I wasn't sure I'd be ready to update today (I need to get back into planning my writing!) so this is a bit shorter than the first chapter. It's better than nothing though? :)

Also the rating has changed due to the swearing in this - I'd rather have the rating too high than too low :)

/

Clarke practically skipped into the apartment that evening. She put Raven's beer into the fridge, pausing before closing it. She scanned over the contents of the fridge, a smile growing on her face. It was an apartment rule that Raven did the cooking - she had insisted. But all of the ingredients were here for Raven's favourite spaghetti bolognese. Yes, Raven was an excellent cook, far better than Clarke, but she deserved a night off. Clarke decided to surprise her flatmate.

She put the minced beef in the pan and turned the heat up. Clarke stopped to look at the spice rack. She had seen Raven use spices before when cooking, so she thought it would make the meal that much more special for her flatmate. She chose a few spices and sprinkled them into the pan, careful to return them to the correct place on the rack. Clarke paused, before deciding to wash up as she cooked. It would mean there was less for Raven to worry about.

Clarke waited for the washing up bowl to fill, and put her docked her iPod into the speaker Raven kept in the kitchen. She scrolled through her selection, settling on some Fleetwood Mac. She had spent hours listening to them with her father as a child, and their music had always been a comfort for her. She let herself sing along to the music, absent mindedly becoming more and more aggressive.

"And if you don't love me now

You will never love me again

I can still hear you saying

You would never break the chain."

She didn't know how long she had spent washing up, letting herself get caught up in the music. Clarke didn't hear her roommate come back in, completely immersed in her own world by this point.

"CLARKE! What the hell have you been doing?!"

Clarke's head snapped up. Seeing horror on her roommate's face, she turned to look at what Raven was fixated on. The smoke coming from the burned meat was bellowing, most of it being caught by the extractor fan. Clarke froze.

"Oh shit! What -"

"Out of the way."

Clarke didn't recognise the woman who pushed past her to take charge. She grabbed the pan handle and turned around to face Clarke.

"I said out of the way!" The woman didn't even try to hide the frustration in her voice.

Clarke sidestepped out of her way and she threw the pan and its contents into the sink. Clarke and Raven let out the breath they didn't realise they were holding. There was an awkward silence, until the mystery woman decided to break it.

"Well, that's an eventful way to meet someone." She held out her hand. "Octavia Blake. I've heard a lot about you from Raven, and now I know why none of it was about your culinary skills." A smile formed on Octavia's face, and Clarke felt a lot more comfortable.

Clarke took her hand and shook it. "Clarke Griffin." She looked over at Raven. "I am SO sorry. I just wanted to do something nice for you and I guess I got distracted and ruined everything and I'm sorry-"

"Clarke," Raven cut off her friend with a grin on her face, "this is why we have the rule that I do the cooking. Though if you want to do something nice, I wouldn't say no to a pizza."

/

45 minutes later, Clarke emerged from her room to retrieve the pizzas from the delivery man. She had insisted on cleaning up the mess in the kitchen, hoping the embarrassment would subside. She spent longer than necessary scrubbing the pan; it looked as good as new once Clarke was done. She still didn't feel like she could face Raven and Octavia after the whole scenario.

Raven had told her things were going good with Octavia. They had met up a couple more times over the weekend, and Raven had spared no detail whenever she returned, but Clarke would never have imagined that she would be meeting the mysterious leather jacket woman so soon. She could feel herself slip down the rabbit hole of mortification and self-deprecation over the whole situation, so had decided to sneak back into her room and wait it out. She could then grab some pizza and eat in her room.

Clarke smiled feebly when she set down the boxes in front of Raven and Octavia. "Here it is… I'm so sorry again."

"Don't worry about it. Having pizza is hardly the end of the world." Raven winked at Clarke as she grabbed the first slice. Clarke smirked in return before turning to leave.

"Wait."

Clarke spun around.

"You don't have to go. You should eat with us." Octavia looked up at Clarke with a small smile.

"Well okay. If you both don't mind?" Clarke paused before sitting in her favourite armchair, folding her legs to the side of her.

"So, Clarke, tell me more about yourself." Octavia's eyes were fixed on the blonde.

"Um." Clarke shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "What do you mean? What has Raven told to to ask about?" Clarke shot a look at her roommate.

"I have done nothing of the sort!" As Raven protested, her voice got higher, amusing both Clarke and Octavia. "For once, I am completely innocent in the matter!"

Octavia nodded. "I haven't been told anything. I am just a little interested. It's not very often Lexa Woods is speechless in a meeting before, and I'd like to know more about the artist who did that."

"Oh," Raven turned to Octavia. "You only agreed to have dinner here to meet my roommate? Here I was thinking you just couldn't resist this…" She gestured up and down her body and raised her eyebrows, making Octavia laugh and Clarke wrinkle her nose.

"Gross Rae."

Raven winked at Clarke. "You're just jealous, Griffin."

Clarke stuck her tongue out in return. "In your dreams, Rae."

"Anyway," Octavia started, shifting slightly closer to Raven in subconscious jealousy "She saw your piece with the context Raven wrote and just stopped in the middle of her sentence. In the three years she has worked for me, she has never been stopped in her tracks. Not even when other staff members are criticising her ideas in meetings with bosses. She's ruthless." Octavia caught Clarke's eye. "Whatever you have, it must be special."

"Oh." Clarke paused. "She didn't sound that enthusiastic on the phone."

Octavia shook her head. "She's focused, very professional. Just let your artwork do the talking and you'll see how enthusiastic she is to have you on the project."

/

The week had flown by for Clarke. Nothing different had happened - work, drinks with Raven and Octavia, a visit to her mum's house. Having something to look forward to made all the difference.

Clarke triple checked the information about the session before leaving the apartment, as if the PDF file Lexa Woods had emailed her would have magically changed in the last five minutes.

Community Art by Ark Industries

You are invited to Ark Industries Headquarters to participate in a selection of community projects focused around art. Supplies will be provided for the session.

Please arrive for 9:15 for a 9:30 start. The session will end at 4:00. Refreshments will be provided throughout the day.

Clarke had a smile on her face as she focussed her attention on her make up. She was just perfecting her cat eye as a Raven opened her door, two coffees in hand.

"Morning!" Raven placed Clarke's coffee by her make up before sitting herself cross legged on Clarke's bed. "How are you feeling this morning?"

"Honestly?" Clarke turned and took a sip of her coffee. "I'm kind of nervous, but mostly excited. I can't believe I get to do something like this."

Raven beamed back at her friend. "Of course you do. You're Clarke Griffin, an amazing artist."

"Rae, if you want to wind me up, please do it once I am back from this session."

"Woah," Raven held the hand up that wasn't clutching her coffee, "Clarke, I promise you I am being honest with you. I wouldn't say you weren't amazing if you weren't. You know me. Seriously just be you and it sounds like you'll impress for definite."

Clarke allowed herself a small smile. "I don't know. I mean it's a community project and yet I'm scared I'm not going to impress or be good enough. What if I'm not? What if I'm too enthusiastic?"

"Clarke. Relax. You have this." Raven paused. "Just be you. Okay?"