Summary: Clark Chloe… They're almost at the fashion show, can you believe it?

A/N: OK, so I'm a total slacker. It's been nearly 3 weeks since I've posted a chapter. What has been going on with me? Of course, I hadn't gotten any reviews for awhile… :D but I can't blame my laziness on that…Plus, that's not an excuse anymore! Thank you, Kristi Markmark261!

Disclaimer: I own nothing… Unfortunately… What would I do if I did own it? I'd buy a country or a tropical island… Oh, yeah!


Chloe pulled up to the Kent farm. They had agreed to meet there so Chloe could have final veto power if he did something to mess up his fab ensemble and so they could take her car. Surprisingly enough, as she drove up the long driveway, she discoveredshe was feeling pretty nervous. This really wasn't her normal beat. Both of them were all dressed up... more date-esque than they'd been for awhile... Why hadn't she just called Lana and have her take the story?

Oh, be honest. You may not be in love with Clark anymore, but there's nothing compared to being on his arm while you both look fabulous. She smiled at the thought. She had never thought of herself as so status and look conscious, but obviously she had her moments. She parked and got out of the car. Her dad had always said that she couldn't go out with someone if they sat out in the car and honked. What's good for the goose is good for the gander, Grandma would always say. OK, so they weren't on a date, per se, but that didn't mean it still wasn't true. Plus, she liked the Kents. She always felt accepted as part of the family… and she really appreciated that. So if she could finagle time at their house, she would.

She was all ready to knock on the door, but Martha Kent was ready for her. "Oh, don't you look lovely, Chloe." Martha smiled at her and Chloe felt herself blush.

"Do you really think so, Mrs. Kent?" Chloe did a little turn. She was in an asymmetrical black dress that really flattered her curves. She'd swept her hair up (even though it was short and hardly needed it) and silver was her decoration of choice… silver earrings, silver necklace, silver shoes… She'd thought it'd looked nice, but…

"You're positively glowing." Martha took her arm and ushered her into the house. "I wouldn't have thought you would look good in black, but…"

"I know! But this dress is so fabulous!" Chloe was gushing. She felt so girly in this dress.

Martha hugged her around her shoulders. Chloe basked a bit in the motherly approval. It had been so long since she had her own mother around that she kinda' enjoyed the attentions she got from her best friends' mothers. They have no idea how lucky they are! Martha was the best, though, since she didn't have a daughter of her own. Sometimes Chloe wondered at how she could stand the constant maleness of the Kent household.

Chloe sat at the island counter to wait for Clark. She was actually surprised that he wasn't already downstairs. It seemed to her that even when she tried to sneak up on him, he was already ahead of her… and that tended to irritate her no end. And here she was, anticipating him seeing her, and he was late? Where was the justice in the world?

"I think he's nervous," Martha said, putting a cup of coffee in front of Chloe. Chloe smiled at her thoughtfulness… but then Martha wasn't one to forget the infamous "Glass of Milk Incident of 1998." Then she thought of what she'd actually said.

"Nervous?" Chloe laughed. "You must be joking!"

Martha smirked and Chloe was shocked to see that particular expression on that particular face. "I'm not. He doesn't want to embarrass you."

"Like that's even possible," Chloe scoffed. "That boy would look good with a pocket protector!"

"Chloe, like he could go to school with just that!" Martha's grin widened when it was obviously that Chloe had got the joke.

Who knew Mrs. Kent was a closet verbal perv? Chloe thought, her eyes still wide. She opened her mouth and shut it… uncertain what the appropriate response would be. She opened her mouth again but then the sight before her made her jaw drop totally open. Clark walked down the stairs and he was totally jump worthy. She had been so right to make him buy that suit! The navy blue just made his eyes pop and the red next to his skin… Oy, vey! Did I say I was over him? Right… Just a lust thing… Got it!

Clark's eyes never left hers as he continued down the stairs. It was almost eerily reminiscent of the Spring Formal, except he had gotten a limo for them. Thoughts of that dance made Chloe cringe inside.This isn't good. Chloe took a deep breath. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea."

Clark looked devastated. "Come on, Chloe! I can't look that bad…"

Chloe was surprised as a bark of laughter erupted from her. "As if!" Her sense of the ridiculous (which was all about her behavior and the look on his face) started to get the better of her and the laughter caused tears to stream down her face. Thank goodness for waterproof make-up… and an inclination to wear it in case I get dumped in something. Finally she got a hold of herself and wiped her face with the towel Martha kindly handed her. "Never mind," she said, shaking her head. "If we don't get started soon, we'll be late."

"Clark, you keep that suit in one piece," Martha warned, walking them to the door. "It took a lot of thought on Chloe's partand you spent more on it than you have on clothes your entire life."

"You bet, Mom. I'll be on my best behavior," Clark called meekly.

Chloe laughed as he opened her door. His mother really had pounded in the manners. "She's treating you like you're two, Clark! What does she think? You're going to go rolling around in the mud, making mud pies?" Clark looked at her for a moment. He wants to say something, she thought. She leaned closer, looking into his eyes. "What?" she asked softly, trying not to break the spell.

As soon as she'd spoken, she knew she'd made a mistake. He blinked and leaned back. A smile crossed his face, but didn't seem to reach his eyes. "Yeah, she treats me like a kid sometimes, but I know it's 'cause she loves me."

Chloe could have kicked herself. She would have given her right arm to know his secret. In fact, over the years she'd done things she wasn't proud of just to get inside his head. She sighed. If she was just patient… Who are you kidding? By no stretch of the imagination could you be called patient! To get away from her thoughts, she muttered, "But of course," and kicked the car into gear as soon as they were both inside.

shortly thereafter

The Talon had been commandeered for the event and Chloe was hard put to find a spot. "Chloe, just park anywhere!" Clarksighed."We're going to have to hoof it anyway and if you don't park soon we're going to be really late!" Clark only seemed to be able to take about 2 minutes of her dithering about spaces.

"But we'll get all dusty if we park too far away!" Chloe could imagine the dust and debris that would inevitably coat her dress once she stepped out of the car. The wind had picked up and it always seemed to bedusty in Kansas.

"You can't look anything but fabulous, Chloe," Clark assured her. She felt a blush of pleasure hit hercheeks."If it will make you feel better, I'll lend you my jacket."

"It won't help," Chloe moaned. Man, I'm really channeling my inner Lana now!

"I'll personally make sure you are dust free when we get in there." Clark looked at her with wide, innocent eyes.

That's enough to make me refuse the coat, Mr. Kent, Chloe thought wickedly. Thankfully, she managed to swallow it back. Just then, a space in front of Nell's old flower shop opened up. Chloe quickly pulled in, effectively cutting off someone angling to do the same thing. A horn sounded and Chloe repressed the urge to flip them off… in respect of Clark's blushing action at the crude gesture. You can take the boy out of the farm…

Clark quickly exited the vehicle and was at her door before she had a chance to blink and pull herself together. She made sure that she had her 3 essentials: camera, tape recorder and note pad. She got out of the car and found herself enveloped in Clark's jacket. Then she was escorted across the street and inside. Man! This is like a date-date! She shrugged and looked down. Not a speck of dust was to be found on her elegant sea of black. It was nice to be pampered sometimes.


A/N: As you may or may not be able to tell at this point, Chloe does not know about Clark's abilities. This is pre-Unsafe/Pariah.

Markmark261: Thank you very much for your review. You will now notice that after this chapter, all my disclaimers have disappeared. All I can say is that I did try and make them unique per chapter… Do you know how hard that is? I will definitely proof my work when it gets transferred into the system better than I've been doing. I type it in Word before I import it. It's quite possible that the two systems aren't so friendly… :D But I have also noticed that italics text seems to smoosh together… even though they are separate. Maybe that's the problem? I will admit that had I never watched Scooby Doo that I wouldn't even know what the crap an ascot was… It's amazing the information you can get from today's media! And you're right. Chloe's not being too evil… I am… for throwing garbage on Lana! (muwahahaha!)

Kristi: I'm glad you like my fic so far. Unfortunately, there will be no Chlex moments… I just had to pair the gang up and thought Pete riffin' off of Lex would be much more satisfying. Perhaps in a fanfic to come, huh?