Disclaimer: I do not own Smallville.
Summary: AU. Clark has come back from his training at the Fortress of Solitude to find Lois with Richard White; If that wasn't bad enough his mother is apparently getting married to White senior. On the bright side he met this pretty blonde at the wedding... NC-17. Set AU post-series, where Chloe never went to Smallville and as such never met Clark. Not entirely Lois or Oliver friendly; just a bit of forewarning.
Clark quietly shut the door to the coatroom shut behind him, leaning against the wall and letting his thoughts wander.
Just days ago he had come back from his training with Jor-El at the Fortress of Solitude only to find that Lois Lane, the woman of his dreams, had moved on.
It shouldn't have surprised him. He had never trusted her with his secret and as far as she knew Clark Kent was leaving because of "personal issues" for an undisclosed period of time; Nonetheless it had hurt to find her in the arms of another man. Even worse to find his mother marrying the father of said man.
"Trouble in paradise?" A feminine voice jolted him out of his reverie and he turned, startled, to regard the other person with him. A petite blonde, standing at a foot shorter than him with gleaming gold-green eyes and creamy white skin. The woman had her hair held in a fairy-like hairstyle and was wearing an elegant aquamarine dress.
"Y-Yeah." He grimaced, wondering how he hadn't noticed the other person, though perhaps it was excusable considering his current situation. "My mother's the bride."
"Ouch." The girl, for she could barely be older than twenty, mid-twenties at max, winced in sympathy. "I feel for you. I got dragged here because my older cousin's dating the guys son." She groused, rolling her eyes.
He blinked, mind racing as he registered her words. Perry White only had one son, and he was dating Lois, and that meant... "You're Lois' younger cousin?" He asked, eyes wide.
"Yeah." She nodded, raising an eyebrow in curiosity. "You know Lois?"
Clark swallowed and returned the gesture. "Yeah, I'm Clark Kent; I work with her. She never mentioned you." He breached hesitantly.
"Chloe Sullivan, typical," She rolled her eyes once more. "Once Lois gets going she's out there." She grinned, hazel eyes practically glowing in the very dim light offered by the light shining through the gaps around the door. "She mentioned you, though. Something about running off...?"
"Personal issues." He defended briskly at her words, frowning. "I was gone for ten years."
"And she moved on." She finished the unspoken words, spotting the pain in his eyes. "Yeah, Lois has left a trail of broken hearts. She's flighty, comes with being a military brat." She shrugged. "Sorry."
He sighed at her words, knowing that they were true. "Thanks." He smiled tiredly."So, what is it you do?" He tried for a light-hearted conversation.
"Journalist at the Star city register. I've worked there for a while, was actually planning on moving on to the Planet at some point." She confessed.
"Really? Why haven't you done it already?" He queried, tilting his head. "If you're as good as Lois then I'm sure you'd do fine."
"I'm better than Lois." She said stubbornly, lifting her chin proudly. "I'm her inspiration, not the other way around. And I can actually spell."
"Woah, okay!" He raised his hands in an attempt to placate the blonde spitfire. "Sorry I bought it up." He said sheepishly.
"No, I'm sorry." She returned just as sheepishly. "Sometimes I get defensive. Whenever I talk to someone who knows Lois they assume I'm going to follow in her footsteps, and I get snappy. It gets irritating after a while. It's actually the reason I'm still stuck at the Star city register."
"What happened?" He asked curiously, brow furrowed.
"She dated a billionaire hottie way back when. When she got bored of him she ditched him with the excuse that she "couldn't share him with the rest of the world" and then when he tried winning her back she pointed him in my direction and let go. I was still getting over my "husband's"," She sounded bitter at the word husband, as though disgusted by the very concept. "Murder, so we got in a "Friends with benefits" scenario. Next thing I know it's a week after we got into a heated discussion over whether I considered our relationship was going anywhere and why I couldn't call him my "boyfriend" and we're married in Vegas and he's planning our future with me cooking meals at home and looking after our 2.5 kids."
"Ah." Clark wasn't sure how to respond to that.
"Yeah. All the while Lois is waving her pom-poms for us and dating, and here's the kicker." She paused for dramatic effect. "A cop. "Can't share you with the world", she says." Chloe sneered.
"What happened next?" He asked her, interested despite himself and feeling a little bit better over his break-up with Lois.
"I got the hell out of there, that's what. I'm twenty-five years old and he's planning our future and thinking I'll just accept Lois' scraps and go along with it while he does whatever. That I'll just accept a crappy Vegas wedding as a "fix all" solution to our problems. Like I'm some mentally damaged cheerleader that depends on him to fix my life and takes what she can get. Like I don't have dreams of my own and I'm perfectly content to be his Lois stand-in."
Clark was speechless for a moment as he absorbed her information. "..Wow."
"Yeah, "Wow". But I can't blame Lois; she's just kind of dull and insensitive. She can't help that." She huffed. "But yeah, It was about then that I realized that I wasn't willing to sacrifice my dreams and my future just so I could be some stay at home wife or sidekick." She said scathingly, eyes narrowed. "I mean, I want kids someday. But not at the expense of my life and individuality; it's what defines 'me'. Y'know?"
"Right." He nodded. "You're opinionated."
"Damn right I'm opinionated!" She exclaimed proudly. "Sorry, that's been on my chest for a while now." She quieted down in embarrassment of her outburst. "I don't know what it is about you, Clark. But I feel like I can trust you."
"Thanks." He smiled warmly, earning a flustered blush in return. "But wait..." He paused as he did math in his head. "How long ago did that happen?
"About eight, nine years ago."
And ouch, it hurt to know that that Lois hadn't even waited a year. "But that's... You can't be much over twenty-five now." He said confusedly.
The blonde huffed in amusement. "Twenty-five? Try thirty-four." She grinned at his look. "Yeah, I pretty much stopped aging when I hit twenty-one. Guess I'm one of the lucky ones."
Clark was about to respond when the door was thrust open and standing there was Clark's old best friend Pete Ross. "Clark, man! They need you out here damnit!" He hissed.
"Right, sorry." He shook his head and made to leave. "I'll talk to you later Chloe."
"Sure, I'll just sneak out when no-ones looking." She chirped perkily, evidently a lot happier now that she had gotten her baggage off her chest.
Clark was happy that she wasn't burdened nearly as much anymore, but he couldn't help but ruminate over her opinion on Lois. Had the brunette really... "Clark!" He jerked at Pete whispered words. "Remember to put your glasses on, man."
He stilled as he realized his near-fatal mistake and quickly put the thick-framed glasses on his face.