"Say the list again please."

Clarke sighed and turned in her seat to face Lexa. They had gone over this list multiple times already but Lexa wanted to hear it again.

"University of Chicago, UIC, Northwestern, and Rush University."

"Which one of those is your top?"

"Well they're all great schools so any of them, but University of Chicago is 11th in the country for medical schools. As long as I do well on my MCAT I should be fine."

Lexa took one hand off of the steering wheel and grabbed Clarke's hand that lay limp on her leg. She gave her hand and squeeze then threaded their fingers together.

"I know you'll do amazing." Lexa kissed the back of Clarke's hand and set their linked hands back down on the blonde's thigh.

"You're my girlfriend, you're obligated to say that." Clarke teased. Lexa quickly released her hand from Clarke's and squeezed tightly just above the blonde's kneecap, eliciting a yelp and a slight jump from her. Lexa cackled from the driver's seat and Clarke grabbed Lexa's hand with a firm grip, stopping her from any other antics she had in mind. Lexa could just make out a barely audible 'asshole' from the passenger's seat, which only caused her to chuckle even more.

Lexa took her hand back to park the car. "But I'm your asshole." She said as she turned to face Clarke.

"Damn straight you are." Clarke asserted as she leaned forward and pecked Lexa's lips. When she pulled away both girls had silly grins on their faces.

"You sure you want to do this?" Lexa asked looking to their destination.

"Absolutely."

The couple exited the car and entered the dimly lit brick building. The inside was littered with all types of paraphernalia; weed, LGBT things, sex jokes, basically anything that would anger an overly conservative politician. They had posters of musicians, mugs, clothes, bongs, everything. The couple lingered for a second looking at all the objects but quickly bypassed them and walked up to the front desk where they were greeted by a women in all black, with a ratted and torn band tee, and tattoos covering her entire body.

"What can I do for you ladies?" She greeted with her melodically toned voice, which surprised Clarke entirely.

"Do you guys take walk-ins?" Lexa asked as she leaned up against the counter, crossing one leg over the other.

"Yes we do! I think Nyko has some free time between appointments, let me go double check." When the girl came back she had a rather large and tatted man next to her. He was short but bulky with a beard down to his chest.

"Hey ladies, what are you guys looking to get tattooed today?" His voice was scratchy and if it wasn't for his welcoming, pearly white smile, Clarke would be terrified of this man.

"Here's the thing," Lexa started with a smirk on her face, "I have a tattoo picked out for her, and she has one for me, but we aren't going to know what they are until they're on our body." Lexa told the guy, Nyko she assumed since that was the name the girl had thrown out there.

"Alright well then let's get these going then." He said handing a clipboard to both Lexa and Clarke. Clarke took the waiver over to the couch by the door while Lexa explained her idea to Nyko. Once she was pleased with the design, the two switched, Lexa filling out the form and Clarke giving her idea to Nyko. When all was ready Clarke was the first to go.

"Where is this going?" Nyko asked Lexa.

"Inside of the ring finger on her left hand." Clarke's face contorted in discomfort and fear. She was aware of the fact that getting a tattoo anywhere where there's bone hurts... quite a bit... "Relax it will take like two minutes, you'll barely feel anything."

Lexa was right. Clarke only felt a tiny pinch as Nyko pressed the needle to her skin, it literally took two minutes and the blonde only felt a little bit of pain. Now it was Lexa's turn.

"And where is this one going?"

"Inner left wrist." Lexa raised her eyebrows in question, intrigued by the positioning of the tattoo but none-the-less gave Nyko her wrist, allowing the artist to start. The tattoo seemed to have a lot of detail to it, because she could feel the needle constantly moving around her skin. She couldn't make out the picture in her mind, but she could tell this was going to be a good one. After about 15 minutes Nyko finished, and the two stood up to face each other.

"Ready?" Lexa asked, with a cute little lopsided grin.

"As I'll ever be."

"One."

"Two."

"Three."

The turned their hands over to look at their tattoos. Clarke had the outline of a little paintbrush on her finger. She gasped as she stared at the little black outline, mesmerized by it. It was perfect for her first tattoo.

"I've always wanted to get a tattoo but I'm never sure what to get." Clarke stated as she and her girlfriend walked hand in hand.

"Well your first tattoo should mean something to you, something special that you know would stay with you forever."

Clarke recalled this conversation from a few weeks ago, when the girls decided to get tattoos for Lexa's last day in Polis. Clarke had always loved art and made an effort to keep it a habit. Her father had constantly encouraged her to pursue it, so every time she drew, she was drawing for him, and the fact that Lexa recognized it enough to choose it as her first tattoo was amazing and flooded her body with happiness.

Lexa's tattoo was a very intricate outline of a sea turtle. The body was outlined and detailed like a flower, the whole tattoo almost tribal in design. Swirls and lines filled the inside of the turtle making the design pop, it was truly beautiful. Lexa ran her fingertips over her wrist and whispered a barely audible 'Clarke'. She looked up to see the blonde smiling at her like a fool.

"Did you draw this?" The blonde nodded and Lexa wrapped her tightly in a hug. The idea of leaving this beautiful, talented, smart, caring woman for a whole year was not something she was ready to accept. She could feel tears begin to fall from her eyes and she squeezed them shut to try to prevent it from happening. Clarke pulled away to look at Lexa.

"Hey no, none of that. If you start crying I'm going to cry and then there's no stopping after that." Lexa chuckled lightly and wiped her tear stained cheeks.

"Sorry, everything is just starting to hit me now, and I don't want to l-"

"Nope we're not going to talk about it." Clarke cut her off, "We still have a full 24 hours." Lexa nodded her head, agreeing with Clarke. "C'mon hot stuff, let's go. We gots lots to do."

"Gots lots?" Lexa questioned as she threaded Clarke's hand with hers.

"Don't argue with my choice of words." Clarke used their joined hands to pull Lexa in for a kiss. She pulled back and looked into those familiar green eyes that she has gotten so used to. She has the top half of Lexa's face memorized, all the little curves, creases and lines. She thinks about those eyes every night before she falls asleep, and now with Lexa leaving, she will remember it even more, forcing herself to never forget.

"I love you."

Lexa smiled down at her girlfriend, "I love you too."

Clarke awoke the next morning with her heart in her stomach, followed by a pit of dread.

Lexa was leaving today.

To Chicago...

The dinner with Anya, Aden, and Gustus last night didn't help either. Anya had cried a lot, Aden tried to fight it but the little boy couldn't stop his tears from falling. Since Lexa was leaving so early, they weren't going to be able to get up and say goodbye to her before she left. So last night was when the family said they're goodbyes.

That made the pit in Clarke's stomach form... the time was getting closer.

And now it was here.

The blonde felt Lexa's body behind her, and she tightened her grip on the girl, hoping, that if she held tight enough, it wouldn't be true... That Lexa wouldn't go.

But time was against her, as it always seemed to be lately. Lexa's alarm blared on the nightstand next to the bed. Tears welled in Clarke's eyes as reality started to sink in.

Just one year. They could do distance for a year. People have done distance for longer than that before. She'll be okay, right?

Except... maybe not... She'll have to come home to an empty apartment every day, the rent was going to be $200 more expensive now, she won't even have Commander to keep her company, since he was in fact going with Lexa.

The brunette argued that he should stay with Clarke, but the blonde refused. Lexa should have at least one familiar thing with her when moving to a new city, and plus Commander was her dog to begin with.

Lexa stirred next to her, then rolled over to turn off her alarm. Clarke turned in her arms to face the beautiful brunette that lay before her. She brought her hand up to cradle Lexa's face. Neither spoke, they just stared into each other's eyes as the thought of goodbye lingered heavily in the background. Eventually Lexa sighed and leaned forward pressing her lips to Clarke's.

That's when the blonde lost it. Tears flooded out of her eyes and Lexa tried soothing her, whispering that it'll be okay.

"Clarke." Lexa sighed the blonde's name, but the girl vehemently shook her head. The car and U-Haul were already packed, so all Lexa had to do was pack her daily stuff and hit the road. It was a ten and a half hour drive for the girl and Lexa wanted to make it in one day and get mostly settled into her new place.

Her new place. Not ours. Clarke thought.

Wasn't this the total opposite of lesbian U-Hauling?

"You have to go, I know..." Clarke choked out, her voice wavering with every word, "It just really sucks."

"I know it does. But we love each other enough to make this work."

Clarke stared into the captivating green eyes she knows and loves, committing them to memory one last time. Just to be safe. She nodded her head slowly and pressed her lips into her girlfriends once more.

With one more sigh, Lexa begrudgingly got up and Clarke followed. The clock on the stove read 5:17 am as Lexa maneuvered around to gather her things. Commander perched his head up from the spot on the couch to watch the girls wander around the apartment. Clarke threw some eggs in a pan, and some toast in the toaster. She was going to make Lexa one last breakfast before she hit the road. It wasn't anything too special. Just an egg and cheese sand which on toast, but she just wanted to do something, instead of hopelessly watching the girl finish packing.

She put the sand which on a plate and set in on the counter. She peered over the island and Commander, who had his head on his paws and was looking up at her with his big, brown, adorable puppy dog eyes. Even though he was far from a puppy...

Clarke went over and sat on the couch next to him, stroking and scratching the dogs head. She heard the patter of Lexa's footsteps coming down the hall.

"I made you breakfast." Clarke told the girl as she nodded her head towards the counter. She checked her phone, 5:29...

Lexa had planned on leaving by 6 at the latest... so that means if she was all packed, she would leave earlier. She looked over at Lexa who was eating her food, looking down at the counter. The blonde walked over and wrapped her arms around the brunette's waist. Lexa instantly relaxed into the embrace, leaning back into Clarke's arms. The blonde rested her head in between Lexa's shoulder blades and sighed in content with the feeling of Lexa in her arms.

"I have something for you." Lexa stated which quirked Clarke's interest. Clarke was supposed to give Lexa a going away present... not the other way around. (Which she did. She gave her a giant picture frame that held a picture of the two of them in the center, with ten other picture frames surrounding the center picture.)

Lexa turned around in her arms and reached her hand into her sweatpants pocket, pulling out a little black box. Clarke felt her heart jump in her chest as she looked up at Lexa with anticipation.

"Clarke," her voice cracked, "I love you so much, and I cannot imagine my life without you. I know we've been together for a year and a half but I truly feel that you are the only one for me. Distance is going to be hard and I know I have made you so many promises that we'll make it work, but I wanted to give you something that showed I truly meant it." Lexa opened the small velvet box to reveal a beautiful silver ring, with a small circular diamond in it.

Clarke gasped as her hand went up to cover her mouth, trying to choke back the tears.

"I promise you, that we will make this work. I promise you that I will love you through thick and thin... and I promise you... I promise you that one day I will marry you. It's not a proposal... but it kind of is. It's a promise that a proposal will come one day."

It's 5:33 in the fucking morning and Clarke was now crying for a second time. She couldn't even form a coherent sentence, she just cried... and leaned forward and kissed Lexa, and kissed her and kissed her. Her lips smashed into the brunettes conveying the answer she couldn't form into words.

"You're such an asshole!" Clarke said as she parted from Lexa smacking her shoulder, then wiping her tear stained cheeks. Lexa chuckled as she placed the ring on Clarke's finger just beside her paintbrush tattoo.

"Yeah... but I'm your asshole." Lexa said as love and adoration shimmered in her eyes, as she stared down at the beautiful blonde before her that she gets to call hers. She brought her hands up to cradle the blonde's neck and face, pulling her in for one final kiss for what was going to be a long while.