Songs From Friday Afternoons [Bellarke]

September 5, 1965

September 5, 1965

     In the morning, Bellamy and Clarke are both asleep in the tent. Bellamy has his arm around Clarke's shoulders. Clarke has slept in her bra and underwear, while Bellamy wears his underwear and a white t-shirt. All is quiet, for a while, at least. Then, Bellamy hears the sound of a seaplane approaching outside. He opens his eyes, blinking sleepily, before slowly sitting up. Clarke stirs, waking up when Bellamy sits up. She yawns, blinking sleep out of her eyes. Bellamy leans forward, grabbing the zipper, and unzipping the flaps of the tent to peer outside.

     Standing on the shore of the beach is Scout Master Sinclair, Mr. and Mrs. Griffin, Captain Kane, and a few of the Scouts from Troop 55. Mr. Griffin starts towards the tent, and Bellamy quickly zips the tent shut, and Clarke wraps her arms around him. He does the same, seconds before Mr. Griffin grabs hold of the tent and rips it out of the ground, revealing to two sitting in their underwear. Mr. Griffin stares at the sight of his daughter embracing the boy for a long time before tossing the tent aside, and walking away without a word to his daughter. Mrs. Griffin is the next to come up to the tent, pausing only a moment to take in the sight of Clarke and Bellamy. She grabs Clarke's dress off the ground, and then grabs hold of Clarke, struggling to pull her away from Bellamy. She eventually pries her off of Bellamy, dragging her away.

     Next to come up is Scout Master Sinclair. He reaches into his back pocket and removes and envelope, offering it to Bellamy. Bellamy takes the envelope, staring at the return address. Herbert Sorenson; a letter from his foster parents.

--

Dear Bellamy,

     It saddens me to write this letter, but Mrs. Sorenson and I have decided we cannot permit you to return to our home. I know you mean well. Do trust me this is for the best.

Godspeed,

Herbert Sorenson

---

     On a speedboat on Black Beacon Sound, Clarke sits next to her mother and across from her father. Her father has been quietly staring at her throughout the entire boat ride, though after a while, finally speaks to her.

     "Be advised," he says, "the two of you will never see each other again. Those were your last words." He leans forward to look his daughter in the eyes. "Do you understand?" he says sternly.

     "I'd be careful if I were you," Clarke says. "One of these days somebody's gonna get pushed too far. Who knows what they're capable of."

     "Is that a threat?"

     "It's a warning."

     Meanwhile, in a small room in the boat, Bellamy sits on a bunk, quietly crying. Scout Master Sinclair enters the room, sitting on the bunk across from him. Bellamy wipes his eyes with his palms, not meeting Scout Master Sinclair's eyes.

     "I'm sorry about all this," Scout Master Sinclair apologized. "I didn't know your situation. It wasn't in the register. How'd you lose your parents?"

     Bellamy looked up briefly with watery eyes, sniffing, before looking back at the floor of the boat.

     "Nevermind, I—I don't need to ask about that." They sat in silence again, before Scout Master Sinclair opened his mouth to speak. "I wish we would've had time to perform an inspection back there. On the beach. I would've given you a 'commendable'. That was one of the best pitch campsites I've ever seen. Honestly."

     "Thank you," Bellamy sniffed.

     "You don't want to be a Khaki Scout anymore?"