Chapter Text
Lena hated this. She hated every minute of this arduous, bitter torture. There had been a party in one of the common rooms on the campus this friday, a few blocks from the Dickinson dorm where she resided with the greatest person in the world, Kara. Her roommate, best friend, and longtime crush since they were naïve, tiny freshmen, and even now in junior year.
Mike Monelle had asked Kara if he could go with her. She had come squealing over to Lena just minutes after the invitation, her eyes bright with glee and Lena's heart squeezed, both with intense pain and the desperate desire to confess immediately.
She had never liked Mike, of course. He was a year Kara’s senior, and was a total player. Going from girl to girl, leaving a trail of broken hearts behind wherever he went. There had been a rumor around campus at the time that he had just left a girl called Imra (the details weren’t clear, she wasn’t as into gossip as her friend Eve Tessmacher, her partner from one of her several science courses.), whom he’d been dating for about four months. And yet, just a week from when she first heard the rumor, Mike had already started to chase after other girls. She would have been fine with this, if not for that fact that he had started chasing after Kara. Her Kara, with the optimistic smile and the cute crinkle in her eyebrows when she scronched her face and those cheerful, curious blue eyes.
Lena had been confused at first when the blonde practically bounced her way to the dorms, shaking Lena’s shoulders in excitement. Still spinning from the sudden physical contact, Lena tried to shake off the blush as she listened. Kara had told her the story of how she was grabbing a snack from the cafeteria, except it was too high up for her to reach. Then Mike, being the “dreamboat” he was (seriously, Kara?) had reached up and got it for her. Lena had felt a pang of pain in her chest then and now, thinking back on it. Suddenly, the entire room was too stuffy.
"And obviously I agreed! I mean, have you seen him? He’s absolutely gorgeous. I mean, Alex wasn’t exactly fond of him when he broke Sam’s heart last year, but still! He’s the perfect guy for me.” Kara rambled, a wide grin going from ear to ear. Lena grinned weakly at her, though she felt like she might burst into tears right then and there. Her heart dropped so quickly in those moments that it must have weighted more than an anvil.
"I agree with Alex, for once. He’s not a great guy, you know. I’ve heard from just about every girl in the school that he’s a womanizer.” Lena countered quickly, panicking as she began to imagine situations in the future in which an older Mike and Kara were married and she was a bridesmaid on the verge of tears-not unlike now.
Kara pouted a little, and Lena’s heart melted at the sight.
“I’m sure he’s not that bad, you know. He won’t break my heart. I’ll be fine, Lena. Stop being such a worrywart.” She grinned, dashing off to tell everyone else, presumably.
And that was how she ended up here; watching Kara positively clinging to Mike, that stupid smug grin on his stupid smug face. Lena had never before wanted to smack someone across the face so damn badly before.
Kara let out a giggle at something Mike had said, and Lena almost crushed her empty cup in frustration. She should've been the one there, making Kara laugh. She turned around to get more drinks, pouring spiked punch into her dented cup and swallowing it without really tasting it, the tangy, sickly sweet burn tickling the back of her throat. She leaned against the table, unable to look at Kara and Mike again because she knew she wouldn't be able to resist walking over and smacking that douche right on his nose.
She instead turned in the opposite direction, spying some of her classmates drunkenly dancing and a few of them making out on the couches and chairs in the dimly lit common room. One such couple were people she knew-Sam and Alex. She scoffed slightly, looking at the couple exchanged whispered words and giggles every few seconds. Both of them seemed severely intoxicated.
Well, at least some people were having fun.
Lena began to feel rather dizzy after her third cup of punch, her cheeks red and her attitude ready and buzzing for something to happen. Why did it hurt so much be here at this party? Why did Kara insist she had to come along? Why did she look so pretty chatting with someone else when Lena was right there, staring at her with such obvious desperation in her green eyes? Someone like Mike didn't deserve someone like Kara. Then again, neither did Lena.
Then she saw Mike lean over and plant one right on Kara's mouth. It was a sloppy sight, as he was basically drooling all over her. She couldn't understand why girls even liked him at all at that point.
Maybe it was the drinks that caused it. Or perhaps it was the rush of pain and anger at seeing Mike do...that, to her best friend, as Kara winced a little and tried to push Mike off. Regardless, a fire alarm was pulled and sprinklers were set off, spraying everywhere and soon enough people were rushing out of the common rooms, sobered up by the sudden, cold liquid in their hair and on their shoulders. Kara had gasped in surprise, seizing the chance to properly pull away from Mike immediately. He looked a bit put off, and Lena couldn't help but grin at the sight of his frown. He said something to Kara and stormed off, leaving her confused and blinking as he left her standing in the empty, wet room. Lena immediately made her way over to her.
They were the only two students left, and they needed to get out soon-otherwise, it was a guaranteed detention for them both. But then Kara looked at her, and let out a small giggle.
"Who knew that would happen?" She said, looking at Lena. She wasn't sure whether Kara was talking about the kiss or her little stunt.
"Whadya mean?" She slurred in a Irish accent, the alcohol finally catching up to her.
Kara sighed a little. "Come on, Lena. You're drunk. Let's get you in bed." She said, putting one of Lena's arms around her shoulders and helped to keep her standing as she stumbled towards the exit.
"I hafta tell ya somethin'." She slurred thickly, looking up at Kara with sleepy, unfocused green eyes.
"What do you have to tell me?" Kara humored, looking down at Lena with those mirthful blue eyes. Lena could see every detail of her beautiful face. She started to lean forward in a conspiratorial manner, inching closer and closer as her mouth opened to speak-only to collapse completely on Kara's neck as she blacked out from the alcohol.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Lena awoke to a pounding headache as the sun tried to sneak through the room's blinders and murder her. She squeezed her eyes shut, as if it would alleviate some of the ache between her ears. She let out a small groan an burrowed deeper under her covers.
The events of last night played across her mind somewhat fuzzily, but she was able to recount everything...including the almost-confession. She couldn't fight the heat that rose her cheeks, even in the darkness under the blankets.
A flurry of emotions ran through her, ranging from shame to anger to embarrassment. Where would she be if she actually did confess and Kara? It was all too much right now.
Little boxes, Lena. Little boxes. She reminded herself, forcing her body to sit up.
When the colorful dots cleared from her vision, she was able to notice a packet of aspirin and a glass of lukewarm water on her bedside table. There was a purple post-it attached to the packet, with a badly drawn, smiling daisy on it. Well, she guessed it was a daisy-otherwise it might have been a confused octopus. In a messy, yet strangely endearing scrawl, it wrote:
Dear Lena,
So you're a lightweight, huh? And a bold drunk as well, apparently. Hope you won't have too bad of a headache. You're really smart, so I'm sure you know how to take pills. Not that you take pills regularly. I mean, not that I'd judge you or anything if you did. You know what? I should probably stop writing now, haha. Ahem. Take the pills, and if it's not lunchtime by the time you wake up, I'll be with Alex and the others by that big willow tree up near the Nightingale Dorms.
Lots of Love,
Kara.
Lena smiled to herself as she read the note, running a gentle thumb over the graphite.
How sweet of her.
Then again, it wasn't really a surprise. Kara had been nothing but courteous and compassionate since the day they met.
She took a glance at the clock on the table, popping the pills into her mouth and swallowing them dry. It was 10 AM-not noon, so she could still meet up with Kara. She felt a slow grin spread across her face at the prospect of seeing the bubbly blonde today, despite her raging headache.
She closed the note and placed it gingerly on the table again, sending it off with a gentle kiss before she got up from the bed to get change into her regular school uniform.
XXXXXXXXXXX
Like promised, a laughing, blue-eyed teenager was waiting under the willow tree, her gaze scanning the campus around her and jumping up and down, waving to Lena once they made eye contact.
Lena kept a small chuckle to herself as she made her way up the hill, almost narrowly getting hit by a rubber ball being thrown at Alex.
"Sorry!" Came Sam's sheepish voice.
"It's all good," Lena waved off, giving a nod to Sam and Alex. Kara bounced over, a frown of concern replacing the previous carefree smile.
"Hey, Kar-"
"Lena! How was the medicine? Is it helping? Please say you took it. It scared the crap out of me when you just collapsed like that." Kara cut in, taking Lena's chin and face in her warm, warm hands and inspecting it closely.
"Yeah, I'm alright, Kara. Sorry I scared you. No need to worry about me." She managed to say, avoiding the blonde's gaze.
Kara stepped back with a firm nod.
"Okay, then. Sit down with us!" She said, gesturing to the large spot where James Olsen was fiddling with his camera, Winn Schott peeking over his shoulder and hugging his waist to get a good look at the pictures, and Jess Huang was making her way through a stack of books while holding hands with Lucy Lane.
Lena chose a spot right under the shade, as close as she could get to the tree without touching it. Kara sat down right next to her, stretching a bit and looking at the sun.
The brunette stared at the pile of books, trying to decide on which one to read. Dracula by Bram Stoker-always a good classic. Her love for literature stemmed from Lilian forcing her to take up reading, dancing, painting, and singing up from the week she was introduced to the family. What a shame only one of those tutored courses had stuck. She grabbed the book and opened it at a random page-at this point, she had read that particular work so many times she didn't need context to just enjoy it.
A few seconds passed before Kara was suddenly placing her head on Lena's lap, the book falling out of her hands with a small yelp.
"Kara! What are you doing?" Lena squeaked.
"What does it look like I'm doing?" Kara humored.
Lena rolled her eyes, sighing at her best friend's antics. Paying it no more mind, she grabbed the book that had fallen onto the grass.
"You were the one who pulled the alarm, didn't you?"
Lena looked down from her novel.
"Pardon?"
"The fire alarm. You tripped it, right? That was you?" Kara tried again.
Lena could feel the panic coursing through her veins.
"I-It's just-you looked like y-you were having a really bad time with Mik-" Lena stammered, a red-hot blush rising to her cheeks and ears.
"Thank you." Kara interrupted suddenly.
"H-huh?"
"Thank you. For pulling it. Mike was trying to kiss me-well, he did, actually, but that's besides the point. He was trying to take it further. As in, you know...that." Kara trailed off, looking at Lena sadly.
She swallowed.
"No problem, I guess-but the next time I see him, he's losing a tooth." She swore, looking at the book with contempt as she pictured punching that douchebag in the face.
"My hero," Kara joked, grinning up at Lena. Her heart felt as if it was about to burst with repressed emotions.
"Always." Lena quipped back weakly, returning Kara's grin.
"I'm glad I have friends like you, Lena. I know for sure you'd never want to do something that's bad for me." Kara continued mindlessly.
I'd do a lot of things to you, Lena thought wryly.
"What?"
Fuck, did I say that aloud?
"I said, I'd never do that to you." Came Lena's red-cheeked, swift reply. Kara gave her an agonizingly long look, then grinned.
"I know you wouldn't. You're too nice for that. I mean, look at you-you're blushing so hard you look like a weak, green-eyed little tomato." Kara giggled.
"I am not a weak tomato. I am a strong tomato!" Lena yelled incredulously, the words leaving her lips before she could think about it. Kara began to laugh, while Sam and Alex were looking at Lena after her 'exclamation' as if she were insane. Kara only laughed harder at this.
Lena cleared her throat, and shook her head at the blonde, burning with embarrassment as Kara's shoulders shook from the force of her continuous giggling.
Moments later, they were back where they had started-Kara playing with her hair absently on Lena's lap as she flipped through Dracula with alarming speed.
I suppose that being Kara's best friend isn't that bad. After all, days like this one-it's worth it to see her smile so much. Lena thought to herself, sighing internally. Too bad she wouldn't be able to be more than just friends...