A/N: Takes place during S07E16: Descent
Clark storms out of the room full of righteous indignation and you just stand there, paralyzed with indecision. You want to throw all your priceless antiques and expensive equipment, a veritable fortune's worth of knick-knacks, until the room is filled with a cacophony of satisfying crashes. You want to collapse on the floor and sob until the whole world leaves you alone. You want to grab Clark by the neck and choke off his air supply, pretending your fingers against his windpipe can really hurt him. You want to grab Clark by the shoulders and beg him to be your friend again, to show you how to be a good person.
You calmly pour yourself a glass of scotch and take a sip.
The conversation rolls around and around until it finally settles on the easiest part to deal with. "They would've felt the same way about you, if you would've tried." The intended pain of that barb rolls right off your back and leaves nothing but anger behind. The confident way he said it, when he knows better infuriates you. It's like he thinks his perceived moral superiority somehow gives him the right to completely rewrite history. You did try, until you thought you'd collapse with the effort and Clark knows that, damn him. You tried so fucking hard, but in the end they're both dead and none of it even matters.
Your life has become a Linkin Park song and you think that the fact that you know that may be even more pathetic than the fact that it's true.
You down the rest of the scotch in your glass in one gulp and pour yourself another one. Maybe, you think with a hint of wry amusement, if you keep drinking you'll become numb enough that you won't be able to feel any of them there, not Lionel or Jonathan or Clark or even little Alexander, who just wants his dad back.
Your life has always been complicated, but you wonder when it got so ridiculous.
A/N: Honestly, guys? I just really wanted to write a fic with the line "your life has become a Linkin Park song." So, um, yeah.
The two songs referred to, both by Linkin Park, are "In The End" (I tried so hard/And got so far/But in the end/It doesn't even matter) and "Numb" (I've become so numb/I can't feel you there).
