An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
It’s their usual Friday movie night. Kara sits next to Lena, their bodies touching with zero space between them. The CEO’s hand lazily and mindlessly rubs the back of the hero’s head as a 90’s Halloween movie plays. There’s absolutely nothing unusual about the evening. There are snacks, Lena’s favorite dinner is on its way, and their drinks are on the coffee table. They spend every Friday night like this and have for as long as the two of them could remember.
Lena doesn’t like to admit it (and she won’t to anyone else), but she loves this time of year. At least she likes spending it with Kara. As a Luthor, Halloween isn’t something she got to celebrate as a kid. Now, since Kara introduced her to the movies, costumes, and candy? She truly loves it, regardless of what she says out loud.
Whether it is the childlike exuberance of the woman next to her or the experience itself, she enjoys the month of October immensely. Of course, she will continue to pretend she doesn’t, that’s just her shtick with her best friend, after all. It’s too fun to stop now.
She knows Kara enjoys Halloween as well, but she also refers to October as ‘Lena Month’ since it’s the month of her birthday. It took a few years, but the blonde finally figured out her birthday is October 24th.
The ebony haired genius managed to keep it from her best friend for exactly two years. Frankly, she’s shocked she managed to hide it that long with how tenacious the Kryptonian can be when she wants to know something. She’ll take it though, after so many years of loathing her birthday, Kara makes it worth celebrating.
Tonight, it’s movies and sharing cupcakes to celebrate Lena’s birthday. Her puppy-of-a best friend has celebrated her birthday every Friday night in October thus far. However, tonight is her actual birthday. At the insistence of the Super, she gets to make all the choices for the evening. So, her first birthday request is for Kara to choose the first movie. Unshockingly, It’s one she hasn’t seen before.
Something about the Sanderson Sisters and a candle. Hocus Pocus, maybe? It’s a Disney movie, definitely something Kara would choose. Little does the blonde know, the next movie they’re watching isn’t Halloween themed, but she knows it will get a jump scare from the blonde. Maybe even from Lena as well since she’s only seen the previews.
One way or another, no matter what they are watching, Lena’s hand always ends up in Kara’s hair. There’s always some form of cuddling or touching. Sometimes, Kara’s head ends up in her lap. Regardless of what happens, they’re in each other’s space and always migrate toward one another. Certainly not something Lena is going to complain about.
As their friendship has gotten stronger and they’ve rebuilt the trust between them, the CEO’s feelings about the hero have become more and more evident. Most of the time, she thinks Kara feels the same way. Unfortunately, she is too scared to ruin the friendship they’ve just rebuilt to say anything or make a move beyond where things are now.
It would be much easier if Kara would give her some sort of sign. Even then, Lena doesn’t have the advantage of alien senses to know if the blonde’s heart is racing or her breath catches in certain moments. She’d only be guessing and as a scientist, that’s not solid evidence so things remain the same.
The first movie finishes a few minutes before their food arrives. They take a break to eat and change into their pajamas before starting the second movie. Lena specifically chose the next movie because it’s a suspense-horror and she knows it will result in Kara cuddling into her more.
Look, she isn’t above using shady methods to get her cuddling fix. She’s but a simple, cowardly queer. Sue her.
She grins at the blonde now snuggled into her side as she hits play on What Lies Beneath, a mid-2000 suspense-horror movie starring Michelle Pfeiffer (yet another reason she chose the movie - again, she is but a simple queer).
Lena’s arm is wrapped around the Kryptonian’s shoulders, her hand buried in blonde tresses while the hero’s head rests on her shoulder. The warmth of Kara’s forehead is pressed into the exposed skin of her collarbone as the movie suspense picks up. She can feel the warm breath of her best friend skating across the bare skin of her throat causing a shiver to race down her spine and heat to settle into her lower abdomen.
It’s nothing new for her when they get this touchy and close, but it’s definitely not as under wraps as she likes to keep it. All she can do now is hope Kara doesn’t notice the shift in her heart rate. Or at least if she does, Lena hopes she attributes it to the movie they're watching.
So far, neither of them have really been startled by the movie, but Kara has let out a gasp and buried her head into Lena’s neck a few times. As she said before, she is but a simple queer and is most certainly basking in the attention being bestowed up on her. Plus, she is comforting the scared alien…would anyone expect any less?
After the last suspenseful moment, they settle back into their positions. Lena still has her arm around the hero’s shoulder and her hand in her hair. At this point it is more absent-minded than anything. As she anticipated from the start and for the first time during the entire movie, Lena is startled.
Unfortunately (fortunately? - to be determined), the jump scare causes Lena to tighten her grasp on the blonde’s hair at the back of her head and pull hard on instinct. The sound that comes out of Kara’s mouth sends an entire sanctuary of butterflies cascading through her chest and stomach.
Cerulean eyes go wide and a hopefully inaudible whimper slips between Lena’s lips before the CEO freezes, blonde locks still firmly wrapped in her grasp. Neither of them move for what feels like an eternity. Finally, pale fingers release their grip and she clears her throat before a mumbled apology rolls across her tongue.
Kara seems to brush it off and settle back into position, but Lena’s mind cannot stop replaying the sound her best friend made and the reaction she can tell Kara’s body had to the whole situation. Not to mention, her own body is now vibrating like a livewire after a storm.
Her obsessive brain keeps reminding her that her sunshiney, puppy-of-a best friend likes to have her hair pulled. The woman she is irrevocably, unquestionably in love with might have some kinks that align with her own. How in the hell is she supposed to focus on the rest of the movie with this kind of knowledge at the forefront of her brain?
She gathers all of her Luthor moxy and breathes her way through the remainder of the movie. If someone quizzes her on the last twenty minutes of the film, she will ultimately fail, but she survived it…mostly. Now that she knows what a moan sounds like coming from those perfect pouty lips, her internal fantasies have a more realistic soundtrack. She’s not sure she will survive this knowledge.
After the credits make their way across the screen, Lena removes her arm from around the blonde before gathering their glasses and leftover takeout containers. Once she is in the kitchen, she takes a minute to center herself, desperately trying to shake the vivid memory reel from her mind. As she places the last of the leftovers in the fridge, she realizes Kara still hasn’t moved from her spot on the couch and her eyes are fixed on the wall.
Straightening her spine and rolling her shoulders back, Lena heads toward the seemingly dazed woman on the couch. As she gingerly sits herself back onto the cushions next to Kara, she rests her hand on the blonde’s knee before asking, “Are you okay? Was the movie too much?”
Startled at her return to the couch, Kara shakes her head as a pink hue drifts across her cheeks and a combination of a laugh and a breathy whisper escapes her lips. After a brief moment of silence, the Super clears her throat and turns her head to look at Lena.
“Are we going to pretend that didn’t happen?” Kara quietly asks, the words barely audible as her skin does its best imitation of a fresh tomato.
Shocked, Lena takes a second to decide what kind of risk she is willing to take. Given that Kara brought it up, she feels pretty confident a more risque answer isn’t too far out of line. So, she shifts a little closer, twines her hand back into blonde locks, and smirks.
“Oh, you mean accidentally finding out my best friend likes to have her hair pulled? Or the fact that you moaned in my ear?” She lightly pulls the blonde’s hair again and is promptly rewarded with the same moan she got earlier.
The smirk on the CEO’s face deepens, having her assumptions confirmed, she gets cockier. Instead of backing away, she leans closer to whisper in Kara’s ear. “What else is hiding under that straight-laced persona you wear around, Supergirl?”
By the time the sun rises the following morning, Lena has the answer to that and so many other questions. It might have started as an accident, but turned into something far better than any of the fantasies they’ve been harboring for years.
Thank the gods Lena decided to pick a movie to jump-scare her best friend. What lies beneath those cardigans and button downs was well worth the trouble.
