"Clark? You here?"
Martha Kent toed off her shoes and sighed. The truck was there, but that didn't mean a thing. Her son could get around faster than any car could. Her feet ached as she padded towards the kitchen, rolling her eyes at the mess. There were dishes piled in the sink, empty soup cans on the counter, even the phone was receiver dangling from the wall. She checked her instinct to clean it up. It was Clark's mess. She'd get him on it.
She stared at the phone. Except for that. Her cell's reception was awful on the farm and she needed an open line. She strode to it and picked the receiver up where it sat hanging upside-down against the wall. What was he thinking? Just leaving it...
There was someone on the line. "Hello?"
There was no answer, just rustling and grunting and heavy breathing.
"Pervert," she muttered, hanging it up, grimacing. Maybe that was where Clark was, hunting down some obscene caller. Clark must not have hung it up all the way on the creep.
She moved toward the fridge and checked the contents. At least Clark had left her some iced tea. She took the pitcher toward the counter, taking the one clean glass from the drainboard. She wouldn't be too tough on Clark about the mess. It had been a hard time for him, watching Lana date Lex.
She still didn't understand that. Lana had to have known that Lex was the absolute worst person for her to be seeing, from Clark's point of view. Maybe she didn't care. She settled on the couch and opened her briefcase, taking out her weekend edition of The Daily Planet. Chloe had told her she'd have a surprise article in Monday's edition. She'd said it would be a real shocker, though. She was glad. Chloe worked hard-- and not just at The Planet. She'd been around more often than not lately, trying to cheer Clark up.
It was probably vain to hope she could cheer Clark up permanently. If something could have happened between those two, it would have happened years ago. She'd prefer it, though. She had a kind of easy camaraderie with Chloe. It was nice that she had someone to talk to that shared the secret.
She jumped at a noise from the kitchen. She recognized the familiar sound of the door slamming against the wall. Clark was never too careful with that. She got up, moving toward the kitchen. "Clark?"
She poked her head in the doorway to find Clark standing by the open back door... with his shirt open. "Mom! I... I didn't see your car."
"I parked out front," she said, coming closer, narrowing her eyes. "Where were you?"
"Just... out."
"With your shirt open?"
"Oh, well... It's..."
"I never agreed to a race," a breathless voice yelled from somewhere behind Clark. "And you're a cheater, you..." The owner of the voice trailed off.
"Chloe." Martha looked her up and down. She was wearing a dress- a slightly crooked dress. There was a bag over her shoulder and what looked like leaves in her hair. This was... interesting.
"Hi, Mrs. Kent."
"Chloe and I were out for a run." He nudged Chloe, who stood speechless next to him. "Right, Chlo?"
"Hi, Mrs. Kent," she repeated.
"Yes. Hi, Chloe." She looked between the two. They were a little flushed and more than a little rumpled. "Uh... Clark, you really left your mark, here."
"What?" His eyes widened and he turned to Chloe, who in turn put a hand to her neck.
Very interesting.
"The mess, Clark. The house is a little..."
He laughed. "Right. I'll take care of that. I just have to make sure Chloe gets off okay."
Chloe's elbow hit his stomach. "Off home," she said, rubbing the elbow that had just hit him. "My car's not here. We were..."
"Running," Clark supplied quickly.
"Yes. You said that." Martha smiled. "Well, as long as you get it done after." She turned back to the doorway. "And you two have leaves all over you." She looked over her shoulder. "Must have been some run."
She snorted lightly as she walked away. She should be scandalized, really, but... Oh, they're nineteen. She settled back on the couch, opening her paper. He'd seemed happy, at least. At this point, it was all she wanted. She glanced over the articles. Chloe's "shocker" should be in there tomorrow. She doubted it would top this.
*********************************
Clark set her down in the same alleyway he'd taken her from. "Do you think she knows?"
"A four-year-old knows, Clark." She rubbed her elbow again.
He leaned down. "Still hurts?"
"Yes." She tried to see it. "It's like elbowing a rock."
He took it in his hand, rubbing lightly. "You should know better than to hit me."
"You should know better than to say leading things in front of your mom." She let her arm slip into his and started out of the alleyway.
"Eh, we were probably screwed the minute she saw me with my shirt off. Besides..." He stepped in front of her on the sidewalk. "Everyone will know soon."
"Well, yeah. But..." She lowered her voice. "Now she'll think I'm corrupting her baby boy. She'll start hating me. Just wait."
"Never." He leaned in.
She pushed against his chest. "None of that. You have to clean and I have a long drive."
He held her hands there and walked backwards. "I could get you to your dorm in minutes."
"And then you wouldn't leave for an hour. I'm seeing our new dynamic already."
"You love it."
She pulled on his shirt as they reached the street. "Maybe a little." She leaned up and he met her half-way. But she only gave him a quick peck. "Bye," she said firmly.
"Come on. I'll run you back. We could be quick..."
"Oh, quick? That's tempting." She laughed. "No. My three hour drive is plenty of time for you to clean up and maybe spend some quality time with that mom of yours."
He grinned. "You're right."
"I'm always right."
"I'm starting to see that." He leaned in again.
"No." She turned him around. "You need to leave now."
"Fine," he groaned as she pushed lightly.
"And I don't want to hear from you for three hours."
"Okay," he called over his shoulder as he moved into the alleyway.
"And do something nice for your mom."
"Nag." He turned to grin before disappearing in a flash.
She stared after him, smiling softly.
"What the hell was that?"
She turned to her right. Lois was about six feet away. Chloe heaved a sigh of relief, realizing she couldn't have seen Clark zoom off. "That?" She looked down the empty alleyway again. "That was my boyfriend," she said with a touch of wonder.
Boyfriend. It was a word she'd never referred to any guy by.
"Are you sure?"
They were three words, received in a text message from Lois while she drove home.
Who was ever sure? Who was to say if it would last? But she was sure for now. They'd always made each other happy--about as much as they ticked each other off. She was sure they could do both for... as long as they could. She didn't need anything beyond that for now.
She flipped open her phone. It was Clark's cell. "I said three hours."
"It's been three hours."
"It's only six."
"Well, that's just ten minutes off. Anyway, there's this thing."
Chloe waited for him to continue. She chuckled. "Are we defining the thing?"
"Oh... Yeah. My mom wants to cook. And she wants you to come to dinner."
"Clark! I just drove almost three hours to get back to Met U."
"Yeah, but I can get you here and back in no time. You know that."
"Well, yeah. But..."
"What?"
"It's just awkward is all."
"Why? You have dinner here all the time."
Chloe sighed. "It's different. I've never been specially asked to dinner. It's more like 'Oh, hi Chloe. You can stay for dinner if you want to.' This is like... she's planning something."
"Oh, my God!" Clark gasped loudly. "Do you think it's.... poison?"
She laughed. "Shut up."
He gave a low laugh. "Well, you're the one who's making a big deal. Did you ever think she's just... I don't know... expressing her approval?"
"Do you really think so?"
"Chloe, come on. How could she not approve? You're like... family."
"Oh, that's very sexy."
"Oh, you know what I mean. So... pick you up when you get back to your dorm?"
She worried her lip. It was one thing to be dating Clark. It was another to have people know about it. She pulled into the parking lot. "Okay, but give me twenty. Bye."
She raced up to her room. She'd have to put something extra conservative on- and maybe neck-covering. She was not showing up lookig like a slattern in a crumpled dress that smelled like corn and dirt with a giant hickey on her neck.
She called out for Lana as she opened the door, wondering how casual it would look to put a hand against her neck. She didn't have to worry. She wasn't there. But she would be soon. Lana had a fairly big Astronomy test. And that brought up another complication. Lana would have to know at some point. And how the hell was she supposed to tell her?
Still, she didn't have to worry about that now. She just had to get some clothes on. It was warm for turtlenecks, but she didn't care. She threw on a black one. Whether or not Mrs. Kent had seen the hickey, she was not going to rub her nose in it. That wouldn't be respectful. And Martha had to know she respected her. Always had. With that, jeans, and a quick ponytail, she was in business. She decided to step out early to wait for Clark.
It wasn't much of a surprise to see Clark already outside when she came down the steps outside. The surprise had been who he was talking to.
"Lana," she whispered, her smile fading.
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