Title: Contact

Author: GEFM

Genre: Romance

Fandom: Smallville

Pairing: Clark/Chloe

Disclaimer: I don't own. All characters are property of the CW network and DC comics.

A/N: Feathery Puffy Chlarky Fluff; One Shot; Pretend that Clark's barn window is way bigger than it really is.

Enjoy!

"So…would you go back?" He was leaning on the barn window looking uncertainly at the stars.

"I've thought about it."

"You have?" She knew he had, but it still depressed her to hear it.

He nodded as he turned back to her, arms crossed over his chest.

"Ya know, there's something amazing about being part of the answer sometimes. Everyday people argue and bicker over the possibility of life on other planets. And here I am, the proof." He preoccupied himself with the telescope for a bit as Chloe sat in restrained silence.

"Do I think my life would be easier on Krypton or some other colony? Sure. How could it not be?" He looked up from the viewfinder and set his attentions on space again.

"So much has gone wrong with my life because of my abilities and because of my origin." His eyes filled with remorseful tears as he continued. "Every relationship…every conversation I've had to lie. It wouldn't be like that around my own people." He fondled the telescope absent-mindedly.

"But when I think about what my life would have been without the complications…Can you imagine all the people who would have died? You, Lana, Mom, Lex, Pete. Imagine all the people that would die in future because I was not capable of saving them. What kind of existence would that be?" Tears blurred his vision again but he valiantly fought them off.

"Would you go back?" Chloe repeated eagerly again, steering the conversation back on course. The question was bothering her far more than she would care to admit. It was an understandable fear of hers that she wanted silenced. Having him play the avoidance game was unkind to her nerves.

"Krypton was destroyed when I was sent to this planet. There wouldn't be any place for me to go back to."

Chloe felt an incessant frantic need to have a definite resolution to her question. "Just say that it wasn't or that they recreated a New World some place else." She couldn't imagine waking up one-day knowing Clark had left Earth never to return again. The thought alone caused a nasty sinking feeling deep in her stomach. She needed to hear him say it…more than she'd ever needed anything, including him.

Not wanting to delve into that just yet, he promptly dodged her again, pretending as if he hadn't heard her say anything at all.

"That's not important. What we should really focus on is what happened. How is it possible that a culture so advanced would only think to save one child? That has to mean something. There has to be a reason why I was the only one." Clark crossed the loft to get to his desk, in an illogical search for answers. From one of the various packed drawers he pulled out an astronomical grid where an area was marked with highlighter. He handed it to Chloe who reviewed it ignorantly.

"Uh…Clark? Lana's the Astro major, not me." She tried to shove it back at him.

"That's where Krypton was. Right there." He outlined the image (or lack there of) with his finger.

Suddenly she was infinitely more interested in the graph but not enough to divert the mounting dread that was beginning to drown her. In what appeared to be absorbing thought, he began to mark steps hurriedly up and down the loft.

Clark had become rapidly more edgy, off balance and sweaty after seeing the film, "Contact" one of her favorites. The movie told of a scientist, who after receiving a digital blue print to construct a massive transport device, travels into space to meet the aliens of the star system "Vega". Chloe wasn't sure how Clark would react to seeing the movie. She certainly never thought he would get this upset.

She began to notice the quite shaking of the entire loft due to the violence of his steps. This had to stop or he'd run a rut right through the already worn wood floor. She put the map down and situated herself in front of him, putting her hands on his upper arms, attempting to steady his pacing form.

"Clark…" He slowed down a bit at the sound of her voice, but his delirious trudging form caused Chloe to loose balance and she ended up standing on his shoes as he continued walking. "Look at me, Clark. Look. At. Me." She tried to move his face and he finally saw her. Really saw her. She was now a mere centimeter from him as most of her body was pressed against his after he came to a stop. Not knowing what else to do, Chloe hugged him in his state, pulling him in tightly so that he felt the urgency she'd been so expertly concealing during his rants. She began to tremble uncontrollably, fighting with all her might to remain composed. "Please, Clark." The question bubbled up again. "Would you go or not?"

After many silent moments without any satisfying response she whispered sternly into his ear, "You tell me now. Tell me you wouldn't go."

There was a desperate weight in her demand that he recognized to be found in the depth of her feelings. And he realized that he would find the answer in his own. His arms came up and he returned the embrace. The tears that had fogged his eyes fell into her hair.

"I wouldn't" His voice shaky and thick with emotion, "I would never leave you here."

The stark truth in his words both touched and shocked her. She pulled back, noticing the streak of moisture down his cheek. Chloe lifted her hand to brush it away.

Their proximity had increased somehow as Clark brought her back into his arms. He kissed the very top of hair and breathed in her scent. The moment held significance in both of them. Their dynamic was forever changed. "Tell me that you love me." He hadn't meant to say it, but he'd wanted to hear her admit it, he'd wanted to hear her confirm it so badly he couldn't stop himself.

Chloe shot him a bewildered look. She felt confused, surprised, and slightly insulted until all that vanished once she saw his crestfallen expression and the change of scenery…they were floating, right out the window and into the higher atmosphere. He'd been practicing.

"Oh My God!" she clawed his arms unconsciously.

"Tell me," He whispered again, ignoring her outburst. "Tell me that if I asked you to come with me now, you would." He dipped his head to place a singular kiss on her ear. "Tell me that you believe me, when I say that I love you too."

She was nestled against him, staying close as the ground fell away gradually. They were flying, but somehow the most fantastically notable part for Chloe was hearing Clark utter those words.

She relished the feeling of being in his arms, of defying gravity, of knowing that Clark truly loved her.

She raised her head and kissed his chin softly, lingering there a bit. "I would, because I believe and I-" She inhaled heavily "I love you--Clark, I love you so damn much…" The admission lifted a considerable burden from her shoulders.

He smiled down at her in a way that she had never seen him do before. There was almost an endless happiness in his eyes, like he saw for the first time a way for his life to be fulfilling, beautiful, and significant. Watching her this way, he knew he was right to take this step and right to close his mind to possibilities far elsewhere.

He gazed at the dark sky once again and thought, 'I don't need to go back. I have everything I could ever want right here.'

FINIS

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