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Clarke Griffin let her eyes slip closed, blocking out the bright lights of the auditorium's stage, before strumming her fingers across the strings of her guitar. Notes and cords drifted into the air on the back of Clarke's fingers and rose up into the rafters of the room until they permeated the entire open space.
"You're early!" A voice cut through Clarke's strumming and settled between her ears.
The blonde haired woman lifted her head with a small smile playing across her lips. "Or," she said as she looked at the dark haired newcomer, "you're late."
"I'm never late," the woman said with a quiet laugh. Her footsteps echoed around the room as she climbed onto the stage. "The world pauses itself for me."
"Of course it does," Clarke muttered rolling her eyes as she reached out to swot the other woman's shoulder with the back of her head, "get your ass in gear Lexa."
"Was it anything specific?" Lexa asked, curiosity staining her tone, her eyes flicking back and forth between Clarke's face and her guitar.
"Sort of," Clarke answered, biting the inside of her cheek, glancing away from Lexa. "A song my Dad liked. I don't... I don't really remember it anymore, but..."
"But, it's important to you anyway." Lexa continued with a knowing smile stretched across her mouth. "Three years ago tomorrow, right?"
Clarke's head dipped forward into a low nod and her lips parted to let a single word slip out of her mouth, "Yes."
"He'd be proud of you, you know." Lexa commented as she curled her fingertips underneath Clarke's chin to lift her head. "From what you've told me, this is all he'd have ever wanted, to know that you'd followed your dreams."
"My Mum..." Clarke frowned, squeezing her eyelids shut as tears welled up.
"Your Mum is worried that you're too much like your father." Lexa answered after a long moment of silence. "He might have been an engineer but from what you've told me he was pretty free-spirited. She's worried that she will lose her daughter the same way that she lost her husband, even if his nature had nothing to do with his death."
"I wish she'd come listen to me play," Clarke sighed with a shake of her head. "She might understand then."
"I know." Lexa smoothed the tip of her finger across Clarke's cheek before leaning down to press her lips against the younger woman's mouth. "I love you Clarke."
Clarke reached up to tangle her fingers in the loose braids of Lexa's hair to hold the woman tighter against her mouth. She let her tongue slip from between her teeth to run across the seam of Lexa's lips, part them, and probe the depths of her mouth as she lost herself in the sensations of her girlfriend's kiss. "I love you too," Clarke panted against Lexa's lips when they pulled away from one another.
"Maybe," Lexa murmured, ducking forward to plant a second shorter kiss on Clarke's mouth, "we should practise the song, and then, get out of here?"
"Are you inviting me back to your room Miss Woods?" Clarke asked, a teasing gleam dancing in her eye as she caught Lexa's gaze.
"I most certainly am Miss Griffin." Lexa replied, her tone laced with equal amounts of amusement and affection. "If you stop distracting me with your awfully pretty mouth and actually let us practise. The show is next week."
"I know, I know." Clarke groaned letting herself fall out of Lexa's embrace. “Fine; an hour, tops. Then, you're taking me back to your room."
Lexa's eyes darkened at the promise in Clarke's words. "I can't wait," she husked as she moved to sit behind the piano, stretching her fingers out before placing them on the opening keys, "ready?"
"Always," Clarke answered with a playful smirk etched onto her lips as she shouldered her guitar once more.