Archive of Our Own ^beta

Got me feeling drunk and high,

So high, so high

-Coldplay feat. Beyoncé, Hymn for the Weekend

"Oh god."

A head covered in glossy raven hair popped out from in between the cubicle separators, green eyes blinking and mouth pursed, as the owner wondered to herself if she heard right. Just to make sure, the headphones were removed from over her ears and she had to strain to listen.

When twenty seconds passed and not a peep was heard, Lena was ready to pop her headphones back on and get back to the third chapter of the thermodynamics textbook. She just needed to find that one section just so she could brag to Professor Grady that she was right and he was so damn wrong, and her paper deserved a better grade than what he had given her.

"Yes, right there!"

Oh no. Not there. Anywhere but there.

"God."

If only.

Lena dropped the headphones on top of the open textbook and went to press against her eyes with her palms, silently groaning at the thing that was definitely happening in the American History section. And to think there were only thirteen more pages to go – maybe even less than that – until she was good to go.

When she finally lowered her hands and resigned herself to the idea of having to borrow the book and lugging the heavy thing all the way back to her apartment – there was no way she was going to sleep without finding the one thing that would prove her right – she made eye contact with a pair of blue eyes just a few cubicles away to her right.

And there it was.

The shared pain. The similar agony. The disbelief that they were actually in the same room to hear the very specific noises only ever heard from very passionate people or on a certain website that ended with 'hub'.

Lena was about to offer an empathizing smile before booking it out of there, except then the American History section emitted the most obscene of it all – not even words stringed together, but simply an almost animalistic yell that must have attracted the attention of the librarian stationed downstairs.

Yeah, no. There was no way she was staying here. She stood up, shouldered the strap of her bag, heaved the textbook and her laptop with one arm, and ran out – blue eyes completely forgotten.

Pornographic noises and aural erotica aside, the efforts of having to lug the heavy textbook back to her dorm and the five hours spent poring over the contents and compiling a coherent document for the professor to understand exactly how right she was were absolutely worth it. It was amazing: seeing his eyes run over her words and the way his mouth slowly opened at her passive aggressive explanation that was completed with a full bibliography so he wouldn't be able to call her bullshit.

There was something about getting to see a grown man cower at an eighteen year old girl's genius that Lena decided that she could take a break from studying for the quiz happening in two days. Instead, when Sam offered to buy her lunch at the place with the kale salad, she just agreed.

The fork piercing the tomato and cabbage was halfway to her mouth when someone called for Sam's name from behind her. One look up revealed a girl with short red hair, almost butch but not exactly that – totally Sam's type, proven true by the way her best friend's lips tugged into the widest smile Lena had ever seen on the girl and the slight red that dotted her nose.

After the hugs and the greeting only did Sam finally remember her presence and proceeded to say, "Alex, this is Lena, my best friend."

Lena offered a hand, which Alex readily took. "Hi, I'm Alex Danvers. I've heard a lot about you."

The raven-haired girl smiled back and nodded as she tried to hide her appraisal of the redhead. She seemed nice enough and that smile carried an edge, but Lena was a stranger to her after all. "Lena – and I have heard absolutely nothing about you." With that, she shot Sam a desecrating look, meaning to imply her indication to interrogate the shit out of the Latina later.

"Oh, and here's Kara, my sister." Alex gestured behind her, where a blonde seemed to be focusing a little too hard on condiments table, checking the label of the ketchup bottle with her face completely turned away. "Kara, get over here." The blonde just shook away her sister's hand and brought her face closer to the bottle.

Lena squinted at the back of the blonde, amused at the thought that a ketchup bottle could entrance a person like this. She averted her gaze to Sam, who only shrugged, similarly confused by the sisterly squabble by way of Alex smacking Kara's forearm and Kara smacking her hand right back while still refusing to turn around.

Finally, the older Danvers just groaned in frustration, threw the duo sitting at the table an apologetic smile, and proceeded to yank her sister forcefully over to them by grabbing onto her shoulders, ketchup bottle and all. Only then did they get to see the face awkwardly split by the ketchup bottle that was almost pressed to the face.

Oh.

As if knowing that her hiding efforts had been in vain, Kara slowly lowered the ketchup bottle and awkwardly waved at them with her other hand, a strained smile on her face and her blue eyes absolutely refusing to look at Lena. A reaction that Lena understood, except she herself couldn't help but keep staring at that adorable face that she didn't really have a chance to observe last Friday.

Hair tied up in a half ponytail and the glasses that had been crooked the last time Lena saw her, Kara was beautiful in a way that she was adorable no matter what, be it when she was horrified from hearing sex noises or when she was being introduced to the girl with whom she was in the same room for aforementioned sex noises. Plus, there was something about her baby blue button down that really highlighted the shapes of her biceps and the curve of her hips that descended into a pair of modest khakis.

"Yeah, I haven't really been able to get it out of my head either," Lena segued, smirking at Kara who had finally met her eyes with wide blues.

Kara was speechless for a few seconds, mouth hanging open and eyes unblinking. And then she just laughed shortly and said, "They didn't stop for like fifteen minutes after you left."

"I'm surprised you stayed."

Kara laughed again, and Lena was surprised at how much she actually enjoyed the sound. "Well, it's either that or hearing my sister doing the same thing in the next room," she said those last words with gritted teeth and a pointed look at said sister. And then she held up a finger to Lena with a kind smile before facing Sam with that same smile, only a little edgier. "Hi, I'm Kara, Alex's sister and roommate. I've heard a lot about you and you."

"Okay," Alex intercepted with a nervous laughter, reaching out to grab Sam's hand, who was all too willing to stand up and throw a few bills on the table. "We have…things…to discuss. School things. Biology things."

"Sam's a business –"

"On me! Bye!" Sam gestured wildly at the notes, giggled at the way Alex almost eviscerated a fearless Kara with a glare alone, and skipped out of the place with Alex.

And just like that, Lena was left alone with Kara in a restaurant full of people grabbing late lunches. Also, just like that, the brazen and teasing Kara just seconds earlier was gone, replaced once again by a bashful and nervous Kara. Well, at least she wasn't trying to hide behind a ketchup bottle again.

Lena reached for the cash and counted the amount, humming at the exorbitant amount that Sam must have not noticed when she tossed them there just now. And it wasn't like Lena was one to look a gift horse in the mouth, so she just motioned at the chair that her best friend had vacated in a hurry.

"Join me, why don't you?"

Kara's fingers froze on the frame of her glasses as she gaped at the raven-haired girl again. Lena waved the cash in the air and shrugged.

"We're not paying for it anyway."

Huffing a nervous laugh again, Kara looked around her, as if searching for a prank camera or something, which, honestly, was a feasible notion. Hell, the cameramen could probably be the couple fucking in the library that day. A little too real of a prank, it might have been, but Lena had always admired dedication in people.

Except no one jumped out of bushes or lugged a camera out from under the tables. Around them were just oblivious college goers filling their stomachs and going about their days.

She ignored the way her mild anxiety dissipated when Kara seemed to have made a decision with the way she nodded to herself and then sat down. Instead, Lena just flagged down a waiter to ask for a menu, prepared to get to know this girl that she hadn't actually been thinking about but was very intrigued with at just a second – more thorough glance.

Sometimes, things like weather forecast could not be trusted, as proven by the pouring rain right now as opposed to the predictions she had remembered seeing this morning before heading to class. Lena stood under the barely-there awning of the restaurant they had come out of and raised her briefcase over her head, thankful for the water-resistant leather.

Under her breath, she cursed at the host announcing the weather forecast on CNN this morning as the rain seemed to only intensify in its torrent, rather than let up. It seemed like forever before the door of the mini market across the street opened, revealing Kara unveiling a newly purchased umbrella over her head and rushing over to Lena like a savior.

Just to be clear, no one forced Kara to run across the street and subject herself to being rained down upon but Kara herself. In fact, Lena had been pretty adamant that she really didn't have to do that, except the blonde had slipped away before Lena's words could even take effect.

"I told you that it's fine!" Lena said, raising her voice so as to overcome the violence of the rain. "Now you're all damp!"

Kara only waved her hand in the air dismissively with that bright smile pasted on her face. "I couldn't let a pretty girl like you get in the rain without proper protection."

The raven-haired girl blinked a few times, watching as Kara realize what she had just said and gulped and looked everywhere but her newly found friend.

And then Lena smirked, tapping Kara teasingly on her shoulder. "You think I'm pretty, huh?"

"Well, I – it's just – I'd be stupid to not – you know." The blonde ended her adorable stutters by motioning at Lena up and down and then adjusting the frame of her glasses. And the she cleared her throat and added, "So you wanted to go to the library, right?"

It wasn't even subtle, the change of topic, and Kara definitely knew it, judging by the way she pursed her lips and her blue eyes flitted around behind her glasses. And truthfully, Lena wanted to pursue it further, tease the girl more, if only to witness more of that adorable nervousness that was so refreshing and new.

But then she figured she would rather Kara keep walking with her for the rest of the journey, wherever their feet would take them today, than to scare her away. So Lena just nodded and waited for Kara to lead the way, only to be shocked in her own way when Kara offered a crooked elbow with a cheeky smile. Lena only laughed and took said elbow.

Sam (2:33p.m.): are you out there doing the movie cliché under the rain thing with blondie?

Lena (2:34p.m.): Really? You wanna do this right now? When I can ask said blondie exactly how she heard you?

Sam (2:36p.m.): nvm you have fun xoxo

Unfortunately – or maybe fortunately, jury was still out on that – the rain hadn't let up during their walk from the restaurant to the library, which took, thankfully, only a little over five minutes. Because of the rain, the area surrounding the café kiosk in the library was brimmed with refugees from the rain or students who were trapped.

Lena and Kara took their drinks to go and decided to just head upstairs to the floor where they first made awkward eye contact across cubicles. They shared a look when they saw the American History section, and then burst out into laughter. No one was around to shush them anyway.

"That can't be normal," Lena commented, eyes widening inch by inch as she watched Kara open packet after packet after packet of creamer and pouring them all into her cup of coffee. "Okay, no, that isn't normal," she exclaimed when Kara went reaching for a sixth packet.

"Define normal," Kara sagely replied, deliberately slowing down her tearing but tearing the packet open either way.

Lena heaved a sigh of relief when Kara stopped reaching for any more creamer. She shook her head as the blonde stirred the creamer into the warmth of the coffee. "Would you like some coffee with that?" she sniped, shuddering in disgust. "You just ruined a perfectly good cup of coffee."

"Good coffee is coffee with flavor."

"Coffee already has a flavor."

Kara's own disgust was reflected in the wrinkle of her nose, but there was also a little smile tugging on her lips. "God, you're just like my sister."

Lena giggled and just sipped from her own perfect coffee. Over the brim of her cup, she could see Kara still smiling at her, looking a little too struck and maybe a little out of it. Heat began to slither up the engineering student's neck, first in strands then in waves. She cursed herself for being born with such pale skin and proceeded to tuck the collar of her jacket closer in an attempt to hide her flush from the blonde.

She lowered her cup and turned towards the window; it was still cats and dogs out there, and didn't seem to be letting up anytime soon. For reasons that Lena refused to acknowledge, she was glad that they would remain stuck in this library, at the exact same row of cubicles, where they had both experienced and heard traumatic things from the American History section.

"So tell me about yourself," Lena prompted as she faced Kara once again.

Kara nodded and then asked, "What do you want want to know?"

"I don't know. Anything apart from the fact that you hate hearing people having sex between shelves."

The blonde laughed and snorted at the same time, which honestly shouldn't be as adorable as she managed to make it. Somehow, Lena didn't think it was possible for Kara to not be some kind of adorable in any given situation. If asked, Alex would probably tell her that Kara Danvers was born with a predisposition to just be adorable anywhere anytime.

"I used to want to be an astronaut," Kara offered.

"Used to?"

With a nod, Kara lifted her cup and leaned it against her cheek as she hummed in a contemplating manner. "Yeah, I like the stars and the moon and the sky. I used to – there's this telescope at home in Midvale, and whenever I feel a little too alone, especially once Alex had gone to college, I would just look into the telescope and make up horoscope on my own."

It was easy to picture. A younger Kara, maybe shorter but definitely still as adorable, struggling to reach the eyepiece of the telescope just so she could have a clearer look at the moon. Lena fought hard to not smile at the image, choosing instead to just incline her head at her new friend to continue.

"But then I found that becoming an astronaut would mean I have to leave my family behind. And I just couldn't bear the thought of not seeing Alex for too long a time. So I gave up on that."

"You and Alex must be really close."

Kara cleared her throat and her eyes dimmed a little. The cup was lowered back on the table and blue eyes averted away from green ones, and Lena had to wonder if she'd said something wrong. She hesitated to speak, eyes tracking Kara's fidgeting fingers on the label that peeling off on the side of the cup.

"Yeah, she was…uh – for the longest time, she was the only person who made me feel at home when her parents adopted me." Kara sucked in her lower lip as she met Lena's eyes warily – no, not wary, more like afraid.

"Yeah, I have my own Alex too." Kara frowned, confused. "I'm adopted too, Kara," Lena said, softer this time with a soft smile. "I know what it's like, trust me." The tension just seemed to flow out of the other girl in an instance, relaxing her posture and returning a joyful grin to her face. "And I'm not kidding; my brother's name is literally Alexander – we just call him Lex."

Kara's eyes widened. "Wait, Lex Luthor?" she whispered-screamed, leaning over so excessively that it almost seemed like her entire upper body was draped over the table, face just inches away from Lena's.

The raven-haired girl had to try really hard not to count the freckles concealed under the foundation patterned on her skin or the slope of her cheeks that so easily smoothed into a round jawline. While Lena certainly appreciated nice features on a pretty girl's face, she was certain Kara wouldn't appreciate her just ogling like that.

Sure, Kara had carelessly mentioned that she thought Lena was pretty earlier – yeah, Lena still couldn't quite let that go. But there were still proper procedures for this sort of things; though maybe all those procedures were meaningless now that her best friend and Kara's sister were most definitely banging, and the two of them had also heard some random couple fucking in the very library they were situated in.

Talk about ironies of life.

"Your brother's Lex Luthor?"

Lena chuckled. "You didn't figure that out earlier?"

"You didn't mention it!"

"My best friend used to be his girlfriend!" Lena exclaimed. "They were like…the 'it' couple of Teen Vogue, which grosses me out to this day, even when they're already broken up."

"Listen, I've been more focused on the fact that I have had to listen to your best friend and my sister getting it in the same apartment as me to even think about the fact that your best friend, who is having sex with my sister, used to be Lex Luthor's girlfriend."

Lena blinked a few times as she tried to come up with a rebuke. "Okay, you have a point," she relented when she couldn't find one, failing to even empathize because she had never had to endure that torture. "Now I'm just thankful that I live alone."

Nodding sagely, Kara only sipped from her cup. Her eyes peeked over to the window and her brows raised in surprise. Lena followed her gaze and found the reason for Kara's reaction.

The rain had let up, when only mere minutes ago, it was still pouring. She tried not to let the disappointment seep in like the raindrops into the soil outside, but it still happened. She was still disappointed. No more rain meant no more being trapped in this library. No more rain meant it was time to head out and go home. No more rain meant no more meaningless but still fun interactions with Kara.

Lena could hardly remember the last time she had enjoyed a conversation with a new person. Scratch that – she could hardly remember the last time she liked meeting a new person so much.

"Well –" Kara's voice attracted her attention back to the blonde, who looked a little disappointed herself, but Lena could have just imagined that "– guess you should drop off that book you wanted to return." The raven-haired girl watched as the blonde stood up and tossed the empty coffee cup into the recycle bin. "Come on – I'll walk you home."

Lena raised her brows.

"I mean, only if you want me to. If you don't want me to know where you live, I could just go home myself. It's just – you know, it's almost dark and I don't think it's safe for you to walk back alone. Sure, the security on campus is pretty great, but it's still…you know, dark. And we know –"

"Kara," Lena stopped the girl from talking herself into gibberish. "You can walk me home."

Sucking in deep breath, Kara laughed nervously and reached up to adjust her glasses, then she nodded and flourished her arm in an exaggerated manner for Lena to go on first. What a gentlewoman.

As Lena stood up and went to discard her own cup, something else happened. Something unimaginable. Something familiar. Something that got Lena to just freeze right next to the bin and Kara's cheeks flushed so red that she almost became the very personification of a ripe tomato.

"Yes, touch me there – oh!"

The two girls listened to more obscene encouragement and lewd moans emanating from the American History section, staring at each other with equal disbelief and hilarity. Covering her mouth to stop herself from laughing out loud, Lena looped her arm with Kara's and quickly extracted the two of them from the floor before they collapsed into laughter and disturbed what was clearly a very nice session of public sex.

"That was unbelievable."

"I'm never going back there again."

Humming and comfortable to keep her arm looped around Kara's, Lena smiled wider. "I think the universe is trying to tell us something."

Kara didn't seem to mind that Lena had remained attached to her even after the book had been returned and they had gotten out of the library. She was also right about it getting dark, because the moment they stepped out of the building, street lamps were keeping the streets alit and illuminating paths for the National City University cohorts to go on their way.

"Oh yeah? And what's that?"

Lena shrugged. "I don't know, but that can't be a coincidence."

"Maybe you're right."

"I'm always right."

Kara snorted in response but didn't offer another word. They walked in comfortable silence, with Lena's feet getting heavier as they rounded a corner and saw her building in sight. She had to halt her steps to stop Kara from getting any further once they'd reached the front door of her building.

"This is me," she announced tartly, squinting at the innocent security guard with a hint of unhappiness.

"Oh," Kara breathed, her lips pulled down at the edges. It took a few seconds, but Kara loosened their connection with each other, and Lena could barely resist from whining at the loss of contact. "Well, I guess I should – now that I'm sure you're safe, I can – I should…go," she drifted off, adjusting her perfectly positioned glasses.

Lena nodded, mustering a brave smile. "Been a day with you, Kara Danvers."

Kara chuckled, nodding. "Let's hope we never have to listen to…whoever they were in the library again."

"God, I hope not."

The blonde worked her jaw a little; they looked at each other, mirroring melancholic smiles on their faces.

It was weird, Lena had to admit that. She had never been so comfortable with someone she'd just met on that very day. This magnetic attraction was inexplicable at best. At this very moment, Lena wanted to write a twenty-page dissertation about Kara Danvers herself, about how her glasses couldn't hide the enthusiasm that had never escaped Kara's blue eyes, about how her lips could twitch even just slightly and Lena would feel the butterflies in her stomach go wild, about how Kara Danvers had become the strangest and yet most welcome phenomenon in Lena's life.

Alas, no scientific theories that Lena had studied in her entire lifetime could give her dissertation a proper justification. There was no scientific theory that would be able to justify the person that was Kara Danvers. And scientific theories were the only thing that had kept Lena going so far.

"I'll see you around, Lena Luthor," Kara commented.

For the most bizarre moment, Lena felt like crying. She pulled through the clog that had made a sudden appearance in her throat and simply nodded, unsure that she wouldn't just burst into the weirdest bout of waterworks if she opened her mouth and spoke.

Kara took one more look at her, nodded, and turned around to walk away. Lena breathed in and breathed out, trembling all the way through. Then she nodded to herself as well before making her way towards the front door, throwing a weak smile at the guard as she reached for the door to push it open.

"Lena!"

Never in her life had Lena Luthor spin around so fast. But the voice, even when she had only known it for hours, was enough of an impetus for Lena to risk snapping her neck.

Kara was running back up the streets towards her, her expression a combination of fear and courage. She managed to skid to a stop only several feet away from Lena, close enough for them to be within hearing distance but far enough for personal space to still exist. Lena wanted the personal space to be gone.

For what felt like the longest five minutes ever, Lena stood there waiting, and Kara stood there staring.

"Date," Kara spoke.

Lena blinked. "Pardon?"

Kara blinked as well. And then she shook her head like a dog would to shake away sleepiness. She laughed nervously and gulped. "Date. I want to take you out on a date. Can I take you out on a date?" she said. "I just – that day at the library, that wasn't the first time I saw you. It was actually two weeks before that, when I was looking for a reference on that floor, and I saw you sitting at one of the cubicles. And you completely stopped me in my tracks – you were so beautiful. Are. I mean, you are so beautiful. It was honestly so distracting that I forgot about the reference and had to come back the next day. And you were there again. And I just – I know I sound like a creeper right now, but you're like…awesome, you know. After today, I learned that you're not only pretty but you're also really awesome. And I really like you. Like, so much, that I think I'll really regret it if I leave without at least try to ask you out. I mean, I'm just trying to be brave for once. You're not obligated to go out with me. I'm more than willing to just be your friend, honestly. I just don't want – I want to try, you know. So – um – will you? I mean, go out with me. Will you?"

Kara was panting at the end of that very disjointed but heartful rant. But she looked so hopeful. Plus, the blush tainting her cheeks only made her all the more adorable.

Lena tried to stop herself. She really did. But her impulse control only went so far, and it had been used up today from all day of not staring at Kara so blatantly and so unabashedly that she just threw caution to the wind. Going out on a limb, right?

She stepped into Kara's personal space, placed one hand behind Kara's neck, and pulled her down for a kiss. Kara made a noise of surprise and froze for a moment, but as Lena moved to pull away, she found herself being pulled closer to Kara's body – and oh, wow, that was a really strong body.

It was tender. Chaste. Not at all hot or passionate. And yet, Lena had never had such a perfect first kiss with anyone. Kara's lips were smooth and supple, and Lena could taste the lingering coffee and sugar from the coffee in the library. She was held so gently and kissed so gently and Lena knew that she would never want anyone else's lips on her.

Air, the bastard, started calling for attention after a moment, and Lena had to pull away. She grinned teasingly when Kara retracted looking dazed and out of the world.

"That's a yes, by the way," Lena clarified.

Kara cleared her throat and blinked herself back into reality; her arms only tightened around Lena's waist. She cleared her throat again, and, as if finally grasping Lena's words, smiled so brightly that Lena was sure it was the only source of light around them.