PMD
24th March 2005, 21:28
Title: Homage To Degrassi - The Next Generation - "Don't Turn Away From Me"
Author: PMD
e-mail: mary.davidson@sympatico.ca
Rating: PG-13/FRT(for Language and situations)
Category: Friendship, Chlex, slight Clana, Angst, character death (not any major ones), homage to a series, Chloe's POV, AU
Spoilers: Anything thing up to Gone for Smallville. And based on a recent episode of Degrassi - The Next Generation.
Summary: Chloe deals with the aftermath of a shooting.
Disclaimer: To whomever owns Smallville, the characters, the story idea from Degrassi - The Next Generation episode used in this fanfic, along with the intense line from that episode, used as the title of the fanfic and found within the story, and Bruce Wayne, I'm just borrowing them, will give them back, not making any money with their use in this piece, so don't sue me.
Archive: At BtS, BT2, Electricchlex, SFF_2005, SPP, WBFFZ, N.S. Forums, and Malu's site for the time being. If anybody else wants it all they have to do is ask.
Feedback: Yes I would love feedback.
Warning: Very intense and deals with character death. Minor character death but still character death.
Author Notes: First and foremost, I dedicate this to an incredible series and eye-opening episode of Degrassi - The Next Generation. This episode was hard to watch but I wouldn't have missed it for the world. I also dedicate this to David, Jay, Kris, Kat, Blaire, Hickchick, and Charlie---for all their support with my writing---you never gave up on me, guys. I will always appreciate that. And thanks to you also, for supporting me in the new fandoms I'm trying out. Fair warning, everybody, this is very intense. But very necessary for me to do. That's how affected I was by this past eppy for Degrassi.
Homage to Degrassi - The Next Generation - "Don't Turn Away From Me" - by PMD
Prologue: Friends are the greatest resource to ever have---and I needed them, one dark and scary time.
~
Three Years Into The Future
I'm 21 now and still, I'm nervous walking these halls, thinking about the danger that might be lurking there.
I had taken on the task of coming back here, for the anniversary---and I was thinking I made a mistake. But the man beside me put his arm around my shoulder and I leaned against him, his strength replenishing mine.
"Are you okay?"
"I think so."
"Can I leave you to see if the others have arrived or do you want me to stay?"
I look at him. "Could you go find them. I want to have some time to myself."
He leans down, giving me a soft kiss and hug. Then he makes his way to the front door and I'm left with my thoughts of that horrible day in our senior year.
~
A Few Years Ago
It was a bright sunny day---a beautiful day---and Clark, as usual, forgot to proofread his piece for the Torch. Could you blame him---Lana was lurking. And I thought I had it bad for him, all the time I've known him.
She finally had her head on straight when it came to him and love---just like I had, giving up my stupid idea of unrequited love and thinking, friends are a great idea too.
"Hey, we're going to be late for class."
I look up at his blue eyes and smirk. "Yeah, well, it's not my fault you and Lana were doing the old goo goo eyes, when you should have been proofreading this."
"Hey, we look at each other---that's all."
I snicker at that and look back at my computer. "All right---you just stare at each other, lovingly. God, I want that for myself so much, Clark."
I feel his hand on my shoulder. "I want that for you too, Chlo. Maybe Lana and I should set you---"
"No! No set ups, thank you very much. I can find my own man."
"But you set us up?"
"Yeah, well, that was started years ago---I just wanted to prove to Lex that I could succeed where he obviously failed."
"Hmmmm---you and Lex---"
I save the article, turn off the computer, and turn around. "Clark, the world would explode if we got together."
"Or Lionel would explode."
I raise an eyebrow and grin. "You've got a point there, Kent. Come on, let's get out of here."
As we exit the room, we notice that Lana is close by. She walks over and I watch as they kiss. "Uuuugh---now I really want what you two have. Come on, we'll be late."
She backs away and smiles at me. Clark takes her hand and we walk down the corridor. Then, we hear a noise.
"Is that a gun shot?"
We run towards the noise, turning the corner to see a horrible sight---somebody is lying down on the floor, having been shot in the back by---
"Davis---what?"
He turns around to look at us and I gasp. He's got a gun. He stares at me and then:
"Jordan said he was my friend but he wasn't---I heard he was lying to me all this time. I confronted him with it and he said whoever said that was lying. But he was---he tried to get away, but I shot him. I shot him!"
I sense Clark standing in front of Lana and I take her hand, trying to quietly back away. As I'm about to turn the corner, we hear:
"Don't turn away from me!"
I look back, seeing the gun trained on us now. Lana goes around Clark. "Davis, listen to me. Put the gun down. It's not too late to get help for you."
"Back off, Bitch! You never liked me either---you just pretended to be my friend!"
Her strength wanes and she clings to Clark. I walk towards him, continuing her crusade. "Davis, she really does like you and so do Clark and I. Please put down the gun."
"No! She doesn't like me and even worse, she flirted with me---made me think she cared. I'm going to take care of the lying bitch once and for all. Than the rest of you will be taken care of."
There was no reasoning with him now. I run the rest of the distance, seeing the gun trained on my friend. We struggle---the minutes long but only 2. Then it goes off and I stand there, shock on my face. I back away and Davis crumples. In the distance, I hear a scream and know it's not me---it's Lana. I look down at the gun in my hands and then at the body before me---I know he's dead---his eyes stare at me lifeless and dark. And the beautiful day is no more.
~
The Aftermath
All I can remember after that is sitting in a room with Clark and Lana---Mr. Reynolds behind us, being our protector till our parents can get there. He rages at the Sheriff, telling her:
"Can't you see the girl is in shock? Talk to her later."
"But I need to know what happened right now."
"What happened is that a student injured a classmate and then turned his gun on three other's who tried to help him."
"How's Jordan?" I ask.
They look at me.
"He's in surgery, Miss Sullivan," the Sheriff answers. "Now about the shooting---"
"No!"
We all turn to see my father, the Kents, and Mr. Small entering the room. "No more questions---it can wait!"
He walks over to me and I get up, finding myself safe in his arms. "Daddy---I killed somebody."
"I know, Pumpkin. It's going to be okay."
Why do people say that when it's not true? I let it go, snuggling closer, the tears refusing to come.
"Can we all go home?" Mr. Kent asks.
I back away, looking at the Sheriff. "All right---but I'll need to talk to you tomorrow."
"Or the next day," my father demands.
She nods.
We now leave the room and walk down the corridor. We pass by the place where Jordan fell, where Davis fell at my hands. I don't close my eyes---just stare for a minute and leave the area with the others.
We leave the tomb of a school and walk into the sunshine, wasted on the others and me. As we walk down the steps, a reporter comes forward.
"Ms. Sullivan, is it true you stopped the gunman? Can you tell me what happened, why he attacked you and your friends? Can you---?"
"Enough, Ms. Castle!" I hear a familiar voice say.
I turn away from her to see a livid Lex Luthor. I don't think I've ever seen such fury, even when he was angry with his father.
He walks up the steps and stands before her.
"I'm doing my job, Mr. Luthor. Don't try to stop me."
He raises an eyebrow and smirks at her. "Oh, I won't try to stop you---however I will call your editor and tell him that you are browbeating a girl who just saved her friends---and is in shock. I don't think you will be working there next week, if I do, though."
She pales and mutters an apology to me, before heading off to talk to somebody else.
He turns his attention to me now, his eyes softening. "Are you okay?" he asks me.
I shake my head.
"I understand. Come on, the limo is waiting for us all."
He leads us down the stairs and I watch as the driver opens the back door. The Kents get on one side, with Clark and Lana. Mr. Small, my father, myself, and Lex, get on the other side.
I never was a clingy person but today's events change that. But it's not my father I hold onto; it's Lex. Maybe because he was my hero, telling Carrie off. But something in the back of my mind says it's more---just can't remember at the moment.
He doesn't question me holding onto his arm, just lets me be. I close my eyes, as we move, hearing those words in my mind again:
'Don't turn away from me.'
"Don't turn away from me."
"I won't, Chloe, I promise," I hear him whisper to me.
~
The Day of The Funeral
I sit on the window seat, looking out at the warm, sunny, day. But my heart is stone and my eyes can't see the beauty---it only sees the scene over and over again. And the words Davis spoke:
'Don't turn away from me.'
I can't turn away---I've tried to cry but the tears won't come. I want to go to the funeral---but my feet won't move.
If I start to cry, will I ever stop? If I go to the funeral, will I be stoned by the family who lost their son?
"I'm a coward."
"Pumpkin?"
I turn to look at my father. "Hi, Daddy."
He walks in. "You're not a coward."
I let out a sigh. "Yes I am."
He's by me now, his hands on my shoulders. "No, you're hurting."
"Daddy, I killed a man and I can't face his family."
"Honey, you need to heal before you face them. And when you do, you will."
I shrug off his touch. "I killed somebody---"
"---in self-defense," somebody finishes for me.
I look to the door again and see Lex standing there. "Why are you here?" I ask him.
"Your father thought you could use somebody to talk to who has been through this."
It hits me---that's what I couldn't remember---Lex has been through this before. Of all the connections we've had in the past; dealing with unrequited love, dealing with his father; the mutual admiration society going on between us, this is the strongest bond now; we've killed to protect. And yet, I wish I hadn't.
"I wish I hadn't either," he states, walking up to us.
"Well, I'll leave you two alone. I'll see you when I get back, Pumpkin."
He kisses my cheek and is gone; leaving me with the man who has walked the path I'm walking now.
"So, where do we start?" I sigh out.
He gestures that I move my legs and sits on the pillow, across from me. "Let's start with my brush of causing death."
"All right."
He looks outside, and I see his mind wondering into the past. "My choice wasn't as pure a choice as yours was, Chloe. Still, I wish I hadn't done it---it proved that I could kill, like my father could."
"But you did it to save somebody---to save Mr. Kent."
He turns to look at me. "Yes, I did but still it was seen by others, as a way to keep the fact secret that I was looking into Clark. But that didn't do any good---in the long run, he had already told Mr. Kent. And Clark found out anyway, after my father gave him the key."
I place a hand in his and squeeze it. "But you did it to save somebody's life. He would have been dead except for you."
"And the same can be said about your decision---it was purely to save your friends and yourself. It's sad that it had to be done but if you hadn't, there would have been further death in that hallway that day."
I look away from him, to the outside world. I watch my father get into the car and drive away. And I wonder will he be back? Will somebody hit his car and he dies? Will some gun toting, unhappy person, come along and shoot him.
"Chloe, don't turn away from me."
I turn to look at Lex and feel my heart break at his words. Then I see a slight twitch of a sad smile at his lips and feel the tears in my eyes fall, finally.
He moves up to me, cradling me in his arms as I let it out. "It's going to be okay, Chloe. I won't ever turn away from you, ever."
Now I can believe it will be okay, someday. The healing has begun with a single tear, joined by many. And a man who shared a part of his soul with me.
~
Back To The Present
"Chloe?"
I look towards the voice and see him standing there, with our friends behind him.
I look into his blue eyes and remember another day once again---the year after the shooting incident.
I went to Gotham University on a Luthor Scholarship. I loved it there---it got me away from Smallville and Metropolis---all the bad memories.
However, the anniversary night of the shooting had me once more sitting on a window seat---this time in Wayne Manor.
Bruce had invited me to dinner but it turns out, not only me---he brought along his latest---and a good friend of ours.
I was sitting on that window seat, waiting for his arrival. I closed my eyes, imagining what he looked like; how he would react to see me in his bedroom, and then:
"Well, nice little present Bruce left me. I'll have to thank him later."
"Lex," I shout, jumping up and running into his arms.
I back away and see him looking anywhere but right at me.
"Don't turn away from me---you promised you never would."
He looks back, quirking an eyebrow and then laughing. "Well, I never break a promise to a beautiful woman."
I back away further and walk towards the window seat. I sit, looking out at the darkening sky and smile. I sense him behind me and I move slightly. He sits behind, pulling me close to him.
"I---Chloe---I---"
I turn around. "I promise, I will never turn away from you, Lex, because I love you too."
He's not the least bit startled by this admission---we had gotten close pretty fast and the only reasoning for this is love---true love.
So, on the one-year anniversary, we sat there, praying for the family who lost a loved one. And enjoying the new bend in the road of our relationship.
A clearing of the throat brings me out of my remembrances.
"It's time?" I ask.
He nods his head, taking my hand, his gold band gleaming in the bright school lights. I look at the twin on my hand and sigh.
We start down the corridor, Lana and Clark on his side---Jordan and Sarah on mine.
We're all survivors of that dark and dangerous day. We know that every day is precious---that at any given moment, something terrible might happen to us that Clark can't save us from; that my husband can't fix with money and power; that Lana can't read off somebody; and that I can't write us out of.
And we've learned to help the downtrodden. For Davis would never have done what he did, if he hadn't been bullied into it. If only we had kept a better watch on him, this might have ended differently.
For the rest of my life, I will have to live with the knowledge that I took a life, whether it was right or wrong. But I will learn from this and do my best to not have it happen again.
And hopefully, we'll never hear those words again in the same context---the words that haunt us all:
'Don't turn away from me.'
The End.
Author: PMD
e-mail: mary.davidson@sympatico.ca
Rating: PG-13/FRT(for Language and situations)
Category: Friendship, Chlex, slight Clana, Angst, character death (not any major ones), homage to a series, Chloe's POV, AU
Spoilers: Anything thing up to Gone for Smallville. And based on a recent episode of Degrassi - The Next Generation.
Summary: Chloe deals with the aftermath of a shooting.
Disclaimer: To whomever owns Smallville, the characters, the story idea from Degrassi - The Next Generation episode used in this fanfic, along with the intense line from that episode, used as the title of the fanfic and found within the story, and Bruce Wayne, I'm just borrowing them, will give them back, not making any money with their use in this piece, so don't sue me.
Archive: At BtS, BT2, Electricchlex, SFF_2005, SPP, WBFFZ, N.S. Forums, and Malu's site for the time being. If anybody else wants it all they have to do is ask.
Feedback: Yes I would love feedback.
Warning: Very intense and deals with character death. Minor character death but still character death.
Author Notes: First and foremost, I dedicate this to an incredible series and eye-opening episode of Degrassi - The Next Generation. This episode was hard to watch but I wouldn't have missed it for the world. I also dedicate this to David, Jay, Kris, Kat, Blaire, Hickchick, and Charlie---for all their support with my writing---you never gave up on me, guys. I will always appreciate that. And thanks to you also, for supporting me in the new fandoms I'm trying out. Fair warning, everybody, this is very intense. But very necessary for me to do. That's how affected I was by this past eppy for Degrassi.
Homage to Degrassi - The Next Generation - "Don't Turn Away From Me" - by PMD
Prologue: Friends are the greatest resource to ever have---and I needed them, one dark and scary time.
~
Three Years Into The Future
I'm 21 now and still, I'm nervous walking these halls, thinking about the danger that might be lurking there.
I had taken on the task of coming back here, for the anniversary---and I was thinking I made a mistake. But the man beside me put his arm around my shoulder and I leaned against him, his strength replenishing mine.
"Are you okay?"
"I think so."
"Can I leave you to see if the others have arrived or do you want me to stay?"
I look at him. "Could you go find them. I want to have some time to myself."
He leans down, giving me a soft kiss and hug. Then he makes his way to the front door and I'm left with my thoughts of that horrible day in our senior year.
~
A Few Years Ago
It was a bright sunny day---a beautiful day---and Clark, as usual, forgot to proofread his piece for the Torch. Could you blame him---Lana was lurking. And I thought I had it bad for him, all the time I've known him.
She finally had her head on straight when it came to him and love---just like I had, giving up my stupid idea of unrequited love and thinking, friends are a great idea too.
"Hey, we're going to be late for class."
I look up at his blue eyes and smirk. "Yeah, well, it's not my fault you and Lana were doing the old goo goo eyes, when you should have been proofreading this."
"Hey, we look at each other---that's all."
I snicker at that and look back at my computer. "All right---you just stare at each other, lovingly. God, I want that for myself so much, Clark."
I feel his hand on my shoulder. "I want that for you too, Chlo. Maybe Lana and I should set you---"
"No! No set ups, thank you very much. I can find my own man."
"But you set us up?"
"Yeah, well, that was started years ago---I just wanted to prove to Lex that I could succeed where he obviously failed."
"Hmmmm---you and Lex---"
I save the article, turn off the computer, and turn around. "Clark, the world would explode if we got together."
"Or Lionel would explode."
I raise an eyebrow and grin. "You've got a point there, Kent. Come on, let's get out of here."
As we exit the room, we notice that Lana is close by. She walks over and I watch as they kiss. "Uuuugh---now I really want what you two have. Come on, we'll be late."
She backs away and smiles at me. Clark takes her hand and we walk down the corridor. Then, we hear a noise.
"Is that a gun shot?"
We run towards the noise, turning the corner to see a horrible sight---somebody is lying down on the floor, having been shot in the back by---
"Davis---what?"
He turns around to look at us and I gasp. He's got a gun. He stares at me and then:
"Jordan said he was my friend but he wasn't---I heard he was lying to me all this time. I confronted him with it and he said whoever said that was lying. But he was---he tried to get away, but I shot him. I shot him!"
I sense Clark standing in front of Lana and I take her hand, trying to quietly back away. As I'm about to turn the corner, we hear:
"Don't turn away from me!"
I look back, seeing the gun trained on us now. Lana goes around Clark. "Davis, listen to me. Put the gun down. It's not too late to get help for you."
"Back off, Bitch! You never liked me either---you just pretended to be my friend!"
Her strength wanes and she clings to Clark. I walk towards him, continuing her crusade. "Davis, she really does like you and so do Clark and I. Please put down the gun."
"No! She doesn't like me and even worse, she flirted with me---made me think she cared. I'm going to take care of the lying bitch once and for all. Than the rest of you will be taken care of."
There was no reasoning with him now. I run the rest of the distance, seeing the gun trained on my friend. We struggle---the minutes long but only 2. Then it goes off and I stand there, shock on my face. I back away and Davis crumples. In the distance, I hear a scream and know it's not me---it's Lana. I look down at the gun in my hands and then at the body before me---I know he's dead---his eyes stare at me lifeless and dark. And the beautiful day is no more.
~
The Aftermath
All I can remember after that is sitting in a room with Clark and Lana---Mr. Reynolds behind us, being our protector till our parents can get there. He rages at the Sheriff, telling her:
"Can't you see the girl is in shock? Talk to her later."
"But I need to know what happened right now."
"What happened is that a student injured a classmate and then turned his gun on three other's who tried to help him."
"How's Jordan?" I ask.
They look at me.
"He's in surgery, Miss Sullivan," the Sheriff answers. "Now about the shooting---"
"No!"
We all turn to see my father, the Kents, and Mr. Small entering the room. "No more questions---it can wait!"
He walks over to me and I get up, finding myself safe in his arms. "Daddy---I killed somebody."
"I know, Pumpkin. It's going to be okay."
Why do people say that when it's not true? I let it go, snuggling closer, the tears refusing to come.
"Can we all go home?" Mr. Kent asks.
I back away, looking at the Sheriff. "All right---but I'll need to talk to you tomorrow."
"Or the next day," my father demands.
She nods.
We now leave the room and walk down the corridor. We pass by the place where Jordan fell, where Davis fell at my hands. I don't close my eyes---just stare for a minute and leave the area with the others.
We leave the tomb of a school and walk into the sunshine, wasted on the others and me. As we walk down the steps, a reporter comes forward.
"Ms. Sullivan, is it true you stopped the gunman? Can you tell me what happened, why he attacked you and your friends? Can you---?"
"Enough, Ms. Castle!" I hear a familiar voice say.
I turn away from her to see a livid Lex Luthor. I don't think I've ever seen such fury, even when he was angry with his father.
He walks up the steps and stands before her.
"I'm doing my job, Mr. Luthor. Don't try to stop me."
He raises an eyebrow and smirks at her. "Oh, I won't try to stop you---however I will call your editor and tell him that you are browbeating a girl who just saved her friends---and is in shock. I don't think you will be working there next week, if I do, though."
She pales and mutters an apology to me, before heading off to talk to somebody else.
He turns his attention to me now, his eyes softening. "Are you okay?" he asks me.
I shake my head.
"I understand. Come on, the limo is waiting for us all."
He leads us down the stairs and I watch as the driver opens the back door. The Kents get on one side, with Clark and Lana. Mr. Small, my father, myself, and Lex, get on the other side.
I never was a clingy person but today's events change that. But it's not my father I hold onto; it's Lex. Maybe because he was my hero, telling Carrie off. But something in the back of my mind says it's more---just can't remember at the moment.
He doesn't question me holding onto his arm, just lets me be. I close my eyes, as we move, hearing those words in my mind again:
'Don't turn away from me.'
"Don't turn away from me."
"I won't, Chloe, I promise," I hear him whisper to me.
~
The Day of The Funeral
I sit on the window seat, looking out at the warm, sunny, day. But my heart is stone and my eyes can't see the beauty---it only sees the scene over and over again. And the words Davis spoke:
'Don't turn away from me.'
I can't turn away---I've tried to cry but the tears won't come. I want to go to the funeral---but my feet won't move.
If I start to cry, will I ever stop? If I go to the funeral, will I be stoned by the family who lost their son?
"I'm a coward."
"Pumpkin?"
I turn to look at my father. "Hi, Daddy."
He walks in. "You're not a coward."
I let out a sigh. "Yes I am."
He's by me now, his hands on my shoulders. "No, you're hurting."
"Daddy, I killed a man and I can't face his family."
"Honey, you need to heal before you face them. And when you do, you will."
I shrug off his touch. "I killed somebody---"
"---in self-defense," somebody finishes for me.
I look to the door again and see Lex standing there. "Why are you here?" I ask him.
"Your father thought you could use somebody to talk to who has been through this."
It hits me---that's what I couldn't remember---Lex has been through this before. Of all the connections we've had in the past; dealing with unrequited love, dealing with his father; the mutual admiration society going on between us, this is the strongest bond now; we've killed to protect. And yet, I wish I hadn't.
"I wish I hadn't either," he states, walking up to us.
"Well, I'll leave you two alone. I'll see you when I get back, Pumpkin."
He kisses my cheek and is gone; leaving me with the man who has walked the path I'm walking now.
"So, where do we start?" I sigh out.
He gestures that I move my legs and sits on the pillow, across from me. "Let's start with my brush of causing death."
"All right."
He looks outside, and I see his mind wondering into the past. "My choice wasn't as pure a choice as yours was, Chloe. Still, I wish I hadn't done it---it proved that I could kill, like my father could."
"But you did it to save somebody---to save Mr. Kent."
He turns to look at me. "Yes, I did but still it was seen by others, as a way to keep the fact secret that I was looking into Clark. But that didn't do any good---in the long run, he had already told Mr. Kent. And Clark found out anyway, after my father gave him the key."
I place a hand in his and squeeze it. "But you did it to save somebody's life. He would have been dead except for you."
"And the same can be said about your decision---it was purely to save your friends and yourself. It's sad that it had to be done but if you hadn't, there would have been further death in that hallway that day."
I look away from him, to the outside world. I watch my father get into the car and drive away. And I wonder will he be back? Will somebody hit his car and he dies? Will some gun toting, unhappy person, come along and shoot him.
"Chloe, don't turn away from me."
I turn to look at Lex and feel my heart break at his words. Then I see a slight twitch of a sad smile at his lips and feel the tears in my eyes fall, finally.
He moves up to me, cradling me in his arms as I let it out. "It's going to be okay, Chloe. I won't ever turn away from you, ever."
Now I can believe it will be okay, someday. The healing has begun with a single tear, joined by many. And a man who shared a part of his soul with me.
~
Back To The Present
"Chloe?"
I look towards the voice and see him standing there, with our friends behind him.
I look into his blue eyes and remember another day once again---the year after the shooting incident.
I went to Gotham University on a Luthor Scholarship. I loved it there---it got me away from Smallville and Metropolis---all the bad memories.
However, the anniversary night of the shooting had me once more sitting on a window seat---this time in Wayne Manor.
Bruce had invited me to dinner but it turns out, not only me---he brought along his latest---and a good friend of ours.
I was sitting on that window seat, waiting for his arrival. I closed my eyes, imagining what he looked like; how he would react to see me in his bedroom, and then:
"Well, nice little present Bruce left me. I'll have to thank him later."
"Lex," I shout, jumping up and running into his arms.
I back away and see him looking anywhere but right at me.
"Don't turn away from me---you promised you never would."
He looks back, quirking an eyebrow and then laughing. "Well, I never break a promise to a beautiful woman."
I back away further and walk towards the window seat. I sit, looking out at the darkening sky and smile. I sense him behind me and I move slightly. He sits behind, pulling me close to him.
"I---Chloe---I---"
I turn around. "I promise, I will never turn away from you, Lex, because I love you too."
He's not the least bit startled by this admission---we had gotten close pretty fast and the only reasoning for this is love---true love.
So, on the one-year anniversary, we sat there, praying for the family who lost a loved one. And enjoying the new bend in the road of our relationship.
A clearing of the throat brings me out of my remembrances.
"It's time?" I ask.
He nods his head, taking my hand, his gold band gleaming in the bright school lights. I look at the twin on my hand and sigh.
We start down the corridor, Lana and Clark on his side---Jordan and Sarah on mine.
We're all survivors of that dark and dangerous day. We know that every day is precious---that at any given moment, something terrible might happen to us that Clark can't save us from; that my husband can't fix with money and power; that Lana can't read off somebody; and that I can't write us out of.
And we've learned to help the downtrodden. For Davis would never have done what he did, if he hadn't been bullied into it. If only we had kept a better watch on him, this might have ended differently.
For the rest of my life, I will have to live with the knowledge that I took a life, whether it was right or wrong. But I will learn from this and do my best to not have it happen again.
And hopefully, we'll never hear those words again in the same context---the words that haunt us all:
'Don't turn away from me.'
The End.