Life's Priorities

Clarke sat back against the lounge chair waiting for Octavia to return with promises of her specialty margaritas. After a few minutes of basking in the warm California sun Clarke felt a slight tap on her shoulder signaling that Octavia had returned. Sitting up Clarke took the glass out of the woman’s hand with a soft thanks before taking a long, much needed sip. Clarke could feel the all to familiar gaze of her best friend on her face as she let out a deep sigh.

“Go ahead and let it out, Octavia.”

“What’s going on between you and Lexa? Are you guys like a thing now or what?” Octavia moved to the edge of her seat waiting anxiously for the blonde to reply.

“We’re not a thing. At least not yet,” Clarke all but mumbled.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“It means we’ve only just met and decided to let the weekend play out before moving to far into something that may or may not work out.” Clarke looked up at Octavia as she placed a hand on her shoulder.

“It will work out, Clarke. I just feel it. There’s something about you two that just feels right. And I’m not even part of the damn relationship,” Both women let out a light laugh,” It’s just…the way I saw you talking and smiling with her in the club the other night and covered in paint together earlier today. I haven’t seen you like this in a while. And I sure as hell don’t want you to miss out on this just because you think it won’t work.”

Clarke gazed into Octavia’s hazel eyes as she turned her words over in her head in thought. Before Clarke had any chance to respond Lexa and Anya came billowing through the back door and onto the porch, hands filled with plates of condiments to set on the table. Clarke watched as Lexa set her plate on the center of the outdoor table only to turn and catch her eyes. A gentle smile reached the detectives face before she made her way towards the two friends.

“Ladies. Enjoying some drinks already. It’s only two o’clock,” Lexa teased.

“Hey, it’s five o’clock somewhere,” Octavia shrugged as both women laughed at her,“Well I’m going to go see if Lincoln needs some help defending the hamburgers from Anya before she eats them all.”

As Octavia stood up she gave Clarke a quick wink before making her way towards where Anya was currently trying to maneuver around Lincoln to grab a burger off the grill. Clarke laughed and shook her head as Octavia wrestled Anya way from the grill before turning to look at the brunette who had taken residence on the chair next to hers.

“Your sister is crazy when she’s hungry,” Clarke joked.

“Trust me I know. One Thanksgiving she consumed almost the whole turkey by herself,” Clarke let a soft giggle pass her lips before glancing up at Lexa.

“Anyways, Octavia was telling me about the rooming situation, and it turns out that apparently you and I will be sharing the master bedroom,” Clarke pursed her lips waiting for the women to reply.

“Let me guess. Normally Bellamy has his own room, Octavia and Lincoln stay in another, and Raven takes the last bedroom. What about Anya?”

“Raven said that Anya agreed to stay with her in her room,” Clarke gave Lexa a small smirk.

“I knew it. They’re hooking up. They have to be. What other reason would make Anya agree to stay with Raven in her room?”

“The reason being that they’re trying to get us together,” Clarke mumbled before looking up at Lexa through think black lashes.

“Oh..um,” Clarke watched as a blush broke out over Lexa’s cheeks and could feel the heat of her own blush creep up her neck.

“I mean if you don’t want to share a room I could always take the couch. It’s no big deal I’ve sle-,” Lexa took a moment to put her hands on Clarke’s shoulders successfully hushing the blonde.

“Clarke, it’s okay. I don’t mind sharing a room with you. Just as long as you don’t hog all the covers on the bed,” Clarke let her head dip down and let a laugh escape her lips.

Before Clarke could respond Lincoln shouted loud enough for the whole house to hear that the food was finally done. Not a moment later Anya came bursting through the back door, Raven, Bellamy, and Octavia following not far behind. Clarke stood up and held a hand out to Lexa before helping her stand up.

“Let’s go grab some food before Anya turns into the Tasmanian devil and eats it all.”

Lexa snorted out a laugh before following behind Clarke towards the table to grab a plate and a few hamburgers and hotdogs. Laughter and talking filled the air around the beach house as the group of friends recalled old memories from years past as they ate. About two hours later plates were being discarded and leftovers thrown in the fridge before Bellamy suggested a dip in the ocean.

Everyone made their way upstairs to their respected rooms to change for a relaxing swim. At the top of the stairs Clarke and Lexa took a left to walk down a short hallway and into a door at the end. Upon entering the room Clarke could hear Lexa let out a soft gasp.

The master bedroom itself was an image of tranquil beauty. A completely white king size bed and bedside tables sat against the eastern wall and a white chaise lounge rested in the far left corner. The southern wall held a glass door that lead to the long stretch of balcony about the back porch. Take a few steps towards the bed Clarke watched as Lexa walked over to the door on the northern wall to push it open to reveal a large en suite bathroom. Lexa looked to her left to see a freestanding tub sitting in front of the floor to ceiling windows and wondered just how relaxing a bath would be watching the setting sun. On her right was a large, all glass shower complete with a rainfall shower head on the ceiling. On the far wall sat the toilet and a large cabinet with white marble countertops and two glass bowl sinks on either side. Next to the toilet was an open door that lead to an empty walk-in closet. Clarke walked over to where Lexa stood in the doorway of the bathroom to lean against the doorframe beside her.

“Thinking about a bath during a setting sun?”

“How’d you guess,” Lexa questioned as she looked at Clarke.

“That was the very first thing I did the very first time we came here. I fought my mother for it so I wouldn’t have to wait until the next day,” Clarke looked Lexa up and down,“Being your first time here and all you can take the first setting sun.” Lexa gave Clarke a thanking smile before turning and walking back into the room.

“Well I’m already in my bathing suit so I guess I’ll just let you get dressed and meet you downstairs,” Clarke walked towards the door before stopping to look back at Lexa,“Oh, your suitcase is in the closet in the bathroom.”

After getting a short nod from Lexa Clarke walked out the room and made her way down the stairs. After reaching the main room Clarke walked over to the garage entrance and walked over to one of the many cabinets on the far wall looking for something in particular. After searching through a few cabinet drawers Clarke finally let out a low cry of victory as she pulled out a deflated light blue bubble chair. After quickly inflating the chair she walked out of the garage and made her way through the main living space and out onto the porch.

Looking around Clarke had yet to see any of her friends so she shrugged herself out of the light pink sundress to reveal an emerald green wrap halter bikini with matching bottoms before picking up her chair once more and making her way across the sand. After a few seconds of trudging through the white sand Clarke’s feet finally meet the blue water the brushed along the sand of the shoreline.

Hearing voices, Clarke turned around to see everyone heading down in her direction. She held up her hand and waved her hand before turning back to stare at the water that now lapped at her lower calves. Before she could try to venture out further into the water she felt a hand on her back and turned to see Bellamy giving her a concerned look.

“You okay there, princess?”

“Yeah, just thought I might be able to actually get in the water without this chair, but…” Clarke trailed off as she looked down at the chair in her hands before looking back up at Bellamy, who gave her a small smile.

“When the times right you will. Trust me,” Bellamy gave her a little push to lighten the mood before turning back to the rest of the group,“ Now who’s ready for some swimming?!”

Everyone let out a yell in answer before running into the water and diving in, leaving Clarke to stare at her friends in wonder. Clarke was pulled out of her musing when she felt someone come to stand next to her. Looking to her right she came face to face with Lexa. Clarke could feel her heartbeat quicken as she took in the detective’s choice of bathing suit. Lexa stood next to Clarke starting out into the ocean wearing a scalloped black bikini.

“You know it’s not polite to stare at people, Clarke,” Lexa teased. Clarke felt her entire face flame up at being caught ogling the brunette before snapping her head back to watch her friends.

“Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s jump in!” Before Lexa started to walk through the water towards their friends Clarke grabbed ahold of Lexa’s wrist.

“Wait. I uh…Can you walk with me a little deeper out so I can sit in the chair?” Clarke could see Lexa’s eyes trail down to the inflated chair with a hint of confusion before looking back into her eyes.

“Sure, I’ll walk you out.”

Before Clarke could stop herself she grasped Lexa’s hand in hers, pulling the brunettes fingers to interlace with hers. As Lexa lead her deeper into the water Clarke could feel her hands begin to shake slightly in fear. A slightly taller wave came towards them and caused Clarke to quickly move closer to Lexa and hold onto the woman’s arm tightly as it crashed around them.

“It’s okay, Clarke. I’m not going to let you go.”

Clarke looked at Lexa with gratitude before slowly letting go of her arm but still keeping their hands connected. After a few short seconds they finally made it deep enough for Clarke to easily hop onto the bubble chair with only slight assistance from Lexa. As she leaned back into the chair and took a deep breathe Clarke could feel a slight tugging on the side of the tube. Looking over, she could see Lexa hanging onto the plastic handle on the arm rest and looking up at her with questioning eyes.

“Can you not swim?”

Clarke blinked a few moments before looking down at her hands,“ Yes, I can swim. But something happened a long time ago that made me scared to get into the water without this chair. I’ve had it ever since that time and it’s the only way I can get myself to get in any large bodies of water.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring up any bad memories,” Clarke felt Lexa give her hand a gentle squeeze before pulling away.

“It’s okay. It’s just something I don’t like to talk about.”

Lexa nodded in understanding before suggesting to pull her over to where their friends where Bellamy and Lincoln were throwing the girls in the air to plunge down into the water below. As the group continued to swim around and horseplay no one took notice to the dark figure that lurked around the beach house before disappearing behind the trees once more.

As the sun began to slow descend and cast a hue of pinks and golds across the sky the waterlogged bunch made their way back into the beach house wrapped in sun warmed towels. Everyone, besides Bellamy and Anya, made their way upstairs to shower off the remaining salt water that clung to their hair and skin. Clarke and Lexa walked into the master bedroom only to gaze out the window at the almost setting sun.

“You should go get your bath ready before the sun starts to set. If you start it now you’ll be just in time to watch the whole thing.” Clarke walked over to the large window to stare out into the disappearing horizon.

“You can’t stay in a wet bathing suit for that long, Clarke. The ac is on full blast and you’ll get sick. You go ahead and get a shower. I’ll be perfectly fine with seeing just half of a setting sun.”

“No. It’s not the same with just half the sunset. Trust me,” Clarke bit her lip in thought before turning to look at Lexa,“ How about while you sit in the tub I take my shower. Your back will be turned from me so neither of us will see anything.” Clarke watched as Lexa looked up towards the quickly descending sun before looking back into her blue eyes.

“Okay, but no sneaking peaks at me while in the shower,” Lexa teased as the blonde blushed.

“As long as you don’t turn around to stare at my ass, we have ourselves a deal,” Clarke said as she gave her a teasing grin.

Lexa shook her head before walking over to the bathroom door and stopped to turn to Clarke,“ I’ll hop in the tub really quick and call out to you when it’s safe to come in.”

“Okay. Oh, and if you want bubble bath there’s some under one of the sinks in cabinet.”

Lexa nodded her head in understanding before walking through the threshold and closing the door, leaving Clarke alone with her thoughts.

“Okay, Clarke. Just breath. It’s not like you’re about to get naked in the same room as the person you’ve got it hot for...Oh God.”

Clarke took in another deep breath before walking closer towards the window and looking around the surrounding area. From her spot in the room at the far window Clarke could see the line of trees that surrounded the house. As she stared into the ever darkening woods Clarke’s eyes caught what looked to be a person trudging through the trees. Before she could focus her eyes on the moving shadow she heard Lexa call out to her causing her to turn her head towards the bathroom door. After calling back saying she was on her way she turned back towards the trees to find that the moving figure had disappeared. She quickly shrugged it off as her imagination before making her way towards the bathroom door and making her way inside.

“You were right, Clarke. Half a sunset wouldn’t have been nearly as great.”

“I told you. It’s only amazing when you get to see the sky change all different colors. From pinks to golds to purples. It’s the best part.”

Lexa let out a low hum as Clarke made her way over to the shower, trying with all her might not to turn and catch a glimpse of the beautiful brunette with the setting sun gazing in through the window. Clarke quickly pulled off her wet slightly wet bathing suit and hung it on a towel bar next to the glass shower to dry. She quickly pulled open the shower door before stepping in and turning on the hot water.

Hot steamy water poured down from above like a gentle waterfall and Clarke closed her eyes as she let the water soothe her muscles from the days actives. Having her eyes closed and slightly rocking side to side Clarke hadn’t realized she had turned herself towards the glass that looked out towards the tub until it was too late. Blue eyes came to rest upon the golden brunette hair that was piled up on the top of Lexa’s head to reveal a long delicate neck. Her shoulders peaked slightly over the top of the tub as she leaned back and stared off into the disappearing sun. Clarke quickly snapped back in reality and turned back around to face the opposite wall, but not before her eyes caught the sight of an infinity symbol tattoo on the back of her neck and a large back tattoo that she couldn’t see completely.

As Clarke continued her shower she could see the light from the suns rays completely disappear from the bathroom, leaving only the artificial light that flittered down from the light bulbs above. After finishing washing her hair and scrubbing her body down with her favorite watermelon scented body wash Clarke turned the water off and opened the door to grab her towel off the rack. Before she got the chance to fully grasp the towel all the lights in the room shut off leaving nothing but darkness to fill the room. Clarke let out a curse before feeling around for her towel.

“Clarke, what the hell just happened?” Clarke could hear the water slosh around in the tub as she assumed Lexa had sat up.

“I’m not sure. Maybe a switch got flipped or something. It’s happened once or twice before when we weren’t here. I guess my mom never had it looked at. Let me get dressed and I can go down and check it out.” Before Clarke could even take two steps in front of her, her feet met a puddle of water causing her to slip and go crashing down to the floor ad bumping her head on the wall behind her in the process and letting out a hiss of pain.

“What happened? Are you okay?” Clarke could hear the slight concern in Lexa’s voice.

“Yeah, I just fell is all. Bumped my head on the wall behind me too.” Clarke sat up as she rubbed the back of her head where she was sure a nice sized lump would form.

“Don’t move. I’ll come help you up.”

Before Clarke could protest she could hear the sound of water moving around and wet feet slapping against the tile flooring. She heard the slight rustle of fabric before the sound of Lexa walking slowly across the bathroom filled the room. As the sound of Lexa walking got closer Clarke could feel when Lexa’s hand brushed against the top of her hand in the darkness before she felt the brunette kneel down and place her hands on her shoulders.

“Found you. Now where’d you hit your head?”

“Right here.” Clarke guided Lexa’s hand to rest atop the back of her head near her crown area.

“That’s going to leave on hell of a goose egg,” Lexa teased as she felt through Clarke’s golden locks.

“Thanks doctor Woods.” Clarke could feel a slight puff of warm air near her face as Lexa laughed aloud.

Clarke couldn’t help herself as she reached up in search of the detectives face. As she found purchase on the woman’s soft cheeks she could feel Lexa’s hands glide down her towel clad back and stop to rest on her hips. She could feel Lexa’s arms tighten slightly around her as she felt her breath once again ghost over her face, only this time closer, much closer.

Clarke allowed her eyes to softly fall shut as she felt the velvety soft lips of Lexa close around her own in a sweet kiss. She allowed her hands to travel down Lexa’s face only to wrap her arms around her neck and pull her in closer. Innocent kisses soon turned to heated ones as the sexual tension around them intensified. Clarke could feel the towel around her become loose and fall open before Lexa pushed it all the way down and let her hands rest upon the warm skin of her back. Clarke’s hands helped to push away Lexa’s towel as Lexa trailed a line of open mouthed kiss down her neck causing her to let out a low moan. Clarke could feel Lexa’s hand move around to glide along the flat planes of her stomach before making their way up to brush at the edge of her breasts. Before either one could make another move the sound of Raven’s voice filled the house.

“Griffin! Can you stop playing with your little detective long enough to fix the damn power so people can finally see?!”

Clarke and Lexa suddenly froze, both realizing what had just occurred between them. Clarke could feel Lexa back up slightly before feeling her arms grab ahold of hers and gently pull her up to her feet.

“I guess we better fix the power before Raven has an aneurysm,” Lexa joked.

“Lexa, what just happened-,” Before Clarke could continue Lexa had placed a finger to her lips.

“What just happened was amazing, Clarke. To me anyway. I don’t regret it. We said we would see how things go and that’s how things went. Now let’s get some clothes on and see if we can’t fix the lights.”

After letting Lexa guide her through the dark bathroom and into the walk-in closet Clarke quickly felt around her bag for some clothes. After pulling on some fresh undergarments she quickly tugged some black cotton sleeping shorts along with a red tank top. After letting Lexa know that she was finished both girls grabbed ahold of each other once more to help lead each other through the darkness and out of the bedroom in search of the stairs. After slowly descending the stairs Clarke, with the help of Lexa, quickly walked though the kitchen and pulled open the large drawer where her mother kept some spare flashlights and candles.

After handing Lexa a few candles Clarke grabbed a flashlight before turning it on and turning towards the brunette,“ You light those and bring some upstairs and I’ll go check on the fuse box on the side of the house for any tripped circuits.”

After a quick nod from Lexa Clarke made her way over to walk out the back door and down the steps of the porch to walk around to the side of the house. Darkness wrapped around Clarke,her only source of light coming from the dim flashlight, as she made her way along the side of the house before coming to stop right before the end of the exterior wall where the fuse box rested. Opening the door to the box Clarke waved the light around the switches before finally finding the main power switch to see that it had indeed been tripped. Flipping the switch back to the right Clarke looked down above her to see light flutter through the window above her signaling that the power was back on.

After shutting the door to the fuse box Clarke’s blood ran cold as she felt a warm puff of breath brush across the back of her neck. She took a few deep breaths before pivoting around and throwing her flashlight occupied hand out in front of her only to be met with thin air. As Clarke’s breathing got heavy she shined her flashlight around the tree in front of her. A sudden shadow shifting to her right from behind a tree had the blonde taking off into a full sprint towards the safety of the well lit house.

Finally reaching the porch, Clarke quickly bounded up the steps before running full force and pushing the back door open to see everyone turning to look back at her. Clarke watched as Lexa took in her disheveled appearance and rush over to her.

“Clarke, what happened. Are you okay?” Lexa quickly did a once over of the girl for any injuries.

“I’m fine, but there was something or someone out there with me. I felt breath on the back of my neck but when I turned around no one was there, and when I shined the flashlight through the trees something moved in them. I don’t know what the hell it was but there was defiantly something there,” By the time Clarke had finished talking everyone had gathered fully around her before looking at each other.

“I’ll be right back,” Clarke watched in dismay as Lexa left her side to run up the stairs and in the direction of her room, followed closely by Bellamy and Lincoln who ran towards their own rooms. A few seconds passed before all three detectives came running down the steps, loaded guns in hand.

“Anya, you stay with them and Bellamy, Lincoln, and I will go check everything out.”

Clarke watched on as Anya nodded to Lexa in understanding. Before Lexa could follow Bellamy and Lincoln out the back door Clarke grabbed at her wrist and turned around to look at her.

“Please be careful.”

“I promise to come back in one piece,” Clarke felt her breathing stop for a moment as Lexa placed a soft kiss to her forehead before turning and walking out the door.

Clarke watched through the window as the three detectives disappeared around the house with guns drawn before walking over to sit between Raven and Octavia with Anya sitting on the love seat opposite to them. Clarke looked around at each woman as they all gave her a smug smile.

“What?”

All three girls let out a simultaneous sarcastic ‘nothing’ before quickly letting out low chuckles as Clarke rolled her eyes. A few minutes had passed in silence as they waited anxiously for any sign of their friends return. Right as Anya jumped up to walk over to the window to inspect outside of the house multiple gunshots rang out from the side of the house causing all four women to quickly run out the door, not caring about the dangers that may await them.