"Lois didn't come to dinner." said Martha, while she and Clark cleaned the dinner table.
"I noticed, Mom." answered Clark. "Maybe she's just a bit shaken because of Lucy." said Clark, putting the dishes on the sink. Jonathan looked at his son.
"Did she tell you what happened?" he asked, serious.
"Barely." answered Clark, tired. "She mumbled something about Lucy stealing Lex's car and mumbling 'Sorry' before speeding away."
Martha put the platter she was holding down and frowned. "Oh, God."
Clark sat down at the dinner table. "I just don't understand why would she run away. I mean, allright, she was going to be arrested, but after what she did---"
"She probably wasn't ready to deal with the consequences of her actions." suggested Jonathan, shrugging and sitting in front of Clark while Martha started to wash the dishes.
"Yeah, but still... it was shocking." said Clark, frowning.
"Lucy has suffered a lot in her life." explained Martha, turning her head to face her son.
"So has Lois! But look at her now... she would never trick her own sister and fake a kidnapping for money."
"We know." said Jonathan. "Lois had her father by her side all along and Lucy hadn't. What doesn't justify her actions, but still..."
"Well, it's a family matter." interrupted Martha, now giving them two cups of hot tea. "I don't think we should interfere."
"I'm just worried about Lois." sighed Clark, taking his cup thankfully. "She hasn't said a word all day since Lucy ran away."
"Can you blame her?" Jonathan raised his eyebrows. "It was really painful for her."
"Yes." agreed Clark. "As much as she tries to deny, she really cares about Lucy."
"Where is she anyway?" asked Martha. Clark opened his mouth to answer, but a distant feminine voice answered.
"---you should have never sent her to that damn school in the first place, and--- WHAT do you mean you cannot believe I let this happen??"
Clark, Martha and Jonathan looked at each other.
"The barn." they said, together.
"---she's old enough to know what's right and what's wrong, so don't you dare go blaming me!!!"
"What---" started Jonathan.
"Oh yes, I know very well she was under my watch, thank you!! I can't believe this, you're talking to me as if I was the guilty one---"
The yelling stopped for a moment, as the probable answer came by Lois's phone, away from the kitchen, on the barn.
"OF COURSE NOT!! In case you haven't noticed, dear father, SHE was the one who planned the whole thing, faked a kidnapping, stole a car and ran away---"
Brief silence.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN I SHOULD HAVE SEEN THAT ONE COMING??? OH, OF COURSE, DADDY, I'M SORRY I DIDN'T NOTICE MY SISTER IS PART OF A GANG OR SOMETHING!!"
Another pause. The three of them looked at each other.
"DON'T-BLAME-ME!! IT'S NOT MY FAULT!! SHE CHOSE THIS WAY BECAUSE SHE WANTED TO!!! IF IT'S ANYONE'S FAULT, IS YOURS!!!"
Clark gulped, feeling really uncomfortable listening to that father-daughter conversation. Specially because it seemed it wasn't being a very pleasant one.
"--YOU WEREN'T THERE WHEN SHE NEEDED YOU, YOU WERE NEVER THERE NOT EVEN WHEN I NEEDED YOU!!"
Martha frowned to Jonathan and Clark.
"I'll---" Clark stood up, but Jonathan stopped him and made him sit down again.
"Let her handle it, son."
"But---"
"NO YOU WEREN'T!! YOU'VE NEVER BEEN! OF COURSE I WASN'T THERE FOR HER ALL THE TIME!! AS LUCY HERSELF REMINDED ME EARLIER, I'M NOT MOM!!! IF SOMEONE SHOULD HAVE BEEN THERE, IT'S YOU, YOU'RE THE FATHER!! SO DON'T YOU GO BLAMING ME---"
There was another pause, and on this one, Clark could feel Lois's wrath growing.
"The weakest link of what--- THE WEAKEST LINK? THE WEAKEST LINK??? WITH ALL MY RESPECT, DADDY---"
That was the part where Lois told her father to go to somewhere that made Martha exclaim "God, Lois!"
The Kent family stood in silence for a second, just facing each other. They weren't listening anything now, and it seemed the conversation had ended in a very dramatic way.
Clark looked at his parents, worried. He stood up once again.
"Clark, maybe you shouldn't---" started his Mom.
"---she probably doesn't want to hear anything from anybody now---" completed Jonathan.
"Don't worry. I'll just tell her the food is in the oven." he said, walking toward the kitchen's door. "And I'll try to stop her before she cracks down the whole barn."
Martha and Jonathan smiled at each other.
Lois was sitting at the couch on Clark's loft, with her shaky hands covering her head. Her insides were a mix of emotions. Anger, frustration, disappointment, sadness and exhaustion, all together.
Lucy was the one who messed up with things and, as always, Lois was the guilty one. How could her father accuse HER? Because she wasn't there when Lucy needed her? He was the one who sent her to that damn boarding school when their Mom died. He was the one who should have taken care of her, not Lois. It wasn't her fault.
It wasn't anybody's fault, she thought better.
They have had a very hard life in terms of family. But it still didn't justify Lucy's actions. She had chosen to go to that way. Lois had a hard life too, and she wasn't stealing cars and planning traps to get 50 thousand dollars.
Lois sighed, tired, thinking about Mr. And Mrs. Kent. And Clark. It WAS her fault if they didn't let her stay there anymore. She had abused so much of their hospitality and she had even brought a robber inside the house. Her own sister.
Lois sighed once again, shaking her head. She looked around, trying to find something to bland her pain.
She stood up unconsciously and walked toward the telescope standing through the window.
When Lois was a kid, she used to enjoy looking up at the stars. But since her mother had died, she hadn't done that like before.
Lois leaned in and looked through Clark's telescope, adjusting the focus.
It was a beautiful vision. There were stars all over the dark sky, and they were shining with such a splendour, the exact opposite of what she was feeling inside.
That was really peaceful, she thought, looking to a particular bright star. Lois smiled as she remembered of what she had told Farmboy about people who used telescopes a few days ago. And now here she was, looking through his telescope. Well, no one had to know, right---
"I thought you said that telescopes were for geeks and stalkers." said a male voice behind her.
Crap.
Lois jumped and turned around, just in time to see Clark climbing up the stairs and walking toward her, in front of the telescope.
"Yeah, well, as it was proven over the last few days, I can seriously misjudge people." she said. Clark nodded. The thoughts about the Kent family came back to her mind. "You know, if you've come to kick me off the farm, I completely understand." she added, quickly.
He wouldn't do that... Would he?
"Yeah, um..." he started. Lois gulped. "Actually I came here to tell you we have food in the oven, if you're hungry."
Lois's walls trembled violently as she felt the sympathy on his voice. She struggled with all her heart to keep them up.
"Thanks." she said, as quickly as before.
Clark smiled. He could see her walls all over her. She was hiding her feelings. But he could tell Lois wanted to talk about it.
He wouldn't give up that easily.
"How you holding up?" Clark asked carefully.
"I just got off the phone with the general." she said curtly, seeming to struggle not to say too much.
"Oh," started Clark, nodding. "That was all the screaming I heard from the house."
"Yeah." Lois smiled with difficulty. He was already surprised when she didn't answer 'I'm fine' or 'Just great'. But when she actually told him what happened, he was amazed. "Well, apparently, he is very disappointed at me for letting this happen, and as far as my family chain of command goes, I am... the weakest link." She said that really fast, trying not to sound too sad.
"I'm sorry..." Clark said. He meant it.
"Don't be." she said, quickly. "You know, there is something cathartic about telling a three-star general to go to hell." Lois smiled curtly. Her walls trembled once again as he gave her the most genuine smile he had ever given to her. She felt her eyes burning and her breath becoming uneven. Lois turned around. "Uh, you know, all these years, I thought I had my sister pegged. But, uh... in reality... she's a complete stranger to me."
Lois turned to Clark once again.
"Even if that were true, I think that if she called you tomorrow, you'd be there in a second to help her." he said, sympathetically. Lois just faced him. That was exactly what she was thinking.
"Yeah, I would." she said, fastly. "She's my sister."
Lois bit her lip. Clark smiled. He was getting into her.
"You know, I don't think Lucy's all that bad." he said, walking closer to her.
Lois looked up at him and frowned. She struggled with herself for a moment.
"You're amazing, Smallville." she finally blurted out. Clark looked at her and frowned. He didn't see that one coming. Now she would have to explain herself. "You always look for the best in people even when they walk all over you."
Clark made an understanding expression.
"I guess that explains why we're friends."
Lois tried not to smile, as she raised her eyebrows. That was news. "Oh, we're friends now?"
"Well, I won't tell anyone if you don't." said Clark, trying to tease. But his lips just curved into a another smile. Lois looked up at him, grinning amazed.
Yeah, what the hell, her walls were already down. And she was surprised when it didn't feel that bad.
Lois punched him on the shoulder and started to climb down the stairs to exit the loft. When she was in the middle of them, however, she stopped and turned around to look at him once again. He was looking at her, grinning. Lois smiled back and turned around to leave, feeling an unexplainable pumping in her heart.
Clark was good in letting her unguard. He was also very good in annoying her. But he was an even better friend.
Yes, friends, that's what they were now. They always had been, they just wouldn't admit to anybody so soon.
When she met him, she had the feeling he was somebody she could add to her tiny 'trusting-list'. And now, Lois felt her heart a lot more bland, knowing that he was someone she could trust and look up to.
By the time she was almost reaching the house, Lois stopped when she realized she was still smiling.
She shook her head, building up her walls around her once again. Then, she grinned, opening the kitchen's door.
She would have to be careful with that, she really would.