Previously - Chapter 17 ***
Chapter 18 ***
Lana didn’t usually knock but she just didn’t feel like she could walk right in. Not tonight. She remained hopeful after their conversation earlier but reluctant to let it slide that he was talking about someone else in his sleep. Taking a deep breath, she reminded herself that they needed each other and that this was just a bump in the road. Working through this would likely strengthen their relationship.
She reached up to knock on the door, suddenly nervous.
In high school, Clark had kept her at a distance, and she’d never understood why. Despite her best efforts to put him at ease and let him know what she wanted from him, he’d never taken her up on her offers. She’d spent more time than she should have over the years between then and now feeling like she was lacking something. Then, when she’d run into him in Smallville just before coming here, she’d realized it wasn’t something
she was lacking, but something he thought
he was lacking. She had resolved to prove to him that there wasn’t anything wrong with him. He had only just begun to finally let her in and it was perfect.
But then he started talking about Lois in his sleep. That meant something. Didn’t it? And as much as she tried to ignore it, it kept getting worse until she couldn’t stand it anymore. Even if he couldn’t remember it.
Her breathing faltered as she heard the locks on his door click open.
And now, here they were. At this precipice where something had to change. She was terrified of what would become of their tentative relationship, but his insistence that it was just a dream that he didn’t even remember gave her hope that they could move past this. So, she came, ready to see where this would lead.
Opening the door, he smiled and invited her in with a swing of his hand. “Thank you,” he said, “for coming tonight.” But he kept his physical distance. She still didn’t fully understand why. They were both adults. They’d shared a bed, even if just for sleeping. She hoped that being away from Smallville, with no one else they knew, would change that.
“Sure.” She smiled a small and slightly awkward smile.
Their relationship had changed, with her efforts. She had been gradually working her way into his life, slowly, persistently. Maybe something about her reminded him of Lois.
Maybe he’d been talking about Lois in his sleep for a long time, and she’d only just noticed it since beginning to stay the night at his house. That thought didn’t sit well and she pushed it aside as quickly as possible.
Whatever the case, she didn’t want to lose him if there was nothing to it.
As she followed him into his apartment, she became keenly aware that he wasn’t quite himself. He’d been acting depressed since before coming to Columbia, but tonight he seemed agitated. He couldn’t seem to decide what to do with his hands and his hair looked as though he’d run his fingers through it repeatedly. He didn’t quite meet her eyes, but she could see the exhaustion in them. She took a seat on his couch and raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to speak first.
“I’ve had a rough couple of days,” he explained, shaking his head.
“Me too,” she agreed. She pressed her lips together and looked away.
He was the one with another woman on his mind, why should he be having any trouble?
“I’m sorry.” And he sounded sincere. Whatever was going on with him, all of his problems, she’d only ever tried to help him. She looked at him again, more closely this time. His brown eyes weren’t as lively as usual. He hadn’t shaved. The corners of his mouth were decidedly down. He wrung his hands as he leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees and look at the rug. It broke her heart every time she saw him struggle and renewed her resolve to help him through this.
“I need to tell you about something that happened today,” he said, not looking up. “I need you to help me figure out what to do, but I’m worried that it will be asking too much of you.”
She reached out and touched his arm then, drawing his attention to her face. “Clark, I’ll always help if I can.” She smiled at him thinking this might be her big moment. The opportunity she would have to finally be able to help him out of this funk he was stuck in.
“I saw Lois today,” he said slowly.
Her smile faltered, and she fought to keep her angry retort in. How dare that woman show her face here!
“Several times, actually. Just before we went into the library, she was down the sidewalk… That’s why I practically dragged you. I’m sorry about that. It was just … It was a really big shock and I didn’t know what to do.”
“I…” she started, unsure what she would say that wouldn’t make him feel like her anger was directed at him.
“Then later, it was like she was following me. It was bizarre.” He stood then and began pacing, as she’d done during their previous conversations.
“Following you?” she asked. Why would Lois be
following Clark? This didn’t fit with anything she was expecting to hear him say this evening.
“Look, I don’t know why she’s here of all places.” He stopped pacing and stood stiffly in the center of the room. Clark’s frustration showed in the way he threw his hands around as he spoke. “I didn’t ask her to come or even hope she would. In fact, seeing her makes me want to leave, go back to Kansas, especially after these last few days…”
Lana’s mind wrestled with the ideas racing through her head. She knew Clark would never lie to her, but it also occurred to her that maybe there was something Clark didn’t know. It couldn’t be merely a coincidence that all this was happening. Lana wanted to ask more about the encounters he’d had with Lois but imagined that it would only be putting them both in a more awkward position.
She closed her eyes. She knew what she
wanted to say, and she knew what he
needed to hear. But they weren’t the same thing. Most importantly, she knew that if that woman was following him around, there was surely a reason. And what she
didn’t want, couldn’t handle, was coming up second. If two years wasn’t enough to move past this guilt, would anything be?
She took a deep breath, opened her eyes, and stood to face Clark. “Clark,” she started, feeling more determined when the confusion he was clearly feeling shown through his eyes, “I think you should talk to her.”
“What?!?” He recoiled from the snake bite she delivered. “No!” he yelled.
“Find out why she’s here at least. Find out why you are-”
“It’s just to make me miserable,” he cut in, “to point out all the ways I’ve failed and to make sure everyone knows. In fact, I bet that’s why I kept losing my job in the past. Maybe she’s been following me around this whole time. I had no idea she was so … evil.” A disgusted look crossed his face and he crossed his arms over his chest.
“Clark, what you were saying in your dream just doesn’t match this.” Lana could see it more clearly now, after this outburst. “Something is up. I don’t know what, but you have to find out.” She stepped as close as she dared and laid her hand on his arm. She waited until he looked at her. “Hear her out. You’ll have an easier time moving on if you do.
We will have an easier time moving forward after this is over.”
He groaned as he rolled his eyes. Lana smiled inwardly, his mannerisms were so endearing to her. But this mess was complicated, and she was worried she’d have to hear about
Lois again.
“Look, I’m not going to stay tonight,” she informed him as she patted his arm before turning away from him to grab her things. “This is a lot for both of us to cope with and I just can’t put myself in this position. You understand, don’t you?”
“Yeah,” he replied as a boy who’d been scolded. “I’m sorry.” His arms dropped to his sides, but he didn’t move to follow her or stop her as she opened the door to leave.
Lana looked back at him, standing there full of conflict. She could see the disappointment in his eyes that she wasn’t staying. She could see the hurt he felt in the way he stood slouching. She could tell that something was about to change irrevocably. Whether it would be in the manner she hoped for or something far worse, she didn’t know.
“Me too.”
***
Lex reclined, at least physically comfortable in the plush seat of his private jet, if not mentally. Anger was welling inside him, his only consolation the impending end of his enemy. He should have disposed of the dross when he first had the chance, forever settling Lois as
his.
The rain that pelted his window when he’d received that fateful phone call earlier had intensified quickly, preventing an immediate departure, causing him to have to wait before he could go after her. He would have driven. Nothing would have stopped him. But before he’d made a rash decision, he finally saw reason. Waiting, however impatiently, at the airport would be the obvious choice given the time it would take to drive to
misery.
Lex chuckled at his joke. For Missouri was surely a place of
misery if Clark…Superman were there, working to steal what was rightfully his. And it would continue to be so for the man formerly of steel, once he took his family from the clutches of that interloper.
His family. He sighed at the thought, his own sentimentality once again surprising him. The moment Lois uttered that unprecedented, sensational statement, his life changed permanently in a manner he could never have imagined.
He would be a father to his own flesh and blood. And that flesh and blood would belong to Lois as well.
He no longer worried about the effects of the device on his unborn child, but he did worry about his or her mother. He would have to keep a watchful eye on Lois to ensure that no harm came to her either.
A smile touched his lips and he allowed himself to think for a moment about his future family. The mother of his children. An heir. Would it be a boy filled with mischief that he could instruct in teh way of business? Would it be a girl with as much beauty and intelligence as her mother? Who could have known how such thoughts would fill him with a keen sense of fulfillment?
“Anything to drink, sir?” the flight attendant asked, interrupting his reverie.
Lex looked up at the flight attendant. Once he may have considered her attractive, enjoyed some playful banter with her, but his mind could only think of Lois. “Yes,” he finally answered.
Taking a deep breath, he mentally shook himself from his musings. Tonight, he needed something to help him relax, cope with the unusual and unexpected feelings. For that, he would break his self-imposed rule of never drinking alone. “Single malt scotch, please. With a splash of water.”
“Right away.”
Lex allowed his attention to be caught by the twinkling of city lights miles below and endeavored to focus his thoughts on something more productive – how he would defeat his foe. And how he would ensure that Clark … Superman knew that Lois was pregnant with
his child.
***
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