A.N. Hopefully this lives up to expectations

Chapter Thirteen - The Truth

A few days later and Lena still hadn't mentioned that she knew about the significance of bracelets in the Kryptonian culture. She and Kara had just got home from a rather late night at work. Lena had been on a conference call with Japan that had run late and Kara had been trying to get the latest on new drug that was sweeping through National City or the front page article.

"I still can't believe they called it Superhigh. I mean it just sucks!" Kara complained again as she pressed the button on her bracelet and the supersuit disappeared, Lena watched as she ran her fingers across the bracelet after she had done so. Ever since she had found out about the bracelets she had noticed that Kara tended to run her fingers back and forth across it when she was thinking, almost like a soothing gesture to her. It was

this familiar gesture that caused Lena to speak.

"Kara, why didn't you tell me what bracelets meant on Krypton?" she blurted out.

Kara froze as her gaze landed on Lena, ""What do you mean?" she finally asked.

"I was finally getting around to going through all the information on Lex's server about Krypton, to make sure that anything dangerous to you was deleted and I came across the information on culture including matches and how the bracelets used. Why didn't you tell me?"

Kara didn't answer right away and started to pace in front of her. "I was scared." Kara finally whispered.

Lena narrowed her eyebrows at Kara, "Why were you scared? Kara it's just me?"

"Exactly!" Kara said throwing her arms up in emphasis as she turned away from Lena, only to turn back just as quickly. "It's you, Rao Lena! What would you have done if you knew?"

"Well ... I would have just made it a necklace or something to make it more comfortable for you of course. I don't want to do anything to make you feel weird around me."

Kara didn't respond right away. She fixed Lena with a piercing stare before finally turning away and running her hand through her hair. "Alex was right. I should have just been honest and helped you find another solution instead of fixing on the slight hope that you ..." She turned back to face Lena. "Lena the only reason I never said anything is because I had the stupid hope that you might actually have felt that way about me. I know I never should have agreed to this when all I wanted to do was ..." She stopped suddenly and nearly growled in frustration. "Damn it Lena, I would do anything for you and you don't even know why?"

There was silence in the apartment as Lena took this all in but before she could even think of a response, Kara had pushed the button on her bracelet and took off out of the balcony door into the night sky before her suit had fully appeared. Lena stared after her for a few minutes and took the time to think about everything that Kara had just let slip. Kara seemed to insinuate that she felt more for Lena, that she felt the same as would be required for the giving of bracelets on Krypton. When she had taken about 10 minutes to sort through everything she finally felt anger. How dare Kara just drop that on her and fly away!

She walked over to her Whiskey bottles. She had a few different ones. Right now was a bourbon night not a fine scotch night. She grabbed the bottle and poured a few fingers into a glass and downed it quickly. She coughed as the liquor burnt her throat but poured herself a few more fingers. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to quell her anger and think about this in a more logical way.

First, how did she feel about Kara? Well the answer to that was simple. She loved that woman with every breath in her and agreeing to this arrangement without telling her had been probably the most juvenile thing she had ever done. What did she want to do? Tell Kara the truth and let the chips fall as they may.

Secondly, and definitely the most complicated question. How did Kara feel about her? Well from what she had just said and how she had acted over the last few weeks? Well that gave her hope that Kara felt the same way as she did. She needed to have this out with her. She picked up her phone and dialled Kara. Kara's phone rang in her bag a few feet away so she immediately hung up and cursed the Kryptonian for flying away so quickly. What could she do to get Kara's attention? She was pretty sure that Kara would not come home tonight. Not thinking too much on the idea that she thought of her apartment as their home, she glanced down at her watch to check the time and then realised that this was the Supergirl watch that meant that Kara would always come to save her. She hesitated and wondered if this was an emergency enough to press the button before she flipped open the watch and did just that.

The effect was almost instantaneous. Kara flew into the apartment and pulled Lena behind her, her eyes glowing ready to use her heat vision on whatever threat there was to Lena. "Who is it Lena?" Kara asked quickly as she continued to survey the apartment.

Lena gently placed her hand on Kara's forearm to bring her attention to her. "Darling, stand down, I just had to get your attention and you left your phone here when you stormed off." Kara immediately stepped away from Lena and brought her arms up around herself in a gesture that was so clearly self protecting that Lena nearly cried. "Kara, please talk to me?"

"I don't know what you want me to say." Kara softly replied, still not looking up at Lena. Lena paused. Someone had to take the plunge here, someone had to be brave.

"Kara, I love you ..." she said but before she could continue, Kara snorted sarcastically.

"I know!" she said, throwing her arms up in the air. "You love me, I'm your best friend and you never would've agreed if you thought I felt this way! I get it and the worst part is that I can't not have you in my life!" Kara started pacing. "So I agreed to this in the hope that maybe you felt the same, but I've just been kidding myself and I..."

"Kara! Lena yelled, stopping her rant mid flow and causing the woman to look at her in surprise. "Will you please stop with this? I'm in love with you and you can't even see it!"

Everything froze as Lena realised what she had blurted out and Kara registered the words as well. They stared at each other until Lena decided in for a penny, in for a pound. "Had I known the significance I would have changed to a different design, not because I wouldn't want you to wear my bracelet but because I would want us both to know the significance of it. I have been in love with you since ... well probably since just after I met you. I think one of the reason's I reacted so badly to the Supergirl secret was because of how I felt about you not necessarily the secret itself? And then it felt to me like we had broken up, like you had cheated on me, that's how it felt even though I knew it was ridiculous and then when I finally realised the truth, that's when I came to you in your apartment. I should have just told you how I felt but I was terrified things between us would never heal and telling you that you might try to let me down gently and change how you were around me before and I ... I couldn't let that happen."

"Lena," Kara finally interrupted. She stepped closer to her and cupped her cheek, giving her a crooked smile, "Lena, love. I'm in love with you too."

They stared at each other for a few moments, each getting lost in the other's eyes as they both realised what they had both just admitted. "Have we been actually dating without realising it?" Lena whispered as she rested her hands on Kara's waist.

Kara nodded and gently grazed Lena's lips with her own but pulled back after the brief contact. "Can I tell you a secret?" At Lena's nod she continued, "Last Christmas, you know how I had to leave early to fly to Midvale to spend the day with Alex, Kelly and Eliza and I told you that story in my office about how we told each other for when Miss Grant asked?" Lena nodded again. She remembered waking up alone in her bed but having no memory of moving there from the TV room, she now knew Kara had carried her there and she had woken up to a wrapped present on the pillow that Kara had used the night before. "Well the truth is when I got to Midvale I spent the morning with my family but I flew back to National City around 2pm and Lena I flew to your apartment. You were holding my gift, you still hadn't opened it. There was no one with you, you had no tree or Christmas dinner. You just held my gift. It was only a silly something but I knew then that you deserved to have a proper Christmas. To have someone who loved you."

"I never saw you." Lena frowned.

"I know. I hovered there for a while before heading back to Midvale. I so wanted to spend the rest of that day with you but I couldn't think of a reason to stay, not without telling you how I felt and I still didn't know how to do that. Lena I'm sorry I left you alone."

"Oh Kara, you didn't leave me alone. You've always been there for me." Lena told her pulling her closer. "Since I've met you I've always known that you would never leave me alone. Even during ... well, our time apart, I always knew, deep down, that you would always be with me."

Kara suddenly giggled. "I think we must be the only people that could drag out an admission of love for years."

"Oh I don't know, I've heard the stories about Oliver and Felicity from you." Lena grinned.

Kara smiled sadly. "Those two were so in love with each other and when he died she ..." Kara cleared her throat and shook her head. She couldn't continue.

Lena could see where this was going and she didn't want to think about it either. "Kara, let's just go to bed? I think we could both use an early night."

Kara nodded and they walked hand in hand to the bedroom before separately going about their night time routines. When they lay down in bed Kara pulled Lena close, wrapping her arms around her and burying her nose in Lena's neck. Lena wrapped her own arms around Kara and entangled her legs. "I don't know what I'd do if you ever ..." Kara whispered, not moving her face from where she was hiding.

"Hey, hey now, look at me Kara." Lena coaxed Kara to look at her. When she finally did Lena raised one hand to cup her jaw. "You're not going to lose me."

"You can't know that for sure."

"Ok no I don't know that for sure just like I don't know that you'll be fine the next time someone gets it into their mind to try and kill you with kryptonite but we have survived death threats, crazy aliens, meta humans, homicidal psychopathic family members, our own fears about each other and oh yeah, the phantom zone so as long as we stay together I'm certain we can get through almost everything."

"Well when you put it like that ..." Kara said, "I'm sorry, that got really heavy really quickly."

Lena didn't reply, she just leaned forward and kissed Kara, trying to show her how much she loved her which Kara returned with equal emotion. Minutes passed and their soft reassuring kisses turned into an intense make out session. Kara rolled them over so she was pressing Lena into the mattress, her hands slipping under Lena's t-shirt and skimming her ribs just grazing the bottom of her bra. Lena tore her lips away from Kara and gasped.

"Kara."

Kara stilled, "I'm sorry I'm going too fast, I ..."

"No!" Lena cut off with a quick shake of her head, "No, don't stop." Lena clarified and she blindly pulled Kara back to her. "You have no idea how long I've wanted this."

Kara looked down at Lena and smiled. "About as long as I've wanted this but are you sure?"

Lena gently stroked Kara's face with her right hand whilst she ran the finger of her left hand over Kara's bracelet. "Hey I proposed, didn't I?"

"Lena, love. Be serious. Besides," she smirked, "I believe I'm the one who actually said the words, 'why don't you marry me?'" She leaned forward to place a soft kiss on her lips.

"Whilst we're talking about that, 'why don't you marry me?' is not the way to propose to a girl."

"I'll bear that in mind." Kara replied.

Lena decided that there had been enough talk so she put an end the discussion for the rest of the night. She ran her hand up Kara's arm to play with her hair at the nape of her neck before pulling her down into a slow kiss. Kara responded enthusiastically and the last complete thought that she had for the next few hours was how she couldn't believe how long she had waited to be like this with Kara.