Premonition
by Lener
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in Smallville.
Chapter Nine
The minute Clark stepped into the living room, he knew that he was in trouble.
He sighed inwardly, wondering how he was going to explain things to his parents when he already had so much on his mind. He still could not get the image of Chloe's eyes out of his head- like a burn it had been scorched onto his retina. Those strangely bright green eyes filled with hurt and pride, and that strange, somehow defiant glint…
Had he really made her cry?
His parents were waiting for him; his mother perched on the arm of the sofa and his father staring out the window, seemingly preoccupied.
"Clark," his father's voice cut through him like a knife. His mother had risen from the couch.
"Clark! Are you okay?" she scurried over.
"Martha…" John called out warningly.
"He could've been hurt, John!" she protested.
"I'm fine, Mom," Clark reassured her.
"Do you know what time it is now? It's almost twelve, son. No phone call, no nothing to at least tell us where you were. Just ran off like that, huh? How could you be so irresponsible?" his father bombarded him with arguments.
"Look, Dad, I got home from school, did all my chores and then Pete called- it was an emergency, I had to help him out! I don't understand why you're being so selfish!" he felt anger burning within him.
Jonathan Kent took a deep breath, then replied in a steely voice, "While you were out not being selfish, your mother hurt herself completing the work you left undone when you went to answer the phone."
Clark turned to look at his mother, and for the first time noticed that there was a large bruise on her arm, half-covered by a bandage. How could he have been so blind?
"I…"
"You're grounded, that's what you are," his father said curtly.
"But…"
"To your room, now."
Sighing, Clark turned and went up the stairs, his heart sinking dreadfully as he did so.
Tomorrow was Friday.
Dance night.
*
"What?" the look on Lana's face was priceless.
Chloe watched as Clark shifted uncomfortably, and suddenly she felt a pang of sympathy for the brown-haired girl standing in front of Clark.
It was Friday morning, and Chloe had gone to school early, only to find Lana in the Torch office with Clark.
"Oh, sorry, am I interrupting something?" she asked, glancing between the distraught face of Lana and the strained, tired face of Clark.
"It's nothing," Clark said.
"Nothing? You call this nothing?" Lana semi-exploded.
Chloe moved slowly to her green iMac, trying to be obtrusive and inconspicuous. She realised a few seconds later, however, that she did not even have to try, for Clark and Lana were both absorbed in their argument.
"You're grounded, Clark. How are we going to the dance? Tonight!" Lana's voice could have broken the glass pane on the door.
Hmm… grounded. That should be interesting… Chloe thought as she booted her PC.
"I'm sorry, I didn't plan for things to happen. What I had to do last night was-"
"Excuse me? Had to?" before she could stop herself, Chloe had popped her head over the top of the computer and interrupted Clark. Both dark-haired beauties turned to look at her, and she gave them a sheepish smile.
"Oh. Sorry!" she sat back down and began typing.
"Look, I'm really sorry, but… I think it's best if you found someone to replace me. I… I really didn't mean for things to turn out this way, Lana. I…"
"Just… please… just… go…"
A few seconds later, after the sound of the door being shut had echoed in the silent office, Lana dropped into a chair with a groan, and placed her head in her hands. "What am I going to do?" she groaned, "how could Clark be so selfish?"
Sighing, Chloe got up from her seat and placed a hand on Lana's shoulder. "Look, Lana, you know how Clark is- always trying to save the day and all," she tried to keep the note of bitterness out of her words, "well, he had to help someone that night, and… I guess he didn't expect to get into trouble."
Lana looked up at Chloe, her eyes red.
"You mean a lot to Clark, believe me, a lot," Chloe continued, feeling a lump rise in her throat. But she carried on bravely, "and I know Clark would never to anything to hurt your feelings. But you know, he's a special kid. We might see him as an ordinary farm boy who's just a little on the nosy side, but in reality, what he's doing is actually really noble. He's just trying to help. He didn't know what the outcome would be because all he was thinking of at that moment was to get everyone to safety." And as Chloe spoke she knew that all this had come from her heart.
"So… what should I do?" Lana asked, sniffling a little. Chloe handed her a tissue from a nearby tissue box and Lana took it gratefully.
"If you want advice, here's some. Go talk to Mrs. Kent. Tell her that tonight's really important, and that you'll keep a lookout for Clark, and get him home immediately once the dance is over. Present yourself as responsible and confident, and don't forget to go just at the right time so that she won't be too busy preparing dinner (she always does that at precisely 7:15pm) and won't have time to hear you out, okay?" Chloe finished, smiling at Lana.
"Oh yeah and one more thing, Clark usually chops firewood around that time so you might get to see him, but don't alert him as to what you're going to do. He'll probably stop you or something, the noble gentleman that he is…"
Chloe and Lana shared a little giggle in the Torch office.
"Thank you so much, Chloe. I wish I knew Clark as well as you do," Lana gushed gratefully, then engulfed Chloe in a hug.
I wish I did too, Chloe thought.
*
"Clark, my man! Have you heard the good news?"
Clark looked up to see Pete strutting towards him, a cocky grin on the boy's face. Clark forced a smile, then pulled a few more books out from his locker.
"Good news?" Clark asked, confused.
"Yeah!" Pete said excitedly.
"Uhh…"
"Rebecca Spur just asked me to go to the dance with her!" Pete almost screamed, smacking his fist into his palm in his usual gesture that meant he was excited.
"That's great, Pete!" Clark said, genuinely happy for Pete's good luck.
"And my Dad's letting me take the new car! 'Coz I got top marks in that Science test… it's gonna be a hell of a dance, Clark! You get to go with Lana, I get to go with Rebecca and Chloe… gets to work at the Torch…" Pete trailed off. He had done some serious thinking at him, and gone over the possibilities of having a best friend with super strength. It did not seem like such a terrible thing, besides, he knew Chloe, and she would never use something like that for any horrible crime.
"You sure she's not going?" Clark asked.
"Sure as ever. The last time I talked to her- I apologized to her this morning- she was still going on about that article she wanted to complete. Oh yeah, and you know what she said?" Pete continued.
"What?" Clark fell into a step beside his friend.
"I quote, 'At least I now have one best friend instead of none'. That's exactly what she said after we made up," Pete finished.
"Hmm…" Clark felt his heart sink.
"What happened, man? I really think you two should-"
"Look, Pete?"
"Hmm?"
"I don't want to talk about it," Clark said shortly.
"Oh. Okay…"
Author's Note: Sorry! No cliffhanger, but I bet everyone likes the fact that they won't have to wait for the next chapter simply because I didn't end on a suspense-filled note! Lol… well, the replies are below! Indulge…
SeleneA- Hey! Thanks for the review! ARGH! I'm gonna bash up Lana more!!!!!!!! Haha…
keebler-elmo- Hello! Thanks for the review. Erm well… if you go back to the first chapter of this fic there's some tension there because well, Chloe wasn't too sure if Clark really liked her or he still liked Lana. Basically she was uncertain and he was well, stupid. Haha… Personally I find Clark silly sometimes so he didn't really pay attention to what Chloe was feeling. He never does anyway. Sniff.
Sylphide- YEAH!!!!!!!!!! Linkin Park!!!!!!!!! You like 'em??
MORE CHLARK???? Lol… only one bowl for you. Don't worry. Your favourite Mr. Matthews will be all right. Haha… we won't hear anymore about him anyway, MUAHAHA. Yeah, I agree… this fic is kinda darker than all my previous fics. Oh well… perhaps I just feel darker inside!!!!! *waves black cape around* Nope. In this fic Clark hasn't told Chloe about his powers… I don't know if I should make him tell her about them… *dilemma* Oh dear… I've become so numb, I can't feel you there… Become so tired so much more aware… LOL.
Well, sorry if this reply is short (I'm in the middle of my exam week), but you've got the chapter so, rejoice! (I'm not sure if you should be rejoicing though…) Hope you enjoy this one coz the next one's going to take a long time to come!
Kit Merlot- Hey! Thanks for reviewing! Naturally if you could lift trucks with one hand, you'd feel freaked, trust me. Haha… and yeah, I try to keep my fic characters as close as the ones we see on screen so it's not weird. The only thing I can't perfect is how Chloe speaks. Sigh… some writers do a GREAT job of that. I just can't…
Suz- You cheat! Lol, just kidding! Sup, girl? Thanks for reviewing! I haven't received the meteor rock yet. Please check with your neighborhood postman to see if he mailed it correctly. Lol. It's funny how everyone wants to see Chloe kicking Clark's arse. Haha!!
I enjoyed your site! I may wanna post my fics up there but I haven't gotten around to doing it yet. Tell me when your site is done and don't forget to include the URL! I forget these things a lot…
Rbritsmom73- Hey! Happy? Lol.
joey- Huh?
englishchik- Hey! Thanks for the review! Well, what can I say? I'm just an ol' Chloe and Clark shipper!