The week after that Saturday was like magic.

Finn didn't bother Clarke at all throughout it, which was a plus on its own. It also made going to class a much less drudging task, and school became less of a pain in the ass. Lunch everyday was relaxed, because there was no more tension about the whole "Clarke and Lexa had sex!" stuff, which Clarke was more than happy about. Actually, none of their friends mentioned it at all for the rest of the week. The only weird part about lunch throughout the week was what Miller kept eating with them, and he still seemed fairly out of it. They tried more than once to gently pull him out of his shell, but he refused to talk about whatever the issue was. Eventually, they gave up and tried to simply cheer him up. That didn't really work either.

After school was when Clarke's day would almost always better by a tenfold. On Monday, she went straight home because she'd forgotten to call her mom the day before. She ended up talking to Abby for a straight three hours, which was almost like a breath of fresh air from the wildness of her new life – not that she didn't love this new turn of events that had been occurring. She actually got permission from her mom to go to Tampa with Lexa the following weekend, though Clarke didn't tell her who Lexa was to her. Though, Clarke wasn't even sure that she knew that yet.

She didn't want to come out to her mom over the phone, it just wasn't the way she pictured it. So she would wait for spring break. Her mom wouldn't care; Abby wasn't the type to judge for something like that. Still, it felt like something she needed to say in person, so she would wait.

After Monday, every day after school was spent either at the beach, out somewhere with her friends, at Octavia's house, or at Lexa's house. Hanging out with her new group of friends was finally a routine part of her life, and it was actually a freeing feeling even though it could be considered as confining to have something like that be routine. It was just always different with them – they hung out at the beach sometimes, other times when out to the movies. Sometimes they stayed in and binged shows, or drank and played games. It was fun, easy. When they were just sitting around talking, they didn't care if Clarke tuned them all out to write in her notebook, or if she curled up in a corner to read.

In fact, she'd actually been doing a lot of writing lately. Inspiration was coming to her like oxygen; she couldn't control how much was being taken in, and it never stopped flowing. She switched between adding to the novel she'd been trying to write ever since she had a writer's block at the end of the previous year and writing short stories, or random ramblings.

Then there were the times with just Lexa – and these times were not like being with her group of friends. Sure, Lexa and Clarke did a multitude of things when they were alone, from working on homework, to sitting quietly and reading or writing separately, to talking for hours, to having sex. The latter only happened once throughout the week, on Wednesday, when they'd spent the afternoon at the beach with their friends, and Clarke had been unable to resist Lexa in a bikini when they got back to the brunette's house. All of that aside, though, the air was just different when it was the two of them. It was comforting, free of any tension or pressure – aside from the sexual attention that arose many times – and absolutely intoxicating. Being around Lexa was like a drug, and Clarke couldn't get enough of it. She could drink in the girl's beauty, relish in the feeling of their skin brushing, and marvel at her grace and smoothness for hours if she wanted to. Sometimes she did want to, but a few minutes in, Lexa would smirk at her and tease her for staring, and Clarke would blush and look away.

On Friday afternoon, Clarke was about to head home and get her stuff ready to leave for Tampa when she was bombarded by an excited Raven and Octavia. "Hey, Clarke! We're going over to Miller's later, you coming?"

"Oh, no," Clarke said apologetically, and it occurred to her that neither her nor Lexa had mentioned to any of their friends that they were going to Tampa this weekend. She thought that Lexa might have said something about it to them, but it hadn't even crossed her mind to mention it.

"What, why not?" Raven asked with concern. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, I just won't be in town. Lexa and I are going to Tampa."

Octavia lifted an eyebrow. "You're going to Tampa with Lexa?"

"Yes?"

Smirking, the girl crossed her arms. "Well, I wish you luck. You know what you guys are doing there?"

"Not really."

"I'm sure you're going to have a great time," Raven said with a smirk. "Lexa always has lots of fun in Tampa." Octavia nudged her girlfriend, flashing the girl a glare.

"What Raven means is that Lexa has historically been most promiscuous when she goes clubbing in Tampa," Octavia said carefully. "So, you may just want to be prepared for that."

Clarke shrugged – Lexa had already promised her that she wouldn't abandon her in a club to go sleep with some random, just before admitting that she cared for Clarke too much to go sleep with a random anyway. Yeah, Clarke wasn't very worried about that. Even if she didn't know where exactly she stood with Lexa, she knew that wherever she did was a place involving enough feelings, it wasn't just about sex.

"You do you, though," Raven said with a shrug. "Does Anya know that the two of you are going?"

"I don't know," Clarke replied quickly. "I have to go and pack for the weekend, though. I'll see you guys on Monday."

"You better text us when you go to sleep tonight and tomorrow," Octavia called as Clarke started back to walking home. "So we know you haven't been murdered or something."

"Will do! See you guys!"

An hour later found Clarke at home, pretty much completely packed up for the weekend. She had her messenger bag stuffed with her notebooks – for writing at night, of course. She had a small purse for carrying her wallet and phone charger. Lastly, she had tossed clothes into a small backpack, including some of her more risqué clothes for going out, as well as her toiletries of course.

She'd already texted Lexa letting her know that she was just about ready, and the brunette was due to pick her up in a matter of minutes. Tossing her phone into her purse for convenience, Clarke grabbed her two other bags and started downstairs. She had shoved some nice shoes into her backpack, and she was currently wearing combat boots. They weren't her usual choice, at least not since she'd moved to Florida, but she kind of missed wearing them. She'd also changed into short shorts and a white tank, a red flannel tied around her waist.

"You about to leave?" Marcus asked suddenly as Clarke came down the last two steps of the stairs.

"Yeah, Lexa is going to pick me up in a minute," Clarke replied, giving him a smile. "I'll text you when we get to the hotel and everything. And I'll be back Sunday in the afternoon."

Marcus nodded. "Alright, cool. I hope you have a good time. Don't do anything I wouldn't do." Clarke laughed lightly.

"I'm not sure that I know exactly what things you would and wouldn't do – and I don't think I really want to either." There was a knock on the front door suddenly. "I'll see you on Sunday. Bye, Marcus."

He lifted his hand in a quick goodbye wave, and then he continued on his likely original path, headed toward his bedroom. Clarke, her messenger bag and purse over one shoulder and her backpack slung over the other, went to the door an opened it. Lexa immediately gave her a wide smile. "Hey. Ready to go?"

"Yep!"

Five minutes later, they were in the car, which was all loaded up with their weekend supplies, and were on the road to Tampa. Lexa definitely seemed to know what she was doing, because she didn't take any second guesses on their way out of Polis and onto whatever main road was taking them to the city. The car was silent at first, but once they were officially exiting the town, Clarke couldn't help but speak. "Did you tell anyone we're going to Tampa?"

Lexa frowned a little. "I don't know. I mean – I told my parents. I can't really remember if I mentioned to anyone else, why?"

"Octavia and Raven were inviting me out tonight, to Miller's I guess, and I realized that I guess neither of us mentioned to them that we were going. I told them and they got weird about it," Clarke admitted, unsure of how much she should share about this. Lexa gave her a curious look, obviously interested to know what she meant, and Clarke realized that now that she'd started talking, it would do no good to stop. "They ended up basically just warning me that you get a bit more 'promiscuous' in Tampa."

"Well, that's only because there are always way more girls who would even be open to sleeping with another girl in the city," Lexa claimed with a slight eyeroll. "Anyway, I already told you that you don't have to worry about that."

"No, I know," Clarke insisted. "They were just weird about it. Either they think that you're going to abandon me to go sleep with people, or they think that we'll be hooking up all weekend."

Lexa hummed thoughtfully. "I can't say I'd be entirely opposed to the latter…"

"Perv," Clarke murmured with a smirk, though her cheeks warmed significantly. "What are we doing tonight, anyway?"

"Well, this perv was going to take you out for a drink and be a gentle-woman, but now that I know how you feel, I guess I'll just call that off…"

"Oh shut up," Clarke huffed out with an eyeroll.

Lexa flashed her a grin. "Cool, so now that that's settled. What book was it that you were lugging around all week?"

"The Martian," Clarke admitted somewhat shyly. "I wanted to read it before I see the movie, but everything's kind of been busy, so I've only been able to get through bits and pieces of it at a time. I'm finally almost done, so hopefully I can see the movie soon."

"I thought you didn't like seeing the movie version of books because it ruined the story?"

"I don't like it when it ruins the book, but I always watch the movies anyway. If anything, I want to be able to be the typical, stuck up, book nerd who gets mad when people praise the movie and forget about the book," Clarke stated.

Lexa laughed brightly. "You're not stuck up."

"You know what I mean," the blonde insisted. "Have you seen the movie?"

"Yep. It was really good. However – no, I have no read the book. Is it good?"

Clarke nodded. "Yeah, really good. I think that Matt Damon usually does pretty well in movies, so I'm hoping that the movie at least somewhat lives up to the book with him in it."

"He did really well," Lexa assured her.

The rest of the road trip was calm, the two of them talking about books and whatever else came to their mind. It was easy, as per usual, for Clarke to relax around Lexa. She almost forgot where they were going, and when they reached the city, Clarke had to remind herself that they would be leaving the car soon.

Sure enough, Lexa drove the two of them to a hotel in the city, parked the car, and then they clambered out and gathered up their things. It didn't take long for Lexa to check them in, and they then made their way up to the second floor of the small hotel, easily finding their room. "Oh," Lexa said thoughtfully as she was sliding the key into the little slot of the door, "I got a room with only one bed. I figured that would be okay, but I forgot to ask you…"

"Yeah, that's fine," Clarke answered easily. She'd slept in the same bed with Lexa more than enough times to be okay with that – a three times in a more than compromising position. She definitely had no problem with that.

Once in the room, their things set down, Lexa looked to the blonde. "So, you wanna go out earlier rather than later so that we can sleep at a decent time tonight? I'm kind of exhausted from school, so I figured we could go get some food and a drink, and then sleep." Clarke just nodded.

"I still don't get why you can't admit how fucking on point my pickup lines are."

Lexa took a long sip of her drink, and when Clarke didn't say anything, she raised an eyebrow pointedly. The blonde shrugged. "They don't work."

"How would you know? You've only known me for like, a month."

"Please, I think I speak for most people when I say that ninety percent of pickup lines are either offensive or just stupid."

Lexa scooted slightly closer to the edge of her barstool. They'd already gone for dinner, and then had gone to nearby bar, flashing their fake IDs to the bartender before ordering drinks. "But when I say them, they're pretty effective. For example, can you touch me? I want to tell my friends I was touched by an angel."

Clarke shook her head, fighting a smile from appearing on her face.

"And you know, I'm no organ donor, but I'd be happy to give you my heart."

"Oh god."

"And then there's one of my personal favorites – I was feeling a little bit off today, but you definitely turned me on."

"You're ridiculous, you know that?" Clarke asked, though she wasn't able to hide her laughter as Lexa grinned at her. "I swear, you think you have so much game, but you're honestly just a dork at heart."

"A dork who has game," Lexa corrected, winking at the blonde and causing her heart to skip a beat.

"You wish," Clarke huffed out, hoping that her cheeks hadn't visibly warmed. "You just use your pretty hair and those big green eyes to seduce women and then once you've captured them, you release all your dorkiness in full."

"Yeah?"

"Yes."

"And did that work on you?" Lexa asked, leaning forward.

Clarke scoffed, taking a quick drink from her glass. "Well, if it did, then it did only because you didn't use any of those dumb pickup lines when you first met me."

"If it did?"

Lexa was definitely on the edge of her barstool now, her right forearm resting on the bar and her hand wrapped around her glass. Their knees were touching, and their faces were far closer than necessary, though Clarke definitely didn't mind. "You know, conceit isn't that attractive."

"No?"

"Nope."

"So what do you find attractive then, Clarke?"

"A number of things that don't include being full of oneself."

Lexa hummed. "I'm not full of myself, so looks like we're on the same page." Clarke couldn't help it now – her tongue peeked out of her mouth to gently wet her lips. Her proximity to the brunette was definitely a major distraction, leaving her feeling intoxicated. "In fact, it's pretty fucking amazing how humble I am."

Clarke laughed softly, shaking her head. "You are absolutely one of the biggest dorks I have ever met."

"Is that what you're attracted to? Dorkiness?" Lexa leaned back slightly, taking a sip from her glass before setting it down entirely and dropping her hands to her lap. "Oh wait, I already know what you're attracted to. Brunettes – and body shots."

"Brunettes maybe, or maybe it's just a coincidence that certain people are brunette. As for body shots – I'm pretty sure that's not something you can be attracted to. I mean, they're hot of course, but just because someone does body shots doesn't make them more attractive."

"So I was attractive to you before the body shots? That's good to know."

"You are honestly such a pain in the ass," Clarke said lightly, taking down the rest of her drink. After setting her glass down, she looked directly at the brunette. "Seriously, you are easily one of the most beautiful people I have ever seen, and you're confused as to how I could be attracted to you?"

"Mm, feeding my ego I see. What do you think that's going to get you?"

Clarke rolled her eyes, but she opted to play along anyway. "I can imagine a multitude of things that it may get me, but I don't like to be presumptuous."

"Ooh, look who else has some game," Lexa teased with a grin. When Clarke blushed and rolled her eyes, the brunette laughed and asked, "You want another drink?"

"I think I'm okay."

"Cool, let's head back then," Lexa suggested, standing from the bar stool and having to back up to keep from getting too far into Clarke's space. She extended a hand to the blonde, who gratefully took it.

Their hands didn't disconnect when they walked out onto the sidewalk and started back toward their hotel. Clarke liked the feeling of Lexa's fingers intertwined with her own. "Thanks for the drinks," Clarke said suddenly, flashing Lexa a smile.

"Of course." The city sounds around them gave Clarke a sort of warm feeling inside, the familiarity of it all giving her slight nostalgia.

"I miss the city," Clarke murmured, her shoulder bumping with Lexa's.

"I feel like you're the kind of person who goes out to parks and things in the middle of cities and sits on a bench with your notebook while city life plays out around you," Lexa supposed, causing the blonde to laugh.

"I definitely did that a number of times."

"Well, Tampa is always here to remind you of the great, big city life."

Clarke chuckled. "Yeah. It's nice. Not the same, though."

"Yeah, I know." A few moments passed, and Clarke realized that they were almost at the hotel. They had purposefully picked a place close by to eat at, because or else they would have had to drive, and then the drinking would have been an issue. "Hey, Clarke?"

"Yeah?"

"You know that… I mean… I guess, if I'm ever too forward, you know that I'm joking right?" Clarke furrowed her eyebrows, looking into green eyes with slight confusion. Before she could ask her to elaborate, however, Lexa was already talking again. "I mean, when I say stuff about sex and stuff like that. I just… haven't done this in a while, this way. And I say a lot of shit like that, but I actually really like you, and I don't want you to think any differently."

"I don't," Clarke promised, squeezing Lexa's hand and pulling her to stop on the sidewalk. Green eyes were shrouded with confusion and doubt for a moment, but then they flickered closed when lips met softly. Lexa kissed the blonde back without hesitation, and Clarke felt herself melt slightly against the girl. She was almost lost in the contact, and it was Lexa who actually pulled away first.

"Good," she murmured. "Come on, beautiful."

Clarke felt her cheeks go red, but she didn't even care – this first night in Tampa had easily exceeded all of her expectations.

Light burned against Clarke's eyelids, and the blonde lifted her hands to cover them and block out the morning. She could feel Lexa's presence beside her, though, which tempted her to peek out between her fingers. The brunette seemed to be fast asleep, which was weird, considering that Lexa was much more of a morning person than Clarke was.

She felt strangely awake right now, though, be it because she hadn't been as tired as Lexa the night before or due to the wide open curtains that were meant to be blocking out the awful light from the east. Climbing out of the bed, Clarke made closing said curtains her first priority, and then she grabbed her toiletries bag and went to the bathroom to brush her teeth.

Clarke ended up falling back asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow again, and she didn't awake for real until the sound of the bathroom door echoed through the room. Groaning, hands rubbed over sleepy, blue eyes, and the side of the bed suddenly dipped a little, indicating that Lexa was getting back in rather than having just gotten out. "Lexa?" Clarke murmured.

"Morning sleepy head," Lexa replied softly. "Sorry I woke you. I was just in the bathroom."

"It's fine," Clarke assured her, forcing her eyes open. They settled obediently on the beautiful brunette seated next to her. Long, brown locks were slightly messy from sleep, but her eyes were bright and awake, just like they seemed to be any morning. "Ugh, you're so pretty so early."

"One of my many talents," Lexa teased lightly, before leaning down and pressing a soft kiss to Clarke's lips, slightly surprising the blonde. When she sat back up, her eyebrows were furrowed. "Did you already brush your teeth?"

"Yeah, I woke up a little while ago," Clarke replied. "Obviously I fell back asleep, though. The light woke me up, I pulled the curtain."

"Mm," Lexa hummed in response.

"So, what's the plan today?"

"No plan," Lexa replied. "I mean, I thought we could go out and have some fun tonight – if you want to, of course. Though, you've admitted to being a party girl, so I'd imagine that you'd have fun. We won't go if you don't want to."

"What, like to a club?" Lexa nodded. "I don't mind."

"Cool," the brunette said brightly. "It's a date then."

Clarke smiled. "And until then?"

"Well, we can do whatever our hearts desire, I suppose," Lexa replied slowly, her words dragging very intentionally. Clarke lifted an eyebrow.

"Whatever it desires, huh?"

"What does yours desire?"

Clarke sucked her lower lip into her mouth. "You really need me to answer that question?" The answer must have been no, because Lexa's lips were suddenly on Clarke's, the blonde honestly taken completely off guard. The kiss was not soft nor gentle, but it was fast and very purposeful.

As always, every touch from the brunette was like electricity, and Clarke could feel it all in every moment. When Lexa's legs, mostly bare seeing as she was wearing shorts, straddled Clarke's waist, the blonde felt every brush of skin as though it happened in slow motion. The touch of hands on her midsection, dragging up under her shirt and teasing just below her breasts, were shocks of electricity. Clarke's body was absolutely controlled by Lexa's touch, and she wasn't even afraid to admit it at this point.

Her breathing sped up as Lexa tore off her shirt, and her lips lowered to Clarke's generously sized breasts. "Fuck," the blonde moaned, arching slightly and pushing her boobs up more against Lexa's mouth. "Fuck, Lexa…" Wet kisses trailed from there down, and Clarke bit down on her lip when all touch stopped for a moment, while Lexa sat up in order to easily remove Clarke's shorts and underwear – all in one fluid moment. Before anything else happened, green eyes met blue and waited for permission, which Clarke gave with a swift nod a desperate, "Please."

Sometime during the following events, Clarke's phone began to go off, and she ignored it and forced Lexa to ignore it by squeezing her legs around the brunette, whose face was between Clarke's legs. After the one call, nothing else rang out from the phone.

When she came, her entire body became sensitive. It wasn't something that she was used to, honestly, fully reaching her climax. It had only happened one with Finn, and a couple of times with Finn. On the contrary, with Lexa, even if it wasn't particularly fast, sex hadn't ended until she'd come. It was actually incredibly relieving.

Clarke wanted to pin Lexa down next, but instead, she listened to the brunette, who insist that she check her phone first.

Naked and sensitive, Clarke carefully sat up and reached for her phone, which was plugged in and sitting on one of the nightstands. Turning it over in her hand to view the lock screen, her eyes widened when she read the name of the person who called her.

"Oh shit," she murmured. "It was one of my friends from New York – Rei."

"Really?" Lexa asked, and Clarke turned to face the brunette. "Also – you have a friend in New York named Rei? Like Rae, short for Raven?"

Clarke shook her head. "It's short for Reina. Do you think I should call her back?"

"Sure, why not? Maybe she has a legitimate reason for not talking to you very much. Or maybe she realized what a loss she was at when she stop talking to you, and she wants to apologize. Wouldn't surprise me," Lexa stated.

Clarke rolled her eyes. "Okay." As she unlocked her phone and began to call her friend back, Lexa swiftly tore off her shirt, and wiggled out of her lower clothing items. Clarke's jaw dropped. "What are you doing?"

"Getting ready for when you're off the phone," Lexa replied cheekily, turning her body slightly so that Clarke had a full view of her chest, which her eyes lingered on for a good few seconds. "Call your friend, though. I promise I'll still be here when you're done."

"You better be," Clarke threatened playfully, leaning forward and pecking Lexa's lips before finally calling back her friend.

She picked up on the second ring. "Clarke! Hey!"

"Hey Rei," Clarke replied with a frown. "Sorry I didn't pick up, ah, I was still asleep. Everything okay? None of you guys have really been calling me much lately." She tried not to sound bitter about it.

"Yeah, about that," Rei said slowly. "Well, actually, Jordan and Kit are here with me too right now, and we figured we should call you and talk."

"What about? And where's Belle? Not there?"

Jordan's voice could be heard all of the sudden. "Actually, we wanted to talk to you about Belle."

"Okay…?"

"So like, obviously when you moved, we tried to keep in touch with you fairly often." It was Kit talking now. "And the reason we kind of stopped that was because of Belle – she had all this crazy drama going on. She kind of went crazy when you left, first of all, and stopped talking to us a lot."

"Yeah," Rei picked up, "but then she got with this guy who was pretty awful, and when they broke up in December, we ended up having to rush in and pick up Belle's pieces. And let me tell you, Clarke, I have no idea how you were best friends with this girl. Seriously, I thought it was hard enough just hanging out with her in a group."

Clarke frowned. "She wasn't that bad. Maybe she got worse when I left or something, because she wasn't ever much trouble when I was around."

"I don't know, Clarke," Kit said, "but she went haywire. We tried to tell her to call you, but by that point, we'd all pretty much stopped having constant communication with you, and it was weird, and she didn't want to talk to you because she felt abandoned or some shit."

Jordan huffed. "Which is fucking stupid, because we all know it's not your fault that you're in Florida. Anyway. We stopped talking to Belle, because she was unappreciative as fuck, and you know, we wanted to just separate ourselves a bit from her. Then, a week ago, she drops off the face of the planet or something. Kit looked into it a few days ago, and turns out that her whole family moved to fucking LA."

"LA? Why?"

"No clue," Rei replied. "We honestly don't really care. But we ran into your mom the other day when we went to visit my aunt in the hospital, and she mentioned that you'll be back during your spring break, and we figured you ought to know that she's gone before you get here."

"Because you guys were best friends," Kit clarified.

"Yeah well, we aren't best friends anymore," Clarke said with an eyeroll.

The other girls were all quiet for a moment, and Clarke felt Lexa's eyes on her. "Clarke, we're really sorry about not talking to you lately," Kit apologized. "We honestly don't know why we stopped calling you. It just felt weird, you being gone and everything. You get it, right? But we're all best friends… we'll always get along like we used to, even after months of not talking."

"Yeah," Jordan agreed quickly. "So how are things? How's it going with that guy you were dating – Finn?"

Clarke sighed. "We broke up. Look guys, I get that you're sorry, but you kind of like, really just left me in the dust. I don't mind catching up with you guys, though, honestly. I just don't think we can pick up exactly where we left off."

Silence for a moment, then Rei said, "Yeah, yeah… we get it. I'm sorry about your boyfriend. I guess we kind of really left you with no one then."

"Lucky for me, I made some new friends here," Clarke assured them. "Speaking of – I kind of have some plans today, so… maybe we can catch up a little later?"

"Of course," Jordan agreed. "We don't wanna intrude on any plans you have. But we really would like to catch up with you, and try to make up for us kind of being shit friends. And maybe we can hangout when you visit in March."

"Yeah, maybe," Clarke agreed. "I'll talk to you guys later, yeah?"

"Sure, bye Clarke," Rei said, followed by Jordan and Kit echoing their goodbyes before the call ended. Clarke sighed, setting her phone back on the nightstand and turning onto her other side to face Lexa. Thankfully, her body was now covered by a blanket, so Clarke wasn't immediately distracted by it.

"That sounded… interesting."

"Apparently my best friend for most of my life totally changed after I left, and then her family spontaneously left for LA. Now, my other three really good friends from NYC – Rei, Kit and Jordan – are all apologizing for not talking to me, and wanting to catch up. Of course, the first question they ask me is how things are going with Finn."

"Shit happens," Lexa said with a sigh. "Honestly, I'd say if you still want to be friends with them, you can probably cut them a little bit of slack. In my opinion, it's hardest to keep in touch with someone right after they leave, because it's too out of the norm, especially when you're used to not having to call and text much, because you just see them in person every day. But, if you don't want to be friends with them anymore, don't try. It'll waste your time and theirs."

Clarke hummed, thinking over Lexa's words. A moment later, she tilted her head. "Is there anything you're not good at?"

A confused laugh bubbled out of the brunette. "Of course. I'm shit at most art mediums. Can't focus on any sort of school work or tedious tasks for longer than an hour."

"So what? You're still basically perfect."

"Ha, sure, babe, whatever you say," Lexa murmured softly, a smile on her face. "So what, you going to leave your friends behind or forgive them?"

"I'm going to forgive them. It's not like they did something unforgivable. I don't think things can go back to being the same, though. I have all new friends here, anyway, and I honestly think that I've changed too much since I got here."

"Oh yeah?"

Clarke nodded. "I just feel like a different person."

Lexa's hand suddenly lifted out of the blankets and brushed away some of Clarke's hair. "It'll be fine. People change and grow. It's not your fault or anything." The blonde nodded, her eyes searching green ones carefully. "Anyway. You may as well not worry about it right now."

"True," Clarke agreed, turning onto her side and propping herself up with her elbow. The blanket fell from around her body for a bit, and Clarke didn't miss Lexa's gaze shifting down for half of a second. "There are a lot of other things we could be doing."

Clarke huffed, tugging on her blue blouse and looking at herself in the mirror. She wasn't quite sure what Lexa was wearing, but she didn't necessarily think that should make sure so self-conscious about her own outfit. Sighing, she checked over her appearance another time before leaving the bathroom. "Alright, I'm ready to go," Clarke announced, causing Lexa to look up from where she was laying across the bed.

Lexa had used the bathroom first, and her hair was now curled more intentionally than her normal, messier curls. She was wearing black skinny jeans and heeled boots, and her top was a maroon color. Clarke, in the meantime, was wearing black leggings and the blue blouse – which was fairly nice. It was actually one of the nicest things she owned. Her nice shoes were just blue flats – she wasn't the biggest fan of wearing heels.

Lexa sat up on the bed, looking to the blonde.

"You look nice," the brunette commented with a soft smile. "Blue looks good on you."

"Thanks," Clarke replied with a chuckle. "Just a forewarning, I've never been to any clubs or anything. So if I'm clueless, you're not allowed to make fun of me or anything."

"I would never!" Lexa exclaimed with a smile, standing and reaching for Clarke's hand. "You have everything you need? Your fake ID?"

Clarke, not releasing the brunette's hand, leaned down next to her things to grab her purse, and then she nodded. "Yep, all good."

"Awesome!"

The two of them left the hotel room, then the hotel itself, and started down the short walk to the club. Their hands stayed connected, which made Clarke have a slight bounce in her step. Before she knew it, they were flashing fake IDs at a bouncer, who seemed to doubt to legitimacy of those little plastic rectangles, and then bursting into the club. Lexa tugged her gently through the place, until they were at the bar.

Clarke would have refused to let Lexa pay for her drinks that night, because Lexa had basically paid for everything so far that weekend, but it occurred to her that this weekend was, sort of, one whole date. And sure, chivalry was kind of dumb, but Clarke knew that if she offered to pay, Lexa would refuse. The look that the brunette sent her when they ordered their drinks told her that much.

They drank enough to classify them both as tipsy before abandoning their empty glasses and making their way to the dance floor. The music was loud and random sounding, and Clarke was sure that she wouldn't be able to recognize any of the music. It was more of a pulse than anything else, but that made it easy to dance to, and that was saying something since Clarke really never danced.

It was nice with Lexa, though, their bodies close, Lexa's hips guiding Clarke's movements. Clarke found herself getting lost in the noise, the dancing, and Lexa in general. Before she knew it, she was sweaty from the heat of the room and the movement, and Lexa seemed to be as well. They escaped back to the bar, barely managing to find a place to squeeze into.

Lexa ordered them a couple more drinks, and they stood there in a somewhat exhausted state as they sipped alcohol. At some point, two seats near them became available, and they quickly took them. "How's your first clubbing experience going?" Lexa asked curiously, nudging Clarke's foot with her own.

"Not bad," Clarke replied, smiling. "I'm pretty sure I've lost weight from it, that's for sure."

Lexa laughed brightly, her eyes shining from either joy or alcohol or both. "Yeah, speaking of, we should probably eat something before we go to sleep tonight. The last thing we need is to be puking into the early hours of the morning and not feeling like driving back home."

"Well, we have time," Clarke claimed. She took another sip of her drink, glancing back out at the dance floor distractedly. She felt Lexa's eyes stay on her.

Suddenly, a figure was standing next to both of them, a guy in probably his early twenties, with slicked back hair and a cocky smile – the kind that might piss someone off for no reason other than the fact that it was all too smug. "Hey ladies," he greeted vaguely, before shifting his gaze specifically to Lexa. Clarke frowned as his eyes ate up the brunette. "I was going to offer to buy you a drink, but seeing as you already have one, I thought maybe we could make it a dance instead?"

Lexa laughed. "Thanks, but no thanks." She lifted her glass up to her lips again and took a sip, her expression displaying her disinterest. It didn't stop the guy from staring, though, and Clarke felt her frown deepen.

"Aw come on, I'm sure you'll feel up to it in a little while. How about I pay for your next drink? Then you could repay me with a dance." Clarke could see the pretentious grin on his face, even though he was facing more toward Lexa, and it made her want to gag.

Before Lexa could respond, Clarke leaned forward to be sure she was heard when she said, "Yeah, fat chance. Would you mind getting lost?"

He turned to look at Clarke with surprise, before glancing in between the two girls and then disappearing, clearly realizing the situation he'd gotten himself into. Clarke let out a relieved breath when he left, and took another drink before realizing that Lexa was staring at her, a smirk on her face.

"What?" Clarke asked defensively, narrowing her eyes.

Lexa grinned, setting down her glass. "Nothing."

"Lexa…"

"I guess I just wasn't expecting you to be the jealous type."

Clarke huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm not."

"Sure, babe. Keep telling yourself that."

"Okay fine, I am. But you don't get to judge me over it," Clarke muttered.

"Mm, I'm not judging," Lexa promised. "It's kind of hot actually." Clarke blushed now, but she kept her gaze level with Lexa's, not allowing it to become clear how flustered that statement made her. Lexa scooted a bit forward on the barstool. "Don't suppose you feel like dancing some more?"

"I'm definitely not opposed…"

Clarke found herself giggling as Lexa pulled her back out onto the dance floor, and when they came to an abrupt stop in the midst of the crowd, Clarke fell against the brunette, causing her to stumble. "Clarke!" Lexa exclaimed, and the blonde just laughed, steadying them and then letting her hands fall to Lexa's waist. "Man, I need to take you to clubs more often, I think."

"I think free parties back in Polis would be just as effective in getting me drunk and in the mood to dance with you," Clarke teased. "Not that it takes a lot to get me in the mood for that. I quite like the feeling of your hands on me."

"Yeah?" Lexa asked, her hands snaking around to Clarke's lower back. "How much?"

"A lot," Clarke replied.

"Well that's good, because I quite like touching you," Lexa murmured, squeezing Clarke's ass in her hands and causing the blonde to flush. Lexa just smiled innocently. "Sorry, couldn't resist."

They were quiet for a few minutes after that, getting lost in the music and each other, and then the music got a bit softer and Clarke found herself letting out a content sigh. "I'm really glad we came here together, Lexa. I like it, being alone with you."

Lexa smiled. "Me too."

They stayed at the club for about an hour longer, before deciding around the same time that it was probably good for them to head out soon. Their intention was to find food and then go back to the hotel, but Lexa's gaze caught on a store across the street, and she began to excitedly drag Clarke to it. "Where are we going?" Clarke asked in confusion, trying to see what stores were in the area that Lexa was looking to. Then she saw one – a record store.

"Come on, I have to buy one," Lexa insisted.

"You're going to be broke after this weekend," Clarke muttered.

Lexa shrugged. "Well, it'll have been worth it."

The blonde found herself in a tiny store full of records, which was probably about twenty minutes away from closing for the night. Lexa was excitedly looking through the stacks and shelves, trying to find something that caught her attention enough. Clarke began to look through the music as well, not recognizing most of the albums she found. About ten minutes into the experience, though, she found one that she did recognize, and it made a smile stretch over her face. Rumours.

"Ooh, what'd you find?" Lexa asked, appearing suddenly next to her. Their arms brushed lightly, and Clarke felt herself shiver slightly.

"Rumours, Fleetwood Mac," Clarke answered, handing the album to the brunette.

"Oh, I actually know some of these. Not all of them, though."

Clarke smiled. "I really like their album. My mom has it at home – not a record, but she has all the songs. She's never explicitly said it, but I think she used to listen to them all with my dad, because it seems to be the only album she really ever cares to listen to."

Lexa was diligently reading over the song titles listed on the back of the album, and then she nodded to herself. "I'll get it."

"You don't even know all the songs, you should get something that you want."

"I want it," Lexa insisted, her grasp tightening on the album a little as if to prove her point. "I like the songs that I do know, so I'll probably like the rest of them just as much. Plus, I couldn't find anything else that I really wanted very much anyway."

"You're actually crazy," Clarke claimed, but when Lexa grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the register, the blonde couldn't help but grin.

They stopped at a random food place on the way back to their hotel to order cheap burritos that they carried back to the hotel room. Once there, they each got ready for bed, showering and changing into pajamas and whatnot, before laying across the soft blankets and eating their late dinner. They talked easily and happily, and after balling up their burrito wrappers and takeout bags into a ball of trash and tossing it off toward the garbage can in the room, they both fell asleep rather unceremoniously on top of the covers.

"What's up?" Clarke asked into the phone. It was Sunday, almost noon, and she and Lexa were on the drive back from Tampa. They'd been just talking for the past twenty minutes or so, and then Clarke's phone had begun ringing with a call from Octavia.

"Any chance you guys feel like coming over when you're back? We kinda have something we need to talk to you about."

Clarke furrowed her eyebrows. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, fine, it's just… it's about Miller. He's over at my place right now too."

"We can definitely head over there," Clarke insisted. 'We're on our way back now. Still have like forty minutes left of a drive."

"Cool. Well, we'll still be here when you get back, so just head on over."

"Will do. See you soon." The line ended, and Lexa flashed Clarke a curious look.

"What was that?"

"Apparently, there's something about Miller that everyone apparently needs to talk to us about? Octavia wants us to go to her place when we get back."

Lexa nodded slowly. "Alright. You wanna stop at your house first, or just wanna go straight over there?"

"Let's just go straight over there. No point in stopping."

"Alright. I hope everything's okay."