Chapter Text
After the group hug, Jon resigned himself to the fact that his parents were going to be directly involved in his life. He would constantly be under their scrutiny and wouldn’t be able keep secrets from them any longer.
Of course, with their lives being so insane, Jon should have known better.
Lois and Clark didn’t even have time to make the promised call to Jon’s doctor before the realities of their lives came crashing down.
They had barely started breakfast together when they got a call from General Lane with the latest news about Ally. He wanted Lois and Clark’s help immediately. But considering they had just promised to be there for Jon, not five minutes before, they told Sam they would call back.
“What is there to think about,” Jon questioned, as he warmed his bacon in the microwave. “Obviously, you should go see what he wants. I’m sure it’s important.”
“But we need to stay here and take care of you,” Clark said, concerned by his son’s nonchalant attitude.
“Dad, I’m not a little kid. I’ll be fine if you go out for a bit,” Jon said, bringing his plate back to the table.
“That doesn’t make me feel better, Jon.”
“But it’s the truth. Besides, Jordan will be with me,” Jon assured his parents.
“Yeah, but-”
“And the medication worked really well last night, so even if I need to take something, I will feel better.”
“Well that’s good-”
“Look guys, there is a lot going on out there right now. And you need to be figuring it out. I’m okay. Really. I want you guys to go.”
With the weight of the world on his shoulders, Clark got up to face his son. He looked earnestly at Jon and put a hand on his shoulder.
“We’re going to talk about this, okay. I’m only leaving because I have to. Your health is very important to me and I want to be here to help you through it.”
“I know, Dad. Thanks,” Jon said, reaching up to hug Clark.
Lois followed a similar sentiment. Before long, both parents had left to help save the world, leaving Jon and Jordan alone in the kitchen.
“Duty calls,” Jon said sarcastically, putting his plate in the sink.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m just going to grab my phone from Mom and Dad’s room so I can talk to Candice,” Jon casually mentioned.
“Oh, well, I was actually hoping that we could talk for a bit,” Jordan said, awkwardly getting up from his chair.
“Maybe later, okay?”
“I thought you weren’t going to shut me out anymore.”
“I’m not, dude. Just checking in with my girlfriend. We can talk later. Fraternals right?”
~
The truth was that Jon had no intention of talking to his brother anytime soon. He appreciated that Jordan cared, but Jon just wanted to be alone.
Now that things had settled down, Jon felt pretty embarrassed with the way his family had found out about the migraines and that they had seen him break down like that. So he wanted to take some time to compose himself before talking to them again, which was one of the reasons he encouraged his parents to leave when Grandpa Lane had called.
~
But, when your family is responsible for keeping two worlds from merging, there isn’t a lot of time for wholesome family chats. So instead he just got pensive looks from his parents, which was pretty disconcerting. They kept looking at him like he was a glass bottle waiting to shatter.
Jon was conflicted, it was nice to have their concern, sure, but what did they expect him to do, ask them not to save the world so they could sit at home and talk about his feelings?
Hell no.
Jon wasn’t that stupid or selfish.
Of course nothing his parents did even came close to the way Jordan was acting. His twin asked how he was doing, preferred to be in the same room as him, and checked in on him multiple times a day. Granted, he was trying to be subtle, but Jon always felt like he was being watched.
Jordan had tried to talk to him several times since that first attempt in the kitchen, but Jon just resorted to his tried and true excuse: he was fine, and there were other things to worry about. His twin clearly hated that answer, but the truth was, there really was a lot going on and they just didn’t have the time.
Besides, if he actually confessed the secret he was now keeping, they would be freaked.
He hadn’t been getting the migraines as often, which was nice. And when it happened, he managed to give himself the injections, even though he hated it. Most of the time the medicine worked well. However, when he woke up, he often found himself confused or not remembering key details of the day before. Jon had also noticed he hadn’t gained any weight back. In fact, after weighing himself, Jon discovered he was even a few pounds lighter.
Internally, Jon knew that couldn’t mean anything good. But he was tired of going to the doctor, and getting new medicines. The ones he had were good enough. So what if he was forgetting a few details and losing some weight. He could live with that; it was better than the mind splitting headaches.
But, he knew his parents wouldn’t see the situation that way, so he kept those little details to himself.
Instead, when he was around them he wore baggy sweatshirts and focused on all the other problems they were dealing with. He asked the right questions about the world ending crisis they were facing and did anything he could to help, even though it wasn't much.
Then things got really crazy.
From more doppelganger fights, to their father losing his powers, things had spun out of control. Then the worlds started merging, their mom disappeared and Tal threw their father into the sun.
Suddenly, it was over.
The worlds were separated again, Mom was back, and Dad was at full power.
As relieving as it was to have things go back to normal, Jon also found it a little odd. Things had been so bad for so long, then like a switch, they were fine again.
The only part of his life that hadn’t changed of course, were the migraines. He was still taking his preventative medication every day and the last migraine had unfortunately been the night his father lost his powers and ended up at the DOD.
The medication had worked well, but when he woke up he was a little lightheaded and had a lot of questions about where his parents were. Luckily, Jordan hadn’t seemed too suspicious, since he was pretty freaked out by their dad’s illness and loss of powers.
Jon knew he should probably say something about being so confused after the medicine and the fact that his clothes were practically hanging on him. But he just couldn’t bring himself to do it.
So when everything was over, Jon felt conflicted. Now his parents would have the time to meet his doctor, learn the way he handled his health, and talk about the confusion he had been facing after a migraine. Jonathan was very aware that those discussions should be the next logical steps,
But, he had been keeping things to himself for so long, that he wasn’t sure he knew how to be that honest with his family. Faking how he was feeling had become second nature, a part of him.
So Jon made a decision that he would continue to keep things to himself. He would clue them in just enough so they wouldn’t feel like he was hiding things, even though he actually was. As long as he seemed happy and in control, maybe they would never feel the need to pry any deeper.
As embarrassing as it was the way they found out, it was also nice to share that time with his family. But every time he thought back on that morning, Jon knew he was doing the right thing by keeping how he was feeling inside. Because that family moment, the one where they had been crying and hugging, had been fake.
The reality of his family was that there would always be bigger world wide problems that affected the Kents. Jon was okay with that. He couldn’t very well ask his father to stop being Superman and his mom not to be an investigative journalist.
Jonathan finally realized that his simple, human problems would never be enough to really warrant any attention in his family.
He was okay with that.
He would make himself be okay with it.
All the while, he would work his way through the confusion, late night shots, and the never ending headaches, all by himself.