Two hours later, Clark and Lana were running late.

"Cindy? This is Lana," Clark heard Lana say on the phone as he was putting the finishing touches on icing a cake.

"Yeah, I know Mrs. Kent was supposed to be there fifteen minutes ago, but she's at the hospital right now." Lana paused and Clark could hear Cindy saying something. "No, I'm sure everything's fine—I don't really know anything," Lana lied for the sake of the Kent's privacy. "Just open up and tell the customers that the baked goods will be there soon."

Clark hastily checked the clock in the living area and began to pick up the pace on the cake. After he was satisfied that there were no spots without icing, he dumped the cake in a box and hurried to the truck outside where he and Lana had already loaded it with the other goods.

Clark came back in and tore his apron off. He looked at Lana who was still chatting to a frantic Cindy on the phone. He saw her glance at him and he tapped his wrist to say they need to get going.

"Cindy, I have to go now—I'll be there soon. Bye." Lana hung up and also took her apron off.

"Did you put everything in the truck?" Lana asked Clark as they headed out.

"Yeah." Clark opened the car door for her and went around to the driver's side. "I hope they taste okay, though."

Lana bit her lip and retied her hair. "Me too."

When they got to the Talon, it was already packed with people thanks to Chloe's article about it in the school newspaper and the posters that the student council had made.

Lana made her way to the counter by herself since Clark was still outside; trying to see how many pies and cupcakes he could carry inside without dropping them.

"Lana, thank God you're here!" Lana saw Cindy rushing toward her. She noticed that her face was red; probably from the stress.

"What can I do to help, Cindy?" Lana offered as she tied on an apron. So what if she wasn't going to get paid. She was doing this for Clark.

"The cookies and the pies! Where are they?" Cindy exclaimed frantically, looking around, noticing that Lana had no pies in her hands.

"Clark's bring them in." Lana said calmly, peering at Cindy. "Cindy, take a breath. Clark and I are going to help you get through this."

Cindy did as she was instructed to do and Lana smiled when her face appeared less red.

"Both Amy and Rhea called in sick today! I can't believe them…of all the days. They're probably out fooling around with their boyfriends." Cindy mumbled.

"So you're the only one in today?" Lana asked, shocked. The Talon really needed Mrs. Kent back.

"Yes, and I'm the assistant manager! I have tons of stuff to do…count the money…keep a record of who's buying what. Where the money is going to go—decorations or band…." Cindy said, ticking off her to-do list.

"Well, lucky you; you have me! The former manager and co-owner of the Talon." Lana patted her back and began pulling cups from under the counter. "Everything's going to be fine, Cindy."

Cindy nodded her head and then cried in relief, "Oh, look! There's Clark with the pies now!"

Lana watched as he sent the baked goods on the big rectangular table in the center of the room. The smaller tables had been moved to the sides to allow for it.

"Hello, ladies," Clark greeted Cindy and Lana. "I set the stuff on the table over there." He jabbed his thumb in the direction of the table.

"That's fine, Clark." Lana said, starting the espresso machine. Cindy must have been really out of it since I have to start the machine…. Poor girl….

"Excuse me, could I get a large double espresso to go, please?"

Lana looked up at the first customer of the day with a smile. "Sure. One moment, please." She turned to get the man's order.

"So, Clark, how's your mother? Lana told me that she's at the hospital," Lana heard Cindy say.

"Actually, it's my dad. He's─"

"I'm sure everything's okay, Cindy," Lana interrupted, saving a hesitant Clark from answering. "Cindy, could you finish up this gentleman's order? I need to borrow Clark for a second."

Lana glanced at Clark and grabbed his hand, pulling him into the kitchen behind the door.

Lana jumped right in. "Clark, if you want to visit your dad, you can go. I think Cindy and I have everything under control here."

Clark watched Lana pulled napkins and straws from the cabinets before answering. "Umm…Nah, I'd rather hang around here. I don't really want to face all that yet. I just want to enjoy my day with you."

Lana put the napkins and straws in her arms and asked, "Are you sure?"

Clark nodded. "I can leave if you want me to, though…"

"No!" Lana cried a little more loudly than she had intended to. "I mean, no, it's okay. Stay. You can help out with the bake sale. We're understaffed as it is."

Clark looked at Lana weirdly. "Okay then, I'll stay."

Lana gave a nervous laugh, still embarrassed from her outburst.

"Lana! Clark! I need some back up here!" Clark and Lana heard Cindy calling.

"Well, I guess we had better go help her out," Lana said with a small smile, liking the way Clark was viewing her. She had noticed that he would sometimes sneak glances at her when he thought she wasn't looking. Although Clark hadn't said anything to her about the way he felt, the glances said it all.

"Is she always this needy?" Clark asked, cracking a joke.

"Cindy's just being Cindy." Lana laughed and shared a look with Clark. Almost too soon, she was being swept away from Clark by another customer.

"Well, it looks like we sold everything but the cupcakes that I iced in five seconds," Clark said, putting up the last chair on the table. The smaller tables had been moved back to their original place and he and Lana were the only ones left. Cindy had been gone a while ago since Lana had insisted that she go home and take a bubble bath to relive the stress of the day. Since Lana had volunteered to clean and lock up, Clark had decided to stay with her.

Lana threw the rag that she was using the wipe the counter with in a nearby basket full of dirty aprons. "Well, I'm about done here," Lana announced, taking the green apron off. "You can go now, if you like."

Clark wondered if she really wanted him to go. "Nah…I'll stick around for a little longer. That is, of course, if you don't mind?"

Lana shook her head. "I could never get enough of spending time with you Clark Kent." She took a few steps from behind the counter and winced. Clark noticed this and looked at her questioningly. "I've been on my feet all day, that's all," Lana reassured him. "Don't yours hurt?"

Clark was about to answer in the positive response, then remembered his promise. "Actually, they don't hurt at all."

Lana glanced at them and then at his face. "I guess this is also part of the mystery of Clark Kent?"

Clark nodded, feeling uncomfortable. He picked up a cupcake from the plate on the counter and handed one to her. "Here, let's celebrate."

"Celebrate what?" Lana asked curiously, a smile twitching at the corners of her mouth.

"Just this day. Despite having to run around like crazy and serve people, I had fun," Clark admitted. "And I got to spend the day with you." Clark flashed her a dimpled smile.

Lana blushed. "Well, I have to admit, the aching feet afterwards is not fun at all, but I guess that getting to boss you around makes up for it."

"Cheers," Clark said, bumping cupcakes with hers. He took a bite out of the cupcake and made a face.

"I guess I know why nobody bought these," Clark said, swallowing the piece of cupcake with difficulty.

"You should see the look on your face right now," Lana said, laughing. "I'm glad I let you take the first bite."

"Hey, that's not fair. You have to take a bite now."

Lana pretended to pout. "Do I have to?"

"Yes."

Lana pouted some more and Clark sighed.

"Okay, fine; you win," Clark said, admiring her puppy eyes. "And I thought I had charm."

"Well, Clark Kent, you're not the only person in Smallville with good looks and the ability to charm even the police force into believing you." Lana poked him in the chest with a finger.

"I could never trick you, though," Clark said thoughtfully. "You always saw through me."

"Is that a good or a bad thing?" Lana asked, moving closer to him and looking into his eyes.

"I'm not sure yet," Clark answered truthfully.

"Fair enough." Lana nodded and glanced at the clock behind her. "It's getting late. Are you going to the hospital?"

Clark looked down in thought then replied slowly, "Nah…I think I'll go home and check if my mom left any messages for me. Besides, I need another shower."

"Another one?"

Clark ran a hand through his hair. "I think I still have some chocolate left over in my hair from this morning."

Lana smiled at the memory. "You want me to drive you back now?"

Clark shook his head. "I'll run."

Lana raised her eyebrows, but didn't question him. "Well…I'm going to head upstairs now. I'll see you tomorrow?"

"After I walk you back," Clark said, offering his arm to her. Lana kept her face down so he wouldn't see the big smile on her face.

"You don't have to do that, Clark," Lana told him. Nevertheless, she accepted his arm and allowed him to walk her up.

"But I want to," Clark said quietly. Soon enough, they reached Lana's apartment.

Lana fumbled in her pocket for her key and nearly dropped it. "Thanks for walking me."

"It was my pleasure," Clark said, realizing that he had never actually been inside her apartment before.

Lana turned the key in the lock and got the door open. But, she didn't go in just yet. "Well…I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah. Bye."

"Bye," Lana said softly. Neither one of them had made any effort of moving.

After a while of debating with herself, Lana finally found her voice. "Umm…Clark, do you want to stay a while? I mean, I know it's late…"

A look of shock momentarily crossed his face. He nodded.

Lana opened the door a little wider to allow for the both of them to enter.

"Wow," was the first word Clark uttered when he entered. Lana saw him looking around and became suddenly self conscious.

"What do you think?"

"It's very…artsy" Clark complimented.

Lana noticed him viewing the picture of the Eiffel Tower that she had drawn when she was at Paris. "Yeah…I decided that Paris would be a one time thing for me so I went all out."

"On the art?"

"And the shoes," Lana added, laughing.

Clark laughed and looked around.

"You lose something, Clark?" Lana asked, noticing this.

"Just the couch," Clark said lightly. "You do have one, right?"

"Yup." Lana grabbed his arm and pulled him into what Clark assumed was her bedroom. "This is my couch."

"Your bed?"

Lana nodded. "I decided to give my couch to Chloe and her father since they were in need of one very badly. Their last couch sort of caught on fire."

Clark couldn't help but chuckle. "Chloe never mentioned that to me."

Lana smiled. "I guess Chloe didn't want people laughing at her like you are now."

"Opps."

Lana took one look at his face and burst into laughter.

"Chloe and her father could've been hurt," Lana gasped, clutching her stomach from laughing too much.

"I know."

"Then why are you laughing?"

"Hey, you're laughing too!" Clark fell onto her bed.

Lana sat next to him and waited until his laughter died down. "I want to show you something," Lana said seriously.

"Okay," Clark replied, a little curious at what she was going to show him. She returned a few minutes later with a rectangular shaped object wrapped in tissue paper.

"What's this?" Clark asked as she handed it to him.

"Open it," Lana instructed with a small smile. He noticed that she had her hands in her lap and was wringing them; sure sign that she was nervous.

Clark slowly unwrapped the tissue paper and pulled out a sketch of himself.

"Before you say anything…I know it's kind of stalker-ish, but it was the only thing that kept me going when I heard that you were missing."

"Lana…it's…wow," was all Clark could think of. "Did you draw this from memory?"

Lana nodded. "It took me a few hours to shade it, but…"

Clark examined the sketch of him in the caves; backpack slung over one shoulder and a goofy smile on his face. "You're really good at this stuff—art I mean."

"Thanks." Lana shook her head when Clark tried handing it back to her. "No, I want you to have it."

"Are you sure? You worked hard on this…."

"That's why I want you to have it," Lana said firmly.

Clark knew there was no room for discussion so he thanked her and set it aside on the bed.

"Do you really think I'm good, Clark?" Lana asked quietly.

"Of course."

Lana smiled genuinely. "I've always wanted to do something in art. You know, like a career."

"Then you will," Clark simply said. "You, Lana Lang, were meant for greater things than Smallville."

Lana blushed. "What about you? I know you're not planning to stay in Smallville, are you?"

"I'm not sure. I think my dad wants me to take over the farm…but to be honest, I don't want to stay in Smallville," Clark revealed. "There's just so much out there…so many possibilities…. It's depressing to think that I'm going to stay in Smallville forever."

"If anything, you, Clark Kent, were meant for greater things than Smallville," Lana said, borrowing his earlier statement. "You have the biggest heart I know of and you risk your life just to save people like me who are going to live here for the rest of their lives and die here."

"Hey, that's not true," Clark said softly, detecting tears in her eyes.

"Yes, it is," Lana whispered, leaning her head against his chest. She felt him wrap his arms around him. "You, Clark, were meant to leave me even before I fell in love with you."

Clark's voice caught in his voice at her words. "That's not true…."

Lana looked up with a tear stained face and managed a smile. "I'm sorry….It's just…it's our senior year and soon it'll be prom and then graduation. We're all going to be separating and going away for college."

"Well, I'm not going anywhere for now," Clark informed her, squeezing her.

Lana sniffed and then sat up. "You're right…. We should enjoy the time we have left together. I'm just sorry we're getting to know each other again now."

Clark nodded. "I know what you mean, Lana. But, we still have prom and graduation left. Senior year isn't over yet."

Lana smiled and squeezed his hand. "You always knew what to say to cheer me up."

"Must be the Kent charm."

Lana smiled some more then glanced at the clock. "It's getting really late, Clark. Maybe you should get going."

Clark stood up and stretched. As much as he wanted to spend more time with her, she looked like she needed some sleep. "Bye, Lana."

"Clark, don't be scared to go see your dad," Lana called softly as he made his way toward the door.

He stopped and turned around to look at her. How was it that she could read him so well? "Will you come with me tomorrow?"

"Where?" Lana asked confused.

"To the hospital. To see my dad."

"Of course I will," Lana whispered. She walked toward him and gave him one last hug before letting him go out the door. She then went to her bed and cried.