A/N: Sorry for the wait, and, as always, thanks for the comments and for sticking with me!

Chapter 10
Other

Kara breathed a deep sigh of relief as she pushed the classroom door open and stepped out into the empty hallway. Her chemistry test was over and she felt such an immediate and immense sense of relief that she blew right passed the figure leaning against the wall just outside the door.

"Kara!"

The blonde skidded to a stop and did an about-face, "Lena? What are you doing here? Don't you have class?"

"I do, but I wanted to see you." Lena fidgeted, playing with a bracelet on her left wrist, "And I wanted to make sure you were okay. I hadn't heard from you, then I overheard someone say you were attacked." Lena's eyes were on her wrist, her dark hair hung around her like a curtain making it impossible for Kara to read her face.

"I'm fine." Kara reached out to stroke Lena's arm but the other girl shied away, raising her eyes and pushing her hair away from her face.

"Of course you are." Uncertain Green eyes betrayed the bright smile, "More importantly, I wanted to know how you did in there. You know, on your test."

"Oh!" Kara's face settled into smug determination, "I nailed it!"

She jumped as the girl opposite her practically squealed in delight then leaped into her arms, treating her to an enthusiastic hug. Kara reciprocated with aplomb and when they pulled apart, the dark-haired girl's hand lingered at Kara's temple, fingers threading through the golden hair framing her face.

"I'm so proud. I knew you could do it." Lena's fingers brushed down to her jaw and Kara practically leaned into the touch, relishing the contact and catching the girl's hand in her own before Lena could pull it away. Green eyes widened and a smile played across rosy lips.

This wasn't the first time Kara had found herself caught up in the thrill of Lena's touch. For a moment her mind wandered back to their last evening together: the night of the attack. Lena had allowed Kara to interview her and afterward they'd ended up shoulder-to-shoulder, knee-to-knee on the same side of the booth, both having gone back to their respective studies.

Kara had become painfully aware of the way Lena's thigh was pressing against hers and was finding it difficult to concentrate. She had raised her eyes from her work time and again to find Lena staring, unabashedly, sometimes biting her lower lip, and it was often more than she could bear. Normally, this sort of attention would have made her uncomfortable, but for some reason, it instead made her feel a bit reckless, spoiled and bold. Initially, Lena had just stolen glances, looking away when Kara caught her eye. But lately the fleeting glances lingered and became protracted moments of held eye contact, often broken when Kara could no longer contain her blush and she demurred with a shy laugh.

When they had first started their foray into tutoring, they kept an entire table between them, but the more time they spent with one another the smaller the in-between spaces became. At first Lena would only maneuver next to her to demonstrate a process or solve a problem, moving back to her side of the table once she had finished. A few days later they were sharing the same side of a booth then suddenly they were sharing each other's personal space, until eventually there was no space between them at all.

Kara didn't have a wealth of experience against which to compare her relationship with Lena, but she was fairly certain they were swiftly pushing past friendship, through to something else. It was exhilarating and, surprisingly, something Kara felt herself wanting more and more with each passing day. But it was also more than a little frightening. She had initially found herself drawn to the intense brunette due to her sharp mind, her penchant for poring over large books, and her unwavering strength of character, especially in the face of adversity. But the more time she and Lena spent together, the deeper the roots of her esteem grew. She wasn't particularly surprised when they blossomed into true affection and now Kara couldn't help the way her heart rattled in her chest every time she caught Lena staring, the way her skin warmed at every point of contact.

After a particularly illuminating study session, she found herself ruminating on the downturn of Lena's lips, wondering what it might be like to taste them. She blushed at the thought and waited for the inevitable wave of shame to crash over her, but none came. Instead, she was filled with hope. To be fair, relationships between two women or two men hadn't been uncommon on Krypton and she while she hadn't really considered it for herself, she felt very little of the stigmatization and guilt which seemed to plague so many on this planet. True, people could be unkind toward one another, passing judgment and condemning choices, but when it came to mutual respect and adoration - and maybe even love - how could that be wrong?

And so she now found herself at the mercy of Lena's lingering gazes, her soft touches, the way she sat just a bit too close. It was a pleasant sort of torture and even though Kara continued making a conscious effort to focus on her work, she couldn't resist the urge to look over at the girl at her side.

Lena was staring again from under thoughtful eyebrows, feigning work, but neglecting to keep eyes on her own paper and Kara's cheeks grew hot under her appraisal.

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to make you uncomfortable."

"You – you're not. I'm not. Uncomfortable, I mean." Kara shifted, mildly flustered, and instantly regretted the sudden cool of the space between them.

"I just can't help it, sometimes. I know it sounds strange, but sometimes I just can't seem to reconcile you here with me."

Kara tilted her head to one side as a shy smile pulled at the corner of her mouth. "I don't know if I understand what you mean."

Lena turned to face her completely and Kara had the distinct impression the she was to be privy to information not often shared.

"I've spent most of my life feeling like an outsider. Feeling..." Lena paused, contemplating the right word, "other."

Kara nodded, while she had been careful not to reveal too much of herself, still too wary and with no interest in lying to Lena more than she had to, they had spoken at length about Lena's upbringing. Her adoption into the sterile Luthor household. The way Lex had taken her under his wing, how her adoptive mother's scorn acted as the spur in her side, pushing Lena to be a better version of herself. Initially, she had hoped to earn her mother's esteem, but after accepting the impossibility of ever achieving that goal, her focus shifted. Now she was using every advantage the Luthor name afforded her to create a brighter future for all.

"It used to bother me when I was younger. How I would never be a true Luthor, never measure up to Lex, never live the right way, never love the right way. I may as well have been from another planet." Lena pulled a long strand of hair from over her shoulder and began weaving it through her fingers, absentmindedly, "I often felt like I was watching myself from outside my body, never really fitting in anywhere, with anyone."

Kara radiated empathy and reached over to take Lena's hand. She wanted so much to share her own experiences, to make sure that Lena knew she wasn't alone in these feelings, but she felt it prudent to remain silent for the time being. Simply listening was enough for now.

"You go so long feeling alien and you start to think, 'alright, this is my new normal, it's not so bad.' You just work harder and try to adapt to being alone. You stop worrying over the fact that no one truly sees you and, instead, focus your energy on becoming someone they can't ignore." Kara dropped her gaze to their hands, fingers tangled, as tears clung to the corners of Lena's frosty green eyes. "and eventually you forget that you ever needed anything from anyone at all.

"But then, suddenly, here you are." Lena's face opened into a sincere smile and Kara's heart staggered for a beat. "You're so effortlessly kind and welcoming. You don't seem to care that I'm a Luthor, which is, frankly, unbelievable. You're gorgeous and smart and unflinchingly brave." Lena tone adopted a quiet intensity. "When I'm sitting with you, talking, laughing, I forget that I've ever felt alone. I don't know how, but it's like you're my own personal sun, radiating warmth after so many years of cold gray days."

The sheer volume of flattery overwhelmed Kara; she flushed pink and ducked her head, but refused to release Lena's hand from her grasp.

"It's amazing and terrifying. I'm so addicted to the way I feel around you. I feel," Lena paused thoughtfully, "I feel seen. And it all feels so easy." The dark-haired girl settled into a pregnant pause.

Kara weighed the silence between them and spoke, measured and gentle, "It is. Easy, I mean. You're easy to talk to, to be with. You're the brave one, standing up to your brother even though it meant you'd be alone. You're amazingly driven and so… sure of yourself. You stand tall, even when you stand all alone." Kara flushed an anticipatory shade of crimson. "Being with you is easy, it's leaving that's difficult."

It was Lena's turn to blush now and Kara relished the sight as the most delicate shade of rosy pink bloomed across pale cheeks.

"I know I don't talk about myself much - at least not beyond the silly day to day stuff - but please believe me when I say I understand exactly how you feel." Kara felt the slightest squeeze as Lena's fingers curled more tightly into her own.

"I find it impossible to imagine you ever feeling alone or out of place." Lena brought her free hand down and traced absentminded patterns on the back of Kara's coupled hand.

"You weren't always a Luthor," Kara paused and Lena nodded, encouraging her to continue. "Well, I wasn't always a Danvers. Maybe that's why we understand each other so well. I came to my foster family very late, and from very far away. Everything was different: the people, the attitudes, even the language; nothing made sense. Alex and I didn't initially see eye to eye. I was strange and always embarrassing her with questions whose answers she thought should be obvious. And I got her in trouble a lot.

"You seem so close now."

"We are, but that closeness was hard won. It was difficult for me to adjust, it still is sometimes. Alex has become one of the few things to ground me here. Every good part of me, every bright spot, I was able to find again because she made me feel loved."

"That's how I used to feel about Lex. It's important to have that anchor, even for a little while." Kara nodded and couldn't help it as her eyes slid along the down-curve of Lena's lips as she spoke. She was suddenly conscious of the warmth pooling in her stomach and silently begged her body to calm as she continued.

"Alex left for Wilding but my foster mother, Eliza, wanted to keep me close to home for a little while longer, to give me more time to acclimate before leaving for boarding school." Kara shrugged a bit, "I understood her logic, but high school was hard without Alex. Most of the kids thought I was weird, and I didn't really understand how to get along with them. And if making friends was hard, the idea of anything beyond friendship was impossible. The thought didn't even occur to me until a boy asked to be my partner on an English project. He was all flattery and so forward, Eliza ended up having to pull me aside to explain that he liked me, after that I was so hopelessly awkward. I don't know how or why Mike ever put up with me."

"I have a feeling he had his reasons, even then." The youngest Luthor looked a bit green about the gills at this new development, but continued to maintain constant contact with both fingertips and intensely focused eyes.

"I suppose, but he never really understood me, never got to know me. He never really asked and I never really offered."

"Then he's an idiot." Lena almost laughed.

"Yeah, I didn't feel too bad about leaving him back in Midvale." Kara laughed too, "But I guess it didn't really matter. I didn't care if he knew me or not. But I care now." Kara pushed a stray strand of hair from her face, which fell immediately back into her eyes, and adopted a somewhat awkward tone. She couldn't seem to hold Lena's gaze any longer, "I care. A lot. I'm not even sure why I care so much now; all I know is that I do. I want you to know me and I want to know you." She shrugged, a bit uncomfortable at the way words were falling from her mouth with little regard for inhibition, "I'm sorry if that's weird," ending her clumsy flood of emotion with a rushed apology.

"It's not weird." The green-eyed girl smiled and reached over to run lithe fingers along Kara's temple, tucking the hair that had fallen back into the blonde's face behind her ear. Kara hoped Lena couldn't feel how hot her skin burned under the attention. "You want to be seen."

"I do, but I think-," Kara stammered, struggling to find the right words, "I think I want more than that, too. I know I do. I - I want to be known."

To this, Lena gave no reply. She simply threaded her fingers into the blonde hair along the nape of Kara's neck and drew her subtly closer. Kara mirrored the action, weaving fingers through the raven silk of Lena's hair.

Lena shifted toward her and brushed her lips against the blonde's cheek, sending a shiver up Kara's spine. Her heart was a bird rattling against the cage of her ribs and she found herself unable to move, afraid that if she did, it would break whatever spell had been cast. The brunette placed another gentle kiss along Kara's jawline and whispered a barely audible, "Is this alright?"

The Kryptonian could only nod, dumbly, as Lena drew back, only to push forward once more, this time capturing Kara's lips in a soft sweet kiss that seemed to stoke an internal fire Kara had never known was alight.

The flame flared within, threatening to burn her from the inside out and she found herself pulling Lena closer, deepening the kiss, teasing toward indecency. She pushed up, pressing her body flush with the Lena's, parting her lips, hungrily inviting more contact. It was decadent and altogether too much for a public establishment. They broke apart in a gasp as the reality of their surroundings came crashing down around them.

"Well," a saucy smirk played around Lena's lips, "That was unexpected."

"Unexpected... good?" Kara asked hopefully.

"Defintely." Lena's smile was as wide as Kara had ever seen it, "and something I could get used to, I think."

Kara had practically floated home that night, it was no wonder the alien tracker had managed to get the drop on her. And then between her hospital stay and Alex's harsh warning to stay away, she had been too broken and then too conflicted to immediately seek out the brunette.

It seemed Lena was now picking up on her hesitance, standing awkwardly in front of the chemistry classroom, interpreting it as regret. Kara watched the light dim from the bright green eyes and was hasty to show Lena that she was, indeed, very much wanted and that circumstance, not lack of desire, had been the only thing separating them. She pressed her cheek into Lena's palm as they stood in the corridor, the occasional student sidestepping them.

"I'm so sorry I didn't let you know I was okay, it was stupid of me. I just – first there was the hospital, and then I got into it with Alex and –"

"It's totally alright," Lena interrupted, "you really don't owe me anything, Kara."

Kara's heart almost broke at the girl's tone; it was sad, almost resigned. They had had an amazing, revelatory evening and then some stupid alien attack had taken her away. And what's more, Lena seemed to simply take this in stride. Kara realized her friend must think this was just fulfilling some pattern, the closeness and the inevitable desertion. She refused to let Lena think that love, or whatever it was they shared, came hand in hand with disappointment.

"I do, though. I owe you so much." Kara leaned down and there, without reservation, she kissed Lena Luthor, a kiss that she hoped conveyed all the hope and intention she had for their potential future, deep and slow.

They separated and Kara relished the stupid smile now plastered across Lena's face. It seemed adorably out of place and she wanted more.

"Alright then. We should celebrate!" Lena was excited now, threading her fingers through Kara's as they turned to walk down the hall. "How about Canton House on Folsom, tonight? My treat."

"Oh man!" Kara leaned over and kissed the dark haired girl on the cheek, "I'm going to make you regret that offer."

"I'm not worried. If you bankrupt me over potstickers, I'm sure you'll find some way to make it up to me."

"I already owe you so much, though." Kara whined playfully.

"I'm sure we can come to some sort of arrangement, Miss Danvers."

Kara wasn't sure she would ever stop smiling. She had a beautiful girl on her arm and the blissful ignorance of one unaware of the danger looming just on the horizon.