Curled up beneath Bellamy Blake's bed is not where Clarke Griffin had planned to be at 11:56pm on New Years Eve. She had, in fact, started the evening with a very specific plan, but of course, as things always seemed to go in her life, her plans went awry fairly quickly.

It was Monty who'd given her the idea in the first place. They were having drinks at a bar on Christmas Eve, and Monty kept staring across the room at Miller, but looking away every time Miller would look in their direction.

"The Blake's are having their usual New Years Eve party, right?" Monty asked her. His eyes flitting back towards Miller.

"I believe so," Clarke answered.

"Good. That's when I'll do it," Monty nodded decidedly. Miller had glanced back over at Clarke and Monty and Monty quickly averted his eyes, settling on Clarke instead.

"Do what exactly?" Clarke's own gaze wandering across the room to where Miller was chatting with Bellamy and Raven.

"Make my move," Monty replied. "It's the perfect night to make a move on someone without actually letting them know you like them," he informed her. "Everyone's more than a little tipsy. You just stand within arms reach at midnight and a kiss is bound to result."

Bellamy and Miller looked over at the same time and Clarke wondered if they were talking about her for a moment. Then she realised they were probably talking about Monty, since it was blindingly obvious to everyone except Monty himself that Miller liked him just as much as he liked Miller. Bellamy started making his way over so Clarke turned her attention back to Monty.

"You know, that's not a completely terrible plan," Clarke mused.

"Yeah, I mean, if he's not into it I can just say it was for New Years," Monty shrugged.

"He's going to be into it," Clarke told Monty.

"Who's going to be into what?" Bellamy asked as he arrived in front of them.

"Monty is going to make Jasper watch Brooklyn Nine Nine," Clarke said quickly, protecting her friend's secret, though she was 99% sure everyone already knew about Monty's crush on Miller.

"Oh yeah, he'll definitely be into it," Bellamy agreed. "Have you guys seen Octavia?"

"She and Lincoln left about an hour ago," Clarke told him. "She said Santa wouldn't come if they weren't home by midnight. And by Santa she definitely meant Lincoln," Clarke grinned. "Get it? Cause they're going to-,"

"I get it," Bellamy cut her off, making a face of disgust. "Thanks for that." He rolled his eyes. "I might take off as well. You're spending tomorrow with your family, right?" Clarke nodded. "I guess I'll see you New Years Eve then. Party starts at eight!" He made finger guns at Clarke and Monty before heading out of the bar. Clarke gave a little sigh as she watched him leave and when she turned back to Monty he had a big smirk on his face.

"So, New Years Eve, right?" he said knowingly.

"New Years Eve," Clarke agreed.

As far as Clarke knew, Monty was the only one of her friends who knew how ridiculously in love with Bellamy she was, and that was only because she'd confided in him one day. He wasn't really surprised, of course, as far as he was concerned it was almost impossible to not have a crush on Bellamy at some point. He had before he'd met Miller.

But aside from Monty, Bellamy was Clarke's most closely guarded secret. And in hindsight, if she'd just told people she liked Bellamy, all her problems on New Years Eve could have been avoided.

Clarke and Raven got ready together on New Years Eve. It was a house party, so it probably wasn't necessary to dress up too much. On the other hand, Clarke really wanted to look her best. After all, if she was going to kiss Bellamy, it would be nice if he also wanted to kiss her back, and looking super hot couldn't hurt her cause. As far as Clarke was concerned, her boobs were her best asset, so lots of cleavage was on display in the black dress she'd chosen.

"Clarke, I have a bad feeling," Raven said, slipping some dainty gold hoops into her ears as she sat on Clarke's bed. It was already 9pm, but they hadn't been planning to get to the party on time anyway.

"About what?" Clarke asked, double checking her reflection in the full length mirror in her bedroom. Clarke had kind of a queasy feeling herself. She'd never been good at initiating romantic gestures, and she really wanted things to go well with Bellamy. It had only been a few months since her last relationship, but honestly her whole heart hadn't been in it, due to her holding a torch for Bellamy the entire time. He was a constant fixture in her life, and she couldn't bear to mess it up.

"I think Wick is going to try and kiss me at midnight," Raven screwed up her nose.

"So just tell him you don't want to kiss him," Clarke shrugged.

"That seems too cold," Raven sighed. "But if I told him I already had someone else I promised I'd kiss, then I'm sure he'd understand."

"You want me to kiss you," Clarke guessed.

"Well it was either you or Bellamy," Raven told her and Clarke couldn't help the tiny surge of jealously she felt towards Raven, remembering that Raven and Bellamy had slept together once, or maybe a few times. "I already asked Bellamy and it kinda seemed like he already had someone else lined up."

"Did he say that?" Clarke asked quickly, her heart sinking.

"Not in so many words. But he was all evasive and weird so I didn't push it," Raven shrugged. "So, what do you say?"

"Nice to know I'm not even your first choice," Clarke snorted, trying not to let her disappointment over Bellamy show. She still had a bit of hope though. Just because he didn't want to kiss Raven didn't mean there was someone else. Maybe he just didn't want to kiss Raven.

"Come on, don't be like that," Raven rolled her eyes. "It's not like you've got anyone else to kiss. No offence."

"Whatever," Clarke replied, and Raven must have taken that as a yes because she smiled brightly and stood up from the bed.

"Good! Shall we go?" Raven asked and Clarke nodded, following her out.

Octavia ambushed them as soon as they walked in the door of Bellamy's house.

"Clarke, Raven, don't be alarmed, but -," Octavia started before she was cut off.

"You guys are finally here!" a casual male voice floated over Octavia's head and Clarke's stomach dropped as Finn Collins appeared before them. Clarke didn't hate Finn, she really didn't. There was a time she thought she was in love with him, years ago now, and maybe she had been for a while. The problem was, Raven had been too, and therein laid the awkwardness of coming face to face with him.

"Finn!" Raven cried, throwing her arms around him. "It's been ages!" Clearly she was over the whole thing, as was Finn, and that suited Clarke just fine, because she was too. She said a quick hello before leaving Finn to fill Raven in on why he was back in town, while Clarke herself went in search of Bellamy. She found Monty first, however.

"The plan still on?" he asked her.

"Despite a small hiccup, yes," Clarke told him.

"Hiccup?" Monty questioned.

"Let's just say I have to avoid Raven around the time of 11:59," Clarke said wryly and Monty chuckled. His eyes widened as he caught sight of something or someone behind her and he slipped away.

"Hey, Clarke," Finn's voice came from behind her as he tapped her on the shoulder. She hated being tapped. She turned around with a polite smile anyway.

"Hey Finn," she responded. "Great to see you again."

"Yeah, you too," Finn nodded. "I see you and Raven are good friends now."

"Yeah, thanks for introducing us," Clarke rolled her eyes.

"You know, I am sorry about that," Finn apologised.

"I know, Finn. You've told me a hundred times," Clarke smiled sympathetically, though she wasn't sure why he was the one who needed sympathy.

"Crazy coincidence we're both here tonight, right?" Finn chuckled.

"Totally," Clarke agreed, though she was pretty sure Finn knew she would be there. Like she had been the previous two years.

"So, I know we haven't seen each other in like three years… but I was thinking. I've been doing that a lot lately. Thinking," Finn rambled. Clarke half hoped he'd hurry up and get to the point, and half hoped he'd never make it there. She had a bad feeling she knew where he was headed.

"You know, I'm still in love with you," Finn said finally. Clarke blanched.

"Finn…" she said softly.

"I know, I know. I broke your heart. You told me. I'm not asking you to jump right back in where we left off. But, uh… maybe I'll see you around midnight?" he suggested. Clarke hesitated, not knowing how best to reject him. "Think about it," Finn said before she could decline his offer. He winked at her before turning and walking further into the party.

The house had really filled up in the few minutes Clarke had been there, but she was still determined to find Bellamy. She glanced at the time on her phone. 9:34pm. So she still had plenty of time until midnight. Still, she wanted to actually spend some time with him before launching herself on him at midnight.

Wells found her before she could find Bellamy. Still, at least it wasn't Finn this time.

"Is it just me or do these parties get bigger and bigger every year?" Wells asked her, handing her a drink.

"There does seem to be some unexpected people here," Clarke agreed, taking a sip of the beer Wells had given her, screwing up her face at the bitter taste.

"Will you ever learn to like beer?" Wells chuckled.

"Not my fault it tastes like stale crackers mixed with horse piss," Clarke choked.

"Interesting description," Wells grinned. "Hey so, this is probably like really lame but I've been thinking about it a lot…" he changed the subject suddenly, setting Clarke on edge with his overly casual tone.

"Yeah?" she said warily.

"The thing is… I've never had a New Years kiss," he shrugged, like it was no big deal. But somehow Clarke could tell it was a big deal to him, which was why she dreaded what he was going to say next. "Do you think you could help me out with that?"

"Wells, it's really not that big of a thing. It's just a dumb tradition. Not really anything special," Clarke tried to tell him. "People just think it's romantic. But it's a cliché. You make your own romance."

"I know that… I just want to do it, like one time before I die," he said with a grin.

"I don't know if that's such a good idea…" Clarke said slowly.

"Clarke! I swear to god I don't have a crush on you anymore. That's way in the past. This is just me asking a friend for a favour," Wells told her earnestly. It wasn't that she didn't believe him. It was just that she didn't want to kiss him, because she wanted to kiss someone else. A someone whom she still hadn't seen by this point. Luckily she was spared having to answer when she was bowled over by someone (namely Jasper) trying to catch a soccer ball someone had thrown. He missed of course, and he and Clarke went tumbling onto the ground, while somebody above them caught the soccer ball in one hand.

"Sorry, Clarke," Jasper said sheepishly as he rolled off her.

"Really, Jasper?" Clarke and Jasper looked up to see Bellamy standing over them holding the soccer ball. "You know I don't get my bond back if the windows get smashed."

"Hey, I was trying to catch the ball. Blame Monty," Jasper got up pointed across the room to where Monty was now engaged in a conversation with Harper. Clarke followed Jasper's lead and stood up, brushing herself off.

"You okay?" Bellamy asked her as he handed the ball back to Jasper who raced off before Bellamy could scold him some more.

"Yeah, fine," Clarke smiled. "Wasn't exactly expecting to end up in a soccer match tonight, but Jasper always surprises me," she joked.

"You aren't exactly dressed for it," Bellamy agreed with a smile, glancing down at what she was wearing.

"You think I couldn't play soccer in this?" she retorted, trying to cover how pleased she was that Bellamy had noticed her dress.

"I'm sure you could, but it would be a shame to ruin such a nice dress," Bellamy replied easily. "Are you enjoying the party?"

"I don't think I'm drunk enough yet, to be honest," Clarke said, glancing down at where the beer she'd been holding previously had spilled on the carpet. "Crap, sorry! I should clean that up."

"Don't worry about it Clarke,' Bellamy told her. "Jasper should be the one cleaning it up," he rolled his eyes.

"I heard you had your eye on someone tonight," Clarke blurted out, then immediately cursed herself for her lack of subtlety. Bellamy gave her a strange look.

"Where'd you hear that?" he asked.

"Raven," Clarke shrugged.

"Uh huh," he nodded. "Let me get you another drink." He brushed her arm with his hand as he passed her to head into the kitchen. He hadn't exactly answered her question and she wasn't sure if that meant yes or no. She glanced down and pulled her dress down a little, revealing more cleavage for good measure.

She was planning to stay put so Bellamy could easily find her when he came back, but only thirty seconds after he'd left her, Raven was dragging her outside into the backyard.

"Raven, where are you taking me?" Clarke huffed.

"Trust me, it's safer out here," Raven said knowingly.

"Safer from what? Not frostbite," she shivered.

"Fair point," Raven agreed, pulling Clarke back inside. "Just be careful. Lexa just showed up."

"Lexa?" Clarke groaned. "Could this night get any worse?"

"I told her you were in the kitchen so-," Raven was saying before Clarke saw Lexa walk up behind her and Clarke stepped on Raven's foot to shut her up. Raven spun around and tried to smile at Lexa, though it was more of a grimace. "Found her. Ha."

"Thanks Raven," Lexa said acidly. The girls had never liked each other. Raven slunk away and left Clarke to deal with Lexa.

"What are you doing here Lexa?" Clarke asked.

"I was invited," Lexa said. Clarke looked at her disbelievingly. Who would have invited Lexa? "I'm Indra's plus one," she explained.

"Right," Clarke said flatly. She was still a little mad at Lexa for the way things had ended.

"I know you're mad," Lexa said, reading Clarke's thoughts. "I owe you an explanation."

"No, you owed me an explanation three months ago. Now you owe me the courtesy to leave me alone. I'm over it," Clarke scowled.

"But I'm not," Lexa replied, and for a second Clarke saw a flash of vulnerability on Lexa's normally stone like face. "I thought you were going to leave me. I thought you were in love with someone else. But it's a new year and I really want a new start. I know you like symbolic shit," Lexa shrugged.

"I don't think so, Lexa," Clarke said, her lips pursed.

"You can't be mad at me forever," Lexa said. Clarke just rolled her eyes and pushed past her, back into the crowd of people in the living room. Why couldn't everyone just leave her alone? It was New Years Eve and she just wanted to have a good time for crying out loud.

Clarke went into the kitchen, and since Bellamy was nowhere to be seen she grabbed a drink and started her new plan for the evening: to avoid all her exes.

The rest of the night, surprisingly, passed fairly smoothly. Clarke managed to avoid Finn and Lexa, though she didn't really get a chance to talk to Bellamy again, and she figured Raven must have been right, and he did have someone to kiss already. He was probably spending his whole night with whoever it was. It was disappointing to say the least, but she should have expected it. Bellamy was a wanted man.

It wasn't until about five minutes to twelve that things started to turn south.

Wells sidled up to her and whispered into her ear, "So did you decide?" only seconds before Raven marched up to her.

"Nearly ready? Wick's been following me around for about ten minutes now," Raven rolled her eyes.

"Ready for what?" Finn asked as he walked over. Clarke felt like she was going to throw up. She glanced around and sure enough Lexa was skulking around behind her.

"Are you okay, Clarke?" Wells asked her.

"I… have to go to the bathroom," she said quickly, running off without a second glance.

"But it's nearly midnight!" Finn called after her. Clarke ignored him. She needed somewhere to hide until after twelve.

And that's how she came to be curled up under Bellamy's bed at 11:56pm on New Years Eve.

"Clarke?" she heard Bellamy's voice as he pushed the door open and turned on the light. She stayed put. Raven had probably asked him to look for her. A second later Bellamy's face was an inch away from hers, laying sown beside her on the floor next to his bed. "What are you doing? I've been looking everywhere for you."

"Hiding," she replied. "How did you find me?"

"I already checked all the other hiding spots," he grinned. "What's wrong?"

"Everyone wants to kiss me," Clarke sighed.

"Sounds terrible," Bellamy chuckled.

"It's not funny! Finn and Lexa are trying to get back together with me," Clarke scowled.

"I don't blame them," Bellamy said, still grinning at her.

"Would you stop going all Cheshire cat on me? It's creeping me out," Clarke told him.

"Come out and I'll stop," Bellamy promised. Clarke sighed and Bellamy rolled out of the way as she slid out from under the bed.

"Happy now?" she huffed. "You said you'd stop smiling."

"I will in one sec," Bellamy told her, leaning over her, propping himself up on one elbow. "I just have one question. Is it all kissing you're opposed to or just Finn and Lexa?"

"I don't want to kiss Raven or Wells either," Clarke responded, but her heart missed a beat, hoping he was insinuating what she thought he was insinuating. "Or Monty, or Jasper, or Octavia or Miller or-," Bellamy cut her off with his lips. "It's not midnight yet," Clarke whispered into his mouth.

"I thought I'd waited long enough," Bellamy replied, his lips still on hers. "Will you hurry up and kiss me back now?" Bellamy chuckled and Clarke happily obliged, her hands pulling his face back down to hers.

"You said you'd stop smiling!" Clarke said as she kissed him.

"I'm sorry, I can't help it," Bellamy laughed, breaking away. Clarke gave him a gentle shove and pushed him onto his back before rolling on top of him. From out in the living room they heard people shouting a count down.

"Five, four, three, two, one," Clarke joined in before leaning down to kiss Bellamy, deep and wet and hot, so he wasn't smiling anymore.

"God," he groaned.

"Happy New Year," Clarke smirked.

"Happy fucking New Year," Bellamy agreed. "I think you're in the clear now. Should we rejoin the party?" Clarke screwed up her nose. She'd much rather stay in Bellamy's room and make out, but she knew people would come looking for them soon.

"I guess so," she sighed. She kissed him again before standing up and helping Bellamy to his feet. They made their way back into the living room where Clarke immediately saw Raven and Wells making out. Lexa and Finn were nowhere in sight.

"I did not see that coming," Clarke said to Bellamy. They left Raven and Wells to it as Clarke grabbed Bellamy's hand and led him through the crowd to where Monty was talking to Miller, big dumb smiles on both of their faces.

"I guess the plan worked," Monty grinned, nodding to where Clarke's hand was joined with Bellamy's.

"The plan?" Bellamy raised an eyebrow at her. She ignored him.

"And for you?" she asked Monty.

"Kind of. Miller made me admit I liked him before he would kiss me," Monty blushed a little. Miller laughed as he kissed Monty on the cheek.

"Happy New Year, guys," Clarke grinned.

"Happy New Year," the other three chanted in unison.