Monday morning arrives in Metropolis and Alex is left in a bit of an awkward state. Both Ruby and Sam head off to school and work, respectively, leaving Alex alone by herself, in the woman she wants to date's home. It's all very weird and uncomfortable, which is made worse by the fact that Alex can't just call her sister because she is fast asleep on the other side of the country, three time zones away. So, Alex does the only reasonable thing that she can think of, and decides to get out her phone and head into Metropolis to try and figure out where she wants to take Sam on a date, later in the evening. But Alex is met with yet another problem as, as soon as she leaves the house and closes the front door realisation sets in that she has no way to get back inside, meaning she will have to wait for either Ruby and/or Sam to get back home. But Alex decides that is a problem for later, and hopefully she can spend enough time in Metropolis to pass the hours by, so by the time she heads back one of the two Arias women will be home.
Alex gets an Uber to drive her into Metropolis. Once she arrives she notices it is a lot different to National City. Everything is a lot more cramped and busy, with people shoving passed one another constantly. Alex thinks that National City is much better in that regard, although she is sure there are many many other reasons that make National City superior too. Now that she is in the city, the first thing Alex decides is that she needs to buy herself some clothes to wear on her date. Of course, she had time to pack a few things in a bag before she left her apartment the day before, but she completely forgot to pack anything that she could wear on a date. Although Alex admits that stuffing a dress or a suit inside her small bag probably wouldn't have been ideal, as she would have creased the clothes to high heavens. So, Alex decides that she needs to spend the first bit of her time actually figuring out what she is going to wear.
A few hours later, a lot more time has passed by than Alex expected, and she still hasn't figured out what she wants to wear on her date. The problem Alex has been facing is that her first instinct was to wear a nice dress, to kind of 'dress up' for Sam, and attempt to be alluring and sexy. But then another part of Alex kind of liked the idea of wearing a suit, which can be just as sexy. However, Alex has never really worn a three-piece suit, ever, let alone for a date, she is well aware she isn't exactly Lena in that regard. But soon after this dilemma, another one occurs in Alex's brain. Alex realises that whatever outfit she wears won't matter if it's not appropriate for the date which she is planning to take Sam on. The only problem with that is Alex has no idea where she wants to take Sam on a date. Of course the most obvious choice would be to just find a nice fancy restaurant, dress up, and take Sam out and have a nice romantic dinner with her. But the issue with that is that it's not very Alex. Sure, Alex likes the idea of a romantic dinner with a partner, but not as a first date. Alex wants to do something fun on a first date, something memorable, not something so cliché as getting to know one another over a romantic dinner, not that there is anything wrong with that, it's just not what Alex wants. All in all, the whole situation has left Alex in a bit of a panic, still having no idea what she is going to wear or where she is even going to take Sam.
Eventually Alex looks down at her phone and sees that it is currently 10:30AM. Alex works out in her head that that means back in National City it'll be 7:30AM, which Alex decides is a reasonable enough time to call her sister in her panic.
Currently in National City Lena and Kara are both cuddled up under the covers in Kara's bed. Neither woman plans to rise until somewhere near 8 in the morning. Of course, usually Lena would be up a lot earlier than even now, but being with Kara has changed that for her. Usually Lena struggled to sleep, and when she did wake up in the morning she couldn't go back to sleep, so she would decide that the best use of her time would be to get a head start on her day, and head into L-Corp early. This usually resulted in Lena arriving at L-Corp closer to 7AM, than her companies actual start of the work day at 9AM. But Lena has found that laying next to Kara, cuddled up with her, has allowed her to fall asleep, and stay asleep, so much easily than before. Then even in the few times when Lena has woken and been unable to fall back asleep, she much rather enjoys the idea of staying snuggled with Kara than heading to work early. Lena thinks this change is just because she actually has something to wake up to. Before she would wake up to an empty apartment and her first interaction of the day would be with her driver to work, and that would only be limited to directions of where she wanted to go and a please and/or thank you. But now, Lena can wake up to both Kara and Alura surrounding her, and she loves all the morning moments she shares with them. It is so much better than her lonely morning routine before.
Lena and Kara are both disturbed from their sleep by the buzzing of Kara's phone.
Kara groans.
"Kara... it's your phone...." Lena grumbles.
Kara groans again and reaches out to answer.
"Hmm.... hello?" Kara answers.
"Did I wake you?" Alex asks from the other end of the call.
"Yes Al, you did." Kara replies, only slightly annoyed. Mostly annoyed because the call is cutting into her cuddle time with Lena.
"Sorry, but I need your help." Alex says.
"Okay, what is it?" Kara asks, concern in her voice.
Lena looks over at Kara and gives her a curious look.
"It's Alex." Kara says to Lena as she takes the phone away from her face.
"I got here and Sam agreed to go on a date with me tonight..." Alex begins.
"That's great!" Kara interrupts.
"You didn't let me finish!" Alex says, scolding her sister for interrupting.
"Sorry." Kara replies, sheepishly.
"Anyway, I got here last night and Sam agreed to go on a date with me tonight, but I'm freaking out as to what to wear, or where to take her." Alex explains to Kara.
"Alex, why don't you just take her on a romantic dinner?" Kara suggests.
"No, I hate that stuff! It's so cliché! It's not me! No offense." Alex says.
Kara chuckles.
"None taken. But honestly Al, I don't really know what else to..." Kara says and then is cut off by Lena grabbing the phone away from her.
"Alex, it's Lena. Take Sam bowling." Lena says down the phone.
"Uhhhh.... Hi Lena.... I uhhh.... bowling?" Alex asks, nervous and confused.
"Yes, Sam loves bowling, but unfortunately Ruby very much hates it, so she never gets to do it. If you take Sam bowling it will be a fun activity for you both and I know she will have a lot of fun." Lena explains.
"Oh, wow, thank you Lena! That's a great idea! Thank you so much!" Alex says.
Lena takes the phone and puts it on speaker so Kara can hear.
"If put you on speaker Alex." Lena says.
"Okay.... so what should I wear?" Alex asks.
"Al, if you are going bowling, you should probably wear something casual, but cute." Kara suggests.
"Perhaps a nice pair of jeans, a shirt, and a nice jacket?" Lena suggests further.
"Yes.... okay.... I think I can do that...." Alex nods, still nervous.
"Alex, Sam really likes you, you really don't have to be nervous. Just do whatever you feel comfortable with and it will all be fine." Lena says.
"I uhh....... thank you Lena..... for everything." Alex replies.
"Of course. After all I think you'll be good for my best friend, so my reasons for helping you are entirely selfish." Lena smirks.
Alex laughs.
"Sure thing Luthor." Alex says down the phone with a big smile.
"Yeah Al. Just be yourself, have fun and don't do anything I wouldn't do." Kara smirks.
Alex laughs again.
"Okay, okay, thank you guys. This has been really helpful. I've been freaking out over the last few hours, but this has helped a lot. I'm sorry for interrupting your morning." Alex says.
"It's fine Al." Kara says.
"Yes, now if you don't mind, I'd like to get back to railing your sister." Lena says with a big smirk.
"WHAT!!" Alex says, grossed out.
"LENA!!" Kara playfully scolds her girlfriend. "She's joking Alex. We are just sleeping. That's it."
"I... I don't want to even know..." Alex says, feeling nauseous picturing her sister having sex.
"Why are you lying to your sister Kara? I literally have my fingers right in your....." Lena begins.
"ALRIGHT, I'M GOING NOW!" Alex says and quickly ends the call.
Lena laughs at what she has caused.
"You enjoyed teasing my sister like that, didn't you?" Kara asks with a pout.
"Oh darling, it's only fair. She interrupted my cuddle time with you after all." Lena smirks.
"You realise that she will find a way to get back at both you and me for that, right?" Kara replies.
"Oh, will she? Well, I'm a Luthor darling. I hope she is prepared for a war she is willing to finish." Lena says with a wink.
Kara groans.
Lena smirks at Kara and takes her girlfriend in for a kiss. Eventually Kara eagerly participates in the kiss, kissing Lena back, passionately.
"Hmm... you know.... maybe you should..." Kara begins but is then interrupted by her bedroom door opening and Alura walking in.
"Mommy, I heard you talking. Is it time to get up?" Alura asks.
Kara shoots Lena a pout and Lena replies with a knowing look and a silent promise for later. Kara then turns to look at her daughter with a smile.
"Sorry we woke you darling. We were just talking to aunt Alex on the phone. But yes, we do need to get ready soon. But why don't you come join us both in bed for a few minutes and we can all have cuddles?" Kara suggests.
Alura doesn't need to be told twice and quickly goes running towards the bed, jumping on top and then crawls between Kara and Lena, getting beneath the covers.
"Good morning, darling." Lena smiles as she places a kiss on the top of Alura's head.
"Morning Lena." Alura smiles as she snuggles closer into Lena.
Kara snuggles closer into Alura, creating a Kara, Alura, Lena sandwich. The three ladies all lay like that for a good five minutes before they get a start to their day's.
As soon as Alex taps off the phone call to Lena and Kara, she quickly puts her phone away and gets to work for her date. Alex begins to have a plan formulate in her mind. But before Alex can do anything like that, she needs to find a bowling alley that actually looks nice, and doesn't seem horribly disgusting, to actually take Sam on their date. Alex spends the next few hours using her phone to see where various bowling alleys are and checking out each one. At around 1PM Alex has visited 5 different bowling alleys, and as she stops for lunch, she decides that she'll take Sam to the 3rd one, which was the nicest.
After Alex finishes her lunch, she finally allows herself to begin shopping for the outfit she is going to wear. Alex sticks to Lena's suggestion, seeking out some nice jeans, a shirt and a jacket, probably a leather one. It may seem a bit ridiculous for Alex to buy a whole new outfit for her date, but after all it's not like she has access to her entire wardrobe while on the other side of the country. Then at the same time, if Alex buys clothes for the date it's not like she can never wear them again for anything else, they can just add to her wardrobe. Alex spends the rest of her afternoon going from store to store, trying to pick out the best ensemble that she thinks looks best on her. Alex doesn't want to wear anything baggy or unfitting, the opposite in fact. Alex wants to wear a nice form fitting pair of jeans, but at the same time, not skin tight. Eventually however, after many hours, Alex completes her shopping, with her final touch being a black pair of slightly heeled ankle boots.
Once Alex is finished shopping, she decides to head back to Sam's, arriving about 30 minutes later. To Alex's surprise Sam's car is on the driveway when she gets there, meaning that she doesn't have to sit and wait outside in the January cold, for Sam and/or Ruby to get home.
"Alex you're back." Sam smiles as she opens the front door to her soon-to-be date.
"Yeah, I decided to go out to get a few things for our date, and figure out where I want to take you." Alex smiles as she steps inside.
Sam smiles back at Alex.
"Well, what did you get?" Sam smirks as she tries to peek into the bags.
Alex moves the shopping bags away from Sam's eyeline.
"No way. You can wait until our date." Alex smirks.
Sam smiles at Alex once more.
"Fair enough. But where are you planning on taking me? I want to dress appropriately." Sam says.
"I thought that we could go bowling and then stop for a bite to eat somewhere after, nothing too fancy or anything. I find the whole fancy romantic dinner on a first date a bit cliché." Alex explains.
A very wide smile appears across Sam's face.
"I love bowling!! I haven't been in years!" Sam says, excitedly.
"I know." Alex smirks, "I may have had a little birdie give me the suggestion."
"Oh, so you talked to Lena then." Sam smiles.
"Yes, I was calling my sister to ask her for some advice, but she obviously was in bed with Lena still." Alex explains.
"Well, those two are getting pretty close and comfortable with each other." Sam smiles, happy for her best friend.
"Yeah, they only went on their first date on Saturday. Did Lena tell you about it?" Alex asks.
"She told me she was taking Kara on their first date on Saturday, last week, but beyond that she refused to tell me where. Then since then, she hasn't been in touched to let me know how it went. Did they tell you?" Sam says.
"All they said is that it was incredible, so it clearly went very, very well. I haven't yet had time to get the details from Kara, seeing as yesterday they both came to my apartment and then quickly shooed me off to get on Lena's private jet and come ask you on a date." Alex smiles.
Sam smiles back at Alex once more.
"Well, I'm glad they did." Sam smiles.
"Yeah, me too." Alex says, slightly breathless as she looks into Sam's eyes.
The two women just both kind of get lost in the moment with each other, staring into one another's eyes. But they are soon interrupted by Ruby.
"Alex! You're back!" Ruby smiles, happily.
Alex turns her attention away from Sam and directs it at Ruby with a smile.
"Yeah, hey Ruby. How was your day at school?" Alex asks.
"Good.... boring... I don't like my school. It's why I'm excited we are moving to National City!" Ruby exclaims with a big smile.
Alex goes wide-eyed with this information. Up until this point Alex thought that Sam was just considering moving to National City, not that she was actually doing it.
"Wow.... I.... I didn't know the move was official.... Lena told me you were considering it...." Alex says, a bit flustered.
"Yeah... well I kept getting distracted at work.... so I just made the decision... that we are going to move to National City." Sam smiles at Alex.
Alex remains silent for a moment, getting a worried look on her face. Alex is just concerned because she doesn't want Sam moving to National City just because she turned up on her doorstep yesterday.
"Alex, what's wrong?" Sam asks, in a concerned tone.
"Nothing.... It's just...... I don't want you guys moving to National City for me..... I can't be your reason.... I know Lena told me you have other ones... but.... I can't help but feel the timing makes it seem like you made the decision.... just because I asked you out.." Alex admits, not wanting to hide how she is feeling about the situation with Sam.
Sam takes a step closer to Alex and shoots her a caring look.
"Alex, yes, you are right. You turning up last night did cause me to make the final decision, but not how you are thinking. I didn't make the decision because the potential to go on future dates with you, and live in the same city. I made it because you turning up last night put a smile on my face, and all today, all I wanted to do was talk to someone, talk to a friend about how excited I am. But I realised.... I don't have any friends in Metropolis. Over the years I have been too busy raising Ruby to make friends beyond Lena, and even then, that was only because we worked together and Lena took a liking to me. But when I thought of you, and you turning up last night, I thought about your friends and family, who we spent a few weeks with, and I realised I want that too. I want that for both me and Ruby. It doesn't even have to be your friends that become that for me. But seeing as my only other friend is in National City, National City seemed like a perfect place to kind of start anew." Sam explains.
Alex remains expressionless for a moment before a relieved smile grows on her face. Alex then lets out a sigh of relief.
"Well, I'm glad that you are not just moving because of me then, or at least didn't make the final decision because of me. I'd hate for you to move across the country and then for us to not work out. I'd feel awful." Alex explains.
Sam smiles at Alex.
"I appreciate you being honest with me." Sam smiles.
"Of course." Alex smiles back.
"Alex?" Ruby interrupts again.
"Yeah Ruby?" Alex smiles at the young girl.
"Can you come play soccer in the yard with me? Mom refuses to play because she doesn't want to get muddy?" Ruby requests.
"Of course I will. Let me just put these clothes in my room." Alex smiles.
"YAY!!!!" Ruby celebrates, excitedly.
"Ruby, if you are going outside, go put something warmer on." Sam says to her daughter.
"Okay mom!" Ruby nods and then rushes upstairs.
"Thank you for doing that, you don't have to." Sam says as she turns back to Alex.
"It's okay, I want to. Ruby is a great girl." Alex smiles.
Sam smiles back at Alex.
Alex and Sam both anxiously make their way to the bowling alley that Alex has chosen out for them to go on their date. It is currently close to 5PM. The two women have decided to go out on their date earlier than would be normal, as it's a week night and Sam has work tomorrow; meanwhile Alex recognises that Sam will probably want to be back so she can put Ruby to bed. Ruby is currently staying with a baby sitter at Sam's home.
Sam and Alex's Uber pulls up to the bowling alley and the two women get out of the car. Alex nervously holds out her hand for Sam to take if she wants. Alex is relieved when Sam takes her hand almost instantaneously. In fact, just the action of Sam holding her hand sends a strange feeling coursing through the entirety of Alex's body. It's not a bad feeling, it's a very nice one. The two then walk hand in hand into the bowling alley, get correctly fitted bowling shoes and make their way over to their private lane.
"I haven't bowled in years!" Sam says excitedly.
Alex chuckles.
"Well hopefully you'll have fun then." Alex smiles.
"Yeah, you'll have to go easy on me." Sam says, innocently.
"Of course." Alex smiles back, wanting to give an alluring wink, but thinking better of it.
Alex bowls first and does pretty well, only having 1 pin remain after her turn. Sam is then up next and bowls the ball into the gutter, with her second ball only knocking down 4 of the pins.
"Uhhh.... I told you.... I guess I'm rusty." Sam says to Alex.
"Don't worry. I'll help you with your next turn." Alex smiles.
Alex then bowls her next turn and doesn't want to come across as super competitive, even though she is. Alex decides to miss the remaining pins on her second bowl of her second turn, leaving 3 pins behind.
"Ah.. see, it's not just you." Alex smiles.
Sam nods with a grin.
"Would you still help me though?" Sam smiles, very innocently.
"Of course." Alex smiles again.
Sam then goes and picks up her bowling ball and stands by the line to the bowling lane, Alex then steps behind her.
"Uhh... so you just want to use your momentum to aim for the middle of the lane. You want to throw the ball a few feet ahead of you instead of just rolling it from the line, and try and use as much power as possible." Alex suggests.
"Uh-huh.... Can you show me?" Sam asks, innocently once more.
Alex is confused for a moment because Sam has just watched her bowl, so she doesn't know why Sam wants her to show her. But Alex then quickly realises that Sam wants her to put her body behind hers and help to guide her bowling arm.
"Uhh.... sure." Alex nods, nervous about the close contact.
Alex then steps up to move closer to Sam, very hesitant. Sam however isn't hesitant at all and just smiles at Alex, encouraging her to come closer. Alex then quickly gathers her nerves and moves behind Sam, pressing her front against Sam's back. Alex swears she hears a distinct hum from Sam as soon as she does this, but she decides to not pay attention to it.
"Right. So you want to hold the bowling ball like that....." Alex begins as she places her left hand on Sam's left hip and her right hand on Sam's right arm, helping her to guide the bowling ball in Sam's right hand. "Then you just want to move your arm back like this.... and then quickly move it forward and let go."
Sam's bowling ball goes flying down the bowling lane and knocks over all but 3 pins.
"That was great!" Alex smiles as she moves away from Sam.
Sam turns around and looks at Alex, alluringly.
"Yeah.... and the bowling was good too." Sam smirks, teasingly.
Alex's eyes go wide and before she can say anything Sam has picked up another ball and is bowling for her next turn. Once Sam is finished Alex then takes her turn, still making sure not to play too well. Alex doesn't think that utterly destroying her date in bowling will give off a good first impression on their very first date.
After Alex finishes her turn she looks at Sam and realises the woman suddenly looks at lot more confident. Sam then picks up a bowling ball, turns to Alex with a smile, gives her a wink and then runs down the lane, letting her ball go flying. Sam's form for her turn is absolutely perfect, and of course she gets a strike.
Alex's eyes go wide and Sam looks at Alex, smirking.
"I think.... I've been hustled." Alex comments.
"What can I say, I like to win, and I'm pretty good." Sam smirks.
"Hmm... well game on Arias." Alex says, now allowing her competitiveness to completely take over. After all, if Sam was going to be so competitive that she hustled Alex for her first few turns, Alex is going to give it back just as good as she gets.
The two women play three games of bowling, including the one they began with. The first game Sam wins 145 to 113. The second game Sam wins again 162 to 151. But then the final game Alex is able to win 153 to 130.
"Well done Alex. I haven't been beaten in years." Sam smirks.
"Yeah. I would have beat you on the first two if you didn't hustle me." Alex says.
Sam laughs.
"I doubt that." Sam smirks.
Alex steps closer to Sam.
"Really?" Alex says, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah, really." Sam replies, stepping closer to Alex.
The two women are a few inches away from each other. The two just end up looking into each other's eyes. Alex is oh so tempted to take Sam in for a kiss, and she is pretty sure that Sam wants her to do that as well. But Alex doesn't like the idea of kissing Sam for the first time in the middle of a bowling alley with a bunch of people looking on at them. So, Alex just tilts her head to the side and glances at the people around them, before moving away from Sam, hopefully signalling to the woman that that's the reason she didn't kiss her.
"This was fun." Alex smiles.
"Yeah. Ruby doesn't like bowling because I always beat her, so I don't get to do it often." Sam smiles.
"You can't even let your daughter win?" Alex smirks.
"Of course not! If she does beat me, I want her to know that she truly earned it." Sam smiles.
Alex chuckles.
"You really are competitive, aren't you?" Alex smiles.
"What can I say? I was keeping my competitiveness at bay while we were playing all those games at the cabin. I wanted to make a good impression." Sam smiles.
Alex laughs once more.
"Alright, that's fair enough. How about we get out of here and grab a bite to eat?" Alex suggests.
"I'd love that. Lead the way." Sam smiles holding onto one of Alex's arms as the two walk away from their bowling lane.
Back in National City Lena has just finished her work day, just after 5PM, and she is heading back over to Kara's again tonight. In any other situation Lena would think that she is spending far too much time with Kara, and they are moving far too fast if they are basically sleeping with each other almost every night. But Lena knows that for the remainder of the week she won't be able to see either Kara or Alura, seeing as she is leaving for her trip to Japan tomorrow evening. So, Lena is going to soak up as much time as she can with Kara and Alura, before she has to leave. Lena already knows that she is going to miss the mother and daughter terribly. She is probably going to be absolutely miserable on her trip, more so than usual. So that is why Lena has decided to leave her office early today, not that 5PM is really early, it just is for Lena. Usually, before Lena became closer to Kara and Alura, Lena wouldn't leave work until well past 7PM, sometimes not until the early hours of the morning. It wasn't just because Lena is a workaholic, which she is. But it was because Lena didn't really have anything to come home to. All Lena would do when she got home was have some food, drink some alcohol, do some more work, then go to bed. She wouldn't find any time to relax or do anything of that nature, as she felt she just simply didn't need it, and even if she did, she didn't have the luxury of being allowed to do it. So instead, Lena would just spend countless hours at L-Corp, only going home for the bare minimum amount of time so she could recharge for the next day. But now that is all different. Lena actually has people she wants to go see after work, even if she still doesn't have anyone to come home to, at least for now. But she has a life away from work, something that she gets joy out of, so she doesn't feel the need to work countless amounts of hours anymore. Then Lena is also well aware that if things do progress with Kara to a certain point where maybe they eventually one day live together, that she doesn't want to be the girlfriend that just gets home late every day of the week, and doesn't get to spend much time in the evening with either Kara or Alura. Lena would truly hate a situation where she could be working so much that every night she gets home and Kara has already eaten dinner and put Alura to bed. So, Lena is getting a good start at making good habits now, by leaving work early, even if it isn't every day.
Lena arrives at Kara's apartment and is greeted by a very happy Alura.
"LENA!!!" Alura yells, running towards her.
Lena chuckles.
"Hello darling. You're acting as if you haven't seen me all week. You saw me this morning!" Lena smiles, but can't help but feel a bit hurt in her heart as she remembers that Alura is going to basically not see her for almost an entire week.
"I know. I just didn't know if I was going to see you again today! I don't like not knowing." Alura admits as she looks at Lena nervously.
Lena once more feels her heart being tugged by Alura's cuteness. Then at the same time, Lena realises that as she has become closer to Alura she needs to take the young girl's needs and emotions into a lot more consideration, not that she isn't already. But Lena just needs to be aware how her actions may be affecting Alura emotionally. In this case Lena is affecting Alura by not making it clear as to when she will see her again each day, leaving Alura in a state of suspense of not knowing.
Lena crouches down and takes Alura in for a hug.
"Oh darling, I'm sorry you feel that way." Lena says as she hugs the young girl tight.
"It okay." Alura nods as she hugs Lena.
"No, it's not. How about from now on I'll make it clear when the next time I will see you will be? That way you don't have to just wonder about it." Lena suggests.
Alura parts from the hug and smiles up at Lena.
"Yes, I'd like that." Alura nods.
"Okay darling." Lena smiles, placing a kiss on Alura's cheek.
Kara then approaches Lena and Lena stands back up.
"Hey." Kara smiles.
"Hello darling." Lena smiles back, taking Kara in for a deep kiss.
Once Lena and Kara part the two just look into each other's eyes smiling. But their moment is interrupted by Alura tugging Lena's shirt to get her attention.
"What is it darling?" Lena smirks as she looks down at Alura.
"When will I see you next?" Alura asks, already wanting to know when the next time she will see Lena will be.
Lena immediately gets a bad feeling in her stomach. Lena truly hates that the first time she is going to tell Alura when she will see her again, in hopes to stop her being anxious and wondering, is when she won't be able to see her for almost a whole week.
"Alura, why don't we all sit on the couch." Kara suggests, clearly noticing Lena's worried look.
"Okay mommy." Alura nods with a smile, leaving Kara and Lena alone by the front door.
Kara then turns to Lena and takes one of her hands in her own.
"It's going to be okay Lee. We can tell her together." Kara says with so much care in her voice.
Lena looks up at Kara, looking her in the eyes.
"I just... don't want to upset or disappoint her." Lena admits.
"I know. But sometimes it can't be helped. And that's okay. Like I said, we can do this together." Kara says with a smile.
"I... okay." Lena nods, nervously.
Kara holds onto Lena's hand tight and guides her towards the couch. Kara and Lena then take a seat on the couch either side of Alura. Alura is smiling looking between both Kara and Lena. Lena truly hates that she is about to wipe the smile from her face.
"Alura, we're not going to be able to see Lena again for a bit." Kara begins.
Alura's smile immediately falls from her face, hurting Lena's heart.
"What, why?" Alura asks, innocently, already sounding like she is on the verge of tears.
Lena reaches out and grabs Alura's hand, allowing Alura to direct her attention towards her.
"Darling..... I have to go away on business.... to Japan.... for a bit.... so I won't be able to see you or mommy." Lena explains.
"For.... for how long?" Alura asks, tears appearing in her eyes.
"I won't be back until sometime on Monday, next week." Lena admits.
Alura's eyes go wide.
"But my birthday is this weekend!" Alura says.
"I know darling. I'm sorry." Lena says, trying not to cry herself now.
"Sweetie. This is just something that we can't help. But you're going to have so much fun with the rest of us at the theme park. Then maybe the three of us can have a separate little second birthday party next week sometime?" Kara suggests.
"No, that won't be the same!" Alura says to her mother and then turns to Lena, full on sobbing now. "Please Lena, don't go. Please come to my birthday."
"Alura I... I....." Lena begins, basically a few seconds from breaking, and just calling off her entire business trip, even if it damages business for L-Crop and makes Jess hate her by giving her assistant a massive head ache.
"Alura, she can't. Lena will have to go away on business sometimes and not see us for a few days or so. She can't change it." Kara says, lovingly, but firmly.
Lena wants to say she can, and she will change it. But Lena remembers her conversation with Kara last night where Kara explained that this will just be a sort of lesson for Alura about how sometimes we all can't get what we want, no matter how much we might all want to make it happen. So, Lena decides that she better not make Kara mad at her by undermining her and saying she will call her trip off.
Alura puts her hands on her eyes and cries, heavily. Lena just looks at Alura, her heart breaking. Lena then reaches out to touch Alura, in an attempt to comfort her.
"Alura I.." Lena reaches out but Alura quickly flinches away.
"NO!!!" Alura yells, looking at Lena with tears in her eyes, "I HATE YOU!!"
Alura then gets up and goes running to her room.
"ALURA!" Kara calls, sternly.
Alura ignores her mother and a few seconds later the slamming of her bedroom door can be heard. Meanwhile, Lena's heart absolutely breaks. Hearing Alura say she hates her, it truly hurts. It hurts far more than any words of torment that Lillian has ever directed at her throughout her childhood and to this day, it just cuts so deep.
Lena breaks down crying.
"Oh Lena. Don't cry. She doesn't mean it." Kara says, taking Lena in for a hug.
"No.... I deserve it..... I should have just put Alura first.... made different arrangement.... She should hate me." Lena says, going back to her old ways of blaming herself for everything, even things out of her control.
"No. Now you listen to me," Kara begins, firmly, "This isn't your fault. I don't want you to ever blame yourself like that, for things you can't control. You can't go about changing business plans, and damaging L-Corp just because Alura is unhappy about not seeing you for a few days, even if you miss her birthday. It's just part of life. You are not to blame for that Lee."
Lena continues to sob as Kara holds her girlfriend tight, placing kisses on her head.
"I... I should go.." Lena says after a few minutes.
"No. You are staying." Kara says, firmly.
"Alura... she doesn't want to see me... I should just leave now..." Lena says.
"No. You stay here. Let me go talk to Alura. If she wants you to leave, you can leave, if you want, even though I don't want you to. But if she doesn't, you have to promise to stay." Kara says.
Lena is silent for a moment, thinking.
"Lena?" Kara asks after about a minute, needing a reply.
"I... okay.... I'll wait until she tells you for me to leave." Lena says, giving in to Kara's idea, fully expecting Alura to want her to leave.
Kara sighs, just taking that as the best response she is going to get for the moment.
"Okay, I'll be back in a bit." Kara says and kisses Lena on the cheek and then gets up.
Kara walks to Alura's door and as she gets to it, she thinks about knocking. But Kara decides she is just going to go in because it's not like she is going to give Alura a choice about whether she enters her room or not anyway. So Kara opens the door and closes it behind her. When she walks inside, she sees Alura curled up in a ball, crying.
"Alura?" Kara calls out, softly, as she moves closer to her daughter.
"Go away!" Alura says.
Kara ignores her daughter and takes a seat on the bed next to her.
"Alura, I need you to talk to me." Kara says.
"I don't want to." Alura replies, still not looking at her mother.
"This isn't Lena's fault, and it wasn't nice what you just said to her." Kara says.
"I don't care. I hate her!" Alura says, firmly.
"No, you don't. You love Lena. You are just disappointed and upset that you are not going to see her for a bit, and that she will miss your birthday." Kara says.
Kara waits for a response but Alura doesn't offer her one.
"But, you know you really hurt Lena by saying you hate her. You made her cry and feel awful. She is now blaming herself for everything, even though none of it is her fault. She even wants to leave, so you won't see her anymore tonight, until next week." Kara says.
Before Kara can open her mouth to speak again Alura has jumped off her bed and has gone running to her door. Kara thinks that Alura is going to go running to the bathroom and slam the door behind her, locking herself inside, just like Lena told her she did at Eliza's home after the cabin.
Kara follows Alura out quickly but notices that Alura goes running in the opposite direction of the bathroom, towards the living room, and towards Lena.
Alura runs towards Lena who is still sitting on the couch sniffling.
"LENA!!!" Alura yells, running towards Lena and then jumping onto the couch and into her lap.
Lena is utterly surprised by Alura's presence, she was sure that the young girl was going to remain in her room until she left.
"I'm sorry.... I don't hate you... I love you... I don't want you to go... I love you... I'm sorry." Alura says, beginning to cry again.
Lena hugs Alura back tightly, happy that Alura is apologising and letting her know she doesn't hate her. Lena for her part has no words to say, so she just cries along with Alura.
"I'm sorry... I love you." Alura keeps mumbling into Lena's chest as the two hug.
The two ladies hug like this for a long while until their tears dry up. After this the three women all have a nice evening together, putting the events of earlier behind them. Throughout the evening Alura remains virtually physically attached to Lena for the whole night, even asking to sleep with Lena tonight, which both Kara and Lena agree after some discussion. The three ladies then fall sleep that night in Kara's bed, with Alura clutching onto Lena ever so tightly.
Meanwhile in Metropolis Sam and Alex are finishing up eating their food on their date. After the bowling alley the two women decided to just head to a fast-food restaurant to grab something quick to eat, rather than heading to a restaurant where they would have to wait for their food much, much longer.
As the two ladies eat, they just talk about all sorts of random things, getting to know each other. Alex talks about her childhood and how she first met Kara and how she didn't like her at first, but eventually after about a year they become incredibly close and finally were sisters. Sam then tells Alex about how she was adopted as a baby by a single woman, Patricia, but as soon as she got pregnant as a teenager with Ruby her mother gave her the ultimatum of getting an abortion or being kicked out of the home. Sam goes on to explain how she has never got over the fact that the woman who claimed to be her mother and love her, was so willing to kick her out because she made the decision to keep her baby. Sam explains to Alex how she hasn't spoken to her adoptive mother ever since that day, and while she doesn't ever want to speak to her again, that doesn't mean it hurts any less. Alex of course for her part immediately wants to find Patricia and kick her ass for ever hurting Sam, the defensive side of her personality coming out. But Sam and Alex's conversation then turns to more light hearted topics, discussing what they want out of life, as well as their favourite things to do. Sam of course then talks about Ruby, and everything involving her, and Alex is more than happy to listen. In turn Alex talks about her sister, and all the things they do together and explaining how close they are.
"Alex?" Sam asks as the two women walk out of the restaurant, having finished their meals.
"Yes Sam?" Alex answers.
"From the way you speak about Kara.... she is obviously very important to you.... one of the most important people in your life." Sam says.
"Yes." Alex nods, unsure where Sam is going.
"So... if she... didn't like me.... that would be a problem.... for us.... for you?" Sam asks, nervously.
Alex breaks out into a bunch of laughter.
Sam gets a confused and slightly hurt look on her face. Alex soon notices and quickly stops laughing.
"Sorry... sorry... I didn't mean to..." Alex begins, "Kara literally is like a big puppy, she sees the good in just about everyone. There is no way in hell that she doesn't like you. In fact, I'm pretty sure she already likes you. If she didn't, she wouldn't have basically forced me out of my apartment to fly across the country to go on a date with you."
Sam smiles back at Alex, breathing in a sigh of relief.
"Okay... that's good then." Sam nods.
Alex is silent for a moment and realises something.
"With that thought..... I guess... the same could be applied to Ruby for you?" Alex now asks nervously.
Sam now breaks out into a brief laugh.
"Oh Alex, Ruby already absolutely adores you. You should have heard her in the car coming home from school. She thinks you are so cool. She is so eager to spend some time with you, so you can play soccer with her and do other things that I don't really do with Ruby, or if I do, she can tell I don't enjoy doing them. Plus, the fact that you work with Supergirl gives you big bonus points in her eyes." Sam explains.
Alex smiles at Sam.
"Okay.... that's good then." Alex nods.
Sam and Alex then get into another Uber and head back to Sam and Ruby's home. Once the two arrive, Alex gets out first and holds out her hand to help Sam out of the car. Sam smiles up at Alex in response. The two women then slowly walk hand in hand up to the pathway towards Sam's home, both wanting their alone time with each other to last as long as possible. Eventually as they are about 5 feet from the front door Alex stops, causing Sam to turn to look at her.
"What is it Alex?" Sam asks, concerned.
"Nothing... It's just.... I had a really good time with you tonight." Alex smiles, nervously.
"I had a good time with you too." Sam smiles back.
Alex nods.
"I'd... I'd like to take you on another date.... If you are still planning to move to National City... after this..." Alex says.
"I am very much still planning that." Sam smiles, "It may take a few weeks. But tomorrow Lena and I are going to begin a conference about it."
"Okay... that's good." Alex nods, still sounding nervous.
Sam shoots Alex a concerned look, clearly noticing there is still something on Alex's mind.
"Alex, what is it? You can tell me. I won't judge you." Sam says, trying to encourage whatever is on Alex's mind out of the older Danvers sister.
Alex takes in a deep breath.
"I'm just going to lay it out on the table, as I want you to know where I am at." Alex says.
"Okay." Sam nods.
"I like you Sam. I do. In fact, it scares me how much I like you. I.... I haven't told you this.... because I didn't want it to ruin our date.... or anything.... but you're the first women I've ever gone out with.... In fact.... I didn't realise I was into women until you kissed me on the cheek in the cabin.... You made me feel funny... And it wasn't until I was able to sort through my feelings and talk to my sister... that I realised what exactly I was feeling...." Alex admits.
"Okay...." Sam nods, encouraging Alex to continue.
"So... what I am saying.... is I don't want you to think I'm just testing the waters with you or anything.... I'm not..... But at the same time.... I'm not ready to jump into the deep end, so to speak. I want.... I need to take things slow.... I can't do things like Kara and Lena are..... and if that is a problem.... then... uhh... yeah." Alex admits.
Sam smiles at Alex and takes a step closer. Sam wants to cup Alex's cheek but she decides against it after listening to Alex's words.
"Alex, thank you for telling me that. I'm glad you were honest about where you are at. And I'm more than okay with going slow. I've not been with many women, at all. In fact, I haven't been with many people period. So, I am happy to go slow. We can go at whatever pace you need, or whatever pace we find comfortable. We don't have to be like Lena and your sister. There is nothing wrong with how fast they are moving, but there is no standard for dating and relationships for everyone, despite what some places may make you believe. For some people it may be quick before they are committed to one another, for others it may be longer, and that's okay. So please, just let's take this at our own pace, and not worry about anyone else." Sam says.
"I.... okay..... I would like that." Alex says, shooting Sam a relieved smile.
"Good. Now, how about we head back inside? We can have some tea or coffee and then watch some TV or head to bed." Sam suggests and then begins to walk towards the front door again.
"Wait!" Alex calls out, moving closer to Sam.
Sam turns around and looks at Alex confused.
"I.... I want to go slow.... but..... can I kiss you?" Alex asks, extremely nervous.
Sam breaks out into a big smile.
"Of course." Sam smirks.
Alex nods and leans in and hesitantly takes Sam into a tender kiss. The kiss is brief, but it is amazing. Alex has truly never experienced a kiss like that before. Previously when Alex had kissed guys that she had been dating, or had a few one night stands with, kissing just seemed a bit awkward. It just felt like something that Alex was told she should like, so she just thought that something was wrong with her, or maybe that the guys she kissed were just bad at it. But with this kiss with Sam, Alex realises that kissing women is so much better, if Sam's kiss is anything to go by. Sam's lips are so much softer than any man's, and at the same time the kiss isn't forceful. The kiss is tender and caring. The kiss is exactly what Alex wants a kiss to be.
The two women part and after a few moments silence, as they just stare at each other, they both break out into smiles.
"Come on, let's go inside." Sam says.
"Okay." Alex nods.
As Alex walks in the door she knows that from this day forward her perception of things, and her life, has entirely shifted. Alex knows that even if things don't work out with Sam, and that thought makes her gut hurt. But even if things don't work out with Sam, her life will never be the same when it comes to her relationships, and Alex knows that is probably for the better, for herself.
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