"No, no, no!" Clark cried in frustration. "I would never say it like that."

"Come on, it sounded like something you'd say." Peter protested.

"I want to make witty comments and tease her, not be an asshole."

"Well, we don't need to do this. If we can reverse this mess then it really will be you that she goes on a date with."

"Yeah, a date I really didn't want. Thanks, Peter."

"Of course you didn't. I saw you two outside, you were very nearly cuddling." Peter insisted.

"We were not!" Clark snapped and ran his fingers through his hair with a sigh. "Let's take a break, we've been up in this barn trying to impersonate one another for hours."

Peter exhaled sharply. "Yeah… I can't think straight."

Both boys flopped down on the couch simultaneously. Sweat dripped down both their foreheads and they exchanged the odd glance, but didn't speak for a good minute. Even with them coaching each other, neither had managed to get the hang of pretending to be one another. Clark was beginning to doubt that it was even possible.

"Maybe we should just focus on finding a way to reverse this instead of trying to be one another." Peter suggested.

"I couldn't agree more, but we need to get the basics down so that no one suspects a thing in the meantime."

"Unless we avoid everyone until then."

"Smallville is… well… too small to avoid everyone, and not to mention that it would worry my parents, your girlfriend and whoever else to no end." Clark pointed out.

"What would worry them?"

Clark and Peter glanced over to the stairs as Lois reached the top of them. They exchanged a glance, wondering exactly how much of their conversation she had heard. She smirked as she pulled up a wooden chair and sat backwards on it.

"Have you ever heard of knocking?" Peter asked.

"You don't even have a door." She scoffed.

"She has a point." Clark agreed.

"Right, exactly how much of our conversation did you hear?" Peter questioned wearily.

"Nothing much, just something about worrying everyone." She answered truthfully.

Both boys relaxed after hearing her answer. If there was anyone that Clark didn't want finding out about the swap more than anyone else, it was Lois. Not only would it provoke endless teasing, but she was chatty, a little too chatty, and he wouldn't put it past her to accidentally let it slip to everyone else.

"So, what do I owe this visit?" Peter asked, hoping that he was passing as Clark just this one time.

"Oh, I just came to see if you're still up for our date tonight or if you'd had a little too much to drink last night." She inquired.

Peter froze and broke into a coughing fit as he opened his mouth to answer. He recomposed himself quickly, though his face had already reddened and Lois was already laughing. Clark side eyed him, as if to silently tell him to get a grip, and Peter cleared his throat.

"Yes, I'm still up for it." He finally answered.

Lois raised her eyebrow, almost disbelieving of his response, and his lack of comments her way was starting to make her nervous. The Clark Kent she knew couldn't stand her, and she couldn't stand him. They could never be in the same room for five minutes without insulting one another. Yet, here they were, in the same room for nearing the five minute mark, and not one insult had been traded.

"Are you sick, Smallville?"

Peter pouted. "No, why would you think that?"

"Well, first you asked me on a date, and you're not throwing any witty remarks my way… so, you must be sick." She reasoned.

Clark laughed. He wanted to throw a witty remark at her so badly, but forced himself to sit quietly. In this body, he wasn't Clark, he was Peter, and Peter didn't have the same back and forth with Lois that he did.

"I'm not sick… maybe I'm just warming up to you." Peter shrugged.

"Weird, because less than twenty-four hours ago you couldn't stand me." She pointed out. "Okay, well… just don't forget; seven thirty. Don't be late."

"I'll be there." He assured her.

"Good." She concluded. "Later, Smallville."

Lois got up from the chair and placed it back where she'd gotten it from. She flashed one last smirk at Peter, then hurried down the stairs. Clark's head flopped back and he groaned. The longer this went on, the harder it would be when they got back to normal. If this carried on, Lois would be tricked into thinking there was something between them, and he didn't want the responsibility of setting things straight.

"You had to go and say that, didn't you?"

"What?" Peter shrugged.

"Now she's going to think I'm starting to like her." Clark complained.

Peter grinned and wobbled both eyebrows. "She's not the only one, Clark. Just admit that you're falling for her."

"I'm not!" He denied. "Seriously, I can't stand her."

"There it is again." Peter chuckled. "The same defense that you resort to every time someone brings it up."

"And what's your point exactly?"

"My point is that if you weren't so blinded by Lana then you would actually admit the truth to yourself and see what's right in front of you."

Clark rolled his eyes. "I'm not blinded by Lana, my feelings for her disappeared the moment she resorted to public humiliation… and there's nothing to see, Peter. Lois is my friend, and that's a term I use loosely."

"All I'm saying is that you are in major denial, and if you don't start being honest with yourself then you might miss out."

"I am not in denial!" He snapped. "Forget it… we should start trying to find the party crasher."

Peter nodded in agreement. "But where do we start?"

"Maybe we should go and see Lex, chances are, with the rush they were in, they may have left something behind that could give us a clue." Clark suggested.

"It's worth a shot."

Lex Luthor's mansion, a short while later…

"Lex!" Peter called as they burst through the doors of his office.

The office chair behind the desk swiveled around to reveal Lex, sitting in it. He raised an eyebrow at the duo that'd disturbed his peace, and then rose from his seat, leaning his hands against the desk.

"Clark… Peter…" He greeted them.

"Lex, this is going to sound really strange but can we see the party hall?" Peter requested.

"An odd request, Clark." Lex commented. "May I ask why?"

"My friend Peter dropped something last night, he just wants to see if he can find it." Clark fibbed.

"Oh." Lex mouthed. "Would it be this?" He asked, and produced the glowing green meteor rock from his pocket.

Peter gasped, and his hands flew up to his head, having not been prepared for it. He cried out in pain, and Clark silently panicked.

"No. That's not it." He said quickly.

Lex smirked, and put the rock away. He walked around the desk to them and placed his hand on Peter's shoulder.

"Are you okay?"

"Y- yeah." Peter stuttered, recomposing himself. "It was just a little headache. It's gone now."

"Hmm…" Lex hummed. His eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Okay, well… you know where the hall is. I would join you, but I have business to attend to."

"No worries, we can handle it. We'll be in and out then leave you in peace." Peter promised.

"Take your time."

With that being said, Clark led Peter out of Lex's office and down the hall to the room where the party had been held. It hadn't yet been cleaned of the scattered plastic cups, the fallen down streamers and all of the other litter that had been left by careless guests.

"So…" Peter began, and glanced over his shoulder to ensure that Lex hadn't followed them. "... what exactly are we looking for?"

Clark scratched the back of his head and scanned the room. Without his x-ray vision, it would be harder for him to point anything out, and it wasn't something that he could teach Peter to use. It was something that had hit him like a bus when he first experienced it.

"I have no clue."

"Well, yeah because that's what we're here to find." Peter quipped.

"Not the time for jokes." Clark scolded. "I don't know, just look for anything that you wouldn't normally find in the aftermath of a party."

"You mean…" Peter paused, bending down to pick something up. "... Like women's underwear?" He finished, with a pair of red thongs dangling from his index finger.

Clark gawked and shook his head. "No, chances are that those belong to one of Lex's late night booty calls… and don't touch those with my hands!" He snapped.

"Technically they're my hands right now."

"Technically, I'd love to smack you right now." Clark retorted.

"Technically you'd be smacking yourself."

"Technically, you need to shut up."

"Tech… Nah, I got nothing." Peter sighed and dropped the thongs back on the floor.

Clark took a deep breath and turned his attention back to the aftermath of the party. He laughed at the irony of how everything I'm his life had gotten just as messed up as the room, and knelt down in the spot where he'd been floored by the culprit.

"There must be something here…"

"Yeah…" Peter agreed. "And I think I found something."

"Better not be another pair of thongs."

"Not this time." He insisted and moved out of the way so that Clark could see.

The latter's eyes drifted across the floor to where Peter was staring. Amid two plastic cups, a broken heel, and a pile of confetti, laid a glowing red meteor rock. Certain that it would have no effect on him in this body, he pulled a tissue from his pocket, grabbed the rock and slid it into his pocket.

"We should get this to Chloe… she'll be able to use it to trace the fingerprints and find our party crasher." He stated.

Having got what they came for, Clark rose to his feet. He tapped Peter on the shoulder and waited for him to stand up before heading out of the room. He didn't want to face any more questions from Lex, and if they stuck around much longer it was inevitable. With a quick goodbye to Lex, they left the mansion and arrived back at the farm shortly after.

"So… the meteor rocks?" Peter began.

"Yeah, I probably should have mentioned those." Clark said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"You are terrible at this coaching thing."

"Jee, thanks." Clark scoffed. "Green will make you sick. Red will make you careless. Black will create an evil twin."

"Huh." Peter acknowledged. "That actually sounds kinda cool."

"It's not." Clark disagreed. "I've been down all three roads, and it's anything but cool. Kryptonite is your worst enemy when you're in my body."

"Noted." Peter nodded. "We really should get this rock to your friend though… I mean, you don't want to be late for your date tonight." He smirked.

"My date? Oh no… if we don't hurry, it's gonna be your date."

Peter grunted in annoyance. "We had better get moving then."

"Actually, I called Chloe here. She should be here soon."

"I really don't get why all the girls in this town trip over themselves for you."

"Please, don't go there." Clark cringed. "It's not something I enjoy… at least, not exactly."

A grin spread across Peter's face. "Not exactly, huh?" He wiggled his eyebrows. "I mean, Chloe, Lana, Lois, and who else? The entire female population of this town?"

Clark found himself laughing. He hadn't quite realized how ridiculous the entire thing sounded until he heard it being called out. It was something that he hadn't given a lot of thought to.

"Please, I'm not a stud. Yeah, Chloe has some… beyond friendly feelings, but I've made my own pretty clear. With Lana it's complicated and Lois, well I don't think I need to explain that one."

"Haha! There's only one word for guys like you…" Peter began. "Womaniser."

"I am not!" Clark denied. "Actually, I've never- never- you know… anyway, don't act all high and mighty, I bet girls throw themselves at you all the time too."

"Hell no! Thank God… having a girlfriend and having several girls throw themselves at you is not a good combination."

"Well, it's not like I do anything to provoke these girls." He defended himself.

"You mean other than walking around in light colour t-shirts with these bad boys on display?" Peter teased and flexed his muscles.

Clark pulled his lips in a firm line and planted his face in the palm of his hand. The sound of footsteps on the stairs caught his attention, putting an end to yet another conversation that he wasn't a fan of. He found himself feeling grateful for Chloe's impeccable timing.

"Thank you for coming, I hope that I didn't disrupt your day." Peter greeted her with a smile.

Chloe frowned and then shrugged his weird greeting off. "You didn't, but your message was kinda cryptic."

"It wasn't something to be said over the phone." He said quickly. "We went back to the Luthor mansion and found a rock, we need you to trace the fingerprints on it so that we can find the person responsible for crashing the party."

"Oh." Chloe's eyes widened. "Okay, Clark."

"Here's the stone." Clark said and pulled the tissue from his pocket, unwrapping it so that she could see the red meteor rock.

Taking care to touch only the tissue, Chloe wrapped it back up, and took it from Clark's hands before slipping it inside her own pocket. She eyed him silently, suspecting that something wasn't quite right.

"Thank you, Peter." She nodded. "And I can have it done but it'll take at least twenty-four hours." She notified them.

"No worries. Thanks for doing this on such short notice." Peter smiled.

"Of course, anything for you, Clark." She smiled back.

Waiting until she was long gone, Peter turned to Clark and burst into hysterical laughter, unable to stop, even as his face turned red. Clark folded his arms across his chest, confused by the spontaneous laughing.

"Ahahaha!" He sucked in a deep breath of air. "Anything for you, Clark." He mimicked Chloe's voice.

"Come on, Peter. Please give it a rest."

"Not a chance. I'm sorry, Clark, but this stuff is better than television." He cackled.

"But you've got to start getting ready for your date tonight." Clark grinned.

Peter's laughter died instantly and his mouth dropped. He had counted on being back in his own body before now, and he couldn't go on a date. There were many reasons why he couldn't. It would feel so wrong. His mind ran wild as he tried to come up with something, anything, that would get him out of going on Clark's date.

"I think we should tell the girls the truth…"

"Are you insane?" Clark almost yelled. "No way. Not an option."

"Okay, but there's no way that I'm going on that date tonight, and unless you want her to think you're an asshole then it's our only option."

"She already can't stand me, Peter! And I can't stand her. Why did you arrange this dumb date in the first place?"

"Because you having the hots for her is pretty obvious!"

"Damn it, how many times do I have to tell you that is not the case?!"

"Yeah, keep telling yourself that." Peter argued. "And I may have accidentally asked Lois, but she's the one who said yes."

"I-" Clark tried, but he couldn't think of a counter argument to make.

"Exactly." Peter finished. "I think we need a break from each other, I'll be back in the house pretending to be you when you decide to get over your period."

Clark didn't protest as Peter walked away, leaving him alone in his Fortress of Solitude. He sat back down on the couch and pinched the bridge of his nose. Having to pretend to be Peter was frustrating, and he was growing desperate to be back in his own body. He drew in a breath, and let it go through parted lips. His moment of peace was shattered when the sound of several crashes came from downstairs, and he stood up, momentarily forgetting that he didn't have his super speed, and tripped up, sending him tumbling down the stairs.