Beyond the Sun

15

"You're purposely trying to tick everyone off with that, aren't you?" Clark asked while looking to Annie. She'd been back a week and had well and truly established her presence. Oddly enough they had slipped back into their normal dynamic, it was good, it was like they hadn't parted ways at all. Which was odd considering they both had grown up quite a bit since they last saw each other.

Annie looked to her Gotham Knights jersey shirt, she may have been rubbish at P.E., but she could easily appreciate baseball. She'd found out rather quickly that most people present supported, not only naturally the home teams, but also the Metropolis Monarchs, which ironically enough was one of Clark's favourite teams. So, there was a little rivalry there, he did think Annie wore it purposely to get at him too. There was also rivalry whenever the Gotham Wildcats ever crossed paths with the Metropolis Metros, that caused another rather fiery debate between the pair. Baseball and football were seemingly the only things they disagreed on.

"Ah come on, how can I let my home team down?" Annie asked while shouldering her satchel more. Clark shook his head and looked at her with a frown. Only now that they were both in the later part of their teens, he was basically looking down on her. Seriously, between the last time she had seen him, until now, Clark had had one heck of a growth spurt and Annie only just measured to his shoulders. "Hey, I was thinking..."

"You need help with homework." Clark said while smiling at her as they walked out of the school. The final bell had rung mere moments ago, he had helped her yet again with her locker problems, and she had stood and waited for him to pack things from his own locker before they left.

Annie grinned sheepishly. "You are smarter than me..."

Clark shook his head, "You can do the work yourself you know?"

She pouted and looked at the street they were walking along. "Okay, I'm just finding excuses to hang out with you...you know as well as I do that science has always been a strong subject. I just want some hang time...come on, Clark...come on..." Annie whined and poked him numerous times on the arm until he sighed and relented. "Mum has kept asking whether we've crossed paths."

"You know what, so do my folks." He said while running a hand sheepishly through his hair.

"Can I come around?" Annie asked simply, Clark stopped and looked down at her. She seemed to have grown more forward and direct as she grew up. "Only if I'm allowed, that is."

Clark inhaled and tilted his head to the side, "How about tomorrow?"

"I'm going to hold you to it." Annie said while waving a finger at him. With a sigh, she turned and walked beside him in silence before nudging against him gently. "Wanna go grab something to eat or drink?" She asked, she hadn't needed to catch a bus or a lift home anymore seeing as how her new home was nearer to the school she could just easily walk. Clark seemed to think over the suggestion before nodding slowly. "We've got lots of catching up to do." Annie said simply while shoving her hands in her slightly fraying dark short pockets. Pushing open the door to the diner, Clark kept it open for her and walked towards a booth. Sitting down he looked to her as she sat opposite. Annie smiled and leaned her arms on the table and looked to the large windows beside them. She idly watched people flit by before looking back at him. He was looking at her with a slightly distant look, "What?"

"It's just...I can't really believe you're back." Clark said, he had been struggling really to accept the fact that she was back and seemingly for good. "What happened?"

Annie went to reply only to look up at the waitress who appeared, ordering a milkshake she looked back to Clark after he ordered. "I didn't settle."

"You didn't settle for what...four years?" Clark asked with a bemused frown. That seemed almost unlikely, he couldn't quite believe that. Someone doesn't tend to settle for a small while, she was gone for a good number of years.