Chapter Text
“I like you,” Kara says, “And Alex likes me. So by the transitive property, she’ll love you.”
“That’s not how the transitive property works.”
“But admit it,” Kara says cheerfully, stealing one of Lena’s dumplings off her plate. “You’re impressed I can remember any of the things you’ve tutored me in.”
“I tutor you in history,” Lena corrects mildly. She tilts the plate so Kara can have easier access. “And you can’t deny your sister is intimidating.”
Kara stuffs two dumplings into her mouth before Lena can change her mind about sharing. When she speaks her cheeks puff out like a chipmunk. “Who, Alex? She’s a teddy bear.”
“Hm,” is all Lena has to offer in return.
Kara rolls her eyes. She nudges Lena’s glass closer to her. “Drink your kale juice and stop worrying. We’re still on for brunch tomorrow, right? I need that Luthor name to hold the reservation.”
“And the Luthor card to cover the check?” Kara blinks, confused, and Lena winces. “Sorry. I know it’s not like that. I’m just nervous.”
Kara touches her hand. “Tell me what’s really going on.”
Lena frowns, cringing away from the touch even as she turns her palm to grip Kara’s wrist as an anchor. “You… are my only friend.” Kara opens her mouth and Lena shakes her head. “No, it’s true. And Alex is important to you. Her opinion matters.”
Kara holds her hand more firmly. “Alex,” she says surely, “is going to love you.”
++
Alex doesn’t love her. She shakes Lena’s hand, bumps companionably against Kara’s shoulder as she sits, and asks if Lex will be joining them. Lena feels the smile freeze on her face.
“Alex!” Kara does something under the table that makes Alex wince. “Apologize.”
Alex’s features take on a mulish cast, and Lena speaks before she can. “I’m afraid the prison wouldn’t approve a brunch outing, as delightful and on brand as attempted murder with breakfast would be for our family.”
Alex smiles, a little mean. “Poison in the strawberry champagne?”
Lena’s eyes flash. “No, of course not. Champagne is cheap.”
“Oookay!” Kara says, clasping her hands together in a blatant interruption. “Alex, you need a drink.”
Alex doesn’t look away from Lena. “You said I wasn’t allowed to drink at this.”
Kara gestures desperately at a waiter with a platter of mimosas. “And I was very wrong, let’s get that fixed right now.”
“This is a very nice restaurant,” Alex says, when they’ve all avoided eye contact and taken very long draws from their glasses.
“Thank you,” Lena says.
Prematurely, as it turns out, because Alex’s next observation is: “So your game is to purchase affections.”
Lena sucks in a breath. An unforgivable tell; her mother would be disgusted by it.
“That’s enough.” Kara is almost vibrating with fury. “Alex, take a walk. We’ll meet up later.”
Alex leaves just as the appetizers arrive. Lena drains her glass. “Is it gauche to say ‘I told you so’ just now? I can wait.”
Kara is so glum she doesn’t even go for one of the caprese bites. “I can’t believe she’s acting like this. You don't deserve it.”
Lena makes a noncommittal noise.
Kara touches her shoulder. “Hey, I mean it. You’re not your brother.”
Lena eats a bite of a tomato off a toothpick. “Becoming my brother has never been the fear, Kara.” She forces a smile. “You should go be with your sister. We’ll have plenty of time together when her visit’s done.”
Kara bites a fingernail. “No, she was a jerk. And I know you went through a lot of trouble planning this.”
“Not at all,” Lena disagrees, discretely waving away the waitstaff as they approach with the rest of the courses, painstakingly selected after hours of research. “You’ve missed her.”
“Well, she’s been busy. FBI training is surprisingly in depth.” She nudges her glasses up her nose. “Well, maybe unsurprisingly. But if all she learned to do at the academy is how to be a big fat--”
“Families can be like that. That’s what I’ve heard, anyway. I can’t especially relate. Now if your sister hires an assassin to kill you, that I am qualified to advise.” The joke makes Kara smile, chasing the frown away. Lena returns the smile. “I’ll linger here, drink another mimosa or two, and head home.”
Kara snags as many toothpicked hors d'oeuvre as she can fit in one hand, her phone clutched in the other. “You relax, finish eating. I’m going to yell at Alex four five hours and then we’re going to have dinner together.”
“Kara,” Lena sighs, but Kara doesn’t let her get started.
“A do over,” Kara insists. “Five hours. Belly Burger.” She gets three steps away before she turns back. “Dress down. Way down.”
“Absolutely.” Lena toasts her with a champagne flute. “I’ve been trying to think of a new way to disappoint my mother.”
++
Lena frowns into her closet. The problem with having only one friend is that when they’re busy, you’re shit out of luck for advice. “Dress down,” she mutters to herself, touching a cashmere sleeve. “How down is down?”
She finds one of Kara’s sweatshirts tossed over the back of her sofa and wears her oldest pair of slacks. “You look great,” Kara chirps, when she meets back up with the sisters in front of a fast food joint. Lena looks down at her outfit, self-conscious. Even if she was too dressed up, Kara would never say so.
“You’re too dressed up,” Alex informs her.
Lena laughs. It startles Alex enough for Lena to loop an arm in Kara’s and drag her into the restaurant. “Don’t let her push you around,” Kara says. “You can be mean, I encourage it.”
Lena would sooner maroon herself on an island with her mother than do anything to compromise her friendship with Kara. She pats Kara’s elbow. “Tell me what’s good here.”
“There’s really only one thing to order,” Kara says earnestly. “That’s what makes it so pure.”
“The milkshakes are good,” Alex says, the door squeaking as she comes up behind them and steps up to order while Lena tries to figure out if the recommendation was an olive branch or a dagger under a cloak.
Lena lets Kara pay, because it makes her beam, and because it means she can ask for the same thing Kara orders. Alex is already waiting at a table, sprawled out over one dingy bench. “Should I put my jacket down for you?”
“Yes.” Kara chokes on a fry; Alex doubletakes. Lena arches a challenging eyebrow. “If you’re offering.”
Alex stands and Lena’s expression flickers, but she refuses to retreat, taller than Alex in her heels. Alex strips her jacket off and lays it on the bench, then does a little mocking bow. “My lady.”
“Chivalry lives.” Lena slides past Alex, their chests brushing, then turns to sit, one leg crossing neatly over the other.
“Okay,” Kara says. “Weird but better. Who wants to hear my latest article idea!”
++
“Alex wants to go dancing,” Kara says, barging into Lena’s bath. “Oh, you’re busy.”
“Bathroom door closed,” Lena reiterates. “Means the room is occupied.”
“But I want you to come dancing with us.”
Lena sets her tablet aside with a sigh, ruffling her bubbles. “Have you not been having a good visit?”
“No, it’s been amazing.” Kara smiles at her, soft and maybe a little sad. “But I missed my best friend.”
Lena, reluctantly, smiles back. “Two hours?”
“Yay!” Kara cheers. She forgets to shut the door behind her. Lena sighs again.
“Well,” Alex says, nearly three hours later as Lena gets them into a very exclusive very expensive club ahead of the line stretching three blocks. “I take back everything I said about the Luthor name.”
“Everything?”
Alex grins, her chopped short hair flopping rakishly, her eyes gleaming under the strobe light. “Most.”
Lena is drunk off bottle service and the drum of the bass in her chest. Her feet ache in her heels and the back of her neck is too sweaty and she settles herself on the VIP sofa next to Alex. “Tired out?”
“She was always the ball of energy.” They both watch Kara rip up the dance floor, managing to be both graceful and uncoordinated at the same time. “Exhausting to chase after.”
“Kara,” Lena says carefully, slowly to ensure proper enunciation. “Is the best person I know. And there’s no one she speaks more highly of than you.”
Alex looks at her, their cheeks resting on the sofa, slouched down into the cushions, sliding closed by the second. The music is so loud Lena wouldn’t have been able to hear her reply if they weren’t inches away. “You should hear her say your name.”
Lena kisses her. She’s got rum on her tongue and her chest is drumming and Alex’s hair is soft between her fingers. Alex’s lips are soft; there’s whiskey at the corner of her mouth. Their tongues touch.
And then Alex yanks away. “Oh!”
Lena practically feels the world crash down around her ears. “Oh no, oh god.”
“Flattering,” Alex stutters out.
“--your hair--” Lena babbles, in full panic mode.
“Stereotype!” Alex yelps, and they abruptly realize they’re still too close together. Alex leaps to her feet. “I’m going to find Kara.”
“I’m exhausted,” Lena says, at the same time. She fumbles to her feet. “I’ll head out.”
“Great,” Alex nods, refusing to look at her. “And um, thank you for…”
“Of course, no problem,” Lena manages, and flees.
++
It takes two shockingly awkward lunch dates for Lena to ascertain Alex hasn’t told Kara about their kiss. The relief is staggering; the follow up reassurance to Kara that she hasn’t contracted a terminal illness is nothing in comparison. She convinces Kara her strange behaviour is gradschool nerves and they relax back into their comfortable routine.
Lena puts Alex Danvers out of her mind.
++
Until she shows up at her door during spring break. “Kara’s not here,” Lena says, the door guardedly open despite having buzzed Alex up. “I thought you were going to visit her in Metropolis.”
“I am,” Alex says, “I mean, I was. The internship is keeping her pretty busy. Can we talk?”
“Of course.” Lena lets her in. “Can I offer you something to drink?” Alex passes her and she catches a whiff of her jacket--leather and cigarettes and bourbon. A lot of bourbon. “Or maybe you’ve had enough to drink.”
“If only,” Alex mutters, and plops onto Lena’s sofa, scrubbing her hands through her hair. “Listen, can you not mention this visit to Kara?”
Lena pours herself a drink at the minibar to give her hands something to do. “It’s not in my nature to lie to my friend.”
“Isn’t it?”
Lena sets her glass down too hard, rattling the top of the tray.
Alex winces. “Sorry, sorry.”
Lena perches at the other end of the couch. “What is it that you came here to talk to me about?”
“The kiss,” Alex says, and it’s Lena’s turn to wince.
“If you came here for another apology, I understand.” Lena tries to calculate what would be an appropriate price range for an reparative gesture.
Alex rolls her eyes. “Oh get off the cross, Luthor. We kissed once at a club.”
Lena can’t help the cold tone her voice takes on. “You’re the one who brought it up again.”
Alex stands, abrupt and jerky. “I know, sorry. Again. I, uh.” She wrings her hands together. “I’ve just been thinking about--and I thought maybe you could--” She looks at Lena helplessly. “You know?”
Lena has never known less about a conversation than she does now. “Of course,” is what she chooses to say. “And you… are upset.”
“No! I’m not upset. Do I seem upset? Why would I be upset?”
“I have no idea,” Lena says, absolutely truthfully.
Alex sits like a puppet with cut strings. “You’ve kissed girls. Other girls, I mean, not just me.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Lena blinks. She sets down her glass. “Alex--”
“Please.” Alex voice is so fragile, her eyes fixed on the carpet and oddly wet.
“Because I wanted to. Because I was attracted to them.” Lena starts to reach out for Alex’s leg but loses the courage halfway through the motion, her hand dropping to the couch cushion between them. “Do you think…?”
“I’ve never liked kissing,” Alex says abruptly. “I was so excited from movies for my first kiss and it was just--boring. All the kisses I’ve had have been so incredibly boring.” She looks up. “Until you.”
“We barely kissed.”
“I know!” Alex leans close, grabbing Lena’s glass and taking a big swallow before setting it back down. “And what does that say about it?”
“That you’re attracted to women.” Alex flinches, withdrawing back to the other end of the sofa. “Why did you come here, Alex? Confirmation? Validation?”
Alex is silent, hunched up on herself. Lena regrets her harsh tone immediately.
“Look,” she says, gentling her voice. “So maybe you do like women, like that? So what? You can’t tell me you believe Kara would think any different of you?”
“No,” Alex says. “Of course not. It’s not that. It’s just…”
“Just?” Lena prompts.
“How could I not know?” Alex wipes at her eyes furiously. “It never even occurred to me. Not once. How can that be true, if this is true?”
“I don’t know,” Lena says, scooching closer to gently touch Alex’s shoulder. “It’s not the end of the world, Alex.”
“I don’t even know now. How can I not know, even now?”
Lena touches Alex’s cheek, tilting it towards her. “You are extraordinary, Alex Danvers. I know so because Kara never stops saying it. And none of that changes depending on who you decide isn’t boring to kiss.”
Lena leans in, then pauses, searching Alex’s face. Alex closes the rest of the distance. She tastes like bourbon and lipgloss, but Lena’s not as tipsy this time. So she takes her time, and makes it good, and when their kiss breaks Alex is lightly flushed, her eyes dark. “A better first kiss,” Lena says, sitting back and reaching for her glass, hiding that she’s slightly breathless behind a sip. “I hope you don’t mind.”
Alex relaxes into the sofa, slouching until their shoulders touch. She takes Lena’s drink out of her hands, fingers brushing. “Are you kidding? I snagged a Luthor. Wait ‘til the boys back at the academy hear about this.”
++
“I did a background check on you,” Alex says, pouring Lena a cup of coffee.
“That’s the oddest ‘good morning’ I’ve ever gotten from a houseguest.” Lena takes a sip. “And here I thought I left you passed out on the couch last night.”
“Not last night,” Alex corrects, pouring herself a cup. “Before we met.”
“Anything interesting?” Lena puts her phone down, pulling down another mug from the rack for Alex.
“No, I just thought you should know. I ran a background check on you.”
Lena looks up. “Is this an apology?”
Alex shrugs. “A thank you.”
Lena smiles. “You should talk to Kara, you know.”
Alex drains her mug and leaves it in the sink, turning to scoop up her keys and her phone. “Yeah, I know.” She taps at her phone and Lena’s buzzes on the countertop. “My number, if you want. I got yours from Kara.”
Lena follows her to the front door. “Are we friends now?”
Alex grins at her as she walks down the hallway towards the elevator. “Something like that.”
Lena watches her turn the corner. “Something like that,” she echoes.