Clarke walked Lexa to the building and up to her room. Although Lexa had assured her it wasn't necessary, Clarke didn't let her change her mind.
So here they were, in front of Lexa's room and Clarke was just about to say Goodbye, when she noticed Lexa hesitate before putting the key into the keyhole and unlocking the door.
"You okay?", she asked in concern, trying to sound casually, just in case Lexa's hesitation had been the product of her imagination. The brunette quickly nodded but over the past few weeks, Clarke had become somewhat of an expert when it came to reading Lexa, and she definitely didn't miss the change in the girl's eyes.
"You sure?"
"Yeah I–", Lexa paused and bit her lower lip for a second before she continued, "I just don't like my roommate very much. Or, she doesn't like me, to be exact."
Clarke frowned at that. How could anyone not like Lexa? But the emotion that the girl's eyes were reflecting right now said more.
"Is she mean to you?" Clarke asked carefully and was confirmed when Lexa quickly averted her gaze and started fiddling with the keys in her hand, almost looking like she was afraid her roommate would walk around the corner any moment and hear her. The brunette remained silent.
"Lexa?" Clarke tried again.
"She just doesn't like me a lot."
Clarke decided to drop the topic for now. She had drilled the girl enough and Lexa was clearly uncomfortable with the roommate issue. But Clarke would bring it up later, because it seemed to bother the brunette a lot, and Clarke's new job was to make the girl smile. That reminded her of something, and she quickly got out her notebook and a pen and scribbled down her number.
"Here", she said and handed Lexa the piece of paper, who looked at her in confusion as she took it, "it's my number. If anything's wrong, or you wanna talk or are in desperate need of a hot chocolate or something", at that, the brunette's smile returned, "then text me. Or call me. Whatever you like."
Lexa nodded and looked at the piece of paper in her hands for the first time, then up at Clarke. "Thank you, Clarke."
"You're welcome, Lexa."
They both stood there for another long moment, smiling like idiots, until Clarke cleared her throat. "I think I– I'll go and leave you to your", she randomly gestured towards Lexa's room, "whatever work it is that you gotta do."
And Lexa laughed. She actually laughed. It wasn't a loud laughter, but it was one, and Clarke felt like she would explode from happiness. Before she could let the moment overwhelm her and make her give in to the urge of hugging the brunette, she took a step back. "Bye Lexa." She smiled.
"Bye, Clarke."
Raven had finally answered, Clarke had picked up the spare key and now she was at home, finally, sitting on her couch. "I've missed you", she sighed and smiled at the piece of furniture. If anyone could see her right now, they would probably think she finally lost her mind, but Clarke couldn't care less in that moment. She had made Lexa smile and she had made Lexa laugh. And it felt heavenly. A buzz from her phone drew her out of her daydream.
Unknown Number (2:49pm): Hey, this is Lexa. Just in case you want my number, too. Thank you for walking me home.
Clarke was sure her smile couldn't grow wider, but when she read Lexa's message, it did.
Clarke (2:50pm): Hey sunshine! My pleasure. Hope you made it home safely ;) x
Clarke winced. 'Sunshine?' Really, Clarke?
Lexa :) (2:52pm): I just had to step inside, Clarke.
Clarke laughed. She could literally see the brunette's confused frown in front of her.
Clarke (2:53pm): just kidding, don't mind me :) Hey I was thinking if maybe you could help me with math? I'm such a loser and could really use some help from an expert :)
Clarke bit her lower lip as she, more or less anxiously, awaited Lexa's reply. Although it was true, she was the biggest loser when it came to math, the main reason was that she wanted to spend more time with Lexa, and so far she didn't have the feeling they had reached the casual friendship level yet, and she also didn't want to overwhelm the girl, so she thought extra lessons as an excuse to see her more often wouldn't hurt.
Lexa :) (2:59pm): You're not a loser, Clarke. But I can help you, if you want.
Clarke (2:59pm): Yay! Thanks :) x
The blonde fell back onto the couch and grinned like a child on Christmas. Lexa had said Yes. Also, she had taken Clarke too seriously and literal and Clarke knew if Raven or Octavia missed one of her jokes or sarcasm, she would probably lose it and be annoyed as hell, but with Lexa, it was adorable. Jesus, Griff, you got it bad.
"Jesus Griff, you got it bad." Raven laughed as she threw a sponge at her friend while they prepared Clarke's apartment for the party.
"What are you talking about?"
"Oh please. The heart eyes? Is it… flannel ponytail?" Raven wiggled her eyebrows suggestively and Clarke huffed.
"Her name is Lexa."
Raven immediately picked up on the change in Clarke's mood and soft pedaled her silliness.
"That's a beautiful name."
"Yeah." Clarke smiled dreamily.
"Clarke! No no no! Clarke! I need you to be sarcastic and badass today, please don't be so smitten." Raven wined as she dragged Clarke to the fridge and handed her a beer.
"I'm not smitten."
"Dude. It's your second name today. Clarke Smitten Griffin."
"Hmm… I like the sound of it."
"Claaarrke! It's stupid. You're not allowed to like it. Badass up and down that beer."
Clarke pouted and Raven sighed. "Okay. Badass up, down that beer and then you can tell me everything about Lexa while we're waiting for the idiots to show up."
"Okay, I'm all ear. What is it about this girl?" Raven relented as they dropped onto Clarke's couch. Raven wasn't annoyed though. Clarke was her best friend, and had been since the first day of college, they had gone through the best and worst times together and although sappy Clarke in love could exhaust the shit out of her, she was still genuinely interested in Clarke's thoughts and feelings, and she would lie if she said she wasn't curious as well what it was about Lexa that had gotten Clarke crush so hard on her in such a short time.
It didn't even take Clarke a second to come up with an answer. "Her smile", she said and waited for Raven to react, be it confirmation or disagreement, but her friend stayed silent, looking back at her expectantly.
"Her smile." Clarke repeated and Raven nodded before she spoke. "Yeah Clarke, I heard you. Her smile. I believe it's beautiful because she's stunning, but I've never seen her smile so I wouldn't know. Where is she by the way? Shouldn't she be here when you're throwing a party?"
"She doesn't like parties so much."
"Yeah, that's because she's never partied with us." Raven grinned and Clarke nudged her side. "Jerk."
