Chapter Text
Lexa had been living in the same apartment complex for a few years now.
It wasn’t the prettiest or newest of places but the rent was reasonable, people generally kept to themselves and the location was extremely convenient.
Apartment 1811 had been her home for the past 6 years and put simply she was content there.
Her apartment was pretty old and had gone through some repairs, but the value plus size of the apartment definitely outweighed how much she paid in rent.
She wasn’t one to decorate too much or even care about what her apartment looked like so she had thrown a few pictures up on the walls to keep it from looking empty and a few cushions on her couch to make it look a little homier than what it had originally when she had first moved in.
Otherwise it was so overly neat and could have even been argued that no one had lived there at all.
It was a quiet building, she didn’t really know anyone who lived in it truth be told besides a polite smile or greeting in the hallways and that’s exactly how she wanted to keep it.
Lexa even went to the lengths of taking the stairs up to her floor at times to avoid any awkward conversations in the very slow elevator, which she cursed herself for considering she lived on the 18th floor.
It wasn’t that Lexa didn’t like the people there, she would hardly know if someone from her floor passed her on the street in all honesty.
She just was very selective with the people she let in her life and could count the number of close friends she actually trusted on her one hand.
And that was exactly how she wanted it.
Lexa had learnt from a very young age after growing up in different foster homes constantly that the world was cruel and unfair.
So in order to protect herself, she just didn’t attach herself in any means so she couldn’t get hurt and she believed she had good reasoning for that.
Lexa may have had a bit of a rough start to her life but she didn’t allow herself to hold any pity parties, she was too busy finishing her last year of law school to dwell on any of it.
She worked hard.
Sometimes she worked herself too hard but she had to in order to keep her scholarship and that didn’t include the fact that she had a job at a local bookstore to support herself financially.
Lexa grunted as she pushed through the door into her apartment complex, the short walk to college was another positive she took out of where she lived.
A cool breeze following her in as she shook her hood from her head and quickly pulled her gloves from her hands before she stopped at her mail locker.
She fiddled to find her keys, biting her bottom lip as she reached to the very corner of her deep jacket pockets and grinning when she grasped them in her hands successfully.
Unlocking her mail locker quickly, she pulled a few envelopes out before she moved towards the elevator after seeing no one else was around.
Flicking through the envelopes she paused and groaned as she landed on a letter that didn’t belong to her but was in her mail locker.
Turning on her heel quickly she made her way to the apartment manager’s office, knocking on the door loudly.
“Lexa” He answered with a wide grin on his face as he turned around on his chair
“Gustus this is the third week in a row I have received this Clarke Griffin’s mail” Lexa complained as she held the letter in front of her “Why?”
“Well Clarke lives next to you now” Gustus shrugged “You’ll have to speak to the mailman because I have tried to already for you”
“So what am I supposed to do with this?”
“Put it under the door like the other times” Gustus offered with an amused smile “Lexa you know that I love you how you are but maybe it’s time you try and make friends with people in this building instead of avoiding everyone”
“I don’t avoid you” Lexa replied quickly
“That’s because I own the building and I’ve known you for 6 years”
Gustus was one of the people that Lexa trusted, though he owned the building and she paid him rent; Lexa considered him more of a friend than anything.
Gustus was the very first person to give Lexa a chance when she left the foster system at 18 because he had grown up in the very same system.
Letting her live rent free for the first month as she got herself up on her feet outside of the foster care system and set her up with a job.
Lexa wasn’t sure where she would be if it weren’t for him but she was unbelievably grateful.
“Well I don’t know whether anyone actually lives next door or not because I haven’t seen or heard anyone come out of there” Lexa shook her head
“Probably because you are always out too” Gustus chuckled to himself “Maybe talk to Clarke about this”
“Well you are no help” Lexa uttered with a shake of her head as she backed away from the doorway
“You’ll be okay” Gustus smirked “Have a good rest of your day”
“You too” Lexa replied with a nod before she moved to the lobby once more where she found a young couple standing, waiting for the elevator
She sighed quietly and shuffled her heavy feet towards the stairwell.
She knew that it was her own choice to take the stairs but she had seen this couple before and they were always disgustingly all over each other and she was unwilling to subject herself to the sight.
The elevators were slow enough in the building; she didn’t want to have to be made to feel like they were going any slower.
Lexa was tired; she had been up all night trying to finish an essay and was only returning to her apartment so she could get changed for work so she didn’t really enjoy her trip up 18 flights of stairs.
Once she finally reached her floor she pulled out her keys again from her pocket, placing them in the lock to turn before she paused momentarily.
She could actually hear soft music coming from the apartment next to her.
The one that belonged to this Clarke Griffin and the apartment that Lexa had never heard any sound coming from for the 3 weeks Clarke had supposedly been there.
She looked down to the letter in her hand and exhaled with a defeated nod as to herself as she convinced herself to knock.
She took what were literally 4 steps to her right and stood in front of apartment 1812, bringing her hand to knock 3 times lightly before letting it fall to her side once more.
The brunette heard the music pause, a soft shuffle of feet before the door opened and Lexa swallowed hard as she furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.
She tilted her head very slightly to view the blonde haired, blue eyed girl in front of her that looked to be around the same age as her or maybe a little younger.
And although it was cold outside she was only wearing a shirt and shorts with her hair tied back in a messy ponytail that sat loosely on the back of her head.
“Hi?” Clarke said with just as much confusion as Lexa just for the way she was being looked at by the brunette
“You’re a girl?” Lexa said raising an eyebrow slowly
“I believe so” Clarke nodded “While you do look familiar, can I ask why you are outside of my apartment stating my gender?”
“I live next door” Lexa said as she held out the envelope in front of her for the other girl to take “And I keep getting your mail”
“You’re the one who keeps slipping it under my door?”
“That would be me” Lexa replied “You might want to check that your mail is addressed to the right apartment or try to catch the mailman though he’s clearly very unresponsive”
“Thank you for that” Clarke nodded as she took the envelope slowly with a small smile “I wasn’t sure if anyone actually lived next door”
“I thought the same” Lexa nodded “I’m Lexa by the way”
“You do look familiar though and I haven’t seen you in the building” Clarke replied as she brought her hand to her chin in thought “Where have I seen you?”
“I don’t know” Lexa said backing away slightly
“Do you go to NYU?”
“Yeah, I’m in law school” Lexa replied “I haven’t seen you around”
“You might have”
“I would remember” Lexa said aloud as she caught herself off guard “I mean I would remember if I saw you because you’re my neighbour obviously”
“I’m studying graphic design at the moment” Clarke nodded “I work at a coffee shop just off campus too so I think I’ve seen you somewhere”
“Which reminds me, I need to get changed for work” Lexa furrowed her eyebrows as she took another step away towards her door that still had the keys hanging from the door handle
“Well thank you for getting my mail for me” Clarke replied with a small smile “Next time feel free to just throw it away because it’s probably a bill or jury duty, no one sends me mail”
“Right” Lexa nodded
“Wait, before you go” Clarke said as she took a step out towards the hallway when Lexa placed her hand on her door handle to go inside “Why did you kind of ask if I was a girl when you opened the door? It's just that people don't usually show up to my door to guess my gender”
“Oh, I just had it in my head that because your name was Clarke that you were probably a guy” Lexa shook her head awkwardly “Sorry”
“It’s not the first time and I’m not offended” Clarke laughed as she waved her off
“And weirdly I kind of pictured someone like Superman if you were a guy” Lexa added as she questioned in her own mind as to why she was even elaborating “Which is stupid but proves my ignorance I guess…I have to go”
“I definitely don’t look like Clark Kent” Clarke chuckled
“Okay, goodbye” Lexa replied stiffly without even looking towards Clarke again before she pushed her door open quickly and shut it quietly behind her
Lexa stood by her door with wide eyes.
Lexa was the definition of composed; hardly anything in life could make her bat an eyelid but she didn’t recognize the girl she had been out in the hallway.
Granted Lexa had been known to be a sucker for a cute girl at times, she had never acted like a complete idiot in front of anyone except maybe her few friends only a handful of occasions.
She hardly talked to anyone enough for them to even have that thought that she was awkward cross their mind.
She had also only met Clarke and she had officially become the person she had spoken to most in the building besides Gustus, which she supposed didn’t really reflect on anything else but her poor social skills.
The brunette heard the music start once more through the paper thin walls and Lexa couldn’t help but wonder what exactly Clarke was doing.
It didn’t matter though because Lexa had to get changed and go to her shift at Grounders Bookstore as time was starting to get away from her.
---
It was a quiet shift and Lexa had kind of expected that as she sorted through some new release books to place up on the shelves.
She sighed as she read the back of the newest young adult fictional, rolling her eyes at the predictable plot of the story.
Girl meets mysterious boy who is hiding a secret, girl finds out secret and finds herself in trouble only be rescued by the mysterious boy.
“You look happy” She heard a very familiar voice from behind her say
Lexa’s mouth twitched with a smile as she turned around to see her best friend Anya standing in front of her with her arms folded, leaning back on a shelve casually.
“Well some of these books are a complete waste of space” Lexa replied with a shrug “I didn’t know you were in today”
“I’m not but I just wanted to drop by” Anya replied “Plus my Mom and Dad probably want to say hi seeing as I haven’t visited them in a few days”
Lexa had met Anya when she first started her job at Grounders Book Store.
It was a small yet popular bookstore owned by Anya’s parents who were also friends with Gustus, so they really helped Lexa out by giving her a job when she left the foster system.
Anya’s family had almost become like her own, or as close to a family as she had ever known.
The older girl had really taken Lexa under her wing, which Lexa appreciated to no end, but Anya was definitely a lot more outgoing than her.
She was a freelance writer herself, trying to break into journalism having only just finished her degree but she kept her shifts at the bookstore to help her parents out.
“They’re out the back” Lexa nodded
“So I’m going out tonight” Anya smirked “Feel like coming?”
“I can’t” Lexa shook her head “I have to study”
“You always have to study. You couldn’t come out during the summer because of that internship and now all you do is study” Anya groaned out of frustration “You should come out. Give yourself a break, it’s Thursday night after all”
“Some of us have a scholarship and grade average to keep” Lexa smirked “Besides; you know it’s not my scene anyway”
“Your scene is your apartment” Anya groaned “You can’t stay in there forever”
“I’m hardly in my apartment for it to be my scene between work and school” Lexa shook her head “Maybe another time”
“You know Costia is coming out tonight” Anya baited her friend before she sighed extravagantly “But I guess I will just tell her that you didn’t want to see her”
“There is nothing going on between Costia and I” Lexa replied flatly “She’s not even my type”
Costia and Lexa had a brief history and although Lexa didn’t really see the other girl that much, she was definitely one of those people that she trusted.
Costia experienced an upbringing similar to her own so they had an understanding between each other but Costia was always a good friend to Lexa.
She was there to listen whenever Lexa needed.
That wasn’t the only understanding that they had though, it wasn’t one that Lexa was all that proud of but it was something that kind of just had just happened.
“Beautiful isn’t your type?” Anya raised her eyebrows “You guys are my best friends, it would be so perfect”
“She’s dramatic and high maintenance” Lexa rebutted “Besides, you know that I don’t do relationships”
“Which is stupid and I don’t know why you refuse to let yourself be happy” Anya grumbled shaking her head “If she is so dramatic and high maintenance, why did you sleep with her?”
“Anya you can’t just announce that to the world while I’m working” Lexa scolded taking a step into her friend as she looked around the almost empty store “And it has only happened twice, we both understand that if it happens there are not attachments and it’s just sex. It’s been a long time since that has happened anyway because we've both grown up”
“So you’re not coming out with me tonight?” Anya groaned
“No” Lexa replied simply “Maybe another time when I don’t have 5 huge case studies due in the next 7 days”
“I’ll remember that” Anya warned as she began walking towards the back of the store “I should actually go say hi”
“You should” Lexa nodded “Some of us are trying to work”
“Someone has to around here” Anya called back jokingly as Lexa turned back to the trolley of new books she was trying to stack with a shake of her head but a smile on her face
---
The next 7 days were beyond hectic for Lexa between classes, case studies and work.
She was extremely tired and a more than a little grumpy because of that fact but she just had to push through.
While she was almost ready to submit her last case study and be done with it, she found herself stuck in a bit of a mental rut for some reason.
Anya insisted it was because she was working herself into the ground and although Lexa secretly agreed with her she wasn’t going to let her know that.
She couldn’t stop working because that just wasn’t an option seeing as she only had a few hours to submit the last of her work but she decided after class instead of going back to her apartment, she would go to one of her favourite coffee shops just off campus to see if that could produce some focus.
She had been typing for a few hours before she bothered to take her head out of her work, satisfied that she had completed what she needed to do and was only left to submit her work by the deadline.
It was warm and quiet inside the store so she found herself curled up in a booth with her laptop in front of her on the table while leaning her head up to rest against the wall.
A deep yawn took over her body, which she hadn’t expected and she let her heavy eyelids close for a moment as she curled herself further into the warmth of her own body.
“Lexa” She heard her name being called quietly “Lexa”
Lexa opened her eyes slowly, her eyes adjusting to the lights that were now on inside the now empty café.
She saw her newly discovered neighbour with a small smile on her face, tray in hand and a cloth over her shoulder.
It was only the 4th time Lexa had seen the blonde since she had met her a week ago.
They had passed once when she was coming and Clarke was going from their apartments, another time when Clarke was standing in the hallway talking to an elderly man and the last when Clarke was waiting for the elevator in the lobby as she came from the stairs.
Lexa rubbed her eyes tiredly before they met Clarke’s once more, who was still patiently standing in front of her with an amused grin.
“I know you aren’t homeless so I kind of wonder why you are sleeping here”
“I wasn’t actually asleep was I?” Lexa asked with wide eyes before turning to look out at the dark street outside “I literally just thought I closed my eyes for a minute. What time is it? How long have I been asleep for?”
“It’s almost 9 and you have been asleep for an hour and a half” Clarke nodded “But you looked like you needed it and you looked really peaceful so I kind of just left you”
“Oh my god, no” Lexa groaned as she hit the power button on her laptop aggressively only to have it fail due to its dead battery
She looked at the clock behind Clarke’s head on the wall of the café, it was 8:55pm and her deadline for this case study was to have it emailed to her professor by 9pm.
Lexa was an exemplary student, she had never submitted anything late and that was because she couldn’t afford to fail or let anything drop.
The brunette made a quick calculation in her head; she wasn’t going to make it back in time to her apartment and that day she had forgotten to pack her charger into her laptop bag.
Murphy’s law of course and typical for that to happen to Lexa.
“You okay?” Clarke asked raising an eyebrow
“I have a case study that needs to be submitted in 5 minutes and my laptop is dead” Lexa said closing her laptop with a frustrated sigh “It’s dead, I don’t have a charger and I can’t make it back home to email it in time”
“Do you have it saved on a flash drive or something?”
“Yeah” Lexa said pulling it out from the side of her computer “But that doesn’t really help me”
“Use my laptop” Clarke said with a shrug and a shake of the head “I’ll be back in a second”
Lexa could just watch on as Clarke hurried behind the counter to enter what she imagined was a staff room only to emerge seconds later with her macbook in her hands, rushing to push Lexa aside slightly in the booth and put the laptop in front of the brunette.
She quickly entered her password, opening her internet browser and pushing the silver laptop towards the other girl before looking at her expectantly.
“Well you have 4 minutes so I suggest you get sending if you want to make it by 9” Clarke said nudging Lexa gently
Lexa paused only for a second, usually she would have moved when someone got into her personal space like Clarke was but she felt at ease with the other girl next to her.
Lexa knew that Clarke was helping her; she wasn’t sure why exactly but even though she was helping her she still would have usually moved away very quickly.
She shook that from her mind as she opened up her email and quickly placed her flash drive into the laptop.
Clarke moved away from the booth as soon as Lexa started typing her email, going back to what she had been doing before she woke the brunette up.
Lexa’s eyes glanced to the time on her laptop as she finally pressed send on the email.
8:58pm
She had made the deadline and the only reason she had made that deadline was because of the girl who was turning the closed sign around at the front of the café.
“It’s not 9 yet” Lexa observed quietly as her eyes intently watched Clarke locking the door quietly
“No one was going to come in for 2 minutes” Clarke said “And you’ve been on your own in here for 20 minutes”
“You just let me sleep?” Lexa asked shaking her head
“I’m the only one on shift and considering I kind of know who you are, I figured I would let you get away with it” Clarke replied with a smile appearing on the corner of her lips “Well I know of you anyway”
“Thank you for letting me use your laptop” Lexa shook her head once more “You actually saved my life”
“You’re welcome” Clarke nodded, approaching the booth to close her laptop and tuck it under her arm “Are you done sleeping because I kind of want to get out of here”
“I’m done” Lexa replied, surprising herself as a chuckle left her mouth “No more sleeping in coffee shops for me”
She quickly packed her own laptop bag, standing from the booth as Clarke disappeared once more into the staff room to appear momentarily again with her own bag over her shoulder wearing a coat and a beanie, preparing herself for the cold.
“Are you headed back to the apartment building?” Clarke asked, settling her beanie over her ears and pulling a set of keys from her pocket
“Yeah, you?”
“I am” Clarke replied with a nod as Lexa followed the blonde’s lead and exited the coffee shop into the cold night “Do you mind if we walk together?”
“Well we are going the same place” Lexa said with a nod and a small smile, pulling the hood of her thick coat over her head and tucking a strand of hair behind her ear “We live on the same floor next to each other”
“I know but I just know you don’t really like to talk much” Clarke reasoned as she locked the door from the outside before tucking her hands in her pockets
“We don’t have to talk to walk together” Lexa said quickly as she glanced to the blonde
Clarke nodded politely with a small smile, pulling her phone from her other pocket and scrolling through a social media feed for a few minutes.
Lexa mentally kicked herself; Clarke was only being polite and nice to her when she really didn’t have to be but all Lexa could do was respond to her like that.
She didn’t know whether she felt like she owed the other girl or whether she genuinely actually wanted to talk to her but she pushed herself to elaborate.
“Not that I don’t want to talk to you or anything” Lexa closed her eyes tightly before opening them again, looking towards the blonde once more to see she had instantaneously gained her attention back “I just am more of a silent type”
“It’s okay” Clarke shrugged “I’ve definitely noticed that”
“You have?”
“Well we’ve passed each other a few times and when I’ve said hi you kind of just nodded”
“I’m sorry” Lexa groaned “I promise I’m not actually horrible. I just tend to stick to myself”
“it’s okay” Clarke chuckled as she repeated her earlier acceptance “You don’t need to explain”
“Thanks” Lexa smiled, feeling her nose tingle against the cold wind
“You do have a bed though, right?” Clarke asked “Because I’m not convinced you actually sleep in your apartment”
“Why do you say that?” Lexa questioned
“Because you can hear everything going on in the apartments next to you and not that I listen our for it or anything but I never hear you come and go” Clarke replied “I hardly ever hear a sound come from your apartment”
“I’m in and out all the time and I usually just watch things with my headphones on if I am home” Lexa shrugged “Though I just remembered that do need to ask you something”
“What’s that?”
“When I brought you mail and you were wearing shorts when it’s freezing outside and listening to music” Lexa began “What were you doing? Running a marathon around your apartment?”
“Yoga” Clarke laughed but answered simply “I can see why it would have looked weird”
“Oh cool” Lexa said with a small smile
“So you are in and out of your apartment doing what?” Clarke asked before she joked “Are you a drug dealer coming in and out at weird hours? Is that why I don’t hear you”
“I wish because I would have drug money” Lexa mumbled before looking at Clarke with wide eyes “Which is totally a joke, I’m totally kidding”
“I knew it” Clarke smiled brightly, her eyes beaming as the smile grew by the second
Lexa caught herself staring for a moment before tearing her gaze away from the other girl to land on the footpath in front of her.
“I’m going to have to shoot you now” Lexa said in an over dramatic tone “But I did just send an email from your computer and I’m sure someone could place me at the coffee shop tonight so it’s probably best if I don’t”
“So my guess is that you’re studying criminal law?”
“No actually, family law” Lexa nodded as she stuffed her hands in her pockets
“Intense” Clarke replied simply
“Just with work and school at the moment I don’t have a lot of free time so I find myself running around trying to get things done at weird times” Lexa shrugged whilst trying to explain “And when I do have a little free time, I apparently spend it sleeping in coffee shops”
“I completely get it” Clarke nodded “I understand”
“I’m in my last year of law school so things are pretty busy” Lexa shrugged “You said you’re studying graphic design?”
“Yeah I’ve got 2 more years” Clarke replied “Unless I change my mind and switch to something else but oddly I quite like it. It gives me a creative outlet but it’s also something that holds my attention”
“Thank you for letting me borrow your laptop” Lexa said quietly after a moment passed between them as they waited for a car to pass before they could cross the road
“That was a huge case study and I would have been screwed if I didn’t send that through by the deadline. My professor is a real hard ass”
“No problem” Clarke nodded “I mean what are neighbours for right?”
“I guess” Lexa smiled “Don’t come asking for a cup of sugar though because I don’t have any”
“Noted” Clarke laughed quietly as they reached their apartment building “No sugar”
Lexa reached out to open the door to enter but she paused, holding the door for Clarke to enter first.
Clarke muttered a quick thank you before Lexa followed her inside the building, as per usual the heat inside the building causing her to shake her hood off immediately before running a hand through her hair.
They both moved to the lobby area of their building and Lexa moved towards the stairwell, which earned a confused hum from the other girl.
“You’re not literally going to go up 18 flights of stairs are you?” Clarke asked in a perplexed tone as she stood in front of the already waiting elevator “I can wait for the next one if you want”
“No” Lexa said realizing just how petty she was being and walked to where Clarke was standing “It’s more of a habit than anything”
“I’ve seen you come from the stairwell a few times” Clarke nodded “Do you have a fear of elevators?”
“No” Lexa said simply without bothering to expand “That’s not it”
They soon reached the 18th floor and Lexa placed her key inside her door, unlocking it wordlessly as Clarke did the same.
“Well, thanks again” Lexa said with a small smile, looking towards the blonde “I owe you”
“I’ll keep that in mind” Clarke replied jokingly
“I’ll try and make some noise while I walk around my apartment from now on” Lexa offered playfully “I’ll drop something or fall over on purpose”
“At least I’ll know you’re alive” Clarke countered quickly as she leaned against her door, exhaling quietly “Maybe throw a shoe at the wall on occasion”
“Yeah, I might do that” Lexa nodded with a grin expanding on her features “Goodnight, Clarke”
“Night Lexa, thanks for walking me home” Clarke smiled as she pushed her door open, giving Lexa one last nod before she closed the door behind her.
Lexa just stayed in front of her door, looking down the now empty hallway where Clarke had been a moment ago.
Why this girl could get conversation out of her that wasn’t painful and that she actually enjoyed, she had no idea.
She was a little freaked out though that someone like that could so quickly find herself in Lexa’s world.
Lexa didn’t trust her, not by a long shot yet but she didn’t know the girl.
But she could see herself wanting to get to know the blonde and that’s what confused her.
She had only really just had her first conversation with the other girl and already she found herself wanting more.
She felt the foreign feeling of butterflies in her stomach as the began to move and she silently told them to stop before she pushed her way into her apartment and locking the door behind her.
The thoughts of the girl who had lived next door for only 4 weeks now stuck in her mind as those butterflies began to stir again.
The voice of reason echoing in her head.
Don’t be stupid Lexa.