Dinner with Friends ¦ Kate x Yelena

Chapter 12: Finale

'You got me flowers?' Yelena's mouth drops open in excitement.

Kate awkwardly holds a small bouquet of red and purple roses. 'Too much? I figured it's been a month since our first date-'

Yelena flings her arms around Kate in response. 'I adore them, thank you, Kate Bishop!'

After all the dates Kate has planned, Yelena offered to take her someplace for a change and Kate has been anxious all morning to see just where she would take her. She figured it would be some restaurant, or maybe she would finally get to see Yelena's own place since she still has no idea where exactly she resides. She's nearly always at her place and she never even bothered to ask about it.

'Please carry the flowers for me until we get there. I'll blindfold you for now.'

Kate smirks. 'Kinky.'

Yelena playfully slaps her. 'You better behave or I'll lead you right back to your apartment!'

She throws up her hands in defeat and lets herself be guided around for what she assumes is ten minutes but could be way longer. Time flies when she is around Yelena but it's a different story when she is blindfolded and walking in silence.

When she finally takes off the blindfold after taking many turns and stepping in and out of an elevator, she is greeted by a high-up view of the city. She turns around to find a blanket on the ground, surrounded by candlelight. A picnic basket stands to the side so she can easily imagine where this is going.

'No, you didn't!'

'You don't like it?'

'No, I love it! I can't even believe you thought of this.' Yelena takes her hand, smiling proudly, and leads her to the blankets. Kate can't stop staring at the rooftop they're on: the place they first met, albeit in questionable circumstances.

'Wine?' Yelena asks as soon as they sit down. Kate nods and Yelena grabs some glasses and a bottle of wine from the basket next to her. As she pours, she says: 'I'm so glad the candles didn't burn it all down. I would have had to pretend I was taking you to an open barbecue instead.'

Kate laughs. 'An open barbecue with firefighters as special guests, I can totally imagine that.'

Yelena empties the rest of her basket onto the picnic blanket. She takes out food from containers and carefully places them on paper plates. The smell of it all makes Kate drool. 'So,' Yelena starts when she's almost done placing everything where she wants it to be, 'I made some food for us.'

'Some food?' Kate eyes all the plates in front of her: pasta, sandwiches, cupcakes, soup, fruitcake, a whole bunch of tiny appetizers she couldn't name if she tried, an assortment of fruit and cheese. And that's only what she recognizes. Suddenly, her countless restaurant visits and mac and cheese meals seem lazy.

'That,' Yelena says, pointing to one of the foods Kate doesn't seem to recognize, 'is Okroshka. A type of cold soup, it's very good! And that is supposed to be banana bread but I may have left it in the oven for too long.'

The banana bread is the first thing Kate ends up putting on her plate, saying: 'Time to show you I love you, burnt banana bread and all.'

The words have only just left her mouth when Yelena gapes at her, with half a sandwich hanging out of her mouth. 'Yulovme?'

'What?' Even though Kate has a good idea of what she said. Instead of eating the sandwich and asking again once she swallowed it, she spits it out. 'Out of all possible reactions, you just spit out your food?' Kate laughs out loud.

But Yelena keeps facing her, eyes wide and doe-like, just like they are every time Kate wants to shut her own damn mouth and kiss her. 'Do you love me?' When Kate is too shocked to reply, Yelena adds: 'Because I do. I love you, Kate Bishop. I really do.'