From Rae Bae – You said you took some pictures, but I see no pictures from you in this message thread. Please fix this! I'm going to bed, hope you have a good day tomorrow. XX
Clarke smiled as she read the text from her best friend, before quickly sending her the selfie she took with the Eiffel Tower. It was really the only picture she had besides the one that Lexa took of her atop the structure, but she didn't want to send that one to her best friend. The question would come up – who took the picture, and why did Clarke look so goddamn happy in it.
Not that it was a bad thing that Clarke was happy, just that it would probably draw questions.
She knew that her friends would be suspicious if they knew that Clarke was with someone else as she traveled Europe, but she also knew that telling them would end their confusion about the money situation, and also how she'd determined where to go. Raven was right to assume that Clarke was nearly broke by now, but she still had about half of her wad of cash left, because Lexa kept on paying for everything.
Lexa was easily more chivalrous than ninety percent of the guys Clarke had ever dated. Setting her phone down, the blonde glanced over at Lexa's bed, where she was still curled up, completely asleep. Clarke was up pretty early, because she wasn't sure at what time Lexa wanted to leave for Brugge, and she wanted to be ready when Lexa was.
As she showered, she found herself wondering if things were going to be awkward at all between the two of them, about the previous night. She hoped not, because like she'd told Lexa, she definitely hadn't felt uncomfortable about what had happened at all. It had, however, escalated pretty quickly and then ended up going nowhere, which was not only disappointing but possibly a source of awkwardness.
Once she exited the bathroom however, fully dressed and ready for the day, Lexa was already up, gathering up her clothes to take into the bathroom with her. Green eyes looked up to meet blue ones happily. "Good morning."
"Wow, look whose actually awake," Clarke teased, smiling.
"I woke up way earlier than you did yesterday," Lexa reminded the blonde, shaking her head as she passed her to head into the bathroom. "But I wanna have time in Brugge today, so I set an alarm."
"Progressive," Clarke replied, still teasing and amused. Lexa just rolled her eyes, but Clarke was sure that she caught a slight tint of red of the girl's cheeks before she disappeared into the bathroom. Clarke smiled proudly to herself as she began to get her stuff together for the day.
They got waffles again near their hotel before making their way to the train station to board the one that would take them the hour journey up to Brugge. They bought their return tickets for that night as well, and then they found seats on the train and settled into them.
They sat on one side of an aisle and Clarke took the window seat without thinking much of it. However, as soon as the train started moving, it became apparent that Lexa had not at all gotten enough sleep, and she began to doze sitting up. Clarke didn't think anything of it when the brunette suddenly laid her head against her shoulder, curling up somewhat against her, at least as best as she could in the little space.
Clarke let the brunette sleep on her shoulder, because she knew that Lexa had probably been up for a while the previous night. Plus, it wasn't like it was uncomfortable. Clarke watched the landscape pass through the window as the train sped from the capital to the other city. When they arrived, Clarke's breath was immediately taken away. The city was so quaint looking, and though the architecture was similar to that of Brussels, it had a different air to it.
Clarke gently shrugged her left shoulder, trying to nudge the brunette awake before the train actually stopped. "Lexa," she cooed, finding her right hand suddenly some of the girl's hair out of her face, "time to wake up."
"No," Lexa murmured, "you're comfortable."
"I'm sure," Clarke humored, her lips turning up into a smile, "but the train's about to stop."
That got the brunette to sit up, albeit reluctantly, and her eyes looked past Clarke and out at the city as they pulled into the train station. A smile appeared on her face when she realized where they were. "I was really asleep for an hour?"
"Yep," Clarke replied, still smiling. "You slept like a baby."
Lexa rolled her eyes. "I didn't sleep much last night."
"Because you learned the power of alarms," Clarke recalled, smirking as the brunette just scoffed. The train stopped and everyone began to shuffle off of it, Clarke and Lexa included.
The city was something extraordinary. It wasn't considerably small by any means, but something about it was just so peaceful. Once she and Lexa were free of the train and the train station, she understood why. It was so quiet. People walked about, and horse drawn carriage rides for tourists passed, all along cobbled streets. There were stray voices speaking here and there, but it was so quiet. Not the eerie kind of quiet either, not was it at all deafening. It was perfect, relaxing, paradisaical.
She held in a breath, feeling like exhaling and making any noise at all would poison the beauty of it all. But a few people bustled past her, breaking the silence for a moment, and the blonde finally released her breath. "Wow."
"Nice, huh?" Lexa revered. Clarke couldn't even answer, she still felt like speaking too many words would break the quietude. "Come on, I'll show you my favorite place." The brunette's warm hand took Clarke's, and the blonde allowed her to lead her away from the train station. They had to walk a ways away from the train station, and Clarke wasn't sure how long it took exactly, but she was so entranced by their surroundings that she hardly cared.
When they reached their desired destination, Clarke couldn't hold in the words that she hadn't spoken yet. "This place is actually beautiful."
"Isn't it?" Lexa agreed.
They were in a little area behind a few buildings, where a small river or canal or something passed through the landscape, and a beautiful bridge balanced between either side of it. "Why doesn't America have places like this?"
"Because America was founded hundreds of years after this place," Lexa replied, smirking slightly, "and by then, we were already diverting to more modern architecture. Places like this... well, you always have the new modern stuff slipped in, but it wasn't like they were going to tear down everything that was already there. What would be the point in that?"
Clarke nodded. "Well, that makes sense."
"I've gotta take some pictures," Lexa said, releasing Clarke's hand and retrieving her camera from her bag.
Clarke let the brunette do her thing as she sat on a little bench in the area by the waterway. At some point, a group of people came and sat near where she was, either people her age or in their late teens, talking quietly and playing guitar, and it was honestly just serene.
When Lexa was done there, they explored more of the city, including places were things were a bit more busy and lively. Lexa stopped everywhere she needed to take pictures, and Clarke would wander near there. At one point, she slipped into a chocolate store – she was sure that she saw at least two or three on every street – and was actually baffled at how many options of candies and chocolates they had.
She bought some for herself, and some for Lexa, and went to find the brunette. When she did, she was not surprised to see her taking a photo of one of the beautifully structured buildings. "Got time to break for chocolate?" Clarke asked, approaching her with a smile on her face.
Lexa lowered her camera and smiled, noticing the small bags of chocolates that she was holding in either hand. Clarke offered one to the photographer, who took it gratefully. "When is there not time to break for chocolate?" Clarke laughed brightly, drawing a smile from the other girl, and they sat themselves down on a little bench and snacked quietly on their chocolate. Clarke understood what the rage was about Belgian chocolate after tasting only a few – it was absolutely heavenly. "I haven't seen you whip out your sketchbook."
Clarke glanced at the brunette, who was looking at her curiously. "I don't feel like I could do any of this justice."
"I'm sure you could," Lexa countered, but said nothing more once Clarke stayed silent. It was another couple of minutes before she spoke again. "I think it would be so cool to own like a vacation house here. Can you imagine coming here every time you just needed to get away?"
Clarke hummed in response, imagining it. "That would be amazing." As she finished her chocolate and slid the empty plastic pouch into her messenger bag to dispose of later, Lexa suddenly grabbed her hand, playing with the blonde's fingers. Her eyes were also on Clarke's hand, though blue eyes were trained on green ones. "What?"
"I'm glad you're here with me, Clarke," Lexa said softly. Her gaze bounced up to meet Clarke's after the words left her lips, and the breath in Clarke's throat hitched. "Thank you for coming with me. I can't imagine being here alone again."
"Of course," Clarke replied gently, having a feeling that the brunette was reflecting on her past and feeling slightly afraid of messing that up by saying the wrong thing, or asking about it.
She didn't have to ask about it, though, because Lexa offered up information after a beat. "Europe was amazing the first time I came to take pictures. Everything was beautiful, awe inspiring, photo worthy... but I was empty. The only thing that filled me up was the place itself. But now I feel like I'm overflowing, because I also have you." Lexa's face suddenly displayed something like worry, like she thought she may have stepped too far. "I mean... you know, right now, here."
"You have me, Lexa," Clarke promised, calming Lexa. She leaned forward and pressed her lips softly against the brunette's, trying to send the feelings she had toward Lexa through the contact. The way Lexa kissed her back told her that they were well received.
After another hour or so of picture taking, they stopped for a late lunch, despite their chocolate snack earlier. They found a nice little restaurant near the center of the city where they could sit outside in the peaceful street. It was a little difficult to order food there, since the waitress only spoke Dutch, and neither Clarke nor Lexa could understand any of it. Thankfully, pointing and nodding seemed to be pretty universal symbols of communication.
They didn't talk much while they ate, Clarke because she felt like she should preserve the quietness, but she wondered if Lexa was still thinking a lot about her past. When she received a happy smile from the brunette by the time they were leaving, though, she assumed that the solemn period had passed.
Lexa was done taking pictures by five in the evening, with the air was getting a bit cooler. Since they'd had lunch late, neither of them were particularly hungry, so they made their way back to the train station with their hands intertwined and a light conversation being held between them.
During the train ride, Clarke gave Lexa the window seat and the brunette fell asleep the glass. Clarke fell asleep again Lexa. They both woke up only from the slight jolt of the train stopping when they were back in Brussels.
It was seven in the evening as they hopped on a bus to bring them nearer to their hotel. As they were on said bus, Clarke got a call from Raven. It didn't last long, because the brunette had initiated the phone call in order to let Clarke know that she was going to be busy for most of the rest of the day and to not bother calling. The blonde didn't question it, because she was still waking up from her nap on the train.
When they got back to the hotel room, Clarke used the bathroom first since she would take less time, and after finishing, Lexa went in to take her shower.
As Clarke sat down on her bed, she realized that she needed to text Octavia so that her friend wouldn't get pissed at her. She searched her pockets for her phone and realized that she'd left it in the bathroom. She could hear the shower running, and swallowing thickly, she approached the bathroom door.
Knocking, she called, "Lexa?"
"Yeah?" Lexa called back through the loud sound of water hitting the floor of the shower.
"I left my phone on the counter in the bathroom..."
"Door's unlocked," Lexa called, and Clarke swallowed thickly as she gently turned the handle on the door and stepped into the bathroom. The curtain was drawn in front of the shower, of course, but as she faced the counter to search for her phone, her eyes were drawn up to the mirror. In the reflection, she could see, from a sliver of shower that the curtain wasn't covering, the back of Lexa's hair as she scrubbed shampoo through it, and the muscles in her back flex slightly as she did so.
Blue eyes widening, Clarke quickly grabbed her phone, squeaked out a thank you, and left the bathroom. She let out a long breath, shaking her head and moving back to her bed.
To Crazy O's – Hey, heard Raven is busy and I'm really tired, so I'll call tomorrow. Wanted to text you though before I hit the sack.
From Crazy O's – No problem. Yeah, Raven got called into a tech emergency at work. Ur best friend scares the shit outa me sometimes. She started ranting and practically screaming about how stupid people were – and trying to figure out y they were even at the firm on the weekend.
To Crazy O's – Aw, c'mon. Raven isn't scary.
From Crazy O's – That's what she said before she called me an Octapussy. Apparently that nickname is now a thing.
Clarke felt a smile come to her face, and she mischievously clicked a few buttons on her phone.
To Octapussy – LOL. Well good luck with that. Talk to you tomorrow, O.
From Octapussy – Gn, C.
Plugging her phone in and setting it on the nightstand, Clarke exhaled and suddenly heard the water stop running in the bathroom. She swallowed thickly, picturing Lexa's bare back again, and the bare legs she'd seen on a handful of occasions, and that hair. She thought back to the previous night, and quickly realized that at this point, she would be unable to keep away from Lexa once the girl emerged from the bathroom.
And when Lexa did come out of the bathroom, wearing booty shorts and a tight tank top, Clarke was unable to stop herself from standing up, facing the brunette. Lexa froze, her eyes immediately locking with Clarke's. The blonde knew that Lexa could read her gaze, because when she was stepping forward and pressing her lips firmly against Lexa's, the other girl easily accepted her embrace.
She kissed her back with even more intensity, the kind of intensity that Clarke felt every time she looked at Lexa's fierce eyes. Soft hands trailed the sides of Clarke's body, over her shirt, and stopped at the hem of it. Both of them knew what they wanted, and what the other wanted, and whatever fear had stopped them the night before was gone. Lexa gripped the bottom of the blonde's shirt, and all but tore the piece of clothing from her body.
Clarke wasn't in the habit of sleeping with a bra on, so she was immediately exposed, though Lexa only had a second to even notice before Clarke was pulling their lips back together. Despite the dominance she was attempting, Lexa was soon in control of the kiss and of their movements, pushing the blonde backwards and toward her bed. Clarke felt the back of her knees touch the end of her mattress, and she was suddenly being pressed down into the soft surface, Lexa propped up by one arm above her.
She let the brunette straddle her possessively – she relished in the feeling of Lexa topping her like it was her job – but she desperately wanted the brunette to be as exposed as she was. She hummed into Lexa's mouth, her hands sliding up and under her tank top. Lexa got the message and detached their mouths, tearing her own shirt off and then lowering her lips to Clarke's neck.
Clarke moaned as teeth scraped against her pulse point, and then lips and a determined tongue began to suck on the skin along her collarbone. Clarke's hands occupied themselves on Lexa's hips, the skin there exposed and incredibly soft. She had no idea how a girl could be so perfectly soft and touchable. Lexa was incredible, there was no doubt about that.
It was when Lexa lowered her lips onto Clarke's chest that the blonde began to squirm. When Lexa's tongue flicked out against her nipples, and the hand that wasn't holding her up tickled its fingers along her exposed skin. Clarke's body had never reacted so easily to anyone's touch, and when she became aware of Lexa's mouth leaving a mark on her body just below her right breast, she let out a throaty moan.
She felt Lexa shiver at hearing the sound, and the beautiful brunette moved even further down Clarke's body. Now, though, Lexa was not on top of her, but rather was crouched on the ground at the end of the bed, her face level with Clarke's legs. Her green eyes were darker than ever, filled with passion and lust and want. "Can I?" she husked out, glancing between Clarke's covered center and her face.
"Yes," Clarke gasped, pleased when Lexa finally gripped the shorts she was wearing and dragged them off of her body. Clarke was aware that her underwear was already wet, but Lexa didn't comment on it at all. Instead, she carefully removed the unnecessary covering and tossed it aside. Clarke gulped as she pushed pale legs apart. Cool air met the blonde's center and she shivered. Lexa teased her with a kisses along the inside of her thigh, and Clarke heard herself whimper. "Lexa," she pleaded.
Lexa obliged to the unspoken request, and her lips met the area in between Clarke's legs. The blonde was instantly relieved to feel the needed friction, but it was not enough by any means. Lexa's tongue moved too slowly, and Clarke only became more and more worked up as her hips tried to rock against the brunette's mouth to gain more. Lexa kept her hands firmly on either of Clarke's thighs, though, keeping the lower half of her body mostly still.
Clarke knew that she was going to need more to get anywhere, and she was sure that Lexa knew that and was just drawing out the ordeal. Clarke wouldn't have minded if her body wasn't already so worked up. When Lexa released one of Clarke's thighs to enter her fingers into her, she was well on her way to reaching full release.
She became a mess of moans and gasps and she was sure that Lexa's name escaped her lips more than once. When she finally came, she relaxed onto the mattress, which was now damp with her sweat. Her breathing was heavy and uneven as Lexa gently pulled out from her. Clarke caught the girl slipping her fingers into her mouth, and felt like she might come again just by seeing it. Lexa carefully stood up and got back onto the bed, straddling Clarke again and looking down at her exposed body with admiration.
"You're beautiful," she whispered, her fingers extending and dragging down the middle of Clarke's torso, causing the blonde to shiver.
"Thank you," Clarke murmured shyly, now that her breathing had calmed enough for her to speak properly. Her cheeks were warm, and her eyes were dark, and she was trying to figure out the best way to get Lexa under her.
"What are you thinking?" Lexa wondered, clearly able to tell that Clarke's mind was searching for something.
"I'm thinking about pinning you against this bed and fucking you senseless," Clarke breathed out in response, and the brunette's face flushed a dark red, though her eyes became ever darker.
"So why don't you do that then?" Lexa's voice was labored, and Clarke realized without much surprise that the girl was clearly already aroused.
"I think I will."