1-900-Chloe (Chapter Nine)

Clark stopped to the side of the dormitory, checking to see if anyone was around. No one. It was Sunday, after all. They were probably off enjoying what they still could of the weekend before classes started up again.

He wandered into the empty parking lot, trying to give Chloe that twenty minutes she seemed to need. She'd seemed so nervous on the phone. He didn't want her to be. Chloe was never the nervous one. She was always jumping into things and pulling and/or pushing him to do the same. If she was nervous, then that meant he couldn't be the nervous one.

And he was.

He'd crept into the house so quietly, hoping his mom wouldn't hear, not until he'd rehearsed everything he'd say.

"Chloe and I are exploring our possibilities," his mind supplied.

No. That just sounded like they were taking a seminar.

"Mom, I'm nineteen now and what I do is my..."

No. That was a little rude. Besides, he wasn't even sure what his mother thought about all this.

Of course, he'd only got up to the third step when she called out to him from the kitchen. If he didn't know he was adopted, he'd think his super-hearing was an inherited trait. But he supposed it was just a little something moms could do.

When he got there, she was at the table, looking at the mess around her. "So no cleaning?" She smiled. "Guess you were busy with... other things."

He wondered if she'd seen the laptop and the phone sex pages. There was just no way to explain that and make it sound like anything less than depraved if... No. He'd closed that window, erased the history, and shut the thing down this morning, so... "Oh, you mean..." He tried to think of something to finish that with, but nothing was coming. Oh, you mean Chloe? Oh, yeah. We had sex. A lot. Might not work. "Uh... what do you mean?"

"I mean the barn, of course." She smiled wider. "Looks almost shiny clean. Doesn't mean you're off the hook with this kitchen, of course, but great job, Sweetie." She stood and moved to the doorway. "I think I'll make spaghetti and meatballs for you."

His shoulders slumped with relief and he let out a long breath. Not in trouble and having spaghetti. All in all, not a bad...

"Oh, and about Chloe," she began from behind him. He stiffened, but didn't turn. "I think she should come to dinner. Say about seven? That's not a request."

Needless to say it was the most apprehensive he'd ever been about spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. He turned, then. "Uh... Why?"

She stared at him a long time, then she smiled. "Do I need a reason? Chloe's practically family," she said before heading out.

And she was. His mom loved Chloe. There was no reason to be nervous. He'd told Chloe that and he'd tell himself that... as many times as it took for it to stick. He was so busy alternating between joy and terror that he nearly smacked into a girl in the parking lot. "Oh, sorry," he muttered, stepping to the side and moving toward the dorms.

"Clark?"

He turned. "Lana." He'd almost forgot about her altogether. He wasn't sure what she was doing here. Did she want to finish whatever she'd been saying at the Talon or... "Oh, that's right. You live here, too."

She stared silently at him for a long moment before looking down. "You don't have to pretend, Clark. I know why you're here."

"You do?" Had Chloe told her? It didn't seem like something she'd do, but...

"I'm sorry about what I said earlier." She blinked several times. It looked like she was going to cry. "God, I just feel like I was always haranguing you to be completely open with me and here I am, seeing Lex, and I didn't even tell you. I feel like such a..."

"It's fine," he cut in quickly. He really wasn't in the mood for a heartfelt discussion. Sometime between an erotic phone call and Chloe's lips on his... Well, he understood the need to move on. "Lana, it's fine. We're fine. I mean, we've just... moved on," he finished quietly, his eyes lighting on something over her shoulder. Chloe. She stopped halfway between the dorm and where they stood, then seemed to stiffen and move forward.

"It's not fine, Clark. I hate the way things ended and I hate that I just jumped into something so quickly. Maybe too quickly. But I have this constant fear of being abandoned... again," she said so softly he almost didn't hear. "And I'm just... I'm not meant to be alone. Can't you see that? I don't want you to feel this way."

"What way?"

"You know..." She ducked her head. "The way you feel about me and Lex. I never wanted to hurt you this way, but I... I just want us to move on from the bitterness and..."

"Exactly. And we are. Isn't it great how we're doing that... Pal?" He batted her shoulder, hoping this would be the end of it. He never realized it before, but Lana's constant self-explorations were a little... long. It was easier to take when he'd been so full of the idea of her and of them. Now his mind was full of compact curves and blonde hair and a smile that was almost... nonexistent.

Chloe was nearer to them now, looking hesitant and tense and just a little pissed. "Hey, you two," she said stiffly.

Lana glanced at her, then glanced down. "Hi, Chloe," she said on a small sort of sigh. She then turned to her. "I think I left my philosophy text at the library," she said softly, as if imparting some great secret. "Can I borrow yours?"

"Sure," Chloe fairly chirped. "I've studied, so I won't need it." She turned sharply to Clark. "Oh, and Clark, tell your mom something came up at work. So I just can't make it tonight," she said in a clipped voice.

She was lying. He'd talked to her only minutes ago and there was no way something came up in that space. She was... jealous again. He smiled. It was kind of cute on her. He smiled and pulled on her arm when she started away. "Sorry, Chloe, but Mom just won't take no for an answer." He pulled her against him, letting his hand drift down and back.

"Well, that's too bad, because IIII...." She yelped as he pinched her backside. He soothed it with his hand, just hoping she'd hear what he was trying to say ... or do. Either way, he was relieved when he felt her relax against him.

Lana stared at them. "Oh, does Mrs. Kent need help with something..."

"Well, it's just dinner and..."

"Some research," Chloe cut in, pulling away from Clark. "You know how that's my forte, so off I go."

Clark stared at her. She was just lying all over the place. Well, he was done. "Listen, Lana, in the interest of being honest, you should know that Chloe and I are..."

"Are going to be so late if we don't go now," Chloe broke in, pulling Clark's arm. "We should get going now."

Lana nodded, smiling sadly. "Okay. Clark, I... I want you to think about what I said. I just... I can't bear that I've hurt you so much. I... I can't..." Her lower lip trembled as she turned on her heel, rushing to the dorm in a sea of hair and whispery tears.

They both stared after her. Clark shook his head. He felt strangely sorry for her. "She really is a little too..."

"You're just noticing?"

Clark stared down at Chloe. "Well, you could have let me tell her. Then she could stop with all the guilt and long speeches and..."

"Well, I'm not ready. It's bad enough half the town and your mom knows about us. I have two tests and a story meeting at work and I really don't want to have one of Lana's teary monologues echoing in my head as I try to sleep." She shuddered.

Clark stared at the door Lana had disappeared through. "Yeah, she does that a lot, doesn't she?"

"Again... You're just noticing?" She shook her head. "You always were clueless."

"What about you?"

"Me?"

"You were jealous again." He smiled a little. He couldn't help it.

"Oh, shut up." She smiled slightly before dropping it. "How could I not be, Clark? After listening to four years of Lana pining, it's hard not to think you're slipping back in."

He dropped his smile as well. "But we talked. About all of it. About, you know, pushing."

She looked heavenward before dropping her eyes to his again. "I just... I guess old habits die hard. Years of being jealous of Lana can't just disappear in a day." Her gaze softened. "I mean, she had you."

He suddenly felt almost too light to just stand there. All those years, Chloe had wanted him. He'd always thought of Chloe's feelings for him as some kind of pressure, something that weighed on him with expectations and guilt and the feeling that there was something he was doing wrong. Now he saw those same feelings and he just... He wanted to be everything she thought he was. It was funny how accepting fate freed you. He pulled her to him and picked her up. "Are you hungry? I'm hungry."

She smiled. "I could eat."

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

Of course, eating didn't seem to be in the cards. In fact, they minute they sat down at the table with his mother, all Chloe could do was push their food around. Clark didn't seem to be faring much better. He just kept gulping iced tea, then pouring himself some more, then gulping that. Chloe wondered if he had a super-retentive bladder to go with everything else. She should ask, should this meal ever end.

"So, how's school, Chloe?" Martha asked, taking another forkful. She was the only one not suffering from this bout of poor appetite.

"School is... learning and that's... good," Chloe choked out, her words stilted and stiff and not very articulate for someone who wanted to earn her daily bread by journalism.

Martha nodded, as if she'd said something that made any sense. "That's nice, Dear." She gestured to Chloe's plate. "I thought you liked my spaghetti and meatballs."

"Oh, I do. I just..."

"Well, eat up. Honestly, I have no idea why you two are so morose."

Chloe relaxed slightly. Maybe this was just another dinner. It was sort of possible that Mrs. Kent had no idea the two of them had been screwing since nearly twenty-four hours before. She picked up her fork and cut a bit off a meatball. "I guess I'm just nervous about my story meeting tomorrow. It really does smell great."

"Well, thank you." Martha rolled some spaghetti against her spoon. "It's always best to have a good lunch on days like that. I should pack you some for tomorrow. I have plenty of tupperware."

Chloe smiled. "Thank you. It'll be a treat after the usual powerbars and redbulls."

"Oh, well you should take better care of yourself, Chloe." She put her fork down and sipped slowly at the wine at the side of her plate. "Speaking of that... I really hope you're on some kind of birth control."

Chloe dropped her fork.



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