A/N: Happy Monday! All I can say about this chapter is, Clarke is a little shit. Lots of filler here and most likely in the next chapter, too. But you finally get some answers and I did manage to get this one above the 3,000 word mark. Enjoy!
Boredom seemed to be a reoccurring theme in the bomb shelter, and Clarke soon realized that if she wanted some excitement, she'd have to make some for herself.
She had taken to annoying Lexa in any way she could. At first, she had just been trying to get to know her better, but it soon became apparent that Clarke's incessant questioning only irritated the brunette (and Clarke found the way that Lexa's nose crunched up when she was mad to be a welcome distraction from hours of staring at the wall).
It started with little things, such as blowing out a candle while Lexa was still writing by its light or asking stupid questions that never failed to elicit a reaction from the brunette. But as the days passed, Lexa seemed to grow an immunity to the disturbances, forcing Clarke to up the ante.
'Upping the ante' was never supposed to include snooping through Lexa's cell phone for secrets, but when she saw the unguarded device laying next to the other girl's bed, she couldn't resist.
After silently stealing the phone from the floor beside the sleeping brunette, Clarke rushed to the safety of her own bed, tucking the cell phone under her blanket. She forced herself to count to one hundred before uncovering it, just to be sure that Lexa had fallen back into a deep sleep.
The cell phone was highly outdated and held a multitude of scratches and cracks; a striking contrast to Clarke's phone (the newest model, paid for exclusively by her mother).
Still, it was new enough to have a touchscreen that lit up when Clarke pressed a button at the bottom of the screen. She glanced back at Lexa, relaxing a bit when she found the girl to be fast asleep. Clarke swiped a finger across the screen, a mischievous smile coming to her face when the device unlocked without the need of a passcode.
Her eyes darted around the screen, overwhelmed by all the options she had to look at. She hadn't held a phone in her hand for weeks and the feeling of the cold metal against her palm offered a strange comfort, as if it was her only tie to the outside world.
Pushing her nostalgic feelings aside, Clarke refocused on the screen, her eyes falling on an application labeled 'Text Messages'.
You're actually going to look through her private messages?
(The answer was yes. Yes, she was.)
Her heart offered a few thuds of anticipation as her thumb pressed the small icon, opening a list of messages. Oddly, there were only a few conversations filling the list, telling Clarke that Lexa didn't talk to many people (something she had discerned not long after arriving in the shelter).
The most recent conversation was with someone named Costia. When Clarke clicked on the messages, she found them to be in a different language that she assumed to be the one Lexa had been using in the forest. Despite this, there seemed to be a few English words thrown in, and from what Clarke could tell based on the little that she understood, both parties were not happy with one another.
The last messages were sent from Lexa a few weeks ago, telling Clarke that the phone no longer had service. Her stomach dropped at the thought, reminding the blonde that she had no way to contact her mom and find out how she was doing. She shook the idea from her mind, deciding it wasn't the proper time to wallow in her poor decisions.
She briefly checked the other sets of messages- each written in the same language- prompting her to click out of the application and search elsewhere.
She already felt corrupt for snooping through Lexa's messages, but when her finger hovered over the 'Photos' icon, she knew she was about to reach her peak of sleaziness.
Again, her heart protested with heavy thumps against her ribs, but she ignored the warning and proceeded to open the application, anyways. After all, Lexa had looked through Clarke's sketchbook, so this was just getting even.
Immediately, her eyes were met with a dozen or so photos lined up side by side. She tapped the first one and scrolled through a few uninteresting pictures before landing on one that made her breath catch in her throat.
The image was of two girls, one who Clarke barely recognized to be Lexa. The, usually scowling, brunette was sporting an uncharacteristic face. Her tongue was stuck out and one eye was closed, mirroring the other girl in the picture. For a moment, Clarke even wondered if Lexa wasn't the asocial narcissist that her normal facade seemed to portray.
She averted her attention to the other girl in the picture, who was leaning very close to Lexa, Clarke noticed- not that she minded, she just noticed. The girl had short, curly hair and dark skin that made Lexa's tan look pale in comparison. Both girls appeared happy and, again, Clarke had to look back and forth between the picture and Lexa to confirm it was actually her.
She slid her finger up the screen, mostly meaning to wipe some dust from the phone away, but was met with an entirely different screen, reading 'Details'. She quickly skimmed the words, but stopped when her eyes found a piece of information that made a metaphoric lightbulb go off in her head.
Location: Trikru Native American Reserve.
And then it all made sense.
The forest, the language, the tattoos; Clarke almost felt incompetent for not being able to figure it out herself.
She clicked the off-button on the top of the device and sighed shakily, needing a moment to process the new-found information.
When she noticed Lexa stirring in bed, she couldn't help but stare at the brunette as if she was an entirely new person. Clarke knew it was stupid- she knew that Lexa wouldn't wake up any less irritated than she had gone to bed- but somehow Clarke felt closer to her.
However, she promptly remembered that the phone she was still holding didn't belong in her hands and stood from her blankets, careful not to make any noise.
She returned the phone to its original place, but not without holding a gaze at Lexa, sending a mix of indescribable emotions rushing through her veins.
Along with immense boredom came hunger, though Clarke was never sure which of the two fueled the other. Lexa always seemed to think that Clarke's hunger came solely from the need to occupy herself, but the growling coming from below Clarke's ribcage had different ideas.
Clarke found herself in the same position as she was a few nights previous, staring at one of Lexa's belongings from across the room, wondering how she could obtain it without waking the brunette.
But this time, there was more incentive for Clarke, because laying carelessly above Lexa's pillow was a set of shiny keys (which usually resided in the girl's pocket), glimmering in the candlelight as if they were trying to entice Clarke into taking them for herself.
It had been approximately twenty days (if her calculations were correct) since Clarke had been sealed inside the room and needless to say, it had taken a toll on her.
Her clothes had stopped clinging as well to her as they used to, mostly from her small intake of food. Her body constantly itched, leaving her wishing for a shower to clean the grime building up on her skin. The probable fresh air outside left her lungs aching for a taste- a breath of anything that didn't smell of mold and sewage, though she'd been smelling it for so long that it almost didn't faze her anymore.
Lexa didn't make the situation any better. She never complained about their current condition, making Clarke envious of her composure.
Perhaps it was all in Clarke's head, but she could swear that Lexa always took more food for herself than she gave to the blonde. That had to be the reason that Lexa was never hungry. How else could the girl not look a pound skinnier than when they had first met?
The thought of having a third meal (they generally only ate two) almost made Clarke drool. And the lock on the cabinet was the only thing stopping her. She watched as Lexa's breathing grew slow and shallow, her brown hair resting gently on her cheek. (Again, Clarke found herself jealous of how the girl managed to look decent after weeks of not showering, while Clarke was sure that her own hair probably resembled that of a matted lion's mane.)
Clarke knew that if she was going to make a move, she needed to do it soon, considering Lexa could wake at any moment. So, nervously standing from her bed, she padded across the floor on the balls of her feet, eyes glued to the brunette, watching for any signs that she might be waking up.
When Clarke was standing over Lexa's bed, she inspected the two keys on the chain. She knew that she needed to grab one key in each hand to ensure that they wouldn't clink together when she lifted them, but being so close to the brunette suddenly gave her cold feet.
If she wakes up-
Clarke didn't finish the thought, partially because she didn't want to think of what Lexa would do if she found Clarke stealing the keys, and partially because Clarke didn't know what she would do if Lexa found her stealing the keys. After all, Lexa was taller, stronger, and more intimidating than Clarke and the blonde knew that getting caught could be a death sentence.
The image of Lexa that Clarke had seen on the cell phone suddenly appeared in her thoughts, and her previous fear of the brunette dissipated, because how could something that cute kill her?
She shook the idea from her head completely (mostly because she had just referred to the girl in front of her as cute) and glanced between Lexa and the keys a few times before extending both hands towards the glistening metal.
Somehow, the keys ended up in her grasp silently. Clarke backed away steadily, letting out a breath she wasn't aware of holding when she was far enough from the brunette. When she turned to face away from Lexa, her eyes locked onto the cabinet in front of her. She changed her grip on the chain, allowing the key she wasn't using to dangle freely from her hand.
Her teeth clenched when the key hit the lock, making her send a look towards Lexa, but she relaxed when she found the girl to still be sound asleep.
The lock clicked open and she could barely contain her excitement when she unsealed the cabinet and revealed a substantial pile of food laying next to a full backpack. Pulling her bottom lip between her teeth, she peered into the open bag and all but gasped when she saw a powdered white snack cake peeking out from under a few bags of chips. Her mind briefly flashed back to when she had embarrassingly binged on the same food before arriving at the shelter. Still, she felt giddiness bubble inside her as she dipped her hand into the bag and pulled out the cake, doing her best to rip the plastic cover off without drawing the attention of the brunette.
The first bite was pure bliss. Her eyes involuntarily fell shut and she had to hold back a moan that was building in her throat. The second bite was just as great, persuading her to hold the treat out in front of her, as to admire its beauty.
This proved to be a bad move when a hand wrapped around the arm holding the snack cake and spun her around, pushing her against the wall until she was pinned against the cement behind her. She looked up to see Lexa's deeply angered face inches from her own.
"What are you doing?" The brunette growled and if looks alone could kill, Clarke would already be six feet under. Despite this, Clarke felt oddly at ease (except for the apparent electricity running from the warmth of Lexa's hand where it grasped Clarke's wrist).
"Eating," was all Clarke managed to mutter through her mouthful of cake. This reply only further fueled Lexa's anger. Clarke felt the grip on her wrist tighten significantly, pulling a gasp from her lungs and making her face twist in discomfort. The look was enough for Lexa to loosen her fingers, while still holding the blonde's arm against the wall.
Again, the picture of Lexa with her tongue out flickered through her thoughts, alleviating some of the fear that was building in Clarke's body.
"You stole my keys?" Lexa asked, a degree of betrayal playing through her words.
"You stole my snack cakes." Clarke answered, holding her chin up to preserve any bit of boldness that she had left.
Lexa seemed taken aback by the sarcastic response, boosting Clarke's courage even further- far enough for her to feel confident in using her unpinned hand to reach for the snack cake while Lexa was distracted.
However, the brunette was not as preoccupied as Clarke had assumed and snatched Clarke's key-holding hand from the air, pushing it against the wall in the same fashion as the other arm.
Suddenly, the two girls were even closer-the closest they had ever been before- and Clarke couldn't help but feel as if the oxygen had been sucked from between them. She swallowed the food in her mouth (along with a lump in her throat). Her eyes flicked from the strikingly green eyes to pursed, pink lips, deciding they were less threatening than the fire growing behind the wide pupils. Clarke forced herself to reestablish eye contact, though, refusing to let Lexa scare her.
"There's a reason why I keep the keys." Lexa said through gritted teeth and, for a split second, the brunette released her hold on one of Clarke's wrists and pulled the keys from the blonde's hand. After letting the keychain fall back to their original place in her pocket, her face relaxed and she fully let go of Clarke's arms.
Unsure of what the gesture meant, Clarke testily raised the snack cake to her mouth, only to watch Lexa's face return to its former aggressive state, telling her that it was not a smart idea.
Hanging her head in defeat, Clarke dropped her hands to her side and sulked back to the cabinet, placing the half-eaten dessert back in the backpack, and shutting the cupboard when she'd finished. When she turned around, Lexa had already begun walking back to her bed.
But Clarke couldn't let the infuriating brunette have the last word again- she just couldn't.
"Maybe if you fed me more," Clarke muttered under her breath, knowing the comment was unnecessary and immature.
"Maybe if you didn't eat so much," Lexa immediately shot back, sending hot rage through Clarke's cheeks. Unsure of how to respond, she forced herself to keep her composure, allowing the room to fall silent. Someone has to be the bigger person.
Biting her tongue, Clarke crossed her arms and started towards her own bed.
"And if you ever do that again," Lexa continued, her voice trailing off, leaving the threat open for interpretation.
That's it. Suddenly, 'being the bigger person' sounded much less appealing. Because when it came to someone as irritating as Lexa, all Clarke wanted to do was return some of the constant annoyance that was being given to her.
"What? You'll kill me?" Clarke's voice was much louder than it had been a few minutes prior. She was facing the brunette again, without realizing she had turned.
Lexa's expression mimicked one of confusion, as to show that Clarke had asked an idiotic question. The dark green eyes moved between Clarke and a familiar crossbow leaning ominously beside Lexa's bed.
It was too predictable. Of course Lexa would threaten the blonde with a weapon when all else failed. Her head hurt from how hard she rolled her eyes at Lexa.
"You know, I've never actually seen you shoot that thing." Clarke pushed. Lexa shook her head and kept walking, unable to be bothered by Clarke's accusations. Something about Lexa's apathy only made Clarke want to continue talking. "I bet that thing is just for show. You probably dont even know how to shoot it." She finished, her voice raising gradually.
The comment must have hit the right nerve in Lexa's body, because she stopped dead in her tracks and clenched her fists until the knuckles were white. Perhaps Lexa was truly offended by her words, or maybe she was just desperate to shut Clarke up, but in an instant, the brunette was grabbing the crossbow beside her bed and aiming it at Clarke.
Partially paralyzed from fear, Clarke backed up until her back had returned to the wall behind her, breathing heavily and shivering as the brunette raised the weapon to eye-level.
Clarke's thoughts raced. Her jaw had slackened, prepared to speak, but no words came out. What was there to say?
Just apologize.
No, she couldn't apologize. She was finally starting to show some assertion towards the brunette and she refused to let it all go to waste.
You'd rather die than take a blow to your reputation?
Yeah, she would, at this point.
As a last ditch effort to keep her cool, she brought the silly picture of Lexa back to her thoughts, hoping it would give her some confidence.
She wouldn't kill you. Clarke determined, referring to the girl in the picture, rather than the one standing in front of her, despite her knowledge that they were the same person. Just don't show any fear. Stand your ground.
This advice was lost to her when she heard a click and the sound of an arrow whizzing just past her ear, making her flinch and let out a pathetic yelp.
Miraculously, the pain didn't come, and when she looked to her right, she found the tip of the arrow to be lodged in the wall, less than an inch from her face. It had obviously been meant to narrowly miss Clarke's face, proving that her aim was precise enough to do so.
She turned her attention to Lexa, who was smiling triumphantly.
Clarke neutralized her expression, wiping it clean of the fear that it had just held. Lexa was already returning the crossbow to her bedside and taking a seat on top of the mattress. The brunette pulled the covers over her legs and fell onto her side, facing away from Clarke.
Suddenly feeling much safer, Clarke allowed her muscles to relax.
"You missed," she grumbled, hopefully only loud enough for herself to hear. Lexa didn't respond, prompting Clarke to trudge to her bed, plopping down on the blankets and laying back on her pillow, her heart still racing.
Needless to say, she didn't get any breakfast in the morning.
A/N: Ta-da! I really liked writing this chapter, which is probably why I wrote it in 2 days. And those two days might have been Saturday and Sunday. What can I say? I work best under pressure.
Also, completely unrelated , if you're looking for a good, new show to watch, check out Emerald City. It's only four episodes in and I'm hooked! It's a Wizard of Oz spinoff and usually I'm not big on fantasy shows, but wow.
Leave some feedback! I love to see how everyone is liking this so far. See ya' soon!