Getting to know you
“The Commander is here!”
Clarke looked up from her task where she was putting the fish in a pan on the stove. The three friends had been in the kitchen where Octavia and Raven were having a mini food fight with marshmallows (guys, why are the marshmallows even out, Clarke had complained after being hit numerous times in the forehead while trying to cook, and the only reply was more being thrown at her) when the doorbell rang. Raven had opted to get the door and Clarke smiled at Raven’s announcement.
“Hi Lexa!” Octavia chirped happily, hopping off from where she was sitting on the counter and scooping Lexa into a hug.
“Ooomph,” Lexa grunted. “Hello.”
Clarke noted the mild look of discomfort on Lexa’s face—she realized that Lexa was one of those people who had to get used to physical contact from new people. It wasn’t that she was uncomfortable with Octavia, but it seems like she kept people at arms distance until she really got to know them. Clarke really hoped tonight’s dinner would get them all one step closer to getting to know the real Lexa Woods.
“Commander brought booze,” Raven said happily, holding up a pack of beer.
“I didn’t know—I mean, because tacos, I assumed beer was ok but if you would rather—”
“Beer is fine, Lexa,” Clarke interrupted, smiling at the light blush that dusted Lexa’s cheeks. She wiped her hands on a towel and walked closer to where Lexa was standing. “Hey,” she said, grinning at the soccer player before pulling her into a hug.
“Hey—hi,” Lexa said, clearing her throat. Clarke felt Lexa’s arms come up and wrap around her, and she smiled again. “Hello.”
Clarke released Lexa, and stepped back over to the stove, putting more fish in the pan.
“I hope you’re hungry. I made extra because Octavia usually eats a lot on training days so I figured you do too?” Clarke commented, humming lightly.
Lexa nodded, taking a seat at the breakfast bar next to Raven. She took a deep breath, remembering to relax—this was just a hangout between friends. “I’ve heard lots of good things about these infamous fish tacos,” she said. “I’m kind of expecting them to be life-changing, to be honest.”
“They are,” Raven said, nodding.
“Best fish tacos you’ll ever have,” Octavia added.
“Aww, shucks. You two,” Clarke cooed exaggeratedly. “The secret is in the sauce.” She turned her head slightly to look at Lexa as she flipped the fish in the pan. “It’s my dad’s recipe. They’re O’s favorite, and she got to pick the menu for tonight since it’s a celebration!”
“What are we celebrating?” Lexa asked.
“You and O doing well during the first leg of the victory tour,” Clarke said, smiling.
“We’ve had these for almost every special occasion,” Octavia chimed in. “They’re the best.”
“Do you need any help?” Lexa asked, rolling up the sleeves of her flannel.
Clarke shook her head and smiled again. “No thanks, I’m almost done. You can sit with Raven if you want—I’ll open up a beer for you.”
“I was banned from the kitchen,” Raven informed Lexa as she sat down on the stool next to the other girl.
“But I thought you made waffles this morning?” Lexa asked, intrigued.
Raven nodded her head. “Yeah, but I’m not allowed to use the stove top because of one teeny, tiny incident.”
“Can you blame us? You set it on fire, Raven,” Clarke replied, pulling things out of the fridge and placing them on the counter.
“That was one time,” Raven argued. “And I wasn’t even cooking.”
“What was one of the only rules we had in our apartment, Raven?” Octavia asked.
Raven mumbled something unintelligible, taking a sip from her beer.
Octavia cleared her throat and continued to stare at Raven. “What was that, Reyes?”
Raven gave a loud sigh and put her drink back on the table. “Not to use the kitchen for my experiments.”
“And what were you doing when the kitchen exploded?”
“Ok, the kitchen didn’t explode exactly,” Raven said. “It was only the stove top.”
“And the microwave,” Clarke chimed in, cutting up some lime.
“I still don’t think that earned me a lifelong ban from the kitchen,” Raven argued.
“We are not having this argument again,” Clarke said.
Raven scowled. “It’s been two years. I think we should lift the ban,” she said.
“I don’t know why you care, you can’t even cook,” Octavia chimed in.
“I can make waffles!” Raven exclaimed. She turned to Lexa and nodded her head seriously. “I can make waffles.”
“Rae, we let you use the stovetop as long as you have supervision,” Clarke said calmly, throwing a few tortillas onto the open flames.
“Look, it’s not my fault the kitchen exploded,” Raven explained. “This goes back to a very traumatizing cooking experience that has left me scarred for life, and thus unable to properly work the appliances.”
“What happened?” Lexa asked, finding herself smiling at the banter between the three friends. The dynamic between the three was entertaining for sure—their relationship was so fluid and easy, and Lexa had never really witnessed anything like it before. It was also slightly intimidating at first, but after learning more of their history together, found it made a lot of sense.
“Ahh, very good question, my dear Commander,” Raven said solemnly, standing up and grabbing her cane. “The year,” she continued loudly, making Lexa startle in her seat a bit, “was 2012. I, a young, impressionable genius at the age of—”
“Raven, be quiet,” Octavia cut in. “Lexa doesn’t want to hear your made up story. We all know what really happened.”
Clarke turned to Lexa from where she was standing at the stove, stirring something in a pot. “Raven tried to recreate the sauce I’m making right now and she put too many peppers in it,” she explained. “We came home to her chugging milk and screaming her head off.”
“It’s not as simple as that!” Raven exclaimed, crossing her arms. “Besides, Lexa wants to hear the story. Don’t you, Lexa?”
The three friends turned and stared at Lexa, who fidgeted under the intense scrutiny. She wasn’t sure what they wanted her to say as the silence stretched on.
“Well…it sort of seems like you wanna taco ‘bout it?”
More silence.
Lexa blinked.
And then grimaced.
Probably not expecting her to say that.
Lexa jumped in her seat as the kitchen was suddenly filled with Octavia and Raven’s laughter, while Clarke groaned loudly.
“Did you just make a taco pun?” Octavia asked incredulously.
Lexa gave a sheepish grin and took a long drink from her beer, shrugging her shoulders.
“I love that,” Raven said, grinning.
Lexa grinned, taking another small sip of her drink as she made a mental note to rub it in Anya’s face later that her pun successfully filled a silence with laughter for once.
She so totally got this.
* *
“So then what happened?”
Clarke leaned forward, fully immersed in the story Lexa was telling. The four of them were sitting at the dining room table, all of the food having been consumed. Raven had asked Lexa what her most embarrassing moment of her professional career had been so far, and to Clarke’s surprise, Lexa had actually grinned and began to tell a story.
“I said, these are not the droids you are looking for, and hightailed it out of there,” Lexa finished, crossing her arms and leaning back in the chair as the table erupted in laughter.
“Oh my god,” Clarke said through her laughter. “I bet they didn’t expect that.”
Lexa shrugged, and Clarke smiled at the bashful look on the soccer player’s face, as if she hadn’t expected the genuine laughter from telling her story.
“That’s probably why I was able to get away,” Lexa said. “Stunned them enough to freeze. So in a way, my jedi mind trick worked.”
Octavia shook her head, chuckling. “Of course you’re as big of a Star Wars nerd as Clarke and Raven.”
“Excuse me, need I remind you that you’re the one who went to Costco to buy us some paper towels and came back with the entire master set collection of Star Wars?” Raven asked, looking at her friend.
“It came with a light saber!” Octavia exclaimed.
Clarke shook her head and Lexa chuckled, watching the pair go back and forth.
“No way Griff, we got this,” Raven said as she diverted her attention away from her current argument with Octavia to see that Clarke had grabbed her plate and cup.
“You cook, we clean,” Octavia added. “And since you’re a guest or whatever, I guess you can just sit her with Clarke.”
“But the next time you’re over your guest status if officially over,” Raven chimed in, collecting Lexa’s plate. “So you can either cook or clean.”
Lexa grinned, nodding her head. She couldn’t remember the last time she had been so readily and easily accepted (well actually, she absolutely could—it was the first time she had been called up to the senior national team and was introduced to the people she would come to know as her best friends). She could hear Octavia and Raven continuing their argument in the kitchen and as she watched Clarke take a drink from the beer in front of her, she felt something in her chest—it felt like this was a turning point in her life, the start of something new.
“So, how has your break been?” Clarke asked.
Clarke’s question had Lexa realizing that this is the first time she and the doctor had been alone together since their encounter in Clarke’s office when Lexa had sort of asked her on a vague coffee date.
“It’s been really good,” Lexa said. “It’s always nice to go home after being away for a long time.”
Clarke nodded her head. “I know what you mean. I didn’t even realize how much I missed my mom and Mama B until I came home,” she said. “How’s living at your grandparents?”
Lexa smiled, thinking about the eccentric people that her grandparents were. “It’s good—their house is one of my favorite places in the world,” she answered.
“Your grandma seems really interesting,” Clarke said. “She asked me the best way to give someone a dead leg.”
“Oh god,” Lexa said, covering her face with her hands. “She’s been taking a self-defense class.”
Clarke laughed, and Lexa took note of the doctor’s blue eyes shining.
“Do you want to get coffee with me tomorrow?” Lexa blurted out, and immediately winced.
That was so not smooth.
“I mean, would you like to—you know, because we talked about it before but I forgot to get your number, and I didn’t mean to just ask you out of the blue—”
“I would really like to,” Clarke cut in, interrupting Lexa’s rambling.
“—have to say yes—wait, what?”
Clarke grinned, and Lexa felt her heart beating faster. She really couldn’t wait to get to know this girl. After vocalizing her openness to get to know Clarke and allowing this crush to turn into actually having feelings for the doctor, it’s as if a weight has been lifted off of her shoulders. Clarke was nice, she knew that from what little time she had already spent with the doctor, and she was interesting too. And if her friends were any indication, it meant Clarke had a good sense of humor too—Anya was always telling Lexa that she needed to be with someone who reminded her of her funny side (because she was a dork, she could fully admit that, but sometimes she got so lost in the seriousness that was required to be the Commander that she forgot to just step back and enjoy the incredible journey she was on, and sometimes just laughing with her friends was the thing she needed to remind her of that). Watching Clarke talk, having a simple conversation with her—Lexa couldn’t wait to get to know Clarke better.
“Here,” Clarke said, and reached across the table to pluck Lexa’s phone out of the pocket of her flannel. Lexa watched with a fond smile on her face as Clarke typed something into Lexa’s phone, tongue sticking out slightly in concentration.
Was there anything this girl did that wasn’t ridiculously cute?
“Now you have my number,” Clarke said, leaning over again and placing Lexa’s phone back in her pocket (and jesus christ, this girl smelled great too, and it’s no wonder Lexa was continuously flustered around the doctor—she really couldn’t be blamed by her abnormal behavior because anyone could get caught up in the essence that was Clarke Griffin). “Shoot me a text tomorrow to let me know when and where.”
Lexa nodded, finding that she had trouble talking as she looked down at the new contact in her phone.
Clarke Griffin.
If Lexa wasn’t sitting across the table from her current crush, she would most definitely be doing a fist pump right now.
“Yo nerds! Get in here!” Raven’s voice sounded out around the corner, and Clarke shrugged at Lexa before standing up, leading the way into the living room.
Octavia and Raven were sitting on the couch, controllers in hand and two more sitting on the coffee table in front.
“Any good at Mario Kart, Commander?” Raven asked, picking up the third controller and offering it to Lexa.
Lexa quirked an eyebrow and sat down next to Raven, Clarke plopping down on top of Octavia’s lap, ignoring the other girl’s protest.
“I’m alright…” Lexa began, her competitive spirit beginning to emerge as Clarke got comfortable, her top half resting on Octavia’s lap while her legs stretched across Raven’s. “If you call alright being the current holder of the Crown of Glory.”
“Crown of Glory?” Clarke asked, navigating the screen to pick her player.
“It’s a national team thing,” Lexa said. “Very competitive Mario Kart tournament. You’ll probably hear about it in a few weeks.”
“Well then it’s on like Donkey Kong,” Octavia said, grinning.
Lexa grinned back before turning her attention back to the screen. Being surrounded by new friends (and Clarke, especially Clarke, who Lexa found cussed like a sailor during video games), Lexa felt something shift—the promise of something new, something bigger than just the possibility of her first serious crush—it was the beginning of new friendships.
* *
“So you got her number?”
Lexa grunted, concentrating on lifting the bar she was currently bench pressing. “Yes Lincoln, for the third time, I actually got her number.”
Lexa and Lincoln were at the gym, the two cousins doing their normal weight routine they did whenever Lexa was in town. Lincoln was currently spotting for Lexa, asking her more about Clarke.
“I’m just making sure,” Lincoln said, hovering as Lexa finished her last rep and put the bar back in its place. He busied himself with taking the weights off of one side while Lexa took the other. “I mean, it’s been a really long time since you’ve even asked a girl for their number. But I’m happy for you!”
“Yeah, yeah,” Lexa said, wiping her face off with her towel. “You and Anya act like I’ve never talked to a pretty girl before.”
“…”
“Ok, but you two could be a little more subtle about the fact that I haven’t really,” she grumbled.
Lincoln laughed, reaching for his water bottle as Lexa smiled at the sound. Besides Anya, Lincoln was Lexa’s favorite cousin—the three of them had grown up together, and he was always willing to act as Lexa’s workout partner, whether it was fetching ball after ball for her while she worked on her crosses or waking up early and timing her as she worked on her agility, Lincoln was always there to help. He was also one of her biggest supporters. When she had first gotten called up to the senior national team, he made sure to attend every single game he could, and when he couldn’t, made sure to call her before and after every game to wish her luck or let her know that he was proud of her.
“So how is training for the Olympics going, anyways?” he asked. “How are the new call ups?”
“Actually, there’s this one girl that I really think has a shot to make the roster,” Lexa answered. “Octavia Blake—she’s a hard worker, and I think she can be a game changer. Play sort of an energizing role.” She slung the towel over her shoulder as the two of them moved over to the dumbbells. “She’s got a really powerful kick. And from what I’ve seen so far, she can finish. I’ve been training with her during the break.”
“She’s from here?” Lincoln asked, picking up two of the dumbbells and starting his reps.
“Yeah, her and Clarke and Raven. They’re all best friends,” Lexa said. “They grew up here and when I told her I was coming here for break they decided to come back for awhile so Octavia could work out with me. Actually, she’s supposed to be meeting us in about—”
“Hey Lexa!”
Lexa turned to face a smiling Octavia, wearing workout clothes and a bag slung around her shoulders.
“Hey O,” Lexa said, and noticed Octavia smile wider at the use of her nickname. “This is my cousin Lincoln,” she continued, gesturing to her cousin.
“Hi,” Octavia said, giving a small wave.
“Uhh, hi! Hi,” Lincoln said, his voice sounding rushed. “Hi! I umm—it’s nice to meet you!” he continued, and Lexa watched in horror as Lincoln put his hand out to offer to Octavia.
Which wouldn’t normally be an issue, if he hadn’t completely just dropped the dumbbell he was holding in his haste.
Right onto his foot.
“Ahh! Mother fu—”
“Oh my god! Are you ok?” Octavia asked, rushing closer and picking up the dumbbell, putting it back on the rack.
“What the hell, Lincoln?” Lexa asked, guiding him to one of the benches. “What were you thinking?”
“I’m fine, it’s fine,” he said, waving his hand. “I’m fine, really.”
Lexa gave him a pointed look, and he grimaced. “I mean, my foot really, really hurts,” he continued. “But otherwise, I’m fine.”
“I think we should take you to the hospital,” Lexa said. “You could have broken something.” She turned to Octavia, who had a worried look on her face. “Sorry, O. I have to—” she said, gesturing to Lincoln.
“Oh, no—I totally understand!” Octavia said. “Actually, let me drive you guys. Mama G is working at the hospital today. I’ll text her on the way and let her know we’re coming.”
“You don’t have to—” Lincoln began to say, but was cut off by another look by Lexa.
Octavia waved her hand. “No worries. I’ll go get my car and pull it up in front,” she said, before turning and heading back the way she came.
“This really isn’t necessary, Lexa,” Lincoln whined.
“Shut up,” Lexa said. “You don’t get to talk. You literally saw a pretty girl and dropped a weight on your foot.”
“You high fived your crush when she tried to shake your hand,” Lincoln countered.
“I—”
Lexa was cut off as her phone in her pocket started to ring, and she reached into her pocket, rolling her eyes when she saw who it was.
“Hi Anya,” Lexa sighed, answering the phone.
“Don’t tell her what happened,” Lincoln whispered.
“Lincoln dropped a weight on his foot because he met a pretty girl,” Lexa said, snickering.
Lincoln groaned, covering his face with his hand.
“It was Octavia,” Lexa continued. “No, that’s not—ok, I’m hanging up now. I’ll call you later.”
“What did she say?” Lincoln asked. Lexa helped Lincoln stand up, letting him lean his weight on her as she picked up her bag and they headed towards the exit.
“That she was the only cousin who had any game,” Lexa grumbled. “I am never living that high five down.”
Lincoln laughed as they went through the door, Octavia standing next to a black jeep waiting for them. The two soccer players helped Lincoln into the back seat before Lexa went to the passenger’s side while Octavia hopped into the driver’s seat, putting on her seatbelt.
“So,” Octavia said, smiling as she started the car. “Not how I imagined you’d be meeting Mama G, but let’s get going anyways.”
* *
“Clarke! Finally decided to transfer to the best hospital in the world?”
Clarke turned, smiling as she spotted the speaker. Marcus Kane, Chief of Pediatric Surgery, returned the smile and held his arms open as Clarke laughed, launching herself at her mom’s old friend and her surrogate uncle.
“Hi Kane,” she said, grinning as she hugged him.
“Clarke,” he said, hugging her just as tightly. “How are you?”
Clarke released her hold and took a step back, still grinning. “Really great,” she answered. “I’m on break from the victory tour right now and thought I should spend some time at home.”
Kane smiled, giving her a one armed hug as the two walked down the hall. “So, when are you going to transfer from DC back here, huh?” he asked. “You know that there’s a spot here for you.”
Clarke shook her head, chuckling. “I’ve still got a year of residency left,” she said. “And I have to actually pass my boards. Plus I haven’t even decided which specialty I want to go into.”
“Oh Clarke, you’re breaking my heart,” he said exaggeratedly. “I thought we agreed that you would be my protégée and take over the pediatric wing when I retire!”
“We made that plan when I was eleven, Kane,” Clarke said, rolling her eyes.
“We have a binding contract, Clarke!”
“It was a pinky promise.”
“Still binding!”
“What are you two bickering about now?” Abby asked as the two approached the front desk. She was standing with her lab coat on, chart in her hand.
“Just wondering when she’s finally going to transfer here,” Kane said as Clarke rolled her eyes again.
Abby just chuckled, shaking her head. “I’ve been trying for years, Marcus. Just won’t budge,” she said, pulling Clarke into her side. “So stubborn, this one.”
“Yeah, I wonder where she gets it from,” Kane teased, grabbing a chart. “I expect to have lunch or dinner before you leave town to hang out with all those superstar soccer players, yes?”
Clarke grinned again, nodding her head. “Promise.”
“Pinky promise?”
“Don’t you have a consult to get to?”
Kane just laughed before waving and heading down the hallway.
“So what brings you by, hun?” Abby asked, signing something before putting the folder back in its place.
“Just wanted to see if you had time to grab lunch?” Clarke asked.
“I would love to, but I’m swamped today,” Abby responded. “But I’ll be home for dinner and we can order a pizza from Blondie’s? TLC marathon?”
“Our favorite,” Clarke said, grinning. “Sounds good to me.”
“Well, if you wanted to hang out for awhile, I—oh, hold on,” Abby said, taking her phone of her pocket. “Huh. It’s Octavia. She said her friend is injured and she’s bringing them in to get looked at?” She looked down at her pager going off. “Oh shoot, I have a consult. Can you…?”
“Yeah! I can handle Octavia’s friend,” Clarke said. “Do I have privileges here?”
“Well, as the Chief of Surgery, I can grant you privileges,” Abby said, grinning. “There’s an extra set of scrubs and a lab coat in the closet in my office, Dr. Griffin.”
“Thanks, Dr. Griffin,” Clarke said, chuckling. Abby laughed before giving Clarke a quick hug, and the two went their separate ways.
Clarke hummed as she headed down the hall, going up the steps until she reached her mother’s office. She swung the door open, noting with pride the Chief of Surgery nameplate on the door. She scanned the pictures that took residence around her mom’s office, seeing pictures of just her, pictures of both of them, and pictures of Octavia, Raven and Clarke as well. Reaching the closet, she grabbed the scrubs that were her size, making a mental note to ask her mom exactly why she had scrubs that were exactly Clarke’s size in her closet (and she knew it was because Abby was still hopeful that Clarke would one day join her at the hospital in Seattle). She took the lab coat off the hanger and put it on, rolling the sleeves up to her elbows before tucking her phone in her pocket. She tied her hair into a ponytail with the hair tie around her wrist before exiting her mom’s office, closing the door behind her. She walked back down the steps, heading down the hallway to the waiting area for general patients.
“O?” she asked, spotting her friend standing at the front desk.
“Dr. Griffin,” Octavia said, grinning. “Thought I texted the older Dr. G.”
“She’s busy, so you’re stuck with me,” Clarke responded. “Also, we’re doing Blondie’s for dinner tonight.”
“Yesss,” Octavia said, fist pumping.
“So, what’s up?” Clarke asked.
Octavia turned and Clarke followed her to where a familiar figure was sitting in one of the waiting room chairs.
“Lexa? Are you ok? What happened?” Clarke asked quickly, scanning the soccer player form head to toe in an attempt to figure out what was wrong.
“Clarke! Hi,” Lexa said, standing up abruptly. “I umm—I was expecting your mom.”
Clarke stepped closer, putting her hands on Lexa’s shoulders, sliding them down the soccer player’s arms and back up to her neck, tilting Lexa’s head a bit to the side. “Everything feels normal, is it something internally?” Clarke asked. “I can run a full diagnostic and—”
Octavia cleared her throat loudly, making Clarke pause in her actions. Her eyes widened as she realized that her hands were currently placed on Lexa’s neck. She quickly took a step back as Lexa let out a cough, fidgeting with her shirt.
“Lexa’s not the patient, Dr. Griffin,” Octavia said, smirking. “Lincoln here is.”
Clarke turned her head to see a large man sitting in the chair next to where Lexa had been sitting, and he too had a smirk on his face, offering her a small wave.
“Clarke, this is Lincoln, my cousin,” Lexa said, rubbing the back of her neck with her hand. “He dropped a weight on his foot.”
“Oh! Oh, ok. Great. I mean, not great, obviously, I just meant—” Clarke rambled, something that was new to her. She felt a bit flustered, and readjusted the sleeves of her lab coat, securing them around her elbows. “Let me just—hey, Harper?” she asked, catching the attention of one of the nurses on the floor. “Do you think you can bring me a wheelchair for Lincoln and set him up in whichever bed is open?”
Harper nodded her head, throwing Clarke a thumbs up. “Will do, Dr. Griffin. Nice to see you back here, by the way,” she said, before disappearing through another door to grab a wheelchair. She came back with one, and Clarke and Harper helped Lincoln settle into it before wheeling the chair to an open bed, Lexa and Octavia trailing behind them.
“So, dropped a weight on your foot, huh?” Clarke asked, examining Lincoln’s foot.
“Yeah, I uhh—” Lincoln began, clearing his throat. “I got distracted.”
“He tried to give Octavia a hand shake and instead of putting the weight down like a normal person, he just dropped it,” Lexa said, rolling her eyes. “Directly on his foot.”
“What is it with your family and handshakes?” Clarke teased, taking note of the way Lexa’s ears turned a faint shade of red.
She hummed a bit, continuing with her examination while she asked Lincoln a few questions, Lexa and Octavia talking quietly behind her.
“I believe you have a stress fracture,” Clarke said, taking her gloves off. “I’m going to send you with Harper to get an x-ray just to be sure, but I’m pretty positive that’s what it is.”
Lexa and Octavia stepped closer to the bed, helping Lincoln back in his wheelchair while Clarke left to find Harper.
“So, Clarke’s cute,” Lincoln said, poking Lexa in the stomach lightly.
“Shut up,” Lexa hissed, conscious of Octavia standing right next to them. The last thing she wanted was Clarke’s best friend to know about her major crush on the blonde doctor.
The two cousins turned to Octavia, who shrugged. “I mean, Clarke is cute,” she said. “And also the best person in the world, so.”
Lincoln and Lexa chuckled, and the curtain was pulled back once more. Harper stepped behind Lincoln, wheeling him away, leaving Octavia and Lexa to wait.
“You should take Clarke out for coffee after this,” Octavia said, breaking the silence.
“Huh?” Lexa startled.
“Coffee. You and Clarke,” Octavia repeated. “She told me you two were trying to set something up for today. You should go after she’s done here.”
“Isn’t she working the rest of the day?”
“Nah, she just came in to visit her mom,” Octavia answered. “But Mama G keeps an extra set of scrubs on hand for Clarke. She thinks it’ll help convince Clarke to transfer here. Sort of show her that she already has a place here, kind of thing.” She shook her head, chuckling. “Anyways, you should ask her. She’s really been looking forward to your coffee date.”
“She has?” Lexa asked hopefully.
“Yup,” Octavia confirmed. “She’s been—”
“Ok!” a voice said, cutting off whatever Octavia was going to say. The curtain opened again, and Clarke was pushing Lincoln in the wheelchair this time, a large folder tucked under her arm. “So, I took a look at the x-rays and as suspected, it’s a stress fracture. Make sure you wear this boot for at least six weeks,” she said, gesturing to the new boot Lincoln had on his foot.
“Thanks so much, Dr. Griffin,” Lincoln said, standing up.
“Clarke,” she said, smiling. “Call me Clarke.”
“Clarke. Right. Thanks so much, Clarke,” Lincoln said. He turned to Lexa. “Are you…?”
“I can take you home, Lincoln,” Octavia cut in, smiling. “Lexa, why don’t you catch a ride with Clarke?” And without waiting for a response, Octavia was gone, dragging Lincoln along with her.
Lexa stared at Clarke, who was putting the x-rays back in the folder.
“I, umm…” Lexa started.
“Hmm?” Clarke asked, turning to face her. “What was that?”
“I was wondering…umm, if you aren’t busy right now, maybe we can get that coffee we talked about?” Lexa asked, tapping her fingers against her thigh.
Lexa took note of Clarke’s growing smile, and the familiar twinkle of the doctor’s blue eyes.
“Let me just change, and I’ll meet you at the entrance?” Clarke asked. “There’s a nice place around the corner.”
Lexa smiled, feeling the butterflies in her stomach return. “Really? Ok, awesome. Great. I’ll just—” she took a deep breath, remembering to keep her cool. “I’ll wait for you outside then.”
“Great,” Clarke said, backing away slowly. “I’m gonna go—do that, then.”
Lexa nodded, watching as Clarke walked down the hall until the blonde doctor disappeared around the corner.
“Yes!” Lexa exclaimed, doing a fist pump.
“Excuse me?” a voice asked next to her, and she turned to see a few teenagers standing next to her.
Lexa cleared her throat, straightening her shirt. “Yes?”
“Oh my god, you are Lexa Woods. Do you think we can get an autograph?” one of the teenagers asked excitedly, a smile on each of their faces.
Lexa nodded her head, reaching for the offered pen as she willed her cheeks to cool down, slightly embarrassed that fans caught her fist pumping and celebrating to herself. But then she remembered that she had a coffee date with Clarke in a few minutes, and a smile found its way onto her face once more.
* *
“So what made you want to be a soccer player?”
Lexa smiled at the question, taking a sip of her mocha before leaning back in her seat, the two of them sitting at a table tucked into the corner of the coffee shop. So far, Lexa found that after she relaxed around Clarke, the two of them had a natural banter—there wasn’t ever an awkward lull in the conversation. Lexa found once again that she was amazed at how comfortable she felt around Clarke, and she found herself smiling at practically everything the blonde doctor was saying as their conversation continued.
So far, Lexa had found out that Octavia and Raven are Clarke’s favorite people in the world (and Lexa couldn’t help but admire the genuine love and affection that tinged Clarke’s voice as she talked about her best friends), that she preferred milk chocolate over dark (and preferred was putting it lightly, because Clarke actually went on a mini rant for a full minute before noticing that Lexa was staring at her with a smile, causing Clarke to blush a bit and mumble out an apology which Lexa found ridiculously cute), that Leslie Knope was her idol (which led Lexa to confess that she never finished watching Parks and Recs because she just didn’t have the time, which then led to Clarke demanding that the next time Lexa has some free time the two of them were going to binge it on Netflix), and that Clarke was overall, an amazing person (this was Lexa’s opinion, but she was sure anybody else who had a conversation with Clarke for any amount of time would come to the same conclusion).
“Honestly? It wasn’t really one thing,” Lexa answered. “It was more about realizing that soccer made me happier than I’ve ever been.” She paused, taking another sip of her drink. “But there was this one moment…when I realized that if I could do this—soccer—for real, as my job, then maybe I could be happy forever.”
Clarke leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table. “Can I ask what the moment was?”
Lexa leaned forward too, smiling slightly. “My dad, he’s a dentist,” she said. “He’s been a dentist for over 25 years now, and he’s still going to classes, keeping up to date with new techniques, teaching lectures. And he absolutely loves it.” She chuckled lightly. “Which sounds horrible to me, because honestly—dentistry? But he really does love it. He works hard, and I know he has his rough days, because its still work—but, he really enjoys what he does. He’s happy.”
“That’s really nice,” Clarke commented, taking a sip of her drink.
Lexa nodded her head, continuing. “My mom is a professor. She teaches sociology, and she’s still doing research, and publishing work, and continuing to learn new things about the subject. She loves it,” she said, thinking of her mom and grinning. “All of that school work…I couldn’t even imagine, but she absolutely loves to learn and share what she learns.”
“Your parents sound like passionate people,” Clarke said.
“They are. They love what they do,” Lexa said. “Anyways, when I was like ten or eleven, I stepped onto the field and never looked back. Soccer—there was something so freeing about playing, so satisfying. I didn’t get serious about soccer until maybe a few years after that, when I started getting looks from Olympic development programs and different club coaches.” She fiddled with the lid of her cup, pausing for a second. “My parents thought it would be overwhelming, you know. I was only a teenager, and soccer was slowly taking over my life. They were worried that I would start seeing soccer as something I had to do rather than something I wanted to do. But when I scored my first goal for my first serious club team—they sat me down after the game, and told me they saw so much joy on my face. They had never seen anything like it—the passion, the work ethic, from a kid my age. They said they knew because they felt the same way about their own work.” She smiled, thinking about her parents. “And that’s when I got it in my head that if I loved soccer as much as my parents love their professions, then why couldn’t my passion become my work too?”
“That’s really nice,” Clarke said, placing her hand on top of Lexa’s that was resting on the table. She removed her hand, and Lexa could still feel her skin tingling from where Clarke’s hand had covered hers. “Being around you, your team—it’s just really refreshing to see people so passionate about what they do.”
Lexa shrugged, suddenly feeling a bit bashful. Usually when journalists asked her what made her want to be a soccer player, she told them a shortened version of what she just told Clarke. Her thoughts felt a little too private to share with the rest of the world, but with Clarke, she couldn’t help but want to tell the doctor everything.
“Did you always want to be a doctor?” Lexa asked, switching the focus back to Clarke.
“I wanted to be an artist,” Clarke answered, and Lexa was slightly taken aback by how immediately the doctor answered.
“So then…?”
“I wanted to be an artist up until my senior year of high school,” Clarke continued. “And then Raven had her accident, and had to have major surgery on her leg. I visited her at the hospital everyday, and Octavia visited every night after soccer practice was over.” She shook her head, remembering the summer that changed Raven’s life forever. “And when she started physical therapy, I went with her everyday to that too. And sometimes there were hard days—tough days.” She smiled slightly as she thought about her friend’s resilience. “But she got through it, and spending all that time at the hospital with her—that’s when I realized that I wanted to do what my mom does. I wanted to help people through medicine—someone helped put Raven’s leg back together again, and I wanted to give that to people too. So, I switched gears, applied pre-med to Cal, and a year later Raven, Octavia and I were on our way to Berkeley, all of us doing what we were passionate about.”
“That’s great,” Lexa said, in awe of the girl in front of her. Clarke became a doctor because she genuinely wanted to help people. “I saw some of your artwork, you know.”
“How…? Oh, Raven, right?” Clarke asked, laughing. “She loves to show people.”
“It was really good,” Lexa added. “I think Tobin might of actually bought one of your pieces for Alex.”
Clarke laughed again, and Lexa thought she could probably listen to that laugh for a really long time and never get tired of it.
“I’m glad we did this,” Clarke said. “Getting to know you has been really nice.”
“Do you want to go to dinner with me?” Lexa asked in return.
She hadn’t planned on asking Clarke out on an actual date so soon, but there was just something about the doctor. She couldn’t help but be drawn to Clarke, and she found herself wanting to spend more time with her.
Clarke blinked, obviously surprised. “I—yes,” she answered.
Lexa felt her smile grown on her face, and she was sure her eyes were shining. “Great! That’s great,” she said. “I...umm—well, I know we’re leaving for Portland in a few days for the game against China…but maybe when we get back we could set something up?”
“I would really like that,” Clarke said, smiling at the soccer player.
“Great,” Lexa said again, covering her face with her hand. “Oh my—I know more words than just great, by the way,” she said through her fingers.
Clarke just laughed, and Lexa couldn’t help but smile again.
“Well I look forward to learning about your expansive vocabulary at dinner,” Clarke said, giggling.
Lexa had to resist the urge to do a fist pump right there.