Archive of Our Own

To be fair, she hadn't actually done much imagining. She'd been too busy being stunned; stunned that the woman of her dreams hadn't laughed in her face when she had rather abruptly confessed her feelings for her, stunned that said woman actually returned those feelings, stunned that they had gone from best friends to, well, much more than that in a tangled mess of roaming hands and kisses that left her completely unable to breathe. After all that, really, there hadn't been much room to think about anything else. 

She and Lena had been dating for almost two months now, and Kara had only just begun to entertain the idea of breaking the news to Alex. Not that she didn't trust her sister to be happy for her. Despite a part of her being nervous that Alex might struggle to approve of a Super and a Luthor together, she knew that Alex would always support whatever made her happy. But it was nice, for a time, to keep this between Lena and herself; to revel in the newness and the happiness - oh, Rao, the happiness - of it all.

Kara should have known that wouldn't last, that she could only put the inevitable off for so long before Alex found out. Still, she never would have expected it to happen like this.

That morning, the steady rap of knuckles against her front door draws Kara reluctantly from sleep, but the sound fades quickly into the background in favor of how warm Kara feels. She's not unused to it; not really. She used to sleep on her couch most nights simply so she could wake in the morning with the rays of the sun on her face, at least until she dragged her bed beneath the window in her bedroom. It made it harder to enter her apartment from the balcony, but that was Supergirl's problem not Kara's and Kara happened to like waking to her skin tingling.

The warmth she feels this morning, though, has nothing to do with the sun. In fact, the curtains are still closed, drawn so tight that Kara has to blink just to make out the shadowy shapes of her furniture even though she can feel the sun shining outside. No, this warmth is coming entirely from the soft body curled around hers, a leg thrown over both of her own and an arm slung over her chest, nose nestled into the crook of her shoulder and hair tickling her nose (and who knew that shampoo could smell like maple and brown sugar oatmeal).

She smiles lazily and buries her nose in the scent and softness of Lena Luthor, memories of the previous night trickling slowly back to her. Lena coming over after work with takeout bags from a restaurant that Kara well knew was closed at those hours (Kara might have superpowers, but she thought Lena might just have magic). Lena wearing Kara's pajamas and lying with her head propped in Kara's lap as they watched the sequel to the documentary they'd started last week. Lena, who'd stopped paying attention halfway through and started paying attention to Kara instead. Lena, whose sideways looks and raised eyebrows were always enough to drive Kara to distraction. And to, well, other things.

Yes, she could spend a lifetime lying right where she is with Lena in her arms, she's thinking, when the knocks start again and she realizes that it wasn't a dream - there's actually someone at the door.

She strains her eyesight to find Alex at her doorstep and she's groaning before she can think better of it. It takes Lena shifting beside her for her to realize what she's done and clamp her mouth shut and hold completely still, not even daring to breathe until her girlfriend lets out a quiet little moan and settles back into sleep. Only then does Kara attempt to wiggle as slowly and as silently as she can out of bed (Lena gets too little sleep as it is and Kara feels so very protective of this soft, adorable, breathtaking woman).

She tiptoes silently across the room, cringing at the bits of clothing scattered from the end of the bed to halfway through the living room. 

Shoot. Clothes.

She hurries to her closet and throws on the first pair of pajamas she finds before sweeping everything in her immediate line of sight behind her bedroom door (who said superspeed didn't come in really handy). 

Alex is about to knock again when she swings the door open, a breathless "Hey, Alex," tumbling from her mouth.

"Kara! Where have you been?" Alex demands the moment the door opens, her hands on her hips and her signature big-sister frown on her face.

Kara winces - in part because she doesn't want the noise to wake Lena but also because her sister really is a bit scary when she does that. Mostly, though, she feels confused.

Was she supposed to have been somewhere?

"Um..." she stalls, reaching up to adjust her glasses before she realizes they aren't on her face. 

Where are her glasses?

She takes a quick peak over her shoulder, her eyes scanning for the familiar shape - and then she whips her head back around and tries her very best not to blush because she's just remembered that Lena knocked them under the couch when they'd, well, gotten distracted last night.

"Kara?" Alex drawls, suspicious now, and Kara straightens her shoulders and plants her brightest smile on her face. 

"Right!" Kara says quickly. "Where have I been? Well, I was here. Yep. Just working on... things. You know. Lots of important things to do."

Meanwhile, she's racking her brain, trying to remember if they had plans she had forgotten. What day was it, anyway?

Alex's frown is deepening for every second that passes, the crinkle between her eyes telling Kara that she's not being at all convincing. Kara widens her smile and hopes desperately that it works.

Alex keeps frowning.

"We were supposed to have breakfast two hours ago."

Sunday. It's Sunday.

"Oh Rao, Alex," Kara groans, "I'm so sorry. I must have forgotten."

I definitely forgot.

Alex is starting to look a little worried, now, and then suddenly she's stepping past Kara and into the apartment before Kara has a chance to think of a reason why she shouldn't. At least one that isn't 'my girlfriend-who-is-supposed-to-be-just-a-friend is asleep in my bed.' 

"Kara, is everything okay?" Alex asks, her voice turning soft and her arms dropping to her sides, making her look so much smaller. "You've been distracted for weeks and I feel like something might be wrong but I don't know what it is. You know you can talk to me, right?"

That answer, at least, comes easily. "Of course."

She reaches for her sister, a comforting squeeze of her elbow that's meant to be reassuring. "I'm really sorry I missed breakfast. And if I've seemed distracted. Things are..." she trails off for a moment, thinking of Lena. "Things are really, really good, Alex. Better than they have been in a long, long time. I promise."

Alex is watching her carefully and Kara knows her well enough to see the evaluation in her eyes so she breathes a sigh of relief when Alex smiles and nods. 

"Good. That's really good."

She considers telling her, then. Telling her about this wonderful woman who makes her happier than she can ever remember being and who she loves, already, so very much. But Alex pulls her into a hug before she can and instinct has her sinking into her sisters arms with a smile. 

And she's so focused on Alex's steady heartbeat that she completely misses the creak of her bed, the gentle pad of bare feet against the hardwood floor and the sound of her bedroom door as it's pushed open, until a familiar voice cuts into the room. 

"Kara, have you seen my underwear? Please don't tell me you ripped another pair in half because I'm running out of- Oh God."

There is a split second, a suspended moment where Kara realizes what's just happened, where she considers running away. Just superspeeding her butt out of her apartment and as far away from National City as possible (Bali is supposed to be lovely this time of year). Or perhaps she could knock her sister over the head, just hard enough that she might forget the sight of Lena Luthor emerging from her little sister's bedroom talking about her underwear.

Then she turns around. 

She turns around and sees Lena, understandably wide eyed and frozen in the middle of the living room, but the sight of her still steals her breath and sends every thought from her head. 

She knows her girlfriend is gorgeous. She's thought so since the very moment she first laid eyes on her. But at that moment, she reckons that even Rao would be envious of the absolute perfection standing in her tiny apartment. 

Lena's long hair is loose and curling around her shoulders, waves of onyx that make Kara's fingers twitch at her side as they itch to run through them. Her eyes are an impossible shade of green made brighter by the soft, early morning light streaming in through the windows. Her glorious pale skin stands like carved ivory formed into lean limbs (Rao, but Kara can't help but think of how they were wrapped around her just hours ago). And there's just so much of it. Because Lena isn't wearing anything. Nothing (and perhaps this is what has arrested her attention the most) save for Supergirl's red cape, which she has wrapped around her small form.

It's too much, seeing Lena in that shade of red, and Kara hasn't taken a single breath in a solid minute because Lena's mouth has parted on a gasp and the whole thing is just too breathtaking to comprehend.

How did I ever get so lucky?

By the time she realizes that she's just standing there staring at her, it's too late to flee or even to knock out Alex - who she has only just remembered is standing behind her.

She swallows, tries, tries, to think of something to say. Anything that can explain this to Alex. But all she really wants to do in that moment is pick Lena up and bring her back to bed, to sink to her knees between-

Oh Rao, this is not helping.

Lena's eyes are flickering between Kara and Alex as the silence lengthens, changes into something heavy and tense as Kara shifts on her feet and says nothing.

Unfortunately - or is it fortunate? Kara can't decide - it's Alex who speaks first.

"Miss Luthor." Her voice is strained, but Kara can't tell with what. Her sister's expression is inscrutable when Kara lets her eyes flicker to her face.

Lena clears her throat and Kara sees her fingers tighten their hold around the folds of her cape.

"A-Agent Danvers," she says, her voice wavering.

Kara feels the laugh burst from her throat before she's even decided that anything is funny. Alex crosses her arms and Lena's mouth twists as she holds back a smile, and Kara just can't stop laughing. Because Lena is standing there wearing nothing but Supergirl's cape and Kara is fairly sure that the underwear that Lena was looking for is lying just a few feet away from her feet - in plain sight and, yes, Kara most definitely ripped them (she couldn't help it) - and the two of them sounding so formal at that moment strikes her as absolutely ridiculous.

Okay, so maybe this isn't exactly (isn't at all) the way she would have liked this to go, but she has to admit that there is a tug of relief buzzing beneath her skin. Because her two favorite people in the world are here and Kara feels a relief she didn't expect bubbling just behind her ribs. 

As her laugh settles, she crosses to where Lena is standing, her eyes holding a question that Lena answers with a tiny nod. With a smile, she takes Lena's hand in hers.

"So, um," she starts to say, looking hopefully at her sister, "Lena and I are dating."

There. Straight to the point. Easy enough. Except that Alex is still frowning and she can feel her feet getting restless at the silence.

Her smile is morphing into a bit of a grimace but Lena is squeezing her hand so hard she can almost feel it so she draws little circles into her thumb, hoping it reassures her.

Then, finally, Alex sighs almost dramatically and then mumbles, "You couldn't have waited another week?"

Kara is so confused by the question that she barely notices that Lena has realized her underwear are on the floor and has shifted her foot to shove them under the couch.

Instead she barks out a, "Huh?"

Alex rolls her eyes and grabs her phone from her back pocket, fingers flying across the screen. "Next week would have been two months. Now I owe Maggie a hundred bucks."

Lena's grip eases on her fingers as Kara gasps.

"You- You're talking about a bet?" she squeaks, affronted. "You bet on this?!"

Alex snorts. "You two are so not subtle." She slips her phone back into her pocket and then she's grinning, something light and encouraging and approving. "I'm really happy for you both."

The most brilliant smile comes over Lena's face and Kara immediately tugs her to her side in relief, kissing her temple with a smile of her own.

"Now get dressed," Alex announces. Then, under her breath, "I need a drink."

"Alex, it's only ten o'clock," Kara points out but she's already ushering Lena back into her room (and trying very hard to keep her eyes to herself, for her sanity's sake).

"And I just saw Lena Luthor practically naked coming out of my little sister's bedroom," Alex deadpans from the other room.

Kara just laughs and lets her eyes travel to the woman in question. And then, because who needs sanity anyway when there's Lena, she lets her feet carry her to where her girlfriend is watching her with a crooked eyebrow, her cheeks still blushed a happy shade of pink, a smirk tugging at the corner of her mouth and making her cheek dimple in that way that makes Kara's knees weak. Her fingers trace the sharp curve of her jaw before twisting into her hair, and she presses a tiny kiss to that offending (enchanting) dimple.

She can feel Lena's contented hum, feels her shift, and suddenly her own cape is wrapped around her and she's surrounded by so much softness, so much perfect.

Their lips find each other a breath later, languid and wonderful and Kara feels such an extraordinary tug of happiness at just how wonderful it is - all of it. Lena and the two of them together and her sister's approval and the possibilities for the future that she can feel unfolding before her.

She can't wait.

"Kara!"

Another kiss.

"Coming!"