"I'll be coming over in the next day." Clark promised his mother as he spoke to her on her cell. He had called her as soon as he had shed himself of his suit. He'd tucked it into a duffel bag he'd found and changed into normal clothes. A shirt and jeans now covered his body as he made his way to the hospital in New York.
"Are you sure you're safe?" Martha checked with her son.
"I'm fine," Clark promised his mother after a second. He looked up to the New York skyline, looking at how unharmed it was. Considering it was so close to Metropolis, Clark was shocked that it was unscathed.
"And Lizzie?" Martha whispered. "You took her back to her apartment, didn't you? Is she hurt?"
Clark took a second to close his eyes and gulp loudly. He shook his head, his free hand running through his hair as he thought about what his mother had just said. He stood by the phone booth, holding the phone tightly in his hand as he thought about Lizzie and what she had gone through.
"Zod found her," Clark mumbled. "He intended to use her against me. She is in hospital with a few cuts and bruises. I'm going to see her in a minute."
"Poor girl," Martha sighed. "What are you going to do about her, Clark? You know her marriage is unstable."
"I know," Clark confirmed. "She needs time, mom. Besides...every time I am with her...well...something bad happens."
"Clark," Martha sighed. "Don't do anything stupid, okay? Look after her. She needs a friend at the moment. Her mother is still with me...she's insufferable...I've never met such an annoying woman before."
"Is she still shaken up?" Clark wondered, recalling how Lizzie's mother had been there when Zod had dared to attack his mother. Martha had promised her son that she would calm Ellie down and make her understand what she had just seen. It had taken three shots of whiskey, but she had managed.
"She's...she knows that it is you, Clark. She won't say anything. I made sure of that. She'll definitely keep her mouth closed when she hears how you saved Lizzie from Zod."
"Lizzie should never have been taken captive by Zod." Clark responded, still feeling ridiculously guilty about everything that had happened to her. "Look, I have to go and see her, mom. I shall come home soon. Look after yourself, okay?"
"You too, Clark," Martha said. "I love you...so much, Clark."
"Love you too, mom."
Clark hung the phone up and moved slowly through the streets again. He entered the hospital, noting how busy it was before waiting his turn at the reception area. He stood quietly, enquiring where Lizzie had been taken. He finally found her in a ward, her bed at the bottom of it by the window. She was alone, sat up on the bed and running her hands over each other.
"Clark," she whispered as soon as she saw him approach. He smiled at her, dropping his suit to the floor before sitting in the small chair. Lizzie couldn't help but smirk at how oversized he looked in comparison to the tiny seat. He leant forwards, clasping his hands together as he observed the plasters and stitches which covered her pale skin.
"What have they said?" he asked her. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Lizzie said, shaking of his concern. "I just have a few cuts and bruises. There's nothing seriously wrong with me. They say I will be discharged by tomorrow morning."
"That's good," Clark whispered as if it wasn't good news. "What are you going to do?"
"Fly back to Smallville for a while," she replied. "I need to see my mom...make sure she's safe..."
"I just called my mother," Clark spoke. "Your mother is with her. She's shaken up, but she's safe. She knows about me."
"She won't say anything," Lizzie said, tucking her hair behind her ears as Clark nodded in agreement.
"I know," he promised her, keeping quiet for a few seconds as he looked down to his hands, unsure of what he should say to her.
"The hospital called James," Lizzie said, bringing up a new line of conversation. "He will be here in a while."
"I see," Clark mumbled. "I'll be gone before then. I'm sure he'll want to take care of you...go back to Smallville with you..."
"No," Lizzie whispered.
She said nothing for a few moments, looking out of the window to the darkening sky around her. Her eyes watered as she took a few moments to think about what she was doing. She never knew if she was making the right decision.
"I can't go with James," Lizzie declared. "I don't want to cheat him anymore. I don't love him...I never truly have...not like I should. I can't toy with his emotions anymore. He deserves me to be straight and upfront with him."
Clark said nothing in response to that, choosing to keep his mouth closed as he thought about what she had just said.
"I need time to think," Lizzie said. "I need to know what I want in the future...and James isn't it..."
She looked back to him, her eyes wide as Clark watched her back. She said nothing for a second, wondering if she should bring up Lois Lane. She didn't want to. She didn't want to talk about her at that moment in time. But she was intrigued as to how Clark felt about her.
"Can't you wait until tomorrow?" Lizzie suddenly asked Clark. "Can't we fly back together?"
"Why?" Clark wondered from her.
"To make sure that you don't disappear on me again," Lizzie said harshly.
Clark could see her eyes glimmering, threatening to cry as she thought about the long years she had gone without Clark Kent.
"I won't," Clark promised her. "Lizzie, look, we need-"
"-I just need a friend, Clark," she interrupted him, far too drained to even contemplate talking about how she felt. She didn't know how she felt. She needed time to comprehend everything for herself. "I just need to make sure you won't go away again. I don't expect anything to be how it was...like...when we were seventeen..." she trailed off, a small hysterical laugh escaping her. "I mean, we both moved on, didn't we? I found James. You found Lois."
Clark looked startled for a moment as Lizzie continued to blabber on.
"So I don't think anything else...well...I don't know what will happen-"
"-Lizzie, I don't-"
"-So that is all there is to it."
"Lizzie," Clark exasperated. "Lois...she isn't...I don't know..."
"Lizzie!"
Clark could no longer speak to her. She tore her gaze away from his, looking over to James. He was rushing down to her, pulling at his tie to release it from his throat as he finally reached her. He bent down by her side, pulling her into his arms. Clark awkwardly coughed and stood up, looking at her as she remained emotionless.
"Lizzie, I've been so worried about you...I've panicked about everything...wondering where you were...what had happened to you..." James spoke incoherently.
"I'm fine," she promised him. "They're discharging me tonight. Look, James, I need to talk with you."
"Okay," James said, turning around to look at Clark, his brow arched as he did so. "Who is he?"
"Clark Kent," he introduced himself before Lizzie had the chance to speak for him. He held his hand out, willing to shake James's. "I'm an old friend of Lizzie's."
"Oh, yeah," James said, not too sure how to handle that piece of news. He held his hand and took hold of Clark's, feeling how firm his shake was. "Lizzie's spoke of you quite a bit."
"He is my childhood friend," Lizzie replied. "You know that, James."
"I've never seen him before," James replied to her curt tone. "Anyway, it has been a pleasure to meet you...even in these circumstances..."
"Of course," Clark said. "Likewise."
Clark exchanged a brief and knowing look with each other before Clark walked out of her room. He wandered the streets for a while, knowing that he had no money on him to stay anywhere. Clark had nothing. He called an airline and managed to recall his credit card details to book him two seats on a plane back to Kansas the following day. And then he waited until the next morning to pick Lizzie up from her apartment.
...
"You're giving up on the marriage, Lizzie," James spoke the following day.
He was stood by the door as she packed another bag, preparing to leave for as long as she needed. She wore a flowing summer dress, revealing her scars and cuts. It hurt far too much to cover them up with tight fitting clothes. She had seen Clark outside the apartment on the street, waiting for her to come to him.
"I know," she said. "I'm sorry, James. It wouldn't work...I didn't want it to work...not deep down...I care for you. I always will care for you. I just can't love you like you deserve. Someone better will come along. You will see that."
"Will I?" James wondered as she placed her satchel on her shoulder and grabbed the case she had packed.
"Yes," Lizzie promised him. "Please, James, don't quit."
"You'll make sure that you're safe, won't you?" James said, ignoring her pleas to him. She wheeled her case into the living room before he picked it up and held it in his hands.
"Of course. You do the same," Lizzie urged him.
"Come on," James said, trying not to cry. "I'll carry your case down for you."
She stood on her toes and pecked his cheek softly, allowing him to walk her down the stairs. She took her case out the apartment block where Clark stood. He took her case from her as she hailed a cab. He knew that he had to talk to her about what would happen now.
It wouldn't be until they were on the flight when Lizzie mentioned the demise of her marriage.
Clark and Lizzie had walked through the airport in silence, looking at the news channels which were on a constant loop. Clark had occasionally glanced over to her, wondering what he should say to her. She'd just walked out of her marriage; Clark really did not have any words of advice after that.
They walked in silence to the plane, sitting in the two seats by the window. Lizzie took the window seat whilst Clark took the aisle one. He pushed his duffel bag up and above the seat before sitting down next to her.
"I'm filing for divorce as soon as I come back."
Clark fastened his belt as she did the same, busying her hands as he nodded once, his gaze focused on the seat in front of him.
"Are you sure that's what you want?" Clark checked with her. "You don't need to make a hasty decision."
"I'm not," Lizzie replied quickly. "You know that I've been thinking about this for a while. It's something which I have to do. Besides, James deserves someone who is going to be there for him. He doesn't need me."
Clark didn't know what he should say to her then. He didn't know what he could say that would make anything better for her. She looked tired beyond belief, as if she needed a good night's sleep. She was still bruised on her pale skin, her foundation trying to cover the bruise on her face. Her lip was still swollen and a bruise covered her neck. Clark hesitantly moved out to rest his fingertips on her neck, looking along the purple mark as she inhaled sharply.
"Sorry," Clark whispered to her. "Lizzie...I don't know what to say to any of this...everything that has happened-"
"-If you say it is your fault one more time, then I promise you that you won't be speaking much longer," she growled lowly, tired of hearing Clark blame himself for everything that had happened to her. "Look, you didn't ask for this alien invasion, did you? It is hardly your fault that this happened, Clark. Just stop blaming yourself."
He gulped but nodded, knowing that Lizzie's temper was not something which he should anger further. He would keep quiet from then on about it, but it still didn't stop the way he felt. It still didn't stop the guilt he felt at seeing her.
"What are you going to do now?" Lizzie suddenly asked, removing his hand from her neck and holding it gently. Clark looked down at the contact along with her. She seemed to be puzzled by holding his hand. Her face was scrunched up as Clark leant in closer to her then, unable to control his actions.
"I don't know," he admitted to her. "I'll have to blend in now, won't I? I know who I am...I know that there is no one else like me out there..."
Lizzie laughed softly at that, her brows and eyes moving in disbelief. "If only you could have done that when you were seventeen."
Clark pondered her words for another few moments, holding her hand tightly then. He moved his finger to entwine with hers, hearing her breathing fasten as he did it.
"I know," Clark replied slowly. "Perhaps things would have been different."
"We can't change the past," she replied solemnly. "Even if we could...would things have been that different..."
"I'd hope so," Clark smirked. "I know what I would have wanted."
"And what is that?" Lizzie wondered, unable to stop herself.
"You know," Clark told her. "You know that you...you know how I feel, Liz."
"I know," Lizzie assured him. "And you know that I care for you, Clark. I really do...but...I think...I need time to get over what has happened...and if you can't wait for me...then I understand. I really do, Clark. But I can't go from James to you. That wouldn't be right. You need time to get over a breakup. I know that I've always wanted you. I've known if for years," she paused, taking a deep breath as Clark moved his free hand to cup her cheek, holding it tenderly as he saw her almost begin to cry. "Ever since you left, I've never felt right. I thought it would pass. I thought it would be a passing fancy...but it wasn't. It never was. And then James came along. I knew that I cared for him. Of course I did. He made me happy, but I never truly loved him like he deserved to be loved. I could never give him that."
She shook her head again, Clark's thumb stroking her cheek in a soothing manner as she continued to explain herself to him.
"And then everything turned to crap. I came back to Kansas and you were there. I don't know how to explain what I felt when I saw you again, Clark. Really, I have no words for it. It was like I was seventeen again. It was like nothing had changed, except it had, no matter how much I hadn't wanted it to...because...it always has been you, Clark. You've always been the one who I wanted, but you've never been the one I could have."
Clark finished listening to her sudden revelation, his mind whirling with what she had just told him. He'd waited sixteen years for this. He'd waited far too long for it. He knew that he wanted her to be with him. He was just scared that she would be hurt because of it.
"You could say something," Lizzie replied to him. "I just poured everything out to you, and you sit there with nothing to say."
Clark moved closer to her then, his hand brushing her hair from her face. He failed to care that they were in the middle of a plane journey as he pressed his lips lightly against hers. Lizzie rested back in her seat as she continued to hold his hand, her mind awhirl as Clark pulled back from her, resting his forehead on hers. She smiled in joy then, simply content that he hadn't given up on her. That was the thing which she had feared.
"There's never been anyone else," Clark assured her. "Not since I managed to grope that ass of yours."
She swatted him around the arm then, eliciting a chuckle as he sat back again, looking to the ceiling as she leant forwards.
"You don't need to wait, Clark," she promised him. "I would understand...well...Lois seems keen on you...and she is a Pulitzer prize-winning journalist."
"It's...Lois..." Clark shook his head, not sure what he could tell Lizzie. "She is like James is to you. I do care for her, Liz. I can't tell you that I don't. But it has always been you. And if you need time then I will give it to you. I will let you be for as long as you need. I respect that. I do understand."
"I just want to stay with my mom for a while," Lizzie said. "That's all the time I need. Then I will go and try to find an apartment in New York somewhere."
"You'll go back?" Clark checked.
"I have nothing in Smallville; I may as well have nothing in New York. Besides, there are more job opportunities there...not that I've applied for a job in the past few months. Where will you go?"
"Like I said," Clark replied, "I haven't thought about it deeply. I've never been someone who is keen on studying. Of course I don't find it difficult. I just found it tiresome. I may need to get some qualifications before finding a job."
"Sounds good," Lizzie agreed with that. "So why didn't you try in school?"
"Because I didn't intend to carry on with school," Clark replied. "And there was always someone who was distracting me."
"That's not fair!" Lizzie complained to him. "I did my best to push you."
"And thank you for that," Clark smirked. "Anyway, I'll drop you off at your mother's house before I go home."
"Just promise me that you won't disappear on me again," Lizzie urged him.
He bent down to kiss the top of her head tenderly. "I promise."
...
A/N: Thanks to everyone who is reading and do let me know what you think so far!