Clana - How "This Time" Will be Different (PG-13)

[binkys711]

I LIKE IT KEEP POSTING!!!!!!!!!!!GREAT JOB!!!!!!

[ajfinn]

More on its way Thanks for all the encouragement! This is fun to write what I hope happens, though I really don't think the Smallville writers will make it so easy for Clark & Lana. But they should be together in season 5!!!! Finally!!!

[NYC300Z]

Hey just found ur fic it's getting mad interesting so update soon iight?

[ClanaLover]

I can't wait untill the update! It was great!

[ajfinn]

I'll post the next update later today. Clark gets a little crazy with a fire poker

[itsallinthespelling]

please post soon, this story is getting really good

[ajfinn]

Part 5:


“Cool!” Lana said, making Clark laugh at her word choice. “You know, you might be handy this summer. My air-conditioning isn’t working.”

“Well, if you don’t mind, I’ll be hanging around through the winter as well,” he said. “I don’t get to use my heat vision nearly as much as I’d like to.”

Lana smiled. “I wouldn’t mind that at all,” she said. “But somehow, I never pictured you as the answer to my high utility bills.”

“I hate to disappoint you, but I don’t have a single spark of electricity in me,” Clark said. “But I did get struck by lightning once.”

Lana’s face went grim. “When?” she asked. “Why didn’t I know about that? You must have really been hurt.”

Clark shook his head. “I hardly felt a thing,” he said, suddenly feeling awkward. He put his hands in his pockets to appear more humble. “It was nothing compared to being thrown in a blast furnace.”

Lana sat up, her eyes squinting. “Clark, how could you walk away from things like that?”

Clark scanned the room for something dangerous, but of little value. “I’ll show you,” he said, noticing she had two fire pokers for her wood stove. He picked one up and walked back over to Lana, taking his boot and sock off. “I’m pretty much unbreakable.” Clark lifted the fire poker in the air and rammed it through his foot—or at least that's what Lana thought happened when she let out a high-pitched scream.

“Lana, look,” Clark said, trying to pry her fingers off her eyes. “Nothing happened.”

She gave a quick glance at Clark’s uninjured foot, then noticed the shattered pieces of iron all around him—breathing a sigh of relief. “Then you ARE bulletproof, just like Van told me you were.” Lana thought back to when Van McNulty took it upon himself to assassinate everyone in Smallville who had meteor rock induced powers. She remembered how much she hoped Van was right, that Clark was invulnerable—that nothing could ever hurt him. “Do you have any idea how comforting that is for me?”

Clark went back to his knees and took Lana’s hand. “I was pretty lucky with Van, actually,” he said. He didn’t want to hide any part of his secret from her, even if it took away her sense of security. “He found a way to kill me and nearly succeeded.”

“But I just saw what you did to your foot—how did Van manage to hurt you?” Lana asked, grabbing Clark’s shoulders. Thinking about Van trying to kill Clark made Lana want to summon Isobel back to give Van a taste of what the witch is brewin’. Though she was glad Isobel had disappeared, Lana wished she still had her butt-kicking capabilities.

“I said, I’m ‘pretty much’ unbreakable,” Clark said, feeling this was a good time to talk about the dreadful green stuff. “I’m deathly allergic to meteor rocks, and when Van figured that out, he melted some down to make bullets.”

Lana looked confused. “Allergic? To the green and black rocks?” she asked. “But they’re everywhere!”

“Tell me about it,” Clark said. “I’ve had more close calls than I can count.”

Lana’s eyes suddenly widened and she gasped. “But my necklace! I wore it all the time around you. Why didn’t you tell me?”

Clark shrugged with a smile. “That pretty much says how desperate I was to be with you, doesn’t it?”

“I’m so sorry,” Lana said, giving Clark a kiss that made up for every pain he ever felt from her necklace.

Clark gave a fake pout when she stopped. “Yeah, it was pretty awful—” Lana knew what he wanted, and for a minute, they both forgot all about the meteor rocks.

“Let’s see,” Clark said. “What else can I tell Lana that will drum up some sympathy—oh, wait, did I just say that out loud?”

Lana punched his arm. “I don’t care if that doesn’t hurt you,” she said, shaking her hand. “Don’t’ mess with me.”

“I wouldn’t dare,” Clark said, bringing her throbbing hand to his lips. “There’s only one thing that gives me weaker knees than meteor rocks.”

“What’s that?” she asked, smiling.

“You.”

Lana suspected he’d say that. When had he ever failed to turn her inside out? “And YOU,” she said, touching his nose, “are a very big flirt.”

“Yeah, I’m pretty much whooped,” Clark said. “I don’t think Lex needs to fly in one of his ‘best psychologists in the country’ to figure that out.”

“No, I don’t beleive I'll be needing any more of Dr. Phil’s help,” Lana said, shaking her head. “Not now that you’ve finally found the courage to tell me yourself. And it means a lot that you’ve shared your secret with me, Clark. Is there anything else I should know?”

Clark’s eyes snapped up to meet hers—they’d drifted down to her lips again. “Lana, I hate to say this. But I’ve only just scratched the surface.”

He thought Lana would give a tired nod, like she was done for the night. But instead, she perked up and smiled. “Well, then . . . bring it on!”

[ClarksGirl21]

I liked it .. so, Lana's finally going to know that Clark's an alien. huh.. hopes she takes it well..lol

[Kal-El & Me]

Cute chapter. Please continue as soon as you can.

[ajfinn]

Part 6:

Clark touched Lana’s soft cheek. It was about the hundredth time in the past few hours that he couldn’t believe they were being this open with each other. It wasn’t just telling her his secret that made him feel so in awe though, it was that there was a comfort level that had never been there before. A new sense of trust, like he could share anything with her—especially the rest of his life.

“Lana, are you sure you’re not too tired?” Clark asked. “It’s got to be midnight by now.” Clark turned and looked at the clock hanging on the wall behind him. “11:50—I was pretty close.”

When Clark turned back to Lana she had a look of amusement on her face. “I’m surprised you had to turn around to check. Can’t you see through the back of your head?”

“Very funny,” Clark said, returning her smirk. “But you’re not far off.”

“Go on,” Lana said, now knowing that anything could be possible.

Clark thought that if anything did, this trick might make her a bit queasy. “Did you see the x-rays of your leg?”

“Yes,” Lana said with curiosity. “Why? Can you heal people like Cyrus did?”

Clark shook his head. “No, but I sure wish I could. If that were the case, I wouldn’t have allowed you to go through as much pain as you have. Not now, not before with your leg . . . never. I would’ve revealed my secret long ago if I could have saved you from any of that.”

Lana gave a soft smile, knowing that Clark has saved her from more pain than she could even guess. “Of course you would have. I don’t know why I even asked.”

“Well, you’ve had plenty of reasons to doubt me in the past, which I hope to explain later tonight, but for now,” Clark moved Lana’s leg that was closest to him out of the way so he could get a good look at the one that was broken. “Let’s see if the docs did a good job fixing up your leg.”

Clark squinted hard, scanning between Lana’s knee and her ankle. “Owwww,” he said. “That must’ve really hurt.”

“How can you tell?” Lana asked, trying not to jump to the crazy conclusion she was imagining. She’d test him just to make sure. “Where is it broken?”

“Here, and here,” Clark said, pointing in two different locations. “But they’re pretty clean breaks—better than the last time when the horse stomped on you.” He knew, because he’d snuck in the hospital room when she was sleeping and x-rayed her. He didn’t think he’d ever get over the guilt he felt because of what happened to Lana when he’d left her with Lex in the horse stables.

Lana’s jaw dropped. “No way.”

“Yes way,” he said, matching her cheerleader tone. “I can see through almost anything—but I have to be concentrating to do it. It’s not like I just walk around with five dimensional vision.”

“Nor see through clothing, I hope,” Lana said, embarrassed for even thinking about it. Of course he’d never do that.

Clark gave a sheepish grin. “If I wanted to,” he said, then backtracked, “well, not that I don’t want to, I mean I’m not exactly a typical guy, but when it comes to that, well . . . I think I’m as normal as they come.” She was still looking at him funny. “Lana, what I’m trying to say is that I prefer to leave some things up to my imagination.”

That didn’t help, and Lana started laughing. “Then that does indeed put you on par with other guys.”

Clark had his burning face buried in his hands. “Okay, can we talk about something else now?”

Lana kissed the top of his head. “Don’t worry, Clark,” she said. “I trust you. If you could read minds, you’d know I have an active imagination too.”

“You know,” Clark said, looking back up with a smile. “That’s the one ability I’ve really tried to develop. I’ve spent hours concentrating on you, just to see if it would spark some sort of mind reading capabilities.”

Lana gave Clark an expression of mock pity. “You poor guy, is that why you spend so much time staring at me?” She was joking, but she regretted saying it because she never wanted him to feel stupid about the way he looks at her. It gives her chills every time.

“Umm, no,” Clark answered. “That would be the solitary fault of your face—it’s like some sort of magnet for my eyes.”

Lana felt a warmth move through her, as though a teapot of water had been poured into her soul. “It’s so good to hear you say things like that. For the longest time, I thought you’d never have those feelings for me again,” she said. “Even though I was with Jason, I never stopped loving you, Clark. I just wanted so bad for us to stop hurting one another, that when I went to Paris I . . . well, I think the technical definition for what I did is ‘rebound’.”

It bothered Clark to hear her talk about Jason, but he’d always hoped that’s all he was to her. And he didn’t blame her for that, he’d rebounded a few times himself. “That’s the same for me, Lana. I’ve never loved anyone but you. I tried—especially with Alicia, but no one could ever take your place in my life. You’re too much a part of me.”

Lana looked down when Clark mentioned Alicia’s name. “Clark, I feel horrible for how I acted when Alicia was released,” she said, her voice becoming tight. “I was . . . I was just so jealous that you put her well-being in front of mine . . . I know it was stupid, and selfish, and about a million other words that describe immaturity . . . but when she died, I felt awful. I just couldn’t bring myself to tell you that, not after how I’d acted.”

Clark now understood how twisted his relationship with Alicia had been, and how he was attracted to her for only one reason—she knew and accepted his secret. He was feeling so jealous himself at that time because of Jason and Lana, that he would’ve fallen for a homicidal maniac—oh, wait . . . that was exactly what he did.

“Lana, I need to explain what happened with Alicia,” Clark said, “Then maybe we can both move past it.” Clark went on to admit his own jealousy and sense of frustration at the thought of being alone for the rest of his life. He told her how Alicia first discovered his secret and how she played off that to make him feel accepted. Then he said, “And Lana, there’s something else you should know about the meteor rocks. They come in different colors. And red, well, it makes me . . . ”

[ClanaLover]

The last update was great! I loved it. I can't wait untill he tells her about the red K. Or about the fact that he's an alien.

[kewl]

very great update. ppms, thanks

[ClarksGirl21]

keep going .. this is great! I love it !

[4EverSmallville]

Awesome updates, if Lana ever learned Clark's secret on the show, I'd definitely hope it'd be similar to this. Great job.

[ajfinn]

Part 7:

“Let me guess what red meteor rock does to you,” Lana said, shaking her head like she should have suspected that’s what influenced Clark to run off to Vegas. “It makes you act like a mad man—do things you’d never normally do.”

Clark was stunned. “How . . . how could you possibly know that?”

“Chloe knows too,” Lana said. “I mean, we’ve never been sure, but when you came back from Metropolis, we started putting a few pieces of the puzzle that is Clark Kent together.”

“And?” Clark asked, still taken aback by this revelation.

“And Chloe happened to mention how weird it was that you wore a Smallville class ring, which she knew was made out of red meteor rock, the entire time you were in Metropolis—even though you didn’t want anyone to know who you were or where you were from,” Lana said, shivering as she remembered what a horrible time in her life that was. “When she said that, I remembered the first time you got your class ring was when you went all psycho on your dad’s motorcycle and started wearing leather, and took me to that bar . . . you were an entirely different person, which is exactly how you acted when I found you in Metropolis.”

“Metropolis was such a nightmare, I don’t even know where to begin to say how awful I feel about that,” Clark said. “But before I explain my reason for putting on that class ring when I knew it was bad for me, I need to tell you about Alicia.”

“All right,” Lana said, not really sure she wanted to hear it. She was so afraid of what he might say, her hands started to tremble, and Clark put them against his chest.

“Lana, both my friends who discovered my secret—Alicia and Pete, drugged me with red meteor rocks,” he said, making Lana’s eyes bug out. “I’m sure you’re surprised that Pete did it, but it was when he was infected by one of the cave worms, and he slipped a red rock in my shirt. That’s the night you caught me kissing Chloe. It was so stupid, and the most horrible part about it was that I couldn’t explain anything to you. And neither Pete or Chloe could remember what they did . . . it was hell for me.”

Lana could feel the pain pounding in his chest. She wished she could take back every moment she had ever doubted Clark. “I’m so sorry I’ve jumped to so many conclusions. I really should have known better.”

“No. I mean, how could you have ever guessed that?” he asked. “And with Alicia it was even worse. I was willing to give her a second chance, as stupid as I was, but when I refused to leave the state with her, she made a necklace with red meteor rocks hidden in it and teleported us to Vegas. But the wedding wasn’t even legal—neither one of us were old enough.”

Lana dropped her hands, this was the part she was nervous about.

“And don’t worry, nothing happened on our so-called sham of a wedding night,” Clark said. “She took the necklace off me, thinking I’d want to be with her just the same—but she was dead wrong.”

Lana couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Here Clark had all these amazing abilities, and still, there were some things he couldn’t even protect himself from. “Nothing happened between Jason and I either, no matter what anyone else has assumed,” Lana said, glad she finally had the chance to tell Clark that. “I knew I didn’t love him enough to be with him for the rest of my life.”

Clark gave a relieved smile. “I’m not going to lie and say I didn’t think of it as a possibility, but I’m also not surprised,” he said. “I know you, Lana. I know that you don’t take relationships lightly, and that when you love someone, it’s for the right reasons. And that’s also how you make your decisions—based on a lot of thought of how it might affect your future.”

Lana felt such peace in that moment, confirming once and for all that she had made the right decision. She thought of all she would have wasted—and for what? A man who turned on her the moment her feelings started to fade. “Thanks for having such confidence in me, Clark.” She kissed him. “Some things are very much worth waiting for.”

Clark could not help but think how much he loved this girl. And though he was insanely attracted to Lana, he’d always managed to keep his cool with her. There was so much more to his feelings for her that it drove respect and patience in him. She was his soul mate in ever respect. No matter the physical, or emotional distances that had come between them, their souls always felt close. Whatever the future held, though he knew exactly how he’d like the story to go, he was sure they would always have that—a sense of connection no one could ever take away.

Lana snapped Clark out of his musings with a funny side note to their serious conversation. “It’s too bad our first kiss was red meteor rock induced,” she said, laughing. “And I had no clue—standing there in the Talon, completely swept off my feet, like you’d finally decided to take your chance with me!”

Clark gave a careful smile, not sure if he should reveal the truth. “Uh, Lana, that wasn’t our first kiss.”

“Yes it was,” Lana said. “You must not remember everything you do when under the influence of red meteor rocks. Because, trust me, it was a very nice kiss.”

“I usually call it Red-K, but I’ll explain that later,” Clark said. “And actually, I DO remember everything. I wanted to come back for more after I was back to normal, but I’d messed things up pretty badly by then.”

“Yeah you did,” she said. “But I totally understand now—and that was definitely our first kiss.”

Clark shook his head. “Nope. Do you remember when you were poisoned by the Nicodemus flower?”

Lana’s face turned the color of Red-K itself. “Shut up! I didn’t!”

“Oh, you did more than just kiss me, Lana,” he said, ignoring her pleas to twist the truth. “You stripped down to almost nothing and tried to get me into the pool with you.” Lana covered her face with a pillow. “Don’t worry, I turned you down for the first and only time. I knew something was going on—but I have to admit . . . ”

“Just stop!” Lana said, smacking him with the pillow. “Why don’t you show me some more of your tricks—pull a rabbit out of your hat, or something.” She still couldn’t look at him.

“I wouldn’t know where to find a rabbit at this hour,” he said, kissing both sides of her face, “but I bet I could round up a Nicodemus flower or two.”

Lana couldn’t stop giggling from embarrassment. “No, I think I deserve a whole BOUQUET of flowers for that load of BS you just told me.”

“You’re right,” Clark said. “Roses or lilacs?”

Lana tipped her head to the side, waiting for the punch line. “Lilacs,” she said. And before she could blink, Clark was gone. “Clark? Where did you . . . ” and then, suddenly her apartment door flew open and there was Clark, standing over the threshold with an armful of lilacs.