Live With Me

Chapter 2

Jess follows Kara around the store morosely. The cart squeaks with each corner they take, and with each item that is tossed inside the cart, Jess takes a deep breath to prevent herself from getting diabetes just by looking at what Kara is picking up. She definitely shouldn't criticize her boss' partner's snack choices.

"Kara, are you sure we need this many snacks?" Jess imagines that this is what she would feel like if she was the mom of a very stubborn toddler.

Kara stops when she hears Jess' question and evaluates the amount of food in the cart. They may have grabbed more than just a little bit of cheese.

"Oops. We should probably go check out before I buy the whole store."

Jess gives her a look that says, you think?

Kara can sense that Jess is in a bad mood and works to begin rectifying that. "Can I get you something in particular?"

"No thank you, Kara."

Well, that didn't work. "Do you have any plans for the weekend?"

"Not really."

This is not easy. Well, if she can't get on her good side, she can at least badger her for advice. "Do you think Lena actually has a problem with me moving in but doesn't want to say it?"

For the first time since they left the penthouse, Jess actually takes more than just a glance at Kara. She isn't really sure how the other woman's brain works for her to go from awkward small talk to deep, personal questions. "What makes you ask?"

Kara begins to fidget, picking at the skin around her nails nervously. "I guess I'm just worried that she is only letting me stay out of pity and that I'm just sort of..." She struggles to find the right words. "...encroaching on her space and she is too nice to just tell me to go find somewhere else to go quickly."

Jess stops the cart. She is far too tired to be dealing with this, but Lena is a dear friend and if that means she has to reassure her golden retriever girlfriend then that is what she will do.

"Honestly Kara, I don't think that it is an issue at all." She watches Kara look up at her hopefully. She is pretty cute, she can see why Lena likes her, when she's not talking at least. "Lena has only ever let one person have unrestricted access to her and that is you. She has always told me that if she has visitors I have to come in with an excuse to end the visit after forty-five minutes because she can't tolerate it for longer than that, but she told me not to do that with you."

Kara scrunches her nose slightly. "I'll have to talk to her about that forty-five-minute thing."

"What I'm trying to say is that you are the only person she not only tolerates being around her for long periods of time but also enjoys being around." Jess smiles at her softly when Kara ducks her head as her cheeks flush.

"Thanks, Jess, that really helped me feel better. I guess I will just talk to Lena about it anyway to make sure we are on the same page still."

Jess carries on walking, "she once told me social interactions make her feel drained but after your visits, she is always ten times happier than she was before. You don't drain her, you make her feel invigorated."

Kara smiles brightly and is about to respond when she sees something out of the corner of her eye.

There is a camera poking out around the corner of the aisle, pointing right at her. She takes a second to understand what she is looking at and when she does she taps Jess' arm and points at it. When she does it is clear that the owner of the camera knows they just got made because they whip it back around the corner quickly.