She seemed surprised that anyone, let alone him, could call her beautiful. It made Clark wonder what kind of world she had come from, where the people that she cared for couldn't stop and tell her what he knew to be true. She was beautiful. It didn't matter that she was pregnant. There was something about her smile and the way she wore her hair and all the little things that she said to Clark, ranging from when he was upset to the jokes that they share, that made her seem like the most beautiful person in the world to him. To think that other people couldn't see that, or at least wouldn't acknowledge it every now and again, infuriated him. “Of course I really think you're beautiful,” Clark insisted, shifting over to look at her more closely. “I'd be crazy not to.”
Then she kissed him. Not on the mouth, no, but close. His heart skipped a beat and his entire body froze, then proceeded to melt. She was beautiful. He wanted to say it again. Clark wanted to tell her, then kiss her back. He wanted to show her how beautiful he thought she was.
He didn't. It was an emotional response. Too emotional. With everything that he was feeling now, mixed between grief and uncertainty, Clark didn't want to risk making things awkward with Darcy by taking that step. She might have ended up believing that he didn't mean it if he did. That if he had kissed her right then and there, that it was because he was upset and needed it for comfort, rather than anything else. Reaching up, Clark tugged at the collar of his shirt nervously. No kissing. That would be bad. “I did! I mean, I do. I do mean it. You are.” He turned back to search for the tea, face going red.
Tea second in line on the location front, Clark set it up beside the kettle and shot Darcy an amused look at her insistence that she was okay with being there with him right now. That look broadened just a little at her comment on the sudden turnabout as far as tea making was concerned. “Yup. I appear to be stealing your idea, Darcy. I'm making the tea.” He nodded to the chair. “Sit. Relax. You probably shouldn't be on your feet so much anyway, right?”