So this is just a two parter. I haven't written high school in forever but this was requested in an anonymous ask on tumblr. I'm working through them all! Slowly but surely. Thanks to both Jaelle90 and Recklessarrow for reading this through for me:)

Part 2 will probably be in a week!

I'm really quite nervous about this and I hope you all like it. Feedback, constructive criticisms, and comments in general would be wonderful!

Chapter One

The first time Clarke touched Lexa it was definitely a mistake. Bellamy Blake was kissing her, that annoying kind of kiss some guys seemed to think were ok in public, when really they weren't especially when the girl involved with said kiss was vocalizing her displeasure. He was backing her up, probably aiming for the wall of lockers, but instead Clarke's ass hit her head. Lexa was crouched next to her bag, packing a bunch of stuff from her locker into it, when the blond stumbled under Bellamy's ardent intentions. Clarke yelped as she lost her balance and fell, landing on Lexa's lap. Given that Lexa was only crouching, the full and unexpected weight of the other girl caused her to fall onto her ass, as her papers scattered. Lexa let out an oomph of surprise and pain, and immediately wished she hadn't when Clarke bashed Bellamy's helping hands away in favour of turning bright blue apologetic eyes on her from where she now lay sprawled on top of her. Lexa had only ever seen Clarke from a distance and with her now up close she couldn't help but notice the amazing cleavage, the wonderful curves and those long legs of seemingly endless soft skin. Not to mention Clarke's perfect face with those expressive azure eyes which were now staring into hers. She swallowed nervously and looked away as the girl, still in her lap, began to apologize,

'Oh my god, I'm sorry. My boyfriend is a total ass,' she gave a weak smile and glared at Bellamy who once again tried to help her. 'I'm fine, alright? Just leave me. And next time remember I don't like being fucking mauled in public,' she growled as Lexa pushed some of Clarke's silky blond hair out of her face and mouth where it had ended up as the girl chastised her boyfriend.

'Whatever Clarke. You need to chill out,' he held up his hands in a mocking surrender and stalked up the hall, clearly irritated.

'Uh, neither do I, uh, like being mauled,' she gestured rather pointedly to the way they were collapsed together.

'Fuck, yeah ok,' Clarke began to scramble to her feet, one hand landing on Lexa's thigh, burning it through her jeans, before the girl trailed it up to her knee, putting the other on her shoulder as she made an effort to push to her feet. Once standing she held out a paint smudged hand to Lexa who stared at it for a beat before taking it and allowing Clarke to pull her to her feet as well.

'Thanks,' she mused wryly, bending to retrieve her back pack and sighing at her messed up papers, stuffing them into her bag to sort out at home.

'I'm Clarke,' the blond girl smiled, all wavy locks, short skirt and scrappy tank top.

'I know,' she muttered irritably glaring at her.

'I don't know your name?' Clarke was giving her the rather obvious once over, eyes lingering on her arm tat and then fixing on her eyes in an almost creepy way. Eye contact was good, but Clarke's was too much. Lexa looked away,

'I'm new.'

'I'm sorry I bumped into you like that. Bell seems to think it's funny to embarrass me by being gropey in public,' pink rose to her cheeks and Lexa shifted uncomfortably, casting a furtive glance at the girl - the pink made Clarke's blue eyes stand out even more.

'And you?' she raised a somewhat cynical eyebrow, avoiding the intensity of Clarke's gaze by staring just over her shoulder. She then worried that would make her seem odd and turned her eyes back to the intense stare of the other girl.

'Well I hate it. He's an inconsiderate ass towards the other kids in the halls,' as she answered Lexa watched her eyes dance across Lexa's face, zeroing in on one feature and then skimming to another. It was extremely unnerving.

'If you don't like it, he shouldn't do it,' Lexa shrugged.

'Oh, he's just being funny,' Clarke dismissed and she rolled her eyes at that,

'Ok. Well see ya around,' she stated and was about to stalk off when Clarke huffed a little. She knew she was being a grumpy shit, but it was her first week of senior year at a new school and some preppy girl had knocked her into an undignified heap on the floor. And not just any preppy girl, but the one everyone seemed to know and talk about. Clarke was the president of chess club, the president of science club, on the honour roll, in the drama club, the only thing she wasn't head of was the fucking cheerleading squad, but only because she played soccer as the captain of the schoo, team. Clarke was the fucking princess of Arcadia High, and Lexa was way out of her comfort zone. She was an interloper on foreign land and Clarke was the queen. Lexa knew what high school queens were like - cold, bitchy and mean. She certainly didn't expect Clarke Griffin to be any different.

'I am sorry,' Clarke repeated and she managed a curt nod in response. 'What's your name?'

'Lexa,' she admitted reluctantly because seeing as the girls locker was next door to hers she was going to have to deal with Clarke all year.

'Lexa...that's pretty. Is it short for Alexandria? Alexa?'

'It's just Lexa,' she gave another officious nod and hurried off down the hall.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

The next time Clarke touched her it wasn't an accident and it scared her half to death. Lexa had her earphones on. They were the one expensive thing she owned - wireless, outside sound minimizing and wonderful. Her music was loud - 90's grunge on her playlist, and Clarke scared the living crap out of her when she tapped her on the shoulder to get her attention, laughing when she jumped.

'Clarke,' she gave a nod of recognition. It was three days since the sprawled in the hallway incident and she'd not had any real contact with the other girl, save for a shared advanced sciences and math class, during which she avoided the blond as if she were a biter on the Walking Dead.

'How's it going?' Clarke asked, leaning against the locker beside her. Clarke had her hair drawn back in a messy pony tail today and there was a splatter of green paint on her cheek that she was apparently unaware of. She was far too beautiful, Lexa decided, and when Clarke bit her bottom lip for a moment, she decided sexy might be a better description than beautiful. If she had to pick one word that was. If she didn't, there would be a rather long list of favourable adjectives. Lexa found her brow furrowing, as she attempted to stop thinking of words to describe the girl and focussed on why on earth Clarke would be talking to her, especially when other people might see.

'It's going ok.'

'You said you're new. Where did you transfer from?' Clarke was the epitome of relaxed, and her eyes crinkling slightly as she narrowed in on Lexa's eyes. The girl seemed to be really obsessed with direct eye contact.

'Uh...D.C.,' she admitted, highly suspicious of the motives behind Clarke's friendliness, and let her eyes drop. They fell to Clarke's lips in time to see her pink tongue wet them. Fuck. She dropped them lower, but lower was the blonds rather impressive cleavage which looked utterly delectable in the top she was wearing, so Lexa settled on staring at her own hands for a second. Clarke made her nervous - she didn't trust girls like the one before her. The girl clearly had money. It was obvious. Her clothes were new and well designed, the backpack was some brand all the girls seemed to want, and she just had that polished, preppy look, despite the sketchpad that was constantly sticking out the top of her bag, and the charcoal and paint smudges on her hands and arms, and today her face as well. Lexa was not preppy. Her clothes were dark and old, and scrounged from thrift stores and then altered as necessary. Where Clarke was all golden, Lexa was darker - her hair wasn't quite as long as Clarke's, but it also curled, and yet she wore it with braids entwined in it, more styled than Clarke's carefree look - everything about her was less carefree than Clarke. Lexa knew she looked poor and that the two of them must look odd standing together. People probably thought Clarke was asking her for drugs or something. The tattoos on her arms, the ear and tongue piercings, they only served to emphasize the differences between them.

'Oh, I love D.C,' Clarke said brightly.

'Not the bit where I lived, believe me,' she gave a tight smile.

'Oh. Ok. How come you're in Boston now?'

'I moved in with family,' she stated succinctly and turned to leave.

'Lexa,' Clarke called after her and with a sigh she turned and stared apprehensively at the blond, who was biting her bottom lip and looking ridiculously pretty. Lexa huffed softly, because it was not worth her sanity to even think of having a crush on someone like Clarke Griffin and she knew that. 'I'm having a party this weekend. You should come. Most of the kids from our senior class will be there.'

'Uh...' Lexa had no idea what to say. She wasn't opposed to parties. She actually liked them. When she had friends at them. This would be a party of strangers. Well a party of strangers and Clarke.

'Really. Look,' Clarke pulled out her phone (the latest iPhone of course), 'give me your number and I'll text you the details, ok?'

'Ok,' Lexa couldn't refuse without being rude, and so reeled off her number.

'Please come, ok?'

'I'll see if I'm free. I might have to work,' Lexa prepared to walk off again.

'Where do you work?' Clarke called and so she turned back.

'In my uncles diner.'

'Ah, cool. What's his diner called?' Clarke asked and Lexa wondered why they were even still talking,

'Polis,' she answered gripping the straps of her bag, trying to physically hold herself in one spot in order to finish the conversation.

'Oh I know it,' Clarke's blue eyes lit up. 'My friends and I always joke that it's a Polish diner but the h fell off.'

'No,' Lexa shook her head and gave a forced smile.

'Sorry, I wasn't trying to be rude,' Clarke astutely read Lexa's stance and narrowed her eyes, 'why is it called Polis then?'

'I don't know...some thing to do with the Stars...I think it was originally supposed to be Polaris, but for some reason he shortened it to Polis.'

'Why don't you ask him?' Clarke gave her a searching look and she felt her cheeks burn,

'I don't really know him,' she muttered and turned, deciding it was definitely time to leave.

'I'll message you Lexa,' Clarke called after her.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Clarke had messaged three times. The first had given her the address and time of the party. The second had urged her to come. The third had informed her that there was a pool and Lexa should bring her swim suit if she thought she might like to swim.

'You gonna go to that party?' Anya was sat on her bed. Lexa wasn't close to her cousin. They'd only met that summer for the first time since they were kids, and as Anya was going to be leaving for college that weekend there had been little motivation to bond.

'I won't know anyone.'

'Except the girl who invited you,' Anya shrugged. She was blunt as two bricks slammed in your face but Lexa felt like she was looking out for her most of the time. 'Which girl was it? I might know her.'

'Clarke Griffin,' Lexa filled in.

'Holy fuck! Clarke Griffin invited you to her party? You mean personally came up and invited you?'

'Yeah,' Lexa admitted face flushing. 'Why?'

'Well it's just, well, that's...kinda unexpected,' Anya picked at the fraying seam of Lexa's duvet cover.

'Why? What's she like?' Lexa told herself she was only interested because she was the only girl she knew, not because her pulse raced whenever she was close.

'Well she's the fucking queen of the school and you're,' Anya waved her hand uncertainly over Lexa in general, 'well you. She's clever - not just average clever but like a fucking bright spark, valedictorian clever,' her cousin continued, 'but she is a total princess. She's the only child of a doctor and engineer, except her dad is like the company CEO and her mom runs the hospital or whatever. They're so wealthy, it's like their bank accounts had babies . I think Raven Reyes, you know the gorgeous Latina girl Clarke's always with, with the big brown eyes and a killer wit?' Anya waited for her nod which she gave - Raven was always with Clarke and apparently she was subconsciously super aware of Clarke, which meant she'd seen Raven, 'well I think she lives with her or something. Anyway...I don't know...Clarke's always prom queen, but she's not just one thing. She's an annoying all rounder - smart as all hell, sporty and some incredible artist though I've never seen her stuff. She's all around amazing. But there's this rumour...'

'What rumour?' Lexa echoed.

'That she killed this other student, Finn Collins. He died a couple of years ago.'

'What?' Lexa looked at her cousin sharply, convinced that she was taking the piss.

'Oh I don't know if it's true, no one really knows what happened, but they were in the woods together at a party and then Finn was dead. Whatever happened, it gave everyone a great excuse to hate her. Except they don't. They love her, or love to hate her, or hate to love her - I don't know. Whatever, they sure give her crap about stuff.'

'Oh.'

'Yeah. And I'm sorry cuz, but I'm afraid she's not someone you're ever gonna be friends with.'

'That's ok. I'm not really interested in making friends.'

'Ugh, you don't need to be so depressing Lexa. I get that your life is pretty shit and I know my dad isn't the warmest soul on earth, but there'll be someone in the school you can connect with, you know? Even if it's not gonna be Clarke Griffin.'

'Yeah, whatever,' she shrugged.

'I get that your last school had a bunch of homophobic asses in it, I really do. But Arcadia is pretty liberal minded...' Anya attempted.

'We'll see,' Lexa muttered tightly.

'Look, go to the party. I'll come with you.'

'No. I can't just bring my cousin.'

'Ask her then.'

'No,' Lexa shook her head, unprepared for the moment when Anya snagged her phone. They immediately began grappling for the device, but Anya was the fastest texter Lexa had ever met, and despite her vicious tackle, a message was still sent. 'Fuck you,' Lexa snarked, but her phone beeped almost immediately.

Clarke - Of course bring your cousin. No problem! I'm so glad you're coming!

'See,' Anya cackled. 'No problem.'

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

The party was the next time Clarke touched her, and even though it was just a squeeze of her hand Lexa could no longer pretend that her body wasn't wildly attracted to Clarke. Anya had abandoned Lexa not long after arriving at the party and Lexa had found herself a quiet spot on the roof of the garden shed. She'd used the fence to hoist herself up after snagging a bottle of disgusting peach snappes from the drinks table. She could hear sounds of the party and kids in the pool, but up on the roof she could see the stars and the cool air could float across her skin. She lay peacefully for a long time before nearby voices broke her daze.

'Come on Clarke,' the male voice had to be Bellamy Blake's, and it sounded whiny and preassurizing.

'I'm not in the mood. Do I have to always be in the mood?'

'You're never in the mood anymore,' Bellamy mumbled.

'My mood is directly related to how much of a dick you are if you haven't noticed. I don't know what happened, but you've been making some dumb decisions lately.'

'So if you don't like them, they're dumb are they?' Bellamy asked and Lexa shuffled herself across the roof to peer down into the darkness.

'That's not how it is,' Clarke defended and Lexa could see her fair hair shining in the moonlight.

'Really? Because it seems that if I do anything you don't approve of it's automatically dumb.'

'You got in a car with Atom when he was drunk. That was dumb.'

'It was my choice.'

'And a dumb choice.'

'Whatever,' Bellamy's voice was laced with anger. 'You think you know everything, don't you? Fucking Clarke Griffin, child genius, wants to lecture everyone else on what to do and how to behave. Forget the fact that she's just a spoilt little princess. You know, not all of us have everything we want handed to us on a silver platter...'

'I know that Bellamy. When have I ever suggested I didn't?'

'Oh you think you get it because you offer me charity? Nice.'

'It's not charity,' Clarke's mouth set in a hard line and when the moonlight hit her eyes Lexa could see the sheen of tears in them.

'It certainly feels like fucking charity.'

'Bell...' Clarke pleaded looking skyward. When she turned to look back at Bellamy, her eyes snagged on Lexa and she paused for a moment before he regained her attention,

'I'm going to get a drink. If you decide you want to have actual fun then come and find me, ok?' and he stormed off.

'I didn't mean to listen in,' Lexa said after a couple of beats of silence. Clarke's eyes locked on hers again, before she was clambering up onto the roof, with far more ease than Lexa had managed, and then sitting beside her, and grabbing for the peach snappes,

'You could have at least snagged the tequila rather than this shit,' she grumbled.

'Yeah, this stuff is gross.'

'Entirely,' Clarke agreed as she knocked a hefty amount back. Lexa shifted uncomfortably on the roof, as she stared at the blond's glassy eyes, before her eyes fell momentarily to pretty lips and then the swell of Clarke's chest in the top she was wearing. 'It's rude to stare you know.' Lexa dragged her eyes reluctantly away,

'Yeah. Sorry.'

'It's fine.'

'Are you ok?'

'Hmmm, I guess,' Clarke put the bottle down and hugged her knees. 'Do you have a boyfriend?'

'No.'

'I wish I didn't,' she admitted and Lexa's eyes landed back on her. She looked beautiful and achingly vulnerable being kissed by the moonlight which made her skin look silvery. Lexa wondered what was going on inside of her head.

'Really? All the time, or just today?'

'Definitely today,' was the ambiguous answer. 'I don't know...more often than not at the moment...'

'How long have you been together?' she asked, never usually good at these types of conversation. Clarke gave a small sigh,

'When weren't we? Our parents were friends. His sister has always been one of my best friends. I don't know...we just segued into a relationship from friends when we went through puberty.'

'That's a long time.'

'Yeah...and he used to be different,' Clarke looked at her, her bright blue eyes locking onto Lexa's. They were so stunning Lexa felt her heart speed up.

'Different how?'

'Sweet. Thoughtful. He loved history. Was protective...annoyingly so...but now...now it's too much. He drinks. Basically said fuck it to school. Argues for the sake of arguing. He's got a chip on his shoulder about authority. His dad left home and his mom lost her job and so they're pretty much broke. He's angry about that. And I get it. But I hate it.'

'You don't have to suffer through it with him in order to be there for him,' Lexa reminded her and Clarke looked like she was thinking that over.

'If I end things aren't I just abandoning him the minute things get tough?'

'You're eighteen...you didn't vow to be together for life and people change. You don't have to be his girlfriend and take the abuse. You can be his friend...'

'I guess...I just...the thought of doing that to him...' Clarke shivered a little.

'Does he make you happy?'

'Not really. He's fairly mean. He blames a lot of stuff on me,' Clarke admitted and gave a rather large sniff.

'That's not ok,' Lexa felt her brow furrow.

'I know,' Clarke nodded. 'But it's hard because although he's my boyfriend he's also my friend.'

'You don't have to accept his abuse because he's your friend - in fact you shouldn't.'

'I know. I do know. I just...'

'No. Tell him. Tell him it's ok to be upset and angry, but blaming others isn't.'

'Hmm, I could try,' she gave a small smile. 'Not entirely sure how that would go down.'

'Who's his sister?'

'Octavia. She's on the soccer team with me. She's our best player.'

'How does she get on with her brother?'

'She used to idolize him...but she's noticed the change in him too. She doesn't know what to think.'

'It's high school...your relationship can end. Ending it doesn't make you a bad person.'

'I know,' Clarke nodded, but Lexa didn't believe her. They fell into silence and Lexa lay back on the roof after a couple of minutes. She was surprised when Clarke lay back beside her. 'Do you miss D.C?'

'No.'

'Did you have lots of friends there?'

'Some.'

'But no boyfriend?' the way Clarke said it stirred something in Lexa's belly. Clarke asked the question as if she knew. As if she were looking inside of her and could see the word gay inscribed on her heart and brain. Lexa's heart pounded. 'Any girlfriends?'

'No.'

'I meant did you have a girlfriend in D.C?' Clarke had rolled on her side and was leaning on her elbow and staring at her. Lexa set her mouth in a tight line and because she didn't know how to answer she remained silent.

'I'm don't care that you're a lesbian,' Clarke said, and Lexa's heart pounded harder because pretty girls had said that before, but they did care and they ensured everyone knew about it and cared too. 'Lexa,' Clarke moved even closer. 'I don't care.'

'That's what girls like you always say, before you tell everyone and then I'm being called dyke in the hallways at school, so whatever...' Lexa sat up abruptly and was about to scramble down from the shed when Clarke caught her hand, and her skin burned, her pulse racing from the contact and the conversation. This was not good.

'I'm not one of those girls,' Clarke hastened to reassure, but all Lexa could do was blink,

'We'll see.'

OXOXOXXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Lexa was hyper self-conscious when she headed into school on Monday morning. But everyone ignored her, much as they had the previous week. She kept waiting to be slammed into the lockers, to have the whispered conversations start up around her before someone yelled some slur or another, but it didn't happen.

As the week went on she began to breathe easier, hopeful that perhaps Clarke wasn't going to out her and bad mouth her to the entire student population. Her heart had pounded ridiculously hard throughout math and science and she hadn't been able to stop herself stealing glances at Clarke and her utter perfection. Lexa had noticed back after that first meeting that Clarke sketched throughout every lesson and didn't take any notes ever, but could somehow answer any question the teacher asked. This made her insanely jealous, but mostly awed. Clarke was an enigma and Lexa knew she was becoming obsessed, because she sought out blond hair everywhere she went in school. It was on the first Thursday after the party that she noticed Clarke looking at her. And Clarke wasn't subtle. Lexa was all shifting eyes and half glances, but Clarke - she let her chin rest in her hand, elbow on the desk and turned her entire body so she could stare at her. It made Lexa flush bright red and feel overly self conscious. For almost an hour Lexa could sense Clarke's eyes on her, but she refused to look, staring intently at the board and taking notes. A couple of minutes before the bell her eyes slid of their own accord to the beautiful girl, and locked onto Clarke's, who was still unabashedly staring. Lexa couldn't look away, even when she saw that Clarke's left hand scooting over her sketchpad.

The bell broke the eye lock between them and Lexa rushed to pack up, fumbling over papers and folders before rushing out.

Clarke found her at her locker, where she was trying to reorganize her things as quickly as possible in order to avoid the girl.

Hi,' her throaty voice made Lexa's stomach clench.

'Hi.'

'Math was interesting,' Clarke smirked and Lexa nodded flushing wildly,

'Yes.'

'Are you ok Lexa?' Clarke's hand landed on hers and Lexa's skin burned, all over, especially when she squeezed it softly.

I'm fine.'

'You want to come over tonight?'

'I can't.'

You have work?'

'No,' Lexa couldn't think.

'Then come over.'

'Why?'

'So we can talk?' Clarke shrugged.

'No.'

'Please?' Clarke's eyes pleaded with her, her eyes closing and her long lashes resting on her cheeks for a moment.

'Ok,' her protests died in her throat.

'Seven ok?' Clarke looked pleased.

'Sure,' she turned and sped off as quickly as she could.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Clarke was sat on her front lawn when Lexa biked up. She'd thought about not going, thought it might all be some Carrie esq trick but decided she'd rather know than live in fear of impending doom.

'Cool bike,' Clarke smiled. 'Wanna bring it in the back so it doesn't get stolen?'

'Yeah, ok,' Lexa gave Clarke a searching look because her bike was an old rust bucket of Anya's which had been left outside in the rain on the front lawn of their crappy house for years and never been stolen - or so Anya said.

'Come on,' Clarke nodded her head in the direction of the house, which they entered by the back door, walking through a huge, gleaming kitchen before passing a den where Raven Reyes was sat fiddling with wires and unidentifiable parts, building something or other.

'Hey Clarke...hey girl I don't know.'

'Rae, this is Lexa. She's new at school,' Clarke said and Raven momentarily put down the two metal pieces she was att smelting to join together.

'Lexa,' she rolled the name on her tongue. Raven was gorgeous - a complete contrast to Clarke, with her dark eyes and hair, and her darker skin that was clear even in the excesssively bright lights shining on her. Lexa was jealous of the pretty skin, her own sometimes suffering. Raven's eyes were appraising her from head to toe. 'Well you're fucking pretty aren't you!?' she gave her a nod.

'Uh,' Lexa didn't know what to say. Raven's head tilted to one side,

'Where did you transfer from?'

'D.C.'

'Oh. You like Arcadia so far?'

'It's ok,' she shrugged.

'How'd you meet the princess?'

'Her boyfriend was trying to make out with her and she fell on top of me,' Lexa answered and Raven laughed,

'Well that's one way to say hello Clarke,' Raven teased.

'My ex-boyfriend,' Clarke clarified and Lexa's eyes snapped to her in surprise.

'Yeah, yeah...we'll see how long that lasts,' Raven gave a dismissive shrug. 'Have fun!'

'We will. Come on Lexa,' Clarke slipped her hand into Lexa's and dragged her up the stairs. Lexa knew it was just a friendly gesture, but Clarke's hand felt nice. It wasn't entirely smooth, she could feel paint, and a small callous on her index fingers, and they were slightly dusty, from the charcoal she'd been drawing with on the front lawn, but Lexa definitely liked the feel of Clarke's hand wrapped around hers.

She was pulled by Clarke into her bedroom and Lexa gaped, wide eyed, because it was nothing like she had expected. The nickname princess had created images of pink, frilly and opulent decor, whereas in reality Clarke's bedroom was basically an art studio with a bed. The walls were painted and only thin chiffon material of reds, oranges and gold hung over the windows. There were three easels with art work in various stages, and a wall covered with sketches that had been stuck on it with sticky tac. The floor was wooden, and void of anything but art materials. There was a desk covered with books and papers, a chair in front of it laden with clothes, one bulging bookshelf and the double bed with pristine white sheets on it and a rainbow patchwork quilt.

Lexa stared around the room in awe, trying to take everything in. It was impossible because each piece of artwork grabbed her and dragged her into it and she ended up staring for such a long time that Clarke had to poke her.

'Lexa,' she was smiling at her.

'Your room is amazing,' her eyes flittered around again and stared at the three pieces of work on the easels, all swirling oils. She moved to the wall of sketches and was shocked to see her face staring back at her.

'I did that in math class,' Clarke's warm breath fanned across her neck because she was that close.

'It's...fuck, you're really good.'

'I'm obsessed. It drives my mom crazy. I have an aptitude for medicine...or so those stupid tests say. But I don't want to do medicine. All I want to do is art.'

'Well you're clearly talented,' Lexa stared at a sketch of an eye, the green of the iris made up with an array of trees, the leaves all different shades of green.

'That's your eye,' Clarke laughed a little sheepishly. 'I've never seen anyone with eyes like yours.'

'Huh?'

'So green,' Clarke shrugged. 'Beautiful.'

'Hmmm,' she blushed, having never thought of her eyes as anything outstanding. She did like her eyes - they were big and long lashed, and the colour was nice, but she was still surprised and thrilled that Clarke deemed them pretty enough to draw. Beautiful enough to draw. 'So are you going to take art at college?'

'I would. If I had a say. I'm applying to premed,' Clarke sighed.

'Oh.'

'What about you?'

'Oh...I'm not going to college,' she shrugged.

'Why not?' Clarke frowned. 'You're obviously smart - you give me a run for my money and I know I'm smart.'

'Yeah...I don't know about smart enough for a scholarship, especially because my GPA sucks.'

'Oh?' Clarke eyed her.

'I missed lots of school.'

'Want to talk about it?'

'Not really,' Lexa shrugged and moved to squat before Clarke's bookcase. It wasn't filled with the books she was expecting. It was stacked with comics and science fiction - Kurt Vonnegut, Philip K Dick, every annual of the Buffy comics, piles of other comics and the Watchmen to name a few. Lexa turned to stare at the blond girl who had flopped onto her bed and was gazing back at her. 'You're not what I expected.'

'And what did you expect Lexa?' Clarke looked positively coquettish and it released butterflies en masse into her stomach.

'Uh...'

'A stuck up princess?'

'I guess.'

'What else?'

'First impression?' Lexa asked moving cautiously to sit beside her.

'Yeah?' Clarke crossed her legs and sat facing her.

'Well you fell on me while making out with your jock boyfriend.'

'Ex.'

'I thought you would be mean. Above people. Cold.'

'And now?' Clarke leaned close and Lexa hated herself for letting her gaze fall to her lips. It was stupid and dumb and would end in disaster.

'I don't know,' she admitted. Clarke seemed nice. Interesting. Intriguing. She seemed complicated and down to earth. But Lexa couldn't trust that. She'd trusted a girl like that before.

'Do you want to know what happened with me and Bell?'

'Yeah,' she shrugged and Clarke moved to lean against the headboard and patted the spot beside her. Lexa hesitated and then sat beside her, kicking off her all stars first.

'I told him I didn't like who he was becoming,' Clarke said.

'And?'

'He blamed me.'

'Right,' Lexa muttered tightly, 'he blamed you for his mistakes and who he is?'

'Something like that. I mean maybe I haven't been there for him? I am obsessed with my art. I like to hang out with my friends and he's just been so angry and cavalier with the people in his life lately that its fucked me off. Maybe if I'd done a better...'

'Trust me Clarke...I don't know you all that well, but if a guy feels the need to blame his shortcomings on you, his behaviour on you, then he really isn't worth it.'

'I don't know,' Clarke shrugged.

'You seem pretty nice to me,' Lexa said. It would be a lie to say she hadn't been watching Clarke closely ever since the first time they met. Clarke was kind and sweet. She was friends with everyone it seemed - sincerely and genuinely on her behalf. The awkward kids, the nerds, the jocks...all of them. Not that they all liked her in return, and she'd heard the Finn Collins thing from at least two other people since Anya had told her. Lexa thought the resentment towards Clarke was unnecessary. She had watched Clarke help a guy pass his math test, seen her pick up garbage from around the school, and still she heard the muttered accusations of "princess." Clarke was thoughtful too. And she saw beauty in everything. She drew a picture of their math teacher, their awkward, balding, overweight math teacher and she made him look amazing, equations in the thought bubble above his head, the intelligence radiating. She drew beautiful pictures of lots of students, ones who didn't always see themselves as beautiful, the awkward students, the disabled students, as well as the popular ones. It wasn't about special treatment...it wasn't about pity. She seemed to draw the things that caught her eye. And she had drawn her apparently, which made Lexa's stomach feel funny.

'I have what they call fake popularity,' Clarke shrugged. 'I'm wealthy and pretty and I'm bossy. I lead things because I can and I will and so people pretend to like me. I don't think they always do. Not genuinely. I..' She frowned, 'I once did something really bad...well I don't know...it was one of those situations...and lots of people...they can't forgive it. They want to hate me. I'm often the scapegoat for things that go wrong.'

'What did you do?' Lexa burst out, because it seemed like Clarke might share the details of Finn's death, and she couldn't pretend that that particular incident didn't intrigued her.

'You really want to know?' Clarke stared at her and Lexa wondered for a moment if she did.

'Yes.'

'Well people blame me for the death of a student. Finn Collins.'

'They blame you?' she didn't think she needed to admit that she'd heard about Finn.

'Yes,' Clarke sighed. 'And maybe it is my fault. He was Raven's boyfriend and she asked me to look after him at this party up in the woods. She had work and he was drunk and refused to let her drop him home. It was all dumb. A stupid dumb accident. Finn was being an ass but it was me...' Clarke trailed off.

'An ass how?' Lexa's eyes narrowed. Clarke looked to her open door and then jumped off of her bed to shut it. When she sat back down she was even closer than before.

'He was saying he was in love with me. Telling me to dump Bellamy and be with him. Raven was my best friend then, just like now, but I was drunk. Bellamy and I had fought about something and somehow...somehow I ended up kissing Finn...'

'When was this?'

'Back when I was sixteen. It was stupid and wrong and I stopped almost immediately as soon as it started, but Finn didn't want to take no as an answer.'

'And what happened?'

'He forced the issue too much, wouldn't listen, and so I pushed him. The thing is I don't think he'd have tried to rape me. But he was drunk and trying to kiss me, and I didn't want him to and so I pushed him away and he fell. It was such an innocuous fall, but the way he landed, he landed against this tree stump and the root went into his head and he died nearly instantly.'

Oh my god,' Lexa's eyes bulged and she momentarily questioned whether that could possibly be true. It seemed so far fetched, so awful, so out of keeping with this image she had of Clarke Griffin. She searched her face for subterfuge, for deception but met a serious face and clear, honest eyes. 'Are you fucking with me?'

'No,' Clarke shrugged. 'Raven...she was distraught. Finn was everything to her back then and she just knew something had happened between us...I tried to make up some shitty story, but I couldn't and...' Clarke's eyes filled with tears which she blinked back. There was clearly a whole lot more to the story but the girl clammed up. 'Let's not talk about this anymore.'

'Ok,' she agreed, unable to tear her eyes from Clarke's face. 'What do you want to talk about?'

'We don't have to talk,' Clarke smiled, all trace of tears gone, and Lexa's body burned at the insinuation.

'You uh, wanna watch a movie or something?'

'Actually,' Clarke bit her bottom lip. 'I really want to draw you.'

'Oh,' Lexa was relieved she hadn't assumed the insinuation meant anything more because she would have been mortified.

'Can I?'

'Sure,' she shifted uncertainly on the bed.

'I'll put on the Walking Dead. You can watch that on my iPad while I draw?'

'Ok,' she agreed, blushing furiously.

They set up and Clarke pulled up a chair, her feet on the bed and the sketchpad against her knees, a pencil gripped in her fingers. She shoved the book on the bed and crawled across the bed before pulling the band from Lexa's hair and running her fingers through it, pulling it over her shoulders. Lexa found it hard to breathe with the girl so close she could smell her perfume and the conditioner in her hair. Her hands in her hair felt divine and just occasionally their skin would brush and it made Lexa want to moan. Clarke gave her a smile, all soft and warm,

'Why don't you tell me about you while I draw? Forget tv. I want to know everything about you.'

I'm not that interesting.'

'I disagree,' Clarke shrugged. 'Who did you live with in D.C? Why did you move to Boston? What's your passion? Art? Music? Tattoos?' Clarke's fingers trailed over her arm tat and Lexa sucked in a breath. Clarke had to have heard, but she didn't move her hand, instead she traced the intricate line work with her fingertip. 'What does this tat mean?'

'It's for my brother.'

'You have a brother?' Clarke tilted her head to the side, fingers still running over her skin.

'Had.'

'Oh,' Clarke continued moving her finger. 'It's beautiful.'

'Thank you.'

'Is that why you moved here?'

Yes,' she nodded. 'He was my guardian.'

'What happened to your parents?'

'You don't want to know,' she shrugged.

'I do,' Clarke insisted.

'Are you going to tell people I'm gay?' Lexa burst out.

'Why would I do that?' Clarke frowned.

'I don't know,' Lexa admitted. 'It's what happened before.'

'That's something for you to reveal when and if you're ready,' Clarke gave her a soft look.

'How did you know?' She had to ask. It had been driving her nuts.

'You keep looking at my lips,' Clarke shrugged with a small giggle. 'And my boobs. I don't even think you realize you're doing it. If you weren't a lesbian you were definitely into me because your eyes were all dark and wanting.'

'Fuck,' Lexa swore.

'It's ok,' Clarke smiled. 'I'm flattered. And I like looking at you too,' she looked towards her sketches. 'You're my favourite thing to draw at the moment.'

'Yeah?'

'Yeah,' Clarke moved her hand over Lexa's shoulder, smoothing her fingers over the skin. 'Do you find me attractive Lexa?' the words were so soft she almost thought she'd imagined them. She'd been asked this before. Straight girls looking for an ego boost. Looking for something and using her to get it. And yet she couldn't find it in herself to lie.

'Yes,' she swallowed. Clarke looked pleased with that and sat for a long moment appraising her,

Would you let me draw you naked?'

'No,' she yelped, shaking her head. 'No way.'

'I'm not trying to be a creep. You just...you're beautiful and I can tell you have an amazing body,' Clarke's eyes roved over her.

'No,' she blushed and shook her head again. Clarke just smiled,

'It was worth asking I guess. Can I at least sketch your tat?'

'This one?' Lexa nodded to her arm and Clarke's blue eyes widened,

'You have more than one?' She sounded thrilled.

'Yes,' she felt the heat rise to her cheeks.

'How many do you have?'

'This arm,' she nodded to where Clarke's hand still sat. 'My wrist,' she turned over her left wrist to reveal stars, 'and one on my spine.'

Oh,' Clarke bit her lip. 'Your spine. I want to draw that one.'

'You haven't even seen it.'

'I don't care,' she grabbed her wrist and ran her fingers over the stars. 'This is pretty.'

'I like it.'

'How did you manage to get tattoos when you're so young?'

'I'm eighteen, but my brother - he was a tattoo artist. His best friend did my shoulder. She wouldn't say no.'

'Oh,' Clarke sat beside her for a moment and then slid her fingers down from her wrist and into her hand, threading their fingers together. 'Is this ok?' she asked and though Lexa didn't understand quite why they were holding hands and what it meant she nodded.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

That evening Clarke drew her shoulder tattoo. Then her face. While she sketched she talked and Lexa eventually opened up, albeit reluctantly. She didn't tell her about Lincoln, her brother was too precious, his death too fresh, and she still didn't trust that this beautiful girl, this sweet, kind girl who never stopped trying to make amends for a death that wasn't really her fault, would want to be friends with her. But she did speak about D.C. She told Clarke about Nia's bullying when she'd caught her and Costia in the changing rooms making out. She spoke about Costia leaving, being sent to some Catholic school far away.

'As if that'll make her any straighter,' Clarke rolled her eyes.

'People at my old school...they had a big problem with my sexuality. I was beaten up, the guys...the guys were fucking jerks and the girls were worse, and I just...I want to get through this high school without anyone finding out.'

'I'm not going to tell anyone, but I hope you'd be surprised by Arcadia.'

'Every school is the same,' Lexa informed her and Clarke smiled,

'When I came out no one had a problem,' she shrugged.

'Huh? Came out?' she felt like she'd been hit with a shovel, she burned with heat and her heart thundered as she stared at Clarke, poised over her sketch pad and smiling a small smile.

'I'm bisexual,' she said it casually as if that fact didn't cause Lexa to throw an internal ticker tape parade.

'You are?' She gaped, unable to process the fact for a moment.

Yes.'

'Have you ever had a girlfriend?'

'Well no. I've been with Bellamy since puberty.'

'But he knows? Your friends know?'

'Yes.'

'And you aren't worried? You don't think you'd get a lot of negativity if you actually got a girlfriend?'

'Well I hope not. Maybe,' Clarke seemed to be thinking and her nose wrinkled adorably. 'I'd have to actually get a girlfriend to know for sure.'

'Have you ever?'

'Ever what?'

'Kissed a girl? Had sex?' Lexa asked, unable to tear her eyes from Clarke who was still sketching.

'I've never done anything with anyone that wasn't Bell, except for that kiss with Finn. You?'

'Well yeah...with Costia.'

'You had sex with her?'

'Yes.'

'Hmm,' Clarke paused. 'So she got to see your back tattoo?'

'Well we were naked so yeah,' Lexa rolled her eyes.

'Well now I'm jealous,' Clarke threw her sketchpad aside. 'Is that what I've gotta do to see it?' she smiled and the flirting threw Lexa into a mild panic as she fumbled around for words that wouldn't come.

'Well that or invite me to go swimming?' she mumbled eventually and Clarke laughed,

'Shall we go for a swim Lexa?'

'Yes, let's,' Lexa nodded, stiff from sitting for so long, and buzzing with nervous energy since Clarke's revelation, and from the oddly erotic feeling of Clarke's eyes all over her as she drew.

'Ok, shall I grab a suit of Raven's for you?'

'She won't mind?'

'Of course not,' Clarke shrugged and Lexa realized that she and Raven had clearly resolved things since Finn, but chose not to ask about it because it was probably too soon in whatever this was between them. She watched Clarke head out of the room and return a minute later with a black bikini. It wasn't the swim suit of Lexa's choice but Clarke grinned and threw it at her, before heading to her chest of draws and pulling out something blue and heading into the ensuite bathroom. 'Change,' Clarke popped her head out for a moment and nodded at her. Though somewhat reluctant to pull off her clothes she did, stuffing her underwear into the pockets of her jeans and pulling her black tank on over the top of the somewhat skimpy bikini. Surely the skimpiness wouldn't matter once they were in the water?

'Ready?' Clarke appeared utterly resplendent in her blue bikini. Lexa didn't mean to stare but holy fuck her boobs were something special and that bikini she was wearing really wasn't big enough. 'Eyes up here Lexa,' Clarke stepped closer and despite her words, Lexa's eyes dropped momentarily to a toned stomach and a belly stud. Fuck. She hadn't expected the princess to have one of those, the shiny stud nestled in her perfect, cute belly button. Fuck. She shifted her eyes down but just landed on sexy legs and finally whipped the back up to Clarke's face. Sexy was Clarke personified.

'Sorry,' she croaked, knowing full well she couldn't pull off pretending she hadn't been looking.

'I don't mind,' Clarke seemed pleased as she stalked past her forcing Lexa to follow her down to the pool, eyes fixed on her ass in that bikini. It was hard to focus, to think of anything but putting her hands on it, of pressing her face into Clarke's neck and smelling her, of getting a closer look at that belly button piercing. What the fuck was wrong with her? This girl was literally her only friend.

'Eyes up Lexa,' Raven muttered, from the den as they passed, and she flushed wildly, eyes flicking to Raven who appeared to be entirely focussed on whatever she was working on, though she was definitely smirking.

Rae's a mechanical whizz,' Clarke stated, turning to look at her, walking backwards through the kitchen. Lexa heard the words but kept reciting to herself, eyes up, eyes up, eyes up. Clarke stopped at the patio doors out to the garden and watched Clarke dive into the water and emerge looking wet and lovely, siren like as she paddled and stared up at her. 'Come in.'

'Is it cold?'

'No you wuss, it's not cold.'

'Ok,' Lexa shifted and then peeled off her tank, aware of Clarke's eyes on her. Without a second of hesitation she jumped into the pool. When she surfaced Clarke was there, paddling beside her.

'Hey,' her smile was beautiful and she was so close their legs kept brushing together in the water.

'Hi,' Lexa found herself smiling back. She couldn't think when she'd smiled as much as she did around Clarke.

'Don't move,' Clarke paddled around her, 'wow,' her fingers hit Lexa's spine and trailed over the tattoo that traversed her entire spine. Lexa reached out and grabbed the edge of the pool. She was glad she had when she felt a soft flutter against her neck, right in the middle at the back, over her infinity symbol tattoo. Her body coiled pleasantly at the sensation and her heart threatened to hammer right out of her chest.

'Fuck,' she hissed.

'I thought you chose swimming over that option,' Clarke slid her hands down from her shoulders and over the tattoo.

'I think you did,' Lexa turned in the water, blinking at Clarke.

'You're really, really pretty Lexa - I'm clearly a fool,' Clarke's voice was low and throaty, but then she was diving under the water and swimming away.