"Jesus, I forgot how much you suck at Pictionary!" Sam laughed as Lena helped her out in the kitchen.

Lena frowned. "It was baby talk! How Alex and Ruby thought it meant Planet of the Apes is beyond me. I want a rematch."

Sam patted her shoulder, and Lena could not stay mad at her friend. "You're happy Alex and Ruby are getting along, aren't you?"

Sam blushed. "I'm not happy—I'm ecstatic. They get on like house on fire."

They paused for a moment; Lena busied herself with drying a few plates while Sam fussed over a big cake she had just taken out of the fridge. It had been a rather intense game night with friends, something Lena hadn't done in the quite some time. She was happy to be back.

"So..." Sam began, wiping at inexistent dust on her counter. "You and Kara both have new people, huh?"

Lena nodded. "It just sort of happened at the same time. It's nice."

Sam cocked an eyebrow. "Nice? How are things with Veronica?"

"They're... nice." Lena shrugged. "We're both very busy, so it's nice when we can get some time together. She loved to meet you guys." She sighed. "She's... a grown up, you know? Self-assured. Confident. Mature. I like that."

"And Kara seems to be getting along with Kelly." Sam motioned with a flick of her chin to the couple sitting at her couch, snuggling. Lena smiled.

"I'm glad," she said honestly. "Kara deserves to be happy."

"She seems to be," Sam continued. In the living room, Kelly stood, giving Kara a little peck on the cheek while she walked down to the restroom. "Kelly took us all to this new, fancy salad place last week— y'know, the one with fancy greens like kale and God knows what else. We went on a little double date. It was a nice place; apparently Kara and Kelly go there every week."

Lena paused her wiping, brows furrowed. "Really?" She pondered that for a moment. "But Kara hates kale. She hates 'bunny food'," she said with air quotes.

Sam shrugged.

Kara was looking through her nearly empty beer bottle. It was a funny shade of green—she couldn't recall ever seeing glass quite this color. Alex nudged her shoulder as she flopped down on the couch, her landing making Kara bounce in place a little bit.

"So... how are things going with you and Kelly, huh?"

Kara offered her sister a tight smile. "They're... nice. Y'know, it's still new. It's nice."

Alex smirked. "Nice, eh?"

"Yeah," Kara said defensively. "Nice." She changed the subject. "What have you been up to?"

"Eh, nothing much. Work, home. Bonding with the kiddo," Alex said, trying for sarcasm, but Kara could see her eyes glimmer at the mention of Ruby, which was only right, since Sam's little girl seemed to worship the very ground Alex walked upon. She was happy for her sister. "Oh, last week Lena and Veronica took us to the opera."

Kara's eyes bugged out. "You went to the opera?"

"It was a last-minute thing," Alex laughed. "We made it a little double-date."

Kara's brows furrowed. "The opera? Lena doesn't go to the opera; she says it's always too long and repetitive—she nearly fell asleep when her brother gave us those tickets to see Puccini."

Alex just shrugged. "Well, as far as I know, she and Veronica go pretty frequently. Veronica's family is a big patron of National City Theater; they have a box with their name on it and everything."

Kara frowned.

"But Lena hates the opera."

Kara sat in bed, trying to ignore the alarm-clock's blinking red light on her nightstand that told her she should try to sleep. She had a new book in hand, and was trying her very hardest not to flip through to the last page.

She read a paragraph. Then another. Then the same paragraph again.

With a huff, she flipped through the book loudly before settling on the last page.

Her reading was interrupted by the shrill ringing of her phone.

"Saved by the bell," she muttered, glaring at the book she dropped in bed. "Hello?"

"Are you alone?" Lena asked from the other side of the line, her voice thick.

"Yeah," Kara said, brows furrowing with worry. "I was just finishing a book."

There was a sniffle. "Could you... could you come over?"

"What's the matter?"

There was a sob, then mumbling Kara couldn't make out. "... getting m-married," Lena whined on the other side.

"Veronica's getting married? Didn't you guys just break up like two weeks ago? Around the same time Kelly and I did?"

"Not Veronica," Lena said. Her voice broke. "Jack."

Kara was already running, leaving her phone hanging by its chord as she dashed out her door without even lacing her boots.

Stupidly, she ran. She was panting and sweaty by the time she got to Lena's building, and only then the thought occurred to her—she should have probably just taken a cab. Or at the very least used the elevator, she mused as she skipped the steps on her way to Lena's apartment. Her breathing was ragged once she pounded a fist to Lena's door.

The brunette opened before Kara had even finished knocking. She wore sweatpants and a ratty sweatshirt, and she looked absolutely terrible. Her hair was sticking out every which way, her nose was red and puffy, and her eyes were swollen from crying. As soon as she saw Kara, she started to cry.

"Come in," she cried.

Kara immediately put her arms around her, hugging her fiercely. Lena burrowed into the crook of her neck. "I'm s-sorry to call you so late," she sobbed.

"It's OK," Kara patted her back in what she hoped was a comforting gesture.

Lena pulled back, wheezing through a grimace. "I need a tissue." She padded further into her apartment, and Kara followed close by. "He just called me up, out of nowhere. Wanted to see how I was. 'Fine, fine, how are you? Fine,'" she sobbed, waving a hand through the air vaguely as she walked into her bedroom.

Kara followed as Lena rummaged angrily through her vanity, locating some tissues. She waited for the brunette to blow her nose and sit on the bed. Kara sat next to her.

"His assistant's on vacation, everything's backed up, he's got a big tech conference in Metropolis... blah, blah blah... And I'm just there on the phone thinking how I'm over him, I really am over him, and I can't believe I was ever even remotely interested, and then he said he had some news..."

Her tears rushed back, and her sob came from deep within her chest. "She works at Spheerical; she's a bioengineer. I forget her name. He just met her! She's s-supposed to be his t-transitional person, she's not supposed to be the one." Lena cried. Kara held one of her hands, giving it a reassuring squeeze as she just listened.

"All this time, I've been saying he didn't want to get married," she sobbed. "But the truth was, he didn't want to get married to me." Lena pointed at herself dejectedly. "He didn't love me."

Kara scooched closer, tucking a strand of black hair behind Lena's ear. "If you could have him back right this second, would you take him?"

Lena shook her head, sniffling. "N-no. But why didn't he want to marry me? Why didn't he love me?" She wheezed again. "What's the matter with me?"

Kara took her face in her hands "Nothing."

Lena whined. "I'm difficult."

Kara shrugged with a little smile. "You're challenging."

"I'm too structured," Lena crying, shaking her head in Kara's hands. "I'm completely closed off."

"Yeah, but in a good way."

"No, no," Lena interjected, crying even harder. "I drove him away. And I'm going to be forty!"

"When?"

"Some day!"

Kara laughed, squeezing Lena's cheeks and pressing a kiss to her forehead. "In eight years, Lena."

"But it's there," Lena argued through a sniffle. "It's just sitting there like a big dead end. Men don't think about things like that—it's not the same. Charlie Chaplin had babies when he was 73!"

Kara brought Lena to her chest, hugging her tightly. "Maybe, but Lena—by then he was too old to pick them up. C'mere."

Lena laughed as she sniffled into her chest, and Kara ran a hand through her messy hair. "It's going to be alright. You're going to be okay."

"I'm fucking up your jacket." Lena quipped apologetically, still holding back a sob.

"That's more than OK," Kara reassured her. "I hate this jacket anyway."

Lena chuckled, holding tight. Kara pressed a kiss to her temple. "Here, I'll go and make you some tea."

Kara made to get up, but Lena's grip did not falter. "Kara?" she murmured, her voice timid and vulnerable.

"Yeah, Lena?"

"Could you... could you just hold me a little longer?"

Kara held her. "Of course."

Lena snuggled into her chest, nuzzling at her neck, and Kara could feel her heartbeat against her chest. Her neck was wet with Lena's tears; the brunette's lips grazed her skin in a soft, barely-there touch that made the hairs at the back of her neck stand, and all Kara could do was suck in a breath and hold it.

Something changed, then, when Lena felt the movement of Kara's lungs, the weight of the blonde's arms around her. She pursed her lips at Kara's neck, kissing the warm skin beneath softly, and suddenly Kara gasped out the breath she had been holding. The arms holding Lena twitched ever so slightly, and Kara's heart skipped a beat—Lena could hear it and feel it.

Lena looked up, and her eyes met a tempestuous blue overtaken by black. There was a moment when Lena leaned up, only just, and it hung between them, heavy and full with their shared breath. Kara could not even blink; Lena was drowning in her eyes and couldn't take it anymore, so she cast her gaze downward, only to meet Kara's lips, parted slightly, pink and inviting.

She leaned in, hungrily, and finally, finally kissed her. Kara froze, caught off guard for only a second before returning in, leaning against Lena. Lena's hands lost themselves in Kara's hair, pulling and tugging her closer, closer, and Kara gasped when Lena bit at her bottom lip greedily.

Lena couldn't think, and she didn't want to. She wanted to feel the soft urgency of Kara's lips; she wanted to feel the burning of her hands against her skin as they trailed goosebumps in their wake, exploring in caresses that started soft, but evolved and shifted into something frantic. She pulled at Kara's jacket one moment, and the next it was on the floor; Kara did the same to her sweatshirt, and Lena was only too happy to yank it off and toss it only God knew where.

Kara was a welcome weight pinning her to her mattress, a comfortable presence. Lena felt safe in her arms; she felt safe when Kara kissed her, when she felt the blonde's hands questing downward in reverent caresses. She felt safe when she crested a precipice and Kara pushed her over and fell with her.

She felt safe up until it was all over, and they were both lying side by side at opposite ends of her bed, breathing raggedly and staring at the ceiling like they couldn't believe what had just happened.

Lena leaned over to look at Kara. "You... you comfortable?"

Kara hummed the affirmative, nodding lightly. Her blonde hair was mussed, stuck to her forehead with sweat. Lena's was no better.

"Do you want something to drink? Or something?"

"Oh, no, no. I'm fine."

Lena started to get up; the room was stifling now. "Well. I'm going to get some water anyway, so it's no trouble."

Kara gave her a little tight smile. "Okay. Water, then."

Lena scurried away, putting on her robe on the way.

She went about getting their water deliberately slowly, taking her time finding the glasses, washing them, drying them. The trickle of water from the pitcher to the glasses was deafening, and the Mexican ceramic tiles were cold under her bare feet.

When she returned, Kara was sitting up in bed, propped against her pillows and perusing a box where Lena catalogued her VHS tapes into neat little index cards. She handed Kara her glass as she scooted into bed, and Kara chuckled awkwardly.

"Y'know," she said, waving an index card toward the box. "You can know someone a long time, but until you go to bed with them you don't really know how they have all their tapes alphabetized and on index cards. Very uh, neat, by the way."

Lena gave her a tight smile. She let Kara flip through the box for what seemed to be an interminable amount of time. It was as if every sound in her bedroom was deafening—the gulps Kara took when drinking her water, Lena's deliberately measured breathes, the flicking of the cards, the rearranging of a pillow.

"So," Lena broke the silence. "Do you want to watch something?"

Kara froze. 'Uh, no, no. Not unless you want to."

"I'm okay."

The pause was heavy.

"Do you want to go to sleep?"

Kara put the box back on the nightstand. "Sure," she said, already reaching for the lamp on her side.

Lena did the same, and they lay like statues for long moments. "Are you comfortable?"

She felt Kara nod, even if she couldn't see it. "Sure."

"Sorry, it's a hard mattress."

"Oh, no problem. I like hard mattresses."

Another pause. Elongated, miserable. Lena decided to put an end to the misery.

"Good night, Kara."

"Good night, Lena."

Lena closed her eyes.

Kara did not sleep a wink. As Lena's breaths eventually evened out into soft, delicate little snores, she spent the night staring at the ceiling, mind going nowhere and everywhere at once. At one point in the night, Lena naturally gravitated towards her warmth, nuzzling against her chest.

The only light came from the digital alarm clock on Lena's nightstand. Kara could see it out of the corner of her eye, its blinking light basking the room in a red glow. She waited for it, counting the seconds in her head. Whenever Lena stirred, her eyes snapped to the clock. 3:13. 4:06.

Lena rolled off just as the birds started chirping outside. The clock now 5:28.

At precisely six o'clock, Kara got up.

Lena stirred awake with a rustling sound coming from somewhere in the room. Her arm reached out to the other side of the bed, finding it empty, but still warm. Her eyes snapped open, and she quickly turned.

Kara froze, pants half-on when their gazes met. Blue met green in with startled shock.

Somewhere between 30 seconds and all night; that's where your problem is.

"Where are you going?" Lena rasped out, voice still thick with sleep.

"I gotta go," Kara muttered.

Lena could only stare.

...30 seconds and all night; that's where your problem is.

Kara seemed to backtrack as she pulled her shirt on. "I have to go home and change from yesterday's clothes into today's clothes and then I have to go to work and you—you also have to go to work, we both have work, and after work, after work I would like to take you out to dinner, if you're free. Are you free?"

Lena nodded.

"Fine, great. I'll call you."

"Fine."

Kara stood awkwardly in place for a moment. She then leaned over the bed and gave Lena a little kiss, just at the corner of her lips.

And then, at 6:02, she bolted.

"I swear to God, I will kill whoever thinks it's okay to call people at this hour," Sam mumbled into her pillow as her hand blindly reached for the phone. Alex groaned beside her, putting a pillow over her head to drown out the sound. "Hello?"

"Sam, I'm sorry to call so early-"

"Lena? What's wrong? Are you alright?"

Alex peeked out from under her pillow, looking confused. Sam pushed the pillow back

"I did something terrible," Lena cried on the other side of the line.

"What did you do?"

Sam nearly jumped off the bed when another phone rang, this time on Alex's nightstand. She could barely hear what Lena was saying.

"No one I know would call at this ungodly hour!" Alex hissed as she picked up. "Hello?" Her face blanched, and she covered the receiver, turning to Sam.

"It's Kara."

"And she was comforting me, and before I knew we were kissing, and then..." Lena cried, sinking into her pillows. She guessed Kara had not even crossed the street by the time she dialed Sam.

"And then?"

Lena wheezed out a shaky breath. "We did it."

"That's great, Lena; you should have done it in the first place. Honestly, you two belong together, everyone can see it except you two. It's like, two wrongs make a right. How was it?"

"I thought it was good... but then..." Lena blinked back tears thinking of the speed with which Kara had run out of the apartment. Her rambling 'I got to go'. That goodbye kiss that seemed like nothing but common courtesy. "But then, I guess it wasn't."

"Oh, honey."

"It was like she just disappeared," Lena cried. "She just... ran out—I'm so embarrassed."

"Oh, Lena, that's the worst. It's horrible."

"I think I'm catching a cold." Lena sniffled, wiping at the tears still running down her cheeks.

"I guess you should never go to bed with anyone when you just found out your ex-boyfriend is getting married... that spells disaster, surely."

"I feel so awful..."

"Oh, honey. Do you want me to come over?"

"No," Lena shook her head as she said it, biting her lip. "It's so early, and... I feel terrible. I'm taking the day off."

"You do that. Get some rest, okay? I'll call you later."

"You did what?"

Kara slammed her fist against the payphone, regretting immediately as pain radiated from her knuckles all the way down to her elbow. "I left, Alex, alright!"

"Kara," she could picture her sister shaking her head and running a hand through her hair in exasperation. "Why the hell would you do that? I thought you said it was good?"

"It was," Kara whined. "At least... the during part. But after... I don't know, I just started feeling suffocated."

"Jesus, I'm sorry?"

"I just wanted to get out of there. I feel terrible."

"You should feel terrible."

Kara sighed, shaking her hand and stretching her fingers. She sniffled, and bit down on her lip not to cry. "I think I'm coming down with something."

There was a heavy sigh on the other end of the line. "Look, it would have been great if it worked, but obviously it didn't."

Kara let out a sad laugh. "Tell me about it."

"Yeah. And now you really have a cosmic fucking mess in your hands, Kara."

"I knew calling you would make me feel better," Kara said sarcastically, wiping at her eyes.

"Hey, don't worry. We'll talk. Do you want to come over for breakfast?"

"I'm really not up to it. Thanks, though."

"Alright. Listen, call me later if you want to talk, okay? I'm here for you. Even if you are an idiot."

"Thanks, Alex."

Alex heard Sam hanging up the phone on her side just as Kara's line went dead. Sam turned to look at her with an exasperated expression, running a hand through her hair in disbelief. They spoke at the same time.

"Was that Lena?"

"Was that Kara?"

They both grimaced, then nodded.

"It's fucked," Sam said with a frown. Alex was inclined to agree.

"Totally fucked."

They turned to one another, speaking in unison once again.

"They're idiots."

When the afternoon faded into evening, Lena paced her apartment, anxiety building at every minute that passed. She wanted to cancel, but found herself physically unable to pick up the phone and dial Kara.

She was fifteen minutes late.

Kara was waiting, and to her credit she did not look impatient. She wore a navy-blue suit with a white shirt; the top button was left undone. Her hair was a bit disheveled, as if she had been caught in the wind, and when her eyes found Lena's across the dining room, she fidgeted with her glasses.

"Lena! Hi," she said when Lena approached. She stood, and Lena didn't know what to do. Did she expect a kiss? A hug? How was she supposed to greet her best friend after last night?

Lena settled for—and regretted it immediately—an unbearably awkward handshake. Kara's hand hesitated before meeting hers, and when they shook, it was clammy and trembling. Lena sat in an inelegant slump.

Kara opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out. They were saved when the waiter appeared, leaving them with heaping glasses of water. They both took a swig.

Lena felt it bubbling out of her chest before she could stop it.

"It was a mistake."

She hadn't meant to say it like that, but the words were out and Kara broke into a grin that was pure relief.

"I'm so relieved you think so too."

They took another drink, taking way too long before setting their glasses down again.

"I mean," Kara continued, tapping her short nails against her glass. "I'm not saying that last night wasn't a physically pleasurable sexual experience."

Lena tried to smile; she wasn't sure she managed it. "It was."

Kara nodded; it seemed that as tension left her shoulders, it came to rest upon Lena's chest. It was hard to breathe. Lena pressed on.

"We never should have done it."

Kara's nodding was a little too eager. "I couldn't agree more. I'm glad we're on the same page."

"What a relief." Lena quipped, feeling her throat tighten.

"Yeah. Oof!"

They ordered. They ate. It was silent and stilted—it was a far sight from the natural, easy conversations they usually had so effortlessly. Lena could tell Kara was getting restless with the silent, but she didn't have it in her to break it for the blonde's benefit. She ate her salad without even tasting the dressing she had forgotten to order on the side.

Kara waved her fork, gesturing to the space between them. "It's so nice when you can just... sit with someone and not have to talk. Look at us, eating in silence. Shows you how comfortable you really are."

Lena nodded with a tight smile.

They ate. In silence.