Chapter Two:
Two Nights Ago

She was going to do it.  She was going to ask him to the prom.  It didn't matter what he said.  He already knew that she wanted it and he already knew she had a dress picked out.  The best thing was just to come out and say it.

We're best friends.  Surely he can't take Lana.  Whitney'd…  Yeah.  Whitney's there.  In the way.  So I can ask him, beg him to take me as his fiery best friend, and then when he sees me in my dress and prom-ed up make-up he'll fall for me.

Every girl's dream.  And she knew it would happen.  Not because she was beautiful-

Cute in a perky kind of annoying way.

-or mysterious-

I'm the antimysterious.  It's kind of why I'm so interested in anything else.

-or in need of a knight in plaid tuck-in.

That's all Lana, there.

She just knew that Clark was the one for her, knew that they were the ultimate case of right together.  Some kind of wonderful, comfortable knowledge that she'd had for a while.

Ever since I met the guy.

She was just getting a tad impatient and something in her gut told her that, yes, he'd finally realize that they were- for lack of a better but not more appropriate word- soulmates.  That night.  At Prom.  With her dancing in his arms, he'd feel how right her body felt against his, how she fit, how his fingers itched to touch her hair-

Been writing a bit too much of those romantic short stories, Chlo.

-and he'd realize-

Lot of realizing to do.

-that his love for her went deeper than kinship.  Deeper than best friends that sat pressed together during horror films, Chloe packed between her two best guys, and stole from each others popcorn even though they were all well stocked.

He'd see that everything between them was… perfect.  Like angst-ridden little Lana Lang was supposed to be.  But Chloe knew.  She just knew.  Clark and Lana could never, ever be like her and Clark.  Everything in their relationship would be 'Lana, Lana, Lana'.  All for her and none for him.

With him and Chloe…  Oh, the Roman Gods would cry from such perfection and turn away for it was one romantic entanglement of which they could not interfere.  Equality and happiness and the tears would come because even the best of relationships couldn't stop them, wouldn't want to.  Yes, the tears would come, but then they would wane and everything would be good again.

Good.

Great.

Perfect.

That's was Clark was.  No doubt in her mind.  And, despite her imperfection, they would fit together.

She had parked her car a mile out from Clark's house and to the east, needing the time and solitude the walk afforded her.  She was just approaching him as a best friend.  But things could always happen early.  If she played her cards right.

She smiled, picturing the beginning of the romance between her and Clark.  She wondered if he'd be shy when he kissed her or passionate.  She didn't really have a preference.  With Clark, everything was right and all was romantic.

Except with cow poop on his foot, she laughed remembering catching him right in the middle of his break from chores.  He'd been gorgeous with his tight tank-top and loose jeans, drinking his mother's lemonade.  Mysteriously sweat-free in the middle of July.

She wanted to make him sweat.

She blushed, almost to his house when she saw headlights approaching the Kent residence.  At first she figured that, as Clark had spoken of earlier, social services was there to pick up Ryan.  But then the vehicle turned into the driveway, revealing itself to be a limousine.
 
Chloe didn't have to guess.

The sleek black metal body, the bright but classy indicator lights on the sides, the tires crunching on the gravel.  It gave her the feeling of a secret rendezvous.  The time of night wasn't that late and the well-kept farmhouse wasn't some dirty, dusty warehouse; there weren't men with semiautomatics hiding in shadows while the boss of some mob stood under the one broken and hissing pipe in the building, but…

It still had an air of secrecy, an air of weighty importance and tension.

She sped up a bit, then stopped by the mailbox as Lex's lean form exited the luxury car with a seductive grace that always caught her attention.

She sighed.  He was extremely attractive.

And he was carrying something towards Clark.  They spoke briefly and Lex tossed it the long thin object to Clark.

She stopped on the porch of the house, hiding in the dark of the shadows and hoping she wasn't too exposed.

Their voices carried very well.

"A sword?"  Clark asked pulling the weapon from it's sheath.

Lex leaned up against the limo.  He looked tired and a little sad.  It once again surprised Chloe to see how close her best friend and the millionaire scion were; she knew Lex wouldn't let just everyone see him at less than one-hundred percent steel.  Clark got the honest truth.

"It's a foil, Clark.  Every hero should have one."

They shared a look that, even at this distance, Chloe could classify as intense.  Then Clark's face dropped and he put the foil back into it’s sleeve.

"I guess this means you've decided you're leaving."

Chloe thought Lex looked internally torn but it could have just been the distance obscuring her view.

"I haven’t made up my mind one way or the other."

"If you haven't made up your mind," Clark charged.  "-why are you giving me a going away present?"

Chloe flinched at his curt tone, confessing the smile as a forgery.

Lex smiled, his also counterfeit, and stood.  "Keep that away from the kid."

Clark's upturned lips shook.  "He's already gone."  His voice was tight and uneven and Chloe wished more than anything that she could be there for him right then.  He was afraid that Lex was leaving him.  Ryan, his little brother figure with what she saw as a strange ability to read a person, was already gone.  She wished she could touch Clark, hold him.  Explain to him that she'd never leave him.

Never.

Lex stiffened a little, no doubt cursing himself for his choice of subject diversions.  "I'm sorry."  His voice was also tight, but in a different way.  Chloe knew that tightness as her own; she hated to cause Clark any pain.  "I know how much you liked him."

Clark smiled genuinely for the first time and Chloe relaxed.  "For what it's worth," he sounded rushed and unsure of his words.  "I hope you stay."

Lex gave Clark a half-smile then slowly looked him up and down, giving him a full body perusal.

Whoa!

Chloe's chest constricted and her heart chose that moment in time to pound the life out of itself.

Did Clark not notice?  It was as if Lex was memorizing everything about the moment for fear… for fear…

Lex turned to walk away and Clark fidgeted like he wanted to do something-

Run up, grab Lex?  Tell him no to go?  Make him stay?  Tell him something, anything that might achieve just that objective?

-but didn't quite have the courage.

She watched Lex, his brow, hidden from Clark's view, furrowed deeply and his lips pulled back in a tight grimace.

Chloe's heart stopped abruptly.  She gasped and tears almost came to her eyes at the pain, so clear, so evident on that pale, regal-

Lonely.

-face.  Lex was going to leave Clark.  Lex was not going to come back.  He was going to move to Metropolis and that was going to kill him.

Oh, man.

Even the limo driver looked surprised.

And familiar.  Probably drives him around a lot.

Chloe felt knives in her chest as she watched Lex turn back to glance one last time at Clark.

God.

The penetrating look of pain was gone, as if it had never existed, but there was a wistful longing and tiny hint of regret there.  He looked at Clark as if he thought he'd never see him again, then looked somewhere over the top of the limo and got in.

That can't just be friendship.  There's more to it than that.

She looked to the suffering expression on Clark's face and had to sit down and take a deep breath.  It was going to take awhile to calm down.

Tears, tears comprehending and compassionate, threatened to fall.

She had to calm down.