Disclaimers: I don't own any of the characters (quite obviously), nor do I
know the exact layout of the Sullivan house.
Clark and Lana walked through the front door of the Sullivan house about an hour after school let out on Friday. Chloe heard them come in from her room upstairs. Clark and Lana had stopped by the Talon before going to the Sullivan house to tackle some algebra problems. Minutes before they walked through the door, Chloe's father had dropped his daughter off after they met at the mechanic's shop where Chloe left her car for some repairs.
Chloe got up to greet Clark and Lana but paused at the top of the stairs before they saw her.
"Chloe must not be home yet. I didn't see her car," Lana said to Clark as she slid her backpack off her shoulders.
"Well, I'm sure she'll be sorry she missed all the graphing fun," Clark replied.
Chloe's curiosity got the better of her. This was an opportunity she couldn't pass up-observing Lana and Clark when they were alone together. They would study linear algebra and she would study them.
Clark and Lana moved into the living room. Clark sat on the couch where Chloe could see him from her position at the top of the stairs. Lana sat across the table from him. For about 20 minutes they sat working on the assigned problems. Chloe thought doing algebra was boring-it was a party compared to watching people do algebra. And to make it worse, she couldn't even make out everything they were saying. 'Just my luck,' Chloe thought to herself, 'the one conversation I really want to overhear, and, of course, they have to be the two most soft-spoken people on earth.'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Clark, can I ask you something?" Lana said
"Anything but the answer to number four," Clark joked.
"Remember that.'secret' you told me at the Talon a few weeks ago?"
The smile disappeared from Clark's face and he looked down at his hands.
"I'm sorry, Clark, if you'd rather not talk about it."
"No, it's not that. It's just."
Lana could see how uncomfortable he was, so she asked him gently, "Did you find your birth parents?"
"Sort of."
"Sort of?"
"I mean, I found out that they.that they.died."
It was the first time that he had actually said those words. His birth parents were dead. Saying it out loud seemed to let something loose inside him and he was unexpectedly distraught. Lana stood up and moved closer to where Clark was sitting. She sat down on the coffee table in front of Clark. Their knees were touching. Lana reached out with both hands and took one of Clark's.
"I'm so sorry, Clark."
"I don't know what kind of people they were. I don't know anything about them.but."
"But you still miss them."
Clark looked up at Lana, "Yeah. I guess that's it." He looked down again, "But my mom and dad are so great."
"Clark, thinking about your biological parents doesn't mean you love your mom and dad any less. Have you talked to them about it?"
"A little. Not much, really."
"You should talk to them-you can help each other."
"Yeah, you're right. It just seems.awkward, but I guess it would be kind of a relief to get it all out into the open."
Lana stood up, still holding Clark's hand in one of hers and pulled him up off the couch. "You have more important things to think about right now than algebra," she said as she led him to the door. "Go home. Talk to your parents. Let me worry about the Pythagorean theorem."
Clark paused before leaving. "Thank you, Lana." He stepped in front of her and put his hand on her arm.
Chloe heard their last exchange in front of the door and knew that somewhere along the line, Clark and Lana had stopped discussing math and whatever they were talking about was serious. She watched as Clark reached out to Lana.
Lana responded to Clark's touch with a soft smile before she took a step toward Clark and brought him into a hug. "Everything will work out," she said into his shoulder.
They started to pull away from each other, but stopped. Clark bent his head down so their foreheads were touching. Suddenly, neither could remember why they had started pulling away from each other in the first place. Clark leaned forward and Lana slowly lifted her face toward Clark's. Their lips were less than an inch apart when Lana said, "Wait. I'm sorry. I can't do this to C-we can't do this."
She turned her head away and said, "You should go."
Clark could see that she wasn't going to change her mind. But he could also tell by the tears in her eyes that, in her heart, she didn't really want him to go. Clark was torn as to what to do, but when Lana whispered, "Please," he relented. He put his hand to her cheek and said, "We'll talk later," then turned and walked out the door. Lana turned and put her hand on the door that Clark had just closed. She stood there for a moment before going back into the living room.
Chloe was still upstairs, now leaning against the wall thinking about what she had just witnessed. What a mess: She liked Clark. She knew that Lana knew that she liked Clark. She knew that Clark liked Lana. What she didn't know, until two minutes ago, was that Lana liked Clark.
She waited a few more minutes before going downstairs. She found Lana sitting with her algebra book in her lap and a gloomy look on her face looking out the window.
"I can tell you from experience that's not the best way to study graphs."
Hearing Chloe's voice, Lana snapped out of her daze and looked up at Chloe.
"Chloe, I didn't know you were home."
"Yeah, my dad dropped me off. My car is in the shop. I had a headache, so I went upstairs to sleep for a while."
Chloe looked closely at Lana and asked, "Everything all right?"
"Yeah, great," Lana replied, although it seemed obvious that she was far from feeling 'great.'
"OK," Chloe said, then, looking at Clark's bag on the floor, "isn't that Clark's backpack?"
"Yeah," Lana said, "we were working on algebra."
"Is he here?"
"No. He, uh, had to leave. I guess he forgot his stuff."
"I guess. So is he coming back for it, or are you bringing it to him?"
Lana looked alarmed at the prospect of seeing Clark again. "Actually, Chloe, would you mind bringing it to him? He might need it tonight-if you're feeling better, that is."
"Sure, Lana. I'll take my dad's car as soon as he gets home."
"Thanks. I think I'll go up to my room and finish the reading assignment for English."
"OK," Chloe said as Lana got up and left the room.
Clark and Lana walked through the front door of the Sullivan house about an hour after school let out on Friday. Chloe heard them come in from her room upstairs. Clark and Lana had stopped by the Talon before going to the Sullivan house to tackle some algebra problems. Minutes before they walked through the door, Chloe's father had dropped his daughter off after they met at the mechanic's shop where Chloe left her car for some repairs.
Chloe got up to greet Clark and Lana but paused at the top of the stairs before they saw her.
"Chloe must not be home yet. I didn't see her car," Lana said to Clark as she slid her backpack off her shoulders.
"Well, I'm sure she'll be sorry she missed all the graphing fun," Clark replied.
Chloe's curiosity got the better of her. This was an opportunity she couldn't pass up-observing Lana and Clark when they were alone together. They would study linear algebra and she would study them.
Clark and Lana moved into the living room. Clark sat on the couch where Chloe could see him from her position at the top of the stairs. Lana sat across the table from him. For about 20 minutes they sat working on the assigned problems. Chloe thought doing algebra was boring-it was a party compared to watching people do algebra. And to make it worse, she couldn't even make out everything they were saying. 'Just my luck,' Chloe thought to herself, 'the one conversation I really want to overhear, and, of course, they have to be the two most soft-spoken people on earth.'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Clark, can I ask you something?" Lana said
"Anything but the answer to number four," Clark joked.
"Remember that.'secret' you told me at the Talon a few weeks ago?"
The smile disappeared from Clark's face and he looked down at his hands.
"I'm sorry, Clark, if you'd rather not talk about it."
"No, it's not that. It's just."
Lana could see how uncomfortable he was, so she asked him gently, "Did you find your birth parents?"
"Sort of."
"Sort of?"
"I mean, I found out that they.that they.died."
It was the first time that he had actually said those words. His birth parents were dead. Saying it out loud seemed to let something loose inside him and he was unexpectedly distraught. Lana stood up and moved closer to where Clark was sitting. She sat down on the coffee table in front of Clark. Their knees were touching. Lana reached out with both hands and took one of Clark's.
"I'm so sorry, Clark."
"I don't know what kind of people they were. I don't know anything about them.but."
"But you still miss them."
Clark looked up at Lana, "Yeah. I guess that's it." He looked down again, "But my mom and dad are so great."
"Clark, thinking about your biological parents doesn't mean you love your mom and dad any less. Have you talked to them about it?"
"A little. Not much, really."
"You should talk to them-you can help each other."
"Yeah, you're right. It just seems.awkward, but I guess it would be kind of a relief to get it all out into the open."
Lana stood up, still holding Clark's hand in one of hers and pulled him up off the couch. "You have more important things to think about right now than algebra," she said as she led him to the door. "Go home. Talk to your parents. Let me worry about the Pythagorean theorem."
Clark paused before leaving. "Thank you, Lana." He stepped in front of her and put his hand on her arm.
Chloe heard their last exchange in front of the door and knew that somewhere along the line, Clark and Lana had stopped discussing math and whatever they were talking about was serious. She watched as Clark reached out to Lana.
Lana responded to Clark's touch with a soft smile before she took a step toward Clark and brought him into a hug. "Everything will work out," she said into his shoulder.
They started to pull away from each other, but stopped. Clark bent his head down so their foreheads were touching. Suddenly, neither could remember why they had started pulling away from each other in the first place. Clark leaned forward and Lana slowly lifted her face toward Clark's. Their lips were less than an inch apart when Lana said, "Wait. I'm sorry. I can't do this to C-we can't do this."
She turned her head away and said, "You should go."
Clark could see that she wasn't going to change her mind. But he could also tell by the tears in her eyes that, in her heart, she didn't really want him to go. Clark was torn as to what to do, but when Lana whispered, "Please," he relented. He put his hand to her cheek and said, "We'll talk later," then turned and walked out the door. Lana turned and put her hand on the door that Clark had just closed. She stood there for a moment before going back into the living room.
Chloe was still upstairs, now leaning against the wall thinking about what she had just witnessed. What a mess: She liked Clark. She knew that Lana knew that she liked Clark. She knew that Clark liked Lana. What she didn't know, until two minutes ago, was that Lana liked Clark.
She waited a few more minutes before going downstairs. She found Lana sitting with her algebra book in her lap and a gloomy look on her face looking out the window.
"I can tell you from experience that's not the best way to study graphs."
Hearing Chloe's voice, Lana snapped out of her daze and looked up at Chloe.
"Chloe, I didn't know you were home."
"Yeah, my dad dropped me off. My car is in the shop. I had a headache, so I went upstairs to sleep for a while."
Chloe looked closely at Lana and asked, "Everything all right?"
"Yeah, great," Lana replied, although it seemed obvious that she was far from feeling 'great.'
"OK," Chloe said, then, looking at Clark's bag on the floor, "isn't that Clark's backpack?"
"Yeah," Lana said, "we were working on algebra."
"Is he here?"
"No. He, uh, had to leave. I guess he forgot his stuff."
"I guess. So is he coming back for it, or are you bringing it to him?"
Lana looked alarmed at the prospect of seeing Clark again. "Actually, Chloe, would you mind bringing it to him? He might need it tonight-if you're feeling better, that is."
"Sure, Lana. I'll take my dad's car as soon as he gets home."
"Thanks. I think I'll go up to my room and finish the reading assignment for English."
"OK," Chloe said as Lana got up and left the room.