A/N: I'm back! Did you all miss me??? I'm sorry that it took a little
longer than I thought, but I'm back. All right, as far as the story goes,
Amanda, I'm very shocked at your disappointment! So maybe it was just a
kiss on the hand, but this is WAY back in the day. Did you just expect
them to jump right into bed? Nice respectable young ladies didn't just go
and do that! Electric Spyro knows what I'm talking about. We're trying to
build up the anticipation! I promise, it isn't going to be all hand kisses
forever! We're going to jump forward a few months quickly in the beginning
so a lot of stuff is going to be covered. Let's all stick together and we
should be able to get through it without losing anyone. Review if you have
time!
~Chapter 6~
The next few months went by in a blur for Clark and his parents. The next day Whitney did come by to get Clark. Whenever Whitney was in the Kent house, he was polite toward Mr. and Mrs. Kent as well as Clark, but since that first morning that had all changed as soon as they walked out the front door. Whitney ignored Clark as Clark saddled the horse he would be riding that day. Clark tried to make small talk asking him how long he had know Lex. Whitney told him that he'd known him for a long time and that he was expecting Lex to give him permission to marry Lana any day. After that Clark decided he didn't want to share any small talk with Whitney. Besides Whitney didn't seem very inclined to talk to Clark anyway seeing as how he would always ride out in front of Clark not caring much whether he followed or not.
At training Clark just basically stood off to the side watching the nights train. Whitney didn't have him doing much, in fact he had just told him to sit and observe. As the days went on and all Clark did was observe he realized that this was probably all that he would be doing. The only good thin about training was Pete. Pete was the squire of one of the other knights and he and Clark had hit it off right away. Being able to talk to Pete made it more tolerable for Clark to go day after day to training instead of staying at home with his parents. Not that he would have had much to do if he stayed at home.
Jonathan had done as Lex instructed and hired on another six people plus a woman to help Martha with the cleaning in the house. One of the six was hired to tend to the stable and the other five were helping with the field. The field hadn't been used in a long time so it had to be prepared for use in the spring season. Jonathan worked long hours with the men outside to make sure that it would all be taken care of in the next couple of months before winter was fully on them. The woman, Molly, who helped Martha in the house, was about Martha's age, she was married to the stable keeper but they had never had any children. Clark liked Molly and her husband Jason. They were nice people who reminded him of his parents. Molly ended up becoming more of a companion to Martha, as they'd spend the day cleaning and making lunches and dinners for the other men.
Lana had kept her word and visited the Kents almost every day. She'd ride out in the morning and ride home at night. Most of the time she was there Clark would be at the castle and by the time he'd get home she'd already be gone. On the rare nights that she was still there, Clark would always ride back to the castle with her so she wouldn't be by herself, especially since the sun set much earlier with the approach of winter. Jonathan didn't like it much when Clark escorted Lana home, but since it was Lana who was asking him, he didn't think it was his place to tell him otherwise.
Clark had never been happier. Things were going great, no only did he have Lana to talk to but he had Pete as well. Finally another guy who was his own age that he could talk to. On days that he and Pete were off they'd go riding or exploring by the nearby river. Sometimes Lana and Chloe would join them and the four of them would be out all day enjoying each other's company. For Clark, who had never had this kind of friendship, it was a dream come true.
For Whitney, it was a nightmare. He was furious. Every time he had a free moment to spend with Lana, he was informed that she was at the Kent's. One day he had seen Lana and Chloe ride out of the castle and decided to follow him. His blood boiled when he saw that they were going to go and meet Clark and Pete. He made it a point to bring it up to Lex the next time he saw him. Unfortunately, it did him no good.
"Well, I think it's great that she's finally spending some time out of the castle. She would always spend her time in her rooms. It couldn't have been to good for her." Lex was thrilled that Lana was spending more time with Clark and less with Whitney. Lana had come to him the day after the Kents moved in to "discuss" Whitney's interest in her. Lex used the word discuss lightly since Lana storming into his study demanding that he tell Whitney to stop trying to find out where she was all the time didn't exactly fall under that category. "Besides, as long as Chloe is with her, I'm sure there's no harm."
Whitney wasn't happy with the outcome of his meeting with Lex, but nothing infuriated him more than when he was finally able to talk to Lana one on one. It was one day in the beginning of December when he found her strolling in the gardens. He was amazed that she was actually out there on her own. Since she seemed to like to spend more of her time out of the castle lately he asked her if she wanted to spend the next day riding with him. Whitney saw red when she declined saying that she already had plans with Clark. He told her maybe some other time and she walked away.
The only other person who didn't seem to like the idea of Clark and Lana spending any time together was Chloe. When she and Lana would go riding with Clark and Pete, she'd try her best to keep conversation going with Clark. While she was able to keep his attention for a while it wouldn't be long before he turned again to Lana and struck up a conversation with her. Chloe would sometimes watch out the window of Lana's room when Clark brought Lana home and would watch them as they talked for another fifteen minutes or more before Clark would turn and leave. Of course he would never leave without kissing Lana's hand. Then inevitably Chloe would have to endure Lana's incisive talking about everything that Clark had said to her that day. It was getting to be too much for Chloe. It just wasn't fair, Clark was the first decent guy of her station that she had met and Lana wanted him and who was she to go up against Lana.
Clark and Lana seemed oblivious to the animosity around them. They had become close in the last few months. They had talked about everything. Lana had told him about how it felt growing up without her parents and Clark told her how it felt growing up with parents who loved him, but still feeling alone. Lana was starting to get feelings for Clark but thought that he didn't feel the same way about her. In fact it seemed that whenever she and Chloe were out with him and Pete, Clark spent a lot of time talking with Chloe. He'd still walk her home and would still kiss her hand before leaving, but Lana was starting to get impatient with that as well. She was tired of hand kisses; she wanted more.
Since it was December it was getting to cold to ride around so she and Clark spent his free days walking around the gardens.
"So how is the squire work coming?" she asked.
"Terrible, I'm still not allowed to do anything. I just sit there. I guess it's not so bad, with it being so cold out they aren't doing much training."
They came to a bench in the garden and sat down. "That must be hard for you to give up your time day after day for nothing," she said arranging her skirts around her.
"Well, I won't deny that it gets pretty boring, but at least Pete is there to talk to. He's become a very close friend. I really can't believe how much my life has changed really. I used to feel so alone and lonely and now I have Pete and I have you," Clark said smiling at Lana.
"I'm glad Clark," she said reaching out to take his hand, "you deserve to be happy." They sat there holding hands for a while, neither of them saying anything and neither of them pulling their hands away. Both were content to share each other's company in silence. Lana looked up at the sky, "Do you think it's going to snow again tonight?" she said after a while.
"Probably, the sky is looking pretty gray." Clark looked back around the garden while Lana continued to look at the sky.
"Look Clark," she said pointing up, "it's mistletoe."
Clark looked up at the mistletoe and then down to Lana's expectant and blushing face. He quickly weighed the consequences of kissing her and then thought it better to just kiss her on the cheek.
As he leaned in to kiss her Lana felt a surge of excitement that rapidly turned to disappointment as he kissed her cheek. He pulled away slightly and she decided to act before the opportunity passed. She grabbed the front of his cloak and pulled him toward her and kissed him. Clark could not have been more shocked at the situation but as Lana's lips moved over his, he couldn't really think much of anything except kissing her back. Lana's hands slipped around his neck and Clark's hands went up into her hair. They sat there kissing for what seemed like eternity, but Clark thought; not nearly long enough when Lana finally pulled away.
"I'm sorry, Clark," Lana said standing up hastily. "I've got to go. I'm sorry." With that, she turned and started quickly walking away.
"What, Lana! Wait, where are you going?" Clark asked running to catch up with her. She didn't get far before he grabbed her arm to stop her. Gently turning her around he was surprised to see her crying. "Lana, what is it," he asked. Lana looked down and Clark tilted her chin up so she would look at him. "Please tell me what's wrong."
Lana wiped the tears out of her eyes and looked at Clark, "I didn't mean to kiss you, I'm sorry, you didn't even want to do that, now it's going to be awkward and it's all my fault."
"Lana, it's OK, I'm not mad at you or anything, I'm actually glad you did it."
Lana looked up at Clark, "W-What?"
"Well, I know how I feel about you but I didn't know how you felt about me. I didn't want to over step my bounds or ruin our friendship."
"But what about Chloe?"
"What about Chloe?"
"Well, I've noticed that whenever we're all out you're always talking to her. I thought that maybe you liked her." Lana said.
"I was being polite to her. Sure I like Chloe OK, but only as a friend, I don't feel about her the way I feel about you, Lana." He looked down at her and smiled.
She smiled back, "Well, I'm glad that we cleared that up."
"Me too," Clark said as he leaned down and kissed her again.
"We have to be careful," Lana said as Clark pulled away, "I think that Chloe does like you and I don't want to hurt her feelings."
"I don't want to hurt her feelings either, we probably shouldn't be kissing near the castle then. We don't know when she'll be coming around the corner."
No sooner did Clark say this than they heard Chloe calling out Lana's name from somewhere near by. Clark and Lana pulled away from each other and composed themselves as Chloe turned the corner to where they were.
"There you are," she said. She noticed that Clark and Lana's cheeks were both flushed with color that had nothing to do with the chilly winds outside. She turned to Lana and said, "Lex wants to see you, he's leaving tomorrow and wants to say goodbye before he goes."
"Oh yes, Lex, I almost forgot that he was leaving tomorrow. Well Clark, I'll see you around then." They smiled at each other, before she turned and walked back to the castle with Chloe.
Lana went to Lex's study and found him sitting at his desk. "Ah so you do remember the way to my office," Lex said walking around his desk to hug her. "Come and sit with me, I feel like I haven't seen you since I've been here."
Lana blushed, "I'm sorry Lex, I've just been spending a lot of time with the Kents."
"Yes, I heard you've been spending a lot of time with one Kent in particular."
Lana's face became even redder, "I don't know what you mean."
"Oh, I don't have a problem with it, I'm glad that you and Clark are getting along. I think he's a great guy."
"Me too," Lana happily replied.
"Well then, I guess I'll have to sit down and talk with him about what his intentions toward you are when I get back." Lex said winking at her. A big smile crossed over Lana's face. "Now I want you to behave while I'm gone. I don't know when I'll be back, probably not before spring."
"Be safe while you are gone and I'll see you when you get back." Lana left Lex's study and walked up to her room. She was so happy, Clark and feelings for her and Lex was approving of him. As she changed and got ready for bed she thought that she'd finally have the happiness that she missed when she was younger.
A/N: Sorry that this one is shorter than the rest, I didn't really have much time. Besides, this was more of a transition chapter. Sort of got the ball rolling for the stuff that's coming ahead. Review if you have time!!!
~Chapter 6~
The next few months went by in a blur for Clark and his parents. The next day Whitney did come by to get Clark. Whenever Whitney was in the Kent house, he was polite toward Mr. and Mrs. Kent as well as Clark, but since that first morning that had all changed as soon as they walked out the front door. Whitney ignored Clark as Clark saddled the horse he would be riding that day. Clark tried to make small talk asking him how long he had know Lex. Whitney told him that he'd known him for a long time and that he was expecting Lex to give him permission to marry Lana any day. After that Clark decided he didn't want to share any small talk with Whitney. Besides Whitney didn't seem very inclined to talk to Clark anyway seeing as how he would always ride out in front of Clark not caring much whether he followed or not.
At training Clark just basically stood off to the side watching the nights train. Whitney didn't have him doing much, in fact he had just told him to sit and observe. As the days went on and all Clark did was observe he realized that this was probably all that he would be doing. The only good thin about training was Pete. Pete was the squire of one of the other knights and he and Clark had hit it off right away. Being able to talk to Pete made it more tolerable for Clark to go day after day to training instead of staying at home with his parents. Not that he would have had much to do if he stayed at home.
Jonathan had done as Lex instructed and hired on another six people plus a woman to help Martha with the cleaning in the house. One of the six was hired to tend to the stable and the other five were helping with the field. The field hadn't been used in a long time so it had to be prepared for use in the spring season. Jonathan worked long hours with the men outside to make sure that it would all be taken care of in the next couple of months before winter was fully on them. The woman, Molly, who helped Martha in the house, was about Martha's age, she was married to the stable keeper but they had never had any children. Clark liked Molly and her husband Jason. They were nice people who reminded him of his parents. Molly ended up becoming more of a companion to Martha, as they'd spend the day cleaning and making lunches and dinners for the other men.
Lana had kept her word and visited the Kents almost every day. She'd ride out in the morning and ride home at night. Most of the time she was there Clark would be at the castle and by the time he'd get home she'd already be gone. On the rare nights that she was still there, Clark would always ride back to the castle with her so she wouldn't be by herself, especially since the sun set much earlier with the approach of winter. Jonathan didn't like it much when Clark escorted Lana home, but since it was Lana who was asking him, he didn't think it was his place to tell him otherwise.
Clark had never been happier. Things were going great, no only did he have Lana to talk to but he had Pete as well. Finally another guy who was his own age that he could talk to. On days that he and Pete were off they'd go riding or exploring by the nearby river. Sometimes Lana and Chloe would join them and the four of them would be out all day enjoying each other's company. For Clark, who had never had this kind of friendship, it was a dream come true.
For Whitney, it was a nightmare. He was furious. Every time he had a free moment to spend with Lana, he was informed that she was at the Kent's. One day he had seen Lana and Chloe ride out of the castle and decided to follow him. His blood boiled when he saw that they were going to go and meet Clark and Pete. He made it a point to bring it up to Lex the next time he saw him. Unfortunately, it did him no good.
"Well, I think it's great that she's finally spending some time out of the castle. She would always spend her time in her rooms. It couldn't have been to good for her." Lex was thrilled that Lana was spending more time with Clark and less with Whitney. Lana had come to him the day after the Kents moved in to "discuss" Whitney's interest in her. Lex used the word discuss lightly since Lana storming into his study demanding that he tell Whitney to stop trying to find out where she was all the time didn't exactly fall under that category. "Besides, as long as Chloe is with her, I'm sure there's no harm."
Whitney wasn't happy with the outcome of his meeting with Lex, but nothing infuriated him more than when he was finally able to talk to Lana one on one. It was one day in the beginning of December when he found her strolling in the gardens. He was amazed that she was actually out there on her own. Since she seemed to like to spend more of her time out of the castle lately he asked her if she wanted to spend the next day riding with him. Whitney saw red when she declined saying that she already had plans with Clark. He told her maybe some other time and she walked away.
The only other person who didn't seem to like the idea of Clark and Lana spending any time together was Chloe. When she and Lana would go riding with Clark and Pete, she'd try her best to keep conversation going with Clark. While she was able to keep his attention for a while it wouldn't be long before he turned again to Lana and struck up a conversation with her. Chloe would sometimes watch out the window of Lana's room when Clark brought Lana home and would watch them as they talked for another fifteen minutes or more before Clark would turn and leave. Of course he would never leave without kissing Lana's hand. Then inevitably Chloe would have to endure Lana's incisive talking about everything that Clark had said to her that day. It was getting to be too much for Chloe. It just wasn't fair, Clark was the first decent guy of her station that she had met and Lana wanted him and who was she to go up against Lana.
Clark and Lana seemed oblivious to the animosity around them. They had become close in the last few months. They had talked about everything. Lana had told him about how it felt growing up without her parents and Clark told her how it felt growing up with parents who loved him, but still feeling alone. Lana was starting to get feelings for Clark but thought that he didn't feel the same way about her. In fact it seemed that whenever she and Chloe were out with him and Pete, Clark spent a lot of time talking with Chloe. He'd still walk her home and would still kiss her hand before leaving, but Lana was starting to get impatient with that as well. She was tired of hand kisses; she wanted more.
Since it was December it was getting to cold to ride around so she and Clark spent his free days walking around the gardens.
"So how is the squire work coming?" she asked.
"Terrible, I'm still not allowed to do anything. I just sit there. I guess it's not so bad, with it being so cold out they aren't doing much training."
They came to a bench in the garden and sat down. "That must be hard for you to give up your time day after day for nothing," she said arranging her skirts around her.
"Well, I won't deny that it gets pretty boring, but at least Pete is there to talk to. He's become a very close friend. I really can't believe how much my life has changed really. I used to feel so alone and lonely and now I have Pete and I have you," Clark said smiling at Lana.
"I'm glad Clark," she said reaching out to take his hand, "you deserve to be happy." They sat there holding hands for a while, neither of them saying anything and neither of them pulling their hands away. Both were content to share each other's company in silence. Lana looked up at the sky, "Do you think it's going to snow again tonight?" she said after a while.
"Probably, the sky is looking pretty gray." Clark looked back around the garden while Lana continued to look at the sky.
"Look Clark," she said pointing up, "it's mistletoe."
Clark looked up at the mistletoe and then down to Lana's expectant and blushing face. He quickly weighed the consequences of kissing her and then thought it better to just kiss her on the cheek.
As he leaned in to kiss her Lana felt a surge of excitement that rapidly turned to disappointment as he kissed her cheek. He pulled away slightly and she decided to act before the opportunity passed. She grabbed the front of his cloak and pulled him toward her and kissed him. Clark could not have been more shocked at the situation but as Lana's lips moved over his, he couldn't really think much of anything except kissing her back. Lana's hands slipped around his neck and Clark's hands went up into her hair. They sat there kissing for what seemed like eternity, but Clark thought; not nearly long enough when Lana finally pulled away.
"I'm sorry, Clark," Lana said standing up hastily. "I've got to go. I'm sorry." With that, she turned and started quickly walking away.
"What, Lana! Wait, where are you going?" Clark asked running to catch up with her. She didn't get far before he grabbed her arm to stop her. Gently turning her around he was surprised to see her crying. "Lana, what is it," he asked. Lana looked down and Clark tilted her chin up so she would look at him. "Please tell me what's wrong."
Lana wiped the tears out of her eyes and looked at Clark, "I didn't mean to kiss you, I'm sorry, you didn't even want to do that, now it's going to be awkward and it's all my fault."
"Lana, it's OK, I'm not mad at you or anything, I'm actually glad you did it."
Lana looked up at Clark, "W-What?"
"Well, I know how I feel about you but I didn't know how you felt about me. I didn't want to over step my bounds or ruin our friendship."
"But what about Chloe?"
"What about Chloe?"
"Well, I've noticed that whenever we're all out you're always talking to her. I thought that maybe you liked her." Lana said.
"I was being polite to her. Sure I like Chloe OK, but only as a friend, I don't feel about her the way I feel about you, Lana." He looked down at her and smiled.
She smiled back, "Well, I'm glad that we cleared that up."
"Me too," Clark said as he leaned down and kissed her again.
"We have to be careful," Lana said as Clark pulled away, "I think that Chloe does like you and I don't want to hurt her feelings."
"I don't want to hurt her feelings either, we probably shouldn't be kissing near the castle then. We don't know when she'll be coming around the corner."
No sooner did Clark say this than they heard Chloe calling out Lana's name from somewhere near by. Clark and Lana pulled away from each other and composed themselves as Chloe turned the corner to where they were.
"There you are," she said. She noticed that Clark and Lana's cheeks were both flushed with color that had nothing to do with the chilly winds outside. She turned to Lana and said, "Lex wants to see you, he's leaving tomorrow and wants to say goodbye before he goes."
"Oh yes, Lex, I almost forgot that he was leaving tomorrow. Well Clark, I'll see you around then." They smiled at each other, before she turned and walked back to the castle with Chloe.
Lana went to Lex's study and found him sitting at his desk. "Ah so you do remember the way to my office," Lex said walking around his desk to hug her. "Come and sit with me, I feel like I haven't seen you since I've been here."
Lana blushed, "I'm sorry Lex, I've just been spending a lot of time with the Kents."
"Yes, I heard you've been spending a lot of time with one Kent in particular."
Lana's face became even redder, "I don't know what you mean."
"Oh, I don't have a problem with it, I'm glad that you and Clark are getting along. I think he's a great guy."
"Me too," Lana happily replied.
"Well then, I guess I'll have to sit down and talk with him about what his intentions toward you are when I get back." Lex said winking at her. A big smile crossed over Lana's face. "Now I want you to behave while I'm gone. I don't know when I'll be back, probably not before spring."
"Be safe while you are gone and I'll see you when you get back." Lana left Lex's study and walked up to her room. She was so happy, Clark and feelings for her and Lex was approving of him. As she changed and got ready for bed she thought that she'd finally have the happiness that she missed when she was younger.
A/N: Sorry that this one is shorter than the rest, I didn't really have much time. Besides, this was more of a transition chapter. Sort of got the ball rolling for the stuff that's coming ahead. Review if you have time!!!