Archive of Our Own ^beta

“I know you want to piss off Eliza, but is a Craigslist girlfriend really the best way to do that?”

Alex rolls her eyes.  Of course her sister would be worried, but she knows exactly what she’s doing.  They’re at Noonan’s, waiting for their morning coffees.  “Look, I don’t have an actual girlfriend because I’m too busy with work, and her advertisement was really promising!”

“What did she say exactly?” Kara asks with a frown.  She pushes her glasses up her nose and crosses her arms over her chest.

Alex looks through her phone for the screenshot she took, and reads it aloud.  “’I will be your fake girlfriend for Thanksgiving!  Offer is only open to women.  Guaranteed to make your conservative family uncomfortable.  I will talk about being gay, dress as gay as possible, and we can do as much PDA as you are comfortable with.  All I request is a delicious meal and pleasant company.’  See?  She sounds nice!”

“Oh, please, it sounds like a creepy old dude with a fake advertisement because he has a weird fetish for lesbians.”  Kara scrunches up her face in disgust.

“You’re paranoid,” Alex says with a soft laugh.  “Look, I’m meeting her here in ten minutes so if you want to stick around and vet her yourself...”

“Kara?” the barista calls.  Kara shuffles to the counter to grab her coffee.

“No, no,” Kara mutters with a frown.  “I have to get to work.  I will be keeping an ear on you, though.  Remember our emergency word?”

“Raisins,” Alex says immediately.  They both hate the snack, so it was an easy word to pick.

Kara nods her head and grins.  “Just say the word and Supergirl will come save you from the creepy old man.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Alex mutters, shoving her sister in the shoulder.  “Don’t you have to get to work?”

Kara offers a wave as she darts out of Noonan’s.  “Love you!” she throws over her shoulder.

“Love you too!” Alex calls back.

The barista calls Alex’s name and she goes to retrieve her coffee.  When she turns around from the counter, she runs into someone and drops her drink on the floor.

“Shit, sorry,” a voice says.

Alex shakes out her hand to get rid of the drops of hot coffee scalding her skin.  “It’s fine,” she mutters.  “My fault.”

“Are you Alex?” the girl asks.

Alex looks up to see a girl shorter than her with long, dark hair.  For a second, Alex can’t breathe, shocked by how attractive this girl is.  “Um--yes, that’s me.  Why?”

The girl holds out her hand and shakes Alex’s with a firm grip.  “Maggie,” she introduces herself.  “From the ad?”

Alex blinks, then realization dawns on her.  “Oh, Maggie!  You’re early!”

“So are you,” Maggie says with a smirk.  “Here, do you want to get us a table and I’ll buy you a new drink?” she offers.

“Oh, you don’t have to--”

“Please, I insist,” Maggie says, and ushers Alex away before she can argue anymore.

Alex finds a booth near the front, just in case something happens, but Maggie seems nice enough.  And at least she’s definitely not a creepy old man, so Kara has nothing to worry about.

A few minutes later, Maggie returns, clutching two drinks in her hands, and offers one to Alex.  Alex takes a sip, and her lips turn up in surprise.  “How’d you know my order?”

“I noticed it written on your old cup,” Maggie says as she slides into the booth across from Alex.

They drink in silence for a minute, until Alex clears her throat.  “So...” she starts.

“So?” Maggie says.

“How would this work exactly?” Alex asks, awkwardly.

Maggie chuckles.  “Well, it’s pretty self-explanatory.  I pretend to be your girlfriend for Thanksgiving.  You give me food.  It’s that simple.”

“But why?” Alex asks.

“Why do you need a pretend girlfriend?” Maggie counters.

“Touché,” Alex mutters.  “My mom is always expecting too much of me and she always wants to know if I’m dating any new boys.  She keeps saying that she hopes I don’t disappoint her as much as I did last year...which is another story entirely.  But I figured, why not come out to her and make her as uncomfortable as possible in the process?”

“And you don’t have a real girlfriend to make her uncomfortable with?” Maggie asks, not in an insulting way, but genuinely curious.

Alex just shrugs.  “Work keeps me busy.”

“I get that,” Maggie says, nodding in understanding.

“Your turn,” Alex says.  She leans back in her seat and raises an eyebrow at Maggie.  “It’s not exactly the most typical thing to advertise on Craigslist.”

Maggie bites her lip, suddenly nervous.  “Well, I just moved here,” she says.  She looks down at her cup and holds it tight.  “All my family is in Nebraska, and I can’t afford to fly back, but we’re big on holidays.  I guess I just wanted somewhere to be on Thanksgiving.”

Alex feels a pang of sympathy for Maggie.  She remembers what it was like when she first left for college.  Whenever she had felt homesick, Kara would fly out and bring her some of Eliza’s home cooked food to share.

When Maggie finally meets her gaze again, Alex offers her a smile.  “Well, I can guarantee it will be a shit show, but you’re welcome at my family’s Thanksgiving.”

Maggie smiles too.  “Perfect.  Should we talk backstory?  Make it more convincing if your mom starts interrogating us.”

“So how’d we meet?” Alex grins, and takes another sip of her coffee.

Maggie rests her chin in a hand and leans forward on the table.  “I’m a cop, so we could say I pulled you over?”

“And I flirted my way out of a ticket?”

Maggie laughs.  “Sure, whatever you say.”

They talk for hours.  At first it’s just about their backstory for the holiday: how long they’ve been together, what PDA is acceptable, what they did on their first date, etc.  And before Alex knows it, they’re chatting amiably about their lives, their interests, and more.  Alex tells herself it’s because they need to get to know each other a little to be more convincing as fake girlfriends, but the more she finds out about Maggie, the more intrigued she is.

Her phone starts blasting in her pocket.  She knows it’s Hank calling from the ringtone -  Macho Man.  Hank didn’t think it was very funny, but Alex refused to change it.  Before Alex answers, she sees the time, and curses under her breath.  She’s late for work.

She gives Maggie an apologetic frown, then answers.  “I’m on my way, Hank, I swear.”

“You’d better be,” comes Hank’s gruff reply.  “And if you’re ever late again--”

“I won’t be.”

“Good.”

Hank hangs up without another word, and Alex is left frowning at her phone.  “I’m so sorry,” she says to Maggie, and gets up.  “That was my boss, I have to go.”

“Yeah, of course,” Maggie says.  She stands up along with Alex and gathers their empty cups and napkins to throw away.

“You have my number if you need anything,” Alex says.  “And...I guess I’ll see you Thursday?”

“Looking forward to it.”  Maggie sticks out her hand and grasps Alex’s for a stiff handshake.  “Nice meeting you, Danvers.”

“You too.”

When Alex gets to work, Hank eyes her suspiciously.  She knows he would never read her mind, but that doesn’t mean he’s not curious.  Actually, now that she’s looking around, everybody is looking at her suspiciously, even Lucy.  It could be because of her reputation for never being late, but it’s still a little unnerving.

“What?” she questions defensively.

“Why were you late?” he interrogates.

Alex just shrugs, and tries not to blush.  “I lost track of time.”

Just then, Alex’s phone vibrates in her pocket.  She unlocks it to find a new text message from an unknown number.

Hi Alex, it’s Maggie.  Thanks for meeting me today, I had a really good time, and I’m looking forward to Thursday :)

Alex has a dopey grin on her face, and when she looks up Lucy has an eyebrow raised at her, while Vasquez whispers something in her ear.  Alex shoots them both a glare.  “Get back to work!” she snaps.

“Yes sir,” Lucy teases with a mock salute, and shares a laugh with Vasquez.

Alex frowns.  She turns around and walks away from her coworkers as she returns Maggie’s text.

Hey Maggie! Me too.  Can’t wait to see you again

She wonders if it’s a little too forward to say, but shrugs and hits send.

Alex doesn’t talk to Maggie again until Thanksgiving morning.  She sends a quick text with Kara’s address, and then doesn’t hear back for hours.  Kara is picking up their mom from the airport, so Alex is alone, waiting for Maggie, who should’ve arrived ten minutes ago.

Her phone buzzes, and Alex jumps to look at her new text.

Running late—srry! Be there soon

Alex groans.  The whole point was so Maggie would already be there by the time her mom arrived to blindside her.  She sighs and just sends the thumbs-up emoji in response.  Alex is going to have to think of something good to blindside her mother for when Maggie arrives.

Speak of the devil, the door flies open and Eliza bounds inside, followed by Kara carrying her suitcase.

“Alexandra, sweetie!” Eliza exclaims, and runs in to quickly pull Alex into a tight hug.

“Please don’t call me that,” Alex mutters, muffled with her face against her mother’s chest.  She gives her mom a quick squeeze before letting go and taking a generous step back.  “Hi mom.”

“Sorry I couldn’t arrive until today!” Eliza huffs.  She takes her suitcase from Kara and drags it into the living room.  “My flight got pushed back.  I wish I could’ve helped with dinner.”

“You can still do dessert though right?” Kara asks in a panic; her eyes grow wide in fear.  “You know I live for that chocolate pecan pie.”

Eliza laughs.  “Of course, sweetie!  We have to get it started right now, though.  Can you help?  Your super speed would come in handy.”

Kara grins and uses her super speed to don herself and Eliza in aprons in the blink of an eye.  “Ready when you are.”

“Actually, anything with Kara’s powers will have to be finished soon,” Alex says.  She doesn’t miss the pout that spreads across Kara’s face.  “I have someone coming over.”

Eliza’s face lights up at this.  “Oh, do you finally have a boyfriend to introduce me to?”

Alex tries not to roll her eyes.  “Something like that.”

Kara and Eliza work quickly, and Kara’s powers definitely help speed up the process.  Ten minutes later, they’re putting the pie in the oven when there’s a knock at the door.

“Ooh, is he here?” Eliza asks.

Alex meets Kara’s eyes to find her sister giving her a sympathetic frown.  Alex shrugs.  She heads for the door, and throws it wide open, without even checking who it is.

She finds Winn standing next to Maggie, who carries a bottle of wine, both with equally confused expressions.

“Oh, Winn!” Kara jumps out of the kitchen and throws her arms around her friend.  “God, I feel like I never see you anymore now that you’re not at Catco!”  She turns to Eliza and quickly adds, “I hope you don’t mind I invited Winn.”

“Alex is dating Winn?” Eliza asks.

Alex feels the frustration grow inside her, so she throws on a fake smile and the best sappy voice she can muster.  “Hey Mags!” she says, and grabs Maggie’s free hand, dragging her into the apartment.  Then, in a spur of the moment decision, Alex plants a quick kiss on Maggie’s lips, trying to ignore the excited tingle that runs down her spine when she does.

She pulls back and Maggie has a surprised but satisfied grin on her face.  Maggie bites her lip and nudges Alex’s arm.

Alex blinks, suddenly remembering the other people in the room.  “Uhh, mom?  This is Maggie.  My girlfriend.”  She draws out the word, hoping to elicit a reaction from her mother, but Eliza puts on a smile and reaches out to shake her hand.  “Maggie, this is my mother.”

“Eliza Danvers.”

“Maggie Sawyer.”

Dinner is…. Eventful, to say the least.  Maggie lives up to her word and has an arm possessively wrapped around Alex the entire night, and she occasionally pecks her on the cheek.  Eliza is visibly uncomfortable.  And Winn and Kara provide the much-needed comic relief.

Eliza has been silent, eyeing Maggie most of the night.  Dessert rolls around and the pie is finished baking, so Kara serves everyone a piece, giving herself the biggest slice.

“So Maggie,” Eliza starts, digging her fork into the pie, “How long have you been gay?”

Alex chokes on her wine.  “Mom!”  She clenches a fist in anger, ready to tell Eliza off.

“Babe, it’s fine,” Maggie says quickly, and squeezes her hand under the table.  No one can see their hands under the table, so it’s not a gesture for show, and it calms Alex almost immediately.  “Well, Mrs. Danvers, I’ve been gay my whole life.  If you mean when I came out, it was in high school.”

“Sorry,” Eliza apologizes.  “I’m just trying to wrap my head around this.”

“What’s there to wrap your head around, mom?” Alex snaps.  “I have a girlfriend.  It’s that simple.”

“Well you always catch me off guard with these big announcements of yours!” Eliza defends.  “Last year when you told me your—what you do.  And now this?  Jesus, Alexandra, it’s like you want to give me a heart attack for the holidays.”

Across the table, Alex hears Kara whisper to Winn, “She full named her!  There’s still time to escape if you want.”  Alex glares at her sister, who just shrugs innocently.

“You just never give me time to process this stuff so I don’t know what to say!” Eliza says.  Alex frowns, she hadn’t thought about that.  “Honey, you know I’m trying to do better, and of course I support that you have a girlfriend.  I just—you catch me off guard like you’re trying to set me up for failure.”

Alex blinks.  She definitely hadn’t expected that.  Kara clearly looks surprised too.

“So you mean—you don’t care that I’m gay?” Alex asks, timidly.

“Of course not!” Eliza says.  “I love you, Alex.  And I know I’ve been hard on you in the past, but this isn’t something I would do that for.  It’s your life.”

“Umm,” Alex starts, unsure of what to say.  She may have made a mistake.  “Excuse me for a minute…”  She pushes out her chair and stands up.  Alex brushes past the table and heads out the front door.

The family sits there in stunned silence for a moment.  Maggie clears her throat and also stands from the table.  “I’ll go talk to her,” she mutters.

Maggie finds Alex in the stairwell, sitting on the steps, knees curled up in front of her.  She sits down next to Alex.

“You okay?”

Alex shrugs.  “It’s just not what I was expecting.”

“Alex,” Maggie sighs.  “Your mom is fine with you being gay.  Do you know how many people wish they had that?”

“You?” Alex asks.

Maggie smiles, and nudges Alex’s arm with her elbow.  “Both my parents are great.  I wasn’t talking about myself, but there are others.”

“I know,” Alex groans.  “I just…wasn’t expecting this.  She fights me on everything, you know?  It’s just a shock to the system.”  Maggie nods in understanding, and Alex continues.  “This is why I can only deal with her a couple times a year, I’m always thrown for a loop.”  She sighs, and Maggie reaches out and places a hand on her knee.  “Sorry, I just need a minute.”

Maggie nods again, but she doesn’t leave, and sits there with Alex until she’s ready.

Eventually, Alex gets up, and Maggie quickly follows her.  “You ready to go back in and have a normal Thanksgiving meal?” Maggie asks.  She holds out her hand and wiggles her fingers.  Alex chuckles and takes her hand, and they head back inside.

The rest of the evening is, for all intents and purposes, normal.  They share pleasant conversation, Kara accidentally slips up about her Supergirl secret a couple of times and is left scrambling and backtracking to cover herself, and they end the night a couple bottles of wine later with a fun game of charades.

Eventually, it’s late in the night, Eliza is getting settled in on Kara’s couch, and Winn has already left, so it’s time for Alex and Maggie to say their goodbyes.

Maggie goes to shake Eliza’s hand, but Eliza pulls her in for a hug.  “It was wonderful meeting you, Maggie,” she says, and squeezes her tight.  “I hope this isn’t the last time we meet.”

“Me too,” Maggie replies with a smile.  She gets a quick hug from Kara.

“I’ll see you guys tomorrow,” Alex says, as she hugs Kara and her mom.  “You’re leaving Sunday, right mom?” she asks.

Eliza nods.  “And I want to see you at least once every day before I have to leave!  I don’t get to visit very often so I’m making the most of it.”

“Of course,” Alex says.  She gives her mother a kiss on the cheek, then takes Maggie’s hand.  They bid their last goodbyes and leave.

Once they’re out of Kara’s apartment, they make their way down the hall slowly, hands still joined together.  Alex looks down at their hands and meets Maggie’s eyes.  Maggie chuckles awkwardly, and slowly extracts her hand from Alex’s.

“Thanks for dealing with my family,” Alex mutters.  They step into the elevator and press the button for the ground floor.

“Thanks for having me,” Maggie replies politely.  “It was… surprisingly fun.”

“It’s not always like that,” Alex says with a laugh.  The elevator slowly trudges down, and beeps as it passes each floor.  Alex clears her throat and continues, “My mom really likes you.”

Maggie’s lips twitch up into a small smile.  “I noticed.”

Alex’s heart flutters nervously in her chest, but she balls her fists and continues.  “She’d, uh—she’d probably be disappointed if this was the last time she saw you.”

“Would she, now?” Maggie asks, eyeing Alex with a flirtatious smirk.  The elevator dings, and the doors slide open.  They step out, shoulders brushing.

“Very disappointed,” Alex adds, punctuating it with a firm nod.  “Would you want to maybe get dinner sometime?” she asks.  “You know, so I have something to update her on when she asks.”

“Alex Danvers, are you asking me out on a fake date?”  Maggie grins.

They reach the front door, so Alex pushes it open to step through, and holds it open for Maggie as well.  “Well,” she starts, nervously fidgeting with her hands.  “Maybe not so fake this time?” she suggests.  “If you want.”

Her heart is pounding and her palms are sweaty and, god, she feels like a teenager asking her crush to the big school dance as she waits in anticipation for Maggie’s response.

“I think I’d like that,” Maggie says finally.

Alex gets a rush of giddy excitement, and she grins.  “Really?”

Maggie laughs at the silly look on her face.  “Yes, really,” she nods.

“Cool,” Alex replies awkwardly, throwing her a thumbs-up.

“You’re a dork,” Maggie laughs.

“Shut up.”

Instead of saying anything, Maggie stands on her tip toes and leans in to kiss Alex softly.  It’s a brief kiss, and Alex feels herself shiver.  She’s not sure if it’s from Maggie or the wind.

“I’ll text you?” Maggie says.  She smiles softly at Alex, and there’s a tinge of red on her cheeks.

Alex nods dumbly.  “Uh-huh,” she mutters.

Maggie grins and raises an arm to wave goodbye as she walks down the street.  “Bye, Alex.”

“Bye.”

Maggie turns the corner, and Alex is still standing shell-shocked on the curb where she was left.  Another gust of wind brushes past, and Alex licks her dry lips, still tingling from Maggie’s kiss.  Alex never thought that a fake girlfriend would turn into a real date, but she knows she can’t wait to see Maggie again.