Clarke knew she was screwed the moment she opened the door.

For one, all of her friends were glaring at her for being late for movie night. Again. But it wasn't her fault she had a demanding job…not entirely.

Secondly, there were no empty seats on the sofa arrangement. Raven crashed next to Jasper and Monty, Miller had snagged the bean bag chair, and Lincoln and Octavia took the loveseat. Bellamy sprawled out on the side comforter, looking quite pleased with himself. It was Jasper and Monty's house this week for some suspicious reason, even though the carpet had just been ripped up, soon to be replaced with hardwood.

So sitting on the floor was out too.

"Clarke stop standing there looking so desolate and sit down," Jasper muttered, pressing play on the remote.

She glared at him, but then Bellamy smiled at her and gestured for her to join him.

She didn't know how she was supposed to do that exactly, so as she sat down, she just took the liberty of scooting back against his chest, his legs on either side of her. He wasn't particularly soft or squishy, so it took some careful wriggling to get it just right.

"Comfortable?" he asked dryly, though she could hear the smile on his lips.

"It'll do."

He chuckled and leaned back, and she forced herself to ignore the stifled titters around her.

OoO

Okay.

Bellamy was fine.

He was totally fine.

Completely.

Sort of.

He only had the girl he'd been in love with for two years pressed against him, her head resting on his chest, the scent of vanilla and something earthy wafting up to his nose.

He was pretty much an expert on repressing his feelings. He had to be. Clarke was his best friend. She had been ever since she'd taken his case and proved his innocence to the court. Or really, ever since she first walked into that interrogation room, frowning at him.

And of course, they'd hugged before, and she'd kissed him on the cheek once.

But snuggling?

That was something entirely new.

Not that he minded having her close. Her presence was always reassuring, and touching her, feeling her there beside him provided a constant in his life that he desperately needed.

The movie, Fight Club—Jasper and Monty's absolute favorite—was drawing out now. Bellamy had seen it too many times, and it was sort of giving him a headache.

Clarke shuddered suddenly, and he glanced down at the blonde tussles of hair.

It happened again.

She was shivering.

Bellamy didn't ask. Didn't think. He simply brought his arms out from beside him and wrapped them around her. He heard her sigh, and she shifted closer, if that was even possible.

Okay. There was definitely too much skin to skin contact right now. She was so fucking soft. What gave her the right?

He briefly noticed Octavia's face light up with the brightness of a text notification, followed closely by Octavia, and then Miller.

He looked away before they caught him glowering.

OoO

The movie was five minutes from ending, and most of their party had passed out by now.

Movie nights were hard on the crew. Everyone got off late, or had a million responsibilities, like Clarke, and by the time everyone had settled down, it was usually close to one in the morning.

And after a three hour movie no one usually made it. Except Jasper and Monty.

Clarke had fallen asleep somewhere along the way, and she moaned slightly, turning her head.

Bellamy swallowed.

The movement had just exposed her neck to him—her collarbone, her shoulder.

What the fuck. It was winter. Where was her turtle neck? Her scarf?

He tried to focus back on the movie, but every couple seconds, his eyes fell back to her skin, the nape of her neck.

Since when did he have a neck fetish?

As the end scene started rolling, he lost control.

He bent forward, and he pressed his lips to the space between neck and shoulder.

He felt her tense against him, and he quickly diminished the contact, horrified.

"Sorry," he whispered hoarsely. Fuck. What was wrong with him? You couldn't just go kissing your best friend. Especially not when she was fucking sleeping!

After a pause, she pulled his arms tighter around her. "Don't stop."

He stared at the back of her head.

Did she just say what he thought she said? He had to be delusional.

But her hands didn't slacken.

Tentatively, he kissed her again, a little higher, a little longer, and she exhaled, straining her neck for more.

He kissed her once more at the base of her neck, sucking a little this time, and she dug her nails into his arm.

His heart was drop-kicking the shit out of his ribcage, but for once he didn't care if she could feel it.

He placed a butterfly kiss at her pulse point, brushing his nose against her softness, breathing in her scent.

Then the credits started rolling, and Jasper and Monty cheered, and he was grateful for the darkness to cover his flushed face and the marks on Clarke's skin.

Neither of them moved, as if both were too terrified to make eye contact after what had just occurred.

Shit.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

"You two got pretty cozy," Raven noted, waggling her eyebrows. She had been asleep just moments before, so Bellamy was pretty confident she hadn't seen anything.

But still, the comment sent off panic alarms.

"Clarke's a human body pillow," he managed, trying diffuse the tension.

He still hadn't let her go. And she still hadn't pulled away.

Clarke laughed quietly, and the tremor vibrated into his chest.

"Well…that was fun," Miller groaned. "Maybe next week we can watch something we haven't all seen a million times."

"It's the girls' pick next week," Monty supplied. "You all know what that means."

Octavia smiled evilly from the loveseat, and Bellamy tried not to burn holes into Lincoln's arm draped around his baby sister.

Everyone slowly got to their feet, fishing for keys and wallets.

Jasper quirked an eyebrow, wagging his finger at Bellamy and Clarke.

"Are you two just going to stay there? I mean, go ahead by all means, but…"

Bellamy's heart started going spaztic again, and he finally squeezed Clarke's shoulders. "Any day now, Princess."

Clarke shook her head, exasperated, and sat forward, unthreading herself from his body.

She ran her hand through her hair, smiling up at Jasper and the others. Finally, she turned her gaze to him.

No nervousness. No signs of anger or distress or fear. Just a small, reserved smile.

Had that all just been…friend status to her? Because he certainly did not kiss Miller's neck and cradle him in his arms for over three hours.

But to Clarke, maybe that was all it'd been; hopscotching over boundaries. Or maybe she thought she'd been dreaming.

Or maybe, he thought hopefully, maybe she was as good as repressing her emotions as he was.

OoO

As soon as everyone had left the house, Monty grinned at the group message on his phone.

Raven: Operation BELLARKE is a go.

THIS IS GOING TO BE SO FUN.