A Lot of Firsts

[Clarke Griffin]

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Clarke stared at the chess board in front of her. It was a game of strategies, but Clarke never really needed strategies. It was a hypothetical game, helpful in a handful of situations only, but not many. It was pretty useless to try and guess what the bodies next move would be. Clarke spun the white queen in her fingers. She waited or Wells, for their usual game, even though she knew she might have to cut it short to get back to medical, to help out. At the moment helping out looked like taking vitals, answering questions, patching up minor wounds, sometimes, if she was lucky her mother would let her look into a few files in the database, but with 15 Clarke was still a student and therefore not officially working yet, but being her mothers daughter got her a few privileges. Clarke didn’t care about most of them, but this one was one she valued. She wanted to learn to help people. Right now, though, she wanted to be… different.

“Wells.” Clarke greeted as she saw her friend coming in. Her pale skin immediately turned red as she thought about the suggestion she would have for her friend. This was weird, but she would trust nobody else with this. He was the person she knew would never break her heart. That was something valuable, something none of the other girls on Alpha had. They had their possessions and all that, stuff to brag with, but Clarke felt like she was really the one who had something to brag with: A loyal friend, whom she could trust with all she had and all she was. And she knew she could become whatever she wanted to become. “Can we skip chess today? I kinda want to ask you something.”

[cherry2]

Wells looked forward to his games of chess with Clarke. He like to think it was because he loved the game but really it was because he enjoyed her company. With his father teaching him how to play the game at such a young age and all the important skills it could teach, Wells was a pro. He could probably beat her in a matter of minutes if he really wanted to. But he always let the games drag on with Clarke so he could spend a little extra time with her. Sometimes even letting her win, although he’d never admit that to her. Just because they were friends of course, nothing else. At least that’s what he always told himself. Clarke was his best friend, and he would do nothing to jeopardise that. Which included keeping any kinds of feelings to himself.

He smiled as soon as he heard her calling his name and turned to walk towards their usual spot. He towered over her before finally taking a seat opposite and sitting down. Wells had just gone through a major growth spurt, growing a whole foot taller in a matter of a few short months. “Can we skip chess today? I kinda want to ask you something.” He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. “Skip chess? It must be serious,” he teased. But behind that tone, Wells felt a little bit concerned, hoping it wasn’t actually anything serious. “So what’s up?” He asked her, crossing his arms over the table, wanting to get to the bottom of this. Maybe she needed his help with something. In which case he would of course gladly offer it.

[Clarke Griffin]

Clarke found herself blushing once more once Wells was with her. She watched him sit down, while she tried to collect her thoughts. It was interesting how hard it was, though it shouldn’t be. Other girls her age had experience with it, especially those living on Alpha station, the privileged ones. For a lot of them this was not the first time. This was one of the many times for them to get out, with someone they cared about. Clarke never cared about going to balls, but given that she had to, well there really was no other guy she wanted to ask, but Wells. And that included so much on the Ark. They had picked it up from books, Clarke suspected, this whole promo/ homecoming thing and what would happen after. She was aware of what was expected, so there was only one guy she could imagine doing this with.

“It kind of is. Serious, I mean.” Clarke admitted. As serious as those teenager things could possibly get, at least in Clarkes eyes. She didn’t particularly like the ideas and past times, but as she had to go with them, she might as well do it with someone she actually liked and there was no other person her age that she liked more than Wells. 

“You know the ball, right? Mom and Dad insist I go. Do you want to go with me? As, you know, my official date?”

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[cherry2]

“It kind of is. Serious, I mean.” Clarke looked nervous, and that made him nervous. It didn’t really look like anything was wrong. But behind the nerves, Wells couldn’t read her expression. She never usually got nervous when talking to him. He did know her better than pretty much anybody after all. So what could be causing this? “You know the ball, right?” Ah yes, he wasn’t into the whole party thing. But being the chancellor’s son he was of course required and expected to go, reluctantly. At least Clarke would be there. He could look forward to that part of the evening.

“Do you want to go with me? As, you know, my official date?” Oh. Wow. Clarke was asking him to the ball? As her date? He almost asked her to repeat herself to make sure he heard her right. The reason for her nerves suddenly became clear. Wells hadn’t thought about getting a date, even though he was probably supposed to. Choosing to go alone since the only person he could ever dream of going with, sat opposite him now. But he'd never have to courage to ask her to go with him. It seemed she was braver. “Yeah.” A grin spread across Wells’ face. He couldn’t believe this was happening. “I mean yes I’d love to go with you.” He gave out a short laugh. “Wait, you’re not kidding are you?” He asked teasingly. It was meant to sound rhetorical, but he actual hoped for an answer. Just to be sure, because this sounded too good to be true.

[Clarke Griffin]

Clarke felt ridiculous asking him. This was one of the reasons why she didn’t like those occasions. Why would it be such a big deal going with someone? Why was there so much social pressure on people about this? This was meant to be something good, something the kids should enjoy, not die of nerves when asking someone out, not stay nervous due to the implications. Why was this no longer mainly fun? It was supposed to be fun originally, but it had changed, or was she just wrong. Anyway Clarke was hoping to have Wells by her side and it sounded like he was going with her. She was confused, though. Had she left any room for questions for him? She didn’t think so, but then again Clarke had never expressed any remote interest in going to those balls, of course it was weird of her to ask now.

“I’m not kidding, no.” Clarke replied. She knew she could lie now, if she wanted to, but that was not fair on him, so she decided to tell him the truth. “You know how my parents think I should get out, right?” Clarke asked him. He knew her parents, so she suspected he would know what they were like. In any case, she knew what this meant. “Since this basically means we are expected to dance and at least kiss, there really is no one else I’d would rather go with. You’re my best friend, Wells.” He was always there for her, he was always her best friend he was the one she wanted to give her first kiss to, because he'd never use it to hurt her in any form.

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[cherry2]

So this was happening then. They were going together. He felt butterflies in his stomach at thought and tried to digest them so that he could concentrate on her words. It was silly to get this excited about going to a ball with her. Usually he found these events tedious often sneaking out to hang out with her anyway. But they were too old for that now. He nodded with a smile when she mentioned her parents. He knew them well of course, and Clarke must have known that his father was the same. He was supposed to get out more too, much preferring a game chess with Clarke any day though. It was the first year they were expected to bring dates and he could think of no one better to go with. Even if it was just as friends, though deep down he wished it was a real date. That perhaps in the future they could become more. But for now he was content to be her friend date.

At least until she continued. He almost couldn’t believe his ears, afraid to ask her to repeat herself just in case he heard her wrong. “Kiss?” It’s all he heard, drowning out the words she continued to say after. Though Wells wouldn’t publicly admit it, he’d never even kissed a girl before. Always secretly holding on to the hope that his friendship with Clarke would progress into something more, and now it seemed that opportunity had arrived. But then she mentioned him being her best friend. Furrowing his eyebrows it confused him. Wells didn’t want to push Clarke, or risk her taking back the offer but he needed to be sure. “So are we going as friends or…?” Was this going to be a real date. He needed to know where he stood before they continued.

[Clarke Griffin]

“You know how it is.” Clarke pointed out. Those social things had developed over the years with being cooped up in what qualified as giant tin can, different social structures developed and were now expected of the kids. One of them being this entire… bring a date and behave coupely thing. Kisses were downright called for and people rarely got away with not kissing. So if she was supposed to kiss someone that night – or go further than that – she wanted it to be Wells. She trusted him, wither body, her mind and heart. He wouldn’t take advantage of her. Hell, if he would her parents and probably his own dad would hunt him down and make sure it would hurt a lot. Clarke nodded. “Yeah, kiss.” She knew she had to explain, but at the same time she could bet she was overthinking things again, taking them way too analytically, which was very much her and Wells knew her. 

“We’re going as date – if you want of course.” Clarke began. Now she was feeling slightly nervous. What if he didn’t want that? What if he only wanted to go as friends, not as her date? She wanted to keep the friendship alive more than anything, but Wells… Wells was everything. He was her best friend since they could walk and talk or even before then. They’ve done so much together. Why should he not be her first kiss? Or her first… well her first? He was the one she trusted with her heart – and their parents would be ecstatic, though that was beyond the point. “Everything included, kiss and so on.” She had to say it, probably. “I trust no one more than you. I want to do this with you.”

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