Archive of Our Own ^beta

Alex is really going to have to talk to Kara about bursting into her apartment without knocking now that she has a girlfriend. Luckily this time her and Maggie are doing nothing more than watching a movie. Kara's excitement and words derailed that line of thought, she could bring that up later when her sister isn't gleefully bouncing on the balls of her feet.

"I have a date!"

“A date?”

Kara nods excitedly.

“And I take it you didn’t do the asking?”

Kara shakes her head, “of course I didn’t, I never thought, well I’d hoped, but I didn’t want to risk our friendship but then we were talking and then next thing I knew I had a date. Oh, Rao, I have a date!”

Both Maggie and Alex laugh at Kara’s rambling, it not entirely making sense to them but they let her go on anyway.

“Join us?” Alex asks, moving over to make room for her on the couch. “You need to calm down before you’re going to be able to sleep.”

“No, I think I’m going to go flying, burn off some of this energy.”

Alex looks likes she’s about to protest but thinks better of it, Kara is practically vibrating with excitement.

The last thing Alex and Maggie hear before Kara is out the window and into the sky is “I have a date!”

xxx

Alex isn't surprised when her phone rings and the caller ID reveals it's Kara. Tonight is the night of her first date and she's been a nervous ball of excitement and energy for the past two days.

Alex doesn't bother with pleasantries, just skips straight to the point as she answers the phone. "Do you need help picking out an outfit for tonight?"

"Yes, please."

Alex laughs at how fast the words fall from Kara's lips.

"I'll be there in twenty."

When Alex arrives at Kara's, she's surprised at the mess of clothes on Kara's bed, she hadn't been joking when she said she'd needed help.

"You're just having dinner right?"

Kara nods.

"Where?"

Kara supplies the name of the restaurant and Alex's eyes widen, it's not a cheap place.

"Ok," Alex nods, eyes roaming the pile of clothes, finally spotting the dress she's looking for. She pulls it from the pile before picking up a pair of discarded shoes from the floor.

"This," Alex says as she holds out the dress, "blue's your colour and these shoes make your legs look great." She hands the pair of black heels to Kara as well.

Kara blushes even as she grins, "thanks, you’re the best."

Kara takes the clothes and in a blur she's changed.

"How do I look?"

"You're going to turn some heads tonight."

Kara blushes again. "Can I come by your apartment after my date? You're not busy with Maggie tonight?" This is the first time Kara has ever asked before stopping by her place but Alex figures the talk they had yesterday is the cause for that.

"Maggie and I are going to be waiting to listen to every single detail of your date."

Alex laughs when Kara actually squeals, she's never seen her this excited for a first date.

xxx

Kara can't keep the grin off her face as she knocks on Alex's door (the knocking is new, thanks to the talk Alex had with her which Kara is glad for because she really doesn't want to think about what she could have potentially walked in on).

She immediately hears Alex’s voice through the door telling her to come in and Kara's only slightly embarrassed by the fact the she uses super speed to get inside in her excitement to tell Maggie and Alex about her date.

Kara finds Alex and Maggie snuggled on the couch together, much like they were the other night.

"So? How was it?"

Kara's smile widens and both Alex and Maggie laugh at how Kara's face seems to light up even more than it already was.

"That good?"

Kara nods enthusiastically, "it was the most perfect first date ever." Kara sighs and a dreamy expression takes over her face.

Alex is thinking it but Maggie's the one that actually says it, "you two totally made out, didn't you?"

There's more laughter as Kara's expression morphs into one of horror. "No!"

Alex and Maggie both laugh again.

"Then why don't you tell us what's put that dreamy expression on your face."

The expression is back on Kara's face as she grins, "we had dinner and talked and then we went for a walk and held hands."

It is almost sickening watching how smitten Kara is.

"No kissing at all?"

Kara blushes but she answers them anyway, too happy to deny it even if it isn't what they're expecting, "just on the cheek."

Maggie laughs again, "you've got it so bad."

xxx

Kara’s smiling as she enters the DEO, her breakfast date with Lena still running through her mind, her lips still tingling from where Lena had gently pressed her own. Kara's smile gets impossibly wider as she thinks about it being their first kiss.

"What's that smile for?"

She can't really blame Alex for asking, she's practically bouncing as she walks up to the row of computers where Alex is standing.

"Breakfast date," Kara grins, even if her voice is lowered so only Alex can hear.

Alex eyes widen slightly, she knows it was only their second date last night and Alex is under the impression that they're taking things slow. "Breakfast because you stayed the night after your date last night or breakfast date because you organised to meet up again this morning?" She can't help but ask, knows that Kara will be embarrassed either way.

And Alex is right because Kara goes beet-red, her eyes widening in shock, "Alex!"

"What? It's a genuine question. You walk in here practically skipping so something definitely happened."

Despite her embarrassment, Kara grins again, "we kissed."

"First kiss?"

Kara nods enthusiastically and Alex is grinning now too.

"And to answer your question from before, we had breakfast this morning because we both didn't want to leave each other last night so breakfast was a compromise, a way to see each other again soon."

"That is disgustingly cute."

Kara blushes. Why on earth did she just admit that to Alex? It was embarrassing enough admitting it to Lena last night but Lena had blushed and admitted she’d felt the same, Alex was just going to tease her.

"What's disgustingly cute?" Winn's voice breaks into their little bubble of conversation and they realise they're not alone.

"Nothing!"

"Kara."

Both women speak at the same time and Winn looks at them both suspiciously.

"Oookaayy," he drags out, looking between them but decides to drop it for now since they have work to do.

Alex clears her throat, "so, what have we got?"

xxx

"Hey, you busy tonight?"

"Yeah, movie night with Lena, why?"

"Maggie is working tonight but I'll see if Winn or James are free to grab a beer or something."

"You sure? I could cancel with Lena? Or you could join us?"

"No, no, don't worry about it, you have fun with Lena."

Alex looks sincere and not in the last bit upset that she's going to be spending the evening with her girlfriend instead of her. Kara smiles, "ok, thanks, I will."

xxx

Kara's shoulders drop as she finally enters her apartment, it's been a long day and she's looking forward to curling up on her couch with Alex and the mountain of Chinese food she'd promised her.

She hears the heartbeat before she sees the person sitting on her couch and she knows who it is even before Kara sees her.

"Maggie?"

Maggie suddenly looks uncomfortable and Kara hears her heart rate increase.

"Sorry...I...is it ok that I'm here? I can go if you want, wait for Alex outside, she just gave me her key and told me I could come here while she went out to get dinner. She did tell you I was joining you tonight, right? I don't want to intrude, I-"

Kara cuts her off, "it's fine, I just didn't expect you to be here alone. And Alex didn't mention you were joining us but it's fine, you're always welcome here."

Maggie hesitates, looks like she's contemplating heading for the door anyway, not only is she not used to having a girlfriend who cares for her so unconditionally but having her girlfriend's family care for her as well is something that’s also entirely new. "Are you sure?"

"Of course, Maggie,” Kara smiles as she reaches over to squeeze Maggie's hand, "you're part of the family now."

Maggie relaxes under Kara's touch, under her smile, under her words, can feel the welcoming and warmth exuding for the other woman.

Kara flops back on the couch and Maggie can't help but laugh now as relaxes too, "long day?"

"The longest," Kara confirms. She was woken up at 3am for a Supergirl call and has been on the go since. She's surprised she's still awake right now.

"I've been there before. Hopefully Alex will be here soon with the food then we can eat and you can get some sleep."

The thought of food has Kara sitting up straighter on the couch and Maggie laughs again. The laugh dies in her throat though when Kara turns to her and her eyes are suddenly serious.

"Can I ask you something?"

Maggie nods and Kara takes a deep breath before she continues, nervous all of a sudden, partly because she's worried about the answer for her sister's sake and partly due to the feelings swirling in her own mind.

"Do you love Alex?"

Maggie’s eyes widen, she hadn't been expecting that. But she knows the answer immediately, has known it for quite some time. Even so, she hesitates slightly before she decides to be honest with Kara.

"Yes."

Kara lets out a breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding as a smile spreads across her face. "Good."

Maggie smiles too, her face now matching Kara's.

"Can I ask you something now?"

Kara looks confused but nods her consent anyway.

"Do you love Lena?"

It's Kara's turn to look surprised. "I...ahhh...she..ummm..." she splutters and Maggie cuts her off, her own hand now reaching out to rest on Kara's arm.

"It's ok if you don't, you haven't been dating long. But you seem really happy with her, you light up when you talk about her and you're always excited about your dates."

Kara can feel her heart racing but she smiles just thinking about Lena. She's been in love with her since before Lena had even asked her out on a date, she just hasn't said it out loud yet.

"She does make me happy." Maggie hears the unspoken "and I do love her" and gives Kara's arm a squeeze.

They sit there in silence for a moment, both thinking about their respective girlfriend's when Kara straightens slightly, her head tilting to the side. Maggie knows what that means without Kara having to say anything, Alex is almost here. 

"I'd appreciate it if we could keep this conversation to ourselves," Maggie quickly says, "I haven't told your sister how I feel yet."

Kara nods and pulls Maggie into a quick hug. "Of course, your secret is safe with me."

Maggie grins and winks at Kara, "so's yours."

Alex pauses momentarily when she sees them on the couch when she opens the door, both smiling at her and Alex wonders what they've been talking about. She drops it for now, knows one (or both) will tell her in their own time and she moves over to the couch to settle between her two favourite girls.

xxx

The knocking at her door drags Kara from her peaceful sleep and she buries her head into Lena’s neck. If she ignores it, will they go away? She’s too comfortable right now cuddled against Lena to want to move. But then she hears the knocking again so she tilts her head to see who’s at the door. Alex. With breakfast. Kara knows if she doesn’t answer the door soon then Alex will let herself in with her own key anyway so Kara reluctantly maneuvers her way out of Lena’s hold, careful not to wake the woman who is somehow still asleep. Kara grabs some pants and a shirt from the floor and in a blur she’s put the clothes on and is at the door.

“Morning,” Alex greets as she walks past Kara into the apartment and Kara tries not to wince at the volume, she doesn’t want it to wake Lena.

“Morning,” Kara smiles, her voice much quieter than Alex and Alex notices, gives her a look but doesn’t comment on it.

“I brought breakfast,” Alex says, her voice still at normal volume and Kara’s eyes involuntarily flick to her bedroom and that’s all it takes for Alex to realise what is going on.

“Oh my God!” Alex says, her voice an excited whisper, “you’re not alone, are you?”

Kara blushes as she shakes her head, “no.”

Alex can do nothing but grin as she watches her sisters face morphs from embarrassment to happiness before her eyes.

“Ok, I’m going, sorry to disturb your morning. Keep the breakfast for the two of you.”

Kara gives Alex a quick hug, “you’re the best.”

Once Alex leaves, Kara drops the breakfast on the table and quickly makes her way back to her bedroom.

“Morning,” Kara says softly as she sees that they had in fact woken Lena up but the guilt that she feels over waking the woman she knows doesn’t get enough sleep vanishes instantly when a sleepy smile settles across Lena’s face as she watches Kara crawl back into bed beside her.

“Morning. Was that Alex I heard?”

“It was,” Kara says as she settles back into Lena’s arms. She leans up to press a soft kiss on Lena’s lips, “she brought breakfast.”

“And you’re in here with me instead of out there eating? I’m honoured.”

Kara blushes and Lena laughs and all Kara can think about is how she wants every morning to be like this, how she wants nothing more than to spend every morning wrapped in Lena’s arms.

xxx

"Where are you off to?"

Kara stops on her way out of the DEO and turns to see Alex coming towards her.

"Lunch with Lena before I have an article Snapper wants by this evening. Is that ok? Has something Super come up?"

"No, we're fine, go enjoy your lunch and your day job."

"You'll call if something comes up?"

"Of course, I'll see you later."

xxx

Alex and Maggie are having a quiet drink at the alien bar while they wait for the others to turn up.

"Is Kara coming tonight?" Maggie asks, Alex had mentioned that Winn, James and Mon-El were coming but there'd been no mention of Kara.

"No, she texted earlier to say she was going to have a quiet night in, she's been working long hours recently."

Maggie nods before she takes a sip of her beer.

"I'm surprised Mon-El is coming tonight though, I thought he'd be with Kara." At Alex's words, Maggie frowns, why would Mon-El be with Kara? Before Maggie can question her though, Alex speaks again. "I mean, I wasn't so sure about their relationship at the beginning but he really seems to make her happy."

Maggie’s eyes go wide as she realises exactly what Alex is saying, what she means.

"You mean Mon-El makes her happy because they're in a relationship?"

Alex frowns as she nods.

"You mean because they're dating? Because Kara and Mon-El are dating?"

"Yes," Alex nods, "what's up with you, you're being weird."

Maggie shakes her head quickly, "no, no, I'm fine."

She knows Alex doesn't believe her for a second. Luckily Winn chooses that exact moment to turn up and serves as a great distraction for Maggie to pull out her phone and text Kara. Because she cannot deal with this alone. All this time Alex has thought that Kara was dating Mon-El? How did she even make that connection? She's going to need Kara's help on this one, she's not going to be the one to tell her girlfriend about Kara and Lena.

xxx

Kara's curled up on her couch with Lena when her phone vibrates and her heart drops as she groans.

Please don't be a Supergirl emergency, she thinks as she picks up her phone. They'd been having a relaxing night curled up on the couch together, doing nothing but talking and enjoying each other’s company.

"Do you have to go?" Lena asks, the disappointment clear in her voice.

The crinkle appears between Kara's eyebrows as she reads the message from Maggie.

We have a problem.

Kara quickly replies, shifting the phone so Lena can read it too.

Is everything ok?

Kara is grateful that Maggie replies quickly, all the worst case scenarios running through her head.

Alex thinks you're dating Mon-El.

Lena's eyes go wide as she reads the text and looks at Kara, sees the same expression on Kara's face.

"You did tell her we were dating, right?"

Kara nods in confusion, "of course I did. I went to see her and Maggie immediately after you asked me out to tell them we had a date. Alex even helped me pick out my outfit for our first date."

Despite the situation, Lena can't help her words, "I should thank her, you looked great that night."

Kara blushes but can't let herself get distracted from the task at hand. "I just don't understand, not once have I mentioned Mon-El but I've mentioned you plenty of times."

Kara realises she hasn't replied to Maggie.

She what?? How???

I have no idea. Want me to give her the news?

Kara sighs, she'd been looking forward to a nice night in with Lena.

No, I better. Where are you? The alien bar? I'll come now.

Yeah, the bar. See you soon. 

Kara can see Lena still reading her texts. "You want to come?"

"I'm not going to let you go alone. Plus I'm interested as to where she got the idea of you and Mon-El from."

Kara laughs, "so am I."

xxx

Maggie still won't tell her what was up with her before or who she was texting. It's not that she doesn't trust Maggie because of course she does, she's just incredibly curious about her strange behaviour.

Alex looks up in surprise when she sees Kara enter the bar, followed closely by Lena. Alex notes that Lena looks comfortable with her surroundings and no one is giving her a second glance which leads Alex to believe that this isn't the first time she's been here. Lena did save all the aliens from the Medusa virus so it's really no surprise that she's welcome here, even with her last name.

"Kara, what are you doing here?"

"Hey, umm, I decided a night out was probably what I needed instead, a chance to relax with all of you guys." Now that she's here, Kara's not entirely sure what to say. Her and Lena have been dating for the past two months, that means that for the past two months Alex has been thinking that she's been dating Mon-El instead of Lena. She cringes internally at that thought. Even Winn, James and Mon-El knew that she was dating Lena. She'd asked them to keep it amongst themselves since Lena is somewhat of a celebrity in National City whose private life gets published about in gossip magazines which Lena wants to keep Kara from (although the amount of times they've been out in public together, it's a surprise rumours haven't been spreading about them yet). But it's not like their relationship is a secret within their friend group so Kara is honestly baffled as to how Alex doesn't know.

"Hey, Lena," Maggie greets as they take a seat at the end of the table. There's a round of greetings from everyone and Winn gets up to get them all another round of drinks.

James starts up a conversation with Lena and Kara wants to join in on the conversation but she's too busy trying to figure out how to tell Alex about Lena. She's not sure why she's so nervous now when originally she'd had no problem telling Alex about her (or she thought she had, she's still trying to figure out how they got their wires crossed). But now telling Alex feels bigger, she's seen how happy Lena has made her but what if Alex doesn't approve of Lena?

Kara and Maggie lock eyes and they both know they're thinking the same thing, how are they going to tell Alex? Part of Kara wants to just turn around and kiss Lena, that should make it pretty clear, right? Another part of her thinks she could just ask Mon-El about his dating life and watch the confusion as Alex tries to figure out what's going on. But she also doesn't want to do this in public, in front of their friends, she just wants to tell Alex that she's been wrong in her thinking and she's actually dating Lena. And with that thought, Kara musters all of her courage and turns to Alex.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" Kara pauses "Alone?"

Both Maggie and Lena look at her in surprise, neither had expected her to get straight to the point, they both were expecting to have to jump in to move the conversation forward.

Alex looks confused for a moment but nods anyway. She looks down in surprise as Maggie squeezes her hand and in that moment she can't help but wonder if it was Kara who she texted earlier, if she knows more about what's happening than Alex herself does.

As Kara stands, she meets Maggie's eyes again and she gives her an encouraging smile and she feels Lena's fingers brush against her thigh under the table, her own way of showing support.

Kara leads them over to the far side of the bar and sits down at a table well out of earshot of their friends.

Alex takes in Kara’s nervous expression and is suddenly worried that something is wrong. She tries to give Kara a moment to start the conversation in her own time but the silence from Kara gets to her after less than a minute. "Is everything ok?"

Kara nods, “sort of.”

Alex frowns, that doesn’t sound reassuring. “Has something happened?”

Kara shakes her head, “no, it’s just,” Kara pauses but she can’t exactly put this off so she might as well just get straight to the point. “Why do you think I’m dating Mon-El?”

“Because you are?” Alex’s frown deepens, “Maggie got weird when I mentioned Mon-El earlier, has he done something to you? Did you two break up?” Alex’s eyes widen, “is that why you wanted to be alone tonight? Oh, Kara, I’m so sorry, why didn’t you-“

Kara cuts her off, can’t hear any more of that, “I wasn’t alone, I was with Lena.”

“You told Lena that you broke up with Mon-El before me?”

Kara buries her face in her hands which Alex misinterprets as Kara crying. “I’m sorry, I thought things were going well between you.”

Alex is surprised when Kara looks back up at her and she finds she hasn’t been crying and is now giving her an incredulous look.

Ok, so now she is thoroughly confused. “Kara, what on earth is going on?”

“Mon-El? Seriously? All this time you thought I was dating Mon-El?”

“Wait, you’re not dating Mon-El?”

“Of course not!”

“Then who are you dating?”

Kara’s still got that incredulous look on her face, “you still don’t know? You honesty haven’t figured it out?”

“Is it James?”

Kara buries her face in her hands again.

Alex reaches out and tugs one of Kara’s hands down so she can see her face. “Not James. Or Winn. Or Mon-El. So who is it then?”

Kara’s eyes flick back over to the table and Alex follows her gaze.

Alex frowns, “are they here?”

Kara looks back at her and gives an exasperated sigh, she’s not even nervous about what Alex may think anymore, she just wants her to know. “It’s Lena.”

Alex’s eyebrows shoot up, “you’re dating Lena?”

“Of course I’m dating Lena, my question is how you didn’t already know that.”

Kara can see as Alex’s mind goes back over the past two months, over their interactions, trying to figure out where she got the idea of her dating Mon-El from, why she hadn’t known it was Lena.

“Did you ever actually tell me you were dating Lena?”

Kara’s been trying to think of that herself and she can’t actually recall whether she did in the beginning or not but she can’t believe that for two months they’ve had conversations where they were both talking about different people but neither realised.

“I definitely remember telling you I had lunch with Lena sometimes and that we were having a movie night that time Maggie was busy and you asked if I was free. And I went to that fundraiser with her, you even helped me get ready for it.”

“I thought all of that was platonic,” Alex admits and looking back now, if she hadn’t have jumped to the conclusion that Kara was seeing Mon-El then she probably would’ve questioned if something was going on between her and Lena.

Kara shakes her head, “it definitely was not platonic.”

“So that time I showed up with breakfast, that was Lena in your bed?”

Kara can’t help but laugh, “it was.”

It’s Alex’s turn to bury her head in her hands so her next words are mumbled, “how did I not see this before?” The only reasoning she can find is that she knew Mon-El had feelings for her sister and she’d just assumed that that was who had asked Kara out when she turned up at her apartment that night all excited about a date.

Kara laughs again, “Maggie knew, I don’t know how you missed it.”

Alex groans, “you guys aren’t ever going to let me forget this, are you?”

Kara stands from the table and grabs Alex’s hand in her own, her voice cheerful as she speaks, “nope.”

Kara pulls Alex to her feet and starts dragging her back over to their table but Alex tugs on their joined hands and Kara stops and turns back to look at her.

“She really makes you that happy?” Images flash through Alex’s mind of how happy Kara has been the past two months, her mind replacing the thought that it was Mon-El making her happy with it being Lena.

Kara nods, her heart filling with just the thought of Lena, “she does.”

Alex smiles and nods in return, “ok.”

Kara pulls on Alex’s hand again and leads them back over to their friends. The boys look confused, Maggie is grinning and Lena looks hesitant.

Alex just rolls her eyes at Maggie whose grin widens as Alex takes a seat next to her. Alex flashes Lena a soft smile and the hesitant look vanishes from her face.

Lena turns to Kara and gives her a look, one that clearly asks if she’s ok, if everything went well even after the smile she’s just received from Alex. Instead of using her words, Kara responds by leaning over and pressing her lips to Lena’s, sighing when she instantly feels Lena’s lips moving against hers. The kiss doesn’t last long, they are in public after all, and both women are grinning as their lips part.

Alex can’t help but laugh as Kara and Lena turn back to the group, “at least I found out the truth before you did something like that in front of me, or else I would’ve really been shocked.”