Avoidance
Lexa was avoiding Clarke.
Well, Clarke thinks that Lexa is avoiding her. Honestly, she doesn’t really know Lexa well enough to make that assumption—but that’s another direct result of Lexa avoiding her.
And yes, Clarke understands that Lexa is busy. Obviously, they’re all here for the players to train, the game fast approaching and the team starting to get into the groove for Olympic qualifiers. Becoming friends with Clarke probably isn’t even on Lexa’s radar because, hello? Lexa is the leader of the number one team in the world—she’s literally one of the best on the best.
So Clarke gets it. She doesn’t register on the infamous Commander’s radar (she can’t deny that hurts a little bit, because ever since their first meeting Clarke has been thinking more often about Lexa and the Commander and wondering if they’re one in the same).
Still, Clarke can’t help but think that Lexa is actively avoiding her.
Like, see her in the locker room and immediately turn the other way, avoiding her.
Which actually happened two times the other day, while Clarke was helping Raven tape copies of the nutritional plans to the inside of the players’ lockers.
Clarke had met with the players after finishing their physicals, going over the pre-workout and post-workout treatments she and Dawn had come up with. Nearly every player had come to talk to her more than once, whether to clarify something on their plan or see if they could substitute a different post-workout plan for another—except for Lexa.
In fact, Clarke had only seen Lexa when the stoic midfielder had entered her makeshift office to initially receive her plan.
For a professional athlete, Lexa actually did have quite a few moments where she seemed overly clumsy, Clarke had noted. First was the high-fived handshake, then the random blurting of questions, and the tripping—watching Lexa Woods on the pitch, there was no way anybody would call her clumsy. But Clarke found all of these quirks oddly endearing, a vast contrast to the stoic Commander façade Lexa seemed so intent on keeping up around the doctor.
Clarke brushed off her intrigue about Lexa as mere curiosity , and the fact that the soccer player was so closed off only made her want to know more. Plus, Clarke couldn’t help but find it cute when Lexa had taken a slight stumble when she had first entered the room and then glared at the floor, calling it a “son of a bitch”.
She couldn’t help but giggle, but stopped abruptly as that same strained smile appeared on Lexa’s face.
“What did you do to Lexa?” asked Octavia, striding into the room and plopping down on Clarke’s examination table.
“Uhh…I really don’t know,” Clarke answered, shaking her head. “Why? Did she say something?”
Octavia shook her head. “No, but I was just with her and when I told her I was coming over here to say hi, she just glared and left.”
“Glared?” Clarke questioned. That was new. Lexa always had a look on her face like she was uncomfortable around Clarke, but she hadn’t glared at the doctor yet. Clarke just shrugged. “I don’t know, O. Honestly.”
And if Clarke continued to be honest, it did bother her. Everyone else on the team seemed to be friendly and genuinely getting to know her whenever they stopped by except for Lexa. But she wasn’t going to make it into a thing, mostly because they were all here for soccer—the greater good, to do their part in helping the national team win another gold medal. Her best friend was a part of that now, and she wouldn’t mess with that.
Octavia shook her head. “Oh well, her loss if she can’t see how amazing you are,” the young forward said, grinning. “Anyways, I came over here to tell you that Bell said he could make it to the game!”
“O! That’s so great!” Clarke said, pulling her friend into a hug. “I thought he had to work?”
“He was able to cash in some favors and get another professor to take over his lecture,” Octavia explained.
“Whoa, Professor Nerd is coming to the game?” Raven asked, seemingly appearing out of nowhere. She hopped up onto the table next to Octavia, grinning. “Sweet. I thought he never left the library.”
Clarke chuckled, shaking her head. “You know he’s O’s second best fan.”
“Oh my god, not this again,” Octavia groaned. “You all support me, I get it. You’re all my number one fan. Let’s not fight about it anymore.”
“There was no fighting!” Raven defended. “There was just a teeny, tiny prank war.”
“…”
“Ok, so there was one broken arm.”
“…”
“And I paid for the replacement table!”
“…”
Raven opened her mouth to say more, and Clarke decided she should intervene before they all had to relive the disaster that was Raven’s last attempted prank.
“Lexa is avoiding me,” she blurted out.
Octavia and Raven both turned to Clarke, questioning looks on their faces.
“I mean, I’m not sure, but it seems like she is,” Clarke continued, rolling up the sleeves of her lab coat. “Which sucks because she’s my favorite player.”
“Why do you think she’s avoiding you?” Raven asked.
“Well everyone else has been stopping in at random times, making conversation and attempting to get to know me. I get the feeling they’re sort of…seeking me out? Except for Lexa. Which I know sounds super egotistical, especially because they’re all professional athletes so there’s no way they’re actually seeking me out but I just feel like—”
“Whoa, Griff,” Octavia said, cutting her off. “Chill.” Clarke took a deep breath, slightly embarrassed at her rambling, but then remembered that these were her best friends so there was nothing to be embarrassed about.
“Lexa is actually really nice,” Octavia continued. “She’s really been helping me out with my game.”
“Although, there is the smile,” Raven said slowly.
“What smile?” Octavia asked, looking at their friend.
“Well, every time Lexa is around Clarke there’s this smile on her face, sort of more like a grimace, almost like she ate rotten yogurt or something,” Raven said.
“Why is someone smiling at you with a rotten yogurt smile?” Octavia asked Clarke, raising an eyebrow in question.
“I have no idea!” Clarke answered. “But it seems like she doesn’t want to get to know me at all, and I don’t even think I can be mad about that because obviously she has more important things to do?”
“First of all, you’re the most important thing,” Raven said, cutting in. Clarke smiled at her friend as Octavia nodded in agreement. “Secondly, I think it’s bothering you because you have a crush on her.”
“What?” Clarke choked out. “I do not. I don’t even know her.”
Octavia stared at Clarke for a bit, stretching out the silence after Clarke’s denial. “I think Raven is right,” she finally said. “You’re doing that thing you do when you like someone.”
“What thing? I don’t do a thing. Shut up,” Clarke rambled.
“You’re fidgeting with your dad’s watch,” Octavia pointed out. “You only do that when you’re nervous.”
“And you’re spinning the ring on your finger,” Raven chimed in. “I saw you doing it when Lexa came in to get her treatment plan.”
“You two pay too much attention to me,” Clarke said. “I do not have a crush. I’m just…disappointed.” She sighed. “You know when you have a picture of someone in your head and they turn out to be something completely different? I guess I just imagined that the Commander thing was a façade. Like, it was who she was on the field but I guess she’s actually the Commander all the time.”
Raven opened her arms, and Clarke stepped closer, closing her eyes as Raven’s arms wrapped her up in a hug. She hummed, Clarke feeling the vibrations as she rested her head on Raven’s shoulder. “So you’re just disappointed because your idol turned out to be a rotten yogurt-smiling person who sometimes glares at you,” Raven said, making Clarke laugh.
“But you’re doing the thing so you must still like her regardless of the picture in your head and the real her you’ve met,” Octavia pointed out.
Clarke shrugged, sighing. “There’s just something about her,” she said. “She’s so sure of herself, so…absolute in her convictions. She knows who she is. That’s attractive.”
“Hasn’t she spazzed out in front of you every time you’ve seen her?” Raven asked.
Clarke chuckled, thinking about Lexa’s awkwardness. “I think it’s cute.”
“The dorky type really does it for you, huh Griff?” Raven asked, wiggling her eyebrows.
Clarke snorted and Octavia laughed, as she nudged Raven in the arm.
A knock on the door interrupted the moment, and Clarke turned around to find Anya in the doorway.
“Hey Anya, what’s up?” Clarke asked, leaning back against the table.
“I was hoping to talk to you about substituting one of my post-workout treatments with another?” she asked, stepping into the room.
Clarke nodded, reaching back to pat Raven and Octavia on their legs. “They were just leaving,” she said.
Octavia gave her a wink before nodding at Anya, and Raven gave her a slight nudge before hopping off of the table and following Octavia through the doorway.
Clarke shook her head, as if it rid herself from her thoughts on Lexa before grinning at the goalkeeper, gesturing to the paper in Anya’s hand.
“So, what did you want to change?”
* *
Lexa was avoiding Clarke.
She knew it was childish, but her initial plan of keeping up her Commander façade at all times went down the drain as soon as she had met with Clarke once more and gravity had betrayed her.
She had tripped.
Over nothing.
Lexa Woods—whose livelihood literally depends on the mastery of the body because she is a professional soccer player, had tripped over her own two feet as soon as Clarke had directed her smile Lexa’s way, blue eyes twinkling and blonde hair shining.
So yes, Lexa was avoiding Clarke because she had literally fallen head over heels for the doctor (plus, she sort of cussed at the floor, as was her initial reaction, and that had made Clarke laugh and holy shit her laugh was perfect too, what the fuck).
Which wouldn’t be a problem, if she wasn’t so goddamn obvious about it.
She didn’t think it was obvious to Clarke yet. But Anya had already cornered her, demanding that Lexa figure her shit out because she was being weird again.
And honestly, if it was just a physical attraction Lexa had towards Clarke, she thinks she might be over this little (it’s big, definitely big) crush on the doctor. Clarke was beautiful, there was no doubt about that, but apparently she was also an amazing human being as well.
Not that Lexa would know this first hand, because she had been avoiding the doctor all week. But for some unknown reason (Lexa knows it’s because they think its hilarious how flustered she becomes around Clarke, but she refuses to acknowledge their childish schemes, and honestly, you are mothers, Lexa had pointed out to Ashlyn and Kelley, who insisted that they had a foolproof plan to get Clarke and Lexa together, and then continued to argue about the validity of something called Operation Talex, that Lexa refused to ask about) her teammates insisted on keeping her updated with new information they learned about Clarke every chance they got.
Alex had cornered her under the pretense of saying hello to her children over skype (and that crafty bitch knows that Lexa loves those kids) and had forced Lexa to sit next to her as she googled Clarke Griffin, MD, and thanks to her facebook page, Lexa now knows that the doctor has an eclectic taste in movies, apparently enjoying a movie like Pride and Prejudice as much as she enjoyed Zombieland (both of which Lexa loves to watch on rainy days).
Carli had hopped into an ice bath with her and bluntly told her that Clarke was single and the last person she dated was a girl (I asked her Lexa, duh, Carli had said and then they sat in silence for ten minutes after that while Lexa had a minor freak out because now Clarke actually could like Lexa back, that is if Lexa was hoping for that sort of thing which she definitely, definitely wasn’t).
Ashlyn and Ali had double-teamed her, sitting on either side of her during dinner and telling her that Clarke loves dogs (Lexa had raised an eyebrow and asked why the hell that was relevant, to which she received a dumbfounded look from the couple and Ashlyn answering something about must love dogs).
Kelley had lured her into a false sense of calm by bribing her with ice cream and then told her that Clarke’s tattoo was really pretty and the doctor had a hot body (Lexa had choked on a piece of cookie dough when Kelley explained that Clarke had pulled her shirt halfway off of herself to show Kelley the tattoo that started on her arm and wrapped around her shoulder after Kelley had asked).
Tobin had stood between Lexa and her favorite yogurt bars in the snack room and told her that Clarke liked to draw in her free time, and when Tobin had requested to see some of her artwork Raven had pulled up a website where Clarke sold them and they were all really awesome (Lexa may have asked for the url, but that was her business).
Anya had straight up cornered her in the locker room, told her to woman up and ask Clarke out on a date because so far she wasn’t able to find anything that she hated about the doctor yet and the longer Lexa waited, the greater the chances were that she would (which was true, Lexa knew, and that was as close to any type of approval Anya was going to give in terms of Lexa’s dating life).
So despite her best efforts of ignoring the doctor, Lexa now had an ongoing list in her head of things she learned about Clarke—things that didn’t make getting over the whole feelings things any easier.
Lexa had vowed not to be cornered by her cousin again, lest she spill more of what she had been feeling for the doctor unwillingly. Which is why she cursed herself when she opened the bathroom door after her shower to find Anya sitting on Lexa’s bed, arms crossed and glare in place.
“What?” Lexa asked as Anya continued to glare at her as she threw on shorts and a shirt.
“She thinks you’re a horrible person,” Anya said bluntly.
“Wha—wait, what?” Lexa asked, doing a double take.
“Clarke,” Anya clarified, as if it hadn’t been obvious who she had been talking about.
“Clarke,” Lexa repeated, blinking. “She thinks…that I’m a horrible person?”
“Yes.”
Lexa’s heart sunk to her stomach, and she felt a tightness in her chest. She cleared her throat, trying to ignore the feeling like it was closing up as her cousin’s words sunk in.
“She told you that I’m a horrible person?” Lexa asked, sitting down next to Anya.
“No, I heard her talking to Raven and Octavia,” Anya said. She sighed, patting Lexa on her leg. “Ok, maybe I exaggerated. She doesn’t think you’re a horrible person. She’s just sort of…disappointed, is the word she used.”
“Disappointed…with what?” Lexa questioned, still uncomfortable at the thought that Clarke had used the word whilst describing her.
“That she didn’t get to meet Lexa Woods.”
Lexa’s eyebrows furrowed, confused. “I don’t understand.”
Anya shook her head, crossing her arms again. “The Commander,” she clarified. “She’s only dealt with the Commander. She hasn’t met Lexa. So she thinks that the Commander is all you are.” Anya nudged her with her shoulder.
“Oh,” Lexa replied dumbly. “Well the Commander is who I am. If she doesn’t like the Commander, then she doesn’t like me.”
“That’s not what I said,” Anya said. “She’s disappointed that her favorite soccer player doesn’t seem to have any interest in getting to know her. And despite the fact that you’ve been downright weird around her, she still somehow likes the Commander.”
Lexa’s head snapped up at that. “She said that?” she asked, her heart pounding.
“Well it doesn’t really matter, does it?” Anya questioned. “Since the Commander refuses to acknowledge any feelings anyways.”
The two sat in silence as Lexa absorbed the new information. She knew that Clarke would see that Lexa was avoiding her; Clarke was, after all, a smart person. The Commander had only given her strained smiles and absolutely no conversation besides the necessary during their interactions, which were all kept professional, all Lexa’s doing.
“Look, I just don’t want you to miss your chance because you’re afraid,” Anya said, breaking the silence. “Maybe it’s time to introduce her to Lexa.”
Lexa shrugged, torn between the intense feelings of liking someone for the first time in a long time, and remembrance of her first heartbreak.
“I can’t go through that pain again,” Lexa said quietly.
Anya sighed, wrapping an arm around Lexa’s shoulders. “Lex, you might get your heart broken a hundred more times,” she said. “But the good part is that you know you’re strong enough to get through it. You can’t go into every new thing thinking that you’re going to get hurt. That’s no way to live.”
“Love is weakness,” Lexa murmured. “I can’t afford to be weak. I need to lead this team.”
“Love isn’t weakness, Lex,” Anya said. “Look, you play this sport because you love it right? You love soccer, and you love this game, and it has given you so much, right?”
Lexa nodded, agreeing.
“Then how is that a weakness?” Anya pointed out. “And you play hard for yourself, but you play hard for your teammates too, because you love them right?”
Lexa nodded her head again, quiet as she listened to her cousin.
“Love is one of the most powerful emotions in the world, Lex. Which is why it hurts so much when it ends.” She placed her finger under Lexa’s chin and lifted the younger girl’s head, locking eyes with her cousin. “But that means that when it works, the opposite will be true—love will make everything that much better.” She gave Lexa a small smile. “But nobody said anything about love just yet. I’m just saying you should get to know Clarke, explore your feelings. Maybe it’ll be amazing.”
The two sat in silence once more, and Lexa could feel Anya’s strong, sturdy arm supporting her. Her cousin had never steered her wrong, and Lexa knew that her teammates only had the best intentions when it came to her.
Maybe it was time to take a chance.
“I think I’d like to introduce her to Lexa,” she said quietly.
Anya grinned, pulling back from Lexa. “Good. Because you’re a huge fucking dork, but I have it on good authority that she finds that cute.”
Lexa knew that Anya was messing with her, but she couldn’t help the smile that crossed her face.
“She thinks I’m cute?”
“Oh my god, you are such a dork.”
* *
Lexa was exhausted—she had played the entire game, and was the last one on the field as she stayed to give as many autographs as she could. The game against Brazil had been hard-fought, as it usually was. But Jill had elected to try out a lot of the newbies in the second half, and Octavia had impressed her—she had picked up an assist after Octavia had finished a nice ball she sent in from the corner.
She bent down to pick up her water bottle, taking a gulp.
“Auntie Lex! Auntie Lex! Auuuuntie Leeeeeexxxx!”
Lexa turned around immediately at the high-pitched voices yelling her name, grinning at the sight she was greeted with.
Five little girls, running as fast as their little legs could carry them, were headed directly towards her. They were so focused on their intended target that Lexa could see two hats on the ground behind them, seemingly from two of the little girls who couldn’t be bothered to stop and pick it up when it flew off of their heads.
She dropped down to her knees and opened her arms, waiting for impact.
“Munchkins!” she yelled back, and laughed as the first ones reached her.
Little Kaitlin Werry launched herself into Lexa’s right arm, giggling, followed quickly by a gap-toothed Chloe O’Hara-Solo, who occupied Lexa’s left one.
Kellan Morgan-Heath ran directly at Lexa, colliding with the midfielder’s chest as little arms wrapped around Lexa’s neck.
Somehow, Lexa had managed to stay upright—that is, until the weight of two more little girls in the form of Hallie Harris-Krieger and Vanessa Dwyer, jumped on top of the group. Lexa fell on to her back, laughing under a pile of giggling five and six-year-olds.
“Fall in line, soldiers!” Lexa shouted, once she caught her breath.
Lexa felt little feet kick her as the five girls scrambled off of her, before standing in a line, all grinning from ear-to-ear.
Lexa tried to put on a straight face, but it was impossible with her teammates’ daughters standing in front of her, those bright eyes and glowing smiles directed at her.
The Tribe of Five, as their team affectionately called the little group of best friends, stood up straighter as Lexa stepped closer and paced back and forth in front of them. It was just about the cutest thing she had ever seen (she says that every time she interacts with these kids, because the truth was Kaitlin, Chloe, Kellan, Hallie and Vanessa were literally the cutest kids on the planet and anyone who says otherwise can fight her).
“Report, Captain Kaitlan?” she asked.
“We had Hallie ask,” Kaitlan answered, solemnly. It took everything Lexa had not to laugh at the seriousness that tinged little KAO’s voice.
“Cuz they never say no to her!” Kellan piped up, grinning and grabbing little Hallie Blaire’s hand, swinging their arms back and forth.
“And they didn’t!” Vanessa chimed in.
“They said yes!” Chloe yelled excitedly, bouncing up and down.
“They said yes?” Lexa asked, quirking her eyebrow. She looked at Hallie, who squealed as she jumped up and down.
“Yes Auntie Lexa!” Hallie said, the five girls in front of her nodded their heads ferociously, and Lexa broke out into a full on smile.
“Well then, what are we waiting for troops?” she asked. “Let’s get going!”
The little girls all shouted with excitement, and Lexa crouched down as Kaitlin clambered onto her back while Chloe clung to her front, arms wrapped around her neck. She stood up, grunting.
“Oof, you’re getting bigger, Chlo-bear,” Lexa said, Kaitlin giggling in her ear from her back. She felt two tiny hands slip into hers, and looked down to see Vanessa grabbing her right hand and Hallie holding her left, little Kellan still holding onto Hallie’s hand.
She walked closer to where the girl’s parents were all standing, laughing at the sight of Lexa Woods, international soccer star know as The Commander, struggling under the weight of five little girls, all giggling and talking excitedly, competing for Lexa’s attention.
“Ouch!” Lexa heard from her left side, and quickly looked over to see that Kellan had taken a tumble onto the turf. She immediately set Chloe and Kaitlin down before crouching down in front of Kellan, the little Morgan-Heath sitting on the ground, holding her knee. Lexa could see Alex and Tobin moving forward out of the corner of her eye, but shook her head, waving them away. She had dealt with the Tribe of Five so often that she knew what to do during little accidents such as this.
“You ok buddy?” she asked softly. Lexa could see that Kellan was struggling to keep the tears from falling, and gently removed the little girl’s hand to see that she had scraped her knee, a little blood appearing.
“I hurt my knee,” Kellan sniffed. The other four girls crowded around them, worried looks on their faces as they watched their friend. Hallie reached for Kellan’s hand, grabbing the one that didn’t have blood on it and Kaitlin placed her hand on Kellan’s shoulder. Chloe and Vanessa both sat down next to Kellan, concern on their faces.
“Does somebody need a doctor?” Lexa heard from behind them, and turned her head to see Clarke standing there, small smile on her face.
“Clarke!” Lexa said, surprised. “I uhh—yes, actually. Kellan took a little fall and scraped her knee.”
Clarke smiled, nodding at Lexa before crouching down in front of the little girl.
“Kellan?” she asked, and the little girl nodded her head, sniffling slightly. “Hi, I’m Dr. Clarke. It’s very nice to meet you.”
“Hi,” Kellan said in a small voice.
Clarke opened her bag and pulled out a band-aid and a wipe, opening the latter and gently wiping away any turf pieces stuck to the little girl’s knee and hand.
“Where were you going in such a hurry when you fell?” Clarke asked, distracting Kellan as she quickly swiped the small scrape before opening the band-aid.
Kellan rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand. “Auntie Lex taking us to get ice cream,” she said quietly.
“Ice cream?” Clarke gasped. She placed the band-aid across Kellan’s knee. “I love ice cream!”
“You do?” the girl next to Kellan asked excitedly.
“It’s my favorite food!” Clarke said, grinning.
“This is Chloe,” Lexa chimed in from behind them, watching the interaction with a smile on her face. “Vanessa, Hallie and Kaitlin.”
“Ahh, the little Tribe of Five,” Clarke said solemnly. “I’ve heard a lot about you guys.”
“You have?” Hallie gaped.
Clarke nodded her head. “Yes, I’ve heard that you guys are best friends.”
“We are!” Vanessa yelled excitedly.
“I can tell,” Clarke said. “It was very nice of you to sit with your friend while I was fixing her knee.” She looked at Kellan once more, giving the little girl a smile. “And you were very brave. Didn’t even cry once.”
Kellan smiled back at the doctor, and Clarke opened her bag once more, pulling out a lollipop. After a small nod from Lexa, she handed over the lollipop to the little girl. “You were a great patient, and great patients get treats,” Clarke said, Kellan’s eyes widening as she took the offered piece of candy from the doctor.
The other girls looked at each other excitedly, eyes wide, and Clarke had no idea what had passed between the five because no words were actually said, but then all five of them were sitting around her.
“I have a scrape too,” Chloe said, her little voice serious.
“Me too,” Kaitlin said, nodding her head.
“Me too!” Vanessa yelled.
“And me!” Hallie exclaimed, bouncing in place.
Clarke burst out laughing at the friends’ antics, Lexa joining in from behind her.
“Oh my god, this is so precious,” Clarke said, wiping her eyes as her laughter had turned to tears.
Lexa sat down next to Clarke, shaking her head. “This isn’t even the half of it,” she said. “One time, I was babysitting and instead of a seven thirty bed time and one story, we ended up watching three different Disney movies and eating cookies until their parents came home.”
Lexa turned to the little girls, who were still looking at Clarke expectantly. “Kellan is going to save that lollipop for later, because we’re going to get ice cream, right?” she asked, receiving a reluctant nod from Kellan and the rest of the girls. “Good.” She stood up, wiping the turf off of her shorts, Clarke standing up next to her. The five girls all followed, Kellan shyly putting her hand in Clarke’s.
“Thank you, Dr. Clarke,” she said softly, and Clarke smiled, giving Kellan’s hand a light squeeze.
“You are very welcome, cutie,” Clarke said, chuckling at the little blush Kellan had on her face.
“Ice cream, Auntie Lex?” Vanessa asked.
Lexa rolled her eyes but smiled, nodding her head. “Yes, yes, ice cream,” she said. “Let’s go find your parents first.”
Kaitlin and Chloe each grabbed one of Lexa’s hands, while Vanessa skipped in front of them. Hallie grabbed Kellan’s hand and the two looked up at Lexa, who smiled at Clarke.
“Thanks Clarke,” Lexa said.
Clarke smiled back at the soccer player. “No problem, Lexa. I should go make sure Raven isn’t getting into any trouble,” she said, gesturing towards where Raven was standing on the sideline.
Lexa nodded, smile still on her face as she took in the doctor’s features. The easy grin on Clarke’s face, blue eyes bright and the softness in her voice as she had conversed with Lexa’s favorite little kids had her crushing even harder.
Lexa thought about her talk with Anya the day before. Yes, it was time for Clarke to meet Lexa—the real Lexa.
“I’ll see you later,” Lexa said, her and Clarke staring at one another with smiles on their faces, before she felt a tug on her hand, Chloe staring up at her impatiently. “Ok, ok, we’re going. See you later Clarke. Everyone say bye to Dr. Clarke!”
“Bye Dr. Clarke!” said a chorus of voices, the little girls waving.
Lexa shook her head, knowing the effect the little Tribe of Five had on anyone who met them—they were seriously the cutest little kids she had ever met. Sighing, she and the kids walked over to where the parents were huddled, who had unbeknownst to the young midfielder, been watching Clarke interact with their children and Lexa, grinning in approval.
* *
Clarke was swooning.
Legitimately, straight up, swooning.
The U.S. had beaten Brazil in the friendly 3-1, and Octavia had scored a goal in the 79th minute that had Clarke and Raven yelling at the top of their lungs on the sideline. The two were waiting on the field for Octavia to come out of the locker room so they could all go out to eat with Bellamy.
“I’m just saying, if the dinosaurs hadn’t gone extinct it could have happened by now,” Raven said, arguing her case.
“I don’t think so, Rae,” Clarke responded, skeptical.
“How can you say that? You’re a person of science,” Raven said passionately. “I’m telling you, as the certified genius, if dinosaurs had existed all this time then Pokemon definitely would be a real, actual thing by now.”
Clarke opened her mouth to respond, but got distracted by five little girls shouting on the field.
“Clarke?” Raven prompted.
“Shhh,” Clarke hushed her friend, eyes fixated not on the little girls, but the target they were headed towards.
Clarke was surprised, because the five little girls were running directly at Lexa, who had her arms open, waiting for them to reach her. She smiled as she watched the kids launch themselves at Lexa, the soccer player going down at the combined weight of the five. They were all laughing and smiling, and the sight warmed Clarke’s heart. Maybe it was because it was the first time Clarke could only see Lexa—not the Commander, or the front Lexa had apparently been putting up around the doctor.
Lexa, who was smiling and laughing and seemingly joking around with the five little girls who were all hanging off of Lexa as she tried to walk across the field.
And the sight of Lexa staggering across the field, one of the girls on her back with another latched onto her front, and the other three walking as close as possible to the soccer player, had Clarke swooning.
Her smile turned to a frown as she watched one of the little girls trip and fall, and she quickly reached down to grab her medical kit. Ignoring Raven’s question, she walked quickly to where Lexa was crouched down in front of the little girl.
And then Clarke was swooning again, because she had just met the little Tribe of Five she had heard so much about, and they were as adorable as their parents had made them out to be.
Lexa had smiled at Clarke the entire time she was interacting with the kids, and it wasn’t the usual forced, strained, rotten yogurt-eating smile either. It was a genuine one, the same one she saw on Lexa’s face when she was with her teammates.
“I’ll see you later,” Lexa had said, and it had sort of felt like a promise.