Title- La Vie
Author- J.A.K
Rating- R: for real life feelings and real life situations that aren't always PG-13
Summary- Quite a bit of time has passed since Chloe and Clark have found their happiness in each other. This is the continuation of the goings-on in their lives including the lives of everyone else around them. This is an epic story of Life, Deception, and Tragedy; a story of how surprising life can be, and how cold, but sometimes comforting reality is. Find out what extraordinary events could break Chloe and Clark apart, and what could bring Lex and Lana together. This is a fanfic told through the eyes of every single person that has bearing on these four young people's lives.
Author's Note- A continuation of Debi's 'It's Now or Never 'and 'Monday at School'. My story has a plot and even a sub-plot that I promise will leave you wanting more. Scroll down and give it a chance.
An part 2: Clark and Lana are 17, while Pete and Chloe are 18 years old (Chloe only three months older than Clark and Pete the oldest, scoring six months over any of them). I know this isn't exactly right, but for the purposes of my story I've made it that way. I've also made Lex 22.
AN part 3: A very SPECIAL thanks goes out to my Beta-reader Alisa West, aka AW, who is woman enough to tell me like it is- even when what it is, isn't up to par. A great big shout-out also goes to my sister, for reading it over and having the final say. Thank You!
^Chapter One^
Chloe
A year has passed since that pivotal day when the lines of friendship were crossed and platonic boundaries were broken; a year later since that fateful Saturday when my best friend- since eighth grade- became my lover.
I- Chloe Sullivan- was currently sitting on a mound of blankets, on top of my bed, and writing in a diary that I'd had for a little more than six months now.
Stiff drops of rain were making themselves heard against the glass of my windows and the dull tiles of the house. The sounds, however, didn't lull me to sleep and out of what I was doing. It did just the opposite in fact, making a more than adequate substitute for my broken radio.
I leaned forward, resting on my elbows, and continued writing down my thoughts; writing for two pages about how funny life was. About how there were so many twists and turns along that journey we all must invariably take, that leads us to a juncture in a road that many of us never see coming.
In mid stroke, I abruptly stopped my actions and paused to take note of the wave of dizziness that passed over me. A sigh rose and died in my chest along with the pang of irritation that had begun to form. It was very frustrating to feel sick, and not know where the source of the ailment was coming from.
This wasn't the first time this feeling had happened, but usually it was accompanied by other symptoms.
To say I was terrified the first time I felt cramping (totally unrelated to my menstrual cycle) accompanied by nausea, would be a vast understatement. There was no way I could be pregnant I had reasoned at the time. There was no way our methods of contraception had failed- though we had been getting less careful about our responsibilities as we grew more familiar with each other's bodies. So I waited and prayed for my period to come, and breathed the biggest sigh of relief I'm sure mankind has ever heard, when it finally came.
It was good to know that I wasn't pregnant- excellent as a matter of fact. But the feelings of sickness were still there, and I wasn't any closer in my reasoning to understand why.
Note to self,
Self: ...GO SEE THE DOCTOR.
As much as it pained me to admit that something was wrong, I had to suck it up and get over the fact that my hard fought record would come to an end; the record being that I had not been to the hospital since that last wall of weird incident, which had occurred over a year ago.
I wrote down the initials GStD in my diary, as a reminder of what I had to do. I don't know why I didn't write out the entire sentence, or why a truckload of apprehension settled in my stomach when I thought of the whole situation.
Looking back, I have to wonder if one of the meteor rocks hadn't given me some sort of psychic powers where I could feel when disaster was about to strike.
I put down my pink-feathered pen for the second time that night and wondered what Clark was up to. I wondered if he was as bummed out as I was about our temporary state of forced separation.
The pictures about what happened that...eventful afternoon, were threatening to replay themselves for about the thousandth time in my mind. So with Herculean effort, I shoved the offending thoughts away.
Essentially, to make a very long story short, Clark and I were found- by my father- in a compromising position in my bedroom. And after a lot of yelling and lecturing, my father told Clark that he thought it would be best if we "cooled off for a while" so that things wouldn't get "any further out of control."
To be perfectly honest, I don't think Clark even registered that part of the conversation. Or if he did, he didn't show it. All he could seemingly focus on was the fact that my dad said that he wouldn't tell his parents what had transpired that afternoon, because he thought Clark was a good kid who had succumbed in a moment of weakness.
What happened after that?
Well, Clark being Clark, blushed, nodded, and went home. That was more than five days ago, and I haven't been alone with him since.
That very upsetting thought set in motion what I'd wanted to do for the past half an hour since my dad was called in to work because of an emergency down at the plant.
I glanced around the room and jumped out of bed. Quickly finding a piece of paper and scribbling down a note that said I was at the Talon doing research, I threw on my sneakers and pushed a really pretty pair of earrings through my ear lobes. I grabbed a scrunchie and did up my now shoulder length hair into a bun that rested neatly on the nape of my neck. Glancing in a mirror to make sure everything was okay, I took my raincoat and my keys and made a beeline straight for the Kent Farm Estate.
************************
Lana
Irrespective of everything that has happened to date, I know- with firm conviction- that I still have lingering feelings for Clark Kent.
I realized that two weeks ago when jealousy overwhelmed me as I saw him and Chloe walking hand in hand into this same coffee shop, laughing loudly at what was probably some joke that Pete had told.
Yep… two weeks ago.
Two weeks ago when I still thought there had been an indication of something that could have meant that Clark had come to his senses and wanted to be with me. Two weeks ago when I had my ego -not to mention my feelings- crushed when I realized that he wasn't even staring at me, but at Chloe, who had somehow gotten behind my back without me noticing her.
It was amazing what could happen in fourteen days.
Right now, I was in The Talon, rooted to my position by the cash register.
The lights from inside were reflecting dimly off the glass walls, causing a glare to form against the surface.
That made it almost impossible to see outside.
Outside didn't matter though. There was nothing going on out there, like there was just as equally nothing going on in here...
I let out a deep breath and moved from where I had been standing so I could accept all the comforts the cushion booths had to offer.
Outside…
Driving deeper and deeper into thought I serenely realized that I- Lana Lang- was bigger than the sedentary confines of Smallville. I, for the first time ever, became aware of the fact that somewhere out there, was a bigger and better place for me; a greater purpose for how my life was to be lived.
I shrugged.
There was maybe even a little adventure to be found along the way.
I absentmindedly pushed back a wisp of hair that had fallen into my face, and continued to dream.
I thought about how, for starters, any good adventure needed a mystery. A mystery that would keep you enthralled with your own good luck for having found something so wonderfully unfamiliar and different.
Looking around the shop again, I felt disappointment wash over me.
There were absolutely no mysteries in Smallville. There was nothing or no one here to lead me out of the monotony of my own life...
...AND FREEZE.
Now here is where I wish I had a camera that could have captured, forever, the still frames of that very thought. A thought that I would always feel was the point where everything previous to its happening could be labeled as 'Before', and everything following its happening could be labeled as 'After'.
Looking back, I would always swear on my parents' grave that fate knew exactly what I was thinking and decided to intervene on my behalf.
I wish that I had been a little faster on the uptake, and I wish that I hadn't so blatantly ignored what was staring me right in the face all along.
But maybe that's how everything was supposed to happen anyway. Maybe the unknowing was what ultimately added to the overall experience. Because it was an experience; an experience that took me on a ride that I could never have expected or foreseen.
It's funny the way life works like that.
I raised my imaginary champagne glass and gave a toast to life, silently thanking it for me not knowing that I was about to cross the path of the biggest mystery ever presented to Smallville (besides the one we all know is Clark) and unknowingly to myself.
It was at that moment- as I looked up- that Lex Luthor entered the Talon, running a hand over the surface of his bare head and walking straight in the direction of my booth.