a/n: fun fact: the original title for this chapter was "closet weeb clarke griffin"
~the dream meme team~
SWORD WOMAN: please! help me!
SWORD WOMAN: death,,,,,awaits me,,,,remember my awesome fighting skills when i am gone,,,,,,,
Clarke: Brollamy's home, I see.
SWORD WOMAN: you dare make puns at a time like this
the literal bomb: i'm pretty sure that's just clarke's nickname for the guy, o.
Clarke: Yep.
SWORD WOMAN: your platonic nicknames don't matter right now!
SWORD WOMAN: what matters is that he got wind of what i was doing!
the literal bomb: the whoopie cushion thing?
SWORD WOMAN: nope
SWORD WOMAN: i shoplifted a bunch of soaps - FOR HIM, i might add, because he's my big brother and college sounds like hell - and he got mad!
SWORD WOMAN: because i did something nice!
Clarke: I'm not defending your brother here, but that is kind of illegal.
SWORD WOMAN: i hadn't even remembered that i had shoplifted 'em
SWORD WOMAN: it was just last month but it feels like an eternity ago...
the literal bomb: okay so my car might be on fire so i need to go now.
"You need to get more fire extinguishers," Clarke muttered, tapping out another response on her phone.
"Hmm?" Lexa was standing next to her, twiddling her thumbs as Aden stood behind her. "Who is it that needs fire extinguishers?"
"Cool friend lady!" Aden squeaked, bounding over to give Clarke a hug.
"Hey, Aden," she chuckled, gently pushing him away. "Raven. She needs more fire extinguishers. You two have a class together, right?"
"She showed me something on her graphing calculator yesterday and told me that it was 'loss.' Do you think she's lost something?"
SWORD WOMAN: my meme senses are tingling
Clarke ignored the message.
"Do you?"
"What?"
"Do you think she's lost something, Clarke? Is she all right?"
"She probably lost her sense of purpose," Aden mumbled. Both girls turned to stare at him in horror. "What? I've heard the people in the fill-ah-sophie club say stuff like that. They're always hanging out in that corner, being creepy and stuff."
"Okay." Lexa said the word in an exhale, an exasperated sigh, and Clarke wondered why she brought Aden to school with her at the end of the day in the first place. It's probably insensitive to ask, she thought as Aden clambered into her lap. I should just let it be.
Lexa had half-expected to be seeing Clarke with new eyes after her revelation - if it could even be called that. After all, she had known for weeks. It wasn't as if she had just realized it, it was just . . . a formality, she supposed. Clarke didn't seem any different, however. She just sat at a bench, typing a message to her weird friends. She wasn't suddenly a goddess, she was just a beautiful girl ruffling Aden's hair as she talked with that infectious smile of her.
"We should go out," Lexa blurted out. Aden looked up from pestering Clarke about downloading a game on her phone with wide eyes.
"Where?" he squeaked.
"I'm wondering the same thing," Clarke added.
"To dinner." Lexa, honestly, felt like weeks-old glue trying to hold herself together, hoping that Clarke couldn't hear the hesitation in her voice, the way her hands shook and sweated with the simple statement. "The two of us. I would find a babysitter for Aden."
"Hey! I'm not a baby! I'm a grown-up! I even know about-"
"My mom could take care of him, probably," Clarke interrupted. "She loves kids."
She's going along with this. Clarke Griffin is going along with this. I could potentially be on a . . . date with Clarke Griffin. "Tonight? Would tonight work?" A feather could probably lightly dust her at this point and Lexa would pass out.
"Yeah, I think so. As long as you can deal with Octavia screaming about her overprotective brother every five seconds on my phone, that is." Clarke gave an infectious smirk, and Lexa didn't mind the warm feeling it caused in her chest. It was soft, gentle, like sunshine after rainfall or something else of that poetic nature.
"Tonight, then."
"It's a date."
Lexa tried her best to ignore the way her heart suddenly felt so much lighter.
"This is a date," Clarke whispered to Heda as she stared at the clock in anticipation of five-thirty. The stuffed raccoon didn't respond. "I'm going on a date with Lexa." Heda's button eyes betrayed no signs of caring, and Clarke eventually set her aside to try and talk to some real human beings.
~the dream meme team~
Clarke: I need help.
SWORD WOMAN: so do i...
the literal bomb: is your brother still mad?
SWORD WOMAN: yep
SWORD WOMAN: "OCTAVIA, you need to FOCUS on your SCHOOLWORK instead of SWINGING AROUND YOUR SWORD"
SWORD WOMAN: "it must be your BOYFRIEND doing this instead of the crushing weight of responsibility thrust upon you by the unrealistic standards i unknowingly inflicted onto your self-esteem"
the literal bomb: what?
SWORD WOMAN: NOTHING LET'S TALK ABOUT SOMETHING ELSE CLARKE WHAT DID YOU NEED HELP WITH
Clarke: I'm going on a date with Lexa tonight.
the literal bomb: wait seriously
SWORD WOMAN: heck yeah!
SWORD WOMAN: enjoy it for us!
SWORD WOMAN: ;)
Clarke: We're just going out for dinner, it's nothing special.
the literal bomb: clarke, of course it's something special.
the literal bomb: you two are gonna remember this for the rest of your lives.
the literal bomb: first dates and first loves are one thing.
the literal bomb: it's a rush of adrenaline, isn't it?
the literal bomb: your body's tingling with so much excitement and joy it feels like you might just explode.
the literal bomb: and you wouldn't mind that, because you're in love and it's the greatest damn feeling in the world.
the literal bomb: oh hey i can swear now
the literal bomb: cool beans
the literal bomb: must've been that update i installed last night
the literal bomb: anyway
the literal bomb: first loves absolutely suck, because you just rush in without thinking.
SWORD WOMAN: you know a lot about this stuff, raven
SWORD WOMAN: broken a lot of hearts, have we?
SWORD WOMAN: :P
Clarke: Octavia, Raven and I literally dated the same guy for a year.
SWORD WOMAN: right
the literal bomb: so yeah, first loves are terrible
the literal bomb: second loves, though?
the literal bomb: i'd like to think that those aren't quite as awful.
the literal bomb: i've spent the last couple of months trying to get you two together, griffin, don't screw it up.
the literal bomb: and believe in yourself and stuff
SWORD WOMAN: i'll fight her if she ever hurts you!
the literal bomb: you'd fight her anyway.
SWORD WOMAN: well yeah but it's the thought that counts
Clarke allowed herself a small smile as she turned off the phone. The clock inched closer and closer to five-thirty, and talking to Raven and Octavia (and Heda) only helped to a certain extent.
"I still can't believe I'm going on a date with her," she muttered aloud. "She should be here any minute, too." As if on cue, the doorbell rang, and Clarke raced downstairs. Her mother had already answered, however, and Clarke skidded on the last step before landing rather clumsily at the foot of the stairs. Aden bounced inside, examining a chair like it was the most interesting thing in the world. Lexa stood in the doorway and extended a hand to greet Clarke's mother.
"Lexa Woods," she said, firmly shaking the older woman's hand. "I believe that you know that already, though, being the vice principal and all."
"Clarke's told me all about you, actually." Clarke scrambled to her feet as she hoped that Lexa couldn't see her red cheeks.
"Okay!" Clarke yelped, waving to Aden before snatching her bag from the coffee table. "I'll be back in a few hours, Mom!"
"It was a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Griffin," Lexa added, seemingly as an afterthought as Clarke practically dragged her out the door.
"I'm, uh, glad that you could make it!" Clarke stammered.
"Your mom seemed nice," Lexa noted, nonchalantly strutting ahead. "I knew her already, of course, seeing as she's the vice principal, but it was nice to see her in a non-academic setting."
"Yeah, she's a good mom. Aden's probably wearing her out right now, though." Clarke heard the sound of a table knocked over and an indecipherable screech from the porch and started to walk faster.
"I don't really remember my parents," Lexa murmured. Clarke stopped in her tracks, guiltily looking down at the pavement. "It's fine, you can continue walking. I've lived with my uncle for most of my life, but he's rarely around, so I pretty much raised Aden by myself."
"I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault, Clarke." Lexa's steps had become stiffer, more strained, and Clarke wondered how many people she had told about this before. "I still have vague memories of them, snippets, but Aden was only a few months old. He never knew them."
"What happened?" Clarke's voice was barely at a whisper, now, but Lexa spoke openly, as if she was challenging the world to say something back.
"Car crash. I was six, I don't remember the details." Lexa said the words bluntly, her eyes glassed over and unfocused. Clarke decided to drop the subject.
"Anyway, I've heard that the restaurant we're going to tonight is really good."
"Have you been there before?"
"Nope."
"Oh."
"You'd expect me to know all of the romantic date spots, having lived here for my entire life, but . . ." Clarke stopped mid-sentence as the gravity of what she had just said began to sink in. Lexa began to stare intently at a sign advertising half-off laundry detergent. "I mean, places to go with friends!" Nice save, Griffin. "Octavia and Lincoln went here for their second date, that was why I was thinking of it as a romantic date spot, but those two could honestly just stand in the middle of a forest and it'd be romantic. They're smitten, in case you haven't noticed."
"Believe me, Clarke, I've noticed. We go to a small school, it's difficult to avoid anyone."
"Yeah. Honestly, they're so cute that sometimes it pisses me off. I mean, who gave them the right to be that adorable? Did the universe try to set them up or something?"
"You believe in soulmates, then?" Lexa gingerly touched the back of her neck, and Clarke couldn't help but imagine what she was hiding.
"On some level, yeah. They're a cool concept, but I don't think that everyone has a soulmate, because otherwise what would be the point of life beyond romance? It's pretty messed-up thinking, really, that we've all got this other half and we're incomplete without them. Nah, I'm pretty sure that the otherworldly forces just try and shove a couple of choice pairs together for all of time and they just keep on meeting forever until their souls ascend or whatever. What about you?"
"Love isn't an area of expertise for me, to be quite honest." Lexa's hand was still behind her neck, looking up at the sky as it began to turn hues of purple and orange. "I was taught to focus on being . . . alone, to remain concentrated on my studies instead of on finding something only truly found in storybooks. Of course, I didn't listen." Lexa bitterly chuckled, clenching the ends of her sweater in her hands. "I should have."
A painful silence fell over the two, after that, and neither girl dared to speak until Clarke saw the restaurant come into view.
"Hey, we're almost here!" she blurted out.
"So we are," Lexa murmured, following Clarke as she ran to the entrance.
Lexa didn't know quite what to make of the restaurant, to be honest. It was fancier than she had expected - somewhere in her mind, she supposed that she had marked Clarke down as someone who preferred a more easygoing place than this uptight mixture of chandeliers and people in suits, but she managed to shrug off the thought with relative ease. Clarke had that easiness about her, some strange ability to make any situation seem like a party. No amount of carefree aura could change the fact that Lexa's heart was thumping at what felt like a hundred miles an hour, however.
"Cool, huh?"
"Yeah."
~the dream meme team~
SWORD WOMAN: listen, raven, just listen
SWORD WOMAN: if i lived at your house, it'd be like a sleepover
SWORD WOMAN: but all the time!
the literal bomb: you would explode probably.
the literal bomb: my house isn't exactly the safest place.
the literal bomb: and i already have like five roommates, even if i don't really know their names and talk to them like twice a month.
the literal bomb: it's one of the...disadvantages, i could say, of living technically alone but not being completely alone because of some weird construction project.
Clarke blankly stared at the messages blinking their way onto her screen while Lexa sat down at the table.
the literal bomb: the others are pretty rad though.
the literal bomb: wells jaha knows how to throw a party and by "wells jaha knows how to throw a party" i mean wells jaha has no idea how to throw a party i've literally never seen him go outside
the literal bomb: help him.
the literal bomb: anyway, your brother's gonna be gone in like two days anyway.
the literal bomb: i'll just help you wait it out, calm the storm, all that crap.
the literal bomb: i'll even blow off building the microwave made from junkyard scraps and let you crash here for a couple of hours.
the literal bomb: would that work?
SWORD WOMAN: yep!
SWORD WOMAN: thanks raven!
"Your friends text each other a lot, don't they?" Lexa airily noted, wrapping her sweater around her body as a protective measure against the unnecessarily cold air blowing through the restaurant.
"Is that a problem?" Clarke clenched her fists as she slid into a booth, and Lexa quickly realized that she had misspoken.
"No. It's not a problem at all."
"Good, because that would've been the end of this night otherwise. They're pretty much my family, Lexa, I care about them more than . . . well, more than I care about most things."
"I can tell. And the one with the sword's brother? Does he mean anything to you?" Clarke laughed, and Lexa noticed the way she threw her head back, the way her teeth seemed almost pointed, like the fangs of a cat, her eyes closed shut in laughter but undoubtably sparkling behind her eyelids.
"Bellamy? I know him, he's not exactly the greatest man to ever exist. He's overprotective, condescending, and usually more than a little rude. His heart's in the right place, I think, but nothing else is."
"Hmm."
"Really, I'm pretty sure that he's going to call me any moment now, asking if I've seen Octavia."
"Have you?"
"Nope, but she's probably near Raven's house right about now. Those two live pretty close to each other."
"In any case, this restaurant seems . . . pleasant." Lexa shifted in her seat, looking anywhere but in Clarke's direction as she tried to push away any thoughts of how suffocating it was.
"You don't like it, huh?" Clarke abruptly picked up her menu and hid her face behind it, and Lexa was struck with the feeling of having done something wrong for the second time that evening.
"No, it's just that it's a bit more . . . upscale, than I'm used to, that's all." Clarke peered over the menu and raised an eyebrow.
"Isn't your family really rich or something? I kinda thought that this would be your forte." It took Lexa a moment longer than she would have liked to admit to realize what Clarke meant.
"Well, yes, but . . . wait, that's why you brought me here as opposed to any other place? That's . . . sweet, Clarke, you didn't need to do that." This is not going particularly well, is it? She isn't giving me a reason, no reason at all, to turn her down. There's something of a curse in perfection, I suppose, if you'd like to be dramatic about it. The image of her that I've inadvertently built up in my head somehow hasn't crumbled yet, but it will, and it might devastate both of us if it ever leaves this room.
"Lexa?" Clarke snapped her fingers (or tried to, at least) in front of Lexa's face, pulling her from the spiral of thoughts. "Are you okay? You seemed a little lost in thought for a minute there."
"I'm fine."
"You look pale."
"It's the lighting. I think that it might be throwing everything off a bit."
"Are you sure? We could go outside or something, if you want."
"No," Lexa insisted, a bit sharper than she had intended. "I'm fine, Clarke, you don't need to worry about me."
"Fine, fine. If you're really okay, then maybe you'd wanna hear the weirdest thing I did in middle school."
"Okay. Go for it." Lexa wasn't particularly willing to talk much herself - the realization that she wouldn't be able to villainize Clarke, no matter how hard she tried, had soured her mood to a certain degree. Clarke took a deep breath, and Lexa wondered what unexplainable secret horrors the girl in front of her was about to unleash.
"I watched all of Sailor Moon in a week." Lexa blinked.
"All of it?"
"Yep. I didn't sleep at all for four days. It was great." Lexa paused for a moment before saying anything else.
"But . . . why?" Clarke shrugged.
"She was kind of a role model to me as a kid. Y'know, dorky bisexual saving the world, that was pretty cool to see when I was younger even with the godawful dub."
"So you watched the entire show in practically one sitting?"
"Yeah. I dragged . . . someone over to watch it with me, but he left after the tenth episode without another word." Clarke's voice faltered, and she hid behind the menu again, keeping her tense grip on the faded leather as she bent down to avoid Lexa's gaze. Lexa wondered who the someone was, and if she could potentially ask Anya to hunt him down and tell him to appreciate Clarke more.
"I would watch all of Sailor Moon with you," she blurted out. Clarke dropped the menu.
"Are you sure? I mean, it's like three hundred episodes. I wouldn't really wish that onto anyone, to be-" Clarke stopped mid-sentence as Lexa, in a rush of courage, held her hand under the table, "-honest."
"I'd do it in an instant," Lexa murmured. Clarke stared at her for a moment before letting go of her hand and breaking out into a fit of laughter.
"Has anyone ever told you that you get really overdramatic sometimes?" she chuckled. "You should take theater, I swear, you'd be perfect for it." Lexa hoped that she was just imagining the heat creeping into her cheeks.
"I hate crowds," she muttered. "Running for the student election, that's one thing, but I would never be able to perform such exaggerated characters in front of a live audience."
"So you're still doing the election thing, huh?"
"I don't see any reason why not to. This is a perfectly nice school, but it could use some improvements."
"Raven says it's a puppet government."
"She ranted about the lack of tampons to you too, then?" Lexa sighed.
"You know, she told me that she ran back when she was a freshmen - er, ninth grader. Apparently her boyfriend, who was also my at the same time because he was a pile of garbage, took the blame for some big screwup that happened and she's hated them ever since."
"Her boyfriend, or the student government?"
"The student government. She didn't start having troubles with her boyfriend until . . . well . . ." Lexa managed to connect the dots, looking away from Clarke when she realized what she meant.
"Oh."
"We've moved past it now. He's gone, anyway, and good riddance to the guy, honestly. He was gross."
"I don't particularly enjoy the company of any guys."
"I don't blame you."
The dinner was surprisingly easy, after that, at least in Clarke's opinion. Lexa laughed at her jokes and stories about her friends, telling her about things from her old town - Anya, the usual places she would stay, and Aden's never-ending love for that same movie.
"His primary concern about the move was that he was convinced that people didn't like the movie in Virginia. I had to explain to him that it's not something only relegated to the west coast, and I don't think he believed me for a while."
"He must really like it, huh?" It was all Clarke could think of to say.
"More than you like Sailor Moon?" Lexa teased. Clarke huffed indignantly. "You're one to talk."
"Hey, it's actually a good show! Not to mention the fact that I had the hugest crush on the tall one when I was a kid. Crap, I forgot her name again."
"You'll have to show me sometime, then."
"Not before you see High School Musical. It's a classic, Lexa, you wouldn't believe how much Raven and Octavia have been getting on me for it."
"For . . . your friend not watching a movie?"
"Bingo!" Clarke grinned, pointing two finger guns at Lexa with a lopsided smile. "'Oh, Clarke, how could you be dating this girl if she's never even seen it! It's a travesty!'" Clarke wondered if Lexa had caught on to what she had just said. Considering the fact that she was now the one hiding behind the menu, Clarke figured that she had, and it was in this moment that she felt something akin to a surge of adrenaline through her veins. "Hey, do you want to see something cool?"
"I don't see why not. Lead the way, noble warrior Clarke Griffin." Clarke was already halfway out the door before Lexa had even stood up. Night had fallen, the cold air of wintertime already seeping its way into the breeze as stars struggled to be seen against the glowing streetlights. Lexa shivered.
"I'm guessing that you didn't get this kind of weather back home?"
"Not at all," Lexa breathed, retreating further into her sweater.
"Hey, do you need my jacket? You look cold."
"That's somewhat of an understatement, if we're speaking honestly. It feels as if a nation of ice has crawled into my body and won't leave." Clarke blinked.
"What?"
Lexa took the jacket.
Clarke seemed to be glowing, Lexa thought, pointing out places she had enjoyed going to when she was younger and places she had never been to.
"You really like it here, don't you?" Lexa murmured. Clarke shrugged.
"It gets a little stifling, sometimes, living in the same place my whole life. I don't plan on staying when I go off to college, but I'll miss it."
"You have plans for college already?" Lexa had tried to put off thoughts of it for as long as she possibly could.
"Art school. That's really all I care about, that it's an art school. Anyway, I think we're at just the right spot."
"Wait, the right spot for wha-" Clarke had taken hold of Lexa's hand again, racing up the stairs of a plain-looking building with a grin on her face. The stars twinkled in the sky, blurry spots of light as Lexa squinted her eyes against the wind.
"We're here!" Clarke announced with a flourish, gesturing to the top of a crumbling outdoor parking lot.
"No offense, Clarke, but I don't see anything particularly special about it," Lexa deadpanned.
"You have to look closer." Clarke's voice softened as she gently led Lexa to the railing at the edge, gazing down at the people wandering through town below. "It's hard to see the beauty in it at first, I know, but it's there." Lexa stared down, and it was only when the streetlights began to turn on in such a way that the pavement seemed to be practically radiant, bathed in a soft glow - much like Clarke herself, she realized - that she understood what the other girl meant.
"It's beautiful," she breathed.
"Mm-hmm," Clarke hummed. "I figured that you'd like it. It's a pretty good place for stargazing, too."
"Thank you, Clarke." Lexa was barely inches away from her, now, so close that she could feel Clarke's breath against the cold air, and no, she couldn't, not after Costia, not after everything she had been taught, but the air was so right and the atmosphere so perfect that it would be a crime not to kiss her in this very moment, and Clarke was just about to close her lips against Lexa's own when a rather loud rendition of what sounded like Bring Me To Life screeched by several children blared from Clarke's pocket.
"Crap, it's him," Clarke muttered.
"Ontari listens to that song sometimes," Lexa idly noted, attempting to mask her disappointment as she looked away. "Who's him?"
"Octavia's brother. Here, look." Clarke held the phone up to Lexa's face, and she had to blink to adjust to the sudden artificial glow.
baker barney bloke: PHONE won't find YOUNGER SISTER who is GONE she is GONE I AM WORRIED HELP
baker barney bloke: HOW do you USE a PHONE to TEXT YOUR PALS HELP?
baker barney bloke: ...wait this isn't google...
baker barney bloke: oh clarke!
baker barney bloke: Hello.
baker barney bloke: i...apologize...for that...
Clarke: She's away with a friend.
baker barney bloke: wHO?
"I didn't know that her brother was a baker," Lexa said, mildly concerned for the man on the other end of the line.
"He's not," Clarke chuckled. "It's, uh, kind of an inside joke between me and O."
"Why?"
"Well, for starters-" Clarke was cut off by another string of badly singing children from her phone.
baker barney bloke: i didn't KNOW that i would've set the candle shop on FIRE, clarke, maybe if you had BEEN THERE,
"Wait, he set a candle shop on fire?" Lexa asked.
"Yep. It got way more awkward after he found out that I had very briefly dated the girl who worked there."
"How briefly?"
"An hour."
"Oh. That's somewhat weird, there must be more candle shops around here than I thought. I know a girl who works at a nearby one too."
"No, there's only one within a twenty-mile radius, candles aren't exactly in high demand around here." Realization dawned on Clarke's face as Octavia's brother continued to send what looked like increasingly agitated texts.
"Niylah!" Clarke and Lexa both yelled.
"Wait, you were her extremely mysterious and tragic one-night stand?" Lexa asked, now vaguely accustomed to Clarke's ringtone.
"Oh, god, is that what she told you?" Clarke groaned. "We ordered takeout and kissed a few times, that's it."
"She's not bad company, to be honest. She's really been one of the nicest people I've met here, aside from you and Raven. I would trust her."
"Yeah, well, Bellamy set the shop on fire 'by accident' so now she kinda has a grudge against our whole friend group."
"How do you accidentally do something like that?"
"The same way that characters on TV commit really bad crimes and then get forgiven for them two episodes later, I guess."
"That makes sense."
baker barney bloke: is she at LINCOLN'S?
baker barney bloke: CLARKE, please, i NEED YOU
Clarke: Octavia can take care of herself, she's close by, don't worry.
baker barney bloke: but what if she gets hurt?
Clarke: She won't, and if she does, I'll take full responsibility.
Clarke: Deal?
baker barney bloke: ...deal
"Sorry about that," Clarke chuckled. "I guess he, uh, put a bit of a dent in our date night, huh?"
"Yeah." I can't. I can't do this, I can't, this must have been a sign that I absolutely cannot do this. "I need to leave," Lexa blurted out abruptly, stiffly walking off in the opposite direction. "It's getting late."
"Lexa, your brother's still at my mom's house."
"Oh. Right."
The walk back to the house was filled with silence, and Lexa gave Clarke her jacket back halfway through despite the cold biting at her exposed, mitten-less hands and creeping through her flimsy sweater. Clarke knew better than to ask questions about what had happened atop the building, but that didn't stop her insides from flip-flopping around every time she thought of how close she and Lexa had been, how desperately she had wanted to slip into her embrace. It was tantalizing, cruel, how close they had been. She didn't know if Lexa felt the same way, however, and some part of her was afraid to find out. It was a relief for both of them when they reached Clarke's house, where Aden was eagerly bouncing on the porch with a tired-looking Abby in tow.
"Hi, Mom," Clarke said. "How was Aden?"
"He's got a lot of energy," her mother yawned. "I remember when you were like that, Clarke. All . . . young and excited."
"Thank you for taking care of him, Ms. Griffin," Lexa added. "Aden, what do you say to the nice lady?"
"Thank you!" Aden squeaked, bounding down the porch to fling himself into Lexa's arms. "This was really fun, we've gotta do it again sometime! Cool friend lady, your mom's awesome!"
"She is," Clarke chuckled. "I'll see you later, Lexa, okay?" Lexa curtly nodded before walking off to find a taxi. Abby raised an eyebrow. "Okay, what now?"
The taxi ride home, despite being only a few minutes, felt like an eternity.
"Cool friend lady's mom is super nice, Lexa," Aden chirped. "You've gotta go on more dinner playdates with her, so we can hang out more and stuff. Of course, I wanna hang out with cool friend lady too, but y'know!"
"I don't," Lexa sighed. "I'm sorry, Aden, but do you think you could try and lower your voice a bit? I have a headache."
"Oh, a friend from school taught me a cure for that. Pain, pain, go away!" Aden tapped on Lexa's leg three times in succession before spreading his arms as far as they could go in the cramped space of the taxi.
"Thank you, Aden," Lexa murmured. "I don't think that'll be enough, though."
"You have a crush on her, don't you?" Clarke resisted the urge to slam her face against the wall.
"Mom, please, it's late and-"
"You're looking at her like she's the moon and you're the stars, Clarke, and I know my own daughter better than I know anyone else. You like her." Abby stated it like a fact, an indisputable argument that couldn't be gone against.
"I'll talk about it with you in the morning, okay? Tomorrow's Saturday, we can have one of those mother-daughter feelings talks or something." Clarke made her way upstairs with heavy feet, halfheartedly waving to her mother as she did so.
"I'll be looking forward to it!" Abby called. Somewhere in the far reaches of her mind, Clarke thought about how cliche it was to flop herself onto her bed and scream into a pillow, and she wondered if Lexa was doing the same, wherever she was.
a/n: baker barney bloke is the wonderful creation of lexacares on tumblr