Chapter Text
Kara knew a thing or two about loss. She knew it intimately. Slept beside it like a distant lover, a thin pillow between them.
So she knew that when she watched from her place beside Lena as her best friend got married to Jack, it almost felt like being embraced by loss all over again. She tucked her head down, covered her face daintily as if her happiness for the now wedded couple was so overwhelming she had to swallow it back in.
The applause rang true and loud and alive around her. she passed off the bouquet of plumerias back to Lena, dutiful maid of honor as she was, and she watched as the love of her life walked down the aisle with the love of her life.
At the reception, she stood in front of dozens of people awaiting the prose they expected from a pulitzer-winning journalist. Held captive by their eyes, their expectations. she smiled and let the crinkles by her eyes appear—that's how they knew she was smiling with her eyes, right? She would use it to her advantage if only to get through the next few minutes.
"Love is…an enduring thing. A hopeful thing. It is the act of getting up in the morning, of walking to the window and pulling back the curtains to let light in." She was not looking at any one person even as she pretended to scan the room. If only so she didn't have to look at Lena anymore.
Oh, but she loved loss as much as loss loved her. And so she finished her sweep to cast her gaze at the loveliest shade of green eyes staring at her in wonder.
She gripped the mic just a smidgen tighter and cleared her throat, the rest of her speech out of her mind and floating like dust motes under the spotlight.
“I know that speeches like these tend to be chock full of stories and inside jokes about the bride and groom. And maybe a couple more of these—" she held up her near empty champagne flute, "—you'll get lucky, but I am truly speechless. All I know is that Lena deserves all the love in the world. She can be stubborn and proud and will push you to your limits, but that's because her heart is so full of love to give. So all i want to say is this: Jack, please, take care of her and love her with all of your heart. Show her everyday that she is beautiful, mind and body. Show her that you'll be present and loyal and stay by her side, regardless of who steps in and out of your lives. Because if there's one thing I know about Lena, it's that she is and will always be worth the effort."
She heard sniffles around the rooms, yet she couldn't pay attention to them. Not when Lena's smiling face slowly transformed to slight confusion, her brows furrowing just slightly. Kara raised her glass and offered her widest smile yet.
"I wish you two the best."
The cheers and applause thundered around them, others clinking their glasses as guests chanted for the lovely couple to kiss. Kara shut her eyes and threw back the last dregs of her champagne. She hurried to the MC and dropped the microphone, before rushing away, citing a need for a refill and walked towards the bar. Yet instead of stopping at the bar, she didn't stop.
A sob escaped out of her lungs and she barely stifled it, unable to hold it in. She wiped an errant tear away from her face as she walked past the bar and out of the grand hall altogether.
It turned out that cowardice, like loss, loved her company. And she embraced it with tight fists by her side.