Started: February 25, 2003

Finished: September 1, 2003

Last Episode Seen Before Writing: Fever, Rosetta

Pairing: Clark/Lana

Rating: PG

Category: Angst, Romance, Drama

Spoilers: Insurgence, Suspect, Prodigal

Summary: Lana comes to Clark to talk, now it's his turn to return the gesture.

Disclaimer: If only I could own them… But I don't.

Author's Note: This is a challenge from Peggy. I'll put the whole challenge in an author's note at the end of the fic. This is set after Prodigal. Ignore everything that happened after that.

A Page From Lana's Book

"Clark. Uh, hi," Lana said, her eyebrows furrowing as she held open the door. "What are you doing here?"

Clark blushed slightly. "You come into my loft to talk a lot, so I figured I'd take a page out of your book. I mean, that is if it's alright," Clark stumbled to find a way to explain himself.

"Uh, yeah. Sure. Come in," Lana said, pulling the door open wider and gesturing inside.

Clark looked around nervously.

"Chloe's not here," Lana explained, leading the way into the living room. A smile flitted across her face. "She's at the mansion, trying to get an interview with Lex."

Clark smiled, sitting on the couch when Lana did. "She can try, but it's not going to happen."

Lana studied Clark for a minute. "What's wrong, Clark?"

Clark looked shocked that Lana could tell there was something bothering him. "Uh, actually, it's…" Clark trailed off.

"Clark," Lana said, waiting for him to look at her. "You can trust me."

Clark smiled wanly. "I know. It's just something that Lionel said and I needed to talk to someone about it, but…"

Lana pulled her feet under herself. "It's okay, Clark. Whatever it is, it's really upset you."

"I think Lionel has feelings for Mom," Clark blurted out.

Lana inhaled sharply, her eyes widening. "What?"

Clark's eyes glued themselves to his hands in his lap. "I think Lionel has feelings for my mom. I don't mean the 'she's a good assistant' kind of feelings, I mean the 'wow, she's really pretty' kind of feelings," Clark admitted, finally looking up at Lana.

Lana seemed to concentrate for a moment. "Do you think there's something going on between them?" she asked.

"No! No. Well, I don't think- No! Mom would never do that," Clark exclaimed.

"You don't sound so sure of that," Lana pointed out.

Clark looked up at Lana. "I know my mom wouldn't do anything like that. I guess, I just know that Lionel would."

"What made you think about this?" Lana questioned.

"When Dad got arrested for shooting Lionel, the police found a watch in my parent's room," Clark told her, his eyes showing how much it was hurting him to talk about it.

Lana reached over, putting her hand on Clark's arm to try and calm him down. "A watch?" she asked.
Clark looked into Lana's eyes and nodded. "Yeah. A gold watch with lots of diamonds. The police found it when….when they thought Dad shot Lionel. Mom hid it so he wouldn't find it."

"Lionel gave her a watch, Clark. Why does that mean that he would…" Lana trailed off.

"Because of the inscription. Sheriff Ethan read it. It said 'To Martha, with deepest affection. L.L.'" Clark said, his lip curling in disgust.

"Clark, your mom is a good woman. She wouldn't do anything to hurt you or your dad. I'm sure she just hid it so Mr. Kent wouldn't get mad," Lana tried to explain.

"Your mom was a good woman, too," Clark said softly.

Lana winced slightly. "Clark, you can't judge this by my parents. When… When what happened with Henry did, my parents weren't together. It's different."

"I didn't mean it like that, Lana. It's just, you know how I feel," Clark said with a pause. "More than anyone else I could talk to."

Lana gave Clark a small smile. "Talk to your mom, Clark. It will help."

"How do you know that?" Clark asked, his eyes showing how upset he was.

"Because I did the same thing. I didn't want anyone to know about the picture, or anything else," Lana told him. "But, when I finally talked to someone about it, I felt better. And things worked out for me, didn't they?"

The corners of Clark's mouth turned up in a smile. "Yeah, they did. You have a dad now," Clark pointed out.

Lana nodded, her smile now bright. "Yes, I do. You need to talk to her, Clark. Tell her what you told me. It might be uncomfortable, but she's the only one who can make you feel better about this."

Clark smile dropped slightly. "I guess you're right, it's just…"

"If it was okay, I'd offer to come with you, but that will just make it harder," Lana explained. "You can do it."

Clark stood, nodding once. "Okay, I'll do it now."

Lana stood with a grin. "Great, Clark. Call me if you need me, okay?"

"Thanks, Lana," Clark said, leaning in. Before he realized what he was doing he brushed his lips against hers.

Lana's eyes widened as Clark pulled back. "What was that?" she asked in confusion.

Clark blushed. "I don't know. It just…happened," Clark said, looking down at the floor.

Lana tilted her head to get Clark's attention. "Was that really you?" she asked, knowing Clark would know exactly what she meant.

Clark looked down at Lana. "It was me," he answered.

Lana raised to her toes, letting her lips brush against Clark's in a quick kiss. "Good," she replied.

Clark grinned, making Lana laugh. "Go talk to your mom, Clark. I'll talk to you later," she said, taking his hand and leading him to the door.

"Okay," Clark agreed, turning at the door to kiss Lana one last time. This time he let the kiss linger for a moment. "Thanks again."

Lana watched Clark jog to the car before closing the door. She pressed her back to the door, leaning up against it. Lana pressed her fingertips to her lips, then grinned.

Peggy's Challenge: Okay, this stems from that little scene between Lionel and Clark in Prodigal. Somehow, I think Clark knows there's something going on with Lionel---that he has feelings for his mother. Let's go with that and have him talk to Lana about it. Not Lex---Lana, who's gone through the same sort of thing, with her mother and Henry. Only difference between these two situations---Henry is a good guy---Lionel isn't. Clark could go through the angst of whether he should tell his father---whether he should tell his mother----whether he should tell his best friend, Lex, etc. This would bring them closer---another parallel between the two.