A.N. I'd just like to take this time to remind you all that I really do appreciate any reviews you'd care to give me. Really, I do. And it kind of makes me sad that I'm not getting a lot of feeback on this, even though I know people are at least clicking into the chapters. I'm not going to say 'Give me 5 reviews or I'm not updating'. That's lame. I'm just gonna state a fact: the less feedback I get, the less inclined I am to updating. That's just how it is. So, if you enjoy reading this (or even if you don't and have some suggestions) please take the time to review. It really doesn't take that long, and it doesn't hurt anybody, does it?

Thanks a lot all who have reviewed already and also to those who have added this or me to their alerts and/or favorites. It really means a lot to me.

Alright I'm done. Enjoy!

As I contemplated life on the dorm rooftop, Lana did some thinking of her own.

She finished "de-glitterfying" her face in the mirror of her bathroom, scrubbing and moisturizing as she waited for the water to warm up in the tub. The cleansing process never fully ended until she was resting peacefully in a toasty, soothing bubble bath.

All the makeup and smoky, club smells were finally washed clean from her skin. She lay there for hours, sometimes even falling asleep, washing away the artificial beauty of her job and letting the natural sweetness of her cheeks and softness of her touch bubble back to the surface.

It wouldn't be for a long while that I would ever see Lana lying naked in a bath tub, but in my opinion, it was always the time when she looked the most beautiful. A light smile present on her pale pink lips. Water droplets slipping down her rich, porcelain-like skin. Her dark hair, wet and splayed around her head and neck like a wave of soft, chocolate-colored silk…like a water goddess or some kind of mermaid.

She always playfully chastised me for walking into the bathroom some days to just sit there by the tub, watching her without her knowledge. Yet, in all the time I watched her, submerged in that liquid tranquility...looking so incredibly peaceful…sex never once crossed my mind, as she always insisted it did. Our relationship had never really been focused on sensual feelings anyway (although we certainly had our moments of madness). Lana and I had always been bonded on a much deeper level than any sort of physical feeling. It's even hard to describe in words without sounding cheesy.

Every night it seemed the water would renew her, but for the longest time, it seemed the next day was certain to bring a new dirty, "protective" shell for her to rinse away.

Both of us were just facing each day as it came, nothing in the distant future was ever easily seen. And sure, it hurt a little each day to think that maybe our two separate, sick cycles would go on for the rest of our lives, but at the time we couldn't think of anything better. At the time, neither one of us indulged in what we really felt because at the time, neither one of us knew what we wanted.

But that day felt different to Lana and me. I tried to promise myself that I would never allow another moment like what had almost happened in my dorm earlier, but I couldn't get Lana's image out of my mind. Everywhere I looked, everything I thought about…I even caught myself daydreaming about a life with her…together forever. It seemed too good to ever happen. But that didn't stop me from thinking of it as I watched the sun crawl up in the sky and the city birds swoop across from rooftop to rooftop. I wondered if she would enjoy sitting up there with me…if she was thinking about me at that same moment…

And she was. Lana told me later that she had never thought so much for so long about any other person in her life.

She closed her eyes and slipped under the swirling water, feeling it embracing her head as she became fully submerged. She always felt free under water. No one ever bothered her there. It was an escape…and that day, for the first time, she wished she had someone else to share the experience with. A smile stretched across her face as she imagined me there with her…under the water…free.

An hour later however, she was crossing streets in downtown Metropolis, making her way to The Pulse. Another night of glitter, songs, and drinks.

She urged Dean to cancel any requests she had for the night because she was sick (with an illness she likes to now call Clarkitis – there still is no cure), and rushed out the back door of the club, wrapping her full length coat around her body tightly and taking large strides towards her destination.

"Mind if I walk with you?"

Lana froze and whirled around looking a little afraid, but mostly shocked. "Clark?"

I smiled and stood up from the lamp post I'd been leaning on for the past two hours. "Yeah. I'm sorry if I scared you."

"No, it's ok. Sure, you can walk with me," She answered with an honestly happy grin. My stomach whooshed at the thought that I was the one that made that grin appear. "I canceled all my requests tonight, so I'm sorry if you were one of them…"

"Uh…I wasn't…" I surprised myself as a flicker of jealous shocked through me. I'd only met Lana yesterday and already I felt jealous?

"Um…truthfully, I decided to just wait out here for you."

"Out here? How long were you waiting?" she asked with immediate concern.

I shoved my hands in my pockets as we walked, gluing my focus on the pavement. "Uh…let's just say…longer than any sane person would."

"Oh, Clark…you shouldn't have done that…"

"It's not like I had anything better to do." Just to eat lunch…and dinner….and work on my college thesis…no biggie.

The walk continued with only minor small talk, but I certainly didn't mind not talking a lot. As long as I was in her presence, I didn't mind anything at all. I stole glances at her at least a hundred times before getting careless and letting her catch me. But even after that, my eyes stared into hers for just a few seconds before bashfully falling back to the ground with a smile.

"What?" she asked with intrigue. "Why are you smiling?"

"Nothing." But my heart was screaming to be heard, to let her know that there really was something.

She suddenly walked into from of me and stopped. I stood, frozen to the spot, wondering if she could sense that I was lying. "My apartment's right here."

"Hm?" I followed her outstretched arm at the building to the left of us.

It was an odd, pale blue hue, which I supposed is where her drunken explanation of "Blue" had come from. Some of the paint was chipping off and the curtains in the windows looked overly starched and off-white. And although it was located in a well-lit part of town, I suddenly felt a little worried. "You live here by yourself?"

"Yeah. It's not much, but it's close to work and the rent isn't so bad." She seemed content with her answer until she looked over and noticed my reaction. "It really isn't as crappy as it looks."

I quickly snapped out of my angry, protective expression and turned back to her with a smile. "I'm sure it isn't."

She dropped her head to one side in a cute way and analyzed my face before speaking. "Can I ask you something?"

"Go ahead."

"This morning, before your roommate showed up…"

Awkward conversation! "I'm sorry about that. I don't know what came over me. I didn't mean to suddenly move in on you like I did."

She stared blankly before laughing to herself. "No, I mean…well, it wasn't all your fault. Something came over me too…"

She had a hard time looking into my eyes after she responded, so I tried to revive the conversation, mostly to just get it over with. "So…you wanted to ask me something?"

"Yeah…uh…" She pulled a strand of hair from her face and then quickly shoved her hand back in her coat pocket to match the other as she looked up at me. "This might sound a little grade-school-ish, but I wanted to know if…you'd like to be my friend."

"…oh." Stare. Confused.

"I mean I know earlier, we just…we both established that we just got carried away…but I'd still really like to get to know you," she admitted truthfully. Her gaze then fell back to the ground. "I really…I really don't have many people in my life that I can call…'a friend.'"

I tried to smile comfortingly through my expression of sadness. "Of course I'll be your friend, Lana."

She looked back at me with wide, but happy eyes and then fell into my chest, embracing me around the waist. "You're amazing, Clark."

My large hands rested on her back as she took refuge in my shirt. I felt warm and content. Like two puzzle pieces snapping together. Like we were suppose to be like this.

It was then that I realized just how perfect the words of "Bring Me To Life" were for her to sing – she was living those words everyday. And maybe the reason I didn't feel as sad when I heard them coming from her voice was because I knew I could save her. I somehow knew that I would.

So I made a silent promise to myself that night. I promised that I would do anything and everything in my power to make sure that the girl in my arms would never feel alone again.

I would save her. No matter what the cost.

After that night, I walked Lana home constantly. She admitted it did freak her out some nights to walk home alone, especially when she was fairly drunk. A few times she awoke to find herself scrunched up in an alley at six in the morning. We both laughed at the story, but in the back of our minds we were scared to death of what could've happened instead.

Soon I'd walked with her so many times we began to almost get in a kind of routine. I'd wait for her until a little after two, and if she didn't show up, I'd go down one block to a coffeehouse and wait until four thirty when she was finished entertaining her requests.

And as much as I tried to ignore it, the jealousy always remained deep within me. I would sit in the coffeehouse, sipping my drink, tuning in with my super hearing every so often, just to make sure whoever she was with that night didn't try to force himself on her. The way she sometimes acted around me – vulnerable and shy – I knew she wasn't one of those women who would do anything with a guy if it meant a little extra cash in her pocket. She had boundaries. And I vowed to help her kept them strong.

I didn't tell Lana about how jealous I was until a long while after those waits of sipping coffee by myself. We'd just agreed to a friendship and that alone was more than I could ever ask for. I remained as ignorant as possible, even to myself, mostly out of habit. We were just friends and, as far as I was concerned, that's all we would ever be.

I couldn't lie, though. I loved talking to her. We'd plow through hundreds of subjects as we crossed the streets and trudged down sidewalks to get to her apartment, sometimes taking long routes in order to have more conversing time. I found that we had a lot more in common than just the fact that we denied love.

We both loved dogs, classic rock, astrology and the rain. We both hated costumes, heights, working, and…of course…being alone.

I didn't want to ditch Pete, but Lana was beginning to grow on me as my best friend. And honestly, he hadn't been that much fun to hang out with since he and Shannon had gotten together. Lana, on the other hand, was always there to listen and to respond with helpful advice or just a funny statement.

And although we were the same in many areas, we also had different outlooks on the world and opinions on subjects. Not enough of a difference to get into a heated argument, just enough to give the other a new perspective on ideas. Another thing we both shared was openmindedness. And that was something I was very grateful for.

It wasn't until Saturday, a week after my birthday, that I actually considered telling her my secret. Part of me began to panic, reminding myself that we only knew each other for seven days. Still, while that was true, I also felt that out of all my friends, Lana would be the best candidate to learn who and what I really was. She was trusting and understanding. I was almost sure that she wouldn't turn away from me.

So, as we walked home that night, I decided to do some "investigative reporting" as my good friend Chloe would call it.

"Do you think…I mean…have you ever wondered if…there were life on other planets?" I asked casually as I kept my gaze up at the stars above us.

She looked up at them too with a smile. "Well, yeah. I guess I've thought about it once or twice."

I swallowed nervously, even though the way she'd answered my first question gave no reason for me to feel uncomfortable. "And did you ever wonder…if a lifeform like that…were to come to Earth?"

"Like…like an alien?" she asked, furrowing her eyebrows and looking over at me.

I swallowed again, making my Adam's apple rise and fall deeply. I tried to focus on the constellation of Orion for strength. "Yeah…how would you feel if you met an alien?"

"Hm…" She took a moment to think about it. An incredibly long minute, if you ask me. "Well…I think it would be kind of cool."

"Cool?" I repeated with curiosity, looking in her general direction, but not moving my head from the sky.

"Yeah. Well, it depends. If they're nice, gentle little creatures then yeah…it would be pretty cool. But if they were like some three-eyed, 4 foot dudes with big heads and a tail then I'd be pretty freaked out."

I laugh a long with her, but still didn't feel totally at ease until she continued.

"But if they were the former…have to admit, I'd be pretty excited. Just because we're from different worlds…I don't think that means we wouldn't have any common ground. I guess if I met an alien…I'd probably end up making them my best friend. Maybe they'd be kind enough to beam me back to their planet so I could see what life is like there." Lana laughed at herself and shook her head. "I know, I'm weird."

"Yeah, you are," I agreed with a smile. "But it's a good thing. Trust me."

She looked up at me with a grin, then slipped her arm through mine, walking with me in perfect silence and synchronization.

And for the next twenty four hours I was more than confident that Lana was the one to share my life with. My origin, my abilities, and my future…everything.

But life, I as I've clearly learned over the years, does not let Clark Kent get anything worth while quite that easily. There's always an obstacle to overcome. A lesson to be learned. And pain to be felt.