Deal? || Clexa AU

Chapter 18 - Paris

Luna was making her way to the newspaper stand she goes to every second week after she would send Raven a letter. She would have the kind owner of it send her letters out just to be safe because she obviously couldn't send them herself. She met him just over a year ago when they arrived in Paris and she would buy the paper weekly as well as some magazines from the US to keep up with whatever was going on over there; he specially got them for her as well as the paper from New York, for the right price of course, no questions asked. She wanted to keep tabs on the news there to see if their case ever goes to court or if they publicly were looking for herself and Lexa. After she would get what she came for she would go back to Lexa and tell her what the paper said.

The first several months of them being here their story was hot in the papers but since then it has quieted down significantly. At most every two and a half months there would be a small piece on the Woods sisters. However, their case never reached Interpol so they were safe here in Paris. No one but Raven knew where they were and Luna trusted she wouldn't tell anyone, not even Clarke. What Luna didn't know was that Lexa already disclosed to Clarke in her last letter that they in fact were in Paris.
Lexa had her own network and she managed to get her letter to a trusted friend in Paris that sent her letter to Echo in the US and the instructions were that Echo herself would deliver Lexa's letter to Clarke's doorstep.

Lexa frequently communicated with Gustus and Indra to hear how Clarke was doing, if she was still safe. Horrific news came back that Clarke was a mess and partied most nights away and that she left with a number of unidentified people; none that were personally known to Clarke. Only a month ago Lexa instructed them to only check in on Clarke once a month; Lexa couldn't bare the news that Clarke had been so giving of herself to strangers. Deep down Lexa probably knew that it was her fault that Clarke was acting out the way she was; she was trying to forget Lexa through the measures of an unimaginable amount of alcohol and nights of lust with strangers.

But Lexa on the other hand, had not been with anyone else since Clarke Griffin who still haunted her everyday. Herself and Luna would go to clubs and parties with trusted friends they had here in Paris and they also met a bunch of new people. Here and there Luna had her fun with girls, but it was nothing more than a few kisses and flirting; when the French woman got too close to her she would shun them away; she just wanted to satisfy absolutely the minimal of her needs and desires, just simple human connection.

Luna was approaching the news stand and as always there stood Gabriel in his tattered black overcoat and dark grey trousers with some awfully fancy shiny black formal shoes.

"Hey Gabriel, how are you?"

"Ah, Miss Woods, I'm just great, business is good as usual."

Luna smiled at him in a friendly manner, her hands tucked in her pockets. "That's great to hear Gabe, has anything come for me?"

"Yes, yes, of course." He said with a thick French accent and scrambled around to the behind of the counter, leaning down and rummaging through a bunch of loose papers. "It is strange, two letters instead of one came to the address, one is for a-" he squinted his eyes, "I do not know, how do you say ... I can't say the name Miss Woods, it is too hard for my mouth. Lek-sa?"

Luna furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, why would Raven send Lexa a letter? She quickly stepped forward and took the two envelopes Gabriel held out to her. She studied the writing on the front of the envelope, it wasn't Raven's handwriting. Luna thought for several seconds and concluded that it must be Clarke's.

"Hey Gabriel, say your brother has a long-lost lover and this lover sends them a letter, would you give it to your brother?"

Gabriel smiled at her, the lines around his mouth evidently showing. "Look around Miss Woods, this is the city of love, how could I stand between two people and their love for each other? Yes, I would give my brother the letter. Why do you ask Miss Woods?"