Note: As usual, a huge shout-out to my beta reader Sally. She made some suggestions on this chapter that not only were excellent, but greatly enhanced this story. It also added about 2000 words :). I hope you all enjoy.
Week 2 – Lexa
Week two of Anya's visit carried on more or less the same way week one had. The two continued to check out many of the touristy things that they didn't get to in the first week, and Lexa and Anya spent a lot of time catching up and reconnecting.
On Sunday, Lexa surprised her by taking her out to brunch.
"Where are we going?" Anya asked for the tenth time.
Lexa just smirked and rolled her eyes at her friend. "Be patient, Anya. We're almost there. You'll like it, I promise."
"You know I don't like surprises," Anya growled.
"It's just brunch, Anya," Lexa replied, trying not to laugh and eyed her friend mischievously. "No one's going to jump out at you."
Anya glared at her friend and said indignantly, "That was NOT funny, Lexa! It almost gave me a freakin' heart attack. I have been suspicious around my birthday ever since."
Lexa chuckled again, "Ah, but you should have seen your face. Best surprise party ever!" She glanced over at Anya, who was still fuming about the 'surprise' party Lexa had thrown her several years before.
"I wanted to kill you," Anya said, finally falling into a smile. "You're just lucky Cost..."
"We're here," Lexa interrupted tightly, all trace of humor gone from her face.
Anya shut her mouth sharply and cursed herself. She shot a look over at Lexa and watched as the younger woman worked valiantly to get her face under control as she parked the truck. When Lexa looked back at Anya, there was an apology in her eyes, but all she said was "Ready? Let's go get some brunch."
Anya followed Lexa into a restaurant called Perry's, looking up at the black awning with the address above the entrance. There was a line-up to get in, but Lexa just walked to the front and gave the hostess her name.
"You made reservations?" Anya whispered as they waited off to the side for the hostess to return.
"I made them as soon as I knew you were coming. It was lucky that I managed to get any, this place is crazy busy – especially on Sundays," Lexa replied.
"Why? What's so different about Sunday?" Anya wondered, trying to see into the restaurant.
"You'll see," Lexa replied.
After a moment, the hostess returned with a smile and offered to show them to their seat. The two women followed, and it took Anya less than ten seconds to figure out why Sundays were so popular. Anya's mouth dropped open, and a smile lit up her face.
"Drag queens! The servers are all drag queens," Anya said with wonder, looking at the flamboyant costumes, (or lack thereof) on many of the servers in attendance.
The women were shown to their seats and then quickly got food from the impressive buffet, before returning just in time for the next show. They sat and ate, and watched the drag queens waltz around the room, singing and dancing to Gloria Gaynor's "I will survive." Lexa couldn't help thinking how appropriate that particular song was given her current situation and mental state. She often felt as though she was just surviving, but maybe, just maybe, she was ready to more.
It was a very entertaining show, and the smile didn't fall from Anya's face once, and as a result, neither did Lexa's.
It got even better when one of the queens came and grabbed Anya's hand and pulled her from her chair to seat her in the middle of the room, next to an older gentleman who looked as though his eyes were going to bulge from his head. Lexa stood and whistled to her friend and then pulled out her phone so she could record the next few minutes for posterity.
Before Anya knew what was happening, a beautiful, drag queen in a very skimpy outfit was straddling her legs and giving her a lap dance while trying to feed her fruit with their teeth. She took the offered slice of apple, and the queen leaned down and planted a sloppy kiss on her cheek before getting up and moving over to repeat the process with the man sitting beside them. Anya shot Lexa an amused glance before starting to giggle as she watched the blush start to rise in the man's face, beside her. He was clearly embarrassed but managed to get through it with grace and everyone clapped for the two 'volunteers' as they made their way back to their tables.
The show came to an end a few minutes later, and the restaurant settled back into the regular hum of patrons eating, talking and enjoying themselves.
"This is unbelievable, Lex." Anya gushed. "I haven't had this much fun in ages. Thank you for bringing me here."
"You're welcome," Lexa replied with a smile. "You should really thank Lincoln, though. He told me about this place. He's wanted to bring me for a while, but I kept turning him down. He suggested it again when I told him you were coming, so I did some research and decided to make the reservations."
"Well, I'm glad you did," Anya stated, reaching out and clasping Lexa's hand. "And I'm glad you're here with me."
"Me too," Lexa said, squeezing Anya's hand.
They spent some time, picking at the remains of their brunch, drinking their mimosas and talking about their years together in Seattle. After about the fifth awkward silence after a stunted conversation that the two couldn't seem to get right, Lexa sighed deeply and looked at her friend.
"I'm sorry, Anya," she said.
"For what?" Anya replied. She knew where this was going, but felt it was important that Lexa verbalize it, so she feigned ignorance.
Lexa sighed again, knowing what Anya was doing.
"I'm sorry that I'm so hard to talk to," she murmured. "We're reminiscing, we have a history together, and I keep shutting you down."
"I know why you do it, Lex," Anya said. "Our history isn't just our own."
Lexa looked down, shaking her head. "No, it's not. But it's not fair to you. You shouldn't have to censor everything you say, or try to bring up something that happened between us years ago and have me stop participating just because it could lead somewhere else."
Anya looked at her friend and decided to take a risk. "It's been two years, Lex," Anya started softly. "Why can you still not talk about them? About her?"
Lexa's head snapped up at the comment, and she stared steadily at her friend, a war of emotions battling across her face.
Anya's posture was stiff, waiting for the inevitable backlash she was expecting from Lexa, but all she saw in Lexa's eyes was sorrow and guilt, so much guilt it made Anya's heart break.
Lexa's shoulders slumped, and she looked away from Anya and down at the table. Anya reached out and grasped Lexa's hand again and squeezed. "Hey. You do know that what happened wasn't your fault, right?" Anya heard the sharp intake of breath at her words, but Lexa didn't try to pull out of her grasp, so she charged forward.
"It was an accident, Lexa. You couldn't have prevented it. You had nothing to do with it." Anya had said these same words to Lexa over two years ago. They had fallen on deaf, grief-stricken ears then, and Anya hoped her friend was in a more forgiving place two years later. The fact that Lexa wasn't raging at her as she had done back then, that she hadn't even pulled away from the grip Anya had on her slender fingers gave her hope. She squeezed Lexa's fingers again and was immensely relieved when she felt the slight squeeze back.
Lexa sniffed, "I know," she said breathing out as she wiped the tears from her eyes with her free hand before she looked up at her friend. "I know," she repeated a bit more firmly. "I just…I can't do this, not here. Later, okay? I promise. I do want to talk to you about this I just need to wrap my head around it, and I'm not finding that a very easy thing to do right now."
Anya stared at Lexa for a few moments before nodding her head and giving her hand another squeeze before letting go.
"Later," Anya said, wondering when later would be.
Christmas Day was a low-key affair; spent playing cards and opening gifts. Dinner was relatively straightforward, everyone doing their part to help prepare the turkey, potatoes, salads and pie for desert, and clean up after. After dinner, Lincoln put on National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, a family tradition, and leaned back on the couch and popped the button on his jeans, moaning and rubbing his belly. Gustus joined him and mimicked his movement's moments later. They all drank homemade eggnog, complained about how much food they all ate, watched the movie, and laughed until they cried.
They spent December 28th split between the National Museum of Natural History and the Smithsonian Institute. Lexa wandered around and read everything there was to read while Anya gawked at everything there was to see.
"I'm sorry for dragging you to all these places," Anya commented as they wandered from the Natural History Museum to the Smithsonian.
"You are not dragging me anywhere," Lexa replied. "Besides," she added sheepishly, "I haven't seen any of this before."
"What?" Anya looked at her incredulously. "You've lived here for over two years, and you haven't visited any of these places?"
Lexa ducked her head. "Nope."
"Lexa..." Anya started.
"I just didn't feel like it, okay," Lexa started defensively. "It didn't seem necessary. In the beginning, it seemed like too much work. Later I would walk around here but never had the motivation to go inside anywhere. I just couldn't be bothered."
Lexa paused momentarily, before finishing quietly, "And, I didn't want to go alone."
Anya stopped and looked at her friend as Lexa continued to walk ahead. Lexa stopped a few steps later when she realized Anya had halted. Lexa turned and looked at her; one eyebrow raised in question. Anya moved toward her again and when she had caught up, stood directly in front of her best friend. She put her hands on Lexa's shoulders and looked her directly in the eye. "You were never alone, Lexa."
Lexa knew what Anya was implying; she meant that Anya had always been there for her. That Lincoln and Gustus also would always and had always been there for her. So she slowly said, "Intellectually, I think I knew that, but emotionally I felt so alone, so adrift on my pain and anger that that was all there was for me for a long time. I buried myself so deep that I lost all sense of who I was for a long time, but it was the only way to escape it all, to survive. It wasn't until I started to play hockey again that I felt like a part of me was resurrecting, and I was beginning to find myself again. Then I met Clarke..." Lexa trailed off, casting her eyes to the ground.
It was the first time Lexa had brought up Clarke all week. Anya hadn't wanted to push her, knowing from what Lexa had already told her over the phone, and what she had managed to get out of Lincoln, that it would come up eventually. She was also trying to be respectful of the fact that Lexa had told Anya that she would talk to her – she was still waiting for 'later.' Anya was acutely aware of all the times Lexa would check her phone before she sighed and put it away. It seemed as though maybe the time had arrived; perhaps Lexa was going to talk about it now. However, instead of jumping on the topic like Anya wanted to, she only pulled Lexa in for a hug and waited.
Lexa squeezed her back but didn't seem inclined to speak further about the mysterious blonde and Anya, once again, sighed and didn't push. Lexa released her, hooked her arm through Anya's and said, "Let's get going. It's starting to get chilly out here."
Lexa laughed often, but Anya was aware of the sadness that would cross her face during certain moments, and the hollow look Lexa would get in her eyes from time to time. It didn't take long for Anya to learn to read her best friend again, despite the fact that it had been a couple of years, and she knew that even though Lexa seemed to be putting up a good front, she was hurting. Anya had told herself she wouldn't push her friend into discussing anything she wasn't ready to but also wasn't sure how much longer she should give her space.
Late in the second week of Anya's visit found the girls doing some shopping at Fashion Center at Pentagon City. Lexa had been more quiet than usual all day so as they were walking hand in hand past the shops, Anya finally had enough and tugged on Lexa's hand to stop her and drag her over to the side out of the way, grabbing both of Lexa's hands in her own.
"What are you doing?" Lexa asked.
"Lexa, I've been here for almost two weeks," Anya began looking directly at Lexa, capturing her eyes with her own and forcing the brunette to look at her. "And, we've been dancing around deeper concerns and issues for the last 11 days, skirting the edges without falling into those discussions. You said we would talk later. That was four days ago."
Lexa looked away, and Anya reached out and gently grabbed Lexa's chin to bring her eyes back to her own. "I get it, I do," Anya continued softly, still holding Lexa's chin, "but we need to talk about this Lex. I can see you hurting, and it tears me up." Anya released Lexa's chin and the hand she was still holding and brought both hands up to cup Lexa's face. Anya pulled Lexa's head toward her and placed a chaste kiss on her forehead before pulling away and once again capturing Lexa's eyes.
"You've been quiet today. You've been checking your phone every half hour or so, and every time you put it away, you withdraw even further. I have been trying to give you the space you need, the time you need to get to a place where you can talk to me about what is going on with you. But I'm beginning to wonder when that might be, or if you ever will."
Lexa sighed and dropped her eyes from her friend's. "I do want to talk to you about this, An. It all seems so big right now, so overwhelming; I just don't know how or where to start."
"Well," Anya replied, "why don't you start somewhere simple. Like why you keep checking your phone?"
Anya released Lexa's face and went to take a step back, but before she could, Lexa stepped in and wrapped her up in a hug, before letting go and stepping back herself.
"That's an easy one," Lexa admitted sheepishly, "I keep looking to see if Clarke has messaged me."
"I'm guessing by your mood that she hasn't?"
"No, she hasn't," Lexa said shaking her head. "Maybe she can't, but there's also a part of me that thinks that she may not want to. I mean, we only saw each other twice. Then there is another part of me that says it would be easier if she didn't contact me, but the thought of not seeing her again makes my chest hurt."
Just as Anya was about to respond, Lexa turned when she heard her name called from across the concourse of the mall. Anya cursed inwardly. She had finally gotten Lexa to start opening up and she was frustrated by the interruption.
"Lexa!"
"Raven?" Lexa called back, watching the dark-skinned brunette make her way across the flow of people, noticing Octavia trailing along behind her a moment later.
Raven and Octavia made it to the other side a few seconds later and came to a stop in front of Lexa and Anya.
"Hi, Lexa," Octavia said.
"Hello, Octavia, Raven," Lexa responded, caught slightly off guard by the sudden appearance of Clarke's best friends.
"Who's your friend?" Raven piped up, looking at Anya, even though she directed her question at Lexa.
"This is Anya. She's visiting from Seattle," Lexa offered. "Anya, this is Raven and Octavia. They play for the Arkers, with Clarke."
"Oh, the only team the Grounders have yet to beat. I've heard a lot about you - your team, I mean," Anya said with a smile, admiring the extremely hot, dark-eyed brunette and suddenly not so upset by the interruption. She stuck out her hand to Octavia, who shook it with a small smile and then to Raven, who grabbed it and shook it firmly, hanging on for a second longer than necessary.
"How long are you staying, Anya?" Raven asked. "Maybe you'll still be around when the season picks up again next week? You can come and see why we're the defending champions and why the Grounders can't beat us," she added cheekily.
Anya offered up a tight smile to the cocky brunette and responded with "Maybe. We'll see."
"How have you been, Lexa?" Octavia asked. "We haven't seen you since..."
"I'm all right," Lexa interrupted before Octavia could finish her sentence.
Anya was watching her friend closely, knowing that the woman, Octavia, had been about to mention the party and that Lexa had neatly cut her off so that it didn't come up. She figured that would be it, and that they would all say their good-byes, so she was surprised when she heard Lexa quietly ask, "How's Clarke?"
Raven answered first, giving a slight shrug as she spoke. "As far as we know, she's doing better. She still isn't texting or talking on the phone or anything. Her mom sends us updates when we message, but we haven't heard from Clarke at all. Dr. Griffin thinks we might be able to go for a quick visit tomorrow or the next day."
Anya noticed some of the tension in Lexa's shoulders let go with the information, knowing that Lexa was relieved that the silence from Clarke was standard right now.
"Finally!" Octavia followed up. "It's weird not hanging out together. I want to see with my own eyes that she is doing okay. Not that I don't trust Dr. G," she finished with a shrug.
"Yeah. Poor Clarke though, she's probably bored stiff," Raven added.
The women talked for a few more minutes, Raven and Octavia inquiring into how Anya was enjoying DC, and what types of things she had been doing. Lexa watched the verbal interplay between Raven and Anya and couldn't help but be amused by the subtle flirting taking place in front of her.
"Well, we should get going," Raven announced. "It was good to see you, Lexa. I hope you had a great Christmas. Our teams play each other again in a few weeks. Hopefully, Clarke will be back by then."
"I hope so too. It wouldn't be the same without her," Lexa replied sincerely. "Besides, I don't want to take a victory that way," she added seriously.
"Oh, ho!" Octavia exclaimed. "The commander just threw shade at us Rae! Can you believe that? In your dreams, Grounder," Octavia finished good naturedly, smirking at the confused look on Lexa's face.
Raven snorted, then turned to Anya, "it was a real pleasure to meet you Anya, and I hope we run into each other again before you head back west."
"Same here," Anya replied giving Raven a quick once-over that the other woman failed to notice, as she had already begun to turn away.
Octavia said her goodbyes as well, and the two brunettes turned and walked back the way they came, leaving Lexa and Anya watching after them.
"What did Octavia mean when she said I was 'throwing shade' at them?" Lexa queried her friend.
"Oh, sweetie, you really have been in hiding haven't you?" she said with a laugh, shaking her head. "You essentially implied that the Arkers can't beat your team without Clarke. It was quite smooth actually."
Lexa dropped her face into her open palm and groaned. "Oh, my, God. I did, didn't I? They must think I am the biggest ass on the planet."
"I wouldn't worry about it," Anya assured, "it seemed like they took it in stride, and just rolled with it. Octavia joked back, so I don't think they were offended."
Lexa lifted her head out of her hand and grimaced at her friend, before turning and continuing on their way through the mall. Anya sighed and followed, conceding the fact that the discussion they had started before the interruption was tabled for the time being.
Raven looked over at Octavia as they walked away from Lexa and Anya.
"Do you think that was Lexa's girlfriend?" she asked Octavia.
"I don't know; they did seem awfully cozy," Octavia replied, "If she is, though..."
"Yeah..." Raven heaved a sigh. "Ugh."
Week 2 – Clarke
Late in the second week, Abby decided it would be okay to have some short visits, so Raven and Octavia rushed over to see with their own eyes that their best friend was indeed doing better. They informed Clarke that Jasper had gone home the night of the party with Monty and that he was healing well and very impressed with his scar. The girls didn't think Jasper had dealt with the trauma of that night entirely, and it was beginning to worry all of them, especially Monty.
They also informed Clarke that Finn had been picked up at his house later that same night and was currently facing charges of assault with a deadly weapon. Clarke's face had gone ashen at this news and her friends quickly moved in for a hug, being careful with their friend as they wrapped their arms around her.
"This is all my fault" Clarke whispered, tears rolling down her face.
"No, Griff. No. In no way is any of this your fault," Raven assured, Octavia nodding vigorously beside her.
"Finn is going to go to jail," Clarke pulled out of her friend's grasp and looked at them with tear-filled eyes. "He only did what he did because of me," she wailed, "if only..." she trailed off shaking her head before Octavia jumped in.
"Clarke, listen to me," Octavia authoritatively stated. "This is NOT your fault. You did not make Finn come to the party. You certainly didn't invite him to advance on you, and you most definitely didn't force him to pick up a knife and attack Jasper. That is all on him. He made those decisions Clarke, not you. He did this to himself."
"Yes, but, maybe if I had insisted that we go somewhere more private to talk, instead of laying it all out in front of everyone, he wouldn't have reacted so badly," Clarke argued.
"Clarke," Raven tried again, grasping Clarke's hand. "Think about that for just a minute, okay? What could have happened if you had gone somewhere with Finn - privately?" Clarke started to open her mouth, but Raven interrupted her.
"In fact, don't answer that, let me answer it for you. He was drunk; he apparently wasn't thinking clearly, and he wanted you back. He'd already forced himself on you at your house when you broke up with him, and he was sober then. It would have been unsafe to the nth degree for you to have gone anywhere with him, and Bellamy would have never let it happen. Plus, your dad would have killed you if you had put yourself in that position," Raven finished with finality.
Clarke laughed bitterly. "No kidding. When he got home, he only knew that I was hurt, none of the details. I thought he was going to have a stroke when my mom told him what happened with Finn. If he wasn't so worried about me, I'm sure he would have gone and found Finn himself."
"You did everything you could have, Clarke," Octavia gently offered, rubbing Clarke's back. "You tried to be kind; you tried to let him down gently, and Finn lost it. That is so not on you. You have to believe that."
Clarke regarded her friends with teary eyes, and nodded her head, not quite ready to shed the full burden of guilt, but feeling slightly lighter nonetheless. "Thanks, guys," she whispered before pulling them in for another hug.
They spent the next thirty minutes talking about their respective Christmases, how boring training was without Clarke and whether Clarke was going to be able to start school next week after the New Year. They also decided that they would spend New Year's Eve together, quietly, at Clarke's house. When Raven noticed that Clarke's eyes had taken on a glossy shine, and a line had formed between her brows, she knew it was time to go. She nudged Octavia, who also looked closely at Clarke and then stood up.
"All right, we should get going," Octavia announced.
"What? Why? Please stay," Clarke whined.
"Nope. We promised your mom that we wouldn't stay long, and you are in obvious discomfort, my friend, so we're going. Plus, you're mom's a bit scary when she's in doctor mode, and I do not want to get on her bad side," Octavia said.
"Also, you can't hog us all the time Griffin, jeez," Raven quipped. "I mean I know we're awesome, but you have to share the love. We have people to see and places to go."
Clarke frowned at Raven and chucked a pillow at her which she neatly caught and put back on the bed. Clarke narrowed her eyes at the dark-skinned girl, realizing that her friends must be concerned if Raven didn't throw the pillow back. So Clarke sighed and wiped a hand down her face and nodded.
"Ok," Clarke said in defeat, "it's just so...I don't know. I'm lonely and bored and frustrated. I miss hanging out with you. God, I even miss Bellamy."
Both the girls chuckled at that before they sobered and collected their sweaters that they had discarded earlier when they entered Clarke's room.
Octavia's eyebrows suddenly shoot up. "Oh! I totally forgot," she exclaimed.
Raven shot her friend a surprised glance, eyes wide, and gave a subtle shake of her head. Clarke didn't see the interaction between the two, too busy rubbing her temples with her fingertips, eyes closed.
"Forgot what?" Clarke murmured absently.
"Oh, um," Octavia tried to back-peddle, shooting a glance at Raven and mouthing silently, 'shouldn't we tell her?'
Raven shook her head again and looked at Clarke, who was just opening her eyes to regard her best friends.
"To ask who all has been in contact the last couple of weeks," Raven smoothly filled in.
"We know that the team sent some cards and flowers over, and of course, the boys and the two of us have been harassing your parents like crazy. Anybody else?" Raven asked too innocently, as she looked down at her hands and made a show of examining her fingernails.
Octavia rolled her eyes at the brunette and watched as Clarke narrowed her eyes at the both of them. She started out so well, Octavia thought; then she just had to keep on talking. Way to go, Reyes.
"Would you care to be more specific?" Clarke asked sweetly.
"Oh my, God, Rae," Octavia huffed before focusing on Clarke. "Have you heard from Lexa at all, Clarke?" she bluntly stated.
The two friends watched several emotions chase themselves across Clarke's face before she managed to settle her features to one of practiced calm. Anyone who didn't know her as well as the two in front of her, would not have been able to catch it, but the three of them had been friends for a long time, and they knew Clarke Griffin better than anyone.
"She came to the hospital that night, I think?" Clarke started hesitantly, looking at her friends.
"Yeah, she was there," Octavia confirmed. "She went up to see you right after Rae, and I left. Your mom brought her up, you don't remember?"
"I barely remember talking to you two," Clarke admitted. "I thought she might have been there, but I also thought that maybe it was a dream, you know?" she looked up beseechingly at her friends. "I was so out of it, and I was on some brutal pain meds that didn't seem to be working, and I was having a difficult time picking out what was real and what was in my head. So I wasn't sure," she trailed off.
"Why didn't you just ask your mom?" Octavia asked.
"I don't know," Clarke replied. "I guess I didn't really want to talk about that night at all. She told me about what Finn did, and then I sort of checked out – I didn't ask her anything else. I guess she was respecting my desire not to talk about it, so she didn't bring it up either." Clarke finished with a shrug.
"Well, Lexa told us that you asked her to stay until you fell asleep and that it didn't take long. She was back about 15 minutes later," Octavia offered.
"Hmmm. I haven't spoken to her since" Clarke shrugged. "I guess you could say I haven't talked to her since the party since I can't remember the hospital visit."
"She hasn't called or sent a message or anything?" Raven asked.
"Mom said she sent a text that first night, asking if I was home and that she hoped I was feeling better," Clarke added. "Mom replied for me, as she did for all the messages the first week; told her I was home and that I wouldn't be seeing anyone for at least a week. I haven't heard or seen anything from her since."
Clarke looked down at her hands, idly picking at the hem of her shirt before quietly adding, "Do you think...I mean...maybe it was all too much for her? Maybe she's not calling or whatever because I'm too messed up? Or mad because of Finn?"
Octavia looked over Clarke's head at Raven and mouthed 'we have to tell her."
Raven nodded, and then sat beside Clarke and put her arm around her friend's shoulders. "Clarke? I don't know what's going on in Lexa's head, how she might feel about you, or the about what happened at Monty and Jasper's. But..." she paused looking at Octavia.
Octavia nodded and knelt down in front of Clarke and put her hands on the blonde's knees. "We ran into Lexa the other day, Clarke," Octavia told her.
Clarke's head came up, "You did? Where? How is she?"
"She seemed fine," Raven said picking up the narrative. "She was with a woman, a very attractive, fierce looking woman..." Octavia shot her a glare, so she quickly continued, "whom she introduced as her friend Anya, from Seattle. Apparently, Anya flew out the day after the party and is staying with Lexa for a few weeks. I got the impression it was a sudden trip."
"Oh," Clarke sadly said, lowering her head again, her mind imagining why Lexa's friend would make such a trip on short notice and only came up with one reason.
"But, Clarke," Octavia offered. "If she's been entertaining a friend for the past couple of weeks, and your mom told her that you couldn't see anyone for a bit, and you weren't personally answering your messages...it makes sense that you haven't heard from her, yeah? I mean, maybe she's waiting to hear from you, that you're okay and can talk or whatever."
Raven squeezed Clarke's shoulders, "If it makes you feel better, she did ask about you, and this Anya woman was watching her like a hawk the whole time."
"She asked about, me?" Clarke's head had come up again at this piece of information.
Octavia smiled, "Yes, she did. We told her we hadn't seen you yet, that Dr. Griffin had you under wraps, but that from what we knew you were making progress. So, why don't you send her a message Clarke? Break the ice by thanking her for coming to the hospital."
"But I don't remember the hospital, at least not clearly. Also, with all that's happened, I'm not sure..." Clarke lamented.
"You don't have to jump into anything, Clarke." Raven offered, "Just get to know her, be her friend and see what happens."
"Oh, I know!" Octavia enthused. "Invite her and Anya over to our quiet New Year's Eve celebration!"
"That's an excellent idea, O," Raven congratulated. "What do you think Griff?"
Clarke looked at her two best friends, and gave a hesitant nod, "Ok, I'll send her a message when I get my phone back and see what happens. I'm not going to jump right into an invitation, though; I'll see how it goes. Who knows, maybe this Anya person is more than a friend, and it will all be moot."
"God, I hope not," Raven muttered under her breath.
"Ha! I knew it, Reyes! You totally have the hots for Lexa's friend!" Octavia exclaimed.
Clarke looked at Raven with interest as Raven blushed harder than Clarke had ever seen her, murmuring a quiet, "Shut up, O," then louder, "Well, Griffin, Octavia has overstayed her welcome, and I'm driving. We'd better go before your mom has our heads on a platter."
The three girls hugged tightly and promised to be in touch soon. Clarke walked them to the door and waved as they got in Raven's truck and headed out.
Octavia threw a wave at Clarke after buckling up her seat belt, and said to Raven out of the side of her mouth, "Should we have told her we saw them hugging and holding hands before we made ourselves known?" still waving at Clarke.
"Absolutely not!" Raven exclaimed. "We have no idea what they are to each other. You and I hug and hold hands all the time, and we're just friends."
"Ha! You're just holding out hope that you can spark something up with Anya. Getting Clarke to invite them to New Year's Eve was smooth, Reyes."
"Oh, stop. You know it's also the best way for Lexa and Clarke to get into the same room together again and get to know one another better. They seemed to be hitting it off at Jasper's, from what I saw during beer pong anyway. Clarke deserves to be happy, and I've never seen her talk about someone like she talks about Lexa. I want it to work for them."
Octavia sighed, "Me too, Rae. Me too."