Chapter 3
"We're at the pizza place. Order now or forever hold your peace," Chloe said into her cell phone, standing outside of the pizza shop. She started to write on a pad of paper. "Okay, okay. Yeah. Alright. How many? You have to be kidding me. Okay, Pete. Whatever you want. You better. Okay, be there in a minute. Bye."
"What did he say?" Lana asked, trying to look at Chloe's paper.
"They're just a little hungry," Chloe told her, rolling her eyes and walking to the counter. "I need two large pizzas. One with double cheese, and pepperoni. The other with hamburger and black olives."
"Is that all?" the man asked.
Chloe shook her head. "Not even close. I also need two orders of hot wings, and three orders of breadsticks."
"They want all that?!" Lana asked, her eyes going wide.
Chloe nodded. "Yeah. Pete said he'd pay for half."
"Your total comes to thirty-nine fifty," the man said.
Chloe took out her wallet and handed him two twenty dollar bills.
"That's a lot of money," Lana said in amazement.
Chloe laughed. "It gets worse when we go to the deli," she said, leaning against the counter after she had gotten her change. "They always want two sandwiches a piece, a large soup, a bag of chips, a large drink, and sometimes a potato, too. Talk about expensive, but when we go to the deli they always chip in some."
"That's-" Lana started when her cell phone rang. "Hello? Didn't you just-" Lana laughed. "Okay. Bye."
"Who was that?" Chloe asked, narrowing her eyes.
"I'm not supposed to tell you, but whoever it was wants us to get some two-liters," Lana said, her eyes shining.
Chloe rolled her eyes. "And they'll drink one apiece, too."
"Here you go. Two large pizzas, two hot wings, and three breadsticks," the man said, handing the steaming boxes to Lana.
"Can I also get two two-liter cokes?" Chloe asked, handing the man a wad of bills.
"Thank you," Lana told him as they made their way back to the car.
They drove in silence for the five minutes it took to get to the Kent farm.
Lana climbed out and grabbed the food, while Chloe grabbed the drinks and movies. Chloe led the way into the house. "Clark? Pete?"
"They're in the barn, Chloe," Martha called from the kitchen.
"Something smells great," Lana told her, setting the food on the counter.
Martha smiled. "Thank you. Clark wanted cookies, and Pete wanted brownies, so I'm baking some of each. If you want, you can take some plates out to the loft to eat. There's paper plates and cups in the pantry."
"That sounds great. Thanks," Chloe replied, getting a handful of plates and cups. She shoved them into the bag of movies.
"Here's a bowl for ice," Martha said, handing Lana a large bowl. "You can fill it up."
Lana opened the freezer, filled the bowl, then set it on top of the food.
"If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask," Martha said, washing out a mixing bowl.
"Thank you, Mrs. Kent," Chloe replied, leading the way out of the house. "Clark! Pete!"
Clark and Pete jogged out of the barn. Clark took the bowl of ice and a few boxes of food from Lana, and Pete took the drinks from Chloe.
"That better?" Clark asked with a smile.
Chloe smiled back. "Much. Thank you."
"When did you get a TV up here?" Lana asked, climbing the stairs.
Clark looked from one of them to the other, then back again.
Pete sighed and flung himself onto the couch. "Lex gave it to him."
"Clark gets a TV and all I get it a cappuccino machine," Lana teased, sitting by Pete.
"I'll be sure to tell him your Christmas list, Lana," Clark said sarcastically, opening up the boxes of food.
"And Mr. Kent let you keep it?" Chloe asked in disbelief.
Clark shrugged. "I asked nicely?"
"More like begged and pleaded," Pete said, sitting forward and piling his plate. "Thanks, Chloe. Here," he said, handing her a wad of money.
"Let's watch Clark's new TV," Chloe replied, fishing into a bag for a movie. "Which first? Dragonheart, The Princess Bride, X-Men, The Mummy, or American Pie?"
"You got American Pie?" Pete asked around a bite of pizza. "Let's watch that."
Chloe rolled her eyes. "I'm not watching American Pie."
"Then why did you get it?" Pete asked, pouting.
"Because we're going to leave the movies here and we thought you might want to watch it with Clark later," Lana answered. "We'll watch Dragonheart first."
Clark shrugged. "Fine with me," he said, catching the tape as Chloe tossed it to him.
Chloe sat on the couch by Lana, as Clark popped in the tape.
"Clark," Martha called from the bottom of the stairs.
"Yeah, Mom?" Clark asked, walking to the ledge.
"The brownies and cookies are ready. I brought the milk, too," Martha said, holding up the milk and plate of cookies and brownies.
"Thanks, Mom."
"Thank you, Mrs. Kent," three voices said from in the loft.
"You're welcome. If you'd like to stay the night I set out some old clothes of mine on the guest bed for Lana and Chloe. They can stay in there. Pete can stay in your room."
"Sounds good," Clark replied, taking the food and kissing Martha on the cheek. He put the food on the desk with the rest of it, then sat on the floor between Lana and Chloe's feet.
* * *
"We've watched them all except for American Pie," Pete announced happily.
Lana yawned. "I'm with Chloe. I don't want to watch American Pie."
Clark kicked aside the empty food boxes, plates, and cups. He picked up the last brownie and dropped it into his mouth. "What time is it?"
Chloe looked at her watch. "Two o'clock."
"You want to go to bed?" Pete asked, stretching and hitting Lana in the head in the process. "Sorry."
Lana smiled. "Bed sounds good."
"Okay, I'll show you where the guest bedroom is," Clark said, leaving the messy loft.
The three followed Clark into the house quietly. "Here it is. The clothes are on the bed. The bathroom's down the hall. Chloe knows where everything is," Clark told Lana. "'Night."
"Goodnight," Lana answered.
"'Night, guys," Chloe replied. She walked to the bed and picked up an old tank top and pajama bottoms. "I just can't see Mrs. Kent in these pants."
Lana laughed. "Or that shirt. You think you know a person."
Both girls laughed, turning their backs to change.
"This bed is…" Lana trailed off.
"Small?" Chloe finished. "It's a full size, but it does look small. Yet very comfortable."
Lana watched as Chloe scurried under the covers. "Yes," Lana said, climbing into the other side. "I'm so tired."
"Me too," Chloe agreed, snuggling into the covers and closing her eyes. After a mere minute or two, Chloe's breathing deepened as she fell asleep.
* * *
Lana woke with a gasp. This made the third night in a row she had woken up with a nightmare. She thought she was over them when they stopped in time for the new school year, but after Nell left they had come back with a vengeance. She looked around, trying to recognize where she was. Oh, yeah. Clark's. Lana shifted and her hand touched something warm and soft.
Looking over she saw Chloe. Her blond hair was fanned across the white pillow, and her face had a peaceful look to it. Lana took a deep breath. She didn't know when, but at some point her feelings for her friend had changed. She could almost sense something different when she looked at Chloe.
Lana wiped the beads of sweat off of her own head, then threw the covers off of herself. She got still when the bed shifted. Chloe rolled over in her sleep, landing with her cheek against Lana's shoulder. When Lana moved her arm, Chloe threw an arm over Lana, and moved in closer, mumbling in her sleep.
Lana's breath hitched before wrapping her arms around her blonde friend. She then drifted off to sleep.
* * *
"Chloe, Lana, it's-" Clark swung open the bedroom door, but stopped abruptly.
"Watch out," Pete warned, walking into Clark. He pushed Clark into the room to see what he was staring at. "Whoa. I didn't need to see that."
"Yeah, me either," Clark said, pushing past Pete and shutting the door.
When the door shut, Lana woke up. Chloe now had her head on Lana's chest, and one hand was on Lana's exposed stomach. "Chloe, wake up!"
Chloe mumbled something sleepily.
"Chloe, now!" Lana said forcefully, snapping Chloe out of her dream world.
Chloe pulled back. "What-? How did I-? Huh?"
"I don't know, but I think we just had visitors," Lana said, getting out of the bed.
Chloe rubbed her eyes. "This is the second night in a row," Chloe told herself. "I don't get it."
Lana sat on the bed after she had changed. "I woke up, and you rolled over, but that's all."
Chloe almost laughed at Lana's excuse. "Don't look so scared, Lana. I'm not implying anything."
Lana blushed. "Of course you weren't, but I think that Clark and Pete were."
"And are. This is going to be fun to explain," Chloe said, tiredly.
Lana winced at Chloe's tone. Was being in the same bed with her, being in her arms, really that bad? "Yeah, we better talk to them. Wouldn't want them to get the wrong idea."
Lana almost caught a disappointed look that flitted across Chloe's eyes, but it was gone before she could catch it. She turned as Chloe got dressed, then followed her out of the room.