Chapter Text
The year after the summer where Clarke and I never had to say goodbye was a simple year. We continued to study at Berkeley, continued to live with Raven and Octavia (who were still in a happy and fulfilling relationship), and we kept in touch with our families. Anya and Lincoln came to visit at Thanksgiving, and Abby and Jake spent Christmas with us.
On New Years' Eve, my phone started ringing shortly after midnight (so I suppose this truly happened on New Years' Day). Anya's name showed up on the caller ID, and I grabbed at Clarke's hand and led her into our bedroom for a moment of peace and quiet, since Raven and Octavia decided to throw a massive party to ring in the new year.
“Anya? Happy New Year!” I said as I answered the phone and immediately put her on speaker. Clarke sat down on our bed and I sat down next to her. But Anya sounded all out of breath, like she had been crying, and I felt panic settle in the pit of my stomach. “What's wrong?”
“No, no, nothing's wrong!” Anya said, definitely sounding like she's been crying now that I was able to hear her voice. “Lincoln proposed!”
“Oh my god!” Clarke exclaimed, and she was practically bouncing on our bed with excitement.
“Well, did you say yes?” I asked as Clarke continued to bounce and smile.
“Of course I fucking said yes, Lexa,” Anya replied. “We're thinking of a summer wedding.”
Clarke practically started shrieking at that point. Anya and I continued to chat, and Clarke and I both offered her our congratulations, and wished both her and Lincoln a happy new year. When I hung up, Clarke tackled me and shrieked again.
“They're getting married!”
I laughed and wrapped my arms around her.
“I know,” I replied. “I never thought Anya was the type to get married, but look at her now.”
“Aww, babe,” Clarke said as she pulled away from me a little and smiled. “Are you jealous? Do you secretly wish we were getting married?”
I blushed and pushed Clarke off me as she laughed and continued to tease me.
“Oh, shut up,” I said, sitting up on the bed and crossing my arms at Clarke, who was still laughing at me. “You know I'd marry you in a heartbeat, but I think we have bigger and better things to do right now.”
“Like what?” Clarke challenged.
“Like this,” I said as I climbed onto Clarke and straddled her hips. She gave me a mischievous smile as I grabbed her by the wrists and lifted them over her head, pinning her to the bed. “This ought to shut you up.”
I leaned down and kissed Clarke fiercely, my lips dominating hers. She moaned into our kiss and bucked her hips up against my own. She was clearly impatient tonight. I trailed my lips down across her jaw, down to her neck, and the expanse of her chest which was revealed by her dress. I pushed the material out of my way to expose her breasts, and I sucked and licked at her nipples while I kept her arms still pinned above her head.
I moved my lips back up to Clarke's and kissed her again, but this time I left her hands free to roam while my own hands moved down her sides, towards the hem of her dress, and I pulled it up. I let my fingers trail up the inside of her thigh, teasing her and making her moan.
“Get on your knees,” I whispered, and Clarke moaned. I lifted myself off her hips so she could actually get on all fours on the bed, and when she finally did, I pushed the hem of her dress up. I put my hand in the centre of her back and pushed her down, so her legs were spread and still holding herself up on her knees, but her chest was flush against the bed. Clarke moaned as I made sure to pull her hair a little on my way back down to her ass.
“Please, Lex,” She whimpered.
I smiled as I hooked my fingers into her panties and pulled them down till they reached her knees and couldn't go any farther. Clarke spread her legs apart more for me as I settled in between them. I had one hand resting on each side of Clarke's hips, and I pulled her closer to my body, which made Clarke moan again. I kept one of my hands resting on her hip, while my other hand moved downwards and I quickly pushed two fingers into her. I pumped them into her quickly, and Clarke bit into a pillow as I increased my pace.
My other hand left her hip and moved around to her front. I moved myself so I was closer to Clarke's back, and leaned down enough so I could reach her clit with my free hand, and I could hear Clarke's desperate whimpers as I continued to fuck her. I knew Clarke loved being fucked from behind like this, loved feeling my fingers push her over the edge like this.
“Lex, I'm gonna,” Clarke breathed, and I could barely hear her over the whimpers and groans and the sounds of my fingers fucking her. “I'm gonna come.”
Even though my arms were burning, I picked up the pace and fucked her even harder than before, slipping in a third finger and filling her completely. Clarke's legs gave out from underneath her as she orgasmed, and because of my position, I ended up collapsing on top of her, my hands trapped beneath and between us.
“Oh my god,” Clarke whimpered as she finally started to move underneath me. “Happy fucking new year indeed.”
I laughed as I rolled off Clarke and licked my fingers, and she looked over at me from where she was still laying on her stomach. She smiled at me and kissed me, moaning at the taste of herself on my lips.
“Your turn,” She said with a smile before climbing on top of me.
She made quick work of taking off her own dress and panties, before she started to work on my pants and shirt.
“These pants make your ass look fantastic, Lexa, but I wish they weren't so fucking tight,” Clarke complained as she struggled to pull my pants off my leg. I laughed at her and tried my best to help and pull my legs out.
“I love when you complain about getting me naked, babe, it just really gets me going,” I said with a smile as Clarke rolled her eyes at me.
Eventually, she did manage to get my pants off, and then she climbed over me and kissed me. She trailed her lips down my neck, across my chest. She reached behind me and unhooked my bra, and sucked at my nipples, leaving hickeys all over the skin she'd exposed. Her fingers trailed down my side and over my hip, dragging her nails down the inside of my thigh before she pushed two fingers into me.
“Does that get you going?” She teased. I moaned in response, and she increased the pace. She hovered over my lips before kissing me, her tongue pushing into my mouth and tangling with mine at the same pace her fingers were fucking me. “God, Lexa, you're so fucking wet.”
I felt her thumb reach up and rub against my clit, making fast side to side motions, and my back arched and I moaned into our kiss.
“Are you gonna come for me?” Clarke teased as she slipped a third finger into me. I moaned again, and her thumb applied more pressure to my clit. Clarke covered my mouth with her own and kissed me as I came and groaned her name into our kiss. She continued to make small movements against my clit to bring me down from my orgasm, and when I was truly finished, she collapsed against my chest, her breasts on top of mine, her skin sticking to mine.
“I love you,” I whispered as I leaned over and kissed Clarke's hair. “I love you so much.”
“I love you, too,” She whispered back. She snuggled into me more firmly, and stayed lying on top of me. I drew small patterns on her back and she closed her eyes and sighed. “Would you really marry me in a heartbeat?”
“Yes,” I replied. Clarke smiled and kissed my neck.
“I'd marry you in a heartbeat, too.”
Clarke changed majors halfway through second semester, and decided to do art history rather than just art. She was really worried about job prospects for after graduation, and was hoping that she might have better luck finding a job with an art history degree. I encouraged her to do whatever she thought was best, but I really didn't know if there was any difference between normal art and art history. I was studying politics with a minor in peace and conflict studies, and I basically hadn't changed that since I started here at Berkeley.
Raven was studying some kind of rocket science, and Octavia was doing criminology. They were usually pretty busy, but I think we were all pretty happy here. Despite my initial worries, living with Octavia and Raven was pretty fun.
As second semester came to a close, we renewed our lease on the apartment for another two years, which was a huge relief since we loved this place and really didn't want to face the hassle of having to move.
During finals week, I came home completely exhausted. As I slipped my key into the front door, I noticed that there was really loud Spanish music playing, and for a moment I considered just leaving and heading to a nearby Starbucks, but I was too intrigued to not go into the apartment.
When I opened the door, I found Raven trying to teach Octavia how to dance and sing along to the lyrics.
“Hey Lexa!” Raven called as she grabbed Octavia's hips and moved them in a wide circle.
“Hey, Raven, what's all this about?” I asked as I dropped my bags by the front door and put my keys on the table in the entranceway.
“It's a Spontaneous Selena Stress Suppressor Dance Party,” Octavia answered.
“Yeah, you know Selena?” Raven asked. “Selena y los Dinos?”
She looked offended at the clueless look I was giving her.
“You don't know Selena ?! Get your ass over here, Woods. I grew up on this shit,” Raven said as she gestured for me to come join their dance party. I reluctantly walked into the living room. “Move your hips like this.”
Raven grabbed my hips and pushed them into a wide circle like she had with Octavia.
“Come on, Lexa, I know you can move those hips better than that,” Raven chastised. “At least, that's what I hear from Clarke.”
Raven sang along with the songs as she kept showing Octavia and I new dance moves. Eventually, it became fun rather than tedious, and I was laughing and dancing and singing along with Octavia and Raven. Clarke walked into the apartment and smiled at all of us.
“How could you start a Selena Dance Party without me?” Clarke asked Raven, giving her a fake angry look. Raven smiled and continued to dance as Clarke wrapped her arms around my hips and danced with me. She even sang along in Spanish in my ear as we moved together.
“Since when do you speak Spanish?” I asked with a smile as Clarke moved our hips in time to the music.
“Since Raven Reyes refused to speak English to me for, like, two years from the time when we were 5,” Clarke responded. Raven started to speak to her in Spanish, and Clarke laughed while Octavia rolled her eyes. “She says I should be grateful to be bilingual because of her.”
Later that night, Clarke and I climbed into bed exhausted from studying for finals and from our earlier dance party.
“You know, when I was younger and I really missed you, I'd invite Raven over and we'd dance to Selena and she would play 'Dreaming of You,'” Clarke whispered as she cuddled into my shoulder. “I'd sing along and think of you.”
I smiled at her, and Clarke started to kiss my shoulder.
“Late at night when all the world is sleeping, I stay up and think of you,” She sang in a whisper. “And I wish on a star that somewhere you are thinking of me, too. Cause I'm dreaming of you tonight, till tomorrow, I'll be holding you tight, and there's nowhere in the world I'd rather be than here in my room, dreaming about you and me.”
I smiled but tears filled my eyes and I leaned over and kissed Clarke.
“That's really sweet, Clarke,” I said, and Clarke kissed me again.
“Sometimes I can't believe how lucky we are,” Clarke whispered. “I love you, babe.”
“Love you too,” I whispered.
We drove back to Laughlin in June, all four of us, for Anya and Lincoln's wedding. It was still two weeks away, but I was dying to see Anya and spend some time with her before the wedding. Clarke was just as excited, and even Abby and Jake were coming down earlier than usual so they could come to the wedding.
When we pulled into the resort, Anya ran out of the office and hugged me, this year thankfully without tackling me to the ground. Lincoln was a few steps behind her, and he hugged me as soon as Anya let me go.
“It just isn't the same around here without you, Lex,” Anya said as she messed up my hair. She turned to Clarke and hugged her tightly. “You too, kid. I'm glad to have both of you home.”
Octavia and Raven pulled into the resort a few minutes later, and immediately started talking about bachelorette party plans.
“We need cake and strippers,” Octavia announced. “Luckily, Lexa can take care of the cake, and Clarke can probably be a stripper for a night, so we should be covered.”
I rolled my eyes at Octavia, and Clarke just laughed. Anya made a disgusted face.
“Clarke's basically my future sister-in-law,” Anya said. “That's gotta be some kind of illegal.”
“I was hoping it wouldn't have to come to this,” Raven said with a dramatic sigh. “But I suppose I can take one for the team and offer my stripper services for the bachelorette party.”
Octavia looked excited by the prospect, and Anya looked momentarily intrigued.
“Can't we just hire strippers like normal people?” I asked. Octavia and Raven scoffed.
“That's way too practical, Lexa,” Octavia said and Raven nodded.
Those two weeks passed by in a flash, full of wedding preparations and dress shopping and fittings and cake sampling, and it wasn't even like Anya was having some massively elaborate wedding. She was just having a small gathering of less than 20 people at the resort, and her dress wasn't even white (“it's patriarchal, Lexa, I'm not fucking wearing white”), but there were all these things we needed to do to get ready for the day and it was exhausting. Clarke was helping out a lot, but every day it just felt like the list of things to do for the wedding was never ending. Anya reluctantly relinquished control over the bachelorette party to Raven and Octavia, who actually managed to throw a pretty tasteful party (without any strippers). Since most of us were under 21, we decided to just throw a small party at our house rather than going to a club or bar.
When the day finally came, Anya got married to Lincoln, and she wore a black dress while she did it, and we had cake and food and we all danced our asses off. Octavia and Raven got a little too drunk, and to my surprise, so did Abby and Jake, so they left the party early. At 3 am, Clarke, Anya, Lincoln and I were the only ones left standing. There was a taxi waiting for Anya and Lincoln, who were headed to Vegas for what little was left of their wedding night. Anya hugged me and Clarke tightly, but Clarke eventually wandered off, knowing that Anya and I wanted a moment alone.
“When are you gonna ask her?” Anya asked me. I gave her a perplexed look and laughed an uncomfortable laugh.
“I wasn't really planning on asking her to marry me anytime soon, Anya,” I replied. Anya pulled away from me and squeezed my shoulder.
“Lexa, you've known her for over half your life. She knows literally everything about you. You've been together for, like, six years now,” She said with a gentle smile. “To quote Octavia, you really need to lock that shit down.”
I laughed and hugged Anya even tighter.
“Duly noted, Anya.”
She smiled at me and climbed into the cab and drove off with her husband. That was weird to say...husband. Anya was fucking married .
Clarke came over to my side and wrapped her arm around my waist and kissed my shoulder.
“Pretty weird, huh?” She said. “ Anya just got married. Who's next? Octavia and Raven?”
I smiled at the thought and leaned over to kiss Clarke.
“Who knows?” I replied, grabbing Clarke's hand and leading her back to the house. We climbed into bed, and that night, as Clarke slept peacefully against my side, I considered Anya's words. Clarke and I were still young, but I was completely sure that she was the person who I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. I knew that basically from the first summer I met her. And maybe we wouldn't be getting married any time soon, since I figured we'd both probably want to finish college first, but proposing didn't mean we had to get married right away. I could propose and we could wait a few years before actually even planning anything.
It was definitely something to consider.
“I'm taking your advice.”
“You're really gonna do the butt blaster workout with me?”
“Not that advice, you fucking idiot. I'm gonna lock that shit down.”
“What shit? The cooler? It's not gonna move around in the boat that much , Lexa, you probably don't need to literally lock it down.”
“For fuck's sake, Octavia, I'm not talking about the cooler!” I said as I pushed the cooler into the boat. We were getting ready for a day on the river with Clarke and Raven, and it was Octavia's turn to help me load the boat for the day. “I'm gonna propose to Clarke.”
“Holy shit on a stick,” Octavia said with wide eyes.
“Yes,” I replied.
“Well, how are you gonna do it?” Octavia said. I shrugged at her, even though I'd already had the entire thing carefully planned out. “You gotta make it romantic and shit, Clarke likes that stuff. Did you buy her a ring already? Oh my god, I think I need to sit down. Shit just got so real, so fast.”
I laughed at Octavia as she literally sat herself down cross-legged on the dock and held her head in her hands. Raven and Clarke walked onto the dock and Raven laughed at Octavia.
“I told you not to drink all that sangria last night,” Raven said with a smile. “Now look who can't even stand up this morning!”
“Yeah, that's totally it,” Octavia replied. “All that sangria just hit me. Like boom .”
“My poor baby,” Raven said with a pout as she offered to help Octavia stand. She kissed her on the nose and helped her onto the boat. Clarke smiled at them and helped me load the last of the coolers onto the boat.
“Do you think she's okay to be on the boat?” Clarke asked me as she gestured to Octavia, who was still holding her head in her hands as Raven fussed over her.
“I'm sure she'll be fine.”
On our last weekend at the resort, I took the boat out one evening with Clarke. We anchored in the river and lay on our backs in the boat and watched the stars, holding hands and chatting absentmindedly. The ring in my pocket felt heavy, even though it was just a dainty little thing, but I wasn't nervous. I knew this was the right step for Clarke and I, and I had no doubts about wanting to spend the rest of my life with her.
“Hey,” Clarke whispered as she leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. “Why're you so quiet?”
“I've just been thinking.”
Clarke smiled at me and rolled over so she was laying on her stomach, her head propped up against her hands. The friendship bracelet I made her was still, by some miracle, attached to her wrist, though it had definitely seen better days.
“About what?” She asked. I smiled at her and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear.
“How lucky I am to have you, how much I love you,” I said. “Just thinking back to all those summers we spent here, getting to know each other and falling in love.”
Clarke smiled and sighed.
“Pretty great summers, huh?” She asked as she leaned over and kissed me. “I wouldn't trade all the time we've spent here for anything.”
I nodded at her and cupped her cheek gently. Clarke leaned into my touch and closed her eyes.
“I love you,” I said.
“I love you, too.”
“Clarke,” I whispered, and Clarke opened her eyes to look at me. Her intense blue gaze hadn't changed a bit since I first locked eyes with her twelve summers ago, and her face still held that same innocence and beauty as it did all those years ago. I smiled at her and she smiled back. “I got you something.”
“What is it?”
“Something to replace the friendship bracelet I made for you all those years ago,” I said as I reached into my pocket and pulled out the ring. Clarke's mouth dropped open as she stared at it. “Do you think you could wear this for the rest of your life?”
“Lex,” Clarke said as she looked back at me with wide, surprised eyes. “Are you asking-”
“I'm asking you to marry me, Clarke.”
“Oh my god,” Clarke whispered as her eyes filled up with tears. “Oh my god.”
“So... yes?” I asked tentatively, and Clarke smiled and tears fell down her cheeks.
“Of course, yes!” She shrieked and leaned over to kiss me. I could feel the wetness of her tears on my own cheeks, but her smile kept ruining our kiss so I knew I didn't have to worry about why she was crying.
I slid the ring onto Clarke's finger, and she kissed me again.
“Now we're gonna have to get you a ring,” She mused as she continued to kiss me. I shrugged. The ring wasn't that important to me, but if it made Clarke happy, I would wear one.
When we got home, Clarke showed her ring to Anya, who gave me a proud look.
“I locked this shit down,” I said, and Anya laughed at me.
Clarke wrapped her arms around me and kissed me again and again, and after we made love one or seven times, Clarke snuggled into me and I drew small circles on the skin of her back.
“I don't think I've ever felt this happy,” Clarke whispered. “I'm so in love with you.”
“I'm so in love with you, too.”