This was originally part of a multi-chapter ficlet collection but I've decided to post them all separately, so if you've read this before that's where it was from.

Loosely based off: 'we're roommates and we've barely interacted so far but one night there's a thunderstorm and i'm a serious astraphobic and come into your room shaking bc i dont know what else to do and you lull me to sleep by stroking my hair and softly ranting about niccolo machiavelli' au

I hope you like it :)

So far, Bellamy and Clarke had only been living together for six months.

Originally, Clarke was supposed to be living with Octavia but just after they'd moved in together, Lincoln had proposed. Clarke had assured her that she didn't mind it if Octavia bailed and moved in with Lincoln instead; her plan being to just find a roommate on Craigslist or something. But then Octavia had mentioned that her brother was moving to town and was looking for an apartment.

Bellamy was sweet and sarcastic, a combination that usually wouldn't work on most people but somehow he made it work. He was quiet and neat, always did his dishes, and never blasted music while she was working on one of her commissions like her old roommate used to do.

Clarke had been meaning to get to know him, to see if they could be friends as well as roommates, but work kept interfering. Octavia had been raving about her brother for years, always going on about how smart and sweet he was, and had been so excited when he had called her and told her he was moving to Boston for a new job. If everything Octavia had said was true, then Clarke knew they'd get along great. If only they had a chance to actually hang out and get to know each other. Plus, she had this feeling that he was avoiding her and she wanted to make sure that she hadn't done anything wrong.

At the sixth month mark, Clarke was finally able to take a mini vacation. She finished up her last day at the art gallery where she worked and her plan was to spend the night at home and see if Bellamy wanted to get drunk and heckle at shitty movies.

Bellamy was a teacher at the local high school and since it was summer, he was on vacation. Although, he did still work; picking up regular shifts at his best friend Miller's bar. But tonight was his night off and Clarke was hoping that he was planning on staying in and wouldn't mind some company.

Clarke tried to give Bellamy a call on the drive home but kept getting his voicemail. So she just decided to pick up some booze and Thai food, and hope he was at home.

As she drove home, she took in the dark clouds in the sky and shuddered, hoping that there wasn't a storm coming. She hated storms with a burning passion. As an artist, she could appreciate their chaotic beauty but as a human being, they scared the absolute shit out of her.

Shaking herself from her thoughts, she parked and went up to her apartment. Unlocking the door, she called out, "Bellamy?" as she entered, setting her keys down in the little ceramic bowl on the table near the door.

"In here!" Bellamy's low voice called from the living room.

Clarke went further into the apartment, stopping only to toe off her shoes, and set the food and booze down in the kitchen. She wandered out into the living room and took in the lazy, comfortable vibe Bellamy was giving off from his position sprawled out on the couch.

There was a history documentary playing on the TV and when Clarke entered the room Bellamy sat up and exited out of the movie, flushing slightly in embarrassment. One day Clarke would convince Bellamy there was nothing to be embarrassed about; he liked what he liked and it was adorable.

Bellamy cleared his throat and gave her a small smile. "Hey, how was your day?"

"It was good! I got everything that needed to be done finished and I'm so ready for these days off," She sighed, flopping down beside Bellamy on the couch in exhaustion. There had been a lot to put in place at work so she was able to take these days off and Clarke was really tired. "Anyway, I brought beer and Thai food; you want to hang out tonight?"

"Sure," Bellamy replied, rubbing the back of his neck in a nervous gesture. He did that a lot around her. She tried not to take it too personally but he wasn't a nervous person, at least not from what she had seen the few times they had been out together. He only seemed to do it around her and she tried not to read into it too much. "You want to watch a movie?

"Hell yeah," Clarke said, getting up to get the food dished out. "Let's finish watching what you were watching before."

"Uh," Bellamy uttered, looking somewhat bewildered. "Are you sure? It's kind of dry."

Clarke just shrugged. "You looked like you were interested in it. You should finish it, I don't mind."

Bellamy flushed and looked at her for another moment, trying to gauge whether or not she was serious. But Clarke just looked back with a genuine grin and gave him a slight nod.

"Okay," Bellamy agreed, sheepishly. "But we watch something you want to watch afterwards."

"Sounds fair!"

Clarke got the food onto two plates and brought them out into the living room, placing them on the coffee table. Bellamy brought some cutlery and napkins and handed her a beer. She noticed that he had gotten some of the cold ones from the fridge and put the ones she had bought earlier into the fridge to chill.

Giving him a nod of thanks, Clarke took a grateful sip of the cold drink. Bellamy pressed play on the movie and they ate in comfortable silence watching the documentary, which turned out to be about the fall of the Ottoman Empire. Bellamy was right- it was dry. Normally Clarke would complain but she was actually having a lot of fun watching Bellamy watch the documentary. His face would scrunch up whenever there was a theatric scene, clearly dramatized to make the movie more interesting. He would also mutter little comments here and there and Clarke was extremely entertained.

When all the food was gone and the credits were rolling, Clarke got up to clear the dishes away and grab some more beer. Bellamy waved her off, arguing that since Clarke had brought dinner, he should at least clean up. Bellamy finished the clean up pretty quickly and was handing Clarke a fresh beer when the first crack of thunder sounded.

Clarke squeaked, looking around wildly before realizing the sound was from the storm outside. She looked at the window in distress, now clearly seeing the heavy rain and flashes of lightning that she had missed.

"Fuck," She whimpered, as another bolt of lightening flashed across the sky. The rain pelted harder against the window, a sound she normally loved, but hated when there was a storm.

"Are you okay?" Bellamy asked, bringing her attention to him. She had almost forgotten that he was there.

"Y-yeah," Clarke tried to say but cut herself off with a whine when there was another round of thunder.

"Are you afraid of storms?" Bellamy asked, concerned. He placed the beers on the coffee table and came to sit beside her. Clarke flinched again at the thunder and that answered Bellamy's question. After a moment of hesitation, he wrapped his arms around her and tugged her to him.

Clarke went willingly, curling up on his lap and hiding her face in his neck- all earlier shyness gone and replaced by fear and distress.

"Stupid fucking storms," She mumbled against his neck, trying to control the shivers that racked her body. Bellamy tightened his arms around her and started rubbing soothing circles on her back to try and calm her down.

"Shhh, it's okay," Bellamy whispered, adjusting her so she was settled more firmly against his chest.

"I'm sorry, I don't know why I'm so afraid of storms," Clarke whispered, feeling her face get hot in embarrassment. It wasn't enough to make her get off his lap, though. Plus, he was warm and very comfy- even if she was embarrassed about the reason why she wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to be close to him. Especially since this might be her only chance.

"You have nothing to apologize for, Clarke," Bellamy reassured firmly. "There's nothing wrong with having a phobia. I'm afraid of spiders and I'm not embarrassed- okay, well, I'm a little embarrassed, but there's nothing wrong with being afraid."

Clarke felt herself relax after his little speech, knowing that he genuinely wasn't going to make fun of her for being afraid of storms. "You're afraid of spiders?" She giggled.

"Yup!" Bellamy freely admitted. "I don't know what it is about them but they're fucking abominations. I mean, I respect what they do for the environment but if I never see or hear about a spider ever again for as long as I live, I'm going to die a happy man."

Clarke's giggle turned into a full blown laugh and Bellamy grinned, triumphant.

"Don't worry, I'll kill the spiders for you," Clarke declared. "As long as you hold me during storms."

"Deal," Bellamy replied, smiling brightly. "You want to watch another movie? To keep you distracted?"

"Uh, sure," Clarke said, shifting slightly. She bit her lip nervously for a moment before continuing. "Is there something you like to watch that you have a lot of opinions on? I know this is probably really weird but you talking is really comforting and I don't know if you noticed but you were talking the whole time during the documentary and I really liked that…" Clarke trailed off, ducking her head in embarrassment. She always rambled when she was nervous but she seemed to do it twice as much when she was with Bellamy.

Bellamy was looking at her, eyes wide and shocked. Clarke wasn't sure why he was so shocked. He had a great voice and she had always been a sucker for people with strong opinions.

"Well, we can watch Spartacus if you want? I'll rant for hours about the historical inaccuracies if people let me," Bellamy suggests, looking a bit sheepish.

Clarke beamed. "Yeah, I'd like that."

Bellamy got Spartacus queued up on Netflix while Clarke went and grabbed a few blankets. They bundled themselves up, Bellamy letting Clarke snuggle against his side, and pressed play.

Hours went by like this; Bellamy ranting about the show, getting so into it, he forgot his embarrassment and shyness, and Clarke snuggled beside him, warm and content. She hadn't even thought about the storm since they pressed play on the show.

When the thing popped up and asked them if they were still watching, Clarke sat up and stretched. She did a double take when she glanced out the window and realized the storm had finished. There was just a light rain pelting the windows quietly and Clarke stared, dumbfounded.

"What's wrong?" Bellamy asked, concerned when he noticed how she had frozen in her spot.

"Nothing," Clarke assured. "It's just- the storm's gone."

Bellamy's brow furrowed. "Isn't that a good thing?" He asked.

"Yeah! I'm just surprised," Clarke admitted, flushing slightly. "To be honest I actually forgot that there was a storm."

Bellamy grinned happily. "Good, I'm glad."

Clarke bit her lip, wanting to blurt out that the only reason she had forgotten was because she was having such a good time with him and would he maybe want to hang out again?

"Sure," Bellamy said warmly, looking at her with an unreadable look in his eyes.

"Shit, did I say that out loud?" Clarke groaned, her cheeks heating up in embarrassment. Christ, she had never blurted out something she was thinking before, what was he doing to her?

"Yup," Bellamy grinned before his expression suddenly softened. "Don't be embarrassed. I want to hang out with you too."

"Yeah?" She asked, nervous and shy. When he nodded enthusiastically, she relaxed. "Uh, if you wanted to hang out with me how come you've been pretty much avoiding me since you moved in?"

"Fuck," Bellamy groaned, turning bright red and ducking his head so she couldn't look into his eyes. "I, uh, well- about that…" Bellamy trailed off and huffed. "Crushing on your roommate isn't the easiest situation. Avoiding you seemed like the best way to make sure I didn't accidentally make you uncomfortable."

Clarke's jaw dropped. That really hadn't been what she was expecting him to say. "Oh, um…"

Bellamy's face dropped, and Clarke registered the faint look of hope that had just been on his face. He sighed and made to get up. "Yeah, that's what I was expecting, don't worry. I, uh, I can crash with Octavia if you're uncomfortable with me here. Or I'm sure Miller would let me have his couch for a little bit while I look for another place and-"

Clarke cut him off by tugging him down back beside her and crushing her lips to his. Bellamy froze beneath her lips for a moment before he got with the program and kissed back enthusiastically.

They kissed leisurely for what felt like hours to Clarke but in reality was only a few minutes. Bellamy was the one to pull back, licking his lips, and Clarke sucked in a much-needed gulp of air.

"So, um, I think I know what this means but I really need to hear you say it because I've been wrong about this kind of thing in the past," Bellamy admitted shyly, looking up at her from beneath his lashes.

Clarke smiled softly. "It means that I like you and want to keep getting to know you. Preferably with lots of kissing. And lots of nights like this. We still have a lot of episodes of Spartacus to get through and it wouldn't be half as entertaining without your commentary." Clarke blushed slightly as she finished but it was worth it to see the way Bellamy's entire face light up.

She still hated storms with a fiery passion but she was thankful for this one. After all, it was responsible for jumpstarting what would end up being the best (and last) relationship she ever had.

i know the title is terrible but i couldn't think of a better one lmao

i hope you enjoyed !