Clarke had nearly finished cleaning up the left over debris from the party, and she had been more-than-a-little-bit hoping that Lexa would invite herself over to help. Not that Clarke needed the help, obviously, she just wanted the company. Clarke had turned her music on loud enough that she was sure the girl from the apartment next to hers could hear it, but not loud enough to wake her up at 9 o'clock on a Sunday. She wasn't an animal. But unless Clarke had missed her knock, Lexa was yet to appear. She got it, things were more than weird between the two of them and she probably just offered because she didn't know what else to say. Clarke still thought she sounded pretty genuine but whatever. Maybe the only way Clarke could actually talk to this girl was through the wall of her shower, but after meeting her she couldn't help but feel disappointed about the possibility of that being true.
Clarke was growing more and more angry with Lexa as the minutes ticked by, mostly to mask her disappointment from herself, for not even bothering to come and say hello after making a promise to come and help the night before, I mean who does that? If you tell someone you're going to do something the least you can do is let them know if you decide you're not going to do it after all. But no, nothing, no polite knock and excuse for not being able to come over, just complete radio silence.
When a knock did come from her door less than a minute later, Clarke wasn't surprised to find herself in a rather foul mood. She even considered not opening the door, despite the fact that she knew she was being petty and a little bit ridiculous for feeling as upset as she was.
"Clarke? Are you home?" Lexa called through the door, though Clarke was sure she must know, she still had her music playing for one thing.
"Hey Lexa, yeah I am, hang on just let me get the" Clarke pulled open the door and stopped mid-step. All of the negativity Clarke had been building up was gone in a fraction of a second, because there was Lexa, standing on her doorstep wearing what must have been the most impractical work-out gear Clarke had ever seen. That probably explained why she hadn't come over yet, but here she was after all, just like she had promised. "Door," she finished weakly.
"Sorry I'm so late, I was at the gym with Lincoln but I thought I'd still come by and see if you needed any help? I know I offered late last night so you probably don't even remember but I left at 7 this morning so I didn't think you'd want my help then either," Lexa was mumbling, trailing off into an awkward shuffle outside Clarke's door. She was generally the picture of confidence, and she wasn't sure she'd ever heard anyone describe her as 'shy' but standing in front of this girl was making her re-think a lot of things she thought she already knew about herself.
Clarke was almost lost for words. Lexa was standing outside her apartment wearing practically nothing (there was only a tiny difference between underwear, and booty shorts and a crop-top in Clarke's opinion, and this outfit was definitely borderline), looking like a freakin' Greek goddess, and it seemed like she was almost apologising for being there, like somehow she thought Clarke wouldn't want her to be standing outside her door.
"No, no, come in, I um, I'm nearly done but you can come in for a drink of water or something, it looks like you might need one? I mean you could always get one from your own place but"
"Thanks Clarke, yeah, I'd love one" Lexa said, gently cutting Clarke off and stepping inside her apartment for the second time in less than 24 hours. For someone who had been living next door for so long, it was almost surprising that this was the first time she'd actually been invited in. She wasn't sure last night actually counted given that Clarke didn't even know she what she looked like before she stepped inside, and she certainly didn't get an invite for the party she'd ended up crashing.
Setting a cold glass of water on the kitchen bench and gesturing to a bar stool for Lexa to sit on, Clarke asked "so Lexa, what is it that you do to keep such strange showering hours?"
As it turned out, the two of them got along so well after that first strange night at Clarke's house that Lexa found herself spending more and more time there, inviting herself over, more often than not, to marathon The West Wing, which Lexa herself didn't own. Having someone live next-door who she could actually spend time with was pretty novel, but Lexa was enjoying how easy it was for the two of them to almost instantly become friends.
Clarke had taken to really testing the boundaries of their showering arrangements, however, by frequently choosing songs that forced Lexa disclose a little more than she would have liked about what kind of music she listened to. When Clarke put on Justin Bieber's 'Baby' she almost stayed silent during the rap – knowing the lyrics to the chorus was pretty acceptable but being able to sing along with Ludacris was pretty, well, ludicrous. Lexa figured that it was worth it when Clarke nearly snorted with laughter at her singing the "at school on the playground" line; no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't deny that she craved the sound of the blonde's laugh.
What she also couldn't deny was the frustratingly large crush she had seemed to form on the girl next-door, especially after they met and she found out how cute the blonde was in person. She hadn't put much of a value on relationships after the whole Costia debacle, and she certainly wasn't keen on the idea of starting a relationship with someone when they practically already lived together – one thin wall between them. But, that being said, they got along really well, and all the time they had been spending with each other lately was putting a bit of a strain on Lexa's self-control. Just yesterday she thought maybe there had been a moment between the two of them, Lexa laughing at Clarke's joke and Clarke not looking away as Lexa stopped giggling long enough to make eye contact, but it passed and Lexa couldn't tell whether she was over-thinking things or whether it had actually happened. She wished it did.
Lexa often invited herself over, nowadays, which, if she was being honest, Clarke didn't mind at all. So when Clarke heard a knock on her door just as she was cleaning up after a disappointingly lonely dinner, it was no surprise that she found Lexa on the other side of the door, fresh from a run.
"Hey, you, how far did you get today?" Clarke said, letting Lexa move past her into the apartment.
"I didn't get very far at all, actually, I'm wiped for some reason today. I thought maybe I could come over and watch a movie or something? If you're free?" Lexa replied.
"Yeah, that's cool, I was actually about to throw on that Love Actually movie, you know? The one with Hugh Grant?"
"Oh I know the one. I've always wanted to watch it but I've never really gotten around to it."
"Hang on," Clarke said, "do you mean to tell me that in all twenty-two years of life you've never seen Love Actually?"
Lexa laughed, "well no, but clearly tonight is my night."
"Damn right it is, grab the remote, I'll get the wine" Clarke replied, already on her way into the kitchen.
After Clarke laughed unnecessarily hard at Hugh Grant's security guard singing the Christmas carol, and Lexa cringed into Clarke through all the scenes with Martin Freeman in the porno, the two of them had shuffled so close together that they were practically sitting on top of each other; their legs crossed with Clarke almost facing Lexa, her knee pressed into the back of the couch. The movie rolled on in the background, finishing up the credits and then playing the title menu on a loop as the two of them talked about the film, then their work and their lives before they had moved into the shitty apartment block they called home.
"You're probably regretting moving out of that mansion to come live here, hey" Lexa teased after Clarke recounted a story of having nearly electrocuted herself trying to plug her toaster in the other day.
"Well, yes and no. I kind of like it actually. It's nice not having to rely on my parents for everything. Plus, you know, some of the people are nice here…" Clarke trailed off, not sure where she was really going with that and not sure how she could take it back.
She was kind of expecting Lexa to laugh it off, make a joke out of it and keep it casual, Clarke did enjoy having company here after all- it didn't have to mean more than that.
Lexa didn't though, it was nearing one o'clock in the morning and she didn't laugh or brush it off, she leaned in, waited for Clarke to take a hint and meet her halfway, and she kissed her. Lexa wasn't sure why she did, she had been determined all night not to let her feelings get away from her, but one way or another she found herself sitting on a couch, her lips pressed to Clarke's and realising that she should have done it sooner.
Lexa pulled back after a couple of seconds, ready for an awkward exchange and for Clarke to tell her she wasn't interested or make an excuse, possibly even to leave the apartment despite it being her own. But with one hand to the back of Lexa's neck, Clarke guided her back in, her eyes not even opening during the exchange enough to see the small look of shock on Lexa's face. She pressed her lips to Lexa's, harder than before, letting herself feel all the pent-up excitement and nervousness she had felt leading up to this moment. Climbing over the few inches of space left between them, Clarke crawled into Lexa's lap fully, ravelling in the feeling of Lexa's hands come up from behind to press into her back and slip up under her shirt. Clearly Lexa wanted this as much as Clarke did, and the thought spurred her into licking the very tip of her tongue over the swell of Lexa's bottom lip, asking for permission. It was freely given with a small sigh and an extra nudge to Clarke's back, so Clarke pulled back just enough to put some space between their open mouths, their foreheads barely separated, and let her tongue lick into Lexa's mouth, gently caressing Lexa's tongue with her own and shuddering at the feeling.
Lexa, unable to really comprehend how Clarke was sitting in her lap, with her tongue inside her mouth, bucked her hips just enough to make Clarke bounce up, her hands now on either side of Lexa's face shifting just slightly in surprise. Lexa trailed her hands down Clarke's spine from underneath the hem of her shirt and slid them over the back of her shorts, lifting Clarke enough to get her to follow the movement as Lexa leaned back into the couch, effectively lying Clarke down on top of her. Clarke let out a small moan and pressed more heavily into Lexa's front, her thumb beginning to rub little circles into Lexa's temple. Lexa couldn't stop herself from moving her hands back around to Clarke's front and palming her breasts through her shirt, making Clarke squeak and let out a small chuckle. Clarke sat up on her knees a little and went to strip off her shirt, but Lexa's hands on hers made her pause.
"I think maybe I should go home. It's getting late, and I like this," Lexa said, gesturing between herself and Clarke, "I like it a lot, but it's probably not a good idea for me to stay too much longer or I won't be able to help myself."
"Yeah okay," Clarke said, extricating her legs from the couch cushions they had slid into the gaps of, "I think that's a good idea. Sleep. Also a good idea because," she said, looking at the time, "shit. I have work in five hours. This, um. This has been nice. Maybe, we should do this again?"
"I'd like that a lot" Lexa replied. "Goodnight, Clarke."
"Night, Lexa."
To anyone who is upset about Clarke sleeping with Bellamy: I felt like the two of them being together that one time in this story was a good fit, but I appreciate that in some cases you disagree with me. She'd not going to sleep with him again, the reason they slept together was so I could introduce the "dirty talk" theme earlier in the story so it isn't a shock when Clarke and Lexa get together. The fact that Lexa heard it is important for three reasons: one – because the walls are thin and that's the literal premise of this story, two – Clarke is bisexual and a woman who I feel would definitely have a healthy sex life if she wasn't living on a post-apocalyptic earth and I'm sure Lexa can appreciate that, and three – because I wanted Lexa to know about the dirty talk before Clarke did it to her when they have sex. The way I've written it is pretty intense and tbh I think I'd be pretty shocked if someone started talking to me like that and I wasn't expecting it. You'll see, I guess!