Inbetween

Chapter Eleven: Country Mornings

I'm sorry about being so late on updating. I've been in a really rough writing funk.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The sun peaked through the curtains in the guest room and pooled over to Bruce who was sleeping soundly on the bed. His face was covered by the pillow to avoid the sun from waking him. He had spent the night thinking about the conversation he and Clark had and he wasn't sure if he was dreaming or if it was all true. When he laid his head on his pillow the night before all he could think about was whether or not he should run or if he should stay.

It wasn't because he didn't feel the same it was because he didn't want to get hurt. Or worse, hurt Clark. There were too many 'what if's' that he couldn't control and feelings he couldn't hide. It all seemed like too much for him. That is until he remembered that Clark was willing to take it slow with him and give him the reassurance he needed. He just wished his first instinct wasn't to push away like he always did.  After his long mental debate he was able to fall asleep.

But now with the sun warming his back and legs he wished he had fell asleep sooner. He let out a soft groan as he rolled onto his back. The silence surrounding the farmhouse was something Bruce wasn't use to and he wasn't sure if it comforted him or made him uneasy. He sat up and rubbed at his tired eyes. A soft knock made him stop rubbing and instantly woke him. He slipped out of bed and opened the door to see Clark with a steaming cup of coffee in his hand and a soft smile on his face.

"Good morning." He handed Bruce the warm mug.

"Morning." Bruce yawned.

"I was just checking in on you," Clark admitted, "I know last night was...different."

"It's a good different, Clark." Bruce sighed into his mug as he took a sip of his coffee.

The sweetness of it threw him off but then the taste of the cream drew him in. It was the best coffee he has had in years and it was unexpectedly from a farm in Kansas and not Italy or Brazil or even Columbia. All of which he had been to specially for coffee. He took another gulp and sighed again.

"Ma makes her own creamer." Clark smirked, "she won't tell me her recipe though."

"It's amazing." Was all Bruce murmured as he continued to drink.

"Do you want another cup?" Clark raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, absolutely." Bruce nodded, " but also Clark you have nothing to worry about, okay?"

"Okay." He nodded and stepped away from the door way, "you coming down?"

"Let me get dressed and I'll be down in a minute." Bruce hummed.

Clark nodded and walked off. Bruce shut the door without a second thought as he took another gulp of his drink. He sat back down and grabbed his phone quickly scrolling through his notifications hoping that there were no fires for him to put out this early. The company was unexpectedly silent outside of the daily issues that he fixed almost everyday. He decided to stop checking his emails and click Twitter. He wasn't expecting much from it but his curiosity got the best of him. He scrolled through his timeline which was just filled with news surrounding Gotham and the it's residents. His notification numbers were in the thousands and his eyebrows shot up at the sight of it.

"What have you been up to, Dickie." He murmurs as he clicked on them.

He could see thousands of people questioning his interest in Superman. It made his heart skip a beat. How did they find out? Do they know Clark's identity?! What the hell is going on? His thoughts came in rapid succession trying his very best to figure out how the world found out he was in love with Clark. He clicked one of them that directed him to a photo of Clark dressed as Superman holding coffees. Under he saw his own comment and instantly felt his heart sink. Richard had gotten him the exposure he needed in a way he didn't think was possible. He wasn't sure if he should commend Richard for his thinking or ground him for being so reckless.

Bruce's cheeks warmed as he scrolled through all of the raunchy comments. He was definitely grounding him. Another thought made his ears burn and that was Clark had most likely seen the comment. It wasn't that it was a lie but it was something that Bruce would have preferred to keep quiet. He shut his phone off and held his head in his hands. He was mortified. He didn't know how he was going to face people at the next charity event. Especially if they all thought he was lining for Superman. But then again who wasn't.

His phone buzzed with more notifications from Twitter and he groaned. He should have never agreed to let Richard run his account. He picked it up to see a new tweet from the justice league. It was Wally's idea to have a running account and no one had to heart to stop him. So they let it happen. They each had the password and username so it could be any one of them creating a post. Bruce read the notification.

TheOfficialJusticeLeague: All rumors regarding Bruce Wayne and Superman are just rumors. Superman is happily taken but appreciates Mr.Wayne's kind words.

Bruce felt his throat tighten at the word 'taken' but also felt a weight lifted off his shoulders. He liked and retweeted the tweet on response. His quote read: Can't blame a man for trying ;).

After all he had to maintain his playboy persona. He sighed and stood up. He pulled on a t-shirt and trudged down to the kitchen. His heart was still hammering from reading the tweets and he wondered if Clark was the one that made the tweet or if someone else in the league squashed the rumors to keep eyes away from them. Either way he wasn't sure if he should address it or not. Once he got into the kitchen he spotted Clark with a spoonful of oatmeal in his mouth eating happily.

Bruce loved to see Clark in his element. It was comforting. Clark looked up at him and gave him a small smile. He returned it while taking a seat. Martha places a steaming bowl of oatmeal in front of Bruce patting his shoulder in the process.

"Good morning, Mrs Kent." He spoke pleasantly.

"Good morning, dear." She smiled, "how did you rest?"

"Well." Bruce brought the spoon to his lips and blew.

Clark watched him without trying to be obvious. He loved seeing Bruce be domestic. The playboy act had nothing on Bruce comfortable early in the morning. Bruce and Martha had started a conversation that Clark wasn't paying much attention to. He just loved to see them interact positively. It made him think that his future with Bruce was bright and coming closer than he expected. He sighed blissfully. It caught both Bruce and Martha's attention.

"You're not jealous I'm talking to your mom, right Clark?" Bruce joked.

"No, in fact, I think it's great." Clark grinned, "don't mind me."

Martha let out a soft chuckle and walked out the kitchen leaving the two men alone. Bruce could see the dreamy far away look in Clark's eyes and couldn't resist the smile creeping onto his face. He was sure Clark was planning their wedding in his head and it made Bruce want to laugh. It was sweet and he couldn't believe his feelings for Clark were reciprocated. He bit into his oatmeal.

"Do you still want to go out or spend some more time in?" Clark raised an eyebrow.

"Going out sounds nice." Bruce shrugged.

"Okay, after breakfast get ready so I can take you to all the best spots." Clark hummed.

"All your best spots?" Bruce questioned.

"Maybe." Clark smirked, "maybe I looked up tourists spots. You'll never know."

"Please that would be a lousy first date." Bruce scoffed playfully.

"Date? You must really like me, Bruce." Clark teased.

Bruce felt his neck warm and he shot a glare at Clark. It's not like Clark has explicitly said they were going on a date but a day out in the town with Clark sounded exactly like a date to him. He rolled his eyes at Clark's cheeky grin.

"Shut up, Kent." Bruce grumbled.

"It's okay, I like you too." Clark winked.