No Need To Ask

Admit

 The sun filters in through the window of Octavia's room as the three girls lay sprawled on the bed. The owner of the room is braiding Raven's hair, as the person in question flips through a magazine with more cars than gossip. Off to the side Clarke scratches away with her pencil on her sketchbook. "You drawing Commander heart-eyes again? You two are so in love it's gross."Raven teases without even looking up.

In an equally unenthusiastic return, Clarke doesn't look up either as she answers, "I don't always draw her. I bet you and Luna are just as disgustingly affectionate."

This causes Raven to freeze and tense. "What?" She jerks her head back, only to get jerked back into place by Octavia holding her hair in a brain. "Ow",she grumbles as Octavia drops her hair to free her.

"Don't act innocent, you even took her to an appointment",Octavia deadpans, snatching the paper from Raven's hands so she can't direct her attention there and flips through with a wrinkled nose at the lack of normal gossip magazine content.

Clarke nods in agreement, "You don't listen to me, heck you don't even listen to my Mom nagging you to go to an appointment, usually."

Raven looks away, attempting to snatch the magazine back from Octavia, only for her to throw it further away towards the pillows. "She was just giving me a ride after we ran into each other on the boardwalk, that's all", Raven brushes off in an offhand lie.

Both of her best friends look at her as if to say, "You're really going to pull this?"

With a large sigh, she looks at them pointedly, "It's not like that."

"Then what is it like, Raven? You've never let anyone in much. We had to fight to get in with you", Clarke queries, as she tosses aside her sketchbook.

Raven squirms because she knows what she has with Luna isn't definable. It's not quite a friendship, nor a mutually beneficial circumstance. It's a borderline thing that makes it complicated, more so than Raven wants to think about. "She's just a friend who helps when you can't."

"So if she's just a friend then you wouldn't mind if we set her up on a date with someone? She seems perfect for my friend-"

"No, why would you do that?"Raven scowls, batting the suggestion away all too quickly.

Octavia snorts. "Not like that, my ass."

Raven huffs and slaps Octavia in the arm. Being the fighter she is, Octavia simply laughs it off. "There's nothing going on between us. And even then she's too good for somebody strapped down by a kid."

"Ahah! So you admit you would want to date her!"Octavia throws her hands up victoriously.

"No! I said nothing of that kind!" Raven immediately screams in reply, whacking Octavia with a pillow.

"Raven, you know that there's no reason why a person should find a child a burden right? From what you're saying Luna already really cares about the baby that you're carrying." Ever the rational one, Clarke cuts in, snatching a pillow back from Octavia as she grabs one in an attempt to start a pillow fight.

Raven slowly lowers the pillow. This statement hits her hard, because she has seen first hand just how kind and amazing Luna is, and just how much she cares for the baby. After all, what other reason could she have to go out of her way and help Raven? "I know... but Finn loved me and he..." She trails off, knowing that if she continues she will start to cry, and her friends envelope her in a hug without a word.

In the embrace of her friends, Raven allows herself to feel sad. They know what had happened better than anyone else in her life. She's allowed to mourn for the trust and innocence she gave to a criminal, a man she thought was once the best in the world. The words that slip out of her mouth are a feeble excuse against her ever growing emotions, "It's not just about me now, I also have the baby to think about. I can't trust that she's just a good person. Anyone can turn bad. Finn was the perfect example."

Octavia frowns, "Yeah but isn't it better to have two parents, even if one is a step-parent?"

Clarke elbows her disapprovingly and then turns back to Raven. "Look, whatever you do, we'll support you. But that kid? Would be a lot happier if they had a happy Mom too." She points at Raven's stomach to make her point.

For the first time since Finn was sentenced, Raven considers her own love life to be something other than a lost cause. That perhaps her hands aren't tied.

-0-

She didn't mean to keep the sonogram in her pocket. It wasn't until it fell out the next time she went to work that she realized it was even still in her pocket. From then on, it kind of grew on her. Luna found herself staring at the little miracle on the piece of plastic more and more. It eventually migrated from her pocket to a safe place in her wallet after it fell out of Luna's pocket for a third time.

It is as she is examining this picture for the thousandth time that her phone rings. She pulls it out and answers without looking at the screen, eyes still on the photograph, "This is Luna Rivers speaking."

"Luna?"

Luna's heart skips a beat. "Raven?"

A nervous chuckle sounds from across the line. "Yeah it's me."

"Is something wrong? You've never actually called me." Luna is concerned, worried that something happened to the mother and son.

"No no no!"Raven quickly corrects. "It's just that Lexa and Clarke are holding a dinner with friends and I wanted to ask if you wanted to come??"

Luna is tempted to say no. After all, most people simply forget about her. Yet something tells her this one will be different. After all, Lexa will be hosting it, and this is Raven. The Raven who has noticed her. "Will Lincoln be there?"

"Oh yeah, Lincoln, and Anya and Echo",Raven replies. "Please...?"

And just like that, Luna knows she can't say no. Raven's tone is so quiet and gentle in that moment, totally unlike how confident she is. It makes Luna's heart flutter at her tone. "Yeah. I'll be there."

After hanging up, Luna just sits there in the car, considering the events that have occurred recently. She knows what this feeling is, and it scares her more than anything. The more it grows, the less she can avoid it. Boy did she wish to avoid it. After all, she had experienced firsthand just how fragile the life of somebody with nightblood could be. Lexa may be brave and able to overcome it. In fact, Lexa's proud of her blood. Luna is not the same as Lexa in that sense.

Even after twelve years, the event haunts her. She had watched the inability for blood to clot literally kill.

She shakes her head to clear it, as if she can literally fling the thoughts from her mind and starts the car. A gift wasn't really needed for her cousin's house, but perhaps she should bring one because there would be other people there?

-0-

Luna gets dragged into a game of Uno as soon as she arrives that evening. "C'mon!"Raven says excitedly as she takes Luna's hand and drags her to the coffee table that everyone is huddled around.

Luna looks around for help and Lexa laughs at her from the open kitchen. "You're not going to get out of that one, she's already beat everyone else at the game once, just tonight."

Clarke waltzes around her, "helping" Lexa prepare the meal. "She's right, she even beat me!"Clarke calls as she chops vegetables.

Raven drags Luna onto the couch and sits her down at the very end, before squeezing in between Octavia and Luna. Squeeze is a generous description, since she ends up half on Luna's lap and half on Octavia's lap rather than the couch really. Raven thrusts a hand of cards at Luna before picking up her own and diving straight back into the game. Luna can only shake her head and smile at the woman's never-ending enthusiasm.