a/n: does anyone remember that fluffy clexa high school au i wrote more than two years ago? probably not. but i started this sometime after the s4 finale (which i did not watch but did hear about through tumblr and such) and decided to have the same amount of time pass. then i forgot about it for a while and only came back to it this morning, when i decided to finish it in time for the s5 finale tomorrow. that show is a mess. so enjoy this instead!
Aden: yoooooo
Aden: cfl
Clarke let out a groan that came out somewhere between a goat's bleat and a scream as she fumbled for her phone in the darkness.
"It's three in the morning," she muttered, seeing Aden's familiar nickname for her filling up the screen. "Lexa, could you tell your brother not to text me at such weird times?"
"It's only midnight back in Virginia," Lexa pointed out. Clarke lazily rolled around to face her, phone held to her chest. She could just barely make out the other girl's features in the darkness of the dorm.
"He shouldn't even be awake at midnight."
"He's sixteen, Clarke."
"Yeah, that doesn't mean he can get less sleep." Clarke paused, holding Lexa's closer. "You check in with him every day, can't he leave us alone in the middle of the night?"
"What'd he say, anyhow?" Clarke looked at the phone again - glaringly bright in the darkness of the dorm - and saw a string of text messages dance across the screen.
Aden: you and sis doing alright?
Aden: i'm doing well here
Aden: just two more years and i'll be out on my own
Aden: it gets lonely in this house without any candles around
Aden: (don't tell lexa that)
Lexa snorted, a sound so adorable that it made Clarke break out into a goofy grin.
Clarke: Too late.
Aden: dammit
Clarke: Well, anyway, your sister and I have some pretty important tests tomorrow, so we're gonna sleep now.
Clarke: You should too.
Aden: goodnight, cfl
Clarke: 'Night, Aden.
"I shouldn't have left him behind there," Lexa murmured. Clarke nestled back into her arms. "He's alone, now."
"My mom's taking care of him." The bed was wonderfully soft, and Clarke never wanted to get up. She gently held Lexa's face in her hands, the very picture of a domestic couple. "Besides, Aden's a hardy kid. He's survived four years with the two of us in college, and we always head back home for Thanksgiving and stuff."
"I still can't believe it's been six years." Clarke still couldn't really see anything, but she could feel Lexa's jaw twitch under her hand, and she could imagine her smile as clear as day. "Everyone who said that high school sweethearts don't last clearly never went to Arkadia."
"Remember when Lincoln and O eloped? We didn't even get any warning ahead of time, just . . ." Clarke raised her voice's pitch in an attempt to imitate Octavia. "'SWORD WOMAN: guess who's married now!'"
"Isn't her voice lower than yours?"
"You can't make fun of people unless you're pitching your voice, Lexa."
"I wonder how she's doing, though."
"I still talk with her sometimes. She's not really jealous of us, even with Raven living twenty minutes away."
"It really is rare, isn't it?" Lexa nestled deeper into the covers. "Friends from high school still maintaining contact with each other?" Clarke shrugged.
"I mean, it's not that weird."
"Do you remember the first time we met?" It was a practiced routine, nowadays, a fairy tale the two girls told each other that never grew old.
"You were sitting on the bleachers like some kind of warrior queen. I asked about Aden watching that movie, and then we got into sort of a fight with Ontari."
"We both danced around our feelings for a few months."
"We didn't really start dating until . . . what was it, High School Musical?"
"What else could it have been?" Lexa smiled again.
"It's a wonder we got into the same college, really. I guess the universe kept on looking out for us."
"You still believe in that sort of thing, hmm?" Lexa rolled over, and in the darkness Clarke could just barely make out the intricate tattoo that ran down her back.
"I guess."
"I do, too."
The morning came, as it always did, and the previous night's conversation was nothing more than a fuzzy blur of disjointed memories to Lexa.
"Clarke," she whispered. "We need to get up soon."
"You do," Clarke grunted. "I don't have class until ten."
"Six years, and you've never acted like a morning person once."
"You know me too well." Clarke pushed herself out of the bed, letting out a long yawn before shuffling over to the one other piece of furniture in the dorm - a couch that Lexa had found on the side of a road and had subsequently decided to adopt. It had seen better days, with only one cushion left and peeling leather, held together mainly with duct tape and willpower, but Lexa wouldn't have traded it for the fanciest couch on Earth. "I'll make us coffee if you make the bed."
"That sounds like a fair deal." Lexa fluffed out the sheets - polka-dotted and taken directly from Clarke's house - as she watched her girlfriend leer at the heap of scrap metal the two of them called a coffee machine.
"Remind me again why Raven thought a homemade coffee machine would be the best dorm-warming gift, Lexa?"
"Her microwave blew up before she could give it to us, I believe."
"Oh." Lexa pulled her red sweater over her head, the fabric feeling something like an old friend. "She's gonna be responsible when we both die of radiation, then."
"I'll be sure to tell her that on the way to class."
Living in a quaint little apartment just a few miles away from the campus, Raven Reyes had made herself a fairly sizable living as a freelance mechanic. Clarke and Lexa made a point to visit her on their daily route to their classes, and it was almost as if things hadn't changed at all from high school.
"Hey!" she yelled that morning, sitting out on her porch balcony with a lopsided grin, her leg brace glinting in the sunlight. "Lexa! Where's the other one?"
"Clarke decided to go back to sleep!" Lexa yelled back. "She'll probably be up in an hour or two!"
"What're you doing down there, then? Come on in!" Lexa obliged, and she soon found herself in Raven's cluttered apartment. "I wanted to say thanks again, by the way." Raven flopped down on a fluffy couch that probably hid at least five kinds of engines in it.
"For what?"
"Introducing me to your . . . friend, back when we were still in high school." Raven waggled her eyebrows on the word "friend."
"Anya? Are you two-"
"Dating? Yep!"
"Is she here?" Lexa looked around the room, half-expecting to see Anya pop out of a junk pile.
"No, but that's . . . admittedly a part of why I called you here. I was wondering if this made things weird?"
"Oh, no, not at all." Lexa fiddled with the fabric of her red sweater. "Anya is a good person. I trust her, and I trust you to be good to her." She leaned in close, close enough that she'd crash right into Raven if as much as a small breeze came along. "She's strong enough to defend herself, but if you hurt her, I won't have a single qualm about coming here and building a sword from one of these heaps of metal so that I can-"
"Okay, okay, easy there, Xena. I'll be good to her. I promise. Is that enough for you?" Lexa drew back with a satisfied nod. "Anyway, you should probably get going to class. Those papers aren't gonna write themselves!"
"I suppose you're right."
Classes passed by, as they always did, and Clarke eagerly awaited lunch, as she always did. There was a tree that the two of them had declared their own, their little tower. It was sturdy, with roots that gnarled out for yards and yards and thick branches that could easily support two people. The leaves sheltered them from the hot California sun, and it had become something of a second home for the girls. Lexa was already sitting there when she arrived.
"Your best friend is dating my best friend," Lexa deadpanned. Clarke blinked.
"You could've at least let me get up there before dropping that, erm, bomb on me." Lexa scoffed good-naturedly as she reached out a hand.
"You're still not quite as good at this as you think you are, Clarke."
"I know," Clarke grumbled, scrambling for her usual spot on the branch. "You'd think that the professors might get a little bit . . . I dunno, easier to deal with over the years, but nope. We're close to graduating and it's still the same."
"You're exaggerating, Clarke."
"Not really." Clarke pulled her sketchbook from her bag and started to scribble something on it, tongue sticking out just a little bit in focus. "It's nice, though."
"Hmm?"
"It hasn't changed. We're still here. It's . . . nice."
"You're still a nerd."
"You're also still a nerd."
"I can't argue with that."
"I can't imagine how much the others would tease us if they were here," Clarke chuckled. The cartoon raccoon on her paper started to take form, with its beady little eyes and stubby paws. "They'd probably start singing that song everyone sings when they're kids - you know, 'Clarke and Lexa, sitting in a tree-'"
"Don't you know that keeping your PDA out of our noses is free?" a voice called from below.
"That didn't fit the song, Luna!" Clarke yelled back. "Wrong amount of syllables!"
"I'd still kick your girlfriend's ass any day of the week, you know." Lexa bristled at the comment, and Clarke set aside her notebook to put a hand on her shoulder.
"I'd like to see you try," Lexa coolly responded. Clarke could see her fist clench and unclench, but her voice remained steely. Luna stuck out her tongue before sauntering off.
"What's her deal, anyway?" Clarke huffed. Lexa shrugged.
"I suppose she's still mad at me because she dropped that class before the end of the semester, since apparently I 'had an unfair advantage, but would be defeated anyway.' She ignores me, for the most part."
"Huh. Well, you'd beat her out in anything, I think I can say that for sure." Clarke leaned against her girlfriend, fingers tangled in her hair as she leaned in for a kiss, when the branch wobbled and she had to grab onto Lexa's arm for support.
"It'd be nice if you didn't fall from the tree, though." Clarke playfully swatted her on the shoulder.
"I'm getting better at it," she pouted.
"You fell at least six times during the first semester of our freshman year alone," Lexa pointed out.
"I got up every time."
"You did."
"I'm surprised we made it here at all, and now we're almost graduating."
"It hardly feels like any time's passed at all." Lexa held Clarke's hand, and Clarke realized that she'd memorized each part of it, every vein and scratch, so much that the two of them fit together like pieces of a puzzle.
the dream meme team (improved) (sans lexa) (you two were getting really gross and mushy)
the literal bomb: hey.
the literal bomb: so i might have a problem on my hands?
the literal bomb: if anyone could get back to me that'd be great.
SWORD WOMAN: sorrrrrry raven but we live halfway across the country
SWORD WOMAN: :P
lexa's scary friend: You could just tell them outright, you know
the literal bomb: or i could
the literal bomb: not do that
the literal bomb: and continue working on my souped-up refrigerator at 1am like a badass.
SWORD WOMAN: she definitely is a badass!
the literal bomb: thank you, octavia
"Clarke?" Lexa rolled over, slapping her hand over Clarke's phone. "You know, it wouldn't kill you to turn off your phone before you went to sleep." Clarke sat up. "And why do you have Anya listed as 'Lexa's scary friend?'"
"'S accurate, isn't it?" Clarke grumbled. "What do they want at this hour?"
"I have no idea." Lexa handed over the phone. "You really should just list your friends as their actual names. It'd make things much easier."
"That's boring, though." Clarke snuggled closer. "I dunno if I have anyone listed as their actual name except for Aden."
"What am I, then?"
"Mm, it changes, but the last time I checked it was 'World's Best Cornmander.'" Lexa whacked her with a cold pillow.
"That joke should've died six years ago."
"Never," Clarke retorted, muffled under the pillow. "Oh, that's where Heda went. Say hi to her, Lexa." Lexa watched in amusement as Clarke fumbled around for the stuffed raccoon before waving her little paw in Lexa's direction.
"You might want to get her stitched up. I think that paw's starting to show stuffing."
"Yeah, you're right. I'll go out and buy a sewing kit tomorrow if you'll cover the next batch of Pop-Tarts."
"You really should start living off of something that isn't that artificial, Clarke."
"Hey, Pop-Tarts are great, okay? Don't diss them."
"Didn't Octavia try to cut one in half with her sword once?"
"She didn't try. She did."
"Oh. My mistake." Lexa stared up at the ceiling, the plastic stars Clarke had owned as a high schooler still dimly glowing up above her. "Sometimes it doesn't feel like it's been six years at all."
"I know what you mean. People keep saying that we should've broken up by now."
"They're wrong." Lexa reached out as if to touch the stars, and Clarke reached out in turn, intertwining Lexa's fingers with her own as if it were the most natural thing in the world. To her, it was.
"Lexa?"
"Hmm?"
"Do you think we'll stay together? You know, after we've graduated."
"I hope so."
"Me too."
They fell asleep again with their hands held like the last lovers on a sinking ship, long after their fingers had gone numb.
Clarke knew, the following morning, that Lexa would awake to a cold spot on her bed. She slipped out of the covers with as much stealth as she could muster before creeping over to the other end of the room.
"I know she gave us a toaster somewhere," she muttered, stifling a swear when she stepped on a pencil. "We bought bread for that exact reason." She'd started to regret not turning on a lamp or something of the sort, as she was now fumbling in the dark without any knowledge of where she was.
"Clarke?" The bedsheets behind her rustled. "Is everything alright?"
"Lexa! Everything's fine!"
"You're awake, so clearly something isn't alright."
"It's a Saturday."
"Which is why it's doubly strange that you're up before the sun instead of asleep in our bed."
"I was trying to make us breakfast."
"Why?"
"I figured it'd be a nice thing to do."
"Here, I'll help." Lexa crawled from the bed, her bare feet creaking on the floorboards. "It's too early for this, Clarke."
"Hey, you're the morning person. Can't get lazy on me now." Clarke nuzzled Lexa's shoulder with a happy mumble. "Otherwise the two of us won't get anything done."
"We're so incredibly domestic," Lexa sighed contentedly. "I didn't think things would turn out this way when I was sixteen and living with the Nightblood Corporation hanging over my head." Guiding Clarke's hand to the toaster, she gave a soft smile. "I figured I'd be sitting in a stuffy office on the tallest floor of a building by now."
"You're not, though. You're here, with me, and you're going to burn off my hand if you don't let go in a second." Lexa practically sprung back. "Okay, okay, I think that's okay."
They just stood there for a while, pressed up against one another, and Clarke thought that maybe life couldn't possibly get better than this.
"Clarke?" Lexa lifted her head.
"Yeah?"
"Does this essay look alright? I'm supposed to send it out tomorrow night." Clarke set aside her sketchbooks and flopped down on the bed next to her, peering over her shoulder.
"It looks okay to me."
"Are you sure?" Lexa adjusted her position, sitting up cross-legged, and narrowed her eyes at it. "It feels like there's something off."
"I don't really know what it is, then, but-" Clarke was promptly interrupted by someone banging on the door, and she got up with a sigh.
"Who would show up here in the middle of the day?" Lexa racked her brains for an answer, but it wouldn't come. "You should be careful, Clarke." The mystery knocker hit the door again.
"I'll survive, Lexa." Clarke picked up her replica sword - a housewarming gift, courtesy of Octavia - anyway. Lexa stifled a laugh as she creaked open the door with the sword brandished in one hand, and in front of her stood none other than Raven Reyes and a young girl.
"Hey," Raven said. Clarke dropped the sword.
"Who's that?"
"Oh, the kid?" Raven feigned surprise, earning her an eye-roll from Clarke.
"No, the hallway. Yeah, I meant the kid."
"Her name's Madi." Raven leaned a little on the door, and her leg brace creaked with the motion. Madi waved softly. "She's been staying with me since last night, but my place isn't really safe for a kid-"
"You can say that again."
"-and I need someone to take care of her for a few hours. Could you handle that?"
"Is that a real sword?" Madi breathed, crouching to the ground with wide eyes. Lexa picked it up and swung it around for a few seconds, pointing the fake tip at Heda on the couch with a smirk.
"I think we can." Raven flashed her a thumbs-up. Madi had started to clamber onto the couch, looking around the badly-lit college dorm like it was the most interesting place in the world.
"Great! I owe you two, have fun with your new daughter!" Raven closed the door behind her as she sauntered away, humming an old pop song under her breath.
"You never answered my question, is it a real sword?" Madi tucked her legs under her as she rocked back and forth on the couch.
"It's not," Lexa began, "but we know someone who does own one. This is just a replica." Madi pouted.
"Aw," she huffed. "I was hoping it was real."
"We have comics," Clarke offered. "Kids still like comics, right?"
"Yeah, I like comics." From her tone, Lexa got the sense that Madi didn't really like comics, but it was a lie she'd have to overlook. Clarke started to dig through her little bookcase - their shared little bookcase, with one half supposedly holding Lexa's thick, leather-bound English reading assignments and the other half supposedly holding Clarke's full sketchbooks, but they'd long since merged together into a messy cluster with not much separating them at all. Raven liked to poke fun at the obvious metaphor of it. Lexa liked to return to her favorite old novels to see a little doodle sticking out from one of the dog-eared pages.
"What kinds of comics?" Lexa felt like she was interviewing the kid - she had to crouch, actually 'crouch' to face her at eye level - and silently wished for Clarke to find something child-appropriate soon.
"Superhero ones, I guess?" Madi adjusted the beanie hanging on her head so that it nearly covered her eyes.
"You do?"
"Doesn't everyone?"
"My younger brother used to love superheroes. He still does." Lexa fiddled with the hems of her sweater, feeling the threads tug under her fingers. Madi didn't seem to notice the faraway look in her eyes, or maybe she didn't care.
Lexa thought that it was probably the second one.
An hour passed, during which Clarke had handed off most of her comics to the kid while both she and Lexa tried their hardest to make sure she didn't die.
"Raven owes us for this," Clarke muttered as she gave Madi yet another one of her comic books. "Who just drops a child off at someone's dorm?"
"At least it means she considers us responsible."
"I guess." Clarke flopped over back onto the bed. "Still, I was hoping we'd get to do something better with our Saturday than babysit."
"I suppose you're right about that."
"Do you have any more comics?" Madi called.
"We're going to watch something, is that okay with you?" Clarke pulled her laptop out from under the bed. Madi gave a noncommittal shrug from her position on the floor. "I'm taking that as a yes."
"What are we watching?" Lexa asked, leaning over on Clarke's shoulder, familiar and grounding. Clarke grinned.
"You'd never guess," she laughed, and hit play in lieu of a further response. As soon as the familiar titles started to play, the awkwardness of the day seemed to fade to nothingness as cartoon superheroes and soft robots filled up the dorm. "It's kind of a miracle it still works. Raven's been getting on me forever to buy a new laptop - says this thing's nearly busted - but the new ones don't have slots for DVDs."
"Always the nostalgic one, aren't you?"
"You know it."
"You're not gonna kiss, are you?" Madi grumbled. Lexa had to hold back a chortle.
"She'd get along well with Aden, wouldn't she?"
"Maybe we should find out."
"Whoa, you like comics, too?"
"Yep."
"You two can keep the conversation going outside, okay?" Clarke called over her shoulder as Madi started for the hallway. Lexa raised her eyebrows.
"You're just passing her off to my brother?"
"It seemed easier than keeping everything else going." Clarke wrapped her arms around herself, picking at the fabric of her sleeves. "I mean, I'm not good with kids. I was an only child, this sort of thing's never come easily to me."
"He'd be getting ready for dinner, though." Lexa cast another look at the hallway, where the light of the computer shone against the wall. "And you were great with Aden when he was younger."
"Well, I might've had a bit more of an incentive back then." Clarke wound her fingers through Lexa's hair, humming a little.
"Did you, now?" Lexa smirked, kissing her soft and slow, and Clarke could feel her smiling into the kiss. "Clever."
"I can still hear you!" Madi called from the hallway.
"That's my sister for you," Aden groaned. Clarke and Lexa looked at each other, and then they laughed and laughed and laughed until they'd fallen onto the bed in a tangle of limbs.
True to Lexa's predictions, Aden soon had to leave for dinner, and so Madi found herself back in the dorm, except now with questions.
"What's it like in Virginia?" she asked. Clarke blinked.
"Uh . . . cold, sometimes? It's not that interesting."
"What's your favorite movie?"
"Take a guess."
"How did you two meet?"
"Oh!" Clarke looked at Lexa, who settled down on the bed next to Madi and took a deep breath. Madi sat in rapt attention. "We were in the gymnasium, with Aden, and then a very rude girl named Ontari tried to steal his phone . . ."
Raven knocked on the door hours later.
"Guess that's your babysitter," Clarke said, pushing herself up from the bed. Madi hopped up, eager, but there was a strange sadness in her expression. "Hey, is something wrong?"
"I wanna hang out with you guys more," Madi muttered. "Lexa's got so many cool stories, and your comics are really good."
"Hey, Clarke! Lexa! Are you two still in there?" Lexa opened the door in lieu of an answer. Raven immediately pushed past her to see Madi. "Hey, Mads. Did you have fun?"
"Yeah," she said. "Can I hang out with them again?"
"Sure?" Raven mouthed a 'what-happened' in Clarke's direction. Clarke shrugged. "I don't see why not."
"Yes!" Madi pumped her fist in the air and ran to stand next to Raven.
"She changed her tune pretty quick," Clarke whispered. Lexa nodded.
"Glad to hear it." Raven started to close the door, then paused. "Hey, you two?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm glad we're still friends."
"Of course." Clarke wrapped her in a tight hug. "Nothing's going to change that."
"Alright, that's my cue to leave. Bye, nerds! Try not to blow up the campus with how cute you are!"
"Try not to blow up the campus with your explosives!" Clarke yelled back as Raven sauntered away. Lexa chuckled.
"I never could have predicted this," she said, leaning on Clarke's shoulder, and they both thought that perhaps this was perfect.
a/n: goddamn i miss clexa