Her Weakness

Chapter 8

In a spur of the moment decision, I press her up against the wall and angle us so my back is facing where the voices are coming from.

"Sorry about this," I hope she will not slap me for this.

My lips find hers and I am finally kissing her again. To my surprise, she does not shove me away in revulsion but rather tangles her hands in my hair to pull me closer. One of my hands reaches up to rest against the back of her neck and the other rests on her lower back. I am touching her like I have dreamt so many times and it is more heavenly than I ever imagined.

"Hey!" An authoritative voice cuts through the silence of our passion and I can tell he's the leader Clarke spoke of. We slow down our kiss, but neither of us pulls away. "I know that being able to be on the surface again is an amazing feeling, but please, get down to the others. The savages may get in."

I am the one who breakers the kiss to respond. My voice comes out rough and I hate uttering the words though I know I have to in order to get him to go away. "Yes, sir."

Our faces stay close together and we stare intensely into each other's eyes as the Mountain Men's shoes clack loudly on the tiles as they walk down the hallway.

"You actually said yes sir." Clarke is fighting a smile and sounds amused.

"I had to. We should get down to the fifth level. Your people should be there."

She quickly turns serious again. I realize how closely we are still standing and take a step back. Her eyes flicker to my lips and she murmurs, "We'll talk about this once we get my friends to safety."

I am sort of dreading this inevitable talk. I am certain she will tell me "I'm not ready, Lexa. Not yet. You're not the one for me." I do not think my heart will be able to survive that. I just nod mutely, though, and hope my eyes do not betray my fear and insecurity. I am weak for her.

Clarke clears her throat and walks. I fall into step beside her, and knowing she has a lot on her mind, I let her think in a silence I find slightly uncomfortable. Did I really just kiss her? Did she really just let me? Why did she not push me away? Why did she pull me closer? I guess I have a lot on my mind, too.

We reach a door that simply states, "Ladder". Clarke really does know the layout of this place.

"Don't look down," Clarke advises as she pulls open the door.

It opens with an ominous squeal. Beyond the door is just a small metal tube with a ladder attached to one side. The ladder goes so far down; it seems to go on forever, sinking into the blackness of the edge at my sight.

Clarke sees my hesitation and gives me an encouraging smile as she grabs onto the ladder and begins her descent. Once she gets far enough down, I start climbing as well. This time, I take her advice and refuse to allow myself to look down.

We climb until we reach a door that is labeled five.

"We made it," Clarke's voice echoes.

I force myself to relax. This is the easier part. Next step, find her people and save them.

That shouldn't be too hard. Right?