*Rating: PG 13
*Disclaimer: It's obvious these characters aren't mine. If they were, you
can bet your ass Chloe and Clark would discuss the heap of major issues
that constitutes their relationship right now .
*Author Notes- I would appreciate feedback. I did this as part of a
birthday gift by request for a friend but I can't share it with her as of
yet. Even if you think it sucks, I want to hear why. Of course, if it sucks
beyond belief, then it doesn't deserve response and I'll just reconsider
giving it to my friend and nix any continuation. And if your reading Katie,
hit backspace now. :
**********
Hypothetical
Chloe regarded the figure in the doorway with a quizzical look. There was something about the way Clark had said the three little words that killed her witty remarks in the shell. There was an acute intensity there, a sense of hopeful urgency that he'd managed to convey in a way she never quite witnessed from him. The manner in which he stated them evidenced profuse deliberation on his part and he seemed determined to expel them from his system, to relieve himself of something.
"I lied, Chloe."
Considering they hadn't had a conversation in the recent past where she'd asked him to be truthful with her, she was at loss as to how to respond to the ill timed revelation and let herself be taken aback by the unkempt sight before her eyes. Clark's hair was a disheveled, hay-ridden mop of raven locks spotted with the droplets of melting snowflakes. She wondered what in the hell had he been doing at this ungodly hour in the night.
"Clark, must you acknowledge my presence in increasingly bizarre ways? God forbid you bust through the door one day with a simple 'Hi!' or 'How's it going Chloe?'" Chloe stifled a giggle at the image of Clark bursting through the Torch door and spouting odd salutations ala Kramer from [i]Seinfeld.
Clark repeated himself as though he wasn't heard clearly the first time.
"I lied to you."
Chloe sobered at his staunch refusal to partake in their usual witty repartee. Clark was usually all for the light hearted banter that he and Chloe tended to engage in regardless of how busy they were or how serious a situation was, especially this year. Though there were still some unresolved issues between them, they had recently rekindled the warmth and sense of ease they used to feel around each other. Something was definitely up, and for some peculiar reason, Chloe wasn't so sure she was going to like this conversation.
"About what, Clark? Forgive me if I don't remember throwing any burning questions in your general direction lately," she said, smiling.
"Chloe, what would you say if I told you that I wasn't ecstatic at your proposition to stay friends back when we were searching for my father in the aftermath of the tornados?"
Chloe had to remind herself to keep breathing. The type of frankness that involved major emotional risk taking, this just wasn't like Clark. And to top it off, he was saying things she had always wanted to hear but had tried to give up on months ago.
".that, in actuality, I abhorred the idea?" he continued. "That I think you did too?"
This was too much. She was quite suddenly aware of her staring, but so was he, and unbridled affection shone in his eyes. She tried to picture Lana so as to prematurely nip in the bud the inevitable disaster that would follow such open ogling.
"Cla-" she began in vain. He put a gentle finger to her lips as if already anticipating the interjection. She suppressed a shiver at the tender gesture. His last question was just above a whisper.
"What would you say-" he was stopped abruptly and bit his bottom lip, perhaps reconsidering. Chloe almost cursed him for drawing her eyes to his lips, but of course he was oblivious to his innocent seduction . His hesitation lasted but a fleeting moment. He furrowed his brows, which Chloe instantly recognized as a mannerism Clark displayed whilst trying to conjure up courage, inhaled an unsteady breath, and continued.
"What would you say, Chloe, if I told you that it broke my heart?"
The unwavering cerulean orbs before her seized her gaze and would not relent. She wondered if it was possible to drown blissfully, as this was the confounding sensation she was feeling as she looked into Clark's eyes.
Clark heartbroken? Lately it seemed the epitome of naiveté was making a habit of rendering her speechless whenever she was in his vicinity. She let herself look at him with the uninhibited adoration she reserved for when his back was turned. She wasn't fully, consciously aware that their lips had simultaneously parted, that the gap between them was mere centimeters, and that they were seconds away from the absolute point of no return.
That Lana was supposed to meet her here minutes from now to discuss the major overhaul of a certain Talon article.
As if Chloe was pricked by a needle, the spell was broken. She wasn't going to let reality sneak up on her as it did in the overly bedecked gymnatorium that fateful night when they had come so excruciatingly close to committing. What Chloe proceeded to do at this point was almost incomprehensible.
She laughed.
Guffawing at the love of her life after he had just bore his soul to her wasn't exactly the most sensitive of tactics, but well practiced defense mechanisms, already kicked into high gear, had sole jurisdiction over her actions at this point. Chloe rationalized that it would save them both a lot of pain in the long run. Struggling to ignore the hurt etched on Clark's face, she yanked her hand roughly from his firm grasp and cocked an eyebrow. "It was so broken that it had some remarkable effect on your motor skills, or vocal cords, hindering your ability to- I don't know - pick up the damn phone and call, or send an email?"
She swiveled her chair back around, resolutely forcing back the salty rivulets that threatened to invade her cheeks and betray her, and resumed the furious typing of her half-finished editorial. Chloe was proud of her restraint thus far, especially since Clark looked like he had just gotten the wind knocked out of him.
"Chloe, you-"
"Don't understand?" she finished for him, her tone icier than she'd intended. "Let's hear it, Clark. What was it this time? The farm? The Talon?"
"Chloe-" he started again, but Chloe was on an roll right now, releasing emotions that had never quite found an outlet and were begging release for insufferably long months.
"What was it, Clark? Where you fine-tuning some meteor-induced telepathic abilities you were hoping to use as a means of communication with me? Did you not realize, in the span of two months, that those noble efforts were very much in vain?!"
"If you would just calm down and."
"Why would you deliberately distance yourself for two entire months if my proposition so chagrined you?"
"I -"
"Do have any idea how much that hurt, Clark?" Chloe mentally lambasted herself for letting her voice crack as she said his name.
"Chloe-" She shrugged off the hands he put on the shoulders. "I saw your actions as you way of salvaging our friendship."
"Jesus, Clark, not this again-" she threw her hands up exasperatedly.
"How did you think I interpreted it?"
"Simple. You saw it as a 'get of jail free' pass." Chloe hit the Tab key a little harder than she should have.
"Chloe, it looked like you had decided in a 'let me get this over with' sort of way- casually, on the spot." Clark almost pleaded, earning himself eye rolls.
"You know I can't read between the lines to save my life, Chloe. I thought you were letting me down easy."
There was a slight softening in her features as he said this. "Well you are an oblivious twit when it comes to a lot of things," she nodded amusedly. "So sue me if I thought, after what we'd been though following the whole Justin Gaines fiasco, that I could give you the benefit of the doubt."
"I'm sorry."
Her fingers trembled until typing effectively was no longer possible. Clark's voice was quiet and his countenance was that of utter sorrow and sincerity but Chloe's words maintained their firmness. "You still haven't really answered my question, Clark."
She shut off the monitor of her computer and faced him. "Why did you avoid me like the plague all summer long?" She crossed her legs, folded her hands on top of them and waited in faux patient neutrality.
"I was afraid."
Chloe eyed him incredulously, taking in his expression and realizing he was serious. "I'm not that intimidating Clark." He looked away ashamedly as a deep flush colored his cheeks. "Afraid of what? That I'd reach through the phone and throttle you? Even if I did spend hours agonizing over whether you were alive or dead, I assured you repeatedly that I understood about you running off to save Lana. "Were you afraid that I'd hang up on you? That I'd-"
"That you'd see right through me."
She opened her mouth to respond, but words failed Chloe Sullivan once again. Twice in a single conversation? She thought that this had to be some kind of record, as she let Clark continue.
"I was afraid that if we actually had some genuine conversation, you'd see right through me- that my missing you was.a little more than friendly."
Chloe wasn't responding and Clark was having a difficult time reading her, and since elaborating seemed to be his only viable options, he kept talking.
"It took an entire summer of mental conditioning on my part, Chloe. I wanted avoid the embarrassment that would follow you realizing my desire for more than friendship. Whether you would have been insulted that I didn't want to respect your wishes, or whether you would have felt sorry for me, the hypothetical reactions that ran through my head terrified me."
Chloe was still silent, disbelieving. Clark looked away, suddenly feeling exposed, bare. He swallow hard on the growing lump in his throat , shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other and made his way to the door. He'd succeeded in making a complete fool out of himself and was sure he'd perpetuated his nightmare.
"Did this hypothetical run through your head?" Chloe asked loudly.
Clark stopped and turned around, bewildered. He was emotionally drained at this point and didn't know if he could handle another round of pouring his heart out and evoking mere silence.
"What hypothetical?" he wanted to ask, but his question would be interrupted by the intrepid blond advancing toward him. Chloe's façade had been eroding with every passing second since Clark's heart-felt admission, and now, as her palms ran up his chest, she wanted to make certain she was crystal clear this time around. She would do away with the reticence, replace it with absolute, unrestrained passion manifested in an ardent kiss. Clark responded in like fashion and the two would be lost in each other for quite some time afterward, sharing a single thought.
It had all been worth it.
*********
**********
Hypothetical
Chloe regarded the figure in the doorway with a quizzical look. There was something about the way Clark had said the three little words that killed her witty remarks in the shell. There was an acute intensity there, a sense of hopeful urgency that he'd managed to convey in a way she never quite witnessed from him. The manner in which he stated them evidenced profuse deliberation on his part and he seemed determined to expel them from his system, to relieve himself of something.
"I lied, Chloe."
Considering they hadn't had a conversation in the recent past where she'd asked him to be truthful with her, she was at loss as to how to respond to the ill timed revelation and let herself be taken aback by the unkempt sight before her eyes. Clark's hair was a disheveled, hay-ridden mop of raven locks spotted with the droplets of melting snowflakes. She wondered what in the hell had he been doing at this ungodly hour in the night.
"Clark, must you acknowledge my presence in increasingly bizarre ways? God forbid you bust through the door one day with a simple 'Hi!' or 'How's it going Chloe?'" Chloe stifled a giggle at the image of Clark bursting through the Torch door and spouting odd salutations ala Kramer from [i]Seinfeld.
Clark repeated himself as though he wasn't heard clearly the first time.
"I lied to you."
Chloe sobered at his staunch refusal to partake in their usual witty repartee. Clark was usually all for the light hearted banter that he and Chloe tended to engage in regardless of how busy they were or how serious a situation was, especially this year. Though there were still some unresolved issues between them, they had recently rekindled the warmth and sense of ease they used to feel around each other. Something was definitely up, and for some peculiar reason, Chloe wasn't so sure she was going to like this conversation.
"About what, Clark? Forgive me if I don't remember throwing any burning questions in your general direction lately," she said, smiling.
"Chloe, what would you say if I told you that I wasn't ecstatic at your proposition to stay friends back when we were searching for my father in the aftermath of the tornados?"
Chloe had to remind herself to keep breathing. The type of frankness that involved major emotional risk taking, this just wasn't like Clark. And to top it off, he was saying things she had always wanted to hear but had tried to give up on months ago.
".that, in actuality, I abhorred the idea?" he continued. "That I think you did too?"
This was too much. She was quite suddenly aware of her staring, but so was he, and unbridled affection shone in his eyes. She tried to picture Lana so as to prematurely nip in the bud the inevitable disaster that would follow such open ogling.
"Cla-" she began in vain. He put a gentle finger to her lips as if already anticipating the interjection. She suppressed a shiver at the tender gesture. His last question was just above a whisper.
"What would you say-" he was stopped abruptly and bit his bottom lip, perhaps reconsidering. Chloe almost cursed him for drawing her eyes to his lips, but of course he was oblivious to his innocent seduction . His hesitation lasted but a fleeting moment. He furrowed his brows, which Chloe instantly recognized as a mannerism Clark displayed whilst trying to conjure up courage, inhaled an unsteady breath, and continued.
"What would you say, Chloe, if I told you that it broke my heart?"
The unwavering cerulean orbs before her seized her gaze and would not relent. She wondered if it was possible to drown blissfully, as this was the confounding sensation she was feeling as she looked into Clark's eyes.
Clark heartbroken? Lately it seemed the epitome of naiveté was making a habit of rendering her speechless whenever she was in his vicinity. She let herself look at him with the uninhibited adoration she reserved for when his back was turned. She wasn't fully, consciously aware that their lips had simultaneously parted, that the gap between them was mere centimeters, and that they were seconds away from the absolute point of no return.
That Lana was supposed to meet her here minutes from now to discuss the major overhaul of a certain Talon article.
As if Chloe was pricked by a needle, the spell was broken. She wasn't going to let reality sneak up on her as it did in the overly bedecked gymnatorium that fateful night when they had come so excruciatingly close to committing. What Chloe proceeded to do at this point was almost incomprehensible.
She laughed.
Guffawing at the love of her life after he had just bore his soul to her wasn't exactly the most sensitive of tactics, but well practiced defense mechanisms, already kicked into high gear, had sole jurisdiction over her actions at this point. Chloe rationalized that it would save them both a lot of pain in the long run. Struggling to ignore the hurt etched on Clark's face, she yanked her hand roughly from his firm grasp and cocked an eyebrow. "It was so broken that it had some remarkable effect on your motor skills, or vocal cords, hindering your ability to- I don't know - pick up the damn phone and call, or send an email?"
She swiveled her chair back around, resolutely forcing back the salty rivulets that threatened to invade her cheeks and betray her, and resumed the furious typing of her half-finished editorial. Chloe was proud of her restraint thus far, especially since Clark looked like he had just gotten the wind knocked out of him.
"Chloe, you-"
"Don't understand?" she finished for him, her tone icier than she'd intended. "Let's hear it, Clark. What was it this time? The farm? The Talon?"
"Chloe-" he started again, but Chloe was on an roll right now, releasing emotions that had never quite found an outlet and were begging release for insufferably long months.
"What was it, Clark? Where you fine-tuning some meteor-induced telepathic abilities you were hoping to use as a means of communication with me? Did you not realize, in the span of two months, that those noble efforts were very much in vain?!"
"If you would just calm down and."
"Why would you deliberately distance yourself for two entire months if my proposition so chagrined you?"
"I -"
"Do have any idea how much that hurt, Clark?" Chloe mentally lambasted herself for letting her voice crack as she said his name.
"Chloe-" She shrugged off the hands he put on the shoulders. "I saw your actions as you way of salvaging our friendship."
"Jesus, Clark, not this again-" she threw her hands up exasperatedly.
"How did you think I interpreted it?"
"Simple. You saw it as a 'get of jail free' pass." Chloe hit the Tab key a little harder than she should have.
"Chloe, it looked like you had decided in a 'let me get this over with' sort of way- casually, on the spot." Clark almost pleaded, earning himself eye rolls.
"You know I can't read between the lines to save my life, Chloe. I thought you were letting me down easy."
There was a slight softening in her features as he said this. "Well you are an oblivious twit when it comes to a lot of things," she nodded amusedly. "So sue me if I thought, after what we'd been though following the whole Justin Gaines fiasco, that I could give you the benefit of the doubt."
"I'm sorry."
Her fingers trembled until typing effectively was no longer possible. Clark's voice was quiet and his countenance was that of utter sorrow and sincerity but Chloe's words maintained their firmness. "You still haven't really answered my question, Clark."
She shut off the monitor of her computer and faced him. "Why did you avoid me like the plague all summer long?" She crossed her legs, folded her hands on top of them and waited in faux patient neutrality.
"I was afraid."
Chloe eyed him incredulously, taking in his expression and realizing he was serious. "I'm not that intimidating Clark." He looked away ashamedly as a deep flush colored his cheeks. "Afraid of what? That I'd reach through the phone and throttle you? Even if I did spend hours agonizing over whether you were alive or dead, I assured you repeatedly that I understood about you running off to save Lana. "Were you afraid that I'd hang up on you? That I'd-"
"That you'd see right through me."
She opened her mouth to respond, but words failed Chloe Sullivan once again. Twice in a single conversation? She thought that this had to be some kind of record, as she let Clark continue.
"I was afraid that if we actually had some genuine conversation, you'd see right through me- that my missing you was.a little more than friendly."
Chloe wasn't responding and Clark was having a difficult time reading her, and since elaborating seemed to be his only viable options, he kept talking.
"It took an entire summer of mental conditioning on my part, Chloe. I wanted avoid the embarrassment that would follow you realizing my desire for more than friendship. Whether you would have been insulted that I didn't want to respect your wishes, or whether you would have felt sorry for me, the hypothetical reactions that ran through my head terrified me."
Chloe was still silent, disbelieving. Clark looked away, suddenly feeling exposed, bare. He swallow hard on the growing lump in his throat , shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other and made his way to the door. He'd succeeded in making a complete fool out of himself and was sure he'd perpetuated his nightmare.
"Did this hypothetical run through your head?" Chloe asked loudly.
Clark stopped and turned around, bewildered. He was emotionally drained at this point and didn't know if he could handle another round of pouring his heart out and evoking mere silence.
"What hypothetical?" he wanted to ask, but his question would be interrupted by the intrepid blond advancing toward him. Chloe's façade had been eroding with every passing second since Clark's heart-felt admission, and now, as her palms ran up his chest, she wanted to make certain she was crystal clear this time around. She would do away with the reticence, replace it with absolute, unrestrained passion manifested in an ardent kiss. Clark responded in like fashion and the two would be lost in each other for quite some time afterward, sharing a single thought.
It had all been worth it.
*********