May we always meet again

Chapter 5

Clarke's POV

When I got downstairs I saw Lexa talking to my mom and dad. They were laughing and the scene looked like it had happened many times before and not exactly the first time. Once again, I was amazed at how perfectly she had mastered her role, while I still blushed and stammered whenever a question caught me off guard. 

I sat down on the sofa, right next to my *girlfriend*, but I kept some distance because I didn't know how to behave correctly. After all, my parents were there and I didn't want to overdo it. Lexa, however, obviously had other plans because she slid closer to me and gave me a quick, gentle kiss before grabbing my arm and wrapping it around her shoulders. She snuggled up to me and I think my heart stopped for a moment. Or even ten.

"Mom? What time is everyone coming tonight?" I turned my gaze to my mum, who looked at me with a smirk.

"At 8pm, why?" she wanted to know.

"So I can prepare myself mentally and morally." I couldn't suppress a laugh and caught a nasty look from my mom for it. I just shrugged my shoulders. Just because my mum looked at me like that didn't mean it was any less true.

*** 

In the evening, around 6pm, I was sitting in front of the fireplace reading with my glasses on my nose when Lexa came in. She pushed one of my legs off the sofa and before I could ask her what she was up to, she lay down with her back on my chest. She grabbed my arm and placed it on her stomach, but she remained silent as I continued to read. I have no idea how long we sat like that, but at some point she turned and was now lying with her chest on mine and her head was very close to me. She sought my gaze and when she found it, the corners of her mouth twitched. "Clarke?"

"Hmm?" I lifted my eyes from the book for just a moment.

"Are you pulling out the big guns now?" Her eyes twinkled mischievously and the corners of her mouth twisted more and more into a wry grin.

I raised an eyebrow and focused on her as Lexa bit her lips. "What do you mean?" She pointed her index finger at my glasses. "My eyes were just burning a little, so I wanted to take the edge off." I shrugged, not quite understanding what she meant.

"Sure... I'm sure that was the reason, and not because I said at the reunion that it looked forbiddingly good on you..." I could clearly hear the irony in her voice. She didn't believe me, in fact I had forgotten, but her words gave me a confidence that I never really achieved even with alcohol. 

"Somehow that sounds sarcastic?" 

"Maybe a little..."

"And what if I had done it on purpose?" The desire to challenge her a little rose more and more in me, so I let it happen.

"Then you would be playing extremely unfairly." She slightly contorted her face.

Only one corner of my mouth went up slightly and I slid down a bit to be even closer to her. "Why is that? Does it trigger something in you?"

"Could be..." She didn't avoid my proximity or my gaze, but continued to simply look at me. Her gaze was impossible for me to interpret, all I saw were green woods, lush meadows, and the certainty that there was so much more to it than I guessed.

Our lips almost touched, but I didn't bridge the distance. "You know," I whispered, "I never know when you mean something and when you don't."

"Then you should find out, don't you think?" I heard the challenge in her voice now, and it tempted me to elaborate. 

"Sometimes it almost feels like you're flirting with me." My heart began to pound faster and faster and I could hardly wait for the answer, although at the same time I was afraid of it.