Chapter Text
Today was graduation's day. The ceremony was over, and she would never have to set foot on highschool ground again. Finally.
She turns on her radio and Aretha Franklin is blasting through her room.
Freedom, freedom, freedom...
How appropriate. She's going to leave behind this stinky house of hers and her lousy parents. She has everything planned already. She's going to college to get a degree in politics. She's going to have a room of her own on campus and she won't have to put up with her family anymore.
But first, Lexa is going to enjoy her traditional holiday trip to the sea.
Anya invited her over, like every summer for eight years now. Anya's twenty-four, but she's the closest friend Lexa ever had. Maybe that's because she's not really good to befriend people, and Anya's a little weird as well, so they got along great from the moment they met.
Anya's family is rich, like, really fucking rich. Well-off people with loads of money they spend on things they absolutely do not need. The house by the sea is one of the several properties they own, but it has always been Lexa's favorite.
It's located in this pretty town with the 1950's architecture, and it's such a cliché, but Lexa absolutely loves it. Small houses bordering the beach, streets paved with blue stones, and a heavy scent of flowers emanating from a multitude of little gardens of roses and lilac.
Each year, the two girls get there to escape their life and find some peace. The first two years, Anya's parents stayed with them, but they had been on their own ever since Anya reached her eighteenth birthday.
It's nice and calm and warm, and Lexa can spend her days reading on the beach, playing piano or doing some gardening. For the last two years, both girls had been working on the evenings at a bar near the beach. Lexa was always glad to earn money.
The only thing Lexa hates about their annual trip is the alarming amount of tourists that seems to increase every year. Tourists are noisy and rude and really all she wants is to be left alone with Anya. She hopes this year will be somewhat quieter than the few last ones.
Lexa finishes packing her clothes while humming to the radio. It's the holidays, and Anya will pick her up in an hour to bring her to her favorite place ever. The day is absolutely perfect.
---
“Are you sure that's the way?” whines Octavia for the hundredth time in ten minutes.
“What about you just shut the fuck up?” snaps Raven, her hands on the wheel.
“Hey, watch your mouth!” interrupts Clarke. “We're all together and it's the holidays, don't be so damn grumpy.”
Raven mumbles something about Octavia getting on her nerves, while Octavia sighs heavily.
“I swear, if I feel either of you emanating any more pessimist vibes, I am going to switch cars with one of the guys.” threatens Clarke.
She focuses back on the map on her lap. She just needs to locate their current position. Because, okay, she might have led them on the wrong road, slightly.
“Look, Raven, we're right there, that's not very far!” she suddenly realizes, showing the map to her friend.
“Get that thing out of my face, I'm driving!” protests Raven, waving her away furiously.
Clarke leans back into her seat, satisfied.
“Okay, I know exactly where we are. Get ready, we're going to set foot on that beach in ten minutes.”
Behind her, Maya speaks up.
“Jasper just texted me. I quote : where the hell are we I thought Clarke knew what she was doing.”
Clarke rolls her eyes.
“For heaven's sake, guys, you're all too impatient. We have all the time in the world.”
“Actually, Clarke, no.” corrects Octavia. “We're only going for six weeks. Well, we were, since I'm convinced we just wasted an entire week in this freaking car. Because you can't read a map.”
“Technically, we haven't even spent five hours in this car. I think you should all thank your amazing driver for that.” says Raven casually. “Just imagine if Clarke was driving.”
Octavia giggles.
“Oh, god, now that would be a problem. We would be either lost or crashed on a tree in the middle of nowhere.”
Clarke glares at the two girls. She's not that bad of a driver, really. Well, almost.
“Cheer up, Griffin, think about that beautiful girl you're going to seduce this summer.” grins Raven.
“Or it could be a guy.” adds Octavia.
Clarke hears Maya chuckling quietly and raises an eyebrow. She decides that's enough.
“What is it with you two? It's like the third time you've said something similar. You're creeping me out.”
“They made a bet.” informs Maya. “Everyone is basically sure you're going to hook up with someone, so they decided to gamble on it. Raven thinks it's gonna be a girl, Octavia disagrees.”
Clarke rolls her eyes so hard it hurts her. Her friends can be so stupid sometimes. This is borderline offensive.
“Seriously, guys?” she hisses, upset. “I'm not even here for that. I just want to have a good time with my friends.”
She was about to launch into further explanations about what she expects from this summer trip and why this bet is inappropriate, when Octavia cuts her short.
“We're finally there!”
Clarke shuts her mouth and forgets about what she was going to say. There it was, the pretty town where they were going to spend six weeks. A shiver of excitation creeps up her spine. She had randomly found this place on the internet, and it just looked perfect. Not too big, but not too small either, it was the perfect spot for a getaway with friends.
Once she confronted her friends with the idea, they all agreed enthusiastically. High school was finally over, but none of them was quite ready to leave for separate colleges without a last adventure together. They immediately rented a house for the summer.
It doesn't take more than a few minutes for them to find the house in question. It was located on a wide street, five hundred meters away from the beach.
“It's amazing. The grocery store is just down the street.”
Clarke pokes Raven on the shoulder, laughing.
“All you ever think of is eating things, Raven.”
Raven doesn't bother denying it and gets out of the car, stretching with relief. The three other girls imitate her. Clarke notices that even now, at seven o'clock in the evening, the atmosphere is incredibly warm and heavy. The summer promises to be outstandingly hot.
Bellamy parks his blue car next to Raven's red truck and the four guys join them on the sidewalk.
There's Bellamy, who had been spending the last few years watching over her sister and taking her to parties, and inevitably ended up befriending all of them. There also were Monty and Jasper, inseparable, who could manage to make them laugh all the time. Jasper was the main reason Maya was here, actually. She was a shy girl who didn't have many friends, and Jasper was quite fond of her. And then, there was Murphy – well, nobody exactly knew why they wanted him to come along.
Bellamy searches through his pockets for the key. The house owner had met with him a few days ago in the city to provide the information they needed and sign the administrative paperwork.
“Okay, everyone can take their bags and stuff inside calmly.” he says very seriously.
Needless to say, all the others rush messily through the front door, merrily commenting about the house.
“It has great lighting, guys.” appreciates Monty, who was the only one to notice these kinds of things.
Clarke, stumbling under the weight of her suitcase, climbs up the stairs to the bedrooms. As expected, Octavia and Raven are arguing with Jasper and Murphy over who would get which room.
“For real, just take a decision, I don't care, I seriously just want to lay down.” she grunts, completely ignored.
They're so busy fighting that they don't notice it when she enters the bedroom of her choice and throws her suitcase on the floor. She collapses on the bed, exhausted by the long car ride. Raven joins her a minute after.
“So”, she says, “I'll be your roommate. Octavia is with Maya, Jasper with Monty, of course, and Bellamy's with Murphy. That's going to be fun.”
Clarke raises her thumbs up in the air.
“That's great.” she mumbles, closing her eyes.
Raven jumps on her bed and shakes her roughly.
“Hey, Griffin, you're not allowed to sleep now, it's barely seven o'clock!”
Clarke pouts and hides her face on the pillow.
“It's too late to go the beach, and I don't feel like taking a walk around town right now.” she explains, her voice muffled by the soft fabric.
Raven starts to unpack her suitcase, looking for something.
“Granted, I feel exactly the same. But that doesn't mean we can't celebrate the start of the holidays, you lazy worm.”
“I like worms.” answers Clarke, her face still buried in the pillow. “They get to crawl up all day on the floor very slowly and never worry about anything related to school.”
She can almost feel Raven rolling her eyes.
“Come on, get up. Everybody's downstairs.”
Clarke obeys reluctantly. She freezes when she sees the bottles in Raven's hands.
“Oh, no. No, Raven.”
“Oh, yes” replies Raven with a smirk Clarke knew too well. “Nobody's allowed to go to bed until we've finished at least the vodka and the tequila.”
Clarke can't help but smile. She knows it's a really bad idea, because they just got here and her head is probably going to kill her tomorrow, but she follows Raven downstairs all the same. One thing she's learned : never mess with Raven about alcohol.
And, after all, they were indeed here to celebrate.
---
Lexa wakes up the next day with a smile on her face she can't control. Wrapped up into the sheets, her face warmed up by the sun that peers through the curtains, she feels great. She checks her watch on the bedside table. It's eight o'clock, Anya's probably fast asleep.
Her mood is wonderful, and the streets are still empty, so she decides to go for a run. She quickly gets changed into shorts and a tank top, arranges her hair into a bun and grabs her running shoes.
When Lexa steps outside, the air is already very warm and the sky isn't hidden by any clouds. It's a day just like she enjoys them. She stretches on the porch and then begins her daily run.
She knows the place by heart, every street and every garden. She follows her usual path, one she has been using for years.
There aren't many people out this early, which fills Lexa with a sense of quiet happiness. She likes it this way, with the sidewalks empty and the birds humming. When she reaches the beach, it's almost empty too. Lexa runs and fills her lungs with the fresh, salted air of the sea, pushing her body until she's breathless and sweaty.
She allows herself a break at the very end of the beach, reaching the opposite part of the town. Lexa slows her pace until she's walking, her chest heavily trying to recover from the effort.
She takes a look around. Everything is calm, as usual.
She frowns as she almost steps on an empty bottle of tequila.
She could have slipped on it and hurt herself, and in this moment Lexa hates even more all these irresponsible tourists who just wanted to drink themselves to death everyday.
Seriously, if it wasn't so early, and if she wasn't positive these people were all passed out and hungover, she would have knocked at the door and shoved the freaking bottle into their faces. It isn't hard to figure out which house is theirs.
Lexa would bet anything they were living in the house with the blue car and the red truck. Another empty bottle is lying in front of the door.
She shakes her head. Tourists.
---
Clarke blesses her sunglasses. The tainted lenses help a little with the painful throbbing in her head, that is aggravated by the merciless brightness of the summer sun.
“I hate you and your stupid ideas, Reyes.” she grunts, sipping her coffee.
Raven, her head hidden in her arms, does not react in any way. She might as well be dead. Octavia enters the kitchen shuffling and yawning, her hair a complete mess.
“Well, looks like everyone is up now.” says Bellamy, clapping his hands with energy.
Clarke glares at him, forgetting he can't see her eyes through her sunglasses.
“How do you manage to be so fresh and enthusiast after a night like that?” she asks, vaguely amazed.
“I've got years of experience.” he replies with a proud grin. “Okay, people, it's already past noon, let's move. I want to see what that beach looks like.”
The idea seems to invigorate everyone. The perspective of soft warm sand and cool water is enough to erase Clarke's bad mood.
“That's a great idea, Bell. Everyone, get ready, we're leaving in five.” she decides, heading for her bedroom to get changed.
“Jasper's still asleep.” notices Maya pointedly.
“I'll wake him.” offers Monty, standing up.
“Oh, no, don't you dare. He deserves the Blake and Reyes special Waking up Torture.” interrupts Raven, suddenly very awake.
Raven and Octavia immediately pull him back and rush upstairs, willing to give Jasper the worst waking up experience of his life.
“You're all immature toddlers.” grunts Murphy while he starts to collect everyone's empty cup of coffee to do the washing up.
He's actually very obliging, and everyone is convinced he's enjoying himself, even if he would rather die than admit it.
A few minutes later, the happy group is heading towards the beach.
---
Anya wakes up at the sound of Lexa's shower. The two girls gather in the kitchen, cooking themselves their traditional brunch. It's what they do each summer : eating one big brunch in the morning, and then dinner at nightfall.
“It feels good to be back here.” says Lexa, struggling with the toaster.
“It does.” agrees Anya sternly. “I kinda missed you this year, you stupid baby.” she adds, messing with Lexa's hair.
Lexa pouts and waves Anya's hand away.
“That's totally your fault. Now that you're all grown up and all, you've left me behind.” she points with a smile.
“Yeah, that's called having a job, Lex. I've been busy.”
Anya shrugs and sits down, pouring herself a cup of coffee.
“What are your plans for today ?” asks Lexa. “I was thinking about going to the beach. It looked very peaceful this morning.”
“I need to fix the sink in the bathroom.” replies Anya. “I'll catch up with you later.”
Lexa nods. While they enjoyed each other's company, they were private people and liked to spend time on their own. It was one of the reason why they were getting along so well, because they didn't feel the need to cling onto each other at every minute.
“Our shift starts at seven o'clock this evening.” Anya reminds her.
“I still don't get why you do this.” Lexa shakes her head. “You already have a job, why would you want to work during the holidays ?”
“It keeps me busy on the evenings. Besides, I need to keep an eye on you, baby girl.”
Lexa throws a pancake at her to wipe the annoying smirk off of her face. Anya dodges it and manages to catch it before it fells on the floor. She stuffs it in her mouth, satisfied with herself.
“Thanks for the pancake, Lexa.”
They eat in a comfortable silence. Lexa feels happiness warm her body. This was exactly what she needed. A calm, peaceful summer with her friend.
It's half past eleven when she gathers a few things to bring to the beach. She makes sure to wear a bathing suit under her clothes, a nice bikini she had bought last year. She takes a book, – Wilde's Picture of Dorian Gray, one of her all-time favorites – a towel, and leaves.
“I'll be waiting for you at our usual spot.” she screams at Anya as she walks out of the door.
---
The beach isn't too crowded, but it's not empty either. Clarke decides it's the perfect amount of people. She lingers behind the rest of the group, taking in her surroundings, while Jasper and Murphy throw their towels on the sand. They all settle down in a large circle, chatting merrily.
Not far from where they are, a girl is lying flat on her stomach, reading a book. Clarke frowns. They're probably going to annoy her. It's not like they're the quietest people in the world.
She's about to point it out to her friends when she's attacked by behind by Octavia.
“Get off of me!” she tries to run away as her friend is tickling her. “What the hell, Octavia!”
Octavia steps back with a shrug.
“I was trying to distract you.”
“What?” asks Clarke, taken aback.
“You were staring. And I don't want to owe Raven five bucks.”
It takes a few moments for Clarke to understand what this is about. Oh, right, the dumb bet. Clarke glances quickly at the girl, who is still reading.
“I wasn't staring.” she precises, rolling her eyes. “I was just thinking that maybe we should move somewhere else. We might be bothering her.”
Raven chooses this instant to interrupt their conversation, sneaking up between her two friends.
“Uh, for the record, Griffin, you were totally staring. And that's the exact reason why we should stay right there.”
Ridiculous. Clarke wasn't staring. Okay, the girl is very pretty, but anyone could notice it, and okay, perhaps her eyes lingered a bit over her beautiful braided hair and her high cheekbones, but that's not a crime, really.
“You can do whatever you want”, growls Murphy lazily besides them, “but I'm not going anywhere.”
“That's settled then”, smirks Raven. “We are going to stay here and you can stare all you want.”
“I was not staring.” repeats Clarke stubbornly.
“Whatever helps you sleep at night, Griffin.”
Clarke glares at her and grabs her sunglasses, putting them on angrily. Partly because the sun is very bright and she's still a bit hungover. But also because this way her friends won't be able to tell where her eyes are wandering.
And she's definitely not looking at the girl again. She really doesn't study the outline of her profile, the curve of her eyebrow and the adorable way she frowns while focusing on her book.
Nope. Clarke isn't the staring type. She certainly does not notice that the girl is wearing a long-sleeved shirt and a pair of denim shorts that fit her damn well, revealing her long, bare tanned legs, and...
She shakes her head. Not staring. Clarke swallows, her mouth suddenly a little dry, and focuses back on her friends. Jasper and Monty are having a heated discussion over some video game, she thinks. Clarke pointedly ignores Raven, who is looking at her with a knowing grin.
Clarke, trying to clear her head – not that it needs to be cleared, anyway – decides to take off her clothes, revealing her bikini.
“Looking hot, Clarke.” comments Bellamy, earning a cold glare from his sister.
“Who has the sun cream ?” she asks, really not willing to get sunburned.
“It's in my bag. Here.” replies Maya, looking through her bag. Her skin is very frail, so she's extremely careful during the summer.
She hands Clarke the sun cream, who thanks her and starts applying it on her own body. Her friends are all busy chatting away, and she tunes them out.
Her hands drawing circling patterns, she carefully covers her stomach in sun cream. Looking around, she catches the girl with the book glancing very quickly at her. Well, at them. She's now sure the noise is bothering her.
Once she's done with the cream, she lays on her back and decides to close her eyes for a few minutes. Surrounded by the reassuring, familiar noise of her friends' conversation, she's delighted by the warm touch of the sun on her body. It feels good, it feels like summer and holidays. Her mind starts wandering around, thinking of nothing in particular.
The graduation. Her future college. Last night's drinking. The pretty girl reading her book a few meters away.
Clarke internally frowns. It's probably some kind of a record. She manages to stare even with her eyes closed. The memory of the girl, fresh and detailed, is burning behind her eyelids. If Raven could read her mind right now, Clarke would never hear the end of it.
“Dammit.” she mumbles under her breath, sitting up. This is helpless. She needs to find something else to do.
Raven smirks besides her.
“What's up, something bothering you?”
“I can't close my eyes with you guys making this much noise.” replies Clarke automatically.
“Yeah. And you can't check her out with your eyes closed, too.”
Clarke's eyes widen.
“Could you be a little louder, Raven? She's gonna hear you!” she hisses.
Glancing at the girl, Clarke freezes. Snapping her book shut, the girl stands up in a fluid movement.
How great. She heard Raven and now she's coming at them to tell them to shut up and get the hell out of there.
“Relax, Griffin.” chuckles Raven, nudging her in the arm. “She can't hear me from there.”
“Oh. Right.” Clarke shakes her head. She's overreacting. That's unlike her.
The girl isn't coming towards them at all. She does look upset about her noisy neighbors, but that's not why she just got up. In fact, she doesn't give any sign of acknowledging their existence. It kinda makes Clarke want to wave in front of her to get her attention.
Instead, the girl unbuttons her shorts and lets them slide down her legs, taking them off. In one quick motion, she pulls her shirt over her head as well and there she is, wearing nothing but a blue bikini, and casually walks towards the sea to jump into the waves.
“Okay, now you're drooling.” sighs Octavia, rolling her eyes.
“I am too.” indicates Bellamy pointedly.
“Ew, gross.” grunts his sister between gritted teeth.
“Uh, excuse me, O', your brother has impeccable taste. He definitely recognizes a goddess when he sees one. I mean, have you seen her body ? Damn. And that tattoo is turning me on, I have to admit it.”
Octavia shuts Raven up by throwing her towel into her face. Clarke is grateful for the distraction. Her cheeks are oddly burning up.
“Calm yourself down and back off, Reyes. I think Clarke called shotgun on that one.” smirks Murphy as Raven sticks out her tongue to him.
Clarke feels mortified. She really needs to find new friends and ditch this bunch of embarrassing losers. Speaking up her mind, she only earns a crushing hug from Jasper and Monty.
“You can sulk all you want, truth is you love us.” says Jasper merrily. “That being said, we know exactly who you're dying to befriend right now.”
He mimicks quotation marks around the word “befriend”, heavily winking. This is Jasper Jordan's idea of subtlety.
She can't help but glance at the girl currently swimming with so much ease it's disturbing. As she emerges from a particularly big wave, her body dripping with water, droplets shining on her eyelashes and arms and flat, toned stomach, Clarke catches her eye.
She could swear the girl is looking at her with unconcealed curiosity, and a bit of something else she can't exactly decipher. Whatever it is, it gets her heartbeat sped up. She blinks, and suddenly the girl is back ignoring her.
Clarke tries not to notice the weird sensation settling in the pit of her stomach.
As the boys start to complain about feeling hungry, Clarke, Monty and Maya head to the groceries store to buy sandwiches for the group.
When they come back, the girl is gone. Clarke swallows back whatever irrational disappointment she vaguely feels.
After all, it's highly likely she won't ever see that girl again.
---
Lexa's nimble fingers are running deftly over the keys, eliciting from the piano a sweet melody. She's playing Debussy's Clair de Lune, just like Anya asked her. Under her touch, the big wooden instrument comes to life, her trained hands delicately awakening the sounds hidden in its strings.
Silently sitting by her side, Anya's sipping her red wine. She closes her eyes and leans against the wall, enjoying the music.
Lexa is halfway through Chopin's Nocturne op.9 when her friend clears her throat, just loud enough for her to hear and stop playing.
“As much as I love listening to you, I need to remind you that we're working tonight. We should get going, it's late already.” she says, downing the rest of her drink like it was water.
“Right.” agrees Lexa with a quiet sigh.
“I'll go to the beach with you tomorrow. That way, maybe you won't freak out and come back here after an hour.” adds Anya with a smirk.
Lexa frowns, offended.
“Hey, there were very noisy people right next to our usual spot. You probably would have lost your patience and hit them, if you were here.”
“Well, then let's be glad I wasn't here. I get into enough trouble at home, let's try to keep this holiday trip peaceful.”
Anya pats her head like she knows Lexa hates, and gets out of the music room. Lexa follows her a minute later, ready for a busy evening at the bar restaurant.
---
“Table eleven, the lobster and the cheeseburger!” yells the manager.
Lexa hurries to do the service. The restaurant is crowded, and she's one of the only two waitresses tonight. At the bar, Anya is pouring drinks with efficiency, also dealing with a consequent number of customers.
She comes back to the kitchen, waiting for the next order. Noticing a bit of chicken sauce on the tip of her fingers, she washes her hands and wipes her palms on her uniform. She's wearing a black skirt and a white shirt, which is a disaster on most days. Lexa's not the clumsiest person alive, but tipsy customers or running kids often make her lose her balance and end up staining her shirt.
“Table four, eight clients.” yells the manager.
Lexa nods and rushes to take their order, walking her way through the busy room. She stiffens for a moment when she spots the people sitting at said table, but quickly recovers.
It's no big deal. They're just ordinary customers.
Except they're not. They're the bunch of annoying tourists who were so loud on the beach earlier that she couldn't read in peace and had to go back to the house.
The older guy sees her first and quiets down, waiting for Lexa to come. Next to him, the broody boy gives her a smirk. Lexa wonders what this is about. The other two guys are busy chatting with a gorgeous brunette, while a shy girl listens to them. And then, her eyes falls on the blonde girl she saw earlier, the quietest of the lot, who is speaking with a very beautiful girl, prom queen type.
“Good evening”, she interrupts them, feeling the weight of eight pairs of eyes scanning her. “Welcome to the Seaside Bar Restaurant, I'll be your waitress for the night.”
“Well, hello.” grins the brunette girl with the tanned skin. “That's a nice tattoo you got here.” she adds playfully, looking at Lexa's bare arm.
Lexa feels heat creeping up her neck. She notices the blonde girl burying her head into her hands with a sigh.
“I... Thanks, I guess.” replies Lexa hesitantly, a bit confused. “What, uh, do you want to order? Have you made up your mind?”
The brunette girl is about to speak again, with a wide smirk that makes Lexa extremely uncomfortable, when prom queen hits the back of her head.
“Shut up.” tells prom queen, glaring at her friend. To Lexa's relief, the girl doesn't insist.
“We'll just all take chicken and french fries.” says the older guy.
Lexa quickly scrawls it down on her notepad.
“What will you have to drink?” she asks politely.
She listens carefully while they all order different drinks, writing all of it down. The blonde girl speaks last, locking her eyes with Lexa's.
“I'll take, um...” Her voice trails away, low and husky.
Lexa never takes her eyes away from the girl, while she looks into the menu.
“Take your time.” says Lexa.
The blonde girl raises her blue eyes and stares into Lexa's.
“You know what, I don't know. All of your cocktails seem... exotic.”
For some reason, the word makes something stir in Lexa's throat. She had always felt a little weird when pretty girls looked at her intensely like that. She snaps out of her thoughts, reminding herself to act professionally.
“Maybe you should settle for something more traditional, a coke maybe?” she offers.
“I like to try new things.” the girl says with a small smile. “Why don't you choose for me?”
The brunette girl lets out a giggle, quickly earning another slap from both prom queen and the oldest boy.
“Uh... If you will...” says Lexa, feeling her cheeks blush oddly. “What do you like?”
“Surprise me.” replies the blonde girl at once, her eyes intense, her voice lower.
Lexa blinks. The air had suddenly become thicker, hotter.
“Alright, I'll be back when your order's ready.” she announces with a smile, turning on her heels without waiting for an answer.
As she walks away from the table, she ignores the feeling of blue eyes digging a hole on the back of her neck.
Back into the kitchen, she quickly pours herself a glass of water while reporting the order to the cooks. For some reason, her mouth had gone slightly dry.
She shakes her head to get her focus back and heads off to take the next customers' orders.
Once the chicken and fries are ready, she takes them to table four, expertly balancing all the plates on her arms.
“Here you go.” she says, forbidding herself to look at the blonde girl. “I'll be right back with your drinks.”
She walks to the bar, drawing Anya's attention.
“I need those.” she says, handing her the notepad with the seven orders. “And a bella luna, alcohol free.”
“Alright.” replies Anya, starting to mix the cocktails.
Once she's done, Lexa goes back to the table, distributing all the drinks. She allows herself to look at the blonde girl while she hands her her glass.
“It's a bella luna. Classic, but refreshing, ideal for a hot summer night like this. It's basically orange juice, ananas, and green lemon. I hope it's okay.” she explains, lowering her eyes.
“It's very nice.” says the girl with a satisfied smile.
“And, uh, it's alcohol free. I figured, well,” Lexa gestures at the girl's body, feeling extremely awkward, “underage and all that.”
Lexa is usually very good with words. But right now, she's afraid she's not making much sense.
“It's very considerate of you.”
“What Clarke here means to say,” interrupts the brunette girl, “is that you seem to have great taste. You certainly know how to please a girl.”
Lexa has a sense she's talking about more than just a drink. She flashes them a polite smile before running away, refusing to let Clarke see the bright red color that is most certainly reaching her face.
Clarke. She likes the sound of the name, the way it clicks on her tongue, sweet and sharp all at once. She can't wait to try it, but doesn't allow herself to sound like a complete idiot whispering a stranger's name in the middle of a crowded restaurant.
A few minutes later, carrying a tray of a few empty glasses, she bumps into someone on their way out of the bathroom and her tray falls to the floor.
“Shit.” she mumbles under her breath, dropping to her knees to pick up the glasses. “I'm so sorry.” she adds out loud for the person to hear.
“It's okay. It was my fault.” answers Clarke, getting on her knees as well to help her.
Lexa stills, forgetting to breathe. She wasn't expecting to run into her, but there she is, really gorgeous and obliging and perfect.
“Hi again. Clarke.” Lexa couldn't resist. The name tastes like sugar and exotic spices on her tongue.
Clarke smiles and picks up the last glass, carefully putting it back on the tray.
“I wanted to say,” she says hesitantly, “I'm sorry about earlier.”
Lexa frowns.
“About what?”
“At the beach. We must have been really bothering you.”
Oh. Well, yes, they were really fucking annoying and she had to get back to the house to get some peace.
“It was nothing.” she lies. “I was going to leave anyway.”
Clarke puts her hand on Lexa's and Lexa's breath catches in her throat.
“I'm still sorry.” mutters Clarke.
If it was up to Lexa, she would stay like that for hours. Unfortunately, she has work to do and just because she's hella gay doesn't mean Clarke is anyhow interested in her.
And Lexa is frankly done with crushes on straight girls. She quickly frees her hand and grabs her tray, standing up.
“I need to get going.” she explains, avoiding Clarke's face.
At the end of the evening, when she brings the bill to table four, she also does her best to keep her eyes off of the blonde girl.
“I hope you had a lovely dinner.” she says.
“How could we not?” answers the brunette girl. “The food was great and the view was amazing.”
Lexa pretends not to notice that she's eying her up and down instead of looking at the beach.
“Right, Clarke?” adds the girl with a smile that Lexa very much wants to wipe off of her face. What was the deal with that girl and her innuendos she didn't fully understand?
“We never caught your name, by the way.” says Clarke, handing Lexa a generous tip.
“Oh, thank you.” replies Lexa before offering her name. “I'm Lexa.”
“Lexa.” repeats Clarke.
Lexa shivers. Her own name sounds somewhat sensual when pronounced in that low, attractive voice.
“Well, goodnight.” The oldest guy stands up, followed by the others, breaking Lexa's train of thought.
“Goodnight to you too.” she answers with professionalism.
Clarke lingers behind her friends, gathering her stuff into her purse. She turns to Lexa, who is awkwardly standing besides the now empty table.
“I guess I'll see you around, Lexa.” she says, running a hand through her beautiful hair.
“Perhaps.”
Lexa really wishes Clarke would leave now. It's bad enough she's undeniably attracted to her, she doesn't need this to turn into a hopeless crush that would torture her for the rest of the summer.
“I think I would be disappointed if I didn't.” adds Clarke.
Great. Her heartbeat picks up and Lexa curses herself for being so weak.
“Me too.” She regrets the words even before they leave her mouth.
Clarke's friends have stepped outside the restaurant, not yet noticing the blonde girl's disappearance. Said girl suddenly takes a deep breath.
“I... I mean, I know that we don't know each other and all that but you seem pretty cool and you were really patient on the beach and also tonight at dinner with Raven's embarrassing behavior which by the way I apologize for and...”
“Clarke.” interrupts Lexa. “Breathe.”
It would be funny if Clarke's level of cuteness wasn't totally ruining Lexa's self-control. She really wants to know how those lips would feel against hers.
“Yeah.” smiles Clarke. “So, um, anyway.”
She takes a pen out of her bag and grabs Lexa's wrist, pausing for a moment.
“May I?”
Lexa simply nods, her brain focusing exclusively on the softness of Clarke's hand on her skin. Clarke starts writing something on her forearm, and she tries hard not to shiver. Partly because it's tickling, partly because Clarke is touching her and wow she's actually giving Lexa her number.
“Here.” says Clarke once she's done. “If you wanna hang out or something, I promise my friends will behave. They're actually pretty cool once you get to know them.”
“Right.” whispers Lexa hesitantly.
“Or maybe if you just wanna hang out with me.” adds Clarke quickly. “Grab a drink or something.”
She's still holding Lexa's wrist. Lexa should really get back to just being a waitress and politely decline the invitation, because she knows this can't possibly be a good idea. But it's just impossible to focus on any reasonable thought when Clarke is standing so close. Lexa blinks. She's going to smile, refuse and get back to her shift.
“Sure. I'll text you.” she says.
Crap. She's whipped.
“Awesome. Uh...” Clarke glances at the exit door where the brunette girl – Raven – is poking her head, grinning broadly. “I should go. You've got work.”
Lexa nods and takes a step back, looking for something to say.
“Goodnight, Lexa.” Clarke waves at her and leaves.
All the while, Lexa remains frozen, incapable of tearing her gaze away from the blonde's silhouette. I'll text you. What the hell.
Clarke is very pretty and extremely nice, but her friends are loud and annoying and Lexa doesn't want to have to stay around them and suffer through their jokes while nursing her desperate one-sided crush.
Lexa has known girls like Clarke in highschool, beautiful, self-confident and painfully straight, with a boyfriend glued to them all day. Lexa always avoided them. She always had been a loner. She hated it when they would try to befriend her, with all their hugs and their dozens of friends.
But when Clarke turns around to offer her one last smile, Lexa's stupidly flustered and she knows how hopeless the situation is. Yeah, she's definitely going to text her.