The door opened immediately when Clarke knocked, and Raven was standing in front of her. She stood aside and held her tongue until Clarke was in the apartment and the door was shut.
"What the actual fuck, Griffin!" Clarke whirled to see Raven with her arms crossed and a dark look on her face. She felt slightly guilty for the tiredness she could see, but stood her ground, head held high as she waited for Raven to dig into her. Raven, however, pursed her lips and went in a different direction.
"You smell like a hobo. Look like one, too. Go shower and change and then we can talk." Clarke nodded and walked to her room. Closing the door, she rummaged for a clean set of clothes. "No sneaking out the window!" Raven yelled, wrenching open the door. Clarke cocked an eyebrow at her, smirking.
"So not funny, Griff. Get clean, but this door stays open so I can keep my eye on you." Clarke rolled her eyes but headed to the shower without protest.
After she was presentable and clean -she even brushed her teeth, which felt amazing- she padded into the kitchen where Raven was rummaging in the fridge, evidently hunting for leftovers. Clarke observed her remove a chinese take-out box and sniff the contents. After a moment's hesitation, Raven tossed the box into the garbage.
"You really need to learn how to cook." Raven jumped at her voice, spinning around quickly and scowling.
"I can cook!" She protested. Clarke raised an eyebrow. "I can! I'll have you know I make an excellent ramen noodle on bread."
"That's disgusting," Clarke protested, wrinkling her nose. Raven shrugged, closing the fridge and grabbing two apples from the counter instead. Tossing one apple to Clarke, she bit into the other.
"Don't knock it 'til you try it, Griffin." Raven leaned against the counter behind her and looked over her friend. She sighed, swallowing, and attempted to catch Clarke's eyes. "Hey." She said, putting down her apple. Clarke was rolling hers in her hands. "Clarke." Raven made her way around the kitchen island to where Clarke was standing, plucking the apple from her hand and putting it down. Clarke stiffened as Raven put a tentative hand on her back. Then the dam broke, and Clarke started to sob uncontrollably. Raven managed to maneuver them to the floor, Clarke clutching at her, and wrapped her arms around her crying friend. They sat in an embrace for a good long while, until Clarke had cried herself out. Sniffing, she finally pulled back.
"Sorry," she mumbled, gesturing to the tear stains on Raven's shirt.
"S'ok, takes more than a crying girl to put me out." Wiping her eyes, Clarke met Raven's eyes.
"Not just the shirt. I show up here after two years and within a few days I freak out on you." Raven huffed.
"I get it, okay? I was only out there for a few months, and I still get nightmares and all jumpy and shit. It's a sad reality that a lot of us have those issues." Clarke nodded, leaning up against the island and stretching her legs out along the floor.
"Does it get better?" she asked in a small voice.
"Every day," Raven assured quickly. "I'm not saying that it won't ever be an issue, but every day is better." She hesitated. "And you have a home here, as long as you need to get back on your feet, ok?" Clarke felt herself tear up again, amazed that she had some left in her.
"Even though I'm the one responsible for…" Raven placed a firm hand under Clarke's chin, forcing Clarke to look at her.
"Listen to me, Sarge. What happened was not your fault." Clarke opened her mouth to protest, and Raven held up her free hand to stop her. "No. You did right by all of us, and no one blames you. I know that I don't. Maybe I don't have the whole story, but I have enough to know that you saved a lot of people from a fate worse than death, and you should not minimize that." Clarke swallowed thickly, blinking.
"Ok."
"'Sides, it's not like I owe my life to you or anything. Otherwise I'd totally kick you out." Her lame attempt at humor pulled a small smile from Clarke. "That's more like it. No more sap, ok?" She stood, holding out her hand and hauling Clarke to her feet. "Good, now you and me are going to marathon some crappy TV until we pass out." They fell onto the couch together, and before the first episode of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills was half over, Clarke had snuggled into Raven's side and was breathing deeply and regularly in sleep. She missed Raven struggling with her own tears as the show rolled on.
C.G.C.G.C.G.
At the blare of a car horn outside the building, Clarke sat bolt upright the following morning, completely disoriented. After a moment of taking stock of herself (dry mouth, racing heart, tight eyes, neck aching from her sleeping position) and her surroundings, she relaxed into Raven's couch. Clarke didn't recall falling asleep, but Raven had covered her with a blanket and left her to it at some point. Clarke got up and glanced around the quiet apartment, seeing a note sitting on the kitchen counter.
Griff-
Went to PT with O. #'s on the fridge. If you leave before I get back, I'll kick your ass. Plus, I took some of your crap with me.
-Reyes
Clarke felt a genuine smile emerge at Raven's words. She hadn't known what to expect after showing up with no warning, but in the short time she'd been living here, she felt comfortable in a way that she'd been missing in the months since she'd returned stateside.
Clarke had met Raven when the girl had been transferred to one of the fire teams in her squad. Clarke had recently been promoted to Sergeant, and her teams were preparing for deployment when one of her Riflemen had to be replaced for illness. Clarke remembered getting the notice that Private Raven Reyes would be arriving four weeks before they left the States, and feeling extreme trepidation. Private Reyes was very green (though she was actually older than Clarke), and in addition she would be on Murphy's team. Clarke had learned how to deal with Murphy, but she worried that he would give all hell to the new member of his team.
It turned out that Clarke didn't have to worry all that much. Murphy did try to give Raven hell, but she gave it right back, slinging insults subtle enough that Murphy was unable to report her. It helped that Raven, though easily the smallest person in the whole squad, could absolutely demolish Murphy in martial arts. Which she thoroughly enjoyed doing. Many times.
Clarke had bonded with Raven as the only other female Marine in the squad, but had ensured that she never showed favoritism. Raven was always given the same assignments as the rest of the squad, excepting when something needed to be fixed up: the girl was a mechanical genius. She was also reprimanded appropriately when Clarke discovered that she was in a relationship with one of her other fire team leaders, Finn Collins. Turns out that they had grown up together, and Raven followed him into the Corps and maneuvered herself to be near him: Clarke was still unsure how Raven had managed it.
Clarke had been running a routine sweep with Murphy's team when an IED detonated and tossed all of them thirty feet down the road. Clarke had been lucky in her landing, and was instantly able to assess the situation (her response even earned her some chest candy).
The end result of the ensuing chaos was Raven needing a brace for the rest of her life. She would have died had Clarke not been there- Murphy had no medical training beyond the skills of any other Marine, and Mbege and Sterling had been knocked out cold. Clarke considered the outcome extremely fortunate, all things considered.
They had been deployed together only three months when this all happened, but when Raven was sent home, Clarke missed her. For a little while she was in contact with Raven- had in fact, connected the girl with her surgeon mother when the doctor in charge of Raven's recovery told her that she'd never walk again. Abby Griffin was one of the best, and Clarke used most of her favors getting Raven the treatment she needed. Not that Raven would ever find that out.
They lost touch when Clarke's third deployment required no contact, and never really reconnected: Raven had been discharged officially and Clarke had not tried to search her out.
Clarke left the note on the counter while she rummaged in Raven's cabinets. Determining that they'd run out of edible food, Clarke dressed quickly and headed out the door with her wallet. She nodded at Miller as she left the building and walked the six blocks to a grocers. Returning half an hour later with arms full of bags, she glanced at the clock and decided to bake some muffins. Raven entered the apartment just as a second batch was going into the oven.
"Are these the famous Griffin cinnamon muffins?" Raven asked, drifting over to the kitchen before hopping up onto a clean part of the counter. Clarke looked up just as Raven was sticking her finger into the batter beside her.
"Hey!" Clarke tore off one of her oven mitts and hurled it at her friend. It smacked Raven harmlessly in the shoulder, and she laughed and licked her finger anyway. Raven went to dip her finger again, but Clarke snatched the bowl away. "Wait for the muffins!" Raven smirked.
"Muffins, Clarke?"
"You know what I meant."
"I bet you love to eat muffins…" Clarke huffed and rolled her eyes, but Raven continued. "I tend to favor twinkies myself, but could be persuaded to eat your muffin if you'd like me too…" she waggled her eyebrows suggestively.
"God, Raven. I forget sometimes that you were worse than the guys when tossing around innuendos." Raven chuckled lowly and hopped down from the counter, grabbing her bag and heading toward her room.
"Gotta keep you on your toes, Griffin." She turned and grinned in her doorway. "But seriously, keep me in mind if your muffin starts to get...dry." She laughed as the second oven mitt flew toward her, barely crossing the open space.
"No offense to you, but I've got a better option." Raven quirked her head sideways.
"Really," she said, disbelieving. "No one could top all this." She lewdly gestured to herself. Clarke went to pick up the mitt halfway across the room and decided not to answer beyond raising an eyebrow, which made Raven curious.
"You're serious! Who is it?" Raven was walking back toward her. Clarke just smiled and turned back to the kitchen, attempting to change the subject.
"I bought groceries. You're welcome."
"Clarke!"
"...but I think I should do all the cooking. I remember that black tar you made us on that one hump in Arizona…" Clarke grimaced noticeably at the memory and began to clean up the mess she'd made in the kitchen.
"You know I'm going to bug you until you tell me who you were talking about." Clarke did know, so she gave in.
"Lexa." Raven blinked.
"My neighbor Lexa?" Raven was clearly confused.
"Don't freak out, ok, but I was hanging out in the stairwell yesterday-"
"What?!"
"-and she kinda called me on it. Then just before I got home last night she invited me into her apartment for some wine." Raven was momentarily stunned, and Clarke felt the need to go on. "I kinda hit on her at one point and she basically told me to use the fire escape any time I needed to...release some tension." Raven's jaw dropped more, and Clarke flushed a bit and clarified, "mostly my words, but the invitation was pretty clear. At least on some level."
"I've spoken maybe ten words to Lexa, who I've lived next door to for a year, and you get an open invitation within a week?" Raven paused dramatically, and Clarke shrugged and a little grin appeared. "We're going to revisit you lurking in the stairwell while I worried my ass off later, but how the hell...did you join her for wine?"
C.G.C.G.C.G.
Raven was called back into work that afternoon- she was in charge of fixing the delicate machines that her company utilized in their research and production department, and though it was Sunday, there were sometimes issues that came up. Clarke kept herself busy cleaning the apartment and doing some research (at Raven's urging) on resources for veterans. She came up with a short list of names and promised herself she'd investigate more in the morning.
Feeling somewhat restless, she was searching for something to do in the apartment when there was a single sharp knock on the door. Relieved with the distraction, she swung the door open and was only mildly surprised to see Lexa standing there. Lexa in fact seemed more surprised to see her, but quickly composed herself.
"Hello, Clarke. Is Raven here?" Clarke shook her head in response.
"Some intricate part of some important machine broke down at work. She tore out of here about-" she glanced behind her to the clock on the wall "-four hours ago, now. Wow, didn't realize that much time had gone by. No work for you today?" Lexa blinked at the sudden shift in topic.
"It is Sunday."
"You worked yesterday," Clarke pointed out. Lexa frowned, then shrugged. When Lexa didn't say anything further, Clarke went on: "So, what did you need Raven for?" She smirked when Lexa started almost imperceptibly.
"She has yet to correct the address on some of her correspondence. I have a few pieces of mail addressed to her out from the stack that I forgot to pick up yesterday. May I leave them with you?" Lexa offered a few letters, holding them in the space between them.
"Sure." Clarke reached out, deliberately brushing her hands against Lexa's as she took them. She smirked at the slight shiver the contact caused. As Lexa was recovering, she added, "And what's a girl gotta do to get you to come inside?" Clarke noticed Lexa's neck begin to turn red, despite her struggle to keep a stoic face. She saw Lexa gulp and then straighten her spine.
"You simply have to ask, Clarke." It was Clarke's turn to shiver: the way Lexa said her name, as if she were digesting the sounds in her mouth, was kind of a turn on. Clarke disguised the shiver by turning and heading toward the kitchen.
"Come on in, then." She hoped that she read the situation correctly. When she heard the door shut behind her and light footsteps behind her, she grinned. Throwing the mail -it looked like nothing important- on the island, she turned to see Lexa examining the apartment. Clarke took the opportunity to check out the other girl in closer detail than she'd managed the day before. Lexa was dressed more casually than she'd been the previous evening, but still looked very put together in a forest green sweater-dress and leggings. Her hair was braided back, but a few curls had escaped to frame her face. Her green eyes scanned the space in interest, and her face made the most adorable micro-expressions as she found things of interest. Lexa turned and caught Clarke's eye.
"You said Raven was a slob."
"Yeah, well, I've spent the afternoon cleaning. Her room's a mess, and don't open that closet." Clarke pointed to the one that housed Raven's various mechanical trinkets "I don't know how she survived without me for so long. She has no clue how to cook, either. I was just going to start on dinner, do you want to help?" Lexa arched a brow.
"Dinner already? I only met you yesterday."
"You started directly with drinks, this is the next step."
"Logical, yes." Lexa moved to stand by Clarke in the kitchen. "What do you want me to do?" Clarke refrained from commenting on the open statement, but knew Lexa noticed and correctly interpreted her amused smile as she handed over a colander of potatoes.
"We're making steak, mashed potatoes, and broccoli. You can do these."
"I would prefer to do something else," Lexa said, a smirk of her own on. Clarke laughed, enjoying someone giving her back sass. Raven did, of course, but Lexa was intriguing to her. The girl was fairly proper and straightforward, but had actually helped Clarke a great deal the previous evening. Clarke felt genuine affection already blooming, and wanted to get to know Lexa better.
They cooked well together, and enjoyed some great conversation about philosophy of all things. Clarke learned that Lexa, while definitely more reserved, could become extremely passionate when talking about the subject.
Raven returned just as dinner was finished to find them laughing loudly. Clarke noticed her first and waved in greeting. Raven tilted her head, looking between the two of them, but didn't say anything.
Lexa joined them for dinner, and took some muffins home with her.
C.G.C.G.C.G.
A/N: I have never been in the military, but I do work with veterans. Review if you enjoyed! ...or also if you didn't: I take suggestions as well!
