Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or settings used in this story. Some sort of Hollywood corporate types own Smallville. I am not making any money off of this.

This is set AU from the end of season six. It features both Clois and Lollie as pairings, and sadly, little to no Chloe (no offense Chloe fans).

"Why do funerals always have to come with such bad weather?" Her voice coincided with the click of the door opening and re-shutting.

Clark did a comical spin with a feeling of déjà vu that brought him back to a scene in the same room 3 years earlier. He grabbed a towel off the rack and wrapped it around his waist while switching the facet off with his foot.

"Um," he struggled with whether to answer Lois's question or make some remark about her being early as he wasn't even wet yet. He pulled back the curtain and sat carefully on the edge of the tub facing her as she sat on the closed toilet. She was still in her blouse and skirt, but her shoes and jewelry had been stripped off. Her face was smeared and her hair somewhat bedraggled from the rain they had stood in long after everyone else had left the graveside. She looked pathetic and luminous all at once.

"You want the first shower?" Clark asked, glancing at the door.

Lois smiled and shook her head. "Your mom won't be surprising us this time. She just called from the road. She's almost in Topeka."

"That's good. So why are you in the bathroom Lois?"

Lois leaned back and crossed her arms over her chest. "I skipped Chloe's first funeral."

It took Clark a moment to process that.

"Three years ago. My favourite cousin. Practically my best friend, and I couldn't even go to her funeral."

"But she wasn't dead." Clark interjected tentatively.

"Well, she is now. She's dead because of me." She stared out the small bathroom window. From her seated position she could only see the grey clouds. "I hadn't even seen her in years and she was my closest friend. It hurt me so much. I don't like feeling helpless."

"I don't think anyone does." Clark replied looking down at his hands. Hands that couldn't bring his friend back.

"I didn't think that anything could hurt worse then how I felt sitting at her grave that day. Now I've been living here, hanging out with her, watching her live and grow, and now all that's stopped. How did she save me Clark? I was stabbed. I felt it. You can't imagine or forget something like that."

"I don't know Lois." Clark said wearily. After a beat he added, "I missed her funeral too."

Lois looked sharply at him.

"The first one. I wasn't there either. I…took off when she died. I was confused, I went to try and find my father. My rea- my biological father."

"What happened?"

He shrugged. "You sort of know. You found me."

"You were gone all summer?'

"I was almost back here when that storm hit. I just got fed up and came home. I screwed up. I do that. A lot it seems." Now it was Clark's turn to glare brittlely at the clouds. "I'm going to leave again. Tomorrow."

Lois inhaled slowly. "Ok."

"I need to get things on track. I need to get my life straight. I think it's what Chloe would have wanted. She always thought I could do more."

"Makes sense. Really. I'm glad."

"But you'll miss me, right?" Clark said with a joking air. ""We should try to keep tears to a minimum." The line fell flat after the events of the afternoon.

"Yeah." A quick tight smile. "Not to sound all lifetime special but why does everyone I love leave me? God, forget I said that. I am not so melodramatic as all that."

"Hey," Clark stood up and reached to pull Lois up to. "It's not like that." She came to her feet with a few tugs and he wrapped his arms around her.