Chapter Text
“WE’RE BACK, BITCHES.”
“Octavia, you’ve never even been here before.”
“That’s besides the point, Clarke, let me have my moment.”
True to her promise the summer before freshman year of highschool, Clarke had organized a ski trip to the family lodge in Flagstaff in the middle of prime snow season for the winter break of their first year at college. It also didn’t hurt that the Forrest family had a cabin not too far from the Griffin lodge, so she’d be able to meet up with her girlfriend and her family in the village.
“Calm down, Blake Junior, and help unload the van.”
They’d made the flight from Washington DC to Phoenix without a hitch, renting a rather enormous van to fit all of their luggage and the the eight of them, and driven up to Flagstaff. John and Bellamy had taken turns driving, the twenty-two year olds claiming that they didn’t trust the “reckless freshies” to not drive them off of a cliff. Miller solemnly agreed to him, earning the smirking junior to be punched in the arm rather soundly by his now five-month boyfriend Monty.
The drive had been far from peaceful.
Raven had coerced John to stop at a convenience store and had somehow bought more candy than she could hold, and being trapped in a car for several hours with a sugar-high Raven, Octavia, and Jasper was a recipe for disaster. John had threatened to abandon them on the side of the road at least eighteen times, but in the end he’d just had to suck it up and deal with three hyperactive nineteen-year-olds who still acted like they were four sometimes.
“Ugh. Unpacking. So fun.”
John shot Octavia a look that clearly said if you don’t start unloading right now I won’t be responsible for what happens to you , and the younger Blake realized the precarious situation she was in and instead opted to start unloading the van with the others.
After a frenzied session of unpacking, the eight young adults were slumped in a pile of exhaustion in the large lounge area of the lodge. Somehow, unpacking had become a competition, which had ended in all-out war . It was inevitable, especially seeing how competitive everyone in their little group was.
John was sporting a rather impressive black eye, sprawled out across the ground with Bellamy slumped over him, the two sharing an ice pack as they nursed head wounds. Raven, in an attempt to slow down her competitors, had somehow managed to create short-range concussive explosives out of who knows what (frankly, Clarke didn’t want to ask) as well as a shock-baton out of a broomstick, some wires, and a toaster (it made no sense, but Raven was sort of a genius). Octavia had found Clarke’s supply of charcoal and smudged war paint on her face, and used oranges as her weapon of choice against a power-crazy Raven and a very annoyed Bellamy and John.
Monty and Jasper, in an attempt to out-genius Raven, had quickly cooked up some flash-bombs and smoke pellets (again, Clarke didn’t even want to ask) and Miller had been Monty’s human bulletproof vest. At this point, half of the paintings in the lodge were crooked or on the ground (miraculously, none of them were destroyed, Clarke would have actually killed them), there was a Bellamy-shaped clean space on the wall, the area around it covered in black dusty residue, and discarded oranges everywhere .
Clarke, who was buried underneath an exhausted mechanic and martial arts instructor, finally found her phone, lodged underneath one of the couches in the lounge, and fished it out with great difficulty from her position beneath Raven and Octavia. She groaned softly when she saw all the missed text notifications.
Commander Hearteyes <3 11:15
Welcome back to Flagstaff! I can see you guys unpacking. We should do something as a group tonight, maybe go down to the village? Text me.
Commander Hearteyes <3 11:47
Why did Octavia just run out of the lodge screaming bloody murder and is that John chasing her? Why does John have a baseball bat??? Clarke???
Commander Hearteyes <3 11:52
I have so many questions.
Why do Monty and Jasper have a bucket full of sludge?
DID BELLAMY JUST JUMP OUT OF THE WINDOW?
Oh thank god he landed in snow.
Commander Hearteyes <3 12:08
I just saw you run across the hall Clarke what are you doing
You realize we can see you from our balcony
Clarke what’s happening
Clarke why is Raven chasing you with a broom
IS THE BROOM FIZZING OR AM I GOING CRAZY
Commander Hearteyes <3 12:15
I’m pretty sure Raven just pushed Jasper out of another window.
Oh Monty’s getting revenge now.
Did you die? I haven’t seen you run around in the past seven minutes.
Commander Hearteyes <3 12:29
ARE THOSE EXPLOSIONS
CLARKE ABIGAIL GRIFFIN ANSWER ME RIGHT NOW
THAT’S IT WE’RE COMING OVER
As if on cue, as soon as Clarke finished reading the concerned texts from her girlfriend, there was a loud pounding on the door, causing the fallen group of friends to groan in synchronization, mainly because they all had killer headaches at this point.
“OPEN THE DOOR!” Clarke whined helplessly as she pulled Raven further over her head in an attempt to muffle the noise, mumbling for someone to get the damn door already, but before anyone could move, the door burst open on its own accord, and a tall, dark, muscular man identifiable as Lexa’s older cousin, Lincoln, entered warily, as though something was going to come out an attack him.
“ Hellooooo tall, dark, and handsome.” Even from her spot tangled up with Clarke and Raven, Octavia could still get a look at the older Forrest sibling, his younger sister Anya trailing behind him. Lexa rushed in after the two of them, stopping short when she took in the sorry sight before her.
“What did you get us into when you started dating blondie,” Anya complained, pursing her lips, “we could have been relaxing, sipping cocoa, but no , we have to go make sure that none of these idiots have died.”
“Babe!” Clarke said, as cheerily as she could muster, shooting Lexa a genuine, albeit exhausted smile, still trapped underneath her two best friends. “My hero!”
It took an hour and the combined efforts of Lincoln, Lexa, and Anya to weasel the full story of what happened out of the eight bruised and battered veterans of the Unpacking War. Monty, who was the most uninjured of the bunch, mainly due to Miller being his human shield as well as the fact that nobody really wanted to hurt Monty (“He’s a cinnamon roll too good for the world, too pure,” Raven had dramatically recounted), helped the three of them pick up the pieces of the others, gathering more ice packs and bandages (Bellamy had a particularly nasty gash above his eyebrow).
“How exactly did this start again?” Lexa asked after they’d managed to get all eight friends off of the ground and onto more comfortable spaces, her hands busying themselves playing with Clarke’s hair, the blonde girl’s head situated in her lap as they cuddled up together on one of the couches.
“Well,” Monty started after a pause, “I don’t really know. Octavia was complaining about being bored, and John was about ready to murder her, so I think it was he who suggested they turn it into a competition to see who could unpack the fastest. Octavia, of course, took this as a challenge, you don’t want to see her during the Blake Cup competitions over the summer, and shoved Raven out of the way in an attempt to get to her room faster? And Raven, of course, took this as an insult to her character and decided to seek revenge and that’s when shit really hit the fan.”
Lexa nodded along to his story, only half listening. The majority of her attention was focused on the blonde haired blue eyed angel snuggled into her side, humming contentedly while Lexa’s fingers twisted through soft tresses and gently massaged her scalp. Anya and Raven were having a glare-off in the corner, the former blaming the latter for the disruption of peace, and Raen just because she liked picking fights with people. Octavia had attached herself to Lincoln’s side like a monkey, but the teddy bear of a man wasn’t complaining in the slightest.
“Baaaaabe.” Lexa smiled softly when Clarke’s soft voice reached her ears, green eyes flickering downwards to meet blue ones.
“Yes, Clarke?”
“I think my idiots are enamored with your idiots,” she whispered conspiratorially, and Lexa nodded solemnly, stifling a giggle.
“Must be the family charm.”
“I mean, I’d date both of them.” Lexa raised an eyebrow questioningly, fingers ceasing their ministrations, causing her girlfriend to whine, before quickly realizing her mistake. “But you’re my favorite, babe. Nobody outshines your beauty.” Successfully mollified, Lexa continued to play with Clarke’s hair, finding peace in the moment of silence. It wouldn’t last long.
“Octavia! How could you! My best friend! I never expected you to betray me this way.”
“Calm down, Griff, it’s just a sport.”
Lexa winced at Octavia’s words. Clearly the younger Blake sibling wasn’t aware of the intense feud between skiers and snowboarders. Clarke looked wholly offended, mouth opening and closing like a gaping fish, and the brunette couldn’t help but giggle slightly at how ridiculous her girlfriend look. A sharp look directed at her made the giggling stop as soon as it started.
“Don’t even start, Lex, you’re supposed to be on my side.”
“I am on your side, Clarke,” Lexa affirmed, pressing a kiss to the blonde’s forehead, “you have a whole week to convert Octavia to the superior sport of skiing, let her make her mistake early on.”
“Hey!” Lincoln protested, his own board in hand. “Snowboarding is obviously the better of the two!” The week, as it turned out, was going to be anything other than peaceful. Clarke, John, and Lexa had taken to teaching all those who wished how to ski, alternating between teaching and escaping to go down the more difficult slopes by themselves. Lincoln and Anya managed to snag Octavia, Jasper (“well at least now your stupid goggles will be of use for something”), and Bellamy (John had pledged to pelt him with as many snowballs as he possibly could for the betrayal) over to the Dark Side of snowboarding.
The older Blake also joined the snowboarders out of a moral obligation to watch Octavia and, by extension, Lincoln. Lexa’s cousin had proven himself to be an absolute sweetheart, but Bellamy was obligated to hate everyone that his little sister expressed even remote interest in. She, of course, refused to be babied, and her brother’s overprotectiveness only spurred her to pursue Lincoln even harder.
On the third day of skiing/snowboarding, Raven decided that her skis weren’t going fast enough, and somehow managed to rig them to propellers, shooting her through the snow at breakneck speeds, the hispanic girl hollering like a mad woman the entire time, entirely too pleased with herself. Armed now with the fasted skis of the bunch, she spent the majority of her time zooming past Anya and pelting the older girl with snow and then cackling with glee when she was able to successfully avoid retribution.
Lincoln, as Clarke found out from Lexa, was the same age as Bellamy and John, and attended Mt. Weather University with them. He’d been accepted into the school on a basketball scholarship, and was majoring in both business and early childhood education. When all eleven of them finally went down into the village, and Octavia discovered a karaoke bar, something inside Clarke’s head clicked.
“Oh my god.” Lexa, who had pulled Clarke into her lap, tapping her foot to the beat of the music, humming as Octavia dragged Lincoln onstage to sing something, turned her head to look at her girlfriend questioningly.
“What?”
“Lincoln is Troy Bolton.” The green eyed girl paused and blinked, head tilted slightly in confusion.
“Come again?” Clarke was shaking with laughter at this point, leaning further into Lexa for support.
“Before high school, I promised,” she sputter out between laughs, “I promised Octavia that I would take her to the lodge so she could meet her Troy Bolton. Lincoln is Troy Bolton. They’re singing karaoke and he plays basketball oh my god I’m the best best friend ever , she’s literally living high school musical right now… in college but that’s besides the point.” Lexa’s eyes widened in understanding and she, too, joined Clarke in their fit of giggles.
“Hey Clarke?”
“Yeah, Lex?”
“My head’s in the game, but it’d rather be between your thighs.” There was silence for a few moments before Clarke smacked Lexa’s shoulder exasperatedly, pressing soft kisses on the girl’s neck.
“That is the most awful thing I have ever heard, and I sit through your ridiculous pickup lines every day.”
“But it worked, didn’t it? You’re kissing me.”
“You’re a dork.”
“Yeah but I’m your dork. Speaking of which, I’ll let you slip and slide and ri ―” Clarke cut Lexa off with a firm kiss in order to prevent her girlfriend from ruining High School Musical for her forever, and could practically feel Lexa smirk into the kiss.
Dork.