Since the day she'd met him, Chloe realized Clark had issues. His lack of self-confidence, his social ineptitude, and his head-in-the-clouds mentality had been a source of frustration for years. She'd looked at him every day and thought there had to be something wrong with him. Someone as handsome, intelligent and kind as he was should be more popular, more - out there - than he was.

The niggling suspicion that he might possibly be a meteor mutant flying under the radar started their freshman year of high school, when Chloe's confidence in her meteor rock theories grew and freaks seemed to come out of the woodwork. She speculated puberty had something to do with the sudden onslaught of homicidal mutants, and waited for Clark to go over the edge.

He came close a couple of times, but always seemed to manage to pull himself out of the tailspin that would lead him down the path to Belle Reve. Chloe was pleasantly surprised.

When she found out her theories were correct, she was surprised again, because in her experience most meteor mutants only had ONE mutant ability. Clark had three or four. That answered the "why is Lionel Luthor so interested" question. Basically, Clark was the mother lode of meteor freaks.

Chloe was feeling rather smug about her knowledge until Clark picked everything up, shook it, and dumped it out on the floor with yet another revelation. He was NOT a meteor mutant, never was a meteor mutant, wasn't even a human being in any way, shape or form. (Okay, shape wise he did fall into the human category, and Chloe liked his shape, but that was neither here nor there.)

She was as disappointed as she was excited. Her theories were wrong, but she made first contact. Of course in typical Clark fashion, he yanked the rug out from under her again by losing his powers before she even got the chance to enjoy watching him use them in front of her. Chloe wanted to see the "real" Clark, and she felt gypped.

Still, it did give her a chance to study "human" Clark for a little while, and she could see that all the things she'd thought he could be were there all along. It had been his abilities that shut him off, and sadly, that made sense. Without them he was more confident. He smiled more, laughed often, and was no longer the brooding wallflower. The need to help others, however, was still there, and if anything it was stronger. He never hesitated to lend a help to anyone who needed it, perhaps because without his abilities there was no risk of discovery.

This made Clark's death real. It was the human Clark who died, and the alien that was resurrected. Clark spent several days in mourning. Chloe did her best to help him, but in the end, left him to brood. Eventually, however, she could not longer stand herself and had to pay a visit.

When she climbed to the top of the stairs she found Clark standing shirtless in front of a mirror. This gave her a moment of hesitation. She hadn't noticed Lana's car anywhere out front but if Lana was there Chloe definitely didn't want to interrupt the goings-on. As it was, she had a good blush worked up prior to figuring out that Lana was not in attendance and Clark had other things on his mind - and on his fingers.

He seemed to be wrestling with a very large and apparently very sticky Band-Aid, which had not only gotten stuck to his hand, but had folded over onto itself. As Chloe watched, Clark managed to get his fingers free, but in the attempt to unstick the Band-Aid from itself, he ripped it in half. In the frustrated hand flapping that followed half the Band-Aid wrapped itself around his fingers, and the other piece wound up firmly to the side of his head. Chloe finally busted up laughing as he spun around in circles looking for the missing piece.

"Do you need some help?"

Clark turned to look at her. His wide-eyed expression was enhanced by his Band-Aid problems. The left hand bit had turned his fingers into lobster claws. The left hand bit stuck out from the side of his head in a tangle of dark hair just over his ear. Apparently Chloe missed the part where he'd lost control of two others. One was melded into the thigh of his jeans and another was stuck to his right armpit.

Chloe pointed to the one under his arm. "You know, if you were human, that would hurt like heck when you pull it off."

He ducked his head and looked. The exasperated look on his face was priceless. He raised a hand to remove the Band-Aid only to find that his fingers were stuck together.

"Here," Chloe said. She laughed as she pushed his arm up. "Let me."

"Thanks," he sighed.

Carefully, Chloe removed the errant Band-Aids one by one. He didn't even flinch. They were very sticky, but she managed to wad them up into a ball and deposit them on his desk before picking up the box.

"Where?" she asked.

He pointed to the spot just over his ribs where only flawless skin was visible.

Chloe peeled off the paper backing, and stuck the Band-Aid over the place he'd indicated.

"Clark, this should have killed you," she said absently.

"It did," he replied.

She looked up at him. "And yet here you are. Do you really think Lana believes that crazy story you fed her about body snatching orderlies in the human body parts business?"

Clark walked away from her. He pulled a shirt from the back of his desk chair and put it on. "I never said that. I just told her I don't remember how I got out of the hospital, and that's the truth, Chloe. I remember seeing her there, and then nothing until I woke up in the Fortress."

"And rumors of your snatching were greatly exaggerated?"

He shrugged. "Doctors make mistakes. It was worse than it looked."

"Does Lana know you think she's stupid?"

The glare was somewhat frightening, especially since Chloe knew he had his powers back.

"I don't think she's stupid. I'm just...she just needs to trust me."

Chloe crossed her arms over her chest. "Why? You don't trust her." He tried to evade by moving toward the stairs. Chloe pursued. "Clark, you're more frightening to her now than you probably would be if you told her the truth. Trust me on this. It's not fun going around thinking someone close to you could go homicidal meteor freak at any moment."

The line got crossed somewhere back at the word "stupid" and Chloe knew anything she said after would be pushing her luck. Still, when her luck ran out, it took her by surprise.

Clark turned around so fast, with such an infuriated look on his face, her first instinct was to turn and get the hell out of Dodge. It was a pointed reminder of the time in Metropolis when she'd confronted him and he'd quite literally thrown her out of his apartment. She'd had bruises on her arms for weeks.

"DON'T YOU THINK I KNOW THAT!" he roared.

How quickly he vanquished sweet, bumbling Band-Aid Boy. Chloe stood there, blinking, but she stood there. Holding her ground, she appealed to the human side.

"I want to help, Clark. You're my friend. So is Lana. I don't want to be caught in the middle when everything blows up - and it will."

"Chloe..."

"Tell her, Clark," Chloe said softly.

He deflated visibly.

"I wouldn't steer you wrong, you know I wouldn't. Even if..."

She stopped, shocked at herself for almost going where she knew she shouldn't. Hopes that he had not caught her meaning, nor the wistful note in her voice, were dashed by the expression of inquiry that appeared on his face.

"Even if what?"

Chloe turned away, finding a distraction in the pile of books on his desk. He was taking some hard hitting classes. There was an excuse to avoid spending too much time with Lana. He would be lost in his studies.

"Nothing," she said.

"I thought," Clark said from behind her. "You were a big girl now."

It grated. Chloe found her own temper flaring. "You know, I meant that." Abruptly she turned back around. "I can't help my feelings, but I can control them, and I hate to say it but right now I'm glad it's Lana going through this and not me." Like his, her burst of anger faded quickly. Her voice softened. "Can't you see, Clark? If she truly loves you, she won't care what you are. It's who you are that matters."

"You can truly love someone, Chloe, and still realize that the best thing for both of you is to be apart." His eyes bore into hers. "We both know that."

Her chest tightened. "Clark..."

He sat down at the desk, fiddling with the now empty Band-Aid box. "I'm selfish, Chlo. I don't want to give her up, even if it's for her own good."

"Or yours?" she asked. "Every time you lie to her it takes a toll. I can see it if you can't. Like I said, I hate being in the middle here, Clark. Both of you are my friends. Both of you are hurting." Her hand reached out to his, plucking the box from his fingers. "It's like a Band-Aid. Pull it off slowly and it hurts more, but if you just get in there and yank it off..."

Clark didn't respond. He sat there looking down at his feet.

"Think about it," Chloe whispered. She put the box down, and tried to lighten her voice. "There's a party at Crater Lake this weekend. It's sort of a graduation/end of summer blow-out."

"Yeah, I heard."

"Will you be there?"

"Yeah."

Nodding, Chloe made her way to the stairs. "All right. I'll see you then, okay. I've got to run back to Metropolis with one last load of stuff." She paused. "You know, I could use a hand."

Clark still looked morose. He didn't look up at her, but his voice betrayed him. "I don't work for free."

Chloe felt a deep rooted sense of relief. He was thinking. She could tell.

And he loves me.

She shoved that thought away. "Hey," she said. "I put your Band-Aid on for you."

He stood up with a wry grin and joined her at the stairs. "Last one to your house buys the pizza."

Chloe blinked. "What?"

And he was gone.

She hurried down the stairs. "Wait a minute! No fair!" she shouted, laughing. "Unlike some people, I have to obey speed limits!"