single moms are ugly... and other lies | clexa AU

seventeen

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Clarke looks like she's either sick, just woke up, or was crying for a good while. Maybe all three.

Lexa opts for the crying after a few seconds though, because the tip of her nose and her lips are shiny, and when Lexa cries, somehow, that's just the same.

She feels out of place now. She probably is and would have been any way, after all she didn't announce her visit and she didn't really plan it herself.

Clarke is just the mother of her students and the woman she's gone on two dates with and texted a little, after all.

Just the woman who has occupied Lexa's mind. Just the woman who makes her heart beat in a strange rhythm. Just the woman that makes her want to throw away any protective shields around her heart and check up on.

Lexa was in the city with Octavia and after Octavia was picked up by Lincoln, Lexa drove home alone and passed by close to Clarke's place. Since Lexa hasn't been able to stop thinking about Clarke anyway and the woman mentioned somewhen that this weekend, the kids would be at Bellamy's, she felt 7 p.m. on a Friday would be an okay time to stop by just shortly.

Now, she's not so sure.

"Lexa," Clarke croaks and Lexa tilts her head to the side gently, asking Clarke silently if she was okay, if this was an evening she needed Lexa not to step foot into the apartment for even two minutes or an evening Clarke would accept the tulips Lexa had bought and maybe a shoulder to cry on.

Either is fine with Lexa. She hasn't come to bother Clarke, she came to check up on Clarke and if leaving immediately means letting her be okay, that's exactly what Lexa wants to do.

But just in case Clarke needs flowers instead, Lexa extends her arm with the bunch of white-pink flowers. "Hi," she says softly. "I don't mean to bother. I just brought you some tulips."

"Oh, you're the sweetest," Clarke says with a broad, honest smile, yet the tears that waited patiently on the edges of her red eyes overflow now to make two streaks over her cheeks. She tugs the blanket that's resting on her shoulders tighter around her body so that she can take the bouquet. "Thank you, I don't even know what to say. I love them so much. Come in, I'll get a vase for them."

"Are you sure you want me to come in? As I said-"

"You're not bothering. Would you like something to drink? I have nearly everything non-alcoholic but the only thing with alcohol I have is a bottle of wine."

"Oh um-"

Clarke looks at Lexa expectantly while filling a white vase with water and Lexa understands that she could decline if she really didn't want a drink, but she doesn't have to lie about it. This is one of Clarke's love languages. Giving. Doing stuff for people.

"Do you have tea, by any chance?" Lexa asks. "I've been outside all day and I feel like my body is frozen from the inside out."

"Of course, I have all kinds of tea. Come here, you can pick any bag, I'll heat the water."

So Clarke cuts the stems of the tulips and puts them into the water while waiting for the tea, and then she invites Lexa to join her on the couch.

There, she sinks back into the blanket, into a warm, soft spot and she fades to relaxation. "Thank you for the flowers. That was so sweet of you."

"Not a problem. I wanted to check up on you."

Clarke just hums.

"Are you okay?" Lexa asks hesitantly. "You seem a little..." She's not sure how to finish the sentence. Tired. Stressed out. Sad.