Title: Surprise, Surprise.

Author: Lucy Mars

Disclaimer: Nah, they're not mine.

Chapter #8: Little Words and Easy to Understand Visuals.

Staring at Chloe with disbelief written over his face, Clark felt the crate that he was holding start to slip from his fingers. Hefting it back up, Clark couldn't believe it. Chloe Sullivan, was sitting in Lex's office looking like she didn't have a care in the world. "Chloe?"

Her soft blonde hair flying and splattering tiny pearls of water around her when she whipped her head around, Chloe looked up at Clark with aged eyes. "Hey Clark,"

Gaping openly at the ghost curled up on Lex's favorite chair holding Lex's coffee mug looking like she belonged there, Clark couldn't believe it.

Sighing heavily, Chloe glanced up at Lex and tried to keep her misery at bay. She didn't have the energy to deal with Clark right now. All she wanted to do was sit here and hold silent conversations with Lex. The two of them didn't need words, because they understood each other, but Clark would definitely need words. If he was still the Clark Kent that she remembered, he would need plenty of words and easy to understand visuals.

"Chloe?" Clark repeated, still regarding her with those wide farm boy eyes.

That was her name, don't wear it out. "Yes Clark?"

It took everything in Lex not to chuckle at the surprise on Clark's face when he registered Chloe's nonchalant tone. Ending his phone call, Lex finally warranted Clark's attention when he cleared his throat. "Hello Clark."

"Lex," Clark said tearing his confused eyes away from Chloe. The boy was so easy to read. Both Chloe and Lex could see him struggling to find the words to ask the two of them to explain what the hell was going on.

"Chloe is going to be staying with me for an undecided amount of time," Lex said crossing the room and looking at the crate of flowers that Clark was still holding in his arms, "The tulips look nice."

Nodding dumbly, Clark managed to stutter out a quick thanks before going back to gawk at Chloe.

Silently waiting for Clark to have a reaction to what Lex had just said, Chloe leaned back in her seat and sipped her coffee slowly. Clark was exactly as she had remembered him. Tall, handsome, somewhat innocent and still the fumbling boy she'd befriend, whether he wanted her too or not. She couldn't decide whether she was glad that he obviously hadn't changed, or if she was disappointed.

Still standing mutely before Lex and Chloe, Clark couldn't believe his eyes. It was Chloe sitting in front of him, there was no doubt about it…yet at the same time, it wasn't. She wasn't the perky intrepid reporter that had been his best friend for so long. There was an aura of maturity around her, a confidence in her that Clark didn't remember and something about her eyes that told him that she wasn't a kid anymore. No, Chloe Sullivan was a full fledged woman now. And man, did she look the part. Her funky off beat clothes seemed to have been traded in for a more elegant look, a look that strangely resembled the one that another one of Clark's friends had. A certain bald millionaire to be exact. Lex's words finally registering, Clark tore his eyes away from Chloe once again. "She's what?" Clark demanded, glaring at Lex now.

"Staying with him," Chloe said calmly watching Clark look between her and Lex so quickly she was afraid that he was going to get a crick in his neck, "For an undetermined amount of time," she added when Clark didn't say anything.

Fumbling over the rush of words that seemed to want to pour from his mouth all at once, Clark abruptly handed the crate over to Lex before he dropped them. "I don't understand." Clark finally managed to stutter out.

Putting the crate of flowers down beside Chloe, Lex resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He knew what a shock it had to be for Clark to suddenly see Chloe again, in the office no less, but really, hadn't he influenced Clark at all over the past few years. Clark had rubbed off on Lex enough, hence the whole 'nice guy' thing. "What don't you understand?" Lex asked innocently as he took a seat on the arm of Chloe's chair.

'Everything,' Chloe sighed internally. Clark didn't understand anything and she wasn't in the mood to explain it. She didn't want to explain it and see the pity in his eyes. Lex and Louis never pitied her. They merely understood.

Staring at Lex incredibly, Clark gestured at Chloe and then back to Lex before exclaiming, "Like how the hell that happened."

Passing Lex her coffee, Chloe perched her arm on his leg and rested her tired head on her hand. She really didn't have the energy for this. Her body hadn't consumed enough coffee yet. Sleep, even the best she'd had in months, wasn't enough to get her through the muddled way Clark played twenty questions.

To say that Clark was surprised at the tactile relationship Chloe and Lex seemed to have would be putting it way too lightly. He was blown away.

Unconsciously putting a reassuring hand on Chloe's shoulder, Lex slowly drank her coffee. How could he explain this to Clark without telling him what Chloe obviously wasn't ready to tell him, and still satisfy his curiosity?

Luckily for Lex, Chloe wasn't too concerned about satisfying Clark's curiosity. "It just did," Chloe shrugged, reaching her arm down to touch the fragrant flowers that Lex had put by the foot of her chair, "These flowers are gorgeous."

"They are," Lex agreed, "Martha has the best tulips. She also grows these purple roses that…"

"Guys," Clark said commanding Chloe and Lex's attention again, "The flowers can wait."

"Clark," Chloe sighed running a tired hand over her face, "I really don't want to get into why, how, or what right now. I'm back in town, yes. I've been gone, yes. How long am I staying? I don't know. I'm staying here?" Chloe said gesturing with her free hand at the Luthor ancestral home, "As weird as it sounds, yeah. Can we play twenty questions later?"

Vaguely resembling a puppy that'd just been scolded, Clark just silently nodded.

"Thank you," Chloe said breathing a sigh of relief. Now she had the joy of anticipating being questioned by Clark at a later date. Oh, joy.

His eyes narrowing when he finally noticed the small bruise on Chloe's cheek, Clark suddenly saw red. "What happened to your face?"

"My what?" Chloe asked looking up at Lex with confusion. Seeing him point to his cheek, it finally dawned on Chloe what Clark was referring too. "Oh, that. It's nothing."

Stepping closer to Chloe, Clark felt a frown replace the surprise on his face. "That's not nothing, Chloe. How did it happen?"

Waving his concern away, Chloe touched the sore bruise that was no bigger than a nickel. "A lady cut in front of me at Starbucks and I had no choice but to take her down." Chloe told Clark sarcastically, "You should see the shiner I gave her."

Too bad for Chloe, Clark didn't find that too amusing. However, Lex did seem to find it funny. Well, you couldn't win them all.


***

"Mom?" Clark yelled zooming into the house, "Dad?"

"Clark?" Martha asked rounding the corner to find her son standing in her kitchen full of nervous energy, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Clark said shaking his head, "You'll never believe who I saw when I dropped off the produce at Lex's place just now."

"What's going on?" Jonathan asked coming into the kitchen.

"Clark saw someone at Lex's," Martha explained, "and it's got him all wound up."

"Who did you see? A queen? Or maybe it was the Dali Lama?" Jonathan teased, wiping grease off of his hands.

"No," Clark said shaking his head, "Chloe."


***

"Do you think the entire town knows by now?"

Looking up from his computer, Lex gave Chloe an amused look. It was interesting seeing her so distressed by something so miniscule. He didn't understand her hesitance to rejoin their quaint and twisted town. He would have thought that she was excited at the prospect of returning to the people she knew. "If they all knew, they would be knocking down my door to greet you."

"Yeah," Chloe scoffed, throwing her paper down, "I'm sure."

"Why has this got you so wound up?" Lex asked leaning back in his chair, "I would have thought that you would be excited at the idea of being re-welcomed into the town."

Frowning, Chloe absently played with the hem of her sweater. "Re-joining the town means answering questions that I don't want to answer."

Now he understood. Chloe Sullivan without Gabe Sullivan would raise some eyebrows. "It gets easier, you know."

"What does?"

"Saying it out loud,"

Sighing, Chloe brushed her hair out of her face. She didn't know about that. She still chocked on the words. Putting 'father' and 'dead' in the same sentence would always be hard for her. "I can't avoid it…can I?"

"No," Lex said shutting down his computer, "You know that the entire town is crawling with curiosity by now. They may not all talk to you, but we both know they want to see you with their own eyes."

"So I might as well get it over with?" Chloe asked, squaring her shoulders and preparing herself for battle.

"Yeah," Lex grinned, "You might as well get it over with."

"So where do we go?" Chloe asked rising from her seat.

We. That made him smile. "How about a cup of coffee? I know this place and the guy who owns it."

Smirking, Chloe followed Lex out of his office and into the cool spring day. "Do they have good coffee?"

"The best," Lex assured Chloe.

Giving him a small smile, she slipped into the passenger seat. "We'll see about that."


***

"Chloe?" Pete asked almost dropping the cup of coffee he was holding, "Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure!" Clark said moving full of nervous energy.

"She's staying with Lex Luthor?" Lana asked giving Clark a confused look.

"That's how I feel," Clark frowned, still confused by that.

"I don't get it," Lana said moving around the cluttered tables and refilling random mugs, "Why would she be staying with Lex? I didn't even know that were friends."

His frown deepening, Clark leaned against the counter. "I didn't either."

"How does her dad feel about that?" Pete asked, his own disapproval with the situation obvious.

"I have no idea." Clark said, mirroring Pete's frown.

"Where has Chloe been all this time?" Lana asked moving back behind the counter, "Has she been in contact with Lex all this time?"

"No," Clark answered confidently, "Lex would have told me if he's been talking to Chloe all of this time."

"Where has she been the last few years?" Lana asked puzzled and slightly hurt for Clark and Pete that Chloe wouldn't contact him after disappearing in the chaotic world on Metropolis.

"I don't know," Clark said just as frustrated by the lack of details as Lana was.

"She didn't tell you?" Pete asked surprised.

"She didn't tell me much of anything," Clark realized, "but I'm sure she will."

"How can you be so sure?" Lana asked looking up at the two new customers at the Talon.

"Because," Clark said too distracted by his thoughts to notice the two new customers, "she's Chloe. She'll tell us."

"I don't know," Lana said frowning at the picture that Chloe and Lex made standing at the entrance soaking up the attention that their arrival warranted, "It looks like Chloe's changed."

Following Lana's surprised stare, Clark didn't have any arguments about that. Chloe sure has changed, now if only he could decide whether it was for the better or for the worse.

***

TBC.