Find Me a Find, Catch Me a Catch

Chapter 17 - Boundaries

Carefully sitting on the same bed, but a respectful distance away, Kara asked, "For?"

"World conquest?"

Face scrunched up, Kara shook her head.

Lena laughed again, and this time it held some humor. "All right, so maybe I didn't inherit the Luthor gene for diabolical world domination. I did have plans to conquer new frontiers, make changes to the world with clean energy and communication. I want to make this world a better place."

"Oh, Rao, Lena." Kara smiled. "You make this world a better place just by being in it."

Smiling in return, Lena said, "And you make my world a better place by being in it. That hasn't happened for me in a very long time. You're a bit of an addiction, Miss Danvers, and I believe I might be hooked."

Nodding a bit rapidly, Kara pushed some hair behind her ear and hesitantly inched just the tiniest bit closer to Lena. "So, are you looking at some kind of twelve step program or something?"

"Heh. The first step would be admitting I have a problem." Her head turned toward Kara, Lena looked through her lashes. "Is this a problem?"

Kara blushed slightly as she looked down, but quickly returned to meeting Lena's gaze. "No. So, what you said downstairs about not wanting to keep our relationship professional, you meant that?"

"Kara, you're my best friend. No matter what, I don't want that to change. I'd be miserable if I lost your friendship."

"Oh." Brows furrowed, Kara seemed to draw in on herself.

Perhaps sensing Kara's emotional retreat, Lena reached across the gap between them, placing her hand on Kara's. "Back at my apartment, before we were so rudely interrupted by a world killer, you said something to me. Do you remember what you said?"

"Was it about popcorn?"

"Yes," Lena admitted with a laugh. "Popcorn did play a major part in our discussion. We're not going to get off course here and need to feed your stomach, are we?"

Head shaking, Kara replied, "I ate before I came up here. This didn't seem like the type of conversation I should have on an empty stomach."

"Thank you," Lena replied sincerely. "So, in my apartment, you said you didn't want just my friendship. Do you remember that?"

Kara paused while they held eye contact before saying, "Yes."

"Did you mean that?"

"Yes."

"Good."

"Good?"

"I told you I thought we'd been kidding ourselves for a while now, Kara. Emotionally, there's been something going on for a while, but we haven't put a name to it. I don't know if it's because you're an alien or I'm a Luthor or both. Maybe it's the combination we have going on here, but I think we would have just kept dancing around this relationship question and going on not dates for...well, forever if we hadn't had some kind of wakeup call here, don't you?"

"Maybe. I'd like to think we would have figured this out on our own." Sliding closer to Lena and squeezing her hand, Kara asked, "So, where do we go from here? I like you."

"Well, I hope so."

With an eye roll, Kara said, "Rao, Lena, you know what I mean. I care about you and not just the way that friends do. I'm...I'm attracted to you."

"There, was that so hard to say?"

"Apparently," Kara mumbled.

Leaning over slightly so that her head laid on Kara's shoulder, Lena said, "I'm attracted to you too in case you needed to hear me say that."