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“Explain it to me again - why do we need to pretend to be married?”
Clarke sighed and dramatically plopped back onto their bed, completely exasperated. “Lex, come on. It’s not that difficult.”
“Just one more time, please,” Lexa whined. She laid down on her side next to Clarke and twirled a blonde strand of hair around her index finger while intently watching her tired girlfriend’s face. Even with how little sleep Clarke was getting and how much it was showing with the bags under her eyes, she was the most beautiful women Lexa had ever seen.
Clarke huffed, but gave in anyway. “Tomorrow Octavia and Lincoln are getting married. Octavia gave Lincoln too much say with the guest list before sending out the wedding invitations. Octavia was so stressed out with dress shopping that she didn’t pay enough attention to the finalized list and didn’t see that Niylah was invited. She didn’t find out that she was even invited until she got Niylah’s RSVP,” Clarke explained. “Are you still following?”
“Yes,” Lexa answered. She kissed Clarke’s cheek for emphasis. “Lincoln invited one of his best friend’s from college, who also happens to be your ex-girlfriend.”
“My evil ex-girlfriend,” she corrected. “Anyway, Octavia told Lincoln that he needed to un-invite Niylah, but he said that would be too fucked up, even though she ruined my life. Once she mailed back the RSVP, Niylah went onto my Facebook and saw that my relationship status was set to ‘married,’ which I did as a joke to scare my mom, even though she ended up being disappointed when I told her that it wasn’t real. I never went back and changed the relationship status.
“Niylah contacted Lincoln to see if it was for real, but Octavia saw the text before Lincoln did. Octavia went onto Niylah’s Facebook and saw that Niylah’s girlfriend – the girl she cheated on me with – recently dumped her. So, when she saw the text, Octavia told me that you and I did get married. Since she made me miserable, I decided to that we need to keep up with the lie so I can brag that I’m happy and now she’s the miserable one.”
Clarke said it so matter-of-factly that Lexa burst into laughter. “So what you’re saying is we need to pretend that we’re married just so you can rub it in her face that you found someone better than her,” Lexa summarized.
“Exactly,” Clarke said. She rolled over to kiss Lexa. “You think you can handle being married to me for a few hours?”
All Lexa could think about was the ring that she’d had her eye on for the past several months at the jewelry store inside the local mall and how she was waiting for her next raise at work before purchasing it. What she said out loud was “I think I can manage it,” but she really wanted to say that she wanted nothing more than for Clarke to be her actual wife.
**********
“Where the fuck are my shoes?” Octavia shouted.
The whole group had been at Abby Griffin’s house for the majority of the day. All of the girls lived in apartments and knew that none of their apartments had enough room to get Octavia dolled up for her wedding. Clarke was working on Octavia’s makeup and hair while Raven and Lexa tried to find all of Octavia’s accessories that pair up with her dress. Abby was in charge of trying to keep bride-to-be calm.
“Honey, everything is here. We promised to do everything that we can to make today the happiest day of your life and we aren’t going to let you down. Take a few breaths and let Clarke work on your makeup,” Abby said. Clarke’s mom had been a psychiatrist for over two decades and it was showing. Unfortunately, Abby wasn’t used to applying her skills to bridezillas.
Octavia closed her eyes and sighed. “Abby, please don’t try to doctor me. I’m sure your clients appreciate it, but–”
Clarke snapped, “Octavia, I need you to shut your mouth so I can put on your lipstick.”
From somewhere across the living room, Lexa mumbled, “Also so we can keep what sanity we have left.”
Raven heard her, but chose not to say anything out of fear of getting her head bitten off. Instead, she continued to rummage through all of the bags they brought over from Octavia’s apartment. Eventually she found the heels and released a sigh of relief. “Found the shoes!” she announced.
Once Clarke was done with Octavia’s makeup, Abby and Raven rushed her upstairs to get the dress on. Clarke and Lexa hung back in the living room to rest. Somehow Clarke looked even more exhausted than the day before. “I’m so glad I have the next week off,” Clarke mumbled into Lexa’s hair after her girlfriend wrapper her arms around her.
“I know you’re tired, love. You get to rest after today,” she whispered.
Clarke probably could have fallen asleep right there, regardless of the fact that she was standing. However, she was supposed to be calling Bellamy to check on Lincoln’s status. They only had an hour before they were supposed to be at the church.
Before Clarke could completely unwrap herself from Lexa, the brunette pressed a lingering kiss against Clarke’s lips. She had no desire to pull away, but she heard her phone start to ring from the kitchen. Lexa practically whined when Clarke eventually pulled away. She whispered a quiet “I love you” before running off to find her phone.
Lexa decided to go upstairs to see how things were going with the dress. She stood in the bathroom doorway, just far enough away so the three wouldn’t see her there. As Raven and Abby adjusted Octavia’s dress, Lexa found herself smiling. She couldn’t stop picturing Clarke as the girl standing there with her mom and best friends getting her into her wedding dress.
**********
The guests were all inside the church while the girls and Bellamy stood just outside. As the bridesmaids, Clarke, Lexa, and Raven were waiting for their cue to start making their way to the front of the chapel where Lincoln was waiting to receive his bride. Bellamy had his arm linked with Octavia’s, prepared to hand her off to Lincoln.
Just seconds before the music started playing and the girls were given their signal, Clarke looked at Lexa expectantly. She held up her hand and pointed at the wedding ring that Abby had let her borrow in order to keep up the ridiculous charade. “Are you ready, wifey?” she chuckled.
“You have no idea,” she mused.
The sound of the wedding march filled the church.
**********
The actual ceremony lasted about half an hour. There were plenty of tears from nearly everyone there and Octavia didn’t even stumble over her memorized vows – a fear that had kept her awake for the last several evenings leading up to the wedding. Following the ceremony, the wedding party was escorted outside for pictures, which ended up lasting longer than the ceremony itself.
After the pictures were taken, they were all led through the crowd of guests. The reception was held at a hall right next to the church. Lexa was thankful for the short walk due to her inexperience with wearing heels, which were causing more and more pain with every step that she took. She swore up and down that she would never where heels again. However, once Clarke told her how irresistible she looked in the heels that made her legs look even longer, she decided she might start wearing them for…special occasions.
As they walked past the guests, Clarke noticed the smug look Lexa had as they passed Niylah in the crowd. Lexa wasn’t one to be jealous, but she was known for showing off the girl she loved. Clarke squeezed Lexa’s hand a little harder as she chuckled to herself.
**********
The reception was in full swing and Clarke actually managed to get Lexa out on the dance floor for a lot longer than she expected, which she partly attributed to the drinks they’d had with their dinner. No matter the reason, they were both enjoying themselves.
As they slow danced to one of the quieter songs, they felt as though they were the only ones in their own little world, even though they were surrounded by other couples that were dancing. “I love you,” Clarke sighed.
“I love you too.”
They were already close, but Clarke wrapped her arms tighter around Lexa’s waist to pull her in closer before kissing her. As other couples continued to dance around them, the two slowly stopped moving until they were standing still. They still stood there after the song ended. The world around them could have ended and neither of them would have noticed.
They also didn’t notice Niylah standing there after the other couples dispersed, obviously gawking.
Lexa let the kiss linger for a few long seconds after noticing Niylah. Clarke didn’t notice her until after Lexa pulled away, looked Niylah dead in the eye, and said, “What, is it wrong for a girl to kiss her wife?”
Clarke looked over at her ex just in time to see her stomp off while rolling her eyes and scoffing.
“God, I love you,” Clarke chuckled. She pulled her in for a softer kiss before grabbing Lexa’s hand and dragging her away to find another drink.
**********
It was long after midnight when Abby dropped Clarke and Lexa off at their apartment. Both girls kicked off their feels as soon as they got inside their front door. It was a warm summer night in the middle of July and neither of them were tired enough to sleep, so they decided to go out onto their patio and enjoy the fresh air. They had two chairs and a table on the patio, but Lexa climbed onto Clarke’s lap once she sat down. Clarke wrapped her arms around Lexa and held her close.
“For how much I hate socializing, tonight was actually a lot of fun,” Lexa admitted.
Clarke laughed and Lexa’s heart swooned at the sound. Over the last three years, it had become her favorite sound, “You usually have more fun once you get there,” Clarke said. “By the way, your response to Niylah was perfect.”
“She glared at me for the rest of the night,” she laughed. “I must say, I enjoyed kissing you every time I caught her staring.”
“Oh, I noticed. I think you kissed me more than just when she was staring, though.”
Lexa shrugged indifferently. “Sue me.”
Clarke wasn’t sure who leaned in first, but they were kissing after that. They stayed like that for a while and, unlike earlier, they really were the only ones there. Their little neighborhood was quiet and it felt as though they were the only two who were awake. Lexa sighed contently once Clarke pulled away far enough to breathe. She took that chance to grab Clarke’s left hand where she was still wearing her mother’s wedding ring. Lexa kissed each of her knuckles and smiled.
“Clarke?” she whispered into the night.
“Hm?” Clarke still sounded dazed from the kiss.
She didn’t say anything at first. Clarke was about to ask her if she was okay when Lexa finally spoke. “Can I tell you something?”
“Of course,” she whispered just loud enough for Lexa to hear.
Lexa took a few minutes to gather her thoughts. The same thought had crossed her mind hundreds of times since they were at Abby’s house getting Octavia put together. She lost count of how many times she had to bite her tongue throughout the night. She fought the urge to continue to stare at the ring and instead looked into Clarke’s eyes.
“Tonight, at the wedding, I kept looking at that ring on your finger. From the moment you put it on, I was drawn to it. At first I thought was because of this ridiculous plan of yours to make your ex jealous, but it’s more than that. It’s so much more than that,”
There were tears threatening to run down Lexa’s cheek, but she blinked them away. Clarke was still listening, waiting for more. “I snuck upstairs and saw your mom and Raven getting Octavia into her wedding dress. I was standing there with the dopiest smile on my face because, even though it was Octavia in that dress, all I could picture was you. I pictured you walking down the aisle and crying as you said your vows. I pictured slipping a ring – a real ring, not your mom’s – onto your finger and calling you my wife.
“I’m not saying we need to do anything right now. I’m just saying that someday, I want to be your wife. Your real wife. I want to kiss you and make your exes jealous as your wife, with all of the bells and whistles. I’ve been trying to come up with a more romantic way to ask you, but I realized it doesn’t need to be a huge gesture. I just want you to be my wife, Clarke. That’s all I want.”
They were both crying by the time Lexa was done with her speech. Clarke pulled Lexa in for the sweetest, longest kiss. Their tears mixed together, but they didn’t care. It was just the two of them and that’s all that mattered.
“Yes,” Clarke choked out.
“Yes?”
Clarke nodded and, although it was pitch black outside, Lexa could see that her eyes were shining. “I’ll be your wife.”
“My real wife?”
“Lexa Woods, I would love to be your real wife.”
They kissed once more and Lexa flashed her wickedest grin. “I’m glad to hear that.”
“And why is that?”
“Because I have a few exes of my own that I’d like to make jealous.”