Chapter 4
Octavia gets up earlier then Clarke and leaves her snoring in bed. She texts Lexa and asks her to meet her for breakfast and all she gets is a thumbs up sign; she abandons her cell phone on the bedside table and ruffles her bed ridden locks as she disappears into the bathroom. Clarke is still grunting as she rolls around in the bed by the time she finishes her shower, gets dress, fixes her hair, and puts on make up. She rolls her eyes at the older woman and leaves her with a kiss on the cheek before she darts from the hotel room.
She finds Lexa in the lobby of her hotel and she collapses in her long arms as soon as she's close enough. Lexa sighs as she holds her and presses a kiss to her head before she veers Octavia towards where the breakfast line is growing with people. The two stare at each other for a moment before they begin to pile things on their plates and Octavia rolls her eyes at the amount of bacon that stacks high on Lexa's plate while she grabs a yogurt and Lexa reaches for creamer and sugar for her coffee.
"Where's Raven?" Octavia asks as they plop at a table.
"She's doing her make up. Raven isn't a breakfast person." Lexa shrugs as she stuffs a piece of bacon in her mouth while she eyes her cousin. "So, why did you bring Clarke? You two aren't actually dating, right?"
"No. I just needed to get mom off my back." Octavia mumbles as she opens her yogurt.
"Huh. Good to know." Lexa hums as she shakes a sugar packet and adds it to her black coffee before she purses her lips. "She seems like a nice enough girl. Good looking. How come I've never met her?"
"I don't know. It just never seems to work out when you come to visit." Octavia shrugs as she begins to slice pieces of a banana into her yogurt. "How come you never told me that you were dating your roommate?"
Lexa snorts and stirs her coffee, "We're not dating."
"What?" Octavia gaps.
"We're not dating." Lexa repeats as she gives a small shrug. "She's just my best friend and I didn't want to come stag so I forced her to go with me. Raven is awesome, but I don't think I could ever handle dating her."
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Octavia sneers as she takes a bite of her yogurt and points her spoon at her cousin. "You always were stupid, huh? How could you not want to date her? She's fucking beautiful."
"I never said that I didn't find her attractive, I just couldn't see myself dating her." Lexa corrects as she sips her coffee. "And why we're on the subject, you are not to sleep or flirt with her. She's off limits, okay?"
"Off limits? You're not even dating her!" Octavia exclaims.
"First off all, keep your voice down. This is a hotel not a frat house." Lexa scolds as she flicks a piece of bacon at the woman. "And you're not to do anything with her because she's my best friend and it'd be weird."
"That's stupid. You can't tell me what to do." Octavia huffs.
"I can and I am. Won't it look a little weird if you're busy mooning over my girlfriend while your girlfriend stands off to the side looking clueless?" Lexa smirks. "Plus we're only here for the week, you shouldn't get attached."
"I'm not going to get attached." Octavia grumbles as she quickly looks away. "Maybe I just wanted to fuck her."
"O, ew. I don't want to know what my baby cousin wants to do with my best friend." Lexa growls as she scrunches her nose before she smiles at the person that walks towards them. "Speak of the devil and she shall arrive."
"Always at your service, Lex." Raven teases as she ruffles Lexa's bed ridden hair and then drops a kiss to it, her eyes snap towards Octavia as she grins. "Lexa, if you would've mentioned that your cousin was going to be here then I would've come with."
"You can drop the act, I know you two aren't a thing." Octavia sighs.
"Act?" Raven frowns.
"O, she may not be my girlfriend but she is my best friend so not all of this is an act." Lexa laughs as she hands Raven a piece of bacon. "Just like I know that the way you act with Clarke isn't an act. You guys are close."
Octavia pouts as she reaches to steal a pancake from Lexa, "Whatever."
"Where is your gorgeous best friend anyway?" Raven frowns.
"She's probably upstairs having wet dreams about Zac Efron and Emma Stone." Octavia chuckles before she glances up at Raven. "My darling best friend can't seem to pick a team so she plays for both."
"I figured." Raven smirks. "I'm kind of the same. I'm pansexual."
"Good to know." Octavia nods.
"Anyway, that's besides the point, we should all get dinner sometime this week." Raven offers before she pats Lexa's shoulder and glances to the coffee bar. "I'm gonna go grab a cup, you guys want anything?"
"More bacon?" Lexa asks through a mouthful of pancake.
Raven nods and disappears towards the breakfast area that seems to have filled with every hotel guest. Octavia watches the woman till she can't see her anymore before she looks to her cousin who is too busy calmly plowing through her plate to pay attention to the way her cousin leers at Raven. She licks her lips and considers joining Raven, but Lexa's cough catches her attention and she looks into annoyed green eyes.
"No." Lexa hisses.
Octavia huffs and rolls her eyes, "Have you heard from Bell?"
"Yeah, he doesn't want to drive out with Gina because she's so close to her due date. Of course Aurora completely understands because it's Gina and Gina is perfect." Lexa grumbles as she takes a sip of her coffee.
"Somebody's a little bitter." Octavia snorts.
"It's not Gina, I like her," Lexa assures her with a long sigh. "It's just Aurora. I went into law because it's what she wanted and I brought Raven because I thought it would make her happy and I'm just so done."
"Doing what?" Raven asks as she returns with a plate and a coffee mug.
"Trying to impress my aunt." Lexa grumbles before she reaches eagerly for the bacon and slides a piece into her mouth. "I just thought I owed her something because she took my sister and I in. I'm just starting to see that I've done enough."
"You're just now realizing that there's no impressing mommy dearest?" Octavia laughs as she leans back in her chair and licks a line of yogurt from her finger. "Why do you think I moved to New York? The further away from that monster the better."
"I should've followed in your footsteps, but I didn't want to leave Anya." Lexa mumbles as she drops her head. "But then Anya met Lincoln and she moved out and on but I just stayed behind. I should've left."
"There's a whole world out there for you, Woods." Octavia smirks. "You should explore it."
"I've always wanted to go to New York," Raven hums as she lifts her gaze long enough to catch green orbs. "I was actually thinking of going out there sometime soon. Would you be interested in showing me around?"
Octavia sputters on her sip of juice as her eyes widen, "Fuck yeah!"
Lexa rolls her eyes in annoyance at her cousin before she chokes on a piece of bacon at the sight of a half-asleep Clarke; the blonde fumbles towards them with messy hair and shorts that Lexa figures can't be legal. Raven follows her best friend's sight and barks out a laugh as she reaches out to pound on Lexa's back. Clarke pauses at their table and leans against Octavia's chair as she rubs at her eyes and gives a small yawn.
"You left." Clarke mumbles.
"I was starving and your loud ass snoring was keeping me awake." Octavia scoffs as she glances up at the older woman. "You should seriously consider getting that snoring checked out before I smother you in your sleep."
"It is not that bad." Clarke blushes.
"Bellamy and Gina refuse to stay with us anytime they visit because your snoring keeps them awake." Octavia snorts as she lifts her glass of orange juice to Clarke. "Drink this. Your morning breath is killing me."
Clarke snatches the juice with a glare, "You're a peach this morning."
"We have some meeting with Anya and mom today." Octavia pouts. "I really don't want to go."
"And you know she's going to go on and on about what we're wearing to the wedding." Lexa groans as her head falls back. "She's going to be pissed when I tell her that I'm planning to wear slacks and a bowtie."
"Bullshit." Octavia gaps as her eyes widen.
"Oh, it's total bullshit but she doesn't need to know that." Lexa shrugs as she reaches out to grab Raven's wrist and look at the small watch on it. "We should probably go get ready. Aurora wants us there early."
"Wait," Raven scoffs. "What about me and Clarke?"
Lexa looks between them and shrugs with a smirk, "Bonding time?"
-x-
"My turn."
Raven rolls her eyes as she looks to the blonde, "No it's not."
"Yes it is. My question was lame, lemme go again." Clarke orders as she walks alongside the brunette who heaves a breath before she waves a hand in acceptance. "Okay, um do you have an actual job?"
"What? Yes. I'm not some freeloader, I do pay to live in an apartment with my friends." Raven scoffs as she gives Clarke's shoulder a small shove. "I'm a mechanic, I'm co-owner of a shop with an old friend of mine. What about you?"
"I'm a resident at the hospital. Halfway done with my residency." Clarke chirps as she gives a small shrug and trails beside the older woman as they walk along the sidewalk that fills with people. "Okay. Hm. How long have you been friends with Lexa?"
Raven arches an eyebrow slowly, "I met her a few months after Octavia moved to New York. She was still in school and a completely heartless bitch but I thought she was hilarious so I gave her my number and we've been attached at the hip ever since."
"Wait, how did you guys meet?" Clarke frowns.
"Um, I do believe it's my question. Don't you know how to play twenty questions correctly, blondie?" Raven snorts as she runs her hand over the railing of the boardwalk. "Are you and Octavia...into each other?"
Clarke blows out a laugh as she tilts her head back, "No. God no."
"Really?" Raven questions in a soft tone.
"Hey, you don't get to ask another question. Don't you know how to play this game correctly, Raven?" Clarke mocks as she hip checks the woman and walks on. "Okay, back to my other question, how did you and Lexa meet?"
"She came in to my shop to pick up our friend's bike. I've been friends with Miller since we were like three and I was kinda of surprised he was letting someone else take his bike so I demanded to know who she was and she called me a fucktard." Raven grumbles.
"Wow." Clarke chuckles.
"Yeah, she told me that I needed to do my job and to keep my greasy nose out of her business. I took her serious for all of two seconds before I burst out laughing. We swapped numbers and met for coffee and kinda became inseparable after that." Raven shrugs with a fond smirk. "What about you and Octavia?"
"I met her when we were both looking for a weed dealer in the library." Clarke shrugs and a chuckle escapes her at Raven's wide eyes. "Before you ask, no I do not smoke. I was looking for a friend."
"Uh huh. Likely story." Raven teases.
"Yeah, yeah." Clarke blushes. "Anyway, my turn. What exactly are you and Lexa?"
"She's my best friend." Raven replies without a moment of hesitation as she crosses her arms over her chest. "I mean, we've fucked but there's no feelings involved with it. We're just warm bodies for each other."
Clarke clenches her jaw and nods, "Oh."
"Why do you want to know?" Raven asks with a curious lift of her eyebrow.
"Just wondering." Clarke replies. "I'm sure you were wondering about O and I..."
"Look, Octavia is hot and normally I'd do just about anything to try something with her but Lexa wants me to stay away for some reason. She's really protective of Octavia, I don't want to upset her." Raven sighs as she nibbles at her lower lip.
Clarke pauses and watches as Raven does the same, "Would you like my help with that?"
"What do you mean?" Raven demands
"Let me distract Lexa." Clarke offers with a tweak of a smile. "You can flirt and do whatever you want with Octavia as long as you swear not to break her heart. And I'll do the same with Lexa. We'll be helping each other out."
Raven blows out a long breath, "Lexa will kill me."
"Look, it's not like O is going to fall in love with you," Clarke assures her as she moves to stand before Raven as she squeezes her shoulder. "It's just a week. Seven days. What's the worst that could happen in seven days?"
"Do you not watch corny romantic comedies, blondie?" Raven snorts as she presses a palm to Clarke's head in an effort to shove her back. "I'm not going to try anything with Octavia, alright? You're free to do what you want with Lexa, but I'm not getting involved."
Clarke pauses as she drops her hands from Raven's shoulders, "You're right."
"We're here to support them. Lexa asked me to come support her so she doesn't have to deal with her aunt and that's where my focus is going to stay. No matter how hot Octavia is. And she's really hot." Raven sighs.
"Fine." Clarke nods. "You're right. We'll drop it. Is it my turn?"
"Yup." Raven chirps.
-x-
Lexa chuckles lowly at the text she receives from Raven, it's a photo of her and Clarke at a little beach bar and they're both staring at the camera with playful drunkenness in their eyes as they sloppily clink their glasses together. She shakes her head and rolls her eyes before she types out a response to her best friend and nudges Octavia so the brunette can witness what her roommate is up to and the brunette laughs loudly as she licks her lips.
"Why am I not surprised she's already found the booze?" Octavia smirks.
"I was thinking the same thing about Raven. I think we made a bad choice leaving them to bond." Lexa sighs as she locks her phone and pockets it. "So, how's New York? Do you ever regret leaving Flordia?"
"No. Never." Octavia replies without a moment of hesitation. "Leaving was the best for me, Lex. You know that my mom never supported the idea of me being a personal trainer and I was sick of living under her thumb."
Lexa nods slowly, "I wish I could've done the same thing."
"There's still time. You're young. I'm sure there are plenty of firms that would catch your attention in New York." Octavia suggests. "It's an amazing place, Lex. You'd love it. Plus Clarke lives out there."
Lexa frowns as she glances to her cousin, "Why would that matter?"
"Because I saw how you were staring at her this morning, you looked like you would've liked to have her on your plate rather then your pile of bacon." Octavia sneers. "I don't blame you. Clarke is really hot."
"I thought you said you weren't interested in her." Lexa scowls.
"I'm not. She's my best friend. I wouldn't be where I am without her. She introduced me to a pretty great group of people and her mom is the bomb." Octavia shrugs. "She's like a piece of my family, but I can appreciate that she's good looking."
"Oh." Lexa mumbles as she gives a small nod before she awkwardly clears her throat. "Back to your idea, I wouldn't be able to do it. There's too much here for me. My job, my apartment, my friends...Raven."
"Raven?" Octavia repeats.
"I might as well tell you this since you'll pick at me until I eventually say something," Lexa begins as she rolls her eyes. "Look, the reason I'm like I am with Raven is because she was involved with some...not nice people. After we became friends, with a little legal help, I managed to pull her out of that life."
"Was she a druggie?" Octavia demands.
"What? No. She was...it was her ex. He was a dealer and she was his runner. Had been since she was like eighteen." Lexa sighs. "There was an incident and it messed up her leg. It's so much better than it was a year or so ago but it's still bad on occasions."
Octavia furrows her brow slowly, "I noticed she had a small limp."
"She's supposed to wear her brace, but she likes to think she's invincible. She's a hard case, O." Lexa chuckles. "And she needs me just as much as I need her. She's my constant, I guess. She's important to me."
Octavia stares at her for a long moment and then scowls, "You've fucked her."
"Um, yeah. We've slept together." Lexa nods. "Why does it matter?"
Octavia clenches her jaw as the taxi pulls up to the cafe, "No reason."
Lexa tilts her head in confusion at the slight irritation in her cousin's voice but puts it aside in favor of the sight of her sister just behind the class of the place they were at; she breathes a sigh of relief as she sees sharp cheekbones and hard eyes. A bright smile lights up her face and her heart fills with adoration as she brushes past Octavia to hurry into the little cafe where she eagerly throws herself at Anya. The older woman chuckles as she squeezes her younger sister to her and nuzzles her nose against her temple.
"Hey, sis." Anya beams as she kisses Lexa's cheek. "I've missed you."
"You only live like two hours away from me, you can visit." Lexa teases as she draws away from the hug and smiles softly at her older sister. "How are you feeling? Nervous about the big day? Any cold feet?"
"No. Of course not. I can't wait to marry Lincoln." Anya assures her as she rests her hands on Lexa's biceps and gives them a soft squeeze. "I hope you're not too upset that I didn't ask you to be in the wedding party..."
Lexa quickly shakes her head, "I'm thrilled that you didn't."
"I figured you would be. It's not as exciting as the movies make it out to be." Anya chuckles before she presses a kiss to Lexa's forehead. "I'm really, really glad you're here though. It makes this week seem so much more bearable."
"I don't think anything about this week is going to be bearable." Lexa grumbles as she folds back into Anya's arms. "I brought Raven as my date and Octavia has a thing for her, and I think I have a thing for Octavia's date."
Anya draws away and arches an eyebrow, "What?"
"I know. Confusing." Lexa sighs as squeezes her eyes shut.
"Look," Anya begins as she guides Lexa towards their table and watches as her little sister pouts. "Let's not think about it, okay? Just focus on this luncheon and we'll get through this and move on with everything."
Lexa frowns as she shakes her head, "I just don't think it's that easy."
"Anya, dear," Aurora grins as she sits at the head of the table with hazel eyes that twinkle with excitement. "I can't wait for you to meet Lexa's girlfriend. She's absolutely lovely, and she would've made the perfect lawyer."
"Too bad she's more in love with cars than anything else." Lexa snorts.
"Even you?" Octavia hums as she keeps her eyes on the drink menu while her jaw flexes. "I mean, you two seem so in love with each other so I find it hard to believe she'd put a car over her own girlfriend."
"So, I was thinking maybe I should stick with salads till the wedding is over." Anya jumps in as her gaze flickers to catch her sister's confused frown. "I mean, I want to be able to fit into my wedding dress."
"You'll be fine, dear." Aurora assures her. "But you should stick to salad, to be on the safe side."
Octavia hesitates as she glances at her mother, "What do you think of Clarke?"
"Who?" Aurora frowns before she blinks and gasps softly. "Oh, I forgot! Your girlfriend. She seems sweet, darling. I wish you would've told me about her sooner, I wasn't able to tell your brother or grandparents about her."
"Why does that matter?" Octavia scoffs.
"I just want to prepare them." Aurora explains as she turns her attention back to Lexa and misses the way Octavia glares at her with fire in her gaze. "So, you and Raven? Tell me how you two met."
"We um we met through a blind date that our friends set up for us." Lexa replies as she tries to swallow down her nerves. "She was uh she was really great after everything that happened with Costia and we just clicked right away."
"Oh, I bet you two did." Octavia sneers.
Lexa narrows her eyes at the younger woman, "Do you have a problem?"
"Yeah. I fucking do." Octavia snaps. "Wanna talk about it?"
"Girls, that's enough," Aurora scolds as she looks between them. "Whatever your issues are can be discussed at another time. This is Anya's week. So, keep the childish behavior to a minimum, alright?"
Octavia tries to hold her tongue, but the second Raven is brought back up she allows the pot shots to fly. The waiter delivers them their drinks and Octavia calmly sips on her black coffee and makes snappy comments, adds in things that don't need to be said while Lexa grits her teeth and sips at her latte. Aurora ignores them, not that it surprises Octavia, but she can tell her mother is irritated as her shoulders tighten and her words become more and more clipped. Finally, Octavia makes a comment that causes Anya to pause and Lexa can feel the anger run through her as she flexes her jaw.
"Octavia." Lexa begins in a calm voice. "Would you accompany me to the bathroom?"
Octavia tosses her napkin on the table with a false smile, "Gladly."
The pair is silent as they stand from the table and move towards the bathroom and Lexa winces as she hears Aurora irritated comments that follow close behind them. The two crash into the bathroom and Octavia takes a moment to look around to make sure they're alone before she whirls to face Lexa who meets her with a glare of her own; for a long time they stand like that, praying the other will back down. Eventually, Octavia gives up and allows a breath to leave her as her arms flop from where they're crossed over her chest and smack against her thighs.
"Why are you doing this?" Lexa demands.
"Why are you sleeping with Raven?" Octavia counters.
"Why does it bother you so much that I've slept with her?" Lexa demands. "She's my best friend, Octavia. My best friend. You don't know anything about her so I don't know why you're getting so pissed off."
"I don't know why!" Octavia exclaims. "I don't know why I feel like this, but the idea of you sleeping with her pisses me off. It makes me seriously want to deck you. You know that stupid bullshit thing of love at first sight? Well, I think I get it now."
"Octavia Blake," Lexa breathes out with wide eyes. "No."
"I'm attracted to her, Lexa. Like, really attracted to her." Octavia admits as she tries to ignore the way her cheeks begin to heat with a blush. "I don't know why. And I don't know what it means, but I want to find out. I want to get to know her, I want to spend time with her."
"No." Lexa repeats.
"You're not her girlfriend," Octavia points out with a glare. "Why do you care so much?"
"Because...because she's my date!" Lexa sputters as she tosses her hands up. "Because this is supposed to be Anya's wedding week and we're supposed to be giving her every ounce of our attention. Because this isn't important, what you feel for her isn't important."
"So, we're just going to ignore this?" Octavia scoffs. "We're going to ignore the fact that we both want to be at this wedding with other people?"
Lexa tilts her head and narrows her eyes, "I don't know what you're going on about but..."
"I see the way you look at Clarke. It doesn't take a genius to realize that you think she's hot." Octavia snorts as she rolls her eyes. "I don't understand why you're being so protective over Raven, I don't get why I can't even be her friend."
"Because I said so." Lexa shrugs.
Octavia clenches her jaw and clicks her tongue, "I wonder what mom would think if she found out your perfect girlfriend isn't so perfect."
Lexa's eyes flash as she darts towards her cousin, "Don't threaten her."
"You sure you're not in love with her?" Octavia scoffs.
"O, I'm not playing games with you. Not when it involves Raven." Lexa snaps. "You're my cousin and I love you with my entire heart, but she's my best friend and I'll do what I have to do to protect the both of you. You're just...you two don't fit."
Octavia growls and throws her arms up, "And who are you to decide that?"
"I'm going to tell you one thing right here and right now," Lexa begins, her voice is calm and Octavia tenses as she sees the fire in the older woman's gaze. "This is Anya's week. This is about her. Not us. Not Raven or Clarke. We're not going to argue about right now, alright?"
Octavia sighs heavily and shakes her head, "Can we go out there and annoy mommy dearest then?"
"You're impossible." Lexa grumbles.
"And that's why you love me, right?" Octavia smirks as she presses a quick kiss to her cousin's cheek. "This conversation isn't over though."