The Heroic Unicorn

 

Lexa didn’t have time to protest before a strong hand gripped the center of her shirt and pulled her forwards. She didn’t have time to think before perfectly soft lips pressed against her own. She did, however, have time to realize she recognized the taste. Clarke always wore the same strawberry flavored chapstick. She’d been very aware of how it smelled for weeks now, and now she finally had her answer as to what it would taste like.

 

Lexa relaxed into the kiss, but it ended just as quickly as it started. Lexa’s eyes fluttered open, and the sight in front of her knocked the breath right out of her lungs. Clarke’s blue eyes sparkled with a hazy glow, her cheeks were flushed pink, and her chest was heaving the giant unicorn on her sweater up and down as she blinked away the last of her daze.

 

Clarke slowly released the grip on Lexa’s shirt and took a bold step back. She gestured towards her shirt with a sweep of her hand and began to ramble. “Hope this suffices. It was the best unicorn I could find. I know you said you wanted to wait and get to know each other first, and I completely respect that. But I just thought since that guy wasn’t listening that I could help, but we don’t have to-”

 

Lexa’s brain was still befuddled after finally kissing the woman of her dreams, so she couldn’t be blamed for what she did next. She silenced Clarke mid-ramble with another kiss. She tangled her fingers in honey blonde hair, pulling Clarke even closer to her. It was perfect timing really. Not that Lexa paid any attention to the annoying clueless boy as he shoved past them. She was far too preoccupied with how perfectly Clarke’s lips fit against her own.

 

Lexa pulled away slowly and reached her hand down to find Clarke’s. She wrapped her fingers around an overly warm and clammy palm and guided them to an empty corner. When she was confident they were alone, Lexa smiled softly. “You are amazing. Thank you for saving me.”

 

A myriad of emotions erupted on Clarke’s face. Lexa caught elation and panic and remorse and hope all at once. “Lexa, I’m so sorry for jumping you like that. I think I’ve been in love with you for almost two years. I had to take my chance, and I hoped you wouldn’t kill me for kissing you without warning if I was trying to save you in the process.”

 

Lexa’s heart leaped into her throat with that confession. “You’re in love with me?”

 

“I twisted my ankle in a game two years ago. Nyko treated me, but you were there, watching his every move. You had this air about you. So smart and gorgeous, and damn, Lexa. I wanted to know you. But you just seemed so far out of my league, and I was just a stupid freshman. So I kept my distance until you liked my picture. You extended that branch, and I just couldn’t turn it down. And talking to you was the best thing I ever did. Turns out, you’re the person I want to text when I wake up. You’re the person I want to say goodnight to every day. You’re just… You’re you. I love you, Lexa. But it’s okay if you don’t feel like that, or you need more time. I’m just happy to have you in my life. In whatever way I can.”

 

Lexa didn’t know how to respond to the most beautiful words she’d ever heard a person ramble. She just stood there, with a blank expression on her face and muttered a simple, “Clarke.”

 

Clarke took a stuttered inhale and trained her face into the best smile she could muster at Lexa’s inopportune silence and quickly changed the subject. “Do you think this worked? Do you think that guy finally got the message that you are a lesbian and in no way want him?”

 

Lexa finally came to her senses and was oh-so-ready to confess her own crush to Clarke. “I don’t know,” she grinned. “I think the woman of my dreams should probably start picking me up from class every day, just to be sure he knows I’m taken.”

 

Lexa’s whole body tingled as Clarke’s mouth twitched with realization. “You’re taken?” she smirked coyly.

 

“Every day, by the most beautiful and generous woman I’ve ever known.” Lexa stepped closer and wrapped her arms around Clarke’s waist. Clarke dragged her fingers along Lexa’s arms and settled them around her neck as her eyes darted from Lexa’s lips to her eyes so quickly it would have been alarming if Lexa’s gaze wasn’t doing the exact same thing. “You make a beautifully heroic unicorn, Clarke.”

 

Clarke huffed a bit of laughter that Lexa happily silenced as she closed the remaining few inches between them. Fingers twirled the end of the wispy hairs on her neck, and her grip tightened on Clarke’s hips as their kiss continued. And Lexa was pretty sure that turning Clarke down at first was the best thing she could have done, because now they had a ridiculously adorable story to tell the grandkids one day.