~BELLAMY~

"Why are we stopping here? There is nothing around us. We're in the middle of nowhere!"

Bellamy huffed out annoyed sigh at his sister while he took the duffle bags from the car and set them on the ground next to where the three girls were standing. "It's more than it looks like, O."

"I hope so considering that I don't see anything."

He rolled his eyes, locking the car and shoving the keys into his pocket. He began moving nearby fallen branches over the car. Clarke walked over to help him and he gave her a small smile. Things weren't perfect between them but they were definitely looking up. He still wasn't sure where they stood but waking up beside her this morning made more sense than anything had in a long time. He would take it while it lasted because he wasn't so sure she would react once she found out the truth of their situation.

He'd just gotten back her trust and, although he knew she could handle the news, he wasn't completely sure if she would forgive him after she found out. They were in a good place but it was distressing to think that in a few hours they could put them on the outs again.

"Why are we hiding the car under the cover of leaves?" Clarke asked him as she brushed the dirt off her hands.

He stood back and analyzed his work, making sure the car was sufficiently covered under branches and trees. "Because I don't want to risk driving it up to the place we're going when it's daylight out. We aren't that far from where we need to go."

"Oh no," Octavia moaned. "We're going to be hiking, aren't we?"

"What's a hike?" Charlotte asked, grabbing Clarke's hand as he picked the duffle bags off of the ground and started forward.

"A long walk through nature," Clarke answered.

"I don't want to walk a long time."

"You and me both," Octavia huffed.

Bellamy looked over his shoulder to see the girls had stopped walking. Clarke kneeled down in front of a scared looking Charlotte to ask her what was wrong.

"I don't want to walk through the woods."

He could tell that she was close to tears. Gently, he pushed Clarke to the side and assumed her position on his knees in front of the little girl. Clarke and Octavia were staring down at them but he kept his focus on Charlotte. The sight of her looking so terrified brought him back to the night he found her: terrified and searching for someone to keep her safe.

"Hey, do you remember what I told you about fear the night I found you?"

"It can only hurt you if you let yourself be afraid."

He nodded his head. "And what did I promise you?"

She sniffled, wiping the sleeve of her jacket under her nose. "That you would keep me safe until the very end."

He let his large hands engulf her tiny one and looked her straight in the eye. Sometimes he had to remember that she was so young even though her mentality was far ahead of her. "Right and that isn't going to change, but I need you to trust me okay?"

Charlotte hesitated, tears escaping from her blue eyes, and he realized this time she needed a little bit more of a push.

"What did I tell you about Octavia's eyes, do you remember?"

She stayed quite, as if shifting back through her memories before finally answering. "That they are wondrous rather than fearful."

He nodded. "And Clarke?"

"She's the bravest princess out there." Finally a small smile graced her face and his ears picked up on Octavia laughing behind him.

"I need you to be brave today, alright?" She nodded immediately this time and he flashed her a smile of his own. "We won't let anything happen to you and if you start to get scared you can repeat after me. Screw you. I'm not afraid."

"Bellamy!" Both girls complained behind him, but he waved them off keeping his eyes trained on Charlotte.

"Go ahead and say it," he urged.

Her eyes drifted towards the girls uneasily before returning to him. "Am I going to get in trouble?"

"No."

She takes a deep breath. "Screw you. I'm not afraid."

"Louder."

"Screw you. I'm not afraid!" she said with just a little more conviction.

"Louder!"

"SCREW YOU! I'M NOT AFRAID!"

She threw her arms around his neck, squeezing him tight as he held her. He ran a hand comfortingly over her back. "You're going to be fine, kid. I promise."

Smiled widely at him as she pulled away and made her way over to Octavia. The two started forward without waiting for him or Clarke. He stood, turning towards her but the smile slipped from his face when saw the frown set on hers. Her eyes were still focused on the spot where Charlotte had previously been standing and Bellamy hiked the duffle bags higher over his shoulder feeling uncomfortable.

Something was the matter but he wasn't sure if he wanted to hear the answer to that problem. He spoke up anyway. "I can practically hear your mind about to explode from here."

"You told me you never wanted kids."

His heart practically dropped through his stomach. They were getting somewhere; between the smiles, the hand holding, and the kissing, then had finally arrived at the point where they were at least comfortable. In the past this particular topic had ended in a week of them hardly speaking and he couldn't see it making it any easier on them now.

"I remember."

It took her a long time before she could look up but when she did he nearly stopped breathing. She looked so broken, so cold, so damn vulnerable. His mouth opened to say something. Maybe to comfort her, he wasn't sure.

"It's just I always thought you would be a good dad someday and now I have the proof." She paused looking away and started after Octavia and Charlotte, but not before he heard the soft murmur of her last words. "You'll make some girl really happy one day."

He watched as she walked away and he watched dumbfounded after her. What the hell was he supposed to say to that? Sure their future had always been a sore subject but now wasn't exactly the time to be thinking about it. But she was thinking about it and that made her upset. It wasn't so much what she said as much as what she didn't say. That by him making some girl happy in the future it most likely meant that girl wouldn't be her.

He wanted to pull her back and argue until his throat was raw. He wanted to convince her that he would try his hardest to make sure she received the future she deserved. He wanted to kiss her until she was breathless and realized that the only girl he thought about making happy was Clarke.

Instead he caught up to them, walking along side them in silence. He listened to Octavia tell Charlotte stories about when she was younger while he tried to make eye contact with Clarke. It was obvious that she was doing everything to avoid his gaze so he backed off. He would just let her have her space and hoped that by the time they got to the house he hadn't fucked things up too much.

"I'm going to die if I have to walk any longer," Octavia moaned dragging behind him and Clarke who where walking on either side of Charlotte.

"Stop complaining. Do you hear me complaining?"

"No," his sister answered, annoyance coloring her tone, "because you have ridiculously large muscle. You may as well be made of steel!"

Clarke snorted, rolling her eyes and he relaxed a little. She didn't seem to be upset anymore and it was a huge weight lifted off his shoulders.

"What about Clarke? I haven't heard a peep out of her."

"Yeah, well you do remember she used to be a track star, right? She basically has inhuman stamina."

Of course he remembered. The nights before her track meets had always been amazing for him. He got to see exactly the length of her stamina. In fact it had been such a high tolerance that most times he could hardly keep up. His eyes caught hers and from the deep blue burning under her lashes it seemed that she was thinking along the same lines as he was.

"And Charlotte?" Clarke offered with a grin.

Octavia waved her off. "She got the pep talk of a century."

"You want a pep talk?" Bellamy asked as they reached a particularly tight fit of trees that signaled the line of property they were headed to. Thank god. "Maybe if you spent more time with me working out in the basement then you wouldn't be so tired."

"Thanks, bro. That bit of advice really makes me want to run ten miles uphill. No, seriously, sign me up for the next marathon."

Clarke laughed, moving to lace their arms together as a smile spread over his face at his sister's sarcasm. At least it was better than the silence that he had to endure while they were in the car.

Maybe.

It only took another minute before the house emerges in the dim lighting of the day. He rarely entered the property from the back but has to admit that it looked every bit as abandoned as it did from the front. Obviously that was the point but it didn't make it any less eerie. The girls beside him definitely noticed as they all stopped walking to look at the house.

"That's where were going?"

"Maybe it looks better on the inside," Clarke offered optimistically in an attempt to counter the shakiness in Charlotte's voice.

"I don't know how it could look any worse," Octavia muttered.

"Come on," Bellamy urged them, walking forward while Charlotte took hold of his hand. Clarke moved in beside him and Octavia sidled up on the other side of Charlotte.

The high gate covered in tangled leaves and vines just got larger as they approached. Not a single word was said between the group and he began to wonder if they were honestly too scared about where they were being lead to say anything. The second the thought crossed his mind and they entered through the gate into the immediate backyard, a loud crack blasted into the air.

Octavia immediately goes to comfort Charlotte who lets out a high-pitched sound, somewhere between a squeal and a scream. He instinctively reached out to pull Clarke, who was walking slightly in front of him, behind his body. "Thelonious!" He yelled in annoyance, knowing that the old man would hear him from whatever window he was stationed at. "Stop! It's me, Bellamy!"

"Whose with you?" his deep voice called back and he didn't blame him for the suspicion coloring his tone. After all this was the first time he'd ever shown up at this house with anyone other than Atom.

"My family." It was the easiest way to explain them without giving away too much. He didn't really want to explain everything to him while they were shouting at each other from across the backyard.

"And the girl?"

Clarke and Octavia both flashed him a confused look but his eyes zeroed in on the right window on the second floor. He could barely make it out but there it was, a strong form holding a long barrel between his hands with his eyes trained below.

He sighed. "She's here. Now lower your damn gun and open the back door for us."

He waited a few minutes for him to move from the window before indicating them forward toward the back door. Clarke's grip tightened on his hand and he squeezed it back hoping to reassure her. If there was one person that would be able to give Clarke the answers she needed it was Thelonious Jaha.

That very man was waiting just inside the opened back door that lead into a small dim lit hallway. Once they were in the house, the girls moved closely together as if they were trying to take up as little space as possible. Jaha closed and locked the door behind them before turning to analyze the group of them.

"Your early," he said finally, breaking the thick silence surrounding them. "Where's Atom?"

"They found us earlier than we anticipated," he explained, his throat tight. "He didn't make it."

"And Abby?"

Clarke moved forward so suddenly that he instinctively reached out a hand to steady her elbow incase she tripped over her feet. Her eyes ran over the older man, talking in his tall form and dark skin. "You know my mother?"

Bellamy looked back to him to see that Jaha had his own eyes concentrated on Clarke and wondered what was going through his mind. Maybe countless flashbacks of days spent alongside her father or perhaps just thinking about how similar her features were to Jake Griffin.

"Clarke," he greeted softly. "You're so grown up. You look a lot like your father."

Clarke's small hand gripped his forearm in an effort to keep steady. Her skin was getting paler by the second and he hoped that she wasn't about to pass out.

"Who are you?" She demanded.

Bellamy instantly pulled her closer to his side hearing the angry tone that her voice took on. She was upset but Jaha wasn't the person to direct her anger to. If there was one person she would be able to trust, it was him. The sooner they got everything out in the open, the sooner she would understand. "Clarke. Clarke, look at me." When she finally did he made a point to continue. "We'll explain everything but we just need a little bit of time to-"

"No," she cut him off angrily. "First I want to know who he is!"

"My name is Thelonious Jaha and I was a close friend that used to work with your father."

Clarke shook her head confused. "I don't…understand. I just…"

Bellamy was quick to jump up to her defense and directed his words toward Jaha. "Maybe you can show O and Charlotte to the living room and we'll meet you in the study."

Jaha nodded and motioned the two youngest girls forward while Bellamy started down the nearby hallway pulling Clarke along with him until they entered a study. She basically collapsed onto the sofa, her eyes looking forward but not really seeing anything.

"Breathe princess," he reminded her, taking a seat beside her.

"What if I'm not ready for this?" She asked him quietly. "What if I really am too weak to deal with everything that's going on?"

He sighed and grabbed her hand in his. If there was one thing that she needed to know it was that she was far from weak. "Listen to me." She looked up at him, her eyes locking tiredly on his. "For as long as I've known you weak has never been a word to describe you. There are things that you don't understand but you're a part of it because your father made you a part of it. Jaha can explain everything to you better than I could but I'll be right here. You're strong enough for this. I know you are. Okay?"

She nodded, tracing the lines over his hands. Eventually she broke out in a small smile that didn't quite reach her eyes and nudged his shoulder with her own. "Your really on a roll with these pep talks toady."

Hey guys! So I know it's been forever and I have no excuses other than I've been busy and completely at a standstill when it comes to the creativity. I also know it's not long but I wanted to split the entire thing I wrote into two chapters. I'm still not 100% on the second part which is the only reason that I am not posting them together. Thank you so much for being patient with me and the comments on the story so far are amazing!