A/N: Just a little something I wrote a while ago, when Smallville still didn't suck.
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A memory: Lana, Clark, Chloe, and Pete. They sat in the park under an oak tree. Clark and Lana cuddled together tightly, matching up with each other's curves. Chloe and Pete roll their eyes at the young couple's giddy love and small touches. Clark and Lana kiss gently, slowly, and Chloe and Pete laugh and make gagging noises. Clark breaks away and throws grass at them; they all double over laughing. The sun illuminates their faces; they are magical and human and healthy and glad.
Fast-forward five years: Pete is gone, far away, and no one speaks of him. Lois is here, and she is slowly becoming a part of their lives. Lana and Clark's giddy love has become a sort of awkward hostility. Lana sees the way that Chloe looks at Clark, the passion and…..is that lust in her eyes? She can't believe she didn't notice it sooner. Maybe she did.
Lana has found love with Lex, but it is not the sunlit, innocent love that she had with Clark. It is dark and obsessive and consumes most, if not all of her body and mind. Clark made her warm; Lex sets her on fire.
But there is something about this new love she's never had before. Clark protected her, snuggled her, and made sure everything was okay. She sees that same protective instinct in Lex, but without the smothering overtones that were a trademark of Clark's. He sets her free but keeps her close. At all times she feels his presence bubbling within her, setting her heart ablaze. Clark never did that. If anything, he extinguished that fire.
Everything is dark in Lana Lang's head now. The sun does not shine; there is no laughter. Oddly enough, this is the happiest she's ever been. Yet sometimes, when she walks past the park, she'll see four young teenagers much like they were once. She feels the memory of the four of them, in an almost surreal state of happiness. This is the only time her old life seeps through. It causes her pain, so she hurries by, pretending to forget.
Sunlight burns her now. Fire does not.