Discover Top Posts Tagged with #kai-jean

Here’s a oneshot based of a prompt by @kai-jean:

How about Clarke and lexa have been working together at the local theater for over a year, and as Lexa is making her usual shadow puppets battle it out on the projector screen before the next movie, Clarke can’t help he warmth she feels when she’s with this adorable dork.

So here it is! I made a few changes but the idea is still her’s!! (And she made the moodboard too!!

It wasn’t such a bad place to work. Not really. When Clarke really thought about it, she’d much rather work at the old theater than at the sports bar down the street like Octavia or at Sinclair’s Garage with Raven.

At the theater, she got to snack on free popcorn, as long as Anya wasn’t around to see her, and she had access to Icee’s too. Taking tickets and handing out snacks was not a hard way to spend her afternoons.

Not to mention working for the Woods cousins, Anya and Lexa, was awesome because they weren’t, like, full on adults. Anya was 19 and a freshman at the University of Polis while Lexa was 18 and an incoming senior at the fancy, and terrible expensive, Polis Academy on the other side of the city. They’d inherited the theater from their grandfather a month or so before Clarke started working there.

Most of the time, Clarke saw Anya around the building, fixing things and painting walls. Lexa was harder to find. She spent most of her time in the projector room if she was in the theater. Her grandfather

So yeah. All in all, not a bad job. It paid the few bills Clarke actually had to worry about.

On a slow Thursday afternoon Clarke found herself spinning her stool in circles. Oh! That was a bonus of working at the theater too. She didn’t have to stand all day!

She was sucking on a cherry icee, one she’d had to pay for because Anya had been in the lobby and glaring at her when she’d poured it, and waiting for the evening rush to start.

The theater may have been over 100 years old but it was still immaculately decorated and clean. Not to mention they still used the old projectors, something the patrons all seemed to love. Every Thursday they would play a double feature of two classic movies and every Thursday, the four screening rooms would be sold out.

“You better get ready, Princess. We’re showing the first two Indiana Jones movies tonight,” Anya said, her voice flitting across the lobby from her open office door. There was a soft creak and then she was standing in the opening. “Make sure we have fresh popcorn. Start the popper at –”

“5:30 so it will just be popping when the crowd starts to roll in,” Clarke finished with an eye roll. “I know Anya. I’ve been here for like 6 months. I know the drill.”

Anya’s brow arched. “You’re so lucky someone around here likes you, Griffin. I certainly could do without your attitude.”

“I love you too, Anya!” Clarke replied.

**************************************************

She’d started the popcorn right on time. She’d served snacks and drinks to hundreds of people, with a little help from Anya.

Now came Clarke’s favorite time of the night.

For the last few months, when she’s gone into the theaters to clean up, if she was alone, someone would flip on the projector and shadow puppets would dance their way across the screen. She had no idea who was making the puppets, only a few people worked the projectors.

There was Lexa, of course, but she’d hardly ever said more than a handful of words to Clarke at one time. There was Niylah, but she usually wandered down from the projector room to blatantly flirt with Clarke any chance she got. And there was Drew, a boy who went to school with Clarke, undoubtedly a nice guy but he turned into a tomato every single time Clarke spoke to him.

Having given up on figuring out the mystery, Clarke headed into screen three and started sweeping up. It wouldn’t take long, the patrons were polite enough to not make huge messes.

She’d been in there less than a minute before the screen lit up and the first of the shadows appeared.

“Hello, Fluffy,” Clarke whispered, her eyes dancing with merriment at the site of the dog.

As Clarke sank into one of the chairs, she smiled up at the screen.

There never seemed to be a story to shadows.

The wolf would come and go, there was the butterfly, and there’s the elephant. Soon the bear and then the eagle would be there.

She’d sit back and watch the shadows play and wait for them to disappear into the screen when the light was turned off. Then she’d stand and finish cleaning.

By the time she returned to the lobby, she was ready to head home.

“Clarke!”

She lifted her head to find her best friend, Raven, standing at the counter. On the other side, Anya was leaning against the counter.

“What’s up, Rae?” Clarke asked, warily watching her friend and her boss.

“Just came by to see if you got a show tonight.” Raven shrugged. She turned back to Anya and winked. “And to offer your sexy boss a show tonight too.”

“Gross,” Clarke muttered, opened the supply closet to stash her broom and dustpan.

Raven was leaning far over the counter now, her face close to Anya’s, and batting her lashes. “How about it?”

“Go away, Raven.” Anya replied.

“Now, now,” A new voice joined the conversation. Lexa closed the door to the projector room stairs behind her and moved to the lobby. “Is that anyway to talk to your loving girlfriend, Anya?”

“It is when she’d being inappropriate in my place of work.” Anya responded stiffly.

Raven moved behind the counter and stood before her. She looped her arms around Anya’s neck and kissed her cheek. “You already locked the door, babe. And you won this place. Don’t be so serious.”

Anya could only sigh. “Lexa, why don’t you and Clarke head out? I’ll finish closing and then make sure this one gets home okay.”

**************************************************

A week later, Clarke found herself alone with Lexa for the first time ever. Drew and Niylah had both called in and claimed to be sick. Anya was out at some anniversary dinner with Raven.

So it was just the two of them.

Thankfully it was a Sunday evening so they knew it’d be slow. No overwhelming crowds to serve.

Clarke’s head was buried in a large box in the stock room. She was trying to pull all the peanut M&M’s should could carry out of the box to restock the candy display cases in fewer trips. The doors to the theater were opening in half an hour and she wasn’t even halfway through stocking the candies.

“Need some help?”

With her head inside the box, and the crinkling of the packaging, Clarke hadn’t heard Lexa approach.

With a shriek and a jolt, Clarke and the box fell over, scattering the M&M’s all over.

“Are you okay?” Lexa asked.

Hurried footsteps moved toward Clarke as she shoved the box of her head. She looked up at Lexa and laughed. “I’m fine. I just wasn’t expecting you to come in here.”

“Oh.”

“Is it time to open?” Clarke questioned, standing and dusting off her pants. “I haven’t finished restocking the candy display but everything else is good to go.”

Already shaking her head, Lexa replied, “No. There’s still 32 minutes until I unlock the doors. And it’s not like we have a line waiting to get in.”

“Thankfully,” Clarke sighed. She had an exam in her AP Calculus class that Raven had promised to help her study for but then blew her off to hang out with Anya.

“Everything alright?” Lexa’s head tilted to the side as she studied Clarke.

“Uh…” Clarke’s mind blanked for a moment. Lexa had now officially said more words to her in this conversation that she’d ever really heard her say.

Glancing around, Lexa blushed slightly. “I’m sorry for bothering you. I was just going to see if you needed any help. I finished setting up the projectors last night after I everyone left so I don’t really have much to do.”

“No!” Clarke said, reaching out to catch Lexa’s elbow when she turned away. “I mean. No. Yes! I could use some help. I just… you don’t normally talk to me?”

“Oh. Yeah. I’m sorry. New people aren’t really… I don’t… I get nervous.” Lexa explained.

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard you say so many words before. Not at one time.” Clarke said.

Lexa bent down to pick up some of the M&M’s. When she stood again, she was blushing even more. “Well, I tend to forget how to speak around pretty girls.”

She turned on her heel and walked away then, leaving a speechless Clarke behind her.

Blinking a few times, Clarke smiled. Then she opened the door to watch Lexa place the M&M’s on the counter and heave out a breath.

“Should I take that as a compliment then?” Clarke called across the lobby.

Lexa’s shoulder’s stiffened for a second before she glanced back at Clarke. She smiled softly and nodded. “Of course, Clarke.”

**************************************************

After that interaction, a half an hours worth of mostly silent work with a little bit of teasing thrown in there, Clarke started seeing Lexa everywhere.

Of course she saw her at work.

But now she was seeing her around town. At Grounders, the café Clarke frequented. At Dropship, the diner she and Raven and Octavia went to at least once a week because their burgers were amazing and their shakes were delicious. At the little bookstore that was also part art store where Clarke bought her fancy oil paints and canvases.

Lexa was everywhere!

Even at school!

Well. Not at school, at school. It was the beginning of the school year and Octavia had already taken up talking about Lexa nonstop because apparently there was a soccer match between the two schools coming up. Octavia was a defender and she already knew she’d be matched up against Lexa, the striker for her team.

“How is that even fair?” Clarke had asked at The Dropship one day.

“What do you mean?” Octavia replied.

Clarke took a sip of her milkshake and shrugged. “Lexa’s like… an Amazonian goddess, O. She’s almost six feet tall! You’re barely five, five.”

“You think I can’t handle Woods?” Octavia hissed, tossing down the fry she’d just dipped in her ranch dressing.

“I can handle Woods just fine,” Raven said as she slid back into the booth. She set down the waters she just collected from the bar top and glanced between her friends. At their glares, she questioned, “What’d I miss?”

“First off, don’t talk about Anya like that around me. Its gross and she hates me.” Clarke said.

Octavia nodded, folding her arms over her chest. “And second, remind Clarke that we’ve been best friends since we were in kindergarten and I’d appreciate a little loyalty even if she is hot for Lexa Woods.”

“I am not –”

“Don’t even think about finishing that sentence,” Raven said. She arched a brow and waited to see if Clarke would follow her edict. When she remained silent, she turned back to Octavia. “And you. Don’t get all holier than thou on Clarke. You’re the one who cancelled our long-standing Saturday night movie night for the first time ever because Lincoln was able to come and visit. Who’s the real traitor?”

“Lincoln was home on leave!” Octavia argued.

Raven shrugged. “Not our fault your boyfriend joined the Army. Now leave Clarke alone. She hasn’t had a crush this bad since Finn and I, for one, am fully ready for her to have someone awesome in her life. Aren’t you?”

“Anyone is better than Finn,” Clarke said quietly. “I haven’t really talked to Lexa too much though. She’s just caught my artistic interest.”

“You think Lexa is pretty and sexy and like… Wonder Woman.” Octavia said, her tone shifting into a teasing one now.

Clarke only lifted a shoulder in a halfhearted shrug. “Have you seen her?”

**************************************************

“Hey, Clarke!” Lexa said brightly as she walked into the theater a few weeks later. She was carrying her soccer bag, her hair up in a ponytail.

“Hi, Lexa!”

After stashing her gear in the office, Lexa approached the concession stand. “Everything all set? No mishaps with the M&M’s this week?”

“Oh, you’re hilarious,” Clarke rolled her eyes and giggled. “But yes, to answer your question, everything is prepped and ready to go.”

“That’s too bad,” Lexa said with a sigh. She leaned forward, over the counter, and smiled, “I was hoping to hear that little shriek again. It was just adorable.”

She walked away before Clarke could recover.

“Woods, when did you get to be so smooth?” Clarke finally called after her.

**************************************************

It was a week or so later, and a dozen or so little run ins with Lexa, that Clarke found herself alone with her again. The day had started off like any other. Clarke had gone to school and then ran home really quick to change for work, before heading to the theater.

She had just walked through the theater’s front doors when her phone dinged in her pocket.

“There’s a bad storm heading our way, Clarke,” Lexa said calmly. She was already walking up to the front doors to lock them. “We closed the theater. Can you make it home safely in 10 or so minutes?”

“I didn’t drive, I took the train.”

“Oh,” Lexa replied. She chewed thoughtfully on her bottom lip. “Can someone come to get you?”

Clarke shook her head and sighed. “My parents are busy. I’ll just take the trains back.”

“They shut down the trains a couple minutes again. Something about flash flooding?” Lexa responded. She glanced around and sighed. Then she brightened suddenly. “How about you come and hang out with me?”

“Hang out where?” Clarke asked.

Just before Lexa could answer, the lights flickered and then the theater went dark.

“I think we just lost power,” Lexa said calmly.

Clarke quickly turned her phone into a flashlight and made her way to Lexa’s side. Slowly, she reached for Lexa’s hand, gripping it gently.

“Does going to your place mean we have to go outside?” Clarke asked.

A boom of thunder rattled the windows and doors.

“Nope,” Lexa replied, squeezing Clarke’s hand. She stared to walk deeper into the theater, pulling Clarke behind her. “Come on.”

**************************************************

As it turned out, there were doors Clarke had never seen before inside the theater. Some of which lead to a secret upstairs apartment.

That apartment had been fully remodeled recently, in blacks and whites and greys with splashes of colors here and there. There was a bit of blue in the kitchen, the lower cabinets had blue doors and the refrigerator was a blue stainless steel. There was red and orange in the living room. A fluffy red couch and two orange armchairs. A quick peak at the bathroom reveal soft grey against white with little touches of blue again.

“This place is amazing!” Clarke said, turning in a circle to take it all in. She sank onto the sofa next to Lexa. “Who lives here?”

“I do.” Lexa said.

“Alone?” Clarke asked.

Lexa shrugged at the incredulousness in Clarke’s tone. “My great-great-grandfather built this theater. He and his family lived here while they built up their fortunes. It was kind of run down, we used it as a playhouse when I was kid. But then I got older and my parents were around less and less so I asked my grandfather if I could fix it up and stay here.”

“And he let you?” Clarke questioned.

“Yeah. Anya and I were his favorites. So when she offered to stay here too, he had no issues with it.”

Clarke froze next to her. She glanced around and waited a beat before asking, “Anya lives here?”

“Not anymore. She moved out and into an apartment closer to the university. It’s just my place now,” Lexa replied. She bumped Clarke with her shoulder and winked when she looked at her. “Anya isn’t that bad. Raven’s worn her down when it comes to you. She just… she can be protective.”

“Do you need protection from me?”

Lexa turned and studied her. Her eyes roamed over Clarke’s face, like she was seeing beneath it all and into Clarke’s soul or something. Then she smiled that little smile and shrugged. “I don’t know, Clarke. I think you’re the only one who can answer that question.”

A silence settled over them. It wasn’t unbearable by any means, it was comforting, like a blanket fresh from the dryer.

Lexa lit a few candles and let Clarke turn off her phone to save the battery.

The flames bounced and danced while the girls talked. About their high schools, about the upcoming soccer match, which Clarke finds out isn’t until the end of the season.

“O made it sound like it was next week!”

“Nope. It’s our closing match this year. The last one before the tournament.”

Rolling her eyes, Clarke settled back into the couch. Her stomach grumbled just as lights flickered back on.

“Finally!” She said, clapping her hands together as she sat up again. “Wait. Are we opening the theater since the lights came back on?”

“No. We’re closed to the night.” Lexa replied. She glanced at Clarke’s phone. “Did you want to try calling your parents to see if they can come and get you?”

Clarke only shook her head. “Nope. They’re busy all night. I can check the trains though. Maybe they’re running and I’ll be able to get out of your hair.”

“Or, you could hang out for a while? I can make us some dinner and we can watch a movie or two?” Lexa suggested shyly.

“Lexa Woods,” Clarke said slowly, leaning into the other girl’s space, “are you suggesting that we Netflix and Chill?”

Choking on air was not the best response to that. Lexa had always thought she was smooth, good at talking to girls. But Clarke Griffin definitely made her question her game.

“No! I mean… maybe?” Lexa shouted. She shook her head and leaned back away from Clarke, away from her perfume. “I mean… is that… would you be interested in something like that?”

“In general or with you?”

Lexa nearly swallowed her tongue when Clarke looked up at her through her lashes. She cleared her throat and squeaked, “Me?”

“Why don’t we just start with dinner? And see what happens?” Clarke asked, leaning back against the couch with a smirk. “I promise to stop teasing you until I have food in my belly.”

**************************************************

It was surprisingly easy to fall into companionable silence around Lexa. There was never that need to fill in the gaps with giggles and gossip. Clarke could sit and sketch while Lexa read or studied and it was never uncomfortable.

That first night, Clarke sat at the little pub table in Lexa’s kitchen and watched her hurry around the kitchen. She sat with her elbow on the table and her chin in her hand, eyes following Lexa from one side of the kitchen to the other.

It wasn’t a bad way to spend an evening really.

Before Clarke knew it, Lexa was sliding a homemade pizza in front of her, smiling timidly.

“I know you like pizza so I thought I’d make us some. I just wasn’t sure on the toppings.”

“I’m a classic pepperoni kind of girl,” Clarke said with a shrug. “I don’t mind other topping every once in a while but normally, cheese and pepperoni are the way to go!”

They’d barely finished eating when Lexa asked the question that finally brought the atmosphere down a bit.

“Why are your parents busy tonight?” Lexa questioned, her head doing that cute little tilt. “Why are they too busy to even check up on you?”

Clarke took a sip of her water and studied her for a moment. Then she sighed. Without a word, she stood from the table and carried her dishes to the sink. Ignoring Lexa’s demands, she washed her dishes and set them in the drying rack. Then she moved back to the couch and sat down on the edge of it.

“Clarke?”

“I’m okay. It’s just… I can’t ruin pizza by talking about this in front of it.”

Now Lexa was more confused than ever. She placed her dishes in the sink and hurried to join Clarke on the sofa.

“You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to.”

Nodding slowly, Clarke let her eyes drop from Lexa’s face to the floor between their feet. She waited a beat, gathering her thoughts, and then cleared her throat.

“My dad is sick. He’s dying really. And no one will actually say the words. He’s got cancer, the kind no one ever really survives. He doesn’t want to fight it. Not beyond chemo. He doesn’t want to spend his time, the last of it, being confined to a bed.” Clarke spoke quickly, like she thought if the words came fast, they wouldn’t hurt as much. Tears form in her eyes, some slowly trailing down her face. “So he and Mom have gone into this ‘if we don’t talk about it, it isn’t happening’ sort of mode. Except I need to talk about it. I need to know what’s happening and they… it’s like they’ve buried their heads in the sand and I can’t get them to budge.”

Not for the first time, Lexa isn’t sure what to do with the girl in front of her. They’ve just started talking, started to really get to know each other. If they were closer, she’d pull her in for a hug and tell her everything would be okay. Even if she knew it was a lie, Lexa would tell Clarke whatever she needed to hear to be okay.

“Can I hug you?”

Lexa’s voice comes out unbidden.

But before she can scold herself and beg for Clarke’s forgiveness, she finds herself with Clarke in her arms.

So she holds her tight and whispers nonsensical things into her ear.

It takes an hour or so for Clarke to calm down enough to pull away. She’s blushing, which Lexa finds adorable, and excuses herself to the bathroom. When she returns a few minutes later, her face is clean from any makeup and her hair is pulled back into a messy bun.

“You might as well see me like this now,” Clarke smiled gently and shrugged as she sat on the sofa again.

Lexa took the time to study her, to learn what Clarke without makeup looked like. She thought she was gorgeous. Not that there was anything wrong with Clarke with makeup on, she just… she liked that Clarke was comfortable enough around her to take it off.

Lexa smiled and stood. “How about I find you something more comfortable to wear?”

“Are you trying to get me naked?” Clarke teased, her nose scrunching just a bit.

“Is it weird that I’m trying to get you into my clothes after getting you naked?” Lexa teased right back.

15 minutes later, Clarke was in the living room, wearing Lexa’s soccer sweatpants and hoodie that was easily a couple sizes too big for Lexa. When she’d asked, Lexa shrugged and said if the hoodie was big, she could curl up inside it on cold buses and take a nap.

Just as Clarke was about to call out for Lexa, the lights turned off and there was a beam of light from behind her.

Before she could turn around and ask what was happening, shadow puppets appeared on the wall next to the TV.

“Fluffy!” Clarke squealed and clapped.

“Excuse me?” Lexa asked incredulously, her hands falling to her hips. “Fluffy?”

“He’s a fluffy little wolf!” Clarke replied. “Bring him back!”

Lexa shook her head and clicked the light off. “You’ve lost shadow puppet privileges for a week.”

“Are you pouting?” Clarke asked, scooting closer to Lexa.

“No.”

Clarke leaned forward, trying to make eye contact but always chasing Lexa’s eyes instead. “Oh, come on! You’re so pouting!”

“Well he’s obviously a fierce and noble wolf, Clarke! You can’t name him Fluffy!”

“It’s his name.” Clarke replied with a shrug. She shifted closer again.

“No!” Lexa whined.

Clarke moved again, her right side pressed against Lexa’s left. She smiled when Lexa finally turned to face her. “If it helps, I didn’t know it was you doing the shadow puppets. I thought it was Drew. If I’d known it was you, I would have definitely given him a much fiercer name.”

“Like what?” Lexa asked softly.

“Like…” Clarke thought quickly, “Champ? Oh! No! Uh… Sarge? Commander? Leader? Blood-Drips-From-Tooth?”

“Are you making fun of me?” Lexa asked, her eyes narrowing.

Clarke nodded. “I am. Yes.”

“I like Sarge.” Lexa said.

“Okay. Sergeant Fluffy it is then.”

“No!” Lexa whined again. “Come on!”

With a laugh, Clarke shrugged. “I can’t help that his name is Fluffy! I can’t change it now! It would confuse him!”

There’s a beat of silence before Lexa asked, “You thought it was Drew?”

“You never talked to me! How was I supposed to know you do shadow puppets?”

“That is true…” Lexa said with a nod. “Very true. But still. Fluffy?”

“Let it go, Woods.” Clarke said with a wink. “Now pick a movie.”

Settling back into the sofa, Lexa handed Clarke the remote and let her pick from her extensive digital library. She only smiled when Clarke picked The Mummy, one of her favorite movies.

By the time Evie, Jonathan, and Rick had boarded their boat, Clarke was settled against Lexa’s side. By the time the boat was on fire, Lexa had somehow managed to smoothly wrap her arm around Clarke’s shoulder. And just as Imhotep came back to life, Clarke’s head was in Lexa’s lap. Lexa’s left hand was being held by one of Clarke’s while her right was playing with Clarke’s hair.

“I like this.”

Clarke’ sleepy voice pulled Lexa out of the movie.

“Like what?”

“This. You and me and whatever this is.” Clarke replied. She sat up, staying close to Lexa. She leaned in and pressed a kiss to Lexa’s cheek. “Thank you.”

“Any time, Clarke.”

**************************************************

The next morning, Clarke woke up on the sofa, 3 blankets were piled on top of her, a feather pillow under her head. She stretched, smiling at the ceiling as she remembered the night before. Joking with Lexa, watching the movie, arguing with Lexa about who would sleep where.

Then she smelled bacon.

“Lex?” She called out as she sat up.

“Hey,” Lexa replied. She turned to face Clarke with a grin plastered on her face. “There’s a spare toothbrush on the counter in the bathroom. And some fresh sweats too.”

Clarke bolts to the bathroom, brushing her teeth and changing into more of Lexa’s clothing. This time, more soccer sweatpants and a more fitted hoodie with ‘WOODS’ across the shoulders.

“Come on, Clarke! The pancakes are ready!”

Biting her lip to keep from smiling too broadly, Clarke left the bathroom and joined Lexa in the kitchen.

**************************************************

It was another 2 weeks before Clarke and Lexa found time to be alone together. Lexa had arranged for Anya and Raven to run the theater for the evening so she could invite Clarke over.

In her head, se called it a date. She just wasn’t sure if Clarke was on the same page.

Lexa took the time to make spaghetti, from scratch, smiling at Clarke’s exclamations of deliciousness.

Now, there were on the couch, cuddled up together. This time, Lexa had stretched across the couch while waiting for Clarke to change into her sweats. That was certainly a habit Lexa could love, seeing Clarke in her things. When Clarke came out of the bathroom, she shook her head and hurried to join her on the sofa, stretching out in front of Lexa and sighing.

“The last 2 weeks have sucked. It’s our senior year. Aren’t we supposed to be able to coast a bit?” Clarke whined and shuffled back to press herself firmly against Lexa.

“I don’t think that’s how it works at all,” Lexa replied.

She pulled her hand from between their bodies, letting it hover over Clarke’s hip before she started to lower it to her own side. It didn’t make it there, Clarke reached back and pulled Lexa’s arm around her, holding her hand tight.

“It’d be nice if it did though. I don’t want to study any more math.”

“Aren’t you planning on being a doctor?” Lea asked, pulling herself up onto her elbow, leaning over Clarke slightly.

Turning her head, Clarke met her eye. “What if I want to be an artist? You’d make enough money to support me right? If I can’t sell anything?”

It was said half in jest, but it still made Lexa’s heart skip a half a dozen beats. Had Clarke really made a nonchalant comment about their future? A future where the two of them were an ‘us’ and a ‘we’?

“Sure. No problem,” Lexa said. She was surprised at how calm her voice was, no shaking or warbling at all. Before she could thing better of it, she leaned down kiss Clarke’s cheek, just a little too close to the corner of her lips.

When she pulled back, Clarke was blushing and smiling.

“Want to watch a movie?” Lexa asked, her voice a whisper. “Anything you want?”

“Let’s watch something funny.” Clarke responded, flipping through Netflix quickly. She settled on some TV show Lexa had never heard of before setting the remote on the coffee table and pulling Lexa’s arm even more firmly around her. “I’m probably going to fall asleep anyway. And dream of calculus.”

She was right of course. She fell asleep before the end of the first episode. Lexa woke her up around 11, telling her she should go and sleep in Lexa’s room.

There was an argument about it. Nothing serious, just bickering with banter thrown in.

“I’m not sleeping in your bed without you and I don’t think we’re there yet!” Clarke finally said.

“Oh.”

“Yeah. Oh.” Clarke replied with an eye roll. “So go to bed, Lex. I’ll be fine out here.”

Lexa nodded before she stopped and turned back. “You could sleep in the extra room. There wasn’t a bed in there last time you were here. But Anya and I went… there is one now. And I made it for you.”

“Why argue with me about the couch then?”

“I was trying to be nice. My bed is like a cloud!”

Clarke stood and looped her arm through Lexa’s, pulling her toward the bedrooms. “I think you’re just trying to get me into your bed, Woods.”

“Well, duh!” Lexa replied.

Clarke stopped outside the guest room door. She pulled in a deep breath, building up courage. Then she stood on her toes and pressed her lips softly to Lexa’s.

Arms drifted around hips and looped around necks, smiles broke the first kiss and melted into the second.

Neither of them would ever be sure how long they stood there, wrapped around each other, kissing the night away. Neither one of them cared.

Finally, Lexa lifted her head and pressed her forehead against Clarke’s. She smiled at the dazed look in Clarke’s eyes. The look she was sure was reflected in her own. “Goodnight, Clarke.”

“Night, Lex.”

**************************************************

It becomes their thing. Clarke would stay over at Lexa’s either Friday or Saturday night. Sometimes Lexa would cook for them, sometimes Clarke would. Sometimes they’d be too wrapped up in each other, or studying, or binging a new show, and they’d order in.

It’d been their thing for a month when Clarke hesitantly asked if Lexa wanted to come to a picnic at her house. Her parents were throwing a fall harvest dinner of sorts, like a Thanksgiving but with grills and a pool.

“You don’t have to come. It’s just that… I may have mentioned you a few times to my parents and they want to meet you?”

Lexa agreed right away. She could see how nervous Clarke was, worried she’d upset her or something. So without much thought, Lexa agreed.

The next day, Anya was standing in the doorway of Lexa’s bedroom, watching her prepare for the party.

“Meeting the parents?” Anya asked with a smirk. “That’s a big step.”

“Shut up!” Lexa snapped. She pulled on her dark blue skinny jeans and buttoned her grey and green plaid shirt. She ran her hands through her hair and sighed. “I don’t know why I’m so nervous.”

“Sure you do. You just don’t want to say it out loud.” Anya replied. “You’ll figure it out soon.”

Before she can second-guess herself, Lexa headed to Clarke’s house.

Clarke greeted her at the door. She stepped onto the porch, pressing a kiss to Lexa’s lips. “Thank you for coming.”

“Thank you for inviting me.” Lexa replied.

Glancing around, Clarke smiled before pulling Lexa in for another kiss. She bit her lip as she pulled away. “I’m sorry. I’m just not sure how much I’ll be able to do that today. And it’s hard for me to resist!”

“No worries. I don’t mind at all,” Lexa said.

Just then, Clarke’s name was being shouted from what sounded like the backyard. Clarke stole one last kiss, grinning at the dazed look on Lexa’s face, and pulled her through the house.

“Mom, Dad, this is Lexa.” Clarke said as soon as they were on the deck.

“Hello, dear,” Abby said. She moved forward to pull Lexa into a hug.

“Lexa.” Jake held out a hand and shook Lexa’s firmly. “We’ve heard quite a bit about you.”

Lexa blushed and ducked her head. “I hope it was mostly good.”

“It was about Sergeant Fluffy at first,” Jake replied. He winked and took a sip of his water. At Lexa’s eye roll, he chuckled and added, “It’s gotten a lot better since then.”

“I’m not sorry,” Clarke said before Lexa could say anything. She pressed a kiss to Lexa’s cheek and then allowed her mom to pull her into the house.

Taking a moment, Lexa studied Jake Griffin. To anyone who didn’t know him, or about the cancer, he wouldn’t have looked ill. Maybe he looked like he needed to gain a few pounds, but he was still a pretty solid man.

“Clarke tells me you’re a Woods. Are you one of those Woods?” Jake asked.

“As in one of the Woods Incorporated, Woods?” Lexa responded. She nodded and met his eye. “I am.”

Jake arched a brow and whistled through his teeth. “I’ve worked with Woods Inc before. They know their stuff. Are you planning on going into the family business?”

“I’m planning on law school. My sister, Anya, is going to take over the business one day. She’s a lot like Mom and Dad.”

There was a beat of silence. Then Jake smiled. “Okay then. Sounds like you have some plans then. We’ll talk universities later. For now, I need to tell you that I haven’t seen Clarke smile so much in years. I’m betting you know the reason?”

“Clarke is a great woman and I –”

“Lex? Can you come in and show Mom that trick you showed me with the potatoes?” Clarke asked from behind her, standing in patio doorway.

“Sure! I’ll be right in!”

**************************************************

Hours later, Clarke smiled as Lexa came out of her bathroom wearing Clarke’s sleep shorts and a tank top. She was usually one to wear layers, big hoodies and loose sweats. Clarke had never seen her wear short sleeves.

“You have a tattoo!” Clarke gasped.

“I have a few of them.” Lexa replied, finishing the braid she’d started in the bathroom.

Clarke moved so she was on her knees on her bed. She reached out for Lexa, beckoning her closer. “Where?”

“My arm, my back, and somewhere you can’t see.”

“Yet.” Clarke added.

Lexa blushed. The fronts of her legs hit the bed and she held still, wanting to see what Clarke would do.

Not one to disappoint, Clarke looped her arms around Lexa’s neck and pulled her down for a slow kiss. She let her hand drift down to trace over the ink on her arm as she pulled away.

“I can’t wait to see them.” Clarke said, shuffling backward and then crawling under the blankets. “Thank you for doing this. They really wanted to meet you.”

“I think your dad knows there’s… something between us.”

Clarke giggled and held the blankets up for Lexa. “I came out when I was 14, Lex. They don’t think you’ve corrupted me or something.”

“Oh, thank the goddess!” Lexa collapsed into the bed and sighed. “We never talked about it. I mean. I know you’re interested and that you… never mind. I just didn’t know what your parents knew.”

Clarke pulled her in for another kiss. She settled her head on Lexa’s shoulder and sighed. “Goodnight, Lexa.”

“Night, Clarke.”

**************************************************

The next morning, Lexa had Clarke underneath her. Their lips had been fused together since they woke, Lexa’s hand had just started to drift under Clarke’s t-shirt and then up.

Just as her thumb traced the underside of Clarke’s breast, Jake knocked on the door.

“Hey, girls! I’m making breakfast!” He called through the door. “You have 15 minutes!”

He turned and winked at Abby.

“That was mean, Jake.”

“Just because I’m cool with them being together doesn’t mean I’m going to be okay with waking up to those sounds coming from my baby girl’s room!”

Abby snorted and shook her head. Then she smirked up at her husband. “I bet Lexa calls Clarke baby girl too.”

Blood drained from Jake’s face. “No.”

Before he could react further, Abby was heading down the stairs rather quickly. “The question is: Do you think Clarke would ever call Lexa ‘daddy’?”

“You’re an evil woman!” Jake shouted after her.

Meanwhile, the girls in the room were staring at each other with wide eyes.

Then Lexa started laughing. “Well, now we know I can never call you baby girl.”

“Please don’t,” Clarke replied through her giggles.

They only took 5 minutes to get to the kitchen. Clarke joined Abby at the island, sitting in one of the stool and accepting the cup of hot chocolate waiting for her. Lexa joined Jake, moving seamlessly with him to create a huge breakfast for the four of them.

After a few minutes, Abby nudged Clarke and smiled. “She’s totally a keeper.”

**************************************************

The day had finally arrived. It was the beginning of October, just a couple of months since Clarke and Lexa had started… doing whatever it was they were doing. And now, the match had arrived.

Lexa had pulled Clarke aside the night before, when Clarke had been leaving the theater after her shift at work, and asked if she was going to be at the match.

“Well, I never miss a home match, so yeah.” Clarke had answered.

Blushing, Lexa kicked at the carpet. “I’ll be playing too.”

“Oh, Lex.” Clarke cupped her face and kissed her softly. “I know. I already have a sign made for you and everything.”

Clarke was sitting in the stands, waiting for the match to start. Her parents would arrive soon, they never missed home matchs either.

Raven and Anya found her first though.

Waiting patiently while the friends greeted each other, Anya smirked and handed Clarke a small bag. “Thought you might want to support your girlfriend today. She’s been nervous about playing in front of you. Wouldn’t shut up about it.”

Opening the bag, Clarke blushed as she pulled out not only Lexa’s spare jersey but her team hoodie too.

“Don’t tell her I gave you that,” Anya said as she pointed to the hoodie. “I had to sneak into the locker room to get it. She’s not happy about it.”

Clarke set her things down on the bleachers. She pulled off her letterman jacket and Arkadia High School hoodie. Lexa’s jersey and hoodie were quickly pulled on. After she stuffed her hoodie into the bag, she slid it under her seat.

“I thought we were going to get more blushing out of that.” Raven arched a brow and grinned. “Not even a little bit red.”

“Hey kids!” Jake shouted over the rumblings of the crowd around them.

Clarke turned to greet her parents and started laughing. Jake was decked out, head to toe, in black and red of Polis Academy. Abby was next to him, wearing a Polis Academy hoodie with a black and blue Arkadia high scarf and hat.

“What?” There were no other words in Clarke’s mind.

“We wanted to support Lexa!” Jake said. He waved the little Polis Academy flag he had in Clarke’s face. “Octavia hasn’t been over to see me in months and she has Bellamy cheering for her. Plus, we don’t want Lexa to think we aren’t going to support her!”

“What?” Clarke repeated.

Jake draped an arm over Clarke’s shoulders and squeezed. “Not to mention the fact that Lexa calls me at least once a week to see how my treatments are going. And she had her parents talk to a friend of a friend who is running a new experimental treatment clinic. One that I had no chance of getting into but now I’m at the top of the list.”

“Really?”

“She’s a great girl, Clarke.” Jake said. He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I think you ought to keep her around.”

It took another 12 minutes for the match to start. Clarke couldn’t take her eyes off Lexa. She was like… magic on the field. It was like she was always exactly where she was needed. And the focus and determination on her face, that had Clarke grinning.

At the 23-minute mark, Clarke finally caught Lexa’s attention for longer than a glance and a smile. One of the Arkadia players was down with an injury so Lexa was able to get a drink of water.

She glanced at the bleachers where she knew Clarke and her family were sitting and laughed.

In Clarke’s hands was a massive sign that showed a shadow puppet wolf and read “Fluffy knows you can do it! Go Lex!”

Her eyes dropped to Clarke and, even from across the field, she could see Clarke wink at her.

There was only 7 minutes left in the match when it happened. The score was tied at 1. Lexa finally managed to break through the defense and found herself facing only the Arkadia goalie, Harper. She’d just planted her left foot, preparing to strike the ball with her right, when she felt pain radiating up her leg.

She hit the ground and the world sort of went hazy.

In the stands, Raven and Anya were holding Clarke back. Abby had practically vaulted the railing in the stands, rushing to offer any help she could. Having one of the most renowned general surgeons in the country on the field wasn’t something the team medics minded, so they let her help with examining Lexa.

“What was O thinking?” Clarke hissed as she struggled to get away from Raven and Anya.

“It was a clean tackle!” Bellamy bellowed from his seats a few rows up. He was too busy glaring at the referee showing Octavia a red card to notice Clarke’s outburst.

With a new, possibly easier to reach target in mind, Clarke whirled around. She lunged forward, determined to get her hands around the neck of at least one Blakes by the end of the night.

Raven lost her grip and fell over, cursing on the way down.

Anya though, she managed to catch Clarke around the waist. She lifted Clarke over her shoulder. “Let’s go, blondie.”

Before Clarke knows what happened, she’s sitting outside the visitor’s locker room. Anya had gone inside to see if Lexa was okay, ordering Clarke to stay put.

“Clarke?” Octavia looked around to see if any of her other friends were waiting for her. “What are you doing here?”

Shifting her eyes, Clarke met Octavia’s gaze for a second, then she looked away.

“Are you crying?” Octavia questioned, her tone letting Clarke know she thought the very idea was crazy. “Seriously?”

Clarke still didn’t speak. She turned to face the locker room door and started counting the seconds.

Octavia moved to stand next to her. “I know you have a thing for Woods, but come on, Clarke. You’re crying over a rough tackle?”

“A rough tackle?” Anya’s cold tone cut off whatever Octavia was going to say next. “You deserve to be benched for the entire tournament for that tackle! You were nowhere near the ball and you nearly broke Lexa’s ankle!”

“Nearly?” Clarke echoed.

Anya nodded and pointed down the hallway. She glared at Octavia until she started walking.

Clarke had to wait another 20 minutes before Lexa made an appearance.

“Hey!” She said as soon as the door closed behind Lexa.

Nearly falling over, Lexa let out a yelp when she put too much pressure on her ankle.

“I’m sorry!” Clarke rushed forward to take Lexa’s bag from her.

“What are you doing here?” Lexa asked.

“I wanted to make sure you’re okay. I mean, Anya told me you were but I wanted to see for myself.” Clarke replied. She reached forward and laced her fingers with Lexa’s. “I’m sorry about… I mean… I know I didn’t do anything. But still, O is my friend and that tackle was so not called for. I’m really happy you’re mostly okay.”

Lexa nodded and squeezed her fingers. “It hurts but I’m okay.”

“Good.” Clarke smiled softly and lifted her chin, tilting her head back for the kiss she knew Lexa would give her. And, of course, Lexa did.

“Clarke?”

“Lexa?”

“Are you wearing my hoodie?”

Clarke blushed and stepped back. She looked down and nodded. “Yeah. Anya stole it from you for me. I have your jersey on too.”

“What?”

“Anya thought it’d be a good way to show support for my girlfriend.”

“She said that?” Lexa blushed and shook her head. “I’m sorry, Clarke! I never said you’re my girlfriend. I know we haven’t really talked about any of that. And we have college to still discuss too. I mean, what if –”

Clarke silenced her with a kiss. When she pulled away, she grinned. “I don’t know about all that, Lex. What I do know is that I may like the idea.”

“You may like it?”

“Well…” Clarke drawled out and then shrugged.

“How about this,” Lexa said, pulling her back in for another sweet kiss, “I take you out on a real date tonight and we’ll take it from there? Does that sound nice, girlfriend?”

“Yes, girlfriend,” Clarke replied easily. “It really does.”

#kai-jean

Trending Tags

Recently Viewed Tags

#kai-jean