Chapter 5

Lex hung up the phone with sadness in his heart and rage in his eyes. His friend, Bruce, in Gotham had been discreetly inquiring into Chloe’s time there. He had just called Lex with the information he had found out. Lex sat staring at the phone trying to process the information he just heard. He needed to remain calm and not react irrationally. What he wanted was to wring someone’s neck, choke the life right out of him. Someone had hurt Chloe and someone would pay. Maybe not now, but he would pay. Dearly.

Chloe was sitting in the sun at Hobson’s lake, trying to concentrate on her story for the Ledger. They had hired her as a freelance reporter for the summer. She wrote the stories she wanted to and if the paper liked them, they would print them. Her work with the Torch and previous work with the Ledger landed her this sweet deal. But, unfortunately, she couldn’t concentrate. She kept thinking about Clark. Chloe put down her laptop and smiled. Clark. He was as goofy and as adorable as ever. God, she had missed him. She had needed him this last year, but she knew that if she had come home any earlier, she would never have known if she could stand on her own. She had always her father, then Clark to always come save her. This time she needed to save herself or lose herself. ‘What a terrible way to find out what you’re made of.’ Chloe thought ‘But I made it. I may have a few scars, but I’m here.’ Chloe’s face clouded. She had no idea how she was going to tell Lana, Clark, and Pete. She knew that she would tell them, but didn’t know how. Her brain told her that they would understand, but her heart wasn’t sure. She sighed. She had another problem as well. She was still in love with Clark. The moment she had seen him launch himself out of the Kent’s truck last Saturday, she knew that she would always be in love with him. She had hoped that by going to college in Gotham, and away from Clark, she would get over him. ‘Yeah, that really worked!’ she thought ‘I wonder if I will ever get over him?’

A sudden cloud covered the sun. Chloe frowned. ‘I hope we don’t get rain’ She looked up toward the sky and right into Clark’s grinning face. ‘He looks like a Greek god’ she thought.
“Hey bub, your blocking my rays.”
“I’m just trying to keep you from getting skin cancer Chlo.” Clark looked down at her. “Thirsty?” He pulled a picnic basket from behind his back.
“Don’t think you can offer me a drink and expect to still be in my sun—hey! What are you doing home? Don’t you have finals?”
“I only had my lit final today, so I was able to convince my professor to let me take it yesterday. I came home last night.”
“Ah, the famous Kent charm strikes again!” Chloe set her laptop aside and stood up. “Welcome home Farmboy. Now give me my drink!”
Clark momentarily lost his ability to speak or think when Chloe stood. She had a bikini top on and a pair of what his father would call “Daisy Duke” shorts. Clark felt the blood drain out of his face and work it’s way down. He put the picnic basket in front of him. Chloe bent over to dig a drink out of the basket he was holding. ‘She smells so good.’ Clark closed his eyes for a moment. ‘I have to stop this. I can’t keep thinking about her this way. She doesn’t like me that way anymore.’
“So how did you know I was here?”
“Um, I called your house and got voice mail, so I called your Dad at the Talon. He said you were coming out here to work on your article. How’s that going by the way?”
'Better if I could stop thinking about you.’ Chloe thought. “It’s going slow. I can’t seem to concentrate. What else is in the basket?” she asked.
“Oh, I just thought you might be hungry, so Mom packed some fried chicken, potato salad, apple pie…”
Chloe did a little dance. Which made Clark almost groan.
“Whoo-hoo! Now that I have my lunch covered, what are you having?”
‘You. Please. Can I have you?’ Clark thought. “I think there’s enough for both of us. No way you can eat it all.”
“Wanna bet?”
“Chloe, where are you going to put it? You’re no bigger than a minute.”
“There’s that Kent charm again. C’mon let’s eat!” Chloe grabbed the basket and set it down on her blanket. She grinned up at Clark. “You’d better get down here before I eat it all.”
Clark smiled at the beautiful girl in front of him and wondered when it was he fell in love with his best friend.