Note: Thanks for reviewing.

And just to clarify the time line, this fic takes place after the season 3 finale. I've just skipped to the end of their senior year. So, Lana left for Paris and came back boyfriend free. Clark was sucked into the cave wall and eventually was released and found (not by Lois). (I'll get more into what exactly happened in the cave wall later.) Lionel Luthor was on trial , Lex was poisoned, and the explosion with Chloe and her dad did happen. The stones/mythology aspect of season 4 does not exist in this fic. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask. I know it's kind of confusing.

Just a warning, the beginning of this chap is sort of 'hot,' so feel free the skip the beginning.

Clark woke up suddenly, experiencing something that he'd never felt before—Lana Lang rubbing his naked chest.

Clark moaned. He sat up, but regretted it immediately, once her hand left his chest.

"Hey, big boy." Lana giggled and Clark took notice of her attire. She was dressed in a black corset and black panties. She was the epitome of sexiness in Clark's opinion.

"Lana?" Clark managed to get out as he felt himself being pushed back down against the pillows again.

"Yeah?" Lana shifted so that she was on top of him, her center against his crotch. Clark accidentally let out a groan as she began grinding.

Lana bent her head so that her lips were level with his ear and whispered, "You like that?"

Clark nodded and felt his breath quicken. "Oh…Lana…"

He watched through half mast eyes as she continued to grind against him and soon he felt like he was about to explode.

Lana leaned her head toward his and captured his lips in a passionate kiss, never slowing down her pace.

The bed rocked and Lana bounced on top of him. Clark felt drunk—even though he had never experienced the effects of alcohol before. He felt wonderfully dizzy and happy. He heard a door slamming. He woke up.

Clark Kent awoke in his boyhood bed, the sheets fallen on the floor and his breathing coming in pants. To his disappointment, there was no Lana Lang to be found anywhere in his room.

"It was just a dream," Clark said aloud. He ran a hand through his hair and noticed a wet spot on the crotch of his pajama bottoms. Clark jumped to his feet and placed the fallen blanket back on the bed. Then, he made a beeline for the shower, not caring if his parents were awake or not.

Clark emerged from the shower a good half an hour later. He wrapped a towel around his waist and headed downstairs.

"Mom? Dad?" Clark called out cautiously. When he saw no one there, he headed toward the kitchen counter and spotted a note. He picked it up and read the note's contents. When he was done, he took a seat at the kitchen counter, his head spinning.

Dad…breathing problems…hospital…Mom…bake sale…

Just when Clark was contemplating what his next move should be, there was a knock at the door. Clark crossed the room and absentmindedly opened the door, forgetting he was only in a towel.

"Lana?"

And there, on his front porch, stood Lana Lang dressed in jeans and a white blouse. She was the complete opposite of the seductress in Clark's dream.

Clark actually heard her let out a little gasp. Clark flushed and opened the door a little wider to allow her in.

"I'm going to get dress," Clark informed her and ran upstairs. Once he got to his room, he slammed the door shut and sat on his bed. Then, he got up and began pacing. After a couple of laps around his room, Clark got dressed.

Lana was still in the kitchen when he got back and to his relief, she smiled when he entered the room. He had expected some sort of tension from last night.

"Sorry about that," Clark said, not really knowing why he was apologizing.

Lana blushed and said, "It's okay."

"So, have you had breakfast yet?" Clark asked, making his way toward the fridge, ignoring the note on the kitchen counter. It was better to not think about it.

Lana shook her head, glancing at the note.

Clark rummaged through the contents of the fridge, deciding on what to make her. The only thing he could make was eggs.

"Umm." Lana cleared her throat and Clark turned to face her. "Actually…I wanted to talk to you about something…."

Clark straightened up and closed the fridge door.

"It's about the Talon, actually."

"Oh." Clark nodded. He had thought it had something to do with their conversation last night.

"Your mom didn't open the Talon this morning. And, considering that today is the bake sale, I thought that was sort of weird…." Lana explained.

Clark nodded and took a seat at one of the kitchen stools. Lana followed and wrung her hands nervously in her lap, waiting for a response.

"Lana, my parents are at the hospital," Clark finally said, looking down. He couldn't avoid the note anymore. "My mom wrote that my dad had trouble breathing as he was doing the morning chores. She told me to open up the Talon for her and announce to the town that the bake sale is going to be postponed."

Clark took a breath and avoided eye contact with Lana. He didn't want her sympathy. He didn't deserve it.

"Oh, Clark," Lana said quietly. Almost in slow motion, she got off her stool and wrapped her arms around him, cradling him.

Clark allowed her to hold him and even allowed tears to fill his eyes.

"I'm sure he'll be alright," Lana said, soothingly. "Your dad's a fighter."

Clark nodded and accepted her words of sympathy. After a few minutes, Lana let him go. Clark, who was feeling better, stood up. He noticed that she was viewing the baking materials that were laid out on the counter with a thoughtful expression.

"What is it?"

"Clark, what are you going to do about the bake sale?" Lana asked, still viewing the baking material with a pensive look.

"I don't know," Clark replied, scratching the back of his neck. "My mom worked hard on organizing it and everything…."

Lana reached over and picked up several recipes that Martha had left on the counter.

"Lana…" Clark began, also with a thoughtful expression. "Do you think it would be crazy if I baked the stuff for the bake sale?"

Lana stared at him and then laughed. "Crazy, no. Sweet, yes."

Clark smiled as Lana handed him his mother's recipes.

"What are you doing?" Clark wondered as Lana went to grab two aprons. She handed one to him and wordlessly put the other one over her white blouse.

"I'm going to help you," Lana simply said with a small smile as she tied her hair up. "So, boss, where do we begin?"

Clark grinned and handed her a whisk, a bowl, and an egg. Well…this is going to be something, Clark thought as Lana cracked the egg and began whisking.

Forty minutes and three broken bowls later, Clark and Lana sat in chairs next to the oven, exhausted. They had just whipped up three batches of Mrs. Kent's blueberry muffins and now they were waiting for it to bake.

Silence had enveloped the room as soon as they had shut the oven door. To Clark's relief, it wasn't uncomfortable either.

Lana stood up. "I guess we should get started on those cookies."

Clark stood up too and followed her. He wondered what she was thinking. Was she also thinking about last night?

"Thanks for helping me," Clark said to Lana, hoping to strike up a conversation like the one they had last night before things turned ugly.

Lana continued to mix up the ingredients needed for the cookie batter and it took a while before she spoke. "It was no problem—really." When Clark didn't look convinced that she had given up a Saturday morning just to help him, Lana added, "Besides, you were the one who said last night that we should spend more time together. What's better than a baking escapade?"

Clark laughed and that helped to lighten the atmosphere. Deciding that he could probably do something else beside stand there, he headed over to the cabinets and pulled out two bags of chocolate chips and brought them to the counter.

Lana gave a slight giggle as he opened one of the bags up and started eating the chocolate chips.

"What?" Clark asked with a smile as he popped the chocolate in his mouth.

Lana viewed Clark eating the chocolate for a while before saying, "Nothing."

Clark raised an eyebrow. "Nothing?"

Lana glanced at the batter that she was stirring and looked up at Clark. She gave a small smile. "I can't believe that one night conversing about school to 'which came first: the chicken or the egg?' would change things so dramatically between us." She kept her gaze on him and Clark knew she expected him to say something.

Clark, knowing that his reply could make or break the atmosphere for the rest of the baking session, thought hard before replying. "I guess there wasn't as much water above the bridge as we thought there was."

Lana continued to look at him, as if viewing him in a new light. Clark met her gaze and held it.

"I guess not," Lana said softly, still smiling. She returned her attention to the cookies.

Clark sighed mentally with relief, glad that he had obviously said the right thing. Clark went back to munching on the chocolate chips.

"Want some?" Clark offered the bag of chocolate to Lana.

She shook her head. "We're supposed to be saving them for the cookies, Clark." She laughed as he threw one up in the air and tried to catch it in his mouth.

"Let me try." Lana reached over and grabbed a couple of them. After a few attempts of trying herself, she gave up.

Clark was still chuckling when she had thrown the last chips down on the counter.

"Well, that was the end of my idiotic performance," Lana said with a dimpled smile.

"Hey, are you calling me an idiot?" Clark asked with mock defensiveness.

Lana laughed and said in a sing-song voice, "Maybe I am."

Clark pretended to pout, picked up a chocolate chip, and threw it at her.

Lana mouth opened in fake shock. Smiling widely, she threw the chip back at him.

Clark, instead of dodging the chip, leaned his head back and to his luck, he caught the chip in his mouth. He put his hands up in the air like he had just scored a touch down.

"Mr. Cocky, are we?" Lana scooped up a handful of chips and threw them at him.

"Hey!" Clark cried as he was showered by chocolate. "Weren't you the one who said that they were supposed to be for the cookies?"

Lana laughed as Clark tried to pick the chips out of his hair and shirt. A few had even gone down his shirt.

"I haven't had this much fun since—well forever," Lana confessed through her laughter.

Clark turned to her. "I'm sorry I haven't been there for you this past year," Clark said to her seriously.

Lana viewed him for a moment, trying to read him. Finally she said, "Well, at least you're trying to make it up now."

"I've been thinking about what you said last night—about us getting together again." Clark took a breath and decided to go for it. He reached for Lana's hand and to his relief, she didn't pull away.

"Clark…" Lana looked at her joined hands and a painful expression crossed her face.

"Wait—just hear me out," Clark said quickly. "I know it's going to take a while for us to get to that point, but I'm willing to try if you are."

"Clark, you just said last night that things were too complicated," Lana said exasperated.

"I know—and if I could, I would take it back," Clark stated hurriedly. "It's just─" Clark sighed, not really knowing what to say next.

Lana gave him an empathetic smile. "Clark, it's okay. You don't have to give me Shakespeare—just be you." She squeezed his hand.

Clark tried cracking the hidden meaning behind her words, but found that there was none. "Well, this is just me then." He reached for her other hand and she allowed him to hold it too. "Lana, I know how much you resented me for keeping secrets…but one of these days I promise I'll tell you. It may not be today or tomorrow, but I promise."

Lana looked at him curiously then broke into a smile. Unexpectedly, she released his hands, stood on tip toes, and gave him a hug. Clark caught a whiff of the strawberry scented shampoo that she used as he returned the hug.

Almost too soon, she released him and returned to work on the cookies. Clark smiled goofily, glad that she had her back turned so she couldn't see the ridiculous smile plastered on his face.

"Clark, is something burning?" Lana said suddenly, alarmed. She whipped around and looked at the oven.

"Crap!" Clark cried. He hurried to the oven and pried the door open. Smoke came billowing out and behind him, he heard Lana cough. He quickly pulled out the muffins and turned the dial to off.

"Oh my God," Lana said softly.

"Yeah; what a waste of muffins, huh?" Clark picked up a muffin and examined the burnt top.

"No," Lana said, still speaking softly. "Clark, you just pulled that tray of muffins out without getting burned!" She tugged at his hands and inspected them.

Just then, Clark's mind let out a spring of curse words. Thinking hastily, he said, "No, I didn't. I used the mittens." And just to add effect to his words, he twisted around and grabbed the oven mitts.

"No, Clark, I saw you!" Lana said, persistent to prove to him that she had seen what she had seen. "And you don't have a single burn on your hands!" She flipped his hands over and over again, seemingly not believing it herself.

"I just have tough skin…." Clark said, pathetically, knowing that she would never believe him. How is it that his brain always turned to mush around Lana? He was so careful around other people like Lex and Chloe, but Lana seemed to have the ability to make him forget about his abilities.

Lana gave him a look that clearly read that she wasn't buying his excuses. "Clark…I saw you…." she said quietly.

After promising that he would be more honest, Clark really didn't know what to do.

"You know, you always do this—you always promise to be more honest, but then when I confront you, you get scared." Lana looked him in the eye. "What is that you're really afraid of?"

"That you won't like what you see," Clark said softly. For once, he kept eye contact with her.

"Clark, you're my friend and I care about you," Lana stated, softening her expression. "But, if you don't let me in, I can't be there for you."

"I wish I could tell you…but I can't."

"Is it because you can't, or are you scared?" Lana gave him a small smile. "Clark, I don't bite and I'm pretty sure I won't blow you off if you are a meteor freak."

Clark shook his head. "I'm not a meteor freak."

"Well, Clark Kent, whatever you think you may be, I promise that I won't leave you when and if you tell me your big secret."

"I did pull out the tray with my bare hands, Lana," Clark finally admitted.

"I suspected that," Lana said with a smile, trying to lighten up the mood. "Clark, you don't have to tell me your secret right now or tomorrow. Just promise me no more lies, okay?" Lana rubbed her thumb over his hands that she was still holding.

Clark nodded. "But, believe me; you're going to be hearing a lot of weird stuff coming out of me from now on."

"I don't care," Lana said lightly, "as long as they're the truth. I may not understand them now, but maybe later I will."

Clark wanted to kiss her right then for being so understanding. Instead, he took the tray of burnt muffins and dumped them in the trash.

"Well, I hate to state the obvious, but there's a bake sale at the Talon in two hours and we have yet to make anything edible," Lana stated, grabbing the tray of cookie dough and placing it in the oven. "This time I'm going to set the timer."

"Yeah, I guess that's a good idea." Clark watched as she set the white timer to fifteen minutes. "I don't think many people would buy burnt cookies or muffins."