𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐀 𝐁𝐢𝐠 𝐁𝐚𝐝 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 (𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒀𝒐𝒖)

Chapter Nine: Game Of Chess

I sigh heavily as I pull up to Jasper's house in my white Ford Mustang convertible, my roof was down as I pull up at the bottom of the driveway having been the last one here. I get my backpack out of the back seat and lock my car before I walk up the driveway to the door.

"CLARKEY!!" Jasper greets me as he wraps his arms around me before quickly stepping away, his nose scrunched up as he eyes the smoke in my mouth, "Ok ew, that's not aloud in my house remember?" He reminds me, I knew my friends hated the fact that I smoke but I was too far gone to care..

"I know" I reply as I take one last drag before dropping it on the floor and stomping on it, blowing away the smoke in the opposite direction of Jasper before I enter the house.

Bellamy and Octavia are in a game of chess sitting on the floor in the middle of the lounge at the small table, Lincoln was talking with Monty and Jasper sitting on the couch and Raven, Anya and Lexa where dealing with Murphy in the kitchen.

I go upstairs and put my bag in the spare bedroom me and Lexa will be staying in, her bags already there, before I head back downstairs.

"Octavia you can take his king with your knight" I say as I walk into the kitchen, the occupants in there stop and look at me before we hear.

"CHECKMATE!"

"FUCK YOU CLARKE!"

I chuckle as I take a beer from the fridge, "HATE TO RUIN YOU DREAM BUT YOU KNOW MY RULE AGAINST FUCKING MY FRIENDS!" I yell back before heading around the counter to join Raven, Anya, Lexa and Murphy.

"I'm telling you, a muffer and exhaust are the same thing!" Murphy argues, I lean against the counter next to Lexa as I listen, ignoring the surprised look the green eyed brunette gives me.

"No it's not you fucking dipshit, a muffer is a part of the exhaust, not the actual thing!" Raven argues back, I roll my eyes, Raven was a tech genius and knew everything their was about anything involving engineering, my dad Jake used to take her to work with him at the garage so she was a literal genius when it came to this stuff.

"Raven's right dumbass" I say as u take a sip of my drink, Raven smirks with her hand on her  hip, Murphy just looks at me.

"You know you don't always have to be a cold hearted bitch?" He asks me in a bored tone, I shrug as I take another sip.

"Hey Lexa, hey Anya"  I say when I finally turn to them, again they look shocked but quickly it turns into grins.

"Hey Hummingbird" Anya greeted first, i small part of me relaxes just hearing it, maybe this isn't has hard as I thought.

"Hey Clarke" Lexa says with a smile, my breath stops when she says it, just like when we where kids she clicks the 'k' in my name uniquely, for some reason it sends a shiver down my spine.

"Wanna play chess, ask a question for each move. I'm sure you both have questions" I suggest, they look at each other before bidding and we head into the lounge, by then no one was using the chess board so I sat on one side with Raven and Lex and Anya sat on the other as we set it up, they where white so they started.

Anya made the first move so she got first question, "How long have you lived here?"

"I've only been here for a few months" I reply, it's true, I was in Australia before coming here and before then I lived in Arkadia and Polis was just a holiday place for my family.

I move next, looking up at them I ask the question that's been bugging me, "Is everyone ok? Indra and Gustus, Nyko?" I ask, Nyko was one of the Woods family friends, practically an uncle for them.

Anya nods, "Yea their ok, dad was diagnosed with cancer a few years back but it went away 3 years ago so hopefully it doesn't return" she informs me, I breathe a sigh of relief and Raven smiles at me happily.

The rest of the game is really just catching up, telling them about my travels and what's happed but I didn't tell them the whole thing, the others are still in the room and I trust them but u don't need them being on my case like Raven is so I keep my answers short but truthful.

I learn that the Woods clan had changed after I left and their all more guarded, i learn that Lexa had tattoos and i tell them I do as well, I learn that Lexa is gay and Anya is bisexual tell them I am bisexual too, I learn that Lincoln crashed his car the first time he drove and that Lexa is only on her 'P's because she keeps running red lights so her licence keeps getting taken away, I scold both of them for that before I learn it was Anya who ran the red light but the car was registered in Lexa's name so she got the blame, then I scold Anya while the others laugh.

After a while Lexa moves and I look at her expectantly, she seems to hesitate before taking a breath and asking,"Are you ok?"

The question suprises me, it suprises everyone because they all stoped asking that question when they realised the answer  would never be the truth.

I'm tempted to lie to her and say I'm fine, to tell her I'm happy and my smiles are all genuine, that I don't cry myself to sleep or drink away my pain to the point I pass out but there's that look in her eye again, that look that she's had since we where kids that would let me know she wants the truth and nothing else, that she won't judge and she won't baby me, that all she wanted to do was to be there for me so for the first time in years, I suprise myself and everyone else by telling her the truth.

"No. I'm not ok. I haven't been for a long time and I don't know if I ever will be again" everyone's silent, just watching me before Lexa stands and makes her way to where I'm sitting, she gets on her knees and hugs me tight.

I flinch and pull away at first but she doesn't let go and holds me tighter, when she kisses the top of my head I melt into it and close my eyes, my body relaxing as I cuddle her, she moves to get more comfortable with me in her lap as I bury my head into the crook of her neck and a wave of tiredness washes over me and before I know it I fall asleep with her hand running up and down my back as I'm held tightly by the person I've missed most in the world.