Chapter 10
There’s a glint in Lexa’s eyes that makes Clarke believe that she’s familiar with this little story Clarke’s about to tell. For some reason, though, it doesn’t make her feel any less nervous about the whole ordeal.
“Lexa, we met about twenty years ago in this same ER. And I—“
She doesn’t know how to tell Lexa what’s certainly turned into a convoluted tale of how to track down an ex-girlfriend without raising alarms at the police station. So Clarke decides to show her instead.
“Follow me.” It comes out more urgent than Clarke intends, but Lexa did say something about going away for a week. And an irrational part of her is afraid that Lexa might disappear from her life again if she doesn’t at least let her know. Without a second thought, she takes Lexa’s hand and leads her back into the ER waiting area.
“Clarke, I’m not really understanding.” For the first time, Lexa sounds confused, and Clarke never thought she’d ever get to witness this reaction from the self assured woman.
“Just…look at the arm of this chair.”
There’s a pregnant pause, and all Clarke hears is the sound of the nurses on the other side of the doors moving about. She waits for the moment when Lexa laughs at the request and hops on the plane to wherever she intends to go.
“Okay.”
She leans in closer to examine the piece of furniture and Clarke swears Lexa’s hair is curlier than what she last remembered it to be.
“Interesting.” Something undecipherable registers on Lexa’s face as she stares at the carving of her name, and Clarke has never wanted to yell out What does that even mean? to a girl more than ever right now.
She settles for repeating the word back to Lexa. “Interesting.”
Slender fingers run along the letters etched into the wood and Clarke can feel the nervous energy building at her toes.
“Who did this?” Lexa finally asks.
“You.” Clarke’s tone is a bit ironic and some parts relieved. “I was trying to tell you that we met in this same room twenty years ago, and you kind of wooed me with a chocolate bar and four letters you casually carved onto a chair that miraculously has stood the test of time.”
Lexa runs her fingers over her name again as she mulls over Clarke’s words. There is a careful expression on her face, and Clarke wonders if any of this information means anything to her. “Is that why you went out of your way to find me?”
“I didn’t….How did you know that I was trying to find you?”
“There’s a difference between being interested in a girl and trying to find her,” she answers smartly. “I could tell that you wanted to find me before you became interested in me, although those two events didn’t occur too far apart in time.” Lexa smirks at her, and Clarke can’t even find the strength to deny that claim.
“You are quite pretty. I’ve never seen a prettier girl in a bakery before.”
“I have.” Lexa smiles at Clarke this time, and not in that casanova way she likes to when she’s trying to make Clarke go red. It’s a genuine smile, and it makes Clarke want to double over in the sweetness of it all.
Instinctively, she links one of her fingers with Lexa’s because what else does a person do under these circumstances. The action seems to catch Lexa by surprise as the tip of her ears grow pink.
“Clarke…I like you.” But? Clarke feels a weight sink to the pit of her stomach. This feels like a breakup that’s twenty years overdue and a rejection pre-vacation at the same time. “But I don’t remember any of this.”