Whitney pulled his truck into the driveway of his house and smiled. He had always loved his home; his family. No matter what everybody thought, Whitney really did know what mattered. His parents were the most important to him. He loved them. When he learned that his dad was sick, he went to bed crying for a week. He had tried to turn to Lana, but she didn't understand. She thought she did because her parents were killed. But they were killed when she was young. She had barely anytime to get to know them. He had almost 18 full years to get to know his dad. It just wasn't the same.

"Uh, Whitney, you okay? You've been gazing at your house like it's going to implode any second." Whitney laughed and smiled at Chloe, who was staring at him with the cutest smile he had ever seen. 'Wait, the cutest smile he had ever seen? What is he turning into, Clark?' Whitney laughed again and grabbed his bag.

"Sorry, just thinking. Come on. My mother can't wait to get to meet you." Chloe smiled, but on the inside she was screaming. 'I'm not good with adults; they always think I'm too perky and insensitive. Wait, Chloe, what are you doing? Why do you care if his mother likes you or not?' With that, Chloe stepped out of the truck and lifted her bag onto her shoulder. He walked around and softly grabbed her arm.

"Come on" She followed him up the path and gazed around the front yard and the land around the house. It was nothing like Clark or Lana's land. There was no farmhouse; there were no horses or cows. It was just land and trees. To the side of the house was a basketball goal where she pictured Whitney playing there when he was little up until now. The front lawn was her favorite though. She could tell that it had never been ignored. There were pinks, reds, blues, yellows, and purple flowers everywhere across the front of the house. There was a beautiful cherry tree that shaded a quarter of the house that must have been planted before Whitney was even born. Someone cared for this lawn with a passion. As she took the steps up onto his porch, Chloe found herself falling in love with the house and everything around it. Before she could continue with her thoughts, a woman stepped out of the house. 'This is Whitney's mom' Chloe could tell that in her younger years this woman was a bombshell. Her face now was kind as she smiled at her son and kissed him on the cheek. Chloe smiled at the little exchange between mother and son. The mother turned to Chloe and rushed at her with her arms wide open.

"Oh! You must be Chloe! It is so good to finally meet you! Whitney talks about you so much! You're as cute as he said you were." Chloe blushed red and laughed turning her eyes to look at Whitney who was looking at the ground. She noticed the red went all the way down to his neck.

"Mom" He grumbled out before continuing into the house.

"Oh Whitney, I was just telling her how cute she is. Come on Chloe, let's go inside and get comfy in the living room." With that, Mrs. Fordman led Chloe into the house.

Later that night Chloe and Whitney sat in the living room with their books and papers strewn out around them. They were laughing and goofing around while working on trig and history. Chloe felt so warm inside as she sat on the ground in Whitney's living room. She had loved the entire afternoon spent at Whitney's house. They had played basketball outside where Whitney had thoroughly kicked her butt. He let her win the last time before she quit. Then they had played cards, helped his mom bake a cake. They had done so much in one afternoon and she had enjoyed herself the entire time. She would never have guessed that Whitney would have been a guy to make her laugh or to even just have fun with.

"Who's the one gazing off into space now?" Whitney's voice brought her back from her thoughts and she blushed.

"Sorry, just thinking." He smiled and leaned back against the couch. "About how much fun I've had today." With that he sat back up and turned to her.

"Really? You've had fun?" She laughed and nodded her head.

"Of course! I haven't been able to have this much fun with someone in a long time. Too much drama going on, you know?" He nodded his head.

"Yeah, I know. It's good to get away from…Smallville life." Chloe sighed and closed her math book.

"I can't work on this anymore, the problems are blurring together now. Hey Whitney?" He looked up and raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah?"

"Do you miss Lana?" Whitney looked out the window and waited a minute before he responded.

"I miss having a girlfriend, someone to hold, but no…surprisingly I'm glad she and Clark are together. It's like when she was with me I knew it wouldn't last. What about you? Do you miss Clark?" Chloe laughed and playfully slapped his leg.

"Yeah right, just like you I think he and Lana are good together. He's happy that's all that matters. Besides, can you imagine me and Clark together? He's too thick-headed for me." The two blondes laughed together.

"It's so good to hear that in this house," said Mrs. Fordman as she walked into the room. 'Those two are too cute.' She thought with a bright smile on her face.

"Hey mom" "Hey Mrs. Fordman"

"Come on you two, pack up the books and come get your dinner." Whitney jumped up and pulled Chloe up.

"Chloe, you're about to experience the best meal you could ever eat in Smallville." She giggled while she followed him into the dining room.

"Oh really? Well I can't wait." Whitney pulled her chair out for her and waited till she sat before he sat down. Mrs. Fordman brought in the food and to Chloe's delight, Whitney's mother unveiled Chloe's favorite, Chicken Pot Pie.

About twenty minutes later, Chloe sat in seat holding her belly. "Oh, I'm so full, but that was so good. Mrs. Fordman, that was amazing!"

"Thank you hon, and you can call me Diana." 'Diana, that's beautiful' thought Chloe.

"Okay, Diana." Whitney walked in and out of the kitchen as he cleaned up the dishes and the rest of the kitchen. When the kitchen door closed behind him, Diana leaned forward to Chloe.

"Thank you for being such a good friend to Whitney. After his dad and Lana, he's needed one." Chloe smiled and nodded her head.

"Yeah, well I think he's the one being a friend to me." Diana smiled and patted Chloe's back.

"He likes you I think." Chloe sat forward shook her head.

"We're just friends, Mrs. Fordman." Diana nodded her head.

"Okay, well we'll see." With that, Diana stood up and walked into the kitchen. Chloe could hear her shooing Whitney out of the kitchen. Whitney walked back out and reached his hand out.

"You wanna go outside?" Chloe took his hand and he pulled her up. "Sure."

They lay outside in the grass staring up at the sky. Whitney had his arms under his head and Chloe lay on her side facing towards him resting her head on her right hand.

"I love looking at the sky. It's so…vast." Whitney couldn't believe he had just said that. 'How lame!'

"Duh." Chloe giggled and Whitney blushed. 'I've been doing a lot of blushing.' "I'm joking Whitney, I understand what you mean. I love looking at the sky too. When I think life is too hard or just too boring, I think about all of the other millions of people out there who feel the same as I do. They're just like the stars. Some people are brighter than others, some twinkle more and I think that life is worth it because the sky is so beautiful and if it's beautiful then something around here has to be worth something. That was stupid wasn't it?" He shook his head quickly and placed his hand on her arm.

"Not stupid, at all. Okay?" She smiled and sighed.

"Sometimes, I just want to get out of here and never look back. Whitney, why don't you just leave? You've got a scholarship and a truck. Why don't you just go?" He shrugged his shoulders and lay down fully on the ground.

"You have no idea how badly I want to. But there is so much to think about. My mom and dad need me. I still have to finish high school. I don't know…fear I guess." Whitney noticed she was shivering. It wasn't cold outside, but there was a breeze traveling across the fields.

"You're cold, come here." He held out his arms and Chloe stared at him. 'What do I do?' She thought. "I won't bite you Chloe. I'm just going to keep you warm." She smiled in embarrassment and scooted over to him. He wrapped his arms around her and she let all of the tension leave her body as she rested against him. She let her head rest on his chest.

Whitney found himself running his hand through her soft blonde hair and looking down at her small form. Chloe snuggled into his body and smiled.

"Chloe?" She looked up at him when he spoke.

"Thank you for coming over today." She nodded and layed her head back down onto his chest.

"Thank you for letting me come."