Hey all, here's the second chapter to the story. I ended up just picking right up from the previous chapter ended instead of fast-forwarding like I initially planned. Either way, hope you enjoy
Also, please let me know what you thought. Your feedback is crucial to me as a writer and definitely speeds up the writing process! :)
Chapter 2: Nearly Comatose
Utterly exhausted, a soft sigh escaped Clarke's mouth as she leaned her head back against her seat.. Lexa was kindly driving her and Raven, who snored soundly from the backseat, home. Between the familiar and reassuring sound of her best friend's snoring and the quiet hum of the car's tires on the concrete, the blonde struggled to stay awake. The lines between reality and a serious exaggeration of reality blurred when the car's seat started to feel like clouds instead of leather.
"Are you okay?" Lexa hesitantly inquired in a quiet voice. She had respectfully given Clarke a bit of time to calm herself out of whatever caused her panic attack, but the brunette with forest green eyes couldn't help but worry about her. It was too random for her not to be.
"Just tired," Clarke replied groggily, oblivious to the fact that Lexa was referring to the mini-panic attack, not the blonde's state of lackluster communication.
"Nap, then. According to the GPS, we're still roughly fifteen minutes from your home. I'll wake you then," the brunette suggested. She stole a quick glance at the blonde alongside her, who was already on the verge of dozing off. The woman was slouched uncomfortably against the seat, her face relaxed instead of the constant state of worry that Lexa swore she could see in the furrow of the blonde's brows or tensing of her shoulders.
The car ride was silent for several minutes besides the light wheezing from Raven in the backseat. Occasionally Lexa would risk a glimpse at the blonde she had met not more than a couple hours ago, who now lightly slept in the seat beside her. There was something about Clarke that intrigued Lexa, something she was unable to pinpoint, but she silently vowed to make an effort in getting to know her. Real friendships, not the kind that borderlines on acquaintances who make small talk and exchange general pleasantries,were somewhat rare for Lexa, who usually kept a wary or guarded persona when talking to people.
Clarke grunted, struggling with her own dream demons. Frequently when the blonde tried to relax herself into a peaceful sleep, her mind would eventually drift back to the worst day of her life: the accident. The moment she lost her father and Finn.
"No… no…" Clarke sobbed gently, still plagued by bad dreams behind her eyelids. Images of Finn and Clarke in the backseat smiling and singing along to the music on the radio, her father peeking at the two in the rearview mirror, overjoyed at the happiness on Clarke's face. Then it shifted to when the song changed, to when Clarke grinned happily like she never wanted the day to end and asked her father to the turn the sound up on the radio. To the very moment that a long pickup truck going the other direction swerved to avoid an animal in the road and flipped right into the car she, Finn, and her father were in.
Lexa looked over at the blonde as she whimpered those two words. Her voice was ragged and pleading, like she was bartering her soul to get something back she had lost, and it tugged at the brunette's heart. It made her want to wrap Clarke up in her arms and shield her from whatever beleaguered her. Knowing in that moment that was what she wanted, something so foreign and random with a mostly-complete stranger made her chew her bottom lip worriedly.
She debated whether she should try to wake the woman or leave her be, knowing that if she were in the presence of someone she didn't know all that well while having a nightmare, she would be mortified. In the end consideration won out.
Mere moments later, Clarke jerked up, her seat belt biting into her chest. Her heart was hammering out of her chest, her eyes glossy with tears that she tried her damndest to hold back. On autopilot, she cupped her hands to her face, did her best to slowly forced the ill thoughts from her mind, and work on regulating her breathing.
"Nightmare?" The blonde nearly jumped, startled by the soft spoken question from the woman driving next to her, having forgotten the unique situation she was in with Lexa. Clarke simply nodded in reply, still choking back the tears that were threatening to fall.
The rest of the way to their destination, neither she nor Lexa spoke, and Raven remained unmoving in her catatonic state of sleep.
"Damn heavy sleeper," Clarke grumbled as she fruitlessly to wake Raven when they reached the apartment. Lexa felt herself smirk at the grumpy comment. After a whole lot of effort, the two managed to get the comatose woman in a sitting position.
"One sec, let me get the door," Clarke announced before dashing to the front door. In her fatigued state, it took the blonde a little longer than usual to find the right key for the door, which made her mutter a series of curses.
"Woah there sailor," Lexa quipped playfully.
"Ayeee," Clarke added humorously as she finally found and inserted the right key. She turned to head back to Lexa's car and help her get Raven, but the blonde was astonished to see the brunette had already gotten her out of the car and leaning against her. The dim lighting highlighted the brunette's forest green eyes and empathized her well-defined jawline.
The blonde audibly gulped before she mentally chastised herself for even considering going over to Lexa and running her hands over her body. Using her brain instead of her impulse, Clarke got on the other side of Raven, helping lift the dead weight up.
"Man, you'd think she would have woken up," Lexa stated playfully as they worked on getting Raven inside the apartment. Clarke simply grunted in agreement, a smirk on her face.
When they, eventually, got Raven inside the house, Clarke steered them toward the couch, not willing to put up with getting her best friend through another door. Considering the amount of times they shoved her and nearly bumped her head against the door, it was probably better she sleep off her drunkenness on the couch. The moment Raven's head hit the couch, Clarke drooped into the free spot alongside her, grateful for the daunting task to be over with.
"Thank you again, Lexa. I'm not sure how I would have gotten her home," Clarke said appreciatively to the brunette, a genuine smile on her face. "Do you want a soda or something? You know, as a thanks."
"As much as I'd like to, I should probably head home. Have to open the store tomorrow, and my boss would probably kill me if I looked like I was peeled fresh off the sidewalk," a snicker played up the side of the brunette's face, a glint in her eye.
"Oh, alright," Clarke answered, deflated. She knew, deep down, it was probably better for Lexa to just leave, as she herself had a busy day ahead of her, too. For some strange reason, though, she wanted to denounce logic on the desire to get to know the brunette more. Probably because Lexa had come to her rescue or the fact that she constantly engaged Clarke in conversation when everyone else ignored her.
It wasn't because she wanted to ogle the woman's striking green eyes and ravishing body, and certainly not because she wanted t–
Okay, so maybe that had a little to do with it. Just a little.
"How about coffee tomorrow, instead?" Lexa asked, mustering up as much courage as she could and tried to ignore the mass of knots that formed in her stomach at the thought of seeing Clarke again. What the hell was happening to her?
"Sure!" Clarke responded more enthusiastically than she meant and felt her face heat up in a blush as a result.
Lexa wanted to exchange numbers, but her mouth dried up and brain mushed when she seen the blonde blush a little after she responded to her proposal. She quickly put up a wall between herself and the fluttery feeling in her stomach. Fishing in her pocket, Lexa withdrew her phone and handed it out to Clarke, "put your number in, I'll text you. Then we have each other's numbers to make plans."
The blonde took the device, thumbed her number into Lexa's phone, and handed it back with a smile, "I'll see you tomorrow, then."
"I look forward to it. Good night, Clarke."
"Good night, Lexa."