Strings of Fate

21- Pillows and protection The more | calm down, the more awkward this entire situation seems.

“Alright, I should make a few calls, let people know what's happened and where | am. Why don’t you go change?” he suggests. | glance down at myself and realise that my clothes are all dirty from where | sat on the ground. | nod and make my way to my room. | quickly trade my skirt for my unicorn pyjama bottoms and my shoes for slippers. | grab a random white tank top and chuck it on instead of my pyjama top. Now that I'm inside, the long sleeves seem too warm. | can hear Bellamy on the phone in the other room. | am pulling a brush through my hair when he knocks on the door.

“Cin.” Bellamy opens the door cautiously and looks around as he does. His eyes widen when he sees my huge collection of pillows, blankets and other comfort items. | cross my arms and glare at him.

“Don’t you dare laugh!” he shakes his head and hold his hands up in front of himself defensively.

“I would never! | was actually thinking how much | approve.” | raise an eyebrow and he continues.

“Bedrooms should be comfortable. You seem to have built yourself a blanket and pillow fort of comfort.” I'm still a little suspicious, but | accept his explanation.

“I spoke to my sister. If you don’t object. I'll stay here tonight and in the morning we can head to the compound together. | believe you made plans to meet up with my sister?” | nod. She had offered to showaround the compound a little more.

“She didn’t think it was weird that you were only droppinghnow?” | ask, curious. Bellamy shrugs.

“As far as she knows, the whole point of you being around is to find a mate for me. It makes sense that we would spend sttogether. Besides, | started with, Ryann and | have been attacked by Vampires. | don’t think she had much tto process anything else. Hopefully it won't occur to her later.” He hesitates before he speaks again.

If you'll loana blanket and letsteal a couple of those pillows, I'll make myself comfortable on the floor.

You're exhausted, you should get ssleep.” Bellamy offers. | shake my head.

“I'm not ready to sleep. | don’t think | can just yet.” | collapse onto my bed and am buried by pillows. | notice my laptop where | left it last.

“Want to watch something on Netflix for a while?” | suggest. Bellamy shrugs.

“Sure.” | pull my laptop out and set up Netflix. Bellamy just stands in the middle of the room awkwardly. | pat the bed beside me.

“I have no intention of moving from this spot, so if you want to be able to actually see the screen you're going to have to chere.” | inform him. Bellamy chuckles quietly and comes to sit beside me. We pick a show that neither of us have seen before, but it becomes pretty clear about halfway through the first episode that the show is going to be pretty dumb. | glance away from the screen and notice that Bellamy is looking at me.

“What is it?” he jumps, surprised to have been caught staring.

“I was just looking at your mark.” He gestures to my arm.

“I really haven't seen anything like it before.” His tone is curious.

“I haven't seen anyone with a mark like mine either. I'm an unknown Magic, life would certainly be easier if | could find someone else who is the sas me.” “Can | look at it properly?” Bellamy requests. | shrug and hold out my arm.

“Go for it.” Eagerly, Bellamy moves in closer to look.

“It’s quite pretty.” He observes. | nod.

“Yep, | appreciate that if nothing else. There was a lot of difficulty deciding what mark | should have since I'm an unknown. | was taken to see an Oracle when | was young. All he ended up doing was drawing this pattern so this is what | ended up with.” It's awkwardly quiet for a minute. | break the silence.

“Okay, this show sucks. Let’s pick something different.” Without waiting for his response, | swap it to the first episode of one of my favourite shows.

“Love this show.” He comments as he settles in besideto watch. | switch off the lights so we can pay proper attention. I'm so keyed up from adrenaline that it takes a while forto relax. Bellamy seems comfortable, and with him here I'm not really worried about being attacked again. My room is my safe place and eventually the familiar comforts soothe me.

Light peeking through a gap in my curtains rousesand I groan. Still mostly asleep and totally relaxed, | turn away from the bright morning sun and snuggle in closer to the warmth of my blankets. I'm so comfortable that It takes a few moments for my sleep addled brain to realise that my pillow is breathing. My eyes fly open and | shift around to see Bellamy lying half besidehalf under me, still asleep. | am lying partially on his chest with his arm flung over me. My laptop is sitting on the edge of the bed, still open, although I think it's gone flat since it wasn't plugged in and the screen is black. We must have both fallen asleep while watching Netflix. Am | going to be able to move without waking Bellamy? | consider our positions. It seems unlikely. Seeing no other choice, | carefully sit up, trying to move his arm without waking him. | am just sliding it offwhen suddenly his hold ontightens, | freeze as he pullsback closer to his chest. Bellamy grunts as he blinks the sleep from his eyes.

He looks sleepy and not very aware. His gaze shifts toand he smiles.

“Hey.” He mumbles, | stare at him. I've never looked at his eyes so close before and even half asleep, they're piercing.

“Hey?” my answer comes out as a question, my voice pitched a little higher than usual due to my nervousness. | was not prepared to face this much handsome, this early in the morning. Bellamy looks ata moment longer before his eyes suddenly go wide. He releasesand | quickly sit up. He does the same.

“We fell asleep?” He asks, although he obviously already knows the answer to that question. It answer him anyway.

Apparently. What time is it?" Bellamy moves around as he pulls his phone out of his pocket

Almost seven.” He smiles at me, he seems more relaxed and well-rested than | have ever seen him which is weird considering that we were attacked by Vampires just last night. | nod and climb out of bed. | glance at the mirror and cringe as | realise my hair resembles a bird's Pillows and protection nest.

I'm gonna have a quick shower.” | tell him as | retreat to the bathroom. | close the door before he has a chance to say anything. | quickly turn on the water, strip and step into the warmth of the shower. | expected Bellamy to be uptight and paranoid after

the incident the Vampires last night. This relaxed, chill Bellamy is a complete surprise. | am feeling awkward and uncomfortable, why isn't he? It's only fair. Maybe he's just used to randomly sleeping in Pr women's beds. Maybe this isn't : uncomfortable for him. | don’t know anything about him, he could be the type to sleep around. Although admit that doesn't seem TOO likely given his romantic disposition and his position as Alpha, especially if he's trying to avoid leading anyone on. | am just about to put shampoo in my hair when | hear a banging at the front door.