"So, when's Lexa's birthday?" Raven asked Clarke curiously, as both of them were stretched out across Bellamy's couch in the warehouse. It was Wednesday, and the week had already been far too long. Clarke hadn't seen Lexa since Sunday, which was already aggravating enough. She hadn't managed to get a shift for Wednesday night at The Bean, however, so she found herself going to the warehouse, where she found only Raven.

The two of them had turned on Orange Is The New Black and then collapsed onto Bellamy's couch lazily. They hadn't spoken since sitting down, until Raven asked the question. "Next Saturday," Clarke answered, a smile coming to her face without her realizing. "I don't know why it felt so far away before. I think I made her age such a big deal at first that it feels like it's somehow not able to change."

Raven snorted as she laughed. "You're ridiculous, Clarke. Do you guys have plans?"

"Um..." Clarke frowned. "No, not really yet."

"You better get on that," Raven teased, and just as Clarke was about to reply, both of their phones beeped. "Random number," Raven said dismissively as she looked at hers.

"Same," Clarke replied, but she opened the text message to read it anyway.

From Unknown – Hello! This is Lexa's friend Luna! Before you ask how I got your numbers – don't worry about it! Next Saturday is Lexa's 18thbirthday, and Anya and I are throwing a party for her the day before, next Friday. It's at my place (my parents will be out of town) and I'll send my address once each of you tell me whether you're coming. I'm providing food, but since a few of you are 21+, it would be rather nice of you if you guys provided alcohol. Anyway, it's a surprise party, so we CAN NOT tell Lexa! You're all invited, but only Clarke's attendance is mandatory. Lemme know if you can come ASAP, please and thank you! Adios!

Raven had opened her own text message by that point, and she snickered. "I met this Luna girl at the party on Saturday. She's an interesting character."

"Looks like the first half of Lexa's birthday plans have been made then," Clarke commented. "And you're all coming, by the way, because as much as I wanna hang out with Lexa, hanging out with just her and her two best friends sounds like an awkward fest that I don't need."

"Of course we'll come," Raven answered incredulously. "I'm not gonna lie, your girlfriend is seriously growing on all of us. She's really so nice, and she's not like... juvenile. I guess in my mind, anyone under the age of twenty needs to grow the fuck up, but she's not half bad."

Clarke rolled her eyes. "Well thanks, I'm glad she's not half bad in your book."

"That isn't to say that she shouldn't grow up at all, of course," Raven teased, "because I'm pretty sure that we've established that you're desperate as fuck to be fucked. You know, now that I'm thinking about it, you haven't been near as boring and bossy since getting with Lexa. And that must mean... that you've been doing a lot of... you know." The brunette wiggled her eyebrows suggestively, and Clarke scoffed.

"What is with you and thinking that the only way to relax is to masturbate?" she snapped.

"It's the only way to relax your kitty," Raven said sympathetically, "especially when your girlfriend can't put out because she's underage."

"Shut up," Clarke groaned. "You're the worst friend."

"Am not!" Raven rolled her eyes, laughing. "Finn is a much worse friend. Have you two even talked at all recently? You used to be pretty chill around each other, once the whole sex thing passed."

"That was a long time ago," Clarke muttered.

"I know, but that's what I'm saying is that you've always been pretty friendly. You haven't been talking as much since all this Lexa stuff. Aside from fighting, anyway. Usually any fighting that ensued between the two of you had to do with him making some bullshit mistake and you yelling for a few minutes and then helping him fix it," Raven insisted, and Clarke groaned again. "I'm just saying, C. Is he still mad? Do you think he's just butt hurt that you got Lexa and he didn't?"

"Ew, no," Clarke insisted instantly, not even wanting to consider that possibility. "That's gross. Lexa's gay, he never could've ended up with her. Ifhe's still mad, it's because he thinks that I'm making a mistake."

"Well, he's an idiot." Raven crossed her arms defensively. "For what it's worth, the rest of us totally support you and Lexa. Even Jasper, after I got him to stop staring at her on Saturday."

"Wait, what?" Clarke demanded, sitting up a little.

Raven grinned. "I'm just kidding. I mean... he was staring, but Lexa is kinda hot, so I guess you can't really blame him."

"I hate men," Clarke huffed out, relaxing into the couch again and shaking her head. "Maybe I am just completely gay."

"You are what you are," Raven said, shrugging. "Is that really something you've thought about – how gay you are? From what I can tell, you've slept with guys, and you've slept with girls, and right now you're interested in a girl. Does it have to be one way or the other?"

"Well, no," Clarke answered thoughtfully. "I just... I don't know, Finn asked me about it awhile ago. It doesn't matter, of course, but it's just a thought. I haven't looked at a guy and found him significantly attractive in a while."

"Maybe that's because you've been falling for Lexa for over a month now."

Clarke sat up a little again, looking over at Raven with wide eyes. "What did you just say?"

"Oh come on, you're so in love with her," Raven insisted, furrowing her eyebrows a little. "I mean, aren't you? Or at least falling in love with her. Have you seen the way that you look at her?"

"Well, considering that I can't see myself when I'm looking at someone, I'll go with no."

"Right," Raven said with a laugh. "Well, you have to know that you're at least falling for her."

"Yeah." Clarke sunk into the couch.

"You gonna tell her?"

Clarke shook her head.

"Alright, go at your own pace, whatever."

"I'm kind of... scared."

"Of what?" Raven asked, sounding shocked.

Clarke felt her face flush. "I've never... been in like a real, healthy relationship with someone, with like actual real feelings. It's kinda scary."

"Oh come on, you were with that one guy during your first year of college," Raven started. "What was his name? Max? Matt?"

Clarke rolled her eyes. "Matt. And he was an asshole – he cheated on me two weeks into our relationship, remember?"

"Oh, right. Well... what about that girl you dated at the beginning of this year?"

"That relationship was a disaster," Clarke muttered, putting her hands over her eyes. "It's just... I'd just about swore off relationships since then, and now look at me."

Raven was quiet for a moment. "Are you regretting this thing with Lexa?" Clarke took in a deep breath, pulling her hands off of her face and staring up at the ceiling.

"No, definitely not," Clarke decided. "Like I said, I'm just scared."

"Maybe you should get home, princess," Raven said quietly, sitting up and looking pointedly at the blonde. "Get some sleep, it's been a long week already." Clarke nodded in agreement, sitting up as well and then standing. "And, Clarke... thanks for talking to me about all of this. You don't open up very often, but it's nice... you know, to hear you talking about feelings and stuff. I think that Lexa is really good for you."

Clarke felt a smile pulling at her lips. "I think so, too. See you later, Rae."

"So no to the bonfire on your birthday idea?"

Lexa rolled her eyes as she sandwiched her phone in between her shoulder and her ear while she drove. "No, Luna, I'm almost positive that I'll have better plans. You know... with Clarke."

"Right, yeah," Luna acknowledged. Lexa felt somewhat bad playing along with this, but she knew that Luna wanted her to not expect the party that was coming in a week. Lexa was glad that Anya had told her, but she would of course play along for Luna's sake. Until now, the furthest extent to which she'd celebrated her birthdays had been with Anya, staying up late, watching movies and eating food. It had always felt like a nice break from their normal lives, but now, that would feel a lot more normal. Lexa felt like she'd lived more in the past few months than she had ever before in the rest of her life. So maybe a party was in order.

"Well, I've gotta go," Lexa said to her friend as she drove up to her destination. "I'll see you... tomorrow maybe."

"I'll text you if Anya agrees to go to the bonfire tomorrow," Luna told her happily. "See you, Lex!"

The call ended, and Lexa dropped her phone into her lap as she parked her car in front of the warehouse. It was a few hours before Clarke would be off from work, so the blonde was most definitely not in the building at the moment, but Lexa was surprised to see that no other cars were around either. In fact, she'd been counting on someone being there, because the large front sliding door was currently closed.

"Shit," she muttered, shutting off her car and climbing out. She grabbed her backpack and then closed the door, starting over to the building. Did they lock the front door? She was sure that it must lock, since warehouses were often built initially for storage anyway. She tentatively reached out to the door once she was in front of it, pushing it to the side and marveling as it opened easily. No lock.

The inside of the warehouse was pitch black, however, and Lexa realized that she only knew how to turn on Clarke's light. Deciding not to bother with any other lights, she turned on the flashlight on her phone and stepped into the front room. She glanced around, shining her light around as well, and noticed that a bean bag had been moved from the front room over to Octavia's room. Smiling to herself, she stepped into the brunette's room and slowly made her way through the rest of the warehouse until she got to Clarke's. Once there, she felt along the wall until she found the switch, and the lights in the room and the hallway flickered on obediently.

Smiling proudly, she turned off her flashlight and set her phone on the table, dropping her bag on one of the chairs. She glanced around the room for a moment, and then made a quick decision. Grabbing her phone again, she made her way back through the dark building and to the front room. She glanced outside, noticing that still no one was there, and then grabbed one of the three bean bags that were left. She carried it back to Clarke's room and put it next to the shelves on the wall.

Lexa grabbed her backpack and then collapsed into the beanbag. She had a paper to work on, so she pulled out her laptop to start. Clarke had already told her that she'd be at the warehouse tonight, but Lexa had decided that there was a better chance of actually getting to hang out with her girlfriend if she was here first, since Clarke was bound to be pretty tired. Plus, if she went home to do her homework, she was chancing getting stuck there with her mom or something.

The building was peaceful, if not a little creepy, without any sounds echoing through it.

It was about an hour later when Lexa noticed the hall light up a little more just as the sound of big light switches being turned on made noise as well. Someone else was in the warehouse, and thought Lexa knew that it must be one of Clarke's friends, she still couldn't help but feel a little crept out.

She assumed that they'd just go to their own room and go about their business, but she had no such luck as Finn suddenly glanced into the room. Of course it would be him, the only one who had to pass Clarke's room to get to his. "Clarke, I thought – oh. You're not Clarke."

"Nope," Lexa answered, looking up from her computer at him. "She's ah, at work."

"Yeah, that's why I was confused that the light was on, but not the others. Do you know where the switch for the others are?" Lexa shook her head. "They're in Octavia's room, pretty easy to see in the corner. The fancy, big building kind. Turns all the lights on in the rooms that have them – except for the back of the building and Bellamy's room."

"Thanks," Lexa said quietly.

"So. You waiting for her?" Lexa nodded. "How's she been? I mean... I've seen her, of course, we just haven't really been talking much."

"She's good," Lexa answered. "Working a lot, on top of school, but she's happy."

Finn nodded. "You make her happy."

Lexa felt a blush rise to her cheeks. "Ah, yeah I guess so."

"No, really, you do," Finn insisted. "She's just been so much more... present lately, with everything. School, work, all of us. I just... I think you've made her a better person. Or, not made her really, just brought it out in her. She kind of gave up on relationships after her last one."

"Oh."

"I'm just trying to say that... I'm sorry for being an ass," Finn finally blurted, sighing. "I kind of thought that you were going to screw her over, yeah... because you didn't tell me that you were under eighteen, and it seemed like you were just... uncaring about everything. I didn't want that for Clarke."

"I had a weird summer," Lexa said, for lack of any other explanation. "I care about Clarke a lot."

"I know you do," Finn admitted. "I just wanted you to know that I know that. Anyway, I have some stuff to do, so... have fun with... whatever you're doing."

Lexa laughed. "Homework."

"Right, have fun with that. I'll... see you around." He continued down the hallway, and Lexa let out a breath. That had been unexpected, but a smile came to her face as she realized what it meant. The last of Clarke's friends finally fully supported them being together, and Lexa couldn't help that it felt fucking amazing to know that.

It was a couple hours later, when Lexa was just finishing up her paper, that anyone else walked into the room. This time, however, it was Clarke, her eyebrows furrowed, probably at the fact that the light was on. Lexa shut her laptop, and their gazes met. "Well hey there," Clarke greeted, smiling and tilting her head a little. "You been here long?"

"Yes," Lexa admitted. "I was doing homework and waiting for you. If I went home, there was a good chance that my mom would've somehow dragged me into dinner with her or something. Anyway, you shouldn't be surprised. My car is outside."

"Right," Clarke said, rolling her eyes as she stepped into the room and slid her door closed. "I guess I didn't see it. If I'd known that you were here already, I would've brought food or something."

"You do owe me a dinner," Lexa reminded the blonde, smiling cheekily and sliding her laptop back into her bag. "I stole one of the bean bags from the front of the warehouse, because I saw one in Octavia's room and I didn't wanna sit in your hard chairs all afternoon."

"I'm sorry my chairs aren't up to par," Clarke said with a smirk, extending a hand to the brunette. "Only their backs are hard, anyway. How about dinner tomorrow?"

"That sounds good," Lexa agreed, taking Clarke's hand and standing up. "How was The Bean?"

"Uneventful," Clarke answered, pulling Lexa closer to her. "I texted you, but you didn't answer."

Lexa furrowed her eyebrows. "Oh." She glanced over at her phone, sitting on Clarke's table. "I guess my phone is on silent. I was writing a paper."

"Sounds boring," Clarke said, shaking her head and then closing the distance between them with a kiss. It lasted a few seconds, and then Clarke pulled away again. "Did Finn see you here?"

"Yeah," Lexa answered, "I got here and the place was all closed up. I didn't know where the switches were for the lights so I just came here and got these lights. Finn came in about an hour later and thought you were in here."

Clarke raised an eyebrow. "What did he say?"

"A bunch of sappy stuff," Lexa answered, smirking, "about how I make you happy and how I bring out more good things in you, blah blah, all that stuff that I already knew."

Clarke's face was flushed suddenly, but she played it off as though she were unaffected by the admission. "Oh wow, you already knew all that did you?"

"Mm, indeed. Oh, and then he apologized to me. I've gotta say, it was pretty nice."

"Guess he's not so much of an asshole, huh?" Clarke murmured, tilting her head a little. "Ah well, I knew that eventually he'd get over himself."

"I had my doubts, though I don't really know him very well, so that's probably why," Lexa stated, "but I'm glad that he's okay with you and me now. It feels good to know that your friends don't all hate me anymore."

"They never hated you, weirdo," Clarke tutted, though a smile was slowly tugging at her lips. "Hey, what are you doing on your birthday?"

"You mean on my actual birthday, or during the surprise party that Luna's planning for me?" Lexa laughed as Clarke raised her eyebrows.

"You know about that?"

"Anya told me. She wanted to make sure that... I mean, ah, yeah she just told me," Lexa corrected quickly, heat rising to her face

Clarke smirked. "She wanted to make sure of what?"

"She said she'd tell Luna to end the party at midnight if I wanted," Lexa answered, biting down on the inside of her lip.

"Ah." Clarke grinned, and Lexa let out a laugh, shaking her head.

"And I told her not to," Lexa added teasingly. "But as far as what I'm doing on my actual birthday... as of right now, I have no plans. Why? You gonna change that?"

"That was my intention, yes." Clarke smiled softly.

"What do you wanna do?"

Clarke blushed. "I... don't know yet. You know that I'm awful at planning things. But can't you just say that you'll spend the evening with me no matter what it is that I decide that we'll do?"

"What if you end up taking me out somewhere creepy and murdering me?" Lexa's eyes widened as she feigned fear, and watched as annoyance flashed across Clarke's face for a moment.

"Lexa, I'm not going to murder you," she huffed out impatiently. "If I was going to murder you, I'd have done it by now. I wanna take you out for your birthday. Please?"

Lexa smiled, biting down on her lower lip. "Okay. But my curfew is ten."

"If that was actually your curfew, babe, you'd definitely end up breaking it," Clarke retorted, and Lexa grinned playfully.

"Oh yeah? For you?"

"Fuck yeah for me," Clarke snapped, turning suddenly and pinning Lexa against the table, her hands falling on the paint splattered wood on either side of the brunette. "You joke about it now, but in a week, I don't think there will be any joking."

"You're very confident," Lexa whispered, her breath stolen at the sudden much closer proximity of their bodies.

Clarke smiled softly, pressing the front of her body into Lexa's. "Maybe I have reason to be."

"I don't doubt it," Lexa breathed out. Clarke closed the remaining distance between them with a soft kiss that Lexa practically melted into. She hummed contently against Clarke's lips, surprised as she felt two hands on her hips, dragging down until they were on the back of her thighs. Suddenly, she was lifted and sitting on the table, wrapping her legs around the blonde and moaning as Clarke's tongue delved into her mouth.

They broke apart only for air, and then Lexa let out a breath.

"I definitely don't doubt it."