"Lena!" Ruby ran over and practically tackled Lena to the ground. Would have too, if it wasn't for Kara's quick reflexes as she stepped behind Lena to brace her back when she got knocked off balance. Lena's hand flew up to catch her sunglasses that tipped precariously off the back of her head.
"Easy there killer." Kara said in a light reprimand.
"Sorry." Ruby said quickly releasing Lena to let her regain her footing.
Lena laughed and shook her head. "It's alright." She readjusted her sunglasses, moving them from her head to hook in the front of her shirt instead. She turned her head slightly, Kara was still very close and she felt the small puff of air that escaped her lips when their eyes met. "Thanks." She said more breathlessly than she had intended.
"It was nothing." Their eyes held and soft smiles marked their features as they had all day. Kara still had her hand resting lightly on Lena's lower back and noticed how she leaned into the touch for a breath of a second before Ruby cleared her throat exaggeratedly to draw the attention back to herself. Kara's expression shifted slightly to one of feigned annoyance and they both shared a look that spoke to how unwelcome Ruby's interference was. Lena looked down, cutting off the moment between them and turned her attention back to the teen. She sighed heavily, and leveled a glare at Ruby before pulling her into her side. She jostled her a little bit in a playful manner that spoke more to her irritation at being interrupted than anything. "Come on, I want to say hi to your mom." She declared as she dragged her off in the direction of where Sam was. Lena glanced back as they walked away, it was a quick look, one with a question behind it and Kara waved, smiling back at her. She pointed to the line where Alex stood getting tickets and Lena nodded before returning her attention back to Ruby as they walked towards Sam.
"Hey sis." Alex grabbed the three entrance tickets she purchased and stuck them in the pocket of her denim jeans.
"Hey." Kara said and quickly held up two fingers for the man in the booth and pulled out her card to purchase the tickets for her and Lena.
"So how's the date going so far?" Alex mused as she crossed her arms and leaned back into the booth so she could simultaneously look between Kara and the small group of women that were patiently waiting as they stood near the entrance gate.
"It's not a date." Kara corrected, rolling her eyes. Then tilted her head as she thought back on the last few hours. "But It's…also…not, not a date?"
"What the hell does that mean?" Alex asked.
Kara sighed as she took the two tickets and her card back from the ticket booth attendant. "I don't know what I mean, I've been…" Kara fought to find words for it. "Intentionally skirting a line…?" Alex raised an eyebrow in question and Kara adjusted her glasses in a poor excuse to prolong silence so she could think more clearly. "There's been moments all day where I swear Lena is actively trying not to notice…" her cheeks reddened and she hesitated before finishing. "my…mmmbbs" Kara mumbled.
"Your what?" Alex asked
"Mm mmoomms" Kara mumbled again and blushed profusely.
Alex looked at her and then looked at her with that all too familiar Director's glare and Kara groaned. "My moves…ok. My moves." She winced and rubbed her forehead, "Rao, you have to teach me that look, it would do me wonders as Supergirl." She teased as a growing smirk erupted across Alex's face.
"It's an innate talent, not something you can teach." Waved off, then grinned all too eagerly. "So…" Alex snickered as she looked at Kara, "Your moves?"
"Forget it, I don't want to have this conversation anymore." Kara said quickly as she looked down and adjusted the hem of her perfectly fine v-neck in a poor attempt to disengage from talking. She was grateful for her decision to wear shorts and a t-shirt. It was an exceptionally hot day and even though she couldn't sweat, the cool summer breeze still felt nice on her exposed skin. The sun was bright and, without a cloud in the sky, the day was perfect. Lena had also chosen to dress down in one of the rarest of rare times Kara has ever seen her wear something other than black pants, skirts and blouses. With the day lined up with so many outdoor activities they had swung by her place for her to change only for her to devastate Kara's heart by wearing shorts, with a loose white button up that she had tucked in and rolled the sleeves up on. Her hair was up in a long soft ponytail, unlike the normally tightly held ponytails she would typically do and she had on a simple tiny gold necklace with matching earrings. She looked flawless and had rendered Kara speechless for a solid minute.
"Nice try, but I'm not giving up that easily. I feel a responsibility to ask." Alex said, cutting into Kara's thoughts. She crossed her arms and tried her best not to grimace. "What moves?"
"All day I've given her these looks, and light touches, I've said little comments here and there and it's like she's been oblivious or, or, deaf, or something. I mean I haven't been exactly subtle these last few month. I don't know how much more obvious I can be!" Kara said as they started walking towards the main entrance.
"Well what did she say when you told her you like her?" Alex asked. Kara stuck her hands in her pockets and looked down . "You haven't told her?!" Alex exclaimed.
Kara huffed and rubbed her hands down her face. "I mean, I haven't said in so many words 'Hey Lena, gee I think you're swell. You give me the warm and fuzzy feelings…" Kara said in an over exaggeration of her yogi bear impression.
"Oh god, please when you tell her, don't say it like that. I beg you." Alex said through her laughter. Kara flapped her arms in a wide shrug and sighed heavily. "We aren't children… I didn't think I'd have to write a letter saying 'I like you, do you like me? Check yes or no." Kara continued on and Alex snorted and shoved her sister. "I just figured that I was being pretty obvious. I thought she'd say or do something by now. I don't know…now I just keep wondering…" Kara deflated a little. "Maybe Andrea was wrong."
Alex stopped walking and grabbed Kara's arm. "Whoa. Hold on." Kara paused and looked at her sister with a vulnerable expression. Alex softened at the nearly defeated look she saw in Kara's eyes. "I think you're projecting your own fears, and you need to take a step back and see what everyone else already sees." When she didn't respond Alex sighed. "Well I guess you couldn't, could you, cause you can't see the way she is before you enter a room to understand how she lights up when you do."
Kara looked at her confused and Alex placed her hands on Kara's shoulders and tilted her head so that she held Kara's gaze. "She…I don't know how to describe it other than, she just brightens. Your presence, every single time, takes Lena from blacks and grays to vibrant colors." Alex shook her head. "That probably doesn't make any sense, I'm not good with words, just…" She looks back at her and squeezes her shoulders "I just think she shares the same fears. She's probably just as afraid as you."
Kara scrunches up her face in protest. "Hey! I'm not afraid. I've done so much already to show her how much I like her." When she sees the disbelief in Alex's eyes she reiterates with more conviction. "I'm not afraid!"
"Then why haven't you told her yet?" Alex asked with a level of patience that only family seemed capable of possessing.
Kara was struck dumb. She thought she had, I mean right? There were so many obvious signs. Friends don't go out of their way to buy special danishes, or fly all the way to Hawaii to find the perfect plumeria, or adorn an office with an obnoxiously large teddy bear, or spend hours on the phone every night before they exhaust themselves to sleep. Friday nights weren't questioned, they were expected. Didn't actions speak louder than words? She thought she had made her intentions perfectly clear. Ok well maybe not perfectly. She had to admit she never explicitly said anything that could officially cross the line between that friend boundary they so carefully reconstructed. It felt like a paper wall, so easy to destroy and her verbal confession of feelings felt like the razor edge that could tear it all down.
She wasn't afraid. She was terrified.
Alex seemed to take pity on her and threw her arm around Kara's shoulder and started walking again. "Something to think about. Come on, our ladies await."
When they approached the trio Lena and Sam's conversation ended swiftly and their attention turned abruptly to the two sisters. Kara saw how Lena softened and smiled that gentle easy smile that just came naturally to her every time they were around each other and wondered briefly if that was what Alex had meant. She came to a stop next to her and Lena nudged her gently with her shoulder until Kara smiled shyly back.
Alex slid an arm around Sam's waist and pulled her in close the moment they were in reach of each other.
"You were gone far too long for my liking." Sam said seductively as she kissed Alex.
Alex smiled as her arms pulled Sam in further one hand coming up to Sam's jaw caressing the line that connected her chin to her ear with a tenderness that Kara rarely saw her use. "Blame it on my sister." As she kissed her again.
"Eww! Gross, can you not?" Ruby complained. Sam swatted at her and Ruby laughed and easily dodged out of reach as she, unlike her mother, was not currently being confined to an embrace.
"Yeah gross. I'd rather not see my sister in compromising positions." Kara chimed in.
Sam smirked and eyed Kara with a devilish grin. "Oh honey, I can assure you this is not nearly as compromising as when Alex—"
"NOPE!" Ruby interrupted forcefully. "No. Just please," she put her hands out in front of her as she implored to her mom, "for my sake, for their sake, for God's sake…stop talking!"
Lena laughed at Ruby's appeal and Sam and Alex seemed to take the hint and detach, though their hands met in the middle and interlaced without further complaint from the two adolescents in the group.
Once they made it past the front gate Kara twisted around and began walking backwards as she faced the group. "Ok! So what should we do first? Roller Coaster? Roasted corn? Funnel Cakes?" She asked happily as her excitement grew. "Fried Oreos? Turkey leg? Oooh cotton candy!"
"Kara. Kara!" Ruby interrupted. "You're thinking with your stomach again. Not all of us can eat our weight in fried sugary sweets then ride roller coasters without the threat of said foods returning to sender."
Sam poked Ruby in the stomach. "You're only saying that cause we just had lunch."
"How about we meet you later while I go with Kara and feed her before she really goes into withdrawals." Lena said teasingly as she closed the gap between them. Kara blushed when Lena leaned into her side. "We haven't eaten since breakfast."
Sam smiled. "Just call us or we can just meet back here in like an hour?"
"Sounds good to us." Kara said before they parted ways. Sam tugged Alex in the opposite direction where Ruby was already getting in line for the closest ride.
Now that they were alone Lena smiled contentedly. Kara glanced at Lena and clapped her hands. "So, where would you like to go? My treat!"
"Oh no." Lena shook her head and chuckled. "We had a deal, remember? You delivered me safely to the ground. So anything you want, whatever your heart desires is on me."
Kara smirked, her eyebrows raising high. "Anything my heart desires?"
Lena gave a look of mock irritation but the smile still playing at her lips gave her away too easily. "I feel a strong need to amend that bit, but…ok, sure." Lena said as she looked down to step off the sidewalk to the main street, she didn't notice the man on the unicycle she had just stepped out in front of.
"Whoa! Shit!" The man cried out as he tried to swerve. Lena barely had a chance to look up and brace for the inevitable impact. "I gotcha." Kara grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her out of the way just in time and the motion sent Lena careening into Kara's body, her hand braced itself by landing on Kara's shoulder as Kara's other arm wrapped loosely around her waist as she tucked her in protectively and out of the way. The performer stumbled forward off the bike and dropped the balls he had been juggling as the momentum pushed him forward before he could catch himself and fell to the ground.
"What the hell lady?!" He bellowed out as he righted himself, he grabbed the seat of his bike and stalked over to them, his eyes blazing.
Kara twisted to the side slightly putting herself in between Lena and the performer. "I think you've come close enough." She warned.
He glared at Kara, but stopped in his tracks. "Why don't you tell your girlfriend to watch where she's going from now on huh? Or I'll have to teach her what it means to — FUCK!" He lurched backwards dropping his unicycle and clutched his hand tightly as he looked at the bike in astonishment as if it had just caught fire.
"Something wrong with your hand?" Kara asked innocently. Then took a small methodical step forward. "Make a threat like that again and see how lucky you are." Kara warned, her fists hitting her hips as her eyes narrowed dangerously at the man.
Lena stepped to Kara's side. Her hand came to gently rest on Kara's arm as a way of staying her and it seemed to help relax the growing tension in Kara's body. "I think we've all had enough excitement for one day. It was an accident. We both were clearly not paying attention to our surroundings. Why don't we all just take a moment to calm down."
"I'm not going to take orders from you." He sneered.
"And I don't take kindly to threats." Lena said icely. "Now you've been warned, I think we can all part ways now."
He scowled at them before glancing in both directions. Seeing the growing crowd of onlookers he grunted, reached down, grabbed his bike and stormed off in the direction of his scattered balls.
Lena sighed in relief at the man's departure. Kara turned to face Lena and assessed her quickly for damages. "Are you alright? Did I hurt you? I'm sorry I didn't mean to jar you so harshly, I just saw that guy barreling towards you and reacted."
"I'm fine." Lena assured her as she watched Kara fawn over her worriedly. Kara didn't seem to hear her as her eyes darted to the small angry bruise purpling under Lena's skin at her wrist. Kara's face paled instantly and she picked up Lena's hand as if it were fine glass and studied it closer.
Lena felt worry and fear shoot through her chest as Kara's look darkened. "I'm fine, Kara." She tried to assure again, a little more desperate for Kara to hear the sincerity in her words, because a little bruise was nothing compared to what might have been had she come face to face with pavement, bike and a two hundred pound man.
Kara shook her head in a short quick movement. "No." She shuddered in a low whisper. Her lip quivered as the guilt washed over her face. "No, I hurt you."
Lena swallowed the lump that was building in her throat at how quickly Kara's whole world seemed centered on that one faint purple mark on her wrist. She twisted her hand that Kara was so intently studying to grab hold of Kara's and shake it to try to gain Kara's attention. "Look at me Kara."
Kara kept her eyes down as a tear tracked down her face. Lena hesitated for a
second then reached slowly to lightly touch Kara's chin nudging it up in a quiet plea. Her voice, soft and gentle. "Please look at me."
Kara did but her eyes had trouble staying on Lena's, dipping down to her wrist and back up again. "I'm so sorry." She whispered.
"Don't be. You protected me." Lena spoke softly, her hand moved to Kara's cheek brushing a tear away, trying to will her words to matter. Kara looked pained when she met Lena's eyes again. "You protected me." She reiterated. "Can we focus on that? And the fact that you've single handedly saved me from falling three times today." Lena added with a raised eyebrow and crooked smile.
Kara nearly smiled at that. "Only twice. Skydiving doesn't count." Kara argued, though it was muted in its attempt at being playful. Delayed by the shadow that still hadn't fully left her once cheery features. Lena was just grateful she listened and that the focus was taken away from the tiny injury.
"That one counts the most! I was falling from 14,000 feet! How much more of a definition do you need?" Lena countered as she looked at Kara with both a fondness and a dare to challenge her in this matter.
Kara smiled weakly then gave Lena a small poke in the ribs causing her to flinch and gasp. Lena smiled as her eye searched Kara's. "You were there to catch me each time." She said affectionately, her voice going soft quiet. Before she allowed herself a moment to question it, she leaned forward and kissed Kara on the cheek. The moment her lips touched soft skin she felt the intake of breath when Kara startled in surprise. "Thank you." Lena whispered. She drew back slowly, their noses near touching and Kara's hand came up to Lena's face, her fingers feather-light against the smooth skin as if to keep her there. They lingered in that space for several moments, before Kara dropped her hand and nodded as she took a small step back. She lifted Lena's wrist to her lips and kissed it gently. "I'm still sorry this happened."
Lena's eyes fell to her wrist and the ghost of lips that she could still feel and swallowed thickly as her face heated up with a desperate sort of yearning.
"Come on. I still owe you lunch." Lena said, offering her hand and Kara looked down at it and smiled, before she took it and they walked off towards the rows of food stands parked near the souvenir shops.
"The trick is to aim between the two middle bottles to knock the rest over." Alex instructed as she took her aim and swung her shot hitting the two cans perfectly in the center only for two of the three bottom bottles to rebelliously stand tall as the others clattered to the floor. She straightened as a look of annoyance overtook her once confident expression.
Ruby saddled up next to her and crossed her arms. "You missed two."
"Yeah, I can see that, thanks Rubes… I still got two more throws." Alex said as she shook off her disappointment and aimed again. She threw the next ball hitting the bottle on the far left, knocking it over easily. "Ha! See, I can still win this."
"You know those games are rigged right?" Lena said as she and Kara approached them.
Sam chuckled and waved at the two in front of her. "They think they have what it takes to beat the system."
Ruby squared up and swung her arm in a practiced arche, the ball cutting down five of the six bottles and she jumped and squealed in delight. "Ha!" She exclaimed at Alex eagerly. "One bottle left and I still have two shots left!"
Kara stood next to the two of them and gave Ruby a high five. "Great job, Ruby! I wanna try!"
"Five dollars." The teenager in the booth said, thrusting out her hand with a bored expression. Kara reached for her handbag and frowned when she realized she had just spent the remainder of her cash on dippin dots earlier when she refused for Lena to pay for another when she had given hers away to a little boy who dropped his the moment the lady handed it to him. "Shoot. I'll have to find an ATM."
"Here." Lena held out a twenty. "Knock yourself out."
Kara smiled. "Be careful, after lunch, second lunch, dessert and now this, I'm starting to feel spoiled." She winked and then said more seriously. "I can pay you back."
Lena shook her head slowly as she kept her eyes trained on Kara's. "I won't accept it."
"What will you accept?" Kara asked as she took a step closer and pinched the bill in her hands but when she went to take it Lena smirked and held it firmly as she eyed Kara.
"What are you offering?" She countered back low and seductive. Her heart raced at this new little game they were beginning to play at. This blurring of lines that was full of temptation and intrigue. All day had been an onslaught of sensory overload. The soft lingering touches, the silent stares that felt weighted with meaning, the sweet sweet words of affection and care. It was beginning to pile up onto itself tipping Lena further over the ledge of lust and want she has been trying so desperately from falling off of. That didn't even take into consideration all the little things Kara had been doing over the last couple months. The thoughtful gestures and quality time, the dwindling amount of personal space between them, was all pointing towards a possibility that felt too good to be true.
"What are you doing?" Sam interjected as she leaned into Lena's side. Kara's eyes briefly darted to her, but returned to Lena's unwavering gaze just as quickly.
"What is happening right now?" Kara asked as her eyes continued to fix on Lena.
"You tell me." Lena answered back pointedly as she pulled the bill in a gentle test to see if Kara would draw closer to her. To her disbelief and sudden thrill she did. Far too easily than she would have guessed.
"I—" Kara whispered as Lena's playful challenge morphed into a weighted gaze as Lena's eyes dropped to Kara's lips.
"Oh for crying out loud!" Kara and Lena both turned quickly towards the game booth. "Just take the goddamn twenty already!" Alex called out, still facing away and completely oblivious as she continued studying the final bottle. "Some of us are trying to concentrate." She muttered distractedly, twisting the ball in her hand slowly before forming up and throwing it.
Kara narrowed her eyes and the ball veered from its straight path to the bottle in question and Lena smiled releasing the bill.
"What the heck??" Alex exclaimed with rankled frustration.
Kara turned to face Lena again who had the same look as if she was the one who just shot Alex's ball with lasers instead of herself. When their eyes met again Kara took a small step back, "Whatever that was…" Lena sucked in a breath as her eyes widened at the more overt declaration of what was happening between them "isn't over." Before sighing and turning around to hand the bill to the kid in the booth. She smacked the back of Alex's head and Alex grunted as she spun around and punched Kara in the shoulder. "Hey! What was that for?"
"So?" Sam asked Lena as she pulled her off to the side.
Lena crossed her arms and kept her eyes trained on Kara. "I'm not going to say it."
Sam chuckled and put her hands in her back pockets as she too stared ahead at the trio attempting to win a very cheap and rather ratty looking unicorn. "Right. And I'm not going to tell you I told you so."
"You better n—" Gun shots sounded followed by roars of screaming. Kara spun around and before Lena could blink she was standing in the back of a souvenir shop with Sam, Ruby and Alex. More people were rushing into the shop as screaming parents hovered protectively over their small children. Rapid gun fire echoing in the near distance.
Kara assessed each of them worriedly, her eyes falling on Lena's last.
"Go." Lena urged. Kara took one more appraising look at the store and pointed at Alex, before darting back outside and disappearing in a red blue blur.