Throughout Clarke's life, she'd never been much of a friend hoarder. She was careful with whom she trusted, and she didn't take to liking people very easily. As a kid, being friends with Wells had been easy. Her parents were friends with his, and they had been mingling with each other since they were in still in pull ups. Clarke's friendship with Octavia had been easy as well, but only once the brunette had spurred it on. Once that'd happened, Clarke never really thought to even try to make any new friends. She wasn't one to want for things she didn't desperately need.

But the past two weeks had been something that, in retrospect, she definitely needed, but she hadn't known it.

It wasn't the fact that she and Nathan were actively texting every couple of days, and that he was becoming someone that she could call a friend, although that was new and nice for her as well. There were more people now who thought that they were dating, but Nathan had told his friends multiple times that they weren't, and Clarke had insisted to Octavia time and time again the same thing. Still, it was kind of nice to have people think that, because both of them knew that no one suspected anything else from them. But it wasn't her new friendship with the one other not-straight person she knew in person that was her unknown necessity, but rather the now flowering friendship she had with Lexa.

Flowering was the term she used in her head, because it felt like it was too far past budding to use that.

But it was something more than that, and Clarke had been noticing it more and more recently. The first time she'd realized it was the week after she'd gone to that party with Octavia and had hung out with Nathan the following day. She thought it was Monday, but it might've been Tuesday. Either way, the conversation she'd had with Lexa had been the first indicator.

Direct Message With lexawarriorwoods

Lexa – So, I have a question for you.

C – Shoot lol.

Lexa – It's very, VERY important, so get prepared.

C – Alright, I'm prepared…

Lexa – What color are your eyes?

C – That's your very important question?

Lexa – Raven and I have a bet.

C – Of course you guys do XD What are the sides?

Lexa – Raven thinks that you have blue eyes, and I feel like you're one of those people who has brown eyes even though you have blonde hair.

C – Raven's right, I have blue eyes.

Lexa – Well fuck. Now I owe her pizza.

C – Go buy her pizza then ;)

Lexa – Wowwww, no sympathy. I see how it is. And I thought you liked me :(

C – I can't help that you lost. And if I sided with you every time, Raven would probably hate me LOL. Go buy her pizza.

Lexa – What do you order on pizza?

C – I like veggie pizza, but I usually order pepperoni because Octavia hates vegetables on pizza. I don't mind the pepperoni, so that's usually what we get.

C – Octavia, that's my best friend. I don't know if I said that already.

Lexa – I hate pepperoni, but I like veggie. Raven gets Hawaiian, which is like, okay… but I'm not a fan of the ham. Meat on pizza is just, eh, not for me.

Lexa – So because it was your eyes that we bet over, I'll order veggie pizza. That way I can at least be content with the food I'm going to be forced to consume.

C – That's reasonable, I guess lol.

Lexa – Of course it is, I'm always reasonable ;)

C – Oh hey, you never told me how your dance class went last week. Was your ex there again?

Lexa – Nope, she wasn't. But I've decided that I don't care if she is or not. I'm done with her.

Lexa – I hate being single, though. I feel kind of bad about it, but I'm a little glad that Raven is single now too. I had way less to do when she was always hanging out with Rachel. Does that make me a terrible person?

C – No, I prefer it when Octavia is single, too. Except, we don't spend every day together anyway. She has soccer practice on most Saturdays and she does hang out with other friends. But still, when she has a boyfriend, I lose like half of the friend time that I usually had.

C – I hate being single too, for that reason. I kind of hope that the first time I start dating someone, Octavia is single. I know that's mean… ugh, we're both terrible people.

Lexa – No, you're not a terrible person, Clarke. Trust me, I know terrible people, and I don't choose to spend hours messaging them on Twitter.

It was that message that had shaken Clarke, and made her realize that Lexa was right – not about her being a good person, but about the fact that they did spend hours messaging each other. It was what Clarke looked forward to at the end of every school day. She cherished the hour or so she had after school, leaning against that tree and waiting for Octavia to get out of practice, during which she could message Lexa without anyone wondering what she was doing. Then, at night, she rushed her bedtime routine to curl up under the blankets and talk to Lexa for another couple of hours. She'd been going to bed later than normal, just to squeeze more talking time into the day.

It was then that the truth became clear to her – she liked Lexa, as more than a friend.

But, alone in this knowledge and without any experience with relationships of any sort, she wasn't able to interpret whether or not Lexa might like her back. She thought it might be fruitless to even try to figure it out, because she had no idea where the brunette even was in California, let alone if she'd be open to dating someone online. Was Clarke even open to that?

Because she was braver online than she'd ever been in person, she'd decided later in that week to try and be more open, and possibly hint at her feelings. She couldn't imagine what it would be like if Lexa caught on and then rejected her, but she could always try to attribute her shift to something else if the brunette did get suspicious and negative.

It was risky, but she tried.

Direct Message With lexawarriorwoods

C – Octavia has a date tonight, so I'm stuck at home alone. My parents are both gone at work, too. Should I order pizza or go pick up real food?

Lexa – Pizza is real food, you crazy person. Order pizza – and get veggie to spite Octavia!

C – Hahaha okay XD

C – What are your Friday night plans?

Lexa – Not much. I have to do an English project over The Great Gatsby…? Have you read it?

C – Yeah, I read it earlier this year. What's the project over?

Lexa – The American Dream, of course. *insert eye roll here* I think the American Dream is kind of bullshit. Like, I guess we all sort of know that now, but like… I guess my American Dream has like, way more equality in it. Oh, and also more gay people. You can never go wrong with more gay people.

C – Hahaha I guess that's true. Are there a lot of gay people where you live?

Lexa – Sure, plenty, but if I'm being perfectly honest, I've dated quite a few of the lesbians here. Others of them I would never even consider dating, because they're awful people, or because they are my ex's exes. Eh. It would just be nice if the dating pool was pretty equal for everyone, you know?

C – Yeah, I get that.

C – I used to think dating online was stupid, but now that I've realized that the number of people in my town that I would open to dating is a resounding 0, I think that it could actually be nice?

Lexa – hahaha I guess there's always Tinder or something ;)

C – LOL, but isn't Tinder full of creeps? I don't wanna just have sex with someone lol.

Lexa – Yeah no, I get it.

Lexa – IDK, Raven always talks about using Twitter as a place to meet possible lovers ;)

C – Haha, I mean, I guess that isn't ridiculous.

Lexa – No, it's not lol.

There'd been a pause between messages after that, something that rarely happened during a conversation between the two, and Clarke had wondered if Lexa was thinking the same thing that she was thinking.

Before she could decide on what to say next, though, Lexa was typing again.

Lexa – Did you order your pizza? I can't imagine that you have, considering that you've been messaging me nonstop ;)

After that, Clarke had found that it was impossible for her to draw out any confidence even online. She was enough of a social person to know that bringing up relationships in every conversation would just end up annoying, and not necessarily hint anything to Lexa. So she gave up trying to make her feelings known, and instead, she just acted as naturally as possible. She threw in more winking faces every now and then, because that was a thing that Lexa did a lot. Maybe if she returned them…

Conversations with Lexa slowly became more thoughtful on Clarke's end, and though that could've turned badly, it only helped their friendship grow. They talked about anything from how their days had gone to their favorite things to childhood stories. The two of them never had a lack of things to talk about.

Still, Clarke felt strangely unfulfilled after a while, needing something more. She knew that it was ridiculous to feel that way, but she couldn't help it.

It was a Friday, two weeks after that party, that things took a major change.

Direct Message With lexawarriorwoods

Lexa – Man I wish you could see this. Rae is trying the chubby bunny shit with marshmallows and she's only two in and she's already struggling.

Lexa – I want to tell her that it's because she's gay, but I don't want her to laugh and choke to death on the marshmallows.

C – Oh my god, that's something I actually wish I could see.

Lexa – You can, if you want to.

C – I mean, I guess you could video it.

Lexa – No, that's not what I meant. Videos are so unsatisfying when it comes to funny things. It's way more fun to watch in person.

Lexa – Add me on Snapchat, it's the same user as Twitter.

Lexa – You don't even have to show your face or talk or anything, I'll just live video snap you and don't have to turn yours on. Seriously, it's hilarious.

Clarke, who was sitting on her bed in her dark room, considered the suggestion. It was true, you could do live snaps with people that were one sided. She knew that much. And she wasn't an avid snapchat user, but she had one to appease Octavia. Plus, she liked the Buzzfeed stories on it.

Plus, because she'd always been careful about online identities, her snapchat only had her first name in it, which Lexa knew.

What was the harm, really?

She closed out of Twitter and hit the yellow ghost icon. It took a moment to load, and then a dark camera appeared in front of her. She quickly went about searching Lexa's username, and sure enough, Lexa came up. Her profile picture video thing was actually kind of cute – three stills of Lexa making dumb faces at the camera.

Taking in a deep breath, she clicked the add button. Only about ten seconds passed before Lexa added her back, and then she pulled over to the chat screen with Lexa. After a matter of seconds a live video stream suddenly appeared, and Clarke could see through Lexa's phone camera.

It was the first time, she realized, that she'd ever heard either Raven's or Lexa's voices.

Raven was sitting across from Lexa at a wooden dining table, with now three marshmallows stuffed in her mouth. "Chubby bunny," Raven mumbled through them, causing a fit of laughter from Lexa.

Lexa's laugh just about killed Clarke – her heart skipped at least three times in a row when she heard it. It was bright, adorable, and unbelievably just… she didn't even have the words for it. It was like music. "Oh my god, Raven, you're going to fucking choke." And those were the first words that Clarke ever heard Lexa say aloud. That fact alone made Clarke chuckle.

"Shut up!" Raven somehow managed through the marshmallows, grabbing another from off camera and bringing it up to her lips.

"You look disgusting. Wow, what a great first impression you're making to Clarke."

Again, Clarke's heart started doing backflips when she heard Lexa say her name. The k at the end clicked so nicely in Lexa's voice, which was easily as smooth as butter or chocolate or some other food that was smooth. Clarke wasn't sure that she could properly think of any comparisons.

"Wai', Clar'?" Raven asked, the fourth marshmallow in her mouth now. "You go' 'er 'napcha'?"

"Stop talking, your words barely even sound like real words."

Raven said something else that was clearly meant to be "chubby bunny" and then grabbed a fifth marshmallow. As she attempted to stuff it into her mouth, Lexa broke out into more laughter. At that, Raven grabbed a napkin from off camera and spit out the marshmallows. With a second napkin, she wiped her face off and glared at Lexa. "I can't believe you're going to send that to Clarke."

"This is a live video, she already saw it," Lexa stated boldly.

"What? Is she there?"

"No," Lexa replied quickly. "I just wanted her to see you struggle."

"Hey, it's not my fault that I have a small mouth."

"No, but I guess it's perfect, considering that you're gay as fuck. You couldn't even try dick if you wanted to."

Raven gagged. "You're gross, Lexa." She suddenly reached out and snatched the phone from Lexa's hand and turned it around, and Clarke was gifted with an image of Lexa, arms crossed in annoyance now. Her hair was tied up on top of her head, in a bun, and her makeup was a little smudged. She was wearing a black tank top, and that was all Clarke could see. It was evident that she hadn't intended to be videoed at all tonight. "How about you try it then?"

"No, I'm not in the mood to suffocate and die, but thanks," Lexa said firmly.

"So you made me look like an idiot in front of our dear friend Clarke, but you get to look perfect?"

"I can't help it if I'm perfect."

"Bitch."

Clarke felt herself grinning, and she was almost tempted to join the conversation. All it would take would to click one button. They wouldn't even have to see her, because the camera would be facing away, and it was dark in the room anyway. They would just hear her voice, that would be it.

But she couldn't muster up the courage, and soon, the live video ended.

Clarke decided to message Lexa there, on snapchat, rather than switch back over to Twitter.

Clarke – That was funny XD

Lexa – Told you :)

Lexa – Sorry you had to see me looking like a slob afterward LOL.

Clarke – You didn't look like a slob XD I think you looked cute :)

Clarke didn't let herself hesitate when she hit the message, because or else Lexa would think that she felt uncomfortable sending it. It was the most forward thing that Clarke had ever said to Lexa, and still it could be interpreted in a friendly way. She wondered how Lexa would take it.

She didn't get a message response from the brunette, but instead a picture. Tapping on the little red square, she was greeted with a selfie from Lexa and the caption: Cute? Girl, I look hot as fucking hell! She was making a dumb face in the picture, and Clarke laughed without even meaning to.

Clarke – Oh obviously ;)

Lexa – Hey hey cool it with the sarcasm! You know you're SOOOO turned on by that face ;)

Clarke blushed.

Clarke – If I was, I wouldn't admit it XD

Lexa – Noted ;)


Adding Lexa on snapchat was possibly one of Clarke's best decisions ever.

Because although Clarke was not sending the brunette pictures of herself, that didn't stop Lexa from sending her things. Sometimes they were just silly selfies, or pictures of Raven doing something weird. Other time, they were videos of her friends or something. Lexa was an avid snapchat user, that much became clear, and Clarke formed a habit of snapping back with pictures of a wall or something, with her message written over it.

The first time she did that, Lexa playfully insisted that Clarke was being a tease – that she'd made Lexa think a picture of her would be behind that little red square. Clarke only felt mildly bad about it, but she knew that Lexa wasn't really mad or anything. In fact, that was the only time that Lexa said anything about the fact that she'd never seen Clarke's face. She never tried to get her to send selfies or anything, and Clarke loved that.

Raven, however, who had added her after stealing Lexa's phone to find her username, was constantly bugging her about it. It was mostly playful, Clarke knew, but it was the majority of her conversations with Raven on the app. The rest of it was Raven zooming in way too close to Lexa's face, or to her own face, and Clarke at least thought that was pretty funny.

Starting that week after adding Lexa, though, Octavia's thing with Patrick ended. At first, Octavia insisted that she'd ended it – that she'd concluded it had run its course. But Clarke read right through the lie, and when her best friend finally admitted that she'd been dumped, even though their relationship hadn't even really been official, Octavia cried. It was the first time in a while that Clarke witnessed this, but she just held the brunette and dragged her fingers loosely through dark hair.

Octavia being suddenly single actually inhibited Clarke's time to snapchat and talk to Lexa or Raven. She still talked to them daily, of course, but she spent a lot more time with Octavia. It got slightly harder to maintain what felt like two separate lives, and she wondered if there was a compromise to be made. She didn't want to tell Octavia about Lexa, though, because then her friend would start asking her questions. Where did she know her from? Why were half of their messages equipped with winking faces?

That was another thing that kept getting more and more apparent – Clarke and Lexa were flirting. Often. Most of their conversations were packed with flirtatious comments or jokes, although nothing was ever overly serious. But it was nice, and at least unaddressed, it couldn't turn into something bad or awkward.

That didn't stop Clarke from wishing that she was brave enough to address it.

Clarke had never been much of a self-conscious person either, but more and more she found herself lacking the courage it would take to try and take a step forward in her friendship – or whatever it was – with Lexa. She swore that at some point, she would be brave enough to contribute sometime, but she'd never been much into making the first move in anything.

But maybe this was something that counted enough for her to try.