Chapter 8
"Blow the Candles Out"
A Smallville story by Xica
Characters: Clark, Chloe, Pete, Lana, Lex, and Mari
Disclaimer: C'mon lets be serious folks. All I own is Mari…and my unhealthy love for Lex Luthor.
The long awaited cat fight chapter. Enjoy.
"Well what do we have here?"
"Chloe!" Clark said, shocked by her appearance, "I, uh"
"Save it Clark. I've got all the details I need", she said, staring directly at Lana who to her credit did not waver.
"Ya think so? Well if you were as smart as you think you are Chloe then you would know that your presence here is unnecessary" Lana paused, shooting a particularly superior look at Chloe, "and unwanted I might add".
Chloe chuckled and then turned to Clark. "Clark, could you give me and Lana a minute? We need to have a little talk".
"Chloe I'm not sure that's such a good idea".
"No Clark, its fine. This won't take long at all" Lana replied never taking her eyes off Chloe.
"Um, well" Clark hesitated, looking back and forth between the two girls, looking as if they wanted to tear each other apart. This was definitely not the way he had wanted this evening to turn out. "I'll be right inside if you need me", he said, looking directly at Chloe, but she did not return his gaze.
Clark started to walk away slowly, straining to hear if the girls were saying anything, but they both seemed to be waiting until he was out of earshot to say anything. Turning around once more he saw the girls still staring at each other in silence. Lana, her arms folded in front of her, her posture projecting pure confidence. And then Chloe, her face red, hands on her hips, her body language saying that she was five seconds from kicking Lana's ass. Clark sighed; this is going to end badly.
Clark pushed open the door and walked back into the house. He 'd gotten no more than a few steps when something hit him hard in the chest. He quickly caught it and looked down. He looked at small silver doorknob in his hand and was filled with a renewed sense of guilt. He glanced up and saw Mari standing in front of him, staring at him accusingly. The night had taken a serious turn for the worse.
"Just what the hell did you think you were doing Lana? You knew Clark was here with me".
"Yeah, I knew that Chloe, but honestly I don't see how that's supposed to make me one bit of difference. Clark's always wanted me Chloe, you were just a temporary distraction".
Oh no she didn't.
"And if you think that one night of heavy petting is going to erase all the feelings he has for me then you're much dumber that I thought you were Sullivan".'
Chloe was momentarily taken aback by the venom in Lana's words. She had always suspected that there was more to Lana than her "wholesome as apple pie" image. Under different circumstances she would have applauded the emergence of Lana's backbone, but at the moment it was just pissing her off.
"I hate to rain on you parade princess but Clark never had any real feelings for you. He was just infatuated with your image. Sooner later he would have figured out that you were just a manipulative bitch".
"Well that may or may not be true Chloe, but at least I was never like you. Following him around like some little puppy dog begging for scraps. And thank your lucky stars he finally noticed you. All you had to do was throw on a slutty outfit and play porn star. But I guess that is to be expected, look who your best friend is".
"Lana what are you babbling about?" Chloe asked, irritated.
Lana smirked and raised an eyebrow, "You mean she didn't tell you? Well while you were off making nice with Clark our gracious hostess was getting ahem, better acquainted with none other than Lex Luthor".
"You lying little-"
"Oh please Chloe, why would I lie about a thing like that? I saw it with my own little eyes. Maybe if Mari teaches you some of her tricks you won't have to worry about Clark-"
Lana was interrupted when Chloe hauled off and smacked her, hard.
Lana gasped and stepped backwards holding her hand to her cheek..
"You listen to me you little idiot. What does or doesn't go on between Clark and me is none of your goddamned business you hear me?" Chloe demanded grabbing Lana by her shoulders. "And while we're on the subject you'll keep your mouth shut about Mari and Lex too. So whatever you think you saw, you just forget it you understand?"
Rigid from shock all Lana could do was nod.
"And at this point this should go without saying but since I know you're not the brightest bulb in the lamp I'll spell it out for you. The next time I see you batting your eyelashes within five feet of Clark Kent I will personally see to it that you live to regret it. I don't care if he's walking down the street half naked feeling up every woman in Smallville, you'll steer clear if you know what's good for you. Do we understand each other?"
Not waiting for an answer Chloe released her grip on Lana's shoulders and backed up a few feet. Looking at Lana's defeated expression Chloe couldn't help but feel a little guilty.
"Listen Lana, I'm sorry I hit you, but I meant everything else I said. As long as you hold up your end of the bargain I'll keep what happened here tonight between us. Too many other people would be hurt if I exposed who you really are".
Lana actually looked grateful.
"There was a time I thought that we could have been friends, but now I'm glad that never happened. I mean with friends like you Lana…." Chloe cut her statement short and turned away from Lana, heading back towards the house. A million emotions were swirling inside her. On one hand she was happy that she had stood up for herself, but she was also disappointed in herself. She had never counted on losing control like that. But as her mind recalled the shocked look on Lana's face she decided that she wouldn't beat herself up over one tiny mistake. Most people would agree that Lana had gotten what was coming to her…most people, but probably not Clark.
Chloe sighed, how was she going to explain to Clark what had happened. Should she tell him about all the nasty things Lana had said, and how she had reacted. And if she didn't tell him was she lying to him? Lying is a great way to start a relationship, Chloe thought to herself as she reached for the door. She started to push the door open but stopped when she heard angry voices coming from the other side.
The angry female voice almost definitely belonged to Mari and she wasn't positive but the other voice sounded eerily like Clark's. What on earth could they be arguing about? Chloe listened harder and as Mari was the louder of the two she could make out a few phrases, this is just like when we were kids….always looked the other way…how could you do this to me! Try as she could Chloe couldn't make out Clark's responses. Chloe almost decided to leave them alone and go around to the front of the house, but her investigative spirit got the best of her and she decided that she just had to know what was going on. Taking a deep breath Chloe turned the knob and pushed open the door…