The decision to skip school wasn't all that hard to make. She grabbed her purse, making sure she had Chloe's planner with the addresses of all her friends. Of course she told *her* father she was off to school, but she didn't know where that was so she drove around the town instead to get to know it. It hadn't taken long, since this town truly lived up to its name and was indeed small.
It was about noon when she parked the old red car in front of a place called the Talon. For some reason she needed coffee and this looked like the place to get it. She opened the doors and stepped inside. Since no one greeted her at the door, she chose a table and sat down. She started glancing over a coffee menu.
Lex Luthor looked up as he saw Chloe walk past him and sit at a table. He lightly shook back the sleeve of his coat to read his watch. 12:07. What was Chloe Sullivan doing at the Talon this time of day? She should be in school. Lex picked up his coffee and got up to join Chloe.
"Miss Sullivan." He nodded to her as he sat down.
Lily looked across the table at this stranger. This clearly could not be Clark. She may have been away from society for some sixty years, but she doubted farm apparel had been upgraded to this. He was bald and very good-looking. Ah, this must be that guy she read about in Chloe's diary, the one with enough money to have an Olympic-sized swimming pool filled with it. Chloe's words, not her own. He fit the description perfectly. She drew a blank on his name though.
She wondered what in heaven's name was Chloe doing with this Clark character? This man sitting in front of her had both looks and money. And they knew each other? She concluded that Clark had to be one hell of a person. "Hello there."
"Have you staged a one-person walk-out from school, or are you just skipping for fun?" He sipped his coffee, not taking his eyes off her.
"Do I know you well enough to give you an excuse?"
"Maybe not, but I do know your father well enough to tell him that I saw you at the Talon in the middle of a school day."
A little hard-boiled, but he was still fun, she thought. "But does my father know *you* well enough to believe what you tell him?"
Lex nearly snorted as he smiled and shook his head. He placed his mug on the table. "What is this, twenty questions? It just isn't like you to cut school and then go some place where you'd be recognized. I must say, your resourceful thinking has certainly picked an inopportune time to abandon you."
"Just when *is* an opportune time for my resourceful thinking to abandon me?" She folded the menu and laid it on the table, then leaned forward on her elbows. "And what's it to you, Lex?" she asked, finally remembering his name.
His brows shot up. "Lex now, is it? What happened to Mr. Luthor?"
She was enjoying playing along with him. Her smile all but showed it. "Maybe I've lost some respect for you."
Lex only titled his head and gazed at her. "Seriously, Miss Sullivan. Is anything the matter?"
Lily considered him. Her smile transformed into almost a grave expression. "Yes, there is." She looked directly into Lex's eyes. "The service here is down right lousy. I've been sitting here for five whole minutes and not one waitress has stopped by my table." Her smile returned to brighten her face.
Lex released a small laugh, only mildly annoyed with her humor. But she was right. He was ready to flag down a waitress for her, but dropped his arm as she got up. "Where are you going?"
"You miss me already? I haven't even made it to the door."
"Well what about your coffee?"
Hmm, she'd forgotten about that. She reached across the table and grabbed Lex's mug. "This will be fine." She hurried out the door before he could protest.
Lex stared at the empty seat across from him with a 'what the hell just happened' expression slapped on his face. He'd hate to think that being with Clark brought out the worst in the girl. Maybe love made you do strange things. Lex had no idea.
***
She'd never been on a farm before, though seeing the endless rows of corn was nothing new. She parked the car on the side of the road leading to the large yellow house. Just as she got out, she saw a blond man and red-headed woman coming out of the house. The man looked to old to be Clark. Must be Ma and Pa Kent. She imagined that's how farm people talked.
"Hi, Chloe." Mrs. Kent waved to her as she stepped down the porch steps. She was smiling until Chloe walked closer. Martha tried to hide her surprise as her eyes focused on Chloe's very scarlet lips and the powder enhanced color on her cheeks.
Mr. Kent nodded his greeting. "Chloe." He descended down the steps slowly, taking in the sight of Chloe. "Uh...Clark is in the barn."
Lily stopped waving and started up at Jonathan. He greatly resembled her Frankie, but of course Frankie was younger. The one thing that was clearly different were the eyes. A small ache tore at her heart and she began to miss Frankie. She spoke up before she would ruin her makeup and cry. "You're a handsome man, Mr. Kent. I doubt I've ever told you that."
Were he young and single, Jonathan would have blushed. Hell, if he were just single. He eyed Chloe with a mixture of worry and confusion. "Thanks, Chloe." He glanced down at Martha out of the corner of his eye to make sure she had no daggers for him.
Was Chloe just flirting with her husband? Let's see; hands on hips, leaning slightly, overdone makeup. No. Martha blotted that thought right out of her head. Not Chloe Sullivan. "Will you tell Clark that Jonathan and I are going into town? We won't be long."
Lily averted her gaze from Jonathan to Martha. "Sure thing." She jerked her thumb toward the barn. "The barn, right?" Without awaiting the obvious answer, she walked off.
Martha immediately noticed the way Chloe moved with each step. Even *she* couldn't move her hips in that fashion. "Where did she learn to walk like that?" she whispered to Jonathan.
Jonathan shook his head dumbly and spoke slowly. "I do not know."
Lily stopped close to the barn and turned around. Smiling, she waved at the two whom she knew were staring.
They both waved smiled and waved back. When Chloe turned back around to enter the barn, Martha pulled Jonathan toward the truck.
***
Clark wasn't aware that anyone had entered the barn until he saw Chloe at the landing of the stairs. He set his book down and stood up from the hammock. "Chloe, hi." He went over to her and wrapped her in a light embrace. Their lips touched softly before he pulled back to look at her. "You're beautiful."
Lily smiled up at him. "I was just thinking the same about you." She pulled him closer to close the gap between them. Their lips mingled again.
Clark was just a little surprised when Chloe let her tongue wander past his lips. Her kiss felt different, albeit a good kind of different. He almost moaned. Her tongue felt smooth as honey as it poured over his. He wondered briefly where she had learned to kiss like this. But only briefly.
She wound her arms even tighter around him and pressed herself against him. He felt good with his body fitted to hers, it felt like they belonged like this. She sighed when he began to trace her jaw with his lips. She wanted him to continue, to do the same wonderful thing with his lips on her neck, but he stopped.
"Chloe," he said against her flesh. Regretfully, he broke the harmony of their heavenly contact and stepped back. "Why were you absent from school today?"
Lily grumbled mentally and rolled her eyes. The kid spoils a perfect mood over a question about school? Nobody could be *that* dense. But she could tell he was only concerned. Sweet, yet dense. How's that for a combination?
"I wasn't feeling well."
"Well you at least could have..." His words were halted when she put two fingers to his lips.
She shook her head. "Too many words. I have a different kind of lip action in mind." With that, she replaced her two fingers with her lips. They were only there a couple of seconds before Clark took another step back.
He wanted this, he really did, but something was off. Her lips didn't feel the same, and she was behaving, well, very un-Chloe-like. "Chloe..." He had meant for her to stay put, that was the whole purpose of putting distance between them. He just wanted to talk first. It was clear that she wanted to do...other things.
"Clark..." She blinked her eyes and bit her lip, all the while getting closer. She reached to touch his chest, and Clark stumbled backward and onto the couch that blocked his retreat.
He swallowed, not knowing what else to do. She ran her hands up her thighs and up to her hips, bringing to Clark's attention just how tight her jeans hugger her lower body. He wanted nothing more than to reach out and take her into his arms, but no. Something wasn't right here. "Chloe, have any Nicodemus flowers been sneezing on you lately?"
"What?" The one seductive syllable of that word rang in his ears. Where on earth had she learned to speak like that? Chloe, stop! He wanted to scream that to her. She was standing over him, looking for all the world like some sex kitten that had strayed into his barn. He should feel lucky, but this was the woman he loved and she was behaving like she was possessed or something.
Before he could chew that thought over, Chloe tilted forward and placed her hands on the back of the sofa on either side of Clark, caging him where he sat. Then she straddled him, her legs constricting the sides of his. She ran her fingers through his hair and whispered in his ear. "Tell me you don't want this, and back off right now."
He wanted to tell her no. God, he wanted to, but didn't. He closed his eyes as she continued to whisper.
She pulled his hair ever so lightly, and pressed against him. With her free hand, she brought his left hand to her thigh and helped him massage it until he got the clue that he should be doing that on his own.
Chloe was trying to seduce him and was doing a damn fine job at it. This couldn't be happening, they had only been dating less than a week. Something was wrong, something...but it felt good. What was he thinking? Nothing. She nibbled his earlobe gently and wiped his slate of thought clean.
At first, her whisperings were vague and incomprehensible, but now she spoke real words. Clark's eyes snapped open as he listened to her recite a list of all the ungodly things she could do to him. As she spoke, Clark realized that Lana's behavior while under the influence of the Nicodemus flower was saintly in comparison to what Chloe was doing to him now. He had to stop her.
Chloe pulled back and gazed into his eyes. He watched as her irises swirled with green until they were completely emerald. Startled by the sudden shift in the color of her eyes, Clark stood up quickly and Chloe slid to the floor with a 'thunk'.
"What's the big idea, tiger?" She still smiled even though her bottom probably had a major splinter lodged in it.
"What is wrong with you, Chloe? Your eyes..." He tried not to panic when his mind instantly put the pieces together. She didn't show up at school today. She went to the manner when she promised she wouldn't, at least not alone. Clark was too shocked at the moment to be hurt.
Lily gathered herself off the floor. "Nothing's wrong. I thought we were doing just fine."
He grabbed her by the shoulders to make her look at him. Her eyes were still a brilliant green when he gazed into them. He tried to search past the color to find a trace of Chloe somewhere. "Lily? Where is Chloe?"
Lily tilted her head and stared blankly at him. "She's inside here, somewhere." She pretended to pout. "Oh come on Clark, she can't be half as fun as I am."
He was growing more and more angry at her, both of them. He shook her and tightened his grip a little. "I'm not joking, lady. What ever you did, undo it, now!"
"Oooh, I bet you play this rough with all the girls."
She was mocking his anger...and he couldn't do anything about it. His voice was bitter when he spoke. "Let go of her."
All jokes and smiles aside, she straightened her face. "Or you'll do what?" She tried to free herself from his grip but his hands squeezed her arms tightly. "You let go of me or I'll kill her."
Clark released her arms as if they were as deadly as meteor rock. His face was shadowed with panic and he stepped back from her. "Don't, please."
"Stay back and we won't have a problem." Lily rubbed both of her arms. "But if you so much as lay a finger on me, or try to stop me, I'll give your girl the displeasure of a slow and painful death. In fact, I think painful might be one hell of an understatement for what I can do. I'll let her go eventually, but I have to take care of something first." She turned to leave.
Clark couldn't let her just go. "Maybe I can help you. You want to find the person who murdered you, right? I'm sure I can help."
Lily turned around to face him. She gave his words some thought. "Are you willing to kill someone, Clark?"
He considered saying yes, just to play along. He could then keep her in his sights. But what would happen if she found out he lied. He couldn't risk Chloe's life like that. "No."
"Then you can't help me. Somebody is going to die, Clark. Keep your distance. You don't want to be responsible for adding Chloe to the tally."
Clark stood still for several minutes after Lily left. He could feel every raw emotion wanting to free itself from him. The sound of Chloe's engine faded in the distance and he just stood. His feelings doubled themselves again and again. Filled to the brim, he turned around and punched a hole through the barn wall, and then another.
Clark sank to his knees and bowed his head. He had to figure out something to do. He had just discovered his love for Chloe, and he wasn't ready to lose her. He'd never be ready to lose her.
**Author's note: Don't hesitate to tell me what you think.
It was about noon when she parked the old red car in front of a place called the Talon. For some reason she needed coffee and this looked like the place to get it. She opened the doors and stepped inside. Since no one greeted her at the door, she chose a table and sat down. She started glancing over a coffee menu.
Lex Luthor looked up as he saw Chloe walk past him and sit at a table. He lightly shook back the sleeve of his coat to read his watch. 12:07. What was Chloe Sullivan doing at the Talon this time of day? She should be in school. Lex picked up his coffee and got up to join Chloe.
"Miss Sullivan." He nodded to her as he sat down.
Lily looked across the table at this stranger. This clearly could not be Clark. She may have been away from society for some sixty years, but she doubted farm apparel had been upgraded to this. He was bald and very good-looking. Ah, this must be that guy she read about in Chloe's diary, the one with enough money to have an Olympic-sized swimming pool filled with it. Chloe's words, not her own. He fit the description perfectly. She drew a blank on his name though.
She wondered what in heaven's name was Chloe doing with this Clark character? This man sitting in front of her had both looks and money. And they knew each other? She concluded that Clark had to be one hell of a person. "Hello there."
"Have you staged a one-person walk-out from school, or are you just skipping for fun?" He sipped his coffee, not taking his eyes off her.
"Do I know you well enough to give you an excuse?"
"Maybe not, but I do know your father well enough to tell him that I saw you at the Talon in the middle of a school day."
A little hard-boiled, but he was still fun, she thought. "But does my father know *you* well enough to believe what you tell him?"
Lex nearly snorted as he smiled and shook his head. He placed his mug on the table. "What is this, twenty questions? It just isn't like you to cut school and then go some place where you'd be recognized. I must say, your resourceful thinking has certainly picked an inopportune time to abandon you."
"Just when *is* an opportune time for my resourceful thinking to abandon me?" She folded the menu and laid it on the table, then leaned forward on her elbows. "And what's it to you, Lex?" she asked, finally remembering his name.
His brows shot up. "Lex now, is it? What happened to Mr. Luthor?"
She was enjoying playing along with him. Her smile all but showed it. "Maybe I've lost some respect for you."
Lex only titled his head and gazed at her. "Seriously, Miss Sullivan. Is anything the matter?"
Lily considered him. Her smile transformed into almost a grave expression. "Yes, there is." She looked directly into Lex's eyes. "The service here is down right lousy. I've been sitting here for five whole minutes and not one waitress has stopped by my table." Her smile returned to brighten her face.
Lex released a small laugh, only mildly annoyed with her humor. But she was right. He was ready to flag down a waitress for her, but dropped his arm as she got up. "Where are you going?"
"You miss me already? I haven't even made it to the door."
"Well what about your coffee?"
Hmm, she'd forgotten about that. She reached across the table and grabbed Lex's mug. "This will be fine." She hurried out the door before he could protest.
Lex stared at the empty seat across from him with a 'what the hell just happened' expression slapped on his face. He'd hate to think that being with Clark brought out the worst in the girl. Maybe love made you do strange things. Lex had no idea.
***
She'd never been on a farm before, though seeing the endless rows of corn was nothing new. She parked the car on the side of the road leading to the large yellow house. Just as she got out, she saw a blond man and red-headed woman coming out of the house. The man looked to old to be Clark. Must be Ma and Pa Kent. She imagined that's how farm people talked.
"Hi, Chloe." Mrs. Kent waved to her as she stepped down the porch steps. She was smiling until Chloe walked closer. Martha tried to hide her surprise as her eyes focused on Chloe's very scarlet lips and the powder enhanced color on her cheeks.
Mr. Kent nodded his greeting. "Chloe." He descended down the steps slowly, taking in the sight of Chloe. "Uh...Clark is in the barn."
Lily stopped waving and started up at Jonathan. He greatly resembled her Frankie, but of course Frankie was younger. The one thing that was clearly different were the eyes. A small ache tore at her heart and she began to miss Frankie. She spoke up before she would ruin her makeup and cry. "You're a handsome man, Mr. Kent. I doubt I've ever told you that."
Were he young and single, Jonathan would have blushed. Hell, if he were just single. He eyed Chloe with a mixture of worry and confusion. "Thanks, Chloe." He glanced down at Martha out of the corner of his eye to make sure she had no daggers for him.
Was Chloe just flirting with her husband? Let's see; hands on hips, leaning slightly, overdone makeup. No. Martha blotted that thought right out of her head. Not Chloe Sullivan. "Will you tell Clark that Jonathan and I are going into town? We won't be long."
Lily averted her gaze from Jonathan to Martha. "Sure thing." She jerked her thumb toward the barn. "The barn, right?" Without awaiting the obvious answer, she walked off.
Martha immediately noticed the way Chloe moved with each step. Even *she* couldn't move her hips in that fashion. "Where did she learn to walk like that?" she whispered to Jonathan.
Jonathan shook his head dumbly and spoke slowly. "I do not know."
Lily stopped close to the barn and turned around. Smiling, she waved at the two whom she knew were staring.
They both waved smiled and waved back. When Chloe turned back around to enter the barn, Martha pulled Jonathan toward the truck.
***
Clark wasn't aware that anyone had entered the barn until he saw Chloe at the landing of the stairs. He set his book down and stood up from the hammock. "Chloe, hi." He went over to her and wrapped her in a light embrace. Their lips touched softly before he pulled back to look at her. "You're beautiful."
Lily smiled up at him. "I was just thinking the same about you." She pulled him closer to close the gap between them. Their lips mingled again.
Clark was just a little surprised when Chloe let her tongue wander past his lips. Her kiss felt different, albeit a good kind of different. He almost moaned. Her tongue felt smooth as honey as it poured over his. He wondered briefly where she had learned to kiss like this. But only briefly.
She wound her arms even tighter around him and pressed herself against him. He felt good with his body fitted to hers, it felt like they belonged like this. She sighed when he began to trace her jaw with his lips. She wanted him to continue, to do the same wonderful thing with his lips on her neck, but he stopped.
"Chloe," he said against her flesh. Regretfully, he broke the harmony of their heavenly contact and stepped back. "Why were you absent from school today?"
Lily grumbled mentally and rolled her eyes. The kid spoils a perfect mood over a question about school? Nobody could be *that* dense. But she could tell he was only concerned. Sweet, yet dense. How's that for a combination?
"I wasn't feeling well."
"Well you at least could have..." His words were halted when she put two fingers to his lips.
She shook her head. "Too many words. I have a different kind of lip action in mind." With that, she replaced her two fingers with her lips. They were only there a couple of seconds before Clark took another step back.
He wanted this, he really did, but something was off. Her lips didn't feel the same, and she was behaving, well, very un-Chloe-like. "Chloe..." He had meant for her to stay put, that was the whole purpose of putting distance between them. He just wanted to talk first. It was clear that she wanted to do...other things.
"Clark..." She blinked her eyes and bit her lip, all the while getting closer. She reached to touch his chest, and Clark stumbled backward and onto the couch that blocked his retreat.
He swallowed, not knowing what else to do. She ran her hands up her thighs and up to her hips, bringing to Clark's attention just how tight her jeans hugger her lower body. He wanted nothing more than to reach out and take her into his arms, but no. Something wasn't right here. "Chloe, have any Nicodemus flowers been sneezing on you lately?"
"What?" The one seductive syllable of that word rang in his ears. Where on earth had she learned to speak like that? Chloe, stop! He wanted to scream that to her. She was standing over him, looking for all the world like some sex kitten that had strayed into his barn. He should feel lucky, but this was the woman he loved and she was behaving like she was possessed or something.
Before he could chew that thought over, Chloe tilted forward and placed her hands on the back of the sofa on either side of Clark, caging him where he sat. Then she straddled him, her legs constricting the sides of his. She ran her fingers through his hair and whispered in his ear. "Tell me you don't want this, and back off right now."
He wanted to tell her no. God, he wanted to, but didn't. He closed his eyes as she continued to whisper.
She pulled his hair ever so lightly, and pressed against him. With her free hand, she brought his left hand to her thigh and helped him massage it until he got the clue that he should be doing that on his own.
Chloe was trying to seduce him and was doing a damn fine job at it. This couldn't be happening, they had only been dating less than a week. Something was wrong, something...but it felt good. What was he thinking? Nothing. She nibbled his earlobe gently and wiped his slate of thought clean.
At first, her whisperings were vague and incomprehensible, but now she spoke real words. Clark's eyes snapped open as he listened to her recite a list of all the ungodly things she could do to him. As she spoke, Clark realized that Lana's behavior while under the influence of the Nicodemus flower was saintly in comparison to what Chloe was doing to him now. He had to stop her.
Chloe pulled back and gazed into his eyes. He watched as her irises swirled with green until they were completely emerald. Startled by the sudden shift in the color of her eyes, Clark stood up quickly and Chloe slid to the floor with a 'thunk'.
"What's the big idea, tiger?" She still smiled even though her bottom probably had a major splinter lodged in it.
"What is wrong with you, Chloe? Your eyes..." He tried not to panic when his mind instantly put the pieces together. She didn't show up at school today. She went to the manner when she promised she wouldn't, at least not alone. Clark was too shocked at the moment to be hurt.
Lily gathered herself off the floor. "Nothing's wrong. I thought we were doing just fine."
He grabbed her by the shoulders to make her look at him. Her eyes were still a brilliant green when he gazed into them. He tried to search past the color to find a trace of Chloe somewhere. "Lily? Where is Chloe?"
Lily tilted her head and stared blankly at him. "She's inside here, somewhere." She pretended to pout. "Oh come on Clark, she can't be half as fun as I am."
He was growing more and more angry at her, both of them. He shook her and tightened his grip a little. "I'm not joking, lady. What ever you did, undo it, now!"
"Oooh, I bet you play this rough with all the girls."
She was mocking his anger...and he couldn't do anything about it. His voice was bitter when he spoke. "Let go of her."
All jokes and smiles aside, she straightened her face. "Or you'll do what?" She tried to free herself from his grip but his hands squeezed her arms tightly. "You let go of me or I'll kill her."
Clark released her arms as if they were as deadly as meteor rock. His face was shadowed with panic and he stepped back from her. "Don't, please."
"Stay back and we won't have a problem." Lily rubbed both of her arms. "But if you so much as lay a finger on me, or try to stop me, I'll give your girl the displeasure of a slow and painful death. In fact, I think painful might be one hell of an understatement for what I can do. I'll let her go eventually, but I have to take care of something first." She turned to leave.
Clark couldn't let her just go. "Maybe I can help you. You want to find the person who murdered you, right? I'm sure I can help."
Lily turned around to face him. She gave his words some thought. "Are you willing to kill someone, Clark?"
He considered saying yes, just to play along. He could then keep her in his sights. But what would happen if she found out he lied. He couldn't risk Chloe's life like that. "No."
"Then you can't help me. Somebody is going to die, Clark. Keep your distance. You don't want to be responsible for adding Chloe to the tally."
Clark stood still for several minutes after Lily left. He could feel every raw emotion wanting to free itself from him. The sound of Chloe's engine faded in the distance and he just stood. His feelings doubled themselves again and again. Filled to the brim, he turned around and punched a hole through the barn wall, and then another.
Clark sank to his knees and bowed his head. He had to figure out something to do. He had just discovered his love for Chloe, and he wasn't ready to lose her. He'd never be ready to lose her.
**Author's note: Don't hesitate to tell me what you think.