Head Over Boots (Clexa AU)

Chapter 9: Budding

Clarke was in crisis mode all the time. One week, it would be her classes running her into the ground with projects and exams and endless amounts of information she needed to jam into her head. The next week, she would be working late at the animal hospital. Then there was trying to keep in touch with Raven, and her mom, and God forbid Clarke ever wanted to hang out with friends or just relax for once.

And of course there was Lexa. Clarke texted her, and called her, and Skyped her, but none of it was enough. None of it could replace the rough callouses of Lexa's hands sliding over her skin; or Lexa's soft laughter in her ear that would make the fine hairs at the back of Clarke's head dance; or the hunger in Lexa's eyes when Clarke would tease her by slowly undressing her, button by button.

Sometimes, when Clarke was tired enough, she could swear she heard Lexa's sleepy sigh in the bed beside her or feel the tracing of Lexa's fingers against her arm. More often, Clarke dreamed of her and the ranch, the scent of sage filling her nose and Lexa's flanneled form rocking in the saddle beside her. When Clarke awoke, another long day of classes and studying and projects ahead of her, she could only sigh in disappointment.

Even so, Lexa had a way of jutting into Clarke's life, like a curtain being turned aside to let sunshine into a dark room. Lexa's good morning messages never failed to put Clarke in, maybe not a good mood, but at least a better one. Even just seeing Lexa's face on her laptop screen made Clarke breathe easier. And Lexa, for better or for worse, had discovered Snapchat.

Not surprisingly, Lexa's snaps were always a bit unconventional. For the most part, Lexa sent mundane snaps of life around the ranch: what she was eating for dinner (that usually resulted in Clarke scolding her for eating a sandwich again ), a view of the sun setting behind the hills, or even a pile of horse manure that, according to Lexa's note, looked like the constellation Cassiopeia. Lexa only occasionally sent selfies, which were usually serious photos with a silly filter. And Clarke didn't know why, but her favorite filter was the one that gave Lexa smoky makeup all around her eyes.

Given Lexa's previous snap history, Clarke was completely unprepared for the one that Lexa sent her in class.

It was one of Clarke's 8 AM classes, which she not-so-secretly detested. It was one thing to wake up so early to ride across a grassland and quite another to sit in a room with terrible fluorescent lighting that made her skin look like she was dead. She was already on her second coffee of the day (she was averaging four a day now) but still struggling to stay awake. The notification on her phone was a welcome distraction to help her keep her eyes open at least. She unlocked her phone on the desk, fully expecting a picture of another sunrise, or maybe Lexa in that flower crown filter.

What she was not prepared for was Lexa, long hair loose and hanging over both shoulders--very bare shoulders, attached to a very bare chest, which was concealed by only a very strategically placed arm.

Clarke sat bolt upright in her seat, startling her friends Harper and Bellamy sitting on either side of her. She snatched the phone in both hands and angled it towards herself against Harper's curious eyes. Somewhat reluctantly, Clarke tapped the screen, and the image of Lexa's chest, and her self-satisfied smile, and her bicep that bulged as she covered herself, disappeared.

Harper still craned her neck to see the phone screen, and Clarke kicked her under the desk, a little louder than she had intended. Their professor--just a few feet away in the small classroom--gave her a quizzical look before continuing on about... something. Clarke realized she hadn't been paying attention for a few minutes now. She spared a glance over to Bellamy's notebook, which was already full of notes. Shit.

Ignoring Harper's attempt to catch her attention, Clarke placed her phone onto her thigh and tried to refocus on the lecture. She could ask Bellamy to borrow his notes (even if he was going to be a complete pain in the ass when he found out why Clarke hadn't taken notes for the first ten minutes of class).