Chapter Text
Clarke reached out to adjust the large pile of presents that were threatening to topple over on the table.
“Does everything look good?” she asked, turning to Raven while stilling fidgeting with her clothes.
“I don’t know why on earth you went this hard. He’s turning 29, it’s not worthy of a high-end surprise party,” Raven sighed, crossing her arms irritably. She had never liked Finn; he was pompous and he always wore his hair slicked off to the side. There was nothing particularly wrong with him but he rubbed Raven the wrong way. There had been one too many situations where he had acted overly entitled or drunk flirted with a girl in front of Clarke.
But even though she wasn't his biggest fan, Raven generally put her opinion aside for the sake of her best friend.
“I want his birthday to be special, okay? I planned this party and I got us tickets to Vegas. If this goes well then, I can bring up the idea of setting a date for the wedding. Our mothers have been arguing about it at their DAR meetings and it’s getting a little old.”
“Oh, that makes perfect sense. Silly me,” Raven rolled her eyes and plucked a mini quiche off one of the small silver trays. “You hate Vegas, you’ve always said it was dirty and gross.”
“Rae, can you be nice, please? It's one night. Think of it as his birthday present?” Clarke pleaded, bending over to rearrange the quiches so they still looked symmetrical. She knew Raven and Finn shared some animosity, but it had only grown worse since the engagement.
Logically, Clarke knew she should try to help her fiancé and her best friend get along. But sometimes, Finn needed someone to knock him down a peg and Raven was always more than happy to oblige. “And I do hate Vegas but Finn loves Blackjack so it’s a good way to get him in a good mood.”
“Ugh fine, but only because I love you,” Raven smiled, bumping her hip against her friend’s. “And only if you send me a picture of you with one of those male strippers.
Clarke smiled and poured another crystal glass of wine for her friend before turning to rearrange a tower of champagne glasses. Before Raven could say anything else, Clarke’s phone buzzed on the table and she sprung up. She flickered the lights in the apartment until a hush fell over the small crowd.
Sweeping the apartment to make sure everyone was out of sight, she swung the door open.
“Finn!” she called, tucking a blonde curl behind her ear as her fiancé stepped out from the elevator. Her smile dipped a bit when she noticed that he didn't greet her with his normal smile and hug.
She shrugged off his weird body language and instead moved forward to wrap him in a tight hug. “I have an amazing night planned for us!”
He pulled back from the hug, leaving his hands placed on each of her shoulders. He looked...worn out. His body language didn't exactly seem like someone excited to celebrate their birthday.
“I know we have plans for my birthday but we need to talk about some stuff before we do anything else,” Finn said carefully, taking a step away from her.
“You've had a long day, nobody likes working on their birthday! Come inside, I'm sure a drink would help, ” she continued, lightly tugging on his arm to pull him through the open doorway.
“I think we should talk about this now,” Finn urged, crossing his arms across his chest.
Clarke’s stomach dropped, something was unsettling about Finn’s expression. They had known each other since they were kids, so she was pretty well versed on the many faces of Finn. The face he was making meant that there was bad news coming her way.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Clarke asked softly, eyes darting across his face. She felt her face getting hot as she desperately trying to discern his emotions. Her heart was racing. They had been having a lot of disagreements lately and she had a bad feeling about where this was going. Sure it had seemed a little weird that he didn't want to set a date for the wedding but she had assumed it was due to nerves.
“You know my job is really stressful right? And well, you’re great. It’s awesome to have you around and stuff because you’re so organized and clean. Plus my mother loves you which is saying something since she hates everyone. But all the scheduling and planning is just a lot of stress for me. Especially with planning sex and stuff…it just ruins the whole thing and I’m honestly exhausted. I think I need to date someone who is a little less ambitious, you know?” Finn rambled, wringing his hands nervously. "Seven years is a long time and this isn't what I want anymore. We aren't the same people we were back in college. I'm sorry."
“What the hell?!” Clarke snapped, a flush of irritation washed over her as his words sunk in. She couldn’t believe he was criticizing her for having her life together. She felt hurt and embarrassed but also a little indignant. He hadn't even cared to come up with a real reason to dump her.
“I’m saying that this isn’t working, I’m done with this relationship, I’m leaving you. Well, I guess you’d be the one leaving since this is my apartment and all but still,” Finn continued, speaking as if he was talking to a child.
Something in Clarke snapped at his tone. Rage flushed from her ears to her chest and in a flurry of anger, she whipped around and flipped on the lights.
“Well sur-fucking-prise, I threw you a birthday party. Everyone we know got to witness this display. I don’t even know what to say about this whole thing other than the fact that I can't believe I wasted so much time on you. Goddammit Finn,” she yelled, voice cracking at the end of her sentence.
She turned on her heel and strode through the apartment to grab her purse with Raven trailing behind.
“Thank God she finally realized she could do better,” Raven smirked. She couldn't resist the urge to pick up a cupcake and smash it directly into Finn’s chest. “and lay off on the gel.”
Everyone else in the room stood speechless, watching the drama unfold. Raven and Clarke ignored the wide-eyed stares as they stormed out of the apartment.
It wasn’t until they were safely alone in the elevator that Clarke let herself cry. Sobs wracked her chest as she mourned the end of an era of her life. She had based so much of who she was on Finn. It was embarrassing and heartwrenching to know that it was over.
Raven bent down beside her and wrapped her in a tight hug. She rubbed Clarke's back and assured her that she could and would do better than Finn one day.
XXX
Bellamy held a large, greasy brown paper bag against his chest as he jogged up the stairs. It was his favorite night of the week. The one day he had completely to himself to watch ArkU Basketball and eat greasy Chinese food. These days were what kept him sane in his otherwise monotonous life.
He skidded in his tracks at the sight of someone standing in front of his door, leaning in the doorway. Shifting his bag to one side, he moved closer before realizing that the person was Echo. And she was wearing a nurse costume.
“Heyyyy,” he said, running his hands through his hair as he approached. He wasn’t usually one to partake in long term relationships or relationships of any kind. Hanging out with Echo had been fun but he had been trying to distance himself for a while and it didn’t seem to be sticking.
“I’m so happy to see you, doctor,” she smiled, trailing a finger down his cheek and hooking it in his collar.
He desperately tried to keep the blood from rushing out of his head and to his dick, but he couldn’t help the flush of arousal at her words and the skimpy outfit. “Fuck,” he groaned, reaching out to run a hand against her side. “You look fucking hot, but we talked about this.”
“You’re being silly!”
“Echo, I can’t date you. I don't roll that way. If that’s what you want, then this can't go any further. You’re sexy as hell and a lot of fun. But I don’t want to give you the wrong idea here,” he tried, using all his willpower to draw his hand away from her side.
“This is so stupid, we’ve been having sex for like almost a year. In most of the civilized world, that's called a relationship.”
“I never pretended that this was anything more than a hook-up dude. You’re the one who’s trying to make this serious.”
“Oh, fuck off Bellamy, your dick isn’t special. Own up to being a dick,” Echo rolled her eyes. Glaring at him, she wrapped her unseasonably heavy coat around her body and stormed down the stairs.
Bellamy let out a heavy sigh as he turned the key into his door and shouldered his way into his apartment. He tried to will away his hard-on as he started to lay out his food on the table. Part of him felt fucking crazy for turning down a hot girl who wanted to have sex with him. But the more logical part of his brain knew that she would ruin his life if he kept leading her on.
Shedding off his jeans, he flopped down on the couch and flipped on the game. All regret from earlier slipped away as he relished in the silence of his apartment.
He drifted off the sleep splayed across the couch, remote in hand with the soft flicker of the TV behind his eyelids.
Unfortunately for his back, he slept that way through the morning. He was jerked awake by the harsh buzzing off his phone against the wood table. He reached out to silenced it, only to be met with a continued vibration that indicated a call was coming through.
“Hello?” he groaned, sitting up and squinting as the sun filtered through the blinds and into his living room.
“Don’t bother coming into work today, or ever…I don’t hire men who sleep with my daughter and then treat her like a piece of meat!” his boss barked, raspy, smoker’s voice reverberating in his ears.
At the sound of his boss’ voice, Bellamy jerked up and quickly began pulling his clothes on. This was exactly what he had been trying to avoid. He had known it was stupid to mess around with his boss’ only daughter, but she was so hot and he was only so strong. Once he realized that it wasn’t going to go anywhere, he kept trying to break it off, but his willpower was usually chipped away. So here he was a year later, having successfully pissed off both Echo and her father.
“Sir, I can explain. Please don’t-“ he tried, falling back against the couch after finally wrestling his jeans on.
“Did you or did you not sleep with my daughter? And don’t fucking lie to me!”
“I did sir…”
“And you did so with no intention of dating her and then took advantage of a sweet, innocent girl.”
Bellamy tried to contain his snort, this man had a completely delusional view of who his child was. This conversation was seeming more and more like a lost cause. His boss was stuck on the detail of him sleeping with her daughter, arguing with it was a waste of time.
“It’s a construction job! I’m one of the best workers, and I’m always on time. I just -“
“You could be a carpenter as talented as Jesus Christ himself and there’s no way I would let you back on my worksite. As I said, Blake, you’re fired,” he said with finality as he hung up the phone with a hard click.
Bellamy chucked his phone against the wall with a harsh grunt, pressing the heels of his hands into his eyes. “FFfffucckkkkkkkk,” he groaned, dropping his head against his knee.
It wouldn’t be the first time that his dick had gotten him in trouble and it wouldn’t be the last. But this was the first time his sexcapades had never gotten him fired. He retrieved his phone from where it had landed in the kitchen, wincing at the crack in his screen. Sighing, he dialed Murphy as he began to dig through his barren pantry.
“I got fired,” he said unceremoniously, giving Murphy a summary of what had gone down with Echo and her dad. “And the only thing I have in my pantry are three cans of tuna.”
“I’m in line at Starbucks now, I’ll get you something and come over,” Murphy answered before hanging up the phone.
Bellamy scrubbed a hand over his face as he pushed off from the wall of his pantry and made his way toward the shower. He needed to scrub off the grime of sleeping on the couch and the sting of losing his job over the phone. By the time he had finished, Murphy was sprawled across the couch watching ESPN with a breakfast sandwich. At the sight of his friend, he leaned down to dig into a bag and tossed a sausage, egg and cheese sandwich at his head.
“Sorry about the job dude…” Murphy said, turning down the hockey game he had been watching.
“It fucking sucks. Obviously, I shouldn’t have kept it going with Echo for as long as I did but did she have to tattle on me to her dad?”
“I don’t really know what you expected to happen. You can’t sleep with a twenty-one year old and then expect her not to freak out of you when you reject her. I’m gonna take a wild swing here and say that she’s never had anyone tell her no before.”
“She was so hot…” Bellamy sighed, reaching into the bag and grabbing a handful of tater tots.
“You got me there dude. At least it was good while it lasted…”
“Unemployed because of boobs, what a way to go down,” he groaned, cradling his head in his hands.
Suddenly, a wide grin spread over Murphy’s face as he whipped out his phone and began tapping at his screen. “I’m a genius. You’re going to love me! You’re going bow down to the sacred brotherhood of Beta Zeta Tau for making us roommates back in college.”
Bellamy rolled his eyes at his friend and balled up a greasy napkin to throw at his head, Murphy had a tendency toward theatrics. “What the hell are you talking about?! Please don’t tell me you found me a pyramid scheme to join.”
“I joined Arbonne for like a week and nobody will ever forget it!”
“Yeah because you made two hundred Facebook posts about how men need digestive cleanses as much as women do. Then you pretended like you got hacked after everyone made fun of you,” Bellamy laughed.
“That is literally beside the point,” Murphy deflected, turning back to his phone. “The point is that I found us tickets to Vegas for $200. I mean we’ll have to fly Spirit airlines but a cheap flight is a cheap flight.”
“Vegas?!” Bellamy laughed, brows shooting up in disbelief at the suggestion.
“You’re unemployed, I have a bunch of vacation days saved up. What’s a better way to make you feel better than a weekend with hot girls, unlimited booze and slot machines?” Murphy exclaimed, shooting off the couch to gesture wildly with his hands. “I mean I’m spoken for but I make an excellent wingman.”
Bellamy considered his friend’s words, leaning back in the leather armchair, “You know what Murph, I think you’re onto something here.”
“Hell yeah!” Murphy cheered, pumping his fist into the air. “I’ll call Miller right now. We’re going to Vegas baby!”
XXX
Clarke leaned forward onto the spinning bike, pumping her legs as hard as she could as the beat of the EDM music vibrated through her head headphones. She funneled all of her frustration from the past few days into the bike. She had to stifle a scream as she thought back on the sting of having to move her things out of Finn’s apartment and for the horrific call to her mother to explain that the engagement is off.
“YO! You’re going to break the pedals off of that bike,” Raven yelled, slapping a hand against Clarke’s on the handlebars.
Panting, Clarke slowed her legs and unclipped her feet from the pedals. “I’m just so freaking angry about everything. I’m terrified of seeing half of my friends! I’m so embarrassed about what happened. Finn brought up our sex schedule,” Clarke sighed, wiping her brow with a towel.
“What Finn obviously sucks and what he was did was inadvertently shitty. But trying to rip your legs off on the stationary bike isn’t going to help!” Raven agreed, pulling up the waistband of her leggings as she gestured for Clarke to follow her back to the locker room.
Clarke looked longingly toward the bike but collected her things and followed Raven to the back of the gym.
“But what’s going to help?! I just feel like I’m going to spend my entire life being embarrassed and angry!” Clarke huffed, pulling open the heavy sauna door with a little more force than necessary.
“I mean, I had an idea…” Raven said slyly, leaning against the wood wall of the sauna. “I don’t think you’re going to like it, but Harper and I think it would be good for you.”
“Every good idea starts with ‘you’re not going to like this’” Clarke groaned, pulling her hair back as the heat started to set in.
“We think that we should use those Vegas tickets you bought. Harper has tons of miles from her job so all three of us could go. It would be good for you to let go a little bit, have some fun.”
“What! No! I hate Vegas and it’s just going to remind me of Finn!” Clarke huffed, eyebrows knitting together in frustration.
“You need to do this as a fuck you to Finn. This is a chance for you to let your hair down and flirt with a few guys. A risk-free way to put yourself out there!” Raven urged, reaching out to squeeze Clarke’s arm.
The suggestion weighed heavily on Clarke and before she could answer, the sauna door swung open and two older women stepped in. Her gaze flicked to Raven as she realized that the conversation was temporarily on hold. Maybe Raven had a point, what did she have to lose? She had the time off from work anyway and if she didn’t go she would just spend the whole time moping and working out.
“I’m in,” she whispered to Raven, who grinned widely in response and quickly whipped out her phone to change the name of their group text to “Vegas Ladies”.