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It’s the night of their third anniversary that Clarke decides that she wants to marry Lexa. Well, it’s not exactly a big sudden realisation or anything, because she’s known for a very long time that Lexa is the one for her. But it’s during their dinner that Clarke is just like ‘Yep. This is the woman I’m going to spend the rest of my life with.’
They’ve got a long history and their story has many ups and downs. But the last three years has been the best three years of Clarke’s life. Every day she wakes up next to the woman she loves and still, she gets butterflies. Every day Clarke thinks that she couldn’t possibly fall more in love with Lexa, but every day she is proved a little more wrong.
Clarke Griffin loves Lexa Woods. It’s as simple as that.
The way Clarke wants to propose comes to her as she lays naked with Lexa cuddling right up to her. Their arms are wrapped around each other and their legs tangled in a mess under the sheets. A thin layer of sweat coats their bodies and its moments like these that Clarke loves – post-sex, where they both just soak in the moment as they come down from their euphoric state together.
Clarke remembers seeing a post where a guy had proposed every day for a year, without his girlfriend actually knowing. Every day he recorded a short video holding up a sign with variations of “will you marry me?” on it. So by the end of the year he put together the 365 videos and showed it to his girlfriend. Clarke wanted to do exactly this. She wasn’t exactly the stealthiest person – but she had to try.
Day 1
The day after marks the first day of Clarke’s year long proposal plan.
Clarke wakes up before Lexa and thinks that this is the perfect time to get her first photo. Carefully, she peels herself away from her girlfriend and turns to her bed side table. She pulls out some scrap paper from the draw and scribbles “MARRY ME?” on it. Making sure that Lexa is still asleep, she grabs her phone as well and settles back down. Clarke moves as close as she can without waking Lexa up, up till the point where their foreheads are almost touching. She places the paper in between them and takes a selfie.
Day 8
A week passes before it dawns on Clarke that she needs to figure out a proper way to store the photos and videos. She had quite literally just taken the day’s picture when Lexa asks to borrow her phone. Clarke hands it over hesitantly, it’s not like she could say no. For the next five minutes she essentially holds her breath as Lexa talks over the phone.
It’s like a hundred-pound weight is lifted off her shoulders when she gets her phone back.
Immediately she creates a new google account and uploads the 8 photos to the drive.
Day 23
Three weeks into this year long proposal plan she almost gets caught.
They’re taking a walk in the park when Clarke, very carefully, sticks a post it that says “WILL YOU MARRY ME?” on Lexa’s back. She tells Lexa to run a head so that she can take a back shot photo of her and the park scenery. The photo Clarke gets is perfect, but then the post it falls off Lexa’s coat. Quick thinking has Clarke taking another photo before Lexa turns around.
Lexa jogs back to see the shot (the one without the note on her back) and Clarke is partly thankful that it did actually end up falling. But now there was the problem of that note just being on the floor. And it wasn’t like it wasn’t noticeable, Clarke just had to opt for the pink post it today.
Clarke is pretty sure her heart skips a few beats when Lexa spots the post it on the ground. However, everything is okay when Lexa picks it up and just assumes that someone else had dropped it. Lexa puts the note in the bin and Clarke lets out a major sigh of relief when all Lexa does next is wink and playfully nudge her.
Day 42
They’re out at a party and Clarke gets Octavia’s help for today’s photo. As Lexa stands and talks to a group of people, Clarke gets Octavia to stand behind Lexa with a piece of paper that says “LEXA, MARRY CLARKE!”
Clarke gets the photo but then Octavia stumbles on her feet and accidently bumps into Lexa. Without another word, Octavia runs off with the paper before Lexa could ask what they were doing.
Clarke simply shrugs it off and joins the conversation to change the topic.
Day 66
It’s a beautiful day and they’re at the beach. Clarke sits behind Lexa as she offers to help put sun lotion on her girlfriend’s back. But of course instead of applying an even layer, Clarke starts to use the sun screen to write on Lexa’s skin.
“What are you doing?” Lexa asks. “You are talented but I’m not feeling the whole ‘I want to burn a picture into my back today’ kind of thing.”
Clarke laughs but continues to write “MARRY ME?” with the sun screen. “I just want to try something,” she replies. Once she’s done she grabs her phone and takes the photo, thankfully Lexa’s attention has been to drawn away for the moment.
Day 78
It’s the end of the day and Clarke and Lexa sit on the couch, side by side as they watch TV. As the commercial rolls around Lexa rests her head on Clarke’s shoulder and lets out a small yawn.
Clarke pulls out her phone and opens Snapchat to put the front facing camera on them. She starts to record. “Hey Lex.”
Lexa hums in response and lets out another small yawn.
“Vil du gifte dig med mig?”
“I have no idea what you just said.”
Clarke winks into the camera, “It’s okay.” She stops recording and saves the video.
“What did you say?” Lexa asks.
“It’s not important,” Clarke replies with a smile. She wraps an arm around Lexa’s shoulder and kisses her temple.
Day 100
Clarke is just about the wrap up her shift at the hospital. Lexa walks with her through the corridors as she just needs to drop off a Rubik cube she’s brought for one of her patients. Well that’s what she tells Lexa anyways. But actually, her patient (Wallace) has agreed to help with today’s proposal piece.
Wallace is deaf and since Clarke knew sign language she has been assigned to his case. Wallace is a very sweet kid and when Clarke told him about her plans to propose to Lexa, he immediately asked if he could help. Clarke couldn’t say no (she didn’t want to anyways).
When they get to the room, Clarke takes Lexa’s hand in her own. “Come, I want you to meet someone.” She pulls them inside and immediately Clarke greets Wallace with a small wave. She walks over to the bed and hands him the cube. She signs, “As a thank you.”
Wallace smiles back and signs back. “Is this her?”
Clarke nods and gestures for Lexa to come closer. “Lex, this is Wallace.” She turns back to Wallace and smiles, “This is my girlfriend and hopefully future wife.”
Wallace smiles and hops up from his bed, opening his arms up.
Clarke’s heart positively aches at the sight as Wallace and Lexa share a warm hug. Lexa sways him from side to side a little and the smile on her face is a wide as ever. Clarke pulls out her phone to record the moment.
Wallace pulls back from the hug and signs, “You should marry Clarke,” to Lexa.
Lexa turns towards Clarke for a translation, seemingly ignoring the fact that she was recording the moment.
“He said that you’re prettier than he expected,” Clarke replies.
“Oh really now?” Lexa asks. “You talk about me at work?”
“All the time,” Clarke grins as she ends the video recording.
Lexa turns back to Wallace and smiles as well. She speaks up, “Clarke, tell him that he’s the most handsome kid I’ve ever seen.”
Clarke waits for Wallace to turn towards her before she to signs the message, “She said that you’re the most handsome kid she’s seen.”
“I’m sure she says that to all the kids,” Wallace signs back jokingly.
Clarke laughs and meets Lexa’s gaze. “He said that you probably say that to all the kids.”
Lexa turns Wallace slightly so that they’re facing each other again. She shakes her head with a wider grin on her face than before.
Wallace shies away slightly and turns back to Clarke. “Better ask her to marry you soon, otherwise I might.”
Clarke laughs again, this time a little harder than before.
“What’s so funny?” Lexa asks.
Clarke ignores Lexa for the moment. “Don’t even think about it buddy,” she jokes.
Day 118
Clarke wakes up to the light sound of rain falling outside the window. She grabs her phone and rolls over so that she’s the big spoon when she wraps her arm around Lexa’s body. “Morning,” she whispers when she feels Lexa stir under her touch.
“Hmm,” Lexa replies.
Clarke lets out a small chuckle and starts to record a video. With herself and sleepy Lexa in the frame, she smiles. “Lex, veux-tu m'épouser?”
Lexa’s eyes are still closed. “I’m sorry, that literally went through one ear and right out the other.”
Clarke kisses the back of Lexa’s shoulder and ends the video. She puts her phone aside and returns to pull Lexa back in closer, “It’s okay, go back to sleep.”
Day 135
It’s nearly 11pm and Clarke decides that now is the best time to go and do some grocery shopping. She knows Lexa will come with her for two reasons. First, Lexa loves grocery shopping. And secondly, Lexa knows that if she goes alone all she will buy is junk.
Clarke pushes the trolley as Lexa walks slightly ahead. No one is around so Lexa is a little more care-free in the way she holds herself. Clarke usually hates grocery shopping, but Lexa always makes it so much fun. With one hand she takes out her phone and opens up Snapchat. She starts to record a video as Lexa walks back towards her. “What do you got there, Lex?”
“The one thing I sometimes think you love more than me,” Lexa teases as she places a box of powdered donuts into the trolley.
Clarke grins and keeps the video pointing at Lexa. “You know you’re my number 1… actually number 2.” Clarke laughs as Lexa raises an eyebrow, “Yeah, Maxwell is my number 1.”
“I can’t believe you love our dog more than me,” Lexa gasps, placing her hand over her chest to mock being offended. “You weren’t even here when I got him and he likes you more than me.”
“I’m just that loveable,” Clarke says. “You should know.”
Lexa laughs and pushes the trolley slightly before turning back around to walk down the aisle.
Clarke leans down on the trolley to start pushing it with her elbows so that she can type the text, “WIFE MATERIAL. MARRY ME LEXA,” over the video. She saves it and catches up to her girlfriend.
Day 140
Clarke bakes a cake of Lexa’s birthday. Mind you, she’s no baker but she spends an entire afternoon in the kitchen to make sure she gets it right. And fortunately, it doesn’t turn out too bad. Though it’s just a simple white-chocolate raspberry sponge cake, she’s pretty proud of herself.
As she’s about to apply the frosting she comes up with a brilliant idea for today’s proposal piece. Clarke moves about her kitchen to grab the icing writing pen and her phone before returning back to the cake. She starts to spread the frosting over the double layered cake.
Once that’s done she grabs the icing pen and writes, “Will you marry me?” on top the top. Luckily for her, the icing cooperates and her writing turns out quite nice. “I’m a fucking genius,” Clarke compliments to herself as she grabs her phone. She opens up the camera and switches it so it’s facing her. She hits record.
“Hey babe, it’s your birthdayyyyyyyy! So happy birthday. I have many plans for you tonight.” Clarke winks into the camera before speaking up again. “You should be home soon and I have one very important question for you…” Clarke leans down towards the cake and holds up the camera as if she was going to take a selfie with the cake. Once she and the cake are in the frame nicely she grins. “I think today is like day…. 140 of me asking you to marry me and you won’t actually see this video for another…. 225 days. I mean, if I don’t get caught by then.” Clarke lets out a small laugh and straightens herself back up. She switches the camera so the she can just get the cake in the shot. With her free hand she grabs the frosting paddle and starts to carefully cover the writing on the cake. “So for now you can’t see this. God I hope you say yes…. Oh I hear the door opening I think you back. Okay, happy birthday babe. I love you.”
Clarke ends the video and quickly covers the rest of the message, and just in time too. Lexa walks into the kitchen just as she puts down the frosting paddle. “Hey!” Clarke greets. She jogs over and engulfs Lexa into a tight hug. “Happy birthday!”
Lexa smiles and hugs back immediately. She looks over to the kitchen bench and smiles, “Did you bake me a cake?”
“I did,” Clarke replies. “You better like it.”
“I can promise to at least try and like it,” Lexa teases.
Clarke pulls back from the hug just enough so that she can take Lexa’s lips within her own. Their lips move against each other slowly as Clarke’s hands move to pull Lexa in closer by the waist. Clarke smiles into the kiss, causing it to end briefly, “Happy birthday.”
Lexa smiles too. “Happy birthday indeed,” she whispers before closing the distance between them again.
Day 168
Clarke comes home and sees Lexa taking a nap on the couch. She can’t explain it, but the simple sight of Lexa asleep makes her heart flutter. Every day she does her proposal picture/video she becomes more and more sure that Lexa is the absolute one for her.
She quickly and quietly grabs another post it and scribbles, “Mi vuoi sposare?” on it before carefully moving back towards the living room. Clarke settles on the floor and sets herself up to take a photo with the note and a sleeping Lexa.
Day 188
Today is another very close call.
As Clarke walks past the kitchen she sees Lexa cooking away. “Need any help?”
Lexa shakes her head. “Nearly done.”
Clarke nods and takes a seat on one of the kitchen bar stools. Lexa is turned around so Clarke uses this time to try and get today’s photo. She pulls a post it from her back pocket and also her phone. She gets Lexa’s back and the note in the shot and takes the photo.
But then the shutter goes off and Lexa turns around. Clarke scrunches the note immediately and slowly backs away.
“Clarke…” Lexa whispers.
“Yes?” Clarke smirks, feigning innocence.
Lexa steps towards Clarke. She doesn’t say anything until she’s got Clarke backed against the wall. “What do you got in your hand?”
“Nothing….” Clarke trails off, scrunching her hand a little tighter. She feels Lexa lift her hand up slightly. “I swear.”
“Then show me,” Lexa whispers as she presses her body against Clarke’s.
Clarke lets out an audible whimper but manages to stay strong. She shakes her head.
Lexa places her hand on Clarke’s waist and pushes herself closer. She brushes her nose over Clarke’s and their lips are just a breath a part. “Show me,” she whispers.
“I can’t,” Clarke whispers back. She tries to close the distance between them but Lexa is quick to pull back.
“Nah-ah, not till you show me.”
Clarke shakes her head again.
“Don’t make me tickle you.”
“No, no, no, Lexa no,” Clarke cries. But Lexa starts to tickle her waist and immediately she is on her knees. “Lexa, stop, no, no please.”
Lexa lets out a small chuckle. “Just show me the note, Clarke.”
Clarke just shakes her head again but Lexa starts to tickle her more. “Lexa, no, come on, please.” But Lexa shows no sign of stopping and Clarke is basically defenceless at this point. So she does the only thing she think she can do. She shoves the scrunched up post it in her mouth.
“Clarke!” Lexa yells as she halts the tickling.
It’s definitely not a welcome taste but Clarke remains tight lipped.
Day 201
Clarke fills her mother in on her proposal plan as they have lunch one day. Despite the fact that it’s been over three years since they started a relationship and Abby’s constant reassurance that she approves of Lexa 100%, Clarke is still a little nervous. But obviously her nerves quickly disappear when her mother tells her that this was the best proposal she’s ever heard of.
Clarke decides to use her mum in today’s proposal piece. She had a close call the day before and just wasn't feeling lucky today. She gets a quick ten second video of her mum saying, “Lexa, Clarke is asking you to marry her. And it would make me really happy to have you as my daughter-in-law.”
Day 223
Clarke sits in bed as she finishes going through her friend’s Snapchat stories. When Lexa walks into the room she swipes the screen so that the camera is on herself face. She starts to record. “Hey Lex.”
“Yes, Clarke?”
Clarke flicks her gaze between the camera and Lexa. “A wnewch chi briodi fi?”
“Is learning new languages a new hobby or something?”
Clarke grins into the camera, “Kind of...”
Day 250
Clarke ends up telling Anya about her proposal too. Anya is Lexa’s best friend and her own friendship with the woman has definitely grown over the past few years. The first thing Anya says is that she’s surprised Clarke has made it this far without Lexa finding out. Clarke is too actually, but she tries not to get too cocky because she’s only just over halfway there.
Anya holds up a sign that says, “Lexa, TIME TO GET HITCHED!” and lets Clarke take the photo.
Day 260
Today’s proposal piece doesn’t involve Lexa, but it does involve Maxwell (their dog).
Clarke finishes work just past 5pm and by the time she got home, Lexa was already at the restaurant for her night shift. After dinner she grabs a sheet of paper and cuts it into two, scribbling “YES” on one and “NO” on the other. She places the two sheets on the ground, about two feet away from each other and places a dog treat on them both.
She then goes to grab Maxwell and places him in the middle of the two of the two papers. “Stay,” she calls out. Clarke takes out her phone and starts to record, “Hey Maxwell, should Lexa say yes when I ask her to marry me?”
Maxwell jumps up and run towards the “NO” paper.
Clarke stops recording. “Damn it Maxwell! That’s not the right answer.”
So she puts another treat down and tries again. However, Maxwell still runs to “NO”.
Clarke tries again.
And again.
And again.
Clarke is completely offended by this point. She even switches the papers around but still Maxwell runs to the “NO”.
She almost reaches the max amount of treats she should be giving Maxwell and she still doesn’t have the video she wants. So desperate times call for desperate measures. She changes the “NO” paper to another “YES” paper and (thankfully) gets the video she wants – not that Maxwell had any real choice.
Day 288
Clarke was over in San Fran with her mum for the weekend. She shows her mum the various pictures and videos she’s got, feeling very giddy that it has been going very well so far.
Later that night, Clarke is in bed with her laptop on her lap. She’s been on a Skype call with Lexa for about an hour now, just talking about their day and other little mindless things. Sometime during the conversation, she writes “Will you do me the honour of being my wife?” on a post it and sticks it on the screen. This proposal piece is probably the easiest one yet and she’s going to kick herself is she manages to stuff it up somehow.
“I’m going to take a photo, okay?” Clarke says as she takes out her phone.
“You know you can just screen shot, right?”
Clarke shrugs playfully. “I want to put it on SnapChat.” She gets the laptop screen on the camera and focuses it so that the note is readable, she clicks records. “Hey Lex.”
“Yes?”
“I love you.”
“Love you more.”
Day 300
Clarke is drawing on Lexa’s arm. What started to be some random fun, sees her still drawing about four hours later. She’s basically designed a whole tattoo sleeve for her girlfriend. It looks pretty great and she finishes it off by incorporating “結婚して下さい?” seamlessly into the design.
“What does that say?” Lexa asks.
“It says ‘Clarke is the best’ in Japanese,” she replies as seriously as she can.
Lexa laughs and just accepts it.
Clarke gets a good photo. She actually gets many photos because the design she’s made is pretty good if she says so herself.
Day 318
Clarke has back to back surgeries today and just doesn’t think she’ll be able to get a photo. Luckily enough, Octavia comes in and saves the day.
So Octavia is head chef at Adina’s, where Lexa just so happens to be the head bartender. They’ve built up a really good friendship over the past few years and Octavia has the perfect plan to get a photo for Clarke. So on an A4 piece of paper she writes in big letters, “CLARKE IS ASKING YOU TO MARRY HER (SAY YES).”
Every day before service Octavia goes up to the bar, where she and Lexa share quick drink (usually the non-alcoholic kind) and today is no different. As she takes a seat, Octavia sticks the piece of paper to the front of the bar which is completely out of sight from Lexa.
They do their usual thing, they share a drink and talk about the little things. But just as she’s about to leave, Octavia speaks up. “Hey, so Steve wants me to take some photos for the Facebook. Can I get one of you behind the bar?”
Lexa raises an eyebrow, “He asked you?”
“Yeah,” Octavia shrugs. “He doesn’t need professional, just some new photos.”
“Ah, sure.”
Octavia gets down from the bar stool and takes a few steps back. Taking out her phone, she focuses the camera to make sure the message is visible. She takes a few photos so Clarke can choose and also a few more without the message to cover her bases.
Once she’s done, Octavia walks back up to the bar and shows Lexa one photo (obviously without the message). “I think I’ll give him this one. Alright with you?”
Lexa nods before saying goodbye and walking away towards storage.
Octavia mentally pats herself on the back and starts to head back towards the kitchen. She takes five steps and remembers something very important. Striding back towards the bar, she takes the paper and goes to discard of it in one of the kitchen bins.
Day 333
It’s Thursday evening and Clarke sits on the couch, waiting for Lexa to come home. Fortunately, she doesn’t have to wait long until she hears the door opening and the sound of familiar footsteps walking through. “Hey babe!” Clarke calls out. In her hand she has her phone ready to record today’s video. Clarke hums in approval and Lexa leans over the back of the couch to greet her with a quick kiss.
Lexa moves so that her head is resting on Clarke’s shoulder and lets out a small, content sigh. She wraps her arms around Clarke. “How was your day?”
“Good. But definitely better now that you’re here,” Clarke replies without missing a beat. She lifts up her phone and starts to record the video. “Hey Lexa.”
“Yes?” Lexa replies as she places a soft kiss on Clarke’s cheek. She looks into the camera and simply smiles as she waits for Clarke to keep going.
“An mbeidh tú ag pósadh liom?”
Lexa lets out a soft chuckle. “Yes…”
Clarke’s heart speeds up as she thinks that Lexa has understood what she had just asked. But she lets out a sigh of relief when Lexa continues to talk.
“Yes I had a fantastic day, thanks for asking,” Lexa jokes.
Clarke turns her head slightly to capture Lexa’s bottom lip between her own. She keeps the camera on them for a few moments before throwing her phone aside and pulling Lexa over the couch.
Day 351
Today’s photo is one of the simpler ones. Clarke finishes taking a steaming hot shower so the bathroom mirror is all fogged up. With her index finger she write, “LEXA, WILL YOU MARRY ME?” into the mirror and grabs her phone to take a photo before it disappears.
Day 364
Clarke has done it.
She has basically reached the end without being caught.
She’s actually freaking done it.
Over the past few months she started to put together all the proposal pieces into a video and now she just needed one more to complete it. After today should would have taken 364 photos/videos and for number 365 she would actually ask Lexa to marry her during their four-year anniversary dinner.
Clarke had the next day off and was going to spend most of it preparing a home cooked dinner for the two of them. She just wanted it to be them for the night (but promises Raven, Octavia, Anya and her mum that she’ll share the video once Lexa has seen it). Everything was going to plan and Clarke was excited.
She’s honestly run out of ideas for photos and videos so she keeps it simple for the last one. It’s mid-afternoon and they were enjoying some quiet time before Lexa had to go into work for the night. Lexa had actually fallen asleep about ten minutes earlier, her head peacefully lying upon Clarke’s chest.
Clarke carefully pulls out a post it from her pocket that said, “Will you marry me?” on it. She sticks it to her own forehead and grabs her phone to take a selfie of herself with Lexa still peacefully sleeping on her chest.
Later that night, Clarke sits on her side of the bed as she puts the finishing touches on the video. It ends up being just over 12 minutes and she couldn’t be happier with the end result. She exports the final copy and saves it to a USB before shutting her laptop. It’s just before midnight and she's pretty sure that Lexa won’t be home for at least another half-hour.
Just as she’s about to sleep, the bedroom door opens. “Hey,” she smiles as she sees Lexa. “You’re back early.”
“Yeah…” Lexa whispers. “I wanted to come see you.”
Clarke watches Lexa and she can’t read what’s going on. Lexa looks at her like… like she’s just had an epiphany or something. But also at the same time Lexa looks kind of anxious and maybe even a little excited (maybe a bit of both?). “Are you okay?” Clarke asks.
Lexa nods. She crosses the room and onto the bed. “I’m perfect, actually,” she says as she straddles Clarke’s lap over the sheets.
Like an automatic reaction, Clarke’s hands move to rest on the small of Lexa’s back. “Perfect, you say? You’re not usually this happy after work.”
Lexa leans forward and kisses Clarke softly. “I’m always this happy coming home to you.”
“Okay, smooth-talker,” Clarke laughs lightly. She pulls Lexa in for a hug and her heart flutters as they stay like this for a while. “So everything is okay?” she asks, pulling back from the hug.
“Like I said before, everything is perfect.”
“Did something happen at work? Not that I don’t love seeing you like this, because I do.”
Lexa laughs. “Actually something did happen at work.” She pauses for a moment. “A woman proposed to her girlfriend tonight and the atmosphere in the restaurant was just so… electric. Everyone was so happy, especially the new engaged couple. They were so happy, Clarke,” Lexa breathes.
Clarke’s breathing stills because everything within her starts screaming. She’s doing everything she can to hide the whirlwind of emotions that were running through her entire body at this point. Part of her is just ready to scream out “YES!” a million times over because she’s pretty sure she knows what’s going to happen next. But the other part of her remembers her own proposal plan. The one that she’s spent an entire year working on.
Lexa cups either side to Clarke’s face. “I was going to do this tomorrow, but I don’t want to wait anymore. I want to be as happy as the women from the restaurant tonight. I want to be that happy with you right now.”
“Lexa…” Clarke breaths.
With one hand, Lexa reaches into her jacket pocket and pulls out a small black velvet box.
Clarke’s breath hitches because yep, this was happening. Lexa was proposing and that’s all she can focus on right now. She’ll figure out what to do with her own proposal later. She watches as Lexa opens the box to reveal the ring inside and her breath hitches again because she recognises it. It's her mother's.
Lexa holds the box between the two of them. “You have made me the happiest woman in the woman, Clarke. Every day I fall in love with you a little more, and I honestly cannot imagine going through life without you.” Lexa takes a moment to take a deep breath and pull the ring out of the box. “There’s so much I want to say, but I’m struggling to even string together the simplest sentences at the moment. I love you, so much. Clarke Griffin, will you marry me?”
“Yes,” Clarke replies immediately with a grin. She leans forward and they share a quick, but heated kiss before breaking a part. “A million times, yes.” Clarke feels Lexa lift her left hand slide the ring onto her finger. “This is the ring my dad gave to my mum for their engagement.”
Lexa slides the ring to the base of Clarke’s fingertips and nods. “I went to see her last week to tell her I was going to propose to you.”
Clarke is quite literally over the moon right now. At this moment she doesn’t even care that Lexa’s beat her to the proposal (though she’s sure that bound to come later), it’s not like she couldn’t still follow through with her own plans tomorrow. She cups either side of Lexa’s face and looks into the green eyes she’s grown to love so much. “We’re engaged,” she smiles.
“We are.”
Clarke pulls Lexa in for a fiery kiss. They celebrate their engagement well into the night and then some since it was always now their four-year anniversary.
Day 365
Clarke is all sorts of nervous and excited for the day. Lexa had to work the lunch shift at the restaurant so that she was able to have the night off. Which was perfect because it gave Clarke time to get things ready. She had to stop by the grocery store, then get the ring from Octavia’s and come back home to make sure she had enough time to prepare dinner.
Before she heads off to the grocery store she calls Raven and Octavia to tell them what had happened the night before. Her best friends laugh for a good five minutes – but congratulate her on the engagement nonetheless. They ask if she was still going to go through with her own proposal and Clarke basically scoffs at the question. She did not just execute the greatest propose plan only to back out the very last second. No way. Lexa deserves to know that she is absolutely and undoubtedly head over heels in love with her.
Clarke also calls her mother. Because despite the fact that she was already engaged, she was still so nervous. Her mum tells her that Lexa did come to her see her one day. But on that day Lexa had said she was going to propose on their four-year anniversary and it’s not like Abby could say no without making it look suspicious. Clarke laughs at the worried tone in her mother’s voice, but reassures her that she isn’t mad. She’s just nervous. They stay on the phone for about half an hour as Clarke listens to her mum retell the story about how Jake had proposed to her.
Clarke finishes grocery shopping and arrives back at her apartment just before 2pm. With a change of plans, Octavia comes by with the ring (and so that she can help guide Clarke in the right direction for the meal she was going to cook.) The plan for dinner was some BBQ ribs, a potato bake and a simple salad to lighten everything up. And for dessert was a chia seed puddling with some fresh fruit.
The meal is simple enough and Octavia ends up being there more so for moral support. By 3:30pm she’s leaving to run a few errands before she has to go into work herself. She leaves the apartment with some very supporting words, “Well it’s not like she’s going to say ‘no’ because that would be awkward…”
By 4pm everything is going to plan. The ribs and potato are in the oven, the salad is done and the chia seed pudding is setting the in fridge. She sets the table (bringing out the nice candles) and cleans up around the apartment a bit.
The plan was to have dinner then simply settle on the couch to watch movies for the rest of the night. But obviously, instead of a movie playing – it would be the proposal video. Just before the “movie” plays, Clarke is going to excuse herself to go to the bathroom, leaving Lexa to watch the video by herself. Once it’s over Clarke will come back and pop the question.
Just as she’s about to take a shower, Clarke checks her phone to see a couple of missed messages. She sends a quick reply to all of them.
Lexa Woods
I love you
Can’t wait for tonight!
Clarke Griffin
Me too! Get your ass
home as soon as you can
- - -
Anya Carson
Heard Lexa ruined
your big proposal
by beating you to it
Clarke Griffin
ruined? no. however she
did beat me to it but im
still going through with
the initial plan
- - -
Raven Reyes
You know what would
be hilarious? You doing all
this stuff today to have
the perfect meal and Lexa
comes home with dinner from
like, Adina herself or something
Clarke Griffin
shut up
One thing they agreed upon for this dinner was to keep things casual. They do fancy every now and then and it was great to get all dressed up, but they both decided to keep it simple this time around. No shimmering dresses or heels, no need for make-up or to do hair, it was going to be a PJ’s type of night with good food, alcohol and just each other.
By 6pm, she’s stepping out of the bathroom in her stripy blue PJ pants and white loose fitting shirt. She checks on her food and gets all excited again to see that everything is still going according to plan.
When she hears keys rustling outside the apartment, Clarke is quick on her feet and opening the door for Lexa. “Hey,” she smiles.
Lexa smiles as well, “Hey,” she replies as she puts her keys away.
Clarke pulls Lexa into the apartment and pins her against the back of the door. Without wasting another second she leans in for a passionate, purposeful kiss. Clarke moans when Lexa’s tongue runs along her bottom lip. Kissing Lexa is nothing new, but it always felt new. The rush of excitement that courses through her veins is exhilarating. Lexa has that effect on her and Clarke is addicted to it.
Lexa pushes her towards the living room. In a matter of moments, Clarke’s knees hit the back of the couch and Lexa straddles her lap so that they can continue kissing. Just as they pull a part to catch their breath, Clarke grins. “Happy anniversary, babe.”
Lexa peppers kisses all over Clarke’s face, “I love you.”
“I love you, too,” Clarke giggles. They stay like this for a while, kissing and holding each other while whispering sweet little remarks into each other’s ears.
The beeping from the oven breaks the little bubble they’re in. Lexa hops off Clarke and they both wonder into the kitchen. Lexa takes a deep breath in, “This smells amazing, Clarke.”
Clarke turns the setting on the oven to “keep warm” and turns back to Lexa. “Right?” She pauses. “Go, take a shower. Everything will be set up by the time you come back out.”
“You know…” Lexa trails off as she steps closer. She takes Clarke’s hand within her own and brings their faces closer together, “You could join me. We’d be saving water.”
Clarke chuckles lightly and places a soft, chaste kiss on Lexa’s lips. “We’ll have time for that later.” She gives Lexa another kiss. “I want this night to go perfectly.”
“You know it’s already perfect, right?” Lexa snakes her hand to the back of Clarke’s neck and pulls her in so that their foreheads are resting against each other. “Every day with you is perfect.”
“Even when I try to convince you that the crab joke is funny?”
“Do you want my honest answer?” Lexa teases.
“Probably not,” Clarke laughs. She closes the distance between them again, and again, kissing Lexa just makes her heart absolutely flutter. Every time there are fireworks. Every. Single. Time.
About half an hour later Lexa comes back from her shower, dressed in black shirt and red PJ pants. Clarke hits play on the stereo and jogs over to wrap her arms around Lexa’s waist, pulling her in for some extra sloppy kisses.
“Aw Clarke! Gross!” Lexa squeals.
Clarke laughs before slowing it so that she can kiss Lexa properly. And with the music in the background they start to dance in each other's arms.
“Happy anniversary, Clarke,” Lexa whispers as she rests their foreheads together again. Her hands wrap around Clarke’s neck whilst Clarke’s are wrapped around her waist.
“Happy anniversary, love.”
They dance for a couple of songs before Clarke is guiding Lexa to the table where everything is almost set. As Lexa pours the wine, Clarke is back in the kitchen to grab the ribs and potato from the oven, bringing them over to the table and doubling back around the grab the salad.
Dinner is an absolute success. The food is perfect and the chatter between Clarke and Lexa flows with ease. They talk, laugh and smile like it was any other night. That’s what made it so perfect. Dessert is just as good. Clarke tops the pudding with various fresh fruits and brings it over to the table.
Clarke nerves start to come back when they’re putting the dishes into the dishwater. Her hands shake slightly and her words are catching in her throat more often than not. It was now time for her to play the video and propose – and like Octavia said it wasn’t like Lexa was going to say no, but Clarke was still nervous as hell.
She takes the wine and their glasses to the living room table – with Lexa following close behind. As they take their seat on the couch, Maxwell jumps up on Lexa’s lap and settles down as well.
“What are we watching?” Lexa asks.
“I don’t remember the title,” Clarke lies as she flicks through the channels. “Octavia dropped off a DVD earlier in the day and said it was good. It’s got the actress from… that show… the show with the guy from that movie we watched last week.”
Lexa laughs. “That’s helpful.”
Clarke hands the remote over to Lexa, “Here start to movie I’m just going to use the bathroom really quick.”
“I’ll just wait.”
Clarke shakes her head. “It’s fine. It’s probably just previews in the beginning anyways.” She leans over to place another kiss on Lexa’s lips before standing up and moving down the hall. She doesn’t step very far into the hall though, just enough that Lexa couldn’t see her but enough to still be able to hear the TV.
Her heart was pounding out of her chest and it shows no sign of slowing down as a familiar tune starts to play from the TV. The next 12 minutes were going to be the longest of her life.
Lexa is a little confused when she presses play on the TV. The screen is just pitch black and it wasn’t like the usual title sequence of a DVD, but she simply shrugs it off. She looks down to her lap and strokes Maxwell a few times, waiting for the DVD to start playing. When music starts, she looks back up and is startled to see what she finds on the screen.
Dear Lexa,
She raises an eyebrow, but keeps her focus on the TV just in case she missed anything. The first message fades away and another one appears.
Happy anniversary, love.
Don’t look back or call for me yet, just watch this video.
I’ll be back out once it’s over.
I love you.
Lexa does as she’s told, she stays in her seat and gives her full attention to the TV. The last message fades out and suddenly Clarke is on the TV. Lexa smiles and her heart flutters, a feeling she was definitely use to whenever Clarke is involved.
“Happy Anniversary Lexa! As you probably realised, this is all planned. So I’m just in the other room and I’ll be back out once the video is over. It’s about 12 minutes long so just settle in and enjoy, okay?”
Lexa can’t help but grin and nod, despite Clarke not being able to see her anyway.
“Four years? Can you believe it? I can’t sometimes. There are days I still have to pinch myself to make sure that being with you isn’t some dream. You are most patient, loving, caring, the smartest and most beautiful woman I know.”
“Have you met yourself?” Lexa whispers to herself, placing her hand over her heart. It was beating erratically as she had no idea where this video was going.
“You are my best friend, my love, my soulmate. You have made me the happiest woman in the world to be able to call you mine. I just hope that I give you the joy and happiness and love that you deserve.”
“You do,” Lexa smiles.
“This video… this moment has been in the works for the past year. And you’re probably a little confused right now but I promise I’ll stop talking in a moment... So exactly a year ago was our three year anniversary – and that day I decided on something very important. Well it was something I had known for a while – but on our third anniversary I came up with a very elaborate year-long plan to get us to this moment right now.”
Lexa was a little more confused now, but kept her focus on the TV.
“So for the past 365 days I have asked you one question… and I haven’t gotten a response yet… Because well, to be fair, I asked you without you knowing. So in just a moment you’re going to see a bunch a photos and videos of me asking you this question every day since the day after our third anniversary. So certain moments from the past year will definitely make sense as you watch the video. And yeah… that’s all I have to say for now. I love you, Lexa. Happy Anniversary.”
Lexa smiles at the screen, but still had no idea what she was going to see. Clarke saying that she’s asked her a question every day for the past year has thrown a spanner in the works. She has no idea what it could have possibly been. She watches as the screen goes black again, with a date appearing in the bottom right corner (the day after their third anniversary).
What Lexa sees next has her speechless. It’s a photo of them, with Lexa still a sleep and a piece of paper between them that had “MARRY ME?” scribbled on it. Then the date ticks over to the next day and the photo changes. And again it’s another photo of Clarke holding up the “MARRY ME?” sign with Lexa in the background, obviously oblivious to what was going on. The date ticks over again and there’s another photo.
And another.
And another.
It then clicks for Lexa what this video is – and what Clarke has done every day for the past year.
And part of her feels instantly bad for proposing the night before. But she’ll think about that later, for now she just wants to watch and enjoy the video. And like Clarke had said, certain moments from the past year starts to make complete sense.
It gets to the picture of the day they went to the park and Lexa had found a post it that said “WILL YOU MARRY ME?” on it. She didn’t even consider that it could have been from Clarke and she lets out a small chuckle thinking at how panicked Clarke must have been in that moment.
Lexa isn’t surprised that Octavia has been in on it the whole time as well.
When it gets to the video of Clarke asking the question in Danish, there are subtitles to translate what she was saying. Lexa lets out an audible “aww” with her hand over her heart. This is the most considerate and thoughtful thing anyone has ever done for her.
The first tears start to fall when it comes to the video of Wallace (the deaf patient Clarke had earlier in the year). Again, Clarke had put subtitles on the video to translate the sign language and when Lexa sees that Wallace had actually said “You should marry Clarke” she cries.
The video of Clarke asking if Lexa would marry her in French, has Lexa laughing as she remembers how clueless she was in that moment.
And her birthday cake one! She knew she tasted icing between the frosting, but Clarke head reassured her that were was no icing on the cake whatsoever.
What surprises her though is when the photo of Anya pops up. She’ll have words with her best friend later.
Lexa gets another good laugh when it gets to the photo that Octavia had taken of her behind the bar which was “meant to be for the restaurant’s Facebook page.”
The days keep ticking over and with every photo/video, Lexa’s heartbeat picks up. The amount of joy and happiness and love she feels in this moment is indescribable. Clarke is crazy about her as she is of Clarke and that was the best feeling.
Lexa recognises the last photo without the need to check the date. It’s a photo from just the day before where she was basically taking a nap on top of Clarke. The last picture fades out to one final message.
I love you.
Lexa wipes her eyes and barely has time to turn around before she sees Clarke coming back. “Hi,” Lexa half laughs, half cries.
“Hi,” Clarke grins. She moves and gets down on one knee right in front of Lexa. “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to make you cry.”
Lexa shakes her head. “No, no, it’s fine. They’re happy tears.”
Clarke cups either side of Lexa’s face. “I can’t believe you beat me to it. A whole year Lex, and you propose the day before I was going to,” she laughs.
Lexa laughs as well but isn’t able to form a coherent sentence.
Clarke traces her fingers over Lexa’s cheek, “I love you so much, Lexa. And I just have one question for you.” She feels Lexa nod in her hands so she clears her throat, “Do you know when the next season of Grounders is coming back?” she asks, teasingly. Clarke points to the TV, “Because like I really miss that show.”
Lexa laughs and pushes Clarke back slightly. “You’re a jerk.”
“A jerk you love,” Clarke grins. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding.” She reaches into her pocket and pulls out a purple box, flicking it open towards Lexa. “Lexa Woods, will you do me the honour of becoming my wife?”
Lexa nods as she bites her bottom lip. She watches as Clarke takes the ring out the box and slip it onto her ring finger. Once it was on, Lexa wasted no time in pulling Clarke closer for a kiss. They move themselves so that Lexa is lying flat across the couch and Clarke is on top of her, keeping their lips connected as best they could.
Clarke runs her hands down Lexa’s body and down towards Lexa’s thigh so she can try and pull them closer. She feels Lexa suddenly stop for a moment so she stops herself, “What’s wrong?”
“That time you put the post it in your mouth?”
Clarke nods slightly. “It had ‘will you marry me?’ on it.”
“And that time in the bar… with the darts?”
Clarke nods.
“What about when you… with the jelly?”
“Sadly so,” Clarke laughs.
“And that time in the shower?”
Clarke drops her head into the crook of Lexa’s neck and laughs again. “Not that time, that was unfortunately all me.”
Lexa laughs and giggles as Clarke places lazy kisses on her neck. A few moments later she brings her hands to cup Clarke’s face, letting green eyes dance with blue. “We’re getting married,” Lexa smiles.
Clarke grins. “Griffin-Woods has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?”
“It sure does.”