Short summary: Chloe and Clark both think the other is a bit clingy and make an effort to move on.
Timeline: Written mid-season seven, but set in some time after that with the assumption that both Chlimmy and Clana ended without all that "I will always love you" nonsense and everybody's just fine.
Part 1
"You're doing it again," Chloe said, laying on her stomach on the couch in the loft, a text book open in front of her, tapping her highlighter lightly against it.
"Doing what?" Clark asked from above her.
She turned onto her side and raised her eyebrows. "Hovering over me."
He shrugged and stepped away. "Just want to see what you're so interested in."
She rolled her eyes and turned over again. "It's a philosophy text, Clark. And It's not interesting-it's dry and it's homework. Remember homework, Clark? The thing I said I had to do?"
He leaned against the railing. "You're doing it."
"I should be doing it in my quiet dorm room, but no. Come over, Chloe. You can do your homework here," she said in a deep voice before switching to a higher pitched version of her own. "But, Clark, I have a really important test on Jacques Maritain. I just want some company with Kara away. I swear I won't bother you," she finished deeply with a pointed look.
"That sounds nothing like my voice," he said, furrowing his brow. "Besides, I was just looking for a second."
"You're always looking for a second," she muttered.
"What's that?"
She sighed and highlighted a paragraph. "You heard me."
He stood straighter. "But what do you mean by..."
"You're just... a little clingy lately. You kind of... touch me a little much."
"No, I don't," Clark replied, aghast.
"Yes, you do." She sat up, folding her legs under her. "You carried me all the way up the stairs when we got here... at normal speed, Clark. All chatty and..."
He narrowed his eyes. "Gee, if I knew it bothered you so much..."
"That's not all." She stood, pointing at him with her highlighter. "I stand on my tiptoes to get a glass and there you are, hands on the waist, making sure I don't fall down."
"So? I heard it on the news. Household accidents actually cause more injuries than..."
"But the weirdest," she went on, dropping her highlighter on the couch behind her, "was when you followed me to the bathroom."
"I was just talking and you started walking away, so..."
"You followed me in, Clark." She folded her arms, point made.
He stared at the floor. "Okay. I'll admit that's weird."
"What's going on with you?"
He pursed his lips, thinking hard. "Well, you have been in danger multiple times." He looked up. "And I constantly save you, so... Maybe I'm just a little protective and..."
"Needy," she said, sitting down and crossing her legs. "Not protective. This is different. It's neediness. You're always... touching me lately."
"If it bugs you, then why didn't you say something before?"
"I'm not saying it bugs me. I'm just saying that I've noticed."
"Okay, then." He nodded and walked toward her. "Let's just say that you're not the only one who notices things."
She sat back, swinging her leg slightly. "Meaning?"
"You're a little touchy, too. And you kind of... call me to come over a lot or have me take you here and..."
"What?" She laughed. "Clark, you pretty much harangued me into coming over here today, even though I was busy."
He held up a hand. "I'm not the only one that does it. Yesterday, you were the one who was so boredand you wanted to see a movie. And I had chores on the farm..."
"Which you can do in ten minutes."
He started pacing like a lawyer with a closing argument. "Not all of them. I can't brush the horses at my speed. They'll get rub burn. I even told you that and you just kept saying please, Clark. Come on. Lois never hangs with me anymore." He turned sharply to her. "Then, in the car and in the theater, you kept touching me."
"What? I don't remember..."
"Every time you had anything to say, there goes the hand. Either on my arm, my knee, you even neared the fly once..."
"That's a lie."
"Okay. Fine." He shrugged. "But it was higher on the leg. That's all I'm saying." He stood straighter, smirking. "You've been a little needy, too." He leaned forward slightly. "I'm just saying I've noticed," he whispered, trying to sound as condescending as she had.
She stared at him for a few minutes. "Well, that's just... Hmmm." She stared off, tilting her head to the side. "You may have a point."
"I do?" He was surprised to hear her admit it.
"We're both kind of needy. What's that about?"
He sighed and sat in the rocking chair. "It's been a nutty year."
She nodded. "I mean, Lana died and then wasn't dead."
"Jimmy dumped you... for my cousin," he finished very quietly.
"Then Lana and you kind of... blew up in your respective faces."
"You died. That was tough."
She exhaled slowly. "You found a long lost cousin and... Well, you took more than a few face plants trying to fly."
He scowled. "Maybe I just can't."
Her head shot up. "Or maybe you just can't because... Wow. I just... can't believe what I'm... Wow."
He stared at her, waiting for a clue as to what that meant. "Wow what?"
"It's us, Clark," she said, looking sharply over at him. "We're unresolved."
"Huh?"
"You have no reason to stay grounded, but you are. I should be more focused on my career and schoolwork, but I'm not and... Well, the only reason I can think of is that it's us. We have unfinished business."
"Uh... Clarify?"
"Were obviously lonely and clinging to each other. But that's just one level." She took a deep breath. "The other level is that we find it impossible to do what we should because of this... unfinished business between us. You can't get your feet off the ground. I can't concentrate at work or school. We need to... resolve things."
"And how do you propose we..."
"We have sex," she blurted.
Clark laughed. It was really the only thing he could do. She was kidding, of course. "Sure. You finish studying and we'll get right on that. Do you want to be on top or..."
"I'm not joking, Clark." She stood and he found himself rocking the chair back as far as he could. "The fact that we've never had a go at it has been hanging over us for years. Us and sex..." She stared somewhere over his shoulder. "It might be the big event that catapults us into adulthood."
"We're both twenty-one now," he croaked. His throat was a little dry. "We're adults, right?"
"But we still relate to each other like we always did. Like teenage best friends who get all awkward when we get too close. We need to rip away all the semi-romantic idealization and just... see each other as people. What better way than seeing each other naked? With all the flaws and... Hmmm. That might not apply to you, actually." She glared at him as if that was somehow his fault. She shook her head. "Anyway, I think it's the key."
"That's just..." Tempting?"Ridiculous," he decided.
"Clark, when we take the plunge and just... Well, take the plunge, really..." She nodded to herself. "Then we'll see that it's not that big a deal."
"What's not that big a deal?"
"Us." She gestured between them. "The sexual tension. We'll have it dealt with and we can just... move on."
He stared hard, waiting for her to suddenly laugh, tell him she totally had him there...
It wasn't happening.
He stood up quickly. "Chloe, you've gone nuts."
She stepped toward him. "Have I?"
He backed away. "People that are friends don't just have... relations. It ruins friendships."
She was coming closer. "Superficial friendships that have not been tested as ours has."
His butt hit a bale of hay. "But..."
"Clark, we need to just get it over with. Then we won't think of sex as this pendulum swinging over our heads, bent on ruining our friendship." She smiled. "I mean, it's just sex."
"Just sex?" He gaped at her. "Chloe, sex is..."
"Nothing special," she broke in, spreading her hands before her. "Trust me. I... Oh, yeah. You've had sex, too." Her nose scrunched up. "I guess I forget. I mean, you do use words like relations."
"Well, I just... I think you're attitude is a little casual about it," he choked. His breath finally returned to him when she turned away.
"Eh, I don't know. Sex..." She snorted. "I've had better nights with my hand."
"Chloe!" he gasped. She just wasn't going to let him breathe today.
She turned back. "Oh, Clark, just... grow up a little. If you're all squeamish, then..." She sighed and sat back on the couch. "Then I'll drop it. It was just a thought."
"An insane thought," he said, still more than a little gobsmacked. But at leats she was dropping it...
She suddenly stood again. "See, that's just it. It's not insane. I mean, it is... But only if I'm hallucinating sexual tension where there is none. If this is all in my head, then..." She suddenly strode toward him and stopped two feet away. "Bear with me a second." He geared up to hear more of her crazy logic, but there was no speech coming. She just grasped the hem of her shirt and pulled it over her face.
Skin. Bra. Skin. Nipple?
"Are you looking?" she asked from behind her shirt.
"Uh..." It was a black bra, but just a little sheer in the cup.
"Any interest?"
"Uh..." There was nipple. That was definitely nipple.
Suddenly, there was no nipple. No bra. Just black shirt. Then fingers snapping. He looked up, seeing her face, slightly flushed.
"Well?"
"Well what?"
"Is this all in my head?" There was a flash of something in her eyes.
He cleared his throat. "I think I need to see it again."
