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A/N: Thank you for reading! Let me know if there is anything in particular you'd like to see and I'll try to add it. Let me know what you think!

Junior year. Clarke grins excitedly to herself as she clutches her colorful comforter and sheets tighter to her chest and bounds up the front steps of her new rent house. Raven and Octavia had been her suitemates freshman and sophomore year when they were confined to the dorms at Polis University and now that they're free to choose their own dwellings, they can't imagine living separately. After a lengthy search for a house with an appropriate bedroom to bathroom ratio for three college aged girls, they'd finally settled on a large house with four bedrooms and three bathrooms.

Then came the issue of who would be taking the fourth room. They seriously considered using it as a second living area or a study or even a dance party room (that gem had been Octavia's idea), however the promise of lower rent won out and they soon found themselves scouring Facebook for a reasonable addition to their household. It's not that they're were picky, per say, they just didn't want to end up with an axe murderer or a crazy cat lady as their new roommate.

The solution to their problem came in the form of Octavia's cousin deciding to transfer to Polis to run on the track team. Upon Octavia convincing Raven and Clarke that her cousin was a perfectly normal twenty-one year old woman and promising she'd be the one sharing a bathroom with the girl in question, the decision was final.

Clarke dumps her bedding on the mattress and box springs that take up most of the back wall of the master suite (she'd drawn the long straw when it came to choosing rooms) and sighs when she sees how many boxes she still has to unpack. She can hear Raven breaking down empty boxes in her room across the hall and Octavia's weird dance fusion music drifting from her open door across the house. Their fourth roommate is still on her way, Octavia had assured earlier, and her parents had moved in their niece's furniture earlier that day.

It's nice finally being in a house, Clarke decides. Although they have to worry about yard care and utilities now, they no longer have to concern themselves with keeping the noise down at night and now they have laundry in their house instead of down three flights of stairs and a creepy ass hallway like it was at the on campus apartments they'd lived in last semester. That and she's still living with her two best friends.

Raven and Octavia probably know Clarke better than her own mother. Not that it's surprising. Clarke and her mom can barely manage strained small talk without it escalating into an argument. High school had been hard, but her roommates are her family now. Clarke just hopes that Octavia's cousin moving in doesn't throw off the dynamic the three girls have built over the past two years. She knows Octavia has told her over and over again that her cousin is slightly closed off, but really cool, however Clarke can't get the image of this new girl coming into her life and stealing away her friends leaving her alone again.

There's a knock at the door frame and Clarke looks up from where she's unpacking her art supplies and sees Octavia grinning at her.

"Hey, O. What's up?"

Octavia shrugs, venturing further into the room, and throws herself onto Clarke's unmade bed, causing the neatly organized stack of books Clarke had placed there earlier to topple over. "Just seeing how the unpacking is going for you. Got tired of putting clothes on hangers."

Clarke sighs at the mess Octavia's made of her books, but goes to sit next to her anyway, grinning when the girl wiggles closer until her head is in Clarke's lap.

"I'm glad we're living together again."

"Me too," Clarke answers as she threads her fingers through dark hair.

Octavia sighs in contentment and is closing her eyes when Raven comes barreling into the room and tackles both the girls sitting on the bed. Octavia squeals in surprise and bats at the intruder. Raven squirms until she is sandwiched between Clarke and Octavia and buries her face into Clarke's shoulder.

"You bitches better not be trying to leave me out of this cuddlefest."

Clarke giggles despite the fact that she is hanging halfway off the bed and it is decidedly not a comfortable position to be in. She's with her best friends in her new house and she couldn't be happier.

"I really love you guys."

She feels Raven's mouth form a smile against her neck and strong arms pull her more onto the bed. "Ditto, Griffin."

The girl who walks through the front door, black rolling suitcase in tow, is easily the most attractive human being Clarke has ever laid eyes on. She really shouldn't be surprised. Bellamy and Octavia are both unjustly beautiful people in their own right, so it only makes sense that their cousin would be equally as blessed.

She is dressed in a pair of simple jeans and a form flattering black v-neck. Dark brown riding boots encase her calves, making her seem taller than she actually is. Chestnut colored locks fall in barely controlled curls down her back, but it is her steely green eyes set atop sharp cheek bones that truly take Clarke's breath away. And when the cold gaze is cast upon her and their eyes met for the first time, Clarke is pretty sure she almost swallows her own tongue.

And suddenly Octavia is flying across the living room and flinging herself into the stranger's arms and the moment is lost.

"Lexa! You're finally here!"

"Hello, Octavia."

Clarke gulps. Even her voice is sexy. Octavia holds her cousin at arm's length, seemingly appraising her. "You look good, cousin."

A hint of a grin flickers across the new girl's features before she turns her gaze onto the two other girls in the room. "Are you going to introduce me to my new roommates?"

Octavia bounces excitedly on the balls of her feet and nods. She hops across the room and grabs Clarke's hand and hauls Raven up from the sofa by her elbow and drags them towards her cousin.

"Lexa, meet Clarke and Raven. They're my best friends in the whole universe. Clarke and Raven, this is Lexa. She's the super awesome, badass cousin I always talk about."

Once again, that cool gaze is turned upon Clarke and she feels her chest constrict. Lexa raises her chin and extends her hand.

"It's nice to meet you, Clarke, Raven."

Lexa's grip on Clarke's hand is strong and confident. Lexa's skin is soft when she slides her hand from Clarke's to shake Raven's hand. Clarke would be concerned about this massive crush on first sight situation if Lexa didn't carry herself like every other straight girl Clarke has met in her life. She watches Octavia guide Lexa towards her room and resigns herself to having a one sided straight girl crush for the rest of their roommateship. Or until Lexa pisses her off.

"So, that's your cousin, huh?"

Clarke flops onto the couch between Octavia and Raven, freshly popped bowl of popcorn in hand. Octavia reaches for a handful and stuffs it into her mouth. They've just finished unpacking and decorating their new home. Lexa left only moments ago to attend a meeting at the university, pausing only briefly to bid goodbye to the girls watching MTV in their new living room.

"Yeah. Why do you act so surprised?"

"I don't know. She's, like, really attractive."

"Yeah, your cousin is fucking hot, O," Raven chimes in.

Octavia scoffs and shakes her head. "No way in hell, Clarke."

Clarke feigns innocence and puts on her most convincing confused face. "No way in hell what?"

"No way in hell are you thinking about sleeping with my cousin! I know you don't, like, sleep around or whatever, but she is off limits. It's, like, girlcode or something." Octavia breathes out a little laugh after her statement, however there is an edge to her voice that lets Clarke know that she's only half kidding.

"Relax, O. I try to make a habit of not sleeping with straight girls."

Octavia shifts uncomfortably and breaks eye contact with Clarke. "Well… about that."

"Shut up! She's the same lesbian cousin Bellamy told us about!? I thought she went to school in D.C." Raven jumps on the gossip like a hungry dog going after a steak. "Why are you depriving Clarke of having her slutty college years?" Raven leans over Clarke to ask the question in hushed tones as if Lexa wasn't several blocks where she can't hear the current conversation.

Clarke vaguely remembers the instance Raven is referring to. It had been while they were all together drinking over a year ago, so the details were a bit fuzzy.

Octavia looks vaguely uncomfortable with the turn the discussion has taken. "That would be her, but seriously guys, she's a little emotionally unavailable so it would be best if she didn't have one of her new roommates hitting on her."

Clarke understands, she really does. It's hard being gay and in college. It's easier for the girls that are okay with casual sex and taking advantage of party lesbians, but for girls like Clarke who are more suited for long term relationships, there aren't many options and it's sometimes more simple to just shut out the world.

"Fine, I promise I won't actively pursue your cousin, Octavia. However, if she comes on to me, all bets are off," Clarke jokes, bumping shoulders with her roommate to let her know she is kidding.

"Fair enough," Octavia laughed.

Clarke quickly finds that she and Lexa have very similar schedules. It seems every day when she arrives home from class, the other girl is already there or walks through the front door shortly after. They make small talk during these times and sometimes even sit together in the living room to work on homework. Clarke discovers that Lexa is a kinesiology major, and that she works part time at the rec center teaching yoga, which explains her incredible physique. Clarke speaks to Lexa about her art major and the upcoming junior showcase she is working her ass off to prepare for while also trying to juggle her job at the University library.

It's nice not to be the only one home, as Clarke was so often when Raven and Octavia were her only roommates. Raven works almost every day as a waitress at a local restaurant and Octavia always seems to be out with her high school sweetheart, Lincoln, so it is a rare occasion indeed for the four roommates to all be home at the same time.

And just when Clarke feels like she and Lexa are almost bonding, she almost fucks everything up.

They're both in the living room. Lexa's sitting in the threadbare armchair and Clarke's sitting on the rug with her sketching spread across the coffee table.

"So, you're, like, a lesbian, right?"

Lexa stiffens and regards Clarke with guarded eyes. She clenches her jaw and looks away. "My sexuality is my business."

Clarke can tell this isn't the first time Lexa's had this conversation and judging by her stiff posture and white-knuckled grip on her pencil, Clarke would bet good money that it usually doesn't end well.

"Lexa, Octavia already told me."

That was probably the wrong thing to say because Lexa swallows hard and glares down at the book in her lap. "Don't worry. I'm not going to spy on you in the shower or try to kiss you or anything. I'm gay, not a pervert." She closes her book with a resounding thud and pushes away from the chair. "You know, I think I'm just going to go study in my room, actually."

Clarke barely manages to snatch her roommate's hand as she storms by and pulls her off balance causing her to fall into a heap on the rug.

"What the hell, Clarke?"

Lexa is as angry as Clarke's every seen her and if she didn't find the flashing green eyes and flaring nostrils so damn attractive, she'd probably be scared out of her wits. "Lexa, I swear I'm not trying to upset you."

"Then why did you ask that question?"

Clarke shrugs, picking at an imaginary thread on the rug. "I guess I just wanted to hear it from you."

Pinching the bridge of her nose, Lexa sighs loudly. "I just don't understand why it matters to you."

"I'm not judging you." At Lexa's unbelieving glance, Clarke shakes her head vehemently. "I'm really not! I mean, it would be supremely hypocritical of me if I did judge you."

Lexa's head snaps up her eyes meet Clarke's. "Hypocritical?"

Clarke wills herself not to flush under the intensity of the other girl's gaze. "Well, I have been out and proud since 2010. I'm surprised Octavia didn't tell you. Maybe I should get a t-shirt made or something."

Lexa's mouth drops open and her eyebrows furrow in confusion. "You're gay? How?"

A chuckle escapes Clarke's lips. "Ummm, well, I guess I kissed a girl and I liked it so I decided to do it more?" Lexa doesn't look amused so Clarke quickly clarifies. "I've kinda always known. Same as you, probably."

"You're so girly and pretty though." Lexa immediately claps her hands over her mouth and looks away, her cheeks coloring.

Clarke raises an eyebrow at her. "Thanks, I think. You are too. Pretty, I mean." Lexa turns even redder and Clarke frowns a little. "I'm honestly a little surprised at your stereotyping though."

"If you knew my parents, you wouldn't be." Lexa smiles wryly before continuing. "But still, I shouldn't have said it like that. I just never would've guessed."

"They didn't take your coming out well, I take it?"

"I haven't spoken to them since." Lexa leaves it at that and Clarke decides not to press her.

Clarke stands suddenly and holds out her hand to Lexa who blinks at her in confusion. Rolling her eyes, Clarke snatches the brunette's hand and drags her to her feet. "Come on, let's go shopping!"

"What?"

"We've bonded in our lesbianism. We need to go get matching flannel shirts!"

Lexa smirks and shakes her head, but follows Clarke out the door anyway.

"Now who's the one stereotyping?"

When Octavia drags the household to one of Lexa's off season practice track meets, Clarke isn't really sure what to expect. She knows Lexa transferred to Polis because they offered her a scholarship where the smaller school she was running for didn't have a track scholarship program. Clarke's pretty embarrassed to admit that her only knowledge of track and field events comes from watching the summer Olympics.

Lexa's told Clarke that she runs anchor in the mile relay. Clarke has no idea what that means, but it sounds important, so she's excited to see what got her roommate a full ride scholarship in the first place.

Clarke spots Lexa before either of her roommates do and it's all she can do to keep calm and not fall out of the bleachers. Lexa is down on the field stretching by the track. She is wearing tiny spandex shorts and a tight runner's tank and even from where Clarke is sitting, she can see the definition of the flexing muscles in Lexa's thighs and calves. When Lexa straightens up and stretches her arms above her head, her tank rides up to expose a peek of perfectly toned abs and Clarke's mind freezes.

"Clarke!"

She's drawn from her observations by an exasperated shout from the girl to her left and she assumes that wasn't the only time her name was called judging by the knowing arch of Raven's eyebrow.

"See something you like?"

Clarke blushes and plays with her fingers in her lap. "Shut up. You can't blame me for looking when she's built like a freaking goddess."

Lexa does a couple of lunges along the track and Clarke really wishes those legs were wrapped around her right now. Raven hums in appreciation. "You know, I'm pretty confident in my heterosexuality and I'd still do her."

"Guys, seriously, that is my cousin. Stop being gross," Octavia moans in protest.

They watch a few races, not really understanding what is going on. They mostly comment on the uniforms worn by other schools and a few boys sporting unfortunate haircuts. Then the announcer is calling for all women competing in the mile relay to enter the track and take their places. Clarke can see Lexa in her red and black spandex bouncing on the balls of her feet by the side of the track as the first runner from her race crouches in the blocks.

The race moves quickly following the sound of the starter pistol. Lexa's three teammates have done a decent job of keeping Polis in the pack, however they're currently sitting in fourth and Lexa is the only one left to run. Octavia had explained earlier that the anchor is the last to run in a relay and is usually the fastest on the team. Clarke really hopes this is true because right now, the girl in black in red standing at the finish line has a lot of ground to make up.

Lexa takes the baton as her out of breath teammate finishes her lap. Clarke swears the brunette sprouts wings as she sprints around the first turn. Lexa's strides are long and smooth. She makes passing the other runners look effortless and by the time she's rounding the final turn into the last hundred meters of the race, she's put her team into second place. Arms pumping in rhythm with the pounding of her feet and shoulders back, Lexa charges down the track until she is even with the first place runner and then edging past her as she throws herself across the finish line. Clarke thinks it might be the most free she's ever seen the other woman.

Clarke doesn't even remember standing during the race, but now she's jumping up and down in the stands and cheering for her roommate, for Lexa, and everyone around her is looking like she's crazy. But when Lexa looks up from where she's doubled over next to the track, catching her breath, and sends Clarke a grateful shadow of a smile, Clarke can't find it in herself to care what other people think.

Clarke learns Lexa isn't perfect the day she comes home from work to find her newest roommate in the kitchen crying over a bowl of what looked to be some sort of lumpy pink goo. Clarke is so taken aback by the sight of the unflappable woman standing in a mess of flower and broken egg shells with tear tracks marring her features that she stands in the doorway for a long moment, not knowing what to say. A stifled sob escaping Lexa shakes Clarke from her trance.

"Lexa, what's wrong?"

Lexa very nearly jumps out of her skin when Clarke finally announces her presence. She swats away the tears and attempts to smooth down her unruly hair that looks to have flower streaked through it.

"It's nothing. If you don't mind, I'd rather be alone."

Clarke is surprised by how little Lexa's voice wavered considering she had tears running down her face only moments ago. Lexa's cool verdant gaze bores into Clarke's in challenge. Clarke chooses not to take the easy way out.

"Judging by the state of the kitchen, I'm going to guess that nothing isn't what has you so upset."

She raises an eyebrow at Lexa, daring her to argue. To Clarke's surprise, Lexa's shoulders slump and she sighs in defeat, shaking her head.

"Tomorrow is Octavia's birthday and I don't have much money for a gift, so I was planning to make her the cake our grandma always used to make us for our birthdays, but I'm shit at baking and this is the second batch of batter I've ruined."

Clarke can't help it. She giggles. It's not directed at Lexa in particular, just at the absurdity of the situation. The scathing glare Lexa sends Clarke in response to her tittering only makes her chuckle harder.

"I fail to see what is funny about this situation."

The hurt is evident in Lexa's voice and Clarke reins it in with a calming breath. She leans forward over the counter and dips her index finger into the fluorescent goo before wrapping her lips around the digit, sucking the concoction off and just barely managing not to grimace at the taste. Clarke doesn't miss the way Lexa's eyes dilate and fix on her mouth, but she remembers her promise to Octavia and chooses not to say anything.

"I don't think the batter is salvageable, unfortunately." Clarke watches Lexa's face fall further and her bottom lip begin trembling and she is instantly filled with guilt. "Look, I'm sorry for laughing, Lexa. It's just, you're always so good at everything you do."

Lexa is silent for a moment and Clarke fears she's upset her further, but then the corners of Lexa lips twitch and she huffs self-deprecatingly.

"And now I've been defeated by a cake."

Clarke lets out a bark of laughter before grabbing the recipe from the counter that is strewn with baking ingredients and looking it over. It honestly doesn't look like that difficult of a recipe and Clarke is pretty sure she can make this happen. She picks up the ill-fated bowl of ruined batter and dumps its contents into the trash before replacing it on the counter.

"What are you doing?" Lexa is looking at Clarke expectantly, her eyebrow raised in question.

"I'm saving your ass. Now measure out two cups of flour and pass me the eggs."

It's the first time Clarke sees a genuinely happy smile on Lexa's face. It's probably the most beautiful think she's ever seen. Clarke makes a mental note to add the image to her sketchbook later.