Jitters – Tenth Chapter
Clark's party, just before Lana arrives
Clark attempted to clean up a stain that had mysteriously appeared on the carpet. He looked around for Rory but couldn't see her anywhere. Damnit, he thought. He was just about to try and reach her mind-to-mind but was interrupted.

"Pretty cool party," he heard a girl's voice behind him. He recognized it immediately and turned around smiling.

"Lana, thanks. It's kind of impromptu." Clark saw Rory come down the stairs and sighed internally, relieved. He continued, "I figure sometimes you just have to kick back and blow off some steam."

"If I had a hundred people trashing my house, I'd be a little freaked out," Lana joked. "I really can't see Rory agreeing to this."

"Oh, Clark assured me it would just be a 'small gathering'," said Rory from behind her. Lana laughed.

"Well, after the first few dishes, you kinda get used to it," Clark explained.

Rory snorted and muttered, "Yeah, right."

Lana didn't hear her though and said, "I don't think I'd be brave enough to risk it."

Clark stared at her beautiful face and Rory, seeing the look on his face, quietly slipped away. "I don't know Lana. I bet you're braver then you think." They shared a look before Clark asked, "So you're flying solo tonight?"

Lana's smile disappeared and she questioned, "You mean, what am I doing here without Whitney?" Clark looked down, feeling stupid and she continued, "I am capable of enjoying myself without him."

Clark looked back up at her and smiled sheepishly. The moment was ruined when they heard massive bangs coming from outside. Clark ran to the window, vaguely aware that Lana was following him and looked out. He watched in awe as fireworks burst over the barn.

Rory heard the sound of the bangs too and ran outside, stopping when she saw the fireworks. "Whoa," she breathed, unable to believe it. Clark and Lana came out just behind her and she turned to them, exclaiming, "This is amazing!"

"Tell me about it," Clark grinned at his sister.

Pete walked outside with Chloe right behind him and yelled over the sound of the fireworks, "Clark, man, how cool is this?"

"Pete, it's awesome, but why didn't you just call the cops?" Clark asked sarcastically. "It would've been easier."

Pete lifted his hands and said, "Hey, I can't claim credit. Wasn't my idea."

"It was mine," said someone. They turned and saw Lex walking towards them. "Call it a party gift. I hope you like it."

"They're beautiful!" said Rory excitedly. Lex looked at her, puzzled. She explained, "I've only ever seen fireworks once before."

Clark looked at her sternly, then said to Lex, "They're great, just…"

Lex caught on immediately and said, "Don't worry about the police, it's covered. I know this kind of party can make or break a reputation and I wanted to make sure yours was a hit."

"Thanks Lex!" Rory threw her arms around his neck spontaneously and hugged him tightly. He stiffened for a second, then relaxed and hugged her back. Clark coughed loudly and they broke apart quickly as Rory realized that the hug might not have been the best idea, especially as she was going out with Jared. What was that about? she heard an almost familiar voice question. Rory shook her head quickly and was yanked out of Lana's thoughts when Lex said casually, "So I hear you guys are taking a tour of the plant tomorrow."

"It's a class field trip," Chloe said in a monotone.

"What'd you do wrong?" Lex asked sarcastically.

Clark raised his eyebrows and asked rhetorically, "It's that bad, huh?"

Lex laughed as a pretty young girl came up to him and touched his arm flirtatiously. "Sorry I took so long." She fluttered her eyelashes at him and Rory, Chloe and Lana simultaneously rolled their eyes. Where'd she learn how to flirt? Playboy? Rory heard Chloe think. Rory smirked, then tuned back into what the girl was saying. "Someone overflowed the upstairs bathroom."

Clark and Rory groaned in unison. "We are officially dead." Clark stated.

"You are officially dead," Rory corrected him. "This entire thing was your idea."

Clark glared at her and said to her silently, So long as you help me clean up I don't care.

Rory grinned.

At the same time, in Metropolis
Martha waited anxiously as the phone rang for the fifth time, then the answering machine came on. "Hi! You've reached the Kent farm, home of Jonathan, Martha, Clark and Aurora Kent!" came Rory's cheerful voice over the phone. "You know what to do!"

Martha hung up and said to Jonathan, "Still no answer."

"Sweetheart, I'm sure they're fine." Martha didn't look reassured – after all, this was the first time she had been away from her babies for a long period of time since the day they had found them in a smoking crater. Jonathan reassured her again, "We have to trust them. I'm sure nothing bad can happen if they're together."

The next day

Rory walked back into the house, Clark just a few steps behind her. She winced as she saw the mess everywhere, her better-than-average vision helping her to see the full extent of the result of the party. She turned to Clark and put her hands on her hips. "You are so lucky you have me," she told him. Rory gestured to the stains in the carpet and said, "Without me, how would you get them out before Mom and Dad come home?"

Clark shrugged and groaned in disgust as he stepped in something… well he wasn't sure what it was, but it was disgusting. "You take the stains, I'll do the superficial stuff," he said to her.

Rory rolled her eyes at him and supersped around, grabbing a pair of plastic gloves and a plastic bag. She then supersped over to the first stain, used her powers to suck the materials out of the carpet and deposited the remains into the bag. This process happened in the blink of an eye and Rory quickly moved onto the next.

Meanwhile, Clark was superspeeding around the house also, cleaning up the paper cups, popcorn, and the rest of the mess as fast as he could. He then cleaned the dishes that had been used and went back to the table, happy with his efforts.

Rory threw out the plastic bag and the gloves, then went to the sink and started scrubbing her hands frantically. "So… dirty… must… remove… all… traces…" she muttered under her breath. She then turned around and glared at Clark, who had an extremely smug smile on his face.

Rory noticed someone move behind Clark and her senses went on hyper-alert. She looked up and her mouth dropped open, Clark staring at her. Rory squeezed her eyes shut and muttered, "Oh crap."

Clark watched as Rory's mouth dropped open, and his stomach sank as she squeezed her eyes shut. His suspicions were confirmed when he heard the sound of slow, sarcastic clapping behind. I didn't even know clapping could be sarcastic, he thought inanely. Knowing what he would see, he turned around.

"Hi," he said sheepishly. "You're home early."

Martha let all of her anxiety and fear out on the very people who had caused it. "We called SIX times last night, spoke with six DIFFERENT people, NONE of whom knew who you were!" she yelled at her beloved children.

"It was SUPPOSED to be an intimate occasion," Rory said angrily, glaring at Clark.

"Where have you two been?" their father inquired.

Clark licked his lips anxiously and said nervously, "At the hospital."

Martha stared at him for a second, then walked over to the nearest chair and collapsed into it. "That's it. I'm never leaving home again," she declared.

A/N Sorry it's been taking me so long to update, but my parents wouldn't let me get on the computer for ages! Argh! Plus I had exams, but now school is out and I'm on holiday! Yay for holidays!
Review! Review! Review! Please!
Xx.maddy-sparx.xX