Yes, it did, ClanaLover4Life!. No worries. :)

The sun beamed through the thin curtains of my dorm the second time I woke up that morning. I stretched as much as I could without waking the sleeping beauty curled up at my side. I smiled as I watched her for while, becoming captivated by her closed eyes…soft cheeks…sweet lips…

Tell me that you're alright! Yeah everything is alright!

I frowned at the faint singing I heard from somewhere behind me.

Oh, please tell me that you're alright! Yeah everything is alright!

I whirled around in the bed, shifting through the beanbag, magazines, and old essays on my floor causing the music to become gradually louder until I pulled my cell phone from the pocket of my jeans.

"Hey, Chloe," I greeted in a drowsy, but happy tone.

"Hey, I have been trying to get hold of you for the past two hours. What have you been doing?"

"Sleeping," I admitted, looking down at my watch and widening my eyes at the time. "Whoa, is it really eleven?"

"Yes it is. Where are you?"

"I'm in my dorm with Lana." I slowly sat up, trying not to disturb Lana, but starting to feel a little on edge. "What's going on?"

"Well, the good news is I've tracked down our favorite Luthor."

"And the bad news?" I asked, dreading the answer.

"…he's in Honduras on some kind of business deal. Seems like those things have become the Luthor's hobbies nowadays, huh?"

I bit my lip and leaned back against the wall in contemplation. "Well, I suppose I could run there. But I'd probably need more specific directions of where he's at exactly – " I heard a beep from the phone and pulled it away from my ear and swallowed uncomfortably. "Um…Chloe, can I call you back? Someone else is trying to call me."

"Alright. Talk to you in a bit."

"Yeah." I ended the call and then reluctantly punched in the number that had just shown up on my phone. It was unknown. And my worst fear was that it was Whitney.

"Hello?"

I took a breath before speaking. "Who is this?"

"Dean…is this…Fox?"

I relieved sigh gushed off from me as I answered. "Yeah. Hey."

"Good. For a minute I thought I'd gotten the wrong number." My relief began to dissolve as I noticed the fright in his voice.

"…what's going on?" I wondered with immediate curiosity.

"…I think Whitney might know who you really are."

I sat back up so quickly, Lana began to stir awake. "How do you know?"

"He's been asking around the club. He found a picture someone took of the two of you during your duet and he's passed it around to everyone who comes here. I know for a fact that the majority of my customers go to Met U and a lot of them must share your same dormitory. If he doesn't know your real identity now, then it's only a matter of time."

I ran a hand through my hair nervously and wishing I could go back to a few minutes ago when I'd just been idly contemplating Lana's sleeping form. "Um…ok. Ok, thanks Dean. I really appreciate the heads up. Lana and I will be sure to keep a low profile."

"Good. Listen, I have to go. But whatever you do, stay as far away from the Met U campus or The Pulse as you can okay?"

"Yeah, I plan on it."

Dean suddenly sighed and although I didn't know it at the time, tears were slowly filling his eyes. "I'm sorry you're caught in this. I'm sorry it's so hard for you two to be together."

"It isn't your fault, Dean." I noticed Lana was now sitting up, just as alert as I was, so I added, "I should go now. Keep in touch."

"Of course. Goodbye and good luck."

"Bye."

As soon as I hung up the phone, Lana clung to my arm in worry. "What did Dean say?"

I looked over at her, trying not to let my fear of hearing Whitney's knuckles banging on the door at any minute pass onto her. "We have to leave the campus as soon as possible."

"…he knows who you are, doesn't he?" she asked as I began stuffing some old clothes into a duffle bag.

"He could very soon. So the sooner we're out of here, the better."

The rest of the rushed packing was done in scared silence. I changed into a black sweatshirt I'd never worn before with jeans and a baseball cap while Lana slipped on a Met U T-shirt Shannon had left over a couple weeks ago, jeans, and a pair of sunglasses. Our only hope was that it was a good enough disguise to get us out of the building without being recognized.

On the way out, I stopped by Andrew and Tucker's room. I briefly explained what was going on and both promised not to tip us off and would do their best to get anyone they knew who attended the club to say nothing to Whitney.

"That's what friends are for, man – to cover up the tracks," Andrew explained after I thanked them both for their promise.

"Yeah. So what are you doing still stand here? Go find the nearest top secret Bat Cave and make some pretty babies." Tucker added, throwing his twisted sense of humor into the conversation.

I laughed and, maybe for the first time, I really felt like those two were my friends. Up until then, they always seemed to try to pressure me into do things or making fun of the fact that I'd never gotten as "lucky" as they had. But I'm glad to say they lived up to their promise. I really do believe that because of them and their connections with a lot of the frequent-attendees of The Pulse, Whitney's search for my real identity was made a lot tougher. And in all honesty, with out them kidnapping me on my birthday, Lana and I would've never met in the first place.

I really owe a lot more to them than they'll ever realize.

And of course I couldn't forget out their other partner in crime – Pete. Not only did he promise to keep my name on the down-low, he also offered to take care of any assignments that were due during the time I would be unable to come back to the campus.

Pete definitely got a big bear hug from me for that one.

After the few quick stops, Lana and I finally walked hand-in-hand into the elevator, down to the lobby, and out the door.

We felt scared, uncertain and nervous, but we knew deep in our hearts that this was the right thing to do. We might be breaking a dozen rules and running away like two fugitives, but it was all going to be okay. We had each other. We were meant to have each other. And nothing, not even Whitney Luthor, was going to stop us from finding a way of being together.

Within the next hour, Lana and I were on our way to the first step into the only plan I could think of that could fight against everything pulling us apart. And as we sat side-by-side on the charter bus, bouncing gently along the highway, I gazed out the dirty windows, not sure how to feel. Only a few months ago, I would've never imagined I would've gone so far as to risk this much for someone, let alone a beautiful singer from a Metropolis nightclub.

But I was certainly ready to risk it all for her. Lana was worth every minute of worry.

"So…where are we going exactly?" Lana whispered, her hand rubbing over mine soothingly, as though I were a sick patient in a hospital.

"A friend's house. In Smallville," I answered simply, keeping my eyes on the cornfields whizzing by.

"This bus goes all the way to Smallville?"

"Yeah. The college funded it after they realized that so many students have family there." I was barely paying attention to my own words. My thoughts were much too important to be ignored.

Lana realized her attempt at getting my mind off the subject at hand hadn't really worked, so she leaned closer into me, resting her chin on my shoulder as she uttered, "Please tell me what you're thinking."

I wanted to, but I knew my words would only worry her more.

"Look, I just want you to know…I trust you. Whatever you have in mind…whatever plan you have to keep Whitney out of our lives…I know it's going to work."

I closed my eyes, somewhat in shame. She trusted me. And that hurt. It hurt a lot. I knew she shouldn't trust me at all. I hadn't even gained up enough confidence to tell her my secret. She was basically following me blindly into a plan even I wasn't completely sure would work. And if I lead her down a path of lies and decent…she would never trust me or speak to me ever again.

At a few more weak attempts, she finally accepted that she wasn't going to get anything else out of me until we reached our destination, so she gave into the silence, transforming my shoulder into a comfortable pillow and sleeping the rest of the way.