Almost Clark (Chapter Twelve)

Spoilers for Unsafe. 

Chapter Twelve 

 "Where is it?" Chloe groaned. She pulled one drawer out of the chest of drawers and turned it over. Last week, she'd found another one. Another ring. The first ring had been Clark's. The second one, the one that gave her all those long nights with Kal, that had been Pete's. This one had been hers. She'd forgotten about it until she'd found it last week. She'd been so busy with college applications and the damned Torch. She should've destroyed it when she had the chance. 

When she saw the box, she'd quickly shut the drawer. She didn't want Clark to see the box, after all. That would take them right back where they started from. And now? Where was it? Had he found it?

She groaned and sank to the floor. Things were fine. Clark and her, they were fine. And he was so close to telling her... whatever he was always hiding, that she could almost hear the words. Why? She leaned her head against the chest of drawers. "Why didn't I destroy it?" she whispered. 

But she knew why. She didn't have the strength. In fact, she even knew why she'd been looking for it. The minute she'd had it in her hand, she would've been looking for him. She could feel a slight throbbing... down there. She wanted to ease it. And there was only one man who could. 

It was just as well. The ring was lost to her now. And so was he... Unless he had it. If he came back... She stared blindly at the wall ahead of her. She couldn't say no this time. Not when she missed him so much. She got to her knees, cleaning the mess. Her only comfort was that the ring had been hers. It wouldn't even fit Clark's pinky. It was the smallest of comforts, but it almost did the job.

*********************************************** 

 It felt like waking up. He wasn't laying down, but it felt like consciousness returning to him. He felt the lips on his cheek, felt the breeze in the loft, saw the girl standing in front of him. And he felt a comforting warmth aganst his collarbones. The necklace. He could almost see it. The girl, though. Her he could totally see. He looked her up and down. 

Cute, he thought. Blonde, too. He liked Blondes. A certain deal-breaking jezebel of a blonde rose up in his mind. Yeah. He could see her, too. Sometimes, that is. In these last months, he may have been suppressed, but not all the way. Sometimes he saw her and wish he could jump out and grab her. Somebody had to. Clark definitely wouldn't. 

He thought of speeding over to her place this second. He'd show her what he wished. He still remembered that little remark. He could be there in seconds, inside her in minutes. And this time, he wouldn't care if she had a good time. He'd tease her and leave, show her how it felt to be tossed... But he wouldn't. He wouldn't give her the satisfaction now. 

It wasn't that hard to find a fucking red rock. The town was probably riddled with them. She could have slipped him one any time. Screw her! He eyed the sweet, little thing in front of him. Better yet, screw her. He waited for the boyscout to pipe up, but there was nothing. He could feel the necklace. It rested right against his skin. Before it had been a ring, close but not this close. So that's the way to keep you in your cage, he thought. I'll remember that.

******************************************************* 

He'd missed this. He felt her stomach aganst his chest, her tongue in his mouth. It felt good, but something was missing. He came up for air. She sure was a sweet, little thing, under him in just a skirt and a bra. Why couldn't he concentrate? 

He shook his head and dived in again. The only way to get this going was not to stop. 

She turned away. "Okay, can we just slow down?" she said breathlessly. "I want this to last forever." 

He laughed a little. "I’m not sure that’s one of my abilities, but I’ll do my best." He began kissing her neck. That always got Chl.. her going. 

"Okay, just one second." What's her name... Alicia pushed him back and sat up. He groaned. Would nothing satisfy this woman? 

"What?" 

 "Uh..." She looked kind of skittish. Great. I come back to a willing body in my loft and she's the nervous type. 

"What is it?" he asked impatiently. 

 "I’m a virgin." 

 He laughed. That was it? "That’s great. So am I," he lied smoothly. He dove in again, but she pushed him away. 

"Really?" 

 He fought the urge to roll his eyes. "What?" 

 "It’s just, well, we don’t have any kind of commitment or anything." 

He smiled. "Oh, baby, no one is more committed to making this happen than me." It was true. He'd have her. He'd have her right now and as many times as he wanted after. He'd have her until that other one was gone. Chloe. He wanted to forget that name the way she forgot him. All buddy-buddy with Clark as if none of it had happened. Well, it did. And she knew it and she still chose Clark over him. He wondered how it was possible to hate someone who was... you. 

He pushed the thought away just as he pushed... Alicia, yeah... Alicia on her back. He lay on top of her "You are the most beautiful, amazing, sexiest girl I’ve ever met, and there’s no way I’m letting you get away." Yeah. Say it loud. It might stick. 

"Does that mean, like, you want me to be your girlfriend?" 

"No. I want you to be my wife." The words surprised him even as they left his mouth. She was as shocked as he was. 

"Are you serious?" 

I am, he thought. This was how he'd do it. He'd get married. That would show her. Show Clark, too. He'd show them who was in control. He got off her and onto his knees. He took her hand. Chicks loved this stuff "We were meant to be together. We could be in Vegas tonight and wake up Mr. and Mrs. in the morning." And then he'd have her. And then he'd forget Chl... that other one. 

"Oh, my God!" She laughed and leapt into his lap, kissing him again. Now they were getting somewhere. Though they really needed to get somewhere else. He laid her back onto the couch and his hand trailed down her arm toward her lead bracelet. 

The boyscout would never do this. The boyscout was a little scared of Alicia, of what she could do. Kal wasn't. Kal knew that power was a gift and those who had it should be free to use it. He opened his eyes on her closed ones. She was a nice, little thing. Sweet, pliant, soft. She deserved to be happy. 

He gripped the bracelet, broke it, dropped it to the floor. He feels a flash of light that envelopes him, them, the room. Take that, Chloe, he thought as they disappeared. 

*************************************** 

"No!" Chloe shot up in bed, panting. She lay back, willing her breathing to slow. It was a silly dream, but it also hurt. She'd seen Clark and Alicia in some room too gaudy to be real. A minister, too. She shook her head. 

Dreams were just a manifestation of what a person was feeling. She did feel slightly uncomfortable with Alicia being back in Smallville. She also wasn't too crazy about Clark spending time with her. But a wedding? She laughed a little. 

Maybe Alicia had changed in some ways, but she was still volatile. Clark would never become serious with her again. She snuggled into her blankets and closed her eyes. An hour later, she was still awake. Why couldn't she relax? 

******************************************* 

Kal shrugged off his jacket, smiling as his new wife bounced up and down on the bed. It was a nice view. "Oh, my God! I can’t believe this! I’m Mrs. Clark Kent." 

He almost corrected her. But why bother? If he was taking over from now on, he'd have to take the lame-ass name that went with it. "Let’s make it official." 

She shrieked and ran away. He grinned. She was a playful little thing. But now it was time to get down to business. He walked toward a table with a bucket of ice and rose petals and fruit and knocked it all off, placing the wifey there instead and giving her a kiss that would definitely move things along. He caught sight of himself in the mirror behind her. 

God, I'm gorgeous. 

But it wasn't him he was here for. He ripped the back of her dress open. She put a foot against his stomach and pushed. He fell into a chair. 

Rough-play, he thought. Now we're really getting somewhere. 

The dress fell off, reavealing her white loungerie just before she jumped into his lap. It was nice. He remembered a night when Chloe wore red loungerie and... He shook his head and got up, following the wife to a bed post. He ripped the corset away. He didn't need any reminders. He dove in for another kiss, closing his eyes. 

It was almost good. He imagined the hair in his hands was short and soft and smelled like spicy citrus and the body against his was tiny and supple and powerful... He pulled away. What was his problem?''

He had a tasty little thing right in front of him and he was thinking of her. She wasn't so special. Her nose was too long and her legs were too short and her smile was... was... He bent his head to Alicia again, determined. But she was gone. He almost fell into the pillar, but righted himself and looked around. She was on the bed. He smiled. He could get used to her. She was a naughty, little thing. 

He dove for the bed as she shrieked with laughter. He dove for her lips again. This wasn't so bad, really. She pulled away. "Oh, God, I love you so much." He tried to say it back, but he felt a pang of.. something. Not guilt, never guilt. That was Clark's domain. "I know how you feel," he said instead. Yeah. Everyone should love him so much. Including... 

He kissed her again. She pulled away again. "Wait." 

"Wait? We don’t have to wait. We’re married." 

 "No. I just want this to be right." He was too busy trying to get that damned kiss. He didn't see her hands moving to his neck. "I want all of you." 

****************************************** 

"What’d you do to me?" Clark demanded. 

 Alicia gave him what was almost a smile. "Okay, don’t be mad." 

He sat up. "How’d you know about the red kryptonite?" 

"Because I know everything about you, Clark. We were meant to be together, remember? Just like you said." 

He turned accusing eyes on her. "You drugged me." He stood up, running his hands through his hair and looking around the flashy, red room. Kal's taste, he supposed. From the corner of his eye, he saw Alicia stand up too, but he refused to look at her. 

"No, it’s not-- I just didn’t know what else to do because I couldn’t stay, and I couldn’t leave without you so I just... I just thought you could listen to your heart instead of your head for once." 

Clark stood frozen. His heart? Is that what she thought Kal was? Kal was less than that? Kal was his c*ck. The things Kal did were for sex and only sex. Nothing else. Because Clark loved Lana, yet Kal always ran back to... he used and degraded... He hit a wall, but found his voice again. "Look, you don’t even see what you did was wrong! What’s the matter with you?" He picked up his shirt. 

"I just-- Clark you could’ve hooked up with any girl you wanted and you chose me," she cried. "Why do you think that is?" 

"You dosed me with red kryptonite! It makes me do things I don’t want to do!" Because he didn't want to get married in Vegas and he didn't want to find her at night and... He put his shirt on, pushing the thoughts away. 

"No, I don’t think that rock forces you to do anything, Clark!" He looked at her. She must be crazy. "Maybe it dampens your inhibitions," she went on, "but Clark Kent got himself into this situation, okay? Clark Kent asked me to marry him. Clark Kent brought me up to this hotel room to make love to me." 

No, Kal did. But he didn't have time to explain Kal to Alicia. He could hardly explain Kal to himself.

"Well," he said coldly. "Maybe Clark Kent made a mistake." 

Alicia looked down. "No. I did," she said tearfully. She disappeared. 

"Alicia, no!" Clark reached out for her, but she was already gone. She was half-naked and upset. She could hurt herself. He looked to the door. He'd find her. He had to. Whether it was her own fault or not, she was hurt. He was responsible for some of it. He looked for his shoes, then stopped, feeling something under his foot. The necklace. The Gift. 

"The curse," he muttered. He wanted to smash it against the wall, but something stopped him. That same something made him rip a piece of the bedsheet and wrap the necklace inside, rolling it over and over. And the something also had him slip it in his pocket. As he sped out of the hotel and east as fast as he could, he found himself patting his pocket, making sure it was still there. He couldn't think why. He wouldn't think why. 

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Chapter Thirteen