CHAPTER NINETEEN: 'I Adore You'
"LENA." KARA SAID PLAYFULLY.
"Kara." The vampire singsonged.
The girl giggled in response, "we seriously, have to finish the night sky." The reporter said.
Lena looked at their second project of the week. The wall opposite the sunset they painted, was jet black with a few specks of white to replicate little stars.
They drew on their constellations, Pisces for Lena and Taurus for Kara; amongst the vastness of galaxies and milky ways and a planet Kara made up called Krypton.
And yet here they were, laying side by side on their backs staring at the ceiling peacefully.
Kara put on some music from her phone this time, because,"who doesn't love Sam Smith?" And Lena made a mental note to retrieve his album in vinyls.
Lena played with Kara's hair and the atmosphere was too relaxing for either of them to make the first move to continue on with their task.
Unfortunately, it was Kara.
"Come on, lazy." The girl said, as she stood up and held her hand out for Lena to take.
The vampire smiled playfully and took her hand, but jerked her towards her, to come back down to the floor.
"I think it can wait a while." Lena smirked pulling the girl closer to her for a kiss.
"Uh, no it can't." Kara said, completely oblivious to Lena's flirting and eagerness for a kiss. She got up and pulled Lena with her.
"Besides, I have yet to paint two little stick figures and a flag on Krypton."
"Don't tell me that that will be you and I." Lena deadpanned, but she enjoyed having Kara paint whatever she wished on her walls.
"You bet your sweet ass it's you and I." The girl placed her hands on her hips, looking at the walls. "We still have two more walls left."
"That's correct."
"Any ideas for them?" Kara asked, taking a sip of water from her water bottle.
"You're the muse." Lena stated.
At that, Kara spat out her water and choked, patting her chest as if it'll help get some air into her lungs. "I'm the muse?" She wheezed. "As in— you want me to—"
"Oh dear God, Kara no!" Lena stepped in, laughing at herself for being so vague. "I don't want your nudity to be displayed on my walls." The vampire said, both girls blushing furiously. "I mean, I don't mind seeing— you know what? I'm going to stop talking now."
Kara let out a laugh because for the first time, she wasn't the one to say that. She was usually the the awkward, flustered one.
"I meant that you're the inspiration." Lena corrected herself after clearing her throat.
It was true. Since she and Kara had painted the walls of her apartment, the girl literally brought colour into her life.
Before Kara, it was all just watching time pass by for Lena. As she remained immortal and everything else around her aged, all she can do was watch it unfold right before her eyes.
It was like watching a scene in movie. A sped up montage of the seasons passing by, and Lena was frozen in place. That was Lena's life. All she can do is watch everything change. Until Kara came along, and the montage seemed to stop.
And Lena can finally pause in the season of spring and adore the colours of blooming wildflowers and the bees buzzing away. Or stop in winter and appreciate the uniqueness of each snowflake.
Being with Kara was the best feeling in the world. And Lena, have been living for three thousand years and can say for a fact, that lying with the girl next to her or spending lazy afternoons painting for fun, was the best feeling she's ever felt.
"I am?" Kara asked. And Lena nodded.
"Look around, Kara." And the girl did. "My apartment was nothing but bleak. But your idea of a sunset and the night sky, has made its way into my home. Making it feel more... alive, lovable, even."
Lena stepped into Kara's personal space and moved a strand of Kara's hair out of her face. "You really are amazing, Kara."
It sounded like a thank you to Kara. She wasn't quite sure why Lena was thanking her, but she was warmed at how important she was to the girl and Lena made sure she knew it.
Kara smiled lovingly at the girl standing before her and pressed her lips onto Lena's.
"I adore you, Lena."
Lena's heart skipped a beat. That was new and the first, probably closest thing from 'I love you.' And it made the vampire's once cold heart, swell.
They'd only been seeing one another for a week and a bit, and it felt so fast and exhilarating. But so right.
"And, if I really am the inspiration… we need to do something about how there's no photos around here."
Kara went to her bag and took out a Polaroid camera.
"Do you always carry that with you?" Lena asked.
Kara shrugged, "no. But I've been meaning to snap a few pictures for you to hang around here for a while now. So, I came prepared. Say cheese!"
Lena looked at the camera with a confused expression, before she can smile or utter the word 'cheese,' the camera went click and Lena's eyes were met with a flash.
Kara smiled victoriously at the first photo she's take of Lena, despite the ink not being developed yet.
"I don't know why you're so happy. I didn't even smile." Lena said with a playful eye roll. "It definitely won't be hung around here."
"Why not?" Kara asked, with a pout.
"It's a bit odd to have a mugshot of yourself hanging in your apartment, don't you think?"
Kara just stayed silent. "Okay, I'm keeping it though. Blackmail." The girl shrugged.
Lena chuckled, and gestured to the camera.
"May I?"
Kara handed her the device. "Such a gentlewoman." She teased.
Lena draped her arm over Kara's shoulder and held the camera lens to them. "Say cheese." The vampire imitated Kara's enthusiasm, a childish, playful side to her she never knew she had.
"Cheeseeee!" Kara drawled out happily, her pearly whites on display. At the last minute before the camera flashed, Lena gave her a kiss on the cheek as her pose.
They took a few more together, until the Polaroid ran out of film.
They sifted through the photos, and giggled and laughed at the funny faces they'd made.
"This, is definitely worth hanging." Lena said, holding up the developed photo of her kissing Kara on the cheek.
The pair hadn't realised how much time have passed. They spent a few hours, in their favourite room of the apartment. Kara mostly listening to music as she flicked through the many record albums Lena had stashed.
A half empty box of pizza sat on the floor, as the two simply relaxed in each other's company. The vampire curled up to herself with a book on her lap, a furry blanket draped over her legs.
"I can't believe you have so many records." Kara mumbled, "and you organised them alphabetically by the artists' name."
Lena shrugged, not looking up from her book, "I was bored."
"And by music genre."
Lena looked up, "I was really bored."
"You nerd." Kara muttered under her breath.
"Just pick a song, Danvers." Lena said, thankful her vampiristic hearing was of good use.
Kara settled on Sixpence None the Richer's, Kiss Me. "Can I see your room?"
Lena shut her book, because all she can think about was, this is my room. "Uh, why?"
"I want to know what it's like."
Lena stood up, thankful that she did have a room. A guest room to be exact. So, when Lena guided Kara down the hallway and into the plain, untouched room, all Kara could say was, "oh."
"Oh, indeed." The vampire laughed.
The reporter looked around, fidgeting with her glasses, "I mean, it's very…"
"Sparse?"
"Clean." Kara said with playful narrow eyes.
Lena initially intended the guest room for Sam, really. Seeing as though she didn't need much sleep, she'd often doze off in the chair in her room, surrounded by books for a couple of hours.
She had a bed in there, a wardrobe that did hold Lena's clothes and a private bathroom.
"What's with you and no photos?"
"What's with you and photos?" Lena remarked and Kara held out her hands in surrender.
"They're memories, Lena. Don't want to keep them alive through photos?"
"I have too many memories to keep." It was a lie, but it intrigued Kara as she moved to sit on the bed. She realised that she didn't know much about Lena.
She wasn't much of an open book. She kept it ambiguous yet straight to the point, often brushing off questions she didn't want to answer with a joke.
Kara knew it was a defensive mechanism, so she didn't want to pry.
"Do tell."
Lena sat down next to her. "When I was a child, my brother and I used to run out to the woods. We made this little house out of spare floorboards and old rugs."
The vampire smiled sadly at the memory. A memory that was made three thousand years ago, when cameras didn't exist.
That was what saddened her the most. Of course she would capture the memories if she could. The best ones were when she was a child. When she was human. And when Lex was sane.
But the world dammed her to immortality, and the good times just didn't last long enough until cameras were invented.
"I kept my dolls in there, when mother said I had to throw them out because I was, 'maturing into a young lady.'"
Lena rolled her eyes, "I picked wildflowers and decorated the place. Lex hated it, he always had hay fever and sneezed all the time." Lena chuckled, nostalgia hit her harder than she thought.
"At night, we'd light the place up with little fireflies in jars. We'd let them go because I was afraid we'd kill them." Kara smiled.
"How long ago was this?" The reporter asked, "and where? Didn't you use flashlights or something?"
Lena cleared her throat nervously. Flashlights weren't invented either. "Ireland. Anyway, it's just a memory now."
"A damn good one." Kara said. There was a pause and Kara traded a memory of her own. "Alex and I used to watch the stars on our roof when we were little. We had a balcony in the room we shared, but," she laughed, "I insisted to go on the roof."
Lena laughed because, of course it was Kara's idea. "Alex was so scared she'd get into trouble." Kara laughed again, "it's funny, she wasn't scared of falling. She was scared of getting into trouble. The Danvers put a lot of responsibility on her to take care of me. Anyway, we were on the roof and I could have sworn there was a shooting star."
"I got overly excited, and screamed 'I call it!' And in doing so, The Danvers walked out onto our balcony, wondered where we were, and busted us when they found us on the roof."
"What'd you wish for?" Lena asked softly.
Kara inhaled a short breath. "It was a naive wish. I wished for my parents to come back. But, I know they're always with me."
"And they are. What would you wish for now?"
Kara paused, "I don't know," she said quietly.
Lena looked up at the clock. It was late. Almost nearing eleven.
"I should get home." Kara said, looking up at the clock too. "Snapper needs me in tomorrow."
"And how is he?" Lena queried, as she walked her to her door.
"Much nicer." Kara looked at Lena, "must be that Luthor charm."
Lena scoffed, "well it better be." And Kara laughed, opening the door for herself. "I can walk you out." She said as Kara put on her jacket.
"Always the gentlewoman. But, it's okay. I've got it from here." Kara smiled, turning to face Lena.
She leaned in and gave Lena and kiss, smiling into it. The butterfly feeling in her stomach never gets old.
"Goodnight." Lena murmured against pink lips.
"Goodnight, Lena."
Lena shut the door quietly behind her, breathing out a long happy sigh. She was definitely bitten by a love bug.
There was a knock on the door, and Lena furrowed her brows, but a smile remained on her lips. "Kara, don't tell me you forgot your glasses because they're on your head." Lena said, as she opened the door, to find no one there.
She walked out into the hallway to see if anyone was nearby, but before Lena could register a possible threat, a dart was shot at her neck, and she felt her knees go weak.
She picked the dart out, still strong enough to use her speed to go back into her apartment, but was shot yet again.
Groaning at the increased weakness she wasn't used to, Lena collapsed onto the floor as her vision blurred. The last thing she could remember, was a redhead hovering above her.