Kara was concerned. For the last couple of months, Percy had been unusually evasive. It wasn't anything too overt. It wasn't like he was curt or short with her, and it wasn't as though he were making excuses for things. It was just…a feeling that she had. She didn't really know how else to describe it, other than she just knew something was going on.

There were some days that he would just be a little too evasive, a little too quick to head back to his apartment or to leave the library. While it was true that he was being kept excruciatingly bust between work and school, he had previously managed to hold that balance rather well. But there was something telling Kara that there was a little more to it this time than a simple lack of time management.

She wanted to chalk it up to him planning something for Valentine's day. It was going to be their first actual Valentine's Day as a couple, and while she and Percy had expressed an interest in not doing anything too extravagant, Percy had a way of exceeding expectations.

Moreover, Percy was exceptionally bad at keeping secrets. He didn't have a poker face, and she always knew when he was lying to her.

So what the hell was he planning?

It was starting to drive her insane. She'd called Martha in the hopes that she would have some idea, but the infuriating woman had only laughed and told Kara that it was a surprise. The same had happened when she had called John, and she hadn't even bothered with Clark because Rao only knew that he and Percy didn't get along.

She thought maybe, for a brief moment, that Percy was planning some kind of romantic getaway. Leave it to him to tell her not to do any kind of sweeping romantic gesture for Valentine's Day only to surprise with some trip somewhere.

It's what she would have done.

But she'd been paying close attention to what he'd been doing, and what he'd been buying. He hadn't exactly been buying clothing that was the sort of thing he would take on vacation. Moreover, he wasn't saving his money like he was saving up to do something. As a matter of fact, to the casual observer, absolutely nothing in the man's behavior would suggest that he was up to anything at all.

But she wasn't a casual observer.

For a brief, horrifying moment, Kara considered the possibility that Percy was going to propose to her. It wasn't that Kara didn't see herself spending the rest of her life with the man, far from it in fact. She had spent many a night dreaming about a future with Percy. But…she didn't know if they were ready for that yet. It was difficult for her to quantify, she knew she was going to marry this man, but the idea of taking that next step so quickly terrified her.

Hell, they didn't even technically live together yet.

Don't get her wrong, she practically lived at his apartment, but it was one thing to spend all of her free time with him and at his apartment, and quite another to actually live with someone. There was an extra level of emotional and physical intimacy involved in that. Maybe that was it? Maybe Percy was going to ask her to move in with him? She thought they were ready for that.

She thought that she could have lasted until Valentine's Day. Thought that she could have made it through the weeks and seen it through to the end. But a week before Valentine's Day, she finally cracked. She and Percy had been laying in bed, and she had rolled onto him and poked him in the chest,

"What is it?" She demanded,

"What is what?" Said Percy, looking genuinely confused,

"What are you getting me for Valentine's Day?"

"We agreed not to get each other anything," said Percy innocently, looking away from her and gazing up at the ceiling,

"Bullshit," she laughed, and ran a finger along the edge of his hip where he was exceedingly ticklish.

"Stop that!" Percy laughed,

"I will if you tell me!" Said Kara, grinning viciously,

"I didn't get you anything," said Percy, squirming as he tried to maneuver out of her grasp, but she held fast and clambered on top of him. Percy might have been strong, but she was stronger.

"You're a terrible liar babe," said Kara, her hand once again finding that place along his hip, "Now tell me! I already asked Ma and Pa and both of them told me that you were planning something, now fess up!"

Percy fought for a moment against her grip, but she held fast and didn't let up. "You're a spoilsport, you know that?"

"Just tell me," whined Kara,

"Fine," said Percy with a roll of his eyes, but he was smiling so Kara knew that he wasn't actually upset with her.

"C'mere," he said, and Kara leaned down so that Percy's mouth was right next to her ear. He breathed, and a small shiver crawled up the back of her spine.

"I love you," said Percy, and for a moment, Kara was confused. That was hardly a secret worth revealing, and she thought maybe he was just messing with her. Then, her brain caught up with her, and her eyes steadily grew wide as the full reality of what he'd just said hit her.

"W-what…" said Kara, her voice barely more than a whisper, and damn him to the pits of hell, because all he did was smirk at her. That damned, incredible, sexy smirk.

"I love you, Kara Zor-El,"

There was no mistaking it. That…that had been Kryptonian. Percy…had just spoken Kryptonian to her.

Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes, as she leaned back,

"How," she asked, unwittingly slipping into her native tongue.

"Kal-El," said Percy, smiling fondly up at her as his hand reached up and gently cupped her cheek, "I managed to worm my way into his good graces. Big softie was only too excited to teach me."

Words could not describe what she was feeling in that moment. To hear the words of her home, come from the lips of the man she loved…to know that he had gone to such lengths, just for her.

She needed him. She needed him more than she had ever needed him before. Needed to be close. Needed to feel that raw, physical and emotional connection. Needed to hear him say that to her again.

She needed him.

"I love you, Percy,"

"I love you too, Kara Zor-El."