Chapter 8

Buffy shut the medicine cabinet door and proceeded to stare at herself in the mirror. Her blonde hair had grown past her shoulders again. Goldilocks. Ugh. She had always hated it when Spike called her that. She kept her bangs layered and trimmed, delicately shaping her face so the memory of her death-hair didn't come back to haunt her.

The dark circles under her eyes had vanished since coming here. Endemic to the slayer lifestyle, especially the slayer-army lifestyle was no sleep and no time for rest. She made sure to get her full six hours most nights since moving to Smallville and her skin glowed more with each passing day. Buffy carefully wanded some mascara over her lashes and lined her full lips with a nude colored lip pencil. She stepped back and ran her fingers through her hair. Damn Buffy, small town life has you looking fine! She laughed out loud at herself, giddy with excitement to be having dinner with Clark.

Buffy walked over to her small closet, tragically small, and slipped a loose-knit beige sweater over her white tank top, one shoulder peeking its way out. The bottom of the sweater stopped just above the waist of her tight-fitting jeans, showing the tiniest bit of her tanned stomach. On the way out the door, she slipped on her high-heel boots and grabbed a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon, hoping that Clark was as much of a lightweight as she used to be—Ha! Doubt it.

The field between Buffy and Clark's houses was small and serene in the moonlight, the sky dimming slowly in the distance as the sun completely set. As Buffy slowly walked toward the yellow farmhouse, she used her super vision to peek into the kitchen window. Clark was standing in the kitchen, leaning against the counter with a phone to his ear. He looked concerned. Buffy perked up her hearing, but could only hear him saying goodbye to Chloe. Curious. What's Chloe have him concerned about? She was close enough to the house now that Clark noticed her through the window. Before her boots reached the first porch stair, he was already leaning against the door frame. Clark was wearing a faded blue t-shirt and dark-wash jeans, his hair mussed and hanging just above his crystal blue eyes.

"I see that you made it okay." Clark smiled at Buffy as she walked up the stairs. As she watched her step, Clark took a few moments to notice her bare shoulders and the smell of her hair and the peeking of her stomach. She is insanely beautiful.

"Yes, the journey was terribly long and foreboding. But I persevered." Buffy looked up at him, now fully on the porch, as he laughed at her lightly. He towered over her even in her high-heel boots. Must remember to wear higher heels next time! She scolded herself as she looked up at him, still a few feet away across the porch. She was startled at how beautiful his full smile was, and those lips might be the softest looking lips she had ever seen. Okay babe, I know it's been a long time and all, but do you really have to be a 16 year old right now?!

They stared at each other for a moment. Her stare was intense and curious. Clark could feel himself heating up under her gaze as she stepped closer to him. I need to calm down before I start shooting lasers at her face. Yeah, that came out kinda wrong. Clark smiled again at himself and then stepped back to open the door.

"Come in." Clark felt her body brush against his as she walked through the doorway. The smell of food flooded her senses and the warm surroundings engulfed her. As she looked around the solid wood beams and the decor, Buffy felt like she was at home again.

Clark watched her as she stepped lightly around the kitchen, peeking into the living room and glancing around to the stairs. He wondered what she was thinking. Her long blonde hair was down tonight, reaching down to her mid-back. Clark was leaning against the counter on an elbow watching her and he continued looking down to her ass.

Buffy turned around quickly, almost catching Clark staring at her backside, but he was quick to transfer his eyes up to her lovely face. Buffy could feel the heat radiating off him, knowing he was checking her out. Well at least I know he likes my ass, that's a start.

"You have a lovely home. It reminds me of home back in Sunnydale. What is that heavenly smell?" Buffy hadn't had a good home cooked meal in a really long time. She walked over to the counter to where Clark was and leaned next to him, placing the bottle of Cab on the counter.

They were so close to each other, just sharing the same space for a second. Each with their own super senses hearing the other's heartbeat, smelling their essence, seeing the flush of the other's skin. Never knowing that the other was also examining them so intimately.

Clark stood up straight first. "Well, I didn't know what you liked, so I made a roast, potatoes, and some vegetables from the garden. If you're a vegetarian, we may have to order pizza."

Buffy laughed at his hedging about the food. "Please, don't apologize. That sounds amazing."

She noticed that he had set two plates on the island in the middle of the kitchen instead of the dining room. So she moved over to one of the place settings and began to sit down.

"I figured it would be less formal to eat in here, more comfortable. But we can move it into the dining room if you would prefer? I haven't had anyone over for dinner in quite a while, in case you couldn't tell." He looked down at the floor and then back up at her, his eyes shining innocently through his dark hair.

"Clark, this is perfect, good call on the comfortableness that is here." He needs to stop looking at me like that or I am going to jump him right here, Buffy thought to herself.

"I'm glad you like it, let's eat then." Clark sat down catty-corner to her and began serving the both of them.

Once they had settled in with their food and started eating, Buffy wondered about the mystery of Clark Kent and Clark wondered about the mystery of Buffy Summers. They both started talking at the same time.

"So, tell me about your friend Chloe—"

"So, tell me about your life back in Sunnydale—"

They both laughed. "Please, you go first Clark."

"Well Chloe and I have been best friends since we were kids. She has always loved writing and was editor of The Torch, the school newspaper. I worked at the newspaper too, helping her follow stories and acting as the school press when something happened in town."

Well that kind of makes sense now, maybe he was all over the newspaper because he was with the school press?

"After high school, she moved to Metropolis to pursue her dream to be a big time reporter at The Daily Planet. So, that's where she is now. We get to see each other every now and again, but we talk on the phone often. She's the best friend anyone could ever have."

"She sounds great Clark, next time she's in town I would love to meet her." Buffy was pleased to hear that Clark had connections to people and wasn't completely on his own.

"So, you want to know about Sunnydale, huh?" Buffy was hesitant because she hadn't really thought about a cover story for before the town's implosion.

Clark saw the hesitance in her eyes, immediately scolding himself for asking about her previous life too soon. "I'm sorry Buffy, we don't have to talk about that. I know it's probably too much—"

She interrupted him, "No, Clark. It is totally fine. I've had a year to cope with it and I can talk about it. My mom and I moved to Sunnydale when I was a sophomore in high school. She opened up an art gallery and I started school. I met my best friends Xander and Willow while I was there. When we graduated, Willow and I went to UC-Sunnydale for a few years. I dropped out when my mom got sick, she needed help with my sister Dawn. She didn't handle our mom being sick very well, she was still just a kid. After mom died, we had a couple of rough years trying to get the bills together and to keep the house and all that. When Dawn started at the high school, I worked as a guidance counselor. Then the earthquakes started and all the weird stuff, so we packed up everything we could and got out just before the sinkhole happened. You pretty much know the rest." Buffy looked down at her plate, feeling strange that she was leaving out so much of her life. Too much. But she knew that was the only way to keep her secret and have a shot at a new life.

Clark could tell Buffy was pained by everything she had gone through, and knowing there was a good deal more that she wasn't telling him made him hurt all the more for her. He was used to keeping secrets by now and he knew what that did to him and everyone around him. He knew what keeping secrets looked like and Buffy was definitely holding back a lot.

"UC-Sunnydale. I went to Central Kansas A&M for a couple of semesters. I took a few politics and agricultural business courses. Pretty boring stuff. What were you interested in?"

"I took some psychology classes and a film course. I jumped around a lot because I really didn't know what I wanted to do. It was fun being there with Willow though and—" Riley. "—other people." Buffy didn't think about Riley very often, but when she did she always felt terrible about how it had ended. It had to end of course, he wasn't right for her, but it still ended pretty badly. Like they all end, really.

Clark thought about Lana too, how their battle over going to college had slowly separated them and then everything that had happened with his dad.

They both noticed the sadness slipping into each other's eyes as the conversation progressed. With their plates clean, Buffy stood up and placed their dishes in the sink. Clark noticed how gracefully she moved and when she reached up to get some wine glasses, he saw a good bit of her lower back. He longed to touch her soft, tan skin. She grabbed the wine glasses and the bottle of wine she had brought and walked back to the table and scooted her chair closer to his. Their knees were touching slightly.

"So, here we go again, getting all emo with each other. I say that we have some wine to follow up that delicious dinner and search for some lighter conversation." Buffy was already pouring the wine, giving Clark no time to protest. "What shall we toast to Clark?"

Clark was enthralled by her smile and urgency to change the tone of the evening. "How about we toast to new friends."

Buffy raised her glass to his. "To new friends and small towns." Their glasses clinked and as they sipped their wine, their eyes were locked on each other. Buffy thought, this should be fun.