When Clarke opened the door she smiled at first when she noticed Lexa, then her other two best friends. The smile turned into a frown when she really took the trio in.
"Hey there, doctor Griffin." Lexa smiled, her backpack hooked around her shoulder and a suitcase at her feet, her other shoulder leaning against the doorframe.
Raven and Octavia were standing behind her, both of them carrying their own cases.
Clarke eyed the three of them, "What's going on?"
"We are going on a road trip." Octavia announced, grinning widely.
"A road trip? Where?"
"Cross country, we need to do something before we start our real jobs in the real world." Lexa explained, shrugging her backpack more comfortably on her shoulder.
"Come on, C. What could be better than two months with your best friends." Octavia said, flashing Clarke her signature 'Blake grin' (patent pending according to Octavia) and, usually, that would have worked.
"Guys, Finn is expecting me back in Miami for the summer, we were going to talk..."
"Oh, come on, Griffin," Raven groaned. "You aren't seriously still hung up on that fuckboy, are you? You deserve better, he cheated on you."
"Raven!" Octavia hissed.
"No, we have waited for her to work it out on her own but now she needs a little tough love."
"Please don't." Lexa murmured but Raven had already started.
"He fucked your cousin then blamed you, said it was your fault for leaving. He is lower than garbage, Clarke. You deserve someone light years better than him."
Octavia and Lexa braced themselves for Clarke to explode, for both of them to begin yelling at each other, but were pleasantly surprised when she spoke calmly.
"It isn't about getting back together, Raven. It's about talking about what happened, we dated for five years. We at least deserve that."
"Then we will drive to Miami first." Lexa pipped up when Raven opened her mouth to argue, trying to defuse the situation. "We can crash there for the night then head out. Orlando, New York, we can go to route sixty-six from there."
Clarke still looked unsure, eyeing her best friends hopeful faces (Raven, albeit, still looking slightly irritated). "Fine, when?"
"As soon as you've packed up the rest of your things." Raven said, sliding into Clarke's room and grabbing a couple of already packed boxed. "It's a good job we are going to Miami, you can drop off some of your things."
Octavia followed suit, picking up a few boxes.
"You ok?" Lexa asked once they were alone, tilting her head down to get a better look at Clarke's face while the blonde busied herself with packing. "I know he really hurt you, and maybe Raven was a little harsher than she needed to be but she's right." Lexa smiled softly when Clarke lifted her head to look at her. "You deserve better."
"I know, I just- I'm scared that I'll go there and end up staying instead of going with you guys."
"I won't let you, if I need to kidnap you I will."
Clarke laughed, her eyes crinkling in a way that told Lexa that, sure, Clarke was afraid of going home, of facing Finn, and there was probably still some lingering hurt there from the break up, but she was happy, and that made Lexa happy.
"I wouldn't want to be kidnapped by anyone else."
They took all of Clarke's thing out to Raven's jeep (well, it was technically Raven's jeep but it was the mode of transport they had all used over the past three years, figuring it was pointless for all of them to get their own cars), Clarke lingering in the doorway of her now bare room.
"Four years in this room." She murmured when she heard someone walk up behind her, glancing over when Lexa came up beside her.
"Yeah, it's kind of surreal." Lexa agreed, only briefly looking around the room before moving her eyes to Clarke, taking the fact she with distracted as an opportunity to just look at her.
She looked happier than she had done in a while, her blue eyes twinkling and her lips curled up into an almost sad, yet, somehow, still happy, smile.
"Ready?"
Lexa's head snapped round to see Octavia standing there, giving her a sympathetic (and suspicious) look and, uh oh, she was definitely going to be asked about this later.
"Yeah," Clarke hummed, pulling the door closed and linking her arm with Lexa's. "Who's taking the first driving shift?"
"Lexa, Raven and I were up late last night."
"Lexa can't do the entire twenty-one hours," Clarke said, looking over at Lexa as they walked. "Just let me know once you're tired and I will take over."
"Ok,"
They left the dorms, all of them narrowing their eyes suspiciously when they spotted Raven grinning smugly beside the jeep.
"What did you do?" Octavia asked carefully, surveying the wrangler for any signs that Raven had tinkered with it.
"Nothing bad. I just made us a bed in the back seat," Raven beamed at Octavia and Octavia seemed to visible melt, her suspicious look morphing into a soft, loving smile. She rolled her eyes fondly, bumping her hip against Raven's before climbing into the back seat.
"Couples," Clarke grumbled with an eyebrow (somewhat less fondly then Octavia) making her way over to the passengers side of the jeep.
Lexa hummed, clambering into the jeep, holding her hand out toward Raven for the keys.
"You should probably nap too, Clarke." Raven said, situating herself more comfortably on the makeshift bed she had made out of a couple of Clarke's boxes and a blowup mattress.
"Wake me up when you need to trade." Clarke said to Lexa who hummed in agreement, staring the engine and buckling herself in.
"You guys realise how unsafe it is for you to be in the back without a seatbelt on, right?" Lexa commented unsurely.
"We trust your driving." Octavia murmured.
Lexa shook her head disapprovingly but she knew there was no point in arguing. She waited for Clarke to get comfortable, which just so happened to be with her head on Lexa's lap, before setting off.
Raven and Octavia crashed almost instantly. Clarke didn't, she was still awake by the time they got to the highway, alternating between looking at her phone and changing the music on Lexa's phone.
"You ok?" Lexa asked, one hand on the wheel while the other moved to run through Clarke's hair.
"Yeah,"
"You are a terrible liar," Lexa chuckled. "If you don't want to talk about it, that's cool."
"Wow, emotional blackmail, much?" Clarke teased, turning onto her back, peering up at Lexa. "I just thought I knew him and then he done this and I just- I don't know. I knew it was partially down to me, I was distant, we would go days without talking because I was busy."
"You know what? Sure, if your relationship had dissolved and ended, that would've been down to you but this, what he done? That's not your fault. He should've spoken to you about it, said he was feeling unloved or unhappy, and you could've gone from there. But he didn't, he had an affair with you cousin behind you back then had the audacity to lay the blame on you." Lexa spoke, glancing down at Clarke briefly. "You may have been distant, Griff, but he's a liar and a cheater. You are so much better than him."
Clarke sighed. "Five years down the toilet."
"Look at it this way;" Lexa started, sporting a little grin that told Clarke Lexa was about to make a terrible joke. "You weren't sleeping around for the first three years of college so you didn't catch anything, unlike those two in the back."
Clarke laughed, arching her eyebrows up at Lexa. "And what about you, Miss Woods? You had your fair share of ladies in your college years."
"I can assure you I didn't catch anything from said ladies."
"How come you never had a solid girlfriend?" Clarke enquired. "You had a different girl every other week but none of them lasted more than a few weeks."
Lexa shrugged. "It was college, you know? It was about having fun and you can't really have as much fun if you're tied down."
"You'd think but look at Raven and Octavia. They had their fun for the first three years, got together midway through junior year, and they still had fun after getting together."
"That's different. Raven and Octavia were best friends before they got together, they understood each other and trusted each other to go out partying."
"So, it would be like us getting together?"
Lexa swallowed nervously, forcing her eyes to remain on the road as she nodded. "I suppose."
"Yeah, I guess I see what you mean." Clarke said nonchalantly, like Lexa hadn't just sounded like she was being strangled.
"Do you still love him?"
Clarke looked thoughtful for a second before shaking her head. "I love the times we spent together, the memories I have of us, that will probably never change, but not him. Not anymore."
Lexa nodded. "Good, he never deserved you."
"Damn right," Clarke replied playfully.
"Get some sleep, nerd. I'll wake you up in about ten hours."
Lexa woke her up for the last four hours, resulting in a scolding from Clarke, and immediately crashed when she took up the same spot Clarke previously had.
When they reached Clarke's house Finn was already there, leaning against the hood of his car.
"Behave, all of you." Clarke warned before they clambered out of the jeep.
"Hey there, fuckboy Finn," Octavia smirked, seemingly ignoring Clarke's warning, and Raven nodded approvingly at her girlfriend.
"Fuckboy Finn, nice." Raven grinned proudly, holding her fist out to Octavia, who didn't even have to look as she bumped her own against it.
"Guys," Clarke warned.
"How long did it take you to come up with that one?" Finn snapped at Octavia, his voice taking a tone that didn't sit well with Raven.
"Probably as long as it took you to hop into bed with Clarke's cousin." Raven growled.
"Nah, it only took me about half a minute not five minutes." Octavia shrugged.
"So, how long he lasted after hopping into bed with Clarke's cousin." Lexa reasoned, causing Raven to snort out a laugh.
"Will you guys go inside or something?" Clarke sighed, trying to seem irritated but the girls could easily see the amusement on her face.
"We will go get settled inside," Lexa offered, side-eyeing Finn as she walked past him. "Try not to fuck any of our cousins while we are gone."
Raven and Octavia both barked out a laugh, Raven's arm sliding around Octavia's shoulder as they moved toward the house.
"What's that?" Raven asked, pointing at Finn's chest, swiping her finger up his face when he looked down. "Oops."
"Will you please rein them in?" Finn snapped with an eye roll, ignoring the trio's laughs as they entered Clarke's childhood home.
"That is them reined in, you got lucky."
"Hey, FBF." Octavia called from the doorway, waiting for Finn to turn around before motioning toward Clarke. "How does it feel to know you fucked up your chance with that?"
Finn ignored her, turning back to Clarke with sad eyes, eyes that would usually have Clarke melting but not anymore. "It's not over, is it?"
"Finn, you fuck my cousin, multiple times, behind my back." Clarke laughed humourlessly. "It's over."
"Then why did you come back? You said you wanted to talk."
"I do, but not about getting back together."
"Come on, Clarke. It's was-"
"It was a mistake, I was being stupid, I thought about you the whole time." Clarke droned, arching her eyebrows at Finn. "Did I cover all the bases? Oh, no, let's not forget the good old 'you left me here' and 'we were drifting apart'. Now, does that cover it?"
"Clarke," Finn sighed but Clarke cut him off.
"No, just don't. God, I can't believe I was scared I would want to stay here with you." Clarke laughed. "The girls were right, I do deserve better."
"You can't just let it end like this."
"Don't you dare blame me, Finn!" Clarke growled, jabbing her finger into the boys chest. "You did this! And I'm kind of glad you did, I'm glad it's over."
Clarke brushed past Finn, hopping up the steps and into her house, smiling when she spotted Lexa, Raven and Octavia sitting on the steps the lead up to the first floor, right as you enter the house. They all looked at her expectantly, perking up when Clarke gave them a small smile.
"How about we head out now? I'll take the first driving shift." Clarke offered.
"That's the spirit." Raven cheered, hopping to her feet and pulling Clarke into a hug. "We will go grab the rest of your things from the car."
"I'm proud of you," Octavia grinned, giving her a quick hug as she walked away with Raven.
"Are you ok?" Lexa asked, narrowing her eyes when Clarke nodded. "Truth."
"No, I really am. I feel... relieved." Clarke answered with a confused little frown. "I feel free."
"That you are," Lexa grinned, wrapping her arms around Clarke's neck and spinning them around, leaving her arm slung around her shoulders as she directed the blonde back out of the house. "And for the next couple of months you got nothing to worry about other than which monument we will be visiting next and how we are going to shower."
They left the house, Clarke stifling a laugh and Lexa laughing opening and loudly when they noticed Octavia and Raven waving Finn off, sending him the occasional, condescending kiss.
"God, what am I getting myself into?" Clarke groaned.
"Don't act like you don't love them." Lexa nudged Clarke with her shoulder before going to help Raven and Octavia with Clarke's belongings.
They were on the road to Orlando by midday, Lexa napping in the back seat while Octavia, Raven and Clarke sat in the front.
Clarke felt herself become more relax the further she got from Miami. The further she got from the cheating ex-boyfriend, the broken home and unloving mother, and the impending residency that would no doubt take everything out of her.
She realised then that Lexa was right, she didn't have anything to worry about for the next couple of months. The next couple of months would only be her, her best friends, and multiple different states. She was going to let herself relax for the first time in God knows how long and she was going to enjoy herself with her best friends.