1. Angeles National Forest
"Fuck off, Finn!"
His mouth opened like a goldfish before he draped one arm over the passenger seat, leaning across the car as it inched along besides Clarke.
"Come on Clarke, don't be like this…"
"Don't be like this ?" she repeated, her voice high-pitched and whining in a mimic of his. She stomped along the dusty side of the road, turning her face away from him and lifting her chin. In the distance she could see the outline of LA's skyscrapers. How many people in that city? And she had chosen to go on a date with this guy? "You're unbelievable!"
"It's really not as bad as it seems—"
She spun to scowl at him, her hand hitting the car roof with a bang. It jerked to an unsteady stop and another car whizzed past with a honk, making his shake.
"Yes it is you bastard! You have a fucking girlfriend!"
He winced and she rolled her eyes.
"Well yeah technically, but she has been in England for six months and she's probably not coming back—"
"Oh my god you are such an asshole!"
She started walking again, kicking a stone. It spun out into the road then tumbled off the other side, down a cliff.
"You can't walk all the way to LA…"
"I said fuck off!"
"It's 20 miles still!"
"And I'd rather walk every step of that than travel with you." He sighed loudly and she marched on, fists clenched. "I'm serious. Go. I am not getting back in that car."
"I thought you liked me—"
"Yeah I did! But so does your girlfriend! Not that she'll like you after I tell her you've been going on dates behind her back." She could see him hesitate out of the corner of her eye and seized on the opportunity. "Leave now and I might forget to mention it. Might."
"I... well, I guess. Just… phone me if you need to? I'll come back out to pick you up."
"Go before I start smashing windows."
"Okay okay, I'm going. I am sorry, Clarke. I really like you."
She crouched to pick up a large stone and bounced it in one hand, scowling up at him. He lowered his eyes. His car increased speed, gradually at first then faster. She shook her head in disbelief as it spun off, the sun reflecting on the red roof, and threw the stone. It fell far short, bouncing once on hot tarmac before tumbling down the cliff.
"UGH!"
She gripped her backpack with one hand and marched on, sticking her thumb out into the road. Even making small talk with a stinky truck driver blaring out country music would be better than sitting in silence with that sleazy liar.
A few cars roared by, none even pausing. The sun beat down on her bare shoulders and cicadas chirped in the surrounding shrubbery and trees. She tugged her phone out of her pocket and swiped to unlock it. A text from Bellamy was waiting.
How's Mr Charming and his lovely forest picnic?
She stabbed out a short reply.
More like Mr Cheat. Bastard.
A reply pinged back only seconds later.
Dude, he cheated on you on a first date?
Wait you're in a forest. How?
He's got a girlfriend!
Ahh the fucker!
Sorry Clarke, sucks. Drinks later?
Clarke stared at the screen, considering as another car whizzed past. She could ask Bellamy to come pick her up. He would without hesitation - but then he'd give her that look to remind her of the thoughts he had voiced on Finn the air force boy just last night and suggest the need to control her temper.
He'd seemed nice. She'd let him get close - the first person to get close since Wells. Two months of casual conversation leading up to a spectacular first date, all ruined by an offhand question and some squirming until he'd given up the truth.
She'd let herself be fooled.
Clarke heard a car engine slow before she saw it. She craned her neck around, squinting against the afternoon sun. It was an old car, with rust starting to show around the frame edges. Behind the wheel was a girl about the same age as Clarke. She leaned over to manually crank the window open, hitting the off button on a radio blaring out heavy metal.
"Are you heading to LA?"
Clarke forced a smile, pushing aside her anger for now. This looked better than a truck driver, at least - even if she did have questionable music taste.
"Yep."
The door popped open. "Come on. It's too hot to be walking."
Clarke slid inside, slinging her backpack off and into the back seat. The girl glanced over, opened her mouth, closed it again, then put her foot down on the accelerator. Her brown hair hung with braids and she wore way too much eyeliner.
"What?" Clarke asked.
The girl gave a tiny shrug, turning fast around a tight corner to continue their descent down the mountain. "I've never picked up a hitchhiker before. Is it rude to ask someone why she's walking alone from Angeles Forest to LA?"
"Before you've asked her name, probably." The girl's eyebrows furrowed and Clarke quickly waved a hand. She had no desire to try and find a third ride in one day. "You saved me from a six hour walk home. Ask whatever."
"Okay, well - what is your name?"
"Clarke."
"My name is Lexa. Why are you walking alone from Angeles Forest to LA?"
Clarke bit her lip to hold in a smirk at the repeated question. And Bellamy said she was blunt.
"Date gone wrong," she replied, choosing her words carefully. She wasn't about to spill her guts to this stranger. "Why are you driving alone from Angeles Forest to LA?"
Lexa blinked several times, her eyes darting away from the road to glance in Clarke's direction.
"I had to pick up supplies for my cafe."
"From a forest?" Clarke asked, lifting one eyebrow.
"Vegan cafe. I won't feed my customers with mass-produced garbage. Your date left you on a mountain?"
"I threatened to break the windows in his car if he didn't leave."
For the first time a smile perked up on Lexa's lips. Some of the tension seemed to seep out of her shoulders.
"What did he do?"
Clarke leaned back in her seat, turning her head to stare out of the window. They were almost on level ground now, with houses peering out among the trees. Her fury at Finn's revelation had faded to a simmering in her stomach.
"He was a dick."
"I find that a lot of men are. Some women, too," Lexa added, almost as an afterthought - but something in her voice told Clarke it was anything but.
"What-"
Lexa reached out to turn the radio back on, silencing Clarke's question. Fine. Nothing like talk of past relationships to end a conversation.
Screeching guitar and thunderous drums filled the car as they rolled onwards to downtown LA. With every mile that blurred past them, Clarke's curiosity grew. An ash tray sat on the dashboard, but so sparklingly clean it couldn't have been used recently. Green stickers covered the back windows, too small to make out the text or logo. Snaking down Lexa's right arm like lightning were several raised red scars, only half covered by tattoos. The heavy metal shifted jarringly into country music but Lexa didn't even seem to notice, tapping her fingers against the steering wheel in time with it.
As the car turned onto the I-5, Lexa turned down the volume.
"Where do you want to be dropped?"
"Uh - hang on."
Clarke pulled out her phone again.
Yes drinks. Where are you?
Bellamy replied with a snapchat of a can of beer perched in the sand.
"Are you going anywhere near Santa Monica? If not don't worry, I can catch the bus."
"I can take you to Santa Monica," Lexa said without hesitation.
"Ah, great."
Lexa hadn't smiled once since the mention of Clarke potentially smashing Finn's windows and Clarke had been expecting to get pushed out of the car as soon as it was justifiable. Five minutes of crawling through LA traffic later, she had successfully fought off her natural instinct to avoid small talk and attempted conversation again.
"So how long have you been working in that cafe? Do you get sent on supply runs often?"
"I opened it last year."
"Wait - it's your cafe?"
"Yes, it's mine."
Another smile brushed across Lexa's lips, this time tinged with pride. Clarke's eyebrows lifted into her forehead. Lexa couldn't be more then two years older than her.
"Wow, that's pretty amazing. Is it doing well?"
Lexa shrugged. "We have some competition. There is an ice cream shop a few doors down. We will beat them, though. What is your job?"
"I'm a pilot - well, almost. I'm in my last year of training."
Lexa nodded - altogether a more sober reaction than Clarke normally got. Nearly everyone was impressed.
"I have never been on a plane."
Clarke leaned forward and stared at Lexa, her mouth hanging open. "What? How?"
"I have always lived in California. My parents own a farm a few hours north and couldn't leave it. Then I moved to Los Angeles and I have my cafe."
"You don't ever take a holiday?"
She shook her head. "I go to the farm for Thanksgiving and Christmas. The rest of the year, I need to be at my cafe."
"Surely you can leave it for a week. It's not going to burn down without you."
"It might. I need to be there. It's my responsibility. It would be nice to visit somewhere new, but-" she shrugged again "-I can't."
"If you could, where would you go? One flight out of LAX - to where?"
Lexa chewed the corner of her lip as she thought and Clarke watched. This girl was cute. More so now she was actually speaking. Not that that should make any difference - Finn had proven once again that she had terrible taste in dates. She should probably give up altogether. Even so, she smiled encouragingly at Lexa as she waited for a reply.
"The Grand Canyon," Lexa said, at the same time as she indicated and the car rolled to a stop.
Clarke looked around. Santa Monica beach stretched out on her right. She had been so engrossed in the conversation that she hadn't even noticed.
"Thank you. Really. That would have been a long walk."
She reached behind the seat for her bag, pulling it forward.
"You are welcome, Clarke. I hope you have better luck on your next date."
Lexa smiled again, dimples appearing in her cheeks. Clarke took a second too long to reply.
"Thanks. Good luck with your cafe!"
Lexa's car sped off. Clarke watched it for a few moments, oddly disappointed. Then her phone beeped.
Clarke! How long does it take to get away from asshole and join me for a beer?
She shook her head, turned away from the road and wandered onto the beach in search of Bellamy.
So the premise of this is based on three things:
1) scattered throughout the story, various prompts: hitchhiker ride au, accidentally taking each others bags au, called the wrong number while drunk au (from ragnaroked on tumblr).
2) my own real-life experience of hitchhiking and taking the wrong bag. My version of it is less meet-cute and more 'I'm sorry people who saved us from being stranded at the Grand Canyon who I'll never see again we didn't mean to take your food!'
3) taking inspiration from canon as much as possible - there will be many nods.
Currently this is planned as a short story with about 6 chapters, but I'm going to see how it goes and whether I get inspiration to continue further. Working out characterisation outside the world of The 100 has proved somewhat difficult, hopefully I've managed that okay :)
Hope you enjoy, follows/reviews are much appreciated ^^