The morning sun spilled through the open shades that he had forgotten to draw close last night. Clark groaned and buried his head deeper into his pillow, blindly reaching out for his red comforter. Having flinging his hand helplessly at the air for the past minute, he finally opened his eyes.

He reached down to drag the blanket off of the floor and on to his body. He had forgotten that he had given up his bed for Lana last night.

Clark rubbed his face and pushed himself up into a sitting position. After letting his morning grogginess fade away, he stood up, stretched, and padded toward his room.

He pushed the door open quietly and poked his head in. To his astonishment, she was gone.

He blinked several times, trying to calm his beating heart. Maybe she was in the bathroom...

Nope, she wasn't. Clark moved toward the bed, checking if she had left any note of some sort. When he was certain that she hadn't, he plopped himself down on the bed, confused to hell as to why she had just taken off.

Had he scared her away last night? He had taken extra care last night not to say or do anything that would jeopardize what little relationship he had with her. And it wasn't as if she had been cold to him the night before either. In fact, she had been the opposite.

What then? What could have made her run off without a good-bye? Clark reflected on the events of last night carefully in his mind. Just before she had gone to bed, she had thanked him...and then what?

She had hugged him. Clark could still feel the sparks from that hug and he scolded himself for not remembering.

Had that hug scared her off? Had it made her realize that she had gone too far? What would her fiancé think of her showing up in the middle of the night at her ex-boyfriend's apartment?

And why did he have so many questions?

Clark sighed and rubbed his temples, feeling drained. He settled into his bed and was about to drift off to sleep when he heard the front door open and slam shut.

He dragged himself off of the mattress and headed for the door, praying that it wasn't Mr. Harris. For all he knew, Mr. Harris would threaten to call to cops on him for housing a prostitute last night.

Clark froze when he saw who was standing in his kitchen, putting away groceries.

"Lana?"

"'Morning, Clark," she replied rather cheerfully, along with a radiant smile. When he didn't say anything in return, the smile turned into a small frown. "Are you okay? You look like you saw a ghost," she commented, stopping what she was doing and walking over to where he was standing.

"But--how--?" Clark managed to get out while his mind was doing a one-eighty.

Lana giggled, obviously amused.

"I thought that you had left."

"Me? Oh, no, I just went to get us some breakfast and restock your fridge," Lana explained. "I'm sorry if I worried you..."

How could he resist those big innocent eyes of hers? Clark smiled, grateful that she hadn't run off. "You didn't have to do that. I mean, buy groceries."

She shrugged, moving back to the make-shift kitchen where she resumed putting away produce. "I wanted to. It was the least that I could do."

Clark moved forward, helping her put away cereal and other snacks into the cupboards that she couldn't reach. Twice, his hand brushed hers while reaching over to grab some more groceries.

Once the items were put away, Clark noticed Lana pulling out a brand new frying pan out of the bottom cabinets and ripping the price tag off.

"Well, I can see that you've put mileage on this thing," Lana commented, pulling out various other ingredients that she needed.

"Yeah...it was a going-away present from my mom... I guess I never really got around to using it."

She smiled and turned the dial on the stove top to high.

"What are you doing?" Clark asked curiously, watching her set out a couple of eggs to the side.

"How do you like your eggs?"

"What?"

Lana laughed and repeated the question.

"Umm...scrambled?"

"Scrambled it is then." She began cracking eggs and whisking them with a fork.

"Are you cooking me breakfast?"

"No, I'm making eggs for your house plant."

"I don't have a house plant," Clark observed, enjoying their playful banter. It was hard to imagine that just a few minutes ago; he was bewildered as hell about her supposed departure.

"Why don't you go take a shower while I finish up breakfast?" Lana suggested, pouring oil into the pan.

"You know, you don't have to do this," Clark said, his eyes glued to her every move.

"I know. But I want to," she simply replied.

With those words ringing in his head, it took every fiber in his being not to burst into an out-of-tune song while showering.

He had just stepped out of the shower stall when the ringing of his cell could be heard. Clark threw on a towel on his waist and exited the bathroom. Thankfully, his cell phone was lying on his nightstand and he needn't venture out to the front where Lana was preparing breakfast.

"Hello?"

"Clark? It's Pete."

"Hey, Pete." Clark headed for the bathroom again, grabbing a hand towel to dry his hair. "What's up?"

There was a pause on the other line. "I thought you were coming into Smallville today."

"I am?" Genuine surprise was inflicted into his tone.

"Yeah...for the best man duties?"

He mentally smacked himself on the head. "Oh, right! It slipped my mind...I'm really sorry."

"Hey, don't sweat it. Just come now. It'll only take like what, a second?"

"Actually..." Clark could hear the sizzling of what he assumed was bacon outside of the room; and not only that, but he could smell the aroma as well. Buying himself some more time, he inquired where he was going to meet up with Pete at.

"Actually, I'm at your parent's house right now. Marie is here with me too...your mom invited us over to breakfast when I told her about your visit."

"Oh..."

"So, any second now, I'll see you at the door?"

"Won't Marie wonder how I got there so fast?"

"Nah, I'm outside, on the porch."

"Oh."

"Clark?"

"Yeah?"

"Why does it seem like you're trying to come up with some sort of excuse not to come down here?"

Maybe it's because I am, Clark thought. "Listen, Pete...I sorta have some company right now..."

"What do you mean you sorta have some company?"

"Well, I--" He was cut off by a half whoop and a burst of laughter from Pete.

"You finally got laid, didn't you?" Pete exclaimed so loud that Clark had to hold the phone away from his eardrums. "I knew you had in ya, man!"

Clark flushed red and was glad that no one could see him. "Pete..."

"Who was it? Someone from the office?"

"Pete, I didn't get laid."

"Oh."

There was an awkward pause on both ends of the line before Clark heard Pete clear his throat. "So...are you still coming down here?"

"Yeah...I'll be there soon," Clark heard himself say, before hanging up. With a disappointed expression, he turned to glance at the door. Just a few feet beyond that door would be Lana. It seemed unfair that of all the days he could have ventured down to Smallville, it just had to be this day.

Lana placed one last strawberry on his plate and stood up a little straighter to admire her work. In forty minutes, she had managed to whip up quite a healthy and delicious-looking meal.

She smiled to herself as she straightened up the stack of pancakes and toast that she had laid out. Lana was proud to confess that after all those years at the Kents' for breakfast, she had, indeed, picked up something.

A smile crossed her features as she thought back to one lazy, summer morning at the Kent household. Ever since she had stepped back into the conundrum that was Clark Kent, memories of her past romance with him had been popping up at random moments. Like now, for instance.

"What are you smiling about?"

Lana spun around and was met with the sight of Clark Kent dressed in a red tee and jeans. She was glad that he had ditched the flannel for something else that showed off his abs and biceps better.

"I was just thinking about the time that your parents were in Metropolis for your dad's heart examination," Lana confessed, watching him as he made his way toward her.

"I remember that," Clark said, beginning to grin. "You stayed the night before and..."

Lana blushed slightly, knowing that they were treading into dangerous waters. Thankfully, Clark skipped the part where they had made love into the early hours of the next morning.

"I remember waking up and wondering where you had gone," Lana admitted.

The sun's rays filtered through the checkered curtains of the room. Under the plaid comforter, Lana snuggled deeper into the warmth that she and Clark had created the night before. Subconsciously, she reached under the sheets for the familiar warmth that Clark could only emanate. Perplexed when she couldn't find any, she slowly sat up.

Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes and brushing the hair out of the face, Lana looked around the room. "Clark?" she called, her voice cracking from the silence of her sleep.

Once she felt confident that she was awake enough to travel down the stairs, she grabbed Clark's flannel shirt from the floor, slipped it on, and padded across the room to the door.

"Clark?" Lana called again, now at the bottom of the stairs. An aroma of bacon and eggs suddenly hit her nostrils and she headed toward the kitchen.

She let out a giggle as she caught sight of Clark, only in his boxers, cooking breakfast.

"Clark?"

He spun around, surprised. "Lana? What are you doing out of bed?"

"Looking for you," she replied, crinkling her nose. She wrapped her arms around his neck as his hands settled on her hips.

"You ruined my surprise," he informed her, kissing her lightly on the lips. "I was going to bring you breakfast in bed."

"Mmm...but you can still do that," Lana mumbled against his chest as his hands explored her body.

Abruptly, she pulled back, glancing behind him. "Clark, do you smell something burning?"

His eyes got wide and he turned around just in time to see black smoke hovering over the frying pan. He cursed loudly as the fire alarm on the ceiling began shrieking.

Lana, herself, almost shrieked when Clark put his bare hands on the pan, smothering the flames. She caught herself just in time, remembering that Clark was invulnerable.

Once the flames were out, Lana rushed to Clark, grabbing his hands.

"Lana, it's okay," he reminded her as she examined his palms.

"I know...it's just hard for me to see you walk through fire or take a bullet," she admitted.

He gave her a gentle smile and kissed her forehead. "Well, I guess breakfast is ruined."

Lana laughed, looking at the mess. "It's the thought that counts, right?"

"Of course. I love you."

She smiled. "I love you, too, Clark Kent."

"I still can't believe you burnt the food," Lana teased him.

"Hey, it wasn't my fault that I was distracted by your beauty," Clark protested.

Lana felt a blush creeping up. Was it just her or was he flirting with her?

"Well, I'm glad to announce that I didn't burn breakfast." Lana took his hand in hers and dragged him over to the kitchen counter where an assortment of breakfast foods was laid out.

"Wow..." Lana looked on as his eyes trailed over the strawberries that she had laid out on his plate to the mounds of pancake laced with syrup and bananas.

"I remembered that you always eat your pancakes with bananas," Lana explained, smiling widely at his reaction.

"Lana...you didn't have to do all this." Clark turned to her and took both her hands in his. "In fact, you really shouldn't have..."

"What do you mean?" She frowned slightly and searched his face.

"Listen...I'm supposed to be somewhere else right now," Clark confessed, squeezing her hands gently.

"What do you mean?" she questioned, slightly confused and disappointed. I have no right to be disappointed, Lana reminded herself suddenly. It wasn't as if they had planned to have breakfast or spend the morning together. Besides, this was crazy...she was at her ex-boyfriend's apartment, making him breakfast, without her fiancé's knowledge.

"Pete...you remember him, don't you? He's getting married in this month and he asked me to be his best man. And as best man, I'm supposed to be in Smallville today helping him with the wedding plans."

"Oh." Say something else, Lana scolded herself.

"I'm really sorry, Lana. I know that you probably had this whole day planned out for us to catch up...and you made this wonderful breakfast for me..."

"No, no..." Lana said, her voice finally working. "It's fine."

Clark peered at her closely. "No, it's not. I know you well enough to know that it's not."

"You know what?" Lana said abruptly, feeling foolish. "I think that I'll just go now. Try to clear the air between me and Jason."

At the mention of Jason, something inside of Clark snapped. He glanced down at her left hand that was still in his. Her engagement ring was shining in the bright morning sun, seemingly taunting.

"Come with me," he blurted out. "To Smallville, I mean."

Shocked at his proposal, Lana took a step back, a natural habit of hers. Though, Clark must have seen it as a negative reply as he quickly said, "I'm sorry... Forget that I ever said that."

"I can't forget." Lana bit her bottom lip. Here it was again, another window of opportunity. Before, it had been an invite out in the gardens for a walk and now it was a trip back to her hometown. They were both similar, but in this case, Lana knew that if she accepted, things would never be the same. She would never be able to just forget him like she'd tried to do before. No, if she accepted, Clark would be a permanent part of her life--a part that would never fade.

And yet, she couldn't refuse his offer at the same time. Perhaps, it was the need to reconnect with all things forgotten and the sweet memories. Perhaps, she needed a break away from her life and escape into her childhood dreams. Or, perhaps, Lana Lang was simply falling in love with Clark Kent again, the boy who had captured her heart ten years ago. And maybe, just maybe, still had it.