muse - bellarke au

one

     It was an early morning in the beginning of June, Clarke Griffin was doing what she usually did. Sitting in her window seat overlooking the street that her large house sat on, sketching something that she would inevitably get frustrated with and give up on, leaving yet another page in her sketchbook unfinished. She drew many things, her dog James, memories that she had of her late father, the beauty of nature, but she could never find her true muse. Hearing loud beeping from below, she was snapped out of her thoughts to see that there was a moving van pulling into the house across the street from hers. Now, Clarke wasn't really the new people type of person, so instead of going down to greet her new neighbors, she quickly jumped off of her window seat and headed somewhere else in the house that she knew she couldn't be seen from. 

     It got lonely in her house sometimes. The only people that lived there were her and her mother, and her mother was rarely home. She was a doctor, worked at one of the largest hospitals in Oregon. Often times even on her day off, her time was spent at the hospital working overtime or going to meetings. Clarke loved her mother with all of her heart and valued her work, but she wished she would come home sometimes. It wasn't always this way, when Clarke was a kid her mom and her dad always seemed to be home. Never missed a holiday, never missed a birthday or a school production or really anything important, but that all changed when the accident happened. 

     Clarke's mom, Abby, was working an unusual shift at the hospital and Clarke's dad, Jake, was at home with little Clarke, who was sick with a vicious flu. Clarke, who was twelve at the time, had begun falling in and out of consiousness and Jake was worried. Not caring about himself or the fact he hadn't slept in 18 hours, he loaded Clarke into the car and began driving to the hospital. Jake fell asleep at the wheel, ran through a red light and was hit by oncoming traffic. Jake was pronounced dead at the scene, Clarke was lucky to be alive, and now Abby drowns herself in her work and Clarke drowns herself in her unfinished sketches. 

The sound of the dog barking startled Clarke, her mom was home, she got very happy. 

"Clarke, honey? Are you awake?" Abby called, setting things down on the ground. 

Clarke rounded a corner, a smile spread across her face,  "Mom!" she called, crashing into Abby, wrapping her in a hug.

"Did you notice the moving van across the way?" Abby asked.

"I did, I kinda just hid," Clarke said sheepishly. 

"Oh c'mon Clarke, I saw them as i drove by, they look your age. Go talk to them,"

Clarke looked down at herself, she was wearing fluffy pj pants and a baggy t shirt with Tina from Bobs Burgers on it, a perfect outfit for a good first impression. 

"Bring them this," Abby said, handing Clarke a tray of fruit and vegetables, "Love you kiddo,"

"Love you too mom," Clarke said, putting on slippers and walking out the door.

Clarke really didn't enjoy talking to new people, especially when it was people her age, but she liked making her mom happy. As she approached, she confirmed what her mother had said. There was a girl, she looked young, but not too young. There was also a boy, he was absolutely breathtaking. He was tall, muscly and had dark, messy, curly hair. His smile was blinding and could probably have made Clarke stop breathing right then and there, but she powered through. 

"Uh, hi. I'm Clarke, I live across the way. My mom wanted me to bring you guys this," Clarke said, moving the tray forward slightly. 

The girl smiled, "I'm Octavia! Thanks for this, we probably don't have much food that's still good," she said, taking the tray from Clarke. 

The boy just stood there, a hard look on his face, examining Clarke. She was slightly uncomfortable. 

"This is Bellamy, he's being weird because you're cute," Octavia laughed. 

Bellamy scoffed, "Shut up O,"

Clarke and Octavia laughed, Clarke looked down blushing. 

"Do you live in that giant house alone? Or do you have a guy in your life?" Octavia asked, wiggling her eyebrows. 

"Oh, no no. I'm only 18. I live there with my mom, just us two. Definatley no guy. I'm a little too awkward for a boyfriend,"

"I'm 16 and Bellamy is 21, it's cool that we live near people close to our ages, we've always lived around old people," Octavia explained. 

"Well, I'm having a few of my friends over for dinner and some movies tomorrow night, you guys could come if you want?" Clarke offered, not believing the words that came out of her mouth. 

"Oh!! That would be so fun!! Can we Bell?" Octavia begged. 

"I don't know, O," Bellamy said hesitantly, still eyeing Clarke.

"Please Bell, please?"

With a sigh, Bellamy mumbled "fine" and walked away. 

"I'll see you guys around 7 then?" Clarke smiled and walked away, the image of the boy with curly hair fresh in her mind.