Clark sat as still as a statue in the small church. His arm was draped around the trembling shoulders of Gabe Sullivan. Because Clark and Pete were Chloe's closest friends, Gabe had wanted the two young men to sit with him in the front pew. The minister's soft soprano voice rang out but the words meant nothing to Clark. Chloe was beyond words, she had been Chloe and that explained her more than any speech ever could. Pete shook Clark from his thoughts and inclined his head toward Chloe's open casket. Clark stood still then he began the short journey to Chloe's final divan. Pete had just whispered a few things to an unusually quiet Chloe when Clark reached the casket. Pete gave Clark a wane curling of his lips and squeezed C lark's shoulder sympathetically.
It was then that Clark looked down at the pale yet pristine face of Chloe Ann Sullivan. Her lips still held that sweet smile and she looked peacefully despite her violent departure from this Earth. Clark felt a bolt of guilt shoot through him; he had been the sole cause of Chloe's downfall that led to her taking her own life. Clark had never known that kind of guilty pain or its strength, he would have preferred to fall into a gorge lined with meteors rocks but instead he was burdened the guilt of knowing that he killed his friend. " I love you, Chloe, and I'm sorry that I never told you," he whispered to her corpse. Clark leaned in and kissed her lips and for a few seconds, Chloe lips seemed to warm under his touch. A tear fell upon her cheek and Clark gently swiped it off. He returned to his place beside Gabe Sullivan, his guilt weighing so heavily upon his that Clark could hardly breathe.
When the funeral service ended, Clark gladly fled the confines of the church. Clark declined a ride to the wake from various people including an apologetic Whitney Fordman. Because he just wanted to be go home and be alone. He used his super speed, exalting in the feel of the air on his temple, to jet to the Fortress of Solitude. There he threw his sports jacket and ripped his tie off before it choked him like a noose, collapsing on his couch. The letter in the breast pocket of his of his shirt beckoned. Clark unfolded the letter that was scent of her skin and read:
Dear Clark,
I don't know what I can possibly say to rectify the pain I've caused you. I should have let you go but my selfishness won out. I love you, Clark, more than anything in this world but I know that you do not reciprocate those feelings for me. I am sorry that Lana is gone and that you never got your chance with her, that guilt will hang over my head for the rest of my days because I know that you could have saved her despite my argument that favored the opposite. I've known of your powers for a while but I never found the right time to tell you that I knew. I saw you use your super-powers a few times and I put 2 and 2 together and I have told no one so your secret is safe with me. I wish that I could stay here with you, Clark, but I have to leave because there is nothing in Smallville for me anymore, you have disowned me (you were the only thing worth loving). I sometimes feel like I'm going to drown in this strange little town. I feel broken beyond repair without you in my life but remember that I love you more than words can say. My sadness is not your doing; it is my own faults so don't feel guilt over my plight.
Love,
Chloe Ann Sullivan
Clark felt the tears sting behind his eyes. He had always taken Chloe for granted because he believed that she would always be there and she was dead because he had been blind. " Chloe!!!!" Her name echoed throughout the barn and Clark suddenly felt emotionally exhausted. He fell asleep while his guilt sat patiently beside him, waiting for him to wake up, waiting to remind Clark of his shortcomings and their dire consequences.
