Chapter 39

"What about your rule?" Lexa grinned as Clarke pulled her further into her place.

Clarke winked before dropping Lexa's hand and walking up the stairs to her bedroom. "Which rule would that be? I have a lot of them?" She called downstairs as Lexa sat down on the couch.

"The one about no sex on first dates." Lexa called back before she saw Clarke limping down the stairs. Without waiting she jumped off the couch and towards the blonde, meeting her at the bottom of the stairs.

"Technically it's our second first date." Clarke laughed as she waved Lexa's helping arm away.

"Are you okay? Sit down and let me take a look at that."

Rolling her eyes but being to tired to argue Clarke sat down on the couch and let Lexa kneel in front of her to inspect her ankle.

"It looks a little swollen, I'm going to go get some ice and pillows so we can prop it up! Why didn't you tell me you hurt it?!"

Clarke laughed as she watched Lexa roam around her kitchen for ice. "It wasn't a big deal and it didn't start hurting until we got back here, I guess I was too cold to really feel it. Oh and Lex, the ice pack is in the freezer." When Lexa walked back over Clarke had an amused look on her face as the CEO attempted to prop her foot up on the couch. "Lex?"

"Yeah?" The brunette finally looked up at her.

"Put it under my ankle, that's where the pain is."

Lexa huffed. "Clarke, who's the doctor here?" It took a minute for Lexa to realize what she had just said, it used to be her go to line when she was taking care of Clarke. Once realization dawned on her she looked up to see the massive smirk on the blonde's face.

"I think that's me, actually. Last time I checked anyways, could be wrong though."

All Lexa could do was grin. "I guess a lot really has changed and I need some new lines."

Clarke should her head as she leaned forward and grabbed a remote off her coffee table and turned on the fireplace. Leaning her head back down on the couch, her legs still in Lexa's lap she closed her eyes. "Change isn't always a bad thing, but you're right a lot has changed, you don't need new lines though. I like your lines, even if they drive me crazy half the time." Without opening her eyes she could see the grin on Lexa's face. "Wipe that grin off your face Callaway."

"Or what?" Lexa asked, her head leaned back against the couch as she looked over at the blonde lying down.

"Or I'll have to wipe it off for you." Clarke said with one eye open.

"I'd love to see you try."

Clarke let out a loud laugh. "I'm sure you would but seeing as though that's what you want, I'm not about to give it to you."

Lexa closed her eyes and let herself relax. "This couch is really comfortable."

"Where the hell did that come from?"

Opening her eyes she shrugged as Clarke leaned up on her forearms. "It was an observation that I felt like sharing."

"Anything else you'd like to share?"

"I forgot how much I missed you, how much I missed this. Going on a romantic date and then being…"

"…us." Clarke finished for her, knowing that there was no real way to explain it.

Lexa nodded. "Tell me something."

"Like what?"

Reaching out Lexa took a hold of Clarke's hand and started playing with her fingers. "Something new, something I missed like how you ended up with this amazing place."

A smile crept across Clarke's features as she remembered finding the apartment. "I wasn't even looking but a patient came into the E.R. and happened to be a realtor. He tripped down the stairs and broke his wrist so he was telling me about what exactly happened. I told him he'd be hard pressed to find someone to buy a deadly apartment. Then he started explaining it to me, I wasn't even looking to move out of Octavia's. Especially since all I did was work and sleep. He offered to give me a tour just for giggles and I accepted. At first I thought he was trying to ask me on a date but then he told me that his wife was the one who brought him into the emergency room. I bought the place a week later. One look at the view and I was sold."

Lexa looked over at the large window they were sitting near. "It is a pretty great view."

Clarke smiled and Lexa knew that she was missing something. "What?"

"Not that view." Clarke finally let out as she sat up.

"What view are we talking about then?"

Clarke went to stand up but was stopped by a hand on her legs. "No walking for you."

"I walked half the way home, it's fine plus you're going to help me." Nodding Lexa stood up before helping Clarke up.

She expected the blonde to lead her to the stairs and up to her bedroom where she knew there was another large window but instead they started towards the front door. Clarke said nothing as she handed Lexa a sweater that was by the front door before opening it. They walked slowly up a set of stairs Lexa had never noticed before. Once at the top of the somewhat narrow staircase Clarke smiled before pushing the door open. Even with the snow covering the terrace Lexa's eyes were in shock. As great as the view from her new condo was, it had nothing on this. The view of the city was open and you could see the lights of the Empire State building poking out from the rooftops, and the lights of Central Park and suddenly it was as if it all made sense.

"In the summer, we come up here and watch movies up on the top deck, and have little barbeques and wine drinking sessions. Okay so it's sometimes wine and sometimes beer and every now and again a big ol' bottle of rum. Truth be told, not many people are allowed up here. It's kind of my escape from the city when it gets to much since I don't have the beach outside my door anymore."

"It's amazing." Clarke nodded with a smile as she looked over at Lexa and for the first time in years Lexa saw a familiar glint in her eyes, one that she had never found in anyone else. The same one that she hoped Clarke saw when she looked at her. A look she never thought she'd ever see again. "I get it now."

"Get what?"

"What Anya has been talking about for the past five years."

"Do I even want to know?"

Lexa smiled. "One day. I am just so proud of you, you've built the life you always wanted and I can't say that enough Dr. Griffin. That night I ended up in the E.R. I was less than pleased and then I saw you and it was like the pain didn't exist anymore, all that existed was you. I was also pleasantly surprised when you didn't kill me."

Clarke nodded her head like she had thought about doing just that before laughing. Reaching down before Lexa realized what she was doing she grabbed a handful of snow and threw it at the woman standing in front of her.

The cold hit Lexa like a brick wall and her mouth full open in surprise. "Did you really just do that?"

She looked up to see the blonde laughing with a little shrug. "You're asking for it."

For the next ten minutes they chased each other around the roof, Clarke hobbling along, trying to get out of the way of Lexa's snowballs before they ended up in a wet heap on the ground. Lexa was about to help Clarke up when she saw the woman making snow angels, so instead of getting up she laid beside her and mimicked her movement.

Another moment later Clarke was pulling on the sweater Lexa was wearing. "You're cold, I think I should warm you up."

No other words were spoken that night, except for each others names. Lexa had carried Clarke back down the stairs and into her apartment, wet clothes were thrown across the floor, leading a trail to the couch in front of the fire place. Then the blanket from the couch sprawled across the bottom of the stairs that led to Clarke's bedroom and sometime around 2 a.m. Clarke laid her head against Lexa's chest and a minute later they were both fast asleep.

XOXO

Lexa woke up a few hours later to the sun poking through the curtains. A moment later she felt a hand on her hip squeeze her a little tighter. She dared to barely open one eye and take in her settings, hoping that for once what she was feeling was real and not a figment of her imagination like it had been so many times before.

The intense tingling she felt once she had a peak of blonde lying next to her sent her over the moon and back. A year ago she never would have dreamt that she'd be waking up next to her ex-girlfriend. Now she couldn't imagine it any other way except that she wanted to make the woman lying in her arms her current girlfriend. With happy thoughts filling her head and a smile on her face she somehow managed to fall back asleep, something that she never really did once she was awake for the day.

xoxo

A couple hours later Lexa woke up to the smell of coffee. Smiling she opened her eyes and stretched out of her limbs. "Mm, hi."

"Hi beautiful." Clarke grinned as she wrapped her arms around Lexa and pulled her in for a hug. "I made coffee."

"Coffee is good but staying right here is better."

A slight chuckle. "I'm glad you think that because I think you may be stuck here for the day. It's storming out and the roads look terrible."

"I swear a couple hours again the sun was poking it's head through the window."

Shaking her head Clarke kissed Lexa's cheek. "Afraid it was short lived. Welcome to New York."

"Does that mean you have to go to work because I'm kind of liking the actual waking up with you."

"Nope, they haven't called me in. I'm sure everyone there is in great hands." Lexa smirked. "Wipe that smirk off your face."

"What?"

Clarke raised an eyebrow. "You know what, you dirty minded woman you."

"Not my fault you have great hands."

"And you wonder why I'm always gone when you wake up, you're such a smart ass in the morning."

"I'm a smart ass all the time, now get back over here and cuddle because the snow said so."

Laughing Clarke practically rolled on top of Lexa. "Oh the snow said so, what are you Elsa?"

"Yeah, I'm the mother fucking queen."

"Not in this house you aren't."

XOXO

"I need your love babe, that's all I'm living for. Don't wanna pressure you baby but all I ever wanted to do is be your lover. Wanna be the only one that makes you come running." Lexa continued to sing along with the stereo as she stirred the pot on the stove.

It was a low key night, she was done work at a decent hour, but only because she had had to be up at an ungodly hour, even by her standards. So she decided that she'd spend the night relaxing by cooking a meal and catching up on t.v. Especially since both Lincoln and Octavia were both at work.

She had been so into cooking however that she hadn't heard the keys in the door and the footsteps coming down the hall. It wasn't until she felt hands slide across her stomach that her heart skipped a beat and she was brought back into the real world.

"Sorry to interrupt, I still forget you live here." Clarke grinned as she moved with Lexa, arms still around the brunette's waist as the song changed. "All I want is your extra time and your…"

"…Kiss." They both sang with a laugh before Lexa turned her head and pecked Clarke's lips. "It's okay, I don't mind when you spontaneously come by but to what do I owe the pleasure? I figured you'd still be at work."

Clarke leaned over Lexa and tasted the sauce that she had been stirring. "Mmm, that's good and dinner plans with Octavia since it's been a while."

"Guess I can't convince you to stay for dinner then." Lexa grinned as she turned around, Clarke finally letting go of her hold on her. Seconds later she felt the brunette take her hand and spin her around.

"Not this time, but soon? I'd love a nice home cooked meal."

"We had one the other day." Lexa grinned as they danced around the room.

"Lex, peanut butter and jam sandwiches does not count." They both laughed as Clarke reached into the fridge and took out a bottle of water before pushing herself up onto the counter while Lexa went back to cooking. "What no counter comment?"

"What's the point, you're just going to do it anyways and it totally counts!"

"True." Swinging her legs back and forth Clarke finally got bored and moved down off the counter only to lean over Lexa's shoulder. "That really does smell so good, I swear Octavia better get her ass home soon." Grinning Lexa held the spoon up to Clarke's lips, giving her another taste of the sauce. "Mmm, save me some of that!"

"You have some sauce on your lip." Lexa said as she turned away from the stove.

"I guess you better do something about that then."

Leaning forward with a grin on her face Lexa rested her hand on Clarke's hip and pulled her in. Pressing their lips together with a smile she let her hand run across the back of Clarke's waist while the blonde's hands came up to rest gently against her side of her neck. They pulled away just in the knick of time as they heard the door close. Biting her lip with a smile Lexa turned around and went back to stirring her sauce.

"Damn Lex, that smells awesome!" Octavia smiled as she rounded the corner of the kitchen. "Hey boo thang, let me change and then we can head out." She kissed Clarke's cheek before taking off for her room.

Once they heard her bedroom door close, Clarke and Lexa shared a look of relief. They had decided to keep whatever they were a secret, at least until they figured it out for themselves.

XOXO

"Dr. Griffin, phone for you."

Clarke looked up from the chart she had been staring at and took the phone with a smile from the nurse.

"This is Dr. Griffin."

"I'm not sure I'll ever get used to hearing you say that." Lexa grinned from where she sat at her desk. "Sorry to bother you at work but I just got a very large package delivered. Only to open it an find the most amazing painting."

"Sounds fancy, what's the painting of?" Clarke grinned as she smiled at the nurse and handed her the chart.

"The view from my very soon to be finished condo of Central Park at night, with snow falling."

"Hope you didn't pay much for that."

Lexa laughed as she looked at the empty wall in front of her and then down at the painting that was lying across her desk. "It's perfect, kind of like the artist that painted it."

"Merry Christmas, I'm sorry you got it so late. They shipped it to Hong Kong, why I'm not sure but I'm just glad you have it now."

"It's seriously amazing, thank you so much, it's going on the wall as we speak but I'll let you get back to work. Have a good day my love."

"You too, don't work too hard commander."

Once Clarke put the phone down she tried to rid herself of the smile that she knew was on her face but she just couldn't seem to. "Hmm, wonder who you were just on the phone with." Fox grinned as she leaned over the nurse's desk.

Looking around to make sure no one was really around Clarke looked back at her friend. "Screw you."

"Nope, seems like Lexa is doing a great job of that."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Sure you don't Griffin, do you girl." Fox laughed as she grabbed a chart and went on her way.

XOXO

Two weeks later Clarke sat across from Octavia at the diner. Both were still on shift but were taking a mini break to recharge for the rest of their night.

"I am so glad to be done with work for the day." Lexa huffed as she slid into the booth next to Clarke. Both Clarke and Octavia looked at her with expressionless faces. "Sorry, not my fault you two have the night shift, and to be fair I've been up since 3 a.m."

"Shut up and order your food." Octavia huffed as she finished her coffee. "And get me another coffee while you're at it."

"Yes master." Lexa rolled her eyes as she got the waitress' attention.

They sat in silence for a few minutes before Octavia had finally had enough. "Okay, seriously, this has gone on long enough." Both Clarke and Lexa gave her and each other a confused stare. "When are you going to tell me you two have been hooking up."

Clarke nearly spit out her coffee and Lexa was positive she couldn't sink further into the seat. "What?" They said in unison, both women looking across the booth at Octavia.

"It's been months now and you have yet to tell me. I'm tired of waiting. And before you try and deny it. Don't. I knew the very moment it happened the first time, months ago I just decided to say nothing because I'm a good friend like that and Linc told me that you'd tell me when you're ready." They continued to give her a shocked and confused look. "Seriously, you two. You suck at hiding it. Especially from me. Raven and Anya were right you both definitely have a look. So when did we start actually dating and not just screwing like bunnies?"

"When we got back, after New Years." Clarke finally let out. "But we were waiting to tell everyone until we figured everything out."

Lexa nodded. "We're taking it slow and seeing where it progresses." She added as Octavia continued to eat her stack of chocolate chip pancakes.

"Now that we have that cleared up, I can eat in peace and you two can stop trying to have secret kisses behind my back, in my apartment I might add. Oh and tell Raven she owes me forty bucks."

"Do I even want to know why?" Lexa asked with the shake of her head.

"I'm sure they started betting the minute you moved to town." Clarke sighed as she took out her phone to text her best friend.

"You know it blondie and since you two hooked up for the first time right on schedule, Raven owes me forty and Anya owes me twenty."

"Why does Raven owe you more?" Lexa questioned, even though she was positive she didn't really want to know.

Octavia grinned happily. "Never try and hide something from your best friend, especially one that happens to be a cop. Idiots." She grumbled with a shake of her head. "Glad we have it all sorted though." Lexa and Clarke both nodded, still unsure of how to react to getting busted like they were teenagers that were caught trying to sneak out. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone else until you two sort your shit out but Lexa if you hurt her, I will kill you."

"I think you've said that a time or two."

"And I'll keep saying it, it'll the last words I utter on the day I die."

Clarke looked at her best friend like she suddenly had three heads. "That's dramatic."

"It's called flare, now finish eating so we can get back to work."

XOXO

"I can't believe she called us out like that." Lexa sighed as she climbed into Clarke's bed a day later.

"I can't believe she waited that long, here I thought we were doing a great job hiding it." They both laughed as Lexa pulled the blanket up over them.

Sighing the brunette kissed Clarke's cheek before resting her head against her shoulder. "So what do you say to another date?"

"Are you asking me out again? Gee you really have changed." Clarke laughed as she began to absentmindedly rub Lexa's back under her shirt.

"Is that a yes?" Lexa didn't have to look up to get her answer as she felt Clarke's head nod. "Good, but this time I promise, no one will get hurt."

Clarke knew she was talking about her ankle but she couldn't help but know that she was also talking about their hearts. As much fun as they had been having her heart still wasn't fully ready to let Lexa in completely but she was trying. She was trying really hard and in the moments she did allow herself to open up she felt things that she could never explain. She knew the feeling and it scared her to death because the last time she felt something similar she was left broken hearted.

"Sounds like a splendid plan to me but for now can we watch a movie and go to sleep because I is so tired." Lexa nodded and leaned up to give the woman a soft kiss before lying her head back down.

TBC…