Disclaimer: You know I don't own them, so why bother think otherwise
AN: this the third and hopefully last installment of this story line. You should read, "Missing you" and "Found and lost" before reading this. Otherwise you might be a lot confused. Anyway hope you Enjoy and Review, review, review.
Thinking Over
What was I thinking? Did I think he would not want to know why I left? That he would welcome me would open arms and not wonder what happened. Maybe I watch too much TV. It has made me think that we could pull a "Buffy and Angel". That we would get back to where we left off as if the world around us has not change after years of separation. Clark and I are different. We are no longer the people we used to be long ago back in a Smallville.
Chloe is gone. The girl who was friends with him no longer exists. I thought maybe by cutting my hair and not wearing my contacts, I could recapture her. But I am wrong. I will never be that carefree girl. Her biggest problem was getting over her best friend. I am Lois now, an icy queen bitch. I worked hard to be her. I can't shed her like an old coat. She was I and I was she. Clark what did you do to me.
All night I thought about what I said in his apartment. I have been dreading seeing him this morning. I have to work all day with him and I am partly afraid that he might mention something and that I will snap at him. I walk in my office doing a mental check of what I am wearing to work today. Blue power suit. Check. Black pumps. Check. Shades. Check. Bun. Check. Violet contacts. Check. Gorgeous. Always. I plaster one of my fake smiles on my face and prepare to head for my editor's office. No sight of Farm boy. WOW! I haven't called him that since high school. Wait, I never did call him that. Chloe did. I am Lois Lane, Investigative reporter. Chloe is my deceased cousin. Not me.
I walk into Perry's office head on. I am taken out of my thoughts when I bump into someone. I feel arms go around me and steady me. I look up and I lock eyes with deep blue ones. Clark.
I scramble away from him, muttering an excuse. That was not how I wanted to start my day.
"Lois, I am so sorry." I hear him apologize. I look away from him, ignoring his extended hand. I walk towards Perry's desk and sit in the corner.
" Well now that I have my two best reporters together," say the white haired man that was in charge of the Daily Planet, " I hope that we can get down to business"
"Sure Perry," I hear Clark answer. I roll my eyes and say nothing. Butt kisser.
" Anyway, Lois," he starts looking at me intently, " and Clark, What news have you on that man that can fly"
" They call him Superman, sir" Adds Clark. Which earns him another eye roll.
"Lois you have seen him up close. He saved you life twice. Maybe you could get an exclusive with him. An Evening with Superman, Call it whatever you want. Find out where he is from what he does? I want to know everything about him and I wanted in on my desk yesterday. Clark you help Lois prep for the interview."
" Perry, I can do this on my own." I say getting up. After last night, Clark was the last person I wanted to be put on assignment with.
" Lois this is not up for discussion, and Clark was the one who got the first interview with him, so he might have pointers for you." I look at Clark blushing at the words. I take my leave. I am furious. I walk into my office and slam the door. Not caring about the scene that I was making. Most people working here were now used to what they called the many tempers of Lois. I sat at my desk and propped my feet up. Who the hell did he think he was? I had been doing this job longer that he was. Danm it that is the only thing I had wanted to do since I was a child. How dare they tell me to take suggestion from someone that was … well not as good as me? I heard someone knocking at my door.
" Go away!" I answer. I could care less who it was. I wanted to wallow in self-pity. Last night and now this. Was Clark here to ruin what I had work so hard for?
"Lois" I heard from the doorway.
"Are you deaf Clark, I said to go away, not come in." Clark comes in anyway and closes the door behind him. I look at him seething with rage. He takes off his glasses and puts them on my desk. He goes around and come and stands in front of me. I get up and face him. I am ready to tell him off. I open my mouth and close it when I see him reach behind me. I feel his hand in my hair as he takes off the pins holding it up. I am frozen unable to utter a word. I look up to his face he is looking at me. He looks sad as he runs his fingers through my hair.
" I thought about you all last night Chloe. I sat there wondering how I could have been so blind that I did not recognize you from the moment I saw you. I notice the similarities between you and Lois but it was so impossible that you could be her or her you. And I remembered you telling me once that you had cousin named like that. I thought maybe you were related or something, but never that you were the same person. I lost you. I never thought that I would ever get the chance to see you and there you were on my doorstep last night. And…"
" I am Lois, Clark." I say cutting him off. I try to move away from him, but he wraps his arms around me imprisoning me in his arms.
" I know who you are. I wanted to let you know that to me you will always be Chloe. I know the apology might be a little late but I am sorry. I am sorry I was not there for you when you needed me, I am sorry I was too blind to see that you were not okay. Too blind to hear you asking for help or to be here for you."
I am not going to cry, I keep telling myself. I want to tell him to let me go. That it is too late for his sorry ass apologies, but I don't really want to. I miss him. I always have.
" Clark, It's not about you, it's about me needing to leave the past behind," I whisper in a tiny voice. I put my arms around him and let go of a sob. I have to cry. I can't help it. I need this. " Apology accepted," I add pulling away from him and looking up. His lips are inches away from mine. I think of the last time I was in such a position. I was wearing pink and my favorite band was playing my song, " Perfect Memory." Time has passed. Has it? Clark smiles. Is he thinking what I am thinking?
Chloe" He says in a husky voice. His eyes, as his face inches closer to mine, mesmerize me. " Clark" I whisper. Am I finally getting that kiss? Danm! all that time in therapy for nothing. I am having the most random thoughts. He loves me. He told me that last night. Wow! And I know that I still care about him. But if it was so easy for us to be together, why didn't we do it years ago? Why is he taking his sweet time to kiss me? I lick my lips in anticipation. Clark's eyes glaze over and he takes my lips. I close my eyes enjoying the soft caress.
This must be a dream I think. Clark has finally kissed me. It took ten years and boy was it worth the wait. I hear myself moan as I mold my body against his. I can feel him pulling me even closer. My lips part under the caress of his tongue. "Lois, get a grip on yourself" a little voice says in my head. "I thought you had a crush on Superman." Superman who? I am in the arms of the man I have love for as long as I have remembered. That can't be healthy for me to have an internal conversation with myself at a moment like this. All I want to do now is drown even more into Clark's embrace. I just wished that I had not waited so long or that things had gone different when I was in High school.
" I wish I had done this back in High school." I hear Clark say. I giggle and pull his lips back on mine, closing my eyes to savor the kiss.
Suddenly I hear the phone ring. I groan. I don't want to leave Clark's embrace to pick up that phone. I feel so good where I am. But it could something important, I hear my mind tell me. I mumble, open my eyes reach for the phone and scream.
************
" What the Hell?" I can't believe what I am seeing. I have to be dreaming. This is not possible. One minute I am standing in my office kissing Clark Kent and now I am back in my room. Not the one I had in my penthouse. I am back in Smallville. I run to the bathroom. I am blond again and I have green eyes. I pinch myself. This has to be a dream. I am twenty-seven years old; I am not a teenager anymore. I know this. The last few years of my life were not a dream.
"Chloe, Breakfast is ready! I made your favorite." Comes a voice from behind my door. I can't help the tears that creep into my eyes. My dad is alive. Danm my dreams are too vivid. I know that my dad is dead. He died in an accident at LexCorp. He is not alive. I go to my closet and pick something to wear. A pair of boot cut jeans and an aqua peasant shirt and I compliment the outfit with my combat boots. I missed those boys. I run down the stairs. I hope I get to see my dad before I wake up. I go into the kitchen and there he is standing by the stove drinking a cup of coffee, he has the Smallville Ledger spread in front of him. I can't help the tears that flow as I see him look up at me and smile.
" Sweetie what is the matter?" he ask. I can't talk. So I run to him and hug him with all my might. " I have missed you so much" I am finally able to say.
" I saw you before you went to bed last night." He answers me laughing. I let go of him and wipe my eyes. I give him a wry smile and he pokes my nose. " Sweetie, you have to go soon, if you don't want to be late for school." School! I am done with school, I think. My father looks at me, and smiles. I must have my astonishment written all over my face. " By the way, Mrs. Kent just called you to remind you that you were giving Clark a ride this morning." I mumble something in between gulps of coffee. If this is a memory I don't remember it, I think.
I walk to my red car. To my old rusty car, I had good times in that car. I get in and start the engine. I hear the familiar stutter before it wakes up. I start driving towards the Kent farm. I don't understand what is going on. I am sure this must be a dream but at the same time it feels eerily real. I have to figure out what day this is. I turn the radio on. After a few minutes of radio I am certain of two things. Radio sucks and that according to the show playing I was sixteen. Which would mean that Clark and I are sophomores. Whitney is gone. Lana and Clark are not going out yet. So if my memory serves well, Mrs. Kent had ask me to drive Clark to school the first day of class. Which would mean that I had just gotten back from my internship at the Daily Planet.
Clark and I had tried to keep in touch during that summer, but I resented him for leaving me at the dance, not that I would have preferred a dead Lana. Of course I had played it off like it had not bothered me. I had even told him that we should just stay friends. I had done all this while helping Clark look for his father. I had not wanted to get hurt and I was convinced at the time that it was just a matter of days before Clark and Lana started dating. I had been wrong. It wasn't till end of that year that they had started dating, right after the time that Lex and I started going out.
What if this was not a dream but a chance to change it all? I park the car in front of the Kent's farm. I close my eyes for a few minutes. I open them and I look around. Still in Smallville. Well even if it is a dream, I am not going to let Clark slip through my fingers. From that kiss he was giving me in my office, he definitely felt something more than brotherly love for me, unless that type of love included tongue wrestling. I smile at that thought. I see Clark coming this way. He opens the passenger door and sits on the chair. I hold my breath. I forgot how good he looked when he was sixteen. His blue flannel shirt complementing his beautiful blue eyes, he wore as usual a white t-shirt under and blue jeans. He made flannel look good. His hair was still wet from his morning shower. He looks at me. " Hey Chlo, thanks for the ride, I owe you big time." He says winking at me and smiling. I feel my heart skip a beat.
My eyes look at his lips and I think of that kiss I was sharing with him, before I woke up in this dream-reality. "Chloe, snap out of it," I say to myself while starting the car again.
" Hey Chlo! How was the internship? By the way I kept my promise to write, but someone must have been too busy writing articles to find time to answer to Farm boys" I hear him say teasingly.
" Well I spent more time serving Coffee than doing any actual writing Clark. And I am really sorry about the lack of writing." I was really sorry that I had given him the cold shoulder.
" No biggie, I was too busy doing chores and cleaning up after the tornado to notice that you were not writing." I look at him. He is smiling. I know that he is joking. In a few minutes I am parking my car in front of the school. I get out of the car. I hear someone call my name.
"Pete" I yell. I haven't seen him in years. I run to him and hug him, happy to see my close friend.
" Wow! I am guessing you really missed me," He answers hugging me back. I suddenly feel eyes watching me. I turn around and see Clark staring at us. I see a glint of envy in his eyes but it disappears as soon as he notices that I am looking at him. Clark jealous? Of Pete? Nah!
Pete and I wait as Clark walks towards us. The three musketeers back together again; I can't help the feeling of joy that overwhelms my heart. I miss this. Clark puts his arms around squeezes, and me than Pete does the same.
"The Torch!" I exclaim. I hear my two friends' chuckle behind me. " I wondered how long she would go without asking for her baby," said Pete. I turn around and playfully whack him on the head. I walk towards the Torch office; actually it's more like I run to it. I am anxious to see it. I walk in and everything is there, just as I remembered it. My Wall of Weird is still erect where I had left it. I giggle.
"Did Chloe just giggle?" Ask Pete.
" What happened to our Chloe?" Chimes in Clark. But I am too much in a good mood to listen to them. Nothing can spoil this happy feeling.
"Hey Guys," Said Lana coming in. I spoke too fast. Lana Lang had just invaded my territory. It's not that I don't like her. Actually I know that we eventually become close friends. I am always uneasy when she enters the Torch. I still remember the time that she had become Editor and I had thought that she was taking something else away from me on top of Clark. I watch Lana walk towards me and give me a light hug. She smiles at me and I instinctively respond. Than she turns and face the boys and waves at them, I notice that her eyes are glued to Clark. Pete is staring at Lana. Halt! Pete is staring at Lana. What did I miss? I look at Clark and to my surprise he is looking at me. As soon as he sees me looking at him he turns his gaze on Lana. Am I in the twilight Zone or something? Clark was looking at me.
I hear the bell ring indicating that school was officially started. I hurry out followed by the others. I hope I wake up soon because no one wants to relive high school.
***********
I have gone through a whole week of school and I have not awakened. Maybe I am in a coma. I was maybe so shocked by Clark's kiss that I ended up in a coma. Whatever it is, I am seeing things that I never thought possible. Something weird happened yesterday. I mean I saw Pete and Lana leaving the Talon together in deep conversation. The weird thing was that Clark was there and he had let them go. I am heading to the Fortress of Solitude tonight. I am not sure what I am doing there. But after this whole week, I feel like I need to talk to Clark. There are a lot of things I need to tell him. And I know that even though I notice these things, that last time Clark and Lana had become an item. Pete had ended up with some dumb blond or something and I had had a short-lived fling with Lex. In the end I had broken off contact with all my friends and had moved to Metropolis, changed my identity and was a very bitter, icy bitch.
I walk up the stairs. Clark is standing at the window, looking through his telescope.
"Clark?" I see him jump and looks at me relieved.
"Chloe, don't you know to knock?" he tells me half joking, half serious.
" It's a barn Clark, unless you want me to knock on your head". I see him smile and I watch him go sit on the couch. He pats the empty space beside him inviting me to join him. I don't think that siting next to him would be a good idea so I pretend I don't see the invitation.
" So what brings you here, Chlo?"
"Since when do I need an excuse to come and see you Clark?"
" No reason, it's just…It's been a while…I felt like you were giving me the cold shoulder for a while…" I know that he is right. I did do that. "Chloe what are you doing here" I ask myself. Clarks is looking at me, expecting me to say something. "Say something Chloe, say anything," I think.
" I missed you Clark" I start. He smiles at me
" Me too, Chlo. Me too."
" I am not done Clark. I miss us. Our friendship. I feel like we tip toe around each other. Afraid of I don't know what?" I look at him, he is just staring at me, I see him ready to say something, but I stop him continuing. " Look, I know that when you came to me an apologized about leaving me at the dance I said I was okay and that I wanted us to be friends. Well I lied. I was not okay. I am still not okay Clark. I don't want to be just friends with you. I can if that is what you want. It's just that night at the dance we almost kissed and I was almost certain that you felt something for me. And when I told you that I wanted us to be friends, I was hoping that you didn't want for us to just be friends"
"Chlo!" I hear him say as he gets up and walk towards the center of the room where I am standing. I know that if I let him talk, I will chicken out and I won't finish, so I go on.
" Clark, listen, I know that a part of you feels like you want more for us. I just don't want us to wait ten years from now to see that we like each other, or even love each other. I don't want to become an icy bitter bitch because I have isolated myself from the world. You and Pete are my link to the real world and I know that if we don't talk about this we will loose each other.
"Chlo!"
" We will fall apart. It will take me too long to realize that I am in love with you and by than you will be with Lana and I with Lex. And when we finally see each other again we won't recognize one another. I will be so immerse in my work and the only thing we will have in common is work and a guy name Superman that saves the world. Clark I don't want this to happen to us. I want things to be okay between us. I don't want to keep secrets from you because in the end it will be the ruin of us. All of us." I am crying now. Oh god1 I did not want to say so much. I feel strong arms circle around me. I bury my face in Clark's chest. I am sobbing loudly. I feel him run his hands on my back.
" Chloe, I want us to be friends" As I hear those words I feel my heart break into a million pieces. I can almost hear it shattering. I try to pull myself together and push myself away from him. His arms pull me even closer to him. "I don't need his pity," I think. "I want us to be friends and even more, if you still want that." I lift me head towards his face. He is smiling. I see his face inch closer to mine. Suddenly he stops.
"I can't" And my heart shatters again. Danm it Clark! Make up your mind. " There is something I have to show you first." I look at him not understanding. I let him drag me outside and lead me towards the field. " Chloe do you trust me." Is that a trick question? I nod. I don't think I can talk. " Put your arms around me and hold on tight."
"Clark if this is some plot to feel me up, you don't have too, and you just need to ask." I see him blush considerably as he get the implication of what I am saying. " Chloe do you remember when the meteors came down thirteen years ago. Well they were hiding something. A ship. My ship. You see I am not from around here." I blink at him in disbelief. I shake my head.
"Clark what are you saying?"
"Let me just show you" He tightens his arms around me, kicks up, and stares at the sky. I look up like him. For a moment I have the impression that the sky is getting closer. I am just about to tell Clark to quit it when I look down. We are at least twenty feet above the ground.
"Clark, we are flying"
"I know" He smirks at me. Suddenly things are starting to make sense. Clark was there at every crime scene and always saving the day. He always felt responsible for everyone like he could save the world.
" What else can you do?"
"I have X-ray vision, I can run pretty fast and am virtually indestructible. Except I get pretty sick around the green meteor rocks"
"That explains a lot" I am a little surprise when we land. We are at Windmill tower. I look down and back into Clark shivering.
" I'd never anything bad happen to you" he says looking down. I had been buried alive just few feet form the tower and Clark had saved my life.
"My hero" I answer turning to look at him. I see a little fear in his eyes.
"Are you going to put me in the Wall of Weird? Do you hate me for what I am?
" Clark!" I start about to yell at him for even thinking that. I stop and using a much smoother voice I say: "Clark, I don't care where you are from. I love you. I love you for who you are and if being an alien make you who you are than, Yay, to that. It was not your fault what happened all these years ago. You were a child. I could never hate you. And how could you think I would put you on the wall of weird. Give me some credit Clark" at these words I take a few steps back so he can see my smile. I trip on something and fall backwards.
"Clark!" I scream as I fall away from the platform. I imagine myself splattering on the floor. If you die in a dream do you die in real life? I close my eyes readying myself for the impact. Instead I feel arms surround me. I open my eyes, Clarks face is inches from mine and we are gently floating to the ground.
" I told you I would never let anything happen to you."
" Clark…Would you kiss me already" I hear him chuckle and than I feel his lips on mine. Clark is Superman. I break away the kiss. I study his features. How could I have not noticed? Clark is giving me a puzzled look. He opens his mouth to apologize. I place my hands on the collar of his shirt and drag his face towards mine planting a passionate kiss on his lips. At first he is too shock to respond than I feel his lips moving and he pulls me closer to him. I am kissing Clark Kent. I grin in the kiss. He pries open my lips with his and I close my savoring the taste that is Clark Kent.
I open my eyes when I feel him pull away. We are still under the Windmill tower. I am not in my bed dreaming. I think that maybe I had a second chance to do the right thing. All what had happened was just a glimpse of a possible future. I am so happy that I got the chance to think this over.
"So does this mean were going steady?" asks Clark with a mischievous look.
" I guess so Farm Boy." I answer by pulling him down for another kiss.
THE END.
AN: I hope everyone enjoyed this. Please review. I don't think I am going to write another part to this. But if people want for me to write a Clark POV to this, I will. But only if I get asked to do it.