"I know," Lizzie said as soon as she heard Clark sit beside her on the porch steps.

He handed her a glass of water, his brow arched as he waited for her to provide him with an explanation to what she knew. She pushed a hand through her hair, draining her water hastily as she looked into the distance.

"I know I'm a screw up," Lizzie said without a trace of sorrow.

Clark shook his head. "You're not a screw up."

"Yes, I am," she protested. "I'm out of money, my marriage has broken, and now I am here with the worst hangover of my life."

Clark chuckled at the last part. He moved his hand out to her, resting it over her free one. She shuffled along, resting her head on Clark's shoulder as she took a deep breath and felt the tears begin to build up in her eyes. She couldn't stop crying, and she had no idea why. She wanted to be normal for one minute; that was all she wanted. She wanted everything to be the way it was when she was in high school.

"You're just lost," Clark decided to say instead. "Everything has gone wrong at once. It happens, Lizzie. You'll cope. I know you will."

"At least someone has faith in me," Lizzie mumbled, placing her glass down on the step beside her. "I should really go home. Mom will be worried about me if I don't go home soon."

"I'm sure she'll understand," Clark said.

Lizzie pulled back, arching her brow at him as Clark smirked back, a chuckle eliciting his lips. "Okay, so maybe she won't understand that much."

"As I thought," Lizzie said, moving from Clark to push herself to stand up. He stood with her, taking the empty glass after she had finished the water. He looked at her for a moment, wondering how she had found herself in this state.

"I fly back to New York tomorrow," Lizzie said. "I only came for a couple of days. I need to speak with James."

"I see," Clark said.

"And what about you?" Lizzie wondered to him. "What are you going to do?"

Clark dropped his hands to his hips, turning to look around at the farm where he had been raised. Shaking his head, he moved his shoulders up and down. He really had no idea now.

"I don't know," he said. "I suppose I know who I am now. What more can I do?"

"You're always welcome to come and stay in New York for a bit. I live near the Metropolis," Lizzie explained. "It's quite a nice area...well...that's if I'm in New York anymore. Like I said, I don't know what I'm going to do."

Clark bit down on his bottom lip as she continued to run a hand through her greasy hair.

"If you ever need help, Lizzie, you know where I am," Clark told her.

She smiled at that, moving closer to him to press her lips against his cheek in a tender movement. She looked into his clear blue eyes, forcing herself to grin.

"I'm a tough girl," she promised him. "I'll find something."

Clark knew that she was trying to appease him. It just wasn't working. Clark knew her better than she seemed to think, even after all of their years apart.

"What are you doing tonight?" Lizzie wondered. "It's my last night in town and mom is going to her friends for her birthday meal. I don't feel like joining in with that."

"Well, we won't be going to a bar again," he teased her.

She rolled her eyes at that. "Of course not. I was thinking we could...well...I don't know...get some food?"

"I promised my mom that I would cook tonight," Clark said to her. "She's missed me and all that...I wanted to try and make it up to her."

"That's fine," Lizzie said, waving her hand nonchalantly. She pulled her blazer tightly around herself, shaking her head. "It's not like this is goodbye, is it? I mean...it can't be...not again..."

"No," Clark assured her. "Look, why don't you come over tonight? I'm sure my mom won't mind."

"I don't want to interrupt."

"You wouldn't be," Clark said. "You know that my mom thinks the world of you."

"Okay," Lizzie agreed with him. "Well, I should be going."

"I'll drive you," Clark said. "You can hardly walk for miles on end looking like you do," he taunted her. She moved to hit him across the arm before he walked back into the house to grab his keys from the sideboard.

...

Lizzie may have been old enough to do as she pleased, but she still had her mother to answer to. She still had questions fired at her as soon as she came waltzing back home. She'd answered them, telling her mom that she was fine and had just lost control of time and how much she had drank. Ellie had looked at her disapprovingly, but she didn't berate her as much as Lizzie thought she would.

She spent the rest of the day in her room. She had a long nap before she decided to shower and change. She changed into her jeans and leather jacket over her vest top. Clark was waiting for her at gone six.

"You look much better," he taunted her as soon as she climbed into the passenger side.

"Thanks very much," Lizzie replied.

She spoke with Clark for the rest of the journey, laughing and joking with him as he told her of his tales from travelling. She listened with intent, interested in everything which he said. He continued to talk with her as they went about peeling potatoes. Clark grabbed a beer from the fridge as the new family dog barked around his feet.

"I'm taking it that you don't want one," Clark joked with her.

"I'll stick with your mom's homemade orange juice," Lizzie replied as she checked the oven temperature.

Martha was still sat outside, enjoying the sun before going to pick some apples.

"Probably for the best," Clark assured her, watching as she bent over to place the chicken in the oven. He couldn't help but watch her as she made the motion. Even after all those years he was still attracted to her backside. Of course, it was more than her backside which attracted him.

He drained his beer and averted his eyes as she turned around to look back at him.

"Are you even watching that?" Lizzie wondered from Clark, listening to the blaring of the TV. "I can't stand football. You do know that America's Next Top Model is on?"

"Funnily enough, that really doesn't interest me," Clark replied, moving his arm to rest on the archway so that he could look to the TV. Lizzie stood beside him, nudging him in the ribs as she watched it.

"I don't even understand the rules," she complained to him. "Honestly, I can't believe you're still interested in this after a decade away."

"Oh, you wound me, Elizabeth," Clark said. "I'm a man. It is what men watch."

"You do talk rubbish," Lizzie said, daring to nudge him in the stomach again. This time Clark was quicker, grabbing hold of her arm and placing his bottle down. She laughed against him as he twirled her under his arm, pressing her back flat against his chest before releasing her arm and keeping his arms around her. She turned in his hold, looking up to him for another few moments, unable to control her rocketing heart rate. Even after all those years, there was still something about being so close to Clark that made her nervous, yet excited.

She could feel him move against her, bringing down his head as she froze for a moment. She was still married. She was married to James. She couldn't do this with Clark. It wouldn't be fair. She didn't care that James was hundreds of miles away and wouldn't know. But if she did kiss Clark, she risked hurting him too. She risked hurting him if she went back to NYC to try and salvage her marriage.

Besides, she had no idea what she was going to do yet. Leading Clark on would not be fair.

"You'd best put the potatoes on to boil," Lizzie said, patting his chest and escaping his limp grip as she went back to stirring the mixture for the desert.

Clark said nothing, watching as she moved away from him and he remained hunched over. He supposed that he should never have tried to kiss her. She was still married, even though it was on the rocks. Clark had been gone for so long. How could he expect to swan back into her life and pick up where they left off many years ago?

He couldn't.

Lizzie needed time, regardless of what she chose to do about her marriage to James. And if she did go back to him, then maybe Clark would need to move on too. He couldn't pine after her for the rest of his life, regardless of how much he wanted to do that. Maybe if he had stayed, then he would be with her.

"Clark!"

Clark moved the towel from his shoulder, dropping it on the side as he felt relieved to escape the atmosphere with Lizzie.

"Yeah...coming..." Clark promised his mom, turning to leave through the backdoor as Lizzie continued to beat the mixture.

Clark stood by his mother's side, looking up to the sky as she did the same. He managed to see straight through the object which was circling, wonder taking hold of him before he heard a scream and a smashing noise from inside.

He instantly turned around and rushed back into the dark house, the lights having gone off, but the TV remained blurring.

"Lizzie," Clark called out. "You okay?"

"What's going on?" she wondered as he finally found her in the darkness, surrounded by smashed bits of bowl. He grabbed her by the waist, picking her up to help her out of the wreckage so she didn't injure herself.

"I don't know," Clark replied as Martha stood behind them, the apples in her basket as she looked to the TV. Clark's hands left Lizzie as he wandered forwards and she hesitantly followed him, unable to take her eyes from the TV screen.

"Clark," Lizzie whispered as a voice began to speak.

"You are not alone."

He kept his eyes fixed on the screen as he felt her behind him, reaching for his hand. He moved it to entwine his fingers into hers as he took a step back, wrapping his arm around her waist as she felt fear rise up inside of her. Martha took to stand next to her son, her hand resting on his arm as a screeching noise came from the TV.

"My name is General Zod. I come from a world far from yours. I have journeyed across an ocean of stars to reach you. For some time your world has sheltered one of my citizen's. I request you return this individual to my custody. For reasons unknown he has chosen to keep his existence a secret from you. He will have made efforts to blend in. He will look like you, but he is not one of you. To those of you who may know of his current location, the fate of your planet rests in your hands. To Kal El I say this. SUrrnder within twenty four hours, or watch this world suffer the consequences."

Martha shrieked as the lights went back on, dropping the apples to the floor as Clark released Lizzie from his grip, the TV turning off in front of them. Lizzie looked around, her gaze on Clark as Martha rushed into her son's embrace, holding him tightly to her. She couldn't believe what she had just heard.

No one said anything as Lizzie picked up the rolling apples, placing them back in the basket as she thought about what had just happened.

"You can't...Clark..." Martha blurted out, unable to let go of her son as he felt the dilemma truly hit him.

"Sh," he urged his mother. "Everything will be okay."

"How can you say that?" Martha asked him. "The entire fate of the planet...on your shoulders...it is too much, Clark...it is too much...you can't go back..."

"It's okay. General Zod said no harm will come to the planet if I turn myself in. He wouldn't hurt me, would he? I'm part of his race."

Lizzie watched as Clark tried to appease his mother, keeping quiet and knowing full well that he was saying things to appease her. He was trying to make her feel better. But Lizzie wasn't buying it.

He drove her home later on, none of them having a particular appetite as they sat in the living room, not too sure what to say to each other. Clark drove in silence; Lizzie sat on the passenger seat beside him, looking into the darkness as he suddenly stopped the car off a dirt track. Lizzie wondered what he was doing as he climbed out from the vehicle, sitting on the bonnet of it after a moment.

Lizzie followed him slowly, closing the door behind herself as she took to sit beside him.

"You don't trust this General Zod, do you?" she whispered to him as he leant forwards, his hand clasped together and she watched him. "You told your mother those things to appease her."

"What else could I do?" Clark wondered, his voice hoarse as he looked across to Lizzie. "I...I don't want to do this. I don't trust Zod. There is something amiss."

"But?" Lizzie wondered. There was a tone to his voice that suggested there was a but to this conversation. Clark looked to her, adjusting the grey shirt he wore on his body.

"But I have to save earth, don't I?" Clark replied. "I know that Zod can't be trusted, Lizzie. I know that...but...I don't entirely trust other people."

"You have to do what you think is right," Lizzie told him.

"Now who is offering terrible advice?" Clark replied to her, his voice flat as he allowed his lips to tug up at the sides.

"What do you want me to say?" Lizzie wondered, snapping at him after a moment. "Do you want me to tell you to hand yourself in? Do you want me to tell you to let the earth suffer?"

"No," Clark replied, trying to get her to calm down. He was the one in this mess. He didn't need Lizzie hyperventilating. "I don't expect you to have the answer. Only I can have the answer, Lizzie."

"Dear God, Clark," Lizzie complained, running her hands over her cheeks. "None of this makes any sense. Why have they come after all of these years? Why now?"

"I don't know," Clark said. "I suppose there is only one way to find out."

Lizzie looked back to him then, shaking her head with haste as she did so.

"I can't do anything else, Lizzie," Clark replied. "I need to find out what this General Zod wants. I need to know, don't I? How can I leave earth to suffer if I remain hidden?"

Lizzie kept silent then, unable to tell Clark what she thought he should do. She really had no idea. She wanted him to stay hidden. She wanted him to hide. She just didn't know how long he could hide for. It scared her more than she cared to admit.

"Clark," Lizzie croaked out, reaching for his hand. He held it tightly, wrapping his free arm over her shoulders as she nestled against his side. "I will come with you...whatever you do...I'll be there..."

"No," Clark replied, placing his chin on top of her head. He closed his eyes, inhaling her familiar scent as she snaked both of her arms around his waist then. "You can't come with me, Lizzie. I'm not asking you that. I'm not subjecting you to it. Do not ask me to do that."

"I'm not," she promised him. "This is my choice, Clark. You're my best friend. You always have been. You need to know that I can't lose you again...not again...please...I'm so scared for you..."

"Oh, Lizzie," Clark sighed to her, squeezing his eyes closed to stop himself from crying. He couldn't break down in front of her. "I know. I know how you feel. Don't think that I don't, Liz...but...I need to do what needs to be done."

"Oh God," Lizzie complained, her grip around him increasing. "How can I let you go again? How many times are you going to say goodbye to me?"

Clark kept quiet, knowing that he had to make sure Lizzie got home safely. He needed time to think alone. He needed to know what he had to do for sure.

"You're going to go home," Clark whispered. "Go back to New York...make your peace with James...your mother should be safe here...I'll send my mom to check on her..."

"What?" she snapped at him. "How can you even ask me to do that when I know you're going?"

"Because I have to," Clark replied. "I'll take you home."

"No," Lizzie snapped at him. "I'm not going without you. I'm not leaving you again."

"You don't get a choice," Clark said to her, sliding down from the bonnet to wrap her into his arms, holding her tightly against him as she wormed around in his hold, refusing to let him take her anywhere.

"No!" Lizzie roared at him. "Don't you dare tell me what to do!"

"I am telling you to go back to James," Clark snapped. "I am telling you to live your life. I am telling you to do what you should have done all those years ago. You cannot drop everything because I have walked back into your life."

"Yes, I can," Lizzie replied simply. "I have nothing, Clark."

"You have a loving husband," Clark told her. "Do not throw that away. I won't let you...I can't let you...you can't come with me..."

"No," Lizzie replied simply. "I have to...Clark...I..."

"I'm going to keep earth safe, Lizzie. I will see to that," he promised her. "Handing myself in is the only way."

She shook her head then, tiring in his grip as Clark knew that she wouldn't go with him without a fight. He pressed his thumb to her chin as she remained confused, feeling her eyes roll back into her head as she passed out. Clark reached for her then, picking her up and placing her in his arms. He looked down at her, kissing the top of her head and holding her to him again.

"I do this because of you," Clark assured her unconscious form. "You know that, Lizzie. I do it because I...I care for you...so much."

...

A/N: Another chapter may be out later, but let me know what you think until then! Thanks for reading.