#daredevil!reader

he tried the usual things. he cleaned the apartment at human speed to make it drag out longer. he put an old rock record on the turntable to fill the empty space. he prepared dinner and set everything in the fridge so it was easy to throw together when she got home. he even got his clothes out for the next day and reviewed notes he had taken so he could start the following day at the office with a focused mind.

that was getting boring.

clark kent wasn't a jealous person. he never had been. he grew up in a loving family that humbled every aspect of his superhuman abilities until he could function like every one else on the surface. they spoiled him with love and taught him important values that he held close to his heart today. they worked him on the farm until he no longer felt the anger and frustration at being different and therefore being able to show who he really was to people.

jealousy therefore didn't register. he worked hard for everything he achieved. he got good grades and used those to get into a good university. he used all the HDs he got in his degree to propel him into an internship that eventually got him enough credit to be working for the daily planet. with that, he became such an established investigative journalist that he got to follow one of the most important metahuman trials in the city, one offered to him before lois lane got a chance to jump at it, which then got him in with his girlfriend; the absolute love of his life. he worked so incredibly hard for everything he had ever achieved in every part of his life, so why would he ever need to be jealous?

the reason for his jealousy came not from the reason she was spending so much time in the office, but from who she was spending so much time with. his name was lucas and he was the new paralegal. he was a few years younger than her and was known around metropolis as a damn good paralegal. he had been up for grabs and every law firm had down their best to tie him down, but ultimately it had been her law firm to seal the deal.

he was efficient, and originally that had her coming home from work earlier with less of a workload on her shoulders. that abruptly changed when the clients started rolling in after the last two wins had proven that she fought to hell and back for those she represented. even with lucas and a few more staff members in the mix, things still dragged on late.

clark was jealous of his girlfriend's paralegal simply because he got to spend more time with her than he did.

it was stupid. he spent hours with lois lane and she never seemed to be jealous, so why was he suddenly jealous of her coworkers?

CLARK'S head snapped up when he heard the front door unlock. he looked up from where he had been aimlessly flicking through tv channels on the couch to watch as she tossed her white cane to the side and kicked off her heels to land beside them. a gentle moan of relief escaped her throat now that her feet were free from the uncomfortable pair of heels she had begrudgingly chosen to wear to the office today. they were a more expensive pair, one that she had treated herself to after winning a big case a few months ago, but god they fucking hurt to wear after a while. had she not been talking to the press today she would've settled for a comfy shorter pair.

"sorry," she sighed, shutting the door behind her and reaching to lock it. "but i brought home some bread to go with dinner . . . i was thinking of throwing together a quick pasta?"

she froze when something seemed off. she could feel that clark was in the room, could hear him take gentle breaths, but they were deep as if something heavy had attached themself to every exhale of carbon dioxide. "what's wrong?" she asked pointedly, slowly moving in his direction. she set the bread and her bag down on the coffee table once she made it to it, the table the only barrier between her and her boyfriend.

clark's shoulders slumped. her head tilted when he sighed. it was a mix of annoyance and neglect, it reminded her of the time they had left krypto in the apartment and he was sad that he couldn't go out with them. she imagined his eyes conveyed that same look of a sad puppy, too. it would be the same look she used to give her father as a child when he said she couldn't have ice cream, and the sparkle of sadness in her eyes were all he needed to give in. she doubted she would ever be able to replicate it ever again, but she pictured it so clear it was almost like it was yesterday instead of so many years ago. perhaps that was how clark looked now.

"nothing."

"you're a terrible liar, clark," she pushed her glasses up until they sat atop her head. "let's try again. what's wrong?"

clark sighed even louder. "nothing," he pouted this time, unable to help the way his lips contorted and the way his voice rose so high it was almost a whine. he certainly didn't miss the way he watched the corner of her lips twitch.

"sure, okay," she shrugged, feigning being unbothered and walking past the coffee table. before she could make it past the couch clark was on, his hand shot out to grab her, and suddenly she was tumbling on top of him in the blink of an eye. too fast for her to comprehend, she was momentarily dizzy as she felt her surroundings to figure out what she was facing. her hands found clark's face, the pads of her fingers tracing the pout lines in his face, from his forehead down to his lips. he pressed a kiss to her fingers before sighing once more.

"i'm sorry," clark mumbled, his hands resting gently on the exposed skin on her neck. he brushed her pulse point and felt it flutter under his touch. "i don't know what's wrong with me."

instinctively, his words had the back of her hand pressing to his forehead. "did you get enough sun today? you feel fine . . . so—"

"i think i'm jealous of you and your paralegal and i feel so very stupid for even bringing it up because it is stupid because obviously he works for you and you're my girlfriend but i just haven't really seen you lately and i know it's because you're busy but i miss you so much and you get to spend more time with him — which is fine — but he's clearly attractive so i think that's not helping how i feel and . . ." clark trailed off to suck in enough oxygen that he coughed.

his rambling was so rapid fire that it took her a moment to process it all properly. "'clearly attractive'?" she quoted, and felt as clark nodded. "babe, you do remember that i can't, like, see him, right?" clark was silent on that one. "how am i supposed to know if he's attractive? i don't know what he looks like."

which seemed to bring up a whole new lot of spiralling thoughts in clark. she shifted so sit on his lap better, and his hands came to circle her middle, locking her in place. "wait," his eyebrows furrowed, "then how do you know that i'm attractive. like, you can't see me either but you always say i look good so . . ." he squinted, "does that mean you're lying?"

"i can't tell if this is worse than your jealousy tangent or not," she muttered under her breath. "i just know, okay. i can feel you," she lifted her hands back to his face just to prove her point. she dragged her index finger over the bridge of his nose and traced the outline of his lips before trailing up his jawline. "you have perfect physical traits . . . but who you actually are is the important part to me. that's how i'm very lucky to have someone as good-looking as you."

she could feel clark's face heat up under her hands. "and i, once again, forgot for a second that you see differently," his voice dropped into a mumble that she heard perfectly clear. "which means you can't see lucas . . . not like i thought you were gonna think he was better than me or anything anyway . . ." he sighed. "and suddenly i feel really stupid again for even thinking any of this. i just miss you and it's making me feel weird."

"aw, baby," she hummed, kissing him gently. "i was gonna take tomorrow off anyway . . . you should do the same."

clark perked up at that. "i'll call out tomorrow morning," he grinned so hard she could feel it without even needing to feel his face. "i think i can pull off a pretty convincing sick voice."

she knew that his sick voice was very unconvincing because he had never really been sick, but she nodded anyway. "oh totally," she nodded like she was truly convinced. "and then you can have me all day."

"just you," clark nodded, the idea of it perfect, "and me." she could feel his smile against her face when he brushed their noses together. "and no one else."

“You want me to be your chaperone then ?” his voice wary.

The last few weeks you had dreaded opening your mailbox and taking calls. You knew the moment would come, as it does every year.

One morning you went to get your daily post and found an envelope. You recognised the handwriting immediately and your heart sank.

This was it, the invitation. Every year your aunt would invite you to her yearly christmas party. And every year, you hated it. It wasn't your aunt's fault, your cousins however were a different thing.

They were like the cruel step sisters in Cinderella. In short, they were bullies. Mean to anyone who they believed to be unworthy.

You opened the envelope to find a beautiful white card decorated with glitter. Your aunt had good taste when it came to these things, she had even used a stamp with kittens on it.

As you read the card you realised your mistake. She was not just inviting you, but also the boyfriend you had mentioned once on the phone to her. You had broken up with said boyfriend a while ago.

"Great" you sighed. Now your cousins would certainly make your evening a nightmare. You used to hang out with them when you were younger, but you realised soon that all they did was bring you down. The last straw was one of them seducing your then boyfriend. It made you feel so bad that you have felt insecure since then. You knew they were pretty, everyone knew and so did they. You didn't stand a chance against them when it came to men.

You really didn't want them to know that you were still single. And then you decided to do something risky.

You found yourself standing in front of the door of Matt's apartment. You had been friends for 2 years now, and you were about to ask him a big favor. There was the possibility of him refusing or even laughing at your question, but anything was better then facing those evil brats alone.

You knew Matt's hightened senses would have alerted him to you being there so you knocked.

The door opened almost right away.

" (y/n). Hi, I wasn't expecting you. You wanna come in ?" He motioned for you to step inside.

You were nervous on how to ask this thing "Hi, Matt. Sorry I didn't call before coming here."

He closed the door once you were inside "Don't worry about it. It's good to see you." He smiled at you "Do you want something to drink."

"You got any beer ?" You blurted out and he seemed a bit suprised.

"Wow. Sure, I didn't take you for an early drinker." He walked to his fridge to grab a bottle.

"Yeah, sorry. I'm just a bit stressed today." You walked around the room a bit, hoping to calm your nerves.

He opened the bottle of beer and handed it to you "Something I can help with?" He sounded worried.

You fumbled with the bottle for a bit before taking a sip "About that...that's actually why i'm here."

He walked over to you "I had a feeling there was something."

"You mean you heard my heart playing like a drummer?"

He let out a chuckle and nodded "Well, yeah. Tell me, (y/n). What's this about?"

Your fingers were tapping on the bottle "My aunt...uh.. she holds this big party every christmas eve. And she expects me to be there of course. Only this year she expects me to bring someone along."

He had a confused expression " (y/n), I don't really understa-"

"I am asking you to accompany me to the party." You blurted it out before you would be too scared to ask.

His brows shot up "So, you're asking me out ?" He stammered.

You waved your hand "No, not exactly...”

You took another sip of the beer “ It's complicated. But please, Matt, please help me out. This is very important to me and I'll owe you one, Please ?” you pleaded.

You bit your lip, this was getting really awkward “I'm asking you to pretend to be my boyfriend for the evening."

"Oh." He tilted his head "I feel honored that you are asking me, but why exactly do you need a 'fake' boyfriend ?" He was holding in a laugh.

You rubbed you arm "I kind of forgot to tell them I broke up with my last boyfriend and now they want me to bring him to the party."

“Auwtch.” he cringed “ Why don't you tell your aunt now?”

He let his hands rest on his sides and let out a breath “Alright. I'll do it.”

You nearly jumped from excitement when he agreed to accompany you “Thank you so, so much, Matt.” You took three steps before you hugged him. “You just saved me.”

He put a hand on your back and patted “You're very welcome, (y/n).”

You let go off him and headed to the door “I'll call you soon to give you the details and time. Okay?”

“Sounds good.” he chuckled. “See you soon, (y/n).”

You waved, knowing that he would sense it before you left his apartment.

That went better than expected, at least you wouldn't have to show up at the party alone now.

The day of the party had come and you were putting on the dress you had spent hours looking for in the many stores that you had visited. The dress wasn't cheap, this time you wanted to dress to impress. You wondered how your cousins would react to you arriving with Matt.

Even they would realise Matt was handsome, the thought of him being your company for the evening made you smile.

You brushed your hands over your dress, smoothing it out while looking in the mirror one last time.

You took a cab to your aunt's place, and made the cab stop around the corner where Matt was waiting for you. You tipped the driver and got out.

Matt had dressed up for the occasion, wearing a tuxedo and bow tie.

“Bow tie, huh ?” you said as you walked to him.

He touched the bow tie for a moment “ What ? Don't tell me I don't look good with it. I know you would be lying.”

“Alright, smartass. So, you ready for this?” you clapped your hands together.

He gave a quick nod and turned his cane between his fingers “I am. You ?” he asked you as you took hold of his arm.

“Not really, but duty calls.” you stated.

He laughed at your remark “Come on, how bad can it be ?”

“You have no idea..” you murmured.

“What do we tell them if they ask how we met? I don't think we can tell them that you hit me in the head because you thought I was a burglar.” his sarcasm was evident.

You rolled your eyes “First of all, that's what you get for climbing through people's windows in the middle of the night. Second, we will tell them we met at Josie's bar.”

“Got it. And you and I both know I climbed through your window to safe your life from the real burglar.” he corrected you.

“I know, I know. And once again, thank you for saving my life.” you were almost at your aunt's house.

“I am glad I did. Even if you hit me.”

You groaned “Can we just drop that subject, Matt ?”

He laughed and put his hand on your arm as you guided him.

You were in front of the door of your aunt's residence, feeling yourself panic.

“(y/n).” Matt squeezed your arm a bit “Breath.”

With that you drew a deep breath and exhaled. You couldn't back out now.

You rang the doorbell, you were holding on to Matt tightly.

The door went open and you were met by the wide smile your aunt was displaying on her face.

“(y/n) !!!! I am so glad you are here !!!” she held out her arms for a hug and you hugged her.

“Look at you, you've grown !” she beamed.

You shook your head and let out a chuckle “Auntie, you say that every year. And every year I stay the same height.”

She looked at Matt now “Oh my, who is this ?” she gave you a meaningful look.

“Oh, this is-” you started.

Matt held out his hand to her “Matthew Murdock, but please, call me Matt.” his voice smooth and he gave your aunt a smile that looked like he was posing for a magazine.

She seemed to be startled a bit as she took his hand to shake it.

“Well, I am glad you decided to join us this evening, Matt. (y/n) tends to be very discreet about her relationships so I am glad to see that she has indeed good taste. Like me, for example.” she claps her hands together “Aw just look at you two, so young and so in love. It reminds me of me and your uncle when we were young.”

Tears were welling up in your aunt's eyes as she spoke and reminisced about the past. Part of you felt guilty for lying now. But your aunt seemed to be so happy to see you, to see Matt.

“Oh lord, what am I doing, please come inside!” she held the door open so you and Matt could walk inside. “The party is in the garden, I thought it would be better as there are more people then last year.”

“Good thinking, auntie.” you told her as you and Matt made your way to the garden. Your mouth fell open when you stepped into the garden “Wow.” you breathed.

Your aunt had spared no expense this time, there was a large white tent in the middle of the garden that was covering the tables.

There were fairylights all over the tent and the garden. It was beautiful.

“What does it look like ?” Matt asked you and you realise he couldn't actually see it the way you saw it.

“Like a fairytale. There are small soft lights everywhere, and loads of christmas ornaments placed around the garden.” you told him as you walked to the people in the garden.

“Your aunt has good taste in food.” he stated and you looked at him confused before it dawned on you.

“Already after my aunt's apple pie, huh?” you nudged him.

The smile was wiped off your face quickly as you saw your cousins approach the both of you.

Their eyes fell on Matt for a little too long to not be obvious “Well, look who's here. (y/n), love the dress, the color is a bit last season though.” she said.

“But we know you don't keep up with fashion, bless your heart.” the other chimed in.

You swallowed when you heard their remarks “Good to see you guys too.” you feigned a smile.

“Aren't you going to introduce us to your friend ?” they were both eyeing up Matt at this point.

You shook your head “Of course, this is Matt. My.. boyfriend.” saying it felt... odd.

They stared at you in disbelieve “Your boyfriend ?” one of them asked.

“That's correct.” Matt now held out his hand to them “I'm (y/n)'s boyfriend. Pleased to meet you.” you noticed the tone of Matt's voice had changed.

They both shook his hand a little too long, and you started to feel irritated.

“Attention everyone !!!!” you heard your aunt's voice “Please make your way over to the tables, dinner is being served.”

“I guess we will be getting to know each other better over dinner then.” your cousin said to Matt and both your cousins were giggling as they walked away.

At this point you already wanted to leave this party, but you didn't want to disappoint your aunt, knowing how much work she must have put into all of this.

“I'm starting to understand why you asked me to come with you.” Matt said as you walked with him to the tables.

You didn't answer, you were too upset already. Somehow seeing your cousins flirt with Matt like that made you feel miserable. Old memories of them taking away all the boys you once had a crush on were resurfacing. Why was this bothering you so much ? Matt was your friend, it's not like he was really your boyfriend. This was as close to a relationship you would ever get with Matt, a pathetic lie.

Not like you stood a chance against any of your cousins now that they had aimed their arrows on him.

You leaded Matt to a place at the table that wasn't too close to your cousins, yet still close enough to hear them sadly.

Matt stopped you by holding your arm and pulled the chair from the table for you.

“Thank you.” you sat down. He folded up his cane and took place next to you.

“Is your aunt's apple pie as good as it smells ?” his mood was merry. The opposite of your own.

You shrugged your shoulders “It is.”

You sat in silence, making circles in your soup with the spoon. You had lost your appetite quicker than last year.

Matt tried to make some small talk with your uncle who was sitting next to him, often trying to get you to join the conversation. His attempts were in vain.

The table was filled with people talking about different topics and at one point it got a bit quieter and that's when you heard it.

Your cousins were clearly gossiping about you, at first you tried to ignore it, as you had always done. But then you heard it.

“She can only get a guy if he's blind.” one of them said.

It felt as if the air was punched out of you. You bit the inside of your cheek, and put the spoon you were holding down.

Matt had tilted his head to the side.

You shoved the chair you were sitting on back, you had to get away from everyone as you felt yourself starting to shake.

“(y/n)...” Matt's hand was on yours instantly.

“I'm... I'm just going to the bathroom. I'll be right back.” your voice was wobbly when you spoke.

He let go off your hand, he didn't seem pleased.

You got up from the table and made your way inside the house, you closed the door and were standing in the kitchen now.

The tears you were trying to fight were now falling and you tried to control you sobbing. You walked further in the house, hoping the noise of the party would fade-out the noise of you crying.

You sat down on the steps of the stairs in the house as you tried to control yourself.

The way your cousins had said it hit you hard. The worst part is, they were right. None of the other guys you had once shown interest in had chosen you. None of them. They always choose one of your cousins.

And you hated to think it, but what if Matt had not been blind ?

Would he be like the others and forget about you ?

You let your head fall in your hands and focused on your breathing.

The sound of footsteps almost made you jump, you looked and saw Matt approaching.

Great. Could this evening get any worse ?

“Sometimes I wish you didn't have such a good sense of hearing.” your voice was weak as you spoke.

He walked to you “Sometimes I wish that too. Especially when I hear you cry.”

You wiped your tears away with your hand “I'll be fine, Matt. You should go back to the party, I dragged you here after all.”

He was leaning against the stairs now “You didn't drag me here, (y/n). I wanted to come.”

“You must think I'm pathetic. Making my family believe I actually have a boyfriend.” you scoffed.

“No, (y/n)..” he sighed “I heard what they said back there, about you.” he came to sit next to you on the steps and put a hand on your back.

You burried your head in your hands, you wished he hadn't heard that.

“They are right, Matt.” your voice was wobbly again.

He chuckled lightly “I am pretty sure they are not.”

You groaned “No, Matt. You don't understand.” you shook your head “Every guy I ever dated, every guy I have been remotely interested in, every one of them all chose my cousins over me. And it won't be long before-” you stopped before the words could roll from your mouth.

He noticed your sudden silence “....before what ?”

You breathed in and closed your eyes “Before you choose one of them too and forget all about me.”

Matt fumbled with the cane in his hand before he directed himself to you “You think I will choose someone else over you ?”

His choice of words was odd and it grabbed your attention as you looked at him. You could only nod.

“Permission to speak freely ?” he leaned to you.

You nodded again.

“I'd rather be deaf too than date your cousins, (y/n). Sitting at the table with them was enough.” he smiled at you widely “And... don't take this the wrong way but..”

“Oh god, it never ends well when you start a sentence like that.” you interupted him.

He chuckled and continued “But.. I am glad those other guys choose your cousins.”

You furrowed your brows “Excuse me?”

“No wait..” he held up his hand in defeat, noticing his mistake “I am glad they did. Because if they hadn't, I wouldn't be sitting here with you now. You would be here with some other lucky guy.”

You looked at him as you realised what he was saying.

“What I'm trying to say, in a pretty poor way, is that I wish I was here with you but not as your fake boyfriend.”

“As what then ?” you prayed he was trying to tell you what you thought he was trying to tell you.

“How about next year, we go to your aunt's party, but I'll be your boyfriend for real ?”

“Is this your smooth way of asking me to be your girlfriend, Matt ?” you felt like your heart was going to burst.

“I am doing this poorly, aren't I ?”

You laughed lightly “Why wait 'till next year ?”

A smile spread on both your faces “Good question.” his finger lifted up your chin and his lips brushed yours. “I guess that's a 'yes' then?” he smirked against your lips.

"clark."

he cringed, face contorting like it had when he accidentally flew straight into a bird the other day and had to pluck feathers from his mouth. this was almost as unpleasant.

"aw, sorry, sweetheart," he grimaced, face equivalent to a deer caught in headlights. "i didn't mean—"

"i woke up when you decided i needed a personal x-ray," she said bluntly, forever so. her eyes were still closed as if she hadn't stirred from sleep at all. once again, another thing he didn't quite understand, but it was rather unhelpful that she was aware when he decided to be all overprotective boyfriend and use his x-ray eyes for something useful. his train of thought pause — it was only now that clark noticed the large bruise around her eye, so dark and fresh it was almost black. "i'm fine, clark."

"golly!" he exclaimed, practically leaping over the end of the bed until he was beside her, trying his best not to land on top of her to cause any further injury. with gentle hands he cupped her jaw, forcing her head in his direction. her eyes blinked open at the feeling of his hands, locking onto a point on the ceiling so she could focus on his voice entirely. "what on earth . . ."

she grumbled something that ended in more of a whine than anything else. "i'm fine," she repeated, a huff exhaling past her lips. "please, it's nothing."

clark was absolutely not letting that go. now that he knew these injuries were from being who the public had dubbed daredevil and weren't some freak accident where she clumsily fell down the stairs, he was a lot more attentive than before. prior to this, she could brush it off and he would worry from afar while keeping his eye on her to make sure he didn't catch it happening. he liked knowing the truth about her but gosh it made him worry so much more.

"what happened?" it wasn't a stern demand, but a gentle ask that left minimal room for argument. it didn't help her case when she sensed his head tilt like an adorable puppy, the weight of his quiet words engraved into her heart.

"i've been following this lead on a group of missing kids for months," she admitted, reaching out her hand to search for his own. he find hers like a missing piece of a puzzle. "there's this weird underground trade in experiments and the trail goes cold every time i get too close."

"lexcorp?" clark asked. lex luthor had made his hatred for metahumans clear but even he couldn't be ruled out when he was still staging a manhunt on superman. he had already created one metahuman that they knew of to take on the task of eliminating him, it was always possible that he was funding the path for more.

she shrugged. "not sure. i don't think it's properly affiliated but it still could be luthor's money going into it. the trail went from metropolis to gotham and then back here but now it's cold again."

"and . . ." clark raised his thumb to brush her cheek just below the bruise.

she smiled offhandedly. "ran into a few guys that were part of the operation on remington street, just near the metro palace theatre."

"hm," he hummed, eyes flickering up to the ceiling in thought. "mind if i take a look tomorrow?"

"if you want," she shrugged, squeezing his hand. "as long as you keep your distance . . . don't want the trail to go cold again."

"and i don't really want you chasing down these guys but . . . what say do i have?" he shook his head slowly. "you're gonna be the death of me i think."

"aw," she rolled back up into a ball under the blankets, attempting to get comfortable now as tiredness sunk deep into her bones. "i'll proudly wear that title, y'know? imagine if i get to be known as the person who killed superman."

it was a joke, one that had giggles tumbling straight from his lips as he curled back up under the blankets beside her, encompassing her in the warmth of his large frame. "well, i'm not about to let anyone else kill me," he added. she rolled so that she was facing his direction, and all he could do was fixate on the torturous sight of her eye. "just let me properly look at your eye . . ." he turned on the puppy dog eyes that were like second nature, "please?"

in response, she rolled her eyes, ignoring the subtle pulsing pain at the movement. "if you keep x-raying me, i'm gonna end up with more radiation than chernobyl," she then sighed. "if you must."

"i must," clark decided promptly. he thoroughly looked through muscle and tissue to at least make sure that her skull was still intact. "okay . . . no skull fracture."

i know, she thought but didn't say, not wanting to undermine him and his thoughtfulness. "i'll get it looked at in the morning if it'll make you feel better," she said, to which clark hummed in agreement and pulled her closer into him.

"thanks," he mumbled, pressing a kiss to her hairline and letting his eyes fall closed. "how did you know i was x-raying you, by the way?"

he felt her chest bubble with silent laughter. "there's this weird staticky noise," she admitted, and he nodded to himself when he realised it was too quiet for even him to hear. "and my bones feel scratchy, like pins are scraping across them.

"oh . . ." he trailed off, as genuinely surprised as he always was whenever she told him a new little detail about her senses. "good to know."

"goodnight, clark," she huffed lightly, knowing that the longer she entertained this, the longer she would be without sleep. he could keep a conversation going for hours until he realised that he should probably join her in sleeping purely because he knew she needed rest to function like anyone else unlike him.

chuckling quietly, she placed her hand on her boyfriend's arm. clark's shoulders lost their tension. he wanted things to be perfect: kara had finally decided to spend some time with him in metropolis after he had spent months begging for her to stop galavanting around red sun planets and come back to earth. kara had only just opened up about the week of her twenty-third birthday and all the drama that came with it, so it made sense that she was taking some time off partying and drinking to sober up at full-strength in the force of the yellow sun. overall, this meant that clark had his girlfriend to officially acquaint with his cousin . . . and he was slightly worried about that.

"it's fine, clark," she cracked a smile. red glasses perched up on her nose, she lifted them to sit atop her head. "i can't actually see you, but i can see around you, if that makes sense." it clearly did not when kara's nose scrunched up. "i can see the silhouette of you because all my other sense are enhanced, i guess," she tried to explain better. "but i can't actually see you, no."

kara whistled. "probably for the best," she nodded rather solemnly, "clark over here isn't too easy on the eyes."

"hey!" clark interjected, crossing his arms over his chest. "i don't think i should leave you two alone today if kara's gonna keep acting like this," his words were directed at his girlfriend rather than his cousin this time.

she shook her head with a gentle smile while kara blabbered on about how she didn't need a babysitter. "go to work, clark. there's nothing to be worried about."

"mhm, if you say so," clark didn't sound convinced, but he picked up his blazer and his briefcase nonetheless. "see you tonight," he kissed her cheek before looking at kara. "and you behave yourself. i don't need to look up and see you on the news."

"go to work, clark," kara huffed. "leave us alone."

clark begrudgingly said one last goodbye before disappearing. kara stood up and clapped her hands together the second the door clicked shut. "so . . ." she trailed off. "what are some girly things to do around here?"

the concept of a girls day was still rather new to kara. she had watched movies to better understand humans when clark first found her, but since then she had only really used them to understand english better before she flew back into space with krypto and refused to return.

"we could go shopping?" she suggested to kara, joining her in standing up. "i don't really think there's much that i need but i think we could expand your closet to better fit your tastes . . ."

kara looked down at her clothes. they weren't her aesthetic in the slightest, and what she did have on was old, a little weathered, and definitely more of clark's taste than her own. kara needed baggy jeans or cargo pants with band shirts and eye-catching jewellery to match. she knew that kara loved her coat, that wouldn't change, but she needed to get kara out of flannel shirts that probably looked like they came straight from smallville.

they probably had come from smallville anyway, clark held onto some of his old clothes and it was clear that the smaller ones had been handed down to kara. it was sweet but it was also very obvious that kara was not giving farm girl and intead punk rock princess.

"please," kara groaned, shrugging off the brown flannel that had seen better days. she only really wore it around the house when her coat wasn't necessary. now that they were going out, kara was moving towards the coatrack to pick up her favourite part of her outfit. "clark keeps giving me his clothes. they smell like cows."

she laughed at kara, sliding her glasses back down to rest over her eyes. "we can buy whatever you want, don't worry about it," she waved off. the lawyer money was coming in good now, and kara was starting to feel like a sister-in-law anyway. who better to spend her money on than her? walking over to the door, she picked up her white cane and jacket. "just remember that i'm blind and we've gotta keep up appearances."

"i'll be an excellent guide," kara brushed off like it was nothing, opening the front door with a newfound excitement in her step. "no one'll think you're kinda not blind at all."

KARA HAD MANAGED TO buy quite a few things to the point where she raced the copious amounts of bags to the car and met her back inside at a good coffee spot at the mall.

it was quite the success. she couldn't see what kara bought, but they had all been described to her: band shirts, some of whom kara knew the artist and some where she was interested to listen to them, some darker shirts with casual graphic designs on them, two pairs of baggy jeans, some sweatpants, and accessories such as chunky belts, necklaces and bracelets to go with it. there weren't really any earrings that kara liked, but this was a pretty good start for someone who was going to be living on earth for quite a while.

"what did you order me?" kara asked as she sat back down at the table, dropping the car keys and her phone on the table. they had been two things that kara had somehow managed to convince clark that she needed: the car was clark's and he had finally started trusting his cousin enough to use it, and the phone meant that he could keep tabs on her in case of emergency. and so that he could contact her whenever he wanted. kara was like the sibling he never got, and he was making the absolute most of it.

her head moved to follow kara's sudden appearance. "got us both a hot chocolate. this is, like, the only place that makes it with belgian chocolate in metropolis and god is it good."

"yum," kara grinned, resting her chin on her hand that she had propped up on the table. "so . . . i think i need to get to know you better."

she tilted her head. "why's that?"

"because one day clark is obviously gonna wanna marry you, duh," kara rolled her eyes. "he's so in love with you it's gross. he used to call me all the fucking time when i was in space and just ramble about you to try convince me to come back here. he's sickening, i swear."

she laughed a little too loud, covering her mouth with her hand to try silence the noise before people started looking over. "you'd be my maid of honour if we got married," she said softly. "i know we don't know each other super well but you're everything to clark . . . and it's finally kinda nice to hang out with more people like me, you know?"

like me was the only way she could really put it. obviously clark and kara weren't human like she was, but they shared they same traits that she had as a metahuman. there were things that regular people didn't understand, like how certain smells and sounds were so sharp it felt like the world was caving in, or days where everything was so overwhelming because everything was so prominent. kara understood that the second she first came to metropolis. everything was so loud in a city; it was daunting. plus, it was refreshing to be around someone who knew her secrets so that she didn't have to pretend to be normal all the time.

"aw," kara ducked her head, stiffening her posture as if that would combat the sudden warmth flooding her face. "i appreciate that . . ." she cleared her throat, tucking her hair back behind her ears. "but first i've gotta teach you kryptonian. clark doesn't know any which means we can talk shit."

"i don't think i have much 'shit' to talk, but sure," she shrugged, smiling in agreement. "i'd love to learn." it meant spending more time with kara and that felt nice at the moment.

"that's fine," kara said just as a waitress brought over the two cups of hot chocolate. the two girls thanked her before kara continued to speak. "i have plenty of shit to talk." she dunked her spoon into the mug to gather some of the froth. "y'know he kept yelling at me in english as if i would understand him when i first got here?" she shook her head and rolled her eyes. "fuckin' idiot— holy shit!" her eyes widened after scooping the foam into her mouth. "this is the best thing i've ever had ever. oh my god."

it was the sweetest gift she had ever been given — it was hard to find nicely-bound braille novel readily available, but clark had done his best after finding out that his girlfriend had been itching to read it again. she hadn't put it down ever since.

the apartment they had moved into eight months ago ( they both finally had stable jobs to rely on — clark at the daily planet and her at the well-established metropolis law firm ) was quiet, a few floors from the top to escape as much of the city's sounds as possible.

clark was the ultimate considerate boyfriend. he learnt fairly early on that her blindness heightened every other sense to the point where sometimes just being hearing people talk could be overwhelming. he'd bought new shirts with a nicer material, had hunted down an apartment that was towards the top floor while remaining affordable, and also changed his cologne to one with a scent that wasn't so overpowering. he knew a thing or two about sense-sensitivity, it was definitely a blessing.

he, however, didn't know the full extent of her capabilities. not like she knew his.

she knew that clark didn't need his glasses to be able to see. she heard them clatter on the table when he got home from work when he thought she wouldn't notice. even if he tried to excuse it, she knew for a fact that he read emails and letters perfectly without them.

she knew that he disappeared for strange stretches of time when metropolis was in crisis and that he came home covered in the scent of strange chemical residue like aftershave. how sometimes she could smell the night air clinging to his clothes when he reappeared randomly in their kitchen after supposedly going to the bathroom.

more dangerously, she knew when he lied. she could hear the jump in his heartbeat, the change in his breathing, and the tangy scent of perspiration, all gathered with one simple tilt of the head.

clark kent lied quite a lot for someone so genuine. little did he know, so did she.

SHE heard clark before she saw him. entering the elevator on the ground floor, to be exact. the sound of his shoes against the floor, the ding of the elevator doors opening, the smiley greeting he offered to their neighbour before pressing the button for their floor, the ding of the doors as they opened again, this time closer.

his footsteps stopped in front of the door. his keys jingled as he fidgeted with them, trying to find the correct one before sliding it into the lock. the smell of roses increased tenfold when he got the door open.

"honey, i'm home!" clark sung in a way that had her heart melting, clumsily kicking off his shoes and shutting the door at the same time. it was cheesy, something she was certain was unironic, but it made her smile and close her novel all the same. he claimed it was her way of not panicking when the door started rattling, but she had a feeling he had been watching too many old sitcoms when she wasn't home.

he sent his things down by the door and made his way through to where he knew she was usually situated on her days off. their shared office that they had half turned into a mini library was cosy; an armchair seated by the window to catch the warmth of the sun's rays, a mahogany desk from a second hand-store on the other side of the room, and a bookshelf growing a collection of case files, books clark enjoyed, and an empty space for the collection of braille books he promised to build for her.

she stood up from the chair, stretching out her aching muscles. the bruise blooming across her ribs was not helping in the slightest. the smile across her face widened when she sensed the air shift, clark's large frame crossing the threshold of the office and scooping her up into a warm hug. her arms flung around his neck in an instant, gentle giggles escaping her from being lifted off the ground. "hey, my love," she mumbled quietly, pressing a kiss to his lips. she tasted the bitterness from the remnants of coffee on his tongue. "d'you have a good day?"

"mhm, yeah," he hummed, setting her back down with one final kiss. "gotcha something." he was quiet at home, even more so after a long day around others ( she knew he didn't get tired as much as he pretended to, his whole unathletic schtick was absolute bullshit when she could hear his heart and breathing ), it was a mix of feeling comfortable in the homely quiet and the fact that his smiles said more than his words did. she couldn't see them, but she could feel them, and even better, she could reach out and physically feel the smile lines creasing into his face. that only ever made him smile more.

plastic scrunched as he handed the bouquet to her, not letting go until her fingers finally closed around the flower stems. she raised her other hand to brush her fingertips across the petals, the texture silky and smooth. one inhale told her all she needed to know, "roses," she breathed out, everything about him so intoxicating that she fell under the spell of mirroring his smile. "you only ever get me roses when you have something to tell me, clark."

it wasn't accusatory. the last two times had been when he told her he got a promotion at work and asked her to be his girlfriend. tulips were his apology flower of choice.

his resolve crumbled. her head tilted.

his heartbeat sped up and his breathing stuttered. the air shifted to indicate the tremor running up his hand, startled into taking a step back. "um . . ." he trailed off awkwardly. he hadn't really thought about how exactly he was going to go about this, thinking no further than buying roses from the little shop on the corner.

she moved around her boyfriend and mapped out the layout from memory. she put a little bit of performance into it: blindly reaching out to brush her fingers against walls and cupboards on her way. clark followed closely behind, his eyes never leaving her in the rare instance that she tumbled into the odd chair.

everything was muscle memory and heightened senses. she moved swiftly around the kitchen in a way that made it look like it was more on the muscle memory side — she loved clark dearly but she was almost certain that her even being insanely good at things a regular person with visual impairments wouldn't have rung alarm bells in his brain. either way, it was better to keep up the charade.

clark was silent, a looming presence like a shadow as she felt through the glassware cabinet to find the vase. it sat towards the front from the last time clark had brought flowers on his way home from work . . . which was four days ago. she had only just thrown the wilted ones away this morning.

"i've been hiding something from you," it spilled out of him all at once. she heard his nerves spike, but his words didn't stop her from moving to the sink and filling up the vase with the tap. she didn't falter as she unwrapped the flowers from the plastic and guided the stems into the vase with both hands as a guide.

"okay . . ." she trailed off, leaving the vase beside the sink. clark usually moved it into the dining room anyway. "you sound worried."

he didn't mean for it all to tumble out. one second he was carefully folding his glasses and setting them on the counter and the next the words were flowing before he could even register them. "i don't like hiding things from you but i want to spend the rest of my life with you so— so i really don't wanna keep secrets anymore," he took a breath, deep and somewhat shaky. "i love you, so i need to tell you."

falling in love with her hadn't been an accident, but he hadn't necessarily meant to fall head over heels in the first place. it was all by chance that they hit it off so well, but clark had never been in a relationship long enough to even think about revealing his secret. this current relationship was long-term, he could feel it now, and he could feel it long before they had both made the commitment to get a place together.

she crossed the room, following the tail-end of his sentence until she stood across the counter from him. "i love you, too," she echoed, placing her hands between them. clark's hands reached to intertwine with hers, gently squeezing her skin between his.

"i'm, uh," he squeezed her hands again, this time a little tighter. "i'm kinda . . . superman."

to his surprise, she didn't even blink. he hadn't really prepared for it, but he expected her reaction to be one of shock. he expected confusion and her to need space and for her to do the head tilt thing he loved so much. all she did was stand still, eyes lowered like they always were, as if this revelation hadn't bothered her in the slightest.

"i know," she finally said, and clark looked more shocked than she should be feeling.

"you . . . know?" he said slowly, carefully, his thumbs circling patterns on her hands. ". . . how?"

"'cause you're not the one with a secret," she cracked a smile like it was nothing, leaning down to rest her elbows on the counter. clark was truly stumped, his mouth opening and closing, unable to voice a single thought that rattled above. "y'know that vigilante that's been cleaning up metropolis? usually at night?"

clark nodded.

"that's me," she flashed him a smile.

he paused momentarily. "but . . ." he didn't know how to say it in a way that didn't feel lesser-than, "you're—"

"blind?" she finished for him. he nodded and she shrugged. "technically, yeah, i am . . . but i can see in other ways. i was blinded by these chemicals as a kid," which he knew, "and they enhanced all my other sense," which he did not know. he just figured all her other senses heightened on their own from conditioning. "i can hear things over forty metres away, i can feel shifts in the air . . . all that stuff."

slumping into his chair, he hummed in thought. now that he thought about it, it made plenty of sense. the way he sometimes found bruises littered across her body and how she would say it was because she fell, but he had never witnessed her take a single tumble in all the time they had been together. how sometimes she caught a glass before it smashed to the floor and chalked it up to luck.

"that's crazy . . ." but he sounded impressed, trying to push away his worry now that he knew she put herself in harms way. he could save that discussion for another time. "you amaze me more and more everyday."

it felt natural to stand there now with no more secrets between them. if anything, it brought them closer together with one more thing in common. something only they knew about each other and could keep from the rest of the world.

it was only when they both curled up on the couch with an old album playing faintly from the record player that clark brought it up again. "could you tell because i was a bad liar or was it because of your secret powers?"

nothing seemed out of the ordinary. people skirted around her as she walked, someone was kind enough to assist her in crossing the street ( clark had been saying there was still hope for humanity — it was times like this that she truly believed cynicism had not yet taken over entirely ), and it was overall just an easy, and quite lovely, walk home.

she was roughly one block from home when something felt off. heartbeats came and went as she walked, she had learnt well enough now to blur them into her background to not focus on them when it wasn't necessary. there were two particular heartbeats that had remained steady as she walked, neither one of them getting further away. no, they remained at the same pace away — one was quick, the other sounded like a history of heart problems. pushing her red glasses back up her nose, her lips pulled into a thin line as she took a detour from her regular way home.

the heartbeats followed. even closer now, she could hear their breathing, one calm, the other erratic. it was odd, and she had a feeling it was definitely two people trying to take advantage of the fact that she was blind. it all felt very sinister.

"okay," she mumbled, picking up her pace slightly, unnoticeably. she turned down a side street, head tilted to the side as she listened up ahead to find the perfect dead-end alleyway to deal with whatever was behind her. she found one and easily slipped into it, folding up her cane in a few swift movements and holding it behind her back. the footsteps grew louder, quicker, as the two following her shifted into heavy, masculine breathing. she held her ground and didn't move an inch as the men moved to stand on either side of her, blocking her way through the alley.

"are you lost?" the one on the left asked, and her head tilted in that direction.

"i think so," she sighed dramatically, pushing her glasses up to sit atop her head. "i lost my cane and i just . . ." she paused for dramatic effect, willing tears to blur her eyes until a few rolled down her cheek. "i— i don't know where i am . . . i think i took a wrong—wrong turn and—" she was laying it on thick, but the two men didn't seem to notice her acting.

"aw, baby," the man on the right inched closer, his shoes scuffing against the ground. it took everything in her not to flinch backwards, her grip on her folded-up cane tightening when his grubby hands reached towards her bag. the second she heard his hand rustle through the fabric as the other man closed in, she snapped, cracking her cane into the side of his head.

CLARK was enjoying the remnant warmth of the evening sun as it started to set across metropolis. it was nice to float up in the clouds after work, keeping an eye on things while waiting for his girlfriend to get home. things weren't too bad this evening — he helped a cat stuck in a tree and the little girl it belonged to offered him some cookies her mum had made as a thank you, and he helped an old man cross a busy street.

it was nothing major but he loved giving back to his community, to his people. stopping intergalactic threats were one thing, but just helping the general public felt so much better.

he was going to call it a day when he heard the familiar tone of her voice echo softly from his enhanced hearing. sweeping the grid of streets from up above, clark traced the sound to a route that was different from her normal way home. it was almost two streets different, and if he had known she wasn't a vigilante come nighttime, he would've worried that she had taken a wrong turn by mistake.

it took everything in him not to swoop down and intervene when he caught two men cornering her in an alley. he fought it entirely when she swung her cane into the head of the man reaching into her bag, and he couldn't help but smile softly when he backed away, watching as she ducked under the arm of the second man who tried to punch her. she punched him in the stomach in return, and when he keeled over, she slammed her cane into his back and stood back as he dropped to the floor.

the other man groaned as he charged back towards her, a little unsteady on his feet, and she swiftly unfolded her cane and tripped him with it, listening as he stumbled forward into the brick wall. clark watched both men go down with very little effort on her part ( seriously, he heart had barely picked up at all ) and then his smile grew wider when she shouldered her bag and walked out of the alley, leaving the two unresponsive men behind.

listening closer, clark waited for her to leave the alley entirely, her heels clicking against the concrete as she carried on her way home as if nothing had ever happened. "wow," he whispered in awe. shaking his head, he shook himself from his daze and waited a few seconds before flying down to collect both men from the alley, one in each of his hands. he knew there was a police station not too far from here, and so he flew off with them in that direction, the opposite way that she was walking to their home.

she heard him, unknown to him, and a smile of her own tugged across her lips as she listened to him communicate that 'these kind gentlemen here tried to rob a lovely blind woman' the distaste disguised on his tongue as the men were hauled into the station — something about them already having a BOLO on them.

"I'M HOME," CLARK CALLED out as he opened and shut the door behind him. her head snapped up from where she was standing boiling pasta in the kitchen, slowly stirring the penne in the boiling water with a spoon.

"was your trip to the police station fun?" she chuckled softly, setting the spoon down on the counter and facing the direction of clark's voice. "yeah," she said when she heard the hitch in his breath, "i heard you. i'm starting to think i've got better hearing than you."

"which is a little crazy," clark rolled his eyes, a loving shine in his eyes as he wrapped his arms loosely around her waist. "i can't believe you did all that in heels— i mean, i can believe it because obviously you're incredible but i don't think i would be capable of something that cool."

she rolled her eyes, standing on her toes to press a kiss to his lips. "what? like it's hard?" she teased. "but i appreciate you for cleaning that mess up for me."

"yeah . . ." clark grinned, "i think there would've been more questions if the police realised it was you who dealt with it."

she shook her head with a gentle laugh. "i'll let you take all the credit for my heroism or whatever. classic journalist."

he snorted uncharacteristically at her comment, so much so that he had to break away to cough to get his breathing back on track.

"and i am going to shut my mouth because i know better than to argue with a lawyer," clark said, leaning against the counter as she moved back to stirring the pasta. he leaned over to turn the heat down, and she listened to determine how low it was now.