You and Me

He smiled proudly at himself with his arms folded in front of him. He was standing in the center of the gym at Smallville High. He had been a young boy the last time he'd been in this room. It was supposed to be the time of his life, and as much as he loved the memories he had, he was glad to have moved on and away from the adolescence that taught him so much about himself.

He was early.

The reunion wouldn't start for a few hours. And as excited as he was to see his old classmates from years ago, his friends wouldn't be there with him.

Clark dropped his hands and put them in the pocket of his jeans.

"Uh oh. I know that look."

He turned and smiled sadly.

"What is it with this place?" Lois asked walking toward him. "You've been in here a few minutes and already you're brooding like if you were eighteen years all over again."

"I'm not brooding." he frowned.

She eyed him suspiciously.

"I'm not brooding."

"What do you call it then, Smallville?"

She stood next to him and he wrapped an arm around her, holding her closer to his body. "Reminiscing."

She shook her head smiling.

"I can't believe how much this place hasn't changed." she shrugged away from him.

"Yeah," he nodded walking closer to the center of the room. "It looks like Prom night."

"There's a memory I'd rather not reminisce about." she rolled her eyes.

"I don't know," Clark shrugged smiling. "I think pink looked pretty good on you."

"Don't Smallville," she rolled her eyes. "Besides if I remember correctly, vanilla was more of your taste back then."

"Yeah, but since then I've upgraded to wild cherry." he said with a knowing smile.

He stood in front of her now and placed his hands on her waist. She wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Any regrets?"

He gave her a solemn look. One that always made her feel like he was searching for something, and she hoped to God he'd find it…In her.

"Just one." he finally answered.

"Oh," she smiled. "And what's that?"

He removed her slender arms from around his neck and placed them at her side. "We never got that dance."

"What dance?"

He started walking toward a stereo in the room and lifted up a CD she hadn't noticed before.

"I know it's not the live version," he was saying. "But hopefully it'll do."

Lois heard the beginning chords of a song she hadn't heard since that night. She closed her eyes feeling her thoughts propel her back to a time when Clark Kent was nothing more than a farm boy and she was just a girl who was going nowhere fast.

The beginning chords of a slow song came from the speakers. She lifted her head and smiled. She adored this song, but she'd never admit it to anyone.

She bit her lip looking at Clark. She smiled inwardly noticing that he was being shy for some reason. Clark Kent was about to ask her to dance and a part of her wanted to say yes. And that scared her for some reason.

"You know, I was thinking since you did get all dressed up and you came here with me…you should at least get a dance out of it."

She glanced over his shoulder briefly and saw her come in before he did. As much as she wanted it, or thought she wanted it, she knew it wasn't a moment for her to take. Clark had waited his entire high school years to dance with her and what kind of friend would she be if she'd stolen that moment from them.

"Chivalry noted. But I'm not the one you want to dance with Clark. She is."

She leaned her head to the side signaling him to look.

The moment Clark saw her, Lois knew she'd been right just from the look in his eyes. He turned back to her almost as if asking for permission and she granted it to him.

"Go." she encouraged smiling.

He smiled and walked away from her. She glanced to the floor and sighed. Where did the pang in her heart come from? And what was it? She eyed her cousin sitting down at a table a few feet away and moved toward her realizing that she'd be sitting this one out tonight.

When Lois opened her eyes he was standing in front of her again. She looked up at him and smiled softly.

"Clark, you didn't have to…"

"I know," he nodded. "But I wanted to."

"Why?"

He lifted her hands in his and looked down at the ring on her finger. He smiled at the memory of the day she took his name. Well, sort of. She'd never change her name completely. His smile widened into a grin.

"What?" she asked biting her lip with a curious look.

"Because Lois," he said leaning into her. "A part of me always wondered how everything would have turned out if it would have been you I danced with that night. And as much as I wouldn't change anything about us or our story, because it's ours, I guess I just wish I'd seen it sooner."

"Oh, Smallville," she shook her head and looked up into the bluest eyes she'd ever seen. "It's not about where we ended up. It's always been about how we got here. And I wouldn't trade one second of our lives together. The good, the bad and the ugly…it's all us."

He dipped his head and kissed her softly. He felt her open her mouth and welcome him in. He took advantage and deepened the kiss, angling his head to the side. He wrapped his arms around her waist as she snaked hers around his neck. They pulled away breathless.

"Still," he said leaning his head to the side. "Can I have this dance Mrs. Lane-Kent?"

She smiled and nodded as he pulled her closer to his body. They swayed to the climatic rhythm of a song that reminded them of the best and worst of their adolescence. But they both knew that this would be a new memory to add to the many they'd accumulated over the years. Except this one moment in a high school gym was strong enough to wipe out those first few years of bad decisions made.

Lois didn't regret letting Clark Kent walk away from her that day. She realized this as she settled her head against his shoulder. Because even though he'd walked away from her that night, he'd been running toward her ever since. And she promised herself, a long time ago, that she'd never let him go again.