I wake up with a smile on my face. No nightmares; no up-chucking, no headache; and Clark's smiling down at me.
I'm off to a good start.
"Breakfast?" He inquires.
I kiss his face, not particularly aiming for a specific spot and untangle myself from him.
"I'll get it. You, sleep."
He starts to get up anyway.
"Sleep," I command firmly while placing a hand on his bare chest and pushing back down onto the bed. "Please. I'll feel like less of a jerk if you do."
"Okay," He agrees, probably because he knows I mean it. I really do feel bad about him not getting any sleep last night.
"What do you want to eat?"
He grins widely and licks his bottom lip.
'Wrong choice of words Sullivan.'
"Mind out of the gutter Kent. What do you want for breakfast?" I ask, changing my words into a less perverted question; but the way Clark's still staring at me; he's not listening to me at all.
I narrow my eyes at him.
"Are you x-raying me?"
"Nope," he lies shamelessly.
"Uh-huh," I smirk at him and leave.
Only I don't get anywhere. I end up right back in bed; on top of Clark, his arms wrapped tightly around me.
"You did that on purpose; didn't you?" he asks.
I snort. He thinks I was teasing him?
"I'm fully clothed, Clark."
"I can take care of that."
'Jesus!'
"You know, I think you're gonna need to find another kryptonian to keep up with this insatiable sexual appetite of yours," I tell him; and I'm just a little bit serious.
"You seem to be keeping up just fine; but…"
I raise an eyebrow at him, waiting for him to continue.
He moves a strand of hair from my face and tucks it behind my ear.
"Practice makes perfect," he whispers before pressing his lips to mine. I place my fingertips on his chin and end the kiss.
"Tempting; but Lana's picking me up after breakfast. I don't have enough time."
He sighs.
"Where are you two going?" he asks.
"It's a secret," I shrug.
He frowns at me. Last night we agreed to share everything with each other, and it doesn't sound like I'm doing a very good job.
"Seriously Clark, I don't have a clue. She didn't tell me."
His frown deepens.
"Don't worry. I'm sure it's just boring wedding stuff. Picking out dresses and plates and napkins."
I frown. That does sound very boring indeed.
"I should be relatively safe; or, as safe as one can be in Smallville anyway," I finish.
"Maybe I should go with you," he halfway jokes.
"I'm sure Lex would love that Clark," I smirk and make a vain effort to get up; but who am I kidding? Houdini couldn't escape from Clark's grip.
"Lemme go Clark; she'll be here in about half an hour."
He smiles as if that's the best news he's gotten all day; and considering we just woke up, it probably is.
"That gives us plenty of time."
I roll my eyes at him.
"I still have to shower."
"I can wash you."
I arch an eyebrow at him.
"At superspeed," he adds quickly.
"Somehow, I don't think that's gonna work Clark," I laugh.
Me and Clark in the shower together, definitely equals me being late for my outing with Lana.
I cover his eyes with my hands when he starts to pout.
"You can't make that face at me Kent. It's not fair."
"Just a little bit," he begs.
I laugh.
"What does a little bit mean?"
"Uh….ten minutes," he announces after an internal debate.
"No can do. How about two?"
He snatches my hands away from his eyes and holds them on either side of his head.
"Two what? Minutes?" he gaps at me. "Chloe, that's not a little bit. That's…that's nothing."
"It's the best I can do. I'm a little pressed for time here," I shrug.
He groans. Maybe I shouldn't have said the word 'pressed' while lying on top of him.
"Yeah, but two? I can't," he says while shaking his head.
"Try really hard,." I challenge the same way he tortured me just last night. "Payback's a bitch isn't?" I grin.
He doesn't answer; just starts kissing me frantically. I'm guessing he's decided not to waste any more time.
There's a loud knock on the door five seconds later.
Lois.
"What!" I yell.
"You're girlfriend's here!" she shouts back.
"Lana," I explain to Clark when he gives me an expression that's clearly announcing his confusion.
"But she's early," he nearly whines.
"What do you want me to do? Make her wait? Don't answer that," I add quickly. I already know the answer to that. "Just let me up, will you."
For a second, I don't think he's gonna do it; but then he sighs and complies.
"Sleep," I command giving him a quick peck and heading for the bathroom.
I shower quickly, not wanting Lana to be alone with Lois any longer than she has to. Then I head down the stairs as quickly as my legs will allow me.
When I see her, I breathe a sigh of relief. She's dressed casually; which is good because so am I. It's kinda hard to dress appropriately for an outing when you don't know where you're going.
"So, where are we going?" I greet her.
"It's a secret," she grins.
"Still?"
"Still."
"Hey, are you sure you two never"-
"Lois, don't even start," I warn my cousin who's just appeared out of nowhere. "What are you still doing here anyway?"
Her playful mood suddenly changes and she scowls at no one in particular.
"Mrs. Kent is making me stay until she gets back," she grumbles.
I smile at her. Lois is pretty bossy; but she always seems to listen to Mrs. Kent. No matter how unhappy it makes her.
"I don't know why," Lois grumbles to herself. Whether or not she meant for anyone to hear her is unclear to me. "Just because I'm a woman doesn't mean I know anything about pregnant people."
I understand. Mrs. Kent must've made Lois stay so I won't have to be alone if Clark has to suddenly leave to rescue people. I appreciate my mother-in-laws concerns, especially after the night before, but Lois? She could've picked a better babysitter for me.
"Chloe?"
I look up at the sound of Clark's voice.
"Were you going to leave without saying goodbye?"
"You're supposed to be sleeping," I reprimand as he jogs down the stairs.
"Jeez Smallville, put a shirt on."
"Which reminds me," Lana says before leaving without another word.
I shrug when Lois raises her eyes at me. How should I know where Lana's going?
She comes back seconds later with the shirt she'd borrowed the night before.
"I thought for sure Lex was going to burn that," Lois smirks.
As much as I hate to admit it, I agree with my cousin.
"It's clean," Lana says with a smile. I get the feeling she's not just referring to the fact that it's been through the wash; but is also letting me know the shirt is devoid of micro bugs, bombs, cameras or whatever other spy gadget Lex might possesses.
"You ready?" she asks me as soon as I toss Clark's shirt at him.
"Uh yeah, just let me get my purse," I say as I pick it up off the table. "And…I feel like I'm forgetting something," I mutter while looking around.
"Me," Clark says and takes a step toward me.
"My phone!" I exclaim and bolt upstairs to retrieve it. It doesn't take long to find it. Clark's organized the room very well.
I hurry down the stairs, skidding to a stop in front of a frowning Clark. I throw my arms around his neck and kiss him. He automatically wraps his arms around me,
"Sleep," I command and kiss him once more.
I let go of him. He doesn't return the favor.
"One more," He pleads causing a slight dilemma. If I kiss him again, I'm going to have to cancel on Lana. Who cares if she's right here.
"I think I liked it better when you two were fighting," Lois gags. "By the way Clark, did you know Lana and Chloe"-
"Let's go Lana," I pull on my friends wrist and practically run to the car. She follows right behind me, easily keeping up. I don't think either of us wants to be there when Lois tells Clark about her incorrect and creepy theory concerning our "dysfunctional friendship" as Lois called it.
Six minutes later and I ask Lana a very important question.
"Can you tell me where we're going now?"
"Almost there," she patronizes. I feel like one of those annoying kids who constantly ask 'are we there yet' during a road trip.
I sigh and look out the window. Why does everyone treat me like a child?
"Here we are."
I look around quickly.
"Smallville Lanes? We're going bowling?"
"Yep," she says and gets out of her car.
"Why?"
"For my bachelorette party," she answers as if I should've known that already.
"But it's just us," I point out to her.
Bachelorette parties are supposed to be eventful. There's supposed to be drinking, and limos, and mooning, and strippers, and-
"I thought it would be better this way," She shrugs.
I furrow my eyebrows. I don't know what she means by that.
"Care to explain Lana?"
"I could've invited a whole bunch of girls for a night out on the town; but this…" She looks over at the building and smiles. "This is going to be so much better."
"Yeah," I say sarcastically. "Throwing gutter balls and eating chili fries."
She turns and faces me. "With my best friend. One last time before I"-
"Lana, you're getting married; not moving to Antarctica."
"We're also having a baby. The both of us; and I have a feeling these 'girls' night out' are gonna be a lot harder to come by."
I consider her for a moment. She's kinda making sense.
"Alright," I offer her a bright smile and my arm. "Let's go throw gutter balls and eat chili fries."
She smiles back at me; genuinely relieved, before taking my offered arm.
Once inside, she pays for everything. I'd rather she didn't as it's all Luthor money; but this is the way it's supposed to be at a bachelorette and Lana's pretty stubborn about this, so I let it go and just try to have fun.
And I do.
I'm actually having a lot of fun; despite the fact that I totally suck at bowling. I watch Lana roll another gutter ball and smile. At least I'm not the only one.
"Your turn," She calls with a grin.
I roll my eyes at her. She should not be this happy considering how pitiful we're doing. But then again, I'm happy too so that just makes the both of us weird.
"Hold on." I answer as my phone rings.
I frown when I see a number I don't recognize; but I still answer it. It might be an emergency.
"Hello?"
"Ms. Sullivan."
My frown deepens. It's Lionel Luthor. What the hell does he want; and more importantly, how did he get my number?
I cover the mouth piece and tell Lana I'll be right back.
"Is everything okay?" she frowns.
I shrug my shoulders and head for the bathroom.
"What do you want?" I hiss suspiciously once I'm alone. I'm ashamed to admit that the last time Lionel had called my phone I'd been spying on Clark. It didn't last long. I quit soon after. Lionel didn't like that too much. To say it ended badly is an understatement.
"I'm sorry to interrupt you during your"-
"Cut the crap Lionel. What do you want?"
"Very well, I need Clark's help."
"Why not call him instead of me?"
"I did, but he hung up the phone before I could utter more than a few words."
'Hmm. Much like what I should've done.'
"Ms. Sullivan, Please."
"It's Mrs. Kent."
"Of course. My apologies Mrs. Kent."
I sigh. There can't be much harm in hearing him out.
"What do you want Mr. Luthor?"
"There was an explosion at one of Lex's…well, one of Lex's places."
'A.K.A a 33.1 facility.'
"What do you want Clark to do about that?"
"Lex is still down there. No one can get him out."
"And why should Clark help him?" I ask coldly.
"Ms. Sul- Mrs. Kent please," Lionel pleads. "He's my son."
I don't say anything to that. I could care less about Lionel's son.
"What if it was your son?" he presses.
I close my eyes and take a deep breath. Consider my heart strings tugged, pulled, yanked, whatever. I would do anything for my son.
"I'll call him; but I'm not promising anything Mr. Luthor."
"Thank you"-
I hang up before he says anything else. I don't want to hear his voice anymore. Then I call Clark. He answers on the first ring.
"Chloe? Are you okay?" is the first thing he says.
"I'm fine Clark," I laugh at him. "Why wouldn't I be?"
"I don't know. I was just making sure. Do you need something?"
I take a very deep breath.
"Chloe?"
I can hear the concern in his voice and that lets me know that he heard my inhale and my hesitation is worrying him.
I take another deep breath.
The truth is, I'm not going to have a problem convincing Clark to go rescue Lex. He'll do it. He doesn't like to play god; doesn't believe he should be able to choses who lives or dies.
But I don't want him to save Lex. Frankly, the world would be better off without him.
"Chloe?" he asks again.
"Lex is in trouble," I sigh. "There's been an explosion. No one can get in or out. He's stuck; and basically only you can help him."
"Where?"
I close my eyes. I'd still hoped he wouldn't ask me. I'd still hoped he would leave him for dead.
But I knew he wouldn't; so I give him the directions and hang up.
"Chloe?"
"Lana! I…uh"
"Is everything okay?"
"No; that was Clark. There was uh…well, there was an explosion at one of Lex's warehouses and he's trapped; maybe even hurt."
Lana gasps.
"Don't worry Lana; Clark's there now. He's gonna get him out."
She stills.
"Clark went down there?" she asks; and I can hear her voice break, so I move forward to reassure her that everything's gonna be fine.
Of course, I have to fake concern for them as well; but I know that Clark will be in and out of there in a flash.
"Lana, Clark and Lex are gonna be"-
"No," she interrupts with a shake of her head. "There's kryptonite down there."
