Chapter 4

"I'll be back in a minute, Chloe." Clark looked at her with dread in his eyes. Clark sped down the stairs and into the house. "Mom, Dad! I'm here!" He called out as he crossed the threshold of the door.

"We're right in here, Son. No need to yell." Jonathan called from the living room.

Clark shoved his hands in his pockets. He took a deep breath, he made his was to the living room.

Looking from one parent to the other, Clark cleared his throat. "So, Mom, Dad…what's up?"

"Sit down, Clark." Jonathan pointed to the table in front of the couch.

Clark reluctantly walked over to them. Martha watched her son slowly sit. She could tell he was uncomfortable. She was concerned for both him and Chloe. Clark was so desperate to have someone in his life, that she was afraid that he was going to make the wrong decision and then he would hurt Chloe. Clark would have a hard time recovering knowing that he had hurt her. He had been in love with Lana all of his life though. That was something that he just couldn't turn off at the flip of a switch.

"Son, your mother and I are concerned with the relationship that you seem to now have with Chloe." Jonathan paused and looked at Clark for his response. Jonathan watched as Clark turned a bright shade of red. So, it was just as he suspected. Things were getting serious between Clark and Chloe and Jonathan was afraid of the outcome. His concerns weren't the same as Martha's. Jonathan's were more on the practical side. Clark was an alien. Could he even have that kind of a relationship with a woman? They had no idea of the natural tendencies of the Kryptonian race. There could be unpleasant circumstances if Clark kept moving in the direction that he was moving in. Jonathan wasn't sure how he should approach this. He decided that the direct approach might be the best. "Clark, are you and Chloe having sex?"

"Dad!" Clark's blush deepened. He shook his head furiously his eyes shifting from his mother to his dad. He was mortified! "We just decided to date yesterday!"

Jonathan heaved a sigh of relief. Looking over at Martha he smiled. Martha still frowning leaned over and took one of Clark's hands in hers. "Clark, are you sure about Chloe? Not that we wouldn't be excited about it for you, but you have always had feelings for Lana. Chloe deserves more than to be second fiddle to Lana."

"I know, Mom. I saw Lana today, but I didn't have the same feelings for her as before. Being closer to Chloe and her knowing my secret made me realize that my feelings for her have always been there waiting. I really think that Chloe and I are going to be fine." Clark would never do anything to hurt Chloe, least of all dump her if Lana became free. After the Prom in their freshman year, Chloe had made the decision to stay friends. Clark had thought that he wanted things that way too, because Whitney was out of the picture for Lana, but when Chloe came back from interning at the Daily Planet and she mentioned some guy that made her forget Smallville, Clark had felt jealously rip through him. At that moment, the thought of any other guy touching her had made him angry. He had been shocked at his feelings, but now he understood them. Even then, there was more between them. He began to think that his feelings for Lana were just easy and comfortable, because she was always unavailable, the fantasy from afar. It was harder with Chloe, because she was available, always there for him. He wouldn't have been able to survive without at least her friendship. His history had always been screwing those kinds of relationships up. It has just been safer to be her friend. Now that Chloe knew his secret, the involvement was easy. He didn't have to hide, he could be himself. Not that he didn't still have those concerns, but he was getting to know a side to Chloe that he hadn't really thought about. Her loyalty. Not matter what happened between them, he knew she would never tell his secret.

"Clark, I want you to remember that you aren't human and any physical relationship with Chloe would be a risk. Your too young to be doing that kind of thing anyway." Jonathan rubbed the back of his neck. He hated these kinds of talks. It always reminded him of how much he had really listened to his dad when they had the 'talk'.

"Mom, Dad….I'm not going to do anything that would hurt Chloe. You have to trust me that I know the risks and I am not willing to take those at this time." He heard both Jonathan and Martha sigh in relief.

"Okay, Clark." Martha smiled. "You have a young lady in the barn, waiting for you. Dinner will be ready in a couple of hours."

Clark got up from the table and hugged both of his parents. He was so glad that they found him. He couldn't have asked for better parents if he had tried. They never let him get away with anything. He respected both of them highly and would do everything in his power to keep from disappointing them.

Clark found Chloe in the loft stretched out on the couch asleep. He knelt down beside her. Smiling, he gently shook her shoulder. "Chloe, wake up."

Chloe slowly opened up her eyes. "Hey, you!" she whispered. Stretching, she sat up. "So how did the talk with your parents go?" Chloe was envious of Clark's relationship with his parents. They seemed to be able to talk about anything. They had always been the protectors of Clark's secret and Chloe felt so privileged to be a part of that now. They were really special people.

"Awkward." Clark smiled and sat down beside her. Chuckling, "Dad wanted to know if we had had sex yet." Clark stopped suddenly. He couldn't believe that just came out of his mouth. He looked wide-eyed at Chloe. "Chloe…I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that. Ummm," he swallowed hard, rubbing the back of his neck and avoided meeting Chloe's eyes.

Chloe noticed that Clark had just turned every shade of red. She giggled. "Clark, it's okay. Parents worry about things like that." Not that she hadn't already thought about it. She wished that she had waited so that Clark could be her first, but she couldn't change that now. She reached over to Clark and grabbed his chin in her hand bringing his face around to hers. "Clark, it's okay. We don't have to talk about this right now." Leaning over, Chloe softly kissed Clark.