Chapter 16

A/N: Guess who's back :) Damn.. it's been months. :/ About the mistakes in previous chapters, this story isn't beta'd by anyone and sometimes I miss a few things when I proofread. I hope you can look past them, if not.. oh well !

At the same time, in a cabin on a secluded hill top, Anya paced around in the room. Her left hand was on her holster as she walked around in the living room. A pair of green eyes followed her every movement.

"Anya!"

Anya shook her head and kept pacing around in the room. "No."

"Please, I need to talk to her."

"It's not safe Lexa! Neither for you or her."

Lexa's eyes were fixed on nothing particular. All she could picture was Clarke's blue eyes filled with worry. "I need her to know that I didn't just woke up one day and abandoned her. I just want her to know that I am okay..". Lexa sighed, her voice trembling a little now, "I need to know that she is okay too."

Anya sat down next to Lexa and hugged her shoulders from side. "I know Lex, I just need more time to.."

Lexa bit down on her lower lip, angry and frustrated, "How much longer Anya? It's been a week for god's sake."

Anya visibly deflated. "Pike has someone working for him on the inside Lexa. I just don't know whom I can trust. "

Lexa nodded, unconvinced. She was at a point where she practically couldn't care about herself anymore. Only the thought of Clarke getting caught in the crossfire was stopping her from bolting from the cabin. But she had to do something. Her mind was racing, trying to find a way to reach Clarke somehow.

"I have to go now Lexa, promise me you will stay safe and just please, please give me some time to sort this out.", Anya's voice was tired.

Lexa nodded without looking at Anya. As Anya made her way to the car parked right outside the cabin, Lexa watched Anya walk to her car and drive away. She then looked for her cell phone which was tucked away somewhere and started reading weeks old conversations with Clarke. This was how she had spent her time in the cabin for past few days. Reading her old messages and spending time exploring nearby surroundings. Never too far though. But today was different. Lexa had made up her mind. She checked her phone one last time to see if she had any network range, but like last time she had checked, there was no such luck. After waiting for a while, she got up. Quickly getting into her boots and throwing a jacket over her shoulders, she hurried out of the cabin.

It was a cloudy day. She looked up once to the sky as she walked the small road that connected the cabin to another muddy road. The hill top wasn't that high but the cabin was surrounded by trees and it wasn't easily noticeable from the ground. As Lexa walked down the road, she contemplated what she was going to say to Clarke. Pretty soon she found out that there were so many things she wanted to say and at the same time she just wanted to hear Clarke's voice again. No matter if it was just Clarke giving her her piece of mind. As Lexa thought about Clarke, she didn't even realize that she had started running, her body moving on it's own accord. With every moment, the need to hear Clarke's voice increased exponentially and Lexa abandoned the road and entered the small opening into the woods.

As soon as Lexa stepped into the woods, suddenly it was dark everywhere. Lexa felt as if she had underestimated the utter blackness of the woods and it wasn't even nighttime yet. She kept running though. It was disorienting to be almost blinded. Even when she glanced upwards to the sky, all she saw were the bare branches spiked into the sky and the tree tops, swaying. There were only small sounds of rustling bushes and the howl of the wind, apart from her heart thudding loudly of course. Surprisingly making her way through the woods along a narrow path, which was made uneven by the knotted roots that crossed it; branches; decomposing leaves, was easier than she thought it would be. As if it came naturally to her. Soon she spotted an opening, and she was almost out of the woods when her phone started beeping.

Her run came to an abrupt halt as soon as she heard the notification sounds of her phone. She rested palm of her left hand on the nearby tree for support and took her phone out with the other hand. She took a few deep breaths as she tried to look at the screen. The flowing water of the small river crossing her path caught her attention and she slowly walked towards a large tree rooting near the river. She sat down with her back against the tree, facing the water as she stared at her phone. Her phone was busy calculating the number of messages and calls she had missed from Clarke. Lexa was eager to read those messages but equally scared. After taking a moment to gather herself and find courage, she opened the messages. The first few messages were just Clarke wishing her good morning, asking her out for a quick brunch. The next few were similar but Clarke wondering where Lexa was. There was a little gap after these messages, maybe she was giving me some space, Lexa thought. The next batch was after Clarke had tried to call her unsuccessfully for quite a few times. The tone of Clarke's messages had changed from worrisome to down right angry and quickly back to Clarke saying sorry and getting more worried. Lexa shivered as she read through Clarke's messages. Her hands shook a little as she read Clarke pouring her heart out. Apparently worried and scared Clarke was not afraid of speaking her mind without holding back anything. She couldn't even go through all the messages before her fingers found the Dialer on their own and the phone was pressed to her ear like it was the final call she was making.

The phone kept ringing. Every second felt like an eternity to Lexa. She was holding her breath without even realizing it. And then there it was. A soft, small voice uttering her name. "Lexa?"

Lexa's heart fluttered at the sound of Clarke's voice, and her lips curved to form a slightest of smile. "Clarke" She breathed. Both of them spent next minute whispering each others names. Once Clarke had confirmed she was actually talking to Lexa, she started an onslaught of questions.

"Where are you Lexa? Where have you been? Are you okay? Why didn't you reply to any of my messages? Where the hell are you Lex?" were some of those…

"I.. I can't tell you Clarke. But I'm okay."

"What do you mean you can't tell me? And how do you think I am doing Lex? It's been a week. You should have at least told me something. I was so scared.. I am still scared. I need to see you Lex." Clarke's voice was trembling.

"Something very important came up and I had to leave. I am with Anya. So don't worry okay? Please Clarke, just trust me?"

"This doesn't make any sense Lexa, what happened exactly?"

"Clarke.. please.."

"No.. Lexa. Everyone is worried about you. Whatever it is, just come back and we will face it together. "

"I.. I can't." Lexa sighed. "Just.. I will see you soon, okay?"

"Wait!… Lexa.." Clarke was too late as Lexa had already disconnected the call. Lexa sighed heavily as she closed her eyes. It was just the sound of river again. The air was rich with fragrance of leaves and damp. Lexa felt the breeze had a pleasant coolness and it was helping calm her mind. She whispered, "I love you Clarke.."

A/N 2: Sometimes I feel like if only I could show you how the scenes unfold inside my head frame by frame lol. It's hard to write all that down sometimes. And I don't have enough prowess over writing as you can already see. Haha! Have you ever felt like that? Anyways enough rambling, thanks for reading and have a good day/night! :)

- FringedOrchid