Hey, guys!

I'm not gonna be around next week, so absolutely no chance of a new chapter from the 6th to the 13th, but hopefully relatively soon after that!

I hope you enjoy!

Chapter Six

After Clark went to the feed store, he made his way into the middle of town and over to Brit & Dunn's.

Jon had been working there for a little over a month now, and Lois had told Clark that Mr. Olowe only had good things to say about Jon.

He pulled into the parking lot outside of the small convenience store, then walked in. Right before he walked in, he took a deep breath.

This was a quick check in, a fun visit. He didn't have to reprimand Jon or lecture him. He was just here to check up on his kid.

Clark opened the door, and smiled when he saw Jon look up from where he was stocking one of the shelves with cans of food.

"Hey, Jon," he greeted as he walked over.

Jon stayed on the ground, but he maintained eye contact. "Hi," he greeted.

Clark looked over at the checkout counter, then sent a wave and a nod over at Mr. Olowe. A month ago, getting Jon a job had been almost impossible, yet Mr. Olowe had employed him with no hesitation. It was something that Clark found himself immensely thankful for. By the looks of it, the job had been great for Jon.

"Take a break, Kent," Mr. Olowe said, seemingly sensing that Clark had come in to talk to his son and not to buy a lottery ticket and a soda.

Jon looked up and over at his boss, then nodded. "Thank you, Sir," he said.

When Jon stood up, Clark gently tapped a knuckle against his son's arm.

"Hey," he said. "Come with me."

Jon nodded. "Okay," he said. "Just let me put up my apron."

Clark looked around the store as Jon put up his apron, but his mind was elsewhere. It was at the Kent farm, where Jon-El was right now.

Lois had gotten home for a late lunch break right before Clark had left since neither of them wanted to leave Jon-El alone at the house right now.

Everything had happened so fast that Clark felt like his head was still spinning. He had never expected to take in Jon-El, and he knew that his family probably felt the same way. They had been more hesitant to take in Jon-El than Clark had been.

"All ready?" Clark asked as Jon walked up.

Jon nodded. "I think so," he said.

Clark smiled, then placed his hand on Jon's back as he led him out of the store.

At his touch though, Jon tensed.

It didn't last long, not more than a couple of seconds, but Clark noticed it.

Clark frowned as he pulled his hand away. "You okay?" he asked. He knew that Mr. Olowe had Jon doing a lot of heavy lifting and hard work. Maybe his back was sore.

Jon nodded. "Yeah," he said, but Clark watched as he took a step away from him. "All good."

Clark wanted to believe it. He really did, but he just couldn't. Jon had never, ever, tensed under his touch before. Not even after their worst fights or during Jon's worst injuries.

He swallowed. Did it have to do with Jon-El? Or maybe their earlier fighting over the X-K?

Or did it have nothing to do with that and he was just sore from working all afternoon?

They made their way over to Victoria May's and Clark led Jon over to one of the corner booths. It wasn't that he was embarrassed to show Smallville that he was spending time with his son, but he knew that the people in town weren't exactly pleased to see Jon.

"How does a milkshake sound?" Clark asked as Jon sat down. He watched as his son made himself as small as he could. What had happened to his outgoing and confident child?

"Chocolate?" Jon asked.

Clark nodded. "Sounds good."

A few minutes later, Clark brought two tall milkshakes back to their booth. At the sight of them, Jon sat up a bit.

Clark sat down opposite of Jon, then handed him the chocolate milkshake. The vanilla one was Clark's.

For a moment, they sat in silence, neither one of them knowing exactly what to say.

Then Clark spoke up.

"How are you doing, kid?"

Jon looked up from his milkshake, then shrugged. "I dunno…"

Clark frowned and leaned forward. "Hey, what's going on?" he asked.

Jon looked away from Clark and out of the window. "It's kinda been a rough week, I guess," he sighed.

"Is this about Jon-El?" Clark asked. Sure, Jon-El had only been in their house for a day, but it was a big change.

Jon swallowed and Clark heard as his heart began to beat faster.

Clark watched as Jon anxiously stirred his milkshake. He knew that bringing Jon-El into their house was going to make tensions run high for a few days, but he hadn't exactly realized how much it was going to affect his youngest son.

"I know that you guys are gonna keep me safe, but…" Jon began, then let out another sigh. "I dunno… What if he tries to merge again?"

Clark hummed in understanding. He remembered how scary it was to have his own inverse roaming the world. It had been an awful and stressful time, and Kal had never ever been his roommate.

"He won't," he told his son.

Jon looked down at his milkshake, then took another sip of it. "How do you know that?"

Clark shrugged. Admittedly, he didn't, but he also assumed that if Jon-El was going to try to merge with his Jon, then it would have happened already. Jon-El had been in their house for over a day at this point, and from what Clark could tell, he had actually been avoiding Jon.

Maybe Jon-El had only tried to merge with his inverse because it was what Ally told him to do…

Somehow, he knew that those half-assurances weren't going to calm Jon though. So he tried something different.

"Because if he does, then Jordan and I will protect you," he said. "And you will never see Jon-El again."

Jon nodded. "Okay…"

They sat in silence again as the two of them drank their milkshakes. Clark had hoped that adding in food would make any tension between him and his son not seem so bad, but it didn't help at all.

Clark let out a soft sigh as he stirred his thick milkshake with the straw. He had let things get too bad between him and Jon, this heavy silence was proof of that.

He knew that the month when he had been gone was definitely a contributing factor, but when he looked back at the days leading up to that… He had been a horrible parent.

He had told Jon that he misrepresented the family, he had been so stern with him, and never let up or listened. He had yelled at him, and swore at him.

And now there was this new, troubled kid in the house, changing their family dynamic in such a short amount of time.

Did Jon think that Jon-El was going to replace him?

Clark looked up at Jon.

Jon was looking out the window again, his chocolate milkshake mostly finished. Clark couldn't help but wonder what his son was thinking about, though he knew that Jon wouldn't tell him.

He knew that he should at least try though.

"Whatcha thinkin'?" Clark asked. If he could just keep a conversation with them going, then maybe he could figure out how to fix the mess he had made.

"Do you think he's a bad kid?" Jon asked.

Clark shook his head. He might not know all of Jon-El's motives, but he knew enough about Jon-El to know the hidden truth. He was a good kid, just misled and put into situations that no teenager should have to deal with.

Kind of like his Jon…

Maybe they were more alike than Clark had initially realized, though that might not be a bad thing.

"Maybe you should try to get to know him," Clark suggested.

Jon hesitated. "What if he tries to hurt me?"

"You won't be alone," Clark reassured. "Either me or your mother will stay close enough to stop any sort of issues that could happen."

"Promise?" he asked.

Clark held back a wince at his son's skeptical tone. Did he expect Jon-El to do something? Or did he expect Clark not to keep his word?

"I promise."

I hope you enjoyed! Thanks for reading!