Note: Hi! I'm back with my third fic. Sorry for the long wait! Hopefully you'll enjoy this fic as much as you enjoyed "Moments Frozen in Time."

Summary: As senior year comes to an end, Clark will be forced to make some life altering decisions. What will they be? Who will they evolve around? Lana Lang, the love of his life? Or, will Jor-el play a role in his decision making?

Notes on plot: This takes place around May 2005 of their senior year. Lana did go to Paris for summer 2004, but now she's back—boyfriend-less. No Jason and that whole jumble of mythology. No Lois Lane! Their senior year so far has been as normal as it gets in Smallville (throw in some meteor freaks). Chloe does not know Clark's secret and Alicia never showed up. Pete is still in Wichita, but he may be making an appearance. Lionel Luthor died in prison of liver failure. Lex has been slowly converting to the dark side.

Meanwhile, in Clana-ville, Clark and Lana have been distant ever since school started and they are now just finally starting to get close. Let's see what happens between them, shall we?

"So, are you enjoying the lack of sleep that trigonometry brings?" Chloe Sullivan asked her best male friend as she poured herself a fresh cup of coffee. She placed the coffee pot down on the table next to the wall that had been affectionately nicknamed "The Wall of Weird."

Clark, who had his head on one of the Torch's desks, raised his head to answer, "Yup, I'm loving it."

"Good," Chloe replied as she sat down at her computer and opened up her email. After a few more clicks that allowed Clark to rub his eyes and stretch, Chloe announced, "Well, you'll be happy to know that Mr. Fong has scheduled a math-a-thon for this weekend. He's looking for volunteers to participate."

Chloe swiveled around in her chair and put her face in her hands. "Which brings me to my next question, is Clark Kent up for some more trigonometry to help bring in cash for prom?"

Clark scowled at her and stood up, walking to the table to pour himself more coffee. "While the idea of a math-a-thon sounds…appealing…I don't think many of the Smallville High students are up for it."

"And let me guess, you're one of those average seeking students?" Chloe asked with a small smile. Clark was about to protest when Chloe spoke up again. "Don't worry, Clark. I wouldn't have done it anyway—a math-a-thon isn't exactly the best way to raise money for the senior prom."

Clark sighed with relief. Then, he turned his attention to the door.

"Lana," Clark said, unable to hide the surprise in his voice.

Lana nearly jumped a feet in the air at the sound of his voice. "Clark," she said, forcing a smile. "Umm…well if you two are busy, I'll just talk to Chloe later then…."

"What?" Chloe nearly exclaimed. "No! Stay, Lana. Don't let Clark scare you away." Chloe sent Clark a look that said "Be nice."

Clark sent her back one that said, "What? I'm not going to bite her head off. I love—like her."

"Oh, okay, then," Lana said holding her books closer to her chest as she took a seat in a chair next to Chloe. "It's about the advanced lit. project…"

Clark took a sip of his coffee and sat back in his chair, avoiding eye contact with Lana. He didn't know what was wrong with him. Nothing bad had happened friendship wise since her return from Paris. Sure, there was a huge rift in between them, but the two of them had managed to be civilized around each other. They hadn't exactly been buddies this year, but Clark figured it was part of life. Things change, people move on. The only problem was, Clark Kent didn't want to move on from Lana Lang. The truth was he was still madly in love with her.

"Clark? Chloe to Clark?"

Clark snapped out of his thoughts to find Chloe waving a hand in front of his face. "Sorry."

"You're excused," Chloe said with a small smile, returning to her desk. "Lana's gone now, you can return to sleeping."

Clark shook his head and decided whether or not to voice what he was about to say. "Chloe?"

"Hmm?"

"How is Lana?"

Chloe raised her head from the computer screen and stared hard at Clark. After deciphering the question she said, "Well…besides from the fact that the two of you haven't had a real conversation since she got back from Paris—which was about eight months ago—she's doing pretty well."

Clark winced like he had been exposed to kryptonite. "It's not like she's shown any interest in me since she got back," Clark defended.

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Like a typical guy, you only look for her interest in you romantically. Have you ever thought that the two of you need to close the lid on the romance level for now and focus on the level below that? Friendship?"

Clark swallowed and couldn't help but feel guilty. "I was giving her space…."

"Eight months of space is plenty of time to rebound from your two-day love affair," Chloe said bluntly. Then, she added a bit more softly, "Look, as your best friend and Lana's best friend, I think you should talk to her. I know for a fact she misses you. And I also know that you miss her too. So, why don't you just put aside that male pride of yours and ask her to a cup of coffee as friends?"

Chloe's words echoed in Clark's mind all day. At first, he enjoyed her words of wisdom, but now, as he sat in history, his last class of the day, he cursed them. He was supposed to be listening to the teacher's lecture that would be on a pop quiz next Monday, but found that he couldn't. Instead, he spent his time staring out the window, pondering Chloe's words. When the final bell for the day rang, Clark had made up his mind.

Clark casually strolled the hallway where Lana's locker was located and to his relief, found her there putting her books away. He stood in front of a set of lockers near hers and just admired her beauty. Finally, he was forced to move when someone came up to him and asked him to move.

"Hi, Lana," Clark said in a voice that he hoped sounded normal.

Lana looked up, unable to hide the shock from her face. She closed her locker and hugged her books close to her chest; a habit that Clark had noticed was practiced when she was nervous. "Hi, Clark."

Clark leaned against the lockers, and then moved away from them. After several positions, he decided to break the silence. "Umm…how have you been?"

Lana's eyes widened and Clark watched as disappointment slipped into her facial features. "You mean how I've been since I came back from Paris? Or how was my day today?" she asked, not able to hide a hint of bitterness in her voice.

Ouch…I guess I deserved that. Clark lowered his eyes and suddenly he chickened out. "I'm sorry, Lana." He began slinking away, but stopped when he felt something soft brush up against his hand.

Lana held his hand. "Clark…I'm sorry, I didn't mean that…."

"Yes, you did," Clark said quietly. "But, hey, I don't blame you."

Lana smiled slowly. "Things this year are a lot different, aren't they?"

Clark nodded and was glad Lana didn't pull her hand away. "Look…Lana…I know things haven't been exactly…right…between us, but I was hoping…"

Clark paused to look at her and found an encouraging smile written on her beautiful face.

"I was hoping that you could come by the loft later," Clark finished. "Not for anything in particular…just to talk…get to know each other again."

"I'd like that," Lana replied simply. Clark tried reading her expression for any signs of negativity but found none. She was genuinely happy about his invite.

"Good." Clark nodded. "Well…I'll see you later then?" He began walking away, remembering he had a truckload of trigonometry homework to do.

Lana nodded and squeezed his hand once and then released it. Clark found that while he was ecstatic about her positive response to his invitation, he was sad to find the warmth in his hand gone.