Chapter 12

A/N: Hope you can forget about that devastating S03E07 with this chapter or maybe the show beat me to it? Haha :D Anyways, here is a special shoutout to "soulterror" for writing the 50th review of this little fic. I always love it when you people share what you liked / disliked or anything for that matter. Thanks for the support and you know it, Clexa forever!

It was a breezy evening. The sun sank lower in the sky, light of the day draining away. The shadows were now twice as long as themselves, air was damp and cooler. Clarke loved strolling down quite streets in the evening. What made this evening even more special was the person walking alongside her. She would steal glances at this said person every now and then and each time she did, a smile would sneak up on her face.

"So where are we going Clarke?" Lexa asked softly, her eyes, as calm as the rainy day, held Clarke's gaze.

"You will see", Clarke smiled as she hurried along, carrying a bag that contained her drawing supplies.

Lexa, clearly unsatisfied with the answer decided to just follow Clarke and see where she would take her. Clarke kept walking, and even picked up her pace, her eyes scanning the sky and the nearby surroundings. As she saw Lexa lagging behind a little from the corner of her eye, she grabbed Lexa's hand and urged her to hurry.

"Come on Lexa, Sun is about to go down, I don't want to miss it."

Lexa just hummed and laughed as she saw the urgency in Clarke's eyes and the glare that followed, when she didn't pick up her pace immediately. As Lexa looked around, her eyes kept coming back to the golden hair fluttering in the air in front of her. That's when a light breeze touched her skin, making her feel alive, and the only other sensation she felt was the warm and soft touch of Clarke's hand holding hers. She felt content, happy even but instead of enjoying the moment fully, her mind started thinking about the past and wondering if the moment was real or was it all just a dream. Before she could dive into the mess that her mind recently was, Clarke stopped abruptly, and so did Lexa.

"We are here..", Clarke announced as they both were now standing in front of a small gate to a park. It wasn't one of those park's from big towns. There weren't any jogging tracks, basketball courts, burger and hotdog vendors. Not acres of concrete interspersed with neat grass. It was a small park with wooden benches, ornamental trees, small fountains, a pathway that consisted mostly of dirt and rocks, and an opening to a small water body. There was no loud music around, just quiet where you could actually hear birds. As Clarke came to a stop just before the water, she put down her bag and sat on the bench facing the sunset. Lexa took a minute taking in all the scenery and small details her eyes were trained to observe since when she was little. She had spent quite a lot of time being in a secluded place like this. She hardly ever was alone back then, just like now. She looked back at Clarke whose eye were glimmering.

"This is a lovely place Clarke"

"mmhmm"

"Do you come here often?"

"Not really. Just when I feel like things are going too fast and I need to take a moment."

Lexa raised an eyebrow.

Clarke chuckled. "I didn't mean it like that. This is a special place and I used come here when I lacked inspiration to draw something. And in no time this became my favorite place to just sit on the soft grass and draw the sunset"

"You are saying you are lacking inspiration to draw now?" Lexa still wasn't convinced.

Clarke rolled her eyes,"No, you idiot... This place is special and you are special, that's why you are here."

Lexa glared at Clarke only for a moment before sitting down next to her and laughing as she hugged Clarke sideways.

Clarke shook her head and smiled, "and besides, all the inspiration I need is right next door."

With a cocky grin, Lexa relaxed back on the bench. Some time passed as they both enjoyed the quiet company of each other. Lexa's eyes were watching the horizon. Clarke's head was in her lap and Clarke's eyes looking up at Lexa's eyes and jawline.

"Lexa?"

"hmmm?"

"Anya said you used to enjoy being in places like this."

"mhmm"

Clarke kept quiet and gave Lexa chance to open up at her own pace.

"We used to spend so much time running around the trees, large grassy meadows, watching birds, identifying their species, making birds sounds, laughing… there was a lot of stupid, pointless laughing.. "

"We?" Clarke asked softly. "You mean you and Anya?"

Lexa shook her head. She took a deep breath and whispered, "Costia.."

"She was my best friend.. my.. .everything"

Clarke kept quite as she saw how Lexa's face was expressing nothing but pure hurt and it looked like it took a lot of efforts for Lexa to just speak this person's name. She raised her hand and wiped the tear that appeared on the corner of Lexa's eyes. Lexa looked down and smiled.

"Tell me about her.."

"We were inseparable. It felt like she was the only one who understood me or maybe tolerated me."

"She was your first love" Clarke whispered, voicing a fact rather than asking a question. Lexa took a moment as a laughing Costia flashed before her eyes and then nodded.

Clarke took a moment before she asked the next question, almost hesitating, "What happened?"

Lexa lost whatever control she had over the emotions that were about to pour out.

"First my parents… and then her...Cos...I.. I lost them all Clarke.. Even my grandma.."

Lexa sobbed heavily as those words came out of her mouth. Clarke was up in an instant and hugged Lexa tightly. She felt Lexa's body shook as Lexa let go of all the feelings and emotions she had bundled up inside her. Clarke's heart broke as she saw Lexa crying. There was a rawness to it, like the pain was still an open wound. Lexa hugged and clasped onto Clarke for support. She had hidden her grief all this time but now in this quiet, secluded place, with Clarke, she couldn't hold back. Clarke kept assuring her that she was there for her and it was going to be okay as she caressed her back gently. As the time passed, Lexa calmed down a little. Both of them sat down on the grass, staring as the red light orb slowly went down, Clarke completely forgetting about drawing the very same thing she was witnessing. They just sat there, clutching onto each others hands tightly.

"You remember the day when you took me to the museum?" Lexa spoke softly.

"You were sad about the plant and when you told me about your grandma?"

"That was the day…. Costia died."

Clarke's eyes almost bulged out of her head, "That's why you were… And I made a big deal about.."

"No Clarke.. That visit to the museum… That helped me in more ways than I can express. That day has always been.. and you... you made it just a bit easier." Lexa breathed out.

Clarke nodded. A few moments passed. "It was actually you, who insisted that we went to that museum since I was acting like a child and was about to cry." Clarke chuckled at the end.

Lexa smiled. "We both needed it I guess."

Clarke took a deep breath. "man, my timing has always sucked, hasn't it?".

Lexa wiped her eyes and chuckled, "Yeah.. pretty much"

Clarke pushed Lexa playfully and feigned being hurt.

She took a deep breath and her face was all serious suddenly, "I know it has. And this is probably the worst moment to say this.. it maybe premature to even think about… too soon for sure, some might say… But Lexa…"

"I love you!"

A/N 2: Please tell me what you think? And thanks for reading :)

- FringedOrchid