Disclaimer: Don't own it.
A/N: I got the inspiration for this from someone on tumblr (clarkesquad). I just thought this was a really cute idea and I love AUs so here we are. Basically Lexa has been living in a small town her whole life and one day the Griffins move in.
It started like any other day did. No one would have expected that the town would be changed for the better within the next 24 hours. The sun climbed slowly into the sky casting gentle, warming rays into the lives of the bleary-eyed town dwellers. People dragged themselves out of bed and went about their daily activities: shopping, walking, taking out the trash.
Lexa found herself doing exactly that, for nothing ever changed in the small town of Polis. That is, of course, until the calming familiarity was shattered by the arrival of the moving van. People turned to stare at it as it wound its way through the sleepy streets in the weight of the midday heat. Clutching her trash bags in hand, Lexa watched as the van drew to a stop outside a house 5 doors down from Lexa's … no one had lived there for years. Caught in the rapture of this new scene she failed to notice the scarlet car crawling behind until it drew to a stop and its occupants spilled out into the blinding light. She was almost blinded by the brightness of the girl's hair as the sun bounced care-free off of her golden-white hair like it would off of snow. The moment seemed to stop time and stand still, holding Lexa captive in that one breath-taking, beautiful second. Then the girl shifted into the shadows and the spell was broken. As she turned so that her face was turned towards Lexa she could see that she was about her age. With her bronzed pale skin and a delicate, round face she was certainly not what you would describe as simple. She had a kind of beauty that Lexa had never seen before. It was as if she was completely new to this world, an outsider, everything about her seemed to contradict everything Lexa knew – her gait was brisk, demanding, nothing like the soft meanderings of the locals; her eyes shifted nervously, canvasing the area for threats but her body showed no other signs of her insecurity; and her face was flushed with colour from unusual exposure to the heat. Lexa found herself strangely drawn to this newcomer, normally a loner, this was a completely new experience for her. All of a sudden the girl looked Lexa directly in the eye, she jumped as if burned, suddenly acutely aware of how long she'd been staring. Crimson bloomed across Lexa's face and she felt the heat of embarrassment burning her neck. Timidly, she hastily dropped the trash bags, gave a miniscule, awkward wave, and scuttled back inside her house, her blood still boiling.
Standing in the cool darkness behind the door Lexa allowed herself to release a long, drawn-out breath and dropped her head backwards against the mottled wood. Thoroughly ashamed at having been caught staring she retreated to the sanctity of her cramped bedroom and dramatically flung herself down onto her bed. Running a sweaty hand over her face she did everything she could to banish the thoughts of that awful stranger with the sun trapped in her hair.
Clarke knew she was being lazy. She knew she should be helping her mom boss the men around or unpack a box of essentials, but she felt drained. The last few weeks had taken a heavy toll on Clarke. The death of her father had stripped away the last layer of energy she had and left her feeling raw and vulnerable. Clarke had never been one for emotions, she felt it was better to keep your feelings to yourself, that way people couldn't use them against you. It also meant that no one except her would get hurt. She bore it so her mother wouldn't have to. Curling herself up into a tighter ball on the windowsill Clarke gazed out into the wild, over-grown garden and let her mind wander freely. She had never liked to put a damper on her thoughts, they allowed her to escape from her reality. When she was a child, Clarke had occupied herself by drawing anything and everything that came to mind. Over the years she had gotten pretty good but her pads and pens were packed in the bottom of a box in some faraway place. She looked down the street at the house 5 doors down and drifted onto the topic of the girl she had caught watching her. She had seemed harmless enough and the way she had scampered off when she realised she'd be spotted made Clarke's lips twitch involuntarily into a smile. She tried to fight it off but the adorableness was too much for her to stop grinning. Their eye contact had only lasted a few moments and then the coffee-haired girl had run off but Clarke had felt an unusual connection the that girl. The girl's skin was much darker that hers, its honey colour contrasted the deep darkness of her hair nicely. Letting out a deep sigh, she dropped her head onto the cold glass and let her breath fog up the clear window.
"Clarke?" her mom called from downstairs "Clarke, can you come down here?"
Clarke made no effort to move and just stared stoically into the garden. She could not help the guilt creeping like fire into her brain, but she could not summon the will to move. Clarke knew her mom had been suffering just as much as she had these past few months and she knew she was being unfair but she just couldn't move.
"Clarke honey?" her mom called again, closer this time and she heard the soft tread of footsteps on the stairs. A gentle knock came from the door and a head popped round the door "Baby, you okay?"
She turned her head slightly so that she could see her mother slightly better "I'm sorry Mom"
Abby came fully into the room and traced a hand up her daughter's back carefully. She squeezed Clarke's shoulder gently "It's okay, baby. Van's nearly unpacked anyway" Slowly, she sat down on the other end of the windowsill and rubber her hand against the soft material of Clarke's trousers.
"You want me to come downstairs?"
"I was going to unpack all the kitchen stuff, you can come and help me if you want to"
Clarke lifted her finger and doodled on the steamed up glass "I'll be down in a minute"
"Do you want to go out later? We could walk around town, check out the area"
Clarke looked up from the trailing patterns her hand was forming on the fogged up window and nodded "That'd be nice"
Abby smiled at her daughter "Okay"
Clarke waited a few minutes, collecting her thoughts, before falling carefully off of the ledge and trudging down the stairs. She found a box labelled 'kitchen' and lugged it with her into the room. Her mom had her back to her and was desperately stretching to reach the top shelf of the cupboard. Clarke laughed. Though she was not much taller than her mother, she still found it funny when she couldn't reach things. "You want some help with that, shorty?"
"Clarke!" Abby whirled round, almost dropping the glasses she was holding in her hands "I think I can manage" she said, then, under her breath "I'm not that short"
Clarke put her box down on the table and took the glasses from her mom "Let's take those before you break them"
"Excuse me, who's the mother here?" Abby said, mock angry.
"Just because you're older, doesn't mean you're wiser" Clarke countered and found herself smiling. It was almost exactly like old times. Before everything had crumbled into dust and forced them to lose everything. Maybe this place would be good for the two of them after all.
"Dad?" Lexa called as she flitted through the house, searching for her father "Dad, where are you?"
"What?"
She loitered in the doorway for a few seconds, the entered "I'm going to take some coffee to the neighbours that moved in"
Her father was sprawled on the couch, as usual "Why?"
"I thought it'd be nice. I mean moving house must be stressful and they probably haven't had much time to –"
"Just do whatever you want" her father cut her off.
"Oh … okay" Lexa left the room as quickly as she could. She loved her dad, but he had a tendency to not care enough. Over the years she had discovered that it was best to leave him out of most of her decisions, however she still felt she had to inform him of where she was. She hurried to the kitchen, made a pot of coffee as fast as she could, grabbed a carton of milk, a pot of sugar and a random packet of biscuits from the sparse cupboard. She debated taking some mugs with her but there was the issue of whether they would invite her to stay or not, so she decided they would probably have their own mugs.
Using her leg and one hand to gingerly balance the tray, Lexa knocked on the door. She heard the soft murmur of voices and then the gentle pad of feet on the hardwood flooring. Lexa briefly bit back a grin as she heard someone fumbling clumsily with the door before it whipped open and she came face to face with the girl from earlier. Lexa's breath caught in the back of her throat as her eyes raked up her. Earlier she had been too far away to see her clearly but now she could tell she was simply ravishing. Her eyes were bright; bluer than any she had ever seen before. It was as if the girl had trapped the ocean in her eyes. They sparkled like quartz in the sun and had a youthful quality that Lexa had never noticed in anyone before.
Clarke stood in the doorway, confused. The girl who had been watching her earlier was standing on her doorstep with a teapot and a packet of Oreos. She was stunning. Her hair was as dark as Clarke's was light, her eyes so deep and soulful, the kind of eyes you can stare into and feel yourself getting lost in. They burned with ferocity like fire, rich and alluring, and it ignited something within her. Innocence reflected out of her, it resonated within her and rebounded of ever surface.
"Hi. I'm Lexa"
An insatiable smile bloomed across her face "Clarke"
A/N: Someone once called me 'the girl with the sun in her hair and the sea in her eyes' and I thought that was really cute so yeah. Please, please suggest any ideas you guys have and don't forget to review.