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As soon as Kara lands in her sister’s apartment, she makes a beeline for the couch, flopping face first onto it, too tired to do much else.
“Hello to you too.”
Kara picks her head up, hair falling in front of her face as she looks over to find Alex sitting at the kitchen counter.
“Hi,” Kara mumbles before she plants her face back into the couch.
“Are you okay?” Concern is clear in her sister’s voice this time.
Kara tilts her head to the side so she can speak without the sound being muffled. “I’m fine, just tired.”
The door opens before Alex can reply and Kara watches as Maggie enters the apartment. Maggie ruffles her hair as she walks by and Kara swats her hand away. She looks back up in time to see Maggie greet Alex with a kiss and Kara scrunches up her nose and buries her face back in the couch.
“You need to take a break, you’re exhausting yourself.”
Kara tilts her head back to the side and then finally sits up when she sees the concern on Alex’s face too. “I know, that’s why I’ve taken the whole weekend off.”
“Really?” Alex asks skeptically.
Kara nods. “Really. J’onn said I don’t have to come in until Monday morning.”
“You? Kara -can’t sit still for five minutes- Danvers, is going to take the whole weekend off?”
Kara rolls her eyes. “Yes. In fact, I’m even going away.”
This is the reason she’s stopped off at Alex’s instead of going straight home to bed. She’d rather not have to tell Alex at all, well aware of the teasing she’s about to be subjected too, but if she were to vanish for a weekend without warning, she’d be in a lot of trouble.
“You’re being serious?” Kara nods. “Where are you going?”
Here goes nothing. “Lena invited me away for the weekend.”
Alex’s eyes widen and Maggie actually chokes on the water she’s just taken a sip of.
“You’re going away, with Lena?” A slow smile spreads across Alex’s face as she speaks before she shares a look with Maggie, who has a similar smile on her own face.
Kara rolls her eyes even as her heart flutters at the thought. “Yes.”
“Where are you going?” Alex asks, clearly excited by the news as she makes her way across the room to take the seat next to Kara. “And why didn’t you tell me this sooner?”
“Because she only asked me today. And it’s no big deal, we’re just going to stay with her friend for the weekend.”
“Luthor has other friends?”
“Alex, you know-“
Alex stops her before she can get started. “Relax, Kar, not like that, I know Lena’s good and kind and beautiful and whatever else you were going to say, you know I trust her. I just mean I’ve never heard her mention any other friends before.”
Kara blushes, she doesn’t call Lena ‘beautiful’ that often, does she? But clearly Alex has heard her defend Lena more than once, because she was about to say the rest of that.
“Yeah, Sam, from university. She has a daughter and Lena is going to stay with them for the weekend and when she saw how tired I was earlier, she invited me to join her.”
Alex opens her mouth to say more but Kara doesn’t want to hear it, doesn’t need to hear any teasing Alex has in mind. She’d come here to tell Alex she wouldn’t be here this weekend and her mission is complete. Now she can go home, sleep, and try to calm some of the nerves in her chest at the thought of going away with Lena, of meeting one of Lena’s close friends.
Kara stands.
“You’re leaving already?”
“I need sleep.”
“Come here, then,” Alex says, standing herself and holding her arms out for Kara.
Kara steps into her sisters embrace, holds on tight for a moment. She’s only going away for two days but she’ll miss her, and Maggie too.
“Call us if you need anything, okay?”
“You too,” Kara replies as she steps back, turning to Maggie to give her a hug too.
“Don’t forget to relax,” Alex adds, as Kara steps over to the balcony to make her exit.
“And don’t forget to have fun.”
“But not too much fun.”
Kara turns back to find twins looks of amusement on Alex and Maggie’s faces and Kara doesn’t even respond to the clear insinuation in both of their words as she takes flight, they tease her enough about her crush on Lena, and she doesn’t want to start the weekend any more nervous than she already is.
xxx
It had been a spur of the moment decision, when Lena had seen how tired Kara had been during the visit to her office over lunch, that had prompted Lena to invite Kara away from the weekend.
And she doesn’t regret it at all.
Except may she does, just a tiny bit, only because she knows how much Sam will tease her. In fact, the teasing has already begun, her friend making several comments already when Lena had called her to see if Kara could join her on her trip.
But she doesn’t regret it enough to want to take it back, spending time with Kara is worth any teasing Sam (and probably Ruby too) will force her to endure. Her only concern is that Kara will pick up on the comments and realise Lena has feelings for her, but that’s something she can worry about later, right now she’s just excited to be on the way to see her friend, with Kara by her side.
She’s excited for Sam to meet Kara, for Kara to meet Sam, and she knows both women are excited too.
“You seem much better today,” Lena says, eyes flicking over to Kara in the passenger seat, who is smiling as she sings to a song that Lena doesn’t know the name of.
“I feel much better,” Kara says, smiling even wider as Lena’s eyes flash back to the road. “J’onn said he’d take care of everything until Monday, that he’d call me if he needs me, and that alone helped me sleep through the night.”
Lena’s glad, her friend really was tired yesterday, and she’s glad that she’s taking a break, that she herself has been able to do something to help Kara feel better.
They pull up to Sam’s house, just after 11am. It’s sad that she doesn’t get to come out here often, even though they live just a few hours away. But with everything with Lex, with having to relocate and how busy she’s been with L-Corp recently, she just hasn’t had the time to even think about visiting her friend.
So this visit is as much for her as it is a good excuse for Kara to take a break too.
She’s really missed Sam. And Ruby.
“Are you ready?”
“Do you think she’s going to like me?”
Kara looks nervous and it’s kind of adorable, that she’s this worried about meeting her friend.
Lena reaches over, gives Kara’s hand a reassuring squeeze. “She’s going to love you.”
Sam greets her with a big smile and a big hug, and it hits Lena again just how much she’s missed Sam. They were good friends in university and have stayed in touch since. Sam was there a lot for her during Lex’s trial. Even if she wasn’t there in person, Lena talked to her often, the one person who was helping her keep it together when everything else in her life was turning to shit.
“Aunt Lena!”
There’s movement behind them and Sam steps back just in time to find a teenager barreling into her. The only thing that stops Lena from falling backwards with the force of the hug is Kara’s arm strong at her back.
“Hi, Ruby,” Lena says with a laugh as they pull back and Lena smiles at Sam over Ruby’s shoulder.
“Hi,” Ruby grins as she steps away.
“Sam, Ruby, this is Kara,” Lena says, turning to smile at Kara, whose arm is still warm at her back.
“It’s nice to finally meet you,” Sam says with a smile and Kara uses her free hand to shake Sam’s offered one. “We’ve heard so much about you.”
“You too,” Kara replies, her answering smile just as warm as Sam’s is.
“No, really, Lena doesn’t stop talking about you,” Ruby continues for her mom. “Every phone call it’s always ‘Kara this and Kara that and-‘“
“Why don’t we show our guests around the house?” Sam cuts in and Lena is grateful, even if her eyebrow is quirked in amusement.
They have a tour of the house, one that Lena had when Sam first moved in here but that was a few years ago now. They end up at the room where they’ll be staying, Sam leaving them to settle in while she and Ruby go to start lunch.
“Are you sure this is okay?” Lena asks, gesturing to the one bed. It was something she hadn’t thought about when she’d invited Kara.
Kara rolls her eyes. “Lena, it’s fine, honestly, it’s not like we haven’t shared a bed before.”
Lena’s favourite nights are where Kara stays over or she stays over at Kara’s.
“I just know you’re tired and want you to get a proper nights rest, I could always take the-“
“If you say couch, I’ll-“
“You’ll what?” Lena cuts in, eyebrow raised.
“I don’t know, but you won’t like it.”
Lena just laughs.
They head back downstairs not long later, just in time for lunch.
“So, Kara, Lena tells us you’re a reporter,” Sam begins once they’re seated. “She says your work is amazing, that you’re an excellent writer.”
Lena probably blushes as much as Kara does, except Kara giggles as well.
“I don’t know about that,” she says with a wave of her hand, clearly embarrassed.
“You are,” Lena says, it’s not like it’s something she hasn’t told Kara before.
Kara ducks her head with a grin. “Thank you.”
Lena catches Sam’s amused expression as she turns back to her and she blushes again.
The conversation continues, on to more about Sam and Ruby too, and it’s nice to catch up.
“Mom, you said after lunch I could ask, so can I ask now?” Ruby asks as soon as she’s finished her last mouthful. All three adults are still eating but Lena wants to know what the young girl has to say anyway.
“Ask what?” Lena asks, before Sam can answer.
“Mom said if it’s okay with you, we can go shopping this afternoon?”
Lena grins with a nod. She loves shopping with Ruby, loves spoiling her niece.
Ruby turns to Kara and she looks surprised that she’s being included but she smiles and nods too.
xxx
It’s cute, Kara thinks, as they walk around the shopping mall, how clear it is that Lena loves this teenager.
Lena buys anything Ruby so much as looks at, much to Sam’s protests.
“I haven’t seen her in ages, let me have this.”
Yep, Lena’s adorable.
They drop all their newly acquired items off at the car before they walk to the ice cream shop together. Lena had suggested this before they went home, had sent her a smile, and Kara knows the ice cream is just as much for her as it is for Ruby.
They walk slowly back to the car, ice cream in hand, Sam walking behind her with Lena and Ruby beside her. She’s glad that Lena is getting some time with her friend, she feels a bit bad, for taking alone time away from them, which is why she’s giving them some space now, happy to talk to Ruby instead, she’s already fond of the young girl.
“Can I ask you something?” Ruby asks as they walk.
“Of course,” Kara smiles.
“Do you have feelings for Lena?”
Kara’s glad she’s not currently eating her ice cream because she no doubt would’ve choked. Whatever she’d been expecting out of the girl’s mouth, it wasn’t that.
“I…ahh…you…what, I mean…uhh…” She continues to splutter, no real sentence coming out, just a mess of words.
Her head turns to look back at Lena, and Lena gives her a confused look, so Kara quickly turns back to Ruby.
The knowing look on Ruby’s face reminds her a lot of Lena.
“Was that a yes?”
Kara swallows. She knows she’s done a terrible job of hiding it, not just with answering Ruby’s question, but with hiding how she feels about Lena in general, and it’s clear Ruby already knows, so she tells her the truth.
“Yes,” Kara says, much quieter this time, so Lena will have no chance of overhearing. “But please don’t tell Lena.”
“I won’t,” Ruby promises. “But you should.”
She’s had this conversation enough with her sister, is she really having it with this young girl too? “No, I-“
Ruby cuts her off. “She likes you too, you know? I’ve overheard multiple conversations with her and my mom, Lena saying how much she likes you. So you should tell her.”
Kara doesn’t have time respond, which is probably a good thing because she’s not entirely sure what she’d say anyway, as the reach the car. The look Lena gives her when she and Sam arrive seconds later is clearly ‘are you okay?’ so Kara just smiles and nods.
But all the way home, all through the four of them making dinner, Kara can’t stop thinking about Ruby’s words, about that fact that Lena apparently has a crush on her too.
All evening, she’s been watching her, looking for any sign she’d missed something, looking for a sign that her feelings are returned, but she sees nothing. Lena seems exactly the same as she always has, the same soft smiles, the same gentle touches, the same kind words, but if Ruby is to be believed, then Lena has feelings for her too. Enough feelings, that Lena has even talked to Sam about them, the same way that Kara’s talked to Alex.
Ruby heads off to her room not long later, leaving the three of them in an impromptu sort of girl’s night. They drink wine (Kara spikes her own cup with an alien mix that M’gann had given her) and they sit around and drink and gossip and Kara’s internal debate is suppressed for the time being, she can figure out what to do about the fact that Lena likes her too once they get back home.
Kara learns more about Lena from before they met, about Lena from university, and her early days at Luthor Corp. Sam shows her some pictures, much to Lena’s protest, and they’re all amazing. It’s nice, to see Lena this relaxed, this open, and she’s glad she took the invitation.
xxx
Hours pass with them on the couch, talking and laughing and Lena’s had the best day with her two closest friends, and Ruby of course.
She’s having so much fun, feeling so relaxed and free, that it takes a bit longer than it should have to notice that Kara’s had a bit more drink that she probably should’ve.
“Your friend is a lightweight.”
Kara must have put a bit too much of the alien alcohol in her drink.
“Kara, darling, I think it’s time we get you to bed.”
Kara grins sleepily at her but she notices Sam mouth ‘darling’ over her shoulder and Lena realises she probably shouldn’t have called Kara that, not in front of Sam anyway.
Her attention turns back to Kara though when she speaks. “I like it when you call me darling.”
Sam’s laughing now as Lena goes red. “Does she call you that often?”
Kara’s movements are slow as she turns to answer Sam. “Just sometimes, I like it.”
“You said that already,” Lena says, ignoring Sam’s grin. “It’s time for bed.”
Kara turns back to her, and it’s unfair how cute she looks. “You’re pretty.”
The words startle Lena, her cheeks red again and Kara watches her earnestly.
Sam continues to laugh in the background.
“Your eyes are beautiful, I could look into them all day.”
That’s exactly what Kara is doing, looking into her eyes, and she needs to put a stop to this, now. Not only because Kara is drunk, but because Sam is an amused spectator.
“Come on,” Lena says, standing and holding out her hand for Kara.
Lena easily pulls her up, too easily as Kara stumbles forward, and the only reason that Lena is able to catch her is because she’s braced herself for a bigger impact, knows the strength Kara holds and tries to contain on a daily basis.
Together, she and Sam manage to get Kara upstairs, with only a couple more comments about how pretty Lena is. Sam looks like she’s having the time of her life.
They deposit her on the bed and despite how much she loves and appreciates Sam, she’s glad she’s about to leave because it means she can stop being embarrassed by an audience to Kara’s kind words.
“You’ve got her?” Sam asks as she retreats to the door.
Kara answers for her, much to Lena’s embarrassment, once more. “Lena always takes care of me.”
She already knows how Sam is going to interpret that.
“I’m not even going to touch that,” Sam says with a laugh. “Shout if you need anything.”
“Thank you,” Lena answers before Sam pulls the door shut behind her.
“Okay, it’s bedtime for you, you definitely had too much to drink.”
Kara giggles. “Oops.” She lies down and basically wiggles up the bed until her head is on the pillow. It’s entirely adorable but also a bit premature as she’s still fully clothed.
“Pyjama’s first, then bed,” Lena instructs and once Kara sits up and starts to undo the buttons on her jeans, Lena turns to find her some clothes.
“Lena,” Kara says and she turns to find Kara pouting at her. “I can’t undo this.”
Lena looks down to find Kara having trouble with the button on her jeans.
God, help her.
“Come here,” Lena says, motioning Kara closer who shuffles to the edge of the bed.
Lena tries not to think about exactly what she’s doing as she undoes Kara’s pants.
“Your heart’s beating really fast.”
Lena’s head whips up to find Kara closer than she’s expecting, which does nothing to help her heartbeat.
“Ruby told me that you have feelings for me.”
Lena feels like she’s about to get whiplash from how quick the conversation topic is changing.
“Your heart is beating even faster now.” Kara reaches up, places her hand over her rapidly beating heart, and none of this is helping.
“I told her I like you too.”
Her heart may just beat out of her chest at this rate.
Kara looks up from where her eyes were on Lena’s chest and she uses the same hand that had just been on Lena’s chest to reach up and press a loose piece of hair back behind Lena’s ear.
“Your hair is just as soft as I always imagined it would be.”
Yep, this is going to kill her.
“I wonder if your lips are as soft as I imagine they are too.”
Or is she dead already?
“Kara,” Lena says, choking on her name. Kara’s drunk and she knows nothing can happen, not tonight, but God does she want to kiss her. But the thought that she may actually be able to kiss her tomorrow sends butterflies through her stomach and a smile spreading across her face. “Can we talk about this in the morning, when you’re not so drunk?”
“Does that mean Ruby was right?” Kara asks, and she looks so hopeful, even if she’s blinking sleepily.
There’s no point in denying it now, it’s been fear of rejection that has been holding her back, fear of losing what they have, but if Kara likes her too, which is seems apparent now that she does, there’s no point in hiding it any longer. “She was. I like you, a lot.”
Kara grins, and she looks so damn happy that Lena regrets not telling her sooner. Although, some of that happiness is probably thanks to the alcohol.
“I like you too.” Lena’s grinning now as well. “So much. Like more than pizza. Like more than potstickers. More than any food actually, that’s how much I like you.”
Lena’s not sure her smile is going to vanish any time soon. “Okay, it’s really time for bed now.”
Kara nods in agreement. “I’m tired.”
Lena turns around so Kara can get dressed and she does the same.
“Lena?”
Lena turns back towards Kara only to quickly avert her eyes again when she finds Kara’s top is missing, leaving her in just her bra. At least she has pants on.
“It’s stuck,” Kara all but whines and Lena slowly turns her head towards Kara once more, careful to keep her eyes on Kara’s face.
“What’s stuck?”
Kara turns, hands grasping at her back, trying to unclasp her bra, to no avail.
Lena smiles as she takes a few steps forward, trying not to laugh at how hopeless Kara looks.
Her fingers shake slightly as she unclasps the bra herself, the straps falling to the side to reveal a lot of exposed skin.
Kara tilts her head back to look at Lena over her shoulder, a grin on her face. “Your heart is beating really fast again.”
Lena picks up Kara’s shirt with a laugh, her cheeks red, and tosses it to her. Lena turns back to face her once she’s fully clothed and she looks just as cute as she had before, except this time she’s wearing pyjama’s instead.
Lena slips into the bed and Kara follows suit, and they settle on opposite sides of the bed. Which seems silly now, after what they’ve just found out about each other. But this is how it always goes between them when they share a bed. They start on opposite sides, neither saying anything as they slowly inch closer, until they’re pressed close together. One of them breaks then, properly pulling the other close, before they fall asleep together.
Or that’s how it usually goes, but after a few seconds this time, Kara is across the bed, her arms wrapped around Lena, her face pressed into Lena’s neck.
Lena’s not going to complain at all.
“I love cuddling with you, you’re all nice and soft and warm and you smell really good.”
Lena laughs. “And you have no filter when you’re drunk.” She knew that already, probably should’ve thought of that before they had drinks with Sam, but in her defense, she didn’t know how much Kara would drink. She also knows that Kara doesn’t get hangovers and remembers everything from when she’s been drinking, which is why she’s not worried about Kara forgetting this night ever happened when she wakes.
Lena presses closer to Kara’s body. Kara says she’s soft but Kara herself is firm, a solid presence that Lena loves being close to. Kara’s warm too, her average temperature is a few degrees above Lena’s and Kara smells good too, so good. She can’t identify what she smells like exactly, but it’s warm and comforting and gives her a sense of home she’s never felt before, not like this, not even with Sam and Ruby.
Lena places a gentle kiss to Kara’s forehead. “Goodnight.”
Kara hums at the contact as she sinks even further into Lena. “Goodnight.”
xxx
There’s a softness when Kara wakes, a feeling she only ever feels when Lena is in her arms. Or more appropriately this time, she’s in Lena’s arms, her face pressed close into Lena’s neck.
Kara snuggles closer, can’t help it when she’s surrounded by Lena.
“I take it you’re awake?”
She can feel the words beneath her as well as hear them, and she doesn’t even try to pretend she’s still asleep, she’s not embarrassed about showing Lena how she feels now, not after last night.
She remembers it, she remembers all of it, the memory as clear as if she’d been sober.
She does feel a bit embarrassed about that, getting drunk in front of Sam, then practically spilling her feelings all over Lena. But she doesn’t regret it, not when she knows now that Lena likes her too.
Kara pulls her face from Lena’s neck, tilts it up so she can see Lena.
She loves Lena in the morning, makeup free, hair loose, looking so soft that Kara never knows what to do with herself when she looks at her.
“I am,” she smiles. “Good morning to you, too.”
“How did you sleep?”
Kara grins. “Wonderfully.” She shifts from her position on Lena’s shoulder, wants to be able to see her properly. She doesn’t want to miss anything.
Lena reaches out, brushes hair back that’s fallen across her face in the move. “Last night, you-“
Kara doesn’t let her finish. “I meant all of it, every word.”
The laugh that spills from Lena’s lips is glorious. “Me too.”
Kara giggles. “Is this really happening?”
Lena bites her lip, nods. “And I’m going to kiss you now, if that’s okay?”
“Please,” Kara says, her eyes caught on the way Lena’s teeth are still digging into her lip. She’d mentioned last night that she’d always imagined Lena’s lips are soft and she really wants to test that theory, has wanted to for months.
Lena’s lips are on hers a moment later and Kara was right.
Lena’s lips are so soft and she never wants to stop kissing her. Ever.
xxx
“Morning. How are you feeling?” Sam asks when they enter the kitchen about half an hour later.
Lena thinks the question is directed at her for a moment and she wants to say “I’ve never felt better” as she can still feel where Kara was pressed against her, where their lips moved together, and where Kara’s hands had travelled, as they’d essentially spent the last half hour making out in bed.
Does Sam know that?
She’s lucky she doesn’t say anything before she notices the question is actually directed at Kara. Kara looks confused though so Lena answers for her. “She’s got a bit of a sore head, but nothing major.”
“Right, yeah,” Kara nods in agreement. “I’m feeling fine, thank you.”
Sam looks between them curiously before she turns back to the pancakes she’s making. Lena may have told Sam that pancakes were Kara’s favourite breakfast food, and Lena only loves her friend more for putting in the effort to make Kara happy.
Lena steps in to help Sam and while Sam shoots her a few looks, sends a few teasing remarks her way, it doesn’t seem she like she knows that something’s changed between her and Kara.
They haven’t exactly defined their relationship, but the dinner that Kara invited her to tonight, the date that Kara invited her to, is a good start.
It seems like Kara has finally caught on to Sam’s teasing when Sam leaves the room to go and help Ruby look for something she’s lost.
“I’ve been missing those comments all weekend, haven’t I?”
Lena laughs. “Yes, darling, you have.”
Kara pouts so who can blame her from closing the gap between them and pressing her lips to Kara’s own. The pout instantly vanishes, her lips curving into a smile as Lena presses closer. Lena sighs into the feeling, of Kara’s strong arms wrapping around her to pull her close, of a soft jaw under her hand, and gentle lips moving over her own.
“Oh my God.”
They spring apart to find equally big grins on Sam and Ruby’s faces.
Kara and Lena’s own faces are bright red.
“You did it,” Ruby says just as Sam says, “why didn’t you tell me?”
“I…ahhh…it happened this morning?” Lena says, answering Sam’s question, she assumes Ruby’s is for Kara.
“Oh my God,” Sam says again, but this time she’s laughing.
By the time they leave, they’ve told Ruby and Sam (well, Ruby got the kid friendly parts, Lena told Sam the rest while Kara and Ruby were out of the room) everything and both are happy for them, happy they’re finally together, despite the earlier surprise.
There are hugs as they go, Kara and Lena thanking Sam for her hospitality and Lena is delighted when Kara gets hugs from both Sam and Ruby too.
They go straight back to Kara’s once they arrive back in the city, neither wanting to part so they get straight into their date as soon as they’re home.
The dinner that Kara had invited her is pizza and movies on the couch, Kara pressed warm into her side, which quickly turns into making out on Kara’s couch.
Lena can see a lot of this in their future and she’s excited.
It may not be the standard ‘first date’ that most people would expect, and that most people would expect of her, but it’s nice and perfect and Kara’s there and really, that’s everything a first date needs.
The one part that she would change about their first date, however, is Maggie and Alex walking in partway through, to find them in a much more compromised position than they’d been found in earlier.
At least most of their clothes were still on.
Lena’s pretty sure she’s never been embarrassed so much in two days, but none of that matters now, not when Kara giggles into her neck as Alex slams the door shut, not when Sam texts her to tell her how much she’d enjoyed meeting Kara and not when Kara gets a text from Alex telling her she’s happy for them.