It Takes As Long As It Takes

Chapter Twenty Six

She had been thinking about what Lexa drunkenly told her that night. She mentioned her green dress. How did she know? Was she there?

Was she, like most people, just curious about how an ex was doing? Or did she somehow remember her promise to be there for Clarke during that moment?

Clarke pulled a pillow over her head and groaned. All these questions swirled around her head begging to be asked aloud.

She had already seen Lexa several times since the brunette's drunken night. The first was at a dinner with the group. When Lexa saw her, she shyly thanked Clarke for getting her home safely and then lamented her poor alcohol tolerance, with vows to never drink that much again. But she did not say anything more and Clarke was too nervous to ask. That was the last they spoke of that night.

Now she was going to see Lexa for the first time where it would be just the two of them, and she wanted to get some answers.

With that determination, she was able to gather the strength to get out of bed to get ready.
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Lexa looked up from the book she was reading to glance at the door again. No Clarke Griffin had arrived since the last time she checked. She looked at the clock on the wall and was surprised to see that it had only been a whole 30 seconds.

She tried to find her place in the book but gave up quickly; there was just no use trying to read when she felt so distracted. She was twenty minutes early, which would mean a lot of reading the same paragraph over and over again without comprehending. So instead, she settled for placing one of her elbows on the table and resting her head on it, watching the door.

She did not know why she came so early. Well, maybe she did. Today was her first one-on-one non-date with Clarke. And she did not want to start it off running late.

So maybe, just maybe, that was why she woke up two hours earlier than necessary and took a longer shower than usual, and tried on maybe four different outfits before settling on the fashion statement outfit that was a pair of jeans and blouse. Because she did not want to be late for this non-date. With a friend.

So there she was. Waiting.

She and Clarke had been spending more time together in the past month, albeit generally in groups. And things had not been as awkward as she had feared. In fact, it had been generally quite pleasant. A relaxed Clarke Griffin, in her own elements with close friends, was funny and fun to be around. It had been so long since she had seen this Clarke. The last memories she had of her was during their last few months together, which did not reflect the Clarke she knew and lov... Just, the Clarke she knew.

Lexa found that she was slowly looking forward to, instead of dreading, the group gatherings if she knew Clarke was going to be there. And this gave her hope that perhaps there was a road towards a renewed friendship with the blonde. Less awkwardness in general would be good for everyone, and would make easier her transition back into this group of friends that had been so important to her.

She decided to work towards that goal by inviting Clarke to brunch, just the two of them. If they can make it through a non-date together, there should be no more concern for discomfort and their path to a platonic relationship should be clear. No one expected her to do that; least of all, Clarke. But the girl had accepted and that was why she was now waiting anxiously for her to show up.

It was not long before she saw familiar blonde hair entering the café, piercing blue eyes quickly scanning the room until they met hers, followed by bright teeth adorning an even brighter smile.

She started heading towards the table before Lexa even had a chance to wave.

"Hey!" Clarke said, enthusiastically. She grabbed the back of the empty chair but stopped herself. "Um, can I sit here?"