Nia's First Move
Song : Six Feet Under by Billie Eilish
Clarke, Octavia and Ayden had spent the day together, playing games with the boy and doing some appreciated bonding between the two girls. But it was getting late, and Ayden hadn’t forgotten about their plan to go meet Lexa at her office.
“Mommy, is it now that we leave to go fetch Yexa?” he had asked more than twenty times already.
“Ok Ayden, we’re leaving now. Go get your shoes” Clarke chuckled as the boy was throwing his arms in the air, joy shouts filling the loft.
“He really likes her” Octavia stated with her smile on her lips while she was helping Clarke quickly washing the dishes before heading out.
“Yeah” Clarke nodded, and made a pause to think about it, “and I think Lexa really likes him back. I mean,” the Blonde tried to express herself while cleaning the sink, “She has this smile on her face when she’s looking at him, it makes me feel like....”
“Like you’re not a single parent anymore?” Octavia suggested.
“Yeah. Exactly” Clarke nodded. Life had a real sense of humor, both girls had to admit it. Lexa, a girl they had met out of nowhere on a snowy day, was more of a parent to Ayden as Finn, his biological father and Clarke’s ex-boyfriend, had ever been.
“Mommy put your coat on!” Ayden said, seeing that his mother wasn’t ready, “We are going to be late!”
“No we won’t” Clarke chuckled, but hurrying a little.
They headed out with Octavia – it was almost the same road as to go home to Arcadia – and soon found themselves in front of Lexa’s biggest building.
“OK, I have to go” Octavia said, shifting on her feet, “I guess I hum... I’ll see you later?” The girl was glad for the discussion Clarke and she had had, but still, she didn’t really know how to act.
“Yes O” Clarke offered her a smile, gesturing for Octavia to hug her, “Anytime, really”.
Octavia smiled back, said bye to Ayden and left them. Clarke got her phone out to text Lexa.
Lexa was sitting down in her office, looking through files, when her phone buzzed. She was a bit startled, because it was her personal phone and no one was usually texting her, except Anya. But it couldn’t be her, as her cousin was in the same building today, two floors down. She would have come and talk to Lexa in person.
The brunette grabbed her phone and her heart jumped into her chest when she saw who it was. She quickly unlocked her phone, practically bouncing in her chair with excitement.
Clarke : Hey Lexa, Ayden and I are waiting for you outside the building when you’re done! ;)
She quickly typed an answer, smiling from ear to ear; it was Clarke’s first text to her, after all.
Lexa : Great! I’ll be out quick J
Clarke : Take your time ;)
The Brunette closed her files, quickly cleaned her desk before leaving. She was so happy that Clarke and Ayden had come to fetch her, and she couldn’t wait to walk home with them by her side.
But then, the door banged open. She raised a browser at the intruder. Titus was red – with anger?- and fuming, Murphy right behind him.
“What is the meaning of this?” she asked, already annoyed with the man. Clarke and Ayden were waiting for her and she didn’t want them to wait for hours.
“I’m sorry Heda” Titus said, but judging by the look he had on his face he was absolutely not sorry, “but some Ontari person is asking for audience. She said you would want to hear her”.
Lexa frowned. Ontari was Nia White’s assistant. Lexa internally cursed, and followed Titus into the room where Ontari was waiting for her.
“Hello, Heda” Ontari said when Lexa entered.
“Ontari”. Lexa didn’t know why Ontari was here; but it couldn’t be good. Someone from Azgeda visiting never was.
“Forgive me for this unplanned meeting, Heda” Ontari apologized before continuing. “As you probably know, I’m Nia White’s assistant, and there is some things I need to discuss with you on her behalf.”
Lexa took a deep breath and took a seat. She couldn’t get out right now, and was silently hoping for Clarke to understand.
Clarke and Ayden were still waiting outside the building for Lexa, and the boy was growing restless.
“Mommy, where is Yexa?” he whined for the tenth time.
“She has a lot of work honey” Clarke sighed, “she’ll be there soon”. To be completely honest, Clarke was growing impatient too. She missed Lexa; even if she had seen the girl this morning. It was too long, to be at home and waiting for Lexa to come home. She definitely needed to find something to fill her days. Besides, she had called the school Ayden had chosen earlier today; her son was to begin school next Monday. Way too soon for Clarke’s liking with everything going on, and Finn’s trial coming next week, too.
“Clarke!” Someone then called her. Clarke turned around, and saw Anya waving at them to come inside the building. Clarke and Anya hadn’t really talked; but Lexa trusted the girl, and Clarke came to trust Anya, too. Even with Ayden.
“Hi Anya” Clarke said, “What are you doing here?” Clarke was curious; she knew Anya was kind of the head of Trikru Company, and it wasn’t Trikru’s building. Not the one Raven had starting working into, at least.
“I’m Trikru’s ambassador in Coalition Corp” Anya explained, “I sometimes have meetings with the rest of the twelve ambassadors, in here with Lexa”.
Clarke nodded, and they followed Anya inside.
“I guess you’re waiting for her?” Anya asked with a light smile, and laughed when Ayden shouted a big yes.
“I’m sorry you can’t go further in the building” Anya apologised, “but you can wait here, I’m going to go see if she’s ready to leave”.
Clarke thanked the girl, and Ayden and she took a seat beside the secretary office as Anya was making her way to the elevator.
In the meeting room, Lexa and Ontari had been talking for ten minutes now. Ontari was explaining Nia’s future plans for Azgeda, but Lexa had a weird feeling. Like those times when you know something is not as it should be, or when you feel that something is wrong and you can’t put the finger on it. Something was odd about anything Ontari was saying; as if the girl herself wasn’t convinced by what she was saying. Lexa silently scolded herself; she was almost sure she was feeling like this because she just wanted to run downstairs and meet with Clarke and Ayden. She brought her focus back on Ontari.
Anya was heading to Lexa’s floor; the ambassadors weren’t usually allowed to come here, but Anya had a special pass to access the special floor. Being the CEO’s cousin and last relative had its advantages. In the corridor on the floor below Lexa’s, the one with the Azgeda offices, Anya crossed path with Nia White. Anya hated that woman as much as Lexa did. She was a pure villain, like the ones you only see in the movies. A heart made in ice and stone, filled with cruelty, hate and need of power. Yeah, the Woods definitely hated the ice bitch.
Clarke was taking a look at her phone every minute now. She was finding it weird, as Lexa wasn’t already here. She had said she would be here soon, in her text, and now Ayden and his mother had been waiting for the Brunette for more than twenty minutes. Clarke had found a way to keep Ayden busy by giving him a little notebook and a pen she had found in her bag. The boy was drawing silently, not fussing about Lexa still not here anymore. Thank God, Clarke had sighed.
Then, Clarke noticed a tall woman approach the two of them, and her blood froze a little. She was quite scary, Clarke had to admit; hair as white as frozen snow, eyes of an ice blue which was making them look like almost not-alive, and strange patterns on her face, like she had a few scars made of burns. She was even more surprised when the woman began to speak directly to her.
“Hello, Miss Griffin” the woman said, a little smirk on her face which made Clarke’s hair dress on her neck.
Clarke got up, quickly throwing a glance at her son, his mind still on the drawing he was making.
“Who are you, and how do you know my name?” the Blonde asked, keeping her voice low so her son wouldn’t take interest in the conversation. The woman scared her; she was feeling unsafe around her, and it was making Clarke really uncomfortable and nervous. Even if she wasn’t going to show it.
“I once worked with your father” the woman said, holding her hand for Clarke to shake, “I’m Nia White. Head of Azgeda Company”.
Clarke tried hard to not let her eyes widen in horror in hearing the woman’s name. Nia White. Lexa had talked to Clarke about her. She was the woman who was responsible for the pictures of both Ayden and herself in the press. The woman who wanted to pressure Lexa, in every way possible.
“Pleased to meet you” Clarke said through gritted teeth, shaking the offered hand, acting like she didn’t already know the woman’s name.
Nia smiled at her with a fake smile – it really looked like a smirk – as she was putting both her hands behind her back.
“I am sorry for the loss of your father, Clarke” Nia said, and Clarke wished she could rip the woman’s head off, “he was a good man”.
Clarke had believed everything Lexa had said about Nia; and if the woman was talking about her father, it couldn’t be good.
As Clarke said nothing, Nia continued. “I heard you and Lexa Woods are growing closer” Nia added. Clarke knew she wasn’t asking for confirmation; she knew already.
“I’m pleased to hear that you worked with my father, but I don’t think that who I’m friend with is of your business” Clarke answered, keeping her anger at bay. She had to be careful; Nia was an important person, and Clarke couldn’t say what she dreamed of saying. That she was the biggest bitch the world had ever carried, for example.
Nia smirked again. “I see you’ve inherited his intelligence” Nia stated.
Clarke nodded as a thank you. She didn’t really know what else to do. She was just wishing for Lexa to arrive any second to take control on what was happening. But apparently, Nia wasn’t done talking, and Lexa was nowhere to be seen. Clarke hated this; feeling trapped, with no escape possibilities. How come she was always finding herself in such situations?
“But if I may” Nia started talking again, “As someone who was once close to your father, it’s only friendship to him if I give a little advice to his charming daughter; being Lexa isn’t an easy job. A lot of people are against her. I’m sure Jake would be worried for you to be friend with someone who could disappear any moment, stroked down by one of her many enemies. He would be worried about you, too”.
Clarke didn’t say anything; not trusting herself and her anger towards the woman.
Anya finally reached Lexa’s office after being interrupted three times by assistants in need of signatures and stuff. Seeing that her cousin wasn’t in here, she headed towards the meeting room, and was surprised to see Ontari getting out of it, followed by Titus and his new apprentice Anya hadn’t memorized the name yet.
“Lexa?” Anya asked once they were all gone, “why was Ontari kom Azgeda in the meeting room?”
Lexa shrugged; she felt like the half-hour speaking with the girl had only been a waste of time, “I don’t know. She was here to talk to me about some of Nia’s projects for Azgeda, as Nia couldn’t be here in person today”.
Anya frowned, and Lexa noticed it, throwing a questioning look at her cousin.
“I saw Nia on her floor fifteen minutes ago”, Anya informed her cousin.
Lexa frowned too.
“I was coming to get you, Clarke and Ayden are downstairs waiting for you and...”
But Anya was cut off by her cousin gasping. “What? What is it Lexa?”
“Clarke and Ayden are downstairs. You saw Nia in the building.” Lexa was having trouble breathing.
“Yes, I did” Anya confirmed, frowning a bit, not understanding her cousin’s behaviour.
“It can’t be a coincidence” Lexa whispered, “Nia will talk to them.” The Brunette’s eyes were widening more and more, and Anya’s did, too.
“Do you think she would try something against them?” Anya slowly asked, not wanting to make her cousin panic. She had seen Lexa panic, and she didn’t want to see that happen ever again.
“She is not against them” Lexa whispered, having trouble to breathe correctly, “she’ll make a move against me”.
Anya frowned again because she wasn’t sure she was following Lexa’s thoughts.
“Anya” Lexa murmured in a weak and shaky voice, “Clarke and Ayden are my weakness now. Do you understand?”
And Anya’s eyes widened; because yes, she did understand. She remembered well what had happened to Lexa’s last weakness.
“We have to get downstairs” Anya said, tugging her cousin by the sleeve to take her out of her stupor.
Clarke and Nia were still face to face, and Clarke’s blood was boiling in her veins. Nia checked her phone when it buzzed.
“I have to go” Nia said, “It was nice meeting you, Jake’s daughter”.
Clarke nodded. Nia was probably going to say something else, but she was interrupted by Lexa and Anya coming towards them with big steps.
Ayden immediately noticed Lexa, and ran to her. Lexa quickly put him behind her, holding his hand. She was fuming inside; she was sure Nia had said horrible things to Clarke, threatening her maybe. She had done the same with Costia.
“Nia, what are you doing here?” Lexa asked, trying to keep her voice as neutral as possible. Lexa came to stand right next to Clarke, and didn’t miss the way Clarke discreetly grabbed her elbow to get even closer to her as a shield.
“I didn’t plan to be here in the first place, but I left important papers in my office yesterday, and just came to pick them up in a hurry for my next meeting” Nia explained.
Useless to say that no one believed her. Lexa didn’t bring out the useless and meaningless discussion she just had with Ontari. She had understood it was only a distraction.
“I’m late, I have to go” Nia said, smiling at them, “Bye, Heda”.
The woman started to head for the door, but turned around, gesturing at Ayden glued to Lexa’s side.
“You have a beautiful son, Clarke” she said, “It would be a tragedy if something was to happen to him”. And five seconds later, she was out of sight.
Lexa, Anya and Clarke knew Nia had just made a threat to Ayden; a disguised one, but a threat still.
“You better go home” Anya said, bringing them out of their thoughts.
Lexa nodded and didn’t fail to notice the way Clarke reached for her son and took him in her arms as if she wanted to protect him from the world. Maybe from me too, Lexa sadly thought.
The Brunette didn’t know how much time Clarke and Nia had been talking before she had joined them; and the ice bitch could have said anything to Clarke.
All the way home, Clarke was silent, and Ayden was slowly falling asleep in his mother’s arms. Lexa had asked Clarke if Ayden wasn’t too heavy and offered her to carry Ayden a bit – she could see Clarke struggling with her son’s weight- but Clarke had said no in such a rush it had wounded Lexa’s heart.
Finally, they were inside the loft, and Clarke had just put Ayden to bed in the spare room until dinner was ready. She hadn’t said a single word to Lexa; they hadn’t hold hands in their way back, as they had both pictured it. And Lexa just wanted to cry; she had been so happy to hear that Clarke and Ayden had come to take her home, and now it was all ruined; Clarke didn’t want to talk to her anymore, not even look at her.
Clarke began to try to do something to keep her busy to wait for the pasta to be ready; and Lexa couldn’t take the silence anymore.
“Clarke” Lexa said with a tiny voice, trying to gain the Blonde’s attention.
But Clarke didn’t even acknowledge the fact Lexa had talked to her, as if she hadn’t even hear Lexa calling her name.
“Clarke, please...” Lexa tried again. And Clarke didn’t look up, didn’t say a thing.
Tears reached the surface of Lexa’s eyes as she sat on the couch, taking her head in her hands. She didn’t let them fall. She couldn’t be seen as weak, when Clarke obviously wouldn’t be there to comfort her. Lexa’s brain was buzzing as she was thinking about every single thing Nia could have said to Clarke, searching where Lexa had done something wrong to gain such a non-reaction from her girlfriend. Was Clarke even her girlfriend, though? Again, what the fuck were they anyways?
A tear fell on Lexa’s lap as she sniffed a little, trying to keep her emotions at bay. But then, she felt the couch move next to her as an extra-weight was added, and she felt two arms hugging her and something snuggling into her. She looked up to see Clarke pressing her head into Lexa’s chest.
The Brunette didn’t wait to put her arms around the girl, crushing her against her body.
“I’m sorry Lexa” Clarke whispered, and Lexa could feel some wetness on her shirt, not coming from her own few tears.
“It’s ok” Lexa murmured back, “but please Clarke talk to me, please...” Lexa was begging but truly she didn’t care. “What did Nia say to you that you won’t even look at me...?”
Lexa let another tear roll down her cheek, and Clarke extracted herself from Lexa’s embrace to wipe the Brunette’s tears.
“It’s not you, Lexa, I swear” Clarke murmured, “She just... She said some things about my dad. And... I guess it just reminded me of things I had tried to forget”.
Lexa raised her brows at this, not knowing what Clarke’s dad was doing in all this. But she didn’t dare ask. Clarke would tell her if she wanted to. Lexa didn’t have to wait long for the answer, though.
“My dad died” Clarke confessed, bringing her head back on Lexa’s chest, “A few years ago. I don’t really know how, or why, because there’re thousands of versions. All I’m sure of is that he was murdered. And my mother let it happen”.
Lexa shivered at the Clarke’s words, unconsciously hugging her a little harder. “I’m sorry” she whispered, placing a kiss on the Blonde’s neck. She didn’t know what else she could do.
“It’s ok” Clarke said. “But Nia said she knew my father. And that’s weird, because he never worked for Azgeda. At least, not in my knowledge.”
Lexa began to draw circles on Clarke’s back. First, it had been to calm the girl down, but she had soon found out that it was calming herself too.
“So you’re not mad at me...?” Lexa asked with a tiny voice full of insecurities.
“Lexa” Clarke said, taking the girl’s head in her hands, and sitting herself on Lexa’s lap with a lovely smile on her face, “I love you. I’m sorry for the way I reacted. She threatened you, and Ayden. I’m afraid. I was afraid. But I love you. I’m not mad at you, I promise”.
Lexa let relieved tears escaped her eyes with a tiny laugh as Clarke was peppering her face with light kisses to wipe the salt water away. Clarke wasn’t mad at her, and she had said she loved her, two times more.
“We are not good at communicating, are we?” Lexa asked, a half-smile on her face.
“No we are not. But from now on, I promise to always talk to you. No running. No shutting the other one out.” Clarke said, handing her pinkie in the air. “Come on. You have to promise too” Clarke shot Lexa a look. Lexa laced her pinkie with Clarke’s.
“Croix de bois, croix de fer” Clarke whispered in a broken French. Lexa let a tear escape her eyes again. It was the same words she had taught Ayden, back when he was scared of her leaving. Those words meant a lot to her.
“Ayden told you” Lexa murmured, still a bit in awe of the girl in front of her.
“Yes, he did” Clarke smiled.
Lexa nodded, resting her forehead on Clarke’s. Clarke chuckled at the beamed smile on Lexa’s face. “Stop smiling you silly, you’ll hurt your pretty lips”.
“You think my lips are pretty?” Lexa sassed back, pulling her lips away from Clarke’s reach.
“Your lips are the best” Clarke honestly replied, trying to kiss Lexa.
“I love your cheeks” Lexa then said, softly kissing Clarke’s face and gently nibbling at Clarke’s skin.
“Hey! Don’t bite me!” Clarke laughed, trying to push Lexa away from her.
They laughed for another couple of minutes, before starring at each other in silence.
“Clarke?” Lexa asked, her eyes glued into Clarke’s.
“Yes?” the Blonde said with a gentle smile, caressing the skin on Lexa’s face.
Lexa stared into the blue eyes a few seconds more to gather strength and courage. “Would you... Would you be my girlfriend?”
Clarke smiled to her stupid, charming pretty girl. “I thought my answer had been clear already” Clarke smirked at Lexa, who smiled back.
“I wasn’t sure. I needed a real answer”. Lexa shrugged, trying to act like it was no big deal. IT WAS SO BIG DEAL.
“Yes Lexa, I would love to be your girlfriend” Clarke then said, laughing a little as another beaming smile was painting itself on Lexa’s face.
“Good. Because I wouldn’t have taking any other answers” Lexa said, kissing Clarke’s neck and gently tickling her ribs, making their laughs echo in the whole flat as they were acting like teenagers in love.