If you missed a post or 2, or want to have them all in one place, here it is the compilation of all the gift for KSS 2017. Save, share, and praise the artist behind such wonderful creations!
FANFICS:
Merry Christmas, Mon-El (Oh, and Meet My Parents) -- for @silverphoenixfeather from @ashleymaria
Birthday Promises -- for @sweetestkaramel from @busysciencegeek
Inverse -- for @agentjadelance from @lostmyurl
Waking Up Together -- for @emarasmoak from @kbcountry37-blog
Untitled -- for @kaiho from @chelseaellie
Comets -- for @ashleymaria from @silverphoenixfeather
Accidentally -- by @queenkaramel
Taboo Thoughts -- for @teacactus from @chriswoodfandom
Mending Broken Hearts -- for @chelseaellie from @green-arrows-of-karamel
As long as you are safe -- for @chriswoodfandom from @emarasmoak
Romeo and Juliet -- for @queenkaramel from @chancellor-darejones
We might as well (Be strangers) -- for @thoughtsfromaclutteredbrain from @ms-jane-darcy
Untitled -- for @lostmyurl from @teacactus
Untitled -- for @kbcountry37-blog from @sweetestkaramel
Rookie Blue -- for @supernaturalxbadassery from @handlewithkara
At Last -- for @chancellor-darejones from @jeymien
Playmate, Soulmate -- for @threesilverthings88 from @pwettypwita
VIDEOS:
Untitled -- for @captainkaramel, from @thoughtsfromaclutteredbrain
Red -- for @busysciencegeek from @kaixparkers
Stand By Me -- for @its-mooseandsquirell from @clnriswood
PHOTO EDITS / GIFSETS
When two people Truly Love each other, one will find the way to the Other -- for @karamel-prompts from @agentjadelance
His & Mine -- for @kaixparkers from @juliakaze
Untitled -- for @juliakaze from @jeymien
Karamel AU: Kara and Mon-El spend their first Christmas together (gifset fic) -- for @platonic-circumstances from @captainkaramel
Karamel looking at each other with lots of love in their eyes -- for @ms-jane-darcy from @its-mooseandsquirell
Untitled -- for @clnriswood from @jakeriley
You and me forever -- @fracticns from @karamel-prompts
Untitled -- for @jakeriley from @platonic-circumstances
Untitled -- for @jeymien from @fracticns
PLAYLIST
Untitled -- for @pwettypwita from @madasateacup
Karamel Secret Santa -- for @green-arrows-of-karamel from @threesilverthings88
Karamel Secret Santa Soundtrack (+graphic) -- for @handlewithkara from @supernaturalxbadassery
Untitled -- for @madasateacup from @kaiho
Before leaving, we want to thank you for participating and creating these masterpieces, which definitely made everyone's Christmas a little brighter. We hope we'll see you next year (maybe bringing a new friend or 2) and join us again in the fun.
Karamel AU: Kara and Mon-El spend their first Christmas together
Merry Christmas @platonic-circumstances from your Karamel Secret Santa @captainkaramel
Fandoms: Supergirl; Legion of Superheroes (mentioned); The Flash (mentioned)
Characters: Kara Danvers/Supergirl; Mon-El/Valor; James Olsen (mentioned); Imra Ardeen/Saturn Girl (mentioned); Barry Allen/The Flash (mentioned); Alex Danvers (mentioned); Winn Schott, Jr. (mentioned); J’onn J’onzz (mentioned); Reign (mentioned)
Relationships: Kara Danvers/Mon-El; Kara Danvers & James Olsen; Mon-El & Imra Ardeen; Kara Danvers & Barry Allen, Kara Danvers & Winn Schott, Jr.; Kara Danvers & Alex Danvers; Kara Danvers & J’onn J’onzz
Summary: PURE FLUFF! And Pure Karamel! After their reconciliation and defeat of Reign, Kara and Mon-El have a nice, quiet morning in bed cuddled up with each other.
——————————————————
Kara slowly woke up with the warmth of the yellow sun shining vibrantly through the windows of her apartment. She felt all warm and content under the comforter and the body heat of her boyfriend spooning behind her.
She can literally feel his breaths on her neck. She’s become grateful for getting to wake up like this because just a year ago, she never thought she’d get this again. It was just a fleeting memory. A dream. One that surprising to her, has become a vibrant reality again.
She rarely gets moments like because of her hectic life as a reporter for Catco and Supergirl. Usually she’s already out saving the world before the sun rises or James needs her at the office. So, she’s more than content to cuddle down into the mattress and Mon-El’s strong arms and body heat and go right back to sleep, as the world doesn’t seem to need her at the moment.
Her movement must have stirred him awake because he tightened his embrace on her and kisses her lightly on the side of her neck. She sighs and says, “I’m sorry I woke you.”
With sleep still clouding his voice, Mon-El says, “It’s ok. This is the best way to wake up. My girl in my arms and no one needing us to save the world.” He kisses her shoulder which is bare from the fact that she decided to sleep in one of Mon-El’s plaid shirts last night, and they are at least three times too big for her.
“I love it when you wear my clothes.” He says.
“I know. It’s why I do it.” She replies.
He sighs and pulls Kara closer to him and puts his mouth next to her ear. He kisses her temple and says, “Thank you, Kara. For taking me back. You really do have the most forgiving heart I’ve ever seen.”
She reaches behind her and places her hand on his cheek. “After I realized what you did for me I couldn’t ignore it any longer. I just couldn’t deny you anymore. Yes, the lies hurt, but once you explained everything, I was just floored at the fact that you love me enough to start a whole organization to honor and preserve my legacy and your love for me, with every intention of finding your way back to stop me from dying. You really didn’t intend the result that happened, did you?”
Mon-El sighs, “No, but I am glad it did. The plan blew up in my face. Not even Imra could stop my love for you from showing and I couldn’t stop myself. I fought for seven years to get a plan together to get back to you and save you. The plan that was in place was scrapped the moment I saw you almost die. Knowing and seeing are different things, and I really just snapped. I knew then I had to do whatever it would take to save you, but also wanted you to know how much I still love you. How much I will always love you. That never changed. My love for you just grew, and I fought everyone to let me just get back to you. So, I could prove it to you. You are the only woman I have ever loved, Kara. The only woman I ever will love. I don’t deserve you. I never have, but I am grateful and thank Rao every day that such an amazing, kind woman has it in her heart to love me. Even after all this time, I’m not perfect. I want to be for you, though. The perfect boyfriend, partner, and hero by your side. The one you desperately need and deserve.”
Kara turns in Mon-El’s arms and looks at him. Tears begin welling up in her eyes. Happy ones. “I don’t need perfect, Mon-El. I just need you. Just so you know, you’re a pretty amazing boyfriend and partner. And a damn good hero. Never question that. You impress me every day. You’ve more than earned your cape, Valor.”
Mon-El takes his left hand and wipes the tears off her cheek. “Hey, what are the tears for?” He asks her.
“I’m so happy. Hearing you say that you want to try to be perfect for me. Hearing how you fought to get back to me. To save me. How scared you were. That your love for me only grew through the years. I’m just overwhelmed. I love you, Mon-El. You are the man of my dreams. I’m never letting you go again. At that time, the decision I made was one of the hardest in my life. I told Alex before you came back that I would do it again. Send you away like I did. However, if I had known then, what I know now, I probably would’ve sent you to spend time with Barry until we could’ve found a cure.”
“You mean, you’d deny me founding the Legion?” Mon-El asks her in a shocked voice.
Kara sighs and laughs. “If it means I don’t have to live with a shattered heart for almost a year, then yes. I know it sounds selfish, but I was miserable for a long time. All I wanted was to be in your arms again. To actually feel the touch of someone. I feel Alex, Winn, J’onn, and James when they hug me, but when you hug me, it’s different. I’m guessing due to your super strength, I feel more than just a little brush, but a full hug. I missed that. I missed getting to touch someone and not be able to hurt them. I missed you. We have this connection that I can’t even begin explain.”
“Because we’re both aliens, Kara. Not only aliens, but aliens of sister worlds. Even shared some of the same religion. I get it. Believe me, it’s nice to be able to confide in someone about that again. Both our home worlds were beyond messed up, but I do promise that when you need to talk, I’m here. Ok?” Mon-El says.
Kara smiles at him. “You are an amazing man. Can I say that I’m jealous I didn’t get to witness most of this development?”
Mon-El laughs. “Yes, but you always inspired me. I held onto that and my love for you and fought to teach others the legacy of the woman of my dreams, and to get their help in saving you from that monster.”
Kara just smiles and cuddles into Mon-El’s chest and eases back into sleep. With the rays of the yellow sun, that give both her and Mon-El their amazing powers, shining through the apartment she soaks in their warmth and the heat from Mon-El.
“Yeah, right here is the only place I want to be right now.” She thinks to herself with a little sigh as she drifts back off to sleep.
(Thank you so much Meg @smoak-and-mirrors for doing such wonderful banner)
Hi, karamel family!
Holiday season is upon us, and @emarasmoak, @jeymien, and I @green-arrows-of-karamel thought we could do something fun to celebrate our fandom and the couple that has stolen our hearts. And what better way to celebrate Christmas than having a little gift exchange with the fam.
For those who have never done something like this, let us explain you how this works. In simple words, you make a gift for someone, and someone else will make a gift for you. Nothing too fancy, just made with a lot of love. Nobody will know who’s making a gift for them until they’re all revealed, and everyone will receive their present on Christmas!
This is NOT only for fic writers; it’s for everyone! If don’t write, then you can make a playlist, or a video, or a gifset, or draw something, or do some graphics with photoshop, or whatever that can be shared digitally. The objective isn’t to make a masterpiece, just a little detail for a fellow shipper.
If you’re interested in participating, the first thing you need to do is sign up HERE, and fill up the form. The more details and options you give, the better. You’ll have until November 15 at 11:59 pm to do this.
The names of all participants will be selected randomly (but respecting the criteria of what type of gift they want/are willing to make) and paired with someone else. Then on November 18, we will send you the name of the person you’ll be making the gift for and all related information about it. Be sure to have your ask box open.
The deadline for working on and submitting the gift to this blog is DECEMBER 17 at 11:59 pm. You don’t need to wait until that day to do that, submit it as soon as you’re finished.
We’ll check in with you once or twice during that time to make sure you didn’t forget about it or are struggling with the gift. If you are, then we could help you or find someone willing to take your place. We know how unpredictable and crazy real life is so please, if you can’t make it for whatever reason, let us know ASAP.
If you have questions, we are happy to clear them for you. Drop a message in this blog, or in any of our personal blogs.
First of all, I want to wish a glorious holiday to you and yours. I hope that you're blessed with love and health, and that all your wishes come true. I know that we don't know each other but I'm happy to have the opportunity now. I am looking forward to chatting with you.
I want to give you a great Karamel story. You don't know this, but I tend to over-extend myself in my writing (just ask my friends; they will tell you how true this is). So whatever I plan to write always ends up being 3, 4, 10 times longer than I thought it was going to be. Your gift isn't the exception, so I decided to give you today the first of 3 chapters. Otherwise, I'd have had to rush in with the story and the last thing I wanted is giving you a poor-executed job. You deserve much better than that.
I'll update the other 2 in the coming days, so I got time to perfect them. I hope you don't mind waiting a few days for the happy ending. I promise you, you'll get one despite the angsty beginning.
Before you, and everyone else, start reading, I think it's important you know that this fic is canon divergent, where everything up to season 3 has happened except the winter finale. Instead of Reign waking up and wreaking havoc, this is what happens.
I hope you like it. Happy reading and Merry Christmas!
From: your secret Santa, Mare ( @green-arrows-of-karamel)
***********************
Rating: Teen and up
Warnings: N/A
Synopsis: A mysterious woman traps Kara and Mon-El in a frozen planet.
AN: Thank you @laurabelle2930 for being such a wonderful Beta!
1 - This Is Our Thing
The world doesn't stop spinning until Kara hits the hard, cold floor. The momentum makes her roll on it several times in an entangle of limbs until she's laid flat on her back with a heavy body on top of her. She looks up and finds Mon-El looking back at her. Worry crinkles his brow.
"Are you okay?" he asks slightly short of breath.
Kara is taken aback by how good it feels having him again nestled between her legs, their bodies touching intimately. For a second, she lets in the memory of those countless times they were naked in the same position. Inevitably, her skin tingles, remembering Mon-El kissing and tasting her feverish skin while they made love. The intense longing for him she has restrained the last seven months comes back with a vengeance. Heat pools in her belly and desire rushes through her like a lava river.
Her body is ready to welcome him back, and her heart is bursting with love for him. But then she remembers that he's a married man. He has a lovely wife and he has moved on. For much she wants to reproach him for that, how can she? Seven years is a long time. Honestly, she's glad that he's happy, even if that hurts her to the deepest level.
Kara can't blame Imra for falling for Mon-El either. He's charming and adorable, confident and funny, he's brave and has a big, beautiful heart. That's without mentioning how handsome he is, with his athletic body, his gorgeous blue eyes and his pointed chin. For the love of Rao, the beard makes him look so sexy. Without a doubt, Mon-El is a great catch.
Kara only wishes he was still her catch.
Aroused but disheartened, Kara blurts out, "Yes, I'm fine. I'm fine."
Mon-el stares at her in a way very similar he used to before. Certainly, he hadn't looked at her like that since he came back. Kara squirms under him because she has never been able to resist his puppy eyes. If they don't pull apart now, Kara will do something she's going to regret as soon as she's done, like kissing him senseless.
"Um… er, Mon-El, could you… can you get off of me?"
"What?" he blinks as he's waking up from a trance. "Oh, yeah. Sure, sorry."
His moves are jerky and hasty as if he's caught between the need to move fast and stay still at the same time. As soon as he is off, Kara misses his body heat and notices how cold the air is. Goosebumps spread on her skin and the chilly wind makes her shiver. As she gets on her feet while ignoring Mon-El's gallant offer to help her, Kara looks around. All that she can see is a peaceful snowy forest. White snow is everywhere. Above them, the sky is somber with menacing clouds, announcing that a storm is coming.
"Where are we?" Mon-El asks.
"I'm guessing in the same place to where all those couples have been disappearing."
When Kara returned home from Earth-1 after Barry and Iris' eventful wedding, Winn and J'onn informed her that a series of inexplicable disappearances were occurring in National City. The first case passed under the radar because the police thought it was nothing more than a jealous ex, taking vengeance on a former spouse. However, the pattern was evident after the fourth case in less than thirty-six hours.
The lack of evidence frustrates both the police and the DEO. Even if the reason for kidnapping those people is still unknown, the common denominator among all cases is that the missing people are couples who have broken up recently. Nobody knew how the couples were vanishing, leaving no trace whatsoever, until Winn detected a great amount of tachyons particles in each disappearing spot. Therefore, they're dealing with an interdimensional being.
Then, the unthinkable happens. Kara doubts that anyone at the DEO expected that this being was brave enough to attack in their premises. Yet, it did. It happened when Mon-El stopped Kara to apologize on the behalf of his wife for upsetting Kara earlier.
Kara didn't want to talk about that. Talking to Mon-El, just looking at him, is just too painful for her.
"And just for the record, Mon-El, I really am trying to be okay with this, but…" she said to him, wanting to end their conversation. "This is… this is worse than the worst thing I could possibly imagine. And that's you looking at me with no love in your eyes. So please, just… please."
Kara turned around and started climbing the stairs when a chubby, beautiful lady materialized out of the thin air on the landing.
"Oh, puh-lease!" the newcomer scoffed, rolling her eyes, "Now I understand what my cousin told me about you two. I didn't want to do this to you on Christmas' eve, but you don't leave another choice."
"Who are you?" Kara demanded
Rushing to her side, Mon-El asked, "what do you want? Why are you here?"
"It doesn't matter who I am. What matter is fixing…." the unknown woman waved her hand in their direction, "this."
Before either Kara or Mon-El could utter a single word, the lady snapped her fingers, opening an inter-dimensional breach. A heartbeat later, both Kara and Mon-El were sucked into it and transported to where they are now. Trapped in an unknown place and without a way to return home.
"This is our thing, it seems," Mon-El mutters.
"What?
Mon-El opens his arms and twirls around, signaling the obvious. "You and me… stranded on a strange planet. Something tells me that we're not on Earth anymore."
Yes, she picked that up too. Her first clue is the light, which is off, and Kara can't point out why. The dark clouds above Kara and Mon-El hid well all that it is beyond in the sky. That is besides the fact that it is day here when the sun had already set in National City. "We have to find the missing people and a way to get out of here."
*************
Mon-El couldn't agree more. This is bad; really, really bad… and not for the obvious reasons. It's not good having people missing and being in a strange place, but what worries Mon-El the most is being alone with Kara. He has no excuses or distractions to stay away from her here. Right now, all he wants to do is prove how wrong she is.
When she told him that she didn't see the love for her in his eyes, his heart broke. Mon-El guesses he should be glad that his acting is convincing enough for her thinking like that, but the reality is it pains him that Kara is not seeing past his deceit.
For seven long years, he never forgot her. His love for her is as strong as ever.
She won't be happy when she finds out his marriage with Imra is fake. He only hopes that Kara can forgive him once she knows his reasons for the lying and secrets. He hates himself for hurting her, but he wouldn't be doing this if he didn't believe that it is the right choice. It's critical for the plan to help Supergirl saving the world from Reign.
To do that, though, they need to go back to Earth first.
Mon-El stopped being the coward he was in the Slavers' Moon eight years ago. This time he is more than willing to help everyone who's trapped in this place. "Which direction we should take? Left… right?" he asks Kara as he glances around for some evidence of a road or a nearby settlement. All he can see is trees and snow. The forest is eerily quiet, as if they are the only living thing there.
"Let me get to a vantage point."
Kara takes off to the sky, intending to see past the forest. She elevates herself in the air for a few seconds before losing altitude abruptly. With luck, she manages to land safely on the ground, just not as gracefully as she normally does.
"Kara! You okay?"
"Seriously? A red sun again?!" she growls, looking up at the sky.
He doesn't comment on her complaint. Mon-El knows Kara doesn't like feeling weak and he can't blame her, especially due to what she went through recently on Earth-1. He's not amused of losing his powers either. Years of experience battling the evil in the future taught Mon-El exactly how dangerous the universe can be. What neither of them needs right now is to be stranded in a planet revolving around a red sun. "Did you see anything?"
"Nothing more than trees and snow. That's all there is in every direction."
"So what we do now? Where do we go?"
"Let's go left. We might find people along the way."
Mon-El follows Kara in silence and tries to ignore the cold. Both walk on, focusing on their surroundings trying to pick up any sign of movement. Snow starts falling no long after they begin their hike through the wood. At first, it's only a handful of snowflakes in the air but then the storm hits them hard. The blizzard makes the temperature drops fast, and Mon-El worries about how long they can stay out in the open before hypothermia kills them. Neither Kara or he are dressed properly for this weather, which is harsher than the ones either of them has experienced before on Earth and their home planets. She's visibly shaking and so is he.
"We need… to find a shelter… or we're gonna freeze… to death," Mon-El pants, trying to control his tremors.
"I- If we find p-people, we'll find sh-shelter."
Mon-El grinds his teeth in frustration, Kara can be so stubborn sometimes. She's so cold that her teeth are chattering nonstop. He grabs her arm gently to stop her. "If we turn into Popsicles, we can't help anyone, Kara. Besides, the night is coming and the visibility is getting worse; we don't know where we are or where we're going. We could be walking in circles, for all we know."
Unable to stop himself, Mon-El cups Kara's cheeks, which are reddened by the cold. His hands are freezing too, but he hopes he's giving her the little warmth he has left. Their eyes connect and time stops. The look Kara gives him with her beautiful eyes has always been his downfall. And this time isn't the exception. Mon-El gets lost in her stare. He noticed how her blue comets soften, watching him.
For a second, it feels like they are back in the dream world, where Mon-El visited Kara the last seven month while he was still in hypersleep. Kara believes those encounters to be mere dreams, a fabrication of her mind, but in reality, they were an effort of Mon-El —with the help of Imra's telepathic ability— to be with Kara. He missed her so much.
Mon-El senses that Kara's mind goes to the same place as his, and that makes her lower the guard on her emotions. Taking advantage of that, he begs, leaning his head down until their foreheads are touching, "Please, Kara. Let's let the storm pass before we continue. Please."
He sees the reluctance in her eyes, but her common sense kicks in. "Okay, you're right."
"Let's walk this path," Mon-El suggests as he wraps his arm around her shoulders, helping her to maintain every ounce of body heat. He feels her tensing up and thinks she will pull away. When she doesn't, he breathes in relief. "The forest is dense this way and the trees will provide us some protection against the wind."
Their progress is slow and difficult, which put their survival at risk . Each step is a herculean effort but they don't stop, even when is evident that both are losing their impetus. They're thirsty and hungry but, most of all, cold and wet. When Mon-El almost lost his hope, they find a small and weather-scarred hut in the middle of the forest.
"Oh, thank Rao!"
The place is abandoned and deteriorated, but it gives them the needed refuge until the storm is over. Lucky, indeed, they are. Inside they find logs to burn in the fireplace.
"Are you sure you can do it?" Mon-El asks Kara when she suggests using her heat vision to start the fire.
"Yes, I think so."
"Our powers…"
"They're weakened, but not completely gone. It doesn't feel that way, at least."
Kara is right, and although it takes much longer than usual, she's capable to ignite the fire. For when they have a good flame, outside is pitch black. The storm rages on and the clouds prevent the starlight from coming through.
Now that the temperature in the room is rising, Mon-El removes his wet clothes, the jeans jacket and striped Henley, to place them near the fire and get them dry.
"What are you doing?!"
Mon-El cringes inwardly as his hands pause unbuckling his belt. He knows that tone, which always means that he's in trouble. He doesn't think that will do any good, but he chooses to play dumb and states the obvious, "Um, I'm undressing."
"Why?"
"To dry my clothes near the fire… you know, it's easier to recover the body heat when you're dry. You should undress too." Mon-El fights the smile forming on his lips, suspecting why Kara is so uncomfortable with the idea of Mon-El without clothes. And he can relate. It's not going to be easy watching her in all her naked glory and not being able to touch her.
"No, I'm fine like this."
"Oh, come on, Kara! It's not that we haven't seen each other naked before. And if what worries you is getting mind-blown by just seeing my impressive anatomy again, I'll leave my boxers on," he doesn't hold his cocky smile anymore. "Or are you afraid that neither of us can resist the temptation?"
Kara makes disgusted guttural sounds at his arrogant declaration. "Oh, how I hate when you are like this. I see some things never change. Being an egocentric macho has never suited you, Mon-El, and certainly, it doesn't do now."
On the outside, Mon-El keeps his arrogant façade as he takes his pants off. Meanwhile, on the inside, he breathes in relief. His plan to make the situation easier for her worked to perfection. At this point, he rather making her mad and letting her focus on something else than watching the painful longing in her eyes, or feeling the desperate love pouring from her every pore.
The challenge doesn't go unanswered either, and Kara gets undressed too.
Mon-El refrains from suggesting to sleep next to each other, making skin contact. That would keep them warmer, but Kara would kick him in his tender parts, just for saying so. She wants to stay away from him, and she makes that perfectly clear when for the rest of the night, Kara gives him a silent treatment and avoids looking at him. Across the room, he can't take his eyes off her and imagine how different their situation would be if instead of being stranded on a frozen planet they were on a cozy cabin somewhere on Earth for a holiday getaway.
They could be spooning in bed, comfy and warm under heavy blankets, or maybe making love in front the fire. Mon-El's dying to do just that right now. He would be in heaven if he could spend the entire night worshiping Kara's body with kisses and caresses, showing her how deep is his love for her.
Unfortunately, you can't always get what you want. Sighing, Mon-El settles with guarding Kara's sleep until exhaustion beats him too. A long day awaits them tomorrow.. They need to find the way back home. The sooner they return to Earth, the better. There are villains to defeat, a world to save… but when are things that easy?
Kara groaned as the sun rays blinded her eyelids, causing her to feel her pounding head pulse in her ears. She turned away from the bright light and tried to snuggle into the pillow to chase the sleep in hopes that her headache would disappear. But the pillow she tried to snuggle into wasn’t soft or comfortable, but hard and stiff.
Her eyes peeked open to see if her soft pillow had magically turned into a rock in the middle of the night. To her shock, and continued pulsing in her ears, her pillow wasn’t a pillow nor a rock.
Nope.
It was a person. A person who was in deep slumber, with his head burrowed into the blanket, and his mouth slightly ajar as he snored. Snores that were making her headache unbearable. Her slow mind was caught up to her. She was in bed with this man. A man who was shirtless. Shirtless man, who she was in bed with. It didn’t help her imaginative mind from running amuck when she saw all the pillows were thrown off the bed, the room smelled like sweat and alcohol, and the room was scattered with red solo cups.
So to wrap up her morning: she was in bed with a shirtless man and mostly definitely hungover.
“No, no, no. No. This can’t be happening,” Kara screamed, which she regretted immediately because her head began to pulse loudly again and her screaming woke him up.
“Lower your voice,” he hissed and threw his arm over his head to shield himself from the sun.
“I will not!” although her voice was a whisper, but that was more for her benefit than his, “We, you, me, me and you…I don’t even know you!”
“What are you talking about?” he moaned.
“You know what I’m talking about!”
“It’s too early for all this cryptic crap. Not to mention that we are hungover, so if you could gladly get to the point, so I can go back to sleep, that we be helpful!”
“We slept together…,” she murmured, scared to say it too loudly.
“What?!” he jumped out of the bed at her declaration.
His eyes were widen, and completely confused. Kara took him fully in for the first time. He might have been shirtless, but his pants…and his belt, were still on him, and she caught a glimpse of one shoe still on his foot. And as the reality of his actual appearance settled in her foggy mind, she finally looked at herself.
She lifted the blanket to see that she was fully clothed – head to toe. She looked up sheepishly, and saw that he too came to the same conclusion.
They had actually done nothing last night. Well, besides sleeping next to each other in the most strangers to platonic way possible.
“You scared me shitless!” he yelled.
“Lower your voice,” she hissed at him just like he did.
They stared each other down before they broke out in laughter.
“Shut up!” a very familiar voice at both of them. A head popped up from the floor, at the edge of the bed to reveal Winn, who looked equally hungover and completely tattered, “I’m trying to sleep!”
Winn’s eyes were closed as he berated both of them, “Kara that’s Mike…Mike that’s Kara. Now could you kindly go to sleep or finish this conversation elsewhere,” he said with a note of finality before he plopped back onto the floor. She settled back onto the bed and let out a soft giggle. Her morning wasn’t as bad as she thought. She hadn’t slept with a complete stranger while being drunk – she simply just had been drunk, and that she could live with.
2.
She felt the crink in her neck before she was awake. Her head was twisted into the most awkward position against the armrest of the couch. She groaned as she lifted her head up and tried to straighten the crink. She rubbed her neck to soothe the ache, and tried to remember how she ended up in the God awful position.
She, Winn and Mike were studying last night for the Bio 101 finals in one of the study rooms at the library, and she confirmed that she looked at the room before her. Papers were thrown haphazardly, books were opened and tossed about, the whiteboard was filled with words and drawings, and pens, pencils and highlighters decorated the entire room.
Her eyes glazed over the room but she failed to straight in front of her. Because if she had looked straight ahead she would have seen Mike sleeping on the couch as well, with his head thrown back, mouth slightly ajar and her feet sitting on his lap.
She let out a gasp when she finally saw him, and quickly retracted her feet from his lap. She looked around to find Winn, but he was nowhere in sight. It was odd to see Mike sleeping next to her, especially after their first encounter at the freshmen orientation party. Despite their rough start, they had become good friends, and had even become lab partner in Bio 101 with Winn. Which was why they were studying for the final together, and apparently had studied deep into the night which resulted in her and Mike falling asleep on the couch.
Falling asleep together, and waking up together – again.
It was odd, and Kara tried to grapple her emotions. They had become friends over the course of the semester, they talked, they hung out, and sometimes, sometimesshe would look at him a second more than necessary, and maybe she laughed a little bit more at his jokes, and maybe just maybe she liked spending time with him. But after the freshmen orientation debacle where she had rebuked him so openly she couldn’t open a can of worms of feelings and emotions.
“Study rooms are for three or more people!” the librarian barged into the room and jostled Kara and jolted Mike out of sleep, “And especially not for students to sleep in! Find a third or please leave.”
She looked around in disgust at the mess of papers and books, and then turned her heel and walked out of the room, leaving Kara and Mike in fits of laughter.
They laughed and Kara realized that Mike didn’t know what happened. How she had fell asleep with her feet on her lap, and she hoped it remained that way.
3.
It was spring break and Mike, Winn, Kara, and Winn’s girlfriend Eve had decided to road trip down to San Diego together. They were currently on their fifth car arrangement, which had Winn driving with Eve in the passenger seat with Kara and Mike in the backseat.
The car was silent besides the soft music that was playing on the radio. After three hours of continuous talk, their conversation was at a standstill and all four of the welcomed the quiet. Mike looked out the window and watched as the trees and shrubbery move past his eyes when he felt a weight on his shoulder. Kara’s head lulled around until it settled on his shoulder. Mike froze, unsure if he should let her stay or wake her up. But she snuggled in closer, and Mike didn’t want to disrupt her, and he couldn’t help but notice how cute she looked with her furrowed brows, and scrunched up nose. So he settled with letting her sleep, and continued looking out the window; while glancing at her every now and then just to make sure she was comfortable.
***
A sudden bump of the car roused Kara from her sleep. Her eyes fluttered open as she tried to chase away the haziness of her vision. She tried to lift her head but was forced down. She looked up to see Mike resting his head atop hers, and then she realized where she was. She had apparently fell asleep on his shoulder. Kara bit her lip, contemplating whether she should wake him, or stay in the position. She tried to peek at him, but her position gave her a horrible vantage point, but he was deep sleep because his mouth was open. It would be rude to wake him up after he let her sleep on him. She sighed and closed her eyes and let the motions of the car lull her back to sleep.
4.
Kara woke up to the credits of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban scrolling across her TV screen. Had she seriously fallen asleep through her fourth favorite Harry Potter movie and book? But she couldn’t blame herself. She felt so comfortable under all these blankets and pillows that avoiding a nap would have been impossible. And it didn’t help that she had started the Harry Potter marathon till late at night, which in hindsight was an awful idea.
She pushed herself off the couch to reach for the remote but stilled her movement when she heard a groan behind her.
“Seriously Kara, you have elbows of steel,” Mike rubbed his eyes, “Be careful with those or you might hurt someone with them.”
Kara tried to blink away her confusion.
Had she seriously fallen asleep with him again….and on him? This was turning into a pattern that she didn’t like. And her feelings and emotions didn’t help her at all, which had progressively hadn’t gotten worse over the year.
“Sorry,” she mumbled as she unwound herself from him and turned off the TV.
She glanced at the clock, “It’s almost 2 a.m. Ummm….why don’t you take the couch. You shouldn’t drive right now.”
Mike looked dumbfounded, eyes and mouth wide open. He snapped it closed and nodded his head agreement, “Ya. Sure. If you don’t mind.”
“No. Of course not. I’ll just go grab some sheets,” Kara said as she walked to the hallway closet. Kara opened the closet door and banged her head against the wall, “Such an idiot, such an idiot,” she whispered against the door.
She invited him over on a whim. No, not just a whim, an emotional whim. She thought she had failed her final and her half-fried mind (from all that studying) decided that inviting Mike would make everything better, because he always made things better. Made her laugh, made her smile, cheered her up, and brightened her day. And that was exactly what he did. He brought his box set of Harry Potter, walked into her apartment and plopped the DVD player without asking and settled on the couch. He knew, he knew what she needed before she did.
She groaned. She had feelings and emotions, and then she had gone invited him to sleep over. She couldn’t even get over waking up with him accidentally, and now she quite literally invited him to wake up with him intentionally. What the hell was wrong with her?
5.
A soft snore in her ear roused her, and Kara grunted at the disturbance. Her voice was still hoarse from crying all night, and she could feel the dried tears on her cheeks. Another snore rumbled in her ear and she realized that her body was flush against his. Her back to his chest, his firm yet snuggle worthy chest, and his head was cuddled into her neck, which was why she was could hear his snoring. She would bet a million dollars that his mouth was slightly ajar and his nose was scrunched up. She tried to lift herself to see his face but the arm that was wrapped around her waist pulled her closer when she tried to free herself. She struggled a few more times before accepting her fate and just stared straight ahead as she let him sleep on.
The night before was a haze of tears, tissues and silent company. She couldn’t quite remember what she was crying about. All that she could recall was that her parents were fighting, and they had dragged her in the middle of it. Alone against her parents, and with her sister halfway across the country doing her medical residency, she didn’t know who she could lean on. Mike had been her first thought, although she had known him for a year – he made her feel good, wanted…and loved. But she couldn’t throw him in the deep end of her life by asking him to help her with personal problems that was best friend or boyfriend territory, not friend-I-meet-a-year-ago-and-kinda-have-feelings-and-emotions-for-but-am-too-afraid-to-say territory. Winn was the obvious first choice, having been friends with him since elementary school, but he was currently at Eve’s parent’s house for the long weekend, and she couldn’t disturb his weekend with her petty problems.
So she called Mike, just to ask what he was doing, but the moment she spoke, he knew. Perhaps it was her quaking voice, or her strained laugh, or the trembling words coming out of her mouth, whatever it was, he knew. And before she could ask, or even think, he told her he would be right over. It wasn’t like a fairytale where he fixed all her problems and dried all her tears. But he was there for her, a shoulder to cry on, someone who listened. They chatted long into the night, with choking laughs, tears between smiles, and welcomed silences. But she could have sworn to all the Gods above that she fell asleep on the couch. Sworn on her life, and her family’s that she had stuffed her face into a throw pillow while Mike was making popcorn and let slumber take her away.
But here she was now, on her bed, comfortable under her sheets, with a warm, soft body steadily holding onto her for dear life.
He probably had carried her to her bed, and that very thought sent flutters through her stomach. And that same thought chased away any residual pain of yesterday. She should probably wonder why he had decided to sleep with her, on her bed, after carrying her there, but she couldn’t bring herself to care.
+1
Kara sighed as she felt a light touch at her waist, slowly going up and down. She blinked her eyes to chase away the drowsiness.
“You’re tickling me,” she groaned.
“Sorry,” he chuckled, but he didn’t stop his movements.
Her head was currently on his chest and his arm wrapped around her, and she would have thought his arm would be numb being crushed under her weight, but he didn’t seem to mind. She slipped her hand under the blanket and returned the favor, her fingers trailing a small path at his hips. She smiled into his chest as she recalled the events that had led to this.
Last night they had plans to go bowling with Winn and Eve, who then ditched them at the last second. So they decided to have friendly competition with their neighboring bowlers, but friendly was apparently not in their vocabulary. Battle to the death was a better way to describe the competition. And when she had made the winning strike, Mike hugged her and then pulled back to plant a kiss on her lips.
The world froze in that second. The shock of his actions weighing down upon them. But as time stopped slowing down around her, she knew she wanted another kiss, she wanted his lips back on hers – so went for another kiss.
And then she realized she didn’t want the kiss to end – so she did everything in her power to make sure it didn’t. Which was the best decision of her life. All those feeling and emotions were mutual, and she was idiot to think otherwise.
“You know what this reminds me of?” he asked.
“What?” She looked up to see his eyes closed but he looked euphoric.
“The first night we slept together.”
Kara laughed, “How are they even remotely similar? We were drunk, or at least hungover, and not friends, and I thought we slept together. But now, now we are definitely not hungover, definitely more than friends, we have most definitely slept together. Not similar at all.”
He grinned but Kara swore she saw him blush, “Ya, but that was a start of something new. Our friendship. And this,” he looked down at her, “this is a start of something new as well.”
