Just a little challenge I set for myself inspired by the song Free me from Emma Bunton.
*Also a fan of Brittana? Cophine? you may want to check out their versions on my profile :D
It all started when Lexa was sixteen. She had just left her friend's house and since it was still early, instead of taking the bus she decided to walk for a change.
Among the original stores and other places she used to pass by; she noticed a new one that previously had been an antique store. Lexa ventured inside and saw paintings hanging on the walls which caught her attention immediately. She got closer and while inspecting the canvases appreciating the style, one painting in particular caught her attention the most. It was the image of many flowers in different colors and shapes; Lexa loved flowers and she felt drawn to the picture like a magnet.
"So beautiful." She whispered to herself as she studied the technique.
"See something you like?"
A raspy voice broke Lexa's focus on the art. She turned to the side to acknowledge the person who had just spoken to her, but upon seeing said person she froze in her tracks.
Right there in front of her was the most gorgeous girl she had ever laid eyes on; wavy blonde hair tinted pink at the edges, a cute looking smile and stunning blue eyes that seemed to have enchanted her, making her unable to move. Though, when the girl stared at her with a brow raised she forced her brain to come up with a reply. "Ye-yes."
That was easy and true. If Lexa had thought the painting was beautiful, watching this marvelous creature was another experience, definitely a work of art. And yes she liked it.
The blonde girl's smile grew at what she thought was only a compliment for her work and proceeded to get near Lexa; leaving her momentarily breathless.
"This one is called Grandma's garden; it's actually one of the few memories I have of my grandmother's house when I was a child. I don't remember much about her but for some reason the flowers stuck in my mind" she explained with melancholy in her eyes "but I doubt she would be sad about it" she chuckled on a more positive note.
Lexa swallowed, not only impressed by the beauty of this girl but also by the story behind this wonderful painting that captivated her.
"How much?" Lexa slipped out, not taking her eyes off the blonde and at the same time searching for her wallet.
"Oh uh" the girl reacted, lost in the memory of her grandmother for a second "this one is one hundred and twenty."
"um" Lexa had successfully retrieved her wallet, realizing that she didn't have that amount on hand. "I don't have one hundred and twenty on me right now" she said regretfully but coming up with a solution to her predicament soon "but I can give you half, like a down payment and I can come back next week for it." Lexa grimaced praying she would accept the deal so she could have an excuse to see her again.
The older girl squinted seemingly, considering the deal for a brief moment; finally she came to a decision "you know what?" She took the canvas off the wall "take it."
"What?" Lexa exclaimed loudly.
"Take it; I want you to have it" the blonde handed the painting to Lexa.
"Oh no, no" Lexa moved her hands in front of her in a panic "I can't accept it, this is your work!"
"Exactly; my work so I can do whatever I want with it and what I want is to give it to you" She tried again handing the painting to the younger girl.
Lexa sighed frustrated; she felt really bad for what was happening so she voiced exactly what was on her mind "I'm sorry but I can't accept it. This is your effort, your work and I do believe you deserve a fair gain from it cause…" She stared at the image once more "it's truly amazing."
Saying that it was the first time the young artist got complimented for her work would be a lie; she had always received good feedback not only from family and friends but from teachers and even some experts which made her really proud and confident about her skill. But none of them have caused her chest to tighten up with emotion like this girl had with words that displayed nothing but sincerity. Taking a calming breath, the blonde turned the canvas over in her hand and pulled out a pencil from her pocket scribbling something on the tag that revealed the price.
Lexa observed her curiously.
"Look!" The blonde showed what she just wrote to Lexa "this particular piece is on sale! Fifty percent discount, aren't you lucky?"
Indeed the tag now showed the original price scratched out and a big 50% discount on it instead.
"Oh God!" Lexa threw her head back and burst out laughing. She had to give it to this girl; that sudden afterthought was very creative and clever. She had no choice but to cave in. "Alright" she said once she calmed down. "sold" with that she handed her the three twenties.
"Yay!"
The blonde took the bills and did a little dance that Lexa found equally adorable and sexy.
"OK we have a deal" the girl commented extending her hand.
"Oh" Lexa was caught off guard by the gesture but she extended her own hand. And the moment her skin came in contact with the girl's she felt a shiver run down her spine; it was intense like she was being sucked into some kind of bliss unlike anything she ever experienced before.
"What's your name by the way?"
"um-uh" Lexa was brought back to reality by a question that she had to answer and fast before her object of affection realized how enthralled she was "I-I'm Alexandra. But you can call me Lexa" she cleared her throat still holding onto the girl's hand.
"Lexa… what a cool name; it's gonna be easy to remember." The older girl chuckled "not that I'll be able to forget it, I mean you are my first real buyer."
"What?" Lexa questioned, finding it hard to believe what she just heard.
"Well" the blonde finally let go of Lexa's hand as she explained "I don't really count the ones my parent's friends or colleagues buy or commission. They just do it for them not because they really admire my work; my parents practically shove my art into their faces. So yeah; you're officially my first costumer." She shrugged with a grin on her lips.
Lexa beamed at the knowledge that she had unintentionally become someone special in this woman's life. And she decided right then and there she wanted to remain in that status for a long while. But she had to know something first "And… what's yours? I mean name" Lexa asked hesitantly and a little dumbly.
"Oh!" at that the older girl turned the painting, that was still in one of her hands, around and pointed to the bottom right corner of it with the other "Clarke. Clarke Griffin." She sounded really proud of herself.
"Clarke" Lexa repeated in a daze loving the name instantly.
….
Later that day in the peacefulness of her room, Lexa couldn't think of anything else than the beautiful artist Clarke Griffin. It was love at first sight; she didn't have any doubt about it, so she made a vow to herself: she would befriend this wonderful person, get to know every single detail of her life and little by little she would gain her love. It was a simple but good plan.
The befriending part was very easy to achieve. Lexa would go to Clarke's store almost every weekend and luckily the blonde was always happy to see her. During her visits she learned a lot about Clarke; that she was twenty one, the store was also her studio and her apartment (upstairs), that she was an only child (one thing in common), that her mother was a respected surgeon and her father a successful architect, and they pretty much allowed her to be whatever she wanted and always supported her. What Lexa enjoyed particularly the most was hearing how Clarke has been painting since she can remember and went to workshops and short courses to perfect her technique but other than that she was what they called a natural.
It didn't take long for them to become good friends and start hanging out away from the store. They also introduced each other's friends so it was easy to share with any of their groups. Clarke was even nice enough to let Lexa have small parties at her apartment with her teenage friends, and provided them with alcohol but always taking responsibility for their well-being.
Unfortunately, as friends it also implied learning things Lexa wasn't so keen to know. For example Clarke had two relationships so far, with guys; after that she realized she was more into girls and has been dating only girls ever since. She liked girls and that was a relief for Lexa but on a not so positive note, Clarke really dated… a lot. That meant Lexa hearing all kinds of stories that involved hot girls that "kissed really well" "had delicious asses" and of course were "wild in the sack." It was a horrible torture that lasted almost two years and quite frankly Lexa was starting to think she had no chance whatsoever with the blonde, she felt discouraged and almost convinced herself she was always going to be Clarke's little friend and no more. Until one wonderful day.
They had gone to the mall in search of art supplies for Clarke and decided to go to the movies afterward. They were just leaving the bakery when Lexa noticed someone across from her.
"Costia?"
"Lexa!"
A very attractive girl around Lexa's age ran towards her, throwing herself into Lexa's arms.
"What-What are you doing here?" Lexa asked in awe while pulling away to look at the girl.
"Oh my God Lexa", Costia sported a huge smile as she replied "I came to visit my grandma. My parents kinda decided to come here last minute so here I am" she shrugged.
"But why didn't you tell me you were coming?" Lexa felt a little bothered about this fact.
"I wanted to surprise you silly," Costia pushed Lexa softly by the shoulder. "I was actually gonna call you later today for coffee you know? So we could… catch up" the last two words were uttered in a teasing tone accompanied by a smirk.
"uh um" Lexa momentarily lost the ability to think properly at the insinuation. After all Costia had been her first crush and the first and only girl she had ever made out with "well uh…" her attempt for a response was abruptly interrupted by a loud clearing of a throat. It's then Lexa remembered Clarke was behind her "Oh sh-um, Costia this is my friend Clarke; Clarke this is Costia." She awkwardly introduced them.
"Hey"
"Hi"
She didn't want to imagine things but Lexa could have sworn they both threw each other nasty glances. And again before she could manage to say anything Clarke intervened.
"Lexa the movie is about to start we should get going."
"Right, right" Lexa reacted forgetting any previous thoughts "Sorry I kinda have to…" She faced Costia with an apologetic expression.
"Oh it's fine" Costia succeeded at hiding her disappointment and offered "how about if I send you a message later so we can meet and stuff."
"Yeah sounds great" At this Lexa couldn't help smiling a bit "I'll see you later then."
"Totally" Costia stepped forward planting a kiss on Lexa's cheek "Laters." With that she winked at Lexa and before turning around she gave Clarke a once over, "Bye."
"Chao" Clarke voiced sarcastically waving her hand.
Once Costia disappeared amongst the crowd Clarke questioned "So that is Costia? The teasing little bitch that wouldn't give it to you?"
"wha-" Lexa's head craned sharply in the blonde's direction "it wasn't like that Clarke, we… we just weren't ready that's all" she tried to justify.
"Bullshit" Clarke stated with an eye roll "she just wanted to have you by your tits. I know that kind of girl; they just like to tease and manipulate to feel powerful and shit, then they throw you away when they get bored like she did."
"She didn't throw me away Clarke, she moved out."
"Yeah but knowing she was going away, she still strung you along instead of creating a reasonable distance between you as not to hurt your feelings; and on top of that she didn't give it to you." When Clarke saw Lexa looking down and not responding she continued "see? If I were you I would be careful with her." She gave Lexa a warning look.
Lexa sighed "I'm sure I have nothing to worry about Clarke."
"Whatever you say" Clarke's lip quirked with animosity.
At that moment Lexa didn't know how to take this reaction from Clarke, she seemed annoyed somehow but she didn't know why. But before she could go any farther with theories Clarke pulled her by the arm.
"C'mon let's go, I don't wanna miss the good seats."
As it was her custom; Lexa thought through all the events of that afternoon once she was tucked in her bed. Everything seemed to be OK with Clarke until Costia appeared, then she started to act weird, almost like she was… 'No fucking way!' Lexa sat upright in bed in one swift move 'Clarke was jealous! She was jealous of Costia!' She shook her head 'no, no it can't be, she can't like me I mean she never…'
It is then Lexa really started to analyze events of the recent months. 'OK she's been inviting me over to her place more often, she's been more affectionate with me lately, and…' suddenly something very important popped into her memory 'the drawing!'
A couple of weeks ago Lexa found a portrait of herself on Clarke's nightstand; it showed her sleeping peacefully on Clarke's couch. She had been really surprised by the discovery and it must have shown on her face because Clarke sprinted over to her side and took the portrait from her hand, letting out a weak "it's not finished" as the only explanation.
'Shit, shit, shit! She likes me. Oh my God she really really likes me!' The smile plastered on Lexa's face was short lived as pessimism took its place 'maybe she's just being nice, maybe I'm seeing too much into things, maybe… ugh!' She let her body fall back onto the mattress. 'I can't continue like this, I have to find out if Clarke really does have feelings for me, I gotta do it.' With new found determination Lexa set up a plan to get a clearer answer on Clarke's true feelings towards her.
The next time Lexa visited Clarke she did it by making a slight change in her wardrobe following the advice from her personal trainer.
…
"If you really want to catch this girl's eye you better start showing the big guns."
"Pardon?!"
Lincoln laughed before explaining. "Lexa you have a great body; your arms and legs are well toned, you have killer abs and you're strong as hell. I think it's time to let those muscles see the light of day; I bet you'll have her drooling for you in no time."
…
And that's how Lexa showed up at Clarke's store wearing her usual exercise attire: yoga pants and tank top. She hesitated briefly at the entrance, reconsidering Lincoln's suggestion of arriving still sweaty from the work out; but ultimately deciding to get on with it. 'I'm already here so I may as well go through with it.' She pushed the door open and proceeded to the back of the store where Clarke's art studio was located.
"Hey," Lexa greeted as soon as she spotted Clarke, brush in hand, concentrating on the canvas in front of her.
"Lex! How are…" As Clarke's head moved to the side to address her young friend, the greeting got stuck in her throat. From the first day she met Lexa, she had never seen her wear such a sporty outfit; she never noticed how well built or how really hot she could be.
"Clarke?"
Lexa's voice was enough to bring Clarke back from her impure thoughts. "hmm?"
"I was asking if you would mind if I take a shower here; the locker room at the gym was closed due to maintenance issues."
It took time for the words Clarke wanted to express to come out of her mouth "ye-yeah uh…" She cleared her throat "go ahead, take your time." She had to fight against the trembling that threatened to escape her voice.
"Thanks! Be right back." Lexa offered her best charming smile and retreated to the stairs that lead to the second floor, making sure to sway her hips more than necessary.
Clarke could only watch, mesmerized by the movement of her perfect rounded and defined muscles. 'Damn Lexa.'
Since then Lexa felt a little more confident around Clarke; she wore more revealing clothes that showed off her figure, she became more touchy-feely and even ventured into flirting discreetly to get a reaction from the blonde. It worked in general due to Clarke's natural flirtatious ways but whenever she caught herself reciprocating the advances, she would change the subject or make it sound like a joke. It was a bit discouraging but Lexa didn't back down this time, she was sure she could prove her theory, she had faith. And her faith secured rewards.
One day Lexa and her friends were at Clarke's having drinks and in general having a good time when one of them mentioned Costia.
"… I bet it wasn't as good as that night Lexa went for "coffee" with Costia huh?"
They all burst into laughter except Lexa whose face went bright red; painfully aware of Clarke's presence.
Clarke, who had joined them not so long ago, turned to Lexa instinctively upon hearing this piece of information; but averted her eyes almost immediately. After that she remained awfully quiet and only drank bottle after bottle of beer.
Around midnight all Lexa's friends had been escorted to their houses by Clarke's best friend Will at her request.
Lexa as per usual decided to crash on Clarke's couch pretending to be tired but in reality just hoping to spend more time with her. When they were alone she remained silent observing Clarke moving around until the blonde finally spoke.
"You didn't tell me you did the deed with your ex already." She slurred evidently intoxicated, she tried to sound casual but she wasn't doing a great job.
"um I…" Lexa thought she would tease and pull her strings just to see how Clarke would take it but the alcohol in her own system betrayed her, making her declare the truth "I didn't actually. We kinda made out yes but… I couldn't go further with it." She didn't know why but a sudden feeling of dejection took over making her say certain things she never said out loud before. "You were right, she's one of those girls; she just wanted to use me and have fun" she sighed "but I may as well get used to it, that's all I'll ever be for girls right? Just a toy to entertain them until they get bored; no one will ever take me seriously, no one will really love me." Lexa was about to accompany her own pity party with a deep exhale but the unexpected presence of Clarke's hands on her face stopped her dead in her tracks.
"Don't you ever say something like that again; don't you dare think that way" Clarke stated firmly holding Lexa's face, coaxing her gently to look her in the eyes "Lexa, you're gorgeous, you're smart and one of the most caring people I've ever met; anyone would be lucky to have you, anyone." She kept her eyes locked on Lexa's to try and convey the honesty of her words in them. Then unable to help herself she leaned in and kissed Lexa's lips.
Lexa, completely taken aback didn't have time to process what was going on, let alone reciprocate.
Clarke pulled away after a few seconds; a flash of recognition seemed to graze her features but it quickly disappeared. She snorted and then laughed, moving away from Lexa. "Fuck I'm hammered" she let out making her way to the bathroom.
Bewildered and still sitting on the couch Lexa heard the muffled voice of Clarke in the distance, the toilet flushing and the faucet running and then being shut off. It may have been a total of five minutes before Lexa saw Clarke come out of the bathroom, stumble past her -like Lexa wasn't even there- and threw herself onto the bed. Unfortunately at that moment Lexa wasn't in any condition to have an opinion on what she just saw so she remained rooted in her spot until she heard a noise at the window. Automatically Lexa went to check the source of the noise finding Raven -Clarke's friend- standing outside on the sidewalk.
"Hey kiddo! Your ride is here!" She announced chirpily.
'Clarke must have called her to pick me up; she obviously doesn't want me here tonight' Lexa concluded signaling Raven that she was coming down.
It wasn't until Lexa was in bed and the lights turned off that everything sunk in.
'Oh God, Clarke kissed me. Not a peck, not a brush of the lips, she kissed me for real; without me initiating it, it was her all her. Holy shit she kissed me!' Lexa squealed kicking and hitting the mattress excitedly.
That was all the confirmation she needed; there was no doubt now: Clarke liked her for sure.
With that certainty she began creating a new plan, this time she would try to make Clarke succumb to her feelings and finally become her girl.
The next day when Lexa was about to check on Clarke, she received a text from her stating she got important commissions and would be busy for the rest of the week. Lexa just shook her head and chuckled; Clarke was probably too embarrassed to see her, only confirming just how much she affected the blonde and that was OK, it gave her time to prepare her new strategy.
A week later when Clarke let her know she wasn't so busy anymore –ha! - Lexa wasn't shocked to see Clarke acting like nothing had happened. It was an ego boost for the brunette who took the opportunity to tease and flirt more openly with the blonde who in turn did her best to ignore the advances. That only helped Lexa to go into action with her plan already; luckily she came up with a perfect excuse for it.
"Clarke" Lexa wanted her friend's attention.
"Yes." Clarke responded not taking her eyes away from the painting she was currently working on.
"You know my birthday is coming up, right?"
"Oh yeah!" Clarke put the brush down to face her friend "what do you have in mind?"
"Well I was thinking about having a small gathering… at your place" Lexa sounded nonchalant.
"Of course, you know you have my place for your parties and shit especially your b-day!" Clarke smiled kindly "Are you gonna need anything for the occasion?" she asked with genuine interest.
Counting on Clarke's eagerness to help, Lexa replied playfully "a bottle of champagne would be great."
As Clarke responded with a "sure thing" Lexa smirked; her mind already envisioning the events that would take place in a few days.
'Oh, Clarke Griffin you have no idea what is coming your way…'