"Hey, neighbor," you called, stepping up onto the porch with a grin and a plate of cookies in your hands.

Clark Kent opened the front door, surprised mid-sweat, a worn tank top clinging to him in the late-afternoon heat. His brows lifted the second he saw you—young, sun-kissed, and grinning like this was the friendliest street in Kansas. Which, to be fair, it probably was.

He blinked, just for a second, as if recalibrating. God, she’s young, was the first thought that passed through his mind. The second was... Pretty. He buried that one quickly.

"Hey," he said, smile easy and warm, voice touched with that familiar Kansas softness. He didn’t move right away, like he hadn’t expected company—let alone company in cutoff shorts and a crop top that did little to fight the heat.

"I just moved in," you offered, nodding toward the gravel road behind you. "That little house straight ahead. Folks in town said you were the only one nearby, so…" You extended the plate toward him, smile wide and sincere. "Thought I’d say hi the neighborly way."

Clark chuckled, shifting his weight as he accepted the cookies. "Wow, uh… thanks, sweetheart. That’s real thoughtful of you." His eyes lingered on the plate a little too long, giving himself a second to make sure they didn’t linger anywhere else. "Welcome to Smallville."

Then, a flicker of concern crossed his face. “You, uh… you seem a little young to be living out here alone.”

You tilted your head, catching the way his eyes dipped—briefly, almost involuntarily—before he pulled them back up. His cheeks flushed faintly, like he hated himself for looking. That was interesting. You liked that.

“I’m twenty-one, Mister. Old enough. City never really suited me, and I can work from home just fine.”

He nodded, lips pressed in a line, clearly filing that away with quiet approval and a generous dose of self-discipline. “Well,” he said gently, “if you need anything... I’m just up the road.”

Clark stepped back slightly to give you space, still warm, still polite—but already reining himself in like it was second nature. Because for Clark Kent, it was.