Disclaimer- I own nothing, sue me not!

A/N- Sorry that this took so long, I meant to have it ready three days ago, but I had midterms this week. My chosen major sometimes doesn't leave me all of the time to write that I would like. This chapter was supposed to be about twice as long, but I figured I would split it into two so that you could have something now to reward you for your patience. Also, i listed Clark's age as sixteen. It's never specified in the show, at least not in the first season, so I kind of went with what worked. But has anyone but me noticed that apparently every freshman at Smallville High can drive? Where I come from, we get licenses at 16 but typically start high school at 14. Huh. Maybe its different in Kansas? Anyway, enjoy and hopefully I'll update again in a few days. Hopefully.

"I feel like I'm going to throw up." Clark paced back and forth in hallway by his home's front door, wringing his hands nervously as he awaited Chloe's arrival. He caught sight of himself in the mirror on the wall and stopped to make an imperceptible adjustment to his bowtie for the eleventh time in the past five minutes. He had spent the past two hours getting ready and had adjusted his rented tux every way he could imagine, but he still couldn't get it the way he wanted.

A mere week previously he would have gotten dressed and walked out the door, not giving a thought to what Chloe would think of his appearance; but then a week ago he wouldn't have been trying to impress her. Ever since his decision to explore his feeling for Chloe, he had been acting differently towards her and he knew that if he didn't get a handle on himself soon, he was going to screw up this night for her and that was the last thing he wanted. From the way her face had lit up when he had asked her, hesitant and awkward, to be his date to the dance, he knew how much this meant to her. He just didn't know how to control this newfound awkwardness he seemed to feel around her.

The sound of his mother's voice brought him out of his reverie.

"Sweetheart, you have got to stop fiddling with that thing." His hands shot away from where they had been once again adjusting his bowtie and slid them into his pockets as his mother approached him. She reached up, firmly tugging the errant bowtie into place before cupping his face with her hand. "You look so handsome sweetie." Clark fidgeted, embarrassed.

"Mom, do you have to say things like that? I'm sixteen for goodness sake, it's embarrassing." She laughed and withdrew her hand.

"I'm sorry honey, but you're just going to have to get used to it. It's a mother's right to get sentimental when her son is going off to his first high school dance. So don't you try and rain on my parade young man." He laughed and gave her a quick "yes mam" before trailing off into silence, causing his mother to frown. She reached up and pressed the back of her hand to his forehead.

"Are you feeling alright sweetie? You've been acting kind of fidgety all week?

"No mom, I feel fine." Her hand pulled back and she crossed her arms.

"Just nerves then?"

"No…maybe…I don't know." She grasped his elbow and led him to the nearby staircase, motioning for him to take a seat before lowering herself beside him. Her hand came up and massaged the back of his neck.

"Sweetie, just tell me what's bothering you." He let a deep breath go as he felt her fingers rub the tension out of him. Chloe would be driving up any minute, it was now or never.

"I like her, that's the problem." Her eyebrow's shot up in confusion. "And ever since I figured that out I've been treating her differently. I get nervous and sweaty and I've caught myself staring at her all week long. I'm acting like I used to with Lana and I hate it; I hate not being able to have a simple conversation with my best friend." She lent him a sympathetic smile.

"Oh honey, there's nothing wrong with that. You just figured out that you had feelings for her, it's only natural that you feel a little nervous at first." She grasped his chin and turned his head until his eyes met hers. "It's a good thing to feel butterflies in your stomach Clark. I still get them sometimes when your father looks at me, and we've been together a long time. It's when you stop feeling them that you need to worry."

"Yeah mom, but this is affecting our friendship and I don't want that. What if things go wrong, I could lose my best friend." Her eyes narrowed, studying his face.

"Clark, this is going to change things between you and Chloe, but change doesn't have to be a bad thing. There's no rule that says you have to treat her differently now because you like her." Clark looked disbelieving. "Honey, I believe that a relationship is nothing but a great friendship that happens to include romance. I consider your father my best friend, we just also happen to-"

"Whoa mom, that's ok, please stop there," he interrupted. "So what you're saying is that being in a relationship with Chloe doesn't mean that I can't be her best friend, it just means that I'm also something else too." She smiled.

"Exactly." His brow was furrowed in concentration as he tried to process everything.

"It makes sense in my head," he said speaking slowly, "but I guess the real test will be tonight."

"I guess it will be. And that sounds like her car now, so you wait right here." She stood and headed up the stairs. "I'm going to go grab my camera." He groaned loudly.

"Mom!"

"Be quiet you. This is another one of those motherly rights I was telling you about, so get used to it. Besides, I promised your father I'd take some since he had to go out and bring in all the animals before the storm hits. And don't you dare jump in her car and drive off!"

"Whatever you say mom," he called out as he stood and walked to the mirror he had stared into earlier, checking himself over one last time before staring into his own eyes. He drew in a calming breath, muttered a confident "let's do this," and turned for the door.

The sky was dark and ominous and the wind gusted menacingly, causing trees to sway and bits of debris to zoom about the ground. But Clark noticed none of that. From the moment he opened his front door and stepped outside, all he could see was her. He stood frozen for a moment, floored by the sight. She had just finished climbing out of her car, the gusting wind tugging at the hem of her dress, when she caught sight of him and her face lit up with a brilliant smile. He almost couldn't respond to her greeting as he hurried down the steps and across the yard.

"Hi!" She twirled, revealing the rest of her dress. "What do you think, too pink?" Clark smiled. Trust Chloe to find a way to make a sarcastic joke in this situation.

"No you…you look beautiful." He couldn't help but smile even wider as she beamed at the compliment.

"Thank you. You clean up nicely yourself." Her eyes caught on the box in his hand that he had retrieved just before leaving the house. "Is that for me?" she asked, pointing at the corsage.

"Yeah," he said in a rush, finally drawn out of his admiring of her by the question. He removed the small flowery object from the box and fumbled with it for a moment before figuring it out and slipping it around her wrist.

"Oh," she cooed, loving the feel of his hands on her wrist, "it's beautiful." She stood for a moment, admiring it before starting. "Oh, I have yours!" Her hands dug into her purse for a moment before retrieving the tiny flower and she reached out to pin it to the lapel of his jacket. "Oh," she exclaimed, sounding apologetic as she looked up into his eyes, "did I get you?" He shook his head, not trusting his voice at the moment. Both paused, staring deep into each other's eyes, lost, as the second's ticked by. Finally Chloe blushed and tore her gaze away. "We should get going."

"Yeah," he replied, wishing the moment could have lasted a little longer. He stopped before he had even taken a step though, remembering what his mother had said. "Hold on a minute, my mom wants to-"

"Clark!" His mother's shout interrupted him and they both turned to look back at the house to see his mother hurrying down the front steps, a camera hanging around her neck.

"Take pictures," he finished, exasperated. Chloe merely giggled, secretly thrilled by the idea. With pictures evidence she might be able to convince herself that this wasn't some bizarre dream she was having.

"Chloe, you look beautiful," Martha said, giving her a quick hug, which Chloe happily returned.

"Thanks Mrs. Kent."

"Alright, picture time; get closer you two." Chloe sighed with happiness as Clark wrapped his arm around her waist and smiled into the camera. It wasn't nearly as close as she would like to be to him, but it was a definite start.

Martha was busy snapping away and probably could have kept going all night, but she recognized the impatient look in her son's eye and relented. "Alright kids, go on and have fun. Be safe!"

"We will mom!"

"Yeah, bye Mrs. Kent!"

Martha watched as the two teens hurried to Chloe's car, stifling tears at her son's chivalry as he hurried ahead to open Chloe's door for her. From their smiles, she knew that neither of them could be happier at that moment and she turned towards the house as Chloe backed out of the driveway. Those two were going to be just fine.