A/N: Hello again friends, here we are again. I don't usually write AU's, but for some reason this one wouldn't leave my head, so I had to write it. The first two parts are done (and posted) and they're long. Please don't forget to drop me a review, let me know what you think and whether or not continuing is a good idea, or I'll just leave it as it is. Thanks. Read, review and enjoy!
Chapter One
When Raven had text her, Clarke had been at the loft. Her father had rented it for her, it was a place where she could do her art in peace, without her mother screaming at her for getting paint on the hard wood floors. Clarke would live there if she could. It was her space, somewhere she could just go to close out the world. She had totally forgotten that she was supposed to be meeting Raven and Octavia for coffee, her two best friends had been out shopping, something that Clarke hated. She knew that Raven hated it too, but Octavia loved it, and for Raven that was enough of a reason. The three of them had been pretty much inseparable since Clarke's parents had moved to the city when her mom got a new job, head of the emergency room no less, Clarke had been 8 years old. She didn't remember too much about the time she spent living in LA, other than the fact it was a lot warmer than New York, especially in the winter. She loved the winter though, the way the snow glittered like little diamonds in the glow cast from the street lights. The summers weren't that much different, she had always remembered LA being a little too hot for her liking. Something that she did love about New York were the people, especially the people she surrounded herself with, they were creative in every sense of the word. As an artist, Clarke loved being able to create something from nothing, nothing appealed to her more than a blank canvas. She spent a lot of her time at café's around the city, her father had long since labelled her as a bohemian, something that amused the blonde girl no end.
She checked the text from Raven again to make sure she was going to the right place, it was in the old factory district, not really somewhere that Clarke would consider a good place for a café. It was her kind of area though, a lot of the buildings had been transformed, some into art galleries, places which Clarke loved spending time. She would walk around the buildings, dreaming about the day she would open her own gallery. There had been a lot of talk about them renovating the area, as some of the abandoned buildings were popular with drug users and other not so socially acceptable members of society. Opening a new café there was certainly a brave move. She stopped in front of the building which Raven had text her the address off. Ark Station. It didn't look like much from the outside, but as soon as Clarke pushed the doors open, it was like she had stepped into a dream world. The walls had all been stripped back to their original brick work, there was a café area which was busier than she had expected it to be. Paintings hung on the walls, sofas were placed in random places, huge cushions were scattered around the place. She noticed people sitting around, talking about everything from the weather to the latest book they were reading. She noticed a stage area, with a poster advertising Open Mic Night. It wasn't so much a café as a performance space. A step back to what Clarke had read about 80's New York. In that moment she realised that most of the time she had left before starting school again in the fall, would be spent there, it's somewhere she could just disappear. Towards the back of the building she noticed a closed off area, the sign on the wall said it was a gallery space to rent. While her eyes were still taking in the building around her she didn't notice a guy walking up to her.
"Welcome to Ark Station." He said when Clarke finally looked at him.
"This place is amazing…" Clarke said, looking around again.
"Always a dream of my mothers," he said with a small smile, "to come back to New York and open a place like this. She always bored us with stories as kids about how New York was full of artists."
"Guess she finally realised her dream huh," Clarke said with a smile of her own, "I'm Clarke."
"Lincoln." he replied, holding his hand out and smiling a little as she shook it.
"So your mom owns this place?" Clarke asked, her eyes once again travelling around the vast space in front of her.
"Yeah," he said, "me and my sister Anya run it, but it's my mom's baby. Are you into art?"
"Er… kinda." Clarke said with a laugh.
"Kinda?" She heard Raven ask from behind her, "Lincoln this is the Clarke I was telling you about."
"The girl who keeps herself and her awesome art locked away in a loft down town?" Lincoln asked.
"That's the one." Raven replied.
"Well in that case, my question is already answered," Lincoln said with a little laugh, "you'll have to bring some of your art around some time, I'm sure we'd love to see it."
Clarke's eyes were drawn to a girl who was sitting on one of the huge beanbag like cushions near the far wall, her head was buried in a book, but Clarke couldn't stop looking at her as the light illuminated her features. There was something captivating about her. As if the girl could sense Clarke looking at her, she looked up from her book. Her green eyes locking onto Clarke's blue eyes. In that moment Clarke felt butterflies spring to life in her stomach as the other girl's lips curled up in a small smile as she turned her attention back to her book. Clarke noticed her hair, kept from her face with very intricate braids. She hadn't even heard what Lincoln had said about her taking her art there sometime, in that moment Clarke was sure the building could fall down and she wouldn't notice. As an artist she was always drawn to beauty, but nothing had ever captivated her like this.
"Earth to Clarke," Raven said, waving her hand in front of Clarke's eyes, "come in Princess."
"Sorry what?" Clarke asked, blinking as she looked at Raven.
"Lincoln was just saying you should bring your art here sometime," Raven said, "What has you distracted anyway?"
Raven and Lincoln both followed the line of Clarke's eyes. She heard Lincoln laugh a little, and she was sure she could feel herself blushing.
"And that," he said with another laugh, "is my younger sister Lexa."
"Dude," Raven said, "your family has some good genes… she's smoking… sorry."
"Don't worry about it," Lincoln said with a laugh, "you're not the first person to say that."
"Bet you have to fight off all the guys around her right." Raven said, as Clarke was still distracted.
"Surprisingly no," he replied, "she does that herself. Can I get you a drink Clarke?"
"Er, yeah…" Clarke said.
"She'll have a coffee," Raven said, "and she'll be over here."
Raven grabbed Clarke's arm and dragged her over to the table where Octavia was sitting.
"What's up?" Octavia asked with a smile.
"Nothing, other than Clarke literally undressing Lincoln's little sister with her eyes." Raven said, tilting her head in Clarke's direction.
"I wasn't…" Clarke said, "I mean… I…"
"You so were." Octavia replied with a laugh, knowing that Clarke always stumbled over her words when she was nervous, "You know, for someone who claims they are straight you sure take a lot of interest in the female form."
"I just appreciate beauty…" Clarke said, her eyes travelling back to Lincoln's sister, Lexa.
"And she's certainly beautiful." Raven said with a laugh.
Clarke watched as Lincoln walked over to Lexa and said something quietly to her, something which caused the girl to roll her eyes as she marked the page in the book before closing it. Lexa then stood up and walked over to the counter where she picked up a coffee before she started walking over to their table.
"And she's heading this way…" Raven said.
"Coffee?" Lexa asked, as Raven and Octavia both pointed at Clarke, she put the drink on the table in front of her, "enjoy."
"Thanks…" Clarke replied, knowing that her cheeks were giving her away as she felt them starting to burn.
"Anything else you need?" Lexa asked them.
"Not right now thanks," Raven replied, "Lincoln mentioned you're starting Mount Weather in the fall."
"Yeah," Lexa replied with a nod, "senior year in a new school..."
"You'll have us to entertain you." Raven said with a laugh, "it'll be a blast. I'm Raven, this is Octavia, and the blonde sitting there admiring the coffee is Clarke."
Clarke's head shot up and she just glared at Raven.
"It's nice to meet you all." Lexa replied with a little laugh, "if you need anything else be sure to let me know."
"Will do." Octavia said with a smile.
With that Lexa walked away back to the counter. Raven and Octavia both started laughing.
"Seriously…" Clarke said, "like I wasn't embarrassed enough already."
"Why were you embarrassed Princess?" Raven asked, "She seems nice."
"And she also saw me looking at her…" Clarke said, "So now I feel like a total idiot."
"I don't think she minded it too much." Octavia replied, nudging Raven and motioning over to where Lexa was standing, her eyes straying in Clarke's direction.
"Something tells me she didn't mind it at all." Raven said as she and Octavia started laughing.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
It wasn't long before the rest of the gang arrived at Ark Station. Lincoln had suggested they move towards the back of the building, there was more space there after all. The building got busier as the day wore on. Monty and Jasper were entertaining everyone with tales of Jaspers latest effort at home brewing alcohol. Apparently it had exploded in the garage, something his dad hadn't been too impressed with. Bellamy, Octavia's older brother, had noticed that Clarke was a little distracted. He got up and moved from the beanbag he was sitting on, dropping down next to the blonde girl.
"You okay there Princess?" he asked.
"Yeah," Clarke replied with a smile, "I'm good…"
"You seem a little distracted," he said, "something bothering you?"
"Something other than the cute girl." Octavia said with a laugh.
"When are you going to let that go?" Clarke asked.
"How about never?" Octavia asked in reply.
"Cute girl?" Bellamy asked, looking between his sister and Clarke.
"Lexa." Raven replied, "Clarke got a little… distracted earlier."
"But Clarke isn't into girls." Bellamy said.
"Clarke is sitting right here." Clarke replied, standing up and making her way through the beanbags around her.
"Where are you going Princess?" Raven called after her.
"I need some air." Clarke replied as she headed for the door.
She didn't notice that Lexa's eyes followed her as she left, but Raven certainly did and she wasted no time pointing it out to Octavia, which got her a bit of a look from Bellamy.
"She isn't into girls." He repeated.
"I think you may be wrong big brother." Octavia replied, "You didn't see the way she was looking at her."
Bellamy narrowed his eyes as he looked at the door which Clarke had not long exited through. The two of them had been getting on really well through-out the summer break, he had actually been building up to asking her out, but now all that seemed to be shot, especially if his sister and Raven were right.
Clarke made her way out onto the now nearly empty street, the cool evening air helping her clear her mind a little. She knew her friends were taking great enjoyment in how uncomfortable they were making her feel, and usually she'd just laugh it off, but something was different this time. Sure, she could always look at a woman and say how cute she was, usually when Raven was undressing someone with her eyes, but Lexa wasn't just cute. She really was the most captivating thing Clarke had ever seen. The blonde was having a hard time dealing with what she was feeling, as she'd only ever had those thoughts about guys. She'd flirted with girls, kissed a few when she was wasted, but she'd never really thought seriously about it. She figured it was her age, everyone gets curious at some point. Octavia had tested out her curiosity with Raven, and still was from time to time. Raven had always admitted that she liked guys as well as girls, though the guy thing came to a head with Finn. Raven had met him a few years before, during a summer when he was visiting the city with his folks and his dad dragged him along to the garage with him when their rental car broke down, the two had hit it off right away. A few months later he had transferred schools, moving to Mount Weather when his dad landed a new job in the city. Things hadn't worked out too well when Finn developed feelings for Clarke. She couldn't deny that she felt something for him too, but she would never go there with him while he was still with Raven. He had broken up with Raven, but still Clarke couldn't start anything with him. Her friendship with Raven was more important than any guy.
While she was standing outside getting some air and thinking, she heard the door open. She looked to see who it was, wanting nothing more than the ground to open up and swallow her whole when she saw that it was Lexa.
"You okay?" Lexa asked as she walked over to where Clarke was standing leaning against the wall.
"Yeah," Clarke replied, "just needed some air…"
"Your friends seem…" the brunette started, stopping herself as she tried to think of the right word.
"They're intense…" Clarke said, finishing her sentence.
"I was going to say nice," Lexa said with a laugh, "but intense works."
Clarke found herself laughing a long with the other girl, noticing how her laugh sounded like music to her ears.
"They tend to talk before they've engaged their brains." Clarke continued, "They're harmless though… most of the time."
"Lincoln mentioned that you're into art…" Lexa said, changing the subject, finding herself wanting to get to know a little bit more about the girl in front of her.
"Yeah…" Clarke replied with a little smile, "I'm hoping to get into an art school or something when I graduate."
"Oh yeah," Lexa said, "That's pretty cool. So do you draw, paint, what?"
"A little of everything," Clarke said, wondering why it felt so easy for her to talk to Lexa, "it depends on my mood really…"
"Do you sell your work?" Lexa asked, "My mom has space set up for a gallery here, and there's an art space upstairs, loads of light."
"I don't even show my work let alone sell it." Clarke said with a laugh, "I don't think it's good enough for actual people to see."
"How do you know if you don't show them?" Lexa asked.
Lexa was unable to take her eyes off Clarke as the blonde girl shrugged, she found it to be a very cute action.
"I've shown my parents." Clarke replied, "Well, it's more like I couldn't keep it from them, it being their house and all…"
"And what did they think?" the brunette asked as the leant back against the wall, lifting her right leg, placing her foot on the wall behind her.
"My dad loves it…" Clarke said with a little smile, "my mom thinks it's a waste of time."
"Why?" Lexa asked again, really hoping that she wasn't bugging Clarke with too many questions.
"She wants me to be a doctor…" the blonde girl asked with a sad smile, "or something that actually counts as a real job… she keeps reminding me that very few people can actually make a living selling their art…"
"Does it make you happy?" Lexa asked, a small smile playing on her lips.
"It makes me feel… I don't know," Clarke replied, "free, I guess. It's like when I'm painting, I can be me, not who someone else wants me to be…"
Her train of thought was interrupted when she saw a familiar figure walking towards them.
"Finn," she said with a smile as the boy neared them, "when did you get back?"
Lexa stepped away from Clarke as Finn pulled her into a hug, a hug which the blonde seemed very comfortable with.
"This morning," Finn replied, backing away a little, "Jasper left a message saying you guys would be here, thought I'd come down and check it out."
He looked at Lexa, before looking back at Clarke.
"Oh, sorry," Clarke said, "Finn, this is Lexa, her mom owns this place."
"It's nice to meet you." Finn said to Lexa, a smile on his face.
"You too," Lexa replied, her smile a little more forced than she would like, "I should get back inside…"
With that Lexa turned and walked back inside the building.
"I thought you were back tomorrow." Clarke said to Finn.
"Me too," he replied, "but my dad got a call, something that apparently couldn't wait, so here I am."
"Everyone's inside," she said, "come on."
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Time seemed to pass a little quicker when Clarke went back inside with Finn. She had relaxed a little more, which she couldn't help but think had been down to her chat with Lexa. There was something about the girl which put her at ease, it was like there was no expectations, no pressure. Clarke didn't find it very easy talking to anyone about her art, other than maybe Raven and Octavia, but they didn't really count.
"So," Raven said, sitting down next to Clarke, "Lexa followed you outside?"
"We talked…" Clarke replied quietly, "she's… really nice actually."
"We knew that earlier," Raven said with a laugh, knowing that this conversation was to be kept between her and Clarke, which wasn't difficult as everyone else was getting pretty loud, "they're going to kick us out of here soon…"
"Jasper, get off the table!" Clarke shouted at her friend, noticing the looks that Jasper was getting from Lincoln and another girl, who she assumed was his other sister.
"Yeah Jasper," Raven said, "I'd rather you didn't get us kicked out of this place."
Jasper climbed down off the table and re-joined the group.
"Something tells me this isn't like other places…" Clarke said to her friend.
"It is pretty cool isn't it." Raven said looking around, "and Lincoln seems pretty nice…"
"Pretty nice?" Clarke asked, "You seemed okay with him earlier, what's going on?"
"Nothing," the other girl replied, "it's just… I don't know, I think there's something going on with him and Octavia, they've been flirting all night."
"And that's a problem?" Clarke asked with a laugh.
"No, of course not," Raven said with a sigh, "I just don't want to see her get hurt, he's older than us after all."
"Not by much," Clarke said, "he's what, early 20's…"
"But it's O…" Raven said.
"You can't keep her all to yourself forever Raven," the blonde replied, wrapping her arm around her friend's shoulder, pulling her closer, "not unless you actually label what's going on with you two."
"There's nothing going on." Raven said, a little too quickly for Clarke's liking.
"Yeah, of course not." The blonde said with a laugh.
"Whose turn is it to get the drinks?" Bellamy asked.
Everyone looked at Clarke.
"Okay, okay," she said, standing up, "same again?"
Everyone nodded and Clarke walked over to the counter.
"Same again all round?" Lincoln asked.
"Please." Clarke replied, as she started to look around a little.
"She's upstairs with Anya." Lincoln said as he noticed Clarke looking around, he laughed a little at the questioning look she gave him, "Lexa, she's upstairs with Anya."
"I wasn't…" Clarke started to say.
"Of course you weren't," Lincoln said with a knowing smile, "She's usually pretty uncomfortable around new people, other than when she's working and she has to be nice. If it was up to Lexa she'd have her nose stuck in a book all the time. She's been like that for as long as I can remember, my earliest memory of her is of her literally eating a book that my mom had given her, she was about 2 I think."
"Your earliest memory of your sister is from when she was 2?" Clarke asked, a little confused.
"My mom adopted her and Anya," Lincoln explained as he started to load the drinks onto the trays, "their parents were killed in some kind of attack, I don't know the details, it's not something that's ever talked about. But they're my family, blood or not."
Clarke nodded a little and looked towards the stairs as she heard Lexa arguing with someone.
"That's your reasoning for everything Anya," Lexa said as she walked down the stairs, "suck it up and see what happens."
"You're just scared of getting hurt again Lex," Anya replied, following her, "Live a little."
"I live plenty, thanks." Lexa replied, spotting Clarke over by the counter with Lincoln, "can we just drop it please."
"For now…" Anya replied, looking over at the blonde girl who had her sisters' attention.
"I'll help you carry these over," Lincoln said to Clarke, noticing that she wasn't paying any attention to him, "Clarke…?"
"Yeah," she said, looking at him, "sorry, I zoned out again didn't I…"
"Yes," he replied with a laugh, "I was just saying I'll help you carry these over."
"Thanks." Clarke replied, picking up one of the trays and carrying it very carefully back to the gang, Lincoln following behind her.
"You're the best Princess." Jasper said as he picked up his drink.
"Princess?" Lincoln asked.
"Nickname that's stuck since junior high." Clarke said with a laugh as she sat back down next to Raven.
"Lincoln," Octavia said, "we're all going out to the lake tomorrow, why don't you and Lexa come along."
"Yeah," Bellamy said, "it'll give her a chance to get to know this mad lot before school starts again, and with you there she might be a little more comfortable."
"I'll talk to her about it and get back to you," he said, "she's not much of a people person though."
"She seems to get on well enough with Clarke." Finn replied.
Clarke felt her cheeks start to burn again at the insinuation in Finns voice.
"Some people just click." Raven said, saving Clarke the trouble of having to think of an answer.
"And you know how friendly the Princess can be, when she wants to be." Octavia replied, "Well actually you don't, I mean not as friendly as you want her to be…"
Octavia was cut off when a cushion flew at her head, thrown by Finn, which caused everyone to laugh.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
When Lincoln made his way back over to the counter, collecting some empty cups and glasses along the way, he saw that his mom was there, talking to Lexa and Anya.
"We've been invited to hang out at the lake tomorrow Lex." He said with a smile as he started loading the dishwasher.
"By who?" Anya asked.
"The group who go to Mount Weather," Lincoln said, motioning over to the noisy group towards the back of the building, "they think it'd be cool if Lexa got to know them all before school starts."
"I don't think so…" Lexa said, turning her attention back to her book.
"I think it'd be good for you," Anya said, resting her hands on her sisters shoulders, "I mean you were worried about starting a new school, this way you'll have friends before you start there, it'll be less awkward."
"And they seem like a nice group of people," Lincoln replied, turning to look at his sisters, "plus I'll be there, it's not like you'll be on your own."
"We're supposed to be working tomorrow remember." Lexa replied, not looking up from her book.
"I'm sure Anya and I can cope without you both for one day," Indra said, "and Echo starts tomorrow, so we won't be short staffed."
"You really want to rely on a new person on a Saturday?" Lexa asked, "You've seen how busy we're getting. I think it'd be better if…"
"We'll cope Lex." Anya said, "It'll do you some good to get out of here, see a bit more of the city."
"Do I have a choice?" Lexa asked, looking up from her book to see her family all shake their heads.
"Clarke will be there." Lincoln replied.
The look that Lexa gave Lincoln would've made most people run and hide.
"Did I say something wrong?" he asked with a small smile.
"Touchy subject." Anya replied with a little laugh.
"Who's Clarke?" Indra asked.
"The blonde one," Anya said motioning over to the group, "she's an artist apparently."
"Seriously, Anya," Lexa said, putting her book in her bag before she stood up, "I asked you to leave it…"
"And I will… I promise." Anya replied.
"Really sounds like it," Lexa said shaking her head a little, "I'm going to read upstairs, my shift is done."
Lexa walked around the counter and headed up the stairs. The upstairs was open to the public but nobody was sitting up there, it was quiet, just the way Lexa liked it.
"We really need to work on her people skills." Anya said with a laugh.
"Maybe she learnt them from you." Lincoln replied, ducking out of the way as a towel flew at his head.
"Do we really think it's a good idea?" Indra asked her kids, "I mean it wasn't that long ago that…"
"I know," Anya said with a sigh, "that's part of the reason we moved here remember. We can't protect her forever mom, she's 18, it's not like she's just never going to date again…"
"No matter how much she'd like it that way…" Lincoln said as he looked at the stairs his sister had walked up, "it's been 8 months since the accident, I think it'd do her good to meet someone new, and Clarke seems like a really nice girl."
"I think she's worried about anyone replacing Costia…" Anya said with a sigh, "Like she'd be betraying her or something…"
"I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens." Indra replied as she looked over to the group of teenagers towards the back.
"I'll be there," Lincoln said, "just as I've always been there…"
Both Anya and Indra nodded a little, before Anya motioned to the group.
"Think she's going to go upstairs?" she asked as Clarke stood up.
"Maybe…" Lincoln replied, before the blonde headed towards them.
"Hey," Anya said with a smile as Clarke walked over, "anything we can get you?"
"I was just wondering if… I mean, if it's open to the public…" Clarke started to say, kicking herself for her inability to form an actual sentence.
"Go on up," Indra said with a little smile, "Just don't expect her to talk too much."
Clarke nodded a little before she turned and walked up the stairs.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
As Clarke made her way up the stairs she suddenly started to feel nervous and she had no idea why, she actually had no idea why she felt the need to go upstairs to talk to Lexa anyway. She had seen the way the other girl had walked away from her family, she knew it wasn't a happy thing. Clarke was curious about whether Lincoln had talked to Lexa about going to the lake, and whether that's what was causing the issues. Part of her wanted to reassure Lexa that if she didn't want to go to the lake then it was fine, they'd all hang out there the next time they were there at Ark Station if that was better for her. She wasn't sure what she was expecting to be upstairs, Lexa had told her it was an art space with a lot of light, but she certainly wasn't expecting what she found. The whole of the ceiling was glass, Clarke noticed there were blinds over the glass but they hadn't been pulled down. Dotted around the room were plants, some the size of small trees, the area itself was huge. As she looked up again she saw the fairy lights strung across the length of the room, with others zigzagging from the sides, it was like having stars in the room. She saw a single easel standing in the corner of the room, like it was just waiting to be used. In the far corner of the room she saw Lexa sitting in an oversized chair, her legs pulled up to her chest as she sat sideways on in the chair reading her book. Her breath caught in her chest at the sight. She knew that Lexa hadn't heard her coming up the stairs, so she cleared her throat a little, letting the other girl know she was there.
"Hey…" Lexa said, putting in her page marker before resting the book on the arm of the chair.
"Hey," Clarke replied, walking further into the space, she didn't think the word room was appropriate for a space like this, "this is… wow…"
She looked around again, not noticing Lexa watch her, a small smile ghosting her lips.
"It actually turned out better that I hoped," Lexa said as she stood up, "I had these images in my head of what I wanted this part of the building to look like, and this is pretty much it…"
"This was you?" Clarke asked, noticing that Lexa's book had fallen open on the arm of the chair, it was at that moment she saw the place marker, a photograph.
"Yeah," she replied, "mom gave us each a section, Anya had the café itself, Lincoln took the section that you and your friends were sitting in, and this was my bit… she wants us to all feel a connection to this place, as it was pretty hard for us all to move…"
There was something in her voice that let Clarke know that it was harder for her than the others, but she didn't want to push it.
"Where did you move from?" Clarke asked.
"Vegas…" Lexa replied with a small smile, "that's where Anya and I were born, Lincoln was born in San Diego before mom moved… did he tell you about our unconventional family unit?"
"He mentioned it, yeah," Clarke said with a nod, "but he also said that you're both his family, blood or not."
She noticed Lexa swallow as she nodded a little, like she was trying to keep her emotions in check.
"I don't remember my parents," she said, "Indra adopted me and Anya when I was a year and a half old, so all I've ever known is Indra, Lincoln, me and Anya… Anya has told me a few little things, but I think it's hard for her to remember…"
"That's understandable," Clarke replied, not pushing the subject, "so, what was your influence for this room?"
"That's like asking an artist what made them draw or paint a certain thing," Lexa said with a laugh, which caused Clarke to laugh a little as well as she realised the other girl was right, "I used to go camping a lot, with friends from school, I love being outdoors…"
Clarke noticed how Lexa was now walking slowly around the room, she saw how the girl ran her hands over the plants and small trees as she talked. As Lexa passed the chair she had earlier been sat in, her leg brushed the book, knocking it off the arm of the chair. As the book fell the photograph seemed to float on the air, making its way closer to Clarke, dropping in front of her. She could see a beautiful girl looking up at her from the picture, it was obvious to her from the wear around the edges and on the corners that it was a photograph which had been held a lot, looked at a lot. She bent down to pick up the picture, noticing the look on Lexa's face, the sadness that was now in those green eyes.
"Wow…" Clarke said as she looked at the image in her hands, "she's beautiful…"
"Costia," Lexa said, her voice cracking slightly, "her name is… was Costia…"
Clarke slowly walked over to Lexa and held the photograph out to her, she saw how the other girl's hand started to shake as she reached for it.
"She and I…" Lexa continued, "We…"
"You don't have to tell me…" Clarke replied as Lexa took the photograph from her.
"I think I was about 7 when we met…" Lexa said as she walked back over to the chair and sat down, looking down at the picture in her hands, "I was playing in the backyard with Lincoln, we were playing ball… the ball went over the fence, so I climbed up to see if I could get it without having to go around and bother the new neighbours… Costia was standing there holding the ball… we hung out a lot after that, went to the same school… then when we were 13, we were… we were having a sleepover at her place, Indra was working and Lincoln and Anya were both at friends… and she asked me if I could keep a secret, and then she told me that she thought she liked girls…"
Clarke laughed softly at the image she had in her mind, which caused Lexa to smile a little as she looked at her.
"I told her that I knew I liked girls," she said with a smile, "and that I liked her… and…then, 8 months ago, she was on her way back home after a trip with her family… a drunk driver smashed into their car…"
"Lexa, I'm so sorry…" Clarke said quietly as she saw the tears building in Lexa's eyes.
"She, er… she died," Lexa said, continuing on with her story, "and they never caught the guy. Indra had been thinking for a while how she wanted to come back to New York, how it would be a great place for me to go to school, so one day she just decided to buy this place. Told us all one night that we were moving. I didn't want to move… you know, I…"
"Wanted to stay close to her…" Clarke said as she leant against the wall, her soft gaze locked on the other girl, wondering how one person could deal with so much pain and still seem so together.
"Yeah," she said with a nod, "but her brother decided to talk to me about it, telling me that Costia wouldn't want me to just… stop. So we moved, did this place up, and here I am… I've never told anyone that before…"
"Well I'm glad you told me…" Clarke said quietly.
"So am I…" Lexa replied with a small smile as she put the photograph back into her book, before standing up and placing it on the seat of the chair, "so, tell me what's going to happen tomorrow…"
"The lake?" Clarke asked.
"Yeah," Lexa said with a nod, "apparently we're all going to hang out."
"And don't you sound thrilled about it." Clarke said with a laugh.
"I'm not really a people person…" Lexa said, "I used to be, but…"
"You don't have to come," Clarke said, "we just thought it would be nice for you to hang with us before school starts, have some people you actually know… Well it was Octavia's idea, I think she has a thing for your brother."
"We can add her name to the list then," Lexa replied with a laugh, "he's got a way with the ladies… he's a bit of charmer."
"I noticed." Clarke said with a laugh of her own.
"So who else is going to be there?" Lexa asked, "You, Octavia, Lincoln, me…"
"Bellamy, Octavia's older brother, Raven will be there," Clarke said, thinking about just who was going to be there, "Monty and Jasper… Harper will probably be there, if she can drag herself away from the puppy her dad just got her… Finn…"
"Are you and he… er…" Lexa said.
"Finn?" Clarke asked with an odd smile on her face, she shook her head as Lexa nodded a little, "no… no. He's Raven's ex, so no, we're not."
"And if he wasn't Raven's ex?" Lexa asked.
"I don't know," Clarke said, thinking about it, "He's great guy, but… I don't know. As he is her ex, there's really no point putting too much thought into it."
"That's true." Lexa replied, "Do we need to bring anything tomorrow?"
"Just yourselves," Clarke said, "maybe a swimsuit, we tend to mess around in the lake, but that's not a must. There'll be food, like a barbeque thing that Bellamy is doing, if you don't want to eat that, then bring something else… other than that, nope."
"Okay…" Lexa said with a smile and a slight nod.
"So you're going to come?" Clarke asked, fighting to keep the smile from her lips.
"Yeah," Lexa said with a nod, "yeah, I'll be there…"
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
"Lincoln," Octavia said as she walked over to the counter, "have you seen Clarke?"
"She's upstairs," Lincoln replied, "talking to Lexa I think."
"She is so whipped." Octavia said with a laugh, "you know something, she thinks she's straight…"
"And you don't think so?" Lincoln asked as he put the cloth down that he was cleaning the counter with, resting his arms on the counter and leaning closer to where Octavia was standing.
"Nope," Octavia replied, popping the p a little as she smiled at him, "I've seen the way she's been looking at your sister, and not to weird you out or anything, but that's not the way a straight girl looks at another girl."
"It's going to be hard work if she's into Lexa." Lincoln said.
"If who's into Lexa?" Anya asked, walking over to where her brother was standing.
"Octavia, this is Anya, my other sister," he said, "Anya, this is Octavia."
"Nice to meet you," Octavia said with a smile and a nod, "Raven really was right about your family having good genes."
"We're not actually genetically related." Anya said.
"Oh…" Octavia said, as she looked back at her friends, "Well, sometimes the family you choose is stronger than the family you're born with, right."
"Right." Anya said with a little smile.
"Can you let Clarke know we're leaving, I think Raven is giving her a lift home and I don't want to go up there and…" she started to say, "interrupt… anything…"
"I'll go and let her know." Anya said, patting Lincoln on the back, "you two exchange numbers or something before I puke…"
With that she walked up the stairs, her footfalls getting louder as she walked up, just to let them know that she was coming. The sight that met her when she reached the top of the stairs made her smile. Clarke and Lexa were sitting against the wall, laughing about something.
"Speak of the devil…" Lexa said, fighting another laugh as it escaped her.
As much as it bugged her that her sister was talking about her, it warmed her to see her laughing again.
"I was just telling Clarke about the time you thought it would be funny to jump from the treehouse into the pool." Lexa explained.
"Certainly not one of my finer moments," Anya said laughing a little, "your friends are leaving Clarke, and Octavia said something about Raven giving you a lift home."
"Thanks…" Clarke said with a smile as she stood up before she looked back at Lexa, who stayed sitting on the floor, "I'll guess I'll see you tomorrow then."
"Yeah…" Lexa said with a smile, "I guess you will."
"We usually get there about midday," Clarke said, "so any time from then onwards will be fine."
Lexa just nodded a little as Clarke walked back downstairs. She rolled her eyes as Anya arched her eyebrow slightly as she looked at her.
"Not a word…" Lexa said, a warning tone in her voice.
"I wasn't going to say anything." Anya said honestly, "but it's good to see you laughing again kid…"
Lexa took a deep breath and let it out slowly as Anya turned and walked back downstairs, she put her head back a little and looked up at the stars through the glass.
Everyone said their goodbyes outside Ark Station, heading off into their separate vehicles for their journeys home. Clarke noticed that Raven and Octavia were having a bit of a heated discussion, she walked over to them at the same time that Bellamy noticed and made his way over to the girls.
"I don't see what your fucking problem is." Octavia said.
"That's part of the problem," Raven said, "You just don't see it…"
"So talk to me." Octavia replied, getting more and more frustrated.
"It doesn't matter," Raven said with a sigh as she turned to Clarke, "you ready to go?"
"Sure…" Clarke said as she watched Raven stalk off towards her car, she looked at Octavia, a questioning look in her eyes.
"She has a problem with Lincoln." Octavia said to her.
"No, I think the problem is you and Lincoln, O," Clarke said with a small smile, "I'll see you guys tomorrow."
As she was walking away she heard Bellamy call her.
"Hey, Princess," he called, she turned back and looked at him, "is Lexa coming tomorrow?"
"I think so," Clarke replied, "I mean she said she would."
She noticed a change in his eyes as he nodded, Clarke sighed a little as she turned away and walked towards Raven's car, she knew that look, it was the same look Raven had given Octavia.