Chapter 12
Clark slowly eased his way into the kaleidoscopic paradise. Frankly her restoration work on the former storage area astounded him. Just three weeks earlier, he'd struggled to worm his way through row after row of dusty boxes, hanging cobwebs and sooty covered furniture choking the front room.
Now he found it an easy stroll…well it should've been easy. That is if his own nerves hadn't been hamstringing him. That is if her effort at recrafting and retooling the whole place for their perfect night didn't blow him away.
Despite his own abilities, her statement in doing so knocked him for a loop. "You count to me. I love you." And he caught it in spades.
The shifting and refracting rainbow's light kept changing the sparkling of the glass surfaces. It lent Lana's necklace and chain on her left wrist an almost supernatural sheen. Even the water flowing from the faucet streamed through the air and the symphony of cascading colors on its way into the glass vase in her hands.
Truly the room had a fairy-like quality to it…
And the glinting seemed to increase the bracelet's weight in his pocket by degree as well….
As the rainbow's light finally dimmed, she set the rose and vase by the candle in the table's center. "Very nice touch, Clark."
"I'd say the same for this place, Lana," he admired while setting the pizza down on the table. "I can't believe you did this much…for…for…." He blushed at his sudden shyness and his tongue suddenly taking on the consistency of lead.
She giggled; the infuriating peal of her laughter driving warm yet anxious signals up and down his spinal cord. "For us? You really should look around. You're worth it, Clark." She studied the box. "And you went to Granville for a pizza?"
"It's my favorite pizza. I wanted the best for our big night," he insisted.
"Big night huh?" Even if her own heart tripped over hearing him say that, she kept the poker face on as tightly as she could manage. "Something you want to tell me, Mr. Kent?"
He bowed his head. "I don't want to ruin things between us again."
She ran her fingers under his chin and slowly raised his head so that they were looking eye to eye. "The only way that happens is if you aren't honest with me. Clark, what is it?"
"Honesty huh?" He slowly formed the words over his suddenly heavy lips.
"Yes, Clark, it's okay," she assured him.
He nodded. "I…understand if you don't…feel the same way." He felt weak as if she'd just opened a lead lined box and left a meteor rock in front of himself.
"I promise it'll be okay." She smiled reassuringly to ease his nerves. She softly stroked the back of his hands to comfort him.
He nodded. "Lana, I don't just want to be friends. It's great and I know we agreed….I….well…" He broke away and began to pace; his heart wouldn't stop speeding and his head ached. His eyes burned. "I love you and I want to try harder for you." Then he swallowed a deep gulp and turned back to her.
"I see…" A relieved sense of security flowed through herself. She glided across the expanse toward him. "And don't you think someone of us love you too?" She smiled. "Just relax."
Her lips brushed across his as softly as feathers. Her arms surrounded his waist pinning him closely against her. For a minute she kept the intimate flow going, reassuring him that all was well.
Still his temples burned. His eyes glowed from the endorphins coursing through his system. He ground his teeth. "AHHH!"
She stiffened and rubbed his arms. She remembered the attack downstairs from the previous fall…..
…just before the coffee press and wall over it burst into flames….
"Clark, what is it?" She froze not being sure what was going on. Maybe this is why he's been so distant? Maybe he gets seizures? Oh crap. What have I done?
"N….no…I…." His eyes glowed as he pushed her to the left.
Twin beams of heat vision jumped forth from the overheated orbs toward the vase. The impact boiled the water within causing the glass to shatter.
"Oh man!" He forgot everything else. Instinctively, as he might have at the farm, he beat on the flames with his bare hands snuffing them out. Then he straightened. "That's out….I…."
"Clark, what are you doing? YOUR HANDS!" She grabbed onto his hands and stared incredulously at the immaculate palms. "How on Earth?" She considered the ruined tablecloth and then him once again. "They're not even warm! How?" She backed away from him in shock.
"Great. Even when I'm trying to be honest, I screw it up." He cursed his own inability to control his gifts during intense situations such as that one. "I wanted it to be perfect for you." He pushed the glass shards off of the pizza box and opened it. "Pizza's still good at least."
"Clark, the pizza can wait. Take a seat please," she insisted. "Just answer me one question. Okay?"
"Don't hate me," he almost whimpered while slumping into the seat by the table.
"I don't hate you, Clark. I just need to know. Did you do…whatever you just did…downstairs last fall?" she inquired.
He hesitated for a second. Then he looked up at her through his frustrated tears. "Yes," he croaked.
She took a seat across from him. Her mind held so many questions about the previous year and a half. "And the tornado? That was you too?"
"I pulled you from the truck," he admitted. "And got you to the med center." He took a deep breath and shook his head in frustration.
"Are you…you…one of those meteor freaks?" she threw out. She could almost imagine what Chloe would've made of the events playing out in front of them.
"No I'm not." He pursed his lips before considering her again. He knew that she wanted the Truth. "Remember you asked me for the truth."
"I did," she agreed although she wasn't sure she could've handled that much truth in a lifetime. "I'm not going to call Sheriff Ethan. I know you wouldn't hurt me." She noticed his silence and how his head bowed again. "Clark?"
He didn't answer. His mind swam with the same lies, stories and half-truths he'd used to cover his tracks for years. He desperately wanted to put the night's flow back on course. He mused over this story and that one in that regard.
Finally it was clear—there was no more wiggle room. There was no story which could placate her.
"Clark?" she reiterated purposefully while giving him a gentle shake.
His eyes strained with uncertainty as they meandered toward hers. "I hear you…Sorry…."
"If you aren't a meteor freak, what are you?" she queried. "You're not human…."
"You want the truth?" He shrugged figuring she had him dead to rights anyhow. "I mean you really want it?"
"Yes, Clark. I do." She could read from his hesitation that he stood at the edge of an abyss. "If we're to have anything truly meaningful, I need you to be honest. Please." Her eyes begged at his; their unspoken pleading tugged at his heartstrings.
"I'm an alien," he muttered almost in a whisper.
She couldn't quite make out the confession even though she'd seen his lips moving. "What?"
"I'm an alien, Lana." He stood slowly and with great effort. "I'll go now." He staggered toward the door; his breaking heart crying at the abysmal failure.
Before he could take three steps, she intercepted him. "What do you mean? You're being serious?"
"Under the circumstances, Lana, I'm not going to make up a story like that," he declared while straining to keep any trace of sarcasm out of his voice.
Her own mind struggled to deal with him at that moment. Weren't aliens supposed to be small green men or grey like that creature in the movie? "You're right. Neither of us need that right now. So you're an alien?"
"You're not driving me away?" He almost gasped.
She shook her head. "I'm trying to deal with this, Clark. I owe you that much." To tell the truth, she resisted the urge to push him away and run screaming to her parents' grave. "You're the same Clark? I mean you weren't replaced by the aliens?"
He chuckled. "I'm still the same Clark—flannel and all—that I've always been, Lana. The same one who's always loved you."
She nodded in consideration of his words. "Where'd you come from?"
"I don't know." He took a deep nervous breath. "I…I crashed in Chandler's Field during the meteor shower. Mom and Dad…they…found me there." He frowned. "Ever since, we've tried to be careful."
"You weren't too careful last fall or now," she reminded him.
"Sometimes when my abilities appear, I have problems controlling them at first," he conceded in disbelief. "I can't believe this."
"Wait. What can't you believe?" she wondered curiously. "That you're being honest? That I'm listening and not running off? Or both? Clark, I'll admit there's a part of me that's scared. Then there's another part that knows you...and has always known you. You were there for me during that incident with the deputy last spring. You've saved my life several times."
"I'm not keeping score, Lana," he assured her. "Protecting you is a pleasure not a job for me."
"I know, Clark." She glanced out the back window down into the alley below…
…where he'd stopped Tina Greer and saved her….
"You risked me finding out to save me?" she queried. By now, her insecurity eased. Powers or not…alien or not….he was still the same Clark….
The same man she'd always loved….
"Lex would say love's about risk. I'm not about to let you die over my insecurities, Lana. You're too important for that." He eyed the pizza. "Mind if I grab a piece? I could really use it. Like one?"
She nodded. "Sure. I'll get some soda. Meantime keep talking." She got up and walked over to the fridge. She produced the frosted glasses and filled them with soda. "Here you go." She set their glasses on the table to find he'd already set a piece on each plate. "Thank you."
"You're welcome." He bit into the piece letting the finely crafted mix of herbs and Italian ingredient sooth his frayed nerves. "I have to trust you with this. My parents are going to have a cow but you needed to know."
"I did. Thanks." She bit her lip while feeling the weight of his Secret pressing down on her. She bit into her piece. His taste in pizza surprised her. "Mmm…no wonder you went to Granville for this. This is divine!"
"So…you're okay with this?" he asked hesitantly.
She took a deep breath. "I'm dealing with it, Clark. You don't just dump a revelation like this on someone and not expect a reaction." She bit into her pizza again. "As you said about the room, I appreciate the effort you're putting out for me tonight." She squeezed his hand. "And you're being honest. I appreciate that too."
"I'll understand if you want to talk and not go to the dance," he offered.
"What? And miss our time on the floor? Clark, I owe you a dance from last year. Remember?" She smiled lifting his spirits. "Promise we'll talk to your parents about this. I promise to keep this between us."
He nodded gladly taking her offer. "They'll want to talk."
"So who else knows…I mean…about you?" She bit into her piece yet again considering the pepperoni.
"Pete found out last fall. Byron knows. Other than that just you and my folks," he noted. "I'd rather Chloe not find out yet." He finished his piece and started on another one.
She could understand why he was so secretive. "And Kyla? Did she know?"
"She did. In fact…." He removed the bracelet from his pocket. "Her grandfather wanted me to give this to someone special….the someone in my life." He held it up to the light letting the silver and jewels in it sparkle. "It's from my people I guess. They gave it to her family centuries ago for safe keeping."
"And you have it?" she wondered while examining it for herself. "How can you claim it?"
"Because I don't know anyone else like me around here," he replied frankly. "Because I want you to have it. I love you, Lana."
She considered the bracelet for a long few minutes. She turned it over and over considering every aspect. Her mind also mulled over the desperate soul who wanted nothing more than her to understand. Finally she made her decision.
She handed him back the bracelet.
"I see. Guess we're just friends then." He started to put it back in his pocket.
She quirked an eyebrow at him. "What are you doing?"
"I thought when you gave it back to me…." he started.
She rolled her eyes and shook her head. "I gave it back to you so you could do something for me." She held out her bare right wrist. "Put it on me please."
He stopped cold; his mind froze incredulously. "Did you just…say….?"
She nodded. "Put it on me, Clark." She smiled at him. "I still have questions and we have a lot to talk about. But you're being honest with me. I love you too. I have to trust you as well."
He slipped the bracelet on her wrist and secured it in place. Then his lips brushed the back of her hand. "Thank you."
Her smile grew wider. "Thank you for trusting me, Clark. Thank you for loving me." She leaned over and locked lips once again. For a minute, their shared energies flowed back and forth between them renewing their strength and commitment. Then she pulled away. "Now let's eat. We don't want to be too late now."
He nodded and served her another piece. With disaster averted, he could relax for now.
He just hoped the dance wouldn't hold any surprises…..
