Bellamy half-expected a deflection, for her to brush away the not-so-outright declaration, or maybe not address it at all. So much was so heavy on the both of them, he almost felt badly for bringing it up. He knew it was probably too soon. He knew Finn had to still fill every corner of her mind that wasn't taken up by guilt or regret or the rest of their people. He hadn't said it to try and push whatever they had here. He said it because it needed to be said. She was holding herself over the fire and she was beating herself up and Bellamy needed her to know that she was more than the killer she'd become. He needed her to know that even after everything - hell, because of everything - he loved her. So when she called him on it, he offered her a small, affectionate smile.
In the darker corner of his mind, he wondered how Finn had broached the topic with her and how Clarke handled it. And was it alright to be in love with Clarke when Finn was alive and well here? Selfishly, Bellamy didn't really care about that. Besides, it wasn't about being in love. "I would do anything to protect you," he answered her first. It was a vow he had sworn to Octavia as well and if there was anything Bellamy could ever be known for, it was doing whatever it took for the people he loved. He killed and tortured people, put his own life in danger. He knew Gustus had been the one to 'poison' Lexa because he would have done the same thing for Clarke. He would take his own death over her own. He sacrificed his own peace of mind to share the burden of killing all those people in Mount Weather just to try and ease her suffering.
"All my life, it's just been Octavia and my mother. That's it. No one else. Not ever," he explained. "And I came to Earth and I had this plan," Bellamy shook his head, "But there you were." No one ever took the time to tell him he was needed, that he mattered, that the things he'd done could be forgiven. Clarke gave him all of that. He hadn't loved her from the start. Hell, no. Bellamy had actively plotted her death with Murphy in the beginning. But somewhere between wanting to cut her hand off to get what he wanted and being willing to kill whoever put her at risk, he had fallen in love. It was a novelty to him and he hadn't even noticed it happened - not until they turned up in Storybrooke.
"How could I not?" was the actual answer to her question, breathed out with a shake of his head and a small smile. He didn't want her to say it back - how could she possibly mean it? After Finn? After what they'd done? "I'm not telling you to hear it back," he pointed out, "It's not about that. It's not about... us," Even if he knew she felt something for him, Bellamy wasn't convinced Clarke would ever love him, not in the way he loved her - she walked away from him, after all. "I just want you to know..." He considered reaching out to touch her, but couldn't bring himself to do it, unwilling to offer any reminder of Mount Weather or their last goodbye.
"I want you to know that it doesn't matter what you do. You're always forgiven. I will always fight for you. You're the best person I've ever known, Clarke," Bellamy said earnestly.