Chapter Text
Two months later, Clarke runs into Finn at the grocery store. She's laden down with comfort food; the fact that both of their final exams occur at the same time is making even the perennially laid-back Raven high-strung, and so Clarke embarked on a mission in search of chocolate, chips and dip, declaring that night a study-free time.
'I might not be good at taking care of myself,' she reflects, pushing the cart down yet another aisle. 'But I can sure as hell take care of other people.'
Clarke turns into the aisle that sells all kinds of sodas, searching the shelves for that awful own-brand cola that Raven likes to drink by the gallon. She's so busy perusing the shelves that she nearly doesn't hear the shallow cough that echoes beside her; not so much someone clearing their throat as someone attempting to get her attention.
She looks up and immediately resists the urge to swear. Finn's right beside her; lurking, the creep. She's weirdly pleased to find that he looks kind of awful, bags under his eyes and his nearly shoulder-length hair in need of a wash. The fluorescent strip lighting probably doesn't do much to help his complexion, washing him out and turning his skin a sickly grey.
It probably says something about her as a person, that she takes so much pleasure in how bad he looks.
"Hey, Clarke," Finn starts, rocking back on his heels and only narrowly avoiding slamming into a pyramid of lemonade cans. Clarke chokes back a laugh and nods in reply, grabbing two bottles of the cola Raven loves and hastily putting them in the cart.
"Finn," she says curtly, moving to manoeuvre the cart past him in the narrow aisle and hoping he gets the hint.
He doesn't.
"How have you been?" he asks, and Clarke grits her teeth in an approximation of a smile.
"Great, thanks. Much better than when my boyfriend was cheating on me."
Finn looks shocked at that, his jaw dropping comically.
"Clarke," he exclaims dismally. "I told you, I never meant to hurt you. I'm so glad I bumped into you, actually - can you meet me for coffee sometime? Talk things out, see where we end up."
The irony of this conversation isn't lost on Clarke, the mirroring of her first conversation with Raven making her cringe. 'Is that how desperate I sounded?' she wonders in disgust.
"I'm sorry, Finn," she says softly, beginning to back away in the hopes of letting him down at least somewhat gently. "I'm seeing someone right now."
"This quickly? Do I know him?"
Smugness leaps in Clarke's stomach abruptly and joyfully, replacing any and all pity she may have felt for Finn before.
"It's a she, actually," she says, hoping it comes off as nonchalant as she wants it to. "And you're more than familiar with her."
Finn raises an eyebrow in curiosity, looking more like he's indulging her than anything else, and Clarke prickles. 'Does he think I'm making it up? Does he think I shouldn't be over him?'
Glee rises in her throat and she has to physically stop herself for jumping for joy when she says, "It's Raven."
The look on Finn's face fuels her giggles all the way home from the store, his gormless expression and wide eyes making her snort with laughter every time she thinks she's finally managed to tamp down on the giggles.
His facial expression is only beaten in hilarity with how loudly Raven laughs that night when Clarke tells her over wine and trashy rom-coms, the two girls wound so tightly together that she can't tell where she ends and Raven begins.
"I think we both made the right decision, Griffin," Raven says, after she's finished wiping the tears of laughter from her eyes. "Just think, we could have still both been with him."
"Yeah," Clarke says, idly threading Raven's hair through her fingers. It hits her, suddenly, how close she came to not having any of this at all, and she feels sentimentality rise like a clog in her throat.
"I love you a lot, Raven," she admits, and it's the first time she's said it.
Raven sits up and just looks at her for a second, before reaching forward, cupping Clarke's face in both her hands and leaning in for a slow, sweet kiss.
"I love you too, you idiot. Now sit down and watch the movie."