Every Wednesday at 8am, Kara and Alex meet in the café on Composure's ground floor to have breakfast. They've been doing it ever since Kara started working for the magazine about three years ago, and it's almost (but not quite) as sacred as their weekly girls' nights in.

It's so holy, in fact, that there is no reasonable excuse for bailing on this tradition. Possibly with the exception of severe illness/recovery from a near death experience.

But the awkward aftermath of a near-argument the day before certainly doesn't make the cut, which is what leads to Kara and Alex sitting uncomfortably across from one another in the café on Wednesday morning, with Kara staring down into her coffee mug and Alex playing with an empty sugar sachet. The usual easy flow of conversation is absent, leaving in its wake an unpleasant silence that rarely descends over the sisters.

They've exchanged distant small talk: How are you? Good thanks, how are you? Good. Busy day ahead? Mmhmm, but they haven't managed to get much further.

Disagreeing over this article has driven a small wedge between them.

Once it's been seventeen minutes exactly since either of them have spoken (Alex has been watching the clock ticking on the wall above the counter, just to give herself something to do), Alex decides to make the effort to put the tension behind them. Besides, it's not like they even fought. She'd just expressed her view that maybe it wouldn't be such a good idea for Kara to use Cat Grant in her How To Lose A Partner In 10 Days article, a view which Kara had disagreed with. It's not the first time the sisters haven't agreed about something, and it won't be the last.

Which means, really, it's stupid for them to be sitting in tense silence.

"So," Alex begins conversationally, forcing herself to look at the blonde. "How was your date?"

Kara's eyes flicker to her briefly before returning to her coffee. "I don't think it's a good idea for us to talk about that," she admits, tone ever so slightly bitter. "You'll probably try to talk me out of dating Cat again, and I don't want to hear it."

Alex sighs, drops the sachet she's been fiddling with and instead leans forwards on folded arms. "I don't think it's very smart for you to 'date' Cat; not when she's a powerful figure in the media and you moonlight as a superhero. But you know that now. You know how I feel, and you've decided to go ahead with this thing anyway, and that's fine, that's your prerogative. I've done my job as the protective big sister - I've warned you about the dangers if this plan goes wrong. Now it's time for me to be the supportive big sister."

Kara looks at Alex, her lips pursed. It's her, 'I'm listening' face, which Alex takes as a good sign and continues. "I can help you with this. I can be your sounding board, I can give you advice. Please let me. Let me help you in whatever way that I can because I so want you to get this promotion."

Kara doesn't say anything for a few seconds, but continues to look at Alex intensely. Alex is worried that Kara still won't trust her to talk about the Cat situation, which would devastate her because they're Alex and Kara. They share everything with each other and stick together through thick and thin. If Kara doesn't want to talk to her about this, then what if it's the first crack in their relationship? The first step towards them growing apart?

OK, maybe Alex is being a little dramatic, but she's a worst-case-scenario kind of person, and the longer Kara looks at her like that without saying anything, the longer Alex's mind has to make up awful situations like-

A smile breaks out across Kara's face. A I-can't-hold-this-in-any-longer smile.

Alex narrows her eyes in suspicion at her sister, who it seems was purposely taking as long as possible to react just to mess with her, but it feels like a weight has been lifted off her shoulders nevertheless. She always feels anxious when she knows Kara is annoyed with her, but luckily, Kara never holds a grudge for long. She's much too sweet and cheerful for that.

"Come on," Kara reaches across the table and puts her hand on top of Alex's, giving it a gentle squeeze. "You know I can't stay mad at you. You just upset me yesterday because you didn't seem to think that I'd be able to pull this off, and it was like - I don't know - like you didn't believe in me."

Alex looks outraged at the mere prospect. "Kara, that's not true."

"I know," Kara is quick to assure her. "I see that now. You just don't want me to get hurt if Cat finds out the truth about who I am. And I appreciate your concern, but trust me Alex, I'm going to be really careful."

Alex smiles fondly at her little sister. "Good. So, how did the date go?" she asks, returning to the issue at hand. "You mentioned last night that Cat was having a terrible time and that you didn't think she'd want to see you again. Does that mean you've done it? Has she broken things off with you? Can you write the article?"

Kara's face goes darker again, answering Alex's question before any words leave her mouth. She pulls her hand away from Alex's and puts it in her lap. "Cat did have a terrible time," Kara acknowledges. "She hated the basketball game - oh, remind me to thank Winn for giving me those tickets, by the way - but yeah, she hated the game. She looked miserable all night. I was a terrible date: I talked with my mouth full, I paid more attention to the game than I did to her, I even ditched her halfway through, and she was kissed by this disgusting, sweaty guy." Alex frowns at that last part, wanting to ask some more questions about it, but Kara is too busy staring to the side with a confused look on her face. "But then she still wanted to kiss me at the end of the night. I said no," she hastily adds. "I thought that might make her decide I'm not worth it, but she just asked me for a second date instead."

"You're going out with her again?" Alex clarifies, surprised. It doesn't sound like Cat had a nice time at all, so why would she want to go through that again?

Kara nods her head, then slumps backwards in her seat, a baffled yet thoughtful expression on her face. "I don't get it. Why would she want to see me again?"

Alex considers the question for a moment before half-jokingly suggesting, "maybe she's just so desperate to get into your pants that she's willing to put up with a couple of crappy dates to get there."

Kara looks skeptical. "But she could get into anyone's pants without the crappy dates."

"Maybe, but hardly anyone is as attractive as you."

Kara, still dubious, hums noncommittally, not accepting that. How the superhero doesn't see her own beauty is beyond Alex, but before she can assure her sister that she's breathtaking, she's struck with another idea. "You said you paid more attention to the game than you did to Cat, then you wouldn't let her kiss you. Maybe she likes that kind of thing? She might have thought you were playing hard to get."

This piques Kara's interest. "Maybe she sees me as a challenge," Kara suggests, back straightening as the cogs in her head start turning. "I wasn't very forthcoming the night of the party either. Maybe she realised that I wouldn't be easy and decided to make it her mission to seduce me, just to prove to herself that she can have anyone she wants. Powerful people like that, right? It's an ego-boost."

"Mmhmm," Alex agrees. "I think we're onto something here."

"So," Kara leans forwards, meaning business. "If me being uninterested pulls her in, then me being too interested should-"

"Push her away," Alex finishes with a confident nod.

Kara grins. "You're a genius, Alex."

Alex puffs out her chest with pride.

"I know just the way to get Cat to end things with me. I'll be clingy, needy-"

"And don't forget crazy," Alex adds, grinning at the thought.

Kara smiles mischievously, looking more like an evil-mastermind than Alex thought it was possible for her little sister to look. "Let the games begin."

At that moment, a waitress appears next to their table holding two plates of food. "Two stacks of blueberry pancakes?" After receiving a nod, she puts a plate in front of each of the women.

When Kara's eyes land on her breakfast, her expression turns completely heart-eyes emoji. Any wicked plans are instantly forgotten, replaced only with the desire to practically inhale the food before her.

Alex smiles at the sight. There's her innocent little puppy.

When Cat returns to her office at the end of a long meeting, she slides off her heels, sits on her desk chair and almost groans when she sees the time on her computer monitor.

10:30am? That means the meeting with her department heads only lasted for an hour and a half, which means it was an hour and a half shorter than Cat had thought.

Originally, it had been supposed to last just twenty minutes - a brief status update about the latest issue of CatCo - but after seeing the state of the next issue, Cat had declared a state of emergency and hadn't let anyone leave the room until they had salvaged the mess they had made of her magazine and got it into their heads that CatCo was to be nothing short of excellent. Sloppiness would lead to terminations of contracts, shortcuts would lead to terminations of contracts, and incompetence would lead to terminations of contracts. No exceptions.

Cat had had to cancel her eyebrow waxing with Arabella due to the extension of the meeting, and it had made her feel a thousand times more stressed than when she had arrived in the office.

She had thought the only consolation would be that, when she left the conference room, it would be after 12pm and she could have her first glass of scotch.

Alas, this is not the case. She still has more than an hour to go until she is given that luxury.

Cat presses her fingers to her eyes, trying to quell the headache she can feel forming.

And where the hell is Eve, anyway? Can she not see that her boss is frazzled and in need of a pick-me-up? Has she not noticed that the CEO is out of her meeting now and needs to be informed what the rest of her schedule looks like?

God, when is Cat going to find an assistant who knows what she wants even before she does?

Gritting her teeth, Cat yells out, "Teschmacher!"

It takes a few seconds longer than Cat would like, but she eventually hears her assistant hurrying into her office. "Yes, Miss Grant?"

Cat moves her fingers away from her eyes and leans back in her seat, giving the younger woman an expectant look.

Again, it takes a few seconds, but Eve eventually realises what is wanted from her. "Right!" She unlocks the tablet she's holding, taps the screen a few times, then clears her throat. "You have a board meeting at twelve, and an appointment with your therapist at two. The layouts you asked for-" Cat clicks her fingers, causing Eve to pause and look up. The CEO looks pointedly towards the bar at the side of the room, and Eve, looking unsure, makes her way towards it. "The layouts you asked for should be ready any minute now, and the-" Eve puts her hand on the tumbler of scotch, but Cat shakes her head. Eve picks up the M&Ms instead and looks proud of herself when Cat nods. She deposits them on Cat's desk. "The termination letters you requested have been sent to the appropriate recipients. Mr. Matthews asked if it would be possible to have a meeting with you - he has a proposal for a new story which he wants to discuss with you in person - so I scheduled him in for 3:45, if that's OK."

"It is," Cat assents, putting her fingers into the bowl of M&Ms and taking out a few. "But cancel the board meeting. Book a massage with Rena instead. I think I deserve it after the morning I've had." She pops a few of the chocolates into her mouth.

Eve nods her head and taps away on the tablet. "Mr Evans from the Tribune called, too. He said it's not urgent, but he'd appreciate it if you could get back to him when you have a minute."

Cat nods and jots that down on a post-it note.

"Kara Danvers called, too." This causes Cat to lift her head look at her assistant with interest. Eve swallows and quietly adds, "Seven times."

"Kara Danvers called here seven times?" Cat echoes. That can't be right.

"She did, even though I told her that I'd let you know she'd called as soon as you were out of your meeting," Eve says, sounding miffed. "She just kept calling and calling, every ten minutes or so."

Cat frowns and taps her pen against her lips. Why would Kara call her so much? One would assume someone would only call so excessively if there was something urgent to talk about, but what urgent topic could Kara have to discuss? Unless she's in danger. But then why would she call Cat? They only met a couple of days ago, it's unlikely that Cat is her emergency contact.

Well, there's only one way to find out the real reason.

Cat takes a deep breath and puts her pen down, ending her thought process. "Call Rena and book the appointment for my massage, and go to the graphics department and get those layouts for me. Oh, and from now on, whenever Kara Danvers calls, let me know right away. Even if I'm in a meeting."

Cat needs to make this woman fall in love with her, and that's more likely to happen if she gives off the impression that she's available and that Kara is one of her top priorities. (Which, right now, she is).

"Of course, Miss Grant," Eve nods obediently. "Is that all?"

Cat nods the affirmative and Eve turns and leaves the room. Once she's gone, Cat picks up her bag and starts rummaging around for her cell phone, intending to call Kara back right away. Once she's found it and has searched her contacts for the younger woman, the phone on her desk starts to ring.

Cat looks through the glass wall of her office and locks eyes with Eve, who is standing next to her own desk, holding her own phone to her ear. Cat sighs and picks up the line. "Yes?"

"Kara Danvers is on the phone," Eve informs her in a carefully neutral voice.

Of course she is. "Send it through," Cat instructs.

She watches Eve press a button on her phone, and then Kara is connected through the line. "Cat?" Kara's voice comes through, tentative.

"Hello, dear," Cat says amiably. "I apologise that it took me so long to get back to you, but I was in a meeting and my assistant didn't think to let me know that someone was trying to contact me. Is everything OK?"

"It's fine, and everything's fine."

Cat waits another few moments, expecting Kara to maybe tell her why she'd been trying so desperately to get through to her. It soon becomes apparent that the younger woman isn't going to expand. "Is there a particular reason you called?" Eight times, is what Cat wants to tack onto the end.

"Not really. I just wanted to hear your voice and make sure that you're OK."

This is weird, Cat decides, but what she says is, "how sweet."

"I had a great time last night," Kara continues. "Would you like to meet up for lunch today?"

Cat thinks about the schedule that Eve has just relayed to her. The only time she'd really be free to go out for lunch is when her massage is scheduled for, and she really needs that massage. "I'm sorry, Kara, but I'm swamped today. I don't think I'll be able to find the time."

"Oh." Kara sounds disappointed, but doesn't say anything more.

Cat looks to the side, waiting for the other woman to speak, until it again becomes apparent that she isn't going to. "You're not upset, are you? You understand that I'm busy and can't go out for lunch?"

"Of course," Kara says in a high-pitched voice. "It's just... you said last night that you wanted to see me again, and now it kinda sounds like you don't."

Cat frowns, not seeing the logic there. "Of course I want to see you again. But you know what I do for a living, you must understand that that makes me an incredibly busy person and I can't be available all the time. On some days, I'm unable to leave the office and, unfortunately, today is one of those days."

"If you don't want to go on a second date, then all you have to do is say so," Kara mumbles.

Cat moves the phone away from her ear and looks at it as though it is being crazy, simply because she can't look at Kara that way. "I do want to go on a second date, but-"

"No, your work is more important, that's fine," Kara says in a tone that implies it most certainly is not fine.

"That's not- I-" Cat flounders, before giving up and resting her forehead on the palm of her hand. "How about we have dinner together tonight instead? You can come to my apartment, I'll cook."

"You'd do that for me?" Kara swoons, going from pissed-off to happy so fast that it almost gives Cat whiplash.

"Of course. I'll be leaving the office at around 7, so how does 8 o'clock sound?"

"Perfect!"

Cat forces herself to sound at least half as enthusiastic as Kara as she says goodbye and puts the phone down. Once the call has ended, Cat tips her head back and releases a long breath.

It's not even close to 12am yet, but screw it, Cat is breaking her own rule and having a glass of scotch.

In the middle of the afternoon, after taking care of some Supergirl business, Kara had wound up in the DEO and had pestered Alex and Winn while they tried to work. She had informed them of her invitation to go to Cat's apartment tonight and be cooked for (and thanked Winn for giving her the basketball tickets the day before).

It's then that Alex had given Kara a fantastic idea, completely unintentionally. She had asked Kara and Winn if they remembered Elisa, Winn's ex who broke up with him after he left numerous dolls lying around her apartment (Winn had scowled and said that they weren't dolls, they were action figures - collectables!)

After laughing at Winn (in the kindest way possible), Kara had been struck with an idea for getting Cat to break up with her, and had used her superspeed to rush from the room. She had some shopping to do.

A few hours later, Kara arrives at Cat's door with a bag containing her new purchases. She holds her hands behind her back as she knocks so that the CEO won't be able to see what she's holding and, as soon as the door is opened, envelopes Cat into a hug.

Clingy, needy and crazy.

"It's so good to see you again," she says, squeezing as tightly as she can without crushing Cat's bones. The other woman is still for a few moments, probably feeling surprised and uncomfortable all at once, before awkwardly patting Kara's back. Kara has to bite her lip to keep from laughing.

"You seem... excited," Cat comments, pulling away from the hug.

Kara grins. "Well, why wouldn't I be? I'm having dinner with a beautiful woman," Kara looks Cat up and down as she says this, only just realising that Rao, Cat really does look great tonight. She's only wearing a simple, form-fitting white dress with a black belt, but it just... it shouldn't be possible for someone to look this good. Kara looks back at Cat's eyes, swallows and ploughs on, "And I'm being cooked for, and..." she trails off, still feeling a little knocked off balance from how stunning Cat looks.

She must seem like an idiot, because Cat looks concerned all of a sudden and takes a step forwards. "Are you feeling OK?"

"Yeah, fantastic," Kara squeaks with an awkward laugh.

Cat looks utterly confused, but steps to the side of the door anyway. "Would you like to come in?"

Kara nods gratefully and steps past Cat, moving the bag she's brought to her side, then to her front to keep it out of the other woman's view. She doesn't hang around once she's in the apartment, making a beeline for the living room instead.

Thanks to her superhearing, she hears Cat mutter, "make yourself at home," sarcastically behind her, and has to bite back a laugh again. Perhaps the best thing about trying to get Cat to break up with her is that, when she forgoes manners, it actually works in her favour.

Besides, Kara has to work to do, which means she doesn't have time to wait around for Cat.

Once she's in the living room, she opens the bag she's brought, doing her own version of Winn leaving his collectables at his ex's place. Of course, it won't make much sense for Kara to leave action figures dotted around, so she's brought something different.

See, if there had been one thing Kara remembered about Cat's apartment from the brief time she had been in here on the night they met, it was how sleek and stylish the living room had been.

Perfectly monochrome. Classy.

Kara thinks it's time for a change.

From her bag, she pulls the first of her new additions: some pink, frilly cushions to put on the black, leather couch. She places them in position, admiring how ridiculous they look as she does. It's like Cat has let a child choose her cushions.

Next, she pulls out a blanket. It's white, with little pink roses, and it gives off that old-fashioned feel that screams old lady. Kara grins mischievously while she drapes it over the back of the sofa.

On the coffee table, she places a pink tissue box and a framed picture of a couple of kittens sitting in a plant pot. Just their heads are visible above the rim, which Kara had found adorable, but she knew Cat would hate it, hence Kara had bought it.

Kara also places a pile of magazines on the coffee table. They're all gossipy trash that Cat probably wouldn't be caught dead reading (it feels a little self-deprecating that Kara has thrown Composure into the mix), though CatCo is notably absent. Kara had meant that to be insulting, but it might actually be a compliment now that she thinks about the crap that she has bought.

Finally, Kara dots some stuffed animals around the room. A bear here, a lion there; it looks like Cat has tried to create her own stuffed-animal zoo.

Kara stands back to admire her handiwork, considering whether or not she should take a picture to send to Alex and Winn. But before she can, she hears Cat approaching the room. "Sorry about that. I had to check on din-"

The CEO stops mid-sentence, staring at the blanket that has been hung on the back of her couch. Her mouth remains slightly open as her eyes shift to each of the other items that Kara has added to her living room, lingering for a particularly long time on the stuffed unicorn that now sits on her bookshelf.

Kara knows what the older woman is thinking. Her chic and sophisticated living room... now it looks like Cat hired a six-year-old as her interior designer.

Cat walks over to her coffee table and picks up the picture frame containing the picture of two kittens. "Aren't they cute?" Kara asks, putting her hands behind her back and twisting from side to side. "They're kitty cats. Do you get it? Kitty cats. Like you, Kitty Cat."

Upon hearing the nickname, Cat shoots daggers at Kara before she can stop herself. But then she seems to remember that she's on a date and should be polite, so she forces a smile and turns around to put the frame back on the coffee table.

"What..." Cat starts, then pauses to scratch behind her ear. She looks as Kara. "What is all this?"

"I went shopping!" Kara spreads her arms in a ta-da motion, a beaming smile on her face. "When I came up here to use your bathroom the other night, I realised that this place was so dull, so I wanted to get some things to... brighten it up."

Cat is staring at Kara with a pained smile on her face. "Well, you succeeded." She walks over to a shelf and picks up a stuffed giraffe, mumbling under her breath, "horribly."

Kara obviously hadn't been supposed to hear it, but she does, thanks to her superhearing, and snorts before she can stop herself. She masterfully covers it up with a cough, and thanks Rao that Cat doesn't notice.

The CEO puts the giraffe back on the shelf and turns to Kara, who prepares herself for what she expects is coming. Cat looks angry. She looks like she could be sick just from the sight of the items Kara has bought. She looks like she wants to throw all of this stuff out of a window, then Kara along with it.

She looks like she's going to tell Kara to get the hell out of her apartment.

And Kara can't wait.

Cat takes a deep breath and walks slowly towards Kara. "If you wanted to brighten up my apartment, you didn't have to buy all this," she waves her hand at the room. "All you had to do was come over and use that little superpower of yours."

Even though Kara's lips keep smiling, her eyes certainly don't. "What?"

"Don't play coy," Cat says with a knowing smile that makes Kara uncomfortable. "I know all about that superpower of yours."

This is bad. This is very bad. Is Cat saying Kara could have used her heat vision to brighten up the place? This is how she's telling Kara she knows she's Supergirl? "I don't- pfft- I don't have a- a superpower." Kara adjusts her glasses.

"Now you're just blatantly lying to me," Cat tuts, coming to a stop right in front of the younger woman. She looks up at Kara. "There's no way that that smile of yours isn't superhuman."

Kara opens her mouth, about to launch into a speech about how she absolutely is not Supergirl, but then... what? "My smile?"

Cat lifts her hand to stroke Kara's cheek, her thumb grazing gently over the corner of the younger woman's lips. "The way it can light up a room. Hell, it'd probably be able to light up this whole city. That's not human."

Kara frowns, certain she's misunderstanding. "Wait, you're... you're complimenting my smile?"

Cat's thumb runs along her bottom lip now. "Don't sound so surprised. I haven't kept it a secret how beautiful I think you are thus far, I'm not going to start now."

Kara opens her mouth, then closes it again. While it's a relief that Cat doesn't know who she is, Kara is still incredibly confused. She's just placed girly, childish crap all around Cat's sophisticated living room, and all Cat has to say about it is that Kara's smile could have brightened the place up just fine? Why hasn't she freaked out? Maybe Kara completely misjudged the kind of person that Cat really is...

Cat is still caressing Kara's cheek, but she stops to push a few strands of hair that have fallen from Kara's ponytail behind her ear. "You know, this is our second date," Cat says conversationally.

"Yes...?"

"You never mentioned any qualms about kissing me tonight."

Cat's eyes flicker down to Kara's lips as her hand snakes around her neck, and then she tries to tug Kara down to a level where she'd be able to press their lips together.

But no! Kara came here to get broken up with, not to kiss Cat Grant!

Kara pulls away from Cat's grip with a shake of her head. "No." She backs away until she feels the back of the couch behind her.

Cat drops the hand that had been on Kara's neck so that it hits her own thigh with a smack. She looks impatient. "I'm sorry... no?"

"I don't want to... I mean..." Kara adjusts her glasses, trying to think of something to say. "I don't like rushing things, and I just want to make sure that..."

Cat's face softens and she approaches Kara, then she leans on the couch next to her with a sigh. "I understand. Physical affection is special to you, and you don't like giving it away freely. That's perfectly acceptable. Commendable, even."

"Really?"

"Really." Cat looks at Kara with a self-deprecating smile. "You have more willpower than I do." Kara looks down with a small smile on her lips. She hasn't really lied. She supposes she does think of physical affection as something special, hence she doesn't want to kiss Cat just for an article. She doesn't want to kiss Cat when she should be making the woman break up with her. Not only would it demean displays of affection, but it would also be counter-intuitive.

After a few moments, Cat stands again. "Dinner should be ready soon. How about a glass of wine?"

With Kara seated in the dining room, Cat gives herself a moment in the kitchen to breathe.

She really knows how to pick 'em. This is only the second date, and Kara has already dragged her to a basketball game, called her more times than her own mother has in the past year, re-accessorised her living room, called her 'Kitty Cat' and refused to kiss her... twice.

Cat can't recall being rejected this many times by someone since Idris Elba.

And what even are those accessories that Kara has littered her living room with? Those vile, sickeningly saccharine, repulsive, frilly, hellish things bought to 'brighten up' her living room?

Cat had wanted to burn them all right there on the spot. That certainly would have 'brightened up' the place. Instead, she had counted to ten in her head and reminded herself of her end goal: strolling into her mother's wedding with Kara on her arm, watching Katherine's face drop as she realises that she was wrong, her daughter really is lovable after all.

8 more days. 7 by the end of this date. Cat can do this.

After psyching herself up, Cat picks up the serving dish and makes her way into the dining room.

She hasn't actually cooked dinner - she had paid someone else to do it for her - but she has taken it out of the oven like a pro. Kara will never know.

When Cat enters the dining room, Kara is standing with her back to her, looking at a picture on the wall, but she glances over her shoulder as Cat puts the dish on the centre of the table.

"Is this your son?" she asks, indicating to a picture of Cat and Carter standing in front of the Sydney Opera House.

Cat smiles fondly at the sight of it. Carter doesn't like having his picture taken, so he isn't looking at the camera, but something to the left of it. His smile is wide and genuine, though, and he's leaning into Cat's side in a way that he would never do with anyone else. Even though the picture is only from a couple of years ago, Carter has grown so much since then that it makes Cat nostalgic for the days when she was a good foot taller than her 'little' boy. Now she only has an inch or two on him.

"Yes."

"You said his name is Carter?"

Cat shifts her gaze from the picture to Kara, surprised that the younger woman remembers. Yes, she had only told her Carter's name the day before, but they had only spoken about him briefly, for a few seconds at most. Cat is used to having to repeat herself. Perhaps she's finally found someone who actually listens.

"Yes. Carter," Cat confirms with a fond smile, then her eyes flicker back to the table. "Shall we sit? We don't want the food to get cold."

She pulls Kara's chair out for her, like the chivalrous gentlewoman that she is (until Kara falls in love with her, at least), then takes a seat opposite her. She spreads a napkin over her lap, then reaches out so that she can serve the food.

"We're having lamb with cherry glaze tonight. It's delicious, you'll love it," Cat states, glancing up to see Kara's reaction, which is...

Kara covers her face with her hands, shoulders beginning to shake.

Cat stares for a moment, hand still on the serving spoon, trying to decide whether the younger woman is laughing or crying. Cat gets the horrible feeling that it's the latter.

"Kara?" she says gently. "Are you OK?"

Kara sucks in a choked breath. Definitely crying. But maybe they're happy tears? Maybe she's just so thrilled that Cat has cooked a wonderful meal for her that she's having a hard time containing her emotions.

Cat can only entertain herself with that thought for a second though, because then Kara shakes her head. Sad tears, then.

Cat brings her hands back to her lap, wipes them on her napkin, then reaches out to stroke Kara's forearm tenderly. It's awkward because the younger woman is still covering her face, but Cat tries to be comforting. "It's OK," she soothes. "Everything's OK."

Kara shakes her head again. "I can't eat this." She sobs. "Lambs are so beautiful, how could you...?"

Cat closes her eyes, counting to ten and praying that she is wrong about this. "Kara. Are you a vegetarian?"

Kara nods her head.

Cat has to physically bite her tongue to stop herself from yelling something stupid like 'are you freaking kidding me?' Kara couldn't have thought to mention this before Cat 'cooked' dinner for the two of them? She hadn't thought that it might be a vital piece of information to divulge?

Cat grits her teeth, takes a deep breath, pictures the end goal. Proving her mother wrong. Proving she's lovable.

"It's OK." Cat forces out the words. "Don't worry. I can... I can throw this out and we'll go someplace else to eat. A nice restaurant. How does that sound?"

When Kara lowers her hands, her face is remarkably dry and her smile surprisingly wide for someone who had been crying seconds ago. "Thank you so much, Kitty Cat."

Cat should have picked the restaurant. All restaurants nowadays have vegetarian options. She could have picked anywhere and known that there would have been an option for Kara on the menu.

But no, she had been an idiot. She had told Kara to pick where they went, and now she's sitting in a place that's called, honest to God, 'Happy Vegannings'.

A vegan restaurant with the worst pun Cat has ever heard as its name.

Cat wishes she could just stand and leave, but instead she sits and pokes at her Italian vegetable stew with her fork, trying her hardest not to glare at Kara and her 'faux meat feast' pizza across the table.

"So," Kara begins conversationally, after a silence that had stretched on and on, thanks to Cat's brooding. "Why don't you tell me about Carter?"

Just thinking of her son makes Cat perk up, and she starts smiling down at her stew. "Carter is... special. He's exceptionally smart, and kind, and loving. His favourite subject in school is science. Honestly, he can't get enough of it. He asks me to buy him science textbooks and reads them for leisure, which is... I don't know where he gets that from. He's thirteen and already knows much more than I do. He talks about all of these things that he's passionate about and it just," Cat makes the gesture that it goes completely over her head, then her smile falters slightly. "But he has a little trouble with socialising. He's incredibly shy, and he can get overwhelmed sometimes if a place gets too loud or too crowded. It makes it difficult for him to make friends."

When Cat looks up, Kara is looking at her with soft eyes. "I can understand that," she says sympathetically. "I used to get sensory overload a lot when I was a kid."

"You did?"

Kara nods. "And you know what kids are like. They get uncomfortable around anyone who's different to them, and they don't know how to deal with that, so they turn mean."

Cat knows that Carter has been bullied at his previous schools. The one that he attends now isn't so bad, but it has been bad enough in the past that he's had to transfer. Cat knows how upset Carter had been when he'd been going through the bullying, how depressed and not at all like himself it had made him. She has a hard time picturing the bubbly and cheerful girl in front of her that way.

"You were bullied?"

"A little. At the beginning." Kara shrugs. "But then my sister started kicking the asses of anyone who so much as looked at me funny, and it died down pretty quickly after that."

Cat smiles and takes a sip of her wine. She doesn't think it would be a good idea for Adam to come down and start beating up children, not that she would condone violence as a solution, anyway.

"And how did you overcome the sensory overload?"

"Relaxation techniques. There are these exercises you can do when you feel everything becoming too much that can help calm you down. You should look into them for Carter."

Cat hums her agreement, making a mental note to do just that.

"And, you know, if Carter ever needs someone to nerd-out over science with, he could always call my sister. She's a bio-engineer, and she's always talking about science with me. But just like you," Kara makes the same gesture to show it completely goes over her head.

"I'll keep that in mind."

"Good."

Kara can hardly keep herself from smiling when turns back to her pizza, which makes Cat curious. "Why are you smiling like that?"

"No reason."

"You're a terrible liar."

Kara glances at her, then sighs, but she's still smiling. "I just... You said that if I wanted to brighten up your living room, then all I had to do was smile. Well, it turns out, I'm not even needed at all."

"What do you mean?"

"When you think about your son, your eyes shine brighter than most of the stars in the sky." Cat has never been told that before, and she finds herself smiling so widely that it's almost embarrassing. "It's a good look on you," Kara adds as an afterthought, turning back to her pizza.

Cat doesn't bother to think about how much of a good mood that compliment puts her in.

She's also not thinking about the fact that she's in a vegan restaurant called Happy Vegannings, though.

Kara had really dropped the ball there.

Carter can always call my sister if he wants someone to nerd-out over science with. Your eyes shine so bright. It's a really good look on you.

God, that is so not the way to get someone to break up with you.

But Kara just hadn't been able to help herself. Cat had looked so happy when she was talking about her son, getting a glint in her eyes that told Kara just how much she loves him. It had melted Kara's heart to see. Plus, Kara had been able to empathise with the way that Carter feels. She knows a thing or two about being overwhelmed by sensory information.

So, yes, Kara may have messed up and not exactly done herself any favours when it comes to her How To Lose A Partner In 10 Days article.

This is proved at the end of the night, when Cat says she'll call her.

Kara tries to salvage it as best as she can, though.

Cat respectfully doesn't attempt to kiss her again, but she looks at Kara expectantly and waits, clearly hoping that Kara will initiate their first kiss. Kara, acting oblivious, simply smiles and says, "night, night, Kitty Cat," before skipping into her apartment building.

Kara is confident that Cat will soon decide she's not worth it and call it a day.

A/N: I have decided that Taylor Swift's song '...Ready For it?' is the official soundtrack for this fic, since parts of it fit so well. Specifically, "Baby let the games begin, let the games begin, let the games begin... are you ready for it?"