CHAPTER 8

(What was I thinking?) Clark asked himself as he walked home from school. How had he ever thought that keeping vital information from Chloe would only help her? What if she had died from what happened?

Clark never would've been able to forgive himself. He had no idea how he could've lived with the knowledge that he had killed his closest friend because he couldn't seem to stop keeping secrets. It didn't matter that what had prevented him from being close to others was Chloe's burden now, and that he had nothing to keep hidden anymore.

Perhaps old habits were just hard to break.

Clark shook his head at himself, disgusted. He felt as if he were under the scrutiny of the world, as if it were staring at him accusingly, asking him what he had thought he would achieve. Or better yet, maybe it was laughing at him, since his strange sense of logic had obviously backfired on him. It was strange, but ever since they had switched, he had given himself the responsibility of looking out for Chloe who, despite her newfound strength, was still just a girl who had been handed too much too fast. At least he had grown up with his powers. She, on the other hand, probably had no idea what to expect. He imagined she didn't really know what she was going to do with herself the rest of her life. Maybe his need to protect her was just a natural reaction to her emotional vulnerability. He was still the male, after all. Not that he was being chauvinistic. Clark just had an irresistible urge to hold her in his arms, shield her from everything that had happened.

But by doing so, he wasn't protecting Chloe from the one who had hurt her the most.

He knew the world was laughing again, chuckling at his realization. Sighing, Clark kicked at a rock that lay on the side of the road, and was slightly irritated at himself when it only bounced a few feet before skidding to a stop.

The sound of a car reached his ears, and Clark began to turn around. Of course, he didn't need to see who it was. There was only one car in Smallville that sounded so smooth...so perfect. It was almost as if it were a predator, waiting to pounce on anything that was game with a rev of its deep growl. The silver Porsche seemed to still scream even as it idled and as Lex Luthor stepped out of the vehicle.

Lex pulled off his Ray Bans in one fluid motion and tucked them into the inside pocket of his impeccably tailored suit. Smiling, he gestured at his car, "I see you're walking home from school today. Want a lift?"

Clark started to shake his head and say that he needed time to think, but he realized that he hadn't seen Lex in a week or so. He probably wanted to see what had been going on with his younger friend since their last conversation about Lana and Chloe.

"Sure, thanks." he answered, attempting a small smile as he climbed into the passenger seat.

Lex slipped his sunglasses back on as he slid in behind the steering wheel, "Clark, you are a man of many things, but a liar is not one of them."

Clark couldn't help but chuckle inwardly at the implication that he was a bad liar. He couldn't tell Lex differently, so he just looked at him, "What do you mean?"

Shifting the car into drive, Lex hit the clutch, and the car responded easily, "Sometimes, thoughts don't need to be dwelled upon by the thinker. I always find it incredibly helpful to open up a little."

Clark almost snorted at Lex's attempt to pry his way into Clark's guilt and regret. He was a very good reader of people's intentions and moods, he could give him that, but as far as opening up went, well, completely opening up, it would never happen.

"There's really nothing to open up about."

He watched as Lex's mouth seemed to turn down slightly, but it was gone in a split second. This was how things were between them. One would prod, the other wouldn't give. It was a circle that the two friends couldn't break because each had his own secrets that couldn't be trusted with anyone.

Lex glanced at Clark, and he could feel his intense gaze radiating from behind his dark sunglasses, "I doubt that, Clark."

They rode in silence for a few seconds, until Lex looked at him again, "How is Lana?"

"She's fine," Clark knew that wasn't the answer Lex wanted, but it was all he could give him. Since Chloe had gained her powers, he had almost forgotten that Lana was still there. It was as if he had never been tragically in love with the girl. He still wished to be her friend, of course, but his and Chloe's bond had grown incredibly strong before he had succeeded in screwing it up, and therefore he had found all the companionship he needed in her and Pete.

Lex shook his head subtly, "Then I suppose she has been moved permanently to the back of the room that is Clark Kent's mind. Replaced by a certain blonde?"

Clark shifted uncomfortably. (How does he do that?) he thought. Lex was the only person he knew who could take a two-word answer and turn it into an insightful realization. It was uncanny, and a bit frightening, "Chloe's just a friend, Lex."

"Of course," the young billionaire answered suavely, "just a friend."

They pulled up to the Kent farm, and Lex allowed the car to skid to a halt, kicking up dust and gravel. Quickly, almost thankfully, Clark scrambled out of the seat. The interrogation had been more harsh than usual, "Thanks, Lex. You uh, you want to come in for dinner?"

"Not that I wouldn't immensely enjoy Martha's impeccable cooking, but I have to be going. I have an important appointment in about an hour. Thanks anyway, Clark."

And with that, Lex sped down the driveway, turned a corner, and was gone.

The city of Metropolis shone radiantly under the midday sun. Each skyscraper, with windows that shimmered like diamonds, was more beautiful than the one before. Each seemed to shine with it's own unique perfection. This was industrialization and entrepreneurialship at its finest.

And who owned the highest building of them all? Lionel Luthor, of course. Turning away from the large window that revealed the city beneath him, Lionel chuckled to himself. He had never been one to play the game "mine is bigger than yours", but he was quite pleased with himself that he had secured his place at the top of the food chain for a long while yet.

With John Thomas, simple nuisance that he had been, out of the way, Lionel knew he could breathe easier as far as his business dealings were concerned. For the moment, anyway. And to breathe easier simply meant that he was in no direct danger of having his...interests becoming known. The man had come across too much information, albeit accidentally. When he had been asked to take care of one of Lionel's former partners, Mr. Thomas had sent his informants into every dark corner in Metropolis and had discovered the reason of the man's death.

Too much knowledge had been obtained, and thus, Mr. Thomas had to be eliminated.

Lionel chuckled again as he recalled just how he had been taken care of. It was ingenious in itself, and Lionel had no qualms in admitting it. He simply only had to sit back and watch the show, see how things unfolded in the strange little town of Smallville.

Lionel knew that he would enjoy it.

Pete hummed a tuneless song to himself as he swung the door to the Talon open smoothly. The smell of mocha and whipped cream met him, and he inhaled deeply as he searched the small cove for Chloe. He watched for a perky, short haircut, but upon seeing nothing, he made his way to the bar, where Lana was serving a couple of seniors from school some coffee.

"Hey Lana," he greeted as he sat on a stool, "have you seen Chloe?"

Lana, her hair pulled back into a messy bun, shook her head as she poured someone a cup of coffee, "No, not since school. Did you check the Torch?"

"Yeah," he shook his head for emphasis, "and I got nothin'."

Lana put the coffee down as she leaned against the counter thoughtfully, "That's weird. I thought I remembered her saying that she'd be there after school."

Pete just smiled. He wanted more than anything for Lana to know what was going on. She was a nice girl, who wanted nothing but to help people out, but more definitely wasn't merrier in Clark's and Chloe's case. If she knew, he could just say, "Oh, maybe she went to the field to practice up on her heat vision," or something like that.

But instead, he had to feign ignorance, "Well, alright. I guess I'll find her somewhere. Thanks, Lana."

"No problem," Pete turned to go, "uh...Pete?"

He stopped, "Yeah?"

Her eyes were full of confusion and concern, and he couldn't help but feel bad for her. She had no idea what was happening to her friends, "Is everything...okay with Chloe?" It probably looked as if everyone was spinning off in different directions and away from her.

"Uh, yeah," Pete's mood sank lower with every lie he told her, "a little tired because of the deadline, but other than that..."

He could tell Lana wasn't buying it. She sighed, and he winced inwardly, "Well, she didn't seem okay. Clark is acting a little off too, and I was wondering if they were having problems." The last few words seemed to be hard for her.

Pete understood that feeling completely.

"Problems?"

"Well, they've gotten...closer."

Those words said so much, and they both knew it, "Yeah, they have."

Pete had liked Chloe forever, it seemed to him. He could remember always admiring her wit and her talents. She had a knack for finding out the truth. And she had the looks too. She was the most beautiful girl he knew...and yet, he couldn't tell her. They were best friends. Doing so would change things indefinitely, and he didn't want to risk changing it for the worse. Besides, she still liked Clark.

And Clark liked...maybe liked...Lana. The situation had become more unstable since the thunderstorm and the switching, so it was all Pete could do to just guess about what was taking place between the friends.

And then, he had snapped out of it, "Nah," he waved a hand dismissively, "I'm sure everything's cool. Chloe probably didn't mean to pull a disappearing act. Probably got sidetracked or something."

Lana's eyes clouded over, and he knew their connection, formed by the growing jealousy they had been feeling over their possible losses, was gone, "That's good," she paused, hesitant, "I've...gotta get back to work."

And that was it. With a nod, Pete turned and left the Talon, having forgotten the tune he'd been humming.

He didn't really feel like humming anymore.

"Hi Clark," Clark jumped, startled, at the voice that floated down to him from his Fortress of Solitude.

(Sometimes, I really miss my powers...)

He looked up to see Chloe leaning over the railing, her eyes a bit red-rimmed. Still, he couldn't help but think that she was still beautiful. He knew she had cried more over the past few weeks than she had in her lifetime. She was usually a girl who refused to show her emotions to anyone for fear of being seen as weak and vulnerable, but she had been unable to comply, and he knew that he had been the cause of it.

"Hey Chloe," had she come to yell at him? To tell him she never wanted to see him again? He would understand if she had come for those reasons, even if he hoped, more than anything, that she was there for another reason.

He climbed the stairs and joined her as she flopped down onto his old couch. For a few moments, they didn't say anything, too afraid of what the other was thinking. It was as if they were both trying to get their nerve up.

Finally, Chloe turned to him, "I'm...sorry about earlier. I didn't mean to get so crazy on you."

Clark almost smiled, he was so relieved, "Uh, no, it was my fault. I should've told you from the beginning."

"Yeah, you should have," her remark was softened by her smile, and he relaxed even more, "but it's in the past, and I decided that we've got to stop doing this. I need you, Clark.. You're the only one who's ever experienced something like this."

He nodded as she continued.

"You're more than just someone who knows what to do. You mean a lot to me." As she finished, she seemed to deflate, and Clark couldn't help but smile at her.

She saw him, "What?"

"Oh, nothing," he tried to stop smiling, but he couldn't, "you have no idea how happy you just made me."

Chloe grinned too, and he found himself to be fascinated with the way her lips curved softly into a small smile, "You thought I was coming here to kick your ass or something."

"It crossed my mind," He rose, suddenly more calm and at ease than he had been in weeks, "you wanna stay for dinner tonight? I'm sure mom and dad won't mind."

Chloe stood up to and looked up at him as she ran a hand through her hair, "Uh, I don't know. I kind of look like a crazy hag."

"No, you could never look like that. You're too beautiful." Clark stopped abruptly. He hadn't meant to say that. It had begun as a thought, but had slipped out as a compliment.

(How did that get out?)

She stopped fixing her hair, "Are you just telling me that?" she asked suspiciously.

"No, I'm really not," he couldn't turn back now, "I really do think that."

He winced inwardly and waited for her to laugh at him and put herself down like she did so much. She had developed a habit for it over the years.

When she didn't say anything, he looked up from the floor and met her eyes. They held nothing but fondness in them, and he had a sneaking suspicion that his held the same. After what seemed like a millennium, she took a step forward until they were almost touching. Clark's heart began to beat faster as they continued to look at each other, as if something would be lost forever if they broke their gazes. Her head was tilted up toward his, and he was looking almost straight down at her. A memory of them in the hall at school popped into his head. He had said that he would never outgrow her except vertically, and she had smiled at the comment, amused.

His eyes found her lips, and before he knew it, he was leaning down slowly, almost hesitantly. He wondered if this was a joke orchestrated by the world that had mocked him so cruelly earlier. Any minute she would break away from him and hurriedly say they didn't need to do this.

But she didn't. His lips met her smaller, warm ones, and he instinctively wrapped his arms around her petite waist and pulled her gently into him. She responded, and they kissed sweetly, almost chastely.

(Oh my God)

Her heart was practically pumping out of her chest, and she felt as if she would faint. His arms almost completely enveloped her, and she found she loved the feeling. All she could feel was him in front of her, his lips on hers...

The kiss was the most perfect she had ever experienced.

"Hey guys?"

Pete's voice shocked them back to reality, and Chloe leaped away from Clark, as if she had been shocked. He did the same until they were several feet apart.

Pete appeared at the top of the stairs and paused. (Oh crap) she thought. She knew he had picked up on their awkwardness. His body language was one Chloe had become fluent in since they had become so close. It was like he was questioning her without even saying a word.

"Hey Pete," she flashed a quick smile, "what's up?"

He looked from her to Clark, who broke his gaze from the floor to look at his friend, "Uh, I was looking for you. Wanted to see if you needed any help at the Torch tonight."

"Uh, yeah. That would be great. I was actually gonna head over there after I ate dinner with Clark's family. They invited me over tonight."

Why was she talking as if she were trying to cover something up that she had done wrong? She had done absolutely nothing wrong.

"You can stay too Pete, if you want." Clark added as he tried to sit casually on the couch. He only ended up nearly missing the whole thing completely, and he scrambled to not fall flat on his butt.

All chances at covering up had vanished.

Pete raised an eyebrow, "No, but thanks anyway Clark. I already ate," he looked at Chloe, "give me a call later when you're ready to head over there."

With that and a little wave, he was going back down the stairs and out to his car. They both watched as he got in and drove down the driveway, a little faster than usual. It was as if he was scrambling to get away from what he had stumbled upon.

(Crap)

Chloe had wondered if Pete liked her for a few years. She would catch him glancing at her out of the corner of his eye fondly, or checking her out subtly (or not, whichever way you wanted to look at it). They had been few and far between, but eventually the signs had built up until she had been unable to write them off. His reaction to her and Clark was solid evidence of his feelings.

(Why do things have to keep getting more complicated for me?) she asked herself as she stared at the floor of the loft. She could feel Clark's eyes on her, but she didn't turn to meet them.

(Shouldn't I just get free passes on everything now?) She knew that wasn't possible, of course. Chloe was sure Clark had never had any superhero luxuries besides his powers, and even those had a catch. In fact his powers had only complicated things for him. But she couldn't blame what had just happened on her powers, since she had been the admirer from afar toward Clark, much as Pete had been toward her, for a long time.

"Chloe?"

She registered his timid voice and tore her eyes from the floor to look at him, "Hmmm?"

"You ok?" his hazel eyes seemed to bore into her, and she almost shrunk underneath his intense concern for her. Then, they quickly turned to regret, "I'm sorry Chloe. Maybe I shouldn't have-,"

"No, it's ok," she almost laughed out loud, he was so timid and puppy-like. Apparently, their relationship had been so unstable lately that he had adopted a very un-forceful approach towards her, and that was saying a lot since he had never been very aggressive to begin with.

They sat in silence for a few moments. Chloe wasn't sure what to say about what had happened. She had gone from incredibly happy and lovey-dovey to embarrassed in less than two minutes. She was almost afraid to say that she had liked the kiss, afraid that he would immediately backpedal and say that it never should've happened.

Still, she couldn't help but plunge in, "Clark-,"

"Chloe, if you think we shouldn't have done that-,"

"No, I don't think that at all." That was it. She had just said that she didn't regret it.

(Oh God. What have I done?)

But he didn't say what she had grown accustomed to. He didn't say that they should remain friends because he didn't want to ruin their friendship. He said exactly what she had always hoped to hear.

"I don't either," he looked down for a minute, and Chloe waited for him to get his nerve back up, "to tell you the truth, I've been wanting to do that for awhile."

"Oh." Chloe didn't know what to say. She could find no words for the relief that spread through her, so she found herself smiling in place of talking.

Clark smiled back at her as he stood up. She tilted her head up to follow him and rose too. Despite Pete's discovery of them and the fact that she knew she would have to have a long talk with him later, Chloe hadn't felt happier in a long time.

"Let's eat. I'm starving." Her stomach growled as she said it, and she smiled again.

(Now, to end the night with Mrs. Kent's awesome cooking.)

"Tyler?"

(What has he gotten me into now?)

"Tyler...,"

Rachel Spielman pushed a branch out of her face as she found her way through the dense brush of the woods. Her boyfriend had brought her here as a surprise for their six month anniversary, but he had disappeared after telling her to wait for him to come and get her. She knew it was probably some kind of a picnic, since she had been laying hints for weeks now. Then again, maybe it wasn't. He wasn't exactly the smartest of guys.

She stopped and pouted for a few seconds, not sure what to do, "If this is your idea of a joke...,"

Her eye caught something red in the bushes. Curious, she leaned down to get a better look at it.

(Oh God)

It was Tyler's shirt, all mangled and bloodied. But Tyler wasn't in it.

"Tyler?" Rachel looked around wildly for anything that might tell her where he had gone to, even though she wasn't sure she really wanted to know.

Stricken with fear, Rachel started to cry. She had no idea what had happened, and she wondered if whatever had taken him was still around. If it was, she was in serious danger.

Something rustled in the bushed behind her, and she whirled around, hoping to see Tyler in perfect shape. (Maybe he's just playing a joke on me...)

But she gasped at what stood in front of her. The thing was huge and black and shiny, with long arms that ended in razor sharp claws. Blood dripped off of them, and she screamed as she realized where Tyler had gone to. She would never see him again. She may not see anyone ever again.

Her tears continued to flow as she backed away from the thing, afraid to turn her back on it. She couldn't tear her eyes away from it's claws. Those huge claws...

She could only hear her own gasps and the blood that rushed in her ears. It was as if the forest has paused, bearing witness to what was happening. Rachel knew that she was going to die. She knew it as the thing raised its arm, preparing to strike. She knew her fate without doubt, and so she could only wait as its massive hand came rushing down towards her head. She closed her eyes as she felt hard skin connect with her cheek and screamed as the claws dug into her skin.

And then, she felt nothing more.