A/N: My dear readers, finally an update. It has been a while :)

Winthjo, Supesfan18, supernaturallover1098, Guest, CaribbeanTrinidadian, Theroylahighness Supergirl, Randy, and last but not least Dugtoo, thank you so much for reviewing!

A special thanks goes to my lovely beta Jremme who is always there when I need help!

Enjoy

16.

Celeste could feel the tears running down her cheeks. Opening her eyes, she started sobbing. Turning to the other side of the bed, she looked out of the window. It had been nine months since she was back in Metropolis, and still, it felt unbearable for her to live her life without Clark. Every single day, she had to fight to even be able to breathe, let alone function properly. The worst part for her was that the pain didn't get better like everybody tried to convince her of. No, for her it got worse every day. So much so, that she had to take medication in order to be able to sleep.

Lifting up her hand, she touched her throbbing head. It had been extremely busy for her in the last couple of months as she, Julian, and Chung Hong had had the duty to promote the movie. They had finished filming just a couple of months before, and now the movie was about to be released in the next few weeks.

The movie, she thought. Going back and filming this motion picture after the death of her husband, her disappearing in the Phantom Zone, and the strange birth of her daughter, had been the hardest thing she had ever done in her entire life.

But she had been strong all the way through. She had to be. For Lara. The little girl was like a sunbeam in her life. The only purpose in life she had as a matter of fact, and Celeste loved her daughter more than anything else in this world.

Turning to the other side, Celeste buried her face in Clark's pillow and started to sob, trying to remember what had happened the evening before.

She, Julian, and Chung had been invited to promote the movie. She had barely been able to hold it together when the talk show host had asked all these stupid questions, even though Chung's media team had brainstormed her and Julian as how to answer these questions properly.

After they had patiently gone through all the questions, the two dancers then had performed one of the dances in the movie. To the song Colorblind, Clark's most favorite song.

Closing her eyes and turing on her back, Celeste lifted her hand and brushed over her face, remembering that she had totally lost it after the performance and had had a nervous breakdown just when she and Julian had gone backstage.

She couldn't remember much of what happened afterwards, except a phycician administrating her some strong tranquilizer that had made her feel strangely dizzy. She could vaguely remember that Mathieu, who had never left her side in the past months, had brought her back into her apartment as she had not been able to walk on her own, where Jonathan and Martha Kent had waited for her, extremely concerned about her health.

Sitting up a bit, she glanced at the red numbers of the clock on the bedside table, only to realize that it was the middle of the night.

She still had that feeling of light-headedness and looked around, wondering where everybody had gone. Turning back on her side, she glanced out of the window.

It had started to rain and the millions of lights of the never sleeping city mixed with the water drops on the window, illuminating the room in a very dim and surreal light. Burying her head in the sheets, she let out a long sigh and slipped out of the bed as she knew for sure that she would not be able to go back to sleep soon.

Walking up to the book shelf, she picked up a photo album and the compass globe of Clark's spaceship, like she had done almost every night since she had been back in Metropolis.

Sitting down on the bed and crossing her legs, she opened the album Martha and Heather had given to her and Clark on their wedding day.

The mothers had gathered all the pictures of their children together. From the first day of Celeste's life, and from the first day Clark had been on Earth. They had put together a timeline for both of them every year of their lives. Now Celeste was sitting there, looking at the very cute pictures of her husband when he had been a little boy. She couldn't help the tears brimming in her eyes; it hurt so much that she couldn't feel anything else than the deep feeling of loss. Sobbing, she brushed over one of the pictures, showing him with his friends at his high school graduation. Next to it was a picture of her in her high school uniform and ballet shoes, taken on the day she had had her final exams. Smiling, she remembered that it was one of Clark's most favorite pictures of her. Turning a few pages, she got lost in both of their lives until she looked at her most favorite picture of her and Clark. Jimmy had taken it on their wedding day, showing them kissing right after the ceremony. She lifted her hand and touched the picture as thick tears rolled down her cheeks.

Deep in her own thoughts and desperation, she suddenly felt a very gentle touch on her shoulder. Confused, she turned around, and realized with her eyes wide open, that Clark was sitting just behind her, completely naked.

Smiling at her he asked, "What happened my love?" as his magnificent piercing blue eyes stared, concerned, into hers.

Not being able to say a word, Celeste turned a bit more, looking over her shoulder and touched his face, totally puzzled. He looked as if he hadn't shaved for a couple of days and his hair was a bit longer than the last time she had seen him. A strand of jet-black hair fell over his eye and landed on the angle of his cheekbone. She pushed it off his face and kissed him, her eyes open, their gazes locked. Still not able to say a word, another tear escaped her eye.

Clark cupped her face and brushed the tears away with his thumbs. "Why are you so sad my love?" he asked softly.

"Are you real?" she bluntly counter-questioned, putting a hand on her head. That doctor at the talkshow had certainly given her a bit too much of the sedative.

It was Clark's turn to look puzzled. Grabbing her hands and kissing them, he just looked at her as he rested his chin on her shoulder.

"I'm missing you," Celeste whispered, finally giving in into the beautiful dream.

"I'm here Celeste," he reassured her, embracing her from behind as she collapsed into his arms, putting her head on his naked chest. He grabbed one of her locks and twirled it around his index finger, deep in thought.

When she felt his warm and masculine body, Celeste started to believe that maybe, just maybe, he was really there with her. She turned her head and listened to his unique heartbeat, her tension slowly vanishing as she relaxed even more in his arms.

He looked deep into her jade green eyes and gently kissed her lips. "I'm here," he whispered, as he continued to kiss her throat.

Celeste rubbed her head against his chest and a moan escaped her lips. She had missed him so much it hurt just thinking about it. She closed her eyes and let the sensation of his touch on her smooth skin wash all over her body.

His open mouthed kisses revealed his pent-up desire for her. Lifting her arms up high above her head, he continued to kiss her neck, kissing his way up as he ran the tip of his tongue around the shell of her ear, while his hands slipped slowly to the pale pink ribbon of her singlet, opening it and exposing her naked breasts. By this move, she opened her eyes and arched her back, shoving her hardened nipples into his palms.

"I'm here," he reassured her on a breath against her ear, his warmth driving away the coldness she'd felt for all the months she had been without him.

Powerful arms tightened around her as she let her head fall back, her corkscrew curls washing over his naked shoulder by this move. He inhaled the scent of roses and lavender, his hands caressing her from her waist to the neck. Celeste's heart fluttered in her chest as thrills ran to her extremities. Panting, she reached for his hands and guided them to the secret place between her legs, gasping for air, when he finally touched her. Pleasure battled terror, both sensations ripping through Celeste's body so furiously that she had to bury her fingers into his hair and press him harder against her.

Their gazes met as the softness in his eyes disappeared, only to be replaced by pure desire. Clark shifted and gently guided her body to spread on the bed as he was lying on top of her, continuing to kiss her hot lips. He lowered himself and their skin touched below the waist. She moaned and arched her back. The tingling sensation of his unshaved cheeks, brushing over her smooth and naked skin, caused her to gasp. The desire she felt was beyond anything she had ever felt before. He stopped and looked deep into her eyes.

She wrapped her legs around him and opened her mouth for more of him. He lowered his head to feather kisses and blow soft, sweet, warm breaths on her breasts.

A fever rolled up her spine and back down to her womb, her hips jutting into his, still kissing, still gazing into his baby-blue eyes, her tears running uncontrollably over her cheeks.

"I don't want this to end," she sobbed. "Ever."

He caught her chin as he slid gently into her, filling her completely. "It won't," he promised, and started to move slowly.

Clark opened his eyes in total shock, squeezing them shut again as a strong pain shot through his temple.

Instinctively, he put his hand on his throbbing head as he slowly opened his stinging eyes and waited until his pupils had adjusted to the unbearable lightning conditions in the room.

With the slightest movements, he felt another indescribable pain ripping through his body, giving him the feeling that all of his being was about to be shred into a million pieces. Breathing heavily, he pushed his body into a sitting position, putting one bare foot on the floor, closely followed by the other.

Totally puzzled, he turned his head, realizing that he was in a very strange room that was flooded with a bright light. He was sitting on some kind of bed, and on his chest there were EKG dots attached that were strangely enough not connected to any monitoring evident in the room.

Lifting his hand, he touched his head again just to find EEG dots sticking to his brow.

While trying to stand up, he could feel his extremely wobbling legs giving in as he lost his balance and hit the floor with a loud and painful bang. There, he remained for a few seconds absolutely still, until the pain had eased enough that he could breathe again.

Trying to get up, he grabbed for the edge of the bed and could manage to get onto his legs, pushing himself into a standing position as the door opened. Clark had to squeeze his eyes to be able to see who was standing in the doorframe.

„Wow Boy Scout, I bet that was a hell of a dream!" Oliver exclaimed with a cheeky laugh as he walked into the room.