Disclaimer: Smallville and its characters belong to the WB. I'm just borrowing them for entertainment purposes. In other words, don't sue me!!!

Timeline: Set directly after the season 1 finale. An AU fic.

Funvince Fanfic Enterprises presents:

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SMALLVILLE CHANGES

-By Vincent "Funvince" Nguyen

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-Chapter 4-

The bus pulled up alongside the Kent farm. The driver always made it a point to wait an extra five minutes for the Kent boy to show up. It was the least she could do. Sometimes, in these moments of waiting, she would idly wonder how Clark usually made it to school. Probably his father drove him and wouldn't it be amusing to hear the heated conversations that went on in the truck as they tried to beat the bus to school? Clark was a nice boy but he simply had no sense of time. She was completely blown away when Clark showed up at her door just as she was about to pull away.

Clark looked around and his smile faded when he saw Chloe wasn't on the bus. He sat in the seat across from Pete and tried to catch his eye so he could ask him if he knew what was going on, but Pete was carefully trying not to look at him. And he wasn't being subtle about it either. After a few attempts to start a conversation, Clark sat back and sighed.

School wasn't much better. Every ten minutes, Clark would stare at the door hoping Chloe would show up. They had most of the same classes together so she was bound to appear sooner or later, right? But she never did and he was getting worried. How was he supposed to fall to his knees and beg for her forgiveness if she didn't give him a chance?

Around lunchtime, he managed to corner Pete in the Torch's office. "Pete, we have to talk."

"Oh, now we have to talk. Why aren't you hanging out with your buddy Lex? Or shouldn't you be mooning over Lana about now?"

"Why are you acting like this?" Clark asked. He knew that Pete thought that he was abandoning his old friends in favor of his new, but after the Nicodemus incident, he had tried harder to reconnect with him and Chloe.

"Like what? A jerk? I didn't think I was but I guess you would know," Pete replied with a sneer.

Clark found himself growing angry. Why was he being treated like this? He felt that familiar frustration overcome him. Anybody else who had saved Lana like he did last night would have been hailed a hero and treated like a king, but he couldn't even tell anybody about it because of his 'secret.' But he had saved Pete, Chloe, and who knows who else many times so would a little understanding be too much to ask?

A sudden thought dissipated his righteous fury and caused him to deflate. Pete was right. He had been a jerk. All he had was the gut feeling that Lana was in danger and even though he turned out to be right that gave him no excuse for taking one of his best friends for granted. He turned to Pete and said, "I know you're mad at me and I'm really sorry about that and I can't even blame you but can you just tell me if Chloe is okay?"

Pete must have seen the melancholy on Clark's face because he visibly softened. He replied, "I don't know. I haven't talked to Chloe since last night when I tried to cheer her up after you left. I'm just as surprised as you are that she didn't come to school today."

Clark sighed, thanked Pete, and turned to leave when he felt a hand grip his arm. It was Pete and he had a strange look upon his face. He said, "Clark, I understand that you gotta do what you think is right but I don't want to see Chloe get hurt. She's a great girl. Any guy would be lucky to have her."

Clark was about to agree but something in Pete's voice made him pause and suddenly, there was a click in his head. He gave his friend a questioning eyebrow arch. Pete looked embarrassed as he said, "Don't tell Chloe this but I once had a little crush on her."

"Why didn't you ever say anything?" Clark asked quietly.

"Besides the fact that she only had eyes for you?" Pete said smirking. He shrugged, obviously trying to downplay this but Clark could tell that an old wound was opening up. "I decided after a few sleepless nights that it wouldn't work out. We'd drive each other crazy and probably ruin our friendship. Chloe and I want different things right now. She's looking for a relationship and you know me. I'm not ready to be tied down yet. So I moved on."

Pete shook his head. "But I still wonder sometimes what could have happened. That's normal, but unlike some guys I know, I don't stay obsessed with girls I know I can't have."

Clark started to protest but then he saw Pete's grinning face and refrained. Pete continued, "Chloe's moving this summer and I'd really hate it if we all broke up because of this, you know?"

A few minutes later, the two friends went their separate ways. Clark frowned as he thought about what Pete said. He now had plenty to think about but he knew the first thing he had to do was find Chloe. He knew that if this event ruined his friendship with her, he would never forgive himself.

~*~

Chloe stared up at the globe that was the symbol most associated with the Daily Planet and smiled. She knew her father would kill her for skipping school and going to Metropolis but at the moment she didn't care. She wanted to get away from Smallville, away from Clark, and away from her pain. She reverently felt the letters printed on the glass doors then chided herself. It was just a building! But she couldn't stop smiling like an idiot. It had been her dream since forever to work here. It was the one place guaranteed to cheer her up. She hadn't felt this bad in a long time.

She went inside and stopped by the receptionist's desk. "Be right with you," the woman said then she looked up. "Chloe?"

"Hi Ann," Chloe said grinning. Ann got up and the two women hugged each other. "What are you doing in the city?"

"Just doing some errands. I thought I'd drop by and thank Mister Taylor personally for giving me the internship. Is he busy?"

"He's in a meeting right now but I'm sure he'll be happy to see you after it," Ann replied. She leaned in and said, "Chloe, I read your article and I was impressed. Not many reporters get to write up their own kidnappings! Maybe in New York but not here. How did you do it? I don't think I'd have the strength to not only relive such a traumatic experience but also to write about it so objectively."

Chloe smiled weakly. "Guess I'm just made of sterner stuff than most people." Before Ann could reply, Chloe quickly said, "If Mister Taylor is busy, then I'll just come back in a few hours. There were a few things I had to take care of anyway." There was the obligatory small talk and goodbyes then Chloe found herself walking down Main Street staring blankly ahead.

Ann's question had struck a chord in her. That article had been the hardest thing she had ever written and even her journalistic determination for the truth was not enough to keep her from being tempted from just forgetting the whole thing. The only thing that made reliving the nightmare as she wrote was remembering the feel of Clark's arms around her after he'd rescued her. She had never been so glad to see someone in her life.

She now knew why being buried alive was such a widespread fear. When she had woken up in her metal coffin and she saw through the transparent cover that she was underground, she panicked. Even knowing that her desperate clawing was only using up her limited supply of oxygen couldn't stop her from trying to escape. She had tried not to cry, she really did, but it finally just came bursting out of her.

A part of her refused to give up hope and strangely, it kept insisting that Clark would save her. It was stupid and illogical. Even if Clark knew she had been kidnapped and not in Metropolis by now, he wouldn't even know where to look for her! But she still clung onto that thought like a lifeline. It was the only thing keeping her sane.

She had a sudden odd empathy for Justin as she remembered him telling her that his last thoughts were of her before the car hit him. She found herself berating herself for every lost chance she had for telling Clark how she felt. Whatever happened to that foolish young girl who thought nothing of kissing the Kent boy only a few hours after she met him? She was still kicking herself over that one. She hadn't wanted this strange farm boy to have a crush on her. Boy, was she stupid.

Chloe wiped the tears off her face with the back of her hand and wondered why she was crying so. Clark had saved her again like he always did. She was alive and even if Clark only had eyes for Lana that was something to be grateful for. So why did a part of her feel so betrayed? It wasn't as if Clark was her boyfriend or anything.

"Are you okay, Chloe?" Chloe turned and saw Lana Lang staring at her.

It's official, Chloe thought, the universe so hates me. She had the sudden urge to scream and rage at Lana that she wasn't okay; but, it wasn't Lana's fault and though Chloe couldn't help but feel a little resentful toward the raven haired girl she honestly didn't want to push away one of the few female friends she had. She saw Lana was still looking at her so she said, "I'm okay, just a little bummed. It's nothing."

Chloe then looked at Lana curiously. "So what are you doing here?"

Lana shrugged. "I was doing some shopping with Nell but she took off with some old friends of hers and said she'd be back soon. She wanted me to tag along because she thought I'd be weak from my stay in the hospital but I told her she was just being overprotective."

"Been there," Chloe said. "You were in the hospital?"

"Didn't Clark tell you? The doctors wanted to make sure I didn't have a concussion." Lana explained what happened to her the night before.

Chloe's head was beginning to hurt. Clark had saved Lana? The guy really did have a savior complex. She supposed Clark had good reason to leave the dance but she still felt hurt. She wondered if Clark would have been so eager to run off if he had gone to the dance with Lana and she'd been the one in trouble. Or if he did go to help her would he have taken the time to give Lana an explanation?

But now was not the time to sulk about it. She plastered a smile on her face and said, "I'm glad you're okay. Guess that puts you one up in the D.D. running." It was an inside joke, of course, since Lana and her were the only members and it did help her get over certain freakish horrors but Chloe couldn't help but try to remember who came up with the idea of creating a Damsels in Distress Club. It sounded like something she would say on her more sarcastic days yet only Lana would actually try to make it work. Ironically, keeping track of their kidnappings had brought them closer together.

Chloe didn't know how Lana managed it but somehow moments later both of them were walking through the Metropolis Mall. They hit all the typical spots that teenage girls shopped at and tried on various outfits over the next few hours. Chloe managed to squash the feelings of jealousy that came at seeing Lana's beauty and found to her astonishment that she was having fun. She worried briefly about how much of a bashing her reputation as a no-nonsense, hardbiting reporter would take if word of this day got out but decided it didn't matter. Suddenly, she spotted a piece of clothing hanging in a corner of the store and she started laughing.

Lana wandered over with a puzzled look and Chloe tried to explain through her laughter. "I just pictured what Clark would look like in that for some reason and then..." She lost control and started gasping again. Lana glanced at the tights on the wall more closely then she giggled as well. "I see what you mean. Clark Kent and blue spandex definitely don't go together."

Chloe began to relax a little. She was still horribly upset, but there was no reason to ruin her entire day moping. She thought of Clark again. For one tiny moment, she had forgotten to be angry with him. Maybe... maybe she could forgive him. But she wasn't going to be the one to make the first move.