Clarke woke up to light filtering in through the cracks in the blinds. She groaned and burrowed into Finn's chest, not ready to get up and face the day yet. As she nuzzled in further, she felt her nose brush against the swell of a breast, and her eyes sprang open. She breathed out in relief when she recognized the body beneath her, and she remembered the events of the night before. It was Lexa. She tried to pull back from Lexa's hold, but found a hand come up and press her face back down.

"Lexa," Clarke groaned, "let go."

Lexa's voice was raspy from sleep. "But I'm so comfortable, and you're so warm."

Clarke pulled against Lexa's arm, but her best friend would not budge. "Come on, Lexie. We might as well get up. The others will probably be up soon anyway, and you know they won't let us sleep."

"You're probably right," Lexa relented, releasing her hold on Clarke.

Clarke sat up, surprised that she didn't have a hangover after last night. She was moving to grab some clothes to change into when she looked back at Lexa to find the other girl still sitting in bed with her hand pressed to her forehead, not looking too great.

"You okay, Lex?" Clarke asked.

"My head hurts a bit." Lexa brought her eyes up to meet Clarke's.

Clarke gave her a sympathetic look. She didn't remember Lexa drinking much more than she did, but perhaps she didn't drink enough water or just didn't have as high of a tolerance for alcohol.

"Just lie back down. I'll get you water and some aspirin for your headache," Clarke said.

Lexa nodded. "Okay."

When Clarke left the room, she was surprised to see that nobody was up yet. She rooted through the kitchen as quietly as she could to find some aspirin. It didn't take her long before she found the pill bottle in the cupboard. Trying her best to remain quiet, she grabbed two pills and filled up a glass of water before making her way back to Lexa's room.

"Here you go," Clarke said, handing the items to Lexa.

Lexa accepted the aspirin and the glass. "Thank you, Clarke."

She drank from the glass in tiny sips, careful not to drink too fast. Clarke watched as the water was emptied from the cup into Lexa's mouth, hoping that it would make the other girl feel a bit better.

"Just get some more rest and wait for the aspirin to kick in," Clarke instructed, and Lexa nodded.

Lexa laid out on the bed, and Clarke sat beside her, not wanting to leave her alone. Besides, no one else was awake, so she really had nothing else to do anyway. She felt Lexa's fingers curl around hers, and she squeezed the brunette's hand, running her thumb back and forth over the back of it. Clarke simply sat with her until Anya came in to wake them up, by which point Lexa had long since fallen asleep. Clarke brought a finger to her lips to keep Anya from waking her sister, and she gently untangled her hand from Lexa's before making her way to join the others in the living room.

After breakfast, Clarke and her friends had to leave the Woods' apartment to get to class on time. When they were about to go, Clarke went back to Lexa's room to say goodbye, but she found her best friend still sprawled across the bed, her wild tangle of brunette curls partially covering her face. Clarke smiled to herself, dropping a quick kiss on Lexa's forehead before slipping quietly out the door.


Later that day, Lexa was sitting in her psychology class, trying to stay awake. She had taken the class to fulfill part of her general education requirements and because it was an easy A, but she had not thought about the fact that this meant that the class would be extra boring. That, and the kid who was sitting a few seats away kept staring at her. She rolled her eyes at him when she caught his gaze, and she wanted nothing more than to get out of the class. Normally, she passed Clarke on her way out of it, and she hoped she wouldn't miss her today, since she had missed the blonde leaving her apartment earlier. After class, people immediately began to file out, and Lexa was about to join them when the nerdy kid who had been eyeing her during class blocked her path.

"Hey, I'm Ryan, and you might be the prettiest girl I've ever seen." The boy held out his hand for Lexa to shake.

"Then, you clearly haven't seen a lot of pretty girls," Lexa said, completely ignoring his attempt at a handshake.

He awkwardly dropped his hand back to his side. "I was just trying to compliment you. So, I'm not busy tonight. Do you want to hang out?"

"I'm not interested," Lexa stated, brushing past him.

Before she got very far, his hand closed around her wrist, holding her back.

"Listen, I've got places I need to be." Lexa tried to pull away, but his grip held firm.

"Please hang out with me, Lexa," he begged.

"How the hell do you know my name?" Lexa snapped.

He smiled at her, pushing his glasses further up his nose with his free hand. "I've been captivated by you from the first day of class. I heard your name on the roll."

Lexa didn't think this kid could be any creepier, and she made a mental note to sit on the other side of the classroom from now on. She was disgusted at the feel of his sweaty hand around her wrist, and she was seriously confused as to how her hand didn't slip right out of his grip. She was trying to think of a way to let him down nicely, so she could get away from him, when she suddenly heard another voice speak up behind her.

"Get the hell away from her." Clarke stormed to Lexa's side.

"Who are you?" he stuttered, releasing Lexa's wrist.

"Her girlfriend. And I'd advise you to leave her alone from now on." Clarke grabbed Lexa's hand, and Lexa blushed in surprise at the action and at the words that she wished so desperately were true. Lexa was glad Clarke wasn't focusing on her as she fought to get her blushing under control.

Ryan was scared shitless by the sight of an angry Clarke, but Lexa couldn't say she was opposed to it. It was certainly hot, and Lexa had to force herself to look away. Ryan quickly walked out of the classroom, mumbling that he was sorry and looking as if he might pee his pants at any moment.

Lexa turned immediately to Clarke. "Thank you for saving me."

Clarke's icy expression melted off when her eyes met Lexa's. "Of course. I still remember when you stood up for me in fourth grade."

Lexa easily remembered what Clarke was talking about. "Right. When Murphy was bullying you for reading too much, and he tore the cover off your Harry Potter book."

"And when we got home, you taped it up for me with Scotch tape. I still have that book, you know," Clarke told her.

"I never would've expected you to give it away."

Clarke's expression changed at that moment, a look of curiosity taking over. "So what's the deal with you and dating? I mean, I know that guy was a total creep, but I noticed when we were playing Never Have I Ever last night, you didn't drink for having made out with a guy."

"I've never had a boyfriend before," Lexa admitted.

"Really? You're certainly pretty enough," Clarke commented.

Lexa tried her best not to blush at the new knowledge that Clarke found her pretty. "I've just never wanted one."

"Oh. Okay." Clarke let the topic go.

Lexa realized she might have said that a little too harshly. However, she was glad that Clarke had dropped the topic. That was, until the blonde moved to an even worse one.

"Are you ever going to let go of my hand?" Clarke said it in a teasing tone, but the question hit too close to home for Lexa.

She froze, realizing that she was still holding Clarke's hand. She instantly released it as if she had been burned, and she couldn't stop her face from turning what she knew was most likely a deep scarlet. She wanted to argue that Clarke hadn't let go of her hand either, but she didn't want to sound defensive.

"Are you blushing?" Clarke asked, and Lexa wanted to run from the room.

"Yeah. I'm just…a little embarrassed that I couldn't get away from that guy myself," Lexa lied, in what she hoped was a smooth manner.

Clarke didn't question it. "Don't worry about it. I'm sure you would've gotten away just fine if I hadn't come in here. I mean, it's not like you would've given in to a date with him. I just happened to look into this classroom, and I thought I'd help you out."

Lexa was suddenly curious. "Why did you look in this classroom?"

"I didn't see you in the hall like I normally do, so I looked in to see if your class had run late," Clarke explained.

"Thanks again." Lexa ran a hand through her hair.

"Like I said, no problem." Clarke glanced down at her watch. "I should probably be getting to class though."

"Of course. I'll see you later."

Lexa sighed as she watched Clarke's retreating form. She had almost blown her secret today with that stupid blush, and Lexa didn't know how much longer she could pretend that she thought of Clarke as just her best friend. She knew one thing though. She was going to have to tell Clarke. Soon.


Nine Years Earlier

Clarke was reading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire as she waited for Anya and Lincoln to come pick her and Lexa up from their classroom. She and the Woods' always carpooled together, and so every day, she and Lexa would wait for Anya and Lincoln so they could all walk out to the parking lot together. Lexa was gathering the books she would need for homework, so Clarke was sitting at her desk by herself at the moment. That's when the class bully, John Murphy, came up behind her, snatching the book out of her hands.

"Doing a bit of light reading, are we, Clarkey?" Murphy sneered, and Clarke hated the way the nickname sounded coming from Murphy's mouth.

"Give it back." Clarke stood up and turned to face him.

Murphy ignored her, paging through the book. "How can anyone read this? I can barely read fifty pages of a book without getting bored."

"Maybe that's why you don't do well in school," Clarke snapped.

"You're seriously gonna talk to me that way? I'll show you what happens to little brats who think they can be disrespectful of me," Murphy snarled, and Clarke wanted to cry as he ripped the cover off the book, throwing it to the ground.

Clarke tried to grab the book from him, but Murphy held it up out of her reach. "Give it back!"

Suddenly, Lexa tore the book from Murphy's hands, stooping to pick up the cover before handing it back to the blonde and turning her furious glare on Murphy.

"Stay away from her, Murphy," Lexa growled.

"Thank you, Lexa," Clarke said, and Lexa nodded to her, her fierce gaze softening a bit when she looked at Clarke.

"Oh, sure. You need your little bitch to do everything for you, don't you, Clarke?" Murphy taunted.

"What did you call my sister?" Anya growled from behind.

Clarke whirled around to see Anya and Lincoln standing behind her, wearing matching furious expressions. Now, Murphy had the sense to look scared, and Clarke knew exactly what was going to happen next a moment before it did. Anya didn't even give Murphy time to respond, rushing forward and punching him in the face.

"Anya Woods!" the teacher yelled. "Principal's office. Now!"

Anya spun around to find Clarke and Lexa's fourth grade teacher standing in the doorway. "Yes, ma'am."

The four of them headed out into the hallway, Anya now heading to the principal's office rather than the parking lot. The two places were in the same direction, so Anya still got to walk with her siblings.

"Of course the teacher walks in right when I punch Murphy, but when Murphy's bullying people, the teacher's nowhere to be seen."

"You won't get in trouble," Lincoln assured her.

"I'm probably getting detention," Anya argued.

Lincoln grabbed her arm, getting her to look at him. "You were protecting Clarke and Lexa. Mom will understand."

Anya sighed, and her shoulders slumped. "I know. Clarke, tell your mom she doesn't have to wait for me to talk to the principal. My mom can pick me up later."

Clarke shook her head. "We'll wait for you."

"It might take a while," Anya argued.

"We'll wait," Clarke insisted.

When they reached the principal's office, Anya stopped at the door, turning to face her siblings. "Well, this is me. See you guys on the other side."

"Thank you, Anya," Clarke said sincerely.

"Anytime, Munchkin." Anya grinned before disappearing inside the room.

As the three of them walked outside to find Clarke's mom, the blonde looked down at her book and the cover that had been torn from it, and tears started to form in her eyes at the sight. She always kept her books in pristine condition, and she hated seeing one of her favorites ruined.

"Don't worry, Clarke. My mom has this big Scotch tape at home. We can tape the cover back on easily," Lexa spoke up beside her.

Clarke turned her big blue eyes up to meet Lexa's. "Really?"

"Sure. I wish I could say it would be as good as new, but it will be close," Lexa promised.

"Thank you, Lexie," Clarke said, reaching down to squeeze the brunette's hand, and Lexa just smiled as they walked to where Clarke's mom was waiting.


AN: To sandra9666 who gave me the idea for this flashback, I hope it lived up to your expectations. :) I hope the rest of you enjoyed the chapter! Thanks for reading!