Close Encounters, Chapter 3

Clark/Chloe
Late season 5
Rating: Adult. If you're under eighteen, please go elsewhere now.
Disclaimer: These characters belong to the WB and DC Comics, not to me

It's several minutes before Clark gets himself together enough to even move. Eventually it dawns on him that he must be pretty heavy, but she doesn't seem be objecting. Even so, he stirs and lifts his head.

Lightning flashes, giving him a brief glimpse of her dark, mysterious eyes and tangled, mussed hair. Then the room's black again. The rain continues to pound against the roof, and he hears a long rumble of thunder.

Her hand brushes over his cheekbone, sending a shiver through him. "It lives," she says, a smile in her voice. "I thought maybe I'd killed you, Clark."

"Um," he says, awkward as ever in this sort of situation. He's not quite sure what to say to her. "No. I'm fine."

She must hear the hesitation and uncertainty in his voice, because her tone turns a little colder, a little more distant. "Look, Clark, I'm sorry about this."

Oh, God. He knew this was coming. He remembers the speech she gave him in high school, the we're-better-off-as-friends spiel, and he cringes. He and Lana broke up just a few weeks ago, and he really does not want to hear he's not suitable boyfriend material for another girl right now. What the hell is wrong with him, that girls just don't want to keep him around?

But he knows what the hell is wrong with him. He's an alien. In Lana's case, he tried to keep that from her, and it destroyed their relationship. In Chloe's case, she knows, and as a result she's not interested in him. Because after all, who'd want to date an alien?

He just can't win, damn it.

"It's okay," he says, wishing he'd just gone ahead and hidden under the couch to begin with. Then they could have avoided this whole uncomfortable situation. At least it's still dark, and he doesn't have to look into her eyes while she blows him off.

"No. It's not. I mean, we're friends. We've always been friends. And I shouldn't have... crossed the boundaries that way."

His heart sinks like a stone in his chest. We're friends. Next thing he knows she's going to be telling him he's a really sweet guy, which is what girls always say to guys they don't find attractive. He doesn't want to be told he's sweet and a good friend. Just once in his life he'd like a girl to want him, really want him, for who he really is.

But obviously that's not going to happen.

"It's all right," he says, trying really hard to sound like she hasn't just squished his ego like an ant under her sneaker. "Really. No big deal."

"No," she says, a little more snarkily. "I guess not, considering you wouldn't even say anything to me while we were..."

He blinks in confusion. "Huh?"

"I understand," she says, and her tone goes beyond snarky, right into bitter. "I figured you were pretending I was Lana."

"Huh?" he says again, totally confused.

"Oh, come on, Clark. I know you're still pining for her."

She shoves at his chest in an effort to get out from under him. He props himself up on his elbows but refuses to move otherwise, keeping her pinned. Lightning flashes again, giving him a quick glimpse of her face. He sees pain in her eyes, and all of a sudden he realizes she's every bit as insecure, as uncertain, as he is.

"Chloe," he says, very gently. "This has absolutely nothing to do with Lana."

"I'm sure," she says, and he knows that tone so well that he doesn't have to see her to know she's rolling her eyes at him. "Which is why you were being so quiet."

His temper flares a bit, because that's a totally unfair accusation. Yeah, it's only been a few weeks since he broke up with Lana, but he didn't think about her once while he was making out with Chloe. His attention was totally focused on Chlo. "I was being quiet," he says with annoyance, "because I had this stupid fear that if I said anything, you'd remember who I was, and pull away."

She stops wiggling and grows still, like she's thinking about that. At last she says, "You're right, Clark. That was stupid. You're the one I wanted to be with, or I wouldn't have touched you in the first place."

"And you're the one I wanted to be with, Chlo. I wasn't thinking about anyone but you."

"Oh," she says in a small voice. "It's just that you got... interested... so fast..."

He laughs a little. "You really turn me on, Chloe."

"I do not. You've never reacted that way to me before."

"You've never touched me there before."

Silence. "Oh," she says at last, sounding surprised. "I guess I haven't." She's quiet for a long moment.

"So," she says at last. "Want me to touch you there again?"

Read Chapter 4 here.