Work Text:
Lexa was already behind the counter when Clarke arrived to work, blonde hair still in its messy bun from her late class the previous evening. Lexa looked disgustingly put together, her black jeans and white button up didn’t have a stain on them and her curls were tamed, falling around her shoulders in an effortless curtain.
“Morning.” Clarke’s grunt was met with a smile from Lexa, small but sincere. Her glasses had slid down her nose and she used an elegant hand to push them back up.
“Good morning, Clarke. How was your afternoon yesterday?” Lexa was walking around the small shop now, taking the chairs off the tables and prepping for the day. Clarke simply watched, leaning against the counter and sipping from her mug of coffee she had brought from the cafeteria that morning.
“Delightful. Organic Chemistry is still kicking my ass.” She had a lab coming up, was trying to think of a time she could study and decided to simply bring her books to all of her upcoming shifts.
“Still planning on going to med school? I thought you said you were leaning towards an art major.” Lexa slapped Clarke’s knee as she walked by, the blonde having jumped to sit up on the counter. “You better wipe that down before opening.”
“I thought it over more and I just know my mother would kill me if I decided to switch. She doesn’t think I have a future in art.” Clarke swung her legs back and forth, casually sipping from her coffee. It always bothered Lexa how Clarke could talk about something that clearly bothered her as if it was old news.
“Clarke, I’ve seen your work. You’re incredibly talented.” Lexa turned the sign on the door to open and went back behind the counter.
“Thanks, Lex but I can’t seriously live off of an artist’s salary. I already owe my mom too much as it is.” She shrugged. “Don’t worry about it.”
She turned towards the coffee machines and switched all of them on to warm them up for the day.
Lexa watched her for a minute, brows furrowed until she sighed and turned to a customer that walked in, deciding Clarke should have the choice to do what she wanted.
Clarke was curled on the floor behind the counter, clutching her stomach and laughing.
“Lexa, you can’t seriously think that your customer service smile is the same as your real smile.” Clarke was wheezing, her face red. Lexa looked down at her from where she was standing next to a coffee machine, arms crossed with a pout on her face.
“It feels perfectly genuine to me.” The brunette whined.
“To someone you don’t know I’m sure it’s very charming. To me it looks like you’re in physical pain.” Clarke was desperately trying to catch her breath and once she managed to take a deep breath she imitated Lexa’s smile she used with all the customers. It turned into a more exaggerated grimace than anything.
“You lie.” Lexa smiled, a real smile, and reached to help Clarke up off the floor. The blonde stood faster than expected and crashed into Lexa, sending them both into a giggle fit as they huddled close together, leaning on each other.
They sobered when a throat cleared and looked up to find Lexa’s girlfriend, Costia, watching them with narrowed eyes.
“Hey Lexi. I thought your shift ended at noon today?” The dark skinned girl looked at the watch wrapped around her thin wrist. “It’s almost two.”
“Yeah but no one else was signed to work until two thirty so I thought I’d help Clarke out until they got here.” Lexa shrugged, having stepped away from Clarke.
“I thought we could’ve hung out?” The girl whined, her face contorted in a pout.
“Sorry, if you would have asked me about it earlier we could have.” Lexa awkwardly scratched her arm, stepped out from behind the counter and went to stand next to her girlfriend. “We can go out to eat now if you want?”
“Sure, whatever. Can you get me a coffee?” She turned to Clarke, looked her up and down before meeting her eyes.
“Of course.” Clarke held back her smirk and started on the drink while Lexa went to the back room to grab her jacket and bag.
Once the coffee was made and Lexa’s jacket was securely buttoned, the couple made towards the door.
“Goodbye, Clarke.” Lexa called over her shoulder.
“Bye Lexi.” Clarke teased.
The coffee shop was dead, the last customer had left over half an hour ago. To say Clarke was bored was a gross understatement. Lexa was catching up on her reading, leaned over the counter and scanning the pages for information she deemed necessary for an essay.
“What’re you reading?” Clarke asked as she stepped up close behind Lexa, rested her chin on her shoulder to glance down at the worn book resting on the counter.
Lexa stiffened, the feeling of Clarke’s body not new but still surprising. She forced herself to relax, took a quiet, calming breath.
“It’s for my English course.” Lexa sighed, closed the book at turned to face Clarke. Lexa’s thin frame was trapped between Clarke’s body and the counter as it pressed into her lower back.
The brunette’s face heated with a blush as she tried her hardest to appear unaffected by Clarke’s closeness, the smell of her perfume and the beauty mark above her lip.
“Sounds invigorating.” Clarke snorted as she stepped back, picked up the coffee she had made herself.
They both secretly took a deep breath, the space between them allowing them to calm down.
“Oh, it is. It’s clearly more interesting than whatever you’ve been up to.” Her eyes sparkled as she watched Clarke bounce on her feet, tap her fingers on the counter. Everything the blonde did was endearing to Lexa which was worrying in itself. She should think those things about Costia, her girlfriend. Not her coworker.
“That’s just the thing, there’s nothing to be up to! All the tables and counters are clean, decorated with flowers and books and newspapers. I cleaned all the machines and organized everything in the back room. I cleaned the windows and swept the floors and washed every single dish. There’s nothing to do and I’m losing my mind.” Clarke paced around the small shop, pointed out how spotless everything was.
“Well our shifts end in half an hour so you just have to hold out a bit longer.” Lexa’s lips upturned slightly at the edges as Clarke’s self control completely melted at the thought of any more time spent doing nothing.
“We have the closing shift. I say we leave early and go get drinks.” Clarke smirked as if she had just stated the most brilliant plan possible. She approached Lexa again, put on her best puppy dog face, wide blue eyes and pouty, pink lips. Clarke knew how to play Lexa’s weaknesses, almost as well as she knew how to create art on paper, using dark charcoal.
“Clarke, we need these jobs, and we also both have classes tomorrow.” Lexa averted her eyes from Clarke’s face, her weakness itching at the back of her brain.
“Were the best, most steady employees here. Don’t worry about your job, Lex. Plus, your first class tomorrow isn’t before noon.” Clarke offered a smile, a persuasive poke to Lexa’s hip. “C’mon Lex. Live a little.”
“Fine. Just this once.” Lexa’s shoulders sagged in defeat as Clarke bounced, clapped her hands together and squealed. “Don’t make me regret this.” Lexa glared in Clarke’s direction as she turned to gather her book, walked to the back room to retrieve her bag and jacket.
They locked up the shop and walked to the bar a few blocks over, an old dark bar, made almost completely of wood. It was oddly popular with the college students. Lexa thought it looked like the place middle aged men would go to drink whiskey in their suits after a long day at work.
Clarke ordered for the both of them, something sweet with a strong aftertaste that burned the way down their throats but warmed the rest of their bodies to a comfortable buzz.
They stayed until closing, growing closer to each other, more physically so than mentally, as the night wore on. They were both well past tipsy and Clarke was practically sitting in Lexa’s lap by the time the owner pointed to the closed sign hanging in a window and ushered them out on to the street. Lexa walked Clarke home, like any gentlewoman would and Clarke gave her a kiss on the cheek in thanks, then a tight hug goodnight.
Lexa walked home with bright red cheeks and a lopsided smile.
“Lexa, are you feeling alright?” Clarke asked, only a few minutes after she entered the shop for her afternoon shift.
Lexa looked up from the book she was reading, bent over the counter. The shop had been empty for the past fifteen minutes and she had been enjoying the quiet, focused on the book her cousin, Anya, bought her for her birthday in the past month.
“Yes, why?” She furrowed her brows, placed a bookmark to save her page and stood up straight.
“Well, you usually replace the flowers every morning and these ones are still the same as they were last night when I closed. You haven’t replaced them or watered them.” Clarke shrugged as she walked into the back room to throw her bag in a corner and take her oversized jacket off.
Lexa watched after her, slightly stunned that Clarke would pick up on something like that while she was usually oblivious to anything smaller than a car speeding towards her. She had been upset, her girlfriend, Costia, had been distant for the past month and Lexa had written it off as her being worried about her school work but yesterday morning Lexa came home to their shared apartment and Costia’s clothes were cleared from the closet and there was a note, Costia was moving across the country with her girlfriend Nia.
“Just relationship problems.” She shrugged off the fact that she cried herself to sleep the night before, had ripped apart her apartment in a fit of anger before collapsing in the middle of her kitchen floor.
“Is Costia alright?” Clarke asked as she tied her colourful apron behind her back and tied her hair in a ponytail, directly on top of her head.
“Yeah. I’m sure she’s having a blast in California or wherever she is.” Lexa couldn’t hide the spite behind her words.
“Impromptu road trip?” Clarke raised an eyebrow, jumped up to sit on the counter.
“No, more like she finally got up the nerve to end things so she could run off with Nia.” Lexa spat out the name, grabbed a rag to wipe down the tables which were already perfectly clean.
“I’m sorry, Lex. Nia sounds like a piece of work.” Clarke never knew what to say to help people when they were having a hard time. “Do you need anything?”
“Flowers, a good night's sleep, wine. I don’t know.” Her voice shook slightly and Clarke’s eyes grew wide as Lexa’s watered.
“Hey, I’m sure we can get all those things. Why don’t you take a break and go to the flower shop down the street and pick your favourites. I can take care of everything here.” Clarke had jumped down from the counter and wrapped an arm around Lexa’s shoulders. She waited for Lexa’s small nod and let go, went to the back to get Lexa’s jacket and mittens.
“Thank you, Clarke.” Lexa buttoned her jacket, turned before she walked out the door to the street and flashed Clarke her small, special smile.
She came back from the flower shop in a much better mood, enough flowers for the shop and her apartment and a big bottle of wine that she could drink alone later that night.
Lexa’s mood improved slowly as she allowed herself to heal, move past Costia and move on with her life.
It took her a couple weeks to realize Costia wasn’t good for her, after Clarke’s prompting. The blonde gave Lexa examples as often as she could, trying to prove that Costia held Lexa back, was toxic and didn’t let Lexa take care of herself the way she needed to.
Once Lexa accepted this, her mood improved faster. She laughed more, even more than when she was with Costia and her concept of personal space greatly diminished when she was with Clarke. She found herself gravitating towards the blonde, touching her arm, hugging her goodbye, fixing her hair or her clothes whenever she could.
Clarke noticed, but never brought it up. She liked their newfound closeness, the fact that Lexa was more comfortable around her and Clarke didn’t want to ruin it.
They had the lunch shift on a sunny Saturday and Lexa was uncharacteristically quiet. She served the customers with her usual peppiness but whenever there was a lull, she resigned to standing against the counter as if she was lost in thought.
“Are you alright, Lex?” Clarke asked after the customer she was serving left to sit at a table.
“Yeah, why?” Lexa blinked her eyes slowly towards Clarke, the green irises almost clouded over.
“You just seem out of it is all. You know you can talk to me, right?” The blonde was worried, she wasn’t sure of what, whether Lexa had fallen back into her post breakup depression or if something else had happened without Clarke hearing about it.
“I’m just thinking.” Lexa shrugged.
She couldn’t bring herself to tell Clarke that she was thinking of the blonde, contemplating the best way to tell her that she had feelings for her. That she couldn’t stop dreaming about kissing her and that she wanted to bring her out on dates, bring her back to her apartment. Spend time with her outside of work.
It seemed like an impossible scenario in Lexa’s mind, for Clarke to want her like that. But keeping the thoughts silent was becoming harder and harder. She had been trying to think up a way to to tell Clarke without ruining what they already had, the effortless friendship that had bloomed between them.
“About what?” Clarke leaned against the counter directly in front of Lexa, almost close enough for the brunette to feel her body heat against the front of her thighs.
“I don’t know. Just stupid stuff I suppose.” Lexa avoided Clarke’s blue eyes which were determinedly searching for Lexa’s green ones.
“Lexa, I don’t think anything that enters your mind could be considered stupid.” Clarke smiled, exhaled a breath that sounded almost like a laugh.
“Can we talk about this later? Please?” Lexa’s voice was soft but her eyes were frantically looking around the room.
“Of course, don’t worry about it.” Clarke placed a soft hand on Lexa’s bicep, furrowed her brows at the brunettes strange behaviour.
At the end of their shifts, Clarke caught Lexa by the arm before she could leave.
“Do you want to go for a walk?” She whispered the words but Lexa could hear the order beneath them. She wasn’t getting out of it. She nodded her head, waited by the door while Clarke grabbed her things from the back room.
Once Clarke returned, she took Lexa’s left hand in her right and pushed the door open. They walked in silence for five minutes until Clarke’s patience dwindled and she couldn’t stop herself from speaking.
“What were you thinking about earlier?” She asked, squeezed Lexa’s slim hand in a show of support.
“I’ve been thinking about it for a while, I’m just not sure how to bring it up in a way that doesn’t sound ridiculous.” She ran her right hand through her curls that had blown into her face.
“Lexa, I can assure you that you won’t sound ridiculous. I don’t think you have the capability of sounding ridiculous.” Clarke smiled a soft smile, fond.
Lexa mulled over her thoughts for a few minutes and Clarke gave her the silence to do so. They came upon a bench and sat, Clarke brought a foot up onto the seat so she could turn to fully face Lexa and wait for her to voice her thoughts.
“I feel as though this isn’t a good idea, to tell you this.” Lexa started, held her hand up before Clarke could interject. “I have been experiencing… Feelings for you. Non platonic feelings. I know that you don’t feel that way about me but I’ve felt guilty, hiding it from you. I just hope that this doesn’t ruin whatever friendship we’ve built. I’m sorry.”
Once she finished speaking, Lexa braced herself, unsure whether she was expecting an odd look, mean words or something so painful as a slap.
What she didn’t expect was Clarke’s softest smile, a slight blush high on the blonde’s cheeks.
“Lexa, you really don’t have to be sorry.” Clarke started. “I’m honestly surprised, I suppose I’m too dense to take notice of anything unless someone points it out to me. Anyway that’s unimportant. What i’m trying to say is that, I reciprocate your feelings, I’ve been trying to sort through them since we went for drinks.”
“You’re serious?” Lexa asked, her mind grasping at straws, trying to comprehend what Clarke was telling her.
“Yes, Lexa. I’m serious.” Clarke rolled her eyes, fond.
Lexa couldn’t find anything to say, her mind drawn a blank. She didn’t have long to think, however, because Clarke placed a gentle hand on the back of her neck, had pulled her so close that their breaths mingled between them.
“Lexa, can I kiss you?” Clarke whispered.
“Yes.” Lexa’s voice was so soft, so quiet, Clarke would have missed it had she been any further from the brunette.
After the quiet consent, Clarke pressed her lips to Lexa’s fuller ones. Lexa expelled the softest, most breathy moan and pressed closer to the blonde, placed a hand on her jaw to hold her in place.
A few moments later, which felt like an eternity yet could never had been long enough, Clarke pulled back slightly to catch her breath, which fogged between them with each exhale.
Lexa had the sweetest smile when her lips were red and slightly swollen, she was beautiful and happy and Clarke felt so lucky.