Lex had approved the two articles. Cat hadn't been surprised, and neither, really, had the Chief. He hadn't said a word about the Courtship one, but then, she hadn't expected him to. His permission for the syndicated column had never been anything but tacit. When he read the one about Clark/Myst, his eyes had widened marginally, no doubt belatedly realizing the danger in the facts they had revealed. He said only two words in response to that one. He handed the copy back to her and rose to his feet. "Thank you," he had told her, with a nod of acknowledgement, and then he took his leave.

He paused though, a few steps away, and turned back, adding, as if in afterthought, though she doubted Lex Luthor had ever had an afterthought in his life, "Oh, Ms. Grant, I wanted to personally extend your invitation to the wedding. We found a church and set a date this morning." He moved back to her desk and presented her with a pale lavender envelope.

Her name was written in crisp caligraphy, and it was fastened closed by a real wax seal. She used a letter opener to slice the top edge open, unwilling to break the wax. Pulling out the invite, she read over the details, rearraged her schedule in her mind, and nodded. "I wouldn't miss it."

He smiled, a real one, and nodded back. "Good, I wouldn't want you to write that Alexia had an inferior gown just because you couldn't make it."

Cat laughed. "I'm sure she'll look radiant." She looked at the date again to burn it to memory when she realized she'd just read about that day in October not too long ago. She looked up sharply. "This is the day you had your car accident."

Lex's smile warmed further. "The day we met, yes. It seemed appropriate."

"You'll be," she stopped abruptly, realizing that wasn't something to say in the middle of the Daily Planet bullpen. Now, she wasn't the most knowledgable person about pregancy, but if he was already four months pregnant now, in July, by October, he'd be seven months along, and that, that would be very obvious. Her eyes landed on his stomach, which she realized, now that he was wearing his normal business suit and standing up, was already starting to bulge a little bit.

He nodded, having read what she was saying by way of the nonverbal cues. "Yes, I will."

There wasn't anything to say to that with all the reporter ears in the near vicinity so she just nodded and said, "Good luck with that."

He smirked, a bit dryly, and inclined his head. "See you tomorrow night, Ms. Grant."

Frowning, she tried to remember what even was scheduled then, but came up blank. "What's tomorrow night."

He smiled and laughed softly, as if he'd just won a bet with himself. "Press conference, to announce the date, of course."

Surprised, she raised her eyebrows then looked back down at her invitation, verifying that, yes, she did know the date a full day before anyone else would. "You're giving me the scoop on the date?" she asked, looking up again, but he was already gone. She laughed and shouted for Perry, and congratulated herself on getting into Lex Luthor's good graces.

The next edition of the Daily Planet had three articles authored by Cat Grant. Two had been checked and approved of before publication by Lex, so Clark had forewarning of their contents. The third was shorter, written at the last minute and squeezed in to fit after the initial layout had already been drafted once. That one hadn't gone into the society section. It had gone under 'Wedding Announcements'. An addendum had been added to the end of the one about Clark's identity, too, mentioning the date and referring back to page A7 for more information.

Clark had been nervous about going to class with his face and name on the front page of the society section, but at first it seemed like nobody had read it. He made it through his 8:00 class without anyone saying a word to him about Lex, Myst, or his upcoming marriage. The 10:00 one wasn't quite as oblivious.

He'd just been about to start thinking that nobody cared or made the connection when the story broke. The difference between this class and the 8:00 one was that people had already drank their morning coffee. Also, the professor was notorious for showing up ten minutes late so everyone brought something to do while they waited for him to show up. As this was a journalism class, this something often took the form of the Daily Planet, especially on days that did not have a new issue of the college paper. The Metropolitan, unfortunately, was not due out until tomorrow.

It was a girl (he thought her name was Nancy Bower) in the third row, four seats to the left of the aisle, who reached Society first. This was evidenced by the "NO WAY!" that burst from her mouth at 9:57 and echoed loudly in the large lecture hall. Then she turned around and stared directly at Clark. He sighed and accepted that his life as he had known it was now over.

"What?" someone else asked.

"Clark!" she exclaimed, pointing at him, so everyone knew exactly which Clark she was talking about, nevermind that he was the only Clark in the class. "He's Myst! Lex Luthor's mysterious suitor!"

Clark slunk low in his chair and wondered if it had really been neccessary to go to class today. He was just glad that the papparazzi hadn't yet figured out his class schedule.

"Says who?" a third person shouted back in disbelief.

She held up the paper, the headline shouting Unmasking Clark Kent, the Mysterious Suitor. "Daily Planet," Nancy called back. "Cat Grant."

Eyes turned his way. Cat Grant was accepted almost universally as the foremost authority on Myst, outside of Lex himself. If she said Clark Kent was Myst, then Clark Kent was Myst, however unlikely they found the possibility.

Still, he could see the doubt on their faces. "Is that true, Kent?" a new voice called out, seeking a second opinion.

For one moment, Clark wished that Lex was a little bit less notorious, that their relationship had stayed a little less public. Acting like Myst was easy when Lex was right there, but this was just him, in a journalism class. He wanted to escape. Beside him, Chloe nudged him. "Go on, Clark," she encouraged. "Tell them."

He flushed, something Myst never did, and stood nervously. Fresh whispers of doubt sped around the room. Clark cleared his throat and answered the question, "Y-yes, I am," he stopped, took a deep breath, and gave it another try, imagining Lex was there. "I am Lex Luthor's suitor." Much stronger, more confident, that was good. "I will be Lex Kent's husband in three months." If ever there was a confidence booster, that would be it.

"Kansas doesn't recognize gay marriage," someone argued.

"You think Lex will let something as minor as that stop him?" Clark argued right back, the incredulous response so fast it was out of his mouth before he fully realized he was answering the challenge.

Nobody said anything for a long moment. He was still getting stared at, only now there was open assessment in their faces. "So," Nancy spoke up into the silence, "Can we expect Kansas to pass new gay rights laws by October?"

Clark grinned and shrugged, "Failing that, Lex will find another way to make it legal."