The next morning Clark got up early to finish all of the chores before his father got up. He was taking his time with his last few chores, enjoying the simplicity of just working on the farm again. He sighed as he saw his parent's room light turn on from the loft and he made his way back into the house.
"Good morning Clark, you're up early." Martha said as Clark entered the kitchen.
"Kal mom." Clark reminded while smiling.
"Yes well, Lana isn't up yet, so I can call you by the name we gave you." She said with a smile. Jonathan entered the kitchen and saw Clark standing there drinking orange juice right out of the bottle.
'Some things never change.' Jonathan thought to himself as he started to go outside.
"Actually dad, I already did everything for you. I also fixed that tractor. You'd think after all this time you would buy a new one." Clark laughed as Jonathan just shook his head.
"She's still got a few years left in her." Jonathan defended.
'Some things never change.' Clark thought as he headed upstairs to take a shower.
"Clark, where are you going?"
"I'm taking a shower. I worked up a little sweat doing the chores."
"Aren't you forgetting that you are currently without a room?" Jonathan reminded.
"I will just sneak in and sneak out really quickly." Clark said while continuing to climb the stairs.
He sped through the room into the bathroom and stripped down quickly and retreated into the shower. When he turned the water on, Lana roused from her sleep and looked around the room. She saw the light from under the bathroom door and heard the water running.
'What the heck.' Lana said to herself as she got up and got closer to the door. As she was almost touching the knob on the door, it opened and Clark barged out in nothing but a towel wrapped loosely around his waist.
Lana fought to keep breathing at the sight of his bare chest. She felt slightly warmer and stumbled backwards. Clark just stood deathly still.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I needed to take a quick shower." Clark started.
"No... its okay." Lana said weakly, still ogling his chest. The steamy water was still dripping from his messy hair down his neck to his abs and then disappearing under his towel.
"Alright well... I guess I should just... yeah." Clark said shakily. He stumbled backwards out the door and almost fell over, but held himself up.
Once down the stairs, he started to slow his breathing down, realizing for the first time that his heart had been racing.
'Phew!' He thought as he headed back to the loft to get another pair or pants and a shirt.
Once he was properly attired, he came back into the house to see Lana standing in the kitchen with Mrs. Kent.
"What are you two up to?" Clark said as both of them jumped.
"I thought I would make our guests something to eat for breakfast, but this one insisted on helping." Martha said lightheartedly as Lana turned around and smiled.
"I should be making breakfast to thank Mrs. Kent for her hospitality." Lana defended while once again trying to reach into the fridge.
"Ah!" Mrs. Kent said, making Lana retract her hand and look somewhat disappointed.
"I guess I will just sit this one out." She said, retreating to the table. Clark smiled and joined her.
"Don't worry, when it comes to the kitchen, that is Martha Kent territory." Clark whispered, making Lana laugh.
"Alright you two, get some plates out and get some food." Martha said while turning off the stove. They got up and were heading into the kitchen when Mollie stumbled down the stairs sleepily.
"I cannot believe the ungodly hours that you are up Lana." Mollie exclaimed, holding her head as she slumped across the room.
"Mollie, its 9:00." Lana stated.
"I know. We are out of school indefinitely, and you get up before noon?" She replied weakly. Lana just shook her head and handed her weary friend a plate.
"Morning Mollie." Clark said while reaching to get some food.
Her head shot up and she started blushing furiously.
"Morning." She said wistfully. Lana saw the immediate change and stifled the laughter that was threatening to come.
"Did we wake you sweety?" Martha replied warmly.
"No ma'am." Mollie said quickly.
"Well, we have eggs, bacon, pancakes and hash browns. Help yourself." Martha finished before leaving the three of them to themselves.
"So, not a morning person I take it?" Clark asked no one in particular.
"Not even close." Mollie stated while getting some eggs and shoveling them onto her plate.
"Well, I can be more quiet in the mornings so I don't wake you up tomorrow." Clark suggested while looking at Lana.
"I'm fine, you've got to shower too don't you." Lana stated factually. Mollie almost choked out the food she was eating and grabbed Lana by the arm, ushering her out of the room.
"You saw him in the shower!" Mollie screamed under her breath.
"Mollie, he's right over there." Lana said, rolling her eyes at her friend's ignorance.
"I want to know now!" Mollie hissed back. Lana just sighed.
"No I didn't. Okay." Lana said before turning around and heading back over to where Clark was sitting.
"Sorry, she just... I can't really think of an excuse for her, so I won't." Lana said with smile, causing Clark to laugh. Lana watched his eyes light up with amusement as he laughed and couldn't help but stare at him. She was unaware of the fact that she was looking because Clark waving a hand in front of her face quickly brought her out of her fixed stare.
"Earth to Lana." Clark said while Lana quickly averted her eyes.
"Sorry." She muttered quietly.
"Don't worry about it. So, I thought you might want to go around and see the town a bit." Clark offered.
"Sure. I've always lived in a big city. It would be nice to see how the other half lives." Lana said with a smile, moving from her seat towards Clark.
"Great, lets go then." Clark said, trying not to sound too excited.
"Wait for me!" They both heard come from upstairs. A frantic Mollie ran down the stairs with one arm in her shirt and in the middle of pulling her hair back.
'How does she do that?' Lana thought to herself as Mollie stopped in front of them and finished her hair and adjusted her shirt. She was panting slightly, but regained her composure.
"Alright, ladies first." Clark said politely. Mollie squealed with excitement and Lana gave Clark an apologetic smile. He just gave her an its-no-problem look and headed out behind them.
Clark started to make his way towards the road and Mollie stopped.
"Where's your car?" She said, looking around.
"Well, I don't usually use one, so I thought we could walk, unless you want to take your car." Clark said.
"No, we can walk." Mollie said quickly, strolling over and looping her arm through Clark's. Lana felt a slight twinge but laughed it off and walked on the other side of Mollie, listening to Mollie rattle on about how she was Superman's biggest fan.
"Well I'm flattered that you think so highly of me, but really, I'm not that great." Clark said, looking down. Mollie looked like she was bordering on a heart attack.
"What do you mean!" She exclaimed, eyes wide.
"Well, if anyone else had my powers, they would be able to do the same thing, so I don't see it as extraordinary." He said shrugging. Lana was shocked at how humble he was being.
"Well..." Mollie started but just stopped talking. They walked in silence for while. Lana was about to say something when they saw the town ahead. The street had a few cars parked on it, and the most popular place seemed to be a coffee shop.
"That's the store my friend owns." Clark said, pointing towards the shop.
They walked in and immediately the sweet smell of coffee assaulted their nostrils and made Clark breathe in heavily.
"Clark?" Someone asked out of nowhere. A blonde head popped up and the owner was wearing an enormous grin on her face.
"Clark!" She yelled as she rushed over to where he was standing with the two girls and ran into his arms. He laughed and gave her a hug before putting her down.
"How did you get here!" The blonde yelled excitedly. Clark just continued to smile.
"I walked, Chloe." He said with a smile. Mollie nudged his arm and Clark looked down and remembered to introduce his guests.
"I'm sorry, this is Mollie, and that is Lana. This is my best friend, Chloe." He said as they all acknowledged each other.
"I thought you said your name was Kal." Lana said suddenly.
"It is, but Chloe can't ever remember my real name, so she just uses a nickname." Clark said, looking at a clearly confused Chloe. She just nodded and turned back to the counter, motioning for them to follow her.
Lana looked at Clark curiously for a moment before deciding to shrug it off and follow them. When they reached the counter, Chloe was whipping around with three mocha frappucinos in hand.
"On the house." Chloe said with a wink before placing them on the counter and returning to her customers.
"She seems nice." Lana commented once they had found a seat.
"She's the best." Clark said while looking around the small coffee house.
"How long has it been since you have been back here?" Lana asked curiously.
"Oh I don't know, a long time, at least a year. I'm in college right now, so I don't get many breaks to come home." Clark explained sadly.
"I know what you mean. I barely ever see my mother or father." Lana said in agreement. Mollie just stared at them.
"I don't know what you are talking about. I love being away from my mother. I couldn't stand her! She made me slave away while she just sat around, but now I'm free!" Mollie stated enthusiastically.
"Mollie, doing chores isn't considered slaves work." Lana reasoned. She had heard Mollie's little 'I'm free' speech before.
"Yes it is. Just because you were an obedient little kid doesn't mean we all were." Mollie said indignantly. Lana just rolled her eyes and averted her attention back to Clark.
"So, now that you know about Mollie's dramatic childhood, what about you. Were you always, you know." Lana finished.
"Yes. I was always strong. I didn't start gaining speed or anything until later in life. In fact, only a few weeks ago I got another power, so I'm still growing I guess." Clark explained.
"Does anyone know your real identity?" Mollie asked in a hushed tone, trying to be discreet.
"A few people. One of my old friends knew about me before anyone, and we still stay in touch, then there is Chloe. She has known for about three years. I told her before college and we have been better friends for it." He said with a smile.
"Did you and Chloe ever date?" Mollie asked bluntly, knowing that Lana was wondering the same thing.
"Actually we did. I asked her to one spring formal freshmen year and we decided after that to just be good friends." Clark said dismissively.
Lana exhaled a breath she didn't know she was holding and felt relief wash over her.
"Alright, that's good." Mollie said, trying her best to make it obvious, but not TOO obvious that she had a thing for him. Needless to say, Clark saw through that.
"Right well, we should probably head back to the farm. I'm just going to say goodbye to Chloe before we go." Clark said before hastily dismissing himself and heading over to the counter again.
"Chloe, we are going to get going. You should stop by the farm for dinner. Remember, I'm Kal." Clark said as Chloe just nodded and smile.
"I guess I will see you and your girlfriends around 7 then." Chloe said with a smile.
"Neither is my girlfriend." Clark corrected quickly.
"Sure thing Kal." She said, emphasizing his name.
"Alright, see you later." Clark said cheerily before heading back towards the booth the trio had been sitting at.
"Lets head back. Dinner should be in a few hours and I need to do some work before then." Clark said while getting up. He thought for a moment and then turned back around.
"On second thought, you two could stay here and look around if you wanted and I could come pick you up later if you wanted." Clark suggested.
"I want to stay and see the town." Mollie said anxiously.
"Do you want me to stay with you?" Lana asked, hoping Mollie wouldn't care.
"Actually, I was going to do some independent explorations, so you can do whatever." Mollie said passively.
"Well, I think I'm going to head back and help Mrs. Kent with dinner. You have fun Mo, I'll meet you back up here at 6 and we can head back to get cleaned up." Lana said before following Clark out onto the street.
"You don't want to have a look around?" Clark asked as Lana fell into step next to him.
"Maybe tomorrow, we will probably be here for a while." Lana said, sighing.
"I'm really sorry Lana. I really didn't mean for this to happen. I never should have done what I did; I have to many enemies to be in any relationships." He ended sadly.
"I don't blame you. I know you will figure this out as soon as you can." Lana finished confidently. Clark smiled and slowly lowered his hand to where hers was swinging by her side and took it gently in his. Lana felt her face start to heat up, but kept her eyes ahead as if nothing was wrong.