Clark was a little nervous on the drive over to Lana's house. They hadn't talked at all since the big discussion. He didn't really know what to expect, nothing had been really settled. Lana had said she wanted to move in, but the key word being wanted. Clark wasn't sure if she would or not, especially after she confronted him about lack of proposal.
All those issues were still there, the biggest one being Clark's parental skills. Was he really spoiling Alex like she said? It was hard to tell when you are involved in it every day. Part of the reason Clark had been so hurt and angry was because he was scared there was truth to it. Lana had to have gotten it from somewhere and this wasn't the first time it had been said; but never so bluntly before, just little comments here and there.

"Daddy"
Lana turned around to see her son running into his father's arms. Alex was practically choking Clark, he was squeezing him so tight, but as she saw the smile on Clark's face, brought on by seeing his son, she couldn't help but smile too.

"Hey Buddy." Clark hugged his son and picked him up, as he made his way over to Lana"Hey." He smiled uneasily.
"Hi." Lana had never felt so awkward around Clark. It was expected though, with all the issues they had brought up, how could things not be uncomfortable?
"Sorry I haven't been by lately." Clark apologized, hoping to release the tension.
"I understand." Lana said honestly. God, why was this is weird? Clark had come over at least a thousands time, and 10 days wasn't such an extraordinary time to be apart, yet things were so edgy between them.
A few moments of silence passed before Alex chimed in"Dad, let's go to movies." Alex had remembered his father's promise almost two weeks ago to take him to a movie.
Lana sighed with relief, thank God for Alex. They could focus on him, providing a great distraction from the awkwardness between each other.
"Alright." Clark looked at his son.
"Mom, come too" Alex smiled.
"Um... It's alright, you two go, have fun. I'm just gonna... hang around here." Lana didn't think she couldn't handle five more minutes of this uneasiness between her and Clark, much less a whole movie.
"Lana..." Clark made eye contact"Please come."
"Clark, I just don't feel so great. Go, have fun." It was half true. Maybe she wasn't physically feeling bad but emotionally she was.
"Hey Buddy" Clark turned towards his son"Why don't you go tell Grandma that we are going to see a movie." Clark wanted to talk to Lana alone.
"Are you going to leave" Alex felt like he was being tricked.
"No, I won't leave. I promise." Clark smiled. That was good enough for Alex, his dad never broke a promise. He immediately ran off to find Grandma.
"Lana..." Clark took a step towards her"I know things are... weird between us right now... but if we keep avoiding each other then it will only get worse."
"Clark..." Lana knew he was right but...
"At least for Alex; we haven't done anything as a family in over a month, and I know, that is mostly my fault but... just come." Clark felt this was so much more than just a movie.
Lana felt selfish"Yeah, you're right... I just... okay, I'm going to go get ready." Lana was glad to have an excuse to get out of the room at least.

Clark and Lana were each holding one of Alex's hands as they walked, and they would swing him every so often, and just for a moment, things felt almost normal. Alex was laughing and his euphoria was contagious.
Clark bent down when they reached the ticket booth"What movie did you want to see"
"Dinosaur movie" Alex jumped up.
Clark had absolutely no clue what that meant, but apparently Lana did because she spoke up"Two adults and one child for 'Rex's adventures'."

Clark and Lana walked out of the theater with their 2 ½ year old son, who apparently loved the cartoon, and they all headed back to the car.
"Mom, is Rex real" Alex asked Lana as she strapped him into his car seat.
"No, baby, it's just a movie." Lana said sweetly, as she shut the car door and hopped into the passenger's seat and Clark started the car and pulled out of the parking lot.
"Do you want me to take you back to your house, or do you want to come to the mansion with me" Normally Clark wouldn't ask, but now...
"Um..." Lana wasn't sure. Things had eased up a bit, but they were far from normal. But she wanted normal back, and for that, they needed to talk"Let's go back to the mansion."

Lana sat their in the mansion, on the couch, while Clark was putting Alex to bed. Lana felt so nervous, and anxious. The whole situation with Clark was so nerve racking. Lana had known Clark since they were practically kids, and he had been her boyfriend all threw high school. When you know someone that long, are there when they are developing into their own person, you learn to read their emotions and situations, and the fact that Lana couldn't really understand why things were so off with Clark, made her scared.
She had always been able to tell why, if nothing else, things were wrong. She had never experienced this before, and that frightened her even more.

"Okay, he's asleep." Clark entered the room, hands in his pockets, eyes cast slightly downward.
Lana's nervousness increased at that action. It told her he wasn't aware of what to do either.
"Lana..." Clark sat down next to her, close, but not touching, it didn't seem right"Okay, I know things are so incredibly stressed between us... and to tell the truth I'm not even sure why."
Lana didn't know weather to feel good or bad about that. She felt comfort in the fact that she wasn't alone in that emotion, but she felt a tinge of fear, because if neither of them knew what was wrong, how could they make it right?
Their whole relationship had always been based on passion. Their emotions were always so extreme, weather it be anger, love, or fear. Now they had gotten themselves into this phase that Lana didn't know how to describe. Things weren't heated or icy between them, just a vague awkwardness that carried no power. How did you deal with that? Lana felt like she'd rather deal with the extremes, at least then she always knew her goal and how to reach it, even if it did seem impossible at times.
"Clark, I don't know why either." Lana admitted.
"I think we should talk about... our current situation." Clark felt exactly like Lana did.
"Alright..." Lana wasn't sure which specific aspect he was hinting towards.
"So I take it you don't want to move in with me still." He said it with no contempt, no anger.
"Clark, I was... but it just seems so weird now." Lana confessed.
"This is about... marriage, isn't it" Clark had to ask.
"I'm not sure... Clark, I have to admit that it bugged me a lot that you didn't want to get married." Lana replied.
"Lana, I know, but I don't know what else to say. You were just raised different from me. Your parents are like the perfect example of marriage, and I guess I can understand why it's so important to you." Clark didn't really want to go into this topic, but felt like he needed Lana to understand were he was coming from, so he continued"I grew up watching affairs and I've seen how easily the marriage promise is pushed aside. Lana, marriage... it traps you."
"What" Lana felt offended"You don't want to be trapped with me"
"No..." Clark had put his foot in his mouth, that wasn't what he meant"If you ever wanted to leave me... I'd be so messy." Clark thought back to his coma, and thought of how Lana had wanted to leave but she couldn't. She was trapped... by him. Marriage would just be one more security guard in her prison.
"Clark, I don't want to leave you." Lana knew that.
"Not now..." Clark didn't care how much he loved Lana or she loved him, he knew that people are constantly changing and making decisions that change them. He always wanted Lana to be able to leave"I want you to have that option, no matter what... to be able to leave with Alex if I..." Clark couldn't help but again think of the much darker version of Lana and himself in that future.
"Clark..." Lana hated that Clark always thought like that, he always feared what could be. She wished for once and all she could just reassure him that he wasn't going to become evil. But she knew by now he would always have that fear, because his coma was an experience that he could never forget, and would always haunt him. Every time he would become comfortable that he wouldn't follow in Lionel's footsteps, something would happen and make him think, and scare him. This time she knew what it was too, and she felt horrible.
She had done it this time, the things she had said about how he parented Alex. She could more fully see what he was feeling now. Combined with her words and the scare that Lionel would get parole, Clark was re- evaluating a lot of things. "Clark, what I said about you spoiling Alex, that doesn't mean you are a bad parent."
"But you were right, and I couldn't see it, Lana, I honestly couldn't." Clark confessed"How do I change something I would have never known existed without you? How many other things don't I see"
"Clark, stop. Don't do this to yourself. I can name a hundred things you do right for every one you do wrong." Lana had to stop him from picking himself apart"You are a good father. You just need to work on one thing." She put her hand on his knee, the first contact they had, had in so long.
"Lana, please move in with me. You can stop me from doing it... and I miss you." Clark brought them back on topic.
"I miss you too... lately I've been feeling like we've been living in two separate worlds, and Alex is the only bridge between them." Lana didn't realize she had been feeling like that until now"and if moving in with you means seeing more of each other; really being involved in your life again... I want that."
Once Lana had said it, Clark saw how true it really was. How could they both of been so blind before? He knew why though, because it had happened so slowly at first.
Clark leaned in and kissed Lana, really kissed her, like he hadn't in over a year. They finally had passion again, something they had lost while they had slowly been distancing each other for over a year.
Their kiss became more heated with every moment that passed.
"I love you Lana." Clark kissed her neck.
"I love you." Lana whispered. She felt like this wall was breaking between them.

TBC...