Unfinished Business

Chapter 24

Lexa crossed through the living room to the table against the far wall and poured herself a fresh drink. This had been one of the weirdest nights that she had had in a long time. From the moment that she had knocked on Clarke's door with a pizza box in her hand and a weight in her chest, she knew that it was going to be a long one. She knew that Clarke was immediately going to ask her what it was specifically that had caused her to pass out and she had been trying all week to work out the best way to answer her. In the end, being blunt won out because really, what else could she do?

But then Clarke wanted to stop the game – she wanted to stop the game and talk about it and though Lexa would have preferred to do anything else in the world at that moment, she agreed. She figured that if she just stuck to being blunt she could get through it and she was right – until she started listing off her symptoms. With every second that passed, and every word that she spoke, she could feel her system short-circuiting. That, was almost her downfall. That, had almost caused her to lose her cool in front of Clarke, again. If Clarke hadn't stopped her...

Clarke had stopped her. Why did she stop her? After all, it was her question that she was trying to answer?

Lexa shook her head and took a sip of her drink. It didn't matter why Clarke stopped her – all that mattered was that she had and shortly thereafter, the conversation ended and she felt relieved, she needed a break and from the looks of it, Clarke did as well. It was pretty obvious she was annoyed with something that had been said and Lexa could see that her mind was actively working to process the information. By the time they had gotten here, Lexa wasn't even the slightest bit surprised that Clarke had put as much space as she could between the two of them. That was, until she grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her outside to call her out for what she had so aptly named, shielding – and though she hadn't necessarily been mean about it, she had been right.

Of course she had been shielding, she was constantly shielding – it was just how she functioned now, but then somehow, when Clarke spoke, it was almost like for a moment, something clicked into place and her body just responded – she just responded, the same way that she always had. So now here she was, back inside and she was going to do her damnedest just to relax and be with her friends, her family.

"You know," Jasper began as he appeared by her side, "you seem a lot more at ease then you did last time."
"Well, it's certainly not as tense," Lexa responded with a slight shrug, "and, no one's throwing beer in my face," she added.
"Yet," Clarke pointed out as she crossed though the room, making her way to the bathroom, "and you totally deserved that," she called as she closed the door.
Lexa nodded, accepting her words as she felt a light grin pull at her lips. Maybe she did.
Jasper gave her a wide eyed look as he smiled playfully. "Man, it really is great to have you back here," he told her. "It's like things are finally getting back to normal."
"Nothing's normal," Lexa shook her head but couldn't left the small chuckle that escaped her.
"Well," Jasper shrugged, "it's definitely starting to feel normal again."
"I agree," Monty added as he came up behind them. "I told you to give it time."
"Trust me," Lexa told them quickly, "it's taking more than just time and it's not as easy as it looks." Not even remotely close to easy.
"Nothing ever is," Monty smiled warmly, "but, whatever you two are doing," he paused and glanced over to where Clarke had just reappeared, "it's working. So, keep doing it."

Lexa glanced over to the couch where Clarke was now sitting with Lincoln and Anya. She definitely looked different than she did a month ago and it wasn't just the hair. It was more in the way that she was carrying herself and the way that she was interacting with everyone. It felt strangely familiar. Lexa leaned back against the wall and watched her for another moment. Was it possible that the small amount of time that they had spent together was actually penetrating that dark place where Clarke resided?