, directly outside her door. Only a large window sat between them and Clarke couldn't help but think they were paired together, like two extra pieces stuck side by side. There was also the problem of her actual neighbour that lived in said apartment.

For the first few weeks, Bellamy Blake is just a name listed with the others on the ground floor of the building so when she meets him, it takes her a moment to acknowledge that it's actually him. There was also the fact that he was shirtless at the time.

His jeans hung low over his hips, his tanned skin practically soaking up the sun's gentle rays from the window. The morning newspaper was in his hands and he seemed to have no issues with reading it half naked in a hallway.

Clarke blinked quickly, her keys and coffee balanced in one hand while her other clutched the pink, sparkly card that was for a newly healed patient getting out that afternoon. Bellamy looked up at her exiting her apartment and his dark curls were settled over his forehead. She was annoyingly aware that she was in her uniform and her barely brushed hair was pulled back in a messy braid. She was late and she really didn't need handsome neighbours judging her.

"Morning," he said, his voice deep.

Clarke was about to reply when a pretty brunette appeared from behind Bellamy. He barely glanced at her as she edged passed him with a wink and a smile. She gave much less to Clarke and strolled down the stairs in heels and a rumpled party dress. "Good morning?" she said almost to herself.

But Bellamy heard and he grinned. "No need to be so judgmental Princess; I had a lovely conversation with a guy named Finn the other day in the elevator."

Her jaw snapped open, a blush creeping its way onto her face. Bellamy just grinned again and left her in the hallway, his door shutting behind him. Clarke huffed and glared at the door, hoping he was looking through the key hole to see it. She finally decided to leave and locked her door.

As she stood in the elevator, trying to calm down, Clarke frowned with confusion. They had never spoken and never seen each other before this; so what was with "Princess?" It was only when she gave the card to the patient that she spotted that large word printed across the top of it.

After that day, as Clarke got busier and busier, more women appeared from her neighbour's apartment. Some were awkward, some just ignored her. There were a few who exchanged conversation with her and they were her favourites.

You have to hand it to a woman who can chat about the weather while fixing her make up in a crinkled dress.

Clarke learned not to mind. She herself had Finn over a couple of times during the week and they were serious. It wasn't exactly the same but apparently Bellamy ran into Finn as much as she saw his hook ups. Finn said he seemed like a nice guy.

So the two of them existed in this world where they both ignored the people coming from their apartments in the early hours. Sometimes they passed in the hall and greeted each other. Bellamy mentioned the weird parrot guy two floors down and Clarke talked out the draft coming from the lobby. It was working out pretty well.

That was, until her mother decided to visit. Clarke, in a frenzy of cleaning and preparation, had left Bellamy till last. After her apartment sparkled and smelt like freshly cut flowers, she knocked on his door with determination. He opened it, this time with clothes on and leaned against the frame.

"What can I do for you Princess?" he asked with a teasing smile. She smiled back but in the exact same fashion, which made Bellamy falter slightly.

"My mom is going to be stay with me this weekend, until Sunday evening. I am just asking you to keep your...friends in the apartment until my mom is out of sight. Please?"

Bellamy looked like he was really trying not to laugh. "What, your mom doesn't know about one night stands?"

"She knows but I'm guessing she doesn't want a stranger's night time activities staring her in the face." Clarke realised that this was getting to be the longest conversation they had ever had but she didn't feel awkward. Maybe there was something wrong with her.

Finally Bellamy shrugged and replied, "Alright, Princess, I can do that; as long as your boyfriend stops blaring his terrible music first thing in the morning."

Clarke frowned, her eyes narrowed. "Finn spent months travelling and he's been trying to introduce me to other forms of music."

"Shit forms of music that no one would like," Bellamy argued, "And just because you have patience with him doesn't mean the rest of the building does. Keep him quiet and we'll all be happier."

Clarke was fuming at this point but she would not give him the satisfaction. Instead she just nodded once and turned on her heel, intending to stomp back into her apartment.

"One more thing?"

Clarke took in a breath and look over her shoulder at Bellamy, who was still leaning against the door. "For a Princess who clearly just left a comfy home, you're not doing terribly. Make sure your mom knows that."

Her anger deflated slightly when she realised that he was complimenting her-or at least the closet you could get to a compliment. "You're not the only one who had to deal with people doubting you Princess," he added, "It's kind of a general problem. And you practically wear it like a sign on your forehead."

"Thanks...I guess," she replied.

He sent her one last grin before turning back to close the door.

"You could do me one more favour," Clarke called and he raised an eyebrow. "If you hear screaming and objects being thrown, wait at least ten minutes before calling the police. It's the only way we'll learn."

Bellamy laughed again but said, "That'll be difficult for me Princess." As he said this, he pulled out a wallet from his pocket only to open it up and show her a badge. A detective's badge no less. With one last smile, Bellamy closed his door.

Clarke shook her head and closed her own door, surrounded by the smell of clean once again.

Bellamy realised that he hadn't seen his neighbour in over a week.

He was pretty sure that it wasn't his fault; he had been really careful and polite during her mother's visit. In the weeks since then he didn't even make remarks about her jerk of a boyfriend waking everyone up at three in the morning by knocking on her door. That Finn guy actually started to get really irritating really fast. Old Mrs Plumber downstairs said he insulted her car because it wasn't eco friendly. All his comings and goings at odd hours woke half the kids up even though they had school in the morning. Yet no one would say anything to Clarke because she was always so nice and it was comforting to have a doctor a few floors up. Anyway it wasn't Bellamy's fault.

It was when he saw her mail still in the lobby in the afternoon of a dreary Friday that Bellamy finally decided to check in on her. You know, to be a friendly neighbour.

He knocked on her door quickly and waited for her to answer. He stood in the hallway awkwardly when nothing happened and then knocked again. He was just starting to get annoyed when the door flew open and Clarke was standing there, looking extremely pissed off. Her hair was piled up on top of her head, her clothes were creased and she had bags under her eyes.

"What?" she snapped at him and Bellamy shoved her mail into her hands. "You're welcome Princess."

Clarke let out a loud sigh and stopped him from going into his own apartment. "Wait, I'm sorry," she said, "I've been swamped with work and barely slept. Thank you for picking up my mail."

Bellamy looked over her once more. "Well that's a bold faced lie but whatever makes you feel better," he grumbled and went to go back into his apartment.

"My boyfriend and I broke up." Her voice was unnervingly quiet and it made him winch. He may not have been an expert on Clarke Griffin but he was smart enough to know that she was not the wallowing type. A girl like her, so full of fire when she's mad or happy, doesn't mumble that often.

"Sorry," he replied but she actually smirked at him. "No you're not."

Bellamy shrugged. "True, he was getting to be a pain in the ass. I'm hoping that you were the one doing the dumping but the fact you've turned into a hermit suggests otherwise."

Clarke leaned against the doorway and pushed some stray hair away from her face. "I actually did break up with him but it was because he had forgotten to mention the long term girlfriend so..."

Bellamy winched and folded his arms. "A cheater and terrible taste in music? Looks like you were lucky to find out so soon Princess."

Clarke laughed at this and Bellamy felt his chest tighten when he saw her face light up. There, that was better. "He was kind of hard to put up with sometimes," she admitted, "Always so stubborn. For instance, he sent me a big bouquet of flowers even when I told him that I wanted nothing more to do with him. They're not even my favourite flowers."

Bellamy raised an eyebrow and said, "I've got a shredder?"

A mischievous smile came to Clarke's face and she tossed her mail onto the side table by her door. "That's the best idea I've heard all day."

Clarke nervously tapped her fingers nails off the small container in her hands. It seemed stupid, she realised, after driving all the way to the police station.

Bellamy had been a great shoulder to cry on the few days after the break up. Well, he had a shredder and alcohol. He also had this annoying knack of saying the right thing at the right time. So, as a thank you, she had spent her day off baking some brownies for him. From what she could tell he had a bit of a sweet tooth- judging from the contents of his fridge. Not that she was nosy; she was in the apartment anyway.

It was a mirror image of hers, with an open plan kitchen and living room with one bedroom and bathroom through a pair of oak doors. Large windows faced the sunrise but his place had an amazing entertainment system while hers had too many plants. It had taken a bit of asking around to find exactly where Bellamy worked but here she was.

For what felt like the millionth time, Clarke sighed and thought out about leaving. But that wasn't in her nature; she did not back down. Straightening her shoulders, Clarke marched towards the building and climbed up the steps. She quickly made her way to the desk and smiled at the officer standing there. "Hello, I was wondering if I could speak to Detective Bellamy Blake?"

"Princess?"

Clarke turned around sharply at the sound of his voice and spotted him coming down the hallway with his jacket half on. "Hi!" she said, silently swearing at how breathlessly she had spoken. She held out the box of brownies towards him with a smile. "Homemade-as a thank you for the other day."

Bellamy shrugged his jacket all the way on and looked surprised. Yet, she saw a smile stretch across his face and the edges of his eyes crinkled with delight. "Brownies? You know a way to a man's heart."

He took off the lid and immediately bit into one of the treats. "Holy shit, these are amazing," he said, a moan threatening to seep into his voice.

Clarke blushed but managed to shrug. "Brownies are just about the only things I can bake. Cooking is not my strong point."

Bellamy nodded and swallowed. "I guessed that from the amount of swearing I hear from your place in the afternoon-and your smoke alarm going off."

Clarke laughed out loud but looks from the other police officers stopped her. Bellamy finished off another brownie before added, "I could cook for you one night; if only to save the apartment from that screeching alarm again."

Clarke held her breath slightly before humming. "That would be nice. Thanks."

Bellamy looked like he wanted to say something else but two faces appeared over his shoulder. "Are those brownies?!"

Bellamy held the box away from his fellow officers protectively. "Don't even think about it assholes, these are mine!"

The officers looked offended before spotting Clarke. "I'm Jasper, this is Miller and please tell me you are the one who made those delicious looking brownies."

Clarke chuckled at them but nodded. "I'm Clarke, nice to meet you."

Miller raised an eyebrow and glanced at Bellamy. "Oh, you're the Clarke?"

Her eyes darted over to Bellamy who might have had a slight blush across his cheeks. "Anyway," Jasper said quickly, "You wouldn't happen to have more of those baked goods, would you?"

"Stop trying to extort brownies out of my neighbour," Bellamy ordered.

Clarke smiled once again and quickly went to move towards the exit. "Look, I better be going anyway. I'll see you later."

"Bye," Bellamy called but was soon busy physically holding off Jasper and Miller from the brownies.

There was a knocking on Clarke's door one Thursday afternoon and she opened it to see a disgruntled Bellamy standing on her doorstep. Her doctor's eyes immediately spotted the careful way he was holding his wrist and she quickly said, "What did you do?"

Bellamy shrugged and winched at the same time. "I think I sprained something while chasing down a suspect. I was hoping you could take a look at it for me?"

Clarke ushered him inside her apartment and closed the door. She grabbed her first aid kit and made him sit down on her couch. She perched herself on the coffee table, muting the TV with the remote.

"Did this guy push you or something?" she asked as she stretched his fingers and tested his wrist.

Bellamy winched but replied, "It was my own fault. I tackled the guy to the ground and landed on my hand. Is something broken?"

Clarke clicked her tongue but shook her head, the blonde curls falling from her ponytail. "I think it's just sprained-you're lucky really." Carefully, she wrapped up his hand in a bandage. "There, I think you're good to go."

Bellamy flexed his hand only slightly and gave her a grin. "Thanks Princess-it really is useful to have a doctor in the building. I heard you were up late last night, checking on the Wilson twins."

Clarke shrugged and put away her kit. "They had slight fevers, nothing to really be alarmed about but their mom wanted to make sure. I'm sorry if I woke you up."

They could always hear when one of them opened their door across the hall, even when they tried to be quiet. "Actually, it was Mr Wilson singing your praises in the lobby."

Clarke felt herself blush again and she quickly stood up to walk to her kitchen. "I have some brownies left over if-."

"Yes!"

Clarke burst into laughter at his excitement and she grabbed the plate of treats from her counter. "Do not think it was easy to keep those brownies away from the boys. Jasper and Miller were bad enough but then Murphy and Monty showed up. I nearly had to handcuff them to their chairs and lock myself in a holding cell."

She threw herself onto the couch beside him after pouring two glasses of milk. "I'm glad you like them. Finn said they were filled with toxins since I didn't use organic ingredients."

Bellamy's eyes rolled so far back, she was afraid he would pass out. "I'm all for being green Princess," she commented, "But that guy was way too intense about everything." He paused and swallowed a brownie before saying, "You haven't mentioned Finn in a while. Did something happen?"

Clarke sighed and `broke off a piece of brownie to eat. "Not with him really. You know how he had a girlfriend? Well, she called me the other day."

Bellamy's eyes widened and Clarke nodded along. "I know right? Her name is Raven and turns out, Finn managed to hide the truth from her all these months. She just found out and decided to yell at me through the phone."

"What? How the hell does that make sense?"

"I think she's just looking for someone else to blame. From the sounds of it, Finn was all she had for so long and now he stabbed her in the back."

"That still doesn't give her the right to yell at you," Bellamy grumbled.

Clarke just shrugged and grabbed the remote. "Have you watched this movie before?" she asked casually. Bellamy frowned at the screen for a moment and then shook his head. They went silent and started to watch the film. The sun slowly made its way across the sky without them noticing. Even when the movie ended, the sequel came on after wards and Bellamy only got up to get popcorn and beers from the fridge at Clarke's orders. By the time the movie finished it was late and if Bellamy didn't live across the hall, Clarke would have invited him to sleep on the couch. She sleepily walked with him to the door and lean against it as he reached his own apartment.

"Night Princess," he mumbled, "Thanks for the movie."

"You still owe me food," she reminded him with a small smile. Bellamy chuckled and it made a shiver go up Clarke's spine.

"You better hold me to that," he said and actually winked at her before closing the door.

Clarke didn't hate Christmas ok? If she hated the holiday then it wouldn't suck so much when her mom called and cancelled their plans. There was something about hospital boards and important dinners.

Clarke had nodded along but as soon as she had hung up the phone, the tears had come. Things had been weird with her mother ever since Jake Griffin's death all those years ago. Clarke had hoped that they could fix their relationship but it looked like that wasn't going to happen anytime soon. So, on Christmas morning, Clarke barely wanted to get out of bed. She didn't even have anyone to give gifts too after sending one to her friend Wells in New York and already exchanging gifts with Bellamy. She thought she had done a pretty good job of not letting him see how upset she was.

However, a few moments after she had woken up, there was a knock on her door. She wrapped herself up in the Christmas jumper Wells had sent her and opened her door to see Bellamy standing there. He took one look at her jumper and snorted. "That may just be the best thing I have ever seen."

Clarke was about to reply with more than a little sarcasm, when Bellamy was shoved out of the way. Clarke blinked at the dark haired girl who was smiling widely. "Hi! You must be Clarke since, you know, this is Clarke's apartment. I'm Octavia, Bellamy's sister that he better have mentioned before."

Clarke glanced at Bellamy's red face before nodding quickly. "Oh yes, you're Octavia! Nice to meet you."

Octavia shook her hand but rolled her eyes. "Ugh, you are so lying. But whatever! The reason we are here at this ungodly hour is because my idiot brother mentioned that you were probably spending Christmas alone. We can't have that."

"We can't?" Clarke chorused.

"Please say you'll come to Christmas dinner," Bellamy hissed, "Or we will be standing here until next summer."

Clarke turned back to Octavia a little hurt. Bellamy didn't seem like he wanted her to come. Screw that. "I'd love to come to dinner," she said with a smile, "Just let me get dressed."

Minutes later she was being served Christmas pancakes by Octavia while Bellamy was preparing the turkey and ham. "So, you're a doctor? You are really young," Octavia commented, as she bit into a strawberry.

Clarke dragged her eyes away from Bellamy bending over the stove and cut her pancakes. "Thanks, I skipped a few grades and got early admission."

"Cool," Octavia said, "I'm in college now too."

"What she means is, she got a scholarship from the university to come and study with them," Bellamy said with pride. Octavia blushed slightly, looking very like her brother.

"So, who else is coming to dinner?" Clarke asked. How awkward would it be for her to be in the middle of a Blake family Christmas?

"Uh, I think Monty, Miller, Murphy and Jasper from the station, you, me and Bellamy. I told everyone not to bring presents either. This is all about friends, family and food."

"Well, your brother does owe me a dinner," Clarke commented.

Bellamy tensed but Octavia's eyes lit up. "Oh really?" she said in a higher pitched voice.

Bellamy looked at the two of them over his shoulder. "Well, the Princess sets off the alarm every time she cooks, so really I was doing myself a favour."

Clarke bit her tongue and shoved more pancake in her mouth. What was up with him? He seemed to stand offish today. Did he not want her and Octavia to meet?

The day went on and the apartment was filled with the smell of Christmas dinner. Clarke nearly hit her head on the various decorations dotted around every surface. The boys from the station arrived and were ecstatic to see Clarke. They were even happier when she dashed across the hall to grab some brownies. To Clarke's utter delight, Bellamy's mood improved and they were both in stitches of laughter by the time dinner was over. Dishes were washed, drunken carols had been badly sung and now, there were party games to be played.

Clarke excused herself to go to the bathroom around the time that Jasper and Monty were trying to act out scenes from some action movie for Octavia to guess. On her way back to the living room, she nearly slammed into Bellamy.

"Sorry," they said in unison, with Bellamy's hands catching her elbows. He instantly let go and stepped back with a reserved smile. Clarke took in a breath and said, "I'm glad I finally tasted your cooking-it's not half bad."

"Half bad?" he replied, "My cooking is amazing."

Shouts from the other room made him turn around for a moment before looking back at her. "Listen," he said softly, "I know I might have seemed a bit strange this morning-."

"If by strange you mean slightly offensive and aloof, then yes, yes you were."

Bellamy winched at her sharp words. "I know, I know. The thing was that Octavia just marched across the hall as soon as she knew you were alone on Christmas and I didn't have the time to tell her that you are probably used to fancy parties and five course dinners. She was just really excited to meet you."

Clarke blinked at him. Oh. Oh, no. He was quiet because he thought she wouldn't like the home cooked meal and family decorations.

"Bellamy, I wish that all my Christmases could have been like this one, trust me. I have never felt more at home with a group of people and I already gave my judgement on your cooking."

He looked surprised at this and Clarke felt the skin on her face heat up under his gaze. "Oh? Well, thank Princess, I guess."

She knew that he was more pleased than he let on. She was a bit scared of how she knew that.

"It's an elephant standing on a penguin!"

"What the fuck kind of movies do you watch?!"

The sounds from the other room made them jump and Clarke said, "I better get in there before a fight breaks out."

He stepped aside to let her pass and she continued on down the hallway, the fairy lights shining against her blonde locks.

On New Year's Eve, Bellamy opened his front door to a frazzled looking Clarke.

"I think I did something a bit impulsive," she stated, before ducking under Bellamy's arm and walking into the apartment. He shut the door behind her and followed her into the kitchen. She sat herself on a bar stool by the island and started cutting up the fruit that was lined up on the counter. Bellamy knew they were for the drinks so he went back to making the pasta for the main meal at the party.

"What did you do? And will it be coming to this party?"

Clarke sighed and looked at him with worried eyes. "You remember Raven right? Finn's ex? Well, you know how we've been chatting, getting along?"

"Which is not as bad as an idea as it sounds; that girl is cooler than we expected."

"I know!" Clarke said with excitement but then her face fell. "Uh, I may have invited her to the party."

Bellamy spun around to stare at her. "What? Why?"

"She was alone! I wanted her to have a good New Year!" Clarke exclaimed, pieces of fruit scattering across the counter.

Bellamy let out an exasperated sigh and leaned back against the cupboards. "This could be a disaster- all it would take is for one of our idiot friends to say the wrong thing and I could have to arrest someone."

"It might not come to that. We just need to give everyone the right amount of alcohol. Like, Jasper gets none."

The oven beeped and Bellamy had to go back to cooking. Clarke finished cutting up the fruit and bustled around the kitchen to help him. He kept glancing at her and wondering at what point she had become so familiar with his apartment. Yes, she had a key to the place, for emergencies. And he had a key to hers-for the same reason. It wasn't like they were constantly crossing over to the other apartment every day...it was like every other day.

He had little time to really analyse his thoughts however, because the others barrelled their way through the door soon after. The TV was keeping a countdown and around two hours before midnight, Raven arrived. Clarke met her at the door with a smile and Raven seemed calm enough. The tension between them seemed to fall away when the others welcomed her warmly and soon, the little frown between Clarke's eyebrows disappeared.

Unlike his friends, Bellamy hadn't had that much to drink. Clarke was actually pretty sober too. But the room was hot and her friends were loud so she slipped away a few minutes before midnight. The only other quiet room was Bellamy's bedroom. They had known each other for nearly a year; they were good enough friends for her to chill in his room for a few seconds.

But when she opened the door, Clarke was shocked to see Bellamy already there. He was stretched out on his bed with his arms behind his head. She desperately tried to ignore the way his t-shirt rode up and showed a band of tanned skin.

"Hey Princess, looks like we had the same idea," he commented as Clarke shut the door on the loud noises. He patted the bed beside him and after a moment's hesitation, she lay down. She instantly felt better and the sheets smelt like him. She swallowed slightly but stared at the ceiling. "I can't believe how much has changed in a year," she said softly, "I moved out of my mom's house, my job is amazing...I met you and everyone..."

"Admit it, that was the best part of the year," Bellamy muttered and Clarke giggled. "OK, OK, I am glad that I picked this apartment building. It's felt more like my home than any other house."

Bellamy turned his head to look at her, the echoing announcement of "Five minutes to midnight!" going through the door. "But you can't live here forever Princess. Don't you want the house with the porch swing and big lawn for your kids to play in?"

"Do you?" she shot back.

Although she was joking, Bellamy suddenly looked serious. "Yah, actually I think I do. Octavia and I grew up in this small place with no room to move around. I don't blame my mother but I want more for my kids when I have them. Well, when my wife lets me have them."

Clarke watched the light from the moonlight outside cast shadows across his face and she bit her lip. "How many kids do you want?" she asked quietly and Bellamy shrugged.

"I'm not sure, maybe three? I would love a boy first because after raising O she kind of counts. I'd like a girl after that maybe but a son would be really good. He could be the weirdest kid on the planet but as long as he'd think I was a good dad and he was happy then I wouldn't care."

Clarke suddenly let out a groan and slapped him on the chest. Bellamy jumped and stared at her with wide eyes. "Oh my God," Clarke exclaimed, "You are going to be best dad ever, you jackass."

"Why does that make me a jackass?!" he replied, laughing at her.

Clarke looked at him with exasperation, her blonde hair fanning around his sheets. "You-you can't just say things like this around women alright? You look like that and you talk about wanting kids and marriage and a house! You have a stable job and you love your sister-you're not aloud be so...so..."

She trailed off when Bellamy rolled over on his side to face her. He had one arm braced near her shoulder but was careful not to lean on her hair. "And-and you cook..." she added, trying desperately to meet his eyes.

Bellamy raked his gaze over her face before asking, "Do I have any flaws then Princess?"

Clarke found herself nodding as if to have something to do. "Well, there are those one night stands-."

"They stopped a long time ago," Bellamy quickly answered, "About the same time, my neighbour baked me brownies for the first time."

Clarke smiled widely and although she could hear the countdown starting, she wasn't paying attention to anything else but Bellamy. "What do you say Clarke," he asked, "Do you want to be in a committed, mature relationship with me that has pretty good looking prospects?"

He would tease her about this later on, she knew it but she really didn't care in that moment. "Will you cook for me?"

"Yes."

"And you'll put batteries in my smoke alarm?"

"You don't have batteries in your smoke alarm?!"

"That's your job now buddy."

Just as the TV and their friends yelled "HAPPY NEW YEAR!" Clarke pulled the collar of Bellamy's t-shirt so that his lips crashed down onto hers.

With the spring came the birds chirping outside Clarke's window at the early hours. She groaned and pulled the pillow over her head but she could still hear them, right outside on that damn tree.

With a huff, she threw back the covers and scrambled for a shirt. She tugged on Bellamy's blue one and stumbled out into the kitchen. Running a hand through her untidy hair, she found her boyfriend making breakfast in his jeans.

"Morning," he greeted in a sleepy voice and Clarke just walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist. As she leaned against his back, Clarke yawned. "This is why we sleep over in your apartment most nights-those damn birds."

Bellamy laughed and handed her back a glass of orange juice. She untangled herself from his long enough to drink from it.

"We have a lazy morning Princess but Octavia wants us to meet her for lunch. Lincoln will be there."

Clarke raised her eyebrow at him over her glass. "And you will be nice to him and try to get to know him better."

He actually pouted at her and she pressed her fingers to his lips as if to swipe it away. There was a knock at the door then and Clarke put her glass down on the counter before walking to her peephole.

"All I am saying is to give him a good chance-OHMYGOD!"

The last part was hissed in a furious whisper and it made Bellamy hurry towards her. "What? Who is it?"

Clarke shushed him hurriedly and muttered, "Its Finn! He's here!"

"What?!" Bellamy saw red and went to throw the door open.

But Clarke pushed him backwards and they toppled over the back of the couch to land with a thump. Clarke sat on him and pointed at his chest. "You have to let me handle this! You will not answer the door with no shirt and clearly marking your territory. Go into the bedroom and wait until I get rid of him."

"Can you at least put on more clothes when you're turning down your ex?" Bellamy pleaded with her.

He was shoved back into the bedroom, where he spent the next few minutes pacing up and down. He was just about to lose his mind when Clarke came back into the room. "It's ok, crisis averted. He tried some romantic bullshit on me but I shut him down. I also have to text Raven to warn her in case he calls her too."

When Bellamy didn't respond, she looked up to see him sitting down on the edge of the bed. "What's wrong?" she asked as she moved to sit down in his lap.

He wrapped his arms around her and shook his head. "Nothing, nothing...I just don't like being reminded of your other serious relationship. I'll get over it."

Clarke placed her hands on his face and made him meet her eyes. "Bell, you know that me and Finn...it's nothing compared to me and you. I never would have imagined actually trying to build a home with Finn because he was always off on one of his crusades. Even if he ever did settle down, our personalities would not have gelled for long periods of time. I know that now. But you are everything that I need."

"Are you saying this because I have no shirt on?"

"Yes, I've been talking to your abs the entire time."

He cut off her laughter with a kiss, one that she deepened.

Their next New Year was spent together in their new house. It was a two storey with a large porch out front. A balcony was on the first floor and the windows let in a generous amount of light. There were four bedrooms, a large kitchen and a cosy living room.

Said living room was filled with their friends and family on New Year. Their new neighbours were invited as well and the music could be a little louder than their old apartments. Yet, Bellamy and Clarke still snuck away right before midnight. They were sat out on the balcony, on a deck chair. Their legs stretched out side by side and some fireworks had already started.

"So, is this house good enough for you then?" Clarke asked him, her head resting on his chest.

"It's not bad," he said with a grin, one arm wrapped around her shoulders. "We could always build an extension if we need another bedroom."

Clarke laughed and poked him in the side. "What happened to keeping the number of kids at a low number?"

Bellamy shrugged and squirmed away from her sharp nails. "Easy there Princess, I'm kidding. You're calling the shot right now."

"Damn right I am," she replied, as the countdown started. She looked out over their new home and caught sight of the line of garden gnomes in the neighbour's lawn. "The only down side is those gnomes," she muttered and Bellamy hummed in agreement. "If we raise our children right, they will destroy those gnomes with a baseball bat."

The crowd downstairs let out a loud cheer and midnight hit with the fireworks going off overhead. "Hey Princess?" Bellamy said and she looked over to him.

He gave her a soft smile before saying, "Thanks for being such a hot neighbour."

Clarke laughed happily before tugging him down to kiss her.

(Ten years later, she opens the door of her home to see her son, her daughter and her neighbour standing there; garden gnomes and baseball did not get along after all.)