Chapter Text
They’ve only been together for just over half a year and Bellamy can already tell that however long he’s with Clarke is going to be some of the best time in his life. He wants to be with her for as long as he’s able to be, hopefully for the rest of his life, but he’s not going to get those hopes up too high. None of his past relationships have ever worked out in the long run, whether it was from his inability to commit for too long because taking care of Octavia was his priority, or his long working hours from being an actor making it difficult to spend time with someone, or something else that was completely random and out of his control.
But he knows with one hundred percent certainty that he wants his relationship with Clarke to last. For a long time. It’s hard being in a long-distance relationship with her, but after a few hiccups in the beginning they’ve been doing their absolute best to make it work. He knows it’ll probably be a while before either of them decides to move so they can be close to each other.
Which is why he is very pleasantly surprised when Clarke tells him after her graduation that she’s going to be continuing her education in Los Angeles to become an art teacher, to hopefully help other young children nurture their love of art. Her art is what helped her get through her dad’s death when she was a teenager and she wants to be able to help other kids who might be going through something similar.
So he helps her find a good apartment in LA to rent. And if that place just so happens to be close enough to his house so that neither of them has to travel too far to see each other when they have the time, then that’s nobody else’s business but their own.
Their friends in Arkadia help them pack up Clarke’s things from her apartment when it’s time to move; thankfully her lease is up so she’s able to leave without any issues. When Clarke had told her friends that she was moving, Raven claimed she was mad at Clarke for leaving her, but in the end, she confessed that she’s happy that Clarke is doing something with her life and that she’ll finally be close geographically to Bellamy during their relationship. Wells had been happy for her too, naturally, making her promise to still keep in touch and visit as often as possible.
James, on the other hand, isn’t happy at all when they tell him that Clarke is leaving Arkadia to move to Los Angeles. Needless to say, his nephew loves Clarke. He’s pretty sure the little boy is developing a crush on the older blonde, but he can’t exactly say that he blames him. Clarke’s a pretty amazing person.
James won’t even look at Clarke for the majority of the day when they’re packing up her things at the apartment. He stays with his mom or dad or Bellamy, but won’t give Clarke the time of day. He can tell just from looking at her that it’s hurting Clarke to be on the outs with the one-year-old. James may not be able to say much yet in the way of full sentences, but words aren’t always needed to express feelings.
It’s when they’re getting ready to leave that Clarke finally tries one more time to get James to look at her and at least acknowledge that she’s there.
He’s holding his nephew in his arms, ready to be some kind of buffer if need be.
“James,” Clarke says, dipping her head to try and look into James’ eyes. But he keeps turning his head. “Buddy, I’m only moving to a different home. I’m still gonna love you so so much, even from far away.”
“No.”
It’s the first thing he’s said to her since they broke the news of the move. Clarke sighs heavily. “James, you know how Uncle Bell lives far away but you still get to talk to him all the time over the phone and FaceTime? And how he still came to your birthday party?”
James turns his head just enough to glance at her out of the side of his eyes.
“Well, it’ll be just like that with me. I’m gonna be living far away, but I’m still gonna love you so much and you can use your mommy or daddy’s phone to call me whenever you want to. Okay?”
There’s a quick beat of silence, everyone in the room is holding their breath as they wait for the boys’ reaction. And then James nearly knocks them both over by launching himself into Clarke’s arms. He hugs her tightly around the neck, his little hands clasping together, and buries his face in her neck.
Clarke lets out a relieved sigh as she returns James’ hug. “Oh, I love you so much, buddy. So so much.”
His heart swells at seeing her hold his nephew like he’s the most precious and fragile thing on the planet. He loves how much she loves James. He truly hit the jackpot when it comes to amazing women.
He has to control his mind to keep it from wandering too far whenever he sees Clarke and James interacting. His mind immediately conjures up the image of Clarke holding their own child in her arms like that. The idea is enough to send him into a full-blown panic. They’ve never once talked about marriage or starting a family. And he doesn't want to bring it up yet, not when they haven’t even been together for a year yet. For now, he's fine with just seeing her interact with his nephew.
They’re on the plane to LA when Clarke posts a picture of her and James, one that was taken of the two of them by Octavia on one of the many days they spent together over the boy’s first year of life. Neither of their faces are visible to the camera as they sit cuddled together on the couch reading one of James’ many storybooks.
Sad to be leaving my favorite little man today. But I promise I’ll be back soon. Be good for your mom and dad. I love you so so much, buddy.
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He makes her dinner that first night to celebrate her big move to LA, to celebrate the two of them being able to be in the same city for longer than just a few days at a time without one of them having to leave.
He sets the whole dinner up at his place, to be as romantic as possible while not being too over-the-top. He turns the lights down just a hair and decorates his table with the nicest tablecloth he was able to find and a couple of candles to help set the mood.
Clarke’s pretty pleased by it when she sees the whole thing. She has a smile on her face the entire time and he takes that as a win. He also takes it as a win that she kisses him almost immediately after he shows her the setup.
They sit and eat, talking about anything and everything. They talk about Clarke’s new program that she’s beyond excited about, they talk about Bellamy’s new movie he’s starting principal photography on soon, and they talk about them. They talk about how excited they are to finally be living in the same city.
Setting his glass down on the table, Bellamy smiles across the table at his girlfriend, reaching out to grab her hand. “I’m really glad you’re here, Clarke.”
She smiles back. “Me too. Long-distance was hard, and we made it through, but I’m so glad we don’t have that obstacle in the way anymore.”
“So am I.” He glances down at their joined hands, laces their fingers together, and then looks back up at his girlfriend. “And uh, I love you. I love you, Clarke. I know it hasn’t even been a full year yet, but I know that this is how I feel about you. I’m not expecting you to say it back yet if you’re not there, but I just wanted you to know how I feel.”
Her smile widens as she gently squeezes his hand. “I’m very glad that you did. Because I love you too.”
He grins. “You do?”
Clarke laughs quietly and nods. “Yes, Bellamy, I love you. How could I not? You’re an amazing guy. Any woman would be lucky to be with you. I’m just glad that I’m the one who was luckiest to get to be with you.”
“I think I’m the lucky one here. Because I get to be Clarke Griffin’s boyfriend and I can’t think of anything better.”
They end up in his bed by the end of the night, curled up in each other’s arms, and basking in the glow of simply loving each other. He’s never felt this deeply about anyone before and he can definitely see a future with her, he just hopes she can see it too. Because he doesn’t know what he’ll do if she doesn’t want to spend forever with him. He loves her, and he doesn’t want to ever live without her again now that he knows what it’s like to have her in his life. She’s his forever. He just hopes that he’s hers.
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Unfortunately, even though they live in the same state now, he doesn’t get to see Clarke as often as he’d like to. He’s busy working on a new film that takes up most of his time, so he’s always exhausted whenever he gets home. But he still makes it a point to FaceTime her once he’s home and tucked into bed, even if it’s just for a few minutes before he inevitably falls asleep while on the phone.
He wakes up one morning to find a new post from Clarke. After many times of him falling asleep during their video calls, it seems she’s finally taken her revenge on him, even if none of his fans follow her page and know that she’s talking about him. The photo is a screenshot of their latest call, her laughing face in the corner of the screen as the center of it shows off the ceiling of his bedroom.
Somebody needs to get a major sleep overhaul as soon as possible so he can stop falling asleep on me.
He likes her photo and leaves a cheeky remark, glad that he doesn’t have to worry about any of his fans seeing it, given that she’d set her account to private not long after they started dating. Neither of them wanted her to be bombarded by his fans just yet, absolutely no doubt in his mind that many of them would have somehow immediately made the connection that she’s the one he’s always posting photos of. Even though he never shows her face. And that he hasn’t publicly come out and said they’re dating.
They’re both fine with it, though. He kinda likes having her all to himself, in a certain sense. They haven’t decided if she’ll make it a public account again once it inevitably comes out that they’re dating, but for the time being, they’re both perfectly fine with how things are.
He calls her a few minutes after waking up while he’s still in bed, not bothering to get up and get dressed just yet. He doesn’t have an early call time, thank goodness, so he has a little extra time to spare before he has to leave.
“Hey.”
He smiles into the receiver of the phone. “Hey. I saw your post.”
“I know.”
“You think I need a sleep overhaul?”
“Oh, for sure. You’re exhausted, Bellamy. That wasn’t the first time you’ve fallen asleep while we were on FaceTime.”
He sighs, rubbing a hand over his face. “I know. We’ve had to kind of...accelerate the timetable because there were a few issues early on. So they’ve been pushing us extra hard so we can get everything done on time.”
“I hope you’re still taking care of yourself.”
“I’m doing my best.”
“Okay, good. I have to go because I have some orientation stuff to get ready for, but I’ll talk to you later?”
“Yeah, sure.”
“Great. I love you.”
“I love you too.”
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Their first anniversary is on the same day as Octavia’s birthday, and Bellamy vows to make it as amazing as he knows Clarke is. But he also knows that Clarke doesn’t need anything crazy or extravagant to make the day memorable. As long as it’s just the two of them, he knows it’ll be a great night.
He does make sure she isn’t working and doesn’t have any early morning classes the next day, though, before he solidifies his plans. If they’re going to celebrate their anniversary, then they’re going to do it right. And that means, in part, not worrying about their schedules while they’re enjoying themselves.
Of course, he calls Octavia in the morning to wish her a happy birthday and apologize for not being able to make it down. She doesn’t hold it against him, thankfully, knowing that it’s his and Clarke’s anniversary and that they’re both busy. But she does demand that he fill her in on his plans for the day. Which he does. She’s giddy about it the entire time, repeating over and over how much she loves that he’s in such a loving, healthy relationship. He loves it too.
When it’s time for their date, he picks Clarke up from her place right on time, just like he said he would. And she completely takes his breath away when he sees her. He’d told her to dress nicely but not too fancy, and she does not disappoint in the slightest. Her sundress flows down to about mid-calf and hugs her body perfectly, complimenting the way her hair is pulled back halfway except for a few strands that hang down to frame her face.
“Wow. You look...amazing.” She always looks amazing, if he’s being completely honest, but tonight, she looks especially amazing and he knows he won’t be able to keep his eyes off of her the entire night.
She beams at him. “Thanks. You look pretty ‘wow’ too.”
“Thanks. Should we go?” he asks, gesturing behind him toward his car.
She nods. “Yes, we should.”
He smiles and leans forward to kiss her after she’s locked up her place. “Happy Anniversary, Clarke.”
She smiles against his lips, pulling him a little closer by the fabric of his shirt. “Happy Anniversary, Bellamy.”
He takes her to dinner first, at the same little hole-in-the-wall restaurant that he brought her to when she came to visit him in LA the year before. He’s only a little bit worried that she won’t like going there, but thankfully she seems to like the sentiment behind it.
Thankfully, dinner goes smoothly enough. There aren’t too many other people in the restaurant, and the ones who are there seem to know to leave them be. That's part of the reason he likes going there; it's so far off the map that most people use it to get away from whatever’s going on in their life, so they respect other people’s need to get away too. It’s a nice change from how his time out in the city usually goes.
They spend the entire night talking and laughing and just enjoying each other’s company. He simply can’t get enough of her.
After dinner, he takes her to a space that he managed to rent out for the evening. It’s a big warehouse-style room with a large white canvas set up at one end of the room and a small table a few feet away from it with white coverall suits for them to wear. A slightly larger table is set up right next to it with buckets of different colors of paint.
“Bellamy...what is all of this?” Clarke asks him as she moves into the room, taking in everything that’s set up in front of them.
“This,” he says as he stops next to her, one hand landing casually on her waist, “is the best part of our anniversary celebration. You love to paint, but most of it is done in a classroom setting or for assignments or projects. How often do you get to just let loose and let paint fly?”
She beams, leaning up to kiss him quickly. “I love you. This is amazing, thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
She leans back a little and glances to the side. “I’m assuming those suits are for us to wear?”
He nods with a smile. “Absolutely.”
She grins, already stepping away from him and pulling off her jacket. “Well then let’s get to it.”
They suit up quickly and then the paint starts flying. Clarke tries to be organized with it at first, but as soon as he throws the first line of paint haphazardly at the canvas, all bets are off. They start with simply throwing paint off the brushes, but then it escalates to full buckets being thrown at the canvas and each other. Laughter fills the space around them as they let the paint fly and land wherever it does.
Once they finish with their masterpiece, they leave it out to dry and he assures her that it’ll be safe overnight. He drives her back to her place and she invites him inside to stay for the night. Which he happily accepts. He’d never turn her down, not for anything.
Later, once Clarke is curled up fast asleep next to him, clearly exhausted from their nighttime activities to close out the anniversary celebration, he checks Instagram.
He smiles when he sees the photo she must have posted while they were in the car on the way to her place. It's a shot of the canvas they painted together, completely splashed with different colors all colliding together. In the center of it, Clarke had managed to paint a delicate red heart with their initials inside of it. It's clichéd, but he absolutely loves it.
One year with the most amazing man I’ve ever met. You are everything I didn’t know I needed in a partner and I’m so glad that we found each other. Thank you for wanting to be with me and for being there for me since day one. I love you so much more than I ever thought it was possible to love someone. Here’s to many more late-night FaceTime calls where we’re both trying our hardest to stay awake <3
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School starts for Clarke the following month. Bellamy’s, thankfully, finished with his movie by then and doesn’t have any new projects coming up right away, so he’s able to help her finish getting ready for her first year of working toward her teaching degree. He knows how stressful things were for her the last time she finished school, so he’s made it his mission to make sure that she’s not as stressed out this time around with everything her classes will entail.
Once the school year officially starts, he does everything in his power to make sure that she starts things off right. Including getting enough sleep and eating well so that the stress doesn’t build up like it did last year. Of course, that means he stays up with her most nights while she works on a project or studies for a test to keep her company. Sometimes they’re at her place but most of the time they’re at his place since there’s more space there for her to work given that it’s quite a bit bigger than the apartment they had found for her. He didn’t think she’d be starting right off the bat with crazy projects, but apparently, he knows absolutely nothing about art school.
When he wakes up one particular morning, a few weeks into the school year, she’s already gone, off to class most likely. Or work. But there’s a cup of lukewarm coffee waiting for him on the kitchen counter, a note next to it telling him that she loves him and thanking him for keeping her company again all night. He smiles, glad that he’s been able to help even just a little.
When he checks Instagram a few hours later, he smiles even wider, a small laugh escaping past his lips. It’s a picture of him, fast asleep on his couch with his face buried deep in a pillow.
He attempted to stay up with me while I worked on my first big art school project. What did I do to deserve him?
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When mid-October rolls around, it’s time for Clarke’s birthday. He vaguely remembers it from the year before, but he wasn’t in town to celebrate it with her, even though he really wishes he would have been. But now that they live in the same city, he plans on making it as special of a day for her as possible. He doesn’t plan on going overboard, he just has to figure out exactly what to do.
After a bit of an internal dilemma, he ends up getting in touch with Raven and Wells and convinces them both to fly out to LA for Clarke’s birthday, going so far as to offer to pay for their plane tickets. Raven’s more than happy to agree to show up to the party, mainly because he’s paying. Wells is ecstatic too, of course, to get to see his best friend again.
He convinces her to go out to dinner with him the evening of her party, despite how stressed out she’s starting to get from school and work. Which is one of the reasons he cites for her to go out with him, to relax and destress. It doesn’t take much for her to agree to his offer of dinner, which he’s proud of himself for. They’re both usually pretty quick to agree when the other asks for something. Though usually, he is more so than her. He’d do just about anything for her, and he knows she knows that.
Dinner goes well. They have a nice meal and an easy conversation at a nice restaurant, and then he takes her back to his place for the party that she doesn’t know anything about. He knows that she thinks they’re just going back to his place to continue to unwind and have a nice night in. He’s only slightly nervous about what her reaction is going to be to seeing the party.
“Okay, you’ve been acting kind of odd this whole night,” she brings up while they’re in his car, mere minutes away from his place. “What’s going on with you?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he says back with a small shrug, trying to play it off as nonchalantly as possible.
She rolls her eyes at him. “Bellamy, come on. What’s going on?”
“Why does anything have to be going on?”
“Fine. Don’t tell me.” She lets out a heavy breath and turns her gaze out the passenger window.
He resists the urge to say something to appease her, to gauge how upset she actually is. He doesn’t like seeing her upset, but he can’t ruin the surprise. Not when they’re almost to his place.
Thankfully, she doesn’t seem to hold it against him once she steps inside and sees everyone who’s gathered together for the party. They all shout ‘Happy Birthday’ as soon as the living room light is flipped on which makes Clarke laugh in disblief. Raven and Wells are the first to greet her and she hugs them both with tears in her eyes. Happy tears, he presumes, with the way she holds onto them a little longer.
Then, of course, Octavia and Lincoln greet her, little James leading the pack with as wide of a grin as ever. It’s beyond adorable the way they hug each other and Bellamy makes sure to get a few shots of it to show Clarke later when they’re alone.
They spend the rest of the night eating cake and hanging out with so many of the people Clarke cares about it. Thankfully Clarke made friends pretty quickly after moving to LA, so he made sure to invite them as well. They all also promise to continue to not say anything to anyone about him and Clarke dating, since they still want to just keep it to themselves for as long as humanly possible.
As the party is winding down later in the evening, most of their friends have either left for their places or fallen asleep in his living room. James is fast asleep in one of the guest rooms with his parents, despite the little boy’s insistence that he wanted to stay with Clarke.
Which leaves just him, Clarke, Raven, and Wells, all of them awake and mostly sober.
“So how’d Cheekbones do with the party planning?” Raven asks as she sips from another bottle of beer.
He smiles down at Clarke right as she smiles up at him. “Yeah, how’d I do, Princess?”
“I think you did a pretty damn good job with it,” she tells him, leaning up to kiss him. “My parents always went a little overboard on my parties growing up. But this...just having my friends here for a pretty relaxing party was exactly what I needed. So thank you.”
“Anything for you.” He leans down to kiss her again, letting his lips linger against hers. “Happy Birthday, Clarke.”
Later that night he finds her latest post on Instagram that someone else must have taken of the two of them together at some point during the party. Their arms are wrapped around each other as they talk quietly to one another, wide smiles on both of their faces. His face is slightly obscured though, so no one would know it’s him unless they already knew.
One of my favorite birthdays spent with my favorite guy. He threw me an amazing party and I love him so much for it. Thank you to everyone who came to celebrate with me, you all made my first birthday away from home one to remember.
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They spend Thanksgiving together in LA. Clarke’s mom had wanted her to go home for the holiday, but Clarke, of course, was too stressed with both work and school to focus on finding flights back home and never though, amidst the stress, to bring it up to him so he could find flights. So Bellamy stays with her in LA, and promises Abby and Marcus that they’ll be in Arkadia for Christmas, even going so far as to assure them that he’ll book the tickets himself. They do call Octavia over FaceTime on the holiday so that James can see them and they can all catch up for a bit, even though they just saw each other a month before.
The boy is happy, needless to say, to see them, but especially Clarke. He babbles incoherently to Clarke and she takes it all in stride, nodding along and smiling the entire time. As well as chiming in a few times to keep the conversation going.
He cooks them a nice Thanksgiving dinner, going all out for it. Even though it’s just the two of them, he doesn’t hold back in making a great meal, knowing that they’ll have plenty of leftovers. He just wants it to be special.
“Wow, Bellamy. This is amazing,” Clarke tells him when they’re sitting at the table partway through their meal.
He smiles and ducks his head a little, rubbing at the back of his neck. “Thanks. I uh...I know you weren’t able to go home to be with your mom and Marcus for Thanksgiving, so I wanted to make it special.”
She smiles back at him and reaches out to rest her hand on his, giving it a small squeeze. “Hey, it doesn’t matter where I am for the holidays. If I’m with you, I’m home.”
“You mean that?”
She nods. “Absolutely. You’re my everything, Bellamy Blake. And because today is Thanksgiving, I can tell you how thankful I am to have you in my life without sounding too incredibly cheesy. I love you and I’m so glad that we have each other.”
He turns his hand over to lace their fingers together, smiling at her. “I’m glad too.”
They end up on the couch eating pumpkin pie and watching movies after dinner. One of the blankets from the hall closet is spread over their laps as they sit snuggled as close together as they can get.
“I can’t get over how amazing this pie is,” Clarke says, well into her second slice.
Bellamy smiles. “Thanks. I uh, this is one of my favorite things to bake.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. It’s one of the first things I ever learned how to bake.”
Her smile grows as she turns on the couch to face him more. “Well, now I need to hear this story.”
He lets out a breathy laugh, ducking his head just a little. He sets his plate on the coffee table in front of him and then turns on the couch to face her too. “When we were younger, before I got into acting, and Octavia was like every kid who wanted to be a million different things when they grew up, one of the things she wanted to be was a chef. So she convinced me to take some baking classes with her.”
“You’re such a good big brother.”
He smiles. “Pumpkin pie was the first thing that we learned how to bake. I was surprised at how good I was at it. So I kept learning things. I’m not as good as other pastry chefs out there, but I can do a few things. My masterpiece is pumpkin pie, though.”
“I’d certainly have to agree with you on that.”
“During the class, we used a canned pumpkin puree, but after that, I started doing some experimenting and learned how to do it with fresh pumpkin instead. And I think I like it better.”
“I think I do too.” Clarke sets her plate next to his on the table and then scoots closer to him on the couch. “Your pumpkin pie is amazing. Maybe one day you can teach me how to make it. There’s no way I could be as good as you at it, but I think it might be fun.” She ghosts her lips over his. “What do you think?”
He swallows thickly, his hands instinctively coming to rest on her hips. “I think...that sounds great.”
She smiles against him as she closes the space between them, shifting again so she’s sitting in his lap.
If he’d known things would turn out like this, he might have made pumpkin pie for her a lot sooner.
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Witnessing Clarke getting to experience Christmastime in California quickly becomes one of his new favorite things. It amuses him to no end.
She complains constantly about how hot it is even though it’s December and it should be cold. She tells him over and over again that she should be wearing sweaters, knit caps, and gloves. Not t-shirts, shorts, and sunglasses.
She’s finishing up her first quarter of schooling and he knows that she’s beyond ready to be done so that she can go back to Arkadia and experience winter “as it should be”. And of course, he’s going with her. He’s excited to be able to see his own family again, as well as Clarke’s parents.
Octavia and James pick them up from the airport when their flight gets in. They’d gone back and forth for a while on who to ask to pick them up until they eventually decided on Octavia and James because they’re both eager to see the little boy. And when they had told him they’d be coming to see him for Christmas, he got extremely excited. So they knew it would be perfect.
They make their way through airport security, get their bags from the conveyor, and then are on their way up to the parking garage where Octavia and James are waiting for them. They’re holding hands and pulling their suitcases along behind them, keeping their eyes and ears peeled for where their ride is.
And then they hear James’ voice echo through the open area, shouting for Clarke the best he can, her name getting slightly butchered in true one-year-old fashion.
Then they see James standing up on the hood of the car, Octavia holding onto him securely so he doesn’t fall off. James’ eyes are locked onto Clarke, his knees bouncing in anticipation, most likely, to get to her.
Bellamy laughs quietly at the wide grin on his nephew’s face, and the way Clarke lights up when she spots the boy.
“James!”
His laugh turns into a genuine smile as the two embrace, Clarke picking James up off the car and spinning him around, pressing kisses all over his face before settling him in her arms.
“How are you, buddy? Oh, I’ve missed you so much. I swear you’ve gotten bigger since the last time I saw you.”
“He definitely has,” Octavia says, stepping away from the car to join the small group. “Hey, Bell.” She pulls him into a hug which he gladly accepts, hugging her tightly before letting her go. “How was your flight?”
“It was good,” he tells her. “I think Clarke’s happy to be home, though.”
“California’s too hot,” Clarke chimes in, shifting James to one hip, the little boy clinging tightly to her with his arms around her neck. “Wintertime should not be hot. That’s the main reason I’m glad to be home. My second main reason is that I get to see my favorite guy again.” She grins as she tickles James’ stomach, making the toddler giggle and curl in on himself.
“So I’ve been demoted, then, I see.”
She rolls her eyes at him. “I see you almost every day. And we both know James has been my favorite since the day he was born. Considering I was in the room when he was born.”
He lets out a heavy sigh. “Yeah, I guess you got me there.”
They spend some time at Octavia’s place—since that’s where they’re going to be staying while they’re in town—before going to see Clarke’s mom for a bit. And of course, Clarke posts a photo of her and James that Octavia captured of the two of them cuddling on the couch watching something on Clarke’s phone.
Reunited with my favorite little man today. I can’t believe how big he’s getting.
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Christmas with Clarke is pretty fun. It’s only their second one as a couple but it’s more amazing this time because they’re even more comfortable around each other than they were last year. There’s less stumbling over things and more of them cuddling and kissing and having fun.
They split their time between Octavia’s place and Abby’s place, while also making time to catch up with Raven and Wells. He loves watching Clarke hang out with her friends, glad that he’s able to call them his friends now too.
He gets to hear more stories from Wells about what Clarke was like as a kid and he takes in every single word. It’s only fair that he gets some dirt on her after everything Octavia’s told her about him.
While they’re on vacation he tries as hard as he can to avoid anything that involves his job, wanting to just spend time with his loved ones and be away from everything else. Usually, he can manage that with no problems. But every once in a while, he’ll get some kind of message from his agent, letting him know about new opportunities arising that could help his career trajectory.
For this particular occasion, they’re all having dinner together at Abby’s house, the older woman claiming that she wanted to have dinner with all the people who are important to her daughter in whatever way. So it’s Abby and Marcus, Clarke, himself, Octavia, Lincoln, James, Raven, and Wells.
Dinner goes well enough, the conversations flowing easily between everyone in attendance, scattered laughter around the table as stories are told. In the back of his mind, he hopes that he would have gotten along just as well with Clarke’s dad had the man still been alive. But unfortunately, he’ll never know. So all he can do is hope.
After dinner, they all convene in the living room to chat more and let James play with some of the toys Octavia and Lincoln brought with them to keep him entertained.
But of course, like always, James’ attention is mostly on Clarke. He manages to snap a few photos of the two of them to show Clarke later. He loves their bond. Immensely.
“Unca!”
He smiles as he slides off the couch and onto the floor, laughing when James leaps into his lap. “Oh, so now I get some attention, huh? Was Clarke starting to get boring?”
Clarke scoffs. “Please. Your nephew loves me more than he loves you.”
He laughs. “Oh, I don't doubt that.” He holds his arms out to either side, allowing James to hang on and climb all over him. “I think he only likes me at this point because I’m good at being a jungle gym.”
He and Clarke laugh together, James joining in soon after despite not knowing what’s going on. Laughter is contagious where kids are concerned, and James has proven that many times.
His phone goes off a second later and he easily shifts James back into Clarke’s lap so he can answer the call.
“Well if it isn’t my favorite agent,” he speaks into his phone with a smile after briefly checking the caller ID and seeing his agent’s name on the screen.
“I’m your only agent, so you stop that.”
He laughs, leaning back against the front of the couch. “How are you, Indra? You enjoying your holiday? How’s Gaia?”
“She’s doing well, thank you for asking. But that’s not why I’m calling. I’m calling because I don’t generally take a break from my job during the holidays, unlike some people I know.”
“You have something for me?” he questions, ignoring her light jab at him.
“I think I might. It’s not a movie as I know you like doing, but I think this show might be a nice change of pace for you at this stage in your career.”
He sighs. “Indra…”
“Hear me out. It’s a science fiction show, you’d be going out for the role of Major Thomas Carnaghan, a soldier who’s suddenly thrust into a crazy world in outer space that he didn’t know existed.”
He scratches the back of his head. “Are you sure about this?”
“Yes. I know it’s not your usual thing, but it might be a good opportunity for you.”
“I don’t know. Will you send me whatever information you have so I can look it over and think about it?”
“Absolutely. But don’t take too long. Auditions are starting very soon after the first of the year.”
“I’ve got it. Thanks.”
“Of course. Enjoy the rest of your holiday.”
“You too, Indra.”
He ends the call and lets out a heavy breath, running a hand through his hair. A TV show? Does he have the chops for that? Can he really do it? Will his fans still stick around? In the back of his head, he knows that a good majority of them will, but there’s always that fear that they’ll abandon ship if he starts doing something he hasn’t done before.
“What was that about?” Clarke asks him, twisting her head just in time to avoid getting hit by one of James’ flailing limbs.
“That was Indra, my agent. I guess she came across an upcoming audition for a new sci-fi show that she thinks might be a good fit for me.”
“Are you going to take it?”
He breathes deeply. “Honestly? I’m not sure. I don’t typically do TV shows. I told her to send me what she can, though, so I can look it over and think about it.”
“That’s good.” She leans forward to kiss his cheek with a smile. “I’ll support you in whatever you decide to do.”
He smiles, giving her a quick kiss. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Now take your nephew, I have to pee.” She dumps James upside down in his lap and then stands from the carpet to move down the hallway toward the bathroom.
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When they get back to LA at the start of the new year, he’s barely come any closer to a decision about the TV pilot. On one hand, he’s never done a TV show before, so there’s no saying he’d be any good on a TV show. On the other hand, he’ll never know if he’s any good at it if he doesn’t even try it. And would he be able to sleep at night if he passed up on an opportunity like this because he’s unsure if he’d be any good at it? It is still acting, though. And he’s good at acting. It’s just going to be in a slightly different format than what he’s used to doing.
Ultimately, after a lot more internal debate and a few late-night discussions with Clarke, he decides to take the audition. He wants to expand his horizons, and maybe doing this show could lead to something bigger for him in the future. He tells Indra that he’s going to audition and while she doesn’t convey much emotion, he knows that she’s excited for him. He’s been working with her long enough to be able to pick up on things like that by now.
Clarke helps him get ready for his audition whenever she isn’t swamped with school or work. She meant it during Christmas when she said she would support whatever his decision was. Though, he has a feeling that she was secretly hoping he’d take the audition.
It’s a few weeks into January when he goes in for the first audition. He’s nervous about it, of course, but also excited. He wants to do well with it, show that he can do what they ask of him, and has the chops to keep up.
Thankfully, he does better than he thought he would. They have him come back in for a few more auditions before he makes it to the chemistry read.
He reads with a few women who are all up for the female lead of the show, some alien species that takes in his character early on in the show. He doesn’t feel anything too outstanding chemistry-wise with any of the women, though they’re all extremely talented in their own rights.
It isn’t too long after the chemistry read that he finds out he got the part. And Clarke is right there beside him when he finds out. They both have tears in their eyes and she hugs him and tells him how incredibly proud she is of him.
He just holds her close and relishes in the feeling of having the woman he loves in his arms.
That night he finds a photo on Clarke’s Instagram of him asleep on his stomach, one arm tucked under the pillow with the other curled over it.
Beyond proud of this amazing man for taking such a huge step to hopefully keep his career moving forward. And it paid off. I love you, and I’m so proud of you. I know this is only the beginning for you.
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He goes to work on shooting the pilot pretty quickly, eager to meet his costars and film the first episode of what he hopes will be a full-season pickup. If he’s going for a change of pace in his career, then he needs it to go well.
He enjoys spending time with his costars in between scenes, simply relaxing in their trailers or lounging around the set. He learns a lot about their lives and he shares a few stories as well. Some of them have been in the acting game for a while with mostly smaller roles under their belts and some of them are just starting out, not having much experience yet. He’s probably the biggest name in the show as far as the cast goes. And that’s something he never thought would happen.
Clarke surprises him on set on the final day of shooting and asks to be introduced to his costars. He gladly obliges her request, loving that she wants to be as involved as possible in this part of his life. He makes a mental note to return the favor as soon as possible, to get a little more involved in her art school life too.
“Everyone, I’d like for you to meet my girlfriend, Clarke Griffin. Clarke, these are my wonderful costars.” He beams as he introduces them individually, smile permanently on his face as Clarke starts chatting with his costars and having a genuinely good time.
“Glad to know you’re not completely unlucky in the dating department, Blake,” one of his costars, John Murphy says to him while Clarke is talking to the others. He hadn’t even known Murphy was auditioning but was pleasantly surprised on the first day of their table read.
He shoots Murphy an unamused look, used to his antics since he’s known him for years. “I’ve never been unlucky in the dating department, I’ve just never been that interested in dating anyone.”
“Didn’t you date that psycho chic Echo a while back?”
Bellamy rolls his eyes. “It was six years ago, and she wasn’t psycho. She was just a little intense and serious about her work. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
Murphy holds his hands up with a small smirk. “No, of course not. There’s nothing wrong at all with getting way too invested in her method acting.”
Bellamy nods. “There isn’t. How’s Emori doing?” he asks, knowing Murphy will take any chance he can to gush about his girlfriend. The man is so deeply in love.
After introducing Clarke to his costars, he has to get back to set, so he tells her to just relax in his trailer while he’s working until they break for mealtime. Once he gets back to his trailer after filming, they spend some time together just the two of them before he has to go back and film his final scene of the day.
It’s a little bittersweet to be done filming, knowing how much fun he’s had while doing it. He’s hoping that they’ll get picked up for a full season so he can make more episodes with everyone.
Later that night, as he’s lying in bed relaxing and scrolling through Instagram, he comes across a post that Clarke made a few hours prior. It’s a selfie in his trailer, though no one would know that just by looking at it unless they’d been in it, seeing as it’s just a blank wall behind her.
Spent some time with my favorite guy today at his place of work, seeing him in action. I love watching him do what he does. He’s incredible.
He smiles at the photo, liking it and leaving a quick comment before he falls asleep, glad to know that she continues to be so supportive of him in his career.
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He asks her to move in with him during her Spring Break. He works out a whole speech for it even though it probably doesn’t require one. They’re back in Arkadia, staying with Lincoln, Octavia, and James (much to the toddler’s delight), for the duration of the break.
It’s about halfway through the week and they’re all hanging out in the backyard together, and he’s beyond nervous. He knows she loves him, knows that he loves her. But moving in together is a pretty big step. He doesn’t want to screw anything up with this. It could go so wrong in so many ways, especially if she thinks they’re moving too fast. And that’s the last thing he wants.
“Hey, Clarke,” he calls out to his girlfriend where she’s playing in the grass with James. He waves her over to him with a smile.
She deposits James into Lincoln’s arms and then joins Bellamy on the back porch, smiling brightly at him. “What’s up?”
He shifts a little to face her better. “I uh, I got you something.”
Her brows furrow together. “What? Why’d you get me something? You didn’t need to do that.”
He nods, a small smile on his face. “I know. But I saw this and I couldn’t help myself. Can you just wait here for a minute?” He waits for her to nod, presses a kiss to her cheek, and then moves back into the house. He quickly searches through his bag in the spare room they’ve been sharing and grabs the box he needs, carrying it with him back outside. He steadies his breathing as best he can as he rejoins Clarke on the porch.
He clutches the small box tightly in his hands as he thinks back over what he wants to say to her. He almost forgot all of it the second he sat down.
“Clarke, every minute I get to spend with you is a minute that I cherish. I love that you live so close to me now, that I can see you in person all the time. But there’s a part of me, a very large part of me, that wants you to be closer. I just...I can’t get enough of you, Clarke Griffin. Which is why I got you this.” He carefully holds the box out to her, watching as her eyebrows furrow together in that way he loves.
She takes the box from him and pulls the top of it off, her eyebrows knitting together even further at what’s inside. “Is this...is this an apartment listing?”
He nods, glancing down at the piece of paper he printed off. “Yeah. My apartment’s fine, but I was thinking, if you wanted to, we could rent that place together. A place that’s all our own. So what do you say, Princess? Wanna move in together?”
She nearly tackles him in a hug and kisses him fiercely, the paper with the apartment listing crinkling between them. And of course, James takes that as a cue to run over and jump on them laughing.
He pulls out of the hug with Clarke to wrap his arms around his nephew and tickle him relentlessly, making the boy laugh even harder.
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Once they’re back in LA, they start the process of getting the apartment for themselves. Their home. It doesn’t take them long to get all of the paperwork together, though they have to wait a little longer to do the actual moving in part. Partially because they both need to wait for the leases on their respective apartments to be up, and they have to wait for the current tenants of their new apartment to move out.
Thankfully, it’s all going to happen roughly around the time that Clarke will be done with school for the year, so for the time being, they can just focus on getting her through that.
He also finds out not that long after getting back into town that the pilot he filmed a few months back got picked up for a full season and filming starts in mid-July. Clarke’s beyond excited for him, of course. So is Octavia when he calls her to tell her the good news.
He’s never done a TV show before so he’s not quite sure what to expect from it, he just knows that he’s excited. Murphy texts him, saying he’s glad they’re going to be employed for at least a little while unless the show inevitably gets axed early. Leave it to Murphy to settle the dark cloud above him and make him start to worry about things.
He gets a bit in his head about it, wonders if he’s making the right career move by doing this show. He wallows on the couch for a while, contemplating everything about his recent career move.
And that’s how Clarke finds him when she comes over a few hours later. She doesn’t say anything, just takes one look at him and then grabs a blanket from his hall closet to wrap around him, and then puts the kettle on the stove. Most likely for tea.
She makes two cups of tea, sets one in front of him on the coffee table, and keeps the other for herself. She sits next to him, pulling her sketchbook out and settling back.
Eventually, he finds the strength to talk. He shifts on the couch, the blanket falling away from his shoulders, and faces Clarke. He swallows thickly. “I, uh, I’m sorry. About all this.”
She sets her things aside and faces him, offering him a soft smile. “You have nothing to be sorry about. Do you want to tell me about it? You don’t have to. But I’m here.”
He nods, reaching out to grab one of her hands and hold it tightly. “I was in a bit of a funk because Murphy made a comment about our show possibly getting axed early.”
Her brows furrow tightly. “Why would he say something like that?”
“Because he’s Murphy. I don’t think he was being serious, but it still kind of got to me. I’ve never done a TV show before, but I know that sometimes they’ll get canceled early for any number of reasons.”
She gives his hand a small squeeze. “I know I can’t say much to help because I don’t know what you’re going through, but I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere. You’re stuck with me, babe.”
He smiles slightly. “No one else I’d rather be stuck with. And you helped plenty by just being here.” He leans forward and cups her cheek to slide his lips over hers. “I love you.”
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When they’re finally able to move into their new shared apartment, just a few days after Clarke has finished school, it becomes a group activity. He and Clarke have done most of the packing of their apartments and they each have only a room or two of each place to finish packing up. Clarke has a few of her art school friends over at her place to help her finish and Bellamy has Murphy over to help, as well as his best friend Nathan Miller.
They have one moving truck that’s going to Clarke’s place first and then his before going to the new apartment so they can unload everything there. They’re going to meet each other at the new apartment with their friends in tow to help unload all the boxes.
Granted, some things have to go into storage for the time being since they have to combine all of their belongings into one space. But he’s hoping that over time, they’ll be able to bring more of their stuff into the space and truly make it their own.
“Wow,” Murphy speaks up as he carries a box inside the new apartment. “Nice place. Big.”
Bellamy shrugs, setting down his box. “We wanted space.”
“Space for what?” Murphy asks with a sly smile, waggling his eyebrows.
Bellamy rolls his eyes. “Shut up and go grab more boxes.”
Murphy mumbles under his breath as he moves back out of the apartment and down to the moving truck.
“This is a big place,” Nathan tells him, lingering just inside the door. “It’s not huge, but it’s bigger than your last place.”
“Well yeah, there’s two of us living here.”
“How many bedrooms?”
“Two. Clarke’s gonna use one as a studio of sorts for all of her art projects.”
Nathan smiles. “Uh-huh. And is that what you want to use it for? Or did you have something else in mind when you picked this place out?”
Bellamy lets out a heavy sigh and hangs his head. “Look, I’m not going to pressure her into that, okay? We just moved in together, and she’s still in school and I’m going to be busy with my new show soon. It’ll all happen in its own time. Having an extra room is nice for if it does happen, but it’s not the main reason for having an extra room.”
Nathan holds his hands up, chuckling. “Okay, okay. For the record, you two would have very cute babies.”
Bellamy just laughs, shoving his friend out the door as they move to grab more boxes.
Hours later, all the boxes are inside and everything is mostly unloaded. Just their clothes put away in the closet and dishes stacked up in kitchen cupboards. Most of the items they brought to add a personal touch to the place are still tucked away in various boxes, waiting to be pulled out and used.
The only truly personal touch they hung up immediately, though, is the giant canvas they painted together on their anniversary. They have it hanging above the headboard of their bed. There had been no doubt at all that that’s where they wanted it to go.
Hours later, Bellamy’s lounging on the couch reading through some emails about his new show, happy and at ease in his new home with Clarke. Things are going well so far and he’s hoping they can keep that momentum going for a while.
“Bellamy?”
He looks up at his girlfriend. “Yeah?”
Clarke walks closer to him, sitting down next to him and biting her lip between her teeth. “I uh...I have a question for you.”
He locks his phone and sets it aside, focusing all of his attention on her. “I’m all ears.”
“How would you feel about revealing our relationship on social media now?”
His brows furrow together and he rubs at the back of his neck. “I mean...it’s not a terrible idea. I just don’t want you to be overwhelmed by my fans who are most likely going to attack your Instagram afterward.”
She smiles softly at him, reaching out to rest a hand on his arm. “I know you’re concerned, and I love you for that. But I knew what I was getting into when we started this. I love you, Bellamy, every part of you, including your career and everything that comes along with it. I’ve loved keeping our relationship to ourselves for as long as we have, but I’m okay with the rest of the world knowing about it now. If you’re okay with it.”
He smiles. “Of course, I’m okay with it, Clarke. Of course, I want the world to know how much I love you. I just don’t want you to feel obligated to reveal our relationship just because of what I do for a living.”
She moves closer to him on the couch, placing her hand in his and lacing their fingers together. “Bellamy Blake, I want to do this because I love you and I want the rest of the world to know. I want to do this because I want to show you off every chance I get because you’re an incredible guy and I’m an incredibly lucky woman to be able to call you the love of my life.”
He can’t help the tears that form in his eyes at her words. He honestly never thought she’d be giving him such a speech that would leave him so emotional. “I love you so much,” he whispers with a smile, leaning forward to kiss her sweetly.
Later that day, he snuggles up close to Clarke, watching as she switches her Instagram back to a public account, allowing all of her photos to be viewed by anyone and for her page to be followed by anyone. He watches as she loads an older photo of the two of them cuddled up on the couch at his previous apartment, his head resting comfortably on her chest, his arms wrapped around her. Clarke is smiling at the screen and he’s only looking halfway up at it. It’s one of his favorite photos and he plans on reposting it to his account a little while later, some part of him excited to see what all his fans are going to say about it. He knows it’ll be interesting.
Roughly a year ago I told my family and friends about my plans to move out to California to continue my schooling in an amazing specialty program to become an art teacher. And it was the best decision I have ever made. Maybe second behind commenting on a certain Instagram post that led me to now be living with my soulmate. Life could not be any better than it is right now. I love you with all of my heart, Bellamy Blake.