Solitaire on an Airplane, half a bottle of diet Sprite.

The only thing she'd let herself worry about on the way home from the airport was whether or not the elevator would be broken again. Her suitcase was weighted down with books and expensive boots she'd bought out of a desperation to feel better.

She'd look like a real idiot trying to carry that up the stairs.

Her phone remains silent in her pocket. Granted, everyone that had asked (Octavia and Monty) thought she was coming back on a later flight. She couldn't stand to be in that country any longer. Not that it wasn't lovely, but she had gone for all the wrong reasons. She'd gone to spite him, because despite how guilty she felt for making him feel like she didn't love him more than anything else in her fucking life, she was absolutely furious that he had walked out on her like that. So yeah she'd gone to London, and he hadn't so much as texted her to make sure the plane landed safely (Octavia had…every twenty minutes).

Everything in her life just kind of sucks right now, but hey….at least the elevator is working.

She'd given her spare key to Wick while she was gone (in case of an emergency) she figured he'd probably be by later to drop it off but she'd most likely have her apartment to herself that night. After she showered she planned a trip to the gas station to buy cheap beer and ice cream….maybe she'd even finish off the Jägermeister….

Her heart drops when she grabs her doorknob and realizes that her door is unlocked. She starts to reach for her phone to call the police, but then she hears muffled voices and the smoke alarm. Her instincts force her to throw the door open.

Her apartment is absolute chaos. Raven and Octavia are standing on chairs by her window, a banner hanging limply between them, yelling at Jasper over their shoulders. Monty and Miller are arguing about the smoke alarm (it won't turn off, Monty wants to destroy it, Miller reminds him that's illegal), Wick and Lincoln are waving magazines around, trying to clear smoke from the living room, and Jasper is standing in the doorway to the kitchen wearing an apron, "It's not actually on fire people!" he says. "Stop acting like…." He freezes when he notices her standing at the door. Everyone turns to face her in silence.

"What is going on?" she asks, too shocked to really move.

Jasper rushes forward and points a finger at her "You weren't supposed to land until seven!" he says "It's only six!"

"I caught an early flight," she says "Did I interrupt something? Should I come back later after you've finished destroying my apartment?"

"Clarke," Octavia says as she climbs down from the chair "this was supposed to be a surprise. We just weren't ready for you."

"A surprise for what? Will someone please turn that goddamn smoke alarm off!."

Monty snatches it from Miller and tosses it against the wall where it falls to the floor in silence.

"It's a welcome home party," Raven says, joining Octavia where she's standing in the middle of the apartment. "and an apology….for the other week."

"We shouldn't have walked out on you like that," Miller explains.

"And we don't want you to think we're mad at you," Monty adds "because we're not."

"We're not giving up poker night!" Jasper says "even if you move to London, we'll use Skype…and some kind of Robot arm, Wick has some designs…"

"I'm not going to London." Clarke says, smiling for the first time in days "I'm not going anywhere… and I'm…..I'm sorry that I didn't tell you about the job…or about me and Bellamy. I shouldn't have put you all in that position. I'm not ready to give up Poker Night either."

There's a whirlwind of laughter and pushing and hugs. Clarke stands in the middle of all her friends as they start firing off questions about her trip. Eventually the mob moves towards the table, it's the first time they've all sat there without the poker top.

Jasper comes out of the kitchen proudly carrying what he claims is a peach pie (her favorite) she eats it…even though it sort of tastes like firewood , because he insists that it's simply well-done. An hour must pass. Octavia is putting food in front of her, Wick is making her laugh, Raven is trying on all the boots she brought home, there's so much to be happy about that she almost doesn't notice that he's not there.

Almost.

She wants to ask Octavia, but she knows it'll only kill the mood. If he wanted to talk to her, he would. Bellamy Blake was pretty straightforward, that was probably what made it so hard. He wore his heart on his sleeve, she tried to keep hers hidden away. She could blame her father's death and Finn's betrayal all she wanted…..the fact of the matter is that she was afraid, and she had let Bellamy get hurt because she couldn't grow up and actually put herself out there for once.
She was still pissed, but she knew he had a right to be just as angry with her. If he didn't want to be there then that was the way it was….maybe in a few days she would try to call him. If he actually answered…..

Her apartment door bangs open and everyone turns in shock.

He's standing there, looking just as furious as he had the last time he'd left, his wet hair falling into his eyes, his clothes completely soaked.

"Bell!" Octavia yells, rushing forward like he's about to collapse "What the hell happened to you?"

"There was a downpour," he says, his eyes scanning the room until they land on Clarke "See I was at the airport….you were not."

"She caught an earlier flight." Jasper explains.

"You're dripping on my floor." She's a little embarrassed that that's the only thing she can think of to say to him, but she almost laughs at the look of outrage on his face. For a minute it feels just like it used to. The air is charged as the glare at each other, until Bellamy kicks the door closed behind him and stumbles further into the apartment.

"Everyone out." He says.

They all look at him, look at Clarke, and look at each other.

"Did I stutter?!"

With a jolt they all jump to their feet. Lincoln has to physically pull Octavia from the room (she seems to think Bellamy's demand doesn't apply to her), Monty, Miller, and Jasper fill their arms with bags of chips and beer and follow behind them. Wick and Raven take up the rear. As usual Wick is laughing "Hey Reyes, why don't we go check Clarke's dryer?", "Seriously Wick? Shut up."

When the door closes, and she's confident that they all have their ears pressed against it, she lets her eyes settle on him.

"Do you want me to get you a towel?" she asks.

"No." he says. He notices her suitcase on the couch. "Did you have fun?"

"No."

They're quiet for a moment. He's giving her a chance to do this on her terms but honestly…..she has no idea where to even begin. He looks so intense right now that she can't decide whether she wants to hide from him or throw herself at him.

"I want you explain something to me." He says "I understand that you have trust issues, I understand that you're still focused on your career, I realize that relationships scare you, but what's between us is already a done deal. It's not something you can just turn off and ignore Clarke. So I don't want to hear that I can't lose you shit, because you can't tell me this past week wasn't exactly what you were afraid of. So that leads me to think that you didn't want to talk about us because you were afraid of what I would say, and I don't understand that. How could you doubt for even a fucking second that I'm completely in love with you?"

She stares at him, "Are you seriously telling me that you're in love with me in the middle of an argument?"

"Well we never talked about it in casual conversation so…"

"What about you Bellamy?! If I was supposed to be so sure of your feelings why couldn't you see that I felt the same way? I didn't consider London because I had no interest in moving away from you. Yeah, I was afraid to talk about it, and okay I apologize for that, but you stormed out of here like I had just stabbed you in the heart and that was bullshit."

"You're a fucking flight risk Clarke. Back in college you used to take off to random countries every summer just to avoid your mother. So I panicked, because as much as I know you have feelings for me….I didn't know if it was enough and you not telling me about it…." He runs his hand over his face. "I'm sorry for the way I left."

She takes a couple of steps towards him "I'm sorry that I didn't go after you."

"So," he shuffles on his feet "London?"

"I'm not moving to London."

He nods. "So where do we go from here?"

"Well, I uh… I guess I should tell you….that I thought about you every minute I was gone."

He smiles "Yeah?"

"And…it wasn't just about…sex or whatever. It's just you, because I love you and I want to do this, really do this…if you do."

His wet hands find her waist. She crinkles her nose as he pulls her into him, he's freezing cold and he's soaking through her shirt but when he kisses her, everything feels warm.

"I love you," he says against her lips. "I've always wanted to really do this." She smiles and kisses him again, running her hands through his wet hair.

"You really need a towel." She laughs.

"I need you," He mumbles against her neck "and a shower." His head perks up and he raises his eyebrows like he's just come up with a genius idea.

"We can't," she says, pointing to the door. "The kids."

"Right," he untangles himself from her and marches over to the door. When throws it open Miller and Octavia manage to catch themselves before they fall over onto the welcome mat. Jasper is in the middle of the hallway doing what looks like a really elaborate touchdown dance.

"Here's the deal," Bellamy says as he pulls his wallet from his back pocket. "I need a half hour…an hour. So take this," he hands Octavia some money "go upstairs to Wick's and order some food. We'll have the table set up when you get back."

"You're paying us to…"

"Get the fuck out of here? Yeah I am."

"Hold on, hold on!" Jasper says "open the door wider so I can get a picture…"

"Jasper!"

"What! I've been trying to get savebellarke trending for a week! This is it people, this is the part of the movie where they play the Taylor Swift song!"

"Stop dancing, you're embarrassing yourself."

"Let me just get one…."

"You know that movie moment you're so excited about? You're kind of ruining it. Now can you guys just get the fuck out of here." He grips the door and shoots them a smirk, "Poker later though alright?" and then closes it before they can argue.

One hour, that goes by entirely too quickly, later…..Bellamy texts his sister, letting her know they can come back to the apartment. He and Clarke had set the table up. When Bellamy goes to unlock the door, she stands and stares at it. The bent up, faded deck of cards, chips that stuck together sometimes, the stupid felt table top that seemed to be the glue of their little group of friends.

"Hey Clarke, come here for a second." Octavia calls out. They're all lined up by the door carrying beer and pizza boxes. "Jasper wants to apologize for his little…..production earlier, don't you Jasper?"

He was glaring at her. He may act like an idiot sometimes but it's pretty clear that he doesn't appreciate Octavia forcing him in front of Clarke and Bellamy like a mother whose kid had stolen a candy bar from a convenience store.

"Well…" Octavia insists.

"Go on Bud," Wick smirks "just like we practiced."

Jasper raises his arm to give Wick the finger but Octavia smacks it back down to his side and nudges him forward.

Jasper takes a deep breath and stares at them with a blank face "I'm an emotionally compromised teenage girl*," he begins monotonously "there was no logical reason for me to dance in your hallway like it was an episode of Glee. I sincerely apologize if my excitement made you uncomfortable or drew unnecessary attention to your relationship. Since you are two real people and not characters in Twilight, I have no right to publicly ship you. I promise that I have no intention of making t-shirts and/or live-tweeting your interactions because honestly no one gives that much of a fuck." He sighs loudly and turns to face the group behind him "Was that to your liking?"

"So that's what you guys have been doing for the last hour huh?" Bellamy asks with a smirk.

"You sure that's a conversation you want to get into?" Wick asks "Because we can talk about what you two…."

"Or we could just play poker." Clarke says "Because it's been a week and I'm really ready for things to go back to normal."

"Well in that case," Jasper says with a crack of his knuckles "I think I deserve the role of honorary dealer for the night."

"Why you?" Monty scowls.

"Because obviously I orchestrated this whole…."

"You did not!" Raven said "you kept tweeting haikus about the death of poker night. Octavia is the one who…"

"Octavia can't even play!"

"Oh I could learn."

"I think it should be me," Miller says in his serious "license and registration please" voice. "I finally caught the kids who kept spray painting "AssWizard" on the side of the arcade."

Monty laughs "Really, I was pretty sure you were making that up."

"Nope, there were three of them. Apparently "Asswizard" is their techno band."

"You shouldn't be rewarded for taking three months to arrest teenage vandals who couldn't come up with anything better than "AssWizard" Miller." Bellamy says "It should be me,"

"For what?"

"I got the girl." He winks and smiles in that big way that makes everyone else smile. Clarke just snorts.

"Could you crack a window Reyes, I'm allergic to cheese and it's practically radiating off of him." Wick grins.

Eventually, without even noticing really, they all settle into their seats. Wick and Lincoln have pulled two stools from the kitchen and fit them in between the chairs. Octavia has perched herself on the windowsill (in the prime position to see Jasper's cards…which Clarke is pretty sure isn't an accident). The pizza is sitting forgotten on the kitchen counters, their beer is probably getting warm, and the apartment still smells like fire-roasted peach pie, but the tension is finally gone. Everyone seems relaxed (even Raven who has Wick's arm across the back of her chair and Lincoln who is sitting right next to Bellamy).

"Here Clarke," Monty hands her the deck "Your deal, your game."

"Me?"

"Of course you."

"Even though I didn't plan a surprise party or arrest the Asswizards or get the girl?"

"Well you got Bellamy," Octavia smiles. "he even ruined his good leather jacket attempting to give you a grand romantic gesture."

"Yeah, Bellamy what was that like?" Raven smirks "Did you have a boom box or a sign?"

"Jasper, new rule: no discussing romantic gestures during poker." Bellamy says.

"You can't just add new rules." Jasper says, "I'd have to get them re-laminated, and I don't like going down to the Staples, the girl that works there has a face tattoo. She's terrifying. There's no point anyway….you'd all break the new rules as much as you do the old ones."

Clarke shuffles the cards, amazed that hours ago she's been playing solitaire alone on an airplane wondering how the hell she was going to fix things. It turns out….things like this usually have a way of working themselves out. Yeah, they break the fuck out of Jasper's rules….and they've all ruined their fair share of poker nights, but they still always end up back here sitting around this table like there's nowhere in the world they'd rather be. She's lucky. She could lose every hand of poker they ever play and she'd still be lucky…just for having a seat at that old, sticky table.

"Alright kids, $20 in, and don't even try to use that Subway coupon Wick, no one wanted it a month ago and we definitely don't want it now that it's expired. The game is 5 card draw."

Bellamy's hand finds hers after she finishes dealing. Jasper smiles at them, and Clarke smiles back (partially because Octavia is mouthing his cards to Lincoln across the table).

Yeah. She's really really lucky.

* - yes, I did steal this line from the Allstate commercial...but I'm not sorry! I also just want to thank everyone that read and reviewed this story. It has been so fun to write!