Chapter 7
Overcast
Clark heaved the bale of hay in his hand up onto the stack, then placed the one in his other hand beside it. Normally moving the hay from the rack into the barn was a quick, mindless chore he was done with in a few minutes, but today he was dragging. His father had eyed him oddly when he was still hauling the last few bails off the rack when he brought in this last load, but then dismissed it, most likely assuming he was going slow to avoid suspicion... a local boy was helping his father gather the bails from the field. Well, he was hardly a boy, since he was a senior at Smallville High. To be honest, Clark didn't even remember his name. Just another teenager looking to earn a little extra cash. They got them to help sometimes with things like this, things out in the open where people could see them while passing on the highway and might notice if they were getting done too quickly.
He wiped the sweat from his brow and made his way back to the stairs. He usually rarely sweated much, but he'd been sweating a lot that day while he was working. It was most likely just because of how hot and muggy it was. It was pretty miserable weather to work in. He glanced out the large open loft window at the sky. The clouds were thick and gray. They usually tried to plan this kind of time consuming work for the weekends, not to mention the hay was still a bit green to be packing away, but the weather man had predicted a string of storms starting that night and continuing off and on for at least a week, so they had to get the hay in while they could. He just had to remember to pack it a bit looser so the air could get to it better and it could finish drying in the barn.
He got back down to the bottom of the stairs and looked at the rack with a sigh. Just another ten bales, but his father would probably be back with another load any minute. He couldn't remember being so weary from doing simple manual labor before. Well, other than when he lost his powers for a time. He just felt so drained lately. He hopped up onto the rack and went over, grabbing up a couple of bales, then hopping heavily back off. He paused, his eyes darting over as the light level outside suddenly went from glum gray to a brilliant glow.
He found himself walking quickly out of the barn, moving away from it until there was no chance of shadows falling on him, then stopping as glorious warmth poured over him. He dropped the bales in his hands and tilted his head up, letting the blessed brilliance of the sunlight wash over him. It had been at least a week since the sun had last peeked out from behind the clouds for more than a minute here and there!
He quickly pulled his work gloves and his sweaty t-shirt off, revelling in the feel of the loving rays licking over his skin. He could almost feel the strength returning to him... and yet he had no urge to go back to work. He opened his eyes and looked down, then shoved the two bales together. He spread his shirt out near the top, then turned and sat on the hay, shifting back and laying down. It was prickly and not particularly comfortable, but he didn't care.
He stared up at the blue of the sky peeking through the clouds, trying to figure out how long he had. There was a long, narrow break between the cloud banks. If the winds stayed constant, he might have a good five or ten minutes before the clouds closed ranks once more. He smiled and closed his eyes, soaking it in and just letting himself enjoy it. According to the weather reports, this might be the last time he saw the sun for quite some time.
"Wake up, sleepy head."
Clark let out a disgruntled sound as the bale under him was kicked, jostling him. He opened his eyes and looked up irritably, seeing his father and his helper staring down at him with smirks on their faces. He sat up, realizing he'd dozed off. It was no reason to be rude, though! He just let out an irritable grunt and got up. He pulled his shirt off of the bale and tossed it aside to fetch later and grabbed up the bales, heaving them up and heading back towards the barn. He looked up as the light suddenly dimmed. The clouds had swallowed up the sun once more. He stared up at them morosely, filled with the suddenly feeling of loss. It was like watching a friend leave, knowing they wouldn't be back for a long time.
He winced as he was forcefully reminded of Lex. He pushed him quickly from his mind and continued on. He stalked dejectedly up the stairs and over to where he'd left off, placing the new bales in their place. His father was easing the new rack of hay into place behind the almost empty one as he came down the stairs.
Clark looked over as his father shut the tractor off.
"Well," Jonathan said as he hopped down off the tractor. "Looks like we're going to have to wait for that rack to be finished before we can use it to get those last dozen or so bales. What say we go in the house and have some lemonade while we wait, Jerold?"
"Sounds great, Mr. Kent. Hopefully Clark doesn't take any more naps. My parents want me home by dark." The boy said, throwing Clark a teasing smile.
Clark just glared at him, wondering how he'd like it if his hair burst into flames.
Jonathan chuckled and patted the boy on the shoulder as they walked out, but paused at the doors. "Come on in for some lemonade when you're done with that rack."
"No, thanks." Clark grumbled as he snatched up another two bales and headed back up the stairs. "I'm not thirsty."
Jonathan stood there for a moment, staring at his son as he walked stiffly up the stairs, but then went on out, not wanting to leave Jerold waiting.
Just to spite them, Clark worked faster. Still not super speed, but a lot faster than anyone else would have been able to haul that kind of weight that distance. By the time his father and Jerold wandered back some fifteen minutes later, he'd already emptied the first rack, moved it out of the way and moved the new rack up to the bottom of the stairs, hooked the tractor back up to the now empty rack, and unloaded about half of the other rack. Of course it was much quicker switching the racks around when you could just wheel them around by hand like a wheel barrel.
When they walked in, Jonathan's eyebrows shot up, then irritation flashed over his face before he hid it, glancing worriedly over at the boy to see his reaction.
Jerold let out a little laugh. "Trying to prove something, Clark?"
"Bite me." Clark grumbled, glaring at him once more before starting up the stairs. He didn't know why the boy was irritating him this much, but he was really rubbing him the wrong way.
"Clark Kent!" Jonathan said crossly, "There's no need to be nasty! What's gotten into you?"
Jerold gave a little snort, "He's just been in a bad mood lately. People are starting to talk. You'd think he'd be in a better mood now that he's finally got a girlfriend."
Jonathan's head snapped around. "He's what?"
Jerold blinked in surprise, "He's been seeing Chloe Sullivan. He didn't tell you?"
"No, he did not." Jonathan said evenly, turning his gaze back to Clark who had just finished with those bales and started back for more.
"Well, that's weird. He didn't seem to have a problem with letting everyone else know. He was making out with her in the middle of the Talon last Friday. I was there. It was pretty intense." He said, snickering.
"Why don't you mind your own business?" Clark snapped, wiping the sweat from his brow as he came down the stairs.
"You and I need to have a little conversation when we're done here, young man." His father said grimly.
"You know what? No!" Clark snapped. "I don't see how my sex life is any of your business. Not that Chloe and I are having sex, because we're not!" Clark added irritably when his father's eyes went round when the words 'sex life' had left his mouth.
Jerold snickered, "Then how did she know how well hung you were?"
Jonathan's eyes were darting back and forth between them.
"That wasn't... that..." Clark sputtered, too upset to come up with a tactful lie, then he gave up, "That's none of your damn business!" He said, snatching up two more bales and going back up the stairs. He tossed the bales on the stack, making them land a bit haphazardly in his irritation. One of the pieces of bale twine snapped, but he didn't care. He turned to go back for more and found, much to his irritation, that his father had followed him. He could tell by the all too familiar stubborn set of his jaw that he wasn't going to let this one go.
Clark's skin felt like it was burning he was so mad. His father had no right to pry into his private life!
"How could you risk her life like that?" Jonathan hissed.
"We didn't have sex!" Clark shot right back.
"But you two were obviously messing around." Jonathan replied, his eyes narrowing as he watched his son's reaction.
Tears blurred Clark's eyes. He wasn't sure if it was from frustration, anger or what, but he couldn't seem to get them to go away. "Did you really think I would be content to just stay a perfectly chaste little virgin my whole life?" He hissed back.
"I can't believe you could be so selfish!" His father replied stubbornly, keeping his voice low to make sure Jerold couldn't hear from where he stood by the rack below. "You know how dangerous it could be! If you lost control for even a moment..."
"I know!" Clark yelled, then dropped his voice back down again, "Don't you think that thought plagues me any time I so much as touch another person? I can't even pat someone on the back without the fear that I might misjudge and hurt them or worse. But a life without any hope of love isn't worth living. If you want to protect everyone from your freak son, why don't you just kill me and get it over with! You'd be doing me a favor! And once I'm gone you can get yourself a nice, normal kid like Jerold over there. Wouldn't that be nice?" Clark hissed sarcastically. "Of course you'd probably rather just let me suffer through a long, Hellish life just so I can be a damn workhorse for you. And you call me selfish!" He said as he brushed past him and stomped down the stairs as his father stared after him in utter shock.
Jerold quickly backed up when Clark got to the bottom of the stairs. His amusement had fled when the argument between father and son had obviously taking a more serious turn.
"And you!" Clark growled towards Jerold, "All you've been doing is taking the bales off the back of the baler and stacking them a few feet away. I could do that in my sleep! Try hauling them up those stairs sometime! Most people would simply get a conveyor to haul them up there for them, but why waste the money on that when he has me around to do it practically for free? I did all of my chores before you even showed up, and since he was busy trying to get the baler to work all day, I did his, too! And while you'll probably get a nice little bit of money for your couple of hours of work, I get the same crappy little pittance of an allowance I always get, no matter how much I do! So if you want to laugh about me taking one tiny little break, why don't you try trading me sometime?"
Jerold's eyes were round, but strangely they were filled with concern. "Are you ok, man?" He asked in an oddly soft voice.
"Just dandy." Clark replied sarcastically. He reached up and pulled a bale off the rack, but for some reason he lost his grip on it and it fell to the ground. He just stared down at it laying there, the twine split open and the hay coming loose. For some reason, he couldn't think what to do next, so he just stood there, staring.
"Your nose is bleeding." Jerold said worriedly.
Clark looked over at him, puzzled. His nose didn't bleed! What was this guy talking about? He reached up and brushed under his nose, then looked down at the bright crimson that stained his dirty work glove. He just stared at it, but that wasn't easy, because his vision was going in and out of focus oddly and his hand was shaking like he had palsy.
"Clark?" Jonathan asked in alarm, hurrying down the stairs.
Clark looked over at Jerold, but then the young man (along with the barn) started tilting to the side for some reason as the world went gray.
- 0 – 0 – 0 -
Clark stirred as a cool, damp cloth swabbed his face. He turned his head away. The breeze that was playing over him was kind of nice, but the wetness on his face was irritating. The cloth was pulled away.
"Clark?"
He blinked his eyes open, looking over towards the voice. "Chloe?" He asked in surprise, glancing around and taking in his surroundings. They were in his bedroom. She was sitting on the side of the bed, and the big square fan they used in the summer was sitting on a chair, pointing at him. "Wha... what are you doing in my room? What am I doing in my room for that matter...?" he muttered, trying to remember how he got there. He hadn't slept in his room since that first fight with his dad. He looked over at the window. He could feel cool, wet air flowing in as a breeze kicked up, ruffling his curtains. It was dark outside, and he could hear rain pelting down on the roof.
"Apparently you yelled at your dad and Jerod Taylor, then passed out." Chloe said with a little smile on her lips.
"I... I what? What was I yelling about?" He asked. He gave his head a shake, trying to clear the cobwebs... but that only made his head swim, so he stopped.
"Your 'sex life' apparently. I didn't get the blow by blow, but that's what I heard your father mentioning when I was coming up to the door. He seemed oddly reluctant to let me see you..." She said, pulling a little embarrassed face.
Clark groaned and pulled the pillow out from under his head, putting it over his face. "Smother me, please." He pleaded softly, his voice a bit muffled.
She didn't comply, choosing instead to pull the pillow off of him and shove it to the side. "Don't worry... I told them we're only friends. I told them we were just pretending because some guy accused you of being gay, and they know it was entirely my idea, so hopefully they'll drop it."
Clark gave a little snort. "I'm curious... have you actually met my father?" He asked with weak sarcasm.
She grabbed a tall glass of water off the night stand. "Here, have something to drink."
He hadn't realized how thirsty he was until he saw the glass. He quickly sat up, then grabbed his head as it swam again.
"Whoa, careful there!" Chloe said, putting her free hand on his back. "Take it easy."
"What's the matter with me?" He grumbled half to himself. He'd only felt this weak a couple of times in his life, and he couldn't for the life of him figure out what could have happened to make him feel this way now.
"Most likely heat stroke and dehydration. Please tell me you didn't really haul two and a half racks full of hay all the way up into the loft all by yourself in ninety five degree weather with high humidity! And without even stopping for a drink?"
He sighed, taking the glass and chugging it down. Well, he did feel better once he'd finished, but he still felt a bit shaky. He handed the glass back, not meeting her eyes.
"And of course, you need to eat." She added.
He just gave a little dismissing breath, "Just give me some more water. I'm fine."
"No, Clark," She said sadly, "You're not. You're obviously going through some pretty serious depression. You talked to him, didn't you? Before he left?"
He just averted his eyes.
"Don't tell me that jerk just dumped you!" She said, looking like she might cry or beat the crap out of Lex at any moment.
"It's not like that." He muttered. "Someone as famous as him can't exactly get caught with someone like me, now can he? He'd get smeared in every paper in the country."
"So?" She snapped. "If he doesn't think being with you would be worth it, then he's an idiot!"
"And..." Clark forged on, ignoring the opinion, "He thinks I don't really want him. He thinks what happened between us was just some fluke and that I'm just pretending to be interested now because I think he wants me."
Chloe gave a snort. "If it were about anything else I could see his point. You are entirely too decent and selfless sometimes. But when it comes to getting in your pants, you are more than willing to say no, no matter how much the other person wants it! If you need someone to vouch for that fact, I'd be more than happy to!"
He looked over at her sharply, but she was grinning and he realized she was being facetious.
Then her smile faded. "Listen, I know this sucks... but you can't starve yourself to death over it!"
"I'm not..." He began.
"Please! Look at yourself, Clark!" She said, reaching over and patting his stomach. It was still concave, despite him being in a somewhat slouched sitting position that wasn't usually flattering to the human body, no matter how fit you were. "You have to have lost at least six or seven pounds! And you didn't exactly have a lot of body fat to begin with! You're going to start burning internal organs or something if you don't cut it out!"
"I'm fine." He muttered, pulling the sheet over and covering himself a bit with it. He was still wearing his pants, and she had seen him wearing considerably less, but he still felt a bit bare at the moment.
"Stop saying that! You're not!" Chloe insisted, then her expression softened. "Hey, I've been there. One time I lost twenty pounds after a bad break up before I snapped out of it. Of course, unlike you, I kinda needed it, so it worked out for me," She conceded, "but it's still really unhealthy. Especially with how active you are! You need a lot of fuel to do the work you do every day, and if you stop feeding your body it's going to stop working!"
He dropped his eyes.
"Besides, your mother is beside herself. She found the food she packed you this morning still sitting in your backpack."
Clark cringed. "I should have gotten rid of that." He muttered morosely.
"You should have eaten it!" Chloe replied. "Oh... and Jerold spilled about you fainting in the hallway and being sent home early on Friday."
Clarks groaned and flopped back down on the bed, covering his face with his hands. His parents must be going ballistic! "I'm surprised mom left my side." He muttered.
"She was reluctant to, but I offered to watch you, and they've been talking nonstop ever since."
Clark glanced over at the clock. "It's almost ten o'clock! What are you still doing here? It's a school night!"
"It's not like I was going to leave before you woke up!" She chided. "Besides, I was trying to do you a favor. I was hoping they'd burn themselves out before you had to deal with them."
"Unlikely, but thanks for the thought." He said as he dropped his hands and shoved the sheet back off of him. "Still, it's late. You should go home. I wouldn't want you falling asleep in class tomorrow. Besides, I doubt this is going to be pretty." He said, finishing darkly.
"My advice is to go down there and tell your mother you're starving. Your mother isn't going to turn that down! Eat lots of food, then tell them you're really tired. Maybe you can play on their sympathies and buy yourself some time."
"Thanks, Chloe." He said, leaning over and kissing her cheek.
She blushed and grinned. "Any time!"
- 0 – 0 – 0 -
Clark gave a mental sigh as he realized he couldn't possibly fit any more food into his stomach. It must have shrunk, because he knew he used to be able to eat a lot more. Well, stage one of Chloe's plan had worked. He had serious doubts that stage two would work, but he gave it a try anyway.
"Well, it's late and I have school tomorrow." He said, adding a yawn for affect.
"Sit back down." His father said evenly when he tried to rise.
Clark sighed and settled back down.
"Why didn't you tell us you fainted Friday?" his mother asked worriedly.
"I didn't faint." Clark said in exasperation, "I ran into a girl with a huge chunk of meteor rock around her neck. The teacher saw me fall down and sent me to the nurse. The nurse suggested it might be low blood sugar, and that was the best explanation to get me out of there without her insisting that I see a doctor, so I went with it. She sent me home, but I didn't want to alarm you, so I just hung out at the Talon." Clark said wearily.
"You still should have told us." His father grumbled, "We know what the meteor rock does to you. Why would that have 'alarmed' us?"
"I don't know!" Clark grumbled back, "You've been so touchy about everything lately I didn't want to give you anything else to go off about."
"We're just worried about you, dear." His mother said softly, shifting closer and stroking her fingers over his hair.
He dropped his eyes a bit guiltily. He hated making his mother upset. "I'm fine, mom." He muttered.
"Obviously not if you're getting nose bleeds and passing out!" His father insisted, "You were out for nearly three hours!"
"I was tired, hungry and dehydrated, not to mention it was like an oven in that barn. There wasn't even a breeze most of the time! I may be strong, but I'm not a God!" Clark replied heatedly, "And I've had a nosebleed before! I remember."
"That was before!" His father shot back.
Before he became impenetrable. It's not like that hadn't occurred to Clark. He just shrugged, "Nothing cut me. A blood vessel in my nose just got dry and cracked. That happens."
"To other people, maybe." His father continued stubbornly.
Clark sighed and grabbed up his fork and stabbed it hard at his wrist, then held it up so his father could see the mangled tongs. "Happy?"
His father folded his arms over his chest, "Maybe I would be if you hadn't just cut yourself."
Clark's eyes darted down to his wrist. There was a tiny little drop of blood there. He furrowed his brow and wiped it away. There was a tiny pinprick in his skin, but it disappeared as he watched. "Well, it's gone..." He said, though he couldn't hide the little underlying bit of worry that had crept into his voice.
"Don't do things like that, Clark!" His mother said worriedly as she took the ruined fork away, then took hold of his wrist, inspecting it for damage.
"Sorry." He said softly, "I didn't think it would... I... I feel better now, really mom."
"Well, no more skipping meals!" She said firmly. "We know that you get some of your strength from the sun, and that hasn't been out much lately. Obviously it's having an effect on you."
"That's probably why you were drawn to it when there was a break in the clouds earlier." His father conceded, his voice still grumbling, but softer now.
"You usually eat almost twice as much as your father does, but lately you've barely been eating anything. You can't keep going on without sunlight or food!" She insisted.
"I know." He said, dropping his eyes again, "I just haven't been that hungry lately."
"Is there something wrong?" His mother asked, gazing at him worriedly, "Something at school bothering you? Chloe said there was a boy making your life difficult."
Clark rolled his eyes. "Jenkins is just an idiot. I don't care what he says. It was Chloe's idea to pretend to be a couple, not mine." He let out an exasperated sigh and got to his feet, "Listen, I'm fine. I'll eat. I just want to go to bed now."
"Honey, we just want to help you." His mother said worriedly.
"You heard him, dear." Jonathan said, gazing at Clark with irritation, obviously still sore from the angry comments Clark had made to him in the barn... though Clark only half remembered what those might have been. "He doesn't want our help. If he does, he'll ask. Otherwise he'll just have to suck it up and deal with it and stop sulking like a kicked puppy."
"Right." Clark replied evenly. He leaned over and gave his mother a kiss, then pointedly turned and stalked out the kitchen door into the rainy night, not pausing as he shot his father one last glare on the way out.
- 0 – 0 – 0 -
"Where are you going?" Lionel asked, watching one of the servants carrying Lex's bag towards the waiting car.
"Leaving." Lex said simply, checking his messages distractedly on his phone.
"But I thought you were staying until next Wednesday. We made plans. We have friends coming in this weekend who were looking forward to seeing you." Lionel said in a disapproving tone.
"Your friends, not mine. I'm sure they don't really care if I'm here or not. I gave you a week. That was longer than I was planning, so you should be happy with what you got. You trained me to keep myself busy, dad. Surely you didn't think I could handle sitting around the beach doing nothing productive for two whole weeks! I have a business to run. Besides, you know I don't tan, so what's the point?"
"But you're being rude to our guests, Lex. Elise will be heartbroken when she finds you've run off and..."
"She's coming with me." Lex replied, not taking his eyes off the screen or waiting for the completion of the attempted guilt trip.
Lionel blinked in surprise, looking over and noting the other bags being loaded into the trunk of the car for the first time. "Oh... so... you two hit it off, I take it? Where are you taking her?" He asked, trying to make the question sound casual.
"Smallville, of course." Lex replied, "She's eager to see where she'll be living, and mother's ring is in the vault there."
"Your mother's ring?" Lionel asked leadingly, an eager grin tugging at the corners of his mouth.
"I didn't exactly bring it with me, and considering I asked her to marry me Sunday I think it would be a bit rude to keep her waiting for the ring much longer, don't you?" Lex asked, slipping his phone away and looking up at him for the first time.
"Congratulations, son! Why didn't you tell us?"
"Because I didn't want to have to watch you two gloating the whole time." Lex answered with a little grin.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Lionel said, affecting confusion at the suggestion.
"You two aren't nearly as subtle as you apparently think you are. Pat yourselves on the back as much as you like once we're gone, but understand this... I'm not marrying her because you want me to. If anything, that was a strike against her. I'm marrying her because of her... and because mother was right... we do fit together well. Just to make it clear, you're done meddling in my love life, is that understood?"
"I would never meddle in your love life, Lex. I only want you to be happy." He eased closer, reaching out and placing his hand on Lex's shoulder. "You just wait and see. Once you're married and have a family of your own you'll understand why I've done everything I've done for you."
"God, I hope not." Lex said evenly before turning and walking away, leaving Lionel gazing after him with a confused expression, his mouth slightly agape.
- 0 -
"Don't screw this up!" Elise's father hissed at her, "Get pregnant as soon as possible so he can't worm his way out of it!"
"But, Daddy! Neither of us are ready to have kids!" She protested, "We just want to..."
"Stop whining about what you want and do as you're told! There's too much riding on this for us to depend on your seriously lacking feminine whiles. Would it have killed you to put on a little makeup? You're trying to land a billionaire's son, not a sheep herder! I want progress reports every week! And if I hear about you so much as looking at that damn dike, I'll..."
"Surely you're not talking about the lovely Terrisa." Lex said as he came to a stop behind the man.
The man spun, his cheeks flushing at having been caught. "Ah... Lex. So good to see you! I just heard the good news!" He said with a big grin.
"Obviously. Elise, could you make sure everything's in the car before we leave? The jet is waiting and I don't want to have to come back for anything." Lex said, not taking his eyes off her father.
Elise gave a little thankful nod and hurried off towards the car.
"I just wanted to get a few things straight with you before we leave." Lex said, folding his arms over his chest and gazing at the man with a cold smile on his face, "First of all, I am going to marry your daughter, but don't hold your breath for an invitation to the wedding."
"What?" He asked, obviously shocked.
"I have no respect for any man who would try to whore out his daughter for his own financial gain. I don't want your presence tainting my wedding. My father should be free that night, so you two can hang out and congratulating each other if you like. Second of all," Lex quickly forged on as the man's cheeks flushed and he opened his mouth for an angry retort, "Your role in your daughter's life is now over. She is mine now, and Luthor's aren't known for sharing. She will not be calling you, and you will not call her. You may send her cards or presents on her birthday and Christmas, otherwise I don't want you contacting her in any way. Anything you send her will be opened in my presence, and any further attempt by you to manipulate her will be dealt with. Oh, and by the way... If we decide to have children, it will be when we chose. I am also very much looking forward to meeting Terrisa, and in fact have already taken the liberty of purchasing her a home near the castle. What happens between her and Elise, or myself for that matter, is none of your business. Furthermore, if you so much as look at Terrisa wrong or say a single disparaging word about her or her art to anyone I'll show you how my father taught me to deal with enemies. You've done business with him for many years, so I don't think I need to elaborate, do I?" Lex asked, his expression having gone positively glacial, his gaze promising terrible things if he was crossed.
The man swallowed a bit thickly, then he quickly shook his head.
"I'm glad to see we understand each other." Lex said with another cold smile. "If you're lucky, we'll never meet again."
The man just watched mutely as Lex went over and got into the car, then they sped away with a spray of sand.
- 0 – 0 – 0 -
Clark walked slowly out of the school amongst the bustle of teenagers rushing home. Well, one more dreary, mind numbing day down, just one more to go until he finally reached a weekend and didn't have to deal with people anymore. It would be a three day weekend at that since Monday was an in service day for the school. Of course that was entirely too long to have to deal with his father. At least tonight should be blessedly peaceful. His parents were running a load of cattle to the market that night. The cattle sale was a couple hours drive away, and while the weather was supposed to be pretty good tonight, tomorrow morning they were predicting torrential downpours starting in the predawn hours, so his parents were planning to make the drive that night, stay the night in a hotel, then come back tomorrow once the rain let up. Clark certainly didn't mind doing extra chores tonight if it meant getting some desperately needed peace and quiet!
He was amazed he'd made it this long, actually. He wasn't sure how he'd managed it, but he probably had Chloe largely to thank. The rumor that they were a couple was pretty firmly in place by now. It probably just reinforced the rumor that he kept touching her whenever they were together. That's not why he did it though. He just couldn't seem to help it. She was like the only light that could shine through into the gray void inside him that mirrored the ominous gray clouds that filled the sky, seeming to be intent on choking the life out of the small town. He couldn't help but reach out to her any time she was within reach, her very presence seeming to stabilize him when he needed it most. She didn't mind. She seemed to like being his rock.
Of course they both knew he'd have to 'break up' with her soon. She knew he'd never want to take it further, and he knew that a pretend boyfriend wasn't the same as a real one. It wasn't fair to Chloe to keep up the charade. She had the right to find someone who would actually love her like a real boyfriend could. He'd been growing a bit worried that she'd forget it wasn't real... until he'd seen that little smile that had slipped over her lips when Tommy smiled at her in the hallway. No, he definitely wouldn't be breaking her heart when they 'spilt up'... especially since their real relationship wouldn't really change.
Actually, speculation about who the resident 'alien' might be had already started to die down... though, oddly, the little alien icon had become rather commonplace. Clark didn't know how many times a day he saw that sad little face staring at him from a shirt, or button on someone's jacket or backpack. He'd even spotted the article itself taped on the inside of at least a dozen lockers. The vast majority of his 'fans' were female, of course, but he'd even seen a few guys wearing the buttons. He knew it was just a trend, or they just liked the image... the girl who'd drawn it was a very good artist after all... but sometimes when he was slipping away towards a dark place, seeing those little aliens had helped. It reassured him to think that among the trendy 'aliens' there might be a few that actually were like him (well, in their own human way). Maybe he'd helped them feel better about themselves and their situations in some small way. Maybe they were wearing those pins to say thank you. Maybe they were trying to tell him that writing that article had meant something to them... and that he really wasn't alone. Sure, it was probably all in his mind, and even if there were some real 'aliens' out there, it probably wasn't many... but the possibility helped in a way.
He made his way slowly towards the Talon, making his pace purposely sedate so the bulk of the students that were heading in that direction passed him by. He wasn't exactly feeling social. He didn't really want to deal with Lana, whom he'd been doing a rather admirable job of avoiding thus far, but he didn't want to go home either. His parents probably hadn't left yet, and his mother had been getting more and more worried about him. The far more perceptive of his parents, his mood (and especially his continued lack of appetite) had obviously not gone unnoticed by her. She was still packing food for him in the mornings (and checking to make sure it was gone in the afternoons) and watching him like a hawk at the table. She obviously didn't like it when he didn't even finish off a single plate of food at mealtimes, let alone go for seconds as he used to... but he was eating some, so she grudgingly let him get by with it. Of course he wasn't really eating the food she packed, he'd just started giving it away during lunch. Given his mother's skills in the kitchen, he had no trouble finding takers. Yes, it earned him glares from Chloe, but he just rarely seemed to feel hungry. Of course it was a bit irritating that his pants were starting to get a bit loose on him. Chloe was right... it's not like he had much body fat to begin with, and it's not like he'd stopped doing chores or anything, so his muscles weren't diminishing, so he wasn't sure where that weight was hiding before he lost it, but apparently it had been around somewhere. Well, perhaps he still had a bit of baby fat on him. Getting rid of that wouldn't be so bad. He'd look older. Maybe... he pushed down the thought that maybe Lex wouldn't think of him as a child if he looked older. It wasn't just his age that was the problem.
Some people had even started speculating that he was sick. The fact that he'd supposedly 'fainted' last Friday was pretty much common knowledge now, and that jerk Jerold had obviously told people about him getting a nose bleed and passing out, because he'd heard that being whispered about behind his back as well. He'd even spotted the school nurse watching him pensively several times. Why couldn't people just mind their own business?
He glanced over, seeing a familiar sad-eyed button. He was surprised to find it on the shirt of a middle aged woman. Perhaps she was the parent of one of his fellow students. He watched her pass by, wondering if she had even read the article.
All of a sudden, he ran into someone. He automatically grabbed to keep the person from falling.
"Whoa!" a girlish voice chuckled, "Nice catch!"
He looked down at the person in his arms, then blushed and quickly backed off. She was quite pretty actually. Long, lazy copper curls spilling over her shoulders, and the most brilliant grass green eyes he'd ever seen. She had her back to him, twisting her head around to gaze at him. He immediately released her.
"Sorry!" He blurted, blushing.
"Entirely my fault." She replied, her eyes dancing with amusement as she turned around to face him properly, "I have a nasty habit of walking backwards sometimes when I'm taking pictures." She said, holding up her camera for him to see. It was one of those big, cutting edge professional looking ones. "Sometimes I just forget about my surroundings when I'm focused on capturing something. Hi. I'm Terri. I'm new here." She said, sticking her hand out.
He hesitantly shook it before quickly releasing it. "Um, nice to meet you. I'm Clark. I've lived here most of my life. You work for a newspaper or something?" He asked, eyeing the impressive piece of equipment. His gaze then drifted past it, taking in what she was wearing. Her tight t-shirt matched her eyes almost perfectly. Her pants were somewhat loose cargo-style khaki colored jeans, but they did nothing to hide the rather nice curves of her body. She had that strong, sturdy yet slim build like the girls who were on the track or swim teams often had. She also had a small brown purse type satchel on her hip, the long strap of it crossing her chest to her opposite shoulder, the way the strap pressed between her breasts making them a bit more noticeable. Her breasts were just about the same size as Chloe's. He quickly pulled his eyes off of them as he found himself wondering if they would feel the same.
She chuckled. "No. I just take a lot of pictures." She said, her eyes searching his face avidly. "You are breathtaking!" she said with earnest admiration, "Have you ever modeled?"
He blushed. He'd never been called breathtaking before. He also couldn't recall having anyone looking at him with such single minded intensity before, especially not such a gorgeous woman! Well, she didn't look that old, but she was obviously older than him. Maybe not drinking age yet, but definitely out of High school. He flashed her a nervous smile. "No."
Her expression sobered, "Such a beautiful boy shouldn't have such sad eyes." She said softly, her lovely eyes clouding with sympathetic sadness.
He blushed darker as he averted his eyes, "Um... what brings you to Smallville?" He asked quickly. Was it really so blatant that a complete stranger saw it?
"My friend, actually. Her fiance lives here. She's moving here and I'm just kind of tagging along. He just bought a farm, and he said I could live in the farmhouse if I like. Guess he's not using it." She said distractedly, her gaze still intent on his face. She took his hand, turning her intensive gaze on it as she turned it, seeming to find it fascinating.
Wow... he really wasn't used to this kind of attention! Her soft, warm fingers were tracing over his palm, sending little tingles through him. He pulled his hand away as politely as he could.
She flashed him another dazzling smile, "Sorry. My lack of social skills is showing again, isn't it? My awareness of the concept of personal space goes out the window sometimes. Hope I didn't make you too uncomfortable. I'm an artist." she added as if that explained everything.
Maybe it did. Clark hadn't known a lot of artists. "Oh." He said in surprise, "Would I have seen any of your work?"
"Probably not in Smallville." She said with a grin, "I do have a lot of my work being shipped in. The truck should be dropping my stuff off in a couple of hours as a matter of fact. Come on by some time and I'd be more than happy to show you some of my work."
He blinked. Was this young woman actually asking him to come by her place? He shifted uneasily, not sure how he should take that. This wasn't really a situation he'd found himself in before.
"And of course if you're ever interested in modeling..." She said leadingly, her gaze drifting down his body.
He blushed ever brighter, especially when he felt his pants tightening a bit. He doubted he could get any redder in the face when her focus (and the little grin that tugged at her lips) indicated she'd noticed.
She smiled broadly, "I'm sorry again. That was wildly inappropriate. I'm not trying to hit on you, really. I realize now that's probably how it's sounding. I mean you are..." She just let out a little inarticulate breath of appreciation, "But... I mean you're probably like fifteen..."
"Um... sixteen, actually."
She let out a little soft whimper, dragging her eyes laboriously back up to his face. "I really don't mean to seem so forward. It's just the way I am. I blame it on my childhood. I was legally blind up until I was like six, though I ironically have always had a photographic memory... so I guess I've been kind of making up for my initial lack of sight ever since. I just have this insatiable need to see everything. I also sometimes have issues with that little filter between my brain and my mouth that weeds out the inappropriate stuff. Mostly when I'm distracted..." She said, her eyes flicking down for a second before she could stop them. "I should go now. It was absolutely lovely to meet you, Clark."
"Um... ya. Right. Nice meeting you, too. Maybe I'll see you around." He said, forcing a little smile. Man was this embarrassing... though oddly not unpleasant. There was no question that it was flattering that such a gorgeous woman quite obviously found him attractive. It went a long way towards rebuilding his self esteem. Actually, he hadn't even realized how much it had needed bolstering until then.
"Hey! Since you seem to know your way around here, do you know where a place called the 'Talon' is?" She asked quickly before he could leave.
He blinked in surprise, "Ya. It's just about a block down. It's the one with the big marquee." He said, pointing it out, "It used to be an old movie theater."
She looked where he indicated and spotted it. "Oh! Thanks. I'm supposed to meet my friend there. You going that way?"
"Oh, um... I've got to run to the store and get home." He said, nodding his head the other direction. He'd find something else to do to while away his time. Dealing with Lana would be bad enough... dealing with her and a really hot, unconsciously flirtatious redhead? That was just a bit too much for him to deal with at the moment.
She furrowed her brow, "But you were headed that way...?" she said curiously.
"Ya... I was heading home, but while we were talking I remembered something I needed from the store." He said quickly.
She gave him a little humoring grin, obviously not fooled by the explanation. "Alright. See you around, gorgeous." She said, thankfully letting him off the hook without embarrassing him further.
He started meandering slowly in the other direction. He couldn't help but glance back at her. She was taking pictures of a precocious little girl who looked perhaps four years old. She had pigtails and was wearing a little pink floral dress. When she was done she spoke briefly to the girl's mother, then gave her what looked like a business card before turning her attention to the hand carved stone embellishments on one of the buildings. Clark just kept finding himself looking back. She really did look like she was completely entranced by the world around her, like a kid discovering their first amusement park.
She turned the camera around, looking for new subject matter, then suddenly jerked the camera down. "Whoa!" She yelled out, holding up her hand in a warding gesture. Clark's eyes darted over to where she was looking. The little girl she'd been photographing and her mother had crossed the street. The mother had stopped to talk to someone and the girl had obviously slipped away unnoticed. She came to a stop at Terri's yell, a few feet into the street. Her mother spotted her, alerted by Terri's yell, and hurried over to grab the girl's hand.
"I got it!" Terri said reassuringly to the girl as she hurried forward.
Clark glanced for cars, but the closest one was almost a block away, so he quickly stepped off the curb, moving out a bit so he could see what was going on. Terri was heading for what looked like a little worn teddy bear lying in the street that the girl must have dropped when she'd crossed.
Clark jerked back instinctively as the car that shouldn't have been anywhere near him yet careened towards him at a completely stupid speed for in-town driving, nearly clipping him. It was obvious from the way the car veered towards him and the engine was gunning that it had been a purposeful attempt to hit him, or at least scare him.
"Watch it, Kent!" Jenkins called back maliciously as he sped past, his head turned back towards Clark to see his reaction.
Unfortunately, Jenkins obviously hadn't noticed what Clark had been staring at and wasn't following his own advice. Terri was in the middle of his lane, just straightening up holding the teddy bear, far too close to get out of the way in time at the rate of speed Jenkins was travelling.
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A/N - I would have preferred it if this one were a bit longer, but it was break it here or have to wait like four more pages. Anyway, I wanted to completely finish writing this before posting anything more so I could give an accurate chapter count at the very least... but it's really hard to write sometimes without even reviews to encourage me. I have written the majority of the rest, but I still have a few gaps to fill in and I will still probably be proofreading the heck out of it, so don't expect me to post the rest all at once or anything. I think I'm going to go back and remove references to how long this will be. Well, when it's not nearly one in the morning and I'm not really tired anyway. It just seems to make my muse want to prove me wrong.
Anyway, in addition to my desperate need for motivation, I also have a question for you. How many of you are guys? Because I would honestly like to know how realistic this sounds to guys. I'm female, and most of my reviewers that I know the gender of appear to be female as well. I have been told that I don't give enough time to 'preparation' when I have a sex scene between two guys. Let's see... how to put this tactfully? Umm... do guys really need more prep and lead up to being taken from behind than girls do? I tend to write from experience, so if there is a disparity between the genders, I would really like to know! I don't need graphic detail or anything, just a general opinion would be appreciated, and of course you can put it in a private message if you don't feel it's posting appropriate or just don't want other people reading your response. If the 'discussion' continues in further chapters I promise I will not mention any names (I don't generally anyway, just wanted to reiterate in case it's a concern). Oh, and if you're a guy, but don't have an opinion on the sex scenes for whatever reason, I would still like to know you read my work (for my own curiosity), and if you could give an opinion on the realism overall of the male characters and my portrayal of them in my writing it would be greatly appreciated.
And to my female fans, I don't mean to exclude you, and I, as always, fervently encourage everyone to review, no matter their gender, nationality, race, species, planet of origin. I don't care! If you can write (preferably in English), please review! I was just curious. I would also like to hear your opinions of how realistic you think I am portraying my characters. Please do specify your gender though when answering this, so I can know which perspective I'm getting. Thanks!