The Storm Cellar
Disclaimer: I only own Chelsea

Martha Kent brought up the apples for the next morning for her famous apple pancakes. There was something about the storm cellar that made her feel calm. It was her secret place. She thought of it the same way Clark thought of his loft. Her own secret fortress of solitude. She loved her family, but Martha was human and sometimes needed space. There she could remember all that God had given her.
Martha'sMemory:
As she began to wake up, Martha heard quiet whispers coming from behind her bedroom door. The door creaked opened and was followed by tiptoed steps. She kept her eyes closed as the whispers became clear.
"Should we wake her up? I wanna wake her up." One voice said.
"Shut up, will ya. And don't wake her up yet. Just put it over there."
She heard shuffled feet that finally stopped right in front of her.
"Mom?"
She opened her eyes to find her two children, each holding a sign. Six-year-old Chelsea's read "Happy Mothers Day Mom." And Eight-year-old Clark's said "Love Chelsea and Clark." On her bedside table was something that almost resembled a waffle and some very iffy looking coffee.
"Wow!" Martha said "This is great guys. Thank you."
Clark and Chelsea both sported ear to ear grins. "I made the waffles mom, with lots of syrup and no powdered sugar just the way you like it!" Clark said.
"Thank you Clark, they look wonderful." She wouldn't dare tell him it was the other way around. "And who made the coffee?" Martha asked smiling at Chelsea.
"I did mommy. It's a special kind too."
"Oh really? Why is it special?" Martha asked, a little uneasy.
"Well I know how much you love coffee and I know how much you love tea." Chelsea started.
"Yeah." She didn't like the way it was going already.
"So I made you tea and then I put coffee in it!" Chelsea squealed
"Well that sounds very interesting." Martha said, lying through her teeth.
Just then Martha saw her husband standing by the door. "Hey guys," He said to the kids "Why don't you go downstairs and get the gifts you got for your mom?"
Both kids ran out of the room. "Sorry" he apologized handing her a hidden bouquet of red tulips.
"About what?" She asked.
"Well I heard about the tea/coffee and somehow or another Clark made those waffles without any milk or eggs. They wouldn't let me help at all."
"I think it's beautiful." Martha said genuinely.

"Mom are you down here?" She heard her son call
"Yeah, I was just getting some apples. Are you two back already?"
"Yeah, the Tallon was kinda busy so we couldn't really hang out. You want some help?"
"No that's okay. I'll be up in a minute."

The Phone Call

"Why does this dude wanna know about your family anyway?" Tyler asked, after Chelsea explained what happened (of course leaving out a good chunk of the truth for safety reasons).
"I don't know. Maybe he's just a freak." She lied.
"Maybe he's just a Luther." Tyler said resentfully.
"Hey! I know about what happened to your family, but Lex isn't like that. Clark says Lex's mom wasn't like that either."
"I still don't trust any of them, especially the older one. I wish you guys would stay away from them." He said.
"You sound like my father… My father. My father's not gonna be at all happy about this" Chelsea moaned.
"Can I say something and you promise you wont get mad?"
"Why would you say something with the intent of making me mad?" she asked.
"WHY do you have to be so difficult?" He laughed.
"Fine. Say what you have to say, but I promise nothing." She sighed.
"I'm kinda glad you're not going. I know it was this big opportunity and I know I'm selfish, but that's the way I feel. Are you mad?"
"I'm not mad." Chelsea said "It's cute."

Martha and Jonathan's Bedroom

Chelsea entered her parents' bedroom. "Hi guys." She said
"Hey sugar plum." Jonathan said. "It's kind of late. What's going on?"
Chelsea looked down at her watch. Only her father would call 9:45 late. "We need to talk." She said. "I really appreciate you guys letting me go to the Rising Young Authors program."
"Honey you don't have to thank us anymore." Martha smiled.
"Well I just want you to know, I'm still grateful you'd let me go, even if…" she trailed off, unable to even say it.
"Even if what?" Jonathan asked.
"Chelsea? What's wrong?" Martha said worried.
"I'm not going to the program." Chelsea mumbled.
"Not going? What does that mean?" Jonathan said, truly confused.
"It means I'm not going. Tomorrow I'm going to officially decline the scholarship. I've been trying to tell you guys all night. I-I didn't want you to hear it from somebody else. I can't go."
"Chelsea, don't pass this up if it isn't a good reason." Jonathan said.
"I've made my decision already Dad. I know in my heart I made the right one and I know you guys trust me and have enough faith in me to do the right thing. I know that. Right now I just need your support. Okay?"
"You never have to ask for that. We're always in your corner honey." Martha said giving Chelsea a hug. Jonathan soon joined them, kissing his two girls on the forehead.

Two Weeks Later at School

"Clark man, I don't see how you manage a 95 average in pre-cal, when the rest of us are barely passing." Pete said after they both got their test results back.
"#1 I've always had a thing for numbers. #2 hardly anyone is failing the class. And #3 it's not 95…it's 92.7." Clark said when the final bell of the day rang.
As Chloe joined them in the hallway, she held up the first draft of the next torch issue, "It's official. Hope Miller is going to be submitted as Chelsea's replacement."
"I can't believe Chels passed up a chance like that." Pete said.
"I know" Chloe agreed. "Why'd she do it Clark?"
"Do "inquiring minds" want to know?" Clark asked, half joking, half serious.
"No, I want to know, completely of the record. I mean she was so pumped to go."
"Off the record?" Clark asked as they turned the corner into The Torch. Both Chloe and Pete nodded anxiously. "Well off the record…I don't know. " Clark mock-whispered.
Just then, Tyler and Chelsea walked in hand in hand. "Hey guys." She giggled.
"Speak of the devil." Chloe said.
"You know I never got that saying." Chelsea said. "Are you guys working after school?"
"Actually no." Chloe answered. "We're ahead of schedule, so I don't see a reason to stick around."
"Are you sure? I mean what about the new uniforms for football." Chelsea said desperately. "There's a story in there Chloe and I think Clark and Pete are just the guys for it."
"Why don't you two just admit you want more time to slobber all over each other?" Pete said.
"You're one to talk." Chelsea grinned, " I heard you're planning a slut-tastic weekend with Caroline "breast-osaurus" Breshner. Are you planning on going where EVERY man has gone before?"
Clark could spot a Chelsea/Pete bickering match a mile away and quickly cut in. "Chels, we can't stay anyway. Dad'll explode if we don't get our chores done again."
He was right. They'd both been a little busy and neglected some of their responsibilities. "I know, I know." Chelsea sighed. "I just gotta go grab something from my locker." Then she smiled and looked up at Tyler in a flirtatious way. "Wanna help?" They both rushed out of the room.
"They're bumping like bunnies these days." Chloe laughed.
"They are not BUMPING like anything." Clark said. But as they continued to talk about it, Clark realized that he was trying to convince himself more than he was trying to convince Pete and Chloe. For the past weeks, Chelsea wasn't acting like herself and she definitely wasn't acting like a girl who'd just passed up on her dream. She spent every free second with Tyler or talking to him on the phone. When she got a bad grade on her lab report, she passed up the 80's movie fest Clark offered her (an event she would usually beg him for), for a night at the Ross's studying with Tyler. Although he really hoped his baby sister wasn't losing her virginity, he hoped he wasn't losing his baby sister even more.

The Kitchen

After finishing his chores, Clark sat at the kitchen table and started his homework. Fifteen minutes later Chelsea finished too and began her routine phone conversation with Tyler.
"Chelsea, I hope your homework is done." Jonathan said when he came in for a glass of lemonade.
"Sort of." Chelsea said.
"You know the rules. Say goodbye to Tyler." Jonathan said going back outside.
"Ty," She said into the phone, "my Dad said I gotta go." Then Clark's least favorite part of the chat started with four words.
"No, you hang up." Chelsea said. "Tyler, you hang up first…You loser, just hang up…No you…Okay we'll do it at the same time. Ready? 1,2,3… Well you didn't either..."
"O, for the love of all things right in the world. I'd give up every power I have to make it stop." Clark said to himself as he went to find silence in the loft.

An hour later in the loft
"Clark? You busy?" Chelsea asked.
"I guess not. What's wrong?"
"Nothing. Does something have to be wrong? Everything's hunky-dory." She said quickly.
"Chels nobody says 'hunky-dory' besides Dad. What's going on?" He said motioning for her to sit next to him.
"Well, you're a guy, right?"
Clark nodded "Yeah, last time I checked I was."
"I was talking to Ivey Geller and she said when she reaches the two week mark, guys usually start getting… expectations." She said, embarrassed.
"What do you mean, expectations?" He said cocking his eyebrow.
"Well," Chelsea started "Ivey says guys need certain things, even when they say it doesn't matter, because it ALWAYS matters. And Ivey said if you don't take care of those…needs, even if you're dating a nice guy, he'll find somebody who will."
"First of all, don't listen to Ivey Geller. She shouldn't give any advice on healthy relationships when her current boyfriend's one concussion away from vegetable status. Besides, if you need to talk, you've always got me. And when you're ready, you may not be completely sure, but you'll be clearer than you are now. But, even when you are physically and emotionally ready, it's up to you, not Tyler or his 'needs.' And if he says any different, I'll nail him to the wall." Clark said. Then he flashed her one of his trademarked smile. He hadn't lost his sister.