"I can't believe I'm drinking on a Wednesday." Octavia groaned as she poured herself another shot.

"No one forces you to drink." Lincoln noted friendly, causing Raven to laugh so hard she lost her balance, but Clarke was quick enough to steady her. They all knew even Octavia was forced to drink once the group got together, especially when Raven and Clarke were there.

Clarke grinned and opened another beer. "We're in college, O. Live a little."

"And drink a little more." Raven chimed in, earning another eye roll from Octavia.

"Have you seen this weird new mute girl?" Jasper asked after a while and was met with confused glances from everyone in the group except for Raven, whose eyes immediately jumped to Clarke before she spoke.

"Yeah, she's in my astronomy class," she said. "Why you asking?"

Jasper shrugged and grinned. "Heard she escaped a mental hospital."

"Oh please." Raven replied annoyed, reaching for her whiskey coke. "If she escaped a mental hospital, I highly doubt she'd freely walk around as an official student of Polis."

Jasper's grin slightly faded as he considered Raven's logic. "I guess you're right. Maybe she just was in one before she came here? Explains why no one's seen her before."

"Might as well be because she just moved here and went to another college before." Octavia noted. "Where did you get that from anyway?"

"Don't know. Heard it somewhere." Jasper admitted, a blush creeping up his cheeks at the realization that he immediately believed literally everything he heard, as long as it was extraordinary.

"You're a jerk." Octavia said and the group laughed, raising their drinks in agreement. Clarke stayed quiet though and after a moment, she got up and went to the kitchen. No one else seemed to notice that something was off, except Raven.

When she entered the kitchen, she saw Clarke leaning with her shoulder against the fridge near the window, looking outside. Raven sighed and slowly approached her.

"Clarke?"

"Hm?" The blonde replied but didn't turn around.

"You okay?" Raven tried again, and this time, Clarke finally looked at her.

"Sure." The blonde said with a rather unconvincing smile.

"Sorry about Jasper. He's really a jerk. He shouldn't have said what he said. I know you like her."

Clarke frowned. "Is it that obvious?"

"What?"

"What?"

The two stayed silent for a long moment, both thinking about what Clarke had just asked.

"So you like her?"

Clarke looked at Raven and then turned back to the window. "I don't know. I mean she's nice, and she's friendly, really friendly, and so adorable. And shy. God Raven, she's so shy."

"She's also beautiful."

"That she is." Clarke couldn't help but smile. "You know what's weird though? When I first met her she was like super quiet and then when she accompanied me home, the next morning she–"

Raven almost choked on her drink. "Whoa hold up there Griffin. She was here? The next morning? What?"

Clarke blushed. She hadn't told Raven anything about the incident at the park, or the break up with Finn, and suddenly she felt bad. But Finn was another topic she decided, and Raven would sooner or later realize why he wasn't around anymore anyway. Now, she wanted to focus on Lexa.

"Not like that. It's… the night we went to the party and I left early, I met her in the park and she walked me home because I didn't feel well, and I don't remember but she said I asked her to stay the night, and… well. So she did." Clarke paused for a moment to take another sip of her beer, and Raven's confused but curious eyes didn't go unnoticed by her. "Anyway. The next morning, she was shy and… careful? No, not careful, just… I don't know. Well but she was also kinda open and relaxed, and the next time I met her, she was totally different. Like, completely different. I wasn't allowed to touch her and she would avoid my gaze most of the time, and–"

"Clarke." Raven softly interrupted her.

"What?"

"Don't get me wrong, but you can be… how should I say… overwhelming from time to time. Maybe that's why she shut off a bit."

"No, it wasn't like that. It's hard to explain." Clarke admitted, and was glad when Raven nodded understandingly and didn't ask further questions.

"Do me a favor though, Griff, because I've seen her eyes and I think I know what you mean by shy. Don't hurt her. She looks like a person that's been hurt, and I don't want you to add to it."

Clarke opened her mouth to protest, but closed it again when she realized that Raven was right. She indeed was a bit much sometimes, and although she always meant well, she knew that sometimes she accidentally hurt people.

"Speaking of which…" Clarke began.

"Oh no." Raven groaned and rolled her eyes. "What now?"

Clarke's cheeks twitched into a smirk as she brought the bottle back to her lips to take a sip. "Finn and I broke up."

"Oh Jesus Christ, finally." Raven cheered and clinked her plastic cup with Clarke's bottle.


The next two days were Clarke's art days, which meant she didn't get to see Lexa in her classes and she couldn't help but miss the quiet girl. She enjoyed her company, even if they didn't talk much. And again, Clarke found herself wondering what occupied Lexa's mind, especially on the day they went to the small café together.

Clarke tried to focus on the drawing task, she really did, but her brain just wouldn't stop wandering back to a particular pair of green eyes that held so many emotions that Clarke couldn't even count them, and to the girl's sharp jawline and those soft lips, and Clarke caught herself wondering what it would feel like to kiss them. God, Griffin. Pull yourself together. Lexa's a friend. She's a friend. She quickly pushed any inappropriate thoughts about the girl aside and hoped she would at least get to see the girl during her lunch break. The mere thought of seeing Lexa made her all fuzzy and bubbly inside and again, she found herself smiling.

Much to her disappointment, the brunette didn't show up in the cafeteria but Clarke wasn't surprised. She hadn't seen her there at all, so what was she expecting? The girl magically choosing to spend her lunch break in an overly crowded canteen? Clarke knew better than to think Lexa would choose to sit with strangers. Nonetheless, she wondered where the girl usually went. Suddenly, a pang of guilt and sadness rushed through her veins at the thought of Lexa sitting all by herself, alone. The brunette deserved better than that, and Clarke decided she wouldn't let this happen again. If that was the case in the first place anyway. Only because the quiet girl usually wasn't seen with people, didn't mean she had no friends, so it didn't necessarily mean she spent her free time alone. Yet Clarke wasn't sure, and she was determined to find out.