AN: Hello, Clexakru! I meant to update this yesterday, but I just moved into my dorm today, and I was really busy preparing for the move yesterday. Luckily, I had time to finish the chapter tonight, so without further ado, here is chapter 5. I hope you like it! :)

A week. That was how long it had been since Lexa had last spoken to Clarke. Ever since Clarke had tried to help Lexa last week, the brunette had started a childish game of ignoring her. No matter what Clarke said, even if she was just asking a simple question, Lexa went on as if the blonde didn't exist. Clarke found that she hated this behavior, not just because of the pettiness of it all, but because she genuinely missed Lexa. She had grown used to the brunette's harsh words and annoying actions in the few days that she had been there, and she was now finding herself a bit lonely without the other girl. It didn't make sense because she had her friends and the other residents, and Lexa was never anything but mean to her, but the feeling was still there all the same.

Clarke jolted awake now at the sound of a rattling cough from across the room, and once she had identified the source of the noise, she found that she wasn't surprised. The previous day, Lexa had stumbled back to the room soaking wet, presumably having stayed out in the rain, and when Clarke asked what had happened, she got no response, as was expected. Now, it would appear that her roommate had gotten a cold from her foolishness, and Clarke couldn't help but feel that it served her right. That's what she got for acting like a kindergartner just to avoid talking to Clarke. The blonde knew that she should just leave Lexa to deal with her sickness on her own, but after ten minutes of simply lying in her bed, trying to decide what to do, her caring side won out, and she got up to help her irritating roommate.

"Do you want me to get you some soup, Lexa?" she asked. "My mom always makes me a nice, warm bowl of chicken noodle soup when I'm sick."

She received no response, and she wondered why she had even expected one in the first place after the way that Lexa had been acting all week. Since she had only been trying to help the other girl, Clarke had thought that Lexa might make an exception for this, but it seemed as if she wanted nothing more to do with the blonde. Clarke felt something akin to hurt bubble up inside of her at this thought. She wondered why this might be, but she pushed this curiosity away before she could come up with an undesirable answer. She was just about to leave the room and head downstairs to breakfast when she heard Lexa mumble an answer. "I'm not sick."

Clarke smiled in spite of herself at the fact that Lexa had finally answered her, even if it was just to insist that she was fine. The blonde wasn't falling for it though, and she decided to tell the brunette as much. "Lexa, I heard you coughing. You're sick, and it's not surprising considering you stayed out in the rain yesterday. You came in looking like a drowned rat."

Lexa said nothing in response to this, clearly having no valid argument and seemingly no more care to argue. Clarke didn't know what else she could say, so she decided to go back to her original question. "I'm going down to breakfast now. Do you want me to bring you back some soup?"

Lexa rolled over. "No. I can go to breakfast myself."

"You never go to breakfast unless you get up early enough to beat the others. They'll already be down there now, and there's no way you're just going to show up like that," Clarke called her roommate's bluff.

"I'm going," Lexa insisted.

Clarke rolled her eyes. She should've known that Lexa would be stubborn like this. She knew that she should try harder to get Lexa to stay in bed because that's really what would be best for the other girl, but she also knew that there was no arguing with the feisty brunette once she set her mind on something.

Clarke was just about to turn around and walk out the door when Lexa pushed herself into a sitting position, swaying dizzily, eyes unfocused. Clarke was by her side in an instant. "Lexa, just lie back down. I'll—"

Angry green eyes were turned in Clarke's direction. "I'm fine."

Lexa pushed shakily to her feet, swaying a little before losing her balance and toppling backward. Luckily, Clarke was standing right beside her and was able to catch her.

"Get off me!" Lexa pushed Clarke away as she got her bearings.

Clarke's brows furrowed in confusion at the way that Lexa had recoiled at her touch. Did she hate Clarke that much that she couldn't even stand the blonde's touch? As much as Clarke just wanted to forget about Lexa and head downstairs, she knew she couldn't because Lexa really wasn't okay on her own, and she didn't make it far, stopping to lean against the doorframe. Clarke wished that Lexa would just admit that she needed help, and it was times like these that she really wished that she hadn't found out about what happened to Costia so that she could simply go back to detesting her roommate. Instead, she just sighed, making her way over to stand beside Lexa. "I know you don't want me here and that you want to pretend that you're just fine, but you can't even walk on your own right now, so will you please just let me take you back to bed?"

"Stop trying to help me," Lexa growled. "I am fine."

"You're not," Clarke said immediately in a stern tone.

Lexa looked up at her with animosity in her eyes. "Why do you even care?"

Clarke was taken aback by that question because it was a good one. Why did she even care? Because it was in her nature to care about others. Because she understood what Lexa was going through and wanted to help the brunette as her own mother had helped her. But that wasn't it, was it? That didn't explain why she had felt hurt that Lexa was ignoring her or why she might have missed the other girl. She didn't want to think about that though. She couldn't stomach the fact that she might have grown to genuinely like being around Lexa. She was drawn out of her thoughts when she realized that Lexa was still looking up at her expectantly, but the anger in Lexa's green eyes was slowly being replaced with curiosity as she waited for Clarke to give an answer.

"It's my duty to help you," Clarke said lamely. "As your roommate."

The anger returned to Lexa's eyes full force. "No, it's not. I'm not even supposed to have a roommate, so fuck off."

Clarke wished that she could suck her words right back into her mouth and come up with a more intelligent answer, but she couldn't, so now she had to work with what she had started. She wanted to scream in frustration because she didn't know what else to do, and that's when an idea hit her. "Wouldn't you expect Costia to help you?"

That did the trick. Lexa's tough demeanor fell, and Clarke could detect vulnerability in the girl's green eyes. It was only there for a second before Lexa's eyes steeled over again, but a second was all Clarke needed to know that she had gotten through to her roommate.

"Yes, but you're not her," Lexa replied stubbornly.

"No, I'm not her, but think about it. She would want me to do this. I'm honoring her memory, and you know that she would want you to accept my help. She wouldn't want to see you make yourself sicker than you already are. She would want you to get better."

"I stopped caring about what she would want the minute she left me here alone." Lexa pushed away from the doorframe and began to walk towards the stairs again.

Clarke groaned at the other girl's stubbornness, knowing that what Lexa had said was a lie. "We both know that's not true. You obviously still love her, or you wouldn't be acting the way that you are. You would've moved on, but you clearly haven't, so I think that you still care a lot about what she would think."

This caused Lexa to freeze in her tracks, and Clarke stepped forward carefully when Lexa turned around to face her, feeling a little like she was walking up to a deer that she did not want to scare off. The anger in Lexa's eyes was gone now, replaced with something that looked like defeat.

"You're right," Lexa said softly. "I still love her very much, and I know that she would want me to accept your help."

Clarke tried her best to keep her disbelief off her face, and she thought that she might never understand this girl. Lexa had been fighting against her this entire time, and now she was suddenly just giving in? Maybe Clarke just needed to keep pushing to get through to her. However, Clarke realized that it might be something else entirely when she reached out to help the brunette. Lexa's legs gave out underneath her, and she slumped against Clarke, clearly starting to feel worse than she had before, and Clarke thought that this was probably the reason why the other girl had finally chosen to accept her help. Clarke quickly looped an arm around Lexa's waist to hold her up, alarmed when she felt the burning heat of the brunette's forehead against her collarbone. Lexa definitely had a fever, and it felt like a high one. Clarke knew that her roommate was half-delirious at the moment, and so she hooked her free arms under Lexa's knees, grunting as she picked the brunette up and carried her to the bedroom. Clarke couldn't help a sigh of relief from escaping her lips once Lexa was laid out on the bed, and the blonde pulled a blanket up over her roommate once she noticed that the other girl was shivering. She placed her hand lightly on Lexa's forehead and winced, frowning at the hot temperature.

"You have a fever," Clarke announced. "I'll go grab Indra so she can take your temperature and get you some medicine."

Lexa's eyes sprang open at the mention of the house mother. "No. You can't let her know that I'm sick."

"Why not?" Clarke asked exasperatedly. "You're burning up, Lexa."

"If you tell her, she won't leave me alone," Lexa explained. "She'll want to stay in here and watch me the whole time that you guys are at school."

Clarke didn't see the problem with this. "She just wants to make sure you're okay. Besides, you'll only be resting anyway. Why can't she stay in case you need anything?"

Lexa rolled her eyes. "Because I don't want her in here. Just don't tell her anything."

Clarke couldn't believe what she was about to offer, but she did it anyway. "Lexa, we need to know how bad your fever is, and you have to let someone take care of you, so if you won't let it be Indra, let it be me. I'll take the day off of school to stay here with you."

The blonde expected Lexa to change her mind immediately and ask for Indra instead. She expected so many things, to be yelled at, to be ignored, for Lexa to throw a tantrum, but the one thing that Clarke would've never expected in a million years was Lexa's actual response. A simple nod of approval.

Clarke was about to question this, but she immediately clamped her mouth shut, not wanting to upset her roommate again. She simply let the topic drop and moved on. "I still have to let Indra come up here to check your temperature though."

Lexa opened her mouth to protest, but Clarke cut her off. "I won't let her stay. She'll just come up and take your temperature really quickly, give you medicine, and then I will come right back."

Lexa looked hesitant to agree, but she finally nodded, and Clarke was so relieved that she nodded back. She spun on her heel, eager to get out of the room before Lexa got a chance to argue again. She was almost out the door when she heard a soft murmur behind her. "Thank you, Clarke."

The blonde almost fell over at the brunette's words, surprised to actually be thanked when Lexa never showed appreciation to anyone. Clarke didn't know why, but this actually brought a smile to her lips, feeling like she had accomplished something that no one else had. "You're welcome, Lexa."

Clarke made her way downstairs to find everyone already seated around the long dining table eating what appeared to be blueberry pancakes. Clarke's stomach rumbled at the sight of the food, but she then remembered Lexa and walked into the kitchen to find Indra. The older woman was standing in front of the black stove, wiping it down from the breakfast she had just been cooking.

She looked up at the sound of Clarke's entrance, and the blonde felt bad that she was about to make Indra mess up her work station that she had just cleaned. "Hi, Indra. Would you mind helping me make a bowl of chicken noodle soup?"

A warm smile spread across Indra's face. "Of course, dear. If you wanted chicken noodle soup, you should've told me last night, and I could've had it waiting for you this morning."

"It's not for me," Clarke told her. "It's for Lexa. She has a fever."

"In that case, I'll make it right away. You don't have to help me with it. Go join the others for breakfast," Indra insisted. "I'll get the soup started, and then I'll go check Lexa's temperature."

Clarke couldn't help but smile at Indra's kind tone. Octavia had been right when she had first described the house mother to Clarke. Indra was the sweetest person ever, and this only added to Clarke's certainty that coming to this school had been the right thing to do. She was glad to be a part of such a nice little community.

"Thank you. Would you mind letting me bring it to her though? I'm going to stay home from school today to take care of her."

"You don't have to do that, honey. I can stay with her," Indra offered. "I know that Lexa isn't easy to be around."

"She said it was fine. I think she wants me to stay with her." Clarke knew this to be true because the brunette didn't protest. However, the blonde was sure it was only because Lexa didn't want Indra to stay with her, even though Clarke hadn't the faintest idea why.

Indra looked at Clarke curiously. "Really? I suppose that's good then. It's nice to see that someone is finally getting through to her."

Clarke was just about to argue that she wasn't sure she was exactly getting through to Lexa, as the brunette hadn't said a single word to her this past week, but before the blonde could even open her mouth, Raven was calling her from the dining room. "Hey, Clarke, are you coming?"

Clarke shook her head at her friend, smiling a little, and Indra chuckled, making a shooing gesture with her hands. "Go out and join your friends, and I'll let you know when the soup's ready."

Clarke nodded in thanks before walking out of the kitchen, where Raven was looking at her expectantly, and Clarke just playfully rolled her eyes at her friend, sinking down into her usual place beside Octavia.

"How many pancakes do you want?" Octavia asked brightly.

Clarke shrugged. "Two's fine."

She wanted to point out that she was perfectly capable of getting her own pancakes, but it was nice to have someone who cared about her enough to actually want to do if for her. Clarke had never lived in a house with so many people before, and it felt like she had finally gotten the siblings that she had always wanted as a child. She thanked Octavia as the brunette placed two pancakes onto her plate, and she was not surprised to find that they smelled delicious. Everything Indra cooked for them always was.

"Why only two, Griffin? I had four," Raven announced.

Clarke smiled and rolled her eyes, about to protest that she wanted to save some room for lunch, but Bellamy spoke up before she could. "Well, I had six, but who's counting?"

He smirked at Raven, and she glared at him, elbowing him in the ribs. "Show off."

Clarke looked up for the butter, only to find Emori already passing her the butter and the syrup, and she accepted them, smiling at the other girl in thanks. Clarke began to butter her pancakes, but she was quickly pulled back into the conversation. Not that she minded though. She actually preferred to be drawn into a conversation rather than be left alone, and she supposed she was starkly opposite from Lexa in that matter. Clarke liked how these people already cared about her and accepted her as one of their own, even though she had only been there for a week and a half. She really felt like she belonged here, something that she hadn't felt since her dad died, and it was a relief for her to finally belong again after so much time feeling like she never would.

"So, Clarke, will you join my team for the kickball tournament we're having in gym today?" Emori asked.

Clarke's brows furrowed in confusion. "Don't we already play as a team? I thought we had to play with our houses."

Emori shook her head. "We don't, so I always play for Azgeda House because that's where my boyfriend, John Murphy, lives. Bellamy usually plays with us too because he's still pining for that Echo girl."

"I'm not pining. She likes me, I swear." Bellamy smirked at everyone sitting around the table.

Jasper just laughed. "Right. I'm sure she likes you, Bellamy. As a friend."

"It's pretty pathetic when the two pranksters have girlfriends, but not you," Raven giggled, and Bellamy just rolled his eyes, grumbling under his breath.

Clarke pointed to Jasper and Monty. "Then, you two play for different houses as well."

"No. Maya and Harper normally play for our house," Monty said.

The way that everyone at the table was talking about this kickball tournament made it sound like it was pretty important to the school. Clarke was confused though because Mr. Kane didn't mention it when she had first gotten there, nor had she ever heard about it, apart from when the coach announced the previous day that they would be playing the sport today. Everyone had cheered, but Clarke had thought that the people in this house just really liked kickball. Come to think of it though, it was a little weird that their entire house had gym at the same time, almost as if it were planned specifically for this event. "So, is this a big thing?"

"Huge." Octavia was quick to reply. "Well, not the one that happens today, but at the end of each semester, we have a big tournament that's a lot more serious. That's where you find out if you're any good or not. You have to stay with your house for that one, and the house that wins gets the Polis Kickball Cup displayed in their house until they lose it."

"Who has it now?" Clarke questioned.

"Mount Weather House," Jasper answered. "That's where Maya and Harper live."

"So we get to see it every time we visit them," Monty said wistfully.

Clarke frowned at his tone, wondering if Arkadia had never won the cup before. Monty talked as if he didn't think they could win either. When he talked about the cup, he sounded like someone who had to look at something that they greatly wanted but could never have.

Octavia answered Clarke's unspoken question before she could even ask it, sounding a lot more hopeful about the house's success. "Arkadia House has never won in the two years that I have been here, but I think we can do it this year, and I know I say the same thing every year, but I just really want to win. So does everyone at the school, really. That's why we all try to take the practice rounds as seriously as possible, even though some people insist on playing for other teams."

Clarke almost felt guilty for missing this day now, but in all honesty, she had forgotten that it was one of the days in gym that was being devoted to kickball. Even if she had remembered, she would not have thought much of missing it because she had no idea that the sport was such a big deal. She decided that she might as well just tell everyone now and get it over with rather than allowing them to go on thinking that she would actually be present for the kickball games today. "Well, I'm not going to be participating in the tournament today because I'm not going to school."

Clarke was met with eight shocked faces turning towards her. Some people just looked confused, and the others were looking at her like she was nuts for missing kickball day. She understood their confusion though. She wasn't showing any signs of being sick, and there was no other obvious reason why she might be missing school, especially on such an important day. Clarke knew that she would have to tell them the reason that she was skipping sooner or later, even though they probably weren't going to like it, so she decided to just go ahead and explain it as best as she could. However, she had no idea how to explain herself when she wasn't even sure why she felt the need to stay with her roommate in the first place, but she knew she needed to try once people started to speak up again.

"Why the hell not?" Raven asked incredulously.

"Are you feeling sick?" Lincoln looked concerned.

"I'm fine," Clarke assured them. "It's Lexa who's sick, and I'm going to stay here to take care of her."

"Why would you do that? It's not like she wants anyone to stay with her. She'll just treat you like shit, and it'll probably be worse than usual," Bellamy pointed out.

Octavia was quick to agree with him. "Bellamy's right. You don't have to subject yourself to that. If she's sick, it serves her right for the way that she's been acting, and you shouldn't feel obligated to help her."

Clarke knew that they would react like this, but she was not about to break her word. "Guys, I already promised her I would, so it's a done deal. I don't break my promises, and for some crazy reason, she would rather have me stay with her than Indra."

"That's because Indra's our aunt," Lincoln spoke up. "Mine and Costia's. That's the main reason we came to this school in the first place."

Realization dawned on Clarke's face. "Indra must remind her of Costia, or maybe she's afraid that Indra will try to talk to her about Costia or—"

Raven cut off the blonde's musings. "Who knows what goes on in Lexa's crazy head?"

"It's because she knows that Indra cares about her." Lincoln ignored Raven's comment. "She doesn't want to be around people who care about her anymore, especially if she used to care about them, because she's afraid they might make her want to get better, and she just doesn't want that."

"That's…sad," Clarke said, unable to find a better word for it, "but I understand. I was the same way after my dad died."

"But you're better now." Anya spoke up for the first time since Clarke had entered the room. "You must have let someone in."

"Yes. My mother. She wouldn't stop caring about me, no matter what, and when I realized that I was hurting her, even in my callous state, it upset me, and it made me want to change. My mom helped me get through it, and it wasn't easy, but I'm much better now than I was." Clarke was silent for a moment before she continued speaking. "Lexa doesn't have anyone like that here for her, and she's pushing everyone away, but I won't let her push me away. I'm going to make sure that Lexa knows that I care about her, whether she likes it or not, and maybe that will help her to start caring about herself again."

A tense silence settled over the table, and Clarke could not tell whether it was a good one or a bad one. Some people were wearing disapproving looks, some with looks of gratitude, and some with no expression at all. Clarke didn't know what to say, so she just stayed silent, and she imagined that everyone else felt the same way, as no one else said a word until Emori broke the silence several seconds later. "Thank you for doing this, Clarke."

Raven looked at Emori like she had just said that she didn't like Indra's cooking. "Seriously? I think this is insane."

Anya glared at the brunette before turning her attention back to Clarke. "No, really, Clarke. If you can get our old best friend back, I'll have to give it to you. We were never able to get through to her. No one was."

Clarke didn't know if she could actually do this, but it was a challenge she was willing to take. Anya's and Emori's gratitude just made her all the more determined. "I'll try my best."

Lexa sank back into her pillow as soon as Clarke left, closing her eyes. She knew that she should've told Clarke off when the blond girl had offered to stay with her, but she was honestly too tired and cold to even care. She pulled her blanket tighter around her. She didn't know if it was just the fever talking, but a tiny part of Lexa was kind of glad that Clarke cared about her enough to stay here with her. Yep, that was definitely the fever talking. However, Lexa couldn't help the fact that Clarke's kind demeanor and the fact that Clarke believed in her was starting to make Lexa feel like she wanted to get better. If Clarke had done it, then Lexa might be able to as well. She might be able to go back to her old life and start talking to her friends again. Maybe Clarke was right, and she wouldn't be so miserable all of the time if she simply let herself feel. It was at that exact moment that Indra walked through the door, and Lexa was reminded of the reason she had stopped feeling in the first place. Costia was gone, and without her, all Lexa felt was pain. If pushing everyone away meant that Lexa could escape this burning sense of loss, then Lexa never wanted to feel again.

She could see the look of pity on Indra's face, and she wanted nothing more than to smack it off. This was the way Anya looked at her. This was the way Emori and Lincoln looked at her. This was the way everyone looked at her, and this was exactly what she couldn't stand. This was the reason that she had started to push everyone away in the first place. She hated the way that everyone had looked at her with pity on their faces, as if she needed their sympathy because she was no longer as good as them. She was sick and tired of everyone feeling sorry for her, and she supposed that's why she preferred for Clarke to stay with her rather than Indra. In all the time that she had been here, Clarke hadn't looked at Lexa with pity in her eyes once, like she already knew what it felt like to be looked at that way and hadn't liked it. The brunette supposed that her roommate actually did know what it felt like due to the loss of her father, and Lexa was happy to find that the blonde had probably hated it as much as she did. Whether Clarke felt bad for Lexa or not, it never played out on her face, and Lexa was grateful for that. Sure, Clarke was infuriating and horrible, but at least she knew better than to make the one mistake that it seemed like everyone around Lexa would never stop making.

Lexa had almost forgotten that Indra was in the room, due to her racing thoughts and her feverish haze, so she did not take too kindly when the older woman snapped her out of her thoughts. "How are you doing, Lexa?"

"I'm fine," Lexa spat. "Clarke's just being absolutely ridiculous."

"If it's nothing, then I'm sure you wouldn't mind if I took your temperature. Just to be sure." Indra smiled warmly, and it only made Lexa angrier. She hated smiles, especially when she was having a shitty day.

"I do mind, actually," Lexa snapped rudely, "but go ahead."

Indra stuck the thermometer into the brunette's mouth, and the two of them waited in silence until it beeped. Lexa was thankful for the fact that Indra didn't try to talk to her again. She had nothing to say to anyone anymore, and Indra was no exception. When the house mother pulled the thermometer from Lexa's mouth, she read the temperature and gasped. Any normal person might get worried or at least ask what was wrong, but Lexa didn't even flinch, not caring in the slightest about what had provoked such a response from Indra.

"Oh, Lexa, are you sure you don't want me to stay with you? You have a fever of a hundred and three."

The brunette knew that Indra cared about her, and that she should just accept the woman's help at this point, but the fact remained that she didn't want it, so she grunted out a response. "I'm sure. Clarke said she's staying with me."

Indra was silent for a moment, seemingly deciding whether or not to say what she clearly wanted to say. Lexa wished that she would just decide against it and leave. She didn't. "I'm glad to hear that you're getting along with Clarke."

Lexa rolled her eyes. "We're not getting along. She just feels like it's her duty to look out for me because she's my roommate or something. It's not a big deal."

"Lexa, I know you don't want to hear this, but Clarke cares about you. I saw her down in the kitchen this morning when she told me you were sick, and she was genuinely worried about you." Indra paused for a moment before deciding to continue. "You'd rather have her in here with you than me today, so she must be doing something right that the rest of us aren't. Maybe it's time to finally let someone in."

Indra administered some medicine to Lexa and then left the room, but Lexa couldn't get the woman's words out of her head. She had to admit that if she had to choose someone in this house to hang out with, she would choose Clarke, because the blonde cared, because she made Lexa feel wanted. Lexa's ideal situation would be to be alone of course, but she had to admit that Clarke wasn't that bad. She felt a piece of her stirring that she had kept locked away for a long time, a piece of the old Lexa that had never really left, and she couldn't deny that maybe Indra was right.

Clarke was sitting at the table with Octavia, Bellamy, and Raven, who had decided to wait on the soup with Clarke. The others had finished breakfast and left the table several minutes ago, but when Clarke told her three closest friends that she had to wait, they insisted on keeping her company. When Indra called out to Clarke that the soup was ready, the blonde thanked all of her friends for staying with her and skittered off into the kitchen to grab the bowl. After thanking Indra, she hurried up the stairs while her friends were walking out the door below.

"Good luck with Lexa," Bellamy called out to her on his way out the door.

"Thanks." Clarke sighed. "I'm probably going to need it."

Upon opening the door, Clarke spotted Lexa in bed, presumably asleep, and she wandered over to her roommate, pressing her hand to the brunette's forehead to assess her temperature. Lexa was still burning up, and green eyes blinked open at the feel of Clarke's hand.

"Why are you touching me?" Lexa asked in a biting tone.

"Hello to you, too," the blonde snarked before taking on a more serious tone. "Indra said you had a fever of 103. I'm just a little worried about you, that's all."

"Don't worry about me, Clarke. I'll be fine," Lexa said, her tone now gentle.

Clarke had to bite back a groan of annoyance at how hot and cold her roommate was being right now. First, she had given Clarke the familiar harsh greeting, and then she had calmed down, telling Clarke not to worry. The blonde wondered where that second response had come from before chalking it up to the fever. She wished that Lexa would stay that way for the remainder of the day because it would be a lot easier for Clarke to take care of her if the brunette wasn't arguing with every word she said, but she knew that was too good to be true. She held back a response, not wishing to chance being chewed out again, and simply nodded.

After a moment of standing awkwardly beside the bed, Clarke held up the bowl that she was carrying. "I brought you some soup."

Lexa just nodded quietly, and Clarke sat down on the edge of her bed, helping the brunette to sit up and arranging the pillows comfortably behind her back. When Lexa made no move to grab the soup that Clarke had set on her dresser, Clarke grabbed it herself, getting a spoonful of it and bringing it to Lexa's mouth. She soon found out that this was apparently the wrong thing to do though when Lexa huffed. "I can do it myself."

Clarke was about to drop the spoon back into the bowl in mild annoyance, but before she could, the brunette leaned forward and accepted the spoonful. Clarke was taken aback because only seconds ago, Lexa had been refusing it. The blonde wondered if this meant that Lexa wanted to eat it herself or if she wanted Clarke to keep feeding it to her, but in the end, Clarke decided to go with the safe option and just give Lexa the bowl. The brunette gladly accepted it, and Clarke watched on in silence as Lexa ate the soup, giving the other girl some peace and quiet so that she could enjoy it. Once Lexa had finished, Clarke grabbed the bowl from her before helping her to lie back down on the bed.

"I'm going to take this downstairs to Indra, and then I'll bring up a cool cloth to lay on your forehead, okay?"

After receiving a nod of confirmation, she left the room, making her way downstairs to bring the bowl back to the kitchen. When Clarke returned with the cloth, she half-expected Lexa to be asleep, and although the brunette was certainly on her way, her eyes blinked open when the blonde stepped into the room. Clarke sat back down on the edge of her roommate's bed and pressed the cloth to her forehead, causing a sigh to escape the brunette's lips. After a few moments of sitting in silence, Clarke began to run her fingers soothingly through Lexa's long brunette curls, hoping that this might serve to help Lexa finally drift off to sleep again.

"I hate you," Lexa murmured sleepily.

Clarke instantly pulled her hand away from Lexa's hair. After everything Clarke was doing for Lexa today, the brunette still hated her. The blonde couldn't help the hurt that flooded through her at the knowledge of that. She had been hoping that Lexa allowing Clarke to stay with her meant something, that the blonde was finally starting to get somewhere with her roommate. She realized now that Lexa simply did not wish for it to be Indra who stayed with her and nothing more. Clarke felt stupid for even having thought that some small part of Lexa might have genuinely wanted Clarke to stay, and she felt even stupider for having cared so much. She should have known that she would have to work much harder than this to get into Lexa's good graces. Still, she had been trying with Lexa every chance that she got, and she didn't know how much more she could do. She couldn't believe how ungrateful Lexa was being.

Clarke huffed in irritation as she stood up from the bed, intending to go back to her side of the room and occupy herself with some homework or something until Lexa needed her again, but before she could take a single step, she felt a hand slip into hers. She turned around in slight surprise to see Lexa looking up at her with pleading green eyes. "Don't leave me."

Clarke had half a mind to just walk away from the other girl anyway after what she had said, but she could tell by the look in her roommate's eyes that the brunette really wanted her to stay, so she relented, reclaiming her place on the bed. "Okay. I won't leave you."

Lexa hummed contentedly at that, letting her eyes slide closed again, and Clarke remained where she was, idly rubbing her thumb back and forth over the back of Lexa's hand. She had felt a strange relief upon hearing Lexa's request, and she wondered to herself why it was that she would rather stay here and hold Lexa's germ-infested hand than go back to her side of the room and maybe draw or even get her homework done. Only a little over a week ago, Clarke hadn't wanted anything to do with her roommate, and now here she was, wanting nothing more than to comfort the other girl. And it did seem to comfort the brunette because even after she had been asleep for hours, she never let up her grip on Clarke's hand.