May we always meet again

Chapter 21

Clarke's POV

Today

"I don't feel like going out though!" She pulled the covers over her head and pouted. I rolled my eyes. As if she'd ever succeeded with me with that ploy.

"Raven Reyes! You get your fat ass out of this bed right now before I get a bucket of ice cubes and beat it out of you!"

"My ass is not fat!" She actually sounded a little offended, but it didn't matter to me. She could pout all she wanted. I had a mission and not even she would dissuade me from it.

"Oh yes you do, you've been eating nothing but ice cream and fast food for the past few weeks, me not having to roll you out is a miracle." Energetically, I braced my hands on my hips and stomped my foot. Is this going to be something today?

"That you always have to exaggerate so much! And you're no better! Have you contacted Lexa at some point? Heeee??"

"I should never have told you about her! Regardless of the confidentiality clause! Now shut your mouth and get your ass over here already!" Raven lifted the blanket and the scent that wafted towards me was so bad, to say the least, that I was worried my nose hairs were about to be etched away. "Oh God, you smell like a walking morgue! Hopp, go take a shower first, people will just think you're homeless or dead that way."

"Charming as ever, but you told me to shut up! Why exactly did I give you a spare key to my apartment?" She grumbled, but grabbed everything she needed and headed for the bathroom.

"Because I'm in charge of saving you from yourself. Now go scrub yourself properly. There's probably going to be some bathroom cleaning needed later, or a renovation right away!" She opened the bathroom door briefly, stuck her middle finger out at me, and then immediately closed it again. I couldn't help laughing and thought about adding one on top, but decided against it. After all, I had accomplished what I had set out to do.

In the meantime, I hastily pushed the curtains aside and opened the windows in the whole apartment wide, hoping to get rid of at least some of the stench of decay. After that, I threw away the empty food wrappers, put dirty dishes in the dishwasher, and took the trash down to the garbage can.

Forty minutes later, Raven finally came back. She was clean, or at least looked it, and the apartment smelled a little, well not a lot, better. It was a start...

I loaded her into my car and we drove to the mall. I wanted to go shopping with her comfortably and eat an ice cream to reconcile. Mainly I wanted to distract her from all her heartache, because this woman had really turned her head and broken her heart....

***

We wandered around the stores, laughing and fooling around. For what felt like ages, Raven finally seemed loosened up, and of course I had to rub it in her face. "See, I told you it was a mind-blowing idea to crawl out of your shithole and spend time with your best friend again."

"You're an ass and actually you threatened ice cubes and a spanking...you can't compare." Laughing, she snorted and nudged me with her shoulder.

"Pff, it's the result that counts. You're out of your bed and you don't smell like a ton of garbage anymore. Trust me, we're both winners and so is everyone at the mall." I laughed and had run off mid-sentence while Raven was meanwhile trying to catch up with me, which she eventually did. My stamina was my ass and all the laughing, including a stomachache, wasn't really helping either. What exactly was I doing sports for?

"You're just an idiot. Such a fucking idiot and I hate you." She playfully punched me in the shoulder.

"Like that's possible... First of all, I'm YOUR fucking idiot and second of all, you could never hate me because you love me way too much for that, you toad."