Author: LCA

Disclaimer: Trust me, if the show WAS mine you would be able to understand what happened at the season finale. Was I the only screaming "WTF!" at my TV screen when Chloe died, or was that a universal feeling?

A/N: A big fat shloppy kiss to all of my reviewers! MWAH!!!!!!!!!!! This chapter is more Chlex stuff, but definite nods towards Clana. Gotta have the Clana.

A/N 2: I'm soooooooooo sorry it took me so damn long to update this fic. I just suck at concentrating. sigh But it's summer now so...nope, I'm not even going to promise more frequent updates cuz I never keep the promises I make. I'm an awful person like that. j/k However, in my defense, this chapter was really hard to write and I had it going in a completely different direction with Lex trying to get Clark's blessing before he asked Chloe on a date, but it got way too boring to even write, much less read. I hope this is better.

Stay With Me

"It's not a DATE date. It's more of a 'wow-you're-a-really-good-kisser- let's-eat-expensive-food' thing."

Chloe grabbed at the hot ham and cheese sandwich and followed the line through lunch. She had always hated the lunch lines; it felt too much to her like herding cattle through the troughs. In fact, a lot about school reminded her of either a farm or a slaughterhouse, she couldn't figure out which.

Pete shifted uncomfortably behind her in line. Chloe didn't need her good friend ESP to let her know that he was most definitely not crazy about the idea of her dating Lex.

Not that it was a date, because it certainly wasn't.

Chloe rolled her eyes. It would make it so much easier if she didn't have to convince both Pete and herself.

After the huge make out session, things between her and Lex had been rapidly heating up. It was purely physical of course. They had discussed and decided they would be much better off to just be acquaintances-with- benefits, which was fine with Chloe because once Clark snapped out of his depression and asked her out, she would be all over him. Lex, who? Forget the fact that Lex was quickly becoming one of her favorite people to hang out with...and the fact that he could make her laugh quicker than anyone she had ever known, because if you could forget those facts it was much easier to pretend that she had no feelings for him.

Not that she had to pretend.

She typed in her pin number, said thanks to the lunch lady, and headed over to the usual table.

Recently, the table that had once been the Pete/Chloe/Clark/Lana table of wackiness had turned into the Pete/Chloe table of strained silence. Clark preferred to eat his food in his truck, glaring at anyone who tried to come up and talk to him. Especially if that anyone was a blond reporter that sort of reminded people of Anna from The O.C., only less funky.

Chloe hadn't talked to him since their now infamous fight in the parking lot, but not for lack of trying. She wasn't stupid; she knew nothing was going to go back to how it used to be. All she wanted was to be able to nod at him in the hall without feeling like he was shooting heat rays at her from his eyes. Détente would be better than this.

Hell, anything would be better than this.

Pete and Chloe ate their food in the silence she was slowly becoming accustomed to.

When she was little, Chloe had tried to imagine what it would be like if one of her friends died. She had pictured herself standing strong, not being the one to cave. Being the one that all of her friends depended on, the rock in the storm. Never had it occurred to her that when one of her friends died, all of her friendships would die with them. What had happened to all of her friends? What had happened to her?

Where had her high morals gone? She was dating Lex, for Christ's sake. The man she had spent half of her high school journalistic career trying to take down, and here she was, having sexual feelings for him. Shit! If Lana could see her now...

And what did she think would happen once they actually started dating. Did she expect to fall in love with him? Oh God, was she in love with him already?

Disgusted, Chloe pushed back her food. Suddenly she wasn't hungry.

"Where are you going?" Pete asked. The first words said out of the lunch line.

Chloe gave him a rueful smile, reached across the table and squeezed his hand.

"That's the question, isn't it?"

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Clark ate his lunch with his car radio blasting to keep him from falling asleep. He hadn't allowed himself to sleep since the eventful nap in Science, two days ago. Last night had been murder trying to stay up. Mountain Dew can only carry you so far...

Now, with the warm air sweeping past him in lulling waves, Clark was reduced to physically holding his eyelids open. Looking across the parking lot he saw Chloe walking by. To his surprise, a wave of loneliness passed through him. He truly did miss funny, quirky Chloe. Plus, talking to her would keep his mind off of sleep.

As if moving on their own accord, his legs got out of the truck and he walked over to where she was standing.

"Hey Chloe, what are you doing out here? Lunch isn't over, is it?"

Chloe's head snapped up at the sound of his voice, and her eyes grew wide with surprise.

"H-hi, Clark. What-why-what? Why are you talking to me? Not that I'm not glad you're talking to me. 'Cuz I am glad. And relieved. That you're talking to me. You are talking to me right? 'Cuz if you aren't than I'm gonna feel like an idiot since I'm just talking and talking and-"

Clark couldn't help but smile to himself. My how the articulate have fallen. He decided to take pity on her and stop her ramblings.

"Listen, I just wanted to appologize for the fight we had. I know I said a lot of awful things, and I didn't mean them at all. It's just that I miss Lana so much it's hard to breathe, much less talk fairlyand level-headedly. Is that normal?"

Chloe gave him a sympathetic smile and put a hand on his arm.

"Perfectly normal. Do you want to talk about it? I'm all ears, plus one big shoulder to lean on."

Relief filled Clark at Chloe's understanding and easy forgiveness. Looking into her clear blue eyes, it was so easy for the words to come spilling out. He told her of how, when he was in his loft, his eyes would drift over to her house by habit. Of how he wouldn't even notice he was crying until he felt the drips on his hands. Of how he refused to set foot within 15 feet of The Talon. It felt so good to finally be able to talk about everything on his mind.

Well, not everything. Every time he opened his mouth to mention the dreams, something held him back. Selfishly, he was trying to hold that last piece of Lana to himself.

Chloe must have read his mind. "But she hasn't come from beyond the grave to make contact?" She asked with a laugh in her voice. "The Wall of Weird is filled with dead lovers instructing live ones to go crazy."

"...No, no nothing like that..." Clark's eyes looked down. He could never lie to someone and stare them in the face.

"Well, at least that shows that you're not on the other side of sanity. Look, I know you're not going through an easy time right now, but it'll get better. I promise; girl scouts honor. And trust me, I was one hell of a girl scout. Sold more cookies than anyone else on the troop."

Clark managed a weak smile, and Chloe smiled back. God, how Clark missed even the simplest display of connection to another human. This conversation felt so GOOD!

"Thanks for listening to my pathetic ramblings. Hey, are you doing anything tonight? It might be cool to just hang out."

A nervous look came to Chloe's eyes. "Um, actually, well, you see-not that I wouldn't love to, but, well, I'm doing something with someone else."

"Oh, that's ok. Maybe I could tag along."

"Heh, well, that's not quite possible because it's kinda a sorta date thing. With Lex."

"WHAT?!?!?!" The word bursted out of Clark like a bomb and sat ringing between them in the silence that followed.

To be honest, Clark didn't know why he was so mad. He knew that he should be happy that two of his friends were hitting it off after years of fighting, but he couldn't be happy. Not for Chloe and Lex. A little voice niggling him in the back of his mind whispered the reason why.

"Chloe, you can't be thinking about getting involved with a guy like Lex. He's no good in relationships. I've seen him get to more girls' home base than Babe Ruth. I won't let you do this."

Chloe's eyes narrowed at the words.

"Won't let me? You won't LET me? I'm sorry, but when has the choice ever been up to you. If you wanted control over my dating life, then why didn't you ask me out in the past forever that I've like you? Do you expect me just to wait around for you, pining, while you whine and moan about your dead girlfriend?"

Of course that what he expected her to do. She was dependable Chloe. The sky was blue, the grass was green, and Chloe would always be there, waiting on the sidelines, for a chance to be with him. Not that he would ever admit that to her.

"I'm not an idiot! I know even if we do end up dating somewhere down the line, I'll only be a substitute for your what-ifs with Lana. So, now Lex says he likes me. Lex kisses me and tells me I'm beautiful. That's more than you ever did. All right, I'll admit it, I don't like him near as much as I've liked you in the past, but I need to move on now. God knows you'll never move one from Lana."

"And what do you think you'll be with Lex, huh? You think you'll be more than a way to pass time? A way to sharpen his skills while waiting for the next Cindy Crawford to come along? Even if you do manage to make him interested enough to care, the best he'll see you is as a challenge. 'How long will it take me to screw the virgin Chloe.'"

He saw Chloe's eyes fill with tears, and her hand came up to her mouth in shock, but he let his horrible words keep coming anyway.

"And you know what, I bet you don't even have the sense to make it all that challenging."

A crack went through the air, and suddenly the left side of his face was on fire. She had slapped him. In shock, Clark put a gentle hand to his cheek, where not two days ago the other love interest in his personal soap opera had scratched him.

"How dare you." Chloe spit out the words through clenched teeth. "How dare you say those things about us. I thought you were my friend. I thought you knew me. I can't even begin to believe that you said those awful things. Stay away from me Clark. Leave me alone."

And with that she was running away, back into the school.

Clark mutely walked back to his truck. Why had he even bothered to talk to her in the first place? He had forgotten how sweet loneliness was.

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Lex shook his head and turned his attention back to the report he was supposed to be reading.

The sentance looked vaguely familiar. Perhaps because he had read it ten times already. Not to mention the twenty times he had stumbled over the sentence before it. Why couldn't he concentrate lately? He snorted at the obviousness of his own question. He knew exactly why.

One sickeningly peppy, cute blonde reporter.

Not only was she preventing him for getting any work done, but she was also preventing him from getting any sleep, and also saving him some money on electricity bills since he had taken a definite liking to cold showers of late.

Funny how one girl could do all that.

Not that Chloe was just any one girl. She was his intelectual match, equally (if not more) stubborn that him, and not to mention hot as hell. Oh yes, Chloe Sullivan had enough to keep him interested for a very long time.

His receptionist spoke through the tiny intercom on his desk.

"Mr. Luther, a Ms. Sullivan is here to see you."

Speak of the devil. Lex couldn't keep a stupid grin from spreading across his face.

"Send her in, please."

"But, sir, she's dressed..."

"I said send her in."

While waiting for Chloe to walk through the door, Lex took a swallow of water from his glass...only to spit it out when he saw what she looked like.

Chloe was wearing a skin-tight, dark blue tube dress that barely covered everything it needed to. She had her hair tinted blue at the ends, with the kind of stiletto heels that would drive any man wild.

"What are you doing?" he asked in shock.

"Well, hello to you too, Mr. Luther." Her voice was husky and low. "Like what you see?"

"Um...what about tonight? I thought we were all set for the non-date."

Chloe shrugged nonchalantly, and sauntered over to perch ever-so-lightly on the edge of his desk.

"I figured why bother. Why not get straight to the point?"

"And the point is...what? That you would make an exceptional looking hooker?"

"Let's just say I talked to a...for lack of better words, friend, and he informed me of one very important rule when dealing with Lex Luther: What Mr. Luther wants, Mr. Luther gets." She leaned forward just the tiniest bit. "Does Mr. Luther want me?"

Lex's mouth was going dry, and his blood was flowing to less-than-ideal places. Still, he fought every natural urge he had ever been given and leaned away from her.

"Chloe, what is this really about?"

She got up from the desk and sat on his lap.

"Come on, Lex. We both know you're in this for the easy lay. I'm just making it that much easier." Her head dipped for the kiss, but Lex pulled away. He stood up, dropping her from his lap.

"WHAT?!?!?!"

"That word seems to be shouted a lot today," Chloe grumbled as she picked herself up from the ungraceful heap she had landed in.

"How could you say that about me? How could you even think that about me?"

Her eyes rolled. "Please, like I wasn't going to figure out what you were after. All you want is to sex it up while you still can. You know, you really had me fooled for a couple of days. I thought that there was actually a thing between us. But now it's so clear what was happening." She turned her back so he wouldn't see the tears in her eyes.

Lex's arms reached out and grabbed Chloe's shoulders and turned her around.

"Has anything that I've done in this relationship given you the idea that I wasn't as equally interested in your brains and spirit as I am in your body?"

"No, but-"

"Then why would you think that was an act? Chloe, when I'm around you, it's probably the only time I'm not acting. You make me be myself, and that's why I feel like I need to be around you all the time. When you're not here, and I feel myself slipping back into the cold businessman that I have to be sometimes, I miss you so much I can't breathe. Is that normal, this early on in the game?"

Chloe's head was still turned away from him, so that he could only see the profile of her face, but he still caught the ghost of a smile that played on her lips.

"Perfectly normal." Chloe's face suddenly got a pained look. "That's the exact same thing my friend asked."

"Who is this friend anyway, that knows so much about me?"

Chloe dismissed him with a wave of her hand.

"No one important. He was wrong anyway."

"So...are we ok now? Still on for tonight?"

Chloe smiled and pecked him on the cheek. "Sure, tonight, but on one condition."

"Name it."

"We never talk about this, ever."

Lex laughed, which made Chloe blush a deep red. "Condition accepted. But hey, if you really want to wear that dress tonight, that's fine by me."

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Clark was on a beach, with palm trees swaying in a pleasant breeze and the sun setting in a beautiful display of colors over the ocean.

This was odd, especially considering he had just been in his room a moment before.

Looking down the coastline, he saw a single figure sitting in the sand. Her loose hair was blowing in the wind, and her knees were drawn up to her chest.

With a twist of his stomach, Clark knew he was dreaming. He must have fallen asleep. He would know that silhouette anywhere.

She looked up when he approached, gave him a smile, and looked back out over the ocean. Without knowing what else to do, Clark sat down next to Lana, in the white sand.

"You know, this is where I always imagined you would take me for our honeymoon."

Her voice was filled with a longing he had never heard before.

"We were going to get married?" he asked, for lack of knowing what else to do.

"Oh, of course. I had already perfected signing my name Lana Kent."

They sat in silence, staring out at the ocean together.

"Does it bother you, now that you're dead, knowing that you can't do all the things you had planned to do?"

"Of course it does. Sometimes it makes me so angry, all I can do is cry. But I'm lucky. At least I got to meet my soul mate and spend some time with him. Not everyone here can say that."

"Here as in heaven?"

"Oh, Lord no. I don't know what this place is, but it's certainly not heaven. Sometimes, like now, I get to pick what it looks like, and then it's not bad. But other times it's..."

A shudder ripped through her body and she squeezed her eyes shut, blocking out whatever was haunting her.

"Sometimes it's not bad," she whispered.

"Why aren't you in heaven? Why are you stuck here?"

Instead of a direct answer, Lana just chuckled and whispered to the sunset, "I'll never let go Jack, I'll never let go."

"What does that mean?"

She was really starting to scare him.

Lana turned her head and looked directly at him.

"I love you, Clark."

"I love you too, Lana. And I always will."

A sad smile played her lips. "To know love is to understand hate."

"I don't understand what you're saying!" Clark threw up his hands in frustration.

"Goodbye, Clark." Lana said, as she leaned in and gave him a kiss.

"It's not goodbye Lana. For us, it'll never be goodbye."

"Too true."

Clark woke up in a sweat, with no idea what had just happened.

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