Chapter 45
Squeaky Mattress
A few hours later found my dad and I fishing by the lake. Upon arriving at the cabin, my mom had thrown us all out, claiming that the cabin was hazardous to anyone's health in its current state of uncleanness. Clark had gone for a walk, claiming he wanted to explore the scenery.
In reality, he'd told me that he needed to slip away because he had a League thing. He had sounded very regretful, but I had told him I understood and said I'd help distract my parents so they wouldn't find his absence weird.
So, I was fishing with my dad while my boyfriend was on a little 'hike' in the woods. My mom had been cleaning for quite some time, but since she was a neat freak if I ever saw one, there was no telling when she'd be finished.
"So Clark," My dad began.
Oh boy. Here came the talk. I busied myself with pulling my line in.
"Yup."
"Was he the guy you liked last Christmas?"
I nodded and checked my hook for bait. Groaning, I found it empty. These fish were getting sneaky. "Yeah, he is."
My dad handed me the can of worms and I stuck another one on my hook, slinging the line back into the water.
"How are things?" He asked casually, in that dad way of his. "Between the two of you?"
See, the great thing about my dad was that he was an incredibly straight forward kinda guy. He asked the exact questions he wanted the answers to, instead of going a roundabout way with everything. He said what he meant, and he meant what he said.
That's why I always felt that I owed it to him to do the same.
"To be honest?" I began, "We kind of had a rough start. We were together for two weeks and then I broke up with him because he was very conflicted about his feelings for me. But the break up was apparently a wake-up call for him because he came back a day later and we've been going strong ever since."
"And by ever since you mean?"
I smiled a bit sheepishly. "Like, a few weeks. So, not too long. But that okay, I'm looking forward to spending many more weeks with him."
M dad nodded. "He seemed absolutely smitten with you."
I felt a slow smile build on my face.
"I knew that the moment I first saw you interact with him. He's a keeper."
"Thanks daddy."
"And of course your mother approves of him – Oh," Dad paused mid sentence, sitting up straighter. "I think I've got one."
He gave a mighty tug on his fishing rod, and out on the lake I saw a big fishtail flip over the surface and then trash around, disturbing the water.
"Oh, um," This was the part where I always panicked. I loved fishing, but I never knew what to do when I caught an actual fish.
"Get the fishing net!" my dad exclaimed as he tried to reel in the fish. It fought him all the way, and his process was very slow. I good a good look at it, grimacing at its shiny and slimy looking, dark scales. I had nothing against eating fish, and I had nothing against catching them, but the sliminess always put me off a bit.
"Right," I scrambled around, trying to locate the fishing net. "Aha!" I pulled the green net, stuck on a long bamboo stick triumphantly into the air "Found it!"
"Get it here, Cupcake, hurry!"
I let out a small – but very girlish – squeal when I tried to get the net around the thrashing fish, which was spraying water on me.
"Dad, this thing is huge!" I exclaimed when I finally got the net around it. I attempted to pull it up, but it was heavy, and I was afraid of dropping the net with all the thrashing the fish was doing.
Out of nowhere, my knight in shining armor reach a steady and strong hand out, taking the net and lifting it up with ease.
I watched as Clark placed the net back on the small wooden dock we were on, astonished by his impeccable timing.
"I guess dinner is saved." He said with humor, smiling at me and my dad. "That's quite an impressive catch, Mister Logan."
My dad stared in stunned silence for a moment before bursting into fond laughter.
He clapped Clark good-naturedly on the back. "Call me Alan, kid. We're practically family now, after all."
Oh great, my dad wanted to adopt my boyfriend.
"Who will do the honors?" My dad asked, holding a knife out. "Georgia?"
I grimaced down at the fish as it lay on the dock, no longer thrashing about, but still gasping for breath, its mouth opening and closing.
"No thanks." I declined, not particularly crazy about killing the poor thing. I could eat fish, yes, and I could catch them, but I didn't like killing them. I didn't even like touching them. My dad always took care of that part.
"How about you, Clark?" He asked next. "You ever gutted a fish before?"
"Many times," Clark admitted. "My dad took me fishing all the time when I was younger." Clark accepted the knife and crouched down on the dock next to the fish.
I busied myself with taking care of my own fishing rod while he did it. I'd been pretty sensitive about blood since..
Well, since that night in the Watchtower.
I reeled in my line, finding the hook empty once again. "Damn fish keeps stealing my bait." I mumbled. I grabbed another worm and fastened it on the hook.
"That's just because you're not putting that worm on the right way." Clark explained, standing up to help me.
Ignoring the blood on his hands, I skeptically asked. "There is a right way to hook a worm?"
Clark showed me how to hook my worm the 'right way', and then turned his attention back to the now dead fish. My dad had left the dock some time ago to prepare the grill.
After throwing my line back out, I cast a look down at Clark. Big mistake. The sight of the blood made me take a deep breath in, closing my eyes in an attempt to keep the flash backs away. My entire body shuddered, though I tried to suppress it, not wanting Clark to notice.
Of course, I should've known that that was a pointless endeavor, as Clark always noticed everything.
He looked up at me sharply, his eyes narrow in thought as I tried to keep my focus stoutly on the lake, waiting for a fish to take my bait.
"You alright?" He asked carefully, calculating.
"Yeah, yeah," I said casually. "I'm fine."
See, the downside to dating a bloody genius is that he can see through lies like that. By now, he'd finished gutting the fish, and after bringing it to my dad – who praised him for his fine work – and washing his bloodied hands in the lake, he went and stood beside me.
We stood in silence for a moment. I was just waiting for him to spring his question on me, for him to demand to know what was wrong.
I was torn between trying to keep the memories at bay, and trying to look as casual and normal as possible as I keep my eyes firmly on the lake.
"What's wrong, Georgia?" He asked softly a few minutes after he'd stood himself beside me.
I sighed slightly. "Nothing.. I'm just a bit uncomfortable with blood." I admitted, clearing my throat.
He frowned. "Since when?" I could tell he already had a pretty good idea since when, but he needed me to confirm it.
I bit my lip and dropped my eyes down to my feet. "Since Flash."
His sharp intake of breath and small shake of his head told me that he was displeased.
My heart beat wildly with anxiety. The cat was out of the bag: I was not entirely okay after what had happened.
"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" He asked, hurt lacing his voice. He turned his big, blue eyes at me and my lip curled in slight annoyance and a bit of shame.
"I don't know.." I tugged on my line, simply because I needed to do something and I refused to start fidgeting. "I guess I felt silly. And it's really not that bad."
"Well, how bad is it?"Clark demanded to know.
"I rarely have nightmares anymore. And the flashbacks aren't as often. It's mainly my new-found fear of blood that seems permanent."
"You've been having nightmares and flash backs, and you didn't tell me?" Clark sounded not only hurt, but also surprised. "Georgia!"
"I'm sorry, okay?" I leveled him with a pretty tame glare. "I didn't want to burden you with my problems. Heavens know you have enough shit on your plate as it is."
Clark paused before shuffling closer, wrapping an arm around my waist. "Georgia, the day we started this relationship was the day we also vowed to lean on each other for support when we need it. Your problems are also my problems. It's a burden that I will gladly bear." He grabbed one of my hands, playing with its digits. "I told you that it would be my duty and privilege to make you happy, and I can't do that when you keep things from me because you don't want to burden me."
I settled against him, sighing heavily with defeat. "Sorry. You're right. I promise to be more open about these things in the future." I vowed. "If you promise to do the same."
"Deal." He smiled brightly at me and I returned it. Sneaking a peek behind me, I saw my dad standing with his back facing us, so, snatching the opportunity, I reached up and kissed Clark briefly.
He returned it, placing a large, warm hand on my jaw.
"You've got a fish." He mumbled against my lips.
"Huh?" I asked, slightly dazed – as I always were after we kissed. Maybe there was something drug-y in alien saliva?
He smirked slightly and pulled away. "You've got a fish on your line."
Just then, there was a pretty violent tug on my fishing rod, and I almost dropped it.
"Oh Jesus!" I exclaimed, tightening my grip on the rod and reeled the fish in.
I think my dad brought along the noisiest air mattress on purpose so he could be sure that Clark and I didn't do anything. Clark and I were both lying ramrod straight, not even touching each other, scared to move even a little bit because that mattress was so squeaky.
"I think we should move around a lot so it sounds like we're having sex." I said softly. The walls in the cabin were also very thin, so any conversation you wanted to keep private had to be a whispered conversation.
"Absolutely not." Clark said quickly.
"Aw, come on." I smirked, turning on my side so I was facing him, ignoring as the bed squeaked obnoxiously. "Why are you so boring?"
His eyes were closed, his features relaxed. "I'm trying to sleep, that's why."
"And here I even went and wore that t-shirt you like so much." I said smugly, crawling closer so I was leaning over him, an elbow and my chin resting on his chest, which pressed my chest to his side. I could feel him tense at that, and my smirk grew even wider.
He peeked open one eye before opening both fully and sending me a stern look. "I noticed."
The horribly green t-shirt with the infamous 'Superman can use his x-ray vision on me anytime!' text was openly mocking him as it hugged my upper body.
He smiled slightly, closed his eyes and wrapped an arm around my waist. "You horrible, horrible woman."
I giggled and his small smile grew bigger. Deciding that I'd gotten him to relax more now, I slipped off his chest, curling up into his side, his arm still around me.
When we woke up the next morning, both of my parents were already up and about. We settled around the small table in the kitchen and ate breakfast.
"How did you sleep?" My dad asked with fake casualty from behind his newspaper. A quick look at the date revealed that he'd brought yesterdays newspaper here.
"We slept well. That mattress is pretty noisy, though." I complained, noticing how he stopped chewing on his bagel for a second before he slipped his casual mask into place again.
My mother came over with a pot of freshly brewed coffee and sat next to my dad, pouring him a mug and she looked at the news paper over his shoulder.
She offered Clark and I coffee, Clark accepting and me declining.
"Oh, Georgia, honestly, I don't understand why you wear that horrible shirt!" My mother said, sounding slightly scandalized.
I looked down at the t-shirt I'd been sleeping it, its horrible green color and stupid text making me smile.
I sent Clark a small secret smirk and he hid his own smile by lowering his head quickly and taking a bite of toast.
"I like it, mom." I protested. "It's a gift from Diana."
My mom sighed and rolled her eyes in a 'what can you do' gesture.
After breakfast, Clark and I walked along the lake hand in hand. The sun was warm, and not a wind stirred the quiet of the wood.
"We should take the boat out on the lake." I suggested, studying a flock of birds passing over our heads.
"There's a boat here?" Clark asked. He stuffed his free hand into his pocket and looked at me.
I nodded, swinging our entwined hands back and forth. "It's more of a skiff really. It's in the tool shed behind the house."
Behind the small cabin we were living in, there was a tool shed. Compared to house, it was a pretty big shed, big enough to house the small two-person boat, along with a bunch of other things like shovels, saws, axes, and anything else you might need in a wood. Supposedly, the cabin had belonged to a lumber jack way back in the fifties, and after he died, a house renting company had bought it and started renting it out to small families looking for a quiet weekend.
We arrived at the tool shed, and Clark pushed the creaky old wooden door open. He wiped the cobwebs off of his hands on his jeans and looked at the boat.
"It's kind of falling apart." He pointed out.
I shrugged. "I know. But it's looked like that forever and I've used it a dozen times without any incidents. I think it can hold itself together one more time, don't you?"
He shrugged and walked inside the shed. "Only one way to find out, I guess." He said and started pulling the boat out. I smiled slightly. Another perk of having a superhero for a boyfriend was that he was never afraid to try something new. He wasn't afraid of adventurous things. I stayed outside, not particularly interested in entering the dirty and cobweb-infested shed.
"I'll go get the fishing rods." I offered and turned on my heel, marching back around the cabin.
Ten minutes later, I was back out with the two fishing rods, and a packed lunch, courtesy of my mom. Clark had somewhat cleaned the boat – at least the floor wasn't covered in leaves anymore, and the rest had been cleaned of cobwebs – and put it on the lake.
"Ah! She floats!" I cheered and Clark let out a small laugh.
"Yeah, just barely." He admitted. "But I think she'll hold."
I placed the lunch basket and fishing rods in the boat, looking our handy-work over with satisfaction.
"She should name her." I decided. "Every boat has a name, right? Well, this one doesn't have any name written, so we should name her."
Clark nodded. "How about Morgan?" He suggested.
I frowned. "Like Morgan Freeman?"
"No, like Captain Morgan."
"You're naming my boat after an alcoholic beverage? Also, Morgan is a boy's name. Boats are girls."
"Morgan is a unisex name."
I paused and narrowed my eyes at the boat. "Morgan it is then." My expression softened and I smiled happily, accepting Clark's hand as he helped me walk onto the boat and sit down in the front. "It suits her."
Clark placed himself in the back and grabbed the oar, taking us out with one powerful stroke. "Why are boats female anyway?" He questioned.
I shrugged, enjoying the slight breeze on my face as we floated further onto the lake. "I always figured it was because boats used to have all-male crews so they said their ships were female because they missed female company after several months at sea."
The sound of the oar hitting the water was a pleasant constant and I almost missed it when we reached the middle of the lake.
Without the cover of the trees, it was pretty warm and I braided my hair over my shoulder to get it away from my sweating neck and back.
We spent a couple of hours out there, fishing and talking about nothing in particular. We didn't catch anything, but neither of us seemed to care. Eventually, Clark simply put down his fishing rod and lied down himself, leaning his head against the back railing of the small boat. One of his legs was stretched out and the other was bent, so I leaned against the bent one, my feet dangling over the edge of the boat, dipping my feet in the pleasantly cool water.
"This is nice." I sighed, closing my eyes and leaning my head back, allowing the sun's rays to warm my face.
"Mhmm." Clark agreed. I looked over at him and found him practically asleep, his eyes closed and features relaxed.
I looked into the basket my mom hand made for us and gasped in joyful surprise. "I love my mom." I said.
Clark popped open on eyes and fixed it on me. "What did she do?"
I pulled out a glass flask filled with elderflower juice, and a small container with chocolate cake. "I swear, you have not lived until you've tried my mom's homemade elderflower juice and chocolate cake."
I offered him a piece and he agreed with me a few minutes later.
We went home soon after that, and helped my mom with dinner. That night the four of us sat around the small kitchen table and played poker and monopoly. Clark, the cheater, constantly won. Personally, I think he used his x-ray vision to see our cards.
The next morning we packed everything into the car and drove the long way back to New York, from where Clark and I went back to Metropolis. I thought the trip had gone pretty well and Clark wholeheartedly agreed, saying that he liked my parents very much and he could understand how I'd turned out so lovely (at which I flushed and hit him in the arm, telling him to shut up.)
Oh my gosh that ending is quite possibly the lamest I've ever done, but it's half past three in the morning and I'm exhausted but I really really wanted to get this out to you guys as soon as possible because I feel bad for having left you for three weeks.
And the chapter is totally lame too, but next chapter is gonna be wild, as is the one afterwards, so don't worry, I'll make it up to you. And since I'm so close to the ending, I think my updates will be more often too, so look forward to that.
(also, the sharp reader might notice the little easter-egg thingy in this chapter. It makes a stab at the name of my new OC from my Young Justice story ;))
