new words about characters I don't own
Thankfully going into week four Kara felt a little better, the initial anxiety about the potential project finally subsiding. But that didn't mean it was completely gone, however it wasn't as overwhelming. If anything, it lit a fire under her ass and forced her to really get her head in the game.
The pass-arounds they did that week were amazing, and she was met with praise from the majority of the crew. She'd gotten creative, doing things like quesadillas, chili, egg rolls, and chicken Alfredo. Some of it she did from scratch, other things were frozen appetizers they bought from Walmart and threw in the oven, and she'd even ordered some stuff from a few places to make things easier on them.
The change was noted by everyone, but most importantly J'onn, who patted her on the back on Friday night and told her she'd blown it out of the water that week. The look of pride he gave her to accompany the compliment put a spring in her step the whole time they were wrapping out. By the time she was climbing into the front seat of the truck she was practically bouncing.
She felt amazing as she drove home. She'd had a great week, not once getting stressed or overwhelmed. She'd been nice to everyone, helpful when people asked questions of her, and put out food she could be proud of. And to top it off, Clark had left her alone for the most part except for the occasional text to check in. She preferred it that way. It was nice when he just let her be, when she felt like he actually trusted her to do what was expected of her.
And when she got home and saw a text from Clark, she shoved down her initial reaction to cringe. Instead she took a deep breath as she opened the door to her house and walked inside, reading the text.
Clark: J'onn said you did great this week. Good job! Keep it up, rock star!
She smiled at that, thankful it wasn't more critiquing. Or another long, rambling paragraph of Clark's endless stream of thoughts like she sometimes got. No, this was perfect, and just what she needed.
The blonde typed out a quick response before quickly jumping in the shower. Then she was dressed and heading out the door again, jumping in her car to head to Noonan's. While she was anxious to get Lena alone again, the girls had suggested getting drinks. Even Nia wanted to go, to celebrate making it half-way through filming. And surprisingly, Lena wanted to go as well. Jess was going to be bringing her to the bar, and Kara knew there was an unspoken agreement between her and Lena that the actress would be going home with her afterwards.
When she got there, she was happy to see Lena and Jess already there. She was surprised to see Jack and Winn there also, though. But she didn't mind it. She'd gotten to talking to Winn more as the weeks went on, and she enjoyed his non-threatening male company. And Jack had yet to give her a reason not to like him.
"There she is! Everyone's favorite person on set!" Jack called as soon as he saw her, causing the blonde to balk and blush as a few of the other patrons in the bar turned to look at her. "Get whatever you want, Kara," he announced, pointing towards the bar, where Ray stood there gaping. "Put it on my tab!"
Kara nodded and gave a thumbs up. "You heard the man, Ray," she said with a grin, leaning over the bar and folding her arms on top of it. "My usual, on Mr. Spheer's tab."
"I can't believe Jack Spheer and Lena Luthor are in my bar at the same time," Ray commented, almost dumbstruck as he poured her drink. "I loved Jack in Rise of Knight." He handed her the drink, his hand slightly shaking. "Do you think it would be okay if I ask him for a picture?"
Kara smirked. "I think so. He loves taking pictures."
Ray's eyes went wide, and his face drained of most of its color. "Really?"
"Sure," Kara said with a nod. "Come on, I'll introduce you."
Ray instantly dropped the bar towel he was holding and attempted to smooth down his hair as he ran around the bar to meet Kara. As they walked towards the table, she could see Ray pulling at his shirt, trying to get out the wrinkles. It was almost cute, how flustered civilians got over celebrities.
"Jack, this is my friend Ray," she said when they got to the table.
"Hello, Ray," Jack said brightly, putting on a wide grin. "How are you?"
"I—I'm good, thanks," Ray managed to get out, the color coming back to his face, but now it was turning red.
"Ray's a big fan," Kara explained, clapping Ray on the back to show her support. "And if it's not too much trouble, he'd be very grateful if he could get a photo with you."
"Absolutely!" Jack said, not missing a beat.
He immediately jumped up and moved off to the side of the table and motioned for Ray to come closer. Ray reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, blindly shoving it at Kara before walking over to stand beside Jack.
"Alright, I guess I'm taking it," Kara muttered as she opened the camera on Ray's phone and pointed it at the pair.
When all was said and done Ray thanked Kara profusely before heading back to the bar. Kara was just about to grab a chair and sit at the table when Jack stopped her.
"Hang on," he said. "We never did get that photo of you and I, did we?"
Kara blushed slightly and shook her head. "It's fine, Jack. I don't need one."
"You sure?" Jack asked, shoulders falling a little.
Kara chewed her lip. She didn't want to make a fuss, but she also didn't want to hurt his feelings by turning him down, especially when she'd already taken one with Lena. "Well… If you don't mind."
"Of course I don't! I'm the one offering," Jack said with a smile. He pulled his phone from his pocket and handed it to Winn. "Would you do the honors?"
"Sure!" Winn hopped up to take the photo.
Kara stood next to Jack, somewhat unsure of what to do with herself. But thankfully Jack grabbed his own drink off the table and touched the rim to hers, posing in cheers for the photo. Kara smiled right before the flash went off, blinking afterwards as spots swam in her vision.
When she was finally able to sit down, she was thankful to see that Lena had subtly pulled another chair up to the table for her, right by her own. She smiled at the brunette briefly as she took her seat, situating herself so that her knee was touching Lena's. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the actress glance down and bite her lip, then she felt Lena pressing her knee more solidly into her own. The action caused her heart to flutter and a heat rise in her cheeks.
"Kara, what's your Instagram handle?" Jack asked, phone in hand and ready to post the photo.
"Oh, no, you don't have to tag me," Kara said quickly.
Lena, who still remembered the handle from the time she'd gone through Kara's page herself, had to bite her tongue and sip her rum and Diet Coke to stop herself from blurting out the answer herself. Thankfully someone else beat her to it.
"It's SuperKara," Winn said, smirking at her.
"How do you know that, Winn?" Kara demanded.
"I followed you last week," he informed her. "And you never followed me back, bitch."
Kara gaped at him. "Alright, sassy. Take it down a notch. I'll follow you." She pulled out her phone and opened Instagram, going to her recent followers and finding Winn. "There. Followed back. See?" She held up the phone for proof.
"It's not the same if I have to tell you to do it," he whined.
Kara looked around the table, then nodded her head at Winn. "Alright, what's with him?"
"Oh, Winn has already had two shots and is on his second drink," Jess explained, smirking at the small man across the table.
"Jack's driving!" Winn yelled at her before downing the rest of his drink. Then he stood, almost too quickly, nearly stumbling for a moment before steadying himself. "Now, I'm going grab another drink from that beefcake bartender. Anyone else want anything?"
"I want you to stop ordering drinks as an excuse to talk to him, grow some balls, and ask for his number already," Jack told him. "Do you want me to go with you? I can be your wingman."
"No, he likes you!" Winn said, putting his hands on his hips. "You'll just distract him." The small man blew out a breath. "Besides, I don't even know if he's gay."
"He's not, but he's bi," Kara offered before taking a sip, smirking over the rim of her drink as Winn went beet red.
"Is he single?" Winn asked, glancing over his shoulder to the man in question.
"I think so," Kara said with a shrug. "He and his last girlfriend Nora broke up about three months ago, and I haven't seen anything else on his Facebook about him dating anyone else."
Winn looked at Kara, his eyes lighting up. "Game on." He grabbed her by the wrist. "You. You're his friend. Come with me."
Kara stayed seated, glancing over at Lena quickly. She'd only just gotten here. She didn't want to leave her again so soon. "Um…"
"I'll go with you, Winn," Jess announced, standing from her seat. "Let Kara stay and rest. She's been on her feet all day."
Winn pouted, but released Kara nonetheless. "Fine."
As they walked off together, Jack turned to Kara. "You really did an outstanding job this week."
"Thanks," Kara said with a smile, taking another sip of her drink. "They increased our budget, so it was nice to be able to put out better stuff. I don't know how it happened, but I'm really glad it did."
Sitting beside her, Lena choked on a sip of her own drink, coughing a little. Kara immediately reached out a hand to rub Lena's back in soothing circles—purely out of reflex—until she realized the touch would be too familiar. But her hand was already halfway there, and it would look stupid to pull it back now, so she settled with giving the brunette a few light pats.
"You okay?" she asked, pulling her hand back quickly and placing it in her lap so she wouldn't be tempted to do something dumb with it again.
"I'm good," Lena said once she'd gotten her coughing under control, but her voice was raspy. She took a long sip of her drink, clearing her throat before going on, "Just swallowed wrong."
"That's what she said," came Sam's voice, and Kara turned to see her coworker standing there, a small smile on her face.
"Hey, you made it," Kara said, giving a wave. Normally she would have stood up to hug her, but Jess was right. She'd been on her feet all week, and she was wiped. Plus, her knee was still touching Lena's, and she didn't want to move it because she liked the contact, however small.
The brunette pulled up a chair, seating herself next to Jack. Thankfully they'd chosen a large table to accommodate them all, because Nia had still yet to show up. Sam already had a drink with her, and Jack pointed to it when she got settled.
"Please tell me you didn't pay for that," Jack said. "Everyone's drinks are on me tonight."
"I saw Winn and Jess at the bar, and they told me," Sam said with a nod. "Well, Jess told me. Winn was too busy drooling over the bartender."
"How did that look like it was going?" Jack asked, glancing over to check on his assistant. "Well?"
"I wasn't really paying attention," Sam said honestly, shrugging.
But a moment later they got their answer, because Jess and Winn were back, the latter beaming and practically skipping to his chair.
"We're going out for coffee tomorrow," Winn announced to the table.
"There you go! See? What'd I tell you?" Jack beamed and held up his hand for Winn to high-five.
"Thanks, dude," Winn said, slapping Jack's hand. He then turned in his seat to look at Ray wistfully across the bar. "He's so cute. And so fucking tall. I'm gonna climb him like a tree."
"Winn, down boy, it's just coffee," Kara said, chuckling.
Eventually Nia joined them, and then it was almost hard to hear over so many people talking at once. With seven of them, mini conversations broke out over the main conversation. Kara learned that Winn was a lot different outside of work, especially if he was drunk. At work he was quiet, somewhat reserved. Sure, she thought he was gay, but she wasn't completely confident in that assumption…Until that night, when he got a few drinks in him and his flamboyant side came out.
It was fun, being out with a group but able to be with Lena as well. Throughout the night, Kara kept stealing glances at the actress, smiling when their eyes met for the briefest moment. It was thrilling, but also agony. She wished she could just throw her arm over the back of Lena's chair, or reach out and move this one stray strand of hair from Lena's face that she didn't seem to notice.
When the brunette excused herself to the bathroom, Kara waited all of thirty seconds before standing and following her. She waited by the sinks until Lena came out of the stall, smirking when she saw Kara standing there.
"Well, hi," Lena said as she went to the sink and started to wash her hands.
"Hey," Kara said with a chuckle. She bit her lip, eyes traveling over Lena, who was dressed in a red tank top and dark skinny jeans. "You look beautiful tonight."
"Thanks." Lena smirked again, grabbing a paper towel from the dispenser and drying her hands before throwing it in the trash bin. "It's a change from the pajamas I've been wearing around your house, right?"
"It is," Kara said, taking a step closer. "But I like you when you're wearing nothing, too."
"Oh really?" Lena asked, inching closer herself.
She knew it was risky, that anyone could come walking in the bathroom door any second. But something about her liked the danger, liked the trill it sent through her. But then a moment later the bathroom door did open, and Kara instantly bolted into one of the stalls. Jess caught just a flash off blonde hair as the stall door closed, smirking and shaking her head before looking to Lena.
"I'm heading out," she told her boss. "Kara's giving you a ride home, right?"
Lena blushed at that. She hadn't discussed her arrangements for getting home with Jess. She just planned they'd done what they'd done last time. Waited it out until Jess wanted to leave, and then Kara jump in and offer to bring Lena home. That way it seemed natural and didn't draw attention to them. Yet somehow Jess had figured out the pair's unspoken arrangement. But at least she'd had the tact to wait and ask about it in private instead of out with the rest of the group.
"Uh, I hadn't asked," Lena said, though, to keep up the charade.
Jess smiled, somewhat knowingly. She turned her head to the stalls. "Kara, can you bring Lena home?" she asked loudly.
"Yep," came the blonde's voice from behind the stall door.
"Thanks," Jess called back, then looked to Lena again. "Then it's settled. I'll see you Monday."
Thankfully, not long after that, everyone else was ready to call it quits, so Kara and Lena didn't raise any eyebrows by taking off early. But whatever idea of lovemaking before bed Lena had were immediately dashed by Kara yawning the whole way to her house.
She tried not to let on how tired she was, but Lena could tell. She could hear it in her voice, see it in the way her shoulders slumped ever so slightly, and the way Kara shuffled her feet as she walked. As soon as they walked in the door, Lena was the one who led them straight to the bedroom. But even after she stripped down to just a pair of underwear, she simply climbed between the covers and settled herself in to go to sleep. Kara went down to just her boxers and a sports bra and climbed in beside Lena, instantly pulling the brunette towards her.
The blonde was asleep within minutes, her steady breathing and the warmth of her body comforting to Lena. She'd missed this, simply lying in Kara's arms at night. It was a joy she'd only known for a short time now, but one she'd grown to look forward to. She hated that she only got to enjoy this arrangement two nights a week, but this was the arrangement they'd made, the one they'd agreed to. But as she quickly drifted off that night as opposed to all the nights she'd spent alone—tossing and turning—she couldn't help but think it was incredibly dumb to limit their time to just the weekends.
Though that thought didn't stay long because a moment later she was asleep, not waking again until the next morning when Kara coaxed her from bed with coffee and the promise of crepes. And they were so good that they were worth getting out of bed for.
But once she had food in her and the coffee had kicked in, Lena was dragging the blonde right back to her room. She instantly pushed Kara on the bed and climbed on top of her, thankful she hadn't bothered to put on a shirt as soon as Kara's hands went to her breasts. A moment later, she was kissing her, tangling their tongues together. Then Kara shifted her hips, rolling them over so she was on top of Lena, trailing her lips to her jaw.
Just when she got to that pulse point, though, Lena stopped her.
"You cannot make another visible hickey," Lena said. "Last week I told makeup I'd done it with a curling iron, but I know they didn't believe me."
Kara chuckled, but nodded. "Okay, I'll make one where only I can see."
Lena bit her lip as she thought of the possible locations that could be. "Good. Thank you." But then Kara crawled off of her and stood up. "Wait, I didn't mean stop completely."
"I'll be right back," Kara said with a smirk. "I'm just going get something."
Without further explanation, Kara left the room and went to the kitchen going straight to the fridge. They'd used the last of the whipped cream for the crepes, so instead she grabbed the chocolate syrup. She was about to take it back to her room, but then she heard keys jingling in the back door, and she spun around in alarm to see Alex opening the door.
She jumped slightly when she saw Kara standing there, blinking in surprise. "Oh, so you are awake. Why the hell aren't you answering your phone?" She had a shopping bag full of Tupperware containers in her hand. "Here, I brought this for you."
"What is it?" Kara asked, taking the bag when handed to her.
Alex rolled her eyes. "Leftovers from Mom's. Kelly and I just got back from visiting. I texted you that I was bringing this over." She gave her sister a hard look. "Multiple times, in fact. When you didn't answer, I figured you were still crashing. That's why I came in the back, to try not to wake you. I was just going to leave it in the fridge and text you it was there… Whenever you finally got around to answering me, that is."
"Sorry," Kara said sheepishly, opening the fridge and tossing the bag inside. "I haven't been looking at my phone."
"Clearly," Alex said, glancing over her sister briefly. "Kara—quick question… Why are you half naked and holding a bottle of chocolate syrup?"
Kara tried to think of an answer, but nothing good came to mind. She stood there, bottle in hand, jaw hanging open slightly. Alex stared at her, slightly amused, and she put her hands on her hips as she waited for an answer.
"Kara, what's taking so long?" Lena's voice called from the hallway, and both Danvers sisters' eyes widened, but for entirely different reasons.
Kara threw herself into the doorway the moment Lena appeared, right before Alex's eyes traveled there and witnessed Lena in all her bare-chested glory. The brunette balked, flattening herself against Kara's back as she caught the glimpse of another person in the kitchen.
It was silent for a few seconds, until Kara spoke up. "Uh… Lena, this is my sister. Alex, this—this is Lena."
"Hi," Lena said, her face going as red as the hair of the woman she'd just met.
"Hi," Alex said back, then smirked at her sister. "Suddenly this all makes more sense." She started to back towards the door. "And clearly I'm interrupting. So, I'll just leave you to it."
As soon as she was out the door, Kara turned to Lena, who was still wide-eyed and shocked. "Here," Kara said, handing the bottle to Lena so she could run to her room. When she reappeared, she had dressed herself in a t-shirt and shorts. "Hang on, I'm going talk to her."
She kissed Lena on the cheek before darting to the front of the house, onto the front porch just as Alex was about to pull her car out of the driveway. She stopped when she saw Kara standing on the porch, and she threw the car in park as the blonde approached the vehicle.
Kelly, sitting in the passenger seat, rolled down the window and stuck her head out. "Holy shit, Kara. Lena Luthor?"
"See, that, that right there is what I wanted to talk to you about." Kara sighed and leaned her head in to talk to both of them. "Look, Lena's not out yet, okay? So, can you keep this between the three—well, four—of us?"
"I wasn't going to tell anyone else!" Alex exclaimed defensively. "You knew I was going to tell Kelly, though. I tell her everything."
"Okay, well now that you've gotten it out of your system, no more, okay?" Kara looked at Kelly. "Okay?"
"Don't worry, Kara," Kelly said with a smile. "I'm great at keeping secrets."
"I can't believe you kept this from me," Alex said, narrowing her eyes at her sister.
"Yeah, and I was doing a pretty good job up until now," Kara said, looking at her sister pointedly. "So please, for the love of god, do not tell Mom."
"Oh, yeah right," Alex said. "If I did half of Midvale would know by sundown."
"Exactly." Kara let out a deep sigh. "And then it's only a matter of time before it's all over the world. So please, for me, just—"
"Kara, we're not going to say anything," Alex said, cutting her off, almost agitated. "Chill."
The blonde gave a small smile. "Thank you."
"So, when do I get to meet her?" Kelly ask, now smiling herself.
"Kelly, I wouldn't have even met her if I hadn't barged in on them," Alex said.
"It's still new," Kara said defensively, her jaw tightening. "We're still figuring it out, okay? I planned on telling you and introducing you to her eventually. I wanted to. God, Alex, you don't know how badly I've wanted to tell you. I just… Don't want to mess up anything with her."
"Kara, I get it," Alex said in a soft voice, looking to her sister kindly. "I'm not mad. I'm happy for you. If you're happy, that is."
"I am," the younger Danvers said honestly, not able to stop the smile that came to her face and not wanting to.
"Good," Alex said, smiling right back. "Tell Lena we won't breathe a word. And when and if she's ready to start getting to know the people in your life, we'd love to have dinner with the two of you."
"Yes, please!" Kelly said, her eyes shining with excitement.
Kara laughed at that, knowing Kelly was anxious to meet someone famous. She loved hearing Kara's stories from set and was infinitely jealous of the fact that Kara had brought Alex along to wrap parties and introduced her to the stars before. Kelly begged James to take her to one, but James didn't like wrap parties and never went. Kara planned on surprising her and asking her to go to the one at the end of this show—if they had one. Some shows didn't, and with how cheap they'd been thus far, she highly doubted producers would want to rent out a bar and pay for all of crew's drinks.
"I'll see what she says, but no promises." The blonde gave a final smile before stepping away from the car. "Thanks again, about Lena. And for the food."
"You're welcome," Alex said, putting her hand on the gearshift and throwing the car in reverse again. "Text me back some time when you remember to come up for air, yeah?" She smirked and looked at her younger sister pointedly.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," the blonde said, rolling her eyes.
When she went back inside, she found Lena sitting on the couch. She'd apparently gone in Kara's dresser and found a t-shirt and shorts to put on, and Kara's heart fluttered to see her wearing her clothes again.
"I didn't know if she was coming back in, so I helped myself," Lena said, gesturing to the outfit. "I hope you don't mind."
"Of course not," Kara said, going to sit beside Lena on the couch. "And she's gone. She was just dropping off food from my mom's house. She didn't think I was awake, so she was just going to put it in the fridge and leave, but then she caught me in the kitchen and…" She trailed off, her face going slightly red. "I'm really sorry about that. It all happened so fast, and I know you didn't want anyone to know about us. But I talked to her, and she promised not to say anything. I mean, her girlfriend knows, but she was in the car. She's not going to say anything, either, though, and she's studying to be a therapist, so she knows how to keep a sec—"
"Kara, it's fine," Lena said, cutting off the rambling and taking Kara's hand. "I'm not mad."
Kara gaped at her for a few moments. "You're not?"
"No," Lena said honestly, shaking her head. "You didn't do anything wrong. It was just something that happened. It wasn't your fault."
"Yeah, but you didn't want anyone to know."
"Well, shit happens." The brunette shrugged. Honestly, she was surprised she wasn't freaking out more. But there was something nice about someone else knowing, and somehow, she felt liberated instead of panicked. "There's nothing we can do about it now."
The older woman gave a small smile. "No, I suppose not."
Kara started to feel better with that. She hadn't realized how much keeping this from her sister was weighing on her. She normally told Alex everything. To keep something so huge from her went against Kara's very nature. And now that she knew, Kara suddenly recognized just how much she'd missed sharing this part of her life with her best friend and confidant.
"They'd like to have dinner with us—Alex and Kelly—if you think you'd ever be up for that," Kara said, her voice wavering slightly with nerves. Sure, they'd hung out in groups of people before, but that was different. Those were work friends, and no one knew of their relationship. Introducing Lena to family, family who were fully aware of what was going on between them—that was different. "But if you don't want to, I'd understand."
Lena thought about it, chewing her lip. She recognized the magnitude of this. It wasn't just dinner. It was her meeting important people in Kara's life, further delving into this relationship. It was a big step, one she'd never taken with a partner before. And as terrifying as it was, something about the idea was inviting to Lena.
After all, if Kara's sister was also a lesbian, then both of these women understood discretion. Everyone had a coming out journey, and as long as they were aware of hers and respected it, there shouldn't be a problem. Plus, she couldn't imagine anyone Kara kept close in her life to be anything but fantastic. After all, if the blonde was raised so well, Alex should be just as great in theory.
Plus, maybe it would do her some good to get to know other lesbians. She'd been robbed of the opportunity to open up about her sexuality in a safe environment before, and now that she had the opportunity, she'd be dumb to pass it up.
"I think that'd be lovely," Lena said after what felt like an eternity to Kara. "What about tonight?"
"Tonight?" Kara asked in surprise, blinking rapidly. "I—yeah, okay. I can ask." She scratched the back of her neck, thinking about what they would eat. "We can maybe order something, or I can run to the store and grab something to cook."
"Let's order something," Lena said with a smile. "I'll pay for it." When Kara opened her mouth to protest, she held up a hand and put a finger to her lips to silence her. "No. Let me." She gave a small smile and dropped her hand. "Please?"
Kara couldn't find the strength to argue. "Okay."
"Good." Lena stood from the couch, looking down at the blonde expectantly. "Now, I think there was something we were about to do before we were interrupted." She grinned. "I left the chocolate syrup in your room."
The blonde all but jumped off the couch. "Then what're we doing in here?"
Lena laughed as Kara grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her to her room, immediately attaching her lips to the blonde's once they got to their destination.
cool, thanks, see y'all next time