"No. I don't want Rose to think that. I mean--" B art shifted uncomfortably, stuffing his hands all the way into his pockets and keeping his elbows in close to his ribs, shifting his weight from foot to foot, "Lik eokaymaybe..." He started, having switched to super speed unconsciously-- thankfully he was talking to one of the few people who could still understand him, "...maybelikealongtimeagothatwouldhavebeenokayandlikeRoseisawesomeandallbutKara'smygirlfriendandIreallylikeKaraandthat'swherethatisnowsoit'snotthatIdon'tlikeRoseorwhateverbutI'mnotgoingtogetallsmoochyonherbecausethatwasbeforeKara."
Bart couldn't honestly say that he hadn't thought that it would be nice to have Rose as his girlfriend-- but that was a long time ago. That was before he and Kara got together; before he even thought about maybe asking Kara out. Before he could even actually speak to Kara without turning bright red and running away at the speed of sound.
So yeah, he had liked Rose at one point-- and she was still awesome. But she wasn't interested in... in someone like him. A floppy-haired, freckled dork with giant feet-- Rose was into guys who were tough and world-weary and hard around the edges and probably smoked and wore lots of leather and were taller than her.
Kara though... Kara liked Bart; dorkiness and all. And Bart liked Kara; she was super-super. And Kara made him feel okay, and not alone. She made him feel like a hero; even if she was taller and stronger than him. And that was... nice. She was nice.
"Why do Valentine's only have to be for girlfriends?" Bart lamented awkwardly, scowling at the candy boxes now. "When I was in Kindergarten, we gave Valentine's to everyone." It was about this point that Bart remembered that he'd never actually been in Kindergarten. All of those memories and moments were created through virtual reality in the far future-- not from actually sitting in a class room with Sally Josset and Lance Munrow, the whole place exploding in glitter and everyone with at least 15 Valentine's in their specially crafted Valentine's "mailboxes".
What good was an eidetic memory when all of your memories were fake?
"Why can't you give Valentine's to people you're friends with without it being weird or whatever?" Bart said, trying to refocus his thoughts. "Like, I'll just tell her that it's not a like that Valentine, just a friends Valentine. That'd be okay right?"
And then there was the question of what Kara would think-- which Bart knew with absolute certainty and answered with confidence, "Kara won't mind. If she knew that Rose doesn't have anyone-- like any friends-- she wouldn't mind. Kara doesn't like for people to be alone either. She wouldn't want Rose to be sad either."
After all, Kara was sweet, and compassionate and understanding. He was sure that she'd understand-- it wasn't because he liked Rose. He just wanted to help.