"Clarke."
The Jaha's stayed at the Woods residence that night so that they could be there to say goodbye before Lexa left. The whole family gathered around her car saying their goodbyes. Lincoln had promised to visit her soon, Anya had simply told her that sooner or later she would find out what Lexa was hiding. Indra reminded her to look after herself and Gustus hugged her tightly subtly slipping a wad of money into the pocket of her leather jacket as he did, hoping she wouldn't find it until later. Thelonious scooped her up into a hug whispering the words "don't study too much, take time to enjoy life." Alie pulled her into a hug next and whispered "you've got this Lexa, I'm so proud of you."
"Okay so I'll see you all in a few weeks." Lexa stated with a tinge of sadness showing in her voice. She got into her car and rolled down the window. "I love you guys."
"We love you too Lexa." Her aunt responded for all of them.
Lexa took one last look at her family, she just caught sight of the dejected look on Anya's face before it disappeared. "Hey Ahn come here for a second."
Anya approached the car with a frown on her face, clearly confused about what Lexa wanted her for.
"Lincoln said he'd come visit me soon, I'd like it if you would to."
"Really?" Anya couldn't believe Lexa actually wanted her to come see her when she didn't seem to want to share any details of her new life.
"Yeah, whenever you can."
"Okay."
Lexa very nearly gasped when Anya showed a genuine smile. There was no mischief in her smile, no anger or sadness, it was a very rare sight to see her cousin showing a smile that radiated joy.
"See you soon Lex."
"Okay, bye." When Anya moved back she looked at her family again before starting the car. "Bye guys."
She received a chorus of goodbyes from them before she pulled out of the driveway and started her journey back to Clarke.
Clarke woke up that morning to find she had a text from Lexa telling her she had started her journey back to Arkadia, a smile instantly appeared on her face knowing she would soon see Lexa. Raven and Octavia had been reluctant to stay at Abby's while Clarke went back to the apartment. After what seemed like hours of them whining Abby took them both outside and told them that they needed to let Clarke go on her own, they had explained to Abby that they didn't want to miss any Clexa moments but Abby pointed out that if Clarke and Lexa got to have some alone time then there might be a lot more Clexa moments in the future, she then told them that they might be too invested in the love lives of their friends and the two fled before Abby started asking them about their own love lives. That led to Octavia and Raven allowing her to go alone and telling her encouraging things like "go get your girl." of course they had no idea that Clarke was going to hear Lexa speak today, she had managed to keep that information to herself but she was sure if they had found out they never would have let her go alone.
Clarke was now frozen in place outside their apartment. She knew Lexa was here already, she had seen her car in the parking lot when she arrived. Standing outside of their home she felt extremely nervous, she hadn't realized just how big of a deal it would be for Lexa to speak until that moment. She stood there for a few minutes trying to drown out the worries running through her mind. She wrapped her hand around the door handle and sucked in one last deep breath before finally opening the door.
Clarke jumped when she saw Lexa leaning on the side of the couch, it looked as though she had known Clarke was outside the door and had been patiently waiting for her to come in. "Jesus." She put a hand over her heart, it was beating so quickly she was sure she had been close to a heart attack. "Sorry, you just scared me a little." Clarke placed her bags on the floor beside her.
A small smile appeared on Lexa's face but she looked just as nervous as Clarke had before she came in.
Clarke's nervousness returned when she saw Lexa opening her mouth to say something, she panicked. "Are you hungry? Mom sent some leftovers back, she couldn't give us too much though 'cause she had to keep some to feed themselves." Clarke chuckled thinking about how Raven and Octavia would react if there was no leftovers for them.
Lexa's smile grew thinking Clarke was adorable when she rambled.
Clarke picked up one of the bags and held it up in front of her as she spoke. "I can warm it up for us now or we can have it later. It might be too early but if you're hungry we can—"
"Clarke."
Clarke immediately stopped talking. She never thought her name was special, she never really loved it before but she does now, she loves the sound of her name rolling off Lexa's tongue, the way she said it so sweetly and gently, the way she clicked the 'k', no one had ever said her name like that before. "Say it again." Clarke practically purred.
Lexa chuckled and Clarke thought it was the most beautiful thing she had ever heard.
"Hi Clarke."
Clarke let out a sigh of relief . "Hi Lexa." She moved to wrap her arms around Lexa in a gentle hug.
They stayed like that for a couple of minutes until Clarke started swaying them slowly.
"Clarke we're dancing." Lexa whispered.
Clarke hummed in response.
"There's no music."
"I like this, I don't want to stop."
"Okay." Lexa dropped her head to Clarkes shoulder, her mouth pressed against the thin fabric of Clarke's shirt.
Clarke felt Lexa's lips form a smile against her shoulder and she melted even more into her embrace.
After a few more minutes Clarke stopped them but didn't let go of Lexa. "You have a beautiful voice."
Lexa wrapped her arms around Clarke a little tighter and sighed. "I missed you."
"I missed you too." Clarke squeezed her once more before she pulled back to look at her. "I'm sorry I was rambling, I was just worried."
"Why were you worried Clarke?" Lexa asked in a soft tone.
"I just thought that everything might change between us after this."
Lexa nodded her head in understanding. "Things will change Clarke but in a good way, now you won't have to guess what it is I want to tell you."
"Speaking of telling me things, I'm sorry that all that stuff happened to you, you didn't deserve any of that."
"I'm not as upset about it anymore, I've realized that if it hadn't happened then I probably wouldn't have met you." Lexa took Clarke's hand and led her to sit down on the couch. "I love the life I have now, being here with you makes me happier than I ever have been."
Clarke smiled fondly at her. "Lincoln was right."
Lexa's brow furrowed a little. "What was he right about?"
"You're so charming. It's hardly surprising though, you've always been charming even without using words."
"Lincoln said that?"
"Yeah."
"That's strange he usually doesn't tell anyone anything about me because he doesn't know what I want people to know."
"I guess we just have a way of getting the Woods family to open up to us."
"I don't doubt that." Lexa looked at her adoringly.
Clarke blushed and cleared her throat. "Can I ask you questions?"
"Of course."
Clarke remained silent for a while. "I can't think of anything now, my minds gone blank."
"I prepared for this." Lexa pulled out her phone and opened her bookmarks. "I did some research and found some websites with questions you can ask people to get to know them."
Clarke chuckled. "You're a dork."
"No I'm not." Lexa grumbled.
"Oh you totally are." Clarke smiled when Lexa pouted. "You're a cute dork though."
Lexa blushed. "I can accept that."
"Okay let's look at these questions then." Lexa handed Clarke the phone and she read out the first one. "If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would it be?"
"I think I'd like to see Rome, there's so much history there and it looks so beautiful. What about you?"
"Paris, I'd like to go to the Louvre along with all the other touristy stuff of course and best of all Disneyland."
"I've never been to Disneyland, I think I'd love it though."
"Oh you totally would, we'll go there someday."
"Really?" There was more than just a hint of hope in her voice.
Clarke smiled. "I promise you now Lexa we'll go there someday."
Lexa beamed at Clarke. "Okay."
"Which are you more likely to fight for, love or money? Why?"
"Love, money's not worth fighting for."
"My thoughts exactly."
"How do you define love?"
it didn't take very long for Lexa to think of a response, she had been thinking about this a lot recently. "Love is strange but amazing. You tell yourself that you're done with it, that it's not worth the pain but then you find someone that makes you see that love is what makes life worth living."
Clarke nodded her head agreeing with Lexa before adding some more to it. "Someone that makes you see the beauty in the world again and fills you with this warm, calming feeling every time you're near them. Love definitely is strange but like you said it's amazing." Clarke took Lexa's hand and gave it a squeeze before moving on to the next question. "What are you most grateful for?"
"The people I have in my life."
"Same. What words of wisdom would you pass onto your childhood self?"
"Someday you'll meet her and everything will change." Lexa said, a small smile appearing as she spoke.
"That's beautiful."
"And true."
"If you could time travel, would you go to the past or the future?"
"Past definitely."
"Hell yeah." Clarke held her hand up for Lexa to high five her which she happily did.
"What is 'home' to you?"
"I have three places that feel like home. Here, your mom's house and my uncle's house, they're the places I feel most relaxed. What about you?"
"The same I think. I've never been to your uncle's house but I think if I ever did go there it would feel like home to me."
"I'll take you there someday."
"Yeah?" Clarke hadn't really thought about Lexa wanting to introduce her to her family but she was happy to hear that she might.
"Definitely."
"Would you rather explore a new planet or the deepest parts of the ocean?"
"New planet for sure."
"Same, so much more to explore. Would you rather live in the city or the woods? Oh I can answer that, you would definitely live in the woods." There was a pause before Clarke started giggling. "You'd be a Woods in the woods."
"Very funny." Lexa said dryly, rolling her eyes. "What about you?"
"I'd live in the woods with you, duh." Clarke stated like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Lexa bit her lip before she responded. "I'd like that, I could teach you the best way to climb trees."
"You really enjoy climbing trees, don't you?"
"Yeah there's something about being high above the ground that just feels so freeing."
"I get it, I mean I didn't before but when you brought me up there it was so calming, apart from the near death experience."
"I will never let you fall Clarke." Lexa suddenly looked very troubled.
Clarke wondered just how badly she had scared Lexa when she had slipped that day. "I know, I trust you." She didn't want Lexa to be so worried looking but she didn't know how to stop her from looking so concerned which made her think of a question of her own to ask. "What makes you feel relaxed?"
"Your art." Lexa smiled but looked very nervous. "Actually I um....there's something I want to show you."
Lexa got up and offered Clarke her hand to help her up, when Clarke was standing Lexa intertwined their fingers and made her way to her room.
Clarke immediately noticed what Lexa wanted to show her. The painting she had given Lexa used to stand on a pile of books on her small desk to display it but was now hanging on the wall, above it was what looked to be a small battery operated light.
Lexa pulled her curtains closed and switched on the little light so Clarke could see what it looked like. "I did this when I got back this morning, It's my most prized possession, I wanted to make sure I displayed it properly."
"Thank you, it looks great." Clarke linked their hands again and looked over to find Lexa completely focused on the painting. "You always look at my art with so much wonder, what do you think when you look at it?"
"Your art is wondrous, you're incredibly talented Clarke every one of your drawings and paintings that I've seen all make me feel like I'm there in the scene you've painted. When my heads a mess I look at this and my minds clearer when I do because I feel like I'm sitting there looking at the trees and the clouds above them. I find it amazing how you perfectly capture the beauty of the world."
Clarke's mind went straight to the drawing of Lexa she had been keeping close to her while they were apart, she knew she had done a good job capturing Lexa's image but she didn't think there was any way she could ever perfectly capture Lexa's beauty, she was sure no artist ever could.
"I have something I'd like to talk about but it might be hard for you." Lexa said, her nervousness showing in her voice.
"I'll tell you if it's too hard to speak about."
Lexa nodded and took a moment to figure out what would be the best way to start this conversation. "When you were younger you had a friend called Wells."
Clarke gasped. "You knew Wells?"
"No, unfortunately I never got the chance to meet him. I know his dad Thelonious Jaha."
"I knew that name sounded familiar when I read your letter."
"Yeah he kind of figured out that you're Clarke Griffin when I was telling him about you."
"How is he?"
"He's good, he's married to a really nice woman, her name is Alie."
"I'm glad he's okay. I was too young to understand back then just how hard it must've been for him. You don't expect someone so young to die, you know? When you're young you think you're invincible, you don't spend a lot of time thinking about how you could die in some accident or any other way so when my parents told me that Wells was gone it just didn't make sense, I couldn't accept that he was just gone, it took a few years for it to really sink in." Tears started to stream down Clarke's cheeks as she spoke.
Lexa wrapped her arm around Clarke and pulled her closer. "What's your favourite memory of Wells?"
"It was about four years after we met. School had finished three days before and Wells wasn't supposed to be there for another few days, I was in my room drawing when the door burst open. There was Wells in the doorway with a banana split in each hand, I screamed his name and ran over to hug him. He said "A handsome man and ice cream but the important question is which one are you more excited about?" I said the ice cream and he tried to hand it to me but for some reason I thought he was going to smear it all over my face or something so I grabbed the plate and smeared it all over his shirt. He looked so shocked and asked why I did that, I told him that I thought he was planning to do that to me so I got him before he got me. He looked at his own one, then looked at me and smiled, I knew I was in trouble. A few minutes later I was running away from him, my plan was to run out the back through the patio door and it did work but not for Wells. My mom assumed Wells was empty handed so she planned to grab him unfortunately he ran straight into her and smushed the ice cream on her. My dad came in and saw the mess, he whined about how he missed all the fun, I told him it just meant that we were the winners. My mom said that her and Wells were going to get cleaned up but they secretly got ketchup and mustard, they snuck up on us and absolutely destroyed us. It resulted in an all out war between us. It took so long to clean up but it was so worth it."
"Sounds like a good time."
"It was." Clarke curled into Lexa's side even more. "Thank you."
"For what?"
"It's been a long time since I smiled while thinking about Wells. Every time I think about him I think about the way he died, if he suffered, if it was instant but you've reminded me that there's so many good memories I should focus on instead."
"If I were to pass away I know I wouldn't want you to think about how I died every time you thought about me, I'd want you to remember all the times we smiled or laughed together, the moments we shared that were just so perfect you can't help but smile when you're thinking about them."
"You're not going to leave me though, are you?" Clarke showed a sad smile, her eyes filled with worry.
"I'll never willingly leave you Clarke, I promise." Lexa squeezed Clarke's hand. "Do you think we would've met if things had been different? Like if we had gone to high school together would we be how we are now?"
Clarke was grateful that Lexa had changed the subject steering them away from thoughts of loss. "I'd like to think we would've been best friends even back then."
Lexa scoffed. "Yeah right."
"Hey!!!" Clarke exclaimed, pulling away from Lexa slightly, looking very hurt. "What does that mean? You wouldn't want to be my friend?"
"Of course I would but Clarke, you're one of the most beautiful and fascinating women I have ever met, people were probably fighting each other to get to you, out of all those people why would you notice me?"
Clarke gaped at Lexa for a moment. "You do realize that you're the only one I notice in college, right? I mean as soon as class ends and I get out into the corridor I start looking for you, I find you endlessly fascinating Lexa, I'd gladly be late for my next class if it means I get to spend even just a few seconds with you. I can tell you with absolute certainty that if we went to high school together I would definitely have noticed the gorgeous girl with the most beautiful green eyes and a killer smile."
Lexa blushed and smiled shyly. "I guess we could've been best friends then."
"Or more." Clarke muttered to herself.
"What was that?"
"Nothing, should we get back to these questions?"
"Sure."
"What would be your “perfect” day?"
"We would start with breakfast in bed, of course Octavia and Raven would be there, sitting at the end of the bed, you and I would still be under the covers because O and Raven were nice enough to buy us breakfast." Lexa spoke with a dreamy look on her face. "Then we would go to the forest near your mom's house, you could bring your sketchbook and draw there and I could hang out in the trees. Then we could meet up with O and Raven and we could all go to the beach, I haven't been to a beach in years."
Clarke made a mental note to take Lexa to the beach soon and then blushed when her mind wandered to the image of Lexa in a bathing suit.
"Everyone would be there, all of us, Abby and Marcus, my aunt and uncle, my cousin's, the Jaha's, Bellamy, Monty and Jasper, we would spend the rest of the day hanging out and then when it gets dark we could go out to dinner, then we could come back here and snuggle up on the couch while we watch movies."
"Sounds so good."
Lexa looked to be deep in thought, Clarke couldn't figure out what she was thinking.
"Why does Bellamy call you princess?" Lexa blurted out not realizing she was going to ask that.
Clarke groaned. "Do you really need to know?"
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." There was a tinge of disappointment in Lexa's voice.
"No it's okay, it's just embarrassing." Clarke sighed. "When I was born my dad told my mom that I looked like a princess, my mom agreed and he told her that they should name me Princess Griffin, luckily my mom had enough sense to say no to that but she did agree to it being my middle name."
Lexa laughed harder than she had in a long time.
Clarke would've been embarrassed but she was too distracted by how beautiful Lexa's laugh was.
"I'm sorry for laughing, Clarke Princess Griffin."
Clarke's nose scrunched up at the use of her full name. "What's your full name?"
"Alexandria Liliana Woods."
"Whoa."
"Yeah, you got the cute name and I got the unnecessarily fancy name."
"I think it's badass."
"Really?"
Clarke hummed. "What's the origin story for your name?"
"My mom always liked the idea of me having a fancy first name, she said it would get me further in life. My middle name is my grandmother's name she was from Italy."
"So you're part Italian?"
"Little bit, yeah."
Clarke looked at Lexa's arm wondering if her Italian roots contributed to her slightly olive tone. "I love your tattoo, does it have any special meaning?" Clarke started tracing it with her finger.
"Yes actually my whole family have them. Multiple generations of my aunt Indra's family were tribal members, due to illnesses introduced by missionaries that wiped out most of their tribe and threats to their land the small amount of remaining members were forced to integrate into mainstream society, that included her great-grandparents and her grandfather who was a child at the time. They always wanted their family to remember their history so each new generation grew up listening to stories of life in the tribe, we grew up hearing about it from Indra. To honour his families past her grandfather combined the design of both his mother and his father's tattoos to create a beautiful design which he then got tattooed on his arm, when Indra's mother was old enough to get a tattoo she took her father's design and reworked it to create her own design and then Indra did the same so all their tattoo's were variations of the designs her great-grandmother and great-grandfather had but each one was unique." Lexa looked down at her own one. "When Indra and Gus got engaged he decided he wanted to share the tribute to her family so they designed a tattoo together for him to get and then my dad got one too, Indra told me he wanted to get it because he wanted her to know that even though they were only related through marriage he considered them blood relatives and she was as much his sister as Gustus was his brother. Anya was the next to get one, she got Lincoln to design it, he's a really good artist, he doesn't draw much though just doodles mostly anyways he designed his own one and my one too. It's nice to think that we all have a part of Indra's family history etched on our skin to carry with us all our lives and serve as a tribute to a society worth remembering. I think her great-grandparents would be happy to see that the memory of their tribe will always live on in our family."
"That's a really beautiful tradition." Clarke continued tracing the tattoo for a while before she thought of something. "You exercise a lot, don't you?"
"Not as much as I used to but a good bit yeah."
"So you're um....well....you're really physically fit?"
"I guess." Lexa shrugged, she held up her arm and took Clarke's hand resting it on her bicep. "You can be the judge of that." Lexa flexed allowing Clarke to see and feel the muscles there.
Clarke squeezed a little and hummed. "That's a definite yes."
"That's down to weightlifting." Lexa explained.
"I heard weightlifting tones your abs too." Clarke bit her lip when she stopped speaking.
"Uh yeah you can um check that too....if you want to."
Clarke's hand trembled slightly as she moved it to run along Lexa's abs, the ridges helping her imagine just how toned Lexa was under her tank top.
When Clarke's hand traveled down and reached the top of her jeans Lexa's muscles twitched.
Clarke made a noise that Lexa couldn't identify, it was something between a groan and a whimper. "You okay?"
Clarke pulled her hand away. "Uhh yeah sorry that's....they're....yeah, very well defined abs. I'm um just gonna make coffee, want some?"
"Yeah thanks." When Clarke went into the kitchen Lexa tried to figure out what had just happened.
Clarke gripped the edge of the counter in the kitchen trying to get control of herself. She thought she couldn't be any more attracted to Lexa than she already was but the more she learned about Lexa and feeling how fit she is made that attraction grow even more.
She had to get away to compose herself, in that moment she had wanted to straddle Lexa and kiss her until neither of them could breathe anymore but she couldn't, despite all the things her mom had said about Lexa being interested in her just as much as she is interested in Lexa she wasn't sure if Lexa was ready for anything like that after Costia or if she really did want that at all.
When she managed to get control of herself again she made their coffees and returned to Lexa just in time to hear her stomach growl. "Hungry?"
"Very."
"Okay I'll heat up the leftovers or do you want me to make something else?"
"No, I wanna try a Griffin thanksgiving meal."
They ate in front of the tv, remaining silent apart from Lexa complimenting the chefs every few minutes. Lexa held Clarke's hand whenever she could while they ate, Clarke noticed that Lexa didn't even have to look over when she reached for her hand like it was second nature to her, she thought it was so cute.
"Everything you and Abby make is always delicious."
"You're an amazing cook too, where'd you learn to cook?"
"Some of it I learned from Gus, some from Anya and a bit of trial and error." Lexa started gathering their dishes, she put her hand over Clarke's to stop her when she tried to help. "You relax, I've got this."
When Lexa returned to the couch after cleaning the dishes she found Clarke sprawled out on the couch. She moved to sit on the armchair but Clarke spoke before she could sit down.
"Wanna be my pillow?"
Lexa turned to find Clarke propped up on her elbows leaving space for Lexa to sit. She didn't hesitate, sitting down and letting Clarke rest her head on her lap. After a moment she started playing with Clarke's hair.
Clarke shut her eyes and sighed, the feeling of Lexa's fingers treading through her hair slowly lulled her to sleep.
Clarke woke up to find Lexa had fallen asleep too. She sat up allowing herself time to wake up a little more before she slipped a strand of Lexa's hair behind her ear, trailing her fingertips along her jaw afterwards.
Lexa's eyes fluttered open, she smiled softly at Clarke.
"Hi."
"Hey." Lexa's voice was thick from sleep and Clarke loved the sound of it. She yawned quietly before she wiped the sleep away from her eyes and stretched her arms above her head.
"Do you want to go somewhere with me?"
"I'd go anywhere with you Clarke."
"Cheesy but sweet, you sure know how to make a girl feel special."
Lexa blushed and smiled, she was happy to hear she had made Clarke feel special.
Soon after Clarke led Lexa up a few flights of stairs in their building until they reached the roof. Lexa had never been up there before, it was nothing special, all concrete, some flowerpots in a corner to the left, two of which were smashed, some had weeds growing out of them, clearly someones failed attempt to brighten the place up. Clarke sat down with her back to one of the walls and patted the ground next to her signalling Lexa to sit down next to her. When she did she looked at Clarke and found that her gaze was focused on the sky. "I come here sometimes to talk to my dad, I know he's gone but I like to think that he's somewhere out there watching over us. We went to his grave yesterday and talked to him but it didn't feel the same as this does."
"The people you lose are never really gone Clarke, they will be with you for as long as you love them."
Clarke tore her gaze away from the stars to look at Lexa. "You have a beautiful soul."
"Thanks." Lexa said shyly.
"I've never done this in front of anyone so I think I'm gonna need a minute before I can start."
"Of course Clarke, take as much time as you need." Lexa settled into a more comfortable position, making sure her side was pressed against Clarke's side, wanting to support her without having to use words.
After a few moments of silence Clarke began. "Hey dad, this is Lexa."
"Hello Mr.Griffin."
Clarke felt more at ease when Lexa waved up at the sky. "He'd want you to call him Jake."
"Hi Jake."
"Lexa's the girl I've been telling you about." Clarke kept her gaze focused on the sky, she could feel Lexa's eyes glued to her.
"Your daughter's incredible Jake, I've never met anyone like her. She is beautiful, smart and has the most wonderful kind heart."
"When I introduced Finn to my dad he told me that he didn't like him, he said that Finn didn't compliment me enough so he'd be really happy to hear you saying that."
"Jake was right, Finn's an asshole, you deserve someone that knows how lucky they are to love you and to be loved by you."
"Seriously?! Did you take a course to learn how to make a girl swoon?"
Lexa blushed and shrugged. "It's the truth."
"Thank you." Clarke took Lexa's hand and intertwined their fingers.
"I um....I think I'd like to change my idea of a perfect day." Lexa looked down at their joined hands and gave Clarke's hand a light squeeze. "We would still have our time alone and time with everyone but I think at the end of the day I'd like to come here with you so we can tell your dad about everything we did—" Lexa stopped abruptly. "Only if you want that though, I didn't mean to assume you'd want me to come here with you again, I would really like to though, it would be nice to have some connection to your dad."
"Lexa...." Clarke couldn't say anything else as the tears started streaming down her face.
Lexa pulled Clarke into her arms and held her as she cried. She didn't say anything while Clarke cried knowing that she probably needed to let it out.
Clarke pulled back after a few minutes. "What did I do to deserve you?" Clarke's voice cracked as she spoke, she cringed as a salty tear rolled into her mouth.
Lexa used her thumbs to brush away the remaining tears, when she was done she gently cupped Clarke's chin and tilted her head up slightly so that Clarke would look in her eyes when she said "what did I do to deserve you?".
Clarke could see the sincerity in her eyes when she said it, she pulled Lexa into a hug, not knowing how to express how she felt right now.
Eventually they shifted around until Clarke was sat between Lexa's legs, Lexa wrapped her arms around Clarke and held her as she spoke to her dad.
When she was done Clarke slipped her fingers between Lexa's over her own stomach, she dropped her head back to Lexa's shoulder and closed her eyes as Lexa spoke to Jake telling him about herself.
Lexa didn't let go of Clarke until it started getting cold and they decided they should go back down to their apartment.
Lexa was laying on her side staring at her bedroom door. She was worried that Clarke might start sleeping in her own bed again, she didn't want that but she knew that if Clarke wanted to sleep alone then she would just have to accept it.
That didn't stop her from hoping that Clarke would come back and she was sure she would because Clarke hadn't said goodnight to her like she always did.
Soon the door cracked open slowly, there was a moment of hesitation before Clarke pushed it fully open. "Hi."
"Hey." Lexa responded feeling relief flood through her.
"Should we uh....talk about this?"
"I think the only thing I want to say about this is thank you for keeping me safe Clarke."
Clarke climbed into the bed and lay down facing Lexa. They lay there in silence, staring at each other as they thought about everything that had happened that day.
Clarke was the first to break the silence. "I'll never leave you, I couldn't it's too difficult being away from you."
Lexa knew what Clarke was trying to say. "I do trust you."
"I know how hard that is for you."
"It's not difficult when it's you."
Clarke let out a hum of contentment, she pushed Lexa's shoulder lightly so that she would lay on her back. She then curled into Lexa's side and rested her head on Lexa's chest. "Is this okay?"
"This is perfect." Lexa wrapped her arm around Clarke.
"Goodnight Lexa."
"Goodnight Clarke, sweet dreams."
Clarke wiped away the last of Lexa's tears and pulled her closer. "It's okay Lexa I've got you." Clarke ran her fingers through Lexa's hair. "This might be a difficult question, you don't have to answer if you don't want to."
"Okay, what is it?"
"What happens in your nightmares?"
Lexa was quiet for a while and Clarke thought it meant she didn't want to answer until she heard Lexa let out a shaky breath. "I don't know where I am but it's dark and cold. I hear my dad's voice saying "I'm gone" over and over again. I hear my mom's voice next saying "I just don't care about you Alexandria." And then there's Costia saying "you're not worthy of my love or anyone else's Lexa." Then they all speak over each other and it just gets so loud."
"Oh Lexa." Clarke put her hand on Lexa's cheek and turned her face so she would look at her, she kept her hand there and gently stroked her cheek with her thumb. "It's all so wrong. With your dad it's just like you told me, he will always be with you as long as you love him." Clarke took her hand away from Lexa's cheek so she could intertwine their fingers. "Your mom loves you, I'm sure of that but drugs do crazy things to people, they mess with people's minds and change them into people we don't recognize anymore but she's still in there the drugs are just making that difficult to see." Clarke's jaw clenched just thinking about the next person they had to speak about. "Costia's just a bitch."
Lexa looked shocked. "Wow I don't think I've ever heard you say that about anyone."
"Well I don't usually but I have a deep hatred for that girl."
Lexa chuckled. "Okay."
"She's so wrong about you not being worthy of anyone's love, you are so worth loving Lexa, anyone that knows you could tell you that and even the ones that don't know you. There are so many people in our college that would do anything to be with you because they see what all of us see, you are so unique Lexa."
Lexa shook her head and Clarke knew she was trying to protest that so Clarke decided to list some of her great qualities to her. "Obviously you're a goddess, you're so friggin' beautiful it's hard to believe you're even real sometimes, you genuinely care about everyone, you can make someones day better with just one look or gesture, even a small smile from you can make anyone happy. I've seen it all myself Lexa, you are so worthy of being loved and of loving someone."
Lexa looked to be deep in thought for a moment. "You make me happy everyday right from the moment I wake up to the moment I fall asleep and then again after I have a nightmare, it amazes me that you go to such great lengths just to make sure I'm having a good day."
"I do that because I care about you Lexa and I want to make your days as great as you make mine."
Lexa let a small smile show but Clarke could tell there was something she wanted to say, she was just about to ask her what was on her mind when Lexa finally decided to voice her thoughts. "I know we were only apart for less than three days but I feel so much better being here with you. Not being able to see you, not being able to hold your hand or hold you, it felt wrong Clarke."
"I know, it felt the same way for me too Lex but we don't have to worry about being separated again until Christmas." The mention of them having to be apart again in a few weeks and for even longer this time caused a sadness to wash over them. "Can you hold me again?"
Lexa lay back down and held out her arms. "Come here."
Clarke shifted back into the position she had been in before they had woken up, the sound of Lexa's heartbeat already easing her worries. "I'm so glad we got to be alone today."
"Me too. As much as I miss the others I think us having this time to ourselves was really important because you are so important to me Clarke, I don't think anyone on this planet could do what you did, I think I was broken but you fixed me, you made me want to be better."
"You weren't broken Lexa, you were just a little lost, I was too but we helped each other find our way back to the people we used to be."
Lexa hummed. "Hmm I think your explanation is better."
"Clarke I want to cook for you." Lexa whined.
"I just want to help." Clarke responded, still moving around the kitchen.
Lexa blocked Clarke's path, she leaned down a little, placed her hands on the back of Clarke's thighs and in one swift motion picked Clarke up.
Clarke squealed, her legs immediately wrapped around Lexa.
Lexa placed Clarke on the table, she pulled back just enough to look at Clarke, with barely an inch of space between their faces she whispered "please let me cook for you."
Clarke nods slightly unable to form any words when Lexa was so close.
"Okay." Lexa whispered again. She reluctantly pulled back from where she had been standing between Clarke's legs.
They both remained silent for a moment after that trying to calm themselves after what had just happened.
Clarke was the first to break the silence. "Can I ask you something?"
"Of course you can."
"Harper?"
Lexa's brow furrowed. "What about Harper?"
"She's um, interested in you?"
Lexa nodded, finally understanding what she was asking. "She's not my type Clarke."
"Do you....are you interested in anyone um....you know, in that way?"
"I am interested in one woman in that way." Feeling an unexpected surge of bravery Lexa spoke honestly and moved to stand between Clarke's legs again. "A woman more beautiful than everything and everyone on this planet." Lexa placed her hand on Clarke's cheek, her voice just barely above a whisper.
Clarke's breath caught so quickly that she nearly started choking.
"A woman so talented it's inspiring." Lexa ran her fingers down Clarke's arms until they reached her hands, she pressed her own fingertips gently against Clarke's.
"A kind-hearted woman with the most incredible soul." She drew a heart shape with her finger on Clarke's chest. She then moved her hands to Clarke's hips and pulled her slightly closer.
Clarke put her hands on Lexa's shoulders and balled the fabric of her shirt in her fists, gently tugging it towards her silently telling Lexa that she wanted her to come even closer.
Lexa didn't hesitate to do so, getting as close as she possibly could to Clarke in this position.
Both of them inched closer until their foreheads were pressed together, neither of them could control their breathing.
Clarke's eyes fluttered shut first.
Lexa took a few seconds to memorize how Clarke looked in this moment before her own eyes fluttered shut.
The harsh breath Clarke sucked in when Lexa tilted her head slightly was audible to them both, it gave Lexa the final push she needed to start closing the remaining distance between them. The anticipation of their lips meeting caused a rush of excitement to course through their bodies.
"Honeys, I'm home." A voice boomed through the apartment.
Lexa jumped slightly, she sucked in a deep breath before she removed her hands from Clarke's hips and spun around but didn't move away from her place between Clarke's thighs.
"Raven?" Clarke called out.
"The one and only."
Clarke dropped her head to Lexa's shoulder and sighed.
Lexa then heard Clarke mutter something that sounded like 'I'm gonna kill her'.
"What are you doing here?" Clarke practically spat the words.
"Wow what a warm welcome."
"Sorry. Hi Raven welcome home, now what are you doing here?"
"Me and O wanted to see Woods too we gave you a full day of alone time." Raven finally entered the room, a smirk appeared on her face as she looked at their position. "Hey Woods."
Lexa gave her a small wave in response.
"O's bringing our stuff in, she'll be over in a minute."
"You couldn't just wait until tomorrow?" Clarke's irritation was clear in her voice.
"Oh you wanna talk about impatience? I've never seen you eat a meal, pack and get out of your mom's house as quickly as you did yesterday and we both know it was all because you wanted to see Lexa just like we did."
Clarke let a small smile show, Raven had a point she couldn't argue with. "Touché."
"Now can we please focus on what's most important, I see food is being prepared, will there be some for me too?"
"Dont you have something to say to Lexa first?" Clarke asks.
"Fine, I might have missed you a little bit."
Lexa gave her that intimidating look she would give them on days when they would try to slip away without cleaning up first.
"Okay, I missed you terribly, there was a Lexa shaped hole in my heart, happy now?"
"Yes actually, very happy, I missed you a little bit too Raven."
"Good now can we please—" Raven abruptly stopped. "WOODS!!!"
"Reyes."
"You...you're...you're talking to me."
Lexa smirked. "I am."
Raven was so shocked she couldn't speak anymore, she just stood there with her eyes wide and her mouth hanging open.
Moments later Octavia walked in. "Hey Lex, we missed you, did you have a good thanksgiving?"
"I missed you too and I did thanks for asking O. How was your thanksgiving?"
Octavia now shared Raven's stunned look, Clarke couldn't stop herself from laughing at them.
"So for the first time since I met you I've spoken to you and the two of you just stand there not saying a word? Jeez guys I'm supposed to be the silent one, remember?" Lexa's smirk grew and she arched a brow as she spoke, her comment breaking Octavia and Raven out of their trance.
"What the hell?!" Raven practically yelled, playfully slapping Lexa's arm.
Lexa chuckled and swatted Raven's hands away. "Surprised?"
"No, these are the faces of two people that are in no way surprised by this at all." Raven responded sarcastically.
"When did this happen?" Octavia asked.
"Yesterday when Clarke came home I spoke to her but I gave her some warning before Thanksgiving."
"That's why I needed you two to let me come here alone yesterday." Clarke explained.
"I was pretty sure I still wasn't going to be able to speak to any of you up until Clarke started rambling yesterday, it gave me the push I needed to do it."
"This is fantastic, I'm so happy you're speaking now." Octavia tried to hug Lexa but ended up having to trap her in the middle of a hug with Clarke because Lexa still hadn't moved away from Clarke and looked as though she wasn't willing to do so anytime soon.
"It's awesome but so unfair."
The three of them all looked at Raven clearly confused about what she had said.
"You were already so freaking cool with your hot badass vibe, awesome cooking skills and that beautiful car, you really had to have a sexy voice too?"
Lexa chuckled. "Sorry I can't exactly control the way my voice sounds."
"Actually I see her point, it's really unfair how cool you are." Octavia concluded.
"Told you everyone see's it." Clarke whispered to her referencing their conversation the night before.
"So is it okay for us to ask why you didn't speak?"
Octavia nudged Raven and then glared at her. "You don't have to tell us Lex."
"Sorry I'm just curious but O's right you don't have to tell us."
"No it's okay I'll tell you but it's kind of a long story and we haven't eaten yet so can I tell you after we have breakfast?"
"Yeah sounds good."
"Do we get food too?" Octavia asked with a pleading look.
"You two are never full." Clarke rolled her eyes at them. "Will you let me help you now?"
"Fine." Lexa agreed reluctantly.
Despite already knowing everything that happened to Lexa it really hurt Clarke's heart hearing Lexa speak about it, she struggled to hold back tears hearing the pain in Lexa's voice as she spoke. At some point Clarke had snuggled up to Lexa and started gently stroking her arm, it was soothing for Lexa, the sensation giving her something to focus on while she explained it all to them. When she finally finished telling them her story there was complete silence, Lexa didn't mind though she knew it was a lot of information to take in at once and Clarke had moved again so she was now practically in her lap so she was completely focused on Clarke right now anyway.
Raven was the first to break the silence. "If you ever see that Costia bitch again, you can murder her I'll be your accomplice, Griff and O will be our cover story."
Lexa laughed when the two others agreed like this was the plan and nothing could change that. "I don't know what I did to deserve you three but I am so lucky to have you in my life."
"We love you too Lex." Octavia cooed.
"So is there anything else you want to know about me?"
"Am I ever going to win a race against you?"
"Possibly, you're a worthy opponent." Lexa admitted.
Octavia beamed in response.
"Where the hell did you get that beautiful car?" Raven asked.
"It was my grandfather's car. When he passed away he left the car to my uncle and my dad, we didn't have the room to store it in our garage but my uncle did so the car was always at his house. My dad and Gus would always disappear to work on it whenever we visited them. It was barely able to move when they inherited it but they worked hard to get it up and running again. After my dad passed away Gus kept working on it and once he had it finished he gave it to me."
"Well if it ever gives you any trouble I can help you fix it, I know just about everything there is to know about that car."
"Thanks Reyes, hopefully it won't but it's good to know I've got an expert to help me out if it does."
Hours had passed, the four of them had settled down in front of the TV chatting about their favourite shows and movies. When the subject turned to food Lexa and Clarke decided they didn't want to cook so it had been decided they would get takeout.
"Me and Raven will get the food." Lexa announced, standing up and pulling her keys from her pocket.
Raven groaned. "Why do I have to go?"
"Because I'm letting you drive." Lexa responded dangling her keys above Raven's head.
"Seriously?" Raven asked, her shock and excitement clear in her voice.
"Seriously."
Raven got up and hugged Lexa. She looked at Clarke and Octavia and stated "later losers." before she took the keys from Lexa and dashed out the door.
Lexa chuckled at Ravens excitement, she placed her hand on Clarke's shoulder. "Back soon love." Lexa blushed immediately after realizing what she had just called Clarke.
"Okay babe." Clarke responded and looked up at Lexa with a big goofy grin.
Lexa's blush deepened and a small shy smile appeared on her face before she cleared her throat. "Alright, see you both soon."
Octavia smirked at the two deciding she would use the alone time with Clarke to find out what happened the previous day.
Lexa grew confused when she climbed into the passenger seat and saw that Raven looked very serious.
"Something wrong?"
"No it's just—" Raven stopped and drew in a long breath before she spoke again. "You and I have a similar past, you know with the whole abandoned by our mom's thing, I just want you to know that I'm here if you ever need someone to talk to that gets it."
Over the past few weeks Lexa had learned that Raven wasn't the type of person that felt comfortable talking about things like this so she knew this was difficult for her to talk about. "Thanks Raven, I'm here for you too if you ever need me."
Octavia waited until Lexa had been gone for a few minutes before she turned off the tv and twisted in her seat to face Clarke. "So?"
"So....?"
"How are you feeling about all this? What happened yesterday? I want to know everything."
Clarke remained silent for a moment contemplating whether or not she should tell Octavia everything but ultimately deciding that she needed to get it all out. "Her voice is so beautiful and she says such thoughtful things, she's the most fascinating person I have ever met. She's so perfect and wonderful but not in a way that she knows how perfect she is because she's actually really insecure and vulnerable sometimes and it all just adds to her charm....I brought her up to the roof last night to speak to dad."
Octavia gasped quietly. "You never do that with anyone."
Clarke nodded her head acknowledging that she realized how significant that was. "Lexa was incredibly understanding, she just sat in silence with me while I worked up the courage to talk and she said the most beautiful things about me. Then she said she wanted to do it again if I was okay with it and god I just fell apart and she just held me while I cried."
"Is it okay for her to do that again?"
"Yeah, it sucks that they didn't get to meet while he was still here but if he's out there somewhere watching over us I think he'd like it if Lexa talked to him too."
"Yeah he definitely would. What else happened?"
"We spoke about our um....sleeping arrangements?" Clarke was confused about what to call it.
"And?"
"She thanked me for keeping her safe at night. I slept with my head on her chest and I could hear her heartbeat, I've never had a better night's sleep than I did last night."
"So you're still going to sleep in the same bed?"
"Yes."
"And is that what you want?"
"Yes. After the last few weeks I don't think I'd be able to sleep without Lexa."
"Aww that's so cute." Octavia playfully poked Clarke.
"Shut up."
"I've never seen you so crazy about someone before."
"Cut it out or I'll stop feeding you all the time."
"Okay but since we're on the subject of food me and Rae were wondering when you're gonna make pancakes again, I feel like its been years since you last made them."
"I think I'll make them tomorrow."
Octavia squealed with joy.
"It'll be interesting to see if Lexa likes them."
"She would have to be crazy not to. Now back to the previous subject, I am your best friend Clarkey and I have been for a very long time, which means I know when you're keeping something from me and I can tell it's something big, so what aren't you telling me?"
Clarke remained silent and turned her head to try to hide the guilty look on her face.
"Stop holding out on me Clarke." Octavia whined.
"Fine." Clarke huffed. "I think— no, I know we almost kissed."
"What the hell stopped you?"
"Raven interrupted us."
"Ugh we have the worst timing." Octavia shook her head, she couldn't believe they had interrupted an opportunity for them to kiss twice now.
"Yeah maybe you two should start sending us texts so we know when we'll be interrupted."
"Or you could just kiss her the next time the two of you are alone."
Clarke scoffed. "Yeah right. I very nearly lost it just feeling how toned she is, at this point a kiss would probably kill me."
"Hold on, how exactly do you know she's toned?"
"Umm...."
Octavia gasped. "Clarke did you just start touching her out of no where?"
"Well no, I kind of mentioned how often she works out and she offered to let me judge how fit she is."
Octavia smirked. "You were hoping she would."
"Maybe....?"
"Clarkey you sly dog."
"At least I didn't randomly start touching her."
"Actually I don't think it would be weird if you did to be honest, you two have always been very touchy."
Clarke's brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"
"I don't think I've ever seen you two go a whole day without having some form of physical contact, you hold hands and cuddle for the majority of the day, you're practically a couple already."
"We could go a day without touching, we did during Thanksgiving." Clarke suddenly felt very defensive.
"Yeah but you looked so sad not being able to touch her and I saw you looking at that selfie she sent you at least fifteen times that day and you kept caressing her jawline with your thumb."
"She has a nice jaw."
"She does. She has a great jaw that you so desperately wanted to be touching and probably kissing." Octavia stated, making obnoxious kissing noises to tease Clarke.
"Ugh why am I friends with you?"
"Because you lurve me but not as much as you lurve Lexa."
"O stop it."
"You know I wouldn't have to do this if you would just make a move already."
"Can you please stop it?"
"I'll stop if you tell me why you won't just tell her?"
Clarke let out a defeated sigh. "Lexa just spoke to us for the first time, that was a really big step for her. Making sure she feels secure here is my first priority, I don't want her to feel like I'm pushing her into anything. I don't know if she's ready for that after what Costia put her through but if she ever is I'll still be here, I'd wait forever for Lexa."
Octavia smiled fondly. "You really do adore her."
"It's Lexa, how could I not adore her?"
Octavia squealed in delight again. "I'm sorry, I'm just so happy you're finally admitting that you like her. The two of you will get there someday and it will be so worth the wait Clarke, you have no idea how perfect you two would be together."
"She's already perfect."
"Ugh you're so sappy, I love it."
Clarke rolled her eyes at Octavia but struggled to hide her smile, her friends support meant the world to her.
Lexa hopped back into the car with their takeaway bags. "I got fries for the drive back."
"So you're letting me eat outside of our allotted eating times?"
Lexa shrugged. "Wouldn't be terrible having someone my own height but you have to promise you won't tell the girls."
"Have I told you how much I love my awesome friend Lexa? She lets me drive her cool car, she lets me eat whenever I want, she makes all of us happy."
"You guys make me happy too."
"And how does Griff make you feel?"
Lexa was confused about why Raven was asking but she answered honestly. "Stronger and braver than I ever thought I could be."
Raven smiled seemingly satisfied with her answer. "O text me while you were in there, she said Griff's gushing about you."
"She is? What's she saying?"
Raven tapped away on her phone and after a moment she got a reply. "She loves your voice, your thoughtfulness, your mind and soul." Raven smirked when she read the next part and looked at Lexa. "Apparently you've got an incredible hot body too."
Lexa breath hitched. "Clarke said that?"
"Mmhmm and I'm going to need you to explain how Griff knows that you've got 'rock-solid abs and seriously strong arms'."
"Um I might have told her she could feel me a little." Lexa blushed.
Raven wolf-whistled. "Woods got game."
"It wasn't like that."
"But you wanted it to be?"
Lexa stayed quiet but her blush deepened giving Raven the answer she wanted but she decided she wanted to hear the answer too. "Use your words Woods."
Lexa huffed. "Yes, I wanted it to be like that, okay?"
"That wasn't so hard was it?" Raven teased. "And? How was that experience for you?"
"I may have been too hasty opening up to you. I think I should've waited at least another week before I spoke to you."
"Oh shut up you love me, I'm like your love guru."
"I'm going to need you to explain that."
"You can't talk to Clarke about love stuff because it's her you want to talk about so you can come to me whenever you need advice about moving your relationship forward with her."
"I never said—"
Raven wasn't sure what Lexa was going to protest, her use of the 'L' word or saying she liked Clarke but she interrupted her before she could deny either. "Don't bother getting defensive, you and I both know that it's Clarke you'd want to talk about because you like her." Raven smirked and quickly looked at Lexa. "A lot."
Lexa groaned. "Am I really that obvious?"
"Oh hell yeah. Me and O knew from the beginning."
"Oh god, that's so embarrassing." Lexa covered her now very red face with her hands.
"If it helps we think it's fantastic."
"Really? You're not worried I'll hurt her?"
Raven laughed. "You might like to think you're this hard-core badass which you are when you get all protective but the rest of the time you're just a teddy bear especially when it comes to Clarke, I know you could never hurt her."
"Thank you for trusting me."
"Now it's your turn to trust me and answer my question, how did the touching incident make you feel?"
"I was a little....aroused by it."
"Griff probably felt the same."
Lexa hesitated for a moment before speaking. "She made this noise, I don't know what it meant."
"Can you imitate the noise?"
Lexa did what she thought was a very accurate imitation of the noise.
Raven chuckled. "Pretty sure that means she was turned on Woods."
"Oh." Lexa blushed profusely.
"Now imagine what would happen if you kissed her."
"End of conversation Reyes."
"Oh come on, you can't tell me that you don't want to kiss her."
"I'm not saying that, I'm just saying I'm not discussing the first time I kiss Clarke before it even happens."
"Fine but I get a full detailed report about it after it happens."
Lexa groaned. "You're the worst Reyes."
"You love me though."
"Okay so now that you're talking to us who's up for a game of pictionary?"
The three raised their hands in the air.
"Awesome me and Rae against you two."
"You two should quit now before me and Clarke destroy you." Everyone looked at Lexa surprised that she had just said that and with such conviction too
"Damn, now there's two of them." Raven shook her head.
Clarke jumped up off her seat and squealed excitedly, Octavia and Raven both groaned dramatically.
Lexa frowned, confused by what was happening. "Someone want to fill me in?"
"Clarkey is scarily competitive when it comes to games like this."
"We're gonna kick your asses." Clarke practically yelled.
After countless arguments, a few scrunched up pieces of paper being thrown by both teams and on one occasion even having the dice thrown at Octavia who narrowly avoided being hit in the eye by it, Lexa and Clarke celebrated their glorious victory.
"Did you hear the way she says Griff's name?" Raven asked as they made their way to their bedrooms.
"Umhmm like it's the most beautiful thing she has ever said." Octavia smirked.
"Tomorrows gonna be so much fun."
"I can't wait to see Mama G's reaction."
"O!!!!"
"Jesus Raven where's the fire?"
Raven grabbed Octavia's arm and started pulling her over to the other apartment.
"Wait, is there really a fire?"
"No, shut up and just follow."
Octavia frowned when she saw Clarke standing with her ear pressed against the door of the bathroom with her eyes shut and a smile on her face. When they got closer she understood why Clarke looked so pleased."Is that Lexa?"
"Yup." Raven replied popping the 'p'.
"Damn she's a good singer."
"I've never understood but it's amazing
The way you never let the past enslave me
How do you do it?
Love the heart, the part of me
That desperately needs a remedy
I wanna be a life you keep changing"
"Those are some really nice lyrics, I wonder if there's a certain someone she's singing about." Raven said with a teasing tone.
"Shhh I'm trying to listen." Clarke scolded.
"Cause this is where I end
And this is where you start
And everything I needed
Is everything you are
Love has come for me
Oh, love has come for me"
"She's full of surprises." Octavia said, Clarke and Raven hummed their agreement.
"And I'll go where you want me to be
And even though I may be broken
I can see your love has come for me
I'm never gonna get it all together
So, what's left to do but surrender?"
All of them had been so distracted by the sound of Lexa's voice they failed to notice that Lexa had already finished her shower.
"Cause this is where I end
And this is where you start
And everything I needed
Is everything you are
Love has come for me
Love has come for me
Yeah, love has come for me
Love has come for me"
Lexa pulled the door open just as she finished the song, Clarke didn't have time to react before she started to fall. Luckily Lexa was quick to react hooking her arms under Clarke's ensuring she wouldn't fall any further. Clarke wasn't sure if that was the best idea when her head landed on Lexa's chest, her cheek pressed against one of her breasts which was only covered by her towel. The situation only got worse from there, Clarke tried to rectify the situation by pushing herself up quickly causing the top of her head to collide with Lexa's chin. They both yelped in pain, Clarke covered her head with her hands while Lexa rubbed her chin.
Octavia and Raven were completely oblivious to everything that had happened, the minute they heard the bathroom door opening they dashed away assuming Clarke would do the same, not knowing that she wouldn't be able to.
"Oh god Lexa I'm so sorry, ugh what the hell is wrong with me?!"
Lexa couldn't help but find Clarke even cuter. "Clarke relax it's—"
"No I shouldn't have— I'm an idiot."
Lexa approached Clarke and pulled her into a hug. "You are not an idiot Clarke, you are one of the most intelligent people I have ever met. These things happen sometimes, I'm sure even Einstein had his fair share of accidents." Lexa pulled back and placed her hands on the sides of Clarke's head. "Is your head okay?"
"A little sore but it's okay, how's your chin?"
"Not as sore as your head must be." Lexa removed her hands from Clarke's head. "Come on, let's get some ice for that."
Clarke walked ahead of Lexa to the kitchen and got a towel to put the ice in.
Lexa pulled out the bag of ice from the freezer but nearly dropped it when she felt fingertips touching her neck. "Clarke." Lexa managed to gasp out her name.
"You have more tattoos."
"I do."
Clarke ran her finger around it a few times, enjoying watching goosebumps form as she did. "A broken infinity?"
"Nothing lasts forever."
"Do you really believe that Lexa?"
Lexa didn't have to look to know that Clarke had moved much closer, she could feel her warm breath hitting the back of her neck. "Not anymore."
"How far down does this one go?" Clarke ran her fingertips down along Lexa's back tattoo until she reached the point where it was covered by her towel.
"It goes almost all the way down to the end of my spine."
"Wow."
"I'll show it to you someday."
"When?" Clarke asked, barely waiting before Lexa finished speaking.
"When I'm wearing more than a towel and not holding a bag of ice."
"Oh right sorry." Clarke backed off and Lexa took a deep breath before turning around, she took the ice over to the counter, put some in the towel and wrapped it up before walking back to Clarke and holding it on her head. "Better?"
"Yeah thanks." Clarke's eyes darted down momentarily to Lexa's cleavage which was now showing a lot more than it had been only moments ago. Realization hit Clarke and her eyes widened as she quickly averted her gaze to the ceiling.
"What's wrong?" Lexa asked noticing Clarke sudden change in demeanour.
"Um your towel is slipping down a little."
"Oh shit." Lexa quickly adjusted the towel holding it in place with one hand while she continued holding the other towel full of ice on Clarke's head. "I should...." Lexa trailed off assuming Clarke would know what she was going to say.
"Oh yeah, yes, right, you go ahead and do that, I can manage this."
When Lexa returned to the kitchen after putting on her clothes she found Clarke pouring pancake mixture into the frying pan, Octavia stood behind her holding the ice on top of her head. "You know I would've cooked, right?"
"I know but I promised I'd make pancakes and I couldn't handle the sad looks I was getting from these two, this seemed like the best solution."
Lexa shook her head and smiled fondly, even when she was injured Clarke still did her best to make sure her friends were happy. "What can I do to help?"
"How good are you at flipping pancakes?"
"Awful." Lexa admitted sadly.
"Really?"
"Yeah that's why I never cook them."
"Wanna learn how?" She asked while flipping one expertly.
"I've tried before Clarke, I'm just not able to do it."
Clarke could see the disappointment written all over Lexa's face and she found it so adorable that Lexa was upset just because she couldn't flip a pancake. "O I think I'm okay now, you can get rid of that."
When Octavia backed away Clarke used the spatula to remove the pancake from the pan and put it on the stack next to her, she then poured more of the mixture in. She could see Lexa moving a little closer watching her curiously.
Clarke took Lexa's sleeve and tugged on it to get her to come closer, when she did Clarke took her hand, wrapped it around the handle of the frying pan and covered it with her own, she waited until the pancake was ready to be flipped before she started her explanation. "What we're gonna do is just move it to the rim of the pan." She tilted the pan slightly to get it to slide up on the edge. "Okay now we lift the pan up just a bit." They guided the pan up three inches in the air. "This is the tricky bit, we have to tilt it slightly forward and then quickly flick our wrists upwards, are you ready?" When Lexa nodded they did it just as she had explained and the pancake successfully landed back in the pan.
"We did it." Lexa voice was laced with awe.
Clarke chuckled, she thought Lexa's astonishment was adorable. "Yeah, we did."
Raven appeared beside them. "This is a moment to be remembered, stay just like that." She backed away a little bit from them and snapped a photo, she realized that this was the first photo she had of them both looking directly at the camera. "You two look so cute." She flipped the phone around to show them. They both smiled fondly at the photo and they both made a mental note to ask Raven to send them that picture later.
"Are you ready to try on your own this time?"
"I think so, yeah."
She watched from a distance as Lexa poured in the mixture, Clarke loved how focused she looked, she could tell Lexa was determined to get it right. She got closer to her when the time came to flip it, she watched intently as Lexa followed all her instructions perfectly and the pancake landed flat on the pan.
"Clarke I did it. Did you see that? I didn't mess up." Lexa spoke so quickly it was difficult for them all to understand what she was saying.
Octavia and Raven chuckled at Lexa's excitement.
Clarke moved behind Lexa and wrapped her arms around her in a tight hug. "That was great Lexa, good job."
Lexa leaned back against her and let out a content sigh. "Thanks for teaching me Clarke."
Clarke was surprised by how quickly they finished cooking all the pancakes, one of the reasons she hadn't made them in a while was because of how long it took to make them but having a cooking partner made it so much easier and of course there was the added bonus of getting to see Lexa's eyes sparkle with pride after every successful flip.
Lexa moaned loudly. "Oh my god Clarke, it's so good."
Clarke gaped at Lexa, her body instantly reacted to the delicious sound Lexa made.
Octavia and Raven struggled to keep their laughter in seeing Clarke's reaction.
"I think it's safe to say she likes them." Octavia stated with a grin.
"If I had to choose one thing to eat for the rest of my life this would be it."
"Maybe you should marry her, then she can make you pancakes everyday." Raven playfully suggested.
"I'd marry her regardless of that." Lexa mumbled around a mouthful of pancakes, thinking no one would understand.
The sound of Clarke's fork hitting her plate proved she wasn't as subtle as she thought she had been. Her eyes widened as she looked up from her plate and saw Octavia and Raven with stunned looks on their faces confirming that they had heard her too.
"Did you just say—" Clarke began but was quickly interrupted.
"Could you pass me the syrup please? I like syrup it's good but so sticky. Better to have too much syrup than no syrup at all in my opinion but these pancakes are really good without syrup, actually I don't think I need the syrup." Lexa rambled trying to change the subject.
Octavia and Raven were the only ones that spoke while they ate after that. Lexa silently scolded herself for being so reckless while Clarke repeated Lexa's words over and over again in her mind trying to figure out if she had been mistaken but the words were so clear to her.
Lexa allowed Octavia to drive this time deciding it was better than letting Octavia and Raven fight over it any longer, Clarke was more than happy to let one of them drive so that she could sit in the backseat with Lexa. She sat as close to Lexa as she could not caring about what Octavia and Raven would say about her trying not to leave any space whatsoever between them. "Are you nervous?"
Lexa nodded. "Just a little."
"You don't have to say anything until you're ready to, whether that's today or a year from now mom won't mind."
"I think I'll do it today but maybe not straightaway."
"Okay, I'll be right by your side the whole time, if you don't feel ready just give me a signal."
"Huh that was our system too, great minds think alike." Octavia stated looking back at them in the rear-view mirror and smirking when she noticed how close they were.
"System for what?" Clarke asked curiously.
"I may have tried to speak to you a few times but I chickened out."
Clarke looked momentarily shocked. "I think it's better that it happened this way."
"Yeah?"
Clarke nodded. "It was special this way and we got a full day to talk without interruptions."
Abby was waiting out front for them when they arrived, she was eager to see them all but mostly she wanted to see if Clarke and Lexa were acting differently around each other, she hoped their time alone had helped them realize that they obviously have feelings for each other.
When they got out of the car Abby smiled when Lexa offered her hand to Clarke to help her out, her smile only grew when she kept holding Clarke's hand as they all walked towards the house.
"Hey Lexa, I've missed you, I hope you had a great Thanksgiving." Abby said before she pulled her into a hug, the three others joining in a moment later.
Abby wasn't surprised to see Clarke and Lexa's hands linked again after they pulled back from the hug.
While Abby was gathering the dishes after dinner Lexa leaned over to Clarke and whispered "I'm ready."
"Are you sure?" Clarke asked in the same low tone.
Lexa nodded confidently.
"Mom could you sit down for a minute?"
Abby frowned unsure of what was going on but she placed the dishes she had gathered down on the table and sat back in her chair. "What's wrong honey?"
"You should say hello to Lexa."
"I did?" Abby was even more confused now.
"Just say hello to her." Octavia stated, understanding what was going on.
"Okay....hello Lexa."
"Hello Abby."
Abby looked so shocked the girls were sure she would faint but her expression soon turned to one of pure joy and she reached across the table to squeeze Lexa's hand. "I'm so proud of you."
Lexa smiled shyly. "Thank you Abby."
"You have a lovely voice."
Clarke scoffed. "Her voice isn't just lovely, it's beautiful."
Abby chuckled. "Relax honey it's not an argument."
Clarke turned a deep shade of red when she realized what she had done.
Lexa smiled affectionately at Clarke and squeezed her hand. "Your voice is beautiful too Clarke."
Octavia and Raven noticed the fond smile on Abby's face after she heard the way Lexa said Clarke's name. "Alright, you three are cleaning up while I get to learn more about Lexa, if you're okay with that?"
"I'd like that."
Abby smiled at Lexa and quickly glanced at the window. "It's nice outside today, let's talk out back."
So far their conversation had been light but Lexa could tell Abby was curious about why she didn't speak when she could. "I can tell you why I didn't speak before, if you want."
"That's your choice Lexa, you shouldn't feel like you have to explain unless you want to."
Lexa nodded, grateful that Abby wanted it to be her choice but already knowing what she wanted to do. "I'm hoping you'll all be in my life for a very long time so I think it's important you all know my history. I've already told Clarke, O and Raven, Marcus knows too but he found out through a mutual friend so it's just you left to tell and I do want you to know."
After Lexa had told Abby everything she had gone through Abby stood from her chair and moved in front of Lexa to pull her into a tight hug. "What you've gone through must have been so difficult, you are such a strong young woman Lexa."
"We all have our struggles, I'm just glad I've got so many great people helping me get better." Lexa smiled fondly.
Abby gave Lexa's shoulder a squeeze before she sat back down. "Speaking of helping people, Octavia mentioned that Clarke showed you how she speaks to Jake."
"She did, I think it's a wonderful way to communicate with him."
"I'm glad she showed you, it's hard for her to really open up to anyone about him but it's obvious she wants you to know everything there is to know about her."
"I'd like that and I want to do the same for her."
"She's special to you, I can see that and it feels good knowing that you care so much about her. Before you came along she was miserable, she hid it well but I could see it, I tried to help a few times but she wouldn't or maybe she just couldn't open up to me." Abby looked to be deep in thought for a moment. "Maybe it was always meant to be you that healed Clarke's wounds. I'm not usually someone that believes in destiny but it's kind of difficult not to around you and Clarke."
"Clarke is so special to me, all of you are but me and Clarke connect in a way that's so mind-blowing, you know? It's like she knows exactly what I'm feeling and thinking, it feels so good to have—" Lexa abruptly stopped speaking and looked at Abby sheepishly. "I probably shouldn't be telling you all this since you're her mom."
"It's okay, I won't tell Clarke anything you say to me and just so you know I'm very much enjoying this conversation, it's nice hearing you talk about her in such a lovely way."
A small smile appeared on Lexa's face. "Could you tell me about what she was like when she was a kid? Octavia and Raven too?"
"Oh Lexa I am so glad you asked me that." Abby chuckled.
Abby could see Clarke looking at them through the kitchen window, she could see Clarke was anxious, it made her smile knowing that her daughter was watching out for Lexa even when she was with someone she knew could be trusted not to upset Lexa. "I think Clarke wants me to give you two some time alone so I'll head back inside."
After Abby went back inside Clarke came out with two cups of coffee, she handed one to Lexa before she sat down next to her. "How did that go?"
"It was great, I really enjoyed talking to her."
"You've been doing great these last few days, I'm really proud of you."
"Thanks Clarke, I'm glad I've spoken to you all, I think it was important for me to do this I feel like I can breathe easier now, If that makes any sense."
"It does." Clarke reached over and squeezed Lexa's hand.
"So I have a question for you." Lexa said with an all too innocent expression.
"Okay....?" Clarke said warily.
"Did you really give your fifth grade teacher a Valentine's day card in which you professed your undying love for him?" Lexa smirked.
Clarke covered her face with her hands. "Oh my god I can't believe she told you that."
Lexa chuckled. "I asked her to."
"You betrayed me." Clarke said dramatically, putting her hand over her heart.
"Would you have told me?"
"No it's so embarrassing." Clarke whined.
"And that's exactly why I asked your mom. I want to know everything there is to know about you Clarke, I don't want to hear about just some parts of your life, I want to learn about all of it because it's what made you the person you are now."
"I suppose I can forgive you for that." Clarke smiled, she couldn't be mad at Lexa when she was being so sweet, she didn't think she could ever be angry at Lexa for any reason.
"If it helps I got her to tell me stories about Octavia and Raven too."
"That makes it a little better."
"So does that mean I can get a cuddle now please?"
Clarke didn't respond she just got up and sat down in Lexa's lap twisting slightly to face her while Lexa wrapped her arms around Clarke's waist.
Clarke rested her head against Lexa's and gently stroked her arm. Neither of them spoke, both wanting to relax in the little bubble of affection they were wrapped up in.
It wasn't long before Raven joined them outside, followed by Abby and Octavia soon after that. They spent the rest of the afternoon answering Lexa's questions about their past, all of them trying to embarrass Clarke as much as they could with Abby equalizing it by telling Lexa more stories about Raven and Octavia. Clarke didn't mind being embarrassed because every time she got to hide her face in the crook of Lexa's neck and inhale the sweet smell of her perfume.
Lexa couldn't have imagined a better day than this one. Listening to everyone tell their favourite stories, being able to tell Clarke how cute she was every time she looked embarrassed, running her hand up and down Clarke's back in a soothing manner, it would all seem ordinary to anyone else but to Lexa this was a day she would remember years from now and she knew she would be smiling when she did, she was sure it would be one of her favourite memories.