• February 14, 2017 (Second Date, Valentine's Day) •

Whether it was Artemis and Meg's plan of turning the mystery man situation into making Kara ask Zach out or Aviana's motivational speech to convince Zach that he shouldn't stay in the friendzone forever, the end result turned out to be exactly what they wanted.

Both Kara and Zach asked each other out, thinking the other wouldn't do so first. And instead of going on a regular date, they decided to go to the beach quite early in the morning.

Seeing sunsets at the beach was quite common so they opted to go and see the sunrise.

Zach only told Ava that he was going out to the beach with Kara but she broadcasted it to the whole house. In the end, Jonah lent Zach his car without any objections and Morena kept fussing over how fast her children had grown up and also packed a picnic basket for them.

Needless to say, Zach had kept glaring at Ava throughout for creating such a scene. While Ava was on her diabolically sweet demeanor, acting like an angel in front of their parents and internally enjoying a lot to see Zach get flustered.

When at last Zach was able to get out after a hundred instructions on driving safely, he texted Kara that he was coming to pick her up. It was still very early such that the sun hadn't risen but the darkness of the night had started to fade.

Metropolis was silent at such an hour and a cool breeze was blowing as Zach drove over to Kara's place, parking in front of the house. Shortly after, she had come out, waving over to him.

Her sister, Alex, looked as if she had been dragged out of bed just to lock the door after Kara left and that's exactly what she did; pushed Kara out and shut the door right after.

"Hi," Kara smiled as she got in, "that was Alex, she was mad I woke her up so early."

"Hi," he smiled back, "thanks to Ava, my whole family was up."

"This early?" She laughed, seeing that Zach had rolled his eyes slightly.

"Yup. But it did have some advantages. Dad let me borrow the car and Mom sent food."

"Oooh, a picnic basket? Your Mom is a blessing," Kara had noticed the basket in the back seat and being a food lover, she was very much excited to see what was inside it.

The drive to the beach was pleasant with there being absolutely no traffic on the roads. The weather was great for an outing, neither too cold nor too warm.

By the time they reached, the sun's rays had started to peek through the bluish clouds and Zach quickly got the picnic basket. After locking the car, the two ran up to the shore to see the much-awaited sunrise.

There was no one at the beach except them and the quiet serenity struck much different compared to the noise and bustle of people at regular times. It was so silent that they could hear the crunch of the cool sand underneath their feet as well as the splashing of the tides one on top of another as the sea rose and fell rhythmically.

The sky had started to turn yellow as the sun began to peek out from the clouds, one by one its rays breaking out across the horizon. It was a beautiful sight, the way the blue tinges of the sky faded into golden and very soon the sun was out in its golden glory.

Zach turned to look at Kara and a smile flickered on his face to see her watching the sunrise quite enraptured. Her blonde hair gleamed golden like the sun's rays and as the light spreading over the horizon increased, it illuminated both of them as the two sole figures on the beach.

She caught his gaze and faced him, azure eyes twinkling in delight. "You were right, seeing the sunrise is so much better than the sunset. It's been long since I saw something so beautiful."

"Me too," he replied but then quickly retrieved his gaze, realizing that his statement could be taken another way too.

And even though there was nothing wrong with that because it was true that he hadn't seen anyone as beautiful as Kara Danvers, he didn't want to seem too cheesy.

With the sun finally out on the horizon, Kara fetched out her straw hats and she had brought one for Zach too. She placed it on his head, laughing at how cute he looked with it. 

The two then sat down to have breakfast. By then, some tourists had started to come to the beach as well but it hadn't gotten crowded yet.

Kara was delighted to see the assortment of food in Zach's picnic basket. From cream rolls to sandwiches, Morena had packed a lot for just two people. Though little did she know that Kara could easily eat it all up, the only reason she wasn't going to was that Zach didn't know she was a Kryptonian.

"See, I was right. Your Mom is a blessing," Kara remarked again, digging into the sweet cream rolls, "this is heavenly..."

"Mom is an excellent baker. She baked these herself."

"Even better..." But then Kara realized he hadn't eaten anything and paused, "why are you not eating?"

"Oh, I just... Got distracted, I guess," he picked up a sandwich too, his eyes trailing towards the clear blue water ahead of them.

But Kara's eyes had focused on him, silently taking in that he truly was an exception compared to other people she had considered being with. She might not have known him long enough, but the more she came to know him, the more she felt drawn to him.

And she knew it was the same case for him.

She was different, she had abilities that gave her leverage over other humans. Such as the ability of super hearing that let her be much more aware of her surroundings as compared to other people.

And through that super hearing, she could hear the tourists chatting far away from them and the rustle of the serene waves as well as the sound of a car coming to a halt. But most distinctly, she could hear his heartbeat.

A steady rhythm that had spiked up when she had placed the hat on his head and turned back to normal when she had laughed. She heard it very clearly and right then she had tuned out all other sounds, focusing only on the steady beating.

Even with her eyes following his gaze back to the calm sea, she heard the soft pulsating of his heart. A steady sound that made her wonder whether it would spike up again if she said something or gently placed her hand on top of his.

"Kara," he spoke up instead, breaking the rhythm of that soft steady heartbeat, "will you go on a walk with me?"

"Sure," she smiled, catching that spike in his heartbeat again.

From the very little she knew about feeling attracted to another person, she could associate those shifts in his heartbeat and her own with that feeling.

They had discarded their shoes, placing them near the picnic basket as the sand was warming up and felt nice to walk on barefoot. The breeze striking them was cold yet comforting, with the weather gradually turning a bit warmer as the sun's rays spread out.

Shortly after, everything was bathed in an ethereal golden hue and both of them admired the beauty of the moment.

"Had you known sunrises looked this beautiful before suggesting to come to the beach at this time?" Kara asked, genuinely curious as she turned to look at Zach.

"Not really. It's my first time watching a sunrise at the beach too. I guess this is what people call the golden hour," he remarked, holding his hand out in the light, watching it get bathed in the same golden shade.

"I'm glad we chose this time to come here," she resumed walking, looking down at the gleaming grains of sand, "there aren't many people around and the beach is so calm. I bet in an hour or two, people would start swarming in."

"Yeah, considering it's the fourteenth, there will be a swarm of dates here."

She realized that she had forgotten that it was Valentine's Day and technically they were at the beach on a date too. The thing with Zach was that he was just so easy-going and friendly that Kara felt as if it was very natural for her to spend time with him. If it had been a date with any other person, she might have been nervous about everything.

"Is this a date though?" She asked and he shrugged, a smile playing upon his lips.

"Only if you want it to be."

"And what about you?"

"I'm fine either way," he admitted honestly, "you're excellent company, Kara. Date or not, I always have a great time with you."

A smile took over her features at that remark and she held her hand out as well beside his outstretched one such that their pink fingers almost touched and both their arms were washed with the golden light. 

"Are you always this down-to-earth and unfazed about everything or am I just an exception?"

He chuckled, "truth be told, I don't know. I feel like I can be myself around you and that's exactly how I am with you."

"I feel the same."

He got startled when he felt another straw hat plop down on his head and turned to see that Kara had placed her hat on top of his and her blonde hair were freely flowing in the wind.

The reason she had given him the hat was that she had ventured into the shallow waters and didn't want her hat to get blown away. The golden light engulfed her fully and just like the rays were bouncing off of Zach's specs, he felt as if her azure eyes had that same glassy quality. 

He had never seen someone look that in harmony with the beautiful surroundings and he spoke up, "mind if I take a picture?"

"For yourself?" She teased, her light laugh resonating around them.

"Nope, for you," he took her phone from her and stepped back, "you look beautiful."

Kara felt her cheeks tingle slightly but didn't say anything in reply. Seeing him hold up the phone, she tried to tame her hair that were dancing in the breeze.

"Don't, looks great like this," he remarked and captured the photo after a thumbs up.

Soon after he had come jogging towards her, showing her the picture he had taken. 

"Hey, this is perfect," she spoke up appreciatively, "this lighting makes me look unrecognizable."

"You want me to take a few more?"

"Of course."

He went back to the former spot, a hand held over the two hats on his head to stop them from flying away in the breeze. He looked adorable like that, she thought, a soft smile playing upon her lips.

She might have a million reasons to convince herself that she wasn't falling for Zachary Smith. That it was too soon for her to be feeling that way, that they were just friends who had coincidentally decided to hang out on Valentine's day, that there was a lot they had to experience before reaching the status of a relationship.

But all those million reasons faded to one solid answer when she was with him.

He was the sort of person she would never want to let go of, even if it was too soon to say that.

When it was time to go back as the beach had started to get crowded, they had placed all their stuff including the picnic basket in the car. But even then, the weather was so pleasant that they didn't want to leave.

With everything securely placed in the car, Kara took the keys from him and locked it, handing the keychain back to him.

He looked at her in surprise, "what was that for?"

"Race you to the beach and back?"

That dimpled smile dented his features, "are you sure?"

"Ava once told me you were trying to get selected for the Olympics," she remarked, watching his eyes widen as if Ava had betrayed his secret, "let's see what you got."

"And if you lose, then?"

"I get to treat you to ice cream. If I win, it's your turn." 

***