A/N: Two chapters in and I'm loving the feedback! Keep it coming and drop me a line! Honestly I'm a little nervous because I've had good reactions for my first two chapters and I hope I won't disappoint!
Clark sat on his couch for a good twenty minuets. At first he laughed. It had definitely been worth it. Seeing that look on his friends face. He had power over Chloe and he knew it. She pretended to be strong but by the end he broke her. He had brought out the tears. And he loved that. He loved the power to control and to manipulate.
Then, all of a sudden the large "S" brand on his chest began to burn. It wasn't the first time either.
"AHHH!" he let out a cry of agony.
"It's not suppose to be like this!" he shouted. That was true. It wasn't his plan. He was suppose to be the one to control. He wasn't suppose to be the one in pain, and yet there he sat, thrashing around violently. There was only one way to fix this and he knew what that way was. He hated it but he had to take the ring off if only for a minuet. Every time this happened he considered not putting it back on. He didn't appreciate feeling vulnerable like that yet it was the only way the burning would subside. His first mistake happened to be that he had the television going. It was blasting the news.
As soon as he slid the ring off, the pain lessened. He had learned to wait a few moments before putting it back on. That was his next mistake. He looked at the television and what he saw caused him to forget about the ring. Without it on he was the Clark Kent everyone knew and loved. At this particular moment, that certain Clark Kent, the one who cared about other people, saw a story on Smallville. Being that he cared, he decided to start watching for the details and absentmindedly dropped the little red rock onto the floor. The man on the Television began to give out breaking news.
"This is Jay Johnson channel 6 news. Today we bring you the latest on the myth maniac."
"What?" Clark asked himself. He didn't know what the reporter meant by myth maniac. Certainly he must have missed something. Of course torturing people and robbing banks sometimes distracted a person a little bit. The reporter continued.
"It appears he has struck again. His third victim who's name has not been released by the police, was found in their apartment, dead of a lethal combination of LSD and strychnine. More on the story tonight at 11."
Clark was confused. So someone in Smallville was killing people and had done three so far. Yet he still didn't know why they had nicknamed this man the myth maniac. Momentarily lost in his thoughts he glanced downward and was brought back to reality. There lay the red ring on the ground.
"Oh my God... what have I done?" The memories were flooding back to him. Riding off to Metropolis on his motorcycle, asking Lana to go with him, calls from his parents that he neglected to answer, banks being robbed. Chloe.
"Chloe. I can't believe I behaved like that!" he practically yelled at himself.
"She may be the only one who could help me solve this thing, but now she probably won't speak to me. Shit" Chloe was the only person he had actually attacked out of those he had hurt. He grabbed the ring off the floor, ran to the window and promptly chucked it as far as he could. He never wanted this to happen again. He refused to hurt people like that. He was going to do whatever he could to fix things. He decided he'd discover how to fix things between Chloe and himself first. That way he could make it up to everyone else, hopefully by catching the new threat.
"Here's goes nothing." He inhaled nervously and speed away to Smallville. Back to where he was loved. Probably loathed at the moment, but deep down he knew he had people who cared.
Clark arrived at the Smallville high Torch in a matter of minuets. Funny how it seemed even less to him. He guessed that was because he was so nervous to go back home. Naturally he'd get there quicker.
Chloe was sitting in her office. Listening to a Barlow Girl album and typing away at what he presumed to be the Torches next issue. She looked so peaceful. Clark felt bad that his presence was probably going to rip that mood roughly away from her, but he had to do it.
"Chlo.." he stated quietly, almost timidly. In fact she seemed to not hear him. He almost decided he wasn't ready to go through seeing her yet. No, he had to, so he forced himself to say it louder but it still came out timid sounding.
"Chlo..." this time, she had definitely heard him.
Chloe Sullivan sat in her office and began working on the next Torch issue. So many things were haunting her at the moment and doing what she loved best only barley made her forget. At least they had been making her forget, but that soon went away. Her feeling of contentment went away upon hearing a voice at her door. She didn't need to look up to know who it was. That voice belonged to Clark Kent. She looked up anyways to make sure and immediately jumped out of her chair. She wasn't letting him near her. Not after what he had done.
Clark saw Chloe get up and begin to back away.
"What do you want now!" She said, her voice full of many emotions. Clark could tell that her mind was torn and he was having trouble discerning what all of her emotions were. He did however recognize the anger and a little fear. He couldn't blame her though.
"Chlo... please don't be afraid of me. I know you have every right to but... I can't handle it."
"Really? You can't handle it? Poor Clark. Afraid of getting your feeling hurt?" She jeered, having gained her confidence and fierceness back.
"I deserved that..."
"Really now? Why could you possibly deserve that?" She shot.
"Because... because I behaved horribly. I acted like a complete maniac."
"Well right now your acting like a complete moron. I saw you snap a mans arm for stealing your watch and then you didn't even take it from him. You just snapped his arm like it was a toothpick and then laughed. I don't think I'll ever get that laugh out of my head...but I still went after you."
She began to raise her voice.
"I went after you after you assaulted a man. Not only to figure out what was going on but if YOU were ok, and no one even snapped your arm in half. I called someone else to get that man an ambulance so I could find you." she spat.
"I realize that. Thats just because your a wonderful friend. You care about your friends above everything else."
"Yeah and apparently my efforts are wasted. After you left I kept trying to help Lana get over it. I was torn up inside and yet I was helping her and she wasn't listening. Then when trying to help you, you have to behave like a complete asshole."
"I know I did. I had no right to run away and hurt people like that." he was usually used to Chloe's attitude at times but now was different. He deserved what he was getting and was actually intimidated. Clark Kent intimidated by a petite, blond, girl that he'd known for years.
"You such an idiot!" She shouted. "Yes you didn't have a right to do those things, but is that all you can say? I already told you I was willing to forgive you for hurting that man. Even for running away. I just wanted to help. But thats not the point."
"Chlo I tried to apologize..."
"YEAH I KNOW. I get it, your sorry for behaving like a freak. But your missing my point."
"Well then enlighten me." he asked.
Chloe Sullivan officially lost her cool. She proceeded to shout at him.
"You hurt me! I'm not trying to make it all about me but you haven't mentioned that little detail yet. You mocked me, physically threatened me, and then kicked me out. You knew how I feel about you and you used it against me. I know you'll never love me Clark, I'm not an idiot. But even I don't like to have my heart ripped out and twisted apart. I was suppose to be your best friend. Most friends don't sexually harass and then taunt their friends, no matter how much they don't return those feelings."
Clark couldn't believe he was such an idiot. He did think about what he had done to her. For some reason he just hadn't been able to say it out loud. It hurt to much.
"Chlo... I do love you..."
"Don't call me that! And you do not love me. First only friends get to call me by a nickname and second... you...d..don't...ll..love..." she wasn't able to finish. Tears ran from her eyes and down her face with reckless abandon. And she slumped to the ground in tears.
Clark was usually pretty good at getting a handle on his own emotion, but for some reason he had a hard time not crying himself. He watched as his best friend fell to the ground crying, and it was because of him.
"Chloe..." he tried to get out but failed without his voice cracking, so he stopped trying to talk. He slowly, carefully, approached the girl. Sitting on the ground where she had placed herself, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into him. She tried hard to pull away. Tried to tell him to go to hell and leave her alone. But she couldn't get the words out. All she managed was a faint noise, but she continued to struggle against his embrace.
"Cl...Clark. Let go" she managed to say. He didn't let go. He gently stroked her hair as she continued to try and free herself.
"Chloe I'm so sorry. Please you have to forgive me." he pleaded.
"I can't. Not right now. Please just leave me alone." She seemed to gather a bit of her composure and continued to twist away. Deciding he'd done all he could, Clark let her go. At least for now. She picked herself off the ground, mascara running freely, grabbed her purse and laptop, and ran as fast as possible from the room.
