"Can I come in?"

"Y-yeah...of course." Clark stepped aside and allowed her in. He was just about to shut the door when he remembered that it was pitched black.

"Wait here, okay?" Clark said uncertainly. When he heard her make a little sound, he super sped out of the room.

From the sudden rush of wind, Lana knew that Clark had just gone into super speed mode. No doubt he was out in the pouring rain trying to restore the power. Forever playing the hero.

A few minutes later, the lights flicked on and Lana got the first glimpse into his apartment and life. There were no dishes in the sink, though she wasn't entirely sure if the reason for that was his tidiness or lack of cooking skills. All of his furniture was worn and the coffee table looked like it could use a good dusting. She smiled slightly at the thought of Genevieve Teague walking into this room.

Lana took a step forward to sit on the couch, but realized that she was dripping all over the carpet. She hadn't thought of grabbing an umbrella on her way out. In fact, she hadn't thought of grabbing anything but her purse, keys, and coat.

The door opened just then and in came a soaked Clark Kent. Lana blushed furiously as she tried to advert her eyes from his abs that were putting on quite a show through his wet tee.

He smiled at her gently and wordlessly passed her to what she assumed was his bedroom. A few moments later, he emerged, handing her a blue towel, a white shirt, and some gray sweatpants.

"You can change in there." He tilted his head to the side to indicate the bedroom.

"Thanks," she said quietly, watching his eyes explore her face. She knew that he probably had a million questions running through his mind at the moment, but she prayed that he wouldn't bombard her with them now. She was too emotionally drained for that.

Lana slipped into his room and shut the door behind her, flicking on his bedside lamp. She resisted the urge to go lie down on his bed and snuggle under the covers in which he slept with. Instead, she pulled off her wet jacket, shirt, and jeans. She wiped herself dry with the towel and after some contemplating, she ridded her bra as well. She hung them to dry in his bathroom and slipped into the sweats and t-shirt that he had loaned her. Once she placed her shoes in the corner, she rolled up the hem of the sweats so that she wouldn't trip in them.

Hoping that he wouldn't mind, she hunted through his chest of drawers, looking for socks. Once she was fully clothed, she couldn't help but resist bringing his shirt up to get a whiff of his masculine scent. God, he smelt so good.

Chiding herself for acting foolish, Lana took a deep breath and reentered the living area where she found Clark in the process of changing into dry clothes. She cleared her throat to let her presence be known and he quickly turned around.

Thinking on her feet, she blurted out the first thing that came to her mind. "Umm...sorry for dripping all over your carpet."

It took a moment for her comment to register, but Clark finally responded. "Oh...don't worry about it. The carpet's at least a decade old anyway."

Lana smiled at his attempt at humor.

"Umm...do you want something to eat?" he offered, walking over to the fridge where he pulled it open.

"It's a quarter past twelve..."

He shrugged. "Are you hungry?"

Lana nodded, admitting that she was. Friday nights at the Teague estate was chopped liver night.

Clark shut the fridge closed and began pulling cabinets open. "Umm...I have some cereal...that expired a year ago."

Lana joined him in the search for food. "Wow...your fridge is really empty."

"Yeah...well...I don't really need to eat."

"Oh, right...I sorta forgot." Lana closed refrigerator and leaned against the counter, admiring him as he bent down to check the cabinets below. She giggled suddenly, a thought occurring to her.

"What?"

"Oh...nothing." No need to give him more reasons to make him think she was insane.

He grinned, giving up his quest for food. "No...what?"

She sighed, knowing that he wasn't going to drop it. "It's just...I was thinking about how your mother would react if she stepped inside this place."

He laughed, smiling along with her. "Now you know why she's never been in here."

An awkward pause remained once their chuckles had died down and Lana felt herself fidgeting with the hem of the shirt that he had loaned her.

"So..." Clark coughed and made a move toward the living area. "Umm...you can have my bed and I'll just take the couch. Is that okay?"

Lana shook her head. "I'll take the couch...I mean, I feel bad just showing up here...in the middle of the night..." She paused, looking up at him. She could feel the question at the tip of his tongue.

Clark fumbled with the question for a couple of seconds before saying cautiously, "Why are you doing here, anyway? I mean, don't get me wrong, I love...I love your company and all...but..."

Lana gave him a little shrug and turned away. "You're probably going to think this is silly."

"I won't," he assured her, taking a step toward her. Lana turned around, facing him again. "I promise," he added sincerely.

She smiled warmly. "You remember Jason, don't you?"

How could he forget?

"Well...we sort of got into an argument tonight."

Clark immediately tensed up. "He didn't hurt you...did he?"

"No...no, nothing like that." Lana sighed and wrapped her arms around herself. "Jason and I...well...we were at his parent's house. And suddenly, out of no where, his mother brings up the location of the wedding and how plans have already been made to have it held in St. Mary's in the downtown district of Metropolis."

"I couldn't believe it...I mean, all this time, I thought that the wedding would be held in Smallville. I even told Jason right away after he proposed and he promised me it would be in Smallville. I had this entire vision of what our wedding day would look like...out in the open of the fields, under the sunset..."

She paused, noticing a smile creeping up on Clark's expression. "I thought you said that you wouldn't think this is silly."

Clark snapped out of his daze. "I won't--I mean...I don't. I was just imagining you in a wedding dress."

"Do I look that funny?"

"What? No...I just..."

"Clark, relax. I'm just teasing you."

"Oh, right."

Lana shifted. "You know what? I should probably let you get to bed." For some reason, she felt really uncomfortable talking to him about Jason.

"No, it's okay. Keep going. We can even move this conversation to the couch if you want."

Lana followed him to the couch and took a seat next to him, making sure to leave some space between them.

"How did you find me anyway?" Clark wondered, remembering that although he and Lana had chosen to remain friends, they hadn't exchanged any means of contacting each other.

"I looked you up in the phonebook." She flushed when she realized how desperate that sounded. She added quickly, "I mean you were the only one I knew...in Metropolis..."

Clark hid his grin, nodding. There was a lull in the conversation in which Lana yawned several times.

"Why don't you go ahead and get some sleep? I'll camp out here on the couch tonight."

"Are you sure?" Lana inquired through a yawn. "I feel horrible for kicking you out of your own bed."

Clark smiled and stood up. "Go ahead. I'll just grab a spare pillow and blanket from the bedroom."

Lana watched him as he disappeared into the bedroom. After a minute, he emerged, carrying a pillow and red blanket.

"It's all set up in there," he informed her as she stood from the sofa. To his surprise, she pulled him a hug.

"Thanks for everything, Clark," she whispered, padding toward his room.

Lana shut the door behind her and slipped under the covers of his master bed. She sighed deeply, inhaling his scent that had been left behind on his pillows. After making herself comfortable, she replayed the day's events.

When she got to her rather heated argument with Jason, Lana couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt for being here, in her ex-boyfriend's bed.

Of course, if Jason had really wanted to find her, he would've found her by now, Lana reasoned with herself. It was obvious that he wasn't that concerned about her whereabouts, so why should she have to feel guilty?

With that in mind, Lana pushed her thoughts of Jason from her mind and replaced them with a certain hero who had an affixture for the colors red and blue.