**Author's note: Sorry for the delay. I was both busy with the holidays and school, plus I was blocked. I still am a little.
Also, someone posted an obscene review for my last chapter, indicating that they did not like my latest addition to the story. I don't mind receiving both positive and negative reviews, but people should at least be considerate enough to A) tell me what they specifically don't like about my story, and B) sign in so that I know who left the review.
To who ever left that review, please have respect for me and the people who read my story. Please do not submit another review of that nature again.
The autumn breeze shifted the air to the west and stirred the grass of the pastures. As Clark descended the porch steps, he shielded his eyes from the brightness of the morning sun. It was looking to be a beautiful day, but Clark was unable to appreciate it. He stood on the last step for a moment and breathed in the atmosphere around him, appearing to reflect a calm that heavily contradicted his inner turmoil.
He had finished a few odd chores around the farm earlier to burn the excess energy that would not let him sleep the night before, and still he was as restless and as agitated as he was before he started them. Now he had to leave. He'd go to Pete's house, tell him about what happened to Chloe. He thought that Pete deserved to know what was going on. Besides, Clark needed someone to talk to. He didn't know what he would do if he had to keep all of this pinned up inside him.
The fastest way to get from point A to point B is not only a straight line, but also with super speed. A ride in the truck while obeying the speed limit was not what he needed right now. Clark dropped his hand from his brow as he saw Lana walking toward him. Her timing couldn't have been worse. Then again it could have been. Had he not seen her, she would have seen him go from standing still to a moving blur.
"Hi, Clark." She had her hands in the pockets of her pink jacket. The wind sent her raven locks whipping about her face.
Clark silently cursed her timing in his head. He didn't even try to fake a smile, just looked down at her. "Lana, hey. What are you doing here?"
Lana tucked the stray strands of hair that escaped her ponytail behind her ear. She regarded Clark with care as she could see he wasn't in the best of moods right now. "Well, I didn't get much sleep last night, so I got up early. I took a walk and this is where I ended up." She exhaled and lowered her head to stare at the dirt for a second before continuing. "I want to talk to you about... where we stand with each other. I know you're with Chloe now, but..." But what? "It's just that sometimes I don't feel like we're real friends Clark. You know what I mean?"
Clark had to make an effort not to roll his eyes or show any other signs of irritation. It wasn't that he didn't care about Lana's feelings, it was just... he didn't care at the moment. Her perplexity was obvious. She looked into his eyes and he saw that a certain sadness shaded them. What was that all about, he asked himself.
His gaze went beyond Lana as he tried to think of the fastest way to get rid of her. Get rid of her? What was she, some kind of pest? At the time, yes. "Lana..." He met her gaze once again and that was the error he shouldn't have made. This was harder than he thought it would be. Her eyes were so full of sorrow, she looked to be on the brink of tears. His heart did ache mildly for her, but this *really* was not a good time. "I'm on my way to Pete's right now. Is there any chance this can wait?"
She wanted to say yes because it seemed that Clark had a problem of his own. Lana wondered if he and Chloe were having trouble. A small twinge of hope made a dim light inside the darkness of her distraught heart. Her timing could be absolutely perfect. "No, this can't wait. Both you and Chloe have been avoiding me like the plague this past week with good reason, I know. I have to be honest with you, Clark." It's now or never, right? "It bothers me to see the two of you together. I should be happy for you but I..."
"You're jealous." The words came out as a semi-question. He didn't mean to make her uncomfortable, but he succeeded at that nonetheless. "I'm sorry, Lana."
She shrugged, a little surprised at what he said. "No, you're right. I am jealous. I should just say it outright instead of dancing around the word." Jealous, a particularly ugly word, and an equally ugly feeling. "I have no idea what talking to you is going to do about that." She smiled weakly. "I just want a decent night's sleep."
Clark could empathize with her on that one, but didn't say anything. He didn't want to just leave her though. "Why don't you come over with me to Pete's." He offered out of politeness, not really expecting her to accept the invitation.
Lana perked up a bit. "Why not?" She could be misinterpreting Clark's gesture, but she'd chance it anyway. Right now, she just wanted to be near him, even if the company they shared was strictly platonic. "I haven't got anything better to do." Which was the truth. When she told Nell that morning she wasn't feeling up to dealing today, Nell gladly offered to hold down the Talon for the day. Lana had been relieved at that.
Clark strained against the urge to press his brows together. "All right then." Damn. Now he had to go back inside and get the keys to the truck.
***
An awkward silence was all that could be heard on the way to Pete's house. The few times Clark glanced over at Lana, all he could see was the back of her head as she stared out the passenger side window. What she was staring at, he didn't know. It was pretty much the same Smallville today, yesterday, and tomorrow.
Pete had already been dressed and eating breakfast by the time Clark and Lana arrived. He politely offered them some of the blueberry pancakes, eggs, and bacon his mother had prepared. Both declined with nothing more than a shake of their head, even after he reminded them that his mother made the best blueberry pancakes this side of the Mississippi.
After finishing his breakfast, Pete lead his guests to front porch. "Where's Chloe?" he asked as they sat on the steps. "It seems like you two have been joined at the hip lately. Joined at the lips is probably a more accurate assessment."
Lana glanced at Clark, who glanced at Pete, who glanced at the drive way before Clark could say anything. Chloe's red car pulled up behind the truck.
"Speak of the devil," Pete said.
You have no idea, Clark thought to himself. His heart skipped a beat as he watched Lily near the steps. He could see Chloe's eyes again, the gray ones he had spent so much time starring into the past few days. Clark kept his hands clasped tightly, his elbows resting on his knees. He wished with all his might that he could banish this harlot back to wherever the hell she came from right now. He stared at her with a loathing he couldn't help but to project.
Lily curved her painted lips into a smile. "Hello everyone." Pete was the only one who responded to the greeting. "Well at least somebody is happy to see me. Funny how it isn't my own boyfriend." Hands resting on hips, Lily stared at Clark.
"There's nothing funny about it." The ice in his voice had the other two pairs of eyes focused on him. Knowing that he was probably dangerously close to scaring Pete and Lana, Clark relaxed his shoulders and forced a smile at Lily. "Of course I'm happy to see you." Although his heart felt like a large boulder weighing down his torso, Clark stood and planted a chaste kiss on Lily's lips. He intended to pull away quickly, but Lily slid her hand behind his neck and pulled him back to her. She forced his lips open and kissed him deeply. His pulse leapt when she lightly bit his bottom lip to tease him.
Clark's eyes remained open. He wanted to push her away, distance himself from the torment of seeing Chloe, but not seeing her. He drew in a deep breath after she released him and closed his eyes, fearing the daggers he had for her would provoke suspicion from Lana and Pete.
Lana felt the rip in her heart expand just a little more at the sight of Chloe kissing Clark with such passion. Her envy melted into tears which burned her eyes as she tried to hold them back. She decided it was a bad idea to tag along with some else's boyfriend in hopes of stealing him. Now she had a bleeding heart, and would soon have the tears to reflect it.
Pete stared in wonder long after his best friends parted lips. With a kiss like that, his usual response of 'get a room' would seem like the wrong thing to say to them. They just might get the idea to make use of that room. "Clark, I thought you said you weren't hungry? Looks like you tried to swallow Chloe's tongue just now."
"Shut up, Pete," Clark said as he opened his eyes to look at Lily. He reached out and grabbed her hand, held it in his. The touch of her cold skin sent chills through out him and he wanted to release her hand. He did nothing of the sort, just pulled her down with him as he sat back on the step.
As they sat down, Lana stood up. "I need some air." She stepped down, nearly brushing Chloe's shoulder as she hurried to get away.
Lily squeezed Clark's hand. "What kind of air is she looking for? We're already outside."
"The kind of air that isn't between you and me." Clark watched Lana storm away down the sidewalk. Damn it, he was looking for that air too.
"Someone should go after her." Pete made up his mind not to shut up any longer. The distance between Lana and the house became greater, and yet no one moved. "Clark?"
All Clark did was sit and breath. He had already had his fill of the drama queen today.
When Lana disappeared around the corner, Lily pulled herself up, holding fast to Clark's hand. "Come on, lets go." She tugged at Clark, but couldn't get him to budge. "On your feet, farmboy. A damsel is in distress."
Every muscle in his body protested the movement, but Clark got up. He let Lily drag him around the block to catch up with Lana.
"Lana, hey!" Lily lengthened her stride. She wouldn't run though, breaking a sweat was not an option.
They caught up to Lana as she started to round the next corner. "Lana stop! Just wait a minute!" If Lana took one more step, Lily was going to can the idea of trying to help her. She was already half out of breath, and if love making wasn't the cause of her breath escaping her, then she had the tendency to be pissed.
Lana halted and turned around. Her cheeks were soaked with salty tears that still continued to course down. Great. The two of them right back in her face so soon after she left them, and still hand in hand. She began to turn around and walk away.
"No! Don't walk away." Lily let go of Clark's hand and pulled Lana's sleeve to hinder her movement. "Just hear me out." She asked Lana to here *her* out since Clark did nothing but allow himself to be dragged around. He stood now like an animated corpse at her side.
"Listen sweets, whatever you're feeling inside right now isn't going to last forever. Don't waste your time pining for a guy you can't have."
Lana sniffed and gazed at Chloe in puzzlement.
"You should get on with your life. You know, be young, have fun. Do all of that. But get your own farmboy." She tugged Clark's arm possessively. "This one is taken."
Clark took back his arm as Lily's words filtered past his thoughts. "Li--, I mean Chloe! What are you doing?"
Lily ignored him and continued. "If you don't want take that advice, then fine. At least put up a fight for him if you want him that bad. Do anything thing other than crying until you make yourself sick to the stomach." Lily scowled at Lana, who was still crying. "Now you're making *me* sick to my stomach. You know, there are less pathetic ways to deal with heartache."
Clark's eyes had grown wide with shock by the time Lily finished. He didn't know what to say.
Lana wiped at her tears and spoke with a voice that was jerky from her sobs. "Why are you being such a bitch, Chloe?" Her eyes were puffy and her cheeks felt tight from the dried tears overlapped by the fresh ones.
Lily shrugged. "You call it being a bitch, I call it being sensible."
Clark raised his voice to cut Lily off. "Chloe, stop it!" He stepped between the two girls and extended an arm to keep Lily at bay. "Just back off, all right?"
Lily tilted her head and looked at Lana, then back to Clark before she relented. "OK."
Clark stepped closer to Lana. "I'm sorry, Lana." This was bad. He hated to see Lana in this condition, and Lily was to blame for it. She was doing and saying things that Chloe would never. It was fine as long as it stopped with him, but now she was hurting his friends. Clark had planned on telling Pete everything so they could try and devise some sort of plan to get Chloe back. That wasn't going to happen, at least not as soon as Clark wanted it to.
He extended an arm to pull Lana closer, he wanted to at least try to comfort her. She held up a hand to stop him. She didn't look at him, just kept her head down as she attempted to stop crying. Wiping at the tears wasn't enough, she also had to check her emotions.
She sniffed one more time. Gathering her composure proved to be a difficult task. After a few moments, she lifted her head to look at Clark and Chloe. "No, don't touch me. It's nothing personal, I just don't want..." Lana let her sentence trail off as she exhaled. "Just don't."
Clark nodded and dropped his arm. He regarded Lana. "We should head back to Pete's place. I'll drive you home." He waited for Lana to pass him, then he followed behind her, but not too closely. It wasn't polite to crowd. He wanted to tell that to the girl at his side. Lily had rejoined hands with him as she fell in step beside him.
Lily lowered her voice so Lana couldn't hear. "You know I'm right about all this, don't you?"
Clark continued to direct his gaze forward.
She rubbed her thumb up and down the back of his hand. A satisfied grin charmed her features as she spoke. "The silent treatment, huh? That all right. I like my men strong and silent. One thing I realized in my years is that the strong, silent type make the best lovers." She looked up at him and waited for a response.
"Keep your realizations to yourself, Lily. I don't want to hear it."
Fair enough, she thought to herself. For now, anyway.
***
No one wanted to fill Pete in on what had happened around the corner. It only made him wonder harder about exactly what it was he missed. Must've been good though. And it must have been heavy. He'd get the scoop later, somehow.
Clark explained that he had to take Lana home. He told Pete that he would get back to him later.
Clark walked Lily to her car. She stood on her toes and placed a light kiss on his lips before turning to get in the car.
Clark stopped her and pulled her back gently to face him. "What will you do?"
"I don't know, have a little fun I guess." She scrunched her nose. "I'm really not in the vengeance mood right now." She was going to say, 'Don't worry, Clark.' But he had every reason to.
He didn't let go of her just yet. "Lily... don't do anything Chloe wouldn't do."
His eyes pleaded with her to keep out of trouble. That alone was almost enough to persuade her. Almost. "Don't know if I can promise you that, Clark. Do you want to tag along to keep me on my best behavior?"
"I have to take Lana home, she shouldn't be alone right now."
Lily considered him, then looked past him to see Lana sitting in the truck. She felt no remorse for what she had said to Lana. As far as Lily was concerned, it was the truth. Why couldn't they see that? Because they were naive small town kids, that's why. What did they know? She could certainly teach them what they needed to know.
"I'll meet you in an hour at your place." She smiled at him. "You should be able to dissuade her from committing suicide in that amount of time."
Clark's stare iced over at her joke. "You're not funny."
"Sorry." That didn't sound too convincing. "One hour, your place." She got in the car and put the key in the ignition. She waved at Clark before pulling off.
There was something he didn't understand. Last night, she had told him to stay away. Now she wanted him to hang out with her? She had an angle, and he would find out what it was. He'd find a way to break her.
He went to the truck where Lana was waiting patiently for him. Once in the truck, he refused to look at her. They left Pete's house the same way they had come. In complete and awkward silence.
**Author's note: I apologize if this chapter kind of sucks. I've been seriously blocked and I didn't want to delay this story any longer. Also, I want to make this story go a little farther than I originally planned, and I only have a vague idea of what I want to happen next. Bear with me.
Also, someone posted an obscene review for my last chapter, indicating that they did not like my latest addition to the story. I don't mind receiving both positive and negative reviews, but people should at least be considerate enough to A) tell me what they specifically don't like about my story, and B) sign in so that I know who left the review.
To who ever left that review, please have respect for me and the people who read my story. Please do not submit another review of that nature again.
The autumn breeze shifted the air to the west and stirred the grass of the pastures. As Clark descended the porch steps, he shielded his eyes from the brightness of the morning sun. It was looking to be a beautiful day, but Clark was unable to appreciate it. He stood on the last step for a moment and breathed in the atmosphere around him, appearing to reflect a calm that heavily contradicted his inner turmoil.
He had finished a few odd chores around the farm earlier to burn the excess energy that would not let him sleep the night before, and still he was as restless and as agitated as he was before he started them. Now he had to leave. He'd go to Pete's house, tell him about what happened to Chloe. He thought that Pete deserved to know what was going on. Besides, Clark needed someone to talk to. He didn't know what he would do if he had to keep all of this pinned up inside him.
The fastest way to get from point A to point B is not only a straight line, but also with super speed. A ride in the truck while obeying the speed limit was not what he needed right now. Clark dropped his hand from his brow as he saw Lana walking toward him. Her timing couldn't have been worse. Then again it could have been. Had he not seen her, she would have seen him go from standing still to a moving blur.
"Hi, Clark." She had her hands in the pockets of her pink jacket. The wind sent her raven locks whipping about her face.
Clark silently cursed her timing in his head. He didn't even try to fake a smile, just looked down at her. "Lana, hey. What are you doing here?"
Lana tucked the stray strands of hair that escaped her ponytail behind her ear. She regarded Clark with care as she could see he wasn't in the best of moods right now. "Well, I didn't get much sleep last night, so I got up early. I took a walk and this is where I ended up." She exhaled and lowered her head to stare at the dirt for a second before continuing. "I want to talk to you about... where we stand with each other. I know you're with Chloe now, but..." But what? "It's just that sometimes I don't feel like we're real friends Clark. You know what I mean?"
Clark had to make an effort not to roll his eyes or show any other signs of irritation. It wasn't that he didn't care about Lana's feelings, it was just... he didn't care at the moment. Her perplexity was obvious. She looked into his eyes and he saw that a certain sadness shaded them. What was that all about, he asked himself.
His gaze went beyond Lana as he tried to think of the fastest way to get rid of her. Get rid of her? What was she, some kind of pest? At the time, yes. "Lana..." He met her gaze once again and that was the error he shouldn't have made. This was harder than he thought it would be. Her eyes were so full of sorrow, she looked to be on the brink of tears. His heart did ache mildly for her, but this *really* was not a good time. "I'm on my way to Pete's right now. Is there any chance this can wait?"
She wanted to say yes because it seemed that Clark had a problem of his own. Lana wondered if he and Chloe were having trouble. A small twinge of hope made a dim light inside the darkness of her distraught heart. Her timing could be absolutely perfect. "No, this can't wait. Both you and Chloe have been avoiding me like the plague this past week with good reason, I know. I have to be honest with you, Clark." It's now or never, right? "It bothers me to see the two of you together. I should be happy for you but I..."
"You're jealous." The words came out as a semi-question. He didn't mean to make her uncomfortable, but he succeeded at that nonetheless. "I'm sorry, Lana."
She shrugged, a little surprised at what he said. "No, you're right. I am jealous. I should just say it outright instead of dancing around the word." Jealous, a particularly ugly word, and an equally ugly feeling. "I have no idea what talking to you is going to do about that." She smiled weakly. "I just want a decent night's sleep."
Clark could empathize with her on that one, but didn't say anything. He didn't want to just leave her though. "Why don't you come over with me to Pete's." He offered out of politeness, not really expecting her to accept the invitation.
Lana perked up a bit. "Why not?" She could be misinterpreting Clark's gesture, but she'd chance it anyway. Right now, she just wanted to be near him, even if the company they shared was strictly platonic. "I haven't got anything better to do." Which was the truth. When she told Nell that morning she wasn't feeling up to dealing today, Nell gladly offered to hold down the Talon for the day. Lana had been relieved at that.
Clark strained against the urge to press his brows together. "All right then." Damn. Now he had to go back inside and get the keys to the truck.
***
An awkward silence was all that could be heard on the way to Pete's house. The few times Clark glanced over at Lana, all he could see was the back of her head as she stared out the passenger side window. What she was staring at, he didn't know. It was pretty much the same Smallville today, yesterday, and tomorrow.
Pete had already been dressed and eating breakfast by the time Clark and Lana arrived. He politely offered them some of the blueberry pancakes, eggs, and bacon his mother had prepared. Both declined with nothing more than a shake of their head, even after he reminded them that his mother made the best blueberry pancakes this side of the Mississippi.
After finishing his breakfast, Pete lead his guests to front porch. "Where's Chloe?" he asked as they sat on the steps. "It seems like you two have been joined at the hip lately. Joined at the lips is probably a more accurate assessment."
Lana glanced at Clark, who glanced at Pete, who glanced at the drive way before Clark could say anything. Chloe's red car pulled up behind the truck.
"Speak of the devil," Pete said.
You have no idea, Clark thought to himself. His heart skipped a beat as he watched Lily near the steps. He could see Chloe's eyes again, the gray ones he had spent so much time starring into the past few days. Clark kept his hands clasped tightly, his elbows resting on his knees. He wished with all his might that he could banish this harlot back to wherever the hell she came from right now. He stared at her with a loathing he couldn't help but to project.
Lily curved her painted lips into a smile. "Hello everyone." Pete was the only one who responded to the greeting. "Well at least somebody is happy to see me. Funny how it isn't my own boyfriend." Hands resting on hips, Lily stared at Clark.
"There's nothing funny about it." The ice in his voice had the other two pairs of eyes focused on him. Knowing that he was probably dangerously close to scaring Pete and Lana, Clark relaxed his shoulders and forced a smile at Lily. "Of course I'm happy to see you." Although his heart felt like a large boulder weighing down his torso, Clark stood and planted a chaste kiss on Lily's lips. He intended to pull away quickly, but Lily slid her hand behind his neck and pulled him back to her. She forced his lips open and kissed him deeply. His pulse leapt when she lightly bit his bottom lip to tease him.
Clark's eyes remained open. He wanted to push her away, distance himself from the torment of seeing Chloe, but not seeing her. He drew in a deep breath after she released him and closed his eyes, fearing the daggers he had for her would provoke suspicion from Lana and Pete.
Lana felt the rip in her heart expand just a little more at the sight of Chloe kissing Clark with such passion. Her envy melted into tears which burned her eyes as she tried to hold them back. She decided it was a bad idea to tag along with some else's boyfriend in hopes of stealing him. Now she had a bleeding heart, and would soon have the tears to reflect it.
Pete stared in wonder long after his best friends parted lips. With a kiss like that, his usual response of 'get a room' would seem like the wrong thing to say to them. They just might get the idea to make use of that room. "Clark, I thought you said you weren't hungry? Looks like you tried to swallow Chloe's tongue just now."
"Shut up, Pete," Clark said as he opened his eyes to look at Lily. He reached out and grabbed her hand, held it in his. The touch of her cold skin sent chills through out him and he wanted to release her hand. He did nothing of the sort, just pulled her down with him as he sat back on the step.
As they sat down, Lana stood up. "I need some air." She stepped down, nearly brushing Chloe's shoulder as she hurried to get away.
Lily squeezed Clark's hand. "What kind of air is she looking for? We're already outside."
"The kind of air that isn't between you and me." Clark watched Lana storm away down the sidewalk. Damn it, he was looking for that air too.
"Someone should go after her." Pete made up his mind not to shut up any longer. The distance between Lana and the house became greater, and yet no one moved. "Clark?"
All Clark did was sit and breath. He had already had his fill of the drama queen today.
When Lana disappeared around the corner, Lily pulled herself up, holding fast to Clark's hand. "Come on, lets go." She tugged at Clark, but couldn't get him to budge. "On your feet, farmboy. A damsel is in distress."
Every muscle in his body protested the movement, but Clark got up. He let Lily drag him around the block to catch up with Lana.
"Lana, hey!" Lily lengthened her stride. She wouldn't run though, breaking a sweat was not an option.
They caught up to Lana as she started to round the next corner. "Lana stop! Just wait a minute!" If Lana took one more step, Lily was going to can the idea of trying to help her. She was already half out of breath, and if love making wasn't the cause of her breath escaping her, then she had the tendency to be pissed.
Lana halted and turned around. Her cheeks were soaked with salty tears that still continued to course down. Great. The two of them right back in her face so soon after she left them, and still hand in hand. She began to turn around and walk away.
"No! Don't walk away." Lily let go of Clark's hand and pulled Lana's sleeve to hinder her movement. "Just hear me out." She asked Lana to here *her* out since Clark did nothing but allow himself to be dragged around. He stood now like an animated corpse at her side.
"Listen sweets, whatever you're feeling inside right now isn't going to last forever. Don't waste your time pining for a guy you can't have."
Lana sniffed and gazed at Chloe in puzzlement.
"You should get on with your life. You know, be young, have fun. Do all of that. But get your own farmboy." She tugged Clark's arm possessively. "This one is taken."
Clark took back his arm as Lily's words filtered past his thoughts. "Li--, I mean Chloe! What are you doing?"
Lily ignored him and continued. "If you don't want take that advice, then fine. At least put up a fight for him if you want him that bad. Do anything thing other than crying until you make yourself sick to the stomach." Lily scowled at Lana, who was still crying. "Now you're making *me* sick to my stomach. You know, there are less pathetic ways to deal with heartache."
Clark's eyes had grown wide with shock by the time Lily finished. He didn't know what to say.
Lana wiped at her tears and spoke with a voice that was jerky from her sobs. "Why are you being such a bitch, Chloe?" Her eyes were puffy and her cheeks felt tight from the dried tears overlapped by the fresh ones.
Lily shrugged. "You call it being a bitch, I call it being sensible."
Clark raised his voice to cut Lily off. "Chloe, stop it!" He stepped between the two girls and extended an arm to keep Lily at bay. "Just back off, all right?"
Lily tilted her head and looked at Lana, then back to Clark before she relented. "OK."
Clark stepped closer to Lana. "I'm sorry, Lana." This was bad. He hated to see Lana in this condition, and Lily was to blame for it. She was doing and saying things that Chloe would never. It was fine as long as it stopped with him, but now she was hurting his friends. Clark had planned on telling Pete everything so they could try and devise some sort of plan to get Chloe back. That wasn't going to happen, at least not as soon as Clark wanted it to.
He extended an arm to pull Lana closer, he wanted to at least try to comfort her. She held up a hand to stop him. She didn't look at him, just kept her head down as she attempted to stop crying. Wiping at the tears wasn't enough, she also had to check her emotions.
She sniffed one more time. Gathering her composure proved to be a difficult task. After a few moments, she lifted her head to look at Clark and Chloe. "No, don't touch me. It's nothing personal, I just don't want..." Lana let her sentence trail off as she exhaled. "Just don't."
Clark nodded and dropped his arm. He regarded Lana. "We should head back to Pete's place. I'll drive you home." He waited for Lana to pass him, then he followed behind her, but not too closely. It wasn't polite to crowd. He wanted to tell that to the girl at his side. Lily had rejoined hands with him as she fell in step beside him.
Lily lowered her voice so Lana couldn't hear. "You know I'm right about all this, don't you?"
Clark continued to direct his gaze forward.
She rubbed her thumb up and down the back of his hand. A satisfied grin charmed her features as she spoke. "The silent treatment, huh? That all right. I like my men strong and silent. One thing I realized in my years is that the strong, silent type make the best lovers." She looked up at him and waited for a response.
"Keep your realizations to yourself, Lily. I don't want to hear it."
Fair enough, she thought to herself. For now, anyway.
***
No one wanted to fill Pete in on what had happened around the corner. It only made him wonder harder about exactly what it was he missed. Must've been good though. And it must have been heavy. He'd get the scoop later, somehow.
Clark explained that he had to take Lana home. He told Pete that he would get back to him later.
Clark walked Lily to her car. She stood on her toes and placed a light kiss on his lips before turning to get in the car.
Clark stopped her and pulled her back gently to face him. "What will you do?"
"I don't know, have a little fun I guess." She scrunched her nose. "I'm really not in the vengeance mood right now." She was going to say, 'Don't worry, Clark.' But he had every reason to.
He didn't let go of her just yet. "Lily... don't do anything Chloe wouldn't do."
His eyes pleaded with her to keep out of trouble. That alone was almost enough to persuade her. Almost. "Don't know if I can promise you that, Clark. Do you want to tag along to keep me on my best behavior?"
"I have to take Lana home, she shouldn't be alone right now."
Lily considered him, then looked past him to see Lana sitting in the truck. She felt no remorse for what she had said to Lana. As far as Lily was concerned, it was the truth. Why couldn't they see that? Because they were naive small town kids, that's why. What did they know? She could certainly teach them what they needed to know.
"I'll meet you in an hour at your place." She smiled at him. "You should be able to dissuade her from committing suicide in that amount of time."
Clark's stare iced over at her joke. "You're not funny."
"Sorry." That didn't sound too convincing. "One hour, your place." She got in the car and put the key in the ignition. She waved at Clark before pulling off.
There was something he didn't understand. Last night, she had told him to stay away. Now she wanted him to hang out with her? She had an angle, and he would find out what it was. He'd find a way to break her.
He went to the truck where Lana was waiting patiently for him. Once in the truck, he refused to look at her. They left Pete's house the same way they had come. In complete and awkward silence.
**Author's note: I apologize if this chapter kind of sucks. I've been seriously blocked and I didn't want to delay this story any longer. Also, I want to make this story go a little farther than I originally planned, and I only have a vague idea of what I want to happen next. Bear with me.