Chapter Eight

There was a knock on the doorframe of the torch. Chloe looked up, closing her chat with The Infuriator.

"Can I come in?" Clark said, his eyes looking at her hopefully.

"Sure." She said, turning her head back to the computer.

He sat down in the seat across from her. She stared at her computer. In front of her, Clark placed a bouquet of flowers.

"Yellow roses mean friendship. Purple Hyacinths mean I'm sorry, please forgive me."

Chloe looked at him. She tired not to melt at the look he was giving her, "Forgive you for what?" she said, standing and walking over to the filing cabinet, pretending that she had to get something from it.

"Chloe, you are, without a doubt, my best friend. And I wish, so badly, that I was the kind of guy who felt comfortable opening up to people, especially the people who matter most to me. But I'm not. I can't. I try, but I get scared. You mean more to me that most anybody in my life, and I don't know what I'd do without your friendship. There are some things about me that might scare you off, and it's hard not to be afraid. These past few weeks, I have been going crazy not being able to talk to you. I need you, Chloe."

Chloe looked at him. "What about your online friend, I would think she could fill my shoes. And then there's Lana; you two have been pretty chummy lately."

"It's easier to talk to somebody who doesn't know who you are. There's less risk, less to lose, I guess. She's my friend, and I like talking to her. There are some things I feel more comfortable talking about with her than you, but the reverse is also true. There are some things I can't talk about with her that I can with you. And as far as Lana…you know how I feel about Lana. It's not the same. You will always be my best friend Chloe. Always."

After a very, very long minute, the longest of Clark's life, Chloe broke out into a smile. It was a classic Chloe Sullivan smile which he had not seen since their fight. God, he had missed that smile, "Tell me the truth, you didn't come up with that flower bit on your own, did you?"

"My mom... may have helped with that." Clark said, looking down.

Chloe chuckled, "I knew you weren't that clever."


It had been a long time since Lana had last talked to her friend, and she was getting a little nervous. What if, now that he knew she had a boyfriend, he did not want to talk to her anymore? She had been checking her computer every hour, and there were no messages left for her. And he was never online.

"Lana," she heard Nell call, "Whitney's here."

"Just a second." Lana said, checking herself in the mirror. It was habitual, every time she heard Whitney was nearby. The girlfriend role. Lana liked it, being defined by the fact that she was Whitney's girlfriend. She knew who she was when she was with Whitney; she knew what was expected of her. Or at least, she had, until recently. But everything was so confusing now. Now, she was somewhere she had never been. She was having feelings for a by she had never actually met. She was becoming friends with a boy she had known her whole life but for some reason had never talked to, and she was exploring interests that she actually enjoyed, as opposed to things she was simply told she had to like. Lana did not know who she was anymore. She did not know if she still knew how to be Whitney's girlfriend.


I am going to tell her. I have to. Whitney thought. But as Lana walked down the stairs and he looked at her looking at him, he knew he just could not. What would this beautiful, amazing girl want with a guy who could not even go to college? He had no future to offer her anymore.

"Hey."

"Hi."

"You ready to go?" Lana nodded. Whitney took her hand, and she felt safe. But she did not feel what she had felt in the past when he had taken her hand. Something had changed. She had changed. And it scared her. And…it thrilled her.


Author's Note: Credit where credit is due. Information on meaning of flowers obtained from, well, it won't let me copy/paste the website, so here is the copyright.


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