Rebellion (The 100 #4)(62)

“Think of what?”

His eyes darted around nervously. “The view from this spot.”

“Um… it’s nice?”

“Good… good…” Then he took a deep breath and said, “Do you think it’d be a good spot for a cabin? For the two of us?”

Clarke’s head grew fuzzy as she tried to make sense of his words. “A cabin for…”

Then, in an instant, Bellamy’s nervousness seemed to drain away. “For us, Clarke.” He took her hand and squeezed it… and slowly got down on one knee.

“Oh,” Clarke said, her voice no more than a breath.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a silver ring.

“Bellamy,” she whispered. “Where did you get that?”

“I traded for it,” he said, almost as cavalier as usual… except for the fact that his hands were trembling.

Then she recognized it—the deep blue stone in the center—and her hands flew up to her chest, pressing hard to keep her heart from bursting out of her. “Bel, that’s… that’s…”

“A Griffin family heirloom,” he said, grinning.

“Where did you… how did you…?” She shook her head, speechless. This was the stone her ancestors had brought with them to the Colony from Earth, passed down through her family for generations.

“Like I said, I traded for it… with your mother.” He held it out to her, tentatively, almost as if there was a part of him that didn’t believe she’d take it.

But she did, cradling it in her palm. “What did you trade for it?”

“A promise,” Bellamy said, reaching out to cup her hand in both of his. “I promised to love you, respect you, honor you, protect you, defend you, tease you, argue with you…” He laughed. “And so on and so on…” His face fell serious. “For the rest of my life and yours… Clarke, will you marry me?”

Her knees gave out. She put her hands on his shoulders and let herself slide to the ground beside him, her arms slung around his shoulders, her kiss serving as the only answer he would ever need.

But just in case, she drew away and murmured against his lips, “Yes.”

They kissed again, and as they sat in the soil, entwined together, it felt to Clarke as if it wasn’t just this tiny patch of land they were claiming, it was the whole camp, the hills and mountains and rivers and lakes around them and everything beyond that.

Despite everything they’d faced since landing on Earth, right now it seemed as though the entire planet was finally saying what Bellamy was murmuring to her right now.

“Welcome home.”