It's Easy to Fall [A Bellarke fanfiction]

Chapter 3: How did she know her name?

So sorry for the long wait guys! Here's the next chapter! Enjoy! :-)

The rumble of the car went silent as it came to a stop. She reached for the handle but paused when she saw the car in the driveway. A wide grin spread on her face and she fumbled for the handle almost tumbling out the car and slammed the door shut with a bit too much strength. Her mother was home! After over a week, she was home and she hadn't even called to tell her! 

She ran down the driveway fumbling for her keys and threw the door open shutting it quickly before throwing her bag down. A voice in the kitchen caught her attention and she made her way there before stopping at the doorway when she saw the person sat at the dining table. He smiled when he saw her and she plastered one on her face before making her way into the room.

"Dante." She rounded the table "How lovely to see you."

He nodded. "And you Clarke. How long has it been? 2 months? 3?"

"A year. It's been a year and a few months." She leaned on the chair opposite him. "So. Cage. He's not here with you?"

He laughed and shook his head. "No. Not today. He's busy."

Her eyes narrowed but she kept the perfect smile on her face. "At the hospital?"

His eyes met hers and it almost shook her down to the bone. "Yes. At the hospital."

Clarke nodded slowly but kept his gaze. He was staring at her like a predator would to its prey and it kept her rooted to her spot.

The sound of footsteps broke them out of their match and a bumbling Abby came bursting in. 

"Clarke!" 

"Hey Mom."

Abby rounded the table and pulled her into a hug. "I'm so sorry I've been gone for so long. The hospital was busy because of the accident at the--"

"The bridge." Clarke nodded pulling herself out of the hug. "Yeah. It was all over the news. 30 dead and over triple injured."

Abby nodded as she placed the cups in her hands on the table - the sound of glass clinking together - and lifted two bottles of wine up. "Levy & McClellan or Hundred Acre 'Wraith'?" 

Dante lifted his cup. "You should know by now that I never say no to Levy & McClellan."

Abby laughed and poured it into the glass. The inky purple colour always reminded Clarke of grapes. The thing was that she loved grapes. She just didn't like the how weak they were. It always made her think of the moment one sank their teeth into the skin and the juice came gushing out. It reminded her of humans. The tiniest thing could squeeze you dry. Or in her father's case, the tiniest bullet.

Abby poured a second glass for herself and took a seat at the table. She took a peek at the clock hanging on the wall. "The casserole should be done in around ten minutes."

"Casserole?" They never had casserole on a Tuesday. In fact, they hadn't had a casserole since--

Abby looked up from her cup. "Yes Clarke. Casserole."

Clarke's eyebrows furrowed. "But Mom--"

"Dante's staying for dinner."

Clarke paused staring at her mother and they had somewhat of a silent conversation before Clarke broke and nodded. "I-I should get changed. Wouldn't want to ruin the mood with my sweaty clothes." She let out an awkward chuckle before turning on her heel and making her way out the room.

The stairs dragged on longer than they usually did as she took step after step forward. 

Her father had been in charge of casseroles. He'd always add a different ingredient each time that would spice the meal up and whenever she'd ask what it was, he would always wink and say that it was his "little secret". It took some time but she'd eventually found out that he just used different spices. She remembered the time as if it were yesterday.