Well that was a long wait, here we have some interactions between our favorite ladies. If anyone is still reading a greatly appreciate you! Slight warning for mentioned past suicidal thoughts.

Enjoy!

Just a Woman in Love

Chapter 8

Kara's P.O.V.

The walk back to Lena's apartment was a quick one thankfully. I kicked myself for not thinking ahead and wearing a jacket to give Lena after dinner. But walking into the elevator I forget all of that when I feel Lena lean her head on my shoulder. Alex and Maggie are standing next to us, and I keep an eye on them in the reflection of the elevator doors.

I don't mean to do it, I know that I shouldn't be but I'm tense, wondering when the other shoe will drop and Alex will become agitated and I just don't have it in me to go through that again, to fight with my only sister again. It's been a couple weeks since Alex found out about Lena and I, and she still hasn't said anything about her parting comment at the DEO. And that thought hurts, no matter how much effort she puts into getting to know Lena, she still hasn't apologized to me.

I will always be grateful for Alex being my sister, for the Danvers' for taking me in when Clark showed up on their door step, but at some point Alex has to let me live my life and realize that if this relationship is a mistake or doomed to fail, then that is on me, and something that I will deal with in my own way. Do I think that that Lena is just another Luthor? Rao no, I think that she is the most beautiful, intelligent and underappreciated woman on the planet and I fully intend on marrying her when all of this settles down.

The sound of the doors opening pulled me from my thoughts of white dresses and the image of Lena in a white dress... okay so I can't wipe the smile from my face, sue me. Walking into the apartment, I steady Lena as she reaches down to take her heels off before heading to the kitchen with her trailing behind me to grab a few wine glasses, don't ask me but for some reason Lena keeps them in a spot where she can't reach them. Looking over at her, I see Lena browsing her liquor cabinet for a good wine to end the night on. Walking over she holds the wine in one hand out to me while I hand her the glasses.

As I pop the cork I look over at my sister and her girlfriend and notice the analytical stares thrown our way. "What? I ask as I pour into the glass in Lena's outstretched hand.

"Nothing," Maggie mutters. "You two seem to have a system." I swear I see the beginnings of a smirk on the short woman's face.

I go to open my mouth when Alex interrupts me, "Are you two living together?"

Alex's P.O.V.

"Are you two living together?" I can't stop myself from asking. The scene that I just witnessed was one of complete and utter domestication between two humans...well human and alien. When I see Kara's narrowed eyes, I know I just brought tension to the setting, tension that surprisingly wasn't out in full force during dinner. I kind of want to kick myself for doing so.

"No, Alex. We are not living together yet." And I hear what she isn't saying. They may not be living together now, but they very well will be in the future... maybe even in the near future, whether I like it or not.

"I'm sorry, that didn't come out right, I wasn't accusing you of anything Kara, I'm just curious." I look down, not able to see the stone-cold look in my sister's eyes. "You have this whole side of your life, and I know nothing about it."

"That's not my fault Alex." I flinch at that. I hear Lena clear her through and I look up.

"Maggie, why don't we take these to the balcony and let them talk in private." ever the diplomatic CEO suggests. "Kara, sweetie, there are leftovers in the fridge. No heat vision after last time." she warns playfully as she walks towards Maggie

"That was one time, and so your fault Lena!" I watch the two women laugh as Lena walks away. I hear Maggie ask about living in Ireland once they leave the kitchen.

When I hear the door, slide shut I sigh. "I know Kara, I'm not blaming you for that. I was just genuinely curious, I promise." Looking at the woman I know that she is having a hard time believing me. How did I let it come to this, where my sister looks near distrustful towards me. I know I have only myself to blame.

Kara turns around and grabs a takeout tray from the fridge and throws it in the microwave, all without looking at me. When she turns towards me, there is a kitchen island between us that she braces her hands on.

"Alex, I know you are trying, I see that. But all night it has felt like you have been waiting for Lena to, I don't know, start going on a rant about aliens. I don't know how to make you see her like I see her." her voice was defeated and just sad, and that was all my fault, I did that to my sister.

"You are doing it Kara. I came here tonight to try and get to know her, and I have." I pinch the bridge of my nose and let out another sigh. "Look Kara, I see that she's not her family, she did stop her mother after all. It's just hard to accept the fact that my baby sister is in a very complicated and dangerous relationship." I see her start to protest so I quickly cut her off. "Not because she's Lex's sister, I've made my peace with that, but because she is a Luthor. No matter which Luthor it is, they are always in the public eye. For god's sake if Lena so much as sneezes in public, it's on the front cover of some sleezy tabloid, and I will always fear that it is through her that the rest of the world connects Kara Danvers to Supergirl. All it will take is one single person to even suspect it, Kara."

I watch as Kara absorbs everything I've said, and I see that it is something she has already thought about. I mean of course she has, Kara is smart, maybe even smarter than Lena herself, but for 13 years she has perfected the art of hiding. And in a way I will always regret that trait we instilled in her, because of it she has a tendency to shy away from building relationships outside of the ones she already has, and most come from outside sources. She knows James and Lucy through Clark, Jonn and Maggie through me, Winn being the only one I can think off of the top of my head that she has opened up to on her own terms, well Winn and now Lena.

"That is a risk, that I am willing to take, Alex. You have to understand, I love that woman," she gestures to the woman on the balcony. Looking back over my shoulder I see Lena talking to Maggie, and she looks comfortable. "I love that woman with every fiber of my being, and I almost lost her because she was just as afraid as you that being with her would reveal me to the world. She was ready to break this off, I had to fight for her, I explained to her that I would be extra careful, and that I didn't care if it meant I would be hounded for the rest of my life, I am willing to risk it and the dangers that come with it, so long as I get to love her and have her love me back." Kara pauses and chuckles. "And knowing her, she's probably already brainstorming ideas to keep me, Kara, from being caught on camera."

I can't help but chuckle with Kara, she is right. When the microwave beeps, I take the silence to look at the surrounding apartment. While it screams CEO, there are small touches of Kara around that give the coldness a warmer feel. The handmade blanket on the back of the couch, the paintings on the walls that I can almost certainly say were painted by my sister. Looking towards the TV, I see picture frames that I can't stop myself from gravitating towards.

There are photos of the two of them and I hate myself a little bit for missing the milestones that were clearly celebrated in some of the pictures. I pick up one that seems to be the center piece of the collection. The picture is obviously of Kara and Lena. But in the photo, they are standing on what I can only guess is a small mountain with a lake behind them. It's obviously a selfie taken by Kara, but it is the smiles that catch my attention. Both women have their hair down, Kara sans glasses, and they have the biggest smiles on their faces that are so warm and bright I can barely stand to look at the photo without guilt eating away at me.

"Ireland." I hear behind me. I turn and see Lena leaning against the balcony door, Maggie walking up to me to look at what I had in my hand. "It was our 5th date." Lena looks down and laughs. "She all but threw me over her shoulder and announced we were going away for the day. I was only in the office for an hour."

"You work too hard!" Kara yells from the kitchen, she obviously had a mouth full of food. None of us can stop the chuckles at the sight of Kara walking into the living room with puffed out cheeks.

"I do, you're right. Anyway, I told Kara about a hike I took once when I was in boarding school. I couldn't remember where it was but I described it to her and a week later she flew me over there and officially asked me to be her girlfriend, which was completely unnecessary, she already knew I was madly in love with her." she reaches up and runs her hand down Kara's arm with a fond smile.

"Maybe but you deserve some normal in your life, and that is a normal human courtship ritual!"

As I watch the two of them continue to playfully argue I see it. The utter devotion in Lena's eyes, the amount of love in those green eyes nearly takes my breath away. I grab Maggie's hand and look over at her and smile, and I know she gets it too.

We all move to the couch after that and Kara puts on a movie. Halfway through impromptu movie night Maggie has drifted off on my shoulder and Kara as well with her head in Lena's lap, her nose buried in the woman's stomach.

"I'm sorry, Lena." I see her hand pause its motions of running through blonde hair as I keep my eyes trained on the TV. "I'm sorry I doubted how much you love Kara."

"I get it, Alex," there is to much sadness in her voice, like she expected it. "I am a Luthor by blood, and that comes with distrust. I just hope we can move past it, for Kara's sake." Lena turns the TV down and turns towards me. "She told me what happened at the DEO when you found out, and I am not going to lie to you, I am angry. That you would even say those words to your sister, just because you knew they would hurt her, that is low agent." her voice was hard and defensive, her hands grabbing at Kara's sleeping form possessively. "I don't want to come between the two of you, I told you that, but I also do not want her to leave me."

"I guess that's part of what had me scared, when she said she would protect you from me if she had too. It was the first time since she was dropped off by Superman that I questioned where I stood in her life. I'm scared she will choose you over everything, and that frightens me because putting someone in that position, where they have that powerful a hold over her heart... I don't know I guess I'm just scared of losing her." Maggie groans in her sleep and clings to my arm, making me smile at the short woman.

"I won't let her do that, I won't let her choose me over you. I won't let her choose me over National City. You are her sister Alex, and she loves you far more than she will ever love me."

"Maybe not. Maybe she will love you just as much but in a different way. You complete her in ways that I can't. You understand profound loss, you understand the constant need to be on your best behavior just in case someone points and screams Luthor, just like people did after the red k incident. In a way I am grateful for that, even if some part of me still wishes it was with someone else." I look over to the couple and see the gentle way Lena caresses Kara's face while she sleeps.

"Well," she looks up at me and again I see nothing but devotion. "I hope one day you can't see anyone else with her, because I love her Alex. I'm going to marry her one day. And if the day ever comes where she doesn''t come home, I will wish that I could follow her into the light because I can't imagine living without her. My life before your sister was dull and depressing really. I had no social life, I drank way too much that I am sure down the line I will pay for it with my liver, and there were times when I would stand on my balcony in Metropolis and wonder what it would be like to just end it all, wonder if anyone would really miss me. Then I met Kara and she made me believe, even for a second, when I first saw her, that someone could look at me and monster not be the first thing on their mind. There are still days where I go back to the bottle in excess but she is always there, loving me in ways that I don't know how to love myself. She saved my life the day she trailed behind Mr. Kent and validated my desire to be judge apart from the evil my last name carries."

I can't stop the tear that rolls down my cheek, when she finishes. I had no clue, the media always portrayed the last Luthor as cold and heartless but looking at her now, as she no doubt relives dark days, I see her for the first time as the 24-year-old woman who was thrown to the wolves by the Luthor's and told to save herself. And save herself she did, pulling the company her brother ran from the mud. Fewer and fewer people on the streets were automatically turning and pointing at the last Luthor when something menacing plagues Nation City or Supergirl.

"I'm not a monster Alex, I'm just a woman in love." she whispers.

"I'm starting to see that." I whisper as we lock eyes. And I know, I know that Kara is in good hands with this woman.

A. Grayson