Bellarke One Shots Book 2

75) Knight in Shining Armour

"Finn, leave me alone. I have nothing to say to you!" Clarke stormed down the street, leaving Finn trailing behind her. The heels on her boots clicked fiercely on the sidewalks, and the steely glare on her face caused other pedestrians to step aside and let her pass.

"Clarke, please! I can explain!" He pleaded, running after her. "I didn't mean for you to find out like that!" Finn reached out and took hold of her arm, forcing her to stop marching to and face him.

An angry grunt escaped her, "And just when were you planning on telling me that you had a fiancee across town?! Next month? Our one year? Or after we got married?!" Clarke wrenched her arm from Finn's hold. All she had wanted was a peaceful morning to herself to deal with her mess of a personal life, but Finn had been waiting for her outside of her apartment and had latched onto her as she tried to walk away.

She needed to get away from him. Pulling open the first shop door she saw, she entered the coffee shop.

Unfortunately, Finn followed.

Clarke's eyes darted around the rustic shop, scanning the customers for an excuse to feed Finn. There was a couple chatting closely over their lattes near the fireplace. Two older women talking animatedly in the middle of the room. Two tables had been pulled together to seat a gaggle of tween girls, clad in identical jackets, leggings, and boots. The limited number of customers significantly hindered her plan to say she was here to meet someone.

And then she noticed one other customer in the far corner of the room. A man with dark hair and eyes, olive skin, and a nose deep into a thick paperback book. Oddly, there was no drink in front of him - either he was waiting for someone, or had been so wrapped up in his book that he had forgotten to order. He was gorgeous, definitely perfect. Perfect - perfect for her plan, she had to remind herself.

Clarke turned back to Finn, who had followed her inside and was attempting to use his large puppy eyes on her - the same eyes that had caused her to agree to go out with him in the first place. The same puppy eyes that hid his true nature as a lying, cheating, piece of man scum.

"Finn. You need to go away now. You have to stop following me, stop looking for me. I don't want to talk. I never want to see you again."
She raked her hands through her long blonde hair and sighed in frustration. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed that the man in the corner had looked up, her outburst had caught his attention.

"Clarke, please! Let's talk, have a coffee with me, we'll figure this all out." Finn offered, insistent on pursuing her.

"No Finn. I'm done with you. So done." Clarke double checked that the man was still looking up, and he was. She intentionally made eye contact with him and she launched into her escape plan, raising her voice for the man's benefit. "In fact, Finn, I'm here to meet my boyfriend, so you need to leave now."

Finn's eyes widened in shock. "A n-new boyfriend?" he stuttered. He quickly scanned the coffee shop and landed his gaze on the man in the corner. "What? Him?! You've got to be kidding me!"

Clarke looked back to the man, who suddenly raised his hand to wave and beckon her closer. "Princess, over here." He called gently. Clarke's blue eyes flashed in surprise, but quickly played along. She took a few quick steps to the back of the shop. Before she could chicken herself out, she leaned down and kissed his olive cheek. He surprised her once again by placing his arm lightly on her waist, pulling her closer to him.

Any shock in her face disappeared when she met his dark brown eyes as he said, "I waited to order until you got here, should we go get our drinks now? Or do I need to beat up your ex first?" The man gestured to Finn, who had followed Clarke a few steps forward, but was now frozen in place, his jaw fallen.

Clarke smiled sweetly down at the man, and placed her hand on his shoulder. "Coffee or tea?" she asked as innocent as she could, having no idea what drink the man preferred.

"Ooooh, hard choice. But I'll take a coffee," he answered with a smug grin on his beautiful face.

Clarke nodded, "Okay, I'll grab our drinks and you can take care of my stalker ex." She rolled her eyes for dramatic effect, "He followed me the entire way here."

The man stood up from his table and cracked his knuckles - and oh, she had not realized he was so tall. And muscular. He towered over her, even in her heels. And he definitely had a few intimidating inches over Finn, and was more built than her wiry ex.

Finn seemed to realize the man's true height and recognized he had lost the battle. He held up his hands, and said in defeat, "Fine. You win Clarke. I'll leave you alone."

Her coffee shop man held his fierce gaze toward Finn. "Good," his deep voice growled. "And if you ever bother my princess again..." He finalized this threat by slamming a fist into his open hand, a sharp smacking noise echoed through the coffee shop.

Finn gulped, spun on his heel, and exited the store quickly.

Clarke let out a huge sigh of relief, as the man began to chuckle behind her. She turned to face him, "Thank you! Thank you for that!"

He grinned, "Not a problem. That was almost too easy."

"But seriously," she reiterated, "He was never going to leave me alone otherwise. How can I thank you?"

His eyes darkened mischievously as he sat back down at this table, "Well, how about that coffee you promised me? Black."

Clarke smiled. "I can do coffee," and went to the front to order.

She placed the two white coffee cups on the table and seconds later he was laughing. When the barista had asked for names, Clarke had realized she didn't know the man's. So she had the cups labelled "Prince" and "Princess" because of the nickname he had called her.

"Prince, eh?" he teased.

"Well, 'knight in shining armour' didn't exactly fit on the cup," she fired back.

He flashed his magnificent grin, and held out his hand to shake. "I'm Bellamy. Bellamy Blake."

"I'm Clarke Griffin." Bellamy gestured for her to sit down, and she obliged.

"So I have to admit, you make a very convincing protective fake-boyfriend."

"You looked like you could use the help. And I've actually had lots of practice scaring away guys."

She looked up at him, intrigued. "Really?"

He nodded. "Yeah, my younger sister, Octavia, seems to attract every awful guy in the neighbourhood. When they won't leave her alone, she calls her big brother to the rescue."

Clarke was in awe. "Wow, you're a great brother. You and your sister must be really close."

"We are. In fact," Bellamy glanced down at his watch, "She was supposed to meet me here five minutes ago. But she's late. As usual."

Clarke looked down at the hot coffee held in her hands. "I should get going then, leave you to your sister."

"Oh, you don't need to leave just yet. Who knows, that stalker ex might still be lurking around outside." She grinned at him. "And besides, who knows how long it'll be before O finally arrives."

Clarke smiled, and tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear. "I'll stay then." She was genuinely enjoying his company. Her blue eyes looked straight into his deep brown eyes, and she asked, "So, why 'princess'?"