Chapter 47: Lexa

My shoulder wakes me earlier than I would've liked the next morning, but when I look over and see Clarke sleeping beside me, the pain seems to lessen. I reach over, placing a kiss on her forehead. Then get up to use the bathroom and take some Advil for the pain. She mumbles something incoherently that makes me smile even though I haven't a clue what she said. Before I can climb back into bed, my phone beeps, indicating a text message. When I look at the screen, I realize that it is only seven-fifteen in the morning. It's a message from Ash. I think to myself, what does she want at this ungodly hour of the morning before I click on the text.

Ash: Hey, sorry it is so early, but I have a favor to ask.

Me: Why are you up so early? Did you not celebrate last night? What is it? LOL

Ash: SMH, of course, we did, but we also spent a lot of time talking, and we would like to get married before I leave in the morning. Do you think you, Clarke, and Octavia can throw something together for after the cookout? Doesn't have to be fancy.

Me: Um…I don't know anything about weddings, but I'm sure with Petrona's help we can put something together. What time?

Ash: Well, the cookout is from 5-8, so how about around 9ish. We will take care of our clothes and the rings. Thanks, you are the best. I'll talk to mom and let her know.

I mumble as I climb back into bed, "That will have to wait. I need sleep." Then I think better of it and send Petrona a quick text about planning a wedding when I get up. When I get back to bed, Clarke scoots into my arms and mumbles, "Where did you go, and why are you up so early?"

"Well, I had to pee and take some medicine. Oh, and apparently, we have to plan a wedding for tonight when we get up. Don't worry though, I need more sleep first, so we don't have to get up quite yet. So go back to sleep. I promise to be here when you wake up."

She mumbles, and her eyes immediately shut. I smile and kiss her temple before relaxing into her warmth and falling back asleep myself. When we do finally make it out of bed, it is around noon. I go up to find Petrona, who assures me that 'You don't need to do a thing. I have everything under control.' Good, because I don't have a clue. We eat brunch and then decide to go by Amelia's and see if we could help her set up anything. Even though the cookout didn't actually start until five, there were already a good number of people there. It wasn't long before Asher came running in the door, soaking wet from being in the pool. "Hey, Xa, Larke! Want to play in the pool with my friends and me?"

I smile at him, "Hey buddy, I think I'm gonna pass today, but I'll come out there in a little bit and watch you, though. Are your mommies here?"

"No, I stayed with Grandma last night. They should be here soon. See you later." And with that, he was off to join his friends.

We found Amelia in the catering kitchen, giving directions on where to put everything. She smiled when she saw us and said, "Hey, I didn't think you two would be up yet after the party you put on last night. How is your shoulder?"

"It's not bad. Is there anything that we can help you with? Have you talked to Ash this morning?"

"No, why? I think I have everything under control. But, hey, I want to thank you again for what you did for Ashley and Callie last night. I know that had to of been hard for you."

"It's no problem. I'm glad that they're happy. Don't worry about me. I'm happy now that I have this one." I lean in and give Clarke a kiss, and she turns red. "I know that I thought Ash and I were meant to be together, but one kiss from Clarke and I knew she was different. Before you say anything, I know that's what I said about Ash, but even though I loved every minute I was with Ash, I never felt the electricity or sparks I feel every time I touch Clarke. Of course, Ash and I will always have a close relationship, but I'm glad she was able to forgive Callie."

Amelia says, "I'm glad you and Ashley found each other and were able to be there when you needed one another. Now you are a part of our family, and that will never change. Now since you are already here, I have a surprise for you. Follow me."

We followed Amelia upstairs to the balcony overlooking the pool. I couldn't believe who was sitting there on the deck. It was Abby and Blake! Clarke runs to her mom, and Blake comes over and gives me a hug. He says, "Saw your fight last night…I can't believe you are a UFC fighter now."

"If I had known you were in town, I would have taken you with me."

"We just got in this morning."

"Oh, have you seen O yet? I bet she will freak when she sees you."

"No, I was going to hang here and surprise her at the cookout."

"What? No way, come on. I'll take you to her. See that yacht out there in the bay?"

"Yeah, I've been admiring it all morning. Whose is it?"

"Mine and O is living on it with me, so let's go surprise her, and I will explain on the way."

I smile and wave at Abby, who is talking with Clarke. She motions me over and says, "Are you not going to say hello to me?"

"Um…I was letting you get caught up with your daughter and didn't want to interrupt." I lean in, giving her a hug and kiss on the cheek.

She says, "Now that's more like it. How is your shoulder?"

Clarke answers for me, and I just laugh, "She had a dislocated shoulder, but I put it back into place, and she has about ten stitches in her eye." Then, she looked at me and said, "Did you know mom was going to be here?"

I look over to Clarke, "What? No, I had no idea. Um…I'm going to take Blake over to the yacht to surprise Octavia and give him a tour. Do you and Abby want to join us?"

Clarke looks at Abby, "Would you like to see the yacht, mom?"

Abby says, "Sure, but whose is it?"

I start to answer, but Clarke beats me to it, "Well, mom, remember that caring, handsome, amazing person I called you about?"

Abby replies, "You mean the girl you were crushing on hard after you found out that Finn was cheating?"

Clarke turns red, "I don't know if I would call it that, but yeah, that's the one. Well, it just so happens that she rescued me from Finn when he showed up at the house, and…well, I've kinda been staying with her on her yacht."

Blake jumps in, "Wait, Lexa, I thought you said that the yacht was yours?"

"Yeah, it is!" I say, smiling at his confusion.

He looks between the three of us as we smile, and he says, "Wait…you two are like together, together? What about Fletch?"

We start to laugh, and I say, come on, we'll explain on the ride over. So I go find Amelia to let her know we will be back after giving them a tour of the Untouchable. When I see her, she's just getting off the phone. "Really? You weren't going to tell me about the wedding?"

"Um…it wasn't my place. Ash said she was going to talk to you. Are you mad?"

"What? No, but I would like to help."

"O-Okay, I will give you Petrona's number. She told me she had it under control, but I'm sure she wouldn't mind help from the mother of the bride." I say with a smile.

On the short ride to the Untouchable, Clarke and I give them a noticeably short version of everything that has happened recently, including the fact that there will be a wedding later tonight. I tell Clarke to take Abby to our room while Blake and I surprise O, then we will give them a tour. Blake looks at me, smiling. I say, "What?"

He laughs and replies, "You said take Abby to 'our' room."

I feel my cheeks heat up and start to stutter, "Y-yeah…w-well, she has stayed here the last couple of nights since the incident with Finn. I didn't want her to be alone at her house in case he decided to try something else." When I look at Abby, she's smiling. I continue to stutter, "I-I promise nothing has happened. I-I mean…other than kissing."

Clarke stops me with a quick kiss, "Babe, it's okay. You don't need to explain. Right, mom?"

Abby laughs, "I don't know. I think it is cute how she is stuttering."

I throw my hands up in the air and say, "Whatever! Come on, Blake, let's go wake up, sleeping beauty."

When we get to O's room, I knock on the door, but no one answers. I knock harder and hear movement and look at Blake, who is laughing. O yells, "Go away!"

"No, it is three in the afternoon, and we have a wedding to plan, and I need your help. So tell whoever you have in there with you to come back tonight for the wedding."

I hear chattering, then the door opens, and to my surprise, why I'm not sure, Cree answers the door. She says, "Did you say wedding?"

Blake looks at me, and I just shrug, "Yeah, Callie and Ash have decided to get hitched tonight before Ash has to leave in the morning on an assignment for the CIA."

I hear more chatter in the background, then Bebe Rexha's head peaks over Cree's shoulder and says, "Wow, they don't waste any time, huh?"

Okay, now I'm a little surprised and yell, "Octavia, get your ass out here now. There's someone who wants to see you!"

She says, "If you haven't figured it out yet, I'm a little busy."

"Yeah, I can see that." Blake says, "But I thought I might get a little warmer welcome from my baby sis. Then again…"

O comes running through the door in nothing but a long t-shirt and jumps into Blake's arms. He says, "Now that is what I'm talking about. Now, why don't you introduce me to your friends?" He says with eyebrows raised.

O turns bright red, and I die laughing, "Um…Bellamy…this is Cree Cicchino, and I'm sure you know Bebe Rexha."

"Nice to meet you both. My question for you, little sis, is how exactly do you KNOW them?"

I jump in for the save, "O, why don't you all get dressed and meet us by the firepit in my room. I will explain how we know them, and then you can explain the rest because…well…whatever! Just get dressed."

I turn to Blake and say, "Let's go." I give him a quick overview of the Untouchable on the way back to my room. As we walk, I can see everyone hurrying about setting up for the wedding. Petrona rushes over to me and says, "Lexa, Miss Amelia called and said she wants to help. We talked, and I think we have everything. The flowers have been ordered. The chef is working on the cake. Since everyone will have already eaten at the cookout, we decided to just have the cake and desserts. I have ordered some folding chairs, and Jose and Reed have gone to restock the liquor and beer and get champagne."

I smile, "Thanks, Petrona. I would like you to meet Bellamy Blake, O's brother."

They shake hands, then Petrona is on her way. Blake says, "Did she say, Reed and Jose? The ones from Ahmed's?"

"Yep, I'm sure we will find time at some point to catch you up on everything. Right now, there's just a lot going on."

"Tell me about it! How the hell did Fletch and Callie end up back together, and why are you throwing them a wedding?"

"Let's go find Abby, so I only have to tell the story once."

When we finally make it back to my room, we find Clarke, Abby, Cree, Bebe, and O all sitting around the fire talking about the big proposal last night. Once they noticed us walking in, Abby said, "Lexa, I knew you were a romantic, but I didn't know to what extreme!"

Blake looks at me confused, "What is she talking about?"

O starts talking ninety miles an hour about how I sang to Callie for Ash and then sang to Clarke blah, blah, blah. I look over at Cree and Bebe and motion them to the side. "Really, guys?"

They look at each other and smile. Then Cree says, "What? It's not like we had a chance with you. You are wrapped around Clarke's little finger and Octavia…well, let's just say she knows how to have fun. Right, Bebe?"

"Yep, that she does, and it was just what I needed. Oh, and thanks for the hospitality, Lexa. Would it be okay if I stayed for the wedding? I could even perform after the ceremony if you would like."

"Sure, that would be amazing. You can stay as long as you like and come back as often as you want. We love to party around here, and I can get you your own room if you would like."

She just laughs and says, "I'll let you know if I need one."

I just shake my head, "You are also welcome to come to the cookout if you would like. It's to welcome home Clarke's mom, Abby, and Bellamy."

She replies, "That would be cool, thanks."

We went back over to the group and stayed there talking until it was time to go to the cookout.

Clarke

I can't believe my mom is finally home. We catch her and Bellamy up on everything on the ride to the yacht. Well, maybe not everything but enough. When Lexa and Blake go to surprise O, I take mom down to what Lex called our room. It's funny how comfortable it sounded even though we haven't been together that long. It was even more amusing to watch her stutter and stammer when Bellamy called her out on what she had said.

Once they were gone, mom looked at me and said, "So…how are things going?"

"I guess it depends on what things you're talking about. Lexa wasn't kidding when she said she had to rescue me from Finn a couple of days ago. It was crazy, mom. It's like she knew I needed her and showed up at the perfect time even though I didn't call her."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, there is something I need to tell you, and you aren't going to be happy about it, but I promise that I'm okay."

She says, "I don't like the sound of that. Please explain."

"Okay, well…we were all out at the Dragon's Den one night before Lexa, and I were really together, and Finn made a scene and was thrown out of the club. I decided to call it a night because I had to work the next morning. Lexa tried to get me to let her take me home, but I wouldn't let her. I was still so confused about everything; I just wanted some space. So, I went home and went straight to bed. About two hours later, I heard banging on the door, and I went downstairs, and it was Finn. He was drunk, long story short; he broke the door down and well forced himself on me."

"Are you fucking kidding me? Is that why Lexa called me about sending a doctor to the house? She said he attacked you, but she didn't say…."

"No, I'm not kidding, but I promise I'm fine. Anyway, Lexa showed up and almost killed him when she found him in the act. Yeah, she wasn't supposed to call you at all, but she was worried because I wouldn't go to the hospital, so she called you."

"I bet she did. Did you file a report? Is he in jail?"

"I didn't file a report because I knew his dad would just get him out of it, but I did let them do a rape kit so there would be a record and evidence. I also had him charged with breaking and entering along with trespassing. Plus, I took out a restraining order on him. He went to jail but was out by the next day."

"I'm going to talk to Mr. Finn and his father about this. How did Lexa know to show up?"

"That's just it. I have no idea. Lexa just said that her gut told her that I needed her, so she came. Then, Thursday, she was having a get-together on the yacht and, I got upset because Ash was helping her train, so I used the excuse that I needed to get my swimsuit and pack a bag for the trip to LA for the fight, to run home. She asked to come with me, but I told her no because…well…I know now I was just stupid. So, I told her people would start to show up and didn't want her not to be there. I stayed with her the night before because of Finn. Before you ask, she slept on the couch and let me have her bed. When I was leaving the house, Finn pulled in, blocking me in so the garage door wouldn't shut. He came storming up to my window, yelling and screaming for me to get out so that he could talk to me, but I wouldn't. I was so scared, mom. I was so freaked out that I froze and just started crying. I couldn't call the cops or Lexa or anything. After a few minutes of him shouting and beating on the window, Miss Penderbrook came out and asked him to leave. He told her to mind her own business and go back home, but she called the cops instead, stood across the street, and waited. It wasn't long before Lex just showed up. I could see her in the mirror talking to Miss Penderbrook, then she came and tried to talk some sense into Finn. Long story short, it didn't work, and she ended up knocking him and his goon out but not before he broke my car window. When the cops finally showed up, Finn tried to have her arrested for assault, but Miss Penderbrook had filmed the whole thing on her phone. Lexa pressed charges for attempted assault, and I pressed trespassing charges again and breaking the restraining order. Afterward, when I asked her how she knew I needed her, she just shrugged and said that something didn't feel right, and she needed to make sure that I was okay."

"Wow, I can't believe Finn would do something that stupid given the fact that he wants to get into politics. But, it doesn't surprise me that she somehow knew you needed her. She always trusts her gut, which is why she and Fletch are still alive today. I'm glad to see that you decided to give her a chance. She really is an amazing person."

I can't help but laugh, "She really didn't give me much choice in the matter. She kept showing up when I needed her and making such romantic gestures, and don't get me started on how amazing her kisses are. It is like tiny electrical sparks all over my body every time her lips touch mine, and no, we haven't slept together yet…well, we have slept together but not SLEPT together. I mean, mom, she is the complete opposite of Finn. She lets me choose what I want, and she took me on this amazing shopping trip while we were in LA…."

She interrupts me, "Wait, you mean she actually took you shopping without complaining? I don't believe that! She absolutely hates to shop."

"That's what Ash and Amelia said too, but we had a great time. She said no one would believe me if I said she enjoyed it." I laugh.

"Oh Clarke, I'm glad to see you so happy. Although we may need to talk about what to do about Finn."

"Thanks, mom, but you need to have a conversation with her. She needs to know that you are okay with us being together."

"Why?"

"I'm not sure why, but for some reason, when she found out that I had talked to you about her, she freaked out and said she was afraid that you would tell me not to go near her because of everything she has been through. She was afraid that you would want me to be with someone normal, her words not mine."

"Why on earth would she think that. She knows how much I like her."

"Again, her words not mine, 'it's different when I will be dating her daughter, not just being around.' I don't know. Maybe just talk to her, please."

"Sure thing. I'm so glad to be home. Now let's go to this cookout, and you can introduce me to anyone new."