AN: Merry Christmas, Clexakru! As my Christmas gift to all of you, I give you this final chapter of IHYDLM. Thank you for all of the favorites, follows, and reviews you guys have given me on this work, and thank you also to those who have just been reading it. You guys are all so awesome, and I don't know what I'd do without you. The fact that so many people love this story means so much to me because the story is so special to me. It has actually been my favorite story to write. I love these characters and this world, and it will be hard for me to part with it.

If you guys are really in the Christmas spirit, feel free to check out my one-shot, Underneath the Mistletoe, or my ongoing Christmas short story, Hike into My Heart. I will also be starting a new story sometime in January, so I hope to see some of you again there.

For the last time, I really hope that you enjoy the new chapter and that you find the ending of this story to be satisfying! :)

When Clarke blinked open her eyes the next morning, she was happy to see Lexa cuddled into her side, wearing absolutely no clothes. Clarke's dress had eventually found its way to the floor last night, and she found the feeling of Lexa's bare skin against hers to be refreshing. It had been way too long since they had last slept without any clothes on.

Clarke blushed when she saw what she had done to Lexa's lip. It was swollen from where Clarke had bitten it, and the blonde thought that Lexa might not be happy when she woke up and saw it. Clarke might have gotten a little carried away last night, but she hadn't been able to help herself. She had wanted to bite that lip hard for quite some time now, but she had lost control last night and bit right through the skin. It was an accident, but Clarke still felt a bit bad about it.

Continuing to kiss afterwards had probably only made it worse, and Clarke chided herself for not forcing them to stop so that she could hold some ice on it. However, they had both been in too much of a haze to care. Now, Clarke wanted to bring the swelling down, and she fully intended to put some salt water on the place where her teeth had broken the skin, knowing that that was a quick way to treat a swollen lip. At least, that's what she had done when she had busted her lip in a fight at school, shortly after her dad had passed away.

Blue eyes fixed on the photo frame that now rested on Lexa's vanity, where she had placed it last night. She smiled at the sight of her and her father back together in the very frame that she had given him, what felt like ages ago. She smiled even wider at the touch of Lexa that was now present as well. She had thought of gluing the frame back together herself, but she hadn't because she hadn't wanted to be reminded that it was cracked. Now, though, she loved the cracks. She knew that her heart would swell every time she looked at them because she would be reminded of how much Lexa loved her. Clarke's gift paled in comparison, and she wished that she had gotten Lexa something better than a stupid candle.

Clarke was pulled from her thoughts when Lexa cracked open a sleepy green eye. "Clarke, you're thinking so loud that it's woken me up. What's going on?"

"I was thinking about how much I love the gift you gave me last night," Clarke said easily. "I mean, Anya said that you would love the candle, but I wish that I had drawn you something, or that I had at least put in as much effort as you did."

"You already drew me something," Lexa reminded her. "It's beautiful, and I will keep it forever. Besides, I really do love candles, and I honestly can't wait to light the one that you gave me. Your gift was perfect."

Clarke couldn't help a smile from playing out on her face. "Fine. So, maybe my gift was alright."

"You are more than enough of a gift for me," Lexa said softly.

Clarke could read the honesty in her girlfriend's green gaze, and she leaned forward to press a gentle kiss to her cheek before snuggling back into the brunette. Clarke felt herself falling back to sleep almost instantly, but Lexa shook her to keep her awake. "As much as I would like to lie in bed with you all day, we have to pack everything up so that we'll be ready to leave. We were supposed to do it last night, but, well…"

Clarke smiled at the thought of just why they hadn't gotten any packing done last night. "We should probably shower, too."

Lexa nodded in agreement and slipped out of Clarke's arms, standing from the bed. Clarke groaned in annoyance at the fact that the brunette was no longer keeping her warm, and Lexa chuckled at the pout on her roommate's face. "Do you want to go first, or should I?"

"You can go since you're already up." Clarke let out a loud yawn, stretching her arms up above her head.

"Okay, but no falling back asleep while I'm in there." Lexa gave Clarke a pointed look.

Clarke rolled her eyes, wishing for a moment that the other girl didn't know her so well. "Fine. I'll start getting my stuff together."

Lexa went to gather her shower things as Clarke stood from the bed, still trying to wake herself fully. Lexa slipped on her bathrobe and was about to head out the door when she caught sight of herself in the mirror and stopped dead in her tracks. "Oh, my God. Look at my lip!"

Clarke looked down in embarrassment, unable to meet the brunette's eyes. "Oh, yeah. I'm really sorry about that."

Lexa tentatively poked at her lip with her fingers for a few seconds, wearing a dismayed frown. "It's so puffy."

Clarke shrugged her shoulders, her eyes still trained on the ground. "It's not that bad."

She thought she was speaking the truth, at least. It wasn't half as swollen as the lips of those girls who had done the Kylie Jenner Challenge. However, she knew that Lexa's lip was still swollen enough that their housemates would notice it. The blonde finally lifted her head to see green eyes glaring at her. "Are you kidding me? It's huge. How do I get it to go down?"

"Salt water," Clarke suggested. "At least, that's what I used when I busted my lip."

Lexa nodded brusquely and turned without a word, heading downstairs. Clarke knew that she was going to get some salt, and she really hoped that her girlfriend wasn't mad at her. She really hadn't meant to bite that hard. She had just gotten overexcited, and it wasn't like Lexa hadn't been just as bad. Clarke knew that her breasts would be sore for a few days, and she honestly didn't know if there was any part of them that wasn't covered in bite marks. Still, she supposed that no one could actually see her breasts, whereas Lexa wouldn't be able to cover her lips. There wasn't a doubt in her mind that their housemates would say something about it, and it embarrassed her slightly that everyone would know what she and her roommate had been up to last night. Then again, they had all probably been doing the same exact thing.

When Lexa came back to the room with a cup full of salt water and a cotton ball, Clarke noticed that her cheeks were tinted pink, and she thought that Indra had probably noticed the swell of the other girl's lip immediately. Instead of dabbing the salt water onto her own lip, like Clarke had expected her to do, Lexa simply held out the cotton ball to the blonde without a word.

Clarke swallowed thickly when she realized what Lexa wanted her to do, throat suddenly feeling quite dry, and she knew that her eyes had probably darkened considerably. "You want me to dab this on your lip?"

"Yes," Lexa said simply, her face remaining impassive.

Clarke shuddered at the thought. She wasn't sure if she could possibly do this without falling back into bed with the other girl, and she turned her eyes back up to Lexa's with a helpless blue gaze. "Your plump, sexy bottom lip?"

"Yes, Clarke," Lexa repeated, a mischievous smirk spreading over her face. "This is your punishment for biting it."

"But it's even bigger now and even sexier," Clarke protested.

Lexa simply shrugged, still wearing that same little smirk. Clarke took a deep breath. This girl was going to be the death of her. Clarke took the cotton ball from her girlfriend and dipped it into the salt water. Then, she began to dab it onto Lexa's swollen pink flesh. Lexa hissed in pain, but Clarke didn't stop, didn't even say anything, because she was too mesmerized by the way that her favorite part of Lexa's body was moving beneath her fingers. It took everything that Clarke had not to lean forward and grab that swollen lip in hers.

When Clarke had finished her dabbing, Lexa pulled back, shooting Clarke a small teasing smile before gliding out of the room without another word. She knew what she had done, and she was gloating. Clarke wished that her boobs would swell to twice their size so that she could drive Lexa this mad. Then again, she was pretty sure that she could drive Lexa insane with the breasts that she already had.

She shook her head from side to side to try and clear it of all thoughts of lips and breasts and Lexa underneath her so that she could start packing her stuff up. As she slid her suitcase out from under her bed, she couldn't help but think about the last time she had seen it. When she had first arrived at Arkadia House, she had wanted nothing more than for the end of the semester to come so that she could go back home. Now that she was actually leaving, though, she found that she wanted nothing more than to be able to stay.

She started transferring clothes from her wardrobe to her suitcase, and she wondered when this place had come to feel like more of a home to her than her actual house. She knew that it was probably right around the time that she had started falling for Lexa.

Breakfast flew by that morning, the conversation flowing naturally between the housemates as if it were just any other day. Everyone was happy and jocular, and no one would ever know that they were about to be leaving each other. They had all agreed the previous morning that they would not say goodbye until after breakfast and that they would not say a word at the table about the fact that they weren't going to see each other again for a month.

Of course, Lexa's lip did not go unnoticed, Raven's eyes widening the moment that the other girl sat down. "Lexa, what the hell happened to your lip?"

The brunette in question scowled, but she didn't even blush. "You know what? I'm gonna let Clarke answer that question."

The blonde did blush, furiously, as eight expectant heads turned her way. "I may have bit it too hard, but you don't understand. Her lips are fucking sexy, and we hadn't had sex in months, and I just couldn't help myself."

"You're right, Clarke. I can't say that I understand," Raven teased, unable to hide her smirk. "I mean, I've never wanted to bite Lexa's lips."

"Shut up," Clarke rolled her eyes grumpily.

The meal ended too soon, and then they were gathered in the living room, Mr. Kane saying one last goodbye to them and telling them that they were free to go. That was when it all really started to hit home for them that they were leaving each other, even if it was only for a month.

"I guess we'll see you next year." Octavia was the first one to break the silence that had settled over the students. "I'll miss you guys over the break."

"Oh, please," Raven scoffed. "At least, you have Bellamy. Some of us aren't so lucky as to have siblings or live so close to one another, like those two." She gestured to Jasper and Monty.

"Bellamy told me that you're coming to our house for Christmas, and Lincoln is flying in for a few days as well, so we'll be together again for a little while," Octavia pointed out.

"I guess you're right," Raven said with a smile.

"No fair." A pout formed on Clarke's face. "You guys can't get together without us."

"Oh, don't complain to us about what's not fair, Clarke," Octavia was quick to say. "Your girlfriend is going to be living with you for the entirety of the break, and you guys are gonna be in New York. Talk about unfair."

"I guess you're right," Clarke said cheekily, echoing the words that Raven had said seconds ago.

"We should probably hit the road," Bellamy told his sister before she could say anything else.

She shot him a look that said that leaving was the last thing that she wanted to do, but then she sighed. "Okay."

The two of them said their goodbyes, and so did Lincoln, the only other one who had a car. Then, they were leaving for the semester, Octavia and Lincoln holding hands until they had to split. Clarke reached down and squeezed Lexa's hand, glad that she did not have to say goodbye to the brunette, at least. The room was quiet as the rest of them waited for their parents to come and claim them one by one. Or rather, two by two. Raven was the only one left who would be leaving by herself.

The first parent to enter the room was Jasper's mother, who was picking up both her son and Monty. Apparently, the two boys only lived fifteen minutes away from each other. They went around the room to say goodbye to everyone before they left, and when it was Clarke's turn, she hugged them both. "I'll see you guys next year."

"Maybe, you can join in on some pranks," Jasper said with a wink.

Clarke smiled. "I'd love that."

Next through the door was Abby, and Clarke was off the couch in an instant, running into her mother's arms. The older woman squeezed her tightly. "I'm so glad to see you, Clarke."

"I'm happy to be coming home to you," Clarke said, and she wondered how it was possible for her to want to stay here with her friends, but also for her to want to go home to her mother. She supposed that the main reason that she felt more at home at Arkadia House was because of the events of the past year. Her house didn't feel as homey anymore because of who was missing.

When Clarke and Abby finally released each other, the blonde noticed Lexa hanging back as she interacted with her mother, clearly a little unsure of what to do. Clarke made her way over to her girlfriend, squeezing her hand. "You ready to go?"

Lexa nodded. "After we say goodbye to our friends."

The two girls hugged the remaining three goodbye, and when Clarke reached Raven, her friend squeezed her tight. Clarke thought she detected a hint of sorrow in the usually playful brown eyes when she pulled away, and she smiled at the confirmation that Raven was going to miss her as much as Clarke missed her. The sorrow was gone in an instant, though, the playful twinkle taking up residence again. "Have fun in New York. Be good to your girl, and don't forget to bring me something back."

"I was actually thinking about bringing back a little something for everyone," Clarke admitted.

"Then, bring me something extra," Raven said with a wink and a smile.

Clarke could not help but laugh. "I will."

She didn't think that the others would mind if Raven got an extra New York trinket. That was just Raven being Raven, after all.

When Lexa appeared by Clarke's side, the blonde hugged her friend one more time before turning to look at her girlfriend. Lexa nodded to her, and Clarke nodded back, grabbing the handle to her suitcase. Lexa did the same, both girls slinging their backpacks over their shoulders, and then Clarke took Lexa's free hand in hers as they headed towards the door.

Abby's eyes widened when she caught sight of Lexa's swollen lip, and Clarke knew that her mom would probably understand exactly what had happened to it when she saw the blush that was adorning her daughter's cheeks. Clarke cursed herself for blushing so easily. Abby's look of surprise was gone before Lexa could see it, replaced with a wide smile as she led the way out the door. Clarke and Lexa walked out after her, following her down the sidewalk to the car that she had rented from the airport. Clarke let go of her slight embarrassment and her sorrow at leaving her friends behind as she walked, simply enjoying the crisp winter air and her girlfriend walking beside her.

"New York really is amazing, Clarke," Lexa said, her face pressed to the cab window.

Clarke just chuckled at her girlfriend's cuteness. They hadn't even entered the city yet, but Lexa was content to look at it from across the Hudson River. Once their flight had landed, they had gotten a taxi to take them into the city, and the mesmerized look in Lexa's eyes had not left since the city had appeared.

Lexa turned back to look at Clarke with a smile when trees obscured the view, excitement dancing in her green eyes. "Where are we going to first?"

"Wherever you want to go," Clarke said with a smile of her own.

Lexa just shrugged. "I don't know. You're the one who knows the best places to visit."

Clarke realized that Lexa was right, and she had to remind herself that this girl had never actually been in the city. "Okay, then. How about the Empire State Building? You're not afraid of heights, are you?"

"No, Clarke, I am not," Lexa answered. "That sounds very fun."

Clarke nodded in agreement, already thrumming with excitement at the thought. The Empire State Building had always been one of her favorite parts of the city, and she could not even count how many times she and her friends had been up to the observation deck before she had gotten caught up with the wrong crowd. She found that she couldn't wait to take Lexa up there. If the brunette was already so excited by the city without even having entered it yet, Clarke knew that she would love to look down on it from the highest point.

After stopping back home for a few minutes to drop off their suitcases, Clarke, Lexa, and Abby made their way to the Empire State Building. Abby handed Clarke money for two tickets when they got there, saying that she would remain in the lobby while the two of them went up to the top. Clarke knew that her mother had seen the view many times before, but she also knew that Abby was not staying in the lobby because she was tired of going up to the observation deck. She was trying to allow her daughter to have some time alone with Lexa. The blonde was grateful for that since the two girls hadn't been alone since they had left Arkadia House that afternoon.

When the two of them finally reached the top of the building, Lexa was quick to head over to the edge so that she could gaze upon the city, Clarke close behind her. She didn't miss the slight awe that was on her girlfriend's face, and she couldn't help but chuckle a bit when Lexa looked down. She swayed a little, clearly feeling dizzy, and she backed warily away from the edge. Clarke nudged her in the side. "Thought you weren't scared of heights."

"I'm not," Lexa defended herself. "I've never been this high up before, so I wasn't used to it, that's all."

As if to prove her point, Lexa stepped back up to the railing and looked down, not seeming to be bothered at all this time. Then, she turned her gaze back to the city, looking out at the buildings that were just starting to light up as the darkness of night crept into the sky.

"It's beautiful," Lexa said.

Clarke nodded. "It is."

The two girls devolved into silence as they both enjoyed the view of the city, each one perfectly content to just stand there and look. Clarke rested her hand on the small of Lexa's back, absentmindedly rubbing little circles there. She smiled when she felt Lexa's head come to rest on her shoulder.

She never realized how beautiful the view actually was from the top of the Empire State Building and how much she had missed it in her time away. She had lived in this city all her life and had been up here so many times with her friends, but she had never just taken the time to stop and appreciate the sight before. She had always been engaged in some conversation or so focused on a drawing that she wouldn't even think to make time to just stand in front of the railing and drink in the sights of the city below her. This had just been another pretty view for her to draw, and she never realized exactly how much she had taken it for granted until now. Many people, like Lexa, only got the chance to visit this amazing city once or twice, and still more never got to come here at all. She was lucky to live here, just like both Octavia and Raven had implied, and it took finding Lexa for her to realize that.

After a few more minutes, Lexa's eyes lit up as she seemingly remembered something, and she pulled away from Clarke to turn excited green eyes onto blue. "Can we go see the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center?"

Clarke smiled brightly at the thought, wondering why it hadn't crossed her mind. That was the most popular thing to see around Christmas time, and it would be a perfect place for them to spend the rest of the evening. "Of course we can. While we're at it, we can go ice skating, too. My mom and I have season passes to The Rink."

Lexa suddenly looked nervous, and Clarke wondered if maybe ice skating wasn't such a good idea, after all. The brunette looked down at the ground, scuffing the toe of her boot against the concrete. "I haven't been ice skating since I was ten. I don't really remember how to do it."

"Don't worry about that," Clarke pressed on, having seen the spark in Lexa's eyes that told the blonde that her girlfriend would love to skate if she could remember how. "You'll get the hang of it again in no time. You can even hold my hand until you do."

Lexa made a show of looking down at their currently joined hands. "I don't need a reason to hold your hand."

Clarke blushed a little, pulling her hand away from Lexa's. "Now, it looks like you do."

The blonde began walking away, smirking when she noticed Lexa looking at her in disbelief. "Where are you going?"

"There's more than one side to the building," Clarke gestured to the adjacent railing that she was heading for. "If you want to see the Christmas tree before midnight, then we better get to the next view."

Lexa rolled her eyes as she followed her girlfriend. "I'm not taking that long to look."

"You are, but it's okay," Clarke said in a much more serious tone. "I haven't ever taken nearly long enough to look and actually appreciate what I'm seeing."

Lexa just smiled, taking Clarke's hand again and leaning into the other girl's shoulder as they looked out at the sights together. This time, Clarke couldn't bring herself to pull her hand away.

"I think I'm gonna buy one of these." Clarke reached up and grabbed a one-foot replica of the Empire State Building off of the shelf.

After looking at the view off the top of the building from all four sides, Clarke and Lexa had wandered into the gift shop for a few moments, and it had not taken Clarke long to notice that Lexa was looking longingly at these statues. In that instant, she knew that she was going to buy one for Lexa, no matter what.

"You don't have to buy that for me." Lexa saw right through Clarke's act, and the blonde should have known better.

Still, she decided to play innocent and pretend she didn't know what Lexa was talking about. "I'm buying it for me. I suppose I will have to share it with you, though, since we do share a room."

Obviously, Lexa saw right through that as well, but she didn't argue. She just smiled and shook her head as Clarke handed it to her, clearly deciding to accept the gift for what it was. While she was thinking of gifts, Clarke pulled down a mini replica of the Empire State Building; this one was only a few inches tall.

Lexa's brows furrowed in confusion. "Who's that for?"

"Raven," Clarke answered. "She wants me to get her something extra, and this is honestly perfect."

Lexa shook her head, a smile spreading over her features. "Of course she does."

Clarke watched Lexa as she stared up at the giant Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center, her face awash in the glow from the multicolored lights. However, the way that Lexa's face was lit up with the glow of the Christmas lights in the night wasn't even what made Clarke swoon. It was the huge smile that was on her face. She looked like a kid on Christmas morning, and Clarke was honestly surprised at how happy this city made Lexa. She would've thought that it would have had the opposite effect on the brunette, but Lexa clearly loved being in this new place, and she seemed extra excited about this particular attraction.

"Did you never have a Christmas tree or something?" Clarke wondered aloud.

Clarke normally wouldn't ask a question like that for fear of coming off as rude, but this was Lexa, and she knew that the brunette would understand that she was only curious.

"It's not that I've never had a tree before. Christmas has always been my favorite holiday ever since I was a kid," Lexa answered easily. "Luna's family always had a Christmas tree, and I would always get so excited to go with Luna to pick one out and then decorate it. We even got ornaments with our names on them at some convention one year, and you can only imagine how ecstatic I was."

Clarke could not help but smile at how cute her girlfriend was being. "Did you let Luna and her parents know that you were staying with me this year?"

"Of course I did, Clarke," Lexa said.

"What did they say?"

"That they would miss me and that they heard about what happened on Family Visiting Day," Lexa explained, her eyes falling to the ground. "Apparently, the school called them about it since they were listed as my emergency contact. They want to come next year."

Clarke was not surprised at all that they would want to come and see her girlfriend. They clearly thought of her as part of their family, too, and Clarke was determined to get Lexa to see that. "You should let them."

"I will," Lexa said easily, to Clarke's surprise, bringing her eyes back up to meet the blonde's. "You've been right about so many things this year, and I think that you're right about this, too. I probably wasn't as much of a burden on them as I thought."

The two girls shared a smile, and then Abby returned with the skates that she had rented for them. Clarke had argued that they could rent their own skates, but her mother had insisted because Lexa was the guest, and she didn't want to make the young brunette wait in line. "Here you guys go. You can skate whenever you're ready."

"Lexa was just telling me how much she likes Christmas trees," Clarke informed her mother before turning back to her girlfriend. "It's a great thing that you love them so much. My mom doesn't get the tree until I come home, so you can help us pick it out, if you want to. You can help us decorate it, too."

"I would like that very much, Clarke." Green eyes got impossibly brighter, and Lexa smiled impossibly wider.

She was relieved to see that the swelling in the other girl's lip had gone down considerably since this morning. Still, Lexa was stretching her swollen lip in a way that had to be slightly painful, but it did not appear to be bothering the girl. In fact, she hadn't really been bothered by it last night either. Clarke's mood darkened a tiny bit when she thought about why that might be. This girl had been in so much pain before on a daily basis that she probably barely even felt the ache of a bitten lip.

Clarke wished that she could pull Lexa into her and shelter her from the world because she never wanted this brunette to be hurt by anyone ever again. At least, Lexa's parents would not be able to harm her anymore, unless they wanted to go to jail. They deserved to go to jail, though, and Clarke still hated them with such a burning passion. She would never tell Lexa until much later, but she fully intended on bringing that video in to the police the minute that the brunette turned eighteen, hopefully putting those people behind bars once and for all.

Clarke was overjoyed by the fact that Lexa was doing so much better now than ever before. She hadn't had a panic attack in weeks, and while Clarke could not be completely sure, she didn't think that the brunette had had a flashback either. She wondered if maybe Lexa seeing her parents on Family Visiting Day had actually helped her a little bit. She was able to see that she could, in fact, stand up to them and that she wasn't alone anymore. Clarke, and everyone else in that house, would immediately come to Lexa's rescue, if she needed it.

As Lexa continued to admire the tree, and Clarke continued to admire Lexa, the blonde thought how lucky she was to have gone to school at Polis. If she hadn't finally agreed and had instead talked her mother out of sending her there, then she would never have met Lexa, and she didn't even want to think about a life without this beautiful brunette girl in it. Christmas lights were dancing in Lexa's eyes, and Clarke knew that there was nothing that she loved more than seeing her girlfriend this happy.

"You ready to go?" Lexa asked after a few more seconds had passed.

Clarke just nodded and took her girlfriend's hand to lead her over to a bench where they could sit down and put on their skates. Once their skates were on, and they had received a "have fun" from Abby, the two girls glided out onto the ice. Lexa clutched tightly to Clarke's hand at first, and the blonde really did try to keep her up, but it wasn't long before she was falling onto her butt.

"You okay, Lexa?" Clarke asked as she extended down a hand to help the other girl up, trying her best to keep the concern that she was feeling out of her eyes.

"I'm fine," Lexa said, getting to her feet with ease.

It didn't take Lexa long to get the hang of it, but even after she would be fine skating by herself, she never let go of Clarke's hand. The blonde didn't mind at all because she didn't want to let go either. They went around and around the ice rink, and Clarke had almost forgotten just how much she moved this feeling, enjoying it even more now that Lexa was with her. Soon enough, she turned around to go backwards, releasing Lexa's hand for a moment so as not to throw the other girl off balance. Lexa's eyes widened in shock. "What are you doing?"

"I'll be fine," Clarke assured her, taking both of Lexa's hands in hers to pull the brunette along. "You can be my eyes, Lex. Just let me know if I'm about to run into anyone."

Lexa nodded, cracking a smile. "Okay. I won't let us crash."

Clarke was pretty much a pro at skating by now, and she kept the two of them going as Lexa stilled her feet, letting the blonde take complete control of them. Clarke looked back every now and again to get her bearings, but for the most part, she just trusted Lexa to say something if they were about to fly into someone.

They skated for hours, the world melting away around them as they got lost in each other's eyes. Clarke knew that keeping her eyes trained on Lexa's was distracting the other girl from watching where they were going, but she didn't even care. The silent love that was being exchanged between them was worth it. They crashed into people more than once, getting dirty looks, but the two girls almost didn't even notice, getting right back up and doing the same thing as they had been before.

They finally got off the ice and returned their skates, after agreeing that they would spend much more time here in their stay, and Lexa voiced her need to go to the restroom. Clarke pointed her in the right direction before wandering over to where her mother was sitting on a bench.

"Lexa had to use the bathroom, but I'm sure she'll be back shortly," Clarke said as she sat down.

Abby nodded, she and her daughter going silent for a few moments, before she spoke up again. "You were right. You two are good for each other."

"I tried to tell you that before, Mom," Clarke said jokingly, but she was honestly a little surprised that her mother had come to terms with it.

"I was a little wary about this at first because of the way that Lexa treated you before and everything she's been through, but you two get along really well together." Abby paused after that, but Clarke could tell that there was more that she wanted to say when she began shaking her head. "No, it's more than that. It's like you complete each other, and I'm sorry that I didn't realize that before. I don't think I've ever seen you this happy, Clarke."

Clarke was honestly in awe, too shocked to speak. She had thought that she would have to spend the entire break trying to prove to her mother that Lexa was a good person, but it seemed as if Abby had already seen that all on her own. Clarke knew that she and Lexa must look pretty love-struck around each other for her mother to have seen that this quickly, but she honestly didn't even care.

"Besides," Abby added. "You guys did look really cute together out there on the ice."

"Do you really mean all of that?" Clarke finally found her voice.

Abby smiled warmly. "Of course I do, sweetheart."

Next stop was the gift shops around the city, where Clarke and Lexa wanted to go to get a little something to bring back for their housemates next semester. The two girls and Abby walked into the first store they saw, and they all split up to walk around and look at everything that was there. Needless to say, there was a lot in the store.

Clarke began looking at shirts first, finding some really nice ones, and she thought that maybe she could get some of those for her housemates. Until she checked the price tags. She would have to get eight of them, and she did not want to spend that much money. She wandered over to a wall of magnets next, but she sighed when she didn't see anything that she liked. She was heading over to Lexa to see if the brunette had found anything halfway decent when she noticed some really nice New York City skyline keychains, with people's names written across the bottom. She called Lexa's name, green eyes snapping up to attention, and she pulled a random keychain off the hook, holding it up so that her girlfriend could see. "What do you think of these?"

Lexa shot her an amused smile. "They are very cute, Clarke, but do you really think that you will be able to find all of our friends' names?"

Clarke simply blinked for a moment because she hadn't even thought of the fact that she might not be able to find everyone's name. She was starting to think that she might not even be able to find a single one. "Damn it. Why do all of our friends have to have weird names?"

Lexa just shrugged, the smile never leaving her lips, and Clarke turned her attention back to the task at hand. She smiled when she saw a Lincoln keychain, but her smile dropped when she remembered Bellamy. She didn't even have to look to know that his name wouldn't be there. She thought that maybe she could just get him something else as she pulled down a Jasper keychain. However, that was as far as her luck went. There was no Raven, no Octavia, no Monty, no Anya, and there was certainly no Emori. There wasn't even a Clarke, and the blonde's shoulders slumped in defeat as she turned her eyes back to her girlfriend, who was trying not to laugh.

"How about we get them these snow globes?" Lexa held up a small snow globe, "I NY" printed around the stand.

"Perfect," Clarke said with a relieved smile.

The two of them picked up eight snow globes, getting a mix of black, purple, and blue stands, deciding that they would allow their housemates to work out who got what color. They knew that it would probably turn into a fight, with those guys, but it would make the gift-giving much more interesting.

On their way out of the store, Clarke's eyes were drawn to little green street signs that had people's names on them and said New York City at the top. She had never seen them before, and she pulled Lexa and Abby to a stop as she went over to look at them. Lexa followed her, and Abby waited for them, playfully rolling her eyes at her daughter. Clarke just stuck her tongue out before spinning the display stand around to the C area. Her face broke out in a grin when she saw a sign that said Clarke Avenue, and she quickly pulled it down from the rack.

"Do you want one, too?" Clarke asked her girlfriend.

Lexa just nodded, so Clarke called back to her mother. "Can we get one of these?"

"Yes, Clarke. Just hurry up," Abby said. "It's getting late."

Clarke nodded to her mother and quickly spun the stand to the L section. She scanned through it twice, but there did not appear to be one that said Lexa. She was about to tell her girlfriend, but Lexa came around the rotating display stand before she could, already holding a sign. Clarke's eyebrows shot up in surprise, wondering if the girl had gotten the last Lexa one. The brunette clearly noticed Clarke's look, spinning around her sign for the blonde to see. Alexandria Drive. Clarke had completely forgotten that her girlfriend's full name was Alexandria. She had gotten so used to calling her Lexa.

"I forgot that was your full name," Clarke admitted out loud. "It's very beautiful. Why don't you use it?"

"You do not like Lexa?" the brunette asked with a small frown.

"Of course I do, LW," Clarke said immediately. "I would never even dream of calling you anything else."

"You just called me LW," Lexa pointed out with a teasing smirk.

"Whatever." Clarke playfully rolled her eyes as a laugh escaped from her lips. "I'm just curious as to why you go by Lexa. I've actually never heard that name before."

"Because Alexandria is a mouthful," Lexa said with a twinkle in her eyes. "I went by Lexie when I was younger because that's what my mom used to call me. When I was in fifth grade, though, I decided to change my name. I wanted to shed all traces of my mother since she wasn't in my life anymore, so I chose a new nickname. Lexa. That's the name I've gone by ever since."

"You never thought to use Alex or Ali?" Clarke asked curiously.

Lexa scrunched her nose up at the suggestions. "I did, but I chose Lexa instead because I wanted something different."

Clarke nodded. She certainly understood that. She liked her own name for that same reason. It was unique for a girl.

"Would you like me to call you Alexandria sometimes, then?" Clarke asked, even though she knew what the answer would be. She just wanted to hear her girlfriend say it.

"No." Lexa shook her head with a smile. "Just Lexa."

When Clarke, Lexa, and Abby got back to the house, Clarke could tell that Lexa was starting to feel tired by the way that she had been leaning against the blonde as they walked back. She had the perfect way to make the girl feel more awake, though. She and Lexa placed their gift bags on the coffee table, and Clarke hurried to the kitchen for a moment, glad that her mother began to make small talk with Lexa to distract the brunette. A vase of red roses stood on the kitchen table, and Clarke was so glad that she had thought to ask her mother to get them yesterday. She grabbed the vase and hurried back out to Lexa, handing it to the brunette. "These are for you."

"What? Why?" Lexa asked, brows furrowing even as her eyes lit up.

"You didn't think I'd actually just gotten you a candle for our first dance together, right?" Clarke asked, face morphing into a mock-pout. "I know that flowers are practically your favorite thing in the universe, so I wanted to get these for you. Red roses. I know, a little cliché, but oh well."

"I love them." Lexa's eyes shined with happiness. "But you're my favorite thing in the universe."

Clarke moved in to give her girlfriend a chaste kiss before pulling back to whisper in her ear. "You're my favorite thing, too"

Lexa blushed and smiled, inhaling the sweet scent of the flowers in the vase. "Mmmm. These are lovely, Clarke."

Clarke couldn't help but chuckle; Lexa was being so adorable. The two of them shared a love-filled look for several long seconds before Abby spoke, reminding them of her presence. "Well, I'm going to bed, girls. I'll see you both in the morning. Be ready to decorate for Christmas."

"I will," Lexa answered, setting her vase on the coffee table with the gift bags before turning to Clarke. "We should probably head to bed, too."

Clarke nodded in agreement, grabbing Lexa's hand to pull her upstairs to the room that they would be sharing. Clarke's room, where they would be sleeping in a single bed, just like they were used to. Feeling tired, Clarke immediately began stripping her clothes from her body, grabbing some pajamas from one of her drawers. Lexa let out a small whine before Clarke could even begin to put them on, calling her attention to the brunette standing behind her. "Do we have to sleep with clothes on?"

Clarke just raised an eyebrow at her. "Lexa, it's like 30 degrees outside. Do you want to freeze?"

"I suppose not," Lexa grumbled, "but don't you have blankets?"

"Fine," Clarke relented. "I'll go grab some blankets."

Clarke hadn't even had to think before conceding to her girlfriend because she didn't want to go back to sleeping with clothes on again either. Now that she had slept with Lexa's naked skin pressed against hers once more, she found that she never wanted to sleep any other way.

She grabbed some of her blankets down from the top shelf of her closet, throwing them onto the bed, before peeling off her bra, underwear, and the headband that she wore almost every day now, and climbing under the covers. She was joined a few seconds later by Lexa, and the two girls snuggled up together to keep warm.

"So how did you like New York?" Clarke asked quietly.

"It was amazing. Thank you for inviting me here." A bit of Lexa's excitement from earlier returned to her eyes. "I never want to leave."

"It is really nice here," Clarke agreed easily, "but you haven't seen anything yet. Just wait till it snows. My mom and I always love walking through Central Park in the snow. This year, you can come with us."

Lexa didn't respond, and Clarke began to rub the girl's back, wondering if the brunette might have fallen asleep with her eyes open. However, Lexa was blinking, and her back muscles felt tense for some reason unbeknownst to Clarke. She could read in green eyes that something was bothering her girlfriend, and no matter how much she tried to smooth out Lexa's muscles, they still felt knotted.

"You okay, Lex?" Clarke asked softly.

Lexa nodded, but then she pulled away from Clarke and sat up, looking as if she intended to get out of bed. Clarke quickly sat up with her, trying to ignore the frigid air that was now hitting her bare skin as she reached out to rest a hand on Lexa's knee. "What's wrong?"

"I just…" Lexa trailed off, averting her gaze. "It's not fair of me to interrupt your time with your mother."

"You're not interrupting, LW, I promise," Clarke said gently. "It's not like you're taking me away from my mother. I get to spend time with her and you, and honestly, my mom and I would probably be sad if it was just the two of us this Christmas. I'll be much happier with you here."

"Are you sure?" Lexa was still looking at the sheets.

"Positive," Clarke said without missing a beat.

"I'll be much happier with you, too, roomie," Lexa said with a small smile.

Clarke reached out to cup Lexa's chin in order to bring green eyes back to hers, but she stopped before she could do it, remembering that Lexa did not like to be touched in that area. She blushed at the fact that she had almost forgotten again, and she knew she was going to have to work harder to keep these things in the back of her mind if she wanted to continue dating Lexa without making her uncomfortable each day. She was just about to drop her hand awkwardly back down to her side, hoping that Lexa hadn't noticed, when she heard the brunette speak. "Do it."

"What?" Clarke asked, wondering if she had heard correctly.

"I know that you were going to touch my chin," Lexa said calmly, "and I want you to do it."

Clarke was about to protest, not wanting to do anything that Lexa had clearly told her not to do, but she kept her mouth shut. Lexa wouldn't be saying this if she didn't mean it. She clearly wanted, maybe even needed, Clarke to do this, so the blonde didn't argue, even if she didn't really want to go through with it.

She tentatively reached out to cup Lexa's chin as gently as she could, guiding green eyes back up to meet blue. To Clarke's surprise, Lexa didn't flinch away or show any signs at all that the touch had bothered her. She wondered if Lexa's reaction had been better because she had known that it was coming this time, or if she was truly getting over her fear of being touched in certain places. Maybe it was a mixture of both.

Lexa brought her hand up to rest over Clarke's, squeezing it to make the blonde's grip harder. She still did not flinch, and no fear played out in green eyes. A small smile of satisfaction played out on Lexa's lips, and Clarke did not think that the other girl even knew that she was doing it. Clarke couldn't help but smile herself. "I'm touching your chin."

"Yes, you are touching my chin," Lexa agreed simply, but Clarke could see the happiness behind her eyes.

"You're going to get through this, Lexa," Clarke said confidently.

"Maybe not completely, but mostly? Yes, I am." Lexa said, allowing her smile to grow wider as she never broke her gaze away from her girlfriend's. "I love you, Clarke."

Clarke met Lexa halfway as the brunette leaned in to kiss her, making sure to suck on Lexa's upper lip this time so as to avoid the swollen bottom one. Clarke honestly didn't mind, though. She loved both of Lexa's lips, and she was more than happy to be kissing this girl in front of her because she just loved everything about Lexa. When Lexa finally pulled away, Clarke opened her eyes to see green eyes slowly fluttering open, still a little dazed from the kiss. She didn't think that she had ever seen anything so beautiful. "I love you so much."

"I love you," Lexa repeated, eyes sparkling with more happiness than Clarke had ever seen in them, and that included their time in New York that day. "Don't leave me."

Clarke's lips parted in slight awe as she caught onto exactly what her girlfriend was doing. She was repeating the words that she had said to Clarke when she had been running a fever, what now felt like so long ago. Only it had been "I hate you, don't leave me" then. Now, it was "I love you, don't leave me."

Back when Lexa had first said those words, the two of them had just been getting used to having the other around. They couldn't stand each other, yet they didn't want to be apart. It was confusing for both of them, that war of emotions, and they had come so far since then. Now, Clarke couldn't imagine ever being without Lexa because a life without this other girl in it would most certainly be a dull one. She knew Lexa inside and out, just like the brunette knew her, and that's how she could be sure by the look in green eyes that, despite her words, Lexa didn't even have a single fear that Clarke would leave her. Even after all they'd been through, Clarke knew by now that Lexa was never going to leave her either. The two of them were meant to be. They were soulmates. So Clarke gave the only answer that made sense, the only answer that she would ever be able to give again.

"I won't ever leave you."