"Hey, Kara?" Alex asked, upon finding her sister pacing excitedly by the front door.
"Yeah?"
"Did you guys make up?"
"Yeah, pretty much. Why?"
"Well, because I care. …Anyway… What are you guys up to today?"
"Headed to the beach. Hence the bathing suit?"
"Oh. Right. Wait! Do you think she could drop me off at the boardwalk? There was something I really wanted to see there. I'm sure Mom could pick me up on the way home; I just need a way to get there."
"I don't see why not. I'll call her and ask her to bring the Urus."
"The what?"
"It's a car, numb-nuts. Most of Lena's Lambo are 2-seaters. The Urus is the only recent Lambo that has rear seats."
"Um… Okay… I dunno how you'd even know that…"
"Anyway, hush, I'm dialing."
Rolling her eyes, Alex crossed her arms over her chest and waited.
"Hey, Lena," Kara greeted her partner through the receiver. "Do you think you could bring the Urus today, so we can drop Alex off at the boardwalk?"
"Of course! You caught me just in time. I was just about to leave the house in the Centenario. See you guys soon!"
"Thanks, Lee. Love you."
"Love you too, princess."
Blushing at the pet name, Kara ended the call.
"She say somethin' dirty?" Alex teased with a grin, seeing her sister's cheeks turn pink.
"No!" Kara snapped. "And if you don't knock that shit off, we're just gonna leave you here!"
"Alright, alright," her sister chuckled, putting her hands up in surrender. "Be polite. Got it."
Scowling, Kara rounded on Alex and told her, "You better 'got it,' or I'll punt your ass into next Tuesday."
"Oh, like you would," Alex laughed, rolling her eyes again.
"Don't test me, okay? This girl means the world to me. If you fuck anything up—"
Kara was startled into silence when her sister put a gentle hand on her forearm.
"Hey. I know that. I care about you, Kar. I would never mess anything up on purpose. Please, tell me you know that?"
"Well… You haven't exactly been…. welcoming… so…"
"Kara, come on. You think I'd hurt you on purpose? I mean I know I beat you with that little toy glitter baton when I was, like, seven, but that's different."
Kara laughed at this, remembering the incident like it had just happened moments before.
"I guess not," the blonde finally conceded. "You're just really mean sometimes. You take jokes too far."
"I don't deny that," Alex sighed. "I don't really know when to back off, lighten up, or keep my mouth shut."
"Well, work on it," Kara shot back, tone sharpening again. "Because I'm not gonna have you wreck the best thing that's ever happened to me."
Subtly gaping at her sister, Alex asked, "Do you… Do you really think she's the best thing that's ever happened to you?"
Kara felt her eyes welling with tears as she nodded and replied, "She is."
"Alright," Alex said firmly. "Then I'll be extra careful. But if she hurts you again, Kara…"
"She won't."
"And how do you know that?"
"I just do."
"Alright, listen. You can't possibly know that—"
But the two were interrupted by the light honking of Lena's car horn. When the girls stepped out of the house, they found Lena waving excitedly from inside the car. Kara couldn't help but smile at this, clutching the straps of her small backpack as she carried it to the car and placed it in the back seat.
"Gooooood morning, ladies!" Lena greeted them as they sat down, her tone chipper and bright. "Ready for a fun-filled day of adventure?"
"Hey, I'm just here for the ride - thank you, by the way - and not here to crash your party. I don't wanna get in the way," Alex told Lena seriously.
"You wouldn't be in the way. You can totally come hang out with us, if you want."
Warmed by Lena's genuinely kind offer, Alex still declined, saying, "No, thank you, Lena. I think you guys deserve some alone time together."
Lena shot Kara a glance and found her cheeks a deep shade of red. So, Lena thought. She knows what happened.
"It's really no problem if you want to join us," she asserted, snapping out of her thoughts.
Flashing a subtle scowl, Kara gave a light shove to Lena's knee, signaling that this invitation was less than welcome by her. Lena ignored her, wanting to be kind to Kara's loved ones - despite Kara's disagreement.
"It's really okay," Alex reinforced.
"Will you at least get ice cream with us this afternoon?"
With a sigh and reluctantly warm smile, Kara's sister gave a curt nod and conceded, "Alright. Just for ice cream, and only after you guys get to spend some romantic alone time on the beach."
"Deal."
Lena's broad smile softened Alex's heart. She had to admit… The celebrity was sweet, and it didn't seem forced or fake at all. She seemed genuine, kind, and caring - especially as it related to her sister. So Alex decided to drop her guard - if only a little bit - and relax some as she watched the two girls interact in the front seat.
Kara stared at Lena like a lovesick middle schooler for virtually the entire duration of the ride, and Alex absolutely noticed. But it wasn't just her sister who was infatuated. In fact, although Lena did a great job of keeping focused, safe, and attentive while driving, she did steal multiple glances at Kara which were filled with a combination of adoration and what Alex had to assume was at least a little bit of lust. The two were clearly love birds, and as much as Alex didn't trust the star to be 'good enough' for her sister - especially after the argument they'd apparently had the day before - she was happy to see just how content and in love they were.
When they finally arrived at the beach, about an hour outside of the city limits, Kara insisted on carrying the majority of their setup, including both beach chairs and each of their beach bags, leaving Lena to simply carry the towels. To Kara's surprise, Alex even offered to help carry a few more items for them, since their hands were mostly full and the cooler was heavy.
Grateful for the offer, Kara thanked her sister, but before they made it all the way to the beach, Kara gasped, "I forgot my backpack! I'll be right back."
They watched as Kara grabbed Lena's keys and ran back to the car.
After a few moments of awkward silence, Lena looked over at Alex and said, "So—"
"I need to tell you something," Alex told Lena, suddenly looking serious.
"Okay?"
"If you hurt her again, Lena…"
"Hey, I'm not going to—"
"I will fucking kill you."
"I'm not gonna—"
"Don't. I mean it. If you make her cry, ever again, I will ruin your entire career and then murder your bitch ass."
"Hey. Come on. Take it easy. You know I love her. I would never hurt her on purpose, okay?"
Giving a slight scowl - just to emphasize the seriousness of her words - Alex added, "Ruin. Your. Career. Do you understand?"
"Alex," Lena sighed. "I don't give a fuck about my career. My mom might, but I don't."
"Then we'll jump to step two where I murder your ass."
"You're kind of taking this to Mach 5. I'm not an idiot, okay? She's the best thing that's ever happened to me, and I never want to lose her. So why would I hurt her on purpose?"
"First of all, I don't care if it's 'on purpose.' You make her cry again, and you're going to be begging me to kill you, because I'll puncture both your eyeballs and rip them out of your head, then cut out your tongue and make you eat it."
Mouth hanging slightly open, Lena stared at Alex until she was interrupted by Kara's return.
"Uh… Everything okay?" the blonde asked, looking concerned by Lena's expression of shock and the scowl Alex was wearing.
"Yep," Alex said, instantly forcing a cheerful tone. "We're all good here. Right, Lena?"
Giving a single, solid nod, Lena turned her attention back to the beach gear and started to set up the picnic blanket, towels, and cooler.
"I'm headed to the boardwalk," Kara's sister announced "See you guys sometime after lunch for ice cream?"
"Two o'clock sounds good," Kara offered. "Time to digest lunch and get hungry again."
"Yeah. See ya then," Alex agreed, shooting Lena a warning glance before walking away.
"What did she say?" Kara blurted, as soon as they'd sat down on the picnic blanket.
"Nothing," Lena spat out, looking away.
"Lena," the blonde cautioned. "Don't lie to me."
"It's nothing, okay? We just had a private little chat. You don't need to know the contents. Let us have a moment, alright?"
Raising an eyebrow, Kara shrugged her shoulders, saying, "Whatever," and grabbed a drink out of the cooler.
They sat like that for a while before Lena suggested, "Wanna put our feet in the water?"
Finally smiling, the younger girl nodded, stood up, and held out her hand to help her partner to her feet. Lena accepted her hand and allowed herself to be pulled up, then followed Kara to the edge of the water.
Kara took Lena's hand and held it, noting how perfectly they fit together, and was quiet for a while as they walked along the shore.
Eventually, Kara stopped and looked over at her girlfriend, saying, "Lena?"
The star stopped in her tracks and looked over at Kara, responding, "Yeah?"
"I have your birthday present," the blonde responded. "Can I give it to you? It's not Cartier or Tiffany's or anything, but I—"
"You didn't have to get me anything, Kara. First off, I hate my birthday. Secondly, I only need you."
"Can… Can I just…"
With an encouraging smile, Lena told her, "I appreciate it, Kar. You can give it to me, if you really want to."
"I do," Kara said, biting her lip as she pulled a small wrapped box from her pocket.
Lena opened it slowly, wondering curiously what Kara possibly could have gotten with virtually zero money, but feeling immensely grateful for any gift at all.
As soon as she opened the box and examined the gift, her mouth fell open, and she gaped, "Kara, how did you—?"
"I, um… I sort of… um… started working a little while ago…to get it…" the blonde confessed, blushing with embarrassment. "It's not much, but—"
"Oh, my god, Kara! You got a job just to get me this?! It is, hands-down, the most beautiful gift I've ever gotten. Thank you so much, Kar," Lena shared, her eyes welling with tears from the intense emotion of gratitude that was flooding her.
"But it's—"
"It's even got our initials on it!" the brunette suddenly noticed, flipping the item over.
The bracelet in the box was white gold and had a small skateboard connecting the two pieces of metal that were meant to wrap around one's wrist. On the bottom of the little skateboard, 'K & L' was etched.
"It was… I had it… um… custom made… I just thought… it was one of our first bonding experiences, and it meant the world to me, and I know you've been practicing your skateboarding recently, and that you really liked it, and—"
Cutting Kara off completely, Lena surged forward, cupped her partner's face with her free hand, and kissed her hard. The blonde, taken by surprise, kissed back after a brief moment of hesitation, and wrapped her hand around the back of Lena's neck to pull her closer. Neither of them were bothered by the few loud cat-calling whistles they heard from the individuals passing by who were watching the kiss.
"I love you so much," Lena breathed, upon finally pulling away.
"I love you, too, Lee," Kara whimpered, tears dripping down her cheeks as she kissed her partner again, this time with slow, careful intention.
After Lena had her girlfriend put the bracelet on her, the two walked slightly deeper into the water.
Eventually, after wading for a while, Lena decided it was a splendid idea to splash Kara all the way up to her neck, as she was only in the water to about half-way up her thighs.
Letting out a shrill shriek, Kara gasped and glared at her partner.
"Dude, what the fuck?"
"Just thought you might wanna cool off," Lena grinned mischievously.
"Ugh! Jerk!"
Kara shoved Lena back playfully, causing her to lose her footing in the sand and fall backwards into the water. As she was falling, though, she grabbed Kara's hand and pulled her in too.
Of course, the blonde still looked horrified, but instead of getting angry, she simply dragged Lena closer to the shore, straddled her lap, and leaned in, kissing her hard and not pulling back. This continued until Lena let out a soft moan, which she had been trying to fight back every other time they'd kissed. This was just too hot. Kara's dominance was killing her.
"I love you," Lena breathed, between fevered kisses.
"I love you, too, baby," Kara replied, continuing to kiss her over and over.
After a little while longer of playful kissing, shoving, and splashing, Lena sighed, "I think it's lunch time."
Kara agreed and reluctantly followed Lena out of the water back to their spot on the beach where they ate lunch and relaxed in the sand until Lena's phone alarm went off, signaling it was 1:45 PM. After putting their things back in the car, they walked hand-in-hand over to the ice cream shop on the boardwalk to meet Kara's sister. Once they'd finished their sweet tooth-satisfying snack, the three made their way to the car and headed back to the sisters' home.
Saying goodbye to Lena after such a wonderful day made Kara's stomach drop. In fact, standing on her porch steps, she found herself unable to stop kissing the brunette, embarrassingly clinging to her partner.
"Hey," Lena whispered. "It's okay. I'll see you after school tomorrow."
"I have to work…"
"I could come by before and bring you to class?"
"Really?"
"Totally."
"I love you, Lena. Thank you."
Kissing Kara's cheek, Lena smiled and said her goodbyes before heading back to her own home to face her undoubtedly furious mother.