Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Prologue

It’s a warm summer’s day in Midvale. One of those “Dog Days of Summer” or whatever you want to call them. There will be fewer of those in the coming years, something Kara is coming to terms with, but she doesn’t want to forget these times, forget these days. Or even forget him. Even though this was her decision, her choice to leave it all behind. To go off to National City unencumbered. She knows Kenny is only going to hold her back.

It is the right thing to do, Kara knows that. She and Kenny have vastly different plans for their life. So, breaking up with him really and truly is the only answer. Kara has dreams of leaving Midvale to explore the offerings of National City and Kenny…does not. He’s perfectly content staying in this sleepy little suburb while Kara has plans. Big plans.

Kara gingerly pulls the lid off the shoebox sitting between her and her best friend Nia and older sister Alex. The relationship is over, but she still has all the memories. All in this little shoebox.

“What the hell, did you take all his worldly possessions?” Nia gasps, reaching into the box and pulling out a rubber duck, “Really? What is this?”

“He won it for me!” Kara snags the duck from her grasp, “Well…it was really the consolation prize,” She sighs holding the piece of duck-shaped vinyl to her chest, “He tried really hard though…spent a ton of money. He really tried so hard.”

“And all he got was this lousy duck,” Alex reaches for the duck and squeezes it, giggling as it lets out a pathetic wheeze.

“That’s when I said it…” Kara sighs dramatically, her shoulders drooping.

“No, you didn’t…” Nia’s jaw drops, “Kara Marie Danvers, no you didn’t!”

“I did!” Kara buries her face in her hands, “he won me this duck and I said ‘I think we should break up.’”

“Kara!” Alex throws the rubber duck at her little sister's head, “how could you?”

“I don’t know?” Kara yelps while trying to bat the flying duck away, “It just sort of happened! Maybe I was hoping he would say something like…I can’t live without you Kara. I’ll fight for you and blah, blah, blah. Instead, he just said ‘maybe you’re right.’”

“Ouch,” Nia winces as she reaches for the shoe box and continues to rifle through the items. “Uhhh, don’t you think he’ll need this?” she holds up a dark blue retainer case, giving it a rattle.

“Aww, he took that out whenever we made out or ate a snack,” Kara longingly sighs before snatching the case back. The blonde looks at it fondly for a moment before tossing it back into the box.

“My god,” Nia shakes her head, glancing toward the window in Kara’s room, “Hey, that’s new,” she points at the telescope propped there.

“Kara no…” Alex’s eyes went wide.

“Kara, yes,” Nia snickers gleefully, “What’s up with that?”

“Kara, that monstrosity is his entire life!” Alex gasps loudly, brown eyes wide with pure shock.

“Our lives!” Kara corrects and frowns. 

“Kara, Kenny saved his money for two years to buy that…that thing!” Alex gestures wildly.

“Nice one, Danvers,” Nia smirks.

“It’s representative of so many memories,” Kara defensively responds, “I couldn’t just leave it.”

“But, in all seriousness, are you really going to keep all this?” Nia shook the box and its wide array of contents. 

“It’s part of my process,” Kara pouts.

“You still have your stuff from the week-long summer romance three years ago,” Nia grimaces, pulling out a mangled and discolored friendship bracelet, “that’s just gross.” 

“Not as bad as this,” Alex holds up a foil packet, “A used condom?”

“It’s not used, it’s still in the package!” Kara glares at her sister.

“You better not use it, you know those things expire,” Alex shoots back, flicking the foil packet at her, “some of this is cute and sentimental,” she glances at Nia who is still pawing through the box. 

“A shirt button, a matchbook…” Nia rifles around, “This is crap, crap, and more crap. Is that a Monopoly thimble?”

“That’s different!” Kara snatches the thimble away, holding it tightly in her hand, “It’s not Kenny’s.”

An awkward silence falls over the trio when recognition crosses Nia’s face, “I’m so sorry Kara…”

“It’s okay,” Kara mutters, still holding the thimble tightly in her hand. So tight it is leaving an indent in her skin. 

“Okay,” Alex loudly claps her hands together, “well you know what we have to do now.”

“Break-up tradition?” Kara asks, her blue eyes wide and sparkling.

“You know it,” Alex grins brightly, “let’s ride our bikes to the liquor store, convince someone to buy us a box of wine…”

“And drink it through Twizzlers!” Kara finishes excitedly.

“So gross, but oh so necessary,” Nia shakes her head, “truly the only way to recover from a broken heart.”

“That it is,” Kara agrees, “come on let’s go!”

Chapter Text

 8 Years Later

Kara is frantically pawing through the mountains of debris lurking in the bottom of her purse. She has the list, she knows she has it. If she doesn’t, her head is on the chopping block. There is no way she can face an angry Cat Grant and live to tell the tale. Oh no, not when she ranks so low in the hierarchy at the gallery. 

“Come on, come on,” Kara whines.

“Need a flashlight, prospector?” Alex snorts as she casually sips her mimosa.

“Haha,” Kara dramatically rolls her eyes at her sister.

“You know, you wouldn’t have this issue if you cleaned that bottomless pit out more than once a millennium,” Nia huffs, sitting down in the empty chair at the table. 

“Got it!” Kara declares, choosing to ignore her friend's comment. “The guest list for the opening of the gallery tonight,” she grins brightly, “and now my life is no longer flashing before my eyes.”

“There’s no way Cat is that scary,” Nia laughs.

Kara casts the brunette a sideways glance, “Oh yes, indeed there is! Cat Grant is the most influential gallerist in all of National City, maybe even California! I want to be her when I grow up!” The blonde wistfully looks off into the distance, imagining a future where she is the next Cat Grant.

“Well, as your lawyer, I’m telling you to calm down.” Alex sits primly in her chair.

“Except you’re not a lawyer,” Nia glances at the elder Danvers, “you’re in law school. There’s a big difference.”

“Whatever,” Alex rolls her eyes, “I can still defend myself when I murder you for being an obnoxious little shit.” 

“Really feeling the love,” the model rolls her eyes and brushes her long hair over her shoulder.

Kara loves the banter between her oldest friend and sister. It’s a pleasant reminder that some things simply never change, no matter how much time passes. Through thick and thin, Kara knows she’ll always have Nia and Alex by her side. 

Not that she is completely against meeting new people. In fact, Kara loves meeting new people, making new friends, and cultivating new relationships. Especially those of the romantic sort. 

“You know what else I love about Mike,” Kara interjects in the middle of whatever Nia and her sister are chatting about, completely oblivious to their conversation. 

“Oh please, we’re waiting with bated breath,” Alex’s tone is flat and deadpan. Kara knows her sister doesn’t like Mike and frankly, she doesn’t understand why. As of right now, Mike Matthews is the best guy she’s dated and she loves every minute of it.

“Ignore her,” Nia frowns, glaring daggers at Alex. “She hates joy and confetti.”

“Because confetti is trash that falls from the sky,” Alex scoffs, “I’ve told you that at least five times.” 

Kara continues to ignore Nia and Alex, lost in her latest fantasy about the wonderful evening she spent with Mike the night before. She bites her lip, recalling every little detail as if mentally cataloging each moment. She wouldn’t be much of a gallerist if she couldn’t do that, now would she?

“Mike is a fully grown man,” Kara smiles, releasing a contented sigh, “Last night, we went back to his place.”

That gets Alex and Nia’s attention as the pair gasp in unison and look at Kara with wide eyes. 

“No way, Kara you dog!” Alex grins.

“Come on, she’s been dating him for four months,” Nia snorts, rolling her eyes at the elder Danvers. “In that time frame, you’ve already slept with like twenty of my model friends.”

“Yeah, but Kara’s different,” Alex frowns. “Anyway, go on!”

Kara smugly smirks, “Well, he cooked dinner with ingredients he had in the fridge!” She excitedly proclaims. 

“He has a fridge?” Nia’s eyes are as wide as saucers.

Kara excitedly nods her head in response and turns to Alex, “You want to know what else he has? Coffee table books!”

“Be still my heart,” Alex dramatically clutches her chest. 

“So, he has a trust fund?” Nia furrows her brows. 

“I’m choosing to ignore that comment,” Kara sniffs. “Want to know what else is so great about Mike?” The blonde blathers on, further waxing poetic about Mike. “I can’t hear his roommates having sex through the walls,” she shoots a knowing glare at Alex who turns pink in response, “because he has no roommates!” 

“You guys, you’re using the noise-canceling headphones I got you, right?” Alex looks warily between Nia and Kara. 

“They don’t really work,” Kara makes a face.

“You’re just so loud,” Nia winces. 

“Anyway,” Kara holds up her hands, “I still can’t believe he chose little old me.”

“Because you’re a literal goddess, who wouldn’t want a piece of that ass?” Nia smirks.

“So, you guys are exclusive?” Alex pries, “You’ve discussed details?”

“Oh, come on, there’s no need,” Kara waves her sister off, “I’m satisfying him in all areas, what more could he possibly want?”

“Sweet, sweet summer child,” Alex turns her attention back to her drink.

“Kara, don’t be stupid,” Nia sighs.

“Fine!” The blonde rolls her eyes, “I’ll confirm tonight after I impress Cat and enjoy the open bar.” Kara dreamily sighs, lost in her own fantasy. “It’s going to be the greatest night of my life.” 

“That's what people say in horror movies before they get herpes and die. I'm going to class now,” Alex reaches for her bag, watching Kara do the same. 

“Are you sure that’s what happens?” Nia blinks. 

Kara looks at their table, smiles, and grabs the salt shaker.

“No!” Nia whines.

“A little souvenir!” Kara chirps, sticking the salt shaker in her bag. “This was fun, bye guys!”

“Pay up, they’re still together,” Nia snaps her fingers.

“Fine,” Alex pulls a twenty out of her wallet and passes it to Nia.

Twelve Hours Later

Tonight is supposed to be the best night of Kara’s life. She’s going to make a splash on the National City art scene and impress Cat Grant. Instead, she’s sobbing as she slowly walks along the back of the gallery in the rain waiting for her Lyft. Truly, this night couldn’t possibly get any worse. 

Kara sniffs and rubs her eyes. Between her tears and the rain, the action is utterly useless. “Fucking Mike, fucking asshole!” She swears loudly into the night. 

When a silver car pulls up and stops, Kara blearily looks at her phone to confirm it’s her ride. Finally, she is going home and she can forget this hellish night ever happened. Maybe Alex has a bottle of cheap whiskey to further wash away the pain and sorrow. 

At first, she fumbles with the door, but eventually manages to yank it open to practically fall into the car. Kara groans, slides in, and fiddles with the seatbelt.

“Uhh, what are you doing?” The driver speaks, looking utterly perplexed. “Please don’t. Watch out for my stuff, my drill and…”

Kara pokes at the pile of building materials sitting in the backseat. Well, that isn’t very professional. “This is a ride for Kara, right?” She carefully lifts the drop cloth, wincing at the strong smell of paint thinner exuding from the cloth. “Damn, this is a mess.” 

 “Why are you getting in my car?” The driver is now wide-eyed and incredibly alarmed. Wow, Kara thinks, her eyes are really pretty. Sparkling green, much like a forest. They make her think of pine trees. 

Kara looks down at her phone to open the app, “Lyft. Lutessa in a silver Prius,” she flashes the driver the screen, nearly dropping her phone in the process. 

“I’m not…” The woman shakes her head. Oh, her hair is pretty too, the blonde’s inebriated brain unhelpfully provides, it’s dark and shiny. 

“Just start the ride,” Kara pouts.

“Are you serious?” The woman scoffs. “This is a private car!”

“Yeah, yeah, you’re everyone’s private driver,” Kara waves her off, “Very funny.”

“First, that’s Uber,” The woman starts, “and second, would you please get out of my car?”

Kara ignores the woman in favor of her phone, “I thought I selected ‘no talking’.” She frowns at her phone then makes eye contact with the woman. “Listen, Lutessa.”

“Lutessa?” The woman looks taken aback, “What sort of name is Lutessa?”

“Any other day, I would love to hear your story. It's just that I've had the worst night of my life and I wanna go home.” Kara leans forward onto the car’s console as she speaks, her words slightly slurred as rain drips from her hair.

For a moment, silence falls between Kara and the absolutely drop-dead gorgeous woman in the front seat. Slowly the car moves forward when the light turns green. “Where are you going?” The woman sighs.

Kara gives her the address and settles into the back seat, glumly watching the streets of National City go by. “Lutessa? Do you have an aux cord? Or, scratch that, just put on anything. I could really go for one of those murdery podcasts or maybe some smooth jazz.”

The blonde is extremely intoxicated and is paying little to no attention to the woman in the front seat. The woman who is softly laughing to herself as she drives.

“Anyway, how has your night been?” Kara continues to drunkenly ramble. “It can’t possibly be worse than mine,” She sighs. “You see this?” The blonde holds up the soaking wet silk tie she’s been clutching in her hand since Mike told her, without mincing his words, Cat was firing her. 

“You see this grown man’s tie?” Kara limply waves the wet piece of silk around. “This is all I have left of the beautiful love story Mike and I were building together. It’s all I have left of our love, all I have left of my dreams!”

“You can’t possibly be serious.” The woman snorts, briefly glancing in the rearview mirror, green eyes flashing.

“Mike has shaken me to my very core,” Kara goes on dramatically, “Ruined me! Broken my heart! I wasn’t always this way, Lutessa.”

“Yeah, I’m still not Lutessa,” The woman shakes her head at the rambling woman in her backseat while keeping her eyes on the road. 

“I was happy once. I was in love like a big dumb idiot, but we’ve all been there.” Kara lets out a sob. Just this morning her day was so very good. Perfect even. Now, her entire world has crashed down around her. It’s shattered into a million little pieces with no hope of ever being pieced together again. No amount of superglue can fix this, not even the really strong stuff.

She thinks back to earlier when she stopped by the gallery before her meet up with Alex and Nia. Those moments when she and Mike were on top of the world as they put the final touches on everything. The night was supposed to be perfect and for the most part, it was absolutely perfect.

“This is my favorite part,” Kara’s eyes sparkle, coffee in hand as she and Mike walk through the half-setup gallery. “The moments just before the show when all the art is being hung. It’s like Christmas, but so much better.” Kara releases an excited squeak and twirls around.

“Cute,” Mike laughs, “but Cat gets back today and we have a lot of work to do if we don’t want her to skin us alive.”

“I know,” Kara dramatically sighs. “I love her so much it gives me diarrhea, Mike. Surely you can understand the feeling of…”

“Mike!”

A sharp voice barks down from the balcony above. There she is, the woman herself, Cat Grant. Kara does everything in her power not to squeal in delight and faint. She looks amazing, but she always looks amazing. Kara squeezes the cup in her hand so hard she spills coffee and yelps. 

“Thrilled that I pay you to socialize.” Cat’s tone is cold and clipped, “Mike, we are meeting with Mick Rory this afternoon. Word on the street is he split with Snart. Strategy session, my office, now.” Then Cat’s eyes find Kara who is gaping at her,  “Close your mouth, Keirah. It's unbecoming. Up, up, up.”

Kara quickly closes her mouth. She wants to scream, cry, and throw up all at once. Cat almost knows her name! Keirah is pretty damn close to Kara. It’s much better than when Cat simply called her person. Being called Keirah is so much better. She frantically nods her head up and down, mimicking a bobble head.

Cat practically glides away as she walks along the second floor of the gallery and disappears. Finally, Kara can breathe again. “Uhh, excuse me,” the blonde grins at Mike, waggling her brows. He looks damn good in his gray flannel suit, “Mr. Sex-Pot Gallery Director, a tip on Mick Rory? Focus on his riskier works, I was reading somewhere he prefers paintings that embarrass him.”

Mike’s grin is adorably infectious, his teeth white, sparkling, and perfect. Just like a toothpaste ad, it’s intoxicating. “You are my favorite secret weapon,” he beams, feeling Kara shiver next to him. “Damn, you make me look so good.”

“Wait, he actually said those words?”

The driver’s musical laughter jerks Kara from her playback of the day’s earlier events. She slumps in her seat before folding her arms across her chest. “He was paying me a compliment?”

“Was he?” The woman shoots back, “Because I’m pretty sure the first rule of compliments is not to reference yourself in said compliment.”

“Stop interrupting!” Kara pouts, “You’re derailing my story, as I was saying…”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I thought this was my car.” Kara can see the woman’s brow rise dramatically in the rear view mirror as she speaks. It’s just so…incredibly…artful. How the hell does she do that? Truly, it’s impressive.

“As I was saying!” Kara loudly declares, “We were really subtle at work, no one had a clue about me and Mike. We were great at keeping it on the down low.”

“Sure,” the woman snickers as Kara shoots her a look. “I mean…I’ll take your word for it.” She amends, lightly clearing her throat.

“Anyway,” Kara shakes her head, thinking back to her earlier conversation with Eve. “We had the gallery opening tonight, which is why I’m a total vision, thank you.”

Eve. Kara’s work nemesis, if only because the other woman seems completely incapable of going more than five minutes without mentioning the fact that she attended Yale University. I mean, yippee, good for her. Not everyone was lucky enough to attend an Ivy League university. 

Kara slumps at her desk, typing away at her computer as Eve looms over her. “What’s the deal with you and Mike?”

‘What’s the deal with who and who?” Kara’s brow raises.

“You and Mike,” Eve repeats, a frown on her face. 

Kara can feel her cheeks burn, no one is supposed to know. She’s certain they have been careful! “Can I help you, Eve?” She slaps on the biggest, most friendly smile she can muster in this scenario, anything to throw her colleague off the scent. It is a little awkward to be a gallery assistant who is dating an up and coming gallery director.

“I have eyes, Danvers,” Eve’s blue eyes narrow as she leans in even closer to Kara who desperately tries to swing away in her swivel chair. “I’ve seen the way you…you know.”

At that Kara laughs, “Eve are you implying what I think you’re implying?”

Eve huffs, “You know, my junior year at Yale…”

“And there it is,” Kara nods resolutely, glancing at her watch. It has been all of four minutes and fifty-two seconds since Eve last brought up her tenure at Yale. 

“As I was saying,” Eve pouts, “I took a gender studies class at Yale about social expectations in a woman’s life, I think you’re unconsciously subjugating yourself to prop him up.”

“I’m doing what?” Kara blinks.

Kara is suddenly jerked back to the present where she is sitting in the backseat of a car surrounded by construction materials while the driver laughs at her. They take a particularly sharp turn and her alcohol soaked brain makes everything spin a little. 

“Your friend sounds smart,” the brunette responds.

“Classic overachiever,” Kara grumbles, “and Eve is not my friend, not even close. At best I’ll accept that she’s a colleague, if only because I have… had the misfortune of working with her.”

“Oof,” the brunette winces, “So it was a really bad night?”

“And I would tell you about it, if you stopped interrupting me!” Kara pouts. “Will you let me finish?”

The driver is quiet for a moment, “Okay, go ahead with your story.”

Kara takes a moment to yawn, looking forward to getting back to her apartment and crawling into bed. Hopefully staying there for the next three months since she no longer has a job to go back to. Life sucks, nothing matters.

“It didn’t start out bad,” Kara sighs, looking out the rainy window again, “I was actually having fun for a while. Though, maybe…maybe it is the alcohol talking,” she bites her lower lip.

“Alcohol?” The driver asks.

“There was an open bar, okay!” Kara shoots back, though looking back on it, Eve had been right. For once.

“You really should pace yourself,” Eve comments as she sidles up to the bar with a gin and tonic in hand while Kara orders herself another tequila. “This is a work event after all.”

A work event that is currently making Kara incredibly nervous. However, there is no way she is going to admit it. She certainly isn’t going to admit how she feels to Eve. “Relax,” Kara sighs, sipping her drink, “I’m just here to have fun tonight, don’t they teach fun at Yale?”

“Haha,” Eve scoffs, “Anyway, have you seen Mike tonight? I heard Dr. Imra is back from Paris.”

‘Who?” Kara blinks, feeling a bit like a deer in the headlights. “What are you talking about?”

“Oh me?” Eve bats her lashes, “I don't know anything, I'm not fun.”

Kara huffs as the shorter blonde walks away. Watching as the shorter woman flips her hair over her shoulder, she turns her attention back to the half empty glass of tequila and takes another deep swallow. 

A couple more drinks later and Kara is more than feeling it. As in she might be on a completely different plane of existence. The plane one can only reach at the bottom of a bottle. Shit. 

“You.”

Kara turns around much too quickly, “Huh?” She gasps when she sees Cat standing right behind her looking serene. “Oh…hey, you-you goddess, amazing…ummm, Cat.”

“Enough,” Cat waves her off, “Anyway, you’re up.”

“Excuse me, u-up? Up f-for what?” Kara hesitantly asks Cat as heart pounds in her chest.

“Keirah, I’ll have you know I’m not one of those bitches that doesn't empower women,” Cat's tone is continually flat, yet commanding.

“Wow, okay. That’s g-good to know,” Kara blinks slowly. “Great, actually. Awesome.”

“Well, Keirah? Go on, get up there,” Cat glances towards the podium a short distance away.

“U-Up there?” Kara squeaks and points.

“Michael is giving remarks tonight,” Cat sighs, “Go on. Get up there, introduce him.”

“Oh!” Kara chuckles nervously, “I'll be perfectly honest, I had a few drinks, I don't think that’s really a good idea…”

“I'm not your sorority sister,” Cat scoffs, “now, get out there. Go!”

Kara flushes as Cat glides off. She looks at her now empty glass and decides a little more liquid courage can't hurt. Then it's supposedly her time to shine and she is absolutely terrified. What is it Alex said to do when faced with public speaking? Think about them naked? Kara cringes and shudders, nope, that won't work.

She slowly approaches the podium, taking far too long to adjust the microphone before clearing her throat to speak. “Well, uhhh...good evening everyone,” Kara beams out at the surrounding audience, “Is it hot in here or just me?” She laughs awkwardly, “Right, okay, just me.” 

There is no reaction to any of the words she's spoken so far and honestly that makes this all feel so much worse. Not a laugh or even a soft clearing of the throat. Kara needs to say her piece and get off the stage. She even gives a little smile when she spots Mike standing close to the front, ready to make his own remarks as he shuffles a small stack of index cards. 

Kara takes a moment to rub her forehead before making an attempt to speak again, “Tough crowd we've got tonight. Alright, here we go. I am here tonight to introduce Mike Matthews, director of the Grant Gallery here in National City…”

As she speaks, an absolutely stunning woman comes into view. She's dressed cleanly, so professionally. Her hair in tasteful waves framing her face, her green eyes sparkling like pure crystal. Is that her? Is that Dr. Imra from Paris? It must be, she looks like she just stepped off a runway from Fashion Week. Fuck.

Oh, and there’s Mike, smiling at her? Flirting with her? Being far too friendly, that's for sure. Standing there beside her, glass of champagne in hand and seemingly whispering in her ear.

“Where w-was I?” Kara blinks,  her vision beginning to blur, “Uh, um…” She swallows, her anger flaring when she sees the way Dr. Imra reaches for Mike's wrist.

“Alright,” Kara rocks back and forth on her heels, her face burning. She forcefully rips the mic off the stand causing feedback to echo throughout the open space. “Fuck this,” Kara growls, finally getting a reaction from the crowd.

“Well, now I have your attention,” Kara scoffs, “Question for the group,” she levels her steely blue eyes at Mike before looking back out at the crowd. “Can anyone tell me when it became uncool to date just one person? Maybe, I just don't understand. Maybe it's just a ‘me’ thing.” 

Kara starts to pace across the stage, the words flowing from her mouth like water through a busted dam. Everything she thinks, immediately leaves her mouth as part of one long tirade. She doesn’t even give it a second thought.

“Jane Austen, she didn't write about polyamory! She wrote about Emma in the singular!” Kara continues. “Sure, it's fine for some people,” she shrugs her shoulders and continues pacing, “Maybe I'm just old-fashioned, but it feels like so many people are dishonest. They do nothing but lie and…”

“Kara,” Mike stepped forward, panic etched on his face. “Kara please, can we talk–”

“Oh, now you want to talk?!” Kara feels tears welling, stinging in her eyes. “Well, it's too late and I–” she yelps as her heel gets caught in the wire of the microphone sending her crashing to the floor as the crowd gasps.

“Is she okay?”

“I think we just witnessed a mental breakdown in real time.”

Everything blurs as Kara whimpers. She somehow ends up back on her feet, the event spitefully continuing. After making his remarks, Mike drags her toward the entry of the gallery.

“Ow!” Kara pouts, pulling her hand away, “Get your hands off me! Who is she?”

“Kara,” Mike sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Who is she, Mike?” Kara repeats as she slowly feels herself sobering up, “Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought you and I–”

“That's Imra,” Mike's tone is firm, “She's my ex and it's complicated.”

“Oh, it's complicated?” Kara snorts, “Where do I fit in?”

Mike sighs, rubbing the back of his neck, “Kara, listen. You're a blast and I don't even use that word, but it fits you.”

“Thanks,” Kara rolls her eyes.

“For god sakes Kara, I'm thirty-five. The fact of the matter is, we're at different places in our lives,” Mike seems to be doing everything in his power to stay calm. Kara's gaze drifts outside as she hears the rumble of distant thunder. “I need to find my thing.”

Kara feels a pit form deep in her stomach, “Is that your way of saying your thing isn't me?” She watches as Mike sighs, practically confirming everything. “Well, this sucks.”

“Also, Cat doesn't think you should come in tomorrow,” Mike continues. 

“That's nice of her,” Kara grumbles, gingerly putting a hand to her temple, “A personal day would be good. I bet I'm concussed. Honestly, I probably should go to urgent care.”

“Actually,” Mike winces, “Cat doesn't think you should come back…ever.”

“What?” Kara's voice rises in pitch, “I-I-I'm f-fired?” she stammers, “Well fine, fuck this! And fuck you Mike, fuck you!”

Kara sighs, finishing up her story. As promised, the driver stays quiet as her tale reaches its climax and concludes with an unsatisfactory finish. 

“You might not want to hear this right now, but I think you're better off without him,” The pretty brunette calmly says.

Kara scoffs, “Sure, I am. You know, I came to National City with dreams of one day starting my own gallery and I just got fired from my position as a gallery assistant. I'm doomed.”

“Oh, come on, I wouldn't say doomed,” the driver sighs.

“Sure,” Kara shakes her head. Her phone starts to ring and she answers without a second thought. When she hears the name of the caller on the other end, her blue eyes widen, “Oh no, oh…I'm sorry Lutessa. Y-Yeah, I'll cancel. Of course.”

Kara tries to steady her rising anxiety as it dawns on her that the woman in the front seat is not her Lyft driver, Lutessa. “You're not Lutessa?” Kara feels her breathing speed up, like she's on the verge of hyperventilating. “Who are you?”

The car slowly comes to a halt and the driver puts it in park before turning around to face Kara. Wow. Her original assessment of the woman being pretty was accurate, but she is so much more. She is stunning, gorgeous, and a whole bunch of other words Kara is struggling to think of right now. 

“My name is Lena.” The brunette offers a gentle smile. Damn, those dimples are downright adorable. 

Kara looks out the window and realizes they’re stopped in front of her building, “What the…Lena, you just drove me home? Are you insane? What was the plan?” The blonde starts to panic, her breathing getting faster as she looks at the building materials in a far more sinister light.

“Oh my gods!” Kara gasps, “Were you going to poison me with paint fumes? Knock me out with lumber? Leave me for dead?!?”

Lena sighs and shakes her head, it’s a shame this potential axe murderer is so dang pretty. “I did you a favor, believe it or not. I had a bad day, too.”

Kara barely hears Lena's words, still panicking about the insane predicament she seems to be in. Where is Alex when she needs her? She frantically starts trying to find her phone with no luck. “Oh my god, oh my god…oh no, this is it! This is the end!” Her voice is continually rising in pitch.

“Oh, it's locked!” Kara begins to wail, desperately trying to grab the door handle as she pounds at the window.

Lena sighs, “Can I just say something?” 

“Help me! Somebody please help!” Kara cries out as people out on the street casually walk past.

“Actually, it's unlocked,” Lena chuckles softly. 

“Oh.” Kara feels her anxiety slowly start to dissipate as another wave of sobriety starts to wash over her while she hastily collects her things. Most notable of which is Mike's tie. “Okay, well good night and thanks!” She then waves awkwardly before practically sprinting up the stairs to her apartment.

As Kara stands outside the door of the apartment she shares with Alex, Nia, and Brainy, the reality of the situation hits her hard. She’s immediately overwhelmed with misery when her phone buzzes. It’s Eve.

It's a text with a clipped video of her speech disaster playing on a loop, over and over again. It already has several thousand views. Great.

Kara whines before opening the door to Alex and Nia in the middle of a heated discussion while Brainy is quietly sitting at the kitchen table wearing headphones. She slinks through the door dragging her feet and catching the attention of her older sister. 

“Kara?” Alex turns to look at her, “What the hell happened to you?” 

“I didn't know gallery openings got that wild,” Nia snickers, “Invite me next time.”

“There won't be a next time,” Kara frowns, wiping tears away from her face.

“Won't be a next time ?” Nia parrots back.

“Mike broke up with me,” Kara's voice cracks, “and I got fired.”

“All in one night?!?” Nia gawks as Alex jumps to her feet with a blanket in hand, wrapping it around Kara and guiding her to the couch. 

Kara sinks into the couch, Alex and Nia grab as many snacks as they can find from the pantry. Brainy disappears…somewhere, leaving Kara momentarily alone with her sadness.

A little while later, the three of them settle back onto the couch. Alex drinks the glass of wine she originally poured for Kara, holding her younger sister close.

“I can't believe it's over,” Kara mumbles, half-heartedly reaching for a tissue. 

“It's going to be okay,” Alex sighs, rubbing her shoulder.

“Oh gods, is that a potsticker?!” Nia exclaims throwing Kara's purse to the floor, “Girl, that's a new low even for you.”

Kara whines before burrowing her face into Alex's neck, “Not now,” the elder Danvers hisses. 

“Well, you still owe me five bucks, Alex,” Nia folds her arms across her chest.

“Another day, Nia. Another day,” Alex warns. 

Chapter Text

Three weeks have passed since Kara has thoroughly embarrassed herself at Cat's gallery opening. In those three weeks, very little has changed in her life other than continuing to wallow in her profound misery. 

Nothing matters, life sucks. She’s miserable, broke, and nothing is going to change that. 

Kara will never achieve her life-long dream of running her own gallery in National City. The hopes of being someone as incredible as Cat Grant? Completely dashed. Kara Danvers' career is over before it even has a chance to begin. 

There’s a knock at the door and Kara lets out a pitiful whine. The last thing she wants to do is face anyone, even her own best friend and sister. “Go away!” The blonde wails as she runs her hands through her hair that’s knotted and tangled from several failed attempts at French braiding. At this rate, she will not be surprised if pigeons decide it might make a good nest.  

“Alright, that’s it, I’m going in. We’re getting smell complaints from the city,” Nia huffs and shoves Kara’s door with her shoulder. “I hope you’re decent! And even if you’re not, too bad!”

“Nia don’t, she’s still mourning.” Alex’s voice is oddly soft and gentle in this moment. 

Kara pulls her comforter up and over her head to further dampen the sounds of the world around her.

“Alex, I can’t deal with this,” Nia’s tone is loud and laced with annoyance.

“Nia…Nia don’t–”

The door to Kara’s room is thrown open and Nia stalks in with a trash bag in hand, a mask over her nose, and dish gloves on her hands.

Alex sighs as she lingers in the doorway, arms folded across her chest. “Kara, are you okay?” Then it seems the smell that has been disturbing Nia finally hits the elder Danvers and the redhead winces.

“Oh fuck,” Alex holds her sweater to her nose, running to open up the window, her face going pale as if she’s about to vomit. “Kara, you need some air in here. Have you just been braiding your hair and masturbating for three weeks?”

“My vibrator won’t ever fail me,” Kara sighs, looking longingly at the small bullet entangled in her sheets.

“Gross,” Nia’s nose crinkles.

“Nia, can we at least try to be sex positive here?” Alex clucks her tongue and sits beside the lump that is her little sister. 

“No one should ever climax that much,” Nia shakes her head, her gaze darting around the room. “Kara, we have to do something about this,” she picks up one of the many knickknacks all around her friend’s room. 

Kara groans sadly, the video on her computer still playing as a woman explains how to Dutch braid. Then she hears a clunk, turning into several louder clunks. The blonde anxiously sits up to see Nia, with her trash bag clearing off a small section of her dresser. 

All the things Kara collects on a day to day basis have to go somewhere. She needs a place to collect and display her memories, to make sure she never forgets her day to day. She won’t let herself forget the good moments or the bad, she can’t ever let herself forget. 

“Nia stop!” Kara calls out jumping to her feet, “Nia, no! Please!” 

“No,” Nia’s tone is firm, “this ends now. Kara, you never get a chance for a happy relationship because you’re always mourning the last one. It was cute when you were sixteen, but this collection has vastly overstayed its welcome.” 

Kara’s lip starts to quiver, “That’s not true! I-I-I’m not mourning the last one.  Alex? Tell her! I’m not mourning my relationships!” She shuffles after Nia and tries to rip the trash bag from her hands.

“I have to agree with Nia on this one,” Alex grimaces. “Kara, you do live in the past.”

Kara frowns and folds her arms across her chest, “Well, of course I do. The past is filled with happy times a-and good memories.” The blonde picks up a cheap, plastic snow globe and gives it a sad shake causing the glitter to swirl about. “How is someone just your everything one minute and then they forget you the next?”

Nia sighs, “Ask Alex, she dumps bitches on the regular.”

“Hey, this is not about me,” Alex walks up to Kara and gives her little sister's shoulders a gentle squeeze. “Kara, we’re worried, you’ve been sitting shiva in this room–”

“Hovel,” Nia interjects and both Danvers sisters glare at her, “I’m just saying it as I see it,” the brunette shrugs.

Alex sighs, “Kara, by getting rid of these things,  you’re not getting rid of the memories attached to them. You know, it’s what Marie Kondo says.”

“No!” Kara’s tone is sharp as she frowns, “We do not speak of her in this house.” 

Her blue eyes frantically look around her room and the piles of things that are on every inch of available space, “I-I-I can’t just get rid of these things, let them wind up in some sort of landfill, rotting away forever.”

“Why not?” Nia raises her brow. 

“Kara, do these things spark joy?” Alex asks, gesturing to the room at large.

Nia looks around before grabbing for an undressed Barbie that is covered in paint with jacks knotted up in her long synthetic hair. “Does this spark joy?”

“Yes!” Kara grabs the doll, holding it close to her chest, “Clearly, a lot of joy.”

Nia groans, shaking her head. “Whatever, okay can we at least reach a compromise?”

“A compromise?” Kara warily cocks her head to the side. 

‘Yes,” Nia nods her head, “you don’t have to get rid of everything, but the ex-memorabilia? That has to go.” 

Kara wants to argue back, but her mouth opens and closes in silence.

“Just give it back to the people you’ve dated,” Nia suggests. 

“Are you suggesting I call exes out of the blue?” Kara blinks.

“Yes,” Nia is firm, “because the ex-memorial goes today” 

Kara frowns, “Fine, just a few things, but not this.” She gingerly puts the Barbie back on the shelf.

This is how Kara finds herself awkwardly sitting in a diner with her ex-girlfriend, Lucy Lane, desperately trying to give her back a pig-shaped foam stress ball while the brunette eyes her in confusion. 

“Uhhh…” Lucy’s eyes narrow as she pushes the pig back toward Kara, “You know, I don’t think I can take this.” 

“What?” Kara frowns, “Why not? Don’t you have a box of mementos and souvenirs of past relationships?”

“Sure, I even have a few things from us,” Lucy looks at her with a soft, sad smile. Is that pity in those green eyes of hers? “But, ummm...Kara?”

“What?” The blonde’s brow gets a telltale crinkle across her forehead, preemptively fearing what it is Lucy has to say.

“Well,” Lucy shifts, the vinyl seat beneath her seems to groan and squeaks as she moves, which makes things more awkward. “Kara, you collecting things? It’s a little creepy. I couldn’t be with someone who needed to memorialize every second of every day.”

Kara shrinks, her heart pounds wildly in her chest, “ What are you talking about?”

Lucy bites her lip and looks back at her coffee filled mug, “Like, when we hooked up at your place? It felt like we were hooking up in a mausoleum.”

Kara bristles, “Well, I’m sure that’s on someone’s bucket list.” Then the reality hits her, “So, wait. What you’re saying is we broke up because of my stuff?”

Lucy nods her head, “A little.”

“Huh,” Kara sinks down into her seat, “Well, that sucks.” 

“I’m sorry,” Lucy grimaces. Then she places some cash on the table before getting up and walking out of the diner. 

Kara has her garbage bag filled with items as she meanders back to her apartment taking the scenic route. Or at least that’s what she’s telling herself. Then she sees the bright red sign on a nearby building above her head. 

“Thrift store?” Kara mutters and looks between the shop and her bag a few times before crossing the street, bag still in hand. “Hello!” Kara calls out when she finds a man, probably about her age, manning the counter wearing a vest in the same shade of red as the sign bearing the store’s logo. 

“Hey!” The young man’s smile is bright and friendly. 

“Hey...” Kara’s gaze drifts to his name tag, “Winn, is it?” She cocks her head to the side and unceremoniously drops her bag on the counter. “You guys take donations right?”

Winn warily looks at the bag, “We do.” He then opens the bag and starts rummaging through its contents. “But this is almost insulting.”

“Insulting?” Kara blinks, “How is it insulting?’

Winn sucks in a breath, “Well, to be blunt, this is all crap.”

“Crap? It’s not crap!” Kara gasps.

“Except, it is,” Winn bites his lip.

Kara huffs, looking around the shop. It’s filled with clothes and various knickknacks. What is the difference between this stuff and her own? Her gaze then falls on the shelf just behind Winn. It’s got old books with blue spines, most of them look like they’ve seen better days.

“Well, you’ve got an entire shelf of crap back there!” Kara points. 

“Excuse me, those are mine,” Winn’s gaze narrows.

“Okay, so you get it!” Kara declares.

“Ummm, those are original prints of the first fifty-eight Hardy Boys books. They’re collectibles!,” Winn shoots back then gesturing toward Kara’s trash bag, “This is just crap.” 

Kara angrily grabs her bag off the counter causing it to clatter loudly, “Nobody understands me!” She hollers and stomps out of the store glowering the whole way. “Nobody!”

“Have a nice day!” Winn calls out. 

Lena sighs as she slinks into the restaurant her friend Jess works at, hoping for discounted drinks and food. Today has been yet another shitty day, another shitty day in the long line of shitty days she’s experienced over the last five years. 

“Order up!” Jess calls out.

This is a high end, experimental sort of restaurant, a place Lena can’t even dream about affording in her current financial state. The sort of place where you can sit right in front of the kitchen and watch Executive Chef Huang do her finest work while enjoying the finest cuisine National City has to offer. Or, beg your friend to feed you and ply you with drinks.

Lena is currently in the latter camp, especially today. After the day she has had, the brunette wants to drink until she can’t feel her extremities anymore.

“The usual?” Jess asks, stopping in front of Lena.

“You know it,” Lena brushes her hair away from her face, “but this time make it a triple.”

“That bad?” Jess laughs, while grabbing a glass and pouring out some scotch for Lena and sliding it to her with ease.

“Eviction notice,” Lena sighs before taking a long sip. Out of the corner of her eye, she spots her best friend and occasional contractor, Sam Arias, taking the empty barstool beside her. 

“Our entire livelihood is in danger,” Sam’s tone is far too chipper which only serves to make Lena feel far more guilty for dragging her into this mess. “Everything is about to go to shit, I don’t know how to feed my wife, daughter, and currently unborn child, but it’s not all bad.”

Lena shakes her head, “We have thirty days to open,” she looks at Jess who hasn’t stopped moving for a second. 

“See, not all bad,” Sam grimaces. 

“Ahh yes, the hospitality industry, a slow and painful death,” Jess snorts, “It’s not for the weak.”

“I know,” Lena grumbles, but she doesn’t want to give up. At least, not when she’s come so far. She takes another swig of scotch. Fortunately, Jess was kind enough to pour her the good shit. Her green eyes turn to Sam, “You know I’ll pay you right? I swear, I will.”

“I know you will, Luthor,” Sam sighs deeply. “Even if it means you go hungry yourself.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t let that happen,” Jess insists, giving Sam a look.

“Thanks Jess,” Lena sighs and shakes her head. There was always the option to go crawling back to her family, but that is absolutely the last thing Lena wants to do. Besides, they’ll enjoy her failure far too much, they’re the sort to never let her live it down.

There seems to be quite a bit of fuss happening at the hostess stand. It catches Lena’s attention as she sips her drink, hoping for the booze to quickly take hold of her senses.  She turns to see what’s going on when she sees the semi-familiar face of none other than the random girl who climbed in the back of her car three weeks ago. She’s hauling a trash bag behind her?

Lena sips her drink watching out of morbid curiosity more than anything else. 

“You don’t understand!” The blonde whines as she seems ready to dodge and weave her way past the hostess, into the restaurant. “My friend is here!”

“Your friend?” The hostess’s tone is cold, “Which friend?”

On the other side of her at a nearby table, Lena hears a man sputter and cough, “Oh shit.” Turning around on her bar stool she sees a man a little older than herself as he goes pale at the sight of the young woman. 

Lena continues to calmly sip her drink. Her life might suck, but it seems someone else’s might suck more. Or, at least it has more entertainment value than her own. She remembers the tragic tale woven for her a few weeks prior and she wonders if this is the Mike who dumped the blonde moments before they crossed paths. 

“What a catch,” Lena mutters to herself and turns back toward the bar where Jess is busy cooking. 

“Hey!” The blonde waves frantically. Lena watches as the man ducks out of sight under the table. Smooth, real smooth. 

“Are you seeing this,” Lena elbows Sam.

“You know it,” Sam smirks. “This is better than HBO.”

“I’ll drink to that,” Lena agrees, clinking her glass against Sam’s and taking another deep swig of her scotch. 

“I just need a few minutes,” The blonde continues to beg, “Please.”

The blonde is bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet, her blue eyes landing on Lena sipping her drink. At that moment, Lena swallows the whiskey wrong and starts coughing.

“Hey!” The blonde starts waving in her direction, “I know her too, Lutessa-Lena, how are you?!?”

“Oh my god, you know her?” Sam crows with laughter. 

“It’s a long story,” Lena hisses, her face bright red, the color spreading all the way to the tips of her ears. 

The hostess's voice is firm, “Ma’am, I’m going to have to ask you to leave or we’ll have you escorted from the premises.”

“Ma’am?” The blonde scoffs, “Don’t you ‘Ma’am’ me, we’re the same age. Relax.”

“You’re carrying a garbage bag,” the hostess sniffs, “This is a high end, gourmet establishment that–”

“And you tell people where to sit for a living,” The blonde shoots her an imperious gaze and immediately dashes past her making her way toward Lena.

“Oh fuck,” Lena feels the color drain from her face while Sam looks on gleefully. The world seems to slow down as the brunette makes a snap decision. She has to get the blonde out of here, now.

Lena slams her half-empty glass on the bar top before jumping to her feet and grabbing the blonde. She then drags the young woman out of the restaurant onto the sidewalk outside.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Lena gasps as the door to the restaurant swings shut behind them.

“Get your hands off of me,” The blonde easily pulls away from her. Damn, she’s strong. 

“Seriously, what the hell are you doing?” Lena huffs. 

The blonde is ignoring her questions, “I had it all under control before you swooped in.”

“Did you?” Lena cocks her head to the side. 

“How is it you always manage to be where I am,” The blonde continues to muse, “Are you my stalker?”

“Uhh...what?” Lena blinks, “No, I’m not your stalker.”

“First, there was the night in your car,” the blonde’s nose crinkles.

“You got in my car,” Lena purses her lips. “That was all your own doing.”

“Now, you’re here at the restaurant, are you sure you’re not my stalker?” The blonde strokes her chin, blue eyes narrowed.

“I think the words you’re looking for are thank you ,” Lena sighs, breathing out slowly. “Then, because I’m a polite human with manners I will say you’re welcome. ” 

The blonde starts laughing, “Fucking hell.” She shakes her head then holds out her hand to Lena. “I’m Kara by the way, so much for a good first or second impression,” she bites her lip. 

“You can say that again,” Lena shakes her head, “Are you okay?”

“Y-Yeah,” Kara nods, “Just processing some things. So, what was your plan after dragging me out here? Just following me around and manhandling me on the street. Do you want to be alone with me?”

“For the last time, I’m not your stalker,” Lena groans. “I was just trying to help-”

“Is she stalking you?”

“What?” Lena turns to see a woman older than herself approaching with fire in her eyes. “Ma’am, I think you’ve misunderstood I was just trying to clear the air–”

Fuck.

There is something in the woman’s face that tells Lena she’s screwed. There is no way to explain anything to this already irate woman. So, she does the next best thing. She runs.

The problem is she’s not fast enough and she comes away from the encounter with one hell of a shiner and splitting headache. Lena’s bad day has just become so much fucking worse. 

“This is all your fault,” Lena groans, walking quickly down the street. For some inexplicable reason Kara is still following her, trash bag clanging in her wake. 

“I’m really, really, really sorry,” Kara pleads, shuffling a couple steps behind her. “You should probably get some ice on that.”

“And you should probably leave me the hell alone,” Lena snaps. 

“Only a terrible person would leave you alone in a time like this!” Kara declares.

“I’m beginning to think you are a terrible person,” Lena shoots a venomous green glare over her shoulder.

“What?” Kara’s blue eyes grow wide and bright, “What, no! I’m nice, I promise, if you get to know me, I know you’d be obsessed with me.” 

Lena shakes her head and digs into her pocket to pull out a ring of keys. She stops in front of a large, metal commercial door covered with decades worth of old posters. Home, sweet home. At fucking last. 

The door creaks loudly as she pulls it open, nothing a little WD-40 won’t fix. However, the list of things to fix is so much longer than just an old, creaking door. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be in such dire straits. 

Lena blindly reaches for the nearest light switch. It slowly flickers to life and the fluorescents begin to warm up. Gods, this place is a shithole. What the hell has she been thinking?

“Woah!”

The door clangs shut and Kara follows her inside. “So, the car was just a pre-game,” the blonde nods her head. “This is where you actually murder me.”

Lena is far from amused, “Yet again, you still choose to follow me.” 

Kara seems to be lost in her own world as she looks around the space, “So, what’s the deal with this place? Are you a squatter?”

“At this rate, I might as well be,” Lena grumbles, her head stinging with pain.

Kara is then bending down to examine a pile of building supplies, “Construction worker?”

“On my better days,” Lena shrugs her shoulders.  

“Are we playing twenty questions?” Kara’s eyes narrow.

“I don’t know, are we?” Lena shoots back. “You started this.”

“Well, look at this place!” Kara excitedly spins around in the middle of the space and nearly trips on a two-by-four in the process. “I have so many questions.”

Lena leans against a tall desk nearby, “Well, if you must know.”

“Oh yes, I must, I absolutely must,” Kara demands.

“This place,” Lena gestures at the space surrounding them, “it used to be an old YMCA, shut down ages ago. I bought it with the intention to turn it into a boutique hotel.”

“No way!” Kara laughs delightedly. 

“Yes,” Lena confirms, “Welcome to the Veronica Hotel, or hopefully it will be. Some day.”

Seeing how excited Kara is about the idea almost reignites some of the spark Lena has lost in the last few years. She wants to tell this annoying blonde everything about the place, everything she wants to do.

“When I came to National City five years ago, I didn’t have an easy time,” Lena admits. “but I still was able to find something special and something beautiful. Places that inspired me unlike anything else.”

Lena moves behind the desk to a small fridge. In the tiny freezer compartment, there is thankfully a bag of frozen peas. How convenient. The brunette grimaces and grabs the bag, standing slowly as she presses it to her face she can already tell is swollen. 

“That’s amazing,” Kara sighs wistfully. “I bet it’s going to be incredible.”

“That’s the thing,” Lena snorts, “five years and every cent I have, now it’s all going to shit.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” Kara frowns, walking toward her. “I mean, it really looks like it’s coming together! This is going to be the lobby right?”

“Nothing gets past you,” Lena murmurs. 

“Hey, you’re doing this wrong,” Kara yanks the bag of peas from Lena’s hand.

“Hey!” Lena frowns, watching as Kara looks around the empty space before grabbing a roll of blue shop towels. Tearing off a few, she wraps the towels around the bag and returns it to Lena.

“Gotta keep that pretty face of yours safe,” Kara declares before a moment of awkward silence settles as the blonde’s face reddens.

Had she really just said that? Lena tries not to laugh, “Would you like a drink?” she offers.

“Oh, yes please,” Kara sighs, “anyway that whole...whatever,” she points at the bag of peas. “Played softball as a kid, through high school actually, took lots of balls to the face.”

“Ah, so that’s why you have a few screws loose,” Lena replies. 

“Not funny,” Kara pouts, “Besides, I helped you didn’t I?” The blonde accepts the glass Lena hands her. “That lady got you really good, didn’t she?”

“No shit,” Lena chortles as she puts down the bottle of whiskey and walks across the would-be lobby toward a freshly plastered wall . A wall that was completed a couple weeks ago when things were looking better. 

Kara is standing beside her looking at the same blank, freshly plastered wall. Whiskey in one hand, garbage bag in the other.

Lena’s curiosity finally gets the best of her and she reaches for the bag, “Alright Kara, what the fuck have you got in here.” She pulls the drawstring open so she can get a look inside before Kara can snatch it back.

“Oh okay, we’ve hit the jackpot,” Lena narrates as she kneels down on the ground and starts rummaging around the bag.

“Wait!” Kara cries out, “Be careful, don’t go too deep!”

“Too deep?” Lena looks up and scoffs. “We’re past that point, I got a fucking black eye for you. You’re gonna let me see what the hell is in here.”

Kara whines, sitting down across from Lena, her legs folded as she rocks back and forth anxiously.

“Let’s see, an espresso maker, a toe sock, wait make that three, and none of them match,” Lena is awed by this collection that really does seem like it belongs in a trash bag. “Oh a Cat in the Hat plushie, please tell me those aren’t actually toenail clippings?” The brunette looks at Kara, her stomach churning at the thought they might be.

“And that’s enough,” Kara grabs the bag back.

“What is all this?” Lena presses.

“Stuff,” Kara shrugs. “Well, ex stuff.”

Lena thinks about the bag’s contents and looks back at Kara, “You’re a pessimist.”

“A what?” Kara’s eyes are wide.

“A pessimist .” Lena repeats grinning. 

“Don’t you say that,” Kara gasps. “That is the absolute worst thing anyone has ever said about me.” 

“That night in my car, you had a tie. That tie!” Lena points, noting the same silk tie hanging out of the top of the garbage bag, draped over Kara’s hand. “You, you collect these things in anticipation of the relationships ending!”

“No, I don’t!” Kara looks highly offended. “No, you’ve got it all wrong.”

“Do I?” Lena blinks. “Because based on this alone, I have to say I think you might be a hoarder.”

“No, I’m not!” Kara continues to protest, “I am not a hoarder, t-this is a celebration of memories!”

“A celebration of memories?” Lena chuckles as she raises her glass to her lips. “To me, it looks like you want evidence that your relationships existed in the first place.” The brunette pauses, thinking over the words that just left her own mouth and plays them back in her head. 

“Are you afraid you won’t remember the people you’ve dated?” Lena asks. She watches as Kara shifts awkwardly and stiffens. The blonde doesn’t say anything, but something tells Lena there might be a sliver of truth to her statement. 

“I don’t need to explain myself to you,” Kara’s tone is cold and clipped as she pointedly sips her own glass of whiskey. Then she pauses, “Haven’t you ever kept anything from a past relationship.”

“Nope,” Lena replies quickly.  “I try not to dwell on the past, so I sure as shit am not going to be lugging around physical memories of it. I don’t need that kind of baggage tying me down.”

“Oh, you’re one of those,” Kara nods her head sagely. 

Lena turns to Kara, “One of what?”

“Oh, those mysterious ‘lone-wolf’ types,” Kara grins, “You live your life like you don’t need anyone or anything and that’s just not true.” The blonde reaches out to flick at Lena’s shoulder.

“Oh, fuck off,” Lena’s jaw tightens, annoyed that Kara has gotten a supremely accurate read on her in this situation. “Besides, everyone just leaves, disappoints, or dies.”

“That’s bleak,” Kara mutters.

“It’s true in my experience,” Lena sighs, “If I’m really lucky it’s all three.” 

“Gee, thanks Mr. Rogers,” Kara shakes her head. 

“So,” Lena reaches out and touches the bag with her foot. “What are you going to do with all this stuff?”

“I’m not really sure,” The blonde shrugs her shoulders. “When love crumbles, how do you preserve its ruins?”

“Did you think of that just now?” Lena cocks her head then looks around the wide open room. It’s practically a dump anyway. “Why don’t you just leave it here?” the brunette suggests.

“Oh...no, I couldn’t do that,” Kara protests. 

“Why not?” Lena raises her brow, “What’s stopping you?”

“N-Nothing,” Kara stammers, “I just, I don’t want to be any sort of imposition.”

“You won’t be,” Lena slowly gets back to her feet, reaching for the trash bag as she does so. Kara frantically pulls it back, the plastic starting to stretch with the motion. 

“Come on, Kara,” Lena soothes, “ Just let go. ” There is a shift in Lena’s tone, it becomes soft and gentle, a stark contrast to the front she’s put up around Kara all night. 

That seems to do the trick as the blonde loosens her grip. Lena takes the bag and walks a few feet away. Now, she’s standing in front of a spot where the wall still needs to be replastered.

A problem for another day, Luthor.

Running her hand across the wall she spots an old brad nail sticking out. 

How do you preserve its ruins? 

That’s what Kara said just moments ago. Lena looks at the bag, at the tie sticking out. She plucks the tie from the bag, hanging it on the old nail and takes a step back. “There we go.”

Lena folds her arms across her chest and looks at Kara, “Well, what do you think?” 

“W-Wow,” Kara slowly rises to her feet as well, “It looks kind of cool hanging there like that, it’s almost perfect.”

“Perfect?” Lena presses, “perfect in what way?”

“Well, look at it,” Kara points, “Hanging there, just so. It’s like art in a gallery.”

“A gallery?” Lena chuckles, “If this is a gallery, it’s a sad one.”

“No, not sad,” Kara shakes her head as she examines the placement of it on the wall, “more like... A broken hearts gallery.”

“Is there a difference?” Lena asks. 

“Do you have a marker?” Kara asks, ignoring Lena’s comment.

“Huh?” The brunettes' brows furrow.

“A marker,” Kara repeats, making a grabby gesture with her hand. “I need one, I’m feeling inspired.”

“Why do you need a marker?” Lena asks as she looks around for one, surely among all the crap in here there has to be one lousy marker.

“Just let me express myself!” Kara huffs, stamping her foot. 

“Fine!” Lena throws her hands up, “Whatever you say...” There, right on the floor threatening to roll under the desk is a Sharpie with a chewed up lid. “Here.”

The marker sails through the air, Kara catches it with ease and grins, “See? Softball.”

“I never doubted you,” Lena laughs as she watches Kara uncap the pen before she starts scribbling all over her damned wall.

“Kara!” Lena complains.

“Shh!” The blonde hushes her, “Just trust me.” 

Lena dramatically rolls her eyes, but lets Kara do what she wants and waits. The blonde steps back, looking extremely pleased with herself. The brunette’s eyes scan across the words written on the wall.

“The Broken Hearts Gallery,” Lena mutters, “Leave your heartbreaks here...” Then, her eyes fall on what the blonde wrote next to the tie.

Four Months, National City, CA 

It makes Lena’s heart twinge with pain as she reads it. She thinks back to Mike living it up in Jess’s restaurant with some other woman. No wonder Kara is hurting so badly. 

“Now, to document this for posterity’s sake,” Kara whips out her phone to a picture of the wall. Then anxiety crosses her face, “What’s the security like in this place?”

“Security?” Lena snorts, “Basically it’s me with a baseball bat, why?”

”Really?” Kara bites her lip.

“Why?” Lena shoots back, studying the anxiety further settling onto Kara’s face. “What? You can’t possibly think someone wants to break into my unfinished hotel to steal this crap– your ex-boyfriend’s tie, do you?”

“That won’t happen, will it?” Kara looks genuinely fearful.

Lena sighs, “No, it won’t.”

“Are you sure?” Kara breathes out an anxious breath.

“I’m sure,” Lena nods serenely.

“Okay, yeah...I can leave it here,” Kara starts to walk off. “It’s fine, it’s all good.”

“It is,” Lena reassures her. 

For a split second, Kara looks like she’s about to turn back to tear the tie off the wall and take it back with her. Lena can clearly see the worry alongside the pain in those pretty blue eyes. 

Then, Kara straightens her spine and walks toward  the door, “Well, uhh...goodnight!”

She sighs, “Goodnight, Kara,” Lena shakes her head, walking her to the door. 

Chapter Text

We went out a few times, I thought it went really well. Hell, she even spent the night with me and left this behind. Then, she just ghosted me. I never saw her again. It’s uhhh...an old contact lens. I know it’s a little dry, crusty, and extremely gross,  but, I can’t let it go because well, it reminds me of her. Weird, I know.

- Lucy Lane

2 1/2 Weeks, Central City

Kara flops on her bed, fiddling with her phone and thinking about the night before with Lena. The tie on the wall, what she wrote, leaving those things behind at Lena’s place. It did feel good, but it also made her feel extremely uncomfortable. It’s still bothering her now as she thinks about it.

There’s a knock on the door she pointedly ignores, it’s either her sister or Nia.

“Kara? Kara!”

The voice confirms it’s Alex behind the door. Kara rolls over in her bed looking at her phone debating on making the call she wants to make.

“Hey, Kara,” Nia’s voice then rings out. “Maybe today is the day you consider getting a new job? You know my birthday week is coming up and I was kinda hoping you could get a tasteful, yet expensive gift?”

“Seriously, Nia?” Alex scoffs. “Now is not the time.”

“What?” Nia sounds taken aback.

“Who are you? Some sort of sixteenth-century monarch commanding a week of festivities to celebrate the day of your birth?” There is an edge of annoyance to Alex’s voice.

“See, exactly! You get it.” Nia chirps. 

“Oh, my gods,” Alex sighs.

Kara ignores the fuss happening outside her door and makes the call. As expected it rings, rings, and rings. Then goes straight to voicemail, it’s as good as she's going to get. Something she learned long ago.

“Hey, I just wanted to talk,” Kara sighs into the phone, staring up at the ceiling, “Well, you remember our Monopoly tournaments? You always were so good at that game, ruthless even.” The blonde sighs, reaching for the small monopoly thimble sitting on her nightstand, fiddling with it. It’s like a place of honor among everything else. 

“I could really use a get out of jail free card right about now,” Kara feels a pang in her chest as she speaks. “The point is, last night was rough. It's times like these when it hits me just how much I really miss you. How much I miss us, our family, and how things used to be.”

Kara hears the familiar beep warning her that she’s run out of time for her message. She hangs up and lets her phone drop to her chest with a thump.

There is another knock at the door. Seriously? Can’t they just take a hint? Judging by the persistent knocking, the answer is no. Kara lets out a groan, “Guys, go away!”

“It’s Lena,” the blonde hears from the other side of the door.

Lena? Like, absurdly attractive Lena from last night Lena? The woman whose car she drunkenly stumbled into? What the hell is she doing here in her apartment?

“Can I come in?” Lena asks, her voice is soft.

Kara’s heart rate skyrockets and she frantically jumps out of her bed, “Uhhh. Don’t! Please!”

“Why not?” There is a playful lilt in Lena’s voice and an impossibly sexy accent she seems incapable of placing in her current state. 

‘B-B-Because Kara is...” The blonde frantically looks about her room. “Kara is dead! Yup! Dead as a door nail.”

“Oh yeah? Tragic.” Lena giggles, “If Kara’s dead, then tell me, how did she die?”

“Uhh,” Kara bites her lip, recognizing this is reaching a whole new level of absurdity. “Decapitated on a roller coaster, very gruesome.”

“Sounds painful,” Lena scoffs.

Kara throws open the door to see Lena calmly leaning against the door frame. Her green eyes seem to be taking all of Kara in and she lets out a small laugh, “You’re not wearing any pants.”

Kara looks down to see indeed, she is not wearing any pants. Instead, she’s standing here in front of this utter specimen of a woman in her Snoopy underpants. The blonde yelps, flustered as she searches around for something to put on the lower half of her body.

The blonde victoriously fishes a pair of jeans out of the half-folded basket of laundry. As she’s shimmying into them she’s watching the way Lena’s green eyes dart around her room looking at her stuff.

She watches as the brunette runs her hands over the sandwich bags filled with shoelaces stuck to the wall with pushpins.

“Shoelaces in a bag?” Lena remarks.

“I’m sensing a profound air of judgement,” Kara grumbles as she wiggles and squirms into her jeans.

“No judgements,” Lena holds up her hands in mock surrender.

As Kara zips up her pants, she realizes she still has no idea why Lena is here in her apartment. “So, why are you here?”

A soft smile appears on Lena’s lips that makes Kara’s heart flutter lightly, “I wanted to show you something.” The brunette starts walking out of her bedroom, “Come on.”

Then a few more questions pop into Kara’s head, the most important being. “And how exactly did you get in?”

“Oh, your roommates let me in,” Lena responds casually, throwing her long dark braid over her shoulder.

“Those bitches,” Kara sighs, shaking her head as she quickly grabs her things and follows after Lena.

They’re back at Lena’s place, the someday-Veronica Hotel, but it’s not the same as it was last night. Before, it had just been herself and Lena in this sort of eerie haunting peace that surrounded them. Today, there are a few workers wandering about helping to make the brunette’s dream come true.

The duo walk back to the wall, where the tie hangs on its nail as prominently as it did the night before. However, it’s not alone anymore and that’s the most surprising thing of all.

There, just to the right of the lone silk tie is a map stuck to the wall with a brass thumb tack. Who the hell even uses these kinds of maps anymore? Kara gingerly reaches out to touch the bent and creased road map that seems to have a story all its own.

“This was just here this morning?” Kara turns to Lena incredulously.

“Yeah,” Lena shrugs in a non-committal fashion, “Hard to believe right?”

Kara runs her fingers over the no longer crisp edges of the map, “I wonder who could have left it here.”

“All sorts of people have been in and out of here today,” Lena shrugs and Kara notices the way her tank top strap slips slightly down her slim shoulders. “Delivery guys, construction workers, hell for all I know it’s one of your alter egos.”

“Very funny,” Kara brushes her off then notices the writing next to the map not too different from her own. The blonde gasps as she reads the heartbreaking words, “We planned a road trip, he left me...I drove alone.”

It makes Kara’s heart hurt as she touches the Sharpie scrawled words, “5 Years, Metropolis”.

Kara sniffs lightly, brushing a stray tear from her eye, “Th-This is beautiful!” She declares, “The Broken Hearts Gallery is a community service, there are broken hearted people out there like...uh, not you,” she shakes her head at Lena. “Well, like me and so many others who need this!”

Giddily, she takes out her phone and snaps a photo like she did the night before to post to Instagram. She notices the photo of the tie, it’s gotten way more views and likes than anything else she has ever posted on her Instagram. Ever!

“I can’t believe this, this is incredible!” Kara lets out a joyous shout as she starts typing frantically into her phone. “It’s already growing so quickly and it’s hardly been two days.”

“Woah,” Lena cuts in, “Need I remind you this is my hotel? Not some sort of creepy lost and found for hoarder-stalkers.”

“Again, I’m not a hoarder,” Kara insists.

“Hoarder,” Lena repeats.

“We’ve been through this,” Kara sighs dramatically.”Plus, you promised me no judgement!”

“When did I promise that?” Lena begins before sighing. “Anyway, the point is–”

“Hey guys,” A beautiful, tall woman with long dark hair in a messy bun pulled away from her face approaches them wearing overalls that have been patched with everything ranging from duct tape to superglue. “Wow,” the woman chuckles when she looks over at the wall, “Is this the shrine to the exes you told me about?”

“I never called it that,” Lena’s face grows red.

“I know for a fact that was a direct quote,” the woman responds looking exceptionally pleased with herself.

Lena shakes her head, “Kara, this is my friend, Sam.”

“Hey,” Sam holds out her hand to Kara, the woman gives her a firm shake before looking back at Lena. “Wow, we’re friends now? That must be why I’m building a bar top for you for free.”

“Sam...” The brunette groans.

“Friendship...servitude...” Sam mimes weighing out the two things in her hands, “I guess they’re about the same.”

“Don’t listen to her,” Lena cuts in, “I am the godmother to her unborn child.”

“No,” Sam corrects primly, “You’re lobbying for the position.”

Lena lets out a pained gasp, “But I’m already Ruby’s!”

“Which does give you a slight edge,” Sam nods in agreement, “But the jury is still out on the next one. And plot twist:” the taller woman looks gravely at Kara, “It’s not going well.”

“Way to be encouraging,” Lena frowns and folds her arms across her chest.

“So Kara, I think I saw you last night at our pal Jess’s place,” Sam grins.

Kara feels a pit form in her stomach when the words leave Sam’s mouth, “You were there last night?”

“That was some quality entertainment,” Sam chuckles lightly. “I’ll be honest, I think it preemptively made me like you even more.”

“It did?” Kara asks warily.

“Yup,” Sam pops the P loudly, “now, I would love to chat some more about it, but unfortunately me and this one have work to do,” she elbows Lena.

Kara watches as Lena sighs, turning around ready to get to work. Then a crazy idea crosses the blonde’s mind, “Wait!” she yells out, “Wait, wait, wait!”

The two other women turn back to look at her. Kara notes the way Lena’s brow knits in confusion.

“I-I-I can help with the hotel,” Kara proclaims, putting her hand to her chest. “Please. I can help with the hotel. In exchange for gallery space!”

“No,” Lena’s tone is firm

“Please!” Kara whines, “I can help, I promise! I can uhhh...I can hammer, I can saw, I can lay tile and grout–” her eyes fall on Sam with a pleading look. “Grout is a thing, right?”

“It is,” Sam replies with a laugh.

“It’s not going to happen,” Lena shakes her head, “Sam, stop encouraging her.”

“I dunno, Luthor,” Sam chuckles, “That sounds a lot like free labor and we know you love free labor.”

“Come on,” Kara begs. “Please?” Then she bats her lashes, “pretty please.” Her eyes once again look up at the untouched balcony she spotted from the night before and she points. “You don’t have a plan for the balcony.”

“I never said I don’t have a plan,” Lena pinches the bridge of her nose, “I just said that it’s phase two.”

“Which is Lena-speak for, she doesn’t have a plan for the balcony,” Sam snorts, “Give in, Luthor, balconies are very important.”

“She gets it!” Kara declares.

“Dare I say it, they’re even essential,” Sam muses.

“Okay, what the hell is going on with you two,” Lena glowers as she looks back and forth between the two women.

“Two people agreeing,” Sam responds with a playful smirk, “Possibly even eternal friendship.”

“We’re friends?’ Kara’s eyes sparkle.

“Well, we should take it step by step, but sure,” Sam agrees, her hazel eyes filled with warmth.

“Deal,” Kara beams, holding out her hand.

“I hate both of you,” Lena grumbles.

“So that’s a yes?” Kara’s blue eyes sparkle.

Lena looks like she’s about to refuse again, but Sam steps in, “Yes!” She approaches Kara and puts her hand on the blonde's shoulders. “Damn girl, you’ve got some serious muscles,” the taller brunette remarks, “That will be useful.”

Kara smiles, “I’ll do whatever you need me to do."

“Perfect,” Sam grins. “You start tomorrow, bright and early at 7am. Since you’re the newbie you’ll be in charge of coffee.”

“You’ve got it,” Kara offers up a mock salute and grabs her phone in order to take down their orders. “What’ll it be?”

“We’re ladies of simple tastes,” Sam replies, “So regular coffee is fine, we like oatmilk, almond if they don’t have it, soy or similar but nothing with actual dairy,” the taller woman lowers her tone to a stage whisper. “This one has a really sensitive tummy.”

Lena flushes furiously when she hears Sam’s words. “Sam, that’s enough,” she speaks through gritted teeth.

“She has IBS, it’s embarrassing,” Sam continues with her stage whisper.

“Stop it,” Lena glares.

“Oh no, tell me more about her tummy,” Kara says with a laugh.

“This is not happening,” Lena walks back over. “I can’t be working in these conditions, so Kara, goodbye,” she makes a move like she’s about to shove Kara out of the hotel.

Sam grabs Lena, “Dude, what’s up with you?”

“I’m not going along with this,” Lena shakes her head.

“Girl, you don’t have much choice,” Sam chuckles, “We have thirty days, we need help.”

Kara realizes she shouldn’t be snooping, thirty days and then what? Would all of Lena’s dreams come to an end? All her hard work for the last five years, only to be left with nothing? Kara knows she might not be able to do much, but she’ll do whatever it takes to help her new friend succeed.

That afternoon, Kara finds herself having lunch with Nia, Alex, and Brainy. Once again, Kara is excited by the prospect of the hotel. More specifically, the gallery she’s curating within its walls which she’s been excitedly telling her best friend and sister all about.

“Hold up,” Nia rubs her temples as she takes in Kara’s plan for her gallery, “We told you to get rid of shit. Instead of doing that, you’re displaying your stuff and other randos? I agree with Brainy, that’s a terrible idea.”

Kara huffs and gives a pleading look to Brainy who simply shrugs in response. The blonde forlornly sinks into her chair, “Whatever, you uncultured swine just don’t get it,” she grabs her phone. “I should text Mike about this, he likes to be up to date with all the galleries, and latest trends...”

“No!” Nia hastily grabs her phone causing it to clatter onto the table nearly knocking over Alex’s latte in the process. “For all our sake, please don’t do that.”

With a huff Kara reaches for her phone, “Fine, I’ll slide into his DM’s instead, it’s more chill.”

“Kara!” Nia makes another grab for the blonde’s phone, “No, stop it! He’s dating a doctor with the face of an angel!”

Kara frowns, shooting a pleading look at her sister who is clutching her latte protectively. 

“She’s right,” the elder Danvers grimaces, “I truly think you need some sexual Listerine, I think it would do you some good.”

“Sexual Listerine?” Kara replies hesitantly.

“Yeah, really clean things up,” Alex shrugs. 

“I’m going to agree with Alex on this,” Nia nods, “Ooh! What about that new girl, the hot one, the one you’re working on that hotel with? Lena, right?”

Kara groans, “If you guys remember the last time I slept with someone I worked with, it ended badly . Very badly .”

Brainy sits up straight, as if he’s about to speak, but no words ever leave his mouth.

“You are so right,” Nia exclaims. “I agree with Brainy, that does sound like progress.”

Brainy smiles contentedly, it is almost weird with how well Nia and Brainy seem to know each other that they hardly need to verbally communicate at all.

“Well, thanks, I guess,” Kara sighs.

“Here’s a thought,” Nia pauses. “You know what, why don’t you invite this ‘Lena’ to my birthday celebration?”

“You really think inviting a newbie to a murder-karaoke themed birthday party is a good idea?” Alex chuckles. “Come on, you want to get Kara laid. How are you supposed to do that if we scare the potential candidate off?”

“If Lena isn’t good enough for murder-karaoke then she’s not good enough for our Kara,” Nia declares.

“Touché,” Alex raises up her latte before taking a sip. “Speaking of love...”

“Oh shit, not again,” Nia shakes her head, “Brainy save me.”

“I’m serious,” Alex pouts. “I’m really and truly in love, her name is Kelly and she is gorgeous. Her skin is so soft and she’s so sweet. She’s like a baby bird and I just want to build a nest for her and–”

“Jesus Christ, I give it two weeks,” Kara exclaims as she steals a fry off her sister's plate.

Nia lets out a bubble of laughter as Alex gives her a glare, “Is that a shred of cynicism of the great believer of love?”

“Kara has a point,” Nia gestures with her straw. “Alex, you bang more models than a tech billionaire. If you were a guy we would hate you.”

“Fuck you,” Alex shoots back, “You know what, I don’t have to take this.”

“You do,” Nia replies primly, “Now eat your BLT and we’ll hear about your breakup in T-Minus ten days or so.”

Lena stretches as she pulls her long, curly dark hair into a ponytail at the back of her head as she walks toward Sam. She’s about to offer her friend a smile when she sees the strained look on her face.

“Hey, Lena,” Sam flushes crimson, “Uhh, I can help out today, but I can’t really work any more this week.”

“What?” Lena’s eyes go wide and her stomach drops. What the hell is Sam talking about? Just yesterday her friend reminded her of the fact that she needs all the help she can get to get this place open, in order to not lose everything. “Why?” the brunette’s tone becomes soft.

“Well,” Sam rocks back and forth on her feet, “I was commissioned to build a new table for that hotel that’s opening up in Star City.”

“Oh god, that place?” A disgusted look crosses Lena’s face, “that place is so cheesy.”

A frown quickly appears on Sam’s face, “Right, okay, how dare I take their money because you think their mason jars are cheesy. Girl, I hate to break it to you. I need money, I have my family to support.”

Lena rubs her temple, she feels bad. She knows she should be happy for her friend, but it doesn’t make this feel like any less of a betrayal. “Sam, I know things are tough, believe me,” Lena sighs. “But I have a meeting with the bank on Friday and I will get you your money, I swear you are the first on my list.”

Sam sighs, “Lena, I love you dearly, but I can’t keep doing this. Maybe this will all work out and you’ll have the hottest hotel and bar in National City. Maybe you’ll really show the Luthors up, really stick it to them that you’ve done this all on your own, but I can’t wait for someday.”

“I-I-I understand,” Lena sighs, “Fuck.”

“Hey,” Sam rushes over to grab Lena’s shoulders, “This has nothing to do with you. You know I love you more than anything. You’re my best friend, but I have responsibilities, I have a family.”

“I know,” Lena groans, “I know. I’ll be honest, that doesn’t make this suck any less.”

“Good morning, party people!”

Lena sighs, looking up to see Kara practically parading through the door, coffee in hand. Does the woman ever run out of energy?

“Who is ready to build some stuff?” Kara spins enthusiastically before reaching for a nearby cordless drill.

“Uhhh, could you put that down?” Lena rushes over to grab the drill from the blonde.

This doesn’t deter Kara who strikes a pose, “Well, I know I’m ready, check out this belt!” she excitedly points at the heavy duty, leather carpenters' belt hung around her waist. “I feel so official.”

“I bet you do,” Sam chuckles as she takes in the sight before her and folds her arms across her chest.

“Can you believe I just walked into a store and they let me buy this? Ooo coffee,” Kara grabs the cups, passing them out, “One for Sam.”

“Thank you,” Sam grins, taking the cup.

“And special milks for Lena,” the blonde gives Lena the other cup, “Gotta watch out for that sensitive tummy of yours.”

“Thanks, I guess,” Lena shrugs while blushing, still annoyed Sam didn’t hesitate to tell Kara about it, but she really does appreciate the coffee, there is no denying that. Sure, she is a lot, but having the blonde around might not be so bad. She takes a sip of her coffee, savoring its warmth.It’s absolutely perfect because of course it is.

“Lena is a little down in the dumps this morning,” Sam gestures at her.

Lena sinks down into a nearby chair. Leave it to Sam to bury the lede and then for it to go right over Kara’s head.

She watches as the blonde seems to light up at the prospect of cheering her sour mood, like it’s her job and her job alone to do something about it.

“Sounds like someone needs to talk about their feelings,” Kara sits down across the table from Lena. “The CFO, or Chief Feelings Officer, is in the building .” She excitedly points at herself.

“Good luck with that,” Sam chortles loudly.

“Oh ye of little faith!” Kara holds her head high. “I know how to turn any frown upside down. ”

Sam guffaws, “And with that dad joke, I’m out. I have...nails, yeah nails that need nailing.”

Lena shakes her head as she watches her friend walk off and takes another sip of the coffee. She swears she can feel the caffeine hit her system and start to kick in.

“So what’s first, boss?” Kara’s eyes sparkle. “Do you need me to measure? What about leveling? Maybe paint?”

Lena takes one more swig of coffee before getting up to grab a large push broom to hold it out for Kara. “Let’s start with sweeping.”

The blonde is about to grab the broom when Lena hears an unfamiliar voice calling out.

“Hello? Hey, hello, is this the breakup place?”

Lena draws back the broom before shooting Kara a glare, “The breakup place?”

“I may have made a teeny-tiny post on Instagram that kinda blew up,” The blonde grimaces.

“You what?” Lena’s voice rises, “Kara this in my hotel!”

“And the Broken Hearts Gallery is a community service,” Kara responds with an equal level firmness, something Lena has yet to see from the other woman.

“Hey, hello?” The voice calls out again.

“Over here!” Kara waves.

In walks a woman in a gray coveralls with a patch on the chest that reads Livewire Electrics. In her hand is a beat up grocery bag as she nervously walks their way. Her curly, platinum blonde hair is pulled back from her face as she warily looks around the open space.

“This is the place?” The woman asks, looking between Lena and Kara.

“It is!” Kara chirps, “Welcome to the Broken Hearts Gallery,” she holds out her hand to the stranger. “I’m Kara Danvers, the head curator here!”

“Head curator,” The other blonde nods, “Well uhh…I’m Leslie, Leslie Willis. How exactly does this whole thing work?”

Lena presses her lips into a thin line and turns to Kara, “I don’t know, Kara, how exactly does this thing work? Care to tell the class?”

Kara seems to be thinking over the idea herself, “Well, first uhhh...Leslie, if you would just come with me,” she urges the woman to follow after her. “I just would like to document this for our socials.”

Lena lightly chuckles to herself as she watches the blonde dash around, grabbing a drop cloth here and a couple thumb tacks there then a few other things to create a reasonably neutral background.

“Leslie, why don’t you just stand right here,” Kara drags the woman over to the background, “actually, a little bit more to the left. Perfect.”

“Well, now what?” Leslie deadpans.

Kara bites her lip, “Uhhh, well why don’t you tell us what you’ve got here.” The blonde gestures at the grocery bag that the other woman is holding. “Yeah, tell us what you’ve got and the story behind it.”

“Oh, uh, okay,” Leslie sighs.

Lena watches as Kara takes out her phone, pointing it at Leslie before giving her a slight nod. The brunette sighs, watching as Leslie shifts awkwardly on her feet for a moment before presenting the item in her bag that she lets fall to the floor.

“Well this is...was my voltmeter,” Leslie begins to explain, “pretty standard stuff for an electrician.”

Lena notices the screen on the device is cracked in a few places, completely unusable.

“I got a call out to this lady’s place, faulty garbage disposal, motor went out,” Leslie sighs and shrugs. “I was so surprised when she opened the door and I met the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. Gayle.”

Lena slowly sinks back down into the chair she was sitting in and reaches again for her coffee.

“Go on,” Kara urges gently.

“Well, it was an easy fix and we seemed to develop a bit of a rapport, you know?” Leslie says with a slightly watery laugh. “S-So, I left this, I left this so that I would have an excuse to come back and it worked.”

“That’s sweet,” Kara says with a smile and a twinkle in those brilliant blue eyes. Lena feels her heart flutter ever so slightly.

“We had some good times,” Leslie sighs. “But eventually things soured, we were supposed to get married.” The other blonde starts to sniff, wiping away her tears, “Three weeks before the big day, Gayle left me.”

“Damn,” Lena hisses, then blushes furiously when Kara and Leslie look at her, “Uhh, don’t mind me.”

“Anyway,” Leslie looks back toward Kara, “I was so mad I went out to my truck and well...I smashed it, really good.”

Well that explains that .

“I kept it as a reminder of sorts,” Leslie looks at the voltmeter forlornly, “I’d see it every time I’d go in the garage and the more time passes the more it hurts. So, when I found out about this place, it seemed like a good idea.”

“How long have you been holding onto it?” Kara asks gently.

“Uhhh...F-Four years?” Leslie responds sheepishly, “M-Man, it actually feels good to admit that, get it off my chest.”

“How did you hear about this place?” Lena asks, still unwilling to admit that Kara’s whole gallery thing has attracted any sort of an audience in the last 72 hours.

“Ohh, my masseuses' Instagram,” Leslie replies like it’s the most obvious thing in the world.

Lena blinks, shaking her head as if it will get rid of her confusion. It doesn’t.

“Alright,” Kara ends the recording and walks toward Leslie. “You ready to hand it over?”

“Hell, yeah,” Leslie lets out a deep sigh, she hesitates for a moment before giving Kara the broken voltmeter. “Oh, shit...that feels so good, so freeing?’

“I’m glad,” Kara smiles. “Well, you did it.”

“I did it,” Leslie lets out a watery laugh. “I really fucking did it.”

“I think this calls for a hug,” Kara beams and embraces the other woman. “You can come and visit this at any time, I’ll be sure to take good care of it right here.”

“Or perhaps at another location,” Lena grumbles.

“Definitely here,” Kara shoots her a dirty look. Lena is surprised by the ice in those usually warm blue eyes. “Don’t mind sourpuss over there.”

“Who is she?” Leslie asks.

“No one, apparently,” Lena rolls her eyes before glaring back at Kara.

“Just one more thing,” Kara is once again bouncing around like a kangaroo. Lena watches as she reaches for an upturned paint can. “We just ask for a small donation if you can, you know to keep the gallery going and all that.”

“Oh yeah,” Leslie nods before reaching into the pocket of her coveralls and pulling out her wallet. The woman pulls out a crisp twenty dollar bill and drops it into the can. “Thanks, again.”

Lena watches as Leslie makes her exit and when she does Kara literally jumps for joy.

“We’re in business baby!” The blonde cries out. “The Broken Hearts Gallery is making money,” she excitedly slams the twenty dollar down in front of Lena. “For you mademoiselle.”

Lena lets out an incredulous laugh, looking at the bill then up at Kara, ”Really?”

“Yeah,” Kara beams, “Gotta keep the lights on.”

Lena looks at the money again feeling a wave of guilt wash over her before taking it in her hands. “Thank you.” 

Chapter Text

A Bic Men’s Twin Select Razor. Four years and that’s what I was left with. We wouldn’t be able to survive long distance or some bullshit like that. It hurt because he didn’t even want to try. I don’t really miss him that much. At least, not anymore. These are garbage ass razors, for a garbage ass man.

I’m over it.

Besides, I have a family now. I have Sam, Ruby, and another on the way. Is that good enough for your little project?

- Andrea Rojas

Four Years, New York, New York

Kara has let herself into The Veronica this morning, she’s been busy going through all the recent contributions to her gallery. Some strange, some questionable, all of them beautiful. A gallery, an honest to god gallery and it’s all hers. It’s amazing.

Her heart flutters with joyful excitement as she looks around the currently empty lobby that’s starting to come together as well. It really is looking like a hotel lobby, the blonde turns to face the bar she’s standing at, where Lena’s sign was recently installed.

Kara pulls out her phone, dialing the number she knows all too well, waiting for it to inevitably go to voicemail. She bites her lip as it rings, rings, and then beeps.

“H-Hey,” Kara sighs into her phone and sucks in a deep breath. “Guess I’d better get right to the point before I run out of time...again. Remember that time when I drove the car into that parked school bus? Alex was so mad . Well, I’m not that girl anymore. Nope, I’ve left my hot mess days behind me, for real this time. I-I’ve got my shit together, I promise–”

Kara hastily ends the voicemail when she hears the sound of Sam and Lena’s voices as they enter The Veronica as well.

“Who was that?” Lena asks, straightening out the blouse she’s wearing. She looks so very different from the woman she’s gotten to know over the last couple of weeks.

Lena is wearing a nice blouse, paired with a blazer and dark pencil skirt. Her long, dark hair pulled to the back of her head in a neat bun. Clearly, she’s not about to get her hands dirty in the nitty gritty hotel construction today. The blonde watches as Lena goes to grab some stuff from behind what will one day soon be the front desk, a folder with some documents by the look of it.

“Where are you off to today, fancy pants?” Kara grins.

“The bank,” Lena bites her lip, “This is it...”

“Make it or break it,” Sam adds, looking even less like herself than Lena does.

“Damn girl, you clean up good,” Kara remarks.

“I try,” Sam preens. “I’m going along as moral support.”

Lena silently mouths at Sam, “Thank you.”

“Well, just remember the gallery is bringing in a lot of revenue as well,” Kara shakes the now almost full paint can. “Maybe not the amount you’re looking for but hey!”

“Aww, Kara, that’s sweet,” Sam smiles. “Alright Lena, you grabbed what you needed? If so, we probably should get moving.”

“Right,” Lena nods in agreement.

“Wait!” Kara throws down the paint can onto the bar and grabs a nearby champagne bottle that was sitting among the items donated to the gallery. “Before you two go.”

“I appreciate the thought, Kara, but I think it’s a little early to be toasting to our success,” Sam laughs.

“No, it’s not for drinking,” Kara shakes her head. “Take a seat.”

Sam and Lena pause for a moment before doing what the blonde has requested of them. Kara pulls an index card that has been tied to the neck of the bottle, clears her throat and begins to read aloud.

“This is going to be quick right?” Lena presses. “Because Sam and I really have to go.”

“Just listen, please?” Kara begs. “It’ll only take a minute, I swear.”

“Fine,” Lena sits back in her seat.

Kara beams and looks at the card again, “Fiona and I met on New Year’s Eve. We stole this bottle of champagne and resolved to drink it together the next year, but Fee got sick and next year never came. Lately, I’ve found myself drinking alone, but this is the one bottle I can’t bring myself to open...”

“Nope, nope...” Sam is shaking her head desperately, seeming to be holding back tears in her hazel eyes and slowly rising to her feet. “Fucking hell, Kara, my mascara isn’t waterproof!”

Kara looks at Lena who also has tears in her green eyes as she pinches the bridge of her nose, the blonde is stunned. “L-Lena, are you crying?”

“Wha-” Sam looks back towards the shorter brunette and gasps, “Oh my god, you are!”

“No!” Lena shoots back sharply, “No, I’m definitely not crying.”

“And why not?” Sam sounds highly offended, “Fiona’s dead, girl! They were going to drink champagne together and n-now she’s a ghost. Not like ghosting or some shit, but an actual ghost!”

“Shut the fuck up,” Lena sniffles, frantically brushing tears away from her eyes.

“K-Kara, why would you do that?” Sam whines.

The blonde shrugs her shoulders, “I don’t know, crying’s my favorite activity.”

Sam and Lena take a couple of minutes to pull themselves back together before they head off to the bank. Kara hopes the meeting indeed goes well, she’d hate to see Lena’s dream for this amazing hotel crumble in one afternoon.

The blonde keeps going through the gallery donations, doing what she can to catalogue all the items. Taking pictures to post on social media and counting how much money she really has earned from the endeavor.

Then someone enters that Kara has never seen before at the hotel. She’s a thin, beautiful woman with slightly wavy brown hair and sharp brown eyes that make Kara feel as if she’s staring right into her soul.

“Gallery donation?” she warily calls out to the woman.

The woman almost seems offended, the confused expression on her face turns to one of pure disdain. Kara instantly decides she doesn’t like this woman and she hopes she leaves sooner rather than later.

“Is Lena here?” The woman asks, cocking her head to the side.

“Uhhh no?” Kara blinks as she watches the woman look around the space, her nose crinkling like she’s smelling something foul. “Can I help you? Take a message? Tell Lena that you stopped by?”

“Hmm?” The woman blinks, her eyes firmly affixed on Kara for a moment, “Oh no.”

Then, as quickly as she had arrived she was gone. Kara shakes her head and turns her attention back to her gallery donations. She has a lot of work to do today, plus there is Nia’s birthday party later tonight. She wants to get back to the apartment early so she’s able to get dressed appropriately for the evening or as appropriate as one can be for a murder-karaoke birthday party.

“We are family!

I got all my sisters with me!

We are family!”

“Next up we’ve got Barry and Iris singing Waterloo!”

Kara, Nia, and Alex strike a pose as they finish their song before dashing off the stage to sit at the booth they’ve commandeered for their party in preparation for other guests.

“W-We need another round! Because I would like to make a toast!” Nia declares loudly.

“Wait, don’t you want to wait for the rest of the guests?” Alex asks.

“Brainy says we don’t have to,” Nia speaks up, her words slurring slightly due to the fact she’s already pre-gamed before they arrived at the bar. “Besides, this is just the warm up, I can make another toast later.”

Alex nods along, “I’ll drink to that.”

Nia taps the side of her shot glass with a knife, “Listen up everyone, I have a very important and thoughtful toast I need to make tonight.”

Kara slowly lowers herself down into the booth, she glances briefly at her watch wondering just where Lena might be. She said she’d be here, she promised to come to Nia’s party. Well, she promised to come to Nia’s party after intense prodding, but she’s not here yet.

Kara wonders if perhaps she’s been too persistent, but she and Lena have been getting on well. She likes the pretty brunette, with her eyes as green and lush as a Monet landscape.

“It is the eve of my twenty-fifth birthday!” Nia declares swaying slightly, “I’ve been doing some intense soul searching, reflecting, and thinking forward to the future...”

“Okay, what in the world is going on here?” Alex laughs.

Nia ignores the elder Danvers and continues on with her toast, “With all that thinking, I was thinking about my funeral and–”

“Ooh, we’re talking about death, how fascinating and morbid!” Sam walks over toward the table with a beautiful woman in tow, a very pregnant woman. Kara immediately realizes this must be Sam’s wife, Andrea.

“Sam!” Kara jumps to her feet and gives the woman a hug, “I’m glad you were able to make it.”

“Oh, we didn’t just bring ourselves,” Sam laughs, allowing Andrea to step forward holding a plastic container with a grocery store birthday cake that she places on the table in front of Nia.

“We brought the dead man birthday cake you asked perfect strangers to get,” Andrea scoffs lightly before sliding into the booth as Nia makes excited grabby hands for the cake.

“Hi to all of you people I don’t know,” Sam grins, “I’m Sam, this goddess of a woman is my wife Andrea.”

Andrea shifts uncomfortably, “You may need to get a crane to get me out of this by the end of the night.”

“Tell us everything,” Nia’s brown eyes go wide, “what’s it like being pregnant?”

Andrea’s forehead crinkles in thought, “Honestly, it’s been pretty terrible so far. I know it will be worth it in the end, but everything up until this point has sucked.”

“Sam,” Kara turns to the brunette, “Have you heard from Lena? She said she was going to be here.”

Sam sighs and shrugs her shoulders, “Sorry, Kara She didn’t really say anything to me.”

Kara sighs, looking back at her Long Island Iced Tea. Taking a forlorn sip and thinking if Lena doesn’t hurry up, what was supposed to be a duet is going to be a solo. Then she sees a familiar figure walk through the door and her eyes brighten. It’s Lena. When the brunette looks her way, a soft, absolutely beautiful smile crosses her face and Kara feels her heart flutter in her chest.

Lena rushes towards the booth and she looks absolutely beautiful in a bottle green waffle shirt with a deep-v revealing a tantalizing stretch of pale, lightly freckled skin. She plops a magazine down in front of Kara, “Look at this!”

Kara has to pull her gaze away from Lena’s cleavage to look down at the magazine, there it is in print. An article about her gallery, “Oh my gods!” Kara gasps, “Oh my gods!” She jumps to her feet.

“Isn’t that amazing?” Lena beams at her, her eyes filled with joy.

“What’s going on?” Alex asks as Lena slides the magazine toward them. “Holy shit, Kara, that’s you!”

“I know!” The blonde shrieks excitedly. “I can’t wait to show Mike and rub it into that obnoxiously handsome face of his.”

“Wait, what?” Alex blinks at the same time as flagging down the waitress for another round of drinks.

“I’ve moved on,” Kara nods. “Five stages of grief or whatever, I’ve moved on from denial to anger, I’m now at the point that I hate Mike and I want revenge.”

“Okay,” Lena scoffs, shaking her head. “Seems like a really healthy coping mechanism to me.”

“I can see it all now,” Kara sits back in the booth gesturing wildly with her hands. Mentally she has moved on, already thinking about how big the gallery can be.

“We can open the gallery with the Broken Hearts Ball, maybe all Gatsby style, or maybe abstract like the Met Gala? It will be absolutely amazing! Call all the influencers in National City, host it at the hotel...”

In her mind's eye it’s becoming more clear, everything tastefully on display, The Veronica Hotel finished in all its glory.

“Woah, Kara slow down,” Lena jumps in, a frown clear on her face. “I absolutely would love to do all that for yo–the gallery, but I just went to the bank today. I don’t want to make any promises in case it all goes to shit. I’m worried.”

There it is, the sadness in Lena’s eyes. The fear that despite all the work and everything they’ve done with the hotel and gallery, it can all still fall apart. Kara tries not to think about that, she doesn’t want to because it’s all been so good. Hell, she was fucking featured in a magazine.

“So, what you're saying is...if we do get the loan, we can do it?” Kara asks cheerily.

The smile slowly starts to return to Lena’s face, “Yes, if I get the loan. We can do it.”

“Yes!” Kara slowly pumps her fist into the air when she hears the announcer on the stage grab the microphone and a knowing grin flashes across her face.

“Alright folks, next up we have Kara and Lena singing Don’t Go Breaking my Heart.”

Lena’s eyes grow wide as Kara grabs her hand, “What?”

“We’re singing,” Kara starts to pull her, grinning maniacally.

“Uh, no we’re not,” Lena shakes her head. “I know it hasn’t come up, but I have an absolutely horrendous singing voice.”

“Liar,” Sam interjects with a smirk which only spurs Kara on further. “Get up there, Luthor.”

“Karaoke’s not about talent,” Kara declares, “It’s about commitment, everyone knows that.”

“But I’m going to make a fool of myself!” Lena protests.

“Lena, you’re talking to the queen of making a fool of herself,” Nia smirks.

Kara rolls her eyes but keeps her focus on Lena, “It’s one of life’s greatest pleasures.”

“Do we have Kara? Do we have Lena?” The Emcee calls out again.

“We’re coming!” Kara cries out.

“No,” Lena pulls back, “Kara, I’m sober, stone cold sober.”

“I thought you might say that,” Kara grins and waves a waitress over with another tray filled with shots she grabs one for herself and one for Lena.

“Come on,” Kara urges.

Lena sighs and quickly downs the shot, “Fuck.”

“What’s your excuse now?” The blonde smirks, “Come on.”

Lena follows her up on the stage as the intro music starts to play and they each grab a microphone. They look toward the screen, displaying the words.

The brunette looks momentarily frozen on the spot, Kara gives her a gentle nudge, “Go on,” she whispers.

Lena can’t believe she’s doing this, she’s on this fucking stage at a Karaoke bar, singing a song with Kara. It’s something she never could have foreseen herself doing. Ever .

“Don’t go breaking my heart–”

Lena’s voice is soft and shaky as she starts out with the song, oh gods why can’t this just be over? How the fuck did Kara convince her to do this.

“I couldn’t if I tried-”

Lena has to admit Kara’s voice is beautiful, which makes her cheeks flush thinking about how she sounds in comparison. However, she’s already up here and she’s already singing so she better just keep going. If she’s honest, it’s actually kind of fun. Or maybe that’s just the booze finally hitting her bloodstream. As she keeps going it’s getting easier and a smile spreads across Lena’s face, so big her cheeks are starting to ache a little.

Somewhere along the line (and the loud encouragement of Alex and Nia) it seems other patrons have joined in with them.

“Ooh hoo! Nobody knows it!” The rest of the crowd sings right along with them.

Maybe having a friend like Kara around isn’t so bad, Lena thinks. She just keeps on singing loudly, not caring what anyone thinks about her. Growing up like she did with the Luthors, it was drilled into her head that she does need to care and that kind of pressure was a lot, extremely detrimental. Right now? Singing loudly, badly, with her friends at a karaoke bar filled with strangers. For once, she doesn’t care.

Kara really is a wonderful singer, even picking out harmonies by ear as the pair sing together, which somehow makes Lena sound even a little bit competent.

“Don’t go breaking my

Don’t go breaking my

I won’t go breaking my heart!”

Lena feels exhilarated as the song ends and the other karaoke bar patrons applaud loudly, though no one can top a very excited and extremely tipsy Nia. The brunette is surprised when Kara flings her arms around her, practically tackling her to the ground as they walk off the stage.

“Way to go Lena and Kara!” Nia hollers from where she’s standing on the seat of the booth, Brainy just behind her looking as if he’s ready to catch her at any second.

“Next up is Alex, Nia, and Kara with Party in the USA !”

“Oh shit!” Kara blinks, “Uhhh...I guess I’ve gotta get back up there.”

“Go,” Lena snorts as Kara goes back to the stage. Nia and Alex making their way as well. When they do, Nia snatches a microphone.

“A quick reminder to all you wonderful people who are present tonight!” Nia wobbles slightly. “Tonight is indeed my birthday party, so happy birthday to me!”

They’re met with excited cheers as the next karaoke track starts playing and they get ready for another song. Lena has gone to grab herself a drink from the bar before making her way back to the booth catching a snippet of Sam and Andrea’s conversation.

“How sad are you going to be when I die?” Andrea asks casually as she fishes for the cherry at the bottom of her glass that recently contained a Shirley Temple.

Sam is sitting right besides her wife reaching for her free hand and giving it a squeeze, “Absolutely devastated and terrified for life without you.”

Andrea nods, looking pleased as she finally grabs the cherry and throws it into her mouth, “Good, good. Now, you cannot marry within a year. Understood?”

Sam looks absolutely horrified, “I won’t babe! Besides, who in the world would I marry?”

Lena watches as Andrea thoughtfully strokes her chin, her friends might seem a little wild at times, but she certainly has no regrets about having introduced them in the first place.

“You know, that’s a really good question,” Andrea muses. “Which of my friends would you marry?”

“Definitely Felicity,” Sam replies without a second thought. “Just kidding, it’s not like I’ve thought about this or anything.”

Andrea’s brow furrows, “Actually, I like that. I could see it, you two would be great together, I approve.” She then leans in to press a soft kiss to Sam’s lips as Lena approaches the table drink in hand.

“Talking about death, again?” Lena snorts.

“It’s our foreplay,” Andrea replies, a contented smile on her face.

“Okay, I really didn’t need to know that,” Lena shakes her head as she sits down across from them. Brainy getting up to go...well, he somewhere.

“I wonder if he ever speaks,” Lena mutters softly to herself before looking toward the stage where Kara is continuing to have an amazing time on stage.

“So I put my hands up

They’re playing my song

Butterflies fly away.”

“You’ve been spending nearly every day with Kara, haven’t you?” Andrea observes.

“What about it?” Lena asks, not even stopping to look back at one of her oldest friends.

“Well, I for one haven’t seen you this happy since...don’t make me say her name,” Andrea gives her a look.

“Don’t press her,” Sam warns, “You know she’ll do it.”

“Shut it, both of you,” Lena shoots back. “I don’t want to talk about this right now.”

“Too late!” Sam sing-songs.

“We’re having this conversation, loquita, and there is nothing you can do about it,” Andrea nods, giving Lena a look.

“I hate that I’m stuck driving you home tonight,” Lena rolls her eyes dramatically.

“It was always always a part of the master plan,” Sam giggles. “We’re smart like that, so you better slow down on the booze.”

“Sure,” Lena scoffs

Sam gasps dramatically, “Girl, do you want a good deal on my work for the hotel or not?”

Lena sighs, slinking down into the chair and reaching for her glass, taking a sip. “I didn’t know that inflating your ego is what it was going to cost me...Hey!” The brunette swats at the balled up straw wrapper Sam has flicked at her head.

Last call has come and gone. Nia, Alex, and Kara are slumped together in the booth they’ve been occupying for most of the night. The bar is essentially empty other than them and the few remaining staff are wiping down tables.

“Guys, guys, I’m starving,” Nia whines. “I think it’s very important that we get tacos, like right now. Otherwise, I think I’m going to waste away.”

The Danvers sisters nod along slowly in agreement, “Tacos would be amazing,” Alex slurs.

“Yes, I wanna eat a taco and sleep in a taco,” Kara yawns.

“Sleep in a taco?” Alex frowns, “Kara, what the fuck is wrong with you?”

“I’m just really tired, okay?” Kara pouts, “Haven’t you ever looked at a tortilla and wanted to wrap yourself in one like a blanket?”

“Uhh...no?” Alex blinks.

“You have no creativity,” Kara huffs. “Where did Lena go?”

Nia blinks blearily, “She just like...went poof, like magic.”

“No,”  Alex shakes her head, “She was just driving Sam and Andrea home.

“Oh,” Nia stretches, as her joints pop loudly. “Oof. I’ve reached my final formation, full glowstick. Anyway, why do you keep talking about Lena?”

“I don’t keep talking about Lena,” Kara shoots back.

“Yeah, you do,” Alex laughs, “You can’t shut up about her and who can blame you. That girl is hot.”

“Maybe you should sleep with her,” Nia smirks in Alex’s direction.

A momentary flash of jealousy shoots through Kara’s body, “No.”

Alex and Nia turn to look at her, “No?” Nia’s brow rises. “What, are you going to sleep with her? I bet she’s really good in bed.”

“I’ll drink to that,” Alex holds up a glass that barely even has the dregs of a drink left in the bottom.

Kara bites her lip, her face getting warm, something she would love to chalk up to the amount of alcohol that has been consumed this evening.

“So, you gonna sleep with her?” Nia presses again, “You didn’t answer.”

“Why is this any of your business?” Kara glares at her friend. “Besides, I don’t think of Lena that way.”

“Well, maybe you should,” Nia grins.

“But first tacos!” Alex declares, “Tacos, then you can have sex with Lena.”

It takes a little while longer, but the trio eventually are able to extricate themselves from the booth. On their way home they happen to find a taco truck that is still open.

“Brainy was telling me all about how he has to work early in the morning,” Nia sighs, taking a bite of a shrimp taco and losing a mouthful of cabbage in the process. “But he’s promised to make it up to me, that's why he left early.”

Alex looks utterly horrified, “Nia, I really didn’t need to know about that.”

Kara is still savoring the delicious taste of barbacoa as they approach their apartment. Her joy instantly diminishes when they get closer and see someone sitting on the stoop. Alex immediately bristles like a wet cat, even hissing as if to make a point.

“Mike?” Kara blinks when she realizes her ex-boyfriend is sitting there. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Hey, uhhh, remember me?” Mike asks sheepishly.

Kara silently stands there, watching as her sister and best friend share a look before walking toward the stoop. They promptly sit on either side of Mike glaring daggers at him.

“What are you doing here?” Kara sighs.

“Well, I was hoping we could talk,” Mike grimaces, looking warily at Alex and Nia in turn. “Is that okay?”

Kara looks at the way her sister and friend have Mike surrounded, how he seems to be cowering in response. “I suppose.”

Mike lets out a deep sigh, “Where should I begin?”

“Well,” Alex pipes up, “I have an idea.”

“Alex,” Kara sighs, already fearing what her sister and best friend might do. Sure, right now she hates every inch of Mike Matthews, but Nia and Alex can be downright brutal.

Alex pays Kara no mind, “Anyway, you could start with ‘I’m sorry for causing the worst breakup in the history of the world’?”

Kara shakes her head and pinches the bridge of her nose. “Guys, really?”

“Oh, I have one!” Nia’s eyes grow wide, “How about, ‘I’m sorry for using you as a stepping stone in my career like Sigourney Weaver in Working Girl ?’”

“That’s a good one,” Alex nods excitedly.

“Right?” Nia’s eyes go wide, “I thought you’d like that one.”

“Oooh! Oo!” Alex gets excited again, “Or even better, how about ‘I’m sorry for treating you like a used maxi-pad from the heaviest day–’”

“Alex,” Kara firmly cuts off her sister, “seriously, that’s enough.” She takes a moment to shoo them off so she can have this conversation with Mike.

“We still hate you, don’t you forget that,” Nia says as she stands up.

“Yeah, like, really hate you,” Alex scoffs as the pair walk inside their building leaving Mike and Kara alone. The blonde sighs and levels her gaze at Mike. “Seriously, it’s 3am what are you doing here? Have you just been sitting here waiting for us to show up?”

“Creep,” Nia grumbles.

“I-I-I’m sorry,” Mike’s shoulders begin to droop as he looks down at the sidewalk for a long moment before slowly looking back up at Kara.

Kara scoffs and shakes her head, “This is all feeling a bit too little, too late.”

“I’m serious, Kara,” Mike runs a hand through his hair, for a moment Kara can see that he doesn’t look as put together as he usually does. Admittedly, it is really late at night (or early in the morning?), but the blonde doubts it’s the only factor.

“I don’t think I can live without you,” Mike looks up at Kara. “I’m not exaggerating.”

Kara narrows her cold blue eyes, “Oh yeah? You can’t live without me? What about Imra?”

“Imra?” Mike blinks, “What about her?”

“Well, last I saw, you were dating,” Kara shrugs.

“ Were ,” Mike emphasizes. “Imra and I, we broke up.”

Kara blinks as she takes in this new information. Previously, she would have been thrilled to hear that Mike broke up with the overwhelmingly beautiful Dr. Imra. But right now? She can’t really find it in herself to care.

“Really?” Kara’s brow raises with feigned interest.

“When I said I can’t live without you, I meant it,” Mike insists. “Kara, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you since I saw you at the coffee shop, then that whole spread in the NC Art Digest–”

A thought rings in the back of her mind, oh there it is.

Kara kicks at an invisible stone with the tip of her shoe, “Mike...”

“I was wrong about you, Kara,” Mike continues, “So very wrong about you. You’re incredible, smart, and I want to be with you and...”

“Hey.”

Kara turns to see Lena awkwardly standing a few steps back on the sidewalk. Oh gods, why is this happening now?

“What’s she doing here?” Mike blinks, looking at Lena.

“I could ask you the same thing,” Lena replies in a deadpan tone, her green eyes filled with fire.

“Excuse me?” Mike scoffs, “Seriously, Kara. Why the hell is your assistant talking to me like that? And bringing you a cake at 3 o’clock in the morning.”

“Because I can,” Lena replies in a haughty tone.

“She’s not my assistant,” Kara tries to interject, “She’s my frie–my...Lena.”

Kara sees a soft pink blush spread across the brunette’s face as she slowly walks forward and passes her the plastic container she is holding. “Y-You left this at the bar.”

“Nia’s cake?” Kara blinks looking down at the container and contents as Lena quietly nods.

“I figured she might want to finish it off. Sam bought it, so I...” The flush on Lena’s face deepens further. “You know what...I should just go.”

“Good,” Mike interjects, “If you couldn’t tell we were in the middle of something.”

Kara’s eyes go wide as she looks back toward Mike before turning back to the brunette. “B-But, Lena,” she squeaks.

Lena sighs and casts her a glance, there seems to be a touch of sadness in the brunette’s eyes when she does. “It’s late Kara, goodnight.”

Kara falls silent as she clutches the cake to her chest, watching Lena walk toward her car about a block down.

“What was that about?” Mike speaks up.

Kara shrugs, not interested in giving Mike any further semblance of an answer. Something that doesn’t seem to bother him in the slightest.

“So, how about it,” Mike puts on his thousand watt smile Kara knows all too well, the one she used to love. It doesn’t give her the same sort of joy anymore.

“How about what?” Kara frowns, a crinkle forming in her brow.

“You and me?” Mike gives her a hopeful smile, “How about we talk over drinks?”

Kara feels like she’s being cleaved in two, every fiber of her being is telling her she should walk away. Walk right past Mike fucking Matthews and his stupid designer suits, with his stupid expensive haircut and drag herself to bed. But what if there’s a part of her that’s always caught up on the what if?

This could be some closure. It’s just one drink .

So, she agrees. “One drink, I think Nia has a couple of ciders in the fridge, I’ll pay her back.”

Mike perks up as he gets to his feet and follows Kara inside her apartment. It’s how they find themselves sitting on the rooftop of the building chatting over ciders while seated on wrought iron furniture that has seen better days.

“I’ve never seen Eve look so terrified in my life,” Mike lets out a bark of laughter. “Apparently, even an Ivy League degree can’t save you from Cat on the warpath.”

Kara snorts before taking another sip of her drink, “I would have paid good money to see that.” She can clearly visualize the whole scene in her head and sighs thinking about what she missed out on. “I miss the Grant Gallery, I miss it so much.”

“You do?” Mike looks confused. “Really?”

“Well, yeah,” Kara nods. “Mike, The Grant Gallery was my dream job. Cat Grant is an absolutely incredible gallerist, a pillar of the West Coast art scene. She’s always been so ahead of her time, giving space and a voice to artists that no one else would have ever cared to listen to.”

“I didn’t know you felt that way,” Mike frowns.

“You didn’t know because you never asked,” Kara scoffs. “You know, I’m not sure you ever asked anything about me.”

Mike grimaces, “When you put it that way, I really have been an ass.”

“Yes, yes you have,” Kara agrees.

Mike sighs, “That along with my little detour.”

“Oh, so that’s what we’re calling you and Dr. Imra?” Kara blinks, “ A detour ?”

“Kara, please. I know I fucked up,” Mike groans, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“By cheating on me?” Kara presses.

“By...by cheating on you,” Mike agrees, “but I want another chance.”

Kara sighs, she thinks over all her options and wonders if she really wants to give Mike another chance. As she does so, Lena’s beautiful face appears in her head, her beautiful eyes and the way they light up when she smiles. Like, when she really truly smiles, like she did tonight.

“Are you serious?” Kara asks hesitantly.

Mike nods, “Can you just close your eyes for a moment?”

Kara purses her lips, “Why?”

“Please, just do this for me,” Mike sighs.

Kara thinks it over and reluctantly closes her eyes, all the while wondering to herself why the hell she’s going along with this to begin with.

“Hold out your hands,” Mike directs.

Kara shifts a little, wondering what the hell Mike is getting at. Still, she puts out her hands resting them on her legs. She’s about to urge him to hurry up when she feels something being placed in her hands, sleek, slippery, and vaguely familiar. “What the...”

“Open your eyes,” Mike speaks up.

Slowly, Kara opens her eyes to see Mike’s tie in her hands. The tie she had taken from him and is supposed to be at The Veronica.

“Your tie...” Kara's voice is soft, “How did you get this?”

“I took it. Kara, our love story isn’t over yet,” Mike explains.

“We really need to work on the security situation over there,” Kara mutters, not taking her eyes off the tie, it’s patterned silk sitting in her hands.

“Kara, I really want to try again,” Mike insists. “I know we can’t exactly go back to the way things were before. At least have dinner with me?”

Kara considers his proposal, not sure what to do. Going to dinner with Mike isn’t agreeing to marry him, hell it’s not even agreeing to go out with him. It’s just dinner, right?

“I...I might be convinced,” Kara bites her lip. 

Chapter Text

“Uhhh, what am I supposed to say? Talk about Lana? Really? Okay, fine. You owe me Kara. Here we go. 

This necklace belonged to my high school girlfriend, she used to wear it all the time. I guess it was a lucky charm of sorts. She gave it to me shortly after graduation when we tried to do the long-distance thing for a while. Eventually, things just started to fizzle out. We wanted different things in life, we just weren’t meant to be I guess.

I know my story isn’t as good as some of the others here, but come on Kara. I tried my best you’ve, got to give me that. Can’t I get some grace as your cousin?

-Clark Kent

Smallville, KS 5 1/2 years

The date with Mike keeps lingering at the periphery of Kara’s mind. Even now, as she’s walking toward The Veronica with a few new pieces in hand, something is nagging at her.

“It’s not a date, it’s dinner. It’s just dinner,” Kara mutters to herself as she pulls the door to the hotel open. She breathes in and out, deeply, and slowly before she walks into the lobby for another day of work.

She sees Lena sitting at a table where Kara had been gathering items for the gallery, looking absolutely miserable. Kara beams, she’s certain she can make Lena’s day just a little bit brighter.

“Look what I’ve got!” Kara presents her haul with all the flair of Vanna White. She gives the gesture a little extra oomf by adding the all important jazz fingers. “I thought these vintage rackets would be a nice touch.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Lena grumbles forlornly.

“Oh come on, grumpy-pants,” Kara laughs. “Do you want me to go get you some breakfast from the place down the street?” The blonde’s smile falters when she sees just how upset Lena really is. It even looks like she has tears streaming down her cheeks. “Lena? Is everything okay?”

“I didn’t get the loan,” Lena mutters. “That’s it, it’s over.”

“What?” Kara blinks, “No…shit, I’m sorry, Lena. That sucks.”

“No kidding,” the brunette grumbles.

“Hey, maybe it’s not really the end of the road, just a hiccup!” Kara insists. “You’ll figure out something, we’ll figure out something else.”

“You don’t get it do you?” Lena scoffs, “This is it Kara! This is the end of the fucking line.”

“It’s just a small setback,” Kara insists, her voice starting to crack as she speaks.

“It’s not a setback,” Lena shakes her head. “There’s no way out of this. I can’t wish on a star or pray for a different outcome, Kara! This is the shitty hand life has dealt me and I have to deal with the reality of it all.”

Kara’s heart sinks, “What?”

Lena raises her voice. “This is real life, Kara. Not whatever fantasy island or magical land you live in.”

“I-Is is that what you think of me?” Kara feels tears pricking in her eyes as well. “You do realize this doesn’t just affect you! If The Veronica closes, I lose the gallery too! Lena, we’re in this together!”

“No, we’re not!” Lena snaps. “I let you distract me, I let you convince me I had a chance. Not anymore. J-Just take your crap out of my hotel and go!”

Kara clenches her hands into fists at the sting of Lena’s words. “S-So, this is it?”

Lena slowly nods her head, “Just get out of here.”

Kara looks around and spots an empty box. Grabbing it, she starts loading it with items from the gallery; she'll have to come back for the rest later. She watches as Lena stands to walk off, brushing tears from her eyes as she does.

The blonde carefully fills the box, but feels the need to give Lena a piece of her mind. “You know, you can shut me out like you do with everyone else. That’s fine, but I made a commitment to every individual who walked through that door with their heart openly on their sleeve...I’m not giving up, Lena, and you shouldn’t either.”

Kara tries her best not to lose hope. It’s hard because she’s had to take the gallery on the move and now it no longer has the same feel it once did. Sure, she still has her social media and is still gaining followers by the day. However, she no longer has a physical space for the gallery and that’s been a real damper. She’s sure the excitement will die down soon, taking the gallery with it.

Which is why she’s set about trying to get a space in any gallery in National City. The only trouble is that she’s met with a long, painful, stream of “no”.

No one sees these pieces the way she does, they don’t see them as anything more than crap or junk. All of these curators don’t see the stories Kara sees and has catalogued. It’s far from traditional art, but there’s still something special about it. She just wishes she could get other people to see it through her eyes.

The week drags on. The dinner with Mike is lost in the back of her mind as she has yet another unsuccessful meeting with a curator at another of National City’s galleries.

Kara looks at her phone and realizes she’s late. Now, she has to make a choice – go home, shower, and pull herself together or go straight there. Either way she’ll be late for their reservation, one choice just means she’ll look like she tried.

The blonde stands in front of a nearby window where she can sort of see her reflection looking back at her. She takes in her appearance. “Good enough,” Kara sighs, brushing a stray blonde curl from her face. “Remember Danvers, this is just dinner...not a date.”

Kara keeps reminding herself she’s really just trying to humor Mike. As Alex keeps pointing out, he broke her heart and could easily do it again. There is no point in getting her hopes too high. Especially when she’s seen some sides of him she’s really not sure she likes.

Kara is so caught up in the fate of her gallery, she can’t stop herself from bringing it up over dinner. It certainly doesn’t help when she gets a phone call after their food arrives.

“Sorry,” Kara hisses, turning away from Mike as she answers the call. “Yes, yes! I was told I missed you earlier. I’m so glad you took the time to call me back.”

Though Kara quickly wishes they hadn’t when the curator starts to explain they don’t have space for a project like hers.

“Wait! Please, just listen, The Broken Hearts Gallery is so much more than a collection of junk, it's a personal representation of heartbreak and what it means on an individual level! No wait, we’ve been trending on Twitter and Instagram, we’ve got 50,000 followers and counting– Hello?”

It takes a lot of willpower not to chuck her phone at the ground in pure frustration, “They hung up on me! That’s it, I’ve officially tried every single gallery in National City.”

“Not every gallery,” Mike smiles.

Kara’s blue eyes narrow, “You’re not funny.”

“I’m just saying, you’ve not tried every gallery,” Mike responds with a shrug.

Kara sighs, “Sure, and let Cat rip me to shreds? I don’t think I can take another emotional beating, Mike.”

“Well, you won’t know unless you try,” Mike grabs his wine glass and gently swirls the deep red liquid inside.

Kara bites her lip as she considers the idea. Mike is right, she hasn’t tried Cat, “I dunno, Cat already gave me so many chances. I really don’t think–”

“Well, what if a handsome man with a cute, cute butt put in a good word for you and all you have to do is make a call?” Mike says with a smile.

Kara forces a small smile to her face, all the while wondering what in the world she ever saw in Mike Matthews in the first place. The thought is completely overridden by the other information he told her, “You’re kidding.”

“Give her a call,” Mike insists. “For me?”

Surprisingly, Mike is right. Cat let her come in for a meeting. Kara has made sure to be prepared down to the last detail.

“How do I look?” Kara gives herself a spin in front of Alex and Nia.

“Ready to kick Cat Grant’s ass,” Nia responds.

“Well, I don’t exactly want to do that,” Kara’s nose crinkles.

“Do you want gallery space or not?” Nia asks, her brow raising.

“I do,” Kara whines.

“Hey, how is Lena doing?” Alex asks as she walks toward the kitchen.

Kara grimaces, “I don’t really know,” she admits. “We...we haven’t talked.”

It’s killing Kara, truly. The fact she has no idea what’s going on with the woman she’s spent nearly every day with for close to the last month? It’s driving her crazy. Once she packed up the last of the gallery from The Veronica, she left without looking back. They didn’t even say goodbye to each other.

“You should call her,” Alex responds.

“I-I-I will,” Kara nods, “I just have to get through this meeting with Cat first.”

“And then you’ll call?” Alex reaches for her coffee mug.

“Then I’ll call, I promise,” Kara nods before checking her phone, “Shit, I’ve gotta go.”

Kara almost wishes she hadn’t as she’s dreading the inevitable verbal beat down from Cat, who looks calm and serene as she always does.

“Eve, get me my Perrier,” Cat demands before fixing her gaze on Kara, eyes glancing to Eve as she quickly shuffles from the room.

Kara sits awkwardly with a small selection of items from the gallery set out in front of her. Mike is sitting across from her on the other side of Mike.

Eve returns with a glass and coaster which she places in front of Cat before flitting off yet again.

Cat surveys the items sitting on the table and picks up a small, orange ceramic piggy bank, looking it over with intent. “You’re erratic, irresponsible, and quite frankly one hell of a liability.”

Kara bites her lip, this hardly sounds like it’s about to go in a positive direction. She watches Cat put down the piggy bank in favor of a novelty eraser shaped like a pineapple.

“It’s young people like you that reaffirm my choice not to procreate,” Cat continues.

Kara is about to open her mouth since she herself has met Cat’s son on a number of occasions, but she decides maybe now is not the best time to bring it up. After all, the entire fate of her gallery is in Cat’s perfectly manicured hands.

“Cat please,” Kara sighs. “I know you’ve given me so many chances already, but please, please, please just give me one more. This gallery means the entire world to me. It’s really and truly changed my life in more ways than you could possibly imagine.”

“Clearly,” Cat sniffs. “Otherwise, you wouldn’t be here in my gallery, groveling.”

“Would you really call it groveling?” Kara winces, immediately regretting it when she sees the steely look in Cat’s eyes.

“Kierah, this is practically the textbook definition of groveling,” Cat huffs before letting the eraser fall from her grasp, bouncing lightly against the glass top of the table. “I’ve learned quite a few things in my day,” 

Cat takes a moment to casually lean back in her chair before she speaks. “Never look at your body naked under a fluorescent light. It’s only okay to bounce a check once, otherwise it’s a thing you’re known for. Lastly, when you see talent, grab it.”

Kara’s crystal blue eyes go wide, Cat is talking about her. Cat Grant is talking about her! She thinks she has talent!

“I’d like to include The Broken Hearts Gallery as an exhibit here at the Grant Gallery in one week’s time, where you will show your collection alongside mine,” Cat proposes.

“What?” Kara squeaks. “Was there weed in that croissant I had on my way here? Or LSD in that tea? Am I high? There is no way this is really happening right now.”

“But it is,” Mike smiles, “Kara, this is an incredible opportunity.”

Did Mike always talk to her in such a condescending manner? How has she not seen this before?

“Don’t you worry about a thing,” Mike continues, “I’ll be right beside you every step of the way.”

“Oh, that won’t be necessary,” Kara cuts him off, her mind already fast at work with ideas and possibilities. All her dreams are coming together beautifully at this moment. Well, maybe not quite all her dreams.

“I’m so grateful for this opportunity,” Kara nods, “Really, it’s incredible, there’s just one condition I have.”

“Name it,” Cat gestures casually with her red painted nails.

Kara feels like she’s floating on air as she and Mike exit the gallery. What a way to end quite possibly the worst week in the existence of mankind. “This is amazing, this is absolutely incredible! It’s like all of my lifelong dreams have come true in one single afternoon!” It’s next to impossible to stop herself from excitedly jumping up and down.

“Well,” Mike is walking a few steps ahead of her, “let me be the first to say congratulations and you’re welcome. We should celebrate”

The blonde’s smile falters slightly. She is finding that she’s becoming less and less enamored with Mike with each passing second. Even though he did arrange the meeting with Cat, who was to say she really wouldn’t have been able to do this on her own? Cat Grant said she has talent . Not once in the entire meeting did she mention Mike putting in a good word for her and Cat has never been one to mince her words, not for the sake of being polite to anyone.

She wants to think this all came about on her own merit, clearly Cat actually appreciates her work and her collection. These are the thoughts plaguing her mind all throughout an evening of appetizers and champagne to celebrate Kara’s success.

The only trouble is that halfway through their drinks Kara slips away to “go to the bathroom” and sends a series of frantic texts to Alex and Nia begging them to come meet up with her at a Chinese place around the corner from their apartment. As soon as she and Mike say their goodbyes, she books it, moving as quickly as she can to get there.

Traveling across the city, compared to her friends being mere blocks away, Kara somehow manages to get to the restaurant first. She ordered for herself and is anxiously picking at her crab Rangoon when Alex and Nia walk through the door, shuffling to the table. 

“We got here as fast as we could,” Alex shrugs off her messenger bag. “What’s up?”

“A lot of things,” Kara whines, “So many things, Alex. The biggest being Mike.”

The expression on her older sister’s face instantly sours and Kara realizes she can’t really blame her. Alex has never been quiet in regards to how much she hates Mike and in her belief that Kara can do so much better than him.

Kara breathes in deeply as she reaches for her container of duck sauce, “I need you to walk me through your dumping process.”

“What?” Nia’s eyes look like they’re about to pop out of her head.

“Don’t call it that,” Alex frowns, shuddering intensely. “Dumping process, that sounds so harsh.”

“Sorry,” Kara raises her brow, “but I really need to know what to do. I’m so ready to be done with Mike once and for all. Please.”

“Finally!” Alex exclaims, “Alright, you might want to take notes. Nia, can I borrow you for a moment?”

“Uhhh, why?” Nia blinks.

“Because Kara is going to finally dump Mike once and for all,” The redhead grins, “I need to demonstrate my tried and true method of ditching the extra clingy ones.”

Nia snorts, leaning forward in her chair, “Alright, have at it. Let’s get the asshole out of her life.”

Alex takes a moment to herself, not unlike an actor before a scene as she breathes in deep and works on her focus. When she opens them again she looks deeply into Nia’s eyes, who at first looks profoundly uncomfortable. Then Alex takes her hands as Kara watches on.

“Most are stories of betrayal, but ours is a story of hope,” Alex begins,  it quickly seems their friend is swept up in the romance of it all.

Kara watches with interest as the scene unfolds, “Hope that we shared and will guide you home,” Alex continues with a deep sigh, lightly stroking Nia’s chin. “Come closer,” she purrs.

Without a second thought, Nia complies and leans closer to Alex, “Okay...”

Alex cocks her head to the side, a soft look in her eye, “Thank you for being my home.”

Kara watches as her sister leans in and presses a soft, chaste, kiss to Nia’s lips before she pulls, smirking.

“Holy shit,” Nia blinks, “What sort of witchcraft was that?”

“That was incredibly impressive,” Kara agrees, “Bravo.”

“I’ve got it down to a science,” Alex smirks, looking exceptionally pleased with herself.

“No kidding,” Kara adds with a laugh. “but there is no way in hell I’m doing that with Mike.”

Which means Kara is back at square one with how she’s going to handle “The Mike Problem” as she’s now referring to it in her head. As wonderful as Alex’s plan seems to be, it’s the absolute last thing she wants to do to officially break things off with Mike.

She’s back in the gallery, walking toward Mike’s desk trying to keep her composure, “Remain calm, Danvers. This should be easy, you know it’s run its course. There’s no point dragging it on further.”

Mike looks up as she approaches, “Hey! Is it already time for dinner?”

“I...I, uhh...” Kara bites her lip, “About that. Mike, what happened with Imra?”

Mike lets out a deep groan and rubs his forehead, “I told you, it’s over.”

“Mike,” Kara’s eyes narrow, “I want you to be honest with me about this.”

She watches as Mike grumbles and moves around in his swivel chair, “Fuck, okay. Imra...”

Kara nods, “Imra.”

“I really thought I was going to marry her,” Mike sighs, “but apparently she didn’t feel the same way. That's why she took off to Paris to begin with.”

“Oh,” Kara’s voice softens.

“I tried to move on, it’s how I found you,” Mike lets out an awkward laugh. “Then all of a sudden Imra was back and–”

“Just when she sensed you thought you could be happy,” Kara grimaces. “You hurt me, because she hurt you, it was all a vicious cycle.”

“Kara, I really didn’t mean to hurt you,” Mike groans.

“Of course you didn’t,” Kara offers him a pitying smile. “The only problem is you’re the hero of your love story and the villain in mine. I guess it’s as simple as that.”

Kara breathes in, rocking back and forth slightly on her feet, “Mike, we’re just not meant to be together.”

There is silence, a harsh heavy silence. It’s so quiet Kara truly thinks she could hear a pin drop.

“Okay,” Mike sighs.

“I-I’m gonna go, I-I’ve got something I need to do,” Kara responds with a firm nod before walking away.

Kara is hastily making her way down the streets of National City with one thing on her mind. 

Lena.

She’s tried to reestablish the relationship between them with no success. Lena hasn’t responded to any of her calls so she’s been giving the brunette space. Things are different now, they’ve both had time to cool off. Plus, she misses her.

Kara tries the back door of The Veronica before pulling her phone out to make a call. It rings and rings before the inevitable voicemail tone chimes in her ears. She pulls the door open, walking into the would-be lobby. Her heart aches to see how empty it is as she leaves her voicemail.

“You would not believe everything I’ve done this week. I really should have called you sooner and I guess I’ll just have to speak quickly to lay it all out.” Kara looks around the hotel wondering if she might find Lena lurking in the corner somewhere. She keeps talking.

“I never could have guessed that would be the sort of thing to catch Cat’s attention,” Kara knows she’s likely to run out of time on her voicemail. “So, uhh...in conclusion, I guess you can say I’ve made hoarding chic. The gallery is a triumph to pack rats everywhere and–”

The voicemail beeps letting Kara know she’s hit the end of her message, “Damn it.”

“Who were you talking to?” A voice calls out to her.

“N-No one!” Kara flushes, turning around, “Lena!”

Lena laughs, walking forward, “You’re always making those weird, sneaky phone calls of yours.”

“No, I’m not,” Kara stammers. “I’m definitely not, nope, that’s just too weird and...”

“I’ve seen you and this isn’t even the first time,” Lena snorts.

Kara huffs lightly, shoving her phone into her pocket, “Anyway, why do you care?”

“Well, I haven’t seen you in over a week,” Lena sighs, “and I know I’ve been ignoring you.”

“Yeah, you have,” Kara nods.

Lena slightly shuffles her feet, “ Kara, I’m sorry.”

“You’re sorry?” Kara cocks her head to the side.

“Come on, I was absolutely terrible to you...I shouldn’t have said what I did,” Lena grimaces. “Besides that, I have some good news and I’m glad you’re the first person I get to tell.”

“Oh?” Kara’s brows rise up.

“Yeah,” Lena blushes lightly. “You’re not going to believe this, but a surprise private lender swooped in to back me and I got the loan.”

“You got the loan!” Kara jumps up flinging her arms around the brunette. Though in her mind she feels an overwhelming amount of relief wash over her. “Lena, that’s amazing. Now we can really make this place shine.”

“W-We?” Lena blinks, her green eyes filled with confusion.

“Of course,” Kara’s eyes sparkle as she speaks, “I have some good news as well, Cat Grant has decided to make my dreams for The Broken Hearts Gallery a reality. It’s going to open by the end of next week.” She can see the still wary look on Lena’s face.

“That’s amazing,” Lena’s green eyes go wide, making Kara’s heart beat wildly in her chest. Her eyes are so pretty, Kara has always thought so, even the first night in the back of Lena’s car.

“That’s not all,” Kara smiles. “She wanted to put it up at the Grant, but I said no.”

“W-What?” Lena’s expression falters slightly.

“It’s still happening,” Kara bites her lip, “but I told her I want it here, at The Veronica.”

“You’re kidding,” Lena momentarily frowns.

“I’m serious,” Kara replies with a smile. “Even though you were a bit of a jerk-face the last time we talked. I started the gallery here, with you. I want to bring it back and keep it here. So, it’s a good thing the hotel is saved because frankly, I didn’t have a Plan B.”

Lena lets out a deep sigh, “Of course you didn’t, why am I not surprised?”

“Because you know me,” Kara smirks.

“Kara, that’s really amazing about Cat Grant and all,” Lena smiles. Are those tears in her eyes? “Who knew all of this junk would actually become something?”

“Excuse me, we’ve been over this. It’s not junk,” Kara replies calmly.

“Fine, it’s not junk,” Lena shrugs.

Kara watches as the wheels turn in Lena’s head, “Next week...you said this is to open next week.” The brunette’s eyes widen with surprise, “Kara, since you’re clearly never the woman with a plan, how the fuck are we going to pull this off? I mean, look at this place.”

Lena gestures around the still unfinished lobby of the hotel, “This is hardly gallery ready and we’re supposed to do this in less than a week?”

“Pshh, we’ve got this!” Kara insists, brushing Lena off. “I have been waiting for this moment for literal years . I just need you to trust me.”

The panicked look on Lena’s face slowly starts to fade away, “I really don’t want to.”

“But you will?” Kara asks hopefully.

Lena is quiet for a moment as she glances around the lobby, “Goddamnit, I will.”

“Yes!” Kara jumps up and down, “Now come on, we’ve got a deadline to meet.”

Lena shakes her head, but follows after the blonde, “Don’t make me regret this.”

“Cross my heart and uhh...” Kara pauses, “Anyway, I promise. I just need to make some phone calls.”

They’re working at an almost breakneck pace. Lena doesn’t mind, if only because she still holds her doubts this will actually be done despite Kara’s protestations.

At least they’re not completely on their own. Finally getting the loan means Lena has a few workers again at her disposal. Sam is back and Kara has now dragged along both Alex and Nia to help.

“It’s going to be fine,” Sam comes up beside her dressed in her typical overalls that are barely denim at this rate. “I know that look in your eye and I know you’ve had a rough go of things these last couple weeks,but things are looking up.”

“You know, I find it hard to believe when you all but walked away from this–from me–two weeks ago,” Lena frowns.

“Lena...” Sam sighs. “I had my reasons. My family, I couldn’t keep working for nothing.”

“I know,” Lena rubs her forehead, “I know, fuck. I just keep screwing up lately.”

Sam reaches out to give Lena a tight hug, “Why can’t you just accept the good things as they come?”

“I-I-I don’t know,” Lena sniffs, hesitating for a moment before they turn into full blown sobs.

Sam tightens her grip on the shorter brunette, “Just breathe. Much like Kara’s, your dream is coming true. You’re going to make this place absolutely incredible, I just know it. I mean you already are.”

“Sam...make this place incredible?” Lena’s dark brow shoots up. “When I still need to finish the drywall, sort out the rest of the plumbing, get the bar sorted–”

“And you will,” Sam cuts her off, “because you’re Lena fucking Luthor.”

Lena rolls her eyes at that, “Seriously, Sam?”

“It’s true,” Sam huffs. “You just need to accept that fact.”

“Fuck off,” Lena shakes her head and starts walking away.

“You still love me!” Sam calls back as the other woman flips her off.

The other thing Lena doesn’t want to admit is just how catching Kara’s optimism is. How she walks around the still unfinished hotel with a smile on her face excitedly directing workers around.

Though, it really is coming together. Slowly, but surely. Finally, Lena lets herself feel a bit of relief. They’re only three days out from the opening and The Veronica is looking incredible.

She looks over to where Nia is rolling out a rug on the floor before turning to see Alex and Kara unpacking some items that look like they belong to the gallery. Lena walks over to see exactly what it is the Danvers sisters are up to.

“Alex!” Kara looks on in horror, “these are all yours!”

Alex looks slightly ashamed, “I thought you’re not supposed to judge people bringing in donations!”

“You’re my sister, it’s different!” Kara shoots back.

“What’s going on over here?” Lena slowly approaches.

“Depravity,” Kara’s eyes get narrow as she looks at her sister.

“Oh yeah?” Lena snorts, brow raised.

“Look at this,” Kara starts rummaging around in the box, “There is no way you can possibly know who all of this stuff belongs to.”

“I accept your challenge,” Alex holds her head up high.

Kara scoffs loudly before pulling out a key chain shaped like a neon blue surfboard, “Fine.”

“Anastasia,” Alex replies smugly.

Kara rifles around in the box again before pulling out a beaded belt, holding it up for her sister to see.

“Irina.”

Lena watches with interest as Kara continues with a few more items, Alex still listing off names. It’s somewhat impressive. She watches as Kara holds up a Powerpuff Girls watch.

“Valeria,” Alex’s smile falters, her face pale as she seems to be having a revelation.

“Okay, what about this?” Kara fishes out a small snow globe.

“Y-Yulia, fuck...” Alex lets out a deep sigh, “I better make it right with the Russians or Putin is going to have me poisoned.”

“You think?” Kara cocks her head. “Alright, you sort out the sad remains of your love life. I’ve gotta go check in with Sam on some lighted displays. Lena, wanna come with me?”

Lena looks around for a moment, she has a rare few minutes when she’s not sure what to do with herself so she follows the blonde up the stairs to the balcony. The balcony that started it all.

The old drywall Kara scribbled on was gone. Everything is freshly painted and really looking beautiful. There are large, white display stands Sam is fiddling with as they approach.

“Oh, you guys are in for a treat,” Sam explains gleefully. “I only built a few of these, but I can easily put together a few more tonight if you like the way they look.”

Kara is looking at the display, leaning over it when a light comes on from the base nearly blinding her. “Woah! Okay, I think tone down the brightness because this is a gallery, not a rave. Otherwise, I love it!”

“You’ve got it,” Sam gives her a salute.

And somehow with approximately 36 hours to spare, they’re finished.

Well, the hotel still needs work, but the parts that matter for the gallery? They’re done. Lena looks around and the reality is starting to set in on just how real her dream has become.

“We did it,” Lena says as she wipes her brow. “W-We really fucking did it.”

“Come on, like you really thought we wouldn’t?” Kara snorts.

Lena shoots her a look, “Actually, yes.”

“Right, you’re the pessimist,” Kara shakes her head. “I thought I was really starting to rub off on you.”

“Not by choice,” Lena remarks. “But, I suppose I can stand to be...a little more optimistic.”

“Really?” Kara beams, “Well, I think this calls for a celebratory smoothie.”

Lena gets no chance to protest as Kara drags her out of the hotel, “I found the best little smoothie cart a couple blocks from here.”

They start walking out and Kara starts to talk, because of course she does. “I wish we could just revel in our success. I mean, I know the gallery hasn’t opened yet, but it already feels like a success to me. Also, not really, at the same time?”

“What do you mean?” Lena asks, brow furrowing.

“I mean, do we ever really get to be successful? Or is it all just an illusion and someone can just step in to take it all away just like that?” The blonde snaps her fingers for emphasis. “In the end, it was never really yours to begin with.”

“I lean more towards the latter, but I have a feeling everyone has thoughts like that,” Lena sighs.

Kara nods as they approach the short line at the cart, “I mean, it would be nice if people told you the truth about being an adult. Besides just how much it sucks.”

“Like what?” Lena asks.

“Like, sometimes I go through every day feeling like a fraud,” Kara muses. “Who the hell let me have a credit card or how do I cancel my gym membership? Or what does Congress even do?”

Lena blinks, “K-Kara, you do know what Congress does, don’t you?”

“Y-Yeah?” The blonde responds in a wary manner that makes Lena doubt her.

“Yeah?” Lena looks at her sternly, “You sure about that?”

“Of course I know what Congress does! I’ve seen Schoolhouse Rock!” Kara shoots back. “I was just making a point.”

Lena laughs, shaking her head. She sighs when it’s finally their turn at the cart.

“This is on me,” the brunette decides. “You got the ice cream last time.”

Kara shoots her a bright smile, “I suppose it’s only fair.”

They order their smoothies and decide to keep walking instead of going straight back to the hotel for some last bits of cleanup.

“Hey, Lena...are you doing anything tomorrow?” Kara asks, sipping her strawberry banana smoothie.

“Well,” Lena looks at her watch, “As of about an hour ago, I think the answer is no. For once in the last five years I don’t need to run from place to place.”

“Great,” Kara beams, but stops walking for a moment. “I, uhh...you know all those sneaky phone calls I’ve been making?”

“I do,” Lena nods her head. “What about them?”

“Well, I’d like you to meet someone,” Kara smiles. “Also, do you mind driving?”

“That’s fine,” Lena smiles.

“Meet me at The Veronica at 10?” Kara proposes. “Maybe we can do lunch after.”

“Sure,” the brunette agrees, “sounds good to me.” 

Chapter Text

Mike: Paris, it's an amazing place, and, um...we were staying at La Bristol, which is incredibly fancy.

Imra: It's a little overrated, if you ask me.

Mike: I drew a bath and I wanted her to get in it with me.

Imra: Personally, I hate baths. They're a warm, wet place to overthink.

Mike: She left to get a pastry for...five hours.

Imra: I bummed a cigarette off of Olivier.

Mike: I sat in the tub, shriveling.

Imra: Naturally, I realized I had to move to Paris.

Mike: I kept the bath water.

Imra: Oh, sweet Jesus, he was gorgeous.

Mike: I drank a little.0000000000000

Mike Matthews and Imra Ardeen

Paris, France 2 years

They meet as planned at The Veronica hotel, Lena is leaning up against her car as Kara walks toward her.

“So, are you going to tell me where we’re going?” Lena asks as she approaches.

“You’ll see,” Kara rummages around in her bag, producing a few brightly colored packages. “Car snacks!”

“Car snacks?” Lena repeats in confusion. “Kara, how far are we going?”

“You’ll see,” The blonde repeats. “When have I ever steered you wrong before?”

“Hey, this whole gallery-slash-hotel thing could still fall to pieces. This sounds like you’re giving me permission to blame you when it does,” Lena replies.

“What? No fair!” Kara complains. “Keep that up and I’ll keep these Swiss Cake Rolls all to myself.”

“Oh no you won’t,” Lena plucks the packaged baked goods out of Kara’s hands before making her way to the driver’s side. “Come on, apparently we have a hell of a drive to make.”

The duo clamber into Lena’s car and head off with Lena following Kara’s directions. The blonde isn’t a bad car companion, Lena decides. It’s actually fun being in the car alongside Kara as they drive to...wherever they’re going. 

They drive outside National City a ways before pulling up at what looks like a large house. Lena just barely spots a sign as they pull up that says Midvale Grove Senior Living Facility and Memory Care. The sign sparks some interest in her mind, but she makes her way to the parking lot where they finally come to a stop. Kara has surprisingly gone a little quiet before breathing in deeply, throwing on her classic smile.

“Alright, places to go, people to see,” the blonde declares getting out of the car.

Lena follows after her, both of them heading toward the building.  First they’re greeted at the reception desk where Kara signs them in.

“Brought you a book of the really hard Sudokus,” Kara presents the receptionist with a small book.

“Oh Kara, you know you don’t have to do this every time you come,” The receptionist laughs, her name tag declares her as Nancy. “but I certainly won’t say no.”

Clearly, Kara seems to come here pretty frequently if she’s known by the staff in such a way.

“How is she?” Kara asks, her blue eyes soft. While she has a smile on her face, there is a twinge of concern that catches Lena’s eye.

“Today has been a very good day,” Nancy smiles. “I’m sure she’ll be very glad to see you.”

At that Kara brightens, “Great, so I?”

“In the greenhouse, as usual,” Nancy nods.

They walk through the lobby area, past a large open common area where Kara hands out a few more items that were stashed away in her tote bag.

“Hello, gentlemen,” Kara grins as she approaches two men hunched over a chess board, clearly deep in thought. Chess has always been a game Lena has loved. “Here are your lotto tickets, remember if you win we split it, deal?”

The two men nod in agreement before turning back to their game as Lena scans the board with intention. She quickly sees an opening and bends down to whisper to the man with a thick beard who is playing white.

His eyes light up as he takes Lena’s direction and instantly wins the game, much to his companions dismay.

“Impressive,” Kara remarks with a laugh.

“You know, overall the Luthors sucked, but they certainly taught me one thing,” the brunette nods. “How to play chess.”

They keep walking until they reach the aforementioned greenhouse. It's beautiful with lush plants and aromatic flowers. There’s a woman there, her blonde hair is slightly graying at the temples and she has a soft smile on her face as she carefully mists the flowers.

“Hey, Eliza,” Kara calls out to the woman softly.

It takes a moment, but the woman turns around to look at them and smiles brightly. “Hello! Ohhh, who is this absolute dish of a lady you’ve got with you?”

“Eliza, this is Lena,” Kara makes the introduction. Lena is grateful as she is busy blushing furiously at the older woman’s comment.

She’s puzzling through her mind as to who this woman could be in relation to Kara, though she thinks she has an idea.

“She isn’t your girlfriend is she?” Eliza asks Lena, mischief in her eyes. It’s not unlike the same look Kara gets in her own sapphire eyes.

“Oh I...nope, totally single.” Lena shakes her head, laughing as her flush deepens further.

“Your face says otherwise,” Eliza responds with a light laugh, brow raising. “Well, if you’re not hers, you could be mine?”

“Eliza!” Kara laughs as the trio slowly walk out of the greenhouse, back toward the common area. They’re headed to an area with a sofa and a few overstuffed arm chairs. In the middle is a coffee table, with games stacked neatly underneath.

“Want a cocktail?” Eliza proposes, “I’m buying.”

“It’s always five o’clock somewhere right?” Lena responds, but she can’t help to notice there seems to be no trace of alcohol in the common area.

Eliza sits down on the couch and gestures for Lena to join her. The brunette obliges as Kara sits down in one of the nearby chairs.

“Want to play a board game?” Kara asks, pulling out a game from the top of the stack before placing it on the table.

Lena watches as the older woman’s eyes go wide, a smile spreading across her face as she looks at the game Kara chose.

“Monopoly,” Eliza remarks, a glint in her eye. “That’s my favorite.”

“Mine too,” Kara replies softly in agreement, pulling the lid off the box.

Eliza reaches for the tokens, rummaging around for a moment until she selects the small, metal thimble. “You know, I used to play almost every night with my daughters...”

Lena watches as the older woman pauses to think, the realization starts to dawn on her as she recognizes who this woman is.

“Alex...and,” Eliza turns to look at the blonde, her eyes lighting up with recognition. “Kara.”

“Kara,” Kara repeats softly.

Lena can nearly feel her heart break as she realizes Eliza’s memory is shaky at best. She casts a glance at Kara, more of what she’s deemed to be quirks of the blonde are starting to make sense.

“I-I-I had no idea,” Lena mutters.

Kara simply shrugs and laughs, “Can’t blame you, but if you could do all of us a favor and stop flirting with my mom?”

“Her mother,” Eliza scoffs. “I’m far too young to be her mother.”

Lena laughs awkwardly, she’s not sure what else she should do or say at this moment so she sits back to watch Kara and Eliza interact. She swallows, feeling pain and a sense of loss in her heart. She feels like she’s lost family countless times over. Of course, cutting out the Luthors was her own choice, but that didn’t make it any easier. When she was a child, she lost her mother, there one minute and gone the next.

But this?

This is so different, though Lena can’t say if it’s better or worse. Eliza is still here, at least physically. She’s sitting here laughing and smiling with Kara, but is she really here? Lena looks down at her hands and sighs, her ears momentarily ringing as she sits there. Then her eyes flick up to see a nearby baby grand piano, it’s calling to her. Lena gets to her feet and slowly approaches.

Piano lessons were deemed alright by Lionel and Lillian and it is something Lena has always been good at. Even though she never got to do much outside of classical music,  it never stopped Lena from learning other genres. She has become very adept at learning pieces by ear. The brunette pulls the bench back to take a seat before settling her hands on the keys. She takes a breath and begins to play. Softly at first, a smile tugging at her lips as the familiar notes and melody fill the room, she can tell all eyes in the room are on her as she plays “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart”.

“I love piano players,” Eliza sighs, standing to hover next to Lena, Kara close at hand. “Are you sure she isn’t your girlfriend?”

“N-No!” Kara interjects hastily as Lena lightly scoffs to herself.

“Well, then I guess she’s all mine,” Eliza smirks playfully.

“Mom!” Kara laughs as Lena continues to play, before Kara decides to sing along.

“Oooo, nobody knows it,

but right from the start,

I gave you my heart.

Oooh ohh, I gave you my heart.”

“I love this song,” Eliza reaches for Kara’s hand, the pair start dancing around the common room. Eliza gives Kara a playful spin, “We used to listen to this when I cooked dinner.”

“It was a good time,” Kara beams at the memory, “Alex would always sing off key.”

“She did, didn’t she?” Eliza chuckles, “But she’s always had passion.”

Lena smiles, singing along with Kara and Eliza, her heart feeling a little lighter.

Lena feels happier when she and Kara finish their visit and start making the drive back to National City.

“Thanks for taking me with you today,” Lena smiles as they pull away from the facility.

Kara sighs softly, “I honestly should thank you for being there, it’s usually hard...especially since it’s usually just me.”

“Alex doesn’t go?” Lena asks hesitantly.

Kara shakes her head, “I mean, she does, but I think it’s even harder for her. I can’t blame her.”

Lena frowns slightly, but she keeps her thoughts to herself. Who is she to judge Alex for her decisions? She can hardly imagine how she’d act in her stead.

During the drive back into the city, Kara introduces Lena to her favorite car games which the pair happily play along the way. They’re laughing as Lena parks in her usual spot behind The Veronica Hotel.

“Want to come in for a drink?” Lena gestures toward the back door.

“Sure,” Kara grins, the two of them walking into the hotel side-by-side. Lena watches as the blonde casually strides over to the bar.

“Oh, we’re not drinking down here,” Lena offers her a playful smirk.

“What?” Kara blinks, her blue eyes wide.

“Come on,” Lena gestures, happiness bubbling up inside her. There’s a sparkling excitement about what she’s going to share with Kara. They walk up the stairs to make their way toward the area some of the hotel rooms will be. Particularly to the one Lena has been working on for awhile and has been living out of for the duration of this project.

“You know, I have always wanted to know where you’ve been crashing in here,” Kara remarks, following Lena into the room.

“Hopefully only for a little while longer,” Lena sighs. “though, it’s much nicer than it was.”

The room is finished now, fresh paint and furniture. A sort of template for what’s to come with the other rooms.

“This doesn’t really look like a bar,” Kara remarks. “but you have surprised me before.”

Lena laughs softly to herself, “Come on, follow me.”

Lena approaches a large armoire and opens up the door.

“Okay, what in the world are you doing?” Kara blinks as Lena pushes the clothes on the rack out of the way to reveal a hidden opening. “Woah, what sort of hipster Narnia is this!”

Lena laughs openly, “Just get your ass in here.” She watches as the blonde marvels for a moment before finally following her into the smaller, hidden room.

“So you just made this secret, sexy, bar all on your own!” Kara’s eyes grow wide, “Lena, this is incredible!”

“Thanks,” Lena blushes softly before walking behind the bar to pour drinks for herself and Kara, placing them on the bar top. “Cheers.”

“So many hidden talents,” Kara giggles. “Like, just casually playing the piano this afternoon, what the hell was that?”

Lena smirks as she sips from her glass, savoring the taste of the scotch. With things shaping up at the hotel, she finally feels comfortable to splurge a little more on herself. Something she has hardly done in the last five years. “I’m a woman of many talents.”

“No shit,” Kara smiles, her blue eyes darting around the bar. “Wait, we should toast.”

“Toast?” Lena’s brows start to raise, “For what?”

“Well, for one thing, we should be toasting to you,” Kara reaches for the scotch to top off her glass. “But also, to finishing what we started. I don’t think I could have ever gotten this far with the gallery without you and of course The Veronica.”

“Oh, come on,” Lena scoffs as she sips her drink.

“Lena, I mean it!” Kara insists. “Now, toast with me, goddamnit!”

Lena breathes out slowly, giving Kara a look before raising her glass and clinking it against the blonde’s, “Cheers.”

“That’s more like it,” Kara preens and the pair take a sip of their drinks. “So, do you think you might contribute anything to the gallery? Or are you the ‘I’ve never broken up with anyone’ type?”

Lena grimaces, taking another sip of her scotch before silently shrugging her shoulders. “I told you, I’m not sentimental and I don’t like holding onto that sort of crap.”

“Right,” Kara rolls her eyes. “I don’t believe you, by the way.”

She watches as the blonde’s eyes dart around what feels like their own hidden piece of paradise for a little while. Lena wishes for a moment they never had to leave.

“Lena?”

“Huh?” The brunette blinks as she turns to look at Kara.

“I asked you a question,” Kara snorts.

Lena cocks her head, “You did?”

She watches as Kara nods, “Yeah, I mean just because you don’t have ‘sentimental items’ surely there are things you’re attracted to in a person right?”

Lena shrugs noncommittally, “I’ve not had much luck.”

“Stop skirting around this!” Kara huffs. “Come on, what are you attracted to? If you’re still struggling, I’ll go first!”

“Alright, let’s hear it,” Lena insists.

“Well,” Kara takes a moment to stroke her chin in thought. “Someone who is smart, kind, ambitious, a beautiful smile, the sort that truly makes you weak in the knees.”

“Really, Mike had all that?” Lena cuts in with a laugh.

“Oh, shut it,” Kara scoffs. “I’ve always been a sucker for dark hair, there’s just something so mysterious about it. Oooh, and ideally green eyes, like the color of pine trees and...”

Kara falls quiet, “You know, as I say it feels like I’m describing someone like you.”

Lena notices this as well, “I thought it sounded familiar.”

“Oh hush,” Kara laughs before doing something Lena hadn’t exactly been expecting. The blonde leans across the bar top toward the shorter woman, closing the distance as she leans in to kiss Lena’s lips warmly and firmly.

There’s a spark, an honest to god spark. Something Lena has long since convinced herself doesn’t exist. After all, up until this point, she has been extremely unlucky in love. She’s had her heart broken a few too many times.

Kara is different, though. Kara is a friend. A friend who is kissing her and Lena excitedly finds herself deepening the kiss. Something she’s wanted for a while. Lena grunts a little bit as she is unhelpfully reminded there’s an extremely solid bar between herself and Kara.

She and Kara seem to have no need to speak to each other. Instead, they momentarily look at the godforsaken bar before they  scramble out and into the main room. Even the short distance feels unbearable and far too long to keep their hands and mouths off each other.

The pair nearly trip as they emerge from the armoire, Lena speeding things up by stripping off her own shirt and flopping down on the bed. Kara is close behind as they press their lips together once again. Lena gasps when she feels Kara’s hands ghost across the sensitive skin of her stomach.

“I-Is this okay?” Kara asks, her voice little more than a soft whisper as Lena gives a frantic nod in response. She wants this, she wants Kara so bad, more than she’s ever wanted anyone in her life.

Their kisses deepen and Lena snakes her hand behind Kara’s head giving the soft blonde curls a tug, causing Kara to moan. A moan that sends a shiver straight down Lena’s spine and a shock of arousal straight to her core.

“L-Lena!” Kara gasps against her mouth, Lena searching for the hem of the blonde’s t-shirt with her free hand. 

“Come on, Kara,” The brunette huffs, pulling back to look at Kara seriously, “I think you and I have been playing with fire for a while.”

Lena watches a soft pink blush spread across the blonde’s face. “Unless, I’ve read this all wrong?” She really hopes she hasn’t.

“N-No! Lena, I’ve wanted you since the day I got into your car,” Kara admits hastily.

“Really? Even directly post-break up?” Lena sits back for a moment, watching as Kara’s face turns an even darker shade of red.

“Yes,” Kara admits. “That night is a little hazy, I guess the tequila can do that,  but I still remember how pretty your eyes were when you looked back at me.”

It’s Lena’s turn to blush intensely in response to Kara’s admission. “Oh stop,” the brunette mutters softly.

“B-But, I don’t want to,” Kara gets a cheeky grin across her face and leans in to kiss Lena once more as their hands start to wander and explore once again.

“Then don’t,” Lena replies in a breathy tone placing her hands on top of Kara’s. That seems to be the only other urging Kara needs as she deepens the kiss and Lena lies back on the bed.

Kara moves away from her mouth, slowly and sensually. Lena gasps as she feels the blonde’s lips ghost down her neck, hands finding her breasts through the lacy material of her bra.

There is definitely no mistaking anything about this, of that Lena is absolutely certain. Especially as another soft gasp slips out of her mouth when Kara grips the waistband of her jeans.

The blonde traces her hands across Lena’s stomach before finding and undoing the button on her jeans. It feels like Kara is everywhere at once, her mouth finds Lena’s skin, lightly tracing the places her hands have been previously.

Lena squeaks, Kara’s lips are warm and tender, she doesn’t want it to stop. Why would she? The thought of hooking up with Kara has crossed her hand more and more as she gets to know her. 

Kara starts at her shoulders. Slowly, so very slowly moving from one shoulder to the other. The blonde stops her motion for a moment, focusing on one particular spot where Lena’s neck meets her shoulder. This causes the brunette to let out a soft sigh in response.

“Your skin is so soft,” Kara mutters as her mouth begins to make its way toward Lena’s sternum. Kara trails light kisses down the valley between Lena’s breasts.

Lena shudders and shifts under Kara’s ministrations, her hand gripping Kara’s shoulder. A moan escapes Kara’s mouth between heated kisses.

“Do that again,” Kara mutters against Lena’s skin, the brunette eagerly complies, this time her nails lightly scratching the skin.

“I’ll keep going as long as you don’t stop touching me,” Lena lets out a soft, breathy sigh.

“Twist my arm,” Kara snorts, sitting up for a moment to work on discarding her own clothing. Namely the t-shirt Lena has been grabbing at and the belt sitting low on her waist. The reveal shows a purple patterned sports bra.

Lena chuckles as Kara leans in to press a soft kiss to her lips before sliding down Lena’s body. Kara’s fingers ghost across more of the exposed skin, taking her time as she cups her breasts, lightly pinching at the stiffening, sensitive nipples.

Lena’s dry spell hasn’t exactly been fun. Of course, she’s done what she’s needed to do to get by. Either taking care of herself or in the comfort of others (which after how things ended with her ex was never anything long term). It’s so much different with Kara, someone who clearly wants to give to her so thoroughly.

Kara sucks at the exposed skin of Lena’s stomach, one hand giving her hip a soft squeeze, while the other fiddles with the closure of her jeans. Lena moans, her hands slipping between their bodies to meet with Kara’s and help her unbutton her jeans and slide down the zipper.

“Is that better?” Lena murmurs.

“Yeah,” Kara replies, a smile playing at her lips as she helps slide the denim off Lena’s curvy hips. Slowly, bit by bit. The brunette squirms, raising her hips in order to assist in the removal.

Eventually, they land on the floor beneath them with a thud that brings a smile to Lena’s face as her lips meet Kara in a passionate kiss. Her fingers once again entangle in Kara’s now messy blonde curls. Kara squeaks in surprise when their positions are suddenly switched, the blonde now the one against the mattress with Lena hovering over her. Lena bites her lip as she looks down at her. She places her hands on the mattress, able to enjoy a very thrilling view beneath her as she grinds her hips against Kara’s.

She slides lower on Kara’s hips, sending another shock of arousal straight to her core. The movement is a delicious reminder that there are not as many layers between them anymore. Lena’s panties are all she has left, she grinds them against Kara’s jeans enjoying the friction against the sensitive skin of her thighs and center.

“That’s hot,” Kara gawks, causing Lena to laugh as she grinds down once more.

“Yeah?” Lena asks, cocking her head to the side.

“Mhmm,” Kara nods as she slowly sits up, mussed blonde hair flopping into her face and by gods if that’s not the sexiest thing Lena has ever seen.

Her position is shifted slightly as she straddles Kara’s hips, moaning at the friction she feels grinding down once more against the blonde’s lap. Kara nips lightly at her neck before the blonde’s wandering hands toy with the waistband of Lena’s panties.

“Is this okay?” Kara asks softly, gently tugging the soft material that hugs Lena’s hips.

Lena nods excitedly, “Y-Yes.”

Kara grins before taking a careful finger and dragging it slowly up and down the pale skin of Lena’s inner thighs. The brunette shudders and presses down against the blonde, gripping tightly at Kara’s sculpted shoulders. “Fuck...”

No one has ever made Lena feel like this, none of her ex’s and certainly not–

Lena hastily shoves the thought away. Why think about her when she can enjoy the here and now? To savor the delicious pleasure Kara is giving her that’s unlike anything she’s ever experienced.

“Do you want more?” Kara asks, brow raised and a devilish smirk on her sweetly and obnoxiously innocent face.

“Y-Yes!” Lena yelps, she can feel Kara pull her panties to the side before slipping her fingers into Lena’s wet folds. “Christ, Kara!” the brunette yelps. Now that there is nothing between Kara’s hands and her aching center, she’s living for it.

Kara lets out a smug laugh, the sort of laugh that equally annoys her and turns her on further. Lena moans and whines, her sounds getting higher in pitch as Kara’s deft fingers find her clit and she reacts to the touch.

When has sex ever been this good in all her life? Has she just had shitty partners? Or is Kara simply that good?

They might have to have sex again for Lena to learn more, for scientific purposes of course.

The brunette moans and presses as hard as she can against Kara’s hands and jeans in desperate search of the friction she’s craving. The friction plus Kara’s touch? She’s so dangerously close to coming. So dangerously close, that it feels inevitable at this rate.

“Come for me Lena,” Kara insists, fingers ghosting down past the brunette’s clit and finding her warm, wet center.

Lena is doomed, she’s so doomed and she...

“Fucking hell!” Lena yelps in response to the way Kara’s impossibly quick fingers slide in and out of her, the way she thumbs at her clit. “Fuck!” The brunette gasps when Kara’s fingers stroke her just right. She tips over the edge.

She dives into one of the best orgasms of her life. Holy shit is it good, it leaves the brunette panting and gasping for air as she shivers, grasping Kara’s forearms. She has to momentarily rest her head on the blonde’s shoulder to descend back to earth in a haze.

“God, that was even sexier than I imagined,” Kara admits with a laugh.

“You’ve fantasized about making me come?” Lena asks, brow raising.

“Haven’t you?” Kara retorts.

Of course she has a little bit here and there, but Lena isn’t going to admit it. She is thinking of ways to skirt around answering when she looks down to see she is still straddling Kara’s thighs. The brunette sees the wet patch beneath her. Her wet panties are still pulled to the side, but the most embarrassing thing is the large wet spot on Kara’s jeans.

“Oh my gods, I’m so sorry,” Lena yelps, pushing herself off Kara and pulling away. Highly embarrassed of the fact she’s come so intensely all over Kara’s jeans.

“Wha-?” Kara blinks, looking at Lena with concern in those beautiful blue eyes. “Hey, where are you going?”

Lena awkwardly looks down at the spot on Kara’s jeans, her face flushing as the blonde follows her gaze.

“A-Are you embarrassed about this?” Kara points at the exceptionally noticeable wet spot on the front of her jeans.

Lena blushes furiously and nods, “A little,” she mutters softly.

“But that was hot as hell,” Kara snorts, “Seriously Lena, that was so fucking hot.”

Lena watches as the blonde gets off the bed and seems to walk away. Is she leaving? That’s when Kara unbuttons her fly and shuck off her pants.

“What are you doing?” Lena blinks slowly.

“Probably should have taken these off a while ago,” Kara shrugs, glancing over her shoulder. “This just gives me a good excuse to do so.”

“W-What?” Lena blinks.

“Like I said, that was hot,” Kara replies with a smirk on her adorable face, letting her pants fall to the floor.

“Are those Care Bears?” Lena giggles as she finally gets a good look at Kara’s underwear.

“What?” Kara cocks her head to the side.

Lena starts to laugh uncontrollably, “First Snoopy, now Care Bear underwear?”

Kara’s eyes widen as she looks down at her underwear and her face turns a vibrant shade of red. “I-I, uhhh...”

“Funshine,” Lena replies with a soft snort before her giggles start up again, “it’s really cute.”

“Oh hush,” Kara tries to brush her off.

“I don’t think I will,” Lena smirks between giggles.

“In all fairness, I wasn’t exactly expecting this to happen,” Kara replies extremely flustered. “If I had, I’m certain I would have been a bit more selective about my underwear choice.”

“What? Garfield?” Lena grins.

“Whatever,” Kara flings herself back on the bed, crawling toward Lena, “stop laughing at me!”

“What are you going to do about it?” Lena smirks playfully.

“Oh, I have a few ideas,” Kara’s gaze flicks toward Lena’s lower half.

“Kara?” Lena’s sharp brow raises.

“Come here!” Kara grabs her hips and tugs at her panties, “You certainly don’t need these anymore.”

“Kara!” The brunette yelps in surprise.

“This is for laughing at me,” Kara replies tossing the sodden panties across the room, “Try laughing at me when you’re moaning with pleasure.”

Lena narrows her green eyes, “Game on.”

Chapter Text

“It’s flatter than the last time I looked at this, but the memories still hold. Back in 7th grade I had the absolutely biggest crush on Nick Nickerson. God he was hot, in like a 7th grader sort of way.

Anyway, I really wanted to impress him and one day at recess we were all playing kickball. He was pitching while I was in the outfield. Well, he pitched it, Stacey Anderson kicked it, and I caught it! With my face.

That turned out to be my moment because apparently getting a kickball to the face is a solid way to break your nose. Nick took me to the school nurse, stayed with me until my mom came to get me, then never spoke to me again.”

-Nia Nal

Parthes, CA 45 Minutes

Morning arrives in the beautiful hotel room, the light filtering in through diaphanous curtains when Kara wakes up in a pleasant haze. She glances at the still sleeping form of Lena, curled up on her side, the pale skin of her back exposed complete with a delicate trail of freckles going down her backside. It’s truly a beautiful sight to see, practically a work of art in itself.

Kara finds herself staring for a little while, wanting to reach out and touch Lena’s impossibly soft hair, but she doesn’t want to wake the other woman. She’s content with just laying here, her eyes tracing the path of porcelain skin. Eventually, Lena begins to shift around and slowly wakes up.

When she turns over to face Kara, her green eyes are sparkling in a way the blonde has never seen before. Almost like they’re glowing with pure joy and it makes Kara feel so pleased.

“Morning,” Lena mutters, lightly rubbing at her eyes.

“Morning,” Kara replies in a similarly soft tone.

The pair look at each other, blue meeting green with the soft muted sounds of the city humming in the background.

“What are you staring at?” Lena asks, brushing hair from her face.

“Nothing,” Kara shrugs, “Just thinking about the fact you saw me naked.”

Lena snorts, slowly sitting up, “Well, that is typically how sex works.”

“Well, yeah, but...” Kara feels her face growing warm, “We’re friends, right?”

Lena glances to the side for a moment before looking back at Kara, biting her lip in that sexy way she does, “But, what if we’re more than friends? I mean, you did give me several of the best orgasms of my entire life.”

A playful smirk crosses Kara’s face, liking what Lena is clearly proposing, “You know, I was giving it some thought this morning.” The blonde reaches out to trace her finger lightly up and down Lena’s shoulder savoring the way it feels.

“You were?” Lena giggles.

“I think we need to do it again,” Kara smirks before wrapping her arm around Lena and pulling the smaller woman on top of her before leaning in to kiss her. “And again, and again...then we’ll know.”

“Kara!” Lena yelps, leaning in to kiss the blonde.

On her way to meet Alex and Nia for lunch, Kara hears her phone ringing deep in her purse as she’s strolling down the street from The Veronica Hotel. She furrows her brow when she sees it’s Lena calling.

“Lena?” Kara asks in confusion as they had just spoken not that long ago.

“Hey, I forgot to tell you something this morning,” Lena speaks into the phone.

“You forgot?” Kara furrows her brow.

“Yeah,” Lena pauses for a moment. “I need you to meet me at Cisco’s neon shop tomorrow at 10am. I have a surprise for you.”

“Neon shop, 10 am,” Kara nods enthusiastically, “I’ll be there.”

“Great, I...I think you’ll really like this,” Lena adds and Kara can practically hear the smile on her face.

“I’m sure I will,” Kara laughs, “Okay, I’ll be there.”

The blonde walks into their usual brunch spot with an extra little spring in her step. First, she orders herself a coffee before she approaches the table where Brainy, Nia, and Alex are seated.

“There you are!” Alex declares, “Sit, I’ve already ordered a pitcher of Mimosas for us to enjoy and...”

Kara watches as her sister freezes, her brown eyes narrowing as she looks her up and down. “Is that the shirt you were wearing yesterday?” Alex asks.

Kara feels a blush spread across her cheeks, “So what if it is?”

On the other side of her sister, she sees Nia smirk. She slowly lowers her sunglasses, a clear sign her friend is severely hungover.

“You went to see Lena yesterday,” Alex strokes her chin, deep in thought. “Kara Danvers, are you doing the walk of shame!?”

“Alex!” Kara hisses as she plops herself into a chair. “Will you shut up?” She anxiously glances around the restaurant to make sure no one is looking their way.

“Now, you notice,” Nia snorts as she fishes her celery out of her Bloody Mary glass and chomps on it loudly. “You were too busy fucking your little fling, what’s her name to notice your little sister didn’t come home last night.”

“Kelly,” Alex seethes, she’s now the one flushing a brilliant shade of crimson.

“Still?!” Kara blinks in surprise, “and she’s not a Russian model, now that’s something worth celebrating.”

“Now you shut up,” Alex glowers, sinking into her chair. She pours herself a generous mimosa from the pitcher and takes a long sip. “Well, now that you and Lena are apparently getting it on.”

‘God, do you really have to refer to it like that?” Kara’s nose crinkles as she speaks.

“If the shoe fits,” Alex shrugs, reaching for the laminated menu to scan it over. “Point is, have you collected anything from her yet?”

“Hey!” Kara whines. “Don’t talk about her like that, we’re just business partners.”

“Business partners, right,” Nia snorts.

“We help each other!” Kara continues.

“In more ways than one,” Alex says, conspicuously sipping from her glass.

“And visit each other’s mom’s,” Nia adds, nodding.

“That’s true,” Alex nods excitedly. “That’s serious for you Kara. How is mom by the way?”

“Eliza had a good day yesterday,” Kara sighs, pouring herself some Mimosa as well. She notices the smile that finds its way to Alex’s face. Kara knows how hard it is for her older sister to visit her mother and she would never blame her for not going as frequently. It’s hard.

“Aaand?” Nia presses, taking another loud bite of celery.

“Well, she simply wouldn’t stop flirting with Lena,” Kara giggles.

“Of course, she didn’t,” Alex snorts, shaking her head.

“Eliza is a legend, a queen among women!” Nia raises her glass high.

“Yes, she is,” Kara replies with a laugh, holding up her glass as well and clinking it against Nia’s.

“Kara!” A barista calls.

“Coffee and Mimosas?” Alex cuts in, her brow raising.

“This is my brunch, let me do what I want,” Kara huffs before getting up to walk toward the counter to pay for her drink.

“That’s me,” The blonde smiles brightly. “So, how much do I owe you?”

The man standing there offers Kara a bright smile, his dark eyes bright with joy, “This one is on the house.” She then notes his smooth accent. Is he from London? 

“Are you sure?” Kara seems taken aback. “Why?”

“Your gallery has been a real life changer,” The man sighs, “After Fiona died...I was so lost.”

Fiona...

Kara’s eyes go wide as she thinks about the bottle of champagne on display at the gallery and the story written down on an attached index card. It had nearly broken her heart. Her gaze drifts to the name tag pinned to his apron informing her that this name is Manchester.

“It all happened so fast,” Manchester sighs, shaking his head. “One minute we were laughing at a New Years Party, stealing the bottle of champagne together and the next she was gone.”

Kara once again feels tears welling in her eyes as she thinks back to the story he’d left for her to read.

“I kept all her things, the thought of giving anything away meant I’d have to face reality and I wasn’t ready. I just couldn’t do it,” Manchester swallows thickly.

Kara reaches out to hug the man across the counter and feels him breathe in for a moment before releasing a long sigh.

“Really, your gallery means so much to me,” Manchester brushes away a stray tear from his face. “It has helped so much, thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Kara smiles softly as she takes a step back, reaching for her drink. “So, will I see you at the gallery opening?”

Manchester nods his head enthusiastically, “You will, I’m even planning on bringing a date.”

“That’s amazing,” Kara’s smile brightens further, “I’ll see you there.”

Kara walks back to her table feeling like she’s on cloud nine, her gallery really is changing the world! Or, at least, it’s changing National City, but maybe someday it will change the world. Who would have thought this was where she would be a little more than a month ago?

Kara knows the next morning she’s supposed to meet Lena at the neon shop as planned, but she’s itching to know what the surprise is. She decides her best course of action is to ply Lena with a matcha latte and pester it out of her as they walk together to the shop.

She practically skips into The Veronica Hotel, drinks in hand, and flings the back door open. Kara can hear Lena’s voice echoing on the other side of the lobby.

“Just follow me through here...”

Her brow furrows, but Kara assumes Lena must be talking to a contractor about work on another part of the hotel. When she walks in, she sees Lena with her dark hair piled in a messy bun atop her head, escorting the woman with the dark eyes and blond highlights who’d stopped by when Lena was out a week or so prior.

“K-Kara!” Lena exclaims, green eyes going wide. “I thought we were meeting at Cisco’s shop?”

“We were...” Kara’s voice trails off as she looks at the other woman, dressed so very elegantly in black slacks and a deep-red, off-the-shoulder sweater that shows off a tattoo snaking down her neck and beyond. “Who is she?” There’s a hint of ice in Kara’s tone as she asks Lena the question. Once again, she’s flashing back to the horrible night at the Grant Gallery when she asked Mike the exact same question about Imra.

“Uhhh...” Lena’s pale skin flushes, “Kara, this is my–”

“Hi, I’m Veronica,” The elegant woman holds out her hand to Kara and she swears she can feel her blood freezing in her veins.

“V-Veronica?” Kara squeaks as the woman nods in confirmation. The drink tray in her hand falls with a clatter before she dashes out of the hotel. Her throat tightens and her breaths become shallow, her thoughts start to spiral.

“Veronica?!” She repeats loudly.

“Kara, wait!” Lena calls after her and the two of them are standing in the all too familiar alley, back behind the hotel.

“V-Veronica,” Kara repeats, turning on Lena, “Like, The Veronica Hotel?”

“Kara, please,” Lena sighs, “Please, let me explain. “

“You said you named this place for your mom!” Kara snaps.

“No, I didn’t,” Lena sighs, shaking her head. “You assumed, like you always do.”

“What?!” Kara’s voice rises in pitch. “W-Well, you never bothered to correct me!”

“Please, let me explain,” Lena insists, rubbing her forehead.

“No!” Kara sniffs, feeling tears welling in her eyes. “No, because you mocked me for keeping Mike’s tie and you do this!” The blonde frantically gestures at the hotel. “You build a fucking hotel in her honor!”

“You don’t get it, that’s not the whole story,” Lena tries to cut in. “Kara, please... Besides, didn’t you start a gallery for Mike?”

“No, this isn't the same!” Kara yelps. “And don’t you fucking dare turn this around on me, Lena Luthor.” The blonde balls her hands into tight fists. “I showed you exactly who I was from the very beginning.”

Kara’s anger continues to rise and her voice cracks, “I introduced you to my mom! Now it feels like you’ve lied to me, like I don’t even know you after all we’ve been through!”

“Kara,” Lena sighs, “I wanted to tell you, I really did. I’m not an open book like you, I can’t just open up my heart to people the way you can. It’s not easy for me.”

“Newsflash,” The blonde growls, “It’s not easy for anyone, Lena.”

“This is clearly a bad time,” Veronica calls out from the door where apparently she’s been watching this argument unfold between them. “You know what Lena? Maybe it’s just best I go.”

“No,” Kara speaks up before Lena even gets a chance, “Your name’s on the door, you should stay. I’ll go.”

With that Kara stalks off, not caring about Lena, the fucking Veronica Hotel or anything else. She just needs to get away, as fast as her feet will possibly carry her through the streets of National City.

Lena feels horribly guilty, she can’t stop thinking about Kara and the pain eating away at her. That pained look on the blonde’s face when she walked into the hotel and met Veronica.

This is not what she wanted to happen, why Veronica is even here in the first place still confuses her. She was the last person she expected to darken her doorstep ever again.

Yet here she was.

“Fucking hell,” Lena grumbles, scrub brush in hand as she mops up the sticky mess left behind from the drinks Kara dropped. A mix of iced matcha latte and caramel macchiato is splattered all across the floor of her lobby.

Lena puts more effort than necessary into scrubbing the floor before she’s left annoyed and panting, wondering if she just accidentally managed to strip away the stain on the wood floors.

She sits back on her legs, looking at the floor and sighs. She should probably go talk to Kara, but will the blonde even listen to her? There’s really only one way to find out.

The brunette groans in frustration as she hauls herself off the floor before grabbing the bucket to dump it out. She really has to talk to Kara, she has to try to sort this out. 

Which is how she finds herself walking up the stairs of the apartment shared by Nia, Brainy, Alex, and Kara. She knocks on the door, startled when Brainy opens it and as always, silently looks her up and down before stepping aside to let her pass.

Lena walks into the crowded apartment, into the common space that’s equal parts dining room, living room, and kitchen. She looks around to see that Kara is conspicuously absent. She furrows her brow as she awkwardly looks around for the blonde.

“Uhhh, I came to talk to Kara?” Lena turns to look at Alex who is slicing vegetables in a menacing manner, sending a chill down her spine.

“On the roof,” Alex glares, she’s squeezing the tomato in her hand so hard it nearly explodes.

“Okay...” Lena blinks, then looks at Nia who is also giving her a cold look. What exactly did Kara tell them?

Well, her side of the story of course. The brunette sighs and steps out of the apartment. She finds the stairs leading to the roof and is pleasantly surprised by the halfway decent view. The sky is blue and shining overhead, the sun beating down makes Kara’s hair sparkle like pure gold.

Even the frown etched on the blonde’s face doesn’t dampen her beauty at this moment. However, whatever the two of them may have started might be completely and totally dashed. Regardless of the outcome, Lena has to accept it.

At least they had one amazing night together, at least she has that memory to look back on.

“Kara,” Lena calls out, but the blonde doesn’t acknowledge her.

Lena takes a deep breath, grumbling as she walks toward Kara who is leaning against the ledge.

“Kara?” She pauses, waiting to see if the blonde responds. When she doesn’t, she sighs and continues anyway, “With The Broken Heart’s Ball happening tonight…” Lena has been rehearsing this in her mind the whole way over, but the words are lost when Kara briefly meets her eyes. An icy blue stare causes her to stutter and stop speaking.

Lena brushes a few strands of hair from her face, she wants to snap at Kara to let her know she shouldn’t have stormed off this morning. That she should have given her a chance to properly explain herself, to explain Veronica. Instead she just breathes and forces herself to finish speaking.

“Anyway, I’ll steer clear of the hotel, it’s your night after all,” Lena finishes, shoving her hands into her pockets.

“You’re going to stay away from your own hotel?” Kara turns to her, brow raising in confusion.

Lena silently nods, ready to simply walk away. Before she reaches the door, she turns back to address Kara once more. “For the record, I was only showing Veronica around...”

She watches as a frown settles back onto Kara’s face, she almost regrets bringing Veronica up. The thing is, Lena wants Kara to know, wants to make it clear. No more misunderstandings.

“I know you probably don’t care and that you’re mad, but I named the hotel after her a long time ago,” Lena grimaces, shifting awkwardly on her feet. “Time passed, it was too late and way too expensive to change it. I’m sorry, that’s not how I wanted you to find out.”

“Okay...” Kara replies softly, but she says nothing further.

This infuriates Lena, but she stays quiet. As the pair look at each other, her heart drops into her stomach. With the way this is going, she can’t wait for the gallery to be moved from her hotel. Her heart will hurt less when she doesn’t have to look at or think about Kara Danvers and this damn gallery anymore.

Kara nearly forgot she is supposed to meet Cat for a few last minute things at the Grant Gallery before opening tonight. Thinking about the woman still makes her feel incredibly anxious, but certainly less than when she worked there.

After all, she started a whole ass gallery, pretty much by herself, built from the ground up. It is everything she’s ever wanted for her career and so much more.

That’s when Kara realizes she hasn’t exactly been paying attention to what Cat is saying right now. She feels color rush to her cheeks as she shifts awkwardly, hoping she hasn’t missed something critical.

“Many artists have fallen in love with me,” Cat sighs dramatically, adjusting the glasses on the bridge of her nose.

Clearly, Kara hasn’t missed anything too important. The blonde sighs and sinks into her chair. “I know all about your many lovers...”

Kara freezes, did she really just say that to Cat Grant? She did. Now, she wants to die.

“What a strange thing to say,” Cat muses. “A very, very, strange thing.”

“Ms. Grant, I am so sorry,” Kara’s blue eyes go wide. “I shouldn’t have said that. It’s just that I’ve learned everything about you and, and...” The blonde pauses again, realizing she might be digging herself into an even deeper hole.

Cat calmly and coolly holds her hand up to silence Kara, “I have something I would like to contribute to your installation.”

“You do?” Kara blinks, watching Cat pull out a deep red, velvet box and pass it to her.

Kara hesitates before reaching for the box, she examines each and every side of it before slowly opening it to expose the contents.

“It’s empty,” Kara notes as she opens it. Her brow crinkles in confusion before she spots a slight smile pulling at Cat’s mouth.

Cat steeples her hands and leans forward on the large, white table sitting between them. “Keirah, let me tell you a story.”

Kara sits the box down and lets her hands fall into her lap, anticipating the words she’s about to hear, “Okay.”

“This is not something I share with many people,” Cat breathes in as if preparing to expose a secret. “Many years ago, I was married to a man. He was a very jealous man, the sort of man who was jealous about everything. Absolutely everything, you name it, he was jealous.”

Kara winces when, forming a picture of the man in her mind as she listens. She’s learned everything she possibly could about Cat Grant, hoping to one day emulate her. This is something new. 

“This isn’t in your biography,” Kara muses softly. Thankfully, Cat ignores her.

“He tried to kill my enthusiasm, “ Cat shakes her head. “Eventually, I couldn’t take it anymore. I realized I had to do something before he completely crushed my spirit, before I was little more than a shadow of myself.”

Kara anxiously glances at the ring box still sitting on the table as Cat pauses her story. “What happened?”

“I left him,” Cat replies with a derisive snort. “Sold the ring, used the money to start the Grant Gallery. I wanted to represent artists who made me feel enthusiastic and well, I never looked back.”

Kara blinks, taking in what she’s just heard, “That’s incredible. Ms. Grant?”

“Yes, Keirah?” Cat raises a perfectly manicured brow.

“Do you regret marrying him?” Kara asks hesitantly.

“Never,” Cat shakes her head. “I wouldn’t be me if our paths never crossed.”

Kara blinks, she never thought about it that way. It’s enlightening, she continues to listen to Cat.

“I also wouldn’t be me,” Cat shifts in her chair. “If I had never let him go.”

Then Cat reaches toward Kara, who hesitates before putting out her hand. This feels oddly intimate, but she isn’t really sure what else she should do at this moment.

“Pain, my dear, is inevitable,” Cat gives her hand a light squeeze. “It’s what you do with it that matters.”

As soon as their meeting is over, Kara dashes out of the gallery with one thing on her mind. She needs to get back to her apartment right now.

Not only does she need to get ready for the gallery opening, of course that is extremely important, but before that, way before that, there is something she needs to do.

Kara enters her apartment, breezing right past Nia, Brainy, and Alex with this thought in her mind. Kara goes straight to her bedroom and grabs the small trash can that lives beside her dresser. Is it enough? Certainly not, but it’s a start.

Blue eyes dart around her room before picking a place and grabbing items. Every trinket, every knick-knack, every little piece of junk and she starts throwing them away. Piece after piece lands in the trash can with a thunk. 

“Kara?” Alex peeks her head in through the open door, but her younger sister ignores her and continues with laser focus.

“Kara, what the fuck are you doing?” Nia says, leaning against the doorway.

Kara continues to ignore them and continues to grab items, clearing off one surface at a time at a breakneck pace without seeming like she’s going to stop.

“This is new,” Alex remarks as she simply watches.

“This is weird,” Nia snorts. “Hey Kara, do you need help?”

The blonde continues to ignore her and keeps working.

Every chipped mug, every bag with shoelaces, every busted bobble head, and salt shaker. It’s gone. Tossed away. Because Kara can see now that she doesn’t need these things anymore. Even without them she’s not a lesser version of herself. She’s still Kara Danvers.

Kara loses track of time as she continues her purge and eventually she’s content with all the work she’s done. For the first time in...well, she’s not sure how long, there are clean surfaces in her room. The blonde lets out a contented sigh of relief as she sits down on her bed looking around.

“I did it,” Kara mutters to herself, glancing at her doorway to see Alex and Nia enter the room looking around in awe.

“No kidding, it’s like 99.99% less hoardery,” Nia remarks.

“I, too, am impressed,” Alex comes in and sits down beside her. “We never knew what we’d find in here and not in a fun way.”

“You know what? Maybe I should throw you two out with the trash,” Kara glares at the pair. “Marie Kondo your asses into oblivion.”

“You wouldn’t dare,” Alex sniffs.

“Try me,” Kara glares, “Because right now, you certainly are not sparking joy.” The blonde gets up to stroll over to her closest, pulling out what she’s wearing to the gallery opening. Out of the corner of her eye she can see Nia sit down next to Alex giving her sister an anxiously look.

“Speaking of sparking joy,” Nia runs her hands over her skirt, smoothing the material. “Inquiring minds would like to know, is Lena coming tonight? Please say yes.”

Kara’s jaw tightens a little when she hears the brunette’s name. Twenty-four hours ago, of course her friend turned lover or whatever she is, would be there. Now, Kara is not so sure.

“Don’t know, don’t care,” Kara informs her primly. “Tonight is my night, I don’t care about her.” The blonde’s heart twinges when she says it, but she chooses to ignore it. Lena is a problem for another time, another night. Instead, she pulls out the new suit she bought for the night and starts to get ready. Then she notices her sister and best friend arguing amongst each other in hushed tones.

“I’m good for it, you know that!” Nia speaks through gritted teeth. 

“Fuck that! You owe me so much money,” Alex hisses.

Kara’s blue eyes narrow as she turns to face Alex and Nia, “Hey. What’s going on?”

The pair immediately shut up, looking at Kara with wide eyes. The blonde places her hands on her hips staring them down, “Come on, spill. Nia, why do you owe Alex money?”

The two women anxiously look at each other before looking back at Kara. “She started it!” Nia whines, pointing at Alex.

“Started what?” Kara’s eyes narrow as she approaches them. “Someone better have the decency to tell me what’s going on or I swear on–”

“We bet that you and Lena would get back together!” Alex admits hastily, then sighs dramatically. “You know, it actually feels good to get that off my chest.”

“Alex...” Kara speaks through gritted teeth.

“I said no. I obviously won,” Alex folds her arms across her chest. “I always win.”

“Y-You what!” Kara blinks. “Alex, what the fuck did you just say?!”

“We bet on all your relationships,” Nia clarifies.

Kara can’t believe what she’s hearing, her older sister and her best friend have apparently been secretly betting on her relationships. “How long? How much? Guys, what the hell!”

“Which question do you want us to answer first?” Nia asks innocently.

“Nia!” Alex yelps, “You can’t just cave under pressure. Stand strong!”

“How much?!” Kara reiterates. “How much money have you guys bet over the years?”

“Pennies!” Alex interjects. “It’s nothing, really...a nominal amount, right Nia?”

“Oh, totally,” Nia nods in an unconvincing manner.

“Tell me, tell me now.” Kara glares.

“It’s only a number,” Nia shrugs, “it’s really not that big of a deal, I swear.”

“I promise, Kara, it’s really nothing,” Alex continues, the pair seem like they’re practically ready to grovel.

“Tell me, right now!” Kara loudly stamps her foot against the floor.

“Seven-hundred ninety-eight dollars and thirty-four cents as of an hour ago.”

All three women fall silent and turn to see Brainy standing there. They are all staring at Nia’s partner in utter confusion. Briefly, Kara wonders if she’s ever actually heard Brainy speak before.

“Now? You choose to speak now!?!” Nia cries out as Brainy non-chalantly shrugs his shoulders. “We’re getting a divorce.”

“We were never married,” Brainy muses, brows furrowed.

“Well, hurry up and ask me so I can divorce you!” Nia continues.

A playful grin spreads across Brainy’s face, “Nia, will you marry me?”

“Get out!” Nia and Alex shriek in unison. 

Chapter Text

“I don’t even know why I’m here, I’ve never been broken up with before. It’s me who does the breaking up, that’s just how it goes.”

-Veronica Sinclair

Lena feels miserable, miserable to the point she wonders if she’s coming down with something. Her stomach won’t settle, she has a headache, and overall she feels like crap. Which is why she’s here at the pharmacy in an attempt to find something to make her feel better.

“Thanks for letting me crash at your place tonight,” Lena sighs, reaching for a bottle of Tylenol and glancing over her shoulder at Sam standing beside her. “I just want to stay out of Kara’s way and now I’m feeling like crap so this feels like the best option.”

Sam lets out a dramatic sigh that the brunette doesn’t miss, “I’m not making you late am I?”

“No, no, no,” Sam shakes her head. “but are you sure that you’re not going?”

Lena groans, “I already told you, Sam. Plus, I’m pretty sure I have a fever. Can you see if my forehead is warm?”

Sam rolls her eyes, “No.”

“Why not?” Lena frowns.

“Because I know you don’t have a fever,” Sam presses her lips into a thin line.

“How do you know if you don’t check?” Lena shoots back.

“Because I know you’re fine and you’re driving me nuts!” Sam replies sharply.

“Can we please get a move on?” Andrea whines, munching on a package of Takis. “I’m pregnant, tired, and I sure as hell didn’t put heels on only to show up late.”

Lena glares at her oldest friend, “I’m in the middle of a health crisis here.”

“No, you’re not,” Andrea replies coolly with another loud crunch.

“You don’t know that,” Lena pouts at Andrea.

Andrea gives her a knowing look before turning to Sam and snapping her fingers, “You need to straighten her out now.”

“What? Why me?” Sam grumbles.

“Now,” Andrea reiterates. “Lena needs to know and I’m not going to let her continue with this delusion of being sick.”

“It’s not a delusion!” Lena folds her arms across her chest. “I’m really and truly sick, Andrea. You’re one of my oldest friends, I thought that maybe you–”

“You’re not sick!” Andrea insists, “Honestly, I think I want to revoke letting you crash at our place.”

“What?!” Lena exclaims, “Why?”

“Sam...” Andrea firmly states, “she’ll listen to you, tell her.”

“Tell me what!” Lena glares between her two friends.

“Tell her!” Andrea insists, “I’m going to wait outside and we’re not going to be late!” There’s a note of finality in the other woman’s voice.

“Alright,” Sam reaches out to grab Lena’s shoulders, “Lena, honey. You’re not sick.”

“You don’t know that!” Lena pouts, again her stomach twists and turns.

“You're not sick,” Sam repeats as she gently tucks a stray strand of hair behind Lena’s ear.

“I feel it,” The brunette whines. “I feel incredibly ill, actually maybe instead of going to your place I should just go to urgent care.”

“You’re not sick, you’re heartbroken, girl. It’s practically written all over your face,” Sam sighs before gently prying the Tylenol, Pepto, and other over the counter meds out of Lena’s hand.

“N-No, I’m not,” Lena frowns. “I’m definitely not heartbroken, I have nothing to be heartbroken about.”

“Yes, yes, you are,” Sam sighs. “Lena, babe...where do you think the money came from?”

“Money?” Lena blinks. “W-What money?” Even though there is a voice in her head telling her she knows what money she’s talking about. 

“Lena, you know which money,” Sam confirms.

Lena frowns, a crease forming in her brow. “The loan?”

“The loan,” Sam nods, “The loan that saved your ass. The one that has finally made The Veronica a reality.”

A blush starts to rise on Lena’s face and she looks away from Sam, feeling it deepen further and further. “What about it?”

“Well, remember how we thought we were fucked and then a mysterious private lender stepped in?” Sam prods as Lena nods along. “Kara had Cat Grant float you the money, she’s your hero or whatever you want to call her.”

Lena’s breathing is rapid and shallow, she can’t believe what she’s hearing and she’s absolutely stunned. Kara has done all this? Kara got her the loan? Saved the hotel, saved everything? She gave Lena the chance she needed to make her mark on the world, a mark that is truly her own. Something without the Luthor shadow hanging over her.

“I-I-I have to go,” Lena swallows. “Sam, I have to go.”

“Lena, I promise you’re not sick,” Sam shakes her head.

“Not that,” Lena shakes her head. “I-I-I’ve just remembered I have something really important that I need t-to do, right now.”

It feels strange for Kara to be here in the hotel looking everything over one last time, a part of her wishing Lena could be here with her. She knows the brunette promised to stay away so of course, Lena is nowhere to be found. Kara finds herself wishing it wasn’t the case.

Unfortunately, her anger at Lena is still burning brightly. She keeps asking the same question, why hadn’t she told her about Veronica? 

“How’s it going up here?” Nia asks, walking up beside her.

“Oh you know, just overseeing a few last minute details,” Kara offers an awkward smile.

“Oh yeah, are you sure that’s all?” Nia asks, hands on her hips.

Kara purses lips in response to her friend, “If you’re about to bug me about Lena again, I’ve already told you.”

“I know, I know,” Nia holds up her hands. “Just thought maybe I’d try something.”

Kara sighs, “I want to focus on my night. I’ll address the Lena thing later.”

“Sure thing, boss,” Nia offers up a mock salute.

Kara checks the time on her phone before doing one last visual sweep of the lobby. It’s time to open the doors. Her first gallery, her first opening. Kara is certain she can’t possibly be more excited.

She is momentarily hit with a quick burst of anxiety that she’ll open the doors and no one will be there. Which is quickly disproven when there are already so many people waiting outside the hotel. Kara has to quickly step back and soon the space is packed to the brim with people. She couldn’t be more happy.

Kara wanders around the space watching people interact with everything, enjoying her creation and concept. Still, something is missing. The blonde turns to look up at the balcony where she was standing earlier, hoping to catch a glimpse of Lena up there.

Of course she isn’t there, she said she wouldn’t be. Lena promised to stay away and Kara’s heart sinks again at the thought.

The first hour of the event passes with unprecedented speed, people are schmoozing, drinking, chatting, and wandering. Before she knows it, Kara is being ushered to the staircase, microphone in hand, to welcome her guests and discuss her installation. This time, she’s stone cold sober and determined not to make the same mistakes she did last time.

The crowd is still buzzing as Kara spots Sam and Andrea. She frowns, hoping perhaps they convinced Lena to go back on her word. Shaking her head, she refocuses, there’s no time to think about that now. Now is her moment.

Kara squeezes the microphone tightly before taking a deep breath to start her speech. “Good evening hoarders, art freaks, and to those of us who are a little bit of both.”

She smiles as she hears light laughter all across the lobby. Kara notes this place really has incredible acoustics. “Welcome to the Broken Hearts Ball, the opening event for The Broken Hearts Gallery, hosted with the help of the esteemed Grant Gallery.”

Again, she’s met with loud applause and it feels downright electric. Kara beams at the surrounding crowd. The space is filled with people who love her, support her, care about her, and are interested in her. With the exception of one person. The person who really did make this whole thing possible. She feels a tear form in the corner of her eye and she tries not to think about how much her heart is hurting while she speaks.

“This place, it is far from your average gallery,” Kara laughs, her eyes finding the bar where she and Lena spent hours drinking scotch. Now, it’s perfectly complete with its red neon sign reading In Medias Res. In the middle of things.

“Most galleries aren’t filled with junk because that’s really what most of this is if we’re honest,” Kara nods at the audience. “But that doesn’t make it totally useless because it’s all worth something to someone. It tells a story of love, loss, hope, and heartbreak. Of the past, present, and future. It’s the things we keep, the souvenirs of a life well lived that help tell our story. The junk drawer of our lives. Bobble heads, ex-girlfriends necklaces, a ceramic clown music box that inexplicably plays ‘Send in the Clowns’. No matter how beautiful or weird, it’s all a part of our story.”

She pauses for a moment as she thinks about what Lena said the first night they were alone together in The Veronica. “It’s a record of the places we stopped along the way, much like this hotel.” 

Kara rocks a little on her feet, looking down at silver ballet flats before she looks back out at the crowd. “I started collecting because I-I-I lost someone a long time ago. Her body is still here, but her mind is gone.”

The blonde scans the crowd to find Alex who is smiling softly, giving a slight nod of encouragement.

“With that, I...we’ve still lost so much of her because of it,” Kara swallows down the lump in her throat. “It hurt, it still hurts all the fucking time.” She pauses realizing that despite this being her gallery, swearing is probably not the best call. “In many ways, my mom was my first heartbreak.”

Kara bites her lip, forcing herself to breathe in and out slowly, she still has so much she wants and needs to say. “I think the situation with my mom broke something inside me. I started to think someday that would be me. That I would forget all the things that were important to me and I would be forgotten in turn. I clung to my collection. I say collection now, but before they were treasures. In reality, this collection kept me from moving forward. I can see that now.”

Kara takes the time for another pause as she speaks. She hasn’t fallen down dramatically or said something horrifically stupid. Thank goodness, no repeats of her first attempt this time.

“I think heartbreak is one of the loneliest experiences anyone can have and it happens to all of us in one way or another,” Kara adjusts her crisp, white blazer. “In that way, it’s the world's great equalizer. It sucks, no one can deny that, but it’s not all bad. Because heartbreak is what led me to create this place.” The blonde takes a moment to gesture at the perfectly decorated lobby around her, to the displays with the items showing the various ways heartbreak has manifested for the people of National City.

“It’s funny,” Kara snorts lightly. “I guess when you put it that way, the thing that broke me in the end is what made me whole. Piece by piece.”

“Kara!”

Kara looks up when she hears the familiar voice, a very familiar voice. It’s Lena and she’s pushing through the crowd with an extremely large item in tow. What is that? 

“Kara!” Lena cries out again, “Excuse me, coming through! Please, be careful!”

“Uhh...” Kara’s blue eyes widen, “I would like to direct everyone’s attention to some of our various installations, particularly the audio recordings of–”

“Kara! Kara, please!” Lena cries out loudly, getting closer to the front as the crowd slowly splits to let her through. 

“Not right now!” Kara hisses, her face flushing.

“Yes, now!” Lena demands. “Please!”

“So, sorry everyone, this is a little bit awkward,” Kara laughs uncomfortably. Then she walks down the stairs, decreasing the distance between herself and Lena. “Lena, what the hell are you doing?” Kara asks, a crinkle forming in her brow.

“A grand gesture,” Lena shrugs. “I thought you would like that sort of thing.”

“I do, but does it have to be right now?” Kara anxiously bites her lip. “This is really a bad time, I’m kind of in the middle of something.”

“No, I have to do this now,” Lena insists firmly.

“Can’t it wait?” Kara pleads, taking another step closer.

“No,” Lena shakes her head. “Kara, the map was mine.”

“What?” Kara blinks in surprise, she then glances over to the map mounted on the wall. The first real donation to the gallery. The one Lena brought her back to see the day after.

“The map, it was mine,” Lena repeats. “I put it there with the tie, I wrote ‘he’ because...I don’t know, I wanted to throw you off I guess?” The brunette shrugs her shoulders, “I wasn’t ready to admit it was me. Sometimes when I think about what led to it...it still hurts.”

Kara takes a deep breath, she’s about to start speaking again when Lena doesn’t give her the chance.

“Okay, here it goes,” Lena sighs, “I-I met Veronica when I was working in a hotel. Actually, it was the same place that inspired me to want to open my own someday.” The brunette starts to explain, “I fell for her so quickly and I loved her so much. I had never felt like that for anyone. I was so certain I’d never feel that way ever again. I looked past everything she ever did to me. The pain, the hurt, the way she ignored me, and didn’t care about what I wanted. I looked past all of it for five fucking years.”

Kara silently stands there letting Lena bare her soul, not just to her, but to this entire lobby filled mostly with strangers. This takes guts and Kara feels herself swell with pride knowing this isn’t an easy thing for the brunette to do.

“Then, when I finally saw her for what she is, it was far too late,” Lena’s voice cracks as she speaks. “She left me for my boss and I was devastated. I never wanted anyone to make me feel that way ever again so I cut myself off from love. I didn’t want to open myself up to that kind of hurt again. Then I met you.”

“Awwww.”

Kara turns to see Alex looking at her with her dark eyes wide, the blonde blushes.

“I put the map on the wall so that I could have the excuse to see you again,” Lena continues. “It was the best thing I could think of at the time.”

Kara is truly touched by the gesture and starts to laugh. “That’s sweet, but you know you could have just asked me to dinner. Right?” She watches as an intense flush floods across Lena’s porcelain skin. Kara takes a few more steps toward Lena who has been inching closer to her as well.

“I thought I was being clever,” Lena shrugs. “In hindsight, I probably should have done things differently.”

“You think?” Kara raises a brow and snorts.

“Well, you know what they say, love makes you do stupid things,” Lena rubs at the back of her neck, her face growing redder still.

“Okay,” Kara nods, she notices her friends are worming their way through the crowd toward where Lena is standing with her large…whatever it is, behind her. “This is sweet and all, but I really have a speech to get back to.”

“D-Do you want me to go?” Lena asks warily, her beautiful green eyes filling with a sadness that’s causing Kara’s stomach to tie itself into intense knots.

“It’s your hotel, you should stay,” Kara insists. “Now, I have to finish.”

Kara starts to walk back up the stairs to the balcony, but as she does she can hear the crowd's muffled mutterings and whispers. She tries to ignore it and shove everything to the back of her mind, to focus on what she still wants to say about the exhibit.

“Oh for crying out loud, I’ve had enough of this,” Andrea works her way through the crowd. “I’m pregnant, tired, my feet hurt, and you two need to sort this out.”

“But I really need to finish my speech,” Kara informs the other woman awkwardly.

“Sure, sure,” Andrea waves her off. “You want to know what I think you should do? I think you need to love her back,” she points at Lena.

“Excuse me, what?” Kara blinks.

“Love her back,” Andrea replies with a smirk.

“I agree!” Alex steps forward, “I think you should love Lena back.”

“But my speech,” Kara mutters.

“Love her back!” Nia cries out as she steps forward gesturing to the crowd. “Come on everyone.”

Kara turns back around, holding the microphone to her mouth, “I know this sounds really sweet to you all, but you’re missing out on a lot of context–”

It does nothing because now the entire crowd is already chanting along with her friends.

“Love her back! Love her back! Love her back!”

“Great, we’re chanting now. Just what I needed.” Kara shakes her head and looks back at Lena, who is still calmly standing there. She shrugs her shoulders at the blonde.

“Love her back! Love her back!”

Kara pauses to take a breath and walks back down the stairs toward Lena, “I’m telling you, I feel nothing in this shriveled up heart of mine. I’m like the Grinch these days. It’s just an empty cavity.”

“That’s okay,” Lena smiles softly. “I really just came to tell you, I changed the name of the hotel. But it’s no big deal, just something I had in the works for a while.”

“You what?” Kara’s eyes widen as she takes in what Lena wheeled in behind her. It’s a large neon sign that reads The Heartbreak Hotel. Kara’s hand rises to her heart that’s beating wildly in her chest as she takes in the bright red neon.

“I can’t believe you did that,” Kara gasps.

“Like I said,” a smile quirks at Lena’s lips, “It’s no big deal.”

“No big deal my ass!” Kara cries out and glances around at the gathered crowd. “Okay, I’m only doing this because if I don’t they’re going to all turn on me.”

She doesn’t even give Lena the chance to respond, she leans in to capture her lips in a warm, passionate kiss. A kiss that sends shivers straight down her spine, one Kara doesn’t want to end. This is even better than the last time they kissed. 

The crowd around them is cheering loudly when they break apart laughing. Kara sees the way Lena’s eyes sparkle with pure delight. “Beautiful,” Kara mutters as she cups Lena’s chin before leaning in for another kiss and are again met by another loud cheer.

The pair are so caught up in each other, they’re unaware of the party starting without them.. Eventually, they’re seated on the stairs watching the party rage on.

“There’s something I want to tell you,” Kara sighs.

“What?” Lena asks.

“I never collected anything from you,” Kara admits.

“You didn’t?” The brunette seems surprised at this new revelation. “Why?”

Kara shakes her head, “Well, I think it’s because I love you, too.”

“You dork,” Lena scoffs before leaning in again for one more kiss.