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I need a vacation,” Lena said suddenly, tossing her laptop onto the coffee table in a huff.
Kara looked up quickly from her place at the other end of the couch and laughed, continuing to rub Lena’s ankles where they lay in her lap.
“You? Take a vacation? I’ll believe it when I see it.”
Lena rubbed her brow and sat up straighter, pulling her feet out of Kara’s lap and drawing them up to her chest.
“I’m serious, Kara. I’m feeling so burnt out. I mean, here I am on a Sunday afternoon, meant to be spending time with my best friend, and I can’t even do that without getting hit with a slog of backlogged expense reports.”
She poured herself another glass of wine and tipped it back into her mouth, the wheels turning in her head.
“I could do it. I could take a vacation.”
Kara snickered, reaching for another potsticker. “I can just imagine you alone on some island somewhere desperately trying to find somewhere to plug your phone in so you can answer just one more email.”
Lena turned abruptly to face her. “So come with me!”
“What?” Kara asked in confusion around a mouthful of dumpling.
“Come on vacation with me! All expenses paid. I’m thinking…” she tilted her head back and forth a few times, “...Greece? Greece is nice in August!”
Kara gazed at her in amazement. “You want to pay for me to come to Greece with you?”
Lena’s cheeks flushed red. “Well...yeah?” She couldn’t stop the insecurity from seeping into her voice, but she rallied quickly. “Invite Alex and Kelly to come too! We’ll make it a girls’ trip!”
“...uh-huh, sure. Yeah I’ll ask her, Kara. Did she really say...really? All of us? Sweet! Yeah, I’ll talk to Kelly and let you know. Uh huh. Tell her thanks! Ok, bye.”
Alex set her phone down and turned excitedly to her wife.
“What was all that about?” Kelly asked, eyes still trained on the episode of Great British Baking Show they were watching. The man's lemon marscapone soufflé was deflating. Kelly was invested.
“That was Kara,” Alex began with a grin, barely containing her excitement. “Lena has apparently decided to take a vacation.”
Kelly nodded absently, chewing a slice of pizza. “Good for her...?”
The dish had a soggy bottom. This was A+ television.
“And...she wants us all to come with her!” Alex finished excitedly, nearly jumping up and down on the couch. “To Greece, babe! All expenses paid!”
That made Kelly tear her gaze away from the tv at last.
“Say what now?!”
Alex grinned wider. “Lena is going on vacation to Greece, and she wants you, me, and Kara to go with her, all expenses paid.”
Kelly stared at her in wide-eyed amazement. “Are you sure she said all of us? Maybe she just meant Kara.”
Alex rolled her eyes. “No, I asked. Kara was very adamant that she wanted all of us to come.”
Kelly was back to staring off into space. “Probably thinks it’s too sus to only invite Kara…”
“So, you wanna go? Can you take a week off of work?”
Kelly grinned.
“Hell yeah!”
Her eyes widened and she nearly leapt off the couch in excitement.
“Oh my god, babe! We can make them figure their shit out!”
Alex frowned. “What do you mean?”
Kelly rolled her eyes. “I mean, we can use this vacation as an opportunity to… help them figure out their feelings for each other! It’s perfect!”
Alex looked uneasy. “I don’t know… Maybe we should just let them come to their own conclusions.”
But Kelly was already pacing around the living room, grinning mischievously.
“This is gonna be great,” she was saying. “Baby, where’s my legal pad? I need to make a plan…”
Alex sighed and slumped down on the couch. Some vacation, she thought wanly. It looked like she was going to spend her first vacation in years playing matchmaker for her sister. Oy.
Lena sat with her feet curled up under her, her laptop balanced on her knee as she scrolled the hotel options Jess had sent her. Kara plopped down next to her with a grin.
“Alex and Kelly are in!”
Lena smiled widely. Ok, so maybe she had wanted to go with Kara alone, but she was too chicken and she loved the other two women to death. They would all have a terrific time in Greece -- sun, sea, spa time, and great food with great company? How could that be bad?
“Ok, so here’s the hotel I’m thinking. Right on the water, infinity pool, views of the caldera…”
“Wow, that's gorgeous,” Kara breathed, curling in closer to get a better look. “Look at those beaches….the sand is so white.”
Lena tried to control her pounding heart as Kara scooted closer.
“Yeah, they’re...they’re beautiful.”
She wasn’t looking at the beaches, nor was she talking about them. She cringed inwardly at her own cliche thoughts.
“Well, I vote that one!” Kara exclaimed excitedly.
Lena laughed. “Okay, so one week, three rooms…”
“Three rooms?”
Lena looked up at her quickly. “I mean...I assumed Alex and Kelly would share. Do you think they’d want their own rooms, or…?”
Kara shook her head. “No, they’ll share, I guess I just assumed...but you probably want your own room. I just don’t want to make you spend more money...but I was making an assumption! I shouldn’t assume --”
Lena put her hand on Kara’s arm to stop the ramble.
“Kara,” she said with a laugh, “do you want to share a room with me? Because I’m happy to do that. I just didn’t want to assume. It’s a whole week, after all.”
“Pshhh! I can share a room with you for a week no problem,” Kara retorted smugly.
“Oh, game on.”
And just like that, Lena’s vacation was already looking so much brighter.
As soon as they stepped off of her private jet, Lena felt all the tension she had carried in her shoulders begin to release. The air was saltier, thicker, calmer here. The sea air wrapped itself around her like a shawl and she couldn’t help but breathe it deep into her lungs.
And it only got better from there. Kara seemed to have decided to permanently stick herself to Lena so that neither would get lost as they walked around the city.
“Lena, look at this!” Her hand was jerked this way.
“Lena, did you see that?” A hand on her waist pulling her that way.
“Lena, let’s take a picture in front of those cliffs!” Her body being pulled tight into Kara’s, their faces smooshed together to fit into the lens.
She was jerked and pulled all through the crowded streets and Lena loved every minute of it. She was on vacation in one of the most gorgeous locations with the most beautiful woman in the world and two of her best friends (whom she could hear snickering at her from behind them). Finally, she could enjoy herself.
As it turns out, Lena was never allowed to enjoy herself for long.
A problem in R&D had Jess placing a very urgent and apologetic call and so Lena was going to have to spend half the day dealing with the mess.
“You guys go on without me,” she urged, pressing some cash into Alex’s hand. (She knew Kara wouldn’t spend her money, but Alex would.) “I’ve got to deal with this, but you guys shouldn’t miss the beautiful day.”
“I’ll stay with you,” Kara offered chivalrously.
“Darling, that’s very sweet of you, but I’m just going to be making phone calls all day. You’ll be bored to death. Go enjoy the spa. Go to the beach. We’ll take the boat out tomorrow to make up for it.”
“The boat?” Kara asked blankly.
“Yes, didn’t I say?” Lena replied absently, already scrolling through her email. “I had Jacque bring my sailboat down from Nice. We’ll be able to take it out tomorrow.”
When she finally realised only silence had followed her words, she looked up to find the three of them gaping at her.
“That’s the whitest thing I’ve ever heard,” Kelly said finally.
“Oh shut up,” Lena laughed. “Now go on! I’ve got work to do.”
They headed down to the beach, leaving Lena to her endless list of phone calls.
Tomorrow, Lena thought. Tomorrow I can relax with Kara.
Kelly, Alex, and Kara sat under the thatched roof of their cabana, their legs soaking up the sun’s rays while the rest of them stayed covered as they sipped their sambuca cocktails. Kara’s thoughts kept drifting back to Lena back in their hotel room, wondering what she was doing, wondering if she should go bring her some food, feeling guilty for enjoying the beautiful day while she was stuck inside.
“Can’t wait to go out on the boat tomorrow,” said Alex, lazily sipping her drink and pushing her shades up higher on her nose. “Haven’t been on a boat in ages.”
Kara frowned. “Lena doesn’t like the water.”
“Then why does she have a boat?” Alex replied absently.
Kara didn’t know the answer to that. She would have to ask. She sat lost in thought about what else she didn’t know about Lena. They were so close, there wasn’t much, so it surprised her whenever a new mystery revealed itself about the CEO.
Kelly nudged Alex to look at Kara’s thoughtful frown and winked before sliding her sunglasses up over her nose.
Clearing her throat she laid back on her lounge chair and said nonchalantly, “I bet Lena looks hot as fuck in a bathing suit.”
Kara’s head whipped toward her, her frown deepening.
“I don’t -- I don’t think it’s respectful to talk about her that way when she’s not here.”
Alex smirked to herself and tried not to laugh at her sister’s clear mark of territory. Oh how smitten she was, and yet so oblivious.
Kelly was not deterred by the blonde’s raised hackles though.
“Why not? We’re all friends. We all know and acknowledge she’s hot, right?”
Kara shifted uncomfortably on her lounger and fidgeted with her fingers.
“Alex, you agree Lena’s hot, right?”
Alex suppressed a grin and nodded. “Oh definitely. She’s gorgeous. That’s obvious to anyone with eyes.”
Kelly smiled mischievously. “Kara, don’t you think Lena’s hot?”
She watched smugly as Kara’s cheeks lit up bright red, her fingers twitching as if she wanted to twine them together anxiously but was trying not to. Kara began to stutter nervously.
“I mean, objectively -- I don’t -- she’s very -- I’m not -- you...yes.”
Kelly smiled innocently. “So there’s nothing wrong with just acknowledging that she’ll look sexy in a bathing suit, then?”
Kara’s face looked like it was trying to burn itself before the sun could. It was lit up more red than every shade of Lena’s lipstick.
“I don’t -- I’m not -- I’m going to go swim!”
And with that, she raced down the beach toward the water, nearly trampling two couples and a family of four that had laid their towels out in the sand.
Kelly cackled loudly and Alex couldn’t help but grin at her wife’s antics. But she did sympathise with her sister. It had been hard for her to admit that she liked women too, but with Kara...god, it was just ridiculous. She and Lena had been “friends” for years, and in that time they had been more physical than Alex had been with some of her girlfriends! Someone needed to make a move, and it clearly wasn’t going to be Lena. She was too terrified to lose Kara to ever admit that what they had was decidedly not platonic.
“You’re going to give her a heart attack,” she laughed to her wife. “Maybe we shouldn’t push her so hard.”
Kelly rolled her eyes. “Babe, it’s been five years. We should have pushed her a long time ago.”
Alex squeezed her hand and leaned over to press a kiss to her full lips.
“Just remember that we were all baby gays once, and it’s a big scary world out there.”
Kelly smiled and leaned in for another kiss.
“Okay, I’ll be gentle.”
Whatever Kelly’s idea of ‘gentle’ was, it was not what Alex had in mind. It started first thing the next morning with Kelly giving over the top compliments to Lena, from her hair to her sundress, and kept going even as they boarded Lena’s boat.
It could hardly be called a mere ‘boat’, Kara thought. In actuality, it was a 40-foot luxury sailing yacht, the deck fitted with beautiful hand-selected oak timber, and crown cut, walnut veneered boards on the cabin floors, and plush carpets adding a touch of stately luxury to the main and guest cabins. Kara felt as though she had stepped onto the Titanic, though she hoped that their trip around the caldera would not have a similar fate.
“Wow, sick vessel,” Alex complimented breathlessly, dropping onto one of the seats at the bow.
Lena dropped her bag behind the captain’s chair and shrugged. “It’s the family boat. I’ve never had much use for it until now.”
Kara couldn’t help but notice she looked a little green around the gills, and went over to her as the ship began to move. Lena sunk down into the padded seat and inhaled deeply.
“Hey...you okay?” Kara asked gently, kneeling next to her and taking her hand in her own.
Lena smiled weakly. “Yeah, I’m -- I’m fine. Just not really a fan of the water…”
Kara squeezed her hand a little tighter.
“You know we don’t have to do this right? We can stay firmly on dry land. I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable the whole time just for our amusement.”
Lena gazed at her softly, clasping the soft warm hand gripping her own.
“You’re so sweet, darling, but I’ll be fine. It just takes me a moment to adjust to the open water. I’ll be alright.”
Kara’s brow wrinkled and she did not move from her position at Lena’s side, even as the vessel began to lightly pitch and rock on the waves.
“Is there anything I can do to make you more comfortable?” She asked earnestly, still holding Lena’s hand.
Lena smiled gently, her heart burning with adoration. She glanced down at their intertwined hands and back up to kind blue eyes.
“Stay here with me?” She asked shyly.
Kara smiled and stood up, sliding onto the cushion next to her, never letting go of her hand.
“Always.”
Kelly watched as Kara knelt down next to Lena and took her hand, gaze fixed on the CEO earnest and loving.
She nudged Alex and nodded at the pair of them.
"We're going to have to step up our game if they think that's platonic."
"Our game?" Alex asked, arching a brow at her.
Kelly huffed in exasperation. "Fine. My game."
Alex gave her a satisfied grin, but it quickly faded into a frown.
"Wait...what are you planning?"
Kelly smirked, a mischievous twinkle in her eye.
"I've got some ideas."
Alex groaned. "I know that look."
Kelly grinned wider.
"Whatever happens, just go with it."
"I thought vacation was supposed to be relaxing," Alex huffed. "I'll have more grey hairs before we leave than I arrived with."
Lena lay up in the net hammock suspended from the bow of the ship, lazily flipping through the pages of her trashy romance novel, more invested in pretending she and Kara were the main characters of the story, so that she might actually get swept up by the handsome blonde in some way.
She could hear the trio below splashing in the crystal clear Aegean Sea. She wished she weren't so terrified of the water. Maybe she could have swam with them and had an excuse to be close to Kara again.
"Lena! Come on in, the water is beautiful!"
She heard Kelly call out to her and she turned toward the water and smiled even as she pushed down the nausea that rose in her stomach at the sight of the waves.
She saw Kara turn to Kelly and whisper something sternly. Probably telling her not to force Lena into the water. She was thoughtful like that.
"It's okay, Lena! We won't let anything happen to you! We just want to play a game!"
Pink rose in her cheeks. So they all knew she was afraid of the water. Terrific, she thought to herself wryly. She couldn't have that. She was the CEO of a billion dollar tech company. She had faced her brother's assassination attempts more times than she could count and had still been brave enough to testify against him in open court. She wasn't going to let a little -- okay, a lot -- of water make her look like a pussy.
Closing her book, she eased her way out of the hammock and unwrapped her sarong, revealing the black bikini it had been covering.
A pair of loud wolf-whistles ripped through the air and found her ears. Lena turned to the water as she pulled her hair back into a ponytail and laughed at the sight below.
Kelly was sitting on Alex's shoulders dancing (as well as she could from that position), arms in the air and cheering wildly. Alex was laughing at her antics and whistling along with her. Lena chanced a look at Kara and was shocked to find her staring open-mouthed back at her, cheeks rosy and hot.
"Whew baby! I'd do you!"
Kelly's cheer whipped through the air and Kara's head snapped toward her quickly. Lena blushed at the attention and slowly made her way to the swimmer's platform at the back of the ship.
Kara swam up to the end of the boat and pulled herself half onto the deck, her tan muscles flexing with the exertion and making Lena feel faint.
"You know you don't have to do this, right? No one is going to pressure you into getting in the water, if you don’t want to.”
Lena flushed and even though her sunglasses covered her eyes, she still cast them down to avoid having to look at Kara’s earnest, caring eyes.
“It’s fine, darling,” she replied, easing her pale legs into the warm sea. “I’ll be alright.”
Kara quickly reached out a hand and guided her into the water. Lena couldn’t help it. The fear and anxiety of being in the water combined with being this close to Kara made her tremble and shake. Kara saw her tremor and immediately pulled her close, wrapping her arms around Lena’s waist as she tread water.
“Hey, I’ve got you, it’s alright,” Kara whispered, her thumb stroking the soft skin of her back. “You’re safe. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
Lena felt the anxiety of being in the water giving way to the hot flush that rose from her chest to her face at the way Kara was holding her, the sweet words she was saying. She wrapped her arms around Kara’s neck and buried her face in the soft, warm flesh she found there.
“Thank you,” she whispered softly.
Kara made her feel safe. She always had. She wished she could just wrap her legs around Kara’s waist, keep her face buried in her salty smelling neck, and press kiss after kiss to the sunkissed skin under her lips. But that was impossible. Kara cared about her, sure. But not in the way Lena cared about her. All she could do was enjoy these moments while she had them.
The din of drinks and merriment filled her ears as Lena sipped her ouzo. Kara sat to her left, filling her mouth with lamb and stuffed grape leaves and washing it all down with ouzo cocktails. Alex and Kelly sat across from them, cracking jokes and slumping back in their chairs, completely at ease and finally enjoying their vacation.
As Lena brought an oyster to her lips, Kelly made a joke about them being an aphrodisiac and wiggled her eyebrows, and Alex cackled with laughter. But she noticed Kara shift uncomfortably next to her.
Maybe it was the ouzo, or maybe she too was finally relaxing, but she wiggled her eyebrows back and said, “Here’s hoping.”
Kelly giggled and as the waiter came by, she ordered another round of shots for the table. As soon as they arrived and they toasted to good friends and family, they threw them back and Kelly began to giggle hysterically.
“What’s so funny,” Lena asked, herself succumbing to giggles as the alcohol washed over her. Pretty soon Alex and Kara had joined in too.
“I was just -- we were -- oh my god,” Kelly cackled, tears squeezing out of her eyes as she laughed. “Alex and I were talking and we -- I -- we think that --”
The giggling interrupted her words again and Lena couldn’t wait to find out what the hell was so funny.
“We think that -- that what happens in Greece, stays in Greece, yeah?”
Alex nodded vehemently. Kara, however, had stopped laughing, and had in fact gone very still.
Lena grinned. “Well, sure. I can agree with that.”
Kelly nodded, grinning wider. “So we were -- we were thinking that -- we’re all three gay women, and very good friends...so we should -- we should have a threesome!”
She burst into excited, embarrassed giggles again and half hid her face in Alex’s neck.
Lena was flabbergasted, flushing bright red. “Oh! Uh...well!”
“Yeah, Kara, can we borrow your roommate?” Alex cackled next to her.
Kelly continued her uncontrollable giggling, while Alex flushed bright red next to her but couldn’t stop smiling. She felt Kara shift next to her, but she didn’t dare look.
“I’m -- wow, I’m so flattered,” Lena said, feeling the hot flush burn to her toes. She gathered her wits about her and tilted her head, arching a brow and grinning seductively. “And of course, I’m inclined to say yes, but --”
A scraping noise cut through the conversation and when Lena looked over, Kara had pushed back from the table and was stalking off the patio of the restaurant and into the crowded streets below.
“Kara!” Lena called, pushing back from the table and rushing after her.
Kelly grinned smugly at Alex, who looked concerned. “Don’t worry babe. This is what we’ve been waiting for.”
Alex sighed. “I hope you’re right.”
Lena rushed out into the crowd, calling Kara’s name, until she found her leaning against the stone wall, looking out at the moonlight on the water.
“Hey,” she called lightly, coming up behind the blonde and resting a hand on her back. “Why’d you run off like that? Are you alright?”
Kara didn’t answer for a moment, just kept staring out into the night.
“Kara?”
“Are you really going to do it?”
Lena frowned. “Do what?”
Kara ducked her head. “Do what -- what Kelly suggested.”
Lena was taken aback. Kara was upset about Kelly suggesting a threesome? Why the hell should that upset her? Maybe she thought it would be awkward between all of them afterward, but it’s not like Lena was actually going to do it! God, she was too crazy about Kara to even think about dating anyone else, let alone have a wild night in Greece with her sister and her wife. It was absurd!
“Kara, do you...do you actually think I would do that?”
Kara stood up abruptly and turned to face her angrily. “You said you were inclined to accept!”
Lena took a step back at the change in tone and crossed her arms, arching a haughty brow.
“First of all, you don’t get to tell me what I can or can’t do, Kara. And secondly, you can’t possibly think I would do that!”
Kara huffed and scuffed her shoe into the stone walkway, her tone dropping to near a whisper, her face full of shame and remorse.
“I mean -- I don’t -- I don’t know.”
Lena stepped closer to her, reaching out and rubbing her shoulders gently.
“Darling, why has this got you so upset? Is it because you thought you’d be left alone? Or because you think it would be awkward? Because I wouldn’t do that to you. I would never do anything to hurt or upset you, love.”
Kara shook her head. “No it’s -- it’s not that...I just --” She trailed off, shuffling from foot to foot anxiously.
“What is it?” Lena asked, tilting her head down to catch Kara’s eye.
“I just -- I -- I don’t want you to do that,” Kara whispered, not quite meeting her eyes. “I don’t want you to be with anyone else.”
Lena’s eyes went wide. Did she mean… Lena hardly dared to hope. Grasping every semblance of her wits that she could, she spoke slowly, keeping her voice even.
“Why don’t you want me to be with anyone else?” She asked softly.
Kara looked up at her helplessly, and Lena could see it clear as day in her eyes.
“Because -- because I want you to be with me.”
Lena’s heart roared to life, beating double time. This could not be happening. Finally, finally, after all these years, could she really be getting everything she had ever wanted?
“But I know you don’t feel the same, and that’s okay,” Kara continued quickly, interpreting Lena’s silence as discomfort. “I don’t want to make you uncomfortable and I know I can’t stop you from seeing other people and that’s -- that’s fine. I’m so happy with being friends. I’m sorry -- I just --”
She looked around wildly, as if hoping the right words would appear in the air around them.
Lena stepped closer, closing the gap between them. Lifting her hands to cup Kara’s face, she smiled and stared down into worried blue eyes.
“What in God’s name gave you the idea that I don’t feel the same way?”
Kara’s sad blue eyes widened almost comically, and she looked back and forth between Lena’s, searching for any sign of deception. Lena made sure she found none.
“You -- you do?” She asked, grasping the hands that cupped her cheeks.
Lena threw her head back and laughed. “Darling, I invited you on holiday with me to Greece and shared a room with you. What did you think that meant?”
Kara shook her head. “But you invited Alex and Kelly too.”
“Only because I was too chicken to invite you alone,” she explained. “And if you’ll recall, they were an afterthought.”
Kara paused, her brow furrowing, as though trying to recall the exact conversation that had taken place to make sure Lena was telling the truth. Her eyes widened again as she remembered the details and she looked into Lena’s emerald eyes.
“So you...you like me too?” She asked shyly, a pretty blush rising in her cheeks.
Lena giggled and pulled her in for a kiss, pressing their bodies together at as many points as she could, lips to chests to hips, and cradled Kara’s face in her palms as delicately as she would a precious jewel. Kara was the most precious thing she had ever had in her hands and she would never hurt her. They kissed and kissed and kissed until they eventually had to come up for air.
Kara gasped and inhaled deeply, eyes wide and sparkling, pupils blown out, and mouth hanging open like she had just received confirmation of divinity, and it was in the form of Lena Luthor’s lips.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” she gasped, before pulling Lena back in again.
Kelly and Alex watched from the patio as the two women embraced and kissed passionately in the warm August air, and Kelly nudged Alex with her elbow, grinning smugly.
“Told you I knew what I was doing.”
Alex rolled her eyes.
“I can’t tell if you’re an angel or a devil.”
Kelly grinned wickedly and wound her arms seductively around her wife’s neck.
“Why don’t you let me know in the morning?”
Alex flushed and motioned to the waiter.
“We’ll take the check, please!”