Fortunately, Abby had agreed on meeting Clarke at the glogg stand in the park, still clueless about the changes in her daughter's life, since Clarke preferred to just let her mother meet Lexa.
Abby had suggested 5:15pm and thanks to Lexa, they were now fifteen minutes early because the girl had wanted to be there at five because, well, it simply felt better, and who would Clarke have been to deny her favorite shy girl a wish?
However, she was currently rethinking her decision because it was incredibly freezing. Goddamnit. She mentally cursed herself, wondering why on earth she had agreed on even going out in the first place. Four minutes into waiting, Lexa suddenly shuffled closer and nuzzled her face into Clarke's scarf, and the blonde automatically wrapped her arms around the other girl.
"You smell nice." She heard Lexa mumble against her neck, and let out a small laugh which quickly changed into shivering.
"Thanks," Clarke said with chattering teeth, "I bet you smell nice too, but unfortunately, I can't oh for fuck's sake," she cursed the cold, "unfortunately I can't smell anything at all, my nose is kinda numb," she paused to let out another loud groan, trying to scare the cold away, "and so is my brain."
She felt Lexa shake her head and smiled at the thought of Lexa debating whether she should tell Clarke that a brain didn't go numb from temperatures like the current one.
They stood like penguins for another two minutes until Lexa pulled away again.
"Clarke?" She mumbled into her red scarf, her eyes trained on the blonde's boots.
"Yeah?" Clarke asked softly and watched Lexa fumble with a strap of her jacket.
"Are you mad at me?"
Clarke's eyes softened as she tilted her head, mentally cursing Lexa because she rarely met her eyes, and this was one of the times where it would've been really helpful. Then again, Lexa found eyes incredibly confusing and distracting, so on second thought, it wasn't too bad that she was still looking at the blonde's boots.
"Lex," Clarke said softly, "why would I be mad at you?"
The other girl took a moment to think and phrase her thoughts. "Well for around fourteen reasons."
Clarke couldn't help but laugh, well aware that Lexa probably even had exactly fourteen situations in mind.
"Fourteen?" Clarke asked and Lexa nodded into her scarf. "I can't even think of one." The blonde admitted and watched as Lexa's fingers began to work faster with her jacket's strap.
"Well, mainly because I was so direct the other day," Lexa quickly glanced at Clarke's face and then back at her boots, "I don't… some people don't like it, and I'm not sure about you." She shook her head. "I don't know if it was too much."
Clarke's lips curled up into a smile when she realized what her girlfriend was referring to. "You mean after the party?"
Lexa nodded.
"Aw Lex," Clarke cooed and reached out to gently tuck a lose strand behind a tiny ear, "don't worry about that." Clarke assured her.
A moment later, her smile turned into a smirk. "Actually, that was a huge turn on."
At that, Lexa's eyes darted up and Clarke shot her a suggestive wink, laughing when the brunette's face morphed into a rather baffled expression.
Before either of them could say anything else, Abby approached and excitedly greeted them, and got ready to hug Clarke but quickly changed her mind when she saw Clarke slightly back away. It wasn't that Clarke wasn't happy to see her mom, it was just that she couldn't touch her for some reason. She would never admit it, but deep inside, she even felt sorry. However, she couldn't change it.
Abby opted for a smile instead and turned to Lexa. "And you are…?" She said encouragingly, while Clarke quickly took Lexa's hand, sensing that her girl wasn't prepared for the sudden approach of Abby.
"Lexa." The brunette mumbled into her scarf and Clarke wasn't sure whether her mom had heard her.
Abby nodded and her eyes fell on the intertwined hands between the girls, and nodded again, before directing her attention back to the girls' faces. Clarke wasn't completely sure of how to interpret Abby's smile, so she decided it was a good sign.
They didn't waste any more time with awkward introductions and started walking, Lexa staying close to Clarke, absentmindedly playing with the blonde's fingers, and Clarke could tell how incredibly nervous the girl was.
They stopped at the ice rink where Abby announced she couldn't feel her feet any longer, so she would go and get a coffee, and asked if the girls wanted anything as well. After Clarke opted for a coffee as well, they both turned to Lexa who had her head lowered, deeply focused on flicking her fingers, apparently unaware of the question.
"Lex?" Clarke nudged her softly and the girl's head shot up, a small hint of panic flashing through her eyes.
"Sorry, I wasn't– did you– um." Lexa stumbled.
"All good," Clarke smiled, "mom asked if you want something to drink?" Clarke explained and waited for a moment, watching Lexa's eyes flicker between her and Abby, but the girl remained silent.
"Hot chocolate maybe?" Clarke helped and squeezed Lexa's hand reassuringly, well aware of the confused look on Abby's face. Lexa opened her mouth and then shut it again, opting for a nod instead.
"Okay uh… okay then." Abby said, hesitating for a moment before she turned to leave to get the drinks.
"Hey, you okay?" Clarke asked softly and took a step toward Lexa, carefully searching the girl's face for any signs of distress.
Lexa quickly lowered her head but nodded and shifted her weight nervously.
"We can go if you want?" Clarke offered. "Just tell me if you wanna leave, and we'll leave."
Lexa squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. "No I–" she huffed in mild frustration, about herself as Clarke guessed, "it's stupid that a situation like this irritates me."
"Hey, it's not stupid," Clarke gently brushed some hair out of her girl's face, "to be honest, I'm pretty nervous, too. I don't know how to act around my mom either." She admitted and watched as the small crease between Lexa's eyebrows slowly disappeared. Clarke quickly pecked the brunette's lips before Abby came back.
"Coffee for you," she said and handed Clarke the hot mug, "and a hot chocolate for Lexa." She announced and Clarke furrowed her brows in confusion about the weird tone in her mom's voice, wondering why the hell she was suddenly speaking like her tongue was paralyzed. Lexa seemed to be confused as well, tilting her head.
"Are you okay Mrs Griffin?" She asked and Clarke couldn't help but let out a laugh. She quickly pulled herself together. Even before she grasped what was actually happening, she saw that Lexa already knew.
"Yes, I– why are you asking?" Abby said, now the third member of team confusion as Clarke called it.
Lexa shrugged and scratched her ear with her free hand. "Because you suddenly sounded weird." She explained, her voice almost steady now.
Abby shifted her weight uncomfortably and started gesturing around aimlessly in a weak attempt to express her point. "I just thought I– I mean that you–," she cleared her throat to stop herself from letting her assumption slip, "I don't know what I thought."
Clarke shook her head in embarrassment while Lexa calmly took a sip of her hot chocolate, before smiling at Abby. "I'm an Aspie, Mrs Griffin, not retarded." She explained matter–of–factly, while Clarke bit the insides of her cheeks to not let out a laugh about the crimson red shade of Abby's cheeks, knowing full well that Lexa hadn't really been offended by Abby.
"I didn't– that's not what I–" Abby stuttered in utter embarrassment while Lexa quickly lowered her head, a soft smile still playing on her lips.
"It's okay Mrs Griffin, I'm not mad." She said, her smile widening when Clarke leaned closer and left a quick kiss on her girl's cheek.
After apologizing for the umpteenth time, and the girls reassuring her that it was absolutely fine, for the umpteenth time, Abby finally calmed down. Clarke almost felt sorry for her mom. She couldn't even blame her because she knew how Lexa appeared to some people, most of them actually, but her mom had clearly overstepped a mark nonetheless.
She also had to admit that she was surprised when Lexa immediately knew what was up with Abby, even before Clarke even had an idea. And last but not least, she was incredibly impressed by how Lexa had handled the situation.
Since Lexa was now in the middle of moving to Raven's apartment and her room was filled with boxes, sleeping at Clarke's had become Lexa's routine in the past few days. Not that Clarke minded.
"Did you have a good time?" Clarke asked while she snuggled closer to Lexa under the blanket and wrapped an arm around her waist.
Lexa's lips formed an amused smirk as she started fiddling with Clarke's necklace. "Definitely… your mom is nice."
Clarke snorted. "She thought you're intellectually disabled."
Lexa's smile grew wider. "Yeah. It's okay though, she's nice anyway. I like her."
Clarke's eyes softened and she leaned forward to leave a kiss on Lexa's lips. "That makes at least one of us."
The brunette knitted her brows. "You know, Clarke… I don't really understand people, they're just confusing. I also constantly fail to read people correctly, so I might as well be miles away from the truth, but I don't think that you hate her."
Clarke shifted a little to get a better sight of her girl's face while Lexa paused for a moment, deeply concentrated.
"Maybe you don't really know how to talk to Abby, or even what to think about her, and maybe you just misinterpret this uncertainty into something that it isn't. I mean it kind of makes sense in my head right now but maybe I'm really wrong about this anyway. I guess I'm just trying to help." She finished her rambling with a shy smile.
Clarke remained silent for a long while, letting Lexa's words sink in. She knew that she didn't hate Abby. She also knew that her mom was trying, really hard. But she also knew that some things didn't change overnight. Maybe though, she thought, maybe Lexa was right.
"Thank you." She said softly.
"What for?"
Clarke pulled Lexa closer and nuzzled her nose into the crook of her girl's neck. "For being you."
