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"Raven, you tell me right now that you're kidding!" Octavia looked like she was about to choke on the gummy worm in her mouth.
"I'm not."
Clarke raised an eyebrow. "So, does that mean that you're some kind of genius?"
"Not really, I guess" Raven shrugged and drank the last of her wine. "I just knew what I wanted to do from a very young age and worked for it. When the administration heard about the cooling system I built for my former High School out of junk they decided to make their quote for young talents and women in male dominated fields in one, with me."
"Very impressive" Lexa said and handed the bottle over to Raven.
Octavia was still staring like Raven just told her she had lived in Space, not that she was on a full scholar ship she choose over three other offers from top colleges she got.
"I told you right from the beginning that I'm awesome. Deal with it." the brunette said and smirked at Octavia next to her.
Octavia sighed theatrical and moved her folded hands in an praying way in the air. "We are not worthy!"
"Yes. Question answered. Now get back to the game, my minions."
They were spread out on their dorm room floor. Three weeks into Freshman Year at Ark University.
And it was a first official girl's night.
Clarke and Octavia met in detention in school, although it was Clarke's first and last time there, after she called her PE teacher a sexist dictator and recited him the whole section about student rights from the school policies by memory.
Octavia was basically in detention every day because of her high temperament and her inability to keep her opinion for herself.
They became best friends and formed an unbeatable team people never knew if they should adore, respect or get frustrated of. Of course they never considered splitting up for college and moved into their shared room as if they had never lived somewhere else.
Raven was brought in by Octavia right on their second day of the semester. She came into their dorm room without knocking, but with a big grin and the mechanics student on her side, announcing that she had found them a new best friend and that Clarke should get ready ASAP because they'd be going to a party.
And the fourth of them was Lexa Woods.
Lexa lived in the same dorm as Clarke and Octavia.
The day they moved in, Clarke had nearly ran her over with the big pile of boxes in her arms which she couldn't really coordinate properly.
After unsuccessfully trying to turn around to apologize to the person she had bumped in on their floor, she felt hands holding on to her boxes from the other side and the girl said "Don't worry, but maybe we should make sure you don't get kicked out on your first day for mayhem."
It nearly swiped her off her feet when they reached her room and she could finally set the stuff down and take a first look at her knight in shining armor - who turned out to be a stunningly beautiful girl with mild curls and eyes that made Clarke want to grab every colour she had right away to try to mix that exact shape of green.
Sadly, she just got to say thank you and introduce herself before the girl was reminded that she had to get going and disappeared. But two days later Clarke walked over to her room, three doors away from her own, to bring by some coffee and a cupcake as a thank you gift.
Some time later their paths had crossed in front of a lecture hall Lexa apparently had classes in when she and Octavia were meeting up with Raven whose dorm was on the other side of the campus. Raven and Lexa got to talk about motor cycle engines really fast and Clarke watched in amazement.
She was thinking about an excuse to go knock on Lexa's door again when surprisingly Octavia told her that she invited Lexa for girls night - and even more when stating that they'd be a quartet from now on and that they would need to get to know each other for that.
She tried not to show too much that she was happy about Octavia wanting them to be friends with the gorgeous girl she wanted to get to know since the moment she met her anyways.
That's how they ended up spending the evening with pillows on the floor of Clarke's and Octavia's room, cheap wine in cups, a mountain of junk food in the middle of their circle and a game of questioning each other with a variation of serious to ridiculous stuff they came up with.
Lexa had been a little stiff in the beginning. Clarke knew that they could be a little bit too outgoing for some people when she and Octavia were together and she was afraid that Lexa wouldn't get along with them. But she tried her best to make her feel comfortable and after some wine and the Chinese food they ordered, things went more smooth than she had imagined.
It got her to like the girl even more to see how different she was from herself and the other girls. And some other details she got to know about her. The honesty in which she stated her mind in a friendly argument. The little smile she had when they made jokes about what they knew about college life so far. How graceful all of her movements were.
Clarke took a cookie out of a jar in front of her. Before putting the jar down again, she glanced at Lexa, who was sitting beside her. She lightly touched the girls arm to get her attention and held the jar in her direction to offer her one. Lexa thanked her, but didn't take one.
Octavia looked at the girls around her one at a time, trying to decide who to ask next. Raven, next to her, stretching a little after the hours they already spent in that position. Clarke, in front of her, still chewing her chocolate cookie.
Lexa's puppy eyes gave her the right vibe.
"Alright. Lexa, your question. Do you have pets at home and if, what are their names?"
"We already had the discussion about two questions in one, you remember?"
"Oh give it a break, Killjoy. Answer my one single question."
Lexa smirked. She didn't really care how many questions her new friends asked, but she had soon realized how much fun giving back to them was. Especially because she didn't feel like she had to watch her every word in order to not intimidate them. That was kind of a new thing for her. She only had two close friends - Costia, her ex girlfriend from High School and Anya, who she grew up with.
With everyone else, she had always felt more like a politician trying to win votes than a friend.
But she decided not to argue about that question any longer than necessary. But some day she'd liked to have an honest debate with Octavia to see which of them would be the most stubborn.
"I have two cats. Anthony and Miranda." she said.
The other girls looked at her skeptically, waiting for something to follow. But when nothing came, all three of them were suddenly bursting in laughter.
"Are you serious?" Raven asked with her hands on her stomach.
"Of course I am. Why?" Lexa felt a little intimidated by their reaction, but mostly confused.
"Those aren't cat names. Those are frat boy and old lady names" commented Clarke between giggles.
"They are not!" the law student stated and folded her arm in front of her chest, looking offended. "What name would you give them then that's better?"
Clarke shrugged. "I don't know, Mr. Whiskas or something"
Lexa didn't even want to imagine her lovely boy Anthony with a name like that. "That's a horrible name, Clarke. And stupid. And Product Placement. All in one." Which in fact was also a little bit impressive, but she wouldn't openly admit that.
"That's the point" the blonde said grinning and Octavia leaned over to Lexa with a similar expression as she said "One time in High School we were supposed to take care of an egg for a week and ours were called 'Bacon' and 'Little Mushroom'."
Again, the other girls started to laugh loudly at their memory while Lexa shook her head in disbelieve.
Raven took the empty bottle next to Octavia's legs, stood up and went to the nearest desk to grab a new bottle of the wine she brought for their evening.
Clarke leaned slightly back while laughing, her hands placed behind her body. Her arm touched Lexa's and she couldn't prevent herself from shortly looking down at the spot their skin was joined.
"You can be glad to have your looks" Lexa then teased Clarke with an fake concerned expression on her face, trying to ignore the tingling in her arm.
"You are boring."
"I am not and Anthony and Miranda are great names. They have personality."
"I didn't say that as a bad thing."
"In which universe is boring not a bad thing?"
"Whatever" Octavia cut into their exchange before it could get out of hand like their debate on the meaning of colors they had at the beginning of the game two hours ago. Raven filled their especially fancy pink plastic cups with wine, before placing the bottle behind her pillow within reach.
"To be continued" Clarke said quietly to Lexa and winked.
Slowly all of them got calm again, took a few zips from the cups and enjoyed the taste.
"Lexa, it's your turn. And it's your last question, so make it a good one."
The girl nodded to the history student and thought about a last subject before carefully placing her cup down at the floor in front of her.
"So Clarke", she started and the blonde with the most amazing blue eyes turned a little bit so that she was able to look at her. "Falling or being?" she asked quietly, but then realized that she would have to make her thoughts a little bit more clear for the others to understand the question.
She cleared her throat.
"I mean: What is better, falling in love or being in love?"
The room went silent. Even Octavia stopped putting cookies in her mouth for a moment to reflect her words.
Lexa waited, a little bit blushing because it wasn't her intention to destroy their mood. It was just something she sometimes thought about and a part of her wanted to know if they would consider it stupid.
Clarke looked confused, but it was clear she was thinking about it. A few moments later she shrugged.
"Honestly, I don't really know what you mean with that question. Care to explain?" she asked apologetic.
Lexa moved a little on the pillow she sat on.
"Well, there's a big difference between those states. Sometimes I feel like you are two whole different persons, one falling in love and one loving" She bit her lip in embarrassment, but thought that at this point she couldn't back out anyways.
The others didn't respond yet, but Clarke looked interested in her statement, so she thought about how she could explain it to them.
"In all of human history, in Literature, movies and music, we mostly celebrate falling in love, because it's intense and dramatic, right?" She looked around and her listeners were nodding in agreement. "But the interesting stuff happens while being in love."
Her gaze stopped again at Clarke's face.
The blonde's eyes didn't break contact for a single second.
She continued: "Then, when falling you can't think of anything else. Your life seems to come together to an single feeling and you don't want that to ever change again... But being makes so much possible and can under circumstances give you a whole new set of thoughts to explore..."
After she had finished, it looked like the blonde tried to adapt her view into her own mind.
Her mouth slowly formed a smile.
"I never thought about it that way. You really are full of surprises, Lexa" she said with a smile and Lexa nodded, accepting that she wouldn't get anything else as answer.
Only that she did.
"But I guess that's the thing about love..." Clarke's voice was thoughtful and a bit lower than usual. Lexa had to remind herself to breath under the blondes gaze before she continued.
"The only thing that counts is that with the right person, you can have both."
Lexa didn't know if Clarke had intended to look at her the way she did in that moment. And sure as hell she didn't know if Clarke could see the impact it had on her, but she really hoped she wasn't making a fool out of herself like it felt.
"Exactly" Octavia said with a wide grin then. "Both's the goal, girls!"
They went on with the last questions left from Clarke to Octavia and Octavia to Raven, with a much more cheerful tone.
But while Raven thought about which Spice Girl she identified most with and Octavia started to sing I'll tell you what I want, what I really, really want. So tell me what you want, what you really, really want, Lexa felt Clarke shyly placing a warm hand above her own.
When she looked at the girl next to her with surprise, the blonde gave her a warm smile and bit her lower lip while her eyes travelled from her eyes down to her lips.
Lexa felt herself blushing and quickly made sure the other two didn't pay full attention to them, but then mirrored the look with the same intensity. She slowly turned her hand around until she could hold on to Clarke's.
Both of them turned to the middle of the room again, but Lexa couldn't shake the shiver on her skin where their hands had contact. And the warm feeling slowly growing in her stomach, which her head told her was ridiculous, but something else whispered it could be a beginning.
Suddenly she couldn't wait for them to call it a night and for an opportunity to maybe ask Clarke to accompany her on her way back to her room to lend her the thing she asked for, whatever that may be.