This Love

t h r e e

— • ❃ • —

Clarke is adding her last diamond earring to her right ear, viewing herself in the bathroom mirror, when Finn's arms slink around her waist. His chest presses to her back, and his face climbs into view beside hers in the mirror's reflection.

"You look beautiful," he says, and Clarke gives him a small, tight smile, yet it doesn't feel the same. It doesn't feel how it feels around her.

"Thank you."

His fingers glide against her arm, sending frozen streams of isolation to swim against her skin.

"Are you sure you're up for this art exhibit? I mean - you seem a little out of it," Finn questioned, rising the rage from within Clarke as she struggled out of his grasp.

"Do you think I would be going if I wasn't? Seriously Finn, I don't need a watch dog, and I most certainly don't need people telling me how I feel," Clarke snapped, unintentionally causing Finn to flinch as she stood opposing him.

"Do you want me to leave?" he asks after a moment, squeezing his palms together as he hovered awkwardly in front of her.

Clarke arched a brow in her reflection. "Leave?"

When he nods, she smiles softly, yet sadly. "I'm sorry, Finn," she says, "but I'm just tired. I'm tired of people looking at me like I'm fragile. Yes, sometimes I may feel that way, but people looking at me like that only confirms what I believe I am. If I feel weak, I need you to make me strong. If I feel sad, I need you to make me smile. If I feel tired, I need you to make me feel alive. I know how you feel, but you can't make me feel how sh- how I want to feel."

"What are you saying?"

The shrug of her shoulder causes Finn's chin to bounce a bit but he stays put, and Clarke sighs. "I just - I need you to take my mind off of everything. I need you to throw away the sympathy because it's only pushing me away. I just want you to be my boyfriend."

He is silent for a long time, both of them just standing in the bathroom, staring into the mirror but not really at one another, and then he whispers, "You're beautiful. You're strong. You're alive. I love you, Clarke."

Clarke blinks, focuses on his dark brown eyes in the reflection. "Thank you," she breathes, the words croaking in her throat unexpectedly and sounding anything but convincing. "Thank you."

"Come on, lets go to this exhibition," he smiles, reaching out to grab her clammy hand, turning his head as Raven peeps through the door.

Clarke licked her lips, does her best to muster up a smile, and gently grabs his hand. "You ready Rae?"

Raven narrowed her chocolate eyes and replied, "Just waiting for you." And as Clarke squeezed past her with Finn still glued to her side, Raven sensed the sudden shift in her attitude, knowing the hidden pain that lingers behind those closed eyelids.

— • ❃ • —

They walk briskly down the sidewalk toward the venue where the art show is taking place, hand in hand as winters touch spiralled against their skin. Costia had seen a brochure for the art show tacked to a notice board during the introduction talk, and had practically begged Lexa to take her. She loved art. Almost as much as the girl in her dreams. A firm 'I hate art' had almost slipped from Lexa's lips, having strong bullets of pain to strike through her smile, but Costia's eyes had been so wide and her smile so bright, and Lexa couldn't turn her down.