Chapter - 36

It had been three days since that incident with Mike. Kara had even dropped him off at his place, after he complained nonstop that her car was too small for him. And the reason he gave her made her cringe.

"How will we have sex in the back in such a tiny car? Stupid Blondie!"

Kara rolled her eyes just thinking about this. Mike and his inappropriate jokes. She knew one week with him wouldn't be easy, especially when he was pretending to be her boyfriend.

And so, this is how Kara Kent ended up at the airport, sitting next to her two best friends, rolling her eyes hear one of them shout at the other and the other apologize even though it clearly wasn't his fault.

"I told you I wanted the red dress!" Donna groaned. "You know I look hot in red! Even Hal thinks I look hot in red! Come on, Winn! How could you screw this up?"

"I'm sorry." Winn pouted. "I did keep the red dress."

"No, you packed a red shirt. There's a difference between a dress and a shirt, one of them is longer and has a deep neck and no buttons!"

"Guys! Calm down. You'll get us thrown out if you keep arguing and shouting," Kara said, only to earn a glare from Donna, who huffed and turned away. Kara had wanted to tell them something but seeing how tense the mood was she decided to keep quiet.

She was just about to pull her headphones out from her bag when she saw Mike making his way towards them. He waved his boarding card at her and gave her a huge smile. Kara smiled back and stood up to greet him, but Donna had also noticed him and she ran towards him.

"Mike, you came!" Donna cheered as she hugged him tightly.

"Well, you invited and who was I to say no?" Mike grinned, patting her back. When he pulled away, he waved at Winn and Kara. "And of course, how could I leave my girlfriend alone for a week?"

Donna's eyes widened hearing that. Winn looked around to see who Mike was talking about. Kara facepalmed herself and waited for Mike and Donna to join them. "I can explain," she said to Donna and Winn, who were looking at her in surprise.

"No, let me!" Mike cut in and started speaking, "Kara asked me to be her fake boyfriend, and I don't like seeing girls in distress, so I said yes. It's just social service!"

Donna nodded, obviously accepting whatever Mike had said. But Winn seemed confused, looking to and forth between Kara and Mike. They all knew Barry was coming to the wedding, and Mike pretending to be Kara's boyfriend could mean just one thing… He looked at Kara carefully before taking a seat again. Was she really trying that hard to make Barry jealous?

Kara sat down next to Winn and even kept her bag down so the chair next to her was empty; but to her dismay, Mike went to sit next to Donna and for the next fifteen minutes they were busy joking about something. Winn and Kara rolled their eyes at them but didn't dare to tell them anything in case Donna lost it and started shouting at them again.

When it was time to board, Mike went and stood behind Kara. "Are you feeling better?" she asked, without turning back.

He leaned closer and replied, "Much better. Thanks! Your painkillers helped a lot."

"I'm glad." She suppressed a grin by biting her lower lip, but jumped when she felt him slide his arm over her waist and pull her back against his chest. "Mike!" Kara gritted her teeth. "What are you doing?"

He rested his chin on her shoulder and placed a kiss on her cheek. "Can't I hold my girlfriend and kiss her whenever I want?"

Kara turned to look at him, her eyes widening. "Yes! But do it with your real girlfriend. We are only pretending!"

Mike sighed and pulled away. "Hey, you know, for this to work, we have to look convincing enough. Or else your family is just gonna think you hired me or something. Though I am doing you a favor, I don't wanna be labeled as a fake boyfriend. So we have to engage in some PDA for this to work."

When Kara didn't reply, Mike rolled his eyes and started walking ahead since the boarding had started. She knew she had upset him since he barely looked at her when they boarded. And Kara wasn't really surprised when she saw him sit next to Winn. She let it go. She knew once he had calmed down, he would talk to her.

Well, that was what she had expected. But when she saw this one particular stewardess come to check on him more than once, often giving him a look that made Kara want to throw up, she decided she had enough of it.

Kara stood up and moved towards the seats in front of her. Winn was busy showing Mike something on his phone, but when he saw Kara approach them, he looked up and asked, "Everything okay, Kare bear?"

Kara leaned down and whispered in his ear, "Why don't you sit next to Donna? I know you want to!"

Winn didn't have to be told twice. He got up and changed seats with Kara. Mike smirked when he saw her sit down. It was almost a six hours flight and they had only been flying for the last two hours. He didn't speak, despite knowing she really wanted him to ask her why she changed the seats. But when she finally cleared her throat, he gave her a small smile.

"Thought you would have gotten bored hearing Winn's nonstop chatter," Kara said softly.

Mike shrugged. "Winn's a great person to talk to. Especially when it's such a long flight."

"I can be good travel talking buddy too!"

"Okay."

"Seriously! Let's talk."

"About what?" Mike raised a single brow.

"You." Kara smiled seeing him shake his head. "I told you all about my family and my extended family. You have even met my best friends. You know everything there's to know about me. And all I know about you is that you work at The Daily Planet, you are an investigative reported, you have a best friend named Ricky, you are from Los Angeles and sex is the only thing in your mind."

Mike couldn't help but chuckle hearing that. "Maybe I should let you right my biography, huh, Blondie?"

"Come on, Mike! I'm your friend, aren't I? Why can't you share stuff with me?"

Seeing the honesty in her eyes, he let out a sigh and nodded. "I'm an orphan. I lost my father when I was in high school. As for my mother… I don't really know. My dad's friends took care of me after his death. That's when I met Ricky. He used to tutor me." Mike smiled remembering his best friend. "I saved his life once and he pretended as if he owed me. My dad left me in debts so I sold my house. When Ricky found out I was living in an old, abandoned garage, he somehow convinced his dad to give me a job at their watersport shop. It was fun. That's when Ricky taught me how to dive. Though his passion lay with the deepest, bluest seas; mine was stuck with words. So I began writing, travelling and here I am now. The end. Oh, when you do write that biography, I was 60% of the royalties, okay?"

Kara's mouth fell open. The things she really wanted to know for months. He had laid his heart open in a matter of few minutes. She was truly surprised. An orphan. No wonder he didn't speak of his parents. And however close she could get, Ricky was always going to be the friend Mike loved and cared for most.

Kara was about to speak, to thank him for opening up to her, for trusting her, but suddenly another voice broke her train of thoughts.

"Excuse me, Sir, here's your coffee."

Kara looked up to see it was the same stewardess who was busy flirting with Mike before. She simply rolled her eyes and looked away.

"Would you like anything else, Sir?" the stewardess asked Mike.

"No, Mandy, this is good. Thank you," Mike replied with a charming smile.

"If you need anything, I'm just at the back." Mandy bit her lower lip and walked away.

"Did you see what she just did?" Kara asked, her tone filled with annoyance.

"What? She got me coffee is all."

"She totally ignored me! She outright flirted with you while I'm still here and she hinted something!"

"Easy, babe! She was just subtly telling me that if I wanted to hook up with her, she's out at back. Why're you acting so weird? You aren't my girlfriend."

Kara's jaw dropped. She couldn't believe that stewardess hinted something and Mike actually managed to catch it. What if he took up her offer and went out back and had sex with her?

"Eww!" Kara cringed. "You're so disgusting! And listen, I am your girlfriend! At least for the next week so stop looking at other women and stop thinking about sex!"

"Oh, I can't do that. Not with you sitting right here."

"What?"

"I know the bathroom is small, but do you wanna give it a try? I mean, have you ever done it in a bathroom?" Seeing her eyes widen, Mike smirked. "Barry such a wimp to not do it in a public not-so-public space?"

Kara didn't know what got into her, she slapped him. It wasn't a hard slap, but Mike looked at her in shock. "You are so gonna pay for this, Kent!" he warned her. He quickly started undoing his seatbelt. "Move. I need to go to the restroom."

"Why? To bang that stewardess?" Kara sneered.

"To pee, you idiot! Move your butt now!"

Kara groaned as she undid her seatbelt and stood up. Mike quickly moved past her. But then he stopped short when he heard her say, "If you don't come back in five minutes, I'm gonna drag your ass back to your seat… boyfriend!"

All that was all it took for Mike to snap and Hell's Mike to appear. He pushed her so she fell on her seat. Grabbing her chin, he bent down and crashed his lips over hers. Kara's eyes widened. Mike pulled away, leaving her dumbstruck. "You are most welcome to try… girlfriend!" Showing her his middle finger, he turned around and walked away.

By the time Mike had returned, Kara had taken his seat and was busy watching a movie. He shook his head and plopped next to her. She tried her hardest to ignore him, his gaze. But soon she was getting bored. She wanted to talk to him, to get to know him. And as always, Mike had other things in mind. He had fallen asleep. His head resting on her shoulder. And that when she realized he was still taking painkillers for his injuries.

Kara couldn't help but think of the older scars she had seen on his body. How did he get them? Had he been fighting people? Or was he… abused?

He didn't have an easy childhood; she had gathered that from his little confession already. But what bothered her was why Mike and Barry didn't get along. Mike seemed like a fiercely protective friend. Barry was also one of the kindest people she had met. If they were cousins, they had to be close. But no, they were certainly not close and the stunt they pulled at Clark's engagement party was enough to prove that. But why didn't they like each other? What had happened in their past that made them so distant? Kara knew that these questions weren't going to let her rest. She needed answers. And she needed them quickly.

A/N: God! I love their little banter! Old married couple!

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