A/N: I realized that a few of my line-breaks haven't been transferring when scenes are changed, so I went back through earlier chapters and tried to fix it. Sorry you've had to put up with it.

Chapter 5 - Strange Coincidences

Five days had gone by since their walk in Central Park. It was the weekend once again, and Lexa was about to text Clarke for what felt like the hundredth time that week.

They'd kept in close contact, finding little things to text each other throughout the day. Lexa would think of something to tell Clarke that concerned their earlier conversations, but just when she'd thought the text was useless and in no need of a reply, Clarke would shoot her back something charming that made Lexa smile. It was easier to get through the day with little reminders of their new friendship, so she was starting to get in the habit of checking her phone more frequently.

The texts didn't stop during the day. The conversation flowed easily and endlessly. Clarke dropped by as much as their homework schedules had allowed so that they could continue to watch their show. Though she never stayed as long as the first night they'd hung out (owing up to the fact that she needed to wake up in the morning), Clarke, Lexa learned, was one of those people who took a while to say goodbye. For example, she would glance at Lexa's watch and yawn, saying it was high time she get going, and repeat that bit every ten minutes for the next half hour.

And, okay, it wasn't entirely her fault that the girls kept finding more things to talk about and getting carried away. It wasn't until Clarke finally stood from the couch and half-heartedly made her way to the door that she would realize she was unintentionally stalling. Lexa would only make matters worse and continue to talk to her until they actually arrived at the door - after all, it took two people to stop a good conversation. She half-wondered if it was she herself who said long goodbyes. Either way, it was hard to leave good company.

At the end of the week, Clarke's payday came. Lexa had nearly forgotten what she'd promised until her phone lit up, the photo she'd assigned to Clarke's contact information flashing in front of her face. (In retaliation to what Clarke had done, she'd used a close-up a very, very terrible picture they'd taken together while trying on lipstick. It was quite useful in adding a bit of humor to her day.)

C: Hey, Lex!

L: What's up?

C: Busy this weekend?

L: My schedule's booked.

C: Really? How so?

L: My neighbor's forcing me to finish Black Mirror with her.

C: "Forcing." Don't act like you don't love it.

L: Who, me?

C: You nearly cried watching San Junipero.

L: Because they were a beautiful couple, and no one's happy ending was ruined!

C: Yeah, for once. That's true.

L: So what's all this about?

C: Oh, right! Shopping spree?

C: *Limited budget spree. I try to pay bills from time to time.

L: Yeah! Free now?

C: I'll get my wallet.

C: (I'm trying to catch it, but it's running away from me. It seems to know what's coming.)

L: Good Luck! Wallets can be pesky, but I promise we'll go easy on it.

L: P.S. Door's unlocked.

While she waited, Lexa threw on a cropped red hoodie and paired it with dark high-waisted jeans. The bathroom light flickered on overhead and, finding a color that matched her top, she applied some lipstick. Lexa heard the door shut and listened to Clarke's footsteps as they wandered around, trying to locate the owner of the apartment. Blonde hair soon appeared in the mirror next to her, gazing down at the full collection of lipsticks Lexa had pulled out that morning.

"Jesus, Lexa, do you have every color invented?"

"I may have gotten a little carried away with my collection," Lexa remarked, looking at the rather large box containing all colors she held dear. She was far from upset about it, though.

"No, it's magnificent. Are you kidding?" Clarke proclaimed. "This is like looking at a mini version of my paint supply if, you know, I focused my collection on red and purple hues." The other girl looked Lexa in the eye via the mirror, face devoid of any telling emotion for half a second. "Right on."

Lexa smiled at her and shook her head. She was already poking through the box, looking for a shade matching Clarke's shirt. Thankfully, she found almost the exact tint. Staring right back at Clarke with the same devoid expression (save for one raised eyebrow), she wordlessly held up the color.

Clarke rolled her eyes in response, but sat back against the counter with a grin. She was getting used to this, Lexa assumed. More than one of their conversations led them back to this room, resulting in some shade or another being applied to her neighbor's lips. She would've forced anyone else to put it on themselves, Lexa supposed, but it was more fun to put it on Clarke herself. Somehow, they'd both decided this. When Lexa should've been forcing Clarke to practice on her own, she always found herself reaching for the other girl's jaw instead.

In any case, it was good for her to practice applying lipstick on others, if that was ever something she needed to have under her arsenal in the future. She definitely didn't do it because of the way Clarke's cheeks colored just a little, or because Lexa could see just exactly what shade of blue Clarke's eyes were from this distance. No way was it due to the amusement she experienced when telling Clarke to purse her lips a specific way. It certainly didn't do anything to speed her heart rate up.

No, she was only doing it to give Clarke a healthy exposure to makeup if she so wished.

Lexa told Clarke look in the mirror when she was finished, and she copied the way Lexa usually looked at her handiwork in the mirror (a technique she'd actually started to take seriously), and expressed her gratitude and amazement yet again at the multitude of hues Lexa owned. Never had Lexa put so many out at once, but she correctly assumed Clarke would admire her collection.

Soon enough, the two were out on the town, taking the Friday night by storm. Lexa dragged Clarke past the gaudy, expensive department stores that she'd assumed they were going to and hit a few smaller stores in downtown Manhattan. Clarke confessed that she hadn't focused on buying many new clothes in her college years, always feeling guilty if her expenses weren't put towards the much-needed art supplies for her classes. It wasn't that the girl didn't have a sense of fashion, either, she'd just… forgotten to really worry about it (as Clarke had put).

Among many of their stops was, to Clarke's surprise, H&M. She'd remarked that she never thought Lexa found the clothes she had in such an accessible store as they stepped through the front doors and stared up at the multiple levels of the store.

"It's crazy how you forget what exists in downtown Manhattan when you're so focused on schoolwork," Clarke breathed.

They stepped on the escalators and traveled to the floor they desired, wandering around and looking at pieces of clothing that caught their eyes.

"See, if you come to certain stores at the right holidays, there'll be so many sales you won't know what to do," Lexa pointed out and held up a shirt to Clarke. Clarke posed as if she were wearing the shirt, but Lexa shook her head and put the shirt down, trying another.

"It's March," Clarke frowned and searched through a few tops scattered on a display case. "What reason could they possible have to put on a holiday sale?"

"St. Patrick's Day is enough of a holiday," Lexa shrugged. She wasn't huge on celebrating it, but she pointed out to Clarke that the whole reason they'd taken the odd route Lexa planned was to avoid all of the St. Patty's parade-goers that were still parting in the streets outside. They'd eventually traveled to Times Square to get to this store, though, and had carefully made their way through the crowds.

"So that warrants a sale? Alright, you know, I'll take it," she reconsidered. "You know, I was planning to get hammered tonight with Raven, but she's supposedly on a date, so this is a good backup."

"Oh," Lexa frowned. She hadn't realized Clarke was going to celebrate, but of course her neighbor was the type to have liked to. "I'm sorry if I took you from other plans, Clarke."

Clarke hadn't been paying attention all that much but paused when she heard the inadvertent gloom in Lexa's voice. She set down whatever sweater she'd been looking at and came over to place two hands on Lexa's shoulders, and Lexa felt herself being turned around to face Clark.

She ignored how hard it was to keep the disappointment on her face, but was quickly snapped out of it when Clarke's hands squeezed her biceps, thumbs smoothing her skin once when she asked Lexa, "Why are you upset? I called you, remember? I'm the one who couldn't even find a proper party to attend."

Lexa softened after that and her frown disappeared into a more neutral expression. Clarke took her arms away and turned to grab her sweater again once she made sure Lexa wasn't feeling guilty. Though she felt a little ashamed at how disappointed she felt, however temporary, Lexa couldn't help but focus more on how grateful she was for the reassurance that Clarke didn't mind spending time with her.

She still wasn't accustomed to friends sticking around, and Lexa knew she was a little needy for the comfort of Clarke's friendship.

"My parents' firm is having a party of their own tonight," Lexa offered. "We could go to that if you really wanted."

"Seriously Lexa, it's fine. I only said what I did before because it's sort of a tradition Ray and I have. Truth be told, I'm weirdly not feeling it tonight. I'm totally fine with a night out shopping, if that's cool with you," Clarke replied. "I have more than enough weekends to spend partying in the future."

"Okay, but just so you know…"

"I know," Clarke repeated. "I'm sure your law firm is full of lovely people to party with, but there's also the other thing."

"What other thing?" Lexa asked. She started shifting towards the clearance section of the store that had even better deals. She brought Clarke's attention to a blanket scarf that had a lovely design on it, and the blonde held it up to the sweater she'd been holding, pleased that they went well together.

"The other thing… How do I put it?" Clarke pondered aloud. "I'm not quite sure I want you to see me completely hammered."

Lexa stared at her and raised an eyebrow. "So they call you Party-girl Griffin for a reason?"

Clarke's cheeks immediately reddened and she worked her jaw up and down, no words coming out for a moment. "How- How? Why and how?"

Lexa sniggered as she traveled to another part of the store, Clarke hot on her heels. "I may have stalked your Instagram a little when I followed it."

"Oh, god. You saw everything. Maximum-drunk everything," Clarke sighed dejectedly. "That is not a pretty sight."

"Oh, it's wonderful. Hey, don't worry, maybe we can stop by a pub later. I'll pay for drinks," Lexa grinned, rather shit-eatingly. She had a feeling she was going to pay for that one. No sooner had she had the thought when she realized revenge was already being exacted on her.

Clarke had wandered ahead of her and led them to a particular part of the store that Lexa hadn't even noticed was there at first. It must've been the new addition they were advertising.

The new, lingerie addition.

This was not good. Her neighbor seemed to think the opposite, and was already sifting through bras and panties. Well, Lexa figured, perhaps this wouldn't be awkward. Nothing weird with underwear-shopping with a girl you only knew for a week, no. Not at all.

She tried to relax and look around. They had a nice selection, at least. And perhaps she hadn't gotten new unmentionables in a while, so what could the harm be to peruse? Lexa shook off her uneasiness soon enough and actually picked out a few things for herself. Everything was half-off, so how could she turn that down?

Lexa became so distracted that when she turned to ask Clarke to repeat whatever question she'd asked, she was utterly taken aback.

At the moment, she was holding up a lacy, black, see-through bralette up to her chest and a matching thong below. Lexa looked from one undergarment to the other, and then back up at Clarke.

"I asked if you think I could rock this," Clarke repeated.

Her throat seemed to have gone dry, for whatever reason. The normal part of her brain that was capable of speech under such circumstances seemed to have stalled. She hoped to hell whatever expression was on her face did not convey the images storming through her mind. Oh, this particular department was such a bad one to wander into. Absently, she wondered just what shade of red her ears had turned to make them burn as much as they currently were.

Dumbly, she nodded.

Clarke was enjoying this. She'd adopted Lexa's earlier shit-eating grin and said, "Well, there's no way I'm putting it back now."

Lexa grimaced at herself, but she hoped as though it appeared she was making a face at Clarke. She was not immune to the charm and wiles of her neighbor, but Lexa hoped that was a quality in herself that she would outgrow with time.

"Who knew my neighbor was such a prude," Clarke stated.

"Shut up," Lexa told her, and was so glad Clarke had assumed that was the problem. Being gay could really ruin certain situations for her. (Of course, Lexa wouldn't admit it to anyone, but she wouldn't have it any other way. Anyway, it was all she knew.)

However, when Clarke noticed Lexa's own selections, she didn't apparently have anything interesting to say after that.

Later on, they'd ended up going to a pub as Lexa had offered and ordered only a few drinks for themselves. Even with all the drunken St. Patrick's Day celebrations going on throughout the night, they were kind of over the excessive amount of public intoxication they encountered that day. Lexa had paid for the drinks, as promised, and they promptly resumed their designated spots on Lexa's couch.

"Why does pub food just hit the spot on this holiday?" Clarke asked and stretched out. She leaned back on the nearest armrest as Lexa did the same on her side, each of them extending their legs on the shared ottoman between them.

"I don't know, magic?" Lexa suggested and frowned at the weird smile that crossed Clarke's face. "What?"

"Nothing," Clarke insisted. "I like your wording. It's usually me doing it."

"What?"

"Nothing."

They turned on Netflix and were content to watch silently, ignoring the fact that they were both falling asleep. The beer they'd consumed sat warm in their stomachs and lulled them off into sweet dreams, and Lexa didn't wake again until it was nearly sunrise. Something, or rather someone, had started moving around.

With one eye peeking open, Lexa could see that, underneath a blanket that one of them (she didn't know who) had dragged overtop of them in the night, the two girls' legs had tangled together sometime in the night. Still stretched out on the ottoman, her lower half was warm but asleep and tingly. Clarke was extracting her own limbs.

Far more awake than she, her neighbor nudged her until both eyes squinted open. "Raven and her date got plastered, apparently. She wants me to walk them home."

"Can't cab?" Lexa tried, but her voice was thick from sleep and she didn't really understand just how poor her English was at this particular moment.

"I told her to call a cab, but she'd kinda incoherent. She has the same verbal capacity as you right now, judging by her texts, so I'm just gonna take care of that. Probably make her sleep at my place," Clarke explained. Her voice was cloudy with drowsiness, too.

Not all of what she'd said really got through to Lexa, only enough for her to realize that Clarke had to leave. As she did just that, standing up to go, Lexa tried to reach for her. She only succeeded in hitting the other girl's hand with her own. Lexa was surprised, however, to find warmth enveloping her hand and realized Clarke must've started holding it.

"Can't stay?" she heard herself mumble. Her eyes were shut again.

"Sorry Lexa," Clarke hummed. "Go back to sleep, we'll text tomorrow."

Her hand was squeezed and dropped. Lexa swore she felt a hand trace through her hair, fingers dragging delicately across Lexa scalp as her neighbor retreated. Clarke was probably just as tired and uncoordinated as Lexa would've been had she actually tried to move, as she heard a few thumps before the door closed shut.

It sure was lovely spending the evening with Clarke, Lexa thought. She drifted back to sleep, thoughts of each other trying on certain underclothing that they'd bought that day running rampant in her dreams.

"So now, lingerie-shopping together is totally platonic?" Raven asked skeptically. She wiped a stray bit of whipped cream from her hand on her apron.

"Raven, I've done that with you before," Clarke rolled her eyes. "Chill out."

"Yeah, okay," Raven conceded. "But hey, now you know what her pants will look like when you get into them."

Clarke turned to get the next customer's order, denying Raven's claims that she'd dreamt about anything similar happening all last night (which she definitely, definitely had not). "Can we focus on work, please?"

"I'll focus on work when you give me more details," her friend stated. She was trying to whip up a concoction that their latest customer had just ordered, which involved so many conditions that she was hardly able to believe it existed within the confines of the menu. Raven had a sharp mind though, and quickly called out in one breath, "Café-caramel-mocha-double-shot-espresso-soy with whipped cream!"

The customer took the drink without thanks and Raven stuck her tongue out behind his retreating figure. "Mouth-breather."

"Can you cool it?" Clarke hissed. "We want them to keep coming back and funding our paychecks."

Raven bit back a retort and refocused her efforts. "Are you really not gonna go for Lexa? Because you haven't got laid since Finn, and that's a long time."

"It's not like my life force is inherently dependent on how often I have sex," she argued. Blonde hair was pulled back into a bun. "Then again, that could explain certain frustrations."

"Certain...?"

"I don't know," Clarke said honestly. "It's not like I wouldn't normally go for it or anything, but… It's nice to have a good, solid friendship. Not dependent on sex," she added. "I can't explain how it feels to have another someone to hang out with all the time. I don't want to ruin that; I want to keep a good friend."

"Friendship is what I'm for," Raven said, a bit grumpily. Clarke supposed she would be grumpy if she had to work with a hangover, though. "You don't need more friends."

"Don't I though?" Clarke deadpanned, just to see Raven's reaction. No customers were currently in the shop, so Raven squirted whipped cream at her. Clarke dodged and yelled, "Not fair!"

"You love me, admit it!" Raven cried with a manic look in her eyes, threatening to douse her with the whole can if need be.

"Fine!" Clarke admitted, laughing. The door chimed, however, and they donned professionalism once again. "I'm allowed to make another friend, though. You and your new girl are always busy."

"Sorry, Griff. Some of us have a life," Raven said when she bent over to get supplies from under the counter. She was swiftly smacked in the ass when the customers weren't looking, and banged her head trying to get away from Clarke. "I deserved that."

"Yes, you did," Clarke agreed. She waited on the next few customers and helped Raven prepare their beverages. Her mind wandered and she began thinking of last night and how she'd left Lexa's apartment around five in the morning. She'd tried to let the girl know she was leaving, but Lexa hadn't spoken any real sentences at the time. Clarke guessed she was worn out by all of their late nights recently, and left to allow Lexa to continue sleeping on the couch.

Though it wasn't even ten yet, Clarke hadn't gotten a text from Lexa yet that morning and supposed she was sleeping in. She found herself checking her phone every hour that morning after she'd woken up, but received no text notifications so far. Now that Raven had brought the subject of her neighbor up, she'd started thinking about it again.

C: How's it going, sleeping beauty?

She sent the text and awaited Lexa's reply.

L: Rough, thanks for asking.

C: Sorry, Lex :(

Lexa was currently walking, or rather dragging her feet, behind Anya downtown. Hangover be damned, Anya had knocked on her door about an hour ago until Lexa'd gotten off the couch, neck stiff from sleeping in an odd position. She cracked it a few times and heard a loud pop that was probably unhealthy, and then answered the door to her sister pushing through to use her bathroom.

She vaguely recalled Clarke's presence in her apartment last night in her freshly-woken haze, but saw the empty mess of blankets where they'd slept and remembered what happened. Lexa was too distracted by Anya pretending not to loudly lose her breakfast to think much more of it, and asked her sister if she was alright.

"St. Patrick's day hangovers are a bitch, little sis," Anya groaned, but straightened her spine and got a glass of water and Advil from Lexa's kitchen. "I need coffee."

"I could make you some," Lexa offered. This image of Anya's haggard state was precisely the reason she partied so little. It wasn't that she couldn't handle it, but she preferred to wake up without her head in the toilet most mornings. It also seemed to help her grades when she spent the necessary weekends studying. After schoolwork was done with, she could allow herself to relax and do whatever she wanted. Law school, it seemed, was also a bitch.

"No, I can't stand yours. I'm sick of it after drinking it for two weeks straight. I found this little coffee shop on Hudson the other day - It's that one I was telling you about," Anya reminded her. "They have an amazing brew."

"So you want to walk all the way out there? In your condition?"

Anya scoffed, but nodded. "It's worth it, trust me."

And that was how they'd ended up walking the streets in search of the shop Anya was talking about. I wasn't a chain, but a locally-owned shop apparently.

"The name's escaping me right now," Anya said with a wave of her hand, and she paused on the sidewalk. Lexa nearly thought she was going to throw up again, but then they were moving again and a normal color returned to her sister's face.

Lexa didn't have a hangover from her and Clarke's dinner last night, but she found she was starving. Her stomach was killing her, and if they didn't find food soon, she was sure to be on Anya's level.

"Here we are," Anya announced, gesturing to the shop she'd stopped outside of, causing Lexa to bump into her. They were both a little off balance today. "Sorry."

"Wait, this…?" Lexa started to ask. She double-checked the name of the café, making sure she was reading it right. Sure enough, when she looked through the window, the baristas looked familiar.

It was the same shop Clarke worked at. A wave of anticipation rolled through her stomach, unfortunately making her nausea just a little worse. "Let's go order."

"Wait," Anya said as they stepped inside. "I just... Let me sit for a minute. Please." She collapsed into a nearby booth and put her head in her hands, held up by elbows on the table.

"I don't think they're going to like it very much if you puke all over the place," Lexa remarked absently, searching for a certain blonde she'd seen disappear behind the counter.

"So, I was going to tell you earlier," Anya started. "I totally got one of the barista's numbers the other day."

"What?" Lexa whipped her head around and asked, paying full attention now. "Who?"

"You'll see her when she comes back out. She's the hot one."

For some inexplicable reason, Lexa's heart started beating faster. A deep concern came over her, mind jumping to conclusions, one after the other. Was it Clarke? It had to be Clarke. Universal coincidences didn't just happen like that without some sort of weird consequence. Wait, so it was Clarke? And Clarke dated girls? But Anya was seeing Clarke. Clarke was seeing Anya?

"I can see some sort of virtual train wreck going on in there," Anya squinted at her like she could see Lexa's thoughts.

Lexa, on one hand, was trying to keep the outrage, no, the disbelief off of her face. She nearly winced at her tone when she asked, "Who?"

"Raven," Anya said slowly and shrugged. She pointed at the girl in question, who'd just seen them come in and was presently waving at Anya. Raven caught a glimpse of Lexa sitting with her and a look of confusion crossed her face. She leaned over to touch the arm of the barista next to her and whispered something.

Relief was something akin to what Lexa was currently experiencing.

Clarke turned around, eyes searching until they found Lexa's. A curious look in her eyes, a smile slowly crept across her face until they were beaming at each other. A shy wave was cast at Lexa, and Lexa glanced at Anya to see if she was noticing. Her sister's head was once again stuck in her hands.

The blonde stepped from behind the counter and she made her way over to the two in their little booth by the door. "You know you have to order at the counter, right? We don't come to you?" she teased.

Anya didn't look up but groaned in response. Lexa spoke for her. "She'd had kind of a rough morning. We're taking it slow."

"Oh. Hi, Anya," Clarke said, surprised. She looked to Lexa in question, but Lexa was just as confused.

Anya looked up from her miserable position, and mumbled "Do I know you? Wait, you look familiar. Did you walk me home last night?"

"Yeah, you and Raven," Clarke laughed.

"Wait, so when you left this morning," Lexa started and ignored the look Anya was now giving her for the detail she let slip, "You went to go help my sister?"

"Sister?" Clarke repeated.

"Anya," Lexa pointed.

"Clarke," Anya burst, remembering and discovering something all at once.

"Raven," Raven announced herself. "Why are we naming ourselves?"

They all deflated, understanding turning into laughter as they explained how they all knew each other.

"That's the freakiest coincidence I've ever heard of," Raven supplied. She put a hand on Anya's shoulder. "You want your regular?"

"Yes, please," Anya sighed. When the girl retreated to get her order, she mumbled again. "How the hell is she so awake? And, like, alive?"

"She's kind of famous for this," Clarke told her. "I've partied many a time with Raven Reyes, and she's nearly impervious to all hangovers. Either that, or way better at hiding it that the rest of us."

Lexa was sitting back with all this new information, kind of in a daze from her lack of food. She was starting to get fuzzy dots in the corner of her vision and her eyes glazed over. She didn't think anyone had noticed, but Clarke had sat down next to her at some point and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, holding her upright.

"You okay? You have to be hungry. You would not believe the breakfast I pigged out on this morning," she said, but frowned when all Lexa could do was nod.

"I'll get something for you. I'm on break right now, so it's no problem," she added because she assumed Lexa would put up a fight. Lexa really didn't have the energy to do so, which seemed to worry Clarke more. "Alright, operation raise Lexa's blood sugar, commencing."

Lexa watched her leave and found herself smiling despite her gnawing hunger. She turned back to Anya, who was also grinning. But this grin was a little more mischievous. "What?"

"When you left this morning?" Anya repeated.

Lexa rolled her eyes and tried to explain herself before the two baristas returned to have breakfast with them. It really was an odd sort of luck that brought them all together that morning, and she was happy that Clarke sat down next to her again upon her return, close enough to her side that Lexa could derive comfort from it.

And, feeling her sister's eyes bore into her, Lexa tried not to think about how she and Anya would be "discussing it later."

A/N: IMPORTANT, PLEASE READ: To those of you who started reviewing my story, thank you so, so much! I only ask for reviews because it helps assure me that you guys are actually liking the story and trust me, I live to make you guys happy. Keep them coming if you'd like! (Pretty, pretty please. I thrive on lovely thoughts from readers.)

As for the guest that reviewed a lovely little paragraph, that meant a lot to me. It did indeed post, I just have to moderate reviews from guests before they're published on the site. (AO3 is Archive of Our Own, another fanfiction site.)Thanks so much for everything! Shout out to the Guest named "S," the unnamed Guest (aforementioned in this paragraph), and Skykruclexa (dude, your English is marvelous) for leaving me some really kind words of encouragement. Love you all.