A/N: This is the last chapter! Thanks for reading! Since this was my first ever fan fic attempt, I'd really appreciate any reviews!

Clarke trudged across the camp's yard toward the structure that housed dozens of makeshift bunks. Every step she took, her resolve weakened. Though Raven's pep talk had managed to make her feel slightly more in control of the whole situation, Clarke was still more nervous than she could remember being in a long time. She felt guilty for childishly ignoring Bellamy for the past two days. And since she'd refused to even talk to him, she had no idea where his head was at in this giant mess. It suddenly occurred to Clarke that Bellamy could very well regret the entire thing. After all, he could have any girl on the ground (probably HAD had most of them), and there was every possibility that he didn't want any sort of relationship with Clarke.

"Relationship!? What are you even thinking?" came the voice in her head.

It was twilight now, and Clarke could make out Bellamy's form ahead in the semi-darkness. He was facing away from her, hands in his pockets. An admiring smile came unbidden to Clarke's face. There was no denying it, Bellamy Blake had a nice ass.

He whirled around when he heard her clear her throat. "Hi," she said, proud that her voice didn't crack. Why was her heart racing? This was Bellamy.

"Hi, yourself," said Bellamy. "Thanks for taking the time out of your busy fucking schedule to talk to me."

Ok, so he was pissed. Well, pissed off Bellamy was a version Clarke had seen and dealt with many times before.

"I'm sorry, Bellamy. It's been...I don't know why I found it so hard to face you after what happened. I mean, I know why, I just...there was a lot going on in my head. I needed some time."

Bellamy's glare softened somewhat. "What exactly has you so mixed up here, Clarke? We had sex-great sex, I should add-and then you left that room like a bat out of hell." How could he not see that their physical encounter, mind-blowing thought it may have been, had changed everything? That they had risked their friendship, their partnership, in a way that was totally irresponsible?

Clarke looked at her feet and crossed her arms. It was a defensive gesture, meant to ward off the intense physical reality of the boy in front of her as much as the cold night air. Part of her, well, most of her, wanted to retreat from his gaze, to go hide in her bunk like a scolded child. What frightened her more was that another part of her was fighting a very serious urge to go to him and bury her face in his chest and let him stroke her hair and tell her everything was forgiven. She was very used to upsetting Bellamy. God knew she'd been yelled at by him more often than anyone else in camp. But something about the particular hurt on his face at this moment was so distressing, and she hated that she was the cause of it.

She heard Bellamy sigh. "I would have given you time, Clarke. But shutting me out like that, with no hint as to what you were thinking…" he laughed bitterly. "Let's just say it made me realize some things." Clarke's heart began racing even faster. Realize some things? What things? What did that mean? Oh God, this is what she'd been worried about. Everything was different now. Until two days ago, she knew his thoughts with a single look. Now he was a mystery to her.

She marshalled all of her courage and looked up to meet his eyes. His eyebrows were knit together in anger, or maybe concern…she couldn't really tell what he was thinking. Clarke's voice was small when she said, "I'm sorry. I just...you're my best friend. I didn't want to face what we did or what it might mean." His look intensified, his eyes boring into hers. "You see, Clarke, that's where we're different. I need you to talk to me, tell me where you're at with all this. Best friend?" Bellamy ran a hand through his unruly hair and let out another exasperated sigh. "Hell, that doesn't even begin to cover what you are to me. And let me be clear about something, in case you're confused in any way. I don't regret a single thing about what happened two nights ago."

Suddenly, Clarke found it very hard to breathe. "You don't?" she whispered. Bellamy took a step towards her, purposefully standing just a bit too close. "No. I don't. But I've been driving myself crazy for two days thinking that you do regret it." He moved closer still, so that she had to tilt her head back to meet his eyes. She felt every beat of her heart, felt terrified and elated all at once. Bellamy didn't regret it. And he didn't want her to regret it either. Her hands, tightly crossed under her elbows, itched to reach out to him. But something held her back.

Bellamy didn't feel the same reserve. Looming over her, he brought his hand to her face and held it against her cheek, his thumb edging out to stroke her bottom lip in the same way he had done two nights ago. Clarke's body responded again. She closed her eyes and let everything else fade away. All that existed in the universe were her lips and Bellamy's slightly rough hand. He spoke softly, his warm breath tickling her face. "Clarke, I know you're scared. I'm a little scared myself. But if the past two days were any indication of what life would be like without you right next to me...believe me, I'm not interested in going through that again."

Clarke opened her eyes and cleared her throat before responding. "I'm not going anywhere. I won't run from you again."

Bellamy's responding smile was so genuine and disarming that Clarke couldn't help but return it. He bent to capture her mouth in a kiss that was equal parts sweet and demanding, the sort of kiss that caused roughly a thousand butterflies to take flight in her stomach. When Bellamy finally broke away, Clarke was pleased to note that his breathing was as unsteady as her own. He rested his forehead against hers and said softly, "We'll take it slow, Princess." "Right," Clarke laughed, "We wouldn't want to rush into anything." Bellamy laughed, too.

He reached a hand down and laced his fingers through Clarke's. "Can I assume that Raven knows about our-"

"If you say lovemaking, I'll kick you!" Clarke broke in. Bellamy chuckled. "I was going to call it our night of passion."

"Ugh, that's worse!" Clarke poked Bellamy in the stomach. "And yes, she knows, not that she needed superhuman powers of deduction to figure out something was up. And since she knows, I think it's safe to say that Monty and Jasper and oh GOD, my mother is going to give me such hell!"

Bellamy just laughed again. "Come on, Princess, let's go get some food. Then we can find an empty medical supply closet or something. I have two days worth of pent up wanting-to-kiss-you frustration that demands to be satisfied." Clarke rolled her eyes, but let him pull her by the hand back towards camp.

THE END