Disclaimer: I do not own Smallville.
A/N: Sorry it's taken so long to get back to this; Here's to The Fallen Sky, hope you enjoy. :)
Chapter two:
Chloe warily trod across the red carpet, eyes alert for any sign of an attacker; After Smallville and it's many 'Irregularities' it was practically an ingrained reflex to utilize all the caution of a four-star General. (Her cousin's words, not her's.)
Despite all of her caution she was still taken by surprise when she felt a thick hand lightly caress her arm, causing her to yelp and spin a full one-eighty. "...Clark?" She blinked, staring up at the cotton-clad Peter Pan look-alike. (Provided Peter Pan grew about a foot and a half, put on some major muscle and started looking like raw sex.) "What are you doing here? I thought I told you to stay downstairs." She demanded, huffing and stomping a foot in an eerie replication of her character.
"Aw, don't be like that 'Tink'." He teased, smirking in a way that made her blush, taking a step back. "I just couldn't wait downstairs, it was getting boring." He shrugged nonchalantly, earning a glare from the petite blonde.
"Whatever, just... Come on." Grabbing him by the hand, Chloe dragged Chloe into the main bedroom, earning a half-startled half-intrigued look said boy. She let go of his hand and carefully closed the door behind them. "Alright, look for anything out of the ordinary." She started to move, however, with a burst of speed Clark effortlessly produced a file out of seemingly nowhere.
"I think you're looking for this." He said amusedly, lips twitching.
"That was quick." She noted, giving him a look to which he just shrugged. "Anyway, give me that." She gestured towards the folder, earning a chuckle from the farmboy.
He flicked the front page of the folder open and hung it in front of her face, allowing her to read the first few lines. "Take a look." He smiled, raising an eyebrow at her as though in challenge.
She rolled her eyes and leaned in to take a look. And paused. "That's... The students. But this is all official documentation." She spoke, confused.
"Yeah." He drawled, smirking. "Turns out it's not the students that don't match up. It's the school's records. A typo. Congrats on solving your first big case Ms. Marple."
She snatched the folder from his hands and looked over the dates, comparing them in her head and scrunching her face in that adorable way she did whenever she screwed up. Clark quickly smothered his laughter and shook his head. The blonde pouted and drew back. "You mean to say that I went through all this trouble for nothing?"
Shaking with laughter Clark sighed, pretending to be disappointed. "Looks like." He replied, biting his lip to prevent an outburst.
Chloe sat back on the bed, slumping. "Damn it. I hired this costume for the whole night, too."
"Well..." 'Tinkerbell' turned to look him, raising an eyebrow in query. "There's still a party going on downstairs." He hinted, blushing slightly as he looked down.
Chloe stared up at him for a moment, blank-faced. "Right." She finally chirped, jumping to her feet and startling him. "You're absolutely right, Clark!"
"I am?" He asked, struck dumb by the girl's sudden change in attitude. "I mean, I am!" He nodded vigorously, eliciting a stifled grin form the petite blonde.
"You are." She confirmed, grabbing his hand once more and near-dragging the much taller male along with her. "So what do you say to a dance?"
"Wait, what?" Clark stared at her with wide-eyes.
Chloe turned, an evil smile on her face. "You wanted to party, right? Well, I want to see how you fare on the dance floor, Mr. Kent!"
Stumbling around one of the food tables set to the side, Clark hastily followed after his best friend, whining all the way. "Chloe, I can't dance!"
Chloe narrowed her eyes at him. "Spring formal says otherwise." She retorted.
The green-clad farmboy winced at the subtle jab. Even though the blonde understood why he'd had to leave during the tornado, she wasn't above using it to strong-arm him into using it to get him to do as she said. And most of the time it worked.
The now reticent Kryptonian matched her gait, frowning guiltily. "One dance." He finally agreed, giving her a look.
Chloe grinned and let go of his hand, waiting for him to retain his footing amidst the other dancing party-goers. "Finally." She huffed, eyeing him sardonically. "Take my hand, farmboy." She reached out.
Hesitating briefly, Clark nonetheless took the offered appendage, shifting to match her footing.
For a moment, the two teens stood there awkwardly, the tiny blonde waiting for him to make the first move before finally, with a huffed, "Oh for crying out loud." She dragged him into a basic step.
Clark followed her lead, moving when she expected him to move and speeding up when she expected him to speed up. He didn't notice the subtle frown on Chloe's face as she watched his, taking in the compliant way he moved but noticing how he didn't even attempt to improvise or alternate.
He blinked as she suddenly shifted, leading into some sort of a quick step. Thankfully the other dancers didn't seem to notice the complicated footwork or the distinct shuffle, too taken in with their own partners. He did, however, notice two of the boys chatting off to the side staring at them. One of the boys nudged the person next to him and pointed in their direction. "Chloe-" He started nervously, receiving only a slight glare in return. Chastised, he tried to follow her dance.
Chloe was becoming steadily more annoyed with Clark; She knew from Spring formal and one of the school dances nearly a year ago that he could dance, but he just wasn't. She felt a bit of resentment at his clear disinterest in her but, nonetheless, lead him into another dance, doggedly rotating and leading him into a quadrille.
Clark adjusted his hat, fumbling as Chloe suddenly stepped away, taking measured steps around him. 'Is that...?'
Not many people knew, but between a temporary fixation with James Bond (He was a British Super-spy, come on!) and a lack of talent with instruments Clark had, for a short while, actually taken dance classes. Something his parents had actually approved seeing as how it would help increase his balance and possibly his control over his powers. Hesitantly, Clark followed the movement, keeping up even when she lead into a complex minuet and then a standard ballroom dance.
Chloe wouldn't admit it, but between the bitterness at Clark's obvious lack of interest in her and his farmboy origins she was actually enjoying seeing him become flustered as he tried to keep up with some of the movements she had learnt in her time in Metropolis. Though she cringed a bit as she realized that there was no way she could just lead into standard party shakes, headbanging or a regular party "dance" so, with pursed lips, she lead into a waltz, slowing the pace and hoping they could subtly lead away from the dance floor.
She lead him carefully across the floor, thankfully aided by the space provided by party couples whom had noticed their competitive styles and become intrigued.
Clark sighed in relief as she slowed, leading him towards the food tables slowly, only speeding up once to tango at the last minute and then pull away, leaning over to grab one of the ham sandwiches provided. The other couples and entranced loners off to the side had moved their attention away from him and back to their idle conversations. He stared at her in confusion as she bit into her food, wondering at her sudden change of tempo. "Chloe, are you okay?" He asked tentatively.
"I'm great, Clark! Just... A little tired." She lied, faking a smile.
Clark wasn't overly versed on either women or behaviour, but he could tell that the petite girl was lying. "What's asked?" He queried in concern, furrowing his brow.
"Nothing, I just need a break is all." She said irritably, taking another bite out of her sandwich.
The farmboy watched her, waiting until she had finished her food before speaking. "Chloe, I can tell that something's up, tell me what's wrong." He pressed. The evening had been going fine before the young woman had suddenly started acting weird, and he needed to know why.
The blonde hid her annoyance, peeved by his blatant disregard for her feelings. Some part of her knew that she was being irrational but, nonetheless, she couldn't help her anger. "You wanna know what's wrong, Clark?" She blurted, putting her heart on her sleeve. "I came here for a story, but I got nothing. Then, after you convinced me to come downstairs and just enjoy the party I have to practically blackmail you into dancing with me, and even then I have to put up with you ignoring me in favour of watching other people dance, and eyeing the girls in the corner."
Clark suddenly realized that she had gotten the wrong impression from his glances over to the other party-goers. "It's not like that, Chloe, I just-"
"Just what?" She cut across, prodding him in the chest with a finger. "Just don't like being near me? Just prefer any other girl than me? What is it about me that so repulses you, Clark?" She asked scathingly.
Clark stared at her, dumbstruck by the words that had come from her mouth. "Chloe, it's nothing like that, I just-"
"Don't bother, I get it when I'm not wanted. I get that you were trying to convince me to just stay around the tables so that you could talk about football, or eye potential dates, or-"
Clark cut across her this time, not with words, but by grabbing her around the waist and laying one on her.
Chloe froze, eyes wide with shock as his lips pressed against hers, stunned into inaction by his sudden actions. After a moment she felt his tongue probing her defenses and, unable to resist, parted her lips, pressing against him.
For nearly a minute they stayed like that, completely ignoring the onlookers around the table staring at them, the dancers eyeing them and the people sitting off to the side of the room staring at them jealously. Finally they parted. "I was going to say," Clark started breathlessly. "That I didn't want to dance because I'm wearing tights and you have an extremely short skirt." He blushed.
For a moment she stared up at him, stunned form held aloft only by his strong arms. "...Oh." She finally spoke. "But why-?" She suddenly felt why, pressing against her stomach. "OH!" She blushed, her face even brighter than his. "THAT'S why."
Clark looked around at the other couples, releasing her from his grip as they both smiled, embarrassed.
Finally the other people around the party turned away from them, going back to their business. "Sorry, Clark." Chloe suddenly realized how foolishly she'd been acting, flinching as he gave her a look. "I've been an idiot." She looked away.
"It's fine. I should have just told you, but I was kinda..." He scratched at his neck in embarrassment, earning a shy smile from her. "If it's all the same to you, I'd like to get out of the public eye, before..."
Chloe bit her lower lip, giving him a demure look. "Sure. I'll help you with that."
Clark smiled gratefully, blinking when she didn't lead him to the door. "Wait, where are we- Oh." He gulped, throat dry as she lead him to the landing.
The petite blonde stopped at the foot of the stairs, giving him an anxious sideways glance. "...You do want my help, don't you?" She queried hesitantly, still gripping his hand.
He spared at moment to stare at their joined hands, then at the tight, shimmering green dress that barely covered her thighs, and nodded profusely.
Chloe grinned, pulling him upstairs to a party of their own.
But that's a story for another time.
A/N: Well, that's The Fallen Sky's requested fic! Hope you all enjoyed reading it. :)
While I may write a sequel in the future it won't be too long, only about three, four chapters, and it probably won't be for a while, anyway. Sorry. :/
