The Matchmaker

‘So… we’re off the hook…’ Clarke didn’t know why she typed that, let alone why she sent it, her only reply was a couple of question marks.

‘My dad has given up on us, said he saw you today with a girl, he’s back to sending me pictures of strangers.’ Clarke had experienced word vomit a couple of times in her life before, never while texting though… She just couldn’t stop herself.

‘Oh yes, Costia and I were taking a coffee break when we ran into your dad.’ Lexa replied, her fingers itching to type that Costia was just a friend, but… That didn’t make any sense, Clarke was just her friend too, the fact that Jake had given up on them hurt a lot more than she would like to admit considering her and Clarke were just friends.

Sure, it was weird that a middle-aged man was trying to hook her up with his daughter, but it was also very flattering… Jake was her friend though, that’s why him giving up on hooking them up hurt, that had to be it.

‘He was really happy you introduced him as your friend. Said he doesn’t need to play matchmaker with us anymore to keep you around.’ Clarke replied had she said it out loud, the words would have come out a lot more bitter but it was hard to express bitterness through text, she was grateful for that and unknowingly the words had taken some of the pang of hurt Lexa had felt at reading Jake had given up on them.

“Well, Clarke… He IS my friend :p’

Clarke didn’t like Lexa, well she did, but not like that, they were friends, just friends, great friends though, but still friends, and sure, Lexa was fucking beautiful, like drop-dead gorgeous, and sexy when she was all sweaty or when she got that little frown and talked animatedly, handsplanning passionately, and cute when she frowned and got that little determined frown, her jaw tightening in concentration, and she was smart, like one of the smartest people she knew besides Raven, Monty and her parents, she was caring and sweet…

So yeah, maybe she liked her a little like that, but it was just a little, so it didn’t explain the absolute… all-consuming green fire of jealousy raging inside her, nor the pain that made her want to curl up on her couch with a tub of ice cream and cry her eyes out for a good couple of hours.

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“Hey, Lexa.” Jake greeted with a smile as he took his seat in front of the girl. “How are you doing today?” He asked as he shrugged off his blazer.

“I’m doing well… considering I’m no longer daughter in law material.” Lexa replied, and Jake thanked the acting classes he took in college to try and meet cute girls for his ability to hold off the smirk that wanted to spread through his face.

“Oh, honey no,” Jake said with a soft smile, even if things were going according to plan, he detected some hurt through the nonchalant act Lexa put as she was saying that. “Anyone, and I mean anyone would be lucky to have you, you’re smart and kind, you have so much to offer to this world and any potential partner you choose, but you and Clarke both insist on being friends and as much as I love teasing you both, it’d be creepy if I insisted too much.” He added with a playful smile and Lexa chuckled.

“Of course… That would be creepy, forget the whole photographing strangers thing.” Lexa teased back, the blush that had gathered on her cheeks at the compliments fading slightly. “Thank you, Professor Griffin.” She added nodding her head and Jake sighed deeply.

“Honestly, how many times have I told you to call me Jake?” He asked with a raised eyebrow.

“In all fairness… You have also asked me to call you dad.” Lexa shot back rolling her eyes and Jake chuckled.

“Fair enough.”

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“If looks could kill bitch would drop dead,” Raven commented with a smirk as she watched Clarke glared at Costia as she placed her arm on Lexa’s tattooed arm and Lexa reply with a soft smile, the plastic cup she was holding crumbling in her hand.

“Whatever,” Clarke said tearing her eyes away from the pair, her eyes scanning the living room until her eyes landed on a pretty blonde.

“Here, hold my drink,” Clarke said placing the crumbled and still dripping cup on Raven’s hand and then walking towards the girl.

“Bitch, what?” Raven called after her, but Clarke was too focused to hear.

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Lexa and Costia had been dating for a month now, and Clarke was fine, honestly, she was, she just had a crush on Lexa but in all fairness, who wouldn’t? The girl was the complete package, only a crazy person wouldn’t be into that and Clarke was many things but not crazy.

Lexa and Costia had been dating for a month and Clarke? Clarke had been… Having fun. Party animal Griffin was back and according to her friends it was like back in freshman year but worse, she was partying and having one night stands and honestly, she was having fun… really.

“Hey, Love,” Jake said as she opened her eyes after being awoken by someone running their hands through her hair and she blinked a couple of times confused.

The last thing she remembered was the club, drinks and a tall but lanky brunette guy dancing with her, she subtly turned around making sure she hadn’t brought him back to her parents’ house and sighed in relief.

The club was closer to her parents’ o maybe in her drunken state she figured it would have been better to crash there, she turned back to her father and smiled despite the throbbing of her temples.

“I’m gonna tell you a story… And then I’m gonna go and make some hangover lunch and we’re gonna watch a Harry Potter marathon and we never have to talk about this if you don’t want to…” Jake proposed, and Clarke groaned her agreement and moved her head to her father’s lap and he complied with the silent request and kept on running his hand through her hair.

“Once upon a time…” He began, and Clarke chuckled. “There was this really handsome, really smart young man called Jake… Now, while Jake’s parents were great… As great as possible considering the time they grew up in, Jake grew up in a time were people didn’t know better and so young Jake grew up in a society that supported toxic masculinity…” Clarke huffed, seriously Jake needed to stay away from Tumblr.

“It was the norm. So, even though Jake was a nice young man, he thought that to be a man, he needed to do things like go out with his friends, have fun, date a lot, go out with girls, have fun, not call them… It was just having fun because he would eventually get trapped by the shackles of marriage and he’d regret not having had his fun… And so he did, and it was… fun but it wasn’t… Fulfilling, it was a momentary fun and after he’d be left feeling empty, but one day, one day he saw this blonde woman, she was walking back to her dorm, a bunch of books on her arms and bags under her eyes, and he just felt this need to talk to her, to hear her voice, see what her smile would look like, what her laugh sounded like, hell even what she’d look and sound when angry.” Clarke could hear the smile on her dad’s voice and she couldn’t help the replying smile that spread over her lips in reply.

“So… I followed her.” Jake chuckled.

“So, you’ve always acted like a creep…” Clarke teased.

“Just to know what her dorm was, I believe in fate but sometimes fate needs a little help and I wanted to see her again, despite wanting to know her, I didn’t have the courage to talk to her back then…” He shrugged.

“And for a week… for an entire week every time I wasn’t in class, doing my assignments, studying or sleeping, I was hanging out by her dorm, my friends didn’t understand why I was so fixated with one girl when there were so many out there you know?” Jake sighed deeply. “But finally, finally, I met her, and we talked, just… you know, I introduced myself, got her name, what she was studying, and just talked about school and stuff and then she told me she had to go study and left, I knew… I just knew… That I wanted her to be my wife… Which sounds crazy and it was, I got scared, which seemed stupid cause she showed no indication that she had the same realization… At all.” Jake chuckled.

“So I went back to my old ways and having fun but nothing changed… I still felt empty after and all I could think about was her… So, I asked her out… and she said no, she couldn’t, she was focusing on school and needed to study… So I tried again, and invited her to the library on a study date… eventually, she agreed to go out with me on a real date and before walking her back to her dorm, before even kissing her goodnight, I told her one day, after graduation, hell after med school and residency and whatever other milestone she might have, I’d ask her to marry me… And she laughed, right in my face but over almost three decades and here we are… And I can tell you, I have never been happier and every day I wake up next to her, and when I look at the beautiful daughter we made and everything we’ve gone through… I have never been happier; my only regret is not having met her sooner because no time would be enough time, we’re gonna grow old together, you know? There’s no one I can see by my side playing bingo in whatever retirement home you drop us in.” Jake teased, and Clarke smirked.

“I don’t expect anything from you, except to do your best at everything, I’d love you married to a boy, the same I’d love you married to a girl, in a house full of kids or filled with cats or dogs or both… All I truly want is for you to be happy and right now you seem to be having fun, but you don’t seem happy.” He said, and Clarke had a smile on her face, so she was surprised when she felt his thumb sweeping the tears that had slid down her cheeks before he leaned down and kissed her forehead.

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Jake smiled as he saw Lexa walking in and waved at her, sure Lexa dating Costia for two months now had him putting Operation Clexa on hold, he wasn’t a relationship wrecker… Unless it was Bellamy and Clarke, but he put a stop on it before it was actually a relationship, so it was okay.

Besides, there was a chance that he was wrong, he wasn’t, and that Clarke and Lexa weren’t right for each other, they were, but as much as he wanted to help, he also knew that at the end of the day the needed to find the road to each other themselves.

Jake and Lexa had kept on meeting each other for coffee every week or so, they still had discussions about nerdy stuff on social media and Jake had invited Lexa, and Gustus, as well as Anya and Lincoln to his house to watch soccer a couple of times.

He had learned that Lexa was very… Reserved, young woman, and there weren’t many people she considered friends and most of the people in that circle intersected with the members of her family, so it wasn’t exactly surprising to him when Lexa wanted to talk about topics one would usually ask a friend, they were friends after all and some people might think it was weird because of the age gap but Lexa was a very mature young woman and sometimes Jake was only reminded of her youth when he looked at her.

“How did you know Abby was the one?” Lexa asked playing with the cup in her hands and Jake paused mid-sip and looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

“Why? Thinking about popping the question to Costia?” He asked teasingly, panicking internally because he hadn’t planned on Operation Clexa to take longer than maybe a year or so…

“What?” Lexa asked and the way her face paled was endearing and he couldn’t help but chuckle. “No, no-No… Nothing like that is just… I haven’t had many… well, real relationships, I mean don’t take me wrong, it is not like I’m some kind of player or anything like that, is just, I have rarely been-.“

“Lexa.” Jake interrupted. “Breath, I’m not judging, and you don’t have to explain yourself, I think I understand the question.” He smiled kindly at her. “And bear with me cause I’m not sure it’ll make a lot of sense. I knew Abby was the one almost as soon as I met her… Not because some... some Rom-Com movie stuff… I was attracted to her of course so there were the butterflies, the excitement, the whole nine yards but I had been attracted to girls before, I had felt that before but the level of… Chemistry, I guess, the compatibility I felt with her, I had not felt with anyone, I could talk to her about everything, she was so serious and I was… not, so I’ll be honest and say that I expected her to find me… I don’t know too goofy and while I was really attracted to her and wanted to impress her, I figured if she didn’t like me for me, there would be no future anyway, so I was myself and I was pleasantly surprised that for all her eye-rolls and huffs, my… brand of goofiness made her smile, put her at ease and that she played along, being with her… As… contradicting as it sounds, under the butterflies and excitement, it just made me feel at ease, I guess, we just… Clicked.”

Lexa nodded along with Jake’s explanation, brows furrowed. Jake just shrugged, it wasn’t something you could actually explain and have people understand unless they have felt it themselves and unfortunately, not many people got the chance to experience it.

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Ever since Costia and Lexa started dating, Clarke and Lexa, hadn’t seen much of each other, Clarke would admit it was mainly her fault, and she felt awful, it had been almost four months and they were supposed to be friends, they were, she just didn’t know how to be friends with Lexa while she was in a relationship and honestly that should have been a sign that she liked Lexa like that a lot more than just a little.

She had been fretting over what to wear for Octavia’s birthday party for over an hour, but Lincoln, Anya and Lexa would be there, and Lexa had been single for a couple of weeks…

“Hey Nerd.” Clarke greeted with a smirk and Lexa rolled her eyes in reply

“If anything, I’m a geek.” She protested as she poured herself a drink.

“Oh really? Says the girl that wrote a dissertation on the harmful effects of media’s watered down representation of LGBT+ characters and the mistreatment of said characters on the LGBT+ youth.” Clarke replied with a raised eyebrow and a teasing smirk and Lexa crossed her arms as she let her eyes travel up and down Clarke’s body, assessing.

“What does it say about you that you read it and even named, my silly Facebook rant about how they did Shaw and Root wrong?... Clarke, I think you may be a closeted nerd.” Lexa teased back.

“I haven’t been in a closet since freshman year.” Clarke replied rolling her eyes but there was an amused smile on her lips, Lexa gave her a weird look and she didn’t know why but a blush spread over her cheeks and she huffed in reply.

The party was winding down, Clarke and Lexa were sitting on the loveseat talking and Clarke smiled at Lexa, they weren’t drunk but pleasantly buzzed.

“Hey… So, I’d like another try at the whole fitness thing… As long as you promise to take it easy on me…”

“Sunday?” Lexa asked, and Clarke huffed.

“Who the hell works out on a Sunday Lexa? It’s Sunday! God made that day for resting and relaxing.” Clarke protested, and Lexa just looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “I have classes on Monday, Lexa, I need at least a 24 hour recovery period so I don’t feel like I’m at the gates of hell!” Lexa chuckled and shrugged.

“Fine, how about tomorrow? You’ll get to sweat out your hangover.” Clarke rolled her eyes but shrugged her agreement.

“Fine, but you better have breakfast for me on Sunday.” She demanded even though it was her the one asking Lexa for a favor and not the other way around, still Lexa smiled and agreed.

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Lexa had gone easy on her the day before, she knew that, still, her body didn’t agree and was still feeling like a truck had T-boned her, but the next day Lexa had been there around noon as promised, she had cooked Clarke breakfast, made her eat fruit and greens, this time though she knew better than to give Clarke decaf… Or at least Clarke hoped because the infuriating woman had just handed her a cup and smirked at her narrowed eyes every time she took a sip, then they had moved to the living room to watch a Harry Potter marathon and Clarke was a goner.

“I actually… don’t hate Snape, he was an asshole but the whole ‘always’ thing is not as toxic as some people make it out to be… Except for his conflicted feelings for Harry, I mean he was an asshole to the kid because he was half James but still protected him because he was half Lily, still it was unrequited love, possibly obsession, my real issue is with Dumbledore, I mean when I was a kid I loved him, I wanted a mentor like him or something but then I grew up and I was like… No.”

“Listen… Hermione deserved better, she deserved someone who treated her like Viktor Krum, I’m still pissed about her ending up with Ron and I love Ron but… Seriously?”

“I know the kids are supposed to be the protagonists and the heroes but still… The adults make some really questionable decisions… Except Mcgonagall, she’s the best.”

“Lex… She let an 11 year old skip the age regulations on Quidditch just because he was talented and she wanted to win.”

“Oh come on! Quidditch is a rough game, brutal, but no one had died in years, some will vanish occasionally, but they'll turn up in a month or two!”

Clarke had been to the gym three times, granted so far it had been once a week but still, rather than feeling like she was getting fit, she felt like she was getting closer to death each time, she wasn’t born to work out in any other way other than sex, she wasn’t meant to run unless it was for her life.

The things she did to impress a pretty woman.

Her salvation came in the form of Gustus, Lexa’s built as a bear, soft as a teddy bear adoptive father, she ran into him at coffee shop of all places, they had made some small talk and of course eventually the topic shifted to Lexa, he looked at Clarke, stroked his beard and shrugged.

“Listen… There’s some sort of superpower that comes with being a parent, it’s the whole parental sixth sense or at least if feels that way to sons and daughters and to people that aren’t a parent, but it’s not a superpower, except it takes being a good one to develop it, and it’s not hard being a good parent, there’s only three things that are needed for that; To care, to be there and to pay attention, everything else will eventually fall into place.” He said and paused because Clarke was frowning and looking like she wasn’t following, cause she wasn’t, so he pushed forward.

“It’s how I know that Lexa will shrug off and pretend everything is fine when things are actually serious, like playing half a soccer game with a fissure on her foot, and how I know that when it’s something… minor, like a cold, she’d milk the hell out of it. How she pretends she doesn’t care for it but she actually enjoys being pampered, and how I know that for a smart as she is, she’s blind, both literally and metaphorically, specially to things concerning how amazing she is… so she doesn’t notice subtle stuff, she needs neon signs or being… metaphorically hit in the face with it for her to acknowledge certain stuff.”

Clarke had blushed as she realized what he was saying and sputtered a lazy excuse and pretty much ran out of the café, so she missed Gustus pulling out his phone with a smirk on his face as he texted Jake just one word:

‘Soon’ followed by the gif of the dramatic close up of a little hamster hiding behind a bottle of coke, because they were hip like that.

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Lexa opened the door of her apartment, Clarke was standing behind the door and she looked… frazzled.

“Clarke, is everything-“ She didn’t get to finish her question, Clarke took a deep breath and stepped forward.

“I’m attracted to you, I like, I like you a lot and I can’t keep pretending to be interested into fitness just to hang out with you because as nice as it is looking at you in your work out gear all sexy and amazon goddess looking, it might take me to an early grave so I… Fuck… You wear glasses?” Clarke asked as she finally looked up, Lexa was standing there, jaw slack in shock, her glasses hanging low on her nose.

“I… What? Wait… I… You… I mean, yes I do?”

“You look… “ Clarke trailed off, sighed deeply and pushed up Lexa’s glasses. “Do you wanna go on a date with me…Nerd?”

Lexa huffed, rolled her eyes but a soft smile spread over her lips “Yes…”

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They had been dating for a little bit over month and it was great, fantastic, the only issue Lexa had with it was that they hadn’t told anyone and it was hard, because she still met with Jake for coffee every other week and soccer games and felt dirty every time she hung out with the man and didn’t tell her she was dating his daughter but they had agreed, they wanted to figure it out, keep it to themselves and be sure there was something before inviting other people into their relationship.

Which is why Lexa knew it was a bad idea when Clarke straddled her lap and began kissing her, right there, in the middle of the Griffin’s living room, they were alone, Jake had gone to pick up Abby from the hospital and dessert for their reunion, Octavia and Lincoln had gotten engaged… Sort of, Lincoln had given Octavia a ring but they were still planning on waiting after graduation but still, Jake and Abby thought of her as another daughter and they had decided to throw a small engagement party, just family.

So yeah, Lexa knew it was a bad idea… A really bad idea, still, she had never been able to resist or deny Clarke anything, so she really shouldn’t have been surprised when someone cleared their throat and they broke apart to find Jake and Abby standing there.

Jake was Lexa’s friend, but he was still the father of the woman Lexa had just been playing tonsil hockey with and she was pretty sure her hands had been on Clarke’s ass, and really who could blame her? It was a great ass… Still Jake was Clarke’s father and he looked unamused, so Lexa cleared her throat as well, she could feel the heat on her cheeks as she offered a little wave.

“Hey… Dad.” Lexa greeted with a sheepish smile and Jake couldn’t hold it any longer, he burst out laughing as he walked forward and enveloped Lexa in a hug.

“When can I expect grandchildren?” He asked as he pulled back, holding Lexa by the shoulders.