I apologize profusely for not having this out sooner, major writers block
on the ending…I didn't want to drag it on forever…sorry about the wait
guys, hope that this and the next two concluding chapters are to your
liking.
Again, I apologize….I didn't want you to think that I had become one of those writers that starts a story and then never finishes it.
Lanaraofearth
********************************
Title: The Truth About Normal
Author: LanaraofEarth
Rating: PG-13 ish...
Disclaimer: We all know the show Smallville and it's characters aren't mine...although I wish Clark and Lex were.... and, so please don't sue me.... I'm just borrowing them for a little while...
Note: Words etc. in * are a character's inner thoughts/dialogue.
Part 10
Chloe stood on the front porch of her home, starring sightlessly before her as the sun made its descent into the western sky. Her arms were wrapped around herself protectively.
Chloe had never been a huge nature girl. Sure, she thought that sunsets could be romantic and that stargazing was fun, but she wasn't about to climb an Austrian mountain while chanting "the hills are alive with the sound of music".
* Julie Andrews I most certainly am not. Hell, I can barely sing the jingle for kit-kats in tune. *
Chloe shivered suddenly, but not because it was cold outside.
It occurred to her that there had been a very good chance that she might not have been alive to see this sunset and she was struck with a need to watch the orbs journey through the sky; to reassure herself that she was indeed there, alive.
The events of the day replayed themselves over and over again in her head; like the energizer bunny's version of the never-ending story. She had tried to block all thoughts of the day from her mind, but it had been a futile effort.
Especially when it came to the kiss, or rather, the several kisses that she and Clark had shared.
Chloe knew that it had just been a reaction to the intense events on Clark's part, but her heart had sung out in absolute joy when his lips had touched hers.
Chloe shook her head angrily, * thoughts like that led to heartbreak, Sullivan. Get a Grip. Clark is in love with Lana…the "head over heels, starry-eyed, no one else for him" kind of love. *
Chloe turned to another memory in an effort to distract herself. She thought back to after the kisses, when the whole nightmare had finally come to an end.
After leaving Clark standing in the main room of the Savings and Loans, Chloe had gone to the back room to where the banging could be heard. When Clark had caught up with her he had filled her in on who the current occupants of the vault were.
From there, they had gone to the supply closet to inform the other hostages that it was safe for them to come out. Once everyone was outside, Clark and Chloe made their exit as well.
As she had walked through the main room of the Smallville Savings and Loans, Chloe couldn't stop her gaze from sweeping over the carnage.
Mr. Watts' body had still been face down on the floor to her left.
Tears had welled in her eyes again as she looked over at the grocer's still form. Not two hours ago he had been alive and well, two hours ago he had walked into the savings and loans, not knowing that he would never leave it alive. And it was her fault.
The aching guilt had reared its ugly head once again, its pitiless voice had rung out in her mind, * That was your fault, Chloe. He's dead because of you. *
Clark's voice had broken through her haze of remorse and she had finally tore her gaze away.
Chloe's eyes had next gone to rest on Cade's body.
Fear rose within her, but she quickly shut it away and berated herself. Cade was dead, thanks to her and he couldn't hurt her.
Her gaze had lingered on the gaping bullet hole in his chest before she dragged herself away from the grim scene.
Clark had followed Chloe's retreating form as she pushed open the front doors of the building and exited into the afternoon sun, but did not go with her.
When Chloe noticed that Clark hadn't followed her, she had turned around to face him and found him looking around the macabre scene. Sadness was etched across his features, as if, somehow, what had happened was his fault.
Chloe walked back inside the building, even though every fibre of her being had been screaming at her to get out.
The doors to the outside world had fallen shut behind her and resounded through the room with a deafening "thud".
Silence permeated the room, an eery calm before the storm.
Chloe looked around the room once more before coming to rest on Clark again.
As if he had felt her gaze on him, Clark had lifted his head and met her gaze.
Chloe had wanted to speak and she had seen that Clark had as well, there were so many questions that she wanted, no NEEDED answered and Clark was the man with the answers.
However, neither of them could force themselves to break the stillness.
Clark slowly began to move again and stopped once he was before Chloe. With infinite slowness, Chloe lifted her hand and gently clasped the fingers of her right around Clarks left.
Clark had squeezed her hand gently as he gazed down at his friend.
Chloe had begun to fall into his seductive gaze when the stillness was rudely broken.
The police had chosen that moment to storm the building.
Of course, the authorities had had thousands of questions for the two friends once it had been established that each of them were alright.
Chloe had managed to stand in front of Clark during the preliminaries, to hide the very noticeable bullet holes in his shirt. Then Chloe had made an excuse that they needed to change before being questioned.
When the police had disagreed, Chloe had put her foot down and started arguing the human rights of every individual, commenting on the psychological trauma of the event and had been prepared to make a scene when the Kents had made their prensence known. Mr. Kent had quickly pulled his son away for a moment and when the two came back, Clark had been wearing his father's jacket.
Clark had given her what could have been considered a smaller version of the "Kent Charm" smile when he returned.
The two friends had then been dragged off to the sherrifs station where they had been questioned incessantly for over two hours. During that time Chloe's gash on her forehead had been cleaned and bandaged.
Although the police berated both Chloe and Clark about their reckless actions, no charges were pressed. No one was going to charge two frightened kids who had only acted in self defence.
Chloe had been relieved when the entire process was finally over. The part of her that was the investigative journalist raged over the entire procedure, but Chloe had not had the energy to make a fuss. By the time she could go home all that she wanted to do was hug her dad and crawl under her warm and safe quilt her grandmother had made for her on her tenth birthday.
Chloe looked out over the farm land beyond the fence of her front yard, there had been a very real chance that afternoon that she might not have been standing her this evening to witness the beauty of the setting sun. A chill ran along her spine and she hugged the blanket that was wrapped around her shoulders tighter to her.
Chloe jumped and swung around as her father opened the screen door.
Mr. Sullivan frowned at his daughters reaction and came to join her out on the porch.
"You ok, firefly?" Her father used the nickname that he had given to her as a little child.
Chloe sighed and returned her gaze to the darkening skies, "Yeah, I'm ok dad."
Mr. Sullivan didn't buy it for a second and went to stand beside his daughter.
A moment later Chloe turned to her father and called out to him, "Dad?"
Mr. Sullivan turned to his daughter, "Yes?"
" I love you."
Mr. Sullivan smiled in the waning light and nodded, " I know you do firefly, I love you too."
Mr. Sullivan then put a reassuring arm around her shoulders and hugged her to him. "You know, it's ok to be sad and confused, even frightened, Chloe and that you can talk to me about anything, right?"
Chloe stiffened slightly, but didn't move as she nodded her ascent. "I know, Dad."
Mr. Sullivan sighed, his daughter almost always felt as if she had to be tough as nails, he knew that and he admired her strength. He just wished that she would let him in more, confide in him like she used to when she was a child. After the divorce she had shut a part of herself off from him.
Mr. Sullivan lifted his gaze from his daughter and that was when he caught sight of a figure moving in the field in front of him.
He stiffened and then squinted into the night as he tried to make out who it was walking towards his home and his daughter.
Suddenly, a mop of dark hair, a tall lanky frame and red jacket caught the fading light of the sun and Mr. Sullivan knew who it was. Clark.
* Well * he thought * maybe Chloe will confide in him, because I sure as hell don't seem to be getting anywhere. *
With that thought in mind, Mr. Sullivan bent towards his daughter and placed a soft kiss lovingly upon her head.
No matter how distant his daughter might be at the moment, he was eternally grateful that she was home and safe.
He wasn't extatic about the idea of leaving his daughter alone with Clark, but he knew that they were close and, as Clark came to a stop at the gate, Mr. Sullivan could see that the young man and his daughter needed to discuss something.
Chloe turned a somewhat confused, somewhat loving gaze upon her father as he whispered, "I'll leave you two alone."
Chloe frowned, then followed her father's gaze to the form of Clark Kent fidgeting nervously by the front gate.
A part of her didn't feel like dealing with Clark, but her decision was made for her when her father motioned for Clark to come up and, after giving Clark a very intense look, to which Clark nodded, the two men coming to some macho agreement, to which Chloe rolled her eyes, he retreated back into the house.
Chloe gazed at Clark wearily as he ascended the steps of her porch.
Their eyes locked and held as Clark finished climbing the stairs. Chloe nervously bit her lip and Clark had the suddenly impulse to kiss her, memories of their earlier "intimacies" coming back to him.
Clark blushed bright red as he remembered the satin feel of her lips and ran a sweating hand through his hair as he turned to walk to the other end of the porch.
Chloe's brows furrowed at her friends actions and when he continued to pass along the length of her porch Chloe spoke up, "You know, I don't think this old porch was meant for the kind heavy duty pacing you have in mind."
Clark stopped in his tracks and met his friends soft gaze, "Sorry"
That one word held a wealth of meaning and Chloe couldn't help but feel almost overwhelmed by it. But she had to know…she just had to.
"Clark?"
By just the simple statement of his name Clark knew what Chloe wanted; the truth, about who and what he was.
When he didn't respond Chloe spoke up again, "How could you not tell me, Clark? I mean, how long has this been going on?"
Anger and hurt shone brightly in her eyes as new tears threatened to spill over.
Clark saw the pain in her gaze and was shocked at the depth of it. He didn't know what to say, what could he say? * I'm sorry…I didn't trust you… * That wouldn't go over well.
The anger rising within Chloe bubbled over and she suddenly erupted, "You lied to me Clark, you've been lying to me, about everything, haven't you? All of the times when you were mysteriously at the scene of some major event, you didn't just happen to come along…did you?"
When Clark didn't respond Chloe continued on ith her rant, "You didn't trust me enough to tell me the truth. I thought that I was your friend Clark, but now I seriously have to wonder. You're not the person I thought you were, hell….I don't know if I EVER knew you."
Clark took a step back at the force of Chloes emotions. How could she think those things… * because you lied to her and hid the truth from her…your best friend *
"You DO know me Chloe, you always have. I may have kept some things from you, but I never meant to hurt you. It wasn't that I didn't trust you….it's just that…"
Chloe interrupted him, "It's just that you didn't trust me."
"No…I was afraid Chloe. I didn't know what to do when I found out the truth."
"What IS the truth, Clark?"
Clark took a deep breath as he prepared to bear his soul to his best friend. * Can I do this? Can I really tell her the truth? What will she think? What will happen to our friendship? * There was no going around it though…Chloe had seen him get shot several times and still lived, without even a scratch, save for some major bruising.
It was time for Chloe to know the truth.
Again, I apologize….I didn't want you to think that I had become one of those writers that starts a story and then never finishes it.
Lanaraofearth
********************************
Title: The Truth About Normal
Author: LanaraofEarth
Rating: PG-13 ish...
Disclaimer: We all know the show Smallville and it's characters aren't mine...although I wish Clark and Lex were.... and, so please don't sue me.... I'm just borrowing them for a little while...
Note: Words etc. in * are a character's inner thoughts/dialogue.
Part 10
Chloe stood on the front porch of her home, starring sightlessly before her as the sun made its descent into the western sky. Her arms were wrapped around herself protectively.
Chloe had never been a huge nature girl. Sure, she thought that sunsets could be romantic and that stargazing was fun, but she wasn't about to climb an Austrian mountain while chanting "the hills are alive with the sound of music".
* Julie Andrews I most certainly am not. Hell, I can barely sing the jingle for kit-kats in tune. *
Chloe shivered suddenly, but not because it was cold outside.
It occurred to her that there had been a very good chance that she might not have been alive to see this sunset and she was struck with a need to watch the orbs journey through the sky; to reassure herself that she was indeed there, alive.
The events of the day replayed themselves over and over again in her head; like the energizer bunny's version of the never-ending story. She had tried to block all thoughts of the day from her mind, but it had been a futile effort.
Especially when it came to the kiss, or rather, the several kisses that she and Clark had shared.
Chloe knew that it had just been a reaction to the intense events on Clark's part, but her heart had sung out in absolute joy when his lips had touched hers.
Chloe shook her head angrily, * thoughts like that led to heartbreak, Sullivan. Get a Grip. Clark is in love with Lana…the "head over heels, starry-eyed, no one else for him" kind of love. *
Chloe turned to another memory in an effort to distract herself. She thought back to after the kisses, when the whole nightmare had finally come to an end.
After leaving Clark standing in the main room of the Savings and Loans, Chloe had gone to the back room to where the banging could be heard. When Clark had caught up with her he had filled her in on who the current occupants of the vault were.
From there, they had gone to the supply closet to inform the other hostages that it was safe for them to come out. Once everyone was outside, Clark and Chloe made their exit as well.
As she had walked through the main room of the Smallville Savings and Loans, Chloe couldn't stop her gaze from sweeping over the carnage.
Mr. Watts' body had still been face down on the floor to her left.
Tears had welled in her eyes again as she looked over at the grocer's still form. Not two hours ago he had been alive and well, two hours ago he had walked into the savings and loans, not knowing that he would never leave it alive. And it was her fault.
The aching guilt had reared its ugly head once again, its pitiless voice had rung out in her mind, * That was your fault, Chloe. He's dead because of you. *
Clark's voice had broken through her haze of remorse and she had finally tore her gaze away.
Chloe's eyes had next gone to rest on Cade's body.
Fear rose within her, but she quickly shut it away and berated herself. Cade was dead, thanks to her and he couldn't hurt her.
Her gaze had lingered on the gaping bullet hole in his chest before she dragged herself away from the grim scene.
Clark had followed Chloe's retreating form as she pushed open the front doors of the building and exited into the afternoon sun, but did not go with her.
When Chloe noticed that Clark hadn't followed her, she had turned around to face him and found him looking around the macabre scene. Sadness was etched across his features, as if, somehow, what had happened was his fault.
Chloe walked back inside the building, even though every fibre of her being had been screaming at her to get out.
The doors to the outside world had fallen shut behind her and resounded through the room with a deafening "thud".
Silence permeated the room, an eery calm before the storm.
Chloe looked around the room once more before coming to rest on Clark again.
As if he had felt her gaze on him, Clark had lifted his head and met her gaze.
Chloe had wanted to speak and she had seen that Clark had as well, there were so many questions that she wanted, no NEEDED answered and Clark was the man with the answers.
However, neither of them could force themselves to break the stillness.
Clark slowly began to move again and stopped once he was before Chloe. With infinite slowness, Chloe lifted her hand and gently clasped the fingers of her right around Clarks left.
Clark had squeezed her hand gently as he gazed down at his friend.
Chloe had begun to fall into his seductive gaze when the stillness was rudely broken.
The police had chosen that moment to storm the building.
Of course, the authorities had had thousands of questions for the two friends once it had been established that each of them were alright.
Chloe had managed to stand in front of Clark during the preliminaries, to hide the very noticeable bullet holes in his shirt. Then Chloe had made an excuse that they needed to change before being questioned.
When the police had disagreed, Chloe had put her foot down and started arguing the human rights of every individual, commenting on the psychological trauma of the event and had been prepared to make a scene when the Kents had made their prensence known. Mr. Kent had quickly pulled his son away for a moment and when the two came back, Clark had been wearing his father's jacket.
Clark had given her what could have been considered a smaller version of the "Kent Charm" smile when he returned.
The two friends had then been dragged off to the sherrifs station where they had been questioned incessantly for over two hours. During that time Chloe's gash on her forehead had been cleaned and bandaged.
Although the police berated both Chloe and Clark about their reckless actions, no charges were pressed. No one was going to charge two frightened kids who had only acted in self defence.
Chloe had been relieved when the entire process was finally over. The part of her that was the investigative journalist raged over the entire procedure, but Chloe had not had the energy to make a fuss. By the time she could go home all that she wanted to do was hug her dad and crawl under her warm and safe quilt her grandmother had made for her on her tenth birthday.
Chloe looked out over the farm land beyond the fence of her front yard, there had been a very real chance that afternoon that she might not have been standing her this evening to witness the beauty of the setting sun. A chill ran along her spine and she hugged the blanket that was wrapped around her shoulders tighter to her.
Chloe jumped and swung around as her father opened the screen door.
Mr. Sullivan frowned at his daughters reaction and came to join her out on the porch.
"You ok, firefly?" Her father used the nickname that he had given to her as a little child.
Chloe sighed and returned her gaze to the darkening skies, "Yeah, I'm ok dad."
Mr. Sullivan didn't buy it for a second and went to stand beside his daughter.
A moment later Chloe turned to her father and called out to him, "Dad?"
Mr. Sullivan turned to his daughter, "Yes?"
" I love you."
Mr. Sullivan smiled in the waning light and nodded, " I know you do firefly, I love you too."
Mr. Sullivan then put a reassuring arm around her shoulders and hugged her to him. "You know, it's ok to be sad and confused, even frightened, Chloe and that you can talk to me about anything, right?"
Chloe stiffened slightly, but didn't move as she nodded her ascent. "I know, Dad."
Mr. Sullivan sighed, his daughter almost always felt as if she had to be tough as nails, he knew that and he admired her strength. He just wished that she would let him in more, confide in him like she used to when she was a child. After the divorce she had shut a part of herself off from him.
Mr. Sullivan lifted his gaze from his daughter and that was when he caught sight of a figure moving in the field in front of him.
He stiffened and then squinted into the night as he tried to make out who it was walking towards his home and his daughter.
Suddenly, a mop of dark hair, a tall lanky frame and red jacket caught the fading light of the sun and Mr. Sullivan knew who it was. Clark.
* Well * he thought * maybe Chloe will confide in him, because I sure as hell don't seem to be getting anywhere. *
With that thought in mind, Mr. Sullivan bent towards his daughter and placed a soft kiss lovingly upon her head.
No matter how distant his daughter might be at the moment, he was eternally grateful that she was home and safe.
He wasn't extatic about the idea of leaving his daughter alone with Clark, but he knew that they were close and, as Clark came to a stop at the gate, Mr. Sullivan could see that the young man and his daughter needed to discuss something.
Chloe turned a somewhat confused, somewhat loving gaze upon her father as he whispered, "I'll leave you two alone."
Chloe frowned, then followed her father's gaze to the form of Clark Kent fidgeting nervously by the front gate.
A part of her didn't feel like dealing with Clark, but her decision was made for her when her father motioned for Clark to come up and, after giving Clark a very intense look, to which Clark nodded, the two men coming to some macho agreement, to which Chloe rolled her eyes, he retreated back into the house.
Chloe gazed at Clark wearily as he ascended the steps of her porch.
Their eyes locked and held as Clark finished climbing the stairs. Chloe nervously bit her lip and Clark had the suddenly impulse to kiss her, memories of their earlier "intimacies" coming back to him.
Clark blushed bright red as he remembered the satin feel of her lips and ran a sweating hand through his hair as he turned to walk to the other end of the porch.
Chloe's brows furrowed at her friends actions and when he continued to pass along the length of her porch Chloe spoke up, "You know, I don't think this old porch was meant for the kind heavy duty pacing you have in mind."
Clark stopped in his tracks and met his friends soft gaze, "Sorry"
That one word held a wealth of meaning and Chloe couldn't help but feel almost overwhelmed by it. But she had to know…she just had to.
"Clark?"
By just the simple statement of his name Clark knew what Chloe wanted; the truth, about who and what he was.
When he didn't respond Chloe spoke up again, "How could you not tell me, Clark? I mean, how long has this been going on?"
Anger and hurt shone brightly in her eyes as new tears threatened to spill over.
Clark saw the pain in her gaze and was shocked at the depth of it. He didn't know what to say, what could he say? * I'm sorry…I didn't trust you… * That wouldn't go over well.
The anger rising within Chloe bubbled over and she suddenly erupted, "You lied to me Clark, you've been lying to me, about everything, haven't you? All of the times when you were mysteriously at the scene of some major event, you didn't just happen to come along…did you?"
When Clark didn't respond Chloe continued on ith her rant, "You didn't trust me enough to tell me the truth. I thought that I was your friend Clark, but now I seriously have to wonder. You're not the person I thought you were, hell….I don't know if I EVER knew you."
Clark took a step back at the force of Chloes emotions. How could she think those things… * because you lied to her and hid the truth from her…your best friend *
"You DO know me Chloe, you always have. I may have kept some things from you, but I never meant to hurt you. It wasn't that I didn't trust you….it's just that…"
Chloe interrupted him, "It's just that you didn't trust me."
"No…I was afraid Chloe. I didn't know what to do when I found out the truth."
"What IS the truth, Clark?"
Clark took a deep breath as he prepared to bear his soul to his best friend. * Can I do this? Can I really tell her the truth? What will she think? What will happen to our friendship? * There was no going around it though…Chloe had seen him get shot several times and still lived, without even a scratch, save for some major bruising.
It was time for Chloe to know the truth.