Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Lois & Clark Fanfic Fireworks (2012 Summer Ficathon Story) 2/2.5

Start with Part 1.

Part 2

Clark watched the lithe nymph skip out of sight and felt he must be the luckiest man in the universe.

When he had laid eyes on her a mere hour before, he had thought his entire world was over. It was love at first sight and lying, cheating Lana was draped over him like a bad toupee.

Clark knew that Lana was having difficulty with the knowledge that he wasn’t like other guys, and she had sought comfort in Joe’s arms. He just hadn’t realized how much comfort. Why hadn’t he just confronted Lana at the hotel two nights before when he could hear them going at it from three floors away? Sure, he could have punched Joe for stealing his girlfriend, but Clark knew that Joe was taking an opportunity where he could. Joe was just that sort of guy; stab a guy in the back just to steal the coins from his front pocket. Anyway, Joe hadn’t seduced Lana away from Clark. She had gone willingly.

And Clark had let her go just as willingly.

He had spent the entire previous day with Pete and Rachel; Lana had said that all she wanted to do was lie by the pool. Fine by him. His friends knew something was up between them, but Clark knew this wasn’t the place to have a fight, especially when – knowing Lana – yelling would be involved, and things that he really didn’t want said could be screamed for everyone to hear. So, he had tried to put off the inevitable until they got back to Smallville, and Lana could scream at him until the cows came home… literally.

Lana must have realized he knew something was up by his cool behavior. Not that their relationship had been very hot lately, especially after he told her that he thought he should wait until marriage. That was when the whole conversation about his abilities had come out. He had been gaining these different abilities for the past few years, and he wanted to wait until he was more mature and had more control over his new powers. Clark hadn’t meant for them to come out then, or like that, but she had demanded to know why. Instead of being understanding and willing to wait, Lana had gone in the other direction.

His folks hadn’t agreed with his choice about telling Lana, but they had told him that he was eighteen now and had to face the consequences for his own actions. The decision about whom he could trust and who would have him turned over to a lab to be dissected like a frog, now lay solely with him.

This morning, for some reason, Lana had insisted on playing the part of the dutiful girlfriend, not that anyone had bought the act. Clark had actually separated them from the group to tell her to cut it out and stop acting all fake, when he suddenly had become sidetracked. He hadn’t really meant to follow the pretty brunette into line at Splash Mountain, especially with Lana on his arm. There was just something about how this girl’s heart beat that had hooked him around the neck like a leash and dragged him along.

Now, she was alone, and he was alone, and Clark wanted nothing more than to be alone together with this girl… woman. He had to stop thinking of women as girls. He wasn’t in high school anymore. He was a man, and that person, who had gotten him soaked on the log ride, was most certainly a woman. A woman who wanted to be a reporter, just like him. It was kismet.

He couldn’t believe he met the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with already, and, he laughed, in line at Disney World. She was going to think he was rebounding from Lana’s deception.

Was he?

No, what he was feeling for this girl… woman – geez, he wished he knew her name – was so different from anything he had ever felt before. He had gazed into her eyes and, not only did he feel like he could do anything, he had felt as if he could literally float.

His dad had once told Clark that he had to be careful around firecrackers. Get too close, and he could get burned; put one in his hand, and he’d have a life-changing experience. That was what this girl reminded him of – something that required that kind of warning label. She had exploded into his life like a firecracker, so he had been calling her that in his mind: his little life-altering firecracker.

Clark turned the corner into the sunshine and realized she was gone. Please tell him that wasn’t it! His heart froze in his throat.

Then, her words echoed in his mind: All’s fair in love and war.

Well, if that was the case…

He closed his eyes and listened. There she was, over to the right. He opened his eyes and scanned in that direction. He found her leaning against a railing looking straight at him. Was she wondering “what’s next” too? He didn’t care as long as whatever came next included her.

He made a beeline directly to her and hoped he didn’t use any extra speed to do so. Was she testing him? How much about his abilities had Lana told her? Was Firecracker seeing if it was true? Or was she trying to lose him: that weird recently-dumped guy who had latched on to her at Splash Mountain? Her smile that greeted him told him he was welcome.

“Hi,” Clark said, somewhat breathlessly, not because he was breathless from rushing over to her – hardly! – but because she simply took his breath away.

“Hi,” she replied, almost shyly. In line they had had an excuse to talk. Now, if they stayed together, it was a choice. He had made his, had she?

“I bet you want to go find your friends, now. You don’t have to stay with me. I’m used to being alone,” she said, and his heart ached for her.

Was Firecracker giving him the big brush off? Or was she just giving him an ‘out’ in case he wanted to leave?

“Nah!” Clark said, trying – he hoped – for casual nonchalance as he leaned against the railing next to her. “I can be with them anytime.” He only had this one day to be with Firecracker and he planned on making the most of it.

He heard her stomach rumble, surprised that he was so attuned to her. It had taken weeks of practice to recognize Lana’s heartbeat, but with Firecracker it had been the first thing he had noticed. It was as if all the extra noises that had pounded his head upon coming to this place, faded away. Oxymoronic as it might sound, but being with Firecracker was like finally finding his peace and quiet.

“Do you want to get something to eat?” he asked. “I think one of the cafes over in Fantasyland has fruit and salads?”

Terrific; for a moment there, she had looked at him like he was nuts. “Do you have a special diet that you need to follow? Because I, myself, have a hankering for a hotdog.”

“I thought…” Clark shook his head. He thought because Lana ate like a bird to try to keep her figure just so, that every woman did, especially one as beautiful as this one. “Hotdogs sound perfect.”

Would it be wrong to ask Firecracker to marry him at this moment?

She hopped off the railing with the grace of a gazelle and started heading off, and he slid right in step with her. He liked the way Firecracker walked. She walked fast as if she knew where she was going and wanted to get there as quickly as possible. He smiled. He was a fan of speed himself.

Firecracker didn’t stop, never slowing down, weaving in and out of the crowds like an expert, until they had reached the snack bar line. He wondered what she was like behind the wheel of a car.

“Why don’t I get this? Do you want to… uh… dry off?” she suggested, reaching out and placing her hand briefly on his chest. He had forgotten that he was soaking wet.

Had Lana told her about his heat-vision?

“Sure. Thanks,” he said hesitantly. He could hear his dad’s voice in his head, reminding him that a guy always paid for meals. He reached into his back pocket for his wallet. “Let me…”

Firecracker pushed against his chest. “Go already!” She grinned at him. “My treat.”

Clark wanted to protest, but he knew Firecracker was a modern woman from the big city. Would she interpret his being a gentleman as him being a chauvinistic pig? Did he really want to waste precious minutes arguing with her over this? “I’ll get the next one,” he insisted, if for no other reason but for them to still be together at suppertime.

When he came out a few minutes later, Firecracker was leaning against the snack bar counter, tapping her foot to a tune playing through the speakers overhead. He had never seen anyone look more alluring doing nothing. He swallowed.

“Great! You’re back,” she said as he walked up. She picked up two hotdogs in one hand and a drink. “Your lunch is on the counter.”

Clark found two more hotdogs and a lemonade. He cracked a grin. If she kept this up, Smallville might never see him again. He sat down next to her at the small table she had chosen and accidentally bumped her leg with his. “Sorry,” he mumbled, but didn’t move his leg away.

Firecracker polished off one of her hotdogs and then pulled out her map of the park from her back pocket. She spread it out on the table between them. Picking up her lemonade and taking a long sip, she asked, “Where would you like to go?”

He wanted to say, ‘anywhere she went’, but he figured that sounded more corny than the Smallville Corn Festival. “Let’s see…” he said, leaning forward and scanning the map. One name popped out at him: Spaceship Earth. “Have you checked out Epcot Center yet?” he asked. Lana had refused to go to that section of the park for obvious reasons.

“Nope. It was packed our first day. The girls preferred to get their inner princess on, so we mostly hung out around Magic Kingdom, and we never made it back,” she said, leaning back. “I was planning on hitting it today, but Splash Mountain had called out to me.” Her leg slid along his until her ankle hooked around his.

Clark closed his eyes, and held his breath. Ignore it. Ignore it. Ignore it, or she’ll move it away. But he couldn’t ignore it as her touch made his heart race. He must have stiffened in the process of trying to act natural and she, misinterpreting, moved her foot away. He could breathe again, but felt bereft from the loss.

Firecracker nudged his shoulder with hers and kick-started his heart again. “So, where do you see yourself in ten years?” she asked.

With you, was the obvious answer, but he didn’t want to scare her off. “I’d like to travel the world, and learn some languages. This is really my first big trip out of Smallville.”

“Do you have a passport?” she asked, taking another bite of her hotdog, leaving a bit of mustard on the edge of her top lip. She licked it away with her tongue, and he took off his glasses to wipe away the steam.

“Uh… no,” he said.

“First thing you need to do when you return home is to get one. A good reporter needs to be ready to go where the action is at a moment’s notice. I’ve been building up a briefcase with anything a reporter might need to have at a moment’s notice,” she said. “You’re a boy scout, what do you suggest should be in there?”

Clark flushed. How had Firecracker known he’d been a boy scout? Then he remembered that Lana had used her ‘Scout’ nickname, while they had stood in line.

Firecracker put her hand on his arm for a moment. “I’m putting you on the spot. Sorry,” she said with a smile. “If I get too intense, just let me know; it’s one of my flaws. I’ve never met anyone my age who already knows they want to be a journalist, like me. That’s why I’m so excited about my internship at the Daily Planet, to see an actual working daily newspaper in action. I’m hoping to follow around real journalists, but I’ll probably be nothing more than a gofer: fetching coffee, making copies, sorting mail, taking messages, and that sort of thing.” She stopped to take a sip of her lemonade.

He brushed passed her error that she had flaws. She had never met anyone her age who wanted to be a journalist? His brow furrowed. She couldn’t already be at Met. U. without having met other Journalism majors, therefore, she hadn’t started college. If she was just about to start college, she probably would have visited Met U.’s journalism department, being that she lived in the city, or at least stopped by the offices of the university newspaper, so he concluded she hadn’t graduated high school yet. How old was Firecracker? Or, more correctly, how young was she? His eyes widened. He accidentally on purpose dropped his napkin. When he got out of his chair to pick it up, he scooted his chair an inch further away before sitting back down.

Clark picked up his second hotdog and thought this through as he took a bite.

Firecracker was an intern at the largest and most important newspaper in the country, if not the world. By law they couldn’t hire anyone under the age of sixteen, ipso facto, Firecracker had to be at least sixteen. That wasn’t so bad. He was eighteen. Pete had a girlfriend back home who was sixteen; perfectly legal as long as they didn’t do anything.

He sighed in relief. Well, marriage was certainly off the table. He chuckled. Had he really wanted to get married at eighteen anyway?

She glanced over at him with curiosity. She had such a maturity about her both in looks and personality that he had naturally assumed she was as old, if not older, than him. That was girls for him, always keeping him on, or knocked off, his toes. She hadn’t corrected his assumption, though. Was she telling him the truth about the Daily Planet? He figured with her rambling on about the internship, she was.

Firecracker popped the last bite of her hotdog into her mouth, picked up the map, and grabbed his hand. “Come on, Farm Boy, let me show you the world,” she said.

Well, if she insists, Clark thought, allowing her to drag him to the nearest monorail station.

While Spaceship Earth wasn’t exactly what he had hoped, a planetarium type show, it was still an interesting time-travel look at Earth’s history.

“You’re awfully quiet,” Firecracker said, after they had walked out of the exhibit.

“Just thinking,” he said.

She had stood next to him on the moving sidewalk, and his arm had naturally gone around her waist, so they wouldn’t get separated. They were a perfect fit, her and him. When they stepped back into the light, his arm had fallen off, and he was thinking of a way to get it back there. Maybe somehow move it to her shoulders. Something more subtle than the yawn and stretch move, which he had seen other guys use.

“I’d like to go there someday,” Firecracker said.

“Where?” Clark asked, as they hadn’t been talking about any place in particular.

“Space. I’d love to be the first journalist to travel into space.”

“Me, too,” he murmured in agreement.

She elbowed him in the gut. “Well, you can’t; I’ve called dibs.”

He laughed. “Fine. The first male journalist in space.”

“What a story that’d be, huh?” she said, almost wistfully.

“Woman reporter tops man in space?” Clark teased, showing her the future headline.

“What?” she gasped, giving him a sharp look.

“Beats! Beats man into space,” he hastily corrected.

Her lips were still pressed together as she raised an eyebrow. “Uh-huh. Don’t get smart with me,” Firecracker said, folding her arms.

Not possible, apparently.

“I’m perfectly serious. I’m going into space someday, and it’s going to be the story of the century. You’ll see,” she said, pointing at him. She hadn’t been joking about her intensity.

“Then you’ll have to take me with you,” he responded, tweaking her nose. “Because I’ve always wanted to float.”

“Learn to swim.”

They were standing at the edge of the lake. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder in perfect timing. “If you throw me in there, I’m bringing you with me.”

Firecracker laughed. “Trust me, big boy, you don’t want to see me wet.”

Clark grinned, doubting her statement. “We’ll see about that.”

“Don’t challenge me, or you’ll know what it’s like to get soaked twice in one day,” she replied.

That warning he decided not to discount.

She took hold of his hand and started leading him through the crowds again, and around the lake, where they came to the Mexican pavilion the first nation in the World Showcase. “Told you, I’d show the world.”

“I’ll never doubt you again,” he said, having a sudden urge to kiss her. So, he did. On the cheek.

“Wise policy,” she responded, pointing to a ride. “Ready to get on another boat?”

Clark patted his chest. “Yep. I’m dry.”

Unlike their previous experience, this boat ride was more like the tunnel of love: a dark, romantic, gentle cruise through Mexico’s history. Although, in all fairness to Splash Mountain, that had been where Clark had met Firecracker. So, in a sense, it had been the tunnel of love, too.

Firecracker leaned her head against Clark’s chest after he wrapped his arm around her shoulder once more. If just holding her in his arms made his body tingle with excitement, what would a kiss do? He needed to plan the right moment. He didn’t want to rush things or he would scare her off. He was older, and probably more experienced in these matters, but he was so nervous about timing it just right. It would be their first kiss, but hopefully not their last. He was moving faster than he ever had before, because he only had this one day. If he never saw his true love again, at least they would have this one perfect day.

His opportunity approached as the boat entered a plaza with fireworks projected overhead. She pointed overhead and glanced over at him with a smile. This was it. His big moment.

“Isn’t this romantic?” she asked, and then her eyes went wide with shock. “Not that I’m asking you to kiss me or anything.” Her eyes went wider. “You don’t even know me. I don’t know you. We haven’t given exchanged names. Probably best if you don’t kiss me. Forget that I even brought it up.” Then she hunched into a ball of obvious embarrassment. The moment was lost, and the ride ended.

Firecracker was quiet, which was strange for her. She talked like she walked, at a hundred miles per hour with direction and a purpose.

There was a little shaded notch in a wall, and Clark pulled her into it. “Are you all right?” he asked.

“Fine,” she said with enough force that he didn’t believe her.

A lock of her hair had fallen out of her ponytail, and he brushed it back. “Would you like me to kiss you?” Because he would, if she did, just to be a gentleman and all.

She glanced down at their feet, and murmured, “I’ve never really been kissed.”

“A beautiful girl like you?” Clark said in surprise. “Are all the guys in Metropolis idiots?”

Firecracker’s eyes flashed into his. “I said ‘really’. Of course, I’ve been kissed. Just not ‘really’. Not by a guy I really wanted to kiss me. Not by a guy who really wanted to kiss me. Scratch that. They all wanted to kiss me, but they were really bad at it. You know what I mean?”

He smiled. He could guess. “Shall I wait for another romantic moment, or shall we just get it over with now?”

Clark was hoping for now, because if he kissed her now, then he’d probably be able to kiss her again later as well. But after that review of the other kisses she had received, he got a little self-conscious. What if she didn’t like his kiss either? He had only kissed three, no four girls. He hadn’t received any complaints, but this kiss was more important than all those other girls combined. Because this kiss would be with her.

“Do you want to kiss me?” Firecracker asked softly as if unsure of his answer. “This isn’t some rebound jealousy-inducing thing for Blondie, is it?”

“Who?” he asked, being purposely obtuse.

“Blondie. Your girlfriend,” she said with emphasis.

“There’s no one besides you,” Clark whispered, meaning every word.

“Eeep!” she squealed, her eyes widening probably because he was close enough to kiss her at that very second. “Then you better wait until you find a romantic moment and then kiss me until my toes curl.”

His brow furrowed. “Until your toes what?”

“I heard once that a really good kiss will make a girl’s toes curl.”

“Wouldn’t that hurt?” he inquired.

She shrugged. “I wouldn’t know.”

“No pressure or anything,” he grumbled, placing his lips on her forehead, because after all this talk of kissing he needed to reward his mouth.

“Oh!”

“Oh?”

“That felt nice,” she murmured. “You have soft lips.”

He smiled. There was more where that came from. He leaned forward to kiss her cheek.

“Oh!”

Clark moved towards her mouth, but she put up her hand and stopped him.

“No?”

“I thought we agreed on later, during a romantic moment,” she said.

“We had. This is later, and I thought it was romantic,” he said.

“It was? Oh, and I just ruined it again,” she groaned. “What made it romantic?”

The moment was over anyway now. He took her arm and led her back into the sunshine.

“Well?” Firecracker asked.

There was just no getting away from the question, was there?

“There was all that talk of kissing, and you said my lips were soft,” he replied, not really wanting to discuss it. If he had to explain why it was romantic, it must not have been very romantic for her. “And it was you.”

“What was me?” she asked.

“I was kissing you, and that’s what made it romantic… for me,” he explained.

“Oh. Oh!” Firecracker stopped. They were out in the open, walking into another land’s pavilion. The bright early evening sun washed out the color, and the humidity tempted even him to perspire. “And I stopped you. Sorry. Kiss me now.”

He grinned and slid his hand into hers. “Nope.” He started walking, and she had to follow.

“Why not?”

“Not romantic enough,” he said with a wink.

“I’m still me. You’re still you. We’re still us. What’s not romantic?” Firecracker pressed on. She’d make a fine good reporter someday, in that she never gave up.

“I like the sound of that,” he said, squeezing her hand.

“What?”

“Us.” He smiled.

“What if I kissed you?” she asked.

“I wouldn’t stop you,” Clark said with a grin. That was a true statement.

“But it wouldn’t count,” Firecracker said with a nod.

“Why not?” It would count for him.

She rolled her eyes. “If I kissed you, instead of you kissing me, how in the world would my toes curl? Therefore, it wouldn’t count.”

“You might make my toes curl,” he teased with a wink.

“In your dreams.”

Guaranteed.

“Anyway, I want to experience my toes curling, so if I make your toes curl, I’m not experiencing it, you are,” Firecracker explained. “I need to experience life to the fullest, how else will I ever be able to write about it?”

Clark tugged her into a gift shop, found the silliest pair of Minnie ears and stuck them on her head.

“What are you doing?” she asked, her hands on her hips.

“Changing the subject.”

She laughed, and ducked around the other side of the display, pulling out a pair of equally silly Goofy ears, attached to a Mad Hatter’s hat and plopped it down on his head.

“No, no. This won’t do,” Clark said, shaking his head, making his Goofy ears wave.

“Why not?” she giggled.

“Because Goofy would never make Minnie’s toes curl,” he said, leaning forward and kissing her nose.

Her eyes twinkled. “So, true!” She pulled the hat off his head and stuck it back on the display and set down her Minnie ears. “I’ve got an idea.”

She tugged his hand and pulled him to the other side of the store. There was a hideous selection of ties, most of which had silhouettes of Mickey Mouse on them. Out of group, she pulled one that looked like it had been splattered by cartoonist paint, and one that looked like a rain of fireworks. She looped the cartoon splotch tie around his neck and proceeded to tie it.

“What are you doing?” Clark asked.

“You’re going to be a professional soon. You’ll need to start wearing ties,” she said.

“Not that tie,” he corrected.

“Why not?” she asked.

“Because it looks like a mistake,” he said, with his hands on his hips.

“It has style,” Firecracker said.

“Not my style,” Clark informed her.

“Then what’s your style?” she asked.

“Not that!” he said, laughing.

“Fine! Pick your own ties,” she snapped, pulling it over his head and dumping it back on the display. “I just wanted you to have something to remember me by,” she whispered.

He cupped her jaw in his palm. “Who says I won’t remember you?” He would never forget her.

Firecracker looked around and plucked something off a display and took it to the cashier.

“No. You don’t need… Please, don’t waste your money,” he said, as she completely ignored him.

She turned around and pinned a black feather on his t-shirt.

“What is this for?”

“So you can fly.”

Clark flushed. “You listened to every word of our conversation, didn’t you?” he murmured.

She shrugged. “It’s what I do.”

He glanced around the shop. “I should get you something.”

Firecracker set her hand on his shoulder, and leaned close, whispering, “Make me curl my toes, and I promise you I’ll never forget you.”

Clark cleared his throat. “Challenge accepted. I’ll make your toes curl, if it takes all night.”

She blushed demurely. “I’m meeting my sister on Main Street by ten.”

He slid his hand into hers and ran from the store. “Then we best start waiting in the next line.”

They went on a couple more rides, then ate dinner – his treat – over at the Chinese pavilion. Firecracker hadn’t stopped talking the entire time. She had an opinion on everything and wasn’t shy about expressing it, but she didn’t discount his ideas and opinions either. They talked about politics, art, movies, and music. She had told him why she hated her family, and he had told her why he loved his. By the time they hopped back on the monorail to return to the Magic Kingdom, Clark knew he could spend the rest of his life talking with her.

Firecracker had suggested that for their final ride of the evening, they do another round on Splash Mountain. The line wasn’t as long as it had been when the sun was overhead, but it was still long enough that they missed watching the sunset, or maybe it was because he couldn’t take his eyes off her.

It was dark outside by the time they got their seat assignments for the boat.

“You’re going to get soaked,” Firecracker warned him.

“I’m waterproof,” Clark replied with a grin.

The next boat pulled forward, but before the gates opened, Firecracker waved her index finger at him.

“What?” he asked.

She pressed a quick kiss onto his lips that he felt down to his toes.

The gates opened and she stepped forward, but he still stood there in a daze.

“Come on,” she coaxed.

“I don’t think I should go,” Clark murmured.

Her brow furrowed. “Why not?”

“Electricity and water don’t mix,” he replied.

Firecracker pulled him towards the boat. “Get in!”

Oh, how could she tease him at that very moment with a kiss? He felt like he was going to float into the air, he was so happy. If he felt like this from a little peck, what would happen when he finally kissed her? He had it all planned out; it would happen when…

Firecracker set her hand on his leg, and not only left it there, started caressing it. She shouldn’t do things like that. Someone could get hurt.

The ride seemed to move faster, and yet slower at the same time. Faster since Clark knew it was the last ride that they had time for. Slower, because he knew he would kiss her when it was over. Before he knew it they were teetering over the edge of the fifty foot drop again.

Firecracker screamed and then ducked. As the water came towards him in a torrential rush, he exhaled, pushing some of the water forward and over the seat in front of him, drenching his hot little Firecracker.

“Ooh! I’m soaked!” she growled, and then laughed with a shake of her head, spraying off the water. “How did that happen?”

Clark shrugged sheepishly.

“Great,” she grumbled. “I warned you that you didn’t want to see me wet,” she said, stepping out of the boat and turning towards him. Through her pastel lavender t-shirt he could see a hot pink bra.

He gulped.

“You’re glasses are fogged again,” Firecracker laughed, removing them. “Only this time, I don’t have a dry shirt.”

Why else would his glasses be steamed?

Clark let the group from their run pass them out the exits; he took her hand and led her over to the side. “Spread your arms and close your eyes,” he whispered.

Her brow furrowed. “What?”

“Trust me.”

She shrugged and compiled.

Scanning down the front of her, he dried her shirt to barely damp, and no longer see-through.

“Whoa,” she said with a shiver. “They’ve got heat lamps! Mmmm. That felt good.”

Clark grabbed her arm and led her outside. “Only at night,” he mumbled.

“Oh,” she said, patting her shirt. “They’re amazing. I’m practically dry, and you’re still soaked.”

A loud explosion thundered overhead. “What the…?”

“Fireworks!” she gasped.

Then Clark remembered that they had always returned to the hotel before the fireworks show, due to the noise upsetting his sensitive hearing. Now, he was caught right under it. He winced as another loud explosion rocketed the air.

“You okay?” she asked, looking at him and not the fireworks.

“Fine,” he lied as another bang made him tense.

Firecracker set her hands over his ears, trying to deafen the sound. He gazed down at her big doe eyes staring up at him.

Another, and another, and another explosion of color and thunder boomed overhead. With each one Clark sank lower to the ground. They were mostly alone here in this section of the park with everyone else at the lagoon for best fireworks viewing. He was thankful for that, at least.

Firecracker still had her hands over his ears, and he was holding his hands over hers. She gazed at him with worry. “It’s just fireworks, Clark. You’ll be okay,” she reassured him. He could barely hear her over the ringing in his ears.

“It’s so loud,” he mumbled. Even Kansas thunderstorms weren’t this loud. Well, at least not for this long.

She pulled his head to her, so that one ear pressed against her chest and the other one was covered by her arms surrounding it. His strange reaction to the fireworks didn’t scare her, but instead brought out a nurturing side she had never shown.

“You’ll be all right soon,” she murmured, over and over.

Before long, all he could hear was her soft voice and the beat of her heart with the occasional thunderous boom, which didn’t seem so bad now. He could feel her fingers running through his hair. It felt wonderful.

“I’m sorry,” he murmured, knowing he had ruined the last romantic moment of the day.

She shrugged. “My sister used to react the same way whenever our parents fought.”

“I’m not used to loud noises,” he said feebly, by way of an excuse.

“Really? Hadn’t noticed,” she teased.

Clark knew that he couldn’t let this be her final impression of him. He still owed her a souvenir.

He stood up. The noise of the fireworks, still exploding overhead, no longer bothered him as long as he concentrated on her heartbeat. Glancing around he found an even more secluded spot on a pathway shaded by trees. He grabbed her hand, and pulled her into the alcove.

Clark ran his fingers over her cheek. “Thank you,” he said.

Firecracker looked up at him, and he could hear her heartbeat increase, which made him smile. She knew what was coming and she was excited by the prospect. So was he.

His hand curved around to the back of her head as his mouth moved towards hers. Softly, gently he applied pressure, but not too much. After the first few feather light kisses, he opened his mouth to deepen it. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and his hands moved down her back to her waist. They both pulled the other closer.

Clark didn’t know about her but, while his toes weren’t curling, he felt as if they were floating. Up above the trees, the air felt fresher, less humid, more smoky from the fireworks, more electrically charged. The thunder from the fireworks seemed louder, but not as loud as Firecracker’s heart beating. He tightened his gripe around her waist.

He knew he couldn’t fly; that this was just an illusion of the kiss. He neither opened his eyes nor removed his lips from hers, not wanting this beautiful weightless feeling, this moment, this kiss, to end.

Firecracker moaned and pressed her body more against his. He hadn’t thought that they could get closer without him breaking his vow. He had been wrong. He could feel every point where their bodies joined. It became unexpectedly quiet. A cool breeze reminding him of the dampness of his clothes with only the faint echo of distant fireworks.

Suddenly, it was very important that she knew his name; between kisses, he whispered, “I’m…”

“Clark Kent, I know,” Firecracker murmured, breathlessly. She was going to make one hell of a reporter. “I’m…”

Her name got lost in another crack of fireworks, louder now for some reason. Their kiss deepened again, and he went back to concentrating on the beat of her heart. Eventually, Clark felt the ground under his feet return, and as the fireworks had stopped, he knew their time together had come to an end.

He let go just enough to gaze into her eyes, smiling.

Firecracker returned his smile and licked her lips. “Now I’ve been kissed,” she said and her smile broadened into a grin. “No way I’ll forget you now, Clark Kent.”

Clark bent to kiss her again, but they were interrupted by a crowd of people leaving the lagoon and headed past them.

Her eyes widened. “The fireworks! They started at nine thirty! I’m supposed to meet Lucy at ten. I’m so late!” And before Clark could ask her name, she melted into the crowd and disappeared.

“Wait!” he called, but she was gone.

Clark closed his eyes to listen for her heartbeat again, but there was too much noise now that she was gone from his side. What had she said earlier? She had to meet her sister on Main Street, wasn’t it? He took off faster than he should, careful that he neither touched anyone nor was seen going too fast. When he reached Main Street a few minutes later, he still couldn’t find her. Even with his abilities, had he gotten there too late?

A hand clasped his shoulder. “There you are, man. We haven’t seen you all day. Rachel headed back to the hotel an hour ago to look for you,” his friend Pete said, suddenly beside him. “Where’s Lana? You guys kiss and make up?”

“She’s with Joe,” Clark mumbled, still scanning the crowd filing past them searching, hoping that Firecracker was among them.

“Sorry, man, I know…”

“I’m not,” Clark replied.

Pete chuckled. “Finally! Does this mean I can stop being nice to her?”

Clark glanced at his best friend. “That was being nice?”

As Pete shrugged, Clark continued to look for the brown-haired girl with the big brown eyes.

“Man, what have you’ve been doing, Clark? You’re soaking wet and you’ve got leaves in your hair,” his friend chortled, picking them out.

Clark had no idea how those got there.

“Lois!” screamed a girl. “We’ve been waiting forever. Where have you been?”

Clark heard a familiar heartbeat, turned his head and saw a group of young teenage girls, one of who launched herself into Firecracker’s arms. He smiled. Lois. It was a name as unique as Firecracker herself.

“Ew,” Lois’s sister said, plugging her nose and her eyes widened. “Lois Lori Lane, have you been smoking? Daddy is so going to kill you!”

“No, I haven’t been smoking, Lucy. I’d never do that!” Lois made a face.

“Well, you totally reek of smoke. We’ll tell Daddy you went to a bonfire. Were you hanging with some smokers?”

“Smoking hot,” Lois mumbled, causing Clark to grin. He’d accept that answer. He watched as her brow furrowed, and she lifted her shoulder to her nose, sneering. “How did that happen?”

Clark watched as she froze, her hand coming to her lips, and then her head tilted up to gaze at the sky, entirely oblivious to Lucy’s yammering on about her own day. Lois smiled, and whispered, “He really is like nobody else.” She didn’t seem to think that was a drawback.

“Hello? Earth to Clark? Whatcha been doing?” Pete said. “Leaving me and Rach, high and dry without our best bud on our last day here.”

Clark nodded towards Lois. “I met someone.”

Pete turned and followed his gaze. “Who? What? Where?”

“The brunette with that bunch of kids,” Clark murmured, unable to take his eyes off Lois.

“That mousey girl with the pigtail? Oh, man, she’s so rebound material.”

Clark glared at him. How could he think Lois was mousey? She was ravishing.

Lois glanced over and caught him starting.

Clark grinned and waved.

Her face lit with a smile, before her sister grabbed her arm. “Come on, Lois! Dad’s going to kill us; we’re so late.”

“Chill, Lucy,” Lois said absently. “He probably won’t even notice.” She broke eye contact with Clark as she turned to leave. She glanced over her shoulder one more time and whispered a husky, “Thanks for curling my toes, Farm Boy.” Then she was gone.

Clark grinned. Oh, he definitely was going to marry that woman someday.

Pete elbowed him. “Really? Her?”

“She’s a firecracker.”

“Really? Her?”

Clark shrugged as they started moving towards the exit themselves. “Hey, have you ever heard of ‘curling a girl’s toes’?”

Pete looked at him as if he was nuts. “Is that a good thing?”

“Apparently.”

“Who knew?” Pete said, in disbelief. Then groaned. “Great. One more thing we don’t know about girls. We’re never going to understand them, are we?”

Clark chuckled. “That’s the game, man. The trying.” And what a game it was.

***End of Part 2***

The Epilogue

Comments

For a full disclosure, please see my TOC page .