Chapter 39: Lexa

About eleven o'clock, our car pulls up in front of the Staple Center for the fight weigh-ins. The scene reminds me of golden globes, I watched on TV while Ash was in her coma. There was a red carpet leading up to the entrance and the walkway was roped off with security guards standing every few feet. Once everyone was out of the car, everyone pretty much paired up, most with their significant others.

Clarke and I were first, with Asher between us, Ash and Callie were next, Octavia and Morrigan and so on. I was really trying not to freak out with everyone looking but I was extremely nervous walking in front of all these screaming people. I was about halfway to the door when I hear someone scream my name from my right, when I look over it is Cree standing there waving with a big smile on her face. She has two men with her one on each side who I assume are her bodyguards.

I let go of Asher and run over to her but as she takes a step towards me one of the security guards cuts her off. I look at him and say, "It's fine, she is with me."

He replies, "If she was with you then she would've been in the car with you and not out here, ma'am. No one is allowed to cross the barriers."

"I'm telling you she is with me and you will let her come with me. If you would like I can call Dana but I'm sure that wouldn't be good for you."

"Fine but from now on make sure all of your group arrives with you."

"Sure." He opens the barrier and lets Cree and the two guys through. As soon as she is on the same side with me, she runs and jumps in my arms and kisses my cheek. "I can't believe you are here! How did you even know I was fighting?"

"Ash called and told me when she invited me to the cookout. I had to come. So, I guess Ash is back with the bitch since they are holding hands and who is the kid that had your hand?"

I laugh, "There is so much I need to catch you up on later but right now I really need to get inside. Come on, walk with me." I walk back over to Clarke and Asher holding Cree's hand. Asher stares at Cree for a moment before looking at me and saying, "Xa how you know Babe?"

I look at him confused and say, "Who is Babe?"

He points to Cree, "Oh, I will tell you later. We really need to get inside." When I look over at Clarke, she looks upset or pissed. I'm not sure which. I raise my eyebrow at her and ask, "Hey, are you okay?"

She sort of snaps, "Fine, we will talk later." Then she starts walking. Well, alright. I wonder what that was about.

Once we finally get inside, I realize that the crowd outside is nothing compared to the one in here. I can only imagine what the place will look like on fight night if there are this many people here just for the weigh-ins. I am met inside the door by a guy telling me that me and my corner crew were to go down in front of the stage and wait for my name to be called everyone else will be shown to their seats.

I look at my group, who is supposed to be my corner crew? No one bothered to mention this at the contract signing. I look back at the guy and ask him, "Um…who is supposed to be in my corner?" He kind of laughs until he realizes that I'm being serious.

"Oh, you must be the last-minute fill in to fight Jewel. I guess you've never fought before. So, usually you would have your trainers, cut man and doctor in your corner."

"Okay, thanks." I turn around and face the group and say, "Clarke, Octavia and Jose you all come with me and the rest of you go with him to your seats. I feel a tug on my shirt and look down to see Asher looking at me. "What's up buddy?"

"Why can't I go with you and Clarke?"

"I'm not sure buddy, but I will see you after this is over. Besides, you can talk to my friend Cree. She will keep you company, right Cree."

She smiles, "Sure, I will." She then leans in and gives me a kiss on the cheek and takes Asher's hand with the one she was just holding mine with. I watch as they walk away and then turn to my little group and head down to the stage. Clarke and Jose lead the way as O, and I follow.

O looks at me and says, "Dude, you could've told me Cree was going to be here. I would have dressed a little nicer. Also, what crawled up Clarke's butt? She looks pissed."

"I don't know! I tried to ask her, but she just snapped and said she was fine, and we would talk later. I don't know what that is all about."

"If I had to guess, it would be the fact that a hot ass actress pretty much jumped your bones right there in front of everyone." She laughs, "I know I would be pissed if Cree jumped into the arms of my girl and kissed her and then walked in holding hands to a major televised sporting event where people were snapping photos left and right."

"What are you talking about? One, there is nothing going on between Cree and I. Two, Clarke hasn't said I was her girl, technically so, I don't know why it is a problem."

"Remember when you first got here, and you told me to keep you straight with social ques that you miss? Well, I think you missed a big one here. Clarke may not have come out and said she wants to be with you yet, but we all know that she does. She's simply scared and after what happened with Finn, I can't really blame her. She's pissed or jealous or both because of Cree showing up and acting the way she did with you, whether there is anything between you and Cree or not. She doesn't know that. I think you should talk to her when we sit down."

"Great, how did I manage to mess up a relationship before I even technically had it? Thanks, O." We get down to the front and find our reserved seats with about fifteen minutes before the event starts and there is a board listing the order of the weigh-ins. It looks like I go fifth. I sit beside Clarke and ask her if we can talk. I can tell she is upset but she says she is fine, and we will talk later at the hotel. I don't want to wait to clear this up though.

"Clarke, will you please come with me to the bathroom for a second. I really need to talk to you somewhere private and I don't want to wait until later."

She looks at me and says, "I would really rather wait until after this is over."

"I can't wait. I really need to clear this up now so that I can concentrate. If you won't go with me, I will just talk right here." I smile, "Or…I could go up on stage and profess my love to you in front of everyone here."

She cuts her eyes at me, "You wouldn't dare!"

"Wouldn't I?" I start to get up.

She jumps up, "Fine, let's go."

When we get out of the packed room, we find a quiet spot and I start, "Clarke, remember when I told you about turning off my emotions? How I still have problems with some social ques and stuff. Well, O helped point out to me that I missed a noticeably big one earlier…"

Clarke interrupts, "Lexa it's fine. I overreacted when I saw that girl throw herself at you…well…"

I hold up my hand, "No, please let me finish. I know I don't always say or do the right thing, but I promise you can trust me. I'm not Finn, but you have to tell me when I do something wrong or that makes you uncomfortable. I'm still trying to figure out some social things. I'm sorry if I hurt you earlier but there is nothing between Cree and I we are friends nothing more."

"How do you even know her? If there is nothing between the two of you why was she kissing, you?"

"I thought you heard the story of how we met. I saved her from being kidnapped while we were in DC. Then her dad hired me for the day to be her bodyguard. We just hung out for the day going to the museums and stuff. We just hit it off. At that time, I didn't know anyone except Ash, and it was nice to have someone to hang out with and talk to. That's it, I promise. Please, Clarke, you have to trust me otherwise this with us is never going to work."

She looks at the ground, "I do trust you. I'm sorry, I don't know what is wrong with me. I just don't like when other girls, especially hot actresses…I don't want to share you with anyone. What makes it even worse is that no one knows that you are mine."

I laugh, "Ya Amar, you have nothing to worry about in that department, not with Cree or anyone else. You are the only one I want. The only problem we are going to have is me being able to keep my hands and lips off of you." I lean in to kiss her cheek but at the last minute she turns, and her lips meet mine and the firework works begin. I cannot get enough of this girl. I run my hands through her hair and onto the back of her neck pulling her closer and deepening the kiss. To soon, I hear someone clear their throat. When I turn around, I see Raquel and Tecia, laughing until they realize that it's not Ash that I was kissing.

Raquel says, "Um…sorry to interrupt Lexa but we just wanted to say a quick hello before the weigh-ins start and invite you and um…the rest of your group to dinner this evening." Raquel looks at Clarke and then me.

"Hey guys, this is my girl, um…m-my friend Clarke. Clarke this is Raquel and Tecia. They are the ones that got me this fight."

Clarke smiles, "Hi, actually, she had it right the first time. I'm Clarke her girlfriend. It's nice to meet you." She steps closer and puts her arm around my waist. I look at her and smile.

Tecia says, "Sooo, I guess we will see you tonight?"

"Of course, but are you sure you want the whole group? I brought a bunch of friends along with Ash and her kid." Raquel gave me a surprised look and I say, "Yeah, you've got a lot of catching up to do."

They both laugh, "The more the merrier. I will text you the address later. Right now, we need to get back in there for the weigh-ins. Nice to meet you Clarke."

I smile and look at Clarke, "So we are doing this tonight? You and me?"

"Yeah, I don't want to wait any longer. I want everyone to know that you are mine and to keep their hands off you. We can tell everyone tonight at dinner. Sound good?"

I pull her in for another scorching kiss as an answer. When I pull back, I look her in her beautiful green eyes and say, "I would love nothing more than to show you off as my girlfriend. Just remember, I'm going to screw up at some point like I did today, but as long as you trust me and talk to me, we will be able to work it out. I promise. Now let's get back the weigh-ins are about to start. One last thing, I am really sorry about earlier. It shouldn't take O pointing these types of things out to me, but hopefully one day I will figure it out. Until then, please bear with me."

She smiles at me and takes my hand, "I'm sure that I won't be perfect either but I…I think I want to take the chance with you."

About twenty minutes later, I am standing alone behind a curtain waiting for my name to be called. I hear Joe Rogan say, "Now for the women's featherweight division. First, we have the number four ranked Jewel 'the KO Queen' Budd. Her record is 14-3." I hear the crowd go wild and then Joe announce her weight as 145 even. "Next we have a newcomer to the UFC, Lexa 'Stryker' Trikru. This will be her first official UFC fight."

I walk out onto the stage. At first, it is eerily quiet, but then my group start chanting, "Stryker, Stryker…" I step up to the scales and take off my shirt and sweats and step on the scale. "Lexa 'Stryker' Trikru official weight is 140 pounds." I strike a pose showing off my abs and biceps before stepping off and walking over to Dana to face off with Jewel. I walk up shake her hand and then just stand there. She gets up in my face with her fist right in my face. I mirror her pose and the pictures are snapped. Then it is over, and I exit the stage to the left and go back to my seat.

For the next hour we sit and watch the rest of the fighter's weigh-in and face off. Finally, Rogan announces the main event, it's a women's strawweight title fight between Zhang and Torres. Wow, I didn't realize that Tecia was also fighting or that she was fighting for the title. It would be amazing if we both won, that would make the celebration that much better afterwards.

After the weigh-ins were finished, we met up with the rest of our group. Asher was stuck to Cree like glue. He finally let her go and she started towards me, suddenly I felt Clarke grab my hand and pull me close. I looked at her and smiled. Jess of course noticed this and said, "Um…Stryker is there something that you and Clarke want to share?"

I just smirk and shrug. Clarke rolls her eyes at me and says, "We were going to wait until after the fight but what the hell! She wore me down and I have decided to give this crazy, romantic, dancing, singing fool at chance."

I cut my eyes at her, "Really? So, that's what happened I wore you down and here I thought you just finally came to your senses and decided that you could no longer deny that you just had to have this amazingly carved body or was the word O used statue."

Everyone started laughing and Clarke said, "See what I'm talking about. She is a crazy fool."

"That might be true but now I'm your crazy fool, so there." I finished with sticking my tongue out at her. That's when Raquel and Tecia walked up.

Raquel started laughing, "Nice, what are you five?"

I looked at her and stuck out my tongue again. "Maybe, I just don't like being called a crazy fool."

Raquel said, "Well, maybe you should use that tongue for something more useful than just sticking it out. Maybe use it like I saw you doing earlier and then she wouldn't be calling you a fool."

I feel my ears turn red and look at Clarke whose entire face was red. Ash chuckles before saving me by saying, "Hey guys, nice to see you again."

Asher runs up to Tecia and tugs on her shirt, "Hey, you the tiny tornado. I like watching you fight and that is Rocky. She okay too. I'm Asher."

Tecia says, "I see we have missed quite a few major changes since we last met. Hey there little buddy. Thanks, who in this group do you belong to?"

He laughs and points to Callie first then Ash, "That's my mom and that's my mommy and Xa is my bestest friend."

Raquel looks at Ash then me and I say, "It's sort of a long story."

"Okay then, how about you all join us for dinner so we can get up to speed."

Cree speaks up, "I know what you mean. I feel like I am completely in the dark about all of this. I have the dining room reserved at my hotel's restaurant the Chateau Hanare, why don't you join us."

Raquel says, "Wow, that place is fancy. Sure, but it will have to be after the fan meet and greet say around 8:30."

I say, "Sounds good. I hate to run guys, but I promised my new girl here a shopping spree. Cree where is a good place to buy clothes around here."

Ash looked at me and said, "What? You are actually going shopping willingly. You must really like her then or else you are punishing her for something."

"Ha, ha, Ash. Yes, I do really like her and if she wants me to take her shopping that is exactly what I'm going to do." I smile at Clarke and see that her face is crimson red.

Cree says, "Aw, you two are so cute. I can show you a couple of places that I like to go on Rodeo drive."

Raquel says, "Damn, who is this girl? She must be loaded renting out the restaurant and shopping on Rodeo drive."

Tecia smacks her in the back of the head and I laugh. "Sorry, this is Cree she is an actress here in Hollywood. Cree this is Raquel and Tecia, they are both UFC fighters."

Tecia says, "Nice to meet you. I thought you looked familiar, you play Babe, right? My nieces and nephews love your show."

"Yeah, that's right. In that case I will bring you some autograph pictures to give them. Now Lexa, shopping?"

I look at Clarke to make sure she is okay with Cree tagging along. She nods yes so; we follow Cree and her two bodyguards.