Kelly's jaw dropped, as did Lana's.
"Well, let's start with I hope to hell that isn't how you plan on asking her," stated Quinn.
"Of course not. I just want your opinion." Lex replied.
Davis and Quinn shared a look.
"Needless to say Luthor," Quinn started.
"You break her heart again, we'll find you and we'll hurt you," Davis finished.
Lex nodded, "I expect nothing less."
He then looked over at Lana.
"I think I'm still having a little trouble processing," Lana admitted.
"You and me both," said Kelly.
"Uh, Kell. By the way, we got you something," Davis told her.
Quinn slid a small box over to her. Kelly opened it and pulled out a chain with a medallion similar to the one she gave to Lex, this one a St. Anthony.
"St. Anthony?" she questioned.
"Patron saint of lost things," Quinn supplied.
"We figure that if you get lost, maybe this can help you find your way back," Davis told her.
She gave a watery smile, "Thanks you guys."
"And if guys want to get married or whatever, you know we got your back."
She thanked them again and looked over at Lex, who smiled and winked.
They stayed and talked for another hour or two before deciding it was time to turn in. Kelly made sure that Lana got a cab home while the boys finished saying their goodbyes. Once it was Kelly and Lex, he held her hand and walked with her back to his car.
"Do you remember that ranch in Montana you were telling me about? The one you used to go to with your mom?" she asked him.
"Yeah. What about it?" he answered.
"Do you think you'd ever want to live somewhere like that?"
"A ranch in Montana?"
"No. A ranch anywhere. Here."
"As long as you're there I don't really care where home is."
"I love you."
She pulled him down for a kiss.
"I love you too," he told her.
The next afternoon, Kelly was packing up her stuff, getting ready to head out, when there was a loud pounding on her door. She undid the latch and opened it, Lana pushing her way in.
"You lied to me!" Lana accused her sister.
"What are you talking about? Lied about what?" Kelly questioned.
"When I showed you that photo yesterday, you said you didn't know anything about it. Then I asked you if you were hiding something and you said no. You lied to me. You lied."
"I thought I told you to drop that."
"Were you ever going to tell me that mom and dad split up?"
"It was a long time ago, Lana. Ok? I never saw any good from telling you any of this."
"That isn't your choice to make! I have every right to know!"
Kelly nodded slowly, "Fine. You want to know the truth so bad?"
Lana crossed her arms over her chest.
"I had to watch our mother pack her bags and walk out after months of screaming matches between them. I barely saw her, then one day she comes back pregnant with you. The man in that photo? He didn't want anything to do with her or you. He walked out. That's the truth. No fairytale, no perfect relationship."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because it never mattered! You've always been my baby sister and you're always going to be."
"I'm not a little kid anymore!"
"Then grow up and act like it!"
"You know what, I am so glad you're leaving."
"Lana-"
"No. I hate you. And honestly, I couldn't care less if you come back at all."
She turned and stormed out of the room, Kelly chasing after her and shouting for her to return to the room.
"Lang! Let's go!" shouted her SFC.
Kelly let out a frustrated sigh before turning around and going back to her hotel room. As much as she wanted to continue after Lana and fix things, she couldn't disobey orders. She hated leaving in such an awful fight, but it seemed that she'd have to write and hope Lana would calm down or wait until her return.
Several weeks later, Lana and Chloe were at the Talon working on a project together. Chloe had noticed that the brunette seemed off but hadn't found the right time or way to approach it.
"Hey, uh, Lana. Is everything ok?" she slowly asked.
"What do you mean?" Lana replied, not looking up from her textbook.
"Well, you haven't really seemed like yourself lately. Ever since your sister was here."
"It's nothing."
"Ok. But if it is something, you can talk to me if you want to."
Lana smiled softly, "Thanks, Chloe. Uh, it's just a lot. Whitney, Nell, Kelly." Lana's smile fell, "We, uh, we had a huge fight before she left."
"Yikes. How bad?"
"Really bad. I said some terrible things to her."
"Have you two talked since she left?"
Lana shook her head.
"I'm sure she's not mad at you. She loves you."
"I just wish that wasn't how we left things, you know?"
Chloe patted her friend's hand, "It'll be ok."
Lana hoped she was right. As mad as she was, she wanted everything to be ok.
XX
Several months after her departure, Kelly sat in the back of the Humvee with her crew on their way back to base camp. They were at the lead, two other vehicles behind them. Everything seemed normal, Kelly was thinking about Lana again, hoping she'd return one of her letters. One of the guys was in the middle of a joke when suddenly everything in Kelly's vision turned bright as if there was a light shining in her face. She couldn't think straight. She faintly heard screaming around her and gunfire but it didn't sound real. The only thing she could focus on was the burning of her clothes and the panic swelling in her chest.
She never saw the gunman.
She never heard the cock of the gun behind her.
The last thing she felt was the white-hot pain in her head before everything went dark.
A/N: Ope... this is not the end. Lex and Kelly's story has only just begun.