The Holiday

"So Griffin, tomorrow is thanksgiving, what are you planning on doing?" Clarke Griffin looked up from her work towards the door of the office where her friend, Octavia Blake was standing. Clarke shrugged at her friend.

"Not too sure O, probably just hiding at home, away from the office and.." Clarke stopped for a minute and looked out her office window towards the open area of the publishing floor. She spotted who she was talking about. Finn Collins, her boss, the man she fell in love with, the man who cheated on her. "him." Octavia nodded in agreement.

"Yes, you should be staying far away from him. What he did to you is NOT okay, I don't know why you stayed here after what happened."

"I know O but this is one of the best publishing company's in London, if I quit I am only going down the totem pole, not up." She could see Octavia thinking,

"That's true, I mean it's the whole reason we moved over here once we graduated collage, but still, I think..." Octavia was cut off by loud clapping and someone asking for everyone's attention. Clarke got up and joined Octavia at her door, watching at she saw Finn in the middle of the room.

"Attention everyone! I just want to tell everyone that Maggie here just accepted my proposal! We are getting married!" Everyone started clapping, everyone except Octavia and Clarke, Clarkes face going white. Octavia put her arm around Clarke and pulled her back into her office.

"I'm so sorry, Clarke... Let's get you home.." Octavia said as she started to gather up Clarkes bags and quickly grabbed her cellphone before she ushered her and Clarke out her office door and out of the building. They jumped in a cab and headed towards Clarkes house.

When the cab arrived Clarke and Octavia got out and headed inside. Clarke walked in and plopped herself on her couch laying down. It was freezing but she couldn't care. She felt lost and empty. All she wanted to do was cry and drink until she passed out. "Clarke, I'm going to make a fire, do you want me to get you anything? Tea maybe?" Octavia asked her softly. She shook her head.

"No tea, alcohol, lots and lots of alcohol." Octavia laughed softly and grabbed a wine glass. She walked over to Clarke, set the glass down and opened a bottle of red wine.

"Here, only one or two glasses though. Having too much will give you a nasty hang over in the morning. That mixed with how your feeling won't be a good idea, babe." Octavia got up and started to fix a fire, once she was done she kissed Clarke on the forehead and decided to head home. "If there is anything you need, call me. I love you."

Clarke nodded at Octavia and sipped her wine. She laid back on her couch throwing up her feet up and pulled down a soft plush blanket she had hanging off the back. She cuddled the blanket and started crying softly. She couldn't understand why he would choose Maggie over her, she gave Finn everything he wanted. She loved him so much.

After laying there for an hour, crying, Clarke decided she needed to get away. She needed to get away from London and away from Finn. She pulled out her laptop and went to a popular house swapping website.

New post. Click.

Subject: Quaint cottage in a secluded area of London.

Post: Looking to switch houses with someone trustworthy. I live in a small cottage in London that is located off the beaten path a ways. Very cozy and small. Filled with hundreds of books to read and use of my small car to get around.

Looking to get out of London and be alone. Not picky with what kind of house you have, anything will be fine!

Submit. Click.

Now to wait for any responses. Clarke stood up and made food. She lose her face in a reflection of a window and started to cry more. "No wonder he doesn't want me, I'm a mess!" She yelled at herself. She pulled her hair down from the messy ponytail she had and wiped away some smudged mascara. She heard a ding come from her computer. She grabbed her food and ran over to it.

New message! Click.

Guest: hello? I am interested in switching houses.
You: hello! Great when are you looking to switch?
Guest: um, well I have the month of December off from work, would that work for you?
You: oh yes! That would be perfect! Where are you located?
Guest: LA.
You: as in Los Angeles? As in California?
Guest: yes, as in California. Your in London right?
You: yes! I am! LA sounds great! My house is well, small.
Clarke pauses for a second and finds a photo she had taken as it started to snow, of her house and sent it to the guest.
You: this is my house. I'm Clarke by the way.
Guest: Oh wow! It's beautiful. Looks perfect for me. I'm Raven, and unfortunately I have no photos of my house. But it's... Bigger than yours.
Clarke: that's fine! I'm sure it's great. I've never been to LA before. I was raised in NYC but moved to London after college.
Raven: oh I love NYC, I've never been to London before though. So that will be nice as well.
Clarke: great! So if your willing, I would love to make plans to switch, say starting the first?
Raven: that sounds perfect for me. Just one question...
Clarke: shoot!
Raven: are there any men there?
Clarke: none.
Raven: Good.
Clarke: and there?
Raven: nope.
Clarke: great. :-)
Clarke sent Raven her email and told her to send her any information about the house she needed to know as well as the address etc, as she did the same about her house.

--

Clarke spent the next week cleaning out her house and spending time with her head buried in work. She avoided Finn as much as possible. Clarke was at work late on night when she saw Octavia walk by her office. "Oh hey O!" She called out to her. Octavia stopped and walked in.

"What's up Griff?" She asked. Clarke waved for her to come sit down.

"So in two days I'm leaving for a month. You will think I'm insane but I need to do this." Octavia leaned in closer towards Clarke.

"Clarke... If this is about Collins..." She said. Clarke shook her head.

"I need to get away, yes, get him out of my head, but mostly just for me. I found someone to switch houses with for the next month. Now it's in LA..." Clarke watched as Octavia's eyes grew wide.

"Clarke Griffin! Are you crazy! Do you even know who this person is!?"

"Her name is Raven Reyes. She's an engineer and she seems really nice. We've been talking for a week now getting ready for the swap. I'm also telling you this because I hope you can stop by the house a few times and check in on her. I'm sure she'll get lonely and maybe you can offer to take her to dinner or something. Come on please O.. I'll love you forever!" Octavia chuckled.

"Griff, you already love me forever, but sure, I guess. But if you come home to my blood and guts everywhere, can't say I didn't tell you that your crazy for doing this." Clarke shook her head and laughed at Octavia's crazy mind.

"Won't happen. Who would want to kill this gorgeous face!?"

"Griff, Why are you just telling me about this now?" She asked.

"I knew you'd talk me out of it if I told you before. I need to do this O, I need to get out of here..." She said softly, the hurt coming through a little. Octavia stood up and asked her what else she needed to do to get ready. "Everything is done except packing." Octavia laughed loudly,

"Of course you would leave that for last minute. Let's get you home and I'll help you pack. Let's grab pizza on the way as well."

--

Two days later Octavia dropped Clarke off at the airport. "Bye griff! Have fun in sunny LA! Call me! I'll miss you!" Octavia said as Clarke rushed out of the car running towards her terminal.

"Bye O! Love you!" Clarke yelled behind her still running. She went to check in and baggage check in her bags, she only packed a little bit of stuff, she figured she could buy what she needed as she needed it while she was there. Clarke sat down at her terminal once she was finished. She was exhausted, she woke up late and thought she'd be late.

She had a good 20 minutes to spare before boarding started. She grabbed her phone and headphones and put on some music until she heard the flight being called for boarding.

---

She was finally in Los Angeles, it was beautiful and warm. She missed the warm weather and loved seeing palm trees. She got excited when she realized she'll be able to go to the beach. She had grabbed a cab from the airport to the address of the house she was staying at. As the cab pulled up Clarke was in awe. It was a gorgeous Spanish colonial revival type house. The outside was stucco and the roof had red tiles. She felt like she had stepped up to paradise. She paid the driver and thanked him. She walked up to the gate and typed in the numbers she was instructed to. She walked in and went up to the door. It was still locked so she set her stuff down and sat down on the steps.

A few minutes later the gate opened and a black bmw came through. Clarke watched as it stopped and the engine was turned off. She stood up knowing that this person was the one who was supposed to unlock the door and leave her the keys.

The driver side door opened up and Clarkes breath caught in her throat as she saw the girl getting out. The girl walked towards Clarke. She had long brown hair that was curled perfectly, her lips were plump and inviting, and she was wearing a tight pair of black shorts, a tight white thank top, and sunglasses. Clarke admired a rival looking tattoo the brunette had on her arm. "I'm so so sorry I'm late, LA traffic is Unpredictable sometimes." The girl said as she walked over to the door and unlocked it. She turned around and handed Clarke the keys. She pulled off her sunglasses and placed them on her head. She smiled as their eyes met. "I'm.. Lexa." She said holding out her hand.

"Clarke and uh.. You have amazing eyes." She said, mentally kicking herself after she realized what she had said. Lexa laughed. Clarke turned a little red at the sound and redrew her hand, which tingled a little bit.

"Well I could say the same to you, Clarke. Your eyes remind me of the ocean in St. Barth's. Have you ever been there?" Lexa asked, Clarke shook her head no. "Well you should someday." She said with a smile. Lexa bit her lip a little bit before adding, "well it's all unlocked, I hope you enjoy it. Truthfully Raven was a mess before leaving, but I assured her that it'll all be fine. If you need anything, Clarke, I'm just a phone call away. My number was left on the counter. Call me if you can't figure something out.." Lexa paused, her eyes moving up and down Clarke's body. "Or if you just get lonely." She finished saying with a smile.

"Uh, thanks Lexa, I really appreciate it."

---

Raven got off her plane and headed towards baggage check. She checked her phone while waiting for her luggage. 48degrees. 'What the fuck, why did I leave the warmth for this shit' she thought. Raven shook her head. She quickly grabbed her stuff and headed outside. Once the cold air hit her she squeeled a loud "fuck" and ran back in. She opened up her suitcase to find two of her sweatshirts and pulled them on. She walked back out and hailed a cab.

After an expensive 35 minute cab ride, she was standing in front of the cozy little cottage that Clarke had sent her a photo of. Raven breathed in the cold air, she already was feeling less stressed out. She walked up to the front door and noticed it unlocked. She walked in and was confronted with a magnificent smell. It was a mixture of pumpkin and hazelnut. "Oh! Hey! You must be Raven." She heard as she turned to her right to find a gorgeous black haired girl. 'This could be interesting' Raven thought to herself.

"Yes, I'm Raven. And you are?" She asked as she set her things down.

"I'm Octavia, one of Clarkes friends. I know I'm not supposed to be here but since Clarke was gone I figured I'd make use of her gorgeous chefs kitchen as well as make you a welcome gift." Ravens eyebrow raised.

"A gift?" She asked. Octavia laughed some and walked back into the kitchen, Raven following her.

"Look. I made you my special hazelnut pumpkin cheesecake. It's great with a warm cup of hot chocolate on cold days like today." Octavia paused. "Would you like some?" She asked, Raven nodded.

Raven watched as Octavia turned around and started to grab plates, she couldn't help but let her eyes wander down Octavia to her booty, what a perfect round tight booty she had too. Raven shook her head and sat down at the counter. She admired her surroundings. It was a small kitchen but it was decked out to the T. It had all the best high end kitchen accessories.

Octavia sat down next to Raven, putting a plate of pie down in front of her. "It smells delicious." Raven complimented. Octavia hummed as she took a bite of her pie.

--

"Hey o," Clarke said into the phone when she saw that Octavia was calling her.
"Hey! How's sunny LA!? You alright out there?" Octavia asked.
"Hey O, I'm alright, just tired, I need to get used to this time change."
"Oh I bet. I met Raven, she's having the same issue. We sat and talked for a few hours the other night actually. She's pretty amazing Clarke."
"That's great, I'm glad she's not so crazy person like you said," Clarke said making fun of Octavia.
"Ha Ha Clarke. You never know."
"I know. Well I met her friend Lexa, who is, well not bad on the eyes. She let me into Ravens house."
"Yeah... Raven mentioned Lexa.. She's kind of a fuck boy, but girl.. She just gets what she wants then drops them.. So be careful please."
"O, you're acting as if I went on a date with her, I just met her. Plus if I wanted anything that would be perfect since I uh, don't live here, duh." Clarke smiled once she heard Octavia start to laugh.
"Just warning you Clarke. Maybe you should go for it then. She must be pretty hot if she has you admiring her. I gotta go, I'm getting tired. I love you Griff, be safe."
"Love you too O, I will."

---