Chlark Fanfic: All The Way, Chapter 16
Back again, folks! So sorry for the wait.
Enjoy!
Title: All The Way
Author: BabyDee1
Pairing: Chlark
Rating: PG13 (for now)
Warnings: None
Timeline: All Seasons. Works as a sequel to Daisychain.
Disclaimer: All characters belong to the CW & DC comics.
Summary: Chlark: as they were, are and ever should be.
Feedback: …makes me squee. :)
Read previous chapter here.
Read story from the beginning here.
Chapter 16
Truce
Hinting to Clark that she knew where he was getting the papers from had been a huge mistake. Colossal.
Chloe sighed and tapped her pencil on the desk as the teacher droned on about…something; she wasn't sure what. She barely even knew what class it was. Ever since her falling out with Clark, she hadn’t been able to concentrate on anything other than just how big a fool she’d been to gamble her most valued friendship to solve a mystery.
It was clear that Clark had something to hide, so when she’d pulled the pretzel out on him in the loft that day, she’d expected a reaction of some sort. But he’d stared at the innocent pastry like she’d been holding out a chunk of deadly poison. His expression had immediately shuttered over and before she could blink, they had had the mother of all bust-ups.
They’d been on the outs for six days now (yes, she was counting). Six long days in which he’d actively avoided any kind of contact with her - including eye contact, she thought wryly as she glanced across the classroom. As expected, he was hiding his face behind his left hand, shielding himself from her view as he wrote class notes with the right.
True to his word, her Daily Planet supply had ceased immediately, so she’d now been without her beloved publication for almost a week. But while she missed her city newspapers, her greatest regret for sure was the loss of Clark’s friendship. She missed him. A lot.
A stab of pain seared through her, and she blinked back tears and returned her gaze to the front of the class. Clark’s absence from her life this past week had been unbearable. Watching him shield his face from her day after day was particularly painful, made even worse whenever Lana sauntered over to his desk or cornered him during recess, and she had to endure their happy-smiley chatter. It was like salt in a painfully festering wound.
Occasionally they'd lock glances, and she could swear she saw the same loss in his eyes that was in her own heart. Then one of them would look away, and by the time she looked up again he’d have disappeared. He’d even stopped riding the bus with her, so her journeys home were very long and lonely indeed.
The teacher started giving out weekend assignments, signalling the end of class. Chloe hurriedly scribbled out her homework and packed up her books at record speed, determined not to let another day go by without confronting her erstwhile best friend.
She had to catch hold of him before he got to the classroom door, though; somehow, once he got beyond those doors, he fled faster than she could catch up with.
The final bell rang, and she got to her feet along with everyone else. Being the last period of the last day of the week, there was a rush for the exit which created a bottleneck of students at the door.
For the first time ever, Chloe was happy for the doorway jam. As soon as Clark got within reaching distance, she wrapped her arm firmly around his wrist and stepped into place beside him.
He stiffened. “Chloe-?”
“You’re coming with me,” she declared, dragging him down the corridor. “We’re going to hash this out right now.”
“But I have-”
“Plans? Cancel them.”
“I was gonna say chores.”
“Cancel them, too.”
He gave her a sidelong glance, but thankfully didn’t argue further or yank his hand away.
They walked clear of the school building. Clark seemed content to follow her lead, so she walked them down the path towards woods, eventually veering off into the clearing which housed the large cottonwood tree that they’d climbed ages ago.
When they got to the fallen log bridge, she took a deep breath and turned to face him.
“Okay. I’m gonna put my hands up right now and admit that I overstepped my bounds when I questioned you last week, and I’m sorry,” she blurted out. “So why exactly do you insist on punishing us both with this silent treatment, Clark?”
He stared at her in disbelief. “Me? How can you put this all on me? You’re the one who walked out on me, remember? ‘Oh, have fun with your new best friend, flower boy!’” he mimicked.
She scowled. “You made plans with someone else on a weekend!”
“Well, you started it!”
“I told you, something came up that was unavoidable!”
“And I understood that!” he shot back. “What I didn’t appreciate was the thinly disguised Q&A you launched the second you got back. Or are you gonna lie and say you didn’t plan to spring all those questions on me, huh?”
She lowered her gaze and sighed. “I suppose I could have been a bit more subtle.”
“You weren’t supposed to grill me at all,” he pointed out. “Chloe, I told you right from the off that I didn’t want to answer certain questions, and you were leading up to them. Weren’t you?”
She shrugged one listless shoulder. “Certain…developments led to my curiosity being piqued, and I wanted to get more information,” she explained lamely.
He scowled. “I’m not an article in the school paper, Chloe,” he said darkly. “I have no intention of being front page news; not now, not ever.”
“I wouldn’t do that to you!”
“Wouldn’t you?” he challenged.
“No! Of course I wouldn’t, but…” she paused and ran weary hand through her hair. “You’re not who you say you are, Clark.”
He stiffened. “And what’s that supposed to mean?”
She scratched her head, searching for the right words. “You hide who you really are behind a façade,” she finally explained. “It’s kinda hard to explain, but there is so much more to you than what I see, and…well, I would really love to get to know that person, deep down inside - and not for a story. That’s the truth. We’re best friends, Clark, and best friends don’t keep secrets from each other.”
He stared at the ground for long moments, and she could practically feel his resolve weakening.
“You can trust me,” she urged. “I promise. If you have any secrets, I’ll keep them. I will.”
Clark folded his arms and sighed. “I know you will,” he said softly.
She softened. “Thank you,” she replied. “So…anything you wanna tell me?”
She kept her voice light, hoping to defuse the tension, and waited patiently for him to continue. When he finally looked up at her, his eyes were sad and pleading.
“Chloe, please believe me when I say that there is so much that I want to tell you,” he whispered. “But now is not the right time.”
Her face fell. “But I won’t betray you; I thought you believed me.”
“I do believe you, Chlo, but I can’t…share certain things with you,” he said apologetically. “At least not right now. I’m sorry it has to be like this.”
She nodded and smiled through her disappointment. “I understand. And I meant what I said earlier; I’m really sorry for everything that’s happened.”
He nodded. “Me, too.”
“And I won’t ask you any more questions that you don’t want me to ask.”
“Thank you. I appreciate that.”
“So we’re good?” she asked hopefully.
He smiled. “Yeah, we’re good.”
Her grin broadened. “And I can expect my Daily Planet paper on Monday?”
“Umm…no.”
The smile on her face disappeared, and she blinked in surprise. “What-? Why not?”
“Because I don’t need to get them for you anymore,” he replied. “I spoke to Mr Jenkins, who runs the convenience store, and he’s agreed to stock limited quantities of the Daily Planet newspaper on a trial run.”
Her eyes widened. “He has?”
“Mmm-hmm. And he was gonna start stocking them anyway. Apparently, he was personally offended that he had to read about the new Luthorcorp plant in a Metropolis newspaper first, and figured that if the Ledger couldn’t keep up, he’d just have to bite the bullet and make the Planet available locally.”
“I see,” she said lamely. “So, you won’t be bringing my papers anymore?”
“Well, I don’t need to.” He tilted his head and frowned. “That’s a good thing, right?”
She swallowed. “Clark…if this is because I ambushed you-”
“No! No, of course not-”
“-because I’m sorry,” she blurted out. “I’m so sorry, and I didn’t mean to scare you; I just got really curious and couldn’t not ask, you know? Please don’t be mad at me.”
“I’m not mad at you, Chloe,” he reassured her. “I was going to stop delivering the papers once they became available locally, you know that.”
She sniffed and nodded. “I know. Forgive me?”
He rolled his eyes. “Of course. Come here, you.”
He held out his arms, and she flung herself into them without dignity and held him tight. He hugged her back with equal fervour, almost as if he was trying to make up for a week’s worth of lost hugs. Her emotions, already close to the surface, suddenly unravelled, and the tears she’d been holding in check began to course down her cheeks.
“Hey, don’t cry,” he soothed, wiping her tears. “We’re good now; remember?”
“I know,” she mumbled against his chest. “I’m so glad we’re friends again.”
“Me too.”
“I thought you’d never speak to me again, ever,” she said timidly.
He chuckled. “Ditto. This is the longest fight we’ve ever had.”
She relaxed in his arms and sighed; a deep, long drawn-out breath that she felt like she’d been holding it for the entire week.
“I missed you,” she finally whispered.
“I missed you, too,” he admitted softly. “A lot.”
Well. It was nice to have confirmation that she hadn’t been the only one who’d felt like she’d been missing a limb all week. She smiled through her tears, grateful for the confirmation that their special bond was still as strong as ever.
Or was it?
“So, um…are you really seeing Lana again this weekend?” she asked timidly as she stepped out of his arms.
His eyes widened. “You believed that?”
“I had no reason not to,” she retorted. “Well, are you?”
“Of course not,” he said with a leery grin. “You know I only get one weekend off every month.”
Her eyes flew open, and she stepped back and fixed him with an accusing glare. “You lied to me!”
He had the good grace to look sheepish. “Guess I did.”
“Clark, that was mean!” she accused. “Do you have any idea how hard it’s been for me to see you two together? Laughing all the time, giving her all your best smiles when you wouldn’t even look at me!”
He smiled, his eyes twinkling. “Chloe…were you jealous of Lana?”
Chloe felt her cheeks burn hotly, but she turned away and waved a dismissive hand. “What me? Jealous? Of Lana? No way!”
He thrust his hands in his pockets and grinned. “Surrrre, you weren’t.”
God, but she wanted to whack that smug smile off his face. Her cheeks got hotter still, and she abruptly changed the subject.
“We should head back,” she said, and started marching back towards the main road.
She heard his footsteps hasten caught up and fell into step beside her. Slowly he reached for her hand, and when she turned to look at him he smiled.
“I’m so glad we’re talking again,” he admitted. “I really did miss you.”
She lifted one shoulder in a listless shrug. “Yeah, well…ditto.”
His eyebrows went up. “Sure you didn’t just miss the papers?”
She gave him a steely look, and he laughed. “Point taken. You missed me, and the papers.”
Well, that much was true. She had indeed missed both, but at least now she had the opportunity to get her papers whether she was friends with Clark or not - not that she planned to have another fight with him anytime soon. But it wasn’t really about the papers, she realised. It was the connection, the special bond she shared with Clark that she’d missed the most.
He sensed her sombre mood, because he gently squeezed her hand. “You okay?” he asked.
“I am; but it sucks that you won’t be bringing my papers anymore,” she said wistfully, remembering happier times. “I feel like I’ve lost something really precious.”
Clark wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer to his side.
“You still have me, Chloe,” he replied, smiling down at her. “And I’m not going anywhere.”
***
To be continued…
Enjoy!
Title: All The Way
Author: BabyDee1
Pairing: Chlark
Rating: PG13 (for now)
Warnings: None
Timeline: All Seasons. Works as a sequel to Daisychain.
Disclaimer: All characters belong to the CW & DC comics.
Summary: Chlark: as they were, are and ever should be.
Feedback: …makes me squee. :)
Read previous chapter here.
Read story from the beginning here.
Chapter 16
Truce
Hinting to Clark that she knew where he was getting the papers from had been a huge mistake. Colossal.
Chloe sighed and tapped her pencil on the desk as the teacher droned on about…something; she wasn't sure what. She barely even knew what class it was. Ever since her falling out with Clark, she hadn’t been able to concentrate on anything other than just how big a fool she’d been to gamble her most valued friendship to solve a mystery.
It was clear that Clark had something to hide, so when she’d pulled the pretzel out on him in the loft that day, she’d expected a reaction of some sort. But he’d stared at the innocent pastry like she’d been holding out a chunk of deadly poison. His expression had immediately shuttered over and before she could blink, they had had the mother of all bust-ups.
They’d been on the outs for six days now (yes, she was counting). Six long days in which he’d actively avoided any kind of contact with her - including eye contact, she thought wryly as she glanced across the classroom. As expected, he was hiding his face behind his left hand, shielding himself from her view as he wrote class notes with the right.
True to his word, her Daily Planet supply had ceased immediately, so she’d now been without her beloved publication for almost a week. But while she missed her city newspapers, her greatest regret for sure was the loss of Clark’s friendship. She missed him. A lot.
A stab of pain seared through her, and she blinked back tears and returned her gaze to the front of the class. Clark’s absence from her life this past week had been unbearable. Watching him shield his face from her day after day was particularly painful, made even worse whenever Lana sauntered over to his desk or cornered him during recess, and she had to endure their happy-smiley chatter. It was like salt in a painfully festering wound.
Occasionally they'd lock glances, and she could swear she saw the same loss in his eyes that was in her own heart. Then one of them would look away, and by the time she looked up again he’d have disappeared. He’d even stopped riding the bus with her, so her journeys home were very long and lonely indeed.
The teacher started giving out weekend assignments, signalling the end of class. Chloe hurriedly scribbled out her homework and packed up her books at record speed, determined not to let another day go by without confronting her erstwhile best friend.
She had to catch hold of him before he got to the classroom door, though; somehow, once he got beyond those doors, he fled faster than she could catch up with.
The final bell rang, and she got to her feet along with everyone else. Being the last period of the last day of the week, there was a rush for the exit which created a bottleneck of students at the door.
For the first time ever, Chloe was happy for the doorway jam. As soon as Clark got within reaching distance, she wrapped her arm firmly around his wrist and stepped into place beside him.
He stiffened. “Chloe-?”
“You’re coming with me,” she declared, dragging him down the corridor. “We’re going to hash this out right now.”
“But I have-”
“Plans? Cancel them.”
“I was gonna say chores.”
“Cancel them, too.”
He gave her a sidelong glance, but thankfully didn’t argue further or yank his hand away.
They walked clear of the school building. Clark seemed content to follow her lead, so she walked them down the path towards woods, eventually veering off into the clearing which housed the large cottonwood tree that they’d climbed ages ago.
When they got to the fallen log bridge, she took a deep breath and turned to face him.
“Okay. I’m gonna put my hands up right now and admit that I overstepped my bounds when I questioned you last week, and I’m sorry,” she blurted out. “So why exactly do you insist on punishing us both with this silent treatment, Clark?”
He stared at her in disbelief. “Me? How can you put this all on me? You’re the one who walked out on me, remember? ‘Oh, have fun with your new best friend, flower boy!’” he mimicked.
She scowled. “You made plans with someone else on a weekend!”
“Well, you started it!”
“I told you, something came up that was unavoidable!”
“And I understood that!” he shot back. “What I didn’t appreciate was the thinly disguised Q&A you launched the second you got back. Or are you gonna lie and say you didn’t plan to spring all those questions on me, huh?”
She lowered her gaze and sighed. “I suppose I could have been a bit more subtle.”
“You weren’t supposed to grill me at all,” he pointed out. “Chloe, I told you right from the off that I didn’t want to answer certain questions, and you were leading up to them. Weren’t you?”
She shrugged one listless shoulder. “Certain…developments led to my curiosity being piqued, and I wanted to get more information,” she explained lamely.
He scowled. “I’m not an article in the school paper, Chloe,” he said darkly. “I have no intention of being front page news; not now, not ever.”
“I wouldn’t do that to you!”
“Wouldn’t you?” he challenged.
“No! Of course I wouldn’t, but…” she paused and ran weary hand through her hair. “You’re not who you say you are, Clark.”
He stiffened. “And what’s that supposed to mean?”
She scratched her head, searching for the right words. “You hide who you really are behind a façade,” she finally explained. “It’s kinda hard to explain, but there is so much more to you than what I see, and…well, I would really love to get to know that person, deep down inside - and not for a story. That’s the truth. We’re best friends, Clark, and best friends don’t keep secrets from each other.”
He stared at the ground for long moments, and she could practically feel his resolve weakening.
“You can trust me,” she urged. “I promise. If you have any secrets, I’ll keep them. I will.”
Clark folded his arms and sighed. “I know you will,” he said softly.
She softened. “Thank you,” she replied. “So…anything you wanna tell me?”
She kept her voice light, hoping to defuse the tension, and waited patiently for him to continue. When he finally looked up at her, his eyes were sad and pleading.
“Chloe, please believe me when I say that there is so much that I want to tell you,” he whispered. “But now is not the right time.”
Her face fell. “But I won’t betray you; I thought you believed me.”
“I do believe you, Chlo, but I can’t…share certain things with you,” he said apologetically. “At least not right now. I’m sorry it has to be like this.”
She nodded and smiled through her disappointment. “I understand. And I meant what I said earlier; I’m really sorry for everything that’s happened.”
He nodded. “Me, too.”
“And I won’t ask you any more questions that you don’t want me to ask.”
“Thank you. I appreciate that.”
“So we’re good?” she asked hopefully.
He smiled. “Yeah, we’re good.”
Her grin broadened. “And I can expect my Daily Planet paper on Monday?”
“Umm…no.”
The smile on her face disappeared, and she blinked in surprise. “What-? Why not?”
“Because I don’t need to get them for you anymore,” he replied. “I spoke to Mr Jenkins, who runs the convenience store, and he’s agreed to stock limited quantities of the Daily Planet newspaper on a trial run.”
Her eyes widened. “He has?”
“Mmm-hmm. And he was gonna start stocking them anyway. Apparently, he was personally offended that he had to read about the new Luthorcorp plant in a Metropolis newspaper first, and figured that if the Ledger couldn’t keep up, he’d just have to bite the bullet and make the Planet available locally.”
“I see,” she said lamely. “So, you won’t be bringing my papers anymore?”
“Well, I don’t need to.” He tilted his head and frowned. “That’s a good thing, right?”
She swallowed. “Clark…if this is because I ambushed you-”
“No! No, of course not-”
“-because I’m sorry,” she blurted out. “I’m so sorry, and I didn’t mean to scare you; I just got really curious and couldn’t not ask, you know? Please don’t be mad at me.”
“I’m not mad at you, Chloe,” he reassured her. “I was going to stop delivering the papers once they became available locally, you know that.”
She sniffed and nodded. “I know. Forgive me?”
He rolled his eyes. “Of course. Come here, you.”
He held out his arms, and she flung herself into them without dignity and held him tight. He hugged her back with equal fervour, almost as if he was trying to make up for a week’s worth of lost hugs. Her emotions, already close to the surface, suddenly unravelled, and the tears she’d been holding in check began to course down her cheeks.
“Hey, don’t cry,” he soothed, wiping her tears. “We’re good now; remember?”
“I know,” she mumbled against his chest. “I’m so glad we’re friends again.”
“Me too.”
“I thought you’d never speak to me again, ever,” she said timidly.
He chuckled. “Ditto. This is the longest fight we’ve ever had.”
She relaxed in his arms and sighed; a deep, long drawn-out breath that she felt like she’d been holding it for the entire week.
“I missed you,” she finally whispered.
“I missed you, too,” he admitted softly. “A lot.”
Well. It was nice to have confirmation that she hadn’t been the only one who’d felt like she’d been missing a limb all week. She smiled through her tears, grateful for the confirmation that their special bond was still as strong as ever.
Or was it?
“So, um…are you really seeing Lana again this weekend?” she asked timidly as she stepped out of his arms.
His eyes widened. “You believed that?”
“I had no reason not to,” she retorted. “Well, are you?”
“Of course not,” he said with a leery grin. “You know I only get one weekend off every month.”
Her eyes flew open, and she stepped back and fixed him with an accusing glare. “You lied to me!”
He had the good grace to look sheepish. “Guess I did.”
“Clark, that was mean!” she accused. “Do you have any idea how hard it’s been for me to see you two together? Laughing all the time, giving her all your best smiles when you wouldn’t even look at me!”
He smiled, his eyes twinkling. “Chloe…were you jealous of Lana?”
Chloe felt her cheeks burn hotly, but she turned away and waved a dismissive hand. “What me? Jealous? Of Lana? No way!”
He thrust his hands in his pockets and grinned. “Surrrre, you weren’t.”
God, but she wanted to whack that smug smile off his face. Her cheeks got hotter still, and she abruptly changed the subject.
“We should head back,” she said, and started marching back towards the main road.
She heard his footsteps hasten caught up and fell into step beside her. Slowly he reached for her hand, and when she turned to look at him he smiled.
“I’m so glad we’re talking again,” he admitted. “I really did miss you.”
She lifted one shoulder in a listless shrug. “Yeah, well…ditto.”
His eyebrows went up. “Sure you didn’t just miss the papers?”
She gave him a steely look, and he laughed. “Point taken. You missed me, and the papers.”
Well, that much was true. She had indeed missed both, but at least now she had the opportunity to get her papers whether she was friends with Clark or not - not that she planned to have another fight with him anytime soon. But it wasn’t really about the papers, she realised. It was the connection, the special bond she shared with Clark that she’d missed the most.
He sensed her sombre mood, because he gently squeezed her hand. “You okay?” he asked.
“I am; but it sucks that you won’t be bringing my papers anymore,” she said wistfully, remembering happier times. “I feel like I’ve lost something really precious.”
Clark wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer to his side.
“You still have me, Chloe,” he replied, smiling down at her. “And I’m not going anywhere.”
***
To be continued…