Lover in Red, Fighter in Blue

by chrisbec

A complicated, messy love story full of laughter and loss, hurt and healing, courage and cowardice, friendship and fighting, finding family, and finding oneself. In other words, the story where Clarke and Lexa fall madly in love in the sixth grade and it takes the nerds four long years to figure it all out. Also, they do a lot of Tae Kwon Do.

25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Awakening

OR

Oh Shnikes

LEXA

Clarke entwines her soft, warm fingers into my own tingling ones. She pulls my arm until it is wrapped around her. She nuzzles her head into the hollow of my collar bone.

And I feel something break inside of me.

It breaks. It shatters. It explodes. And it is a wonder that no sound escapes me. It is a wonder that my very skin doesn't catch fire. Because I watch a falling star streak across the darkness and I think to myself that that ball of flame and light and chaos has nothing on whatever is happening inside of me.

Lightning and thunder; fire and light; chaos and commotion; the earth trembling and tearing apart at her seams; the sky breaking open, unleashing raging wind and relentless rain; stars bursting, exploding into blinding light and then collapsing into utter blackness... None of it can compare to what is happening inside the cavern of my chest, the crowded space housing heart and soul.

And it blindsides me like Master Anya's spinning-hook-kick to the jaw. It hits me like a stray bullet right to the gut. And I'm glad I'm laying safely on my back, because were I on my feet, I'd be reeling right now, collapsing to the ground in helpless shock.

Perhaps I should have seen this coming. After all, I cannot say I wasn't warned. But the truth is I never could have dodged this blow. The gun was fired years ago. The bullet found it's mark immediately. All this time it's been lodged in me, piercing further and further into my flesh, carving its way so deep into me I could never hope to pull it out. But it's only in this instant that I finally feel the hit.

And my heart is racing. And I am sweating despite the cold. And the frozen air feels too thin in my lungs. And all I can think is, 'Oh Shnikes!' Anya was right, completely spot-on correct...

I am irrefutably, irremediably, irrevocably, irr-insert-appropriately-powerful-adjective-here-ly, in love with Clarke. I think maybe I always have been. I think maybe I always will be.

I am in love, in love, in love with Clarke.

And all I can think is, 'Oh shnikes. Oh shnikes. Oh shnikes.'