Chapter Text
“I still can’t believe you missed your own birthday party,” Lena said, holding back a laugh.
“How was I meant to know it was a party for me!” Kara countered.
“It was a surprise, Kara. That’s the whole point.” Alex said.
“I told you, I don’t do parties,” Kara mumbled.
The three young women stood around the kitchen island, chatting away.
“Kara, you have got to loosen up!” Alex said.
“Alex, I already apologised. What more can I do?”
“Look, I get it, okay. I get why you’re so tough on yourself, but it’s not healthy.”
“Can we please not do this right now?” Kara pleaded. She spun on her heel and walked towards the refrigerator. She pulled out a smoothie in a shade of green that no one should ingest and passed the plastic bottle over to Lena before pulling out a bottle of lemon water for herself. Kara took a swig of the cold beverage before closing the door with her foot.
“Alright, I’ll lay off,” Alex said, raising her hands in surrender. “But at least let me give you your birthday present.”
“Ooh, presents!” Kara said, sounding unnervingly similar to an overexcited 5-year-old. “Where is it?” Kara said, eyes darting around the room.
“Locker room,” Alex said purposely keeping her tone flat.
Lena watched as the two walked towards the elevators. “You coming?” Kara asked after pressing the call button for the lift.
“Nah. I think I’ll go and annoy Sam.” Lena replied.
“See you in a bit,” Alex said warmly as the two young women disappeared into the lift, leaving Lena alone in the kitchen. She walked around the corner and into her friend’s dorm room. She plodded down on the bed beside her friend who was lazily scrolling through her phone. For a minute, neither one of them said anything but Sam could feel Lena staring at her. “If you look at me for any longer,” Sam started, her eyes still glued to her phone. “You’re going to wear a hole in my cheek!”
“Shut up!” Lena said through a grin.
Sam put her phone down and looked up at her friend. “What’s up?” Sam asked.
“Kara and Alex just left, which means we have about 30 minutes to set up,” Lena replied.
“And you want my help?” Sam asked, not taking her
“No actually. Nia wants your help. I only got roped into helping because she has those great big eyes that you just can’t say no to.”
“So why are you asking me to help, and not Nia?” Sam asked.
“Because you can’t say no to me.” Lena jibed.
“Alright, that’s fair,” Sam replied, sliding her phone into her back pocket. She stood up and stretched her body, her back clicking with relief. “I have one condition, though. I’ll only help if you tell me why you left Metropolis.” Sam said almost sharply.
Lena considered for a second before her thoughts were interrupted by the loud, incoherent shout of Nia from the kitchen. “Fine.” She answered, stepping out of the room.
The two girls began to string up some white and blue bunting Nia had left on the other couch, along with a note which informed the pair that she had gone to the bakery to pick up the cake they had ordered. “So then.” Sam said slowly, “What happened?” She was stood on the sofa along the wall on the right side of the room. Lena sighed and swallowed, loosening her grip on the bunting. She knew she’d have to tell Sam why she had moved from Metropolis sooner or later but was really hoping it would be later. Like much later.
“Does it have something to do with Andrea?” Sam pressed on cautiously.
Lena found that she could only hum in response, her throat slowly tightening as she thought about the events that unfolded in Metropolis. The raven-haired girl cleared her throat, the non-existent barrier in her throat slowly tightening, refusing to budge. “Andrea cheated on me.” She said,
“What!?” Sam exclaimed. She was so startled she dropped the bunting she was attempting to tack up and had to reach back down for Lena to pass it back to her.
“With Jack.” Lena finished.
“As in Jack Spheer, your ex-boyfriend?”
“Yep,” Lena said.
Sam paused for a moment to grasp the weight of what her friend had just told her. “Holy shit, Lena.” She stepped down from the ladder and moved it along the carpet. They worked in silence for a few minutes until all the bunting had been hung up. Sam watched as Lena pulled out an ensemble of bowls in various sizes and place them down on the kitchen island for Sam to move to the table in the middle of the room. Sam walked towards where her friend had placed the bowls and braced herself to ask about the obvious heartbreak Lena had experienced, unable to stop the questions she had, flooded out. “How did you find out? When did you find out? What did you do when you found out?” She said, the questions tumbling out, not expecting Lena to answer all of the questions she had posed in quick succession of one another.
“I saw them… together,” Lena said quietly as Sam walked back and forth from the island to the table. “On her birthday. I went to surprise her before her party and they were... so I did what I did best. I ran. Lillian had me homeschooled for a couple of weeks whilst my transfer was sorted and I moved here.”
“Wait, you moved here alone?” Sam was taken aback by the revelation.
“Yeah. I arrived in the city the evening before I started and slept in some fancy hotel paid for by Lillian. After everything with Lex, what she did was the last straw. I couldn’t stay there anymore, Sammy. I cou-” Lena stopped talking, the lump in her throat impossibly large. She felt tears threatening to spill over. She took a deep breath and felt Sam’s presence beside her. It was somehow comforting yet she felt worse. Lena was determined not to cry. Sam, who had rounded the island, pulled her friend in close to her, engulfing her into a large domineering hug. “I feel so guilty, Sam.”
“Lena, you’ve done nothing wrong!” Sam mumbled into Lena’s neck, refusing to let go of her.
Lena pulled back from her friend. A few tears had spilt over her barrier. It wasn’t the first time Sam had seen her cry but she still hated the vulnerability nonetheless. Lena started to busy herself with preparations, puling out large bags of crisps, nuts, biscuits and other snack foods. She hauled them over to the table and dropped them on the couch on the left side of the room. Before Lena continued to discuss Metropolis, she needed some alcohol in her. She looked up at Sam who recognised the look on her friend’s face and poured a drink of some non-descript alcoholic drink from the assortment she had laid out on the kitchen island. She brought the red solo cup over to Lena who downed it quickly and put the cup down beside the snack foods. Sam took charge and began opening the bags of snack foods and began to pour them into the bowls in front of them.
“You said I did nothing wrong,” Lena piped up, “But I did. I never broke up with her, I just left. I ran away scared, like a little kid all over again. I ran and I got a new phone and cut her off, but I never ended it. And deep down, I know that if she turned up today, I’d take her back without a second thought... and I hate myself for it.” Lena let out the thought she had been holding onto since the night she left her old College campus for the last time and felt all the better for it and yet at the same time so much worse.
“Hey,” Sam said softly, gently placing her hands on Lena's cheeks. Sam gently lifted her friend’s head so the pair were looking directly at one another. Lena’s eyes were furiously red, the new tears she was holding back brimming, giving her eyes a glassy look. “C’mere” Sam stood up and pulled up along with her. She drew Lena into another, more forceful hug and gripped her tightly. “You have nothing to be ashamed of, alright.” She spoke softly to Lena. Sam held Lena in her arms, her grip firm. She wanted to show her that she’d be there for her no matter what. Sam truly cared for Lena. After all, she was one of her oldest and dearest friends. Sam could feel Lena’s breathing begin to steady and the pair slowly separated. When she leaned back, Lena had her eyes locked on Sam. Lena had an expression on her face that Sam couldn’t quite read. It was a mixture of gratitude and something else. Something she hadn’t seen on Lena before. Sam watched apprehensively as Lena’s tongue dragged lightly across her bottom lip, leaving it with a glossy shine as she did the same to her top lip. It was a simple action yet Sam found herself somehow enchanted. She took a hesitant step towards Lena. The atmosphere in the room clear shifted and both of them could feel it. She edged closer until they were merely inches apart. Sam’s hands reached up and cradled Lena’s jaw. Instead of giving herself time to think her way out of it, Sam threw caution to the wind and kissed Lena. It was soft and chaste and over far too quickly. It wasn’t as though the pair hadn’t kissed before, but that had been stupid kid stuff. ‘Practise’ they had called it at the time and were both a bundle of nerves and giggles. So yes, they had kissed before but there was something different between them this time. Lena kissed Sam back, her hands reaching out to Sam and pulling her closer by her hips. Lena’s hands remained there, balling the silky fabric of Sam's shirt in her softly clenched fists. It was still soft but far less chaste and sent a shock through Sam. Raising the stakes, Sam traced her tongue over Lena’s plump lips. Lena’s breath hitched and the pair began to kiss with more fervour. They were kissing with a truly indecent amount of tongue for where they were located. One of Sam’s hands had left Lena’s cheek and found its way to the small of her back and put a small amount of pressure on Lena, pushing her body impossibly closer to Sam’s. Unsure of how it happened, the pair ended up on the sofa behind them, still making out with as much urgency and lust, Sam’s body hovering above Lena’s. It was the feeling of Sam’s thigh in between Lena’s legs which brought the dark-haired woman back to reality. “We should stop,” Lena murmured out against Sam’s lips. She felt Sam smile and hum in recognition.
The pair began to slowly separate from one another when the dinging of the elevator arriving at their floor sent the two reeling apart. Nia walked onto the floor to see Sam and Lena sat on almost opposite ends of the couch made her raise a questioning eyebrow but she was far too busy to dig into whatever was going on there. Max followed behind Nia and eyed the pair on the sofa suspiciously. A glint of mischief twinkled in her eyes as she walked past, a knowing look on her face. Lena turned to Sam, her heart still beating extraordinarily fast and said “I’ll just be a minute.”
Lena got up and walked to her dorm room. Once in her room, she made a beeline for the bathroom. Lena sat down on the cool tile, resting her head against the door. Her head was spinning; hundreds of thoughts dashing through her brain at a thousand miles per hour. After a minute, she stood up and moved over to the sink. Lena splashed cold water on her face then looked at her reflection in the mirror. Her lips were pink and slightly puffy and her eyes had a pink tinge from where she had let out a few tears earlier. She buried her face into a handtowel nearby and suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of guilt despite doing nothing wrong. The thoughts in her head had dissipated down to two: ‘1) did Sam hate her’ and ‘2) what would Kara say if she found out.’ That second thought took her by surprise. Lena did her best to silence the annoying voice in her head and returned to the living area where Nia was busy bossing about Sam and Max. Lena squared her shoulders and returned to the area, giving Sam a soft smile. Sam returned the smile and walked over to Lena, bumping her with her hip as she passed her, easing Lena’s mind. Half of it at least.
Meanwhile, Kara excitedly followed behind her sister, relentlessly asking questions about her birthday present but Alex refused to let anything slip. “Kara, you’re minutes away from getting it, can you not wait?”
“Hey! I’m excited! I thought you didn’t get me anything!”
“You thought I forgot to get you a birthday present!?” Alex was somewhat offended by the revelation.
“You’ve been busy lately.” Kara reasoned.
“Kara,” Alex said sincerely. “I’d never forget to get you a present, you idiot.”
The pair entered the girls’ locker room and Kara immediately looked around but saw nothing out of place. “Where is it?” She asked.
“Locker,” Alex said with a smile creeping onto her face.
Kara scuttled over to her locker and opened it eagerly. Hung up in the small space was a dazzling white football jersey with a blue stripe on the sleeve followed by a thinner red stripe below it. Kara curiously pulled the garment out for closer inspection. On the front was a large ‘13’ in blue. Still confused, she flipped it around and saw the same large number 13 on the back along with ‘DANVERS’ in block capitals just above it, the blue lettering lined with red.
“What..?” Kara trailed off. She looked up at Alex who had a massive grin on her face. Realisation dawned on kara. “You’re kidding!?” Kara said, fighting to hold back her excitement.
“Dead serious,” Alex said, beaming. Kara practically dove into her sister’s arms. After a few moments, the sisters parted.
“What did you do. I mean how did you-.” Kara began rambling out questions before Alex cut her off.
“I just spoke to the coach. You did the rest.” Alex said, spinning her sister around to face the doorway. A tall black man with his hair in short twists stood at the door. He was significantly older than the pair in the room. He wore a white polo shirt and red basketball shorts. As he entered the room, Kara stiffened slightly, nervous with admiration for the man before them. “Coach Jones,” Kara said.
“Kara. Alex.” He replied, nodding at each girl.
“I’m sorry sir, but I’m a bit confused,” Kara said. “Am I really on the team?”
“Yes, Kara. You are,” he said, clasping his hands behind his back. “But there is one condition.”
“What is it?” Kara asked, quickly.
“Ask me to be on the team yourself.”
Kara was taken aback, expecting a different answer. “Why?” She asked.
“Kara, we all know how talented and dedicated you are to football, but if you don’t ask for help or seize opportunities when they are sat in front of you, they will pass you by. Asking those around you for opportunities could be the difference between you being drafted or not. I’ve spoken to Alex and the rest of the team. Now all that’s left is for you to seize the opportunity.”
Kara inhaled a deep shaky breath and as she exhaled, received an encouraging squeeze on her shoulder from Alex. “Coach. I want you to let me on the football team.”
Coach John held back a smile and responded to the athlete with “Why?”
Kara faltered for a second. She wasn’t one to boast about her achievements. Don’t get her wrong, she liked it when her hard work was noticed and appreciated but she doesn’t often go out of her way to point out her efforts. Doing so made her stomach twist into knows leaving her feeling uncomfortable and overly exposed. She pushed down the doubt as well as she could and began to plead her case as best she could whilst her face steadily grew pinker.
Once Kara had finished her semi-rambling speech, the coach was silent for a second as a quizzical expression settled upon his face. Before kara had the opportunity to speculate what his expression meant for her, a large eye wrinkling smile replaced his previous expression as he stepped forward and shook Kara’s hand firmly. “Welcome back, Kara Danvers.”
Kara enthusiastically shook her coaches hand, joy emitting from her. “Thank you, Coach.”
Coach Jones took a step forward and lowered his tone almost conspiratorially, “Kara, you are good enough to be on the team. Remember that. You have the potential to be our greatest asset this season. But I want you to know that I won’t give you any preferential treatment. You will be treated the same way I would treat any other player, okay?”
“I would expect nothing different, sir,” Kara replied, straightening her back slightly.
“Now go. Celebrate. Hang out with the rest of the team. But don’t have too much fun. You have training at 6 am on Monday.”
Kara and Alex smiled politely at John as they left the locker room. The sisters walked side by side in comfortable silence through the quiet halls. Once they got outside. Kara closed her eyes and took a deep breath of the crisp evening air, smiling happily. She allowed herself a moment to fully process what just happened. When she opened her eyes just a minute later, Kara was greeted with the vision of the Football team, led by their captain James, walking towards her and her sister. The team looked carefully at Alex as they approached, a sort of hope and worry in their eyes. It seemed as though they were actively avoiding eye contact with Kara. Looking at James, Alex nodded her head firmly and the entire team began to smile broadly. It was the type of smile you’d see on a friend after telling them you got into your dream school. It was full of pride, hope, anticipation and joy. The team practically sprinted the few feet distance between them and hoisted Kara onto their shoulders. Kara let out a surprised laugh as the boys below her began to chant her name rhythmically whilst walking down the path to her dorm.
There was a party on her floor. Kara could hear the bassy music from two floors down. She was far from a fan of elevators, especially when they were full to capacity. She was squashed beside her sister at the front of the lift with her new teammates standing in neat rows behind her. To distract her mind on the short journey up, Kar began to identify the players around her. The first person she spotted was her close friend James. Beside him stood Manchester, at least that’s what his friends called him. Another familiar face was on the other side of James, a tall tan man called William Day. William was talking to Mike Matthews, her sort-of ex who was a bit of an arse but a pretty good player when push came to shove. Continuing, Kara spotted Myxy joking about with someone whose name she couldn’t quite place, although the name Peter popped into her head. The ding of the elevator arriving at the 12th floor brought Kara back to reality. She stepped out of the lift and walked to the common area which seemed to be the source of the music she had heard. When she entered the area, Kara felt her heart skip a beat. The room was full of around 20 familiar faces. Whoever had decorated whilst she and Alex had been in the locker room had strung up white and blue bunting around the kitchen island and windows, and a cake with the phrase ‘Congratulations Kara & Happy Birthday’ sat on the table in the middle of the room. There were a few bows filled with snacks and bottles of alcohol were littering the kitchen island.
Kara began to greet her friends who were talking quietly among themselves.
Soon, the room was filled with friends and acquaintances. Kara was surprised to find that she was actually enjoying herself. However, after 11 pm, the joy she had felt was slowly replaced with discomfort and fatigue. She found that the air had become warm and sticky and made her feel claustrophobic even in the large room. She discretely retired to her room, making eye contact with her sister who was dancing happily with her girlfriend, before Kara left.
It didn’t take Lena long to realise Kara had left the room. Lena was having a conversation with Nia, Brainy and Sam when she looked around for her friend but couldn’t see her. Lena figured Kar had retired to her bedroom. After all, Kara had said she wasn’t one for parties. Lena saw her opportunity to finally give Kara the present she had gotten for her. Lena politely excused herself from the conversation and hurried off to her bedroom before anyone had the chance to stop her. She quickly grabbed the small package wrapped in colourful paper and left her room. Lena walked apprehensively down the hallway to Kara’s bedroom. She knocked on the wooden door 3 times and waited for a reply. “It’s open. Come in,” Spoke a muffled voice from inside. Lena wrapped a slightly shaky hand around the handle and opened the door. The overhead light in the room was off, leaving only Kara’s meek desk lamp to light the room. Kara was sat cross-legged on her bed and her attention was on the tv ahead of her.
“Hey,” Lena said, walking over to her new friend. She slid down onto the swivelling seat at the table near the head of Kara’s bed.
“Hi, Lena,” Kara responded, her voice softer than usual.
“I brought you something,” Lena said, handing the slender box to Kara.
“Oh, Lena,” Kara said taking the present from the dark-haired girl. “You didn’t have to get me anything.’
“I know but I wanted to find a way to thank you for everything you’ve done for me since I arrived here,” Lena said, unable to meet Kara’s eyes. A furious blush spread slowly across her cheeks. “Go on.” Lena urged, “Open it.”
Kara grinned and tore the wrapping paper off of the present, revealing a mid-length box. Kara pulled the lid off of the box and was greeted with the present Lena had got for her. In the cushioned box was a pair of sleek sports glasses. Kara looked up at Lena, her eyes twinkling.
“Thank you,” Kara said, earnestly.
“It was no problem. Besides, I was reliably informed tht your old pair lost a lens and were kind of rubbish anyway.” Lena replied.
“These look super expensive, though,” Kara said worriedly. “I would’ve been happy with just a cheap pair.”
“Honestly, Kara, It was no problem. I promise.” Lena said. “What are you watching?” Lena asked half attempting to change the subject and half genuinely curious, the sound from the television piquing her interest.
Kara placed her new sports glasses and box on the table and diverted her attention to the tv screen. “I was channel surfing and ‘Wizard of Oz’ was playing, so I thought I’d watch it. Care to join me?” Kara offered.
Lena pondered the proposal, weighing her options. She could return to the party, which from the sounds of it was gearing up despite the late hour, or she could stay in the warm, dimly lit room with Kara and watch a movie. Lena wasn’t the best at making friends. Growing up with Lillian Luthor hovering over your shoulder tended to have that effect, but she was determined to try and repair the emotional damage Lillian had caused her, and that started with learning how to make friends. “Yeah, sure,” Lena said, making up her mind. “I’ll stay.”
Kara scooted over on the bed, making space for Lena to sit beside her. Lena kicked off her shoes and joined Kara on the bed. After a few minutes of comfortable silence, Lena piped up. “We’re friends now… right?” Lena asked hesitantly.
“Yeah, Lena,” Kara said, a slight chuckle escaping her lips. “We’re friends.”
--
For the second time that month, Kara Danvers found herself at a party. This time, she wasn’t too sure how she had gotten herself into it. She was pretty sure that James had convinced her that Kara should attend the Halloween party that one of the frat houses were hosting. He had said that they could use it as a team-building exercise. So, Kara found herself dressed as a zombified football player along with 5 of her teammates in the large house of the Sigma-Phi Fraternity. Since becoming the centre midfielder of Stanhope’s Football Team, Kara had found herself the centre of attention, more so than usual, so once she entered the house there was immediately a crowd of people around her and the rest of the team. However, when Kara spotted Lena across the kitchen, she quickly excused herself from the conversation going on around her which she wasn’t paying attention to and walked over to Lena.
“Hey there, stranger,” Lena said.
Kara delicately embraced Lena, who accepted the affection, if a little hesitantly. Lena found herself unable to wholly relax in Kara's tight grip but still enjoyed the hug. “Nice costume,’ Kara said.
“It’s nothing to write home about,” Lena replied jokingly. She was dressed in a short red dress with puffy sleeves and a black corset over the top. She had a black eye patch over one of her eyes, a fake parrot was sewn on the shoulder of her dress, and a pair of thigh-high black boots on. “Although I seem to have lost my cutlass somewhere,”
“It’ll show up eventually,” Kara replied. “Probably.”
“I see you came in a group costume,” Lena said as she eyed Kara’s costume curiously. The old, tattered silver football jersey she wore had some ragged slashes, exposing a part of Kara’s muscular midriff. The silver and green football pants had multiple slashes up the leg with blood splattered across the entire costume.
“Oh, yeah. We’re the undead ‘Star City Comets’.” Kara said, smiling. Lena looked at Kara with a blank stare. “Oh, my bad,” Kara chuckled. “I forget you haven’t been here long. They’re one of our rival teams. They gave us their old jersey’s to use. See,” Kara turned around to show what was left of the name on the back which read ‘O. Queen’.
“I see,” Lena said holding back a smirk. “Well I guess your costume isn’t too shabby, but if it was a competition, Brainy and Nia would easily win.” Lena pointed at the door where Nia was loitering having just arrived at the party. Nia and Brainy were dressed as two of the ghostbusters. Kara and Lena walked over to their friends and greeted them warmly.
“Hey guys,” Kara said. “Where’s the rest of your entourage?” Kara said jokily. She knew that Maggie and Alex were supposed to be attending the party as the other two ghostbusters.
“Kara,” Nia said seriously in a low tone. “Alex needs you.”
Kara felt like a bucket of ice-cold water had been poured over her head. She felt her heart beat harder than it could. “Where is she?” Kara asked.
“In her room,” Nia replied. “She won’t leave. All she said was to come and get you.”
Kara nodded, threw an apologetic look at Lena and left the frat house. She ran as fast as she could. It felt as if her feet were barely hitting the stony pavement. Soon, she was back at her dorm and standing impatiently in the elevator. As soon as the steel doors opened, she darted out. She knocked once on her sister’s door and went to open it, only to find the door locked from the inside. “Al? It’s me.”Kara said delicately, her hand placed on her door. She heard shuffling from inside the room and a clock. The door opened slowly to reveal Alex who had returned to her spot on the carpeted floor. Her sister was crouched on the floor, back against the wall. Her eyes were bloodshot and tears glistened on her flushed cheeks. Kara rushed to her sister side, kicking the door closed behind her. Kara squeezed in beside her sister and the bed and put her arm around Alex, pulling her into a warm embrace. “What happened?”
“Maggie left.” Alex choked out, the tears spilling once more from her eyes.
“What! What do you mean!?” Kara exclaimed.
“Remember how she applied for that chem program in Quantico as a joke last year. She got in last week but didn’t say anything. They said she had to be in Quantico by tomorrow or they’d give her spot to someone else.”
“That’s the best chemistry program in the country.” kara breathed
“Which is why I wouldn’t let her stay. I broke up with her so she’d go.” Alex said, breaking down into tears again. She dropped her head into Kara’s lap and began to sob. Kara stroked her sister’s head comfortingly. “Hey, it’s going to be okay, Alex. It’s all going to be okay.”