i figured after the mess you all became with the latest cold bones installment, y'all deserve some fluff. but beware, i'm really bad with fluff. so bad.
now, read, ponder, and don't judge!
Didn't they tell us don't rush into things?
Didn't you flash your green eyes at me?
Didn't you call my fears with the treacherous cat's smile?
Oh, didn't it all seem new and exciting?
-Wonder, Taylor Swift
Summer crept in like a thief in the night, staking away the chill of the omnipresent winter and the green of the spring like an absolute asshole. In their stead were the swelter, the month, the short sleeves, the long days. Summer was the reason that the occupant of the double bed in an apartment in the vast city of DC was struggling.
The blanket was stifling, but the blanket was also the only barrier to the cruel glare of the sun that had risen much too early. Not only that, the blanket was the only source of protection from any monsters hiding under the bed – especially when there was no one else in that bed, despite the rumpled state of the other side.
Clarke groaned, knowing that it was too much. The heat was too much. The brightness was too much. No matter her desire to keep sleeping, to enjoy this long awaited weekend after dealing with a big project for a stupid class for the last two months, the season couldn't give a crap. Fuck summer. She rolled onto her back and opened her eyes, hands touching the rumpled pillow next to her absentmindedly and mouth reluctantly curling into a smile when she could finally focus enough to smell the bacon and pancakes.
Or rather, the beginnings of bacon and pancakes. She wasn't too sure if she'd actually be able to taste them later.
Her girlfriend – the love of her life, the girl she loved with every single iota of her being and then more – was the worst cook in the world. If not in the world, then at least in Clarke's world. The first time she slept over and her girlfriend made lunch, Clarke had to swallow the hard spaghetti like it was totally normal, praising Lexa over and over again, despite Anya cackling in the other bedroom without any sort of discretion.
It was actually quite refreshing to know that there was something her girlfriend couldn't do. And yet, despite the well-equipped knowledge that the girl could easily kill someone with her cooking, Clarke found herself unable to tell the truth. Well, not the whole truth. She wouldn't exactly tell her girlfriend that her cooking was absolutely delicious, but she also wouldn't tell her that her food was entirely inedible.
There would be a day she would be honest, but today was not it.
A lazed yawn escaped her lips, accompanied by a suffering groan as she sat upright and stretched to lax her joints and bones. Without looking, she extended a hand to fumble on the bedside table until she found the device she was looking for, unlocking it to see a series of texts from her friends, Anya topping it.
She blinked. Anya Woods never texted her. Anya Woods never texted anyone but her sister. Anya Woods would either call or get someone else to become the messenger.
Anya (6:03a.m.): She doesn't like balloons.
To make sure she saw the time stamp right, Clarke's eyes flitted to the top of the screen to see that the current time was four hours and more after Anya had texted. Of course she'd be the kind to wake up at the ass crack of dawn. The Woods sisters were aliens.
Clarke (10:41a.m.): good morning i don't care if she doesn't like balloons i'm getting her balloons
Once she was sure that was it, she crawled out of bed and didn't even bother to put on any layers as she sauntered out into the living room in just a tank top and underwear. She would go naked if she could, but there was a likely chance that the apartment would catch on fire if she did.
Just as expected, her favorite person was standing in the kitchen, confidently stacking pancakes onto a giant plate and setting it aside before laying bacon strips on another smaller plate.
Clarke sidled up behind the brunette and encased her arms around the girl's waist, nose buried in tender and soft neck with an appreciative hum. The body trapped against her jumped slightly before relaxing, stopping her movements and just enjoying the moment.
"It's hot," Lexa commented – Clarke could hear the smile in her voice.
It was. Her bare feet on the hardwood floors felt like they were going pop boils anytime. The back of her tank top already seemed increasingly sticky. And yet, she couldn't let go. She would love to, honestly, just so she wouldn't suffer from heatstroke or something. But she loved holding her girlfriend more.
She hummed again and just tightened her arms – if only to give herself a little more time to prepare for what would definitely be a disaster later.
The things she did for love.
"How many times do I have to tell you to not call me?"
"Bellamy wants to know what time he should pick up the cake," Raven said without much delay, not at all bothered by Clarke's almost venomous tone.
"You couldn't text me?" Clarke hissed, immediately shifting her expression to a friendly one when Lexa finally came out of the building and joined her. She distractedly pressed a kiss to Lexa's cheek as she shoved the keys into the girl's palm.
Raven scoffed into the phone. Lexa stared at her with an unimpressed look as she realized what Clarke had done. "Please, you know how bad you are at texting."
Who's that? Lexa mouthed, grasping Clarke's hand. They started moving towards the parking lot.
Raven, Clarke mouthed back. "I'll text you," she directed at Raven before hanging up, not even waiting for the Latina to respond.
"You might as well flush your driving license down the toilet," Lexa commented when they reached the car.
"Hey!" Clarke protested, indignant.
Lexa smirked over the hood of the sedan and Clarke didn't like it already. There was a glint in those green eyes, a glint that she would have welcomed and appreciated thoroughly if they were in the bedroom. But they were in public, and Lexa had never been a big fan of car sex, so this meant it wouldn't mean well for the blonde.
"I control the music."
Oh, fuck. "No!"
Lexa shrugged and climbed into the driver's seat. Clarke threw her head back and groaned. She grumbled under her breath, cursing herself for falling into this trap. Another thing Lexa was mediocre at was her music taste. Well, Clarke thought it was – Raven loved her girlfriend's music choices.
Which reminded her – she unlocked her phone and climbed into the car as well, fingers already typing out a respond to Raven's previously unanswered question. She was halfway into rolling her eyes at Raven's ridiculous innuendo at keeping Lexa busy for the day when Havana started playing and Lexa started humming under her breath.
"Oh, no," Clarke said out loud, already anticipating for the full blowout that Lexa would get into whenever her music played.
"Havana, oh, na, na," Lexa started singing, reaching out blindly into Clarke's lap, which Clarke assuaged by holding onto the stray hand with hers, grasping it tightly, not wanting to let go at all. "Half of my heart is in Clarke's hands, oh, na, na," Lexa continued, throwing her a briefly cheesy smile before looking back to the road.
Clarke snorted, shaking her head at the way her girlfriend was exaggeratedly moving in her seat, ignoring the bystanders who had started to notice. But she also couldn't help but smile, because she was the person privileged enough to be able to see this side of Lexa – this playful, wild, and uninhibited side that had made Clarke realize how absolutely in love she was two years ago.
She lifted the hand and pressed a prolonged kiss to the tanned skin, subjecting herself to a lifetime of this silliness.
They didn't actually plan anything today. It was summer, and Clarke usually stayed home for summer break, lounging on the couch directly under the fan, because they couldn't afford a proper air conditioner yet. But believe her, getting an air-conditioner was at the top of her priority list once they graduated and could actually afford things.
But today was a special day. And it didn't matter how much Lexa protested the idea, calling it just another form of useless celebration that the universe had used to prey upon them to pay more taxes and spend more money to exacerbate capitalism, Clarke was going to do this right. For the last two years on this day, Clarke had listened to her girlfriend and resisted the urge to do something spectacular and absolutely lovely, but this year, she had decided that Lexa's opinions were shit.
Still, she couldn't let on. That was why she pretended like it was just a normal day like any other day, but suggested that they go out instead. Lexa didn't much protest, especially not when Clarke mentioned the park. She knew how much the law student loved the park.
She knew what was coming when Lexa's eyes light up at the sight of a mid-sized puppy tottering not far from them, tugging on its leash and completely ignorant to its owner's whims. Clarke held her girlfriend's forearm gently and moved closer, not completely oblivious to the effect that their close proximity had on the brunette.
"Why don't you go ahead? I'll get the ice-cream," she whispered into Lexa's ear.
Lexa gulped audibly, but in a show of a strength, she nodded resolutely with a thankful smile at Clarke, placing a playful kiss on the blonde's lips before making her way to the little creature. Clarke watched as her girlfriend interacted with the middle-aged man, smiling and gesturing, before she knelt down and started having her time with the puppy.
God, she couldn't wait until tonight. Lexa was in for a big surprise. With that thought, she made her way towards the ice-cream cart, where a group of kids were already huddling up to it, all probably trying to assuage the heat that they were currently being baked in, same as her. She waited in line, despite the fact that she would love to pick up the kids one by one and transfer them to the side so it would be her turn.
As she rolled her eyes at a kid who was arguing with the nice old man about the difference between chocolate and coffee, her phone buzzed in her pocket. She picked it up when she saw that it was Octavia.
"I hate you," Octavia snapped.
Clarke smirked when she heard the yapping in the background. "I know."
Her friend cursed under her breath on the other end before she said, "I'm never doing this for you again."
"Next time, it might be a reptile."
"Don't you dare." Octavia cursed again. "You know what, Lincoln can handle this runt. I refuse to have any of it. See you later."
"Seven sharp!" Clarke said before Octavia hung up sharply.
The kid who was arguing with the vendor with a – Clarke's eyes widened – coffee-flavored ice-cream. Well, okay then. Thankfully, the children behind him were swift and no-nonsense, which Clarke knew, for a fact, was a rarity.
She considered herself lucky that she and Lexa were not ones who would want children – which was subject for much later because they were in no position to even consider a heavier commitment, like marriage – not that she didn't want to, it just wasn't time – let alone children.
Quickly, she got the ice-cream sticks and made her way back to her girlfriend, who had stopped playing the puppy and sat on a bench, eyes closed and arms spread out on the back of the bench. If there was one thing she didn't understand about the brunette – and she understood the girl plenty – it was her thing for summer. Clarke stood there for a moment, just staring at the girl, only marginally aware of the ice-cream in the process of melting in her hands.
More often than not, her eyes would find her girlfriend, regardless of where they were, and she would wonder how she got so damn lucky. And she would always be thankful for the day Lexa injured herself on the field and needed first aid attention. That Clarke got to be in charge of her treatment and had the pleasure of introducing herself to the incredibly jock-y but also infinitely intelligent law student.
She shook out of her thoughts when suddenly, she found Lexa much more up close than before, looking into her eyes with mild concern.
"You okay, Clarke?" Lexa asked, lowering her head slightly like it would help her to look into Clarke's eyes better.
Clarke smiled and leaned in to Eskimo-kiss the brunette. "I'm great." She tugged on Lexa's arm and led her back to the bench before handing over the vanilla-flavored ice-cream. "Here you go."
"Thank you," Lexa muttered, greedily peeling down the plastic.
The blonde smiled at the sight of her girlfriend enjoying the icy treat before tucking into her own.
Clarke had just finished washing her hands when Monty started calling her. She made a clicking noise as she hurried to grab a tissue and dry her hands before picking up the call.
"Yes, Monty?" Because no matter how annoyed she was, Monty was never to blame.
"Hi, sorry, I know you're with Lexa right now, but I kind of forgot. Did you say Lexa prefers lemon or orange?"
The blonde smiled at a random girl who walked in as she leaned against the wall by the tissue dispenser. "Lemon."
"Right, okay," Monty muttered. "Alright, enjoy your date. I'll see you at 7."
"Wait, what's going on?"
"I'm making muffins."
A couple of blinks, and then, "There's cake."
"And now she has muffins too," her friend replied matter-of-factly, like it wasn't at all weird that he was baking muffins for someone he had only thus far known as Clarke's girlfriend.
"And why does she have muffins?"
"Clarke, she's your girlfriend. Potentially future wife. Don't fight me on this," he quickly added, as if sensing that she was about to argue. "I wanna be nice to your future wife. I might need her as my attorney someday."
"Okay, fine," Clarke grumbled, even though she was grinning at her friend's thoughtfulness. They could always rely on Monty to be kind and gentle. Harper really lucked out in that area. "I gotta go, or Lexa's gonna wonder if I'm taking a shit. Bye!"
"Wait, wha –"
Phone secured in her back pocket, she headed out and saw her girlfriend leaning against the wall opposite the bathroom. As if sensing Clarke's presence without even seeing her, Lexa looked up and smiled but then stopped in her movements. She narrowed her eyes and tilted her head.
"Is that my shirt?"
The blonde looked down and then realized that yes, it was Lexa's shirt. She snorted and then shrugged nonchalantly at her girlfriend with a nod.
"Why are you wearing my shirt?"
Clarke grinned. She had been doing this since the second week she stayed over at Lexa's apartment before they moved in together for good. Stealing Lexa's clothing – shirts, sweaters, jackets, you named it, she probably stole it. She couldn't help herself. It was not only the fact that Lexa could probably make a garbage bag looked like something to be strutted down the catwalk. Clarke also liked bringing the materials to her nose and inhale.
Reminded her of how lucky she had been to snag this girl that had literally been the object of ogling since the beginning of times. Still was, actually. Lexa Woods had that effect on everyone.
"It smells like you," she said, slinging her arm loosely over Lexa's shoulders.
Lexa frowned. "That doesn't –"
"If you wanna date me, you're gonna have to deal with me stealing your clothes."
"Plural?"
"Oh, yeah, you should check my closet."
Lexa huffed, but that didn't stop her from wrapping her arms around Clarke's waist and dragging their bodies towards the wall she was leaning against. "How have I not noticed this before?"
Clarke rested their foreheads together and allowed herself to fall in love all over again with the green pools that had been the source of her attraction in the first place. "I'm not returning it to you until it stops smelling like you."
Five months ago, during her own birthday party that Lexa had very proudly thrown for her – she claimed that no one deserved as much celebration as Clarke did – after everyone had left and after the amazing birthday sex that Clarke could have sworn crippled her for the rest of the night, Clarke came up with a brilliant idea while watching her girlfriend quietly snore beside her.
If Lexa thought she deserved celebration, then it wasn't wrong for Clarke to think that Lexa deserved a celebration too. As a matter of fact, if the blonde had any say in it, Lexa deserved a whole world of celebration, from everyday on every day in every way. After all, the fact that she managed to pull through her mother's typical six-month long cold shoulder test and get on Abby Griffin's good side at the end of it meant a hell of a lot. It was very fucking impressive; she actually deserved an award for it.
Therefore, in spite of Lexa's protests of birthday celebrations of her own, disregarding Lexa's previously bad experiences with birthdays, Clarke decided that this year would be it. This year, she would change it all for Lexa, create a new perspective for the brunette, make her love birthdays again. Clarke wanted to show her gratefulness for Lexa's birth, and thus the insurmountable happiness she had brought into Clarke's life, and she wanted Lexa to appreciate that too.
Except now that they had no choice but to go back, because she couldn't think of anything else to delay them and Lexa claimed that she really wanted to watch that one documentary that had just been released on Netflix, Clarke was starting doubt herself. What if Lexa really hated her birthday? What if she wouldn't like it? What if this wasn't grand enough to make her forgive Clarke for this surprise?
All these doubts came rushing through her and she stopped in the middle of the hallway. Lexa was tugged back because they were holding hands. Lexa blinked at her in surprise and then in confusion at the concern on Clarke's face.
"You alright?" she asked, moving in front of the blonde and ducking her head.
Clarke blinked and then offered a smile. "I love you," she said. Well, there wasn't anything else she could do now. Everyone was already in their apartment. She couldn't very well make them jump out the window and call it off.
Lexa's eyebrows rose and her lips curled into a tentative smile, still uncertain and confused. "I love you too."
"Let's go," Clarke said. Might as well get it over with.
This time, she tugged on Lexa's hand and pulled her towards their apartment door. Her hand shook when she tried to insert the key in the slot, but she hoped Lexa didn't notice. A deep breath. A miniscule turn of her hand. A gentle push. She smiled back at her girlfriend before opening the door ajar.
"Surprise!" came roaring in their direction. Everyone they knew, their close circle, jumped out from every corner possible in their small space, holding balloons and wearing party hats and blowing those annoying horns.
Lexa started, eyes wide and jaw dropped. Her brows twitched and she took a few moments to try to take it all in. And then she must have seen the tray of muffins Monty was holding, because her dropped jaw eventually turned into a soft smile and Clarke's heart pounded with relief when she saw the film of wetness in her girlfriend's eyes.
Of course it would take lemon-flavored muffins for Lexa to get excited.
Before she even knew it, Lexa was being pulled away from her by Raven, who had proceeded to place a party hat on Lexa's head and place a big, fat kiss on the girl's cheek. Clarke just went along with it. They could have her for the night. She would promised herself that she would have Lexa for the rest of her life.
Raven and Bellamy were sprawled on top of each on the couch, too drunk to even be aware of anything. Octavia and Lincoln had taken up the guest room. Monty and Jasper decided to go home. At the end of the day, Lincoln and Monty were the only who volunteered to help with cleaning up, because they were the nicest people on Earth and Clarke made awful friends back in middle school, she thought as she glared at the couch.
Lexa had already been banished to the bathroom, where Clarke had drawn up a bubble bath with the room lit only with candles. She was the birthday girl; she deserved luxury treatment – if not every day, then today at least.
Clarke had made a lot of decisions in her life, but she was sure that organizing this birthday party for her girlfriend was one of the best. Lexa had always been a little self-deprecative – an understatement, actually. Lexa Woods was the captain of the university female soccer team, the likeliest candidate for valedictorian of their year, future District Attorney, and the humblest person Clarke had ever met.
The brunette would not hesitate to help an old lady cross the road. Pay for someone who forgot to bring cash. Buy a lollipop for crying kid. Give up her seat for anyone in need. Donate to the local charity every month without fail. And yet, she would never recognize the goodness in her, the complete and utter light that took up her entire being and loved Clarke so wholeheartedly that Clarke always felt undeserving.
She was sure that the brunette still didn't know, not even after this whole shebang, when everyone was so willing to leap in and participate in this surprise. Because one way or another, Lexa had shown them kindness and love that surpassed normalcy. Nevertheless, Clarke figured she deserved this.
Once they were done cleaning up and every one had either conked out or gone their merry way, Clarke went into the bedroom and stopped in her tracks. Lexa was reading on their bed, cladded in her bathroom and hair wet and oh so sexy and so very adorable. She took some time to notice Clarke leaning against the door pane admiring her.
When she did, she put the book down on the bedside table and beckoned her over. Clarke obeyed and climbed onto the bed. Once she was on her back, Lexa didn't hesitate to crawl up to the blonde, essentially climbing on top of Clarke. She chuckled when her girlfriend sighed in appreciation once her head landed on her boobs.
Clarke ran her fingers through Lexa's hair gently and stared up at the ceiling. It had been a good day.
"Happy birthday," she whispered.
Lexa hummed and reached blindly until she could clasp Clarke's free hand with hers, interlacing their fingers together. "I love your boobs."
Clarke laughed and tightened an arm around the girl's waist, kissing the top of her head. She could do this every day.
i told you i suck, but hey, if you appreciate my fics and would like to help out with my livelihood, you can donate to my ko-fi at colenign! thank you!