roxy. fic post:mariposa

Title:Mariposa
Fandom: SV
Pairing: Clark/Lex
Rating:1
Summary: AU version of Smallville. Yeah, yeah, we hear ya…
*******

Morning came quickly, it felt as if he’d barely closed his eyes and Clark was waking him. He stumbled into the shower, hissing a little as he moved. His body seemed to think it had suffered some sort of major assault—he was sore in places he’d never known it was possible to feel…he wasn’t sure, but he suspected one ache he was feeling was his spleen.

It took him a few minutes under the hot spray before he could stop smiling.

He was out and dressed quickly, he took a few minutes to toss a couple of items in a bag. He’d get someone to pack a proper bag later and send it on. Right now, he just wanted to get things moving before one or the other of them lost heart.

Clark wasn’t where he expected him to be. He found him in the kitchen instead of his nook in the study, apparently bent on making breakfast.

“I told the cook to take the day, I hope that was okay?” Clark asked, and poured whatever it was he had in the bowl into a pan on the stove. He nodded…it had never occurred to him that Clark could cook.

He tried to imagine Clark doing any number of boring, everyday things and he couldn’t, he couldn’t see this beautiful creature being just average, but that was—had been--Clark’s real life. Lex watched Clark silently, seriously, make pancakes, fry bacon, eggs…put them on the plates already sitting at the table. He looked up at Lex, and smiled. “Come eat,” he said, and Lex sat.

An ordinary life. A normal life. What if Clark couldn’t fit back into Smallville? Would he force himself to, or would he come back with Lex? Would he stay….?

Clark was quiet, and a little distant, and Lex began to worry that he’d made the wrong choice the night before, that even if Clark had seemed to be in control of what happened, he hadn’t really been. Lex worried that he’d overstepped some invisible boundary…he should have known better--he, of all people, should have been able to see some sign that Clark was just responding the way he thought he had to…Lex watched Clark eat and tried to figure out how to fix another mistake.

Clark stopped chewing and stared at Lex. He swallowed and shook his head with a little smile. “It’s not you, relax. You’re worrying so hard the air around you is turning blue. It’s me—I’m nervous, I guess.”

Lex stabbed at a bit of egg, relief making him smile. “But there’s nothing to be nervous about. They want you; they’re dying to see you again. I still think you should call them, Clark. I think just dropping in--”

Clark shook his head. “I have to just go. I have to just…be there. I thought about running there, you know, just going. But I want you there too. It’s kind of selfish I know but…if they don’t want me any more, I need you there.”

He nodded. “All right Clark. You have to do it your way. I understand.

They finished eating, smiling at each other now, Clark was *there* with him, and it felt nice. Just the two of them…nice.

“Well. Thank you for a delicious breakfast, Clark. I’ll get my bag and yours too, if you like. Are you ready to go?”

“Don’t need a bag.” Clark picked up the red jacket thrown over the back of his chair and slipped it on. “I’m ready now.”

“That’s it?” Lex asked. He looked at Clark prepared to go back home with nothing but a cheap cotton jacket and nothing that he came with and for some reason, and he couldn’t keep his eyes from flooding with embarrassing tears… “that’s all?”

Clark nodded. He slid his hands in his pockets and said, “Can we go?”

*******

“Okay Clark, we split the radio—you get ninety minutes and I get ninety minutes. I believe that’s fair—though as driver I call the first half of the drive.” Clark laughed and climbed in, but part of his mind was racing, racing with al the thoughts he’d tried to quiet the last forty-eight hours….

Three hours. Three hours were all that had separated him from his family for a year, longer. One hundred and eighty minutes away from another life.

For miles and miles Clark said nothing, just listened to the low rumble of the radio, the sing of tires on asphalt…if he wanted to, he could listen to Lex’s heart beat, like he’d done all last night. He could hear more but he didn’t let himself. Not yet. He felt Lex’s eyes on him from time to time but he didn’t speak, didn’t ask him if he was okay or anything and that was good. Lex was smart like that, Clark thought. He knew what you needed when you needed it. Most of the time, he grinned and remembered Lex’s little mini-melt down in the kitchen. He worried too much sometime. Trying to see all sides of everything, all the time. It must be exhausting, poor Lex.

He sighed, and Lex stirred next to him, reached out a hand and squeezed his knee. Clark laid his own over it, and smiled when he felt Lex purr a little at his touch. Soon, soon…

They flew on; traffic was light this early in the morning. They were nearly in Smallville before they saw many vehicles, mostly trucks, older model cars…. it was quiet; the sun was beginning to rise and the gray morning air lightened slowly to rose and yellow, the air beginning to warm. As the sun finally broke through the cloud cover, Clark felt—alive. Felt possibilities—maybe this was going to be good, maybe it would turn out okay. They did want him, sure they did. New kid or not, they still loved him, he was positive.
He realized that his eyes were squeezed tight, and the grip Lex had on his knee would have made a normal man gasp. “I’m okay,” he muttered.
“You sure?”

“Yeah—yeah, I’m—STOP!”

Gravel rattled and pinged off the sides of the car as the Porsche slewed to a screaming stop on the shoulder, a long plume of dust flying out behind them like dragon’s breath.
Lex was staring at him open mouthed, panic making him paler. “WHAT?”

“Stop, stop, stop…” Clark muttered and yanked the seat belt off, pushing open the door as he did, scrambled outside….

The sun was just topping the edge of the edge of the Smallville sign. It looked pretty recently re-painted; the colors were brighter than—before. He walked up to it, and ran his fingers over it and swore he felt dents in the wood, little dents from thrown stones. Crazy. Everyone threw stones at the sign, the damn thing was so corny, it begged to be stoned…his finger sank into a dent in the ‘M’ in Smallville and he leaned his head against the sign and cried.

*****
Lex watched Clark from the car. He had the feeling that what was going on here was no business of his and to offer comfort right now would be an intrusion—every bit of him was desperate to run out to Clark, but…no. This was private. He sighed and scrunched down a little in his seat. There was no competing against a memory.
Fucking Saint Whitney, he thought. I better get to love you too….

*****
After a bit, Clark leaned back from the sign, ran his hand over it. “God, I loved you so much,” he whispered and wiped his face. “I still do. I know that right now, you’d be happy for me. I’m in love again. Even though nobody could ever do for me what you did, he’s a good man. He cares, like you did. And he’s going to help me be like you, even though he doesn’t know it yet.” Clark snorted out a damp little laugh. “He’s slow on the uptake. Like you. Anyway, I’m home.” He sniffed hard, and wiped his nose on his sleeve. Reluctantly drew his hand away from the sign. “I’m home again.”

Lex was watching him as he came up to the car. He had that greyhound look, the one were he wanted to know everything but wouldn’t ask. Clark thought how cute it was that Lex actually imagined that he was unreadable…he leaned over and kissed Lex’s cheek, let his fingers linger there. He inhaled deeply, and said, “I’m sorry.”

Lex put the car in drive, and carefully pulled back onto the road. “Don’t ever be sorry for love.”

Clark waited but Lex didn’t speak again, and the music of the road filled the car. They were minutes away and driving steadily closer.
Wheat. Corn. The roads. The houses, the town, the buildings, the center of town, and the movie house, the Beanery… he thought it would look cleaner, fresher than Metropolis, less gritty and defeated but it didn’t. He thought the faces would look less drawn but they didn’t. He sighed. He’d expected…magic. The sun shone no less here than on the road into town but he felt it less, it seemed.

Lex tapped his elbow. “Hey, coming home isn’t easy. But this *is* your home. I know what you’re feeling. Your family is here. They’re waiting. They’ve been waiting everyday since you left for you to come back to them, believe me.”

Clark nodded, and held onto that thought Mom and Dad, and his sister Corinne. Kala. They were at the end of the road. Waiting.

They were out of town and on the road to the farm. The fields were so many shades of green, like he remembered and they passed fields of flowers and rail fences and cows, who looked at them with total lack of interest. Clark smiled. Cows.

Rooks lined up on the fence posts they passed, looking with a little more interest as sunlight flared from chrome on the car body.

Still flying, flying…” Turn here, Clark said, and the Porsche smoothly made the turn as if it’d been doing it forever. “Up that way—see the sign?” Clark’s heart was pounding, pounding…his mouth was dry, and his stomach was tight—he pressed a hand to his chest to—to hold his heart in.

“Okay,” he muttered, “okay…here it is.”

Lex stopped in the driveway and unbuckled his belt. He rolled down the window, and the sound of farm life filled Clark’s ears again. The smell of the farm filled his nose.

“This is your home? It’s--”

Clark grinned a little. “Tiny? Awfully yellow? Smelly?”

Lex smiled. “I was going to say beautiful. Charming. Like you. Now get out of my car.”

Clark took a deep shaky breath and got out. Stood up, walked on his drive way for the firs time since…the first time since he’d lost everything.

He went back to the car. “I can’t. Take me back, please.”

Lex looked up at him; his eyes were full of sympathy. He clasped Clark’s hand, and said, “Babe, you’re crushing my door.” Clark snatched his hand away, aghast at the clear prints of four fingers in the silver metal. “Clark,” Lex said, “Get up that driveway before I kick your ass up it.”

Clark took a deep breath and nodded. Right. Now was the time, now was right…he turned and gravel crunched and rolled under his feet, he counted his steps. Sun beat on his shoulders; a breeze stirred the leaves overhead. Somewhere a bird trilled up and down the scale, dogs barked. The muffled low of cows the scent of the barnyard drifted out to him. He heard a light voice say, “Mommy…”
He was bent over in the drive, tears running hot down his face. He could hear Lex jump out of the car behind him, and he straightened and looked up and he was looking up into his dad’s eyes….

His dad looked confused. He looked at the Porsche, looked at Clark. His eye brows rose. “Clark?” It was oddly conversational, as if Clark had gone downtown to get a gallon of milk and come back a little late. Suddenly, his face went bone white and he staggered forward. “Clark, Clark, Clark….”

Clark was in his dad’s arms and they tightened on him in a way that would have been painful a few weeks ago—“Oh God, son, oh my God”—his dad was crying, Clark had never heard his dad cry like that, like it hurt, like it gagged him to do so, it scared him, and suddenly a shriek split the air, a baby was crying and than his mom was hanging off him, screaming his name, kissing him all over his face, crying--

He was crying so hard.

It was over, he was home.

tbc

Flat. Top-Level Comments Only

Posted by

norwich36.livejournal.com

Wow, two parts in one day! We must be very close to the end now.

This part killed me, too. Poor Clark. Poor Lex. Poor Jonathan! Yes, they're going to be happy now, but all the grief they had to go through first.

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fic post:mariposa

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