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Lois had once said that they were bound to fight, but Clark never thought it could and WOULD ever get ugly. Things that were not meant were said; they had hurt each other, and in a desperate burst they had ended their relationship.
Clark had left Metropolis after the break-up, he cried as he flew as fast as he could. It took him less than a minute to get across the country and find his folks’s farm in Smallville. There, he was welcomed with a hug as his parents comforted him and he tried to tell them the best he could that Lois had dumped him. Ma and Pa hugged him and encouraged him to give her some time; fights were never easy. Ma offered to make him some cocoa and Pa advised him to take a nap.
…That was five hours ago.
Upon slowly waking up, Clark blinked. His brain started to take in that he was back in Smallville and to recollect why he was there. With a pout, he sat up and cleaned his drool with his wrist. It didn’t take him long for his nose to register that there was a mug of cocoa on his nightstand. He reached out for it and reheated it with his Heat Vision before taking a sip.
“Mm. This is good cocoa…” He took a moment to appreciate the hot beverage through the pain he felt in his chest, where his heart was. Looking back to his nightstand, Clark found a snack-size bag of marshmallows next to the coaster. He felt a light tear rolling down his cheek so wiggled his nose, trying to brush it off.
He crossed his legs under the bedsheets and kept the mug steadingly there. His attention was in the marshmallows that Ma had left for his cocoa. He was pouting as he quietly cried, his fingers brushed the plastic bag as he thought about Lois and how much it hurt that they were no longer together.
Setting the candy down, he grabbed his phone, the screen read it was ten at night. A shaky breath escaped him at the empty homescreen; he didn’t have notifications. The picture was one of Lois kissing his cheek while they wore funny prompts; they had taken it at the mall, in one of those photobooths. One of his tears splashed on the screen so he used his finger to clean it, unintentionally caressing Lois’s face as he did.
Clark placed his phone, facing down, back on his night stand and took another sip of cocoa. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, able to hear how much each heartbeat hurt. Looking around his room, his eyes fell over one of the many posters on his walls. Like most people, Clark had found comfort in music growing up, that’s something he liked about punk rock, er, punk pop; the lyrics sometimes helped him find something to find relatable.
Wiggling his lips, he set his cocoa down and got out of bed. He gently closed his bedroom door and turned his old desktop on. He sat on his computer chair and rolled it over to his nightstand, fetching his cocoa and taking another sip. He took the coaster with him and set it on his desk.
After another sip, he opened the folder that he had with all his music. He had hundreds of songs that he used to listen to back in High School and College. Clark sniffed as he created a new folder and there he started to copy and paste files of songs, all of them with a sad theme, related to heart break; Millennial anthems that everyone in his generation had at least once, in their lives, sang at the top of their lungs.
He listened to the songs he thought fit how he felt the best. Some of them made him cry and miss Lois, others made him hopeful that they were meant to be and they would find their way back to each other.
****
Music made time fly and even if listening to it made his heart ache, it also distracted his mind. His cocoa was long gone as he worked on putting together a playlist for Lois. He found a brand new blank CD, still sealed, and decided to burn his ex-girlfriend a mix CD like their generation used to do. Clark had also downloaded the new Nero Burning Room and even watched a few Youtube videos to familiarize himself with it, not having used it in decades.
Before burning the CD, Clark went through the selection of songs he had carefully picked for her. He truly hoped that they would be able to let her know how much he missed her and loved her. Aside from heartbreak, there was a theme that stuck out the most: Lois didn’t like any of them and would most likely beg him to skip them if they came on. She might have tolerated two bands out of the many featured in his mix, but he loved them all.
Giving a long look to the Mighty Crabjoys band poster next to his bedside, Clark came up with a name for his mix CD and clicked for it to start burning. He multitasked and minimized the software as he got online and worked on making a cover for it. Clark thought back to something that always reminded him of her, one look back to his nightstand and the bag of marshmallows that he hadn’t eaten gave him the only answer: candy.
Lois reminded him of candy and it always made him happy when he got some, immediately saving it up for her to have. But now, he was broken and the thought that he might never be able to do that again devastated him. That’s how he ended up with a shattered heart-shaped lollipop as the perfect cover for his mix CD.
He found some paper and turned his printer on. Ma and Pa used it from time to time, so he knew it still worked and had ink. He worked on printing his cover and then cut it to fit the CD case. The CD Rom opened, announcing the burning was successful and so Clark took the CD and put it in the case.
A light knock at the door made him turn the volume of his music down. It was until now that he checked the time on the computer monitor; it was a little past midnight. “I’m sorry, the volume is down…” He figured Ma and Pa were going to bed.
“May I come in…?” A shy and slightly broken voice called out from the other side.
Clark immediately recognized it. He stumbled on his feet as he jumped out of his chair. “Lo-Lois?”
At the sound of her name, the door slowly opened. “Hey…” The light in her eyes was gone and she looked as exhausted and broken as his face did. “I-I’m sorry we fought.” She looked around his bedroom; the bed was unmade and only the light on his desk was on. “Can-Can I take it back? I-I don’t want to—”
Not letting her finish that, Clark hugged her, the CD case still in his hand. His heart beat loud and fast and it was no longer hurting. He was not only happy that she was there, wanting to reconcile, but it also seemed like she missed him.
“I-I’m sorry my means of flying aren’t as fast as yours.” Lois sheepishly admitted.
Clark let go of her and presented her with what he had in his hands, “I burnt you a CD mix.”
“‘Not Punk Rock Enough’…” Lois read the cover, “‘A CD Mix by Clark Kent’.” Moving her eyes up to meet him, she grunted, “Please tell me there’s no Nickleback on here.”
In an attempt to change the subject he shared, “Ma made me some cocoa.” In the blink of an eye, he whoosh to his nightstand and came back, “I saved you the marshmallows.”