The Story Goes On

 Lexa is running, running, and then she is leaping after the baseball hurtling towards the dugouts to save it, and then she is flopping over the wall of the dugout and crashing into a body onto the dirt floor. This was particularly bad judgement on Lexa's part.

People are immediately crowding around them, but Lexa can only see the person she has crashed into. Blood soaks her blond locks, and her eyes look dazed. Then, the haze slowly comes out of the blue orbs and they focus on Lexa. Lexa's breath leaves her lungs as if she was the one who just got barreled into.

-0-

Clarke is almost sure that Lexa Woods, the captain of the baseball team is staying because she pities Clarke. After her sprained ankle had been wrapped, she had wandered in and shyly introduced herself and apologized as if there was any possible way Clarke didn't know her highschool's star athlete. It would've been endearing if Clarke wasn't too busy wondering how long Lexa had spent standing on that ankle trying to find out what room Clarke had been transferred to.

The doctor comes in after that and reports that Clarke has a concussion that will require an overnight stay. He adds on afterward that her mother has been notified but had to run off to a surgery. Clarke isn't surprised in the least. It has always been like that.

What does surprise her is that after he leaves, Lexa plops herself down in the chair situated next to her bed. The sun is setting in the window behind her and frames Lexa's brown hair perfectly. She must've found time to clean up, because although she was still wearing her sand covered uniform, her face was clear of dirt, and the elaborate eyeblack she wore during the game (could it even be called that when it resembled warpaint more?) was gone. It left stunningly chiseled cheekbones.

They sit in an awkward silence in which Lexa stares at her hands folded in her lap. It was quite the revelation, Lexa Woods isn't your typical jock. Despite her sharp as a blade jawline, her eyes are soft and her voice even gentler. The way she tries not to squirm under Clarke's examination could be described as cute.

Clarke doesn't want Lexa's pity though. Lexa should be home doing her homework or enjoying her sleep or night with her family. Burdening somebody is something Clarke always hated doing. She's always been independent and she won't stop all of a sudden today. "You don't have to stay for me."

Lexa raises her eyes to meet Clarke. There is something held back in her eyes. An unspeakable emotion. "Nobody should have to stay overnight alone." Her eyes speak of an entirely different story. They beg Clarke not to push her away. So Clarke doesn't. Instead she inches over and pats the space she has created next to her. Lexa visibly hesitates.

"C'mon. You'll be cold if you spend the entire night on that chair. Not to mention you'll get a crick in your neck if you sleep like that,"Clarke pushes. If the girl was going to stay with her, they might as well both be equally as comfortable. There was no use in torturing Lexa.

After a reluctant second, Lexa scoots onto the bed. Clarke shifts the blanket so that it covers their legs. They sit shoulder to shoulder for a while. Perhaps thirty minutes. It is so long that Clarke thinks that maybe this will be all that comes of the night. Maybe they would fall asleep side by side, and the next morning when Clarke got discharged, Lexa and Clarke would go their separate ways and never talk again. Except that's not what happens.

"Do you have any good stories?" This comes out of the silence without warning. Clarke's eyes shoot up to look at Lexa's who apparently has now gotten over her shy phase because she is now staring curiously at Clarke.

Clarke could've told her any story. She could've quoted a classic fairytale to be shallow and simple. She could've told a funny life experience story. She could've, and she doesn't. As she watches this beautiful girl in the dim lighting of the hospital bedside lamp looking right back at her, she remembers the bedtime story her Dad used to tell her. "Once there was this girl who was stuck in space after a nuclear apocalypse. She was told Earth needed another hundred years to become survivable again, and then humanity could go back to the ground. The ground, that was her dream. This was her reality."