jennickels | Heaven Can't Wait - Chapter 44 (Reply)

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Chapter Forty-Four - Meetings Are Never Fun

Bellamy wakes from the most amazing dream. Next to him, Clarke snuffles in her sleep then buries her face against his neck, sending shivers through his entire body. So maybe it wasn’t all a dream. Of course, there were a lot fewer clothes inside his own head. He winds his fingers with hers where they rest over his heart. The darkness deep inside him doesn’t seem so dark like this. With Clarke snuggled next to him.

She managed to get out of talking about Lexa last night—not that he minded—but at least she said something. She’s getting closer to talking about it, and that’s what matters.

He glances across the room at the clock on the wall. With a sigh, he shrugs out from under her arm and plants a kiss on her temple. “I have to go talk to Kane,” he says.

“Tell him I’m very cross with him,” she mumbles into the now empty pillow making Bellamy smile.

“Well, that’s not much different than any other day. He’s going to want specifics then I’m going to have to explain-”

The pillow smacks the back of his head as he ties his boots. “Shut up.”

Bellamy can barely contain the joy in his heart. He kisses her forehead then her nose then her lips. He pulls away when she reaches for him otherwise he knows he’ll miss his meeting. Not that he wants to go to it in the first place, but he knows if he doesn’t show up, Kane will hunt him down anyway. Clarke pouts for a moment before she yawns.

“You’ll come back?”

He can’t believe she’s even asking that. “Of course.” He kisses her again then leaves before he changes his mind about the meeting. He’s slipping into his jacket and trying to figure out how to quit smiling like an idiot when he nearly runs into someone at the end of the hallway. He stumbles back, his good mood draining quickly.

Murphy catches his own balance, a devious grin sliding across his face.

Great. Bellamy pretends like nothing is different, but he’s sure his face is five shades darker than a tomato. Murphy falls into step next to him.

“So-”

Bellamy sighs but doesn’t say anything. No need to show his hand. He’s sure Murphy already knows, though. Based on that shit-eating grin.

Several seconds pass before Murphy lays out all his cards. “Did I see you leaving Clarke’s quarters just now? At Oh-” He checks his imaginary watch with a startled expression that makes Bellamy roll his eyes. “Dark thirty? What aren’t you telling us, Bellamy?”

“What are you doing here?” He’s determined to ignore everything else Murphy just said.

He holds up a toolkit. “Maintenance call. Was on my way to breakfast. Want to join me? We can chat about life and relationships.”

“Get bent.”

Murphy laughs. “I’m just happy for you. It’s about goddamn time.”

Bellamy groans. Murphy’s never going to let this go. “Can you just not?”

“Of course I can. But I won’t. This is big news.”

“You’re like a little girl, you know that.”

His smile widens as a couple turn into their hall. For a second, Bellamy’s sure Murphy’s just going to shout his secret to these strangers. He’s positive it’s on Murphy’s mind, but Murphy just nods at them when they pass. Bellamy lets out a relieved sigh that makes Murphy laugh again.

“Where are you heading this early when you can be… elsewhere?” he asks, gesturing back towards Clarke’s quarters.

“I have a meeting with Kane.”

“Ah. Have fun with that.”

“Meetings this early in the morning are never fun.”

When they get to the end of the hall, Bellamy heads to the right. Murphy pauses in the middle of the intersection. “Hey, Bellamy-”

Bellamy glances over his shoulder. Murphy stares at his boots before finally looking up. “Sorry about the kid.”

Bellamy doesn’t know what to say. His stomach twists into painful knots as the memories temporarily held back after his night with Clarke flood in. He swallows hard and shrugs. “It’s for the best.”

Murphy nods. “Yeah, but it still sucks.” He leaves without another word.

Sometimes Bellamy doesn’t know what to do with Murphy. The guy never ceases to surprise him. Bellamy shakes the thoughts away and tries to prepare for the inevitable grind of the meeting. Just get it over with. Like pulling off a bandage.

Kane’s door is open when he gets there so he knocks on the frame. Kane waves him in without looking up from his tablet. Bellamy drops into the chair across from him suddenly feeling very tired. They’d stayed up talking about nonsense for most of the night—their childhoods and random memories from the ground, never anything significant. Well, talking and other things until Clarke drifted off to sleep a few hours ago. Bellamy eventually fell asleep, too. The lack of sleep didn’t seem to matter until right now.

Or maybe you just don’t want to deal with this.

That too.

After a few seconds, Kane sets down the tablet with a sigh. “We’re going to have to shut the doors.”

Duh.

“I know.”

Kane pushes the tablet towards him. “According to Raven’s report, the storms have been getting exponentially worse the last week. And more unpredictable. Rain that starts out normal turns acidic suddenly. The skies go from partly cloudy to torrential downpour in the matter of moments. We can’t risk it.”

Bellamy knows all this. He glances at the report. “What about the transformers.”

Kane rubs both hands over his face. “Raven’s working on it but with most of her team down-” His hands drop to the desk. He looks more tired than Bellamy has ever seen him. “I don’t know. She’s going to have to go out to disconnect-”

“I don’t think so.”

“Bellamy-”

“She can explain it to someone else. I’ll go do it. Raven is too damn important to risk her life over this.”

Kane leans back with a snort. “I told her you’d say that.”

“Of course I would. So would you. So would most anyone here. We need her alive if we’re going to survive the next five years.”

Kane nods. He’s quiet a few moments before taking the tablet back. He clicks through a few menus then puts it down. “About these attacks—ideas?”

Bellamy scoffs. “They appear to be coming from both sides, supposedly instigated by Grounders.”

“You don’t believe that.”

“Of course not. The Grounders may like to war, but they do have an honor code. They aren’t going to start a fight with the people saving their asses. Besides, Indra would personally toss each one out of the airlock into a storm.”

Kane strokes his beard. “So who do you think’s behind it?”

“I don’t have any proof, but a few of the Farm Station survivors have been very vocal about their dislike of the Grounders. Can’t say I blame them, but it’s going to cause problems whether they’re behind the attacks or not.”

“I know. I’ll talk to Betsy Marshall—she’s been trying to keep things under control, but I’m not sure what good it’s been doing.”

“Has Indra given us any leads about the attacks on her side?”

“Not yet.”

Bellamy sighs. “This is going to get out of control fast. Both sides are going to use them as an excuse to escalate things.”

"That's probably the plan—push the other side to go too far and get the Grounders kicked out."

Not going to happen.

“What are we going to do?”

Kane leans back, studying Bellamy. “You mean what are you going to do about it?”

Bellamy groans.

“You see the mess in the Guard. You see how things are going to play out. I need you to do this for me. I don’t have the time-”

“Okay, I get it. I’ll do it. You know I will.”

A smile of relief spreads across the older man’s face. “Great. What’s first on the agenda then?”