So today might be Thursday… My bad. How about this, I'll post at least 2 new chapters a week, minimum and you guys won't tear my head off, deal? As always, love you guys for letting me know what you think so far and keeping up with this story. Let me know if I messed anything up.

"Alright Griffin out with it all! What's been going on with that one," She gestures towards Lexa, "And what were you and Jaha talking about earlier?" I can feel three curious gazes laser focused on me and I know that they won't leave until I give them the answers they're looking for.

"Fine, fine. Now if I'm going to explain everything that you want me to, then you'll have to shut your mouths for once and listen with those things called ears." Raven snorts, Octavia throws one of my pillows at me, and Lexa elbows me in the side, but lets her hand rest on the back of mine. I turn mine over and intertwine our fingers, letting our hands drop to the bed.

"Hey, it's true! Okay, then I guess I should start from where we left off last night. Before I had talked to you guys last night, I had stitched Lexa up even more. I had to close up the wounds that were on her chest and abdomen. They had opened up when we had climbed the stairs to get back in here after Lexa had spent the day in the training room. When I had seen you two in the hallway last night, it was after I had spent over an hour closing up her reopened wounds. Other than those, Nyko says that she is perfectly healthy and that the incident in the locker room is an isolated occurrence. As for why we weren't in class today, Professor Gustus sent me a text last night after he had stopped by to check up on us saying that we could take today off as a kind of rest/recovery day. So that's exactly what Lexa and I have been doing all day, resting and relaxing." Lexa squeezes my hand at my words and I can't help but let a small smirk make its way onto my lips, but I quickly cover it by taking a large sip of Scotch.

"As for my conversation with Dean Jaha this afternoon, it was about what he has decided to do about everyone's punishments." I can feel everyone's attention snap to me, even more so than before, especially Lexa's. "He told me that Cage and his posy are not going to be allowed to play any sports this school year and they have detention the rest of the semester. If they have any kind of incident this semester, then Jaha is going to give them detention for all of next semester too." Octavia lets out a low whistle while I feel Lexa relax slightly against me.

"Unfortunately there's more." Lexa once again stiffens at my side, predicting what I'm about to say. "Lexa has to help Jaha with some project for a month. He says you can go help him once Nyko clears you to start practicing again. I have no idea what this project is, but he says that you're lucky it's not detention, and I believe him." Octavia looks like she's about to throw the bottle of vodka in her hands but luckily Raven notices in time and takes it from her. I on the other hand take another pull from the bottle in my own hands, letting the harsh alcohol burn its way down my throat.

"But don't worry, I'm left out in this little punishment plague either! Dean Jaha has decided because of my action yesterday that I will be suspended from the cheerleading team for 2 months, until football season starts. But don't worry! He told me that it was perfectly fine to go help out at football practices to and I quote, 'keep an eye on Lexa and observe what my team is doing since the cheerleading team and the football team practice on the same field at the same time.'" I can feel the anger rolling off of Lexa in waves and I know if I wasn't holding her hand to tight or she was injured so bad, she'd be up on her feet pacing the room or punching the walls. As soon as I think it, Octavia's on her feet squaring up against the closets wall. Raven manages to catch her arm on her wind up and folds her into a tight hug. Octavia tries to fight it for a while but ends up collapsing in Raven's arms.

"He can't do that! He can't fucking do that!" Octavia yells into Raven's chest. I nod my head slowly as I turn to look at Lexa for the first time during the whole conversation. But she's just as I suspected her to be, stoic features, stiff posture, even breathing, gaze focused straight ahead. The only thing that gives her away is the strength of her grip on my hand, she's practically crushing it in her own.

Raven somehow manages to get O to finally stop yelling and sit back down on my bed, but silence fills the room, none of us knowing what to say until my phone buzzes. It's a text from Bellamy and it's not the text that catches my attention, it's the time. The little number on my phone read 12:45 AM. Checks are going to start any minute while Raven and Octavia are still wrapped up in a tight hug on my bed.

I clear my throat trying to get their attention. I only manage to get Raven's but that's all I need. "Mech, it's 12:45. I hate to cut this wonderful family meeting short, but you and O there need to get back to your room before check starts."

"Okay, thanks for letting us know Clarke." Raven mutters something in Octavia's ear and they slowly rise, followed by small steps towards our door. I stand up, giving Lexa's hand a final squeeze, and quietly opening my door. I stand in the doorway and watch Raven heavily support a most likely drunk and extremely emotional Octavia back to their room. Once they're out of sight, I close and lock the door behind me.

It takes me no time to find my back to Lexa's bed and under her covers, snuggled tightly against her side, head once again laying on her chest, careful not to jostle any of my new handiwork while her arms are secured firmly around my waist, one hand brushing light fingers over my abs while the other traces random patters over my ribs. We stay quiet until the person checking tonight passes and even after that we let the silence between us do all of the talking. Finally though, Lexa reminds me of what I needed to teach her about this mixed up school and my crazy ass friends.

"Hey Clarke?" I hum in response, "What happened at your last 'family meeting?'"

"Yeah that was a disaster. I took place a few weeks before school ended last year. Octavia and I were concerned about how much Raven had been drinking in the last couple of weeks. As we found out, it wasn't how much she was drinking, but what she was drinking. Apparently Bellamy had a ton of Scotch left over from some party and was just handing it over to Raven to do whatever with, claimed it could be used as rocket fuel. Long story short, our 'meeting' turned into a shouting match between Octavia and I, and a drunk Raven. We were lucky that a teacher wasn't walking by and wondered what was going on. Word to the wise, if you're caught with any kind of alcohol, that's an automatic suspension and the next time you get caught, you get expelled, no questions asked. And that's why we don't let Raven have Scotch anymore." I feel Lexa nod. I'm almost put to sleep by the steady rise and fall of her chest when she asks the question I've been dreading all day.

"What happened to Wells Clarke?" I don't answer for a long time trying to get myself to answer her, but finding it harder than I thought it would be. I finally find my voice though it is rough and thick, my throat tight and tears just waiting to fall.

"We were out one night before our freshman year started, during the summer. It was Well, me, and another one of my best friends, Finn. We were walking around town after catching a late movie. We were walking back to Finn's apartment since it was the closest to the movie theatre. Finn insisted we take a shortcut through an ally he always traveled through. Half way through, we met 2 men dressed in all black with masks over their faces, large knives griped tightly in their gloved hands. They told us to hand over all of our money and valuables. Finn and Wells weren't having any of it, so when the robbers got closer, they attacked. It looked like they were going to win for a second, but that's when everything went south. I heard a cry from Wells' direction and saw him drop to the ground like a sack of potatoes and it was only a beat before Finn followed him. The two men stood before me, breathing heavy, the knives they held covered in blood. They looked at each other and high tailed it out of there. I ran over to them, quickly checking over them for the source of the bleeding. Wells had a huge cut across his neck. He died within a matter of seconds. Finn on the other hand had several deep puncture wounds to his abdomen that were gushing blood. I tried the best I could to stop the bleeding, but by the time the ambulance arrived, he was gone too. I lost two of my best friends that night, and why, because I couldn't do anything to save them. I was powerless to do anything to save my best friends, friends I had known since I was in diapers, people that I had grown up with, done everything with." A harsh sob wracks through me, the tears that were just on the surface when I started are now flowing down my face in a torrent. Strong arms wrap even tighter around me while soft lips press tender kisses against my forehead and temples, those soft lips murmuring soothing nothings.

"That's why I want to be a doctor so badly, to be able to save people, to be able to do what I couldn't that night. That's why I know so much about emergency medicine. Ever since that night, I have been adamant about learning everything I can so that it'll never happen again." A heavy silence envelopes us. I get my breathing back into a somewhat normal rhythm, trying as hard as I can to bury my face in Lexa's neck as her hands run soothingly up and down my back and sides. Lexa breaks the silence, her voice quiet, soft, sad, but not pitying.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that Clarke. I'm sorry you had to watch them die. I'm sorry you couldn't save them. No one should ever have to go through that, trust me. But Clarke, it's not your fault that you couldn't save them, and you know that." And she left it at that, and honestly, that's all I could ask for. What Lexa said is all I've ever wanted to hear about what happened. Sincere in her condolences while giving none of that pity bullshit, but also not over taking about it, and a simple but effective reassurance that made me more comforted than all of the hundreds I've gotten in the past after everything had happened.

At some point I must have fallen asleep in Lexa's warm comforting arms because the next thing I know, the alarm clock on Lexa's bedside table is blaring its good morning to the world. Lexa smashes her hand against the top making the thing mercifully shut up. But instead of getting up, she pulls me closer, tucking my head under her chin and holding my tighter. And Lord, if we were going to any other school I would have just taken another day off, but Ark High being what it is, I know that we have to get back to classes.

Lexa and I finally made it out of bed, though it took a hell of a lot of convincing and threatening to even get her in the bathroom, but once there it only took half an hour for the booth of us to get ready for school. Once everything was taken care of, all of Lexa's stitches cleaned and the bandages changes, we headed to the cafeteria to claim some breakfast before the wrestling team shows up and leaves just the crumbs. Lexa walks me all the way to AP Political Science.

"I'll see you in P.E. and try not to get in any more fights okay?" I whisper against her new Oxford.

"No promises Clarke." I swat her across the arm before stepping back slightly and moving into the doorway of Professor Kane's class.

"It's one day then you can rest over the weekend. And think about it this way, if you get injured again today then you can't go to Bellamy's party tomorrow." I raise my eyebrows in challenge but I don't see any in Lexa, just a smug ass smirk.

"Ms. Griffin, if you would be so kind to actually step into my classroom and take your seat, I would greatly appreciate it. And Ms. Woods, I understand that the past few days have been quite difficult, but you should really be getting to class now." Professor Kane's voice rings out behind me.

"Yes sir. See you later Clarke." And with that, Lexa makes her way to the large staircase at the end of the hallway to get to her first class.

"Ms. Griffin, I and the rest of the class are waiting, please take your seat!" I murmur something about what an ass Kane's being at the moment, but move to take my seat next to Raven and Octavia. When I'm finally sitting down, Kane turns back to the board and starts explaining how World War I was started and all of the interconnecting pieces fit together.

"What was that Clarke? You're never late to class and you always do what a teacher tells you the first time." Raven mutters behind her raised book.

"Yeah what this one said," Octavia gestures to Raven who rolls her eyes, "And why is Lexa going to classes today? Is she even supposed to be out of bed?" There seems to be genuine concern in both O's and Raven's and I can't help but feel my chest tighten a little at how much they care for Lexa in such a short amount of time.

"It's not ideal, but I talked to Gustus this morning to check and he said that she needs to go to classes today. I hate it just as much as you guys do, trust me." They both nod, turning back to face Professor Kane and his notes about who is allied with who and who invaded who first in WWI.

The bell rings 45 minutes later giving us 10 minutes to get to P.E. and change into our uniforms. As usual, Raven Octavia and I walk to the locker room to get changed but I feel someone come up next to me. Before she even speaks I know who it is, because really how many other 6 foot girls do I know, and I could see the little bruise I left on her neck last night out of the corner of my eye.

"How was class Clarke?" Lexa says beside me, gently brushing her hand against mine, but not taking it knowing the risks of being caught.

"Oh you know, while Kane talked about the beginning of WWI, Raven, Octavia, and I talked about how you need to be in bed and not walking around school all day." Lexa snorts next to me before opening the locker room door for me.

"Trust me when I tell you I much rather be in bed with a certain blonde cheerleader than going to classes today." I look around quickly to make sure no one heard her, but it seems no one else was paying attention.

"Do you want to get us expelled?" I hiss, quickly changing into my P.E. uniform and moving over to help Lexa with her's.

"I guess not." Lexa pouts as I pull her t-shirt over her head.

Octavia of course has to ruin the moment. "Let's go you two! I don't really want to run extra laps because Lexa's not being the model patient Clarke!" Lexa and I both roll our eyes but none the less exit the locker room at Octavia request.

Class wasn't actually too bad today. Indra was too busy talking with Lexa the whole to pay attention to what we were doing so Octavia organized a game of kickball which everyone actually agreed to which is a miracle in itself. Indra dismissed us 10 minutes early to go and change but caught me on the way there.

"Griffin, Gustus has told me of your punishment and the 'solution' he came up with for you. I want you to know that unless you really enjoy sweaty boys and their clothes that this might not be the best option for you. But I can assign you to help Lexa here with her physical therapy that just happens to occur outside." I look over to Lexa to make sure Indra is being serious and she just nods.

"Um, yeah I can help Lexa with her physical therapy, not a problem."

"Excellent. Then I'll see you tonight." Indra gives Lexa one more nod before turning back to her clip board, marking something down.

"Did you happen to have any say in this new arrangement?" I question Lexa who turns away just so that I can't see her face.

"You did! You know you didn't have to do that right?"

"Please Clarke. If you were going to do what was originally set for you, you wouldn't last a week. Let me tell you from experience, the boys do not care if their gear smells like shit or they smell like shit. I'm pretty sure they have a competition between themselves to see you can smell the worst." I let out a chuckle at the look of disgust that crosses Lexa's features as she explains this.

"Whatever you say, Commander." It's Lexa's turn to chuckle at the use of her nickname. Sadly the bell rings signaling us to part and continue on our journey of knowledge known as the rest of the school day.

"I'll see you at lunch then?" I ask her as we come to a stop at the entrance of the main building.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world." Lexa replies giving my hand a gentle squeeze before reentering the school building while I turn towards my art class.

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"Okay class, I want you all to hand in your sketch books. I want to see the progress you've made since last year, and I will be able to tell if you have not been practicing over the summer." There's a loud groan from the class as Mr. Monty starts to collect said sketch books. I turn mine in with no complaint because if I couldn't draw over the summer then I'm pretty sure I would go insane.

The rest of class is used to figure out what our next big assignment will be. There are several suggestions to do a landscape drawing, some people want to do an abstract sketch while others would prefer to do a still life. It's not until I make the suggestion to do a human figure drawing that everyone starts to agree on something. We end up deciding to do a series of 'action shot' drawings. We each have to draw 3 different people doing 5 different physical activities. The goal is to capture their movement at the exact moment of the action in the drawing. Mr. Monty seemed pretty happy with our decision and set the rough draft date for 2 weeks from now. The final pictures are to be due in a month. The bell rings signaling our release. Lunch for the Juniors and Seniors while the Freshmen and Sophomores have another class.

"Hang on Clarke. I would like to talk to you." Mr. Monty calls out before I make through the arch way that serves as our door.

"Sure Mr. Monty, what's up?" He walks back to his desk where our pile of sketch books sit. He rifles through a couple until he pull one out, mine.

"I wanted to ask you about something you drew." Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit. He's totally talking about my sketch of Lexa. He's going to know something's up, shit!

"Um, yeah what is it?" I ask nervously.

"It's about this one." Mr. Monty opens my book to the last drawing I did which is of course the one of Lexa.

"Clarke, this is incredible work! The way you drew her, the stance she's in, it looks like she's about to make the winning touchdown pass. I love how you used the natural shadows of her body to highlight her straining muscles, and the look of pure determination and focus in her eyes is amazing. Did you watch a lot of her old games, you know since she's your new roommate and all and that's how you managed to portray her so accurately?" Oh thank god…

"Um, yeah. I heard rumors of about her so I did a little research about how well she actually played. I was pretty impressed with her level of calm in the heat of things and thought she would make a challenging model to draw." Mr. Monty nods, closing my sketch book and setting it back on his desk.

"Well it seems so. Good job Clarke and I would love to see her show up again in your assignment. Now you should get to lunch. We can talk more about this later." With that I'm dismissed from the most terrifying 7 minutes of my life.

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I find Raven, Octavia, and Lexa already sitting at a table eating and chatting away in the cafeteria.

"Wow, look who it is! The one, the only, Clarke Griffin who is apparently making a habit of being late to everything!" Octavia quips as I approach the table. Raven elbows her in the ribs but she can't hide the smile that's playing at her own lips.

"Fuck of would you? Mr. Monty wanted to talk to me after class." I snark back letting my tray fall onto the table.

"What did he want to talk to you about?" Lexa asks gently taking my hand under the table. As she does so I can feel all the tension leave my body.

"Oh nothing important. He just wanted to ask me about a drawing I had done and talk about the new assignment." Not a complete lie.

"Well that sounds fun, but you'll never believe what Bellamy did in class today!" Raven says around a mouthful of turkey sandwich. And that's how the rest of lunch goes, talking about how Bellamy fell off his stool in Chemistry and took the whole table of chemicals with him causing the lab to go into quarantine, or about how the soccer team is looking this year, or about what everyone around school thinks about the football team's chance of winning state are. I try to follow the conversations, but my mind is just in another world.

So this was kind of a filler chapter to get us to the action of AP Anatomy and Bellamy's party which will be next chapter. Sorry about how late this update is but again I think I'll try for at least 2 updates a week instead of a set day, just keep your eyes peeled.