The Corn Festival


I pull Clark a little further away from the crowd and look up into his worried, brown eyes. “We've done this before, haven't we?”

He looks around at our friends and coworkers, all dressed in outfits that range from elaborate cos-play to cheap novelty pieces.

“I mean...” I rest my hand on his arm. “This. Us. It's not...” I can see by his growing frown that I'm not making myself clear. “I've been so afraid of things changing, between us. But, the more I think about it, it's not really that much of a change, is it?”

He covers my hand with his, and I look into his eyes.

“We've been so worked up about going on a date, right? But, looking back, that Corn Festival was kind of a date, wasn't it? We danced together. We had fun together. You even won me a teddy-bear.” The memory makes us both smile.

“We've kissed before, though granted, it was always for a cover.” I step close enough to feel the rumble in his chest as he chuckles.

“We've told each other things that no one else knows.” His smile vanishes, probably in response to the seriousness in my own expression now. My hands meet behind his back, and his arms come up around me. “Whatever this is that's happening between us, I think it's been happening for a long time; I just never let myself see it.”

“Lois...” He tucks a strand of my hair behind my ear and tips my hat back so I can more clearly see his face. “I've been in love with you for so long, and I'd always hoped that someday, you'd see what I could always see for us. You're my best friend, and you always will be. I think if things do change, it'll just be...more. More of this. More of *us*.”

“More.” I study his eyes, so full of love that I have to look away before it overwhelms me. “More intimacy.”

His hand returns to rest on my back. “More trust.”

“More support.” I search his eyes again.

Their answer is affirmative. “More everything.”

Our lips meet. The band started playing a slow ballad at some point, and Clark and I just sway together right where we are. No matter what happens, I now know exactly what we are to each other.




PARTNERS

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