A/N: So I wasn't planning on posting this chapter until I finished the Finding Home chapter, but since Hurricane Matthew is on its way in, I'm going to post this. Don't worry, I'm nowhere near the brunt of the storm, but we are preparing for power outages and possible flooding. So in honor of Hurricane Matthew (now a Category 4), here is part 14! Enjoy! ~TGF
Part 14
"Give it to me, I'm worth it! Uh-huh, I'm worth it!"
Clarke's stomach ached from the amount of laughing she'd been doing over the course of the last six hours. After sleeping together, they had settled into a bubble that blocked out the rest of the world. With the hurricane still raging through Orlando, they weren't able to go to work and with the power out. They weren't able to contact anyone with their phones dead.
There were no responsibilities and they could just be. And being meant being together so maybe they were pretending that they were really together. There were no problems with that, no matter how many feelings Lexa elicited in Clarke.
They had discussed almost everything about their lives. There were no barriers between them. As they basked in their post coital bliss, Clarke had run her fingers over the raised, round scars on Lexa's back. She'd wanted to ask, but didn't want to bring up anything that would make Lexa feel awkward.
But to Clarke's utter amazement, Lexa willingly provided the information. She whispered about how her Dad was an abusive, asshole and her mom was a passive drunk. Her dad would put out cigarettes on her skin and find a sadistic joy in the pain it caused Lexa when she was a kid. He did it as a punishment when she did something he didn't approve of.
Now, Lexa didn't really think or talk about it, but telling Clarke really made her feel better. That conversation led to Clarke talking about her disagreements with her mom and then how amazing her dad was. Her life wasn't as tragic as Lexa's, but it still had its own problems.
It was like every whisper, every giggle and quiet joke was just between them. The secrets they shared would never escape Clarke's bed. Both of them were confident in that. Both of them found comfort and peace in each other's arms. Their bubble would not be broken, their little safe haven would forever be a place they could escape to if the need arose.
After hours of talk, they had dozed off snuggled together until thunder had awoken Lexa and then Clarke in turn. To entertain themselves, Lexa went through Clarke's closet with the blonde's permission. She'd found Clarke's old boom box from middle school and then gone through all of the CDs in the living room entertainment center. She found several D batteries in the bottom of Clarke's junk drawer still in their package.
That led to Lexa jumping on the bed and dancing over Clarke like a fool. She wiggled her hips, her feet on either side of Clarke's body. She was dressed on one of Clarke's hoodies and a pair of borrowed underwear. Her dancing, by any means, was silly and uncoordinated, but she was having fun, and that was all that mattered to Clarke.
"You're such a dork, Lex." Clarke shouted over the music, though unable to keep the smile of her face. Her cheeks hurt from it. Lexa just had the ability to draw it out of her.
Lexa ignored her and dropped to her knees, straddling Clarke's waist and leaned close, rapping the next lines. "Okay, I tell her bring it back like she left something', bring it back like she left somethin'. Uh, in the club with the lights off, what you actin' shy for? Come and show me that you're with it, with it, with it, with it." At this line, Lexa shifted her hips left than right with each with it like a complete dork. Clarke found it adorable and placed her hands under her hoodie and on those hips.
Lexa poked Clarke's nose and continued, "Stop playin' now you know I'm with it, with it, with it, with it. What you actin' shy for?" She continued on with the song, singing it and standing back up to dance to it.
Once it was over another one of Clarke's songs came on. Her friends liked to make her CDs, even though they could just dedicate a Spotify playlist to her. But she didn't mind. It kind of made her reminisce high school. So the next song was nothing like the last one.
"You know, we should probably turn that thing off. It'll die soon." Clarke pointed out as the intro to the next song began. Lexa plopped back down on Clarke's stomach, nearly knocking the air out of the blonde.
Lexa shrugged, "You're nooo fun, you know. You could at least dance with me."
Clarke chuckled and opened her mouth to say something when the first words to the song began, "Oh shit! I love this song."
They listened for a second, Lexa frowning as she tried to place the song and Clarke wiggling a little to the lyrics. "I don't know it."
"It's not really well know," Clarke explained, "It's called High by Sivik. It's really the only song I know by him. Or them, I'm not sure exactly. But it's really good."
Clarke leaned closer and began whispering the lyrics, wiggling her eyebrows, "I don't even care, yeah, you got me good. We don't gotta know if we should. Getting lost on you, yeah you said I could. 'Cause you know that, 'cause you know."
Lexa slid her arms around Clarke's neck and listened. The song didn't call for a very good singing voice, but Clarke could sing. Lexa could hear it. The blonde's voice was low and soft, since she was singing directly to Lexa. It sent a shiver down Lexa's spine.
"Once I get it, so addicted, got me tripping, high off of you." Clarke was so close now that her nose brushed against Lexa's ever so lightly. Her thumb brushed over Lexa's lower lip lightly.
The world seemed to narrow down to the girl in front of her. Lexa's stomach did cartwheels and she felt like she was melting into Clarke. The blonde had this ability to make her brain completely short-circuit. The feelings that flashes through Lexa's head and her body made her nervous and a little anxious at their intensity.
"Once you get it, so addicted, got you trippin', high off of me."
Lexa rolled her eyes and pushed down on the bubbling anxiety by pressing her lips against Clarke's hard. She flexed her thighs on either side of Clarke, letting the song fade into the background as all of her attention was taken up by the woman before her.
Clarke's hands trailed up Lexa's thighs and around to squeeze at her ass. Their lips pushed and pulled and the blonde captured Lexa's lower lip between hers. She sucked lightly, brushing her tongue over the soft flesh before nipping at it.
Suddenly, Lexa was flipped backwards. Her stomach lurched into her throat for a second before she landed on the soft bed beneath her. Clarke was sitting up, between Lexa's legs now, due to their swapped positions.
The blonde leaned up and forward, hovering over the brunette who couldn't really breathe. Clarke's eyes were dark and Lexa felt the air leave her lungs in a rush as a stab of desire hit her in the stomach.
When Clarke came level with Lexa's face, she leaned down, resting on her forearms, and smirked. "You keep me from crashing down, stay a little longer, stay a little longer with me."
"You're a dork," Lexa managed, rolling her eyes and trying to hide the blush on her cheek. She was flustered and turned on and didn't know what to think of Clarke Griffin.
"Thank you," Clarke's smirk spread into a wider smile that showed of her cheeks and crinkled her eyes.
"So you can sing?" Lexa prompted, slipping her arm up and into Clarke's hair. It was tied up into a bun but there were short baby hairs poking out. So she lightly ran her fingers through them and casually looped her legs around Clarke's waist. It felt so easy to lay like this, wrapped up so tightly together, no matter how little they knew each other.
It felt like the final puzzle piece was slipping into place for both of them. It was hard to admit to themselves, but they weren't going to stop, it felt too right.
Clarke shrugged and leaned back up on her hands, glancing away. "I guess, kind of."
"Mmm, nice, you should sing more." Lexa smiled and pulled Clarke back down.
"Mmm, maybe," Clarke smiled back and captured Lexa's lower lip between her teeth lightly before pulling back. "How about later?"
"Sounds good to me," Lexa breathed, feeling desire pulse through her stomach and between her legs. She rolled her head back as Clarke moved downward, her lips pressing open mouthed kisses along Lexa's sensitive neck.
She found Lexa's pulse point, already lightly bruised from the night before, and bit down on the skin there. Her fingers edged down until she grasped the edge of the hoodie Lexa was wearing and pushed it upward.
Lexa groaned, "Clarke." She squirmed beneath the blonde and closed her eyes, feeling wetness pool between her legs.
"Mmm?" Clarke pulled away, stopping her hand on its exploration of Lexa's rippling torso. Her eyes were heavily lidded and her cheeks were flushed a rosy red of obvious arousal.
"You're insatiable."
Clarke smirked and wiggled her eyebrows. She slid down Lexa's body, pushing the hoodie up and over Lexa's stomach, "You're just so responsive. I'm addicted." Then she placed nipping, sucking kisses on Lexa's stomach that left rosy marks that would develop into bruises eventually.
Lexa's hands shot into Clarke's hair, the heat in her body tripling, "Fuck." She threw her head back against the bed and arched her back, squirming. Clarke's tongue rubbed against her skin deliciously and she touched all of the right spots that had Lexa a soaked mess beneath her.
"Oh, I plan on it," Clarke breathed before pulling away and urging Lexa up to take off the annoying hoodie baring her progress.
Their touches grew bolder, their kisses hotter and the clothes separating them sparser. It was addictive, too addictive. They both knew this was too fast, the feelings they were both developing were too intense and too much for either of them to truly fathom.
If they had any time to contemplate exactly what was going on between them, both would have been utterly terrified. But they didn't, instead, they lost themselves in each other.
It was about five in the afternoon that the real world decided to make an appearance.
Lexa had dipped into Clarke's stash of books after a breakfast of junk food between the two of them. They had ended up lounging in Clarke's bedroom where the lighting was the best. Clarke set up more candles while Lexa searched for a book light to read by.
They then climbed into bed. The thunder was loud and the wind whistled through the window, but they were both content to sit there. Lexa couldn't leave, the hurricane was still passing through. They had listened to the radio earlier and found out that the hurricane would be lasting a longer time and that there was a lot of flooding and toppling trees and electrical pools.
Clarke ended up with her sketchbook and a couple of pencils. She was sitting up on the bed with Lexa's body pressed next to hers. They sat there, barely touching and silently doing their own things. It was one of the most domestic things Clarke had ever really done with anyone.
Whenever she dated anyone there was little time for tranquil relaxation. It was always go, go, go with all of them. Go clubbing here, go on a date here, go hang out here. Or it was all sexual. This was different.
This was something deeper and more intense than anything Clarke had ever experienced before. It scared her but thrilled her at the same time. It was like going sky diving, you're afraid until you fall and then you wonder why the hell you hadn't done this before.
Clarke had started drawing a dark forest, with its high canopy and overhanging leaves. She'd even started on the patterns of the sunlight beaming down from above until she'd gotten sidetracked.
Lexa was just so distracting. The way her eyebrows arched and the light curved over her cheeks. Her jaw was utterly perfect and her lips were so inviting and soft. Clarke couldn't help wanting to get it all down on paper. She was so lost in her own thoughts that her hand mindlessly began turning the trees into the curves and angles of Lexa's concentrated face.
The brunette had picked out a book Clarke had gotten on Solipsism Theory from her Uncle Marcus after graduating high school. Clarke had skimmed through it once and had nearly passed out from the utter confusion of the theory itself. Her eyebrows were furrowed in concentration and her lower lip was caught between her teeth.
A knock at Clarke's apartment door roused them from their individual activities.
Lexa blinked a couple of times and closed her book, as if coming out of a trance. She arched her back and stretched her muscles like a cat waking up from a nap. Clarke watched her with a smile, finding the sleepy, dazed look on her face endearing.
"Expecting someone?" Lexa asked, her voice strained as she stretched.
Clarke rolled her eyes and closed her sketchbook, tossing it onto the bed between the two of them. "Obviously. It's probably a neighbor or something."
Lexa hummed and relaxed, lying flat on her back. She closed her eyes and spread herself out on the bed. She looked completely content with her position.
Clarke couldn't resist climbing back onto the bed and leaning over Lexa to kiss her. She pressed her lips firmly to the brunette's for a couple of seconds before standing back up, "I'll be right back."
She left the room followed by a huffy grumble from Lexa she didn't quiet catch.
Clarke opened the front door and was greeted by her neighbor across the hallway in room 3D, Niylah. The blonde didn't know Niylah very well, only that she was friendly and empathetic when Clarke needed a shoulder to cry on. They hadn't spoken much before but it hadn't been hard for them to fall into bed together when Finn had broken up with Clarke.
Now they didn't talk much, except for casual greetings when they ran into each other in the hallway. It wasn't awkward but there was no reason for them to become any closer. There was no chemistry beyond the physical between them and they were both okay with it.
"Hey, Niylah, what's up?"
The blonde stood awkwardly in the hallway, shifting from foot to foot. "Um, nothing much," she shrugged and crossed her arms over her chest. She was dressed in a white v-neck and a pair of jeans, casual for a day indoors. "Jaha somehow managed to get food in the lobby. He said that there's plenty for everyone. I didn't know if you knew about it and I didn't want you to starve."
"Really? That's great."
"Yeah, there's pizza, I think he somehow bribed the Pizza Hut up the road to deliver. No idea."
"Fantastic," Clarke smiled and opened the door just a little more until she was leaning against the frame. "I'll go grab Lexa and we can go down together." She left the door ajar and turned around. It wasn't too hard for Clarke to leave her door open anyway. She was so used to her friends just barging in anyway, it was like her home was a commons area for everyone she knew.
Clarke turned and found Lexa exiting her bedroom, still scantly clothed in a hoodie and underwear. Niylah had let herself in, taking the open door as invitation and spotted the brunette as she turned to get a better look at the inside of Clarke's apartment. She'd only been inside once before and hadn't been too intent on memorizing the floor plan.
"Heeeey, Lex." Clarke said, skittering to interrupt Niylah's view of the girl in front of her. "My neighbor from across the hall came over."
"I see," Lexa raised an eyebrow before glancing down at her naked legs. "I should probably put on some pants."
"Maybe," Clarke chuckled, feeling anxiety bubbling in her stomach. Her history with Niylah was in the back of her mind. Maybe she and Lexa weren't a thing and maybe they had only slept together once. But there was something developing, Clarke could feel it and it was too new. If Lexa knew about her history with Niylah it could turn her off to any feeling she may have developed for Clarke.
But before the blonde could say anything to Lexa, the brunette was backtracking into her bedroom and closing the door in Clarke's face without a word. She came out a couple of minutes later in her clothes from the day before. Her hair was up in a uniform ponytail and she looked like she had washed her face.
She smiled when she found Clarke bouncing her leg nervously while sitting on the couch. Niylah was sitting on the shoulder of the couch with her arms over her chest. It was silent, waves of tension rolling off of Clarke.
"Hi," she greeted Niylah, walking forward and holding out her hand, "I'm Lexa."
Niylah offered a thin smile, glancing between her and Clarke before shaking her hand with a nod, "I'm Niylah."
Clarke hopped to her feet then, as if shocked out of her thoughts. She rushed between the two, "So Niylah came over to tell us that Jaha, our landlord somehow managed to get food."
"Oh really?" Lexa raised an eyebrow and turned to Clarke. She could feel Clarke's unease, but didn't understand it. Niylah seemed cold and a little reserved. Lexa didn't know her though and Clarke was acting straight up weird. Lexa liked to think that she was good at reading people and if she was reading Clarke properly, there was something she wasn't seeing.
Lexa turned back to Niylah, "So where do you know Clarke from? Besides being neighbors."
"Ahh," Niylah glanced between the two girls uncomfortably. This was all types of awkward that she didn't want to get into. Her eyes finally settled back on Lexa, "Nowhere really, we just hang out sometimes."
"Huh," Lexa nodded, maintaining eye contact. She knew. It wasn't hard to tell and she felt a white hot jealousy bubbling up in her stomach before she could tamp it down.
After a moment of the staring contest, Clarke's hand slipped into the crook of Lexa's elbow. She pulled lightly, coaxing Lexa back, "Why don't we go downstairs?"
"Sure," Lexa shook her head and rubbed her face before gesturing for Niylah to go first. She followed behind Clarke and together, the three of them headed to the lobby.
"So who is Lexa?"
Clarke glanced at Niylah desperately, she didn't want to discuss this because she really didn't know who Lexa was. The brunette in question was lined up grabbing a slice of pizza and having a civil conversation with one of Clarke's unknown neighbors. The two girls were sitting on a couch in the lounge area with bottles of lukewarm water.
"She's…just a girl I met."
"Really? You look at her weird," Niylah offered.
"Weird?" Clarke raised an eyebrow and turned her body so she was facing more towards the other blonde. Niylah sat with one arm slung over the back of the couch and her leg crooked in front of her, facing Clarke directly.
She shrugged and sipped at her water, clearly attempting to be nonchalant, "You look at her like you have feelings for her."
"I met her yesterday, there's really no way I could have feelings for her," Clarke denied grumpily, straightening her back defensively.
Niylah laughed, "Sure. Do you not have feelings for her or do you not know if she has feelings for you?"
"I met her yesterday, we slept together. That's it. Not much else has happened," she defended herself, scoffing at the question.
"That doesn't mean anything, Clarke."
Clarke didn't know what to say, there really wasn't anything she could think of to defend herself. With a sigh, she dropped her shoulders and glanced at the brunette across the room. "Fine, I don't know what we're doing and we haven't talked about it."
Niylah chuckled, "That shouldn't be too hard to fix. Just talk to her about it."
"That's easier said than done," Clarke rolled her eyes at the other blonde.
"What's easier said than done?" Lexa asked, setting her plate down on the table before her and taking a seat on the other side of Clarke.
Niylah gave Clarke a pointed look before standing and grabbing her food, "Nothing, I'm going to go talk to Ben." She gestured behind her, towards a group standing close together, near the food.
She was gone in a second and Clarke and Lexa were left alone. The blonde turned to the other girl and brought her legs up so she could cross them. Lexa sat there, a piece of pizza in her hand and cheese dangling between her mouth and the slice. She looked like she was caught in a precarious position.
Clarke couldn't help but laugh at the comical show as the brunette tried to keep the mess of cheese and sauce from getting all over her face. "Oh my god, are you okay?"
Lexa tilted her head down, dropping the pizza on her plate and tearing the cheese so she could finish her bite. She wiped at her face and wrinkled her nose, "I'm good."
They sat there in silence for a second and Clarke watched the dork of a girl try to wipe the blush from her face. She avoided Clarke's eyes and went back to eating her pizza.
Clarke couldn't help but stare, the way the blush darkened her features and she bashfully glanced away. It was endearing and adorable and Clarke wished she could just kiss her without doubting what was going on between them.
Clarke Griffin wasn't one to back down from confrontation. She wasn't one to grow squeamish at the first sign of feelings. She was brave. But right now the amount and intensity of the feelings she had for Lexa scared the shit out of her. She wanted to chalk it up to being infatuated after a great night together. But damn it if she didn't already know she was screwed.
She opened her mouth to say something, anything. To ask Lexa if she felt the same way, maybe, but her voice froze in her throat. She couldn't speak because she was nervous. Her stomach was in knots and she didn't know how to bring it up.
"You okay?"
Clarke was dragged out of her thoughts at the worried look on Lexa's face. She seemed relaxed and not at all thinking along the same stressful lines as Clarke was. "Yeah, sorry. I was just thinking."
"I can tell, you look like you're in pain."
Clarke scooted closer to Lexa, wrapping her arm around the other girl's shoulders. "How could I be in pain when I'm with you?"
Lexa laughed outright at the ridiculousness of that statement and rolled her eyes, "Smooth."
The two sat there for a minute in silence. Clarke wasn't really hungry, so had opted for only a drink, while Lexa had practically sprinted to the pizza. The blonde was having a hard time not thinking about Lexa and imagining what taking her out on a date would be like. She was so lost in her own thoughts, she didn't notice Roan approaching until he was sitting on the table in front of them.
"Hey, Roan." She yanked her arm away from Lexa and leaned forward, blinking away the image of Lexa in a dress.
The man was dressed in a pair of black, low hung jeans and a ratty black t-shirt. A leather wrist band wrapped around his forearm and his hair was long and tied up into a bun at the back of his head. A clean, trimmed beard covered his face.
If Clarke hadn't known him as well as she did, she would have been intimidated by his size and gothic style. But this man before her was a soft, teddy bear at heart and there was no reason for Clarke to be intimidated at all.
"Hey, Clarke. Who's this?" Roan smiled and turned to Lexa, extending a hand. "I'm Roan, I live above Clarke."
Lexa shook his hand after whipping the grease off of her fingers and smiled, "I'm Lexa, a friend of Clarke's."
It was the most appropriate response Lexa could think of, even though her stomach twisted painfully in response to her words. She hadn't wanted to say girlfriend about someone since Costia.
"Nice to meet you, Lexa," Roan smiled again before returning his attention to Clarke. "So I have a proposition for you."
Clarke groaned. Roan played in a heavy metal band and had once upon a time, pissed Clarke off with his constant noise vibrating through her apartment at all hours of the night. But he had ended up buying a garage where he and his band practiced a couple of months back, meaning they had ended up warming up to each other as acquaintances. Clarke knew that Roan wanted to recruit a female singer for his band and when Raven had decided to inform him Clarke could sing, he had be relentlessly asking her to, at the very least, try out.
"Just hear me out," Roan raised his hands in surrender until Clarke finally focused on him. "There's this bar that I play at, alone and without the band. I'm interested in stuff besides heavy metal, you know. And I wanted to do this duet, but I need a female singer."
"And I'm the only female singer you know?" Clarke asked, feeling the anxiety she'd grown accustomed to attaining whenever public performance was brought up settle into her stomach.
Roan rolled his eyes and let out a heavy breath, his entire body slouching in defeat. "No, you're not. But I really want you to just…try."
Clarke felt irritation boil in the pit of her stomach, "Why? What's in it for you? You've never even heard me sing."
Her voice was harsh enough that Lexa placed a hand on her thigh and gave it a squeeze. It was one of those things, a natural reaction she believed would calm Clarke in some way. The blonde seemed distressed and Lexa didn't like seeing her that way.
"Clarke, please. Just…sing the song with me sometime this week? Please?" Roan asked, reaching forward as if to grasp Clarke's hand but thinking better of it and standing instead. The medical student was too distressed to really keep pushing.
Clarke stared up at the large man as he blotted out the overhead light. She took a deep breath, trying to tamp down on the anxiety in her chest. Just the thought of singing in public made her insides roll and her stomach clench painfully. Lexa's attempt at comfort didn't really help, but just the consideration made her feel a little better.
"Maybe," Clarke relented, slouching into the couch and rubbing her eyes, "we'll see okay? I'll send you a text."
"Thank you, Clarke," Roan smiled and set a heavy hand on the blonde's head before messing up her hair. "I guess that's all I can ask for."
"It is," Clarke grumbled and tried to fix her now frizzy hair, "especially when you do this shit."
Then Roan was gone and Clarke and Lexa were left alone once again.
Lexa waited a moment before voicing her questions, deciding whether or not it was a good idea to do so. She watched Clarke's face morph from a scowl into a thin smile when they made eye contact.
"Sorry," Clarke muttered, "He does that a lot."
"Why is he doing that?"
"Raven once told him I could sing and now he's fixated on making me sing in public to get over my stage fright or something. It's gotten infuriating…" Clarke explained and huffed, running a hand through her hair again.
Lexa smiled softly, "You do have a good voice."
"Thanks," Clarke smiled back and visibly relaxed.
It was over an hour later and Clarke was deep in conversation with a classmate that lived in the same building about organic chemistry. Lexa had tried to understand what was going on but it went straight over her head. Even though Clarke had tried to involve her in the conversation, she'd eventually been forced out by binary compounds and reagents she didn't exactly understand.
So instead of sticking around, she wandered around in hopes of finding someone to start up a conversation with. Lexa held her drink close to her body and scouted around the corners of the room as she moved. It reminded her uncomfortably of high school and standing in the corner of the room while watching everyone enjoy themselves with their friends.
It had been hard trying to fit in at school. She had been easily angered and standoffish during school, which had made it difficult to make any friends. Lexa had been the loner in the corner who only ever hung out with those kids that did drugs or drank regularly—the losers who wouldn't be going anywhere in life.
Lexa had thought she wouldn't, but here she was. She'd gotten out of her town, away from her parents and made herself something. She lived in Florida and was a rising journalist. It was something she thought about often because it baffled her sometimes.
As Lexa scanned her surroundings, her eyes landed on a familiar face. Niylah stood with a beer in her hand, leaning against the wall and talking to a guy and a girl Lexa didn't know. They looked like they were bored, glancing around as Niylah spoke adamantly about something.
Lexa made her way over, deciding it wouldn't be too rude to just insert herself into the conversation.
"She's got a really nice ass, honestly." Niylah continued, looking off somewhere to her left, her back still turned to Lexa.
"Who does?" Lexa asked as she approached.
Niylah turned, her entire body moving with her in a way that made it obvious she'd been digging into the alcohol for a little bit. Lexa didn't even know where she'd gotten it from, but she'd clearly been at it for a while. She smiled wide and slung her arm around Lexa's shoulder.
"This is Ontari and Ivon, the live in the building. We go out together sometimes," Niylah waited until they shook hands before introducing Lexa. "Guys, this is Lexa. Clarke's new girl toy."
The two shared a look that Lexa couldn't quite understand, but she did feel offended to be referred to as a girl toy, "What?"
"Nothing, doesn't Clarke have a nice ass?" Niylah gestured with her free hand, settling most of her weight on Lexa with her arm around the brunette. "Isn't she great in bed too?"
Lexa stiffed and shrugged Niylah's arm from around her. She kept her voice low and measured, even though she felt anger bubble within her chest, "Don't talk about her like she's an object, Niylah."
"But she is using you, you know. The two of us got it on just after her and Finn broke up. She's definitely not over his sorry ass. She fucked me then dropped me, bet that's what she'll do with you too," Niylah slurred. "But at least you got one good night with her."
Lexa frowned, turning to glance at Clarke who was laughing with her classmate across the room. Her heart felt like it was settling into her stomach and her eyes pricked painfully. Maybe she didn't know much of anything about Clarke, but she didn't find the woman to be a player.
"Aww," Niylah laughed humorlessly and turned to face Lexa directly, "I bet she ran into Finn, didn't she? Told you she was broken and made you feel bad about her. Then you fucked her because you felt so bad. You thought maybe she'd call you again. She won't, trust me. She won't."
Lexa's hands balled into fists at her side and her jaw clenched painfully. She tried to focus on the pain to keep from doing anything that could end badly. "Shut up, Niylah. You're drunk and Clarke isn't like that. Don't be an ass."
"You don't know her, Lexa. Nobody really does. She's nice and open and friendly, but she doesn't tell anyone about herself. She's a good fuck, that's it." Niylah glanced down at the balled fists by Lexa's side. She found a sick satisfaction in provoking the brunette.
"Niylah, seriously. Don't be an ass," Ivon spoke up, edging forward and flashing sideways glances at the reddening Lexa. She looked like she was about ready to punch someone in the face and didn't really care about who it was.
Niylah shoved Ivon away, turning to sneer at Lexa. She got close, right up in her face and practically growled, "What? She deserves to know she's going to get used just like I did." She shoved at Lexa's shoulders, pushing her back slightly. "So do you get what I'm saying, Lex?"
Lexa sucked in a breath, trying to calm the rage making her arms shake and blood boil in her veins. She wanted to deck the blonde in her smirking, self-satisfied face but knew it would just cause a scene. Niylah knew what she was doing, she was just provoking Lexa but that didn't stop the brunette from wanting to stoop to her level.
"Shut up, Niylah, I'm not listening to you." Lexa growled before turning away, proud of herself for backing down.
Niylah stepped forward, feeling her anger boil over with the lack of reaction she was receiving and shoved Lexa in the back hard. "Go back to your slut, bitch."
Lexa stumbled, nearly falling to her knees before recovering her balance. That was the final straw, she turned to give Niylah a piece of her mind and maybe a black eye in the process. But as soon as she laid eyes on the red faced blonde, a bony fist was connecting with the side of her face and she stumbled backward. Her hand flew to her face and blood pooled in her mouth as she bit into the side of her cheek painfully.
"Fuck," she mumbled, shaking her dazed head and blinking hard. She stepped back further, hoping Niylah wouldn't pursue. But she did, though she didn't punch Lexa again. She shoved her backwards while her two friends kept insisting that she stop, even if they didn't get involved physically. They weren't really trying to help.
Lexa rubbed her tongue over her swelling lip, tasting the metallic blonde. Her face throbbed painfully but she wasn't really focused on that. She was more worried about the overwhelming amount of anger she felt coursing through her veins. Lexa wanted more than anything to surge forward and punch Niylah in her snidely, smug face. Especially after all of the shitty things she'd said about Clarke.
Clarke had seen Niylah's fist connect with Lexa's face out of the corner of her eye. At the very last second she had turned and seen Lexa surging forward in response. She rushed over, unable to get there in time before Lexa's elbow connected with Niylah's nose and the blonde was stumbling back into her friend Ontari.
She rushed forward, shoving through the bystanders that had drifted to watch the fight. Clarke stumbled between the two just as Lexa shoved at the blonde, fisting her collar. "Say anything like that again and I swear to God I will hit you so hard you won't be able to think straight."
Lexa's forearms bulged with the strain of holding the drunk and dazed Niylah up. Even though she looked rather defeated with her nose bleeding profusely the blonde sneered back and swiftly shoved forward. Lexa lost her footing, getting her feet tied up with Niylah's until she was nearly falling on her ass once again.
Niylah took that as an opportunity to land a solid punch to Lexa's cheek again. Clarke managed to intercept the two of them before Lexa could recover enough to reciprocate.
"What the fuck are you doing?" Clarke shoved Niylah back hard enough to make her stumble.
"You're a fucking bitch, you know that, Clarke?" Niylah hissed back venomously.
Clarke's hand rose before she could really think it through. Her hand connected with the side of Niylah's face with a resounding slap. "Back the fuck off and go home, you ass."
Without another look at the drunken blonde, Clarke turned and rushed over to Lexa who was dabbing at her nose with the corner of her shirt. "Are you okay?"
Lexa nodded, even though she was already feeling the pounding of a headache coming on. Her mouth was slowly filling with blood and her lip felt like had doubled in size in the time it took for Clarke to slap her assailant.
Clarke wrapped her arm around Lexa's middle and shoved past several people, who were beginning to disperse when they realized things were winding down. "Come on, let's go upstairs."