Chapter Text
Lena was sitting at her desk, looking through monthly revenue reports to prepare for a meeting later on that day when she heard a knock on her door. “Come in!” she called, a smile on her face already forming at the thought of having lunch with her favorite reporter.
“Lena, hi!” Kara smiled brightly and Lena’s heart stumbled over itself when she caught sight of her beautiful friend. “Do you still wanna get lunch today?”
“Of course, Kara,” Lena grinned. She narrowed her eyes and cocked her head slightly, giving her friend her signature mischievous look. “Let me guess, you’re feeling like…..potstickers?”
Kara blushed, nodding and shrugging her shoulders slightly. “You know me so well!” she giggled.
“Well, come on, then. We can’t keep a hungry woman waiting,” Lena laughed, her coat already in her hands.
It was a beautifully clear day out, so they walked to Kara’s favorite potsticker place, which was conveniently only a block away from Lena’s office. They chatted idly on the way, smiling at each other so often that Lena was sure her face muscles were going to spasm from overuse. She had never smiled this much before meeting Kara “Ray of Sunshine” Danvers.
But something wasn’t quite right. Throughout their conversation, Lena had noticed that Kara was slightly subdued. She was still brighter and more bubbly than any other person would be on a Monday, but every once in a while she would get lost in thought, a crinkle forming between her eyebrows as she frowned slightly.
The took their seats and asked Benny the waiter for their usual - they've eaten here so often in the past few months that the waiters know their names and orders by heart. Finally, Lena couldn’t take it anymore. “Kara, what’s wrong?”
“Huh?” Kara said, her eyes refocusing on Lena after having once again been lost in thought. “Oh, no. I’m so sorry Lena, I’ve just got something on my mind. It’s really not something I want to bother you with.”
Lena shook her head and gave Kara an inviting smile. “We’re friends, Kara. I hope you know that you can talk to me about anything. Heaven knows I blabber on to you about my problems often enough!”
Kara smiled gratefully at her friend. She blushed, dipping her head as she adjusted her glasses. “Well,” she started slowly, "there’s this guy…”
Lena’s heart tightened ever so slightly. Of course there’s a guy. Kara probably has a dozen lovelorn gentlemen pining after her. Lena forced these thoughts out of her head quickly. Kara’s your only friend and you should listen to her, even if it’s painful to do so, Lena chided herself silently.
“You’ve met him before, actually. His name is Mike, he used to intern with us at Catco,” Kara continued.
“Ahhh, yes,” Lena remembered. “Mike, of the Interns”.
Kara nodded at her from across the table. “Yup, that’s the one.” Kara took a deep breath, glancing shyly at Lena before continuing. "Well lately he’s been….pursuing me.” Kara blushed adorably, and shook her head as if embarrassed. The movement caused her glasses to slip down her nose and she adjusted them once more. “I told him I’m not interested in that kind of relationship with him, but he still insists on making me uncomfortable!”
Lena's protective instinct overtook her at Kara’s words, rearing its head like an angry lioness protecting her cub. “Uncomfortable?”, she asks quickly, her heart rate quickening ever so slightly. If she finds out that Kara is being harassed, so help her, Lena will track down this Mike son-of-a-bitch and teach him a lesson on manners. “How so?” she asked, hoping that the tightness in her voice wouldn’t give away her anger, which was rising quickly as Lena's imagination went overboard thinking of the ways in which this jerk Mike was treating her Kara.
“He’s not doing anything bad!” Kara said quickly, noting the rise in Lena’s heartbeat and the almost imperceptible glint of cold anger in her eyes. “If anything, he’s being too nice to me. I just don’t know how to make it clear to him that I don’t want to be in a relationship with him without hurting his feelings. I like him. I really do, but only as a friend. Nothing more. I just want to let him down easy, you know?” Kara sighed, the crinkle between her eyebrows forming once more. “I just don’t know what to do, Lee. What do you think?”
Lena softened as she looked at her friend. Kara had recently taken to calling her Lee - Lena’s first nickname (one would need friends to be given a nickname). Hearing Kara call her that made Lena feel so special, so known. She smiled inwardly as her heart warmed (more like melted, if she was being honest with herself). She was distracted for a moment by Kara’s disinterest in Mike. She remembered back to the gala she had hosted for the Children’s Hospital. She had noticed Kara and Mike talking then, laughing and dancing with familiarity. He was a good-looking guy, she couldn’t deny that. She pondered over possible reasons why Kara didn’t like Mike as more than a friend. Maybe it’s because she doesn’t like guys. Lena shook her head slightly at the thought. Kara, who was once again staring away, unfocused, didn’t notice the movement. Don’t get your hopes up, Luthor, she thought to herself. Just focus on the problem at hand.
Lena considered what advice to give to Kara. She’d had her fair share of suitors to let down, of course, but she’s never held too much concern for letting them down easy. She pondered for a moment. “Well, why don’t you remove yourself as a possibility?”
Kara looked at her, confused. “What do you mean?”
“Well,” Lena said, measuring her words carefully. More than anything she wanted to convince Kara that no guy was worth a heartache….but some girls were. One girl, in particular. Instead, Lena said “Perhaps you should date someone else. Another guy that you like, maybe.”
Kara thought about this. “Yeah,” she said slowly. “Take myself out of the equation. Remove myself as a possibility,” she repeated, almost talking to herself. But then the crinkle reappeared as she sighed once more. “But the problem is that I don’t like any other guys. I can’t just start dating someone out of the blue and making them think that I like them, I’ll just be starting this whole problem all over again!”
“Well how about fake dating? You know, with a friend,” Lena said. “Better yet, with a girl. It would probably throw Mike off even more if you were to date a girl,” she added. She bit her tongue as soon as she had said it. She was sure Kara would see right through her. She’ll know that you’re fishing to see if she likes girls and will be weirded out and won’t ever want to speak to you again, you’re going to lose your ONLY friend in National City and— her runaway thoughts were interrupted by Kara’s thoughtful hum.
“Hmmm, that could work. If only Lucy were in town, she’d pretend to date me in a heartbeat.” Kara remained in thought for a second more while across the table, unbeknownst to her, Lena fumed silently. Kara had mentioned her friend Lucy before, and Lena couldn’t help but be jealous. She knew it was completely unreasonable, but a part of her secretly wanted to be Kara’s only friend, to have her all to herself. Lena made an effort to distract herself from these thoughts. Don’t be so possessive, she chided herself.
“Well, what about me? I’d date you. I mean, pretend-date you, gladly,” Lena said. She froze, surprised at herself for being so forward. She hadn’t meant to say anything, but the words had spilled out of her with no warning.
Kara looked up at her in surprise. “Really Lena, you would do that for me?” she asked, jumping up and down in her seat giddily.
Lena breathed a small sigh of relief at Kara’s bubbly reaction. That could’ve gone badly, but thankfully Kara “The Puppy” Danvers was not the kind of person to think that Lena might have an….alternative reason for pretending to be her girlfriend. Visions of holding Kara’s hand, standing close to her, kissing her, flashed through Lena’s mind. She did her best to ignore them.
Lena smiled at Kara, thankful for once for the years her mother had trained her to not let her emotions show. “Of course I would, Kara. I’d love to help you,” she said smoothly.
Kara squealed and took her hand across the table. Lena tried to ignore the electric shock she felt run through her fingers as Kara’s hand closed over hers. “Thank you Lee! This will solve everything!”
Lena silently cursed for getting herself into a situation that could only end in her getting hurt. However, the thought of dating Kara, even if it was only fake-dating, overruled Lena’s sense of self-preservation as she smiled warmly at her friend. For the moment, Lena just contented herself with savoring the warmth of Kara’s hand in hers.