"It was less than a second; maybe half a second, but it changed everything.
It was a Saturday afternoon. Lexa got ready for her usual run. She had put her dog in his Nahak sports harness, which was his own specified running gear. She dressed for the occasion into a tank top and shorts; she got into her part of the running harness and after a few minutes, they were ready to go. She put her headset on her head, set her "Running Buddy" playlist on shuffle, started her running follow up app and locked the door of her house behind her. She started slow, like every day, they walked the first kilometer, which allowed the dog to do is business and her to dispose of it before starting their run and it was way more convenient that way.
"So stand in the rain,
Stand your ground.
Stand up when it's all crashing down.
You stand throught the pain,
You won't drown.
And one day what's lost can be found.
You stand in the rain."
She started running and was in her own little world. She thought about her week, about all the work she had done. She thought about the weeks to come and the projects left to do. She cleared her thought and she smiled. It always amazed her how easy it was for her to smile while she was running, almost as if there was nothing wrong or hard in her life. Her breathing in sync with her running buddy, the amount of pure air entering her lungs made her feel alive; more alive than she usually felt.
Her dog was running in front of her, keeping the same pace she had. They were a good team. He had helped her so much in her life and she needed him as much as he needed her. They ran for almost 20 minutes; getting to their favorite spot next to the river. It was a recluse river, where almost no one went, since it was near a bigger and more famous one.
She sat on the rock along the river, letting her dog run in the water like he always did; splashing water all over the both of them. She smiled when he drank water and started acting like a real goof. She loved him so much. She was so focussed on the dog when they got there, and lost in her own thoughts, that she did not see the pretty blonde, sitting a few meters away.
It was the dog pulling her way that made her realise she wasn't alone. She took a minute to look at the woman. She looked like she was maybe 25; just as Lexa was. Blonde, and really pretty. It was the kind of women who caught the attention easily. She wasn't wearing make up and looked so good just like that. Trying to see her eyes, Lexa noticed it looked like she had been crying.
She thought about getting up and run back home, but her eyes kept falling on the girl beside her. She was not the kind of girl to seek interpersonal interaction. She hated when unknown people came to talk to her so it was hard for her to understand why she felt so strong about the blonde. She took a deep breath and got near her; removed her headset, sat next to the woman, in silence for a few minutes. The blonde was so lost in her own world that she only noticed there was someone next to her when a wet nose touched her leg. The furry black lab sat his head on the woman's lap and sighted; his big brown eyes looking right at her.
She looked at him, eyes still red and puffy from the apparent crying and started to pet him. He was such a friendly dog; he licked her face slowly while the blonde got a shy smile on her lips. She hugged him so tight, her shoulders dropped and she sighted. "Just what I needed" she mumbled and bright blue eyes looked into Lexa's green one. "Thanks for bringing him here. People tend to forget how much warmth they bring."
Lexa offered her a hand and the blonde took it hesitantly.
"I'm Lexa and this is Goliath. "
"Clarke."
"Hello Clarke." She said while looking back at the water; Goliath had made his way back in. He always loved water.
They spent almost 10 minutes in silence, looking back at the water and the dog playing in it. Lexa cooled down a little and surprisingly enjoyed the presence beside her. The other woman was really pretty. She felt her heart beat faster every time she looked at her side. The blonde relaxed the more time they spent together.
"Sorry about earlier. I just came here to relax. I needed to get out of the house before packing my stuff. " She said mostly to herself. "Life sucks sometimes; being a grown up too. "She let out a nervous chuckle.
"Yeah, life is pretty shitty like that. Will you be okay?" Lexa asked with a real worry in her voice.
"I guess I will have to be. Just broke up my 3 years long relationship. I feel like shit but I guess it was the only way. Nothing can fix bigotry. " She sighted with defeat.
"Oh." Lexa said, not wanting to push Clarke to reveal more of her if she was not ready. She might have found the blonde girl really pretty and felt drawn to her; it did not mean she needed to know everything at the moment.
"Yeah. Well I'm waiting for him to leave for work so I can pack my things and go somewhere, I don't know where yet. My mom still have my room so I'm guessing it will have to do for now. It just feels weird to move back in with my mom at 25. I'm pretty sure I am supposed to have overcome this chapter in my life. "
She looked at the green eyed brunette next to her, trying to figure out what she was thinking. She was left with nothing much. The brunette was beautiful, and mysterious, and really in shape. Her face had a little bit of sweat from her previous run and her tank top fitted her amazingly.
"I'm sorry, tell me if it's none of my business but, what happened between you two? " She asked timidly.
The brunette knew she should get going but she couldn't leave the blonde woman sitting there all by herself.
"It's okay. I don't mind really. It's mostly sad for him; but at the same time I feel hurt because of what he said and I wasn't the one he directly hurt."
-
Clarke and Finn were sitting on a blanket on the beach next to the waterfall. They were holding hands, smiling at each other, telling each other's how their last day was, since both of them worked and had different places to be at night and it was their first moment together since then.
The sun was shining bright, the beach wasn't too loaded by people. There was a couple taking a walk on the beach and they passed in front of them. It was two gorgeous women holding hands, smiling and talking with each others. Clarke smiled at them; they were so happy, and they seemed really in love, head over heels with each other. It was the kind of love that eradiate from two people, made you want to get such a powerful connection with someone as well.
Clarke had always envied this kind of relationship, it was almost like the one her parents shared.
The two woman went by them and Clarke looked at them , feeling so proud that they were able to live free, and enjoy being together, on a nice day out, at the beach, just as she was doing with her boyfriend. She looked at Finn thinking he would be as happy as she was about it. We are in 2016 and for Clarke there was nothing different and wrong with it. She caught his eyes and all she saw in them was anger, all over is face and his fist were tensed, like he was ready to fight with someone. Clarke was devastated by what she saw, and it only got worse when he started yelling at the couple. "Hey you Dykes, I don't want to see this kind of disgusting profanity on a public beach, get a fucking room."
"What the hell Finn! " Clarke yelled, sadness all over her face. "Let them be and stop yelling at them like an idiot jerk."
The woman's eyes were filled with sadness and hurt. They were shocked that someone would dare tell them something like this. They where only in love, nothing wrong with being in love, no matter what is the sex of the person you are in love with.
"I am really sorry for this Dickhead. I love how happy you are together, I wish you both the very best. A love like yours is so hard to find so hold on to it and don't let bigot like him get to you. Have a great day girls. "
"We are really more sorry about you, because you are stuck with an homophobic jerk as a boyfriend. " "Not anymore, no."
The girls laughed. "Have a nice day then."
They continued their walk along the beach, but they didn't hold each other's hands until about half a kilometer away; which broke Clarke's heart in pieces. How can someone break something so cute and good. She turned around and looked at Finn. "It is over between us Finn. If I had known you were such an idiot, I wouldn't have dated you. I will be gone of the house as soon as possible and I don't EVER want to have to deal with you anymore. " Clarke ran out of the beach and got herself next to the river where she was now.
-Lexa could not believe what Clarke just said. She was out amongst most of her friends. Her parents knew she was gay almost as long as she did and always where supportive. "Wow, I bet you didn't know you dated a jerk eh? "
Lexa put her hands on Clarke's shoulder; a little smile across her lips. "No, I didn't. I told him to stop yelling at them, the girls were in shock, and sad. I can't get their faces off of my head. I got up, told him that love shouldn't be about the sex of the person you are with. I ran off and came here where you found me. Which; by the way is not so bad! "
Bright blue eyes looked directly into forest green ones. Both women blushed. "No, it's not."
Clarke put her hand on Lexa's one that was still on her shoulder. She was mesmerized by the other woman. "Thanks for reaching out to me. Feels go to say this out loud. I still cannot believe it all happened." She stopped talking for a minute and then asked: " It's a long shot but would you want to go out for a coffee with me someday? "
Lexa's smile went wide as she looked into Clarke's eyes. "Of course I would."
She got her phone out and handed it to Clarke who entered her number in and sent herself a text.
"Text me when you are done moving, or before, if you need help or anything. I would love to see you again. "
They both blushed as Lexa took back her phone from Clarke and put it back in her pockets. She needed to go back home, but didn't want to leave just yet.
"I would as well." Clarke checked the time on her watch. It was getting pretty late and she still had to pack all of her stuff since she didn't want to spend a minute more than needed living with Finn, the man who shared her life for so long, who she shared so many things with; who turned out to be a homophobic jerk. Her father hated Finn so much, and now she sees why. "Sadly, I think I should go pack my stuff. I want to be out of there tonight. Thanks for everything. I am glad you came running and stopped here. I think we were meant to meet. I feel like I've known you my whole life. It's weird. Don't be a stranger and please, don't forget our coffee together. "
"I won't, I promise. Good luck with everything. "
Clarke turned away and Lexa looked down at her dog. She couldn't believe what just happened. She never talked to strangers, she was never the one to reach out, but she did and it turned out good. Clarke was so much her type of women, but for now the only thing she knew was that she was in a relationship with a man before, which let her sexual orientation up for interpretation and that Clarke needed a friend more than anything at the moment.
"Come on boy, let's go back to our run. " She put her music back on, her running app as well and headed back so the track down the river. This time, her mind wandered to a pretty blonde, piercing blue eyes and wonderful smile. And this time, it was something she did not want to forget. She ran for another 40 minutes before getting home, looking in her messages and read what Clarke had texted herself.
"It was less than a second; maybe half a second, but it changed everything."
"Funny how a second can change the course of your life." She said out loud, her smile reaching her eyes as she typed back
"May we meet again soon."