"That was awesome," Lena commented, upon driving them to the city park.

As she stepped out of the car, Kara agreed, "Totally! You were a hot mess!"

"Hey!" Lena shouted. "It was my first time!"

"I guess the first time is always a mess, huh?" the blonde giggled, her words full of innuendo as she winked at her companion.

"Yep," Lena said nonchalantly. "Sure is."

"Whoa, dude. Gross."

"You started it," the brunette challenged with a grin.

Playfully shoving her friend's shoulder, Kara led the woman to the park, which the star had never actually been to.

"Aren't you gonna be recognized?" the younger girl asked, noting how noticeable the woman's outfit was.

"Probably not," Lena disagreed, pulling on the plain black sweater she'd worn to egg Kara's ex's car.

Although Lena's face was one of the most recognizable that Kara could think of, the hoodie definitely made her more difficult to identify. After all, what celebrity would walk around a city park in just a plain black sweatshirt?

After walking through the park a few times, Lena noticed a person who appeared to be homeless, sleeping on a park bench. Instinctively, she felt the slight pang of fear and subconsciously grabbed Kara's hand, squeezing.

"You okay?" Kara asked, tilting her head. Then, noticing what had caught Lena's attention and the fear she was showing, Kara sighed quietly, "Lena, there's a lot of people like that. People far less fortunate than we are. It doesn't mean they're going to hurt you. And no offense, but it's pretty prejudiced to react that way."

"I…" Lena started, biting her lip as embarrassment flooded her.

Kara was right. She was prejudiced. The stereotype of individuals who were homeless had definitely permeated her subconscious mind, and she was ashamed of it as Kara pointed it out. She'd never really thought about it before. It was an automatic reaction.

"It could have been either one of us, Lena. We've been very fortunate to have received the opportunities that have brought us where we are today. We just as easily could have ended up on that park bench ourselves."

"I dunno," Lena mumbled.

"What do you mean? We were very lucky to be born into privilege."

"I wasn't lucky. I worked hard to get where I am."

"How old were you when you had your first acting gig?" Kara said sharply, stopping in her tracks.

"I dunno," Lena said with a shrug. "Maybe six?"

"Yep. And who prepared you for that? Who paid for the headshots and dressed you nicely and brought you to the audition?"

Lena blinked several times, speechless.

"I…" she tried, but trailed off, knowing there wasn't much she could say to this.

"Your parents. Who were just as lucky as you to be born into affluence. If you hadn't had your parents pushing you into this career, you wouldn't be in it. Or at least not as far into it as you are."

"That's—"

"Not true? Where would you have gotten the money to dress nicely? How would you have gotten expensive headshots taken? How would you have gotten to the audition? You might not have even had a car. If you'd been born into a family of low socioeconomic status, with no money, or even just a family who didn't give a shit about you, you would not have been so successful."

"Wow, Kara. That's shitty."

"No, it's not. It's the truth. I'm not saying you don't work hard. I know you bust your ass. I'm just saying you wouldn't even be able to work hard at your job if you hadn't had those unique, fortunate opportunities. You've carried the torch, but your parents passed it to you, and most people don't get that chance. You are an extremely talented artist, Lena. But there are tons of people out there who would be talented too, if given the chance and encouragement and resources to pursue what you have. But they didn't get the same leg up that you've had. So… Some people end up on the streets. And that doesn't make them bad people. Do you have any idea how high the rate of homelessness for LGBTQ youth is? It's insane. People's parents kick them out, and they have nowhere to go. We're just lucky that's not us."

By the time Kara's educational but self-righteous monologue was over, Lena was slack-jawed and in awe of her friend's incredible, compassionate insight.

"I, um… I never would have thought of it that way. I guess 'pull yourself up by your bootstraps' is kinda bullshit, huh?"

"It really is. Especially for sexual or gender minorities and people of color."

Lena gave a weak nod, mumbling, "Sorry, Kara. You're totally right. I'm kind of a piece of shit."

"Hey. You're not a piece of shit. You just haven't seen what I've seen, living in poverty."

After a short pause, the brunette asked, "You know what amazes me?" When Kara shook her head slowly, Lena continued, "That you have almost nothing and yet you still consider yourself fortunate and lucky to be where you are. You appreciate the things you do have."

"I have a lot, Lena. I have a family who cares about me. I have a home to live in. I have clothes on my back. I even have a shitty cell phone with internet. And I have a best friend like you…" Hesitating after her last words, Kara added, "So I'm very blessed to be where I am, and I'm grateful for every opportunity I've been given. Especially meeting you."

Lena couldn't help but melt at this, and instinctively, she threw her arms around the blonde and squeezed her tightly.

"You're amazing."

Blushing slightly, Kara shook her head but didn't let go.

"Love you, bud," she whispered, the words falling out of her mouth without thinking.

"Love you, too, Kara…"

Slowly, Lena dipped her head down slightly to rest in the crook of Kara's neck, holding on tightly and falling into a world where only the two of them existed.

This was very quickly torn to shreds, however, when someone behind them grumbled, "If you fags are gonna stand there and be all fucking gay, at least get out of the fucking walkway."

Spinning around rapidly, the blonde scowled at the man, opening her mouth to speak.

But before she could form words, Lena roughly tugged her arm back and said sharply, "Let's go."

"No way!" Kara cried. "Let me—"

"Let's go."

Pulling her friend away, tugging hard on her wrist as she dragged her towards the car, Lena felt her blood boiling.

"Why did you do that? Why didn't you let me put him in his place?!" Kara shouted. "No one gets to talk to you like that in front of me!"

Expression softening, Lena looked into Kara's eyes and said, "You're really sweet, you know that?"

Shrugging and dropping her gaze, feeling embarrassed about her outburst, the blonde mumbled a quiet, "Not really."

Pushing the girl against the side of her car, Lena wrapped her arms around Kara again and held her there, once again resting her forehead in the crook of Kara's neck.

"You're perfect," the brunette whispered. "Don't ever think differently."

"I—"

"Hush," Lena said, pulling away and opening the car door. "Get in."

Once they were in the car, Kara let out a soft sigh.

"What?" her companion asked, looking over at her.

"You know what I hate to admit that I wish I had?"

"A dildo?"

Rolling her eyes at Lena, Kara shot back, "You wish. Anyway, no. I appreciate what I have and I'm grateful… but… it would be really nice to be able to drive. I don't even know how."

Staring in disbelief, Lena asked, "Seriously? You've never driven a car?"

"Nope, never."

"Whelp. There's that. We're going to a parking lot and you'e getting in this driver's seat."

"Lena, that's super illegal. You're not old enough to supervise my dr—"

"Oh, hush. Who's gonna pull us over in a parking lot?"

"Fair enough," Kara mumbled. "But I'm still not doing it."

Speeding away from the curb, Lena ignored her friend's protests and brought her to the nearest parking lot, which happened to be at the large local mall.

Before Kara could say anything, the brunette flew out of the car and rushed over to the passenger's side, throwing the second door open.

"Let's go."

"No way!"

"Driver's seat."

"Nope," Kara huffed, crossing her arms over her chest, tugging on the seatbelt for emphasis, and leaning back in the seat.

"Now."

Eyes slightly wide at the firm command - not really something she was used to hearing from Lena - Kara slowly unbuckled and stepped out of the car. Once she was in the driver's seat of the Lamborghini, she started to sweat as she gripped the steering wheel until her knuckles were white.

"Lena, I can't."

"Yes, you can. You'll never learn if you don't practice."

"But I don't—"

"Breathe, sweetheart. I'm right here, and it's not as hard as you think. Eyes always need to be focused on where you're trying to steer, okay? Don't look over at me. Keep your eyes forward for now and lower your hands a little on the steering wheel; it'll be more comfortable. Don't grip so hard. Let it slide through your hands as you turn the wheel."

"Lena, I can't," Kara repeated, her eyes welling with tears.

When her friend saw this, she reached over and wiped a few tears away, softly saying, "It's okay, Kara. You can do this, and I'm right here. Nothing bad is gonna happen. You'll be okay."

"But what if—"

"Easy. Just breathe, okay? Slow, deep breaths." When Kara obeyed and started to control her breathing, Lena instructed her, "Slowly - slowly - push down on the gas pedal with your right foot and steer the car out of the parking space, back onto the side road."

Hands shaking, Kara gently turned the wheel in the direction she'd been instructed to go and accelerated.

"Nice!" Lena exclaimed, clapping her hands as Kara continued to move the car along the side road that circled the mall. "Nice, slow acceleration. Steady as ever. You're a natural!"

Kara bit down on her lip until it nearly bled, her nerves getting the best of her, but her hands - though shaking - remained steady in terms of steering and keeping the car in the lines on the road.

They went around the mall twice before Kara finally spoke again, asking, "Can we stop now? My blood pressure is through the roof."

Laughing at this, the brunette challenged, "Let's hit a back road."

"No way! Are you kidding me? I'm not leaving this fucking parking lot."

"Come on. It'll be fun. You're really good at this. You totally got it. Just make sure you actually stop at red lights and stop signs."

"I know to stop at red lights and stop signs!" Kara shouted, scowling.

"Then let's see it, big shot."

Huffing, "Fine," Kara turned the car out of the parking lot and onto the main road, then took the first exit leading away.

Going a little slower than the speed limit, Kara made her way down the back road away from the center of town. About 15 minutes later, to her shock and horror, just as they hit almost-bumfuck-nowhere, the car's electrical system cut out as it sputtered to a stop.

"Oh, my God, I broke it!" Kara screamed, sweat immediately dripping down her forehead.

"You did not," Lena laughed. "Just something messed up with the battery or engine. We're fine."

"But I—"

"Kara," Lena said sternly. "Breathe. I'm gonna call my assistant to pick us up and have it towed to the garage. We're good. It's fine."

"But we're—"

"Kara. Relax. It's no big deal."

"But what if I—"

"Kara!" Lena cried a third time. "If you don't chill out, I'm gonna make you walk back to the house. Also, you're literally incapable of breaking this car just by driving it, so, like… cool it."

Starting to cry as she continued to blame herself, despite Lena's kind words, Kara covered her face in her hands. Setting her cell phone back on her lap, the brunette leaned over and cupped her friend's chin.

"We're fine. You're fine. It's fine," she whispered. But when she noticed Kara shaking, she leaned in and pressed her lips to the girl's forehead. "Shh. I'm gonna take care of this, and it's not your fault."

Whining, "You promise I didn't do it?" the blonde finally lifted her gaze and looked at Lena with flooded blue eyes.

"I promise."

"Okay."

"You did great, Kara. You were steady and acted calm, even if you didn't feel it. I'm proud of you."

This made the girl blush as she looked away again, which earned a bright smile from her companion.

Shortly thereafter, Lena's assistant came to pick them up and called the towing company for them. By that time, Kara was mostly calm, but this didn't stop her from squeezing Lena's hand for the duration of the ride back to her own house where Lena reluctantly dropped her off.