A/N: Yes! An update! I waited a while to gather it up, since it was taking a while to get my juices flowing. I wanted to give you all a nice chunk of the story. :).
The song I use at the bottom is called Strange and Beautiful by Aqualung. It's a very nice song, and I strongly urge you to listen to it.
That's all for now, enjoy!
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"It's a surprise," Chloe said, switching off the engine.
"Chloe, I've had enough surprises in the last twenty-four hours. I don't want to find out you're taking me to a science lab."
Chloe unbuckled, got out of the car, and walked over to the curb. She stared at Clark expectantly until Clark followed suit. They started to walk down the street, Clark a step behind Chloe.
"Ever seen Ferris Bueller?" asked Chloe, finally giving in to Clark's pleading.
"Duh." Clark said, using the tone Chloe took with him 90 of the time.
Chloe lightly punched Clark in the shoulder. "Shut up. Lana's never seen it and heaven help us if you do anything without Lana."
Clark shut up for about ten minutes. Then he realized something. "You never told me where we were going."
"I tried to tell you before but you had to take that tone with me."
"I'm sorry, Chloe," Clark said, stopping in the middle of the sidewalk and dropping down to his knees. "I'm honestly sorry and will do anything, ANYTHING, to make it up to you."
"It's too late now, I'm not telling you where we're going."
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"You realize we're in an alley"
"Yes, I did"
"O.K, just making sure."
The space they had entered off of the main street was wet, dark and cramped. The entrance was so small that Clark had never noticed it before.
Apparently it had rained that morning because all the store bricks that separated the buildings and formed the alley were wet and the air had the sultry feel of being on the verge of waterfall or just coming out of it. The alley could barely fit two people, and since Clark was more like two people combined, quarters were tight.
"Chloe, why are we here?"
Chloe let out a breath in anticipation. "Every time you disappeared over the summers, Pete and I would com here to worry, talk, whatever, in private."
"I thought we put that behind us," he said. Clark stopped walking and Chloe, who was in front of him, turned around to face him.
"We did, but again, I'm trying to explain. This way my safe haven for all of those months. Plus, it's a great place for shady meetings," Chloe informed with a smirk. "We just have to wait here for a bit, I'm expecting someone."
"Are you serious? I can barely breathe in here."
"Clark, your breath will probably be able to rip through reinforced steel, I doubt you'd find it hard to adjust here. Look, we won't even sit down; our stay here will be short."
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The floor of the alley was sticky, like one too many wads of gum had been thrown down and cleaned off. The alley walls had moss forming in the cracks, and although it was soft, it made Clark squirm. He checked his watch.
"We have seven hours to be home," Clark counted off.
"That makes no sense. Only six hours in the school day, remember?" Chloe was sitting opposite him, which made a bigger space for both of them. Chloe's legs were tucked to her chest while Clark had tried to sprawl his out so they wouldn't get cramped. Once Chloe got sick of holding her muscles Clark knew she'd use the same technique.
"I can get away with two hours after school since my parents won't be home till four or five. I do have that check-in at two, and since we already I wasted /I an hour sitting here, now we only have seven."
"Well, sorry, but it's a surprise that I think you'll like. A lot. Trust me, it's guaranteed that you will forever be in my debt."
"Or in mine," said a voice coming from the entrance side of the alleyway.
Clark looked in the direction of the voice instantaneously. The shadows from the buildings covered his face entirely, but Clark recognized the voice immediately. He jumped up and started jogging toward the visitor.
"Pete!" he exclaimed in awe. Chloe came up behind him, showing off an "I told you you'd like it" grin.
"I couldn't let my best friend skip for the first time without me, could I?" Pete said mischievously, sporting his easy grin.
"And what Ferris Bueller rip-off would be complete without the best friend? I mean, really," Chloe added.
Clark ignored that the comparison meant that Chloe was supposedly his girlfriend.
"How'd you get down here?" Clark asked Pete, but then he turned his attention towards Chloe, "and how long have you been planning this?"
"Actually, I've been planning this for quite a while. Yesterday was pretty spontaneous, but I just built it up as a prelude to the I real /I fun."
Clark smiled and turned back to Pete. "Then what are we waiting for?" he asked. He turned his back to the wall to let Chloe through. "Lead us, oh evil mistress."
Chloe smirked and walked past him.
Pete was very glad to be back. He felt right at home in Smallville, it was almost as if he had never left. Clark and Chloe opened him with open arms, and quickly filled him in on recent events. He had a general idea of what had happened in the past year through various e-mails, but now that Chloe knew about Clark, a lot more made sense. The openness between the three of them made them closer knit than ever.
Still, something nagged at the back of Pete's mind. The year away had given him plenty of time to get over Chloe. He actually had his eye on another girl in Wichita who was showing signs of similar feelings. He didn't mind that Chloe and Clark had spent the whole year together. He figured Clark would be too busy pining over Lana to really pay attention to Chloe romantically. This was for the most part true, but seeing them in person, how close they had become in his absence shot a pang of realization through him.
Clark looked at Chloe differently now. The way he used to look at Lana, and although Pete knew Clark would never admit loving Chloe the way he did Lana, he also knew that Clark had denied loving Lana for a very long time. He denied almost to the point where he was getting ready to go on a date with Lana, and still denying his ulterior motives.
Chloe reciprocated the feelings, obviously. She had always loved Clark, and would probably continue loving Clark for the rest of her life. Pete wasn't sure how he felt about this. Chloe and Clark together, though inevitable, would completely change the dynamic of the group. He wanted them to be happy, that would always come first, but if they were together, and he was in Wichita, he wasn't sure how many times he would be able to come back and fit in anymore. Sure, they would be kind and welcoming, but he wouldn't be part of their world. That's why he was so determined to make this day as special as possible. It might be his last as a part of the Triple Threat.
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Chloe sighed as she got back into the drivers seat. She knew exactly how far she was going to have to drive, and she knew exactly how long it was going to take her to get there. Normally, it would be four hours, but now, it would take around three seconds. She knew she shouldn't take advantage of her friend, and she'd never put him in harms way, but she had been driving all day, and Clark didn't seem up for anymore riding as well.
Clark saw Chloe sigh as she entered the car, and immediately swooped to pick her up in his arms. It didn't take more than a facial expression from Chloe to know what she wanted.
"So, Pete, do you want me to pick you up as well, or would you rather just hold on to my arm?"
"Arm, please," Pete said, shaking his head. His hair had grown out a bit since they'd last seen him, and even though it wasn't too impressive now, Chloe and Clark could tell it'd look good in a month or two.
"Chloe, will you please tell us where we're headed?"
Chloe had rested her head against Clark's chest, trying to get ready for the ride. She wasn't sure exactly how fast they were going to go, but she was sure that it would rattle her up.
"Um," Chloe said, now a little sleepy, "54th Street. Anywhere on that block will do, really."
Pete grabbed hold of Clark's bicep. Although it was a bit awkward, he didn't care. Unlike Chloe, he had experienced Clarks speed, and didn't feel any need to ease up on his grip.
Clark instantly grabbed onto what they were going to do, and smiled. He really didn't know how Chloe had planned this whole thing out, but he was grateful. It was amazing to think that not even twenty four hours ago, he had been moping and watching Grease. Clark was also amazed that Chloe had choreographed this whole thing specifically for him. He knew that she cared for him, but he hadn't realized exactly how much until now. It sounded completely cliché, but at the same time, there was a great amount of truth in it.
Clark also noticed how nice it felt to have Chloe cuddled against him.
For 9 P.M. on a workday morning, 54th street was unusually crowded. Colorful banners that Clark couldn't read smothered the buildings. Balloons floated above the heads of various crowd members. A wide birth was made for the procession, which seemed to be a little ways from starting. There was a loud buzz in the air, as if something extremely exciting was about to happen.
"Chloe, what is this? Besides a parade," Clark asked. This was his second big crowd in 24 hours. Somehow, though, this reminded him nothing of a mosh pit.
"I don't know. I guess it's something to do with spring…or today could be Senior Skip Day." Chloe smiled and walked off into the crowd.
"I should have known," Clark said, half to himself and half to Pete.
"Yep, you should've," Pete comforted, patting his friends on the shoulder.
Clark realized that music was playing. Although it wasn't "Danke Schoen" and certainly "Twist and Shout." He tried to singling out the lyrics over the chatter of the crowd.
I've been, watching your world from afar,
And I've been, trying to be where you are,
And I've been, secretly falling apart unseen.
To me, you're strange and you're beautiful
You'd be, so perfect with me but you just can't see
You turn every head but you don't
See me.
I'll put a spell on you
You fall asleep
Cause I put a spell on you
And when you wake up
I'll be the first one you'll see
And you'll realize that
You Love Me.
"Dude, that song is totally ripped off from Midsummer Night's Dream."
"Huh?" Clark jolted out of his reverie. He had been enjoying the music. There was a smoothness to it that made is so easy to gulp down. He could easily have listened to it for hours.
"You know, that spell thing? It's from Shakespeare," Pete said. Apparently he had left while Clark was in Music World and bought some hot dogs. Chloe hadn't returned yet, and Clark was starting to wonder exactly how far she meant it when she alluded to Ferris Bueller.
"Oh, yeah. Do you know who sings it?"
"No idea, first I've heard of it."
Suddenly, a hush fell over the crowd. It was like in the movies when someone extremely popular walked into a high school party. Except this time it was a surprised hush. Clark was worried that something had gone wrong with the floats and someone had gotten hurt. Then he saw what the majority of the crowd was looking at, and if he had the option of it, his jaw would have dropped down to the sidewalk.