That day after an argument

Bruce looked at his phone screen for the umpteenth time. No calls. No messages. Nothing. He should have held it. He should have said something to Clark before he slammed the door. He should have stopped him from getting out. But as a rule, when they argued, Clark would go out and come back and sleep on the couch in the living room. He'd always come back.

Except yesterday. And the day before that. Clark had given no sign of life. Bruce had called him, sent him messages, even though he hated to do that. Clark continued to ignore his messages. Bruce was almost tempted to visit him at work, but he had noticed that Clark was staying at the Daily Planet very little.

He noticed this because he had geolocated his phone. He only did this to find out what Clark had done. Obviously, he was still working as usual. But he wasn't sleeping at their house. He didn't come home at night. He turned his phone off every time he finished work.

Bruce thought back to their argument and suspected Clark was doing this on purpose. He was doing exactly what he was accusing him of doing: ignoring him, not going home and not telling him what he was doing. It was unbearable. This time he understood what Clark was going through because of him and he bitterly regretted it. He wanted to make him understand it. But he continued to ignore it. It frustrated him even more.

He wanted to pick up the pieces, but he had no idea how he was going to do it. That kind of thing wasn't really his thing. He wasn't very good at it, and... and now he knew he had to improve. He had to be more present for Clark, take better care of him, avoid making him feel like he was only there for the decorating and the maintenance of the house. Clark was everything to him. He was his best friend, his confidant, the love of his life and the man he had married.

He dialed his number again, relieved to hear it ring. And it rang both in the phone and behind the door. He raised his head to watch the door of his house open. Clark went in, put down his bag without saying anything and closed the door behind him.

"Hi. "

Clark didn't turn around to answer him.

"Hi. "

Bruce didn't know how to break the ice. It was easier to speak through a phone than in front of him. Now he was caught off guard. Clark passed in front of him to get his things together. He came back down a few minutes later, undressed and tense. Bruce took a deep breath to come to him.

"Look... I'm sorry, I didn't realize that... "

Clark raised one hand to stop him. He moved closer to him but stayed away.

"I've had a bad day, Bruce. I just want to have a quiet evening. "

Clark's voice trembled with emotion. Something had happened. Something must have happened. Clark... would he have cheated on him? Did he get fired? He imagined hundreds of possible scenarios. Taking it upon himself, Bruce asked in a neutral voice:

"Do you want to talk about it? "

Clark went to their wine cellar and took out a bottle and two glasses. He served them, slipped a glass over to Bruce and took a few sips from his. He nervously ran a hand through his hair before looking at him.

"I'm working on a delicate case with Lois. At last, we were working on a delicate case. I don't know if you understood what it was about. "

Bruce is thinking. He felt sorry that he didn't immediately visualize what he was talking about.

"Your story about crooked cops? "

Clark nodded his head and scored again before resuming. Bruce could see the anger in his eyes.

"At some Stups' guys. My informant, Chilo, was helping us turn them in. I know it's more the cops' job to get involved, but it's been dragging on for quite a while, so... I thought I was doing the right thing by stepping in. For two days we had been hiding out every night to catch a cop in the act at a delivery point. "

Clark took a break and Bruce waited for the rest. Clark ran his hand through his hair again and took a deep breath.

"I found him hanging this afternoon at his house. He was a good guy. "

His anger was palpable. Bruce walked up to him. He knew how to handle Clark in this kind of situation. It was something he knew a lot better. He walked up to him and touched his shoulder. Since Clark wasn't pushing him away, he pulled him up against him and stroked his neck. He hugged him back.

"I love you, B. "

Bruce hugged him tightly.

"I love you, Kal. I'll try to pay more attention to you from now on. I promise you that I will. "

With his head wedged in his neck, he felt him nod his head. Then after a moment of silence where Clark calmed down, he straightened his head, displaying a slight smile.

"I'm still glad you could understand. "

Bruce kissed him on the temple. Clark was the most precious thing in the world to him. He wouldn't let him go. Not now, not in the evening, not for the rest of his life.