Mending Broken Hearts Chapter 2: Second Chance Stables, a smallville fanfic

Hey ppls! thanks for all the reviews! hope u like this story! sure took u long enough to meet the email requirement! i have the 7th chap written for crying out loud! but still, for those of you who reviewed, thanks!

meeaz:hey thanks! i really did like musings! u better put up more soon!

Eviv:lol, hey thanks for the song! i'm gonna use it! just not in this chap...

Kit Merlot:lol yea the sequel is here, and no lex isnt letting chloe go just yet...

bluengreenswmer94:great update! ok i posted this one, so where is ur next one? lol. we can only hope lex gets chloe back...

ChLexLover:lol thanks! i have no problems with keeping up the awesome chlex!

IluvSmallvilleDBZSailormoon:lol...o yes hooked! awesome! lol, o yea kudos to me!

Disclaimer:yea yea u know the drill, i dont own nuthing cept the plot, o and the memory scene plot is only half mine!

Ch. 2 Second Chance Stables

Chloe

I grabbed my keys and headed for the door. After last night I knew only one thing was going to calm me down. I drove to the city limits and beyond to my favorite place on Earth, Second Chance Stables. I had found this place my second week in Metropolis and gone there every day since. At this place they worked with abused or mistreated horses that needed a second chance at life. Since I was basically starting my life over I decided it would be great to get a job here. After a week of mucking stalls I had been promoted. Now I got to work with the horses. It was the most satisfying thing in the world. Today I got to work with Lightning. Lightning was a gorgeous thoroughbred stallion that had been mistreated at his former home. It was taking a lot of work to rebuild his trust in humans. I went to his paddock and looked over the fence.

"Lightning! Hey boy what's up?" He just looked at me and turned away, his ebony coat shining in the sun. I sighed, time to start over. Somebody had done something apparently because I had been making progress. I'd have to ask Mary, the owner of Second Chance Stables, what had happened. I hopped the fence and sat down on the ground. I don't know why I did what I did with horses, it just always seemed like the right thing to do. I figured that to rebuild his trust I couldn't chase him away, he had to come back to me. It was that way with humans too, to bad Lex didn't realize that. I started singing softly, if Lightning could hear me, he would know exactly where I was and maybe just get used to me.

(Kelly Clarkson--You Found Me/my version...sorta)

"Is this a dream?
If it is
Please don't wake me from this high
I've become comfortably numb
Until you opened up my eyes
To what it's like
When everything's right
I can't believe

I wish this was a dream, more like a nightmare really.

You found me
When no one else was lookin'
How did you know just where I would be?
Yeah, you broke through
All of my confusion
The ups and the downs
And you still didn't leave
I guess that you saw what nobody could see
You found me
You found me

I suppose he did find me, but then he lost me again.

So, here we are
That's pretty far
When you think of where we've been
No going back
I'm fading out
All that has faded me within
You're by my side
Now everything's fine
I can't believe

You're really not by my side, but I am fading out. When I think of where we've been, I want to scream.

You did leave.

And I was hiding
'Til you came along
And showed me where I belong
You found me
When no one else was lookin'
How did you know?
How did you know?

How did you know? How did you know right when I was my weakest?

You found me
You broke through
All of my confusion
The ups and the downs
And you still didn't leave
I guess that you saw what nobody could see
The good and the bad
And the things in between
You found me
You found me"

I can't believe I had just been singing 'you found me.' That was just so...bad for my current love situation. So how come it still made me think of Lex? I glanced up from the patch of grass I had been staring at and was surprised to see Lightning looking at me, ears pricked and everything. His eyes looked eager, but when his ears started swiveling I realized he expected sound from me. It was perfectly normal, he had just been listening to me sing.

"Hey boy. How ya doin'?" He just looked at me, I slowly stood up and stretched out my hand. He snorted and took a step back.

"Hey, hey it's okay." I sighed and sat back down.

"You know I know what you're going through. People betrayed me too. There was someone I loved, someone I really needed. And just when I needed him most, he deserted me. I spent two years trying to forget about him, then I went back to make peace. And he completely betrayed me, leaving me alone for someone else." A tear fell from my eye and I buried my face in my hands.

"But not all people will betray you. I do have at least one good loyal friend. He always helped me, even if he did hurt me once or twice, he never meant it. Those times were accidents." I felt hot breath on my neck and I slowly looked up. Lightning was standing in front of me nudging my shoulder with his muzzle.

"Hey boy," I said softly, reaching up to stroke him. He backed up fast and I sighed. I got up slowly, deciding that we had made enough progress today. "Bye boy, I'll be back tomorrow, same time, same place, just like always." I paused for a second. "You can trust me you know." I turned and hopped the fence, walking back to the stables.

"Hey Mary!" I called out to the brunette walking down the aisle.

"Oh hey Chloe," she said, turning around. "What's up?"

"What happened with Lightning? I had made progress, but today it was like he'd never seen me before."

"Oh that. You know the new guy? Tyler?"

"Oh no what did he do now?" Tyler had started working here last week and had managed to mess up just about everything he did. And he would always leave it to one of us to clean up his mess.

"Somehow he got the idea in his head that Lightning needed to be back in his stall."

"Oh no!" I groaned, knowing how much Lightning hated to be caught.

"Yeah well, he spent about twenty minutes chasing him around the paddock with a lead rope and halter before Lightning finally got fed up. He charged Tyler and in his panic Tyler hit him with the rope."

"Oh just wonderful, where is Tyler?"

"Now Chloe don't go beat the poor boy."

"Oh don't worry," I said smiling sweetly. I wouldn't beat him, I would kill him.

"He's in the other barn."

"Great, thanks, bye!" I told her before I stalked off. I walked to the other barn, thinking about the thrashing Tyler was going to get. I'd spent hours upon hours getting Lightning to the point where he wouldn't run away from me.

"Tyler!" I said, not yelling because of the horses but still putting as much force in my voice as I could.

"What?" he said, coming out of the feed room.

"What the hell do you think you were doing?" I said getting in his face, he backed into a wall and I followed him, cornering him. "Lightning is my horse to train! You had no clue what to do! You erased all of my work with him! It's like he just got here!"

"You obviously hadn't been doing too well because that horse is still as wild as ever!"

Lex

I drove up to the stable and parked my car. This was supposedly where Chloe was working now. I saw her car so she must be here. I just had to find her again, had to do something, had to make it up to her, tell her I was sorry. I saw her walk over to a paddock with and impressive looking black stallion standing in it.

"Lightning! Hey boy what's up?" I heard her say, I snuck over there and hid behind a bush to watch. She hopped the fence and sat down on the ground. I had no idea what she was doing but just watching her made my heart race. Then I heard her singing, a soft, sweet melody. That I recognized.

(Kelly Clarkson--You Found Me/my version...sorta)

"Is this a dream?
If it is
Please don't wake me from this high
I've become comfortably numb
Until you opened up my eyes
To what it's like
When everything's right
I can't believe

Chloe I'm sorry, I wish this was a dream too.

I saw the most perfect, beautiful, forgiving, loving, curious, fiery, person I'd ever met.

So, here we are
That's pretty far
When you think of where we've been
No going back
I'm fading out
All that has faded me within
You're by my side
Now everything's fine
I can't believe

You're not fading out Chloe. You're just as much like you as ever before.

And I was hiding
'Til you came along
And showed me where I belong
You found me
You found me
When no one else was lookin'
How did you know?
How did you know?

I don't know how I knew. I just saw you for you.

I didn't know how she could sing such a sweet love song after what I had done to her. And from the way she was shaking her head, I didn't think she knew why she sang that song either. She stopped singing and I snapped out of my daydreams, this was important, I had come here to find Chloe and she was right in front of me. Yet I couldn't move, I just crouched there, hiding from her.

"Hey boy. How ya doin'?" I started, thinking she was talking to me, but realizing she was talking to the horse. She stood up and the horse jumped back.

"Hey, hey it's okay." She sat back down and I was amazed and a little envious of this horse. Chloe had never had this much patience with me, or anyone else for that matter.

"You know I know what you're going through. People betrayed me too." My breath caught in my throat. Please God don't let her be talking about me.

"There was someone I loved, someone I really needed. And just when I needed him most, he deserted me." Oh God no! She loved me! She needed me? How had I not known? Why had she never told me?

"I spent two years trying to forget about him, then I went back to make peace. And he completely betrayed me, leaving me alone for someone else." She turned her head and I saw a tear slide down her cheek. I felt a lump in my throat, I had done this to her. This was all my fault.

"But not all people will betray you. I do have at least one good loyal friend. He always helped me, even if he did hurt me once or twice, he never meant it. Those times were accidents." Clark. she was talking about Clark. I looked at her, just stared straight at her, hoping I could somehow transmit to her how sorry I was for what I'd done. The horse was walking up to her, I think he was trying to comfort her. Stupid horse, that was my job. But when she looked up and saw that horse her face lit up.

"Hey boy," she said, reaching up to him. He backed up, obviously scared. She got up and brushed off the seat of her jeans. "Bye boy, I'll be back tomorrow, same time, same place, just like always." If she was going to be there then so was I. "You can trust me you know." Chloe you can trust me just as much as he can trust you. I followed her, keeping my distance.

"Hey Mary!" she called to a brunette.

"Oh hey Chloe. What's up?"

"What happened with Lightning? I had made progress, but today it was like he'd never seen me before." Lightning. That must be the name of that horse.

"Oh that. You know the new guy? Tyler?" Tyler. Another name. A threat?

"Oh no what did he do now?" Okay obviously not a threat.

"Somehow he got the idea in his head that Lightning needed to be back in his stall."

"Oh no!" Chloe groaned, running her fingers through her hair.

"Oh just wonderful, where is Tyler?" Now this right here was the Chloe I knew. Impatient, angry, full of spirit.

"Now Chloe don't go beat the poor boy."

"Oh don't worry," she said. Oh I recognized that voice. It meant that this Tyler guy was in big trouble.

"He's in the other barn."

"Great, thanks, bye!" She ran out of the barn, right past me, but didn't see me. I sighed in relief, that wouldn't have turned out well. I ran after her.

"Tyler!" she said.

"What?" said a guy coming out of another room. He looked to be about Chloe's age, just out of high school and judging by the look on his face, this guy was arrogant as well.

"What the hell do you think you were doing?" She was inches away from him, I felt a twinge of jealousy. "Lightning is my horse to train! You had no clue what to do! You erased all of my work with him! It's like he just got here!" Okay never mind, jealousy completely gone. There is no way I wanted Chloe yelling at me like that.

"You obviously hadn't been doing too well because that horse is still as wild as ever!" Oh big mistake dude, Chloe is not going to take that well.

"Wouldn't you run if some strange guy came running at you with a rope! You know what? I'm not even having this conversation! Stay away from Lightning! If you go anywhere near him I'll know and you will be in big trouble!" She turned and stormed off to her car. I was definitely going to have to come back here. Here I could get my Chloe fix. I could see her spirit, that fire that burned so hot inside of her. That fire that, if you looked deep behind her eyes when she was angry, you could clearly see. My mind spun back to a memory.

Two and a Half Years Ago

"Don't you think that this is a little extreme?" asked Chloe in indignation. She paced back in forth in front of me. She had come in about five minutes ago and had been ranting ever since about her suspension from being the editor of the Torch. I had started a little while ago to argue with her just for the sake of arguing. I loved how she fought back, matching me point for point. The fire behind her eyes when she was angry was something I lived for. I loved igniting it, just some little comment would get her going and we could argue for hours.

"Well I don't know, it seemed rather appropriate to me." She stopped pacing, staring at me. I smirked, I knew I had succeeded in annoying her.

"Appropriate? Suspending me, the editor of the Torch, who is very much needed to continue publishing that paper, because I printed the truth?"

"You succeeded in getting one of the teachers sent to prison."

"I just printed the truth, I never knew she was wanted for murder."

"Speaking of which, why would she tell you that? She hadn't even told her own son." I circled around behind her, talking straight into her ear.

"Confession is good for the soul," she said, smirking back at me, like she knew something I didn't. I decided to be direct.

"Chloe, you broke into the LutherCorp plant last night. Let me guess, somehow no one can resist telling you the truth?" I slowly circled her, having fun with my little interrogation.

"Well Lex, it appears I'm not the only one with journalistic skills after all."

"Why'd you do it?" She just shrugged. "I need your help Chloe."

"Because of you Lex, my Dad can't get a job! So why would I help you?"

"Because my father's the one who ordered his dismissal." I couldn't believe I had just told her that. Well I guess it didn't really matter. At least now we knew the truth gas worked. "You know that's the truth right?"

"What do you need my help with?" she said, sighing.

"I need you to help get back the weeks my father stole from me." I said, grabbing her shoulders and looking her straight in the eye.

"Lex, I'm sure your father wouldn't go to such extremes to destroy those memories if they didn't pose some sort of a threat to him. Maybe you should just leave it alone." She shrugged out of my grasp and started to circle me. A new thought occured to her. "Why do you keep doing this to yourself? Why can't you just walk away from your father?" I really didn't want to answer this, but I knew I would anyway.

"Because he won't give me the one thing I ever wanted from him."

"And that would be?" Shit Chloe, mind your own business! I turned to look her straight in the eye.

"I want him to love me." I gulped and looked away from her.

"Lex I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked that." She wrapped her arms around me and I hugged her back. She felt so good in my arms. But I pulled back, "Chloe you need to get help, what you have could kill you. Go to this address," I said, pulling a card out of my pocket.

"Okay Lex, I'll go right now." She went to the door but then turned around. "Lex I'm sorry." I walked over to her and grabbed her by the shoulders, kissing her forehead lightly.

"I forgive you Chloe." She smiled at me and went out the door.

Present

I blinked. This was crazy, I had to get her back. I walked to my car. I just had to get her back.

ok guys, u might have recognized some of that memory scene from an episode, which is because it is, but i'll let u know i did that all by myself, i didnt look up the script or nothing, that was from memory. ok heres the deal, 5 reviews and u get the next chap! so if u want more...REVIEW!

o and just to let u know, i realized that the title broken hearts was already taken, so i'll be changing the title of this story to Mending Broken Hearts. (sry KorieHunshu)