A/N: I don't really know what this is. It kinda just happened.
Warning: The pacing is a little clunky. Sorry.
It started as a joke.
Three months ago
Clarke had been sprawled across Bellamy's couch, her legs and feet invading Monty's personal space and her head resting on Octavia's lap, listening as her friends bickered over which Pokemon game was the best. She didn't really care. The whole series was a little too repetitive for her, though she didn't dare voice that opinion in fear of getting lectured by these nerds she called her best friends. The whole crew had been hanging out at Bellamy's apartment for hours, catching up after the first few weeks of college and complaining about everything under the sun. It was nice, really. Cathartic. They all needed a way to vent about their lives and friends were cheaper than therapists. It had been a little harder for them to continue hanging out everyday once college had started and it was clear they had all really missed each other. For the most part, Clarke was content to simply listen, only speaking up to tease Jasper about some new crush or to agree that Raven's professor - whom Clarke had never met before - was a total dick.
As the conversation jumped in another direction (something about Star Trek… God, these people are fucking nerds), Octavia nudged her shoulder and Clarke strained her neck to look up at her. "What?"
"I just realized you never told us about your roommate! I want to know everything," Octavia said, looking as if she desperately needed to be distracted from the current conversation. Clarke could seriously relate, but there wasn't much to tell. Her roommate was beautiful to say the least and, while she wasn't necessarily rude, she didn't seem like a very open person. The one time they spoke, the girl mostly grunted and when she actually used her words, Clarke could barely hear or understand what she was saying, so she took it as a sign that her roommate was just not very friendly.
"Well, I have one..."
"Oh, come on, Clarke!" Octavia whined, bouncing her legs and causing Clarke's head to bounce right along with them.
"Ugh!" Clarke sat up in defeat and shrugged. "Really, I don't know what to say. I think her name is Alexis or something..."
"That's it?" Octavia huffed. "Two weeks, and all you know – no you think - is that her name is Alexis?" She scrutinized Clarke for a moment, tilting her head to the side. "You're hiding something."
"What? No, I'm not! There's nothing to tell. We just don't really talk."
"I bet Clarke's banging this mysterious roommate and that's why she's being all weird about it," Raven called out from a bean bag chair across the table. Clarke didn't even know Raven had been listening and as she glanced around, she noticed everyone else was starting to tune in thanks to Raven's outburst. She groaned, rubbing her temples. These people were as relentless as hyenas with a carcass when it came to secrets. It was especially annoying now considering she wasn't even hiding anything from them this time.
Before she could defend herself, Bellamy threw in his two cents, "Dude, you shouldn't bump uglies with your roomie. That could get really awkward."
Growling, Clarke tried to speak but was interrupted once again. "No way, Bellamy, I would totally try to hook up with my roommate, too! ...You know, if I was rooming with a girl, I mean," Jasper exclaimed, tacking on the last part after catching a worried look from his best friend and current roommate, Monty.
Raven let out a bark of laughter, "Oh, yeah? You and what game?"
This was followed by a lot of laughter and more teasing at Jasper's expense, but, after a few moments, they shifted right back to their debate on whether or not Clarke should be sleeping with her roommate. It was really getting out of control and she knew they could go on like this for, at least, another twenty minutes if she didn't stomp it down now.
"Guys! Shut up!" She yelled, glaring at all of them. "I'm not having sex with her!"
The laughter died out, but Raven couldn't seem to let the subject go. "Then why can't you tell us about her?" she asked, seeming genuinely curious this time instead of mocking.
"Because there's nothing to tell. Seriously, guys," she exclaimed, rolling her eyes. "The only time we even see each other is from, like, ten to midnight and I'm usually too busy with homework to chat."
"Midnight? What, is that your bedtime or something?" Octavia questioned, shooting her a teasing grin.
Clarke shook her head. "No. Actually, she usually leaves right around that time. Sometimes, she stays out the whole night. I just figured she's been visiting a boyfriend."
She glanced around and noticed most of them seemed appeased and were ready to change the topic, but Monty chuckled and finally spoke up for the first time since Clarke's roommate had been brought up, "It sounds more like she's joined a cult if you ask me."
That sparked another round of laughter and ten more minutes discussing the mysterious roommate. It was much less annoying than before and Clarke let herself calm down as she entertained her friends' bizarre theories.
Present Day
Clarke found herself in a very similar position as she had been all those months ago. She was back at Bellamy's place, surrounded by all her friends who had spent the whole night bickering about a myriad of subjects she mostly didn't care about in the slightest except, this time, she was slouching in the ratty recliner next to the couch and she was willingly bringing up her roommate situation. Again. She had slowly developed a heavy interest (obsession) with the girl she was living with and couldn't seem to stop talking about her.
"Clarke, I don't see what the big deal is. Maybe this Alex chick wears all black and has raccoon eyes because she's one of those emos. A lot of people around here dress like that if you haven't noticed." Octavia said around a sigh. This wasn't the first time that explanation had been offered up, but Clarke refused to hear it. None of them understood.
"No! You don't get it!" She huffed and then, as an afterthought, added, "and her name is Lexa. Do any of you actually listen to me? And it's not just her clothes and make-up. She has a weird obsession with black animals-"
"You saw her pet a black cat once! That doesn't mean she sacrifices them to Satan," Jasper interrupted, laughing.
Pointedly ignoring Jasper, Clarke continued, "She's out all hours of the night, she wears this huge, black cloak when she leaves, and, most importantly, she came back one morning with blood all over her clothes!"
Raven rolled her eyes, good-naturedly. "Look, Clarke... I just don't get how anything you're saying means she's in a cult. You know Monty was joking when he said that, right?"
From his side of the couch Monty nodded, though he stayed out of the conversation. Probably because he didn't want any part of Clarke's special brand of crazy. Bellamy, Octavia, and Bellamy's roommate, Lincoln, were all sporting similar looks, while Raven and Jasper just looked amused over the whole ordeal. Clarke knew she sounded crazy, but there was something about that Lexa girl that always had her on edge and she was sure it was something weird, which is exactly what she proceded to tell them.
"What do you mean she makes you feel on edge?" Bellamy asked, suddenly interested in the conversation, a light smile resting on his lips. Clarke thought that was a little odd considering the issue at hand, but chose to ignore it.
Clarke sighed, slumping further into her chair. "I... I don't know, really," she said, biting her lip as she tried to focus on putting her thoughts and feelings into words. "Lexa just makes me nervous, I guess. My heart starts to freak out and my head gets, like, really hazy..."
Jasper laughed, nodding his head. "Which totally means she's a Satanist or something. I see you're logic."
Clarke rolled her eyes and then shot a glare at Octavia and Bellamy when she noticed them having a silent conversation with matching, poorly supressed, grins. Fucking siblings. How do they do that anyway? Probably voodoo...
"Hey, Team Rocket, care to share with the class? Talking behind someone's back is rude, you know," she huffed.
Both of them looked back to Clarke, no longer even trying to hide those shit-eating grins. "Team Rocket, Clarke? Really? That doesn't even make sense." Bellamy teased, clearly becoming more amused as the conversation wore on.
"And we weren't talking," Octavia added.
Clarke rolled her eyes for what felt like the hundredth time that night. Really, she was starting to become worried it was affecting her eyesight. It couldn't be good for her. "Don't be annoying. Why are you two looking at me like that?"
Raven chuckled, obviously having picked up on what Bellamy and Octavia were thinking and gave Clarke a look that could only be described as 'bitch, really?', which only served to annoy Clarke even further. She hated when they pulled this crap; all sharing the same knowledge while refusing to let her in on it. She growled and sprang out of her chair (well, tried to, but it came off more as a stumble). If they weren't going to help, then Clarke would leave she decided.
Just as she was picking up her bag, Bellamy took a few steps toward her, holding up his hands in mock surrender. "Chill, Clarke," he said around a smile. He was always smiling. Clarke hated it right now and tried to intimidate it away with her best glare. She really wasn't in the mood to be jerked around. He continued on, seemingly unphased, "Do you think - and don't bite my head off - but do you think you might have a crush on Lexa?"
Clarke felt her mind grind to halt and preform a complete reboot as she glanced around at all of her friends, verifying that they were all, indeed, morons. Or assholes who enjoyed riling her up a little too much. Probably both. Hell, even Lincoln seemed to be thinking along the same lines and they didn't even really know each other.
"That's ridiculous," she finally responded, refusing to even consider that they might be right. She would know of she had a crush or not. It wasn't like she hadn't ever dated before. It has been a long time since I actually liked the person I was dating, though…Clarke shook her head, killing that thought before it could lead her somewhere she wasn't prepared to visit. She would think it over later but, for now, she was starting to feel like a zoo exhibit with the way everyone was looking at her. So, gathering herself back up, Clarke leveled them all with one more glare and marched out of the apartment, slamming the door behind her.
Clarke lasted three days ignoring her friends. It wasn't that she was angry with them, - well, not as angry - but she really needed some time to think things over. As stubborn as she was, Clarke still knew that when everyone is telling you that the sky is blue, they're, more often than not, probably right. She had accepted that it was unlikely that Lexa was in a cult but, still, she was having a hard time pinpointing exactly why she had such a large interest in the girl. Really, she was having a hard time admitting the reason. The tipping point came that third day as she was lying in bed, her eyes glazed. She had been lost in her own thoughts a lot over the last few days and people were apparently starting to notice. Including Lexa.
"What's wrong with you?" Lexa asked. Her focus never drifted from the textbooks she had spread across her desk and Clarke wasn't completely sure the other girl had even spoken at all. Still, she slowly blinked her previous train of thought away and glanced over at her roommate.
"Nothing. My head's just a little cluttered," she responded, trying to remain nonchalant. This was the girl who had been occupying all of her free thoughts, so Clarke was a little nervous talking to her. Not to mention how strange it was that Lexa had initiated a conversation with her in the first place.
"Well...unclutterit. You're distracting me," Lexa coolly responded.
Clarke huffed, crossing her arms. Of course, she doesn't actually care. Why would she? ...And why do I want her to care?With a soft groan, Clarke rubbed a hand down her face and sighed with annoyance at herself. She didn't know why she refused to see it before, but it was suddenly undeniably clear exactly why she wanted Lexa to care. With a huff, she climbed out of bed, hoping everyone was still at the dining hall. It was only a little past six after all. Clarke didn't know if she was willing to tell them they were right because they would be so goddamn smug, but she did know that she didn't really have a reason to stay mad anymore. Also, she just really missed her friends.
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Lexa watching with what seemed like... worry? Or, was it regret? The look was gone as quickly as it appeared and, though Clarke would have liked to question her about it, she knew from experience Lexa would either ignore her or pretend it didn't happen. She had caught similar looks from her seemingly distant roommate several times, with increasing frequency, over the last month or so, but anytime Clarke mentioned them, Lexa would clam up and revert back to pretending Clarke didn't exist. Shaking her head, Clarke left with a secret smile, realizing she found Lexa's actions less frustrating and much more endearing compared to just a few weeks ago.
Clarke easily spotted her friends at their usual table as she entered the cafeteria, having made it down there in record time. She could feel their gazes on her as she sat down, but pretended to find the invisible lint on her shirt incredibly interesting in lieu of making eye contact with everyone. After several awkward moments, Octavia either couldn't stand the silence any longer or decided to take pity on her and spoke up, "Hey, Clarke, we were just talking about you!"
"Oh, yeah?" Clarke responded, glancing over to see a worrying, mischievous glint in her friend's eyes. "I don't like the sound of that."
"You should trust that instinct," Bellamy grumbled from farther down the table. Brow furrowed in confusion and suspicion, Clarke glanced around at the rest of her friends, noting that everyone besides Bellamy and Lincoln seemed a little too excited for her liking.
Raven shoved Bellamy's shoulder. "Hey, shut up!" Turning to face Clarke, she leaned in conspiratorially and began speaking in a rushed, quieted ramble, "Look, we felt bad for teasing you about the whole Lexa thing, so we wanna make it up to you. How do you feel about finding out, once and for all, what the sneaky raccoon has been up too?"
Clarke frowned at the 'raccoon' comment, but shook it off. There were clearly more pressing issues at hand. "What do you mean? How?"
"It was Bellamy's idea!" Jasper chimed in.
Bellamy groaned, "You guys knew I was joking."
"We just gotta follow her the next time she leaves," Jasper continued on, ignoring Bellamy and beaming from ear to ear. "You know, go all Mission Impossibleon her ass."
Raven rolled her eyes at Jasper, "Reel it in, nerd. We just wanna check out where she goes. It's not like we're hunting down an evil, Russian psychopath or something."
Jasper looked affronted, but Monty spoke up before things could dissolve into another ridiculous argument, "It'll still be fun, though, and we can finally put your worries at ease, Clarke."
Clarke bit her lip. She was curious by nature and it was always hard telling her friends no when they were excited about something - which was often. Sure, she know understood why she had been so interested in Lexa and, in retrospect, it seemed unlikely that the girl was in a cult, but Clarke still really wanted to know where her newly realized crush was sneaking off too so often.
"Okay, let's do it," Clarke agreed, smiling at the cheers from most of her friends and the groans from Bellamy and Lincoln.
"Yes! This is going to be so fun!" Octavia exclaimed, pulling Clarke into an excited hug. Clarke returned it, albeit slightly less enthusiastically. She just hoped things wouldn't get out of hand as they so often did with some of the group's previous... adventures. Mentally shaking her head, Clarke accepted that they had a snowball's chance in hell of getting through this without finding themselves in some kind of trouble, but it would probably be worth it.
The following night, at nearly a quarter to midnight, Clarke found herself crouching behind a large set of bushes with the six loudest, most conspicuous assholes in the world.
"Ow, get off me!"
"I think I just stepped in dog shit..."
"Sorry, my bad."
"Who's that? Clarke, is that her!?"
"You can go wipe your shoe off in the grass over there."
"Jasper, you need glasses. That girl is definitely not Lexa."
"Guys, shut up!" Clarke hissed down the line. "We're going to get caught if you all don't keep it down," she continued gruffly. Thankfully, they all fell silent, not wanting to get spotted and scare the girl off or, worse, have campus security called on them. Unfortunately, the peace only lasted a few moments before Raven shouted out in pain and shoved Bellamy to the ground.
"That's the third time you've stepped on my hand, clown feet! Get your shit together!"
"It wasn't me that time, I swear!"
The group dissolved into another several minutes worth of bickering and Clarke was finding it increasingly hard not to deck one of them. We're so screwed. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and, when she opened them again, she spotted Lexa just exiting the building. Finally!
"Shh, there she is!" she whisper-shouted, shouldering Raven to switch the girl's focus away from killing Bellamy to paying attention to the current situation.
"Clarke, I thought you said she wore a cloak... That thing is hideous, but it looks like a normal jacket," Octavia observed, an obvious look of distaste written over her face. Clarke rolled her eyes, ignoring the chuckles from the others as they noticed the same thing. Like Octavia has any room to judge clothing choices anyway, Clarke thought to herself, glancing around at the ridiculous outfits the other girl had coerced everyone into wearing. Clarke didn't have anything against black clothes, but she figured a group of seven morons, dressed in matching black outfits, was a little too noticeable. Lincoln had agreed with her, but Octavia would hear nothing of it. She claimed she wanted everyone to get the 'full experience'. Lincoln had relented soon after (Clarke had found that strange. He didn't seem like the type to roll over so easily.) and she was out-voted 6-1.
Shushing them again, Clarke tracked her roommate's movements and slowly began to creep along behind her, keeping about a hundred feet or so between them and sticking to the shadows. She could hear someone humming the Pink Panthertheme song and out of the corner of her eye, Clarke saw Octavia preforming tuck-and-rolls as she moved from place to place. She prayed to all the gods she could think of that someone like Jasper wouldn't try and follow her lead. The last thing they needed was another trip to the hospital. Really, Clarke was about 90% positive her mom would kill her if she had to mend one more strangely acquired injury.
Several minutes of following (stalking) Lexa lead the group to what seemed to literally be a hole in the ground, guarded by very large man. Clarke made sure they remained out of sight once she realized Lexa was headed straight towards the hole and, thus, the Khal Drogo wanna-be. After a few moments, Lexa climbed down the whole and they officially lost sight of her.
"Well, that's ominous as fuck. What do we do?" Raven asked, eying the gruff man with open distaste.
Octavia glanced at Clarke and spoke, looking as if the words were physically paining her, "Alright, so maybe you were totally on the nose with this one. That's definitely the entrance to some kind of freaky sex dungeon."
"I... really don't want to go down there," Monty added quietly. Clarke couldn't blame him or any of the others. She noticed most of them were sporting varying looks of discomfort at the prospect of following Lexa any further and with good reason. And then there was Lincoln. He didn't seem nervous at all. In fact, he suddenly seemed far too amused for her liking.
"You. Speak," she demanded, narrowing her eyes at Lincoln and crossing her arms.
"I had a feeling this was where she was going. The looks on your faces...," he began, chuckling lightly. Catching Clarke's eye, he shrugged, still smiling. "It's just a club a lot of us locals like to visit. It's called Grounders and, before you go marching off, there's a password to get in."
"Jenkies, gang, we did it. We solved the mystery," Bellamy quipped, his signature smirk back in full effect. Big talk for a guy who looked no more willing to go check it out than any of us just a couple seconds ago, Clarke thought, rolling her eyes at his mocking tone.
Jasper's smile was so large it almost looked painful. "Oh, awesome! Please tell me you have the password," he said, looking at Lincoln like he was 42.
"Well... I might," Lincoln said, though he seemed less than willing to help them out.
"Please, Lincoln?" Octavia whined, giving him her best puppy eyes. "We're already here and we could all use some fun."
Like a flip of a switch, he was basically putty in her hands. Clarke secretly smirked to herself as she watched his internal battle and laughed when he sighed in acquisition.
"Follow me," he grumbled, walking slightly ahead of everyone else. "And try not to be so weird."
"Okay, rude," Raven mumbled from farther back and, while most of them agreed with her, no one else said anything, not willing to possibly lose their way in. Clarke knew he was right. She loved her friends to the moon and back, but they were definitely an odd group.
After a few words in a language Clarke didn't know and a handshake where Lincoln and the bouncer grasped eachother's forearms, Lincoln motioned for them to follow him as he disappeared into the man-hole-like entrance. Clarke moved towards the back, wanting to make sure everyone got through without somehow provoking the bouncer/guard/Khal Drogo cosplayer.
She was wholly surprised by her friends' manners until, just as Bellamy was about to follow Raven down, he shouted, "Dothras chek!" before ducking down the entrance.
The man didn't seem to know what it meant and was unperturbed for a moment... and then Raven's guffaws echoed up through the hole. He turned his threatening eyes on Clarke who, while not one to be easily threatened, quickly lowered her own to the ground and followed her friends, hoping that was the last she would ever see of the terrifying man. She always figured her death would be directly related to Raven or Jasper or one of the others pissing the wrong person off, but she really didn't want it to happen tonight.
The hole was much larger than it seemed, Clarke realized, though she still felt that tightening in her chest that often came with claustrophobia. It seemed to go on forever as she climbed the grimy ladder down, but she couldn't have been in there longer than half a minute. She finally reached the bottom after what felt like a century and punched Bellamy in the arm as soon as she saw him, ignoring his protests. Feeling someone poking her in the shoulder, Clarke turned and smiled at Octavia.
"Look, there's your girlfriend," Octavia teased pointing off towards a long counter-space that edged along the right wall, surrounded by hordes of people. Clarke immediately spotted Lexa behind the bar, mixing some drink. She's a bartender? How anti-climatic, she thought, not even bothering to defend herself from Octavia's jab. She glanced around the cavernous room and confirmed that Lincoln had been telling the truth. It was definitely a club. A very popular club. The DJ was playing some awful dance remix to a top 40 song that Clarke new Octavia was dying to dance to and most of the people were doing just that or sitting off around the tables spread out near the walls. Nearly everyone was wearing dark, grunge-y clothing and many had an extreme amount of black eyeliner and... war paint? Clarke suddenly found herself grateful that Octavia made them all wear black outfits, however ridiculous it had seemed at the time, and was relieved the group would be able to blend in a little.
Jasper had already wandered off, announcing he'd grab the first round and Bellamy, Monty, and Raven were shoving a few tables together to better accommodate the group. Several minutes after everyone had finally gotten comfortable, Jasper came back with about thirty shots.
"Everybody, shots!" he shouted and Clarke grinned. It was no secret Clarke could be a bit of a party girl and she was in dire need of a fun night after the revelation she had yesterday, preceded by those three months of insanity. Everybody picked one up and, after a cheers to an awesome night, slammed them back.
A little over two hours later found Clarke in her drunken prime. She had climbed up on a table, encouraged by Raven, Jasper, and Octavia, and was slurring out barely distinguishable rap lyrics. A small crowd had gathered, cheering loudly as she pulled off her leather jacket and said something about disregarding its label. Much to everyone's disappointment, the show didn't last very long because Clarke had been yanked off the table after a few minutes. She felt herself being pulled away towards a dark corner and tried to clear her vision enough to see who had ruined her rock star moment. Clarke's eyes bugged and she immediately felt her heart begin to race as she realized who it was.
"Lexa?" she asked, bewildered, though it sounded slightly more like 'leksa'. The other girl didn't respond until she had reached the corner she had been headed for and dropped Clarke's hand so she could cross her arms. Clarke pouted at the action.
"What are you doing, Clarke?" she demanded through gritted teeth. "You're embarrassing yourself and me for that matter. My manager wanted to kick you out."
Clarke's pout deepened and she shrugged, not meeting Lexa's eyes. "I'm just having fun," she mumbled.
"If stripping in a room full of hundreds of people is what you consider fun-" Lexa stopped herself and rubbed her temples, trying to collect her thoughts. "How do you even know about this place?" she asked.
"Oh, we followed you here!" Clarke said, grinning. "It was soooo fun! We were, like, spies."
Lexa's eyes widened and her mouth hung open in shock. If Clarke was sober, she would have noted that this was the most emotion she had ever seen her roommate freely show. Instead, Clarke simply giggled.
"You followedme? What the fuck, Clarke? What... Why!?" Lexa was very clearly freaked out and was eying Clarke like she was going to try and stab her at any moment.
Clarke's frown came back in full force. "You can't be mad, okay?" she pleaded. "I thought you were in a cult and it was really scary and Raven and 'Tavia and everyone wanted to prove that you weren't, so we followed you. Please, don't be mad."
"You... you thought I was in a cult? That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard!" Lexa exclaimed. She was no longer actively guarding herself against Clarke, but she still appeared rightfully freaked out. "Why would you even think that?"
"'Cause," Clarke sighed. "You wear black all the time and weird make-up and you had a black kitty and one time you had blood on your shirt."
Lexa shook her head, trying to process what she was hearing. "None of those things are related and they definitely don't mean I'm in a cult and that you should stalk me!"
"I know! That's what my friends said," Clarke admitted, pointing at a few of them who had been watching the interaction from afar. "Plus, I figured out yesterday that they were right. I'm sorry, Lexa," she finished, chin wobbling in warning that she was about to start crying. She looked up at the confused girl in front of her with big, watery eyes and pouted once more. "Are you mad at me now?" she asked, looking like she might break down if Lexa said yes.
Lexa, for her part, still seemed a little freaked out, but she sighed and patted Clarke's shoulder. "Don't cry, Clarke. I'm not mad. Why did you still follow me if you knew yesterdaythat I'm, in fact, not in a cult?"
"I can't tell you that," Clarke immediately said, shaking her head so fast, she got dizzy and started to sway. The hand on her shoulder steadied her and she met green eyes once more. "It's a secret."
A small range of emotions passed over Lexa's face, though Clarke was in no shape to process them, until she finally sighed, "I need to get back to work. We'll talk about this tomorrow."
Clarke beamed, nodding her head. The idea of Lexa having an actual conversation with her was enough to make her almost jump for joy, despite the topic they would be discussing. Lexa began to walk away, but glanced back for a moment, "You should go home before you do something stupid. Well, something else stupid," she said with an almost, not quite smile and Clarke returned it times a hundred.
Clarke awoke the next morning to the gentle embrace of an anvil being dropped on her head. Really, it was just a pillow, but with the headache she had and the bright sunlight streaming in through the window, blinding her for life, she found herself sympathizing with the pain Wile E Coyote must have gone through so often. The sudden motion of jolting awake both amplified her headache and made her stomach churn sickeningly. Groaning, she raised a hand up to block the sunlight that was assuredly trying to fry her retinas. Slowly blinking, she turned her head and almost wished she had simply let the sun burn her eyes out instead. She hesitantly smiled at her roommate, who was staring down at her with an unreadable expression. Clarke didn't really know what was going on but, considering the pillow, the sunlight, and the fact that Lexa was acknowledging her at all, her instincts were telling her to run for the hills. She squashed the feeling down, knowing she a had a tendency for the dramatic, and tried to force her brain to work long enough to greet Lexa.
"Hey," she croaked. Her tongue felt thick and heavy and her throat was drier than her mother's sense of humor.
"Hello, Clarke." The sound of Lexa saying her name like that gave Clarke goosebumps.
"You hit me with a pillow," Clarke said, frowning.
Lexa quirked an eyebrow, but otherwise remained stoic as ever. "I did."
"Uh, why?" she asked after coughing to clear up her throat a little.
"Well, seeing as it's already well past noon, I figured you would sleep the day away if I didn't intervene and we would have to wait even longer to continue our conversation from last night."
Clarke could feel her cheeks warming and desperately tried to recall what they could have talked about. She vaguely remembered Lexa pulling her off a table, but that was it. "Sorry, I guess I blacked out last night. What... what did we talk about?" she asked, her voice cracking with apprehension as well as dehydration. She considered getting up for some water, but was pretty sure her body wouldn't make it as far as the bathroom sink. Lexa rolled her eyes and pointed at Clarke's nightstand where there was already a glass of water and some aspirin. Clarke took both gratefully, however it seemed Lexa had timed her words perfectly, and she was almost immediately choking on her water.
"We talked about a lot, actually. You thinking I was in a cult, you stalking me, a secret... Oh, and a cat was mentioned briefly." Lexa said, smirking when Clarke spluttered around her water.
Note to self: Lexa is kinda dramatic as hell. Clarke cleared her throat again, pretending she wasn't that affected, though the darkening tint to her cheeks told a different story. "It sounds like you have the whole story, Lexa."
Lexa hummed, staring straight into Clarke's soul. "But I don't. Last night you were going to tell me why, when you realized I wasn't actually in a cult, you still stalked me."
"I wouldn't really call it stalking," Clarke began, rubbing her neck. However, at Lexa's ever-arching eyebrow, she sighed. "I don't know really... I guess I was just curious. I still really wanted to know why you came back with a blood-soaked shirt that one time."
Lexa narrowed her eyes almost imperceptibly, seemingly deciding on a course of action. In the blink of an eye, her cool exterior was back full-force and she shrugged nonchalantly. "I helped break up a bar fight that night. One of the guys was bleeding pretty heavily."
"That makes sense," Clarke sighed. Closing her eyes and putting a hand over her face in shame. "Lexa, I'm really sorry about all of this. People have told me I sometimes go a little over-board but, I swear, nothing like this will ever happen again. If you could, like, not call the cops on me, that would be awesome."
Lexa laughed, soft and light, and Clarke's head shot up at the sound. Her headache throbbed with a vengeance, but she couldn't seem to make herself regret it. She glimpsed a truly smiling Lexa and the sight caused her own features to break out in a goofy grin.
Though a ghost of a smile remained, Lexa narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
Clarke blushed again (it was apparently going to be a common occurrence around the other girl now) and shrugged, still smiling. "You have a really nice laugh."
The corner of Lexa's lip twitched, but she managed not to smile again, though Clarke knew she wanted to, and spun on her heel. "I'm going to go get some lunch. Take a shower, Clarke. You smell. I'll bring back something greasy to help with your hangover."
Clarke collapsed back into her bed, only cringing at the jolt of pain that shot through her skull for a moment, and grinned excitedly to herself. She had a feeling today was the start of something amazing and she couldn't wait to see where it lead.
A year later
Clarke recalled that day with a nostalgic smile, noting that her past self had been completely right. That day really had been the start of something special and, while it had taken several months of the two girls toeing around their feelings, Lexa and Clarke had been officially dating for a little more than half a year.
She had been rummaging around her closet, looking for something suitable to wear when her mind had drifted to those memories and, after shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Clarke continued on with her task. It may have been commonly acceptable for her peers to walk around in their pajamas, but Clarke had never really felt comfortable doing so. Besides, Lexa had asked if Clarke could meet her at her room (the two had decided not to room together this year, agreeing that it wouldn't be healthy for a new relationship), saying that she had a surprise and Clarke didn't want to ruin something nice by wearing her Spongebob jammies.
A half hour later, Clarke was walking down Lexa's dorm hall, her pace slowed with apprehension. A strange drum beat was echoing out in the hall and Clarke's hackles immediately raised. She had being trying to lessen her dramatic tendencies ever since the cult incident, but something about the sound of that beat had her reverting back to her old self. Cautiously, she edged towards her girlfriend's room, realizing that the sound was definitely coming from within. She leaned closer and could hear muffled murmurs, though she couldn't make out what the voices were saying. Clarke considered turning back, if only for a moment, before giving herself a mental pep talk and then cautiously knocked on the door.
"Enter," a voice called from inside. It was familiar but distorted and Clarke's suspicions heightened to an all-time high. After taking a few calming breaths, she turned the knob and shoved the door open with as much confidence as she could muster, figuring it would be like ripping off a band-aid. The lights in the room were shut off and there was a dangerous amount of candles littering every available surface. A tall figure, wearing a dark cloak with a hood that obscured their face, was playing what looked like a cajon drum in the corner and they weren't alone. Glancing around the room, Clarke quickly counted roughly a dozen people crammed into Lexa's room, all wearing the exact same cloaks. One of the figures stepped forward, lowering their hood and Clarke narrowed her eyes.
"Welcome, Clarke," Anya said, giving her a sly smile. "We were wondering when you would join us."
Clarke unconsciously took a half-step back, "Right... Where's Lexa?" she asked, annoyed at the worried tone in her voice. She had never trusted Anya and knew that the woman would pounce if she observed any weakness. The person to Anya's right, and coincidentally directly in the center of the room, stepped forward and lowered their hood. Clarke's eyes widened comically as she stared at her girlfriend, feeling her heart jump to her throat.
"Clarke... There is no need to be frightened," she said, her voice taking on a tone Clarke had never heard before. "We would never hurt you. You're much to important to the prophecy."
"Lex... wha- the prophecy?" Clarke asked, stumbling over her words as her brain valiantly tied to process what was happening. "What's going on?"
"We'll get that soon enough," Lexa replied, waving her hand dismissively. "It's not important at the moment. Clarke, could you close the door please? This is a private meeting, after all."
Taking another step back, Clarke shook her head. "No way in hell am I closing the door. What is all of this?" she demanded, her voicing raising in alarm.
Lexa sighed, "I knew this wouldn't be easy. Brothers... Sisters... lower your hoods for Clarke. Some friendly faces might put her at ease."
The mysterious people lowered their hoods and, one by one, every one her friends revealed themselves, along with a few faces Clarke only knew through Lexa. The drum beat stopped and, somewhere in the back of her mind, Clarke scolded herself for not immediately recognizing the drum as the one from Bellamy's apartment. A shocked gasp escaped her lips and Clarke took another step back, now officially standing in the hallway.
"This is..." she began, unsure of what it was. "This isfucked up." She had never felt more confused or afraid. It was common knowledge that Clarke didn't have a very high fear tolerance and this was quickly starting to feel very surreal as if it were a nightmare. However, Clarke was also incredibly brave and had never backed down from anyone or anything simply because it scared her. Before any of them could react, she gritted her teeth in determination and lunged at Anya, who had seemed like the biggest threat for some reason, tackling her to the ground. Somewhere off in the distance, she heard Lexa yell her name, but she ignored it. She balled her hand up in a fist, but just as she was about to bring it down, a strong pair of arms had wrapped themselves around her waist and was pulling her back.
"Clarke, it was a prank!" Lexa's voice finally broke through Clarke dulled senses, but she still strained against her girlfriends grip. "It was just a prank..."
"What?" she hissed, finally pulling away and glaring Lexa furiously. "This was a prank!?" Suddenly, as if everything had previously been muted, she could hear uproarious laughter and she glanced around. The lights had been flipped back on sometime in the last few moments and Raven was laughing so hard it looked like she was only standing upright thanks to an arm around Monty's shoulders. She noticed several of the others were laughing as well, though not as hard, and one of Lexa's friends had a tight grip on Anya, presumably to keep her from murdering Clarke. "You guys are fucking assholes," she seethed and then stormed out of the room, trying to hide her embarrassment.
Bellamy walked over to Lexa, who looked equal parts smug and nervous, and patted her on the shoulder. "This was really awesome, but I'm pretty sure you're officially in the dog house."
Lexa sighed, "I didn't realize she'd react so badly. One of you should have warned me," she grumbled, brushing the hand off her shoulder and glaring at all of Clarke's friends in turn. None of them seemed particularly upset by what had happened so, with a petulant huff, she marched off to find her girlfriend, hoping things wouldn't be as bad as Bellamy made it out to sound.
Clarke smirked to herself as she heard heavy, booted footsteps headed her way, knowing it wouldn't take Lexa long to come after her. A moment later, Lexa turned the corner and nearly walked straight into her. Clarke giggled at Lexa's surprise.
"Clarke! I thought you'd be halfway to your room right now," she exclaimed in disbelief.
Clarke shrugged, biting her lip. "I realized about two seconds after I stormed out that I really shouldn't be angry with you, but I couldn't really go back in there. They would laugh at me." She pouted in much the same way she had that first night at the club and Lexa immediately smiled at her.
"Good. I wasn't trying to be mean. We all thought it would be a funny 'throwback', as your friends say, to how you and I started." Lexa stepped forward, reaching for Clarke's hand, intertwining their fingers.
Clarke rolled hers eyes, but returned the smile. "It was kinda funny, but I was really scared there for a second."
Lexa chuckled, nodding. "Yes, well, that was the whole point."
"Asshole," Clarke muttered, smacking her girlfriend's shoulder playfully. Lexa simply chuckled again and brought her in for a hug. "But, seriously, Lexa. Please, don't ever join a cult. I really don't think I would be able take it down to save you if you did."
Lexa's laughter could be heard all the way towards her room where the large group of dorks dressed in cloaks could hear it. Each of them sighed their own secret breath of relief. Clarke hugged Lexa tighter, thankful, if just for a moment, that she was so dramatic.
A/N: Alright, this was the first fic (ficlet?) that I've ever written and it took all of my willpower not to just delete it. It kinda started off as a drabble and spiraled into this... thing or whatever. Sorry for any mistakes and general clunky writing. I've never written anything this long since I mostly dabble in drabbles (lol) and poetry. I had fun writing it though and I hope you had fun reading it.
In the scene where Clarke is 'rapping', she's either singing Remix to Ignition or the rap verse to Party Worth Crashing. Just an FYI, I prefer imagining her white-girl rapping to PWC rather than Remix to Ignition, but I didn't specifically say it, so imagine what you want, I guess.
Also, sorry for all the references... There's a lot and I couldn't seem to stop myself.
One last thing: I know that Clarke and the others mix up cults and the occult a lot and kinda butcher what the occult actually is, but I also know most people don't know much about that stuff and figured they wouldn't either. I hope I didn't offend anyone. Okay, I'm done now.