Hey, guys! Okay, this chapter is a little on the shorter side, but hey, it's pretty fluffy, a little bit angsty (only a little), and it has Superman in it! :D

Anyway, I hope you'll like this chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own Superman. Would be too awesome otherwise.

Chapter 37 - Campfire

The school was starting tomorrow and Clark, Sarah and a few other future seniors decided to spend the last day of summer near the lake, enjoying the day, grilling, swimming and generally have a good time. Sarah was currently clad in a pair of red bikinis, lying on a towel and reading a A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking, while Clark was soaking up the sun right next to her with his eyes closed, wearing a pair of blue swim trunks.

When Clark first saw Sarah in the bikinis, he thought he might pass out. He also noticed the trail of faint, thin scars running across her thighs and a little bit of stomach, and he couldn't help but admire her confidence, something which he voiced out loud, and getting a big smile and a kiss in response.

Moreover, Sarah wasn't a saint, either. She'd checked Clark out many times before in the past, and she wasn't very subtle about it, either, but there weren't many occasions where she saw him shirtless – a sight she truly enjoyed. Very, very much.

Sarah looked at Clark from the corner of her eye, seeing him in the exact same position he was in 15 minutes ago – lying on his back, hands behind his head, a content smile on his face. He told her some time ago that when the sun is shining at him, he feels a little tingle all over his body, something that made her laugh, and eventually, him, too.

„Hey, lovebirds!" someone shouted. Both of them whipped around to look in the direction of the voice, and both rolled their eyes when they realized it was Whitney, a shit-eating grin plastered across his face, „how 'bout a little swim?"

Sarah rolled her eyes once more and stood up, offering Clark a hand. He smiled and accepted it. Together, they made their way over to the lake. Clark then took her hand in his and tugged it, gesturing to the pier. Sarah smiled and followed him, not noticing his mischievous smile.

They stood at the end of it when she did. She looked at the water and then back at him. „Don't you fucking dare, Kent!"

Her threat was met with the widening of Clark's grin, before he lifted her up, making her squeal in surprise, and threw her into the water.

Clark was met with a murderous glare when she emerged, making her look so terrifying that even he took a few steps back. „You are so dead."

Sarah then realized that he wasn't taking the steps back only because he was afraid of her, but because he was also preparing to jump. Not even a few seconds later, she saw him running on the pier and jump at least 10 feet in the air, before gracefully diving in.

She felt something tug at her leg, and she instinctively kicked it. And it felt like she was hitting a freaking concrete.

„Clark," she said. Clark then caught her by her ankle and sank her down with him. Luckily, he gave her a few seconds to take a deep breath, before making her lose it entirely when he kissed her underwater. She wrapped her legs around his waist while he put both of his hands on her face.

Sarah, not being a Kryptonian, or an Atlantean, or whatever species that could hold their breath for long, ran out of air pretty quickly. They both emerged, though her legs still stayed wrapped around his waist. Clark wasn't moving with his legs at all, and she realized he must've been using his ability to fly. Her lips quirked up a little at that.

„You know, Clark," she started, his hands still on her face, „you can be a real dick sometimes."

Clark laughed, making her smile, before he kissed her again. And then they were splashed by a few other people who decided to copy Clark's jump – except for the graceful dive, apparently.

„Oh, come on," mumbled Sarah.

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Once the sun went down, the teenagers dressed and decided to start a campfire. Sarah was sitting next to Clark, on her left were Lana and Whitney, while on Clark's right were Pete and Chloe. Sarah snuggled into him, mumbling about being cold and him being like a furnace. Her personal Kryptonian heater, she whispered, knowing that he would hear her. And she was right. She closed her eyes and hummed in content with a small smile, melting Clark a little on the inside.

„Hey, sweetie, are you tired?" whispered Clark into her ear. She shrugged in response, snuggling further into him.

Clark put his arm around her shoulder and noticed that Mark and a few other people were looking at them. He sent them a questioning look.

Mark pointed at them with a sausage. „You guys," he said, mouth full of food, „are relationship goals."

Clark felt Sarah shaking from laughter, so he decided to add into it by tickling her side. She punched him in the shoulder. He rolled his eyes, smiling at her affectionately.

„So, I take that as a no to my question," he said, and she shrugged again, sending him a sweet smile.

„Alright, time for some songs!" yelled Pete. Everyone around the fire groaned. Only when Chloe started singing Impossible by Shontelle did they start laughing.

„What?" she stopped, giving them a glare, „We ain't singing any campfire songs!"

Everyone then shrugged, nodded and started singing along. Those not knowing the lyrics at least provided the sound effects.

And then it was time for Sarah to join.

„Falling out of love is hard
Falling for betrayal is worst
Broken trust and broken hearts
I know, I know."

Her voice was angelic, and so full of emotion that brought tears into Clark's eyes. He tightened his arms around her, a silent promise. He noticed she had tears in her eyes, too. He kissed her temple and let his lips linger there, letting her know that he was there, and he was not leaving her. She wrapped her arm around his waist and squeezed it hard, bruising him if he were human.

Others continued to sing, not noticing the silent communication between the couple, something both of them were grateful for. Sarah then unwrapped her arm and Clark started to let her go, but she said, "Not yet."

And so, Clark tightened his hold on her again while she was looking at the tattoo on her wrist, letting a small smile appear on her face. Per aspera ad astra. Through the hardships to the stars. When she looked at Clark, who was looking at her with a gaze so powerful, so full of love, and caring, and concern, she was sure the stars had sent him to her. Clark, the last survivor of his world, of his species, who is the most human of them all – with his infinite amount of compassion, trust, and optimism, something she herself sometimes lacks a lot. His gaze turned into a questioning look, and she smiled at him reassuringly before leaning in and capturing her lips with his own, whispering an I love you into them. She felt him smile against her lips. When they broke apart, he whispered into her ear, "I love you, too."

"I like the sound of that," she whispered, her lips a little bit swollen from the kissing, making them, in Clark's humble opinion, even more kissable.

"You're going to hear it a lot in the future," he whispered in return, before giving her a light peck on the lips.

I really hope so, she thought.

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Sarah eventually fell asleep on Clark's shoulder, basically curled up into him. Once the fire started to die down, the teenagers decided to call it a night and head home. It was pretty late, as it was really dark already, and they had school tomorrow. The last first day of high school.

Clark, after saying goodbyes and not having the heart to wake his girlfriend up, picked her up into his arms bridal-style and carried her basically into his parents' old pick-up truck. While he tried his hardest not to wake her and drive slowly, she woke up anyway. After stretching like a cat and letting out a little yawn, she noticed Clark looking at her from the corner of his eye with an amused smile.

"Wha'?" she asked sleepily, though her mind was pretty sharp already.

"You look adorable," he said.

She rolled her eyes and said in a mocking voice, "I'm terrifying. Fear me!"

"You're cute," he said. She growled a little, making her sound like a kitten. "Yup. Completely and utterly adorable."

He intervened their fingers, using his unoccupied hand, and the mock-irritation from her face disappeared. "Thank you."

He turned to look at her, "For what?"

"For.. assuring me, even without words," she said while looking at their intervened fingers.. Clark understood it immediately and tightened his hold on her hand.

"I'm always going to be there for you when it counts, you know that, right?" he asked. "I know I can't be always with you.. with me being a superhero and all that," he let out a dry little laugh, "but when you need me, I'll always be there. No matter what. Okay?"

She smiled. "Okay."

When he focused his attention back to the road, still holding her hand, she leaned in and kissed his cheek. "And I'm always going to be there for you, Clark. No matter what."

Clark decided to say hello to Sarah's guardians, assuming they were still up, considering the lights were still on, and walked with her to the front door. Sarah had to knock, as she somehow forgot the take her keys a few hours prior.

Before she knocked, however, she turned around and looked up at him. It was funny, she wasn't even that small. She was 5'6 (she grew a little over the past few months), and yet he was still almost a whole foot taller than her. She grabbed him by the back of his neck and forced him, or rather, indicated him to, lean downward and kiss her. She closed her eyes, enjoying the warm feeling.

They've been together for almost half a year – funny, it seemed a lot longer than that – and every time she saw him, her whole body tingled, something akin to his description of the sun shining on him.

"Good night," he whispered, his forehead on hers.

"Good night."

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Clark barely made it home before his League communicator started buzzing.

"Superman here," said Clark after touching the earpiece.

"We have a situation in Star City downtown – a government organization called A.R.G.U.S. decided to bring Green Arrow in, and you're the only one who can make it there in time besides the Flash, who is currently inaccessible," said Batman.

"Got it," said Clark.

A few seconds later, a sonic boom could be heard.

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"Why are you after me? I'm a member of the Justice League. We have a deal with the government!" yelled Oliver Queen, also known as Green Arrow, at the agents.

They didn't answer, but they were closing. Ollie ran out of arrows a few minutes ago, and even with his hand-to-hand abilities, he didn't stand a chance against dozen highly trained agents of A.R.G.U.S.

So, when Ollie heard a sonic boom right above him, he had the sudden urge to grin. And he did exactly that. He watched a few moments later as the agents' eyes focused on something above him and widened almost right after that. Ollie just continued to grin.

"Green Arrow is a member of the Justice League," said Superman, his voice cool, "and as a member of the Justice League, he is allowed to patrol and stop criminals. The U.S. Government agreed. You are a government organization. So, unless you are willing to fight me right here, right now, I suggest you leave. Immediately."

Superman's pupils started to glow red, and apparently, the agents took his threat seriously, for they all backed down and started to leave. One of the agents, however, stepped forward and addressed Superman directly.

"It's not over, alien. You might be a member of the League, but you aren't human. And as an alien organism, you have no rights," the agent said, and Ollie felt a sudden chill run down his back. Even Superman seemed surprised at this, but regained his bearings almost immediately, his expression turning so cold it would be able to freeze Firestorm.

"Anything else you'd like to say, agent?" he asked, his voice even colder than his expression. The agent, previously so confident, turned around and walked away, with rather long steps.

"Thanks, man," said Ollie once they were clear, addressing Superman.

"Why would they want you, Ollie?" he asked, his expression turning into a friendly one, though Ollie could see something in his eyes.

"As an alien organism, you have no rights."

"No idea," he answered, "but I think they might not be after me."

Alright, so.. what are your thoughts? :)

I decided to make Sarah a little bit taller than in the first chapters, where she was 5'4 (163cm) if I remember correctly, simply because the height difference was a bit too much. 5'6 is the ideal height for her in comparison to Clark and is a real possibility of growing. I hope.

5'6 - approximately 168cm

Alright, see ya around:)