Lena doesn't let go of her hand the whole way back to Kara's apartment. They walk fast, but not too fast that they look suspicious. Kara's mind is in overdrive and hearing Lena's erratic heartbeat really doesn't help. They kissed for a long time on that bench and only stopped because Lena's hands had begun wandering and Kara certainly didn't want to find herself arrested for indecent exposure. They hadn't needed to talk when they'd left the bench. Tacitly, they had agreed on heading back to the closest place which happened to be Kara's.
As soon as the door of the apartment closes behind Kara, Lena pushes her against it and brings their lips together once more. Kara moans and lets Lena hold her there, trying hard to focus on not losing control of her strength. It has never happened before while kissing someone, but this is Lena and somehow everything feels different and new and a bit scary. Kara keeps her arms at her sides and after a few seconds of scorching kisses, Lena notices and pulls back a little to look at her.
"Kara? What's wrong?"
"Nothing!"
But Lena takes a step back and raises an eyebrow at her, and Kara knows she needs to confess.
"I'm afraid of hurting you," she says lamely, eyes downcast.
Lena reaches out immediately, both hands cupping Kara's face.
"You're not going to hurt me, Kara."
"You don't know that!"
"Have you ever hurt your… partner?"
"No."
"Then you won't hurt me either."
"It's not the same thing," Kara blurts out before she can think.
Lena waits patiently for an explanation. When it doesn't come, she goes back to placing soft, short kisses on Kara's lips, cheeks, jaw. Kara's eyes close and she lets herself feel. She doesn't realize that her hands find their way to Lena's hips and pull her closer. She definitely realizes Lena is getting bolder when she licks her earlobe and sucks on it lightly.
"Oh Rao," Kara groans as her head falls back against the door.
Lena takes this as an opportunity to lavish her neck with kisses where a tongue slips out now and then. Kara's grip tightens and she takes a deep breath to steady herself.
"Stop thinking," Lena murmurs in her ear.
"Stop doing this to me," Kara retorts.
She knows Lena is smirking without even looking at her. Kara's been on the receiving end of that smug smile a few times by now; she doesn't need to see it because it's engraved in her memory. When Lena's hands start caressing the skin underneath her shirt, Kara's eyes fly open and she grabs Lena's wrists to stop her. Lena freezes.
"Kara? Too much?"
But Kara simply switches their positions so that Lena is the one pushed against the door. Lena lets out a surprised yelp at Kara's action and she laughs breathlessly.
"Not enough," Kara tells her as her hands find the back of Lena's thighs and lift her up.
Lena's legs instinctively wrap around Kara's hips and her arms wrap around her neck.
"This is hot," Lena whispers against her lips.
Kara kisses her hungrily instead of replying. She pushes her body closer so that Lena is sandwiched between her and the door and she can tell Lena likes it by the way she hums into the kiss and tries to grind against Kara's abs. Just as Kara is about to suggest they move this to the bedroom; there's a loud knock at the door. Lena startles and Kara sighs deeply. They stare at each other, Kara still holding Lena in her arms, hoping that whoever is on the other side of the door will get the hell out of here.
No such luck.
"Kara? You in there?"
It's Alex, and Kara's x-ray vision tells her that her sister is carrying three boxes of pizza with her. Reluctantly, Kara sets Lena down and they hurriedly make themselves presentable. Lena moves away from the door and goes to sit on the couch, turning on the TV quickly. Kara waits another second before she opens the door and smiles brightly at Alex who was about to knock again.
"Hey, Alex! Sorry I didn't hear you; we were watching TV!"
Alex's gaze wanders over Kara's shoulder and lands on Lena who waves at her from the couch.
"Sorry," Alex says as she steps inside, "I didn't know you had company today."
"It's alright," Kara reassures her as she shuts the door. "You brought pizza."
"I did. I thought we could hang out but—"
"No that's a good idea! I haven't seen you much lately."
They join Lena on the couch and Alex sets the pizzas down on the coffee table. Kara's eyes shift uncomfortably between the two of them and Lena has to suppress a knowing smile. Alex seems completely oblivious and Kara is very thankful for that.
"So, uh, no Maggie today?"
"I'm supposed to stop by her apartment later, but I wanted to have lunch with you."
"I should go," Lena says. "You two need to catch up and there's work waiting for me at home anyway."
Kara looks like she's about to protest but one glance from Lena stops her. Alex witnesses their silent interaction with one raised eyebrow as she sits back into the couch.
"Let me fly you home then?"
"No need. I can have my driver pick me up or even just hail a cab."
"I'd feel better if it was me. Alex doesn't mind."
Alex very much wants to point out that Kara hasn't even asked her if she minds but she wisely remains silent. Lena throws her a look and Alex shrugs with one shoulder.
"Alright, fine," Lena concedes.
Three seconds later and Kara stands in front of her in her Supergirl outfit. She steps forward until she's toe-to-toe with Lena and puts her arms around her waist. Lena stands still and Kara frowns.
"Well? Put your arms around my neck! You know how that works."
"Do you make it a habit to fly Lena around," Alex asks.
Kara startles and turns to look at her sister.
"Alex. I… I had forgotten you were here."
"You had forgotten?"
"What? No."
"You literally just said you'd forgotten I was here."
"You did," Lena whispers in Kara's ear as she puts her arms around her neck.
"I—shut up!"
Kara doesn't wait for either of them to argue or to laugh. She tightens her grip on Lena and flies them both out of the apartment, under Alex's amused eyes.
Lena is still smiling when they land on the balcony of her penthouse a few minutes later. Kara shuffles awkwardly behind her as they step inside.
"We will never speak of this again," she tells Lena.
"You mean speak of that one time you forgot your sister was in the room because you were too focused on getting me to hug you?"
Kara groans and stomps her foot, much to Lena's delight. Her smile is bright and Kara can't be mad at her for the teasing if it makes Lena look that happy. When Lena's smile subsides, she steps closer to Kara and takes her hands in hers.
"Kara, what happened between us today…"
"Please tell me you don't regret it."
"Of course not. I was going to say… I've wanted this for a long time. Long before the bomb and my disappearance. I've felt that way for a good year now."
In the few seconds that follow Lena's admission, Kara's mind takes her back to their beginnings: their first meeting, their first interview, their first conversation off the record. She remembers the fierce need to protect Lena, to make sure the other woman never doubted she mattered to someone. She remembers the devastating pain she'd felt after the explosion. The feeling of drowning and the emptiness that had settled within her for several weeks after, until Lena had come to find her.
One of Kara's hands reaches up to stroke Lena's cheek softly and Lena leans into the touch; her eyes never leaving Kara's.
"Say something," Lena pleads quietly.
"I want to say something," Kara admits, "but I think we should go on a few dates before I say it."
Lena's eyes widen almost comically as the meaning of Kara's words sink in.
"Kara—"
Kara cuts her off with a deep kiss and Lena soon forgets how to speak.
Kara spends the whole flight back trying to come up with an excuse for Alex as to why she took over fifteen minutes to fly Lena back home instead of five. When she lands in her apartment, she still hasn't found a convincing one but one look from her sister tells her it won't be needed anyway. Alex is halfway through the first pizza and she pauses, slice mid-way to her mouth, when Kara flies in.
"Did you wash your hands?"
"What?"
"Well, I'm assuming some R-rated activities must have taken place during the fifteen minutes you were gone with Lena, because I know it doesn't take that long for you to make it there and back and you two have been dancing around each other for quite some time now. I'm a trained agent who's dating a detective; I pick up on things. So if you're going to eat you should wash your hands first."
Kara is mortified and a bit scandalized. Her mouth hangs open as Alex finally takes a bite of her slice.
"Okay, first of all, I am not—we—Lena and I are not… we're not doing that!"
"Yet."
"Alex!"
"I'm just saying, if it hasn't happened yet then it's probably a matter of… of days?"
"I am so offended right now," Kara huffs.
It doesn't prevent her from collapsing on the couch next to Alex and grabbing her own pizza box. She devours half of her pepperoni pizza—making a point of looking her sister in the eye when she licks her greasy fingers—before Alex speaks again.
"Seriously though, Kara. What's going on with you and Lena?"
"We're friends."
"Right," Alex snorts. "Gal-pals."
"Exactly!"
Kara isn't sure why her sister chortles at that. To be fair, she's still a little dizzy from everything that has happened since the morning. She can still smell Lena's perfume on her, can still remember the way her fingers dug possessively into Lena's hips or even the sounds Lena made when Kara kissed her neck. It's unsettling and addictive and makes Kara want to fly high enough in the sky so that she can scream about it until her voice breaks. Lena's almost had to push Kara off the balcony earlier to force her to go back to Alex. Kara would have gladly stayed over, gladly kept kissing Lena but she knew it wasn't possible. It was with a heavy sigh that she'd taken off after one last, languid kiss and the promise to be back later.
"Earth to Kara?"
Alex snaps her out of her thoughts and Kara shakes her head as if it'll help clear her mind. It doesn't.
"Sorry, what?"
"I just said that I want you to know I'm okay with you being with Lena. I know I wasn't always on board with that relationship but I've seen how she looks at you and it's the same way you look at her, and I know you, Kara. I know what this look means. So you have my full support."
Maybe Kara should protest, deny that anything is going on between her and Lena, but she doesn't want to. Not when this is exactly what she needed to hear, when Alex is offering her what Kara was afraid would never come: her blessing. Instead of a pointless lie, Kara tugs her sister closer and hugs her with one arm.
"Thank you, Alex. This means the world to me."
"I'm still going to give her the shovel talk and you won't rob me of that pleasure," Alex quips.
"I'll let Lena know she must play along then."
The thing is, when Kara stops by Lena's place later, as promised, she doesn't even get the chance to tell Lena about Alex knowing. Lena opens the door with a mischievous smile and Kara soon understands why: the penthouse is only lit by candles and it's probably more candles than Kara's ever seen in her entire life.
"Lena," Kara asks, uncertain, "what is all this?"
"This," Lena explains as she closes the door behind Kara and stands next to her, "is our first date."