Don't make me regret it
As they parted after dinner the following evening Lena had promised Kara that from now on if she wasn’t in the library studying, she would eat with her. She had lucked out that they had caught the tail end of dinner, meaning she got to eat alone with Kara. She wasn’t scared to meet Kara’s friends per se, she was more worried that said friends and big sister wouldn’t take too kindly to Lena.
That morning, Kara got ready relatively quickly and made her way to breakfast. She had come to find that whenever she met up with Alex, Maggie was always there too. She didn’t mind, she was happy Alex had found a friend and Maggie had grown a lot on Kara.
As she made her way into the Great Hall, she was not at all shocked to find Alex and Maggie sitting alone studying before the food arrived.
“Little Danvers! You’re up early.” Maggie was quick to call out, bringing Alex’s attention out of whatever book she was reading. Kara knew what was coming next, that’s why she had woken up earlier so that she could talk to Alex before it happened. “I heard the craziest this morning from Lucy, she told me that on her way back from the library last night she saw you eating dinner.”
Kara was going to try and play dumb and see how far that got her “So? You should know me by now, meal time is very important to me.” Well played Kara, she thinks to herself.
“Tell me about it. That’s not the crazy thing though, she noticed that you weren’t alone. Something about you eating with Lena Luthor. Ring a bell?
Darn it. She couldn’t play clueless this time.
“Oh yeah! Last night. Yes, I did eat with Lena Luthor.” She waited, knowing she had Alex’s full attention at this point.
“Cut the act Kara I know you better than that. Can you just spill already, where did you disappear last night and why were you eating Dinner with Lena Luthor?”
Kara knew she could possibly outsmart Maggie, but Alex, she knew her too well. It really was a blessing and a curse.
“Ugh. Fine okay but before you get all bent out of shape just listen to me okay. I have Lena for a few classes and she’s been really awesome about helping me out when I’m struggling. Last night I was going to meet up with Winn and Barry but as I was walking through the quad Lena came running out crying her eyes out. Being the nice person that I am I followed her to make sure she was okay. I found her down by the Lake having a complete meltdown and so I stayed to talk to her. We talked for a long time and next thing I knew it was dark out. You also know I don’t skip meals and was going to eat dinner anyways so I invited her to eat with me. See not that big of a deal.” Kara took a moment to catch her breathe before relaying the last, probably most important part of her story. “Also... Lena is going to be eating breakfast with us.”
Alex didn’t say anything, she sat there with her arms crossed as she seemed to contemplate whatever thought she had. Maggie on the other hand just looked at Kara like the gears in her mind had finally clicked and she waited patiently to see what she knew was about to be a Danvers sister showdown.
“Kar. I thought we had made it very clear who Lena Luthor was, did any of that speech stay in your mind or did you conveniently forget?”
“Look Alex I didn’t ask for your permission, I thought you could at least be happy for me. I heard every word that you had said, I’m just choosing to ignore it.”
“You don’t know anything about this girl Kara!” Alex was getting very frustrated at this point, Kara could tell because when she gets angry the tips of her ears turn red, and boy were they red. “I’m just trying to look out for you is all. I know how easy you trust people, I love that about you, but we aren’t home anymore, you need to be more careful.”
Not wanting to cause a scene, Kara chooses her next words very carefully. “You’re right Alex we aren’t home anymore but I’m also not a little kid anymore. You have to trust me, trust that I can look out for myself. Please... just trust me. Lena isn’t like her family.”
Maggie looked back and forth between the two, not wanting to leave but also knowing not to get involved.
“Fine! Fine! Ugh I trust you Kara, it’s her I don’t trust. You’re right though, I need to learn to let you make your own choices. I swear though if she hurts you, I would not hesitate to swing at a Luthor.”
“There ladies, now that wasn’t hard now was it?” “Shut up Maggie!” Kara and Alex say in unison.
“Woah. Are we like, interrupting some sort of girl drama?” Barry asks before taking a seat on the other side of Maggie and Winn coming to sit next to Kara.
Maggie just rolls her eyes “God, boys are so clueless.”
Winn and Barry just share a glance and shrug their shoulders. Satisfied that Alex was going to be okay, Kara relaxed and waited as students started to make their way to breakfast.
In the Slytherin dorm as Lena got ready, she stopped to take one last look in the mirror before she headed out the door. She walked past the other Slytherin girls in the dorm without a word and headed her usual route to the library. Instead of continuing on forward to the comforts of the Library she stopped in front of the entrance to the Great Hall. She took a deep breath and stepped in. She knew where Kara usually sat so it didn’t take long for her to spot the blonde. Once she finally saw her walking towards her, she quickly got to her feet to meet her.
“Lena! You’re here!” she practically shouted, and she came in like she wanted to give her a hug but stopped herself before she did.
Lena was terrified to be completely honest, she hoped that this wasn’t going to turn into a bad idea. As she walked into Kara’s space the blonde’s apparent happiness made Lena realize that even if this did go south, she had at least made Kara smile. That was a win in her book.
“Here come sit down, I saved a seat for you next to me.”
Lena sat down, but she didn’t have much time to wallow in her awkwardness because next was the introductions. “Everybody this is Lena, Lena this is everyone.!”
Barry spoke up first “Hey Lena nice to see you again.” He smiled and waved since he had missed the Lena was eating with them memo, he didn’t think much of it though. “I’m Barry by the way, we have Potions and Transfiguration together.”
“Barry it’s nice to see you again as well”
“I’m Winn, we also have the same classes together!” He cut in with a blush.
God Kara’s friends were just as dorky as her “It’s nice to meet you too Winn, I do recall seeing you in transfiguration, you were the one that turned their rat into a half goblet half rat hybrid right, and broke your wand?”
Winn just sort of ducked his head as his blush grew.
“I like this one” Maggie tells Kara. “I’m Maggie, I’ve heard a lot about you from this one here.” In true Maggie fashion she follows it up with a wink leaving Lena to look at Kara, wondering exactly what she had told them. If Kara’s blush was any indicator, it was probably harmless.
Kara clears her throat and interjects before Maggie is allowed to carry on. “And this is my sister Alex.”
Alex doesn’t say anything, just scans her over. Lena knew this technique; she had seen it many times. She didn’t mean any harm she was just sizing her up before she introduced herself. “Luthor.”
Lena under any other circumstance would have hated the way Alex said her name, but something about the way Alex said it wasn’t harsh, rather matter of fact. She supposed Alex could have been much ruder and more chalked it up to Alex being protective of her sister, which she understood.
“You guys were going to have a party and not invite me. How rude.” Lucy said walking up to the table looking offended. “And this is Lucy. Lucy, Lena.”
“Ah yes you must be the mystery girl who ate dinner with you last night, I knew I recognized you.” She said as she walks past Kara and Lena and takes a seat next to Winn.
“Why yes, this is THE Lena Kara was eating dinner with last night” Maggie laughs as she responds to Lucy’s rhetorical question.
“Okay, yes can we move past that already” Kara says with a groan. Wishing the ground would open up and swallow her whole.
“Fine little Danvers, you’re no fun.” Maggie just rolls her eyes. “So Luthor, we heard you have taken pity on our poor Kara and have been helping her out in Charms.”
“I don’t think Kara really needs my help; she understands it very well. Her execution however, may need some work but she’s been doing much better.”
“Come on Lena that was one time!” Kara says with another groan.
“Hey, I said you had gotten better.” Lena makes sure to tell Kara, not wanting her to feel anymore embarrassed. Lena knew she was going to like Maggie; it would be easy to banter with her while also embarrassing Kara. Lena liked having that effect on her. “I hear that you’re going to be the new Gryffindor seeker this year. Congrats, I’m sure you worked really hard for that spot”
“See, finally someone sees my talent!” Maggie said happily that they could joke in good fun.
“If you call running into a goal post talent, then I guess you’re right.” Alex had said, finally easing into their conversation. “Wow Danvers, that was a low blow. Even for you.” The whole table erupted with laughter. Lena had survived her first breakfast; they spent the rest of the time eating and playfully teasing either Maggie or Kara about something ridiculous they either did or said.
It was time for classes and the group slowly made their way out of the Great Hall.
“Thanks for eating with us, I think they like you. I’ll see you at lunch?” Kara says to Lena as they get ready to part their separate ways.
“Thank you for not giving up on me, your friends seem pretty cool. I suppose I can squeeze you in for lunch today”
Kara smiles and walks off to join Winn and Barry.
Lena bids farewell to Lucy and Maggie as they walk ahead of her to their class. She notices she hasn't seen Alex.
She takes a few steps before she stops.
“Luthor. Wait up.”
She hesitated before she turned around, knowing all too well who was behind her. “that solves the mystery of where Alex is.” She thinks to herself.
“Look I know we don’t know each other, and frankly I don’t care much for you.”
Fantastic. Lena thinks to herself again, knowing exactly where this conversation was going.
“Kara seems to like you, hell everyone did. All I’m going to tell you is that while I may not particularly like you yet, Kara does. She’s never been wrong about anyone before, so please don’t hurt her okay?”
Lena wanted to reply snidely to Alex’s remark but knew that would only hurt Kara, something she never wanted to do. “I’m not here to hurt her Alex, your sister has been nothing but nice to me, even when I didn’t deserve it.”
“She has a habit of befriending people that don’t always deserve it, I may not know why but to her you are worth it.” Alex much like Kara also liked to fidget, except without glasses hers was to tuck her hair behind her ears. “If you hurt her Luthor I swear, it will be the last thing you ever do.”
“I appreciate that Kara has someone like you but you’re right, she does seem to put a lot of trust into people. I know being a Luthor already makes me the bad guy, I’m just trying to make a name for myself outside of my family, can you understand that?”
“I think I can.”
“Thank you. I can’t promise that I won’t ever hurt Kara, I am only human after all. But I can promise that I don’t take her friendship lightly. “
“That’s all I ask. Now come on, we're going to be late.”
Lena was thankfully her and Alex had come to a mutual understanding as they quietly walked to class.
They made it to Lena’s class first, she gave Alex a nod and prepared herself mentally for the lecture that awaited her. “Luthor.”
Lena gave her one last look before she walked into class.
“Don’t make me regret it.”