The door shut with an audible click and Lena stood staring at the handle a second longer as she gave herself a moment to collect her nerves. Her heart was thrumming in her chest and when she turned around to face Kara she cursed the little organ for betraying her so readily. Kara twisted her hands together in front of her, the silence only adding to the growing discomfort between them. She quickly took a step backward further into Lena's apartment as she did her best to shake off her own apparent unease. Lena followed, not sure whether to break the silence or allow Kara to dictate how this interaction would go. She could see the exhaustion on Kara's face, the sadness lurking just behind her eyes, and she willed herself not to scoop her up on the spot and pull her into an embrace to comfort her. Instead she just offered an understanding smile.

"So…" Kara's voice pierced the silence like a needle to a balloon and Lena felt herself relax instantly.

She could tell Kara was struggling and she quickly took the reins to alleviate any awkward babbling she knew would be forthcoming if she left Kara to her own devices. "How about I make us some tea?"

Kara exhaled and smiled, her shoulders dropped as her hands unfurled from their clenched position and she nodded happily. "That sounds perfect." Lena bit the inside of her cheek to hold back her own smile, feeling foolish for finding victory in that simple reply. She also was relieved to have something to do with her own hands because she was a minute away from turning into a fidgeting mess right alongside Kara.

"How was Eliza?" Lena asked. She didn't think Kara was ready to discuss much of anything else related to this past weekend and all its stressors the moment she walked through the door. The relaxed smile on Kara's face implied she was grateful for the subject.

"She was great! I need to make a habit of visiting her more frequently. It had been way too long." Kara followed Lena into the kitchen and leaned against the counter in close proximity to where Lena was making the tea. She was surprised by the move, in the past Kara tended to plop herself down into one of the barstools on the other side, always leaning over the counter to steal one of the small chocolates Lena kept in a dish while she would banter about her days as Lena cooked them dinner or poured them glasses of wine.

"I'm glad you got a chance to see her. She has a certain way about her that just…" Lena smiled fondly as she thought of Eliza and looked up slowly at Kara from where she was steeping their tea. "exudes comfort."

They share a look together as they both smile at the mutual agreement. Kara nods and sighs. "Yeah, she really does." She crossed her arms and looked down at her toes. "I didn't know how badly I needed that, especially after this weekend. She really helped me see things a little more clearly. Gave me some perspective." She added at the end almost in a whisper, before she glanced back at Lena then shifted her position on the counter with a new nervous energy that Lena didn't quite understand.

Lena handed Kara her tea and took her own mug as she made her way to the couch where they could sit more comfortably. "I'm glad she was able to help."

"Me too." Kara said tenderly, her eyes looking off distantly, before returning back to Lena's and striking her with a new appreciation for how stunningly blue they were. The falling sun cast a purplish hue over the room that was quickly fading into a darker blue as the tired star drifted down towards the horizon. It painted Kara in a light not often seen and Lena had a hard time looking away, forcing herself to cast her eyes down into the boring cup of tea for a moment to avoid blatantly staring.

"I can't imagine what you must be feeling right now." Lena said, probing gently as she played with the string of her tea bag.

Kara took a slow sip from her cup and a shadow fell over her features as her mind visibly drifted to the past few days. Lena felt her own heart twist at the sight, wishing there was something she could do to relieve her of it. She watched as this beautiful woman in front of her crumpled inward on herself as water filled her eyes. Her hand fell to Kara's knee instinctively. "Oh Kara, I'm sorry we don't have to –" Kara let out an audible sob, her body remained frozen as if by doing so she could somehow manage a facade of composure, despite the tears that fell gently down her face. "Come here." Lena cooed as she set her tea down and offered up her hands, sliding over on the couch to reach out for Kara, whose own body drew in close and curled into Lena's waiting arms. Lena wrapped her up as close as she could manage, one hand rubbing soothing circles across Kara's back as the other got tangled in gold at the back of Kara's head pulling her tighter into her neck.

She didn't know what to do now. She wasn't used to this level of intimacy, this position of consoling. Usually it was the other way around. Kara had, on more than one occasion, wrapped Lena up in a similar way to soothe her pain or worries, but she never had a need of it herself. Not with Lena, at least. This was new for them, this expression of vulnerability. Kara was allowing herself to be seen, wholly and unguarded and the moment that registered with Lena she found herself pulling her in closer, protectively, unwilling to let that expression be taken for granted or squandered recklessly away. "I've got you. I've got you." She found herself whispering into blonde tufts of hair as the body beneath her shuddered with a new silent sob.

They stayed like that for a long while, Lena knew this by the growing pain in her back at the awkward position, but was damned to say anything to cause this woman to move away from her. Call her selfish but she was enjoying the fact that she had such a privilege thrusted upon her and she wasn't about to relinquish it because her body wasn't accustomed to the current position. Kara's arm, the one not confined between the couch and her side, rested around Lena's middle and the warmth of it along with the rest of Kara's body clinging to her side, was making it hard to focus on much of anything else anyway. It was after a minute or two more that Kara began to shift away from her, but there was a moment right before Lena released her head where she felt Kara's nose turn further into Lena's neck. It was brief and light, but the feel of Kara's gentle breath on the sensitive flesh just below her ear had Lena breathe in slightly sharper and flush with arousal that was inappropriate for the moment and so she quickly tried to recover her composure before Kara could catch on.

When she looked up, Kara's eyes were worn out and heavily lidded but there was a visible swallow that had Lena questioning if it was only to do with the exhaustion and the emotional weight of the last two days. "Thank you." Kara said shyly as she looked down to her hands. "I'm sorry, I'm not usually so emotional."

"You've had a pretty rough few days. You're allowed to be emotional." Lena assured.

"Yeah, I guess." Kara said as she attempted to smile, the weariness of her emotions weighing the corners of her mouth down at the failed attempt. "I am very tired." Kara conceded quietly as if embarrassed by the admission.

"Breakups are never easy." Lena said softly in understanding she grabbed her tea again and pulled the tab at the end of the string of her mug as a distraction. "Andrea and I are going through something similar."

Kara's eyes snapped up and looked at Lena with a curious bewilderment. "What?"

Lena gave her own weak attempt at a smile. "We came to a realization that we were better off as just friends." She admitted carefully, conveniently leaving out how that realization occurred. "So I can relate to some degree. I mean we didn't date as long as you and Diana."

"No, but you knew her longer, were friends longer." Kara said her attention suddenly and completely fixed on Lena. "You have all this shared history together…" She added almost as a question and Lena watched her expression with careful attention, confused at how much Kara put emphasis on the latter remark. "I guess I just assumed that she was going to be it for you." Kara said quietly and Lena was surprised at the sadness laced in her tone.

Lena let Kara's words sit in the air between them for a moment as she found some amusement in their connotations. She looked at Kara fondly and shook her head. "I can assure you that she was never it for me. Though I can't say she felt the same. Andrea definitely got the shorter end of the stick in our relationship and I regret that I didn't make my expectations about our relationship more clear."

Kara looked at Lena with new concern. "I'm sorry Lena."

Lena shrugged sadly. "We are learning to move past it. Thankfully, because of our shared history we are at least able to remain friends."

A spark of something unreadable passed over Kara's features before it was hidden away behind a warm smile. She looked down at her mug and scraped lightly at a small imperfection on the surface of the ceramic with her thumbnail. "Sounds oddly similar to how things ended between me and Diana."

Lena pressed her lips into a thin line trying to show sympathy while containing her urge to pry for more. In the end she found she didn't have to ask as Kara started talking all on her own. It was an interesting tactical victory that she made a mental note of to use in the future with her. For Kara, it seemed silence lended itself privy to unasked questions if given the space to do so.

Kara looked up at her with so much heartache that Lena felt stricken down by it. "I caused her so much pain, Lena. I didn't mean to, but I did and it kills me that there's nothing I can do to take that pain away."

Lena was trying to process through what Kara was saying. When she had spoken to Sam, she had made assumptions that Diana had broken up with Kara, but now she was questioning if that was the case. "Did you not want the relationship to end?" Lena asked and felt her heart squeeze uncomfortably, fearing the answer.

Kara looked conflicted, and a little panicked as she sat silently contemplating how to answer. "I– " She hesitated as she seemed to mull over the words in her head, choosing them carefully before bringing them forth where they would become permanent and irrevocable truths. "I– didn't know until it was pointed out to me. That I had a, once thought impossible, alternative option. So if I had remained ignorant of that…then I might be able to say; no, I didn't want the relationship to end."

Lena tried to look unaffected by that, but the sting of the truth hurt acutely and she nodded robotically as she willed herself to remain in control of her emotions. "But." And Lena felt herself suck in a lungful of air reflexively. Her eyes slowly met Kara's and there was a tenderness there that had Lena's heart racing. "That option?" Kara said quietly, tentatively as she stared longingly into Lena's eyes. "It changed everything." She whispered.

Lena's eyes were locked on Kara's as the space between them seemed to reverberate in a tangible energy. She felt a prickling of that energy surging through her body like a live wire and she licked her lips as she asked the only question she had left. "So what now?"

"Now I'm going to pursue it."