Getting the Perfect Distance [ Bellarke AU ]

Bargaining for Happiness

"You have got to be kidding me," Bellamy said as he crossed his arms. He looked over at Kane who was standing beside him, leaning against the railing and tapping his fingers. "You're buying a horse for Octavia from them?"

Marcus Kane ran a weathered hand down his face. "Octavia wants to move up in the hunter circuits. She's outgrown Lydia and without a proper horse, she'll get nowhere."

"Banthos is hardly a million dollar horse." Bellamy replied through somewhat gritted teeth, joining his father against the railing.

"Yes, but you're in the jumper divisions. They don't care about style or performance, only how fast you can go." Kane looked at Bellamy and pushed his cowboy hat further up his forehead. "Your sister needs a horse that moves great and doesn't cost us our rent."

"Well then, Phoenix Farms is definitely not the place to go shopping. Where we need to go is a state auction." Bellamy said. To say he was furious would be an understatement. He couldn't believe what Kane was doing. Octavia needed to get her ass out of the hunter ring. Half the time she thought that their family had an endless supply of money and the rest of her time was spent acting like it.

Bellamy wouldn't let his kid sister become a spoiled bitch.

Kane, meanwhile, said nothing. A few minutes of silence ticked by before Octavia herself came bounding across the terrain. The smile chiseled across her face was contagious. She ran up and threw herself into Bellamy's arms smelling of fly spray and alfalfa. He chuckled. She hugged him tightly and he hugged her back. When she pulled away, her hair was sticking up at all ends and she looked like an overexcited monkey. Bellamy reached out and ruffled Octavia's hair. She swatted his hand away.

"Bell, I hate it when you do that." She grumbled.

Just to piss her off, he got her in a headlock and did it again. She jerked away and hit him in the stomach. Bellamy grinned down at his seventeen year old sister. Octavia was perhaps the only girl in this world that he truly loved. He would do anything for her; protect and care for her in anyway situation they happened to stumble across.

"I hear Kane is buying a fancy, push button horse for you." Bellamy teased. Octavia scowled and raised her chin defiantly.

"We don't own push button horses in this family." She said in a voice that Bellamy often used when talking about show horses. He was about to respond with a backhanded comment, but his father opened his mouth first.

"You two, the chestnut gelding just entered the ring." Kane interrupted. Octavia bounced up on her feet and climbed onto the rail. Bellamy looked across Octavia's form and his stomach fell about a foot.

Clarke Griffin just entered the arena riding the Phoenix sale horse.

She was wearing a dark navy show coat that probably cost more than Bellamy's Ford pick-up truck. Her polished, Ariat boots were cleaned so well, that Bellamy could probably see his reflection when she trotted by. Obviously she didn't get the memo that she was showing a horse to a bunch of people from Walden Farms.

"Oh my God," Octavia shrieked. "Is that Clarke Griffin? The Clarke Griffin?"

Bellamy rolled his eyes. His sister got star struck way to easily.

"I'm pretty sure..." he mumbled staring down at his hands.

"She's like one of the best hunter riders on the east coast! Her horse, Mystique Elm, is one of the greatest Dutch Warmbloods out there." Octavia commented, watching intently as Thelonious Jaha walked over towards them and as Clarke began to warm up.

Bellamy had to admit, the horse was beautiful and Clarke rode like she had been put in equitation classes since the day she was born. The chestnut was a fluid mover and she often rewarded him with the slightest of rein. Her heels were perfect, her posture was perfect, her hands were perfect. Where was the fun in being perfect?

"...as you can see, Bravado is a smooth mover. He's super docile and still has years of a winning show career ahead of him." Jaha droned on. "Clarke's ridden him in several A shows and has won plenty of classes on him."

Bellamy didn't doubt it. She had built up quite the reputation around here, but then again, so had he. And his reputation didn't include just his riding skills. Bellamy had talents in other things too - like hooking up with the female riders.

"What do you think, Bell?" Octavia asked.

Bellamy gazed at Clarke, her thousand dollar outfit and outstanding eq. At that moment, she happened to glance over at them leaning against the railing and her eyes met his. Her canter step faltered slightly, but she recovered nicely. She returned to concentrating on the horse and the light in her eyes immediately faded.

"She's not my type." Bellamy replied evenly.

He heard Octavia sigh next to him. "That's right, I forgot. You only like the crazy and wild ones."

Bellamy was suddenly quite fascinated with the ground. "Yeah," he said softly.

In the background, Kane and Jaha were still talking. Amazingly, they weren't killing each other. They were conversing like normal human beings. By this time, Bellamy surely thought this whole situation would have ended in a lawsuit. It has happened before.

"Let's see him jump." His father exclaimed, raising his voice.

Jaha cupped his hands to his mouth and called out to Clarke from across the arena, "Clarke, take Bravado to that three foot vertical next to the liverpool!"

Bellamy watched as Clarke and Bravado easily sailed across the fence back and forth. This gelding was definitely about as push button as they came, but Bellamy could tell - his sister had already fallen in love. He saw it in the way her eyes glowed and in the way she held her hands neatly in her lap.

"How much are you asking?" Kane asked, his voice surprisingly firm.

Jaha's reply was immediate. "Seventy grand."

Bellamy almost dropped to the floor and Octavia's face fell. Her whole world had just been crushed in a matter of seconds. There was no way they could possibly afford Bravado, the price was too ridiculous.

"Are you negotiable?" Kane enquired.

"No, I'm afraid not." Jaha replied shaking his head. Bellamy would kill the son of a bitch. He would kill him for breaking Octavia's heart. And he would kill Kane too for getting her hopes up.

"Look, I'm not willing to settle for seventy grand. Is there anyway -" Kane began.

"No."

"I have forty thousand, in cash, if he vets clean." His father pleaded. Kane never pleaded. Only for his little girl would he bargain with the devil. Bellamy glanced over at Octavia. Tears were welling in her eyes and her bottom lip was quavering. That's when he realized, the horse that she had been talking about for all these months, that was this horse. She had been looking at Bravado all along. Octavia had her hopes and dreams set on him.

Bellamy did a damn stupid thing then -

"I'll work for you, at Phoenix Farms. I'll work for you for free until the horse is paid off."

No one spoke. Octavia turned towards him, her eyes wide. Kane's mouth was hanging open in utter disbelief at the notion that his son could be so selfless. Jaha was the only one who didn't seem fazed. He leaned back against the rail and studied Bellamy.

"You're the boy that breaks and trains your father's horses?" He questioned.

"Yes, sir."

"You're the one that owns that wild and out of control jumper?"

Bellamy bit his tongue. "Yes, sir."

Thelonious Jaha was silent and deep in thought. By now, Clarke was walking Bravado around on a loose rein looking as if she wasn't curious about the conversation they were having. Bellamy was certain she was out of earshot.

"Alright," Jaha said after several minutes of silence. "You come and break my horses and show my sale horses, and I'll allow Kane to buy this horse. Do we have a deal?"

He extended his hand. Bellamy took it.

"Deal."

Bellamy Blake had just bargained with the devil in exchange for his little sister's happiness.