Chapter 13- When Will It Come?
"Okay, I am going home and going to bed," Pete said with a yawn.
"Me too," Lana said, stretching against Pete.
"Sounds like a good idea," Lex said standing.
"Chloe?" Lana asked.
"If it's alright with Clark I'd like to stay for a little while," Chloe said looking at Clark.
"That's fine. I'll drop her off at your place later," Clark told Lana.
"Okay. I'll leave the door unlocked," Lana said.
"Bye, you guys," Pete said, turning to leave.
"Bye. Talk to you later," Chloe replied.
"I'll call you tomorrow, Clark," Lex said.
"What about me?" Chloe teased.
Lex chuckled. "I'll call you, too."
"Bye, Clark. See you at the house, Chlo," Lana said.
"Does Hannah know about you?" Chloe asked, once the others were gone.
"No. We'll tell her when she's older, but she's too young now to know not to tell anyone," Clark answered.
Chloe nodded. "Who else knows? Pete, Lana, or Lex?"
"Lana does," Clark said. When Chloe's face dropped he quickly explained. "She saw me save her from the tornadoes, or she wouldn't know either."
"Oh," Chloe said thoughtfully.
"Lex and Pete don't know which is pretty amazing actually," Clark said.
Chloe almost laughed. "You've given Lex enough chances for him to figure it out. He's a lot denser than he seems."
"Not dense, just trustworthy. What do you mean I gave him chances?" Clark asked.
"Well, first and most obvious was hitting you at 60 miles an hour," Chloe said.
"You knew about that?" Clark asked.
"Once I found out about your powers I started snooping. I found out Lex's theory about hitting you, and figured that he probably did. By the way, what happened to the roof of his car?" Chloe asked.
"When he hit me it knocked him out. To get him out of the sinking car I punched through the windshield and peeled back the roof," Clark explained.
"Ah, that would explain it. Next was the whole hostage in LuthorCorp fiasco. Where you raced around to save the day. Clenching the deal by pulling Lex, and Earl Jenkins off of a falling walkway with one hand," Chloe continued.
"I played that one off with adrenaline.and I did a pretty good job at it, too," Clark said in a mock-pout.
"I'm not done. What about when Lex was coerced into shooting you. He filled you full of bullets," Chloe said.
"Hey, he didn't see that. The people under the influence forgot what they did after it was done. Remember you-" Clark said.
Chloe cut him off. "For your own safety, let's leave it there. What about when Lex had the run in with his past with Club Zero? He was almost killed. You ran in, knocked the kidnapper out, flung a couch under Lex, ran back out, then walked in like you had just gotten there."
"How do you know this?" Clark asked in amazement.
"I was a reporter," Chloe said as if it was obvious. "Then there's the time when Ryan's step-dad kidnapped Lex and left him in the middle of the highway in no man's land. You suddenly appear, ask if he's alright, and disappear."
"You are amazing!" Clark exclaimed.
"I'm not through," Chloe said with a smile. "Last, was when Whitney fell in with the bad crowd. In front of Whitney, Lex, and Whitney's buddies, you kicked into hyperdrive to push Whitney out from under the falling car."
"Seriously, how do you know all this?" Clark asked.
"Clark, it was an obsession. I tried to find out everything I could about you. Every detail, every fact. I put two and two together. I made it my business to know, like Lex makes it his business to know everything about LuthorCorp. Point is, Lex is pretty dense for someone who graduated summa cum laude from Princeton," Chloe said.
"Okay, I'll give you that. What else you got?" Clark asked. He was very interested in what Chloe had to say.
"Don't even get me started on Lana," Chloe said with a smile.
"Ah, I could recount all the times I almost screwed up there. But, she knows now, so we'll leave it at that," Clark agreed.
"Good idea," Chloe said.
"When did it change?" Clark asked quietly.
"When did what change?" Chloe asked.
"When did you go from loving me to hating me?" Clark asked.
Chloe got quiet for a moment. "When I found out you had powers. That was the thing that did it for me. Until that point I had still tried to convince myself that we were best friends. Then, I heard you call Lex your best friend. That wouldn't have hurt so much if I hadn't known that you were keeping a secret from me. I waited for you to tell me, when you didn't something clicked. I realized that we hadn't been best friends, or even good friends, for months. Actually longer than that, and that it wouldn't change. So, my feelings started to change."
"Do you think you can ever love me again?" Clark asked.
"Truthfully, I don't know. There's so much there, Clark. So many feelings and emotions that I have to sort through before I can decide," Chloe said.
Clark nodded. "I'll wait for you."
"I know you will. I just hope you're not waiting in vain for something that won't come," Chloe said sadly.
"Okay, I am going home and going to bed," Pete said with a yawn.
"Me too," Lana said, stretching against Pete.
"Sounds like a good idea," Lex said standing.
"Chloe?" Lana asked.
"If it's alright with Clark I'd like to stay for a little while," Chloe said looking at Clark.
"That's fine. I'll drop her off at your place later," Clark told Lana.
"Okay. I'll leave the door unlocked," Lana said.
"Bye, you guys," Pete said, turning to leave.
"Bye. Talk to you later," Chloe replied.
"I'll call you tomorrow, Clark," Lex said.
"What about me?" Chloe teased.
Lex chuckled. "I'll call you, too."
"Bye, Clark. See you at the house, Chlo," Lana said.
"Does Hannah know about you?" Chloe asked, once the others were gone.
"No. We'll tell her when she's older, but she's too young now to know not to tell anyone," Clark answered.
Chloe nodded. "Who else knows? Pete, Lana, or Lex?"
"Lana does," Clark said. When Chloe's face dropped he quickly explained. "She saw me save her from the tornadoes, or she wouldn't know either."
"Oh," Chloe said thoughtfully.
"Lex and Pete don't know which is pretty amazing actually," Clark said.
Chloe almost laughed. "You've given Lex enough chances for him to figure it out. He's a lot denser than he seems."
"Not dense, just trustworthy. What do you mean I gave him chances?" Clark asked.
"Well, first and most obvious was hitting you at 60 miles an hour," Chloe said.
"You knew about that?" Clark asked.
"Once I found out about your powers I started snooping. I found out Lex's theory about hitting you, and figured that he probably did. By the way, what happened to the roof of his car?" Chloe asked.
"When he hit me it knocked him out. To get him out of the sinking car I punched through the windshield and peeled back the roof," Clark explained.
"Ah, that would explain it. Next was the whole hostage in LuthorCorp fiasco. Where you raced around to save the day. Clenching the deal by pulling Lex, and Earl Jenkins off of a falling walkway with one hand," Chloe continued.
"I played that one off with adrenaline.and I did a pretty good job at it, too," Clark said in a mock-pout.
"I'm not done. What about when Lex was coerced into shooting you. He filled you full of bullets," Chloe said.
"Hey, he didn't see that. The people under the influence forgot what they did after it was done. Remember you-" Clark said.
Chloe cut him off. "For your own safety, let's leave it there. What about when Lex had the run in with his past with Club Zero? He was almost killed. You ran in, knocked the kidnapper out, flung a couch under Lex, ran back out, then walked in like you had just gotten there."
"How do you know this?" Clark asked in amazement.
"I was a reporter," Chloe said as if it was obvious. "Then there's the time when Ryan's step-dad kidnapped Lex and left him in the middle of the highway in no man's land. You suddenly appear, ask if he's alright, and disappear."
"You are amazing!" Clark exclaimed.
"I'm not through," Chloe said with a smile. "Last, was when Whitney fell in with the bad crowd. In front of Whitney, Lex, and Whitney's buddies, you kicked into hyperdrive to push Whitney out from under the falling car."
"Seriously, how do you know all this?" Clark asked.
"Clark, it was an obsession. I tried to find out everything I could about you. Every detail, every fact. I put two and two together. I made it my business to know, like Lex makes it his business to know everything about LuthorCorp. Point is, Lex is pretty dense for someone who graduated summa cum laude from Princeton," Chloe said.
"Okay, I'll give you that. What else you got?" Clark asked. He was very interested in what Chloe had to say.
"Don't even get me started on Lana," Chloe said with a smile.
"Ah, I could recount all the times I almost screwed up there. But, she knows now, so we'll leave it at that," Clark agreed.
"Good idea," Chloe said.
"When did it change?" Clark asked quietly.
"When did what change?" Chloe asked.
"When did you go from loving me to hating me?" Clark asked.
Chloe got quiet for a moment. "When I found out you had powers. That was the thing that did it for me. Until that point I had still tried to convince myself that we were best friends. Then, I heard you call Lex your best friend. That wouldn't have hurt so much if I hadn't known that you were keeping a secret from me. I waited for you to tell me, when you didn't something clicked. I realized that we hadn't been best friends, or even good friends, for months. Actually longer than that, and that it wouldn't change. So, my feelings started to change."
"Do you think you can ever love me again?" Clark asked.
"Truthfully, I don't know. There's so much there, Clark. So many feelings and emotions that I have to sort through before I can decide," Chloe said.
Clark nodded. "I'll wait for you."
"I know you will. I just hope you're not waiting in vain for something that won't come," Chloe said sadly.