Part 7

"Clean up efforts continue in Metropolis, though at a considerably faster rate than first estimates had forecasted. Local officials have not yet been able to account for the miraculous progress here. The governor did issue a statement while touring Metropolis with State Senator Martha Kent saying, 'Thank God that although there were multiple injuries reported in from hospitals, no casualties have been reported.' In other news, Pentagon officials disavow any reports of faulty security or responsibility relating to the events of Dark Thursday." – CLICK

"Well, at least they did not say anything about a super-powered terrorist breaking into the Pentagon's main offices."

Clark breathed with a sigh of relief as he switched off the television. As he turned to lean back on the sofa he only then realized how tired he was. The sun flooded through the windows in Chloe's apartment, and the warming effect made it easy for Clark's eyelids to drift shut. Plus Clark could hear Chloe humming in the shower, it was a mesmerizing tune that he found easily lulled him off to sleep.

Sometime later Chloe emerged from her bedroom to find Clark fast asleep on the couch.

"Huh, I guess I took a little longer than I thought getting ready!"

Glancing back over to the clock, Chloe did a double take as she saw it was now near noon!!

"Okay, scratch that, I DID take longer than I thought getting ready!"

To Chloe's credit she did find herself going through doing a lot more primping than she normally did to be ready for a day. Although they had not discussed anything, per se, Chloe kept getting the feeling Clark was looking at her more than usual while speaking to her. And not the 'keep eye contact while speaking to be polite' looking that Chloe was accustomed to in their usual conversations. No, this was different; it was almost like Clark was drinking in the sight of her as he had been explaining recent events. Chloe also had not gone without noticing that Clark was wearing new clothes. Sure they were still his usual attire of a blue and white plaid button-up shirt, blue jeans, and work boots.

However, the shirt looked to have been ironed, the jeans were not faded from having been worn while doing chores out on the farm, and the work boots did not have the creases in them from everyday use – hey she was a journalist, she is supposed to take note of the details. Something else had been a little out of kilter with Clark, he was stumbling over his words a lot lately….not something Chloe could recall him doing since he had first started going out with Lana. Yet, Chloe knew that he and Lana were done for, especially after their not so friendly parting of the ways. Still, Chloe knew she would figure out what it was, it would only be a matter of time.

Breaking out of her current train of thought, Chloe walked over to Clark (who was still sleeping like a baby on the couch). Chloe found herself grinning as she sat down next to him on the edge of the sofa. This was the most peaceful she could ever recall seeing Clark in recent memory. Chloe found herself mesmerized at the sight of him breathing peacefully, his chest barely rising and falling underneath his shirt. Suddenly thoughts that were 'a little more than friendly' rushed through Chloe's mind as to how to wake Clark up. However, she managed to kick herself out of that 'Danielle Steele Novel' mode of thinking, blushing at the thought of having read some of those stories when she had trouble sleeping at night. Chloe hated to wake him up but knew that Clark seemed to have a lot on his mind, and was mindful that he would want to be getting back to the farm as it was near lunch time. Laughing quietly to herself, you could almost set your watch by when Clark got hungry. Feeling a little jealous at how Clark could always put away so much food without thinking about weight, Chloe chalked it up to his special kryptonian metabolism.

Chloe leaned down to Clark's ear as she whispered carefully, not wanting to jar him awake (as Chloe did not have a lot of experience waking him up from sleeping, she was not sure what kind of reaction Clark may have) from his restful slumber.

"Clark! It's time to rise and shine!"

Chloe pulled back and waited for a moment, but saw no reaction from her 'sleeping giant' so she tried again,

"Clark, wake up sleepy head!"

This time Chloe caught a low moan escape Clark's throat as his head turned to towards her, though his eyes remained closed. Then Clark mumbled a loud,

"Mmm, that feels good Chloe, don't stop – only could you get that spot a little lower on my back."

Chloe's eyes shot up wide and her mouth dropped open in surprise at the words coming from Clark's mouth. Still, she reminded herself that he was just having a dream, but still it must have been one whale of a dream. Determined to wake him up this time, Chloe leaned in towards Clark and said in a much louder voice.

"Clark get up, it's almost time for lunch!"

Chloe felt Clark start to stretch out under her and sighed in relief that he was finally waking up. This relief was replaced with surprise as she was suddenly pulled down so that she was lying on top of Clark, with his arms around her. Then as she looked up at him she found that his eyes were still closed as he spoke again.

"Mmm…just five more minutes, then I promise we'll go."

Not that she minded being in Clark's arms like this, but Chloe still had questions she needed answered. And by golly, when she got it set in her mind that she was going to get answers she got them!! So, Chloe decided drastic action was needed here, and managed to work her arms free enough to reach around to either side of Clark to tickle him. Chloe had discovered years ago, when they first met, that Clark was ticklish at his sides – just above the waist – and she hoped this would do the trick. Before long she noticed a grin start to grow on Clark's lips, Chloe took this as a good sign – and intensified the tickling as she exclaimed loudly:

"CLARK, WAKE UP ALREADY!!"

All of a sudden Clark shot upright on the sofa in laughter, and thankfully kept his arms around Chloe so that she did not fall to the floor. Grateful to have him awake, Chloe ceased the tickling and looked slyly at him as she quipped.

"Well it's about time!! I thought I was going to have to play the William Tell Overture to get you to wake up!! By the way, it sounded like you were having quite an interesting dream there mister!"

"Chloe! I am so sorry!! I finished listening to the news, and laid down here to rest while waiting on you. I didn't mean to drift off to sleep like that….it's just….well….I've been pretty beat!!"

It was not until then that Clark realized the rather precarious way Chloe was sitting on him and that he had his arms around her. Blushing heavily, he moved his arms (although reluctantly – it felt really good holding her like that) so she could get up.

"Gees, I must have really been out of it for you to have had to resort to the 'tickle-attack' to wake me up!! Wow, I don't think I have endured that since middle school." Clark said with a quick bit of humor to lighten the mood – and dispel some of his embarrassment.

"Yeah, you definitely were past the 'sawing logs' metaphor for sleeping, and had moved on to being a regular 'knot on a log'!! Chloe snarked playfully with a smile in response to Clark's quip.

Then Clark's stomach growled very loudly as he stood up from the couch. "Oh wow, is it lunch time already?" Clark looked over at the clock on the wall to confirm his stomach's plea. Sure enough, it was just after 12.

"Hey Chloe, would you like to come out to the farm for lunch? Mom and I made a ton of food last night for supper, and there are plenty of leftovers for at least a couple of meals. We've got everything from ham to turkey."

"I'd love to Clark, plus it'll give us a chance to continue our conversation from earlier. Just let me grab a few things."

As the two of them headed out of the Talon, Caroline hollered at Clark from behind the counter on his way out:

"Well, I guess I really was a life saver Clark, I see you're still alive!"

Caroline gave Clark a knowing grin as she waited for his reply.

"Yeah, thanks a million for the coffee and muffins Caroline!!"

Clark replied with one of his trademark smiles. Then he hurried to catch up with Chloe as they made their way back to the truck. Ever the gentleman, Clark opened the passenger side door for Chloe to get in, to which Chloe snarked – "Well what do you know, chivalry isn't dead!" – and gave Clark a sly smile. Clark could only shake his head as he shut the door and ran around to get in the driver's side. As Clark started the truck and began the drive to the farm he thought to himself:

"Well once I tell her about the fight with Zod, I can lead into my conclusion about feeling so wore out. Then if that doesn't freak her out, maybe I can get to what happened before I left her at the Planet. Come on Clark, this is Chloe you're talking about, she's taken everything else in stride – I doubt the rest will phase her. He just hoped she would not clam up when he got to talking about the OTHER matter."