Chapter Text
Mid-July
Raven looked out of the car’s window at the passing houses. They were much bigger than the ones she saw when she lived with Nia in Azgeda, the bad part of town. The thought made her immediately grab a handful of her big green shirt and squeeze the fabric in her hand. She didn’t like to think about Nia, or about her cold small house or her cold mean hands that would hit her when she didn’t do something right or when her bad leg would slow her down in the mornings. Raven took a deep breath and tried to calm her now fast breathing. Ms. Becca had promised her that this family would not be like Nia. But Raven was used to false promises, just like when her momma had promised her she would come back to the hospital after her leg surgery but didn’t. Like when, last year, she saw Finn, one of the big boys that lived at the group home, pack his bag and sneak out the window and into his friend Jasper’s car, promising he would come back to get her out of there but she had waited and waited and he never returned. No, Raven no longer believed in any promises that anyone made her.
When the car stopped Raven kept her gaze on her old and worn sneakers until Ms. Becca opened the door for her. When she looked up the first thing she noticed was the house. It looked nothing like Nia’s small, old one, with the ugly green paint almost all peeled off of its walls. No, this house was big, neatly painted with a soft yellow, with big white windows and greenish blue blinds. All around it was a white fence and grass. And not dead and sad grass no. Fluffy, green grass.
“Ready to meet your new foster parents Raven? “ Ms. Becca's voice brought her back to reality and Raven nodded - because really, what choice did she have? She grabbed her small backpack and, with Ms. Becca’s help, climbed out of the car. Suddenly the front door opened and Raven’s heart skipped a beat at the sound. She hadn’t had time to get ready yet. She was going to take a deep breath and make sure her voice wasn’t shaking. She was going to make her brave face and show them that no matter who they were they couldn’t get to her (Finn at taught her that, even when they both knew it never worked with him because he would still come back to the group home with bruised legs and arms). She heard a woman talk to Ms. Becca and then felt a little tug in her hand. “Raven this is Clarke. Can you say hi to her?”
Raven took a deep breath and, has loud and as steady as she could master, let out a small “Hi Clarke.”
She saw a shadow kneel in front of her, blocking the sun from hitting the top of her head.
“Hello Raven.”
When she looked up, Raven's breath was caught in her throat. The woman looked so much like Nia and, at the same time, nothing at all. They both had blond hair but while Nia’s was always in an unbrushed bun, Clarke’s was let down, with soft waves framing her face and her blue eyes were warm and sweet, not like Nia’s cold and tired ones. And above it all, while Nia always looked like a ruthless queen, Clarke reminded her of a princess, the kind that lived long ago and had happy endings. And Raven was sure she wasn’t meant to have a happy ending. Nia had once told her that no one would ever love her, not with her disrespectful attitude or with her useless leg. The woman, Clarke, sent her a sweet, warm smile that made the corners of her mouth turn up a bit, before she could stop them. She then heard Ms. Becca talking but Raven couldn’t look away from Clarke’s face.
“I’ll be back in about a week and a half to make sure everything is in place.” She was sure that it was directed to Clarke but Raven still nodded slightly. “Bye Raven” The warm hand dropped hers and Raven heard the door slam and the car engine starting behind her. Raven turned around just in time to see Ms. Becca waving at her and before she could wave back, the car was going down the street and gone. Raven's breathing started quickening again and she was afraid to turn around and be met with a hard face or a mean hand. She tried calming her breathing again when she felt a hand on her arm. She closed her eyes expecting to be dragged forcefully but instead she felt a hand going up and down on her arm lightly.
“Raven, sweetheart, do you want to come inside and met my wife?”
Clarke’s voice was soft and careful but Raven was still unsure about her. After all, it could be just a trick to make sure she was a good girl and not a bad, stubborn one. But Raven didn’t want to be on her bad side, not yet, so she just nodded, turning around. Clarke was still smiling at her and offered her hand for Raven to take. Hesitantly, Raven took it and they started making their way to the house. Raven was surprised over how warm and light Clarke’s touch was. And how she didn’t try and make her walk faster. No, instead, the blonde walked at Raven’s pace, making sure not to rush her and Raven thought that maybe; just maybe, there could be hope for her.
When they reached the front door, Raven’s heart started pounding again. What if Clarke’s wife wasn’t as nice as her - or didn’t pretend to be as nice? What if she didn’t want Raven in here at all? She stared at nothing while Clarke opened the front door of the house and stepped in but Raven stood in place.
She felt like running. She wondered how far she could run before Clarke started chasing after her. Not far, especially with her bad leg.
“Come on,” Clarke said, motioning her to move inside with her hand. “Lexa is in the backyard with lemonade and cake for us.”
Seeing there wasn’t much she could do, Raven walked inside and grabbed Clarke’s hand, missing the soft touch of the woman’s skin. Their house was huge. Maybe not the biggest of the biggest but much bigger and welcoming than the houses she had lived in. It was full of pictures, paintings and candles. There were flowers in almost every corner, bright, happy flowers, beautifully arranged in bouquets. She stopped when she saw the big, yellow sunflowers in the corner of the living room in front of a window with the sun completely hitting them. Rave loved the sun. Or any star for that matter. She immediately regretted stopping when she felt the little tough at her hand caused by Clarke realizing that she had stopped. She prepared to hear yelling but, again, there was nothing.
“You like flowers sweetheart?”
Raven shrugged. She didn’t really have an opinion in them since she was never really around them. She doesn’t remember being in any house that actually had them. Real ones, at least.
“Well, if you would like, Lexa can take you to her flower shop one of these days. Just so you can get a feeling for it.”
Before Raven could say or do anything she saw two bright eyes coming from behind the vase where the sun flowers resided and heard a hiss directed at her, before an ugly, bald creature started launching toward her, causing her to scream and fall.
“TITUS!! You useless, stupid cat!!” She heard Clarke scream at the animal “I’m so sorry Raven. Don’t take it too personally, that mean cat only likes Lexa. He never liked me and I’m sure he still doesn’t.”
Raven looked up at her with teary eyes, and immediately saw the alarm in Clarke’s eyes but her attention was quickly shifted to the sound of footsteps approaching them.
“Clarke? What happened? I heard screaming!”
Raven looked at the woman that she assumed was Lexa, Clarke’s wife. She was slightly taller than Clarke, with curly brown hair over one shoulder and big green eyes clouded with worry.
“It was that awful cat of yours that decided to jump of and scare us” Clarke said. She then kneeled down and helped Raven get up. Her leg hurt a bit but she didn’t want to complain, so she tried to bite back the pain. “Are you okay sweetheart?”
“Yes” Raven managed to say. She had already decided she liked Clarke but she still didn’t want to push it, afraid that they might start thinking of her as to much of a burden. She felt someone move beside her and she saw Lexa kneel down next to Clarke.
“Are you sure you’re ok? You can tell us if you’re hurt.” Even though her voice was soft, even softer than the one Clarke had used when talking to her, Raven quickly nodded her head. “Are you completely sure?” Raven nodded once more “Okay. I’m Lexa, by the way, Clarke’s wife” The woman smiled and much like Clarke’s smile, it made her want to smile back and this time, she allowed it, if only a bit.
“I’m Raven” She surprised herself when the words came out of her mouth strong and sure. She saw Lexa and Clarke looking at each other with smiles on both their faces and suddenly Raven felt her chest get lighter and it seemed like her leg no longer hurt that bad.
“Well, Raven, let’s go outside then? I made some lemonade for you” Lexa said, starting to get up.
Raven nodded and waited for Clarke to get up as well and grabbed her hand, feeling a bit braver now. Lexa walked in front of them, with her back straight and walking with confident steps, like she was royalty; like a queen leading an army. Raven tried to do the same as her, stretching her back. She heard a soft chuckle from her side and looked up to see Clarke staring at her with a fond look. She blushed and looked away. She had never been given a fond look. Never. Maybe Finn had given her something similar from time to time but she was sure it was more a look of pride then one of fondness. She wondered if this is what normal children with normal parents felt like when their parents looked at them. Raven was too young when her momma left her for her to remember if she had ever looked at her like that. But she quickly decided that she liked to be looked at like that. Like she meant something to someone.