Unlike the last time when Clarke had fallen asleep in her bed, she was there when Lexa woke up. Relief flooded through her. If she could keep up the false bravado, then maybe things could stay like this.

The arm around her twitched, and Lexa's stomach fluttered with anxiety knowing it was time to face Clarke. With as much courage as she could muster, she rolled over to look at the blonde girl. Clarke's eyes were hazy as they found Lexa's, and she gave a tired smile. "Hey there," she whispered.

Lexa returned the smile and moved to brush the hair out of Clarke's face. "Hi," she responded.

Clarke rubbed at her eyes, trying to wake up fully. Lexa shifted back, giving the other girl some space. Despite her appearance, Lexa was a bundle of nerves. She knew that with one slip up, Clarke could pounce on it and unravel her past, exposing Lexa for the broken girl she was. Sure Clarke had helped her through one panic attack, but that was nothing compared to the trauma of Lexa's past or the emotional scars that ran deep.

"Is Raven still asleep?" Clarke whispered.

Lexa glanced over her shoulder to look at her new friend. Sure enough, the other girl was fast asleep with her good leg curled up underneath her and her bad leg stretched out. "Yeah," Lexa whispered back.

Clarke smiled lazily and ran her thumb softly across Lexa's cheekbone, and Lexa closed her eyes and sighed, leaning in to the touch. She felt her eyes water, but she forced herself to hold it back. She was so depraved it was sad. But she couldn't let Clarke know that.

She scooted closer to her roommate and rested her head against Clarke's chest, feeling the other girl's elevated heartbeat. It was strange for her to think that she could have this effect on someone. Clarke's heartbeat banished the fear that Clarke was only doing this out of pity. And that was why Lexa had to pretend to be strong, because she didn't think she could handle it if Clarke's pretty blue eyes ever looked at her with pity. Just thinking about it made her stomach drop.

That was how it had always been at Polis. People would either look at her with hatred or pity. It was enough to drive Lexa over to Arcadia to start a new life, and the life she had now was beyond her wildest dreams. She couldn't risk losing that. It would break her even further, not that Lexa wasn't already broken beyond repair.

The sound of Raven stirring drew Lexa out of her dark thoughts. She heard a groan and the sound of bedsprings moving, and she turned around to face the dark-haired girl who was rubbing her bad leg. "Good morning," Raven greeted sleepily, yawning immediately afterwords.

"Good morning, Raven," Clarke responded, propping herself up on her elbow to look over Lexa. Her other arm gently rested on Lexa's waist, and her breath hitched. Suddenly, the whole room felt too warm, and Lexa felt the blood rush up to her face.

Raven's eyes narrowed as she looked at the couple suspiciously. "Are you two, like, a thing now?" she asked.

Lexa looked nervously back at Clarke, wondering what to say. Clarke met her eyes and gave a comforting smile. "Yeah," she replied. "I guess we are."

"You're adorable," she said with a smile.

"I know," Clarke replied confidently with a smirk.

Lexa buried her face in her arm, hiding a shy grin. She was loving every second of Clarke's affection. She felt like a starving woman who couldn't stop feeding. It was pathetic, and Lexa knew that, which was why she did her best to hide it. She was pathetic.

Raven groaned as she stood and stretched. She grabbed her crutch and placed it under her shoulder. "I should go check on Octavia," she said, moving towards the bathroom door.

"Oh yeah, me too," Clarke replied. Lexa scrambled out of the way to let her roommate through. She stumbled awkwardly a few steps, then stumbled even more when Clarke grabbed her hand and began pulling her toward's Octavia's room.

When they got there, Octavia was laying down in Lincoln's arms, looking worse for wear. Dark bags hung under her eyes which held an empty expression. When she saw the three girls entering, she looked up, and the light returned to her eyes as she smiled. "Hey guys," she said softly. "Lincoln's still asleep."

"Not anymore," Lincoln mumbled as he opened his eyes. He looked up fondly at Octavia. The brunette sat up, pulling Lincoln up with her. His arms still rested around her, but they were more relaxed.

"Lexa," Octavia said, reaching her hand out. Clarke released Lexa's hand, and Lexa shyly stepped forward to take Octavia's. The other brunette gently led her to her bed, where Lexa sat down next to her. "You helped me without knowing why. I suppose I owe you an explanation."

Lexa's throat suddenly felt very dry. "Uh no, y-you don't have to," she stuttered awkwardly.

Octavia smiled at her warmly. "You're a good friend," she said. "But I want you to know. You remember me telling you that my mom died giving birth to me?" Lexa nodded. "Well, I was raised by my dad, but he had to work. While he was away, my grandma watched me. She, well she wasn't a very good grandma. You see, she blamed me for my mom's death. So, whenever she wanted to punish me, she would lock me in this tiny closet for hours on end. Like Harry Potter, you know, but smaller."

All Lexa could do was stare in shock and horror at the idea of someone wanting to hurt a child. "That's awful," she said, her voice heavy with empathy. "And you never told your dad?"

The other girl shook her head sadly. "I thought it was normal," she answered. "It didn't take my dad long to figure out something was wrong, but the damage was done." Octavia shrugged. "What's done is done, and now I have to live with it."

"I understand," Lexa replied, staring intensely into Octavia's eyes so the other girl would know that she meant it. "We all have a past, but we can make a better future."