Chapter 12

"Gross, I don't understand how you watch that show while you're eating." Costia shakes her head at Lexa as she walks by the living on her way to the kitchen. Lexa had decided to stay at her apartment to be closer to her dad who was going to be in the hospital for the next couple days.

"It's only a skeleton with some bugs coming out of the eye sockets." Lexa laughs as she takes another bite of her cereal, eyes still trained on the television. She really didn't see the big deal in watching Bones and eating but Costia hated it and though it probably shouldn't it made Lexa laugh every time.

"It's gross. Tell your dad I'll be by with some of his favourite cookies later today." Lexa laughs some more at the disgusted noise Costia makes as she looks at the television.

"You know just because he's in the hospital, doesn't mean he isn't still on his diet."

"He's lost 50 pounds, I think he's doing just fine, besides Clarke's keeping an eye on him."

Lexa put her cereal bowl down on the table. "You saw Clarke?"

Costia nodded. "She was checking in on him when I brought him lunch. We spoke briefly, very briefly." She answered as she put her last earring in.

"And…"

"And nothing, there isn't much to say between the current girlfriend and the ex girlfriend. She gave me a small update and was very professional. I totally get it, I didn't realize how hot she really was. It's the lab coat, does wonders."

Lexa rolled her eyes and threw a pillow at her girlfriend before turning back towards the television. "Should ask her out for coffee then."

"Are you jealous that I said your ex is hot." She snuck up before Lexa and kissed the top of her head.

"Totally, how can I compete with a lab coat!"

"Well you managed to up grade it to a…" Costia leaned over Lexa's back and read her sweater "… a Columbia hoodie that I've never seen before?"

Lexa continued to eat her cereal as she looked down at the hoodie she was wearing. "I meant to tell you about that and I didn't realize this was what I put on this morning." Costia raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "Clarke gave me some clothes to wear at the hospital the other night because I was wearing that really tight dress that isn't as comfortable as I thought it was. Actually she gave the clothes to my mom to give to me and I meant to wash them and leave them at the hospital for her but I clearly need sleep."

Costia smiled and pecked Lexa's on the lips. "It's fine, blue looks good on you gorgeous. I have to get to my meeting, call me if you want to meet for dinner and seriously gross." She pointed at the charred remains on the television. "Sometimes I don't know why I love you." She said as she headed towards the door.

"Because I'm amazing!" Lexa yelled after her as she went back to watching her show. She didn't take the sweater off for another two hours.

XOXO

"How cute are you giving her your clothes to wear." Octavia mocked as she sat in the Griffin's hot tub with Raven and Clarke. Each of them with a large glass of wine in their hand.

"Technically she gave her her own sweater to wear." Clarke's eyes went wide as she looked at her childhood best friend.

Octavia smiled, she loved when Raven unintentionally let things slip that she didn't know about. "Do tell princess." Clarke sipped on her wine and shook her head. "Raven would you do the honours then?"

"I would love too!" Raven grinned before going into the story of how Lexa bought the hoodie for Clarke to tell her she got into Columbia.

"It seems you haven't told me quite a lot and I thought we were soul sisters." They all let out a loud tipsy laugh.

"I just can't seem to avoid her, no matter how hard I try."

Raven shrugged as she finished her glass. "Ever thought that maybe life is trying to tell you that you shouldn't be trying so hard to avoid her because it's like the harder you try the more she shows up."

"Raven's right, considering how much you both work you would think it next to impossible that you would randomly run into each other yet it literally happens all the time."

"Pass me the bottle." Octavia and Raven both looked at their friend. "Yes, the whole bottle, I've had a long couple of weeks, pass it over."

"Why is it she was so attuned to you at the hospital, she literally avoided her own girlfriend."

It was Raven's turn to look at Octavia. "Mhmm, girl she was all locked in on our resident blonde. They even took off together for like a half an hour."

"It wasn't that long."

"Actually I think it was longer."

"Stop the banter and speak so I can comprehend after," she held up the a bottle of wine, "two and half bottles of wine."

"Lexa was freaking out so I talked her down."

Raven nodded. "Typical, you were always good at that."

"What she isn't mentioning is that she totally blew past her girlfriend to talk to her Clarke."

Clarke shook her head and drank a little more, her head starting to feel a little dizzy. "You'd be surprised how often that happens, people focus in on the doctors like we have all the answers. Sometimes we do, sometimes we don't. It wasn't unusual behaviour for someone who just found out that their father had a myocardial infarction…" she received two entirely blank stares, "…a heart attack."

"I hate that when you get drunk, you start speaking all medical and nerdy."

"You're one to talk, you start talking about rocket science, actual fucking rocket science, and before you say anything," she looked over at Octavia who was pointed at herself, "yes you. When you get drunk you talk about shooting people and all the codes you have. Might I remind you of you yelling at me at our last party. 'We have a 947 Clarke, Clarke there's another 947."

"947?" Raven asked as she reached back and grabbed the last bottle of wine.

"Code for suspicious person, every time someone walked into the apartment, that's what she yelled. She invited everyone that came in so I don't know why they were all suspicious. Oh and then there was the guy riding his bike when you went outside to get some air."

"958." They said in unison with a laugh, again leaving Raven clueless.

"High speed chase. She went after the guy… on a skateboard."

Octavia raised her hands. "To serve and protect."

"Don't take offense though O, Clarke and Lexa are good at hiding things."

Octavia watched as Clarke rolled her eyes. "Whatever, get over it, it was so long ago. I'm sorry I didn't call you in the middle of my orgasm."

"Woah! Go back, what?" Octavia downed the last of her glass and held it out to Raven.

"They hid their relationship for awhile. Didn't tell me right after they kissed or anything. Rude."

XOXO

USC – Freshman Year – Christmas

"Do they think we don't know?" Elizabeth asked as she and Abby looked out the back window of the Callaway home to find Clarke and Lexa lying out in the pool on two floating chairs side by side. Clarke had Lexa's hand in one of hers and was pointing at it with the other.

"I'm not sure they know yet." Both women looked back out at the their daughters. They watched as they laughed and playfully flirted, at least that's what it looked like to them.

"Remember how we always talked about if one of us had a boy and the other a girl they'd make the perfect couple? Maybe, we'll get our dream after all." Elizabeth grinned.

"What are you two staring at back there, are there more construction workers?" Jeff joked as he set his briefcase onto the kitchen island before moving next to his wife and friend. "Why are you two watching the girls?"

Elizabeth rolled her eyes at her husband with a laugh. "We think they may have a thing." Abby answered with a smile of her own as the girls got out of the pool and wrapped themselves in towels before sitting down on the bench swing.

"What? No way, they've never been close and that's saying a lot since they grew up together." He looked out at the two girls again and watched as Clarke laughed and then set her head down on Lexa's shoulder.

"A lot changes in university, that's how you ended up with me. Best part of your post secondary studies."

Jeff snorted before kissing his wife and going upstairs. "Don't stare at them too hard or you may scare them apart." He told the two women as he left the room with the shake of his head. He'd never admit it then but he secretly always hoped his daughter would end up with someone like Clarke, level headed, fun, intelligent, beautiful with a kind a heart but it'd be even better if it was Clarke that she ended up with. He smiled thinking about it as he made his way upstairs.

xoxo

"You two have totally made out!" Anya blurted as they all sat down to eat dinner in Lexa's backyard. She looked between her two friends as Lexa finally sat down and it seemed way to obvious.

"What are you on about now Anya?" Lexa questioned as she looked at Clarke with a shake of her head.

"You," she pointed at Clarke and "you," she pointed at Lexa, "have been making out behind my back! Don't you think E?"

Echo studied her two friends for a second, looking back and forth at them for a couple minutes. "Holy shit, she's totally right! What the hell Lexa!"

"What's all the yelling about back here? I can hear you from the driveway." Raven laughed as she stole a fry off Clarke's plate before sitting down next to Anya. "Holy shit you two are having sex! You're totally boning each other." She spit out before anyone could answer her question.

"What?" Clarke sort of laughed as her and Lexa's eyes went wide at Raven's comment. "Seriously what is with you guys?"

"You think they're sleeping together? I just thought they had made out that's what I was yelling at them." Anya said as she leaned over and explained the situation to Raven who continued to eat of Clarke's plate.

"No, they're totally sleeping together, I know because Clarke keeps giving Lexa bedroom eyes and Lexa keeps giving Clarke heart eyes."

Lexa shook her head. "You're all crazy and I don't know why I came home for Christmas."

"Agreed. Next time we'll stay at school." Clarke affirmed her statement with a nod as she took a bite of her burger, trying not to look up at Lexa.

"Yeah so you can keep getting it on. So who's bed is more comfortable?"

Clarke glared at her best friend. "Fuck off."

"Nope you two are clearly doing that enough for all of us."

Clarke and Lexa both shook their heads. "Seriously you two how many times a day are you going at it?" Echo chimed in as they all laughed.

xoxo

A couple hours later they were all sitting in Lexa's living room, drinking egg nog and enjoying their annual Christmas party. All night Anya, Raven and Echo had been making comments to the two USC freshmen who either avoided their quips or laughed them off but now that the drinks were flowing it was getting harder for Clarke to ignore her friends.

"Okay, yes, we kissed! Get over it! ." She yelled a little too loudly as the song changed, causing everyone to turn and look at her including Lexa who was across the room talking to one of her other friends. Their glances met and Clarke gave her a 'sorry' look but it only made the other woman smile.

"I knew it!" Anya yelled back with a laugh as she high fived Echo.

Raven raised an eyebrow at her friend without saying a word. "Okay, fine we're sleeping together too! She's hot, get off my back about it because you've put on the freshman fifteen and you're way too heavy." Raven laughed and put up her middle.

"How long Clarke?" Clarke shook her head and pretended to zip her mouth shut. "Lexa how long?" No answer. "Fine, fine, leave your ol' pal Raven out of the loop. See what happens when I spill all your secrets."

Clarke's eyes went wide. "You wouldn't."

"Oh but I would."

"What am I missing?" Anya studied her two friends and knew that their best friend code was on the verge of being broken.

"One." A pause. "Two." Another pause. "Three. Better not let me get to five Clarke."

"Lexa, a little help here." Clarke looked at her expectantly.

"Actually I kind of want to know what comes after five."

"Five!" Anya yelled impatiently.

They waited a few moments for Clarke or Lexa to say something but they didn't. "Clarke here, has had a crush on Lexa since the beginning of senior year. Oh and you two are standing under the mistletoe. You know the rules."

Lexa looked over at Clarke, whose cheeks were a little red but it wasn't clear whether that was from Raven's admission or the alcohol. "You had a crush on me?"

Clarke nodded sheepishly. "How could I not have a crush on the bad ass Commander?"

"Why didn't you ever tell me?"

The blonde shrugged. "I tried to drop a few hints but I figured you weren't into it so I left it alone."

"Don't say it." Lexa said without taking her eyes off of Clarke.

"Don't say what? You can't say that and not expect a girl to fill us in. Anya, I'm certain that was directed at you. Talk."

Anya grinned. "I told you so you fucking dumb idiot! Blind as a bat you are!"

"You know I had a crush on her?"

Anya nodded as she drank the rest of her drink. "It was pretty clear, just not to this one over here."

"You had a crush on me?"

"I had a crush on you for like a minute senior year."

"And now?" Raven and Anya looked at their friends and shook their heads, it was clear that they didn't care about anyone else in the room at the moment.

"Now I think you're alright."

"Just alright?" Clarke nodded. "Maybe I can change your mind about that." Lexa went to lean in towards Clarke but before she could she felt a half on her side pulled her closer and Clarke's familiar lips on hers.

"Mhmm, just alright." Clarke winked before taking in Raven's look. "I hate you."

"No, you'll really hate me if you don't fess up because I have way more dirt on you."

Lexa was intrigued and was tempted to let it go on until she saw the look Clarke's face. "Two months." She spit out before Clarke could say anything. "Happy now?"

"Two months Clarke! Two months and you didn't tell me?"

Clarke rolled her eyes as Lexa pulled Anya away, not wanting to be anywhere near the best friends. "What did you want me to do call you during?"

"Yes!"

The blonde leaned her head back with a laugh. "It was too damn good for me to even think about forming coherent sentences."

"It wasn't that good the first time."

Clarke's swallowed the lump in the throat as she thought back to their first time. "It so was, and it's only gotten better since then."

"We need to have a serious conversation when the room isn't full of people. A serious conversation! For now, I need to go refill my drink and let me head wrap around all this information." Raven walked away with a shake of her head as she tried to process what Clarke had just told her.

"You know, I expect to find out what it was Raven was going to say one day as a price for saving you." Lexa whispered in her ear.

"Never." Clarke grinned as she leaned her head back on Lexa's shoulder.

XOXO

Three days later Clarke found herself sitting in a coffee shop near the hospital waiting for the rain to stop. It was an all out downpour, something she was used to in New York but not in L.A. She watched as the rain continued to pour, the news was saying this was going to be the worst storm that the Los Angeles area saw in years. The sky was booming, the rain drops were bouncing off the ground after impact. She had only left work an hour ago but had every intention of going back in as soon as she could because she knew the storm was going to cause a massive issue.

"Odd place to watch the rain." Clarke's head whipped around after she shook her head.

"Seriously? And not really, I was on my way home from work when this happened."

Lexa smiled. "Seriously. I swear I'm not stalking you, I too just let work and since I practically own this building, I technically own the coffee shop attached to it as well.

"What? No, I didn't…" She let herself trail off as she took a better look at the lobby. She had definitely stepped into the only building in the city she wanted to avoid. "I did." She watched as Lexa nodded.

"They say this thing is going to last all night, already talking about people being without power."

Clarke smiled. "You're father is doing well, he should be able to go home in the next couple days but I'm sure you already knew that."

"I did." Lexa smiled with a slight nod. She really did hate that it was so awkward between them. "But thank you!"

"My job and I happen to be very good at it. I should probably head out though, I've been here long enough. Time to go back to said job."

"You can't go out there, it's a mess, why don't you come back to my place? It's just down the street a couple of blocks, you can clean up and then be on your way. Hopefully the storm will be done by then and you won't get sick. Can't help the ill if you aren't well yourself." There it was again, her nervous rambling. As soon as the invitation came out of her mouth all she wanted to do was throw her hand over her mouth, smile through it and walk away.

"It's okay, thank you for the offer Have a good day." Clarke stood up and threw her cup in the garbage before stepping outside, ready to brace the conditions.

Five minutes later Clarke heard the beeping off a car horn, only to look to her left and see Lexa , head practically out the window like a dog. "Get in the can Griffin, or I'm calling your mother and then mine!" Clarke thought about her options as the car came to a stop. She was already soaking went and tired as all hell. She didn't know why she had told Lexa that she was going back to the hospital the words just sort of seemed to flow out of her mouth. "Cab! Now!" Lexa threw the driver open and Clarke decided that if they were going to try and be cordial she could at least take up the free offer.

"Okay, okay, to your house." She didn't like the idea, she didn't want to say yes but she had and now she found herself sitting in the back of the cab with her ex-girlfriend as the storm waged on. It was the middle of the day, yet the sky looked black and Clarke knew that that always meant trouble, really bad trouble.

TBC…