from the ashes (she will rise) ➸ octaven

chapter 26

(trigger warning)

What finally brings them together, though, isn't by choice.

It all starts with a knock on the door. Not at the normal time of day, either. It's nearly 3am when Raven's roused from her sleep. At first, she thinks she's hallucinating. But, the incessant knocking appears again, more rushed, and when she doesn't hear Clarke stir in the room beside hers, she groans and fumbles for her brace in the darkness.

She's not sure who she's expecting at this time of night, but it certainly isn't Lexa, who has a wide smile on her face when Raven cracks the door open to peer out.

"Lexa?" Raven's hit with a wave of confusion. "What are you...? How did you...?"

"Do you have Fruity Pebbles?" The girl tilts her head to the side.

"I think there's some in--," Raven starts, but by then Lexa's already halfway across the room. The first thing Raven notices is that Lexa's soaking wet. Granted, it's been raining all night, but...

"Did you walk here?" Raven connects the dots, eyes widening. She hurries to follow Lexa into the kitchen. But if Lexa hears her question, she ignores it -- she just searches through the cabinets until she finds a bowl. Well, actually, the first thing she finds is a plastic container they use for leftovers, and all Raven can do is watch in confusion as Lexa pours milk into it. Tucking the box of cereal under her arm, Lexa brushes past Raven and heads into the living room as if she's not even there.

Raven's snapped out of her trance when she hears the television click on in the other room, gradually growing louder. By the time Raven scrambles in to snatch the remote from Lexa's hands, the sound is blaring so loud that it's painful.

"What are you doing?" Raven hisses, frantically turning down the volume on the remote. "It's the middle of the night, Clarke's asleep!"

"Not anymore."

Clarke's voice startles Raven, and Lexa takes the chance to slip the remote from her hands. Clarke, still groggy from sleep, raises an eyebrow at the dripping wet girl on their couch. She turns to Raven, expecting an explanation.

"Don't look at me," Raven holds her hands up as if she's surrendering. Lexa doesn't seem to be paying them any attention. She just surfs through the channels and counts out three red flakes, dropping them into the container of milk.

"I think she walked here," Raven adds. Clarke circles around the couch, standing in front of the television and studying Lexa, who just cranes her head to the side to see past her.

"That's way too far," Clarke furrows her eyebrows together in thought. "But how else...?" She trails off, thoroughly confused.

"Quiet," Lexa mumbles, holding up a hand to silence the girls. Clarke and Raven exchange concerned glances, but Lexa continues watching some black and white movie and shoveling cereal into her mouth, as if it's a completely normal thing to do at 3am.

"Scoot," Clarke sighs, nudging Lexa's shoulder and plopping down on the couch beside her. Lexa moves over, but doesn't peel her eyes from the television. Raven raises an eyebrow at her, but Clarke just shrugs. At this point, she's never quite sure what to expect from Lexa.

What they don't expect, though, is a phone call an hour later. Raven's dozing off on the couch beside Lexa, but she's quickly snapped out of her slumber by the shrill ringing of the phone. She hurries to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Raven? Raven -- it's Indra."

"What's going on?" Raven can instantly tell something is wrong.