Might As Well

Chapter 2

"What's up, new neighbor!" Raven shouted as she and Octavia burst through Clarke's apartment door carrying bottles of wine and a whole lot of gusto the following afternoon.

"I forgot that you JUST just got here," Octavia avoided a precarious stack of boxes parked right in front of the doorway.

"Hi!" Clarke shouted as she emerged from behind another stack.

"You're here!" Raven put the wine bottles down on the nearest flat surface and launched into Clarke's arms. Octavia wrapped herself around them both. Clarke had been waiting a year for the hug that came with the sweetest relief of being safe with your best people.

"I'm so happy to finally be here!" Clarke's joy was muffled by Raven's shoulder, but she didn't care. They all exhaled as they drew apart, then smashed together again for one more hug laced with excited giggles.

"New York is cool and all, but I'm glad you're back in LA with us!" Octavia gave Clarke's shoulder a squeeze.

"Me too! Cause I wanna see that friggin' rock in person!" Clarke reached for Octavia's hand, who was more than happy to oblige.

"Put your sunglasses on. That thing'll blind you," Raven rolled her eyes.

"Damn! Look at you!" Clarke nodded in approval. Octavia mock scoffed and buffed her nails on her shirt.

"He did a great job. I have to hand it to him," Octavia replied.

"Any chance you know where your corkscrew is, Babe?" Raven hesitantly looked around at all of the boxes and bags.

"Raven," Clarke tsked. She reached for her handbag sitting on the floor by the door and shuffled through it for a wine key. "You know me better than that."

"It's so nice to have you back and see you and hug you and squeeze you!" Raven jumped in for one more hug. The laughter and hugs wrapped around Clarke like a warm, nostalgic blanket that she wanted to live in forever.

The three of them grew up in Southern California together. Life took them their separate ways for college and things had never been quite the same since. Clarke went to design school in New England, then came back to work in LA for a bit before work took her to New York for good. She fell in love in New York, got married there and built a life and a business there.

She also got cheated on there, and then she got divorced there. Then she packed everything up she had there, and now she was here again.

"Since I knew I was having company, I unpacked the crystal," Clarke joked as she took three solo cups out of her bag and offered one to each of them. "Would you like a tour of the place?"

"Definitely!" Raven grinned.

"Well, from here, you can see the living room, the dining room, the guest room, the home office, the home gym and the bedroom," Clarke spoke with a fake real estate agent voice as she gestured around the roomy, but still just one room, studio apartment. "The jacuzzi tub and sauna are down that hallway," she joked, pointing at the single door in the apartment that lead to a cramped and poorly lit bathroom. "The kitchen has all the finest appliances and updated fixtures and is simply overflowing with style and flare," she added, pointing to the small fridge and shrunken gas stove in the kitchen area. The faucet dripped, showing off.

Clarke could be silly and funny no matter the occasion. She loved having a good time, loved a joke and could always get her friends going. She'd had a tough go the last few years and they were happy to see that Clarke's goofy humor was still intact.

Growing up, she was the party starter. She was the first person on a dancefloor, the first one to agree to late night skinny dipping and wouldn't bat an eye at getting signed up for karaoke without her knowledge. Her graduation party was a blast and her wedding was an absolute blowout. Clarke Griffin spared nothing when it came to enjoying herself.