Our People (the Third Book of the Her Weakness series)

Chapter 61

Clarke's POV

The guards come back an hour or so after Lexa let our captive go. Nix raises an eyebrow when she notices that he's gone, but says nothing.

"You two should go clean up." Ryder suggests with a kind smile. "We will guard the horses and the wagon."

Lexa nods at his words, taking my hand and we head towards the hot springs. She's silent and it's obvious she's lost in her own head. I lift up her hand to my lips and kiss it gently, making her look up at me.

"Hey." I say softly, making us stop walking so we can talk. "What's wrong?"

Lexa lets out a breath. "I just hate that we had assassins come after us-after me. You could've been hurt or killed, and our friends could have been too. And it is because some group wants to kill me."

"So you feel like this is your fault?" I ask. Lexa does one of her adorable habits, moving her jaw from side to side, as she nods. "Babe, it's not your fault. Really. So there's some group out to kill you. You didn't form them, you didn't teach them their beliefs, you didn't tell them to try and kill you and put others in danger. You've just been doing what you do best: bringing peace and happiness."

I've been looking Lexa in the eyes as I talk so she knows I mean every word I say. After I finish, she glances away for a moment.

"Mochof, Clarke." She gives me a smile to let me know she's doing better. "I know that logically it is not my fault, but sometimes it takes me hearing it from you to make it stick in my mind. If that makes sense." Lexa cocks her head as she stops talking, a small frown on her face.

It's absolutely adorable and I lean in for a quick kiss. "It does make sense. Sometimes you have to hear it from someone else to believe it." Lexa's smiling again at my words and nods to confirm that's what she meant. I steal another kiss. "Alright. We're still covered in blood, guts, and other people parts so let's go wash it off."

Lexa chuckles, her eyes sparkling beautifully. It's an amazing sight that makes me fall a little harder for her. "You put it so eloquently, hodnes (love)."

With that, she squeezes my hand in hers and we start walking again. Soon, there's an unmistakable sound of water and yelling. But not scared or fighting yelling (not even the fun AKA bed kind), but the happy kind.

I grin at Lexa, who's grinning and shaking her head, both of us recognizing the voices. We start walking faster, pushing the last few branches out of the way. The spring is more like a pond and Octavia and Raven are in it (and surprisingly, not making out like I thought they would be). Since there's pretty much no such thing as a bathing suit anymore (the Grounders don't care much about nudity and in the Ark we never had enough water to splash with, let alone swim in), they're both naked and splashing each other.

They haven't noticed us yet. Octavia makes an impressively large wave by moving her arm in a circle around her body just underneath the surface of the water. It crashes down on Raven, who sputters and spits out the water, scowling playfully at Octavia.

"O, you ass!" She yells before splashing Octavia by flopping her arms around in the water.

It seems effective, though Octavia's laughing too hard to tell for sure. Raven gets revenge for her laughter by pushing Octavia under the water for a moment. In retaliation, Octavia pops up and spits out a mouthful of water at Raven. She glares at Octavia for a second before they both burst out into giggles. Raven's the one that spots us.

"Hey, Griffin! Grab your girlfriend and strip! Come on, the water's nice!"

"That is both the best and worst possible way to put that, Rae." Octavia snorts.

Ignoring the flush on my cheeks, I let go of Lexa's hand. I make eye contact with her, silently making sure she's okay with taking off her clothes in front of our friends. She seems slightly uncomfortable, but nods. I give Octavia and Raven a look, hoping they'll understand and look away or start distracting each other.

Octavia must get it, because she suddenly trails her hand up Raven's back. She yelps and spins around, their water fight resuming.

I kiss Lexa's cheek before pulling away and looking her in the eyes. "You don't have to do this. If you don't want to, or feel uncomfortable..."

I trail of and Lexa gives me a soft, genuine smile. "I am okay. It will just be odd to be naked around people other than you."

I laugh and kiss her cheek again before starting to take off my clothes. "Lets not make a habit out of that."

Luckily, Octavia and Raven are too busy with their water war to watch (or leer at) Lexa and I. I finish first and Lexa lets out a pleased hum when I start helping her with her clothes. At this point in our relationship, I think I can remove her clothes faster than she can. A sudden wolf whistle surprises both of us when we're both completely naked.

"Dang Griff!" Raven yells. "You and hot Heda are looking good!"

Octavia smacks her shoulder, but can't completely muffle her laughter. I roll my eyes at Raven, not letting myself feel too self conscious. Lexa takes my hand once again and we walk to the edge of the hot spring.

I dip my toe in to see how hot it is and let out a graceless meep. "How are you two not boiling alive right now?" I ask Raven and Octavia.

"The trick is to take breaks to cool down. We learned that after Ryder nearly passed out." Octavia says.

I frown, eyeing the water warily.

"Come on, hodnes." Lexa urges me quietly. "Lets try it and if you start feeling dizzy or you just do not like it, you can stand in the shallower part while I wash you."

I sigh, relenting. "Alright."

I squeeze Lexa's hand as we make our way into the water.

Sorry this is out so much later than usual! I was checking out a college and didn't have time to write until like 2 pm... Anyway, octaven for the win! They're such adorable nerds together. And skinny dipping next chapter! Which I personally have never done, so hopefully it's not completely inaccurate. Thank you for reading and for your lovely comments! Stay awesome!