The Pleasure of Her Company

 

Lexa padded towards her front door, her fuzzy sock-clad feet slipping once on the faux hardwood flooring. She opened the door and was greeted by a dazzling smile and rosy cheeks.

 

“Hey, Clarke. What are you doing here?” Lexa stepped to the side giving Clarke enough room to walk past her before closing and locking the front door.

 

Clarke removed her light jacket and tossed it over the back of Lexa’s comfy chair with familiar ease. “Can’t a friend just stop by?”

 

“Yes,” Lexa narrowed her eyes at Clarke who was currently making herself perfectly comfortable on her couch, carefully relocating Lexa’s piles of notes and books. “But you never ‘just stop by.’ Are you okay?”

 

“I’m fine.” Clarke waved her off. She patted the now empty space next to her and smiled when Lexa sunk onto the cozy couch. “How’s history class?”

 

Lexa’s whole body moved as she released an exasperated sigh. “That guy hit on me again. But this time, he actually put his hand on my arm. I shrugged it off as politely as possible, but still! Don’t touch someone if you aren’t sure they want to be touched. And this after I repeated that I was very gay and very not interested. I dread the end of that class now. I can’t believe I have to endure that again tomorrow morning.”

 

Lexa finished her ramble and fought the grin forming on her lips because Clarke was staring at her with the most amused look Lexa had ever seen. And when did making someone smile suddenly become the thing she lived for?

 

Lexa worried her jaw, effectively keeping the majority of her grin at bay. Her lips still twitched up a bit, but Lexa was completely okay with that seeing as how Clarke mirrored her soft smile. “But that’s enough of my rant. What do you need?”

 

“How do you know I just don’t need the pleasure of your company?” Clarke wiggled her eyebrows playfully, but Lexa kept her face impassive. She didn’t even say a word. Clarke began to shift uncomfortably under her intense gaze, and Lexa could have accurately mouthed a countdown as to when she was going to break. “Fine,” Clarke suddenly exclaimed loudly, and Lexa grinned in triumph. “My roommate kicked me out for some alone time. Although I doubt she’ll actually be alone. So how about it Woods?”

 

“How about what?”

 

“Can I hang out here for a few hours?” Clarke not so subtly glanced at the neat stack of notebooks and textbooks heaped on the coffee table. “I promise I won’t bug you if you need to study. I’ll be quiet as a mouse. You won’t even know I’m here.”

 

“Of course you can stay, Clarke.”

 

Clarke’s body visibly relaxed, and she sunk deeper into the cushy couch cushions. Lexa’s eyes wandered to the stack of study materials and back to the woman lounging on her furniture. In a sudden bout of impulsiveness, Lexa reached forward, and instead of picking up her notes, she wrapped her fingers around the television remote. “Would you like to watch a movie?”

 

Clarke didn’t move from her position but still threw Lexa a slight disbelieving, “You don’t have to study?”

 

Lexa shook her head with a smile.

 

“Awesome!” Clarke shot up from her relaxed position, bringing her body very close to Lexa’s. Lexa could smell the slight scent of chamomile wafting from Clarke’s blonde waves as she leaned ever closer. “What do you want to watch?”

 

Surprising even herself, Lexa just turned towards Clarke, “What’s the one movie that never ceases to make you smile?”

 

“You don’t have to put on Wonder Woman to see me smile. You just need to be you.” Clarke’s accompanying grin was something Lexa had never seen before. It was soft and gentle yet full of fire and promise. A perfect duality that had Lexa’s body nearly buzzing with possibilities. After only a few seconds that seemed to stretch on for minutes, Clarke shrugged her shoulders and quirked her eyebrows. “So what’s your happy movie?”

 

Lexa didn’t even hesitate before providing her answer. “Miss Congeniality.”

 

Clarke’s eyes sparkled as she exclaimed, “I love that one, too! I don’t care which. You pick.”