Author's note: Ok, now that Fanfiction.net is playing nice *heaves relieved sigh* I've got some story
built up so I'm going to post in parts of similar length. This one is a little longer for a reason *G*
Thank you all for your patience!
------
So set was Chloe on reaching the door of the school and getting out of there, that she didn't look
up and thus nearly collided with Erin Davies.
The Englishwoman grabbed her young friend by the shoulders to steady her and then took note of her
face. "Chloe? What's wrong?"
Her eyes locking onto the taller woman's face like a lifeline, the teen managed to spill the story
to her friend between bouts of suppressing tears. She would *not* run from the school crying.
Running was ok: crying was not. Miserably, she finished with, "I need to get out of here."
Her heart aching with empathy for her friend, Erin nodded quickly. "All right then, we'll take my
car, come on." A supportive arm across the girl's shoulders, she led Chloe from the school.
—
"What do I do?" Feeling more composed and calmer than she had, Chloe clutched her cup of coffee
between her palms and stared into her friend's face as if she had all the answers. "He *knows*!"
"He saw you use your abilities." Erin pointed out, desperately wishing she did have the answers.
This was exactly what she had been afraid would happen and seeing her friend in such torment, she
decided she had only herself to blame for not preparing Chloe better. "He may just assume the
apparent 'weirdness' of this place has affected you as well."
"No, he won't. He saw a picture of me taken at the school. Hank was in it and so was Kitty..."
Hearing that, the teacher said dryly, "Emerging from a wall of some sort, no doubt. She rather
does enjoy mugging for the camera."
"Yeah. Not only did he see that, but he was investigating the school." Chloe dropped her head.
"This is all my fault."
"No, it is most certainly not. It was an accident that you reacted the way you did. And I suspect,
if you wish to blame someone, a good deal of it should rest with Mr. Kent but..." She held up a
hand. "We won't get into laying blame. What we should be deciding is what to do next. He suspects
you may be a mutant, yes?"
"Yes." Chloe inhaled sharply as she nodded.
"Well...how do you think he would react to the truth?"
Erin's cautious words had a lightening affect. "You want me to *TELL* him?!!!"
"It would seem, Chloe, that you don't have much choice."
Staring into her coffee, the younger mutant couldn't disagree. What choice did she have? She couldn't
go back to Westchester, she didn't want to. As much as she'd loved it there, Smallville had become
her home and if she ran the first time being a mutant became an issue then what kind of a person
was she?
"This isn't going to be easy." She murmured quietly.
"Being a mutant rarely is." Erin replied gently. "But if there's anyone that could handle this,
Chloe, it's you."
"It doesn't feel like it." Chloe muttered.
"It never does."
----
"Jonathan..."
Hearing his wife's voice, Jonathan pushed away from the table and moved to join her at the window.
"Clark's home."
"Yes, but something's wrong." She looked up at him with worry in her eyes. "Look at the way he's
walking."
"Looks like he lost his best friend..."
The husband and wife shared a long look.
"Oh no...Chloe."
----
When Clark walked into the house, his parents were standing in the kitchen, his mother just pouring
out coffee for them both.
Not beating around the bush, he dropped his backpack onto a chair and rested his palms on the
island. "Well, I screwed up."
"You talked to Chloe?" His father prompted.
"If you can call it talking." He sighed. "She came in while I was looking up the school in Westchester
on the internet..." Clark's gaze dropped and he picked at the counter top. "She saw it and the picture..."
"That couldn't have gone well." Martha noted softly.
"She freaked." Her son replied simply. "That's when it happened.."
"What happened?" Jonathan frowned.
"She was trying to leave, and Pete came in. He'd heard her in the hall and wanted to know what was
going on. She looked at him and..." Clark shrugged. "Waved a hand or something and he just *stopped*."
"Stopped?" His mother looked at her husband then back to her son. "What do you mean he just stopped?"
"He literally *stopped*." The young man emphasized. "It was weird, he just stopped in one place,
not moving, not breathing, I couldn't even hear a heartbeat."
"Dead?"
"No. The minute she got past him, she waved a hand again and he started moving like nothing had
happened." Clark sighed. "It was like he was stuck in time or something."
"Stuck in time?" Jonathan frowned. "Clark..."
"Before you say it's impossible, Dad, I know what I saw."
"So...Chloe's a mutant?" His mother asked tentatively. "She seemed to be the source of whatever it
is that happened to Pete right?"
"Yeah, she was controlling it." Clark affirmed. "So I guess...she must be. I mean, every time the
meteor rocks are involved, it's like the person's out of control...and..."
"Psychotic?" Jonathan input dryly.
"Yeah." His son nodded. "But it's irrelevant Dad..." He added miserably. "You should have seen her
face..." He dropped his gaze, looking like the entire world had been ripped away from him. "I..."
"Go find her Clark." His mother moved to hug him. "She may have calmed down by now. Even if she
hasn't...you need to talk to her about this. She needs to know..."
"That she can trust me?" He shot back unhappily. "Why should she? I've never trusted her with..."
Knowing where he was going, Jonathan shook his head firmly. "That's different, son."
"How?" Clark countered. "So she got her ability from an earthbound source...Mine happens to be a
little further out there...we're still different from everyone else, Dad. And I could have trusted
her with this..."
"It's not the same!" His father insisted.
His son held up the anti-mutant flyer. "You're right...no one's actively hating me for what I am."
----
Facing Gabe Sullivan was without a doubt the scariest thing he'd ever done. All the encounters with
all the whacked out, meteor rock afflicted of Smallville's residents rolled together couldn't even
touch this. "Mr. Sullivan, sir...is..uh..." He squared his shoulders like a French noble facing the
guillotine. "Chloe in?"
"Why?"
Apparently Mr. Sullivan was fully aware of the entire situation. Clark had been betting on her not
having told him.
"I kind of need to talk to her." He said finally. "I..uh...I really screwed up this afternoon."
"So I've been told." Gabe wasn't giving an inch.
"I was worried about her!" Clark defended with an earnest look. "She'd been acting really strangely
and I thought if maybe I could talk to somebody at the school, or if I could find out if anything
had happened while she was there...." The excuse sounded hollow to him as the memory of Chloe's
anguished face floated back into his mind. "I was worried about her." he repeated softly. "She
means a lot and....I wanted to help."
"Asking her would have been a start." The elder man replied unhelpfully. "The whole going behind
her back thing..that was a colossally bad move Mr. Kent."
"I know, believe me, I've been telling myself that. Repeatedly." He shoved his hands into his pockets
and stared at his feet for a moment. "Chloe's been really...*really* vague about it and I...I guess
I thought..."
"Did you think?" Gabe asked, his tone even. "Did you consider that it might be something she might
not want to share with anyone? That she thought she couldn't share with anyone? That she was afraid
to share?"
Considering the secret, Clark could only shake his head miserably.
"It's a dangerous world for people like my daughter." Chloe's father continued. "By her very
existence, people have decided she's a threat. And a threat they want controlled...possibly
eradicated. It's a sobering thought, don't you think?" He frowned. "She did want to tell you, I can
say that. But chose not to..was convinced not to. She didn't want to put you in the situation that
would force you to lie to your friends to protect her. It's a hard life to carry such a secret,
Clark. If you were in her place, you might understand that."
'I do understand that' Clark thought somewhat defiantly but didn't give voice to that thought.
"She was protecting you." Gabe fired his final salvo and it was one that hit home.
"I'm supposed to protect her!" Clark shot back, unable to hold back the comment. "It's what..." He
stopped abruptly then continued in the soft tone of one who's just had the mother of all epiphanies.
"You do when you love somebody..."
Oh boy...
Gabe sighed, watching the look of revelation cross the teen's face. How long ago had it been since
he'd felt like *that*?! And how scary was it to realize that someone now felt like *that* about
*his* child?! Suddenly he wanted to keep Clark away from Chloe for an entirely new reason.
A father's natural born resistence to give up his daughter to anyone...no one was good enough. Not
even Clark Kent.
"Wait here." He closed the door and Clark heard the sound of a phone being dialed.
Given how his attempts at subterfuge had gone lately, he let it go there and waited for Mr. Sullivan
to return.
When he did, Gabe seemed no happier. "I don't like doing this so let's get one thing straight Clark.
Jonathan Kent's son or no, you hurt my daughter again and there will be hell to pay, understand me?"
Clark nodded mutely, half afraid if he spoke, Mr. Sullivan wouldn't continue on.
"She's at Erin Davies' home."
"The new teacher? Why?"
"That, Clark, is complicated."
"When isn't it?" The young man replied ruefully. "It involves Chloe? It's complicated."
"True." Gabe agreed with a chuckle. "Ms. Davies is renting a cottage near town on the Miller's land
I believe."
"I know the one you mean," Clark turned to go then stopped and looked up at Chloe's father. "Mr.
Sullivan, I really am sorry about today...I..." He shook his head. "I'm just sorry."
The elder man smiled slightly. "Do you mean what you said?"
His look left Clark with absolutely no doubt of what he was talking about. And, with a firmness
and strength that spoke to the man he was becoming, the teen replied. "I do. She's...she's the
world to me."
—
A burst of speed took him halfway to his destination then he stopped and realized the import of
what he had just told Mr. Sullivan.
He was in love with Chloe.
He - Clark Kent - was in love with Chloe Sullivan. Chloe.
He *loved* her.
When'd that happened?
A bemused grin crossed his face and he shook his head. All those years focused on Lana he hadn't
even realized what was happening...or had he? Chloe was not exactly the kind of girl he'd planned
on falling in love with. She was the anthesis of everything Lana Lang stood for and he supposed
that was why he'd focused so intently on Lana. Subconsciously trying to convince himself that she
was everything perfect that he wanted in his life.
Lana was a great person, he still believed that, and a fantastic friend but...not what he'd wanted.
Not at all. Not anymore.
Chloe was.
His smile widened then faded...
But would he have a chance to explain that? Or had he destroyed that chance before he could even
try to take it...
----
When Erin Davies saw who stood outside the door she opened her mouth to call Chloe but abruptly
decided against it. Grabbing a light jacket, she stepped outside. "Mr. Kent...May I help you?"
"I need to see, Chloe." He said earnestly. "Please, Ms. Davies, it's important."
"Given the events of the day, I don't doubt that one." The Englishwoman replied dryly. "I suppose
you've come to explain yourself?"
He sighed heavily, looking down at his feet. "Not to you...I..." He lifted pained eyes to hers. "I
need to see Chloe...She thinks..."
"That you hate her?" The teacher returned immediately. "Forgive me if I say, if the facts of this
situation were laid out before you...what would you think?"
He considered it. Considered his reaction every time Chloe had ventured anywhere close to his
secret...
"Probably the same thing she thinks."
Erin nodded. "Mmhmm...so, perhaps you've a reason why I should disregard that and let you see her?"
Clark sucked in a steadying breath and clenched his fists, staring at the ground for a long moment.
Somehow, admitting his feelings now was worlds harder than it had been when he'd faced Chloe's
father. He couldn't say why but he didn't meet her gaze as he confessed, "I love her and...I need
to fix this."
The teacher sighed softly. "Indeed you do, Mr. Kent. Indeed you do."
TBC
built up so I'm going to post in parts of similar length. This one is a little longer for a reason *G*
Thank you all for your patience!
------
So set was Chloe on reaching the door of the school and getting out of there, that she didn't look
up and thus nearly collided with Erin Davies.
The Englishwoman grabbed her young friend by the shoulders to steady her and then took note of her
face. "Chloe? What's wrong?"
Her eyes locking onto the taller woman's face like a lifeline, the teen managed to spill the story
to her friend between bouts of suppressing tears. She would *not* run from the school crying.
Running was ok: crying was not. Miserably, she finished with, "I need to get out of here."
Her heart aching with empathy for her friend, Erin nodded quickly. "All right then, we'll take my
car, come on." A supportive arm across the girl's shoulders, she led Chloe from the school.
—
"What do I do?" Feeling more composed and calmer than she had, Chloe clutched her cup of coffee
between her palms and stared into her friend's face as if she had all the answers. "He *knows*!"
"He saw you use your abilities." Erin pointed out, desperately wishing she did have the answers.
This was exactly what she had been afraid would happen and seeing her friend in such torment, she
decided she had only herself to blame for not preparing Chloe better. "He may just assume the
apparent 'weirdness' of this place has affected you as well."
"No, he won't. He saw a picture of me taken at the school. Hank was in it and so was Kitty..."
Hearing that, the teacher said dryly, "Emerging from a wall of some sort, no doubt. She rather
does enjoy mugging for the camera."
"Yeah. Not only did he see that, but he was investigating the school." Chloe dropped her head.
"This is all my fault."
"No, it is most certainly not. It was an accident that you reacted the way you did. And I suspect,
if you wish to blame someone, a good deal of it should rest with Mr. Kent but..." She held up a
hand. "We won't get into laying blame. What we should be deciding is what to do next. He suspects
you may be a mutant, yes?"
"Yes." Chloe inhaled sharply as she nodded.
"Well...how do you think he would react to the truth?"
Erin's cautious words had a lightening affect. "You want me to *TELL* him?!!!"
"It would seem, Chloe, that you don't have much choice."
Staring into her coffee, the younger mutant couldn't disagree. What choice did she have? She couldn't
go back to Westchester, she didn't want to. As much as she'd loved it there, Smallville had become
her home and if she ran the first time being a mutant became an issue then what kind of a person
was she?
"This isn't going to be easy." She murmured quietly.
"Being a mutant rarely is." Erin replied gently. "But if there's anyone that could handle this,
Chloe, it's you."
"It doesn't feel like it." Chloe muttered.
"It never does."
----
"Jonathan..."
Hearing his wife's voice, Jonathan pushed away from the table and moved to join her at the window.
"Clark's home."
"Yes, but something's wrong." She looked up at him with worry in her eyes. "Look at the way he's
walking."
"Looks like he lost his best friend..."
The husband and wife shared a long look.
"Oh no...Chloe."
----
When Clark walked into the house, his parents were standing in the kitchen, his mother just pouring
out coffee for them both.
Not beating around the bush, he dropped his backpack onto a chair and rested his palms on the
island. "Well, I screwed up."
"You talked to Chloe?" His father prompted.
"If you can call it talking." He sighed. "She came in while I was looking up the school in Westchester
on the internet..." Clark's gaze dropped and he picked at the counter top. "She saw it and the picture..."
"That couldn't have gone well." Martha noted softly.
"She freaked." Her son replied simply. "That's when it happened.."
"What happened?" Jonathan frowned.
"She was trying to leave, and Pete came in. He'd heard her in the hall and wanted to know what was
going on. She looked at him and..." Clark shrugged. "Waved a hand or something and he just *stopped*."
"Stopped?" His mother looked at her husband then back to her son. "What do you mean he just stopped?"
"He literally *stopped*." The young man emphasized. "It was weird, he just stopped in one place,
not moving, not breathing, I couldn't even hear a heartbeat."
"Dead?"
"No. The minute she got past him, she waved a hand again and he started moving like nothing had
happened." Clark sighed. "It was like he was stuck in time or something."
"Stuck in time?" Jonathan frowned. "Clark..."
"Before you say it's impossible, Dad, I know what I saw."
"So...Chloe's a mutant?" His mother asked tentatively. "She seemed to be the source of whatever it
is that happened to Pete right?"
"Yeah, she was controlling it." Clark affirmed. "So I guess...she must be. I mean, every time the
meteor rocks are involved, it's like the person's out of control...and..."
"Psychotic?" Jonathan input dryly.
"Yeah." His son nodded. "But it's irrelevant Dad..." He added miserably. "You should have seen her
face..." He dropped his gaze, looking like the entire world had been ripped away from him. "I..."
"Go find her Clark." His mother moved to hug him. "She may have calmed down by now. Even if she
hasn't...you need to talk to her about this. She needs to know..."
"That she can trust me?" He shot back unhappily. "Why should she? I've never trusted her with..."
Knowing where he was going, Jonathan shook his head firmly. "That's different, son."
"How?" Clark countered. "So she got her ability from an earthbound source...Mine happens to be a
little further out there...we're still different from everyone else, Dad. And I could have trusted
her with this..."
"It's not the same!" His father insisted.
His son held up the anti-mutant flyer. "You're right...no one's actively hating me for what I am."
----
Facing Gabe Sullivan was without a doubt the scariest thing he'd ever done. All the encounters with
all the whacked out, meteor rock afflicted of Smallville's residents rolled together couldn't even
touch this. "Mr. Sullivan, sir...is..uh..." He squared his shoulders like a French noble facing the
guillotine. "Chloe in?"
"Why?"
Apparently Mr. Sullivan was fully aware of the entire situation. Clark had been betting on her not
having told him.
"I kind of need to talk to her." He said finally. "I..uh...I really screwed up this afternoon."
"So I've been told." Gabe wasn't giving an inch.
"I was worried about her!" Clark defended with an earnest look. "She'd been acting really strangely
and I thought if maybe I could talk to somebody at the school, or if I could find out if anything
had happened while she was there...." The excuse sounded hollow to him as the memory of Chloe's
anguished face floated back into his mind. "I was worried about her." he repeated softly. "She
means a lot and....I wanted to help."
"Asking her would have been a start." The elder man replied unhelpfully. "The whole going behind
her back thing..that was a colossally bad move Mr. Kent."
"I know, believe me, I've been telling myself that. Repeatedly." He shoved his hands into his pockets
and stared at his feet for a moment. "Chloe's been really...*really* vague about it and I...I guess
I thought..."
"Did you think?" Gabe asked, his tone even. "Did you consider that it might be something she might
not want to share with anyone? That she thought she couldn't share with anyone? That she was afraid
to share?"
Considering the secret, Clark could only shake his head miserably.
"It's a dangerous world for people like my daughter." Chloe's father continued. "By her very
existence, people have decided she's a threat. And a threat they want controlled...possibly
eradicated. It's a sobering thought, don't you think?" He frowned. "She did want to tell you, I can
say that. But chose not to..was convinced not to. She didn't want to put you in the situation that
would force you to lie to your friends to protect her. It's a hard life to carry such a secret,
Clark. If you were in her place, you might understand that."
'I do understand that' Clark thought somewhat defiantly but didn't give voice to that thought.
"She was protecting you." Gabe fired his final salvo and it was one that hit home.
"I'm supposed to protect her!" Clark shot back, unable to hold back the comment. "It's what..." He
stopped abruptly then continued in the soft tone of one who's just had the mother of all epiphanies.
"You do when you love somebody..."
Oh boy...
Gabe sighed, watching the look of revelation cross the teen's face. How long ago had it been since
he'd felt like *that*?! And how scary was it to realize that someone now felt like *that* about
*his* child?! Suddenly he wanted to keep Clark away from Chloe for an entirely new reason.
A father's natural born resistence to give up his daughter to anyone...no one was good enough. Not
even Clark Kent.
"Wait here." He closed the door and Clark heard the sound of a phone being dialed.
Given how his attempts at subterfuge had gone lately, he let it go there and waited for Mr. Sullivan
to return.
When he did, Gabe seemed no happier. "I don't like doing this so let's get one thing straight Clark.
Jonathan Kent's son or no, you hurt my daughter again and there will be hell to pay, understand me?"
Clark nodded mutely, half afraid if he spoke, Mr. Sullivan wouldn't continue on.
"She's at Erin Davies' home."
"The new teacher? Why?"
"That, Clark, is complicated."
"When isn't it?" The young man replied ruefully. "It involves Chloe? It's complicated."
"True." Gabe agreed with a chuckle. "Ms. Davies is renting a cottage near town on the Miller's land
I believe."
"I know the one you mean," Clark turned to go then stopped and looked up at Chloe's father. "Mr.
Sullivan, I really am sorry about today...I..." He shook his head. "I'm just sorry."
The elder man smiled slightly. "Do you mean what you said?"
His look left Clark with absolutely no doubt of what he was talking about. And, with a firmness
and strength that spoke to the man he was becoming, the teen replied. "I do. She's...she's the
world to me."
—
A burst of speed took him halfway to his destination then he stopped and realized the import of
what he had just told Mr. Sullivan.
He was in love with Chloe.
He - Clark Kent - was in love with Chloe Sullivan. Chloe.
He *loved* her.
When'd that happened?
A bemused grin crossed his face and he shook his head. All those years focused on Lana he hadn't
even realized what was happening...or had he? Chloe was not exactly the kind of girl he'd planned
on falling in love with. She was the anthesis of everything Lana Lang stood for and he supposed
that was why he'd focused so intently on Lana. Subconsciously trying to convince himself that she
was everything perfect that he wanted in his life.
Lana was a great person, he still believed that, and a fantastic friend but...not what he'd wanted.
Not at all. Not anymore.
Chloe was.
His smile widened then faded...
But would he have a chance to explain that? Or had he destroyed that chance before he could even
try to take it...
----
When Erin Davies saw who stood outside the door she opened her mouth to call Chloe but abruptly
decided against it. Grabbing a light jacket, she stepped outside. "Mr. Kent...May I help you?"
"I need to see, Chloe." He said earnestly. "Please, Ms. Davies, it's important."
"Given the events of the day, I don't doubt that one." The Englishwoman replied dryly. "I suppose
you've come to explain yourself?"
He sighed heavily, looking down at his feet. "Not to you...I..." He lifted pained eyes to hers. "I
need to see Chloe...She thinks..."
"That you hate her?" The teacher returned immediately. "Forgive me if I say, if the facts of this
situation were laid out before you...what would you think?"
He considered it. Considered his reaction every time Chloe had ventured anywhere close to his
secret...
"Probably the same thing she thinks."
Erin nodded. "Mmhmm...so, perhaps you've a reason why I should disregard that and let you see her?"
Clark sucked in a steadying breath and clenched his fists, staring at the ground for a long moment.
Somehow, admitting his feelings now was worlds harder than it had been when he'd faced Chloe's
father. He couldn't say why but he didn't meet her gaze as he confessed, "I love her and...I need
to fix this."
The teacher sighed softly. "Indeed you do, Mr. Kent. Indeed you do."
TBC