Chapter 14

Come Dancing

Sunday evening - Smallville Middle School cafeteria

As the Class of 2005 continued to file into the cafeteria, Lana was bouncing with excitement. A small, but ever-changing crowd clung to her and Clark like fly paper. Apparently, word of their spontaneous engagement was spreading and people were coming by to offer their congratulations. Lana, of course, made sure everyone got a look at her ring. Even though jewelry wasn't something Lana had much use for these days, she was thrilled to show off this particular piece, and the women dutifully oohed and aahed over it as though they had never seen an engagement ring before.

Still, Lana kept searching the crowd for Pete and Charisse, but due to the fact that she was 'vertically-challenged,' as she and Evangeline liked to put it, seeing anything more than those entering the door was a near-impossibility.

Then she remembered who she was with.

"Clark?" she asked hopefully.

Clark stepped away from a group that was listening to a heartfelt recitation of his accidental proposal, with a quick, "Excuse me, please," and asked Lana, "Yes, Dearest?"

"Could you, umm, see if Pete and Charisse are coming? I can't see them through this crowd and I don't want to miss them."

"Huh? I'm taller, but the crowd is pretty thick right now, so…oh you mean look. Sorry, Lana. I'll let you know when I see them."

"Thanks, Clark."

Clark turned his eyes on the crowd filing in through the doors, using his x-ray vision to quickly scan through the crowd for his childhood buddy and his wife. Clark had sorted through half of the people waiting in the hall before spotting his quarry patiently waiting their turn.

"They're in line out in the hall, Lana," Clark said, "they'll be in here in a minute or two."

Lana looked back up at Clark and said, "Thanks, Hawkeye."

Clark turned back to Lana with a look of surprise on his face and she held his gaze for a second before winking and giving him a mischievous grin. A minute later, and Clark spotted the Rosses entering the cafeteria. He caught their attention with a wave and signaled for them to come on over.

"Here they come, Lana," Clark said quietly.

"Oooh, hurry, take my hand," Lana said as she stepped to Clark's side and held out her right hand.

He clasped her proffered hand with his left one and they stood side by side, each a little flushed from the excitement of the past few minutes, and smiled eagerly at their close friends as the Rosses edged their way to the front of the knot of well-wishers. Once Pete and Charisse came to a stop, Lana strategically placed her left hand on Clark's chest to show off the sparkling diamond ring.

"We wanted you two to hear it from us first, if at all possible given this crowd," Lana said, "but we're engaged!"

The Rosses both went wide-eyed and looked at each other in disbelief. Charisse then turned to Lana and started squealing. That set Lana off, too, and the two women began jumping for joy as they held on to each other's forearms.

Pete approached Clark, and, seeing his red eyes, said, "Clark? Crying after successful marriage proposals is something the girls do. What's up?"

Clark smiled and launched into another retelling of his accidental proposal. "You've got it all backward, Pete. The way it happened is, first I started crying, then Lana accepted my proposal, and thenI proposed to her."

Pete pursed his lips as he tried to wrap his brain around that statement. Finally, he said, "Sounds like you're the one that's got it backward, Clark. The proposal is definitely supposed to come before the acceptance…I guess Lana was afraid of having to wait for you to work up the nerve." Pete shook his head before clapping Clark on the back. "In any case, congratulations, Clark. You're finally on the right track."

The dinner was a fast-moving montage of food and friends. Everyone seemed to have heard the news and wanted to offer their congratulations, making it tough to do more than sneak in the occasional bite of food while their well-wishers were taking breaths.

At last the dinner and the associated awards program (who came from the farthest away to be there, who has the most kids, etc.) were done with and the couples rose as one and headed to the gym for the dance.

Clark and Lana walked with Pete and Charisse to the gym. Once inside, Pete pulled Lana aside for a ferocious hug and Charisse told Clark, "I don't know you that well yet, Clark. But Pete thinks the world of you and Lana obviously does too, so I think we'll get along just fine." With that, she stood on her toe tips and kissed him on the cheek.

As the four friends headed to find a place to sit when not dancing, and a place for the ladies to place their wraps and clutch purses, Pete looked around and said, "Where's the DJ? We need to get this party started!"

Clark shot Pete a look and said, "You could step into the booth, Pete. I seem to remember you having some DJ skills."

"Yeah," Lana added, "just as long as there's not another Talon mix coming out right after the dance."

Clark and Lana began laughing while Pete said, "Hey! I worked hard on that!"

"Uh huh," Clark said, "but how many of them did you sell? Five? Six?"

"I sold ten."

"What you sold to your Mom doesn't count, Pete," Clark replied.

"That wouldn't have been so bad, except the Talon had paid for all of those discs to be made, in hopes of increasing the amount of money raised that night." Lana shrugged her shoulders and said, "Instead, the Talon had to eat the loss."

Pete began grinning and said to Charisse, "Now you know why I never pursued a career in music. These two are right. That CD didn't sell very well and I wouldn't waste my time trying to put another one together for sale."

Charisse had been enjoying watching people treat her husband as their friend first and as a Congressman a distant second. Pete doesn't get ribbed often enough, she thought. Friends that can help keep Pete grounded are invaluable. Then she thought about Lana and Clark. Lana was normally quite reserved, especially in public, but Clark seemed to be able to get her to open up and show the vibrant personality that Charisse had only seen glimpses of before.

With the crowd settled in, the DJ stepped into place and began the dance by playing the reunion's theme song, "Far Away" by Nickelback. Clark and Lana immediately headed out to the dance floor for that song which was followed by the up-tempo, "Beautiful Day" by U2.

The dance was progressing well. Clark and Lana had both chuckled after the second dance when Lana pointed out they had already done more dancing together than during the rest of their lives combined. That brought their thoughts to the one song they had to dance to and Clark volunteered to make sure the DJ had "You and Me" by Lifehouse on his play list.

While half-shouting at the DJ over the blaring music and confirming that 'their song' was coming up, Clark also made a special request. The DJ had to flip through his song catalog for a minute before finding the song Clark wanted. The DJ smiled and added it to his play list. A $20 bill helped that song rocket up the play list so that it would be next.

When Clark returned, Lana asked, "What took so long and what was it that required money to change hands?"

"Oh," Clark replied, "thinking about our special song made me think about another special song. Soooo, when that song comes up, and it should be next, I'll need a favor from you."

"Sure. What is it?"

"I need to dance to that song alone."

"Okay," Lana said. "Mind telling me why though?"

Just then, the current song faded away and the DJ said over the loudspeakers, "This next song is by special request…it's 'Perfect Memory' by Remy Zero."

Hearing that Clark hurriedly said, "I'll tell you when the song is over, but I need to do this right now."

As a small and intensely personal tribute to the woman who lost her life because she got caught between Lex and himself, Clark walked out onto the dance floor, held his left arm out as if holding an imaginary hand, wrapped his right arm around an imaginary waist, and danced to the special song he had danced to with Chloe all those years ago. To anyone watching, he was all by himself, but in his mind, Chloe was with him, sharing that dance.

Pete and Charisse had come back to take a seat for a song or two and Pete wondered where Clark was. When Lana explained, the sound of the song made something click in his mind and he told her this was Chloe's favorite song during freshman year and that Clark had made a special request for it to be played by Remy Zero at the spring formal the day of the tornado.

When the song reached the chorus, Clark started singing along, ever so softly, his lips barely moving. "And I'll remember you, and the things that we used to do, and the things that we used to say. I'll remember you…that way."

By the time the song finished, Clark was an emotional wreck. Tears were trickling down his face but he was wearing a huge smile. Now knowing what Clark had been doing, Lana went out to meet him and walked him back to their seats.

Clark tried to explain, saying, "I was just…I tried to…I needed…,"

But when the right words would not come, Lana stopped him, saying, "I know, Clark. Pete told me. I think it's wonderful that you want to honor Chloe, to make her a part of this reunion in some way. I loved her, too. She was my housemate for almost two years and my closest girlfriend."

Clark responded with a smile as they sat down and said, "I knew you'd understand, and yes, I wanted to bring her here in some way other than the traditional reading of the names of classmates that have died since graduation. She was more than just another name."

While Pete and Charisse returned to the dance floor, Clark and Lana sat out another couple of dances to allow Clark to collect himself. When they stood up to return to the dance, though, the first strains of "You and Me" by Lifehouse issued forth from the sound system and they hurried to find a spot on the floor.

By the time they were set, the words were just ready to begin. Their eyes locked as Clark's hand settled on Lana's waist and from then to the end of the song, no one else existed. For them, it truly was just 'you and me.'

They swayed gently in a small circle, unconsciously keeping time with the beat. Just as happened twenty years earlier, Lana pulled in close and settled her head against Clark's chest, her smile radiating pure contentment and joy. Once again, Clark felt that everything was coming together, just as it had all those many years ago.

When the song finished, Lana and Clark kept dancing, mindless of the people moving on and off the dance floor around them. When the next song started up, they regretfully broke their tight clinch. Clark looked into Lana's eyes and said, "I still don't know what it is, this special love we share, but after nineteen years apart, we still have it."

Reaching up for a kiss, Lana said, "Most definitely."

kkkkiiiiiisssssssssssss

By the end of the dance and the official end of the reunion, Lana's feet were sore from all of the dancing in high heels, but she really did not notice until they began climbing the stairs to the loft. She had made sure the barn doors were bolted before climbing the stairs because it would not do to have an interruption now.

After Clark rubbed Lana's sore feet, they cuddled on the sofa and talked quietly about their future together. Clark assured her that he was serious about resigning from The Daily Planet. 'Home is where the heart is' is an old saying, and for Clark, his heart had always been with Lana. He was not sure what job he would take on next, but anything that kept him in Smallville with her was preferable to any job anywhere else. As for Lana, she was thrilled that Clark was coming home.

"This house and barn are as much yours as they are mine," she said. "Having you here, as my husband, will be everything I've ever dreamed of…I love you...I need you."

Clark breathed in her scent, and said, "At last, everything seems to be in alignment for us. No one to get in the way, no one for me to be worried about, nothing but you and me. I love you, Lana."

After canoodling with Lana for quite sometime, Clark said, "I'd better go to my hotel. If this goes on any longer, I won't be able to restrict myself to just kissing and cuddling."

As Clark began to rise, Lana kept hold of his hand and stopped him. When he turned back to her, she said "Who says you have to restrict yourself? Stay. Please."

Clark smiled at her, uncertainly at first, but when she rose to meet him and laid her strongest, most passionate kiss of the night on him,kkkkkkiiiiiiiiissssssssssss he responded in kind. When they broke apart, each gasping for air, Lana asked, "Clark? Would you help me with my dress?"

Surprised, Clark said, "Umm…Lana? There doesn't seem to be much room on that sofa and the floorboards would be hard for you and…"

Lana put a stop to his rambling with a quick kiss. kiss "Silly man, that sofa over there is a sofa bed. Once we open it, there will be plenty of room…Now, are you going to help with my dress, or not?"

"Yes, ma'am!"