The ride back to Lena's place goes way too quick for all four women. They are all drained from their time in the sun and the emotional toll of the day. Alex and Kara pull everything out of the saddle bags as Lena and Sam take everyone's helmets. The four women are slow to wander into the elevator, none of them talking. The soft ding of the elevator makes Sam jump just a little bit after dozing slightly against Alex.
"Maybe we should all take a nap?" Lena suggests softly as she looks at the exhausted expressions all around.
Sam just hums. Kara nods. Alex just mumbles quietly, "I could go for a nap."
"Take the guest bedroom," Lena points as she wanders to the kitchen. She takes some bottles of water from the fridge as tosses two towards Alex. "And everyone drink up. Alex, there's some spare clothes in the dresser that I think you left behind."
Lena holds two bottles in one hand and holds out her free one towards her girlfriend. Kara shuffles towards her almost like a tired toddler and slips her hand in Lena's. The CEO leads her down the hallway to the master bedroom. Kara slips into the bed quickly. Lena directs her to drink her water before she gets too comfortable. She does as she is told, but grumbles even more when Lena takes time to go to the bathroom to get out of her swimsuit and into more comfortable clothes. The blonde just wants her girlfriend in bed to cuddle.
Lena takes her time in the bathroom. She hates the feeling of sand, so she is quick to hop in the shower to rinse off. Her mind can't help but wander back to her reaction about the ocean. She doesn't understand. She should be over it by now. Her mom died so long ago; it shouldn't bother her anymore. Kara should be able to swim if she wants to, but even that thought alone sends shivers down her spine. She can't bear to think about losing anyone else she loves in the same way. Lena hops out of the shower and slips into satin shorts and a tank top. She leans against her vanity and stares at herself in the mirror. She looks like she's aged at least five years with all the stress recently. She lets out a deep breath as she pulls her hair up into a messy, wet bun. She pads back out and smiles at the image before her. Kara is curled around Lena's pillow with a frumpy face. It's obvious that she isn't asleep and is waiting for Lena's return to the bed.
"Come 'ere," Kara grumbles.
Without a hint of malice or bite to her words, Lena teases, "You better not have gotten sand in our bed."
Kara smiles when she hears Lena say 'our bed.' "Wind from the ride got most of it out."
"Most?" Lena slips into the bed and curls around the other side of her own pillow.
Kara just smirks at her with sleepy eyes. "I'll make it up to you if you find sand on your half of the bed."
Lena hums with a playful smirk on her face. "I'll be sure to hold you to that. Now... Can I have my pillow back?"
The blonde fakes a thoughtful look. "I'll make you a deal. You can have your pillow as long as I can have you."
Lena's giggles are melodic to Kara's ears. "I will always take that deal, darling."
After some reshuffling, Lena's laying on her side with her pillow under her head. Kara's face is buried in her chest with their limbs entangled and absolutely no space between their bodies. Both know the other isn't asleep, but they enjoy the peaceful silence. Before Lena slips into slumber, she mumbles a quiet, 'thank you, Kar.' Kara's response was just to kiss the sternum in front of her face before snuggling into it and falling asleep as well.
**************************
Sam waits for Alex to enter the guest room before quietly shutting the door. Alex hands her a water before cracking her own open to take a few gulps. She nearly chokes when she sees Sam out of the corner of her eye stripping down to her bikini again.
"You alright over there, babygirl?" Sam teases lightly. "It's not like you didn't just see this."
"I- I know. I- I j- just wasn't expecting you to- to..." Alex stutters.
Sam raises an eyebrow. "To get cleaned up? Oh, honey... We both need to get cleaned up. We got pretty sweaty and sandy out there."
Alex gulps. Her eyes go wide in shock and a bit of fear. Sam, of course, immediately notices this and is quick to try to comfort her. "Together or separate. Naked or in our suits. That's up to you, sweetie. We go at your pace."
"M-my pace?"
"Babygirl, I introduced you to my daughter. You offered to come back with me to Metropolis to provide me comfort, and even offered to be there for Ruby's graduation. I already dropped the L-word. I'm serious about this- about us. I'm all in, Ally. Ball is in your court, and I'm not in any rush. So, don't feel pressured. I just wanted to let you know where I stand."
Alex's brain falters at the confession. She spent so much time just trying to convince Sam to give them a chance, she hasn't really evaluated where they are right now. It makes her heart flutter to know that Sam didn't just give her a chance; she's giving her a commitment. It's a relief that saying 'I love you' isn't just a habit or something off the cuff for Sam. On the flipside, it scares her. She doesn't want to mess this up. She doesn't want to hurt Sam or Ruby if she can't measure up to expectations. What if they go too fast and fizzle out? What if they struggle to maintain this connection?
"Hey," Sam walks over and cups Alex's face. "I didn't mean to scare you. I know commitment is scary and big. I understand if you aren't there right now. That's okay. And it's okay if it never comes. Well... obviously I'd prefer you get there eventually, but if you don't... well, I don't want you to try to force it either."
"That's- that's not it, Sammy," Alex cuts her off and looks up into those honey brown eyes. "I'm not afraid of commitment. Part of me knew it would be serious for you if I managed to convince you to try. It's more that I don't want to accidentally hurt you... or your daughter. I'm afraid of failing you."
Sam smiles broadly at that admission. "Relationships are never perfect, and at the same time, you just saying that tells me all that I need to know. If you want to take your time before diving into a more... physical... relationship, that's okay. If you need me to tone it down, you just say so. You were persistent enough to not give up on me; I can be patient enough to wait until you are ready to move forward with us."
Alex has tears welling in her eyes at the gorgeous woman in front of her. She curls up onto her tiptoes to kiss her gently and slowly. It isn't heated or rushed. It isn't chaste and innocent. It's somewhere in the middle. It's similar to the kiss on the beach, but it's still different. It's a promise- a gigantic promise of what is to come- of everything she will give when she is ready for it.
"Damn," Sam says with her eyes still closed after they part. "I think I could wait an eternity if you keep kissing me like that."
Alex blushes and ducks her head down. She's not used to the level of appreciation and flattery, but it shouldn't be a surprise that such an amazing woman like Sam would be anything less.
Sam hums to herself for a moment. "I'll go rinse off quickly, babygirl. And then after you shower, we can get some rest."
After Sam gathers her shower supplies, she quietly exits the room. Alex plops on the foot of the bed and lays back, letting her feet dangle. She lets out a deep breath before a smile slowly overtakes her face. Of course Sam would be ready for that stage. They have been very touchy overall; they also already had a couple intense make out sessions under their belts. But they've both stopped and slowed things down once it turned into heavy petting. Alex assumed that they were both at the same point, but now she realizes that Sam is being respectful of her own limits. It makes her so incredibly happy to have a partner that pays attention to her cues instead of just pushing for what they want. Alex smiles even brighter at the memory of Sam saying she loves her. Alex is so grateful that her girlfriend didn't push her into saying it back when she isn't ready to.
As she lays there, she thinks back to the beach. She doesn't understand what happened, but she knows that it was major. She blushes thinking about just how handsy Sam was getting with the sunscreen... and that particularly intense make out session. Alex shifts a bit on the bed and clears her throat. She turns her thoughts back to seeing Lena look so... frightened. She can't remember any conversation leading up to going to the beach that hinted that it would be a problem, but she wonders if Sammy's insistence to stay away from the water had anything to do with it. She's burning to ask Sam about it, but she thinks that it should be Lena's decision to share or not. She was very clearly vulnerable.
Alex decides to get up and to get her stuff ready to hop in the shower after Sam finishes. She wants to be as quick as possible so they can cuddle together and take a much needed nap. Just the thought of the nap makes her yawn. Just as she grabs some comfy clothes that were left from the last time, Sam comes back into the room wrapped in just a towel. Alex's jaw drops at the sight of Sam's long hair clinging to her face and neck. The towel barely covers the tops of those legs that go on for miles.
"You're going to start drooling if you don't close your mouth some," Sam teases.
Alex blushes like crazy and adverts her eyes. "Sorry!"
"I didn't say I wasn't enjoying the attention." Sam smirks at her.
"I- I'm- just." Alex points to the door and rushes out without finishing her sentence, listening to a cackling Sam in her wake. She shakes her head as she heads to the shower. This woman is going to be the death of her - but in the best way possible.
Sam moves about the room to get dressed. It was genuinely an accident forgetting to grab some clothes on her way out. Although, she isn't disappointed in the show it brought. She slips into the bed as she waits for Alex. She tells herself that she will just rest her eyes as she waits, but of course, she falls asleep instead. Her last conscious thought is how she is looking forward to spending time with Alex in Metropolis. She's hopeful it will give them time to just be them without anything drastic happening.
When Alex slips back into the room, she smiles softly at a fast asleep Sam. She moves about quietly to slip into the other side of the bed. She shifts deeper to the middle to wrap the woman up in her arms. The redhead can't resist; she gently kisses her girlfriend's forehead before getting comfortable and falling asleep.