Author's Note: The recent Season 9 spoilers made me depressed, so I had to write something. This is the result. It's an AU for Season 8 or 9. I wrote it for 9, but you can look at as 8, if you want. For those of you waiting on an update of The Unknown in the Agent, I intend to write the last chapter at some point. I'm upset at both House and Bones right now, though, so we'll see when I feel like writing it.
Disclaimer: I don't own Chlark or Smallville, as evidenced by Season 9.
"It's raining again," Clark announces from his place at the desk opposite hers. Chloe glances up and out of the window. It is raining. It's been raining all week, which wouldn't normally be weird. Except Clark has seen fit to tell her each and every time it's even so much as drizzled.
"Why are you so concerned with the rain lately?"
"I don't know," Clark says and frowns. "It just- It reminds me of you."
Chloe raises an eyebrow at him. That would make sense, except he's never done this before, and they've been friends for ten years. And more than friends for awhile now. "Reminds you of me how?"
"When it rains, I see you crying, and it's because of something I did. Something I said. I hurt you, Chloe." He sounds so lost, so frightened, so upset that it worries her.
"You haven't done anything, Clark. I'm fine."
"No, you're not."
The utter despair in his voice spurs her into action, and Chloe stands up from her chair and moves to his side. She wants to wrap her arms around him, to comfort him, but as she goes to do so, he flinches away.
"I don't want to hurt you. But he did. Maybe I will too."
She sucks in a breath. "What are you talking about?"
Clark stands, walking past her, and starts pacing beside their desks. "I don't know, Chlo. It's like I can see what's happening to us, but it's not us. He hurts you, Chloe. He hurts you so much, and – and I can't do anything to stop it."
Chloe steps in front of him, and he comes to a halt. This time, when she reaches out and puts a hand on his arm, he doesn't move away. "Whatever and whoever this is, they aren't us, Clark. You have to remember that. You haven't hurt me, and you're not going to."
Then she wraps her arms around him in a tight hug, moving her hands over his back in a soothing manner. At first, he's tense in her arms, but after a moment or two, he relaxes into her embrace. That doesn't stop him from clinging to her so tightly it almost hurts, but Chloe isn't worried. He would never hurt her. She knows it.
"It's stopped raining," he mumbles into her hair after a few minutes, and she pulls back to look at him. There's still anguish in his eyes, but she's sure he understands now. Whatever he's seeing, it isn't real. It isn't them.
This, this is real. They're Clark and Chloe, long-time best friends and now lovers, coworkers at The Daily Planet. It's everything their lives have been moving towards since the first time they met in eighth grade, and it's so right, so real. She can't imagine anything else.
Clark puts on a wry grin, almost like he's embarrassed to have gotten so worked up. She knows he must be, but she understands. She's always understood Clark. "I'll never hurt you, Chloe," he says. He's reassuring himself, but she appreciates the sentiment, even though she doesn't need to be reminded. She trusts him.
"I know you won't. Now, come on. We've got a story to finish before we meet Lois and Oliver for dinner."
Clark makes a face at that. "Do we have to? They'll just be all couple-y. You know how they are."
"Of course, we have to, but maybe later, we can do something about making it up to you. Then, we can be all couple-y."
His face splits into its wide, sunny grin, and he practically super speeds back to his chair. "Come on, Chloe. We've got a story to finish."
She smiles too and walks back to her chair. As she starts to sit, she pauses in order to glance out the window. The dark clouds that hung over the city just this morning are nowhere in sight, and Chloe's glad. Now, outside the window, the sun is shining, and somehow, she knows it's going to stay that way.