This episode literally had nowhere I could squeeze in Emmeline since it mainly focused on Jor-El and Jonathon, and then Lex, Lionel, and Clark. Seeing as Emmeline does not fit into either of those categories (as she doesn't know enough to give any input), this chapter is basically filler. But it's good filler :)


Emmeline was exhausted. She had had to be in court a lot in the past couple of weeks, and it was beginning to take a toll on her body. After all, the more time she spent in court, the later she had to stay up to make sure her homework got done.

"Geez, Em," Chloe said when she walked into the Torch office. "You look like you got hit by a truck."

"I feel like I got hit by a truck," the girl groaned. "I was up until 1:30 last night getting my homework done."

"Stuck in court again?"

"Yep."

"That totally sucks."

"Yep."

"How about you stop by this weekend, and we'll have a movie night? Just to get your mind off things."

"That sounds perfect. I'd love it."

"Pete was looking for you earlier, by the way. He said he had something to give you."

"Like what?"

"Beats me. Can you go put that stack of papers in the stands?"

"Yeah, sure."

Emmeline grabbed a stack of the latest issue and exited the office to fulfill Chloe's wishes. She turned around after filling the last one up and bumped right into Clark.

"Oh, sorry!" she exclaimed.

"It's fine."

"…Are you okay?"

Clark hesitated for a moment before looking up at her. "I can tell you anything, right?"

"Of course."

"And you swear it stays between us?"

"Yeah. What's going on?"

Clark sighed heavily and they both started moving back in the direction of the office. "It's just everything with my dad…and Lana…it's a lot to handle."

"Is your dad okay?"

"Yeah, physically. Emotionally…not so much."

"Let me guess. He's beginning to evaluate all of the things he did in his life and wishes that he did some things differently."

"Yeah, how'd you know that?"

"My dad went through the exact same thing when he shattered his bone at his workplace and had to go through months of therapy. And my mom doesn't talk about it, but I know she went through it too when she got cancer."

"How did they deal with it?"

"When it was my dad, my mom and I constantly reassured him that we were there for him and that even though he may have made mistakes, every action he did brought him to where he was with us. And no matter what happened, we would always love him. With my mom, it was different. She fought a constant battle in her own mind all by herself. But I know that it helped just for me to sit with her some days and let her know that even though she was bald and sick, I loved her more than anything."

"It's a bit more complicated in my family."

"The main thing your dad needs is to know that his life was important even if all he did was take care of you. Because without him, you wouldn't be the person standing in front of me right now. And he needs to know that you love him despite any and every fault."

"What if he doesn't respond to that?"

"He may not at first. It took my dad a while for him to really perk up again. But it will happen."

"Thanks."

"Of course. Now, didn't you also say that something was going on with Lana? You don't have to tell me anything you're not comfortable sharing."

Clark sighed again. "I kissed her."

Emmeline raised her eyebrows. "Oh."

"And…she pulled away."

"I'm sorry. Do you mind me asking why?"

"It's my fault."

"Clark—"

"No, Em, it is. I have pushed her away and I have pulled back too many times. And now, she can't go through that again. I really don't blame her, but that doesn't mean I like it."

"I can see where she's coming from. Sometimes, girls tend to prevent something that may not even happen. We think the best solution is to just never get involved and then nothing bad will happen. In her case, she's afraid history will repeat itself. So you need to show her that that's not true."

"How?"

"I don't know. But I can tell you that it isn't something that's just going to happen overnight. She needs to be able to fully trust you again. Trusting someone at first is easy. Earning back trust is hard. But it's not impossible."

"I just…really love her. And I do want to be with her."

"I believe you. And I think she does too. But like I said, you need to earn her trust back before anything can happen between you two. I know that's probably not what you want to hear, but it's the truth."

Clark sighed heavily, knowing full well Emmeline made a really good point, not to mention no one had a better perspective about this kind of thing than she did.

"If you ever need to talk more, I'm here for you. Things will get better, Clark. I promise."

"Yeah. I know this is all probably the last thing you want to hear with the custody case going on."

"Hey, don't worry about that. I'm always willing to listen."

"Why?"

Emmeline was a bit taken aback at the bluntness of the question. "I don't know. I guess I just spent so long with everything bottled up inside because I couldn't talk to anyone that I don't want any of my friends to feel that way. I want them to always have someone to open up to. Because I know what it's like to not have that."

"I gotta go."

"Okay. I'll see you later."

As Emmeline watched him leave, she let out a small breath. Not once had Clark smiled even a little during that whole conversation and that was not something she was used to. Clark always smiled at least once during their serious talks. He must be really upset about everything, not that she blamed him one bit.

"Em!"

Emmeline turned around to find Pete walked up to her. "Hi, Pete!"

He came up to her and gave her a quick peck on the lips. "I've been looking everywhere for you."

"So I heard."

"How have you been?"

She groaned lightly. "This whole custody battle has been making me want to jump off a cliff."

Pete smiled. "Well, I've got the perfect thing for you."

"I've got to get back to the Torch."

"Relax, I already told Chloe I'm kidnapping you for a few hours."

"For what?"

"You'll see."

Pete led her outside the school to his car. He opened the door for her, like a true gentleman, and then held up a black piece of fabric.

"You have to put this on," he said with a smile.

"How come?"

"It's a surprise!"

Emmeline smiled as she turned around and allowed Pete to tie the blindfold around her eyes. The car ride wasn't terribly long, but it was long enough as Emmeline got increasingly antsy.

"Where are you taking me?" she asked.

"Patience, my girl."

Finally, the car stopped. She heard Pete get out and then her door opened. She took his hand as he helped her out of the car.

"Okay, just let me guide you."

"Alright."

After a moment, she could feel grass under her shoes. She was certainly curious as to what he had up his sleeve.

"Okay," Pete said as they stopped walking. "We're here."

He took off the blindfold, and Emmeline gasped quietly as she put her hand to her mouth. Pete had set up a small little picnic spot for them to have lunch. He had made all of her favorite foods and even had a small music player to play some of her favorite songs.

"Oh, Pete," she said quietly. "This is…amazing."

"I thought you deserved it with everything going on."

"You are the best boyfriend ever."

She gave him a lingering kiss, increasingly thankful that she was lucky enough to date someone like him.

"That's a pretty nice way to say 'thank you'," Pete smiled once they parted. "Come on, let's eat."

The two of them sat down and Emmeline forgot all about Hannah and the court case.