CHAPTER 5

After much internal debating, the next day Chloe found herself once again in the driveway of the Kents, this time heading directly to the barn with her packet of files rather than bothering with the front door.

"Clark?" she called out, pushing the door open and scanning the dimly lit room carefully. A rustling noise caught her attention and she slammed her hand against the large light switch on the wall. Bright light flooded in, clearly revealing one shirtless, blushing Clark Kent and one messy haired, smiling Lana Lang. Chloe dropped the papers letting them drift haphazardly to the floor. After a moment of initial shock, she bit her lip and shut her eyes tightly, cursing herself for having such unfortunate timing.

"Hi Chloe." Lana said casually as Clark hastily buttoned his shirt.

Chloe opened her eyes to look at Lana, who was practically emanating some pink, girly, glowing energy. There was no competition, she was absolutely perfect. Chloe felt a sharp pain in her chest, as if something had physically, significantly cracked. 'Of course Clark would want to kiss her and…oh God.' She tried to shake the image out of her mind but it remained seared into her memory. A jealous nausea built in her stomach and she immediately began to feel a slight pricking behind her eyes. Blinking it away, she scrambled for her papers and headed to the door.

"Chloe, wait a second." Clark called after her.

She turned around quickly, a huge smile plastered to her face. "Yes?" She felt her voice tremble, but she forced it steady. "Clark, this is clearly a bad time. I'll come back later."

Lana stood up and combed through her hair with her fingers. "It's okay, Chloe. I wanted a drink of water anyway." She turned to Clark and shared a small smile with him. "I'll be back in a minute," she whispered as she graced his cheek with a quick kiss. His eyes followed her as she left the room.

"Sorry about that." Clark mumbled.

"I'm sorry I didn't knock." Chloe heard a loud, artificial laugh escape her lips.

"Yeah…so what's up?" He took a seat on the couch and looked up at her expectantly. Chloe noted abstractly that this encounter felt strangely reminiscent of her earlier meetings with Lex. She frowned slightly. Talking to your best friend shouldn't remind you of power struggles with top-of-the-ladder businessmen. It didn't matter. She knew what she came here to do.

"Clark as a result of the meteor shower, the hospitals have been flooded with odd meteor influences." Her voice sounded dull. She tried to brighten it, forcing enthusiasm as if this were just another exciting possible headliner. "Do you think you'll have any problems being around them?" She looked around for Lana, lowering her voice partly out of caution and partly for effect. "I mean, do you think your blood works differently because of…you know."

Clark's eyes widened and listened carefully to see if he could hear Lana. Confirming that she was out of human hearing range, he spoke clearly and softly. "I don't know. I know that I can't be around kryptonite in any form, but I haven't really experienced anything strange with leftover kryptonite effects. I mean, I've had to… handle… a lot of people dealing with problems from meteor rocks, and it's never taken away from my powers. I guess the kryptonite must become diluted in the body or something." He shrugged his shoulders slightly and smiled. "Funny, but I never really thought about it."

Chloe cleared her throat nervously. "But Clark, have you ever noticed anything strange about the way your blood reacts to Kryptonite-induced powers or, um, illnesses? God forbid something should happen to you…."

Clark grinned. "Well, I've never been sick."

"But that's just an everyday cold."

Clark paused to think. "You know something I've always wondered about? Remember when Lionel was in prison with fatal liver failure?"

Chloe laughed coldly, remembering her weeks of exile during the trial that had incarcerated Lionel in the first place. "I think I remember."

Clark nodded. "We had this weird experience where we switched bodies."

"Excuse me?" Chloe smirked disbelievingly. "Well that's a little weird, even for Smallville's standards."

"Yeah well, it was definitely strange. And what's even weirder is that when we switched back, Lionel's so-called 'fatal' illness was miraculously healed."

Chloe felt her jaw drop. "What do you think that means?" She pried gently.

"I don't know. Sometimes I wonder if that's what makes me so powerful. If all my strength is just in my blood."

Chloe's mind started racing with possibilities. She lowered her eyes and fought to control her desperation. Clark tilted his head towards the main house and got up from the couch. "Is something wrong?" Chloe asked.

"No, my mom is just calling me. I better go see what it is." He stood up and walked to leave the barn. "And Chloe? Thanks for caring so much. It's nice to think you came all the way over here just to make sure I was alright."

Chloe felt a heavy weight shift in her stomach. "Of course."

As Clark left, Chloe leaned back against the wall and hissed out a large breath of air. Somewhere along the line, this had gotten far too complicated. She cared for Clark more than anyone in the world- except for maybe her father. He was her best friend. So why hadn't she been able to tell Clark the truth. 'Not that Clark has been very good about telling the truth himself' she thought bitterly, surprised at her own anger. At one point, she and Clark had been so close that words weren't even necessary to communicate. Now, it seemed she could hardly speak to him at all. Feeling completely and utterly isolated, Chloe closed her eyes and tried to formulate a plan.

"Where's Clark?" Chloe's eyes flew open to rest upon the figure of a girl with her hands on her hips.

"Oh, he went inside to talk to Mrs. Kent."

Lana smiled sweetly. "Oh. Everything's okay, right?"

"Yes. Yeah of course it is."

Lana walked around the room, turning her head to Chloe occasionally, as if she was keeping an eye on her. "I'm sorry you had to come in like that. It must have been extremely embarrassing."

Chloe smiled nervously. "No, it's okay. Don't be embarrassed or anything."

Lana mirrored Chloe's smile. "Oh, I'm not embarrassed." Chloe raised an eyebrow and Lana's smile turned suddenly genuine as she giggled. "Okay, maybe a little bit." She ran over to Chloe and grabbed her hands tightly. "It's just been so amazing, Chloe. It's like, after all these years I have this, this fairy tale come true!"

Chloe stiffened uncomfortably. "Congratulations."

Lana's smile wilted as she looked into Chloe's eyes. "Are you sure you're okay with this? I know you and Clark used to have, well, something. But it was awhile ago…."

"Lana, it's fine," she lied smoothly.

"Good." Lana flopped onto the couch and pulled her knees into her chest, hugging them to her body. "Because I'm just so happy, I couldn't stand it if your weren't, too." Chloe bared her teeth in what she hoped approximated a smile.

"You know what, Lana? It's okay. I'm…I'm glad you're happy. I shouldn't have interrupted. I should have called or something. My mistake. I'm going to go now. See you later, okay?" She backed away, still smiling manically, toward the exit, and managed to make it back into her car before she broke down crying. She knew it was silly, but she couldn't help but feel betrayed. Everything she had ever wanted from Clark was now Lana's. His conversation, his love, even his stupid blood. Chloe wiped her eyes angrily with her sleeve. But not his secret. That belonged to her.