Chapter 2: So About That Date...

The morning sun bleeds into Lexa's room through her thin curtains causing the brunette to stir in her bed. She yawned and stretched out moaning as her muscles woke up. Her phone call with Clarke last night came to mind and made her grin, they had talked for two hours, just talked about each other, likes and dislikes, dreams and living nightmares, family and friends, that kind of thing. They had decided to meet up for lunch today at a cafe half way between the two, The Ark.

Lexa leant over and checked the time on her phone 09:23, a lie-in for her. She peeled the covers off her and swung her legs over the edge of her bed, her feet meeting the soft carpet below. She gently padded along through the lounge and into the kitchen to make some coffee. Drink in hand she made her way back into the living room and sat down on the couch, turning the TV on. Finally deciding on some reruns of Orphan Black she settled down, making herself comfy.

Last night had been phenomenal, the gig was amazing of course, but meeting Clarke was so much better. All her life Lexa had been schooled to military perfection and in one night Clarke had destroyed her carefully constructed walls and opened her eyes to the possibility of happiness outside of rules and regulation.

Lexa never had an easy life in regards to love and care and had been hardened to know that she wasn't meant to be loved. Her parents never did, they were too busy hating each other, too busy hiding behind their military standards to pay attention. As a child she never got on with the other kids, she couldn't understand how immature they were, she couldn't understand how they could be happy. As a teen she never really interacted with the people in her classes, never went to parties, instead she immersed herself in schoolwork and Air Cadets. Military was all Lexa ever knew and it was her safety blanket.

At Cranwell she met Raven and they didn't like each other at first but they were teamed together and after butting heads for days they settled their differences and soon became inseparable, when they were both stationed at Marham they bought an apartment together in the vicinity and when Raven was injured Lexa looked after her until Raven could look after herself.

And now Lexa had Clarke. The beautiful blonde from a Paramore gig. Lexa knew she was screwed then and there, never had she felt so instantly drawn to another person, never had she been able to talk to them for so long over the phone and for it not to be awkward.

When the clock in the hall chimed ten Lexa got up and washed her mug. Raven and Octavia had yet to emerge but they were up very late last night so it was understandable. Lexa padded her way back to her bedroom, stripping off and grabbing her towel before she walked into the bathroom to start getting ready to see Clarke, to say she was excited would be an understatement.

Two hours later Lexa was pulling into the small car park of The Ark ready to meet Clarke. She walked in and saw the blonde at a table waiting for her, surrounded by other patrons. Lexa's training however, took over and she noticed that four of the patrons close to Clarke were all tall, strong men, who carried themselves in a way only military personnel would do. She looked outside and saw a car parked across the road with two men inside and two more men sat on a bench nearby, all four facing the cafe.

Lexa decided not to think too far into it, if there was something she needed to be aware of she would be aware of it by now.

Clarke looked up and smiled as she saw Lexa approaching, standing up to hug the other woman as she reached the table.

"Hi, I'm so glad you came," she said with a bright smile that warmed Lexa and forced a smile of her own to light up her features.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world."

Clarke smiled brighter if that were possible and told Lexa to sit. A waitress came by with two menus for them to look at.

After a few minutes of looking the waitress came back and the two women ordered their food.

"So Lexa, as much as i learnt last night, I feel like I don't know you as well as I'd like to."

Lexa leant back in her chair and looked at the blonde thoughtfully, "well, what more would you like to know Clarke?"

"Well what do you do, like what's your job?"

Lexa stiffened slightly, reactions to her job were always mixed, some people had no problem with the military, however, some people did and they sometimes liked to cause problems.

"I'm an officer in the RAF."

Clarke shouldn't have been surprised, she spent her life surrounded by military personnel, her father was even in the RAF as British tradition said all males in the royal family had to serve in a branch of the military, but for some reason Clarke had missed all the obvious signs when she looked at the brunette.

"Oh wow really, what rank?"

"Flight Lieutenant, I'm one of the pilots in my squadron."

"Wow, aren't you a bit young for a Flight Lieutenant?"

"I rose through the ranks quickly, just proves when you try hard you can succeed."

Their food came in that moment, cutting the conversation off for a moment.

"So Clarke what do you do?"

Clarke froze for a second, true she now trusted Lexa more that she was commissioned by her father, the King, and she did technically have a duty to protect her, but she wasn't ready to reveal her identity just yet to the brunette so settled on a half truth.

"I'm an artist." Not a lie, she did sell paintings of hers, not under her real name of course, but she couldn't exactly say on a first date that she was also the princess of England and was going to be the Queen when her father died could she?

"Wow an artist, you any good?" Lexa said with a cheeky grin.

"Well the people who buy my work seem to think I am, so I'd say I'm alright."

Lexa chuckled slightly at that and Clarke swore to herself then and there she would do whatever possible to make the brunette make that noise again. They soon finished their meals and talked for at least another hour after. Eventually though they had to leave as Clarke had to be getting back due to her security issues she couldn't be outside for extended periods of time. After several minutes Lexa finally convinced Clarke to let her pay for their meals but she had to promise Clarke that the blonde could pay next time. Lexa couldn't help but smile that Clarke had said there would be a next time.

They walked out of the cafe and stood at the parking lot, not knowing what to say or do but both not wanting to leave the other.

"So I'll call you, or text you whichever."

Lexa chuckled again and it made Clarke's heart jump at the sound.

"Yeah Clarke that would be perfect."

The blonde smiled shyly at the brunette, she stood up taller and kissed Lexa's cheek softly, "well I guess I'll see you later then."

Lexa smiled dopily at Clarke, touching the spot on her cheek that the blonde had just kissed, "yeah sooner rather than later though."

"Of course m'lady wouldn't want you missing me too much would I?"

The brunette chuckled again, kissed Clarke's cheek and responded, "okay honey, I'll see you sooner then."

The blonde blushed and nodded before she turned from the brunette and reluctantly made her way to her car, sending a small smile and a wave to Lexa before she climbed in and drove home, her security following her all the way.

Octavia was still out by the time she got in and normally she'd be worried but last night she did seem to really be into Raven and she knew her friend could look after herself, and if she got in trouble she had Bellamy to protect her too.

Her phone rang in her pocket so she dug it out, smiling, expecting it to be Lexa. However, the name that popped on the screen was not Lexa's it was her mother.

"Hey mum"

"Clarke Griffin you better start explaining yourself right away."

"Whoa mum calm down, what did I do, what are you talking about?"

"Oh don't give me that young lady, if you didn't live so far away I would be at your house right now."

"Mum I don't know what I've done, care to share?"

"You've been out on a date with another woman Clarke!"

"Who told you?"

"That doesn't matter Clarke what if you were spotted or recognised? You're the next in line Clarke you can't just flirt around with random girls, you're not young anymore Clarke you need to find a man to settle down with and marry, it is not befitting of the future Queen of England to be seen romantically involved with another woman. Now I want no arguments with you Clarke, end things with this girl now, that's an order."

Clarke had tears already leaking from her face, her own mother wasn't even supportive of her, she understood that if her relationship with Lexa went further there would be issues with tradition and public reaction, but she thought her mother would be there for her through that.

"I won't do that mum, I care about Lexa, I won't end my relationship with her just because you don't agree, I don't care about tradition, if I have to when the time comes I'd abdicate but I won't pretend to be someone I'm not just to please everyone. I'm bisexual mum and I'm seeing a woman, get used to it."

There was silence on the other end and even though Clarke felt stronger in herself that she had stood up for herself and shown her mother that she wouldn't bend on this matter, she still felt sick, sick that her mother wouldn't support her, sick that because of her status her personal life wasn't so personal, that she had to conform to certain rules just to make the public happy, to keep up her appearance, she was sick of it.

"Clarke I hope you understand what you're doing here, I hope you understand I truly do because you're making life so much harder for yourself and our family. I'll talk to our advisors over this, but trust me Clarke this will not be the end of this discussion, I hope this girl is worth the trouble I really do."

And with that her mother hung up, leaving Clarke confused. She wiped the tears from her face, sighing heavily. She had a choice to make, she had to decide if Lexa was really worth it. She thought of the hours talking last night, of her smile, how she made Clarke laugh, how they seemed to just click, how the brunette knew what she was thinking, Clarke knew there was no choice really. Lexa would always be her choice, it may make things harder and she would have to fight many battles to win this war, but she decided it would be worth it for Lexa.

She pulled her phone out of her pocket again and dialled, the phone answering after two rings.

"Wow Clarke, miss me already?"

"Lexa, can you come over as soon as you can, there's something I need to talk to you about."