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chapter three
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Jonathan Kent fisted the truck keys, his thumb grazing over the sacred symbol of teenage freedom as Clark tried to look as unexcited as possible.
"Clark," the older man said, voice gruff, dark blonde hair streaked with grey, "I want you to realize how much responsibility this is."
"Dad, I'm like, the most responsible kid at school." A fifteen year old Clark pleaded.
This was true. Martha and Jonathan Kent had raised Clark into a respectable young man. Alien or not.
Jonathan's steady gaze didn't waver, his thumb rubbing over the worn grooves of the keys. "I know you are son, but this is a little different."
"I've to gone Metropolis lots of times. It's not much different." Clark tried, edging for understanding from his oldman. "Besides, you've let me drive the truck around town. You know I'm a safe driver."
"No, Clark." Jonathan shook his head, "I'm not worried about you, and I'm not worried about the truck."
Clark frowned.
"Clark," his father paused, his laugh lines tweaking in a smile before he hid it under parental caution, "You and Chloe going to this thing in Metropolis..."
Clark's frowned deepened when his dad trailed off.
Jonathan smiled again, and then shook it away, trying to look concerned. "Well, the both of you are going as a date." It was meant as a statement, but sounded more like a question.
Immediately Clark blushed. "Well, yeah."
The Jonathan sighed, a load off his shoulders. Because really, he had hoped so.
"Good."
Their son had been friends with the girl for two years now, and neither Jonathan nor Martha were exactly sure where the fruiting relationship was heading. They wanted their son to be happy, and both knew that Chloe had always brought Clark out of his darker moods. To say the least, Jonathan liked the idea of Chloe being around the house more often. She was a good influence on his son.
One of his hands came to rest on Clark's shoulder, the other with the keys still in his palm.
"Son," he said, stubble fraying his chin, "This is big step for any young man."
Clark swallowed, because he hadn't thought about it like that. Actually, he hadn't really thought of it as a date at all. Sure, Chloe and he'd gone out lots of times, but never as a date, as a couple.
It was just last week that he'd saved her from a meteor freak named Justin Gaines, and since then, Clark hadn't let her from his sights. He felt bad enough about the small bandaid she wore proudly on her left temple, battle scars from that night in the barn.
And there was this small possibility that Clark had been little bothered when he discovered Chloe had feelings for the guy. Possibly more jealous than anything but that's besides the point. Clark never trusted the guy, and look what happened, he'd had been right. And look where all his precautions had gotten him, Chloe still got hurt.
He really needed to pay closer attention to this girl.
So when Chloe wanted to go to this journalism convention, he promised to take her himself. Clark would be there to keep her safe from any lurking, creepy guys. It sounded like a good idea. Judging by the unforgettable smile Chloe graced him at the coffee place, she thought so too. So they were going.
As a date.
His very first, official date.
And it was with Chloe.
"I want you to remember what your mother and I taught you." Jonathan went on, his hand fisting Clark's shirt. Suddenly Clark hinted that this conversation had grown past the casual lecture and to a serious father-son speech. His dad's grip got tighter.
Clark looked at him expectantly.
"Remember, you are a gentleman."
"Dad, this is Chloe we're talking about." Clark almost laughed.
Jonathan raised a brow, "Just because it's Chloe doesn't make a difference. She's a young lady and I expect my son to treat her like no less."
Clark blinked, expression more serious. "Of course, Dad."
The keys exchanged hands.
Clark held them in his palm, and looked up at his father. "Dad?"
"Yes, Son?"
Clark fingered the smooth metal like his father had. "I like Chloe. A lot. I would never
do anything to hurt her."
Jonathan Kent nodded, a smile reappearing. "I never thought you would. Just
becareful, Son. Take things slow. Just remember that you're both young and have a lot of time. You and Chloe are already good friends. "
Clark watched as something passed through his father's eyes.
"Just don't do anything to screw that up." Jonathan said atlast, smile fading. "A friend, a true friend. Well, that's just about the most important thing in the world."
Clark frowned, and then nodded when his father patted him on the shoulder as he passed.
*
"Well is it everything you ever hoped for and more?"
Clark watched as Chloe turned around, a grand smile directed at him.
"And more." There was a giddy charm in that smile, cheeks flushed with pure glee.
Matching lanyards, VIP passes to Metropolis' Annual Journalism Convention,were strung around their necks as they both stood in the middle of the Met U's stadium. The off season field was populated with booths, tables and representatives from just about every news source you could think of.
For journalism junkies like Chloe Sullivan, it was a wonderland.
Chloe had already hit up her favorites, gathering promotional buttons, pens and goodies in one hand, brochures and applications stacked in the other.
"Well," Clark said, smiling down at her bright head of hair, "what do you want to do now? Walk around some more, or go drive around the city? We still have the truck for a few hours."
Chloe looked up at him, smile never leaving her. "Oh, we can venture out to the city I guess. I've already got what I came for."
She held up a particular application.
Clark read it. "Daily Planet Summer Internship."
Chloe squeed, "I'll just die if I get in. I've been waiting for this my whole life!"
Clark laughed, "Chloe, you'll get in."
Her brow lifted, "How can you be so sure?"
"Because," He looked down, at her, and how pretty she looked today. Even cuter with
the small bandaid on her forehead.
Chloe was wearing the one green shirt with the lacy, low cut collar, and stetchy material that hugged all the way to her hips. She had tried to hide her body with one of her casual suit jackets, but Clark still noticed.
Remember you're a gentleman.
Clark swallowed, "You'll get it. I can't think of anyone else who loves to investigate, research, write and edit more than you do. You're practically a one woman show."
Chloe smiled, her bottom lip sneaking in between her teeth delicately. "Well, maybe you'd want to sign up with me?"
"Me?" Clark said, exasperated.
"Yes you, silly." Chloe touched his chest playfully with her paper. "We could work there together. It'll be fun."
"Oh, I don't know..." Clark smiled sideways, the both of them walking again, "I think you get too much fun out of ordering me around the Torch as it is."
She rolled her eyes. "Ok, I'm not going to deny bossing you around isn't the highlight of my day, but seriously. This is a good opportunity, Clark. Have you thought about what you want to do after highschool?"
Clark blinked. After highschool? They had barely even started. "Um, no not really. I'm still concentrating on actually getting through school, Chlo."
"Well," Chloe sighed, looking up at him, "consider this a wake up call." She stopped, turning to him. "We wont be in highschool forever. Maybe you should think about that."
Clark blinked again, trying to decide when this conversation turned from casual to serious.
"Sign up." Chloe placed a copy of an application against his chest. "It'll be fun."
Her hand against his chest... Clark froze.
But wait, no, she wasn't going to kiss him. Not like that last time. The last time she hadn't even remembered, just a meteor influence, accident really. Chloe didn't even remember. So it didn't matter.
Except, Clark remembered.
And that's what bothered him. Between Chloe's amnesia lip lock after meeting Kyle Tippet and Chloe's near death experience with Justin Gaines, Clark was getting worried.
Was he falling for his best friend?
He took the application, and after a split second of hesitation, took Chloe's hand that was resting against his chest. "Chloe, you're always over thinking things." He said partly to himself as certain feelings rushed through him. He smiled, his hand imperceptively shaking as he held hers. "It's scary and cute at the same time."
A cross between surprise and delight fluttered through her smile. "Cute?"
Clark blushed, deciding to take a step back. Like his dad said, they had all the time in the world.
"Besides, we're still young right? We have lots of time to just, I don't know..." Clark continued walking, Chloe's hand beside him in his. She followed him, hiding a giddy smile.
"Be young?" She supplied, looking up bashfully.
Clark giggled. "Yeah. I guess that's it."
They reached the exit that led to the street outside. The day was still bright, and despite their agreement that they were both young and had all the time in the world, the clock was still ticking.
"C'mon." Chloe said, tugging Clark with her as she walked in one direction down the busy sidewalk. "I'll show you."
*
"Wow."
That's all Clark could say staring up at the building that leaned over him. He'd seen pictures, sure, most of them on Chloe's desktop at the Torch.
But at street level, the Daily Planet was really...
Breathtaking.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Chloe spun around, expression in wonder.
Clark nodded, watching the childish sparkle light up her eyes.
"See? You and I can spend the entire summer here! It'll be fun, I swear."
Clark looked between her and the gilded building, "How high is it?"
Chloe shrugged, "Pretty high." She turned to him, "Why?"
Clark shrugged back, "Kind of scared of heights."
She stepped closer to him, a throng of people walking by in a steady stream. "I'm sure it isn't that high. In fact, I bet we wont even get to go higher than the first few floors. Most of the bigger byliners are located up at the top."
"You've been up there?" Clark looked.
"No," Chloe said, a tinge of sadness there. "But I will someday."
Clark looked at her, a thought crossing his mind. "Well," he looked back at the red truck parked on the street. The meter still had a few quarters in it. "How about today?"
"Huh?" she said as he grabbed her hand and led her to the golden revolving doors.
"Let's go up there right now." Clark smiled, feeling brave for some reason. He took a step into the open gap of the door until he felt her tug him back.
"Clark, we can't just go inside!" she said giggling.
"Chlo, have you even been inside?" he asked in disbelief.
"Well, not technically--"
That's all he needed.
Clark pulled her through the turning door with him, her body pressed against his front as they both squeezed in the small space meant for one.
Their laughter echoed in that small door, Clark's laughter deeper.
He led her through the grand entry way, her hand held fast in his, both of them dashing towards the magnificent set of elevators on the far wall.
Clark pushed the button and they both waited, giddy with excitement, mischief, nervousness and adventure at the same time.
The doors opened, a pack of suited men and women filing out. Clark and Chloe snuck inside before a new batch of suits shoved them all the way to the back.
Gradually, the crowded elevator thinned out as the floors got higher. It was after the eightieth floor that realization hit Clark how high they were.
Chloe caught onto this quickly, feeling the claminess of Clark's hand over hers. "You ok?"
He smiled, choking back his fear. "Yeah. Just, you know, heights."
The doors opened again, another person getting off.
"Clark, we can go back down."
"No." He smiled at her, "I want to do this."
The doors closed.
They were alone now.
He pushed the highest button until it lit up.
"The roof?" Chloe said, brows raised.
Clark nodded, smiling, sorta.
"Clark," her voice wavered, "You don't have to do this to impress me or anything."
Didn't he? It was just last week that he found Chloe kissing some other guy in the Torch. He looked down at her hand in his. "What do you mean?"
Her lip snuck inbetween her teeth again for the slightest of moments, "I mean, I know we're on a date but..."
She stepped closer, pieces of her hair falling to shade her eyes.
"I'm already happy with today. " she flipped her hair away, a different smile that Clark had never seen before, "It's been everything I've ever wanted, and more."
Clark stared down, unsure where to put his hands, they wanted to rest against her waist, but he was a gentleman. They awkwardly held onto hers.
Her chin was tilted up, right under his. It tilted down on its own, drawn to the fascinating curve of Chloe's lips.
The ground moved.
Or maybe it was just the elevator moving.
But Clark felt his feet shake, his entire body feeling less solid by every floor they passed, and more like a floating mass, stomach light and scary.
But even as their lips leaned closer, Clark was still frustratingly tall.
Chloe's other hand moved to his shirt, where the line buttons were, and grasped it, almost bashfully.
Clark's heart definately skipped this time. This was the same way she'd...
She pulled him closer.
Ding!
The doors opened.
"Uh," Chloe laughed, losing her confidence.
They looked at eachother, neither one brave enough.
Until, the moment passed.
Chloe slid her hand down from his shirt, his hand, walking past the doors and to the stairwell. "I guess we're at the top!" She yelled back down, Clark following behind.
Clark was still recovering from that near kiss. He couldn't really think of much to say, scratching his head until they got to the top of the stairs, Chloe pushing open the last door to the roof.
"Wow." He said again, this time overlooking the skyline of Metropolis.
"Wow is right." Chloe said, leaning over the edge.
"Hey," Clark frowned, gently taking her elbow and pulling her away. "Becareful."
She smiled, "Why?" A mischievous look, "You'll always save me."
Clark swallowed, a glint of masculine pride in his eyes. It was true. From burning buildings to frozen pools, to disgruntled artists who liked to hurl chainsaws. "Still, you shouldn't be leaning over sides of skyscrapers."
So they settled on sitting on one of the vents that sat in the middle of the gravelled roof. It was elevated than the rest of the floor, so they could see over the edge.
It was getting late, the sunset casting a rose color over the shapes of the city.
It was in that moment that the two of them realized something monumental, the entire day perfect, special, one that neither would ever forget.
"Chloe," Clark said, breaking the comfortable silence between them, "I'm glad you had a good time."
"Of course." Chloe smiled, her hair fluttering infront of her eyes as the wind picked up.
Clark had lent her his jacket after a few good gusts since they'd been up there, and she curled herself inside, wrapping it around her small frame.
The sun turned red over Clark's shoulder.
"So, it's agreed?"
Clark turned.
"You'll work with me here this summer?"
Clark smiled, taking the folded piece of paper from his pocket. "I'll put in my application."
He heard Chloe squee beside him, right before she kissed the side of his cheek.
This surprised him so much that his fingers let go, the paper sailing away with the wind.
Clark leapt up after it.
But it was gone.
He turned around very slowly. "Chloe, I'm--"
She was laughing, "Clark it's okay. We can get another one."
He smiled bashfully turning as Chloe joined him near the edge. They both watched the white piece of paper flutter back and forth with the current, drop and soar with air pockets and sail away.
"Look at it fly." Chloe whispered, her fingers gradually making their way back into his hand.
His collapsed over hers, the both of them not saying a word until the sun disappeared under the dark cut out shapes, ending that one perfect day.
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