A/N: Here is the next chapter! Once again, let me know if there is anything you'd like to see! Let me know what you think. Thanks for reading!
The first time they get her good and intoxicated, Clarke learns two things about drunk Lexa: one, she can curse a blue streak that would make a sailor blush, and two, she likes to cuddle. More specifically, she likes to cuddle with Clarke, much to Octavia's chagrin.
She's currently draped herself across Clarke's lap and is all sharp elbows and pointy chin. "Will you quit fucking moving? I'm trying to relax, goddammit."
Clarke rolls her eyes, but tries not to squirm when a stray elbow digs painfully into her ribs. "Well, I'm also trying to relax and you're giving me bruises."
Lexa scoffs and rolls onto her side so that her face is against Clarke's stomach and falls silent when Clarke's fingers busy themselves with braiding her messy chestnut curls. Octavia sends Clarke a scathing glare from where she is sitting in Lincoln's lap on the arm chair. She receives a nonchalant shrug in return. Clarke isn't doing anything wrong. Lexa is the one the initiated the contact. Clarke tells herself that she has the resolve not to let anything happen when they're both in this state, but then Lexa turns her head and all Clarke can do is stare at her plump lips and imagine kissing them.
Raven chooses that moment to prance into the room with a half full bottle of vodka in her hand and Bellamy at her heels. Clarke is fairly certain they snuck off for a quickie in Raven's room, but she can't be sure. There is something that looks like a hickey peeking out from the collar of Raven's Fall Out Boy t-shirt, but the girl has a different boy in her bed what seems like once a week, so the jury's still out on that one. Besides, Clarke really doesn't want to think of her two friends getting intimate with one another. She'd already been scarred for life several times during the past two years. A person could only walk in on one of their best friends in so many Kama Sutra positions before their psychological health was affected.
But then Bellamy smirks and smacks Raven's ass with what he probably thinks is a sexy growl and, yup, Clarke needs to pull out the old brain bleach again. Octavia mimes gagging herself and Clarke can't help but nod in agreement.
"Ugh, heterosexuals," Lexa groans against Clarke's knee. "So fucking gross…"
Clarke laughs so hard she snorts and Octavia almost falls out of Lincoln's lap. He seems mostly disturbed by the whole situation. Raven has the good sense to blush, but Bellamy just shrugs. "Well, I was going to share my booze, but I guess not."
Lexa sits up so fast, the crown of her head slams into Clarke's chin. The pain doesn't faze her however, because she's stretching across the coffee table and grabbing for the bottle in her cousin's hand. "Not fair! Gimme the mother fucking vodka. Stop being so damn selfish."
"Ow… Lexa… Do you have to have such a hard head?" Clarke complains. She's pretty sure she almost bit off her own tongue.
"I think you've had enough, actually, Lex." Bellamy smiles good-naturedly at the belligerent girl and hands off the bottle to Lincoln instead. "Why don't you go ahead and get her to bed, Clarke? This is usually the point when she passes out."
Nodding and rubbing her chin where it had been hit, Clarke rises from the couch and begins to usher a reluctant Lexa from the living room. She ignores the warning glance Octavia sends her, because what kind of person would she be if she took advantage of Lexa in her current state? Her friends seriously need to grow more faith in her morals.
As soon as Lexa hits the threshold of her room, she sways on her feet and stumbles to her bed where she faceplants onto her pillows. She is asleep within seconds and Clarke pulls her house shoes off and maneuvers Lexa's dead weight under the covers. Before she leaves the room, she grabs a cup of water from the bathroom and a bottle of aspirin and leaves them on Lexa's bedside table.
When Clarke returns to the living room, Octavia is waiting for her. She can hear the others playing a drinking game in the kitchen, but the expression on Octavia's face tells Clarke she won't be joining them anytime soon. She sighs and crosses the room to sit by her roommate on their sofa.
"Hey."
"What are your intentions with my cousin?"
Clarke's eyes widen. Apparently they're just going to get straight to the point. "O, I swear to you, we're just friends."
"Oh, really? You guys looked pretty cozy on the couch tonight. And did you really have to go tuck her in? Did you get your goodnight kiss, too?"
"What is your problem?" Clarke's cheeks flush with the anger flowing through her veins. "Yeah, we've bonded over our common gayness, but nothing's happened between us beyond that."
Octavia deflates a little and has the decency to look ashamed. "I'm sorry. You have to understand that I'm just trying to protect her. She's gone through a lot in the past few years and I just think she needs to focus on herself for a while."
"I understand, but she's a big girl. Don't you think she can decide what she wants herself?"
"Clarke, her last relationship completely destroyed her. She was ready to ask her girlfriend to move in with her when that bitch decided she was done with women and broke up with Lexa to get back together with her ex-boyfriend. After she had been with Lexa for almost two years. It's been over a year now, but she's never been quite the same. She was always a little aloof, thanks to her dad, but never so closed off."
Clarke nods slowly. "I dated a straight girl once, too. Remember? I think every lesbian has been in love with one at one point or another."
"Anya was a dumpster slut, Clarke. She never deserved you." Clarke laughs at the name calling and Octavia joins in, finally losing the protective mother hen expression. "I'm glad you're friends with her, Clarke, I really am. Just please be careful. I'm not afraid to cut you."
"I know you're not." Clarke sighs and leans in to hug her friend.
Clarke waves goodbye to Mr. Kane, the head librarian, before exiting the building and stepping straight into a deluge. The rain is literally coming down in buckets and the only thing Clarke has to protect herself is a thin Polis sweatshirt. She can feel the moisture leaking through her layers and wetting her skin by the time she makes it to her car. She shivers in her seat and turns up the heater as high as it will go before fishing out her phone from her jeans where it somehow escaped being soaked.
Clarke frowns when she notices she has three texts and a missed call from Lexa. She remembers feeling her phone vibrating in her pocket, but out of respect for Mr. Kane and because she'd rather not lose her job for breaking the man's strict no cell phone policy, she'd ignored it. Feeling worry seep into her chest, she opens the texts and is relieved when she sees Lexa was only wanting to know if Clarke would pick her up from practice. She'd walked the short distance to the track and hadn't expected the downpour. Clarke scrolls through her contacts until she finds the name she's looking for. Lexa picks up on the second ring.
"Clarke?"
"Yeah. Sorry I missed your call. Are you still at the track?" Clarke can hear talking in the background but not the sound of the biblical flood that is coming down around her car.
"No. Practice got moved to the rec, thank god. Do you mind coming to get me? I'd really rather not walk home in this crap."
"I don't mind. I'd really rather you not catch a cold or ebola or something."
"I don't think that's how ebola works, Clarke," Lexa argues, but Clarke can hear the smirk in her voice.
"Well, I'm freezing my ass off and I was thinking about running by the Starbucks drive-through on my way over. Want anything?"
"Clarke, you may be my favorite person right now. A chai tea latte would make my day."
Clarke grins. "Well, if I knew coffee would make me your favorite person, I'd have started bringing you some every day."
"That would be a ridiculous waste of your money."
"Not if it makes you smile."
"That's- That's actually really sweet." Clarke swears she can see the bashful expression on Lexa's face as she speaks. "I'll be waiting on the front steps of the rec. Thanks, Clarke."
When Lexa hums at the first taste of the warm beverage on her tongue, Clarke really wants to take her hand and lean across the console to kiss her cheek. But then Octavia's protective face flashes through her mind and Clarke decides it's probably for the best that she not act upon her urges.
"So your hard ass coach didn't make you run in the rain? I thought you said her motto was 'what doesn't kill you makes you stronger?'"
Lexa takes another gulp of her drink before speaking. "Indra is harsh, but not cruel enough to make us practice in a monsoon. Besides, what would she do if her whole team caught pneumonia?"
"Run everything herself?"
Lexa chuckles and the butterflies in Clarke's stomach make themselves known. "Probably. It was kind of nice to have an easy practice though. I might do some yoga when we get home so I can get a better work out. I need to learn some new poses for my class."
"That sounds… fun." Clarke turns onto their street and tries not to imagine Lexa bending into yoga poses in her tight spandex pants. She fails miserably.
"You want to join? I'll teach you some easy poses."
Clarke can't say no to Lexa.
Turns out, Lexa's spandex pants aren't enough to distract her from the excruciating yoga induced pain. Raven tripping and eating linoleum, however, is.
All she had needed was a sharpie. She needed to sign her latest piece, which was due the next day, and she had misplaced all her markers. Knowing Octavia probably didn't have what she needed and that looking through Raven's mess for a sharpie would take longer than it was worth, she ventured toward her other roommate's room and knocked softly on the door. She could hear the sounds of orchestral music drifting through the closed door, so she knew the girl in question was home.
"Lexa?"
Still no answer. Thinking that maybe the other woman had stepped out and left her music playing, Clarke hesitantly turned the knob and pushed the door open, letting herself into Lexa's room. Her brain promptly short circuited.
Lexa, as it turned out, was very much home.
The brunette was stretched out on her stomach upon her bed. Okay, that was normal. She was dressed in a long t-shirt and a pair of nude boyshorts. Once again, nothing out of the ordinary. Perfectly acceptable sleepwear. Lexa's eyes were closed, thus she was unaware of Clarke's presence in her room. It was almost as if she was having an afternoon nap, and Clarke would've thought that's what she'd stumbled in upon if it weren't for the pillow between her thighs and the circular motion of the brunette's hips against said object. And the hoarse panting. Oh, god, the panting.
Lexa ruts against the pillow once more, shaking and gasping and arching, before she seems to take note that someone else is in the room. As soon as her mind processes that fact, she squeals, like, actually squeals, and rolls off the bed, taking her comforter with her. Clarke vaguely realizes that she definitely just walked in on her roommate having an orgasm.
"Oh shit, Lexa, I'm sorry!"
"Oh my god, have you ever heard of knocking!?" The incredulous voice comes from the blanket burrito at the side of the bed.
"I did knock! I just needed a marker and I thought you weren't home-"
"I'm home! I've been home!" Lexa's head finally emerges from the pile of blankets and the flush covering her cheeks is almost purple.
"Well, I see that now. God." They stare at anything but each other for a few awkward moments before Clarke clears her throat. "Well, I'm going to take this marker off your desk and go hide in my room so you can… erm, finish or whatever."
"You kind of walked in on me finishing, so I'm just going to go try and drown myself in the shower."
Clarke flushes and the throbbing between her legs returns full force despite her mortification. While she knew masturbation was a pretty normal activity, one that she, herself, partook in fairly often, she never imagined it was something Lexa would do. She's just always so tense. And grumpy. Definitely not the description of someone who gets their rocks off on a regular basis.
"I'm really, really sorry, Lexa." Clarke felt tears burning at the corners of her eyes, despite her arousal. She knew this was probably going to cause permanent damage to her tentative friendship with Lexa. She picked up the marker off the desk by the door and turned to exit the room.
"Clarke, wait." Lexa stood with her comforter wrapped around her waist and crossed the room. "I'm sorry, too. I'm just really embarrassed. I didn't mean to snap."
Clarke's honestly a little surprised that Lexa is apologizing, but she's relieved that her roommate is still talking to her when Clarke so clearly violated her privacy. "I kind of deserved it."
Lexa smirks, her cheeks still slightly pink and pupils dilated. "Kind of, but you also deserve to be forgiven. Provided you wipe this humiliating memory from your mind."
Clarke feels her lips curl into a fond grin. Lexa never ceases to surprise her. "Only if you do, too."
"Done. God, I'd be okay if I never thought about this again. Ever."
Clarke is pretty sure it's the only thing she's going to be able to think about. Ever.
They pretend pillowgate never happened and surprisingly things go back to normal between Lexa and Clarke relatively quickly. That is, if sexually charged gazes and awkward conversation are considered normal. At least, Clarke feels like the glances are sexually charged. When Lexa's cool, green eyes meet her own, Clarke feels warmth spread through her body all the way to her toes before it settles between her legs, leaving her wet and sticky and unresolved. Clarke can never tell what's going on in Lexa's mind, but part of her really, really hopes her roommate's body has the same reaction.
When she's not busy perving on her roommate, Clarke's actually learned a lot more about the girl. She learns that Lexa's favorite color is jade green and that her favorite snack is goldfish crackers and dill pickle spears and loves old black and white movies. She also learns that Lexa's birth mother died from breast cancer when she was in 8th grade and that she had not spoken to her father or stepmother since she graduated high school. Clarke remembers why, but doesn't comment, and Lexa seems grateful for that.
She tells Lexa about her parents' car accident and how her dad had been killed while her mom had lived and that their relationship has been strained ever since. Lexa just sits and listens while Clarke speaks and when her eyes sting from unshed tears, Lexa doesn't tell her it will be okay or offer trite condolences. She simply lays her hand over Clarke's and gazes into her soul.
The moment Clarke realizes her crush on Lexa is completely hopeless occurs one particularly warm day in the middle of October. Lexa has just finished her daily run and is laid out on the living room rug breathing heavily. Clarke is sitting on the couch watching the Ellen show and really trying her best to ignore the panting that reminds her so much of the time she walked in on Lexa.
"You going to live?"
She spares a glance at the girl still sprawled out on the floor, clad only in a sports bra and spandex shorts. Her chest rises and falls rapidly and there is still sweat glistening on her neck and collarbone. Clarke really wants to lick it off.
Lexa swallows hard and lolls her head to the side, finally opening her eyes to gaze at Clarke. "I'm okay," she replies, not convincingly enough, however, because she has to pause between words to breathe. "Just pushed myself a little too hard."
Clarke nods, still thinking her roommate is crazy for thinking that running is fun. Torture is never fun. Clarke is pretty sure that she is, in fact, allergic to running. Still, she rises from the sofa and goes to the kitchen to retrieve a bottle of cold water for Lexa. The girl takes it gratefully and presses it to her forehead before sitting up and taking a few sips from it.
"I need a shower."
Clarke grins and nods. Lexa did have a certain sweaty, outdoorsy smell about her currently and while it definitely wouldn't make for a great perfume or candle, Clarke can't help but find it a little sexy.
Lexa pushes herself up from the floor and takes a deep breath, swallowing several times, her cheeks flushing. "Oh, no."
Before Clarke can ask what's wrong, Lexa is striding into the kitchen and bending over the sink. Clarke rushes after her and grimaces when she's met with the sound of retching. She pulls the sweaty tendrils that have escaped Lexa's ponytail away from her face and rubs her heaving back. Lexa finally quiets after a few moments and runs the water to clean away the traces of her sickness. Clarke wets a paper towel and presses it to the back of Lexa's neck before moistening another and handing it to the other girl to wipe her face with.
"You okay?"
"I'm more embarrassed than anything," Lexa admits, turning so she can lean back against the counter.
"You're embarrassed because you threw up?"
"I'm embarrassed because I threw up in front of you. If I hadn't run so hard today, I probably wouldn't have gotten sick at all. It hardly ever happens to me anymore."
"If I decided to run, I probably wouldn't even make it to the sink. I'd just ralph all over the living room. It'd be a horror show. That's why I don't run. Also because I'm not fond of inflicting pain upon myself. You're kind of crazy."
Lexa shakes her head with a small grin at the joke and meets Clarke's gaze with intense green eyes. "Why did you take care of me?"
Clarke shrugs. "It's what friends do. You probably would have done the same."
"You don't know that." Lexa sighs. "I'm not used to have friends. Or at least having friends that care enough to come to my track meets and help me bake a cake and hold my hair back when I'm sick."
Lexa's eyes are a little misty and Clarke feels a sudden rush of affection for her roommate. She leans into the taller woman and wraps her arms around strong shoulders. She frowns when Lexa tenses at the contact, but tightens her grip regardless. Eventually, toned arms encircle Clarke's waist and return the embrace and a chin comes to rest on her shoulder. Clarke breathes in the scents of sweat and sun and Lexa and decides that Lexa's hugs are a little bit like magic. She decides that no matter what their relationship may become, Lexa hugs need to become a staple in her life.
The first time it happens, Lexa and Clarke are the only two present at the weekly roommate movie night. Raven has a night lab and Octavia has decided to ditch tradition to go out with Lincoln. The two girls are currently sitting on opposite sides of the sofa with the suspenseful underscoring of the b-list horror movie playing from the television.
It takes all of fifteen minutes to realize that the movie really is the most awful piece of crap either of them has ever watched. They spend the rest of the film giggling at the fake screams coming from the screen, trying to follow the completely ridiculous plot twists, and creating outlandish voices for the characters. It is the most unguarded Clarke has ever seen the other girl and she feels like they're finally moving forward with their friendship once again without any traces awkwardness. Eventually, Clarke has to turn her eyes away from the relaxed smile on Lexa's face because she is starting to creep herself out with the staring.
"I'm gonna grab a soda, you want something?"
"A water please."
Clarke nods and stands from the sofa before her attempt to step towards the other room is thwarted by the blanket that has wrapped itself around her ankles. She immediately pitches forward onto the opposite end of the couch and into Lexa. More specifically, she has fallen completely on top of her roommate. Like, there is no space between their bodies and Clarke can feel one of Lexa's thighs against her hip and the other held between her own. They're both rubbing their foreheads where they had made contact and when Clarke meets Lexa's eyes wide with surprise, she can't help but laugh.
It must be contagious, because soon Lexa's chest is shaking against her own and they're practically cackling at the mishap.
"Are you okay?" Clarke asks when she's able to breathe again.
Lexa nods with a smirk. "I don't think anything's broken. Except maybe your pride."
Rolling her eyes, Clarke makes to move off the brunette, but is stopped when the other woman gasps and is suddenly grasping Clarke's wrist where it is supporting her weight on the armrest.
"What-" She shifts her weight and the girl beneath her suddenly arches up into her with a strangled whimper. She fingers around her wrist tighten until Clarke can feel nails digging into her skin.
"Your knee…"
Clarke looks down between their bodies and sees just where her knee is situated. She can feel a blush painting her cheeks that must rival the dark flush crawling up Lexa's neck.
"Oh shit, Lexa. I'm so sorry."
Attempting to climb off the couch, Clarke only manages to drive her knee harder against the spot between the other girl's thighs. This time Lexa actually moans and her hips cant up against Clarke's thigh. Biting her lip, because that was probably the sexiest sound she's ever heard and wow she can feel the heat from Lexa's core seeping through the material of her tights, Clarke stills.
"Clarke. You've got to get off of me so I can go crawl under my bed and die."
It's clear Lexa is beyond embarrassed, but her eyes are so dark, almost black, and her breath is coming in sharp pants and Clarke is pretty sure she's beyond horny.
"Been a while?"
Lexa huffs. The action causes her to shift against Clarke once again and she jerks her hips, whimpering softly. "That is none of your business."
Clarke hesitates before pressing her knee forwards, reveling in the hiss that escapes Lexa's lips.
"I don't know about you, but I really wouldn't mind if this," she gestures vaguely to their bodies, "happened right now. It's been a long time for me too and I'd be lying if I said I'm not a little turned on right now. But, hey, just say the word and we'll pretend this never happened and watch another terrible movie instead."
Lexa looks up at Clarke through her lashes. For a moment, Clarke thinks she is going to demand they never speak again. However, she only gives a shaky nod and bends her leg that isn't squished into the cushioning of the couch back so that her muscular thigh is pressing up into Clarke.
Jerking at the unexpected contact, Clarke steadies herself on her hands before shifting so her hips fit firmly against Lexa's and grinds hard into her roommate. Lexa lets out a strangled grunt and that's all it takes for them to begin dry humping like teenagers on the sofa.
Lexa wastes no time in hooking her leg around Clarke's back and surges up to connect their lips. Clarke gasps into the kiss and moans breathily when her tongue meets Lexa's for the first time. Lexa nips at her bottom lip and soothes it with lick before diving back in. She is by far the most talented kisser Clarke has ever encountered. Clarke is forced to pull away and bury her face in Lexa's neck when breathing becomes an issue. She can feel the heat building in her core and she is pretty sure Lexa is getting close, if the gasping whimpers tickling her ear are any indication.
When Lexa comes, her eyes squeeze closed and the tendons in her neck strain and bulge. She arches up against Clarke, nearly knocking her from the sofa, and shudders hard. The keening moan that accompanies Lexa's orgasm is enough to send Clarke over the edge and she collapses on top of the other girl as a twitching mess.
Now, Clarke isn't really sure what the protocol for after sex cuddling is for roommates who just got each other off on the couch during movie night, but Lexa is more comfortable than she looks and Clarke's arms and legs feel like wet noodles. So in lieu of climbing off Lexa and pretending like she didn't just have a mind-numbing orgasm like she probably should, Clarke instead tucks her head against Lexa's collarbone and listens to her racing heartbeat.
"So that just happened."
Lexa stiffens when Clarke speaks before relaxing and running a hand along Clarke's back.
"And we shouldn't let it happen again."
Though she wants to argue, Clarke knows Lexa is right. Letting anything like this develop further would completely throw of the roommate dynamic of their household. Plus, between their respective jobs and classes neither Clarke nor Lexa have the time to facilitate a budding romance. Clarke just nods against Lexa's chest though she makes no effort to move. They'll work on sweeping this incident under the rug when Clarke can feel her toes.
Tomorrow, Octavia is probably going to kill her. Tonight, however, she is going to enjoy this.