"Where have you been?" Kara's mother snapped, looking cross upon her entrance through the front door.
Immediately, Kara turned on her sister and snapped, "I told you to tell Mom I was going to be with Lena! Why didn't you tell her?"
With a small smirk, Alex gave an avoidant shrug. Furious as she sensed that her sister had intentionally sabotaged her to get her in trouble by allowing their mother to think she was God-knows-where, the blonde took a threatening step towards Alex and scowled at her.
"You did this on purpose."
Another shrug from Alex made Kara's blood boil.
"Kara," Eliza sternly chastised. "I don't care if you told your sister or not. Or whether she told me. It doesn't matter. You should have told me where you were going! If you want to go out, you just need to ask me first."
Shoulders slumping, Kara looked down and gave a weak nod of understanding.
"But Mom," Alex cut in dramatically. "This girl is bad news."
Pausing to consider her daughter's accusation, Eliza replied cautiously, "How so?"
"She's a celebrity that's been known to—"
"Shut up!" Kara screamed, roughly shoving Alex backwards. "You don't even know her!"
Scowling back at her sister, Alex shoved back and challenged, "Don't touch me! And she's using you."
"HOW?! I have nothing! She's the only one who has ever accepted me as I am without asking for anything."
"KARA!" their mother roared, grabbing the back of the girl's shirt and pulling her backwards, away from her sister. "You will not lay hands on each other!"
"How is she using me?!" the blonde shouted, not quite pulling away from her mother, who was holding her back, but tensing her muscles in protest. "I fucking dare you to come up with one reason."
"You're a charity case. She gets to help you and feel good about herself. You're a fucking project. This girl knows nothing about you or our family or life in poverty. She just wants to have some fun with a toy that worships her!"
"SHUT UP!" Kara barked harshly. "I'm not her project! And I don't 'worship' her."
Alex let out an exaggerated, sarcastic laugh as she rolled her eyes and argued, "Yeah, okay. Who's the lock screen on your phone?!"
"Dad," Kara shot back matter-of-factly, sounding smug.
"Who was it before you met her?"
Alex had her there. It had been Lena.
"You stalked her fucking instagram like a groupie!" Alex sharply pointed out.
"Fuck you, Alex," Kara said, her tone no longer aggressive, but rather sounding disappointed and even hurt.
"Don't you dare speak to your sister that way!" Eliza cut in, finally fed up with her daughters' argument.
"Are you kidding me?!" Kara protested. "She literally started this!"
"And I'm finishing it. Alex, go to your room. Kara… Outside. You're going to help me stack wood."
"What!? Why?!"
"Because you need to contribute to this family, and I'm tired of you bailing on your responsibilities here."
"But—"
"Outside. Now."
Scowling and looking down at her feet, Kara stomped out of the house, slamming the back door behind her.
~!~!~
Meanwhile, Lena was having an equally uncomfortable and infuriating confrontation with her own mother.
"Who is this girl?!" her mother asked her, upon inadvertently hearing from her daughter's assistant that she'd been with someone that the woman didn't know. "And why are you associated with an impoverished nobody?!"
"She is not nobody!" Lena returned with firm enthusiasm. Then, after a pause, her tone lowered into one of pensive sadness, and she added, "She's everything."
Jaw dropping, Lillian Luthor stared at her famous daughter in disbelief.
"Have you lost your mind?!"
"Maybe," Lena mumbled, shrugging her shoulders. "What's it to you? You don't care about me anyway. All you care about is money and your pristine reputation. And who's responsible for that, mother? Me!"
Gasping, Lillian snapped, "You are never to associate or even speak to this girl again. And if I find out you have… I'll make you very, very sorry. Is that clear?"
Lena laughed bitterly and replied, "Crystal clear, Mother."
"Good," Lillian replied, smoothing her hair back to calm herself. "Now, go to your room. You're not to leave this house."
"I'm an adult, you know! I don't have to do what you tell me!"
Taking her turn to laugh, the girl's mother challenged her, "Oh? You think I can't ruin your career, Lena? You think all these things you have are yours? That you've earned them? Hardly. What is given can be taken away. You are where you are today because of me. You owe even ounce of your success to me."
"You're right," Lena said after a brief pause. Then, her voice a razor's edge, she added, "This is all your fault."
Mouth hanging open once more, Lillian stared at her daughter.
Again, Lena spoke, saying, "Everything I do is your fault. Everything I am is your fault. I am the way I am because of you."
"GO. TO. YOUR. ROOM," her mother bellowed, slamming her fist on the kitchen table beside her, the boom of the impact ricocheting off the excessively high ceiling and echoing through the room.
"Thank fuck," Lena laughed. "I can't stand to look at your face for another fucking minute."
Back in her bedroom, Lena paced back and forth for several minutes before deciding on a course of action. Never talking to Kara again? That was simply impossible. And if she thought about it - really thought about it - Kara was the only one who had ever let her be her true self. And she was the only person who had ever loved her for who she really was, rather than simply adoring her for her fame. So, to let that go? In favor of fame and shitty family? No. That wasn't an option.
But her anger took precedence over her desire to talk to Kara in that moment. She was afraid to let her fury show, at least in front of her new best friend. So instead, Lena turned the anger inwards and reached for the only tool she knew how to use to numb the pain, if only for a little while.
The consequences were worth the payoff, at least to Lena in that moment. She'd feel differently later when the inescapable aftermath made itself known.
But for now, Lena stepped into her own private bathroom and dug through the medicine cabinet above the designer sink and pulled out a pair of hair cutting scissors that were painfully sharp. As tears poured down her cheeks - the flow was as unstoppable as her pain - Lena collapsed onto the cold, marble bathroom floor.
Slowly, as her body shook with sobs, Lena pulled her pants down and watched as her tears dripped onto her thighs. After a few moments of intense tears and building anger, she spread the blades of the scissors and pressed one edge to the inside of her thigh. Small red bubbles, as angry as she was, pooled up around the blade, leaving a clean, dark line of blood behind.
After an initial gasp of pain, Lena let out an audible sigh of relief as she felt her emotional turmoil fade into the background. Soon, the buzz of the third red line of fury eased her suffering just enough for her to climb into her bed with a washcloth pressed against the wound. It didn't take long for her to fall asleep.
In the morning, when she saw the 12 missed texts from her best friend, her heart leapt into her throat, a sense of panic gripping her tightly. Lena was shocked by the number of missed messages and was instantly worried that something terrible had happened, so she unlocked her phone as quickly as she could and opened the texts. Lena reasoned that she must've slept through her phone's vibrations.
For the purpose of easy communication, they had actually exchanged numbers, rather than continue to message via social media platforms. In Lena's phone, Kara was listed as "Care Bear."
Lena…
Lena, I need you.
Alex got me in a shitton of trouble, and I don't know what to do.
They don't want me to see you anymore.
About an hour later, more messages had come through.
Lena? You there?
Listen, if… if you don't want to talk anymore…
Can you at least let me know you're okay?
Please?
Another hour later, Lena's phone received the last four texts.
I'm sorry if I did something wrong.
I understand if you don't want to talk.
I just hope you're okay.
I love you, Lena.
"FUCK," Lena cursed, typing her response as quickly as possible.
She hated the thought of Kara thinking she'd done something wrong, or that she didn't want to talk to her anymore.
I'm so sorry! I got in a fight with my mom and was just… feeling awful… so I just… fell asleep. I'm okay, I promise! And you didn't do anything wrong!
Then, a few minutes later, after no response from her friend, Lena added:
My mom doesn't want me to talk to you anymore.
Finally, Kara texted back, lifting the weight off of both of their chests.
It's because I'm poor, isn't it?
Lena sighed, not wanting to tell Kara the truth.
Yeah…
Laying in bed - she hadn't bothered to get up, get dressed, brush her teeth, or even go to the bathroom - Kara felt tears well in her eyes. First, Alex got her in a shitton of trouble with their mother. Now, even Lena's mother was against her.
I understand.
Eyes wide in shock - how could she give up so easily? - Lena typed back.
Are you kidding me? Just like that, you're going to just… take it? Give up on us?
Mouth falling open, Kara stared at her screen, trying to figure out if she was hallucinating or misunderstanding or what.
Us?
Lena's eyes went wide too at that reply, realizing the possible implications of what she'd said.
I just meant… you know. Our friendship.
Kara sighed, seeing Lena's reply. Her fingers moved slowly, reluctantly, over the screen as she sent her response.
Oh.
Hesitating with her reply as she stared at the screen for a solid two minutes, Lena tried to take deep breaths. Us, she'd said. Us. She hadn't really thought about it; it had just come out. But if… if she meant 'us us,' then why lie and say, 'our friendship?' And if she didn't mean 'us us,' why did Kara sound so disappointed in her one-word reply?
Feeling the gears in her brain turning full-force, Lena bit her lip and looked away from the phone, her eyes falling on the rag resting over her thigh, which was soaked in her blood.
Shaking her head at herself, she resolved to shut down any thoughts of 'us us' and swore to herself that the 'us' was just their friendship. After all, she reasoned, who would want to be with someone who was as messed up as she was? At least romantically. Lena was surprised Kara was even her friend at all, and she didn't even know half of the things that she struggled with. And Lena wasn't about to tell her. No way. So, she finally replied:
So… Are you going to stop talking to me?
Kara thought hard about this, feeling confused and conflicted by the question.
Don't I have to?
Lena responded immediately.
No. I wouldn't let anyone come between us. I told you that.
Eyes slightly widened in surprise, Kara typed back:
What if she finds out?
Lena laughed out loud as she texted her reply.
I don't care, Kara. I really don't care. I just need you in my life, Care Bear. Always.
The nickname, which Lena had never openly directed at her, made Kara blush.
I just want to respect… I dunno. The rules, I guess.
Again, Lena laughed before replying.
Fuck rules, man. Rules are made to be BROKEN. I do what I want!
Kara laughed too and reflexively hugged her phone to her chest, feeling her heart swell with adoration, all the while wishing it was Lena she was putting her arms around. Sure, she was embarrassingly disappointed with Lena's reply of 'our friendship,' but her kind words always cheered Kara up, so she held onto those and made suer to treasure them fully. The smile remained on her lips as she responded:
Me too.