The gala was buzzing with the richest people from National City, all talking and slightly buzzed from the expensive alcohol being served.
Lena was looking around the room, while entertaining the guests so they would bid on the pieces of art, making sure they remembered that every dollar would go to remodelling the Lena Luthor Science Exploration building.
A tinge of pride floated through at the memory of the owners insisting on renaming the building from 'Lex Luthor' to 'Lena Luthor', finally people were seeing her in a different light, a different name than just Luthor.
That's when she saw her, beauty and sunshine personified, her hair in a fancy braid and her glasses perched on top of her nose 'God she is gorgeous' Lena thought to herself.
Before making her way to the blonde she excused herself from the men and swiftly took a glass of champagne from a passing waiter, gulping it down quickly she went to the bar and ordered a bourbon.
"Lena!" Kara called out when she spotted her and God was she happy she didn't have a sip of the drink yet cause she was pretty sure it would've ended up on her dress otherwise.
"Kara, hi! I'm so glad you could make it!" Lena said with her hands clasped in front of her "well I am here on bussiness first, remember" Kara said teasingly.
She got a wide smile in return as Lena motioned with her hands "talking about work, I really need to get back out there and convince these rich bastards to give their money to science" Kara nodded quickly and watched Lena go, drink in hand.
It had taken most of the night for Lena to use her sway and smoothtalking but it had paid off, they had raised a record amount of money and in doing so Lena had gotten quite the buzz from the alcohol since everyone wanted to toast with her.
She developped a slight slur, undetectable to most people but definitely noticeable to Kara and she frowned deeply at the CEO; wondering how much she had to drink.
Lena walked over, a glass of whiskey on ice in her hands and a white wine in the other, extending it to Kara who took it with a smile.
"Do you have any idea how cool you are?" she asked Kara who nervously fiddled with her glasses "I-I'm hardly cool Lena, I'm quite the opposite of cool" a shy smile broke free.
As Kara's hand softly stroked Lena's when grabbing the glass someone stumbled into Kara and she crashed into Lena, spilling both their drinks over themselves.
"OH GOLLY LENA! I'm so sorry! So so sorry!" Lena started laughing, throaty and genuine "you have quite the magnetic field there Kara, I saw people bump into you the whole night"
Kara took Lena's hand and led her to the bathroom to clean up their dresses, wincing at how much Lena's dress must've cost.
"I really am sorry Lena" Kara said again but Lena pressed her finger against her lips combined with one simple look that said 'don't you even dare' and Kara gulped and broke the eye contact to fret over the stain again.
"Kara?" a small hum got returned "Kara?" a little firmer but still just a hum from the reporter "KARA!" now her eyes shot up and looked at where her hand was placed.
A blush crept all over Kara's chest to the tip of ears as her fingers had grazed the underside of Lena's breast "L-Lena! I-I'm sorry! Golly! I'm saying that a lot today! But its true! I-I didn't me-mean to. I know you have a boyfriend"
"Kara, sweetie, my perfect little golly-sayer. You are adorable when you stutter like that. You sound silly, but adorable. Not to mention that rambling you do, its like your superpower is not needing to breathe in between"
She didn't see the slight crinkle in between Kara's eyebrows, signaling that she wasn't sure if it was meant as a compliment or meant as a mean joke, especially while Lena was obviously intoxicated.
Kara simply cleared her throat and bit her lip "you really are gorgeous Kara. I wish I didn't have to be drunk to have the guts to tell you that. I broke up with Jack, he- he's always out in some club. We were never together anymore. I just wanted you to know" she ended while she let her head hang.
Kara gaped at her, letting the information catch up to her "Lena I-" but Lena held her hand up to stop Kara from talking as she stood tall on wobbly legs.
"It's okay Kara, I get it" she walked a small distance, whispering, not realizing Kara could hear her loud and clear and sighed as she spoke the words
"You ruin my life Kara Danvers, by not being mine" Kara gasped in the quiet bathroom as her ears trained on Lena's retreating form.
"I wish I could tell you how much I want you" she heard her mutter as she stepped into her car "but I can't even tell you my feelings to your face and I hate you for making me feel this way"
Kara let her head hang as she tuned her hearing back to her surroundings and she walked away as well, distracted as ever and a lot to think about.
They both went home and had a restless sleep, Lena for regretting telling Kara about her personal life with Jack and Kara for trying to figure out what Lena had meant.
~-~
It had been days ago that they had seen each other at the gala and Kara was missing her best friend deeply.
A ding sounded from the computer, notifying Kara of a new email on her work address and she frowned.
Sighing she opened it, expecting her piece to be returned by Snapper with a note that she had to redo the whole thing, but smiled happily when she saw the familiar email address from Lena.
Kara Danvers,
You are hereby invited for the gala for the Luthor Children Hospital.
I would love for you to write about the Gala for Catco.
Dress to impress Miss Danvers.
I look forward to reading your article.
Lena Luthor
CEO of LCorp and Catco World Wide Media.
Kara frowned at the formality of the email and decided she would ask Lena about this the next time they'd see each other, she shook her head as she quickly typed out a message back to accept the invitation and the assignment.
"Dress to impress" she repeated as she rummaged through her closet and picked out a tightfitting black dress, one that she bought while under the influence of the Red K, but never got to wear.
She knew how good she looked in it and bit her lip as she laid out the dress and heels that would match perfectly with the dress and smirked triumphantly as she looked at it.
~-~
The Gala was tomorrow and Lena was having some serious troubles avoiding Kara, it almost seemed like she was set on talking to her even though Lena made it clear that she was too busy to do so.
She cancelled every lunchdate with Kara, even going so far as going back to L Corp to not have to see Kara, she knew the blonde was confused and slightly hurt by her actions, but she was too scared to fix her mistakes.
Her dress was hanging in the closet, waiting to be worn at the event, it was a soft red long dress reaching the ground with a slit up to her knee and a deep V line showing a perfect amount of cleavage.
She was finishing up at L Corp, dotting the I's and crossing the T's on a new contract that she was working on with Sam, when a soft thud was heard from the balcony and without turning around she greeted the caped hero.
"Supergirl, if you have a few seconds I'll finish up the paperwork and I am all yours" a small hum was heard from the balcony door where Kara waited patiently as her other persona, intend on figuring out what was going on with Lena.
As Lena moved the papers onto a stack for Sam to sign she turned around in her chair and faced the blonde superhero, who was watching her with a small frown "what's going on Supergirl?"
"You tell me" she said bluntly but at Lena's confused stare she elaborated "you're shutting Kara out. Why? What did I-she do?" Lena's eyes widened a little at the accusing tone from the woman in front of her.
"I-I'm not shutting her out, Supergirl" biting her lip at the end as she heard her own unconvincing tone "Why? Lena?" she could swear she saw tears pool in the girls eyes but was too taken aback by the angry tone in her voice to register what she saw "I-I just need to figure some things out"
Supergirl's jaw tensed, her shoulders squared "you could've told her that. She would do anything for you, even give you space so long as you ask for it. Did you realize she's blaming herself? She thinks that its something that she did" Lena's gaze dropped to the floor, entwining her fingers together and she shook her head slightly.
"Lena you can talk to me" her eyes snapped up with a small glare "with all due respect, Supergirl, I really don't feel comfortable talking about this with you. Like I said, I need some time to figure things out, you can tell Kara I said that next time you two talk about me" Lena was startled by the sneer in her own words and the same emotion flickered across Supergirl's eyes as she hung her head and her shoulders sagged.
"We don't talk about you in a bad way, you know. She adores you, everything about you. Just be honest with her and she will be with you" she said as she turned around and flew away.
Lena sighed deeply as she stood up and grabbed her coat and walked out to the waiting car to go home, getting home she threw the coat over the back of the couch and walked straight to the whiskey, taking a gulp straight from the bottle.
Putting it back where she took it she got ready for bed, shaking her head as she walked to the bathroom, mumbling under her breath about Kara being impossibly gorgeous.
She stared at her reflection shaking her head again "you really need to grow a pair Luthor, just tell her how you feel for Christ's sake!"
Walking to her bedroom she looked outside and saw the sun had already set and the stars were shining brightly, she stood still enjoying the view for a moment before stepping into bed.
~-~
Kara sat on her couch, blanket over her shoulders, head hung low and her feet tucked underneath her, when a series of knocks sounded from the door.
"I know you can hear me Kara, if you don't open up in two seconds I will open the door myself" Kara didn't look up when the door opened and Alex walked straight to her little sister and knelt in front of her.
Her hand rested on top of her knee as she tried to make eye contact "whats wrong Kar?" she squeezed her knee when she got no response "Kara talk to me sweetie"
Alex moved to the couch and pulled her sister close when she saw a tear fall from her eyes "is this about Lena?" a small nod was the only answer that was given and Alex sighed softly.
"I-I don't know what I did. She just completely shut me out. I tried talking to her as Supergirl to figure out what was going on and she-she just- snapped at me and told me to go, saying she needed to 'figure things out'. She doesn't trust me as Supergirl a-and she doesn't want me as Kara in her li-life either anymore" Alex hugged her as tight as she could as she spoke comfortingly in her ear.
"You don't know that Kara, you said it yourself, she said she needs to figure some things out. Let her figure out whatever it is that she needs to figure out. Then you two can talk about this and leave it behind you"
Kara breathed out a shaky breath and Alex would've missed what she said if she wasn't holding her so close "I can't lose her" Alex let her fingers glide through Kara's hair and gently scratched her scalp "you won't"
They stayed like that for a while, neither paying attention to the time as they just sat there holding each other, Alex' heart quietly breaking for her baby sister.
By the time they disentangled eachother the stars were out and shining brightly and Alex was getting ready to go back to Maggie "are you sure you're going to be okay tonight? I don't mind sleeping on the couch you know. Whatever you need"
A small smile graced Kara's lips "yes I'm sure. Go be with Maggie, I'll be okay" she tried to smile wider but it ended up more like a grimace but Alex chose to pretend to not notice it for Kara's sake.
"Okay Kara, try to have fun tomorrow okay. It's still a big deal to report on the gala. Promise me you'll try and have fun" Kara nodded "I promise, now shoo" she waved her hands at Alex motioning her to go.
So Alex did and when the door closed Kara released a loud sigh and took a shower before turning in for the night, she looked over at the dress that hung on a hanger on the closet door "I just wish you'd talk to me Lena" she sighed before turning over in bed and tried to fall asleep.
~-~
It was the night of the gala and Lena has never been more nervous in her life, this night she wouldn't be able to avoid Kara, but as she spotted her walking into the spacious area she gasped for air.
Kara wore a dress that she had never seen on her body before and it made her heart beat quicker the longer she looked, no stared, at the slightly older blonde.
There she stood, the woman of her dreams, talking to James Olsen and smiling softly though it was apparant that her smile didn't reach her eyes and she knew that she was to blame for it.
Kara looked up and connected with Lena's eyes, she saw Kara's eyes grow larger and a hesitant smile grew on her face as she waved slightly in her direction, she took a deep breath and turned around and away from Kara.
The whole night was spend talking to the high society of National City and doing her best to keep avoiding Kara the best she could, despite the stolen glances.
It proved successfull for the most of the evening until it was almost time for the closing ceremony and she, quite literally, stumbled into the blonde reporter.
"Lena!" Kara yelped as she wrapped her arms around the CEO to keep her from falling over "are you okay?" she eyed her worriedly and Lena just gaped as she tried to take in her surroundings, proving to be difficult with those strong muscular arms around her waist.
As soon as she realized the close proximity she tore herself away from the woman and patted down her clothes to sort out the non existing wrinkles, missing the look of hurt flash in Kara's eyes.
She cleared her throat right as Kara spoke up "why do you keep doing that?" she asked softly and Lena just stared at her, too afraid to talk while their hands were still holding, she glanced down at them and Kara quickly retreated her hands with a soft sorry.
"Look Kara I-" but her sentence got caught off by the anouncer calling her to the stage to end the gala and Lena looked apologetically at Kara and sighed with her eyes closed "I'm sorry, I- I have to go" Kara clenched her jaw and nodded "I get it. Go"
Her voice was small, broken and hurt, but before Lena could say anything more Kara had turned and walked away, leaving a broken Lena behind to take care of the partying people.
Lena's hands still tingled from where Kara had held them in her own hands, aching to feel more of the cub reporter, but holding herself back from asking too much of the young woman.
The gala was a success, as always, and everybody left happy, well almost everybody, she saw James walk away with a petite brunette and saw three men from the board flirt it up with women half their age, despite their wifes probably sitting at home.
Even Jess walked away with a tall guy on her arm, but Kara was nowhere to be found no matter how hard she looked, she sighed for the hundredth time that evening.
Everyone had left by one a.m. and Lena was about to head out until a soft voice called out her name and she stopped walking, looking down at the floor before turning around and softly saying Kara's name.
They stared at each other from a distance, before Kara's eyes turned hard and she walked towards her and taking her hand when she got close and Lena could feel her lungs falter her again.
"Kara what-" but Kara quickly shushed her, rubbing her thumb over the back of her hand in a soothing motion "I don't understand what's been going on with you. But I think that in order for you to fully trust me with what's going on in your mind I have to be one hundred percent honest with you" she said and took a deep breath.
"I'm going to tell you my biggest secret and I need you to let me finish before saying something, can you do that for me?" Kara looked at her imploring and Lena nodded, feeling like something was stuck in her throat and Kara nodded once and took another deep breath.
"Okay so, I haven't been completely honest with you. I have been selfish from the moment we met. When we met, I felt that you were different, that you were trustworthy, loving, kind and genuine and the reason for me waiting this long to tell you is just because I wanted you to keep seeing ME and not the person that everyone else sees. I wanted to stay Kara.
Lena, I'm not human. I wasn't born on Earth, I was born on Krypton. I'm Supergirl and I need you to understand that me not telling you has absolutely nothing to do with your last name, but everything with mine. My family, they were basically royalty and I have been trying my best to follow in their footsteps and then I found out the truth about them and I was ashamed of them and my name, my house.
But with you, I didn't feel all of that. I was never ashamed, never scared nor did I ever feel like I wasn't good enough. Kryptonite is my weakness, but you, Lena, you are my Red Sun, you make me feel normal. Please don't hate me" tears had started pooling in Kara's eyes as she told her best friend the truth about her heritage and couldn't read her expression.
"Why are you telling me now?" she asked with her eyebrows in a confused frown "if you wanted to stay the person that I see, why tell me now?" her heart broke as a tear broke free from Kara's control.
"Because I never felt like I wasn't good enough until the last week. Yo-you told Supergirl to leave, you didn't trust her and you were pushing me, Kara me, away. I was losing you, Lena, and I lost my p-planet and I-I can't lose you as well" her voice broke throughout the sentence in synch with Lena's heart "Kara, I-" once again she didn't get to finish her sentence.
"And I don't understand what I did or what I said wrong. I have been wrecking my brain but I don't see what I did wrong, Lena. Please tell me what I did that made you push me away so I can fix this, so I can fix us. Ple-please Lena" her hand shot to her eyes, shielding them from Lena as her shoulders shook from the sobs.
The decision was easily made and Lena surged forward and wrapped Kara up in a tight hug "you didn't do anything wrong Kara, I promise" her fingers were entwined with Kara's hair, softly scratching her scalp "oh Kara I'm so sorry" she whispered in her hair.
When Kara was calmed down she asked "then why? Why push me away?" Lena sighed and bit her lip, gently pushing against Kara so she would look at her, but she was steadily looking at the floor so Lena put her indexfinger underneath Kara's chin and guided her face up so their eyes would meet.
"I was pulling away from you because you don't see the consequences of you touching my hand or my shoulder or anywhere else, you don't see what your hugs to do to me. You didn't see that I broke up with Jack because of you. You never tell me about people you're interested in so I don't even know if you're seeing anyone and you don't see how much that h-hurts" she got out in a soft sob.
"Kara you mean so much to me, you don't even see how much not being with you hurts and I was so angry, not at you, at myself for not being able to tell you all this. I was scared because how can someone as pure and beautiful and kind as you love someone like me? A Luthor" tears fell from her eyes as she spoke the words she thought she would never get to say to the woman of her dreams.
Kara shook her head sadly "your name doesn't matter Lena. How many times do I have to tell you that? Our names don't define us" Lena smiled slightly, though it looked more like a grimace.
"You make me so happy, Kara and then this excruciating sadness would wash over me right afterwards because I know I can never be with you and that hurts so damn much, I couldn't take it anymore so I thought pushing you away would fix that sadness but it didn't, it only made it worse. It was like the universe was dangling this extremely delicious piece of candy in front my nose only to keep moving it further away the closer I got"
Kara let out a wet chuckle at the comparison "leave it to you to compare me to a piece of candy" Lena bit her lip and let go of Kara's hand, taking a step back all the while refusing to look in Kara's eyes, thus not seeing the confusion clouding Kara's mind.
"Look Kara, I have to go, it's been a long day and I'm tired" Lena tried to turn away but Kara's hand shot out to her and slightly tightened her grip, enough to make Lena look at her but not enough to hurt her.
"Kara what are y-" Lena's eyes went wide as Kara's lips made contact with her own, a soft but firm pressure on her mouth eliciting a small gasp of shock before wrapping her free hand around Kara's neck and pulled her closer.
They stood their for a while, neither really knowing how much time had passed, before they pulled back and rested their foreheads together "why didn't you just tell me that you like me, Lena? I have been so confused about my feelings to you for so long, if I had known you felt the same we could've been doing this so much sooner"
The girls smiled widely at each other, barely any distance between them both "what exactly are we doing, Kara?" Lena whispered, fingers teasing the small hairs on the back of Kara's neck and Kara chuckled as she responded "loving each other, obviously!"
Lena laughed softly before pressing her lips to Kara's again, the two losing themselves in the moment as Lena's tongue darted out to trace Kara's lips and she willingly opened her mouth to greet Lena's tongue with her own.
A cough from near the doors pulled them apart quickly with heavy blushes on their cheeks as the security guard smiled kindly "I'm sorry ladies, but we really need to lock up now. Do I need to call either of you a cab to take you home?" he asked with a soft smile on his lips.
Lena perked up, channeling her CEO persona "Oh no thank you, I'll just call my driver once outside" she pulled Kara's hand when she started moving but was stopped by the security guard once more.
"I'm terribly sorry Miss Luthor, but you have a little bit of smudged lipstick on your cheek, I know how important you find your image" a blush spread from her chest to the top of ears as Kara's eyes widened, looking like a deer caught in headlights.
Kara tugged Lena's hand so she twirled to face and her and she quickly cleaned up the smudges while shooting a grateful smile to the guard who had a amused smirk on his face.
"You're all good" she whispered to Lena before letting her turn back to the doors and shyly smiled at the guard who gave them a thumbs up when the lipstick had been cleaned off his bosses face.
"I'll see you monday morning Chase" Lena said to the security "and thank you" she said as she laid her hand on his shoulder in passing.
When the girls were outside they turned to each other once more sporting shy smiles towards each other and Kara grinned while asking "your place or mine?" Lena smiled widely and responded "definitely yours"
Kara laughed loudly and asked "did you text your driver yet or would you like me to arrange a meeting with Super Air?" Lena bursted out laughing as Kara added "trademark is still pending"
Tears were pooling in Lena's eyes from the laughter and looked at the blonde superhero "I'd like a ride with Super Air" Kara nodded and guided her to an alley away from prying eyes and quickly changed into the Supersuit before lifting Lena bridalstyle and flying them home.