545. Chapter 545

She’d tried, with Alex.

There were lingering glances and the way she touched her arm, and there were – after she’d saved her from Cadmus – murmured conversations with Vasquez about whether she was just so out she didn’t need to say it or whether she didn’t know yet.

So part of her isn’t surprised at all when she gets Alex’s texts – all fourteen of them – about this girl who plays pool terribly and whose lips are so damn soft and whose smile melts her insides, about high school crushes and so much of life suddenly understood.

Part of her isn’t surprised, because she knew all along.

But the other part of her is shocked.

Shocked that it wasn’t her.

And her feathers are a bit ruffled, truth be told.

“I’m hot,” she tells Kara on the way home from the airport. Kara who blushes and adjusts her glasses and murmurs something about her smelling nice, too.

“I mean, I know that. Right? I’m hot, I saved her from Cadmus on a flipping motorcycle – “

“You also sent her there in the first place – “

“Details, Kara! You’re supposed to be on my side – “

“Am I?”

“Kara. How was I not your sister gawakening?”

“Her – “

“Gay. Awakening. Gawakening. Keep up, Supergirl.”

Kara just shakes her head and hugs her again, the smile on her face a massive relief.

She’s glad Lucy’s home.

And so is Alex.

So is Alex, and she’s bouncing on her toes – a strange, odd phenomenon that Lucy files away to tease her about later – as she introduces her to Maggie.

And Lucy understands, a little bit.

Because she’s police, not military, but her handshake certainly feels like military.

And her voice is just the right kind of low, and her eyes are overflowing with adoration for the incredible nerd in front of her.

It doesn’t hurt that she’s gorgeous, too.

But as the night goes on, Lucy understands even more.

The way Maggie touches Alex, casual, intimate, like she’s worshiping her, even when the touch is just a graze of the fingers as she gives her a new bottle of root beer.

The way Maggie makes Alex laugh, the way she makes Alex melt, the way she tilts her head when she listens to her, the way she leans over and touches her thigh when Alex updates Lucy on Jeremiah, in more detail than skype allowed for.

“Hey, Maggie,” she catches up to her as Maggie goes to get them all another round. “Listen, I… at first I didn’t get it. How I wasn’t Alex’s gay awakening, you know? But now I’ve met you? You really love her, huh?”

Maggie smiles and nods and blushes just a bit. “Yeah. I do.”

“I’m glad she has you.”

Maggie tilts her head and squints slightly – a habit she must have been picking up from Alex – and her voice is both unreadable and inviting.

“She should have you, too. You should spend more time here. I know there was a lot to get away from, but uh… there’s also a lot to come home to. You know? You should stay, Lucy, if you can. If you want.”

Maggie shrugs and grins and tilts her head in the direction of the bar.

“Come on. Help me with these drinks.”

Something warm and familiar shoots up and down Lucy’s spine as she watches Maggie walk. She turns to look back at Alex, leaning into James’s chest and laughing about something or other.

Yeah. There is a lot to come home to.