| Clark watched as Lana turned back towards him, her arms crossed and looking slightly alarmed. Her eyes were searching the floor and she looked as if she were trying to catch her breath. “Everything ok?” he asked.
“Yeah,” she nodded, not very reassuringly however. “You think we can go?”
Clark put on his coat, “I don't think we should go home for your things. We might not make it back to my house, we could end up getting stuck.”
Lana's eyes widened, “Okay, sure.”
“My mom will have things you can borrow,” Clark said, following Lana towards the counter. “Hey listen, I'll go bring the truck up, you get your coat.”
Lana turned at the coffee pot and looked at him, “Thanks Clark.”
He smiled, a little worriedly, “Yeah, anytime.” He turned and walked towards the front, disappearing through the doorway and she heard the door shut.
Catching her breath she rushed into the back room. “Hey Lana! How are you holding up?” Jennifer, one of her co-workers, asked. She was holding a clipboard and seemed to be doing some sort of inventory.
Lana walked to the coat rack and grabbed her jacket, “I'm going to stay at the Kent 's through the storm. If Chloe or her dad call looking for me, tell them I'm there.”
Jennifer smirked, “Hittin the farm boy for some protection? I don't blame you. Sounds like this one is going to hit us bad.” She laughed wickedly and ran around the end of the shelf, disappearing and safe from Lana's wrath.
“Haha!” Lana shot after her, trying to sound good natured, but she really hated it when people teased her about this. It wasn't her fault! Well, not entirely. She put her coat on and walked back into the main room, grabbing the two cups of coffee she poured for them, and then hurried towards the doors.
Reaching the cold air, she looked around for Clark 's bright red truck. She saw it come driving slowly around the corner, and stopped right in front of her. She opened the door and got in. “Here!” she said with a smile, handing him a cup of coffee. “This is to go.”
“Thanks!” he said, taking the coffee and sipping it. “Well…here we go.” He put the car in drive and crept along the street, getting into the lane and then returning to a normal speed. “So you have some sort of blizzard fear?” Clark asked, very curiously.
Lana groaned, “It's not that big of a deal.”
Clark laughed, “It must be if you're staying at my house because of it!” He looked at her and say the serious, set look on her face. “Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to…”
“It's okay, Clark , I know it's silly,” Lana said, glancing from him back out her own window. “When I was in, like, fifth grade, my Aunt Nell was taking me to Metropolis for the weekend to see a big production of Cinderella, and to stay in a nice hotel. On the way out there, we got caught in a blizzard.” She laughed, “When I look back on it, I know how silly it was to be frightened, but when things happen at that age, they stick with you and whenever you're in a similar situation you turn back to those memories.”
Clark nodded, understanding. “What happened?”
Lana shrugged, “Her car swerved off the road and we hit a fence, the hood wrapped around it and she couldn't start it back up. The road was deserted, her cell phone wasn't working and the snow was coming down harder than ever.” She drifted off for a moment, “Something like this…” She shook her head, trying to snap back to the present. “Anyway, all we had was a wool blanket in the back seat, so we huddled up in that and waited for help.”
Clark glanced from the road to her, smiling sympathetically, “That'll scare you.”
She snorted, “You're telling me. All I can remember from that night is being scared, and crying, and having Nell sing to me. When I woke up, I was in the back of a police car, still wrapped in the blanket and sitting on Nell's lap.”
Silence over took the truck, and they drove on in silence. The snow was coming down harder and the wind picked up. Clark , on the one hand, thought it was beautiful. He loved fresh snow, especially since they rarely got snow, only once in a while. It seemed that the more he saw it, the more he wanted more of it, and more often. He felt lucky that they got it at all.
When Clark looked out the window, he saw a brilliant white blanket covering the ground. It was soft and fluffy, chunky and a lot of it. He had his windshield wipers going at full, trying to keep the snow off the windshield enough to be able to drive. If my windshield wipers fail me, then I can always use my x-ray vision! he thought. He imagined himself doing that, and Lana wondering how he was seeing anything. He laughed out loud.
“What is it?” Lana asked, a little startled by Clark 's sudden laughter.
Clark shook his head, “Nothing, and idiosyncrasy.”
Lana rolled her eyes and continued to look out the window. She didn't hate snow, she just hated snowstorms. She had wonderful memories as a little kid, running around in the snow, making snow angels and building snowmen. They only had one occasion where she could remember enough snow to do anything, and it was the week following the big snowstorm. Sure they got snow here and there, an inch today two inches tomorrow, but nothing that stayed around long enough to have fun with.
This snow storm was pretty to look at, she would admit that much, but she hated thinking about it. As long as she was just able to focus on the snow, and not the storm, she would be okay. They'd be at the Kent farm soon enough.
That raised a question all in itself. She had told herself before that the safest place she could be was their farm, even after Adam attacked her. During that time, Jonathan was standing next to her holding his rifle, and at that moment she had never felt safer.
Yet, whenever she was with Clark she felt safe, as if he had a big gun all the time. When they stood together in the rain following Adam's attack on her, she was pressed against his rock hard body and just felt like breathing a sigh of relief. It was like, when Clark had her in his arms, there was never anything she should fear. She didn't understand it exactly. Clark had always been there to save her from trouble, even when they weren't on the best terms, but she didn't know how.
She turned her head and silently looked at Clark, who was watching the snow fall and land on the truck like a little kid. Then he would quickly look back at the road, making sure he kept both hands on the wheel at all times. He always made sure everything was as safe as possible for his friends, never letting them get into any trouble.
As much as she wanted to know how Clark did the things he did, because it would help her understand him…maybe even why he didn't want a relationship, she knew that as she watched him watch the snowflakes, it was enough for her to just had him.
Is the part they are willing to share with you, better than not having them in your life at all?[ Those were Helen's words, Lana thought. When Clark had told her that their relationship wasn't going to work, she was upset, there was no question about that. But she had deep feelings for him and it was hard for her to watch him look like he was just brushing her away when his feelings for her still existed. It wasn't so much that she was actually asking for him to tell her his life story, but she just wanted to know why…why wouldn't he open up to her.
That's easy, Lana thought, he did say once that he was the Fort Knox of secrets. It turned out to be more true than he could have ever imagined. She leaned her head against the window and continued to watch him. It actually made Clark more intriguing, even if it was often frustrating, when he did have secrets. What would it be like if he didn't?
Clark caught Lana looking at him out of the corner of his eye and looked at her. “What? Do I have a zit?”
Lana laughed and sat up, looking straight out again. “No…I was just thinking.”
“Care to indulge?” Clark asked, worried about what she was actually thinking.
“It would only make sense to me,” Lana said, sighing, “it's like trying to explain a dream.”
Clark laughed, “Well don't hurt yourself then.” Lana made a face at him. “Well we're here!” Clark chirped, making it sound more exciting than it probably was.
“Looks like your parents are wide awake,” Lana said, pointing at the kitchen window.
“Did you have any doubt?” Clark asked. “They are always up until I get home, no matter what the circumstance.”
Lana smiled, “You have great parents.”
“Better than my biological…” Clark mumbled. Lana looked at him, trying to see if she heard what she actually heard, but she didn't say anything. “They are two of the best!” Clark said with a broad smile. He put the car in park and sat back. “You ready?”
Lana rolled her eyes, “To go into your house? No, sorry Clark , I'm a little frightened.”
Clark shrugged, “Your loss.” Lana slapped him on the arm and they both got out of the car. Lana shrieked as she put her feet on the ground. The snow went up to her knees already. “What is it?” Clark asked, worriedly.
“It's so deep!” Lana exclaimed. She took a couple steps and then squealed again as she felt something extremely cold hit the back of her neck. “ Clark !” she spun around, but he wasn't there. She turned in a circle and bent down to make her own snowball. She heard some shuffling on the other side of the car, and turned around to go around but ran smack into Clark . “Ahh!!” she screamed. She fell backwards into the snow and found herself staring up at Clark .
He bent over and peered down at her, “I didn't scare you did I?” Lana made a face and kicked his legs out from under him. He seemed to grab for things as his arms flailed in the air and he tumbled to the ground. “Hey!”
“ Clark ? Is that you?” a voice yelled from the porch. It was his mother.
He stood up and waved, “Hey mom! We got company!” Lana stood up next to Clark and waved.
Mrs. Kent just shook her head and screamed, “What in the world do you think you're doing? There's a severe snowstorm warning out and you guys are having a snowball fight? Get in here!”
As if on command, a huge wind blew up and nearly knocked them off their feet. Lana screeched, and Clark grabbed her, keeping her upright. Still holding her up, they ran to the porch and up the steps. Martha was there to open the door and shut it the moment they were completely inside.
“You could have gotten hypothermia!” Martha exclaimed.
“Come on mom, we were just having a little fun!” Clark said playfully.
Martha smirked at him and then looked at Lana. “To what do we owe the surprise?”
“Our friendly weatherman,” Lana groaned. Martha raised an eyebrow and glanced at Clark .
“She's got a thing about snowstorms. Chloe and her dad went away for the weekend, leaving Lana alone. She doesn't like snowstorms in the first place so I offered her our guestroom.” Clark said with a smile. Martha smiled, and then frowned. “What is it mom?”
Martha shifted her weight and leaned against the counter. “I'm afraid we have a problem…the guest room is full of boxes.”
Clark slapped his head, “Oh I totally forgot! With the pies ready to go to Lex! How could I be so stupid?”
Lana looked up at him, “ Clark , it's fine. I would be satisfied with the couch.”
Clark shook his head, “No you can have my room.”
Martha nodded, “I can put clean sheets on the bed.” She looked at Lana, “And I suppose your lack of bags means you'll need something to wear.”
Lana smirked, “Very perceptive.” Martha winked at her and then turned around and walked through the kitchen and into her room.
Clark walked to the fridge, “Would you like something to drink?”
Lana shook her head, “No, but thanks. My stomach is a little queasy.”
Clark pulled a mountain dew out of the fridge and set it on the counter. “I didn't mean to scare you, I probably shouldn't have thrown that snowball.” He opened the can and took a swig.
Lana laughed, “It was good, I needed it. It took my mind off of the storm. But when that wind blew up, it all came back.” She pulled out the stool and sat down, dropping her purse on the ground next to her chair.
“Here we go,” Martha said, walking back into the kitchen. She sat a cute blue t-shirt on the table in front of Lana and then laid a pair of spongebob pajama pants over it.
“Spongebob?” Lana asked, trying not to laugh.
Clark turned away, looking like all of his mountain dew was about to come splurting out of his nose. Martha grinned, “Mother's day gift!”
Lana laughed, “Wow! Clark I didn't know you had such great taste!”
Clark turned back around with a straight face, “Where would I be without Saturday morning cartoons?” |