If you recognize it, I don't own it.

The song Clarke's singing at the beginning of the fic is "Nowhere Fast" by Fire Inc. from the Streets of Fire soundtrack.

This fic was inspired by a post on from chatterboxrose on tumblr.

"You and me we're goin' nowhere slowly
And we've gotta get away from the past
There's nothin' wrong with goin' nowhere, baby
But we should be goin' nowhere fast"

Ding

Clarke paused her singing to look down the panel on her dashboard to see the source of the alert.

Fuel level low.

"Fuck!"

Clarke turns on her emergency flashers and pulls her truck over to the side of the very empty highway, slightly anxious at the possibility of being stranded alone, during the middle of the night, in an unfamiliar location and not a single building in sight. She takes her mobile out, thank god it's 2015 and everyone's glued to these things she thinks as she opens her Google Maps app to find the closest gas station. She weighs her options, on the one hand she can continue to drive, possibly running completely out of gas trying to get to the closest station; or she can call AAA for some roadside assistance.

Her pride takes a hit as she dials the number, explains her situation, gives the kind woman on the phone the requested information and begins the, hopefully shorter than estimated, wait for help to arrive.

Taking this road trip was supposed to be something she and her best friend Wells planned on doing right after graduation. Fate had other plans, apparently. The night of prom went from happiness and laughter to agony and heartbreak, Wells and his date were in a tragic car accident that night. Clarke took it hard, losing her best friend so suddenly, but after three years, she finally built up the courage to take their trip. It was going to be the final goodbye to their carefree days before joining the adult life. An idea borne from "just jump in the truck and drive away from it all" after a nasty argument with her mom about her future, that didn't really matter anymore, seeing as Clarke was actually happy with premed, just hating that her mother was right, again.

After the first few stops, Clarke found her desire to take up drawing again. Her hobby had taken a back burner because of the demands of school, and she didn't realize how much she missed it until she disconnected from her life at school. She hadn't thought to include those supplies but quickly remedied that and soon her new sketchbook was filled with sunsets, sunrises, faces young and old. She hadn't felt this relieved, happy, and carefree in too long.

Flashing lights in her mirror drew her back to the present, as she checked the time on her phone, it had already been 30 minutes! What was taking AAA so freaking long!

She jumped in her seat at the knock on her window.

"Ma'am? I'm Officer Blake with the Arcadia police department. Did you need any assistance?"

Hot damn. "I wouldn't mind being arrested by you." The words leaving Clarke's mouth before her brain catches up "Hi. Um, you see, I'm waiting on AAA. They should be here any minute."

Clarke takes a moment to take another look at the cop by her truck. He's got a deeper voice than she'd expect just looking at him. He's got a shit eating grin, yep he heard her first response, and in the faint glow of his flashlight, she can make out soulful brown eyes, a smattering of freckles across his nose and cheeks, deep olive skin, beautiful jawline, her fingers began to itch with the need to draw him. He's unfairly attractive, and she's beginning to understand that cliche about men in uniform.

"Is everything okay? Vehicle breakdown?" Officer Blake asks, concern etched on his features, the consummate professional.

She rolls her window down, looks him dead on. "You have to promise not to laugh."

"Scout's honor." He says with a chuckle.

Clarke sighs and says sheepishly, "I've run out of gas."

He doesn't even try to resist. He's laughing so hard he's doubling over. Clarke gets out of her truck, indignant, how dare he laugh at her misery! "It's not funny I've been here waiting all by myself there's no one around and it's the perfect setting for some crazy slasher to come and kill me!"

"I'm sorry princess, but it's hilarious." He said as he struggled to catch his breath, unable to contain his laughter.

"It's not funny! And my name is Clarke. Not princess. And here you are laughing, thinking I'm some dumb blonde that doesn't know when to put gas in her truck." She says as she softly smacks his arm.

He looks at the place on his arm where her hand made contact, looks back up at her with one eyebrow raised. "Assaulting an officer? That's usually grounds for arrest."

"You weren't supposed to hear that. It's been a stressful evening and I'm not responsible for that comment."

He laughs again as she feels her cheeks heating with embarrassment, and she's quite surprised at the easy rapport that developed quite so quickly between her and the handsome cop. The light flirting was unexpected, but certainly not unwelcome. She's trying to think of something to keep the conversation going when his radio crackles.

"Bellamy! Octavia called the station looking for you. Said to tell you she brought the dog inside, she's going over to Lincoln's, and not to wait up on her when you get home. Murphy said to hurry the fuck up cuz he's not your damn secretary."

He takes his hat off and runs his fingers through his already unruly curly hair. "Sorry about that, my sister, she knows I worry about her." He lifts his hand to the radio on his shoulder. "Copy that. It'll be a bit before I'm back. Got a stranded motorist about 15 out."

"10-4. Miller out."

"So, Clarke? How about I wait here and protect you from crazy slashers until AAA comes with your fuel?" He says and his face lights up with a wide grin.

Clarke didn't need much time for consideration, but not wanting to further highlight the fact she was attracted to the man and hoping to further explore their chemistry. "Sure, I'd greatly appreciate that. Unless you have somewhere it be?" She replied casually, it was really late and if his sister was telling him not to wait up on her at home tonight, he must surely be at the end of his shift?

"It's no problem, serve and protect, you know? Besides, I'd just end up at home, eating dinner alone, watching Netflix with the dog until I fall asleep. I'm Bellamy, Bellamy Blake, by the way." He holds out the hand not carrying his hat.

"Clarke Griffin, pleased to meet you Bellamy." As they're shaking hands, she feels his thumb caress her hand and she's delighted to see the attraction isn't one sided.

"So, Clarke Griffin. What brings you to Arcadia? Besides your desire for me to put you in handcuffs?"

"You're never going to let me live that down are you? Seriously, Bellamy!" She laughs at his continued reminder of her first words to him.

They make their way to the bed of her truck and she drops the tailgate to give them a place to sit. She tells him about the need to just get up and go, that the trip was originally planned for a post graduation journey; and she doesn't go into all the details regarding the delay of the trip, skipping over Wells and his part in the story; she finds herself telling him about the pressures her mother burdened her with throughout high school. She tells him about how the thought of her whole life planned ahead of her made her feel caged in, but she truly enjoyed helping others, and eventually decided on her own that med school was indeed, the right path, and how most recently she took up her artistic hobby again.

Bellamy, in turn, tells her about his family and friends, and growing up in Arcadia. Murphy and Miller, the two other cops on the other end of the radio, the trio growing up together and being "biggest pains in Chief Kane's ass" in their teens, but straightening out after almost losing Murphy in a fight in the big city nearby and becoming cops. His sister, all sugar and spice and "I'll kick your ass if you look at me the wrong way" wanting to study to be a paramedic. His uncertainty at her romance with the older, tattooed firefighter that just transferred to their little town, a quiet man named Lincoln. The town's mechanic, Raven and her on-off relationship with the bar owner, Wick, and his "microbrewers" Jasper and Monty, getting half the town- the ones above the legal drinking age half- drunk off their butts with the duo's homemade moonshine every weekend.

"You should definitely check out the moonshine at Grounder's. Uh, that is, if you're planning on staying here for a bit. It might not be a planned stop on your trip, but a good time is pretty much guaranteed."

Before she has a chance to take up his offer, his walkie goes off again, a different voice this time "Bellamy, it's been almost an hour and we haven't seen or heard from you. You know Kane'll ream you about overtime. What's your friggin' ETA?"

"Oh my god!" Clarke checks the time on her phone, "Where the hell is AAA?" She dials the number and when she confirms her information and previous request for assistance, is floored to learn that they had to send a second car to assist first car coming to her because the first one broke down about halfway to her.

Bellamy overhears her end of the conversation and has the most brilliant idea of the night. He clears his throat to catch her attention and interrupt her. "Clarke, perhaps it would be best to cancel the request, I can drive you into town to pick up some fuel and drive you back here? It'll take less time than having to wait?"

"Son of a… why didn't we freaking think of this earlier? Hello, Ma'am, go ahead and cancel my request, I've got it taken care of." She hangs up and turns to him, "I really appreciate this Bellamy. Wait, I don't have a gas can."

"We've got some at the station. I just need to clock out for the night and grab my stuff while we're there."

"That's fine. Let me just grab my stuff and lock up the truck. I'd hate to come back and find my clothes have been stolen" She pulls out her duffel bag and he opens the passenger side of the patrol car for her. She's unaccustomed to the display of chivalry, but her heart flutters a bit at the unexpected gesture.

The drive to the police station doesn't take as long as Clarke expected. Bellamy shares stories of calls gone haywire on him, Murphy and Miller, her personal favorite being the one about the lady that called every night for an entire week about the neighbor's dog leaving behind presents in her front lawn; and the dog needing to be arrested for vandalism. "I swear she had to be smoking pot or something to insist the dog was intentionally spelling dirty words out on her lawn while he defecated."

They pulled into the city and Clarke was in awe at how homey it looked. She could definitely picture living in a place like this. Working in the hospital and still having time for her art, both drawing and painting. Bellamy turned the cruiser into the police station, near the center of town and conveniently placed across from the hospital and next to the firehouse. The station was a single story building, she couldn't quite make out the colors, but with the moonlight she wanted to guess slate with navy trim, but she'd have to wait until morning to see for sure. It looked welcoming, all things considered. Bellamy parked the cruiser out front and rushed back around to open the door for her, grabbing her duffel before she could exit.

"We'll take my truck, if you want to follow me inside?" Bellamy lead her through the front doors, and turned to the left once they came up to the front desk in the lobby. He opened a door with a sign that said STAFF ONLY to see two men, both around his age, playing what looked like Texas Hold'em, a small pile of skittles in the center of the table, and a small handful in front of each of them.

"You rushed me back here for this?" Bellamy said in lieu of a greeting.

"Well, it's not like you hurried back anyway. Did your so called stranded motorist.." The man facing away from them started to speak only to be interrupted by the other clearing his throat. The speaker turned their way. "Hello there stranded motorist. I guess I can see why Bellamy took so long to get back here." He smirked as his eyes made their perusal of her form. She was about tiki call him out on his remark when she was interrupted.

"For fuck's sake Murphy have some manners and introduce yourself before you insult them." The second man said.

"Clarke, meet Miller and Murphy. Guys, this is Clarke Griffin, her car broke down not too far from here. Please don't scare her away before I get back. She might leave us a bad review on Google." Bellamy jokes as he turns back out the room.

Clarke turns back to the other two men in the room. There must be something in the water if all the cops in this town are this gorgeous. Holy shit, I need to move here.

"So, how long are you staying in town for?" Miller, the more social of the two, asks after an agonizing moment of silence, both men continuing their card game.

"I'm not quite sure yet. I'm taking this road trip in between semesters of med school and had to stop because of car trouble, so at least until morning, maybe? Is there a place nearby that I could rent a room? I'm sure I could stay here for probably the same price, but I like my walls a little less see thru and I don't think you would give me the wifi password." Clarke's normal sass comes back into play, still a little peeved at Murphy's comment about the length of time Bellamy was with her alone. Miller seems much easier to converse with, and while she wouldn't mind passing time chatting with him, she really wanted to get back on her way, find a place she could stretch out, relax, and get some sleep seeing as she had been driving all day and much of the night. In such a small town, she's pretty sure chips or crackers from the vending machine will end up being her dinner.

Before she has a chance to ask where the vending machines are located, Bellamy returns, having changed out of his uniform, into jeans and a simple t-shirt. Her mouth runs dry at the physique that is clearly defined by the well worn tight tee. She's a sucker for muscular arms, and she just hoping that in her sleep deprived state her brain overrides her mouth before she says anything else embarrassing, especially in front of his coworkers.

"Alright guys, I'm out for the night. Grounders tomorrow night?" Bellamy reaches for her bag again as he places his hand at the small of her back to lead her from the room. Both Miller and Murphy nod and grunt their acceptance of his invitation; Murphy not even looking in their direction, Millers sends her a friendly smile and waves, she reciprocates. Clarke's hyper aware of the warmth radiating from Bellamy's hand as they make their way to the side door of the facility. Bellamy holds the door open for her and they make their way to his F-150.

He gets the door for her and slides her bag into the back seat of the truck, he quickly makes his way around to the driver side. He climbs up into the truck and soon they're on their way back to where her poor little truck is left stranded. "Good news," he says, "I already have the gas can, we just need to get it filled. Pretty sure we can get you back on your way in about 30-45 minutes."

Bellamy lowers both windows, and they begins to pick up speed and as they get further away from the idyllic town, Clarke takes the time to let it all sink in. He has the the radio on, music playing softly it's just loud enough for her to make out an upbeat country song about a girl in a truck, the cool summer breeze ruffling the waves in her hair, she finds herself wishing this was a simple case of boy and girl, driving back home after a date. It just feels...perfect.

The drive back to her truck goes by much quicker than Clarke anticipated, her heart is racing but before she knows it, they've reached their destination. Bellamy shuts the engine off, but doesn't move other than to slide the keys into the front pocket of his jeans. She turns her body in his direction her left leg coming up onto the seat, her arm braced against the center console. He's not looking directly at her yet, but she can feel his eyes on her. Clarke leans her head back against the door frame, closes her eyes, takes a deep breath just listening to the sounds, the crickets chirping, the leaves rustling in the trees, it's so soothing. She's downloaded white noise apps to help her fall asleep, but there's no substitute for the real deal.

Bellamy's running every possible way to approach asking Clarke to consider staying in Arcadia for a few days, even if it's only overnight to sleep. He's pretty sure he can always fall back on road safety and his duty to enforce safe driving, remind her that driving when you haven't slept for almost 24 hours is just as dangerous as driving while intoxicated.

Clarke takes another deep breath, sighs, opens her eyes to see Bellamy looking straight at her. "It's so peaceful out here. Know where I could rent a room in town for a few days? I hear the bar has this really great homemade moonshine."

Bellamy's face lights up with the biggest smile she's seen on him tonight. "I think I can help with that, if I can't find anything, would you be okay sleeping in my sisters room? Since she's staying at her boyfriend's it'll be empty for the night." He unbuckles his seatbelt and climbs out of his truck. Clarke starts to reach for her duffel, but since he's offering her a place to stay for the night, she figures she'll just get it out once they get to his place. Bellamy's already got the gas can to her truck and Clarke stops to drink in the sight of him. Long lean lines, she'd love to draw him, his profile is an artist's dream. Arcadia might be a good place to stay a while after all.

"Sounds like plan, I can always check into the motel in the morning. You know, stay a few days. Someone told me I'm guaranteed to have a good time."

A/N

Let me know what you think. If there's any errors the fault is all mine.