Celebrity Crush

Superstar

AN: This chapter is not a sequel to the previous one. It is a separate story and, essentially, recaps the other chapters in this fic. It is based off of the Taylor Swift song of the same name.

Superman was the THE American hero. He was everyone's golden boy and everyone's heartthrob. There wasn't a person alive who didn't have some level of celebrity crush on him and the entire country idolized him like a god. He was everyone's hero and savior, everyone's favorite icon of hope and the American way. This level of adoration and obsession affected everyone, even young Lena Luthor.

"He's just so amazing!" the girl sighed almost dreamily as she hung up a poster of Superman in her room. It had been a gift to her from her big brother, Lex, who was Superman's best friend. He had gotten the poster signed by Superman specifically to Lena before giving the poster to her as a birthday gift. It was the best one she'd ever received and she'd thanked Lex a million times over for it.

But as good as the poster was, Lena couldn't deny some level of sadness that the poster was all she would ever get. Silly as it sounded, Lena genuinely had a crush on the Man of Steel (but then again, who didn't?) and it made her sad to think that a crush was all it would ever be. And she was even a little bit jealous that Lex was closer to Superman than she was. But through it all, Lena would still pretend and dream that, somehow, Superman would someday come to know her personally, and by name.

"This is wrong but, I can't help but feel like there ain't nothing more I'd pay," she sighed up at the poster, thinking about just how deeply she respected, admired and adored the mighty superhero. "Misty morning comes again and I can't help but wish I could see your face. And I knew from the first time you saved I'd be breaking all my rules to see you..." she paused to smile a little up at the poster, just admiring Superman's handsome and chiseled visage. "You smile that beautiful smile and all the girls in the front row scream your name," she continued as she imagined a giant crowd of billions, all screaming up in complete and utter adoration for the Man of Steel. Lena was among that crowd, nothing more than another face in it, but in her fantasy, Superman was still able to pick up on her, insignificant though she was. It really was her greatest fantasy that, despite only being another face in a giant crowd, Superman would somehow still be able to see her specifically.

"So dim that spotlight, tell me things like, 'I can't take my eyes off of you'," Lena pleaded softly, imaging Superman coming down from his place on high just to visit her. "I'm no one special, just another wide-eyed girl who's desperately in love with you," she admitted. "But give me a photograph to hang on my wall... Superstar..." and she fell asleep that night, gazing hopefully up at her Superman poster.

But these adorable, innocent, childhood fantasies quickly turned into nightmares when Lex took up arms against Superman and forced Lena to join him. He stole Lena's Superman poster right out of her room and burned it, forbidding her from ever even saying his name again. From that day forward, Lex declared war on Superman with Lena as his right hand, though things didn't go nearly that smoothly. For one, Lena felt immensely conflicted. On the one hand, she still adored Lex and wanted nothing more than to stay by his side like a good little sister. On the other, however, it became easily apparent to her that Lex was insane, and he was doing so many terrible things to so many innocent people that Lena could never truly get behind anything that he did. She found that her views were far more similar to Superman's than Lex's, but Lex refused to let her go. He kept her close, tormenting her and threatening her into submission. It was only when Superman finally managed to put him behind bars that Lena was able to be free of him. But although she was free of Lex, she was not free of his crimes. The world began to associate her with him, assuming that she would turn out just as twisted and evil. It stung Lena greatly, but what could she do except hang her head and bear it?