CHAPTER FIFTEEN: NEW BEGINNINGS

"Hal, what the hell are you doing here?"

Alex crossed her arms, as Hal leaned against the doorway, holding a bouquet of flowers, pretending to be suave when he actually wasn't. Tonight, she had a shorter shift at the precinct and since, she currently had a minor back injury from last night's patrol, she had wanted to rest.

But Hal Jordan was standing at her doorway, grinning brightly and holding a bouquet of her favorite flowers in his hand.

Alex supposed she wasn't going to get much rest tonight.

"I'm here to see you, dummy."

Hal stepped forward, bringing his arms around her to give her a hug. The bouquet brushed against her hair. He pulled away a little, yet his arms remained around her.

"Heard you got a little tossed about last night so I immediately came over as soon as I got off work," He added, brushing his lips over her forehead. "I was worried about you."

Alex felt her cheeks grow warm. Even after months of dating, she was still not used to this...this relationship.

"You little shit," Alex finally said, pressing her face into his shoulder.

"That's not a very nice thing to say to your very loving boyfriend, you know."

Because she was tired, Alex didn't have the heart to argue. Instead, she pulled away from him. Grabbing his wrist, she tugged him inside her home and kicked the door shut. She took the flowers from his hand and standing in front of him, smelled them, before keeping them right above the shoe rack. "Thank you. These are nice. I'll put them in water later."

"Anything for you, baby," Hal replied, smiling warmly. He ruffled her hair, putting an arm around her shoulders. "What do you need me to do?"

"Just be here, with me, as long as you can be," Alex answered, feeling a little shy.

"That I can do," Hal said.

Out of nowhere, he lifted Alex into his arms, and was now carrying her bridal style. She let out a shriek and slapped his shoulder. "Hal! What the hell!? At least give me a warning!"

"Now, where's the fun in that?" Hal smirked down at her, sticking his tongue out.

Alex glared. "If I wasn't injured, I'd probably blast you. But whatever. Carry me to my room, servant."

"As you say, Princess."

She rolled her eyes, but internally squealed at the nickname. As Hal carried her up to her room, she suddenly thought of the months before this; without Hal, she had been a little too uptight. With him, she'd loosened up. And she would never admit it out loud, but god, she loved this man more than anything else in the world. She loved all the silly nicknames, all his stupid jokes and his stupid pick-up lines. She loved all of him.

Finally, they were up the stairs. Alex snuggled into Hal's arms (his arms...heaven). A cheeky idea just popped into her mind.

"Hey Hal?"

"Yeah?"

"You have pretty muscular arms. Lowkey, they're your best feature."

"Huh?!!" Hal spluttered, face turning redder than she had ever seen. "You can't just say things like that out of nowhere!"

"What?" Alex had an amused smile on her face. Oh, she loved this reaction. "Can't I praise my amazing boyfriend?"

"W-well," Hal stammered, before taking in a deep breath. Releasing it, he picked up his pace. "At least give me a warning or something."

"You are so not getting a warning."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Hell yeah."

"Then let me tell you how I love praising and appreciating you."

Hal did not even waste a second. He picked up his pace, holding Alex close. The moment he reached her bedroom door, he used his foot to kick it open. Entering inside, he once again kicked it shut. A brief scan around the room told him a lot had changed. For example, a lot of pictures on her desk had been replaced with pictures of him and Alex. There were pictures of her younger brother as well.

But really, he wasn't here for those.

Hal carried Alex over to the bed, gently setting her down over the blankets. And then, he climbed on top of her, pinning her shoulders so that she couldn't escape.

Alex's cheeks flared and he let out a small laugh.

"You are adorable, Alexandra Smith. So very adorable."

With one hand, Hal brushed some of her golden blonde hair out of her face and stared right into her beautiful eyes.

"Can I kiss you?" He asked, relaxing his grip on her shoulders.

"Feel free," Alex said, still blushing.

Hal let out another small laugh before leaning down and pressing a kiss to her lips. Alex responded almost immediately, putting his arms around her neck, trying to pull him much closer than he already was. In hindsight, Hal should have realized that Alex often had moods where she was a lot more touchy than usual. Like now. Her hands were snaking across his back, touching his bare skin under his shirt.

And then, of course, he remembered that she was still injured. They couldn't really do that when she was in her present state.

Hal pulled away. But Alex pulled him back, or tried to, that is. She suddenly winced, dropping her arms.

"Before we both forget, you still are injured. We shouldn't, not when you're like this."

Alex snorted. "Didn't expect you to be so gentlemanly."

"I am always a gentleman, Miss Smith," Hal replied, poking her cheeks. "Anyways, can I see your injury?"

"Sure, I guess," Alex replied. She turned over, stomach pressed against the bed and long blonde hair strewn over her back. "Lower back. Just don't touch it."

Very gently, Hal pulled up her t-shirt, revealing a purple bruise spread across the entirety of her lower back. It was not a little injury at all; this looked like it came as a result of Alex being thrown through a wall and then dropped twenty feet. If he was guessing it correctly, if the bruise had been any lower, then Alex would never have been able to walk again. Times like this, he was really glad that his girlfriend had a super-healing ability. Because even if she was never going to admit it out loud, Alexandra was just as reckless as him, if not more.

"Hal? You're being a little too quiet. It's weird."

"Hmm; it's nothing. Just thinking about how reckless you are."

Alex turned back over and shot him an affronted glare. "Says who? Mister-I'll-pull-reckless-maneuvers-in-test-flights?"

Hal laid down next to her, putting an arm around her and pulled her close. "If the injury were any lower, you would have been paralysed. So, it really wasn't a little injury like you said."

"Aww, so you were worried about me?" Alex questioned in a teasing voice.

" 'Course I was," Hal pressed a kiss to her forehead. Alex sighed, before she snuggled closer to him, burying her face into his neck. This was good...no, frankly, it was pretty fucking great.

"You are such a sap, Harold."

"Only for you, Alexandra."

Many days later, Alex was completely fine. Her super-healing had finally properly kicked in the morning after Hal had left and in two days, she was fully back to being Supernova. Things had finally been normalised in the country and the world after the Darkseid invasion. Though, Alex wouldn't lie. There was still a part of her that believed that he would return. When, no one knew that. But he would be back.

At least till then, things were going to be relatively normal. (Or as normal as they could get in a world of superheroes)

The invasion brought about one good thing though. Since the months post it, a lot more superheroes (or vigilantes) were slowly being heard off across the news. The random superhero blogs she followed online said there had even been sightings of one in good old Michigan. No one knew who that hero was though.

Even with that; even when the Justice League was recognised by the government and had a certain amount of free rein to their activities, Alex still felt like heroes were viewed with suspicion. The NYPD, for one....some officers still disliked her interference in police work. But it's not that Alex really cared about what they said. And she technically had the President's approval so...

Supernova was pretty fucking happy where she was.

Today had been pretty lucky for her. The case load had been surprisingly low for her (or she worked pretty fast) and she had gotten the chance to go home early. And she had some time to relax before stepping out for her nightly patrol.

Or so she thought.

As she was twisting her key to open the door to her home, her phone buzzed. She pulled it out of her jacket pocket. It was a text message...from Cyborg of all people (or half-human half-androids).

'A situation has arisen. Assemble at Star Labs.'

"So much for relaxing," Alex said out, mentally cursing her luck. She pushed her hair out of her eyes, releasing a slightly frustrated sigh.

"Guess it's time to go to work."

And after months of not writing for this fic, I finally managed to finish this chapter. Honestly, the beginning of this chapter was just an excuse for me wanting to write some fluff for Hal and Alex; both of them are fricking saps around each other and are that kind of couple who are very into PDA. But also, I want a boyfriend like Hal Jordan, so...yeah. I'm going to live my fantasies through Alex. 

From the next chapter, we'll finally start off with the movie. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Let me know your feedback in the comments!! <3 <3

https://appreciatingmylife.carrd.co/ <<< this incredible carrd has links to various resources regarding taking care of your mental health and checking up on those around you. it's helped me a lot personally and I'm sure it will be a help to you all as well. link will be in the comments!