Chapter 3
Lena has never been this nervous for a date in her life, and she had been on plenty of them. But those dates had been with men her mother had hand-picked for her to go out with, whether it be for their money or status or family ties. None of those dates had mattered though, because she never cared for any of those men, and she cared for Kara. Immensely so.
After Kara had left, Lena had Jess, her assistant, clear her schedule for the rest of the day and spent her time stressing, pacing and overall freaking out, because unlike her previous dates, this one truly mattered. She could not lose the one ray of light in her dark and depressing life. And even of she knew that nobody could truly love her Kara at least liked her enough to go on a date and that was enough for Lena. it had to be.
So as the hours slowly ticked by, she decided she couldn't possibly wait until eight to see Kara, and texted her to see if an hour sooner would work.
When she received a positive response, Lena got a little brave and decided to add a wink to the end of the text (she could see Kara's blush when she hit the send button). What she expected was an awkward, rambly reply from her adorable, innocent Kara, but the innuendo laden reply sent her reeling. What did it mean? Did she mean it like that or was it just innocent? Do I even respond to this? How would I even say something coherent back to this?
Lena's inner rambling finally died down when she saw the time and decided that she should probably get to Kara's.
So that leads us to Kara's apartment, more specifically the hallway outside of Kara's apartment, where Lena has been for the past 15 minutes, waiting for her phone to reach 7:00. She had spent those past 15 minutes pacing or standing with her hand raised to knock, before she drops it and continues pacing.
Her phone reads exactly 7:00 and Lena nervously licks her lips as she knocks on the door.
It swings open in seconds and Lena stands and stares at the woman before her.
Kara is beautiful on a normal day, in her innocent and cheery work attire, but now, in a tight fitting blue dress, she is absolutely gorgeous. Lena can see every curve and muscle, and her buff arms and legs stand out exquisitely. The shocking blue of the dress makes Kara's eyes shine, and when Lena's roaming eyes finally meet Kara's, they nearly blind her with their shine.
Eventually, after moments of silence, Lena picks her jaw off the floor and realizes Kara is getting self-conscience in her lack of speech.
"You look absolutely outstanding," Lena says, knowing the words don't do her date justice, but can't seem to find any others at the moment.
"I could say the same about you," Kara says shyly, taking small glances at Lena's body in the short black dress that clings attractively to her body.
"Thank you Kara, you're too kind," Lena all but purrs, enjoying the flush crawling up Kara's neck.
"Yes, um, well, we should get going then, don't you think?" Kara asks nervously.
"Of course. May I ask where we are going?" Lena says as Kara closes the apartment door and they start walking towards the elevator.
"I pulled some strings with some friends of mine and got us a table at Nova. I hope that's alright with you?"
"That sounds perfect," Lena muses, getting joy from how happy Kara gets when she says it.
They make it to Lena's car, Lena pulling open the door to a blushing Kara, then getting in the driver's side herself. As they take off, Lena feels Kara's eyes on her and risks a hesitant, "What?"
"I'm just enjoying the view," Kara says softly, and it's Lena's turn to blush as she refocuses on the road, Kara still glancing at her with a soft smile.
Feeling bold after Kara's admission, Lena slowly reached over and lightly grabbed Kara's hand, holding her breath the entire time.
She breathed out a sigh of relief when Kara flipped her hand and threaded their finger together. A soft smile graces her feathers and when she looks over at Kara she sees the look is mirrored on Kara's lips as well.
They sit in a content silence the rest of the way there, Kara's thump stroking the top of Lena's hand, making her feel like she is going to swoon. It's a wonder that they made it there in one piece, with Lena paying more attention to Kara's presence then the road.
Eventually they do pull up to one of the fanciest restaurants in the city, and Lena is in awe of Kara and how she managed to get a reservation here. She quickly files it in with the other mysterious things that she wonders about Kara, she has better things to be thinking about tonight, like making sure she didn't mess up and that Kara has the best first date of her life.
They walk in, hand-in-hand, after leaving their car for the valet. Kara gets her reservation and they make their way to their table, the waiter smiling faintly at how cute the couple was. He takes their order for wine and leaves them to their own conversation.
"This is a beautiful restaurant, Kara. How did you manage to get a reservation so quickly?" Lena wonders, still in awe.
"I know a friend that this place owes a favor to and they decided to call it in for us," Kara says proudly, a smile on her face.
"I'll have to thank that friend of yours one day," Lena says in wonder.
"Don't worry, I'll let them know," Kara says with a small chuckle to herself.
The waiter comes back with their wine and takes their orders, not missing how they are still sending major heart-eyes to each other across the table.
He leaves and the pair pick up with their usual conversation, falling into their usual pattern as they both come to the conclusion that they weren't about to royally screw up this date with one wrong word. The only difference between this meal and all their previous ones is the underlying tension present throughout the night. Lena's flirting suddenly becomes more real to Kara now that she knows that Lena means it. Kara's need to make physical contact, how her hand is either holding Lena's or resting on it the entire night, isn't just a friendly touch that Lena had always written off in the past as.
The night ends far too soon for them as they both slowly finish their meals. Lena already misses how she could make Kara a blushing, rambling mess with a look, and Kara misses how she could make Lena's heart take off with the smallest compliment. Neither of them want this night to end as they slowly make their way back to Kara's, hand-in-hand the entire drive home.
As they leisurely walk to Kara's apartment, Kara can't help but feel her love for this woman surge through her. This night had gone so perfectly and while she wanted it to last forever, she was certain there would be so many mere nights like this in the future.
"This is me," Kara says quietly as they walk to her door.
"I had a really good time with you tonight Kara," Lena says with a small smile.
"Me too," Kara says, grabbing Lena's other hand and pulling her close.
"Kara?" Lena asks hesitantly, "Can I kiss you?"
Instead of answering, Kara leans in and connects their lips together. Lena feels warmth rush through her as Kara's hand comes to her neck and deepens the kiss. They stay connected for a solid minutes before they part, both gasping for air.
"Oh Rao, I think I love you," Kara whispers as she rests her forehead on Lena's, not even noticing she had voiced her thoughts out loud.
Lena goes rigid when she hears Kara say that, causing Kara to pull back and look at Lena's face, "What's wrong?" Kara asks, concern evident on her face.
"I-I have to go. Now," Lena says stiffly, retracting her hands from Kara's.
"Oh, um, right, of course. Um, good night then?" Kara says hurt and confused.
With a curt nod, Lena spins on her heel and stiffly walks away not even turning around when she hears Kara's confused and heartbroken, "What did I do wrong?"
Nothing, Lena wants to say. She wants to tell Kara how perfect she is, how happy she makes her. She wants to tell her that she loves her too, but that is could only realistically be a one sided because there was no way Kara could love Lena. She wants to tell her that she can't love her because loving her was impossible and maybe she did like her to some degree, but Kara was so inherently good that she was going to get over Lena and she was going to be happy without Lena in her life. Lena wants to tell her that she is in fact a Luthor, and no matter how much Kara believes in her goodness, there is no way to love a Luthor because they only brought pain to those around them.
Lena wants to tell her all of these things; but she doesn't because she panicked and left and now she was gone.