It had been a pretty low key few weeks, which Clarke was grateful for. After all the emotional and trying events of the past few months, this stretch of non-excitement and boredom was welcome.
Lexa had been spending a lot of time with Anya, helping the girl readjust to life. Lexa got her a job at The Dropship and offered for the older girl to stay with her in her small studio apartment until she saved enough money for her own. Clarke could tell that having her friend back made Lexa happy and that, in turn, made Clarke happy. However, she'd be lying if she said she didn't miss her girlfriend. They haven't really been able to spend a whole lot of time together alone.
Tonight would be different, though. Tonight was their official one-month anniversary and they had a date night all planned out. Anya even made plans to stay somewhere else for the night. Clarke could barely contain her excitement of being able to spend an entire evening alone with Lexa.
First, she had to get through this shift at the center. Clarke is currently walking around in the art room watching as the children enjoy "Free Draw Friday". It's the only day of the week that the kids have 100% freedom to create whatever they want, using any materials they want. Clarke loved the work the kids came up on this day when they had no restrictions.
"Wow Amber, that's looking great!" Clarke exclaims, sitting next to the young girl.
"Thanks Ms. Clarke!" Amber basically yells. The girl proceeds to talk excitedly to Clarke about her drawing until they are interrupted by a knock on the door.
Clarke turns around and smiles, seeing her parents. "Mom, dad! What are you guys doing here?" she said, standing up and making her way over to them. Hugging them both.
"Well, we had lunch with Marcus and thought we'd come by and drop off some food for you and Lexa. It's in the break room." Abby says.
"That's awesome. Thanks, I'm starving… umm… we have about 15 more minutes here, you're welcome to stay and hang out."
"We'd love to." Mr. Griffin says, walking further into the room.
Clarke motions them to a couple empty seats at Amber's table. Mrs. Griffin notices the girl and her drawing. "Oh wow, that's a great astronaut you got there. Who is it?"
Amber smiles. "It's me! I'm going to be an astronaut. I like science."
"Hey me too! I'm a scientist." Exclaims Mr. Griffin.
Amber's eyes bug out of her head and she gasps. "Really?"
Mr and Mrs. Griffin laugh. "Yes really. What's your name kid?"
"I'm Amber."
"Nice to meet you Amber, I'm Jake and this is Abby. Maybe I can come by here sometime and show you some science experiments. Would you like that?"
Amber jumps out of her seat. "Yes please! I have to go tell Ms. Clarke!" The girl runs to find Clarke and Mr. and Mrs. Griffin beam with pride as they watch how their daughter interacts with the young girl.
Clarke listens intently to the young girl and smiles up to her parents. She takes the young girl's hand and leads her back to the table towards her parents.
"So Amber tells me you're going to come show us some experiments?"
"I am indeed kiddo. I'll go set it up with Marcus now. I'll see you soon Amber." he says, standing up.
"Ok Mr. Jake!"
"We'll see you in a few minutes honey." Her mother says, hugging Clarke before walking out of the art room.
Clarke watches her parents leave then turns her attention back to the children. "Alright guys, let's start cleaning up."
The children begin moving around and Clarke watches as Amber takes her seat and begins cleaning up her materials slowly. Eventually, it is just Clarke and Amber left in the room.
Clarke sits next to the girl and helps her put away the markers on the table. Once they finish placing all the markers into the bucket, Amber places the lid on top and looks up to Clarke.
"That was your mommy and daddy right?" she asks shyly.
Clarke smiles softly. "Yeah, that was them."
Amber nods her and bites her little lip. "What's it like?"
"What's what like sweetie?"
Amber lifts her head and directly looks at Clarke. "What's it like having a mommy and daddy?"
Clarke is sitting in the break room with Lexa. Her parents left a few minutes ago and Clarke had been relatively silent the entire time. She can't get Amber out of head. Clarke had felt like someone had punched her the stomach when the young girl asked her that question. She didn't know how to respond so she sat there frozen. Unable to find the right words she just hugged the girl.
Lexa's voice interrupts her thoughts. "You ok Clarke?"
"I'm fine."
"I call b.s. You barely spoke when your parents were here." She says, taking Clarke's hand in her own.
"It's nothing really. It's just, Amber said something to me before I came in here and it just hit me hard, I guess."
"Is she ok?" Clarke nods and Lexa continues. "Ok. Well, why does it have you upset then? What'd she say?"
Clarke bit her lip. "I don't know if I should say. I don't want to seem insensitive…"
Lexa's eyes narrow. "Clarke, you are literally the most sensitive, caring, compassionate person I know. You can tell me anything. Just say it."
Clarke lets out a small sigh. "Amber asked me what it was like to have a mom and a dad."
Lexa smiles sadly and squeezes her girlfriend's hand. "That's a tough one."
"Yeah. I couldn't say anything when she asked me. I just hugged her."
"That was the perfect response Clarke."
Clarke's eyes soften. "Yeah?"
Lexa gently kisses her forehead. "Absolutely. Sometimes we just need to be reminded that we are loved by someone. Reminded that, even though we don't have parents, that someone cares for us and that we deserve that affection."
Clarke nodded and leaned in to capture the brunette's lips in a soft kiss. She instantly felt better. "Thank you."
"Lex, you ready to go?" Clarke asks as she stands outside Mr. Kane's office. Lexa looks up from the mountain of paperwork in front of her.
"Sorry. Mr. Kane and I kind of need to finish going through all of this."
Clarke nods. "Oh, ok. No worries, I can wait."
"Don't be silly Clarke. Go ahead and go."
"I can give Lexa a lift home when we're finished." Mr. Kane offers.
"You sure? I don't mind waiting."
Lexa stands up and walks over to the blonde. "We won't be too much longer. Go ahead and I'll see you tonight." She says before placing a soft kiss on her lips.
"Ok. I'll pick you up at 8."
"Can't wait."
Clarke leans in for another quick kiss. "Me either."
They are interrupted by a small laugh coming from Mr. Kane, both of them now blushing having forgotten that he was even there.
"I'll let you get back to work. Goodnight Mr. Kane."
"Goodnight Clarke." he says in a playful tone.
Clarke blushes again before turning to her girlfriend. "See you later Lex."
Clarke was singing along to the radio as her thoughts wander through the events of today. Today had been one of the rougher ones at the center. Sometimes she forgets just how rough these kids lives are and that every night when she get's to go home to her loving parents, they go to a group home or a temporary foster home.
She had felt pretty down after the conversation with Amber, but thanks to her wonderful girlfriend she was able to feel a little better. The fact that Lexa said she had responded in the right way, eased the guilt on Clarke's shoulders. A smile forms on her lips at the thought of Lexa. She was so incredibly excited for their anniversary tonight.
Clarke turned up the radio and sang a little louder only to be interrupted a moment later when her phone beeped, alerting her of a new text message. She glances down and picks up her phone, reading the message quickly. With a quick glance to the road in front of her, she turns her attention to her phone and begins to type out a reply.
The pain engulfs her entire body and all she can hear is the faint sound of the radio as her eyes close.
She never saw the other car.