Chapter 34

"Yes! We so kicked your ass!" Lexa stopped in the door of the apartment she had just entered after a long day of work when she heard the yelling. As she moved further into the apartment she saw Clarke and a familiar blonde doing their best 'Carlton'. "We totally wiped the floor with you." Clarke grinned from ear to ear as she high fived Kelly before making a face at Octavia who was sitting quietly on the sofa next to Lincoln.

"Clarke it was one game, and you always win at operation! I'd be a little scared if you didn't!"

"We. Still. Won."

Octavia looked up at Kelly. "I don't know why you're friends with her. You should have stayed gone my friend, you should have stayed gone."

Kelly laughed as she sat back down on the couch and pulled Clarke with her. "You don't understand, it may be the only thing we win all night. You know damn well how those two get!"

"You do have a point." Octavia looked over at the blonde. "Sorry, you two are a little competitive."

"Signal is next, I'm getting the cards, and you're both just as bad, tell them babe." Octavia said smacking Lincoln's leg as she got up to get the cards.

This was definitely not a conversation he wanted to get involved in. "Hey Lex, want to join us?"

It was at that moment that Clarke raised her head off of Kelly's shoulder and looked towards the kitchen. Seeing Lexa in her business attire made her grin like a fool even though she tried to cover it up. Ever since her and Lexa's conversation she had let herself start to feel things again. She let herself admire the way Lexa looked and the way she carried herself. She allowed herself to openly read the other woman and right now she could tell Lexa was tired.

"You sure?" Octavia asked again once she passed by Lexa.

"I'm sure, you guys enjoy your games, take it easy on them Griff."

Clarke laughed at the throw away comment as she watched Lexa walk away, taking a minute to watch her as she did. It was definitely a good sight, all the working out and a tight skirt certainly was something.

"Earth to Clarke, stop drooling and pay attention to the game."

XOXO

Two hours later Lexa, emerged from her room. Her hair was still wet from her shower and she had traded her pencil skirt for sweat pants and an over sized hoodie. She looked over and saw Kelly standing up to leave. The bartender made sure to hook everyone before she left and offered Lexa a nice goodbye as she passed her on her way out.

"Hey Lex, we're down one if you'd like to join? Clarke is tired of getting her ass beat and we're about to play trivial pursuit."

Lexa looked over at Clarke who now sat sprawled along the couch. She really just wanted to go to bed but looking at Clarke she could see the girl was in need of some serious help. "Okay, I'm in. Move over." She laughed as she tapped Clarke's legs but the girl didn't budge. Rolling her eyes Lexa lifted Clarke's legs up before sitting down and placing them down on her lap.

"It's so on!" Clarke said, game face on, as she looked at Octavia who was sitting in front of Lincoln. "Team Cali is taking this for the West Side." As if they had planned it they both made a 'W' with their fingers.

"You two are so weird and come to think of it, the three of us haven't gone out in awhile. Don't think I haven't noticed the weird energy shift between you two."

"Babe, let's just play the game." Lincoln grinned, winking at both Lexa and Clarke without Octavia noticing.

XOXO

"It's not fair, you're a lawyer and CEO and you're one your way to becoming one of the most sought after surgeons in the country." Octavia crossed her arms and moped.

"You're the one that wanted me to play." Lexa noted with a shrug as she unconsciously rubbed Clarke's leg that was still resting on her lap. They had just handedly beaten the 'power duo' as they liked to call themselves at trivial pursuit.

"One more game!"

Clarke sat up. "Name it."

"Heads Up."

Clarke tried to suppress the grin that was threatening to appear on her face. "That's not fair you and Lincoln practically have the same brain." Lexa nodded in support.

"Are you too scared? You can forfeit."

"Oh I do not forfeit Blake."

"You sucked so bad your partner left you." Octavia snarked back.

Clarke only shrug and wrapped her arm around Lexa's neck as she sat up. "That's fine, I upgraded."

"I'm telling Kelly you said that!"

Clarke laughed. "Go ahead, she'll understand I want to win, and now you have two people on a team who have known each other since they were in diapers." Once the words sunk in and realization hit, the look on Octavia's face drastically changed.

"That was a long time ago, we'll see if your past can help you. Roll to see who goes first. Losers have to clean up."

"Hope you like cleaning." Lexa grinned earning her a high five from Clarke.

XOXO

"You two are cheaters!" Octavia grunted as she stood up and started cleaning up after her and Lincoln lost the last three games.

"No, we're just that good but you should have known that." Lexa grinned as her and Clarke high fived once again.

Clarke sat back on the couch, a glass of wine in her hand. Her legs were still resting on Lexa's lap and the other woman was subconsciously rubbing up and down her lower leg. "I can't help that we're both brilliant and have a common understanding."

"How the how did you guess Cinderella from the Halloween of '95?" Octavia was now pacing the kitchen as Lincoln cleaned the remnants of the board games that were sprawled on the coffee table.

Clarke couldn't help but laugh. "I was totally Cinderella that year."

"And she had this little plastic mouse that she chased me around with for half the damn night. Is it really a question why were weren't friends, how did our parents not get it." They both started laughing and Octavia couldn't do anything but shake her head.

"You're such a little shit, that is exactly why we are friends." Lincoln started nodding his head profusely.

"Living with those two was like hell! I never knew if one of them was behind a corner ready to pop out at me. Everyday was like living in a horror movie." He shook his head and shivered at the memory.

"Not my fault you stumbled into our scare sessions on occasion. I warned you before you moved in." Octavia leaned up and kissed his cheek as she helped him with the rest of the board games. "But now I'm grumpy 'cause I lost so I'm going to bed. Clarke stay here tonight and we can go get breakfast in the morning because I know if you go home and get into bed your ass is never getting up."

"It's my day off, I kind of want to sleep in my own bed."

"Good thing, it's right there in that room then!" Octavia smirked.

Clarke narrowed her eyes. "First off, that has not been my bed in years. Second, that is now Lexa's bed. Third, Lexa deserves to get a good nights sleep after a long day at work. Fourth, who the hell says I want to wake up to your face?"

"Well bitch, you don't look like you're about to move anytime soon." Octavia smirked as Clarke realized she hadn't really moved to get up in the last ten minutes since the game had been done.

"You're welcome to your bed, I did sort of high-jack your room."

Clarke shook her head. "No Octavia is right, I don't think I'm getting up anytime soon."

"Actually you are, you need to look at this dress I just bought."

"I thought you said you were going to bed?" Lincoln asked with a confused look on his face as she sat down in the lazy boy with a beer in his hand."

"That was until I realized I haven't shown Clarke the dress." He was about to ask what dress before he noticed the evil glint in his fiancé's eyes.

"Guess I'm getting up then." Clarke pulled herself up as Lexa lifted her arms so that her legs were free.

Once they were in the bedroom Octavia closed the door as Clarke sat down on the bed. "Where's this dress? I swear if you picked a wedding dress out without me!"

"I didn't, I swear."

"I know that look Blake, there is no dress is there?"

Octavia smiled. "No but there is a very big shift in your dynamic with a certain CEO. Care to explain?"

Clarke shrugged. "We've been getting along, I don't know we've always had this weird chemistry. I've told you about it a million times."

"Yeah but now I'm seeing it. She's totally into you, you know that right?"

"Yes, I know. Has she talked to you about it?"

Octavia nodded. "I pushed her to talk to you about it."

"Well she did but I really don't know where my head is at with it. I just get so drawn into her without realizing it. It's comfortable and she's really impressed me with how open she's being. Maybe she's finally grown up in a sense."

"I think she has, what happened between you two changed her a lot. Even I can see that but I know there's something you aren't telling me and when I found out, you'll pay!" Octavia grinned. "Now get the hell out of my bed, I'm going to bed before Lincoln comes in here and starts snoring."

"You're reading too much into it." Clarke said as she got up and kissed the top of Octavia's head. "Goodnight sweetheart." She grinned as she opened the door with a laugh.

XOXO

An hour later Clarke opened her eyes and realized she had fallen asleep as they watched some late night crime documentary. She saw her phone sitting on the table, lighting up so she reached her arm out slowly and grabbed her phone being careful not to disturb the woman that was lying in her arms. She replied to the text before doing one more thing with her phone before putting it down.

She was so comfortable and warm that she didn't really want to move but she knew it was the right thing to do. "Hey you, time to wake up." She gently rubbed Lexa's arm and waited a minute before the woman started to stir.

"Sorry I didn't mean to fall asleep on you but you're comfy and warm." Clarke couldn't help but let out a little laugh in her own half asleep daze.

"It's okay, I'm not complaining." Lexa rubbed the sleep from her eyes as she moved the blanket off herself and stood up. "Clarke?"

"Hmm?" Clarke opened her eyes again.

"Come to bed?"

She didn't show it but the sound of those words coming from that woman made her heart do jumping jacks in her chest. To be honest, she had wanting nothing else since they had fallen into bed with one another. There was always something about Lexa that helped her sleep at night and she really did need the sleep. Getting up she followed the woman into a room she knew far too well.

"Second drawer, left side?" Clarke asked as Lexa crawled into bed.

A small smile crept onto her face. "Yeah, shirts should be next to them."

Nodding Clarke grabbed what she needed and went into the washroom to change before coming back out and climbing into bed.

"Do we need a pillow wall?" Lexa mumbled with the cutest smirk on her face.

"I think we're past a pillow wall unless you want one." Clarke grinned as she turned onto her side and sleepily looked at the woman lying next to her. Without thinking she leaned over a little further and kissed Lexa's cheek softly.

"A little to the left." She grinned with her eyes closed. Clarke leaned up and kissed her again, this time on the tip of her nose. "A little lower." A kiss on the chin. "Such a smart ass." Lexa smiled with her eyes still closed. "Higher." A kiss on the forehead. "Lower but higher than the chin, lower than the nose." This time Clarke gave in and kissed her gently on the cheek, barely grazing the corner of her lips. "Stop making me want to kiss you."

"Go to sleep." Clarke grinned as she laid her head down on the pillow and lazily draped her arm across Lexa's stomach and gently rubbed up and down her side just the way she knew was the other woman's weakness.

"But I have the most beautiful woman in the world in my bed and she's so perfect."

"You know you're really cute when you're tired and those walls come down."

Lexa shook her head. "Only with you."

"Impossible."

Lexa opened her eyes. "You have been the only person that has ever put me at ease this way. That's made falling asleep easy, that's able to calm me down with a single touch. No one else has ever made me feel the way you do and in all honesty I don't think anyone ever will. The minute I saw you at the hospital, through the curtains my heart sped up and I couldn't get it to stop and I know you noticed. I thought it was because I was nervous but my body has always known what my head has failed to fully comprehend until recently. I'm mesmerized by you, that one look at you stopped the pain from hurting. One look, at you weren't even looking at me was all I needed. It brought the life back into me, even if I didn't want to admit it."

"How long did you watch me for?" Clarke smiled sleepily, loving the new information that she was getting.

A sigh. "Awhile, longer than I care to admit, longer than I should have. At first I was stunned, you were really there, you were really back. Even though I knew you had to be once I saw Octavia and then I was in awe. The way you moved with such grace as you helped an elderly gentleman and then a kid. I was so proud of you that I just wanted to get up from that bed, wrap my arms around you and spin you around because all your dreams had come true and that's all I have ever wanted for you and looking back I don't think I could have given you those things back then but I can now. I promise you."

Without another thought Clarke leaned down and kissed the woman under her softly. Their lips barely touching before she pulled away. "I want to trust you, I want to so badly, but it's going to take time."

"I'm not a patient person, you know this but for you I'd wait an eternity." Lexa's eyes were open now, her hand softly cradling Clarke's cheek. "I just want us to get to know each other again, I want to prove to you that I'm not the same person I was."

"What's so different now? We have no idea where our lives are going to take us." Lexa let out a small laugh. "What?" Clarke couldn't help but grin.

"You were always the one with those answers but this time I have it. What's different now is that I know what my life is like without you in it and I never want that to happen again. I'm a better person because of you Clarke Griffin and I'll never forget that. You helped shape the person I am and the person I want to be. I will not stop fighting for you, in whatever capacity you'll allow and I will take everything you have to give good and bad because I deserve to put the hard work in."

Another tender kiss. "You were a little jealous of Kelly weren't you?"

Lexa shook her head no. "Okay a little but not for the reasons you may think. It hits me some times, that your life didn't stop when I wasn't in it. I'm living in your world now and it takes me aback and shows me how different things are now. You had a life that I wasn't apart of and it kills me because I was a fool. You have amazing friends and an amazing career and I wasn't by your side to help you build it and other people were, so yeah it makes me a little jealous. That's what you get for being an idiot though but no matter what, it makes me so happy to see you living the life you were meant to live."

Clarke took a hold of Lexa's hand that was still resting on her check and brought it down to kiss the back of it. "Please don't leave again. I don't know where we'll end up but please don't leave again. Moving on from you was the hardest thing I've ever done and I don't want to have to do it again." She laid her head down on Lexa's chest.

"I won't leave again, I've learned my lesson. I'm just sorry you had to pay for it. You're my best friend."

"You're my best friend too and I just want to be that way again. All I ever wanted more than anything was my best friend back."

"I'm right here baby."

They laid silently after that. That is until Clarke was almost asleep and a thought popped into her head. "You look incredibly sexy when you come home from work and let your hair down, that skirt is amazing." It was barely above a whisper but that's all it needed to be. "But to be honest your after shower look has always been my favourite."

"Oh is that so?"

Clarke nodded against Lexa's shoulder. "Mhmm." That was the last word spoken for the rest of the night but every now and again as they fell asleep there were barely there kisses to the others forehead and neck. Where they went from here, neither of them knew but at least it was a step in the right direction.

TBC…