Apologizes to all again. I just got a lap top (yay!) and had to wait until I was able to get back on my older computer to retrieve the rest of the chapters. I will try to keep updating frequently!

Thanks again to all that have reviewed! I love you all:)

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"And here they are – Fox and Electraaaaa!!"

I laughed to myself as Lana and I rushed up on stage, giving everyone a small wave.

Fox…interesting choice…I wondered if Lana picked it out.

But the thought escaped my conscious mind when we took our seats on the two wooden stools placed in front of two microphones. This was it. I glanced over at Lana who gave me another tiny smile before Sean started in with his guitar.

The crowd hushed down as they prepared to hear what Lana and I had in store for them. I kept one booted foot tapping to the beat to make sure I came in on the right part, and then let the first words of the song fall from my lips.

"I wanted you to know, that I love the way you laugh
I wanna hold you high and steal your pain away
I keep your photograph, and I know it serves me well
I wanna hold you high and steal your pain."

Lana's voice suddenly slid into place with the music as the chorus sprang to life.

"'Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome
And I don't feel right when you're gone away."

I suddenly found myself a bit lost. Not in the song, but because at this time I usually reverted to looking down at Sean's guitar. Since he was now placed behind me, I didn't know where to look, so as I sang the filler to Lana's verse, I kept my eyes out to the crowd like any good rock star would.

And then I silenced my voice to allow Lana her spotlight.

"The worst is over now and we can breathe again
I wanna hold you high, you steal my pain away
There's so much left to learn, and no one left to fight
I wanna hold you high and steal your pain."

I'd never heard her sing it so beautifully. And the added instruments of the band – electric guitar, drums, everything – began to suck me in, just as Lana said it would. I found myself turning my gaze to her face, watching her eyes as they closed and then opened depending on what note she hit. I felt tingles everywhere as I joined in again with her.

"'Cause I'm broken when I'm open
And I don't feel like I am strong enough
'Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome
And I don't feel right when you're gone away."

My stomach swirled, but this time because of happiness and contentment. The audience indeed was out of my mind. My eyes were set on Lana and my feelings for her. It was like that magnetic feeling of wanting to be closer to her like I had experienced when we'd almost kissed in my dorm, but this time it was much more intense. So intense, I couldn't help but stand up, affectionately wrapping a hand around hers. We both took our mics in our hands and walked out in front of the stools, facing more towards each other than the now invisible people watching.

The song was nearing the end of the instrumental break and my body was practically bursting to sing out the words. They were just for Lana. My face was pulled into an almost pained expression as I continued to sing my heart out to the most amazing girl in the world.

"'Cause I'm broken when I'm open
And I don't feel like I am strong enough
'Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome
And I don't feel right when you're gone away."

The ripping of the guitar and crash of the cymbols built up a crescendo of power through my veins. I entertwined my hands with Lana's, loving how she pulled the microphone away from her mouth when he held a note. Loving absolutely every single thing about her.

"'Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome
And I don't feel right when you're gone away."

I couldn't keep my eyes away from hers. The closer the song got ending, the closer our bodies moved in together. The music enthralled me, sending all warning signs or shyness out the door. I wasn't thinking about the past or how I'd hurt Lana. I only felt pure happiness. Happiness and music.

By the time I'd sang out the last verse of the song, Lana's face was inches from mine. Our other hands joined together around our microphones and our ears drowned out the whistles and shouts from the crowd with the insistent beating of our hearts.

I felt her breath tickle my face and before I could think about anything else, I leaned in closer and whispered, "Lana…I love you."

Her mouth opened slightly in shock. Normally, I would've second-guessed myself, apologizing profusely, but inside I remained silent, smiling at her dazily…honestly. It almost came as a surprise to myself…I really did love her.

She stared into my eyes, seeing that what I'd just professed was the truth. Her gaze then fell to my lips.

I moved in slowly, and felt my heart pump like a million fireworks in my chest when she unexpectedly and impatiently jolted forward and I felt her lips on my own. This was nothing like the kiss she'd given me on my birthday. This was filled with not only passion, but love as well.

The feeling that kiss gave me was unforgettable. To this day I still get chills remembering it. It was one of those once-in-a-lifetime kisses that just felt right somehow. I have nothing…absolutely no other feeling to compare it to.

Once we pulled away, both of us were immediately thrust back into the screaming, clapping world we were surrounded by.

I could see Andrew whistling and Pete guffawing beside him. Tucker was clapping with one arm wrapped over the shoulders of an enthusiastic young vixen. I turned my head in the other direction to see Sean give me the thumbs up and a small smile through his sheet of matted hair.

And then I looked back at Lana, feeling my heart skip a beat. I couldn't stop smiling. I loved everything about this feeling. It was a natural high.

Eventually, Dean popped back up onto the stage, had Lana and me do our casual bows, and then allowed us to hop off the stage, hand-in-hand, to head back to the dressing rooms.

"Lana, that was – "

"Hey, Baby!"

We both stopped in our tracks as Lana whirled around to see a man rush up to us. He was a little scrony and short with a slick blonde hair. He wore a very nice dress shirt and black pants to complete his private-school-graduate look. I looked curiously back at Lana to see her reaction.

"Whitney!" Lana exclaimed in a weird tone. Halfway between happiness and panic.

My face dropped into a bewildered expression and my heart dropped a little when I felt her yank our hands apart.

"Looks like you've still been having all the fun without me, haven't you?" he said in a snarky-like manner.

"W-what are you doing here? I thought you were with your father on a business trip till the end of the year." Lana was obviously taken off guard and I felt bad that I couldn't figure out a way to ease her thoughts and possibly get her hand back into mine.

"Yeah, well, you know my dad – busy guy. He couldn't stay at the trip that long. Had some other stuff to deal with, so we're rescheduling the end of the business meetings in a couple months."

The whole time he explained himself, his eyes were fixed onto me, even looking me up and down once. I couldn't help but narrow my eyes to stare back at him in anger and confusion.

"Who is this?" he suddenly asked unimpressed, looking over at Lana.

"I'm Cl – "

"Fox. His name's Fox. He was my partner for the duet you just heard. He's pretty good, don't you think?" Lana interrupted quickly.

"Yeah…" He then snapped his head back towards me, moving in a little closer as if to threaten me. "So what was up with that kiss at the end…Fox?"

I opened my mouth to tell the jerk off and explain that our relationship was getting pretty serious, when Lana interrupted once again.

"God, stop being so over dramatic, Whitney. It was just part of the act." She turned to look unblinkingly into my eyes. "Wasn't it, Fox?"

Her glare was timid, yet stern, as if to say, "Agree with me or all hell will break loose."

I took a deep breath and turned back to look Whitney in the eye. "Absolutely. Just relax, man."

His eyes moved from me, to Lana, and back to me again, not losing their doubt in our little lie. "It better not have meant a thing."

"Whitney, you know that kissing is just part of the business." She then wrapped an arm around my bicep, tugging me towards the back rooms. "Look, we have to get changed so, I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"I'll be waiting. Hurry back." He gave me one last intense glare, before Lana pulled me completely behind the door to the dressing rooms.

As soon as I heard the crack of the door closing, I turned to face Lana, heart pumping with questions.

"Who the hell was that guy?"

Somewhat to my surprised, Lana hardly made eye contact with me as she ran a hand over her face in a worrisome look. It was painstakingly obvious she was hiding something.

"Lana – "

"Look, Clark, I have some requests and things to take care of, so…" she dropped her hand from her face and quickly looked up at me, clearly showing her now tear-filled eyes, "…so just…you can keep your outfit. Just go home and meet me later on tonight like we always do, okay?"

I shook my head, holding onto her shoulders just enough to keep her attention. "No, I want to know what's going on. Why did you pull away from me when you saw him? Why did we lie?"

"Clark, PLEASE, just leave. I promised I'll tell you tonight." She rushed into her dressing room and slammed the door closed before I could get another word out.

I stood there for a minute, heartbroken and crushed. I stared at her door, a little too afraid to x-ray it because of all the sobbing I heard through it even without my super hearing.

Who was this guy? Why did Lana panic and tell him the kiss was just part of the act? Was that what it really was to her? Had that unforgettable kiss really just been an embellishment to the song? Was this Whitney fellow her boyfriend?

Eventually I decided it was best to just wait until tonight to get answers. As I walked down the streets outside, I wondered if I even wanted to know those answers. I was pretty sure no matter what she said, my heart wouldn't feel half as good as it had only minutes before.