Chapter Three

A/N: Switching back here to Clark's POV. And the dance begins……

The Snow Ball was in full swing, and the boringly familiar Smallville High gym had been transformed by twinkling lights and silver streamers into a Yuletide-themed dance club, every square inch of which was packed with well-dressed teenagers. Only a few years ago I'd been one of them, but now I felt as if I'd landed on an alien planet.

I mean, another alien planet. Besides Earth.

I fingered my bow tie nervously and wished I hadn't let Pete talk me into this. "How much longer do we have to stay?" I asked, raising my voice and hoping it carried over the blaring music.

Pete was as much in his element as I was out of it. He waved at a couple of kids I recognized from the junior varsity football team and handed me a plastic punch cup spilling over with gingerale. "A couple of hours." As he took in the swaying couples shimmying across the gym floor, his eyes glowed with an enthusiasm that I could only envy.

When the song ended, he turned to me, taking advantage of the few seconds of silence. "Nice tunes, huh? The DJ's a buddy of mine, I talked him into loading up on plenty of older stuff, like Coldplay and Remy Zero. How does it feel to be back?"

"Weird." The last time I'd dressed up in a tux was at our Senior Prom, when Lana and I had danced. That seemed a very long time ago now. We'd both been through a lot since then, and grown in different directions.

"Thinking about Lana?"

I smiled into Pete's sharp eyes. Having my oldest friend around was both a blessing and a curse, I thought. "How can you tell?"

"You get all moony-eyed. Like a super-sick sheep." He grimaced. "You're not still hung up on her, are you?"

Slowly, I shook my head. "That was a dream. I'm awake now." In more ways than one, I thought. I'd wasted every chance I'd ever had with Chloe, and now that I knew it, it was too late to do anything about it.

Pete stared at me. "Damn. He was right."

I stared back. "What do you mean?"

His chuckle caught me by surprise. "Don't be so hard on yourself, my man. Things have a way of working out."

The music swelled up again, and dancers streamed back onto the floor. I couldn't place the tune, but Pete recognized it immediately. "Woot! The Fray! My new favorite band!"

He caught the eye of a pretty young chaperone—a new teacher, maybe?—and melted into the crowd, cheering everyone on. I grinned in his direction, then began to listen to the lyrics.

This is going to bring me clarity
This'll take the heart right out of me

She is everything I need that I never knew I wanted

She is everything I want that I never knew I needed


This is going to bring me to my knees
I just want to hold you close to me

She is everything I need that I never knew I wanted

She is everything I want that I never knew I needed

My grin faded. It must be getting late; even the music was depressing me.

That's when I caught sight of Chloe, standing at the gym's entrance like a living vision in a dazzling blue gown. I blinked in disbelief. Hadn't Pete told me she'd turned him down?

It had been Lana who'd stood in that doorway two years ago, but the memory seemed dim and unreal compared with the cheerful radiance in front of me now. Unlike Lana, Chloe didn't float ethereally into the hall like some gossamer image. She glowed with life; her smile seemed nervous, but it lit up the room, and her cheeks were flushed from the brisk winter air outside. Her warm hazel eyes were set off by the sparkle of dangling silver earrings.

She was no dream. And she was breathtaking.

As I watched her teeter uncertainly on the threshold, balancing on too-high stiletto heels, I had to resist the urge to rush forward, pull her further inside, and wrap my arms around her. Because, of course, she wasn't alone.

Trailing behind her like a baby duckling was her photographer boyfriend. He hadn't even bothered to rent a tux; in his dull brown sweater and khakis, standing next to Chloe's graceful figure in midnight-blue satin and silver, he looked like a red-haired court jester attending a princess.

She caught my eye and smiled before I had time to wonder why she'd changed her mind about coming. I met her as she took a few careful steps inside, wobbling on her heels and wincing in visible discomfort.

"Hi, Chlo'! And, um, Jimmy." I nodded politely at his friendly grin. "What brings you here?"

"Reporting for emergency backup duty. Didn't Pete tell you? He said he had to leave early to do something-or-other for the Senator. He so owes me a favor for this." She winced again. "My feet will need major massage therapy after spending a whole night in brand-new heels."

I stared at her, puzzled. "I don't understand. Pete didn't leave; he's out on the dance floor right now." I searched through the crowd as the song ended and the floor began to clear, and pointed to a far corner of the gym, where Pete was chatting with the D.J. "See? Over there."

Was that a trick of the light, or was Jimmy really blushing? "Oh. Guess he changed his mind."

My confusion grew as I noticed Pete smile at us from across the room. Jimmy's blush, I saw, had climbed up to his hairline.

"What?" Chloe exploded. "This was all a trick? And you, Jimmy—" she wheeled on her cowering boyfriend—"you played along!" She stamped her foot and yelped in pain. "You're both going to pay….right after I sit down and kick off these shoes."

I was beginning to get angry too. "If this is a joke, I don't think it's very funny," I told him stiffly as I helped Chloe hobble over to a chair. "She didn't want to come."

Jimmy followed along, fixing puppy-dog eyes on Chloe but, I noticed, carefully keeping his distance. "Sorry, Bright Eyes," he said apologetically. "You look amazing, you know that? Just like your Senior Prom picture." He turned to me. "Remember, C.K.? When she was Queen?"

Chloe, busily rubbing her bare feet, paused and glanced up at me. Her lips tilted into a smile, but her voice was tinged with regret. "Even I don't remember that, Jimmy."

"I remember," I said, trying to tell her with my eyes how much I agreed with Jimmy. "You made a beautiful Queen….um, even if it wasn't really you at the time. Long story," I told Jimmy over my shoulder.

His eyes had an oddly hopeful gleam as they darted between the two of us. "Aren't they all?" I heard him say cheerfully, but I'd already turned back to Chloe.

"I'm sorry I didn't dance with you at the Prom," I confessed, knowing it sounded as awkward as I felt. The flash of pain in her eyes was quick, but it was enough to make me realize how badly I'd hurt her that night, and how hard she'd worked to conceal that fact from me. She'd been my pillar of strength for so long that I'd gotten used to thinking of her as invulnerable; the realization that she wasn't hit me like a ton of green K bricks.

I reached down and curled my fingers around her small hand, resisting the urge to stroke her soft palm with my thumb. More than anything, I wanted to tell her how much she meant to me. But I couldn't, not with Jimmy breathing down our necks. The most I could do was look into her eyes, and smile.

A throat cleared loudly over my head, and I suddenly realized I'd been bending so low that my head nearly touched Chloe's. We both jumped and looked up to see Jimmy grinning down at us. "No time like the present," he remarked, gesturing at the dance floor. "Why don't you two take a turn?"

Chloe groaned. "My feet vote 'no.'"

"What about you?" I challenged him, annoyed. He'd brought her here on false pretenses, and he wasn't even going to dance? She deserved a better escort than that.

Jimmy's smile seemed almost sad. "Not right now. I need to go…..um, make a phone call." He was already backing away towards the door, ignoring Chloe's surprised stare. "Be right back." He turned and exited so fast that he nearly bowled over a couple standing close to the doorway.

"What's with everyone tonight?" Chloe demanded. "Is some new Krypto-virus going around?"

I was asking myself the same question. "Hmm." I squinted and switched into X-ray mode, following Jimmy as he crossed the school parking lot. Instead of stopping to use his cell phone, he kept on going.

"Something's up," I told Chloe. "I'm going to find out what it is. Right now." I turned to follow Jimmy.

"Clark! Don't leave!" Her worried tone stopped me in my tracks. I reached down again to take her hand, and this time I did run my thumb gently across her palm in slow, comforting strokes. "Don't worry," I whispered. "It's just for a minute. I promise."

She looked skeptical, and in her eyes I saw the same fear I'd seen all those years ago at our first Spring Formal. "I mean it, Chlo'," I told her, and kissed her forehead. "Really."

This time, I was going to make it my business to see that, for once, Chloe Sullivan wouldn't be alone at the dance. I left to get Jimmy.

The parking lot was deserted when I walked outside, but I could hear Jimmy's footsteps on the sidewalk a few yards away. After a cautious glance around, I switched into superspeed and took off.

Up ahead, a high hedge blocked the view around the street corner. I overshot Jimmy and rounded the corner, then slowed down to normal time and retraced my steps, swinging back around the hedge just as Jimmy reached it. "What do you think you're doing?" I asked him, crossing my arms in front of my chest.

Jimmy froze, the whites of his eyes so wide that they nearly glowed in the dark. "How..how'd you get here so fast?" he stuttered. "You nearly gave me a heart attack."

Normally, I'd apologize, but I was really angry by now. "I ran." I moved closer, and had the satisfaction of seeing him step back nervously. "Because I'd rather not see Chloe stood up tonight." My eyes held his. "Especially by the same guy who once told me off for hurting her. I'm disappointed in you, Jimmy."

His breathing and heart rate had both been calming down, but now he stared at me in disbelief. "C.K., you're too much. Don't you get what I'm doing here?"

"Nope. Why don't you tell me on your way back to the dance?" I grabbed his arm, as gently as I could, and half-dragged him with me towards the school.

"OK, OK! Let me go, I'm coming!" I loosened my grip, and Jimmy straightened the sleeve of his sweater. "Not that it'll do much good. I'm not the one who should be with Chloe tonight."

By now I was totally confused. "What are you talking about?"

He looked away, muttering in a voice that was too soft for anyone but me to pick up. "I swear, if this guy were any more dense he'd be a fruit cake."

"What?"

Jimmy looked at me, startled. "You heard that? Sorry." He stopped to face me at the edge of the school parking lot, his cheery face unnaturally solemn in the moonlight. "C.K., I'll lay it on the line. Chloe wants you, not me. I wish it weren't true, believe me, but it's no use fooling myself."

For a moment I was speechless. "That's….you're wrong, Jimmy. She told me, weeks ago, she wasn't interested in hooking up with me. And since when do you care? You're her boyfriend."

"I care about making her happy," he said, almost defensively. I looked into his eyes for any hint of a joke, but I found none. "People don't always say what they mean, do they? Especially women who've been….hurt before."

I searched his face again. He couldn't be talking about Lana…..Could he?

Jimmy chuckled as if he'd guessed my question. "I was looking at a few old pictures tonight. They told quite a story." He shrugged. "I may not be good at reading old Egyptian, but I can sure read the handwriting on the wall."

"But…."

"You don't agree? Then I dare you. Go back in there," he said, jerking his head towards the well-lit gymnasium. "Tell her how you feel. See what happens."

"This is crazy. You're crazy," I said, smiling, suddenly feeling a rush of warmth for this insane kid who cared so much about Chloe that he was willing to give her up for the sake of her happiness. Just like me.

He smiled back and cut off my protests. "She's a Queen, remember? Don't keep her waiting."

I walked back to the gym in a daze, not quite believing what had just happened. The dance floor was relatively empty during a brief lull in the music; I spotted Chloe right away, still barefoot, fidgeting in her chair, and searching the crowd with anxious eyes. When she saw me, her face relaxed into a sunny smile.

I crossed the floor quickly and took her hand. "What happened to Jimmy?" she asked, brows raised curiously.

"He's around," I answered. "We were…..just talking, outside. He told me something I never knew."

"Really? Jimmy? Huh. Maybe he'll make a good investigative reporter someday after all."

I grinned down at her. "I'm sure he will."

The music was starting up again, a slow, haunting melody that I knew well. I tugged gently on Chloe's arm. "I love this tune. Wanna dance?"

She wrinkled her nose. "Not without shoes."

"C'mon," I said, offering my other hand to help pull her up. "I'll protect your feet, your Majesty."

Slowly she rose, and I led her to the dance floor, where teenage couples were beginning to sway, cheek-to-cheek, in time with the music.

Oh, my love, my darling,
I've hungered for your touch a long, lonely time,
Time goes by so slowly and time can do so much.
Are you still mine?
I need your love, I need your love, God speed your love to me.

I looked at the other dancers, pressing close to each other in lazy rhythm, and smiled at Chloe. "Did I mention that's one reason I love this song so much?" Ignoring her small gasp, I snaked one arm around her waist, gathering her in to me. She sighed and nestled her head on my shoulder. It fit perfectly.

Lonely rivers flow to the sea, to the sea
To the open arms of the sea
Lonely rivers sigh, 'Wait for me, wait for me'
'I'll be coming home, wait for me!'

"I have a confession to make, Chloe. I've been keeping a secret from you," I whispered softly.

She lifted her head, eyes bright with curiosity, her breath warm on my cheek. "What's that?"

My head dipped closer to hers until our lips met. She stiffened slightly at the touch, but slowly her mouth parted, and the kiss softened and deepened. I kept moving in time with the song, and it seemed to me that we were alone with each other and the music.

Oh, my love, my darling,
I've hungered for your touch a long, lonely time,
Time goes by so slowly and time can do so much.
Are you still mine?
I need your love, I need your love, God speed your love to me.

We finally broke apart so that Chloe could catch her breath. Her mouth was a soft round "O," and the sparkle in her eyes outshone the twinkling lights strung along the ceiling.

"My feet don't hurt anymore," she whispered, smiling up at me. "We must be walking on air." Then she looked down. "Clark. We are."

I followed her eyes and saw, to my horror, that she was right. Our feet were moving together in perfect synchronization, at least an inch above the gym's floorboards. I met her widened eyes and gulped. "Oops." We dropped, landing with a small thud.

"Ouch!" Chloe winced and stretched her bare toes. "That hurt."

"Sorry." I stroked her cheek and watched her lips curve upward in response. "I don't know how that happened. I won't do it again."

"Are you kidding?" she whispered back, her mouth close to my ear. "That was awesome. We just need to work on that landing."

We. Chloe and I had always been a "we." Why had it taken me so long to figure that out?

"By the way," she added, huskily, "You never told me your secret."

"I'm in love with my best friend," I whispered, and kissed her again.

Epilogue

I zoomed in on the kissing couple in the center of the dance floor and pressed the shutter button.

"Great shot," a voice behind me drawled. I looked up and grinned.

"Great choice of music, buddy," I answered, as Pete returned my grin and clapped a friendly arm on my shoulder.

"The D.J. owed me a favor. And I know Clark loves that tune." He reached for my camera. "Trying to take over my job?" he joked.

I met his eyes, and I knew he was talking about more than just the picture. "Yeah," I answered, handing him my compact digital. "I don't mind being left out, as long as the shot comes out right."

He nodded, flipping through the pictures on my camera. "Yeah, buddy. I know what you mean."

He stopped to look at one of my shots and nodded admiringly. "That, my man, is excellent. Pure gold."

It was a full-length photo of Chloe and C.K. on the dance floor, her midnight blue satin dress swirling as she leaned into his arms. I thought primary colors suited C.K. better, but I had to admit the tux looked good on him. Together, they made a beautiful two-shot.

I peered at the digital image more closely. "That's weird. It almost looks as if they're floating in that shot."

Pete stared blankly at me, then back at the picture. "Nah….just a trick of the light." His laugh sounded forced. "You just caught the mood, man. Like any really great photographer." He looked up. "It is a great shot."

I thought of the Senior Prom photo spread in Chloe's yearbook, and shrugged. "The truth is, Pete, the picture's always been there. It just took a while to develop."

THE END

Author's Note: The first song is called "She Is," by The Fray, from their album "How to Save a Life." I highly recommend it!

The second song is a personal favorite of mine: "Unchained Melody," music by Alex North, lyrics by Hy Zaret, as performed by The Righteous Brothers. It's a classic, just like Chlark, so I thought it fit here. :)