Chapter Text
Kelly closed the sliding glass door behind her with a soft click. The back deck was blessedly quiet compared to the small group of Super Friends gathered inside the house. While they weren’t intentionally being rowdy or disruptive, it felt like their voices carried through to almost every room, even upstairs to Alex’s childhood bedroom. The respite Kelly felt exploring that space was short-lived. Outside, the voices were muted and she felt the tension in her shoulders start to dissipate.
She sat in the weathered Adirondack chair near Eliza and placed her glass of wine on the table between them.
“Alex is down by the water,” Eliza answered the unspoken question.
“I assumed that’s where she disappeared to. Thank you for confirming my suspicion.”
Eliza gave Kelly a wry smile. “When she was growing up, it was the beach or the roof outside of her bedroom window. My guess is climbing out the window isn’t nearly as easy as it once was.”
“Maybe.”
Several beats of silence passed as Kelly sipped from her glass and stared out at the idyllic scene before her.
“Kara told me Alex was in quite the mood this morning.”
Kelly sighed and turned her head to look at the other woman. “While I’ll be the first to say Alex took out her anger and frustration in a less-than-constructive fashion, I’ll also be the first to point out that everyone handles grief differently. Sometimes you just have to wait the person out, let them move beyond those early stages before you can truly get through to them.”
“Well, thank you for being patient and for making sure she was at the funeral. It meant a lot to me, to our family.”
“Of course,” Kelly replied, nodding. “I didn’t need my degree in psychology to know she needed to be here, Eliza. But I wasn’t going to strong arm her. Alex needed to make the decision on her own and I’m glad she did. It was closure to a very complicated relationship.”
Eliza focused on the knitted blanket covering her legs. “Alex worshiped Jeremiah from the moment she was born. I don’t think she ever fully processed everything that happened with him and Cadmus and the DEO. It would’ve been a lot for anyone to handle but Alex internalized the betrayal and blamed herself for everything.”
“Like I said, now there’s some closure and, when she’s ready, she can work to heal that heartache. She’ll come out on the other side of this stronger than she already is.”
“I’m glad my daughter met you, Kelly. I can’t help but think she would be struggling much more if not for your relationship. You manage to keep her balanced.”
Kelly felt a blush warming her cheeks. “That’s sweet of you to say, Eliza. I love your daughter and even though we haven’t been together long… I can’t imagine being without her. Meeting her was an unexpected joy that changed my life. As cliché as that may sound.”
“Does Alex know?”
“That I love her? Absolutely. I tell her every day.”
When it’s Friday night and the drink don’t work the same
You’re alone with yourself and there no one else to blame
When you still can’t feel the rhythm of your heart
And you see your spirit fading in the dark
Oh, oh, I’ll be there
When you need a little love, I got a little love to share
Yeah, I’m gonna, I’m gonna, I’m gonna come through
You’ll never be alone, I’ll be there for you
I’ll be there, I’ll be there for you
I’ll be there, I’ll be there for you
Oh, I swear I got enough love for two
You’ll never be alone, I’ll be there for you
“Room for one more?”
Alex seemed to take a moment to process the question, looking up at Kelly with confusion clouding her eyes. “Yeah. Yeah, of course,” she said as she ran a hand through her hair and shifted slightly to make room on the log next to her.
Smoothing her hands over the backside of her dress, Kelly sat, stretching her legs out in front of her and crossing them at the ankles. “Midvale is beautiful. I’m surprised we haven’t visited before this.”
Alex acknowledged the comment with a quiet hum as both of them watched shorebirds weaving in and out of the gently rolling waves. A breeze lifted the ends of their hair and Kelly automatically shivered, sucking in a breath.
“Here.” Slipping out of her leather jacket, Alex draped it over her girlfriend’s shoulders.
“Eliza insisted everyone stay the night and, last I knew, Kara was ordering pizza and J’onn was making a beer run.” She checked her watch. “It’ll probably be here before too long.”
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“For the way I treated you earlier.”
Kelly waited for Alex to make eye contact before responding. “I’ve already forgiven you, Alex. You need to do that same for yourself.”
“You didn’t deserve my anger because you were nothing but patient and understanding,” Alex’s voice was quiet and Kelly thought she could detect a subtle cracking of emotion. Confirmation came in the form of Alex roughly wiping at her eyes and turning away.
“Hey. Look at me.”
When she finally did, Alex’s eyes were glassy as a few stray tears escaped. Kelly reached out to wipe at her girlfriend’s cheek before resting her palm against the soft skin. Alex automatically closed her eyes and turned into the touch.
“The most important thing to take away from this… experience is that you’re not alone. I’m here and I love you. I love you so much, Alex. We can work through anything together but you have to let me in. These wounds will heal into scars, I promise.”
“Sometimes I don’t think I deserve you.”
“Your mom said we balance each other out and she’s right. If it wasn’t clear before, let me make it clear now. I’m in this for the long haul, babe. This relationship is it for me.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” Kelly leaned forward and brushed their lips together in a soft kiss. Resting their foreheads together, she rested her hand on Alex’s neck, subtly rubbing it. “We’re going to have more days like this when we struggle and we fight but we’ll talk and we’ll forgive and we’ll move forward.”
“I love you,” Alex whispered into the space between them before kissing her again.