Clark opened his eyes with a groan. He wasn't sure how long he'd been asleep but the sky outside was pitch black. His vision cleared up quickly as he saw Lana standing above him, he nearly jumped out of his seat.
"Lana?" He questioned with a sleepy frown upon his face.
A smile crept onto her face, and he couldn't shake the uneasy feeling that it embedded in his gut. He stretched his arms above him and adjusted himself so that he was sitting up.
"Hey, Clark." She greeted him.
He couldn't put his finger on it, but there was something in her voice that he didn't like. The way she had said his name, it hadn't sounded like it was Lana who'd said it. But that was illogical. She was standing right in front of him. Of course his name had come from her.
"It- it's late… What are you doing here?" He yawned.
Lana giggled and took a step closer so that her legs brushed lightly against his knees. He swallowed nervously, almost afraid of what she would do next. She leaned over him, resting her hands against the back of the couch. She didn't stop until her mouth was aligned with his ear.
"I know your secret, Clark."
His heart dropped at her revelation and he could feel the weight physically hanging over his shoulders. He clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth, unsure of how to respond.
"Oh, don't worry… I can keep a secret." She laughed.
"Lana, I-" He began, but stopped as she climbed up onto his lap. "H- how do you know?"
"Does it matter?" She hissed, and nipped at his ear.
"Lana, stop." He told her firmly. "I'm- I'm-"
"Clark!" Lois' voice cut through his own.
"I'm with Lois." He finished.
"Not anymore." Lana grinned.
Without thinking, Clark shoved Lana from his lap and jumped to his feet. He glanced back at her as she landed on the couch, and frowned as she got up.
"Lois, I swear…"
"I know what I'm seeing. There's no need to explain…" She snapped. "But whatever. Goodbye, Clark."
"No! Wait, Lois-"
But she was gone. Except, she didn't walk away. She disappeared in a cloud of thick grey smoke. Clark folded his arms across his chest and his frown deepened as he turned back to Lana. His eyes widened as she opened her hand to reveal a glowing green meteor rock and he gasped, no longer able to breathe.
"Lana!" He choked. His hands flew up to his throat and he dropped to the floor on his knees. "P- please…"
"Should have just been honest with me." She sneered. "You're as good as dead now anyway."
Before Clark could move, she squeezed the meteor rock in her hands and then thrust it straight into his back. His face twisted in pain and blood soaked his white t-shirt, and she tilted his head up to look at her as she walked around him.
"That's for my parents." She hissed.
"Clark!"
"Clark!"
Lois jerked back as Clark awoke and bolted up, still screaming. Panic flashed across his face and his head snapped up towards the window of the barn, staring out at the sky. He visibly relaxed slightly as he saw that the black of night was giving way to a lighter blue.
"Hey, Smallville… trying to set a new record for loudest scream?"
His chest heaved as he attempted to catch his breath and he could feel the sweat dripping from his head and back. He scanned the barn with his eyes, and then rested them on Lois, who was perched on the side of the couch, next to where he had been sleeping.
"Lois?" He croaked and cleared his throat.
"Must have been some dream you were having." She shrugged. "Your parents got worried when you didn't come in last night, and I woke up because I heard you screaming, I came to see if you were okay."
"I'm fine." He breathed. "And you're the last person I'd expect to check up on me."
"Don't read too much into it, Smallville." She brushed off. "Your guests said that you seemed upset when you left the Talon last night, and with you screaming bloody murder… Well, I couldn't let that carry on. We'd have the Sheriff around her if I did."
Clark sighed and hung his head. His cheeks flushed with embarrassment, and the last thing he wanted was for Lois to notice. The teasing would be relentless.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake anyone."
"Damage already done." She teased. "But, I'll accept your apology if you tell me why you were screaming in your sleep."
"W- wait, how long?"
"I don't know, I woke up like ten minutes ago." She informed him. "And all I heard was you screaming Lana's name over and over again.'
Clark bit down on his lip and forced himself to look up at her despite the pink tint that he was aware his face had taken on. "Lana?"
"Yeah." Lois nodded. "You were screaming no, Lana, please…"
"Oh." He mouthed and shuddered as the events of his dream ran through his mind.
"And I wasn't gonna come out, I was going to shove a pillow over my head and go back to sleep, but then the music changed and you were screaming Lois, wait."
"I- It was nothing." He stammered. "A bad dream, that's all."
"Okay, well the whole house is awake now because of that dream and I'm hungry for breakfast, will you be joining us?"
"Tell them I'm fine, and I'll be there in a few minutes." He told her.
"Alright, Smallville." She agreed and bounced away, down the stairs and out of the barn.
Following her exit, the tapping of paws bounding up the stairs cut through the silence and Shelby ran towards him, jumping up on the couch and smothering his face in sloppy kisses. Clark laughed and held his hands up to shield himself from the wet dog tongue. Shelby sat back and then barked.
"Okay, I'm up, I'm up." He grinned. "Come on, boy." He ordered as he got up.
Shelby stuck close by his side as he made his way out of the barn and into the house. Jonathan, Martha, Lois and his guests were already seated at the table, and the smell of bacon and egg assaulted his senses. All eyes in the room were on him the moment he walked through the door.
"Nice of you to join us, Clark." Johnathan greeted him.
"Yeah… I fell asleep in the barn last night. Sorry." He muttered sheepishly.
"Just get in here and eat something." Martha said, with humour laced in her voice.
Clark rolled his eyes and sauntered over to the table, he located a plate piled with bacon in the middle and grabbed two rashers, cramming them in his mouth at once. His stomach growled, cutting through the ongoing conversations in the room and Lois cut him a look that told him he was in for endless teasing about it later.
"So, what places are you going to show our guests today?" Martha inquired.
"I don't know, there really isn't much to see." He shrugged. "But I do need to go see Lana… we can go by the Talon again if you'd like."
Peter looked at Gwen, who smiled, and then up at Clark. "Yeah, sounds good."
"Do you want some more company?" Lois asked.
"Not yours." Clark answered sharply and smirked.
"No worries, I wouldn't wanna be trapped in a truck with you either, Smallville." She bit back.
Clark ignored her response, grabbed a handful of bacon rashers and then headed out the door, with Gwen and Peter following behind him. He took a big bite of one of the rashers in his hand and then hopped inside the truck before shoving the remaining bacon into his mouth and wiping the grease on his jeans. The passenger door opened and Gwen climbed in, followed by Peter. Clark started the engine up and looked at them both, feeling the need to apologize but remaining quiet.
Lana was nowhere to be seen in the Talon. Clark's guess was that she was hiding upstairs in her apartment. He gave Peter a pat on the shoulder as both he and Gwen passed by him and moved over to the counter, but headed up the stairs instead of following them. He hesitated for a second, not wanting to repeat last night's events, but knocked anyway.
There was a shuffle of feet and the door opened with a click. Lana poked her head through, sighed and attempted to slam the door again. Clark put his hand out and stopped it from closing.
"Lana, I'm sorry."
"Yeah? Well, I'm not." She snapped.
"Fine!" He huffed. "If I'm being honest, I don't even know why I'm the one apologizing… I guess I just didn't want to fight, but if you insist then that's fine."
Lana scowled and hesitated as he walked away. Making her mind up, she ran quickly to catch him up and grabbed his arm to stop him leaving. He spun around but before he could say anything, she kissed him, threading her hands into his hair. His eyes were wide open but slid closed half a second later and he placed his hands upon her hips. A minute passed and she pulled away, but her hands lingered in his hair.
"Clark, I'm sorry." She breathed.
"Did you kiss me because you genuinely want me or just to stop me from leaving?" He asked.
"Because I want you." She insisted. "I'm sorry for what I said yesterday, it was uncalled for."
"Yeah. It was." He agreed. "Look, I've got to go make sure our guests are doing alright, but I'll stop by later to see you."
"Sure." She smiled.
Clark's hands fell back by his sides and as he turned and hurried back down the stairs. A grin was plastered on his face so wide that his cheeks ached by the time he reached Peter and Gwen.
"Everything okay?" He questioned.
"Yeah." Peter answered, his arm threaded around Gwen's shoulder. "But what comes next?"
"I'm afraid there isn't much to do in this town, but I hope that I'm not boring you too much."
"Not at all." Gwen smiled.
"There's a party tonight, actually. Lex Luthor is holding a charity event, can you believe that?"
Clark turned around to see Chloe standing before them with a large grin on her face and a piece of paper in her hands. He scratched his head, having not noticed when she'd appeared.
"A charity event, huh?" He questioned in disbelief.
"I know. He's the last person I'd peg as the charitable type." Chloe laughed. "We should all go and have some fun."
"Hmm, I don't know." Clark debated.
"What about you two? Surely you could use some fun while you're here."
"It could be fun." Gwen turned to Peter.
"Yeah, why not? Nothing better to do." Peter agreed.
Clark looked past Chloe, over at where Lana was lingering at the bottom of the stairs. He politely excused himself from the ongoing conversation and walked over to her. She flashed a smile when she saw him approaching, but made no effort to speak up first.
"So, Lex is holding a charity event tonight. Chloe and the others want to go, and I was wondering if you would like to be my… erh… my date?"
"Oh." Lana mouthed, and her smile wavered. "Yeah, that sounds like fun."
"Great." He grinned.
"Is Lois going?"
"I uh- I have no idea." He answered. "But I didn't ask her, Lana. I asked you."
"Yes, I know that."
"But promise me that if she does show up that you won't be acting all crazy jealous again."
"I won't. I swear." She insisted.
"Good." He concluded. "Care to join us now though?"
"Sure."
Clark smiled and offered his hand, which Lana took and threaded her fingers through his. They walked together over to where Chloe was happily chatting away to Gwen while Peter was leaning against the counter with his eyes only partly open.
"Are you coming too?" Chloe asked.
"Yeah, I'm going with Clark." Lana said with a smile.
Chloe's eyes drifted down to their joined hands and she quickly averted her stare away from them and plastered a fake smile upon her face in order not to raise any questions.
"You know, we should totally all get ready together." She suggested, glancing back and forth between Lana and Gwen.
Gwen turned to Peter and gave him a look that expressed her uncertainty. He gave her a nod and a smile, then a little push towards the other girls.
"Go. Honestly, I don't know how you survive with me and no girls around you to bitch to about me when I'm being annoying."
She stifled a laugh and caught her balance before she could stumble into Chloe. "Hmm, okay. But don't get into too much trouble without me, Bug Boy."
Lana's hand slipped free from Clark's and she went to stand next to the other girls. As soon as she was within reach, Chloe grabbed her arm and then pulled both her and Gwen towards the exit.
"Bug Boy?" Clark questioned.
"Ah, it's an inside joke." Peter dismissed.
"Makes sense." He nodded. "I don't suppose you'd wanna go and get ready for tonight, would you?"
"This is a suit and tie kind of event, isn't it?"
"Any event hosted by a Luthor usually is, they are billionaires after all."
"Well, it's just lucky I packed one in my case." Peter laughed.
"Then you'll fit right in." Clark grinned.
