Lee stared at the fire absentmindedly as he told Kara about the first girl he had ever picked up in a bar. It was a funny story that he thought she might find amusing and maybe it could take her mind off their situation for a few minutes as his father and the President finished their negotiation or whatever the frak they were doing in that tent. They had been talking quietly for over ten minutes so far.
As he told her of his really horrible attempts to get the woman in the bar to come home with him, Lee looked over at Kara and smiled. He was surprised when she returned the grin but then abruptly averted her eyes. Now it was Kara intently staring at the fire to keep the conversation from getting personal.
She had been acting like this since he first stole that damn pyramid ball from her and then admitted he loved her. Something had shifted between them as they both hinted at something they had spent years suppressing. That was the real reason why Lee found himself afraid that her sudden shyness was more from whatever the frak that ball stood for rather than his honesty.
Kara had never been hesitant towards anyone, let alone someone she knew as well as him. She wasn't that kind of girl. He had watched her only minutes earlier as she mended her relationship with his father and apologized to the Chief for taking away his new toy. She didn't act hesitant towards them. This shying away seemed to only apply to him.
It was odd how much a little shift in behavior could make Lee worry.
Lee's eyes rested on her hair, now pulled back into a tiny ponytail. He couldn't believe how much it had grown. Had Kara really been gone that long? It was nice to see a few pieces were still too short to stay put and fell into her face. The more he thought about it, the more those little stray hairs embodied everything Kara was. She couldn't be tied down, and she tended to get in his way whenever he was trying to focus. Yet most of the time, he couldn't help but want to touch her. It wasn't just because she was there or because she was in his way.
Lee knew if he ever worked up the courage to push those loose hairs out of her eyes, they would be exactly like Kara, soft to the touch and almost too much for him. She was the person he could take one look at and know she would be a part of his life forever. He wouldn't have it any other way.
"You're staring," she said, looking at him out of the corner of her eyes.
Lee kept watching her a moment before winking. "So?"
Her mouth slid into a lazy grin, and she looked back down at the fire.
As he tried to wipe the grin from his face, Lee could feel himself fall a little more. Moments like these, when it was just Kara and him blocking out the world, made him understand why he loved a Viper pilot from the wrong side of the tracks so fraking much.