Chloe tilted her head to the side and asked him, "Can you fly, Clark?"

Before Clark could reply, they heard someone calling.

"Clark?" his mom's voice came from outside the barn.

His eyes snapped to Chloe lying naked on top of him. Her eyes were wide. He expected his were just as big. Chloe bore a perfect "Oh shit" expression. His first instinctive reaction was to protect Chloe from being seen in her bare state.

So he tossed her behind the couch.

Unfortunately, they were still on the floor in front of the couch, so it was a farther toss than he had originally expected. Chloe went flying with a surprised scream and landed with a heavy "Oof!" on the far side.

"Clark!" his mother's voice suddenly sounded concerned and he heard her rushing through the barn. He supersped into his clothes, and collected Chloe's discarded clothes, though her panties were missing. He tossed the clothes to the far side of the couch.

The ruined couch. He thought about grabbing a blanket to throw over it, but even at his superspeed, time had run out. His mother appeared on the loft steps.

"Hi, mom. What's up?" he smiled in what he hoped was an innocent manner.

"Clark. Are you ok?"

He put his hands in his pockets and tried to look casual as his mother climbed the second level of stairs. "I'm fine, mom. Everything is good up here."

"Are you sure? I thought I heard a scream just now."

"I'm sure -" his voice stopped as his mother's foot caught on...

A pair of red satin panties.

Leaning down, his mother picked up the very feminine panties. "Clark?" she inquired of him with a raised eyebrow. "Who do you have...?"

Just then, Chloe popped up from behind the couch. She had managed to don her tank and sweater, though it looked obvious to Clark she still had no bra on. "Hi, Mrs Kent." Chloe said cheerily, though the awkwardness was clear in her red cheeks and overly bright smile.

Martha Kent's shocked eyes flashed to Clark.

Clark cleared his throat. "Mom, you know Chloe, of course. My girlfriend."

Martha blinked and her eyes flashed to Chloe then back to Clark. Then a huge smile spread across Martha's face. She walked over to Clark and handed him the panties nonchalantly. She beamed over at Chloe who was still standing behind the couch. "Well, it's about time," Martha declared.

Girlfriend! Clark had called her his girlfriend!

Chloe tried to keep her legs from shaking where she stood behind the couch. Where she hid he pant-less and panty-less state.

Martha Kent beamed another smile around and turning, walked back down the steps and out of the barn.

"Come on over for dinner whenever you guys are done...catching up."

As soon as Martha was gone, Chloe rounded on Clark. "What the hell, Clark?!"

He looked adorably sheepish. "Sorry. I just sort of panicked. I didn't want her to see you..."

"Naked? Sans pantalones?"

"What? Wait - without pants?" Clark's brow furrowed and he was squinting at her in a way she recognized as his x-ray vision. When he snapped out of it, his eyes were huge. "Oh my..." he breathed. A warm glow started in his eyes again.

She trailed her fingers over the back of the couch, letting her smile turn warm to match his. "Next time you can make it up to me. In a bed."

Clark looked at the ruined sofa. "A bed? Would that be a good idea? I mean look what we did here..."

Chloe's smile held a world of sensual promise. "We'll be careful."

They broke the bed three times that week. And Clark scorched the ceiling twice. The final time the bed broke, the frame was so badly shattered it needed to be completely replaced.

They couldn't stop laughing about it as they burrowed together under the covers.

"Next time, you need to buy a sturdier bed," Chloe laughed.

"Next time, my girlfriend needs to be more gentle on me."

Her eyes widened in mock outrage. "Me! You blame this on me?"

Clark shrugged. "Well yeah. I mean, we could have gotten this down years ago if you hadn't been so stubborn."

Chloe found herself in a rare moment. She was at a loss for words.

"But it's OK. You were worth the wait." He smiled at her beautifully.

His words caused Chloe to freeze. He didn't know it, but she had said those exact words to him when he was fever-sick.

The words of that long-ago letter haunted her.

I want to let you in on a secret, Clark. I'm not who you think I am. In fact, my disguise is so thin, I'm surprised you haven't seen right through me.

She had been hiding so much from him for so long. But he had finally torn through her mask.

I'm the girl of your dreams masquerading as your best friend.

He still was her best friend, but now he was also so much more...

Sometimes I want to rip off this façade like I did at the Spring Formal, but I can't because you'll get scared and you'll run away again. So I decided that it's better to live with the lie than expose my true feelings.

She hadn't known at the time, that they had both been living the lie, waiting for the right time. The never-ending series of "next-times."

My dad told me there are two types of girls: the ones you grow out of, and the ones you grow into. I really hope I'm the latter. I may not be the one you love today, but I'll let you go for now, hoping one day you'll fly back to me. Because I think you're worth the wait.

It turned out they had grown into each other, finally letting go of the fear of losing the other and risking their hearts.

Clark Kent. Her best friend. Her boyfriend. Her lover.

Her love.

She smiled at him with all the love she felt for him in her eyes.

Clark's breath caught at the depth of the look in Chloe's eyes. He saw so many things in their green depths.

He saw them laughing together curled on the couch with Shelby.

He saw them working together at The Daily Planet.

He saw them living together here at the farm.

He saw them going to their class reunion together, arm-in-arm.

He saw her walking down a flower strewn aisle in a white dress towards him.

Love.

He saw love.

He saw their future.

He blinked and let his own smile reflect his joy. He didn't need to wait for any more "next times" with Chloe. She was here now.

And he couldn't be happier.

-The End-

Author's notes: Next chapter is just author's notes and other writing blather related to this story.