She couldn't decide if they were the two most stubborn people on the planet, or the two most oblivious.
Perhaps, it was a combination of both.
Of course, it shouldn't surprise her. She still remembered the first time she'd seen them together. It was unmistakable, the spark they had. At the time, it had twisted her heart, a heart that had still held a torch for Clark Kent.
Later on, on that long ago day, she had asked him about it, in the caves. A small smile played upon her lips as she remembered his blustering response to her assumption that he had moved on with the brash and loud girl she'd seen him with earlier.
"Lois? She's bossy, she's stuck up, she's rude. I can't stand her!"
"The best ones always start that way."
It had struck her, in that moment down in the caves, that Clark hadn't denied her statement.
She'd known it, deep down, from that moment on. While Clark may have been hers again after that day, she knew, buried in her heart, that it would be temporary.
He had a connection with Lois that he didn't have with anyone else. He smiled with her, he laughed with her, and he argued with her. Which, on the surface, might be an odd thing to place importance on, but knowing Clark as Lana did, she had always felt a tad envious that Lois brought out that side of Clark. This confident side he had, where he wasn't afraid to speak his mind, to fight back, where, while the polite farmboy still lingered – as it always would, his parents' upbringing of him would never disappear completely, - the more self-assured man put in an appearance.
But what had always struck Lana about Lois and Clark was that, for all of Lois' investigative juices, she never once badgered Clark about the mysterious things that seemed to occur around him.
And maybe that was why Clark always seemed more, well, relaxed around her. And she, him for that matter. For all of their bantering, Clark somehow managed to soften Lois' edges a bit, which sort of amazed Lana. She would never claim to know Lois as well as she knew Clark, so if she picked up on that aspect of their relationship, she could only imagine how it looked to those who knew her better.
When Oliver had found her in Cuba and offered his assistance in getting her out from under the Luthor thumb, even with Lex missing, she'd taken him up on his offer. After he'd mentioned Chloe's wedding, she thought surprising one of her best friends would be fun, and it would give her a chance to wish Chloe and Jimmy the best.
Of course, it would also give her the chance to see Clark.
Oliver had been very vague about Clark, and Lana had the feeling that he was being evasive on purpose, though maybe he just didn't want to get dragged into the middle of it all, which she could respect.
So, as she'd sat on the Queen Industries jet, she'd thought about what would happen when she saw him. She tried to come up with the words to say to him, to apologize, to explain. She knew he would listen, because he was Clark, and that's what he did. After that, though, she wasn't sure to expect. And if she was to be honest with herself, she wasn't sure what she wanted to happen.
They had landed in Metropolis on the day of the wedding. Knowing she wouldn't make it for the ceremony anyway, Lana had quickly gotten herself a presentable dress and Oliver arranged for a car to take them both to Smallville for the reception.
Once they had gotten there, he had walked into the barn ahead of her. She'd needed a moment to compose herself, to get the conflicting emotions she was feeling under control.
It occurred to her, after she walked in and was stopped dead in her tracks at the sight in front of her, that no amount of composing herself would have prepared her.
The oddest feeling had come over her as she watched them. Surprise, certainly, but it was mixed with a sense of calm. The calmness that comes when something you've been expecting for years finally comes to fruition in front of your eyes.
It was more than the way they held each other, as close as that was. It was more than the way their eyes held the other's gaze so intensely. It was more than the intimate gesture of her putting her head gently on his shoulder, while he instinctively seemed to pull her tighter to him, closing his eyes and leaning his cheek against her hair.
It was all of that, combined, in one perfect moment.
She was awestruck, watching them. There was a voice in her head, telling her to turn around and get out of there, to not break their spell.
But her body held to its spot, watching them. The part of her that had felt a flare of jealousy not letting her walk away.
Then his eyes had fluttered open, seeming to feel the woman in his arms shift slightly against him.
And that's when he saw her, still standing by the entrance to the barn. His arms had dropped almost immediately, and she saw Lois' head snap up and whip around, spotting her as well.
As she opened the heavy door leading into the Daily Planet, she sighed. Looking back, having some distance from that day, well, she couldn't say the distance had made her feel much better. She still felt terrible. She had broken their spell. And a month later, it was still broken.
Guilt was eating away at Clark, feeling that leaving Lois to talk to Lana had left her vulnerable to the attack that had almost killed her. And she knew that he had been actively trying to get some face time with Lois in the four days now that she'd been back in Metropolis, but Lois had evaded him at pretty much every turn.
She could tell Lois was avoiding him, but what she wasn't sure of was why. Lana knew Lois well enough to know that Lois would never place the blame on Clark for her being injured.
And while she knew that she had played a part in the tension between them that day when she had put in her appearance, she also thought it was pretty clear at this point that she and Clark were nothing more than friends. Not to mention, she knew about the multitude of voicemails Clark had left for Lois, and Lana was sure he'd used those messages to clear up any possible misconceptions stemming from the day of the wedding and anything she'd heard about in her absence.
As she headed into the bullpen, she stopped for a moment, taking in the scene in front of her. Lois' desk was empty, as usual it seemed. Her eyes then focused on Clark, who was scribbling something on a yellow pad. She watched as he stopped, his eyes lifting to the vacant desk across from his, and watched as he seemed to deflate a little at the sight.
Finally walking in, she headed over to his desk, leaning against the edge.
"Hey."
He seemed surprised to hear her voice for a moment, then recovered.
"Hey Lana. You just get here?"
"Yeah."
"You didn't happen to see Lois out there, did you?"
"No, why, hasn't she been in yet?"
Clark just shakes his head. "Not that I'd know if she had been," he says glumly.
"Look, I'm sure as soon as she gets back on track with work and things settle down, you two will reconnect."
Clark half-heartedly smiles in response, but Lana can tell he doesn't quite buy her platitude.
"So, what brings you here?"
"Oh, I wanted to tell you what time I'm leaving. Remember, you promised to drive me to the airstrip?"
"Right, yeah….so what time?"
"Oliver's due back early this afternoon, and he said that they just need a few hours to refuel and stuff, so probably around 6, if that's okay."
"No problem. Where are you headed?"
"Someplace with a lot of palm trees," Lana responded, with a smile. "Chloe gushed so much about Hawaii when she and Jimmy got back, I'm thinking I'll start there, and enjoy the freedom of being done with all things Luthor."
"Well, you deserve to enjoy that," Clark said, gently squeezing her hand.
"Thanks."
They sat in silence for a moment, both aware of the good place they'd managed to come to. Saying goodbye this time would be mutual, with nothing but wishes for a happy future for the other.
Lana noticed, after a moment, that Clark's eyes had drifted to the entrance of the bullpen, and widened at the sight in front of him. He jumped up suddenly, and Lana turned, not really needing to, because only one person got that reaction out of Clark.
"Hey Lois," he said, watching her stride purposefully toward her desk.
"Hey, Clark. Lana," she mumbled, her eyes trained on the keyboard she'd leaned down slightly to type on.
"How are you feeling, Lois?" Lana inquired.
"Fine, thanks," the reporter responded shortly.
Clearing his throat, Clark took another step toward her. "So, Lois, I was thinking maybe we could…"
He's cut off though, as Lois struck her keyboard one last time before whirling and heading out of the bullpen.
"No time, Clark. I gotta meet a source," she said quickly.
Lana watched as Clark's face fell at Lois' quick dismissal. As she turned to look in the direction Lois had begun to walk away, she was surprised to notice that Lois had stopped dead in her tracks. Her back still to them, Lana watched as her shoulders seemed to set themselves back in determination, before she finally turned back to them.
"So," Lois began, her eyes focused on a point in the room near them, but not looking directly at them, "I realized before that since I'd been back, I hadn't congratulated the two of you on, well, you know, getting back together. So," she continued, seemingly forcing herself to look directly into Clark's stunned eyes, "Congratulations," she finished, her voice slightly strained with the emotion she was struggling to keep out of her face. With that, she quickly whirled back around and rushed out of the bullpen.
Leaving Lana in open-mouthed shock.
Why would she think that?
She certainly didn't think she'd given off the impression that she and Clark were together. And surely, Clark had used at least some of the many voicemail messages he'd left Lois to explain the conclusions they'd come to. Or how Clark had broken it gently to her that he'd moved on, and that he'd realized that the feelings he had for Lois were far from platonic.
Right?
Slowly turning, she was met with a Clark seemingly frozen in stunned disbelief, his eyes still focused on the spot where Lois had been standing. After about a minute, his eyes finally drifted to Lana, confusion rampant on his face.
"What did she just say?"
Lana closed her eyes slowly, having a sickening feeling that the assumptions she'd been making on what exactly Clark had filled Lois in on were completely and utterly wrong.
"Clark, you did tell her that you and I came to an understanding, didn't you?"
"Huh?"
Frustrated, Lana rolled her eyes.
"Clark?"
"She hasn't exactly been eager to say more than two words to me, Lana."
"You left her a hundred voicemails in the past month, Clark! Please tell me at least one of those included the fact you and I are nothing more than friends?"
Clark shrugs, still looking utterly baffled. "Why would I? Lois knows we're friends."
"Clearly, she thinks we're more than that judging from her little speech just now."
"But…why would she think that? I mean, at the wedding, she and I…we…we were getting closer," he stutters out, his eyes still clouded with bewilderment.
Exhaling loudly, Lana walks over to him, wishing for a moment he wasn't invulnerable because she would love nothing more than to smack him upside the head without the threat of breaking her hand.
"Clark Kent? You are a complete and total idiot."
