Author: Ashley

Title: Contractually Yours

Rating: M - Mature

Part: 17/?

Pairing: Mon-El and Kara Danvers (Zor-El)

Word Count: 3,100

Summary: Long ago, the Daxamites chased the Kryptonians off of their shared world. They were forced to live on a nearby moon. That Kryptonian moon is now running out of resources, while the Daxamites' planet is becoming a wasteland. The Royal Families have decided to come together in a truce to help everyone live better lives; a truce made with a signed contract involving their children; a contract that the children have no say in. Arranged Marriage Karamel AU.

Disclaimer: I don't own Supergirl, DC Comics or anything related to such things. The ideas, dialogue and plot points of this AU were inspired by the show, but they are my own. Plagiarism isn't nice. Please don't steal my ideas.

A/N: Hi all,

Too lazy to write much of a Note today, besides I've been writing a lot today for future chapters, so I'd like to get back to that while my muse is still here.

Thanks for sticking with this one, and enjoy!

Chapter Seventeen: Waking Up Alone

Day Forty-Eight

Kara's eyes fluttered open and she groaned at the morning light streaming into her bedroom. They'd finally installed her window last week, along with adding a second mattress beneath her current one. The additional mattress didn't make the bed any more comfortable, but she liked the window. It was great and she was thankful for it; she loved being able to get a glimpse of the outside world while she was stuck in the Palace, but she didn't have curtains yet and she was not appreciative of how bright the sun was when she'd had so very few hours of sleep. She turned over in her bed, facing the wall as she slammed her eyes shut again.

It likely would have been less bright if she'd just stayed in the entertainment room last night.

With him.

But she couldn't.

She'd woken up after hearing a sound in the hallway; one of the servants walking past and closing the door to the room she'd been asleep in. She'd sleepily taken in her surroundings when she'd realized she was in Mon-El's arms, her face pressed to his chest as he lay back against the arm of the sofa, his feet still awkwardly flat on the floor. Her shoulder was crammed against his side as she'd obviously fallen asleep and fell into him at an uncomfortable angle.

She'd panicked.

Upon realizing where she was, her heart had started to pound, her throat tightened up and she had to struggle to contain the nerves running through herself enough to slowly slip out of his arms instead of racing to the door like she wanted to. He hadn't stirred at all when she'd gotten up from the sofa, so she quickly moved to the door and back to her own room.

And now here she was.

Lying in her own bed, a funny feeling in her chest when she thought about being back in his arms. A weird flutter that made her nervous. A terrifying feeling.

She squeezed her eyes shut harder. Just a few more minutes. She just needed a little more time to herself before showing her face at the breakfast table. Hopefully Mon-El had forgotten they'd fallen asleep together. Maybe he'd think he'd imagined it. She only hoped that he wouldn't bring it up in front of everyone.

Mon-El's eyes fluttered open and he looked down at the fluffy blonde hair tickling his nose. He grinned as he lifted an arm, his hand sliding through the golden locks to settle them back against her skull. He kissed the crown of her head before whispering, "Wake up, Kara."

He felt her shift against him, a soft exhale against his neck.

"It's morning," he continued. "We're gonna be late for breakfast," he urged gently.

He felt her push her nose against his neck, trying to burrow her face deeper against him. "Nooo," she sighed. "Not yet."

"My mother will be upset if we're late," he continued, his hand moving to slide down her back, fingernails gently scratching against the blanket draped over their bodies.

"I don't care," she whispered back. "I just want to stay here with you."

He grinned, his head leaning backward and against the arm of the sofa. "Okay," he agreed. "Just a little while longer."

He settled back against the sofa as his grip on her tightened, both of his arms pulling her in close.

His eyes fluttered open again and he looked down in front of him where Dream Kara had been.

Dream.

Always a dream.

He sighed before groaning. He had one leg on the sofa, the other hanging down toward the floor. His neck was stiff and his back was crying out in protest of each little movement he made as he sat up. He looked around the room. Kara was nowhere to be found.

But he could still faintly remember the feel of her body against his own; her shoulder pressing into his side as she leaned into him. But now she was gone.

That shouldn't be surprising. Why would she stick around? Well, he'd thought that they'd made some progress last night. They were bonding over a late dinner and he'd felt a connection with her when he'd shown her the people of his city that she'd be helping him help with this marriage. Maybe it was all just too much for her.

His hands rubbed at his eyes as he stood up. He checked the time before realizing that he was already a half hour late for breakfast.

"You're late," Rhea said sternly as Mon-El finally made his way into the dining hall.

"Sorry, I overslept," he apologized as he took his usual seat at the table beside Kara. "But I see you all decided to start without me anyway. No harm done."

"We have a busy day ahead of us. We couldn't waste who knows how long waiting for you to arrive." Rhea paused for a moment before, "Maybe you wouldn't oversleep if you spent the night in your own bed," she challenged.

Mon-El looked at her before looking over at Kara, whose eyes were wide as she looked down at her breakfast plate.

"Can we not talk about this now, Mother?" he asked. "I'd just like to eat my breakfast."

"No," she responded curtly. "We're going to discuss this when I say we will. Son, you didn't return to your room last night. Princess, you did. You two should be spending your nights together. It's been well over a month. No more of this nonsense."

"I wouldn't exactly call it nonsense…" Kara muttered quietly, mostly to herself.

"Excuse me?" Rhea's voice boomed. Kara's eyes lifted from her plate as she looked at the woman. "Do you have something to add, Princess?"

Kara jumped slightly when she felt Mon-El's hand slide onto her knee; his palm pressed against her, the warmth of him coming through the fabric of her dress, his thumb moving back and forth. She looked over at him in silent thanks for his attempt at comfort against his mother's wrath, the corner of her lip curling up slightly in a half smile.

"I said that I wouldn't call what's happening here 'nonsense'. Considering the way you and my parents smushed us together like dolls to suit your own agendas without even consulting us first, I think we're doing pretty well for it only having been a month. We're trying."

Mon-El worked at trying to stifle his chuckle. She clearly didn't need his defence. She was pretty good at defending herself against his parents all on her own.

"Well, four and a half months will fly by and the wedding will arrive sooner than you think," Rhea stated, "so I suggest that you try harder."

Kara's gaze returned to her plate as she continued her breakfast.

He still hadn't moved his hand from her knee.

Hadn't anyone else noticed that he'd stopped using his right hand to eat? His right hand had abandoned his utensils in favour of his left so that he could continue his meal. He was still stroking his thumb back and forth slowly and she found herself starting to feel less tender comfort and more of that tingly, fluttery, nervous feeling in her stomach.

She didn't hate it.

Part of her wanted to see how long he'd keep his hand there against her; the other part of her wanted to shove his hand off of herself so that she could relax and get her focus back on breakfast.

His parents were discussing something with each other, but she couldn't hear the words coming out of their mouths; her heart pounding too loudly in her ears. She slowly slid a hand under the table and placed it on top of his. She squeezed his hand gently and he looked over at her. He grinned at her; a cheesy smile that almost made her laugh out loud, like he'd just been caught sneaking a cookie before dinner. She slowly slid his hand off of her knee, and he easily pulled away without protest.

Whew, at least she could focus now.

She watched as his hand returned to an abandoned utensil and he continued working on his meal as if nothing had happened between them.

But something had happened between them.

Somewhere in between his helping her climb out of the Palace window, touring the decimated downtown streets of the city, and falling asleep together on the sofa last night…something had happened.

Her eyes were now drawn to the dimples in his cheeks, to the scruff of his chin, to the muscles of his arm as they rippled while he moved the food around on his plate. She wanted to take his hand and put it back on her knee again so that the fluttery feeling inside of her would return.

She shook her head. What was she doing? She was interested in Mon-El now? When did that happen? Surely she couldn't have changed her mind with one single night out with the guy…

One single night where he helped her see that this contract wasn't only about them and their happiness; it was about the people on this planet that desperately needed their help.

One single night where he showed her that he was capable of thinking of more than just himself.

She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't even realize that she had finished her breakfast, as had everyone else. The servants were returning to pick up the plates and clear the rest of the table. She watched as Rhea and Lar Gand left the table, voices murmuring about the orchestra they were looking into hiring for the wedding.

"So, where did you go last night?"

It took Kara a minute before she realized that Mon-El was talking to her.

"What?"

"You left. Why did you go back to your room last night?"

Because you make me nervous.

Because sleeping in your arms freaked me out.

Because I actually really enjoyed sleeping next to you and that scares me.

Instead, "The sofa was really uncomfortable. I was having trouble sleeping," she stated.

"Oh," he nodded. "Okay, I was just making sure-"

"Uhm," she interrupted, "my parents are supposed to be returning to the planet today to discuss some of the modifications to the buildings around here. We need to discuss some things before we meet with your parents about it all. So…I should really go get ready."

"Yeah, sure," he nodded, barely surprised at her quick change of topic. "Tell them I say hello."

She nodded with furrowed eyebrows before smiling softly. That was an awfully civil and decent thing for him to say.

"You know where to find me if you need my input on anything before talking with my parents," he continued.

She furrowed her eyebrows again. Since when was he so into helping? "Yeah. I think we'll be fine though. I'll make sure to mention checking out downtown first. Working on better schools and stuff for the children."

He smiled, "That's great."

"Okay, well…" she paused. "I'm gonna go then."

"Okay."

"…okay."

Kara moved to head back to the staircase when he called out again.

"You know, last night…I didn't hate it or anything. I mean…" he paused and crinkled his eyebrows. "I just know how you must feel about me and stuff, but I had a good time and wouldn't be opposed to doing something like that with you again." She watched as he nervously shoved his hands into his pockets. "Just…you're not bad company or anything."

She almost laughed at how awkwardly he tried to explain having a good time with her, without outright telling her that he'd had a good time with her. She could see his cheeks starting to darken in a blush. When he started to turn away to head down the hall, she smiled before surprising even herself in calling out.

"Just so you know, I didn't hate it either."

He briefly turned back, just enough to shoot a grin in her direction.

There it was.

The flutter was back.

Day Sixty-One

Mon-El was sitting in the entertainment room, his hand grasping the television remote and scrolling through the channels. There was nothing decent enough on television to bother watching. Maybe he should just watch a movie. He scrolled through some of the choices before it hit him.

Maybe he should go find Kara and ask if she wanted to join him for a movie. He grinned as he abruptly stood from the sofa.

That's exactly what he wanted to do.

Somewhere along the way the last two months, he'd really started to enjoy her company. She seemed to be easing up around him. His jokes were funnier to her now; fewer eye rolls and more smiles. She didn't leave the room when he walked in anymore.

A few days ago, they were walking together through the hallway upstairs and she'd tripped. Her hand had reached out on instinct to grab onto him to stop herself from falling, and even after she'd recovered, it was a solid four or five seconds before she pulled her hand from his arm.

Progress!

He checked the time. It was still early enough in the night for a movie, but also late enough that Kara was probably already in bed with a book. He made his way from the entertainment room on the first floor up to his bedroom to see if she was asleep. His room was dark, so he flipped on the light and he noticed that her bedroom door was open. The lights were off, so he moved toward it and realized she wasn't in bed. He flipped on the lights just to be sure, but the room was definitely empty.

He walked down the hallway to the library to see if she was still up reading on the sofa. Not there either. He furrowed his eyebrows. Surely she hadn't gone out for the evening. Where would she have gone? If his parents would have found out, they would have made sure he left with her. And clearly from past experience, she wasn't that experienced at sneaking out of the house.

He made his way back to the entertainment room, poking his head in and out of a few of the other rooms just to see if he could spot her, but he hadn't seen her anywhere by the time he made his way back. He was about to settle in on the sofa again when he thought about the reading room next door. He went back into the hallway before turning into the next room and that's when he found her.

She was lying on one of the reading sofas, the lamp on the table next to her still brightly lit and shining in her face. There was a book lying open, pages down on the sofa next to her, her bookmark lying on the floor. Her face was scrunched up as if the light were bothering her, her eyebrows furrowed in discomfort.

He almost laughed out loud. She had read herself into so much exhaustion that she'd fallen asleep without the energy to press a simple button on the lamp to allow herself the comfort of darkness?

He moved toward her sleeping body, his hand reaching to turn off the offending lamp. He crouched down and picked her bookmark up off the floor and he flipped her book over, sliding the marker into the pages before closing it and placing it on the table next to the sofa. Her face hadn't un-scrunched. She didn't look any more comfortable now that the light was turned off. She'd likely be much more comfortable in her own bed.

He bent down toward her, his arms sliding between her body and the sofa beneath her as he scooped her into his arms. With her head resting on his shoulder, her arms tucked into his chest, he began to walk back to the staircase and toward her bedroom. She was as light as a feather in his arms, even though he could feel her body completely melting into his hold. If only she trusted him that much while she was awake.

He carefully made his way through the two doorways until he was inside her bedroom. He held her tightly as he balanced her body with one arm while he turned back the covers on her bed. He reluctantly placed her down on the mattress, wishing that the walk from the reading room to her bedroom was a thousand times farther away than it really was. He stretched out her body on the mattress as best he could before pulling the blankets up and over her body, tucking them carefully under her chin and around her form. He stood there a moment and stared down at her.

She really was beautiful.

Well, he'd thought that about her since the moment he'd laid eyes on her in the conference room that first day they'd met. But as the days went on, as she started opening up a bit more to the possibility of actually learning to tolerate living in this Palace, he got to see how beautiful of a person she was on the inside, too; how open and caring her heart was, even just through the little things she'd say in casual conversation that she probably didn't even think he was listening to.

She made him want to be better; she made him want to be like she was. He didn't know why. He didn't understand how this girl had come into his home and stirred up all these feelings inside of him that he'd never felt before.

It scared him.

It made him want to run out of the house and to the club to find someone to hook up with; something familiar that calmed his nerves because it didn't matter what those women thought of him; it didn't matter what they needed or wanted. Those times were selfishly all about himself.

He shook his head as he knocked his thoughts away. He was still standing there in the darkness of her bedroom staring down at her sleeping body. He thought that he'd better leave before she woke up and he scared her half to death. He reached down one final time and tucked some of her blonde hair behind her ear and away from her face.

"Goodnight, Kara," he whispered quietly as he moved to leave her room, shutting the door silently behind him.

He didn't see Kara's eyes pop open, alert and wide awake.

A/N: Please leave some love if you have the time.

(Apologies to anyone on Twitter that read the sneak peek and thought it was REAL)

Twitter: _ashleymaria_

Twitter Tag for Sneak Peeks, etc.: ContractuallyYours