Chapter 5
Four days.
That's how long it has been since Kent's unprecedented arrival into another world. A world that almost mirrors his own.
Now if he could only find his way back.
"Mrs. Kent, can you pass the orange juice?" Lois asked politely.
Lois had an open invitation to come over for breakfast in the Kent home anytime, and for the last couple of days, she's been spending a lot of time at the farm and with a particularly special guest.
"Sure, Lois."
Martha reached for the pitcher but her son beats her to it.
"I got it, mom!"
Martha looked at him with surprise and so did Lois when Clark refilled her drink for her. Kent on the other hand simply sat back and smiled knowingly.
"Thanks," Lois said awkwardly.
Clark let out a small smile. "You're welcome."
Lois didn't know what's gotten into Clark all morning. He was being nice and cordial and all those things that she knew he wasn't whenever they're around each other.
She concluded that there was a possibility that he was feeling a tad bit jealous because everyone's attention has been towards another version of him. A version, much to her dismay, she enjoyed being around.
After an excruciatingly long silence, Lois decided to break it.
"So. Any progress in getting home?" she aimed her question towards Kent.
Kent took a bite out of his toasted wheat bread and shook his head sadly.
"Afraid not. We've been going to the Fortress to get information, but we haven't found anything useful."
Clark nearly choked from his milk and Martha looked gravely nervous at the mention of the Arctic Fortress, leaving Lois incredibly confused by the mention and everyone's reaction to it.
"Fortress?" she repeated. "You mean the loft?"
Kent's eyes shot up and he realized his slip. He spoke up to cover their tracks.
"Yeah. That fortress," he confirmed with a chuckle. "I keep forgetting it's a loft."
Lois thought something was up and in this house, it normally is, but she decided not to press on the matter because in all likelihood, she wasn't going to completely understand until one of them explains it to her.
"Okay."
Martha and Clark let out silent sighs of relief which was soon followed by the clinking sound of forks and spoons hitting the plates as family and friend continued to finish breakfast.
"Whew! That was a close call," Kent said as he and Clark took to clearing the table.
Clark's mind seemed elsewhere.
Kent notices this.
"You all right?"
Clark stopped halfway to the sink with a stack of dirty plates he put together at the table. He looked to Kent with so many questions, one especially.
"She knows what you are."
Kent was happy that he was finally piecing things together on his own, even when they were unintentional.
"By that, if you mean that she knows of my Kryptonian lineage, then yes. She does," he confirms. "How else am I going to see her every weekend when she's in D.C. all summer?" he adds jokingly.
In truth, she had known about it the night they first had their first date.
"Four days without her is brutal as it is, there's no way I'm spending three whole months without seeing her."
Another pang of jealousy struck Clark unexpectedly.
"It must be nice," he said finally placing the dirty dishes into the warm soap filled sink.
Kent saw his demeanor change and he quickly regretted telling him any of this at all.
"Look, Clark. This isn't a competition between us. We both live different lives. I'm not trying to throw this in your face or anything."
"Forget about it. I understand."
Kent sighed at his stubbornness. Things have become a lot more complicated now than they were when he first arrived.
Outside, Lois was reluctantly playing Frisbee with Shelby after the big golden mutt kept coming to her with it. The dog followed her everywhere and she quickly succumbed to his advances.
"Here you go, you annoying mutt that makes me sneeze," she said as she flung the Frisbee across the yard, which was followed by a sneeze. "Achoo!"
Lois sighed.
She hated her allergies.
Kent chuckled at the front porch, watching her and Shelby would have to be one of the funnier moments of this out-of-this-world trip.
"Tell me I don't have allergies in your world."
"Unfortunately, that's just one other thing that hasn't changed. Sorry." Kent makes his way towards her alongside a tail-wagging Shelby, the Frisbee in his mouth. He kneeled down. "Good boy!" he said patting the dog. "He loves you in my world too."
Lois rolled her eyes. "That's just great!"
Kent chuckled and turned to Shelby. "In her heart I know she means well."
Lois grabs the Frisbee from Shelby and hits Kent with it.
"Very funny!"
Crack! The Frisbee broke in half. Lois stared at it blankly just when Clark exited the front porch. She quickly drops it with a sad sounding Shelby staring at it.
"It wasn't me!" she quickly defends herself.
Kent tried to hold in his impending laughter.
Clark glares at her.
Lois knew she didn't put enough force into the hit to make it break so she thought of the only thing that would make sense.
"It's really old. It was bound to break sooner or later."
Kent starts to laugh. "I'm gonna head to the loft, I'll let you two debate over the Frisbee's lifespan," he said before heading off into the direction of the barn.
Lois and Clark stood staring at one another awkwardly before Lois turned to watch Kent walk away.
Clark bridges the gap between them.
"Can you try not to flirt with him? He does have a girlfriend, you know."
Clark sounded a bit harsher than he intended.
"No he doesn't," she denied the possibility only because she felt like getting on the annoyed side of Smallville. "And what makes you think I'm flirting with him?"
"Oh come on, Lois. You've been so obvious."
"Like…"
"You're here all the time."
"So? I'm always here."
"And you're always talking to him."
"And your problem would be..."
Clark sighed. "It makes me… it bothers me that's all," he finally had the guts to admit.
And it was the truth. Seeing Lois and Kent growing closer by the day bothers him more than he cared to acknowledge. He didn't even know where that kind of emotion was stemming from.
Maybe it was the knowledge that in another world, Lois Lane meant the world to him.
He just couldn't understand why, because in his world, he could barely understand her. She's always so forward. She rarely talks about herself. And she only does things when his mom or Chloe asks her to.
What was so special about her that has Kent describing her so perfectly?
Then…
"AH!" she screamed lightheartedly as Shelby slobbers her with kisses. She had tried to play with Shelby with half of the Frisbee but instead, the happy golden retriever decided to have fun with her instead.
There was a mixture of quips and laughter and…
That's when he saw it.
Her smile.
It lit up the world.
"I hate dogs," she said, walking tiredly into the living room.
"No you don't," Clark debunked.
"Yes. I do."
Clark knew that no person spends that much time with an animal and not like them. She's just being stubborn as usual. She even talks to Shelby. And if their morning jogs were any indication, he'd think that Lois has found a best friend in their loyal dog.
Because really, that's what Shelby was.
Their dog.
Lois found him – or more specifically – hit him. And if she never had brought him to the farm, he wouldn't have Shelby in his life.
Thinking of what happened then, Clark didn't think he ever thanked her for bringing Shelby into their life.
Clark looked at Lois who was just about to head up the stairs. He reached out and lightly touched her hand on the banister.
"Hey."
Lois turned to him but not before looking down on where his hand was. She quickly slid it away, her move making Clark flinch a little.
A reaction he didn't expect.
"What is it, Smallville?"
Clark sighed. "Would it kill you to call me by name?"
"You really want me to answer that?"
Clark backs out.
"Nevermind."
Lois starts to go back up.
"Wait!"
Lois sighed, stopping and turning to Clark looking slightly annoyed.
"What?"
Clark takes a deep breath and says, "Thank you." There. He said it. Now everything should go back to normal between them.
Lois looked at him oddly.
Maybe not, he thought.
Lois didn't return with a 'you're welcome.' She just turned and walked up the stairs and into the bathroom. The door slamming shut which was followed by the sound of running water in the bathtub.
Clark's eyes stared aimlessly up the stairs when Kent appeared behind him.
"I'll give you a point 6 on the dismount and a 3.5 on the landing," he comments with an amused smile.
"Should I be feeling this way?" Clark asked, his eyes still facing up the stairs.
"What are you feeling?"
"Like I'm nervous about something, but I'm not entirely sure what it is."
"Some people call it butterflies."
Then Kent gives him a pat on the back.
"That's usually how the feeling starts," he said knowingly, walking back outside to the loft.
Kent figured that if he left Clark alone, he would stop brooding and start thinking of all the possibilities that surrounded him.
Maybe there's hope left in him still.
End of Chapter 5