Disclaimer: I have a fast approaching deadline for an assignment I cannot do, but I do not own Smallville.
A/N: This is set after Zod's defeat. In series 6, I believe. Any and all feedback welcome.
Clark ran from the hospital and back to Chloe. His mother and Lois were safe and Lana had Lex back. Now all he needed was to get back to Metropolis to check that his friend, his best friend, was safe. He had to know that she had survived and what she had meant by that kiss. Clark found her at the Daily Planet offices; it figured the reporter would stay at work during the apocalypse. Clark walked up to her and gave her a hug before she could do anything. She was okay.
"Clark. Oh my God. I thought were dead," said Chloe.
"Hi. Um...so did I... for a while there."
"What happened? Where did you go?"
"A place I never want to go again. Are you okay?"
"Yeah. Everything's great now that you're here," Chloe sighed.
"Um... Chloe... before I left," said Clark" "... there was this moment that we, um..."
"You mean when I laid one on you?" smiled Chloe. "Don't worry, Clark. It was the end of the world. It's not like I'm expecting us to hook up."
Clark considered his answer carefully. He was finding Chloe hard to resist at the moment. Perhaps she was right. It was just the intensity of the apocalypse. "Um... yeah, me -- me neither. Strictly friends."
"So…," said Chloe, slightly nervously, "how is everyone else?"
"Erm… you should probably grab on, you should come back with me. Lois is in the hospital, the plane that she and mom were on fell from the sky, I don't know what happened."
"Oh, God" Chloe said as she gripped on to Clark. He ran her over to the hospital so that she could see her cousin.
Chloe stayed in the room with Lois until the Doctors told her that she had to leave. Lois was fine really. Just a little head rush from her apparent trip to the heavens. Chloe had to laugh at the description. Though she supposed the 'Fortress of Solitude' was rather beautiful, she hadn't really ever thought of it as heavenly. Then again, she had only ever been there when she was freezing to death. Perhaps she had never taken the time to look properly.
After their decision to leave their friendship as it was, nothing more, Chloe and Clark tried hard to forget their intimate moment. It wasn't that difficult really, they'd been practicing since elementary school, or at least Chloe had. On the surface both of their lives returned to the status quo. Clark was still angry that Lana was with Lex, he was angrier still when he found out they were getting married and Lana was to have Lex's child. Chloe returned to her secret pining for Clark to notice her. What neither of them seemed to notice, were the stolen glances they took of each other. Clark always waited that extra beat to announce his arrival in a room with Chloe. Chloe's gaze into Clark's eye lasted a microsecond longer than a friend's should. Perhaps they noticed, perhaps they didn't, but neither was willing to risk a friendship on the chance that the other would be willing to return their affections. It took until Valentine's Day for them to look at their relationship and their true feelings and not without a little push in the right direction from a mutual friend.