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Chapter Text

Kara knows she shouldn’t stare, Eliza always told her that it’s impolite but it’s so hard not to watch. She can score goals with the best of them, she can skate circles around her opponents and deke like nobody’s business, but Kara can’t do that. She watches as a dark haired girl jumps and spins in the air, landing gently on the ice like she didn’t just perform a superhuman feat. She’s beautiful, her movements graceful and her green eyes sparkling, bright whenever she lands a particularly difficult jump (they all look difficult to Kara). She’s always here at the rink; nine times out of ten Kara can catch her practicing after her team’s hockey practices. Kara is pretty sure she’s seen the girl watch their games from the stands, but maybe she’s just waiting for her turn on the ice. She often wonders if the girl has noticed her watching, she doesn’t have to wonder anymore when suddenly she’s skating toward her.

“You’re Kara Danvers right?” the girl says smiling at her.

Kara almost chokes, trying to formulate the appropriate answer, which is yes.

“Lena Luthor,” she says laughing, “I looked up the roster for your team.”

She answers the question Kara hadn’t yet asked.

“Hi,” Kara manages, “your uh…skating is beautiful.”

Everything about Lena is beautiful she’s observed.

“Thank you,” Lena smiles at her, “you’re not a bad skater yourself, fast and I would hate to be a goalie for any team that isn’t yours.”

The blush that creeps across Kara’s cheeks doesn’t go unnoticed by Lena who just smiles.

“I’m okay,” Kara tries modestly, “my passing needs work, but I am decidedly the fastest skater on the team.”

“In your league I dare say,” Lena winks.

Kara’s breath is caught in her throat, she’s been trying to work up the courage to talk to this woman for weeks and here they are and she doesn’t know what to say.

“Do you still have your skates on?” Lena speaks up again.

Kara nods, and immediately she hears Lena fiddling with the door latch and then Lena’s hand is reaching for hers. It’s so soft, like Lena’s eyes when she smiles at her. Kara is hardly afraid of the ice, but she’s not used to this slowness. Hockey is fast; Lena’s movements are slow and graceful. She leads Kara across the ice, hands still clasped together.

“Watch,” Lena says as they reach center ice.

There’s nothing Kara would rather do. She watches as Lena skates backwards doing a little shimmy as she moves.

“Now you try,” she calls across the ice.

Kara repeats the same motions, skating backwards in the opposite direction of Lena, attempting the same shimmy, though she’s sure Lena pulls it off much smoother.

“Good,” Lena is beaming at her as she says it.

In seconds Lena is back by her side, spinning ever so gracefully just for good measure. Kara rolls her eyes, but she’s smiling all the same.

Kara’s about to call her a showoff, but she’s cut off by a booming voice. When the yelling figure is within her field of vision she recognizes her as a woman who is frequently at the rink with Lena.

“Let’s go Lena,” she shouts and the way Lena’s face falls makes Kara’s heart ache.

“Next time,” Kara whispers, giving Lena’s hand a squeeze before she skates away.

The woman must be Lena’s coach, whoever she is; she doesn’t sound very nice at all.

Kara makes her way back to the dressing room, her head clouded with thoughts of Lena Luthor and how incredible she looks as she glides across the ice. Kara has loved the ice, the smell of the rink and the way it feels to skate across the glassy surface since she was a child. Watching Lena skate makes her feel like she’s falling in love with the ice all over again.

“Earth to Kara,” she hears a familiar voice.

“Alex, sorry,” Kara apologizes sheepishly for walking right into her sister.

“You okay? You seem…dazed.”

Kara nods, “yeah, I’m fine. Great, actually.”

“What took you so long?” Alex asks, one eyebrow raised precariously, curious.

Kara takes a deep breath, “I was just…umm…watching one of the figure skaters practice. Checking out their skating technique.”

“Wouldn’t happen to be the one with the long dark hair and green eyes would it?” Alex smirks.

Kara avoids Alex’s gaze. She’s too damn obvious, always.

“Hey, at least I don’t have a crush on a forward who always scores on me.”

Alex scoffs, “Sawyer isn’t that good,” she defends. “I stopped 3 of her shots last game.”

“And let two in,” Kara teases.

Alex just rolls her eyes.

“Let’s go.”

They drive home in relative silence. Kara can’t stop thinking about how beautiful Lena looks when her body is high in the air, or the way she smiled at her as she skated in her direction. Kara can’t stop thinking about Lena, and quite frankly it’s distracting.

She doesn’t know why but Kara still finds herself surprised when Lena is in the stands the next morning for her game. Her heart stops when Lena waves at her as she skates out onto the ice to warm up. She doesn’t know if Lena can see her but she’s smiling nonetheless, waving back in Lena’s direction. This doesn’t go unnoticed by Alex who Kara watches as she takes a seat right next to Lena.

“Big hockey fan?” Alex asks her.

“You could say that,” Lena lies.

She’s never watched a hockey game outside of the local ones at this arena. She understands the general gist of it, but she’s never been compelled to pay attention, until now.

Kara is pretty sure she hears Lena yell, “get em’ Danvers” just as the puck is about to drop.

Alex snorts, “yeah, get em’ Danvers.”

The speed at which Kara skates around the rink is way more impressive than she admits to. She’s the fastest skater Lena has ever seen. Lena watches intently as Kara gets a breakaway and shoots the puck right between the goalie’s legs. Lena can almost hear the goalie curse from her place in the stands as Kara raises her arms in triumph. It only takes half a second and Lena is on her feet, cheering at the top of her lungs next to Alex who is also cheering, at a decidedly lower decibel.

“That was amazing,” Lena tells her after the game, Kara having skated over to the boards to say hello.

Even dripping with sweat Kara looks gorgeous. It’s unfair really.

“Thank you,” Kara smiles widely, “I mean, it’s no triple axel but a game winning goal does feel pretty good.”

Kara can see the look on Alex’s face, it says you’re trying too hard but she doesn’t even care. The comment made Lena smile.

“Come on Karebear, go get dressed and we can all go get lunch.”

Kara’s face is beet red at Alex’s use of her childhood nickname in front of Lena. She knows it was on purpose, and well, Alex better watch out next time they run into Maggie Sawyer.

“You do have time for lunch, right Lena?”

Lena just nods and Kara skates away to change out of her uniform and shower.

It becomes a Saturday afternoon routine, Alex, Kara and Lena having lunch at the somewhat shady dinner down the street from the arena after Kara’s morning game. If Kara’s team wins, Alex pays. If they lose, Kara pays. It’s always been their deal; Lena’s attempts to pay are immediately rebuffed by both women. Saturdays become Lena’s favourite days, though Mondays are a close second because Kara watches her practice, and Tuesdays and Wednesdays. She doesn’t know when it happened but eventually she sees Kara’s every day, except every second Sunday when neither of them has practice. Her favourite part of her day is her after practice cool downs with Kara.

“How did you start playing hockey?” Lena asks one evening as they’re stretching, getting ready to skate together.

Lena immediately regrets her question when she sees Kara’s smile fade.

“It’s okay, you don’t have to answer,” she adds quickly.

“My foster dad was a hockey player,” Kara starts, “when I came to live with the Danvers Alex was already playing goal and had been skating since she could barely walk. She was so good, but they taught me. I was terrible at first, couldn’t balance but Jeremiah was so patient. He built a rink in the backyard and we would skate with the lights on late at night, long after Eliza had called for us to come inside. He taught me to shoot and eventually I could score on Alex, she hated that but I made her better. She still makes me better.”

As Kara finishes her story she can feel Lena’s hand on hers, a gesture of comfort that Kara appreciates more than Lena may know.

Lena caught the was in reference to her dad, and she doesn’t ask any more questions.

“My adoptive mother used to be a figure skater,” Lena says after a few minutes of comfortable silence, “then her knees betrayed her and she couldn’t skate anymore.”

Kara can sense where this is going. The lady shouting at Lena as she practices, that must be her mother.

“She pushed me to start skating, made me practice for hours every day, my brother Lex too. Neither us liked it very much; Lillian put so much pressure on us to do well. Whenever we failed, she just yelled and screamed. Whenever we did well, it wasn’t good enough. Lex started using performance-enhancing drugs; eventually he was found out and banned from competition. Lillian was enraged, and she only took it out on me. Even still, I somehow grew to love figure skating despite all of that. I don’t do it for her, not anymore.”

Kara wasn’t expecting to unlock Lena’s tragic backstory when she came out to skate today, but it felt good, talking about Jeremiah. She rarely tells anyone about him, though most people put two and two together when they see Danvers on the back of her jersey. The sudden loss of star forward Jeremiah Danvers in a car crash rocked the hockey world, Kara still hears from people who say he was their favourite player. He was hers too.

“I’m sorry your mother puts so much pressure on you,” Kara offers, not really sure what else to say.

“It’s okay,” Lena reassures her, “if it wasn’t for skating, I wouldn’t have met my best friend.”

When Kara looks at her confused, Lena just laughs.

“You, silly,” Lena says pointing at Kara.

Kara just takes Lena’s hand and pulls her up and out onto the ice. Kara’s skating has become more graceful just from these afternoon skates together, and Lena’s quicker. They skate laps around the ice, Lena never quite able to match Kara’s pace but trying nonetheless. Kara slows down and takes Lena’s hand in hers for a few slow laps. Eventually Kara releases her gentle grip on Lena’s hand and skates into the middle of the ice. She repeats the move Lena taught her the first time they skated together, a playful backwards shimmy. She’s beckoning for Lena to meet her with her hand gestures, and the other woman happily obliges.

Kara smiles as Lena performs a jump for her, she claps as Lena lands, always as impressed as the first time she saw Lena skate.

Kara skates toward Lena, but she knows she judged things wrong when Lena falls backward onto the ice as Kara collides with her. Kara lands on top of Lena and is relieved to hear Lena laugh, her head clearly having avoided a bump on the ice. She can’t help herself; Lena looks so beautiful even after a big crash. She doesn’t even think about it, just presses her lips to Lena’s. They’re soft and smell of roses and citrus. The kiss is brief but if Lena’s face is telling the truth, she liked it very much. Kara can’t get enough of that smile, and she’d be happy to kiss her again to elicit this reaction from Lena.

Lena doesn’t say anything for a few seconds; maybe she needs to catch her breath like Kara does.

“Did you crash into me on purpose so you could kiss me?” Lena asks playfully.

Kara can’t help the giggle that escapes her lips.

“No, that was just an added bonus. Are you okay though?”

“Better than okay.”

Kara moves to get up, taking Lena’s hand to pull her up. Now it’s Lena’s turn to surprise Kara, and their lips are pressed together again. Kara can barely breathe when Lena pulls away. Lena slips her hand into Kara’s without another word and moves for the exit. Kara could get used to this.

Chapter Text

Kara has always enjoyed watching Alex’s hockey games. When she came to live with the Danvers family it was one of the first things they did with her. Eliza and Jeremiah bundled her up in a sweater and scarf and brought her to the rink to watch Alex play. Kara followed their lead and cheered loudly every time Alex’s team scored. Eliza would get hot chocolate for the three of them and Kara would cuddle into Eliza’s side when she got tired. Jeremiah would tell her that once she was ready, they could sign her up to be on a team too; and he, Alex and Eliza would come cheer her on. Eventually that became a reality and Alex was an even louder cheerleader than she was. These days she watches most of Alex’s games alone, but today her company is smiling over at her as they wait for the second period to start.

Lena knows quite a bit about hockey for someone who has spent her entire life perfecting her toe loop and salchow. She yells when the ref makes a bad call, and pouts when Alex gets scored on; it’s actually pretty cute. Kara looks over at her every once in awhile just to see her reaction to the play. Both Lena’s smile and her scowl make Kara feel something in her chest. The same way she felt when they were laying on the ice the other day, Lena’s lips on hers. They haven’t talked about that kiss, not even right after it happened and it’s been a few weeks. The world just kept turning and Kara and Lena just kept being friends. It’s hard not to think back to that kiss though when Lena throws her arms around Kara and shouts happily after Alex’s team scores. Kara knows Lena’s arms stay wrapped around her for a little too long, but she doesn’t say anything. Kara just smiles at Lena as they sit back down. Watching Alex play with Lena is a lot better than watching alone.

They watch as Alex skillfully stops puck after puck hurling at her. Kara could never understand how Alex is so content being a goalie; she could never get used to the pucks flying full speed at her face. Kara is pretty sure she sees Alex stick out her tongue at number 7, one Maggie Sawyer after she stops her shot. It doesn’t go unnoticed by Lena either who gives her a look, brow raised. Sawyer tries to score on Alex a couple more times and at least in this game, Alex stops them all. By the end of the third period the score is 4-1 for the National City Hornets and Lena’s head is resting on Kara’s shoulder as they wait for Alex to come out of the locker room. They’re both surprised twenty minutes later when Alex is walking toward them, talking and laughing with number 7, Maggie Sawyer.

“Lunch?” Kara asks hopefully as Alex approaches them.

“Of course my sister, the bottomless pit is more concerned about lunch than congratulating me on our win,” Alex chuckles.

Lena laughs softly and smiles over at Kara who is feigning a look of offense.

Kara is about to offer her congratulations, but notices that Alex’s mind is clearly elsewhere. Alex’s eyes are squarely focused on Maggie, who is chatting with her teammates a few feet away.

Kara clears her throat, “you should ask her out.”

“Yeah,” Lena quickly agrees, “ask Maggie out.”

Alex shakes her head, but pretending she has no idea what her sister and Lena are referring to isn’t going to work.

“You think?” Alex asks, swallowing hard.

Kara nods and smiles, “maybe it will soften the blow of getting shut out.”

“What will?” comes a voice suddenly from behind them.

Kara gulps, “umm, nothing.”

Lena takes Kara’s hand and guides her out of the arena, and into the parking lot to wait for Alex.

“They were just saying how I should...umm... ask you out on a date,” Alex informs Maggie, decidedly less confidently than she would like.

“Oh,” Maggie says hesitantly, “I don’t, I don’t think that’s a good idea. Sorry Alex.”

Alex’s face falls and she wishes she could just disappear in this moment, just let the world swallow her whole.

“I would love to be friends though,” Maggie adds quickly, “you’re awesome, even if you do play for the Hornets.”

“Yeah,” Alex chokes out, wishing Maggie would just walk away. “I have to go, Kara is waiting for me.”

Maggie waves goodbye but Alex isn’t looking back. Alex waits until she gets in the car before she breaks down, when the door closes she can’t stop the wetness cascading down her cheeks.

Kara doesn’t have to ask what happened, “Alex, I’m so sorry. Did she say why?”

Alex doesn’t answer, she just puts the car in the drive and speeds out of the lot. She drives straight to their usual lunch spot without a word. Kara and Lena just follow her into the restaurant and wait for the waitress to bring their usual orders. Kara notices that Lena isn’t her usual self, she’s not playing with Kara’s hair, making silly faces at her or holding her hand under the table. She can only assume it’s out of respect for Alex, but still she misses it. Alex plays on her phone for a while before bolting suddenly in the direction of the restroom. It only takes a second before Kara is up and following right after her. She finds Alex standing in front of the mirror, wiping tears away.

Kara wraps her arms around her older sister’s waist and squeezes as tight as she can. Hugs have always worked to boost Alex’s spirits. She holds her for a minute and just waits for Alex to react.

“I just thought she’d say yes you know. I thought there was something between us.”

“There is,” Kara says assuredly.

Alex scoffs, “if there was, she would have said yes.”

“Maybe she’s scared,” Kara reasons, “maybe she’s busy or has something going on in her life and can’t date right now.”

“Or maybe Kara, she just doesn’t like me like that.”

“No way, Alex you are the most awesome, wonderful, funny, perfect human being out there. Everyone likes you, except for maybe that human trash can Maxwell Lord. He certainly doesn’t like when you shut out his team.”

Alex laughs, and that’s exactly what Kara was going for. Kara waits as Alex wipes her face before they go back and join Lena for lunch.

“She’s not that pretty anyway,” Lena says, hoping to be helpful.

Alex just gives her a look and a smile.

“Okay, yeah she is, but there are other pretty girls in the world.”

It doesn’t go unnoticed by Alex that Lena is looking right at Kara as she says it.

The next morning Kara and Alex both have early practice at different rinks. For Kara, pulling herself out of bed for a 6:00AM practice has never been her favourite thing to do, but hockey is, so she pulls on a hoodie and heads out. Once she’s on the ice and taking shots on net while she waits for the rest of the team the early start time doesn’t matter anymore; she’s doing what she loves. She skates laps around the rink, one, ten, thirty laps and smiles when she sees a familiar face in the crowd. The blonde woman waves when she sees Kara smiling up at her and watches intently as she practices stopping.

“Nice form,” she calls out to Kara, who is taking a few final shots before practice officially starts.

It’s when she hears this voice that Lena turns around and takes notice of someone else’s presence in the stands. She is normally one of only two or three other people who shows up to these early morning practices.

“Hi,” the blonde woman says to a slightly taken aback Lena.

“Hi,” Lena calls back, watching as the woman walks towards her.

She’s surprised when she’s handed a hot chocolate by the woman who flashes her a bright smile. Eliza had come prepared after Alex told her Kara would probably have a cheerleader in the stands.

“I noticed it took you twenty minutes to put on your skates. Too busy watching your favourite player?” the woman teases Lena.

“Ummm, I was just…” Lena is speechless, and Lena Luthor is rarely speechless.

“Watching my daughter,” she fills in, “Eliza Danvers,” the woman introduces herself.

“Lena,” she responds in kind, “Lena Luthor.”

“I know who you are,” Eliza says smiling, “I got into town last night and went to dinner with my girls. I heard a lot of Lena this, and Lena that from Kara. I understand that you are a figure skater, and quite a good one if Kara is to be believed.”

Lena can’t help the blush that creeps up her cheeks. Kara talked about her, to her mother.

“I’m okay,” Lena says, smiling from ear to ear. “I’d like to make the Olympic team one day.”

“Kara wants to make the Olympic team too,” Eliza tells her, “she’s wanted to ever since my husband, her dad Jeremiah first put a pair of skates on her at 13.”

Lena smiles, she could listen to Eliza talk about Kara as a child all day. Kara is her favourite topic. If she had anyone to talk to, they’d probably hear a lot of Kara this and Kara that too.

“So,” Eliza starts, “how long have you been crushing on my daughter?”

Lena is caught off guard by the question and nearly spits out her hot chocolate. Alex must get her forwardness from her mother.

“Umm,” Lena trips over her words, “I...ummm, I guess since I first met her.”

“You should ask her out,” Eliza says smiling, “for potstickers.”

“She’ll say yes,” Eliza assures Lena when she sees the doubt on her face, “trust me.”

They watch the rest of Kara’s practice and Eliza tells Lena more stories about Kara growing up. She was afraid of bunnies until she was 17 and her favourite foods besides potstickers are, well everything Lena learns. Kara picked her number, 36, by pointing to a random element on the periodic table with her eyes closed. She spent some of her summer weeks away at hockey camp with Alex as a child, and she loves plumerias.

“It was nice meeting you Lena,” Eliza says as she gets up to leave, “I’m going to go see Alex, but I’m sure we’ll be seeing each other again.”

Lena smiles and waves as Eliza walks away.

Lena waits patiently for Kara to change and make her way out to the stands to meet her once her practice is over. Soon enough Kara is plopping herself down on the bench next to Lena.

“Hey,” Kara greets her, “I noticed you were talking to Eliza while I was practicing.”

Lena smiles, “yes, she was lovely.”

Kara gets that feeling in her chest again, the one she doesn’t know how to handle. Seeing Lena smile and laugh with her mother made her feel a way she’s never felt before.

“Well now it’s your turn Luthor,” Kara says, “practice time.”

Kara moves down to stand by the boards to watch Lena skate. She’s grown to love watching Lena. The more fast paced hockey will always be her first love, but the graceful way Lena glides across the ice is something special. Surprisingly though, the first thing Lena does is fall. Kara winces as Lena hits the ice. Then she screws up again and again and Kara wonders what’s wrong, Lena is distracted.

For Lena, having Kara watch her practice has never been a problem before. Normally it motivates her to have someone there who is so positive and clearly on her side. Today though, all she can think about is potstickers and how sure Eliza was that Kara would say yes to a date. She’s distracted by Kara’s smile but she has to get it together.

Kara has an idea, “come on,” she yells, “I’ve seen 12 year olds land better.”

Lena’s ears perk up and she has this look on her face that Kara can’t quite read.

“Oh yeah,” Lena shouts back at her, “If I land a clean triple you owe me a date.”

“I guess we’re not meant to be then,” Kara teases, smiling over at Lena.

Naturally, Lena nails it. A clean triple, two in a row actually just for good measure. Kara can’t help but grin like an idiot. She just scored a date with Lena Luthor.

“Maybe we are meant to be then,” Kara calls over to her.

Lena just skates right up to her and surprises Kara with a quick kiss on the lips. They never talked about that first kiss, but they’ll definitely be talking about this one.

“Maybe,” Lena says with a wink.

Thirty minutes later as they’re walking out of the arena Kara spots a familiar face.

“Sawyer,” she calls out to the woman as she walks past them and Maggie stops.

“What’s up Little Danvers?” she asks, somewhat surprised  that Kara is talking to her.

Kara has been known as Little Danvers in their hockey circles for as long as she can remember. Jeremiah was Danvers, then Alex, which makes her Little Danvers. She wants to hate it, but no one has ever said it without the utmost respect for the Danvers name in their voice. Even Maggie isn’t patronizing when she says it.

“Why did you turn Alex down?” she says bluntly.

Even Lena is a little taken aback by Kara’s straight forward question.

Maggie’s smile fades and she looks at Kara, considering her answer before she says it.

“I just...I just thought since we’re on rival teams it wouldn’t work out. I like Alex, I do. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have a crush on my most difficult opponent. It’s just, it’s complicated.”

Kara isn’t buying the answer, it hardly makes a difference that they play on rival amatuer sports teams. She lets Maggie walk away though, without another word.

“That’s a mystery for another day,” Kara speaks up, taking Lena’s hand in hers as they exit the arena.

Kara stands in front of the mirror for an hour, checking her hair, checking her makeup, checking her hair again and then her makeup again. She just wants to look perfect for her date with Lena. She spent an hour earlier trying to pick out an outfit. Blue or red was the big decision, the little blue dress, or the more casual look, a red top and jeans. Lena had mentioned going to a little hole in the wall for potstickers, an idea Kara had easily sniffed out as one of Eliza’s concocting. Casual but cute she decides, the red top it is.

“Come out of the bathroom Kara, I’m sure you look amazing,” Alex yells to her.

“I just want to look…” Kara starts.

“Perfect,” Alex and Eliza finish her sentence, “we know, and you do.”

“Trust me sweetheart, you could dress in a paper bag tonight and Lena would be just as smitten,” Eliza assures her.

Kara rushes out of the bathroom finally and does a twirl for Alex and Eliza, just to make sure she’s got all her bases covered. Lena will be there soon and Kara wants tonight to go, well, perfect. Just as she’s pulling on her shoes, her ringtone starts blaring from her purse, the Superman theme. Alex always laughs at her ringtone, but Kara loves it.

Kara smiles when she sees Lena’s picture on the screen and swipes to answer it.

“Oh,” she says, her face visibly falling just seconds after answering.

“No, I understand. I’ll see you tomorrow right?”

“Okay. Bye Lena.”

The smiles have already faded from Alex and Eliza’s faces when Kara turns to face them.

“She had to cancel,” Kara says sadly, despite how obvious it already was.

“Did she say why?” Eliza asks hopeful, “maybe something came up.”

“Yeah, maybe,” Kara agrees sadly, squeezing in between Alex and Eliza on the couch.

Eliza wraps an arm around Kara and flicks on the television. The plan for tonight had been to binge watch Game of Thrones with Alex while Kara was out, but now it was more likely to be sad movies and gallons of ice cream. She stops flipping channels when she lands on Stepmom and makes her way to the fridge. Luckily Alex always has both her and Kara’s favourite ice cream flavours on hand, just for times like this. When she walks back to the couch she’s carrying three spoons, two pints of ice cream and a couple of blankets. Kara rests her head on Eliza’s shoulder, her eyes wet before the movie has even started.

“It’ll be okay sweetheart,” Eliza assures her, “that girl wants nothing more than to see you happy Kara. I’m sure she had a reason. Just talk to her tomorrow.”

Kara sniffs. She’s not sure she believes Eliza, but she trusts Lena so she’ll give her the benefit of waiting until tomorrow.

After two movies, and a bucket full of tears Alex extracts herself from her sister’s grip and heads for the door. The sad movies and ice cream had been nice but she wants to clear her head, the best way she knows how. Alex closes the door gently, trying her best not to wake Eliza and Kara who are fast asleep on the couch. She knows the way to the rink like the back of her hand, she could drive there with her eyes closed she’s been there so many times. Her first stop is to get her skates sharpened and thankfully the shop at their home arena stays open late. Alex is making small talk with the guy doing the skate sharpening when all she can hear is yelling.

“Did you forget how to skate?” comes an angry voice, “Luthors are better than this.”

There’s no response.

Alex takes her freshly sharpened skates, tips the guy behind the counter and heads in the direction of the yelling. She stays out of sight, not wanting to be caught eavesdropping.

“Your form is terrible, and a toddler could land a better jump than you right now,” the angry voice hisses.

It’s after midnight so Alex is surprised anyone is there skating, but less surprised when she sees that the skater is Lena. Alex has heard from Kara about Lena’s overbearing mother and coach. She cringes as Lillian continues to berate her daughter.

“That practice this afternoon was pitiful and you’re not doing any better now. I don’t even know why I waste my time on you sometimes.”

Alex can’t see her face but she’s pretty sure Lena is in tears. This explains why Lena had to cancel her date with Kara. She’s probably been here for hours, trying to practice while being yelled at by her coach, who in Lena’s case is also her mother. She wants to jump in and defend Lena, but she can tell that would only make things worse for her. Alex quietly exits the arena, careful not to make any noise with the door on her way out. She was going to skate, but obviously that isn’t a possibility tonight. It’s after 1:00AM  when Alex gets back to her apartment, Kara and Eliza still fast asleep on her couch. Alex slips into her own bed, she can worry about whether or not to tell Kara about what she saw, or rather heard tomorrow.

Chapter Text

The knocking at her door startles Kara slightly, she doesn’t have even an inkling about who it might be. Alex just went out to run some errands and she knows Winn and James are in Metropolis this weekend visiting Clark and watching some basketball game. The knocking is persistent, not too loud, but enough to let her know that whoever it is, really wants to see her. Kara shuffles toward the door, still in her pajamas and bunny slippers. The knocking only gets louder until she finally opens the door.

“Lena?”

“She says with surprise in her voice for some reason,” Lena says with a smirk.

“I...I uh just didn’t think I’d see you today, after last night.”

“Well, what kind of girl would I be if I didn’t come with an apology and donuts after blowing off our first date?”

Kara happily accepts the bag of sugary treats being dangled in front of her face, smiling wide at Lena. The way Lena is smiling back at her, Kara can’t help the backflips her heart is doing. Lena crinkles her nose just a little when she smiles, and if Kara isn’t mistaken Lena is attempting and failing to wink at her. She can’t help the giggle that escapes her lips, she can’t help any of the little things being around Lena does to her, and she doesn’t really want to.

“I guess since you brought donuts I can forgive you,” Kara replies, trying her hardest to keep a straight face.

“Are you free now? I was thinking we could re-schedule our date.”

Kara just nods, and opens the door wider.

“Movie?”

“I’d love to,” Lena answers quickly, taking Kara’s extended hand.

It’s so easy, the way Lena makes herself at home. Kara just watches for a moment as Lena flips through the options on Netflix. She’s so beautiful, her hair in a messy bun and just wearing an old hoodie and tattered jeans. She laughs as Lena groans audibly, presumably finding one of the movie selections unappealing. She takes the seat next to Lena on her couch and she can feel her heart beat faster as Lena’s arm wraps around her shoulders. Her head falls lazily onto Lena’s shoulder, and Kara could definitely get used to this. Lena’s idea of a good movie for a Saturday afternoon is apparently a documentary about impoverished children in Somalia; but they could watch anything and Kara would be happy.

There’s only twenty minutes left in the movie when Lena’s phone starts to ring. Kara whines as Lena moves to answer it, disrupting their comfortable position on the couch. She flashes Kara an apologetic smile as she stands, taking the few steps towards Kara’s kitchen to take the call. Kara makes a face at her date, sticking out her tongue and screwing up her nose but Lena doesn’t notice. She can see the stress building on Lena’s face as she paces back and forth. She doesn’t mean to overhear but it’s hard not to when Lena raises her voice.

“I told you mother, I’m busy today. I will practice again tomorrow. I need a break.”

She can’t hear the other end of the conversation, but she doesn’t have to as she sees the tears begin to stream down Lena’s face. She’s up in an instant, padding across the floor to meet Lena. She takes Lena’s free hand in hers as she watches her hang up the phone and lay it on the counter. Her other hand trails up Lena’s arm and comes to rest on her face, wiping away the tears falling slowly down her cheeks. Kara gives her hand a squeeze and watches as a small smile plays across her features.

“Lena, whatever you’re going through, you can talk to me you know,” Kara whispers in her ear.

She presses a soft kiss to Lena’s cheek, and just waits. She won’t push her to talk if she’s not ready.

“My relationship with my mother is complicated, but nothing I can’t handle Kara. Thank you though, it’s nice to have someone who cares about me in my corner.”

“Well I’m happy to be in your corner Lena, always.”

They walk the few steps back to Kara’s couch in comfortable silence. Kara knows there’s more to her story than Lena is saying, but she won’t pry. Lena’s hand in warm in hers, and it’s easy enough to fall back onto the couch, and tangle her legs back up in Lena’s under the blanket. Kara gets to pick the movie this time and the animated musical she turns on is in stark contrast to the documentary they just finished. Lena seems to like this one all the same though and Kara laughs as she sings along. Her singing is off key and she obviously doesn’t know the words but it’s cute how into it she is. Kara doesn’t correct her and just wraps an arm around her, pressing another quick kiss to her cheek. Kara has never fallen in love before, but she’s sure it must be like this. She wonders if Lena can feel her heartbeat racing but her train of thought is broken by decidedly less warm and fuzzy feelings.

Kara’s feet are curled up with Lena’s under the blanket and all she can feel are blisters, obviously fresh ones. Then she notices the bruising around Lena’s wrist. She tries not to stare, she doesn’t want to make Lena feel awkward. She has a feeling she knows where Lena was last night, and what that call from her mother was about. She wants to ask her, wants to know that she’s okay but it’s not her place. She’s just starting to date Lena and if Lena wants her to know, she’ll tell her.

“Lena,” Kara starts.

“Yeah?”

“You’re amazing and I really care about you.”

Lena stares at her, contemplating the off the cuff statement.

“I really care about you too Kara.”

The words are barely out of Lena’s mouth as Kara leans towards her. She takes a deep breath and presses her lips against Lena’s. She’s been wanting to do this again since that afternoon on the ice. Her lips are soft and if Kara is not mistaken she’s wearing rose scented lipstick. Kara runs her hand through Lena’s dark locks and deepens their kiss. She doesn’t hear the door as it creaks open, too distracted by the warmth of Lena’s body under hers.

“Kara, sorry I didn’t know you had company,” she hears Alex’s voice.

As Kara looks up at her sister she can see Alex smirking at her.

“Alex, I’m so sorry.”

In her excitement over seeing Lena and donuts at her door Kara had completely forgotten about her plans with Alex for the evening. Pizza, potstickers and bad rom coms were on the agenda, their Saturday night routine if they weren’t on the road for a tournament.

“Don’t let me get in the way of your plans,” Lena begins apologizing, “I didn’t mean to intrude.”

Alex smiles, “Lena stay, please. It’s okay, it looks like you and Kara are having a good time and I’ve been meaning to try out the new bar down the street anyway.”

Kara moves to get up, untangling her limbs from Lena’s. She throws her arms around Alex and from the way she’s beaming, Alex knows they’ll have a lot to talk about later tonight.

“Enjoy your movie,” Alex says on her way out the door with a sly wink in Kara’s direction.

As Alex walks into the bar she notices a familiar face and her first instinct is to walk back out the door. She’s frozen in place though, watching as Maggie Sawyer tries and fails a break shot at the nearest pool table. She recognizes a few of the other women she’s with from her hockey team, their aggressive defence and goalie among them. Before she has a chance to run in the opposite direction Maggie is walking toward her.

“Alex,” she greets her with a warm smile and Alex still wants to walk out the door.

“Maggie, hey,” Alex smiles back at her, hoping it doesn’t seem too forced.

“I just wanted to say I’m sorry about the other day, things are kind of complicated for me right now. You’re a cool chick Danvers. Can I buy you a beer as a peace offering?”

“Well, you said the magic word; beer. So yes.”

The way Maggie laughs doesn’t help with the butterflies in Alex’s stomach. She’s gorgeous, funny and despite turning Alex down, really very sweet.

“Can I beat you at pool?” Alex asks with a smirk.

“Yeah Danvers, maybe you can actually break for me over here.”

The contact is brief but Alex’s heart is in her throat as Maggie takes her hand and leads her over to the pool table. After several flying balls and expletives fall from Maggie’s lips Alex takes the opportunity to show her the proper technique. Maggie’s body is warm against hers as Alex spreads her arm over Maggie’s and demonstrates. Maggie doesn’t get any better but Alex has fun watching her try. It’s verging on one o’clock when Maggie finally looks at her phone and her face falls.

“Damnit, sorry Alex I have go but thanks for the lesson. Next week?”

Alex nods and watches as Maggie sprints out of the bar. She dials a cab because without Maggie there she’s not particularly interested in hanging around this bar anymore. The bartender Mike has been looking at her weirdly, and Maggie’s hockey teammates have long since left.

When Alex gets home she finds Kara curled up on the couch with a cup of hot chocolate. She’s still smiling, possibly wider than when she left earlier that evening.

“Did Lena go home?”

“Actually she’s asleep in my room. She was tired, but I wanted to wait up for you.”

“You didn’t have to. We do live together you know, we could have caught up in the morning.”

“I know, but I wanted to make sure you’re okay. I know you were pretty bummed about Maggie turning you down.”

“I played pool with Maggie tonight actually. She sucks, but she sure looks good doing it.”

Kara laughs, “You’re friends then?”

“I guess we are.”

“I’m glad, but you have got to start stopping her shots,” Kara teases, nudging Alex’s arm.

“Very funny, now go cuddle with your girlfriend. She’s probably cold without your space heater of a body wrapped around her.”

“Goodnight Alex,” Kara says, throwing the blanket over her sister.

“Goodnight Kara.”

Kara stands in the doorway to her bedroom just watching Lena sleep. She’s gorgeous, and Kara feels somehow calmer just watching her breathe. She waits for another minute or so before climbing into her bed and gently draping an arm over Lena. Being this close to her Kara can feel Lena’s heartbeat, steady. She places a kiss gently on her cheek.

“Kara,” she hears a sleepy voice ask.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“It’s okay, I missed you,” Lena says, rolling over to face her girlfriend.

“Not just because I’m warm right?” Kara jokes.

“Well, a little bit because you’re warm but mostly because you’re my favourite.”

“You’re my favourite too,” Kara says with a laugh.

Lena leans in to press a quick kiss to Kara’s lips.

“Goodnight Kara,” Lena says, brushing Kara’s hair back behind her ear.

“Goodnight Lena.”

After another kiss, or three Lena rolls back over and snuggles into Kara’s warm frame. Skating at twenty miles an hour around a rink and shooting a puck with accuracy is hard but this is easy. The way Lena fits into her arms, the way their lips feel pressed together, the way Lena smiles at her from up in the stands and it’s all so easy.

Kara wakes up to loud banging on her bedroom door and then she hears Alex shouting.

“You have practice in an hour Kara, get up.”

She groans, this is not the first morning she’s been shouted awake by Alex. To Kara’s disappointment Lena is not in her arms when she opens her eyes and nowhere to be seen in her bedroom. She rolls over and off her bed and makes her way to wherever it is Alex has been yelling from.

“Did you see Lena leave?” Kara asks.

“Yes, she said she’s sorry she had to rush out but she didn’t want to wake you. She made you some breakfast and coffee though and she will see you at the rink later. Also she left you a note with smiley face and one of her favourite things about you, it’s a little sickening actually,” Alex says playfully.

Kara picks up the note next to her cup of coffee and reads; the way your smile brightens any room, and my day every single time. Kara can’t help but smile and she wishes Lena were there to see it.

She picks up her phone and types ; thank you for breakfast, I miss you. See you later babe xoxo.