Title: You Were Right
Rating: PG
Pairing: Clois
Disclaimer: I don't own Smallville -or anything that belongs to someone else for that matter.
Lana walked down the stairs from her apartment to the main part of the Talon and ordered a coffee. She noticed Clark, sitting at a table by himself, and realized that they hadn't talked much since she got back from Paris. She thanked Martha for the coffee and walked over to where he was sitting. "Mind if I sit down?" He was staring at his mug blankly and didn't notice her there. After a few moments, she tried again, "Clark?" He looked up at her finally. "Mind if I sit down?"
"Of course not, Lana," he motioned to the chair across from him.
Lana sat down and noticed the distracted look on his face. "Is something wrong, Clark?"
"No... Yes... I don't really know. Ugh, this is so confusing."
Lana gave him a short laugh; she had never seen him so uncertain before. It was slightly unnerving and more than a little interesting. "Well, maybe I can help. Why don't you tell me what's going on?"
Clark hesitated a moment before beginning slowly. "There's this... friend... that I think I might be starting to see in a different light."
Lana nodded. "So, you like this person. Does she like you too?"
"That's just it! I have no idea!"
Lana would have laughed if not for the expression on his face. "Clark, you have to know how you feel before you even start worrying about how she feels. 'Cause what if she's doing the same thing, Clark? You'll just keep going around in circles with neither one of you even realizing it."
Clark nodded thoughtfully. 'Am I really in love with Lois Lane?'
"Clark, you just don't want to wake up one day and realize that you waited too long to do anything about the way you feel."
Clark was staring blankly at his half-finished mug of coffee again. He thought about how he felt when they had spent time together. Lois used to get on his nerves to no end, but now, he found himself looking forward to the next time he'd get to see her. What surprised him even more was the way he felt everytime he saw her. She made him feel like he was drowning and flying at the same time, made him feel like he could be himself without always worrying about protecting his secret around her. He knew he felt something -and it was something strong- but it felt different than anything he had ever felt before, and that was what threw him off.
"Clark?" Lana said, breaking him out of his thoughts. "So, how do you feel about this mystery woman?"
"I know I feel something strong for her; but it's different than anything I've ever felt before -even with Alicia- and I just can't seem to put my finger on what the difference is."
Lana regarded him thoughtfully and answered slowly, "Maybe the reason it feels so different is that it's the real thing this time, Clark."
"Maybe," he said.
"Clark, please take my advice on this: if it is the real thing, don't let your secret get between you both."
Clark looked back up at her. "I don't think I've ever been too worried about her finding out. I think she'd accept me as me, even if I was from another planet."
"Is that why you never told me, Clark?" Lana asked, looking hurt.
"At times, yes," he said truthfully. "Most of the time though, what stoppedme from telling you -or Chloe for that matter- was something that would happen right after I would decide to tell you. Like, I had been about to tell you, right before you left for Paris."
"Why didn't you?"
"Pete had just been captured and had the crap beaten out of him by an FBI agent who thought that Pete knew my secret."
"Oh," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
"I should probably be going now," Clark said as he rose from the table.
Lana nodded a good-bye as he headed towards the door. He had just reached the door when she heard him call her name. He was beaming his patented megga-watt smile, and she looked at him questioningly. "What is it, Clark?"
"What you said, that day in the caves- right after you got back from Paris... You were right."
She looked at him, confused, for a moment before it clicked into place. "I'm glad, Clark," she said, smiling. With that he turned an walked out of the Talon.
The End.