It wasn't as if Lexi normally invited strangers to stay with her. In fact, despite the connections she'd forged in Britannia, she had yet to let anyone, even Nathan, into her apartment. It was hers, private, and she kept parts of herself separate, always.
Except she'd just invited Ben home with no hesitation. As if it was assumed. Of course he'd come back with her. Of course. And Lexi didn't know why.
But she liked him, she did, and it only had a little bit to do with those warm jolts of recognition his smile or his eyes would give her. She liked the warmth of his arm around her waist, she liked his laugh, she liked the weathered, world-worn look to his skin. Leaning a little into him, smiling up at him, she felt good. There was no sense of panic about what she'd just done, no misgivings. It just...it felt right, as much as that didn't make sense.
"The dynamic duo," she agreed, wrapping her own arm around his waist in return and laughing, clear and deep, as the wind whipped her hair around her face. "It's a good day to get blown away. Lucky I found you or I might be halfway to Canada by now."
Her apartment wasn't far, just around the corner, but she was breathless by the time they reached it, cheeks red from the wind and eyes sparkling. She let them in, kicking off her shoes and shrugging her coat off to hang onto the rack by the door. The apartment was sparse, clean, but obviously one lived in by someone who could pack their entire life into a suitcase. No pictures, save one, of a younger Lexi and two smiling women. No personal affects. Just a couch she'd found in a thrift store, covered with a red afghan, her bed visible in the next room. The kitchen was obviously where she spent the most time; the one personal touch were the flowers. She had them everywhere, in vases, in drinking glasses, brilliant bursts of color to brighten the stark white walls.