"Indra, I'm going out."

Her aunt turned, inquiring gaze set on Lexa. "Where are you going?"

"Out with a friend." Lexa said, with a still voice.

"For the fourth time in the last two weeks." Indra turned around, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Is there a limit?" Lexa hoped she sounded convincing enough. In the last month, Clarke and she had been seeing each other, both on the bus and outside. But while Clarke wasn't the exact definition a friend, they weren't at that stage where were they considered it a relationship yet, so Lexa didn't count that as lying when she had talked about Clarke as a new friend.

Indra raised an eyebrow too, "What's their name again?" she asked.

"Clarke."

"Mh." Lexa was tense for a long moment, fearing the inevitable question she sensed Indra was going to ask. Indra had an unreadable expression, something between curiosity and contemplation. "Is she the blonde one?"

Lexa exhaled, "She is. I'm gonna be late, bye." she said as she placed a quick kiss to her aunt's cheek.

As she was near the door, putting on her coat, Murphy appeared seemingly out of nowhere.

"People are strange these days."

Lexa jumped a little, cursing under her breath. "Weren't you studying in your room, Murphy?"

"Do you usually go on romantic dates with all of your friends?"

"Mind your own business."

He smirked, "Have a good time."

"Thanks." And she was out the door as fast as she could.

"O-ren Ishi is the badass, dude."

"I agree!" Lexa shouted excitedly from where she was perched o n the end of the couch. I could watch a four hour long film about Cottonmouth."

Clarke smiled, finally finished with slicing the pizza, "I am kinda sad they didn't do a sequel,"

"Who isn't, Kill Bill is probably everybody's favorite film."

It was incredible how Lexa found herself to be so comfortable around Clarke. They seemed to always have something to share with each other, something Lexa deemed to be a rare thing.

Clarke brought Lexa her plate and sat near her, biting her pepperoni pizza with an exaggerated moan. "Oh god, it's been too long,"

Lexa laughed, eyeing her amusedly, "It shows."

Clarke rolled her eyes, "Don't judge my love for pizza, I'm serious."

"Not judging. Just noting for future reference and possibly as blackmailing material."

"As if. All of my friends know I'm a pig," Clarke said with a shrug.

"You're not that much of a pig," Lexa laughed again.

"Oh, you haven't seen anything." She sneered, "I'm just behaving because it's you." But after a moment, she grimaced. "Also I shouldn't have told you that."

Lexa smiled around her second slice, as Clarke spoke on. "But now that we are here, actually you should know. My best friends say I'm a fucking pig too, and I'm mostly ok with it."

"Well, baby pigs are adorable."

"Every animal is adorable as a baby."

"I had a turtle once. It was adorable even as an adult."

"Turtles don't change that much tho."

"They do, it's subtle, but they do."

Clarke raised her eyebrow, feigning interest "Tell me more about it, please."

"There's not much to tell," Lexa laughed, amused. "It was called Yogi. It moved slowly. I lost it at summer camp. I cried for a week."

"I had a cat, Mel. She always attempted to kill every breathing being that crossed her path, humans included. Raven said she tried to suffocate her when she slept at my place a while ago."

Lexa smiled, "Who's Raven?"

"Oh, right. She's one of my friends. Precisely, she's one of the ones who call me a pig." Clarke laughed, shaking her head at the thought. "You will have to meet her someday, she's really the best."

Lexa smiled awkwardly, "You think she would like me?"

"Yeah, of course. They all will like you." Clarke grinned and nodded, apparently convinced. "I like you. Why wouldn't they?"

Lexa repeated those words in her head; she repeated the sincerity of it. Clarke was looking at her with honest wonder in her eyes. How could they not like her, she said. "I don't know. People that care about you can be protective," Lexa offered.

The direction this conversation was taking reminded her of her aunt. But she quickly brushed it off as Clarke spoke on.

"They could be," Clarke stated, pondering. "Ok, they definitely could. I have protective friends. But I am protective just as much, so. Don't worry. Besides, we can take things slow, no need to think about it now."

Lexa nodded, agreeing, a soft smile spreading on her lips. Clarke beamed, "Come here."

Lexa got up and got closer to Clarke, deciding to sit in Clarke's lap. Clarke hugged her from behind, pressing a kiss to her head.

"Thank you for the night, I had fun."

"Next time we're seeing volume two," Lexa smiled, "Now that I know you're a fan, we must watch all of Tarantino's films."

Clarke laughed, her face lighting up and making Lexa smile even wider than before. "Of course, I was counting on that."

Lexa shoved her hands in her pockets, rocking on her heels. Clarke hummed, looking up. The night was rather cloudy; she could see a mist slowly floating in front of the moon, its pale light faintly shining behind it. She might have heard a cricket chirping.

She was ready to call it a night, when she suddenly found Lexa in her personal space. The brunette was looking at her directly in her eyes. Clarke gaped just a bit, blown away by the clearness of their blue. She could barely hear herself breathe, her head filled with a million different voices, screaming at her to do something and do nothing at all. So she just waited, and she didn't mean to look down at Lexa's lips, but she did anyway. Chapped and pink, slightly parted, so full and quivering almost invisibly.

Her eyes shot up again, Lexa's own hadn't left her face. "So," Clarke swallowed her throat suddenly dry. She cleared her throat, feeling that if she said anything now, the moment would be ruined.

Lexa hummed, nodding slowly. "I think," she began. Clarke was pretty sure she was whispering, but to her it felt like shouting. "We should really, really kiss."

Clarke's breath catched in her throat, but before she could muster up a reaction, she felt Lexa's hand, gentle but firm on the back of her neck. Lexa surged forward, immediately capturing her upper lip between her own lips. Her tongue smoothed over Clarke's, eliciting a whimper from her. She was probably blushing, but she was too distracted by the sound of their lips smacking to care. Her mouth was warm with Lexa's breath, with her tongue, while everything around her seemed to be cold.

Clarke felt her insides boiling as Lexa parted just a bit only to bump Clarke's nose with her own, a gesture so affectionate, it might even be worse than the kiss itself. Clarke felt her heart pounding in her chest, and she was almost frightened by it.

She didn't want to open her eyes just yet, so she kept them shut for a second, before forcing herself to. She was met with the sight of Lexa's half-lidded eyes, probably as blown out as hers, staring hungrily at her lips. Her stomach did a back-flip, and as she tried to steal another kiss.

But Clarke was quicker, placing a smallest peck on her lips. Lexa pulled back, still dazed from it all to show any evident emotion.

"This time, it's my turn to leave you hanging." Clarke all but breathed, watching as Lexa gawked, astounded. "Well, kind of, at least." She added, with a shrug.

Lexa's gape turned slowly in a half smirk, and Clarke grinned proudly.

"I'll text you," she called out before turning on her heels and marching towards the car.

"John!" he heard his aunt calling him out from the living room.

"What?" he yelled back, hoping he wouldn't have to get up from his warm bed.

Silence. He hated it when she did that. A couple minutes passed before she called him again, and this time he got up, rolling his eyes and knowing that if he didn't he'd be met with Indra's rage. And he'd been there enough times to think twice about it.

He walked in the room, seeing Indra reading a book on the couch. When she heard him come in, she didn't look up. "Come here." She patted the seat next to her. Curious, Murphy approached her, taking the seat. "Did you need something?"

Indra composedly closed the book, turning to look at him with a calm expression. So he wasn't in any trouble, at least. "I wanted to ask you something."

Making sure wouldn't hurt, though. "What did I do?"

Indra blinked at him. "You're innocent, this time."

Murphy feigned relief, wiping a hand on his forehead and whistling, "Oh, thank god."

Indra made a face, shaking her head, but fondness was clear in her eyes. "It's about your sister."

Murphy perked up at that. This was his moment. "What did she do?"

"That's what I intended to ask." Indra stated, "She and that Clarke girl. What are they doing?" she sounded honestly curious.

Murphy smirked, readjusting himself to look at his aunt more comfortably. "I don't know much, to be honest."

Indra raised her eyebrow, "You know, I live in this house." She tilted her head expectantly.

Murphy grinned sheepishly, "Alright. But what's in it for me?"

Indra furrowed her brows, "I feed you."

Murphy stared at her blankly. He needed to lay his cards on the table. "Can I go to Cali with Mbege next summer?"

Indra squinted his eyes, "Who's Mbege?"

"Other John, auntie." Murphy informed.

Indra had a considering look, which had Murphy internally cheering already. "We'll see." Of course.

"Awesome." Murphy beamed contentedly, "Anyway, for what I gathered from Anya, Lexa has a crush on the princess. I don't know much else, really."

Indra hummed, pondering. The boy had already gone, probably off to tell Mbege they were spending the summer holidays together. Now, they really weren't, but Indra wasn't going to crush his hopes just yet.

She picked her book up, but she still thought about Lexa. Little Lexa that didn't talk to her when she arrived at her house at age seven. Little Lexa that cheered when she told her she was going to have another kid to play with. Little Lexa who threw a baseball ball at John when he pushed Costia down the slide while she was distracted. Little Lexa wasn't little Lexa anymore, and it was more and more evident with every day.

She opened her book, a fond smile on her face, and kept on reading.

"So," Indra sat on the couch, not quite near Lexa. "How are you?"

Lexa stopped typing on her laptop, slowly turning to look at her aunt. "Good." It sounded almost as a question, but Lexa wasn't able to keep the worry out of her voice.

Indra looked at her silently, her expression undecipherable as always. Lexa was tempted to just leave her be, but she knew she had to face this at one point.

She and Clarke had been going out together for almost two months now, and they still hadn't told anyone. Lexa had been mindless when she had told Anya. She had let Murphy figure it out.

"Why?" she asked in a small, voice, waiting for the fatal words.

"I've been told things."

"What did Murphy tell you?" she sighed, already plotting ways of making him regret it.

Indra grinned, laughing a bit. "So, this friend of yours, Clarke. Tell me about her."

Lexa felt her stomach turn, and she wasn't able to tell if she was about to puke from the pressure or if it was just the thought of Clarke who had that effect on her. Yeah, she was still in that stage.

"We… spend time together." She gulped, "And it's nice."

"Mh," Indra hummed, "Go on."

"Indra." She closed her eyes.

"I want to hear you say it, girl." Her aunt stated, serious.

"Come on, you already have—"

"Have I already? No, I haven't. Let me hear it."

Lexa closed her laptop, sighing heavily. "Indra, can it wait?"

Indra looked at her, this time with a soft yet amused gaze. "When is she coming to pick you up?"

"We canceled today; she had to study for a test."

The woman got up, "Ok, then. Next time, we'll all be eating together." And with that, she was out of the living room, leaving Lexa to panic alone.