Clark walked into the barn to return the toolbox. He drew a breath as he
sighed and suddenly paused. The air smelled really different. Something had
disturbed the usual aroma of oil-ridden tools, hay, and the occasional barn
animal business. This smell was sweet, almost like…
"Hello?" Clark called out wondering if maybe a visitor was upstairs in the loft. He walked up the creaky steps into the loft but found nothing too out of the ordinary. Except for the fact that the telescope that had been pointing at the sky was now pointing out towards the field.
~ Strange. Didn't feel that windy when I was outside. ~
Clark walked over to the telescope and gently adjusted it back upwards. He caught the scent again and followed it towards the couch. The more he took in the more he knew who it reminded him of her.
~ To hell with this. ~
Clark got up and walked over to the farmhouse. He was going stir crazy. He didn't have a clue where he was going to go after he showered, as long is it was someplace that wouldn't bring him back to her.
Lana's room…
The one he shouldn't have been thinking about was sitting on her bed, feeling the last bit of anxiety-induced adrenaline leaving her body as she studied the note. The way he had meticulously written down the lyrics from the song, almost as if he was going to preserve it so he could read them over and over again. Then she looked down at his response, written so hastily and not even confined to the lines. She could almost feel Clark's pain conceding to the question, and answering it with such despair.
~ It must have killed him just a little bit. What kind of girl could have made him feel this way? Why didn't he say anything to her? ~
"Lana honey?" Nell's voice, muffled thorough the closed door, broke Lana out of her contemplative trance. Lana composed herself and got up to open the door. "Is anything wrong?"
Lana thought about the note. ~ Not about me at any rate. ~
"Nope, just went out for a jog," Lana responded cheerfully.
"Oh okay, well if you wouldn't mind a couple of people have called in sick to work and I could really use an extra hand tonight at the Talon."
"Uh sure, no problem," Lana accepted without much hesitation. This was too important to try and solve right away. She felt for Clark, but part of her was happy that she finally could help him with something rather than vice versa, which is what the situation had been more times than she could count this year.
The Beanery…
Clark walked into The Beanery after leaving Lex a message on his cell to find him there if he wasn't back at the house already. He was surprised to see Pete by himself in a booth in the corner. He walked over to say hello to his friend who was busy reading the sports section of the town paper.
"Still looking for your name on the football roster?" Clark joked to get Pete's attention.
"Don't let my calm posture fool you, I'm dying of laughter on the inside," Pete replied sarcastically but nonetheless happy to see his friend Clark.
"I couldn't help it, sorry. You meeting somebody tonight?" Clark asked looking around curiously.
"Yeah but she won't be around for another hour or so. Have a seat," Pete motioned for Clark to sit. "Sorry I missed you and Chloe today I was busy organizing said date for tonight."
"Didn't miss much. I don't think Chloe was in today."
"Must've been one of her mental health days. Got any plans for tonight?"
~ What's the best way to answer this? 'You know it Pete. I'm playing pool with the guy you almost Wyatt Earped in his own study.' Nah, that doesn't work. Man how retardedly awkward would it be if Lex walks in here. That'll get my mind off of you know… her. ~
"Nah, nothing really."
"You sure? That took you a while to answer," Pete asked skeptically as he squinted his eyes towards Clark. "You're not going to do LanaCam in your loft tonight are you?"
Clark looked downward at the table almost defeated. He knew Pete was only kidding, but the realization of how pathetic his behavior was before made the hairs on his neck stand on end. Fortunately only Pete and Chloe really knew about that. Pete was shocked that Clark took it so personally, that joke was pretty standard fare between the three of them.
"Clark I was just kidding," Pete said remorsefully.
~ I gotta let someone know about this. Chloe and Lex might knock me for one reason or another if I told them, but Pete will get it. Pete will understand. ~
"No it's just…well I've decided to let the Lana thing go. At least to try to let it go anyway," Clark said immediately looking more upbeat.
"Oh," Pete was clearly not ready for that answer as he raised his eyebrows in utter disbelief, "what brought that about?"
~ You mean besides the fact she finds me as sexually intriguing as an older brother? ~
"Well a lot of reasons. But you know most of them. Besides how bad would I look trying to steal her from Whitney while his Dad is in the hospital? It's time to…you know…move on," another wave of pain welled up in Clark's chest. Saying it in his mind hurt, saying it out loud hurt a bit more, saying it to someone else was really painful.
"Geez…Clark, are you sure about this? I mean how do you plan on doing that?"
"You know…try not to think about her as much, not go out of my way to talk to her, you know just stay out of her way I guess."
Pete paused as he fidgeted with his coffee cup. "This isn't like one of my flash in the pan crushes that come and go day to day or week to week. This is Lana Lang." Clark nodded as he listened. "I'm not going to go over why you think she's the only girl in the world, but that is my whole point."
~ Uh…you lost me. ~ Clark shot Pete a confused look.
"Name one girl in the past year that you've stared at, say in a single day, longer than Lana."
"Pssh, that's cake," Clark answered confidently as he leaned back in the booth and looked up at ceiling contemplating answers that he knew weren't going to come.
"My date is going to be here in less than an hour now," Pete remarked as he checked his watch, "think you might be able to pull at least one answer out of your ass before she gets here?"
"Funny, that's really…funny," Clark trailed off looking defeated again.
"Well my point is that as far as you're concerned, girls don't exist outside of your tunnel vision for Lana and that is not a feeling that just goes away on some whim."
Clark nodded in agreement. He knew Pete was right, today's struggle just to not look at her was testament to that fact. He knew a different plan would be needed to get over her. "So what should I do?"
"I'm not sure about that. But what you shouldn't do is cut her off completely. I mean that's penalizing her and she technically hasn't done anything wrong." Clark nodded in agreement again. "And don't try to stop thinking about her, your head will explode." Clark and Pete shared a light laugh and a short silence.
"Thanks Pete, I really appreciate the talk," Clark said as he got up from his seat.
"Anytime Clark. Wish me luck on my date?"
"I think I need it more than you tonight Pete, you've mentioned your date twice but never bothered to say her name. I don't suppose you actually know what it is?"
"Sure it's…uh…" Pete looked pensive as he rapped his fingers against the table.
"She's going to be here in less than an hour, think you can pull it out of your ass before then," Clark said as he shot Pete a sarcastic smile.
"Touché," Pete smiled back as Clark waved goodbye and exited The Beanery.
Clark walked down the Smallville Strip, the quaint center of town that any urban dweller would find to be almost a miniature version of home. The conversation with Pete helped immensely, and even though he was still uncertain as to what to do about his feelings for Lana, Clark knew that isolating himself from her was probably not the way to go about it. As he approached The Talon that sixth sense that told him Lana was around began to well up in his stomach.
~ Pete told me it was okay, so I have permission to stare if I want, well not stare but…whatever. ~
Clark looked in to The Talon from the outside window. The place looked pretty vacant for a Friday, but it was still pretty early, with the sun barely escaping over the horizon. He looked around the main table area and followed it towards the bar. His heart leapt as he took sight of her for the first time in what seemed like ages. It was the same feeling he's always had when she came into view, made a little more intense by all of today's suspense. She was at the bar with her back turned towards Clark reading something he couldn't identify immediately.
She turned slightly in her barstool, not enough to see Clark standing on the opposite side of the window, but just enough for Clark to see what literary masterpiece had her attention at that moment. Clark zoomed in with his heightened vision to see a crumpled piece of paper. A feeling of impending dread began to creep up his spine as he read one little line from it.
Or am I just wasting my time?
~ How the hell did she get that? ~
Just then Clark remembered walking back into the barn after he mended the fence. The telescope being out of place, the scent he caught that he swore belonged to her.
~ Was she was in the loft while I was fixing the fence? I thought I was just crazy when I thought I smelled her… ~
Clark snapped out of his moment of contemplation to see Lana still sitting at the bar only facing him this time, with a full on stare at Clark. The brief relief Clark had felt turned into limitless embarrassment. Lana felt her note bearing hand tremble as her attempt at researching her friend's problem looked more like a gross invasion of privacy given Clark's expression. Everything went silent for a moment as they just looked at each other, both realizing the same thought…
~ I am so busted. ~
Clark stepped away from the window, not breaking eye contact with Lana until he turned to run down the street. He had to restrain himself from breaking out the super speed that could have bailed him out of this awkward situation much sooner, but there was too many people around, a rare occurrence in the town of Smallville. Lana jumped from her seat from behind the bar, taking care to place the paper in her pocket before she pursued Clark. Even without the super speed he had managed to get gone from Lana's eyesight as she walked out of The Talon looking for him. Frustrated she looked down the street in the direction Clark retreated, folded her arms, and walked back inside The Talon.
"Hello?" Clark called out wondering if maybe a visitor was upstairs in the loft. He walked up the creaky steps into the loft but found nothing too out of the ordinary. Except for the fact that the telescope that had been pointing at the sky was now pointing out towards the field.
~ Strange. Didn't feel that windy when I was outside. ~
Clark walked over to the telescope and gently adjusted it back upwards. He caught the scent again and followed it towards the couch. The more he took in the more he knew who it reminded him of her.
~ To hell with this. ~
Clark got up and walked over to the farmhouse. He was going stir crazy. He didn't have a clue where he was going to go after he showered, as long is it was someplace that wouldn't bring him back to her.
Lana's room…
The one he shouldn't have been thinking about was sitting on her bed, feeling the last bit of anxiety-induced adrenaline leaving her body as she studied the note. The way he had meticulously written down the lyrics from the song, almost as if he was going to preserve it so he could read them over and over again. Then she looked down at his response, written so hastily and not even confined to the lines. She could almost feel Clark's pain conceding to the question, and answering it with such despair.
~ It must have killed him just a little bit. What kind of girl could have made him feel this way? Why didn't he say anything to her? ~
"Lana honey?" Nell's voice, muffled thorough the closed door, broke Lana out of her contemplative trance. Lana composed herself and got up to open the door. "Is anything wrong?"
Lana thought about the note. ~ Not about me at any rate. ~
"Nope, just went out for a jog," Lana responded cheerfully.
"Oh okay, well if you wouldn't mind a couple of people have called in sick to work and I could really use an extra hand tonight at the Talon."
"Uh sure, no problem," Lana accepted without much hesitation. This was too important to try and solve right away. She felt for Clark, but part of her was happy that she finally could help him with something rather than vice versa, which is what the situation had been more times than she could count this year.
The Beanery…
Clark walked into The Beanery after leaving Lex a message on his cell to find him there if he wasn't back at the house already. He was surprised to see Pete by himself in a booth in the corner. He walked over to say hello to his friend who was busy reading the sports section of the town paper.
"Still looking for your name on the football roster?" Clark joked to get Pete's attention.
"Don't let my calm posture fool you, I'm dying of laughter on the inside," Pete replied sarcastically but nonetheless happy to see his friend Clark.
"I couldn't help it, sorry. You meeting somebody tonight?" Clark asked looking around curiously.
"Yeah but she won't be around for another hour or so. Have a seat," Pete motioned for Clark to sit. "Sorry I missed you and Chloe today I was busy organizing said date for tonight."
"Didn't miss much. I don't think Chloe was in today."
"Must've been one of her mental health days. Got any plans for tonight?"
~ What's the best way to answer this? 'You know it Pete. I'm playing pool with the guy you almost Wyatt Earped in his own study.' Nah, that doesn't work. Man how retardedly awkward would it be if Lex walks in here. That'll get my mind off of you know… her. ~
"Nah, nothing really."
"You sure? That took you a while to answer," Pete asked skeptically as he squinted his eyes towards Clark. "You're not going to do LanaCam in your loft tonight are you?"
Clark looked downward at the table almost defeated. He knew Pete was only kidding, but the realization of how pathetic his behavior was before made the hairs on his neck stand on end. Fortunately only Pete and Chloe really knew about that. Pete was shocked that Clark took it so personally, that joke was pretty standard fare between the three of them.
"Clark I was just kidding," Pete said remorsefully.
~ I gotta let someone know about this. Chloe and Lex might knock me for one reason or another if I told them, but Pete will get it. Pete will understand. ~
"No it's just…well I've decided to let the Lana thing go. At least to try to let it go anyway," Clark said immediately looking more upbeat.
"Oh," Pete was clearly not ready for that answer as he raised his eyebrows in utter disbelief, "what brought that about?"
~ You mean besides the fact she finds me as sexually intriguing as an older brother? ~
"Well a lot of reasons. But you know most of them. Besides how bad would I look trying to steal her from Whitney while his Dad is in the hospital? It's time to…you know…move on," another wave of pain welled up in Clark's chest. Saying it in his mind hurt, saying it out loud hurt a bit more, saying it to someone else was really painful.
"Geez…Clark, are you sure about this? I mean how do you plan on doing that?"
"You know…try not to think about her as much, not go out of my way to talk to her, you know just stay out of her way I guess."
Pete paused as he fidgeted with his coffee cup. "This isn't like one of my flash in the pan crushes that come and go day to day or week to week. This is Lana Lang." Clark nodded as he listened. "I'm not going to go over why you think she's the only girl in the world, but that is my whole point."
~ Uh…you lost me. ~ Clark shot Pete a confused look.
"Name one girl in the past year that you've stared at, say in a single day, longer than Lana."
"Pssh, that's cake," Clark answered confidently as he leaned back in the booth and looked up at ceiling contemplating answers that he knew weren't going to come.
"My date is going to be here in less than an hour now," Pete remarked as he checked his watch, "think you might be able to pull at least one answer out of your ass before she gets here?"
"Funny, that's really…funny," Clark trailed off looking defeated again.
"Well my point is that as far as you're concerned, girls don't exist outside of your tunnel vision for Lana and that is not a feeling that just goes away on some whim."
Clark nodded in agreement. He knew Pete was right, today's struggle just to not look at her was testament to that fact. He knew a different plan would be needed to get over her. "So what should I do?"
"I'm not sure about that. But what you shouldn't do is cut her off completely. I mean that's penalizing her and she technically hasn't done anything wrong." Clark nodded in agreement again. "And don't try to stop thinking about her, your head will explode." Clark and Pete shared a light laugh and a short silence.
"Thanks Pete, I really appreciate the talk," Clark said as he got up from his seat.
"Anytime Clark. Wish me luck on my date?"
"I think I need it more than you tonight Pete, you've mentioned your date twice but never bothered to say her name. I don't suppose you actually know what it is?"
"Sure it's…uh…" Pete looked pensive as he rapped his fingers against the table.
"She's going to be here in less than an hour, think you can pull it out of your ass before then," Clark said as he shot Pete a sarcastic smile.
"Touché," Pete smiled back as Clark waved goodbye and exited The Beanery.
Clark walked down the Smallville Strip, the quaint center of town that any urban dweller would find to be almost a miniature version of home. The conversation with Pete helped immensely, and even though he was still uncertain as to what to do about his feelings for Lana, Clark knew that isolating himself from her was probably not the way to go about it. As he approached The Talon that sixth sense that told him Lana was around began to well up in his stomach.
~ Pete told me it was okay, so I have permission to stare if I want, well not stare but…whatever. ~
Clark looked in to The Talon from the outside window. The place looked pretty vacant for a Friday, but it was still pretty early, with the sun barely escaping over the horizon. He looked around the main table area and followed it towards the bar. His heart leapt as he took sight of her for the first time in what seemed like ages. It was the same feeling he's always had when she came into view, made a little more intense by all of today's suspense. She was at the bar with her back turned towards Clark reading something he couldn't identify immediately.
She turned slightly in her barstool, not enough to see Clark standing on the opposite side of the window, but just enough for Clark to see what literary masterpiece had her attention at that moment. Clark zoomed in with his heightened vision to see a crumpled piece of paper. A feeling of impending dread began to creep up his spine as he read one little line from it.
Or am I just wasting my time?
~ How the hell did she get that? ~
Just then Clark remembered walking back into the barn after he mended the fence. The telescope being out of place, the scent he caught that he swore belonged to her.
~ Was she was in the loft while I was fixing the fence? I thought I was just crazy when I thought I smelled her… ~
Clark snapped out of his moment of contemplation to see Lana still sitting at the bar only facing him this time, with a full on stare at Clark. The brief relief Clark had felt turned into limitless embarrassment. Lana felt her note bearing hand tremble as her attempt at researching her friend's problem looked more like a gross invasion of privacy given Clark's expression. Everything went silent for a moment as they just looked at each other, both realizing the same thought…
~ I am so busted. ~
Clark stepped away from the window, not breaking eye contact with Lana until he turned to run down the street. He had to restrain himself from breaking out the super speed that could have bailed him out of this awkward situation much sooner, but there was too many people around, a rare occurrence in the town of Smallville. Lana jumped from her seat from behind the bar, taking care to place the paper in her pocket before she pursued Clark. Even without the super speed he had managed to get gone from Lana's eyesight as she walked out of The Talon looking for him. Frustrated she looked down the street in the direction Clark retreated, folded her arms, and walked back inside The Talon.