Hey, so I'm not entirely sure where I am going with this but writing has been therapeutic after that finale so here ya go. I present you with a nice, mostly happy AU to distract you from everything else. My parents are military brats but I am not so I'm sorry if I don't get the details right on retirement/tours. Characters will come in and out as the story goes. I may change the rating once Bellamy comes in. Wink wink, nudge nudge. I don't own anything, enjoy!

3 Months

Chapter 1: Flower Pots

The location was perfect. That was the first thing Clarke noticed as she parked on the street and stared up at the house. Maybe not the best neighborhood, or the most up and coming part of town, but it was within a mile of the hospital. The house itself was cute too, in its own way. It was craftsman style, probably built in the 30's, and painted a pale yellow. Yes paint was peeling here and there, and the tiny yard could use some water, and maybe a few shingles needed to be replaced, but overall it looked cozy. It looked loved.

Checking the time, Clarke climbed out of her car. After straightening her blouse and grabbing her purse, she walked up to the house. There was a solitary pink flamingo in the yard and a garden gnome that had probably seen better days. The wooden stairs creaked and the railing looked like it could give a mean splinter. A couple camping chairs sat on the large porch. There was an ashtray in one corner and a couple beer cans, but someone had delicately put three pots of petunias near the door. Unlike the yard, they seemed to be regularly watered.

A few seconds after she rung the doorbell, the front door with chipping red paint opened and a beaming girl pulled her into a hug. Clarke was startled, but returned the embrace before pulling back.

"You must be Clarke." The girl was still smiling widely. She was very pretty; her face was full of sharp lines and edges framed by dark hair.

"Yes, and I assume you are Octavia Blake?"

The girl, Octavia, nodded. "Yep, come on in, I'll show you around and then we can talk rent."

Octavia was much younger than Clarke had expected. When she read the ad she had imagined someone closer to her age, maybe even older, but Octavia couldn't be more than 20 years old.

"This is the living room, I apologize for the horrendous carpet. It was here when my mom got the house in the 80's. My brother promised me ages ago he would tear it up but he still hasn't."

Clarke smiled at her. "Oh, no. I think its great. It certainly adds character to the place."

Octavia rolled her eyes and laughed. "You don't have to suck up to me to get the room, its okay to admit this carpet is disgusting."

Here is the TV room, over there is what my brother likes to call the dining room but is really just part of the living room with a table. The kitchen is through there. That's the backyard; the bathroom is the door next to the sliding glass. Here, let me show you upstairs and the room that would be yours." Clarke followed Octavia back through the living room and up the stairs.

"You keep mentioning a brother, does he live here?"

"Oh no," Octavia waved her hand as if telling her not to worry about it before pausing on the stair. "Well, I mean he doesn't right now, but he will in six months. Sorry I probably should have-"

"Oh, no don't worry about it. I will probably find a new place by then. I'm really just looking for somewhere to stay while I settle into the city."

Octavia nodded and sent her a sheepish smile before pointing to some pictures on the wall. "That's him."

Clarke moved up the stairs to where Octavia stood, leaning in to look at the framed image. A tall, rather handsome, man had his arm around Octavia's shoulder. His dark hair was cut short and he wore a military uniform. One arm held an army issued bag over his shoulder as he smiled down at his sister.

"My friend Jasper took that when he left for his most recent tour. He is in Iraq right now." Her voice was quiet, but proud.

"He looks like a good guy," she smiled at Octavia. "He must be very brave."

Octavia laughed and continued up the stairs. "Oh trust me, that asshole raised me. He has to be brave." Clarke couldn't help but smile at how fondly the dark haired girl talked about her brother.

"So this is my room, that door over there was my mom's room, but I moved Bellamy's stuff in there a couple weeks ago so that I could rent out his old room."

"Is he okay with that?"

"Oh, yeah. Don't worry about it. He would be more upset if he found out I rented Mom's room out. He will be fine."

"So he doesn't know?"

"Like I said, Clarke, don't worry. He is chill. Plus, you said you would probably be somewhere else by the time he gets back, right? His tour is especially long this time for some reason. This would be your room, here I'll show you it."

Clarke followed Octavia down the hallway, a little uneasy about renting a room without the owner of it knowing. "Is this not his first tour?"

"Oh no, this is Bell's third. He promised me it would be his last though. His good buddy Miller was honorably discharged a year ago and became a cop. He said that there is a spot for Bell if it wants it when he comes back, all he needs to do is the training." She opened the door and let Clarke walk in first.

The room was a good size, painted pale blue, and a big window on one wall. Octavia showed her the small closest and demonstrated how to open the window. She smiled fondly at a child's jagged carving of the name "Bellamy" on the sill.

Next, Octavia took Clarke into the upstairs bathroom and then out to the small backyard. There was a tiny fire pit with more camping chairs pulled up around it. Beer cans litter the ground, but just as out front, flower pots were lovingly placed around the yard. Octavia sat in one of the chairs and gestured for Clarke to do the same.

"Sorry for the mess, some friends came over last night and I had an early shift this morning."

Clarke shook her head. "Don't worry about it, to be honest I am not the neatest person."

"I find that hard to believe," Octavia laughed. "Look at you, you are so… so put together!"

It was true, Clarke's pencil skirt and blouse did look like a bit much compared to Octavia's cut offs and braless tank top. She blushed. "I promise you, I don't usually look this nice. Most of the time I'm either in sweats or scrubs."

Octavia laughed again and Clarke pointed to the flower pots. "Do you like to garden?"

"Yeah, I suppose so. My mother always loved growing flowers, some of my earliest memories of her involve the pots." She smiled fondly. "After she died I figured I should try to keep them alive."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It happens to the best of us." A heavy silence fell between them.

"My dad passed away a couple years ago. I know its tough."

Octavia gave her a small smile and stared at her for a moment. "I like you, Clarke Griffin. You want the room?"

Clarke thought for a minute and then nodded. "Yeah, I would love it. This is a great location; I can practically walk to the hospital. How much is the rent?"
They spent the next hour discussing rent, how long Clarke planned to stay, and their living habits. Soon the conversation turned to other things, what kind of doctor Clarke was becoming, Octavia's job at the vet's office, their favorite movies and books.

By the time Clarke got back into her rental car to drive back to the hotel, she decided that she genuinely liked Octavia. She wasn't quite what Clarke had expected, but living with her, for however brief a time, would be fun. The girl certainly seemed to have a lot of personality. Plus, her mom would be livid when she found out what neighborhood Clarke had chosen to live in.