Chapter XV
It's Monday and it's 5am.
The first time Lexa wakes up is when Clarke's alarm clock starts beeping. Clarke mutters ungrateful things as she knocks over the clock while turning it off, she didn't get much sleep and it's her own fault, really.
When Lexa came to bed last night she was greeted by a scandaloused clothed Clarke with seductive eyes and hot kisses and Lexa doesn't know how to say no to that version of Clarke.
Well, Lexa doesn't know how to say no to any version of Clarke.
Clarke sighs and snuggles closer to Lexa, spooning her from behind and it's safe and warm and comforting, so Lexa easily falls back asleep.
The second time Lexa wakes up, Clarke is leaving sleepy but not at all innocent kisses on Lexas neck. Lexa's body responds automatically by rolling over to face her, to meet her kisses with some of her own.
"I have to get up," Clarke sighs.
Lexa reluctantly pulls back as to not be the one that makes Clarke late for work but Clarke's lips chases Lexa's desperately as if losing the contact would mean the end the world.
"I don't wannaaa," Clarke whines, pulling Lexa closer by the waist. Lexa chuckles against her lips, kissing her one last time. She then cups her cheek with one hand to be able to create enough distance between them to seek out her eye contact.
Even in the darknes of their bedroom Clarke can see Lexa looks just as exhausted as Clarke feels. Clarke sighs, "I'm sorry I woke you up, I know you have the day off, I should've let you sleep."
There's something about this moment that pulls at Lexa's heartstrings making her not want to miss a second of it. Maybe it's the magic of their first Monday in this house, maybe Lexa is still under that seductive spell Clarke put on her last night... or maybe it's just... simply Clarke.
Lexa returns Clarke's apology with that half smile Clarke loves before sliding out of bed. She stretches, her arms reaching towards the ceiling, her sore muscles catching a bit of release and Clarke admires the contours of her naked body, softly lit up by the bit of moonlight slipping through the blinds.
A satisfied hum escapes Clarke's lips by the sight as Lexa walks towards the closet. Lexa pulls out a t-shirt and a pair of shorts for herself, putting them on before walking back to the bed. She takes a seat on Clarke's edge of the bed and writes a note for her. She leaves a kiss on Clarke's forehead before leaving the bedroom.
Clarke can't help the smile forming on her lips as she reads the note.
'Love, I'll make you breakfast while you take a shower.'
*
There's a plate with fried eggs and bacon and a cup of coffee ready for Clarke as she enters the kitchen and Lexa is sitting by the kitchen table peeling an orange for herself. She's wearing Clarke's old college t-shirt and her wild hair is tamed in a lazy ponytail and Clarke kind of wants to skip breakfast and ignore work and instead pull Lexa back to bed.
"What did I do to deserve you," Clarke says softly as she takes a seat next to Lexa.
Clarke's hair is still damp from the shower and smells like her shampoo, like a breeze bringing along the remnants of a flower field. She's wearing a pair of jeans and Lexa's green hoodie and Lexa kind of wants to grab a blanket and cuddle up with Clarke on the couch, taking a nap while ignoring a movie.
Lexa offers Clarke a slice from her orange and Clarke parts her lips to accept it. There's something about being fed tiny pieces of food by your lover that creates dirty thoughts in your mind, well, in Clarke's mind, and Lexa can tell so she smirks at Clarke who blushes a little, shrugging, "Shut up, I have a sexy girlfriend, okay?"
Lexa eats the rest of her orange with a lazy smile on her face and when Clarke gets up to put her empty plate in the dishwasher, Lexa follows her. They meet in a hug in the middle of the kitchen and they stand there with closed eyes, letting all other senses deal with this moment.
"So... you going back to sleep or do you have plans at 6am on your day off?" Clarke is asking a question that requires more than a nod or a shake to be answered on purpose. They're alone in the kitchen, maybe she won't get her notepad, then.
"Unpack," Lexa says against golden hair.
Clarke smiles against her shoulder. Lexa's voice is better than any music she's ever heard. It's soft and warm and a bit husky, just the slightest.
"Piano." Lexa continues.
Clarke's heart flutter.
"Sleep." Lexa yawns.
Clarke breaks the hug to meet Lexa's eyes with a faux confused look. "What have you done to my girlfriend..."
Lexa rolls her eyes and pulls Clarke into a kiss. It's meant to be soft and wish Clarke a good day at work and it is until Clarke melts against Lexa, her hands finding Lexa's naked skin under her t-shirt. The smallest of moans escapes Clarke's lips and Lexa can't say no to this Clarke either, so she deepens the kiss and pulls Clarke even closer by the waist.
Someone clears their throat.
Anya stands in the doorway with a raised eyebrow and Clarke kisses Lexa's blushed cheek before taking a step back.
"Sorry." Clarke looks apologetically at Anya who smirks back at her. "Thank you for breakfast, Lex, I should get going."
Clarke is about to leave the room when she stops in her tracks. "Ooh, by the way, how about you invite Niylah to the dinner party on Saturday? Think about it," Clarke says and Lexa nods before watching Clarke exit the room.
Anya takes a seat by the counter, grabbing and orange for herself. Lexa goes to pick up a small box she's been wanting to unpack since they moved in. She then joins her sister in the kitchen.
"I thought you had the day off?" Anya asks. Lexa nods and shrugs.
Lexa opens the box and carefully pulls out a stack of papers in all sizes and a plastic bag with tiny magnets.
She slowly begins hanging the collection of Clarke's drawings and her own mutated stick man drawings onto their new refrigerator. It's bigger than the old one which means there's room for more drawings.
When she's done she still has two drawings left. She studies them both with a thoughtful look in her eyes until Anya interrupts.
"Anything wrong with those two?"
Lexa looks at her and shakes her head. She places the drawings on the counter for Anya to see and then reaches for the nearest notepad.
'I want to frame Clarke's Seasons and hang it up. It deserves a better spot than the fridge.'
"Oh, cool. You should definitely do that! And what about the snowflake?" Anya points to the piece of paper with Clarke's detailed snowflake drawing, the one that still holds evidence of having been crumbled into a ball.
'I've always wanted a tattoo'
"And you want Clarke's snowflake?" Anya asks smiling at her little sister.
Lexa smiles, then nods.
"Where?"
Lexa points to a place just below her collarbone. Anya doesn't know, but it's the exact same spot as Clarke's scar.
"How big?"
Lexa subconsciously looks to the spot she's pointing at. She then holds her thumb and index fingers up to indicate maybe two inches.
"Okay, that could work. Colors?"
Lexa shakes her head. She just wants a simple black ink tattoo of Clarke's beautiful snowflake. The art speaks for itself, she thinks.
"Want me to contact Luna? She did mine and Lincoln's tattoos."
Lexa nods and scribbles one last note that morning before going back to bed.
'Could you go with me?'
"Of course, sis."
*
Anya books Luna for Wednesday afternoon. It's her own day off and she picks up Lexa at the library at 2pm.
Clarke and Raven are already home once they're back at the house. Lexa was hoping to keep the tattoo a secret until her skin had healed but she doesn't expect Clarke to not notice the bandage on her chest. But for now, she's wearing a hoodie so it's not obvious.
She's carrying two photo frames, both in thin dark mahogany. It's a majestic look, classic, and Lexa thinks it brings out the details in Clarke's drawings. She hides them behind her back as she walks into the kitchen, Anya right behind her.
"Oh, you're back," Raven says, "Good. How does homemade pizza sound like? Clarke and I have cravings."
"I think it sounds perfect. Need help?" Anya replies as she greets Raven with a kiss.
"Maybe do the salad?"
"Sure."
"Thanks babe."
Lexa walks up to Clarke with a big grin on her face. She's usually better at keeping a straight face when she has a surprise for Clarke, but she can't hold it in this time.
"What's with that creepy smile, Lex, should I be worried?" Clarke narrows her eyes at her playfully.
Lexa leans in to capture Clarke's lips and the kiss is over way too soon for Lexa's liking because Clarke realizes Lexa has something hidden behind her back.
"What's behind your back... Is it for me?" Clarke's eyes light up.
Lexa nods, not moving an inch.
"Well, gimme!" Clarke grins.
Lexa gives her the first frame, the one with Clarke's Seasons drawing and she watches Clarke's eyes widen as she takes it in.
"You framed it? I just told Raven I missed it on the fridge and that it probably just got lost when we moved... Wait, the snowflake?"
Lexa pulls out the other frame and when Clarke sees the framed snowflake, the crumbled piece of paper so beautifully framed, her snowflake next to Lexa's disaster snowflake, her eyes well up.
Clarke is speechless. She places the frames on the kitchen table and attacks Lexa in a forceful hug.
Clarke can't see it, but Lexa winces because Clarke squeezes the area around the tattoo and it hurts a little. Anya notices and shakes her head at Lexa, that's what she gets from insisting to keep it at secret a little longer.
Clarke does notice, though, because Lexa's body tenses up, if only just for a second. Clarke is so attuned to Lexa's subtle body language that this basically screams at her.
"You okay?" Clarke looks at her to figure out what's wrong.
Lexa nods.
Clarke places her hands flat against Lexa's collarbones, it's something she does often, she likes to feel Lexa's chest rise and fall with every breath, she likes to feel Lexa's heart beat against her hand.
But this time she feels the bandage underneath the fabric of Lexa's hoodie and Lexa curses herself for not anticipating this would happen.
"You...." Clarke runs her hand over the bandage to make sure it's actually there, "Is that a bandage? What happened? You okay?" Clarke starts to ramble frantically as she pulls at the hem of Lexa's hoodie to lift it up to see.
Lexa realizes Clarke is scared and so she grabs her hands to try to calm her down, but Clarke won't have it.
"Lex, let me see." Clarke sounds desperate.
"Clarke." Lexa says to get her attention.
Three women suddenly stare at Lexa. Anya and Raven because Lexa just spoke, Clarke because she's confused about the situation.
Lexa sighs and drops Clarke's hands. She slowly pulls her hoodie over her head, careful not to move her left part of her torso too much.
Lexa is now in a tank top and most of the bandage is visible. Clarke runs careful fingertips along the edges of it. "What happened, Lex?" she whispers. She looks up at Lexa who smiles at her and when Clarke schrunches her eyebrows like she always does when she's confused Lexa smiles in even wider.
"Lex!" Clarke warns.
"Tattoo," Lexa whispers.
"What? You got a tattoo?" Clarke looks at the bandage again, "Well, what is it? Let me see!"
Raven raises an eyebrow at the scene in front of her. "Your sister just spoke and Clarke acts like it's the most normal thing in the world," Raven says to Anya who looks just as surprised as Raven.
They watch as Lexa takes a seat in one of the high chairs and slowly peels the bandage open in one corner.
The tattoo is camouflaged by the red skin around it but Clarke immediately knows what it is.
"You had my snowflake tattooed on your chest?" Clarke keeps staring at it and Lexa leans in to kiss Clarke on the forehead.
Raven walks up next to Clarke sneaking a peek over her shoulder.
"Nice, Lexa. I'm looking forward to see it once it's healed." Raven says smiling at Lexa. "It's the same spot as your scar, right?" she asks Clarke.
"Yeah, yes it is," Clarke says looking at Lexa. "Lex... You..." Clarke doesn't know what else to say. Lexa just had her snowflake, something that holds a lot of sentiment to both of them, tattooed on her chest, the same place as Clarke's scar.
Clarke carefully closes the bandage again. "I like it," is all she is able to say at this point but Lexa knows that these words hold a lot more meaning, more than any words can ever describe.
"Don't you ever scare me like that again, you idiot!" She says pretending to be angry but Lexa gives her that half smile she loves and pulls her into a hug, one of those hugs that makes Clarke sigh contentedly.
"Okay, enough with the cuteness," Raven teases. "Clarke, the pizza dough doesn't make itself."
Clarke goes back to preparing dinner and Anya takes a seat next to Lexa.
"So if I were to take away all your notepads, would you start speaking more?"
Lexa shakes her head and reaches for a notepad.
'It doesn't work like that. If I push myself I make it worse. I sometimes talk a little when I'm with Clarke, I think, because I feel safe. It's not more than a few words. It's a slow progress and I don't want to think about having an end goal. If I start speaking more, then I'll speak more. If not, well, then this is how it is.'
"I get it, it makes sense. I'm glad you have Clarke. And it's not because I want you to speak more, but I hope you find a way to feel safe around more people than just Clarke. But I get it, because Rae makes me feel more safe too."
Anya gives Lexa's shoulder a soft push with her fist as she gets up from the chair to help Raven with the salad.
"Now, go give us some music to work to, sis," Anya says over her shoulder and Lexa doesn't need to be told twice.
She takes a seat on the piano bench smiling to herself as she strikes the first chord of Anya's Song. She watches Anya grin back at her before filling the room with the song she wrote for her sister a long time ago.