Four Years Later
Clarke was walking on her own, behind the buildings, trying to get to the parking lot as fast as possible. It was pitch black outside and she had to get to her car. There was no real rush, she didn’t have anywhere to go – she’d been alone for the last 5 years anyways. Walking around campus in the dead of night by herself wasn’t necessarily her idea of a good time either, though. As she walked, she heard the sound of scuffling and, before she could stop herself, she swerved to investigate.
As she got closer to where the sounds were coming from, she saw three very large guys huddled together and she could just barely make out two smaller figures on the other side of them. Realizing what was happening, Clarke threw her bag off her shoulders and started running. As she ran she yelled out, “Hey! Get your bloody hands off them!”
Hearing her yells, the three guys turned around. As their attention was diverted, the two girls on the other side of them were able to back away. However, one of them had a leg brace (she recognized them as Octavia from her behavioral neuroanatomy class and Octavia’s friend Raven) and fell before she was able to get too far away. The taller brunette, Octavia, immediately crouched down in front of her in what could only be seen as a protective stance.
“Back off, bitch. This is none of your fucking business,” Aaron, the bulkiest of the three guys, yelled at her. If he thought he was scary, he was sadly mistaken.
“Actually, asshole, it is my business if you’re being a douchecock to two girls who want nothing to do with you.” The snark in her voice was enough to add fire to the their anger, and they all started stalking menacingly towards her. Good – she needed them to focus on her so Octavia could get Raven the hell away from what was about to happen.
“Oh yea? You little shit, how do you know they don’t want us?”
“Oh please,” Clarke rolled her eyes, “I know you guys are pathetic, but I didn’t think you’re that fucking stupid. Literally no one could look at these girls and think they would ever have anything to do with you. I mean, look at them. They’re fucking gorgeous and actually good people. And besides, everyone deserves a shit ton better than you could ever offer.” The judgmental scanning of her eyes up and down all of them was enough to set them all off.
All three guys charged her, obviously intent on breaking her into an unrecognizable mess of pain and blood. Subconsciously, she recognized their charging cry as the cry of the college football team and knew she would be in a tough position now. What none of them knew about Clarke, though, was that she had grown up with a lot worse than anything these three shitheads could ever throw her way.
As they ran at her, she was only able to swipe to one side, moving right into the path of one of the boys. Clarke turned and raised her knee with enough power and force that he doubled over and keened. Realizing that they’ve all probably taken worse hits than this before on the football field, Clarke knew she would have to work harder than she had initially thought.
The other two guys ran back at her and started throwing punches wildly. One of the beautiful things about this was that, even though they were at least twice her size and could take hits like nothing else, none of them had any fighting technique. They knew tackles and that was it. Clarke had been studying Krav Maga, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and kickboxing for six years. She could take their hits like nothing else.
Her big mistake, though, was that she took her eye off the third guy to focus on the two throwing the punches. While her focus was directed elsewhere the brawny blonde boy who she had winded earlier, Chris, had grabbed her book-bag and swung it at her back. She wasn’t able to dodge it in time and she was immediately knocked to the ground.
She felt herself being hauled up from under her arms and placed in a headlock. From this position they were able to beat into her without reserve. They started throwing punches at her midsection and were generous with their kicks.
She had managed to sneak a glance at the two girls on the side and realized that something had happened to Raven’s brace. For some reason this was enough to get her blood really boiling again. As the little brunette man, Roger, made to kick her again, Clarke hooked her arms around the neck of the guy holding her and hoisted herself into the air. As Roger tried to kick her, she kicked him in the groin while it was exposed. Kickboxing has its perks and the kick (without his football cup) was enough to get him down for a while. His blonde partner snarled at her and just when he went for another punch she spat the mouthful of blood in his face and he faltered. The punch didn’t land as he had likely wanted it to, but she knew that at least two of her ribs were definitely fractured at that point if they hadn’t been already.
The blood hadn’t been enough to take him out, obviously, but she definitely knew that being spat on was a great way to irritate the fragile male ego. As expected, he got more and more wild with his hits and she smiled through the pain, knowing that with a couple more hits he would tire out. You see, the rush of adrenaline that comes with insulted rage wears off really quickly. As he made to kick her one more time, Clarke pulled herself up again and hooked her legs around his raised one. Pulling her legs down, the football player was pulled off balance as well and all three of them tumbled to the ground.
The awkward positioning of her arms as they fell caused her shoulder to make a sickening cracking sound. Clarke knew immediately that it was dislocated, but there was no need to advertise it. Ignoring the awkward way it hung to her side, she raised her foot and kicked Aaron on the side of the head. She didn’t want to cause too much damage, but she needed all three of them unconscious before she tried to leave. Chris had smashed his head on the concrete when he fell and that had been enough to send him to the land of dreams. Apparently these guys weren’t too big and bad without all of their protective gear.
Gaining her balance slightly, she looked over to where the two girls were on the floor. They were fixing Raven’s leg brace back on and checking the movement. As she was about to walk towards them to see if they needed any help she heard a voice in the distance calling for both of them.
She turned and saw a figure in the dark running towards the group. Before she had a chance to even think about anything she heard Octavia mumble to Raven, “Here comes Lexa, missing all the fun as usual.” Raven’s resulting chuckle was enough to get her into motion.
Realizing exactly who was coming towards them Clarke mumbled a quiet, “Son of a fuck” under her breath. After everything that had happened between herself and the brunette running towards then she wasn't prepared to run into her like this. She went to grab her bag before walking in the opposite direction. It took her longer than she would’ve liked to bend over, though, and before she even reached it a hand reached down and grabbed the bag for her. She looked up and locked eyes with Octavia.
Having seen Octavia around with her group for many years she knew that the glare on her face had just claimed permanent residence, but she couldn’t help but feel like she had done something wrong. She mumbled a quiet thanks before grabbing the bag in her only good arm and hauling it onto her shoulder. She couldn’t suppress the wince that made its way onto her face and she knew that she would be feeling these injuries for weeks to come. Clarke turned away and started walking when a voice stopped her.
“Hey where the fuck do you think you’re going?!”
Clarke turned around to see Raven standing up and looking intently at her. She didn’t answer for a second, but it soon became obvious that Raven definitely expected her to. She looked to Octavia quickly and saw that she was looking at her as well. In the distance, Lexa was getting closer. She just looked back at Raven and said, “Home.” As she said it, she realized that it came out sounding more like a confused question than anything.
A voice stopped her as she was trying to walk away again. This time she could definitely tell that Octavia was irritated, “Wait you don’t get to pull shit like that and then just walk away.”
With a sigh and refusing to turn around completely she just said, “Ma’am I apologize, really I do, but I’m very tired at this point and I would like to just leave.” At this point, Lexa was close enough to hear what was going on and see everyone’s state of being.
She couldn’t stop the slight smirk that crossed her face as the newcomer stuttered a confused, “What the fuck happened?” Knowing no one could see her face, she allowed it. As far as Clarke knew, Lexa had no idea that she was in town. She wasn’t ready for her to find out and she certainly wasn’t in any shape to deal with whatever would happen if the green-eyed brunette did see her. She also figured that the two girls would explain whatever happened to the confused brunette so she decided to start walking again.
That wasn’t going to really work, though. She heard a voice from behind her call out, “Apparently Wonder Woman over there thinks that the cripple can't stand up for herself.” She immediately recognized the accusatory tone coming from Raven and took a deep breath, steeling herself before turning around.
“Look, I apologize if I insulted or offended either of you. Obviously, I wasn’t trying to hurt you, but I didn’t want them to either.” Speaking over whatever protest they were about to start she said, “Ms. Reyes your brace was obviously messed up and Ms. Blake would’ve been the only one who could help you at that point. You’re not a cripple, but that doesn’t mean that you don’t need help sometimes.” Hoping to lighten the mood a little before leaving she said, “Besides, I don’t think these three would’ve survived all three of us at once.” She nodded once at all three of them and started walking away again. And again she was stopped. But this time, she was stopped by a voice she wasn’t expecting; a voice she was not prepared to hear.
Lexa called out after her retreating form, “Wait!” She didn’t turn around, but she heard the older brunette running after her a little. Lexa reached out for her arm and turned her around. Her green eyes were wide, staring at her face with a gaping mouth. Clarke could see the pain swirling in green eyes and felt tears start to fill her own. Their breath caught in both of their throats, neither of them prepared for the feeling of their eyes meeting again. It had been four years since they had had any contact whatsoever and the instant green eyes met blue, it was like they were back in that time – like the last four years hadn’t happened.
Lexa couldn't believe her eyes. She hadn't seen the figure in front of her in years but for her dreams. She couldn't bring herself to believe that she was actually standing there, in front of her, alive. Her hand seemed to rise of its own volition, reaching for her face and cupping her cheek gently. Feeling her skin, so soft and warm, a lone tear made its way over the cusp of her eyelid and down her cheek.
Everything that had happened between them four years ago started flooding back into Clarke’s mind. Every argument, every loving touch, every fight, every gentle word, everything that had gone wrong. Clarke shook her head to bring herself out of the daze, but the movement caused her vision to start swimming. Lexa, of course, noticed it and said, “Please. You’re obviously in poor shape and we at least owe you a thanks.” The scoffs coming from the other two girls seemed to contradict what she had just said, but she didn’t back down.
The mysterious girl had nothing to say to the brunette holding her arm; she was just glad it wasn’t the arm with the dislocated shoulder. Realizing that Lexa wasn’t going to let go of her, she locked eyes with the girl. She had been avoiding the girl for a long time and was absolutely not prepared for whatever this situation was. Clarke saw the two girls still glowering at her from over their friend’s shoulder and decided that it wasn’t worth it. She slowly steeled herself and tugged her arm out of the older girl’s grip. “Look, you have nothing to thank me for. I intruded somewhere I didn’t belong and it was wrong.” She locked eyes with the two who were looking slightly less pissed off and said, “It won’t happen again, and I’m sorry.” She tried walking away with that.
For the life of her she couldn’t figure out why Lexa wouldn’t just let her walk away. They hadn’t talked in years and there was no need for her to try and show gratitude now for nothing. But here she was, stopping again for the fourth time when Lexa called out after her, “Look at you! You’re a wreck. Obviously you’re hurt and you’re in no shape to go anywhere.” This time she grabbed her arm and actually turned her around to face her, “You’re a fucking medical student. You should know that your injuries are putting you in a very bad position because, just from what I can see, those three guys really fucked you up.”
Clarke ripped her arm out of her grip and it took everything she had not to groan at the pain that radiated through her body with that jerking motion. If this was how Lexa was going to play, though, then she would have to deal with the response. “Yea, actually, I know exactly what happened to my body,” she practically spat the words in the brunette’s face, “From tonight I have a bruised cheekbone, at least two bruised ribs, probably two fractured ribs, a bruised eye socket, a dislocated shoulder, and probably a broken nose. Don’t worry, though, I’ve had worse.” She couldn’t hold back the sneer that came with her last statement.
Tired of the push and pull of walking away and being stopped she looked from the brunette in front of her who looked like she had been smacked to the two in the back who now looked at the floor guiltily. As much as she felt bad for hurting all of them like this, Clarke couldn’t hold back the bite from her words when she asked, “Can I finally leave now? Or does anyone else have any accusations for me?”
Before she had a chance to turn around this time, Raven stepped forward and said, “Look I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to basically call you an asshole. I’m just not used to being the ‘damsel in distress’.” She shrugged and held a hand out to the blonde stranger, “Thank you.”
Clarke couldn’t help the way her face softened a little when the braced brunette ended her statement sounding like a question. Since her right arm was currently in no shape to be moved she faltered a little before trying to move the bag up her left arm a little. The jerking motion caused her right arm to move from where she had kept it and Clarke couldn’t help the slight groan of pain that came out of her mouth or the way her face scrunched up. Before she was able to do anything about it, though, Octavia was right next to her taking the bag off her shoulder and Raven was trying to help her keep her other arm mobilized.
She realized at that point that she really had no option but to stay with these girls a little longer. Raven’s and Octavia’s proximity she could handle. As long as Lexa stayed relatively away from her it could work out. The group of the four of them stepped around the unconscious boys on the floor and she couldn’t help but chuckle slightly at the fact that no matter how big they thought they were, she still kicked their ass. She just hoped they would think twice before going after other girls and not be even more spiteful.
Raven looked down at the three bodies around them and smirked, “You know what, that was pretty damn impressive. I probably wouldn’t have been able to take out all three of them by myself even if I had both legs.”
Clarke took that as some sort of acceptance.
Octavia followed up with some more joking, “I’m sorry I didn’t try to help. This one really likes to make a big fuss if attention isn’t on her at all times, though, so really I did us all a favor.” Raven scoffed and reached over to punch the more athletic brunette, who just stuck her tongue out and laughed at her.
She couldn’t help the small smile that graced her face at their antics. They really acted like sisters more than anything and it was refreshing to see people interact like that again. She hadn’t had that close of a relationship with anyone since – well since her relationship with the girl behind them ended. She tried to ignore her presence, but it was proving to be more difficult than she would’ve liked.
Looking away from the girls all around her, Clarke realized that they were going the opposite direction of where she was initially headed. Turning to the two girls currently guiding her she said, “Ms. Reyes, Ms. Blake, I’m sorry but I’m parked in the parking structure at Downey and McClintock.”
“Whoa whoa whoa!” Raven tore away from her and they all stopped abruptly. “What the hell is this “Miss” thing?”
“Yea for real!” Octavia exclaimed, “We’re literally, like, the same age.”
She realized she had made a mistake and immediately went to apologize, “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to offend. I know you’re not that much older than me, I just didn’t know if you would be okay with me using your names considering we’ve never really talked before.” Her eyes remained downcast so she missed the look the two brunettes exchanged with Lexa.
Octavia looked back first and said, “Look, yo, we didn’t mean to freak out. I’m just not used to being called ‘Miss’ anything. How about we stick with Octavia, Raven, and Lexa?”
She finally looked up and her eyes locked with the green ones she had been hoping to avoid. They all heard her say, “Lexa”, as if testing the way it sounded. She gave a very brief nod and then went back to looking away.
That seemed to be enough to get the previously silent brunette in motion. Lexa stepped in front of the injured girl and gently lifted her head. She made sure they made eye contact and recognized the pain swirling in their depths. With a gentle voice she explained that they would be taking her home with them so that they would be able to take care of her injuries.
The steel fell in front of her eyes again and she could see the self-preservation written across her features. “I appreciate your concern, Ms. Woods, but I can assure you it’s unnecessary. As you pointed out earlier I am a medical student and can take care of myself. I’m sure Ms. Bla – Octavia and Raven have more important things to do than deal with me anyways. Pity cases are always an inconvenience, aren’t they?”
The last comment was obviously laden with an underhanded attack and Raven and Octavia shared confused looks. It seemed like there was some sort of serious history between this girl that had saved their asses and their best friend. As they tried to figure out if Lexa had ever said anything about her they realized they didn’t even know her name, which was a little embarrassing because she seemed to know them.
Raven decided to take the first step and ask, “Hey what’s your name?”
The girl chuckled slightly, “Clarke. Clarke Griffin.” Everyone turned to look at Lexa when she sucked in a sharp breath. The small smile fell off Clarke’s face.
Octavia yelped, "Hey! You were in my behavioral neuroanatomy class!" She turned to Raven and Lexa and said, "This girl is basically a genius. She could've taught the class if the teacher would let her. She would have been much better to listen to and look at, that's for sure."
Clarke tried to offer her a smile, but it probably came across as more of a grimace. Before she could start walking away again Octavia stopped her. “Look, I don’t know what your issue is with getting help, but please let us help you. We’re sorry we were being bitches earlier about you stepping in and we want to say thank you somehow.” Seeing that she was about to say something she smiled softly and held up a hand to stop her, “I’m sure we don’t need to pay you back, but we would really like to.”
Raven stepped in at this point, “Yea for real. Who knows what those guys would have done if you hadn’t shown up when you did. And look at what happened to you because of it.”
Clarke could tell that they were starting to feel guilty and she didn’t like it. “Please don’t feel bad. I would have stepped in no matter who it was. They had no right to come after you like that. I know you could’ve stood up for yourself but I didn’t want you to have to.” Her shoulders deflated some and her head bowed down a little as well before she said, “If it helps you feel better at all I can let you guys help me out. But please, don’t think it’s necessary.”
They didn’t seem to hear the last part because Raven and Octavia both squealed excitedly before starting to rush forward.
Lexa seemed to be the only one to realize that the running would hurt Clarke and she called out to her two best friends, “Guys come on! She’s not coming to hang out. She probably can’t run that fast just yet.”
They both halted to a stop immediately, looking guilty again. Clarke couldn’t help but laugh a little bit at them. Assuring them both that she was fine, they started walking forward again, at a slower pace this time.
As they were walking towards the parking lot, the two brunettes asked the younger girl questions about her work. They didn’t expect her to be a medical intern because she looked so small, but apparently looks can be deceiving. She talked about work and different things she had seen. They asked about how she learned to fight like she did and she gave as vague an answer as possible. “I’ve been doing Krav Maga, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and kickboxing for a few years.”
They reached the parking lot, finally, and started walking towards the car. Really, it was Lexa’s car, but they all lived in the same apartment so they usually shared a car and it was usually hers. They heard Clarke’s sharp intake of breath seeing the black Audi A4 and just looked at her. She had eyes for no one but the owner of the car, though.
She couldn’t believe it. She never expected to see this car. Especially with that license plate: TRIKRU. Out of all of the potential license plates out there that was the one she decided on. They had always talked about getting this car when they were older; when they finally got a house together and their jobs were set and their lives were moving forward together.
She turned slightly to the girl trailing behind them, “Nice car.”
Lexa looked down and toyed with her keys. She never expected the blonde in front of her to see the car. She mumbled a thanks and got into the driver’s seat. She waited for Raven to get in the passenger seat (it had enough room for her brace) and Octavia helped Clarke get in the back seat. When everyone was seated, she started the car and left for the short drive to their apartment.
Octavia and Raven had so many questions, but the tension in the car was palpable and neither of them wanted to say anything. They were getting so curious. They were certain that Lexa had never mentioned a “Clarke” to them before, but no one could deny that it seemed like they had a history.
They got to the apartment and Lexa got out to help Raven while Octavia helped Clarke out. It seemed that the way she was seated in the car added to the discomfort set in her body, and she berated herself. She knew that everything would get worse if she sat down, she shouldn’t have let them drive her anywhere. She knew what she was supposed to be doing, but she was letting her heart fuck everything up. Again.
They walked from the parking garage to the building and made it to the elevator. Raven couldn’t take the stairs and it seemed like Clarke wouldn’t be able to walk up five flights at this point either. As they stood waiting for the elevator, though, Lexa looked over at the blonde cradling her right arm and said, “Is the pressure from going up going to be okay for your ribs?”
She didn’t move her head to acknowledge that she heard the other brunette, she merely said, “It’s fine. I’m fine.” She knew that it wasn’t convincing, but she didn’t care. She just wanted to be done here so she could leave.
Getting in the elevator she braced herself, knowing this would be painful. The quick jerk of the metal box and the change in elevation put an uncomfortable amount of pressure on her sensitive ribs and left an unpleasant sensation in her shoulder. She realized that if she didn’t get that back in place soon she could have permanent damage. Maybe she would have to ask one of these girls for help after all.
They stood in the elevator silently. Raven couldn’t help but think about the girl next to them. The elevator was uncomfortable for her with the brace, she couldn’t imagine what it felt like with the kind of injuries she had. She couldn’t help her grimace when they all heard the slight groan that escaped the otherwise silent girl’s mouth that she so obviously tried to hold back.
They reached their level and stepped out of the elevator. There were two people waiting when they stepped out and they heard them gasp at seeing the girl with them. Looking back at her, all three brunettes realized that she looked absolutely horrible in the light. Her face was covered in blood all the way to the base of her neck and onto her collar; one of her eyes was nearly swollen shut with blood pouring out of a cut at her eyebrow, her nose had blood pouring out, her lip was split with blood pouring out – it just didn’t look like there was any part of her face without blood pouring out. Her shirt was torn and her pants were a mess. Not to mention her arm was hanging at an ungodly angle. How she was still conscious none of them could understand.
The four girls made their way from the elevator to their apartment and set their bags all right inside the door. As the three residents of the apartment moved further into the area, Clarke just kind of stood in the doorway. She had no idea what she was supposed to do or where she was supposed to go. She saw Raven sit down on the couch and start pulling off the brace. Octavia was rummaging around the freezer, and Lexa went straight to a cabinet and began rifling through things there. She remained planted at the door awkwardly.
Raven noticed the girl standing uncomfortably in the doorway and sighed. She hadn’t experienced anyone like this since she met Octavia seven years ago. Octavia’s story had been pretty miserable, but she wasn’t in as sad a place as Clarke seemed to be in. Raven was scared to think of what the medical intern must have gone through to be this guarded.
She called out to the girl standing in the doorway, “Hey kid why don’t you come sit here.” As the young blonde looked at her confusedly, she smiled what she hoped was a friendly smile and patted the spot next to her. She slowly made her way over and Raven could see the pain in her shoulder. She yelled into the kitchen, “Hey, O, get a heating pad too, please!” She nodded to herself at the confirmation she heard.
Clarke walked over to the sofa but didn’t sit. She stood by Raven and kind of looked at her. She wasn’t entirely too sure what to do, but she knew that sitting down without fixing her arm could cause even more damage to both the arm and her ribs.
Neither of them said anything for a few seconds until Raven started getting uncomfortable with the silence, “C’mon kid. Take a seat. Relax. Calm down. No one’s going to attack you here.” She didn’t miss the way the younger girl’s eyes darted into the kitchen and she just got so much more curious about her history with their best friend.
Before she had a chance to say anything else, though, the girl said, “Ma’am you pointed out earlier that we’re about the same age. Why are you calling me ‘kid’?”
“Well you’re still calling me ‘Ma’am’, aren’t you?” she shot back. “Besides, you’re still younger than us even if it’s just by a little bit.” She looked at the girl in mock scrutiny, “What are you, anyways? 15? 17?”
Clarke couldn’t help the slight chuckle that escaped her at that. She knew that the older girl was poking fun at how young she looked, but it had been so long since she’d joked with anybody she couldn’t help how nice it felt. “I’m actually 23, ma’am.”
“Aha! See, you’re two years younger than me. Therefore, I can call you kid.” She paused for a second. “But I’m only two years older than you, meaning you need to drop the ‘ma’am’ stat. Octavia, on the other hand, is a year younger than you so definitely drop the ‘ma’am’ there.”
The younger girl acquiesced with a grin just as the two others were walking in from the kitchen. Octavia walked right over to them with the heating pads, handing one to Raven, who placed it on her leg and released an extremely inappropriate sounding moan, and tried to hand the other one to her. Clarke politely declined, stating that she needed to get her shoulder back in place before she put anything on it. She looked around slightly, trying to figure out if she could ask anyone for help in relocating her shoulder, knowing it would be damn painful to do by herself because of her ribs.
Before she was able to say anything, Lexa put down the box in her hands and stepped forward. Without thinking, she reached out to grab her arm to help her but stopped when the arm was jerked away from her. She looked up, immediately locking eyes with the blue ones in front of her, swimming with pain and tears desperately being held back. “Please,” she whispered, “don’t.” She felt her own green eyes fill up and nodded slightly. Dropping her arms awkwardly, she backed up and picked up the first aid kit she had put down. She turned away from the three girls standing around her and took a seat on the sofa, avoiding eye-contact with her roommates.
Octavia and Raven exchanged worried glances at this interaction. Obviously something was very wrong with these two girls, because their roommate never cried. Some shit must have really gone down here.
Octavia put her heating pad down and reached forward gently. “Hey can I help you out? I know fixing a dislocated shoulder alone can be a bitch.” She hoped that allowing the girl to see that Octavia had been in this situation before would help her open up.
Clarke looked back and studied the face in front of her. She saw no judgment in her eyes; if anything, they looked even softer than before. Slowly, she nodded her head, avoiding looking at anyone else. She felt her hand grasp her shoulder and the other one held her firmly at the elbow. She couldn’t help it; she tensed.
Octavia felt the girl tense up as soon as she touched her. It was like the girl was going to bolt away as fast as she could and she didn’t care if she ripped her arm out in the process. She tried to give the girl as reassuring of a smile as she could and calm her down. She, too, knew the pain of fixing broken bones alone, and it always hurt like a motherfucker. If she could get the girl to just chill a little bit, it would all be easier.
Raven watched the silent interaction between her best friend and the stranger in their living room. It was a very tense moment and she didn’t really know what she would be able to do to help. She watched as the younger girl released some of the tension in her body and allowed Octavia to get a firmer grip on her arm. She heard her best friend warn the other girl that it would hurt and then she pulled the arm.
The loud cracking sound was enough to make her gag, knowing that that had to have hurt like a bitch at the very least. She was beyond impressed when the girl didn’t scream, though. In fact, she just groaned. She groaned and her face was contorted into a grimace and that was it. There were no tears, there was no screaming, no yell of pain. A single, short groan, and a grimace. Raven had no idea what to think about it.
Lexa watched the two in front of her, but she had to look away when she heard the sound of Clarke’s arm popping back into place. She had been in that position with the other girl too many times in the past, and the memories that the sound brought up were anything but pleasant. She noticed that the girl was damn near silent this time, so that was either an improvement or even more heartbreaking than it should’ve been.
Everyone waited silently for the mysterious girl in the middle of the room to recover. No one really moved or said anything, just waited for her to react to her arm being put back in place. None of them were really shocked by what she did say when she opened her mouth.
“Thank you for your help, ma’am. Now I’ll get out of your guys’ hair and let you get to what you need to do.” She tried reaching for her bag to leave the apartment but was stopped when both people on the sofa tried to get up. Lexa actually managed to meet Octavia and stop her from moving forward while Raven was stuck struggling to pull herself up. Because she was behind her, though, she was able to grab her good hand.
Raven had no idea why she didn’t go after the girl with her usual sarcasm and cynicism, but she just couldn’t continue to be an asshole to this girl. She had definitely already had a hard enough night, there was no need for her to add to that. “Please. Don’t go yet.”
Clarke turned around to look at the brunette standing behind her. She saw everything hiding in the depths of her brown eyes and knew she wouldn’t be able to deny her this. She was a sucker for eyes, dammit.
Raven saw the girl nod a little and then she actually led her back to the sofa. As she went to sit down again she couldn’t help but moan at the pressure that left her leg. And, of course, she had to give the smug smirk when Octavia laughed at her. Lexa and Clarke were still being weird about everything, but maybe some comedy would help.
Clarke sighed to herself. It’s not that she had a problem with these two girls. If it were any other situation she would probably be happy to stay with them and maybe actually get friendly. The quiet brunette sitting on the sofa next to them changed things though. She hadn’t seen the green-eyed girl since she was 20 and neither of them could say with complete certainty that it was an amicable split. Clarke had completely disappeared from Lexa’s life and they had had absolutely no direct interaction. Even four years later this was harder than either of them would like to admit.
Raven and Octavia were the first two to sit down and they immediately set to talking. Raven went on about the pain in her leg and Octavia took her turn making fun of her. Lexa and Clarke sat quietly, comfortable watching the two best friends banter. Lexa would jump in from time to time and they were having a pretty good time.
Eventually they noticed that their mystery guest hadn’t said anything yet, so they started baiting her into the conversation. Octavia liked using her to gang up on Raven, and Raven liked using her as backup against Octavia. It didn’t take them long to figure out that something seemed to be wrong, though.
Clarke sat for a while, content in watching the two friends bicker. After a while, though, she could no longer ignore the pain radiating through her entire body, especially in her skull. She knew sitting down without her inhaler would be a problem and she was starting to wish she had pushed to leave. Clarke tried to participate in the joking when they started paying more attention to her but she realized that she didn’t pull off comfortable as much as she would have liked. Not too long after getting pulled into the bickering, Octavia asked if she wanted water. Hoping it would help her gain some more focus she accepted. The sneaky brunette volunteered Lexa to get it for her, though, and that’s where the problems arose.
There wasn’t much she had problems with. The blonde had grown up having to adapt to different things and taking what she could get. One thing she couldn’t handle, though, was asking people to do things for her. As the green eyed girl sitting next to her stood up to get the water she shot up behind her. The last thing she wanted was Lexa Woods doing her favors. Running into the kitchen behind the older brunette she realized this might be one of her biggest flaws; her body sure as hell was not ready to be jumping and running.
Raven and Octavia watched their guest run after their best friend into the kitchen, presumably to battle about the water. They smirked at each other, thinking that this might actually make the two interact and cut through the ever-increasing tension between them. Their attention was demanded when they heard a crash and yell from the other room, though.
Lexa sensed the younger girl behind her almost as soon as she took off. She would’ve given anything to be able to leave that room and not have to sit next to this girl that she hadn’t seen in almost half a decade, but it seemed that wasn’t how things were going to play out. Clarke came behind her, saying she could get the water herself and apologizing for making her get up. Before she could stop herself she turned around, “I’m not incapable of getting you water. Getting a cup isn’t inconvenient, it’s literally just doing a favor.” Seeing her face fall slightly, she sighed. She’d fucked up again. “You don’t need to keep apologizing for nothing.”
The weight behind those words was too much and she couldn’t stay up anymore. As the black spots swam in front of her eyes she really regretted getting up from the sofa so fast and she reached out to grab the counter, knocking the cup of water over in the process. She wasn’t able to stay up even with the support of the counter and felt herself hit something before losing sight of everything.
Lexa watched the girl pale and sway while grabbing for the glass of water she held out to her. Growing slightly worried she took a step closer to the girl in front of her and noticed her usually piercing blue eyes were hazed over and she didn’t seem to be looking at anything. Reaching out to grab her arm and steady her she stopped when the arm reached out and grabbed the counter. Before Lexa could react or even say anything, Clarke was falling.
Her hands shot out to grab the girl as she fell, hoping to help her avoid falling onto the cup of water. She was vaguely aware of Octavia running into the kitchen and Raven calling from the sofa, but she was primarily focused on the unconscious girl in front of her. Helping her to the floor and sitting her in her lap she finally got a good, close-up look at her face. The blood caked on her face was now joined by fresh blood coming from almost all of the cuts on her face. The swelling around her eye was more than slightly disturbing and the coloring was definitely going to be a nightmare for days to come.
Knowing that there were more injuries she slowly raised the girl’s shirt and couldn’t hold back her gasp. She could hear Octavia swear above her and was now aware of the fact that Raven had made her way over to them as well. She was preoccupied, though, by the terrifying blue and black markings all over the girl’s torso. She definitely wasn’t lying when she said she had fucked up her ribs. The scariest part, though, was that not all of it was fresh. She had some obviously healing bruises and cuts all over her body as well.
Before her and her friends could invade Clarke’s privacy any longer, she pulled her shirt down and went to pick her up from the floor. She knew moving her bridal style would be painful and she was more than glad that she was going to be unconscious for this.
Octavia intercepted Lexa on her way, though, "Shouldn't we take her to the hospital? Lexa, look at her! She looks like she's been through hell!"
Lexa sighed, knowing the others might not understand. "I know this all looks bad, but if I know anything, I know that Clarke can take care of herself. The last thing she's going to want is to go to the hospital."
The two younger brunettes exchanged looks, growing more and more curious about the girl in their best friend's arms. Seeing the looks passing between her two flatmates, Lexa continued, "Trust me. She'll be up in the morning and dealing with all of this as if none of it mattered. It pissed me off sometimes, but I learned to trust that she knows what her body needs better than a doctor who knows nothing about her. If things don't look better in the morning, we'll force her to go to the hospital with us."
Raven and Octavia grunted, obviously aware that they no longer had any real reason to stop Lexa from going to her room. The law student was always the biggest stickler about health and safety, sometimes even taking off work to make sure Raven was able to handle her physical therapy properly. If she was saying that the unconscious girl didn't need a hospital, they shouldn't question her. Both brunettes moved out of the way and allowed Lexa to pass.
They got her into Lexa’s room and laid her down on the bed. All three of them could tell she wouldn’t be up for a while. Passing out like that meant she had to be terrible condition and she would stay like that for at least a few hours. After tucking her into the blankets and making sure she was comfortable, all three of them made their way back to the living room.
Lexa had gone and sat down on the sofa right away, Raven tailing behind her while Octavia made a detour to grab them all something to drink. She knew that Lexa’s go to drink was either Sprite or apple juice and Raven couldn’t have too much alcohol with her medications so she grabbed all three of them sodas from the fridge before meeting them on the sofa.
Lexa took the drink from her friend with a soft smile before looking at the floor again. Raven and Octavia exchanged worried glances; they hadn’t seen this Lexa in years. She was slightly uncomfortable and very closed off when they first met, but they managed to bring her out of that shell. Maybe Clarke was someone from before they met her; someone who brought up painful memories.
The green eyed brunette looked at the floor without seeing anything. She felt the bottle in her hand and smiled slightly – it was the girl in her bedroom that got her hooked on the bubbly drink. Clarke always had something against alcohol and she pointed out that soda has the same burn when you drink it. Remembering the blonde’s current situation, the smile fell from her face. She took a deep breath and took a sip from the bottle. She had no more energy to keep her head up and it hung with the weight of everything she had tried to avoid for years.
Raven and Octavia waited and watched silently, observing as their best friend and roommate seemed to grow heavier by the second. She looked like she was about to crumble at the edges and they had absolutely no idea what they were going to do to help her. Raven couldn’t take the pain anymore and started fidgeting. She knew that she would usually be the one to break an uncomfortable silence, but she knew this kind of tension. This is what she imagined it felt like after she and Octavia hooked up. They managed to work through their shit and had a good understanding of their relationship now, but they were in a bad place for a while.
Octavia knew exactly where Raven’s head was and she couldn’t handle sitting there, drowning in the tension in the room without saying anything. She got up and moved next to Lexa and gently took her hand. The action seemed to break the brunette out of her trance and green eyes met blue. She had to ask at that point, “Love what’s going on? Who is she?”
Lexa heard the question and she had no idea how to answer it. She knew she owed it to her best friends to explain to them what the hell was going on, but she didn’t want to talk about this. She took another sip of the bubbly drink, curled up into herself, and started telling the story.