Chapter Text
Coach Shumway blew the final whistle to end practice for the day. Lexa rushed to the bench to grab her stuff and put it away. She wanted to hurry and get home so she could shower and change for dinner with her family and Clarke. The blonde usually stayed to watch practice but she decided to go home early to get herself ready for the dinner; she was a bit nervous to officially meet her girlfriend’s family, but didn’t want to tell Lexa that. Raven decided to wait for her in the auto shop garage so she could work on a project until practice ended.
Lexa is packing up her lacrosse bag on the bench when she is approached by someone she wasn’t expecting to see so soon. Vera.
“Hey there superstar!”
Lexa looked up and felt herself get instantly nervous at who had approached her. She looked around to see if there was anyone nearby to be a witness in case Vera decided to kill her right then & there. While the practice field is occupied by many players, coaches and spectators, no one is paying them any attention.
Vera moved closer to her with her hands up in surrender. “Don’t worry, I come in peace.”
Lexa knew better than to fully let her guard down, a smart move considering she had no clue if the hunter had in some way figured out what she really was. “Hey Ms. Kane.”
The older woman let out a chuckle at the idiotic formality. “Jesus, relax. And knock it off with the Ms. Kane crap. Just call me Vera.”
“Okay...Vera. What’s up?”
“Look… I wanted to come and apologize for the other night. My behavior was unacceptable, and I was out of line with the way I treated you.”
Lexa visibly sighed in relief. “Uhm… It- It’s okay. I understand your need to protect Clarke.”
“Yeah.” Vera nodded. “I do have a serious need to protect Clarke. I was fifteen when Marcus and Abby met and started dating. Clarke was five. Our father was out of the country working a lot, and my brother was practically raising me, so I spent a lot of time with Clarke. Then Marcus and Abby got married when I was eighteen and Clarke was eight. I was off to college by then, but the bond was already cemented. Clarke was my baby sister; time and distance was never going to change that. After I graduated, I started working for the family business, so I was around more. They moved around a lot, but no matter what city they lived in I wasn’t too far behind. Last year was the longest I was away from them. I was setting up our offices for the East Coast locations and it took a couple months, so I wasn’t around for Clarke as much. She started dating this guy named Finn.”
“Yeah, she told me a little bit about him. I know he was her last boyfriend, but she ended things over a year ago.”
“That’s because he had been cheating on her. He was some hotshot on the football team, and she was the new girl that didn’t know he was also the school playboy.” Just talking about that fuckboy had Vera wanting to gargle with holy water.
Lexa nodded in realization, having put the pieces together of what Vera was saying to her that night.
“Look, you are the first person Clarke has even looked at romantically since then, and the way that she talks about you, looks at you, even smiles when she just thinks about you is more intense than she has ever been about anyone. I can’t let her get hurt like that again, not on my watch. So, I’m sorry for coming at you as harshly as I did last night, but I will never apologize for protecting Clarke.”
“I’d never ask you to. Look… I care about Clarke, more than I’ve ever cared about anyone and those intense feelings you just described her having, I have them for her too. I would never hurt her, not intentionally anyway. If I ever did, I’d fully expect you to murder me.”
“Oh, I would. As long as you and I are on the same page.” Vera held her hand out to Lexa, a sign of truce. “Are we good?”
Lexa hesitated but eventually, she reached out to shake the woman's hand, both having come to an understanding regarding the young blonde they both cared for each in their own way. “Yeah, we’re good.”
As they let go, Vera turned to walk away, but quickly turned back. “One more question.”
“Yeah?”
“This dinner you invited Clarke to tonight….” Vera narrowed her eyes at the girl before continuing. “This isn’t payback for what happened at our dinner is it?”
Lexa was quick to shake her head. “Absolutely not. I mean my sister might give her ‘The Speech’ but for the most part it’s just a friendly family dinner.”
“Good. But maybe text her something to help her relax. She’s kind of nervous to meet your family.”
“Yeah, I’ll do that. Thanks.”
“Have fun.” And with that, Vera turned to leave, allowing Lexa to finish grabbing her things and making her way back towards the main building of the school to locate her best friend. On the way, she decided to take Vera’s advice and give Clarke a call to see if she could assist with quelling the blonde’s nerves.
The phone rang three times before she heard Clarke’s angelic voice flow through to reach her ears. “ Hey babe.”
“Hey. So, I just had an interesting chat with your aunt.”
Clarke let out a sound that was somewhere between a sigh and a scoff. “Oh god, what happened? Whatever she said, don’t listen to her! Ugh, I’m going to kill her!”
Lexa chuckled. “Baby, relax. It was fine. She actually came by practice to apologize for our last encounter.”
“Okay, good.” Clarke sighed in relief. “I really let her have it last night. It was a real apology though, right? Not some half-assed BS?”
“No, it was real. I promise. She also gave me some good advice.”
“Oh yeah? What’d she tell you?” The blonde asked curiously.
“She told me to call my gorgeous girlfriend because she may or may not be freaking out about having dinner with my family tonight.”
Lexa could almost feel the defeated breath Clarke let out through the phone. “I’m not freaking out.” She was met with silence. “Not exactly.” Again, more silence, and she mentally cursed her girlfriend for being able to read her based on audio alone. “Okay. I might be freaking out a little bit. I’m just trying to find something to wear. I want to make a good impression when I meet your mom.”
“Babe, you’ve already met her like twice.”
“Yeah, but this is more formal. And I’m meeting her at her home as her daughter’s girlfriend. The stakes are raised.”
“Listen, I promise you’ve got nothing to worry about. It is not a formal thing. It’s totally casual and chill. And my mom already loves you. All you have to do is show up and be your amazingly genuine self and all will go well. I have no doubt about that.”
This time, the sigh Clarke let out was a deep, cathartic one. “Okay. You’re right. I’ll be alright. I just can’t wait to see you.”
Lexa smiled. “I can’t wait to see you either. Just one more hour, then I can wrap you in my arms.”
“One more hour until I can be wrapped in your arms.” They both hummed and took a moment to live in the comfortable silence over the line. “ Okay, I’ll let you go shower and change while I get ready. I’ll see you soon.”
“Alright. I’ll see you soon.” Lexa hung up just as she approached the auto shop garage to find Raven and head home.
About an hour later
Lexa came downstairs after she showered and went through her entire closet to find a decent enough outfit to wear dinner. She made her way to the kitchen, seeing her mom putting the finishing touches on the food she was preparing and putting it in serving dishes. When she did, Luna would come grab the dish and set it on the dining room table where Derrick was busy setting.
Looking back into the kitchen, she finally noticed that Raven was sneaking up behind Becca, trying to swipe some of the appetizers. Without even looking, Becca reached back and swatted the latina’s hand away before continuing what she was doing.
Lexa chuckles at that under her breath before taking a deep inhale and slowly letting it out as her way of alerting everyone that she had something to say. “Okay, guys… please no embarrassing me tonight.” She looks to Luna. “And no being rude or mean to her in any way, shape or form.”
Luna tilts her head like a confused dog looking almost offended, then turns to Derrick. “Why is she looking at me when she says that?”
Derrick gave a smirk. “Well, babe… you can be a bit too protective when it comes to Lexa.”
Now it was him on the receiving end of one of Luna’s almost iconic glares that caused most people to tremble. “Did you just say that to my face?”
Lexa tuned out the rest of that conversation to answer the text she just received. She smiled brightly as she saw that it was Clarke, letting her know that she just pulled up outside. Without a word to her family, who had all taken notice of the dopey, lovestruck grin she’d adorned, she walked straight to the front door and out of the house to greet her girlfriend.
Once Clarke saw Lexa come out of the house, she got out of the car to meet her on the sidewalk. Once Lexa laid eyes on her, she could hear the brunettes' breath catch from even ten feet away. Clarke was wearing a deep maroon, faux-leather skirt that stopped just above the knee, a white blouse with a scoop neckline and a black blazer with the flats to match.
All manner of nerves seemed to float away into the aether for both girls the minute their eyes met. It was funny the way that always seemed to happen with them. Neither had ever had that with anyone else so far in their lives.
“You look… so beautiful.” Lexa told her. Just the way the words flowed out of her mouth and reached the blondes ears, the tone, the look in her eyes, the smile she wore when she said it.. Nobody had ever spoken to her that way. She knew that not only did Lexa think it, she felt it, it was truly genuine.
Clarke couldn’t help but blush, secretly loving that her girlfriend could never fail to evoke that involuntary reaction from her. “You really think so?” she asked. And Lexa nodded, her beautiful green eyes never breaking the contact they had with Clarke’s sparkling blues. “Thank you.” Clarke smiled back at her, closing the remaining distance between the two of them. She reached up to wrap her arms around Lexa’s neck, resting them on strong shoulders. She felt Lexa’s arms wrap around her waist, pulling her closer, not that that was too possible given their proximity.
“I’m really glad you could make it.” Lexa said softly. Her words were partly muffled by the blonde's shoulder, but she still heard it.
“Of course I made it.” Clarke planted a line of kisses up her neck, under her earlobe and across her cheek until she pulled back and the two leaned into one another and allowed their lips to meet in a kiss that landed somewhere between heavy and chaste.
It was a deep kiss, one that expressed their passion toward one another without going too far since there was a high chance they were probably being spied on through the front window by Lexa’s entire family. The last thing Clarke wanted to do was make a bad impression by being caught practically mauling Lexa in her front yard.
“I can’t wait to meet your family.” She said when they eventually detached. Clarke slid her hands down Lexa’s arms, holding both of her hands in her own and lacing their fingers together. “I’m a little nervous, honestly, but mostly I’m excited. There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”
“Well then,” Lexa began, bringing her forehead to rest on Clarke’s, “are you ready?” She held her hand out for Clarke to take; it was now or never.
Without hesitation, Clarke placed her hand in Lexa’s. “Let’s do this.”
With one final, shared peck on the lips, Lexa led Clarke up the rest of the walkway to their front door, and into the house. Immediately they can both smell the delicious aroma of whatever is cooking and hear the talking and laughter. It was a genuine family household atmosphere, making Clarke all the more nervous.
They rounded the corner from the front entry hallway and saw everyone setting up the table with all the food, drinks and utensils. Becca was the first one to notice that the two of them had come inside.
“Clarke! It’s so great to see you again sweetie! She made her way over to them with her arms outstretched, enveloping Clarke into a loving, warm and comforting hug; the kind only a devoted mother could give you. “I’m so glad you were able to join us tonight. Come on in, come meet everyone.
Becca ushered the blonde further into the house, toward the dining room. She knew everyone that stood around the table, but some she had yet to be formally introduced to. She had met the Sheriff a handful of times on account of the fact that he and Marcus were working out some kind of business deal for the department, but this is only the second time she had seen him in civilian clothes rather than his uniform. Raven was Lexa’s best friend, and by association, Clarke thought it was safe to say that the two of them were becoming friends as well. The final two faces are one’s she has seen and even heard about through Lexa, but this would be the first time that she speaks to either of them and that is where a majority of her nerves stem from.
The closest thing Clarke had to a sibling was Vera, her ‘step-aunt’; but since they weren’t all that far apart in age and Vera was a bit of a wild-child, their bond was almost sister-like. But the ‘sister’ bond she shared with Vera was only a fraction of the real thing. It couldn’t hold a candle to the actual and legitimate sisterhood bond that Lexa shared with her older sister Luna. She could tell by the way Lexa talks about her and shares stories, that she absolutely idolizes her big sister, and based off of what she heard combined with the judgemental stare she was currently receiving from the older woman, Luna would do anything for her baby sister. What helped Clarke stay composed under the various stares she was getting from everyone in the room, was the firm but gentle squeeze of her hand that was still laced with the brunette’s to her right.
“This is my oldest daughter, Luna.” Becca introduced first. “I don’t think you were able to officially meet her at the game a while back. This is my future son-in-law Derrick. You already know Raven. And this is her father, the Sheriff, Jacapo Sinclair. You can just call him Jack.”
Clarke uttered out her greetings to everyone, and told the two that she hadn’t met yet what a pleasure it was.
Becca clapped her hands together to get everyone’s attention. “Okay! Food is ready! Everybody, sit!”
As everyone took their seats, Clarke lingered back for a moment, seeing where everyone else was sitting so she could find her place. This was a bigger family dinner than she was ever used to so she didn’t want to screw up by accidentally taking someone else’s seat. Similar to what she’s seen on TV or movies, the adults, Becca and Jack sat at each end of the table. From there, Derrick and Luna move to one side of the table that had two place settings, leaving her, Lexa and Raven on the other. Lexa, ever the sweetheart, moved ahead and pulled the middle chair out for Clarke to sit in, ignoring the soft ‘Aww’ she heard from her mother’s end of the table.
“Smooth Casanova.” Luna joked to her sister, shooting her a smile and a wink.
“Okay, you hush!” Becca scolded her oldest. “Clarke, I hope you don’t mind, but when Lexa told me you said yes to our invite, I kinda went all out. And I’m Italian, so it’s a whole thing.”
That caused the blonde to smile, feeling appreciative of the effort but slight guilt at the inconvenience. “Oh, I hope you didn’t go through too much trouble. But everything smells amazing.”
“It was no trouble at all. I love to cook. Now, I don’t know what Lexa’s told you about our family dinners, but each week we all alternate. So, if it’s your week, you get to pick the menu and you get to pick your chore for the night like helping cook, do the dishes, set the table, trash duty, things like that. Coincidentally, it’s Lexa’s week. So, I made pretty much all her favorites. There are some side dishes to go along with the main course which is a marinara Gnocchi and if you save room for dessert, I’m making fresh Zeppole’s with chocolate sauce.”
“…wow…” Was all Clarke could say after seeing all the various food that was scattered in serving dishes across the entirety of the table.
“Sorry if it’s a bit overwhelming, I got excited. You’re the first girl Lexa has ever brought home.”
Lexa’s eyes bugged out and her cheeks grew red with embarrassment. “Seriously mom!?!”
“Relax, kid.” Becca says while waving her off, but the only thing that got Lexa to settle down after that was the feeling of Clarke’s hand gently squeezing her knee under the table. Looking up, the blonde flashed her girlfriend a small smile before her eyes darted back towards Becca who had continued speaking to her. “Now, Lexa told me you didn’t have any allergies, preferences or dietary restrictions, but I wanted to double check with you.”
“Oh... no ma’am. No allergies and I’m not particularly picky. And everything you’ve described sounds and smells fantastic. I know I’ll love it.”
“Perfect. Now dinner table rules; Number one, no phones. But we’ll make an exception if it's your mom or something important. And number two, drop all that ‘yes ma’am’ BS. This is completely casual and chill.”
“Mom, don’t say ‘chill’.” Luna quickly let out.
Becca whipped her head across the table to her older daughter. “You just earned yourself dish duty.”
Clarke watched as Lexa stuck her tongue out at her sister as Raven laughed in her face from across the table. Becca ignored it all, more than used to the shenanigans after a decade of such behavior. “Alright everyone… Mangia!”
And with that single word, the entire table erupted into sheer chaos. Everyone had begun grabbing and passing dishes around as they piled food onto their plates and handed them off when they’re done. Clarke finds herself a bit overwhelmed in a good way. Growing up as an only child ‘Family Dinners’ were usually quiet and civil. She’s only ever seen something like this in the movies but watching this genuine family moment live and up-close fills her with a kind of excitement. It’s all the more better that it is with Lexa and her family. Clarke gets a weird idea at what her future would look like on holidays when she joins Lexa’s family officially. Not that she’s thinking that far ahead in the future.
Once everyone had their plates made, things had calmed down and settled at the table so the conversation started to slowly materialize.