Chapter Text
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Bruce’s pov I
While growing up with Clark, I didn’t know it would lead to this much… pain.
Earlier, Clark had called me and invited me to hang out at the bar around the corner from his place, the one we always used to go to. I felt bad for being busy recently, but I also knew I had a bunch of work to finish. So I had mentioned to him that I would think about it. I knew it hurt him, but I couldn’t lie to him and tell him that I’d be there. So I was sitting at the Batcomputer later that night, finishing up work, to see if I could get some time to hang out with Clark. I ended up finishing before I thought I would, giving me time to accept Clark’s offer.
When I entered the bar I immediately saw him, but he didn’t glare at me, his eyes were on someone else’s, Lois Lane. I wasn’t expecting to see him with her, yes I always knew he started his interest with Lois Lane recently and I was never against that, but this… I wasn’t prepared for this. I didn’t know it would take this fast, this fast for him to leave me, but I can’t complain, we were never anything more than friends, that’s what we’re always going to be. I forced myself to look the other way and ended up heading towards the bar counter to get a drink. I hadn’t even told Clark I was here, I didn’t even text him. I looked back at them and… I saw it.
Seeing him kiss her felt like a thousand blades stabbing into me, it hurts more than any other injury or broken bone I’ve ever had while enduring the mask. And I stood there, cowardly, I just stood there like an idiot watching them kiss, their lips meeting, looking like two puzzle pieces fitting together, like the universe had guided their paths to this moment, like nothing before this moment meant anything anymore. She stole that moment, our moment, all those years ago in high school, did that kiss not mean anything?
I was still staring, holding my drink I had obtained once I walked into the bar, I had barely even touched it, it still contained as much alcohol as I had obtained it. I saw Clark’s body relax into her touch, her kiss… it meant the world to him as much as it hurt my world. He wanted this, her kiss, her lips, her hands on his shoulders, he craved it.
I drank… one shot, another, and another until I lost count. I hadn’t even confronted him, I hadn't even told him I was here, he was oblivious to the fact I’m here, watching. But even if he did know, it wouldn’t change a single thing, he would’ve still kissed her and I still would’ve drank. I drowned myself in alcohol, I have all the money in the world, why does it matter, right?
“Bruce...”
“Heyyyyyyy Clarkieeeee.”
Clark sighed, I hate when he does that, why can’t he just accept that I drink and get drunk?
“You know I’m an adult righttt?”
I saw him roll his eyes and I tried punching him teasingly, like I always used to do. He caught my arm and took the glass full of alcohol away from me.
“Give it back… pleaseee.”
“No. Let’s go now.”
I rolled my eyes and pouted; I wasn’t even sure where I was but all I knew was that something went wrong. I followed Clark towards his car and he opened the passenger door, making sure I got in the passenger seat carefully. He shut the door harder than necessary, which annoyed the fuck out of me. I was watching him move outside the car, and a woman appeared from the bar’s entrance.
Lois, that’s her name; Clark walked up to her, slowly for some reason, weird. I watched their mouths move as they conversed. I blinked and the next second they were kissing, lips to lips, they fit together. I felt my eyes getting watery, what the fuck? My heart started racing. Why was this happening?
I saw Clark coming back so I wiped my tears away with the back of my sleeve and rested my head against the window, resting my eyes.I heard the car door open and felt the weight of the car tilt, fucking fatass, joking. He started the car and I could hear him talking, but I wasn’t listening. I knew all he was saying was how stupid it was to get drunk like that, blah blah blah.
Next thing I know is I’m being carried out of Clark’s car and into his house, how did we get here so fast? Clark carrying me felt surprisingly comfortable, but obviously I couldn’t admit that, I’m Bruce Wayne, the Batman, the shadows. Clark set me down on his couch and already started complaining again, and I still wasn’t listening, I was tired.
“Can you take me to bedd?” I had pleaded.
“C’mon…”
He opened his arms to me and bent down picking me up, since I’d probably run into everything in his apartment, on purpose. I felt the comfort of the couch turn into the warmth of Clark’s chest, which was much much better somehow.
“Mmm… you’re warm…”
He ignored my statement which annoyed me even more than being wasted, but I was too drunk to do anything so I let it annoy me. He carried me to his bedroom and flicked on the light, I shut my eyes as the brightness burnt, because for some fucking reason he has to have the brightest lights on earth. I’m guessing he noticed my discomfort since he had shut off the lights right after, thank god. He settled me down on the bed, usually you’d think a guy Clark doesn’t honor his sleep, but fuck, his bed was like a cloud. I already felt myself dozing off…
“Did you know your bed is comfortable, Clarkie?”
“Yeah yeah Bruce, just get some sleep, I’ll be right here.”
This wasn’t our first rodeo, I knew he would sleep in the same bed, just like we had done 6 weeks ago when I had gotten black out wasted once again. It didn’t mean anything though, just taking care of me, right? Then why did my heart skip a beat after he had mentioned staying with me? Weird. He always does that, what’s different now?
Clark had pulled the blanket from the edge of the bed and made sure we shared it for the night. At least that felt good.
“Goodnight Clark.”
“Goodnight Bruce.”
—
I woke up, confused but comfortable in Clark’s bed… ugh, my head hurts like hell. I tried getting up too fast, but my head started to hurt even more, so I shut my eyes and waited for the headache to ease down. Once it went away, I tried getting up again, but I couldn’t? There was a pair of arms around me, Clark’s arms, Clark’s muscular arms. My eyes widened at the sight, at his touch, wait why am I here? I remember going to a bar and seeing Clark, but that’s it. Oh fuck, did we… I looked down at my lap, okay I still have my clothes on.
I carefully removed Clark’s arms from around my torso and waist, and placed them down on the bed, away from me. I looked over to the bedside counter where my phone was, I picked it up and checked the time. 8:31 AM. I sighed and slowly got up, heading to the restroom across the hallway.
I quickly turned on the sink water and splashed myself with it, rubbing it into my face, making sure I was awake and aware. I looked up at my reflection in the mirror and I saw my eyeliner from last night start running down my cheeks, I looked awful. I used more water to wipe away the black eyeliner from my face while trying to remember everything from last night, but I couldn’t no matter how hard I tried.
After I was done washing up my face, I went back to the bedroom to get my phone. I walked over to the bedside counter where my phone was located, I picked it up and looked to my right where Clark was sleeping, he looked so peaceful… I forced myself to look away and I walked towards Clark’s front door. I opened it to the harsh sun’s brightness, and I stepped out.
I left without waiting for Clark to wake up. I just left. I wasn’t even sure what I would say anyways, I don’t even remember anything from last night. I walked back to the bar where I knew my car was parked. Thank god it was around the corner from Clark’s. I arrived back to where my car was parked and got in, I shut the door and gave myself a second to breathe, because I was hungover, right? Not because of anything else, because I had drank a lot more alcohol than I should’ve, not because Clark had kissed Lois. Wait- Clark Kent kissed Lois Lane.
Fuck.
--
Clark’s pov I
I had invited Bruce to hangout at the bar near my house, because that’s what a friend does, ask to hang out. I wasn’t sure he would, with him being Batman and Bruce Wayne, I figured he would decline like he always does recently. But I didn’t invite him to buddy-buddy, I invited him to meet my new girlfriend, Lois.
Lois is one of the best things that has happened to me, meeting at work, we’ve always been there for each other, always helping each other and covering for each other. She’s the only one who knows of my secret identity of being Superman, and she handles it well. I’m afraid of Bruce knowing, I’ve always been scared of telling him, he’d talk me through everything and make sure I do the right thing blah blah blah.
So here I am, arriving at Lois’ place, waiting for her to come out with that beautiful dark hair that changes color in sunlight. I’m in love. She’s beautiful, everything I’ve ever wanted in someone. My eyes drift from my phone to her front door, and there she is, in a casual, formal, but comfortable outfit, looking as beautiful as she always does. I smiled at her, and she smiled back, feeling like the power of a yellow sun.
She opened the door, dang it I should’ve opened it for her, oh well.
“Evening, gorgeous.”
I chuckled and replied.
“Evening, beautiful.”
She got in the car, and I started driving back towards my place. Every few minutes I was hoping for a text from Bruce accepting my invite, but I know that’s unlikely, so I pushed the thought away and focused on Lois. My Lois.
She’s so beautiful while she talked about- wait what was she talking about?
“Can you repeat that? I wasn’t really listening, driving and all, you know.”
She chuckled which sounded like a sign of annoyance and restarted the story. I wasn’t really paying attention, for some reason Bruce was in my mind. Why does he never hang out with me anymore? I mean I know he’s Batman but he’s been the bat for awhile, I can hear his heartbeat in the cave right now too, what the hey.
—-
Me and Lois arrived at my place to just hang out for a bit before we walked to the bar around the corner. I opened the door for her, and her eyes widened at how clean and tidy it was, which gave my ego a boost, obviously. This was her first time here, I wanted it to be memorable.
“Looks nice, Kent. Wanted to leave a good impression, huh?”
“Oh shut up, you know I always leave a good impression on you.”
She laughed and shook her head.
After a bit, we headed out the door and got into the car, it was around the corner so it didn’t really matter, but it was a nice night so we decided why not drive and feel the air through the windows. We were talking the whole time about work, fricking work, at the daily planet, it’s not hard but it is time consuming, which we obviously both agree on.
“Hey, how’s you and that Bruce guy?”
I stopped thinking. What? Why is she asking about him?
“Oh we’re good just haven’t hung out in a while, I just kinda miss being close like we were in high school and college but you know, things change.”
“Yeah well I hope I get to meet him tonight, like you mentioned,”
“Yeah I hope you get to meet him too, he’s a good guy, but he’s always hecking busy.”
“Isn’t everybody?”
I laughed at that and continued walking again, getting closer to the bar, it was in view now. I couldn’t get Bruce out of my head after that, I patted my pocket to feel if my phone was there, damn, I left it on my dining table. Whatever. It’s not like Bruce would come anyways.
We got to the bar, and it was pretty packed for a Sunday night, don’t these people have work in the morning? We entered the bar and immediately headed towards the bar counter to get drinks, this was going to be a fun night. I got something light, because I don’t get drunk easily so what’s the point, I’d have fun watching Lois get somewhat drunk, she also isn’t a drinker.
“You wanna dance?”
“Uh, I don’t really know how to dance if I’m being honest.”
I was embarrassed, shouldn’t all guys know how to dance with a girl?
“C’mon I’ll teach you, silly.”
“Alright I guess, don’t make me look like a coward out there.”
She laughed and shook her head, she held out her hand for me to take and I took it. She pulled me through the crowd to our own area so we could dance, and she then stopped once she was satisfied with a spot.
“Alright, just follow my steps, alright, Kent?
“Yes, ma’am.”
She put her arms around my neck and rested them on my shoulders, she then intertwined her hands behind my neck. I wasn’t sure where to put my arms and hands, so I copied her like she said. I rested my arms on her shoulders and then held my hands behind her head.
“What are you doing?”
“You said to follow your steps.”
I dropped my arms off her shoulders, embarrassingly.
“Yeah I meant with movement not with hand placement, silly.”
“Well how was I supposed to know?”
“Just put your hands on my waist.”
“Alrighty then.”
I placed my hands on her waist, and I kinda felt uncomfortable having my hands there, but it’s my first time dancing so I’m not going to be totally comfortable and perfect. I saw her smile up at me, which should be a good thing, so I got more comfortable. She started slowly dancing once a slower song started playing, and I easily followed her movements.
“There you go.”
I smiled and concentrated on her steps, on her heartbeat. It was slow, she was comfortable, she was happy, and so was I. Every concern and every worry had left my head, like she had put a spell on me, like I was sleeping. I loved every second of it.
“Can I kiss you?”
Her eyes widened, and she smiled and nodded. I saw her mouth move but I couldn’t hear her over the sound of her beating heart. I leaned in, closing in on her mouth, so close that I could feel her breath on my own lips. And in the split of a second, our lips met. She tasted like a secret you only share with someone else.
And then I heard it. Bruce’s heartbeat. Getting closer. Getting closer to the bar. Bruce is getting closer to me. I turned and looked around and I saw him. Bruce. He didn’t text me at all that he had decided to come, that annoyed me. And here he is, at the bar counter, drinking, again. Why does he always do this? He knows I’m here and why didn’t he say anything? He knows I hate when he drinks, is he doing this on purpose?
“Lois, I’m sorry, Bruce is here, I need to talk to him real quick. Thank you for accepting my kiss, it was amazing.”
I knew that somewhat hurt her, but I didn’t stay long to figure out why. I stomped over to where Bruce was sitting, I was furious, he’s drinking again.
“Bruce.”
I made it known that I was mad, that I wasn’t okay with him doing this to himself. Especially while he knows I’m here.
“Heyyyyyyy Clarkieeeee.”
I sighed and rolled my eyes. I know he hates that, I want him to see my annoyance.
“You know I’m an adult righttt?”
I was so close to telling him that I know he’s an adult, and that being an adult is more of a reason why he should be more responsible. He tried punching me, like it would do anything while he was wasted like this. I caught his arm and took the glass full of alcohol away from his other hand, which he didn’t like, good.
“Give it back… pleaseee.”
“No. Let’s go now.”
He rolled his eyes and I copied his movements. I helped him off the stool and dropped some money for the bartender, damn Bruce, he has all that money and I still have to pay. I supported him out of the bar and into the cool summer night, and brought him towards my car that I had parked outside. I looked over to his car and it was parked right next to mine, he knew I was here, why didn’t he say anything?
Bruce was talking the whole time about literally anything, I wasn’t even sure what he was talking about if I’m being honest. I walked him over to the passenger side of my car and opened the door.
“Get in, Bruce.”
It seemed like he didn’t hear me but he entered the car anyway, he sat down somewhat uncomfortably as I could tell but I didn’t really care, this was his fault. I put his seatbelt over him and then took a step back and shut the door. I looked back towards the bar to see Lois standing there, I owed her an explanation.
“Lois.”
“I know, I know. You’ve told me that he’s a handful, I get it. Just be careful and let me know when we can do this again, okay?”
I sighed out a breath of relief.
“Lois, thank you for understanding, I’m sorry the night ended off like this. I’ll make it up to you, I promise.”
She smiled and I walked closer to her, I took her hand and kissed her lips. As she kissed me back, I felt every worry I had that she would be annoyed or hurt with me, all went away. It felt right. Better than anyone else’s lips I’ve met.
Our lips disconnected and we both smiled at the kiss.
“Thank you for understanding, Lois.”
“Of course, Clark.”
“I’ll make it up to you one day, promise.”
“You just did, Kent.”
I smiled and gave her a nod of appreciation and walked back to my car where Bruce was waiting. I felt bad but this was his fault, so I pushed my worry away. I walked up to the driver seat door and grabbed the handle, I took a breath and pulled. I entered the door and shut the door once I sat down in my seat. I looked over at Bruce and his head rested against the passenger window.
I paid attention to his heartbeat to make sure he was okay, it was beating pretty normally but it was beating a bit faster than it should’ve. That's weird.
“Hey Brucie, you okay?”
I waited for a response, one second, ten seconds. Nothing came out. I was worried, I knew something had happened but I wasn’t sure what. I started the car, I felt the rumble of the car under me. I started driving towards my house. I knew I had to take care of him tonight, since he doesn’t know how to take care of himself.
“Bruce. You know I hate when you destroy yourself like this.”
I looked over at him, the red glow from the traffic light in front of us brightened up the side of his face that I could see. He didn’t move after I said that, does he even know how much I hate when he does this? The light turns green and I start driving again. I’m so frustrated with him.
“Bruce, listen to me. I care about you, okay? I don’t like when you do this. Yo- you freaking knew I was there, and you didn’t tell me, you didn’t text me, you didn’t come up to me! It’s like you wanted to hurt me, Bruce! Why do you do this to me?! You know I care about you Bruce!”
I looked over at Bruce once we stopped at my place, he wasn’t moving, I checked his heartbeat again to hear if he was okay, it was beating fine, maybe he just didn’t want to listen.
I turned off the engine and felt the car stop rumbling. I opened the car door and got out and then walked over to Bruce’s side, I opened his door and he leaned out the car a bit, maybe he was sleeping against the door.
I groaned in annoyance and picked him up, obviously not hard for me, being Superman and all. I held him bridal style and shut the passenger door, I walked us both to my front door and fiddled with the key as I tried to unlock the door.
Finally I got it open somehow and walked in the cool place, I guess I forgot I had the AC that low. I carried Bruce over to my couch and settled him down. He woke up suddenly, now was the time to tell him how immature he was.
“Bruce, do you ever listen to me? I just want what’s best for you and I can’t have you doing this every time you go out to bars. It’s immature and you know it.”
Bruce groaned which annoyed me even more, and looked over at me.
“Can you take me bedd?”
Bruce had said in that tipsy annoying voice he always has after drinking.
“C’mon…”
He smiled and I walked back over to the couch I just put him down on and bent down to pick him up again, bridal style, again. Once I had him in my arms he was resting against me, his head to my chest.
“Mmm… you’re warm.”
His comment annoyed me even more as I carried him to my room. Once we got in there, I flicked on the lights and I noticed Bruce shutting his eyes from how bright it was. Just noticing how bright my lights really were just now, I shut them off for his sake, which he visually softened to that.
I placed him down on my bed, the side I don’t sleep on, and made sure he was comfortable.
“Did you know your bed is comfortable, Clarkie?”
“Yeah yeah Bruce, just get some sleep, I’ll be right here.”
I laid down right next to him, to make sure he gets sleep and he doesn’t do anything dumb for the rest of the night. I pulled the blanket from the edge of the bed and laid it over both of us, knowing he’d probably freeze without it in the morning.
“Goodnight Clark.”
“Goodnight Bruce.”
I waited for a while until after Bruce had fallen asleep, which didn’t take long if I’m being honest. I looked over at him, the moonlight hitting the side of his face that wasn’t buried against the pillow lighting up his features… his hair covering his eyes…
Uh- I should get some sleep, yeah. I shut my eyes and quickly fell to sleep after that, surprisingly.
——
I woke up the next morning with a headache. I opened my eyes and immediately shut them at how bright the sun was, even though I get my powers from the sun. I slowly opened my eyes again, slowly getting used to the sun's brightness. After I fully opened my eyes, I immediately checked the time on my phone that was on my bedside counter. What the heck? It’s noon? I slept that long? Maybe I was really tired.
I laid back down but then looked to my right, the blanket had been pushed away from the right side of the bed and against me. I sat up quickly. Bruce. Where is he?? Did he leave?
I moved my legs off the bed and stood up, maybe too quick, and started walking around my apartment, trying to find if Bruce was still here. I looked in the living room, no. In the kitchen? No. In the bathroom? No… He wasn’t here.
I sighed and leaned over the bathroom sink, shutting my eyes. How did I just let him leave like that? Am I a bad friend or something? I opened my eyes and saw a black smear in the sink. I know that color, Bruce’s eyeliner. Dang it. I turned on the water and splashed some of it on my face, washing it. I then used some water to clean up the smear left by Bruce’s eyeliner.
Afterwards, I sighed and headed to work, thankfully I had a late shift today.
I couldn’t stop thinking about Bruce though, he didn’t text me, he didn’t leave a note, he didn’t even try waking me up like he usually does when this happens. What’s changed, Bruce? What aren’t you telling me.