Lost and Insecure

Chapter 12

Clarke gaped down the hallway at the women kicking her shoes off near the door. She turned to the blonde, staring over her overpriced sunglasses.

"Clarke, honey! How are you?" The woman called, extending her arms to her daughter. Clarke stood stiffly as her mother embraced her in a tight hug, the woman's light auburn hair tickling Clarke's face.

"Uh... I'm great. How are-"

"Oh I'm fantastic!" Clarke's mom said with a smile before Clarke could even finish her question. The blonde tried to act normal, smiling warmly at her mom. The woman shrugged out of her expensive coat and, tossing it on the couch, adjusted her many shimmering bracelets carefully.

Clarke raised her eyebrows expectantly when her mom didn't say anything. "So... What are you, like, doing here?" Clarke asked cautiously. Her mom beamed, clapping her hands together excitedly, "Oh of course! I was going through some of your stuff the other day, and I found some things you might want..."

She trailed off as she turned around and, bending down to a small box near the door, began rifling through the contents. Clarke took the opportunity to spin towards the kitchen, catching the frightened gaze of a very scared, very shirtless Lexa.

Clarke mouthed hide while frantically motioning towards the bathroom. Lexa stared at her for a few seconds before registering what the blonde was implying. She skillfully crouched down below the counter and quickly mapped the path to the bathroom.

"You know, I thought we had gotten rid of most of this stuff but, turns out, it was in the attic the whole time!" Clarke's mom laughed, still crouched near the box. "I really think you'll get a kick out of some of these pictures, honey. You were so adorable!"

Clarke glared at Lexa who was struggling to fight back a giggle as she slowly crawled to the bathroom. "Mhm.." Clarke replied distractedly. She waved her hand whispering angrily, "Go!"

Lexa had just gotten behind the couch when Clarke's mom stood up, facing her daughter. "Are you alright, sweetheart?" Clarke stopped her hand in midair, laughing nervously.

"Oh yeah, I'm fine. There's just, uh....a fly! Yeah there's been a fly in here for the past few days that I just can't seem to get rid of!" Clarke swatted at the air a few times for effect.

Clarke's mom laughed lightly, bending down to retrieve the box. "I can recommend you to an exterminator if you'd like" Clarke's mother said, making her way into the living room and plopping down on the couch.

Clarke could practically hear Lexa gulp behind the sofa. She stared with wide eyes at her mom, trying to compose herself and not think about the fact that there was a half-naked girl crouched behind her mother.

"Oh, no thanks, Mom. It's just one. I think I just saw it fly into the bathroom anyway" she emphasized her words, desperately trying to goad Lexa to hurry up. She almost laughed out loud when she saw the brunette slowly crawling on all fours towards the bathroom, her tan back and torso exposed and her dark curls curtaining around her face.

Clarke breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Lexa silently make her way out of the living room and hide behind the bathroom door. Abby glanced up at her with knitted eyebrows.

"Sweetie, are you sure you're alright? You're acting strange." Clarke laughed and sat down beside her mother, who eyed her cautiously.

"Yes, Mom, I'm great." Clarke smiled warmly at her mom. She then reached forward and scooted the box on the coffee table closer to her. "So, what did you find?"
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Lexa listened intently from the bathroom as Clarke and her mom discussed various childhood memories. She heard them laugh over antics Clarke got into as a teenager. She heard Clarke jokingly yell at her mom for revealing a baby picture that, judging by Clarke's embarrassed tone of voice, probably involved some form of nudity. She even heard Clarke get choked up at one point, presumably over something about her father.

As she sat behind the door on the cold bathroom tile, Lexa couldn't help but feel a bit jealous of Clarke. Not only did she have numerous wonderful memories from her childhood, but she also had a loving mother to reminisce over them with. Lexa was sure the only conversation she'd ever had with her mother was most likely an argument, and the only memories she had were moving from home to home, living out of a single suitcase, and being abused and torn down.

Stop it, Lexa reprimanded herself silently. She angrily swiped at her eyes, clearing away the tears that had gathered. She had spent so much of her life thinking about what had happened. But now that she had a place to sleep, actual friends, Clarke, she needed to think about what could happen instead.

"Clarke, honey, I am so happy to see you doing so well. I was admittedly skeptical when you first moved out here by yourself, but it's clear that you're perfectly fine," the older woman's voice broke through Lexa's thoughts. It was so loving that the brunette could picture the smile on her face without even being able to see it.

"Thank you, Mom. That means a lot. Thanks, also, for coming by, I've missed you. Now that you're living here in California, though, maybe I'll get to see you more often?" Clarke asked.

"Absolutely, honey!" Lexa grinned to herself at the woman's warm tone. Her smile quickly faded, however, when she heard a few footsteps and Clarke's mom say, "I'm just going to run to the bathroom real quick. I'll be back!"

Clarke momentarily forgot about the half-naked Lexa hidden in the bathroom as she smiled and nodded to her mom. Her head shot up, though, when she caught a glimpse of skin through the crack in the door. She started to call out to her mom, but it was too late.

Lexa almost screamed when the bathroom door was quickly pushed open, revealing a short women with light auburn hair and wide, brown eyes. She froze in place as the woman turned to her and stopped in her tracks, holding the door half open. Unlike Lexa, the woman actually screamed, causing the younger girl to jump slightly.

Lexa stood there in the bathroom, her hair disheveled and her upper half only covered with a black lace bra. As Clarke's mom stared at her with wide eyes, she realized that, had she not known that Lexa had spilled coffee on her shirt, the poor woman probably thought she had interrupted something much different with her unexpected arrival.

"Mom.." Clarke called carefully from behind the woman. Lexa looked from confused brown eyes to scared blue ones, measuring the situation. She smiled a bit sheepishly at Clarke's mom, crossing her arms over her bare chest and offering a small wave.

"Hello, Mrs. Griffin."

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