Betty or Veronica?

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters. If I did, Lex would kick Lionel's butt, Lana would realize she's not the centre of the universe and Chloe would grab the bull by the horns and tell Clark how she feels.

****

Pete watched from Clark's kitchen window as his parents came up the walkway. "Okay, they're coming…"

The door opened and Pete, Lana and Clark yelled, "Surprise!"

"Oh! Kids, thank you so much!" Martha Kent cried joyfully at their display.

Clark narrowed his eyes. "You knew."

Martha bit her lip. "Um, a bit, yes." She laughed. "Jonathan can't keep a secret."

"Hey, don't go blaming it on me, you snooped around until you found the cake."

The five sat down at the table and Jonathan served dinner.

"Where's Chloe?" Martha asked, wondering where the spunky blonde was. She was always here to celebrate with the Kents, no matter what occasion.

"She's on a date, mom." Clark replied, his head ducked as he ate his food. "I guess we weren't at the top of her list this time."

Pete flung down his fork in frustration at his friend's attitude. "Clark, stop acting like such a baby. She's a big girl, she can take care of herself."

****

Chloe tried to open her eyes. They felt heavy and she remembered the flowers and Sam. The flowers had obviously had some sort of drug in them. The first thing she saw when she opened her eyes was the sky, dark with night. What time was it? She tried to look at her watch, when she realized that her hands had been tied to something behind her head. She was on her back, with her hands tied, in the middle of what appeared to be a field, and Sam was nowhere to be found.

She screamed long and loud, hoping someone would hear her. Was he just going to leave her there? Where had he gone? She mentally kicked herself for her trust in him. She had been hoping that this date would make Clark jealous, but that obviously hadn't worked. Now she was at the mercy of someone who she had seriously misjudged.

"Tsk tsk, Chloe. Keep making that noise and you won't get your surprise." Sam walked into view and stood over her.

"Where are we?"

"It's better that you not know, Sullivan. It makes it easier."

"Easier for what? You to keep drugging girls and taking them here for God knows what? Easier if I don't spill your dirty little secret?"

Sam shook his head with a smug smile on his face and leaned down to put a blindfold on her.

"What are you doing?"

"Oh, you'll find out in a second."

Then Chloe heard one of the most frightening sounds of her teenage life. The sound of a belt being unbuckled.

****

"Something's wrong." Clark said with a mouthful of cake.

"What? You picked it out, Clark." Lana smiled before kissing him on the cheek. He stood up briskly and went towards the door. "Clark!'

He turned around and look at his two friends. His parents had gone out to the barn to 'celebrate' and left the three teens to themselves.

"What's wrong, Clark?" Pete stood up as well and walked towards his friend, thoroughly concerned.

"I think Chloe's in trouble." Clark replied before he ran out of the house. He ran until the coast was clear, then used his superspeed to get to Chloe's house.

"Mr. Sullivan, is Chloe here?"

"No, I'm sorry, Clark. She went out tonight with a boy." Gabe grumbled a bit. He didn't like the look of Sam at all and wished that Clark would smarten up.

"Do you know where they went?"

"They said they were going to the Talon for coffee, but they might have left-" Clark was down the stairs and out of sight before Gabe could finish his sentence.

Clark sped by the school, but stopped to a halt as he noticed a car in the parking lot. Who would be at the school this late at night? And it wasn't the principal's car. He tried opening the school's front doors and found them locked. He walked around the back, near the entrance to the gym and found the door had been pried open. He went inside and thought he saw movement out on the football field.

He was at the top of the bleachers when he heard a scream from the far end of the field. "Chloe…" He whispered before sprinting down the stairs and onto the field. He saw Sam standing over top of Chloe, who seemed like she couldn't move her arms. He saw that her hands had been tied to one of the goalposts. He watched in horror as he saw Sam put a blindfold over her eyes, then move his hands to undo his belt buckle.

His vision was blurred as he filled with rage. He sped over to them and tapped Sam on the shoulder. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Clark?" Chloe cried from the ground.

Sam went to punch Clark, but ended up with a fist in his face that sent him sprawling on the ground.

"Chloe, it's okay. I'm here now, you're alright." He bent down and untied her hands from the goalpost. She tore off the blindfold and started crying as she saw Clark sitting in front of her.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you." She repeated through her tears and flung her arms around his neck. He stroked her hair lovingly as he hugged her tightly.

"Clark!" He pulled back and saw horror reflected in her eyes. He looked over his shoulder and saw Sam swing a large knife towards his face. Clark pushed Chloe down and covered her as the knife came in contact with his back.

The knife shattered in Sam's hand and he jumped back in shock. "What the?"

Clark jumped up and hit Sam in the face. He went limp and fell to the ground. Clark then took the rope Sam had used to tie up Chloe to tie Sam to the goalpost in a similar fashion. He then bent down to look at Chloe again. She sat up and looked at him in disbelief.

"Clark, how are you not hurt? The knife… it hit you." She made him turn around and inspected the rip on the back of his shirt. He shivered slightly as her hands moved over the bare skin underneath the rip. "You don't even have a scratch. How is that possible?"

"Can it wait?"

She sprang up in protest. "No! Clark, if you've been hiding something from me, I want to know about it now so I can kick your ass for not trusting me!"

He took a deep breath and began to explain. "Okay…"

****

Clark gulped at the expression on her face. "Chlo?"

She looked into his eyes and then reached out to touch his face. "So, you're not human. Okay… " She stopped, then bit her lower lip. "That's why you've always been there when we're in trouble. Is that why you can't be around meteor rocks?"

He nodded; still worried about her reaction on finding out that her best friend was an alien. "Are you mad at me?"

Chloe gave him a look that said 'Are you serious?', then laughed. "No, Clark. Of course not. I understand why you didn't tell me. I can be a little nosy at times, but my lips are sealed on this, okay? You don't need to worry."

"I do trust you, Chloe. I was just afraid of what you would think of me if I told you…" He looked at her anxiously. "You're not freaked out, are you?"

"Me? Clark, you're my best friend. I couldn't be freaked out by you… unless of course you started becoming popular and dated a cheerleader… no, wait, that's already happened." She forced out a laugh, then lowered her head.

He reached out with his hands and tipped her head up to maintain eye contact with her. "Are you okay, Chloe?"

She screwed up her face in pain, then hugged him tightly. "Thank you so much, Clark. For always being there for me."

He pulled away from her and wiped a tear from her cheek. "We'll always be friends, right Chloe?"

She nodded, then smiled sadly. "Of course." She wiped her eyes, then spoke before he could get say what he wanted to say. "So, if you're an alien, does that mean you can do stuff that we can't?"

He grinned; glad to have someone to show his powers to. "I have superstrength, superspeed and X-ray vision." He laughed as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Chloe… I would never do that… again." He added softly, but she heard it and smacked him on the arm.

"Can I see?" She looked excited at the prospect and he was so glad to see that she wasn't afraid of him that he took her in his arms and sped around the football field twice.

"Whoa." She managed to say when he put her back on her feet.

"Chloe Sullivan, at a loss for words. That's new." He joked, receiving another smack.

"What about your superstrength-" She screeched as Clark lifted her easily over his head. "Put me down, Clark Kent or you will suffer the consequences!" He chuckled, but put her back on the ground.

"Oh really? And what would those consequences be?" He asked in a husky tone. He still held her in his arms and pulled her a bit closer.

"Clark…" She had wanted this for so long. It felt so good to be in his arms, like she was meant to be there. "Where's Lana?"

Clark reluctantly let her go and ran a hand through his hair. "Back at the farm, with Pete and my parents. I knew something was wrong, so I…"

There was a groan from behind them that let them know that Sam was starting to wake up.

"Come on, I'll take you over to the farm and we can have some cake." Clark picked her up and used his speed to get to the farm in a matter of seconds.

****

Pete and Lana jumped up as Clark and Chloe came through the front door.

"Chloe! What happened?" Pete asked, rushing over to his friend. Lana, to Chloe's annoyance, went to Clark and kissed him on the lips.

"The date ended by me getting tied to the football goalpost and Sam trying to rape me!" She exclaimed hurriedly before flopping down into a chair at the table, exhausted.

"What?" Pete and Lana cried together in shock and Clark kneeled in front of Chloe, staring at her with concern lacing his expression.

"Chlo, I swear Clark and I will kick this guy's ass!" Pete grumbled, pacing the floor and making punching actions in the air.

"Are you okay, Chloe?" Lana asked sweetly and Chloe felt guilty about harbouring hateful feelings towards the brunette.

"Yeah, Clark saved me before Sam could do anything." Chloe stared at Clark, who was still kneeling at her feet. He took her hands in his own and stroked them gently.

"Cake?" He asked simply.

She nodded and took the proffered plate with gratitude. He knew she didn't want to talk about it and wanted to take her mind off the whole situation. Pete and Lana weren't making it easy, as Pete was muttering threats and Lana was hovering over Chloe, suggesting talking about it would make Chloe feel better.

Clark decided to send them home, telling them that he needed to talk to her by herself. He kissed Lana on the cheek and told her that he would speak to her later. She looked at him worriedly, then seemed to understand what he was trying to say and smiled sadly.

"Well, now that we're alone, I need to tell you something… something I wanted to tell you before, but-"

"Clark, you already told me that you were an alien." She leaned over and whispered with a smile.

"What? Clark! How could you be so careless?"

Clark sighed as his parents wandered into the kitchen just in time to overhear Chloe's comment. "Mom, Dad, it's okay."

"Mr. Kent, Mrs. Kent, I just want you to know that Clark's secret is safe with me. I won't tell anyone."

Martha Kent smiled, then hugged Chloe. "Oh, we know, sweetie. We trust you, but if anyone ever found out that you knew, they might-"

"I'll be fine, Mrs. Kent, don't worry." Chloe grinned. "I'm pretty strong when I need to be."

Jonathan Kent smiled, glad that his son didn't need to hide his abilities from his closest friend anymore.