Part 2
Chloe worked feverously at the Daily Planet, still trying to get things organized around her desk from the events caused by Zod. The media pundants had already coined the name of the events, "Dark Thursday". Chloe chuckled to herself thinking, "If only they really knew what was behind all these events." Chloe was exhausted but had to stay busy to keep from worrying about Clark, who had been gone for what seemed like an eternity.
As Chloe gathered up the last of the documentation Lionel left with her containing all the kryptonian scripts he had written, Chloe found her thoughts uncontrollably wondering to the events leading up to Clark's departure from the Daily Planet. Chloe and Clark had always been the best of friends, and at times there were awkward moments between them where the veil of friendship started to fade away and reveal the naked truth.
Yet they both always chalked these moments up to extreme conditions, and laughed them away as happenstance. Besides, Clark had always had eyes for a certain raven haired girl with the initials L.L. whom, Chloe had grown to have a good friendship with, and had come to think of as a sister over the years. This, beyond anything else, kept Chloe from being mad at Clark for not ever acknowledging their mutual, though always dismissed, feelings for one another. It was an unusual situation to be sure, even without counting into the mix that Clark was out of this world, literally.
However, circumstances had changed between Lana and Clark over the last few months, their tension had culminated into a meltdown of the relationship Clark had sought for so long. Plus, the fact that Lana was finding comfort with Lex - who Clark was also having a hard time trusting now - further cemented the end of his and Lana's relationship, along with any possibility of reconciliation.
Through all of this Chloe had done her best to comfort Clark, and lend him an ear whenever he felt like talking. Chloe knew that this was hitting him hard considering what he had told her about having to go back in time to save Lana from being killed in a car wreck - which the price for doing so was his father's life being taken instead. Still, Chloe was thankful to see Clark had finally come to terms with his father's passing (which had taken a toll on her as well because the Kents had always treated her like family, especially after learning that she knew Clark's secret).
Chloe smiled faintly as she recalled Martha's words to her shortly after Jonathan's passing "..I am so thankful you are part of Clark's life and are able to share Clark's secret. Jonathan would always know what to say in situations like this." Chloe did her best to help Martha all she could and recalled being able to bring, all-be-it subtle, a smile to Martha by saying, "Jonathan will always be with us, and he will always be here helping Clark along the way, we just have to remember to slow down enough to listen." Chloe could shake the need to be a pillar of strength for the Kents now, more than ever, with the un-announced visitors from Clark's home world causing havoc. She was grateful for Clark being able to put everything aside and focus on the task at hand.
Chloe remembered pushing Clark to do something she knew he could not stand, killing. She remembered telling Clark that maybe the only way all this could be stopped would be to kill the intended vessel for Zod. Chloe worried about Clark because he did not answer her, in typical Clark-like fashion he worried about leaving her there at the Planet with all that was going on because of the virus Milton Fine had released.
Chloe resolved herself at the look of love and concern she saw in Clark's eyes at that moment as she told him she would be fine and to go. Although this tore her to pieces, Chloe knew that Zod had to be stopped - no matter what, but as Clark was walking out Chloe's heart won out against her resolve.
Chloe ran after Clark, yelling to him as she did (coming up with a lame excuse, at least in her opinion to act as a defense mechanism for her feelings) saying, "I don't know if I'll ever see you again." Then she pulled Clark down towards her to kiss him goodbye, and was somewhat surprised to feel Clark pulling her up into him as their lips met.
Chloe lost all track of thought in that moment as they kissed each other with a tenderness that expressed the unspoken feelings she knew they both had for one another. Chloe felt the safest she ever had as Clark locked his arms around her in a loving embrace. She found her hands meandering through Clark's ample head of hair. Chloe felt as though she were in heaven when, to her surprise, she realized Clark was deepening the kiss!!
Chloe suddenly felt her senses return and knew Clark had to stop Zod, so she reluctantly pulled herself away from Clark. Although Chloe had pushed away, Clark kept his arms locked around Chloe, as they both stared at each other in an ecstasy of silence. The same sound that snapped them out of their trance brought Chloe out of her thoughts, a phone ringing. A phone on the desk just across from her went off a few times before switching to its voice mail system. Embarrassed by not knowing how long she had been standing there gazing up at where there had once been a wonderful stained glass window, now replaced with a sheet of plywood to temporarily cover the hole from a car crashing through. Chloe found herself chuckling, no matter where her relationship with Clark stood, things were never dull.
Clark busily worked finishing up clearing the last of the debris from the barn. He breathed a sigh of a relief as he finished setting the last of his things back into place, noting that Shelby was still lying in his usual place despite all the craziness. Not that it took a lot of effort or time for him to get everything in order, but he did feel a little out of kilter with having what his Dad referred to as his "fortress of solitude" in ruin. Clark walked over to Shelby and patted the faithful dog on his head, prompting the dog to wag his tail.
"Well Shelby, the easy part is done, now what do I do about the hard part?"
Shelby responded by tilting his head, releasing a whine, and looking quizzically at Clark. After a moment, Shelby finally barked at Clark, went back to grinning as he lightly panted, and wagged his tail. Clark laughed, happy at how his dog could lighten what was a serious matter weighing on his mind, and replied to Shelby (in the best snarky tone he could manage),
"Well thanks a lot pal!"
To which Shelby simply continued waging his tail, and keeping the grin on his face, resumed his passive gaze across the farm.
Well, at least for some on the Kent farm, things were simple and straight forward. However, for Clark things were not so simple now, and he wasn't sure what to do. Ever since he had defeated Zod and had safely left Lex at SMC to be cared for, his thoughts had drifted to Chloe. More specifically, his thoughts had remained locked on their lip lock in the Daily Planet before he took out to face Zod.
Things had been rough for him for a while, especially with his Dad passing away, but Clark had finally come to terms with this major change in his life - in large part due to Chloe's help. Also, the girl he always pictured being married to for the rest of his life had made a 180, in his eyes, which left him disturbed.
Frustrated, tired, and yes even angry with this turn of events Clark and Lana had finally called it quits - though Clark still found it ironic that Lana would wind up turning to Lex for support. However, given Lana's apparent ambition to take on life, he laughed to himself as he said out loud, "a match NOT made in heaven, but a match none the less." Plus seeing Lana and Lex together had cemented his decision to cut ties with Lana as much as anything else.
Now, this had been several months ago, and as with everything else in his life - he had shared this with Chloe. Yet, being that Chloe and Lana were like sisters, Chloe was already aware of most of the details when he spoke to her about this, and as with him grieving for his Dad - Chloe helped him get through getting over Lana and learning how to put this all behind him.
Yet, in all this time, even in all the unusually close situations he had found himself in with Chloe he never made a move because he was afraid she would think she was the "rebound girl" as he had heard it put. Clark shook his head, that did not add up - enough time had passed since his departure from Lana – and would not equate to Chloe being a "rebound relationship".
Clark fixed his gaze on the windmill that sat motionless at the entrance to the farm from his loft. Shelby had drifted off to sleep during the time Clark had spent pondering all this information. The more Clark tried to rationalize the lip-lock with Chloe as just being another one of those "highly emotional moments" they had experienced in the past, the more his heart kept yelling at him. Clark hated this, he had let his heart govern his decisions over the last year and things had not turned out so well. Still, Clark knew Chloe wasn't the one he was with and could not put the problems he had experienced on her - if anything she was always there for him throughout everything. Besides that, Clark had a feeling that the "we just got caught up in the moment" excuse would not wash away what had happened, it was not like times before where one or both of them were not themselves, they were both active participants. Strangely enough one of those conversations he had had with his Dad sprung to mind. It was a simple phrase that his Dad greeted him with every morning as Clark would make his way downstairs. Clark smiled as he remembered his Dad saying, "The cows aren't going to feed themselves son, you know what you've got to do, so do it!!"
This certainly wasn't a case of him needing to see to chores, but the principle remained the same - he had a task that needed to be resolved, and every journey begins with a single step. Clark knew what had to be done - he needed to talk to Chloe about this, and he needed to talk to her now!!
So, Clark cut out from the barn, seeming to run a little faster than he recalled having moved in the past on his familiar route to the Daily Planet. Unlike other times when he had gone to see Chloe, he found himself feeling extremely nervous. As he slowed back down to normal speed upon descending the last of the stairs to the basement offices, Clark noticed that his heart was running faster than usual.
Still, Clark kept on toward his goal, and it wasn't until he entered the office area and caught Chloe's gaze that he felt his eyes warming up as they did years ago that first time in biology class. At this point, he knew not only was his heart, but his entire physiology was screaming at him. As Chloe called out his name and ran towards him, he caught her in a bear hug and held her tightly - afraid to loose what he felt as a calm relief - Clark knew things between them would never be the same.