When Lena suggested going on a vacation for the weekend, Kara hadn't hesitated: she immediately agreed enthusiastically in a text with hundreds of emojis that tried to convey the dopey smile planted in her expression. What she had not expected, however, was the destination being Los Angeles. Apparently, a friend of hers (a woman named Chloe) knew the owner of a high-end club in the city and had somehow convinced Lena to visit it. It was out of character from her, Kara couldn't help thinking, but she agreed nonetheless.
Before leaving and getting into her car, Alex had given her a suggesting look that stayed printed in Kara's mind during the entire journey. Her sister had implied numerous times that something more than platonic might be going on between herself and Lena, but Kara had always resolutely denied it. It wasn't any different this time- Alex was simply trying to tease her. But the thought didn't leave her, even when Lena gave in and played some Taylor Swift songs in the car.
The sun was setting behind L.A.'s tall buildings when they entered the city, so Kara suggested heading directly to the celebrated club, but Lena insisted upon checking in at the hotel first. It turned out it wasn't such a bad idea: Kara was left in stupefaction at the sight of the luxurious place, and the room they had booked was unlike anything she'd ever seen. The two separate beds were gigantic and they even had a large sofa in what seemed to be the living room. Taking in the view from their balcony, she realized she shouldn't have been surprised, really: this was all Lena, after all.
'What do you think?', Lena asked, coming up to her and resting herself against the railing. She looked at her friend with a proud smile.
'What do I think? This is incredible, I feel like I'm a billionaire or something!', she replied excitedly. The blonde turned to the woman with bliss and took her hand between hers. 'Thank you for bringing me along, by the way'. Kara, unintentionally, pronounced these words as if they were a profound confession. She tried not to think about it, but a certain tension seemed to linger in the atmosphere for a few seconds, in the silence interrupted by the traffic in the streets. She cleared her throat, letting go of Lena's hand as subtlety as possible.
'Should we get changed and head to this club?'
'Right, yes. Chloe is supposed to pick us up in half an hour, so hurry.'
'Please, you're the one who takes ages to get ready', Kara responded quickly, earning a laugh from the brunette.
'Shut up.'
Lena was in the bathroom, reapplying her makeup for the tenth time, while Kara waited, sitting in her bed and humming a song that had been stuck in her head since the trip. A question then popped up in her head suddenly.
'Hey, Lena', she called, to which her friend replied with a distracted murmur from across the room.
'How do you know this Chloe?'. Kara bit her lower lip unconsciously, trying to predict the answer. Maybe they had dated at some point, or she was another one of Lena's friends from boarding school.
'Oh, I met her during a business trip here in LA a few years ago. Why do you ask?'
'No, nothing. Just curious, I guess'.
'Are you jealous, Danvers?' Lena came out of the bathroom and Rao did she look hot, Kara thought. She couldn't help but stare at her friend's figure and how her black dress hugged it and revealed the exact necessary amount of skin. She blinked twice, readjusting her focus. She wasn't jealous, though. It was simply curiosity. Maybe the idea of Lena dating this stranger bothered her, but that was simply being protective over her best friend. Right? Right.
'Me? Jealous? Please, you wish.' She scoffed, shaking her head in a lousy attempt at covering her somewhat blushed cheeks.
'Sure, yeah.' Lena rolled her eyes at her and, just as she was heading to the bathroom once more, the bell rang. 'Fuck, I wanted to change my lipstick-'
'You look like a goddess, Lena, don't worry. May we go now?' Kara said getting up and adjusting her dress. She offered her arm jokingly to the brunette, who took it with a pleased smile.
They headed out of the room without letting go of each other and arrived at the building's main entrance, where an astonishingly gorgeous blonde was waiting for them.
'This is your friend?' Kara asked quietly. 'Wow.'
Lena laughed and walked towards the stranger, releasing her arm from Kara's embrace and leaving her a few steps behind. Kara stood there, giving the two women privacy.
'Kara, come here!' Lena called her then, looking at her with a slight trace of confusion. The blonde met them at the entrance. 'Kara, this is Chloe Decker. Chloe, this is Kara Danvers.'
They shook hands and smiled politely, but Kara decided that she liked this woman. She seemed genuine.
'So, shall we go, ladies?'. Chloe guided them to her car and, in a matter of minutes, the three of them found themselves in front of a huge building with an infinite queue at the door.
Chloe walked in front of them and Lena took Kara's hand to lead her into the cramped club, where the music was loud but still allowed people to have conversations in the multiple sofas. Once they were inside, they followed Chloe down the stairs, where the bar was, and ordered a couple of drinks to the scary-looking bartender.
'So, how was the trip?' Chloe started, leaning against the counter. Kara was still looking dumbfounded at the place, at the people dancing, kissing and making out.
When Lena was starting to answer, a tall, dark-haired and mysterious-looking man approached them. Kara stood tall then, getting closer to Lena and ready to force out any annoying dude. To her surprise, however, Chloe and Lena both smiled at him widely.
'Lena Luthor, wow. To what do I owe the pleasure of your presence here at LUX?'. The man stood by Chloe's side, looking at her from time to time. So Chloe was not friends with the owner of the club, after all... they were dating.
'Lucifer Morningstar, the one and only. I'm on a leisure trip with my friend here, Kara Danvers.' Lena turned to the blonde. 'Kara, this is Lucifer, the owner of the place'. Kara smiled warmly, feeling strangely proud at how well-known her friend was.
For the rest of the evening, the four of them chatted about every subject possible and were later greeted with the company of the scary bartender. Maze turned out to be nicer than expected but didn't take her eyes off Lena for a second, which caused Kara to stand closer to her friend.
At some point, Chloe and Maze managed to convince Lena to head to the dance floor, leaving Kara awkwardly next to Lucifer, who complimented every single person that came into the room with a nice but flirtatious smile. Kara had spent the last minutes looking at Lena, who was drunkenly dancing with a blissful smile on her face and she felt compelled to imitate the expression.
'So...' Kara began, shaking her head to look at Lucifer, 'How long have you and Chloe been together?'
'What? The detective and me? We're not together, no.' Suddenly, he seemed nervous, nothing like the all confident man she had witnessed seconds before.
'Right, of course. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have assumed. But you two do look cute together, if you want my opinion.'
'I don't, actually. But...' Lucifer was standing closer to her and looking intensely into her eyes.
'What-' Kara tried to step back, but something, some kind of force, compelled her to stay put.
'Tell me, Kara Danvers', Lucifer said, and his eyes were glowing and staring right through Kara's, 'What is it that you truly desire?'
Kara's head suddenly felt mushy and slow. It was as if her brain had been torn in halves: she wanted to reply something silly, like potstickers, but she knew that somehow she shouldn't say that. She parted her lips and a single image was conjured in her mind: Lena's face, her laugh, her smile, her dimples, her green-blue eyes. Try as she might, she found herself unable to stop staring at Lucifer, who had a winning smile.
'I- I want-', she tried to stop, she yelled at herself to just shut up, but her brain was no longer under her control. 'I want Lena, I always have. I... I think I might love her'. The words came out of her mouth in a rush and she was finally capable of breathing, of hiding her face from Lucifer's spell.
'Well, would you look at that! Lovely, really, how-' Lucifer stopped talking and Kara felt grateful, for shame was filling her entire body. Her face felt extremely hot and red and she was holding onto her drink, trying to process what had just happened, why she had said what she had. Because, as much as she tried to deny it to Alex and even to herself, there was some truth in her words, if not all. So lost was she in her thoughts that she didn't even notice when Lucifer stopped talking, not until someone touched her shoulder.
'Kara?' Lena. It was Lena's voice, soft but steady as always. But this time, Kara didn't want to turn around. She didn't have the courage (she, who was National City's superhero) to face her friend who was probably uncomfortable and would never talk to her again, her friend who meant the world to her, a world she was completely terrified of losing. Lucifer, feeling the tension in the air, cleared his throat before leaving Kara in the most uncomfortable situation she'd ever faced, joining his friends in the dance floor.
Finally, looking down, Kara turned to the brunette but her gaze remained fixed to her drink.
'Can you please look at me, Kara?' Lena said with urgency in her voice. And when Kara looked into her face, whatever she'd expected to find wasn't there. The pity wasn't there, but a wide smile was in its place. Lena was smiling at her? She must have looked extremely confused and dumb because Lena added 'Yes, I am smiling, Kara. Stop staring at me like that.'
Kara shook her head at that, probably for the third time that night. 'Right, sorry. Did you, by any chance, listen to my conversation with Lucifer?' She asked quietly, trying not to think about her words and the fact that they were surrounded by strangers who Kara felt were silently judging her.
Lena inhaled. 'Yes. Yes, I did. Come with me, we have to talk'. Lena grabbed her hand then and, not allowing Kara to reply, led her across the crowded room into an empty bathroom. While they walked, Kara imagined thousands of scenarios, and every single one of them ended with her crying and Lena leaving her there. Maybe it was a bit dramatic, but the embarrassment she felt was drowning her thoughts and she couldn't think clearly.
Once they were inside the room, the noises from the party faded in an instant as Lena closed the door behind them. Slowly, then, she turned to the blonde, who was still staring down at the floor (which somehow looked as elegant as the rest of the club).
'Kara.' She said, but received no answer from her friend. 'Kara, please.' Lena was almost pleading at this point and Kara could feel the tears accumulating in her eyes, but she forced them back. When the silence was unbearable, the blonde once again found the strength to look up and Lena sighed, relieved.
'Thanks. So...' Lena began motioning, moving closer to Kara gently but firmly. Kara stepped back, her eyes locked into Lena's, and she found herself trapped between the ice-cold wall and Lena's heated body. She hated this, hated not being in control but, in the back of her mind, she couldn't resist thinking how hot Lena looked in that moment. She swallowed and tried to steady her breath. With Lena wearing heels, they were practically at the same height, but Lena's serious look intimidated Kara and made her feel small. The brunette's body now was so close that Kara could smell her perfume.
'So... you want me?' Lena suddenly smiled, breaking the character she had adopted, and laughed, throwing her head back. Kara looked at her in amazement, a tiny grin forming in her lips.
She pushed Lena backwards softly and looked away once more. 'Shut up, you idiot.'
Somehow, Lena had managed to close the distance between them again, but this time Kara found herself more in control of her brain. But nothing could've prepared her to the ensuing words that came from her best friend's mouth. 'I think I might love you too, you know'.
Now it was Lena's turn to look blushed and embarrassed, but Kara knew exactly what to do. She wasn't crying anymore; she just felt this force between hers and Lena's body, so she placed her hands on either side of her friend's hips and pulled her in, joining their lips in a soft but aching kiss. It lasted mere seconds before Kara broke contact, only to switch places so that Lena was now the one trapped between the wall and her friend's body. The brunette shivered at the coldness of the tiles on the wall, but the heat their bodies exuded was enough to keep them both warm. They kissed and their lips moved as if they'd known each other since forever, their bodies fitting perfectly against the other. It was an epic kiss, like the ones you see in movies, Kara thought. Except that this time it didn't last ages.
Someone knocked on the door and, without awaiting an answer, Chloe came into the bathroom. She stopped abruptly seeing Kara and Lena's embrace. 'I- wow, I'm sorry, keep going, you're doing great', and without another word, she disappeared the same way she'd come in.
Kara looked at Lena, trying to stifle a movement, but they both broke into laughter. With their hands joined, they left the place. Before returning to the bar, however, Kara held Lena back and looked at her.
'You know, maybe you should reapply your lipstick before we go back'.