Clarke had joined us in the late afternoon, her and Picasso the dog making a much anticipated arrival. 

I had smiled at the sight of the dog, giving Bellamy a raised-brow look as he simply laughed. Looks like I got my dog. 

The whole reason all of us had decided life was for Clarke, for each other. And the look on her face when she saw the group of us had been one of pure shock. 

But for the rest of us, it had been an easy decision. For me, it was the easiest I had ever made. Because I knew that this life was where I wanted to be. 

I wanted to be surrounded by my best friends- my family- and I wanted to spend my life with Bellamy. I knew that this life meant an end brought by death, but I also knew that death meant a new beginning in another life- a life that contained my brother. 

Finn weighed heavy on my mind that night as darkness fell across the water in front of me. The moon casted a bright white light, illuminating the dark night.

I sat alone, my knees pulled to my chest as I watched the waves quietly lap in front of me. Loud chatter could be heard from where the others sat crowded around a camp fire.

This felt like the first time since the Ring that I truly had a minute to sit and think about everything that had happened. For once, I was hopeful that I could wake up the next morning and not be fearful for my life or for the others'.

My brother would have loved this life...I think this is always what he wanted. To be surrounded by friends and family, to live in peace. 

Footsteps sounded from behind me, breaking my from my thoughts and causing me to sit up a bit straighter. 

I knew who it was before she even spoke. I had been expecting this all night. 

"Can we talk?" 

Clarke stood over me, watching me with a nervous expression. She didn't know where the two of us stood, quite frankly neither did I. 

Bellamy was alive. She hadn't taken the most important person from me. But she had still tried to. She had tried and she had failed. Did that make it any better?

My eyes locked with hers, and I gave a small nod while shifting slightly to allow her to sit down next to me. 

A shuddered breath fell from her lips as she lowered herself onto the sand, her eyes briefly dancing up to the stars. "Beautiful, isn't it?"

I resisted a scoff. "I know you didn't come down here to talk about how beautiful it is, Clarke."

She tore her eyes from the sky, looking down as her shoulder heaved another sigh. "You're right. I didn't." Her demeanour shifted as she brought herself to look at me. "I don't think I can ever tell you how sorry I am" She began, her eyes full of sadness. 

I shifted my gaze to the sky, giving a small shake of my head. "It's not me you need to apologize to. I'm not the one you tried to kill."

Without looking directly at her, I could see the look on Clarke's face. It was one of regret, self-loathing, one of guilt. "I know." She agreed. "But I hurt you too. And I've done it before."

Turning, I looked at her once again, my face set in stone. She had done it before. Clarke had hurt me again and again. She had killed my brother, sent Bellamy into Mount Weather, left us all, tied me up in Becca's lab, locked me out of the bunker...the list went on and on. But I had decided to stay here- partly for her and partly for myself and the others. Bellamy had done the same, he refused to leave her even after all she had done to him. Maybe we were the real fools. 

"Over the years, I've come to understand why you do the things you do." I responded, looking back to the water once again. "I can't say I agree with them, but I get where you're coming from. But this, Clarke, this is bad. This is the epitome of betrayal."

Her face fell as I continued on. "Everything you did up to now was to protect your people. But trying to kill Bellamy- that was protecting one person and one person alone. And how many lives did you destroy in its wake? If he wasn't here- if Bellamy was truly dead then--"

I cut myself off, not wanting to finish my sentence. Pushing the down the lump in my throat, I felt tears pricking at my eyes. "You killed my brother." I finally breathed, this being the first time I had cried about Finn in years. "But I forgave you, I understood. You tied me up, locked me out of the bunker, betrayed us all- I forgave you. How can I keep doing that, Clarke?" I wondered, truly asking for her opinion. "How can I put myself through the pain of your betrayal again and again?"

Clarke, too, had tears in her eyes when I finally looked at her. She opened her mouth, but couldn't form the words at first. Finally, she did. "I don't know." Her answer was honest, I had to appreciate that. "But just know that I will spend everyday down here making it up to you and Bellamy-to everyone." She wiped a tear away. "I can't undo all the pain I have caused, all the wrong I have done. But I can do better."

"You've said that before."

She nodded. "I know. But this time I mean it. This time it's just us down here. There's no more threats, no more fights to be fought. I can do better now, I really can."

I remained silent, knees pulled up to my chest as I watched the water in front of me, Clarke's words registering in my head. Maybe she meant it this time? Maybe Clarke and I could actually get along long enough without something ripping us apart. 

"I hope that's true." I whispered, my voice raw and ragged. 

Letting out a sad sigh, Clarke pulled herself to her feet. "Thank you for at least hearing me out." 

When I didn't respond, she turned reluctantly and began making her way back toward the fire where the rest of the group was. 

"Hey, Clarke?" I called, turning to face her. She paused, looking back at me with a curious look.

Clearing my throat, I gave her a sincere look. "I'm sorry about Madi. She was a really good kid."

A sad smile came to Clarke's face as she nodded. "Thanks, Avery. But she's in a better place now. This was no life for her."

Madi had Transcended, and while I was sure Clarke would have rather had here here, maybe it was best that she wasn't. 

With that, I gave Clarke a small nod as I turned back to the lake, a small shiver running through me as a breeze blew through the quiet night. 

Somewhere behind me, Murphy was hooting and hollering about something while Emori and Raven's laughter melded together. 

I felt myself smile slightly, the heaviness of my heart slowly subsiding. It wasn't going to be easy to move on from everything that had happened, but this was the best place to start. 

So caught up in my own thoughts, I barely realized that another person had approached me until a jacket was gently laid over my shoulders. 

Startled, I turned to look at Bellamy who lowered himself next to me, his jacket now hanging off my body. "Hey." he smiled, automatically allowing me to lean into him as he pulled me closer. "What are you doing out here?"

I breathed in, taking in his scent as I shrugged. "Just thinking."

He nodded, pressing a gentle kiss to the top of my head. "What did Clarke want?"

My body stilled for a moment. "To explain herself." I finally answered, craning my neck so I could look at him. "Have you talked to her yet?"

Bellamy's face darkened slightly as he shook his head. "No." he answered, his voice raspy. "Not yet."

I nodded, "You don't have to until you're ready...you don't have to at all, actually."

A quiet laugh fell from his lips. "I'll have to talk to her eventually. Just not right now."

We then fell into a comfortable silence, me with my head on his chest, him with his fingers running absentmindedly through my hair. 

"What happened that day in Sanctum?" I wondered, finally breaking the silence. "How-why did you come back to me?"

His breath skipped slightly as the memories of what had happened seemed to bleed through. Shifting underneath me slightly, he began recounting the occurrence. "Clarke did try to kill me. And she almost succeeded." he admitted. "But as I lay there bleeding out, all I could think about was you, and how I was going to die knowing you hated me."

"I never hated you." I whispered. "I never could."

He gave me a small smile. "I let you down." he continued. "I hated knowing that I was leaving you."

A low sigh left his lips as he continued to run his hand through my hair- I think it was calming him as much as it was calming me. "Cadogan's men saved me, and I decided right then and there that I would choose you over anything. None of that stuff mattered to me anymore."

My eyes flickered up toward him. "But you said you believed with your whole heart in what Cadogan was teaching. And you were right...everything you believed was essentially true.""

He shook his head slightly, a small smile coming to his lips. "My whole heart belongs to you, not some philosophical belief that I still barely understand. I never should have left you. I would rather die with you than spend the rest of our lives apart."

It felt like my heart was being held in someone's hand and squeeze with all of their might as I spoke. "When I thought I lost you...I wanted to die." I whispered, finally admitting all I had felt when I was under the impression that I had lost Bellamy. "If John didn't walk in on me alone in that bunker...I might have."

Bellamy was still underneath me as he held me just a but tighter. "I'm here now." He assured. "I'm here and I'm never leaving again."

I sat up quickly, startling Bellamy slightly as I turned to face him. Silently, I grabbed his face in my hands and pulled him toward me. Our lips met and I could feel him smile under my touch. 

"I love you." I asserted strongly once we separated enough for me to speak. "I love you so much and I'm so happy you came back to me."

Bellamy pulled me closer, connecting our lips once again. "Let's get married." he murmured, voice muffled by my lips

Pulling away, I gave him a quirked brow expression. "Married?" I echoed. "I thought you weren't going to ask me to marry you?"

True enough, Bellamy had given me an engagement ring while up on the Ring. But we had made no official plans to get married. How could we when everyday was never guaranteed. 

He laughed, picking up my hand where the ring sat. He twirled it around on my finger, giving me a large smile. "Married." He affirmed. "Right now."

It was my turn to laugh. "Now?"

Standing up, Bellamy reached down and pulled me up along with him. "Maybe we better make it tomorrow. Octavia will kill us if she doesn't get the plan something."

I grinned, a vivid memory coming back to me which included a sixteen-year old Octavia telling me that she needed to plan my wedding. The conversation was had the day after I had been returned from Grounder captivity in our early days on Earth. The others had gone to check out the crash site of part of the Ark, leaving the two of us to our devices. 

Often I wondered if she knew that it would be her brother that I would be marrying. 

"Sounds great." I whispered, leaning into him slightly. "Should we go tell the others?"

Bellamy nodded, lacing his hand in mine. "We shall, my lady."

Rolling me eyes, I let out a gentle laugh as the two of us walked hand-in-hand back to the fire where the others were- still chattering away. 

As we approached, the noise died down slightly, each of them turning to look at us with smile as we stood in front of them.

"We have some news." Bellamy announced.

"You're pregnant!" Raven shouted, barely giving us a chance to get another word out. 

I shook my head firmly. "No." I asserted. "But, we are getting married-tomorrow. And you all better be there."

Excited cheers sounded off. Raven, Emori and Octavia attacked me in joyous hugs as the boys patted Bellamy on the back. 

We had a lot of work to do down here on Earth, but I was so excited to get started. 

-an-

our babies are officially getting married!!!!

I haven't decided if I am going to do a wedding chapter or not-we'll see

but I am for sure going to do a few follow up chapters

love you all!

-maddy xoxo