Chapter Twelve

Clark lands on his balcony with a small thump after checking to make sure no one is around to see. Entering his apartment with a heavy sigh, he tries not to look around and bring back all those memories with child Bruce. Of course, they come back anyway and a heaviness settles in his chest. Think positive. He goes to his kitchen and starts to make something for supper. Except halfway through cooking the chicken and potatoes, he decides against having any of it. Knowing his mother would be disappointed in him if he just threw the food away, he continues to make it while ordering Chinese, and then once it's done he puts it into containers and into the refrigerator. He eats his Chinese as soon as it arrives, sitting silently at his dining room table, and then after, he picks out a movie to watch. Clark can't bring himself to enter his bedroom quite yet and as much as he knows how pathetic it is, he wants to put off having to go into his room for as long as possible. So instead, he'll watch a movie even though it is quite late. It's not like Clark has work tomorrow anyways.

Just before Clark is ready to pop the DVD into the DVD player, there is a knock on the door. Glancing at the clock and seeing that it is 11:30, he wonders who it could be at such a late hour. The knock comes again and Clark goes to answer the door. When he sees who is on the other side he's kind of shocked. "For someone with super speed, it took you long enough to answer the door." Clark stares at Bruce, mouth agape. "Are you going to let me in?"

"What?" Clark shakes his head to clear it. "Oh, right, yeah come in." He stands aside to let the man in. "What are you doing here?"

Bruce takes in the environment even though nothing has changed since the last time he was here, as an adult or a kid. "Best friends can't hang out anymore?"

"But..." Clark stammers. "We don't normally hang out."

"We do when I'm a four year old though?" Bruce raises an eyebrow.

"That was special circumstances," Clark says and Bruce hums his agreement.

"Maybe we should start then," Bruce mumbles and it takes Clark by such surprise he decides not to comment about it.

Instead he says only to change the subject, "Hey Bruce, I wanted to ask you. That device you put on that one Broorg's shoulder, before this whole mess, when it was just you and me fighting them, what was that thing?"

Bruce shrugs. "It was a new gadget I had come up with. It produces a silent, very painful, pulse into the body, enough to incapacitate whoever it is on but not enough to kill them. It would seem the Broorg had some resistance to it though."

"I think you're right about the resistance. When they took it off the Broorg, he brushed it away as if it was nothing."

"Well I only had the opportunity to test it on myself before using it. I would have liked to have tested it more but couldn't before we got assigned the mission," Bruce explains.

Clark looks at him in alarm. "Wait, you tested it on yourself? Bruce, that's like you're torturing yourself."

Bruce shrugs again. "So, I test all my non-deadly gadgets on myself. The deadly ones I test on dummies. For example explosives."

Clark just blinks. "Then what about the device that blocks your heartbeat? Are you… are you planning on using that all the time now?"

Bruce eyes him and allows the right corner of his lips to rise a little. "No, I won't be. That was only for the Broorg. Unless…" He takes a step towards Clark and practically purrs, "You think I should keep using it."

"No!" Clark blushes at his urgency. He clears his throat. "I mean, no, no I don't think that will be necessary."

Bruce's shoulders shake the slightest little bit in a laugh. If Clark didn't have heightened senses he wouldn't even have noticed it. "Right." Bruce looks over to Clark's TV, seeming to want to change the subject. "Were you about to watch a movie?"

Clark smiles, remembering how he and four year old Bruce sat on the couch and watched the movie the child picked out. "Yeah, I actually was."

Bruce stays silent for a few seconds before looking back at Clark. "What movie?"

"Punisher." Clark goes over to put it in the DVD player. "The last time I watched a DVD it was a rated G movie because I had a little you to watch it with. Then, of course, there was that time I was watching bad late night movies but you don't remember that. I mean you didn't watch them with me but you came out from the bedroom and..." Clark trails off and instead holds the DVD case up to show Bruce. "Are you going back to Gotham?" Bruce shakes his head in the negative. "Really? That's not like you."

"I can take a night off Clark," he says.

Clark stares at him in disbelief. "Since when? Ten years ago?"

Bruce huffs a laugh. "Of course, not… I never took nights off ten years ago." They both laugh, Clark's loud and Bruce's quietly controlled, and Clark presses play at the DVD menu, making sure to hit pause as soon as it starts. "Besides, Tim has everything handled and if things get too out of hand then he can call Dick or Jason, probably Dick though. Plus Damian has been begging me to allow him to go on patrol alone at some point and I thought now would be a good night since everyone is pretty much still locked up in Arkham. I'm having Tim keep an eye on him though since he can be a little… aggressive."

"I'll say." Clark smiles at him. "Do you want to stay and watch the movie with me then?" Bruce looks at the TV and bites his bottom lip. Clark follows the action with his eyes and has to bite his own lip to stop himself from smiling. "You do that when you're nervous, you know?"

Bruce looks back to him. Gosh, his eyes really are a silvery blue. "What?"

Clark can't hold back the smile this time and his friend raises an eyebrow. He does that a lot too, it would seem. "You were just doing it, biting your lip."

"You pay that much attention to me?" A smile ghosts on his lips.

Clark shrugs. "Of course, I do, I-" Clark catches himself before he can say the word 'love'. "You're my best friend."

Bruce studies him then and it makes Clark a little uncomfortable. No matter how often Batman stares at Superman or Bruce stares at Clark as if he's trying to figure something out or analyze something, he'll never be used to it. "You blush when you're nervous."

It's so sudden and unexpected, Clark flushes red. "I do not!" he protests and Bruce raises an eyebrow again. "Okay, maybe I do." Clark crosses his arms and looks away in a mixture of defiance and defeat. It causes Bruce to chuckle which really doesn't help Clark's blush.

Bruce shrugs then. "You tend to blush easily anyway." Clark still refuses to look at the man and said man chuckles again. Clark's not sure he's ever heard adult Bruce laugh so much in one setting. Hell, in one day. "I'll watch the movie with you Clark. Do you have something more comfortable I can change into though?"

"You want to change?" Clark asks in surprise, finally looking at him.

Bruce nods. "Well I don't really want to sit through a two hour movie in this suit."

"O...Okay." Clark leaves the room and goes to his bedroom. He hasn't even been in his bedroom yet since he got home. Now, memories of a small four year old Bruce flood his brain. He sighs, digs out a pair of his pajamas while avoiding child Bruce's drawer, and goes back out into the living room to hand them to the man. Bruce, instead of going to the bathroom to change like some normal person, decides to change right there in the living room and right in front of Clark. Clark, of course, blushes again, and turns around so not to watch him, which is actually more for Clark's benefit than Bruce's.

A presence comes up beside him where Clark was trying to concentrate on anything other than an adult Bruce being half naked right behind him. He shouldn't be this affected. He's already seen adult Bruce fully naked plenty of times by now. Just whatever happens, don't picture it as a strip tease. Shit! "Ready?" He jumps slightly.

Clark turns around and looks at his friend. The shirt fits him perfectly but the pajama bottoms are a little wide for Bruce's slim waist and they hang low on his hips. Clark licks his lips and, his good for nothing traitorous cheeks, blushes a deep red. "Yeah, let me just..." He clears his throat. "Let me just change too." He goes back to his bedroom and takes his time to calm himself and change into another pair of pajamas. When he goes back into the living room, Bruce is still standing there. "You going to sit or are you going to train while watching?"

Bruce rolls his eyes but Clark can tell he's not really annoyed. "You sit first." He gestures to the couch.

Suspiciously and eyeing Bruce warily, Clark takes his place on the couch. It's the same place that he sat in with kid Bruce. Bruce finally decides to join him and to Clark's even more surprise, cuddles up right next to his side, pressing close with his feet up on the couch and his knees drawn in, just like little Bruce did when they watched the movie. "What- what are you doing?"

"Watching the movie. You going to play it?" Bruce says calmly and with no hint of any other emotion.

"But..." Clark stammers. "But why are you..."

Bruce eyes him carefully. "Well, aren't we supposed to watch the movie together, like this, and then you pick me up, bring me to your room, and then we snuggle until we both fall asleep? Except this time you don't have to change me into pajamas since I'm already wearing some."

Clark stares at him flabbergasted. "You... You... You remember everything?" Bruce doesn't say anything and doesn't move. "But... but... You told the others you didn't remember."

"I didn't think you would want the others to start asking questions of what you and I got up to when I was four," Bruce says.

"Not really but you should have at least told me." Clark is in no way about to freak out. Not at all.

"I was going to up on the Watchtower when everyone went home but…" He trails off. "I guess I kind of chickened out."

"I think you do that often," Clark points out, heart beating hard in his chest. "So… you remember but do you still not want to talk about it? I mean, how you revealed that you remember kind of gives that impression."

Bruce begins to stiffen next to him, an indicator to Clark that he's starting to feel his fight or flight response to this conversation. Which means it could go two ways; Bruce could start an argument that will only end in both of them being pissed off and never talking about this or when he was de-aged, or Bruce can flee and tell Clark that he has to go and they still end up never talking about this or when he was de-aged. Clark waits to see which one wins out, after all, if he remembers everything that happened while he was a four year old, that means he remembers all the arguments, all the pain Clark put him through, all the good times and how much they enjoyed spending time together, and the two most important things, Clark telling him that he loves him and little Bruce telling Clark that adult Bruce might love him back. That's a lot of things that were revealed to Clark and a lot of things to take in for such a man who is as closed off as Bruce.

After a long pause, Bruce finally says, "I…" Clark can hear Bruce's heart beating rapidly in his chest. He grows quiet again and his body is rigid. Clark finds it amazing how fast his defenses can come only thing that has happened is Bruce showing Clark that he remembers everything that happened while he was de-aged. They haven't even said anything else about it or discussed it thoroughly and he's already on guard.

"Don't." Clark stops him from getting up as soon as he sees a muscle flex by placing a hand on his bicep. "Don't shut down on me. You came here and brought this up which must mean somewhere in you wants to talk about it. Don't run away from that."

"Clark I'm..." Bruce looks down at his knees and mumbles so softly that Clark almost misses it, "I'm scared."

"I know you are," Clark acknowledges. "I know, but you don't need to be scared with me. Bruce, you never have to be scared with me."

Bruce stays silent for a few more seconds. He then looks over at Clark with pain filled and conflicted eyes. "I can't," he hisses. Bruce then goes back to studying his knees. Clark opens his mouth to say something to try and prompt him since that's the easiest way Clark can think to get Bruce to open up but Bruce says abruptly, "You said that you loved me." Okay, that's a little safer ground for Bruce. Talk about myself not him.

"I did," Clark agrees hesitantly, worried about causing the Bat to flee despite the subject not being about Bruce specifically. After all, it's still about emotions and feelings.

Bruce licks his lips. "Since when?"

Clark groans and sits back against the couch, rubbing a hand through his hair and messing it up. "Oh Bruce, that's like asking me when I decided to become a superhero." Bruce looks at him then, curiosity winning over fear. "You see, it's so complicated because sometimes I think about when we first met and how I was jealous. Except I'm no longer sure who I was jealous of, Lois or you. At the time I thought I was jealous of you because you got to date Lois but thinking about it now, I might have actually been jealous of Lois because she got to date you."

Bruce's face is scrunched. "Don't tell me it was 'falling in love at first sight' crap."

Clark laughs. "No, I don't think so. I couldn't stand you."

"Good to know." Bruce begins to relax slightly.

"Hey, you couldn't stand me either, don't deny it." Bruce smiles a little. "Besides, I'm not talking about love at the moment; I'm talking about sexual attraction. I can't say you weren't hot and the intimidating dominance act you did only made you that much more so." Bruce snorts and Clark smiles. "Anyways, at the time I didn't know what I was feeling towards you because I thought I was an all American, heterosexual, farm boy from Kansas. I didn't even dream about considering that I might be bisexual."

"You strike me more as a pansexual," Bruce states.

"Pansexual?" Clark asks.

Bruce looks at him and then back to his knees. "I'll explain it later. Then you can decide if it fits you better."

"You do realize that I've only been attracted to three people that I know of, right?" Bruce gives him a look that says 'of course, I do, I'm not stupid' and Clark feels his face heat up. "Of course, I could have been at least sexually attracted to many other people without knowing it."

"Clark," Bruce butts in and Clark prompts him to keep going by looking at him but Bruce continues to not look back. "Are you a virgin?"

Yep, that makes the heat on his face a hundred times worse. "N-no, of course, not." Bruce then gives him a look that says, 'don't lie to me, Kent'. "I'm telling the truth, I swear." Bruce raises an eyebrow and Clark fidgets under the intense gaze. "Okay, I'm not with women but I've never had sex with a man before." Clearing his throat, Clark changes the subject. "When did you find out that you were... pansexual?"

Bruce blinks slowly at this, thinking over his answer. "I identify as bisexual, it's easier for the media and they don't butcher the definition too bad. Plus it just fits better."

This time it's Clark's turn to blink at him. "A-Alright." He shifts his weight. "So, when did you figure that out?"

Bruce makes a thinking face, mostly for Clark's benefit he thinks, and says, "My senior year of high school."

Clark barks a laugh. "Yeah, and how old were you when you were a senior?"

Another thinking look. "Sixteen."

Clark laughs again and playfully shoves Bruce on the shoulder. "Of course, you were."

"Hey," Bruce shoves him back and Clark goes with the motion. "You could have graduated early too if you didn't hide how smart you were, idiot."

Clark smiles at him and takes joy in the small smile on Bruce's face. "Only you can call me smart and an idiot at the same time." He chuckles. "Unlike the Prince of Gotham, I couldn't afford to bring attention to myself. So I made sure to get just a few wrong answers but also not enough right answers to look like a prodigy either." The laughter dies down and Bruce has completely relaxed now, leaning slightly against Clark's side. "Do you think me finding out I'm bi or pan or whatever this late in life is, well, late?"

Bruce scoffs. "No, I don't. There are plenty of people that don't realize what their sexuality is until later in life. Don't worry about it." He slaps the back of Clark's head lightly, not that he would have hurt Clark but Clark assumes he didn't want to hurt himself. Bruce then sighs and settles in more, resting his head on Clark's shoulder. "Thank you for taking care of me Clark."

Clark resists the urge to kiss him on the top of the head, knowing that action will just serve to ruin everything and scare him off. "No problem, you're my friend so I would do anything for you."

"Except pretend to be my father." This time it's not Bruce who stiffens but Clark. The feeling of the Man of Steel stiffening causes Bruce to sit up and look at him. He doesn't look hurt or annoyed, not even his default angry, he just looks curious. "Why?"

Clark shrugs, deciding the TV screen is a lot more interesting than Bruce's beautiful eyes. "I didn't want you to continue thinking of me as your father or family when you got turned back."

"No that's not it," Bruce says suspiciously. "What's the real reason?"

"That is the real reason," Clark mumbles.

Bruce's eyes narrow. "Well that's stupid."

Clark rolls his eyes and grumbles, "So I've been told."

"What's the other reason?" Bruce asks.

Clark sighs. He should have known Bruce would know there's more than one reason behind the way he acted. He sighs again. "I also didn't want to be your father because I didn't want to…" He takes a deep breath. "I didn't want to get attached to a child version of you which, by the way, I did anyways."

"And that's why you're like this?" Bruce indicates all around him but doesn't elaborate on what exactly he means.

"Like what exactly?" Bruce raises his eyebrows in order to tell Clark to 'stop playing games' and that he knows exactly what Bruce is talking about. Clark rolls his eyes again. "I don't know Bruce, I just miss having you as a little kid, that's all."

"Why?" Bruce asks.

Clark avoids eye contact. "Don't get me wrong Bruce, I'm glad you're back to normal, really glad, but when you were just a little four year old you were so much more open. You liked being around me and the other Justice League members and you didn't hide that. You showed me how much you care about me and how much you need me to the point of being clingy. You told me how you felt towards me, that you love me, and you being so open and expressive, that's totally lost now. I mean, Bruce, you cried. You cried a lot and that's not something people see you do every day or ever. Hell, you even showed how you really feel about Wally."

Bruce groans and rubs at his face. "Don't remind me about that. The kid will never let me live it down."

Clark smiles fondly. "Just give him your Bat-glare and he'll learn." His smile fades. "I'm just going to miss how different you were, how much more you showed, and how much you actually wanted me. I'm never going to get that back and-" he cuts himself off, not being able to continue. Clark looks down to the floor.

"Who says you're never going to see that again?" Clark looks to his friend in confusion. "Who says I'm not going to show you how much I want you anymore?"

"Because I know you," Clark says. "You might have been open enough as a four year old to cry openly in front of me and to tell me you love me, but you and I both know I'm never going to see or hear that again. You probably don't even love me like that anyways."

"Says you," Bruce says, sounding a bit defensive. "I can't believe you're even bringing that up again. You can't tell me that I don't love you when you don't know how I feel. You're not me Clark. Only I can know how I really feel towards you."

"Bruce," Clark says. "The adult you, you now, is like incapable of talking about feelings. For crying out loud, Bruce, we practically almost didn't have this conversation because you almost ran away from it. So even if you somehow do love me in a romantic way, then I'm still never going to hear it because you're too afraid to do anything about it."

Bruce stands, looking angry now. "And what? I can't try to change that about myself? And, damn it Clark, stop doubting what I feel towards you. There is no 'somehow' there just is."

Clark stands too. He doesn't want Bruce to leave because he's angry but he also needs to make things clear. "Okay, fine, you do love me. The little four year old version of you was correct and I was wrong, but you know what your love looks like, Bruce? You've raised four boys and each one you have a strained relationship with."

"Says the guy who doesn't have any better of a relationship with Kon than I do with my boys." Bruce is starting to get tense again and his eyes are narrowing. "At least with my boys I have tried to be a good father to them. You didn't even want Kon at first, remember?"

Clark crosses his arms. "That's not the point."

"Then what is? I have tried with those boys and I think our relationship is a bit better than what you believe it is." His voice is lowering. Clark doesn't want to talk to Batman though, he wants to continue to talk to Bruce, the real Bruce.

He takes a deep breath. "Okay, maybe with Dick and Tim but you can't deny the strained relationship you have with Jason and Damian, and Damian is your own blood."

"So is Kon with you." Bruce takes a step towards him, straightening his stance to seem taller. "So tell me, Kal, how can you judge me on my relationship with them when you can't even fix your own?"

Clark looks away, tries to calm himself. He looks back to Bruce once he's gained his composure a little more. "I'm not judging. I didn't mean to make you think that." Bruce still doesn't relax and Clark knows he's a hair away from Batman showing up. He's going to have to pick his next words carefully. "I admit, your relationship with the boys is a lot better than mine with Kon, and I'm trying too, I am, but there's a difference between trying to have a functional relationship with your kids and trying to have a functional relationship with someone you love in a romantic way." Bruce takes a step back but he's still on high alert, still glaring. "You don't have the best track record when it comes to these things, when it comes to dating someone, and God knows I don't have that much experience with it so..."

Bruce is shaking his head. "Why are you trying to ruin this? Push me away? You're the one that didn't want to get attached to a child version of me because you love me. Hell, just the fact that you do love me is in a way a miracle. I kind of think that's a difficult thing to do so one would think that if you know I love you back you would want to have a relationship with me. You being," He flails his arms at Clark. "You, I would have thought you'd jump at the opportunity even if it is 'trying', which apparently is different to you."

"Stop putting yourself down," Clark says.

"What?" Bruce asks.

Clark clarifies. "You said it's hard to love you but it's not. Alfred loves you, the boys love you including Jason and Damian, Cass, Steph, and Barbra love you, and some people even love Batman. The Justice League members, yes even John, loves you and I love you. You have plenty of people who love you Bruce." Bruce is looking at him like he's crazy. "You just don't see it. You could never be a burden, no matter what state of being you're in; we love you too much to consider you a burden. If anything, you're an asset. We had our asses handed to us when we were fighting the Gorganerians and I don't know if we could have done better with you there calling the shots, but all I do know is that it would have helped. You're the guy that plans things, the guy that is always ready and almost right all the time. We need you. I need you."

Bruce has stopped looking at him and has decided to stare at the floor. "Then tell me, if I'm 'almost right all the time' and you 'need me'," He looks up and Clark is surprised to actually see hurt in his eyes. "Then why can't you believe me when I say I want to try to make this work? Really try."

Clark throws his hands up in frustration. "This isn't even like you." He turns away, pinching the bridge of his nose. He walks to the window. "I've never seen you act like this before, Bruce. I've never seen you practically beg to give something a shot." He turns around to face the man. "I've never seen you be so persistent with something that has to do with feelings and emotions and attached relationships. A-Are you like feeling okay? Did the magic screw with your head?"

Clark has angered him again. He knows because Bruce is currently shooting daggers at him with his eyes. "You want me to give up? Having a relationship with you is something that you want, is it not?" Clark doesn't answer. "And you learn that it's reciprocated and that the man who hides all his emotions from everyone is willing to step out of his comfort zone and have some kind of relationship with you, whether that be boyfriends or lovers, or hell, fuck buddies," Clark flinches at the last one. "And all you have to say is that I should give up?" He's yelling and his voice has gone into Batman territory. Bruce throws his hands up in anger. "Fine, if that's what you want. But listen here, Kent, this was your only chance. I won't be giving another one." He turns and walks out of Clark's apartment, slamming the door behind him.

Clark sighs and bows his head. How did this whole thing go from Bruce hiding his emotions, to Bruce basically pouring his heart out, at least in his own way, to Clark messing it all up again? Clark wipes at his eyes with his sleeve, feeling tears starting to prickle in them. Maybe he should go on a late night patrol and clear his head? After all, he no longer wants to watch the movie. Wiping at his eyes again and sniffling, he makes his way back to his balcony. He stops at the sliding door to take a deep breath and once he feels he's ready, he opens the door.

Just before stepping out onto the balcony, and realizing he is still in his pajamas, Clark feels arms wrap around his midsection and a hard chest presses up against his back. There's a warm cheek pressed against the back of his neck. "You're an asshole; a stupid, lovable, asshole."

Clark draws in a breath. "Bruce."

"Stupid idiot," Bruce continues. "Don't you know you're supposed to accept my love, which isn't given easily mind you, and sweep me up off my feet? I'm a prince, you're supposed to treat princes better than that." Clark smiles at Bruce calling himself a prince. "You make a terrible knight in shining armor. I hope you never have to profess your love to any other prince because they'll be just as baffled as I am by how you receive that love back."

"Bruce." Clark tries to turn in his arms but Bruce doesn't allow him too by squeezing him tighter.

"I even told you I was scared. When do I ever tell anyone that? And then you have the gall to say I won't try and trying is different between different relationships which is ridiculous." Bruce is clutching at his pajamas, knuckles white. "How dare you say such a thing to a prince like me? Here I am trying and telling you I'll keep trying and you shove it back in my face as if it doesn't matter."

"It does matter," Clark says hastily but Bruce still ignores him.

Bruce moves his head so that his cheek is no longer pressing into his neck and is instead replaced with his forehead. Clark hears Bruce's heartbeat speed up and Bruce lowers his voice to a whisper. "I want to touch you and see you naked. You've already seen me naked more than once but I want to be naked together. I want to wake up with you beside me, especially after a long, taxing night. I want to share my breakfast with you and go on fancy dates and even lame ones that I know you'll pick out." Clark snorts. "I want to kiss you and hold you and I want to make love to you over and over again. I want to share myself with you and I want you to share yourself with me. Clark I just want to try, I want to try so bad and I know I'm bad with words and feelings and I know it'll be tough and we'll argue still because we can never seem to agree on things, even something as trivial as this. I just don't want you to give up on me when I screw up because I will screw up but I'll still be trying. Please Clark, I just want to try and I know, I know, you want to too. So don't... don't throw it away without even knowing how far we can go."

Silence fills the room and when Clark finally turns around in Bruce's arms, he can see a blazing blush on his friend's pretty cheeks. "Bruce?" Bruce looks up and there is so much love and devotion shown in those eyes that have seen so much, too much, that Clark smiles. Bruce is being open with him, trying to be as open as possible right now, and Clark knows Bruce listened to him when he was talking about what he'll miss about child Bruce. "Bruce I-"

Bruce cuts him off. "I want you. I've wanted you for a long time. Don't make me ignore it for the rest of my life too. I... I love you Clark. I need you too."

Clark kisses him then, pressing his lips against Bruce's gently, and cupping both sides of Bruce's face. They kiss until they need to pull away in order for Bruce to catch his breath. Bruce is breathing heavily, heart pounding in his chest wildly, and Bruce's bottom lip is immediately bitten from Bruce's top and bottom teeth. Clark smiles at the nervous gesture that he's sure Bruce doesn't even notice he does, even after Clark pointed it out to him. Clark bites Bruce's bottom lip and pulls it out from between Bruce's teeth. He then kisses him again until Bruce is a little more relaxed and then reluctantly pulls away once more. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for almost pushing you away. I guess we both weren't acting like ourselves."

Bruce shakes his head, the blush retreating. "No, we weren't."

"I do want you, Bruce," Clark says. "I want you really bad."

"Then you should have said something instead of all that earlier, you idiot." Bruce smiles at him. It's not a big smile like Brucie's but it's a genuine one, the real Bruce's smile.

Clark smiles in return, his own wide and toothy. He then looks back to the couch. "Why don't we watch that movie? Then I'll carry you to my bedroom except instead of snuggling, I'm thinking we can do a little more than that."

Bruce kisses him. "Let's."

They walk back to the couch and a smile forms on Clark's face as he sits down with Bruce. Looking at the man beside him now, Clark has a feeling he won't be missing child Bruce as much anymore.

A/N: Whelp, that's the last chapter. I want to thank everyone who read and left reviews. I'm so, so happy that you all enjoyed this story. It was a great pleasure! :)