Fight by Pearl-o
Clark saw Ethan pissed all the time. He had kind of a short fuse -- something like the coffee house forgetting his extra whipped cream could fuel his ranting for ten or fifteen minutes. Clark would listen patiently for however long it took until something new came along and he got distracted again.
This was different, though, and not just because it was aimed at Clark.
"What the fuck, Clark?" Ethan was yelling, waving his arms around wildly. Clark's dorm room was really too small for that. "No, seriously, what the *fuck*?"
"Look, I told you, something came up," Clark said quietly. He leaned back against the wall. It'd been a long day; he was exhausted.
"'Something came up'?" Ethan repeated, incredulous. "Clark, you bailed on us, man. Do you even *realize* how shitty that is?"
Clark closed his eyes. "It was an emergency." The lives of seventeen people were more important than a gig, you jerk -- but he couldn't say that, and it wasn't fair, anyway.
"I don't care! You don't leave us hanging out there!"
He opened his eyes again. "Lex said he was taking care of it--" He'd told Clark not to worry about it, he had connections, it'd be okay, just go already.
"Oh, yeah. We all appreciated the arrogant sell-out fucker there, doing us all such a favor. Just like we all appreciated hearing about it all at the last minute from your very own Mr. Condescending Bastard himself -- nice to know you can't even be bothered to tell us when you skip off."
From the bed, Astrid said quietly, "Cool the fuck down, Ethan." She and Thomas were sitting side by side on Clark's bed. Neither of them had said a word since the band arrived. Astrid's expression looked bored, but that was just how her face froze when she was upset, or annoyed, or hurt. Thomas just looked slightly sick to his stomach.
Ethan shut his mouth, and he stood in the center of the room, shaking his head as he stared at the light fixture. He sucked in a slow breath, and then said in a low voice, "You know what, Clark, whatever. It's obvious you don't take any of this seriously. I don't know why I thought you would. Do whatever the fuck you want. I don't care."
He slammed the door as he left.
Clark was surprised the kids down the hall hadn't called in about the noise already. It was past three. Probably they were all out getting drunk.
He sank down to sit on the floor, rubbing at his face lightly.
Astrid sighed lightly, and got up and walked across the room. She stopped next to Clark and nudged him with the toe of her mary janes. "He's not speaking for all of us, you know." She waited a moment, and turned her head back to the bed. "Come on. The Astrid Express is leaving, if you want a ride across campus."
Thomas gave him a small, sad smile as he left. "Bye, Clark."
His clothes were torn, and still specked with blood and dirt. None of them had noticed, thankfully. He stripped slowly and opened his closet to dump them in the back. Then he lay down, not even bothering to turn down the covers, and turned off his lamp.
He should have listened to Lex and gone to the penthouse tonight, he thought. He'd thought this would be easier, just heading home and collapsing. But the bed there was more comfortable, and right now, Clark thought, it would be nice to not be by himself.
In the morning, he thought, curling onto his side. They could go out to breakfast. And in a couple days, he'll sit next to Ethan in class, and the fight would have blown over. Ethan never stayed pissed for long, at least.
05/02/03